This Easy Thai Salmon Burger brings all the flavours of the east and marries them with the traditional burger, and a healthy one at that. We are using salmon instead of beef to produce a lighter version of a burger that is packed with flavour.
This simple Duck Confit is both rustic and refined. The process of curing and cooking the meat in fat produces a flavour unobtainable buy any other method. And I love it! I’m serving the confit with a Lentil, Bacon, and Chestnuts Stew, a great winter warmer.
These Irresistible Chocolate Custard Cookies are so easy to make. Which is a good job as they don’t last long when people start tucking in. They are great just served as a cookie, adults and children both love them. Alternatively serve alongside a dessert that needs some added texture such as a Crème Brûlee. The dough can be kept in the freezer ready to bake as a useful standby when needed.
Make sure your butter is at room temperature and soft enough to spread. Place the butter and sugar into a mixing bowl or food mixer then cream the two together until the mixture becomes light and creamy, (about 3-4 minutes).
Using a spatula fold the chocolate drops and vanilla into the mix. When combined sieve the flour and custard powder together into the butter/sugar mixture. Don’t beat the flour in just gently fold together.
When the flour is incorporated add the ready to eat custard, again folding gently.
Break off a sheet of greaseproof paper roughly the size of an A4 sheet of paper. Turn the paper landscape format then spoon half of the dough just above the bottom edge. Using the pallet knife form the dough into a sausage of about 4cm in diameter.
Roll the bottom of the paper up and over the dough, tightening the wrap as you go. Twist the ends of the paper to resemble a Christmas cracker then repeat the process with the second half of the dough.
The dough now needs to go into the fridge for at least half an hour or can be frozen for later use.
To cook, take the dough from the fridge and unwrap. Slice the dough across into discs 6mm thick. Place the biscuits onto baking paper and cook in a 175°c oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
When cooked the biscuits should be golden and still be moist inside. Let the cookies stand for 5 minutes then place on a cooling wire and let them cool completely. Store the cookies you haven’t already eaten in an airtight tin for up to four days.
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.
If you enjoyed your visit with us, please subscribe up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at The Westcoaster. Subscribe Here
©John Webber. 2023
This Thai Chicken and Prawn Soup for me sums up the joy of Thai cooking. Been both fresh and light yet with plenty of substance in the flavour department.
If you are a lover of long cool drinks, then this is for you. They are easy to make and all you really need is some space to store the gin while it is steeping and the patience not to get stuck in too quickly. I always fill hold of some 250ml bottles to use as Christmas presents, always welcome gifts.
Astonishing Salt, no other ingredient I know has had a greater effect on cooking and the kitchen. We need it to live, but an excess is bad for us and may even kill us!
So why do we have a love affair with salt? And what does it actually do? Read on and I’ll do my best to explain.
Salt has a profound effect on flavour, or what we perceive as flavour.
How may times have you seen somebody receive their food and immediately sprinkle salt over the plate? The perceived wisdom been it will taste better by adding salt. Years ago, this practice led to some restaurants removing the salt and pepper from the tables.
Adding salt during a cooking process allows it to blend and react with the food. Adding salt at the table will allow it to become the dominant flavour. It doesn’t bind the flavours together and can leave a salty aftertaste in the mouth.
As we are programmed to like salt (as we need it to live) salty snacks are addictive. But not that’s not the affect we want from our cooking. Salt can make food taste better. It has the effect of reducing bitterness and enhances both sweet and savoury notes. Let’s have a look at that.
Surprisingly salt also lifts the aroma of food by drawing out more volatile substances into the air. And somehow enhances our sense of smell.
That trick alone is highly valuable to a chef as the aroma of food is one of the greatest assets in a customer’s flavour perception of a dish. Think of the smell of roasting coffee, cooking bacon or the memory of the markets on your last foreign holiday.
Ever wondered why your told to bake bread if you’re trying to sell your house? Or why supermarkets have on site bakeries? Aromas affect our mood and how we feel, and our enjoyment of the world around us.
One of the most useful ways of seasoning with salt is using it to reduce bitterness.
For this to work the salt needs to be taken together with the food. The salt and bitter need to be in contact with your flavour receptors on the tongue at the same time. There are many examples of this.
Some coffee perfectionists will add a tiny amount to the ground coffee before brewing.
The salted rim of a margarita cocktail has the effect of dampening bitter tastes. The rim helps to counteract any bitterness from the orange liqueur or the tequila, which, in turn, enhances both the drink’s sweet and sour notes.
In conjunction with reducing bitterness, salt can increase our perception of sweetness.
If we eat a food that has both bitter and sweet notes our brain will tend to cancel the two out against each other. By adding a little salt (not enough to become dominant) the bitter notes will be held back making the food taste sweeter to our brain.
