Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course (10 page)

Unless you are poaching your meat (a wonderful, healthy way of cooking chicken breasts, for example), the key is to get a good searing of colour on the outside. This is what will give your finished dish that lovely, Marmitey richness and is essential for everything from a pork loin to a sirloin steak or a lamb casserole. Chefs used to talk about this as searing in the juices, but it’s not about keeping the meat moist – it’s about kick-starting that flavour-building process.

There are two ways to do this: either to start your meat in a hot oven, and then turn it down after an initial sizzle (this is the way many people cook joints of meat), or to cook it over a high heat on the hob, and then transfer to the oven as necessary. If doing the latter, the key thing is to get your pan good and hot so that it drives off the moisture in the meat instantly and starts browning it. If the pan is not hot enough, the meat will start to boil in its juices and then it will never brown. And without colour, you’ll have no flavour.

So start with dry meat (patted dry with kitchen paper if necessary) and a very hot pan. Put in a swirl of oil – groundnut, rapeseed or light olive oil are all good, but not butter as that will burn (unless the meat is very thin and will cook in seconds) – and once it is almost smoking, add the meat. It should sizzle as soon as it hits the pan. If it doesn’t, take it out and wait a bit. Don’t crowd the pan as this will cause the temperature to drop. It’s better to brown meat in batches than to try to rush it. Also, avoid the temptation to fiddle with it. People often feel they are being better cooks if they are constantly prodding or stirring but sometimes you need the confidence to leave things alone. If you keep the meat moving around the pan, it won’t caramelise. Don’t worry about it sticking; once it is browned, the meat will release itself. That’s the time to turn it over to ensure all the sides are seared.

Your meat is now ready for the next stage, be it roasting in the oven, bubbling away in a casserole or, in the case of a steak or pork chop, for eating.

HOW TO FRY A SIRLOIN STEAK

1
. Bring your steak to room temperature 20 minutes before cooking; otherwise, the outside will be cooked before the middle has had a chance to warm through. Meat at room temperature will also absorb the seasoning better.

2
. Get the pan really hot, hotter than you’d normally dare. If it’s not hot, it won’t colour the meat and without any colour, there’ll be no flavour. Season your steak well with lots of salt and pepper.

3
. Pour some groundnut or other neutral-flavoured oil into the pan. Rapeseed is also good as it has a high burning point, which means you can get more colour on to the steak. Wait until the oil is almost smoking, then lay in the steak, with the fat to the back of the pan.

4
. Leave it to cook for 2½–3 minutes on one side, then turn it over. Don’t keep fiddling or the meat won’t take on a caramelised crust. About 1½ minutes before it is ready, add a knob of butter and spoon it over the steak as it cooks, giving it a rich, nutty brown finish. Finally, use your tongs to hold the steak up and cook the fat.

5
. The best way to tell if a steak is cooked is by feel. A rare steak will have the same texture as the fleshy base of your thumb when the hand is open. Now move your thumb so it touches your middle finger, and feel the fleshy base again. It will feel slightly firmer and is equivalent to a medium steak. If you move your thumb over to touch your little finger, the fleshy base feels very firm and is equivalent to well done.

6
. Now leave the steak to rest in a warm place for up to 5 minutes. This will allow the muscle fibres to relax and redistribute the moisture throughout the meat. Slice the steak at an angle – not too thinly or it will cool down too quickly – and serve.

MEAT

PORK CHOPS
WITH PEPPERS

SERVES 2

You’ll be amazed at how two such simple things can taste so good together. The sweet and sour peppers really cut through the richness of the beautifully sautéed chops and make for a really good, quick supper dish. As always when frying chops, leave them to rest as long as you cooked them so that they can tenderise and reabsorb their juices.

1
. First prepare the peppers. Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan, then add the onion and peppers. Season with salt and pepper, add the sugar and sauté over a high heat for 4–5 minutes until soft and coloured. (Make sure you can hear the vegetables hissing in the pan. If not, the pan isn’t hot enough and you’re in danger of boiling the vegetables instead of frying them.)

2
. Add the vinegar and let it bubble for a minute or two until it has reduced and the peppers are soft. Turn down the heat, add the tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and cook for a further 2–3 minutes. Stir in the shredded basil and continue to cook for 30 seconds, then turn off the heat. Decant into a bowl and set aside to infuse. Wipe the pan clean, ready to cook the pork.

