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: Duck Confit & Duck Butter on Toast (Wild Garlic Duck Butter)

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

Confit duck is so simple to make it’s unbelievable! It’s also a way to preserve you duck so it will last longer. You can do the legs plain without any additional herbs and spices and flavour them later or you can let them infuse with flavours for the dish you have in mind!

I like to add a lot of garlic, onions and a little chilli to the mix. These slow roast to great tasting warm kind of soft reduction with beautiful savoury flavour. When mixed with a little cream and butter this makes a great alternative spread!

for confit duck legs

2 duck legs

3 onions

1 bulb garlic

2 chillies

big sprig of rosemary

250ml vegetable stock

~

Brown off the duck legs in a frying pan seasoning them well.

Place all ingredients into an oven prof pot with a lid.

The stock should almost cover the duck.

Top up with a little olive oil and place the oven at 150C for 2-3hours

for duck butter

80g confit garlic and onion (from confit duck legs)

80g creme fraiche

80g butter (s)

~

Bring to boil, or microwave in favourite high sided microwave proof container.

Blitz to a rich confit duck flavoured sauce.

It’s not quite puree when it’s warm but it sets into a luxurious spread.

Great on toast or for croutons.

This is also a great base for wild garlic & duck butter . . . next post!

Recipe: Red Pepper & Goats Cheese Hotpot (Bruisers In The Darkness)

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

I was out for my first bike ride yesterday in our new location. It was a beautifully sunny day so I decided to take the bike out for a spin and explore the area. But first, time to tackle the shed!! In the end I probably left it a little too late to leave and I nearly got caught out by the setting sun. I’d forgotten just how dark it gets with out street lights!!!! Bloody hell!!! 

After feeling my way home I set about making some tea. In this neck of the woods every hill is a what my uncle would describe as ‘a bruiser’ and when I got back I was starving!

I realised immediately that there was NO garlic!!! After what I can only describe as an extremely mild panic I set about making something from what I did have. 

I can safely say this recipe is a keeper so I decided to put it up on the blog! Although I put chicken in this version, it wouldn’t be missed in a vegetarian version!!

Red pepper and goats cheese make a great combo and that’s no exception here!! No garlic required after all!!

Please excuse the photography, my camera is still in transit : / 

ingredients (serves 2-4)

for the red pepper & goats cheese stew

80g red pepper puree [will add a link]

2 onions (in sixths)

2 ripe tomatoes (in eights)

40g goats cheese (in chunks)

chicken bits (wings, legs boney bits - browned)

1 large potato (microwave 5mins - diced)

200g butter beans 

4 leaves cavolo nero (sliced)

1L chicken / veg stock

~

Section the chicken, season it, and brown it off in a frying pan.

Prep he rest of the ingredients and put everything except the cavolo nero into as oven proof dish.

Pop it into the oven at 180C for 45m. Then remove it from the oven add the cavolo nero.

Return it to the over to soften for another 10-15mins.

for the accompaniment

1 sour dough french stick

butter

~

Tear the french stick into generous pieces, toast them, or roast them in the oven for 10min.

And serve warm with butter.

for the topping

2-4 eggs (1 each)

~

Just before you serve add the eggs to the top of the stew and leave for 3-7 minutes, depending how soft you like your eggs!

Serve in a warm bow with the rustic french stick along side! 

What a fantastic winter warmer, and I got to test run the aga!

variations
As I mentioned if you leave the chicken out this would make a great veggie dinner!

Great the next day mixed with spring onion chicken stock broth:

tasty & light!

Recipe: Tabl 2.0 & Leek Verbena Mac & Cheese (slippin’ in 1 of your 5 a day!!)

