Hello, you glorious bunch, I hope the first part of January has treated you well, and you are loving this cold weather! I bloody love the cold, it gives you that excuse to wrap up, cover all those Christmas rolls and eat some proper hearty grub!
And when its cold, what do you eat? That's right, PIE. This week's recipe is an absolute belter, a hard one to photograph, so I apologise for the slop, but as you know, my food is all about flavour, not so much the aesthetics.
Now, this pie has a lot wrapped up in it: great fundamental lessons of cooking, tons of nostalgia, epic flavour and above all, a hearty winter banger that will please all (unless you're vegan….sorry).
I have only just got back from a wonderful wee trip up to Scotland, and in true New Year fashion it feels like I have been dropkicked straight back into reality. It's busy, but I am not complaining as I'm doing all the things I know you lot love. I recorded an episode of “The Go To Food Podcast” with Ben and Freddy, which comes out on Monday I believe. Then, I was in the studio catching up on content for Plate Up. I have just become one of their chef ambassadors, so will be pumping content onto their App which is an amazing tool. It helps you budget and manage your stock in the house as well as inspiring you with wicked meals and recipes. You can even order all the ingredients through the platform which is a brilliant thing for cutting out waste.
It’s only available in the UK at the minute, but plans to expand this year! So go and download the App it’s FREE!
YouTube
I love doing YouTube because, as you know, I can talk for England, so I get to explain all the subtle parts of cooking in the videos in loads of detail. I filmed 3 videos in a day, fuelled by coffee and good New Year vibes. The videos I filmed are really unique and will teach you loads about flavour and taste! If you haven't seen any of my YouTube then you are missing out there are so many rippers on there, so go get involved and absorb some information.
Podcast
We are still ploughing ahead with the podcast! STUFFED!!!
There were some absolute gems dropped over the Christmas period and we all agree the last one was our best to date! So go have a listen!
Some thoughts on food..
Food is a mad party for the senses: smells, textures, visuals and can affect your overall mood. When you eat in a restaurant, they take this party up a notch, making it a full-on all-night rave by creating an ambiance that builds on the already enjoyable experience of eating.
All this goes out of the window when we are cooking at home on a weeknight when you are wrecked from a solid day of work. The kids have just gone to bed, it’s 8:30, and all you want to do is stick something in your gob! BUT, and I say this with a massive BUT!!! This is where flavour is the most important, and having the ability to logically think about how to make a meal tasty on the fly is what I am all about!
This is where base recipes come in … What do I mean about base recipes? Basically, a recipe or sauce that can be pulled apart to fit any situation, It delivers flavours and allows you to use up ingredients you have in the house! Like my base risotto, typically a risotto is cooked with all the stuff you want to enjoy in it, chorizo, mussels, prawns, fish etc, but what I like to do is make a base risotto, which is basically a very bland cooked risotto ready for you to add some serious flavour at the end when you need to. (ie 8.30 pm post kids work burnout) I went over this in a previous newsletter so go back and have a read if you can!
So this week's recipe is a pie, and once you have the base knowledge of making “Mother Sauces” then your whole cooking experience will open up! This picture isn't mine, but sums up what a mother sauce is!
This is essentially showing you how one base sauce can turn into another sauce by subtly changing elements. For example, the pie this week has a veloute in it, which starts its life as a roux (butter and flour), then you add stock, so basically a “white sauce” for lasagne but instead of milk you are using stock! If you read into them, it’s classic French cooking. But the bit that gets me excited is sack all the names off and just get creative with what you are putting in and fuck with the elements, break all the rules and see what happens!
I had a message from someone the other day telling me they used a recipe i made a while back which was a “fuck with the mother sauce” approach and they liked it so much it stayed on their menu for two years as it became a best seller. It was burnt butter, coffee, and sweet hollandaise. When I made it all l did was take a classic hollandaise which is basically butter and eggs emulsified and stripped it back. I then made a beure noisette (burnt butter) and made hollandaise with coffee and a little sugar! Sounds weird but was epic!
My point here is don’t skip the basics, build your knowledge, but understand where there is flex along the way! This is where cooking is exciting for me and creativity leads.
Shall I crack on with this recipe?
One last thing….
Lessons with Mart!
My favourite ingredient which will be back in stock soon I promise!
The Recipe.
As you know, this recipe is a pie, for a bit of nostalgia, my nan used to make a chicken and ham pie once or twice a month, and it was fucking majestic. She sadly died and wasn’t all there leading up to her death, so no one ever managed to get the recipe, and like most older people cooking, it’s all in their head! So, for a very long time, we had been piecing together bits of information from my mum until something clicked. My nan wouldn't have called the sauce a veloute she would have just called it thickened ham stock, but underlying to all of this is the classic cooking technique! This pie recipe has the backbones of my nan's recipe but with loads of flex for you to have fun with, so don't forget to check the chef's notes for all the juicy bits!
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