Outdoor Food Tom Kerridge's Proper Pub Food

Portion of chips, pork is a la carte.

I'm Tom Kerridge.

HE GUFFAWS

I run the only pub in the UK with two Michelin stars.

Lamb in, please!

And one lamb out.

The great British pub.

This is what we Brits do best.

Set lunch coming, yeah?

And I want to show you how to cook pub classics in your own home.

There we go!

Lovely!

I'm all about simplicity.

Solid, strong flavours. You shouldn't complicate food.

You should just keep it nice and simple.

It's about good food...

prepared with a little bit of extra love and attention

to share with family and friends.

This is my pub food...done properly.

Everybody likes sitting outside in a beer garden,

drinking and eating great food.

But we're proper rubbish at doing outdoor food in this country.

If you put as much love into your outdoor cooking

as your indoor cooking,

you can end up with some legendary dishes.

Like my fishy twist on a classic burger.

That's the best burger I've ever had.

I'm making slow-cooked beef ribs

with THE ultimate barbecue glaze -

perfect for a hassle-free barbie.

With a warm tomato salad like you've never had before.

Croutons and beef dripping.

Do you know what?

I reckon that could sort out any salad.

And to round things off,

a dead easy and delicious maple cake,

baked on the barbecue.

It really does work.

My bonkers barbecue cake!

But first up my favourite beer food

for a warm summer's day.

I'm going to show you how to do my own version of chicken in a basket,

with a Southern fried twist.

It starts with a jointed chicken,

which I've marinated in buttermilk overnight.

The longer you leave it in the buttermilk,

the more flavour it will get.

After all, it is all about flavour.

It gives the chicken a lovely cheeky tang,

and also helps to tenderise it.

Next up is the spicy coating.

Into a bowl goes dried marjoram,

oregano, basil

and sage.

Using dried herbs in this mix is really important.

Fresh ones contain too much water

and they'll curl up and burn whilst cooking.

Then it's in with the spices.

Chilli powder.

This gives a lovely, nice, spicy kick.

Next, ground white pepper,

onion salt

and garlic powder.

This is my not-so-secret blend of herbs and spices.

Salt and, finally, paprika.

I'm using two different sorts - sweet paprika...

..and just some heavily smoked paprika.

Then cornflour.

It helps to give a really nice crunch on the outside.

And plain flour for body.

I'm just going to get my hand in

and mix all of these ingredients together.

Then you just dust the chicken in the spicy flour.

Make sure you get it all over.

Tap any excess off

and you'll end up with the most perfect chicken in a basket.

I have real fond memories of chicken in a basket.

There's a pub about ten miles outside of Gloucester,

where I'm from,

with a wonderful beer garden. It was great going out there

with your mates or some pretty girls and having chicken in a basket.

Feeling really sophisticated.

So I want this chicken to have a really crispy coating,

so I'm going to shallow-fry it.

The trick to this is very gentle, slow and steady cooking.

So it's in with the chicken,

skin side down, so it gets proper lush and crispy.

But don't try and squeeze it in all at once.

It takes all the temperature down

and the chicken will start to stew

rather than go crispy.

Chillaxo relaxo!

No-bother cooking.

So just take a chill pill,

stand back, put the radio on

and watch it cook.

After about ten minutes, it's time to have a cheeky peek.

Amazing!

That's exactly what I'm looking for -

nice and crispy, lovely colour.

Slowly, slowly, gentle cooking.

Ten minutes on the other side and we're in business.

The smell coming from this pan is amazing.

All those spices and herbs as they're frying.

It's absolutely incredible.

This is the sort of food that you really want to eat

sat outside on a summer's day.

Once the chicken is lovely and golden,

it just needs 15 minutes in a medium oven to cook through.

Hello! They look absolutely amazing.

In some ways, this is the ideal

and perfect pub lunch.

Really easy to do.

You can eat it with your fingers,

and be sat outside in the sunshine.

No fuss, no bother...

no-fork food.

