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Stuffed Roast Pork

Known as porchetta in Italy, this pork dish has become a much-loved classic in Britain and a great alternative to turkey for a festive meal. Boning, butterflying and stuffing the pork like this means that the flavours go all through the meat, especially if you leave it to marinate in the fridge for a couple of days. A crackling good dish!

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Serves

6

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Main

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Ingredients

• 3kg piece of boned belly pork attached to the loin, butterflied and rind scored
• 1.5kg potatoes, such as Maris Pipers, thickly sliced
• 1 onion, thickly sliced
• 100ml white wine or cider
• 100ml chicken stock or water
• sea salt and black pepper

Filling

• 3 tbsp finely chopped rosemary
• 1 thyme sprig, leaves only, finely chopped
• 1 garlic bulb, cloves peeled and crushed
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds, crushed
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• zest of 1 lemon
• 50ml wine

Method

1. For the filling, either put all the ingredients in a small food processor and blend until well combined – the mixture doesn’t have to be completely smooth – or pound with a pestle and mortar. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Lay the pork out, skin-side down, and rub the filling over the meat. Roll it up as tightly as you can and secure at intervals with butcher’s string.

3. If you have time, leave the pork in the fridge, uncovered or loosely wrapped in kitchen paper, overnight – or even better, for 2 nights. This gives the flavours time to permeate the meat and allows the skin to dry out.
   

4. An hour before you are ready to start cooking the pork, remove it from the fridge so it can come up to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 150°C/Fan 130°C/Gas 2.
   

5. Arrange the potatoes and onion slices on the base of a large roasting tin and season with salt. Pour over the white wine or cider and the stock or water.

6. Make sure the rind of the pork is dry and season it with salt. Place the pork on top of the potatoes and onions. Cover it with foil and put in the oven. Roast for 4 hours until the pork is cooked through. Check with a meat thermometer if you have one – the internal temperature should read 68°C.

7. Turn the oven up to its highest setting and cook for a further half an hour to crisp up the skin. Remove from the oven and transfer the meat and potatoes to separate serving dishes. Leave the meat to rest for half an hour, uncovered, but keep the potatoes warm.

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Posh Cheese Balls

INGREDIENTS   

 

• 85g unsalted butter
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 150g plain flour, well sifted
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 4 eggs
• 75g Gruyère cheese, grated
• 25g Parmesancheese, grated

To Sprinkle

• 1 tbsp grated Gruyère cheese
• 1 tbsp gratedParmesan cheese

Filling (optional)

• 200g mascarpone
• 50ml double cream
• up to 1 tbsp truffle oilor garlic oil (optional)
• Sea salt and black pepper

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Fit a1cm round nozzle on a piping bag.

2. Put the butter and salt into a pan with 250ml of water. Set the pan over a high heat and bring the water to the boil, stirring until the butter has melted. Add the sifted flour and mustard powder all at once, then whisk until the batter is smooth. Continue to cook for another minute or so – the mixture will come away from the sides and form a nonsticky ball. You may also see a thin layer coat the base of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and leave the mixture to cool for 3–4 minutes.

3. Add the eggs, one at a time, to the cooled mixture and beat each one in thoroughly with a wooden spoon or whisk. Finally, stir in the grated cheese.

4. Put half the batter into the piping bag, and pipe 4cm diameter rounds on to the baking trays, spacing them out evenly – you should be able to fit about 12 on each tray. Wet a finger and smooth off any tips which may have appeared on the rounds. Mix the extra grated cheeses together and sprinkle half of it over the rounds. Put the trays in the oven and bake the cheese balls for 10 minutes until they are lightly coloured. Turn the heat down to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4 and continue to cook until the cheese balls are well puffed up and dry in the centre – they should sound hollow when tapped. This will take another 20–25 minutes. Don’t undercook them as they will collapse as they cool.

5. Remove the trays from the oven and make a little hole in the side of each ball to help the steam escape. Repeat with the remaining batter and cheese, then bake as before. Serve the cheese balls straight from the oven, or leave to cool and reheat before serving.

6. If you want to fill the cheese balls, allow them to cool completely. Mix the mascarpone and double cream, then beat in the truffle oil or garlic oil, if using, a little at a time. Taste as you go until you are happy with the strength. Season with salt and pepper. Take a clean piping bag with smaller nozzle and spoon the mascarpone mixture into it, then pipe a small amount into each cheese ball.

