Proper Pub Food At Home | The Hairy Bikers Comfort Food

Presenter / Channel

The Hairy Bikers — Proper Pub Food At Home | The Hairy Bikers Comfort Food

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1) “Perfect” Beef Burger with Bone Marrow (pub-style)

Ingredients (quantities)

• Chuck steak, minced while nearly frozen (enough for ~42 half-pound burgers / 4200 g total burger meat mentioned)
• Bone marrow (chopped very fine)
• Black pepper (lots)
• No eggs, no rusk/breadcrumbs, no additives (aside from bone marrow)

Equipment / prep

• Clean work area; clean hands
• Griddle (treated like a steak pan)
• Spoon for extracting marrow
• Knife/board for mincing + chopping marrow
• Forming burgers by hand

Method (key technique + timing)

1. Mince chuck steak while nearly frozen (keeps texture intact).
2. Extract marrow:
   • Spoon down the length of the bone to pull marrow out easily.
   • Chop marrow very fine.
3. Combine:
   • Season as you go with lots of black pepper.
   • Use a folding/“turning meat on itself” technique so the marrow is evenly distributed.
4. Portion & shape:
   • Cut/handle burgers in large pieces, then halve and quarter as described.
   • Form into round patties (like making a bun shape).
   • Because texture is right, burgers hold without eggs/breadcrumbs.
5. Cook:
   • Heat griddle until hot.
   • Cook 2 at a time.
   • 3–4 minutes per side.
6. Cheese (optional):
   • For cheeseburgers: add cheese at the point of assembly so it melts/oozes.
   • Cheese choice discussed:
     • Grier (gruyère) as classic
     • Mozzarella possible as a substitute
7. Toast buns:
   • Toasty baps (brioche-style bri buns mentioned)

Burger sauce (separate from burger)

• Mayonnaise: 2 big spoons
• Tomato ketchup: 2 tablespoons
• Chipotle paste: 1 teaspoon
• Garlic powder
• Gherkin, diced fine
• Lemon juice, to finish

Mix all until combined.

Serving / plating ideas

• Assemble in order: dressing & lettuce first, then burger.
• Toppings mentioned: onion rings, thick-cut tomatoes
• Presentation cue: “toast master” jokes; burgers described as best eaten knife and fork by some, but still “burgers.”

Tips / pitfalls mentioned

• Texture matters:
  • Mince while nearly frozen
  • Chop marrow finely
  • Distribute marrow evenly so burgers stay juicy/tender
• No fillers needed if mixture is built correctly.

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2) “Palmó” / Chicken Parmesan-Style Bake (Northeast/Middlesbrough pub classic)

(Described as originating from chicken parmesano; often deep-fried in some places, but baked here “for a nod to culture and health.”)

Ingredients (quantities)

• Soft white breadcrumbs, made by processing bread
• Grated Parmesan cheese: a big heap
• Dried oregano: 1 teaspoon
• Chicken (type implied)
• Egg (for coating)
• Flour (for coating before egg)
• Mozzarella: buffalo mozzarella
• Olive oil: to drizzle before baking

Sauce base

• Onion
• Garlic
• Red wine
• Oregano (added again to sauce)
• Tomatoes
• Olive oil also used in sauce pan

Equipment / prep

• Oven (preheated)
• Sauce pan
• Processor for crumbs
• Baking tray (implied by oil drizzle + baking)
• Clean hands / clean mess mentioned

Method (key timings + temps)

Chicken crumbed and baked

1. Prepare crumb mix: breadcrumbs + grated Parmesan + dried oregano.
2. Coat chicken:
   • Coat in flour
   • Then roll in egg
   • Then in the crumb/Parmesan mix
3. Place on tray; drizzle with olive oil.
4. Bake in preheated oven at 180°C for 12–15 minutes until just cooked through.

Tomato-red wine sauce

1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan; sauté onion until very soft, translucent and buttery.
2. Add garlic; cook a couple of minutes.
3. Add red wine; bubble fiercely until reduced by half.
4. Add oregano and tomatoes.
5. Cook until lumpy/thick:
   • around 20 minutes
   • warning: if runny, sauce makes chicken “wet and horrible.”

Assemble and bake again

1. Put sauce in the bottom of assembly dish.
2. Add chicken (“palmus” language), then cover with mozzarella.
3. Bake again 15–20 minutes until mozzarella is golden and bubbly.

Tips / pitfalls mentioned

• Don’t leave chicken sitting on runny sauce—reduce until thick/lumpy.

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3) “Triple cooked” oven chips + guilt-free turkey burgers (lighter pub combo)

Chips: “triple cooked” method

(Oven chips also appear with the burger, but the “triple cooked” process is used for the chips segment.)

