Meat is such an all-encompassing word that it is hard to know where to start when discussing it. Not only is there variety in terms of the animal but the repertoire of cooking techniques at our disposal these days is almost endless. We do have some phenomenal meat available in the UK but the truth is, the post-Second World War emphasis on yield has taken its toll. The selection and cross breeding of animals that generated quantity rather than quality brought an end to rationing and nourished the nation. A similar selection process was targeted at pork to try to produce leaner meat. The net result of all this left our beef, pork and, to a certain extent, lamb production in tatters as far as quality is concerned. This was mirrored in the poultry farming sector, where intensive battery production became standard. In recent years, public demand for quality, provenance and improved animal husbandry has brought some change and once again farmers are reaping the benefits of producing quality meats across the board. This is by no means the norm, though, so careful sourcing is of paramount importance.
My general philosophy on cooking meat is fairly simple. The Square seems to be one of the last outposts of butter-basted roasting, a practice we have stuck to after looking very carefully at the modern approach of low-temperature and water-bath cookery – the art of cooking vacuum-packed meat at a very low temperature. There is enough material here alone for a book but suffice it to say that, with an intelligent approach, one can couple the advantages of both, and we now generally roast meat at lower temperatures. An extended roasting period yields meat with a depth of flavour and textural character that simply cannot be achieved in a water bath. There are some potential advantages to the water-bath process but they do not manifest themselves in the mouth!
Most recently we have started roasting all our meat on the bone – be it best end of lamb, loin of pork or rib of beef. In an acknowledgement of practicality, the recipes in this book are more user friendly but the rump of veal and rib of beef recipes can still give rise to handsome pieces of meat. The more you focus on the meat, the less you have to worry about a sauce. Soft, well-rested, succulent slices of meat, coupled with a purée of some sort, require little more than their roasting juices. Sauces have been included in all the recipes for completion and, of course, a wonderful sauce does bring something to the plate but do not let the sometimes lengthy nature of their production put you off a recipe.
It is worth focusing on the subject of resting meat. In particular where roasting is the technique, it is absolutely critical that meat is left to rest in order to allow the heat-aggravated proteins and fibres to relax. A rule of thumb is to let it rest at room temperature for up to half its cooking time. No juices should run when meat is carved and in this state a beautifully roasted piece of meat will deliver maximum succulence and tenderness.
One final point on seasoning: large pieces of meat should be seasoned generously. Furthermore, once carved, the newly exposed surface will be lifted and the flavours maximised with a fresh sprinkling of sea salt.
Critical opinion appears to have committed foams to the sin bin. The chef’s preoccupation with the foam gun has indeed borne mixed results but to write them off completely is unwise. I have tinkered my fair share in the arena of foams and unreservedly include them in my repertoire. The word foam is too all-encompassing a term to group these preparations together. They come in many forms, and to my knowledge mostly stem from two basic techniques. On the one hand, you have a hot, reduced cream infusion and on the other, a flavoured aqueous liquid stabilised with gelatine. Upon charging with gas in a foam gun, the former yields a rich, glossy, aerated foam that delivers flavour and sensuous lubrication in equal measure. The latter, however, is where the problems arise. When a weak-tasting, often cold, liquid is treated with gelatine and squirted out as a foam, the result is often of questionable mouth-feel and lacking in flavour.
The key to a successful hot foam is to have sufficiently reduced cream, which upon aeration will yield a foam composed of millions of minute, fat-encased bubbles. It is a modern take on sauce mousseline, where hollandaise is aerated with whipped cream. Unashamedly rich, yes, but spectacular when done well.
Cappuccinos also seem to have been given the thumbs down. An aerated sauce can be a delicious thing but unfortunately, the increase in volume through the addition of bubbles decreases the intensity of flavour. As a result, cappuccinos can often be weak creations justifying their place in the sin bin. This is, of course, completely avoidable as long as you choose to aerate liquids with inherently strong flavours and concentrate them first through reduction.
The overuse of any technique on a menu is monotonous and I have been guilty of this, but to single out these aerated preparations as miss hits of modern cooking is off the mark. On the other hand, wildly aerated, loose-knit bubbles, or ‘airs’, appear to have won the favour of critics. Clumps of tasteless ‘clouds’ adorn the dishes of some of the world’s most celebrated chefs, yet they appear to me to contribute nothing whatsoever to a dish. More often than not, they demonstrate a preoccupation with innovation and indicate that a brain has constructed a dish with little, if any, collaboration with the stomach.
BREAST OF CHICKEN WITH NEW SEASON’S MORELS AND A CRISP ONION AND THYME TART
SERVES 8
One of the areas of French gastronomy I have always been baffled by is the commitment to the heritage of the chicken. The poulet de Bresse (and its many cousins) is a genetically impeccable and fastidiously reared animal but, for all its pedigree, there are free-range birds in the UK that I believe are every bit as good to eat. It is perhaps that we have simply acquired a different taste in the UK. That said, there is no place for an intensively reared chicken in this recipe. Organic is best, and at the very least the bird must have spent its life foraging outside in the fresh air. There is one thing on which we do all appear to agree, however, and that is that, when done well, there is nothing quite like beautifully roasted chicken.
OVERVIEW
The crown of the chicken is stuffed with thyme butter and then roasted. The breasts are removed from the bone, carved and served with a thin, puff-pastry-based onion tart, wilted spring greens, a sauté of new season’s morels and roasted garlic cloves, sauced with both the roasting juices and a simple mushroom and thyme velouté.
FOCUS ON
Buy 1.6kg free-range or organic chickens. Ensure the birds were genuinely free to roam, as this does give rise to meat with a far superior flavour. You won’t need the legs here, but they can be used for another dish.
Buy large white onions for this and ensure they are thoroughly softened before putting them on the pastry.
Buy medium-sized morels, if possible, 2–3 cm in length, and make sure there is no musty aroma whatsoever – and be generous, they make the dish.
Try to source the woody, drier Provençal thyme – not the spindly, tender variety, which lacks that depth of flavour.
KEY COMPONENTS
Thyme butter
Caramelised onions
Mushroom and thyme velouté
Tarts
TIMING
The thyme butter, caramelised onions and velouté can all be made the day before – in fact the first two will positively benefit from a day’s grace. The tarts can be assembled up to 4 hours in advance, leaving baking them, roasting the chicken and cooking the morels to be done at the last moment.
THYME BUTTER
1 white onion
200g unsalted butter, diced
200ml white wine
2 teaspoons thyme leaves
1 tablespoon double cream
CARAMELISED ONIONS
4 large white onions
45g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
50g chicken livers, chopped to a pulp
30ml Madeira wine
2 teaspoons thyme leaves
MUSHROOM AND THYME VELOUTÉ
75g unsalted butter
4 shallots, sliced
250g small button mushrooms, sliced
175ml chicken stock
400ml double cream
20g thyme
1 bay leaf
TARTS
500g Puff Pastry
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
OTHER INGREDIENTS
4 chicken crowns (i.e. the breasts on the bone, legs removed), from birds weighing 1.6kg
200g morel mushrooms
4 shallots, peeled
41 garlic cloves
20 flat-leaf parsley leaves
150g spring greens
6 tablespoons olive oil
20g unsalted butter
METHOD
THYME BUTTER
Peel the onion, cut it in half and place it cut-side down on a board. Slice vertically every 3mm up towards but not through the root end and then, similarly, slice horizontally. Now cut across these slices to yield a fine dice. Place a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute. Add 50g of the butter, allow it to melt and then add the onion and a generous pinch of salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, until tender. Add the white wine, bring to the boil and simmer until completely evaporated.
