I’ve Found The Secret To Fluffy Jacket Potatoes In Under 7 Minutes

Posted on 27/12/2024 by Boris Clair

Jacket potatoes are so close to being the perfect midweek winter meal. They’re filling; they’re tasty; they go with basically anything. They’re also cheap, and spuds take much longer to go off than lots of other veggies.

But there’s one problem; it feels like you can basically while away an entire evening waiting for them to cook in an oven.

I can hear the purists now – and yes, I do agree that a lot of the time, the extra wait time is worth it. It’s a great way to ensure perfect, fluffy spuds with delicate, crispy skins, and other cooking methods (like air frying) take a similar amount of time.

But hear me out ― thanks to TikTok, I’ve been converted to a 10-minute microwave jacket potato-cooking method (yes, really).

What’s the method?

TikToker @harley.salem shared a microwave-based recipe for fluffy, crispy jacket spuds – and it’s racked up almost two hundred thousand likes.

The method is pretty simple: you wash the potato, shallowly stab it with a fork a LOT, deeply stab it with a fork a few times, and then wrap the spud in wet kitchen roll.

Place the damp parcel in the microwave for six minutes, and then carefully remove the VERY HOT cooked spud from your microwave. We recommend doing this with a tool like tongs, as it’s literally steaming at this point.

Then, also using a tool like tongs, peel the kitchen roll away from the potato ― et voila, you’ve got a perfectly fluffy spud.

If your spud isn’t fully cooked by the time it’s come out of the microwave, that’s simple to fix – simply re-wrap it in more damp kitchen roll and let it microwave for a couple more minutes (the bigger the spud, the longer you’ll need).

Why does it work?

Wrapping potatoes in wet kitchen roll is “crucial” for a moist and fluffy interior, according to Tasting Table.

Potatoes are pretty watery, however microwaving them can cause all of this water to evaporate really quickly, drying out your beloved baked spud.

The thinking is that wrapping the potato in wet kitchen roll acts as an “evaporation buffer” helping the spud to retain enough moisture to stay fluffy and delicious.

“Best hack ever … sooo easy,” one commenter shared on TikTok. And having tried it myself, I completely agree – the texture is so far from the soggy, grainy mess microwaves sometimes create.

I will say that it’s not the crispiest skin I’ve ever eaten on a potato and the damp kitchen roll gets very, very hot, so you need to be careful (we weren’t joking about those tongs).

But for speed, efficiency and overall flavour, this gets a solid 9/10 from me.

Mary Berry’s Unexpected Secret Ingredient For Delicious Turkey Skin

Posted on 23/12/2024 by Boris Clair

With Christmas day being only days away, it’s almost time to start prepping the turkey. It’s not often the most pleasant of activities, what with the uh, giblets removal and all but with the right preparation comes the most succulent of Christmas meats.

This year, we’re looking to none other than the queen of the kitchen herself, Mary Berry, for our turkey recipe. After all, who better to help us cook up a storm and impress our family with our kitchen tricks?

Of course, by this point we all have our own traditions for cooking the Christmas turkey but this year, we’ll be adding a little of Mary Berry’s finishing touches to the skin with orange slices.

The perfect finishing touch to roast turkey

So, in Mary Berry’s turkey crown recipe as featured on Mary Berry’s Absolute Christmas Favourites, she has two oranges ― one cut into slices and one cut in half and these add finishing touches to the cooking of the turkey.

So, once you’ve done your own preparations, loosen the skin on the turkey using your fingers or a spatula, gently so as not to tear anything. Then, mix two teaspoons of thyme leaves with 50g of softened butter and smear the mixture underneath the skin of the bird.

Then, arrange orange slices in two neat rows, under the skin and on top of the herb butter.

As for those orange halves? Place one under the skin at the neck end of the bird and any orange trimmings in the cavity.

This mix of citrus and herbs gives a perfectly Christmas flavour to the tastebuds and with not-too-much effort.

Plus, if you have any leftovers, these can be frozen for up to a month. Just make sure you wrap them up well!

