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Pinot Noir Heaven
I have just survived an epic battle of Pinot Noir - featuring four incredibly big hitters from across the Globe. The winner was a Felton Rd 2003 (Block 5), a rare and wonderful New Zealander from the Central Otago region, though the Vosne-Romanée, Kosta Browne and Woori Yallock weren’t exactly a disgrace!
My apologies to the Americans, Australians and French.
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Mini-burger Kit
Aah,who doesn’t love a mini-burger? Not sure why they haven’t become a standard pub menu offering (in the US the “Slider” equivalent is ubiquitous). Here in the UK the poor things are relegated to Christmas party/trendy after-show party menus (up there with mini roast dinners, mini fish and chips, etc. etc.) - which is frankly just not fair to those of us who do not attend either type of party on a regular basis.
Luckily, you can easily DIY them at home. Here’s your mini-burger kit:
1) a dozen mini dinner rolls (Waitrose carry them)
2) 500g Angus steak mince (molded into 12 40g patties)
3) 12 small square slices of mature cheddar
4) 1 large pickle, sliced thinly
5) 4 cherry tomatoes, sliced
6) a handful of rocket leaves
7) Ketchup
Grill the burgers for a couple minutes on each side, then add a slice of cheese on top of each and grill a further minute or so. Assemble the burgers: with the remaining ingredients. Secure with a cocktail stick.
There’s nothing stopping you experimenting with other types of “sliders”: turkey or veggie burgers, grilled chicken, lamb, etc.
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Anonymous asked: Hi Lydia
Dean here (from Hotonline)...
Claire tells me that you are bit of a whizz in the kitchen and I really want to start making my own sushi- i cant get enough of the stuff!! Can I eat any salmon/tuna etc raw or does it have to be a certain type???
Yes, you can definitely buy and eat raw fish for sushi. Salmon and tuna are probably the safest options, especially when starting out with sushi, though white-fleshed fish works quite nicely too (sea bass for instance), as well as mackerel (although this type of fish has to be “cured” in salt first before consuming).
Having said that, I generally am quite careful about where I buy my fish. I am lucky enough to have a fab fishmonger up in Islington - Steve Hatt (he seemed a bit insulted when I once asked him if his fish was fresh enough for sushi!!). Do you have a good fishmonger/supermarket fish counter you can trust near you? If you’re not sure, just ask yourself when you walk by the place: does it smell “fishy” or “fresh like the sea”? If fishy, then forget about it. If the answer is no, then head to the Japan Centre in Piccadilly, which has recently been expanded: a cold/hot take-out counter, a sushi conveyor belt, all the Japanese ingredients and kits you might need to make sushi, and where you can buy pristine pieces of sushi fish. It’s a nice way to start practicing.
Let me know how you get on!
Tomato Bruschetta - rustic-style
Have I mentioned tomato season has started?!
So here’s how to make one of my all-time favourite snacks. Toast a piece of rustic bread. Rub with a cut clove of garlic (as much or as little as you can handle). Add some chopped tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil, a dash of salt and pepper, and a torn basil leaf.
For a more elegant version, use French croutons or crositinis (thin rounds of baguette which have been dried) instead of the toast, and finely chop the tomatoes.
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Tomato vol-au-vent tarts
This is the kind of the thing I’d always prefer to serve as an appetizer when I have friends over (rather than my ubiquitous olives and crisps) but always seemed like too much hard work. Well, I think I’ve cracked it with help from Jus Rol ready to bake puff pastry vol au vent.
Keep these little flat disks in your freezer, and when ready to use pop them straight into the oven (220c) on a baking sheet. When they start to puff up (about 5-7 minutes) take them out and fill with a dollop of creamy basil sauce, quartered cherry tomatoes, and a little salt, pepper and olive oil. Now put them back in the oven till golden (another 7 minutes or so). To serve: garnish with a little more creamy basil sauce, olive oil, and a fresh basil leaf.
These can be made more substantial by substituting some goat’s cheese for the basil sauce.
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Tomato and mozzarella salad
You know summer is around the corner when the insipid and pale excuses for a tomato, which litter the supermarket shelves over the cold winter months are finally replaced by the real thing - deep red and fragrant - still smelling of the vines.
I’ve been waiting for months now to eat a proper tomato, so I’ve kept it simple - the smallish cherry variety, quartered and placed in a bowl with some rocket, torn pieces of buffalo mozzarella, a good dribble of olive oil, and some salt and pepper. I also like to serve it with a big blob of my basil cream sat in the middle.
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These are my current favourite chocolates. Well, “current” as in since I first discovered them over 5 years ago in the town of St. Remy de Provence in the South of France - near-ish to Avignon if you ever fancy visiting.
Joël is best known for his seasonal selection of chocolates based on the letters of the alphabet (plus punctuation). My favourites include M (for fresh mint and white chocolate), & (for salty caramel with ginger), and F (arbutus honey).
Oh, and the great news is they ship!
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Olive”tapenade”, creamy basil sauce and chipotle paste
I love having homemade sauces and pastes sitting in the fridge on standby, ready to tart up simple ingredients (pasta, potatoes, vegetables). They take just a few minutes to prepare but can keep quite well in the fridge, especially if you invest in these handy vacuum-sealed containers which keeps foods fresh much longer than normal (herbs keep for 2 weeks, hard cheeses for months - no kidding).
