Ham Hock Terrine

The difference between dishes I would cook at home, and those I would cook at the restaurant are twofold; firstly, the effort involved in sourcing the best ingredients (we currently use lightly smoked and cured Ham Hocks bought from local smoker, Capreolus Fine Foods); secondly, the preparation time; to make a Ham Hock Terrine takes 2 days. It's a worthwhile endeavour but as a home cook you've got to be organised to do it. This recipe is ideal if you start mid-week for a weekend dinner party, for example.

Ham Hock is a cheaper cut of meat and it's well worth sourcing a good quality joint from an independent butcher.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Ham Hock

1 onion

2 carrots

2 sticks celery

½ bunch Parsley

2 Gerkins

30 Capers

Small handful Hazelnuts

Method:

• Place the Ham Hock in a large pan and add water until it is just covered, then add the roughly chopped onion, carrot and celery. Cover the pan and simmer for 3 hours
• Take off the heat and leave it to chill
• Remove the Ham Hock and set the pan of liquor aside. Pick the meat off and chop into small pieces, place in a bowl
• Strain the liquor and return it to the heat on a rolling boil until it has reduced by 1/3, set aside
• Chop the parsley, gerkins, capers and hazelnuts and mix with the meat
• Spoon the mixture into a mould and press down gently. Add some of the liquor, then place in the fridge to set overnight

Presentation:

To serve, use a nice apple based chutney or homemade piccalilli (I'll do recipes for these soon)

Spelt Risotto with confit wild rabbit

This recipe contains two fantastic British products, organic pearled Spelt and Old Winchester cheese. We've been trying to move towards using mainly British produced ingredients in the restaurant, and although we have a long way to go yet, these two products will definitely remain on our menu for the future.

I discovered Spelt recently through the 'Taste of The West' awards. It's an ancient grain and a distant cousin of wheat, introduced to England, it's thought, by the Romans.

I had been looking for an alternative to rice and the pearled spelt is as good as, if not better than, rice. It doesn't have the stickiness of risotto rice but retains an aldente centre which gives a wonderful bite to the texture.

Old Winchester is a vegetarian, hard cheese, with a delicious deep flavour which I use in place of Parmesan.

Confit can refer to preserving by immersion, historically this was fruits preserved in sugar. More commonly confit is used to describe a method of cooking by slow poaching in oil or fat, French confit is typically Duck or Goose poached in fat whereas in Italy it is poached in olive oil. I use vegetable oil or duck fat, a few herbs in the oil will infuse a great flavour to the meat, the meat is seasoned with brine before slow poaching for a few hours to create a delicious flavoursome meat. Rabbit works brilliantly as it is a lean meat and the method of cooking stops it drying out which is often a problem when roasting rabbit as they are naturally very lean.

(Serves 4)

Ingredients
Spelt Risotto:

120g pearled spelt (available from Sharpham Park - Tel. 01458 844080 or www.sharphampark.com

2 x Onions

75g Old Winchester cheese (finely grated) (available from Lyburn Farmhouse Cheesemakers - Tel. 01794 390451 or www.lyburnfarm.co.uk

500ml Stock (Chicken or vegetable)

250g Bag of spinach or 200g nettle leaves (if in season)

Knob of butter

Pinch of salt

Confit wild rabbit:

1 wild rabbit (cleaned and quartered by your butcher)

100g salt

1.5 ltr vegetable oil

Small bunch of thyme
Method

Spelt Risotto:

• 
  
  Finely chop the onions and sauté in a pan with a little butter and salt until translucent
• 
  
  Add the Spelt and mix. Add approx 1/3 of the warmed stock and bring to a low simmer. Stir whilst simmering until the liquid is absorbed
• 
  
  Add another 1/3 of the warmed stock and stir. Once the liquid has been absorbed, you have a choice; it'll only take 10 minutes to finish the dish, or you can store the risotto for up to 48 hours in the fridge
• 
  
  Add the remaining stock. Simmer and stir until most of it has been absorbed, then add the finely grated cheese, and stir
• 
  
  Add the spinach or washed nettle leaves, stir until all the liquid has been absorbed and the leaves are cooked

Confit wild rabbit:

• 
  
  Make a brine by mixing the salt with 1.5 ltr water. Place the rabbit pieces in a bowl and pour the brine over until the rabbit is well covered. Put in a fridge for 24 hours
• 
  
  To make the confit, take the rabbit out of the bowl of brine, wipe-off excess moisture and place in a suitable large pan (where the rabbit pieces have enough space not to be touching)
• 
  
  Pour the vegetable oil over the rabbit until it is covered and throw in the thyme
• 
  
  Bring the pan to a temperature of 80-90C (this might be best to do in an oven). Leave at this temperature for 4 hours
• 
  
  Remove the pan from the oven and take the rabbit out. Dry-off any excess oil
• 
  
  Flake the meat from the bones

To serve, spoon the risotto into a large bowl and place the rabbit meat on top. Decorate with a sprig of fresh thyme.

