Mark
Mark Bradford was born in Australia in 1966 and has lived on a damp, cold island off the coast of France since 1970. Educated in the State School System (proudly), his teachers unanimously agreed he had raised indolence and mediocrity to world-class levels.
In sport, he excelled at outrunning the bigger kids to avoid a regular hiding. These traits have seen him through several aimless career changes and now, in his 50s, he finds himself wondering what he will do when he grows up.
But, he loves his family and he can cook a bit.
Follow him at www.bradfordfamilycookbook.uk
There’s a chemistry...
So this is about using the acid in lemons or limes to cook the fish. It’s not new – soused herrings (vinegar), ceviche, escabeche, actually the whole process is just pickling really. The trick is not to keep it in there too long.
One thing you can pretty much guarantee you can do better than a restaurant or pub can
I don't know what it is - cold fat; raw potatoes; crowding them in the pan... But anyway they are just always better at home
If you like cheese, you like peas, you'll love Cheezy Peaz!
Paneer is now widely available in supermarkets and is a bit like halloumi in that it stays together when you cook it, so if you fry it in spices it will collect them like tofu would
Not a gravy but not as pretentious as it sounds
So everything is a jus now but there are 2 important distinctions between jus and gravy. Gravy is pretty much a velouté which really means it’s thickened with flour and/or dairy of some sort. And gravy can have lumps of onion or whatever in it. Jus should be clear of any lumps.
...so we decided to have a roast but not a roast. It didn’t feel like a day for thick gravy and roast potatoes so we went back to the old Bradford spring/summer favourite; crushed potatoes.
I don’t wear Wellington boots and I don’t like pastry that much so . . .
This is similar to beef wellington but with lovely crispy prosciutto crudo on the outside instead of pastry.
Jelly and custard for grown-ups
This is not a review. But it is my opinion on something. Semantic? Yep!
Clown divorce: custardy battle
There are 2 versions of this, I wanted to make it thicker for a trifle so reduced the milk to 350ml and took an egg out but left the same amount of everything else
Bechemal for grown-ups. You don’t always want milk in your dinner unless you’re 1yrs old.
Velouté is based on a roux in the same way as Bechemal but you add stock, wine or something else instead of milk. The classic velouté is a “white stock”; not beef or lamb, so think fish, chicken or veg. The absolute classic is veal stock.