Hot larder is a term used for the section of the kitchen that is responsible for hot starters. These fine dishes have no more than this in common and are grouped together here simply because they could not find a home in other sections of the book – there are so many hot soups, shellfish dishes and pasta dishes that they warranted chapters of their own. Let this not detract, however, from the quality of the dishes here. The roast foie gras on Pot-Au-Feu of Foie Gras and Morels with a Duck and Foie Gras Club Sandwich is one of half a dozen or so signature dishes amassed over a 20-year period and is, in my opinion, about as wonderful as food can be.
The hot starters in this section and elsewhere are possibly the most delicious of all dishes. The vitality of food that is cooked and served immediately is hard to equal and here, in the first course of a meal, one does not have to give consideration to some of the issues of a main course. The latter, above all else, needs to nourish, and this tends to mean the inclusion of starches, carbohydrates or other bulky and potentially bland components. Hot starters can be focused dishes – exquisite pieces of protein, simply cooked and paired with harmonious garnishes. Scallops with a simple purée and a dressing, or foie gras with a glaze and a garnish.
Of course, there is a price to pay for this vitality and freshness and that is the necessity to be busy in the kitchen cooking when you might want to be relaxing with friends. A hot starter requires last-minute attention, so the main course should compensate and be a simpler dish to produce.
Accurate seasoning is critical if you want to cook food that has phenomenal flavours. In the Western world we consider the word ‘seasoning’ to include the addition of salt and pepper to our food. Pepper is optional but salt is, unfortunately, indispensable. I say unfortunately because we also know that too much salt is not welcome in a healthy diet. The truth is, however, that there is no alternative to salt. Many chefs have come up with blends of herbs and/or spices to use in its place but not only does salt have unique properties, it also does not bring unwanted flavours along with it. Of course, a salad can be brought to life with fresh herbs and mighty olive oils but a spear of asparagus boiled in unsalted water bears little resemblance to one cooked in a large volume of generously salted water. Onions sweated without salt will never collapse, soften and mellow into a sweet and tender mix in the same way as those with salt added.
It mostly comes down to osmosis. Simply put, flavour is carried in liquids rather than the fibrous matter that constitutes the solid structure of an ingredient. When salt is sprinkled on to something, it aggressively draws the liquids towards it. This happens on a cellular level, the net result being the flow of liquid (flavour) from the inside of the cells to the outside. Once it is outside, we are free to taste it in all its glory.
There are several points worth mentioning in relation to seasoning:
• Having to season anything afterwards generally means you should have seasoned more generously during the cooking. A bland ingredient sprinkled with salt tastes of little more than just that – a bland ingredient sprinkled with salt. The same ingredient cooked with adequate seasoning in the first place will taste completely different and infinitely superior.
• Adding small quantities of light, flaky sea salt to carved meat or fish will lift it enormously. These are newly exposed surfaces that could clearly not have been seasoned beforehand.
• When sweating onions or vegetables, add the salt at the start of the process.
• When making dressings, mayonnaise or salad creams, add the salt at the beginning to ensure it dissolves before the oil is added.
• When seasoning either vegetables with natural sweetness or ones that are naturally bitter, use salt and sugar in roughly equal measure to bring out their fullest flavours.
• If you are going to colour a piece of meat or fish, do not season it with salt until the absolute last minute, or the moisture the salt draws out will inhibit this process.
ROAST FOIE GRAS WITH A TARTE FINE OF CARAMELISED CHICORY, SWEET AND SOUR EISWEIN GLAZE AND BURNT ORANGE
SERVES 8
A beautifully cooked piece of prime foie gras is quite simply one of the finest things to eat. Paired here with a tangy glaze, some sweetness, bitterness and fruit, it comes together as one of the greatest dishes we serve at The Square.
OVERVIEW
Ideally the foie gras is first cooked gently in a water bath at 65°C to soften it and release some of its fat. This is beneficial but not essential. It is then simply fried to colour it and served with a tarte fine of caramelised chicory, a burnt orange purée and a glaze made by long, slow evaporation of eiswein vinegar, Madeira, citrus zest and sugar. The foie gras is garnished with honeycomb.
FOCUS ON
Buying fresh, top-grade foie gras. Cheap or old foie gras is simply not suitable for frying, where the cooked texture is important. Ensure you select the right grade and be prepared to pay the premium for it.
Do not try to accelerate the glaze process – any applied heat will ‘cook’ the alcohol and vinegar and render the final product bland and unbalanced.
Blanching the oranges 8 times removes their bitterness. Do not cut corners here!
KEY COMPONENTS
Sweet and sour glaze
Burnt orange purée
Tarte fine of chicory
Honeycomb
TIMING
The glaze will take at least 2 days to reduce, perhaps longer. It can be made well in advance. The burnt orange purée can be made the day before. The chicory for the tarte fine can be cooked up to 6 hours in advance but the tarte itself should be baked no more than an hour before serving. The foie gras must be cooked at the last minute.