Place the thyme leaves on a chopping board, sprinkle with salt and chop as finely as possible. Add the cream to the onion, bring to the boil, then stir in the thyme leaves. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Transfer the mixture to a freestanding electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the remaining butter and, with the machine on high, beat until light, aerated and pale. Remove from the machine, scrape down the sides and spoon on to a large sheet of cling film. Shape into a roll 3–4cm thick and chill.
CARAMELISED ONIONS
Peel the onions, cut them in half through the root end and then slice them as finely as possible. Pick through them to ensure there are no thick pieces or pieces of root. Place a large, shallow, heavy-based pan over a high heat and leave for 1 minute. Add 35g of the butter, swirl the pan to melt it, then stir in the onions and cover with a lid. Cook for a good 6–8 minutes without salt, stirring frequently. Adding salt now will turn the onions into a slop with no textural definition. Once the onions have really started to sweat, remove the lid and cook until all the moisture has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until you have a mellow, golden ‘fondue’ of onions. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Place a heavy-based frying pan over a high heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the grapeseed oil and the remaining butter, leave it to foam up, then add the chicken livers and a generous pinch of salt. Cook until any excess moisture has evaporated and the livers are well coloured, stirring continuously to break up the mass. Add the Madeira and cook until completely evaporated. Transfer the liver mix to the onions, stir thoroughly and cook for 2–3 minutes. Set aside to cool, then add the thyme, transfer to a bowl and chill.
MUSHROOM AND THYME VELOUTÉ
Place a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat and leave for 30 seconds. Add the butter, allow it to melt, then add the shallots and a pinch of salt. Cook for 5 minutes or so, stirring frequently, until the shallots have softened. Add the mushrooms, turn up the heat and cook for 3–4 minutes, until any excess moisture has evaporated. Add the chicken stock, bring to the boil and simmer until reduced by half. Add the cream, return to the boil, then reduce the heat and cook at a bare simmer for 10 minutes. Using the back of a heavy-bladed knife, bruise the thyme to release its aroma. Drop it, and the bay leaf, into the velouté, return to the boil, then remove from the heat and set aside to rest for 15 minutes. Pass the velouté through a fine sieve into a bowl. Adjust the seasoning if necessary, then cover and chill.
TARTS
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry to 2mm thick. Place the sheets on baking trays and chill. Cut out 8 discs of puff pastry, 15cm in diameter, place on baking sheets and prick lightly all over with a fork, leaving a 5mm border. Chill for 30 minutes. Spread each tart with 50g of the caramelised onions, leaving the border clear. Brush the border of the tarts with egg yolk and return to the fridge.
OTHER INGREDIENTS
Carefully loosen the skin of the 2 breasts on each chicken crown by manoeuvring a spoon between them, accessing it via the neck end of the bird. Cut the thyme butter into 16 slices and slip 2 slices under the skin of the birds. In order to secure the neck skin, fold it under the bird and tie with a piece of butcher’s string. If cooking the birds within an hour, leave uncovered at room temperature – otherwise, cover and chill.
Trim the base of the morel stalks. Fill a sink with cold water, plunge the morels in, agitate thoroughly for 30 seconds, then lift them out and spin in a salad spinner. Transfer to a tray lined with kitchen paper and chill. Finely chop the shallots, following the method for the onion in the thyme butter. Cover and chill. Peel one clove of garlic, smash it with the side of a heavy-bladed knife, sprinkle with salt and chop it into a paste. Chop the parsley leaves into fine shreds. Pick through the spring greens, discarding any tough leaves and cutting out any thick ribs.
TO SERVE
Rub each chicken crown with a tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the birds in 2 roasting trays. Toss the remaining 40 cloves in the remaining olive oil, season with salt and pepper and place around the chickens. Roast the birds in an oven preheated to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for 15–20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 minutes. Bake the tarts at the same temperature for about 20 minutes, until golden and crisp.
Drain off 4 tablespoons of fat from the roasting trays and reserve the remaining roasting juices. Place 2 large frying pans over a medium heat and leave for 30 seconds. Add the 4 tablespoons of fat, followed by the morels, a pinch of salt and a twist of pepper. Sauté for 1 minute, then add the shallots and sauté for 2 minutes longer. Add the crushed garlic and the parsley, toss briefly and then drain through a colander. Keep the morels warm.
Place a large pan over a high heat and add the butter, a splash of water, a generous pinch of salt and some pepper. Bring to the boil, then add the spring greens and cook for 2–3 minutes, until wilted. Drain through a colander.
Carve the breasts off the chicken crowns and cut each breast into 5 triangles – cut in a zigzag fashion. Cut each tarte fine into 5 slices. Heat up the mushroom velouté.
Lay out 8 preheated plates. Place a quantity of spring greens on each plate and tease across the flat area. Place the 5 pieces of tarte fine on top with a slight gap between each slice. Set a piece of chicken on top and a clove of garlic between each piece. Dot the morels around the plate and spoon a small quantity of roasting juices over each piece of chicken. Blend the velouté with a hand blender and finish the dish by spooning this over and around the chicken.
THINLY SLICED BREAST OF FATTED DUCK WITH ‘GARNISH PAYSANNE’ AND APRICOT
SERVES 8
These days, fatted duck tends to be a byproduct of rearing birds for foie gras. Nevertheless, the duck itself makes wonderful eating, providing plump legs for confit and large breasts suitable for roasting. The breast has a full flavour with a hint of the sweetness of foie gras, but the maturity of the bird gives a firmer meat which is why, in this dish, it is thinly sliced. The garnish paysanne is a complex sauté of many ingredients, including the gizzards and liver of the duck.
OVERVIEW
The breasts are heavily scored on the fat side, the fat is rendered in a pan, then the breasts are gently roasted in the oven. The duck is served with a sauté of Brussels sprout leaves with shallots, potato, foie gras, duck livers, gizzards, parsley and apricot. The dish is sauced with a thin Béarnaise sauce and the roasting juices spiked with sherry vinegar, and accompanied by an chicory salad with an orange dressing.
FOCUS ON
A specialist butcher should be able to source the breasts from a fatted duck. This would be the best route to obtaining the foie gras and gizzards. The gizzards are usually, and should be here, pre-cooked in duck fat.
Cooking the garnish is one continuous process, other than pre-cooking the potatoes, and the timing for the addition of the various components is important to ensure everything is cooked correctly at the end.
Béarnaise is a classical sauce not often seen in fine-dining restaurants any more. It requires methodical preparation to yield the required result, so follow the instructions carefully.
KEY COMPONENTS
Garnish paysanne
Béarnaise sauce
Chicory salad
TIMING
The vinaigrette for the salad can be made in advance. Preparing the garnish ingredients can be done up to 4 hours before cooking and the Béarnaise sauce can be prepared up to 2 hours in advance. However, the focus of this dish is on its last moments of cooking.
