Alice's Basic Tomato Sauce
I use this a lot for the base of pasta sauces, Italian stews, pizzas and all sorts really. I sometimes add spice and other vegtables, or just throw in whatever I fancy!
Ingredients (I usually make extra and cool/freeze it so use your own discretion the quantities):
Onion
Passata and/or Tinned Tomatos
Plenty Garlic
Splash of wine (Red or White depending on which would compliment the dish you are making, also an alternative to wine is stock)
Red and Green Chillis (optional)
Anything else you can think of!
Olive Oil
- Chop the onions how you would like them. I sometimes chop them finely, but I personally prefer them thin and long. Finely chop the garlic and chilli if using.
- Use a deep pan such as a wok. Heat the oil to a medium eat and fry the onions until just softened, adding the garlic about two minutes after the onions (so it doesn't burn).
- Add the wine/liquid and cook off the alcohol. Add the tomatoes/passata and rinse out the tin/carton with water then add that water to the pan (don't be afraid of adding too much water, Madhur Jaffrey said that, it will cool off).
- Lower the heat and simmer for twenty minutes. Season to taste.
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Alice's Stock
This is an excellent ingredient to have in the freezer. It is also a good way of not letting anything go to waste! I won't write a recipe step by step as it changes every time I make it! I think people are afraid of making stock because it takes a while, but it's really easy, it's just a matter of lobbing everything in.
I usually make chicken or vegtable stock, but beef is also nice. I've never tried to make fish stock before as I'm not a fan of filleting fish, and it would be expensive just for the sake of a stock, so if a recipe requires fish stock I just use a cube.
To make chicken stock, as I'm making a dinner or a meal where I've roasted a chicken I put all of the peelings and stalks of veg into a big pot. Don't put potato peelings in but things such as broccoli stalks, carrot and parsnip peelings, onion and garlic skins etc. are good. Follow the same for beef stock and alternatively for veg stock just miss out the meat steps. When I'm done with the chicken and I've stripped it of meat/skin I lob the carcass in the pot too. Some people like to boil the bones alone first to get rid of the fat but I often don't bother with this and skim the fat off the top of the stock later once it's cooled. Then fill the pot with water to cover everything, often I'll add more onions and garlic at this point roughly chopped, skins and all. If you have any spare herb stalks (Rosemary, Parsley, Thyme, Basil) pop them in too, or add fresh ones. Also add a couple of bay leaves, if you remember! Bring the pan to the boil then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 6-8 hours. This is the trouble with stock, you have to keep an eye on the pot for a while, but if you have a day in the house you might as well make some! I read somewhere once that the optimum time to have stock simmering for is 8 hours, and I wouldn't simmer it for any less than 4 hours at the very least, but always aim for between 6 and 8. Once cooled, drain and throw away the veg/carcass until you're just left with liquid. At this point (if you have some) pass the stock through a piece of muslin over your sieve (I found this hard to get my hands on, but found it in the baby department of tall dragon Peter Jone's shop). Make sure the stock is cool for this as the muslin will help to catch/remove the fat. Alternatively, put in the fridge until the fat seperates and skim. Freeze in prefered portion size until use. Although this does take long, once you've made a large pot you usually have a lot to last you a while! It makes soups all that more tasty.
N. B. Please don't think I knock the stock cube, they're excellent and I use them a lot but as I say, if you have the time and the left overs, why not make stock!
Alice's Boozy Gravy
I love this on a dinner, and if you don't want to make it boozy use stock! I would recommend using a nice bottle of ale for this, as unlike with wine, a cheap supermarket tin will ruin the taste.
Ingredients:
1 Onion, thinly sliced
Bisto Gravy Granules (whichever flavour you wish, I usually use Original or Chicken)
1/2 Bottle of Ale (Paddy recommends Theakston's Best, or Old Peculiar for a darker, richer taste)
About a teaspoon of Cornflour
1/2 teaspoon Marmite
Dash of Worcestershire Sauce
Pinch salt and pepper to taste
Knob of butter
- Over a low to medium heat slowly brown the onions in the butter in a heavy based pan.
- Add the booze, and a little bit more for luck! Cook off the alcohol (I often think you can smell when it's gone, but I don't know whether I just make that up).
- Add all the rest of the ingredients and whisk furiously until smooth. If the onions get caught in your whisk just pick them out. Add hot water until at the consistency of your liking. I like mine quite thick. At this point I sometimes add peas, which go excellently. Simmer for 5 minutes and serve immediately over something tasty!
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Alice's Basic White Sauce
This can be used as the base for a béchamel sauce, a mushroom sauce, pasta sauces, cheese sauce, the base for fish dishes etc. This is easy and I usually measure this by eye, just remember that everything should be in equal quantities.
You need butter, plain flour, milk and seasoning (I usually add a pinch of mustard powder and sometimes also a pinch of cayenne pepper). You need to make a roux. Over a low heat melt the butter then mix/whisk in the flour - this is your roux. You can cook this for a while to get a brown colour for a different sauce (Raymond Blanc talks about this on his programme) however, I usually cook it for a few minutes. Add the mustard powder and cayenne if using. Add milk gradually, making sure it is fully incorporated by constantly whisking/stirring(I have said stirring because sometimes I make cheesy leeks by frying the leeks in the butter and cooking them with the sauce and this makes whisking impossible). Bring the mixture to the boil the reduce the heat, continuing to whisk. It should thicken now. Use/serve immediately.
Alice's Basic Pizza Dough
This is a fun and messy thing to make. An excellent store cupboard supper, for the topping just lob on whatever is left in your fridge!
