recipe: guinea fowl chinese leaf wrap

guinea fowl chinese leaf wrap

guinea fowl tagine w/ salad topped w/ couscous - in asia you find all manner of things wrapped in leaves - psychologically its a kebab! ; )

IngredientsMakes: 332g (2)

66g	(2)	chinese leaf
81g		green leaf & orange beet	(recipe below)
132g		guinea fowl tagine	(recipe below)
53g		couscous chermoula	(recipe below)

Method

Sometimes leftovers make te best recipes! This is a great example of one of those recipes!

Made from bits and pieces of yesterdays guinea fowl tagine & couscous

It's simplicity itself. Take a large chinese leaf and load it w/ salad and guinea fowl tagine including sweet potato & chermoula then top w/ couscous, make sure to get some flaked almond in there!

Fastest dinner ever!

green leaf & orange beet

green leaf w/ courgette ribbons & mange tout dressed w/ orange beetroot & lemon vinaigrette

IngredientsMakes: 419g (1)

100g		orange & fennel poached beetroot	(recipe below)
82g		chinese lettuce
20g		mange tout
120g		courgette
50g		mixed green leaf
40g		lemon vinaigrette	(recipe below)
6g		olive oil
1g		salt flakes

Method

Make the orange & fennel poached beetroot first - this take about 1 hour.

The rest is pretty fast . . .

Shred the chinese leaf coarsely & fine shred the mange tout.

Top & tail & peel the courgette, then lay it on the counter and pull the peeler along it's length to make ribbons.

Once you get to the seed core turn it 90 degrees and repeat until all four sides have been done and only the seed core remains. Dice the seed core into small cubes.

Dice the beetroot to the desired size and add some of the liquor.

Mix all the ingredient in a salad bowl and toss to coat evenly.

orange & fennel poached beetroot

beetroot poached in orange & apple juice w/ a little ginger & fennel - great cocktail beet, for salads and sides

IngredientsMakes: 360g

180g		beetroot
120g		orange juice
120g		apple juice
20g		ginger
2g		fennel seeds
40g		sugar
20g		cocktail onions
6g		sherry vinegar

Method

Peel the beetroot and cut into 1 inch pieces.

Put everything in a boiling pot with a lid on and bring to the boil.

Then turn down to a simmer, and cook for 45mins.

Check it occasionally and remove an scum.

Keep it topped up with water so that it covers the beetroot.

Once cooked let it cool and decant into an airtight container.

If using steamed (already cooked) beetroot let it simmer for 5mins, then leave it for an hour to infuse.

find Couscous Chermoula here! : )

If you are in Hereford check out Growing Local on facebook/meta they currently have all sorts of seasonal veg available grown right here in Hereford using organic practices!
Sign up for veg box here / or for wholesale here.

recipe: guinea fowl tagine

guinea fowl tagine

browned guinea fowl coated in chermoula - a north african marinade - cooked tagine style until juicy w/ mixed veg, prunes, salted lemon and dates - packed with flavour serve w/ couscous chermoula

IngredientsMakes: 2280g (1)

300g		chermoula	(recipe below)
1050g	(1)	guinea fowl raw
250g		red onions
20g		olive oil
280g		squash
200g		sweet potato
250g		carrots
50g		olive oil
10g		salted lemons	(recipe below)
36g		prunes
36g		dates
2g		lemon zest
1g		harissa powder
200g		chermoula	(recipe below)
400g		water

Method

TLDR:

Coat bird in chermoula & leave to marinate for 2 hours minimum.

Cook the veg for 160C / 30min.

Brown off the chermoula marinated bird in frying pan before roasting then add it to the veg.

Coat in more chermoula, and place on top of the veg. Add some stock if needed.

Cover with tin foil roast until probe hits 75C (160C fan / 1h)

Take foil off towards th end. Rest 20mins, eat!!

Great served w/ couscous chermoula.