Now just to follow Mary’s perfect cooking method for turkey…

Mary Berry’s Unexpected Secret Ingredient For Crispy Roast Potatoes And Parsnips

Posted on 22/12/2024 by Boris Clair

It takes a lot for me to change my tried-and-tested roast parsnip recipe, but if there’s anyone who can convince me to alter my beloved roaster routine, it’s Mary Berry.

Writing for Love to Cook, the author and cooking guru shared that “Crunchy sweet parsnips are the perfect side dish. The addition of semolina gives them a lovely crispy outside.”

The trick works for spuds, too, she says ― “With the addition of semolina, these golden parsnips become extra crisp in the oven. Throw some in with your roast potatoes for something a bit different this Sunday.”

So, we thought we’d share why it works, as well as some other root veg-roasting tips:

Semolina has a moisture content of around 14%, which is why you need to hydrate it with milk or another liquid to access its fluffy deliciousness.

Meanwhile, spuds sit between 75% and 85% moisture. Parsnips are 80% water. That means that both veg tend to steam a little as they bake, providing the softer, fluffier texture we love on the inside of our roasters.

So, when you coat either option in small, dry semolina, the cereal stays dry and crispy when you bake them while the insides of the veg grow fluffy.

And because the grain is so fine and small, it clings easily to the outside of your roasted roots.

Yep! Mary Berry recommends cutting your parsnips into eighths rather than quarters for that extra-crisp finish, as you’ll have a larger surface area (and corners) for the oil to cover.

For both parsnips and potatoes, the semolina trick takes a similar pattern. Par-boil the veg (par-boiling should take four minutes for parsnips and up to ten minutes for spuds).

Cool them a little before placing some oil in a baking tray to get hot when you’re ready to prep the veggies for roasting.

Then, coat the parboiled veg salt, pepper, and a little oil before adding semolina and your herbs of choice. Cook until golden and deliciously, perfectly crisp.

I’m A Chef — This Simple Recipe Will Level Up Your Carrots On Christmas Day

Posted on 20/12/2024 by Boris Clair

We all know that we’re going to spend Christmas day fighting over roast potatoes with our families and that the meat of choice comes after deep consideration but according to one chef, we’re actually missing a trick when it comes to our carrots.

Yes, that’s right, our collective disregard of the humble carrot has led us astray and we’ve been taking their essential spot on our dinner plates for granted, especially around this time of year.

Outrageous, really, since carrots are the ideal snack for reindeers.

Michael Lawson, head chef at Atlantic Brasserie said: “Carrots are great produce to cook with; they’re available year round and are super versatile.

“For Christmas dinner there are countless ways to elevate this humble veggie into the star of the show.”

How to elevate your Christmas carrots

Lawson promises that this recipe can “transform carrots into a stunning holiday centrepiece, that’s as delicious as it is eye-catching.”

All you need is honey, butter, pistachios, orange zest and, if you’re feeling extra fancy — chives.

Lawson says: “I start with glazing carrots with honey and butter, which gives them a rich and sticky finish.

“My secret ingredient is pistachios – they might not be the first garnish you think of when you’re cooking carrots, but they give the dish a nice crunch and a contrasting savoury flavour which is just mouthwatering. You can also add in some chives for colour and a more complex flavour”

Once you’ve done this, roast your carrots in olive oil for 45 minutes until fully cooked. Then, Lawson advises: “Make a glaze with the zest of an orange and around 20 ml of honey, cover the carrots in this and roast for a further ten minutes.

“Sprinkle the pistachios and chopped chives before serving. It’s a super easy way to level up what can be a basic side – and it’s perfect for Christmas dinner.”

I think it’s fair to say I’ll be tucking into this treat throughout the year, too.

I’m A Chef — The Secret To The Best Brussels Sprouts Isn’t Bacon

Posted on 13/12/2024 by Boris Clair

Home cooks, check off these “secret ingredients” as they apply: do you put chocolate in your chilli? Sugar in your tomato sauce? Do you reckon everyone else would just loveee Brussels sprouts if only they oven-roasted them with some bacon or pancetta?

There’s nothing wrong with those tried-and-true pearls of kitchen wisdom; they do work.

But according to Dean Parker, chef patron of Glasgow restaurant Celentano’s, there’s another way to transform the humble sprout.

