Kitchen expert Eating In Burgers can be made using caul fat
This month I’ve been chatting to Suzanne Ballantine from West Molesey, who makes the most amazing array of chutneys and jams
Burger binder I recently discovered that my youngest daughter has a mild allergy to eggs. We are still discovering how to deal with this and I’m quite enjoying the learning process. I always make my own burgers at home, and in the past have used an egg to bind the mixture. I can’t do this anymore, and now my burgers break up on cooking. What can I use instead? Fiona, Farnham
A
A really cheff y tip here is to use something called caul fat. You won’t
fi nd this in the supermarket, but your local butcher will be able to get it for you, if they don’t already have it. It’s a product that is used lots in restaurants as a way of maintaining shape, moisture and fl avour in meat when cooking it. It looks like a little bundle of white string, but when you open it out, it is actually a bit like a webbing of fat that is so thin you can see through it. Treat it like wrapping paper. Using a pair
of scissors, cut a piece big enough to wrap the raw burger in, with a bit of an overlap, and then as you cook the burgers, they will hold their shape. The great thing about caul fat is that it’s so thin, it pretty much dissolves as you cook the meat, so when you come to eat your burger, you won’t even know it is there!
If you’d like to ask Andrew a foodie question, drop him an email to Surreyeditor@
grubmagazine.co.uk with ‘Andrew’ in the subject box. Andrew regrets he cannot enter into correspondence.
GRUBMAGAZINE.CO.UK JULY 2011 39
Suzanne initially started preserving as a hobby, but now she has a great little operation up and running, selling her delights to friends and family and making beautifully packaged ‘Suzanne’s Larder’ gifts. She has an allotment and uses the wonderful selection of seasonal fruits and vegetables she grows there to make such mouthwatering products as sweet piccalilli, chunky pear and walnut chutney, and spiced apple and cider jelly. ‘There really is no product that you can buy in the shops
that tastes quite as good as a homemade one,’ she says. ‘Not just because of the additives in commercial produce but also because of the fact that you can taste the love in homemade jams and chutneys.’
What should we be eating in July?
Where to begin? July is probably my favourite month for English produce. By now, the switch from old to new season English lamb is complete and the meat is
generally as good as it gets. So lamb chops on the BBQ are a must. On the fi sh front, this time of year is generally the best for lobsters and prawns and
is also excellent for squid…and by some wonderful coincidence, these seafoods all taste fantastic when BBQ’d! English soft fruits are in full swing, with strawberries and raspberries approaching their best, along with redcurrants, cherries and blueberries. Broad beans, fresh peas, green beans and fresh garlic are all bursting with fl avour and English cucumbers, lettuces and salad leaves, radishes and watercress are perfect for eating now.
Prawns come into season just in time for BBQs
WORDS: Andrew Maxwelll PHOTOGRAPHS: Shutterstock
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84