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

If you’r thinking of joining us at the ferdiesfoodlab banquet one place you can grab a seat is tabl!!  The Tabl platform was a great place to find a fabulous collection of supper clubs but things having been changing, great things have been brewing in the tabl pot . . . presenting . . .

tabl 2.0! - without evolution we are nothing!  A huge array of producers with fantastic products for you to sink your teeth into!! (and supper clubs too!! : )

To celebrate the launch of tabl 2.0 they threw a we gathering to which I was invited. Having just cycled for 35mins with usual google goose chase (fun with GPS) en route, it was great to be greeted & treated to a wonderfully refreshing Nix & Kix! Which is a no additives mixed fruit drink with a touch of chilli. Really good! It didn’t stick at the back of the palette the way a lot of these fruit drinks do - really nice!

I also met a fantastically bubbly, salt of the earth fella named Luka who imports top notch Sardinian fair, and introduced me some lovely red wine. I met Sarah Brocklehurst form the Superfood supper club who’s menu sounds very interesting indeed, I love trying new things. 

Something else Iike trying is vodka, oh yes sir-ee! So I was pleased as punch when I got to try a lemon grass and raspberry vodka from Graham Abbott of the Fine Cocktail Company? Now that definitely hit the spot!! I like a bit of vodka and to have mixed in with lemon grass and raspberry was a nice surprise! Not at all mean with the measure of vodka either!!!

Just to keep things real I bumped into another interesting contact from Impossible or is it Possible? (The ‘Im’ on his card was crossed out!).

I had a very stimulating conversation Kwame a connector of sorts between capital and food ventures, about various projects that made me instantly think of Green9 who we have the good fortune to work with on occasion! (quick aside I couldn’t help it - also check out Wires Glasses rather cool!)

Mixed in at the end of the evening was talk of coffee and fine chocolate and my very own sauce & fine cub-abs with a rather bemused Darren of Cocoba and friend. It took me a little while to break through the giggles & guffaws to convince them that cub-abs were a good thing, maybe even the next big thing!!!! Even then I’m not sure they were totally convinced!!  One bite and they won’t need any more convincing!!! : )

I had a great evening and couldn’t possible have made it around all of the producers. As the evening drew to a close I was in a position to intercept a large chunk of Red Leicester and a pack of pancetta wrapped prunes. To be fair it was more like a “lets not waste anything” scenario. Being a great believer in not wasting food I happily accepted my impromptu goodie bag and went on my merry way.

Great night! I had loads of fun, and this is what I made with my pancetta wrapped prunes & Red Leicester . . . 

It’s actually a really healthy version of the classic mac ’n’ cheese, made from reduced leeks and lifted with beautifully fragrant lemon verbena. (Which grows very happily in the back yard don’t you know!)

ingredients (serves ) 180C / 20mins

for the leek & lemon verbena sauce (1L)

800g leeks 

                 (cleaned, trimmed, coarsely chopped)

20g (5) garlic (5 cloves, peeled & crushed)

1 medium onion (diced & caramelised)

20g extra virgin olive oil

300g vegetable / chicken stock

5g lemon verbena (chopped at last minute)

1/2 lemon (zest & juice)

2g salt

35g cornflour (mixed w/ 50g water)

~

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.

Add the cornflour and water mix and thicken to a smooth sauce (see notes below if you’re unsure)

Pass it if you’re feeling a bit an4l!

for the pasta

500g rigatone / penne

1.5L water

15g salt

~

In a separate pan add 1.5L water and 1tbsp of table salt and bring to the boil. Once the water’s  boiling add the rigatoni and boil for 7mins. It’s worth pointing out here that this is undercooked. If the rigatoni was for meatballs for example, or another sauce to be served immediately 7mins wouldn't be enough!!  9mins would be al dente and 11mins would be soft. We want it undercooked because it's going to be in the oven for 20mins in sauce cooking more!! : )

for the topping

250g red leicester cheese (grated)

12 pancetta wrapped prunes (optional)

(totally optional, I’d probably leave them out next time!)

