Squishy Amish Potato Diner Rolls*

In my search for the perfect hamburger, I wanted to find the perfect bun. And, being more than 3000 miles away from my nearest Martin's bakery, I've started baking my own...

makes 16

800g - 1kg +40g strong white flour
2 sachet / 2tbsp fast acting dry yeast
60ml /g warm water ~32ºC
67g white granulated sugar
2 tsp salt
240ml milk; room temperature
325g mashed potato; no salt, butter or milk.
2 eggs, room temperature
76g unsalted butter, melted
1 egg white, beaten.

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Stir in the sugar and the 40g of flour. Leave for 10 minutes: to come to life.
2. Put the mash and milk in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
3. Pour your mash smoothie into a bowl and add the remaining ingredients ... except the flour. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
4. Add the flour gradually until the mixture comes together and it can be handled.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes.
6. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling-film(also lightly oiled in the centre). Leave to prove in a warm place until doubled in size.
7. Knock down and form into a disc of about 30cm in diameter. I do this to make it easier to divide up the dough: cut into quarters; then halve each quarter, reform the segment into a rough oval and halve. This will give you 16 rolls of about 90 grams each.

8. lay the dough balls out on a baking tin that has been lined and then lightly floured. Cover loosely with cling film and leave to rise for about 10 minutes.
9. Preheat your oven to 200ºC
10. Brush over the egg white and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
11. Eat.

Albondigas al Curry / Curried Meatballs

Makes ~17

for the meatballs

400g minced beef

15g pine nuts

1tbsp chopped parsley

1 small organic free-range egg

15g breadcrumbs

Maldon sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Worcester Sauce

Plain flour

3 tbsp o

live oil

for the sauce

3 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion

2 carrots

1 small courgette

1 small aubergine

1/2 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 1/2 tbsp Garam Masala

300ml water

Maldon sea salt

2 tsp brown sugar

1. In a large bowl mix the ingredients for the meatballs together by hand and season; I added 3 good pinches of salt, 5 twists of pepper and 7 drops of Worcester Sauce.

2. Break off small amounts and roll them into balls of about 30g. Roll them in flour and store in the fridge until needed.

3. In a large pan, heat the oil and gently fry the veg over a low heat for 10 minutes; until the onion is transparent.

4. Add the curry powder and stir for a couple of minutes before adding t he tomato and water.

5. Bring to a gentle simmer.

6. When all the vegetables are tender, correct the seasoning with the salt and sugar. Then remove from the heat and blend.

7. Meanwhile, in a thick-bottomed pan, fry off the meatballs until they are browned.

8. Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer for 15 minutes; then turn off the heat and leave for a further 5 minutes before serving.

9. Serve with chips.

Spaghetti Carbonara

serves 2

200g Barilla n.5 or De Checco; or any 'made in Italy'

5 rashers of panceta or bacon

1 small onion

1 garlic cloves

200ml cream

Maldon sea salt

 Freshley ground black pepper

2 free-range egg yolks

25g Parmesano

25g Pecorino

I love spaghetti carbonara. I have been making it for some time now and have had it made for me by 'Gente del Norte'; And I have settled with this recipe.

There are numerous anecdotal stories about the origin of Carbonara; but, the one I'm sticking with is that it is because of the copious amounts of black pepper covering the final article.

N.B. I sometimes substitute 1 rasher of bacon for a slice of Jamon de Serrano. Also; mix in some of the cheese before serving.

1. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Heat a little olive oil in a heavy-bottomed  pan. Season and gently fry the onion and garlic for about 15 minutes until transluscent.

2. Meanwhile, put a large pan of generously salted water on to boil ; lid on.

3. Cut the panceta into matchsticks and fry off over a moderate heat for 5 minutes.

4. Combine with the onion and garlic; add the cream, bring to the boil, season and roll boil for a couple of minutes.

5. put the pasta on; moving only to get it submerged, then leave it alone; Lid off.