Now, burgers are a proper pub and barbecue classic,

and I'm here in Cornwall to do my fishy version of it,

literally using the fish that's been landed first thing this morning.

I'm meeting father and son team Phil and Dan Shannon,

who run the Beach Restaurant here in Sennen Cove,

where they catch all the fish on the menu themselves.

Every day, at the crack of dawn, Phil goes out in his boat

and brings his haul back to the restaurant

in time for lunch.

I'm hoping they'll let me nab some of today's catch

to make my burgers.

Let's have a little look. What have we got?

A few mackerel there, two or three pollack.

-Three or four hours ago, that was swimming.

-Yeah.

They're beautiful fish, mackerel.

I love 'em.

The flavour of mackerel is fantastic as well.

A beautiful fish. Takes a lot of beating when it's fresh.

And some lobsters as well?

They're amazing. They're going to make some lovely burgers, boys.

All right!

Fish sorted, I'm going to head to the boys' restaurant

and crack on with my burgers.

Now, this, for me, really is like a chef's dream come true.

I've got fish literally from 100 yards away

and I'm here now, stood by the sea,

next to the sand. The sun's trying to come out.

And I'm going to prep some fish for burgers.

I'm living the dream!

Fish job is to fillet the fish.

If you're not keen on doing this yourself,

don't worry. That's what your fishmonger's for.

Then it just needs finely chopping.

The mackerel for this burger's really important.

But if you haven't got mackerel, something like sardine or herrings -

one of those fish that are really high in oils -

works beautifully with a burger.

It adds loads of moisture and loads of flavour to it.

Next, the pollack -

a great sustainable alternative to cod,

and a bit easier on the pocket too.

I suppose it's almost the vehicle

for the flavours you're going to add to it.

Now, if I hadn't have been a chef,

I always quite fancied the idea of being a fisherman.

A trawlerman - loads of blokes out on a boat.

I take my hat off to them. Fair play to them,

leaving the port at 4.30 in the morning in the dark,

all on their own.

I think you've got to be quite brave.

Next, the lobster,

which has just been blanched in boiling water for a few minutes

to release the meat from the shell.

I know lobster's a little extravagant

to be putting in a burger,

but it is quite cool.

But prawns or crayfish would be a cheaper, tasty option.

I'm kind of hoping that these burgers

will be a little bit of a ray of sunshine...

into this...

at the moment, slightly gloomy part of Cornwall!

Fish and dill is a natural marriage.

They go really, really well together.

So I'm going to chop a good handful of dill.

Stick that back through the burger.

Then it's in with some English mustard powder

and bicarbonate of soda.

Now, this actually helps to bind the burger.

There will be some specific science as to why it works,

but I'm not the chef to tell you that.

I just know that it makes a nice burger!

Next, a good handful of capers

for a vinegary hit.

I suppose it's a little bit like using lemon.

Grate in some garlic, and give it a right good mix.

Just keep mixing it

until that bicarbonate of soda begins to firm up the burger mix.

You begin to feel it go in your hand

and start forming a ball.

Shape the mix into four hefty burgers.

The one thing I do know about being in the West Country,

being a good West Country boy myself,

is that they like a proper portion.

It's a man-size fish burger!

They just need to chill out in the fridge for 20 minutes

to firm up.

I'm just going to stick these onto the barbecue

and keep my fingers crossed

that they don't stick too much and fall apart.

And like all good burgers,

they taste even better with bacon,

so I've got some really nice thickly cut pancetta here

that I'm going to grill on the barbecue as well.

Four minutes on each side

and we're ready to rock'n'roll.

-There we go, Tom.

-Nice one, Axel. Nice toasted buns.

Just in time for my first customer,

the restaurant's head chef, Axel.

No pressure(!)

I'm loading the fish burger into a toasted sesame bun,

with a dollop of home-made herby mayo,

beef tomato...

One of those burgers.

..onion...

..crispy pancetta,

baby gem lettuce

and more mayo, just to be safe.

