Author: w7

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Gravlax

DSC_1221Gravlax, or Graved Lax, is a dish made from raw cured salmon. It is very easy to make, and very delicious to eat. I find it is best enjoyed with horseradish or mustard sauce on a slice of flavoursome bread and with a little green side salad, but whether you have it for breakfast, for elevenses, for lunch, as a starter or for your supper is up to you.

It can also be used in most dishes that call for smoked salmon, like a salmon and goats cheese quiche.

Preparation takes only 30 minutes, but you should allow four days for the curing.

Go and buy two pieces of salmon filet, with skin. You don’t need to buy a whole side, all you need is two pieces of the same size and shape.

For 1 kg of raw salmon, mix 2 tablespoons of sea salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper, 2 teaspoons of crushed juniper berries, 2 teaspoons of crushed allspice and a large fresh bunch of Dill, very finely chopped.

Grate one raw beetroot into the mix for extra drama.

If you feel the urge to wash any of this, be sure to dry it well with a kitchen towel or a salad spinner.

Rub the spice and herb mix onto the meat side of the fillet pieces, then pile the remaining mix evenly on one of the fillets and place the second fillet on top.

If you have a vacuum sealing machine, that’s ideal as no juices seep out, but you must be careful that the two halves stay on top each other, herbs in the middle. You must also work very fast as salt and sugar draws liquid  out of the meat, which will very quickly prevent your vacuum machine from sealing the pouch.

Alternatively, wrap very firmly in cling film, then tin foil, then wrap one or two tea towels around firmly (to soak up what seeps out), then place into a reusable plastic container with a lid.

Put in the fridge and leave in peace for four days, except for one rotation each day.

When it is done, unwrap carefully, scrape off the loose herbs and spices, and cut into very thin slices.

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Lamb Kebabs

DSC_0359Here’s another fantastic excuse for a bowl of saffron Basmati rice. 

I use lamb leg slices for the kebabs; one thick slice will be enough for two portions. Remove skin, bone and excess fat, dice the meat.

Finely dice two stalks of lemon grass and two gloves of garlic, add salt and pepper to taste, then mix with the meat.

Prepare the skewers with a piece of onion between each piece of meat, then grill gently on a griddle at moderate heat. Take your time, turn over occasionally and brush with chilly oil of necessary.

Serve with fragrant saffron Basmati rice, a piece of seared feta cheese and minted yogurt with cucumber or Tzatziki.

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Oriental Occidental Lamb Ragout

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Here’s a lamb ragout, rich in the flavours of the Orient and Occident, and dead easy to make.

It is impossible to make this the right amount for one or two portions, so let’s make three portions. Left-overs reheat nicely for lunch on the following day.

Two lamb leg slices with skin, fat, meat and bone (~600 g).

3 medium-sized carrots, a bulb of garlic, two small red onions, 3 fresh tomatoes (or half a can of chopped ones). Star anise, Kassia bark (alt. cinnamon), red chillies, thyme. Salt, pepper, fresh herbs.

Preheat a frying pan to medium heat, melt some ghee or good cooking oil, then sear the leg slices until they begin to caramelise on both sides.

Meanwhile, clean and dice all the veg, crush the garlic. Leave the meat where it is, surround it with the onion and garlic, then add the remaining vegetables. Add five star anise, a good amount of Kassia bark (at least 20 cm worth), red chillies to taste. Add thyme, freshly ground black pepper and a teaspoon of salt.

Add 250 ml water, reduce the heat to a very low simmer, put the lid on and let it do its job for 3 hours.

When finished, remove skin, bones and excess fat, cutting the meat when necessary. Remove the chillies, anise and Kassia, then run the sauce through a blender.

Add some freshly chopped parsley, basil and perhaps a tough of mint.

Return the meat to the sauce, check the seasoning and you’re done.

I served it with grilled aubergines for a carb-free meal, but good quality egg fettuccine is certainly an option.

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My Lazy Chicken

DSC_0370I am not sure if this is a concept or a recipe since it has seen so many variants over time, but it always comes out as a finger-lickin’ and lip-smackin’ success.

This dish was originally inspired by Nigel Slater. Allow me to step into his footsteps and try inspire you:

Lazy Chicken is a dish of chicken thighs roasted with rosemary, garlic and olive oil, then served with lemon juice and basil along a good helping of sage butter fettuccine. And, as the name of the dish suggests, it’s dead easy to make even for the lazy cook.

