Recipe: Roast Vegetable Soup & Pickled Herring

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

I was having a root around one of the Polish grocers the other day, looking for something healthy to eat. Nearly all of them do a pretty good pickled herring in oil. Once the oil has been patted off it's a lovely piece of fish! Quite sharp and with a lovely smooth texture. I thought I'd balance it with something earthy and wholesome with a touch of sweetness: roast vegetable soup. The great thing about this recipe is it's just as good room temp as it is piping hot, which makes it a great summer lunch recipe.

ingredients (serves 4)

for the roast vegetable soup - 160C / 60m

10  carrots (peeled, quartered length ways)

2  parsnip (peeled)

4  tomatoes (quartered)

1  red pepper (de-seeded, cut into 8)

2  onions (diced)

4  cloves garlic (peeled whole)

1L  chicken stock (or vegetable)

Extra virgin olive oil (to coat)

for the accompaniment

8  pieces of pickle herring in oil

apparatus / equipment

Stick blender

roast vegetable soup

Prep the ingredients, and place in a baking tray. Give them a good glug of olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then toss them to the coat all over. 

Add 250ml stock and pop it into the pre-heated oven at 160C for 50-60mins until carrots and parsnips have take a nice golden colour. 

Once they're done, remove the garlic, and any veggies you want to put on the plate whole. 

In a saucepan large enough to hold all the ingredients, bring the rest of the stock to the boil, then turn off the heat.

Add the remaining veggies and blend with a stick blender until smooth.

to serve

Pat the herring dry with some kitchen towel and cut into quarters. 

Add some roast vegetables to the centre of the plate. (if you kept some)

Cover with the sauce and decorate with the pickled herring.

Serve immediately.

thinking ahead

The soup will freeze no problem at all. Once defrosted - if you're not going to reheat it - whiz with a stick blender to reconstitute it's texture then serve at room temp. Otherwise simply reheat in a saucepan!

variations

This combo makes a great sauce with roast pork. Roast the veggies in with the pork, remove the pork from the roasting tin and drain off any excess fat, then whiz with a stick blender. Absolutely fabulous! Thanks to Raquel for this tip!! It's amazing!

Retro Recipe: Mini Toads - Picnic Toad in the Hole / Yorkshire Pudding

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

I was having a look though and ancient directory on one of my backup drives, and I came across a bunch of old recipes from when I used to live in Barcelona, I always used to write down the ones that worked out! A well fed girlfriend is a happy girl friend I find. Well, it's one check box anyway!

We would often go up into the mountains for walks or to the beach (my favourite), usually a little further up the coast. Away far from heavy touristy bits of city. Pop a small kite up so we're easy to find on the beach when the others arrive and get down to the arduous business of sunbathing! 

After a good swim in the sea and a bit more of a sunbathe, grab a couple of beers from the nearest chiringito and crack open the picnic box. I don't think we ever came back with any of them left!! Soooo morish! Balance with a nice goats cheese and tomato salad. You know that, well, rather screw faced reaction you get when offering your friends kids (little feckers) food? Well you wont get one of those!!! 

They take 10mins to make. In it's simplest form the recipe goes: 1. whisk batter, 2.cut sausages, 3.bake. And it's a classic crowd pleaser, for BBQ buffet or for a picnic hamper, and they freeze too!

The batter is quite loose and it makes for a gloriously sticky mini toad in the hole, for less stickiness add more a touch more flour.

ingredients (makes 12)

for the mini toads

3 medium eggs

3 heaped tbsp flour

1/4 pint (~140g) milk 

2 tbsp olive oil

4 large good quality sausages

  (or 9 herbed mini bratvurst)

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix batter : )

salt to taste

apparatus / equipment

12 mould muffin tray.

method

Pre heat the oven to full blast ~230C

Make the batter: Mix the eggs, flour, sugar salt oil and milk until smooth.

Leave it to warm to room temp.

Evenly distribute the cut up sausage into the baking tray, 4 sausages into 12 pieces, 9 small sausages in 36 pieces.

Sizzling hot - the bater should start to cook on contact!

Add a small squirt of oil and put into the

oven until they are sizzling.

Once they're sizzling pour over the batter half filling each mould.

Bake 15mins - don't open the door before this!!!

Depending on your oven they'll take 15-25 minutes.

thinking ahead

You can make them when ever you want, and then freeze them.

