Tom Kerridge's Proper Pub Food by Tom Kerridge Read Free Book Online Page A

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starter, however, it’s good before roast meat and the super-tasty, crunchy topping adds a bit of texture.
    Serves 4
    50g butter
    4 leeks, halved lengthways, rinsed and sliced
    100ml chicken stock
    175ml double cream
    175g blue cheese
    2 teaspoons thyme leaves
    50g fresh breadcrumbs
    50g oats
    25g pine nuts
    25g demerara sugar
    25g sunflower seeds
    75g butter, melted
    salt and pepper, to taste
    Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6.
    Melt the butter in a flameproof dish on the hob. Add the leeks to the melted butter and season. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to the boil, then leave to bubble until the
chicken stock reduces to a glaze. Add the double cream and bring back to the boil and reduce again by one-third. Crumble in the blue cheese and mix it in with the leeks. Stir in 1 teaspoon of the
thyme leaves, then remove the dish from the heat.
    Mix the remaining thyme leaves, breadcrumbs, oats, pine nuts, sugar and sunflower seeds together in a bowl. Pour in the melted butter and mix thoroughly. Spoon the oat mix over
the top of the leeks. Place the dish in the oven and bake the leeks for 15–20 minutes until the toping is toasted and golden brown. Serve immediately.

ST GEORGE’S MUSHROOMS, GARLIC AND PARSLEY ON SOURDOUGH TOAST
    Mushrooms on toast is a real favourite of mine. It was one of the first ‘dishes’ that I learnt to cook at home with my mum.
    This version is right in time for the spring season, using St George’s mushrooms and wild garlic, but you can vary the ingredients, depending on the season’s
available wild mushrooms. Or just use the always-dependable and very tasty button mushrooms with sorrel or spinach instead of wild garlic. The Parmesan cheese has a wonderful dairy acidity that
cuts through the richness of this dish.
    I like to toast my sourdough bread on a cast-iron grill pan for that appetizing ‘burnt’ bar marking flavour, but use the grill if you don’t have the pan.
    Serves 4
    75g butter
    2 tablespoons rapeseed oil
    4 garlic cloves, crushed
    1 banana shallot, finely chopped
    400g St George’s mushrooms, wiped and trimmed – nice small ones are best but if you can only get large ones, halve them
    truffle oil, to taste
    100ml double cream
    100g wild garlic leaves
    3 tablespoons very finely chopped parsley leaves
    2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
    lemon juice, to taste
    salt and pepper, to taste
    4 pieces of sourdough bread, toasted, to serve
    100g Parmesan cheese, to serve
    Melt the butter with the rapeseed oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and shallot and fry, stirring, for 2–3 minutes until the shallot is just
softened. Add the St George’s mushrooms, increase the heat to high and fry, stirring, for 3–4 minutes until they are just tender. Add the double cream and a splash of truffle oil and
leave the cream to bubble until the mushrooms are glazed and creamy.
    Stir in the wild garlic leaves, parsley and chives. Season and add lemon juice to taste. Spoon the mushroom mix on top of the hot pieces of toast. Grate the Parmesan cheese over
the tops and serve immediately.

St George’s mushrooms, garlic and parsley on sourdough toast

SPRING ONIONS, ONION SEEDS AND SHALLOT DRESSING
    This is a particularly flexible, all-round recipe. It’s great as a first-course salad, like I suggest here, but I also sometimes serve it alongside main courses, such as
cooked ham, cured meats or white fish. The different types of onion give layer after layer of taste and texture. Onion seeds are really fragrant and add great depth to the dish.
    Serves 4
    4 banana shallots
    150ml milk
    2 tablespoons onion seeds
    200ml rapeseed oil
    4 tablespoons Cabernet Sauvignon vinegar
    2 tablespoons chopped chives
    100g butter, cubed
    300ml water
    2–3 bunches of spring onions, trimmed
    100g plain white flour
    vegetable oil for deep-frying
    salt and pepper, to taste
    Slice 2 of the shallots into thin rings, then put in a bowl and pour over the milk. Leave on one side