SWEET AND SOUR GLAZE
100ml sherry vinegar
25ml eiswein vinegar (or white balsamic vinegar)
100ml Madeira
100ml port
zest of ¼ lemon
zest of ¼ lime
zest of ¼ orange
½ star anise
25g caster sugar
BURNT ORANGE PURÉE
2 oranges
200g caster sugar
50ml sherry vinegar
350ml orange juice
TARTE FINE OF CHICORY
300g Puff Pastry
4 heads of chicory
50ml grapeseed oil
25g unsalted butter
20g icing sugar
30ml Pineau des Charentes
100ml orange juice
HONEYCOMB
55g caster sugar
20g liquid glucose
35ml honey
3g bicarbonate of soda
FOIE GRAS
2 lobes of top-grade foie gras
OTHER INGREDIENTS
70g icing sugar
METHOD
SWEET AND SOUR GLAZE
Place all the ingredients in a stainless steel bowl or pan, stir them together and set aside, uncovered, in a warm place. The idea is that it should reduce through evaporation rather than the application of heat. If you have nowhere suitably warm, set the oven to 50°C and place the glaze in it. Keep an eye on it – surface area and temperature will determine its progress, but it should take at least 24 hours. The final glaze should coat the back of a spoon but should in no way be allowed to get too jammy. It should taste vibrant and tangy but should have a balanced sweet and sour flavour. Transfer to a plastic squeezy bottle and set aside in the fridge.
BURNT ORANGE PURÉE
Carefully score each orange from top to bottom 6 times to a depth of 1cm. Place them in a large pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, then drain, cover with fresh water, return to the boil and once again, cook for 5 minutes. Repeat this process 6 times, leaving the oranges to cook for 30 minutes on the last repetition. Remove from the heat, allow to cool for 10 minutes and then drain – the oranges should be completely soft. Transfer them to a bowl.
Place half the sugar in a large, heavy-based pan, add 100ml of water and place over a high heat. Allow the sugar to dissolve and cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the water has reduced and the sugar starts to caramelise. Gently stir the sugar to ensure it is caramelising evenly. When it is a rich, golden colour, add the oranges. Stir continuously until they have broken down. Add the sherry vinegar and stir to deglaze the pan, then boil until all the moisture has gone. Add the orange juice and boil until reduced by two-thirds. Take the pan off the heat, allow to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to a blender and blend to a smooth, rich purée.
Place a heavy-based pan on a medium heat, add the remaining sugar and 100ml of water and take this to a light golden caramel. Stir in the orange purée. Place back in the blender and purée once more until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve into a bowl and set aside in the fridge.
Roll the puff pastry into a 30cm x 15cm sheet about 3mm thick, then transfer to a baking sheet, prick with a fork and chill. Discard the outer leaves of the chicory heads. Cut the chicory in half lengthways. Place a large, heavy-based pan over a high heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the oil, sprinkle the base of the pan evenly with a generous pinch of salt and add the chicory halves, flat-side down. Fry until golden underneath. Add the butter, allow it to melt, then turn the chicory over carefully and colour the second side. Sprinkle the icing sugar evenly over the chicory and turn once again. Leave to cook and caramelise for 1 minute. This whole process should be done over a medium to high heat. Add the Pineau and orange juice and simmer until reduced and syrupy. Remove the pan from the heat, carefully lift out the chicory halves and place on a tray, flat-side up. Neaten them up if necessary. Transfer any syrupy glaze left in the pan to a small bowl and reserve. Allow the chicory to cool completely. Trim to 12cm if necessary, so they will fit the pastry.
HONEYCOMB
Put the sugar, glucose and honey in a pan with a tablespoon of water. Set it over a medium heat and cook until it reaches 160°C on a sugar thermometer. Remove the pan from the heat, add the bicarbonate of soda and stir swiftly but gently to combine. Immediately pour the foaming honeycomb mixture on to an oiled baking sheet. Allow it to cool naturally, then break off 50g and crush it into little pieces (like nibbed almonds). Place in an airtight container. Store the excess similarly (you won’t need it here).
FOIE GRAS
Place a large pan of water on to boil. Gently prise each lobe of foie gras into 2 parts, cutting the connecting tissue if necessary. Dip the blade of a carving knife into the water to heat it. Take the 2 larger pieces of foie gras and, cutting at an angle, cut each into 3 generous slices, 2cm thick. The remainder of each of these large pieces can be used for another recipe or frozen.
Place the 6 slices in the fridge. The other 2 pieces should be ‘topped and tailed’ at an angle – again using a hot knife – then placed in the fridge. Once they are chilled, and if using a water bath as described above, vacuum pack each slice of foie gras individually and return to the fridge.
TO SERVE
Stand the squeezy bottle of glaze in a pan of hot water to warm through for 8 minutes.
