Experiment / Recipe: Duck and Apple Quinoa w/ Wild Garlic & Duck Butter

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

For this recipe I added a little lemon and  sugar to the apples to stop them oxidising & give the salad some light notes for a sunny spring day! If it’s a rather greyer colder day, it comes out rather well if you caramelise the apples. Add just a touch of sugar with a little cinnamon, and add some chopped dates to the salad too! 

This make a pretty decent vegetarian dish if you drop the duck, and replace the duck butter with 50/50 salted butter and creme fraiche!!

for the wild garlic & duck butter (makes 350g)

150g duck butter (recipe)

200g wild garlic (blanched and refreshed)

1/2 lime (juiced)

~

Blanch the wild garlic for 10 minutes tops, then drop it into cold water to stop it cooking and preserve the colour.

Probably best to do all the wild garlic at the same time and keep a third back for the salad!!

Chop it up so it doesn’t cause problems for the stick blender. Blend the leaves and lime juice in a high side jug

Once you have a relatively smooth paste add the butter in thirds until you have a loose puree.

Check it for seasoning, adjusting the salt and lime as necessary, then put it in the fridge to set

for the duck and apple quinoa salad (serves 2 - light lunch)

100g quinoa

250ml chicken stock

1 quarter confit duck leg (picked, recipe)

1 onion (brunoise)

1 clove garlic (crushed, chopped)

100g wild garlic (blanched, refreshed and chopped)

1/2 lime (for garnish / extra dressing)

~

Put the the quinoa and boiling stock in a pot with a lid, cook for approximately 10mins.

When it’s cooked the quinoa should have a little bite and have white circular whispy bits.

In the mean time put the picked duck into an oil coated pan on medium heat and leave it to crisp up.

Put the onions garlic and oil in a pan and cook until soft and translucent, then add them to the quinoa once it’s cooked. Chop the wild garlic and mix it, the apple and the duck into the quinoa too.

to serve

5g coriander (chopped)

1/2 lemon juiced

~

Add the coriander and lime juice, season and mix through well. Place in a serving bowl and top with wild garlic puree and a wedge of lime. No huge rush to serve, it should be at room temperature 

notes

Quinoa water grain cooking ratio: 450:250 stock:grain - yields a cooked weight of 640g - a lot!

Cooking time ~15mins.

Recipe: Simple Naan Bread (& Supporting Local Business)

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

This is a simplified naan recipe, that will give you a pretty good fluffy naan to go with your favourite curry. I’ve simplified it so you can make them with the kids! Bit of fun for a Sunday afternoon! (and you end up with a tasty naan bread) It also gives me an excuse to promote Bhavin Mistry’s great curries! (Available at Bruton Convenience Store)

Tadka Daal & Samosa made by Bhavin Mistry available from Bruton Convenience Store

Ingredients for the naan bread (makes 8 naans)

500g strong flour

200ml water    

7g yeast (dried)

30g sugar

5g salt

50 ml extra virgin olive oil (or olive oil)

1 large free range egg (beaten)

4g  garlic (1 clove, finely chopped - optional)

Note if you want to make 4 naans instead of 8 halve all the ingredients and use a medium sized egg!

Method

First activate the yeast: Boil a third of the water (simply put in the microwave for 1 minute). Mix it with the rest of the water and stir in the sugar and dried yeast until they are both dissolved. Put to one side.

(the mix will be around 35C perfect temperature to activate the yeast, any hotter and you’ll kill it!). 

It’s ready to use as soon as it’s frothy on the surface. (about 10-15 minutes)

Beat the egg and add the oil to it. (If you have a food processor skip the next two steps)

If not: Mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl until they come together into a dough.

Knead the dough on the counter for 8-10mins. (the purpose here is to get gluten forming in the dough to give elasticity)

IF YOU HAVE A FOOD PROCESSOR WITH A DOUGH BLADE:

Once the yeast mix has started to froth put all of the ingredients into a food processor fitted with a plastic blade (dough blade).

Pulse the ingredients until they come together into a dough - it should be coming away from the side of the mixer cleanly. 

Knead the dough by running the machine for another 2 mins (it feels like forever!!) 

Take the kneaded dough and place in an oiled container with a lid, or cover the container with cling film to stop it forming a crust. 

(the oil will make it much easier to get out once it’s proved, and stop the dough sticking to the cling film)

Leave it in a warm place until it’s doubled in size.

When the dough is ready turn it out and cut off a 100g piece of the dough (about the size of your fist) and roll it out until its 1cm thick. Then use your hands to stretch it out and make it naan bread sized . . . . drop it into a hot non stick pan and cook until bubbly on the top and brown on the bottom, then flip it, and finish cooking the top.

Brush with garlic or plain butter if you like!

Serve with your favourite curry! In this case I’ve been dying to try Bhavin’s curry and samosas, so I had it with a Tadka Daal. I put the samosa in the oven to crisp up the pastry, absolutely lovely!! 

I mixed a raita while they were heating up . . .

Ingredients for the raita:

150g plain yogurt (low fat)

150g cucumber (2mm dice)

2tbsp chopped coriander

1 spring onion (chopped)

1/2 lime (juice)

~

Simply mix all the ingredients together. Job done!

