Join Tim Maddams cooking on the versatile and energy-efficient ESSE EC4i. This cast iron electric range cooker has four ovens and an induction top.
by Dan
This is a fantastically warming way to cook purple sprouting broccoli and delicious either on its own as a starter, or with roast lamb or mutton.
Serves
Four people
Ingredients
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 dried chillies
- Olive oil
- 6- anchovy fillets
- White wine or marsala
- 400ml double cream
- 500g purple sprouting broccoli
- 100g grated parmesan
Method
Peel and thinly slice the garlic. De-seed and chop the chillies. Set a medium-sized, heavy-based pan over a medium heat and heat a good slosh of olive oil.
Throw in the garlic, chilli and anchovies. Fry until the garlic takes on a golden tinge around its edges.
Add a splash of white wine or marsala, boil for a few seconds and then add the double cream. Bring to a simmer and turn the heat down. Cook until the sauce is reduced by a third.
Blanch the purple sprouting broccoli in boiling water for a minute.
Drain and allow to steam dry. Lay the broccoli in an ovenproof dish, pour over the cream sauce and scatter with grated parmesan. Bake at 190°C/Gas Mark 5 for 10-12 minutes until golden and bubbling.
Try the same recipe with curly kale in the winter months.
Serve with a green salad to mop up all the herby, buttery juices.
Serves
Four to Five people
Ingredients
- 1 plump organic roasting chicken, weighing around 2kg
- 50g soft butter
- a couple of generous handfuls of fresh herbs, such as parsley, chives and marjoram, roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1/2 glass of white wine
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Heat your Esse up to the middle part of (Very Hot)
Remove the bird from the fridge at least an hour before cooking it, ideally two or three. Take off any string trussing from the chicken, place the bird in a roasting tin and spread out its legs from the body. Enlarge the opening of the cavity with your fingers, so hot air can circulate inside the bird.
Put the butter in a bowl, throw in the herbs and the garlic and season well with salt and pepper. Mix together with your fingers, then smear all over the chicken, outside and in.
Place in the centre of the hot oven and leave for 15 minutes (phase 1).
Then baste the chicken, remove the bird from the top oven and pour the wine into the tin (not over the bird) and roast the bird for another 35–50 minutes in the bottom oven.(phase 2), depending on its size. (A good test for doneness is to pierce that part of the bird where the thigh joins the breast; the juices released should run clear). Rest the bird on top of the ESSE with the plate tops closed. I find this the perfect spot to rest all roasted meats.
For a bigger bird, at the longer end of the cooking time, you may wish to protect the bird’s skin with buttered foil for, say, the first 20-30 minutes of phase 2.
Carve the bird in the tin, as untidily as you please, letting the slices fall into the buttery juices, then take the whole thing to the table so people can help themselves.
Scallops with jerusalem artichokes cooked using the ESSE flued Gas range cooker with Plus 2 companion.
You will also need 6 individual ramekins
Serves
Serves 6 people
Ingredients
- Juice and grated zest of 2 lemons
- Up to 75g of golden syrup
- 100g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
- 100g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 100g self-raising flour, sifted
- pinch of salt
To Serve
- Double cream, chilled
Method
Stir together 2/3rds of the lemon juice and the golden syrup.
Heat the mixture gently over a medium heat. Tip it into the pudding basin. Cream together the butter, lemon zest and caster sugar until it’s really light and fluffy. Beat in one egg at a time, adding a spoonful of flour with each, then fold in the remaining flour. Finally stir in the last of the lemon juice.
Spoon this mixture into the ramekins, the lemon juice and Syrup mixture will rise up the sides of the basin – don’t worry about this, and don’t attempt to stir it in with the batter.
Half fill a roasting tin with hot water; it needs to be big enough to fit the ramekins’ in.
Place the puddings in the roasting tin, the water should be coming half way up the sides of the puddings, close the door. The top oven should be reading ‘Hot’ on the dial.
Bake gently 45 minutes or until the puddings are cooked and well risen.
The ESSE is perfect for this type of cooking as it keeps in moisture which is perfect for delicate baking.
This soft, moist, dense almondy cake can be served warm for pudding, with lashings of cream, or cold, with a cup of tea or coffee. Firm conference pears should work a treat here.
Serves
Six people
Ingredients
- 350g unsalted butter, softened
- 250g caster sugar, plus 1 tbsp
- 4 eggs
- 150g whole blanched almonds or ground almonds
- 150g self-raising flour
- 5-6 pears, firm but not too hard, peeled, cored and quartered
- Cake tin about 20cm in diameter and 5cm deep (a springform one is best)
- Baking parchment
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Your esse dial wants to read hot but not the far side of hot. Grease a 20cm diameter, springform cake tin with a little of the butter and line the base with baking parchment.
