The New English Kitchen: Changing the Way You Shop, Cook and Eat

alternative flours

Flour made from wheat is clearly the most versatile, and the keeping qualities gluten gives to bread are a real advantage, as the previous recipes show. But there are alternative flours made from vegetables and nuts that are well worth discovering. Finding a bag of gram flour in an Asian shop in Tooting Bec was the beginning of a new friendship with flour in savoury cooking for me, and my favourite recipe for orange cake would be no good without potato flour.

gram flour

Gram flour is milled from dried chick peas and is a light, gentle-flavoured flour with a smooth texture. It is used extensively in Indian cooking, in fritters or to coat vegetables for frying.

gram coating for poultry, game and fish

A practical way to season poultry and game or whole fish like sole and trout before you fry it. Quicker than breadcrumbing, it also absorbs the sometimes unpleasant fat on poultry skin that spits as it cooks.

gram flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons dried oregano

freshly ground black pepper

Scatter gram flour on to a dinner plate in a layer 5 mm/

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inch deep. Mix in the salt and oregano and grind over some black pepper. Roll the meat or fish in the mixture and cook.

gram and cheddar shortbreads

Makes 12–16 (enough to serve 4 people with drinks)

90g/3oz gram flour, sifted

75g/2

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oz very mature farmhouse Cheddar cheese, roughly grated

75g/2

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oz chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes

a large pinch of cayenne pepper

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teaspoon sea salt

a pinch of freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon very cold water

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5. Put the flour, cheese, butter, cayenne and seasoning into a food processor and whiz until the mixture has a breadcrumb consistency. Add the water and whiz again. As soon as the crumbs begin to form a dough, tip them on to a board and knead together until smooth. Work quickly; the mixture should not become greasy.

Shape the dough into a cylinder and cut it into 1cm thick slices. Put them 2cm/

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inch apart on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment or greaseproof paper. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes, then bake for 15 minutes, until the shortbreads are slightly puffed, their edges lightly brown.

kitchen note

To decorate and add flavour, roll the cylinder of dough in chopped pistachio nuts, or scatter toasted black cumin seeds or flaked almonds on to the sliced biscuits before baking.

potato flour

In Italy, potato flour is added to sweet cakes with ground nuts, giving them an almost impossible lightness and delicious dry crumb. It is also used to coat pork before frying. Also known as fécule, potato flour is available from Italian stores and wholefood shops. It is very white, and squeaks when rubbed between your fingers.

almond and orange cake

Based on Anna del Conte’s recipe in her book, Secrets of an Italian Kitchen (Bantam Press, 1989), this is a subtle cake to eat after a meal with a little crème fraîche.

150g/5oz blanched almonds, whole or flaked

3 eggs, separated

150g/5oz golden caster sugar

60g/2oz potato flour

1

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oranges

a pinch of salt

30g/1oz butter, softened

icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3. Chop the almonds in a food processor, or finely by hand, until they have a crumb-like texture. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and creamy. Add the almonds and the potato flour. Grate the zest of the whole orange into the mixture, then add the juice of 1

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oranges.