Chefs at home - London's chefs are cooking for themselves during lockdown (1 May)

Catherine Hanly 01 May 2020

Looking for inspiration during lockdown? With chefs at home rather than in their restaurant kitchens, many of them are showing just what's possible to knock up in your own home. We've picked five of the best examples we've spotted on Instagram from the past week.

Karan Gokani - Hoppers

Hoppers director Karan Gokani was inspired to make his rhubarb galette by Instagrammer Clerkenwell Boy, and has spiced it up a bit by using ingredients like Ceylon arrack, grated jaggery and star anise and cardamon in the crust.

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Finally found some rhubarb at the local fruit and veg to make the most beautiful galette out there. Recipe and inspiration for this came from my friend @clerkenwellboyec1 but I've gone and spiced it up a little. Check out @clerkenwellboyec1 post for a super simple version of it and make any of the tweaks below if you feel like.... *** 1. @ceylonarrack in the crust instead of vodka 2. Sri Lankan coconut vinegar instead of cider vinegar 2. Add a couple of teaspoons of ground nutmeg, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, cardamom and grated ginger to the crust 3. Sprinkle of grated jaggery all over the crust after the egg wash and pre-bake 4. Post-bake wash with a glaze of rose water, melted jaggery and orange juice 5. Sprinkle of rose petals and pistachio after glazing *** This is quite a savoury/sour tart, so add a ton more sugar to the base (under the fruit) and a bit more to the crust dough if you want it sweeter, but personally, I like it as is with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for sweetness. #rhubarb #galette
A post shared by Karan Gokani (@karancooks) on Apr 26, 2020 at 3:49am PDT

Ed Smith aka Rocket and Squash

Food writer and cookbook author Ed Smith has been using the services of On the Pass by Warrens to buy the hogget that's normally sold at Kiln and Smoking Goat. Here he's rolled it in cumin and white pepper and made griddled skewers out of it.

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Missing restaurants, of course. So for lunch I skewered some hogget previously destined for @kilnsoho / @smokinggoatbar, rolled it in a little cumin and white pepper and griddled it. Then chucked a load of Mission Spice (via the @blackaxemangal cookbook) on top. 👌🏻*chef’s kiss*. Anyway, actual point is a number of truly great-looking delivery / assemble at home things that are happening or launch this week have caught my eye: @jose_pizarro’ tapas/cook at home has clearly had a load of work put into it; @qualitywinesfarringdon‘s daily menu from @nick_bramham will indeed be quality; @bao_london’s @riceerror starts from its Borough restaurant this week; and @jackson_boxer looks like he’s cooking up a storm at @orasay.london and @brunswick_house. Zoom your friends if you want to recreate a 'can't hear what you're saying the background noise is annoying who invited that guy' atmosphere. #londonrestaurants #stayhome #stayathome #assembleathome #delivery #boroughmarket #se1 #clerkenwell #nottinghill #shoreditch #soho #vauxhall
A post shared by Ed Smith (@rocketandsquash) on Apr 29, 2020 at 5:34am PDT

Ravneet Gill - Puff the Bakery

Ravneet Gill, former St John pastry chef and now co-founder of the pop-up bakery Puff has sensibly decided cake is the way to get through lockdown. She'll be sharing this recipe to anyone who goes on the Puff course post-lockdown <elbows self to front of queue>.

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Twice baked choc cake, a pure love of mine. I just ate a piece and I couldn’t speak for a few minutes. The lighting is gloomy and terrible today so I’ll try to take a better photo of the layers tomorrow. But YAH, recipe from my days @st.john.restaurant it’s in my book and those on the @puffthebakery course will learn this and more in chocolate week.
A post shared by Ravneet Gill (@ravneeteats) on Apr 30, 2020 at 9:18am PDT

Anna Tobias - Café Deco

While chef Anna Tobias waits to open her new restaurant Café Deco in Bloomsbury she's been busy cooking up a storm at home. Her 'comfort meal for strange times' is sausages from the excellent Swaledale Foods and her own homemade baked beans.

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Some comfort food in an uncomforting time.... Recipe for LOCKDOWN LUNCHEON NO.34 @luncheonmagazine Sausage & Beans Making your own baked beans is really simple and so delicious. One of the best things about this recipe is the potential for leftovers. This time round, the remaining sausage was sliced into rounds and warmed up with some of the beans before being dolloped generously on a well-buttered jacket potato. Tomorrow, the last of the beans will form the base of a soup, bulked up with extra vegetables. All three of these dishes are the epitome of comfort. I’m hoping these ingredients are relatively easy to get hold of during this lockdown period. If you don’t have rosemary, then you could just as well use sage or thyme (or nothing). I do suggest using dried beans and not tinned, as the beans slurp up all the goodness around them when they cook… Serves 4 1 onion, finely sliced 2 carrots, roughly chopped 2 cloves garlic, bashed with the flat of a knife 1 sprig (dried) rosemary, roughly chopped 1 tin chopped tomatoes 350g dried beans, such as cannellini, soaked overnight in water 8 sausages of your preference 3 tablespoons olive oil or lard Salt & pepper Preheat the oven to 175. Choose a heavy, lidded casserole dish that will fit all the ingredients comfortably. Heat the oil or lard in the saucepan and once hot, place in your sausages. Colour well on two sides, then remove and set aside. Add your sliced onions and carrots to the pan and sweat on a medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and rosemary and continue sweating gently for another 10-15 minutes until softened. Now add the tin of tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain your beans and add them to the tomato sauce, stirring to coat well. Nestle in your sausages and cover the lot with water so that it is submerged by an inch. Bring to the boil. If any scum appears then skim this off. Put the lid on and place in the oven. Check the dish after an hour and a quarter. If the beans are still a little hard then cook a little longer. Ensure everything is still submerged and add more water if necessary. Once the beans are cooked, the dish is ready to serve. #lockdownluncheon
A post shared by Anna Tobias (@tobiasanna) on Apr 29, 2020 at 4:01am PDT

Farokh Talati - St John Bread and Wine

St John Bread and Wine's head chef Farokh Talati has turned his hands to pickling over the lockdown, more specifically Methianoo Achar - mango and fenugreek pickles. In two weeks time, he'll tell you whether they worked or not.

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Methianoo Achar: Mango and Fenugreek pickle. Now for a two week wait to see how it turned out. #parsifood #parsiculture #parsi
A post shared by Farokh T (@123farokh) on Apr 25, 2020 at 8:08am PDT