circotherm
Now that I am 86 it is most unlikely that I will write and publish another cookery book, but I have some good recipes which I would like to share. Here are just a few for two unconventional cooking methods.
Recipes for Circotherm and Combination Ovens
Thousands of recipes are published each year in magazines and newspapers and not one mentions circotherm or combination ovens. And yet I find them invaluable when cooking for guests or for myself.
“What are they? “ you may ask.
CircoTherm works by drawing air in to the oven via a powerful fan. It then heats up the air and forces it right back into the oven cavity through strategically placed ducts in the rear wall. By continuously circulating hot air around the oven in this way the desired temperature is achieved more quickly and evenly than in a normal oven, saving time and energy and no preheating is required .
CircoTherm grilling is a perfect way to grill foods. There is no need to turn fish, steaks or sausages as the air circulates around them providing an even cooking result.
There are various kinds of combination ovens. But the one I use allows one to use the grill and the microwave at the same time
Here are some of my favourite recipes using these two forms of cooking.
Circotherm
Steaks and pork chops
Heston Blumenthal in a recent Waitrose advertisement on TV told us when cooking a steak, to turn the steak every 15 seconds. I was not surprised. About 30 years ago I read an article in a newspaper by a scientist - not a chef - who had been doing research into how best to cook meat and keep it tender. He, referring this time to pork chops, also said turn them every 15 seconds. I tried it out and sure enough the chops were succulent and tender. But I also discovered that the whole process took 10 minutes. It is easy enough to calculate that for just one chop this means turning it 40 times - for 2 chops you are turning a chop 80 times. In other words you are tied to the pan for 10 minutes concentrating hard.
Try a circotherm oven instead.
For pork chops, brush them on both sides with oil, place them on a rack in an oven pan and place it on the lowest shelf of a cold oven. Turn on the circotherm button to maximum and leave it for 35/36 minutes. In the meantime you are free to deal with vegetables or relax with a glass of wine. When you return the chops will be perfectly done, with the skin now crisp crackling and the meat tender and succulent.
For sirloin steaks follow exactly the same procedure, but they will cook quicker. The time required depends on how thick you get your butcher to cut your steaks. For a moderate thickness, which I use, the steaks will be done (pink inside) in 16/17 minutes. Cooking for myself, I often cut the steak in half after it’s cooked, eat half hot and keep the other half to slice cold with a salad the next day.
Combination Oven
I know many people who have combination ovens but who never use both cooking methods simultaneously. I find the combination invaluable. Here are a few uses:-
Baked Potatoes
I cook baked potatoes when the grandchildren are here. I don’t even need to think about cooking until we have returned from our pre-lunch walk. The potatoes only need about 16 minutes in total to cook
Place the potatoes on a rack as high as possible in the combination oven. Press the button for grill and the button for microwave max and turn the oven on for 9 minutes. When you hear the bell, pull out the rack and turn the potatoes over and repeat the first step - grill and microwave - for 6 or 7 minutes. Check that they are done by pricking them with a two pronged carving fork. If they are not quite soft inside turn the microwave on again for about 2 minutes - no need to repeat the grill. The potatoes will already be crisp on the outside. Cut in half and top with butter and some grated cheese.
Roast Vegetables
(serves 4)
Most people roast only root vegetables. I mix them as follows:-
Ingredients
1 sweet potato
1 parsnip
1 aubergine
1 courgette
1 red pepper
Olive oil
Peel the sweet potato and the parsnip. Cut all the vegetables into chunks. In a 2 in. deep pyrex dish splash a good quantity of olive oil. Place all the vegetables in it and stir around with two wooden spoons, ensuring that all pieces are moist with oil.
Place on a rack as high as possible in the combination oven. Turn on grill and microwave max for 9 minutes. Remove and stir around. Replace in oven and repeat grill and microwave for 7 minutes. the top will now be lightly charred. Remove and serve. Good with steaks and roast meat. Any left over makes a delicious cold salad the next day - as it is, nothing to be added.
Two other options:-
1. At the half way stage scatter cherry tomatoes over the other vegetables
2. Following a tip from Jamie Oliver add to the vegetables and the oil at the beginning two tablespoons of maple syrup. Good for adults, but my grandchildren don’t like the sweetness.
Sole Florentine
(serves 5)
In my books this recipe is shown cooked in the conventional manner . It is only recently that I have discovered this way of using the combination oven
Ingredients:-
2 large Dover soles, filleted - that is you will have 8 strips of sole
4 vacuum packed spinach
Butter and flour for a roux
Fish stock
1 1/2 oz of grated parmesan
handful of polenta
handful of toasted pine nuts
microwave the packs of spinach - 5 minutes
Drain them in a colander and cut the wilted spinach with two knives. When thoroughly drained place the spinach at the bottom of a deep Pyrex bowl
Cut each piece of fillet of sole in half and place the 16 pieces of sole over the spinach so the the spinach is completely covered.
