Michelin-star chef Nick Nairn shows you how to make a fabulous easy dinner party starter and a flavour-packed summer soup
Earlier this year I showed you how to make good chicken stock – hopefully that’s now in the freezer ready to be used again, but if not, the recipe for stock is here once more.
At this time of year, garden vegetables – no matter how ordinary they are such as carrots, onions, spring onions, courgettes, peas, broad beans, runner beans and fresh herbs – are all at their best. That’s what drives this soup, the wonderful veg that’s available now which is used to make a much lighter and more herby version of broth you’d make later in the year. Serve with some decent bread and lovely butter for a lunch-time treat, or add extra chicken to make a tasty and filling supper dish.
My second recipe is for ham hock terrine, which has become very popular again. There’s a reason for that. It’s relatively inexpensive to make and it tastes delicious, so long as you carefully cook the ham. The ham I use comes from ‘Mossie’, that’s Moss-side Farm Oldmeldrum, via John Davidson the Butcher in Inverurie.
You always have to make sure the stock the ham is cooked in is intensive enough so when it sets, it becomes a proper jelly with a really good flavour. Use lots of fresh herbs and serve with something that’s got a bit of crunch, such as long thin ciabatta croutons. For a dinner party, it’s just about the easiest starter you can make.
SUMMER CHICKEN BROTH
SERVES 6
FOR THE STOCK
1 chicken carcase
1 onion, peeled
Half a garlic bulb
1 large carrot, quartered
2 celery sticks, halved
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of thyme or parsley stalks
6 black peppercorns
FOR THE SOUP
1 chicken
100g fresh peas
100g green beans, chopped small
100g broad beans
100g courgettes, chopped small
100g carrots, chopped small
1 golden beetroot, chopped small
Handful chives, chopped
Handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
Roast the whole chicken in a 180C oven for 90 minutes, or according to its weight. Allow to cool, remove all the meat. Use the carcase to make the chicken stock. This can be done the
day before.
Place the carcase in a saucepan large enough for the bones, veg and about 2.25 litres of water.
Add the water and bring to a very gentle simmer.
Don’t boil – this is the secret of perfect clear stock. When white scum rises to the surface, skim it off with a spoon. Add the veg on top of the bones.
Place the pot half on, half off the heat.
The gently simmering stock will rise and fall through the veg, which act as a filter, absorbing impurities and leaving the liquid clear. Simmer for two hours. When the taste stops improving it’s ready.
Remove from the heat and pour through a sieve into a Tupperware bowl. Cover and put in the fridge. Leave overnight and in the morning lift off any fat with a spoon and discard.
The stock should now be jelly-like. It will keep in the fridge for five days or freeze for up to three months.
For the soup, gently heat the clear stock and add the veg for 5-10 minutes until tender. Add the chicken meat and herbs, stir through, then serve.
HAM HOCK TERRINE
SERVES 4
2 ham hocks
Handful flat leaf parsley
20g small capers
FOR THE TOASTS
1 loaf ciabatta
Olive oil
Malden sea salt
10g chopped fresh thyme
Jar of good-quality piccalilli
Parsley oil
30g flat leaf parsley
40ml olive oil
Boil the ham hocks very gently for 2-3 hours until tender in plenty of water, then remove from the water and pick off all the meat.
Mix together well with chopped flat leaf parsley and mini capers.
Add a little stock to moisten the mixture then form into mouse rings or a small terrine mould. It doesn’t have to be a fancy terrine – you can get a plastic one that serves the purpose for around £1.50.
Leave to chill completely in the mould.
For the toasts, slice the ciabatta thinly and drizzle with olive oil, chopped thyme and salt. Bake in a 180C oven for 3-4 minutes until crisp.
For the parsley oil, blanch a good handful of flat leaf parsley in a pan of boiling water for a few seconds, drain and immediately plunge into iced water so that it retains its colour.
Blend the chilled parsley with a little olive oil until it has become a lovely bright green puree.
Serve with a good quality piccalilli and a pile of ciabatta toasts.