Transfer the chicory halves to the pastry, laying them crossways and evenly spaced along its length. Sift the icing sugar over the top and bake in an oven, preheated to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for 10 minutes. Place a piece of greaseproof paper over the tart and a heavy, flat baking tray on top, then flip the trays and tart over so the tart is upside down. Return this to the oven for 10 minutes, then remove the top tray and cook, uncovered, for a further 8 minutes. The pastry should be crisp and golden and all the icing sugar caramelised. Leave for longer if necessary. Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack, pastry-side down. Brush with the reserved juices from the chicory, then leave for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
Transfer the foie gras to a water bath set to 65°C and leave for 12 minutes. (If not using a water bath, simply remove the foie gras from the fridge an hour before cooking.) Remove the foie gras from the water bath and drain on kitchen paper. Whichever method you have used, now season the foie gras generously with salt and pepper. Place 2 heavy-based frying pans over a high heat and leave for 30 seconds. Add the foie gras and fry for 30 seconds, until golden. Turn the foie gras and repeat on the second side. If it was pre-cooked in a water bath, remove it from the pan now and transfer to a warm tray lined with kitchen paper. Otherwise, turn it back over and remove the pan from the heat. Leave for a minute and turn once more. At this point, the foie gras should feel soft but have a bounce to it when touched. If it feels flabby, cook further. Transfer to a tray lined with kitchen paper and keep warm.
Heat the orange purée in a small pan.
Cut the tarte fine into 8 sharp, clean slices. Lay out 8 preheated plates. Place a dessertspoonful of purée on each plate and drag the spoon back through it to create a ‘swipe’. Sit a slice of tarte fine on each plate and top with a piece of foie gras. Gently drizzle a dessertspoonful of glaze over the foie gras and garnish with a pinch of the crushed honeycomb.
ROAST FOIE GRAS WITH A TARTE FINE OF CARAMELISED CHICORY, SWEET AND SOUR EISWEIN GLAZE AND BURNT ORANGE
POT-AU-FEU OF FOIE GRAS AND MORELS WITH A DUCK AND FOIE GRAS CLUB SANDWICH
SERVES 8
If you wish to serve foie gras but fancy something slightly different, this is a delicious solution. It requires some forethought to navigate through the work but it gives rise to a lighter than usual foie gras dish with a decadent take on a club sandwich as a garnish. Only serve this dish if you can recruit a partner to help you at the last minute.
OVERVIEW
The foie gras is poached in a fully flavoured consommé and then served with morels, turnip and button onions. The consommé is served with a club sandwich on the side – a triple-decker with foie gras, duck breast and onion confit as the filling.
FOCUS ON
The backbone of the dish is the consommé. A well-clarified and fully flavoured stock requires care and attention.
Poached foie gras requires liver of the highest quality. If possible, buy ‘frying’ quality; the cheaper foie gras sometimes available is intended for use in terrines. If the liver gets too fatty during its production, it can disintegrate when cooked.
Ensure you have all the components for the club sandwiches well organised, so they can be made quickly and efficiently.
Try to source small morels so they can be left whole.
KEY COMPONENTS
Consommé
Foie gras terrine
Onion confit
TIMING
The consommé can be started 2 days in advance and completed the day before serving. The foie gras terrine for the club sandwich can be done the day before, as can the onion confit. That just leaves the vegetables to be cooked on the day – no more than 2 hours before serving – and building and cutting the club sandwiches, which is very much a last-minute task.
CONSOMMÉ
6kg duck carcasses, finely chopped
1 onion, quartered
1 small carrot, quartered
½ small leek, cut in half
2 celery sticks, cut into 3
1 small turnip, quartered
1 bay leaf
50ml grapeseed oil
2 shallots, sliced
15 button mushrooms, quartered
1 bouquet garni, made by wrapping a 6cm length of celery, a bay leaf and a sprig of thyme in a leek leaf and securing with string
1 duck breast, skinned and cut into 4
½ small beetroot, peeled and chopped
6 egg whites
FOIE GRAS TERRINE
2 lobes of top-grade foie gras
800g rock salt
zest of 1 orange
200ml port
ONION CONFIT
3 Spanish onions
50ml grapeseed oil
125ml red wine vinegar
200ml port
125g caster sugar
OTHER INGREDIENTS
40 small morel mushrooms (2–3cm, including the stalk)
24 button onions
15g unsalted butter
4 small turnips
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
2 duck breasts
4 slices of white bread, cut 1cm thick
16 drops of truffle oil
METHOD
CONSOMMÉ
To make the ‘first’ stock, place half the duck carcasses in a large, heavy-based saucepan, cover with water and add a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 5 minutes. Skim off any scum and fat from the surface and add the onion, carrot, leek, celery, turnip and bay leaf. Cook at a bare simmer for 1 hour, then remove from the heat, set aside to rest for 15 minutes, pass through a colander and discard the bones. Leave the stock to cool.
Place the remaining duck carcasses in a roasting tray. Add the oil, toss the bones to coat them and lightly season with salt. Place in an oven preheated to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 and roast for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so to ensure an even colour. Add the shallots and button mushrooms and continue to roast for 15 minutes or until everything is a rich golden brown. Drain through a colander and transfer the bones to a large, heavy-based saucepan. Cover with the first stock, bring to the boil, add the bouquet garni and cook at a bare simmer for 1 hour. Remove from the heat, leave to rest for 15 minutes, then pass through a colander. Discard the bones and set the stock aside to cool. Taste the stock. It should be full of flavour, but adjust the seasoning if necessary. Once it is cool, skim all the fat from the surface.
