Author Archives: Christian Gott

Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding

Posted on by

My waist line will attest that I love food, I could alienate most of the food industry with the old classic adage never trust a skinny chef, and I adore eating pretty much anything, Chinese cuisine, Italian cooking, Barbecues, but the food I love most is the classic Sunday roast. Succulent roast chicken with crispy skin; chunks of tender lamb flavoured with garlic, rosemary and anchovy; melting, fatty pork with salty crackling or medium rare roast beef with rich red wine gravy, it is very difficult to choose which I prefer most. Which is your favourite? Which is the most popular roast in the country? Well the roast that everyone worldwide knows is as British as roast beef, well is er.., roast beef

Cow DiagramSo if the king of the British roast is a joint of beef, in my humble opinion it is the equally aristocratically sounding Sirloin* that is the best beef to roast. There are moderately cheaper joints such as a corner cut topside that make for an excellent roast, if you can afford it a rib on the bone is perhaps the most show stopping roast to present at a table, but I prefer is the sirloin. The meat itself is very lean, however that lovely layer of fat will help keep the meat moist when cooking. The taste is terrific, there is minimal waste and it is fantastically easy to carve at the table, if you feel like impressing you guests.

*You are perhaps aware of the story that an effusive monarch was so taken with his beef dinner he knighted the remains of the joint on the spot. It has been attributed to Henry VIII, Charles II and the host of English kings in between and was so popular it was referenced by Jonathan Swift and Samuel Johnson, but the origins of the word sirloin are much less regal. The old English word would be originally written as ‘surloyn’ or ‘surloine’, and was derived from French word ‘surlonge’, sur meaning over and longe meaning loin, the sirloin was then quite simply a cut of beef taken from above the loin. Interestingly most or our words describing cuts of meat or the name of the meat are from French origins, the names of animals or livestock are more often of Anglo-Saxon decent.

Roast SirloinLast time I gave you the recipe for Yorkshire Pudding, the classic accompaniment to roast beef. So here is my recipe for the perfect roast beef. A good local butcher will be able to provide you with a great piece of beef from a reputable, quality supplier. If you can find grass fed, mature beef, hung for three weeks it will be simply delicious, and I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Roast Sirloin of Beef and Rich Red Wine Gravy                                                      serves 6-8

1 ½ to 2 kg centre cut Sirloin, rolled and tied
( Ask your local butcher to do this )
250 gr Beef Dripping or Lard
1 tablespoon fresh Thyme leaves
½ tablespoon English Mustard Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon ground Black Pepper

For the gravy
350ml red wine
200ml beef stock
75ml port
1 small White Onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 Carrot, peeled and sliced
1 stick of Celery, washed and sliced
1 clove of Garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tablespoons of Vegetable Oil
1 heaped tablespoon Plain Flour
1 Bay leaf
A few sprigs of Thyme

Heat your oven to 400 F / 200C/ Gas Mark 6 and weigh your joint of beef. Put the dripping into a roasting pan and place in the oven. Mix the thyme, mustard, salt and black pepper and rub all over the beef and when the dripping is melted and hot, place in the beef fat side down and return the roasting pan to the oven. Roast the beef for thirty minutes, then remove from the oven and turn the piece of beef over before placing back in the oven.

Turn the heat down to 360 F / 180C / Gas Mark 4. For every 450 gr of raw weight, cook your joint for ten minutes per 450 gr for a rare piece of beef and for fifteen minutes per 450 gr for well done. When the beef is cooked to your particular preference, take it out of the roasting pan, cover with foil and allow to rest somewhere warm for thirty minutes.

To make the red wine gravy, place the roasting tin on a high heat with the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bay leaf and thyme. Fry the vegetables for a couple of minutes then add the flour, cook for a couple more minutes stirring continuously. Pour in the port, scrape with a wooden spoon to loosen any debris from the tin and add the red wine. Continue to simmer and reduce by three-quarters before adding the stock. Bring to the boil, reduce by a quarter and season to taste. Pour in any resting juices back into the tin, warm and pour the gravy through a sieve into a warm jug. Carve the meat and serve with the gravy and Yorkshire puddings.

