Tom Kerridge's Proper Pub Food (3 page)

For the homemade brown sauce

To make the brown sauce, put the dates into a heatproof bowl. Peel the apples and grate them on a coarse cheese grater directly into the bowl, then mix in the ground spices and
leave the bowl to one side.

Put the sugar and both vinegars into a saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mix on to the
dates and apples, then cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave to cool at room temperature. The dates will absorb some liquid and become soft.

Pour this mix into a heavy-based saucepan over a very low heat and simmer, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t catch on the base, for 1½ hours, or until soft and
pulpy. Transfer the date and apple mix to a blender and blend until it is smooth. Pass it through a fine sieve into a bowl, then leave to cool completely. Store in a covered jar in the refrigerator
until needed, or for up to 2 months.

Heat about 4 tablespoons bacon fat or rapeseed oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the potatoes to the pan in a layer about 1cm thick and fry for 8 minutes, or
until you get crispy edges. Add the onion and continue to fry until it becomes a little caramelised. Add the chives and season. Keep warm in a low oven.

Heat about 2 tablespoons rapeseed oil in another large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the black pudding and fry, turning once, until crispy on both sides.

Serve the black pudding with the potatoes, and add the brown sauce at the table.

Black pudding and sautéed Cornish new potatoes with homemade brown sauce

Perhaps this is a little too much work and maybe a bit posh for a wet Monday in February when you are already late for work, but on a Sunday morning when you have more time and
fancy a posh French breakfast, crack on and make this. I know this is French, but they are very good at this cooking stuff!

Serves 4

For the chocolate and orange sauce

To make the chocolate and orange sauce, put the double cream and milk in a saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved. Remove
the pan from the heat and stir in the chocolate, stirring until it has melted. Grate the zest from the orange into the sauce, then pour the sauce into a pot and leave to cool a little. Segment the
orange and leave the segments, peel and membrane to one side.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, milk, Cointreau and cinnamon together and pour into a deep baking tray. Place the bread into the mix and leave for 2 minutes. Turn the bread over and
leave for a further minute.

Melt the butter in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat until it is just foaming. Add the soaked bread and fry for 1–2 minutes on each side until golden brown.
Remove the eggy bread from the pan and dust with icing sugar.

Add the orange segments to the pan and quickly fry them in the butter remaining in the pan. Squeeze a little juice from the orange peel and membrane over them and stir for
1–2 minutes to warm through.

Serve the buttery orange segments on the eggy bread with the chocolate sauce, and lightly sprinkle with cinnamon.

Eggy bread with chocolate and orange sauce

Celeriac and apple are great bedfellows and work so well together as a soup. This really is one of the dishes where you will recognise all of the flavours – celeriac, blue
cheese, apple and walnuts. In the kitchen here at the pub we gain maximum flavour by infusing the celeriac skin in the stock.

Serves 4–6

First, peel and finely chop the celeriac, but keep the peel. Pour the chicken stock into a large saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Add the celeriac peel, then
remove the pan from the heat, cover the top with clingfilm and leave to infuse for 20–30 minutes.

Heat the rapeseed oil in a large frying pan over a low heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt, cover the pan and leave the onion to sweat for 10–12 minutes until softened,
but not coloured.

Meanwhile, peel and dice the apples and mix them with the lemon juice so they don’t oxidize and turn brown.

When the onion has softened, add the apples and any juice and the celeriac. Strain the infused chicken stock into the pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and
simmer, uncovered, for 10–15 minutes until the celeriac is tender. Add the double cream and return the liquid to the boil. Pour the soup into a blender and blend until smooth. Season, then
pass the soup through a fine sieve.

When ready to serve, reheat the soup, if necessary. Crumble the blue cheese into soup bowls, then pour the hot soup on top and finish with a drizzle of walnut oil, toasted
walnuts and celery leaves.

Tom’s Tip

You can make this thicker by using less stock, and instead serve it as a lovely purée to accompany meats, such as pork, venison or pheasant.

Celeriac and Bramley apple soup

Although there are a few complex flavours in this soup, they all marry well and this is a very easy soup to make. Curried parsnip soup has become a classic, and this is the
version you will come back to again and again. We often have this on our set lunch menu at The Hand & Flowers.

Serves 4–6

For the curry oil

First, make the curry oil. Heat a large heavy-based saucepan over a high heat until it is very hot, then pour in 75ml of the oil. Add the onion, garlic and green and red chillies
and fry, stirring, just until the vegetables are starting to brown. Add the curry powder and stir for a further 4–5 minutes, stirring all the time so the spices cook but don’t burn. Add
the rest of the oil and heat until it reaches 80°C on an instant-read thermometer. Turn the heat down to very low and leave the oil to simmer for 30 minutes. Pass it through a fine sieve to
remove the vegetables, then pass through a sieve lined with muslin or a tea towel to remove any remaining curry powder. Leave to cool completely, then cover and keep in the fridge until needed.
This should keep indefinitely.

To make the soup, melt the butter in a large saucepan until it reaches a beurre noisette, or a hazelnut-brown stage. This will give a lovely, roasted depth of flavour to the
soup. Add the onion and fry, stirring, for 2–3 minutes until it is softened. Stir in the curry powder and cook over a medium heat for a further 4–5 minutes. Throw in the parsnips and
stir so they get a good coating of the butter and spice mix. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium and leave the soup to simmer, uncovered, for 15–20
minutes until the parsnips are very tender.

Pour the soup into a blender and blend until very smooth, then pass it through a fine sieve. Adjust the consistency with a little water if it is too thick. Season with salt,
pepper and the lemon juice. The soup is now ready to serve, or it can be left to cool completely and then kept in a covered container in the fridge until needed.

Meanwhile, peel and dice the Granny Smith apples. Place them into the pickling mix in a non-metallic bowl and leave for at least 20 minutes, but no longer than 30 minutes, to
infuse them with the vinegar.