When asked what his secret to brilliant Brussels is, he didn’t mention any pork products at all.

So what’s the secret?

“Hazelnuts and miso butter are my secret ingredient for my Brussel sprouts,” he shared.

Hazelnuts add the crunch of chestnuts that chefs like Mary Berry swear by (though she sometimes plumps for cashews), while miso butter creates both the umami tang you’d expect from meat and the decedent creaminess only butter can deliver.

You can pan-fry drained, boiled sprouts in the mix, like Mary Berry does with her cashew and pea version.

Alternatively, you can slice your sprouts pretty thinly for a bit more bite.

Miso butter is incredibly easy to make too: simply mix the ingredients together with a fork.

Any other tips?

If you’re making a festive feast, Tommy Heaney, founder of Heaneys, Cardiff, swears by time and effort-saving a trick I’ve used and love myself.

He recommends par-boiling your potatoes ahead of time, chuffing them in a colander, and then leaving them in the fridge overnight before cooking them the next day.

If you really want to be hands-off on Christmas, he advises, “Put them in the freezer until Christmas Eve and defrost overnight.”

“On Christmas Day, begin by frying them with plenty of oil or fat until coloured all over, add garlic and rosemary and then finish in the oven on a high heat.”

I’m sold…

Here’s How To Make Your Own Tomato Purée At Home, And It’s Surprisingly Easy

Posted on 02/12/2024 by Boris Clair

If you’ve read my thoughts on brownies, carrot cake, or fudge, you’ll know I can be pretty particular about my food.

The same goes for cupboard staples too ― some, like butter, aren’t worth making yourself, I reckon, but others pay back your effort in spades.

I’m a big fan of DIY tomato purée because it allows you to control the taste and thickness, and also gives you a genuinely useful way to use up all those uneaten tomatoes.

So I thought I’d share how I do mine.

How do you make tomato purée?

The only ingredient you’ll need is tomatoes.

Because the recipe contains no other ingredient, there are no ratios to toggle with, so it doesn’t matter how many you have ― whatever you’ve got will do, though it’s a bit of a process so I like to do big batches at once.

If you want to peel the tomatoes, you might want to boil and then blanch them in ice water to make the skin easier to remove, but I don’t bother.

Chop your tomatoes up (smaller chunks will cook faster, but it’ll get blended, so don’t stress out about finely dicing them) and put them in a saucepan over medium heat.

Though some recipes will ask you to boil tomatoes in some water, I’ve never seen the point. Like stewing apples, I find the fruits provide enough liquid to simmer themselves.

Once you’ve got a rapid boil, turn your heat down and let the tomatoes simmer for at least ten minutes. The longer you leave it on the hob, the thicker your tomato purée will be.

Then, let the tomatoes cool for at least five minutes and run them through a blender before straining the whizzed-up thickened tomatoes through muslin or even a sieve.

That’s your purée ― if you reckon it’s a little bit too thin, you can put it back on the hob to reduce more.

Any tomatoes work, but locally-grown ones will taste better.

How long does it keep?

Culinary site The Spruce Eats says you can leave homemade tomato purée in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. I find the flavour’s only good for up to about five days.

But you can freeze it in ice cube trays or airtight bags for up to six months ― again, The Spruce Eats says the taste degrades a bit after month three.

Though it is possible to can it at home, I’d recommend advising against it if you’re not canning with an expert or aren’t experienced with the process yourself. Unsafe canning can cause potentially deadly botulism.

I’ve Tried Over 30 Brownie Recipes ― The Best Ones All Omit This Common Ingredient

Posted on 04/11/2024 by Boris Clair

Some people treat fudgy vs cakey brownie discourse like it’s a debate. It’s not; the latter is a chocolate traybake, and the former is a proper, you know, brownie.

After all, no less than the Cambridge Dictionary defines them as “a small, square chocolate cake that is soft in the middle.”

With that understanding, I’ve long been on the hunt for the fudgiest, densest, most chocolate-y of chocolate brownie recipes.

I’ve tried Gordon Ramsay’s (fine, but not quite the right texture), Nigella Lawson’s (delicious but, again, not as relentlessly squidgy as I prefer), and even Mary Berry’s (dare I say it; they were a little lacklustre too).

