Tom Kerridge's Proper Pub Food (14 page)

Mix the flour and yeast together in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Gradually whisk in the milk to form a batter. Cover with clingfilm and leave for 1 hour at room
temperature until slightly bubbly and aerated.

Meanwhile, make the seaweed salt. Break the seaweed sheet into a food processor and pulse a couple of times. Add the sea salt and pulse a few more times until well blended
together. Leave to one side until needed.

To make the seaweed mayonnaise, first pick over the gutweed and rinse it well, making sure you get rid of all dirt and any grit, then squeeze it dry. Place it in a food processor
with the rice wine vinegar, egg yolks and wasabi paste and blend. With the motor running, slowly add the oil until it emulsifies and thickens. Transfer to a bowl, cover and chill until needed.

Open the oysters and strain off the liquid.

When you are ready to deep-fry the oyster fritters, heat enough oil for deep-frying in a deep-fat fryer or a heavy-based saucepan until it reaches 180°C. One at a time, dust
the oysters in flour and shake off the excess, then dip them into the batter, letting the excess drip off. Deep-fry the oysters for about 2 minutes until golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to remove
them from the oil, drain well on kitchen paper, then season with the seaweed salt.

Serve immediately with the mayonnaise and lemon wedges for squeezing over.

Tom’s Tip

Don’t waste the oyster liquid. Stir it into the mayonnaise to enhance the flavour.

Oyster fritters with seaweed mayonnaise

This classic crunchy fish snack instantly makes me think of sitting in the sunshine in a pub garden by the seaside.

Serves 4

For the Marie Rose sauce

Place the whitebait into a plastic container, pour over the milk, cover and leave in the fridge for 2–3 hours.

Meanwhile, make the Marie Rose sauce. Place the egg yolks, white wine vinegar and Dijon mustard into a food processor and blend together until smooth. With the motor running,
slowly add the oil until it emulsifies and thickens. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the tomato ketchup, brandy, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce and season with salt and cayenne. Pass through
a fine sieve, then cover and chill until needed.

When ready to fry the whitebait, heat enough oil for deep-frying in a deep-fat fryer or heavy-based saucepan to 180°C. Mix the flour with the cayenne in a shallow bowl. Drain
the whitebait. Working with a handful at a time, toss the whitebait in the flour mix and shake off the excess. Add handfuls of whitebait to the fryer and fry for 5–6 minutes, until crispy.
Drain on kitchen paper and season. Reheat the oil between handfuls, if necessary.

Serve immediately with the Marie Rose sauce.

These delicious bite-sized eggs make gorgeous mouthfuls when dunked in my fantastic curried onion sauce. Quail’s eggs taste similar to chicken’s eggs, but they have a
higher yolk to white ratio and are a great small snack.

Makes 12

For the curried onion sauce

At least 4 hours before you plan to serve, mix all the ingredients for the pickle mix and water together in a large non-metallic bowl and set aside.

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil over a high heat and place a bowl of iced water next to the hob. Add the quail’s eggs to the boiling water and set a timer for 2
minutes. After 2 minutes use a slotted spoon to immediately transfer them to the iced water and leave them to cool. When the eggs are cool, peel them and put them in the pickle mix. Leave for at
least 4 hours or up to 3 days.

Meanwhile, make the curried onion sauce. Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the curry powder and stir for 1–2 minutes to cook out the raw
flavour. Add the tomato purée and continue stirring for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the red onions, Spanish onions, tomatoes and salt. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and leave the
vegetables to simmer for 20 minutes, or until the onion has softened.

Transfer the mixture to a blender and purée until smooth, then pass through a fine sieve. Stir in the chives and onion seeds. You can keep this hot, or leave it to cool
completely and chill until needed.

Serve the pickled eggs with the sauce.

(
See picture,
here
.
)

I like to play around with making different varieties of Scotch eggs and this version is one of my favourites – dried salt cod wrapped around a runny quail’s egg.
Serve hot with the red pepper sauce and a slice of grilled chorizo.

Makes 12

For the red pepper sauce

At least 24 hours ahead, mix the sea salt flakes, 4 tablespoons olive oil, the Pernod, white wine and saffron threads together in a large non-metallic bowl until it forms a
paste. Add the cod and rub it all over with the paste, then cover the bowl with clingfilm and put in the fridge for 24 hours.