Try this out on a grapefruit segment or tomato wedge. Add a few grains of salt and they will appear sweeter that they were.
Also known as “iodized salt,” table salt has very fine grains and contains potassium iodide and an anti-caking agent that helps prevent it from clumping. Because the anti-caking agent can give off a metallic taste when used in large quantities, table salt shouldn’t be used in savoury recipes. It can be used when baking, though, because these types of recipes typically only call for small quantities of salt.
Used only for pickling, this coarse salt contains no iodine, minerals, or caking agent.
Curing Salt is also known as Prague Powder, or Pink Salt by butchers. It is a salt used to cure meats while help preserve them and prevent the meat from turning brown. Sodium Nitrate is added to the salt and given a pink colour to identify it from normal salts.
Curing salt is used in the manufacture of hams, bacon and sausages. A variation of curing salt is used in dried meats like Salami.
My personal favourite, and immensely diverse.
Harvested from evaporated sea water, sea salt can be either very or lightly salty tasting, depending on where it’s harvested, so make sure to taste it before using it. Sea salt also contains loads of minerals so it can have an intricate flavour, but since it’s fine or medium grained, it can be used in either savoury or sweet recipes.
These are varieties of salt that have ether additional or added flavours. They are used to compliment or finish a dish by sprinkling on top.
Like U.K. Sea salt this is produced from Atlantic Sea water evaporated from tidal pods on the coast of France.
Often sold as Sel Gris it has a grey colour from the minerals deposited with the salt. Best used as a finishing salt, sprinkled on food.
Red Hawaiian salt is sea salt that is mixed with iron oxide-rich volcanic clay. Its flavour is described as nutty. Its striking red colour makes it perfect for garnishing finished dished.
This salt has a strong earthy flavour produced adding activated charcoal to the natural sea salt.
Smoked salt is made by literally smoking sea salt over hard woods. The longer the smoking process takes, the stronger the flavour and colour will be. Best used to impart a smoky flavour to sauces or just sprinkled on top of the food.
This is a very distinctive salt with the mild sulphurous taste and aroma of cooked eggs. Rock salt is cooked with charcoal, herbs, and seeds for a day.
Can be used in some spice blends and sometimes used in vegan cookery to add the flavour of egg.
This is a very interesting salt. It originates from the Himalayan Mountains in Pakistan where it is mined. It can be used as a seasoning salt, been one of the purest salt available, but is also available in a versatile block form.
A butcher friend of mine lined his cold store with blocks of pink salt. The blocks had the effect of drying out the air in the store to improve the texture of the meat and the salt imparted a subtle flavour into the meat as the exchange took place.
Now that’s not an option at home but its quite possible to cook food directly on a hot block of Himalayan salt. This is a great way of providing entertainment for your guest while creating a unique flavour. If you have a suitable heatproof stand for your salt block this can be done at the table. Letting your guests cook their own food themselves. This is best suited to quick cooking foods such as thinly sliced beef, fish, or shellfish. Avoid meats like chicken and pork for fears of undercooking. And watch out for your smoke alarm!
The first thing to do is heat the salt block. This needs to be slowly done to avoid the block from cracking. Pop the block into a cold oven and set the temperature to about 120˚c.
Turn on the oven and once the temperature is reached keep heating the block for 10minutes. Increase the temperature to 150˚c again for 10 minutes. Finally bring the temperature to 200-220. For a final 10 minutes.
It is possible to heat the block over a gas burner set to a low flame. The block will take a good 20 to 30 minutes to reach a cooking temperature. This can be tricky and needs care not to break the block moving it off the stove. Alternatively try the process on the BBQ were there’s no need to move the salt around.
The food to be cooked needs a light dusting of oil before been placed on the block, DON’T season it!
Shake off any excess oil then lay the food onto the hot block. Don’t move it around, let a crust form and it will not stick to the surface of the block. When watching somebody on a BBQ its common to see them constantly moving the food around. That’s a sure-fire way of making it stick. Leave it alone, watch the heat climb up through the food then turn it once and leave it until its ready.
The block will impart a pleasant salty slightly smoky flavour to the food. Remember the salt block will retain the heat a lot longer than a pan. Let the block cool naturally, before storing.
When working with stews and sauces add a little salt at the start of cooking. This gives time for the salt to interreact with the flavours in the food.
Add salt to the cooking water of green vegetables apart from peas and beans. The salt will increase the boiling point of the water helping keep the colour. But in the case of peas and broad beans the salt will toughen the sin of the vegetable.
Always, always, taste the food before finishing with salt.
When cooking pasta add a generous pinch of salt to the water as it boils. The salt in the water will season the pasta. Remember to use the cooking water in your pasta sauce if its needs thinning out.
Cake batters, biscuits and doughs benefit from a pinch of salt added to them.