-Tell you what, chief...

-Look at that one!

It's like a right Scooby snack, that.

-Thank you very much.

-Get your jaws round that, boss man.

I tell you what...

That is the best burger I've ever had.

TOM CHUCKLES

Rock'n'roll!

Now, I've cooked many a thing on a barbie,

but you'll not believe what I'm going to cook now -

a deliciously smoky barbecue cake.

Maple syrup, for me, is fantastic.

It reminds me of an American barbecue.

They use it in the sauces

and also use the maple wood

to give a beautiful smokiness on the barbecue.

So it's perfect for my barbecue cake,

which, like most cakes, starts with creaming butter

and sugar together.

So I'm using some soft, unsalted butter.

200g.

But this being a barbecue cake,

I'm also using some smoked butter,

which you can find online,

to really boost that barbecue flavour.

Now, this is very powerful, very strong.

You don't need very much.

30g should do the trick,

along with 300g of demerara sugar.

And they just get creamed together till they're light and fluffy.

Next up, 400g of self-raising flour.

I know baking a cake on a barbecue sounds a bit bonkers.

It is a bit tricky, but once you've learned how to do it,

you'll be doing it every time you light that barbecue.

Once the butter and sugar are creamed,

it's in with four whole eggs.

And a cheeky little trick to stop the eggs splitting

is to add them one at a time,

with a spoonful of flour.

Now, into this mix,

I'm just going to stick a couple more egg yolks.

These will help enrich it

and give it a lot more body.

Then tip the rest of the flour in.

I'm just going to bring this together to form a batter.

Finally, the lush maple syrup.

It's not the cheapest ingredient,

but it tastes like nothing else,

and a little bit of luxury goes a long way.

And that's it.

It really is that simple.

Just whack it into a greased and lined tin.

Pretty standard cake stuff so far.

But this is where it gets interesting.

This cake goes into the barbecue now.

It's been on for a while, so there's lots of heat in here.

I'm going to stick it on top of two house bricks,

just to ensure that direct heat

doesn't go straight to the bottom and it burns.

It's going to take about one to two hours.

The barbecue will give the cake a lovely smoky flavour.

But don't worry if you haven't got a barbie.

It works just as well in a normal oven.

After a couple of hours of barbie baking,

my maple cake is risen and golden.

There you go. Look!

It really does work.

My bonkers barbecue cake.

Smells amazing - smoky, mapley...

really sweet.

Look at that - it's cooked perfectly.

That bonkers barbecue cake

is proper lush!

When you've got mates coming over for a barbie,

it's all too easy just to stick some burgers and sausages on the grill.

But I've got the most amazing barbecue recipe.

And once you've tried it, you'll never look back.

It starts with a very special piece of meat,

so I've come to see my butcher, Andy...

Hello, mate!

-Tom, how are you?

-Come here!

..who's got just the thing I'm looking for.

Take a look at this, Tom.

Right, Tom. Jacob's ladders.

That's a prepped Jacob's ladder.

-So that's like a single portion?

-It is indeed.

I don't want a single portion.

I didn't think you would!

You young man from Gloucester!

-I need a lump of meat!

-This is the whole Jacob's ladder.

Off the rib.

This is actually the rib of beef.

-So this bit here, fore rib of beef?

-Correct.

-Great for a roasting joint.

-Absolutely.

-Then it's using this bit up here.

-For the Jacob's ladder.

I'll have this piece, please.

I'll tell you why I'm having that over that.

It's cos that's bigger!

-Going to go for that?

-Yeah, give me the big bit!

I'm going to cut this right off for you, Tom.

Also known as beef short ribs,

Jacob's ladder needs long, slow cooking,

but it's well worth the wait.

And there is your lovely Jacob's ladder.

Nice piece of fat for flavour in the centre.

There are your bones.

It's beautiful. Keeping it on the bone, cooking it on the bone,

will stop it shrinking as much and adds loads and loads of flavour.

