Читать книгу Master it: How to cook today - Rory O'Connell - Страница 16
ОглавлениеChicken and other broths
Vegetable soups
Savoury tarts
Salads and dressings
Pan-grilling and pan-frying
Roasting
Casserole-roasting
Baked fish
Green vegetables
Roots and alliums
Potatoes
Rice
Pulses – beans, peas and lentils
Simple soda breads
Sweet essentials
Fruit fools, compotes and salads
Biscuits
Ice creams, sorbets and granitas
Meringues
Warm puddings
Cold puddings
A few cakes
‘Lining a flan ring with pastry is one of the techniques that strikes fear into some cooks. But it really is worth persevering with this technique, because once mastered it opens up hundreds of possible recipes of both a sweet and savoury nature.’
The savoury tart, sometimes called an ‘open-faced tart’, can be varied depending on the ingredients available, and perfectly illustrates the value of mastering a particular technique that can be used year round to illustrate the glories of the changing seasons.
There are two separate techniques involved here. Making the savoury custard to hold all the ingredients together is simple. Making the pastry and lining the flan ring is more complicated. In fact, lining a flan ring with savoury or sweet pastry is one of the techniques that strikes fear into some cooks, and I have to be honest here and say that in the earlier days of my career I was one of those cooks who avoided the task whenever possible. But to progress as a cook, you sometimes have to bully yourself into performing a task that scares you a bit. It is really worth persevering with this technique, because once mastered it opens up hundreds of possible recipes of both a sweet and savoury nature, and you will have a great sense of achievement when you can approach the task with no fear.
Good eggs and butter are essential for the pastry, and the eggs feature again in the custard, along with cream, to give a rich and rather luscious consistency to the filling.
Read over the pastry section of the recipe a couple of times before starting, so that you have the different stages in your head. Making the pastry takes only a matter of minutes. What is vital to remember with a shortcrust pastry, is not to overhandle it. On the other hand I do sometimes think that some recipes urge too much caution as to the handling. So when you add the egg it should look like smooth pastry dough. If it doesn’t, and hasn’t come together, knead it a little more until it takes on that smooth and finished appearance.
Keys to success
The pastry is a ‘short crust’ and needs careful handling.
The ‘short’ in the pastry name refers to the amount of fat, generally butter, that is used. The more butter used, the shorter the pastry is, and this shortness refers to the pleasantly crumbly but not brittle texture of the cooked pastry. It is important not to confuse the word crumbly with collapsing. The tart must hold its shape both when cooking and being served. The dilemma here is that the more butter you add, the more difficult the pastry is to handle. So I suggest that to start with, you use half the weight of butter to flour. When you can handle that with confidence, you can increase the quantity of butter a little, thereby achieving a finer pastry.
Weigh all the ingredients accurately.
Cold butter is first rubbed into the flour to achieve a texture like fine breadcrumbs. This can be done by hand or in a food processor. If you are using a food processor, it will happen quickly, but proceed with caution using the pulse button to ensure the butter does not become overworked, as this may lead to a tough pastry.
The beaten egg is then added to the crumb and gently mixed to create a pastry dough that is neither too dry nor too wet, but can be rolled and manipulated to line your flan ring.
A pastry that is too wet will not hold its shape and will be tough and flabby when cooked.
A pastry that is too dry is impossible to handle and shape and will be brittle and likely to collapse when cooked.
The pastry is chilled for at least 30 minutes before rolling and lining the flan ring. This takes practice to perfect. If it breaks a little the first time you do it, don’t panic – do a bit of patchwork and it will work out. If it is a complete fiasco, gather up all the bits of pastry, knead them gently together to form a disc, and have another go. It may not win best in show, but you will get a result and be learning as you go, so that the next time you make it you will be better equipped.
The flan ring is chilled for at least 30 minutes before being lined with parchment paper and filled to the brim with dry baking beans. The beans help to keep the base of the tart from rising and the sides from caving in.
The chilling periods are crucial, to prevent shrinkage of the pastry when it is cooking, resulting in a misshapen flan ring.
The cooking of the pastry is done in two stages. The first stage, which takes 90% of the cooking time, is done with the beans in it, and the second stage is removing the beans and parchment paper, giving the base of the pastry a light brush with beaten egg and returning the pastry to the oven to finish cooking. Brushing with egg helps to create a seal on the base of the tart, resulting in a crisper bottom and avoiding the dreaded ‘soggy bottom syndrome’!
