Simon Wood's Headbangers Kitchen show on Kerrang! Radio – see the recipes
He's hosting a Christmas special
Esteemed chef and keen rock music aficionado Simon Wood is joining forces with Kerrang! Radio for a Christmas special this weekend called Headbangers Kitchen.
Available to listen to on Sunday 15th December from 5pm to 7pm, the two-hour show will see Simon share some rock and metal themed Christmas recipes with co-host Loz Guest, and they’ll play songs by the artists that inspired the food.
Rocking recipes that feature include the Black Sabbath themed War Pigs in Blankets, the Nickelback inspired Pickelback, and A Christmas Dinner Cake called Mr Brownstone that nods to both AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses.
You can check out the recipes here:
Chilli Chutney:
INGREDIENTS:
8-10 fresh red chillies
8 ripe red peppers
70ml olive oil
2 medium red onions, peeled & chopped
1 sprig fresh rosemary, picked & chopped
2 bay leaves
1 x 5 cm stick cinnamon
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
100 g brown sugar
150 ml balsamic vinegar
METHOD:
Place your chillies and peppers over a hot barbecue, or use a blow torch, turning them now and then until blackened and blistered all over.
Carefully lift the hot peppers and chillies into a bowl (the smaller chillies won’t take as long as the peppers so remove them first) and cover tightly with cling film.
When you’ve got rid of most of the skin, trimmed off the stalks and scooped out the seeds, you’ll be left with a charred red peppers and chillies.
Heat a saucepan and pour in a splash of olive oil. Add the onions, rosemary, bay leaves and cinnamon and season with a little salt and pepper.
Cook very slowly for about 40 minutes or so, until the onions become rich, golden and sticky.
Add the chopped peppers and chillies, the sugar and the vinegar to the onions and keep cooking.
When the liquid reduces you’re left with a lovely thick sticky chutney
Pickleback:
INGREDIENTS:
1 Jar dill pickles, sliced & undrained
½ teaspoon Smoked Paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt
140g cornflour
60g gluten free plain flour
150ml sparkling water
30ml pickle juice
Chives
Garlic mayo
Vegetable oil (for frying)
METHOD:
Drain pickles, reserving 2/3 cup pickle juice.
Press pickles between paper towels.
To make the batter, mix the dry ingredients with the salt. Then, whisk in the sparkling water and pickle juice
Dip pickles in the batter
Fry coated pickles in 190ºc oil until golden brown.
Drain on paper towels and serve with chopped chives and garlic mayo
Kerrang Kristmas Ultimate Roasties:
INGREDIENTS:
2kg Red Skin Potatoes
2 Bulbs of Garlic (Halved)
1 Bunch of Fresh Rosemary
1 Bunch of Fresh Thyme
500g Goose Fat
Maldon Sea Salt
Black Pepper
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5.
Peel the potatoes, cutting any larger ones so they’re all the same size
Wash the potatoes in cold water to get rid of any extra starch and place a large saucepan on to boil, season with a good amount of sea-salt.
Add your goose fat into a large roasting tray, the biggest you have. This is to make sure there’s plenty of room for the potatoes and heat to circulate, heat for 10 minutes while your pan of water comes to the boil.
Now, add the potatoes to the water and parboil for 10 minutes, you want the outside soft and the inside with a little firmness remaining once ready drain in a colander and leave to steam dry for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes give the colander a shake to help fluff up the potatoes so they look ‘Snowy’ – this will help to help them to crisp up later on.
Carefully remove your roasting tray with the hot fat from the oven and place on a suitable surface, add in half of your herbs and a bulb of your halved garlic and put it back in the oven for 5 minutes. After five minutes remove the herbs and garlic. You now have a nicely flavoured oil that will make your potatoes taste amazing!
If you leave the herbs in for the whole time it takes to roast your potatoes, they will burn and taste acrid! We will add in the rest of the herbs with 10 minutes to go to really lift the flavour!
Tip the potatoes into your roasting tray and turn with tongs slowly coating them in the flavoured hot fat, take care not to break them before seasoning well with the sea salt and black pepper.
Roast for 45 minutes, before turning each one to coat in more fat and ensure even colouring, now add in your remaining herbs and garlic and roast for a further 10-20 minutes depending on how much colour you want on them
Once golden and crisp drain any excess oil on a little kitchen paper.
As a chef I find Its always best to do a little test at this point and eat one just to check the seasoning, sometimes I must do this three or four times, just to be sure!
Christmas Gravy:
INGREDIENTS:
1kg chicken thighs or wings
100ml veg oil
3 large carrots
2 sticks of celery
3 bay leaves
2 white onions
2 Maris piper potatoes
1 tsp. celery salt
1 star anise
1 tsp. ground white pepper
TO FINISH:
3 tbsp corn flour
1 sprig of rosemary chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme chopped
1 tsp fresh sage chopped
3 pints of chicken stock
500ml pinot noir
1 large tbsp. Of cranberry sauce
METHOD:
When I make my Christmas gravy I like to use a large roasting tray, the biggest I have. I start by pre-heating my oven to 180°c, 350f, Gas mark 4.
Take your chicken portions and with a large knife chop into them, just enough to break the flesh but not enough to separate the meat into chunks, add them to a bowl and coat them in veg oil.
Now you need to refine your gravy, and here is how it’s done!
Take a large mixing bowl and place a colander inside it, very carefully pour the contents of your roasting tray into the colander, use the back of a large spoon to press any juices through the colander and allow it to stand for 5 minutes to thoroughly drain. Next take a sieve over a clean large saucepan and once more pass the gravy through it, finally stir in the cranberry sauce to give your gravy a nice gentle sweet finish.
Finally all that’s left to do is check your seasoning and adjust it to taste if necessary and there you have it, my special and delicious Christmas Gravy.
This gravy can be made well in advance and frozen ready to be brought out for the big day.
War Pigs in Blankets:
INGREDIENTS:
30 Pigs in blankets
100g Colman’s English mustard
12 Shakes of Tabasco
150g Runny honey
Chopped chives
METHOD:
Cook the pigs in blankets until golden, either deep fry at 150ºc or bake in the oven at 180ºc until browned.
Next In a frying pan on a medium heat add the honey tabasco and mustard and heat until it bubbles and emulsifies together, once it is bubbling add the sausages and glaze until sticky and serve with chopped chives.
A Christmas Dinner Cake (AC/DC) Mr Brownstone:
INGREDIENTS:
Brownies:
200g double cream
500g butter
400g dark chocolate
150g jarred mincemeat filling
130g plain flour (Can be Gluten Free)
10g baking powder
700g sugar
8 eggs
METHOD:
Melt chocolate and butter together by filling a small saucepan about a quarter full with hot water, then sit the bowl on top so it rests on the rim of the pan, not touching the water.
Put over a low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted, stirring occasionally to mix them.
Next Whisk eggs and sugar together until pale in colour, fold the melted chocolate into eggs before Sifting the dry ingredients in.
Whip your cream to ribbon stage and gently stir into chocolate mix
Cook for 35 mins at 180 degrees, check with a skewer that it comes out clean
Leave it to sit for an hour before cutting it into squares