Venison with Jerusalem artichoke purée and Rowan berry sauce

January is a challenging month for wild foods as the prospect of a warm house will often win the battle for motivation to get out and pick, plus the choice, admittedly, is limited. What is great to eat at this time of year are the fantastic wild meats, Venison, Pheasant and Rabbit to choose three we often use in the restaurant. These are great choices for something that is in season and reasonably priced, and a good alternative to supermarket meats.
 
To enjoy Venison I prefer a less hung animal, often no more than a week, so as not to be too gamey and to allow the more subtle flavours to come through and enjoy a few accompaniments too.

I like to accompany a good piece of venison with some seasonal vegetables, and berries. The stand out vegetable at this time of year is a Jerusalem artichoke which, while not growing wild in the UK, was a staple food for North American Indians, in the USA it is also known as the Woodland Sunflower although I have never seen one in flower.

For berries, unless you made some preserve in October/November them it is time to look into the freezer, I'll give you a simple recipe that can be used for wild berries but also look for frozen british berries, I prefer red berries for flavour and appearance.

Berry sauce
This is too easy and you'll never buy shop bought again once you try. Use berries (fresh or frozen), I use a mix of the below to get a sweet, bitter, dry sauce which works brilliantly with Venison, but do use what you can find or purchase.

100g Blackberries
80g Redcurrants
20g Rowanberries
sugar to taste

Place the berries in a wide pan and add a little water to just cover the pan base
Heat gently till the water just simmers
Leave the pan on the heat for about 15-20 minutes till the berries are starting to break down, don't be afraid to use the back of a wooden spoon to encourage them to mash a little.
Take off the heat and strain through a sieve, use the wooden spoon to squash the juices though the sieve.
If the sauce is too thin then simmer for a little while till it is reduced to the right consistency
Add a little sugar to taste, err on the side of tartness to get a great flavour with meats.

Jerusalem artichoke purée
Jerusalem artichoke can be intimidating to prepare at first appearance, nothing could be further from the truth.

Soak the root in a sink for 10-15 minutes to loosen any dirt, then, with the back of a small vegetable knife, scrape the skin off the root, don't worry about any little lumps or bumps as we'll deal with them after cooking.

Chop into small pieces and boil in salted water for approx 15 minutes
Force the cooked root through a sieve into a small pan, leaving behind skin and any other bits we don't want to eat.

Add a little cream and salt to the sieved mash and beat with a wooden spoon over a moderate heat till the puree is an even, pale colour and smooth, this will take about 5 minutes. Taste and add more seasoning if needed.

To cook Venison
Venison steak, about 150-200g per person, the steak should be about 1" thick, Have your butcher prepare this for you.

Season your Venison steak with a generous pinch of salt per side and a little ground pepper, leave for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Heat a pan to a moderate heat with a decent knob of butter, to coat the pan about 2mm deep in butter when melted.
As soon as the butter stops foaming place the steak in the pan and cook for approx 2 to 3 minutes per side with the heat turned up, a little longer for a thicker piece. This will result in a medium rare steak which is the perfect way to eat venison. If you like your meat cooked well done then Venison is probably not for you as it becomes unpleasantly tough when overcooked.

Rest for two minutes then serve

Serve the Venison on a bed of hot Jerusalem Artichoke purée and pour over a little berry sauce.

Four Alternative Christmas Recipes (with Russian Standard Vodka)

Here's some recipes I've done with Russian Standard Vodka ... great vodka, and hopefully some alternative ideas for your Christmas dinner.