CHICORY SALAD
6 heads of chicory
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon brown sugar
zest of 1 orange
50ml grapeseed oil
a bunch of chives
GARNISH PAYSANNE
300g Brussels sprouts
60g shallots
400g Desiree potatoes
65g bacon lardons
30g foie gras, chilled
75g duck livers
70g duck gizzards cooked in duck fat
80g dried apricots
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
40g sourdough croûtons, fried in butter until golden
BÉARNAISE SAUCE
4 shallots, finely sliced
200ml white wine vinegar
1 bay leaf
10 peppercorns
4 sprigs of tarragon
2 egg yolks
10ml orange juice
350g unsalted butter, melted
OTHER INGREDIENTS
4 shallots
1 litre vegetable oil, for deep-frying
2 tablespoons plain flour
4 duck breasts from fatted ducks
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
METHOD
CHICORY SALAD
Break the chicory down into individual leaves and discard any discoloured outer ones. Whisk the mustard, vinegar, sugar, orange zest and a generous pinch of salt together in a bowl. Whisking continuously, add the oil in a steady stream, then set aside. Chop the chives as finely as possible, place in a bowl and set aside.
GARNISH PAYSANNE
Trim the base off the Brussels sprouts and take off the dark green outer leaves. By gradually trimming off more of the base of each sprout, separate it into all its leaves. This is a tedious task for which there is no shortcut. Continue until you have a bowl of individual sprout leaves. Wash them in cold water, dry in a salad spinner, then cover and chill.
Cut the shallots in half and cut vertical slices 2mm apart towards but not through the root end. Similarly cut horizontal slices 2mm apart towards the root. Now cut across these slices to yield a fine dice. Place in a bowl, cover and chill.
Peel the potatoes and trim to create a rectangular block. Cut into 5mm slices, then cut these into batons and finally cut across to obtain 5mm dice. Rinse under cold running water, cover with fresh water and set aside.
Blanch the bacon lardons briefly, then dry and fry until golden. Take the foie gras out the fridge and cut into 1cm dice as best you can, following the method for the potato. Work quickly, using a knife dipped in hot water. If the foie gras gets too soft to handle, return it to the fridge until it firms up again. Season the foie gras dice with salt and pepper, place on a tray, cover and chill.
Trim the main veins off the duck livers and again, as best you can, cut the livers into as consistent a 1cm dice as possible. Cover and chill. Drain the gizzards of their cooking fat, rinse briefly in warm water and cut into thin slices. Cover and chill. Cut the apricots into small dice and set aside.
BÉARNAISE SAUCE
Place the shallots in a small saucepan with the vinegar, bay leaf, peppercorns and 2 sprigs of tarragon. Place over a medium heat, bring to the boil and cook until all the vinegar has evaporated and moist, uncoloured shallots remain. Remove from the heat.
Place the eggs yolks in a round-bottomed bowl and set over a pan of barely simmering water. Add a generous pinch of salt and the orange juice and whisk vigorously until the egg yolks have formed a rich, aerated, meringue-like sabayon. Pull the pan off the heat, with the bowl still set over it, and add the shallots. Whisk until combined, then drizzle in the melted butter, very slowly at first, whisking continuously. When all the butter has been added, you should have a rich, yellow, emulsified sauce. Pass it through a fine sieve into a fresh bowl. Pick the leaves from the remaining tarragon, chop finely and whisk into the sauce. Adjust the seasoning, then cover the bowl and set aside in a pan of warm water – check the water from time to time and top it up with hot water.
OTHER INGREDIENTS
Peel the shallots, slice them finely and gently loosen them into individual rings. Pour the oil into a deep-fat fryer or a deep, heavy-based pan and heat to 170°C. Toss the shallot rings in the flour, place them in a sieve and shake gently to get rid of any excess flour. Transfer them to the oil and deep-fry until a light golden colour. Lift them out with a slotted spoon, place on a dish lined with kitchen paper and set aside.
TO SERVE
Methodically score the duck breasts on the skin side in a diagonal criss-cross fashion. Ensure you penetrate the fat but do not cut into the duck itself. Season the fat side generously with salt and the meat side with both salt and pepper. Place 2 large, heavy-based frying pans over a high heat and leave for 1 minute. Place the breasts in the pans skin-side down, turn the heat down slightly and cook for 3–4 minutes, by which time the breasts will have rendered a lot of fat and should be golden brown and crisp. Turn the breasts over and seal the meat side for 1 minute. Transfer to a roasting tray, skin-side down, place in an oven preheated to 150°C/Gas Mark 2 and cook for 10–12 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer the duck to a dish to rest, skin-side up.
Place the pans back over a high heat and divide the rendered duck fat between them. Drain and pat dry the potatoes. When the fat is hot, add them to the pans and season with salt and pepper. Cook over a high heat for 7–8 minutes, until golden. Drain through a colander and return the fat to the pans. Add the Brussels sprout leaves, season with salt and pepper and sauté for 2–3 minutes. Stir in the shallots and lardons and sauté for 2 minutes longer. Add the duck livers and sauté for 1 minute. Stir in the gizzards, foie gras and apricots and sauté for a final minute. Return the potatoes to the pans, add the chopped parsley and toss to mix thoroughly. Drain both pans into a colander and leave to sit while you carve the duck. Briefly whisk the Béarnaise. If it is any thicker than double cream, thin it down with a little warm water. Transfer to a squeezy bottle.
Carve the duck breasts lengthways as finely as possible. Lay out 8 preheated plates. Spoon a generous quantity of the garnish on to each plate and flatten out. Lay slightly overlapping slices of duck over the garnish and sprinkle with the croûtons. Add the teaspoon of sherry vinegar to the duck juices and drizzle a little over each plate. Gently drizzle the Béarnaise over the duck in a zigzag fashion and garnish with the deep–fried shallot rings. Toss the chicory leaves with the vinaigrette and chives and serve on the side.
ROAST SADDLE AND RAVIOLI OF SUCKLING PIG WITH SWEET AND SOUR GRAPEFRUIT PUREE, CRUSHED TURNIP AND CHICORY
SERVES 8
The finest way to cook suckling pig is simply to roast it whole and feast on it. This is not suitable for every occasion, however, and this dish is certainly more user friendly. The tender saddle yields soft, succulent meat and fine crackling and the ravioli uses hugely flavourful shoulder in a practical and well-packaged way. The grapefruit, turnip and chicory provide the sweet, sour and bitter contrast that works so well with pork.
OVERVIEW
The shoulder of pork is slow roasted and left to rest. The meat is then shredded off the bone, mixed with caramelised onion, grapefruit zest and chicken mousse and used to fill a substantial ravioli. The saddle is simply roasted on the bone and finished under the grill to blister the crackling. The pork is garnished with crushed turnip, braised chicory, wilted greens and a tangy, sweet and sour grapefruit purée – made using eight-times-blanched whole grapefruit, Cabernet Sauvignon vinegar and caramel. The dish is sauced with a pork jus.
FOCUS ON
Source the suckling pig from a reputable farm, thereby ensuring it is not a byproduct of mass-produced pork. Not all producers will be able to supply individual joints of suckling pig, in which case buy 2 whole piglets, ask your butcher to joint them and use the legs for roasting at a later date.
Handling fresh pasta when inexperienced can be challenging. Set aside some quality time to make the ravioli.
Buy small, young turnips. Old, woody ones will be overly bitter and fibrous.
Try to source French chicory, which is far superior to its Dutch counterpart.
