Tim Hughes’s fish and chips and minted mushy peas
Serves 4
haddock 4 x 170g
salt and freshly ground black pepper
plain flour 50g
For the batter
lager 330ml
self-raising flour 160g
cayenne a pinch
soy sauce a dash
salt and ground white pepper
For the minted mushy peas
unsalted butter 50g
onion 1 small, finely chopped
peas 500g, shelled or frozen
vegetable stock 100ml
mint ½ small bunch
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the chips
Maris piper potatoes 1kg
sunflower oil for frying
For the batter, pour the beer into a large mixing bowl and gently whisk in the flour until you get a smooth and silky consistency (you may need to add more or less flour). Add cayenne, soy sauce and seasoning. Leave in the fridge till ready to use. This can be made an hour before needed.
To prepare the peas, heat half the butter in a saucepan and gently cook the onion until soft but not coloured. Add the peas, vegetable stock (a good quality cube is fine) and mint leaves and simmer for 10 minutes. Blend in a food processor, taking care to prevent it from becoming too smooth. Season. You can also prepare this in advance. Just before serving, reheat the peas and stir in the remaining butter.
For the chips, peel the potatoes and cut chips 1½cm wide and 7cm long. Wash the chips in water, drain on kitchen paper and pat dry. Pour the oil into a heavy-bottomed saucepan or deep fat fryer.
Heat to 120C. If using a heavy-bottomed saucepan, please be careful as the oil will be very hot. Blanch the chips, 2 or 3 handfuls at a time, until they are soft but not coloured. You can test them with a knife by carefully removing one while cooking to see if it is soft. Once ready, remove and drain.
Turn up the deep fat fryer to 160C. Season and lightly flour the fish, dip into the batter and fry in the hot fat. This will take about 8 minutes. Drain and keep warm. Re-fry the chips until crisp. Season lightly with salt. Spoon the mushy peas onto plates, place the fish on top and serve chips on the side.
From J Sheekey Fish by Tim Hughes (Preface, £25). Click here to buy a copy for £20 from Guardian Bookshop
Mitch Tonks’s dressed crab
First bring a large pot of well-salted water to the boil. Add the crab to the pan and boil for 20-30 minutes. Remove from the water and stand on its nose to allow the water to drain away as the crab cools.
To prepare the cooked, cooled crab, first remove the legs and claws by pulling them off from the body. Place the crab on its back (hard shell-side down), put your hands under the edge of the crab and push upwards until you hear it break. Lever the crab apart. Remove the spongy “dead men’s fingers” and discard. Remove the stomach sac and hard membranes inside the shell. Use a spoon to remove the brown meat from the shell and any soft shell that has formed. Place it into a clean bowl and mash with a fork.
Break each claw in half and scrape the white meat out of the thick end. Place into a separate clean bowl. Use the back of a heavy-bladed knife to crack open the remaining claw and the pincers. Remove all the white meat and flake into the bowl. Remove the piece of cartilage inside each claw, pick off the meat and discard the cartilage.
To remove the meat from the body, take a sharp knife and cut the crab body in half then in half again. Pick out the meat using your fingers. Run your fingers through the white meat in the bowl to break up the meat and to pick out any remaining bits of shell.
Once you have taken the meat from your crab, all you need to do is to make some good mayonnaise, slice some cucumber and wash some fresh salad leaves.
Another fine way of enjoying crab is a simple crab sandwich. To make this, spread some mayonnaise onto a piece of good brown bread, place some brown crabmeat on top, then add a layer of chunky white crabmeat, some sliced cucumber and a sprinkling of cayenne pepper and lemon juice and sandwich between the other piece of bread – fantastic!
From Fish by Mitch Tonks (Pavilion, £25). Click here to buy a copy for £20 from Guardian Bookshop
Marguerite Patten’s Lancashire hotpot
Serves 4
onions 3 large, thinly sliced
potatoes 8 to 10 medium, thinly sliced
lambs’ kidneys 2, skinned and sliced
middle neck of lamp chops 8
salt and freshly ground black pepper
lamb stock or water 250ml
butter 25g
chopped parsley to garnish
Preheat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3. Put a layer of potatoes, onions, then kidney and chops into the casserole. Season lightly. Continue like this, ending with a neat layer of potatoes. Add the liquid.
