Smoked Chicken, Wild Mushrooms, Sweet Basil, Coconut & Galangal Soup

Posted on June 19, 2017 by sebbyholmes

Poached chicken, coconut & galingal soup (photo by Kaleem Hyder)

Photo from Farang by Kaleem Hyder

I have just spent the weekend in sunny Birmingham at the BBC Good Food Show cooking with the Thai Embassy on the Thai World Stage to help promote Thai produce and cuisine. I’ve never been to Birmingham before, although I have to say it felt like more like Kingston, Jamaica at 34 degrees- it’s been an absolute scorcher!

The show was a good crack actually, apart from it taking place at the NEC in Birmingham which has to be one of the most boring places on the planet- it reminded me of the film ‘The Truman Show’, where you feel you will walk through a door and hit a cardboard cut out of another door if you’re not careful. All the same the show was great and I’ve come back excited to get another recipe up on ‘Articuleat‘.

In this heat I wanted to cook something quick, effortless, light and tasty as fuck so I went for this soup. This soup can be made in many different variations, a few of which can be found in my book ‘Cook Thai‘ if you ever feel like giving them a go. It only takes a few bits and pieces and around 10-15 minutes to make and all of the ingredients can be found easily in most supermarkets these days. If you’re feeling really exotic throw in some king prawns to this soup too- awesome!

Ingredients Serves 2 / Vegetarian option

1 chicken breast, skin and fat removed, sliced into rough 2cm by 2cm pieces, directions for smoking in recipe (do not use if vegetarian, ha)

1/4 butternut squash, roughly 50g, peeled and sliced into rough 2cm by 2 cm pieces (pumpkin can be used instead)

8 Thai Shallots, peeled and slightly bruised in a pestle

2 green birds eye chillies, bruised in a pestle

2 kaffir lime leaves, torn slightly

2 sticks lemongrass, chopped into 2 cm long pieces and bruised in a pestle

10g, galangal, peeled and chopped into 2 cm long pieces and bruised in a pestle

2 coriander roots, cleaned, washed and bruised in a pestle

½ teaspoon coarse sea salt

2-3 tablespoons fish sauce (soy sauce if vegetarian)

200ml chicken stock (vegetable stock if vegetarian)

300ml coconut cream

10g, Thai sweet basil (normal basil will do)

50g, assorted wild mushrooms (I use enoki, shittaki and emoji mushrooms)

1 lime, juiced

Method

Before I get started with the recipe I’ll delve a little into explaining how to smoke the chicken. In this recipe I cold smoke my chicken which can be done very easily when you’re at home. This means that I will be adding the smoke flavour from the wood to the meat, without cooking it. All you need is some smoking wood chips, a pan, a colander and some cling film. Place a small handful of wood chips into the pan and heat the pan up until the wood chips set alight within the pan. Once this happens put the flames out with a little water, this will cause the chips to smoke heavily. at this stage place the chicken in the colander and then put the colander upon the smoking pan, then quickly cling film the whole thing so it is air tight with no smoke leaving the cling film. This will leave the chicken inside a smoke vacuum, with minimal oxygen so the wood chips will not be hot but will smoke a lot. If this is left untouched for 20 minutes the smokey flavour would have penetrated the meat, the longer you leave it the smokier the flavour.

Firstly, in a small sauce pan bring a little water to the boil and then submerge the squash into it, then turn down to a simmer, continue to gently cook for around 3-4 minutes until soft but not quite cooked and then remove from the heat and put aside for a few minutes (at this stage you might as well leave it in the hot water as we are to use it straight away).

Next place the chicken stock, 100ml of the coconut cream, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, sea salt, galangal, coriander roots, birds eye chillies, lemongrass, lime leaves, butternut squash and Thai shallots and mushrooms into a medium sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Once simmering add the chicken pieces and continue to cook gently for 4-5 minutes until all chicken is cooked and all vegetables have softened with flavours infused.

Finish by adding the rest of the coconut cream and the sweet basil and the dishing out into bowls. Lastly check the seasoning, it should be creamy, salty, a little spicy, aromatic with a fresh hint of lime at the end, adjust if needs be.

Thanks very much for stopping by at ‘Articuleat’ and I hope you have enjoyed your stay. I always look forward to your feedback so please don’t hesitate to get in touch for any reason whatsoever – I will reply as swiftly as possible.

See you next time,

Eat Well,

Sebbyholmes

Follow @sebbyholmes1

Green Curry of Mussels, Monkfish, Wild Ginger, Asian Vegetables and Sweet Basil with Vermicelli Noodles

Posted on June 4, 2017 by sebbyholmes

#thaifood #greencurry #londonrestaurants #sebbyholmes

Photo taken by Yavez Anthonio

The last year has been absolutely mental, Farang has gone from having one street food stand in a market in Brook Green (which is literally at the point where I wrote my last Articuleat post) to having a range of street food stands across London, to now having a restaurant in Highbury and a book, ‘Cook Thai’ that has just been released across the country. The time has finally come for Articuleat to begin again, this blog is for all the bits and bobs that are worth a mention, my little corner of the internet for recipes banter and bullshit- welcome to it.

Ingredients (Serves 2-3 / GF)

For the curry

2kg, large mussels, washed, beards and barnacles removed

200g, monkfish, skinned and sliced into 2cm thick chunks

150g, thin rice vermicelli noodles, blanched for 1 minute in boiling salt water and then refreshed under cold running water

20g, baby corn, sliced into thin roll-cuts

20g, white daikon, peeled and sliced into thin roll-cuts and braised in water until softened (about 5 minutes)

3, long red chillies, sliced into roll cuts

3, long green chillies, sliced into roll cuts

10g, green beans, topped and tailed, cut into 2cm long chunks

150g, green curry paste

200ml, fish stock

150ml, coconut oil (crack)

300ml, coconut cream

1 tablespoon wild ginger, grachai, peeled and thinly sliced (regular ginger will work fine)

20g, Thai basil, washed and picked

10g, coriander, washed and picked

2 tablespoons, fish sauce

1 teaspoon palm sugar

1 lime, chopped into cheeks for garnish

½ teaspoon sea salt

For the curry paste (makes around 1kg of paste)

150g, fresh birds eye chillies, stems removed, roasted over a barbecue or in an oven for around 10 minutes until softened and a little smoky

150g, fresh long green chillies, stems and seeds removed, thinly sliced, roasted over a barbecue or in an oven for around 10 minutes until softened and a little smoky

250g, banana shallots, peeled, roughly chopped (use Thai shallots if possible)

250g, peeled garlic

100g, peeled lemongrass, topped and tailed, outside shell removed, sliced into small chunks

30g, galingale, peeled and cut into small chunks

20g, coriander roots, cleaned and finely sliced

30g, fresh red turmeric, peeled (watch the hands, this stuff stains)

20g wild ginger, krachai, peeled and roughly chopped

1 tablespoon, roasted gapi paste, fermented shrimp paste (leave this out if vegetarian)

1 tablespoon, whole white peppercorns, lightly toasted in dry pan

3 teaspoons, whole coriander seeds, lightly toasted in dry pan

2 teaspoons, cumin seeds, lightly toasted in dry pan

2 pieces, roughly 2g, mace, lightly roasted in pan

1-2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

Method

Firstly make the curry paste. Using a pestle and mortar individually pound up all the fresh ingredients separately until they are combined into one complete paste. For example, start with the lemongrass, as it is tough, chop it into small chunks to make it easier on yourself then pound using a pestle and mortar until all is mixed into one paste. Next pound the galangal, as it is also tough, using the same process, then the chillies, garlic etc. Once all are pounded individually, combine them in the pestle until they are all together as one paste.

