sausages and mushrooms

or the full on fry up

Serves 4 very happy people

Everybody seriously must love a properly cooked breakfast. No one in the world cooks breakfast like we do - mushrooms, tomatoes, proper local sausages, fat bacon, black pudding, fried bread and potato, with lots of tea and toast. 

I've recently fallen back in love with something cooked in the morning, and as unhealthy as the whole notion of fried food first thing, it's no different to enjoying a pint or two on the weekend - everything in moderation. Timing is critical here as we greedily have a lot of components to bring together, so put the oven on a low setting to keep the plates and cooked items hot until ready to dish up.
 
3 tblsp vegetable oil, plus 2 tblsp to fry eggs
4 handmade pork or beef sausages
8 rashers of smoked back bacon
4 slices of black or white pudding
75g cooked potato (ideally leftover new potatoes)
2 slices of white bread, plus bread for toast
4 large vine tomatoes
4 large flat or field mushrooms
4 free range eggs
Butter for bread
Home made preserves or marmite
 
Preheat the oven to 125°C/gas mark 1. Place your plates in the oven.

Place a large, heavy frying pan on the stove and heat with 3 tblsp of the oil, until warm. Add the sausages, black pudding and bacon, and cook slowly for 6-8 minutes to release the fat but not brown the meat. Turn up the heat and continue to cook until the bacon begins to crisp and the sausages are brown. Transfer to the warmed plates.

There should be a surplus of fat in the pan, now heat the pan until the fat is letting off a sheen or haze, and add the bread and potato. Cook the bread quickly on one side until golden brown, and then remove and place on a piece of kitchen paper before transferring to the oven. Turn the potato over and cook for 2-3 minutes, then transfer that to the oven as well.

Lower the heat and add the tomatoes, cut-side down, and the mushrooms, stalk up. Season with pepper, then cover. Cook for 5 minutes and keep warm in the pan until required. 

Take a small omelette or frying pan and heat 2 tblsp of oil until hot but not smoking. Break the eggs into a breakfast cup and carefully tip into the pan. The egg, if fresh, should “sit up” and not spread all over the pan. Cook until the white of the egg is completely set and firm, and transfer immediately to a warmed plate. Add all the other components and serve immediately.

cold noodle and tomato salad for the weekend

This here little bowl of lip smacking fun; an utter summer jumble of crunchy textures and fresh, bright flavours rather than a hot pot of msg enhanced amusement might be a box tick should the weather be right, and the time does much the same this weekend. That is unless someone else is bringing this together for you, and you're in exotic climes already. Cold noodles sadly don't get nearly the attention they deserve, more often than not due to weak seasoning. What's not to disagree with big punchy hits of acid, salt and sugar?

My eyes are shut, I'm in Chiang Mai, that's my fourth Tiger right there, I can hear the tac tac of pestle to mortar bringing my salad together, I'm in dreamland.

Serves 4

60g rice noodles
a large handful sprouted seeds
1 medium hot red chilli
1 red or orange pepper
 ½ cucumber
100g peas , shelled weight
125g cherry tomatoes
100g salted, roasted cashews
a small bunch coriander
4 sprigs mint

For the dressing:
3 tblsp lime juice
3 tblsp nam pla (Thai fish sauce)
1 tsp caster sugar 

Put the noodles into a heatproof bowl then pour boiling water from the kettle over them and leave for 2 minutes (or whatever it says on the packet). Drain the noodles and let them cool in a colander under cold running water. Drain thoroughly.

Rinse the sprouted seeds under cold running water, drain them, then tip into a mixing bowl. Finely chop the chilli and thinly slice the pepper then add them to the sprouted seeds. Peel, core and cut the cucumber into small dice, then add to the seeds with the raw peas. 

Halve the cherry tomatoes and add them to the bowl with the salted cashews and roughly chopped coriander and mint leaves, gently tossing the ingredients together with the drained noodles.

Make the dressing: mix together the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar. Drain the noodles and add them to the other ingredients, then toss them with the dressing. Chill for a good half-hour before serving with the coldest beer your teeth can cope with.

potted crab or instant noodles?

When the sun shines, so does the desire to be close to the water, and by beautiful default closer and fresher to some of our most wonderful food supplies. This is a great prepare-ahead dish that you can simply take out of the fridge half an hour before serving. If preparing in advance, make sure the crab meat is completely covered with the butter mixture, and keep the pots well chilled for up to two days. Fancy it up with a bit of sliced avocado, green apple, some green leaves and a rip of bread and all is good in the world.

If this all sounds too perfect and the beach is either too far away or your needs to be beside the seaside isn't great enough then a 3.30am cup of instant noodles with extra shio konbu thrown is easily an acceptable substitution. Close your eyes and hold a seashell to your ear, everything will be just all right again.