Only a few recipes stood up to my gooey-base, paper-thin crispy top standards; and all of them had a counterintuitive secret in common.

Which is?

It sounds completely wrong, but the densest, fudgy-est brownies I’ve made have never featured melted chocolate in the batter.

Part of the reason why that feels so untrue is that melted chocolate is so luxurious, so extravagant, and so, well, chocolate-y. Why would something so cocoa-lly good make a chocolate dessert less sumptuous?

All I can say is it turns out Bon Appetit found the same thing I did when testing brownie recipes: “As compared to those made with just chocolate or a combination of the two, cocoa brownies are reliably superior in terms of texture and flavour,” they shared.

That’s partly because chocolate contains a fat called cocoa butter, which is solid at room temperature (hence, you bite a chocolate bar rather than spread it on your toast).

But when you include cocoa powder, which contains next to none of the fat, your batter is forced to rely on the other fat in the mix for its texture ― butter.

Dairy butter is just about solid at room temperature, but much less so than its cocoa cousin.

That means brownies made without melted chocolate in the batter take on more of the properties of the butter; they’re softer, more velvet-y, and gooier when cold.

Then, there’s a question of taste; good cocoa is, well, 100% cocoa, while chocolate will always be somewhat tempered.

That leads to a darker, denser, more chocolate-y flavour.

So what’s the best recipe?

I do actually add some chocolate chunks (never chips) to the brownie mix after it’s all combined. Because it’s not incorporated into the batter, it doesn’t affect the brownie’s texture as much, and it tastes amazing.

But if you ask me, a person who has tried about 32 different variations, the best recipe around is from Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall.

I have screenshotted, sent, and then saved his steps on multiple email accounts and written them out physically in more than two notebooks in case The Guardian ever take the page down.

“For me, brownie nirvana is a crackled, shiny top beneath which lies a rich, dense and chewy middle, verging on the underdone,” the food pro wrote ― and he delivered.

The only note I have is to skip the walnuts he suggests as an optional add-in in place of chocolate chips. Come on ― we all know why we’re really here.

Mary Berry’s Failsafe Recipe For The Best Paris-Brest

Posted on 26/10/2024 by Boris Clair

You may have seen bakers struggle to make the dreamy Paris-Brest dessert featured on this Tuesday’s Great British Bake-Off.

But if you’re anything like me, a delusional part of your brain probably also went: “That looks nice, I could do that.”

Well, if you want to attempt the precarious pastry, it turns out that none other than GBBO’s former judge Mary Berry has a timeless recipe.

Sharing her know-how on BBC’s site, the Cordon Bleu-trained chef said: “These decadent pastries filled with praline and cream are like giant profiteroles, perfect for sharing.”

How does Mary make ’em?

She says you’ll need”a food processor, a piping bag, a star nozzle and a silicone mat” to perfect her recipe, which offers two Paris-Brests (a pair if you will).

She preheats her oven to 220C/200C, lines a baking sheet with baking paper, and draws four 10cm-ish circles on it before flouring the parchment.

Then, she makes choux pastry by putting milk, salt, sugar, butter, and water into a pan, removing from the heat once it starts bubbling, and ― frankly ― beating the bejesus out of it “until it forms a dough that leaves the side of the pan clean.”

Then she places the mix back into the pan and heats it for five minutes or so.

Once cooled slightly, she beats eggs into the dough “until the dough is smooth and glossy,” and then place it in a piping bag.

She pipes four thick rings into the circles she drew earlier, then tops them with egg wash and almonds.

These should be baked for 10-15 minutes at full temp, and then a further 10 minutes at 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4; dry them out in an opened oven for three minutes afterwards.

Then, Mary makes a praline by spreading hazelnut-filled caramel onto a silicone mat, leaving it to cool, and whizzing it in a blender.

She also makes vanilla whipped cream for the filling.

“Sprinkle half the praline onto the bottom halves of the choux rings, then pipe a generous amount of cream over the praline. Sprinkle the remaining praline over the cream and place the pastry lids on top. Dust with icing sugar and serve,” Mary says.

Why is it called a Paris-Brest to begin with?

Per The New York Times, it was created by pastry chef Louis Durand.

