Homemade Marshmallows

“At the end of the war, all the guns were collected and melted down”. This was what a friend and historian once told me. The romantic in me likes to think they used the metal for good, cast into medics to help the future generations.

Perhaps that’s why people think medics are so strong, forged from tanks and flak 88s, Rheinmetal running through our veins – we are indestructible. The great battleships used to make consultants; although when I think about it 617 Sqn might have proven this wrong.

So what do medics do when they take a hit, well there is always wine I suppose. The problem with this is that it’s not exactly healthy. Fear not though, for I have found a solution – Marshmallows (with hot chocolate and a friendly shoulder).

Marshmallows are basically just diabetes in solid form; made from egg white, sugar and gelatine, they form an integral role in breaking the silence when you need to talk, or comforting you when you are low. I mean when hasn’t an open fire to toast a marshmallow cheered someone up?

Marshmallows

Ingredients

• 3 large egg whites
• 13 sheets gelatine
• 25oz caster sugar
• 2tbsp liquid glucose
• 1tsp vanilla paste
• 4oz icing sugar
• 4tbsp cornflour

Start by going out for all the gelatine and sugar the nearest town will supply. You will need it, otherwise your marshmallows won’t set or will taste strange.

In a bowl, combine the gelatine sheets with 200ml warm water and set aside to soften.

Whilst this softens, add the sugar, liquid glucose and water to a pan and heat. You need to bring this up to 130C but this will take some time (10-15mins).

In the mean time, separate out 3 egg whites and whisk in a mixer till soft peaks form. At this point you can stop whisking till the sugar has reached the nuclear heat of ‘soft crack’.

When the sugar mix has heated up to 130C, take off the heat and add in the gelatine and water. This is a very violent reaction so be careful. Mix to fully disolved.

Restart the mixer till the egg whites make firm peaks. At this point add in the sugar as a constant stream. Keep the mixer whisking for 10mins during which time the mixture will thicken considerably. At the last moment add in the vanilla.

Now for the fun bit, line 2 deep trays with clingfilm and brush with oil. Cover this with the icing sugar mixed together with 4tbs of cornflour.

Pour the marshmallow mixture into the tins. At this point you can swirl in some colours or flavours.

Now the waiting game – around 2hrs to be precise. This allows the marshmallows to form their unique outer shell.

After a period of time, turn the marshmallow out onto a surface heavily dusted with the icing sugar/cornflour mix. Cut into squares and slightly toss in the sugar.

Let’s eat

So, I mean the possibilities with these are endless: S’mores, coated in chocolate, topping a hot chocolate or simply toasted on an open fire.

So, for when you have run out of shop bought marshmallows but need a hot chocolate – there is a back up.

 

Beef and Ale Stew with Yorkshire Puddings and Herby Dumplings

As you’ve probably realised by now, I am a Birmingham Medical School graduate. As a student we all had one fear; being placed at Hereford. This meant that for 18 weeks you were isolated from your friends, girlfriend, and a decent Calzone. It did however mean you got amazing teaching, opportunities which were only comparable to the old school training days (find me another 5th year that can put in central lines and do an open appendicectomy – quids in they went to Hereford as well ). It also allowed some long-lasting relationships to form.
Now, I can’t claim to have made any long-term romances, but I did discover something amazing………..

Llanthony, a ruined Abbey just across the border in Wales.

The Priory was founded in 1100 and, following the dissolution of the monasteries, has laid dormant for centuries. Luckily, in the late 19th century, someone converted the remaining tower and cellar into a bed and breakfast which still remains. The rooms are cosy, the perfect place to bring a lover for a secret weekend away, and the bar serves good honest food. It inspired this recipe in fact, a hearty beef casserole slowly cooked in local Stout with herby dumplings and Yorkshire puddings; what’s not to love. The lads certainly did on our recent walking trip.