Oven version (used with turkey burgers)

• Potato varieties mentioned: Maris Piper, Yukon Gold, Kingi Eddie(s), Daisy potato
• Salt, pepper
• Smoked paprika
• Sunflower oil: 1 teaspoon
• Lemon zest later for burgers

Method

1. Cut potatoes to relatively same size.
2. Sweat gently, then toss with:
   • 1 tsp sunflower oil
   • salt, pepper, smoked paprika
3. Spread evenly.
4. Bake at 220°C for ~20 minutes, turning halfway.
5. Cool down before mixing chips into burger.

Triple-cooked chips (deep-fry segment)

• Frying steps mentioned:
  • 130°C for ~5 minutes
  • rest/turn fryer up to 190°C
  • 3-minute final stage
• Post-fry cue: crisp results from triple cooking.

Turkey burgers: “leaks/corettes” lighter build

Ingredients (quantities)

• Turkey mince
• 1 teaspoon of oil used for chips (not burger)
• Leeks (“leaks”)
• Courgettes (“corettes”): one grated
• Lemon zest
• Salt/pepper implied by seasoning steps

Equipment / prep

• Wet hands for shaping (no binders/fillers)
• Chips baked in oven; burger cooking described separately earlier, but this segment focuses on forming

Method (key technique)

1. Sweat leeks down.
2. Prepare chips (bake + cool) as above.
3. Add to burger mixture:
   • grate a courgette
   • add lemon zest
   • add turkey mince
4. Portion into ~8 small burgers (biker notes: speaker prefers quarter-pounders as bigger burgers).
5. Shape using wet hands (because no binders/fillers).
6. Note: mixture may look sloppy, but it “comes together” once cooked.

Serving suggestions / variations

• Toppings discussed:
  • Avocado (lemon juice prevents browning)
  • Relish, red onion, tomato
  • Creme fraîche as a mayo substitute (“pretend mayonnaise”)
  • Cheese considered but questioned (“Maybe” / “Not sure about cheese.”)
• Suggested build: relish bed + onion + avocado + tomato + pinch of salt, then creme fraîche (“Popey stuff” term unclear).

Tips / pitfalls mentioned

• Keep chip sizes similar for even cooking.
• Use wet hands for burger forming since there are no binders.

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4) “Cozy” braised steak + gravy with double-cooked chips (steak ‘n’ chips, but cozy)

Ingredients (quantities)

• Braising steak, trimmed of fat/bad bits
• Salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
• Beef stock: 500 ml
• Tomato purée: 1 tablespoon
• Bay leaf
• Thyme (sprigs)
• Garlic: “nice fat clove”
• Onion wedges

Gravy thickener

• Mustard powder: small amount in paste
• Cornflour: paste made with water

Chips

• Potatoes, cut and soaked about 6 hours to release starch
• Double-cooked fry temps mentioned (below)

Equipment / prep

• Frying pan for browning steaks
• Casserole dish for oven braise
• Oven
• Deep fat fryer for chips
• Spatula / stirring tools
• Casserole covered for braising

Method (key temps + timings)

Braise the steak

1. Trim beef; season both sides with salt and lots of black pepper.
2. Fry 2 at a time on medium heat for a couple minutes per side until brown.
3. Braising base:
   • Onion wedges to pan
   • Grate garlic into onions; sweat 1–2 minutes
4. Return steaks; add:
   • 500 ml beef stock
   • 1 tbsp tomato purée
   • bay leaf
   • thyme leaves (strip leaves from sprigs)
5. Bring to a boil, cover casserole, transfer carefully to oven.
6. Bake/braise in oven for 1¼ to 1½ hours until very tender.

Double cooked chips

1. Cut potatoes; soak ~6 hours.
2. Dry off to prevent splutter.
3. Fry first at 130°C for 10 minutes.
4. Let chips cool down.
5. Final crisp at 190°C (stated as “super crispy” and discussed alongside finish timing).
6. Gravy pairing is the goal, so chunkiness is acceptable.

Finish with gravy thickening

1. Let components cool down, then finish near the end:
   • fire up to 190°C for chips at the end stage
2. Make thick glossy gravy:
   • paste: drop of water + mustard powder + cornflour
   • simmer casserole on medium heat 2–3 minutes, stirring regularly
   • aim: thick, super tasty, glossy gravy

Serving suggestions

• Plate with sea salt flakes and optional garnish
• “No knife” cue: beef tender enough to eat easily
• Emphasis on gravy with chips (“Everyone needs gravy with the chips.”)

