Valentine's night

It may have been said on Something For The Weekend, that no woman wants chicken pie for Valentines night, so what else could I cook Miss Bob than a good chicken, bacon and leek pie.
I have had a lot of problems with pie recently, poor pastry mostly so this was a chance to redeem myself and make a fresh start in my new Le Creuset pie dish.

Now, I wanted to nail a shortcrust pastry at last and on the previous weeks tv, was The Baker Brothers. Rather than use one type of fat in the pastry, they used 2, so I upped them again by running out of butter with 50 grams required and used lard to finish it off. The recipe for the pastry is here:

Shortcrust Pastry, fool proof recipe

• 600g strong white flour
• 150g cold beef dripping, broken into pieces
• 150g cold butter, diced (or 100g butter and 50g lard)
• 2 tbsp ice cold water

1. Tip the flour and beef dripping into a food processor and pulse until fine breadcrumbs appear. Place butter (and lard) in gradually until all incorporated. Leave on slowest speed until larger breadcrumbs formed.
2. Gradually add water until pastry starts to come together. Mine didn't come together that much in the food processor and I had to finish it off by hand. Shape into a sausage and wrap in cling film. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. I thought I was so organised and left in the fridge over night and when I got to using it, it was far too cold. If you leave in the fridge for any length of time, remove at least half an hour before use, I recommend.


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For the filling, I also copied the Baker Brother's recipe and it was fantastic. The main recipe can be found here.


Chicken, Bacon and Leek Pie Filling

• Good knob of butter
• 3 leeks, washed and shredded
• Small bunch of thyme
• 6 rashers bacon, chopped
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced
• 2 heaped tbsp plain flour
• Good glass of white wine
• 250ml crème fraiche
• Small bunch of tarragon, leaves picked and roughly chopped

1. Add the butter, leeks and thyme to a large frying pan and melt down for 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper.

2. Meanwhile in a separate frying pan, fry off the bacon until cooked, add the chicken thighs and cook until caramelisation begins.

3. Once the leeks are cooked, mix the flour with the leek mixture and cook out for 20 seconds, add the wine and mix together, leave on heat for a couple of minutes to burn off some of the alcohol. Add the chicken and bacon to the leek mixture and the creme fraiche. Stir to combine before adding the tarragon. Give a final stir and leave to cool.

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Once the pie mixture is cool, it is time to construct the pie. Take half the pastry and roll out to approx. 5mm thick. Cover the base of the pie dish so pastry over hangs the edges. Prick the base with a fork in several places. Add the chilled pie filling so even coverage. Take the remainder of the pastry and roll out to 5mm thickness for the lid. Add egg wash around the edge of the pastry in the pie dish and place your lid on top. Crimp the edges and trim the excess pastry by running a knife around the outside of the pie dish. If you want use the remaining pastry to create a thin design on top of the pie, I did a heart for Valentine's Day, of course. Brush egg was over the top and place in the fridge for 20 minutes. Remove from the fridge and give another egg wash. Pierce a couple of hole in top with a knife to allow the steam to escape and cook in the oven at 200C (180C fan) for 25 - 30 minutes. 

The result was a perfect pie, something I have been trying to achieve for a long time.

I served my pie with girdled asparagus and mash with scallions mixed through.

Both myself and Miss Bob were very happy with our Valentine's dinner, no better way to a woman's heart. 

Mr Potato

Sushi course

In April last year I won a prize from one of the companies I work with, and it was the chance to take part in sushi making experience. 5 year ago, I would have rolled my nose up at this chance, however following a shaky sushi start in Norway, starting with some very acquired tastes, I managed to get a taste for it in the UK with more delicate flavours. So this morning, when I was making my way to the Hilton Hotel in Kensington, I was going with lots of enthusiasm and excitement. 

