Vinegar is an ingredient that many of us use only in salad dressings, or for dousing our fish and chips, but it’s wonderful to cook with, too. Use vinegar both to dial up the flavours in a dish – it somehow makes things taste more of themselves – as well as to bring harmony and unity to everything going on in the pan. If you want to deep-dive into the world of vinegar, get your hands on Angela Clutton’s brilliant book, The Vinegar Cupboard, but in the meantime, if you fancy building up your vinegar shelf, today’s three dishes are as good a place as any to start.
Harissa vinegar chicken with chicory (pictured top)
Chicken and vinegar – or poulet au vinaigre, to honour the dish’s French credentials – is a timeless classic. It’s not hard to work out why, either – it takes such little effort to produce such big results. The addition of harissa takes it down a north African route, a path to which I’m often drawn when eating out in France. Make this a day ahead, if you like – the flavours only improve – ready to reheat and serve with the soured cream and coriander on top.
Prep 5 min
Cook 1 hr
Serves 6
6 chicken thighs, skin-on and bone-in (1kg)
Fine sea salt and black pepper
30g unsalted butter
4 heads red chicory, all cut in half lengthways
3 large banana shallots, peeled, halved, thinly sliced (300g)
2 tbsp rose harissa
130ml red wine vinegar
150ml chicken stock
2 tsp caster or granulated sugar
75g soured cream
10g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
Season the chicken with a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. Put the butter in a shallow 28cm casserole dish or saute pan on a medium-high heat. Once it’s melted and hot, lay in the thighs skin side down and leave to cook for eight to 10 minutes, until deeply golden underneath. Turn over the chicken pieces and cook on the other side for two to four minutes more, until that, too, is golden.
Transfer the browned thighs to a plate, then lay in the chicory halves cut side down. Leave to cook for two minutes, until deeply golden, then turn and cook for another minute. Lift the chicory on to the chicken plate, add the shallots and a quarter-teaspoon of salt to the hot pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for two minutes, until lightly browned and softened.
Add the harissa, cook, stirring constantly, for 20 seconds, then, the moment it starts to stick to the pan, add the vinegar and cook for 30 seconds – it’ll bubble away quickly and reduce. Return the chicken and chicory to the pan, pour in the stock, stir in the sugar, and bring to a boil. Leave to bubble away for three minutes, then turn down the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 45-50 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and tender, and the sauce reduced by half.
Serve straight from the pan with the soured cream and coriander spooned and scattered on top.
Orange and jalapeño hot sauce
Vinegar is the backbone of any good hot sauce. There are so many to choose from these days, but it’s also really satisfying to make your own. In this one, the carrots and orange juice bring colour, sweetness and body and the jalapeños the heat, obviously. The vinegar plays a role that it plays best, uniting and balancing all the various flavours. In the test kitchen, we’ve been drizzling this over everything from roast chicken to potato salad, so our bottle didn’t last long, but it will keep in the fridge for up to a month.
Prep 15 min
Cook 35 min
Makes 500ml
1 tsp sunflower oil
4 to 5 jalapeño chillies (65g), stalks discarded; remove the pith and seeds, too, if you prefer less heat
1 onion (180g), peeled and finely chopped
1 carrot (100g), finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
Fine sea salt
500ml orange juice
100ml cider vinegar
Put a small saute pan on a medium-high heat, add the oil and chillies, and cook, turning occasionally, for five to seven minutes, until the jalapeños are charred all over. Turn down the heat to medium, add the onion, carrot, garlic and a half-teaspoon of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, for six minutes, until the onion turns translucent and starts to soften. Pour in the orange juice, bring to a simmer and leave to cook gently for 15 minutes, until the carrots are soft and the orange juice has reduced by three-quarters.
Tip the mixture into a blender, add the vinegar and 100ml cold water, then blitz for about a minute, scraping down the sides a few times, until completely smooth. The mixture should have a thick pouring consistency, so add a splash more water to loosen, if need be. Pass the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a jug, then pour into a sterilised jar or bottle, seal and refrigerate. Serve at room temperature.
Paneer scramble with sweet pickled red onions
Making paneer is really simple: it’s basically strained, curdled milk and makes a great alternative to scrambled eggs. The paneer, spice mix and pickled onions can all be made a day ahead, ready to mix and heat up just before serving. Save the whey to add to soups or use to marinate and tenderise large cuts of meat such as leg of lamb.
Prep 25 min
Cook 1 hr
Serves 4
2 litres whole milk
Fine sea salt
45ml white-wine vinegar
75ml olive oil
2 onions (360g), peeled and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
4 tsp hot madras curry powder
50g fresh coriander, finely chopped
For the pickled onions
1 small red onion (80g), peeled and cut into thin rounds
45ml white-wine vinegar
2 tsp maple syrup, or brown sugar
First, make the paneer. Put the milk and a half-teaspoon of salt in a large saucepan on a medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, for about 18 minutes, until frothy on top and almost boiling. Stir in the vinegar and, when the mixture starts to split, take off the heat and set aside for a minute, during which time the milk solids should separate and rise to the top and the liquid below them should be pale yellow.
Put a clean kitchen cloth in a colander set over a bowl, pour in the milk mix and leave to drip through for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, put all the pickled onion ingredients and a half-teaspoon of salt in a bowl, stir to combine, then set aside for at least 10 minutes.
Put the oil in a large saute pan on a medium heat, add the chopped raw onions, garlic, curry powder, 30g of the coriander and a quarter-teaspoon of salt, and cook, stirring every now and then, for 15 minutes, until softened. Turn up the heat to medium-high, add the drained paneer and stir gently to coat it in the spiced onions; as you do so, gently break the paneer with a spoon into roughly 3-4cm pieces.
Cook, stirring gently, for five minutes, then take off the heat and stir in the remaining 20g coriander. Spoon on to a serving plate and serve with the pickled onions and some of their liquor spooned on top.