It was named after a bike race that runs between Paris and Brest, a port city; it was even designed to look like a bike.

The New York Times advises making your praline first, in direct contradiction with Mary Berry’s advice (should we make them cycle a race to determine the winner?).

The Best Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Only Takes 8 Minutes To Cook

Posted on 24/09/2024 by Boris Clair

With the Great British Bake Off set to return today, most of us (ie. me) have grand ideas of baking alongside the show.

Inevitably, though, life gets in the way ― after all, the show does air on a school night.

Luckily, though, Philips’ in-house air fryer chef Martin Senders has a delicious cookie recipe that takes a measly eight minutes to cook in everyone’s favourite time-saving appliance.

“We can’t all be born ‘Star Baker’, so any technology that makes baking more of a breeze is always welcome ― and that’s exactly what the Airfryer does,” Senders told HuffPost UK over email.

“An Airfryer works by circulating hot air, making it perfect for golden, perfectly risen bakes with no soggy bottom’ in sight,” he added.

Cookies in particular do well in the devices, as it’s really easy to achieve that drool-worthy soft inside and crips exterior.

What’s the recipe?

Senders’ recipe serves eight, he says.

The ingredients are:

60g milk chocolate
60g dark chocolate
160g plain flour
2 pinches of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
100g softened unsalted butter
70g white sugar
2 tablespoons of milk
40g almond flakes.

To make the cookies, he says, you should follow these steps:

Coarsely chop both types of chocolate, and combine then combine the flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder in a bowl and mix until incorporated.
Add the softened butter and sugar to a bowl and beat until fluffy. Add the milk and continue mixing. Gradually add the flour mixture while continuing to mix until evenly combined. Add the chopped chocolate and mix until just incorporated.
Shape the dough into about eight balls and let them rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Flatten them into a cookie shape.
Dip the bottom of your cookies in flaked almonds, before placing four of them into the Airfryer basket and cooking for 8 minutes at 160 degrees. Repeat this step for the remaining cookies.
Let cookies sit for around five minutes to cool before serving.

Cookie dough balls can be wrapped in baking paper and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.

If you still haven’t used up all the biccies by then, you can store them in the freezer for up to three months by placing the individually-wrapped cookies in a freezer bag ― just pop them in the air fryer for a little longer than you would when fresh when you fancy one.

I Can’t Un-Read Mary Berry’s Tomato-Less Tomato Soup Recipe From The 70s, So I’m Sharing It

Posted on 08/03/2024 by Boris Clair

Now, I am a Mary Berry STAN. I love her. I love her recipes, I love seeing her on TV and I stopped watching Bake Off when she left because, truly, what’s the point?

That being said, my vintage Mary Berry cookbook from the 70s is not always… perfect, shall we say.

Take, for example, the tomato soup that I found in there today. It’s a ‘summer’ tomato soup which means it’s eaten cold and not cooked but also… there are… no actual tomatoes that need to be chopped for this recipe?

I swear, I had to keep re-reading because I thought I’d missed a step but apparently I didn’t and neither did Mary herself because this is still an entire soup.

I can only put it down to the 70s being a little weird.

Mary Berry’s Tomato-Less Tomato Soup Recipe

So. If you’re feeling like a yoghurty gazpacho is on your bucket list, you may want to try this vintage recipe. It’s not for me personally but as Mary says in the recipe itself, “it’s very much a sophisticated taste” and what can I say? I’m an uncultured buffoon.

So, for this alternative tomato soup recipe, you’ll need:

500ml of natural yoghurt
500ml of tomato juice
The juice and grated rind of a lemon
1/2 cucumber, cut into 5cm cubes
Salt
Ground black pepper
Worcester sauce
Cucumber slices for garnish

… Told you! No tomatoes! Juice tomato juice!

Then you simply:

Whisk together yoghurt and tomato juice
Stir in lemon juice, grated lemon rind and cucumber
Season well and add Worcester sauce
Serve chilled and garnished with thin slices of cucumber

This comes from a vintage cookbook of Mary’s from 1975: Beating The Cost Of Cooking and while I likely wouldn’t choose this meal, I’ll cherish this throwback cookbook forever.

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