When you wan to use them defrost them and pop then into the oven at 180C for 5mins

what could go wrong? 

You're impatient and you open the door early, and they sink leaving you with hockey puck with a sausage in the middle.

Solution, don't open the door before 15min.

to serve

Serve with a little ketchup or aioli or both, and a light salad. Or ahem, cough, thick onion gravy, buttery mash and cabbage or peas

variations

Why not try making a giant yorkshire pudding!! The trick hear is to get the quantity of mix to tin size right! 

No deeper than 1cm!!

A high sided tin will also guide and contain your yorkshire pudding. Which means it will contain your onion gravy!!

But not your excitement!! : )

Recipe Basics: Tomato Sauce for Spaghetti, Macaroni, Pizza & Breakfast. Not Ketchup

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab 

Not long after I left university I moved to Barcelona with my girlfriend and my brother to found a startup. They were good times, the weather for the most part was a lot better and when it rained, it rained!! The skies would go black and the heavens would open with a torrential down pouring, the darkness broken only by what looked like giant crooked walking sticks of light from the roof of the sky and almost stinging crack of noise as if some monumental whip were being wielded in the sky, followed by a heart stoppingly loud ground moving rumbling. Yeah, really good thunder storms!! The kind of thunder that would have Mark Wahlberg and his Teddy hiding under the bed! Anyway I digress, they were tough times too, and when I wasn't teaching my girlfriend Spanish (and myself patience), coding, or researching, I was cooking us dinner! This sauce, which is ultra quick to make, came to the rescue in all sorts of dishes, including spaghetti, mac & cheese, pizza and, of course, the Great British breakfast.

What's good about this recipe is that it's a great way of using up tomatoes that are past their best for a salad, and are really ripe!

ingredients (makes ~1L)
for the sauce
4 large ripe tomatoes (diced)
1 medium onion (diced)
1 clove garlic (crushed)
300ml extra virgin olive oil
1 chicken / veg stock cube (dissolved in 300ml water)

apparatus / equipment
saucepan
stick blender (optional)

method
Chop up the ingredients and put everything except the tomato and stock into the sauce pan on a medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Once the onions are translucent, turn the gas up to full blast. After a minute or so add the garlic, then the tomatoes. Take care as it will spit. Mix well, then add the stock and keep the pot on full blast until it starts to boil. Turn down to a simmer immediately and leave for 15minutes or until the tomato has gone soft. Season the sauce to taste.
You now have a rustic sauce! I love this on a fry-up!!

For a finer sauce simply blend the mix with an immersion (stick) blender - the sauce will emulsify -  and pass through a sieve.

Heritage / Heirloom Tomatoes - The Green Zebras, and the Black Tomatoes are my faves!

thinking ahead
This sauce will keep in the fridge for a week no problem, and of course there's the old ice cube tray trick. Fill and ice cube tray with the sauce and freeze. Pop it out whenever you need. To be honest it's so easy to make I usually make it on demand. If you're making a fry up, for example, put your sauce on first and simmer it in the background as the rest of breakfast comes together!!!

variations
This recipe lends itself very well to being the base for a spicy sauce with the addition of a little chilli. Add basil for spaghetti, oregano of a light mac 'n' cheese or a margarita pizza.

Latest Review - ferdiesfoodlab - Guan Chua

I'm honored that Guan of theboywhoatetheworld took the time to write about us, and even more so considering what he's written.

. . . "in contrast to most supper clubs where the focus is on ethnic home-style cuisine, Ferdies deserves credit and praise for pushing the boat out with his cooking." . . 

the post also includes great photography . . . check out the full post here!

Recipe - Leftover Challenge: Chicken Croquettes

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab  
Croquettes are something very dear to my heart. As a kid we'd get them once a year! They were like absolute gold dust, which is sort of ironic because they were made from leftovers! Turkey, to be precise! And bloody good they were too. 

 








I have no idea how my mum used to make them! The other day I was faced with some leftovers, and it had been so. so long since I'd had one, that I thought - why the hell not?!! In fairness, they took about 2hrs to make, which is probably why we only got them once a year!! But I made enough to keep me in frozen croquette for a while . . . . reeee..sult!!

