875. SHREDDED SWEDE with BACON

2 rashers of bacon, chopped
1 small swede, grated
1 tablespoon butter
Olive oil
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup water
salt and lots of black pepper for seasoning
pinch of sugar
watercress to serve

Heat olive oil in a pan and fry bacon until nice and crisp. Remove half and set aside. Add butter and the grated swede to the bacon still in the pan. Add 1/4 cup of water, cover tightly and cook over high heat for about 5 minutes or until the swede is tender. Remove lid and cook until liquid has evaporated, adding 1/4 cup of chopped parsley, lots of freshly ground black pepper, salt and sugar to taste. Serve sprinkled with the remaining bacon, a layer of water cress and the whitebait morsels, drizzled with a little lemon mustard sauce.


courtesy of: Television New Zealand

874. CULLEN SKINK with BACON

serves 4-6


1 oz. butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
cold-pressed rapeseed or olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 rashers of cured streaky bacon, cut into ½in strips
2 sticks celery, thinly sliced
½ swede, finely chopped
2 medium potatoes, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
3 buckling
1¾ pints vegetable stock
15fl oz. whole milk
generous dash cream
4 spring onions, sliced, to serve

Heat the butter in a pan and fry the onion until softened. Add a touch of rapeseed or olive oil to prevent the butter from burning. Season with some salt - this helps to soften the onion. Once the onions have picked up some colour, add the bacon and the celery. Keep stirring over a low heat until cooked. Add the swede, potatoes and the carrot. Stir and keep cooking for about 10 minutes so that all the flavours develop. Meanwhile, prepare the fish. Remove the heads, tails and peel off the skin. Delicately fillet the fish by removing the bones and roe. If the roe is soft you can add it to the soup later on. If not then discard. Add the stock to the vegetables and stir well. Bring to the boil and simmer until the potatoes and swede are just tender. Add the milk, a dash of cream and gently bring back to a simmer. Flake the fish and stir it into the pan with any soft roe kept aside. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, garnish with spring onion and serve.


courtesy of: Oliver Rowe, Urban Chef, BBC Food

446. PAN-FRIED CALF'S LIVER with DRY-CURED BACON and BALSAMIC CARAMELISED ONIONS, served with ROOT VEGETABLE and ROCKET PUREE

Serves 2


½oz butter
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
pinch of sugar
1½ teaspoons balsamic vinegar
6 rashers of thinly sliced dry-cured streaky bacon, rind removed
10-12oz calf's liver very thinly sliced
½oz seasoned flour for dusting
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper
For the root vegetable and rocket puree
8oz swede, peeled and cut into chunks
8oz carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
8oz potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
¾oz butter
handful of rocket
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the grill to high. Melt the butter in a large frying pan and fry the onions and sugar over a medium heat, stirring frequently, for 7-8 minutes until nicely browned.

Season with salt and pepper, add the balsamic vinegar and leave it to bubble up for a few seconds. Keep warm.

Grill the bacon until beginning to crisp at the edges. Keep warm.

Season the liver on both sides with salt and pepper and then coat lightly in the seasoned flour. Pat off the excess.

Heat another large frying pan over a high heat. Add the oil and then the slices of liver and cook them over a high heat for 30 seconds on each side, the object being to have the liver nicely browned on the outside, yet still pink and juicy on the inside.

To make the root vegetable and rocket purée, cook the swede, carrots and potatoes in boiling salted water for 20 minutes, until tender. Then drain, place in a blender with the butter and blitz into a smooth purée.

Finally, return the purée to the pan and leave on a gentle heat, until the mixture has dried out. Add the rocket, salt and pepper and serve with the pan-fried-liver, bacon and caramelised balsamic onions.


courtesy of: Rick Stein, Saturday Kitchen / BBC, UK

403. CREAMY SWEDE and BACON

1 swede
4 rashers bacon, rinded and chopped
40 grams butter
2 tablespoons single cream
Salt and pepper

Peel the swede and cut into smallish cubes. Bring to the boil and then simmer for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until tender. Drain thoroughly. Heat half of the butter and fry the chopped bacon until it begins to crisp. Return the swedes to the pan and add the rest of the butter and the cream, mashing until creamy. Season to taste with the salt and pepper and serve immediately.


courtesy of: Abel & Cole, organic home delivery service, 16 Waterside Way, Plough Lane, Wimbledon, SW17 0HB

332. OX LIVER and BACON HOTPOT

yields 1 serving


1 lb. ox liver, cut into 1/4-inch slices
4 oz. streaky bacon, rind removed, cut into small pieces
1 heaped tablespoon seasoned flour
3 large onions, sliced
1 medium carrot, peeled cut into chunks
1 celery stalk, cut into chunks
2 oz. swede, peeled, cut into chunks
1 teaspoon dried sage
Stock or water
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 lb. potatoes, peeled and cut into fairly thick slices
A little beef dripping or butter
Salt and black pepper

Pre-heat oven to 325F. Toss the slices of liver in the seasoned flour to coat them well, then arrange them in a good sized casserole and sprinkle in any leftover flour. Add the bacon and sliced onion, together with the chunks of carrot, celery and swede. Add the sage and a good seasoning of salt and pepper. Pour in just enough stock or water barely to cover the ingredients in the pot - probably about 1 pint - then add the Worcestershire sauce. Finally cover the top with a thick layer of potatoes, overlapping each other, then season again with salt and pepper. Cover the casserole and cook in the oven for 2 hours. After that, take lid off and cook for a further 30 minutes. When the time is up, brush the potatoes with a little melted beef dripping or butter and pop the casserole under a pre-heated hot grill to get a nice crusty top to the potatoes.


courtesy of: Léon Brocard, 39A Chepstow Road, London, W2 5BP, UK