A Classic Little Recipe that Popped Over There

Posted on by

Yorkshire Pudding

As the time for long, lazy, Sunday lunch barbecues in the garden looks to be coming to an end, for this year at least, I thought I would publish a couple of recipes to polish up your classic roast to chef like standards. What can be more symbolic of Sunday lunch than the Yorkshire Pudding, the traditional accompaniment alongside roast potatoes, parsnips and spicy, hot English mustard to a hunk of rare roast beef. You can find this most English of dishes cooked around the world, where ever a few expatriates gather together, but I am always surprised to find Yorkshire Puddings, albeit under another name, over in the USA.

Let’s call Yorkshire pudding
A fortunate blunder:
It’s a sort of popover
That turned and popped under.

Ogden Nash

Of the Yorkshire pudding it has been said, it can only successfully be made by someone from that most august county of England. Grand, my mum is from Yorkshire and makes wonderful Yorkies and perhaps the skill is inherited because I am pretty proud of most of my attempts. A Yorkshire Pudding is made from a milk, egg and flour batter, which was originally poured into a tin set under the roasting joint. The pudding cooked in the hot meat fat and absorbed any juices from the roast. A large slice was served to each dinner with meat gravy before the main course. The meat and vegetables then followed, usually served with a parsley or white onion sauce.

In 1747 in ‘ The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy ‘ by Hannah Glasse, one of the first English, famous female cookery writers, there is a recipe for Yorkshire pudding. This is the first time a batter or dripping pudding is recorded with the name, although a flatter less aerated dish had been cooked for many years previously. Traditionally any left over pudding could be eaten as a dessert with sugar and perhaps orange juice.

The Yorkshire pudding recipe popped over to America ( excuse the pun ) and the first recipe for a Popover is recorded in ‘ Practical Cooking ‘ published in 1876 by M. N. Henderson. Popovers may be served either as a sweet, topped with fruit and whipped cream for breakfast or with afternoon tea, and with roasted meats at lunch and dinner. Popovers tend to be individually baked in muffin tins and often include herbs or garlic in the recipe. Another popular variation replaced some of the flour in the batter mix with pumpkin purée. The name Popover is thought to come from the fact that the cooked batter swells or pops over the top of the baking tin.

In 2008 the Royal Society of Chemistry held a competition, carried out to create a vouch safe Yorkshire Pudding recipe and somewhat arbitrarily decided that a true Yorkshire Pudding cannot be less than four inches tall. They examined the effects of temperature, ingredients and even altitude in the search for perfection. My knowledge of chemistry is limited to an ancient ‘ O ‘ level but quite simply the heat causes the two raising agents, the egg and beaten in air, to expand the batter mix. My tips for success are simple are make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature and get the fat in your baking tray smoking hot. There I have shared the secret and that is because as they say in Yorkshire ‘ I’m a reight gud sooart ‘.

Individual Yorkshire puddings can be cooked after your joint while it is resting before carving.

Perfect Yorkshire Puddings

90 gr Plain Flour

1 fresh Egg

Around 250 ml half full fat Milk / half Water

¼ teaspoon Salt

A good pinch of freshly ground White Pepper.

1-2 tablespoon of good Beef Dripping.

Preheat your oven to 220C/425F/Gas mark 7. Place a damp cloth on your work surface to stop your mixing bowl slipping and place the bowl on top. Sieve the flour, pepper and salt into your bowl, make a well in the middle and add the egg. Start to beat together then gradually add the milk / water. Continue adding the milk/ water until the batter is smooth and the consistency of pouring cream. Leave the mixture to stand for ten minutes. While the mixture stands, divide the beef dripping into Yorkshire Pudding tins and place the tins in the oven until the fat starts to smoke. Give the batter a final stir and pour quickly into the tins. Put them back in the oven and cook until well risen and golden brown, this will take about fifteen to twenty five minutes depending on the size of your tin.

