ays have never felt so indistinguishable, yet food has remained an anchor for many – baking banana bread and sourdough especially. But with another weekend ahead of us, a time normally reserved for leisurely brunches and Sunday roasts, the absence of our favourite eateries may be keenly felt. Eating in is, for now, the new eating out. Obviously which ingredients are readily available varies wildly from area to area, whether you live in a city or the countryside, but here are some restaurant recipes you may be able to cook at home – we see your loaf and raise you chef Stephen Harris’ soda bread from The Sportsman and Dishoom’s kejriwal (AKA chilli cheese toast topped with a fried egg or two). The Ethicurean’s classic cocktail Now that most of us are at home every day, it can be difficult to differentiate your week from your weekend. However, 5.30pm on a Friday can, once again, ignite excitement with the help of a Zoom/HouseParty/FaceTime aperitivo hour – drinks to be consumed in moderation, of course. Shake up the Ethicurean Cocktail, from the organic restaurant of the same name in the Mendip Hills, Bristol, for the perfect mix of sweet, sharp and savoury in the form of lemon, honey, vodka (any you have to hand). Plus, you can omit the booze element if making for children. Serves 1 Ice cubes ¼ lemon 2 sprigs thyme, plus 1 sprig extra, to serve 1 tsp honey 25ml Chase English potato vodka 100ml apple juice Fill your glass to the rim with ice. Squeeze the lemon into the glass part of a Boston shaker, then drop in the squeezed lemon wedge, together with the thyme. Mash with a wooden pestle, then add the honey and just a little warm water to dissolve. Measure out the vodka – there’s no harm in a double if the wind takes you – and pour it on the other ingredients. Add the apple juice and top up to just below the rim with ice. Tap the tin on top of the glass and shake till water condenses on the outside of the shaker. Separate by using the heel of your hand to knock where the glass and tin are touching. Pour those last few precious drops into the tin, then place a strainer over the tin and pour the mixture into the chilled glass. Top up with ice, add a small sprig of thyme and add juice to taste. • Recipe from The Ethicurean Cookbook by The Ethicurean (Ebury Press, £30) Dishoom’s kejriwal If you’re a fully fledged member of the “Bombay Cafe” chain’s cult following, weekends may be proving tough right about now. While turning out its bacon naan roll from your dwindling store cupboard may be a step too far, its kejriwal is within grasp. A tip from Dishoom: “The most convenient way of finishing the eggs here is to use a frying pan that can go into the oven. If you don’t have one, fry the eggs until cooked in the pan, then top with the cheese, spring onions, chilli and pepper.” The cheese won’t melt as much, but at this point, who is splitting hairs? Add a good dollop of ketchup and your own tailor-made soundtrack, à la Dishoom. Serves 1 80g mature cheddar, grated 1 or 2 thick slices white bloomer, sourdough or brioche (depending on size and level of hunger) 2 spring onions, chopped 1 green chilli, very finely chopped 1 tsp vegetable oil (optional) 1 or 2 large eggs (one for each slice of toast) Coarsely ground black pepper To serve Tomato ketchup Let the grated cheese come up to room temperature; it needs to be quite soft and workable. Heat the oven to 240C (220C fan)/gas mark 9 and put in a baking tray to warm up. Toast the bread until very lightly browned on both sides, then set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the topping. Set aside a small handful of grated cheese (roughly 10g), a teaspoon of chopped spring onion and a pinch of green chilli, to be used when you fry the egg(s). Crack the egg(s) into a cup or small bowl, being careful to keep the yolk(s) intact. Put the remaining cheese, spring onions and chilli in a bowl, add plenty of black pepper and mix well. Using the back of a spoon (or your fingers), work the cheese mixture into a paste by pressing it firmly into the sides of the bowl. Spread the cheese mix evenly over the toast and press it in, using the back of the spoon, to create a firm, even layer that goes all the way to the edges of the toast. Place on the tray in the oven and cook for six to eight minutes, until deep golden and