Saturday, 28 May 2022 | 13.5°C Belfast

Ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, why not honour your mealtime with these royal approved delights?

2 x 320g sheets of readyrolled puff pastry

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5–6 dried red chillies (ideally 6–7cm long)

2cm fresh turmeric, peeled and sliced

3cm each fresh galangal and fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

2 tablespoons palm (or caster) sugar

50g kerisik (toasted, grated coconut)

Start by making the chilli boh. Put the dried chillies in a pan and add 50ml of water. Bring to the simmer and simmer for 5–10 minutes, until softened. Strain the chillies, but keep the cooking water. Then, using gloves, remove the stalks and seeds from the chillies. In a minifood processor, blend the chillies with 30ml of the cooking water until you have a thick paste.

Heat the oil in a small saucepan over a medium heat and add the paste. Cook until the colour of the paste deepens and the fat splits. Remove the pan from the heat, leave the paste to cool and then transfer it and the oil to an airtight container. (It will keep like this for a few days or you can freeze it for up to 1 month.)

Prepare the rendang paste by blitzing the shallots, turmeric, galangal, ginger, garlic, chilli, lemongrass, turmeric leaf and 150ml of water in a food processor to a thick paste.

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over a low heat. Add the ginger mixture and heat it until the fat splits. Add the desiccated coconut and 2 tablespoons of the chilli boh. Let it cool, then stir through the salt and sugar.

Coat the tenderloin in the rendang paste, then wrap it in cling film or put it in a sealed container and place it in the fridge to marinate overnight.

To make the kerisik duxelles, heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the shallots and sweat for 7–8 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the kerisik and cook until the kerisik is slightly dry and crumbly.

Fold in the turmeric leaf, then remove the pan from the heat and leave the mixture cool.

For the crepes, in a bowl, thoroughly whisk the flour and egg with about 150–200ml of water to make a batter. Stir in the salt. Heat a little oil in a large (about 30cm in diameter) non-stick frying pan and add a ladleful of the batter. Quickly swirl the pan to create a very thin crepe. Cook over a medium heat for 30–45 seconds, until the crepe is fully set but hasn’t taken on any colour. Then, flip the crepe and cook the other side for another 20–30 seconds. Transfer the crepe to a plate lined with kitchen paper. Repeat until you have made 3 large crepes.

Remove the tenderloin from the fridge and brush off the marinade to leave only a thin coating.

To assemble the wellington, lay out the crepes overlapping each other to create a surface large enough to cover the tenderloin. Spread the crepes with an even layer of the kerisik duxelles and place the tenderloin in the middle. Sprinkle some more kerisik over the tenderloin, then roll up the meat in the crepes. Set aside.

Prepare the puff pastry by joining two sheets at a short end to create one large sheet of pastry (use a little water along the join and press to secure the sheets in place). Place the covered tenderloin in the middle of the pastry and roll it up to fully encase the meat.

Trim any excess pastry when the tenderloin is fully covered and press the join to seal. Using cling film, tightly wrap up the wellington and including at both ends to create an evenshaped log. Freeze the log for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190°C/ 170°C fan.

Remove the cling film from the chilled wellington and place the wellington on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush the pastry all over with egg yolk and bake the wellington for 20–30 minutes, until the pastry is golden and the meat is cooked to your liking. Leave the wellington to rest for 10 minutes on the work surface before slicing and serving.

Serve with gravy (you can use shop-bought granules if you don’t want to make your own)

You’ll find chilli boh ready-made, but make sure you taste it before you use it, to determine the level of spiciness.

Kerisik is toasted, grated coconut paste. You’ll find it in some good stores or you can make it by toasting fresh or frozen grated coconut until caramel brown, and then pounding it in a pestle and mortar until it releases its oils.

The time the wellington takes to bake may vary according to your oven. The aim is to serve it when the meat is medium-rare to medium. Start with 20 minutes, then test it with a meat thermometer in the middle – it should reach about 52.5°C initially and then around 60.3°C after resting. If it needs more time to come up to temperature, return it to the oven for 5 minutes, and test again.

Jam of your choice – apricot, redcurrant or blackcurrant works well

250g ground walnuts or grated coconut

Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan.

Tip the flour, icing sugar and baking powder into a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the egg yolks and softened butter to the well and, using your fingertips, gradually incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet, until you have brought it all together to a ball of dough.

Lay a sheet of baking paper on your work surface and tip out the dough on top of it.

Press the dough to flatten it slightly and shape it into a rough rectangle. Place another sheet of baking paper on top, then roll it out using a rolling pin to a rectangle about 35 x 25cm and 2–3cm thick. Using the underneath piece of baking paper, slide the pastry rectangle on to a baking sheet (about 38 x 27cm). Remove the upper piece of baking paper and bake the pastry sheet for 10–15 minutes, until the pastry is cooked through. Leave the pastry rectangle to cool for about 30 minutes, then spread it generously with jam. (Leave the oven on.)

While the pastry is cooling, make the topping.

In a bowl, using a hand-held electric whisk, whisk the egg whites until firm, then gradually add the sugar, then the walnuts or coconut.

Spread the meringue over the top of the jam and bake the dessert for a further 15–20 minutes, until the meringue topping is golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, then cut it into squares or slices to serve.

350g self-raising flour, plus extra for rolling

A generous pinch of salt

85g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

Devonshire or Cornish clotted cream

Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan and put a lightly greased baking tray inside to heat up at the same time.

Tip the self-raising flour into a large bowl with the salt and baking powder, and mix to combine. Add the butter, and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine crumbs (you can do this in a food processor, but take care not to over-process the mixture). Stir in the caster sugar.

Make a well in the centre of the dry mixture, then add the milk and combine it quickly with a fork until you have a sticky dough.

Lightly flour your work surface and tip out the dough. Sprinkle some more flour over the dough and, using floured hands, knead the dough very lightly. Work in the sultanas, if you like – to make fruit scones.

Roll out the dough to a rough rectangle about 3cm thick. Dust a 5cm round pastry cutter with a little flour and cut out as many circles as you can, re-rolling the trimmings as necessary until you have used up all the dough and have 10 scones.

Brush the top of each scone with a little beaten egg, trying not to let it drip down the sides (which can stop the scones rising evenly).

Then, place the scones on the hot baking tray in the oven. Bake them for 12–14 minutes, until they are risen and a pale, golden brown colour. Remove the scones from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

Eat the scones either just warm or fully cool, but as soon as possible. There is only one way to serve them: split in half and served with lashings of clotted cream and strawberry jam.

Extracted from The Platinum Jubilee Cookbook by Ameer Kotecha (Jon Croft Editions, £30) is out now. Photography by David Loftus.

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