Pastry lined with paper and full to the brim with baking beans and rice
Shortcrust pastry
24cm tart 175g plain flour
Pinch of salt
85g butter, cold from the fridge
1 egg
First make the pastry
Sieve the flour into a bowl. Add a pinch of salt. Cut the cold butter into small cubes and add to the flour. Rub the butter into the flour until it looks like very fine crumbs. This part of the process can also be done in a food processor using the pulse button to break up the butter, but I always like to add the beaten egg by hand in a bowl.
Beat the egg thoroughly, then, using a fork or your fingers, stir in just enough of it, 3–4 tablespoons, to bring the pastry together. Retain the remainder of the beaten egg for later. The dough should feel neither too firm nor too soft. Knead the pastry lightly, again for only a few seconds, to form a smooth mass. The pastry should not be sticking to your fingers. If it does, add a little sprinkle of flour and work in gently. Form the pastry into a little round disc, about 1cm thick. Wrap in greaseproof or parchment paper and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Lining the tin with the pastry
You will need a 24cm tart tin or flan ring, with a removable base. To line the flan ring, dust the worktop with flour. Place the flan ring on the dusted surface and with your fingers draw a circle in the flour around the tin, allowing an extra 2cm for the risen edge of the pastry. Remove the tin. This template should help you to roll the pastry as close to your circular requirements as possible.
If the pastry is hard from the fridge, knead or massage it for a few seconds to make it malleable, always remembering that the less you handle the pastry the better. Place on the floured surface and dust the surface of the pastry with a little more flour. Gently roll the pastry with your rolling pin, rolling to the edge of the pastry but not out over the edges, as this causes the edges to be too thin and makes it difficult to handle when placing in the tin. I like to move the pastry on the work surface a few times during the rolling to prevent it from sticking. To do this, place the palm of your hand with fingers outstretched flat on the pastry and gently move it to and fro in a circular movement. If you feel it starting to catch, lift it and sprinkle a little more flour under it on to the work surface. Keep rolling until the pastry is of an even thickness and reaches the edges of the template you have drawn in the flour. Pop the tin on the pastry again just to be sure the disc is the right size.
Brush off the excess flour and roll the pastry around your rolling pin. Drape the pastry over the top of the flan ring. Gently encourage the pastry to drop into the ring and, with your fingers, firm it on to the base, into the corners and up along the sides of the ring. Allow an excess of 5mm of pastry for a raised edge. Pinch off the pastry by pressing your thumb on the top edge of the tin. Clean and neaten the edges to attain a smart finish. Chill the pastry for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
Baking the pastry ‘blind’
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Line the chilled pastry with a circle of greaseproof paper to come 2cm up over the edge of the tin. Fill to the top with dried baking beans or old rice.
Place the tart shell in the centre of the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the beans and paper. These can be saved for another day. Paint the base and sides of the pastry lightly with a little of the leftover beaten egg. Return to the oven for a further 5 minutes. This will help to crisp up the base and make it liquid-proof. Remove from the oven and place the tin on a wire rack to cool.
Spinach and herb tart
The spinach in this recipe can be replaced successfully with Swiss chard. If you choose to use baby spinach, there is no need to remove the stalks. Serve the tart with a salad of leaves or vine-ripened tomatoes and basil during the late summer and early autumn months. The Spring Mimosa Salad is wonderful with it and would make an elegant lunch or supper. A drizzle of hollandaise sauce is a quite delicious addition and rather elevates it.
The ingredients
Spinach leaves should look fresh and vibrant, so avoid wilted and tired-looking leaves.
Nutmeg is a strong spice, so use it with caution. It tastes much better when freshly grated from the whole piece as and when you need it, rather than using the pre-ground powder.
Using all the listed herbs in the recipe makes for a very good balanced flavour, but the rosemary on its own will make an excellent tart.
The Parmesan can be replaced with Gruyère or Cheddar, though the suggested Parmesan gives the most refined result.
Serves 6–8 TART FILLING
1 small onion, about 110g, very finely chopped
25g butter
Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
600g spinach, stalks removed and finely sliced, leaves gently torn into bite-sized pieces
A light grating of nutmeg
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
300ml regular or double cream
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tablespoon each chopped marjoram, parsley and chives
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
50g finely grated Parmesan
Prepare the tart case, as instructed.
Sweat the onion very gently in the butter until soft, then set aside to cool.
Bring 1.8 litres of water to the boil. Add a pinch of salt. Add the sliced spinach stalks and cook for 2 minutes. Add the spinach leaves to the stalks in the pot and cook for a further 3 minutes. Immediately remove and place in a colander or sieve. Press gently to extract as much water as possible. Lay the leaves and stalks out flat, separating them with your fingers, to let them cool as quickly as possible. Grate a little nutmeg over them as they cool.
