Gordon Ramsay cooked this delicious looking salad on the F Word a couple of weeks ago and I intend to find out how it tastes! I love crayfish/crawdads/crawfish/crawdaddies or what ever they’re called in your region. It’s still a little cold around here to catch the little bugers, but it should be warm enough in a couple of weeks, which gives me just enough time to build my traps. I’ll post an article with pictures of my traps when I get them finished. Now on to the salad…

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 lbs. crayfish
• 2 oranges
• 2 ruby grapefruit
• 1 large banana shallot (or 2 normal ones), peeled and finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp English mustard
• Zest of 1 un-waxed orange
• 3/4 cups extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large firm but ripe avocado
• 7 oz. mixed salad leaves (eg, frisée, baby chard leaves, mizuna)

Cooking the Crayfish:

This part is a cinch. Bring some water to a rolling broil and dump the crayfish into it. Cook the crayfish for 2-3 minutes max! They will turn a bright pinkish orange when they’re cooked. Remove the pan from the stove and strain the water off of the crayfish.

Remove the tails from the crayfish by twisting and pulling. You will be able to remove the meat from the tails more easily if you don’t let them cool. Pinch the base of the tail and squeeze the meat out of the opening.

You can eat the claws later.

Preparing the Salad:

Slice off the tops and bottoms of the oranges and grapefruit using a sharp, serrated knife. Cut away the remaining peel and pith, then cut along the membrane of the fruit to release the segments, holding the fruit over a sieve set on a bowl to catch the juice. Squeeze out the excess juice from the core of each fruit before discarding.
Whisk together 6 tablespoons of the citrus juice with the chopped shallot, mustard, orange zest, olive oil and seasoning to taste.

Peel, stone and slice the avocado into neat slivers. Place into a bowl and gently toss with the citrus segments and crayfish tails – it is easier if you do this with your hands. Divide the mixture among four serving plates, then top with a neat pile of salad leaves in the center. Spoon over the citrus dressing and serve immediately.

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Eating Snails from the Garden – Part 2

Not to long ago I posted an article on eating snails from the garden, this is the second half of that article where you get delicious instructions on cooking them!

This recipe is based off of Gordon Ramsay’s Escargot salad recipe from the F Word. As lunatic as this seems, I’m excited about it and experimenting myself.

I’ve added a video at the end of this article of the whole snail catching, snail cooking process. You can find the cooking instructions about half way into the video.

Ingredients:

• Smoked Pancetta (1-2 strips)
• Fresh Sage (nice handful)
• Fresh Parsley (small handful)
• Fresh Lemon Juice (as in squeezed out of a lemon)
• Olive Oil (1-2 tbsp)
• Snails
• a nice spring mix salad (lightly dressed)

Cooking this dish is a snap. Boil enough water to cover your snails and dump them in to give them a bath. Let the snails boil for a couple of minutes and then take them off the range and strain them.  Use Escargot tongs or any other small kitchen device (tweezers anyone?) to remove the snails from their shells.

Dice the Pancetta and fry until nice and crispy. Add fresh sage and snails and toss a bit then add some fresh parsley and olive oil, then toss a little more. Success! You have finished cooking your fresh, organic, free range snails!

Add snail mixture to a bed of fresh, lightly dressed salad and enjoy.

I can’t wait to try this recipe! I’ll let you know how it turns out when my snails are ready.

Gordon Ramsay’s Shepherd Pie

Gordon Ramsay showed the world how to make a great Shepherd’s Pie on his hit show F Word.

This dish is so delicious that you can mess it up and it will still leave you feeling as if you’re in heaven! As always, use fresh herbs and vegetables. When using the freshest ingredients, it’s hard to make a meal that doesn’t taste good.

I prepared this dish for my family tonight and totally bungled it, yet everyone still left happy! I was attempting to cook on a deadline, while allowing my eight year old son to help, and hold conversations with my fiance. I was also attempting to use an ingredients list from another food site which was lacking many of the main ingredients. Tonight has made it even more clear to me that the web needs this site, as so many others get the ingredients and recipe wrong! So on to the meat and potatoes (literally).

This is a recipe that I firmly believe should be left to the taste of the cook. Please use your own judgement on the amount of each ingredient unless specified.

Watch the video of Ramsay at the end of the post to see it done by the best.