~

Pour everything into your favourite baking dish (providing it’s big enough) top with cheese and bake 180C / 20m, until golden brown and luscious! Serve immediately

what could go wrong? (notes)

“My sauce is all lumpy maaaan, your recipe blows!”, when adding the corn flour/water mix make sure it’s loose when it goes into the sauce. (well mixed with no cornflour at the bottom of the mug) Stir constantly as soon as it goes in, and use a flat tipped spatula to move the quickly thickening sauce from the bottom surface of the pan!! Keep swiping the bottom until the sauce stops thickening and the cornflour has cooked out. (sauce isn’t grainy anymore but nice smooth!)

145g of cornflour will thicken 2L milk to custard consistency. The sauce base will already be pretty thick since it’s based on a soup, so if you don’t want the sauce too thick start by adding 25g mixed w/ 25g water to start. Thicken the sauce. If it’s not thick enough after a couple of minutes, repeat! 

Golden ratio, as important as your meat to bun ratio in a burger!! (or your naan to donner ratio . . . isn’t it? Of course it is!! 

Pasta v Sauce ratio - 1 :  2 - you want a saucy mac ’n’ cheese don’t you!! : )

That’s me, all done happy mac ’n’ cheesing!!

links & variations

Teriyaki Mac 'n' Cheese

Mac (n Cheese) Daddy

Next week - Stuffed Pheasant w/ Lemon Verbena Puree, Red Cabbage & Creamy Mash served w/ Gin & Quince - OMG!!

Experiment / Recipe: Squid Ink Charcoal

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

I was doing a little flavour profiling the other day - aka dicking about in the kitchen -  I’d been trying out an idea with black ribs for a course called “rack and black 2.0”. Still needs work, but one of the elements uses squid ink to introduce the black element.

rack of rose veal w/ black ribs

black ribs w/ pa amb tomàquet

Anyway, the result were OK but nothing to write home about so I settled into a glass of wine and catching up with Masterchef. It was the heat where the contestants had to cook for Michael O'Hare (The Man Behind the Curtain).  The task: to make a dish from his restaurant (obviously). A dish that caught my eye (mostly because I had most of the ingredients in the kitchen) was a dish with Iberian pork (two ways), an edible eggshell filled with egg yolk (Onsen tamago style) topped with squid charcoal.  It looked unusual, really tasty I’m sure & the pork looked spectacular!

Anyhow, I’ve never made and edible egg shell or squid charcoal, and since I had the ingredients for for the squid charcoal I had a stab at it! 

Here's the recipe and the results . . .  

ingredients 

for the veal stock (makes 250 - 400g)

2 sides veal ribs (sliced into ribs, browned)

1 onion (quartered & charred)

2 star anise

20g ginger (sliced & charred)

1L water

season

~

Brown off the veal ribs.

Char the ginger & onion.

Put all the ingredients on to boil then turn down to a simmer.

Simmer for 90 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and reduce for another 90 minutes.

Keep going until it coats the back of a spoon.

Remove the ribs, and store for later use.

Remove ginger and star anise, then blend the onion in with an immersion (stick) blender.

Strain.

for the squid ink stock (makes 440g)

90g squid ink

350g veal stock (or a good gelatinous or white stock)

~

Add the ink to the boiling veal stock, mix well and put aside until needed.

for the squid ink charcoal (makes ~180g)

155g old bread

170g squid ink stock

200ml milk (semi skimmed)

6g salt (will depend on how salty your stock was)

~

Blitz the bread and the squid ink stock until it’s homogenous. It will be thick enough to roll into balls.

Loosen the mix with milk, and season. 

Spread a layer 2mm thick onto a silpat / heatproof baking sheet, and bake 100C / 3hrs. 

(145g for a 24x18cm baking sheet - 1g/ 3cm2 - made 50g)

It’s more of a dehydration process than baking.

Once it’s brittle, it’s ready!

I kinda forgot I had the first batch in the oven and ended up with a sheet of actual charcoal . . . oops!

Best to check it every hour!

A quick re-run gave me a very passable result:

Next week . . . prince party nougat (beetroot, orange & pistachio. . . delish)

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