Find a roasting tin or an earthenware dish.

Measurements per portion:

Take 2 or 3 free-range organic chicken thighs, skin on. Trim where necessary but leave most skin, fat and bones with the meat. Put into the roasting dish.

Crush two cloves of garlic, with skin if you need to be rustic, otherwise without. Add to the dish. Add one small dried red chilly and a star anise.

Sprinkle with a generous amount of sea salt, then add a good helping of olive oil and juice from half a lime. Toss it all about to ensure an even mix and good coating, then re-adjust the thigh peaces to be skin-up with the skin exposed. Sprinkle some more salt onto the skin.

Put the dish into the oven at 210 C for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180 C for another 25 minutes.

Sprinkle a generous helping of Marsala across the dish and freshen up the flavour with another sprinkle of lime juice. (Marsala is an Italian fortified wine. Substitute with dry port wine if necessary.)

Give it another five minutes in the oven, then take out and add a handful of finely chopped fresh Basil.

Meanwhile, cook some good quality egg-rich Fettuccine. When these are ready, melt 50 g butter per diner in a saucepan until foamy, then fry a handful of finely diced fresh sage leaves.

Toss the pasta with the sage butter, serve with the chicken and a crisp white wine.

It won’t look like fine dining, but neither will the finger-licking diners. It’ll make for a fine dinner though.

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Quick Pasta Alternative

second-quick-pasta-01Our private name for Spaghetti Aglio e Olio has always been quick pasta or Schnelle Nudeln to be precise, obviously in reference to the short preparation time and minimum effort required.

Here’s another lovely quick pasta dish, with the added bonus of increased capacity for using-up leftover vegetable:

Fettuccine with Sage Butter, Nuts and Stuff

I start with a small amount of vegetables. I happen to have half a bulb of fennel and half a small squash in the fridge, on another day some Swiss chard or cauliflower might do the trick or perhaps thin stripes of Savoy cabbage or Italian Cavolo Nego will join the party.

Bring a pot of pasta cooking water to the boil.

Meanwhile, toast a handful of nuts in a non-sticking frying pan. We had pistachio nuts and pumpkin seeds, but walnuts or Macadamia would also be great. Salt slightly and set the nuts aside but keep the pan.

Dice the veg and using the same pan to caramelise lightly in a little bit of butter except when using cauliflower.
When using cauliflower, cut into small chunks such that each has a flat side, and dry-roast in the same pan at moderate heat. When using cabbage greens such as stripes of Savoy cabbage or Cavolo Nero, stir-fry dry for two minutes, then for another 30 seconds with added butter.

Season to taste with salt and pepper, then set aside.

Add a teaspoon of salt and 250 g of good quality egg Fettuccine to the boiling pasta water, reduce the heat and stir gently once the dry pasta begins to soften up to avoid lumps.

Clean, dry and chop a large handful of fresh sage leaves into very fine bits. Melt 75 g of butter until it begins to foam, then add the sage and stir occasionally for a minute.

Drain the pasta and dress with the nuts, vegetables and sage butter.

I added little pieces of blue cheese but I suppose the addition of cheese is optional.

Quick and easy.

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Party Bread Rolls

P20150926112635.JPGThese savoury bread rolls make for great finger food to take along to a party and share. They are easily adjusted to vegetarians or vegans and can be very delicious, especially when straight from the oven.

I make a basic bread dough and let it rise for half an hour, then roll it out. This needs to rise for another 30 to 45 minutes, preferably in a warm and damp environment. I usually put it into the oven, covering the inside of the door with a tea towel wet with hot water.

Meanwhile, collect an assortment of “toppings”. Semi-dried tomatoes work great, salami or Chorizo slices, goats cheese or Swiss Gruyere, chopped olives, rosemary, fresh thyme, basil. Whatever your garden has to offer, or that magic cupboard in the larder. Perhaps you could even use up one of those jars of relish, pickles or chutney?

Spread and sprinkle the toppings of your choice across the surface of the bread dough, then roll up into one large roll and cut into slices.

Now lay out the slices on a tray with baking parchment and let recover from the ordeal for another 30 to 45 minutes, again preferably in a warm and not dry environment, then dust lightly with flour and bake at 200 C until ready within approximately 15 minutes.

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Brombeer Rahmkuchen

This is perfect all year round, but it is particularly attractive now, before the first soft fruit ripens and the larder wants emptying of last year’s jam.