6. Remove the cream mixture from the heat and let it cool slightly as you wait for the spaghetti.

N.B. the only way to check if pasta is 'al dente', is to try it.

7. As you are waiting for the spaghetti, add the 2 egg yolks to the cream and rapidly stir in.

8. When the spaghetti is ready, drain and then add to the pan containing the sauce.

9. Combine well and serve. Finish with freshly ground black pepper and the grated cheeses.

Old-School Cottage Pie

serves 7

1 kg potatoes such as Maris Piper

150g butter

100g Manchego Cheese

2 onions

2 carrots

2 sticks of celery

1 tsp thyme

600g beef minced (once)

a good splash of sherry or fino

500 ml good quality beef stock

1 tsp cornflour

Worcester sauce

Maldon Sea Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC

2. Cut the potatoes into small evenly-sized pieces. Put in a pan with cold salted water*. Bring to the boil and simmer till tender.

3. Dice the vegetables. Heat the butter in a pan and cook the vegetables over a moderate heat until soft.

4. Add the thyme and beef . Brown the beef. Add the sherry or fino a stir for a minute to remove the alcohol. Add half the stock. To the other half, whisk in the cornflour before adding it to the beef. Add a good dash of Worcester sauce. Simmer for 15 minutes.

5. Drain the potatoes; mash in 50 g of butter and the Manchego cheese. Season to taste.

6. Taste and season the meat. If the liquid has been reduced too much, add a little water.

7. Reserve about 250 ml of the liquid to use as a pour-over gravy.

8. Transfer the meat to a baking dish and top with the mash. Run a fork over the mash and dot with the remaining butter.

9. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes until the top is crisp and golden.

10. Serve with an extra helping of gravy...

* For veg that grows under the ground; start from cold. For things that grow above ground add to boiling water.

The Best hamburger and chips

serves 5

 

for the hamburger patty
400g brisket
200g magro
1 tbsp homemade breadcrumbs
5 drops Worcester sauce
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp thyme leaves, finely chopped
1 Organic free-range egg
Maldon sea salt
Freshly ground pepper 
1 tbsp of olive oil

for the chips 
5  King Edwards, Maris Piper, Romano or Desirée potatoes

Vegetable of sunflower oil for fying
1 rosemary sprig 

for plating up the burger 
5 big gherkins
5 slices Cheddar cheese

10 slices streaky bacon
5 burger buns

for the horseradish sauce 
2 tbs creamed horseradish 
125ml sour cream
handful of chives

Maldon sea salt

freshly.ground black pepper


for the caramelised onion relish 

5 red onions, finely sliced

• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 100 ml red wine
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1. In a medium saucepan, gently fry the onion for about 15 minutes; stiring frequently.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer with the lid on for 10 minutes, then remove the lid and continue to simmer for a further 5 minutes to reduce the remaining liquid.

3. Transfer to a jar and, once cool, transfer to the fridge.

4. Mix all the ingredients for the horseradish sauce together and transfer to the fridge.

5. Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the onion until soft and golden brown. Set aside to cool.

6. In a large bowl, mix all the burger ingredients together( except the oil!). Form into five patties (I used a burger press); place on parchment, cover and refrigerate for an hour.

7. Heat a  lightly-oiled griddle pan and cooked the burgers for 3 minutes before turning them. Once turned, add your cheese slice and continue to cook for another 2 minutes; toasting the buns at the same time ( cut-side down).

8. To make perfect chips you have to fry twice; in oil that is 180ºc. Towards the ended of the second stint in the fryer I add a sprig of rosemary. Once golden and crispy, toss them in a paper-towel lined  colander to remove any excess oil. Transfer to your serving plates and season; adding some of the fragrant rosemary fronds.

9. Plate up the burger and enjoy.

the Best Baked Beans on toast

serves 1

1 tin Hienz Baked Beans
2 slices of brown bread
good butter
Marmite
Gouda cheese


Toast the bread and liberally spread with butter and Marmite. Pour over the baked beans and cover with grated Gouda cheese. Finish under the grill.