Tom Kerridge's Proper Pub Food (20 page)

Serves 2

For the green olive dressing

A day in advance, preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Use a blow torch or a gas flame on the hob to char the aubergine skins all over. When they are charred, put them in a roasting tray, place the tray in the oven and roast them for
35–45 minutes until they are very soft. Take the aubergines out of the oven and leave to cool. Do not turn the oven off.

Mix the cumin and coriander seeds together in a roasting tray. Place the tray in the oven and toast the seeds, taking the tray out once or twice and stirring, for 8–10
minutes until they are aromatic. Immediately remove the seeds from the tray and leave to one side until needed the next day.

When the aubergines are cool enough to handle, cut them in half lengthways and scoop out the flesh, avoiding any of the charred skin. Chop the flesh until it forms a rough
purée. Scrape the purée into a colander over a bowl and leave it to drain overnight.

The next day, put the cumin and coriander into a spice grinder and grid to form a powder, then pass through a fine sieve to remove any bigger pieces.

Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add 1½ tablespoons of the toasted spice powder and fry, stirring, for 2–3 minutes. Add the drained
aubergine purée and stir until it is warmed through. Add the double cream and lemon zest and juice and season. Cover with foil and keep hot until needed. Or you can leave this to cool and
reheat it gently just before serving. It will keep for 2–3 days in a covered container in the fridge.

Dust the monkfish fillets in the remaining spice mix. Heat 4 tablespoons olive oil and some butter in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the monkfish and fry,
turning the fillets all the time so the spices don’t burn, for 6–8 minutes until cooked through and the flesh flakes easily. Remove them from the pan and baste in the warm butter and a
squeeze of lemon juice. Leave to rest, as though they were pieces of meat.

While the monkfish is resting, make the green olive dressing. Mix the green olives, anchovies, capers and red chilli together in a non-metallic bowl. Stir in the olive oil, the
rest of the lemon juice and parsley and season, although it might not need much seasoning because there are lots of bold flavours here.

To serve, reheat the aubergine purée, if necessary. Place a spoonful of the purée on each plate. Slice the monkfish and place on top of the purée, then spoon
the green olive dressing over the top, garnish with celery leaves and serve immediately.

Spiced monkfish and aubergine purée with green olive dressing

This is a super-tasty dish, and you can use other good meaty fish instead of the salmon.

Using pine to marinate the salmon in and cook it over gives a real earthy, outdoor taste. Covering the fish in pine whilst cooking works in two ways – it both steams and
smokes the fish for extra flavour.

Serves 4

For the pine nut and Parmesan pesto

The day before cooking, remove about 400g of pine leaves from the branches, then put half of them in a plastic container with a lid. Put the salmon fillets on top and sprinkle
with the sea salt flakes. Pour over the olive oil, then add the remaining pine leaves. Put the lid on and give the box a gentle shake. Place the box in the fridge and leave the salmon to marinate
for 24 hours.

To make the pine nut and parmesan pesto, grind the garlic, thyme and lemon zest together with a pestle and mortar. Add the pine nuts and crush, then mix in the Parmesan. Slowly
add the olive oil, season and mix all ingredients together. Set aside at room temperature.

Before you plan to cook, light a barbecue and leave the coals to become glowing.

Put 1kg of the remaining pine branches on to the coals and then put the grate on top of the branches. Remove the salmon fillets from the marinade and put them straight on to the
hot grate. Place the remaining pine leaves on top of the fillets and grill, for 3 minutes. Halfway through the cooking time, brush off the top pine leaves, turn the fillets over and brush with the
pine nut and Parmesan pesto and continue grilling for a further 2–3 minutes until the salmon is cooked through and the flesh flakes easily.

Remove the fillets from the grate, spread with more pine nut and Parmesan pesto and serve.

Salmon barbecued in pine with pine nut and Parmesan pesto

I love this barbecue dish; the onions taste so fresh and really complement the oily rich fish. This is the ultimate in finger food — pulling the toasted fish apart in chunks
is one of life’s joys. Really simple but so good!

The salad is like a coleslaw without mayonnaise, and a good splash of chilli vinegar gives the whole dish a proper zing.

Serves 4–6

For the salt-cured onion salad

For the chilli malt vinegar

First, make the salt-cured onion salad. Mix the baby onions, chillies, white, red and Spanish onions, shallot, cabbage and onion seeds together in a large non-metallic bowl. Add
the sea salt flakes, toss together and leave the salad to cure for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, light a barbecue and leave the coals to become glowing.

To make the chilli malt vinegar, mix the vinegar, sugar and chilli flakes together in a saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove
the pan from the heat and set aside for the mix to cool.

When the coals are at the correct temperature for barbecuing, place the sardines into a mesh barbecue cage and drizzle with rapeseed oil. Place over the hot coals and grill for
about 5 minutes, turning once, until the sardine flesh flakes easily and the skins are charred. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes.

Wash the onion salad ingredients under running cold water to remove the salt. Pat them dry, then place them in a mixing bowl. Add the spring onions, chives and mint and rapeseed
oil to taste, then toss everything together.

Serve the fish whole with the onion salad and the chilli malt vinegar for sprinkling over.

Barbecued sardines with salt-cured onion salad

I owe the inspiration for this dish to my Goan kitchen porter, Ariston, who showed me how fish is cured with a red chilli paste to preserve it in the markets and beachside
cafés in Goa, due to the lack of refrigeration. I serve the mackerel with a shrimp kachumber alongside. This dish is a fantastic celebration of the wondeful flavours of India.

Serves 2

For the red chilli marinade

For the shrimp kachumber

Begin the red chilli marinade a week in advance. Place the dried chillies into a jam jar, cover with the rice wine vinegar, seal the jar and keep in the fridge for one week.

After one week, remove the chillies and place them in a small food processor or pestle and mortar. Reserve the rice vinegar. Add the garlic and the lime juice to the food
processor and blend or pound. As the chillies and garlic start to break down, add the palm sugar, chickpea flour, chilli powder, ground coriander and ground cumin. Pour in a little of the rice wine
vinegar and blend to make a paste-like consistency.

Cut 4 or 5 slits into the sides of each mackerel and rub in the red chilli marinade. Place the fish on a non-metallic plate in the fridge for at least one hour or up to 24 hours.
The longer you leave the fish in the marinade, the stronger the chilli flavour will be.

Meanwhile, make the kachumber. To peel and deseed the tomatoes, bring a saucepan of water to the boil over a high heat and put a bowl of iced water in the sink. Add the tomatoes
to the water and boil for 10 seconds, then immediately drain and put them in the iced water to stop the cooking. Drain them again and use a small knife to peel off the skins. Cut the tomatoes in
half, scoop out the seeds and finely dice the flesh.

Place the diced tomatoes in a non-metallic bowl and add the onion and cucumber. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the sea salt flakes and leave for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, tip the vegetables into a colander and rinse them quickly in cold running water, then pat them dry. Return the vegetables to the bowl and add the chopped
coriander, mint and coriander seeds.
Preheat the grill to very hot – as hot as you can heat it!