Kerridge’s - Best Ever Dishes

To the biggest support in my life, my best mate and the foundation on which everything is built, my lovely wife Bef ;) Also, to the three daft dogs... love you! introduction I consider myself a very lucky man. I spend my life with people I love, making great food for customers who really seem to appreciate it. Theres not a day I drive to work at my pub, The Hand & Flowers, when I dont feel excited about whats going to happen next. Even though its really hard work, I try to make each dish as good as I can; my own, personal, best ever. And thats what I want to share with you in this book: my special take on familiar dishes like tomato soup, lasagne, shepherds pie, rice pudding and chocolate tart, as well as more exotic delights.

Im showing you all of the tweaks, tricks and techniques Ive learned over the past twenty years or so, to transform the everyday into the spectacular. Ive pumped up the flavour and, I hope, given these recipes a whole new lease of life. I wasnt the most obvious person to run a two-Michelin-starred kitchen. I grew up in Gloucester and went to an all-boys comprehensive school, which I loved. Not so much the classes as what was in between them hanging out with my mates, having a laugh. My mum called it the school of life.

From when I was eleven, Mum brought up my little brother and me on her own. She had two jobs: working for the council in the day then at a pub in the evening, so often I made the tea. It was nothing posh beans on toast, fish finger sandwiches, that sort of thing. Then one day I put a bit of curry powder in the beans to make it different. Every Wednesday I made a bolognaise sauce from scratch for Thursday nights tea. Mum would supervise at first but then I just got on with it myself.

It wasnt a life where you would bake a cake and lick the beaters; it was proper dinner. That bolognaise was my first kind of interesting cooking I suppose, but I didnt catch the bug properly until I was about eighteen and I got my first real job in the kitchen at Calcot Manor in Tetbury. The moment I went into the kitchen, I knew it was the place for me. At that point, it wasnt even about the food. It was that atmosphere, the camaraderie where everyone works hard but you can have a laugh too mess about, have a few jokes with the naughty boys like I did at school, plus the flames and knives! But I liked the sense of order too, the discipline and hierarchy of us all pulling together to get the job done, and thats never left me. When I was twenty-one, I went to London.

I knew that was where I wanted to work and it was a great time to be there. The restaurant scene was becoming really exciting. Marco Pierre White was cooking with three stars, Nico Ladeniswas running Chez Nico, Gordon Ramsay was getting going at Aubergine. I got a job at the Capital Hotel, which had a serious kitchen. I was determined to learn as much as I could to put in the hard graft, to develop my love of food and understanding of it. I learned the most important lesson: that ingredients and how to source the best is where you do all of the really hard work.

Since then, all my kitchens and dishes have been ingredient led. Learning how to cook, whether youre in a professional kitchen or cooking for your family and mates at home, is just a process of knowing how to get the best out of your ingredients; how to create the most intense flavours. I dont think of myself as an artist, I see myself as a craftsman someone whos learned his trade, knows his ingredients and what he wants to do with them. I remember when I was just starting out, I made a garlic sauce and my mum said, This really tastes of garlic! I was so disappointed, like it was a bad thing, but then I realised hang on, thats what I want! Cooking is sometimes just a process of ensuring things really taste of themselves. I like big flavours. I like getting the balance of taste and texture just right sweet, acid, crunch, silkiness.

And Im obsessed with seasoning. Youll see as you go through this book how much I like curing, brining and salting, rubs and marinades. I take every chance I can to add some extra flavour. I hope you wont be nervous about getting stuck in. None of the recipes here are particularly difficult. Some of them might take a little time, but a lot of that is usually the dish sitting in the fridge or oven letting the ingredients do the work for you as they mingle and develop into something lovely.

And most of all, I hope you have fun. When Im in the kitchen Im confident, Im smiling, Im laughing. And I was like that even before I had the skills to back it up! Put in enough care, give it your best go, and who cares if your dish doesnt look absolutely perfect? Itll still taste brilliant. With practice, you can always improve technique. Cook with love and I promise you thatll shine through on the plate. equipment & ingredients Before you get cracking, a bit of housekeeping.

I dont want to get all cheffy on you, but there are some bits of kit I rely on every day and use in some of the recipes here. None of them are very expensive or elaborate, but I guarantee theyll make your life easier, for these recipes and for all of your cooking, so theyre worth the investment. For fine slicing of ingredients, such as coleslaws and other salads, a Japanese mandolin will give you perfectly shredded veg in no time. I like a Microplane-type grater too. Theyre brilliant for getting the finest possible texture from garlic, ginger, citrus zests and nutmeg. For spice rubs and curry powder, a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder will help you produce great texture for very little outlay.

I also think a meat mincer is a useful addition to any kitchen. It means you can grind meat to exactly the grade of coarseness you want and you can mince specific cuts of meat for terrines and sauces. An instant-read thermometer will definitely earn its keep in your kitchen: use it for deep-frying, judging whether meat is done and making perfect custards and sauces. Lastly, a blowtorch, which I use in several of these recipes. Apart from being great fun and easy to operate, theyre brilliant for adding colour to roasts and for charring things like lemon slices for the most incredible garnish. Just make sure that the ingredient youre flaming is on a heatproof surface, such as a metal tray, before you fire up the blowtorch.

Finally, a few words about ingredients and their preparation. Throughout this book, in the lists of ingredients, all of the fruit and veg are medium-sized and washed and peeled unless otherwise stated. Lemons and other citrus fruits are unwaxed ideally, but if you can only get the waxed kind give them a good scrub under a hot tap before using the zest. All eggs are large. Milk, yoghurt and other dairy products are lovely full-fat versions. Butter is unsalted, and salt is ordinary table salt unless I specify the flaky sea stuff because its texture is an important part of the dish.

Cracked black pepper is required for the punch it gives a dish you can find it in supermarkets. For general seasoning, use freshly ground pepper. I always make my own stock but I appreciate this isnt possible all the time. So if you havent got any home-made stock in the freezer, you can substitute my version with a good-quality shop-bought variety of whichever type is called for in the recipe. And now youre ready to get started. ............................................................. starters .............................................................