How to make Hummus. It’s easy to make this classic middle eastern snack, better and fresher than the bought version. Its smooth healthy, and full of flavour. And once you have mastered the process there is a wealth of other flavours you can add to the basic mix.
Flavoured Butters are one of the easiest ways of putting flavour onto a dish. I simply can’t think of anything else you can that make that will transform your cooking so quickly and efficiently. Imagine a simple jacket potato lifted by adding cheesy bacon butter. Boring cooked rice given a punch with lime, ginger, chilli, and coriander butter. Or a grilled chicken breast topped with harissa flavoured butter, amazing!
Scottish Cullen Skink is one of my favourite dishes. It is a rich fish soup with leek and potatoes and its name originates from Cullen a small fishing village on the Northeast coast of Scotland. And the term ‘Skink is derived from the Gaelic for ‘essence’ a good description of the aroma of fishy peat smoke coming from the haddock.
You could serve this as a starter, but it’s a hearty soup more suited to a supper main course or Lunchtime treat. If you are in Appin and can’t, be bothered with all the cooking pop into The Pierhouse Hotel (at the pier) for a warming plate full of Skink.
To get the very best flavour from the dish look for pale, sometimes called peat smoked haddock. This is fish which has been cured and smoked in the traditional method. Try a good fishmonger to find it. In the supermarkets you are more likely to find its bright yellow cousin which has not had much if any time in the smoker. And has been coated in colour and flavour. If that’s all you can get, it will still work but will not as deeply be flavoured as the real thing. You will just have to travel to Scotland and experience real Skink.
750g skin on peat smoked haddock fillet, about 600g after trimming.
Take the smoked haddock and remove the skin (it should just pull off with a bit of persuasion) and any bones. Cut the fish into roughly 3cm chunks and set aside. Place the skin bones and any trimmings into a saucepan along with the rest of the ingredients. Bring to the boil then simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour. Pass the stock though a fine strainer and refrigerate until needed. This can be done the day before cooking the Skink.
Don’t be tempted to add salt at all until the very end of cooking and then only after tasting. The smoked haddock itself is salty, which should be enough for the whole dish.
Give the leek a rinse then cut into two longways. Open out the two halves and slice into strips about 1.5cm wide. Turn the strips around and then slice across to make squares of leek. Finely chop the shallot then slice the garlic into thin slices. Crushing the garlic would make it too strong in the dish.
Add the butter to the saucepan and place over a low heat. When the butter has melted, add the leek, shallots, and garlic. Notice we are not using any onion in this recipe. Onions contain too much sugar and will put a sweet tone into the skink, that we want to avoid. Cook the vegetables for about five minutes and while they are cooking, deal with the potatoes.
Cut the potato into chips with about 1.5cm sides. Slice the chips across approximately 3mm thick to produce little square slices of potato.
Add the potatoes to the pan followed by the stock milk and cream. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 6-8 minutes then add the fish.
Return the pan to the simmer and cook for another 6 minutes stirring occasionally. Don’t worry is the fish and potatoes break up a little, that will thicken the Skink. Add two or three turns of the peppermill and taste.
Serve in deep wide plates scattered with chopped chives and plenty of crusty bread to soak up the juices.
Enjoy Life!
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
Join The ‘Westcoaster Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at ‘The Westcoaster.’
© Copywrite, John Webber. 2024
Potato and Roast Garlic Soup is a simple recipe, yet quite refined. Ideal as a starter for a dinner party or served in expresso cups as a pre-starter. Its rich, smooth consistency, offset by serving the soup with parsley pesto is always a winner!
One of life’s guilty pleasures has to be a bowl of hot mashed potato. And it is one of the most versatile products that we can use to create a great plate of food. They can be used to form a foundation for the presentation, provide a contrasting texture on the plate, and become ‘a vehicle of flavour’. That is, they become a method of adding a complimentary flavour to a plate. Such as horseradish mash with beef, or saffron mash with fish. In a similar way, they can absorb flavour on a plate such as the gravy of a stew or braise.
Braised Oxtail is my idea of heaven on a cold winter’s day. So, with the frost on the ground and minus five on the thermometer I decided the time was right to get cooking.
For me Braised Oxtail is the pinnacle of meat eating. Its not difficult to cook, but it does take a little time. If the idea of having the oven on for such a long cook, use a slow cooker to do most of the cooking. That leaves only the start and finishing to be done on the hob.
If you like meat, have a look at our Food Files page on British Beef Cuts for more exiting cut and joints to try.
