He may be a familiar face on TV, but James Martin isn’t happy about chefs clogging up air time. The chef dishes up a dose of reality, along with three new Home Comforts recipes
Don’t get James Martin started on the number of chefs on TV at the moment.
Yes, he may be a chef, and yes he may be on telly a fair bit, but he’s also rather fed up with seeing members of his profession clambering for their close-ups.
“Fundamentally, I’m doing something I love,” reasons the Malton-born 42-year-old. “I never wanted to be on television, I didn’t go into this industry to be on TV, and unfortunately now, most chefs when you ask the younger ones, well, they just want to be on TV. It’s not about that.”
While the statement seems to contradict Martin’s own TV engagements, including Saturday Kitchen and the second series of Home Comforts, filmed at his home and based on his new book of the same name, he insists his career is built on a rocksteady love of food.
“The industry is so important to me first, and the TV is secondary,” he adds. “I just so happen to be doing this because I was told I was good at it, and that’s why the phone kept ringing. I’d be quite happy if the filming stopped. I’ll go back to my restaurant.”
But it doesn’t sound like the chatty chef is in a rush to leave the small screen soon.
Having taken part in BBC One’s Meet The Street, where he took famous people back to their hometowns to tackle loneliness in their area, he is evangelical about the power of telly.
“I just think TV is such a magical thing, as in it can change people’s lives and make you cry, make you happy,” explains Martin, who also hosted BBC One’s Operation Hospital Food, which saw him working to improve meals served up in wards.
“It’s an amazing thing, really. The more I do it, the more I enjoy it. I’ve been doing it for 20 years now and it’s just the best job in the world… but then I always want my other job.”
And it’s his “other job” – writing recipes (especially ones which cater for people who live “north of Watford” and include ingredients everyone should be able to track down easily), or working at his Manchester restaurant – that really gets him buzzing.
“I go back to my kitchen for normality, that’s my day job,” says Martin, who came fourth in the third series of Strictly Come Dancing.
But he loves the chance to “dive in and out”, and travel the country meeting foodies for work.
“Meeting people is fascinating,” he says. “Whatever they do, wherever they’re from, whatever they’ve got, people are fascinating.”
To treat the fascinating people in your life, here are three recipes from Home Comforts to try at home…
BEER-MARINATED RACK OF PORK WITH JEFF’S CHARD GRATIN
(Serves 6)
For the pork:
2tbsp sea salt
2tbsp dark brown sugar
1tsp black peppercorns
4 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
2 bay leaves
2tbsp yellow mustard seeds (1tbsp soaked in water overnight)
4 sprigs of thyme
4 sprigs of flat-leaf parsley
500ml beer, preferably a good ale
1-1.2kg 6-rib pork loin rack, French-trimmed
50g unsalted butter
100g brioche, roughly torn
1tsp English mustard powder
1tbsp brown mustard seeds, soaked in water overnight
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the gratin:
700g chard, chopped into 2cm pieces
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-1.5cm chunks
1 onion, sliced
50g unsalted butter
50g plain flour
400ml whole milk
200ml chicken stock
100g gruyere cheese, grated
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pour 100ml of cold water into a saucepan, add the sea salt and sugar and heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat. Now mix in 400ml of cold water, the peppercorns, garlic, bay, unsoaked yellow mustard seeds, thyme, parsley and beer.
Put the pork loin into a large bowl or sealable bag then pour in the liquid and cover. Place in the fridge for 24 hours, turning occasionally.
When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Remove the pork from the bag and pat dry. Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat, then add the butter and heat until foaming. Carefully seal the pork on each side until light golden brown, then transfer to a roasting tray. Roast for 15 minutes.
Put the brioche, mustard powder and soaked yellow and brown mustard seeds into a food processor and blitz to a paste, then season. Set aside.
Meanwhile, make the gratin: Layer half the chard and potatoes into an ovenproof dish, scatter over the onion, then place the rest of the chard and potatoes on top.
Put the butter in a saucepan and melt, then add the flour and cook for a couple of minutes until light golden brown. Add the milk gradually, whisking until you have a smooth white sauce, then whisk in the stock and half the cheese and cook until melted. Season with salt and pepper, then pour the sauce over the chard and potatoes and top with the remaining cheese.