To clarify the stock, place the duck breast in a food processor and blend for 30 seconds. Add the beetroot and a generous pinch of salt and blend for a further 30 seconds. Place the egg whites into a large bowl and whisk vigorously for 30 seconds. Tip the duck mix on to the egg whites and whisk to combine. Pour the duck stock into a deep, heavy-based saucepan that it fills by two-thirds. Add the duck and egg white mixture and stir thoroughly to combine. Set the pan over a medium heat and slowly bring to the boil, stirring every 2–5 minutes. Stop stirring at the point at which the egg white starts to cook,. A crust will form on the surface and the stock will break through this where bubbles want to escape. Cut a small hole here with a ladle and let the stock tick over for 20 minutes, percolating in this way. It should clarify and become a ruby-red, crystal-clear consommé. Remove from the heat and tilt the pan by balancing it on a lid to create the deepest point under the hole in the crust. Ladle the consommé out of this hole and pass it through a sieve lined with a double layer of muslin. Try to agitate the crust as little as possible. Set the consommé aside to cool, dab off any fat droplets with kitchen paper and then cover and chill. You should have approximately 2 litres.
FOIE GRAS TERRINE
Carefully prise the lobes of foie gras into their 2 constituent pieces, cutting the connective vein to separate them completely. The smaller pieces are for the terrine and the larger for poaching. Trim off any loose liver or veins. Wrap the larger pieces and put them in the fridge.
Follow the method here for salt curing and de-veining the small lobes of foie gras. Place in a dish, grate the orange zest on top and add the port. Leave to marinate for 3 hours at room temperature, then drain. Place the 2 pieces of foie gras on a long length of cling film. Fold the ends in and try to form into a rough block shape as you wrap it tightly in the cling film. Leave in the fridge overnight.
ONION CONFIT
Peel the onions, ensuring you remove all the tough outer layers. Cut them in half through the root and then slice them finely and consistently. Place a large, shallow, heavy-based pan over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the oil, followed by the onions, and cook for 25 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are golden. Add a generous pinch of salt and cook for a further 5 minutes, until the onions have softened completely. Add the vinegar and cook for 5 minutes longer. Add the port and sugar and cook until all the port has glazed on to the onions to give a rich, shining confit. Set aside to cool.
OTHER INGREDIENTS
Trim the base of the morel stalks, plunge the mushrooms into a sink of cold water, agitate for 30 seconds, then drain and dry in a salad spinner. Transfer to a tray lined with a kitchen cloth, cover with another and set aside in the fridge.
Carefully peel the button onions, making sure you do not damage the root end or they will burst when cooking. Place a heavy-based ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat, melt the butter in it and add the onions, plus a pinch of salt and a twist of pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are golden. Transfer to an oven preheated to 150°C/Gas Mark 2 and cook for 10 minutes or until the onions are completely tender. Remove from the oven and keep warm.
Peel the turnips, cut them in half and cut each half into 4 segments. Round off the edges of the segments with the peeler to give them a more natural look. Place them in a bowl, add 1 tablespoon of the grapeseed oil and a pinch of salt and toss to coat them in oil. Transfer to a piece of foil. Fold the foil over and seal the edges to create a pouch. Place this on a baking tray and into an oven preheated to 170°C/Gas Mark 3. Cook for 20 minutes or until the turnip wedges are tender. Set aside and keep warm.
TO SERVE
Score the skin of the duck breasts in a criss-cross fashion but do not penetrate the flesh. Season both sides of the breasts with salt and pepper. Place an ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the duck breasts, skin-side down, cook for 2–3 minutes, then turn, colour for 1 minute and return to the skin side. Transfer the pan to an oven preheated to 170°C/Gas Mark 3 and cook for 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, turn the breasts over and leave to rest for 7–8 minutes. Carve each breast lengthways into slices 2mm thick.
Take the 2 large pieces of foie gras out of the fridge and unwrap them. Using a knife dipped in hot water, cut each into 4 even pieces, cutting at a slight angle and avoiding the last 1cm of the thick end. Divide the consommé between 2 pans –1.6 litres in one and 400ml in the other. Heat them both to near boiling point. Unwrap the cured foie gras and cut it lengthways into 5mm-thick slices, also using a knife dipped in hot water. Return the slices to the fridge.
Toast the bread slices, trim off the crusts and cut 2 of the slices in half horizontally through the soft centre. Lay 2 of these slices toasted-side down and spread them neatly with the onion confit. Lay the foie gras terrine slices over the top. Cover with a complete slice of toast. Place the overlapping slices of duck on the toast, then cover with a few more strands of onion confit and finish with the remaining piece of ‘half’ toast with the crust facing out.
Press down on the club sandwiches firmly with the palm of your hand and trim off the edges with a serrated knife to make a neat square. Now cut this into 4 accurate squares and secure each with a toothpick. Set aside in a cool place.
Drop the foie gras into the pan containing 400ml of consommé and poach at near, but not quite, boiling point for 4 minutes. Sauté the morels in a frying pan with the remaining grapeseed oil and a pinch of salt for 2 minutes.