Beef Stew

For this recipe you either need an Aga or a slow cooker

Ingredients 

• 4lb Chunk Steak
• 2lbs Onions (ideally small)
• 2 bottles of Stout
• 4 Carrots
• 1 Head of celery
• 1 Parsnip
• 1 Clove of Garlic
• Thyme, sage, salt, pepper 
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Flour and oil

Start by taking your beef and removing all the obvious fat, tendons and membranes. What you should be left with is delicious meat, some marbling but none of the chewy fat. I’m using beef from Coates butchers – they are great!!

Toss the beef in seasoned flour and then brown off in a Le Creuset – I’m using Bertha, a pan I bought in Hereford years ago. Alternatively you can cook it in a frying pan and transfer to the slow cooker.

Take the browned meat out and then saute the carrot, onion and celery (finely dice these first). I’ve used Grans ridged cutter here for the carrots – rumour is it was made from the old air raid shelter.

Now for the fun part – deglaze the pan with the beer. You can use lots of different types of beer, stout is best and I’m using one from the local brewery, Derventio brewery.

With the beef, carrots, onion, celery and beer combined in the Le Creuset, add the thyme, sage and some tomato puree/soup (it helps tenderise the beef). Finally add the garlic. A little goes a long way.

Leave to cook overnight in a low oven till the meat is tender. At this point you can add in some small onions to go with the diced up ones. Pickling onions are perfect. Return to the slow oven again. Around another 12hrs should do it.

In the mean time you can make the dumplings and Yorkshire puddings if you want to plan ahead.

Herby Dumplings

I’m a great fan of dumplings, they are a great addition to an already hearty meal. Proper dumplings are made with suet and if you don’t ask too many questions about its origin it’s great. According to mum the box hasn’t changed since she was a young girl. I’ve added some horseradish and parsley for added flavour.

Ingredients

• 8oz Self raising flour
• 4oz Suet
• 1tbs Parsley
• 2tsp Horseradish
• Water

Start by weighing out the flour and suet then transferring into a large mixing bowl along with the parsley.

Add the horseradish, then add cold water, one spoon at a time.

Bring together to form a relatively wet dough and divide into walnut sized balls. Roll them in to shape.

To cook, add the dumplings onto the top of the stew and replace the lid.

Cook for 20mins, removing the lid in the last 5 mins to allow a bit of browning action.

Yorkshire Puddings

Currently theatres are having a debate around Yorkshires with Christmas dinner. Unless you have beef then the answer should be no.

Ingredients 

• 8oz Plain flour
• 1pint Milk
• 3 Eggs
• 1 Pinch of salt

Again start by weighing out the flour and transferring to a mixing bowl as well as a pinch of salt.

Add in the wet ingredients; the milk and eggs.

Combine and beat together using a novel whisk – this one I think was used by my Victorian relatives…………… It works really well though.

Set aside to rest in the fridge. In the mean time, heat up some fat in a red-hot oven. I’m using real beef dripping. This is not exactly heart healthy but tastes great.

When the fat is smoking hot, fill each well about 3/4 full and return to the oven.

Cook for about 20mins, turning half way through.

When cooked, remove and serve whilst still warm and crispy. Otherwise they can be rewarmed later.

 

Lets eat.

Right!! With your hearty stew cooked, serve with a couple of dumplings, yorkshire puddings and some veg. If you are greedy, a side of crispy potatoes mops up the gravy perfectly.

 

And don’t forget the horseradish.

Beef Brisket Chilli aka Posh Chilli

Along side medicine and the tea room I do some consulting work on drones. Now, this is mostly boring but I do get an office. On the desk alongside the plans, a miniature jet engine and an old slide rule, lies a stethoscope. Now, this is important because recently it came up in an interview when I was asked about the most expensive item in my life……………..