Put a saucepan over a medium heat and add 25g of the butter. When it’s sizzling, add 1 tbsp sugar and stir until it dissolves. Add the pear quarters and fry in the buttery caramel for a couple of minutes, until they start to brown. Put the pan to one side to cool a little.
Put the remaining butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream together until light and fluffy. Beat in the two eggs, one at a time.
Whiz the whole blanched almonds in the food processor for about a minute to grind them. Tip them into the cake batter (or add the ready-ground almonds), then sift in the self-raising flour and fold in gently. Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin. Arrange the pieces of pear on top of the cake. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a knife pushed into the centre comes out clean.
Place the tin on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or cold.
Mouthwatering vegetarian recipe for your ESSE Range Cooker from Tim Maddams
February representative demonstrations prepared by Tim Maddams of Green Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 large flat mushrooms
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 pint dark beer
- Guiness etc
- Fresh thyme
- A small pinch of caraway seeds
- Salt and pepper
In a casserole dish that is stove top safe, begin by frying the sliced onions in plenty of olive oil. Add shopped thyme, garlic then the mushrooms, a few at a time. Once everything is ticking over add the caraway and then the beer, season well and bring to the simmer and then transfer to your low oven or cook at ESSE dial guide COOL to MODERATE (150) for at least an hour.
Diced pancetta can be added if meat as required, this should go in at the start with the onions, around 100g.
For the polenta:
- 1lt milk
- 1 clove garlic
- Chopped fresh rosemary – 1 teaspoon
- A pinch of chilli flakes
- Salt to taste
- 200g quick cook polenta
- 100g extra mature organic cheddar – or Lancashire!
Warm the milk with everything except the cheese and the polenta until its just simmering, add the polenta and stir, it will cook in around 10 minutes and have the consistency of a very thick porridge. Season well, adding more milk if needed, then grate the cheese and add half of that to the polenta.
For the greens
- A few stems of cavolo nero, kale or a bit of good old savoy cabbage
- Olive oil
- Fresh lemon
- Salt, pepper and English mustard.
Wash the greens well and de stem if they have tough stems. Chop finely and dress in a little olive oil, mustard and lemon juice, season with a little salt.
Plate the dishes up, starting with the polenta, then the mushrooms and a little cheese, finish by sprinkling with dressed greens.
These cheeky lamb sliders are fun to make and of course can be scaled up for bigger burgers or down further for mini canapé bites.
Spiced lamb burgers, mq-0+
mini baps, roast garlic and mint by Tim Maddams
Ingredients
- 500g standard bread dough (fermented)
- 150g bread flour
- 150g plain white flour
- 2 teaspoons fast acting dried yeast
- 200ml warm water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 whole bulb of garlic
Method
Mix all the ingredients together and kneed the dough until smooth and elastic, around 4 or 5 minutes should do, shape into a ball and place in an oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Allow to prove for an hour on your ESSE stove top or so somewhere warm.
Shape the dough into squash ball sized balls and place on a lightly floured tray, press them down lightly to flatten a little and leave to prove again, once doubled in size, spray with water and place inside your hot oven for 10 mins or until golden brown and cooked through, they should feel light to the touch. Place on a cooling rack to cool.
Mean while, drizzle the garlic bulb in olive oil, season and wrap in foil, place in a moderate oven to bake for an hour or so. Remove form the oven and allow to cool.
For the burgers
Ingredients
- 500g minced lean lamb, or mutton
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
- 1 teaspoon nigella seeds
- Salt, pepper
- 1 handful of washed and picked mint leaves
Method
Mix the mince with the spices and season well, cook off a small amount to test the seasoning. Shape into small burger shapes, starting with a gob stopper sized ball and flattening it out, place on a plate and refrigerate until needed.
Cook the burgers straight on the top of your ESSE cooker or on a griddle pan and rest them for a few minutes before placing inside the mini buns, add a few mint leaves and squeeze out a little of the roasted garlic form the bulb and spread a little of this onto each burger, serve and enjoy.
Broken Broad Beans and Fennel Seed Gluten Free Crackers
Second May recipe prepared by Tim Maddams and the ESSE demo team
For the crackers
Ingredients
- 100g gluten free flour
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 100ml water – check and test
Method
To make the crackers, heat your oven to 180 degrees c, or aim for the dial reading to be at the top end of moderate or very low end of hot, and line a baking sheet with non stick parchment.
Drizzle a little oil onto the parchment. Mix all the ingredients together to make a flowing batter. Pour the batter onto the baking sheet and place the sheet in the oven for around 15 minutes, once crisp and golden turn the oven off or remove to a cooler oven to thoroughly crisp up the cracker. Break into pieces for serving.
