Recipes and experiences from the author of "The Bombay Boys"
This is one of my favourite comfort foods, and even better it is incredibly easy to make.
Cook macaroni according to the packet instructions, drain and place in an ovenproof dish. Add 1 can of tuna, 1 tin of Heinz tomato soup (it has to be Heinz or it doesn’t taste the same, ignore impostors),4 ozs grated cheddar cheese and mix well. Grate a bit more cheddar on the top and place in the oven gas mark 4, 180C or 160C fan for 30 to 40 minutes until the top is brown and bubbling.
I love Rome, and whilst there’s nothing quite to compare with sitting at the bar at the top of the Forum hotel overlooking Ancient Rome by torchlight whilst waiters look down the front of your dress and ply you with free limoncello, the satisfaction of your own home-made vodka almost makes up for it. Also, I swear there were bed bugs and that’s the nasty hopping kind, not some sophisticated listening device.
This is very similar to making plum vodka. You need a large kilner jar that you have sterilised by placing in a hot oven for 20 mins and then allowed to cool. Whilst you’re waiting for this, take the zest from 14 lemons, yes, I know it’s a pain but worth it – if anyone out there has discovered a machine that zests, please put us all out of our misery! Place the zest in the jar and add 750ml of vodka. Put the lid on and place in a dark place for 2 weeks, or longer if you want more colour. If you don’t want to waste the juice from all those lemons, you can freeze it in those ice cube bags, so it is handy to be able to use cube by cube.
After two weeks, make a syrup of 1000ml of water and 800g of sugar ( I am experimenting using the lemon juice for this, but will report back on whether it worked). Allow it to cool and add to the vodka and zest mixture along with a further 750ml of vodka. Leave for a further rwo weeks or longer if you wish, then it is ready to strain in to pretty, sterilised bottles and to drink or give as presents. It is wonderful, freezing cold drunk on its own, but also good as part of my limoncello champagne martini (see method from last weekend).
Keep your rocking, Andy Kim (who?) I want braising! Slow cooked brisket of beef is very under-rated. It’s not pretty and it’s not clever looking, but oh my, it tastes wonderful and is completely and utterly trouble-free.
All you will need is 1 brisket of beef (try and buy one with a good marbling of fat as it will be more tender) a handful of mixed, fresh herbs,2 cloves of garlic, 1 onion cut in to quarters (optional), red wine or beef stock and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Pre-heat the over to Gas Mark 2, 160C or 140C for a fan oven
In a really heavy casserole dish, Le Creuset is perfect for this, heat up the tablespoon of oil and then add the brisket and brown all over.
Add the garlic, herbs and onions and add about an inch of red wine or beef stock.
bring to the boil, quickly place the lid on and put in the pre-heated oven for a minimum of three and a half hours, you can leave it up to five, it is a very forgiving dish.
This is what you end up with. Delicious, gorgeous, tender beef, in a really rich gravy that all you have to do is add extra seasoning to, if you wish. You can add extra red wine to further de-glaze the casserole for extra flavour.
Serve with mash, a glass of red wine. Heavenly!
Don’t you just hate it when those lovely, firm bananas turn into those blackened, soggy things lurking at the bottom of your fruit bowl?
Although many people argue that the riper they are, the more flavour they have, for some reason I have a pathological hatred of any soft, brown bits on my bananas. So what to do with them, I feel so guilty about putting any good food in the rubbish bin? Hoorah, my conscious has been saved! I have discovered the joys of banana bread. You will need: 3 or 4 ripe bananas (the riper the better), mashed up, 75g melted butter, 220g sugar, 1 egg, beaten, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, 1 teaspoon baking soda, inch of salt, 250g of plain flour, handful of chopped walnuts or pecans.
There is no need for a food processor for this recipe. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4, 180C/160C Fan (175°C). Mix the butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in along with the nuts. Sieve the flour in last, mix gently. Pour mixture into a buttered 4×8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool before serving.
The best thing about this recipe is that it gets better and better as the bread gets staler. I like it best a couple of days old and toasted with a little butter on top, much better than when it first comes out of the oven.
You also have the benefit of feeling sanctimonious about using up left over food.
Some of you will have tried my limoncello martinis, as they are my recommended drink with toffee bakewell puddings (recipe to come soon), but on these hot, lovely summer days, they are the best sun-downers.
Add 1 shot of vodka, (I like Grey Goose), 1 shot of Limoncello and top up to the brim with champagne or a good sparkling wine and decorate with a twist of lemon zest.
The best news is that this summer I have made my own limoncello, recipe and tasting to follow next week.
Happy weekend!
