Kevin Dundon - Recipes That Work

1 glass red wine

Chopped fresh parsley, to garnish

Crusty bread, to serve

1 Heat a large saucepan with the butter, add the diced vegetables together with the thyme sprigs and sauté for a few minutes until lightly browned.

2 Next add the flour and tomato purée and stir until all the vegetables are coated. Place the oxtail on top of the vegetables then pour in the stock and red wine and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to very low and skim the scum off the surface with a slotted spoon. Continue to cook the soup over a very low heat for about 3 hours, adding a little additional stock if necessary.

3 Remove the oxtail from the soup and allow to cool, then shred all the meat from the tail.

4 Using a hand-held electric blender, blitz the vegetables and liquid into a thick soup, again adding some additional stock if you would like a soup of a different consistency. Alternatively, use a food processor. Add the shredded oxtail to the soup and gently reheat. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately with crusty bread.

CRAB BISQUE

Crab is such a delightful starter (appetizer) ingredient. After extracting all the delicious crabmeat for other dishes (such as the Asian Crab Cakes in Chapter 2), I love to use the shells to make this wonderful bisque.

SERVES 6–8

15g/½ oz/ 1/ 8stick tbsp butter

1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

1 celery stick, roughly chopped

4 fresh thyme sprigs

2 bay leaves

3 fresh tarragon sprigs

4 crab shells, broken into pieces

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp tomato purée (tomato paste)

1 small glass white wine

25ml/1fl oz/ 1/ 8cup brandy

1.25 litres/2 pints/5 cups hot fish stock (see Chapter 5) Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

3 tbsp double (heavy) cream

Juice of ½ lemon

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Melt the butter in a large frying pan until foaming, add the onion, carrots, celery and herbs and stir well. Fry for 2–3 minutes or until the vegetables have softened. Add the crab shell pieces, cayenne pepper and tomato purée and cook for a further 1–2 minutes.

2 Pour in the white wine and brandy and remove the pan from the heat. Set the mixture alight with a match, taking care to keep the flames away from your face, hands and other objects in the vicinity, and ensuring your extractor fan is turned off. Let the flames flare up then die down, and return the pan to the heat. Add the hot stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

3 Remove the pan from the heat and remove and discard the crab shell pieces. Allow to cool slightly then transfer the mixture to a food processor and blitz to a purée.

4 Press the puréed mixture through a fine sieve (strainer) set over a clean pan. Add the cream and lemon juice to the pan, season to taste with salt and pepper and reheat gently before serving.

Some people underestimate the value and importance of starters (appetizers). A good starter should excite and test all of the senses, setting the ball rolling for a most enjoyable meal.

In the restaurant, we find that the starters are where our guests are most daring with what they order and willing to experiment with something new. Often, they may even select two starters instead of a main course.

There are two occasions when you’ll want to use this chapter. You may need a starter for a dinner party, but there are also many recipes here that are suitable as light lunch options. I have tried to give a variety of meat, fish and vegetarian ideas to help with your home entertaining needs. I also believe that a main prerequisite for a dinner party is that at least one of your courses can be prepared in advance, so many of the recipes in this section can be prepared ahead of time and enjoyed later, when you are ready for them.

VEGETARIAN SPRING ROLLS

These spring rolls are a great ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card, in that you can turn to them when you need a kitchen shortcut. They can be quickly made up from fresh, or made ahead and kept in the freezer until needed. In this recipe I have used only vegetables, but of course you could add some duck, chicken, fish or beef into the mix as well. If you can’t find spring roll pastry then use filo (phyllo) pastry instead but put two sheets together as it isn’t as strong as spring roll pastry.

SERVES 8 (V)

Sunflower oil, for cooking

½ green chilli, diced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and diced

2.5cm/1in piece fresh root ginger (gingerroot), peeled and diced

2 celery sticks, sliced into 5cm/2in strips

1 leek (white part only), sliced into 5cm/2in strips

1 carrot, peeled and sliced into 5cm/2in strips

1 red onion, peeled and sliced into 5cm/2in strips

1½ (bell) peppers, mixed colours, sliced into 5cm/2in strips

50g/2oz cabbage, shredded into 5cm/2in strips

50g/2oz/½ cup beansprouts

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

8 sheets spring roll pastry

EGG WASH

1 egg

50ml/2fl oz/¼ cup milk

1 Heat a large wok then add a little oil. When the oil is hot, add the chilli, garlic and ginger and cook gently for 2–3 minutes. Add the vegetables and season lightly with salt and pepper and stir-fry for 3–4 minutes until the vegetables are beginning to soften. When the vegetables are fully cooked, add the chilli sauce. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and allow to cool completely.

2 For the egg wash, mix the egg and milk together and set aside.

3 Lay one sheet of the spring roll pastry on the work surface (counter) so that one of the corners points towards you. Brush around the edges with a little of the egg wash and then spoon about 1 tablespoon of the vegetable filling in a line near the top corner. Fold over to enclose then roll it towards you a little. Fold in the sides and continue to roll up into a nice cylindrical shape. Place the roll on a non-stick baking sheet and repeat with the remaining ingredients until you have eight spring rolls in total. Lightly brush with the remaining egg wash and chill for 30 minutes.

4 When ready to serve, pour enough oil into a deep-fat fryer or deep-sided saucepan to a depth of 6–7.5cm/2½–3in and heat to 180°C (350°F) or until a small piece of white bread turns golden brown in about 30 seconds. Deep-fry the spring rolls for 3–4 minutes or until crisp on all sides and lightly golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on kitchen paper (paper towels).

5 To serve, use a sharp knife to cut off the very ends of each spring roll so that they will sit well on the plate, then cut each one in half on the diagonal. These are delicious served with some additional sweet chilli sauce.

SPICED CHICKPEA CAKES

These spicy cakes are a delicious vegetarian starter and will definitely be a favourite with your guests.

SERVES 6 (V)