Jackson Boxer’s winter pulse recipes: (clockwise from left) chickpeas and curds, cockles and coco beans, and lentils with lamb’s liver. Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian. Food styling: Sam Dixon. Prop styling: Rachel Vere. Food styling assistant: Sophie Denmead. Earn some pulse points with buttery lentils in a white wine […]
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Earn some pulse points with buttery lentils in a white wine reduction and topped with fried lamb’s liver, chickpeas in a red wine base with ricotta and toast, and coco beans with cockles in a creamy liquor
The pleasure I take in cooking is ceaseless and limitless, but it’s a pleasure derived from its inherent generosity: it has to be food I’m cooking for others. Left to my own devices, however, there are only a handful of things I actually enjoy making for myself, and they tend to be things that undergo a magical transformation towards the end of the cooking, when they suddenly reveal themselves in all their deliciousness. The egg is a perfect example: fairly unpalatable raw, the fast application of heat turns it into something irresistible. The bean, meanwhile, is its much more patient counterpoint. Pulses are excellent: they are cheap, nutritious, good for the environment and for us, and wonderfully pleasing when cooked right. In many cases, they do need to be soaked ahead, but I find the anticipation of putting them on to soak in the morning before dinner quite charming. Here are three dishes I often make at home, and that have also appeared on my restaurant menus from time to time.
Lentils and lamb’s liver
Prep 10 min
Cook 30 min
Serves 4
For the stock
500ml white wine
1 medium onion, peeled
1 shallot, peeled
2 celery sticks, halved
1 carrot
4 garlic cloves
3 bay leaves
For the lentils
500g dried beluga lentils
150g butter, cut into 1cm cubes
50g very finely diced shallot
2 tbsp minced chives
Sea salt and black pepper
400g lamb’s liver, cut into thin slices
Plain flour
Extra-virgin olive oil
Rinse the lentils in three changes of water, then put in a saucepan and cover with a litre of water and the wine. Add the stock veg and bay leaves, bring to a gentle simmer, then skim. Simmer for 15 minutes, then take off the heat and leave to cool in the broth, which should by now have been soaked up and reduced enough just to cover the lentils. Once cool, lift out and discard the stock veg.
To serve, gently reheat the lentils, take off the heat and whisk in the cubed butter. Stir in the shallot and chives, and season to taste.
Lightly dredge the liver in flour, to coat, then fry in hot olive oil for no more than two minutes on each side, until coloured. Lift out of the pan, leave to rest, then season and serve on top of the lentils.
Chickpeas and curds
Soak Overnight
Prep 15 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 4
For the stock
2 carrots, peeled and quartered
2 celery sticks, halved
2 shallots, peeled and quartered
2 bay leaves
Salt and black pepper
For the chickpeas
500g dried chickpeas
100ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
75g finely chopped shallot
75g finely chopped carrot
50g finely chopped celery
25g tomato puree
250ml red wine
250g cows’ curd, such as ricotta, or similar
Toast, to serve
Soak the chickpeas overnight in two litres of cold water. The next day, drain the chickpeas, cover in four litres of fresh water, bring to a boil, then drain immediately. Return the chickpeas to the pan, add the stock veg, bay and three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt, then cover again with fresh water. Bring to a gentle simmer, and cook for about 20 minutes, until the chickpeas are tender. Take off the heat, leave to cool, then lift out and discard the stock veg and bay leaves.
Heat the oil in a second pan, then sweat the finely chopped shallot, carrot and celery for five or so minutes, until they start to soften. Stir in the tomato puree, then add the wine and cook for about 10 minutes, until it reduces into a syrup. Stir in the chickpeas, add enough of the broth just to cover, then reduce again for about 10 minutes more, until the sauce turns glossy. Check for seasoning and add sea salt to taste.
Serve topped with spoonfuls of curd cheese and generous quantities of olive oil, salt, pepper and warm toast.
Cockles and beans
Soak Overnight
Prep 10 min
Purge 30 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 4
For the stock
2 carrots, quartered
2 celery sticks
2 shallots, peeled and quartered
2 bay leaves
¾ tsp salt
For the beans
500g dried coco beans
250g cockles
100g butter
250g finely minced shallot
100ml cider vinegar
200ml cream
White pepper
The juice of ½ lemon
100g white wine
Extra-virgin olive oil, to finish
Soak the beans overnight in two litres of cold water.
Put the cockles in a bowl of cold water and leave for 30 minutes, agitating them every five or so minutes, to purge them of any sand.
Drain the beans, cover in four litres of fresh water, bring to a boil, then drain immediately. Return the beans to the pan, add the stock veg, bay and salt, then cover with fresh water and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes, until the beans are tender, then take off the heat and leave to cool. Once cool, remove and discard the stock veg and bay.
Put the butter in a hot pan until foaming, then add the minced shallots and saute, stirring, for about five minutes, until lightly coloured. Add the vinegar, cook for a few minutes, until reduced to a glaze, then stir in the cream and cook for about 10 minutes, until reduced by half. Fold in the beans, reheat gently, then season with white pepper and the juice of half a lemon, or to taste.
In a saucepan, bring the wine to a boil, then add the cockles, cover with a tight-fitting lid and leave to cook for two minutes, by which time they should all have opened; if not, cover again and cook for a minute longer, until they do (discard any that by this stage refuse to open). Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cockles to a bowl, then dress with a little olive oil. Keep the pan of wine and cockle liquor on the heat, cook for five or so minutes, until reduced to about 30ml, then pour this over the cockles.
Plate the beans, spoon the cockles and their oily liquor over the top, and serve.
Jackson Boxer is chef/patron of Brunswick House and Orasay, and chef-in-residence at The Corner at Selfridges, all in London, and chef at Cowley Manor near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