Russian Standard Vodka has teamed up with MasterChef 2009 winner Mat Follas to bring you something different for your dining table this Christmas and has come up with four alternative recipes to serve your hungry guests. Instead of the traditional turkey and Brussle sprouts this year why not indulge in alternative high dining with some tantalising Russian Standard cocktails to celebrate in style! Portion sizes are for four people:

Non traditional, Partridge and pear

 “My Partridge & Pear recipe gives a nod to an old Christmas song but is served in a modern and non-traditional way. I guess my feeling is that, like any home-made present, putting a lot of thought and care into recipes, makes them a better Christmas gift to customers, friends and family.”
Partridge:
4 partridges
4 sprigs of Thyme
100g wild mushrooms
150g butter
Marsala wine

• Buy prepared partridges. Roughly chop the mushrooms and mix with 100g of soft butter. Stuff the partridges with the mushrooms and butter mix. Season the birds and place inside some cooking foil with a sprig of thyme on top, making a loose fitting parcel with the foil taking care not to touch the sides of the bird
• Place the birds in an oven at 220C for 30 minutes
• Take the birds out, rest for 10 minutes them pan fry quickly in hot butter to brown, finishing with a little flambe Marsala wine

Lentils:
200g Puy Lentils
400ml veal stock
150ml good red wine
50g finely chopped cabbage

• Add all ingredients to a pot with a little seasoning and simmer gently for 45minutes till cooked

Salad:
Mixed salad leaves, get a good mix of lettuce, rocket, watercress, red endive or similar
50g Hazelnuts
1 pear

• Cook off the hazelnuts in a dry pan till lightly browned, remove and gently crush in a pestle and mortar
• Peel the pear and cut into rough squares, lightly caramelise in a hot pan
• Mix the salad ingredients in a bowl with a little French dressing
• Serve the partridges on a bed of lentils surrounded by the salad

Russian inspired Sevruga Caviar dish with a Standardtini cocktail

For those who’d like a Russian twist on Christmas Mat has created a traditional, hearty Russian dish; Sevruga Caviar, smoked roe, squid and chilli which would go very well with a ‘Standardtini’ – Russian Standard vodka and Dry Vermouth served glacially cold and dry, a great contrast to the rich, salty seafood
20 g Sevruga Caviar
200g smoked herring roe
4 baby squid
1 lime
sesame oil
2 medium red chillies
1 red endive
100g white miso paste
100ml beef stock

• The Sevruga Caviar is a lighter, more delicate caviar and a little more reasonably priced than Beluga. Salmon roe is a good alternative but for Christmas why not splash out and try some real caviar? Buy from a source that uses farmed and traceable caviar
• Slice the chilli diagonally and finely to create attractive pieces of red chilli
• Cook the miso and beef stock together till combined
• Prepare the squid, slice the body to create a single flat piece of squid meat and keep the tentacles together. Lightly cross cut the body meat
• Cook the squid and a few chilli slices in a hot pan in a little sesame oil for 20 seconds, then squeeze the lime over to take the heat off
• Serve the squid on the plate then on top place slices of herring roe and then squid tentacles and dress with a little caviar. Around the plate drizzle the miso sauce

35ml Russian Standard Vodka 
10ml Vermouth
Shake ingredients gently over ice. Strain and serve in a chilled martini glass. Alternatively combine ingredients with crushed ice in a mixer glass and stir well. Strain and pour into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a small cornichon cucumber. Serve immediately

Vegetarian: Chestnut and caramelised sweet red onions

For the vegetarians amongst you, Mat’s created a wonderful chestnut and caramelised sweet red onions on French bread with melted gorgonzola cheese and sprinkled walnuts to whet your appetite
6 medium red onions
200g chestnut puree
100g chestnuts
400ml good quality vegetable stock
150g Gorgonzola cheese
1 French style 'Bateau' loaf
100ml double cream
75g walnut halves
unsalted butter

• Prepare the onions by chopping into slivers from top to bottom. Add a generous pinch of salt then cook in a little butter on low for approx 30 minutes till caramelised. Add the stock and simmer till reduced to a thick sticky consistency
• Crumble the Gorgonzola into the cream and cook gently to create a thick paste
• Cook the walnut halves in a dry pan till lightly browned, remove and roughly crush in a pestle and mortar
• Slice the French bread in half lengthwise then across to create four pieces. Gently toast under a grill
• Spread the puree on to the toast then add some whole chestnuts and grill to warm before adding the hot onions. Pour over with the Gorgonzola cream then sprinkle with the walnut pieces and serve

Low Cal (less than350kcal/portion) Spelt risotto with pomegranate and edamame beans with turkey

