Phil Vickery's feast fit for a King of the Jungle

Wednesday 9 January at 4:08pm

Harry and Sandra are back as Phil Vickery whips up a feast perfect for Jungle royalty, a calamari starter, pie and mash for main, and a jam roly-poly pudding, all of Harry’s favourite foods.

Calamari

Serves: 4 to 6

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 3 to 4 minutes, in small batches

Ingredients

8-12 squid, cleaned and dried well

200g self raising flour

About 300ml (½ pint milk)

Vegetable oil for frying

Seasoning mix

1 tsp dried garlic powder

1 tsp celery salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp caster sugar

½ tsp pouring salt

Method

Make sure that the squid are clean and thoroughly dry - you may need to pat them dry using a piece of kitchen paper. Slice open the squid bodies and score with a sharp knife.
Dust with a little seasoning mix, a few squid at a time
Then dip into the flour, dip into the milk then dust again in flour. Re-dust if needed.
Heat a the oil to 190°C, then fry the squid until golden and crisp - it's best to do this in small batches so the oil retains its temperature. Drain squid on kitchen paper. The secret is to fry really hot!

Harry's pie, mash and liquor

Ingredients

For the pie filling

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

450 g beef mince

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 beef stock pot or cube

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp English mustard

150ml beef stock

2 tbsp plain flour

salt and white pepper

For the suet pastry

350g self raising flour

225g beef suet

Salt and pepper

4 tbsp cold water

For the pie top

1 sheet ready roll puff pastry

1 egg yolk

For the parsley liquor:

50g butter

50g flour

500ml chicken stock

Parsley leaves only, chopped

1 or 2 garlic cloves

Mashed potatoes and jellied eels to serve!

Method

For the filling, fry the onion and garlic for five minutes then add the mince and cook for five minutes until cooked through
Stir in the rest of the filling ingredients, season with salt and pepper and allow to cool. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
For the suet pastry, sift the flour into a mixing bowl with the suet and season. Mix in about four tablespoons of cold water so you have a moist but firm dough. Roll the dough out to a 2mm thickness.
Butter two individual pie dishes then line with the suet pastry, so that it covers the base and sides completely and divide the filling mixture between the two dishes.
For the pie crust, roll out the puff pastry and use it to cover the two pies, pushing down the edges to seal. Brush with the egg yolk and make a hole in the middle of the lid to allow steam to escape.
Place the pie dishes into a Bain Marie - for about 30 mins
Meanwhile make the parsley liquor, melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour and cook for a minutes over a low heat
Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the chicken stock to make a sauce, return to the heat and bring to the boil stirring continuously until the sauce thickens. Stir in the chopped parsley just before serving.
Serve with mashed potatoes, the parsley liquor and jellied eels!

Jam roly poly

Serves: 6

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

225g self raising flour

Pinch salt

115g suet

55g caster sugar

1 medium egg, lightly beaten

2 tbsp cold water, approx

185g seedless raspberry jam

Method

Place the flour, salt, suet, sugar, egg in a mixing bowl and mix well
Add a touch of cold water and mix to a soft, but not sticky dough
Roll out and use straight away as the raising agents are working away
Have ready a 24cm steamer filled with boiling water

This is very important, as soon as the pastry is ready it must be cooked or you will end up with a heavy leaden end product.

Roll the pastry out until it measures about 30 x 40cm roughly
Spread over the jam nice and thickly, there is nothing worse than under filled finished roll
Roll up nice and lightly, not too tight, then cut in half, so you end up with 2 manageable rolls
Tear off 2 pieces of foil roughly the size of the original pastry. Butter really well, then carefully place the pastry rolls on top.
Roll around the pastry very loosely, then twist up the ends, and repeat with the second roll
Place in the steamer and steam until the rolls are tight and firm, about 40 minutes
To test just gently squeeze and they should be full and firm. If not then just leave for a few more minutes.
Once cooked, carefully remove from the steamer, and leave the rolls to set
Open the foil and slice into 3 serve with hot custard, sweetened with a little Golden Syrup rather than sugar
If you have any left over, wrap in cling film and chill
When needed slice cold and warm in a microwave on medium power, take care though, as the jam will burn