For the full Royal Society of Chemistry press release

Chilled Salmon, Cucumber and Dill Soup

Posted on by

It’s summer and I’m thinking of soup, not thick heart warming, winter wonders, but something light, delicate and chilled. You have probably tried Gazpacho the rich, Spanish blend of tomato, day old bread and good olive oil or Vichyssoise the classic cold combination of leeks ,potatoes, chicken stock and cream, but my recipe today is Chilled Salmon, Dill and Cucumber Soup. This is a lovely starter for a relaxed summer dinner party or a fabulous light lunch, particularly with a nice glass of chilled Riesling or a crisp ,New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

Chilled Salmon and Cucmber SoupChilled Salmon, Cucumber and Dill Soup serves 4

Around 400 gr Salmon Fillet, skinned, boned and cut in one inch cubes

( ask your fish monger to remove any of the dark flesh from underneath the fillet )

2 large English Cucumbers, peeled

1 bunch of Spring Onions, washed and trimmed, cut in 1 inch slices

750 ml quality Fish stock

150 ml Double Cream

50 ml Pernod or Vermouth

100 gr Butter

60 gr Plain Flour

A good pinch of English Mustard Powder

Juice and zest of 1 Lemon

A handful of fresh Dill

Sea Salt and fresh ground White Pepper

Remove the seeds from the cucumbers and reserve until later, then cut the cucumbers into half centimetre dice. Heat half of the butter in a medium sized, frying pan and quickly sauté for two minutes. Lightly season and pour on the Pernod and remove from the heat and leave to chill. In a medium sized pan bring the fish stock to a gently simmer and remove from the heat. Heat the remaining half of the butter in a large, heavy bottomed pan and add the spring onions. Cook for five minutes without colouring then add the flour, cook out the flour for two minutes, over a gentle heat, stirring continuously to prevent sticking and browning. Add the hot stock, stirring all the time and bring up to the boil. Turn the heat down and add the salmon pieces, lemon zest and cucumber seeds. Simmer over the lowest possible heat for fifteen minutes regularly stirring to prevent the soup sticking. Add the cream and cook for two or three more minutes.

When the salmon is poached in the soup base remove from the heat and allow to cool. Add the lemon juice then using a hand blender or food processor blitz the soup. Pass the soup through a very fine sieve into a bowl and stir in the cucumbers and Pernod. Finely chop the dill and add to the soup. Check the seasoning, remembering when chilled the seasoning will be less prominent. Cover and thoroughly chill. Serve in bowls garnished with a little more freshly chopped dill and some salmon pate on toast.

Qu’ils mangent de la brioche

Posted on by

The popular misconception is that Marie Antoinette’s famously said of the starving French peasants at her gates, “Let them eat cake”. What she actually said was actually “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche. In France, the home of this delicious enriched dough, brioche is properly served as a breakfast cake. In fact brioche is a hybrid, it is made in the same way as you make bread, with the addition of eggs and butter and can also have extra sugar added for a sweeter flavour. The technical term for this pastry cum sweet, buttery dough is Viennoiserie, which include all of those lovely, if rather naughty breakfast treats, like pain aux chocolate and croissants.

I love the stuff, brioche is a amazingly versatile and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner, used as a pastry and the basis of many desserts . Golden brown, freshly baked brioche can be filled with raisins or chocolate chips, simply spread with extra butter and strawberry or apricot jam or as is increasingly popular as a wonderful bun for a burger. As a pastry brioche reaches a height of culinary naughtiness and a decadence that maybe would have shamed even the haughty Marie Antoinette. Wrapped around Cervelas de Lyon, truffle flavoured sausages, fillet steak or luxurious foie gras mousseline. The most celebrated brioche recipe, Coulibiac, is a type of Russian pie filled with sturgeon, buckwheat, hard-boiled eggs, mushrooms, onions, and dill. Brioche in history was truly fit for kings and queens even if they did not live to enjoy it.

For my recipe, I need you to get hold of four large brioche buns and resist any temptation to toast them and spread with pate or jam. We are going a little 1970’s and using them as a bowl to be filled with plump mussels and clams in a full flavoured broth. Old fashioned it may be be, but it is a show stopper and terrifically tasty to boot and once you’ve done it I am sure it will become a favourite. Fresh quality mussels and clams are readily available at all good fishmongers.

Brioche stuffed with Mussels and Clams

Preparing mussels and clams is not a difficult job or something to be scared of. Under a slow running tap scrape off any limpets or items stuck to the shells with a small sharp knife. Some mussels may have a small bushy beard pushed out of the shell. Grabbed between the knife blade and your thumb, a sharp tug should remove it. Wash all of the prepared mussels and clams under the tap for a couple more minutes and drain. You can store then in the bottom of your fridge covered with damp kitchen paper until needed.