Lay out 8 preheated soup bowls. Place 5 morels, 3 button onions and 4 pieces of turnip in each bowl. Carefully lift out the foie gras and place a piece in each bowl. Cover with hot consommé from the other pan and finish each with 2 drops of truffle oil. Serve with the sandwiches on the side.
MOUSSELINE OF GROUSE WITH PEARL BARLEY, SAVOY CABBAGE, PANCETTA AND RED WINE
SERVES 8
A warm grouse mousse may not sound particularly appetising but if you are a fan of the bird, then this dish is a must. Ultimately, with any cream-based mousse the addition of cream dilutes the flavour. This dish works so well because the mighty flavour of the grouse is barely dented by the cream, so the resulting soft and sensuous mousse still packs a punch. It is simply served with a grouse sauce with pearl barley and a fine dice of vegetables and crumbled crisp pancetta.
OVERVIEW
The grouse breasts are puréed with an egg, passed through the fine mesh of a drum sieve and emulsified with cream to give a delicate mousse. This is set in buttered ramekins, steamed and turned out on to a Savoy cabbage leaf covered in a layer of pearl barley spiked with a fine dice of vegetables. The mousse is sauced with a grouse jus, garnished with trompettes de la mort and finished with crushed pancetta on top.
FOCUS ON
The heart and soul of this dish is the mousse, and it is important therefore that it is well made. Read the preamble on Mousses before starting.
Getting flavour into the sauce is not difficult, as there is so much flavour in the carcasses, but it is important to achieve a rich coating consistency so that it glazes the mousselines. This is done through a combination of reduction and thickening with butter.
The pancetta must be wafer thin. Place it in the freezer for an hour before slicing and use an electric slicer to do it. If you do not have one, buy the pancetta from a deli and ask them to slice it for you.
KEY COMPONENTS
Grouse mousse
Grouse sauce
Pearl barley
Pancetta
TIMING
Gutsy winter flavours do not suffer, and can indeed improve, when cooked a day in advance. The sauce and mousse can be made the day before. The pearl barley can be cooked up to 4 hours in advance. The Savoy leaves and pancetta can be cooked an hour before serving, leaving only steaming the mousses as a last-minute task.
GROUSE MOUSSE
4 plump grouse on the bone
1 small egg, chilled
about 350ml double cream, chilled
50g unsalted butter, melted
GROUSE SAUCE
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
the carcasses of the grouse, above
20g unsalted butter
2 shallots, sliced
¼ leek, sliced
½ carrot, chopped
½ celery stick
1 bacon rasher, chopped
500ml red wine
1 bay leaf
2 litres Brown Chicken Stock (see Brown Chicken Stock)
PEARL BARLEY
160g pearl barley
750ml Chicken Stock
1 bay leaf
1 shallot, peeled
¼ leek
½ carrot, peeled
45g celeriac, peeled
½ celery stick
1 bacon rasher
1 tablespoon duck fat
PANCETTA
12 wafer-thin slices of pancetta
OTHER INGREDIENTS
8 pale Savoy cabbage leaves from the heart of the cabbage
2 tablespoons duck fat
100ml Chicken Stock
100g trompettes de la mort mushrooms
10g unsalted butter
METHOD
GROUSE MOUSSE
Cut the breasts off the grouse, leaving as little meat on the carcasses as possible. Remove and discard any bloody components from the cavity of the carcasses and then chop the carcasses as finely as possible. Set aside.
Skin the grouse breasts, cut each one into 4 pieces and place them in a food processor bowl. Cover with the lid and chill for 30 minutes. Add a generous pinch of salt and several twists of pepper and blend for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and blend again for 30 seconds. Add the egg and blend once more for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and blend for a final 30 seconds. Remove the purée from the bowl and use a scraper to pass it through the fine mesh of a drum sieve. Gather up the mixture, ensuring you scrape off any from the underside of the mesh. Weigh it – you should have approximately 350g. Transfer this to a large bowl set over iced water. Measure an equal quantity of cream to the grouse. Add the cream to the grouse a little at a time, beating vigorously and ensuring each addition is completely incorporated before you add any more. Scrape down the sides of the bowl from time to time. When all but a couple of tablespoons of cream have been added, scoop out a teaspoonful of the mixture and drop it into a small pan of boiling water. Turn the heat right down and poach for 2–3 minutes. Lift out the mousse and taste it. The texture should be soft, sensuous and slightly springy; if it feels at all firm, beat in the remaining cream. Season the mousse if required. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large nozzle and chill.
Using a pastry brush, brush eight 150ml ramekins with some of the melted butter and place them in the fridge to chill. Once the butter has set, brush them a second time and chill again until the second coat has set. Pipe the mousse into the ramekins so they are 80 per cent full and then cover each with a round of foil. Chill until required.
GROUSE SAUCE
Place a large, shallow, heavy-based pan over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the oil, followed by the grouse bones, and cook for 3–4 minutes. Add the butter, allow it to melt, then stir in the vegetables and bacon. Cook for 2–3 minutes, transfer to an oven preheated to 170°C/Gas Mark 3 and roast for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven, set back over the heat and add the red wine. Bring to the boil and cook until it has all but evaporated. Add the bay leaf and chicken stock, bring to the boil and cook at a bare simmer for 45 minutes. Turn off the heat, leave to rest for 10 minutes, then drain through a colander, discarding the solids. Pass the stock through a fine conical sieve into a fresh pan. Bring to the boil, skin off any fat or scum from the surface and boil until reduced to 250ml. This should be a rich, intensely flavoured sauce which will be finished with butter before serving. Taste and season if required.
