Читать книгу My Virgin Kitchen: Delicious recipes you can make every day - Barry Lewis - Страница 13
ОглавлениеIt’s important to have a few basic recipes up your sleeve to get you by. Here are a few of my favourites – you’ll use these again and again in your cooking.
BÉCHAMEL SAUCE
A roux is a great way to make sauces with a slightly thicker consistency, for example cheese sauce and gravy. You basically combine equal parts of butter and flour in a pan over a low heat, stirring until they combine to make a loose paste. This also briefly cooks the flour, removing the floury/starchy taste – you then add a liquid to thicken into a sauce. If you melt the butter slightly longer before adding the flour, until it darkens and smells more nutty (usually a couple of minutes), this will create a good base for darker sauces.
MAKES 500ML
50g plain flour
50g butter
550ml milk
1. Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add in the flour and stir until combined. Cook for a couple of minutes to cook the flour. Once you have the thickened roux, pour in half the milk and stir constantly over a low heat; it will be lumpy at first but keep going until it thickens.
2. Gradually add more milk, stirring over a low heat, then switch to a whisk, whisking any lumps. Simmering for a few more minutes over a low heat will give you a nice thickened sauce.
Variations
• Add freshly chopped parsley for a parsley sauce
• Add grated cheese and stir through to melt for a cheese sauce
• Add a combination of Dijon mustard and honey for a honey mustard sauce
MAYONNAISE
I was so surprised when I learned how to make mayonnaise from scratch; it literally takes seconds and is amazingly fresh, plus you can tweak it to your liking and get it tasting exactly how you like. Add things like Tabasco sauce or herbs and spices to start tweaking it further.
MAKES 200ML
1 large egg yolk
210ml olive oil
½ garlic clove
1 tsp lemon juice
1 heaped tsp English mustard
salt and pepper
1. Tip the egg yolk into a small food processor and whizz briefly, then drizzle in the oil in small amounts, pulsing it as you go, until the egg yolk and oil are fully emulsified.
2. Tip in the garlic clove, lemon juice and mustard and whizz until combined and the garlic has been completely chopped through the mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
PESTO
Pesto is easy to get hold of in the shops, but also very simple and even better homemade. All you need is a blender if you want to be super-lazy, or you could use a pestle and mortar.
MAKES 300ML
100g pine nuts, toasted
100g grated Parmesan
large handful of fresh basil
zest of ½ lemon
200ml olive oil
salt and pepper
1. Whizz the pine nuts, Parmesan, basil and lemon zest together in a food processor and then add the oil. It’s best to add the oil gradually so you can tweak the texture slightly – if you want it thicker add a little less oil.
2. Season to taste. This will keep for a couple of weeks in an airtight container in the fridge.
VEGETABLE STOCK
Homemade stocks are so easy to make and can be portioned up and stored in the freezer until needed.
MAKES 750ML
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 celery stick, diced (add the leaves, too)
1 carrot, diced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
3 spring onions, chopped
handful of fresh parsley
few sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
1. Heat the oil in a large pan over a low–medium heat, add all the vegetables and herbs and cook gently for 10 minutes to soften.
2. Pour in 1 litre of water and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 40 minutes. Carefully strain the stock and discard the vegetables and herbs to leave you with a lovely vegetable stock.
CHICKEN STOCK
When you’ve roasted a chicken for Sunday lunch, don’t throw away the carcass – turn it into stock!
MAKES 1.5 LITRES
1 chicken carcass (broken up)
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 celery stick, roughly chopped
1 carrot, chopped
handful of fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
1. Put all of the ingredients into a large pan, cover with 2 litres of water and bring to a fast boil. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and leave to simmer over a low heat for 1½ hours, skimming any fat from the surface every so often.
2. Strain the stock and discard the carcass and vegetables. Allow to cool before storing in the fridge or freezer.
SHORTCRUST PASTRY
I often use ready-made pastry when I’m pressed for time but making your own is actually pretty easy. The trick is to keep your hands nice and cool and to use really cold water to bind the pastry together.
225g plain flour
pinch of salt
112g chilled butter, cut into cubes
cold water
1. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl, giving a gentle stir to combine. Add the butter and use your fingers and thumbs to rub the butter into the flour – keep going until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Gradually add cold water, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture comes together nicely. Don’t add too much water – you just need enough to bring the pastry together in the bowl (use a fork to stir it in).
3. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes before rolling out on a floured surface.
