Tom Kerridge's Proper Pub Food (5 page)

A classic French salad with richness, acidity, salt, savoury and crunch – and so simple to make too.

The roast garlic adds an extra dimension to the classic French vinaigrette. Leftover dressing can be kept in a covered container in the fridge for 2–3 weeks. Add some
crispy bacon to this salad if you want to make it super-amazing!

Serves 4

For the roasted garlic dressing

For the garlic croûtons

First, roast the garlic for the dressing. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Place the garlic halves on a piece of kitchen foil large enough to wrap around them, drizzle
with olive oil and wrap up tightly. Place the foil parcel in the oven and roast the garlic for 20 minutes, or until it is very tender, browned and it smells fantastic. Remove the garlic from the
oven, open the foil and leave to cool. Do not turn the oven off.

To make the garlic croûtons, arrange the bread slices on a wire rack in a roasting tray. Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with the dried herbs, cayenne and sea salt
flakes. Place the tray in the oven and toast the croûtons for 5–8 minutes until crispy and dry. When you remove them from the oven immediately rub a garlic half over each one, pressing
down, whilst they are still hot so they take on the maximum garlic flavour. Leave to one side until needed.

When the garlic is cool, squeeze out the soft cloves and put them in a small food processor. Add the egg yolks, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard and the salt and blend. With the
motor running, slowly add the vegetable oil until it emulsifies and thickens. Cover and keep in the fridge until needed.

To deep-fry the capers, heat about 5cm vegetable oil in a heavy-based saucepan over a high heat until it reaches 180°C. Add the capers and fry, stirring for 2–3 minutes
until they are crispy and browned. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain well on kitchen paper. Leave to one side until needed.

Separate the frisée leaves, discarding the dark green leaves as they are very bitter. Use only the yellow, light coloured leaves. Rinse the lettuce leaves and parsley
leaves, then spin them dry in a salad spinner and keep in an airtight container until needed in the fridge.

Just before you are ready to serve, poach the eggs. Bring about 25cm water with a good splash of white wine vinegar to the boil in a deep frying pan or sauté pan over a
high heat. The vinegar helps the egg keep its shape while it’s cooking. Turn the heat down to low. One by one, crack the eggs into the pan and gently spoon the water over the eggs. Poach for
3–5 minutes until the whites are just set. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Season.

When you are ready to serve, toss the frisée and parsley leaves with the roasted garlic dressing (you won’t need all the dressing) and season. Divide among 4 plates,
add the garlic croûtons and then the poached eggs and sprinkle with the deep-fried capers. Serve immediately whilst the eggs are still warm!

The sweet-and-sour balance of flavours in Chinese cookery is fantastic. I’m a huge fan of acidity in food; it helps cut through the richness of ingredients like duck or
eggs. I know that this is not a ‘British’ dish, but my God, it tastes great and is a super salad for lunch or supper. The salad and spiced onions can also be served alongside plainly
cooked pork, chicken or salmon.

Serves 4

For the sweet chilli vinegar

For the soy dressing

Prepare the individual components of this salad in advance so all you have to do is assemble it and fry the duck eggs at the last minute. First, cook the duck legs. Preheat the
oven to 140°C/Gas Mark 1. Place the duck legs on a wire rack in a roasting tray. Place the tray in the oven and roast the duck legs for 1½ hours, or until they are crispy and golden
brown. Remove them from the oven and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, put the onion and cucumber together in a non-metallic bowl. Stir in about 1 tablespoon of sea salt flakes and leave the vegetables to soften at room temperature for
20–25 minutes.

To make the sweet chilli vinegar, put the vinegar and sugar in a saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the chilli, then remove
the pan and leave to cool.

Rinse the salt off the onion and cucumber, and place them in the washed bowl. Pour over the sweet chilli vinegar and leave to one side. It’s best not to do this more than 2
hours before serving.

To make the dressing, mix the sesame seeds, honey, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar together in a non-metallic bowl. Whisk in the rapeseed oil and sesame oil until the dressing
emulsifies and thickens. Leave to one side until needed.

Using tea towels to protect your fingers, remove the thigh bones from the duck legs by twisting them out. Tear the meat into large chunks, and do not worry if it falls apart when
you take the bones out.

Heat 1–2 tablespoons of rapeseed oil in another frying pan at a medium-high heat. Carefully crack the duck eggs into the pan and fry for 2–3 minutes until the whites
are set but the yolks are still runny. Season. If your pan isn’t large enough and you don’t have enough frying pans at this point, fry the duck eggs two at a time and keep them warm in
a low oven until all four are fried.

