Holidays

10 days ago, I  jetted off to the South of France for some family downtime, and have returned bronzed and slightly more relaxed after some great food, wine, sunshine and swimming. Being a family holiday, there were hoards of ravenous people between the ages of 6 and 60 who needed to be fed at least twice daily (I am ambivalent about breakfast, especially in the heat). I grabbed a sister, and we headed for the kitchen.

After several days in which we explored every possible incarnation of salades composées we were ready for something more substantial and decided to try making saltimbocca. Well, we were pretty close to the Italian border after all. Saltimbocca means ‘jumps in the mouth’, which is nice, and would be a talking point for our captive diners if nothing else.  It is traditionally made with veal, and the meat is lined and rolled with prosciutto and sage before being fried in butter and marsala wine. Yummy. Obviously, as happens with the best laid plans (and even slightly non-thought out plans) we couldn’t find sage anywhere and half of the family wouldn’t eat veal. We nailed the prosciutto though, it was on special offer. Replacing the veal with chicken and the sage with blue cheese (why not) we set to work.

Sort-of-saltimbocca (serves 6)

6 large chicken breasts

6 pieces of prosciutto

1 pack of St Agur cheese.

Important note: yes, we were in France and approximately 10 minutes away from an artisan cheese stall at the market, but I find that ‘good’ blue cheese, when heated, can quite easily become grainy, bitter, stringy and sour. So I will normally use a light commercial one, such as St Agur, for cooking purposes. Ok? Good. Onwards.

Some flour

Salt and pepper

Butter

Cocktail sticks

Method:

-Season some flour on plate and set aside.

-Bash the chicken breasts flat with any implement you have to hand. They need to be really quite flat. I find putting the breasts in sandwich bags first avoids all sorts of ‘flying raw meat’ type of issues.

-Lay a piece of prosciutto on each bashed breast

-Put some blobs of St Agur in the middle of each piece

-Carefully dip the back of each breast (i.e. not the side that has all the stuff on it, obviously) into the flour.

-Roll up the chicken. Tuck in any bits that stick out and secure the whole thing with cocktail sticks.

Important note: whilst it may feel more secure and indeed even really fun to go mental with the cocktail sticks, I would advise you, from bitter experience, to use the minimum necessary to achieve the effect of a sturdy parcel. The little suckers do not come out easily. We had to use pliers.

-In a large, heavy based frying pan, melt some butter and place the chicken rolls in to brown on all sides (as much as this is possible with the cocktail sticks poking out everywhere). Reduce the heat and leave, turning occasionally, until cooked. This should take around 20 minutes.

-Meanwhile, we threw the remainder of the St Agur, some odds and ends of slightly old Roquefort and a splash of milk into a pan and simmered it gently to form a thin sauce.

-Serve with a large green salad.

Aux armes citoyens

Last year, I decided to celebrate Bastille Day and due to popular demand (mine), I’ll be doing it again sometime soon. Not this year though, because I forgot to organise it.  

14^th July – A Bastille Day menu (serves 4)

Chicken liver pate on crostini

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Minute steak with herb butter and green salad

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Tarte au citron

First of all, put a French maid’s outfit on. Not only will this add to the festivity of the occasion, but nobody will really mind if you cook them rubbish food. A bit of prep is required here, but it’s nothing too stressful so don’t panic. After that, it’s really just an assembly job prior to your guests arriving.

The night before the party, you have three jobs:

-make the pate

-make the crostini

-make the herb butter

Now, you could do this on the morning of the event but sometimes it’s nice to have the heavy lifting out of the way so you can wake up to a clean kitchen that just requires you to drift around looking calm and collected. Also, the longer you leave the pate and butter, the better the flavours. So, arrive home from work, unhook the phone, put on some Abba and get cooking for your spectacular dinner the following night.

First thing’s first. Pate.

Chicken liver pate

You will need:

-400g chicken livers

-Splash of brandy

-100ml double cream

-25g butter

-Pinch of nutmeg

Method:

Disclaimer: some of what follows is a bit icky.

-Tip all the livers out onto a clean plastic chopping board (hygiene people, hygiene).