Meanwhile toast the spices in a pan. However, bear in mind that these all toast at different rates so start with the coriander seeds, moving constantly, as soon as they start to smoke a little add the mace and cumin. Keep moving these for one more minute and then add the whole white peppercorns and remove from the heat. The heat from the hot spices is enough to toast the white peppercorns, if they remain on the heat they will pop and explode. Once toasted, spice-grind these spices to a fine powder and pound them into your curry paste. Keep pestle and mortaring away until you are left with a slightly moist, slightly coarse paste, with no identifiable chunks of any ingredients, everything should be equally pounded into a paste with no lumps.

Store the paste in an air tight container with cling film acting as a barrier against oxidisation. In a fridge, the paste will last for 2-3 weeks. It will slowly lose flavour over time, the paste turning brown in colour is an obvious sign of oxidisation which will change the flavour.

Next, heat the coconut oil in a wok, when bubbling, add 200g green curry paste and keep stirring and scraping regularly until paste begins to split like scrambled eggs and darkens slightly. You will also notice that the smell of the ingredients changes from raw, to a fragrant, as all the ingredients cook together as one. At this point add the palm sugar and allow to cook into the paste for one minute until the paste darkens slightly as the sugar caramelises.

Now it’s time to let the curry out. Add all the fish stock and half of the coconut cream, the daikon, green beans and baby corn. Stir to combine and then cover and bring to a simmer, cook out for around five minutes until all vegetables are cooked.

Next drop in the monkfish tails and the mussels and put the lid back on to simmer for a further 3-4 minutes until the monkfish is cooked through and the mussels have all opened, discard any that remain closed. At this point the curry would have thickened a little, so finish off the remaining coconut cream and the fish sauce. Lastly, add Thai basil, green and red chilli roll-cuts, fish sauce to taste and wild ginger, fold these ingredients in carefully as you don’t want to destroy the fish, then serve immediately.

Serve the curry in a bowls, place portions of the cooked noodles in the bowls and then serve the loose curry over the top of the noodles. The curry should be thick enough to coat the noodles, rich, creamy, salty, spicy and fishy, the magic is in the balance.

Thanks for stopping by at Articuleat and I hope that you have enjoyed your stay. I always look forward to your feedback so please don’t hesitate to get in touch for any reason whatsoever – I will reply as swiftly as possible.

See you next time,

Eat well,

Seb

Follow @sebbyholmes1

#greencurry #thaifood #londonfood #farang

Photo taken by Yavez Anthonio

Sticky Mango & Condensed Milk Rice with Salted Black Sesame

Posted on January 14, 2016 by sebbyholmes

Mango sticky with condensed milk & salted black sesame seeds #1 (photo by Kaleem Hyder)

Photograph taken by Kaleem Hyder @ka1eem

The first time I ever tried a sticky mango, otherwise known as ‘Khao Niaow Ma Muang’, if your Thai isn’t non-existent like mine, was in my early days working at The Begging Bowl in Peckham. It’s the type of thing that you put in your mouth and think “where the fuck has this been all my life? More please!”

For this reason, when making this dessert for friends be careful as I made it a few times at Brook Green Market and people seem to get addicted to it. At first I kept running out because all the other traders were eating it, then the more I made the more customers brought it, I literally couldn’t make enough. Its, got a naughty, rich sweetness to it from the coconut cream and condensed milk, topped with a seemingly healthy slice of fresh mango it couldn’t be more moreish.

I know a few of you might be trying to eat healthily after Christmas but I assure you won’t regret trying this one. If you are looking for a slightly healthier option just add more mango, that counts, right?

Now before I go any further I have a little late announcement to make for those of you that haven’t heard already. My restaurant concept ‘Farang London’ is now up and running and gearing up for taking residency around the Borough area later this year. In the meantime, we are hosting four course pop-ups at The San Daniele Highbury once a month, the next one is on the 31^st January 2016 (book via info@faranglondon.co.uk). For current news, pictures and all that kind of stuff keep your eyes peeled for @farangLDN on Twitter and Instagram.

Find out a little more about it here in Ben Norum’s article from the London Evening Standard:

Now that’s enough about me here is the recipe. I hope to feed you in one way or another soon.

Ingredients

200g, glutinous rice

2 ripe mangoes (soft to the touch but not bruised)

400ml coconut cream (tinned or follow recipe to make yourself on page?)

50ml, condensed milk

150g, caster sugar

5g, toasted black sesame seeds

1 pinch, table salt

Method (serves 4)

Wash the rice by putting it in a sieve and running cold water over it for 1 minute. Then soak the rice, submerged in warm water for 20 minutes. In the meantime, set up a rice steamer (a pan half filled with a colander on top can work, once water is boiling cling film the colander to create a steamer), when it is boiling turn down to a medium heat and add the soaked sticky rice and begin cooking. This should take around 20 to 25 minutes to cook throughout, be sure to check that the grains are soft throughout before removing from the steamer. Remember to check that the rice is not blocking all the holes in the steamer before you put the lid on otherwise the steam wont surround the rice and it will not cook.
In the meantime, heat the coconut cream, condensed milk and the caster sugar to a medium heat to melt sugar and loosen the coconut cream. At this stage its also delicious to add a bruised stick of lemongrass and allow to infuse. Once warm add the cooked sticky rice, combine using a whisk and cling film the container, the remaining heat in the container from the hot rice will aid the rice in absorbing the sweet coconut liquid. Leave this closed for at least 10 minutes to ensure it has come together, it should be a thick, rice pudding like consistency.
In the meantime, warm the black sesame seeds in the oven, not for long, around 2 minutes at 180 degrees, then remove and sprinkle with salt.
Lastly, peel the mangoes by firstly removing the skin. Next slice an end off to the stone so you can see the location of the flat sides of the stone with your eyes, imagine the mango has a flat, oval shaped disk in the middle of it, this is what you want to remove. Next carefully run a small knife along the flat sides of the mango, moving the mango with one hand as you gently guide the knife to separate the flesh from the stone with the other. Once you have all 4 halves, slice them into bite-sized chunks.
Plate up by placing the sticky rice in the center of the plate with the slice mango prettily place over it, finish with a pinch of the salted black sesame seeds over the top.

Mango sticky with condensed milk & salted black sesame seeds (photo by Kaleem Hyder)

Photograph take by Kaleem Hyder @ka1eem

See you next time,

Eat Well,

Sebbyholmes

Follow @sebbyholmes1

Smokey, Spiced Red Curry Sausage, Lime Leaf & Wild Ginger with Gola Curry Dip

Posted on October 11, 2015 by sebbyholmes

photograph taken by Zeren Wilson @bittenandwritten

Did you know that every time a human being is born onto this planet, statistically three sausages are made! Scientists have coined it the ‘three baby sausage ratio’. Now that, is in absolutely no way true (well, I don’t think it is?), but at least I’ve caught your attention now.

This is an absolute banger of a dish, smokey, salty, spicy, sweet and sour, everything a person with a taste for Thai would expect in a meal. Now it’s a pretty lengthy dish to create given that two curry pastes need to be made in order to make the red curry for the sausage and the gola curry for a dip. However I have three reasons that may persuade you to go through the efforts to complete the whole recipe. Firstly, it tastes bloody great, secondly both the red and the gola paste can be kept in the fridge for use in an endless array of other delicious recipes, and lastly if you really can’t be arsed to cook the whole thing but Zeren’s lovely picture is making you want to eat it, just make the sausage and serve with some sweet chilli sauce and herbs, I guarantee you’ll still love it.

There are a couple more optional extras in this dish which you can avoid if you’d like to, as there are simple short cuts (although as you know if you read my blog, I always urge you to try the long way at least once, you can taste the difference). Firstly, I made my own coconut cream to use within the gola curry whilst cooking it out. This obviously takes a little longer than opening a tin, however the difference in taste is phenomenal, if you’ve never tried fresh coconut cream before, think about the difference in taste between a fresh pint of milk and those little sachets you get free in hotel rooms – you get the idea. Now don’t get me wrong, we don’t all have the time to make our own coconut cream all the time, but it’s definitely worth having a mess around with.

