Closed caps and crumpets

How I arrive at deciding what to cook can sometimes take a slightly odd or circuitous route, or even both, as illustrated in A soupçon of experimentation. Last week my mind’s wandering led me to some more new cooking experiences.

For the first time in ages, it seemed, I was able to work a part-time week. When I left my permanent role last year and became a freelancer, I claimed that I would work 3 days per week and would spend the rest of the time sorting out house and home. Of course, as other contractors will know, freelance jobs can be like buses – they don’t always follow your prescribed timetable and sometimes several will come along at once. Consequently, a working week can stretch and shrink almost as much as Lycra leotard. For the preceding few weeks work had been pretty full on, and with that, having the kitchen fitted and having a stinking cold that lasted for 2 weeks, domesticity had fallen pitifully low on the priority list. When I realised that I finally had 24 h to myself, I grabbed the chance to some time in the kitchen.

My first new cooking inspiration stemmed from a sudden yearning for mushroom pâté during a trip to the supermarket. I adore pâtés, although I generally favour meat varieties. Every so often, though, I fancy something different. When I viewed the tub of mushroom pâté on the shelf, though, it appeared upsettingly small for the price. What did I do? Why, decided to make a homemade version, of course. After all, compared with chicken liver pâté it would surely be a doddle. I looked up the ingredients listed on the product label (a handy method for formulating on-the-spot recipes) and went to pick up what I needed.

The pâté turned out to be incredibly simple and quick to make, although a food processor was a massive bonus here, as cutting up the mushrooms by hand would be something of a pain. I made double that in the shop for half the price. In addition, it froze quite well. I generally split pâté into four ramekins and take one out the day before I want some to defrost in the fridge overnight. NB A little liquid gathers in the bottom of the dish when this pâté is left to sit for a while, but just give it a stir before use and it’s fine. I’ve put the recipe below. I opted for a bit of a cheat and used garlic and herb cream cheese, but using plain cream cheese, finely chopped fresh garlic and whatever herbs are preferred would enable tweaking of flavour.

So, I had my pâté, but what to eat it on? I am particularly fond of crumpets as the vehicle for any pâté. Toast is good, but not so much of a treat. Normally, I am perfectly happy with shop bought crumpets. After all, until my recent revelation about how to successfully prove yeast breads, crumpets were pretty much written off. These days, however, I’m feeling a little more adventurous.

The terminology for certain baked and bread products, it seems, causes confusion across nations, and sometimes within them. The understanding of and the range of names for pancakes, breads rolls, crumpets, muffins, biscuits, cookies, scones and muffins is positively mind-boggling. For clarification, I am referring to crumpets that are made from a thick batter with yeast as the raising agent, are cooked on a griddle or in a frying pan, and are meant to be full of holes. In fact, according to many cooks the cardinal sin in making this type of crumpet is to end up with no holes (referred to as ‘blind’). These are sometimes called English Crumpets.

Crumpets are traditionally round owing to being cooked in rings (crumpet, egg or muffin rings), but can be free-form or cooked in adequately sized cookie cutters to make any shape you like. They come out amazingly light and have a completely different texture to the shop-bought versions I’ve tried, which have a more-rubbery finish. Crumpets are best when they’re absolutely fresh and still warm, but I found that they keep very well for a few days when wrapped tightly in cling film and then lightly toasted to warm them through. They should freeze very well, but so far I’ve made small batches and eaten them fresh or from the fridge.

Several important points should be remembered about the cooking method. First, the temperature of the pan must be kept low. Crumpets cook from the bottom up and the batter slowly solidifies, which takes around 5 min. The heat must, therefore, be low enough to avoid burning the base before the top is cooked; on the finished crumpet the base should be a mid to dark golden colour. Second, do not overfill the crumpet rings. For a 3 in/7.5 cm ring 1–1.5 dessert spoonfuls is plenty. The crumpets rise while cooking and if overfilled they take a long time to cook, which increases the risk of burning the base, they can end up a little doughy, and can be difficult to get out of the ring to flip over and cook the top. Finally, the crumpet rings should be oiled before use to prevent sticking as much as possible. I found that even with oil the crumpets always stick to some degree and, therefore, the rings they should be washed as well as re-oiled before every new crumpet. On the plus side, you don’t have to get up at 5am to make the batter if you want the crumpets for breakfast (breakfast versus teatime is a source of hot debate). Just put it in a warm place until bubbles begin to form on the top, then cover the bowl with a cloth, put it in the fridge overnight and it’ll be ready when you want it in the morning.