My experience was exactly what I was hoping. Our teacher, Chef Kiyoko was fantastic, going through every element, from making the rice to properly preparing the fish. The rice was sushi rice cooked in a rice cooker (however using a pan, use a total weight cooking method 1:1.4 of rice to water, rinse the rice 5 or 6 times in a sieve and water to clean it before cooking, add the water and rice to a pan with lid on, full heat until boiling and turn down to minimum heat for 15 to 20 minutes, turn heat off and leave for a further 15 - 20 minutes. Transfer rice to a dish (not metallic) and add sushi vinegar (rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a 6:6:1 ratio) immediately and cut into the rice so every grain is coated). Let the rice cool to room temp. before using. 

It helps when you have a class of 14 sushi lovers also, means you can share your experiences with the people there, as most people were on their own this was important. We started with the very basics making a simple cucumber maki before moving onto more adventurous fillings, such as fig and blue cheese (so rich and decadent). Later when the skills were honed, we moved onto the big stuff, the prawns and salmon. I was particularly pleased with my prawn hand roll (see below) as the technique for this wasn't easy but I feel mine was very good. I was very happy with my salmon nigiri as the key here is to have a lot of topping and to hide the rice, as apposed to the stuff you get in the supermarket which is rice heavy! Floating around my head tonight will be the no rice zone and I now know the full importance of wetting your hands to handle the sticky rice but avoid water on the nori.

You have to enjoy any cooking that you can nibble as you go along. Afterwards I was straight home and onto the internet to order a kit. Here are some of the results. 

 My course was through YourSushi, and I couldn't recommend them highly enough! Be prepared for many more sushi pics in the near future as I keep inventing.

Mr Potato

Chorizo, pea and red wine risotto

A great little recipe and so simple. Risotto has always been one of my favourite foods to make.

Nothing quite like some slow fried chorizo, no need to add any fat. The paprika oil really sets off the risotto when drizzled over the final dish. I also used frozen peas and added them about half way through cooking, and this worked fine.

The recipe is one by Rachel Allen and can be found here. I will post it in full below.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 25g/1oz butter
• 1 onion, peeled, finely chopped
• 350g/12oz risotto rice such as Arborio or Carnaroli
• 150ml/5fl oz red wine
• 1 litre/1¾ pints chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 75g/3oz hard cheese such as parmesan or Manchego, finely grated
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 200g/7oz cooking chorizo, diced
• 125g/4½oz fresh peas
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• lightly dressed green salad, to serve

Preparation method

1. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the onion, stir to coat it in the fat, then cover the pan with a lid and fry gently for 8-10 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking, until the onions are softened but not coloured.
2. Add the rice and stir for 1-2 minutes, then pour in the wine. Bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat until the mixture is simmering and simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until the wine has been absorbed by the rice.
3. Meanwhile, heat the stock in a separate saucepan until boiling, then maintain the stock on a gentle simmer until needed.
4. Add a ladleful of stock to the rice and bring to a simmer. Stir regularly until all of the stock has been absorbed. Repeat this process until all of the stock has been used up and the rice is tender and the risotto is creamy. This should take 20-25 minutes.
5. Stir in the cheese, reserving a little for serving. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
6. While the risotto is cooking, heat a frying pan over a medium to high heat. Add the chorizo and fry for 1-2 minutes or until the oil has been released. Remove from the pan using a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on kitchen paper. (Reserve the oil released by the chorizo for serving.)
7. Stir the cooked chorizo and the fresh peas into the risotto, then stir in the chopped parsley.
8. To serve, spoon the risotto onto warm serving plates and sprinkle over the remaining grated cheese. Drizzle over the reserved oil from the chorizo. Serve with a crisp green salad.

Steak, sweet potato wedges and lentils

Great way to start my food blog with a nice slab of beef. Following some excellent steak advice from Heston (turn it every 15 seconds in the pan with a 5 minute rest), Miss Bob gridled it to medium perfection. Juicy and tender.

The lentils were from here and the red wine and chorizo really set the steak off. My lentils were a little wet compared to the recipe, I would use dried and not tinned lentils next time.

Highly recommended and will definitely be making it again, a fine winter warmer.

Mr. Potato

Welcome

Welcome to The Potato, a place for all the recipes I have acquired from other people, and recreated in my own unique (and usually incorrect) way.