Gordon Ramsay's Great British Pub Food Read Free Page A

salt
    Here you can experiment with different varieties of potato and other root vegetables, such as parsnips, carrots and beetroot. We love the flavour of waxy Charlotte potatoes. A touch of paprika or cayenne pepper gives them a slightly smoky sweet quality. The crisps will get soft if you leave them out for long, so store them in an airtight container until ready to serve.
    Peel the potatoes and rinse well. Cut them into very thin slices, about 2mm thick, ideally using a mandoline. Rinse the potato slices under cold running water to remove the excess starch. Pat them dry using one or two clean tea towels, then spread the slices out on a baking tray to dry out further.
    Heat an 8-10cm depth of oil in a deep-fryer or a heavy-based pan over a medium-high heat; the pan should be no more than one-third full. The oil is ready when it reaches 190°C, or when a cube of bread dropped in turns golden brown in less than 40 seconds. Fry the potatoes in batches. Add the slices to the pan a few at a time to prevent them from sticking together. Deep-fry for 3-4 minutes until golden and crisp, moving and turning the potatoes to ensure they colour evenly.
    Remove with a slotted spoon, drain off excess oil and spread the crisps out on a tray lined with kitchen paper. Sprinkle with the cayenne and salt mix, then leave to cool completely. Store the crisps in an airtight container unless serving straight away.
Pickled quail’s eggs
SERVES 4-6
    24 quail’s eggs, at room temperature
    350ml white wine vinegar
    125ml water
    1½ tsp fine sea salt
    1½ tsp cayenne pepper
    6 black peppercorns
    1 tsp mustard seeds
    2 bay leaves
    ½ tsp allspice
    Quintessential bar food, pickled eggs are like marmite – you either love them or hate them. But even today, you’ll often find a jar of them lurking behind the counter in many pubs. This recipe uses dainty quail’s eggs, which are easier to handle when you’ve got a drink in one hand.
    Place the quail’s eggs in a saucepan and add just enough water to cover. Bring to the boil and cook for 3 minutes, then drain and immerse in a bowl of cold water to cool quickly. When the eggs are cool enough to handle, peel and put them into clean, sterilized jars.
    Meanwhile, put all the remaining ingredients into a non-reactive pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Pour the spiced vinegar mixture over the eggs to cover completely, then seal the jars with tight-fitting lids. Refrigerate and leave for at least a week before eating.
Wild boar sausage rolls
SERVES 6
    500g good-quality butter puff pastry
    1½-2 tsp English mustard
    6 thick good-quality wild boar sausages, about 450g (or use sausagemeat)
    1 large egg yolk, beaten with 1 tsp water, to glaze
    sesame seeds, to sprinkle
    Sausage rolls are a great bar snack when you’re after something a little more substantial with a drink, but not a full meal. This recipe is one of several versions we serve at the pubs, using fantastic wild boar sausagemeat and good-quality puff pastry. You can substitute any kind of sausage for the filling, but do try to get one with a higher meat/lower fat content, preferably from a good butcher.
    Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to a large rectangle, about 3mm in thickness. Cut out 6 rectangles, about 10cm x 12cm (they should be just large enough to wrap around a sausage, so use one as a guide). Brush the pastry rectangles with a light coating of mustard.
    Peel off the skins from the sausages. Lay a sausage along one longer side of a pastry rectangle and roll the pastry around it, overlapping the ends slightly and pressing them lightly to seal. Put the sausage roll, seam side down, on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. Repeat to make the rest of the sausage rolls, leaving some space between them to allow for expansion on cooking. Brush the tops with some of the beaten egg and rest in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
    Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6. Brush the sausage rolls once