I do hope you’ll give these things a go, but if you end up thinking you’ll cook crumpets with any frequency, I recommend getting a set of three or four rings, or it takes a long time to cook even half a dozen.

Crumpets are made from a thick, wet, very elastic batter. During proving the batter will double in size and lots of air bubbles will form

While cooking holes will become visible at the top of the batter then the sides will begin to dry out and solidify. At this stage, remove the crumpets from the rings. Flip them over and cook the remaining wet batter on the top.

Lovely, golden crumpets.

Mushroom pâté

600 g closed cap mushrooms or mushrooms of choice

1 medium to large onion

1 vegetable stock cube

2.5 tbsp dry sherry

150 g low fat garlic and herb cream cheese or plain cream cheese plus 2 cloves finely chopped garlic and herbs of choice

1 tbsp lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Pulse all the mushrooms and the onion in a food processor until finely chopped. Fry them on a high heat until most of the liquid has come out of the mushrooms and evaporated and the volume has reduced by half. Turn down the heat, crumble the stock cube into the pan and mix will. Season the mix with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the sherry and cook gently until the last of the liquid has evaporated from the pan.

Put the mushroom and onion mix in a food processor with the cream cheese and lemon juice and blend until quite smooth. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper seasoning if necessary.

 

Crumpets

Makes 12

225 g strong white bread flour

1 level tsp salt

3.5 g (half a sachet) or 2.5 tsp fast-action dry yeast

1 level tsp caster sugar

280 ml milk

Half level tsp bicarbonate of soda

50 ml water

A little oil for greasing the crumpet rings

Warm the milk gently in a saucepan until it is hand hot. Add the sugar and yeast to the milk and set aside for 10–15 min until it starts to foam on the top. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk, sugar and yeast mix. Beat or whisk the ingredients together to make a batter. Put the bowl in a warm place (eg, an airing cupboard or an oven warmed to a very low temperature then switched off) for 45 min to 1 h or until the batter has doubled in size and bubbles have started to form on the top. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the water and beat into the batter and leave it to rise again for around 30 min.

Heat a griddle or heavy-based frying pan to a low heat. Use a pastry brush and oil the crumpet rings well (or pastry cutters 3 in/7.5 cm in diameter will suffice), place them in the pan then spoon in 1–1.5 dessert spoonfuls of batter. Use spoons to ease the batter to the edges of the rings if necessary. Cook for around 5 min or until holes appear in the top and the batter at the edges has dried out slightly and solidified. Gently remove the crumpets from the rings and flip them over. Cook the tops for 1-2 min then put them on a cooling rack. Re-grease the rings before cooking each batch of crumpets.

Serve the crumpets straightaway or wrap them in cling film, store them in the fridge, and toast gently them to warm them up just before eating later.

A pig and a poke in the taste buds

The popularity of bacon and ham seem continuously high. Indeed, last year the former was reported to have gained in popularity in the US despite steeply rising prices. Is pork afforded the same enthusiasm? Well, I have noticed that in the UK the inclusion of slow-roasted belly pork on restaurant menus has risen exponentially compared with maybe 5 or 6 years ago. I am very happy about this – my mouth is watering just at the thought of it – but for home cooking pork is a meat I don’t really hear many people raving about.

Pork has a subtle, sweet flavour, it’s versatile, some cuts are very lean, which helps with keeping the fat down in everyday cooking and the fattier cuts can make delicious treats. It seems, though, to have a reputation of being tasteless and difficult to stop going dry or tough. When cooking chops, for example, it can be a very fine line between cooking the meat through and it passing the knife-bounce test. So, how can these drawbacks be avoided?

One way to a succulent roast would be to treat pork like beef and lamb and leave it a little pink in the middle. I expect that, like me, many of you were told that pork must be cooked thoroughly and that ‘rare’ meat is dangerous because of the risk of trichinosis. In developed countries, though, the risk of infection from commercially reared and properly kept and prepared meat is now very low. So, perhaps it’s not such a surprise that last month the New York Times reported that the United States Department of Agriculture issued new guidance on the cooking temperatures for joints of pork that allow for some pinkness. The restaurant chefs are allegedly delighted, but to an old-fashioned girl like me, it seems a little on the cusp for home cooking. For the time being I would like to know that the correct temperature had been reached and maintained for the appropriate duration and that this had been carefully checked with a working meat thermometer.