Just bare in mind that in order to complete this recipe with success its important for you to purchase a heavy, granite pestle and mortar. When making any curry paste, the objective is to combine flavours with brute force. Therefore a heavy weighted pestle and mortar is the fastest way to victory. Trust me, I first brought a wooden one for use at home and I spent entire evenings bashing coriander root until my hands hurt and I swear it just got bigger. Right then lets get started.

Ingredients

(serves around 3/4 people, makes 12-15 sausages)

When weighing ingredients for these curry pastes I use a small cup (this holds roughly 300ml’s of liquid), this makes more than enough paste for this recipe, however its worth making a little more if you’re going to put in the effort to make it properly.

(for the red curry paste)

-5 cups, large dried red chillies, soaked in warm water to soften, drained, de-seeded

-6 cups, peeled garlic cloves

-6 cups, peeled banana shallots

-5 cups lemongrass, outer sheath’s remove, topped and tailed

-3 cups, peeled galangal

-2 cups, coriander root, cleaned

-1 cup, roasted gapi paste (fermented shrimp)

-45g, white pepper, toasted and spice ground to powder

-45g, coriander seeds, toasted and spice ground to powder

-45g, cumin seeds, toasted and spice ground to powder

-large pinch of coarse salt

(for the gola paste)

-1.5 cups, large dried red chillies, soaked in warm water to soften, drained, de-seeded

-1/2 cup, cleaned coriander roots

-2.5 cups, peeled banana shallots

-2.5 cups, peeled garlic

-2.5 cups, peeled ginger

-2.5 cups, desiccated coconut

-1 cups, roasted peanuts

-large pinch of coarse salt

(for everything else)

-1kg, smoked pork belly mince, ask a butcher to make it roughly 20% fat, to 80% meat. If you cant get hold of smoked pork belly then just cold smoke it yourself in a closed barbecue. I will make sure to pu up a post explaining a few simple ways to do this over the next few weeks)

-Kaffir lime leaf, jullienned, finely chopped

-200ml, coconut cream

-50ml, vegetable stock

-150g, palm sugar (soft brown sugar will do)

-200ml, fish sauce

-100g, kra chi, wild ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

-a little cooking oil

-a few thai shallots, peeled and thinly sliced for garnish

-a few picked and washed coriander leaves for garnish

-a few semi chopped nuts for garnish

Method

Firstly let’s make the coconut cream. Start by cracking the coconuts with a hammer and remove and discard the outer shell. This leaves you with the inner flesh of the coconut which has an inedible skin attached to it. Using a peeler remove this skin to leave you with only the fresh, white coconut flesh. Next put this flesh through a mincer, or grate it and add to the boiling water, combine thoroughly using a stick blender for around 5 minutes. Once combined filter the liquid from the flesh by ringing it out in some muslin, or a cloth. Once separated place the liquid in the fridge and leave to cool. As it cools the cream will separate from the water, the white cream on the top is what you want. Keep the coconut water as it can be used to let out curries and soups. Any leftover coconut cream can be boiled down until it splits (cracks); this can then be used as coconut oil (coconut crack) which we will talk about another time. Once finished take some of the grated coconut left behind and toast on a medium heat in the oven, until golden brown and crunchy.
Secondly, lets get those curry pastes made. As i say the important thing is to have a heavy pestle and mortar. When making a curry paste, begin by pounding each ingredient individually, starting from the toughest, then remove from the pestle to clear way for the next ingredient. After they have all been individually pounded, add them all back into the pestle and pound until it resembles one paste, you may have to do this in a couple of batches so it fits easily into the pestle. pound in the order of dried chilli, lemongrass, galangal, ginger, shallot, garlic, coriander root, peanuts, coconut, gapi paste, using the salt as an abrasive throughout. This list includes ingredients from both pastes, but do remember to first complete the red paste, then put aside. Then complete the gola paste separately as they are two separate pastes.
right so now we have our cream and pastes, the hard bit is complete, lets make the sausages. In a pan, gently melt 150ml of the fish sauce with 150g of the palm sugar, then put aside to cool. Next In a mixing bowl add the pork mince, fish sauce and palm sugar mix, 400g red curry paste, all the sliced wild ginger (kra chi) and mix well. Once mixed roll into sausage shapes using cling film and leave in the fridge for at least 20 minutes to set shape (these can be as thin or fat as you like, its your dinner). once set in shape, poach the sausages in simmering water to a core temperature of around 64 degrees (medium rare), if you don’t like pink pork take it as far as you like, depends how much you trust the quality of the meat. Once these are poached either put them straight on a barbecue or grill and cook the outside until the whole sausage has gone a lovely golden brown colour with some char, or place them in an ice bath to cool quickly, then leave in the fridge for cooking at a later date (they also freeze well).
In the meantime, cook out the gola dipping sauce. This curry is best cooked slow, over around 45 minutes, this way you can add depth and richness to the curry. To begin, pour roughly around 100ml cooking oil into a pan and heat to a medium/high temperature. Once hot add 300g of the gola paste to this oil, this should make a sizzling sounds as it touches the pan as we want to fry the paste. Keep the paste moving with a metal kitchen spoon, being sure to scrape anything that sticks to the bottom off quickly before it goes black. It is correct for this paste to stick a little more that usual as its packed full of peanuts and they are a bit of a bastard to fry. However, if you keep a watchful eye, and regular movement, you will be fine. After around 20 minutes the paste will begin to go a little darker, this is a sign that its ready to add palm sugar. Add the sugar and turn down the heat, keep stirring for around 5 minutes until the sugar is melted and beginning to caramalise, which will make the paste a little darker. Once melted add the remaining fish sauce to the, followed by all the coconut cream and stock, keep the paste simmering on a medium heat for another ten minutes and re-season if you feel it necessary, the gola should taste sweet, salty and mildly hot.
To serve, place the gola in a bowl and top with semi chopped/pounded peanuts, sliced Thai shallots and coriander leaves. Pile sausages up next to sauce (with wooded skewers in if you want to make it finger food) and then eat.

See you next time,

Eat Well,

Sebbyholmes

Follow @sebbyholmes1

Pomegranate Miang with ginger, chilli, lime, peanuts & toasted coconut

Posted on September 24, 2015 by sebbyholmes

Photography by Zeren Wilson, @bittenwritten

Wow, even looking at my own words feels like a blast from the past these days, it seems I have truly mastered the art of consistently inconsistently writing- absolutely nailed it!

Now I’ve had bloody busy year, however I still can’t really Justify not putting up a post for nearly a year and a half, that’s mental. So I’ll attempt to give you guys an overview of my year in a nutshell, I will also try my utmost hardest to finish this post before I’m 40 and before you guys are bored to death of my bad English, typo’s and made up words.

Right so where was I when I last shared a recipe? Bloody hell I think it was the begging bowl, seems like a lifetime ago now. I’ve since moved on to launch a Thai barbecue restaurant on Denmark Street in soho, called the smoking goat. My head chef position here was a fun experience and really pushed my chef ability above and beyond. I’ve worked with some amazing people during my time smoking goats. We successfully managed to combine a style of cooking which, I believe, is relatively saturated in London, ‘barbecue’, with a cuisine which, for me, is just birthing and shaping itself as something truly respected and delicious when it is made with love, ‘Thai food’. I’m proud of what I managed to achieve at the smoking goat, with consistent great reviews and queue’s outside the door I don’t feel there is much to complain about.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/02/smoking-goat-old-tom-english-restaurant-review

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/the-smoking-goat-restaurant-review-9858355.html

http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/restaurants/fay-maschler-reviews-smoking-goat-9840423.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/event/article-2921762/Tom-Parker-Bowles-reviews-Smoking-Goat-London.html

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/magazine/article4342089.ece

me and the EatGrub lads have also been pretty busy over the last year writing our cookbook, which is now finished and out next year. Shami and Neil are still smashing it at Grub and the company is on to wonderful things. I’m still loving working with them although I may have driven them mad trying to write a cookbook at the same time as running the smoking goat (not to mention I must have drove the lads crazy at work having to put up with a mental head chef leaving insects around the office). I can tell you now as a true fact that it is not easy to write a cookbook, and run a busy kitchen at the same time. It’s incredibly satisfying to have completed the book, I’m also happy to be done with the sleepless nights cooking insects and writing recipes to the early morning (everyone knows what I mean, right?).