Full version:

(the microwave is used to speed up the veg roasting process)

Cover the guinea fowl in chermoula and place in the fridge for a couple of hours to marinte.

Peel onions & cut into six wedges each.

Place them in a microwave friendly jug w/ olive oil - microwave 800W / 5mins turning them over half way through.

Place them in a medium hot pan & cook them until they've started to brown. Tossing occasionally.

In the background cook the squash, sweet potato & carrots: Chunky dice them & put them in the microwave jug w/ the olive oil - microwave 800W / 8mins, take them out and toss them twice during the 8mins so the cook evenly and are coated in oil.

Chop the salted lemon & cut the prunes & dates into sixths - the oil from the lemon stops the prunes sticking to your knife!

Once the onions have started to brown add lemon, prunes, dates the softened veg from the microwave.

Add the last of the chermoula, lemon zest and the water and stir to mix into a sauce type afair then pour it all into a small high sided clay baking dish just big enough for the bird.

Dust the veg w/ a touch of harissa powder for a layer of heat & smokiness & cook the veg at 160C / 30min.

Brown the skin of the bird all round until golden.

Take the par roast veg out of the oven & pop the browned off bird on top, drizzle w/ olive oil & season w/ salt flakes.

Place a temperature probe into the thigh then cover with tin foil roast util probe hits 75C.

Or without a probe roast 160C fan / 1hour.

Take the tin foil off for the last 20mins to crisp & brown things off.

Rest for 20mins before serving, the clay & the veg will keep it warm!

Great served w/ couscous chermoula.

chermoula

chermoula is a north african marinade / dip traditionally for fish or seafood but also used for meat and veg, this version is a nod in the right direction - a very tasty nod!

IngredientsMakes: 300g

16g		garlic
10g		coriander
28g		galangal paste
40g		olive oil
60g		lemon juice
40g		salted lemons	(recipe below)
40g		honey
4g		cumin seeds
4g		sweet paprika
4g		turmeric powder
50g		red onion

Method

If using fresh galangal skin it, dice it and blend it first, then add the peeled garlic to the blender.

Best to start w/ harder things first for and even texture.

Add everything but the onion and blend then turn out into a jug.

Lastly cut the red onion brunoise and mix all the ingredients together.

If you are in Hereford check out Growing Local on facebook/meta they currently have all sorts of seasonal veg available grown right here in Hereford using organic practices!
Sign up for veg box here / or for wholesale here.

Recipe: Leek & Lemon Verbena Soup w/ Rosemary Croutons

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

I naused up one of our delivery orders last week, and wasn’t there to receive it. Result? 5kg of leeks surplus to requirements!! Oops!

Time to get inventive and create some recipes for the blog, without putting on too much weight!! I went for the obvious one first and used them to create a soup, and the base for a few other recipes! 

Now there’s no way the kids are going to go for a leek soup no matter how class it tastes, so I made them fried chicken with sweet and sour leek tagleatelli. With half a kilo of (unidentifiable - he he) leeks in it! That has to count as one of your five a day, surely!!

For the grown ups I made stuffed pheasant thighs w/ creamy mash, leek verbena puree and quince and orange sauce. A+!! Even if I do say so myself ; )

Anyway that swiftly dealt with our leek problem! 

Here’s the soup recipe . . .  coming in at 50 kcal / 100g it’s über healthy! Ahem don’t mention the croutons.

ingredients 

for the leek soup (makes 3L - serves 8-12)

2.5kg leeks (cleaned, trimmed, coarsely chopped)

70g (16) garlic (16 cloves, peeled & crushed)

2 onions (diced & caramelised)

50ml extra virgin olive oil

3 carrots (I’d leave these out next time, just needed to use them!)

1L vegetable stock (2 veg stock cubes + 1L boiling water)

16g lemon verbena (chopped at last minute)

1 lemon (zest & juice)

5g salt

~

Prep the ingredients.

