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

Experiment / Recipe: Sous Vide Ox Cheek w/ Salad of Palm Hearts

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

Lunch today has very much been a “let’s see what’s in the kitchen” kind of vibe. It’s really a test run to see how sous vide ox cheek comes out. I’d normally cook ox cheek slowly for 2 - 3 hours. This breaks down the fat and gristle, into an unctuous gelatine that really contributes to the stickiness of the sauce, and the vegetables and potatoes. That’s a classic and simple way to cook them.

For the sous vide test I wanted to keep the cooking process as isolated as possible to understand how the texture is affected, then have some fun experimenting with the accompaniments! Oh and get to use the pea shoots I planted a couple of weeks back : ) will post about that in the next post!

Pea shoots coming along nicely in the garden!

Sous Vide Ox Cheek w/ Salad of Palm Hearts 

check list:

Red pepper puree

Ox cheek sauce & spring onions

    (calçots style - Catalonian dish).

Miso creme fraiche puree.

Hollow palm hearts filled w/ miso creme fraiche puree.

Buttered rounds of Afghan sesame bread.

Lemon vinaigrette w/ spring onion.

Pea shoots (from the garden).

Seared spring onion.

Seared ox cheek.

ingredients (serves 2)

for the ox cheek

2 ox cheeks

2 sprigs thyme

2 sprigs rosemary

2 tsp garlic butter

~

Sear the ox cheek until golden brown.

Put all the ingredients into a vac pack or zip lock bag.

Sous vide at 80C / 9h.

After the ox cheeks cool, put them into the fridge until needed (or use immediately).

If they’ve come from the fridge gelatine will have set. Put the bag into hot water ~80C for 15-20mins to bring them up to temperature.

Take the cheeks out reserving the stock.

Sear them to finish it before serving. (They’ll be an awkward shape which is another good reason to brown before they go into the sous vide)

Do NOT put the remains of the back directly into the frying pan with the meat the gelatine will quickly reduce and stick to the pan!

Keep it for sauce!

for the ox cheek sauce

remnants from the sous vide bag (jelly, butter, leaves removed)

200ml chicken stock

200ml double cream

4 spring onion (bottom 2/3)

~

Peel the spring onions and cut the bottom 2/3’s off each.

Keep the tips for the vinaigrette.

Put stocks into the pot and bring to the boil.

Add the spring onions and boil for 2-3mins. Then remove them and put aside for later.

Add the cream and reduce the liquid until it reaches coating consistency.

Keep an eye on the saltiness as it reduces!

for the miso creme fraiche

15g miso 

200ml creme fraiche (hung for 24h)

lemon juice (as much as it will take!)

palm heart centres (optional)

~

Hang the creme fraiche in muslin over night.

Mix the miso & creme fraiche and season with lemon, salt and pepper.

It should be sharp as possible without being too loose.

for the palm heart salad

120g palm hearts (centres removed)

2 buttered toasted sesame afghan bread (cut into 6 rounds)

vinaigrette (lemon & spring onion)

50g miso creme fraiche

~

Cut the palm hearts into thirds (or halves).

Pop the centres out, these can be used in the miso puree or left as they are. They’re super soft!

Fill the hollow palm heart segments with miso puree after they’re plated.

Cut the Afghan bread through the middle, toast the sesame side, butter and cut into rounds.

for the garnish

pea shoots

lemon zest

maldon salt

black sesame seeds

apparatus / equipment

sous vide machine

to serve 

Pipe the red pepper puree onto a hot plate.

Place the palm hearts, fill them with miso puree & top with sesame seeds

Slice the ox cheek, and place it.

Add the crispy rounds & the seared spring onions, dress with spring onion vinaigrette & lemon zest.

Finally top with ox cheek sauce and serve immediately.

thinking ahead

The ox cheeks, red pepper puree, miso puree, vinaigrette will all last unto 5 days in the fridge.

conclusions

The ox cheek had a lovely texture and great gelatinous element to it. I chilled them overnight, warmed them through and seared them a touch more. Cracking!

For the ox cheek sauce, less is more!! Otherwise it over powers the acidity on the rest of the plate! 