KEY COMPONENTS
Grapefruit purée
Ravioli
Pork sauce
Chicory
Crushed turnip
TIMING
Slow roast the shoulder and make the chicken mousse the day before. This will enable you to finish the ravioli mix then too. The grapefruit purée and pork sauce can be made the day before as well. The ravioli can be prepared up to 6 hours in advance, leaving only the chicory and turnip garnishes, which should be made about 2 hours before serving. This leaves roasting the saddle and cooking the greens as last-minute tasks.
GRAPEFRUIT PURÉE
2 pink grapefruit
2 star anise
400g caster sugar
50ml Cabernet Sauvignon vinegar
420ml grapefruit juice
RAVIOLI
2 shoulders of suckling pig
1 white onion, peeled
2 teaspoons grapeseed oil
½ teaspoon grapefruit zest
1 quantity of Chicken Mousse
1 quantity of Medium Pasta Dough
PORK SAUCE
1kg bones from the suckling pig (or pork bones), finely chopped
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
2 shallots, sliced
1 carrot, diced
½ small turnip, diced
1 pig’s trotter, chopped into 4
50ml cider vinegar
300ml Madeira wine
150ml apple juice
2 litres Chicken Stock
400ml Veal Stock
CHICORY
4 heads of French chicory
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
25g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon caster sugar
100ml orange juice
235ml grapefruit juice
CRUSHED TURNIP
400g small, young turnips, peeled and diced
125g unsalted butter
OTHER INGREDIENTS
2 saddles of suckling pig, fully trimmed, weighing 900g each
25g unsalted butter
1 garlic clove, smashed
240g tender spring greens
METHOD
GRAPEFRUIT PURÉE
Score the grapefruit skins in 8 places from top to bottom. Place the grapefruit in a large, heavy-based saucepan, cover generously with water and add the star anise. Bring to the boil over a high heat, simmer for 5 minutes and drain. Repeat this process 7 times, by which time the grapefruit will have lost most of their bitterness and they will be completely soft. Set aside to cool. Cut each grapefruit into quarters.
Place the sugar in a heavy-based saucepan set over a medium heat and cook until it has achieved a rich golden/hazelnut colour. Carefully add the vinegar; it will evaporate almost instantly. Add the grapefruit and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until they have broken down in the caramel. Add 350ml of the grapefruit juice and simmer until completely evaporated. Remove from the heat, transfer to a blender and blend to a smooth purée. Adjust the consistency with the leftover grapefruit juice if it seems too thick and gungy. This should yield a glossy, rich, fragrant, bitter, sweet and sour purée. Pass through a fine sieve into a bowl and leave to cool. Transfer to a squeezy bottle and set aside.
Season the shoulders with salt and pepper, wrap each one securely in foil and place in an oven preheated to 120°C/Gas Mark 1. Cook for 6 hours, until the meat pulls easily away from the bone. Remove from the oven, allow to rest for 30 minutes, then unwrap and lift all the skin and meat off the bone. Taste a piece and season with salt if necessary. Once the skin and meat have cooled, chop into rough 5mm dice and set aside.
Peel the onion, cut it in half and slice vertically every 3mm up towards, but not through, the root end and then, similarly, slice horizontally. Now cut across these slices to yield a fine dice. Place a heavy-based saucepan over a high heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the grapeseed oil, followed by the onion and a pinch of salt, and fry for about 2 minutes, until the onion gets some colour. Add a twist of pepper, then drain through a sieve and set aside to cool. Mix the onion with the shoulder meat, then weigh out 250g of this mixture. Add the grapefruit zest and 175g of the chicken mousse (it’s impossible to make the mousse in a smaller quantity, but the remainder will keep in the fridge for 3 days). Mix thoroughly, then cover and chill.
Roll out the pasta dough as described on Rolling Fresh Pasta and cut out 20 discs, 8cm in diameter (you will actually need 16 but the extra 4 are just in case you make any mistakes!). Make the ravioli according to the instructions on Making Ravioli, using 50g of the filling mixture for each one. Blanch the ravioli in a large pan of simmering salted water for 5 minutes, then drain and refresh in iced water. Drain again and store on a cloth, covered, in the fridge.
PORK SAUCE
Toss the bones with the grapeseed oil. Place them on a roasting tray and roast in an oven preheated to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for 25 minutes, until golden. Add the vegetables, stir thoroughly and roast for a further 15 minutes or until all the contents of the tray have a good golden colour. Place the trotter in a large, heavy-based saucepan. Drain the roasted bones through a large colander and transfer them to the trotter pan. Place the roasting tray over a medium heat, add the vinegar, cook until evaporated and then add 500ml water. Scrape off any residue from the base of the tray and pour into the trotter pan. Place over a high heat, add the Madeira and boil until almost completely evaporated. Add the apple juice and reduce similarly. Add the chicken and veal stocks, bring to the boil and skim off any fat and scum. Cook for 2 hours, skimming as and when required. Remove from the heat, leave to sit for 10 minutes, then drain through a colander, discarding the bones. Return the stock to the saucepan and boil until it has reduced to 400ml; it should have a coating consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then set aside to cool.
CHICORY
Trim the outside layer of the chicory heads, cut them lengthwise in half and score the core diagonally. Place a heavy-based ovenproof pan over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the grapeseed oil and sprinkle the bottom of the pan with a little salt. Add the chicory and leave to colour for 1–2 minutes. When they are golden, turn them over, add the butter and seal for 30 seconds. Sprinkle the first side with the sugar, turn back over, caramelise for 30 seconds, then add the orange and grapefruit juice. Transfer to an oven preheated to 150°C/Gas Mark 2 and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
CRUSHED TURNIP
Place the turnips in a small pan and cover with 700ml water. Add the butter, a pinch of salt and a twist of pepper and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the turnips are tender, then drain through a colander, reserving the liquid. Place the turnips back in the pan and crush with a fork. Add enough of the buttery turnip water back to the pan to give a moist, textured mash. Adjust the seasoning if necessary and set aside.
TO SERVE
Carefully score the skin of the piglet saddles, using a sharp knife. You must penetrate the skin but not go into the meat. Season the saddles all over with salt and pepper, place them on a rack set on a roasting tray and roast in an oven preheated to 200°C/Gas Mark 6 for 15 minutes. If your saddles weighed more or less, adjust the cooking time to suit. Remove the saddles from the oven and crisp the skin by placing them under a medium grill for 2 minutes, until it blisters into crackling.
Place a large pan of salted water on to boil for the ravioli. Warm up the chicory and turnip. Heat up the sauce. Lift the crackling off the saddles, remove the 2 loins of meat from each saddle and cut each loin in half. Coat them in some of the roasting fat and season with fine sea salt. Keep warm. Drop the ravioli into the water and cook for 4 minutes. Place a large, heavy-based saucepan over a high heat, add the butter, 100ml water and the garlic and bring to the boil. Add the greens and cook for 3–4 minutes, until wilted. Drain and keep warm.
Lay out 8 preheated large plates. Lift the ravioli out of the water and drain. Place a small pile of greens on one side of each plate and top with a ravioli. Lay a piece of braised chicory neatly on the plate and a small line of crushed turnip. Set the pork on the turnip, sauce this and the ravioli with the pork jus and garnish with a spoonful of grapefruit purée and a piece of crackling.