Ingredients:

The Filling:

• Olive Oil (2 Tbsp)
• Ground Lamb or Beef (about 1.5 lbs)
• 1 Large Carrot (grated)
• 1 Large Onion (grated)
• Fresh Rosemary
• Fresh Thyme
• Minced Garlic (I used 4 cloves)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Worcestershire Sauce (several splashes)
• Tomato Puree or Paste (no more than a small can)
• Red Wine (several glugs)
• Chicken Stock (not sure, but it looks like about 1/4 cup)

The Mash:

• Golden Potatoes (about 1.5 lbs)
• Heavy Cream ( 1/4 cup)
• Butter (3 1/2 Tbsp)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Egg Yolks (2)
• Parmesan Cheese (1/4 cup, minimum)

Prep Work:

• Dice the garlic
• Separate your herbs from the stems
• Separate your Egg Yolks
• Peel and Slice your potatoes into even pieces
• Open your wine if it’s not already
• Open your can of Tomato Paste

Cooking the Potatoes:

This part is easy as pie (no pun intended), just boil some water, throw some salt and your potatoes in, and set a timer for 15 minutes – start on your filling.  Upon the timer going off, take your potatoes out and strain the water off. Put potatoes back into the pan, or into a medium mixing bowl. Mash the potatoes with their ingredients from above and keep warm (your filling should be about done by this point)

Cooking the Filling:

Pour Olive Oil into a hot, rather large pan, then add meat. Stir meat as if your life depends on it for a few minutes so it’s nice and brown, and broken into very small pieces. Add your Rosemary, Thyme, and Garlic, then stir some more. Quickly add your Carrot, and Onion, stir a little longer. The idea at this point is to get everything to a minced consistency.

Add Worcestershire Sauce, stir, add Tomato Puree, stir, add Red Wine and sweat down for a minute or two. Add chicken stock and cook for 3 more minutes. I made mine without the stock because I didn’t notice it the first time I watched the show. You can add it, or leave it out.

Final Instructions:

Scoop your meat mixture into a deep casserole or other oven safe dish and then spoon the mash over the top. Spread the mash over the top of the mix with the bottom of the spoon and then sprinkle a generous portion of Parmesan cheese over the top. Poke the top with a fork several times to give it a peaked look and stick it in the oven at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes to brown the potatoes and set the pie. Serve it up and watch people melt! Oh I love Shepherd Pie!

You can watch the video below to get a better idea of how it’s done.

Gordon Ramsay’s Beef Wellington

This recipe was featured on The F Word and was a huge hit with the customers. It’s probably a little advanced for a beginner, but it’s a meal fit for a King (or a Queen). I’ve had to convert the measurements from grams, so they may seem a little weird. As always, use the freshest ingredients you can, and support your local butcher by getting your meat from them (added benefit is they’ll actually cut you .88 lbs, even though they may think you’re a little strange for asking).

Ingredients

• .88 lbs Beef fillet
• .88 lbs Flat mushrooms
• 4 slices Parma ham (can substitute with Prosciutto)
• English mustard for brushing meat
• .44 lbs puff pastry
• 2 Egg yolks
• Approx 8 Charlotte/New potatoes
• 1 Clove garlic, crushed
• 1 Sprig thyme (fresh)
• 2 large baby gem lettuce
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• Mustard vinaigrette, optional

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Heat oil in a large pan and sear the meat on all sides. Don’t cook the meat, just brown each side. Let it cool and then brush it with the mustard.

3. Chop the mushrooms in a food processor to make a puree. Throw the puree in a hot pan with no oil and sweat out all of the liquid. Let the water evaporate and then set it aside to cool.

4. Lay four slices of parma ham down on a large piece of cling film, slightly overlapping, then brush with mushroom mixture.

5. Put the beef in the middle of the ham and roll the ham around the beef using the cling film. Twist the ends of the cling film to tighten the roll, then refrigerate it for 15 minutes to let it set.

6. Roll your puff pastry and then brush the edges with Egg Wash. Roll the pastry over the beef completely covering it. Cut off any excess pieces. Egg Wash the top. Put your roll back in the fridge for 5 minutes. Egg Wash again and bake for 35-40 minutes. Let it cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

7. Par boil the potatoes in salted water. Quarter them and leave the skin on. Sauté in olive oil and butter with the garlic and thyme, until browned and cooked through. Season. Remove the thyme and garlic before serving.

8. Separate the outside leaves of the baby gem (leaving the smaller inner ones for salads) and very quickly sauté them in a pan of olive oil with a little salt and pepper – just enough to wilt them.

9. Serve hearty slices of the Wellington alongside the sautéed potatoes and wilted baby gems. A classic mustard vinaigrette makes a great dressing.