Thanks Bhavin for a great curry! 

(Available at Bruton Convenience Store)

Naan related posts . . .

* Turkey Kebab w/ Mango & Yoghurt Sauce

* Black Garlic King Prawn Kebab w/ Cucumber & Lime 

* Salt and Pepper Fillet Steak Kebab w/ Green Peppers

Recipe: Beef Pho - Vietnamese National Dish - Noodle Broth (rated 18)

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

Firstly let me begin by explaining the 18 rating. This recipe has been simplified so that an 18 teen year old with relatively little skill or interest should be able to produce a pretty decent rendition with an “am I bovered” amount of effort! (but proper good!! - chuck it all in the pot - 3hrs gaming - noodle dreams - lush)

short rib - cow rib init - cut into 4

ingredients for the beef pho (serves 6)

for the stock

3L water

2 chicken stock

75g  ginger (cut into 4 slices & charred)

2 large onion (cut into 8 & charred)

6 star anise

2 cinnamon stick

25g rock sugar (or brown sugar)

12 small oxtail segments (2pp)

3 short ribs (1/2pp) (what are short ribs? see below)

100ml fish sauce (to taste)

40g lime juice (1 or 2 limes)

for the pho 

600g fresh noodles (100g pp)

or 3 cucumbers (shredded)

500g sirloin / ribeye (80g pp medium rare)

2 large steaks

for the garnish

10g thai basil (4 leaves pp)

20g coriander (10 clovers pp)

4 spring onions (cut into rings)

1 red onion (cut in half, then semi circles) 

2 chillies (cut into rings)

fish sauce (tsp pp)

1 lime (1/6 each)

apparatus / equipment

knife

large boiling pot

method

stock

Put all the ingredients into a boiling pot, bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to simmer. (Volume knob to 3 or 4!)

Simmer for 3 hours. Take the steak (for the pho component) out of the fridge so it’s at room temp when you cook it.

Salt it (a couple of pinches of salt on each side - evenly distributed) and leave it in a takeaway box. (or similar)

pho 

Just before the stock is due to be ready. Remove the short ribs and place on a chopping board. 

Cook noodles for 2 minutes in boiling water, then strain and place in hot serving bowls.

Add some oil (a glug - pour for 1/2 second) to the steaks and turn them to cover them with oil. Place them into a hot pan. Turn them once the underside is brown, 2-3 minutes max. Remove and place on a chopping board once the other side is brown. Leave them there (to rest) while prepping the garnish & assembling the pho.

to serve

Remove the meat from the short ribs by cutting along the flat part of the bone. Slice the meat thinly.

Prep the garnishes as shown. Share out the oxtail and broth into bowls, slice the steak and garnish!!

Good to go!!

If you can be bovered: stock

Boil the meat separately before you start for 5 minutes, and discard the water it was boiled in. 

(Will result in a clearer broth as it forces a lot of scum to the surface - out of the meat)

Char the ginger and onion on a griddle pan, this adds a nice flavour giving a more complex broth.

Skim scum off the broth constantly as it’s cooking.

thinking ahead (aka for when you really can’t be bovered)

Put the stock including oxtail and sliced short rib in a resealable plastic bags. 600g / bag.

Bust it out of the freezer when you want a pho!

Nuke it for 10mins (800W microwave). Make the noodles and steak while it defrosts!

Great hangover cure with minimal effort!

what could go wrong? (notes)

I couldn’t be bovered and I ended up eating 40p quick noodles. (Ahem, for the rest of my life!)

sirloin steak - medium rare

oxtail - niblbes

Recipe: Zero Fat Salmon & Pork Wonton Soup

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

A friend of mine came round to lend a hand with hanging a door, a bit of sawing cutting varnishing that kind of thing. As a thanks for lending a hand I knocked this recipe up for a late lunch. I’m not gonna lie, it would have gone down exceptionally well accompanied by an ice cold beer! Unfortunately no beer allowed today - booooo! - watching that there waistline : /

Not bad for a bit of lunch - to be fair we'd earned it!!

Salmon is optional!! : )

Cucumber noodles

This recipe is a great recipe because you can have it with carbs or as a carb-less cucumber version!! Aye! So really good if you’re cooking for others while watching your own intake. Oh the sneakiness!! : )

It’s also quick and simplicity to make!

ingredients (serves 2 hungry people)

for the noodle soup

500g fresh noodles

1 chicken stock cube

1 tsp yellow bean paste (soya bean paste)

1L boiling water

1 medium red onion (finely sliced)

2 small green chillies (cut into rings, keep seeds)

1tbsp fish sauce (season to taste)

for the pork wontons

10 pork wontons (recipe post coming soon)

for the cucumber noodles

Mint & Sweet Basil

1/3 cucumber (mandolin to noodles)

1 tsp soy

for the salmon

300g salmon (cut into 2 pieces)

olive oil

salt

Ready for action!!

for the topping ~ garnish

2 tbsp cucumber noodles

10g sweet basil (stalks removed, torn)

10g mint (stalks removed, torn)

10g coriander (stalks removed, torn)

2 spring onions (cut into strips and then thirds)

~

2 spring onions (fine sliced into rings)

sweet basil (picked)

crispy fried onion

1 lime (sliced into 1/4’s)

apparatus / equipment

mandolin

method

for the noodle soup

Put the yellow bean paste and chicken stock cube in a pot, dissolve in the boiling water.