Mussel and Clam Stew stuffed Brioche Buns serves 4

4 Brioche Buns

1 kg Fresh Mussels

½ kg Fresh Clams

6 large Banana Shallots, peeled and finely diced

3 cloves of Garlic, peeled and crushed

A small handful of fresh Dill

200 ml thick double cream

50 ml of Vermouth ( White Wine is a great substitute )

25 ml Olive Oil

25 gr Butter

1 fresh Egg

Juice of one fresh Lemon

Freshly ground Black Pepper

In a large, heavy bottomed pan ( with a tight fitting lid ), melt the butter and add the oil. Over a medium heat soften the shallots for ten minutes without colouring. Add the garlic and cook out for two or three minutes stirring continuously. Tip in the mussels and clams and add the Vermouth place on the lid add steam the shellfish for five to six minutes. Carefully holding the pan with a heat proof cloth remove from the heat. Place a colander in a large glass bowl and tip in the mussels and allow to cool. Reserve the cooking liquid to be used to make the final sauce.

Preheat the oven to 325 F / 160 C / Gas Mark 3. Very carefully using a bread knife cut the top quarter of your brioche buns off to form lids. Using a small knife cut into the bottoms of the brioche buns then scoop out the majority of the interior. This can be save to make sweet bread crumbs to use on desserts. Whisk the egg with a little cold water in a small bowl, then brush all over the inside, outside and lids of the buns. Place on a silicon baking tray and bake in the oven for ten to fifteen minutes.

When cool pick the majority of the mussels and clams from their shells leaving a handful for garnishing. Carefully pour the the cooking liquid through a fine strainer into a small pan and place on a medium heat. Bring to a simmer and reduce the volume by half. Add the cream and simmer for a couple more minutes before seasoning with a generous grind of pepper. Add the mussels and clams and gently heat in the sauce. Take care not to boil or the shellfish will toughen, add the lemon juice and finely chopped dill, taste and add more pepper if required.

Place the brioche rolls onto a deep lipped plates or bowls and carefully spoon in the picked mussels and clams. Fill with sauce and top with the prepared lids. Spoon around a little extra liquid and the retained shellfish in shells and sprinkle with a little extra dill to garnish.

Baked Figs with Honey and Balsamic Reduction

Posted on by

For many people of my parents generation their experience of figs used to come baked in a small sweet pastry case the ubiquitous ‘ fig roll ‘. Now I am all for a fig roll, they are quite moreish with a hot cuppa, but today most people have access to the fresh fruit. The fresh fig is far from as humble as our little biscuit, throughout history the fig has been worshipped as a powerful aphrodisiac. In pictorial representation Adam and Eve are clothed in the fig’s leaves, it is said to haven been Cleopatra’s favourite fruit and heavens above I don’t even want to go into the symbolism that runs through the D.H Lawrence poem. They are a particularly high source of iron and potassium but I don’t know if that has any causal link with their supposed qualities.

So how does one tackle a fig ? Some people find the texture can be a little off-putting ( maybe they read D.H.Lawrence ), so I would stew them down to a sticky, sweet compote with a little orange zest and a Star Anise pod. The result is delicious stirred into thick Greek style yogurt, if you have a sweet tooth you can grill them, drizzled with honey, then spoon in some chilled Mascarpone and sprinkle with chopped nuts and chocolate shavings for the easiest of desserts . For the more savoury minded why not settle down to a plate of figs, Manchego cheese, fine Iberico ham and a chilled glass of Fino sherry or simply figs and Prosciutto.

Perhaps the most popular fig dish you will see on high street bistros and restaurant menus is the classic combination baked with Goats cheese. So here is my simple take with a little tomato and olive oil salsa style dressing and a Balsamic reduction. Use two figs as a rich, indulgent starter or three for a filling lunchtime snack. The Balsamic quantities are rather generous but it is easier to make in larger quantities, smaller amounts tend to burn, it is great to have around as a simple salad dressing, to accompany grilled lamb cutlets or just a splash or two on ripe strawberries. The size of the cup is not important just use the same measure each time.

