FEEDING FRIENDS
I won’t bore you with the details of my culinary life before I owned my restaurant, Megan’s, but I worked under a whole variety of chefs, from nurturing ones to shouty ones. Each one taught me something new, and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to each and every one of them. There were, however, two lessons that eclipsed all the others.
First and foremost: cooking is not a science, it’s an art, and it can be done by anyone. There is no ‘can’ and ‘can’t’ in cooking. One man’s burnt is another man’s crispy. Provided that it’s edible (and it takes some effort to make something genuinely inedible), it’s cooking. You just need to start experimenting and finding your way.
Of course, my new book is a cookbook, and it therefore contains recipes, but you’re not in prison; the recipe isn’t the warden. You don’t have to ask permission to swap an ingredient or furtively add a pinch of chilli when the book isn’t looking. You’re the boss.
The second lesson I learned is simple, but is often overlooked by restaurants. Despite what most people think (and that includes most would-be restaurateurs), food isn’t the be-all and end-all. Of course it’s important, but the ambience and setting are equally so. Eating is about conviviality, sharing a laugh while topping up your neighbour’s wine glass.
I hope you’ll enjoy the recipes that Pedro, the head chef here at Megan’s, and I have put together. But what I hope most of all is that our recipes will give you the inspiration to get in the kitchen and develop your own dishes. Now, roll your sleeves up and get involved.
Friends Around The Table, with recipes by Acland Geddes and Pedro da Silva and photography by Kate Whitaker, is published by Ryland Peters & Small, priced £18.99. Our readers can buy a copy at the offer price of £13.99 (incl p&p). Call 01256-302699 and quote GLR 9MM
Serves 2
You will need
For the beef
For the hasselback potatoes
For the pea purée
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/ gas mark 6.
Prepare the beef fillet by rubbing it with the crushed garlic and a little olive oil. Pour over the sake, ketjap manis and tamari soy. Marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. Take it out of the fridge at least an hour before cooking so it can come to room temperature.
Scrub the potatoes, but do not peel them. With a sharp knife, make horizontal cuts at 5mm intervals all the way along, without slicing all the way through.
Mix the olive oil, crushed garlic, thyme and salt and pepper. Spoon a little of this over each potato. Arrange them in a roasting pan and spoon over any remaining olive oil.
Season the potatoes generously and bake for 45 mins to 1 hour, until all the slices have fanned out and the potato is crisp and golden brown.
For the peas, melt the butter in a pan and cook the onion gently for 15 mins.
Add the frozen peas and vegetable stock, bring to the boil and cook for a further 5 mins. Add the fresh mint and double cream, then blitz with a hand-held electric blender or food processor.
Now for the beef. Heat a little butter and olive oil in a heavy-based casserole dish over a medium-high heat.
Remove the beef from the marinade (reserving the marinade) and brown it on all sides in the pan. Once browned, reduce the heat to medium and cover with a lid, leaving a small gap for steam to escape. Cook for about 20 mins, then remove the beef from the pan and cover with kitchen foil. Pour the marinade into the casserole and warm it. When hot, add the cubes of cold butter and whisk briskly to thicken the sauce. Once all the butter is incorporated, remove the pan from the heat.
Once cooled a little, return the beef and allow it to sit in the sauce, absorbing the avour, for a further 20 mins.
To serve, remove meat and slice it thinly. Warm the sauce gently and spoon it over the meat. Serve with the potatoes, pea purée and extra sauce.
For the salad
For the tapenade
For the vinaigrette
For the tapenade, put all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until amalgamated into a rough paste. Add a little extra oil to loosen it if the blades aren’t catching everything. Set aside.
Meanwhile, prepare the oranges for the salad by cutting the skin o to reveal the flesh underneath. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut out each segment between the membranes so that you have a little wedge of pure orange with no white pith. You should end up with nice clean segments and a star-shaped central core of pith. Squeeze the central core to extract any juice and set aside to use in the vinaigrette.
Slice the fennel and red onion as thinly as possible. Mix together the orange segments, fennel, red onion, parsley and tarragon/dill.
Preheat a ridged grill pan or barbecue. Put all the vinaigrette ingredients, along with the reserved orange juice, in a jar and shake it to emulsify.
Season the mackerel fillets with salt and pepper, sprinkling a little extra on the skin side to help release the oils during cooking.
Gently place them on the hot grill and cook for around 5 mins, or until they can be turned over easily. Finish cooking on the other side.
Dress the salad with the vinaigrette and put the mackerel fillets on top. Spoon a little tapenade on to each fillet and serve.
First and foremost: cooking is not a science, it’s an art, and it can be done by anyone. There is no ‘can’ and ‘can’t’ in cooking. One man’s burnt is another man’s crispy. Provided that it’s edible (and it takes some effort to make something genuinely inedible), it’s cooking. You just need to start experimenting and finding your way.
Of course, my new book is a cookbook, and it therefore contains recipes, but you’re not in prison; the recipe isn’t the warden. You don’t have to ask permission to swap an ingredient or furtively add a pinch of chilli when the book isn’t looking. You’re the boss.