bubbling. While the chilli cheese toast is cooking, warm a frying pan over a high heat and, if using, add the oil. Gently tip the egg(s) into the hot pan and add some black pepper. Top with the reserved grated cheese, spring onion and green chilli. Place the frying pan in the oven and cook for two minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the egg white(s) are cooked but the yolk(s) are still runny. Carefully slide the egg(s) on to the cheese on toast and serve right away, with plenty of ketchup. • Recipe from Dishoom by Shamil Thakrar, Kavi Thakrar & Naved Nasir (Bloomsbury, £26) The Quality Chop House’s confit potatoes Few things have the ability to cosset and hug quite like these carby cuboids from the Quality Chop House. The restaurant’s celebrated confit potatoes are cooked in duck fat, which is sold in most large supermarkets; the local butcher might have it, too. This recipe is a labour of love but, well, we have the time. Plus, that shattering crunch and fluffy interior will put even the most perfectly roast spuds to shame. Use maris pipers, if you’ve got them, says The Quality Chop House: “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) For the mustard dressing 425g dijon mustard Juice of ½ lemon ½ tsp cider vinegar 375ml vegetable oil Heat the oven to 120C (100C fan)/gas mark ½ and line a standard 1.7-litre terrine mould with baking paper. Peel and wash the potatoes, then use a mandoline to slice them as thinly as possible. In a large bowl, toss the slices thoroughly in the duck fat and salt. Layer the potatoes in the mould, one slice at a time, until you have built up multiple tiers. Once you’ve used up all the potato, cover the top with baking paper and cook for about three hours, until the potatoes are completely tender. Put a small baking tray or plate on top of the baking paper cover, along with a few heavy weights (we find tins work well) and leave to cool, then refrigerate overnight to compress. For the dressing, mix the mustard, lemon juice and vinegar in a bowl, then whisk in the vegetable oil until emulsified. Store in squeezy bottles in the fridge until you’re ready to use. The next day, remove the potatoes from the mould and cut into 3cm x 3cm pieces. Heat enough oil for deep-fat frying to 190C (170C fan)/gas mark 5, either in a deep fryer or a heavy-based saucepan. Fry the pieces for about four minutes, until croissant-gold. Sprinkle over some sea salt, drizzle with the mustard dressing and eat immediately. • Recipe from The Quality Chop House: Modern Recipes and Stories from a London Classic by Will Lander, Dan Morgenthau and Shaun Searley (Quadrille, hardback and ebook available, £30) The Sportsman’s soda bread While the sound of gulls and smell of seaweed have been put on ice for most of us, you can still bring a taste of the Sportsman pub at Seasalter, Kent, into your home. While people flocked to the justly lauded pub for local oysters, slip sole grilled in a bath of seaweed butter, and its stupendous treacle tart, chef Stephen Harris’s homemade bread is a winner, in particular his treacly soda bread. We seem to be baking bread like there’s no tomorrow right now, so if you have stashed bags of flour, there could be no finer way to put it to use; if you didn’t, bank this recipe for brighter times. Instead of buttermilk, mix milk with a little lemon juice or white-wine vinegar, or combine plain yoghurt and milk. Makes 1 loaf 125g wholemeal (whole wheat) flour 65g self-raising flour 65g pinhead oats 30g bran 15g wheatgerm 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp sea salt 1 tbsp treacle 300ml buttermilk Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/gas mark 7 and generously flour a baking sheet. