Food: Now you're cooking

Nick Nairn's Cook School has taught thousands of toast-burners to excel in the kitchen, and now its gurus are turning their expertise on you. Every week a Cook School chef will teach you all the techniques and guide you past the pitfalls to help you bring the most delicious dishes to the table

ALL the right ingredients

Today Nick Nairn joins Scotland on Sunday. Every week the award-winning chef will give us a recipe from his repertoire, providing us with the basic knowledge and teaching us the skills necessary to turn raw ingredients into a meal designed to impress.

Tried and tested in the Cook School he set up in 2000, Nick's recipes can be cut out and kept as we go along, building up into a handy reference guide that no self-respecting Scottish kitchen should be without.

Sharing Nick's passion for good cooking are his Cook School chefs John Webber and Alan Mathieson. John has spent four decades in the catering industry, in a career that has taken in the Dorchester and Gidleigh Park, while Alan has graced Greywalls and The Atrium before arriving at the Cook School. United in a desire to awaken the inner chef in everyone, the trio are delighted to be bringing their good-cooking message to the nation.


AT THE cook school we have a simple aim: to get more people cooking confidently. We know many people think they can't cook, but with our guidance we've shown them they can.

We demonstrate that success in the kitchen is possible by following a simple philosophy based on three fundamental elements: produce, technique and harmony or, as we call it, PTH. This is choosing seasonal produce in peak condition, using the key cooking techniques to get the best out of it, and marrying it with complementary ingredients to create a natural harmony.

Each week, we'll be breaking down a recipe that may appear daunting and showing you how achievable it really is. We'll do this by highlighting what we call critical points (the bits you need to get right) and by showing what can be done in advance, all making your time in the kitchen stress-free.

Mise en place means 'everything in place' – a cheffy term used to describe all the bits you can get ready in advance. Chefs are able to serve a large number of diners in a short period of time by being 'en place'. If you want to avoid being the kitchen slave at your own dinner party, get into the mise habit.

To kick-start the column, Cook School tutor Alan Mathieson has adapted a recipe from his Easy Posh Dinner Party course, an impressive summer stunner that balances meaty textured halibut and sweet langoustines with a cool, fragrant dressing. It cannot fail to impress and Alan's tips will keep you as cool as a cucumber in the kitchen.


ROAST HALIBUT WITH LANGOUSTINES

For the pickling mix

8 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp water

5 black peppercorns

5 coriander seeds

1 star anise

3 tsp caster sugar

half a large bay leaf

For the pickle

1 cucumber, sliced 4mm thick

table salt to cure the cucumber

1–2 finely sliced banana shallots

For the dressing

250ml natural yoghurt

10g fresh coriander

10g fresh mint

1 crushed clove of garlic

1 tsp Thai fish sauce to taste

12 langoustines

4 x 100g halibut fillets

First make the pickling mix. Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat through without boiling for two or three minutes. Pour into a deep tray to infuse and cool. This can be made in advance and will keep in a sealed container for two months in the fridge.

Next make the pickle. Sprinkle the sliced cucumber with table salt and leave for five minutes; add the sliced shallots and leave for a further three minutes. Wash off the salt and pat dry. You can put this into a sealable container and keep in the fridge for up to 24 hours. When ready to serve, add to the pickling juice.

Next, cook the langoustines. First remove the tails using the key steps below. Place the tails in a pan of boiling salted water for 40 seconds and remove. Allow to cool and remove the shells. Ideally you should cook these at most two hours before serving and keep at room temperature.

Make the yoghurt dressing. Place all ingredients in a jug and mix together using a stick blender to create a sauce. Chill until required, for up to two hours.

When you are ready to serve, the final step is to cook the halibut. Heat a frying pan that is large enough to comfortably cook the fillets. Getting the temperature of the pan right is vital here. Hold your hand over the pan: it should feel hot, but you should be able to hold your hand over it for about 10 seconds before having to move away. Add a drizzle of sunflower oil to the pan and heat through. Take a fillet and touch a corner in the oil. It should make a gentle sizzle. No sound and the pan isn't hot enough, a fierce sizzle and it's too hot.

Once the pan is at the correct temperature, add the fillets. Fry for two minutes, resisting the temptation to move them, which will allow a nice crust to form on the fish. Turn over, add the butter and cook for a further two minutes, basting with the butter. Should the fish stick when you try to turn it, leave it for 30 seconds or so: it will release from the pan. Just don't force it.

The most accurate way to guarantee perfectly cooked fish (or meat for that matter) is to use a digital thermometer. The core temperature should be 38-42¼C. When cooked, remove from the pan and rest for a minute or two while you assemble the dish.

Place a pool of yoghurt dressing on each plate. Place the halibut on top of the sauce and arrange the langoustine tails around. Top with a generous pinch of pickle, garnish with salad leaves and serve.

Ready when you are
This dish is more or less a last-minute assembly job, all of which can be taken to their final stages while you prepare your starter. After the starter is cleared, all you need to do is pan fry the fish and plate it up.