Roast Saddle and Ravioli of Suckling Pig with Sweet and Sour Grapefruit Puree, Crushed Turnip and Chicory
HERB-CRUSTED SADDLE OF NEW SEASON’S LAMB WITH SHALLOT PURÉE, BALSAMIC VINEGAR AND OLIVE OIL
SERVES 8
Given that I appreciate classical flavours and am not motivated by technical wizardry or innovation, it might not be surprising to hear that I don’t claim many dishes as ‘mine’. This lamb dish, however, belongs firmly to The Square, It is a simple but clever bit of butchery, giving rise to a truly delicious dish showcasing one of Britain’s finest ingredients – albeit with Mediterranean flavours.
OVERVIEW
Two short-cut saddles of lamb are trimmed, boned, stuffed, topped with a herb crust and cooked pink. They are carved into thick slices and served with a purée of shallots, small fondant potatoes, baby artichokes and roast garlic cloves, plus a lamb jus spiked with balsamic vinegar, dried cherry tomatoes, olive oil and rosemary.
FOCUS ON
Use spring lamb for this dish – the cooking technique does not work for older meat.
Plan the making of the herb crust – a relatively large sheet needs to be rolled and stored in the fridge.
Use a good-quality balsamic vinegar with natural viscosity and sweetness.
Use a cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil – this dish is all about full-blown Mediterranean flavours.
KEY COMPONENTS
Saddles of lamb
Lamb sauce
Herb crust
Shallot purée
Artichokes
Dried tomatoes
TIMING
There is a lot of work involved in this dish but most of it can be done well in advance. The herb crust and tomatoes must be done the day before. The lamb, its sauce, the shallot purée and artichokes can all be prepared then too, which leaves only the potatoes, garlic and cooking the lamb to be done on the day.
LAMB
2 short-cut saddles of new season’s spring lamb – ensure the rump end has been removed and ask for it to be boned but the fillets and all trimmings reserved and the bones chopped and reserved; ask for the ‘bark’ (thin outer skin membrane) to be removed carefully too
LAMB SAUCE
50ml grapeseed oil
the chopped bones and trimmings from the lamb
6 shallots, sliced
200g button mushrooms, quartered
½ head of garlic
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
2 ripe plum tomatoes, chopped
HERB CRUST
50g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
5g rosemary, very finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled
100g breadcrumbs
15g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
4g salt
150g unsalted butter, melted
DRIED TOMATOES
40 firm, ripe cherry tomatoes
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, crushed
15ml olive oil
SHALLOT PURÉE
100g unsalted butter
500g shallots (peeled weight), finely sliced
250ml whipping cream
ARTICHOKES
80ml white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon rock salt
8 baby artichokes
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ small carrot, cut in half lengthways
1 shallot, quartered
4cm piece of leek, cut lengthways in half
½ celery stick, cut lengthways in half
1 bay leaf
10 peppercorns
OTHER INGREDIENTS
150g unsalted butter
8 x 7cm-long Roseval or Ratte potatoes
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
16 plump garlic cloves, plus 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
50ml aged balsamic vinegar
75ml cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
240g tender spinach, stalks removed
METHOD
LAMB
Lay the saddles of lamb out in front of you. Cut off the 2 large flaps of fatty belly on either side of the loins. Dice up this belly meat, discarding any that is 100 per cent fat, and set aside.
Place 2 of the fillets in a food processor and blend to a smooth purée, then transfer to a small bowl. Trim any sinew off the 2 remaining fillets. Use a spoon to smear half of the lamb purée down the middle of each saddle where the bone was situated and press one of the fillets per saddle into the purée. This, now filled, cavity should be flush with the two loins of lamb running either side. Transfer the saddles to the fridge.
LAMB SAUCE
Place a large, shallow, heavy-based pan over a high heat and leave for 2 minutes. Add the grapeseed oil, followed by the lamb bones and diced belly meat. Sauté for 3–4 minutes, until golden, then add the shallots, button mushrooms, garlic and a small sprinkling of salt. Sauté for 2 minutes and then transfer to an oven preheated to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Cook for 15–20 minutes, until everything is thoroughly caramelised. Remove from the oven and tip the contents of the pan into a colander to drain. Return to the pan, cover with water and add the bouquet garni and tomatoes. Bring to the boil and simmer for 1 hour. Remove from the heat, leave to stand for 10 minutes, then drain through a colander and pass through a fine sieve. Discard the solids, return the lamb stock to the pan, bring back to the boil over a high heat and cook until reduced to 350ml. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon at this point. If the lamb jus lacks consistency, thicken it with a small amount of arrowroot or cornflour made into a paste with a little water. Adjust the seasoning, then leave to cool. Cover and chill.
HERB CRUST
Place the herbs, garlic, breadcrumbs, Parmesan and salt in a food processor and blend until thoroughly combined. With the machine running, add the melted butter in a steady stream and continue blending for 30 seconds.
Lay out a sheet of baking parchment on a flat surface. Place the crumb mixture on top, cover with a second sheet of parchment and flatten the mixture by patting it out with your hand. Using a rolling pin, methodically roll the crumb mix into a sheet 2–3mm thick. Lift off the top sheet of baking parchment and manoeuvre the crumbs to ensure you end up with a rectangular sheet that, when cut in half, will cover the surfaces of the 2 saddles of lamb. Carefully draw this sheet, still on its bottom sheet of baking parchment, over the edge of the work surface on to a baking tray. Chill overnight until thoroughly set. Cut the sheet, including the parchment, into pieces the same size as the lamb.
DRIED TOMATOES
Bring a large pan of water to the boil, plunge in the cherry tomatoes and leave for 10 seconds, then remove and refresh in iced water for 1 minute. Drain in a colander and peel off the skins. Place the remaining ingredients in a large bowl with a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar. Add the tomatoes and gently roll them to ensure they are evenly coated. Transfer the tomatoes to cake racks or baking sheets and dry in an oven preheated to 100°C (or a very low gas oven) for 2½ hours (or you can dry them overnight in a dehydrator), until they are deep red and the texture of a dried apricot.
SHALLOT PURÉE
Melt the butter in a large casserole, add the shallots and a generous pinch of salt and cook over a medium heat, stirring frequently, for 15–20 minutes, until the shallots are translucent and completely tender. Pour in the cream and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and transfer to an oven preheated to 130°C/Gas Mark ¾. Cook for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven, transfer the mixture to a blender and blend to a smooth purée. Pass through a fine sieve, adjust the seasoning, then set aside to cool to room temperature. Cover and chill.
ARTICHOKES
Place the vinegar and rock salt in a bowl and stir to dissolve the salt. Trim any stalk in excess of 3cm off the bottom of each artichoke, peel the remaining stalk and place the artichokes in the vinegar bowl, ensuring they get thoroughly coated – this prevents any discoloration. Take out the artichokes one at a time and, with a sharp paring knife, trim off the leaves from the base plus 2 or 3 of the outside leaves from the head. Carefully ‘turn’ the artichoke by paring away the stubbly bits where the leaves were. Cut straight across the tip of the head to yield a smooth, flat-topped baby artichoke. Return to the vinegar mix.
Place a pan over a medium heat. Add the olive oil, vegetables, bay leaf and peppercorns and sauté for 3–4 minutes. Lift the artichokes out of the vinegar, add to the pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until the artichokes are just tender. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Transfer the artichokes to a small bowl and add enough cooking liquor just to cover. Discard the rest of the liquor.
