Okay, here we have it: the definitive burger in a bun. I spend so much time
thinking about the balance of all my dishes — the intricate, subtle nuances,
the way the brain deals with the information sent to it by the senses — but
this recipe chucks all that stuff out of the window. It is me and my son’s
couch-potato, self-indulgent junk-food heaven.
The buns are white baps (no jokes, please), but can be substituted with
something else if you insist — as long as they are grilled until toasted.
One can be terribly highbrow about ingredients, particularly when it comes
to cheese, but here I have unashamedly used synthetic cheese slices.
THE BURGERS
Serves 4
4 free-range beef burgers (at least 125g, preferably 250g)
4 cheese slices
4 white baps
4 tomatoes, sliced
3 pickled gherkins, sliced lengthways
Mayonnaise
Tomato ketchup (Heinz)
French’s mustard
Burger relish
Iceberg lettuce leaves
Barbecue the burgers over a medium-high heat, to taste. Top with the cheese
slices and grill until melted. Cut the baps in half and grill them as well.
Layer the tomatoes, gherkins and cheese-topped burger with mayo, ketchup,
mustard and relish. Top with the lettuce leaves and the other half of the
char-grilled bun and serve. Fantastic.
GRATIN OF POTATOES
Serves 6-8
This can be made the day before: it is perfect for a barbecue, since it
actually improves once rested and reheated. It is one of those recipes
that’s deceptively simple, but takes a few tricks to get perfect.
The first secret is to simmer the potatoes in the flavoured milk before
baking, in order to extract some of the starch. This gives them a creamy
texture, while keeping the dish light. And by using the starch-thickened
liquid, you can cut down on the amount of cream.
Slicing the potatoes thinly is also important, as it gives more surface area
of potato and more flavour. A good gratin should be cooked for a long time
at a low temperature. This will leave the potatoes as soft as butter while
still holding their shape, and the sauce will be completely integrated.
And my final secret: once cooked, cover the slightly cooled gratin (with the
foil still on) with a weighted dish. The potatoes will absorb any excess
liquid overnight.
Remember, when cooking and reheating, the low temperature is important,
otherwise the potatoes will split and become grainy. For this recipe, you
will need a baking dish at least 2in deep, and about 10in long x 6in wide.
400ml whole milk (or just enough to cover the potatoes in the pan)
3 fresh bay leaves (optional)
1 bunch of thyme (optional)
1 clove of garlic, crushed (or 2 tsp of garlic purée, if you have it)
1kg potatoes, washed (red potatoes such as desiree or romano are good)
200ml double cream
75g unsalted butter
Salt and cayenne pepper
Nutmeg, grated, to taste
Preheat the oven to 120C/250F/Gas Mark.
Pour the milk into a saucepan and add the herbs (tied up in a piece of muslin)
and the crushed garlic or garlic purée. On a medium heat, bring the milk to
the boil and simmer it for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and leave to
infuse. Once cool, remove the herbs. If you are not using herbs, simply
combine the milk and garlic in the pan and set aside.
Peel the potatoes and slice them as thinly as possible. Use a mandolin, if you
have one, or, alternatively, slice them with a knife, but watch your
fingers. Ideally, the potato slices should be 1-2mm thick.
Add the sliced potatoes to the milk, separating them as you do so, and place
the pan on a medium heat. Bring the liquid to a simmer, stirring
occasionally to stop the potatoes from sticking together — you want to keep
them as separate as possible. After a few minutes, you will notice that the
milk has thickened with the starch from the potatoes. When this happens, add
the cream and butter, and gently agitate the pan so that everything is mixed
in.
Finally, add the salt, cayenne pepper and grated nutmeg. Be careful, as
cayenne pepper is strong stuff. You will need to add more salt than you
think necessary, as the potatoes do absorb quite a lot, leaving the gratin
less seasoned once cooked.
Pour the potatoes into the oven dish, trying to get them as flat as possible.
Use a perforated slice to press down on them. The potatoes should be covered
by about ½cm of liquid. A little less is fine, but if you have more, don’t
be tempted to use it all.
Tightly cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven for 4 hours. If you can,
every 45 minutes or so, gently press down on the potatoes with the back of
the slice.
Keep the gratin in the fridge until you are ready to use it. To reheat, warm
at 150C/300F/Gas Mark 2 for about 40 minutes. Just before serving, flash the
dish under the grill to gratinate.
BABY GEM, RADISH AND GOAT’S CHEESE SALAD
Serves 4
1 large baby gem
40g watercress (picked weight)
20g (a punnet) pea shoots
6 English radishes, sliced (use a mandolin, if you have one)
5 spring onions, thinly sliced
Half a small bunch (or a supermarket packet) of dill
80g goat’s cheese (I use Cerney, but any similar ash-covered goat’s cheese
will do), cut into small cubes
For the vinaigrette
This makes more than you need. You can keep the remainder in the fridge until
you want to use it.
50ml good-quality white wine vinegar (we use chardonnay vinegar)
1 tsp dijon mustard
250ml groundnut oil
Salt and pepper
Pick and wash all the salad leaves and set aside. To make the vinaigrette, mix
the vinegar with the mustard, then slowly add the oil while whisking
vigorously or blending with a hand blender. Season to taste with salt and
pepper.
Dress the salad leaves with about 2 tbsp of the vinaigrette, toss together
with all the other ingredients and serve.
BBQ LEMON SOLE SERVED WITH SHRIMP AND CUCUMBER SAUCE
Serves 4
This is a great dish with which to impress your friends. The trick is to
prepare the cucumber early, and make sure you have all the sauce ingredients
to hand. It takes just a few minutes to whisk up the sauce while the fish
sizzles on the barbie. You can also do this dish with sea bass.
For the sauce
80g cucumber, peeled
200g butter
Juice of half a lemon
4g garam masala
120g brown shrimps
Salt and pepper to taste
2g chives
For the fish
1 whole lemon sole (ask your fishmonger to trim and skin both sides, but leave
it on the bone)
A little olive oil Salt and pepper
Cut the cucumber in half lengthways and remove the seeds. Using a mandolin or
knife, cut into 1mm slices. Have a bowl of iced water ready. Blanch the
slices in boiling water for 10 seconds, then refresh briefly in the iced
water. Drain the cucumber, cover and refrigerate until needed.
Brush the fish with a little olive oil and season. Place straight onto a
medium-hot barbecue. A good way to test the heat is to see if you can bear
to hold your hand 15cm away from the coals for 3 seconds — if so, it should
be good for cooking fish. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side. The fish is
done when the flesh comes away from the bone.
To make the sauce, gently warm the butter and lemon juice in a pan. Add the
garam masala and cook over a very low heat for 1 minute, taking care not to
let it boil. Add the refrigerated cucumber and shrimps, and again warm
gently without boiling. Season to taste with salt, pepper and a little lemon
juice. Finish with a few chives, pour over the sole and serve.
