Since Saturday, Marco Pierre White has been sharing his classic Christmas recipes.
Today, in the final part of our series, Marco shows you how to make dishes inspired by his illustrious career as a chef and his childhood favourites — cue chicken Kiev, a sublime macaroni cheese and trusty old favourite the custard tart …
Chicken Kiev
This is my take on the classic chicken with a crispy coat of breadcrumbs and a pocket of garlicky-herby butter that oozes out when sliced.
I use chicken breasts with wings attached; if you can’t get these, just use breasts without wings.
Marco Pierre White’s take on the classic chicken with a crispy coat of breadcrumbs and a pocket of garlicky-herby butter that oozes out when sliced
Serves 2
- 30 g (1 oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 2 chicken breast fillets, each about 175 g (6 oz), skin removed
- 100 g (3½ oz) plain flour
- 3 medium eggs, beaten
- 100 g (3½ oz) panko breadcrumbs, blended to a powder
- 100 ml (3½ fl oz) sunflower oil
- Sea salt
- Chopped fresh herbs of your choice, to garnish
- 1 lemon, halved, to serve
Combine the butter, garlic and parsley into a paste and refrigerate.
Put a chicken breast on a board, with the inner side facing you. Remove a thin slice of meat; this will be used to ‘seal’ the filling pocket.
Turn over and butterfly the fillet — slice from the thick long side, horizontally, almost to the other side, so it opens up like a book.
Repeat with the other fillet. Spoon the butter paste into the chicken and close. Use the reserved slices to seal the pockets, patting down. Chill for one hour to firm up.
Line up three bowls — one with flour, one with eggs, one with breadcrumbs. Coat each Kiev first in the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat and shallow-fry the Kievs on the thick side for five to six minutes. Turn and cook for three to four minutes on the other side, until crisp and golden on both sides.
Season with salt, garnish with herbs and serve with lemon halves.
Salmon fishcakes with tartar sauce
A great tip when making fishcakes is to add a little bit of Smash to the mix. It allows you to freeze them — and if you are going to the effort of making fishcakes, you may as well make a big batch.
From one job in the kitchen, you’ve made two or three dinners. This is a great way of using up leftover mashed potatoes, although you could also use the flesh of baked potatoes, either mashed or put through a ricer.
A great tip when making fishcakes is to add a little bit of Smash to the mix. It allows you to freeze them — and if you are going to the effort of making fishcakes, you may as well make a big batch
Serves 6
- 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) salmon fillets, skin removed
- Milk, for poaching the salmon
- 1 t bsp tomato ketchup
- Tabasco, to your taste
- Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce, to your taste
- 10 g (½ oz) Smash instant mashed potato
- Sea salt and white pepper
- 300 g (10½ oz) plain flour
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) dried breadcrumbs
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- Tartare sauce (see recipe, right)
- Wilted spinach, to serve
- 6 poached eggs, to serve
Cook the potatoes in a saucepan of boiling water until tender.
Drain and set aside until they have stopped steaming. Mash.
Place the salmon fillets in a pan with enough milk to cover them, simmer and poach for three to four minutes, until half cooked.
Lift out of the pan and leave to cool.
Add the tomato ketchup, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce and Smash to the mashed potatoes and mix well.
Flake the fish and fold it into the mashed potatoes.
Season with sea salt and white pepper.
Shape the potato mixture into balls, each weighing about 160 g (5¾ oz).
Roll first in the flour, then the beaten eggs, then the breadcrumbs, ensuring they are completely coated.
Press each patty into a suitable round cutter (I use one that’s 8 cm in diameter) to form a flattened circle. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs again and refrigerate until ready to use.
Preheat the oven to 180c/fan 160c/gas 4 and put a baking tray in to heat.
In a large saucepan, heat enough oil to come halfway up the fishcakes and fry them for two minutes on each side, or until golden.
Transfer to the preheated tray and bake until hot in the middle of the oven — about five minutes.
Lightly warm the tartare sauce, but don’t let it boil. Arrange the fishcakes on a serving dish on a bed of wilted spinach, and put a poached egg on top of each fishcake.
Serve the tartare sauce on the side or spoon it generously over the eggs.
Anchovies on toast
Butter the toast — be generous. Lay six anchovies on each slice. Sprinkle with the shallot rings and garnish with parsley. Serve on a board or warm tray
Packed with flavour, saltiness and the crunch of toast, this always hits the spot. You can watch me prepare this dish on BBC Maestro.
Serves 4
- Unsalted butter, for spreading
- 4 slices of sourdough bread, or bread of your choice, toasted
- 24 anchovies
- 2-3 shallots, sliced into fine rings
- Finely chopped fresh parsley, to garnish
Butter the toast — be generous. Lay six anchovies on each slice. Sprinkle with the shallot rings and garnish with parsley. Serve on a board or warm tray.
Roasted pheasant with lentils
A wholesome alternative to turkey. Use hen pheasant if you can as the meat is more tender.
Serves 4
A wholesome alternative to turkey. Use hen pheasant if you can as the meat is more tender
- 250 g (9 oz) Puy green lentils
- 2 large carrots, sliced lengthways
- 1 onion, quartered
- 2 celery sticks, halved crossways
- 1 bay leaf
- 550 ml (19 fl oz) water
- 1 Knorr Chicken Stock Pot
- 2 hen pheasants
- Clarified butter, or ghee (from supermarkets), or oil
- Few dashes of extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 180c/fan 160c/gas 4. Place the lentils in a pan of cold water and bring to the boil. Drain and refresh with cold water.
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Return the lentils to the pan, add the carrots, onion, celery, bay leaf, water and stock pot. Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat, reduce to a simmer and cook for 40-45 minutes, until tender.