“The stethoscope, for it has cost me my youth”

Doctors spend most of their youth stuck in lectures or commuting to and from placements. This is the reason most medics either have crazy hobbies or love elaborate long winded cooking. The chilli recipe below is a prime example of this, taking 2 days of slow cooking, it makes a great recipe to enjoy with friends. It’s not too spicy either………

 

Ingredients

• 2kg Beef Brisket
• 2 Carrots
• 2 Onions
• 1 Head of Celery
• 3 Peppers
• 2 Tins Kidney Beans
• 1 Tin Chopped Tomatoes
• Spices – Salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, chilli, cinnamon
• Moonshine
• Camp coffee
• Worcestershire sauce

 

Start in the usual fashion, collect the ingredients together in the kitchen and take a pretty photo for social media. If it’s not on facebook it didn’t happen after all.

 

Chop the carrots, onions and celery roughly and place into the bottom of a large roasting dish, something like a Le Creuset is perfect. Then combine the spices in a pestle and mortar. The amount of each spice will depend on personal preference, but a tiny amount of cinnamon goes a long way.

Rub the beef in the spices mix and place into the pan on top of the veg. If you can’t be bothered to make a spice mix of your own you can always buy a packet………I won’t judge, I promise.

We haven’t quite got to the oven part yet I’m afraid. I told you, medics like long-winded cooking. My favourite chilli from my time in America was at this smoke pit near Reno where they used burnt ends to add smokey depth. Now, I’ve resisted the urge to build a smoker and instead added some moonshine, camp coffee and a dash of Worcestershire sauce instead.

Cook in a low oven  (the bottom of an Aga) overnight.

Feeling well rested from a long night dreaming of homemade chilli, retrieve your beef from the oven and set aside. From the stock remove and finely dice the veg, these can be added back to the chilli later.

Roughly chop 3 peppers and gently soften in some oil on a low heat, then when cooked add in the veg from before. To this veg mix, add the kidney beans and a tin of chopped tomatoes.

Now the fun begins. Remove the butchers string from your beef brisket and cut into chunks along the grain of the meat. Then take out all the stress in your life….using forks or your fingers shred the beef.

Return the shredded beef to the Le Creuset along with more herbs and spices. As you can tell I’ve cheated and used a Colemans mix. Now add the stock and combine all together.

Then it’s back to the oven. Again its an overnight job, but then it will finally be done. I promise.

Time to eat

 

Right, after 2 days of slow cooking you should have made the decision of what you are going to have your chilli with……..I’ve gone simple with a jacket potato and a bit of cheese. I contemplated chilli cheese fries, but……………

Anyway, well done if you make this at home, it takes a long time but is definitely worth the wait. I’m tempted to add it to the tea room menu, what do you think?

 

A night at Searcys- Harissa mayo, chips and champagne

I like to think our tea room is a bit unique. Although it’s only open two days a week, the food doesn’t get rolled over. If it doesn’t sell, it gets eaten by us or given to the wildlife (foxy and badger do well). Now some argue this isn’t good for the accounts, but it’s better for the costumers and gives me loads of stuff to use for blogs. This week we had about 4 jackets left over on Sunday, so I decided to make some wedges.  The only tricky bit was what to have with them.

Well, I’m a bit of a superstitious person. If I’m test flying I give the ground team my mobile and if I’m in London I always have champagne and chips with spicy mayo at Searcys at St Pancras Station. This started when I took and passed my first surgical exam!! With results of the second exam out and a pass achieved, I thought I might give making the spicy mayo a go. It’s flavoured with harissa and amazing with chips and a glass of Verve.

Harissa mayo

Ingredients

• 1 egg yolk
• 125ml olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon White wine vinegar
• Salt & pepper
• 1 teaspoon each of caraway, cumin and coriander seeds
• 2 teaspoons chilli flakes
• 2 cloves fresh garlic
• Jacket potatoes – for the wedges

 

Start by checking you have all the ingredients ready and also a friend on hand to help. Luckily dad’s around.

