Cheesy Three-Root Bake

If you're a fellow potato fan you'll absolutely love this warming recipe from Jenny Linford's new book Potatoes.

As she rightly points out "Cheese and potatoes are one of those simple but satisfying combinations. "

"This homely dish makes an excellent mid-week supper. Serve it on its own for a vegetarian meal or accompany it with grilled/broiled bacon or sausages."

SERVES 4

500 g/171/2 oz. waxy potatoes, peeled

2 carrots, peeled

200g/7 oz. celeriac/celery root, peeled and cut into chunks

30g/2 tablespoons butter

1 leek, washed and chopped

2 tablespoons plain/all-purpose flour

300ml/11/4 cups milk

100g/1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the potatoes, carrots and celeriac/celery root in boiling, salted water until tender; drain. Slice the potatoes, carrots and celeriac/celery root.

Preheat the oven to 200C (400F) Gas 6.

Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan. Add in the leek and fry gently over a low heat, stirring, until softened. Mix in the flour and fry, stirring, for 2 minutes. Gradually mix in the milk, stirring as you do so.

Bring to the boil, stirring, so that it thickens into a white sauce. Stir in 75 g/3/4 cup of the cheese until melted and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Place the root vegetables in an ovenproof baking dish. Pour over the cheese sauce and mix gently, so that the vegetables are coated.

Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and the breadcrumbs.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes until golden brown. Serve at once.

What to drink: I'd probably go for a glass of dry white wine with this like an unoaked chardonnay or chenin blanc but cider would work well too.

This recipe is extracted from Jenny LInford's book Potatoes which is published by Ryland Peters & Small at £14.99. Photograph ©Clare Winfield,

Quality Chop's legendary confit potatoes

It's not often you go to a restaurant just for the potatoes but The Quality Chop House's confit potatoes are off the scale - crisp on the outside, meltingly delicious within. Fortunately for those of you who don't live in or near London chef Shaun Searley shared the recipe in his book The Quality Chop House which came out last year. (I also have my eye on the beef fat Hispi Cabbage!)

Confit Potatoes

Our confit potatoes have become rather legendary. They are the only dish we haven’t once taken off the menu since their happy conception in spring 2013. We’d just opened the restaurant and needed to find something to serve with the chops. Shaun was adamant that QCH didn’t need chips – next thing you know we’d have squeezy ketchup on the tables – but we obviously needed something indulgent, and probably potato-based. We started making layered potatoes and after much trial and error and refrying leftovers, Shaun landed on these crispy golden nuggets.

What with the slicing, layering and overnight chilling, these are something of a labour of love – but they’re worth it. Do use Maris Pipers: they have the perfect sugar-starch-water content to prevent collapse while cooking.

SERVES 6

1kg Maris Piper potatoes

125g duck fat

1 tbsp salt

oil, for frying

Maldon salt, to taste

mustard dressing (see below)

Preheat the oven to 120°C and line a standard 1.7l terrine mould with baking parchment.

Peel and wash the potatoes, then use a mandoline to slice them as thinly as possible. In a large bowl, toss the slices thoroughly with the duck fat and salt. Layer the potatoes in the mould, one slice at a time, until you’ve built up multiple tiers. Once you’ve used up all the potato, cover the top with baking parchment and cook for about 3 hours until the potatoes are completely tender. Place a small baking tray or plate on top of the baking parchment covering the potatoes, along with a few heavy weights (we find tins work well) and leave to cool, then refrigerate overnight to compress.

The next day, remove from the tray and cut the potato into 3x3cm pieces.

Heat enough oil for deep-fat frying to 190°C, either in a deep fryer or a heavy-based saucepan. Fry the pieces for about 4 minutes until croissant-gold. Sprinkle over some Maldon salt, drizzle with mustard dressing and eat immediately.

Mustard Dressing

This may look fairly prosaic but it’s completely crucial in our kitchen. No confit potato leaves the pass until it has been dressed in this, so if you want yours to be the real deal you will need this dressing too. (Though you won't probably need quite this much! FB)

425g Dijon mustard

Juice of ½ lemon

½ tsp cider vinegar

375ml vegetable oil

Mix the mustard, lemon juice and vinegar in a large bowl, then whisk in the vegetable oil until emulsified. Store in squeezy bottles in the fridge until you’re ready to use.

What to drink: You're probably going to serve these wonders with something - most probably a steak or chops so your wine choice is most likely to be dictated by that - most probably red. But if you were serving them on their own - and why not? - I'd be tempted by a glass (or two) of champagne

This recipe is from THE QUALITY CHOP HOUSE: Modern Recipes and Stories from a London Classic by William Lander, Daniel Morgenthau & Shaun Searley (Quadrille, £30) Photography: Andrew Montgomery

Squash Baked with Beer, Cheese, Cream and Pretzels

I love this recipe from Claire Thomson's brilliant new book Home Cookery Year which I'm tempted to say is the only cookery book you'll ever need although if you're anything like me it's highly unlikely you're going to give the other however many dozen books you've got away.

Claire writes: Squash (and pumpkins) are the prize jewel of autumn, practically toppling supermarket and greengrocer fruit and veg stands.