3
. Using a sharp knife, make cuts into the fat of the chops, about 5mm deep and at 3–4cm intervals, making sure you don’t cut into the meat. (This will stop the meat from curling up during cooking and will make it cook more evenly.) Season the chops really well on both sides, pushing the seasoning into the meat.

4
. Place the cleaned-out frying pan over a high heat until hot and add a dash of oil. Add the chops, garlic and thyme and fry for 2–3 minutes until coloured. Turn and fry for a further 2–3 minutes on the other side, pushing the thyme under the chops and breaking up the garlic a little.

5
. Towards the end of cooking time, add 3 knobs of butter and baste the chops with it as they are cooking, to speed up the cooking process and keep the chops moist. (Push the fatty edge of the chops towards the back of the pan to help render the fat.) Squeeze the garlic out of its skin and place with the herbs on top of the chops.

6
. Transfer the chops to a plate, and rest for 5–10 minutes, spooning over the basting butter now and again.

7
. Serve the chops on top of the peppers with the resting juices and a little juice from the peppers.

HOW TO SLICE PEPPERS

Chop off the green stalk and stand the flat end on your chopping board. Now slice down from the top, almost like peeling an orange, working your way around the pepper, to leave a tree of seeds. Now place the pepper slices down on the worktop, and holding them down with your three middle fingers, cut them into slices. Don’t try to rush: speed will come with practice.

SICHUAN CHICKEN
THIGHS

SERVES 4

Chicken thigh is the best part of the bird for me because its rich meat is tastier and stands up to robust flavours. This dish shows just how good it can be, cooked in a wonderfully sticky marinade. Shaoxing is a Chinese rice wine. You can find it in most supermarkets nowadays, but you could use medium-dry sherry instead. Serve with rice or noodles.

1
. Cut each chicken thigh into three pieces, then mix together all the marinade ingredients with 2 tablespoons of water. Use to coat the chicken. Season and mix well, then leave to marinate for up to 2 hours.

2
. Heat a heavy-based frying pan or a wok over a high heat, add a little oil and fry the garlic, ginger and chilli for 3 minutes until tender and aromatic. Add the Sichuan peppercorns and orange zest and stir over the heat for 30 seconds.

3
. Add the chicken and the marinade. Sprinkle in the sugar and stir well. Cover the pan and cook the chicken over a medium heat for 20–25 minutes until coloured on all sides and the marinade has reduced to a sticky sauce.

4
. To serve, add the spring onions and a drizzle each of soy sauce and sesame oil.

HOW TO PEEL ROOT GINGER

The easiest way to peel ginger, getting neatly around all those knobbly bits, is to use a teaspoon rather than a knife.

PAN-FRIED DUCK BREASTS
WITH BLACKCURRANT
SAUCE

SERVES 2

Duck with orange or cherries is such a classic, but there is no reason why you can’t pair it with other fruit or vegetables, such as rhubarb, gooseberries, or, as here, with blackcurrants – anything with a little acidity to cut through the meat’s richness. Baby new potatoes and chopped greens would make ideal accompaniments.

1
. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.

2
. Score the skin of the duck breasts in a crisscross pattern, then rub with salt and pepper. Place them skin side down in a dry hob-proof roasting tray and cook over a very low heat to render most of the fat. This may take 10–15 minutes.

3
. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Place the red wine in a pan with the garlic and thyme and boil for 7–8 minutes until reduced by half. Pour in the stock and reduce again by half. Stir the blackcurrant jam into the sauce and add a few knobs of butter to give it a shine. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then strain through a fine sieve and discard the solids.

4
. Turn up the heat under the duck breasts and fry for about 5 minutes until the skin is crisp. Turn them over and fry on the other side for 1–2 minutes until cooked through. Place the tray in the hot oven for 8–10 minutes until the duck is slightly springy when pressed.

5
. Rest the duck breasts on a warm plate for 5 minutes, then cut into slices on the diagonal. Place on warmed serving plates. Spoon over the blackcurrant sauce and serve.

HOW TO MINIMISE FATTINESS IN DUCK MEAT

Normally, meat should be added to a hot pan and sizzle the moment it goes in. Duck breast, however, should be added to a cold pan and slowly brought up to temperature. This is because the breast skin is very fatty and needs time for the fat to run out into the pan, or render. If you added the breast to a hot pan, it would seal the fat in.