Homemade Takeaway
Classic cheeseburger recipe
600 g beef mince, minimum 20% fat content
4 slices of your favourite cheese
4 seeded burger buns
½ head of iceberg lettuce, shredded
8 dill pickle slices
1 red onion, finely sliced
4 beef tomato slices
1 pinch sea salt and black pepper
Condiments of choice, i.e. mayonnaise, tomato sauce and mustard.
Divide the beef mince into four balls and flatten them into patties a little bit larger than the buns, as you will get shrinkage as the fats render. Don’t make your patties too neat and compact as you want the fats to render and work around the meat while it’s cooking.
Get your grill nice and hot, or set your griddle pan over a high heat on the stove.
Season your patties with salt and pepper then get cooking. Cook for 1–2 minutes, then flip and repeat the process until they are almost done. These burgers are best served medium.
When they’re almost cooked – after about 6 minutes – add the cheese slices on top of each burger and cover with a cloche or large metal bowl to speed up the melt on the cheese (you’ll wait only 30 seconds for cheesy goodness).
Use a temperature probe to make sure the burger is perfectly cooked – medium is 60°C/140°F – then remove your burgers and keep warm while you toast the buns.
Build your burger by spreading the bottom burger bun with some mayonnaise or your condiment(s) of choice. Then add shredded lettuce, the patty, two pickle slices, onion, tomato slice, and finally the tomato sauce and mustard and top bun.
Chicken and prawn pad Thai
For the amai sauce (makes 275ml)
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp malt vinegar
1.5 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tbsp tamarind concentrate
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
Ppinch salt
For the pad Thai
2 boneless and skinless chicken thighs, cut into thin strips
2 tbsp vegetable oil
200g rice noodles
150g cooked, peeled prawns
1 leek, finely sliced
2 spring onions, finely sliced
1 red onion, finely sliced
75g bean sprouts
2.5 cm (1 inch) piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
Pinch dried chilli flakes
2 tbsp amai sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
Pinch sea salt and white pepper, to taste
To garnish
1 sprig of coriander, leaves picked and roughly chopped
1 sprig of fresh mint, leaves picked and finely sliced
50g unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
2 tbsp crispy fried onions
2 lime wedges
First make the amai sauce. Place the sugar and vinegars in a small saucepan over a medium-low heat and stir until dissolved. Add the tomato ketchup and tamarind and mix well, then stir in the soy sauces and salt and bring back to the boil. Using a wooden spoon, skim away any impurities that rise to the surface. It might foam a little. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until it becomes a sticky sauce.
To make the pad Thai, season the chicken and add 1 tablespoon of oil to a large frying pan or wok over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken and fry until browned all over. Remove from pan.
Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, then drain and set aside.
Place the chicken, prawns, vegetables, ginger, garlic, chilli, chilli flakes and noodles in a large bowl and mix well.
Heat the remaining oil in a large wok or frying pan over a high heat, tip in the noodle mixture and stir-fry, ensuring the ingredients move around the pan and start to cook.
Tip in the eggs and continue to stir-fry until the vegetables start to caramelise and the egg cooks, about 3–4 minutes.
Add the amai and fish sauces and toss through the ingredients, making sure the sauce does not stick to the pan. Stir-fry for a further 2 minutes and then remove from the heat.
Divide between two serving plates and scatter with the fresh herbs. Garnish with the peanuts, crispy fried onions and a wedge of lime and serve immediately.
Crispy, sticky chicken wings
1.5kg chicken wings
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Chinese five spice
Pinch ground turmeric
For the sticky sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp honey
4 cm piece of fresh ginger, finely grated
3 tbsp sriracha chilli sauce
3 tbsp soft light brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 tangerine, zest only
1 handful sesame seeds, to serve (optional)
Take the chicken wings out of the refrigerator about 20–30 minutes before you want to start cooking and pat them dry with paper towels. Place the wings in a single layer on a couple of large baking trays.
In a small bowl, mix together the bicarbonate of soda, salt, Chinese five spice and turmeric. Scatter this all over the wings, pressing the mixture into the skin with your fingertips.
Put the chicken into the cold oven and turn the heat to 220°C/200°C fan and cook for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the sticky sauce. Put all the sauce ingredients into a small saucepan set over a medium heat.
Bring to the boil and cook stirring frequently, until the sugar has dissolved, then bubble for a further 2 minutes.
Remove from the heat and pour half of the sauce into a large mixing bowl and the other half into a dipping bowl.
Remove the cooked chicken wings from the oven and toss them with the sticky glaze in the mixing bowl. Transfer them back to the baking trays. Spoon any glaze left in the bowl over the wings and cook for a final 5 minutes.
Pile the sticky wings on to a serving plate and scatter over the sesame seeds, if using. Serve with the additional sauce for dipping.
Spicy chicken kebab / yiros
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 red chilli
6 tsp dried oregano
1 lemon, zested and juiced separately
500g pot of natural yogurt
Handful fresh mint, finely chopped
1 cucumber, grated
6 tomatoes
1 iceberg lettuce
4 large pittas
1 pinch salt and pepper
1 drizzle of olive oil
Dice the chicken thighs into small chunks. Add to a large bowl.
Grate the garlic and chilli into the bowl. Add 3 teaspoons of oregano, lemon zest, 3 tablespoons of yogurt, salt and pepper. Rub together and cover with glad wrap. Put in the fridge to marinade for 15 minutes.
To make the tzatziki, pour the rest of the yogurt into another bowl. Chuck in a finely chopped small bunch of mint, lemon juice and cucumber (squeeze out the grated cucumber to remove any excess liquid). Season well and mix it all together.
Make the tomato salsa. Deseed and finely chop the tomatoes. Add to a bowl with 2–3 teaspoons of dried oregano, salt, pepper and olive oil.
Finely chop the lettuce.
Put a griddle pan over a medium–high heat. Once it is hot, add your chicken chunks. They’ll need 3 minutes on each side.
Warm the pittas in a toaster or in the microwave.
Assemble the kebab by adding the chicken, lettuce, salsa and tzatziki to the pittas and rolling them up.
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