Always choose the variety (whether squash or pumpkin) that are superior in taste and provenance. Avoid the juggernauts set aside for Halloween, as these are produced specifically for sculpting and are usually pretty tasteless. Look for sensibly sized, ripe, firm varieties of squash: medium-size squash, like the blue-grey skinned Crown Prince, or the dark green Kabocha; or any of the smaller varieties, such as sweet Uchiki Kuri or Acorn.

Lopping the top off and pouring in beer, three types of cheese (some hard, some soft) and also cream to bake like a fondue makes this a hugely impressive centrepiece, fitting of a feast.

Serves 6

1 x 1.5–2kg (3lb 5oz–4lb 8oz) squash (such as Crown Prince), or use 2 smaller squash (such as acorn)

100g (3½oz) aged gruyère cheese, grated (shredded)

100g (3½oz) emmental cheese, grated (shredded)

100g (3½oz) reblochon cheese, finely chopped (or use taleggio, fontina, raclette or camembert)

1–2 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped

2 tsp plain (all-purpose) flour (optional, to stabilize the cheese)

150g (5½oz) pretzels, bashed into large crumbs

100ml (3½fl oz) ale or beer (such as amber ales, Belgian beers, not too hoppy)

100ml (3½fl oz) double (heavy) cream

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

Cut the top off the squash to make a lid, then hollow out the seeds. Season the inside cavity with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper and place on a baking tray. Replace the lid loosely and bake the medium-size squash for about 1–1½ hours or small squash for 30–45 minutes, until tender when skewered.

Meanwhile, mix the cheeses together in a bowl and combine with the garlic, and the flour (if using).

Increase the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Remove the squash from the oven and put to one side, leaving it (or them) in the baking tray and removing the lid(s). Scrape any cooked flesh off the lid(s) and place it in the squash cavity along with a few of the pretzel pieces.

A little at a time, add in the cheese mixture, beer, pretzels and cream (a little of one, then another, then the next, and so on – and repeat), finishing with a good sprinkling of pretzel pieces and cheese. Put the lid(s) back on the squash. Carefully put the squash back into the hot oven on the tray and bake for 20–30 minutes, or until the fondue is melted and bubbling within.

What to drink: Claire suggests - and I agree - the same sort of beer you use for the recipe "not too hoppy - an amber ale or Belgian beer would be ideal."

From HOME COOKERY YEAR: Four Seasons, Over 200 Recipes for All Possible Occasions by Claire Thomson (Quadrille, £30) Photography: Sam Folan

Hiyajiru (chilled miso soup) with cucumber ice cubes

The perfect hot weather dish from chef Tim Anderson's Nanban - even if you only make the cucumber ice cubes

Tim writes: One of my all-time favorite dishes on a hot day. Some may find the idea of a cold miso and fish soup strange, but keep in mind all the cold miso and fish dishes found throughout Japan – this just takes those flavours and translates them into a refreshing liquid format. Usually this is served with a side of hot rice so diners can enjoy the contrasting temperatures. I use room temperature rice so everything stays nice and cold, but do whatever you prefer.

In Miyazaki this is dished up with a few ice cubes in it to keep it cold. I don’t really like this because as they melt, all they do is dilute the soup. To add flavour where it would otherwise be lost, I use cucumber-chilli ice cubes, which make the dish both lighter and more exciting as you get to the bottom of the bowl. This will make more ice cubes than you need, but they are fantastic in a Bloody Mary, or G&T.

Hiyajiru
冷や汁
Chilled miso soup

Yield: 4-6 servings

For the miso soup:

2 mackerel fillets or 4 sardine fillets (about 150g total), skinned and boned
30g miso
15g toasted sesame seeds
40ml rice vinegar
40ml mirin
300ml dashi
340g firm silken tofu, pressed to extract moisture
300g rice
1/2 cucumber
20g beni shoga (red ginger), minced
4 leaves shiso or 8 leaves basil, cut into a chiffonade
salt
sesame oil

For the cucumber-chilli ice cubes

1/2 cucumber
juice of 1/2 lime
2 Thai green chillies
30ml rice vinegar
50ml water
pinch of salt

To make the ice cubes, simply puree all the ingredients in a blender. Pass the purée through a fine sieve and transfer to an ice cube tray. Freeze until set.

For the miso soup: Season the fish with a little salt and grill until done – it should actually be a little overcooked so it’s quite dry. Purée this in a blender along with the miso, sesame seeds, vinegar, mirin, dashi, and 100g of the tofu until completely smooth. Pass through a fine sieve and refrigerate for at least an hour to get it really nice and cold. (The mixture will separate as it chills. Not to worry – store it in a jar and give it a good shake to bring it back together before serving).

To serve: Cook the rice. Cut the remaining half of cucumber lengthwise, then shave it thinly – use a mandolin, if you have one. Salt the cucumber slices liberally and leave them to sit for 10 minutes, then squeeze out the liquid and give them a quick rinse under cold water. Cut the remaining tofu into small cubes.

Place a mound of tofu and cucumber slices in each bowl. Add a small spoonful of beni shoga on top, and then a pile of shiso chiffonade. Pour in the soup, stopping just before it reaches the top of the tofu and cucumbers. Add a few drops of sesame oil and the ice cubes. Serve rice on the side.

What to drink: Like many soups I'm not sure this needs any liquid accompaniment but a glass of chilled sake would work or a very dry white such as a muscadet.

© Nanban: Japanese Soul Food by Tim Anderson (Square Peg), photography by Paul Winch-Furness.