Maybe lightly pickle the palm hearts for a touch more acidity!

reference links & variations

SousVide Ox Cheek 75C / 20h - maybe try this time / temp combo next.

Food n Chef  82.5C / 8h 

Modernist Cuisine 81C / 9h

Vegetarian Recipe: Vegetable Soup w/ Haggis & Poached Egg topped w/ Black Sesame and Sesame Oil

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

We’ve had a few requests for vegetarian banquets recently so there’s been some extra veggie menu development going on. 

Result? I’ve been getting into me veggie food! Anyhoo my house mate made a very nice vegetable soup which I rather fancied including in my lunch!! 

Luckily me house mate was only too happy to tell me how she made said vegetable soup so I made a note of it. 

The nice thing is that all the components can be frozen so it’s easy to make a batch and bust ‘em out for lunch or tea when ever you fancy!

ingredients (serves 1 for quick light bite)

for the vegetable soup (makes 2.5L)

1.5L chicken stock (or veg stock)

1tsp curry powder

‘herbs de provence’ (dried herbs)

good glug worcester sauce (to taste)

2 onions (diced)

4 bacon (fried & chopped - optional bacon crumbles for veggies)

1 celery (diced)

150g dry lentil 

1 red pepper (diced)

1 kabocha squash (peeled)

for the lunch!

250ml home made vegetable soup (above)

125g veggie haggis (cooked)

5g coriander sauce

5g mayo

1 poached egg

for the garnish

1 spring onion (sliced into rings)

black sesame seeds

ponzu 

sesame oil

method

poached egg

Does any one know why you’re supposed to put vinegar in the water? Err . . . well, it helps the protein coagulate.

Vinegar is optional! It’s much more important to have a really fresh egg since it will hold together better in the water.

Add some salt and vinegar and get the water boiling then turn the heat to minimum to minimise bubbling. Stir with a spoon to create a whirlpool and add the egg to the centre. Let the egg keep spinning, leave it for 4 minutes. Then take it out and put on some kitchen towel to remove the excess water. 

vegetable soup (what bacon? I didn’t see any bacon!)

And I quote “Fry off the spices, onions and bacon first, than add the rest. Then add the stock and bring to the boil. Simmer until it . . . ” there was a pause for thought. I think the gauge how to judge readiness, possibly determined by the right smell wafting from the kitchen? All very vague!!  (Simmer 30 minutes to an hour)

“Then you whiz it” The resulting soup is rather nice!

haggis 

As I said I’ve been experimenting with vegetarian food so - bizarrely - I happen to have some haggis! Vegetarian haggis!

It’s really rather nice, nuts, beans, oats, I added a little spiciness in with a little chilli and coriander sauce. (Ahem and a touch of mayo)

to serve

Heat the haggis and soup, pop the poached egg on top and garnish with spring onions, black sesame seeds, and a touch of sesame oil season with a touch of ponzu or light soy sauce. Serve immediately.

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!! : )

Recipe (leftovers): Turkey Pie, Celeriac and Potato Rösti, and Avocado Salad

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

I think my memories of Christmas are probably some of the oldest that I can recall. One of the core ingredients in every Christmas were my mums sausage rolls! Bloody hell pure bliss!!! Pork sausage sometimes with herbs in, some times not, but me mum always made the pastry. Pastry and meat is a winning combo!! Specially after you’ve spent all day unwrapping presents, and running around terrorising granny’s dog, making stupid noises running into walls tipsy on bailies or vermouth that we’d nicked from the drinks cabinet! (or that granny had given us) Anyway Christmas wouldn’t be up to scratch without those awesome home made sausage rolls!

Excuse the digression! Some years later . . . . 

I’m not one to waste food, so if I see a little pastry leftover at the end of a sausage roll making session I’ll snag it and either freeze it or pop it into the fridge, for the making of pies, yes sir. 