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the treacle and buttermilk, and mix until fully incorporated. You can do this in a stand mixer fitted with a dough-hook or paddle at low speed. Turn the sticky dough out on to a well-floured work counter and knead lightly, just until no longer sticky. Form into a loaf shape and lift on to the prepared baking sheet. Bake for five minutes, then lower the heat to 180C (160C fan)/gas mark 4 and bake for 30-40 minutes. When the loaf is done, it should sound hollow when you tap the underside. Or test with a skewer, which should come out clean when probed into the centre. Leave the bread to cool on a wire rack. • Recipe from The Sportsman by Stephen Harris (Phaidon, £29.95) Ravneet Gill’s crumbly chocolate biscuits If you joined the lengthy queues at bakery pop-up Puff at Passo, in Old Street, London, before lockdown, you will be well acquainted with Ravneet Gill (formerly of St John, among others) and Nicola Lamb (ex-Ottolenghi and Little Bread Pedlar) and their cracking cookies, lemon brulee tart, and rhubarb and custard pie. Happily, Gill has released her first cookbook, The Pastry Chef’s Guide, which includes a recipe for crumbly chocolate biscuits, which Gill recommends sandwiching together with a filling of mascarpone mixed with white chocolate and a touch of sea salt. However, they are equally good as they are. This dough is a bit sticky to work with, but worth it for the intense chocolate flavour and gorgeously crumbly texture. Makes 35 225g unsalted butter, softened 150g caster (superfine) sugar 240g plain flour 80g cocoa powder ¼ large pinch fine salt 2 ½ tbsp golden syrup Put the butter and sugar in a stand mixer or large bowl. Cream together using the paddle attachment or a handheld electric whisk until well combined with no lumps. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate and salt) in a separate bowl. Add these to the butter mixture and mix until a loose dough starts to form. Add the golden syrup and mix until the dough comes together. Remove the dough and pat into a flat shape. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least two hours. Remove the plastic and knead the dough through briefly. Roll it out between two sheets of baking paper to a thickness of about 4mm. Transfer to a baking sheet on the paper and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. Stamp out rounds using a cutter of your choice (the dough makes 35 biscuits using a 7cm fluted cutter). Use a palette knife to slide the biscuits back on to two new baking sheets covered with baking paper, slightly spaced out (they won’t grow much) and chill again for 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/gas mark 4. Bake the biscuits for 12-15 minutes, until dry to the touch. Leave to cool completely on the baking sheet and eat them as they are or sandwich together with a filling; I like mascarpone mixed with white chocolate and a touch of sea salt. The baked biscuits will keep in an airtight container for up to two weeks. Once any filling has been added, they are best eaten on the same day. • Recipe from The Pastry Chef’s Guide by Ravneet Gill (Pavilion, £18.99) Ducksoup’s mozzarella, borlotti and wild garlic green sauce Are you craving for a night perched on a stool at Ducksoup, in central London, with a glass of natural wine in hand and pared-back plates inspired by Italian, Middle Eastern and Nordic flavours in front of you? Combine seasonal produce with store-cupboard staples with this simple dish of mozzarella, borlotti beans and wild garlic green sauce. I don’t have to be Mystic Meg to know there’s a tin of beans lurking in your cupboard right now, plus, if social media are to be believed, everyone is swimming in wild garlic. However, if this is a con, basil will work in its place. Serves 2 1 x 250g tin good-quality organic beans in salt 1 handful wild garlic, parsley and mint, roughly chopped (if you can’t get wild garlic, use basil) 6 anchovy fillets, drained and roughly chopped Zest of 1 lemon 1 tbsp capers 1 tsp dijon mustard 1 garlic clove, peeled and grated Extra-virgin olive oil 2 mozzarella balls, about 150g each Salt and freshly ground black pepper Open the tin of beans, pour into a pan with their liquid and warm up. Put the herbs, anchovies, lemon zest, capers, mustard and garlic in a large bowl with enough oil to bind everything together. Stir the green sauce into the beans, warm through on a low heat for one minute, then divide between two bowls. Tear open the mozzarella balls and place over the beans. Dress with a little more oil and some salt and pepper. • Recipe from Ducksoup Cookbook: The Wisdom of Simple cCooking (Square Peg, £26) Honey & Co’s lamb stew with medjool dates If you’re hankering for relaxed, Middle Eastern food, turn to this lamb stew with medjool dates (and optional tahini). Follow Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer’s eminently sensible mantra: “It’s