Add the green chillies, 1/2 of the red onion and the wontons, bring to the boil then set to simmer.

Add the spring onions just before serving. (or to the noodles, either will do)

for the cucumber noodles

Run the cucumber through the mandolin. Add a touch of soy if you fancy it!

Simple and fast! WARNING: Be so sooo careful with your fingers on the mandolin!!

Cook it 90% skin side down!! (Don't forget to de-scale it!)

for the salmon

I like my salmon ‘mit cuit’ but that’s a lot of ****ing about for lunch, so a nice quick alternative is to literally half cook it!

Quickly sear the remaining sides

Pat the salmon dry and coat it in olive oil. Salt the skin side to give a really nice crispy skin, and put it into pan on a medium high heat, skin side down. Leave it for 5mins until crisp and golden. the sear the remaining sides to finish. The centre should warm and still pink! If you’re using the skirt of the salmon, which is a lot thinner and fattier (and really nice) use a hot pan on a high heat for a shorter time.

for the pork wontons

I grabbed these out of the freezer!! I’ll put up a post on how to make them soon!

to serve

Unpack the noodles then loosen them and put them in a bowl. Microwave them so the broth stays warm when you pour it in.

Dress the noodles with herbs, cucumber noodles, spring onion and the red onion and pour in the broth. Sprinkle with round spring onion slices, crispy fried onion and chillies. Pop the salmon on top and serve with a slice of lime.

variations

If you’re making the cucumber noodle version replace 250g noodles with 2/3 of a cucumber that’s been sliced into noodles!

Recipe: Salt and Pepper Fillet Steak Kebab w/ Green Peppers (Successful Experiment)

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

I think the idea for this had been brewing in my subconscious after I was reminded the other day what a great combination of flavours peppers and steak are. I've been hankering for a (good) salt and pepper vibe, be it squid, ribs or prawns, but I've been sorely disappointed in my new hood. So the only way to remedy this . . . (dramatic pause) is to create my own! (evil villain voice) Whuar ha ha haaar!

keeping the mix pretty pure - one variable at time and all

Sooo goood . . . . so moist and juicy . . . that is a Saturday foodgasm!

My usual salt and pepper concoction contains ginger and various other things, but I wanted to get more of a handle on the flavour Szechuan pepper so I've tried to keep the mix fairly pure leaning heavily toward the Szechuan. (It could handle more!)

Left alone with this kebab, the temptation of it's rare and sultry nature, is simply too great - resistance is futile! The rewards to the taste buds? When you bite into that soft warm naan, and the flavour combo of the juicy steak and pepper, followed by salty heat and sharpened by the lime and coriander you will be in heaven! It’s out of control!

Not to be missed!

fresh ingredients = good kebab

ingredients (serves 1 - hungry type)

for the szechuan salt and pepper seasoning

25g salt

20g szechuan pepper

4 small chillies

10g black pepper corns

for the beef

1 large fillet or sirloin steak

for the vegetables

6 peppers (cut into rings) (capsicum anuum, aci sivri or charli)

1 onion (sliced into strips)

for the coriander and lime sauce

5g coriander (finely chopped)

1/2 lime (zest & juice)

30g mayo (or yoghurt)

use mortar or spice mill

for the naan bread

1 naan bread (buy or make you own)

for the garnish

coriander

apparatus / equipment

mortar and pestle or

spice mill

fine sieve

method

beef

Before anything make sure you've taken the beef out of the fridge so that it's at room temperature before you do anything to it.

Coat it in oil and salt and pepper mix.

Sear it in a hot heavy based pan (griddle pan if you like) until you have it cooked how you like, I like mine medium rare. There are some tips on how to cook a steak here.

for the szechuan salt and pepper seasoning

Collect the ingredients together and, either put them into a spice mill or a mortar and pestle. Mash 'em up until they for a smooth powder, then pass that through a fine sieve. Done

for the vegetables

Prep them, then dust them (heavy handedly) with the salt and pepper mix  and put them into a hot pan with a touch of olive oil.

Keep them going until they're charred on the edges to give you a really god char grilled flavour.

coriander and lime sauce

Mix the ingredients. If you do this first, (ahem, after you’ve taken the steak out) the flavour will develop more while you prepare everything else.

naan bread

Check out my previous post here on how to make really soft and delicious naan bread, or if you're feeling a touch lazy get some from the local store or kebab shop. You can try and get a kebab like this but, well, you wont! NO chance!






to serve

Lay out that naan, add a touch of mayo or yogurt, cover in vegetables, and sliced beef, give a squirt / dollop of coriander sauce.

Roll.

Devour.

what could go wrong? 

Some one steals it from you just after you're finished and you have to make another.

Don't let that mistake loop, you'll be there for days if the word gets out!

S N O R K!!! Sooo goood . . . . so moist and juicy . . . that is a Saturday foodgasm!