First up is a creamy olive tapenade (sort of like a tapenade, but milder and creamier): In the food processor blitz together 1 cup pitted black olives (I like the wrinkly varieties the best), 1/4 cup ground almonds, three anchovy fillets, 2 garlic cloves (peeled), the juice of 1 lime, 1/4 cup low fat Quark cheese (or 0% Total Greek Yogurt), and a good glug of olive oil. You can easily improvise with the quantities and ingredients (omitting the garlic or anchovies or the cheese or the oil, etc……)
This “tapenade” is great on rye crackers, paired with some goat’s cheese and slivers of grilled pimientos. It also works great stirred into pasta sauces, or served as a dip with crudites.
Next up is the creamy basil sauce: Blitz together a large bunch of fresh basil leaves, 1/4 cup ground almonds, 1/4 cup low fat Quark cheese (or 0% Total Greek Yogurt), the juice of 1 lime, 1 garlic clove, and a good glug of olive oil.
I like to serve this with new season Jersey royals, stirred into pasta sauce, mixed in with salad dressing - the list is endless.
Finally, the easiest of them all: my chipotle paste: just blitz up a can of chipotle in adobo sauce.
I like to add this to anything that needs a bit of a Mexican kick.
The Tang Dynasty Cocktail - lychee-based, partnered with the equally floral Bombay Sapphire Gin
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice shake together: 35ml Bombay Sapphire Gin, 15ml Lychee liqueur, 10ml Sloe Gin, 25ml Lychee puree, and the juice of 1/2 lime. Pour into a chilled glass filled with ice.
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Pan-fried foie gras with pears and honey
For those of us who love foie gras (and in particular, pan-fried rather than chilled) this is a fab little recipe courtesy of Raymond Blanc. Now the hard part might be tracking down the raw foie gras escalopes; in France (of course!) you can buy them vacu-packed and frozen at Picard (the food store that elevates frozen food to gourmet status.
It is worth trekking around to find some.
Stuffed giant pasta shell appetizer
Here’s an easy party idea. Boil up some giant pasta shells (Conchiglioni). Drain while still really quite firm and al dente. Now stuff with whatever you fancy - some fresh pesto, some cooked spinach mixed with ricotta, etc. I stuffed mine with my Ligurian walnut sauce and green tapenade. Place in a baking dish in an oven at 200c and bake till nicely grilled.
How to make a Perfect Manhattan cocktail
…..as perfected by Neil, the bar manager at the Globe Bar in the Moran Hotel Chiswick, West London.
A Manhattan provides an antidote to all sorts of problems beyond your control (i.e. your long-awaited weekend away being trumped by a sky full of volcanic ash). Luckily Neil recognised these kind of blues and swept over this perfect cocktail to my table.
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice add 2 oz. Maker’s Mark Bourbon, 1/2 oz. French Vermouth, 1/2 oz. Italian Vermouth, and a dash of Angostura bitter. Stir (do not shake!), and serve in a chilled martini glass with a maraschino cherry.
Prawn Cocktail stacks - A modern twist on the retro appetizer.
Using a presentation ring (or you can use an empty can opened at both ends) stack the following in order: 1 shredded gem lettuce, 1 small sliced avocado, a drizzle of yuzu (a Japanese citrus fruit that tastes a bit like mandarin) or lime, a layer of marie-rose sauce (my version is made by mixing together 2 tbs mayonnaise, 1 tsp ketchup, 1 tsp yuzu, 1 tsp Sriracha, 1 tsp cognac or whiskey, a dash of salt) and then topping with a 1/2 cup of cooked prawns and a dusting of smoke paprika.
Remove the ring and serve with some rye toast. Serves 1.
Alphonso Mangoes with Mini-Madeleine Cakes
The exquisitely fragrant Indian Alphonso Mango season is cruelly short: April-May. This means that outside of this time period I barely give a second glance at a mango fruit. Go out and find one today (Indian supermarkets, fancy supermarkets) and then you’ll see what I mean. Do not delay, otherwise you will miss another year of these incredible fruits that melt in your mouth, dense and sweet in flavour. I buy them by the box, wrapped like jewels in tissue paper, and eat them every day. Simplest is best of course, but if you want to fancy it up why not serve it with a dollop of clotted cream sprinkled with chopped pistachio and the most delicate of French cakes, the shell-shaped Madeleine. Recipe below.
In an electric mixer whisk together three eggs and 200g sugar till pale and ribbony (this may take a few minutes). With the beater on now add the zest of 1 lemon (or lime), a pinch of salt, 1tsp vanilla and 70ml milk. Sift together 280g flour and 2tsp baking powder and gradually add to the bowl. Gradually add 150g very soft unsalted butter (even slightly melted is fine). Once well mixed together, transfer to a plastic container and leave in the fridge for an hour. Using a couple of spoons half-fill madeleine molds (I like the silicon variety as they do not need to be buttered and floured to make them non-stick). Bake at 180c for between 12-15 minutes (till golden). The dough keeps well in the fridge for a few days (ready for a fix).
Madeleine should be eaten straight from the oven (like risotto, they wait for no one).
Mexican breakfast - corn tortilla with poached eggs
Here’s a simple way to make Mexican-style eggs without all the bother of Huevos Rancheros (who needs so many dishes to clean on a weekend morning?). Poach a couple of eggs (I love these little silicon poach pods). Warm 3 small corn tortillas (in the microwave or in a frying pan for a crispier finish). Overlap the tortillas on a large plate, spread a little Adobo sauce (Puree a can of Chipotle chillies in adobo sauce - this keeps well in the fridge), top with your eggs, a sprinkling of salt, pepper, lime juice and some snipped chives.
