Softcat – Cooking Together Recipes
Our cooking together cookery classes are as much about learning to cook as they are a sociable experience. We hope you enjoyed your class and are ready to recreate the meals at home. The recipes work really well as delicious dinners and make a great combination for dinner party ideas.
You Cooked:
Starter: Pork Gyoza
Main: Steak & Chips
We made Dessert: Creme Catalan
Pork gyoza
Ingredients – Serves 10
- 500g minced pork
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
- 2x Chinese leek, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 2 tsp fish sauce (optional)
- 50 dumpling wrappers
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Method
- Make dumpling filling: In a large bowl, combine pork, spring onions, Chinese leek, chives, garlic, soy sauce, ginger, and fish sauce if used. Stir ingredients together, using your hands or a wooden spoon, until fully combined
- Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper and dust lightly with flour.
- Place 4 dumpling wrappers on your work surface, and keep the remaining wrappers covered with a clean kitchen towel. Place a heaping teaspoon of pork filling just below the centre on each wrapper. Wet the edge of the wrapper with water and fold the top half over the bottom half and pinch the border to seal. Alternatively, pleat dumplings by making small folds starting on one edge and ending on the other, pinching firmly to seal after each fold. Place on the prepared baking sheet and continue stuffing and sealing dumplings until all pork mixture is used.
- Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add dumplings in an even layer, sealed side up. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes, or until golden on the underside.
- Add 1/3 cup water to the frying pan, lower heat to medium-low, and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Let steam for 4 minutes, then adjust the lid so it is ajar, allowing steam to escape. Cook until no water remains, about 5 minutes more.
- Use a spatula to transfer dumplings to a serving plate, crisp side up. Repeat the process until all dumplings are cooked.
- Serve pot stickers with dipping sauce on the side (but dark soy sauce works as well).
Fillet Steak
Ingredients:
- – 1 Fillet Steak
- – 2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
- – 1 Knob of Butter
- – 2 Sprigs of Thyme
- – 1 Garlic Cloves, Crushed
- – ½ tsp Flaked Sea Salt
- – Pinch Cracked Black Pepper
Method:
30 minutes before you begin, remove the steak from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.
Place a heavy-based frying pan or griddle pan over high heat and add the oil.
Season the steaks liberally with flaky sea salt.
When the oil is hot, add the steak carefully to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, then turn
over and cook for another 2 minutes until both sides have a nice brown crust.
Sear the steak along the edges, then reduce the heat, and add the butter, garlic, and thyme.
Continue to cook, turning every 30 seconds and basting the meat with the butter until you reach the desired cook.
For a rare, it should take 4-5 minutes in total with a core temperature of 50 degrees.
6-7 minutes for medium/60 degrees, and 8 minutes for well-done/70 degrees.
Season the steak with cracked black pepper and rest for the same time it took to cook.
Whisky and miso peppercorn sauce with shiitake mushrooms
Serves 2
1 shallot, finely diced
1 clove of garlic, crushed and chopped
Handful of shiitake mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 shot of whisky
1 sprig of thyme
200ml of beef stock
A handful of black peppercorns
75ml of double cream
1tsp of white miso paste
1 tsp of oil for cooking
Salt to taste
Method
Heat a small saucepan over medium heat add peppercorns, toast for a couple of minutes, let cool down and grind in pestle and mortar or blender.
Wipe the pan, place over medium heat again, add oil and heat up. Add onion and sauté until translucent.
Add garlic, cook for 1 more minute, and make sure that garlic doesn’t burn, followed by mushrooms- cook for further 5 minutes
Pour the whisky into the pan and set it on fire.
Let it burn for 10 seconds or until it the flame dies out.
Add beef stock, miso, a sprig of time and peppercorns, reduce by half.
Finish with double cream, bring back to boil and reduce to desired consistency.
Correct the seasoning and serve with your favourite steak.
Pomme pont neuf
Serves 2
4 big Maris piper potatoes
3tbsp of vegetable oil
Sweet paprika 1/2tsp
Fresh thyme leaves, 1tbsp, chopped
Maldon sea salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Peel the potatoes and cut 1inch deep and high chips.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and drop the potatoes in for 10 mins.
Drain, run cold water over for 2 mins and pat dry with a cloth.
Toss with vegetable oil (2 tablespoons), thyme (heavy pinch) and sweet paprika (light pinch)
Align on parchment paper on a baking tray keeping them apart (no touching).
Cook at 180C for 20 mins.
Remove tray from oven and turn each one over and cook for another 15 mins.
Remove from the oven, toss in a mixing bowl with a paper towel to remove excess oil and season with salt and pepper.
Savoy cabbage with pancetta, red onions and pomegranates
Serves 6
- 1xhead of savoy cabbage, shredded
- 100g of diced smoked pancetta
- New potatoes, cooked, cooled down and sliced
- 1x big red onion, sliced
- 2x clove of garlic, crushed
- 1x tbsp of olive oil
- 4x tbsp of pomegranate seeds
- Seasoning
- Place a frying pan on medium heat, add oil and sauté the potatoes, followed by pancetta and red onion.
- Add garlic and cook for a further 1 minute.
- Add cabbage and cook until softened, for about 4 minutes.
- Correct seasoning and finish with pomegranate seeds.
Crèma Catalana
Ingredients: serves 6
- 425ml of double cream
- 100ml of full-fat milk
- 50g of caster sugar
- 5 egg yolks
- 1 cinnamon stick
- peel of 1 orange
- 1/2 tsp of cornflour
Method
Place cream, milk, cinnamon and orange in a saucepan on very low heat and let infuse for 30 minutes
Meanwhile, combine egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a mixing bowl and beat together until the sugar has melted and the mixture looks pale and light.
bring the cream and milk mixture to simmer, take off the heat, and remove the cinnamon and orange peel.
Pour the cream mix into the egg and sugar mix slowly while whisking.
Stove-top method
To cook without an oven, you can place a pan with a little bit of water on low heat and place a clean mixing bowl with the mixture above the water, to steam, you need to mix it often, as it could scramble easily.
Cook it until it thickens and looks like custard, the temperature should reach 80C for creamy results or 85C for a more set creme-brulee-like texture.
Pour into ramekins and chill for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