Finally, Mat’s low calorie Risotto recipe will leave you feeling less guilty about those Christmas calories; allowing you to splash out on the festive cocktails! His Spelt Risotto with pomegranates and edamame beans with turkey is a light and refreshing alternative to the traditional Christmas menu and ‘The Fountain of Youth’ is the perfect cocktail to compliment its flavours. Feel the pomegranate and Russian Standard Vodka explode with fresh energising flavour with every sip you take
200g pearled Spelt
600ml good quality vegetable stock
1 pomegranate
100g frozen edamame beans
2 turkey breasts (75g per portion)
100ml good quality white wine
bunch watercress

• Clean the turkey breasts, removing all the skin and poach in a pan with the vegetable stock and wine for 20min at a low simmer. Remove the breasts and set aside. Skim the stock of any fat or scum then leave on a low heat
• Remove the pomegranate seeds from the fruit and clean the watercress
• In another pan place the spelt, add approx 1/3 of the cooking liquor from the poaching and bring up to a low simmer. Simmer for 35min stirring regularly. Add another 1/3 of the liquor when the risotto starts to dry out. When the final 1/3 of liquor is needed add it to the pan then add the edamame beans, check the seasoning to taste. While the final liquor is reducing roughly chop the breasts and add to the risotto. Check the spelt is cooked, it should be soft with a slight al dente firmness in the middle
• When completed stir through some of the pomegranate seeds and watercress then serve, use the remaining seeds and cress to dress the plate.

35ml Russian Standard Vodka
45ml Pomegranate Juice, freshly squeezed where available 20g/0.7 oz thinly sliced ginger
Shake all ingredients vigorously with ice, double strain and pour into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a piece of ginger, pass a mint leaf around the glass rim

Venison two ways

Here's a dish I made for the restaurant as a starter last night, a ramiken of the chilli with the wild salad and smoked venison ... its really good ! The chilli was made from a leg of venison I'd left to slow roast in the oven for the afternoon in an oven tray wrapped in clingfilm (to keep it moist).

Smoked Venison with wild salad

• Venison loin
• Salad
• Fresh berries
• Beetroot
• Oak chips for smoker
• sugar

Smoke Venison for 10-15 minutes in hot smoker till it is partially cooked and the colour of oak ... chill in fridge
Clean berries, heat with a little water and sugar to taste, then sieve to make a sauce
Peel and slice beetroot before frying slices till cooked through
Cut beetroot into matchstick sized pieces

Assemble on bed of wild salad, slices of venison with beetroot, then drizzle a little berry sauce over to taste, serve.

Venison Chilli

• 400g Slow roasted venison
• 10 Vine tomatoes
• Balsamic vinegar
• Olive oil
• 100g 70% Chocolate
• 1 espresso coffee
• 2 Chillies finely sliced

Drizzle balsamic and oil over tomatoes, roast in hot oven for 20min till just starting to blacken, blend and sieve to make a roast tomato passata. Make more of this as a base for pasta dishes or soups
Flake roast venison meat into small pieces with two forks (or use blender but don't over blitz ! )
Mix chillies, meat, passata, chocolate and coffee together and heat together slowly, it will make a glossy, hot chilli which is delicious on its own with a few crackers or tortilla chips. It doesn't need to cook overly so keep at a gentle heat. Add more or less chillies, espresso and chocolate to taste.

Savoury bread and butter pudding using tomato and chilli

This dish surprised me it worked so well ... was perusing veggie books for inspiration (no great secret that veg cookery is not my strongest suit) and saw a dish which used bread and eggs .... which got me thinking ...

Will try and take a pic next time I make it ... I actually think meat would detract from this yum dish ... its easy to make and delicious. I served some at lunch this week and got rave reviews.

Savoury Bread and butter pudding:

• 1 loaf of slightly stale bread, sliced and trimmed into triangles

Egg mix (proportions from Leith's cooking techniques book ... the best cookbook bar none ! )

• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
  
• 75ml double cream
• 75ml milk

I used 4x this mix to make about 8 portions

• I used a couple of roughly chopped oven roasted tomatoes from our soup prep so they had a bit of balsamic and olive oil too plus one finely chopped chilli, some Tabasco, softened onions and seasoning ... but try your own combinations

• Gruyere and Parmesan cheese
  

Method

• Butter bread slices roughly
• Whisk egg mix with tomatoes and other savoury flavourings
• Add a small handful of parmesan style cheese and mix in (use vege one if making vege dish, I use Old Winchester)
• Dip each slice of bread in the mix and arrange in baking dish so they are all standing up, I use each side of the triangle in turn to make a nice pattern
• When dish is full but not too packed pour over the rest of the mix till nearly covering the bread
• Sprinkle with cheeses
• Bake dish in an oven tray 1/2 full of water (bain marie) at 160C for about 40min, check if set and keep checking every 5 min till it has.
  