- Pick them up individually and fiddle until you can see a tough white ‘core’ that is holding the bits together (a lot like a kidney, but obviously not quite the same). Cut this out. This prevents bitterness in the pate. Not to mention gross bits.

-Fry the livers in a pan with some/a lot of butter. They need to be pink in the middle still, or your pate will be grey.

-Let the livers cool and pat dry.

-Place in a blender with the brandy, cream and nutmeg. Blend to a thick paste. Taste for seasoning, adjust as necessary.

-Melt some butter in a small pan.

-Pour the pate mixture from the blender into one large container or individual ramekins.

-Smooth down the surface and pour a bit of the butter on top, to form a seal.

-Place in the fridge.

-If you can be bothered, a couple of peppercorns and an appropriate leaf or two placed in the solidifying butter looks nice.

-Chill overnight.

Next job:

-Cut a baguette into slices. Make the slices as thin as you can without driving yourself crazy.

-Spread them out on some foil, drizzle with olive oil and rock salt, and grill them for 2 minutes a side. Voila, you have crostini.

-Put them in an airtight container overnight so they stay crunchy.

Last but not least:

Herb butter

You will need:

-175g salted butter

- 2 cloves garlic, crushed

-large handful of chopped herbs of your preference. Parsley is the classic, but lemon thyme is an interesting addition.

-Soften the butter (leave it on the side whilst making the pate).

-Mash in the garlic and herbs.

-Put the mixture on a sheet of clingfilm and roll and shape into a cylinder.

-Chill in fridge overnight.

So, everything’s ready for the main event. Off you go to bed and enjoy your free day tomorrow.

On the evening of the party (before guests arrive, obviously):

Lemon Tart

You will need:

-1 roll of all butter shortcrust pastry

-250ml double cream

-175g caster sugar

-3 lemons, juice and zest.

Method:

-Roll the shortcrust pastry out into a tart/pie tin and blind bake in the oven at 200 for 10 minutes.

-Remove the pastry case and eggwash the insides. Bake for a further 5 minutes.

-Whisk the sugar and cream together.

-Add the lemon juice.

-Add the lemon zest.

-Pour into the pastry case and bake at 200 for 20 minutes, or until the filling is set but still slightly wobbly. It should not be coloured on the top.

-Leave to cool, set aside until ready to serve.

Simple salad dressing.

You will need:

1 clove crushed garlic

100ml olive oil

3 teaspoons of Dijon mustard

Splashes of lemon juice

Method:

-Mix the garlic, mustard and lemon juice in the bottom of the salad serving bowl.

-Add the oil by pouring in a thin, steady stream, whisking continuously. This should emulsify pretty much immediately.

-Season, taste and adjust accordingly.

-Put the salad leaves of your choice (butterhead or simple round lettuce works well here) into the bowl with some chopped walnuts, but don’t toss until you’re ready to serve.

-Set aside.

Now you’re all ready for the guests to arrive. Welcome them in, give them drinks, make enchanting conversation, hand around the pate on crostini.

When people are milling ominously near the fridge, it’s time to eat. Make sure the table is laid (with a checked cloth, obviously) and everything is to hand because this takes seconds.

Minute steak

You will need:

-4 thin frying steaks.

Method:

-Head a skillet or pan with some oil until smoking hot.

-Drop the steaks one at a time into the pan, almost immediately turn them over and remove to a warm serving plate. This, quite literally, takes a minute. Clever name hey?

Final steps

-Cut the herb butter into discs and dot strategically over the plate of steaks.

-Bring to the table and serve with the now tossed salad and some crusty bread. You can put the remainder of the herb butter on the table too.

-Drink lots of red wine.

-Eat the lemon tart.

-Sing the Marseillaise (optional).

NB. Since this dinner took place a year ago, I’m afraid I have no photos of the food. You know what a steak looks like. So here’s me in my maid’s outfit.

Je voudrais les escargots s'il vous plait

Manos arriba

A few days had passed since the trauma of turning 25 was alleviated by some classic French food, and it was now time to celebrate with the extended family. Nine of us sharing common DNA, plus a few boyfriends and godparents who hopefully don’t, descended on Cambio de Tercio.