Start by separating the egg, you only need the yolk so you can either throw away the white or use it in something else. Transfer this to a bowl and gently whisk to break up.  Now the fun begins, add the oil a drop at a time and whisk till fully mixed.

 

Mayo at this point will split if you add the oil too fast and it doesn’t get incorporated. You can save it by adding another egg yolk if it does split.

Continue adding the oil a drop at a time (hence the need for dad) until the mix starts to thicken up. Then add the vinegar – it helps to stabilise the mayo.

 

Now, using your assistant again add the remaining oil in a continuous slow stream whilst frantically whisking. What results is homemade mayo – you can add some mustard, salt and pepper to make lively normal mayo or……..add harissa paste to make something special.

 

Harissa is sort of like a spicy North African ketchup alternative. It’s made by combining Caraway, Cumin and coriander seeds and gently toasting in a dry pan for a couple of minutes. These are then added to the chilli and ground up in a pestle and mortar.

 

Then add the finely chopped garlic and grind again in the trusty pestle and mortar. You can add a bit of oil to form a paste at the end.

 

All that remains is to combine the mayo with the Harissa paste and fold together.

 

Let’s eat

Make a few wedges with the left over jacket potatoes by chopping into 8 and cooking on the Aga in a bit of oil. Season with some salt and pepper.

 

Serve the wedges with a little ramekin of the mayo, a few olives and some perfectly chilled champagne (Jennie gets Verve, Alice-Moet, Holly edged towards Rothschild but when it’s just me – Pommery)

Bonfire Toffee

I have a soft place in my heart for bonfires; I find the soft glow, the wood smoke and the occasional crackle of the fire romantic. Now, the foods of bonfire nights are rather varied, each year I vary what I make for my party. In FY1 it was pulled pork and mini Mac & Cheese, for CT1 it was hotdogs. This year I’ve been making corndogs, just because………but each year there is always one item on the menu, bonfire toffee.

Bonfire toffee is a bit of a Halloween and bonfire night tradition. It’s a hard candy made with black treacle, golden syrup and sugar. Usually served in small grease proof bags, it needs to be eaten on the day. If you can’t be bothered to make it, shame on you………… shop bought bonfire toffee tends to bitter, homemade is far better. Plus, unlike my normal blog posts, this only takes about an hour to make.

Ingredients

• 8oz Dark brown Sugar
• 65ml Water
• 2oz Black treacle
• 2oz Golden Syrup 
• Sprinkle of cream of tartar

As usual, start by collecting all the ingredients together and taking a pretty picture – add a kitten into the background if required.

Weigh out the sugar and add to a large pan, combine with the water and melt together on a gentle heat. Try to resist the urge to stir the sugar, it will cause it to precipitate out and you will have a horrible grainy mess.

Whilst the sugar melts, measure out the Golden syrup and Black treacle. This will produce a wonderfully sticky mess which then needs pouring into the sugar mix. Then, the temperature needs turning up……

Add the cream of tartar and heat. You can occasionally swirl the pan to get an even heating, the temperature that you are aiming for is 140C. This takes around 30mins to achieve.

When 140C has been reached you want to hold the toffee mix at the temperature for a few minutes. Whilst the toffee boils, quickly oil a large tin, this will allow the toffee to be  turned out easily when cold.

Pour the boiling toffee mix into the prepared tin and leave to cool completely.

Lets eat

All that remains is to turn the toffee out of the tin. Hit the base a few times to break it up.

Then retire to the bonfire with a few pieces, a pretty girl and enjoy the fireworks.

Cuban Burgers, D-types and the Mille

“She held my hand and told me to be kind and gentle”

These sadly weren’t the words of a lover to me, but a close friends advice in my final year at Medschool. You see, during that year I had become a bit of a dictator; I had rewrote the curriculum, won a major Wellcome trust grant, deposed the head of the Academic Society. This was alongside becoming a favourite of the Urology team, getting a job offer and a myth about a Jag.

