Cooking The Books

(Instant) Potato Rolls

I've tried making potato rolls a few times.  The desire was born from a slight burger obsession and the fact that so many Americans cite the potato roll as the perfect roll for housing burgers.  I followed recipes where a cup of mashed potato was added to X cups of flour but they were never quite right and I was never happy in the making either.   I love accuracy in my baking and cups fail miserably at this and so I try not to use them at the best of times.  Here the cups were joined by another rogue element in the mashed potato where there can be so much variety, both in the starchiness of the potato and in the amount of moisture it holds.  This is not how I like to bake.

How could I possibly get a nice, rigid and repeatable recipe using such an ingredient?  It was then I set upon the thought of making potato rolls using instant potato. I'm not normally one for Smash but I thought its mass-produced homogeneity would be perfect here.  I googled around and found I wasn't the first to have such an idea so grabbed a recipe, converted it from cups and had a little play with the liquid levels (I like my dough wet) and this was born.  Initially I wasn't going to post it as the rolls were too light and fluffy, a very tasty eat - don't get me wrong - but I didn't think they'd hold up to a burger well.  Within a few hours they had firmed up a treat though whilst staying perfectly fresh.  I'd read that industrial bread producers add potato flour to their recipes to increase longevity of freshness and if these are anything to go by I can see why, 2 days on and they were still perfectly edible - although best if toasted.  It's very rare that home-made rolls keep usable for that long.

I've made this recipe twice now in less than a week and they're a definite keeper.  I've enjoyed them with ham and poached eggs, toasted with homemade bacon and obviously with a burger (7oz of well-aged longhorn chuck), where it was light enough to bite through with ease but firm enough not to collapse under the patty's juices.  I think next up I will try some little buns using the same dough and try and make some proper sliders, steaming tiny burgers over onion and adding the buns on top so they steam too.  I'll keep you posted.

(Instant) Potato Roll Recipe

Makes 6

300gr strong white flour

2 TB instant potato (looking in Sainsbury yesterday their Basic Potato is only 18p)

Scant ts of salt

1 sachet of dried yeast

1.5TB white sugar

90ml semi-skimmed milk

100ml water

25gr butter

1 egg, beaten and split in half

Another splash of milk

Method

Warm the milk and melt the butter in it.  Add the water and half of the egg then mix well.

Mix the dry ingredients together then add the liquid and combine into a wet dough.  Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave for ten minutes.

Lightly oil a work surface and dump the dough on top.  Carefully fold the dough edge into the middle, turn maybe 30 degrees and repeat.  Do this 11 more times then turn the dough over and place in the bowl, covering again with the clingfilm

After ten minutes repeat this folding stage then wait another 10 minutes and repeat again.  By this time you may not need to oil the work surface.  Leave for a final ten minutes then you need to split the dough into 6.  I use scales to get them an equal size.

When baking buns it is important to get nice tight balls.  To do this I use much the same technique as for the kneading.  First I give the lump of dough a squash then I fold an edge into the middle, turn slightly and repeat and so on, maybe 15-20 times, till I have a nice, tight ball.  I then place seam side down on a greased baking tray and make the other 5.

I place these maybe 5cm apart before squashing flat, after which they'll be maybe 2cm thick and more like 1cm-2cm apart.  Cover loosely with clingfilm and leave to rise for 30-45 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Add a splash of milk to the remaining egg then lightly brush the rolls.

Bake in a 200 C oven (I use no fan so you'll probably have to adjust down if your oven fan only) for 15 minutes, I then turn the heat down to 180 and give another 2-5 minutes, until cooked.  As with all my bread baking I spray some water onto the sides of the oven as I put them in to create some steam.

Shrimp and Grits

For a second week running I've turned to the US for breakfast dishes that are pretty crazy for a British breakfast table.  For some reason products of the sea are conspicuous in their absence from the first meal of the day here, you may see a rare kipper or an even rarer smoked haddock, a trip across the Severn may see a few cockles and some seaweed, but that's about it - definitely no prawns.  My stint in Asia left me loving them for breakfast though so making the transition from a noodle soup to this dish was very easy. 

It's a quick dish to prepare.  The first step of browning some smoked bacon and onion in a little oil leaves a pan full of those flavours, ready to impart on the prawns.  Once they're starting to colour a few chunks of tomato go in - we're not aiming to break them down, just warm them through.  A knob of butter adds richness to both the sauce and grits and the soft yolk is a second, ready made sauce.  It's real comfort food that spoons down the throat very easily, warm with smoke and interspersed with the sweet chew of prawns and crunch of browned bacon. 

It's a southern US dish at heart but is supposedly very popular in the hipster establishments of New York, I can see why.  With current blogger's favourite Spuntino offering the first grits I've seen in London maybe a restaurant version of this isn't too far down the line here either.  If it does pop up I'm not sure it will be at breakfast time though.

