Fr Alex's Recipes for this week

For the kitchen
Gammon Recipe
INGREDIENTS

For the pickle
  • 200ml/7fl oz white wine vinegar
  • caster sugar, to taste
  •    1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
  •    2 tsp fennel seeds
  •    1 red chilli, finely chopped
  •    1 tbsp julienned ginger
  •    1 bay leaf
  •    2 star anise•   
  •    1–2 tsp salt
  •    2–3 large carrots, peeled and grated

    For the gammon steaks
    •    dash oil
    •    2 x 150g/5½oz gammon steaks about 2cm/1in thick
    •    1 tsp honey
    •    1 tsp Dijon mustard

    For the fritters
    •    1 leek, thinly sliced
    •    1 onion, grated
    •    1 potato, grated
    •    2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
    •    2 tsp chopped thyme
    •    few tbsp chickpea flour
    •    salt and freshly ground black pepper

    To serve
    •    2 tbsp baby watercress

    Method
    1.    To make the pickle, boil all the ingredients (except the carrots) with 200ml/7fl oz water in a saucepan. Put the carrots in a bowl and pour the hot liquid over the grated carrots.
    Leave to steep for a few hours before serving.

    2.    To make the gammon steaks, heat a dash of oil in a pan and fry the gammon on both sides for 5–6 minutes, or until cooked though. Mix together the honey and Dijon mustard in a small bowl. Immediately brush the steaks with the mixture and leave in a warm place to rest.
    Slice before serving.

    3.    To make the fritters, pre-heat a deep fat fryer to 180C (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)

    4.    Mix all the ingredients except the chickpea flour together and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Squeeze the excess water and mix with the enough flour to bind and form into flat patties.

    5.    Carefully lower the patties into the hot oil using a slotted spoon and deep-fry until golden-brown.
    Carefully remove using a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

    6.    Serve the gammon with the fritters and pickle and garnished with the watercress.
    For the bar
    Vodka-Martini
    (Vodkatini)
    INGREDIENTS
      • 2 Measures Vodka      
      • ½ Measure Dry Vermouth                                                        
      Method
      Stir with ice in a mixing jug, and strain into a cocktail glass.  Add a stuffed Olive if required or a twist of lemon, if preferred.  Many of the old gin cocktails were tried out with Vodka once it became widely available in the USA in the 1940’s.
      The Vodka Martini was a cinch. It was the version favoured by everyone from the novelist Daniel Hammett to International espionage ace James Bond, although he famously prefers his ‘shaken, not stirred’.