The second lesson I learned is simple, but is often overlooked by restaurants. Despite what most people think (and that includes most would-be restaurateurs), food isn’t the be-all and end-all. Of course it’s important, but the ambience and setting are equally so. Eating is about conviviality, sharing a laugh while topping up your neighbour’s wine glass.
I hope you’ll enjoy the recipes that Pedro, the head chef here at Megan’s, and I have put together. But what I hope most of all is that our recipes will give you the inspiration to get in the kitchen and develop your own dishes. Now, roll your sleeves up and get involved.
Friends Around The Table, with recipes by Acland Geddes and Pedro da Silva and photography by Kate Whitaker, is published by Ryland Peters & Small, priced £18.99. Our readers can buy a copy at the offer price of £13.99 (incl p&p). Call 01256-302699 and quote GLR 9MM
Pot-cooked beef fillet with pea purée and hasselback potatoes
Serves 2 You will need
- a large, deep cast-iron casserole dish, big enough to fit the whole beef fillet
- a hand-held electric blender
For the beef
- 1 piece beef fillet, about 350g-400g
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- olive oil, for cooking and marinating
- 1½ tbsp sake
- 1½ tbsp ketjap manis (sold in most Asian markets)
- 1½ tbsp tamari soy
- 50g cold butter
- cubed butter, for cooking
For the hasselback potatoes
- 2 large roasting potatoes
- 1½ tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- ½ tsp chopped fresh thyme
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the pea purée
- 15g butter
- ½ white onion, chopped
- 200g frozen peas (the small petits pois type)
- 45ml vegetable stock
- a small bunch of fresh mint
- 1 tbsp double cream
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/ gas mark 6.
Prepare the beef fillet by rubbing it with the crushed garlic and a little olive oil. Pour over the sake, ketjap manis and tamari soy. Marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. Take it out of the fridge at least an hour before cooking so it can come to room temperature.
Scrub the potatoes, but do not peel them. With a sharp knife, make horizontal cuts at 5mm intervals all the way along, without slicing all the way through.
Mix the olive oil, crushed garlic, thyme and salt and pepper. Spoon a little of this over each potato. Arrange them in a roasting pan and spoon over any remaining olive oil.
Season the potatoes generously and bake for 45 mins to 1 hour, until all the slices have fanned out and the potato is crisp and golden brown.
For the peas, melt the butter in a pan and cook the onion gently for 15 mins.
Add the frozen peas and vegetable stock, bring to the boil and cook for a further 5 mins. Add the fresh mint and double cream, then blitz with a hand-held electric blender or food processor.
Now for the beef. Heat a little butter and olive oil in a heavy-based casserole dish over a medium-high heat.
Remove the beef from the marinade (reserving the marinade) and brown it on all sides in the pan. Once browned, reduce the heat to medium and cover with a lid, leaving a small gap for steam to escape. Cook for about 20 mins, then remove the beef from the pan and cover with kitchen foil. Pour the marinade into the casserole and warm it. When hot, add the cubes of cold butter and whisk briskly to thicken the sauce. Once all the butter is incorporated, remove the pan from the heat.
Once cooled a little, return the beef and allow it to sit in the sauce, absorbing the avour, for a further 20 mins.
To serve, remove meat and slice it thinly. Warm the sauce gently and spoon it over the meat. Serve with the potatoes, pea purée and extra sauce.
Grilled mackerel, orange, fennel and red onion salad with tapenade (pictured top)
Serves 6 to 8- 8 large mackerel fillets
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the salad
- 2 oranges
- 4 bulbs fennel
- 1 red onion
- 1 small bunch fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 1 sprig fresh tarragon or dill, roughly chopped
For the tapenade
- 250g black olives (ideally Kalamata), pitted
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- 30g pine nuts
- ½ small bunch fresh basil
- ½ small bunch fresh flat leaf parsley
- 1 tsp dark navy rum
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- freshly squeezed juice of ½ lemon
- 3 tbsp capers
- 3 anchovy fillets
For the vinaigrette
- 100ml olive oil
- freshly squeezed juice of ½ lemon
- a pinch of sugar
For the tapenade, put all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until amalgamated into a rough paste. Add a little extra oil to loosen it if the blades aren’t catching everything. Set aside.
Meanwhile, prepare the oranges for the salad by cutting the skin o to reveal the flesh underneath. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut out each segment between the membranes so that you have a little wedge of pure orange with no white pith. You should end up with nice clean segments and a star-shaped central core of pith. Squeeze the central core to extract any juice and set aside to use in the vinaigrette.
Slice the fennel and red onion as thinly as possible. Mix together the orange segments, fennel, red onion, parsley and tarragon/dill.
Preheat a ridged grill pan or barbecue. Put all the vinaigrette ingredients, along with the reserved orange juice, in a jar and shake it to emulsify.
Season the mackerel fillets with salt and pepper, sprinkling a little extra on the skin side to help release the oils during cooking.
Gently place them on the hot grill and cook for around 5 mins, or until they can be turned over easily. Finish cooking on the other side.
Dress the salad with the vinaigrette and put the mackerel fillets on top. Spoon a little tapenade on to each fillet and serve.