Tom Kerridge's Proper Pub Food (10 page)

Heat 3 tablespoons of rapeseed oil in a deep frying pan or sauté pan over a medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan, turn
the heat to low and leave the shallots to sweat, stirring occasionally, for 10–12 minutes until softened.

Add the white crab meat and gently heat through. Add the broad beans and lemon zest. When all the ingredients are warm, stir in the brown crab meat, marjoram and diced tomatoes.
Add 150ml rapeseed oil and the vinegar, season and gently mix everything together. It’s now ready to serve.

Tom’s Tip

I serve this as a starter at the pub, but you can also serve it as a pasta dressing or simply on top of hot toast, or leave it to cool and make it into a salad. If, for example, you
have any leftovers, toss them with wild rocket for an unbeatable summer salad.

This recipe is a great way to utilise the potato skins leftover after you’ve scooped out the flesh to mash or use in other recipes. If you leave this dish to cool, it is
really good for outdoor eating using your hands. The earthiness of the potato goes so well with the river fish taste of trout and crayfish. The natural garnish for this salad is watercress and it
tastes delicious with the acidity of the apple.

Serves 4

For the potato skins

To prepare the potato skins, preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Place the potatoes in the oven and bake for 1½ hours, or until they are cooked through and tender.
Remove them from the oven and leave to cool. Do not turn off the oven.

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them in half lengthways and scoop out the flesh, taking care not to pierce the potato skins. Place a piece of pancetta into the
bottom of each potato skin and add a sprinkling of the grated cheese. Drizzle a little rapeseed oil over the top of each, place them on a baking sheet and put back into the oven at 180°C/ Gas
Mark 4 for 8–10 minutes until crispy and the cheese has melted.

Meanwhile, cook the crayfish filling. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Throw in the crayfish tails and gently warm them through. Do not have the heat too
high or they will become tough. Add the smoked trout fillets and remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the watercress and apple, stirring just until the leaves wilt. Season with the cracked black
pepper, then stir in the yogurt.

Spoon the salad into the crisp potato skins and serve.

Tom’s Tip

The scooped out potato flesh can be used for mash or to make gnocchi. It will keep, covered, in the fridge for up to 2 days.

We have had a version of omelette Arnold Bennett in one form or another on the menu at The Hand & Flowers since we opened in 2005. If I am ever in the pub, I always order this
as a starter. This is a larger version, however, intended for sticking in the middle of the table for everybody to dig into and help themselves.

At the pub we use hollandaise sauce, but here I suggest using crème fraîche. This just makes the recipe a little more accessible and a lot quicker to knock up for a
first course or a lunch. I specify free-range eggs here because this really is a dish that is all about the eggs.

Serves 6–8

Put the milk in a large saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Place the smoked haddock into the milk and turn off the heat. Place a lid on the pan and leave the smoked
haddock to gently poach in the milk for 8–10 minutes until the fish is cooked through and the flesh flakes easily.

Remove the haddock from the pan and reserve the poaching milk. When the smoked haddock is cool enough to handle, remove all bones and the skin and discard. Flake the flesh into
large pieces and leave to one side until needed.

Melt 30g of the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the flour and stir for 2–3 minutes to cook out the raw flavour. Slowly strain the poaching milk through a fine
sieve on to the flour and butter, stirring to make a smooth sauce. Press a piece of clingfilm on the surface to prevent a skin forming and leave to one side until needed.

Preheat the grill to high if you don’t have a blowtorch. Whisk the 10 whole eggs in a large bowl and season. Melt the remaining 30g butter in a 30cm non-stick frying pan
with a flameproof handle over a low heat. Pour in the whisked eggs and cook the omelette nice and slowly for 4–5 minutes until it is just set. Remove the pan from the heat and cover the
surface with the Parmesan. Add the chives and then place the flaked smoked haddock over the top.

