The Family Cook Book

We had this at the weekend with Jamie’s four grain salad and an apple cider slaw. It was a pretty successful combination, a bit of a mash up of Jamaica meets Jamie meets the deep south. The sauce was delicious and a breeze to make , once again it was from Mary Ellen McTague (I'm liking the way Mary rolls!) The pork was pretty good too but didn't shred quite as I would have liked it to .. I need to do some work on that.  Plus I missed a bit of crackling, I think the extra fatty crunch would have gone down a treat. Something to think about for the next time. Jerk sauce This goes with just about anything. I had to beg our restaurant manager Siobhan Sewell for her awesome recipe, and she relented only when I promised not to give it to anyone else, so let's keep this between ourselves. Siobhan served it with her jerk  pork  (below), which was by far the best thing at a recent barbie, which was annoying because I'd done the rest of the food. I've left al...

Allegedly Nandos is the food of choice of premiership footballers and rappers alike. I have to say that in this respect, and probably only this respect, I am 'down with the kids' Now courtesy of the new Morito cookbook you can cook this portuguese delicacy yourself at home. Martha and I particularly love chicken wings in all their bony splendour. For me they are lightyears ahead of a drumstick on the finger lickin' good yardstick but I'm sure this will work well on whatever your favourite part of the bird is .....  as long as it has some skin on. It would probably work on skinless breasts too but c'mon what are you doing eating them when there are other gnarly, bony, skinny bits to feast upon? This makes more than you need but it will keep in the fridge. Marinate the wings overnight if possible Ingredients 200ml white wine 3tbs white wine vinegar Pinch of sugar 4 small dried chillies crumbled 2 tsp ground coriander 8 fresh bay lea...

I made these two sauces to have with a bone in Rib-eye steak cooked the April Bloomfield way. I cooked indoors on a griddle pan ... big mistake. The kitchen not only had a certain beefy aroma it also took on a blue hue with those little highlights of smoke under all of the downlighters. In the end it got so bad  I decided to cut the time down on the grill and finish it off in the oven. However I have left the recipe as it is in April's book. I won't do it again until its barbecue weather. Having said that Martha, Lisa and I polished off every last morsel ... including the rocket salad and McCain rustic style oven chips (yes I know what you're thinking ... frozen chips! well if its good enough for most restaurants I guess its good enough for a Saturday night in East Molesey) The verdict on the sauces was 2-1 in favour of the chimichurri with both Martha and Lisa voting in favour of the flavours of Argentina rather than those of Spain..... obviously the ...

made this from the Hay Day Cookbook to have with the steaks last night. Our verdict was that this was a good idea but that the recipe was a bit too sweet for us (maybe thats an American palate thing) The jam is really easy to make, once you have got past the chopping of a large amount of onions. We bought our onions at the rather wonderful East Warren community market ... yes we are definitely in Vermont. Heres a revised version of the recipe that I will try later in the hols Caramelised onion Jam 2 tbs unsalted butter 2-3 spanish onions, thinly sliced 2 tbs red wine vinegar 1 tbs honey 2 tbs dark brown sugar sea salt and fresh cracked pepper method Melt butter in a covered pan over medium heat. Add the onion slices and cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften and begin to caramelize – about 10 minutes. uncover and add vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. raise hear and cook until vinegars reduce and mixture has a thick, jam-like consistency – ...

lisa is still in Ibiza and having a well deserved fine old time. weather here amazing too, so martha, Joe and I are eating in the garden. I have barbecued a chicken and we are having it with some left over potato salad ( see last entry) a tomato and red onion salad and I have made some aioli by hand with a bit of help from Joe on the oil dribbling front .... I hope it tastes good because I made a bit of a mess of the book at the same time... The recipe comes from Alice waters again In the book she mentions a number of optional 'spins' on each recipe ... In this case we added a handful of fresh chopped flat leaf parsley ... It won't take away the garlic breath but hey ho! Alice Waters AIoli Peel: 2 or 3 small garlic cloves Separate into a mixing bowl: 1 egg yolk 1/2 teaspoon water Mix well with a whisk. Into a cup with a pour spout, measure about: 1 cup olive oil Slowly dribble the oil into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. As the egg yolk absorbs the oil, the sauce...

I have just returned from a hugely enjoyable but physically punishing four day trip to LA to see my good friend Pricey. Although the length of the journey played its part in that punishment it has to be said that it was due, in the main to the sheer volume of red wine that we also consumed. However I think it is fair to say that we put several of the worlds wrongs to right and shared our own problems both medical, financial and commercial and lets face it a problem shared with a really good friend is a problem much more than halved. We had several excellent meals at some of our usual hangouts including a particularly fine six hour lunch at S'or Tino to welcome my arrival. On the Saturday we abandoned our 'divisible by two' approach to dining and we cooked for ten at the Pricey's house, this of course meant that Peter and I could indulge in a day of expensive shopping in some of LA's most excellent emporiums of food including Gelson's and Santa Monica seafood but...