To assemble the salad, toss the pak choi with the soy dressing, then mix in the duck leg meat and spiced onions and cucumber. Divide the salad among 4 bowls and place a fried egg
on top of each. Finely grate over the zest of the orange to release the citrus oils and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve immediately.

I love using a blowtorch, as it gives an extra dimension to dishes. It’s great for adding colour, but most importantly it gives an amazing charred taste, almost as if
ingredients have been cooked over a barbecue. In this case, it helps this solid British classic of boiled eggs and salad cream to a new level. Buy one! You won’t regret it. Also, when
you’ve finished cooking you can do a bit of plumbing... ha-ha!

Serves 4

For the homemade salad cream

Cut the lettuce into wedges lengthways, then rinse well to remove any dirt or grit. Spin the wedges dry in a salad spinner and leave in the fridge until needed.

We have a bit of multi-tasking here – you’re going to soft-boil the eggs and make the salad cream using the same saucepan at the same time. To soft-boil the eggs,
bring a saucepan of water to the boil over a high heat. Add the 4 whole eggs, turn the heat down and set a timer to 6½ minutes. At the same time, to make the salad cream, mix the flour,
sugar, English mustard powder and a pinch of salt together in a mixing bowl that will fit the pan without the bottom of the bowl touching the water. Whisk in the 2 whole eggs and white wine
vinegar. Place the bowl over the gently bubbling water and whisk the ingredients in the bowl until the eggs thicken the mix.

Remove the bowl from the heat and add the double cream and lemon juice to the salad cream mix. Pass the salad cream through a fine sieve and keep to one side to cool completely.
This salad cream will keep in the fridge for 3 days.

When the timer pings for 6½ minutes, remove the eggs from the hot water and cool them in running cold water, then leave to one side.

Place the lettuce wedges on to a baking tray and drizzle with a little rapeseed oil. Blowtorch the lettuce until it is a little charred and blackened around the edges. This
won’t take long!

Peel the soft-boiled eggs and cut each in half. Season.

To serve, mix the charred lettuce with parsley and dress with the salad cream. Place in a bowl and put the salted anchovy fillets on top. Twist black pepper over the top and add
the soft-boiled eggs. The salad is ready to serve.

Blowtorched English lettuce, soft-boiled egg and salted anchovy salad with homemade salad cream

Hake is a fantastic alternative to cod with a wonderful meaty taste. It is quite a flaky fish, so salting it before cooking helps to firm up the flesh and give it a wonderful deep
flavour. This salad can be served on its own, but also goes very well with braised white beans or crusty bread.

Serves 4

Mix the white wine, sea salt flakes, demerara sugar and saffron threads together in a non-metallic bowl to form a paste. Rub the hake fillets with this paste and return them to
the bowl. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and put it in the fridge for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, mix the extra virgin olive oil, caster sugar and lemon peel together in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Leave to simmer over a very low
heat for 20 minutes, or until the lemon peel is very soft. Remove the pan from the heat, cover with clingfilm and leave the oil to infuse at room temperature until it is cool.

When the oil is cool, transfer it and the lemon peel to a blender and blend until smooth. Pass it through a fine sieve, then keep it in the fridge in a covered container until
needed. Make sure you give it a good stir before you use it.

When you are ready to cook the hake, preheat the oven to 130°C/Gas Mark ½. Rinse the hake in running cold water and pat it dry. Place it in a roasting tray and pour
over the everyday olive oil, then cover the roasting tray with kitchen foil. Place the roasting tray in the oven and cook the hake for 20 minutes, or until the flesh flakes easily. Leave the fish
to cool in the oil for about 30 minutes.

Put the lettuce oil in a large bowl. Remove the hake from its cooking oil and gently break the flesh into large chunks. Mix it gently with the iceberg. Drizzle a little lemon oil
over the fish and lettuce and serve immediately.

Tom’s Tip

The extra virgin lemon oil made in this recipe will keep for up to one month in the fridge. Use it to flavour salad dressings and vinaigrettes.

This warm salad is rooted in the West Country. The use of cider in cooking in that part of the country adds so much depth to sauces and dressings – it is an excellent
alternative to wine. Make the effort to search out some great ciders. The levels of sweetness or acidity vary greatly and can change the dish completely, so be sure to taste before you use.

Iceberg lettuce is underused and often viewed as a cheap flavourless salad leaf. When it’s used correctly, however, the crisp freshness of this great leaf can enhance a
dish and balance soft and rich textures.