Beat the eggs and cream and add the cooled onions, crushed garlic, chopped herbs and grated Parmesan. Squeeze the spinach again to extract any more water, then chop coarsely. Add the cooled spinach and season with salt and pepper. Taste and correct the seasoning.
Pour the filling into the tart shell and place in a preheated oven at 180°C/350°F/gas 4 for 30–40 minutes, or until the tart is set. You will know the tart is set when the filling no longer ripples when gently shaken. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes.
Remove the tin, place the tart on a large flat plate and serve. It tastes best when served warm.
Smoked mackerel and tomato tart
This tart can be served as a starter with salad leaves, or would make a perfect lunch or supper dish. Remember that some smoked mackerel has never seen the inside of a smokehouse, but has been dipped in dye to simulate the smoked effect. So search out best-quality fish that has been naturally smoked in the time-honoured tradition. The tomatoes, as always, need to be really ripe and firm, and you will be peeling them. Peeling tomatoes can be either a pleasure or torture. There is no grey area here, it either works perfectly or is a nightmare. This is a classic example of how important it is to follow all and not just some of the instructions.
For a special treat, serve this tart with a drizzle of hollandaise sauce.
The ingredients
Smoked mackerel, like salmon, has suffered in the last few years from becoming a mass-produced product, and that is exactly how much of it tastes now. Try to find fish smoked by an artisan producer, as it will have superior flavour, colour and texture. As a general rule the colour created on the fish by the traditional wood-smoking process should look natural, as distinct from the orangey and glowing colour of the mass-produced product. The artisan-produced fish will be more expensive, but just buy exactly as much as you need, don’t waste a scrap, and the superior flavour and texture will hopefully make you feel that the extra cost was worthwhile.
The sweet and smoky flavour of the tarragon combines beautifully with the tomato and smoked fish.
Serves 6–8 TART FILLING
1 small onion, very finely chopped
25g butter
3 ripe firm tomatoes
Maldon sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and sugar, to taste
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
300ml regular or double cream
1 tablespoon chopped chives
1 dessertspoon chopped tarragon
2 large whole smoked mackerel or 4 fillets, skinned and bones removed, pulled into 2cm pieces
Prepare the tart case, as instructed.
Sweat the onions very gently in the butter until soft, then leave to cool.
Peel the tomatoes, as described. Quarter the peeled tomatoes, remove the seeds and discard. Cut the flesh into 1cm dice. Season with a pinch of salt, pepper and sugar.
Beat the eggs and cream. Add the cooled onions, chopped herbs and seasoning and mix well. Gently fold in the tomatoes and the skinned and shredded mackerel. Taste and correct the seasoning.
Pour the filling into the tart shell and place in a preheated oven at 180°C/350°F/gas 4 for 30–40 minutes, or until the tart is set. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes.
Remove the tin, place the tart on a large flat plate and serve. It tastes best when served warm. For a special occasion, serve a drizzle of hollandaise sauce with each slice of tart.
Wild mushroom and tarragon tart
Mushrooms and tarragon are a classic combination of flavours and the combination will work for you in lots of other recipes. The Spring Mimosa Salad makes an excellent accompaniment.
The ingredients
Clean all mushrooms really well with a little brush or a damp cloth before using, and preferably avoid using any water, though a little rinse may sometimes be necessary. Wild mushrooms such as ceps, chanterelles, hedgehog and even the common field mushroom will be delicious here. Cultivated ‘exotic’ mushrooms such as oyster, shiitake, namiko are also good. Cook the prepared mushrooms in small batches over a high heat.
Tarragon should never be chopped ahead of time, as it oxidises and loses its wonderful flavour if not protected from the air by a coating of liquid, so chop it just before it goes into the tart filling.
Serves 6 TART FILLING
1 small onion, very finely chopped
50g butter
600g wild mushrooms, cleaned and coarsely chopped into 1cm pieces
Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
300ml regular or double cream
1–2 tablespoons chopped tarragon
50g finely grated Parmesan
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
Prepare the tart case, as instructed.
Sweat the onions very gently in half the butter until soft, then leave to cool.
Melt the rest of the butter in a large sauté pan and allow to foam. Add the chopped mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook the mushrooms on a high heat, turning them occasionally until they are tender. Remove the mushrooms and allow to cool completely. If your sauté pan is small, cook them in a couple of batches. If there is some liquid from the mushrooms left in the pan, leave it on the heat and allow it to simmer and reduce until it looks thickened and syrupy. Pour this over the cooling mushrooms.
