Marcus Everyday
Page 19
While the sauce is simmering, heat the butter in a frying pan large enough to fit the monkfish tail(s) over high heat. Once it’s foaming, season the monkfish liberally with salt then place into the hot butter. Brown the tail(s) all over for about 5 minutes in total then transfer to a roasting dish. Pour the butter over the top and place in the oven for 25 minutes. Turn the tail(s) over and cook for a further 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Turn the heat on the oven up to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7. Squeeze the lemon juice over the monkfish and place back in the oven for 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil in a separate large frying pan. When hot, add the mushrooms, season well and cook over high heat for about 10 minutes (you might have to do this in batches, to avoid overcrowding the pan).
Carve the monkfish either by using a serrated knife, and cutting across the bone, or by slicing down either side of the bone and portion accordingly. Serve the monkfish fillets atop the mushrooms and smother with the mushroom sauce.
Parmesan, Oregano and Onion Baked Pumpkin
Roasting pumpkins whole is a great way to use the entire vegetable, and it gives you a little time to do other things while dinner is cooking. I have used freekeh in this recipe, as it provides a lovely nuttiness and texture to the finished dish, but you can substitute brown rice or barley for a similar outcome. It’s a great showstopper, but it’s actually pretty simple to make – you put your ingredients in, you bake it. Fantastic!
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SERVES: 4 | PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: 1 HOUR 20 MINUTES
100g freekeh
60g butter
2 onions, thinly sliced
½ nutmeg, finely grated
100g kale, tough stems removed and leaves thinly sliced
100g fresh breadcrumbs
½ bunch of oregano, leaves picked
100g Parmesan cheese, grated
1 delica pumpkin, or kabocha squash, top removed and seeds scooped out
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.
Cook the freekeh according to the packet instructions. Drain well.
Melt 45g of the butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add the onions and nutmeg, season well with salt and pepper and cook for about 15 minutes until golden, stirring frequently. Add the kale and cook for a further 3–4 minutes, until soft.
Put the onion mixture in a bowl and add the cooked freekeh, breadcrumbs, oregano and Parmesan. Season well with salt and pepper and stuff inside the pumpkin, replacing the ‘top’. Place in a roasting tray. Melt the remaining butter and brush it over the outside of the pumpkin, again seasoning it well with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 1 hour, until the pumpkin is cooked through.
Remove from the oven, quarter the pumpkin and serve.
MARCUS’ TIP:
Instead of discarding pumpkin seeds and the unwanted flesh that surrounds the seeds, place all of this in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for an hour or two and you can create a stock to use in soups.
Aromatic Aubergine with Cashew and Turmeric Sauce
This is a more involved aubergine recipe than you are probably used to. It involves cooking the aubergine whole, in an aromatic broth, then pressing and chilling it. It is then sliced and pan-fried, creating a caramelised outside and an unctuous inside. The sauce alone is a handy one to have in your repertoire, as it is quick to put together and can form the base of a curry or to serve alongside other vegetables, meat or fish.
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SERVES: 4 | PREPARATION TIME: 20 MINUTES, PLUS COOLING | COOKING TIME: 55 MINUTES
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, halved
1 garlic clove, finely grated
2 tbsp white miso paste
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp sriracha sauce
2 star anise
3 aubergines
FOR THE CASHEW AND TURMERIC SAUCE
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 shallots, peeled and sliced
3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
2 small pieces of fresh turmeric, bashed
20g toasted cashew nuts (see Roast Chicken Leg with Tarragon, Cucumber and Cashew Salad for method)
¼ bunch of coriander stalks
1 × 400ml tin coconut milk
sea salt
Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a saucepan large enough to fit the whole aubergines over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and cook for 10–15 minutes until dark brown. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add the miso paste, hoisin and sriracha sauces and star anise. Add 2 litres of warm water and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, using a skewer, prick 12 holes in each aubergine, from the top to the bottom, so they run the whole way through the aubergines.
Turn the cooking liquor down to a simmer and add the aubergines, ensuring they are submerged in the liquid. If not, add a little more water. Weigh the aubergines down with a heatproof plate that fits inside the saucepan. Cover the saucepan and leave over low heat for 25 minutes, until the aubergines are tender.
Transfer the aubergines and cooking liquor to a large rectangular dish. Weigh them down again heavily and refrigerate until cold.
Remove from the fridge and take the aubergines out of the cooking liquor. Pour the liquor into a clean saucepan and bring to a boil to reduce by three quarters, so you have a rich glaze. Cut the aubergines in half lengthways.
Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7.
Heat another tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add as many aubergine slices as you can fit in the pan. Brown them for 3–5 minutes on each side, then place in a roasting tray. Repeat with the remaining oil and aubergine slices. Pour the reduced cooking liquor over the aubergines and place in the oven for 10 minutes.