What follows is a testament to what you can do with left overs!!

ingredients (serves 4-6)

for the turkey pie - 200C / 20min

300-400g pastry off cuts are fine. (pastry how to)

450g left over turkey (coarse dice)

2/3 large aubergine (large dice) or 1 medium aubergine

100ml olive oil

2 spring onions (chopped into rings)

1 red onion (medium dice)

1 tomato (chopped)

1 egg (beaten)

for the cheese roux

250g cheddar cheese (grated)

60g plain flower

250ml chicken stock

250ml milk

for the accompaniments

some potato and celeriac rösti recipe here 

juniper and cranberry cabbage recipe here 

and a simple avocado tomato salad

apparatus / equipment

pie dish (18cm x 26cm)

pastry brush

method

cheese roux

For a nice sauce with substance a roux is essential, and really simple. 

On a medium heat melt the butter in a pan and add the flour. Use a wooden spoon to work it into a smooth paste then add the liquids and whisk into a homogenous liquid, keep stirring on a medium high heat until it’s thickened and the flour case cooked out. Add the cheese and stir until it all melted and made a smooth sauce.

turkey pie

Pre-heat your oven to 200C. Dice the aubergine and toss it in oil. 

Add the chopped onion and pop them into a pan on a medium heat, turning occasionally until the aubergine has started to brown an the onions are translucent.

Add the rest of the ingredients (except the pastry obviously) and mix together. Leave them to warm through.

Then put the in the pie

I like pastry! Did I mention that? 

It’s nice to have a generous amount and for it to be crunchy, flakey and shiny!!!! Oooh yes!

So once it’s rolled out, roll the rolling pin underneath to lift it onto the pie. 

Trim the pastry where it needs it, use the trimmings to add extra crunchiness to the pastry topping.

Brush with beaten egg to make it all shiny and lovely looking then into the oven it goes for 20minutes!!

thinking ahead

If you want to make the pie in the morning, you can: Just let the filling go cold before you put the pastry on, cover in cling film and put in the fridge until needed to feed the starving masses!

Don’t forget to take the cling film off, and put the egg wash on just before you bake it.

The cranberry and red cabbage concoction will keep for 3-5days in the fridge no problem.

what could go wrong? 

When working with pastry it’s important to keep it as cold as you can. Which is why pastry sections in professional kitchens have marble work surfaces. So work quickly and don’t let your pastry get warm. 

to serve

Make the rösti while the pie’s in the oven, grab a helper to make the salad. If you give them some random bits and tell them to improvise you can often learn a thing or two about different flavour combinations. (So I’ve found!!)  Risky business! ; )

variations

You can fill a pie with all manner of things: Oxtail Pie, Apple Tart Tatin, Banana Tatin & Passion Fruit Sorbet and, coming soon . . . Duck & Date Pie & Quiche. 

Only limited by your imagination!

Recipe: Herefordshire Beef Pho w/ Brandy de Jerez Digestif

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

First day's rest for the festive season! Wake up in the morning, slowly, don't have anything to do today. I love that feeling - holiday! - without a care in the world, no responsibilities to deal with and a bit of cash to spend on a good time! Yeay! What to do? Potter about, make a coffee and call friend, "you fancy hanging out?", "yip : )", "cool, I'll come get you, we can do a little shopping for dinner". "You had breakfast yet?" "No? OK we can grab that too". Quick look in the fridge and larder, what have we got? Some oxtail, onions, lemons, ginger, lemon grass, chillies, bottle of Prosecco : ) hmmm and idea begins to form involving slow cooking oxtail. A little piece of fillet steak, some noodles and some coriander will be all I need.

Unbeknown to me, there were secret elements that had been bought for our consumption, so we picked up a poppy and sesame seed baguette from Des Lys Boulangerie which is a cracking spot by the way, and a few other little bits for our dinner and Champagne brunch!

By this point we were starving. Luckily, almost before I'd managed to start browning the oxtail, a rather lovely combo dip of truffle oil and 25 year old balsamic reserve found its way onto the table with a very enticing, seeded French stick. After a little toning down of the truffle flavour to make it a little subtler the combo was a cracking start that went very well with a glass of Prosecco. Aperitif darling? Why I don't mind if I doo!

Bits on the griddle done, oxtail for the pho on the bubble, I got on with brunch but I found myself being distracted by another festive treat: a little brandy de Jerez!!!!