Mix the crème fraîche, extra egg yolks and 6 tablespoons of the haddock-flavoured white sauce together. Spoon this mixture over the top of the omelette, then use a
blowtorch to make a lovely glaze, or cook under a preheated grill. Serve in the middle of the table for everybody to help themselves.

Tom’s Tip

You end up with more white sauce than the 6 tablespoons you need for this recipe. Use the leftovers to flavour a fish lasagne or fish pie. You can’t go wrong.

Smoked haddock, Parmesan and crème fraîche omelette

I love steak tartare and I love bone marrow on toast, so I’ve combined both in my version of the classic steak tartare recipe. The better the quality of the beef marrow you
buy, the better flavour you will get. The spicy peppery taste from watercress is a great match for beef, and when it is dressed with good-quality rapeseed oil you have the ultimate beef salad.

Serves 4

Twenty-four hours in advance, dissolve the salt in a large bowl of water. Add the marrow bones and more water, if necessary, so they are covered, then cover the bowl with
clingfilm and place in the fridge for 24 hours for any impurities to be removed.

The next day, preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Remove the marrow bones from the water and pat dry on kitchen paper. Heat 2–3 tablespoons oil in a frying pan over a
high heat. Add the bones and sear them on the ends, then transfer them to a roasting tray. Place the roasting tray in the oven and roast the bones for 10 minutes, or until the marrow is
softened.

Meanwhile, wash the watercress in cold running water, then spin dry in a salad spinner. Store in a covered container in the fridge until needed.

Just before you are ready to serve, heat a ridged grill pan over a high heat until it is very hot. If you don’t have one, heat the grill to high. Drizzle the slices of
bread with olive oil, then toast on the pan or under the grill. Make sure the grill pan is really hot so the bread gets the dark bar markings, which is where loads of flavour will be.

While the bread is toasting, mix the chopped beef, shallots, capers, cornichons and parsley together in a large bowl. Season with the Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, table
salt and cracked pepper. Stir in the raw egg yolks.

Toss the watercress in a non-metallic bowl with the rapeseed oil, lemon juice and sea salt flakes.

Spread the steak tartare on top of the hot toasts. Serve immediately with the roasted marrow bone alongside and the watercress salad on top.

Steak tartare on chargrilled sourdough with roasted beef marrow and watercress

Think of this as a homemade kebab with a chilli kick. This dish takes time, but the result really is worth it. Braised pork cheeks are such a good and inexpensive ingredient, and
you might be surprised what a great match they make with the fishy, garlicky taramasalata.

Serves 4

For the flat breads

For the taramasalata

Heat the rapeseed oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion, star anise and white peppercorns, cover the pan and leave the vegetables to sweat for at
least 5 minutes until softened. Add the pig’s cheeks and chicken stock. Increase the heat to high and bring to the boil, skimming any fat that rises to the surface. Turn the heat down to low,
cover the pan and braise the cheeks for about 2½ hours until tender. Remove the cheeks from the stock and leave them to cool.

Meanwhile, make the taramasalata. Put the bread in a food processor and pulse to form breadcrumbs. Tip these into a bowl and cover with the milk. Put the cod’s roe and
garlic into the processor and blend until smooth. Add the soaked bread and milk and blend again. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil. Add the lemon juice and season. Transfer the
taramasalata to a serving bowl, cover and chill until needed.

To make the flat breads, mix the flour and salt together in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the olive oil, then slowly add the warm water, bringing the paste together
to form a dough. Knead into a tight ball and leave to rest, covered with clingfilm, for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the shallots into a bowl, cover with the milk and leave to soak for 10 minutes. When ready to deep-fry the shallot rings, heat enough oil for deep frying in a
deep-fat fryer or heavy-based frying pan to 180°C. Drain the shallots, then dust them in flour, shaking off the excess. Deep-fry the shallot rings for 3–5 minutes until crispy and golden
brown. Drain on kitchen paper and season with salt and pepper whilst still hot. Leave these to one side until you are ready to serve. They don’t need to be kept warm – they are added to
the dish for their texture. Just make sure you don’t cover them, because that will cause them to soften.