Trusted British chef recipes, tested at home
James Martin’s baked Alaska wraps a block of vanilla ice cream on an Armagnac-soaked sponge base in a proper Italian meringue, torches it golden, and serves it with a rich chocolate sauce. The meringue is made from a sugar syrup boiled to 121°C and poured into whisked egg whites, and the whole thing serves eight. …
James Martin’s banana cake blends ripe bananas with maple syrup into a smooth purée, folds it through a creamed butter-and-sugar batter with chopped pecans, bakes it in a springform tin at 170°C (150°C fan, gas 3) for 45-60 minutes, then glazes it with a boiled-down maple cream. It serves six to eight. The recipe comes …
James Martin’s fried chicken breast with pumpkin pickle sears skin-on chicken breasts golden, then finishes them in the oven on a bed of roasted squash wedges, alongside a warm, spiced squash pickle made with fenugreek, nigella seeds, turmeric, ginger and mango chutney. The same squash, two ways, one plate. It serves two. The recipe comes …
James Martin’s ultimate burger is 800g of the best steak mince shaped into four thick patties, chargrilled on a barbecue, and served in toasted brioche buns with homemade mustard mayonnaise, Monterey Jack, gherkins and chilli relish. The patties chill for an hour, cook in 3-4 minutes a side, and the whole thing serves four. The …
James Martin’s beef ribs with barbecue sauce poaches Jacob’s ladder beef ribs for three hours in aromatics until the meat is falling-tender, then dips them in a homemade chipotle barbecue sauce and blasts them in the oven until sticky and lacquered. Served with baked potatoes and a chive soured cream made from scratch. It serves …
James Martin’s perfect cottage pie fills a baking dish with slow-simmered beef mince in red wine and beef stock, topped with mash made from baked potatoes rather than boiled, then grills it golden at 220°C (200°C fan, gas 7). It serves four with glazed whole carrots alongside. The filling simmers for 30 minutes, the potatoes …
James Martin’s penne carbonara crisps sliced pancetta in olive oil, then tosses hot drained penne through a bowl of whisked egg yolks, Parmesan and double cream, with the crisp pancetta and chopped parsley stirred in at the end. It uses fresh penne, takes under 20 minutes, and serves four. There are six ingredients and no …
James Martin’s maple pancetta cauliflower cheese blanches cauliflower in a rich Dijon and extra mature cheddar sauce, grills it golden, then tops it with butter-fried brioche crumbs and crisp pancetta glazed in maple syrup. It grills in 4-5 minutes, the toppings take another five, and it serves four as a side or a standalone supper. …
James Martin’s hot pastrami and cheese sandwich stacks three layers of sourdough, pastrami, fontina cheese and quick-pickled cucumber with dill, wraps each sandwich in parchment and bakes it until the cheese melts through. The parcels go into a 200°C (180°C fan, gas 6) oven for 10 minutes, served with deep-fried parsnip and carrot crisps. It …
James Martin’s hazelnut and Parmesan-crusted chicken flattens chicken breasts to escalopes, coats them in a crust of blitzed hazelnuts, Parmesan, lemon zest, thyme and panko breadcrumbs, then fries them golden in butter. Five minutes a side, served with a squeeze of lemon and Little Gem leaves, it serves four and takes under 30 minutes. The …