Caramelise the onions in a pot big enough for everything.

Then add the rest of the ingredients. 

Bring to the boil and simmer for 45m with the lid on.

Use a stick blender to turn it into a smooth soup.

Pass it if you’re feeling a bit an4l! ; )

Personally I liked the consistency, but if you want to thicken it up a little add 1-2tbsp of cornflour mixed with water and stir the soup until thickened.

for the rosemary croutons

125g butter

15g rosemary (4 sprigs, bruised)

8 thick sliced bread

~

In a small saucepan melt the butter keep the heat up until it stops sizzling. (which means all the water has evaporated.)

Add the bruised rosemary carefully. It may spit, specially if the rosemary is wet.

Take it off the heat & leave it to infuse for 30 minutes.

Once infused toast the bread and brush it with butter on both sides.

Cut into large dice and put it in a 120C oven for 60 minutes.

for the garnish

lemon verbena

croutons

~

Serve the soup in hot bowls and top with croutons and a lemon verbena leaf!

equipment

Stick blender.

thinking ahead

You can freeze this and it will last in the fridge for at least a week.

Leftovers - Recipe: Special Fried Rice or Duck and Apple Haggis

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

I use all manner of variations of special fried rice to use up leftovers!  This one came about when I was running a duck menu last summer. 

Once all the development is done comes scaling it up for a banquet. It was the first time we’d scaled it up in anger, you always have to make alterations to ingredients, quantities and the process. On this particular occasion I totally miss-judged the amount of duck we needed (always have more than you need, hungry banqueters ain’t a pretty site!), and as it happens we had a giant haggis leftover too!! Secretly thinking RESULT!! : )

The key elements in this recipe are the caramelised apple and the haggis, they make a great backdrop of the duck and the cavolo nero. After the onions, which deepen the flavour and also add some lighter notes (spring onion), the rest is completely optional!

One note I will make is that the Braeburn apples that I used weren’t quite ripe which meant they had a good bite to them so they put up well with the caramelising process, staying in chunks and adding a sharp note when they were bit into, perfect against the haggis and the duck!!! Still I don’t think I’d use cooking apples!

Unusual, minimal effort and really really good!!!

ingredients (serves 6)

for the caramelised apple 

4 Braeburn apples (3/4 cm dice)

1 lemon (juiced)

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

for the duck and apple haggis

300g picked duck (picked form carcass)

300g caramelised apple (from above)

700g haggis (cooked and broken up)

cavolo nero (1cm slices)

1 leek (cleaned and small dice)

1 large onion (medium dice)

6 spring onion (chopped)

1 pepper (deseeded, medium dice)

2 carrots (medium dice - 1/2cm)

2 eggs

200g boiled rice

2 roast potatoes (coarse chop)

for the garnish

5g chives (chopped)

caramelised apple 

Juice the lemon into a bowl big enough to hold the apples 

Peel and dice the apples about 3/4 cm dice. Add them to the lemon juice and toss to coat them and stop them going brown.

You want them to release a burst of flavour when you bite into the chunks, smaller than this and they’ll turn to mush!

Once they’re all dice put them into a medium hot pan and allow them to release juice without moving them about too much.

Once they’ve stopped releasing juice and there’s almost none left add the cinnamon and the sugar and toss them to coat well.

Leave them until the sugar stars to caramelise the apple chunks, once done put them aside until needed.

for the duck and apple haggis

Add a little oil and the eggs to a hot pan then add the boiled rice and chopped roast potatoes and mix well, one the egg is cooked put the mix into a large mixing bowl. This step is optional, I was just using up leftovers, that is after all the point or the exercise!

The bowl is not optional!! The rice and potatoes are!! K?

Next make a kind of mirepoix from the onion, leek, pepper, carrots and cavolo nero, season and once cooked add this to the mixing bowl.