Melt the butter and brush over the top of the potatoes. If there is space between the potatoes and the lid, the casserole can be covered, but if the lid fits tightly it is advisable to cook for 30 minutes in an uncovered container, to make sure the potatoes do not stick to the lid. After this time the casserole can be covered.
Place in the oven and cook for a total of 2 hours. Remove the lid for the last 30 minutes so the potatoes become crisp and brown. Garnish and serve with pickled red cabbage.
From A Century of British Cooking by Marguerite Patten (Grub Street, £15). Click here to buy a copy for £12 from Guardian Bookshop
Stephen Harris’s roast saddle of lamb with mint sauce
Saddle cooked on the bone is unusual so ask your butcher in advance. Don’t let them bone and roll it as this method produces a better result.
Feeds 6-8
whole lamb saddle around 1.5kg
oil or goose fat for frying
demerera sugar 200g
water 200ml
malt vinegar 200ml
mint medium bunch
Heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Score the lamb on the skin side and season well. Using a large frying pan on a medium heat, fry the lamb all over and then leave skin side down for 10 mins (you may have to lower the heat) to render the fat under the skin. The colour should be mahogany.
Put the whole joint in the oven for 20 minutes, then turn the oven down to 150C/gas mark 2 and cook for a further 35 minutes.
Take the meat out of the oven and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
Now take the fillets off. Run a knife down the backbone until you get to the rib and then run your knife horizontally using the ribs to guide you. Do this on both sides and you should have 2 long fillets. Season well again and carve each fillet into 3-4 pieces. Serve with your favourite greens and potatoes.
To make the mint sauce, boil the sugar and water together for 10 minutes. Leave to cool completely.
Weigh the sugar syrup and add roughly the same amount of malt vinegar. Now chop the mint and add to the sauce (it will take plenty of mint).
Stephen Harris is chef patron of the Sportsman, Seasalter, Kent
Jane Grigson’s roast pork with crackling and baked apples
Serves 6
shoulder, loin or leg of pork 1
salt, pepper
pork bones
onion 1, stuck with 3 cloves
carrot 1, sliced
bouquet garni
oil
butter 30g
flour 1 tbsp
Cox’s orange pippins 6 large
Buy the pork a good 24 hours before you intend to cook it. Ask the butcher to score the rind every half inch, or do it yourself with a very sharp knife of the razor-blade variety. Ask the butcher, too, to bone the joint, but not to tie it.
When you get home, season the meat all over and in particular on the boned side. Leave in the refrigerator until it is required for cooking. This pre-seasoning benefits almost all meat for roasting: if you have a brine croc, put the joint into that for eight hours – but the crackling will not crisp, after roasting.
Put the bones in a pot with the onion, carrot and herbs. Cover generously with water, and leave to simmer for 3 or 4 hours. Strain off the liquid and boil it down to ¾ pint. Season it.
Before putting the joint into the oven, rub the crackling over with oil, and sprinkle it with salt. Calculate the cooking time at 1¼ hours to the kilo. Put it into the oven set at 220C/gas mark 7, then after 20 minutes lower the heat to 160C/gas mark 3. An hour before the end of cooking time, score the skin of the apples in a circle an inch below the top (this prevents them bursting), and place them round the pork. To make the gravy, cook the butter in a small pan until it turns golden brown, stir in the flour, and moisten with the stock. Leave to simmer gently for at least 20 minutes.
When the meat is cooked, check the crackling. If it is not crisp enough, put the oven up to 220C/gas mark 7, and give the joint another 10 or 15 minutes (without the apples).
Put the meat on a serving dish, surround it with apples, and keep warm. Skim the fat from the roasting juices, then pour them into the gravy. Correct the seasoning and serve very hot with the meat.
If you do not care for crackling, ask the butcher to remove the rind. Half an hour before the joint is cooked, mix up a glaze of:
French mustard 1 tbsp
melted redcurrant jelly 1 tbsp
soft brown sugar ½ tbsp
cream ½ tbsp
Spread this over the joint, and put back into the oven to turn a beautiful and appetising brown.
From English Food by Jane Grigson (Penguin, £12.99). Click here to buy a copy for £10.39 from Guardian Bookshop