TO SERVE
Thinly slice the butter and arrange over the base of a shallow, heavy-based pan, about 25cm in diameter. Trim the unpeeled potatoes into barrel shapes about 2cm thick, allowing 2 per portion. Sprinkle the butter with salt, stud the potatoes over the surface and place over a medium heat.
Place 2 heavy-based pans, large enough to accommodate the lamb saddles, over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute. Add 1 tablespoon of grapeseed oil to each pan. Season both sides of the lamb and place skin-side down in the pans. Seal the lamb for 2–3 minutes, until the fat has caramelised, then transfer to an oven preheated to 170°C/Gas Mark 3 and cook for 11–13 minutes. Meanwhile, ensure the potatoes do not get too hot – you are after a golden finish on the underside, one that is achieved over a 20-minute period. The finished potato should have no crust to it. Once golden, turn and repeat on the second side.
Toss the unpeeled garlic cloves in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast in the oven at 170°C/Gas Mark 3 for 10–12 minutes, until soft when pressed. Drain and keep warm.
Remove the lamb from the oven and place under a medium-hot grill for 1 minute, then allow to rest for 10 minutes. Peel the parchment off the sheets of herb crust and sit them on top of the lamb. They will slowly melt on to the surface. Place the lamb saddles under a hot grill until the herb crust has a golden finish. Set aside to rest.
Warm up the shallot purée. Place 2 large frying pans over a high heat for 1 minute. Drain the artichokes and cut them in half. Add ½ tablespoon of olive oil to each pan and fry the artichokes, cut-side down, for 1 minute or until just golden. Keep warm.
Heat up the lamb sauce, then add the balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, sliced garlic and dried tomatoes. Place a saucepan over a high heat, add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, then add the spinach, a pinch of salt and a twist of pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until the spinach has wilted. Drain and squeeze out any excess moisture.
Trim 1cm off each end of the lamb. Carve each saddle into 4 generous slices.
Lay out 8 preheated large plates. Place 2 spoonfuls of shallot purée around the edge of each plate and a line of spinach down the middle. Sit the lamb on the spinach, crust facing up, and garnish the plates with the potatoes, artichokes and garlic cloves. Mix the warm sauce thoroughly and spoon out on to the plates.
LOIN OF LAMB WITH PEA PURÉE, MINT JELLIES, SPRING VEGETABLES AND JERSEY ROYAL FOAM
SERVES 8
We only use lamb at The Square in spring and early summer, when it is truly at its best. It is a young sheep after all, and nature, left to its own devices, would have provided it only at that time anyway! As always with seasonality, at any given time of year the ingredients that the land provides simultaneously tend to have a strong natural affinity with one another. Lamb and spring vegetables are no exception.
OVERVIEW
The lamb loin is gently sealed in butter and roasted. It is served with a purée of peas, buttered spring vegetables (Jersey Royals, asparagus, morel mushrooms, peas, broad beans, carrots and onions) and wilted spinach. The dish is sauced with a light lamb jus thickened with a little butter, spiked with mint jellies and finished with a Jersey Royal foam.
FOCUS ON
This is one of those dishes that, if executed with care and passion, can dazzle and delight. It can, however, be little more than meat and two veg if shown no love at all.
Buy British new-season lamb – it is exceptional.
Spring vegetables are by their very nature small and delicate. Prepare and cook each one separately, focusing on seasoning and retaining freshness at every step.
The little mint jellies may sound technical and risky but they are simple to make and play a significant role in this dish.
KEY COMPONENTS
Lamb and sauce
Pea purée
Jersey Royal foam
Mint jellies
Spring vegetables
TIMING
The lamb could be dealt with and the sauce made the day before, as could the mint jellies. The pea purée and Jersey Royal foam can be made up to 12 hours in advance but cooking the spring vegetables should be left as late as practically possible.
LAMB AND SAUCE
2 best ends of new-season lamb, boned to give 2 loins, then the bones finely chopped
50ml grapeseed oil
50g unsalted butter
2 shallots, sliced
½ carrot, diced
½ small leek, chopped
½ celery stick, sliced
2 teaspoons arrowroot
2 sprigs of mint
PEA PURÉE
50g unsalted butter
1 white onion, finely sliced
200ml milk
100ml whipping cream
800g shelled fresh peas
JERSEY ROYAL FOAM
200g Jersey Royal potatoes, scrubbed clean
70g unsalted butter
300ml milk
1 sprig of mint
MINT JELLIES
50ml Chardonnay vinegar or white wine vinegar
50g caster sugar
50g mint
3g agar agar
1 litre sunflower oil, placed in a bowl in the freezer overnight
SPRING VEGETABLES
8 large English asparagus spears
80g shelled fresh peas
80g shelled fresh broad beans
1 dessertspoon caster sugar
50g unsalted butter
16 baby spring carrots, leafy tops trimmed to 1cm, scrubbed
16 small grelot onions or spring onions, roots removed, onions trimmed to 3cm long
16 small Jersey Royal potatoes, scrubbed clean
1 sprig of mint
16 small morel mushrooms
OTHER INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
125g unsalted butter
240g baby spinach leaves
1 punnet of pea shoots
METHOD
LAMB AND SAUCE
The lamb loins should not require any trimming. Cover them and place in the fridge.
Place a large, shallow, heavy-based pan over a high heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the grapeseed oil, followed by the lamb bones and a pinch of salt. Colour the bones for a good 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. When they are golden, add the butter and vegetables, stir briefly, then transfer to an oven preheated to 170°C/Gas Mark 3 and cook for about 10 minutes, until everything is lightly coloured. Remove from the oven, drain through a colander, discard the fat and return the bones to the pan. Add enough water just to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes, skimming off any fat that rises to the surface. Remove from the heat and leave for 10 minutes. Pour the stock through a colander and then through a fine sieve back into the saucepan. Boil until reduced to 400ml, then taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning.
Mix the arrowroot with a tablespoon of water, stir it into the sauce and return to the boil – this will thicken the sauce to a coating consistency. Add the mint sprigs and leave to infuse, off the heat, for 5 minutes. Pass the finished sauce through a fine sieve, leave to cool, then transfer to a bowl, cover and chill.
PEA PURÉE
Place a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the butter, swirl the pan to melt it, then add the onion and a generous pinch of salt. Cook for a good 5 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the milk and cream, bring to the boil and add the peas. Return to the boil over a high heat and cook for 3–4 minutes, until the peas are sweet and tender.
Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend to a smooth, rich purée. Adjust the seasoning if necessary, pass through a fine sieve into a bowl set over ice and leave to cool, stirring occasionally. Cover and chill.
JERSEY ROYAL FOAM
Finely slice the potatoes. Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan, add the potatoes and sweat for 2 minutes. Add the milk, bring to the boil, season with a pinch of salt and cook for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are completely tender. Remove from the heat, add the mint and leave to infuse for 5 minutes. Remove the mint, transfer the potatoes and milk to a blender and blend to a smooth purée. Adjust the seasoning if necessary, then pass through a fine sieve and leave to cool. Transfer to a 500ml foam gun, apply the lid and chill.
MINT JELLIES
Put the vinegar, sugar and 50ml water in a pan and bring briefly to the boil. Add the mint, return to the boil, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for half an hour. Pass through a fine sieve, return to the pan and add the agar agar. Bring back to the boil, whisking continuously, and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a squeezy bottle.