Peel the shallots been careful not to remove the root. Remove the carrots tops then lightly scrape the skin. Peel the swede and celeriac and cut into 1.5cm cubes allowing roughly three per person. I used a melon baller on the swede just to improve the presentation.
Oxtail has such a meaty flavour it benefits from using lots of vegetables. To help things along we gently cook the finishing vegetables in the beef stock first, so all their flavour compliments the finished sauce.
Cook the vegetables in the stock until just tender, then strain keeping the stock. The sage leaves and parsley will be used later. Put the vegetables to one side for later use.
This is an old but very convenient method of using herbs on the stem in a liquid and removing them without difficulty.
You will need a length of cotton butchers’ twine, DON’T use nylon string as it will affect the flavour of the sauce. You need two short lengths of celery, an outer leaf of leek cut the same length as the celery and the herbs you are using. For us its thyme and bay leaf.
Place the herbs into the depression in a stick of celery, then place the second stick of celery on top. Wrap this parcel using the leek then tie the whole thing together with the string.
Chefs often leave a long piece of string on the bouquet garni after tying. This can be left hanging or tied to the lid and make removal of the herbs easy.
Peel the carrots for the braise and roughly cut into 3cm sections. Repeat that for the onions and give the garlic a bash to bruise it, but don’t peel it.
Put a large heavy casserole on to a high heat, and when hot add the oil into the pan and brown the oxtail on all sides. You may need to do this in two stages. When browned all over lift each section out onto a plate and when all the meat is browned add the vegetables without the garlic to the pan and brown well without burning. Tip the contents of the pan into a colander to allow any excess fat to drain off. Once drained return the vegetables to the pan and place back on the heat.
Now it’s time to add the tomato puree. To get the best flavour for the puree and take away the raw taste we need to caramelise it. As the vegetables are frying, add the puree and mix into the vegetables. Keep stirring the pan keeping the red wine ready at hand and once the tomato puree and browned slightly add the wine. Remember, there is a difference between caramel and carbon!
Tip the wine into the hot pan scraping the base of the pan with the spatula to lift the caramelised juices into the wine.
Add the stock the vegetables were cooked in and bring to the simmer. Add the bruised garlic, passata, and bouquet garni. Return the oxtail to the pan along with and juices sitting on the plate and return to the simmer.
You can now transfer the braise to a pre-heated slow cooker to cook for about 5 hours Alternatively over the surface of the meat firstly with a disc of paper then place a tight-fitting lid on the casserole and cook in the oven at 140-150c for roughly three hours.
When the oxtail is cooked the meat should be tender and almost falling off the bone. When ready remove from the heat and let the contents cool a little.
Carefully lift the joints of meat out of the sauce then strain the liquid through a fine strainer, lightly pressing the vegetable to get every last drop of juices into the sauce. Discard the vegetables and leave the sauce to stand for 10 minutes.
Using a small ladle carful skim off any fat sitting on the surface of the sauce. If you don’t have a ladle small enough an old tablespoon bent at 90˚ works well.
Give the pan a wipe out with kitchen paper, then return the sauce to the pan and bring back to the simmer. Let the sauce reduce in volume to thicken tasting as you go. The tomato puree and passata will provide some natural thickening. If you need to thicken the sauce, further use a little diluted arrowroot. DON’T use cornflour, it will spoil the clarity and gloss of the sauce.
When you are happy with the taste and consistency of the sauce return the meat to the pan and keep warm.
Are struggling with a sauce or stock that has meat fat on it like a roast or braise?
Drop a couple of large ice cubes into the liquid. They need to be well above the level of the liquid so it may help to pour the liquid into a tray before adding the ice.
As you move the ice around the tray the fat will set and adhere to the ice, which can then be removed easily. Yes, a little water will dissolve into the sauce, but this is easily evaporated later by simmering.
Heat a shallow pan and add 3 tbsp of olive oil and heat. Carefully fry the sage leaves in the oil, they will sizzle and bubble, becoming crisp. When crisp, lift each leaf out of the pan and drain on kitchen paper.
When all the leaves are fried remove 80% of the remaining oil from the pan. Take the finishing vegetables, and but the shallots in half longways through the root. Add the vegetable sot the hot pan and roast them in the hot sage oil.
When the vegetables are a nice golden-brown lift them out of the pan onto kitchen paper to drain well.
Take your serving dish and using a pair of tongs, lift the sections of hot oxtail on to the dish.