I love myths, this one related to a crashed D-type somewhere in Cuba. Well, I say myth, it’s currently on its way to my workshop. During my trip to rescue her, I stumbled upon a little bar by the beach. Here I had my first Cuban burger. These are a heady mix of lean beef, spicy chorizo, chillis and served in a soft Cuban roll with a side of skinny fries and topped with pulled pork if you’re feeling hungry

Now, I’m just finishing another long run of night shifts on the assessment unit, so fancy a treat. Time to make a few Cubanos and get some food.

Fennel Pulled Pork

As you can tell from the previous blogs, I like pulled pork. Whilst on the trail of my mythical Jag I kind of fell in love with an aromatically flavored Fennel Pork. It again is cooked overnight in a low oven, so those with Agas are at a distinct advantage.

Ingredients

• Pork Shoulder
• Fennel seeds
• Mustard seeds
• Coriander Seads
• Onions, Celery and Carrots
• Course sea salt and pepper
• Caster Sugar
• Thornbrudge Jaipur IPA (or a good pale ale)

 

Start by making your dry rub. Combine the fennel, mustard, coriander, salt, sugar and celery salt in a pestle and motor and grind to a coarse powder. This relieves some of the pent up stress of finding parts of a Jag race engine.

Next it’s time for a bit of chopping. Layer the bottom of a large Le Cresuet with onion, carrot, celery and a bit of bay leaf if you have any. On top of this place the shoulder of pork.

Massage the dry rub into the Pork and then add a hearty glug of Worcester sauce and a pint of a good quality beer.
As you can tell I’ve been drinking a lot of Juipur recently and it made sense finish the Keg off.

Cook in the bottom Aga (approx 100) for around 12-18hrs depending on the Pork – if you stick a fork in and it falls apart it’s done.

Cuban bread

Having first had this in a little bakery in Havana and falling in love, I persuaded the owner to teach me how to bake them. She used an old enamel cup to weigh the flour out so I’m being true to this. They are sort of an enriched dough, but lack the eggs of a brioche style. Soft and slightly buttery, you can see why they make a fantastic sandwich.

Ingredients 

• 2cups strong white flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tea spoon salt
• 2 tablespoons soft butter
• 1 teaspoon dried yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water

Start by weighing out the ingredients and then combine in the bowl of the mixer.
Using the doughook slowly add the water till a soft dough has formed. Then keep kneading at a medium pace for around 5mins.

The same principle can be used to hand knead the dough, it will help with any bingo wings which are starting to form as well. 
Let the dough rest in an oiled bowl for around 1hr or until doubled in size. In the mean time I would suggest fixing yourself a rum based drink or working out where to get more Jag parts from.

After an hour, your dough should be nicely proved. Knock the dough back and turn out onto a well floured surface.
Divide the dough into 4 and shape into balls, taking care to tuck the bottoms under to aid in the rise.

Prove again for around an hour until doubled in size -more Rum would be my suggestion here.

Cut a cross into the top of the rolls and bake at 190C till brown and delicious -around 15mins. In the last 5 mins you can sprinkle with flour for effect.

Cuban Burger

Basically a burger, but so so much more

Ingredients

• 1lb. 70/30 lean beef coarsely ground
• 1 small onion
• 4oz Chorizo
• 1 small chilli
• Parsley, sage and a sprig of thyme

 

I’m not going to lie, I don’t know if the Cuban burger is one which originated in Cuba, or was a bit of an American import during the roaring 30’s. Either way it’s delicious. A mix of smokey chorizo, good quality beef and a kick of chilli.

You can either mince the beef yourself, using something like chuck/brisket or get your butcher to grind it for you as I have. Start by dicing the chorizo into small pieces, approximately the size of a pea.

After this, finely chop the chilli, onion and herbs. You can leave this coarse, if you prefer a chunkier nature to your burger.