This can be done the day before - cover and place in the fridge
On the day, remove the bowl from the fridge and let it reach room temperature
Make a roux with butter and flour and add the fish stock to make an ample sauce to which you will add a splash of single cream and the grated parmesan cheese
Cover the spinach and sole with the sauce
Sprinkle over it a handful of polenta, a handful of toasted pine nuts and some finely grated parmesan cheese
Place the bowl as high as it will go in the combination oven
NOW LEAVE IT! - for as long as it suits you. You may do this two hours before your guests arrive
When your guests sit down to eat their starter course, excuse yourself for a minute, go into the kitchen and turn on the grill and the microwave max for exactly seven minutes.
When your guests are eating their first course they will hear the pinging from the oven. “Is that an alarm”? they will say. “no” you will reply, “that just tells me that our main course is now ready”. The dish is fully cooked and the cheese, polenta and pine nuts have browned nicely. A bit of showmanship when entertaining is not a bad thing.
An additional option. I now add a couple of generous squirts of Umami No 5 paste to the sauce. This enhances the flavour.
Another variant is to use fillet of halibut instead of sole. Remove the skin and cut the fillet into slices no thicker than a fillet of dover sole. Otherwise, cook in the same way
27th March 2011
Here are two more recipes which would have gone into "Dinner at Eighty-six" had I written it.
Lamb shanks with chorizo and chickpeas
(serves 4)
3 lamb shanks
1 large chorizo sausage, sliced
1 tin of chickpeas
4 good sized carrots, diced
2 large onions, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
6 stems of celery, chopped
1 tin of plum tomatoes
In a deep titanium pan brown the lamb shanks in goose fat and set aside
In the same pan cook the vegetables in the remaining goose fat for two or three minutes; return the lamb shanks to the pan; add water to cover the vegetables. Cover and bring to the boil. Simmer for two hours. Stir the mix every half hour, turning the shanks over to ensure that they are covered with the water for some of the time. After an hour add the chorizo slices. After two hours the meat should be practically falling off the bone.
Put about half a litre of the liquid in a blender and reduce to a purée . Return the purée to the pan and mix well. This can be kept warm until you are ready to serve. Just before serving remove the meat from each bone and cut into a few pieces and stir well.
Serve with new potatoes
Lamb Tagine with Crisp Salad
This recipe is taken from a book called “La Cuisine Marocaine” by
Ghillie Basan
This is an unusual dish blending sweetness with spice and set off by a remarkable crisp salad.
Ingredients for 6 people
for the tagine
1 kg boned shoulder of lamb cut into small cubes
2 or 3 tablespoons 0f sunflower oil
25 g of fresh ginger skinned and chopped
a pinch of saffron
2 tsps of powdered cinnamon
1 onion finely chopped
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
350g of pitted prunes having soaked in water for an hour
2 tbsps of liquid honey
salt and freshly ground pepper
for the salad
2 finely chopped onions
1 red pepper deseeded and chopped
1 green pepper deseeded and chopped
2 or 3 sticks of celery, chopped
2 or 3 green chilis deseeded and chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped
2 tbsps of olive oil
the juice of half a lemon
chopped parsley
a little chopped mint
to prepare the tagine
Put the meat into a large stewpan - I use a titanium lines SBK pan - Add the oil, ginger, saffron, cinnamon, onion, garlic and season to taste. Add enough water to cover it all. Heat until the water is just trembling; cover and let it simmer for about two hours. Stir occasionally and add water if necessary. The meat should be very tender. Now add the pitted prunes and the honey; mix well and simmer gently for another 30 minutes. The sauce should be well reduced and unctuous.
to prepare the salad
Umami
There have been traditionally 4 elements of taste - sweet, sour, bitter, salty. About a hundred years ago a Japanese scientist decided that there was a fifth taste which he called umami (think "yummy") which can be called savoury. Umami can be found in a wide range of natural products - oysters, tinned anchovies, tomato purée, porcini mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, Worcester sauce and others. Since February 2010 a tubed paste called No 5 Taste has been on the market (available at Waitrose amongst others). It is made up of entirely natural products and a couple of squirts of the paste will enhance the flavour of any savoury dish. It can be added with advantage to some of the above recipes - Sole Forentine, Lamb shanks and lamb tagine. Those of an older generation will remember that a similar effect was achieved with monosodium glutamate - which was later discovered to have harmful side effects. Umami paste is one of the most efective new aids to the home cook.