• Remove from oven carefully (hot water in tray !) and leave to set for 20 min
• Place under grill to brown off top for a couple of minutes

Slice and serve ... enjoy !

Pea and Asparagus soup

Inspired by the wealth of Asparagus suggestions floating around the web sites I follow I made a quick dish for dinner that was yum.

Firstly the easiest and one of my favourite soups - Pea

Add Peas to minimal water, boil for 3 minutes, puree and season ... that's it ... delicious and simple. Add bacon bits for extra salty zing if you want but a a sweet, filling yummy soup you really can't go wrong.

Today I added some asparagus stalks (not the woody end but the first inch or so after that) then followed the same procedure ... delicious !

The rest of the asparagus I griddled then warmed some Brie over it ...

Put it together and it was a delight ! I might go with parmesan shaving next time to try a stronger cheese as i think it could take it. Not the most elegant presentation but its just a quick dinner for me ... I was in a hurry to eat !

Anyway ... another idea for anyone looking for inspiration ... but have your first few bunches of Asparagus with Hollandaise first ... takes some beating.

Simple sweet chilli dipping sauce

Classic dipping sauce for Thai fish cakes, I often use this with a squeeze of lime to cook squid ... one of my favourite quick dishes. Once you've made this you won't ever go back to bottled sauce ... only takes a few minutes and lasts well in the fridge.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar (can be white wine)
• 1 red birds eye chilli
• 1 finely chopped garlic clove

Method:
Simmer vinegar and sugar gently to reduce to a syrup
Add chilli, finely sliced on an angle to look pretty ... leave the seeds in. One is plenty hot enough.
Add the garlic
Leave on low heat for a few minutes to infuse

That's it ... very simple. You can try adding fish sauce or using some palm sugar but I find it better to leave it simple and add the other ingredients to the dish rather than the sauce.

Great for cooking with, squid, vegetables ... but to save you an experiment ... don't try it with crab meat ... it doesn't work ! The two different sweet flavours clash horribly ... mine went in the bin.

Crab Thermidor

OK ... its a simple dish to make but its all in the tasting like so many of my dishes. I don't put amounts in many recipes as I cook by taste the best way is to start with the basics and try for yourself. Different cheeses, stocks, crabs etc will have different tastes so the only way to make a dish you love is to taste as you cook.

A brown crab is not expensive, should be about £4. Ingredients for the stock should also be free from a decent fishmonger when you buy your crab.

First make a really good seafood stock with flatfish bones, scallop frill and a few prawn shells. Read about making stocks in a previous post here .

Ingredients:
One good crab, spider tastes best but brown can be used for everyday
Seafood stock (about 300ml per crab)
Gruyere cheese
Parmesan cheese
Tabsaco
English Mustard powder

Method:
Clean the crab, extract the meat and clean the shell ready for use as a bowl.
Make a veloute with the stock, by making a roux with some butter and plain flour then adding heated stock slowly mixing till the consistency of double cream.
Season then add some gruyere and parmesan to taste ... should be a nice balance of cheese and sea flavour.
Add tabasco and some english mustard to bring in a nice heat to the dish.
Add the meat to the shell then pour the sauce over.
Add a little extra cheese on top then bake for 20min or so.
It should be cooked through and slightly browned on top.

Serve in the shell, use some green veg to balance the shell or some foil.

enjoy !

Simple Thai Style Dinner

Finally a day at home ... just fancied a simple dinner so knocked up a Thai style curry ... its easy to forget how simple it can be to make a quick dish that tastes amazing. Most of these ingredients can be kept frozen.

For two persons

Paste
Ingredients:

• Small bunch of coriander
• Ginger
• Garlic
• 2 Limes
• 2 hot chillis
• Lemongrass

Method
Finely slice 1 clove garlic and equal amount of ginger ginger(across the grain) with one lemongrass stalk, coriander stalks (save leaves to decorate) and chillis, add lime zest and pummel in a mortar and pestle for a few minutes, add lime juice and leave to infuse.