PEARL BARLEY
Rinse the barley under cold running water. Place in a pan, cover with the chicken stock, add the bay leaf and bring to the boil. Cook at a bare simmer for 25–30 minutes, until the barley is completely tender. Season with salt, cover and set aside to cool.
Cut the shallot in half and slice first vertically and then horizontally towards, but not through, the root end at 2mm intervals. Now cut across the slices to yield a fine dice. Set aside in a bowl. Cut the leek in half, cut each half into fine strips and cut across these to yield a fine dice. Rinse under cold running water and add to the shallot. Cut the carrot into slices 2mm thick, cut these into 2mm wide batons and finely cut across these to yield a fine dice. Add to the other diced vegetables. Similarly cut the celeriac into a 2mm dice. Peel the celery, cut it in half lengthways and cut each half into fine strips. Cut across these to yield a fine dice and add to the bowl. Cut the bacon into long fine strips and then into a fine dice. Set aside. Place a heavy-based pan over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the duck fat, followed by the bacon, diced vegetables and a pinch of salt. Cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are tender. Drain the pearl barley, add to the vegetables, then add 125ml of the stock back to the mix. Warm through and set aside.
PANCETTA
Place the slices of pancetta between 2 sheets of baking parchment and in turn sandwich these between 2 flat baking sheets. Transfer to an oven preheated to 150°C/Gas Mark 2 and bake until crisp and golden. The time this takes will very much depend on the baking sheets but should be no more than 12 minutes. Remove from the oven, lift off the top tray and sheet of parchment and transfer the pancetta to a tray lined with kitchen paper. Leave to drain for 5 minutes and then crush to fine crumbs.
OTHER INGREDIENTS
Cut the ribs out of the cabbage leaves by cutting a V-shape into them. Place a large shallow, heavy-based pan over a medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of the duck fat and the cabbage leaves and cook for 4–5 minutes, until the leaves have wilted. Add the chicken stock, cover with a lid and steam for 2–3 minutes, until the leaves are tender. Turn off the heat and set aside. Trim the base off the stalks of the trompettes de la mort. Place a medium frying pan over a high heat, add the remaining duck fat and sauté the trompettes for 1 minute. Season with salt and keep warm.
TO SERVE
Place the grouse mousselines in a steamer and steam over a low heat for 10 minutes. Warm up the pearl barley and the cabbage leaves and bring the sauce to near boiling point. Whisk the butter into the sauce.
Lay out 8 preheated shallow bowls and place a Savoy cabbage leaf in each. Spoon the pearl barley on top. Turn the grouse mousselines out and sit them on the pearl barley. Spoon a generous quantity of sauce over the mousselines and sprinkle with the pancetta crumbs.
SCORCHED ONION WITH A PERSILLADE OF SNAILS AND GIROLLES
SERVES 8
My wife, Jennie, is a great cook – a natural cook, who can make something very special out of something humble. The onion in this dish is a refined version of her roasted onions at home. It is a delicious creation in itself, and with the sauté of snails, girolles and garlic it becomes a dish in its own right.
OVERVIEW
Large white onions are peeled and methodically cut, placed on a roasting tray, seasoned, drizzled with olive oil, dotted with butter and roasted in a hot oven. The onions open out like flowers, the tips blackening and the heart roasting until tender. Freshly cooked snails are sautéed with girolles, parsley and garlic with the heart of the onion added at the end. The dish is finished with a frothy garlic velouté.
FOCUS ON
Try to source fresh snails (see Suppliers), as they are far superior to tinned ones.
Use small Scottish girolles, if possible – large mushrooms lose all their texture when cooked.
Take great care when preparing and cooking the onions and only attempt this recipe if you have a fan oven. It is important that the hot air circulates thoroughly to blacken the onion tips evenly.
Try to source ‘wet’ garlic – i.e. this year’s crop. It is fantastically sweet and aromatic. Failing that, ensure you cut the garlic cloves in half and remove any green sprout or core, which will make the velouté bitter.
KEY COMPONENTS
Snails
Garlic velouté
Persillade
Scorched onions
TIMING
The snails can be cooked the day before. The garlic velouté and the preparatory work for the persillade can be done up to 12 hours in advance but roasting the onions and cooking the persillade should be done just in time for serving.