Salt is essential for making bread but remember to keep it away from the yeast. Direct contact with salt will kill the yeast.
Never expose the surface of raw meat or fish to salt for any length of time unless you intend to cure the product. The salt will toughen the surface of the protein and begin to remove natural juices from the food.
The desiccating effect of salt can be useful in removing the bitterness from vegetables like aubergine and courgettes. Light sprinkle the cut surface of the vegetables with salt and leave for 10 minutes. Rinse off the salt and dry the vegetables before cooking.
TIP. A mixture of salt and sugar is very effective for this procedure.
Use a pinch of salt to crush garlic. This is the chef’s way of crushing garlic. Chop the garlic add a good pinch of salt then use the side of the knife to grind the garlic in the salt. Not only does this make a smooth paste of the garlic but also extracts more flavour out of the bulb.
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.
If you enjoyed your visit with us, please subscribe up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at The Westcoaster. Subscribe Here
©John Webber. 2023
Baking your own Bread at home can be a puzzle, let us help you answer your questions. All you need to know to bake great bread at home is here.
8 Easy Summertime Fruit Drinks for all the family. If you are having a barbeque or just lying back enjoying the summer sun, there is nothing better than having a long cool drink on hand.
This delicious Elderflower, Apple, and Mint Fizz is the easiest of all our summertime drink recipes. No special equipment needed and only takes a couple of minutes to make. So, it’s a great standby if friends turn up unexpectedly and need a quick cooling drink.
Don’t forget to look up our home page on Easy Summertime Coolers for more summertime drinks.
The elderflower cordial may be the only ingredient you don’t already have. The good news is that its easy to find with most supermarkets having it available. If you have never tried it, I would recommend you give it a try. Its more versatile than you think and can be used in baking, salad dressings and of course cocktails. Try a fruit salad of chilled melon sprinkled with the cordial – fantastic.
Pick the mint leaves and roll each one in your fingers. You don’t want to crush them, just lightly bruise the leaves. This will release some of the flavour without been too strong.
Wash and thinly slice the flesh off the apple working around the core Pop the sliced apple and mint leaves into a jug and pour the apple juice over the top.
Add the elderflower cordial, and lemon juice then mix well. Top up the jug with the sparkling mineral water and ice cubes.
Serve as cold as possible in chilled glasses with some of the apple slices and mint.
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.
If you enjoyed your visit with us, please subscribe up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at The Westcoaster. Subscribe Here
©John Webber. 2023
Classic Fruity Iced Tea, the flavour of tea with a hint of citrus to cool you down. The infusion is made the day before, then allowed to chill overnight.
This Coconut and Pineapple Cooler works in a similar way to our Creamy Mango Milkshake. The sharpness of the Pineapple and lime is offset with the richness of the coconut milk and sweetness of the syrup.
Drinking Chilled Watermelon Lemonade brings back memories of sitting back in the sun, eating chilled watermelon slices.
As with most of these cooler recipes the base can be made in advance and finished later. We are adding soda water and stock syrup to the watermelon juice to add sweetness and fizz. If that’s not to your liking, try using a good quality lemonade to mix with the watermelon juice.
And don’t forget to look up our home page on Easy Summertime Coolers for more summertime drinks.
soda water
stock syrup
Peel the watermelon keeping some long strips of peel to use as a glass stirrer. Cut the flesh into pieces and pop into the blender. Don’t worry about the seeds as we can remove them later. If you don’t have a jug blender, the stick version will work fine. Puree the fruit in the blender using the pulse control. Don’t over blend the fruit at full speed or the seeds will be crushed and make the juice bitter.
Pass the juice though the fine sieve into a Pyrex bowl. The best way to do this is to rub the juices through the sieve using the back of a small ladle. You will be surprised how well this works, leaving only the seeds and some watermelon fibre behind.
The watermelon juice can be kept in the fridge for up to three days or frozen.
Take a mixing jug and add 1 part of stock syrup to two parts of watermelon juice. Mix in 1-part chilled soda water and stir together, i.e., 100ml syrup, 200ml watermelon juice, 100ml soda water.
Add some ice cubes to a tall glass and drop in a couple of slices of orange and lemon. Tear of chop two or three leaves of mint, add them to the glass and fill the glass with the cooler. Decorate with some fruit and a stick of watermelon peel 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.
If you enjoyed your visit with us, please subscribe up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at The Westcoaster. Subscribe Here
©John Webber. 2023
This Easy Creamy Mango Milkshake is a guaranteed hit with the kids, and who doesn’t like a milkshake?
This easy Lemon Barley Water is a British classic and a must for any outdoor event. This is not difficult to make but takes a little time to infuse and chill. Make it the day before to let it get as cold as possible before use. Once you have tasted the real thing, you will never go back to shop-bought cordial again.