Well, it’s not really dancing, but I do a little dance for joy when I cook belly of pork. It is one of my most favourite things to cook and to eat. Yes, I know it’s fatty, so I only do it sometimes, but oh, oh, oh I love that crackling and tender pork.
It’s so simple all you need is
I just love a nice fat belly – when it’s pork anyway!
I’m trying to decide what to have for dinner and for no reason, I think about the Barbados Fish Fry. I start to think about the amazing smells and tastes of this amazing spectacle, which takes place every Friday and Saturday night in Oistins. Locals and tourists all turn up for for the amazing food- fried and grilled fish (marlin, swordfish, tuna, dolphin – not flipper- anything they’ve caught really) fish cakes, sweet potato, macaroni pie, and coleslaw and a lot of beer and rum-based drinks.
http://www.barbados.org/oistins-fish-fry.htm
Dancing, eating and drinking are the order of the night. Alas on a Tuesday evening in Berkshire there was no live reggae, or rum punch, but I thought I’d give my favourite type of cooking, which was “blackening” a try. I love the spiciness, great on fish or chicken.
In the blender I whizzed
I spread just one side of 6 pieces of skinned salmon fillet with the mixture, then placed a heavy frying pan on the heat until it was very hot. I placed the fish mixture side down for 2-4 minutes or until it was blackened, then flipped it over for a further 2 to 3. Take it off the heat and leave for a few minutes, the fish will continue to cook through.
I served this with new potatoes and a sort of raita/tsaziki (greek yogurt, fresh mint and cucumber).
I stuck a bit of Bob Marley on the Ipod and had a rum and coke, it was the nearest I could do, and you know what? It wasn’t bad at all!
It does seem excessive doesn’t it, to cook chips three times?
So is it worth it?
It’s all Heston’s fault really, so much more a chemist than a cook, he was the one who started all this triple cooking stuff and frankly, until I went to his pub “The Hind’s Head” in Bray, I thought it was all a load of nonsense. I have to admit, that having tasted them, they were wonderful, so of course that sent me on my quest to reproduce that crispy exterior, and fluffy inside. My friends know that I very rarely eat carbs, so when I do they have to be super-special and trust me these are, I actually went out and bought a deep-fat fryer just to make these delicious little chaps.
You will need:
1kg Potatoes – preferably Maris Piper, washed and peeled
Vegetable Oil (Heston uses peanut oil, us mere mortals can’t afford that…don’t be tempted to use olive oil – waste of money and too low a burning threshold)
1. Cut the spuds in to fat chips about 1cm thick. Place them straight into a bowl under cold running water and keep them there for about 10 minutes to rinse off some of the starch.
2. Bring a large pan of unsalted water to the boil and plunge in the drained potatoes. Bring it back up to the boil and simmer very gently for about 10 minutes, or until the point of a knife easily penetrates the chips. Make sure the water is only just simmering or your potatoes will break up
3. Using a slotted spoon, lift the potatoes carefully out of the water and place them on a tray. Allow them to cool, then place in the fridge until cold. You will notice that the chips harden when chilled.
4. Second cooking – heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 130C/250F and plunge in the chips. After 5 minutes take them out – do not let them brown! Drain, cool them and place them in the fridge. You can keep them now, for a few days if you like, you don’t have to cook them straight away.
5. Final cooking – heat the oil in the deep-fat fryer to 180C/350F. Plunge in the chips and cook until golden brown. This may take 8-10 minutes — you need to be patient in order to obtain a really crisp chip.
6. Drain and season
These are brilliant served with moules mariniere, or just on their own with home-made mayonnaise although Waitrose wholegrain mustard mayonnaise is very good.
So do you have to cook chips three times for them to be any good?
Probably not for, but for super-fabulous chips, yes, Heston, you do.
No English picnic would be complete without the humble cupcake despite its american origins…come to think of it, why didn’t we stick with Fairy Cakes for heaven’s sake?
But does size matter? In this case, absolutely!
As some of you know I have been experimenting and designing cupcake recipes for the last year or so and the one thing I have learned is that your cupcake size must match your event. So, for some, tiny bite-sized cakes are the key, no mess, fewer calories and easily transportable. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place for big, fat luscious ones, but this isn’t one of them.
The recipe I’m using can be used for any size, you just need to adjust the cooking time, but for lemon cocktail cupcakes you will need the following:
You will end up with tiny, delicious, moist lemon cakes. If I want to be really wicked I drizzle them with limoncello instead of the lemon syrup. Either way, they are heavenly.
Just too much of everything this weekend and there is only one cure.
Tomato juice, vodka, worcester sauce, black pepper and celery salt.
Bloody Mary
Fabulous!
The Bombay Boys 