Lovely tender bits of beef there.

This'll be great on a barbecue.

Instead of pork ribs, it's beef ribs, innit?

-Better value for money as well.

-Is it really?

-It is.

It is if I nick it!

Now, short rib is a right tasty cut of beef.

It does require a bit of love and attention,

but if you're looking for a real show-stopping bit of meat

for a special barbecue, this is it.

This is a three-day process

and a real labour of love,

but I promise you, it will be well worth your while.

You'll never have had anything like this from a barbecue before.

This dish will blow you away. It's amazing.

It's all about packing the beef with layers of flavour,

starting with my special barbecue dry cure.

The base is good quality sea salt.

The salt will draw a little bit of moisture from the beef,

help to firm up its texture,

and then allow all of the other spices to get into the beef,

give it loads of flavour -

smoky, herby, bit of spice. Amazing!

Then in goes a good whack of cracked black pepper,

smoked paprika, garlic powder

and ground ginger.

I love ground ginger.

It's one of those spices that's got like a real dark heat.

It works so well with beef.

Celery salt, herbes de Provence

and chilli powder are next to join the party.

You can add more if you like.

Or don't add it all if you don't like it too spicy.

Along with some crushed coriander seeds.

These little bad boys have amazing flavour.

The moment they're crushed, loads of fragrance comes out.

It's absolutely stunning.

To get those spicy flavours right into the meat,

it needs a good coating of the spice mix.

Try not to breathe too much of it in!

Make sure you get it on both sides.

Then it's into the fridge overnight.

By morning, the dry cure will have done its job.

A quick rinse, and it's ready for the next layer of flavour.

I'm going to slow-cook it

in my ultimate smoky, sweet barbecue glaze.

This is my English twist on the American barbecue sauce.

Once you've learned how to make this,

you'll be splashing it over

everything you stick on the barbecue,

not just this brilliant bit of beef.

It starts by soaking tangy pickled onions and sweet, sticky dates

in lovely dark stout,

just brought to the boil.

The dates and onions will soften slightly

and take on the rich stout flavour.

Whilst they get to know each other,

mix together soft dark sugar...

..Worcester sauce...

..and good old English mustard.

And then, for a triple hit of sticky sweetness,

a very generous squeeze of runny honey...

thick black treacle...

..and golden syrup.

Finally, a good whack of Tabasco,

tomato puree and apple juice.

Give the date, pickled onion and stout mixture a good blitz.

Mix with the other ingredients, and you're done.

I'm going to pour my barbecue glaze over the top of the beef.

No need to worry about burning

this delicious hunk of meat on the barbecue -

it's slow-cooked in the oven first

before going on to the barbie for a smoky finish.

That'll gently cook the piece of beef.

It'll get to the point where it falls off the bone.

It'll be amazing - luscious, unctuous...

Possibly one of the most delicious bits of beef ever.

So that's 120 degrees for five to six hours.

Amazing!

It's been in for about six hours now.

The meat's all cooked. It's come away from the bone.

You can see it's beautiful.

The smells that are coming off it are incredible.

I'd happily dig into this right now,

but the final stage on the barbecue tomorrow

is going to add another layer of lush, smoky flavour.

I'm going to leave it to cool down to room temperature.

Then I'm going to stick it into the fridge overnight.

A chill-out session in the fridge

will help the beef hold its shape better on the barbie.

By the day of the barbecue,

you've done all the hard work.

All that's left to do is to transfer the beef to a barbie-proof tray

and we're good to go.

I'm going to stick this onto the barbecue,

and as it slowly reduces,

it will intensify more and more,

so it's going to have this wonderful mixture

of a spicy and sweet and sticky, beefy barbecue glaze.

This bad-boy beef just needs to slowly warm through

and take on that smoky barbecue flavour.

Just baste it from time to time,

till it's got a lush, sticky glaze.

And whilst that happens,

I'm going to knock up a warm tomato salad

that'll go brilliantly with my beef.