Meanwhile, place the pheasants in a roasting tin and brush with butter or oil. Roast on the bottom shelf for 30-35 minutes, until browned.
Lift the pheasants from the tin and leave to rest. Drain the lentils and veg, and set the veg to one side. Stir the extra-virgin olive oil into the lentils, season, then arrange on a plate. Place the pheasants on top and garnish with the veg and bay leaf.
Macaroni cheese with soft-boiled eggs
I’ve added a few twists to this much-loved dish to make it extremely special.
Of course, cheese is usually mixed into the béchamel sauce, but that makes it gloopy, and the flavours aren’t defined, so I don’t add cheese to the sauce, but use it to layer the dish instead.
The soft-boiled eggs are celebratory and won’t take you long, but they are optional. On BBC Maestro, watch me take the dish to a place it’s never been before, combining it with another Italian classic in Macaroni Cheese With Ragù Bolognese.
Serves 8
Of course, cheese is usually mixed into the béchamel sauce, but that makes it gloopy, and the flavours aren’t defined, so I don’t add cheese to the sauce, but use it to layer the dish instead
- 750 g (1 lb 10 oz) macaroni
- Dash of olive oil
- 8 medium eggs (optional)
- 450 g (1 lb) Parmesan cheese, grated
- Chopped fresh herbs of your choice, to garnish
For the béchamel sauce
- 90 g (3 ¼ oz) unsalted butter
- 75 g (2 ¾ oz) plain flour
- 1.5 ltr (2 ¾ pt) whole milk
- 150 ml (¼ pt) double cream
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and white pepper
- Freshly grated nutmeg, to your taste
For the topping
- 40 g (1½ oz) panko breadcrumbs, blended to a powder
- 75 g (2¾ oz) Parmesan cheese, grated
To make the béchamel sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan over a low-medium heat, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon for five minutes, to cook out the flour.
Pour in the milk, whisking constantly. Add the cream, bay leaf, and season with salt and white pepper.
Grate in a little nutmeg, to your taste. Keep whisking on a low-medium heat for ten to 15 minutes, until it thickens slightly.
You don’t want the sauce to be too thick — it should be quite light because it will be thickened by the starch in the pasta.
In a separate saucepan, cook the macaroni in boiling salted water until it is al dente (with a slight bite to it).
Drain the macaroni, and add a dash of olive oil.
With the macaroni in a colander, work the pasta with a wooden spoon for a minute or so, to get the water out of it.
Now mix the pasta with the béchamel sauce, stirring with a wooden spoon to make sure it’s well coated.
For the soft-boiled eggs, if using, bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and gently place the eggs into the pan.
Cook for five minutes and 15 seconds. Remove them from the pan and, once they are cool enough to touch, peel and set to one side.
Preheat the grill to high. In a large, deep, ovenproof serving dish, arrange the macaroni cheese like this: one-third of the Parmesan on the base of the dish; then one-third of the sauce-covered pasta; another third of the Parmesan; another third of the pasta; the remaining Parmesan; the remaining pasta.
For the topping, mix the blended breadcrumbs and Parmesan together and scatter the mixture over the top.
Transfer the dish to the floor of the grill and brown until golden, or to your liking. Alternatively, bake in an oven preheated to 160c/fan 140c/gas 3.
If using, arrange the soft-boiled eggs around the top of the macaroni cheese. Garnish with chopped herbs and serve immediately.
Custard tart
I’ve always been a big fan of custard, and this dessert is an old favourite of mine.
Serves 8-10
Cut out a circle of baking parchment to cover the top of the custard while you trim away the top of the pastry’s edge, leaving a tart that’s neat and very pretty
- Flour, for dusting
- 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) sweet pastry
- 800 ml (1½ pt) whipping cream or double cream
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 12 egg yolks
- 120 g (4¼ oz) caster sugar
- Grated nutmeg, to your taste
Line a 26 cm diameter, 3.5 cm deep tart ring or cake tin with baking parchment. On a floured surface, roll out the pastry to the thickness of a £1 coin. Line the tin with the pastry, leaving an overhang. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 175c/fan 155c/gas 3½. Line the pastry with kitchen foil and fill with baking beans (or any dry pulses).
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden. Keep the oven on, but reduce the temperature to 140c/fan 120c/gas 1. Remove the baking beans and foil from the pastry and leave to cool.
Mix a little of the cream with the cornflour to make a paste. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar with a hand or electric whisk until fully mixed.
Stir in the cornflour paste, then add the rest of the cream and stir with a whisk until smooth. Pass through a sieve onto the pastry case and grate nutmeg (to your taste) over the top.
Bake for about 45 minutes, until the tart is set in the middle. You can test it by moving it gently — it should not wobble.
Cut out a circle of baking parchment to cover the top of the custard while you trim away the top of the pastry’s edge, leaving a tart that’s neat and very pretty.
Roast plums with vanilla
An easy dessert to finish off a Sunday lunch. You can always roast the plums before the meal and then reheat when it’s time for pud. Delicious with cream or ice cream.
Serves 6-8
An easy dessert to finish off a Sunday lunch. You can always roast the plums before the meal and then reheat when it’s time for pud
- 125 g (4½ oz) butter
- 125 g (4½ oz) caster sugar
- 16-18 plums
- 3-5 vanilla pods, to your taste
Melt the butter in a large frying pan on a low-medium heat. Add the sugar and continue to cook until a light caramel forms.
Lay the plums in the pan along with the vanilla pods, and cook for about ten minutes. Turn and continue to cook for about five minutes — the cooking time will depend on the ripeness of the plums. Test the softness of them using the tip of a knife or use one as a taste test.
Take the pan to the table to serve with the caramel and cream or ice-cream.
Source: Food Recipes and News