This now brings me on to the most recent chapter of my journey. I’ve now moved on from the smoking goat to begin my journey on my own. I’ve worked incredibly hard in this industry and have a lot of great people on my side so I’ve decided to continue in the food industry the way I want. Pestle London is currently a pop up restaurant with a key focus on making banging Thai curries and small plates, all from scratch- no peanut butter! We open on Wednesday 30th September, 19:00-22:00, Wednesday to Friday nights at sacred cafe next to Holloway Road station. It’s going to be a cool relaxed vibe, good music, good drink, and absolutely shit food (joking! I’ll try my hardest).

Right- that’s enough of my crap for at least one more year, let’s get you guys cooking. Today’s recipe is one from my menu at the moment and it’s been a hit with the customers. Miang with a sweet, salty, sour and fresh heat is the perfect accompiniment to a dinner of curry and noodles. It’s a great one for at home as you can make a mix up and then all help yourselves, easy to share and delicious. Be carful though, one of the little basterds always ends up with all the birds eye chilli in it.

This recipe makes enough for 4-5 people to snack on, if any is left just wack it in the fridge, it’ll keep for 2-3 days as long as it’s covered. You can find all of these ingredients in any good Asian supermarket, I prefer new loon moon in Chinatown for fresh goods as they have a large range of fresh goods in comparison to other shops.

ingredients

(for the miang sauce)

-150ml, tamarind water

-500g, palm sugar

-150g, fish sauce/ soy sauce if you are vegetarian

-100g, toasted peanuts, semi-pounded in a pestle and mortar

-100g, toasted dessicated coconut

-1 tablespoon dried shrimp, pounded to a floss in a pestle and mortar /don’t include if making vegetarian

-2, green birds eye chilli

-1 teaspoon, fermented shrimp paste ‘gapi’

(for the rest)

-1cm cubed, piece of ginger, peeled and diced

-6 Thai shallots, peeled and diced

-1/2 a whole lime, diced with the skin on

-2 tablespoon, toasted coconut

-3 tablespoon, semi-pounded peanuts

-2 red birds eye chillies, thinly sliced

-a small handful of coriander leaves, washed

-1 pomegranate, de-seeded and all pith removed.

-20 betel leaves/ if you can’t find any then you can use baby gem, or spinach leaves, washed

method

1.firstly make the miang sauce. In a pan heat the palm sugar, and fish/soy sauce, and the gapi paste on a medium heat, stirring regularly and making sure it doesn’t stick to the sides.

2. In the meantime, using a pestle and mortar pound the 2 green birds eye chillies. Then one by one add the rest of the dried ingredients so that they all end up making one dry mix that includes the coconut, peanut, dried shrimp and chilli. Keep heating the palm sugar and fish sauce until all sugar has melted and the sauce has just started bubbling, then add the tamarind water and temporarily remove from heat.

3. Next add the pounded dry mix that you have pre-prepared to the sauce and whisk, ensuring that you separate any clumps of dried ingredients. This makes sure that the ingredients are well distributed and helps to balance flavours.

4. Lastly add all the fresh ingredient to this sauce except for the betel leaves, mix delicately, being sure not to damage any of the ingredients that you’re mixing. Once everything is evenly distributed place a spoonful of this mixture into the middle of the betel leaves and arrange neatly on a plate. Then eat them up!

So there you have it, pomegranate miang to make at home, I hope you enjoy the recipe

See you next time,

Eat Well,

Sebbyholmes

Follow @sebbyholmes1

seb

Lightly Spiced Tiger Prawn, Sweet Potato, Daikon & Thai Basil Fritter, Served With a Green Nham Jim Dipping Sauce

Posted on May 1, 2014 by sebbyholmes

Finally I’m back behind the keyboard, I have an increasingly large list of events, recipes, anecdotes and articles in the back burner for ‘Articuleat’, (I just need to find the damn time to write them up).

The London pop-up scene has swallowed me up whole at the minute, in a big pile of edible insects and Thai food. Its amazing fun! Not to mention that the Begging Bowl is busier than ever. Thai food in London is booming and why not? It’s awesome! I feel privileged to be part of it.

I will soon be updating you all with what I’ve been up to in my ‘behind the whites section’. I’ve just finished another pop-up with EatGrub at the ‘Hot House Rooftop‘ in London Fields. I’m also going to be helping Andy Oliver at his next pop-up with ‘Som Saa’, at the chilli festival ‘chilli chilli bang bang’ in Dalston Yard – all exciting stuff.

Now anyway I’m getting ahead of myself again. This recipe for you today is a fairly quick one to put together (once you have dried your own turmeric and ginger). It’s the perfect accompaniment to a hot summer’s day, which we all know should be enjoyed with a nice cold pint in one hand and a fork in the other (not that I’ve got out of the shade of the extraction fans much recently).

When I make this dish I like to make my own mild curry powder to add to my egg batter before frying. Fresh turmeric, like ginger, is a rhizome – a thick underground stem. Due to this it take a lengthy, but simple process to dry it out and grind to a powder. Both fresh spices can be dried in the same way – peel, thinly slice and dry in a warm dry place, on a drying rack for at least 24 hours (May need longer dependent on environment). You can buy pre-dried turmeric and ginger but it’s in no way as good, or even similar to the real thing, try making it you’ll love it (why not make loads and leave it in the kitchen for another day?). However, when working with red turmeric be carful, the stuff stains your bloody hands orange for days. The last thing you want is everyone thinking that you look like an ‘umpa lumpa’ from the neck down!

I also think it’s important for me to talk you through making your own chilli powder. At the begging bowl we always use dried chillies and call it ‘blue tongue’? Now that I think of it, I actually have no bloody idea why or where that came from? I’m assuming it’s something to do with the fact that it’s fucking hot and it will certainly leave you with a burning mouth if you’re not careful. Now I’m lucky when making this as for best results it should be made in a wok (which I have at work), with a wok burner (very high heat). The intense temperature of the wok smokes the chillies whilst crisping them, making them easy to spice grind into a smoky, hot powder. I appreciate that unless you are some kind of maniac, you probably don’t have a wok burner to hand at home? I have found the best way to do it at home is in a dry pan on a high heat on the stove top, keep the chillies moving until they start smoking, then cover with tin foil and place in a hot oven for 2-3 minutes allowing to smoke a little. Carful- if you breathe in the smoke, you will cough. I also like to use 50/50 dried birds eye chillies to dried long red chillies, this gives the chilli powder a fiery hot, smokey and sweet flavour. It’s great when added to the curry powder.

When grating the vegetables to make this fritter (the daikon and sweet potato), it’s important to julienne them evenly to ensure it all cooks at a similar rate when being deep-fried. If your knife skills are still in practice, I suggest using a papaya shredder, or something of similar function. For anyone that is unsure what a Daikon is, it’s a type of radish. It’s also known as ‘mooli’ or Oriental radish and is much larger than a normal radish, they can be found in most good Asian supermarkets with a fresh vegetable section. If grating daikon (which we are) it’s important to use it as quickly as possible to retain the crisp, crunchy freshness.

The natural sweetness of tiger prawns are a great accompaniment to this lightly curried fritter. Once our home-made curry powder is completed, the vegetables, prawns and Thai Basil are tossed through a light egg batter and deep-fried to make the fritters. This is then served with a sweet, sour and fiery hot Nham jim dipping sauce- delicious.