Beat the eggs and cream and add the tarragon, Parmesan, cooled onions, garlic and salt and pepper. Add the mushrooms and mix well. Taste a little of the mixture and correct the seasoning.
Pour the filling into the tart shell and place in a preheated oven 180°C/350°F/gas 4 for 30–40 minutes, or until the tart is set. You will know the tart is set when the filling no longer ripples when gently shaken. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes.
Remove the tin, place the tart on a large flat plate and serve. It tastes best when served warm.
Soft goat’s cheese and thyme leaf tart with tomato oil
Maybe you will think I am crazy or just plain sad, or at least think I have too much time on my hands, when I tell you that I dry my own tomatoes. I am afraid it is true (for more information). I accept that that’s all a bit too dedicated for the reality of most people’s lives, and you will be happy to know that good-quality, shop-bought, semi-dried or sunblush tomatoes work perfectly here.
The goat’s cheese is simply pushed into the tart base, sprinkled with thyme leaves and the savoury batter is poured over. The tomatoes are used not in the tart itself but in a little salsa-like oil that accompanies it. The oil is also good on simply grilled mackerel or sardines, with lamb, chicken, pasta, crab meat and shrimp.
The combination is a good one and I like a simple leaf salad to accompany this.
The ingredients
A fresh goat’s cheese that is soft enough to spread is required here. In this part of the world I use Ardsallagh goat’s cheese.
The quality of shop-bought sun-dried tomatoes varies enormously, so look out for ones that are deep red and preserved in a good-quality olive oil.
Serves 6 TART FILLING
350g soft goat’s cheese
1 heaped teaspoon thyme leaves
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
300ml regular or double cream
Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
50g finely grated Parmesan
Prepare the tart case, as instructed.
Press the goat’s cheese into the tart shell and sprinkle over the thyme leaves, gently pressing them into the cheese with your fingers.
Beat the eggs and cream with a pinch of salt and pepper and add the grated Parmesan. Taste and correct the seasoning. Pour into the tart shell. This will seem a little strange, with the cheese on the tart base and the batter on top. It’s fine, honestly. You end up with a layer of goat’s cheese on the base of the tart and a golden layer of custard on top. I think it looks quite beautiful when cooked.
Place in a preheated oven at 180°C/350°F/gas 4 for 30–40 minutes, or until the tart is set. You will know the tart is set when the filling no longer ripples when gently shaken. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes.
Remove the tin, place the tart on a large flat plate and serve with the tomato oil drizzled over each slice and a bunch of rocket. This tart tastes best when served warm.
Tomato oil
100g sun-dried or sunblush semi-dried tomatoes
50ml olive oil
Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Blend the tomatoes and oil to a coarse purée. Correct the seasoning.
Jerusalem artichoke and ewe’s milk cheese tart with roast pepper and olive salsa
Jerusalem artichokes are a marvellous winter vegetable. They make the silkiest of soups, a great purée to serve with game or fish, roast beautifully to a caramelised and nutty brown, and combine with a variety of flavours such as avocado, hazelnuts, saffron, scallops and mussels. They are easy to grow and look wonderful in the late summer garden with their stalks towering to a height of three metres. On top of that handsome stalk is the flower, a small and pretty bright yellow blossom, which when you can see it may remind you of a small sunflower and so it should, as the Jerusalem artichoke is part of the sunflower family. In winter the leafless stalks become skeletal, bleak and sculptural and have an eerie and chilly beauty.
The bounty itself sits under the soil, in clusters just like potatoes, and is every bit as exciting to harvest as the better-known and loved spud. People shy away from using this vegetable for various reasons, mainly because of the knobbly surface, which makes peeling them a bit torturous. I do peel them for this recipe; but when they are really fresh I often omit the peeling, particularly when roasting or making them into soup.
There is a variety called Fuseau, which gardeners might like to note as being the least knobbly of the varieties, though perhaps not the most flavoursome variety.
One of the other reasons for their bad reputation is that after being consumed, they make some people a little ‘windy’. Personally I have never noticed any unusual rumblings in their aftermath, though certainly some discover that a little turbulence ensues.
Here I pair them with ewe’s or sheep’s milk cheese to make a sophisticated tart. Search out a really good cheese for this tart, as mass-produced fetas can be a grim and bland bunch, owing much of their flavour to salt rather than sheep’s milk. I use Knocklara from Co. Waterford and find it excellent.
You could serve the tart with a salad of lamb’s lettuce, roast hazelnuts and avocado tossed in a hazelnut oil vinaigrette if you don’t fancy the pepper and olive salsa.