never worth making a small amount of a stew.” Make a large pot to see you through the week, then, as they suggest, serve drizzled with raw tahini paste (if you have some) and rice, or use as sauce for pasta. It freezes well, too. A stew for the fridge or freezer, or to serve six as a generous dinner 3 tbsp olive oil 1.5kg lamb shoulder, diced 2 tsp salt, plus more to season 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper 2 onions, peeled and diced 2 carrots, peeled and sliced 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 1 litre water 1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and diced into large cubes 1 tbsp ground cumin 10 medjool dates, pitted and halved To finish (for the whole amount – reduce if you are only eating some at a time) 5 tbsp raw tahini paste 1 small bunch parsley, chopped Juice of ½ lemon Heat a large saucepan on a high heat and pour in the oil. Mix the diced lamb with the salt and pepper so it is well seasoned, then add it to the pan in batches to brown all over, transferring it to a bowl on the side once browned. Continue until all the lamb has been seared and set aside. Put the onions, carrots and garlic in the same pan, mix well and cook, stirring now and again, for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables start to colour and soften. Add the water and bring to a boil. Return the lamb (and all its juices) to the pan, and bring the mixture back to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, half-cover the pan and leave to cook slowly for about an hour. Add the diced squash, cumin and halved dates with a sprinkling of extra salt, and continue cooking for another 30–40 minutes, until the meat is very tender. If you are serving the whole lot now, add the finishing touches of tahini paste, parsley and lemon juice, mix to create a smooth sauce and serve. If you are preparing this in advance, you can stop at the end of step four and reheat to serve when needed. The stew will be tasty even without any further additions and will keep for a few days in the fridge. • Recipe from Honey & Co: at home by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich (Pavilion, £26) Caravan’s spiced roasted cauliflower, harissa, pomegranate yoghurt (pictured top) Since opening the doors of their first restaurant in Exmouth Market, London, Caravan has cornered the all-day dining market, from a baked eggs brunch to laid-back small plates. If you’re missing their fusion fare, seek solace in this spiced roasted cauliflower with pomegranate yoghurt; cauliflowers are a great vehicle for flavour, and the yoghurt can easily be omitted along with the pomegranate and nigella seeds, depending on what’s available. Serves 4 1 large cauliflower 4 tbsp rapeseed oil or other neutral-flavoured oil 1 tbsp olive oil 25g garam masala 75g Greek yoghurt 15g pomegranate molasses 100g harissa 1 tbsp nigella seeds 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds Sea salt Coriander cress, to garnish (or use picked coriander leaves) Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/gas mark 6. Cut the cauliflower into quarters, then cut each quarter in half, so you have eight wedges of cauliflower. Heat the rapeseed oil in a large frying pan and fry four pieces of cauliflower on each side until golden brown. Remove from pan and repeat with the remaining four pieces. Put the cauliflower in a large bowl, pour in the olive oil and garam masala, toss to ensure a good coating on all sides, then tip the cauliflower on to a large roasting tray and bake for eight to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the yoghurt and pomegranate molasses in a small bowl, season with salt and set aside. Spread a tablespoon of harissa over the base of each serving plate, then place a couple of wedges of cauliflower on top of that. Dollop on spoonfuls of pomegranate molasses yoghurt and sprinkle with nigella seeds and pomegranate seeds. Finally, garnish with coriander cress or leaves and serve. • Recipe from Caravan: Dining All Day by Laura Harper-Hinton, Miles Kirby and Chris Ammermann (Square Peg, £15) Asma Khan’s Tengri kabab (AKA chicken drumstick kabab) Darjeeling Express, in central London, serves the sort of Indian comfort food that we all need right now: puchkas (crunchy shells of wheat and semolina filled with potato, black