This recipe was adapted from something I was shown from Andy Oliver, it is in no way the same (or as good) but feel I should credit him anyway – cheers Bandy Boliver.

I think that’s enough from me for one day and I’m sure you guys want to get cooking so I’ll leave you to it.

Enough to satisfy two people with a light lunch:

Ingredients (leaves loads spare to use another time, scale down if you want)

(For the curry powder)

-1tbspn, black peppercorns

-3tbspn, coriander seeds

-3tbspn, cumin seeds

-1tbspn cloves

-1tbspn fennel seeds

-15, Thai cardamom pods

-15, pik kwan, stems removed

-3tbspn home made chilli powder (1tbspn dried birds eye chillies, 1tbspn dried long red chillies, follow instructions above)

-5tbspns, ground, home-made dried ginger (follow instructions above for drying)

-7tbspns, ground, home-made dried turmeric (follow instructions above for drying)

(For the Nham jim dipping sauce)

-7, peeled garlic cloves

-5, green birds eye chillies, roughly chopped

-2tbspn, coriander root, finely chopped

-3tbspn, caster sugar (might need more to taste)

-300ml, fresh lime juice (might need more/or less to taste

-150ml, fish sauce, I like the mega chef brand best (might need more/or less to taste)

-2, mandarins, juiced

(For everything else)

-6 whole tiger prawns, body shells and shit removed, tails and head still attached

-1, sweet potato, julienned or shredded

-200g, daikon, julienned or shredded

-20g Thai Basil, picked

-10g, white sesame seeds

-2, free-range eggs

-100ml sparkling water

-1tbspn, rice flour

-1pinch Malden sea salt

-2 litres, cooking oil (for deep-frying)

Method

Ok so firstly let’s get the spices toasted and the curry powder made. Have all you spices separated to start, as they need to be added to the pan at different times. The ginger, turmeric and chilli powder is already good to go if you followed my instructions in the writing above. In a large flat pan toast the spices on a low heat. When toasting spices you should always heat them in terms of their size, larger spices first and for longer ( as a larger object takes longer to toast). Once a spice begins to change colour and release a fragrant smell it is ready to use. The only spices that should not be toasted according to size are peppercorns as they pop and explode, just add them at the end and let the other spices warm them through. One toasted, add the ginger, turmeric and chilli powder then spice grind together to make the curry powder.

Next make the fritter, heat the oil in a deep pan to 180 degrees. In a mixing bowl whisk together 1tbspn of the home-made curry powder, 1tbspn of rice flour, 1 pinch of Malden sea salt, the sparkling water and the eggs, beat to a pale mixture then rest in the fridge for a few minutes. In another mixing bowl, combine the prawns, shredded sweet potato, daikon, sesame seeds and the Thai basil. Pour the batter over all of this then mix with your hands until everything is covered in the egg mixture.
Now the fritters are ready to be cooked. However if you throw the mixture in as is, it will break up and not cook together. Use a kitchen spider (large spoon with holes it it) to gently lower handfuls of the fritter mixture into the oil, making sure that the vegetables have cooked together, holding the fritters in one piece. Cook batches of the mixture one at a time for around 2-3 minutes in the oil, moving regularly to ensure an even cook. When ready remove from oil and leave to drain on kitchen roll.
Meanwhile make your Nham jim dipping sauce, fresh is always best with a lime juice based product. In a pestle and mortar, pestle the coriander root, garlic then chillies in this order to a coarse paste, using sea salt as an abrasive if necessary. Next add the caster sugar and pound for a few seconds using the sugar as a second abrasive. Lastly add the lime, mandarin juice and fish sauce to make the dipping sauce. It should taste sweet, salty, sour and hot, adjust seasoning accordingly. An exact recipe is impossible as ingredients strengths change constantly.
Serve the fritters garnished with some fresh Thai Basil leaves and enjoy.

See you next time,

Eat Well,

Sebbyholmes

Follow @sebbyholmes1

Thai Shallot, Chive, Ginger & smoked Salmon Roti with Peppered Coconut Cream

Posted on January 15, 2014 by sebbyholmes

Now I have one guilty pleasure from when I was traveling around Thailand (and it’s not what you’re thinking!), condensed milk and banana roti. It’s such a simple but addictive dish, with a crispy, buttery roti dough, wrapped around a soft banana and drowned in condensed milk- it’s a fat man’s dream.

Anywhere you travel around Thailand you’re sure to bump into a roti stand. The Thai’s have truly mastered the art of quick, flavoursome and intricate street food. If you’re there and love food, I’m sure you won’t be able to help yourself to try as much as possible. However if you see a roti stand don’t hesitate! Run at it like a seagull that’s nicked your sandwich and grab the first one you can get your hands on. Once you’ve got one don’t stray too far, if you feel like another you may have gained too many pounds to run back.

Recently I have been doing a little research into the origins of the roti dough. Besides seeing it when I was out there, I have only seen it at work. Due to this I had assumed that it was a Thai dish, however (as per usual) I was wrong.

The Roti was first introduced into Thai culture via South Asian immigrants, who borrowed the dish from Indian cuisine. Roti’s were cheap to produce and delicious to eat, so they became common form on the streets. As time passed roti popularity continued to rise, so too did the amount of roti stools. Before you knew it the roti got to where it is today. You can find it on the streets, in malls and in homes, being cooked by everyone, everywhere. Now you understand why I say run if you see one, there will be others behind you. Dommy Gonzalez gives a great insight into how the roti has spread around America in his article from ‘LA Weekly’. This is further evidence of how this gem of a dish is rapidly expanding and occurring in cultures all around the globe.

Now this amazing little dish has not just expanded in terms of popularity. You can now find an endless array of delicious fillings and coatings, both sweet and savoury. From what began as just a simple condensed milk and sugar filling, has now evolved into bananas, strawberry jam, Italian Nutella and apparently you can even get pizza toppings (not that I have seen this with my own eyes). These days anything goes really so I figured I would share a recipe with you guys to have a go yourself.

Right! History lesson over, this now brings us to my dish. I was recently lucky enough to find myself on a long weekend in the Lake District. As soon as I had a free moment I had a sudden urge to make a roti – that’s normal, right? Anyway, so I rattled around in my head and decided that a savoury roti was the way forward. I didn’t think that a condensed milk and sugar roti was going to do me any favours this close to Christmas ( I’ve already told myself, I’m not getting fat until I’m at least 30).

So, savoury it was. I managed to get some smoked salmon fillets, which were bloody awesome so I used them. Whilst writing this I also realised that I haven’t once used smoked salmon on ‘Articuleat’! This just wont do, how have I gone through nearly a year without introducing this amazing product into my repertoire? Well today, this stops, ‘Articuleat’ has found a home for this lovely ingredient, and a pretty tasty one at that.

I decided to poach my smoked salmon fillets in fresh coconut cream and a little fish stock in order to heat the fish and create a delicious sauce. Unfortunately I couldn’t get my hands on any flowering chives for this recipe, however if I could I would have used them. The combination of coconut cream, chives and smoked salmon works really well with a crispy, buttery roti dough. You can buy coconut cream in tins, but if you’re feeling adventurous you can make it yourself. Fresh coconut cream is a far superior product to use if you have time, try it – you’ll love it. This is my version of this historical dish I hope you enjoy.

Ingredients

-5, Thai shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

-2, smoked salmon fillets, roughly 400g (if you can’t get your hands on these just use normal fillets with around 100g of sliced smoked salmon)

-2 spring onions, finely sliced

-2 garlic cloves, finely sliced

-3 coriander roots,cleaned, chopped and pounded in a pestle and mortar.

-20g, flowering chives, if you can’t get flowering chives then british chives are fine.

-4 coconuts (follow instructions to make coconut cream) or 400ml coconut cream

-200ml clear fish stock

-1tspn whole white peppercorns, toasted and ground in a pestle and mortar.