Make bigger quantities and freeze if you want to keep some.

Curry
Ingredients:

• Green vegetables, I always have some frozen soya beans, green beans and peas on hand for this dish but visit your veg shop and buy what's in season too ... some fresh sugar snaps or mange tout to chuck in at the last minute are great to add
• Chicken or prawns (I tried rabbit recently with this and it was great too !)
• 1 onion
• Tin of coconut milk

Method:
Fry off seasoned onion and meat in hot pan ... to sear and flavour the meat.
Add 1 tbsp paste and mix
Add coconut milk bring to hot but just below simmer
Leave on heat for 10 min or so then taste (the chilli tends to get hotter with time), add more paste now if not hot / flavoured enough to taste
Add frozen veg and keep on heat
Add fresh veg just before serving with some sticky rice


For lots more Thai and South East Asian ideas take a look at Andy Oliver's blog ... http://thecooksbroth.blogspot.com/

Andy was in the finals of Masterchef with me and makes amazing Asian inspired dishes.

Dauphinoise potatoes

Not my best night on Masterchef last night (I will post a diary my wife kept once I'm off) but my potatoes went down well and I've had several requests how I did them ...

Ingredients:

• 4 medium potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edward)
• Garlic
• 200ml cream
• 200ml milk

Chop several garlic cloves finely and start browning it in a pan, once translucent and starting to brown add cream and heat slowly, adding milk when simmering then take off heat. Leave for 30 minutes to infuse. This creates a lovely nutty, garlicy infusion ...

Peel and Mandolin potatoes finely and layer in dish with salt & pepper between each layer (use plenty of seasoning ... more than you think you should !). Do not wash the slices as the starch will bind the dish together when it cooks.

Strain garlic cream and pour into dauphinoise dish till potatoes are covered. Cover with foil and place in the oven at 200C for 30 min (adjust times depending on depth of potatoes). The foil stops it burning.

Take foil off Dauphinoise and press down potatoes firmly (this is key to the dish binding and not becoming a collection of potatoe slices floating in cream !).

Put back in over at 160C and check every 15min, pressing down. Take out when brown on top and the cream mixture is absorbed.

This freezes well, we make an oven tray full at home and freeze what we don't eat, reheat at 160C.

Lemon Chicken

Italian inspired ... lemon and chicken go together fantastically, or you could use oranges as an alternative if you can't get really ripe lemons. It's sweet, hot, garlicky comfort food - a lighter alternative to a traditional Sunday roast. It needs to be served with something equally strongly flavoured, otherwise they'll get lost against the intense flavours of the chicken, so garlicky roasted potatoes are ideal.



(Makes 4 portions)

Ingredients:

• 1 whole free-range chicken
• 3 really ripe lemons
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 1-2 small red chillies
• 2 tsp Honey
• 1/2 tsp Tabasco
• 1 stick of celery
• Salt & pepper to taste

Method:
Chop the chicken into pieces (to suit)
In a large sealable plastic bag, place zest and juice from 2 lemons, the honey, salt, Tabasco and 2 crushed cloves of garlic.
Place chicken pieces in the bag. Remove all the air and seal. Squidge it about to ensure the chicken pieces are coated with the marinade. Place in the fridge for 2 hours to marinate
Into the Roasting dish, place the chicken and the marinade from the plastic bag (spreading the chicken pieces evenly). Then, slice the 3rd lemon and the chillies, finely chop the celery (saving the celery leaves to decorate the final dish) and scatter these in the Roasting dish, along with the remaining whole garlic cloves
Season, then put in the oven for 40-50 minutes at 200C

Serve with garlic potatoes and a salad

Scallops and seaweed

I've been working on this for a while ... Arame seaweed (about £3 at an asian supermarket for a 30g bag of dried seaweed which will make approx 10 portions) tastes amazing with miso and a strong beef stock but I've struggled to get a balance to match the strong umame flavour of the seaweed. I matched it with some scallops, ginger, garlic and chilli.
Three pans to cook, one for the seaweed, one with some sliced garlic, ginger and red chilli cooked in butter and finally cook the scallops in butter and oil. Bring the dish together using a large ring like so:

Then add the seaweed and remove the ring ... the garlic and seaweed juices mix together for an amazing flavour and the scallops lift the whole plate with their sweetness ...

Now back to the Texturas ... made some lemon drops and added them to vodka ... amazing but none lasted long enough to photograph !