In his second column for British GQ (you can find the first one here), Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur Jason Atherton has the answers to all your home cooking, self-isolation questions. Follow his advice and you'll be the culinary king of your castle…
Getting home delivery from supermarkets at the moment isn’t easy due to the incredibly high demand. Plus, for me, I feel it is the kind of service that should be prioritised for the elderly and key workers who aren’t able to get to the shops so easily. However, in these times of self-isolation there are other suppliers who I recommend you try and will deliver produce to your home. I use these guys and I recommend you try them too.
For meat, because demand is so high, I have a few suggestions:
Meat Me At Home. They have been importing and delivering specialist meats from all over the world for over 20 years.
Lake District Farmers. They supply the meat to my restaurants. I can’t give them a higher recommendation than that!
The Ethical Butcher. Grass-fed beef and lamb, plus high-welfare poultry mean you get quality, stress-free meat to your door.
Ordering fish is trickier at the moment because delivery times are being stretched. However, we should all try and eat fish as part of a healthy, balanced diet, so it is important to hunt it out. For the restaurant I usually get my fish direct from Cornwall, but at the moment the one I am using at home is The Upper Scale, which supplies to London and the surrounding area. Definitely worth a try.
For other deliveries, I am using Wellocks At Home for boxes of vegetables, dairy and bread. And for the occasional bottle of wine (or a case), Les Caves De Pyrene are great.
We should all be making an effort to eat less meat generally and, with ingredients harder to come by at the moment, this is the perfect opportunity to introduce more vegetarian dishes into your repertoire. At my restaurants we have vegetarian and vegan tasting menus, so we know how delicious and tasty meat-free dishes can be. This one is super simple, but definitely creative and only uses half-a-dozen ingredients…
Cucumber and shiitake mushrooms in Japanese dressing
(Prep time: 20 minutes. Cooking time: five minutes)
Ingredients
200g cucumbers, chopped into dice
Handful of fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced (but you can use just normal dark field mushrooms)
2tbsp soy sauce
3tbsp mirin
2tbsp toasted white sesame seeds (crushed a little)
5tbsp of vinegar (should be rice wine but use any white vinegar)
Method
Salt the cucumbers for ten minutes and then wash to rinse the salt.
Sauté the mushrooms very lightly and then add all of the ingredients together and serve.
There are so many possibilities with a whole chicken, other than just roasting it. For instance, if you poach it, you can use Mediterranean, Asian or curried seasoning to take it in any flavour direction you like. Or keep it super simple and use the cooking liquor for stock or a healthy and nourishing chicken soup.
However, to maximise your possibilities, try taking the chicken apart (removing the giblets if you have them) and separating the different elements by taking off the fillets, chicken legs, wings and thighs. Once you've done that, please don't throw away the carcass. Run all the pieces under cold water and then pat dry.
First the chicken fillets. They are the star of the show, so save them and do something special, such as poulet à la moutarde. This is the famous French dish traditionally made from rabbit, but works brilliantly with chicken. To do it, make a simple onion and mustard sauce with white wine and chicken stock, finish it with parsley and pour over the chicken breasts and bake in the oven. Serve it with rice or mash.
For the thighs I would make a rich Spanish dish adding in cured sausage and beans with a bit of paprika.
Those drumsticks and wings will be great. Get those bad boys sticky as hell with a marinade made from chilli powder, honey, garlic and onion powder and bake them in the oven until dark, golden and sweet. Serve with a cold beer and plenty of napkins!
Last but not least, the carcass. Pop it in a pan with any left over vegetables, garlic and herbs and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil (removing any scum that floats to the surface) and then simmer for 45 minutes. Then pass this through a sieve and freeze for your chicken stock, or add any left over chicken and extra vegetables and you have chicken soup. Four meals from one bird.
Rice is such a versatile ingredient, so don't just boil it and be bored. I tend to do a lot of fried rice dishes because it is an opportunity to use up old bits of veg in the fridge. Dice up whatever you have (carrots, cabbage, mushrooms…) and you can also throw in small frozen peas or sweetcorn, and then shallow fry in a little oil with garlic. The vegetables will cook very quickly. Then add in the cooked rice until it colours a little, then add fresh chopped coriander and a bit of oyster sauce and serve.
And for a cheeky little dessert, bake rice in the oven with milk, a few eggs (they are easier to get now), with a splash of vanilla essence. Wait for the skin to form (that's the best bit) and you have amazing rice pudding.
What, another one? This one is great and should feed six of you.
Apple tart for beginners
Ingredients
500g shop bought puff pastry
8 apples
100g butter, diced
150g caster sugar
Orange marmalade (optional)
Method
Set your oven to 185C. Roll the pastry thin, lay it on a baking tray and prick it all over with a fork to stop it rising.
Slice the apples as fine as you can (discard the core and the pips) and lay them neatly on top of the pastry (leave a border). Brush the top with orange marmalade (if you wish), then sprinkle on the sugar so it glazes nicely.
Bake for 20 minutes and serve with cream or ice cream.
To find out more about The Social Company, visit jasonatherton.co.uk and follow him on Instagram @_jasonatherton
Tips on how to perfect cooking while at home, from Jason Atherton