Shrimp and Grits

Serves 2

1/2 cup grits

500ml stock (chicken or prawn)

12 king prawns/shrimps, if you have them the shells will help with your stock

4 rashers smoked streaky bacon

2 eggs

1/2 small red onion, 1cm dice

1 large tomato, seeded then 1cm diced

A big knob of butter

Method

Prepare the grits as detailed on the packet.  Mine takes 5 minutes which gives enough time to make the 'shrimp'.  Finish it with a knob of butter, although that's not just yet.

Get the fried egg goings.

Heat some oil over a reasonably high heat.  Slice the bacon into 1cm batons then fry with the onion until both are starting to brown, chuck in the prawns and fry until coloured.  Add in the tomato and the remaining butter and give just enough time for them to heat through and the prawns finish.

Spoon the grits onto a plate (pasta bowls work well), place an egg on top and pour over the 'shrimp'.

I like to eat with some hot sauce (Franks, Tabasco...) so you may do too.

Oat/Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes (Can Be Gluten-Free)

After the run of Japanese food time it's time to hop across the Pacific to the good ol' US of A.

Like many others I took the new year as an excuse to alter my diet, specifically getting some porridge into my morning routine.  I'd heard porridge would stop those 10.30am hunger pangs, not to mention giving me a welcome glut of fibre first thing, and so fought through the wallpaper-paste texture and taste of it plain for a couple of weeks, before giving in and first adding maple syrup and then a banana.  By this point it was actually pretty damn tasty but I then realised it was even worse at keeping my hunger at bay than my previous breakfast of a couple of eggs on toast was, so that was the end of that one.

This left me with some porridge oats that needed using up so first I made a few Staffordshire Oatcakes, absolutely gorgeous things that are deserving of far more accolade, let alone knowledge of their existence, than they have outside of Stoke.  Do yourself a favour and make some, I doubt you'll be disappointed. 

I still had lots of maple syrup too though so thoughts turned to these pancakes, thick and risen like your standard American pancake but with the earthy taste of oats, the buttermilk giving them a slightly sour tang that is balanced by the sweet syrup.  Made for friends at the weekend they were a success all round.

Following this post I made these again, altering slightly to make a gluten-free version suitable for my gf's coeliac mum.  I used gluten-free oats and a presciption gluten-free white bread flour (Glutafin), I also added an extra egg as I was worried about them holding together with the lack of gluten.  They worked out really well and were loved by all, coeliac's and non-coeliacs alike.

Oat/Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes

Enough for 4 people

150gr porridge oats/gluten-free oats

500ml buttermilk

80gr plain flour/gluten-free flour

2 med eggs (3 med eggs if going gluten-free)

1/2 TB sugar

1 TB baking powder (gluten-free)

Scant ts salt

Method

When you get up mix the oats and the buttermilk.  It's good to let them soak for an hour or two but you'll get away with less.

Once the oats are softened, mix the dry ingredients together and then mix into the oats, along with the eggs.  Beat well to combine.

Heat a heavy frying pan or griddle over a lowish heat, too hot and they'll burn before they cook through, and grease well - I used vegetable oil and bit of kitchen roll.

Depending on the size you want pour somewhere from 1/3 to 3/4 of a ladeful of batter in.  The larger size gives you around a 10cm pancake, the smaller amount let me put three 6cm pancakes cooking in the same large frying pan.  Once in spread out with the ladle till about 8mm thick.  Cook until dry on top, around 2-3 minutes, but careful not to over do it.

Flip and give a couple more minutes.  They are then ready to serve.  I used two frying pans at once, to halve the cooking time, and kept warm in a 60 C oven inbetween.

I love them with maple syrup, and I imagine golden syrup would be gorgeous too, both of which would sit happily with some sliced banana.

Sandwiches of America - The Shrimp Po' Boy

First things first in case anyone from New Orleans happens to pass by this page.  I know locals claim the bread is the most important thing in a Po' Boy, and I know the stuff I buy in a UK supermarket is probably nothing like it, but in the Po' Boy you have a damn fine sandwich - even with the wrong bread - and I'm not going to miss out on it just because the bread's not right - I hope you can forgive me.

The Po' Boy - as already mentioned - comes from New Orleans, it consists of meat or seafood in a local French style bread with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise - this much is certain.  When you start getting on to where the name comes from though it's not so clear cut.  Some say the poor boys used their tips to buy them, others that the French of the region had sandwiches 'pour le boy', yet more talk of sandwiches given free to striking streetcar workers known as poor boys, more still say it comes from the French peace offering (pour boise) and that's far from all the stories.  If the locals can't decide on its history though I certainly can't tell you anything more, I can tell you it's a damn fine sandwich though.