Given that I’m not inclined to cook or eat roast pork on any frequent basis – only because my love of crackling, stuffing and roast potatoes could easily get out of hand – I have been thinking about recipes for tasty, healthy pork dishes that keep the meat tender. I have come to the conclusion that cooking lean pork in sauces or using marinades that can be turned into sauces is the way forward. I have included below a couple of recipes that I particularly like.

The first, pork and mushrooms in a mustard sauce, arose from looking around for inspiration on how to work some classic combinations. The amount of mustard used can be altered according to personal preference, but it carries a hefty dose very well, and that comes from someone who didn’t even really like the stuff before cooking this. It works very well with very lean pork, such as loin steaks. It makes good comfort food when served with baked potatoes and some green vegetables.

The second, afelia pork, is a traditional Cypriot dish I had for the first time when on holiday last year. It’s very easy to make but a little time is required for marinading. This dish works really well with leg steak. The sauce is pungent from red wine and aromatic with lots of coriander seeds. I have read that traditionally this dish as served with pourgouri pilaf, which is made with bulgur wheat, but I was never offered that in Cyprus and haven't yet made it myself. I have included the recipe below, so do please post a comment about what you thought if you try it. If you don't fancy it, rice, especially brown rice, works really well. Just before serving I like to stir through a little onion and some frozen peas that have been gently fried.

Give pork a go. For more information, have a look at lovepork.co.uk.

Pork and mushrooms in a mustard sauce 

1 pound lean pork chopped into 1.5–2 cm chunks  
1 medium onion, finely chopped 
1 clove garlic  
8 oz mushrooms sliced  
2 tsp dried sage   
Ground black pepper (to taste)  
75 ml dry white wine  
25 ml dry sherry  
175 ml chicken stock  
1–1.5 tbsp Dijon mustard (according to taste)  
1 tbsp corn flour dissolved in a little water  

Fry the pork until cooked through then remove from the pan. Add the shallot/onion, garlic, mushrooms, sage, and ground black pepper to the pan and fry gently until the onion is translucent and the mushrooms have started to soften.

Add the wine and sherry to the pan and reduce until almost completely gone.

Add the chicken stock and mustard to the pan and boil until the liquid has reduced by around half. Add the corn flour mix to the pan, stirring constantly. The sauce should thicken noticeably. If it becomes too thick, add a little water and stir through. Repeat until the desired consistency is reached.

Replace the pork in the pan and warm through in the sauce, then serve.

Afelia pork with pourgouri pilaf

For the afelia pork 
1 kg pork leg steak, cut into 2cm cubed  
150 ml red wine  
2 tsp ground cinnamon  
1 teaspoon black peppercorns  
2 tablespoons coriander seeds  
Oil for cooking  
Salt and pepper to taste

For the pourgouri pilaf  
1 medium onion, finely sliced 
25 g vermicelli    
250g bulgur wheat  
300 ml chicken stock  
Oil for cooking  
Salt and black pepper to taste

Warm a dry frying pan on a low heat then gently dry roast the coriander seeds until they begin to release their scent. Coarsely crush the coriander seeds and peppercorns. Place the cubed pork in a shallow bowl along with the wine, cinnamon, crushed coriander seeds and peppercorns. Mix together well, cover and leave to marinate for at least 2 h but preferably overnight.

Remove the meat from the bowl, but reserved the marinade. Heat the oil in a saucepan and brown the meat. Add the marinade and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook for 20–30 min or until all the liquid has reduced to a thick sauce. If the sauce is not reduced enough, uncover for the pan and cook for a further 10 min.

While the meat is cooking, heat the oil for the pilaf in a heavy-based saucepan and saute the onion gently for a few minutes until it is softened but not browned. Break the vermicelli into small pieces and stir into the onion and continue to fry a little longer.

Rinse the bulgur wheat in cold water and add to the saucepan. Add the stock and seasoning then cover and simmer gently for 8–10 min or until all the stock is absorbed. Leave the pilaf to sit for 10 min, covered, before serving.