Serves 4 on a sunny day  

2 dressed crab (or 300g white and brown crab meat)
1 banana shallot (or 2 regular ones), peeled and finely chopped
4 tblsp sherry
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
175g cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
Squeeze of lemon juice, according to taste
Handful of chives, finely chopped
 
Run your fingers through the crab meat to pick out any remaining bits of shell and cartilage. Wrap with cling film and chill.

Put the shallot, sherry, cayenne pepper and nutmeg in a small saucepan.

Season well. Bring to the boil and let it bubble vigorously for about 2 minutes until the liquid has reduced to half.

Turn the heat to low and gradually whisk in the butter, a few cubes at a time. Leave it to simmer very gently for a few minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and let the flavours infuse as the butter cools.

Pour the butter mixture into a fine sieve set over a measuring jug and press down to extract the juice from the shallots. Discard the solids.

Mix the crab meat with the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the mixture into four individual pots of some description, each about 6cm wide. Place the pots on a tray and pour the butter mixture over the crab meat to cover. Cover them with a large piece of cling film and chill for about 2-3 hours until set.

Remove the potted crab from the fridge 30 minutes before serving with anything from the suggestions above in addition to buttered brown toasts, lemon wedges, chopped chives and a large glass of something very cold.

Those noodles on the other hand need nothing more than a generous imagination, 

Post nightshift breakfast blt

Serves 1 seriously tired chef  

You can vary the ingredients of this sandwich to taste. For example, you could add sliced buffalo mozzarella, sliced avocado or roasted and peeled red pepper quarters, all the above quite depending on your mood. Alas and quite frankly, after pulling a 16 hour overnight shift in the kitchen, you're lucky the bacon is even cooked.

Tabasco to taste (optional)

6 slices unsmoked back bacon

2 soft floury rolls

Butter or mayonnaise

2 fat ripe tomatoes, sliced

A handful of baby gem leaves

Preheat a nonstick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Trim the bacon of excess fat. Once the pan is hot, add 1 tblsp oil, followed by as much bacon as you can fit in the pan. Fry briskly for about 2 minutes on each side or until lightly coloured and beginning to turn crispy. The cooking time will vary according to the thickness of the bacon. Remove from the pan and keep warm in the oven while you continue to cook the remaining bacon with a further tablespoon of oil. 

Lightly spread the bottom half of each roll with butter or mayonnaise and cover with the sliced and seasoned tomatoes, then 3 slices of bacon followed by the gem leaves. A hit of tabasco at this stage isn't necessarily a bad thing by the way, as is a twist of black pepper.

Serve immediately, with plenty of paper napkins and an appropriate beverage for the time of day.

Lemon pork ribs with potatoes and herbs

On first inspection, this dish somehow doesn't seem quite right at the time of year, but this is a barbecue inspired classic after all, so what's the problem? Serving as a full on dish is what this recipe is meant to do, but should there be any leftover meat, rolling it up and cutting it into little bite size chunks as a pre dinner nibble for the weekend is utter genius in my book. BBQ and what is done with pork in particular is a tireless subject, and this Georgian number from Helen Graves' travels is definitely worth a look, quite delicious.


Lemon pork ribs with potatoes and herbs

Serves 2

Lemon pork ribs with potatoes and herbs

8 garlic cloves
1 onion
1 lemon
500g pork ribs
Small bunch thyme
A few sage leaves
500g large waxy potatoes such as Charlotte
Knob of butter 

10g flat leaf parsley

Gently crack the garlic cloves with the heel of your hand, then flake away the papery skin. Peel, halve and finely slice the onion. Remove the zest from the lemon in small paper-thin scraps. 

Place the ribs in a pan that can comfortably hold all the ingredients, add the garlic, onion and lemon zest, thyme, sage leaves and a generous seasoning of salt, preferably Maldon sea salt flakes, and black pepper. Peel, rinse and thickly slice the potatoes directly into the pan so they cover the ribs etc.

Cover with water. Tear off sufficient greaseproof paper to tuck inside the pan to cover the food. Smear it with butter and place butter-side down. Bring to the boil, immediately reduce the heat, cover the pan 75 per cent and leave to simmer gently for 30 minutes. 

Check that the meat is meltingly tender, if not, cook on for a further 10 minutes. Serve scattered with parsley, the wedge of lemon, salt and pepper and crusty bread and butter. 