Add a little more oil to the pan and ad the picked duck pieces toss to coat them (a smidgen of hoisin sauce at this point doesn’t hurt but it’s optional) and then leave them a few minutes to crisp up a little. Add them to the mix.

Right, time to release the Haggis! Add some more oil to the pan and add the crumbled (already cooked haggis) and warm through. Add this to the mix and mix in well.

Then mix in the raw chopped spring onion and lastly gently fold in the caramelised apple

to serve

Chuck some chopped chives over the top and serve immediately!! I served this with some larger duck pieces and hoisin sauce and some soused cucumber and mange tout.

variations

It really doesn’t need the rice or roast potatoes! The haggis is a good stogy substance and will put up with being loaded with quite a lot of vegetable! Pick what every you want! Pork goes well with this too instead of duck. . . 

It ain’t going to get any Michelin Stars but it’s a good feed if there are a few of you!! : )

Experiment Recipe: Shin of Veal

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

After 6 months being bounced around from one place to another, I've finally found somewhere I can cook!! You have no idea how much that means to me!! I didn't until this week! To be able to cook in a kitchen without being frowned at for one reason or another, gorgeous aromas emanating form my sauce pan or stock pot . . . hmmmmm; I have to say, it's nice to be able to get back to experimenting in the kitchen, vey nice indeed!! 

On that note here's and experiment I did the other day, with what looked like a rather large lamb shank, actually veal.

As you can see from the components (carrots, cabbage, potatoes), there's lots of very standard things in this experiment. It's is really about the veal shin, and how is comes out after braising. I've treated the rest of the accompaniments very simply. So if worst come to the worst, we've got some nice veggies and things to eat, think I might make a giant yorkshire pudding too, you know, just in case!! He he . . . 

Now that's a yorkshire pudding!! (The pyrex dish is 12" long)

ingredients (serves 4) 

for the veal & gravy

2 shin of veal (seasoned and seared brown)

3 onions (charred)

1 leek (cleaned and cut unto 2cm lengths)

2 star anise

2 chicken stock cubes

2L water

4g flavoured salt

for the carrots

4 carrots (pealed, and cut into 1/3's)

50g butter

1 tsp flavoured salt 

2 star anise

flavoured salt

300g salt

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp garlic powder

for the savoy cabbage

1 savoy cabbage (outer leaves off, but into 1/4's)

for the potatoes

8 medium desiree potatoes (cleaned, 1/4's skin on)

or jersey royals at this time of year

apparatus / equipment

Frying pan.

Large braising pot.

method

veal

Coat the meat in a thin film of oil - so the salt sticks - then sear it in a pan to brown the outside.

Once browned put it in the pot where it will be braised.

Peal and halve the onions, then add a little olive oil to the same pan and put the onions in flat side down, cook on a medium high heat until the flat sides are charred, then add them to the pot.

Add 2L water, bring to the boil and set to simmer 3hrs

carrots

Put all the ingredients in to a small pan, bring to the boil then set to simmer for 30-40mins

flavoured salt

Measure the ingredients and then mix well until a evenly distributed seasoning is created! Job done!

savoy cabbage

Boil in salted water, drain, leaving it as dry as possible, allow it to let off steam on a tea towel. The leaves of  a savoy cabbage will are all crinkly and will carry a lot of water, you want that to be lovely gravy instead of water, so get them as dry as possible.

You don't want lots of water diluting the gravy . . . . eeeeuuuwh!!

potatoes

Boil them in salted water, a 1.5inch diced potatoes take approx. 6-8mins (after the water starts boiling) to cook. Depending on the size of course!

thinking ahead

Put it on at lunch time, it'll be ready for tea time with very little effort!

to serve

Put each thing into serving trays and let people help themselves!!

verdict - ahem I mean conclusion:

Gorgeous!! The the meat falling off the bone and the tendon was super soft and unctuous! I bought 1 shin to experiment with, but 2 would be better for 4 people. 

RECOMMENDED!!

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!