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5) French Dip: roast sirloin + mushroom gravy dip

(Includes a similar flavor tradition story.)

Ingredients (quantities)

• Whole sirloin (rub includes)
• Beef dripping (for searing)
• Rub: pepper, English mustard, sea salt, thyme
• Shellots/shallots (finely chopped; also used as roasting trivet)
• Button mushrooms (sliced)
• Butter
• Beef stock (sirloin pan juices plus “secret weapon” demiglace referenced)
• Red wine (for reduction)
• Flour (for thickening gravy: “big spoon of flour”)
• Demiglace (twice reduced stock; “secret weapon”)
• French stick / bread for dipping

Equipment / prep

• Oven at 220°C
• Roasting dish (with trivet/onions)
• Pan for searing
• Sauce pot/saucepan

Method (key temps + timings)

Roast sirloin

1. Start beef at room temperature.
2. Sear:
   • fat side down in hot pan with beef dripping.
3. Apply rub:
   • sprinkle first on top, then rub in for a crust.
4. Add shallots to roasting dish to keep meat off bottom and help resting juices.
5. “Delaze” roasting pan:
   • add water or stock to help gravy along and prevent burning juices.
6. Roast rare to medium-rare:
   • 220°C for 25–30 minutes
7. Rest:
   • rest ~20 minutes
   • cooking continues; internal temp rises ~10°
8. Make gravy while resting:
   • onions + mushrooms in butter
   • add garlic + thyme; cook until onions colored
   • add flour for thickness (avoid “flowery” taste by managing heat)
   • add red wine; reduce by half
   • add stock + demiglace
   • reduce until reduced by about a third
9. Warm gravy back up and finish briefly (mentions another short period: “another 10 minutes”).

Serve

• Slice meat (chopped/tagan mentioned).
• Smear meat, then dip bread into mushroom gravy.

Tips / pitfalls mentioned

• Room-temperature meat before cooking.
• Resting is critical (cooking continues); rest ~25 minutes mentioned once.

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6) Pork and apple pie with cider (crowd-pleasing pub pie)

Ingredients (quantities)

• Pork shoulder (from Pembrookshire noted)
• Lots of pepper
• Onions (to sweat down)
• Flour: 2 tablespoons
• Pastry (food processor):
  • Flour
  • salt: 1 teaspoon
  • butter cubes
  • lard equal quantity to butter (cubes)
• Cider & stock:
  • cider: half reserved for deglazing/flavor; rest added later
  • 1 pork stock cube
  • bay leaf
  • sage leaves: 6 whole
• Gravy thickener:
  • 2 tablespoons cornflour
  • mixed with 2 tablespoons cooking liquor

Equipment / prep

• Food processor for pastry
• Oven
• Trays/dishes for casserole and pie
• Fridge for chilling pastry 2 hours
• Strainer step implied (separate gravy from solids)

Method (key timings + temps)

Pork filling + cider braise

1. Season pork with lots of pepper.
2. Fry pork in batches for color.
3. Sweat onions down in casserole dish.
4. Make pastry in food processor:
   • flour + 1 tsp salt
   • cubes of butter and equal cubes of lard
   • whiz to crumbs
5. Form pastry; add egg white to the bottom to prevent soggy bottom.
6. Chill pastry in fridge 2 hours.
7. Deglaze with half the cider.
8. Bring to boil; dissolve stock cube into cider; add bay leaf and 6 sage leaves; stir.
9. Add remaining cider; cover; bake at 160°C for 1½ to 2 hours.
10. Cool, then separate gravy from solids.

Assemble + bake pie

1. Reserve gravy.
2. Roll out 2/3 of pastry for bottom and sides; make thicker so pie stands.
3. Add sage + apples to pork mixture.
4. Add 2 tbsp plain flour; fold in.
5. Spoon pork-apple mixture into tin; spread evenly.
6. Lay top pastry lid; crimp edges.
7. Egg wash on top.
8. Bake at 180°C for 50–60 minutes.

Make gravy to serve

1. Mix 2 tbsp cornflour + 2 tbsp cooking liquor; whisk.
2. Pour remaining liquor/gravy into saucepan; boil.
3. Stir in cornflour mix; reduce heat and simmer a couple of minutes to cook flour out.

Serving

• Big slice expectation; pie gravy served over/with pie
• Apples visible in finished filling; “packed” pie emphasis

Tips / pitfalls mentioned

• Egg white seal prevents soggy bottom.
• Chill pastry to help handling.
• Thickened gravy by simmering to cook flour out.

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Referenced sources (end)

• No external written sources were cited in the subtitles.