Strain the sauce one last time, then pour the finished sauce over the joints. Arrange the finishing vegetables around the meat and add the sage leaves. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve with mashed potato and green vegetables. Make sure to check out our post on How to make Perfect Mashed Potatoes to get the very best partner to your oxtail.
Enjoy life!
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
Join The ‘Westcoaster Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at ‘The Westcoaster.’
© Copywrite, John Webber. 2024
These Italian delicate almond cookies with a melt in the mouth centre are usually enjoyed during Christmas time in Tuscany. Try them out as an alternative to or in addition to mince pies when entertaining guest over the holiday.
Gratin Dauphinoise Potatoes are an absolute classic crowd pleaser, and so versatile. The lusciously rich creamy potato with a boost of garlic is a great accompaniment to both red and white meats. Its easy to make and can be made ahead and reheated if needed. I’m going to show you the correct method for making the gratin, so forget what you may have had in the past and try these out.
This Easy, Banana and Blueberry Overnight Oats breakfast is great. Fresh fruit, and oats. What’s not to like!
I like to use a small food processor the mix the ingredients but if you don’t have one, don’t worry. The processor gives a slightly smoother texture, but you can mix everything in a small bowl using a fork to break it down.
We are using two types of oats. The rolled oats give the body, and the jumbo oats provide some extra texture.
Slice the banana and put into the processor with everything apart from the jumbo oats.
Pulse the machine to break everything down, but don’t overdo it. Leave some texture in the mixture. Stir in the jumbo oats then transfer to a storage jar and pop into the fridge overnight.
The mixture will keep in the fridge for two to three days, so it ideal to have on hand for a quick breakfast if you have a busy day.
½ banana, sliced
Handful fresh blueberries
1tsp golden syrup
This is really quick to serve. Spoon the overnight oats into two glasses, place some sliced banana on the oats and scatter some blueberries on top. Drizzle the fruit with golden syrup then tuck in.
If you are planning a picnic split the mixture into two jars before refrigerating. You can then top the oats with fruit and syrup in the jars then secure the lid. A great portable treat!
Enjoy Life!
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
Join The ‘Westcoaster Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at ‘The Westcoaster.’
©John Webber. 2023
Syrup and Spice Overnight Oats are simply breakfast comfort food. Childhood memories of steamed sponge pudding come flooding back when tucking into these oats.
These Tropical Overnight Oats are my favourite overnight oats recipe. I love the rich, smooth texture of the oats. Combined with the background of coconut and mango. The addition of passion fruit and Greek yoghurt on top give a sharp contrast.
These, Apple Crumble Overnight Oats make the perfect Autumn breakfast. Layers of apple compote, oats, yoghurt, and shortbread. What more could you want?
The apple compote is also great served with other breakfast cereals. So don’t worry if you have some left over. It wont be there for long!
Mix the milk and yoghurt together in a 330g jar. Add the vanilla, chia seeds, sugar, and cinnamon.
Mix well then fold in the oats, cover, and leave overnight in the fridge. The mixture will keep 2-3 days in the fridge so double up on the quantities if you wish.
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Peel the apples and cut out the core. Thinly slice the Bramley apple and place in a shallow pan. Cut the Granny Smith’s apple into 1cm dice and add to the pan. Pour the lemon juice over the apple and add the sugar.
Place a lid on the pan and cook over a low to medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes stirring from time to time. When the Bramley apple is broken down and the diced apple cooked through tip the contents of the pan into a small dish to cool.
Place the shortbread into a small plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin or similar. Only break the biscuits down to a crumble like texture, don’t powder them.
Check the soaked oats and add a little more milk if needed. Take a suitable glass and fill with layers of oats, Apple compote, and Greek yoghurt.
Top the glass with the crushed biscuits, a dollop of yoghurt and apple then serve.
Enjoy life !
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
Join The ‘Westcoaster Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at ‘The Westcoaster.’
©John Webber. 2023
These Mocha Overnight Oats are packed with flavour. Rich peanut butter and Maple syrup are backed up with a kick of coffee to get your day started.
I like to serve the Mocha Overnight oats topped with a crunchy layer of muesli. Choose a variety with plenty interesting ingredients or add some more dried fruits if needed. We are looking for some texture and interest rather than adding more oats to our breakfast.
Super Easy Overnight oats, make the perfect lazy breakfast. Packed with goodness they are one of the most versatile breakfast options around. Very little, is any cooking is required and the simplest versions can be made in minutes.