Take the iced oil out of the freezer and stir to loosen it. Squeeze the vinegar mix into the oil at a slow, steady pace. It will set instantly into little jelly spheres as it hits the iced oil. Once all the mix is done, pass the oil through a sieve (the oil can be used again) and rinse the jellies under cold running water. Transfer to a container, cover and chill.
SPRING VEGETABLES
Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Fill a large bowl with iced water to refresh the vegetables in and have more ice to hand. When cooking the asparagus, broad beans and peas, ensure you slightly undercook them, as they will cook further in the process of reheating and serving.
Cut 2.5cm off the base of each asparagus spear, then peel the stems carefully and methodically, ensuring you strip off as little as possible. Plunge the asparagus into the boiling water, turn the heat up to maximum and cook for 1–2 minutes, until just tender. Carefully lift out the asparagus, refresh in the iced water for 2 minutes, then transfer to a tray lined with a kitchen cloth. Cover and chill.
Similarly, plunge the peas into the same water and cook for 3–4 minutes, until just tender. Drain, refresh and chill. Cook the broad beans in the same water for 1 minute. Refresh in the iced water, drain, pop the beans out of their thin inner skins, then cover and chill.
Bring 3 smaller saucepans of water to the boil with a pinch of salt in each. Add the sugar and half the butter to one and the remaining butter to another. Add the carrots to the pan with the sugar and butter, the onions to the one with the butter and the potatoes to the third pan. Bring the pans to the boil and cook at a low simmer until the vegetables are barely tender. Allow them all to cool in their cooking liquor and add the mint to the potato pan. Drain the carrots and transfer them to the asparagus tray but leave the onions and potatoes in the water.
Trim the base of the morel stalks, plunge the mushrooms into a sink full of cold water and agitate for 30 seconds, then transfer to a salad spinner. Spin until all the excess moisture is gone, then cover and chill.
TO SERVE
Place a large, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat for 2 minutes. Season the lamb loins with salt and pepper. Add the oil to the frying pan, place the lamb in it and cook until just golden underneath. Turn the lamb over, add 25g of the butter and colour the second side until just golden. Roll the lamb on to its third and fourth ‘sides’ and colour similarly. Transfer the lamb to an oven preheated to 170°C/Gas Mark 3. Cook for roughly 8–10 minutes, until medium rare. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Heat a large pan of water to about 60°C. Charge the foam gun containing the Jersey Royal mix with one cartridge and place it in the pan of hot water. Heat up the sauce and the pea purée. Cut each asparagus spear into 3. Drain the potatoes and add 1 tablespoon of potato water to each of 2 saucepans. Similarly drain the onions and add 1 tablespoon of their cooking liquor to the 2 pans. Add 50g of the remaining butter to each pan and bring them to the boil. Divide all the vegetables except the morels equally between the 2 pans and season gently with salt. Take the lamb out of its pan. Place the pan over a medium heat and warm the fat through. Add the morels, season with a pinch of salt and a twist of pepper and sauté for 1 minute, then drain and keep warm.
Place a heavy-based pan containing 2 tablespoons of water and a pinch of salt over a high heat. Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Drain, squeeze out excess moisture and keep warm.
Lay out 8 preheated large plates. Carve each loin of lamb into 16 thick slices. Lay a line of spinach across the centre of each plate and arrange the lamb on top. Place a spoonful of pea purée on each plate, surround the lamb with the spring vegetables and finish with the morels. Add the mint jellies to the sauce and spoon it over the lamb. Squirt a small quantity of the foam to the side of the lamb, then garnish with a few pea shoots.
ROASTED CALF’S SWEETBREADS WITH PATA NEGRA, ROASTING JUICES AND ALMONDS AND GIROLLES
SERVES 8
Sweetbreads are divisive, but for those of us who were fortunate enough to be born with the positive ‘sweetbread gene’, there is no better dish than this. It is a phenomenal assembly of flavours and textures, one that delivers satisfaction in spades.
OVERVIEW
A prime piece of calf’s sweetbread is roasted and served with a fricassee of leeks and girolles, a thin slice of pata negra ham, toasted flaked almonds and a generous quantity of potato ‘crisps’. The dish is sauced with a Madeira jus gras – a sauce composed of equal quantities of reduced stock and roasting fat.
FOCUS ON
This dish warrants the best sweetbreads. Ask for ‘heart’ sweetbreads – the larger, more uniform ones, which are surrounded by the more elongated ‘throat’ sweetbreads.
Insist on using pata negra and ensure it is sliced as thinly as possible – it is a significant part of the dish in terms of flavour, but if cut too thick will interfere with the texture of the sweetbreads.
The sauce must glaze over the sweetbreads – ensure it is reduced enough to do so.
Be generous with the potato crisps. This dish is about savouring richness and succulence but the crisps provide textural relief.
KEY COMPONENTS
Madeira jus gras
Salsify purée
Sweetbreads
Potato crisps
TIMING
This is a relatively simple dish but the majority of its components require attention an hour or two before serving. The sauce and purée, however, can be made the day before and the potato crisps can be done up to 4 hours in advance.
SWEETBREADS
1.2kg heart calf’s sweetbreads
MADEIRA JUS GRAS
50ml grapeseed oil
500g chicken drumsticks, chopped
50g unsalted butter
100g shallots, sliced
75g button mushrooms, quartered
1 bay leaf
a sprig of thyme
200ml sherry vinegar
500ml Madeira wine
2 litres Brown Chicken Stock (see Brown Chicken Stock)
500ml Veal Stock
SALSIFY PURÉE
375g salsify
juice of ½ lemon
100g unsalted butter
75ml milk
265ml whipping cream
1 bay leaf
OTHER INGREDIENTS
600g large Ratte potatoes
1 litre vegetable oil, for deep-frying
80g flaked almonds
225g unsalted butter
400g leeks, finely sliced
16 wafer-thin slices of pata negra ham
100g plain flour
100ml grapeseed oil
8 sprigs of thyme
200g small girolle mushrooms, stalks scraped
50ml Chicken Stock
METHOD
SWEETBREADS
Lay all the sweetbreads out and, with a flexible filleting knife, remove the external membrane by ‘skinning’ both sides like a fillet of fish. Trim off any residual membrane. Keep the sweetbread trimmings for the sauce. Ideally cut the sweetbreads into 8 equal portions (120g each) – as they are not uniform organs, this may not be achievable. Set aside, covered, in the fridge.
MADEIRA JUS GRAS
Place a large, shallow, heavy-based pan over a high heat and leave for 2 minutes. Add the grapeseed oil followed by the chicken drumsticks, leave them to caramelise for 2 minutes or so, then stir. Leave for another 2 minutes, then stir again. Add the butter, 100g of the sweetbread trimmings and a generous pinch of salt. Keep cooking, stirring occasionally, until everything is golden brown. Add the shallots, button mushrooms, bay leaf and thyme and cook over a high heat, stirring frequently, until the vegetables have caramelised. Add another small pinch of salt. Pour in the vinegar and cook until it has completely evaporated. Add the Madeira and boil until it is reduced and syrupy. Add the brown chicken stock and veal stock, return to the boil and cook at a base simmer for 30 minutes. Pass through a colander and then through a fine sieve into a small saucepan. This sauce should be a combination of meaty sweetness and a gentle vinegar accent in the background. Boil to reduce more, if necessary, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. If the sauce still has any blandness to it, add a drop or two of sherry vinegar.