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and, using your hands, mix together and divide into 4 balls. This gives you burgers somewhere a smudge over 1/4lb………….

Although I have a burger press, the rustic nature of the burgers at the bar on the beach would be disrespected if I were to use it. Therefore using the palm of your hand, flatten into discs.

All that’s left to do is cook them in a hot pan with a dash of oil. Flip over after around 5mins when a good char has been achieved.

Lets Eat

All that remains is to assemble the burger. I find that it’s best to toast the rolls to give them some structural integrity. Then just add a good smear of mayo, the burger, some cheese, the Pulled Pork and the bbq sauce. Serve with a side of crispy potatoes, coleslaw and obviously a token salad leaf…………….

 

Oh, I nearly forgot. The car, well I promised the friend who gave me the advice that I would run the Mille Miglia with her when we both became consultants. Should have the D’ restored by then……..

Pretzels and Beer – any excuse will do……… aka Happy 4th July

“Mike, I’m making a special beer for the 4th of July” – News such as this calls for a special kind of bar snack I thought to myself.

I’ve been over to America few times now, mainly on business but once I went just for a long weekend to test fly a jet. That was a couple of years ago, but whilst I was there I was fortunate enough to stumble across a little brewery that served cold beer and fresh soft pretzels. They really are the perfect evening snack.
Fast forward to 2017 and my old music teacher/famous Jazz mucisan Greg dropped the bomb shell: – a 4th July party and beer launch – well there was only one obvious food to go with it………..

Soft Pretzels

Finally, I have my own wot-not to display pretty Emma Bridgewater in the background of shots.

 

Ingredients

• 1lb strong white flour
• 1tsp dry yeast
• 2tsp salt
• 2oz molten butter
• approx. 4oz sourdough
• 300ml warm water
• 1lt boiling water + 7g Bicarbonate of Soda for bathing
• Butter, salt, sugar, cinnamon and poppy seeds to finish

Start by weighing out the flour, salt and yeast – I’ve finally gone back to dried as I’m laying off Carbs atm so don’t make as much bread. FYI- The scales are from my grandma and at least twice as old as me……

Combine in the kitchen aid with the sough dough starter and gently incorporate.

Now its time to add the water. You might not need it all, depending on your starter – but you are aiming for a soft, but not wet dough.

Once all together, knead with the dough hook for 10mins until a shiny, elastic dough is formed.

Place this in a well oiled bowel and cover with cling film. You can now fetch the first of your beers to celebrate July 4th whilst it proved…………..

Ideally it should be left overnight in a cool area (fridge) or if impatient/short on time then at room temperature until doubled.

Now comes the fun part. Divide the dough into 16 equal balls. This will make the perfect sized bar pretzels. (Divide into 8 if you want big ones – greedy)

Taking 1 ball of dough, pretend you are back in pre-school and making play dough sausages – using the palms of your hands roll the dough into a long cylinder.

Then, taking the 2 ends up into the air and producing a U – spin the base around itself to produce a twist at the top end and lay the dough back down, pressing the ends into the base of the U.

Alternatively you can use cross them over whilst its flat on the work surface – a lot easier and more reliable………….

To get the lovely deep drown appearance normally found on Pretzels, the next step is important. After making each Pretzel, dip it into boiling water mixed with Bicarb. You can then sprinkle on either salt, poppy seeds etc to finish.

Once you have made a whole tray, transfer to an oven at 200C for 10 mins or until golden brown.

Lastly, whilst still hot out the oven, glaze with a little melted butter…….

Or butter, cinnamon and sugar if you are feeling like dessert.

Let’s Eat

All that remains is to grab a pint, tell Swifty that you’ve stollen her jazz pianist but will give him back later and enjoy the 4th in style.

P.s I never did tell TS…… wonder if that’s why she cancelled her part. Anyway, I’d like to thank Greg, Pat and the Draycott Brewing team for a fantastic 4th of July x