Chicken Tikka Masala

 

INGREDIENTS  

Spice Mix

• 2 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp ground coriander
• 2 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground fenugreek
• pinch of cloves

Chicken Tikka

• 1 tbsp spice mix or 1 tbsp tandoori masala powder
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 20g fresh root ginger, grated
• 2 tbsp yoghurt
• Juice of 6 lemons
• 4 boneless chicken breasts, skinned and diced
• fresh coriander, to serve

Sauce

• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 onions, finely sliced
• 4 garlic gloves, crushed
• 25g fresh root ginger, grated, or finely chopped
• 1 tbsp spice mix
• 3 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 2 tbsp yoghurt

  METHOD

1. If making the spice mix from scratch, simply mix the ground spices together until they are completely combined into a rich ochre mixture.

2. Next marinade the chicken. Combine the spice mix with the garlic, ginger and yoghurt. Put the chicken in a bowl and season it well with salt. Add the lemon juice and toss the chicken pieces in it so it is well coated, then pour over the spice and yoghurt mix. Mix thoroughly, then cover and put it in the fridge for several hours, or preferably overnight.

3. Next make the sauce. Heat the oil in a pan and add the onions, garlic and ginger. Cover and cook over a medium-low heat for 10 minutes, stirring regularly until the onion has softened. Remove the lid and cook for a further 5 minutes over a slightly higher heat to allow the onions to take on some colour.

4. Add the spices and stir for another minute or so, then add the tomato purée and sugar. Season with salt and pepper, then stir for a few minutes. Add 400ml of water and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer gently for a further 5 minutes.
   

5. Blitz the contents of the saucepan with either a stick blender or by transferring the mixture to a jug blender. The sauce should be completely smooth. Stir in the yoghurt. If using the sauce straight away, keep it warm while you cook the chicken. Otherwise it can be stored in the fridge for several days until you need it.

6. To cook the chicken, heat a griddle until it is too hot to hold your hand over. Remove the chicken from the marinade, wiping off any excess, then place it on the griddle. Cook for several minutes or until char lines appear and the pieces lift off the griddle easily. Cook them on the other side until just cooked through. You may have to do this in a couple of batches. Alternatively, heat up your grill to its highest setting and grill the chicken for 4–5 minutes on each side.

7. Transfer the chicken to the sauce and simmer until everything is piping hot. Serve sprinkled with coriander and with lemon wedges for squeezing over.

Ramen

 

Ramen

INGREDIENTS  

Broth

• 1 x 10g piece kombu, soaked for half an hour in cold water OR 2 tsp seaweed flakes
• 15g dried shiitake mushrooms
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 25g fresh root ginger, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 50ml soy sauce
• 3 tbsp mirin or sake
• 1 tbsp miso paste

Soup

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 Chinese lettuce/cabbage, cut into slim wedges
• 1 onion, coarsely sliced from top to bottom
• 1 large carrot, cut into 1/2cm slices on the diagonal
• 1 tsp miso paste
• 6 spring onions, whites cut on the diagonal
• greens very finely sliced

To Serve

• 4 blocks of noodles
• a few drops of sesame oil
• 4 sheets of nori sushi seaweed, roughly torn
• 4 tomago eggs, halved (optional)
• sesame seeds

To Garnish

• a few sprigs of coriander
• 4 handfuls of beansprouts (optional)
• chilli oil
• soy sauce

 

 METHOD

1. Put all the broth ingredients into a saucepan and add 1.5 litres of water. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes until everything is very soft and the stock has reduced by about a third. Remove from the heat and leave to stand.
   

2. In a separate pan, heat the oil. Add the cabbage and fry over a high heat until lightly browned on the cut sides, then remove from the pan and set aside. Add the onion and carrot and cook until the onions are lightly browned. Stir in the miso paste to coat the vegetables and cook for a further couple of minutes. Put the cabbage back into the pan

3. Strain the broth and pour it over the vegetables. Taste for seasoning and add more soy, mirin or sugar to taste. Add the white parts of the spring onions and simmer until the cabbage is tender.

4. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, then run them under cold water and drain thoroughly. Toss them in the sesame oil. Divide the noodles and nori sheets between 4 large bowls, then ladle over the broth and vegetables. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the eggs, if using, and add these to the bowls, then garnish with the spring onion greens, coriander and beansprouts, if using. Serve with chilli oil and more soy sauce.

5. BIKER VEGAN TIP
   For a vegan ramen, cut a block of extra-firm tofu into chunks, pat dry and toss it in a tablespoon of cornflour. Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the tofu until crisp and browned on all sides. Drizzle with a few drops of sesame oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Add it to the soup instead of the eggs