You may wish to add some frozen petits pois for the final few minutes of cooking; these, like the potatoes and butter-soft mellow garlic, are delicious mashed into the juices.

duck/tarragon/beetroot

The vibrant tarragon and earthy beetroot in this dish are fabulous with rich duck breast, and the colours are beautiful too. To counteract the softness, serve it with oven-warmed root vegetable crisps or fresh red chicory leaves for their bitter edginess. served on a plate is a bit 2011, but do what you need to do here.

Breast of duck with tarragon and beetroot

Serves 4

The vibrant tarragon and earthy beetroot sauces in this dish are fabulous with rich duck breast, and the colours are beautiful too. To counteract the softness, serve it with oven-warmed root vegetable crisps.

4 duck breasts 

2 small bunches fresh tarragon (about 40g)

2 tbsp butter 

2 medium shallots, finely chopped

250ml chicken stock

140ml single cream

3 large beetroot, roasted until soft, or 2 vacuum packs of ready cooked beetroot

With a sharp knife (a Stanley knife works brilliantly), score the duck skin in a criss-cross pattern. Strip the tarragon leaves from their stalks.

Melt the butter in a small pan and cook the shallots with the tarragon stalks, until the shallots are soft but not coloured. Add 5floz/140ml of the chicken stock and reduce by half. Stir in the cream, bring back to the boil and then remove from the heat. Bring a small pan of water to the boil and plunge in the tarragon leaves. After 20 seconds, drain well and transfer to a blender.

Add the cream mixture and blend until smooth, then pass through a fine sieve. Taste and season with salt and a little pepper. Peel the beetroots if necessary and chop them roughly. Whizz in a blender with the remaining chicken stock to make a smooth purée-cum-sauce. (A food processor won't get it completely smooth. If you don't have a blender or liquidiser, serve the duck with cubes of beetroot heated in a little butter.) Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/ gas mark 6.

Season the duck breasts and place them skin-side down in a medium-hot pan.

Cook until the skin starts to colour, then transfer to the oven, still on the skin side.

Roast for 5-8 minutes, depending on how well done you like it. Allow the duck to rest in a warm spot for 5-10 minutes, while you reheat the beetroot purée and tarragon sauce. Slice the duck and serve with the purée and sauce.

Steak supper

There’s a lot to be said for a great piece of incredibly simply pan fried steak – last night was as simple as a whole piece of fillet pan roasted as rare as was dared and served with crisp potatoes, a few rocket leaves, some crusty bread and a cracking Napa Zinfandel. You can go down one of three routes should you desire. Keep it simple, like my last night effort, go for the classic with Béarnaise number as I've got below, or go all fancy pants in line with the rather misleading photo slipped in here... they all work I believe.

Serves 2 happy people

2 x 200g beef steaks, a boneless slice from the rump or top round or the sirloin as thick as your thumb
Olive oil

Chips
for the Béarnaise sauce

1 small shallot
3 tblsp white wine, or tarragon vinegar
6 whole black peppercorns
3-4 stems tarragon, and their leaves
2 egg yolks
Dijon mustard
125g butter, soft, almost melted

Rub your steak all over with olive oil, not too much; just enough to give it a good gloss, then grind a little black pepper over both sides. I put salt on later. Get the grill pan hot, then slap on the steak and press it down onto the ridges with a metal spatula. Let it cook for two full minutes. Do not move it.

Now turn it over (long metal tongs are useful here), press it down again, this is when I usually add the salt, and let it cook for a further two minutes. The best way to tell if your steak is done is to press it with your finger.

Timing is a hopelessly inaccurate measure because so much depends on how your meat has been hung and butchered. The best—by which I mean the juiciest—results will come from a steak where your finger has left a slight indentation. Until you get to know the “feel” of your steaks you may have to make a small cut into them, but you will lose juice this way. If you want a well-done steak, with no blood in it, then I can’t help you. Well, I could but I won’t.

Incidentally, I sometimes pour a little wine onto the grill pan after removing the steak and let it bubble, then pour the meagre, intensely beefy juices over my steak. Serve with fries or accompanied with béarnaise sauce.

For the sauce, peel and finely chop the shallot, and put it in a small saucepan with the vinegar, peppercorns, and the tarragon leaves and stems. Bring to a boil and watch it while it reduces to a tablespoon or so. Put the egg yolks and a little mustard into a glass bowl (not a steel one, they get too hot) and place it over a pan of very gently simmering water.

The bowl should sit snugly in the top of the pan. Whisk the reduced vinegar into the egg yolks, holding the debris back in the pan, then slowly add the butter, a soft cube at a time, whisking almost constantly until it is thick and velvety. You can turn the heat off halfway through; the sauce must not get too hot. It may need a little salt . It will keep warm, with the occasional whisk, while you pan-grill your steak and fry your frites—which, by the way, I tend to buy very thin and frozen, and cook in deep peanut oil.