How could I not indeed!! "Rude not to!! Would you like one?" I inquire, to be greeted by a charming smile and a decisive "I think I'm going to have to try some, quality control you understand." A few giggles later and breakfast was on the table, sorry, err . . brunch was on the table and our oriental dinner was bubbling away nicely on the stove, as we settled in for a movie!

I have to say that a strong coffee with a touch of Jerez brandy makes for a fabulous digestif.

The pho that we had later was close to the original but the response it got: "surprising fusion of flavours and freshness it all went together so well!!" and the fact that it had disappeared are good enough signs to me that it's a keeper!!

note for the purists: I put this post up because folks complained they couldn't get half the ingredients where they lived! This recipe is basically as close as you can get to a Pho with plain old supermarket ingredients. If you can make it in Hereford you can make it anywhere!!! It's missing a few of the light fragrant notes from the specialist leaves namely the Thai basil, but the fine Herefordshire steak more than makes up for that!!

Here's how I made it . . . .

ingredients (serves 4)
for the pho
1 oxtail (cut into slices)
1L chicken stock
300g finest Hereford fillet steak
1 red onion / 4 shallots (finely chopped)
2 birdseye chillies (deseeded)
3 star anise
1 lemon (halved)
1 large piece ginger (3 thumbs - halved)
2 onions (halved)
200g pak choi
30g rock sugar (optional)
600g noodles (I like the flat rice vermicelli (ribbon noodles) - but you can use what ever you want)

for the garnish / accompaniment
10g fresh coriander (torn)
2 bird's eye chillies (sliced rounds)
dash of fish sauce
2 spring onions (julienne)
1 lime (quartered)
2 handfuls of bean sprouts
fish sauce

equipment
griddle pan
4 large soup bowls

 

method
In the broth pot, add a little oil and brown the finely chopped red onions / shallots, and star anise. Whenever you want particular spice flavours to come through more in a dish they should be added first: the roasting will bring  the flavours out more prominently 'Thanks Atul Kochhar for that tip', it's made a great difference to a lot of my food over the years!
Next, put the lemon, ginger, onions, and lemon grass on a griddle pan and char them until they have dark lines running across them, this will give you extra depth of flavour.

They need to be browner than this much browner!!

Brown the oxtails in a pan to get that Maillard reaction going. Once brown all over add them to the broth pot, deglaze the pan with a little chicken stock and add it to the broth pot. Add the griddle contents to the broth pot and deglaze that too, adding to sauce to the pot -  loads of flavour.

Add enough chicken stock to the pot to cover the meat by at least an inch (2.5cm), and at least a tablespoon of fish sauce, then bring it to the boil and allow it to simmer for 3-4 hours, keeping it topped up with stock. If you'd like a lighter, more traditional broth add water and sugar to loosen the broth; if you'd like a more wintery broth simply add stock.

thinking ahead
The broth can be made in the morning and reheated for dinner when you need it, the veg, beansprouts, pak chi, coriander etc are always added at the last minute so they don't spoil.

what could go wrong?
My broth isn't clear!! Well that depends on your point of view. I like my oxtail browned before it goes in so it has more flavour, if you're a clear broth only sort, then you can boil the meats that are to be braised for 15min, then rinse them under cold water and continue with the recipe.

to serve
Bring the broth to a simmer.
Cook the fillet steak to the doneness you like (I like mine closer to rare than medium), rest it for about 4mins and then cut it into fine slices. Add the pak choi to the broth, let it warm through while the steak rests.

Warm the bowls and share out the noodles, fill generously with oxtail and broth and dress with slices of fillet steak. Serve with a side plate of the garnishes and accompaniments so that people can season to their taste.

variations
Pho varies from place to place and the ingredients certainly aren't restricted to oxtail for the slow braising. Cuts such as flank, brisket, and rib (cooked bone-in and sliced later) can all be used, and for the rare beef, sirloin, hanger (onglet), and rump can all be used hanger is my personal favourite it's so tasty! You can also make Pho with chicken - happy days for those who don't eat red meat! I garnish mine with crispy chicken skins - nice!

Enjoy!!