SNAILS
64 fresh snails in the shell
50g unsalted butter
20 button mushrooms, quartered
1 carrot, peeled and quartered
1 leek, cut into 6
1 celery stick, cut into 3
1 head of garlic, cut in half
1 litre Chicken Stock
1 bay leaf
a sprig of thyme
GARLIC VELOUTÉ
10 plump cloves of new season’s garlic
20g unsalted butter
1 white onion, finely sliced
200ml chicken stock
300ml double cream
100ml semi-skimmed milk
1 bay leaf
PERSILLADE
64 small girolle mushrooms
2 plump cloves of new season’s garlic
4 shallots
100g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
SCORCHED ONIONS
8 large white onions
100ml extra virgin olive oil
120g unsalted butter, cut into 8 cubes
METHOD
SNAILS
Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Plunge the snails into the water for 1 minute, in batches if necessary. Lift them out, drain in a colander, then cover with a cloth and leave to cool. Use a skewer to pluck out the snails from their shells. Each snail has a spiral-like intestine, which needs to be cut off. Once all the snails are out of the shells and trimmed, rinse under running water, cover and chill.
Place a large, heavy-based casserole over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the butter, swirl the pan to melt it, then add the vegetables and garlic and a generous pinch of salt. Sauté for 5 minutes or so, until all the vegetables are golden. Add the chicken stock, bay leaf and thyme and bring to the boil. Add the snails, return to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and season the stock – the stock is not used in this dish so can be seasoned fully for the benefit of the snails – then skim off any scum. Cover the pan, transfer to an oven preheated to 120°C/Gas Mark ½ and cook for 2–2½ hours. To check whether the snails are done, lift one out and insert a toothpick or fine skewer; there should be a little resistance when pierced. Drain through a colander, pick out and discard the vegetables, place the snails in a bowl and cover with some of the cooking liquor (discard the rest). Leave to cool, then cover and chill.
GARLIC VELOUTÉ
Place the garlic cloves in a pan of salted cold water. Place over a high heat, bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes, then drain. Repeat this process twice.
Place a heavy-based pan over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the butter, swirl the pan to melt it, then add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook for 5 minutes or so, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic, chicken stock, cream, milk and bay leaf, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Lift out the bay leaf, tip the contents of the pan into a blender and blend to a smooth, velvety velouté. Adjust the seasoning, then set aside to cool. Cover and chill.
Trim the base off the stalk of the girolles and gently scrape the ‘skin’ off the stem with a small knife. Plunge the girolles into a large bowl of cold water, agitate briefly, then lift them out and dry in a salad spinner. Set aside on a tray lined with a kitchen cloth.
Peel the garlic cloves and smash them with the side of a heavy-bladed knife. Sprinkle them with salt and turn them to a paste by ‘chopping’ with the back of the knife. Set aside, covered, in the fridge. Peel the shallots and slice them finely. Cover and chill.
Drain the snails 30 minutes before cooking the persillade.
SCORCHED ONIONS
Cook the onions an hour before serving. Peel the onions carefully, ensuring you keep the layer under the skin intact. Trim off the root as flat as possible so the onions will stand upright. Working methodically and carefully, cut vertically through the centre of each onion to 2cm from the base. Turn the onion 90 degrees and repeat. Make 6 more similar cuts – 3 in each quarter – so you end up with an onion like a Terry’s Chocolate Orange.
Place 4 onions on each of 2 roasting trays, as far apart from each other as possible. Drizzle with the olive oil, top each one with a piece of butter and season with salt and pepper. Place in an oven preheated to 250°C/Gas Mark 10 and cook for 10 minutes. Turn the oven down to 170°C/Gas Mark 3 and cook for a further 30 minutes, basting the onions 3 or 4 times. The finished onions should have opened out like flowers and the tips of all the ‘petals’ should be crisp and blackened. Remove from the oven and set aside to rest for 10 minutes. Lift out the inner heart of the onions and break down into petals. Set aside.
TO SERVE
Heat the garlic velouté to near boiling point.
Place a large, heavy-based frying pan over a high heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the butter for the persillade, swirl the pan to melt it, then add the girolles and a pinch of salt and twist of pepper. Sauté for 3–4 minutes, until any released moisture has evaporated. Add the snails, sauté for 1 minute, then add the shallots and cook for 2 minutes longer. Finish with the garlic, parsley and reserved onion petals. Drain through a colander.
Lay out 8 large preheated plates. Place an onion in the centre of each one and spoon the persillade into the centre of the onion. Using a hand blender, froth the garlic velouté and then spoon it over and around the onion.
AUBERGINE CAVIAR WITH RED MULLET, SQUID, BASIL AND LEMON
SERVES 8
There are so many takes on aubergine caviar but this one is, quite frankly, in a league of its own. It has been embellished but it is true to its origins, and if made well is about as perfect a summer starter as any. This olive-oil-laden emulsion of aubergine and its many seasonings is as much about texture as flavour and, as a result, it is doubly moreish.
OVERVIEW
Large, round aubergines are cut in half, scored, seasoned, sandwiched back together with thyme, garlic and olive oil, wrapped in foil and baked until completely tender. The pulp is scraped out and spiked with a tomato compote, harissa, lemon zest, basil, garlic and extra virgin olive oil. Red mullet fillets are cooked with finely diced fennel and then flaked and added, with the fennel, to the aubergine and the whole collection of ingredients is then carefully folded together. The aubergine caviar is served with seared squid.
FOCUS ON
This dish is primarily about the aubergines, and their quality is therefore of utmost importance. Round, irregular, Italian sun-ripened aubergines are simply so far removed from the Dutch hothouse alternatives that they might as well be called a different name. Look for firm, dense, heavy aubergines with pale purple collars near the stalk.
