Vodka Batter

A brilliantly crisp and pure batter to help bring out the best in the fish. Best used with higher quality fish like halibut / Sole / Cod etc.

700g - Flour
2 tbsp - Baking Powder
1 tbsp - Salt
250g - Vodka
920g - Soda water

Mix everything into a thick batter

Fry at 180 until golden and crisp

Pâte Sablé

300g - Butter
180g - Powdered Sugar
5g - Salt
80g - Egg Yolks
510g - Plain Flour

In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, and salt. Add the egg yolks one at a time. scrape down the bowl periodically to ensure that the mix is well incorporated. Add the sifted flour and mix just until combined. Roll the dough into logs and then wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour. Slice into discs and bake at 170C for 20 mins until cooked but very blonde. Sprinkle with sugar while still hot. Allow to cool before eating.

Short Crust Pastry

100g - Eggs
50g - Whole Milk
500g - Cake Flour
15g - Salt
20g - Castor Sugar
350g - Butter (diced and cold)

Whisk the eggs and milk together. Mix together the dry ingredients and butter until you achieve a bread crumb texture. Add the liquid and mix until the dough begins to come together. Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured work surface. Gently shape into desired sized rounds. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour then its ready to be rolled out and used. bake at 180C for 20 mins or until fully cooked.

If you are baking a tart then you will want to blind bake the pastry without filling first.

Suet Pastry

A proper old school pie pastry.

250g - Plain Flour

5g - Baking Powder

150g - Beef Suet

125g - Cold water

Pinch of Salt

Kneed everything into a smooth dough. Roll out line a pie tin, fill then egg wash and bake at 200c untill golden.

Sour Dough - 2020

Sour Dough 70% hydration

Starter Culture:

Strong Organic Flour - 600g

Water - 600g

Feed:

Strong Organic Flour - 300g

Water - 300g

The First week of the starter every day remove 600g and discard then feed. After the week the 600g that would have been discarded is what you will use for your dough.

dough step one:

Strong Organic Flour - 1400g

Wheat flour - 400g

Water - 1150gKnead together and leave for a few hours to

Dough Step two:

Starter Culture - 600g

Flour - 100g

Water - 100g

Mix the starter with the flour and water to "refresh" the starter. Allow to rest for a few hours with the Autolisation of thebdough

if needed for the same day add 21g yeast

Dough step three:

Salt - 40g

Kneed the refreshed Starter culture into the dough for around 5 mins on medium speed.. rest for 10 mins then mix again. Add the salt and mix a final time. Put the dough in a large bowl then rest for 2 - 4 hours to bulk ferment. Then Cut into Equal sized balls then stretch the dough into itself (as for mozzarella) to build surface tension. Place the balls into floured wooden banneton bowls. then cover and place in the fridge over night to slowly ferment. The next day bake the bread at 220c for 30 mins with 50% steam.

allow to rest for 20 mins then enjoy!

Lavash Cracker

535 - Water
25 - Fresh Yeast
735 - Bread Flour
5 - Sugar
15 - Salt


Mix everything together to a harmogenised dough. then weigh out in 100g balls. roll very flat and bake at 180c untill golden and crisp.

Yorkshire Pudding Batter

This recipe should be made the night before.

8 - Eggs
453g - Flour
568 - Milk
Pinch - Salt

Next Day

200 - Water

Pre an ovan at 200C. Por oil half way up every section in a non stick muffin tray then put in the hot ovan for 10 mins. open the door then pour the batter into the hot oil filled muffin tray. use a jug for accuracy or even better a sauce gun.

Fresh Spaetzle

This is German soft dumpling/pasta/noodles. this is a surprisingly simple preparation.

250g - Plain Flour
8 - Tbsp Milk
4 - Eggs
1 tsp - Ground Nutmeg
pinch - Freshly Ground White Pepper
pinch - Salt

Mix everything into a smooth batter consistency. Put on a pot of boiling salted water and add a knob of butter (helps with seasoning and stopping the noodles from sticking). Once the water is boiling put a colander over the pot but not touching the water and add the batter. With the back of a spoon push the mix through the holes into the water. Once they float they are ready to be lifted out and refreshed in ice water. now they can be fried in a pan with oil or butter and sauced. This works so well with Pesto or Gremolata both of which I have recipes for in the sauce section.


Fresh Gnocchi

Gnochi is a style of potato based pasta.

1000g - Mash (Dry and Cold)
128g - Corn Flour
128g - ”oo” Flour
1 - Whole Eggs
2 - Egg Yolk
1/2 - Nutmeg (Micro Planed)
to taste - Salt

Everything should be mixed thoroughly then rested in the fridge for at least 1 hour. now roll into long thin cylinders. Cut the cylinders into even pieces then pressed and rolled into a gnocchi board or if you dont have one you can use a fork. Then the gnocchi can be poached then sauced and served or pan fried sauced and served.

Fresh Pasta

Fresh pasta is on such a higher level then standard dried verities. although some higher quality dried pastas can be just as good spaghetti is one example where the dried kind are better than fresh because of the texture the old brass dies give the pasta. it allows the sauce to coat the pasta better that cant be replicated by cutting in a traditional pasta roller like most people will be using at home.

so you are going to want a to buy a pasta machine which is fairly cheap. if you get one or have one NEVER get it wet… it shouldn’t ever get that dirty but if you want to clean it after use. give it a rub down with flour and brush it off with a very dry pastry brush. you can use a rolling pin instead of a pasta roller but you will need to have some mad skills and a lot more time.

250g - ”oo” Flour
198g - Egg Yolk
1 tbsp - Olive Oil
pinch - Salt

Mix everything until it is well homogenised. then wrap it up and rest it in the fridge for at least an hour.

cut the dough in half or to what ever size you find manageable... then dust it in “oo” flour then roll it through the pasta roller on its highest setting a few times folding it in half each time to build up the lamination. Begin working down the sizes. if at any point your sheet tears or gets overly mis-shapen then fold it in half and feed through the last setting that you worked. you want to stop going down in thickness when you get to 2nd or 3rd lowest setting.

now you have your pasta sheet rolled out you can decide what shape to make fold it and stuff it into ravioli or tortellini or cut it into pappardelle or tagliatelle the possibilities are endless!

Brioche Tuille

I use this for for edible branches

1 - Brioche Loaf (cooked)
1 - Brioche Loaf (Raw)
2 - Eggs Whole
11 - Egg Whites

Blitz everything together in a Thermomix. Put in a piping bag. On grease proof paper pipe out the rough shape of a twig or a branch (or what ever you want to do) then freeze. Preheat your fryer to 180C then add the frozen brioche twig. cook until golden on all sides then remove from the oil and season immediately.