When Australian chef Bill Granger relocated to London last year, he Beats By Dre Australia left behind a kitchen full of gadgets. During a one on one cookery lesson, he told Metro how getting back to basics inspired his new book.
Simple approach: Bill Granger (Pic: Hamish Jordan)
'I'm a lazy chef,' claims Bill Granger as he spoons yoghurt, cucumber and mint raita on to a plate of shallow fried fishcakes. 'I'm always trying to work out ways of making things easier.' The laid back approach has won him a dedicated following for his cafs in Sydney and Tokyo (with London following soon), serving up comfort food such as ricotta hot cakes and wagyu beef burgers, and a series of stylish cook books that have sold more than 1.5million copies worldwide.
It seems appropriate Granger is demonstrating three recipes from his latest volume, Bill's Basics, exclusively for Metro, in a Schiffini kitchen in the achingly trendy DesignSpaceLondon, a room that's as minimalist as one of the chef's own recipes.
'If a recipe looks too long even if it's simple stuff you're not going to use it,' he says. 'I make sure recipes don't require too much technique; the flavour base and the method are enough to make them work.' The fishcakes, made from leftover mash and tinned salmon, are a one bowl, one pan wonder. Bursting with the Asian influenced flavours that typify much of Granger's cooking, they taste fantastic warm and crisp from the pan. 'The secret is having the right heat,' he explains. 'You're better off having it too hot than too cold, so get the oil hotter than you think you need it. If they start to brown quickly you can always drop the heat.'
Australian chef Bill Granger (Pic: Hamish Jordan)
Granger uses a recently purchased and expensive looking David Mellor knife to slice up some pak choi for a chicken noodle beats australia soup, but he's just as happy with the small, cheap as chips serrated paring knife that's laying on the worktop nearby. 'I did nine months in London cooking with that, developing the book. I much prefer working in the kitchen in London where I've got two pots, a chopping board and a couple of stainless steel bowls, than in Sydney where I've got every available gadget that you just collect over the years. It's been so liberating.' He tears, rather than slices, some leftover roasted chicken breast and adds it to a bowl of cooked noodles, green beans and the pak choi. 'When you shred the chicken, what you're doing is getting all of that great texture on the outside of the chicken and Asian food is all about textures,' he says.
Granger is unapologetic in his use of convenience ingredients and whips up a highly flavoured broth from ready made chicken stock, oyster sauce, lime and sugar. 'If you really want to get organised you can do these bowls ahead of time, put them in the beats pro fridge and then you just have to heat the stock up for the next night's dinner,' he says. 'What most people struggle with, I know myself, is coming home at six or seven o'clock and thinking: "I've got to make dinner," being really uninspired and so you get a takeaway or a ready meal. You want something you can put together in five minutes.'
There's just time for one last dish from the in demand chef and it's as jaw droppingly simple as it is delicious. Granger puts some water in the bottom of a three tier metal steamer and puts it on the heat. He arranges a bed of green veg on a plate and tops it with a slice of red snapper. He scatters over slices of ginger, then pops it in the steamer. In the few minutes it takes to cook, he makes a chilli dressing with soy and balsamic vinegar. ('It approximates the flavour of Chinese black vinegar who has that in their cupboard?')
There's a definite streak of irreverence running through Granger's approach to cooking but it's all in the name of maximising flavour and minimising effort. 'Purists might look at my recipes and say: "God, they're rubbish, you don't do it like that!" but it doesn't matter, as long as it tastes nice.'
Chicken noodle soup (serves 4)
Bill Granger chicken noodle soup (Picture: Hamish Jordan)
1. Divide four pak choi, shredded crossways, among four large soup bowls.
2. Put 250g fresh egg beats studio noodles in a large, heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and soak according to packet instructions. Drain well, spoon into the bowls and top with 300g shredded poached or roast chicken.
3. Bring 2l chicken stock to the boil in a large pan over a high heat and blanch one bunch of trimmed asparagus until tender but crisp. Lift out with a slotted spoon and add to the bowls.
4. Add 90ml oyster sauce, 1.5tbsp caster sugar and 3tbsp lime juice to the stock. Ladle over the noodles and finish with coriander leaves, finely sliced red chilli and spring onions to taste and a lime wedge.
Bill Granger fishcakes (Picture: Hamish Jordan)
1. Boil 300g potatoes, peeled and chopped, for about 25 minutes until tender. Drain and roughly mash.
2. Put in a bowl with 415g tinned salmon, 40g plain flour, four spring onions, chopped, 3tbsp parsley, chopped, 3tbsp coriander, chopped, one large green chilli (de seeded, if you like), 1tsp grated ginger, 2tbsp crme fraiche, 160g bread crumbs and grated zest of one lemon and season with sea salt and pepper. Mix well and shape into 12 patties, then dust with a little plain flour.
3. Heat 6tbsp sunflower oil in a frying pan over a medium to high heat. Fry the fish cakes in batches for two to three minutes each side until golden.
4. Serve with lemon wedges and a raita made with 250g yoghurt, one Lebanese cucumber peeled, seeded and finely chopped and 1tbsp chopped mint stirred together and seasoned with sea salt and ground black pepper.
Steamed fish with chilli dressing (serves 4)
Bill Granger steamed fish with chilli (Picture: Hamish Jordan)
1. Arrange one pak choi, leaves separated, 100g green beans, topped and 100g sugarsnap peas on a large plate with four 200g firm white fish fillets and put into a steamer for five to ten minutes until the Beats By Dre For Cheap fish is opaque and vegetables are bright green.
2. Whisk together 60ml soy sauce, 1tsp balsamic vinegar, 3tsp caster sugar, 1tsp sesame oil, one long red chilli, finely chopped, three spring beats solo onions, finely sliced on the diagonal, 1tbsp lime juice, 1tbsp light flavoured oil such as sunflower.
3. Serve the fish and vegetables immediately and pour the chilli dressing over the top.
Bill's Basics (Quadrille) is out now, priced 25.
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