For my version, which I hope is pretty authentic, I had to make creole seasoning from scratch and recreated the creole mustard from a quick version I found somewhere on the web.  The bread had to be off the shelf baguette and the prawns had to be plentiful, it doesn't make for a cheap sandwich but all photos I see of the real deal are overflowing with seafood.  Outside of the cost it's not too much of a chore though eating 15 cornmeal coated and deep fried king prawns bursting out of a fresh french stick.   It's a bit of effort to make but the work pays off as it really is a king among sandwiches, giving you spice, sweet seafood, fresh salad and loads of texture, not to mention a big feed (that's a large dinner plate in the photo).

Shrimp Po' Boy

Ingredients per po' boy (yes, per po' boy)

25cm/10" of baguette

15 king prawns

Lettuce, Tomato, Gherkin

Mayonnaise

Hot sauce eg Tabasco

Creole Seasoned Flour

2 TB flour

1/4 ts each of garlic powder, white pepper, paprika, salt, chili powder and oregano

Pinch of dried thyme

Cornmeal coating

1 egg for dipping

4 TB flour

4 TB fine cornmeal/polenta

Creole Mustard

1 TB dijon

2-3 drops of Tabasco sauce

2-3 drops of Worcestershire sauce

Method

In one bowl mix the flour and cornmeal, break the egg into another bowl and in a final one mix the creole seasoned flour.

Make the creole mustard.

Heat some oil to 180 C.

Put the prawns into the seasoned flour, then the egg and finally the cornmeal coating.

Deep fry until golden brown and cooked through, maybe 3-4 minutes.  Remove, shake and drain on kitchen paper.

To construct first split the baguette, leaving it attached at one side otherwise it will be damn tricky to eat.  Spread the bottom half with mayonnaise and the top half with the creole mustard.  Place shredded lettuce on top of the mayo and then top with sliced gherkin and tomato.  Place - well pile really - the prawns on top, give it a good splash of hot sauce if you want, and tuck in.

Sandwiches of America - The Monte Cristo

My new favourite food TV show is Man v. Food.  It would appear it's on satellite TV but I'd never heard of it until a friend in the US recommended it.  A quick download and I was hooked, knocking out a couple of episodes a night catching up.  In the show the host Adam makes his way across the US, city by city, with the main event being him attempting one of the city's famous food challenges.  I've only heard of a couple of eating challenges over here before - and not for a while - but it seems like they're a big thing in the states.  Whilst I find it quite amusing watching him trying out a 5lb burger or 72 oz steak I'm equally in love with the show for the glimpse it gives me of cheap US eating.  There's no expensive restaurants here, focusing - as Adam puts it - on chow down joints, the kind of place I would definitely be eating if I go over there.  One thing that has struck me is the sheer variety of sandwiches there so I thought I'd investigate a few.  Some sound delicious and some a little weird.  It wouldn't be right for this blog if I didn't start with a weird one.

The Monte Cristo is basically a ham, turkey and cheese sandwich, not very weird at all so far, especially by US standards where they love a good combination of cold cuts.  It gets a bit stranger when it's dipped in egg and fried (although not too out the ordinary - there's mozzarella en carozza after all) but it's - for me anyway - the strawberry jam to dip it in that takes it over the edge (not to mention a sometime dusting in icing sugar, but that was a step too far even for me).  I had to try it.

Having done so I must say it works.  Initial thoughts are it shouldn't but when I try and rationalise it it starts to make a bit more sense.  Turkey and cranberry are frequent bedfellows, and cheese and ham certainly don't mind a sweet chutney, the outside french toast is definitely served sweet on occasion.  When I started out I thought I'd take a cursory dip in the jam just to see how it was served over there and then eat my sandwich plain, I ended up taking jam with every mouthful though and wiping the plate clean of the sweet stuff.  What started out as something weird ended up something tasty, I suppose I shouldn't have doubted the American palate so much, something wouldn't last from the 1930s to now if it wasn't tasty - would it?

Monte Cristo Sandwich, makes 4

8 slices of white bread, I used an organic batch loaf

150gr roast turkey, thinly sliced

150gr smoked ham, thinly sliced

4 slices of gruyere, or other Swiss cheese

3 eggs

Method

If you want, butter the bread.  Seemed a bit superfluous to me though so I didn't bother.

Layer turkey then ham then cheese on one slice of bread and top with another.

Dip in egg and fry, slowly, in some butter and oil.  Set the pan so it takes a few minutes a side as you need the heat to penetrate to the middle.  Whilst it's cooking give it a squash with a spatula and hopefully the sides will stick and seal.

Serve with jam, and if you're feeling really sweet toothed a dusting of icing sugar.