Here's how . . .

ingredients (makes 16-18)
for the croquettes
150g left over roast chicken 
     (about 1/4 - 1/3 of a roast chicken)
150g mushrooms
250ml pint chicken stock
1 tbsp gelatine powder
     or 2 sheets gelatine (optional)
80g flour
80g butter
50ml milk
4 egg yolks
1 egg (whisked with a touch - 10ml - of milk)
old/toasted bread / bread crumbs(for coating)
oil for frying (veg/sunflower)

for the coleslaw
1/3 cabbage (finely sliced)
12 black olives (stoned, quartered)
50g pea shoots or other green leaf
8 cherry tomatoes (quartered)
1 tbsp mayonaise
500ml 5% brine (boiling)

croquettes
Clean the mushrooms, then add them to the chicken stock and leave to simmer.
Debone the chicken and dice it: medium small dice. If you like your croquettes super smooth, you can blend it! Personally, I like a bit of texture in my creamy croquettes. Also nice to be able to identify what you're eating, neigh-ce pas? (Boom boom!)
Make a roux by melting the butter in a pan, then adding the flour and mixing until a smooth paste is formed. Remove from heat.
Remove the mushrooms from the liquor with a slotted spoon and place them onto a cutting board to cool down.
 
Mix the gelatine powder into the hot liquor until completely dissolved. If you're using sheets soak them in cold water for 5 mins first, squeeze any excess water from them and add them to the liquor, mixing in until dissolved.
Add about 3 tbsp of the liquor to the chicken and mix until well coated and glossy.

Add the milk to the roux and loosen it. (Mix in until smooth)
Add the remaining liquor to the roux and mix until smooth, put it on a gentle heat until the flour is cooked out. (10-15m) A little more stock and this would be a velouté. Take off the heat.




Chop the mushrooms to a similar size as the chicken.
Add the chicken and mushroom to the creamy mix, then add the egg yolks and mix in with a wooden spoon, stir until the mix is thick and silky, season if required.
At this point the classic route would be to pour the mix into a tray and let it cool for 2hrs until it's set, then coat in bread crumbs.

But I was absolutely starving at this stage so I took matters into my own hands:
Run the cold tap until you have an inch (2.5cm) of water in the sink, then place the pan in and keep stirring, this will quickly lower the temperature of the mix. Once it's cold the mix will be thick enough to quenelle.

Quenelle the mix with table spoons onto a tray of flour, roll to coat in flour.
Coat in egg wash, (the whisked egg) then bread crumbs, and place onto a tray lined with bread crumbs.

Once you have enough to fill your frying pan, heat your oil to a medium temp (160C for deep fat fryers - 4mins) and place the croquettes into the oil with a pair of tongs, fry them until golden brown turning occasionally so they are evenly cooked.

Once they're ready, remove them and place in a sieve (green option) or onto kitchen towel to drain.


At this point it's important not to let the little blighters get the better of you by having a sneaky taste, you will burn your mouth!
Let then drain for a moment, then place on a hot serving tray and serve immediately!

coleslaw
Prep the ingredients as listed.
To make the brine weigh out 25g of salt and add 500ml of boiling water, stir and dissolve the salt.
Add the sliced cabbage to the brine and leave for 30mins, then rinse under cold water and drain. This will have 2 effects: it seasons the cabbage and parboils it, softening it slightly for the coleslaw.
Once the cabbage is completely drained, mix the ingredients together and put aside until required.

thinking ahead
Croquettes freeze very well so you can make a big batch - 'cos let's face it, they take a while! - and bust 'em out of the freezer when the mood takes you!

what could go wrong?
When dicing the chicken and mushrooms, if you dice them too big it will be difficult to roll them into croquettes. 4mm chunks max!

to serve
Place a healthy portion of coleslaw onto a warm plate, add the croquettes and dress with a sprig of parsley if you're feeling like the '70s. Alternatively, you can load a serving dish with croquettes and large bowl with the coleslaw, place them on the table, and let folks help themselves!
 
variations
The list is endless, but here are a few: Ham, lamb, potato, beef, cheese, rice, salted cod and mussels. They can also be of the sweet variety, for example, made from rice pudding thickened with egg yolk then coated and fried!!