-1 large chunk of ginger, peeled and fine julienned

-50g clarified butter (for cooking the roti)

-1 1/2 tbspn thin soy sauce

(For the roti dough)

-250g, all plain flour, sieved

-1 large egg, beaten

-1 heaped tbspn coriander seeds, toasted and lightly bruised in a pestle and mortar)

– 2 tbspn unsalted butter, soft but not boiling

-1 pinch Maldon sea salt, crushed to fine powder

-1tbspn caster sugar

-200ml, warm water

-50ml milk

-olive oil for coating

Method (makes two large roti’s with a little spare dough)

1. Firstly make the roti dough. Dissolve sugar and salt in the water. Add milk, egg and melted butter. Beat the egg lightly. Add all the sieved flour and coriander seeds then Knead for around 10-15 minutes. The dough should be tacky but not sticking to the container or your hand. This dough is quite wet compared to regular bread dough. Once ready, lightly oil a bowl and place the dough upon it (it’s easier to just oil your hands at the stage), this ensures that the dough does not stick to the bowl during the resting process. Lastly cover the dough with cling film, be sure to have the cling film in direct contact with the dough to stop it crusting over, leave to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes.

2. Next make the sauce, to make you own coconut cream follow my instructions from this previous recipe. Firstly fry the garlic, coriander root and Thai shallots in a little oil until golden brown and fragrant. When ready add the fish stock, half of the coconut cream and half of the ginger, add the white peppercorns, the soy and bring to a gentle simmer. Next place the salmon fillets gently into the simmer (and the sliced smoked salmon if using) for around five minutes, then carefully remove and place to one side. Finish the sauce by adding the rest of the ginger and coconut cream, chives and spring onion. Check seasoning, bare in mind that the smoked salmon adds salt. Bring this back to a simmer, but don’t boil or the coconut cream will split from the stock, a light split is fine.

3. Now for the fun bit, cooking the roti. If you’re feeling lucky then try the traditional method by slapping out the roti dough. Lightly oil a clean surface. Form a small ball by pulling a side of the dough mix and tucking it in the middle. Rotate and repeat the pulling and tucking until the ball is smooth. It should not take more than half a minute per ball. Finally, push the dough from the bottom through the space between your thumb and your index finger. The ball should be smooth and tight and around the size of a golf ball. Tuck the rest in and pinch it together. You’ll have enough spare dough to have a few attempts so don’t worry too much about not getting it right first time.

4. Once you have a portion sized ball place it on the oiled surface. Flatten it into a rough circular shape and then gently lift the closest side to you and drag towards you, lift quickly but delicately and slap back onto the surface (the elasticity and stickiness of the dough means that it doesn’t rip too easily and it stretches bigger as you drag it). Repeat this process until the dough is roughly 2-3mm thick (the thinner the better but don’t make it too hard on yourself to lift into the pan), a few holes are fine. Alternatively you can use a rolling pin. I have watched many chefs attempt this process and none, including myself got it perfect first time, so don’t worry if it all goes a little pear shaped, it will still taste amazing.

5. Meanwhile heat half the clarified butter in a large, flat frying pan to a medium heat (the butter needs to be really hot in order to crisp the dough, but not burned). Delicately lift the dough into the pan, If it sizzles you’re doing it right. Quickly place one of the salmon fillets in the center of the dough and using a holed spoon scoop some of the vegetables out of the sauce and place on top of the salmon (be careful not to put much sauce in the dough as it could make it go soggy). Fold the dough into a rectangle shape and then flip over, adding a little more butter if needed. Fry for roughly three minutes on each side until it is golden brown and crispy on both sides. Repeat this process with the other roti and then serve upon the sauce with a cheek of lemon.

This dough can be used for sweet and savoury roti’s so use it however you like. You can also cook the dough on its own and dip it into curries.

See you next time,

Eat Well,

Sebbyholmes

Follow @sebbyholmes1

Salted Five Spiced Sirloin with Turmeric Potatoes & Thai Shallot Gravy

Posted on January 2, 2014 by sebbyholmes

Ahrrr steak, steak, steak! Aside from winning the lottery I can think of no better way to bring in the New Year. I know that I should probably be on a health spree after the recent Christmas break, but fuck that! I like steak, so I’m eating my way into 2014 in style.

Now it’s important to pick the right cut of meat when putting a dish together. I already know that I want a tender, succulent cut to accompany the rest of the dish. Now if you don’t have much knowledge of an animal you may find this part tricky, although these days the most popular cuts of meat are generally known. However there are so many cuts of beef to choose from, 18 common ones to be precise. Now I’m sure we both don’t have the time, or the patience for me to discuss every cut in this one post, but no worries if you continue to read ‘Articuleat‘, it’ will continue to teach.

For this dish I wanted a cut of beef that I could pan fry and finish in the oven, as my hunger did not allow me the luxury of time. This leaves me three ideal choices of meat to use; fillet, rump and sirloin. Now if I could afford it I would have them all on the same plate for three meals a day, everyday. However since I’m not rich and don’t plan on becoming a fat bastard until I’m at least 30, I need to pick one? The tenderest of all beef cuts is the fillet. Taken from underneath the sirloin section of the backbone, it gets almost no exercise, making it tender and flavoursome. Despite this I have chosen sirloin for this dish, just for personal preference.

The sirloin is a very tender joint located between the fore rib and the rump on the back of the carcass. When sold as a joint it may be either on the bone, or boned and rolled, with, or without the fillet. It can be sliced into steaks which are most commonly known as entrecote, sirloin and T-bone. This is cut across the sirloin and includes the bone and the larger porterhouse, which includes both sirloin and rib. This is a prime cut for roasting or grilling.

So anyway that’s your butchery lesson for the day, on to the rest of the dish. I love making five spice, although I use a few extra spices in my recipe, I suppose I should probably call it seven spice really? Oh well, math’s never was never my stronghold.

It’s a great product to make as it can either be toasted and spice ground to a powder, ideal for seasonings and sauces. Or the spices can be placed whole into sauces, gravies and soups. This delicate blend of spices is a perfect accompaniment to a sirloin steak. It has a light aromatic flavour when infused into the gravy; this contributes to the flavour of the steak, rather than overpowering it. A few of my spices are a little hard to get hold of in normal supermarkets so don’t worry too much; If you can’t find them all, I’m sure it will still taste great no matter what. If you are committed enough to find the spices most good oriental supermarkets, or spice shops will have them, or something similar- happy hunting. For this recipe I have ground some of the spices to coat the meat and the rest are infused into the gravy. Along with the natural sweetness of the Thai shallots the gravy is light and thin, more of an aromatic broth than a gravy.

Now for the potatoes I have a few things going on. Firstly I’ve made a paste using coriander root, garlic, Thai shallots and fresh red turmeric (any excuse to get the pestle and mortar out). This is then all pounded to a paste and fried until fragrant with the potatoes after they have been cooked (otherwise the paste will burn before the potatoes have been sautéed enough). The inclusion of red turmeric is for colour, rather than taste, although it does have a slight musky, bitter flavour. Fresh turmeric, like ginger is known as a rhizome (a thick underground stem, or root). Be careful when using as it stains your hands a yellow/orange colour. I’ve made this mistake a few times and ended up having to go out in public looking like some kind of umpa-lumpa, funny but not cool.

Anyway I wish you all a great new year and I’m looking forward to seeing what 2014 has to offer. This dish was a hell of a start so onwards and upwards. Thanks for giving me a read and I’ll see you soon.

Ingredients

– 100g, whole Thai shallots, peeled

-450g, beef sirloin, fat & skin removed and rolled into large sausage shape using cling film)

-1 1/2 tbspn, whole white peppercorns, toasted & 1/2 tbspn spice ground coarsely.

