Posts Tagged ‘Salt’
Friday, January 13th, 2012
We moved to South East London a few weeks ago, and last weekend finally made it down to Brockley Market.
It’s only been going for a few months, but the organisers have pulled together a really nice selection of stalls including organic fruit, veg, meat, as well as a few street food style vendors and some great coffee. Special mention should go out to Mike & Ollie for their delicious mackerel wrap, and the Mother Flipper burger I sampled. Brunch of champions.
In general I have a bit of a problem with the prices of farmers markets in and around London, particularly when it comes to meat, so I decided to set myself a challenge. Spend a tenner or less to put together some decent grub. After spying a nice slab of chuck steak at Jacob’s ladder, I hit on the idea of making pasties. I cheated a bit as the flour and butter I already had at home, but including the cost of store cupboard ingredients I probably still only spent £8 or £9, which is pretty decent for 4 chunky pasties.
Ingredients
For the filling
450g chuck steak
1 medium carrot
1 medium potato
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Tags: Bake, Brockley Market, Carrot, Chuck Steak, Cornish, Crimping, Onion, Pastry, Pasty, Potato, Salt, Swede, White Pepper
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 15th, 2010
There’s definitely something very satisfying about making stuff at home that you usually shell out for in a shop. For me, making home made pesto is one of those things.
Sure it involves more effort, and its probably not that much cheaper than buying a jar, but you’ll defo have a sense of pride once you’ve tasted your own creation.
You can use a pestle and mortar to make it, but I use a food processor, which makes the whole thing and whole lot easier.
Ingredients
4 or 5 big handfuls of fresh basil leaves (about 100g)
50g pine nuts
40g freshly grated parmesan
175ml olive oil
1 large clove of garlic
Squeeze of lemon juice
Large pinch of salt
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Tags: Basil, Lemon juice, Olive Oil, parmesan, Pasta, Pesto, Pine Nuts, Salt
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes | 2 Comments »
Sunday, August 29th, 2010
Last weekend I went up to Shropshire for Hogfest ‘10, which you probably won’t remember from this previous post is a yearly chance to meet up with mates, chat, booze and dine on swine in beautiful surroundings.
As in previous years, it was a a good crack, and the pig, sensational. A bit smaller than the previous year’s, and cooked over a fire fueled with only oak wood, it had a beautifully smoky flavour and moist tender meat. As usual, my favourite bit was the belly. Slammed in a bap with some coleslaw that I whipped up, and some home made apple sauce (the recipe for which is below), we were all in hog heaven.
I’m not a huge fan of shop bought apple sauce. I find it’s often too watery, too sweet, or both. So for this years Hogfest I decided to see if I could to better. The following recipe makes about 4 jam jars full, which you’re unlikely to need for a Sunday roast, so adjust the quantities accordingly. You’ll also need to adjust the quantity of sugar based on how tart your apples are. Go easy to start with, as you can always add more towards the end.
Ingredients
2kg cooking apples
20g butter
7 tablespoons Muscovado sugar
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1.5 teaspoons Chinese 5 spice
200 ml water
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Large pinch of salt
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Tags: Apple Sauce, Butter, Cider Vinegar, Five Spice, Hog, Hogfest, Lemon juice, Muscovado sugar, Party, Roast, Salt, Shropshire
Posted in Lunch, Recipes, Travel | 1 Comment »
Monday, August 2nd, 2010
At Hand To Mouth Towers, we don’t have any outside space that allows us to grill meat over an open fire, which can be a bit frustrating during ‘barbecue season’. So when I get the chance to get busy with some hot coals, I try and make it count.
For me the undisputed kings of the grill are Côte de Bœuf or the porterhouse. Both are pretty primal cuts, with plenty of marbling, and if well hung, bags of flavour. Whilst at Forcalquier Market we picked up some amazing rib steaks to barbecue, and they made an awesome dinner.