The ingredients
Jerusalem artichokes, looking like knobbly potatoes, are no relation of the globe artichoke. The flavour is slightly sweet and smoky and I find them delicious. The artichokes will need to be peeled if they are not spanking fresh. When really fresh, they just need a good scrub, like potatoes. They cook quite unevenly, and regardless of the recipe you are using you need to test several pieces of the vegetable to determine that they are all tender.
Ewe’s or sheep’s milk cheese varies greatly in quality. Try to find an artisan cheese rather than a factory-made one. The factory-made sheep’s cheese can be very dull and salty.
The pepper salsa that I suggest serving with the tart will keep in the fridge for several days.
For instructions for how to make your own roast peppers.
Serves 6–8 TART FILLING
400g Jerusalem artichokes, weighed after peeling or scrubbing
6 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons olive oil
Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
300ml regular or double cream
50g finely grated Parmesan
200g ewe’s milk cheese
Prepare the tart case, as instructed.
Slice the peeled artichokes into 1cm thick slices. Heat the water and olive oil to a simmer in a low-sided saucepan. Add the artichokes and season with salt and pepper. Cover with a butter wrapper or greaseproof paper and the saucepan lid and simmer gently on a low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Test several of the slices of artichoke for doneness, as they tend to cook unevenly.
Roast Pepper and Olive Salsa: lovely for serving with grilled oily fish and grilled chicken, beef or lamb
When cooked, remove from the liquid to drain and cool.
Beat the eggs and cream with a pinch of salt and pepper and add the Parmesan.
Slice or crumble the sheep’s cheese on to the tart base. Place the drained and cooled artichokes on top. Pour over the eggs and cream and place in a preheated oven at 180°C/350°F/gas 4 for 30–40 minutes, or until the tart is set. You will know it is set if you press the surface of the tart gently with your fingers and it feels just firm. The surface should have a rich golden colour by now.
Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes. Remove the tin, place the tart on a large flat plate and serve warm with the pepper and olive salsa and a salad of organic leaves.
Roast pepper and olive salsa
This salsa is also terrific with grilled fish such as mackerel and salmon, with grilled lamb and chicken, or just smeared over warm grilled sourdough bread.
Serves 6–8 1 red pepper, roasted, peeled, deseeded and cut into 5mm dice
1 ripe firm tomato, peeled, deseeded and cut into 5mm dice (omit the tomato if not really ripe)
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped black olives
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed to a paste
10 basil leaves, torn or chopped
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Mix all the ingredients together, then taste and correct the seasoning.
Red onion, roast pepper, rosemary and anchovy pissaladière
Pissaladière is a flat Provençal onion tart with a distinctive lattice of anchovy on top. Here it is given a little twist with the addition of roast peppers and rosemary. The tart is best served while still warm and with a salad of organic leaves.
The ingredients
Onions, thinly sliced and cooked until soft, are a defining ingredient of this flat tart.
Red or yellow peppers, peeled, deseeded and cut into long thin strips, are used along with the anchovies to create a lattice on the surface of the tart.
Anchovies preserved either in oil or salt can be used here. Salted anchovies, if whole, need to be filleted and rinsed really well in cold water to remove excess salt. Anchovies preserved in oil are drained before using.
Serves 6–8 PASTRY
225g plain white flour
110g butter
1 egg
FILLING
4 tablespoons olive oil
700g onions, peeled and thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 large sprig of rosemary
3 roasted red peppers (2 if the peppers are large), peeled, deseeded and cut into long strips, 1cm wide
40g anchovies
Sieve the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter until you have fine crumbs. Beat the egg and add to the flour and butter. Mix it in with your hand or a fork to bring the pastry together. Knead very lightly to achieve a smooth dough. Wrap with greaseproof paper and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan and add the sliced onions, garlic and rosemary. Cover with a butter wrapper or greaseproof paper and the saucepan lid and sweat on a low heat for 30 minutes. Remove the saucepan and paper lid and allow the onions to cook uncovered for a further 10 minutes to become more golden in colour. Taste and correct the seasoning and spread out the onions on a tray to cool completely.
Meanwhile, roll out the chilled pastry and use to line the base and sides of a Swiss roll-type tin, 23cm x 33cm. Chill for 30 minutes.
Spread the cooled onions over the pastry in an even layer. Arrange the strips of pepper in a lattice pattern over the onions. Cut each of the anchovies lengthways into 2 strips and arrange these thin strips, again in a lattice pattern, over the onions.
Place the tin in a preheated oven at 190°C/375°F/gas 5 for 30–40 minutes, or until the pastry is cooked to a crisp golden finish.
Brush the cooked pissaladière with olive oil and serve with a salad of organic leaves.