– A good glug of Kecap Manis, Indonesian sweet soy

– Olive oil, for frying

– 2 potatoes, peeled and evenly diced into 1cm by 1cm cubes (I prefer Maris piper for frying)

-2 Pik Kwan (Thai peppercorn), toasted & 1 spice ground to powder

-2tspn coriander seeds, toasted & bruised

-1/2 tspn cumin, toasted, 1/4 tspn spice ground to powder

– 2 star anise, toasted & 1 spice ground to powder

– 2 bay leaves, toasted & 1 spice ground to powder

-2 pieces, cassia bark, toasted & 1 spice ground to powder

-2, bird’s eye chillies

-2tbspn, red turmeric, peeled

-3 cloves garlic, peeled

-2tspn coriander roots, roughly chopped

-30g coriander leaves, washed and picked

-Malden sea salt

-20g, unsalted butter

-400ml, beef stock

-1tbspn, sesame oil

-2tbspn, oyster sauce

Method (serves 2 with spare five/seven spice)

1. Firstly combine the powdered star anise, cassia bark, bay leaves, Pik Kwan, white peppercorns and 1tbspn of the bruised coriander seeds. The rest of the whole toasted spices can be tied in some muslin to be used later in the gravy as a kind of bouquet garni.

2. Next take the sirloin out of the fridge and coat in a little oil, Kecap Manis and a good pinch of Malden sea salt, set aside for a few minutes and allow to reach room temperature (this relaxes the meat in preparation for frying). Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees centigrade (150 for fan oven) Seal the meat in a pan briefly (1-2 minutes) to colour and hold in juices. When coloured, dust with the powdered five spice and then place in the oven. For this sized meat you’re looking at 12-15 minutes for rare, 15-18 for medium-rare and 20-25 for well done, allow to rest for 6-8 minutes once removed from oven.

3. Whilst the steak cooks add a little more oil to the steak pan and bring to a medium heat, fry all but 4 of the whole Thai shallots in the oil until caramelised and fragrant, then de-glaze the pan with the beef stock. Add the bouquet garni, sesame oil, oyster sauce and a pinch of salt then bring to the boil, when boiling turn down to a simmer.

4. Lastly make your turmeric potatoes. Firstly pound the coriander root, 4 Thai shallots, red turmeric, bird’s eye chillies and garlic to a coarse paste, use salt as an abrasive if necessary. Blanch the potatoes in salted boiling water for 3 minutes, then refresh in cold water (this is just to soften them a little, not too cook them through). In a large, flat, non-stick frying pan heat a little olive oil. Fry the potatoes on a high heat, tossing regularly to get even colour on all sides of the diced potatoes. When nearly cooked throughout (around 6-8 minutes) add the butter and the paste and cook until fragrant and golden brown (around 2 minutes). When cooked remove from the heat and toss through a pinch of salt and the coriander leaves. Lastly discard the bouquet garni from the gravy then congratulations- you can eat.

Thanks very much for stopping by at Articuleat and I hope you have enjoyed your stay. I always look forward to your feedback so please don’t hesitate to get in touch for any reason whatsoever – I will reply as swiftly as possible.

See you next time,

Eat Well,

Sebbyholmes

Follow @sebbyholmes1

Have a happy fudging Christmas: fudge, three ways

Posted on December 23, 2013 by sebbyholmes

Well shit, once again it’s that time of year where I manage to ignore my girlfriend and family’s requests to go shopping, to the point where I only have a couple of days to do the Christmas shopping. Unfortunately, life as a chef and food blogger is not most accommodating for catching up on your Christmas shopping. Every time I have found a moment to myself, quite literally the last thing I even want to think about is Christmas shopping. For example, today (being my first day off for Christmas) would have been ideal to head off out into the rain, probably to Oxford Street and get everyone presents. However, despite the fact that even the thought of a busy shopping spree upsets me, something inside me urged me to make fudge and then write about it? Why not?

So, this year I thought “screw it” I’m going to take a stand! For all those out there in the same situation I urge you to come forward and join, I’m just making some snazzy fudge. After all, it’s the thought that counts right?

Now I can appreciate that making fudge for a present is a bit of a cop out. However, surely the same can’t be said for making three different types of fudge? Well, that’s my logic anyway. So after careful consideration (363 days to be precise) I have concluded that fudge it is. If anyone is in the same position this close to Christmas then we must lead similar lifestyles. If you’re stuck for ideas, or the most expensive flowers in the service station just won’t do this year then no fear, ‘Articuleat’ is here to save the day.

It’s quite ironic that a product accidently created in Virginia; USA, by a toffee maker’s apprentice is now going to be the saviour of my Christmas. Allegedly a toffee demonstration went wrong and it was taken off at the wrong temperature, this is also apparently where the term “to fudge something up” came from. Anyway things have come a long way since then and this fudge is purposeful.

Right then! Back to the recipe, as I said earlier we are making three different types of fudge, the first being dark chocolate and fresh orange. If you are a regular reader of ‘Articuleat’, then you already know that I like to make things from scratch, this trio of fudge certainly doesn’t break this trend. In order to get a potent orange taste to infuse into my fudge, I squeezed the juice from four oranges, then reduced it into a 100ml, concentrated juice. This was then added to my fudge along with some orange zest, the result – deliciousness.

The second fudge is white chocolate, spearmint and hazelnut. For this I had to work out the best way to infuse the spearmint into my fudge. In the end I decided to make a clear sugar syrup using caster sugar and water, when this was hot I added mint in order to capture the spearmint flavour within the syrup. Finished off with some fine julienne mint leaves and toasted hazelnuts and we’re done.

The third and final fudge is milk chocolate, raisin and toasted walnut. This is the simplest of the trio however if you have ever made fudge before you may know that white chocolate does not set as firm as others when used in fudge. Due to this I had to increase the white chocolate content to ensure that it would set correctly, I’m sure that no one will have an issue with extra chocolate?

Ingredients

(For the dark chocolate orange fudge)

-500g, caster sugar

-150g, dark chocolate, broken into small chunks (make sure it has at least a 70% cocoa solids content)

-500ml, double cram

-75g, liquid glucose

-Four oranges, keep the zest of 2 and the juice of all four

(For the white chocolate, spearmint and hazelnut fudge)

-500g, caster sugar

-350g, white chocolate, broken into small chunks

-500ml, double cream

-75g, liquid glucose

-80g fresh spearmint, 20g fine julienned, the rest for the sugar syrup

-75g, hazelnuts, toasted and skin removed

(For the milk chocolate, raisin and walnut fudge)

-500g, caster sugar

-150g, milk chocolate

-75g, liquid glucose

-75g, raisins, soaked for a few minutes in boiling water then drained thoroughly

-75g, walnuts, toasted

Method (each recipe makes around 800g of fudge)

(For the dark chocolate orange fudge)

Firstly bring the orange juice to the boil and simmer until you have 100ml left in the pan. This will leave you with a concentrated orange juice, which is perfect; we want the flavour, not the liquid. Take the orange zest and blanch it in boiling water 3 times, this takes the bitterness out of the zest and makes it nice to eat.
Combine the sugar, double cream and glucose in a pan then bring to the boil on a medium heat. Be sure to stir regularly to ensure that the ingredients are mixed and not sticking to the pan. Once melted and combined, boil until the mixture reaches 118 degrees centigrade, this is the temperature that sugar needs to be at to set into fudge, no more, no less.
Lastly remove from the heat and immediately mix in the dark chocolate, the concentrated orange juice and the zest (the heat from the sugar will melt the chocolate). Pour this mixture into a tray that is lined with cling film and parchment paper then set in the fridge, should take around an hour.

