EASTENDERS love rat Garry Hobbs is most at home with a fry-up in Kath’s kaff, but in real life actor Ricky Groves used to be a chef. Here he serves up three yummy recipes for Walford characters.
Italian Beppe di Marco’s
Pepperoni pasta
Ingredients
2tbsp olive oil Two cloves garlic, crushed One onion, chopped 2tbsp tomato purée
2tbsp mild paprika Two bay leaves Two fresh sprigs thyme One bottle red wine One
dried chilli One can chopped tomatoes 450g pepperoni 450g dried pasta
1 Heat the oil, then add garlic and onion and sauté for five minutes. Add tomato purée and paprika and cook for a further two minutes.
2 Add bay leaves, thyme and wine and crumble in the chilli. Boil for two minutes. Add tomatoes and bring back to the boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper if required.
3 Slice pepperoni thickly and cook in the sauce for 15 minutes.
4 Cook pasta in a large pan of salted water. Drain, mix with sauce and serve at once.
Barry Evans’
low-fat Beef stir-fry
Ingredients
- 450g steak
- 1tbsp light soy sauce
- 3tsp dry sherry
- 2tsp toasted sesame oil
- 2tsp cornflour
- 3tbsp vegetable oil
- Three garlic cloves, crushed
- Two medium onions, chopped
- Two green peppers, chopped
- 75ml chicken stock
- 1tsp sugar
- 3tbsp oyster sauce
- 250g rice
1 Cut steak into 5cm long strips 5mm thick. Mix soy sauce, 2tsp sherry, sesame oil and cornflour and marinate steak for 20 minutes.
2 Heat vegetable oil in a wok or deep pan till smoking. Add beef and stir-fry for three minutes. Remove beef and drain all but about 1tbsp of the oil.
3 Reheat wok and stir-fry garlic, onions and peppers for three minutes.
4 Pour in chicken stock and the rest of the sherry. Add sugar and bring to the boil. Add oyster sauce and beef and cook for two minutes. Serve on a bed of boiled rice.
Walford vamp Kat Slater’s
Apple “tart” tatinIngredients
- 250g ready-made puff pastry
- 1kg eating apples (about seven)
- Juice and finely grated rind of one large lemon
- 115g unsalted butter
- 175g caster sugar
- Good pinch of grated nutmeg
- Flaked almonds
- Clotted cream to serve
1 Roll out the pastry in a round, 3cm larger than a 25cm heavy-based ovenproof frying pan. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and chill for at least 30 minutes.2 Peel, core and slice the apples into chunks. Toss them in the lemon juice. Spread pan with butter. Sprinkle with sugar and then arrange the apple pieces tightly together in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with nutmeg and lemon rind.
3 Cook over a high heat for about 15 minutes or until the apples are caramelised. Lay the chilled pastry sheet over the top of the apples, tucking in the edges and turning them down.
4 Bake in a preheated oven at 200×C/400×F/gas mark 6 for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the apples are tender but still holding their shape. Leave in the tin for a minute or two, then loosen the edges with a round-bladed knife and turn upside down on to a serving plate. Allow to cool. Sprinkle with flaked almonds and serve with cream.
Taken from the News of the World Online, Sunday 18th March