After the pork has been cooking for 15 minutes, spread the brioche paste over the top. Decrease the oven temperature to 180C/350F/gas mark 4, then return it to the oven for 45 minutes to crisp the crumb and finish cooking the pork through. Place the gratin in the oven at the same time.
Remove the pork from the oven and rest for 15 minutes, while the gratin finishes cooking. Carve the pork and serve with the chard gratin.
CHICKEN AND WILD MUSHROOM FRYING PAN PIE
(Serves 3-4)
For the rough puff pastry:
250g plain flour, plus more to dust
250g very cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/2tsp salt
For the filling:
25g unsalted butter
1 banana shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely sliced
2 large skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1cm-thick slices
150g mixed mushrooms, such as chanterelle, girolle and chestnut, sliced if necessary
50ml Madeira
150ml chicken stock
2tbsp chopped tarragon leaves
200ml double cream
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
For the pastry, place the flour in a mound on a clean work surface and make a well in the centre.
Place the butter and salt in the well and work them together with the fingertips of one hand, gradually drawing the flour into the centre with the other hand. When the cubes of butter have become small pieces and the dough is grainy, gradually add 125ml of ice-cold water and mix until it is all incorporated. But don’t overwork the dough; the butter should give a marbled effect to the pastry and not be mixed in fully.
Roll the mixture out on a lightly floured surface into a 2.5cm-thick rectangle, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Flour the work surface and roll out the pastry into a 40x20cm rectangle. Fold one short side over by one-third, then the other short side on top of it, as though you were folding a business letter. Turn 90-degrees. Roll the block of pastry into a 40x20cm rectangle as before, and fold it into three again. These are the first two turns. Repeat twice more to make four turns in total.
Wrap the pastry in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Heat a large (24cm) ovenproof frying pan until hot, add the butter and, when it foams, add the shallot and garlic and fry for one minute, then add the chicken and fry until just coloured. Add the mushrooms and fry over a high heat for two or three minutes until just softened, then add the Madeira and set the mixture alight with a match, standing well back.
When the flames subside, pour in the stock and bring to a simmer, then add the tarragon and cream and simmer for five minutes. Check the seasoning, then set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface until it is 5cm wider than the frying pan and 4-5mm thick. Brush the edges of the frying pan with the egg. Lay the pastry over the filling and crimp at the edges. Trim away any excess pastry and brush the top of the pie with the remaining egg. Decorate with any pastry trimmings, if you like.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the pastry is crisp and golden and the filling is bubbling.
PASSION FRUIT CREME WITH COCONUT AND CHERRY BISCOTTI
(Serves 4)
For the passion fruit creme:
600ml double cream
250g caster sugar
Juice of 1 lime
150ml passion fruit pulp (passed through a fine sieve)
2 leaves of gelatine
For the biscotti:
300g plain flour, plus more to dust
250g caster sugar
100g shelled pistachios
60g grated fresh coconut
50g natural glace cherries, roughly chopped
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
11/4tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Begin with the passion fruit creme. Put the double cream and 150g of the sugar into a large saucepan. Gently bring to the boil, then remove from the heat. Add the lime juice and 75ml of the passion fruit pulp and whisk to combine.
Pour into four large martini glasses and place in the fridge to set for at least two hours.
Meanwhile, soak the gelatine leaves in cold water. Put the remaining 100g of caster sugar into a saucepan with 100ml of water, bring to the boil, then squeeze any excess water out of the gelatine, add to the syrup and whisk until completely dissolved. Add the remaining 75ml of passion fruit pulp, then set aside to cool.
When it’s cool, pour over the passion fruit creme to cover (this layer only needs to be about 5mm thick). Return to the fridge to set for another hour. Remove from the fridge for 30 minutes before serving.
Meanwhile, make the biscotti, Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 and line a baking tray with baking parchment.
Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together to a soft, sticky dough. Form it into two long sausages on a lightly floured work surface, place on the baking tray, then bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and leave for 10 minutes to cool and firm up.
Using a serrated knife, cut the biscotti on an angle into slices, 1cm thick, then lay them back on to the baking tray (you may well need two trays now).
Return to the oven and cook for eight minutes, then turn the slices over and cook for a further 10-15 minutes, or until a pale golden colour on both sides. Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks.
Serve the passion fruit creme with the biscotti alongside.
Home Comforts by James Martin is published in hardback by Quadrille publishing, priced £20.