This dish calls for a lot of olive oil. Exactly which you use is very much a matter of personal taste but it should be of the highest quality.
Use sun-ripened tomatoes for the compote.
Use new season’s garlic if possible, but if using dried garlic ensure you cut the cloves in half to remove any green sprout.
KEY COMPONENTS
Aubergines
Tomato compote
Red mullet
Squid
TIMING
The red mullet and squid can be bought the day before and prepared. All the cooking for this dish should be left to within 3 hours of serving but the key thing is not to put anything into the fridge once cooked. The mullet should be the final addition and therefore should be cooked only an hour or so before serving. Cooking the squid is the sole last-minute task.
AUBERGINES
2 x 550–600g round Italian aubergines
2 fresh garlic cloves
2 sprigs of thyme
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
TOMATO COMPOTE
1 red pepper
8 vine-ripened tomatoes
3 tablespoons cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
1 large red onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves
RED MULLET
2 fennel bulbs
2 tablespoons cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons top-quality rose petal harissa
8 x 100g fillets of red mullet
SQUID
8 medium squid
OTHER INGREDIENTS
1 lemon, preferably Sicilian
½ bunch of basil
4 top-quality anchovies, finely chopped
120ml cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon very finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 garlic clove, crushed
METHOD
AUBERGINES
Cut the aubergines in half lengthways, score the flesh in a crisscross fashion to a depth of 1.5cm and season with salt and pepper. Cut the garlic into thin slivers and lay them over one of the cut surfaces. Top with a sprig of thyme, drizzle with the oil, then sandwich the 2 halves together and wrap thoroughly in foil. Bake the aubergines in an oven preheated to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for 45–50 minutes, until completely tender. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool to room temperature. Unwrap the aubergines, remove the thyme and garlic and scrape the flesh out into a large bowl. Cover and set aside.
TOMATO COMPOTE
Peel the red pepper, pull off the stalk, cut the top and bottom off, cut out the pith and seeds, then cut down one side of the pepper and open it out. Slice it into 5mm batons and finally cut across these to yield 5mm dice. Set aside.
Bring a pan of water to the boil. Cut the hulls out of the tomatoes and score their tops with a cross. Plunge them into the boiling water for 10 seconds, lift them out and refresh briefly in iced water. Peel off the skins, cut the tomatoes in half, scoop out and discard the seeds and chop the tomato flesh into rough 5mm dice.
Place a large, shallow heavy-based pan over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the olive oil, followed by the red onion, red pepper, a generous pinch of salt and several twists of pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft and translucent. Use a microplane to grate the garlic into the pan and cook for a minute more. Add the tomato pulp and cook for 20 minutes or until it has lost all its excess moisture and a rich, red tomato compote has formed. Check and adjust the seasoning. If it is too sharp, add a pinch or two of sugar. Set aside.
Trim any tough outer layers off the fennel, then use a mandoline to slice it paper thin across the grain. Place a large, shallow, heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Add the olive oil, followed by the fennel and a pinch of salt, and cook for 2–3 minutes, until the fennel is tender. Stir in the harissa and remove from the heat.
Lay out 2 large sheets of foil set over 2 baking sheets. Place a bed of fennel on each sheet. Season the red mullet and sit 4 fillets on each layer of fennel. Fold over the foil and seal the edges tightly. Set aside until ready to cook.
SQUID
Pull the heads off the squid and trim the tentacles off the head. Pinch the beak out of the opening in the centre of the tentacles and discard, along with the rest of the head. Peel off the membrane from the body tube along with the 2 small side fins and discard. Cut each tube down one side, open it out and thoroughly scrape out the interior. Rinse the squid tubes and tentacles under cold running water and place on a tray lined with a kitchen cloth. Cover and chill.
OTHER INGREDIENTS
Grate the zest off the lemon and set aside in a small dish. Pick the basil leaves from the stalks and cut them into fine shreds
TO SERVE
Place the red mullet pouches in an oven preheated to 150°C/Gas Mark 2 and cook for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for 5 minutes. Gently flake the red mullet and transfer it to a bowl with the fennel. Take 480g of the aubergine pulp, add 275g of the tomato compote, half the lemon zest, plus the basil, red mullet mix, anchovies and 75ml of extra virgin olive oil. Gently fold this together until thoroughly mixed. Taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Leave to infuse for 5 minutes, then taste again and readjust if necessary.
Slice the squid bodies into very fine lengths. Place 2 heavy-based frying pans on the stove, one over a high heat and one over a gentle heat. Leave for 1 minute and add 15ml olive oil to each pan. Put the squid tentacles in the hot pan with a pinch of salt, sauté for 30 seconds and then drain. Put the slivers of squid in the other pan, add a pinch of salt and cook for a minute or so, until the squid just turns white. Stir in the remaining lemon zest, the parsley and crushed garlic and remove from the heat.
Lay out 8 warmed medium plates and divide the aubergine equally between them – squashing it out to the edges with a fork. Garnish with the slivers of squid and one set of tentacles per plate.