Ingredients (serves 6)
3 x Côte de Bœuf steaks (around 700g each)
Herbs de Provence
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
You want your ribs to be at room temperature before you grill them, so get them out of the fridge before you start your barbecue. Now get your barbecue super hot. You want to sear and caremelise the outside of the meat when you put it on, so it needs to be as hot as Hades.
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Tags: Barbecue, Côte de Bœuf, Grill, Herbs de Provence, Mustard, Pepper, Potatoes, Rest, Rosemary, Salt, Steak
Posted in Dinner, Opinion, Recipes, Travel | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Whilst my Mac is being re-habilitated I don’t have access to my holiday pics, so I’ll have to come back to the stuff I rustled up in France at a later date. But my camera is still working, and I’ve bought my schizo old mac back from the dead, so I can do a bit of posting in the meantime.
This recipe is my take on the tapas classic Gambas al Ajillo, and It’s pretty simple and quick too. Buy the biggest, fattest prawns you can afford. Serves two as a main course.
Ingredients
8 King prawns / Tiger prawns
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 dried or fresh red chilli, chopped
20g unsalted butter
35ml extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1/2 large lemon
Salt to taste
Handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
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Tags: Butter, Chilli, Garlic, King Prawns, Lemon, Olive Oil, Parsley, Salt, Sourdough, Tapas, Tiger Prawns
Posted in Lunch, Recipes | 4 Comments »
Sunday, June 20th, 2010
I love a bit of pork belly, but I don’t cook it at home that often. I’m not really sure why, but as soon as I taste that tasty, unctuous meat and get my teeth round that crackling, I vow to do it more often.
This recipe gives the belly the Eastern treatment using Szechuan pepper and Chinese five spice. Despite a lot of the fat rendering out during the cooking process, it’s definitely not the healthiest meat, but when it tastes as good as it does, who gives a toss.
Ingredients (serves 2)
For the pork
750g pork belly joint
1 tablespoon Szechuan pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper corns
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 teaspoon sea salt
For the greens
200g baby pak choi
1/2 red chilli, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon Light soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
6-8 Spring onions
Sesame oil
Vegetable oil
Method
First up, score the skin of pork belly all over in a diamond formation with as sharp a knife as you’re got. You want to cut through the skin, but not down to the flesh, around 3 millimeters deep.
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Tags: Belly, Chilli, Chinese, Crackling, Crispy, Garlic, Pak Choi, Pork, Salt, Sesame Oil, Spring Onion, Szechuan pepper
Posted in Dinner, Recipes | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
It was Valentines Day at the weekend, and as Hand To Mouth got engaged at New Years, I thought I’d better make a bit of an effort. Not being a fan of going to restaurants on VDay (always disappointing) I whipped up a three course feast fit for the future Mrs HTM. The menu:
Salt & Pepper Squid
Baked Cod & Leeks
Lemon Posset with Lemon & Almond Shortbread
I’m going to do a post per course as I don’t have the time to do them all at once, so first up our starter, Salt & Pepper Squid. If you can’t get hold of Szechuan peppercorns, just use 3/4 of a tablespoon of black peppercorns instead.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns, ground
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
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Tags: Chilli, Cornflour, Flour, Lemon, Pepper, Rapeseed Oil, Salad, Salt, Spring Onion, Squid, Szechuan peppercorns
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Snack | No Comments »
Sunday, October 25th, 2009
I sometimes get a bit bored with breakfast. Cerial during the week and a fry-up at the weekend, or whatever’s in the fridge and is easy to make and quick to eat. It seems like a bit of a shame seeing as it’s ‘the most important meal of the day’.
If you fancy something different try this avocado on toast. My missus introduced me to it, and now I love it too. No rocket science. It’s really quick and easy, and is also pretty healthy.
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Tags: Avocado, Breakfast, Olive Oli, Salt, Toast, Tobasco
Posted in Breakfast, Opinion, Recipes | 5 Comments »