Brombeer Rahmkuchen, as we call it, or Blackberry Baked Custard Cake, as you might want to call it.

This works with more or less any kind of jam so long as it isn’t too runny, provided that you rename the cake appropriately.

Make a sweet yeast dough cake base from 200 g of flour for a simple 28 cm round backing tray.

Line the baking tray with baking parchment. Roll out the dough, transfer onto the parchment and into the tray.

Whip up a medium-sized jar of Blackberry jam and spread evenly across the top, then let the dough with topping recover for half an hour.

Heat the oven to 180 C.

Whip up half a pint of double cream with 2 or 3 free range egg yolks and a tablespoon of vanilla-infused sugar, then gently pour on top. Dust lightly with ground cinnamon, then bake until it looks right, approximately half an hour if memory serves me right.

Take it out a few minutes before it becomes as dark as the one in the picture.

Let cool down on a rack for at least 20 minutes before cutting.

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Devilled Eggs

DSC_0264Everybody loves these, and most people usually say “oh! I remember we used to make those, too!”

Everybody used to make devilled eggs for all occasions some time during the past century. Not so for us. We still make them and still love them and whenever we offer some, at most one is left over if nobody dares take the last one. Otherwise none.

Hard-boil half a dozen of medium-size free range eggs, then shock in very cold water and peel. Cut right through the middle, arrange the egg white halves on a serving plate and collect the yolks in a small mixing bowl. Add the devil in the form of a very generous amount of mustard, and perhaps a small amount of soured cream to make the mix lighter. Mix well with a fork or a hand mixer, fill into a piping bag and into the waiting egg whites.

Optionally decorate with a caper or a sliver of red peppers, although I find this is taking the retro look too far. For a more refined look and for far more fiddly preparations consider using Quail eggs.

 

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Ivory Coast Soup

DSC_0521This is a lovely vegetarian option for when you feel like saving the planet: a pan-roasted ginger and pumpkin soup with fresh spinach, seared feta cheese, pine kernels and toasted pumpkin seeds.

It’s fairly quickly made, looks good, tastes great and helps save the planet!

Remove skin and seed from a nice squash or pumpkin, then dice the flesh and dry roast it in a non-sticking frying pan until is is nicely caramelized. I include a dried red chilly, two large gloves of garlic, a teaspoon of coriander seeds, two star anise and a few twigs ot thyme for flavour.

Add a pint of water, a pinch of salt and a large thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, grated. Stir, turn the heat down and let simmer gently for a few minutes.

Toast a handful of pine kernels and set aside.

Toast a handful of pumpkin seeds until they are popping nicely, set aside.

Wash and drain the fresh spinach.

Now return to the soup. Remove chilly, anise and twigs, then blizz the rest in a blender, adding a little more water if necessary. Season to taste and keep warm.

Heat some olive oil with a glove of garlic, then add the fresh spinach to moderate heat. Close the lid to let steam gently.

Cut a generous piece of feta chesse per portion and put in a non-sticking frying pan and reasonably high heat. The idea is to heat it up, partially melt it and, if your feta is sufficiently dry, lightly caramelize it around the edges.

Finally, the assembly:

Mix the pine kernels with the spinach and build a nest in the middle of each plate, then put the feta on top. Surround it with the soup. Try to marble the soup with soured cream or double cream, which looks good and rounds the flavour, then sprinkle the toasted pumpkin seeds around the perimeter. Add a drizzle of chilly oil or pumpkin seed oil.

 

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Steak Tartare

DSC_0239Not everyone’s thing but I don’t want to go long without: Steak Tartare, a spiced preparation of raw beef that goes well with fresh bread, French fries or Bretzeln. The leftover makes my favourite breakfast.

I use 150 to 200 g Beef Sirloin per portion, allowing some off-cuts for the cat and some left-overs for tomorrow’s breakfast.

Carefully clean the meat by removing all sinew, fat and skin, then mince it.

Add one fresh, organic, free-range medium-sized egg yolk per portion, a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of mustard, a very small and very finely diced onion and two teaspoons of capers, drained and chopped slightly.

Mix with a fork, adding a drizzle of good olive oil as you go along.

Form into a ball, cover with clingfilm and keep chilled until supper time. Eat within a few hours.

We eat it with French fries and a side salad, or on a buttered slice of bread, and of course with fresh Bretzeln.