For the broken beans
Ingredients
- 200g podded broad beans
- A few thyme leaves
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 200ml good olive oil
- Fresh oregano
- Salt, pepper
- 1 clove of garlic chopped
- 100g mature cheddar cheese, grated
Method
For the broken beans, we are aiming for a nearly pesto come hummus type thing but very much more chunky with plenty of bean like bits to add texture and flavour peaks to this dish that makes an excellent starter or snack course. Begin by blanching the beans in a little salted water very briefly, just for a minute perhaps and then remove them to cold water to rapidly cool them so you can then remove their little bitter outer skins. If the beans are very young and small, you can skip that step but as the beans get bigger the skins will toughen up and become bitter.
Pop the beans in a blender with half the oil and half the cheese along with all the rest of the ingredients except the fresh oregano. Blend on pulse until a coarse paste is formed and remove from the mixer. Add a little more oil and the oregano and season to taste.
Serve up with the remaining cheese sprinkled over and the crackers on the side.
These are very moreish rich brownies made with fresh strawberries.
For this reason they need to be kept in the refrigerator after making and will only keep for 2-3 days (not that they will last that long!).
If you want them to keep longer then don’t add the strawberries to the mixture but serve with them instead.
Serves
Makes 16 squares.
Ingredients
- 350 g dark plain chocolate, broken into pieces
- 250 g unsalted butter
- 3 eggs
- 250 g dark brown muscovado sugar
- 100 g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 250 g strawberries, halved
Method
- Line the base of a 24-cm square cake tin with non-stick parchment and oil the sides if not non-stick. Preheat the oven if necessary to 170 C/Fan 150C/Esse Dial Guide MODERATE. (Aim for the dial reading to be in the middle of MODERATE).
- Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over hot water and stir until smooth.
- Whisk the eggs and the sugar together in a bowl for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Fold into the chocolate mixture.
- Sift the flour and the baking powder together and fold into the chocolate mixture.
- Spoon about one-third of the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface. Top with the halved strawberries. Top with the remaining chocolate mixture to cover the strawberries and level the surface.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until the surface is set or when the top just starts to crack. Allow to cool in the tin, cut into squares to serve.
Recipe by Carol Bowen Ball.
Grilled asparagus and spring onions with spiced yoghurt prepared by Tim Maddams of Green Sauce
Last Thursday, Tim Maddams joined the ESSE sales team at the Hearth & Cook showroom near Exeter, UK. Tim highlighted the benefits of the ESSE Ranges by demonstrating May’s recipes
May is all about the emergence of the new season, spring has sprung and the farms and gardens of this island are beginning to bring fourth their bounty, time to get stuck in!
Ingredients
- 1 bunch English asparagus and 1 bunch organic spring onions
- A little rape seed oil
- Salt and chilli flakes
- 1/2 a lemon
For the yoghurt
Ingredients
- 1 small pot of organic natural yoghurt
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon each cumin and coriander seeds
- 1 clove of garlic, finely grated
Method
Wash trim and slice the asparagus and onions in half lengthways. Dry on a little kitchen roll then dress with a little oil and salt. These can then be grilled till just tender wether on a griddle, on the stove top, directly on the stove top or even better roasted in the Fire Stone. What we are looking for here is tender but crisp veg, with a fair amount of charring to lift the whole thing up and make it feel nicely spring like.
Toast the spice seeds, crush them and add them to the yoghurt along with the paprika and grated garlic.
Once cooked, arrange on a platter and squeeze over the lemon and dress with the spiced yoghurt. Additional items such as lentils or crunchy croutons and fresh herbs can be added to beef things up a bit if you like. Chilli flakes are an option too, which I highly recommend.
Demonstrated by River Cottage Chef, Andy Tyrell, using an ESSE CAT Gas Cooking Range
Kale crisps have become a rather fashionable snack in the past few years, and that’s hardly surprising, given how easy they are to make and how delicious they are to eat.
Making your own is a good way to use an excess of kale in the garden, even slightly-past-their-best leaves. They make a great nibble to go with drinks, or you can use them as you would crispy seaweed in salads, or sprinkled on soups.
Ingredients
- Few handfuls of kale, thickest, woddy stems removed
- 2-3 tablespoons rapeseed or olive oil
- Flaky sea salt
Method
Preheat the oven to ESSE dial guide top end of MODERATE/180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4. Wash the kale and dry well: it will crisp up better if it is very dry. Tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces and place on a baking tray (or two if you’re making a lot – you don’t want to crowd the trays). Trickle over the oil and massage it thoroughly into every nook and cranny of the leaves. Don’t salt them yet – they roast better just with the oil. Spread the leaves out on the trays in an even, single layer. Bake for 10 minutes, then take the tray from the oven and give the leaves a good stir. Return to the oven and bake for a further 5–10 minutes. The leaves should be crisp but don’t let them get too dark or they will be bitter. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and serve.
ESSE Loaf – Enjoy learning to bake beautiful bread with Gill Meller on his ESSE range cooker.
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