Figs Baked with Goats Cheese and a Honey Balsamic ReductionBaked Figs with Honey and Balsamic Reduction serves 4 for lunch

8 Ripe Figs

3 Soft Crottin de Chavignol

2 Handfuls of mixed Salad Leaves, washed and thoroughly dried

( Rocket, Baby Spinach, Lamb’s Tongue, Curly Endive )

12 Mixed Baby Tomatoes, Cherry, Plum and Yellow

1 Very small Red Onion, peeled and very finely diced

2 tablespoons of the best quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil

½ teaspoon Caster Sugar

Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper

For the Balsamic Reduction

1 Cup of good Balsamic Vinegar

1 Cup Honey

½ Cup Oloroso ( Nutty ) Sherry

To make the dressing place the ingredients into a small, heavy bottomed pan and gently heat. Stir until the honey dissolves then bring up to a gentle simmer. Reduce by half and leave aside to thoroughly cool. The result should be a dark, glossy syrup which you can store in the fridge in a sterilised, airtight container. Before use remove from the fridge and bring up to room temperature.

For the Baked Figs

Preheat your oven to 350 F / 180 C / Gas Mark 4. Carefully cut the figs into quarters, from the top almost to the base, and arrange on a non-stick baking tray. With your fingers break up the goat’s cheese and divide between the figs. Place in the oven and bake for ten to fifteen minutes until the cheese is melted and tinged brown.

While the figs are baking cut up the tomatoes and place in a small bowl. Add the finely diced onion then sprinkle with the caster sugar and season generously. Mix together thoroughly. When the figs are done add the olive oil to the tomatoes and mix once more. To serve place the salad leaves in the centre of the plate and circle with the simple tomato salsa. Carefully place one the baked figs and using a teaspoon flick over some Balsamic reduction. Enjoy.

Move Over Beans Asparagus for Breakfast: Toasted Sour dough, Bacon, Eggs and Asparagus Recipe

Posted on by

Is there any other seasonal vegetable that attracts your attention, and then tickles taste buds like fresh, tender asparagus spears? We are slap bang, right in the middle of the all too short, English asparagus season* and now is the time to sing the praises of this versatile vegetable. Char-grilled over the dying embers of a barbecue, baked wrapped in Parma ham or dipped in a luxurious duck egg, I simply cannot get enough of the stuff. Asparagus is grown and eaten pretty much worldwide, and because of the year long availability of imports it is no longer the quite the once sought out delicacy it was in English and European kitchens. But I am not talking about the bunches of stuff in your supermarket from Peru or South Africa, I mean the fresh, fine stems available for a limited time, if your are lucky enough from your garden or if not from your neighborhood Farmers Market or local Green Grocers.

*The English asparagus season traditionally begins on 23 April and ends on Midsummer Day.

Asparagus has been prized since Greek and Roman times as a culinary delight, for considered medicinal properties and was even used as a offering to their deities. Asparagus has also been considered to be an aphrodisiac , the sixteenth century erotic writer Shayk al Nefzawi, claimed a daily dish of asparagus, first boiled, then fried in fat with egg yolks and condiments, has ‘great erotic effects.’ I cannot go so far as to confirm his claims but asparagus is packed full of vitamins and minerals, is low in calories and sodium and is an excellent source of dietary fiber.

Before the recipe I better answer a couple of frequently asked questions. First is white asparagus different to green? The asparagus eaten in continental Europe is almost exclusively white, and you can see it regularly in jars on the shelves of good delicatessens. The lack of colour comes from obscuring the growing asparagus tips from day light by piling earth around the shoots. This ‘blanching’ of the stems as they grow results in white or ivory asparagus which is considered to be both less bitter and more tender than green asparagus. The stems however tend to be thicker and need peeling before cooking.

The second question is a little more delicate, does Asparagus make our urine smell funny? The problem is that not everyone can smell if in fact, if this is true. Some of the great minds of the past wrote about the subject, the American polymath ,Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to the Royal Academy of Brussels commented,”A few Stems of Asparagus eaten, shall give our Urine a disagreeable Odour…” Asparagus contains a protein that does alter the smell but it was not until 2010 that was it discovered that only about 22 per cent of the population have the necessary genes required to appreciate the result.