To make the cashew and turmeric sauce, heat the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add all ingredients apart from the coconut milk. Season well with salt. Cook for 10 minutes until lightly coloured then add the coconut milk. Simmer for 20 minutes, then place in a blender or food processor and blitz until smooth.
Serve the aubergine with the sauce and your choice of greens or brown rice on the side.
Rack of Lamb with Lamb and Harissa Ragu and Courgette
Most of the flavour in lamb comes from the fat, so when preparing and cooking it, it’s important to ensure there is enough fat attached to the meat to keep it juicy and flavoursome. Serve the lamb and ragu with buttered orzo or mash. The ragu is delicious in its own right, too – try it with pasta as a lamb Bolognese-style dish.
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SERVES: 4 | PREPARATION TIME: 15 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: ABOUT 1 HOUR
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 French-trimmed racks of lamb (6–7 bones per rack) (brined for 2 hours if you wish – use 1 quantity of the brine from Crackling’d Slow-cooked Pork Shoulder with Baked Apple Sauce)
25g butter, cubed
4 courgettes
1 tbsp olive oil
25g Parmesan cheese, grated
½ bunch of basil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE LAMB AND HARISSA RAGU
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, finely grated
200g lamb mince
1 tbsp tomato purée
¼ tsp sweet smoked paprika
1 tbsp rose harissa paste
¼ tsp yellow mustard seeds
¼ tsp coriander seeds
¼ tsp ras el hanout
20ml sherry vinegar
½ tbsp black treacle
To make the lamb and harissa ragu, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the vegetable oil and when hot, add the onion and garlic, seasoning well with salt. Cook for 10 minutes, until soft, then add the lamb mince and mix well, breaking up the mince. A
dd the tomato purée and cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly, then add the remaining ingredients and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.
Bring the rack of lamb to room temperature (rinsing off the brine and patting dry with kitchen paper, if lamb was brined). Heat the 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium/high–high heat. When hot, season the lamb racks well with salt and place them in the pan. Brown each side of the lamb for 3–5 minutes then add the cubed butter. Once foaming, spoon the butter over the lamb racks until they are a deep golden colour. Transfer the racks to a roasting dish, pouring over the pan juices, and bake in the oven for 12–15 minutes. Remove, cover with foil and leave to rest.
Slice the courgettes in half, lengthways and gently score diagonal lines across the flesh, creating a diamond effect. Heat some of the pan juices from the lamb over medium-high heat in the same large frying pan you used to brown the lamb. Add the olive oil. Season the courgettes then place them, flesh side down, in the hot pan. Brown for 3–5 minutes, then turn them over and cook for a further 3 minutes. You might have to do this in batches. Sprinkle the Parmesan on the top of the courgettes.
To serve, carve the rested lamb racks from the back of the rack, between the bones. Serve 3 cutlets per person with the ragu and the courgettes, and torn basil leaves on top.
Lamb Hotpot
Lancashire hotpot is a traditional dish from where I grew up in Southport. I think all of my books have a lamb hotpot of some form in them. This is a variation on the classic, so I will probably get a few comments from the Northerners! It is a dish that, done well, can take a little time, hence why it is in this chapter, but it’s a one-stop meal, so is the sort of thing you can put in your oven in the morning and it’s ready in the evening. It is traditionally served with pickled red cabbage, but I prefer it with green vegetables and some sourdough on the side to mop up all the sauce. Job done.
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SERVES: 4 | PREP TIME: 25 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: 1 HOUR 35 MINUTES
4 tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
2 tbsp tomato purée
½ tsp cumin seeds
100ml red wine
750ml good-quality chicken or vegetable stock
4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp black treacle
2 bay leaves
¼ bunch of rosemary
¼ bunch of thyme
200g button mushrooms, quartered
4 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp ground white pepper
4 lamb neck fillets (about 150g each), cut into 1cm-thick slices
3 large potatoes (Desiree or King Edward), peeled and cut into 3mm-thick slices
50g butter, melted
sea salt
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add half the onions, season with salt and cook for 10–15 minutes until golden, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, tomato purée and cumin seeds and cook for a few minutes. Add the wine and let it reduce to a syrup, then add the stock (reserving 4 tablespoons for the potatoes), Worcestershire sauce, treacle, bay leaves, rosemary and thyme to the pan. Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Strain, season with salt and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/gas 4.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Add the mushrooms, seasoning well with salt. Cook for about 10 minutes, until golden and the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the pan and set aside. Wipe the pan clean.
Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the large frying pan. When hot, add the remaining onion, and season well with salt. Cook over low-medium heat for 25–30 minutes until golden and caramelised, stirring frequently.
Season the flour with salt and the white pepper. Coat the slices of lamb in the seasoned flour and place a layer of the slices in a casserole dish. Add a layer of mushrooms, then a layer of onions. Top with the strained stock. Repeat with the remaining lamb, mushrooms and onions.
Mix the potato slices with the melted butter and reserved stock then layer them over the hot-pot mix in a spiral shape, covering the meat and sauce.
