Foody favourites
Saturday Kitchen chef Matt Tebbutt has teamed up with ProCook to share his love of cooking with a few of his best-loved dishes in ProCook Kitchen Favourites. Here are a few examples...
Parmesan fritters with Roquefort spinach
“I love cheese, especially blue cheese, and I love fritters,” says Matt Tebbutt.
The Saturday Kitchen chef combines crispy Parmesan fritters with Roquefort spinach for a decadent dish.
Serves 4. Ingredients: Vegetable oil, for deepfrying; 100ml full-fat milk; 50g unsalted butter; 100ml water; 125g plain flour; 1tsp English mustard powder; 2 medium free-range eggs; 1tsp chopped thyme leaves; 280g Parmesan, grated; 200g baby spinach; 3½tbsp crème fraîche; 3½tbsp double cream; 100g Roquefort cheese; Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Preheat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 180C, or half-fill a deep, heavy-based pan with oil set over medium-high heat. The oil is hot enough when a small cube of bread dropped into the oil turns golden brown in 40–50 seconds (or you can test the temperature using a probe thermometer).
Put the milk, butter and water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. As soon as it comes to the boil, add the flour and mustard and beat together with a wooden spoon or large whisk to make a thick paste.
Take off the heat and allow to cool slightly (if you don’t cool it the mixture may split). Gradually beat in the eggs, thyme and 200 grams of the grated Parmesan.
Use a dessertspoon to gently drop each fritter into the hot oil and cook until crisped up and golden. They will take four to five minutes in the fryer, turning frequently. Remove and drain on a plate lined with paper towels and keep warm.
Next, heat a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the spinach and cook until wilted down, then add the crème fraîche, cream and Roquefort cheese and cook until the cheese is melted. Finish with the freshly grated nutmeg.
To serve, layer the spinach and cheese mixture onto a serving plate, top with the yummy fritters and sprinkle over the remaining grated Parmesan.
Coconut bread and raspberry cream
“This is more cake than bread, I’d say,” notes chef Matt Tebbutt.
Tebbutt adds: “It’s especially delicious toasted in a dry pan to crisp the edges a little. This works well as a stand-alone brunch treat or as a sweet snack at any time of the day.”
Makes 8-10 slices. Ingredients: 370g plain flour; 3tbsp baking powder; 1-2tsp salt; 160g caster sugar; 80g desiccated coconut; 300ml coconut milk; 2 large free-range eggs, beaten; 1tsp vanilla extract; 75g butter, melted and kept warm. For the raspberry cream: 100g crème fraîche; 100g mascarpone; 1–2tsp good-quality raspberry jam; 150g raspberries, to serve
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/
gas mark 6. Line a 900g loaf tin approximately 24cm x 14cm with baking paper.
Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and desiccated coconut in a mixing bowl. Combine the coconut milk, eggs, vanilla extract and melted butter in a jug, mix well, then slowly pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix well between additions to form a smooth batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes to one hour. Allow to cool a little on a wire rack before turning out and slicing.
To make the raspberry cream, beat the crème fraîche and the mascarpone in a bowl. Gently mix through a spoonful of the raspberry jam to give a ripple effect.
When you’re ready to eat, toast the bread in a dry pan, spread over a little jam and top with the raspberry cream and fresh raspberries.
Traditional fish soup
Matt Tebbutt shares his take on a traditional fish soup – full of mussels, cod, scallops and whatever seafood you fancy.
Serves 4. Ingredients: 1kg of mixed sea fish – on the bone if possible, but just fillets is fine. Any crab claws or shells or prawns in shell would be a great addition; 1 white onion; 1 head of garlic, broken into cloves; 1 star anise; 1 carrot; ½ fennel bulb; 3 sticks of celery; 2 bay leaves; 1 small bunch of thyme; 125ml Noilly Prat; 2tbsp tomato purée; 400g tin of plum tomatoes; 1 pinch of saffron; 1 bunch of tarragon. For the toppings: 1kg of cleaned mussels in shell; 50ml white wine or Noilly Prat; 1 bay leaf & smashed garlic clove; 1 small sea bass or grey mullet or other British sea fish; 200g cod fillet; 1 red mullet or gurnard (optional); 2 scallops
Start by sweating the veg and aromatics (except the tarragon) in some oil for 15 to 20 minutes, until soft and starting to colour.
Add the fish and shells if using, bones and all to the pan and continue to cook for another 10 minutes or so before adding the tomato purée, saffron strands, vermouth or wine, and tomatoes.
Cook to a paste then barely cover with water and allow to simmer very gently for 30 minutes.
After this time, blitz briefly with a hand blender to get the most out of the fish, before draining in a colander and push as much liquid from the bones as possible.
Tip these bones away and now add the tarragon to the stock and boil to reduce. Skim off any fat as you go. Reduce to around half the volume. Taste and season accordingly.
Take a dry saucepan with a lid and put onto a high heat. Add the mussels, Noilly Prat, bay and garlic clove, immediately cover with a lid and shake the pan from time to time.
After two to three minutes, check all the mussels have opened. Remove from the heat. Tip into a sieve or colander. Allow to cool before picking the meat from the shells. Discard any that don’t open. Now strain this liquor through a fine mesh sieve or chinois and tip into the reduced stock.
Fillet the rest of the fish and pan fry these and the scallops on one side, (depending on the thickness). Keep warm.
To serve, put some of the cooked fish into the bottom of a serving bowl, and ladle some of the fish soup over the top.
Matt Tebbutt’s ProCook Kitchen Favourites can be found instore and online at procook.co.uk.