Now, I'm not really a salad kind of guy,

so if I'm going to have one,

it's got to be big, robust and really blokey.

So I'm going to serve mine with some beef dripping dressing.

You can buy dripping from any good butcher's,

and I think it makes a great meaty alternative to olive oil.

Going to melt it in a pan.

And stick it on a gentle heat.

Then the tomatoes.

I'm using heritage ones,

but most supermarkets stock a good range of tomatoes now.

So just see what takes your fancy.

Keep them quite chunky,

otherwise they break down and go to a little bit of a pulp,

and that's not what we're looking for.

Then good old English onions,

sliced as finely as you can.

And lemon thyme.

I love lemon thyme. It's fantastic.

It's just like normal thyme, except a little bit more fragrant,

but maybe not quite as powerful.

Goes beautiful with a salad.

No need to chop it -

just pull the leaves off the stem.

Two things for me that make tomatoes amazing...

..salt and warmth.

So I'm adding a good whack of sea salt.

And what'll happen is that salt

will draw loads of moisture from the tomatoes,

and help to intensify the flavour of the flesh.

And whilst that happens,

I'm going to make my favourite part of the salad -

the croutons.

I'm using sourdough bread

and some of the dripping I'm warming for my dressing.

These are going to be the most amazing beef-flavoured croutons.

Almost like the ultimate in fried bread.

Tear up the bread into even pieces,

and give them a good drizzle of the warm dripping.

Croutons and beef dripping.

Do you know what? I reckon that could sort out any salad.

They just go into a hot oven for five to ten minutes

till they're golden and crispy.

Every salad

needs a bit of green stuff.

I'm going to use some chives

and the back end of some spring onions.

Don't throw the green ends away -

they're packed full of flavour.

Just chop them up nice and fine.

I know it looks really cheffy

to chop everything really small and fine,

but every mouthful you'll get,

you'll have some spring onion, some chives, everything that's going on.

It's really important that you practise your knife skills.

OK.

The beef dripping croutons are ready.

They're really nice and crispy.

The smell of the best roast beef ever.

Quick season, and they're done.

The salt has worked its magic on my tomatoes and onions.

They just need draining

and sticking in the oven for a few minutes to warm through.

Giving me enough time to check on my barbecue beef ribs

before my mates arrive.

Right then, I'm going to finish off the salad.

I need a volunteer. That's you.

LAUGHTER

Just keep basting it.

It's only taken three days to get here - don't burn it!

TOM CHUCKLES

You can see just a little bit of steam coming off the tomatoes.

Just warmed through. They're fantastic.

Time to layer my salad.

First the tomatoes...

I can already tell by the smell how fantastic this is going to taste.

I've also roasted some sweet red onions

and they go in with the spring onions.

The crunch - the beefy croutons.

Finally, my dripping dressing.

It's just one part vinegar. I like to use Cabernet Sauvignon vinegar,

as it's lovely and sweet, but balsamic would do the job.

Then it's three parts of the beefy, warm dripping.

Salt...

couple of turns of black pepper,

chives...

And for my final hit of onion,

some toasted onion seeds.

And give the dressing just a good mix.

Drizzle over the salad...

..and we're done.

Right, that's my proper man's salad done.

Time to check my ribs.

OOHS AND AAHS

-It smells fantastic!

-I know.

It's a three-day process,

but it is very easy. Even Nicky could do it.

No!

Come on, then. Pass me some plates down.

Proper man's salad, that's what we've got.

Enjoy the sunshine!

What could be better on a warm summer's day

than firing up the grill

and digging into some right tasty food with your mates?

Makes a change from burnt burgers, doesn't it, James?

Very nice, mate. Thank you.

Next time, I'm pushing the boat out

with extra-special celebratory dishes.

Chin-chin!

From dead decadent treats like my crispy roast duck...

Absolutely fantastic!

..to a stunning boozy dessert that's so simple to make.

Now, that is an amazing way to book-end a meal!

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