A MICHELIN-STARRED chef has shared his favourite Easter recipes ahead of hosting a food festival in the city this summer.
Tom Kerridge, best known for his restaurant The Hand and Flowers in Marlow and regular appearances on BBC One's Saturday Kitchen, has put together a delicious menu to cook at home this weekend.
The celebrity chef is set to host the three-day Pub in the Park festival at Preston Park from Friday, September 16.
But he has got our tastebuds tingling already with these tantalising treats.
Tom kicks off with a fabulously simple crab mayo on sourdough toast dish, followed by lamb and boulangère potatoes, and a classic crème brulee to finish.
Find the full recipes below:
Starter: Crab Mayo on Griddled Sourdough
Serves four
Ingredients:
• 6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, halved
• 1 sourdough loaf
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 12 asparagus spears, trimmed
• 1 tbsp butter
• 100ml water
• 1 ripe avocado, thickly sliced
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the pickled radish
• 16 radishes, thinly sliced
• 25g caster sugar
• 4 tbsp white wine vinegar For the crab mayo
• 75g brown crab meat
• 75g reduced-fat crème fraîche
• 75g reduced-fat mayonnaise
• A squeeze of lemon juice, to taste
• 300g white crab meat
To serve (optional) • Tabasco
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220C/Fan 200C/Gas 7. Line a baking tray with baking parchment.
2. For the pickled radish, mix the ingredients together in a bowl and leave to pickle. Lay the bacon on the baking tray and place in the oven for 15 minutes, or until crispy. Meanwhile, cut four long slices from the middle of the sourdough loaf, each 1cm thick. Preheat a griddle. Brush both sides of the sourdough slices lightly with olive oil and cook on the hot griddle until lightly charred on each side.
3. Place the asparagus in a small frying pan with the butter, water and some salt and pepper. Cook over a medium-high heat for three to four minutes or until tender and all the liquid has evaporated.
4. Meanwhile, for the crab mayo, mix together the brown crab meat, crème fraîche, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste and gently fold through the white crab meat.
5. Lay each piece of griddled sourdough on a plate. Spread with crab mayo, then top with three pieces of bacon, three pieces of asparagus and a couple of slices of avocado. Drain the radish from its pickling juices and scatter over the top. If you like things spicy, add a little Tabasco before you tuck in.
Main Course: Tom’s Slow-Roasted Shoulder of Lamb with Boulangère Potatoes
Serves four to six, plus some for the dogs
Tom said: “This recipe is great to stick in the oven on a Sunday morning, then go and walk the dogs and call in at the pub for a couple and when you get home the house smells amazing – and lunch is ready. I think I can safely call it the ultimate family lunch.
“Pommes boulangère is named after the French term for a bakery. Once every village or town had a baker with big clay ovens. When the baker had finished baking his bread, he would turn the oven off and the residual heat in the oven would slowly cook this fantastic potato dish.
Ingredients
• 6 large waxy potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 onions, thinly sliced
• leaves from 1 bunch of thyme
• 1 shoulder of lamb, about 2kg
• 1 head of garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
• 600ml chicken stock
• salt and pepper, to taste
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 130C/Gas Mark ½.
2. Mix the potatoes, onions and thyme leaves together in a bowl and season. Roughly layer the potatoes and onions in a roasting tray and put the lamb on top, skin side up. Use a knife to pierce the lamb all over, then put a clove of garlic into each hole. Pour over the chicken stock.
3. Put the baking tray in the oven and roast the lamb for four to five hours, until the lamb is tender and the potatoes are cooked through. Remove the tray, cover it with foil and leave the lamb to rest for 20 minutes before carving.
Dessert: Creme Brulee
Serves six
Ingredients
• 750ml double cream
• 2 vanilla pods, split lengthways
• 4 large free-range eggs
• 20g erythritol (sugar replacement)
• 6 tbsp inulin (sugar replacement), to glaze
Method
1. Put the cream and vanilla pods into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring just to the boil. Take the pan off the heat and leave to stand for 30 minutes.
2. Bring the infused cream back up to a simmer. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk the eggs and erythritol together to combine. Pour on the hot vanilla cream, whisking as you do so, then pour the vanilla custard back into the rinsed-out saucepan.
3. Cook the custard, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, over a medium-low heat until it thickens enough to lightly coat the back of the spoon; it should register 87C on a cook’s thermometer.
4. Pass the custard through a fine sieve into a bowl and leave to cool for 20 minutes.
5. Once cooled, scrape the custard into a blender and blitz for 20 seconds - this will give it a nice, glossy finish.
6. Divide the mixture between six ramekins or similar heatproof serving dishes. Refrigerate for at least four hours, or overnight, to set.
7. When you’re ready to serve, sprinkle the inulin on top of the set custards in a nice, even layer. Using a cook’s blowtorch, caramelise the inulin until it forms a deep, caramel crust (or place briefly under a preheated very hot grill). Leave for a minute or so to allow the glaze to set before serving.
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