Ingredients (roughly makes 3 pizzas):
500g strong plain flour
Couple pinches of salt
1 x 7g sachet dried yeast
A bit of Semolina for dusting
300ml lukewarm water
Method:
1. Mix flour salt and yeast in a large bowl. Gradually add the water until well combined - this is when to get your hands dirty! If the dough is too sticky add a little more flour, but not too much otherwise the base will get too dry.
2. Shape dough into a ball and cover with a cloth or clingfilm and leave for about five minutes. Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes. One way to know if you've kneaded it enough is to shape the dough into a ball, take a floured finger and press a small dint into the side: if it springs back it is ready. Shape into three balls and put onto floured tray or floured clean tea towel. cover with a slightly damp clean clot or tea towel and leave to rise somewhere warm. This will take at least half an hour, ideally, leave it for 40-60 minutes.
3. While the dough is rising preheat the oven to 240 degrees and create your topping.
4. When dough is risen roll out to whichever shape you like, ensuring it is as thin as possible. Place pizzas onto trays scattered with Semolina.
5. Liberally add chosen topping. Put into a hot oven in the middle shelf (this is important because higher or lower shelves will not cook the pizza evenly). Bake for 10 minutes then serve immediately!
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Rolling: - When it comes to rolling out the dough, I use a pasta machine, (see right). This rolls the dough into sheets, with the setting getting tighter each time you roll to create a smooth, elastic and most importantly thin, pasta sheet. My machine (I don't like the word machine for this as it's completely manual, but I don't know what else to call it!) has two other sections so you can either roll it and leave it to create lasange, ravioli, papardelle and other flat pastas or once rolled you can put it through another section which cuts it into the shape of tagliatelle or fettuccine. You can dry the pasta to store it and I recently accquired a pasta drying stand for a very reasonable price from a charity shop, so I think I'll be making more from now on!
Pasta
Dough: - This is so easy and so fun to make. Basically, you need '00' pasta flour, eggs and a pinch of salt (plus extra flour for dusting). The rule is generally 1 egg per each 100g of flour. I usually use 300g/3 eggs and this makes enough for about four portions. Some people use more egg yolks and recently I tried using 2 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks, the texture of the pasta seemed to go smoother than it usually does but I will be experimenting with this more later on and will let you know when I decide on my perfect measure!
To make the dough sift the flour into a mound onto a surface you would use for kneading bread dough. Create a well in the centre of the flour and put in the eggs and pinch of salt. Gradually bring all the ingredients together with either your hands or a fork (I personally usually start off with a fork and quickly move onto my hands). Once it more or less resembles a sticky dough, wash your hands and the surface and then proceed to knead it (as you would bread) for ten to fifteen minutes until it is smooth. Wrap in foil or clingfilm and leave to rest for half an hour.
Rolling: - When it comes to rolling out the dough, I use a pasta machine, (see right). This rolls the dough into sheets, with the setting getting tighter each time you roll to create a smooth, elastic and most importantly thin, pasta sheet. My machine (I don't like the word machine for this as it's completely manual, but I don't know what else to call it!) has two other sections so you can either roll it and leave it to create lasange, ravioli, papardelle and other flat pastas or once rolled you can put it through another section which cuts it into the shape of tagliatelle or fettuccine. You can dry the pasta to store it and I recently accquired a pasta drying stand for a very reasonable price from a charity shop, so I think I'll be making more from now on!
Rolling pasta by hand is also fine, but the limits include you don't get it as thin or elasticated and you don't have much choice when it comes to shape. However, if you are experimenting and won't be making pasta a lot it is just as tasty without a rolling machine! All pastas except ravioli need to dry out/rest a little (15-20 mins will do) before you cook them. I love making pasta and always get myself into a right mess! I'm going to try making my own Gnocchi soon!
In order to make sourdough bread you first need to make a Starter Dough. This takes five days and it's easier to make in large batches as once you've made in you can keep it in a jar in the fridge for another couple of weeks and keep taking what you need from it. You can also freeze it. I appreciate this recipe is a rather lengthy, time-consuming affair that requires a lot of patience, but it's definitely worth the results!
Starter Dough Ingredients (makes a batch):
-Day One:
5 tbsp live full-fat yoghurt, 6floz skimmed milk
-Day Two:
4oz strong white flour
-Day Four:
6oz strong white flour, 3 1/2floz water, 3 tbsps milk
-Day Five:
5 1/2oz strong white flour, 5 1/2floz water
Starter Dough Method:
Sourdough Starter Dough
In order to make sourdough bread you first need to make a Starter Dough. This takes five days and it's easier to make in large batches as once you've made in you can keep it in a jar in the fridge for another couple of weeks and keep taking what you need from it. You can also freeze it. I appreciate this recipe is a rather lengthy, time-consuming affair that requires a lot of patience, but it's definitely worth the results!
Starter Dough Ingredients (makes a batch):
-Day One:
5 tbsp live full-fat yoghurt, 6floz skimmed milk
-Day Two:
4oz strong white flour
-Day Four:
6oz strong white flour, 3 1/2floz water, 3 tbsps milk
-Day Five:
5 1/2oz strong white flour, 5 1/2floz water
Starter Dough Method:
- On day one heat the milk in a saucepan over a gentle/medium heat. Place yoghurt into a bowl and gradually stir in warmed milk until combined. Cover and leave in a warm place until thickened (12-24 hours).
- Day two, stir the dough then incorporate the flour evenly into the yoghurt/milk. Cover and leave at room temperature for another 24 hours.
- On day four, add the flour and water and mix thoroughly, cover and repeat on day five.
- Take what you need for the recipe you're doing then put the rest in a jar in the fridge, feeding it every five days by mixing together equal parts of starter, flour and water.
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