When ready to cook the cod, preheat the oven to 140°C/Gas Mark 1. Remove the cod from the salt paste and rinse thoroughly in cold running water for 5 minutes. Place it in a
roasting tray, pour over 500ml olive oil and cover the tray with kitchen foil. Place the tray in the oven and roast the cod for 25 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and leave the cod to cool
completely in the olive oil. When the fish is cool enough to handle, remove any pin bones and flake the flesh.

As soon as the cod comes out of the oven, increase the oven temperature to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. When it reaches the correct temperature, place the potatoes in the oven and bake
for 1½ hours, or until cooked through and tender. When cool enough to handle, peel them and put them through a potato ricer into a large bowl or use a masher. Add the garlic cloves and
flaked cod to 300g mashed potatoes and beat together, then leave to one side.

Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of water to the boil over a high heat and place a bowl of iced water next to the hob. Add the quail’s eggs to the boiling water and set a timer
for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, use a slotted spoon to immediately transfer them to the iced water and leave them to cool. When the eggs are cool, peel them, but be careful not to break the
eggs!

Shape the cod and potato mix around the eggs to form 12 mini Scotch eggs. Place the flour, egg wash and breadcrumbs in separate bowls in a row on the work surface. One by one,
dip the Scotch eggs into the flour, tapping off any excess, then into the eggs, letting the excess drip back into the bowl, and then into the breadcrumbs. Place each Scotch egg on kitchen roll as
it is coated and keep in the fridge until you are ready to fry them. They can be kept for up to 2 days in the fridge at this stage.

To make the red pepper sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the peppers, shallots and chilli and fry, stirring, for 3–5
minutes until softened. Add the saffron, reduce the heat to low and leave to slowly cook for 20–25 minutes until the peppers and shallots are very tender.

Stir in the wine, sugar and white wine vinegar, increase the heat to medium and leave to simmer, uncovered, until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Transfer the sauce to a
blender and purée. Add the butter, which will give the sauce a shine, and blend again. Season, then pass the sauce through a sieve. Leave to one side to cool until needed.

When ready to deep-fry the Scotch eggs, heat enough oil for deep-frying in a deep-fat fryer or heavy-based saucepan to 180°C. Working in batches, if necessary, add the eggs
to the oil and deep-fry for 3–4 minutes until they are nice and golden brown. Drain well on kitchen paper and sprinkle with salt. Reheat the oil between batches, if necessary. Serve the eggs
immediately while they are still hot with the red pepper sauce.

Spicy roasted peanuts are the country’s quintessential pub snack. By now, it won’t surprise you that I give it my own special twist! This recipe is so easy and quick,
and well worth the extra effort before your mates come round.

Serves 4

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Mix the curry powder, salt, cayenne, cumin and turmeric together in a bowl. Stir in the water until a paste forms. Add the peanuts and
make sure they get a good coating.

Transfer the peanuts to a roasting tray. Place the tray in the oven and roast the peanuts for 5 minutes. Give them a good stir, then return the tray to the oven and roast the
peanuts for a further 5 minutes. Repeat this process 4 or 5 times until the paste has dried and the nuts have a lovely toasted flavour and aroma. Leave to cool, then enjoy with a good beer.

(
See picture,
here
.
)

You can’t beat home-cooked crisps and these crunchy bacon beauties win my vote every time.

Serves 4–6

Preheat the oven to 80°C/Gas Mark at its lowest and the grill to high. Place the pancetta strips on the grill rack and grill until crispy and golden. Transfer the pancetta to
a roasting tray lined with greaseproof paper and place in the oven for about 2 hours until dry and very crisp. Set aside and leave to cool, then grind in a pestle and mortar. Transfer to a bowl,
add the smoked paprika and salt and set aside until needed.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Peel the potatoes, then use the crinkle cutter on a mandoline to slice them about 0.2cm thick. Working in batches, if necessary,
add the potato slices to the boiling water and stir, then immediately remove them with a slotted spoon and leave them to dry on a tea towel. Bring the water back to the boil before adding another
batch.