(For the white chocolate, spearmint and hazelnut fudge)

Firstly take 50g of sugar and melt it in a pan with 100ml of water until combined. Once hot add the 80g of fresh spearmint and simmer for a few minutes. Next remove from the heat and food process the mixture in order to extract as much mint flavour as possible, next pass through a sieve to remove the mint but keep the liquid.
Combine the mint sugar syrup with the rest of the sugar; double cream and glucose in a pan then bring to the boil on a medium heat. Be sure to stir regularly to ensure that the ingredients are mixed and not sticking to the pan. Once melted and combined, boil until the mixture reaches 118 degrees centigrade, this is the temperature that sugar needs to be at to set into fudge, no more, no less.
Lastly remove from the heat and immediately mix in the white chocolate, toasted hazelnuts and the julienned mint leaves. Pour this mixture into a tray that is lined with cling film and parchment paper then set in the fridge, should take around an hour.

(For the milk chocolate, raisin and walnut fudge)

Combine the sugar, double cream and glucose in a pan then bring to the boil on a medium heat. Be sure to stir regularly to ensure that the ingredients are mixed and not sticking to the pan. Once melted and combined, boil until the mixture reaches 118 degrees centigrade, this is the temperature that sugar needs to be at to set into fudge, no more, no less.
Remove from the heat and immediately add the milk chocolate, softened raisins and the toasted walnuts. Pour this mixture into a tray that is lined with cling film and parchment paper then set in the fridge, should take around an hour.

So there you have it, a trio of Christmas fudge. I hope that you all enjoy this recipe and if necessary, use it to sort a few people out with Christmas presents. I now have to hope that none of my family will read this blog post until after Christmas; otherwise I will probably have to make something else.

From ‘Articuleat’ have a very happy Christmas and a great new year,

See you next time,

Eat Well,

Sebby Holmes

Follow @sebbyholmes1

Venison Wellington with Caramelised Red Onion Gravy, Roasted Seasonal Mushrooms & Pancetta.

Posted on December 4, 2013 by sebbyholmes

The game season is upon us, for me this means venison is back on the dinner plate. Venison used to be a strictly seasonal, expensive meat however it is now more widely available, as it’s commonly farmed. Although still at the expensive end of the meat market; it’s lean, close-textured, dark, moist meat and distinct gamey flavour is truly worth every penny.

Venison is defined as ‘large antlered game’ (funnily enough my girlfriend also refers to me by this) and therefore, as well as deer, it includes elk, caribou, moose, antelope, bison, buffalo and me. Prime roasting joints tend to come from the leg (haunch), the loin and the saddle, while the fillet or boned loin provides steaks.

Now I have been up to lots over the last few months from designing insect based menus for the London public, to helping Andy Oliver out at his new pop- up event; which you will hear about in my blog’s ‘behind the whites’ section. The past month of neglect towards ‘Articuleat’ is to be swiftly resolved. I have some great winter recipes to get you down and dirty in the kitchen during the festive season.

Now, back to the recipe. Remember if you don’t have the time or the patience to make your own puff pastry (I don’t blame you) you can buy it frozen from any good supermarket. However if you do find the time to give it a whirl (well done you) then I’m sure you will absolutely love this dish. For me, there is nothing better than making something completely from scratch, once you conquer puff pastry – you can conquer anything. If it is your first time please do let me know how it goes, I would love to know.

Right so we have Venison wellington, a deliciously rich, gamey meat wrapped within a light, fluffy, buttery puff pastry – now what next? What’s our perfect accompaniment for this tasty dish?

Yep, I’ve got it, mushrooms!! But not just any mushrooms. For a dish with as much character as this you don’t want to dress it up in crap clothes. Girolles, the Levis of the mushroom world and shitake, the Gucci. Iron these up and put them on your wellington and I assure you, it will be turning heads left, right and center.

Now for the last element to complete this delicious winter warmer, a sauce. We have buttery pastry, gamey venison, salty mushrooms; I think a light and sweet caramelised red onion gravy should bring all those flavours together. Infuse this with some smoked pancetta and you would have to be some kind of weirdo not to be able to enjoy this dish (except of course for vegetarians).

Ingredients

(For the puff pastry, makes 1.2kg)

-500g, unsalted butter

-500g, strong white flour

-2tspn, salt

-150ml, cold water

-5 egg yolks

-3tspn, lemon juice

-flour, for rolling

(For the wellington)

-600g venison haunch, rolled into a large sausage shape using cling film

-puff pastry, enough to wrap venison

-2 egg yolks, whisked to attach pastry

-a little olive oil

-Malden salt and cracked black pepper

(For everything else)

-40g, girolles, cleaned with a brush and chopped into thick chunks

-40g, shitake, cleaned and chopped into thick chunks

-60g, diced smoked pancetta

-2 cloves, garlic, diced or crushed

-2 thinly sliced red onions

-300ml, beef stock

-50g, soft brown sugar

-2 heaped tbspn, redcurrant jelly

-20ml, balsamic vinegar

-olive oil for cooking

-20g unsalted butter

Method (Serves 2, with spare puff pastry)

Firstly let’s get the hard bit out the way, the puff pastry. Now follow these instructions to the word and you shouldn’t have any issues, if you do please let me know. Puff pastry is a lengthy process but once made it can be frozen for future use; I assure you quality comes in making things from scratch. Begin by unwrapping the butter (be sure to keep the wrappers) and cut off 100g of butter to use in the dough. Place the remaining butter between the wrappers and hammer it with a rolling pin until it’s about 2cm thick, roughly the same size as the wrapper and malleable. Keep this cool and aim to have it cold but pliable for rolling, not too soft (I know this is tricky but it needs to be malleable enough to roll, whilst being cold enough not to melt into the pastry).Place the flour and salt in a bowl then get your hands stuck in to rub in the butter. Mix the water, yolks and juice, add this to the bowl and gently knead into a dough. Once complete, wrap it and chill in fridge for half an hour. Next lightly flour the worktop and roll the dough out to just under 1cm thick. Place the butter slab, unwrapped and pull the sides up and over it so they overlap in the middle, and seal them together with a little water. Then do the same with the other two sides – this will completely seal the butter within the dough like a wrapped Christmas present. Lastly hammer the dough out a little with the rolling pin and roll it into a rectangle just under 1cm thick. Brush off any excess flour, fold it in by thirds (like you would a blanket), then wrap it well and chill for an hour. Lastly roll and fold it in this way five more times, spaced at one hour long intervals, use as much flour as you need to stop the butter sticking, should it burst out – but make sure to brush it off the dough when making a blanket fold. Finally wrap the dough well and use immediately or freeze for when you need it. This recipe makes more than you need, if it takes this long why not?
Now that the pastry is out the way, time for the wellington. Firstly heat the oven to 180C. Unwrap the venison and cover in olive oil, salt and pepper the fry in a dry pan on a high heat briefly to seal the meat (be sure to keep it raw in the center), remove from pan and chill for 30 minutes. Roll out enough puff pastry to wrap the meat into a rectangular shape then place the venison in the center, use a little flour on the worktop if necessary. Brush the egg around the edges of the pastry and the meat, and then tightly wrap it, making sure you seal the meat within the pastry, then leave to rest for 30 minutes. Lastly brush the pastry with egg yolk and sprinkle with salt and pepper, mark the wellington with diagonal knife lines taking care not to cut through the pastry. Cook until golden and crisp (around 20-25 minutes for medium rare) then remove rest and serve.
Meanwhile make the sauce. Place the butter in a tray, then melt in the oven on 180C, once hot add the pancetta and roast for 15 minutes. Next add the mushrooms and continue to roast for a further 20 minutes. At the same time fry the garlic in hot oil until golden brown and fragrant, then add the red onion and sweat (around 5 minutes). Next add the soft brown sugar and balsamic vinegar and cook until melted and beginning to caramelise. When ready add the redcurrant jelly and beef stock and continue to simmer until a light pourable consistency. Once mushrooms and pancetta is ready finish the gravy by adding the roasting juices from the tray. Serve the wellington upon the mushrooms and pancetta with a friendly dose of the gravy and enjoy.

See you next time,

Eat Well,

Sebby Holmes

Follow @sebbyholmes1