Recipe / Experiment: Orange Powder

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

It's always fun to try new techniques, sometimes it's a disaster and you learn a great deal, sometimes it's a disaster and it takes 3 more attempts to get even close to the desired result - (bread was a good example of this one for me) and some, like this one, are nice and easy, and it's simple enough to get the desired taste.

ingredients (makes ~70g)
for the orange powder
300g sugar
50ml water
6 oranges (zest only)

Add zest to syrup	Reduce 20mins	Pour out onto silicone
Spread out	Dehydrate in oven 50C	Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes!

method
Zest oranges - therein lies the trick! The important thing is to get as little pith (the white bit between the orange flesh and the outer skin) as possible. You could use a zester, but you lose half of the zest. A micro plane the best way to go - quite expensive. Or a speed peeler and a bit of practice!

The orange on the left is attempt 1, the orange on the right is after about 4 oranges. It's important to use the sharp edge of the peeler almost like a knife. That is, moving it sideways almost like a knife, instead of using it like a peeler.

Once you have acquired your zest, add a 5mm depth of water to your pot, then pour the sugar in the middle. Once all the sugar has turned translucent - as in it has fully adsorbed the water - give it a little stir until the sugar has dissolved in the water and add the zest. Leave it to simmer for 15-20 mins. Turn the heat off and let it cool a little. Turn it out once it's cold enough to handle, break it up and distribute it evenly on a silpat or some baking paper.
Bake it for 60 - 90mins at 50C - the aim is to remove all the water from the zest and sugar.

At this point you'd be forgiven for thinking 'crunchy nut cornflakes!!' - because they look so alike!!

Next step is to pop the crystallised sugar zest into a spice mill and turn it into powder

Next make an OJ out of the oranges and time to start powdering everything to see what kind of cracking pairing I can come up with for the banquet!

 
  

variations
This dehydration technique can be used on all manner of things.

Right time to start dusting everything with orange powder - dust, dust, dust . . . . .    : )

Recipe - Classic: Steak / Beef and Onion Pie (or Oxtail & Prune Pie w/ Red Cabbage)

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab




OK I'm going to have a rant for a moment. Something I've often been presented with when ordering a pie is some kind of china bowl or ramekin with a bit of pastry almost hovering on top, as if they had been combined by accident, having nothing to do with each other. It's as if a bowl of stew was being stalked by a bit of pastry that always wanted to be a pie but somehow never made the grade. As far as I'm concerned, if it doesn't have a pastry bottom it isn't a pie! (Ahem . . . . . with the small exception of my Christmas left over turkey pie!! That doesn't count - it's Christmas and it's left overs!!)

Anyway rant over . . . . .  and thoughts turn to PIE! Can't beat a good pie! Even better if it's got a bottom!! Not a soggy bottom, mind you, we can't be doing with that!!

 







ingredients (makes 2 pies)
for the oxtail & prune pureé filling
2.5kg oxtail
750g (10) med onions (peeled & cut into 6ths)
100ml extra virgin olive oil
20g thyme (bouquet garni)
8 cloves garlic (cut into 1/4s lengthways)
750ml red wine
20 prunes (pitted)
3L chicken stock
plain flour for dusting
cinnamon powder

for the pie case
2x 375g puff pastry (want to make your own? here's how)
1 egg (beaten)
splash milk

for the red cabbage & beetroot
600g red cabbage (sliced)
2 beetroots (peeled, then 1 cm cubes)
300ml water
600ml tawny port
50g salted butter (small cubes)

special equipment
rubber gloves for beetroot
stick blender
2x 23cm loose bottomed tin (circular)
 

oxtail & prune pureé filling
Trim all the excess fat off the larger pieces of oxtail.
Season and coat the oxtail in flour and fry off in a pan until golden brown, then add to the boiling pot.
Oxtail usually comes held together with a piece of butcher's string.
You can use this to make a bouquet garni with the thyme: take the thyme, fold it in half, tie it with the string and add it to the pot.Add the onions, prunes, red wine, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and pour in enough chicken stock to cover the meat by 1cm.
Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down to a simmer, leaving the lid off.
Top up with chicken stock occasionally to keep the water level above the meat.

The oxtail should be ready after about 2.5 hours. When it is, remove it with a slotted spoon into a tray and pick the meat off the bone, it should fall away with very little effort.