chickpeas and tamarind water), tiger prawns cooked in coconut milk, and carrot halwa. When Asma Khan, who appeared in the Netflix documentary series Chef’s Table, was growing up in India in the 70s and 80s, these chicken drumsticks were served at gatherings. While gatherings are off the cards, if you’re cooking for your family (or particularly hungry), you need to adopt the “Goldilocks Rule”, says Khan: “You want the drumsticks to be neither too fat, not too thin. Ideally, they should all be medium so they cook through evenly without drying out.” Serves 2 4 medium skinless drumsticks (approximately 500g) Lemon wedges, to serve For the marinade 2 tbsp light soy sauce 1 tbsp lemon juice ½ tbsp ground coriander ¼ tsp chilli powder (replace with paprika for a milder heat) A large pinch of sugar 1 tbsp fresh ginger paste 1 tbsp garlic paste In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for the marinade. Place the chicken drumsticks in a non-reactive container with a lid and pour over the marinade, making sure every surface of the chicken is covered. Cover the container and refrigerate for at least six hours, and preferably overnight. Take the chicken out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking to allow it to come to room temperature. These kababs can be cooked either in an oven or on a barbecue. If cooking in an oven, heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/gas mark 6. Place the drumsticks on an oven tray in a single layer to allow them to cook evenly and pour over any remaining marinade. Bake for 20–25 minutes, then use a sharp knife or skewer to pierce the thickest part of the drumstick to check whether the juices run clear; if not, return to the oven. When cooked, the drumsticks should be speckled with brown patches, but the meat should not be dry. If cooking on a barbecue, wait until any flames have subsided and a low heat is evenly spread across the coals (if the heat is too high, the outsides of the drumsticks will cook quickly but the insides will still be raw). The cooking time will vary depending on the heat of the coals. Before serving, using a sharp knife or skewer, pierce the thickest part of the drumstick to check whether the juices run clear. Serve the kababs while warm, with lemon wedges to squeeze over. • Recipe from Asma’s Indian Kitchen: Home-cooked food brought to you by Darjeeling Express by Asma Khan (Pavilion, £20) Morito’s beetroot borani The conveyor belt of cooking and washing-up is unrelenting, so you would be forgiven for solely living on traybakes. However, I miss small plates; the variety, the excuse to eat more than what would normally be considered a one-person portion. Morito, from chefs Sam and Sam Clark, is a haven for such needs, with north African and Middle Eastern-inspired tapas plates of dukkah for dipping, chicken with walnut and pomegranate sauce, brandada with artichokes, and beetroot borani. This Iranian yoghurt dip is one of their most popular dishes, and rightly so. You can – and should – make it at home. They use a cabernet sauvignon vinegar, but let’s get real: red-wine vinegar will work fine – just remember to add a pinch of sugar. Serves 4 4 medium raw bunched beetroot (about 700g) 1 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed to a paste with ½ teaspoon salt 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling 4 tbsp strained Greek yoghurt, such as Total 2 tbsp chopped dill, plus a few sprigs to garnish 2 tbsp red-wine vinegar with a pinch of sugar 50g feta cheese, crumbled 6 walnut halves, roughly crushed ½ tsp black onion seeds Wash the beetroot, but don’t peel it, then put in a pan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Cook for about 40 minutes, or until tender, topping up the water, if necessary. The beetroot is ready when a sharp knife goes through easily. Drain and leave to cool. Peel the beetroot, then blend in a food processor – you want some texture in the puree, so don’t overblend. Transfer to a bowl, add the garlic, olive oil, yoghurt, dill, vinegar and a pinch of salt, and mix well. Check the seasoning and spread the puree on a plate. Sprinkle with the feta, walnuts, black onion seeds and extra sprigs of dill, and drizzle with a little olive oil, and serve with flatbread or pitta. • Recipe from Morito by Sam and Sam Clark (Ebury, £26)