 

Storing, Preparing and Cooking

If you are not able to harvest your own asparagus bed and drop straight into a pan of boiling water, then when you buy your bunch and bring it home simply wrap in damp kitchen paper, put in a paper bag and place in the salad drawer of the fridge. You can also store it in a glass or jug of cold water in the fridge.

New season asparagus spears only require you to cut off the bottom centimeter and then a good wash under the cold tap to remove any grit. For larger older asparagus, which will have more pronounced flavour, grip the spear in both hands and bend until it snaps. Keep the top for eating and freeze the thicker woody end for making soup. If the end of the spear still feels a little tough, you can shave away the skin using a vegetable peeler.

Traditionally asparagus is boiled or steamed, for about three to five minutes, depending on thickness, until the stems are just drooping, but not totally soft and floppy. You then dip in hot melted butter or Hollandaise sauce. Alternatively the spears can be brushed with good quality olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt, then roasted or grilled, then served with freshly grated black pepper, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a few Parmesan shavings.

When you have collected a good quantity of frozen woody stems you can defrost and then simmer in a nice home made chicken stock with a couple of large, peeled potatoes. Blitz in a food processor then pass through a sieve. This will remove any stringy pieces but can be a little time intensive. You can finish this soup with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, a little double cream or crème fraiche, a good amount of seasoning and garnish with a few fresh asparagus spears.

 

Toasted Sour dough, Bacon, Eggs and Asparagus

This is a delicious late Sunday breakfast or midweek lunch and the great thing is you can prepare most of it in advance, and there really is no recipe just some guidelines on times and quantities. A good supermarket or farmers market should provide all of the viands, don’t skimp one the quality of the bacon good, thick, fatty slices are best. I have included a ‘glug’ of olive oil, the amount is not particularly important, more than a drizzle less than a pour. I regularly use a glug at cooking demonstrations and everyone seems happier with that, than with metric or imperial amounts.

Sour Dough Brunch-001

A generous slice of Sour dough bread per per person

One free range egg per person

Approximately four slices of streaky bacon per person

Six to eight asparagus spears per person

A handful of cherry tomatoes per person

Two cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

A couple of good glugs of quality olive oil

A generous sprig of fresh thyme

½ teaspoon caster sugar

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Halve the cherry tomatoes and place in a baking tray. Sprinkle with the sugar and very generously season. Spread over the garlic and thyme and drizzle with some of the oil. Place in a very low oven, Gas Mark 1 / 140 C / 275 F ( you can make these when you are preparing meringues if you are that organised), and leave for three to four hours. The resulting tomatoes should semi-dried intensifying and enriching the flavours and sweetness. You can keep the tomatoes in the remaining olive oil, in a sealed plastic container, in your refrigerator for up to a week and use on salads, in pasta dishes and sauces.

Bring a pan of water to the boil and add room temperature eggs, this stops the eggs from cracking and blowing in the pan. Boil for five minutes then refresh by plunging immediately in plenty of ice cold water to stop the cooking process. Peel the eggs carefully.

To Serve

Line a baking tray with foil to catch any drips and top with a baking rack. Lay out the bacon and place under a moderately hot grill to cook and crisp, turning occasionally. Wash the asparagus carefully and trim any thicker stems. Once the bacon is cooked remove from the grill and keep warm. Start to toast the bread. Heat a second pan of water and add a quarter teaspoon of salt. Poach the asparagus for three minutes the add the eggs and simmer for a further to minutes. Assemble the dish by buttering the toast and placing on the bacon and asparagus. Dress the asparagus with a little olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Carefully halve the eggs and place on the plates with a few tomatoes and there we have it. Enjoy.

 

Tis The Season…. For Jersey Royals

Posted on by

cooking, recipes, food, potatoes, potato, Tis the Season.... for Jersey Royals fieldsIf you love your potatoes, your mash, your roasties and your chips then now is the season to celebrate. The first or early potato crops are being lifted in Cornwall and the South West, but for the real connoisseur there is only one option, the Jersey Royal. Now you lucky folk can get them in every high street in Britain, every good green grocer, every supermarket sells the most tasty potatoes you will try. Quite often at a better price than on the island of Jersey itself. So I hold my hand up here, I live on the island, I could always just go dig up a bucket load I guess, if the farmers didn’t guard them so highly.

