The Hairy Bikers Cooking Up A Storm!

Our day at the BBC Good Food Show ended with watching The Hairy Bikers cook up two brilliant meals that looked mouth-wateringly tasty!

Si King and Dave Myers are a comedic pair who cook up a right storm in the kitchen. They met whilst working behind the scenes on the set of a TV drama and bonded over their love of good, hearty food. This passion has seen the pair travel across the globe on their bikes finding fantastic recipes from many difficult cultures to bring home for everyone to enjoy.

Prior to The Hairy Bikers partnership, Si King worked as a First Assistance Director and Locations Manager for various film and TV series’ including the Harry Potter films. However his passions lay elsewhere in food which stemmed from an earlier age from his father who would bring back exotic ingredients from his travels with the Royal Navy.

Before the pair were brought together, Dave Myers studied a Fine Arts degree at Goldsmiths University and funded this by working as a furnace man. After graduating, Dave joined the BBC to become a prosthetics make-up artist working on various TV programmes including Prime Suspect and Spooks.

Since collaborating, the pair have gone from strength to strength with a long list of extremely successful TV series’ including ‘The Hairy Bikers’ Tour of Britain’, ‘The Hairy Bikers’ Bakeation’ and ‘The Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight’ along with many many more.

Along with these shows, they have also written popular books, most recently The Hairy Dieter’s series which features the most delicious recipes that we all crave and want at a fraction of the calories!

During the show, Si made a perfect lunch time meal of mackerel fillets with gremolata whilst Dave prepared crispy pork schnitzel with potato salad. Here are the recipes….

 

Mackerel fillets with gremolata

Serves 2

• Oil, for spraying
• 4 x 75g mackerel fillets

For the gremolata

• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

For the tomato & onion salad

• 1 small white onion, halved & finely sliced
• 3 very ripe vine tomatoes
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Squeeze of lemon juice
• Pinch of sugar
• 1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1 tsp capers, rinsed

1. Lightly spray a large non-stick frying pan with oil and place over a medium heat. Season the mackerel fillets with salt and pepper. Place the fillets in the pan, skin-side down, and cook for 3-4 mins. When the flesh of the mackerel is almost completely white and opaque, turn the fillets over and cook for a further 1 min.
2. In a small bowl, mix the parsley, garlic and lemon zest together. Serve the mackerel with the gremolata on the side, for sprinkling over.
3. For the tomato and onion salad, sprinkle salt over the onion slices and soak in a bowl of very cold water for 10 mins, then drain.
4. Thinly slice the tomatoes and arrange on a plate. Sprinkle over the onions.
5. Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice and sugar. Season with salt and a pinch of white pepper. Pour the dressing over the tomatoes and onions. Sprinkle over the parsley and the capers and leave the salad at room temperature for a few minutes before serving to allow the flavours to develop.

TIP!

Gremolata is the name for a simple but tasty Italian garnish. It’s just finely chopped garlic, parsley and lemon zest but it adds a fantastic zingy flavour to chicken, meat or fish, such as this super-speedy mackerel dish.

 

Crispy pork schnitzel with potato salad

Serves 2

• 2 x 150g pork loin steaks
• Oil, for spraying
• 50g fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
• Finely grated zest of ½ small lemon
• 1 tbsp thyme leaves, finely chopped
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp fat-free natural yoghurt
• 50g watercress, spinach and rocket salad
• Lemon wedges, to serve

For the potato, celery & apple salad

• 150g baby new potatoes
• 2 tbsp light mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp fat-free natural yoghurt
• 1 red eating apple, quartered, cored and sliced
• 2 celery sticks, trimmed and sliced
• ½ small red onion, finely sliced

1. For the potato salad, cook the potatoes in a pan of boiling, salted water for 15-18 mins until just tender. Drain, then plunge into a bowl of cold water and leave to cool.
2. For the schnitzels, heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Cut any visible fat off the pork steaks and place each between 2 sheets of cling film. Bash with a rolling pin or meat mallet, until they’re about 1cm thick, keeping the shape as even as possible. Remove the cling film and season the pork with salt and pepper. Mist a baking tray with oil.
3. Mix the breadcrumbs in a bowl with the lemon zest, thyme, paprika, a good pinch of salt and black pepper. Scatter a quarter of the flavoured crumbs over a large plate. Tip the yoghurt into a bowl.
4. Dip one pork steak into the yoghurt until lightly coated on both sides. Then place it flat on the breadcrumbs and top with another quarter of the crumbs. Press the crumbs on to the pork until evenly covered on both sides. Put the pork on the greased baking tray and coat the other piece of pork in the same way. Spray the schnitzels with oil and cook for 12-15 mins until crisp and golden.
5. To make the potato salad, mix the mayonnaise and yoghurt together in a medium bowl. Drain and half the cooked potatoes and add to the bowl with the apple, celery and onion. Mix together and season with salt and pepper.
6. Divide the potato salad between 2 serving plates. Place the pork schnitzel on top of the potato salad and garnish with salad leaves. Serve with lemon wedges.

TIP!

Use wholemeal bread for the breadcrumbs and they’ll have enough colour to fool anyone into thinking your schnitzels have been fried, not baked. A couple of medium slices, crusts and all, should make enough crumbs to coat two schnitzels.

 

You really need to try both of these beautiful dishes, I have tried each one and not only are they so easy to make, they taste absolutely delicious!

We were so lucky to have met Si and Dave as well at the book signing, they are really a lovely pair! You have the chance to win these signed ‘The Hairy Dieters Books’ yourself on our Facebook page here. Be quick though, the competition ends tomorrow!!!