A plethora of internationally-famous chefs from across the world have contributed recipes to a gorgeous new cookbook – and we've a fantastic recipe from it to share with you.
Raymond Blanc, Heston Blumenthal, Anton Mosimann and Marcus Wareing are among the 365 culinary geniuses who have provided a recipe in aid of charity for the ChariTable Bookings Signature Dish recipe book.
At 754 pages it’s a whopping tome, genuinely one of the heaviest books we’ve ever come across. It even arrives in a reinforced cardboard presentation box, presumably to stop the book from collapsing under the strength of its own gravitational field when not in use.
The reason for that heft, as you might have guessed, is the fabulous paper used to create a very, very special recipe book. And once you have manoeuvred it into position with your crane, it’s exceedingly practical in that it happily sits open on the page of whichever recipe you’re cooking.
The practicality doesn’t stop there. Unlike many high-end recipe books, the vast majority of the recipes that we looked at are remarkably un-daunting in terms of ingredients and techniques. Tom Kerridge’s stew, reproduced below, is a case in point.
The book costs £40; a hefty price, but for such a nicely-produced collection it’s not at all outlandish, and £5 of the price goes to the recipient’s choice of charity.
ChariTable themselves are a restaurant booking service which pays £1 per head per booking to charity – a terrifically painless way of giving something back when going out, and you can even nominate your preferred charity from more than 7,000 registered.
Tom Kerridge’s signature dish: Rump steak stew
Ingredients
- 30g dried mixed mushrooms
- 100ml boiling water, for soaking
- 4 x 250g rump steak pavés
- 1 drizzle of vegetable oil
- 50g butter
- 300g girolle mushrooms, cleaned
- 2 banana shallots, finely diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, grated
- 400ml beef stock
- 50ml brandy
- 50ml double cream
- 50ml ruby port
- 2 plum tomatoes, blanched, peeled, cored, deseeded and diced
- 1 tbsp tarragon, finely chopped
- 200g broad-leaf spinach, tough stems removed
- ½ lemon, juiced
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Place the dried mushrooms into a bowl and pour over about 100ml of boiling water; leave them to steep and rehydrate for 20 minutes. During this time, take the rump steaks out of the fridge to come to room temperature.
Warm a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan over a medium heat and drizzle in a little oil. Add half of the butter and heat until foaming. Season the rump steaks and fry on both sides until nicely coloured all over. Keep cooking them until they’re cooked to your liking; this should take 7–8 minutes for medium rare. Remove the steaks from the pan, put them on a plate and place them in a cool oven at 50°C to rest until needed.
Place a sieve over a bowl and drain the steeped mushrooms. Now line the sieve with muslin, place it over a clean bowl and pass the soaking liquid through it to remove any dirt. Roughly chop the mushrooms. Melt the remaining butter in the frying pan over a medium-high heat and when it foams, fry the girolles for 2–3 minutes. Add the shallots and garlic, then fry for 5 minutes or so, stirring from time to time until softened. Add the steeped mushrooms and stir.
Pour in 50ml of the soaking water, the beef stock and brandy and bring to the boil. Simmer to reduce the liquid by a third, then add the cream and return to the boil. Add the port, then stir in the diced tomatoes and tarragon. Place the spinach on top and put a lid on the pan or cover tightly with tin foil. Turn the heat off and leave for 2 minutes.
To finish, remove the lid and stir the wilted spinach into the stew. Stir in the lemon juice and season to taste. Remove the steaks from the oven, slice into thick pieces and place in the stew, along with any resting juices.
To serve
Place on warmed plates with creamy mashed potatoes or chips.