Tis the Season.... for Jersey Royalsthefields

Right now across our fertile fields you can see acres of plastic sheets covering the wonderful Jersey main season potato crop. The earliest and hardiest growers would have been planting in November for the early season potatoes. Visitors to the island are often amazed by the land that is turned over to potato growing, virtually vertical pockets of soil on rocky outcrops are planted carefully suspended by ropes. The potato harvest lasts from early April through to June depending of course on the climate conditions. The above average temperature of the island, its easy draining soil and the use of the abundant local seaweed as a fertilizer all helps to shape the flavour of this perfect potato. The islanders would swear to the fact the secret is all in the use of abundant amounts of the pungent seaweed.

Tis the Season.... for Jersey Royals potatoes potatoes, cooking, food ,recipes,

We need however to go back to 1878 ( fear not this is only a minor historical digression and an essential part of our tale ) for the origin of the Jersey Royal or to be more precise the Jersey Royal Fluke and it’s unique taste. A pair of abnormally large potatoes were purchased and later cultivated by Hugh de La Haye becoming the fore runners of the modern jersey potato industry. Today at its peak 1500 tonnes a day are exported during the seasons peak and the Jersey Royal enjoys EU protected status.

So what do I suggest you do with the lovely little tubers, on the island they are consumed simply served in a bowl with golden Jersey butter. I have a taste for freshly boiled Jersey Royals with some cold smoked Jersey butter and coarse sea salt if I’m feeling a little culinary inclined. You can served them with Spring Lamb, they as you would expect excellent with simply grilled fish, but here is my favourite, a nice early summer recipe to look forward to, healthy, full of flavour and texture and very easy to make.

Tis the Season.... for Jersey Royalssalads

Roasted Jersey Royal, Chickpea and Sweet Red Pepper Salad

serves 4

The wonderful sweet flavour of the potatoes are complimented by the rosemary, the slightly smoky charred peppers, the salty olives and the crunch of the chickpeas all bound in a simple but fragrant vinaigrette.

1 lb Early season Jersey Royal potatoes, thoroughly washed 2 large sweet red peppers
4 oz ripe on the vine cherry tomatoes
a small tin ( around 4 oz ) of chickpeas, washed and drained 8 tlbsp quality olive oil

2 tlbsp sherry vinegar 1 tsp clover honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 cloves of garlic

1 small chilli, seeds removed

a large sprig of rosemary
a small bunch of flat leaf parsley, washed and picked mixed salad leaves
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

a heavy duty plastic food bag

Preheat the oven to 375F / 190C / Gas mark 5. Place your peppers on an oven proof dish and bake until the skins to blacken. ( You can achieve the same results under a salamander in a shorter period of time ). In a medium sized sauce pan place the Jersey royal potatoes and cover with cold water. Add half a teaspoon of salt place on the hob and bring to the boil, simmer gently for five minutes. Remove from the heat and drop into a bowl of ice cold water. Drain thoroughly and place in an oven tray. Toss with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, one crushed clove of garlic, the rosemary sprig broken up and plenty of salt and pepper. Roast for 30 – 40 minutes until the skins are crispy.

In the meantime place the charred peppers in the food bag, seal and allow to cool. As the peppers cool the self generated steam will loosen the blackened skins. When cool remove from the bag and on a chopping board scrap off the skin. Do not worry if you cannot remove it all a few blackened pieces add a smoky flavour to the salad. Remove seeds and any membranes and slice. Slice tomatoes in half.

Wipe a medium sized glass bowl with the second piece of garlic that has been cut in half. In the bowl dissolve a good pinch of the salt into the sherry vinegar then add a good grind of black pepper, the honey and mustard. Whisk in the oil. Immediately before serving toss the chickpeas, tomatoes, pepper slices and parsley in the dressing. Place over 4 bowls of mixed salad leaves drizzling with any remaining dressing, top with crisp roasted potatoes and enjoy.

 

https://about.me/cgott