Set the casserole dish in a roasting tray to catch any sauce that bubbles over. Bake in the oven, uncovered, for 40 minutes until the lamb is just cooked through, then if needed, place under a hot grill for about 5 minutes to brown the top of the potatoes. Allow to rest for a few minutes then serve immediately.
MARCUS’ TIP:
Try making this with all-butter shortcrust or puff pastry instead of potatoes for a tasty lamb pie. Then serve with creamy mashed potatoes and sauerkraut.
’Nduja-stuffed Pork with Smoked Bacon and Red Wine Sauce
’Nduja (pronounced ‘n-doo-ya’) is a spicy, spreadable pork salami. It has a similar flavour profile to chorizo, but a bit more of a chilli kick. You can buy it fresh, or in a jar, with the former being preferable in flavour terms. It is used here to stuff the pork loin, so all the spicy flavour imparts into the loin. The red wine sauce adds a lovely acidity to the finished dish. I like to serve this with wilted greens and new potatoes.
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SERVES: 6 | PREP TIME: 30 MINUTES, PLUS COOLING AND CHILLING | COOKING TIME: ABOUT 1 HOUR 20 MINUTES
FOR THE STUFFED PORK
45g butter
1 onion, finely diced
100g ’nduja, skin removed and roughly chopped (if using fresh)
100g fresh breadcrumbs
4 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
50g whole toasted blanched almonds, roughly chopped (see Butter-roasted Cauliflower with Capers and Parsley for method)
2 large pork tenderloins, or fillets (900–1kg in total) (brined for 2 hours if you wish – use 1 quantity of the brine from Crackling’d Slow-cooked Pork Shoulder with Baked Apple Sauce)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE RED WINE SAUCE
2 tbsp vegetable oil
6 shallots, peeled and thickly sliced
1 carrot, peeled and cut into 5mm-thick slices
1 celery stick, cut into 5mm-thick slices
2 garlic cloves, halved
6 white peppercorns
250ml red wine
600ml good-quality beef stock
¼ bunch of thyme
2 bay leaves
3 tsp cornflour
Heat 25g of the butter in a medium frying pan over medium heat. When melted, add the onion and cook for about 10 minutes, until soft. Add the ’nduja, turn down the heat and cook gently for about 10 minutes until some of the oil seeps out of the meat, then transfer to a glass or metal bowl (it will stain plastic). Add the breadcrumbs, parsley and almonds and mix well until combined. Cover and refrigerate.
Bring the pork chop to room temperature (rinsing off the brine and patting dry with kitchen paper, if pork was brined). Carefully cut down the length of the pork loins, halfway to the centre. Cover your chopping board with clingfilm and place a pork loin on top. Open it out where it has been sliced, cover with another layer of clingfilm then, using a rolling pin, flatten the pork to a thickness of 5mm. Repeat with the second fillet or loin.
Pat half of the stuffing mixture onto each piece of pork, leaving an edge on one long side of each fillet of 3cm. Roll each loin up tightly, starting at the long edge with the stuffing. Tie the pork tightly with kitchen string at a number of intervals across the rolled fillet/loin. Roll each loin tightly in clingfilm. Refrigerate them while you make the sauce.
To make the sauce, heat the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add the shallots, carrot, celery, garlic and peppercorns. Cook for about 15 minutes, until golden, stirring frequently, then add the wine. Simmer for 10–15 minutes until the wine has reduced to a syrup, then add the beef stock, thyme and bay leaves. Simmer for 20 minutes then strain and return to a clean sauce
pan. In a small bowl, mix the cornflour with 2 tablespoons of water and whisk this into the sauce to thicken.
Preheat the oven to 230°C/210°C fan/gas 8.
Pour the oil for the pork into a roasting dish large enough for the stuffed pork and heat in the oven for 10 minutes.
Take the pork fillets out of the fridge and remove the clingfilm. Season with salt and pepper then carefully place into the preheated roasting dish. Roast for 8 minutes, turning them after 4 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6 and add the remaining 20g butter to the roasting dish. Cook for a further 20–25 minutes, turning the pork every 5 minutes to make sure it’s evenly browned.
Remove from the oven, cover with foil and rest for 10 minutes.
Remove the string from the pork, cut it into 2cm-thick slices (3–4 per serving) and serve with the sauce and accompaniments of your choice.
Port-braised Feather Blade Steaks with Potato, Onion and Horseradish Gratin
Also known as feather steak, this cut of meat is taken from the shoulder blade of the cattle. It has a feather-like connective tissue running through it, hence its name. When slowly braised it takes on a wonderful, slightly flaky texture. It needs to be cooked long and slow for optimum results, so do plan ahead. As you will need a much hotter oven for the gratin, I suggest cooking the steaks first. You can leave them to sit for an hour or two while you bake the gratin – just heat them up prior to serving.