This restaurant is now justifiably known as one of the best Spanish restaurants in London, and has been our family local for the last 16 years. Almost all celebrations have seen at least some of their action in the back room here. This is due in no small part to the absolute charm and genuine hospitality of the owner, Abel, and all his staff. The other big draw is, of course, the food. As usual, we ordered a selection of favourites for the table, and shared everything. Here, you’ll find old Spanish tapas classics – pulpo gallego, croquetas, patatas bravas -  mixing effortlessly with delicious meats – hams, suckling pig, oxtail, tiny lamb chops - and food that easily fits into the all too popular molecular gastronomy trend and manages to be genuinely inventive. As usual, we all had a fantastic time.

They’ve just launched a new £37 tasting menu. Go and try it!

http://www.cambiodetercio.co.uk/

French food cures depression

My birthday was yesterday and, whilst I managed to put on a brave face, I was not particularly looking forward to it. As my sister kindly informed me recently, my ‘life’ isn’t really up to much apart from the new flat and great job (which were dismissed as ‘overpriced’ and ‘irrelevant because you don’t have a boyfriend’ respectively). More importantly, I’m now officially in a new age bracket on all forms and surveys. I wonder when you’re too old to spend weekends sleeping mainly on floors?

Anyway, I woke up on the morning of the big day and found a new wrinkle, I got dressed in my normal clothes and went to work before the post arrived, so had no cards. Several friends appeared to have forgotten it was my birthday at all, which I find particularly extraordinary given the huge amount of self-promotion and aggressive viral marketing that I engage in every year in the week or so before the event. I basically felt sorry for myself all morning.

Pretty much the only thing that can alleviate such a chronic case of the black dog is a half day off work and some classic French food. There is something so…timeless about the slightly heavy, bourgeois food that one associates with, particularly, mid and Northern France. This was the not the time for the hot Mediterranean influences of the Riviera, the gentle herby flavours of Provence or the sparklingly fresh seafood of the Atlantic coast. This was a time for meat and cheese (although, to be frank, when is it not?). So, it was lucky that my sometimes lovely father had booked Chabrot – Bistrot des Amis, for lunch. After a bracing 10 minute stroll around several backstreets (the place is difficult to find, even with a map, a working knowledge of the area, a smart phone and a friendly taxi driver), I walked into the restaurant and found myself in the French bistro of your dreams. Seriously, it looked like Disneyland – perfectly, hyperbolically French.

After a glass of champagne and some conversation with the charming and helpful waiters, my father arrived. He was in ebullient good humour and we settled into the starters. We shared a carpaccio of beef with truffle cream, cut thick, and a warm duck liver pate, enlivened by the addition of cheese gougeres instead of toast. If anyone can think of an English word that is the equivalent of gougeres, then please let me know. I’ve tried several but they all sound horrible and don’t do justice to what was an absolutely delicious starter. We accompanied this with a carafe of white Burgundy.

Moving not so swiftly on to the main courses, Dad had the bavette with shallots, green beans and perfect frites (again, ‘chips’ doesn’t seem to do them justice) and I had the choux farci. This was the outer shell of a cabbage with the inner leaves and heart removed (hooray) and replaced with a veal, foie gras, chestnut and herb stuffing. It was absolutely delicious. Just brilliant. And a very lovely Pinot Noir (possibly) was the perfect light accompaniment. Obviously, there was not much room left at this point, but we somehow managed to fit in some cheese – nothing particularly standout, but all perfectly affiné and generously portioned – desert wine and Armagnac. We left at 4pm, drowsy and happy. An absolutely superlative lunch.

http://chabrot.co.uk/

Price: would have been rude to ask

The name's Bond...

It must be a sign. On the day I finally get round to putting all my notes on here and making it into a fully fledged blog, ITV is showing From Russia With Love.

This is going to be a blog about food, because it’s what I love. However I live by myself and, most of the time, supper is a tin of sweetcorn in front of a cookery programme (yes, I appreciate the irony). Instead of rising to this challenge and creating a brilliantly informative blog dedicated to the trials and tribulations of cooking from scratch for one person, I have decided to make everything more general. There will be reviews, recipes, cocktails, cookbooks, some streams of consciousness and a little bit of humour*.

Ah, the gypsies are about to fight...

*not guaranteed.