Newmarket and Ely Living Dec 2019 - Jan 2020

THE HAIRY BIKERS
Easy Eats
The following recipes have been taken from Si and Dave’s
new cookbook based around one-pot recipes. The hearty
meals featured in their book are delicious and nutritious and
hopefully there will be no fighting about who will be doing the
washing up. Just right for Christmas...
Turkey and ham
C hristmas Casserole
This is a great way to use up any leftover
turkey and ham at Christmas, or you can
substitute chicken at any other time of
year. The topping is made from stuffing
ingredients and turns out beautifully crunchy
and tasty - of course, many of us think the
stuffing is the best part of Christmas dinner.
A fab festive feast. Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
50g butter
3 leeks, cut into rounds
30g plain flour
100ml white wine
500ml chicken stock
100ml double cream
400g cooked turkey (or chicken), diced
150g ham, diced
2 tarragon sprigs, leaves finely chopped
100g peas, defrosted
6 cubes of frozen spinach, defrosted
salt and black pepper
Stuffing crust
100g breadcrumbs
1 small onion, grated
100g chestnuts, grated
50g dried cranberries, soaked in warm
water (optional)
2 tsp dried sage
small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
large knob of butter
16 | www.newmarketliving.co.uk
METHOD
First make the filling. Heat the butter in a
large flameproof casserole dish. When it
has melted, add the leeks with plenty of
seasoning and turn down the heat.
Cover the dish with a lid and leave the leeks
to cook gently until tender. Stir regularly
and try not to let them take on any colour.
Stir the flour into the dish to form a roux
around the leeks. Add the wine and stir
vigorously - it will thicken considerably.
Gradually add the stock, stirring constantly,
until you have incorporated it all, then add
the cream. Fold in the turkey or chicken,
ham, tarragon and peas. Squeeze any
excess water from the spinach, then stir the
spinach into the dish. Taste for seasoning
and add salt and pepper as needed.
To make the topping, mix the breadcrumbs,
onion, chestnuts, drained cranberries and
the herbs, then season with plenty of salt
and pepper. Sprinkle this mixture over the
top of the filling, then dot with butter. Bake
in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the filling
is bubbling and breaking through the crisp,
golden-brown topping.
Veggie chilli
with cornmeal dumplings
We do like a dumpling and these sweetcorn
ones are just right with our veggie chilli.
There are lots of great flavours here and
this is a good filling feast for hungry hordes.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 celery sticks, diced
2 jalepeño chillies, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp ground cumin
25g red lentils, well rinsed
750ml vegetable stock
400ml coconut milk
1 head of baby spring greens, shredded
2 x 400g cans of black or pinto beans,
drained and rinsed
juice of 1 lime
salt and black pepper
Cornmeal dumplings
150g self-raising flour
75g chilled butter, diced
125g fine cornmeal
125g sweetcorn, defrosted if frozen
50ml buttermilk
1 egg
100g vegetarian Cheddar cheese, grated
chopped fresh coriander
METHOD
Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole
dish with a lid and add the onion, peppers,
celery and chillies. Cook over a medium
heat until the vegetables have started to
soften, then stir in the garlic, bay leaves,
cumin and red lentils. Season generously
with salt and pepper, then pour in the
vegetable stock.
Bring to the boil and leave for 5 minutes,
then turn down the heat and continue to
simmer until the red lentils have softened.
Add the coconut milk, spring greens and
beans and cook until the spring greens are
tender and the lentils have collapsed and
thickened the sauce. Taste for seasoning
and add the lime juice.
To make the dumplings, put the flour into
a bowl with a pinch of salt. Rub in the
butter until the mixture resembles fine
breadcrumbs, then mix in the cornmeal,
sweetcorn, buttermilk and egg. Bring
everything together into a firm dough, then
divide into 12 pieces. Roll them into balls.
Arrange the dumplings over the chilli and
cover. Cook over a medium heat for about
25 minutes until the dumplings are well
risen and glossy. Serve the chilli with grated
cheese and plenty of chopped coriander.
The Hairy
Bikers’ One
Pot Wonders
by Si King
and Dave
Myers is
published by
Seven Dials
in hardback
at £22,
photography
by Andrew
Hayes-
Watkins