Remove the bouquet garni and dispose of it. Pass the stock through a sieve and return it to the pot, reduce until it is a thick sauce.
Once reduced, return the contents of the sieve and the picked oxtail to the sauce. Mix it together. That's the pie filling ready.


pie casing
Rub the pie tin with a little oil or butter so the pastry doesn't stick to it.
Line the tin with pastry - this is the base - then using a brush, paint the pastry with beaten egg. This water proofs your base so when you fill it you don't end up with a soggy bottom - no body want a soggy bottom! Now you could cover the pastry with oven proof paper and fill it with dry beans and blind bake it. or you can, as you can see from the pics, chuck it directly into the oven and bake it as is. 200C for 15mins. 15 minutes is enough to seal the pastry with egg and almost completely cook it.

assembly
Once the base is out of the oven, fill it with the (hot) spectacularly tasty filling. Add a splash of milk to the beaten egg and whisk it in, then brush around the edges of the pastry - so the top sticks to it. Place the pastry top on and trim it with a pair of scissors.
Throw it back into the oven 200C for 20mins.

red cabbage & beetroot in port reduction
Add the cabbage and the water to a pot with a lid and bring to the boil.
After 3 mins add the beetroot cubes and replace the lid.

After 2 mins more remove the lid and allow the liquid to evaporate until there is almost none left.
In a separate small pot (without a lid) bring the port to the boil and reduce by 3/4 to 150ml.
 



what could go wrong? (TIPS)
My reduction burnt! TIP: Watch anything you are reducing like a hawk. To begin with, it will seem like it will never reduce, but the more it reduces the faster it goes, and it will evaporate completely and burn if you don't keep an eye on it in the final stages!

I burnt my kitchen down! TIP: When reducing alcoholic liquids, be careful. Always keep the lid at hand so that if they catch fire, you can simply put the lid on to put it out. (or let it burn off carefully!)


to serve
Turn out the pie! Easy way to do this is to put the loose bottomed tin onto a tuna tin (better be line caught and not blue fin tuna!) and gently push down the rim of the tin revealing the fabulous pie . . . chef bursts into song with pride, and does a quick victory dance!! Cut up and serve immediately with some cabbage and beetroot!



thinking ahead
You can make the cabbage in the afternoon, and reheat it in minutes when you need it.

Recipe - Classic: Brussels Paté (Liver Paté)

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

Over the years I've learnt a lot by simply watching others (chefs or not) experiment or create something they've done a million times! This one I picked up from my mum. I remember thinking, when I found out how this is made, "Is that it? Wow how simple! Wow I didn't realise how much butter is in that!!" But it couldn't be simpler. 

Brussels paté is made from pork liver often with brandy, in this recipe I use chicken liver, some madeira and butter. Truly delicious!!

ingredients (make 800g-1kg)
for the paté
450g      chicken liver
200ml  madeira
750g butter (clarified)
10g  thyme leaves (bruised)
olive oil for frying

for the garnish
small branch of thyme

apparatus / equipment
food processor

paté
Put butter on to clarify, include the thyme leaves: Cut the butter into chunks and melt in a pan with the thyme. As soon as it bubbles turn off the heat and leave for 20-30 mins so the flavour of the thyme infuses into the butter. Use salted butter as then no further seasoning is required.

Cook the liver on a gentle heat. The aim is to cook the liver evenly throughout, no crispy outer surface. This will give an even texture once it's blended - no tough bits, no pink bits!! (mit cuit - just cooked)

Put the cooked liver into a food processor.
If the butter has set warm it a little until it's liquid, skim off any scum from the surface and remove, any thyme twigs. Pour 2/3 of the clarified butter (the fat floating on top) into the food processor leaving the white liquid at the bottom in the pan.
Run the motor until you have a smooth paste. That's the paté made!! : )

Pour it into ramekins and make the surface flat. Seal the paté with the remaining clarified butter, by pouring a thin layer over the top of the paté, and leave it to set. Consume at will!!

thinking ahead
This will keep in the fridge for a week if it's sealed. For months in the freezer.

to serve
Bust out some French stick, (toasting optional) some cornichons (little green pickled cucumbers), mayo, tomatoes, a little cucumber. Give everyone a glass of madeira and let them help themselves. Really nice home made paté for about 20mins, if that, of actual effort!

variations
This recipe is a great base to create all sorts of variations. For example: Adding parsley, and caramelised onion at the blending stage and then mixing it with (cooked) chicken thighs or mushrooms - fabulous, and makes a great starter.