SALSIFY PURÉE
Peel the salsify and place immediately into a large bowl of water with the lemon juice squeezed into it. Trim the ends of the salsify and finely slice it on the diagonal. Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan, add the salsify and a generous pinch of salt and sweat for 2–3 minutes. Add the milk, whipping cream and bay leaf and cook for 20 minutes, until the salsify is completely tender. Remove the bay leaf, transfer the contents of the pan to a blender and blend to a smooth purée. Pass through a fine sieve into a bowl and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Salsify purée is the mellowest of all purées but delicious nonetheless. It does, however, require careful seasoning to ensure the root’s flavour sings through. Set aside to cool and then transfer to the fridge.
OTHER INGREDIENTS
Peel the potatoes and cut them into slices 1mm thick with a mandoline or slicer. Place in a bowl and rinse under cold running water for 20 minutes. Drain through a colander, then spread out on a cloth and leave to dry for 20 minutes. Heat the vegetable oil to 140°C in a deep-fat fryer or a deep, heavy-based pan. Add the potato slices, a few at a time, and deep-fry until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon, transfer to a dish lined with kitchen paper and season with salt. Repeat until all the crisps are cooked. Set aside at room temperature.
Scatter the almonds evenly over a large baking sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 150°C/Gas Mark 2 for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are golden brown. Remove from the oven, set aside to cool and then transfer to a small bowl. Place a large, shallow, heavy-based pan over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute. Add 75g of the butter, allow to melt and then add the leeks and a generous pinch of salt. Cook for 6–7 minutes, stirring frequently, until the leeks are tender. Transfer them to a flat dish and set aside to cool.
TO SERVE
Remove the pata negra from the fridge so it can come to room temperature. Place a large, heavy-based ovenproof pan over a high heat and leave for 1 minute. Season all the sweetbreads with salt and pepper and coat them thoroughly but briefly in the flour. Add the grapeseed oil to the pan, followed by the sweetbreads. Keeping the pan over a high heat, fry the sweetbreads until they are golden underneath. Add 100g of the remaining butter, fry for 30 seconds longer, then turn the sweetbreads over. This process should take 3–4 minutes.
Transfer the pan to an oven preheated to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 and cook for 4–5 minutes. Remove from the oven, turn the sweetbreads over again and in the process put a sprig of thyme under each. Leave to rest for 5 minutes.
Warm up the salsify purée and the sauce. Heat the remaining 50g of butter in a large, heavy-based pan, add the girolles and a generous pinch of salt and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the leeks and the chicken stock and cook for a minute longer, stirring continuously to give a delicious, buttery mix of leeks and girolles.
Lay out 8 large preheated bowls. Divide the leeks and girolles between them, placing them to one side of each bowl. Add a spoonful of salsify purée to the other side of the bowl. Sit the sweetbreads on top of the mushrooms, cover it with the slices of pata negra and spoon enough sauce over the top to glaze completely. Add a generous pinch of almonds and completely surround the sweetbreads with potato crisps.
FILLET OF AGED AYRSHIRE BEEF WITH A CROUSTILLANT OF OXTAIL, BONE MARROW, CEPS AND SNAILS
SERVES 8
As much as there are more interesting cuts of beef to work with, there is nothing quite like a fillet steak and here, coated in a rich, red-wine-based oxtail sauce and garnished with snails, bone marrow and ceps, it forms the centrepiece of a dish that packs as big a punch as one could hope for.
OVERVIEW
The fillet steak is simply fried, then served with a rich red wine sauce based on the stock from braised oxtail. The oxtail meat itself is spiked with mushrooms and onion and formed into a crisp, potato-wrapped spring roll. The two are served with poached bone marrow, spinach and a sauté of ceps and snails with parsley and garlic. The dish is garnished with pieces of scorched onion.
FOCUS ON
Although fillet is a supremely tender cut, it can be lacking in flavour. It is therefore important to buy beef that has been aged, preferably dry aged, for at least 28 days. This yields a fuller, rounder and altogether more mature flavour.
The oxtail sauce is not cheap but is every bit as important as the beef itself and provides a decadent, enriching lubricant for the dish. Ensure you caramelise the oxtail fully.
Fresh snails are far superior to the canned variety and your investment in time and money will be rewarded (see Suppliers). Should you use canned, ensure they are well rinsed and try to buy small ones.
Fresh ceps are one of nature’s great gifts to the kitchen. If you cannot find them, simply use another variety.
To make the potato spaghetti for the croustillants, you need a Japanese-style ‘turning’ mandoline. If you don’t have one, replace the spaghetti with a thin layer of kataifi pastry or simply double-roll the croustillants in feuilles de brick.
KEY COMPONENTS
Oxtail sauce
Oxtail croustillants
Snails
TIMING
The bone marrow requires 24 hours’ soaking to remove any blood. The oxtail sauce, croustillant mix, snails and bone marrow can all be prepared a day in advance. The scorched onion can be cooked 2–3 hours in advance but sautéing the ceps, cooking the spinach and the fillet of beef and deep-frying the croustillants all need to be done at the last minute.
OXTAIL SAUCE
1 oxtail, cut into sections
100ml grapeseed oil
75g unsalted butter
1 Spanish onion, quartered
1 carrot, quartered
1 small leek, cut into 4
1 celery stick, cut into 5
10 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
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
750ml full-bodied red wine
500ml Veal Stock
OXTAIL CROUSTILLANTS
1 white onion, finely diced
2 large ceps or field mushrooms, peeled and finely diced
8 sheets of feuilles de brick
50g unsalted butter, melted
6 large Agria potatoes, or other good chipping potatoes
SNAILS
50 fresh snails or a 500g can of snails (if using canned snails, you won’t need the ingredients listed below)
25g unsalted butter
1 celery stick, cut in half
½ small leek, cut in half
1 small carrot, cut in half
15 button mushrooms, cut in half
1 bay leaf
a sprig of thyme
1 head of garlic, cut in half
OTHER INGREDIENTS
8 x 4cm lengths of marrowbone
2 large white onions
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
145g unsalted butter
1.2kg beef fillet (or 8 x 160g portions)
100ml grapeseed oil
16 medium-sized fresh ceps, peeled, quartered, washed and diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 dessertspoon flat-leaf parsley, cut into fine shreds
300g young spinach
1 litre vegetable oil, for deep-frying
METHOD
OXTAIL SAUCE
Place a large, heavy-based casserole over a high heat and leave for 2 minutes. Season the oxtail sections generously with salt and pepper. Add the oil to the pan and then add the oxtail pieces, cut-side down. Leave for 2 minutes or until they are dark brown, then turn them over, add the butter and colour the second side. Now turn them on to their sides and methodically colour all the edges. Remove the oxtail from the pan and add all the vegetables. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they have coloured evenly. Add the bouquet garni and peppercorns and place the oxtail back in the pan. Add the red wine and simmer until it has reduced by three-quarters. Add the veal stock and 2 litres of water. Bring to the boil, skim off any scum and then cook at a base simmer for 15 minutes. Skim off any more scum, cover with a lid and place in an oven preheated to 130°C/Gas Mark ¾. Cook for 3 hours, then check whether it is done by taking out a piece of oxtail to see if the meat pulls easily away from the bone; if it doesn’t, return to the oven and check every 15 minutes until this is the case. Set aside to cool.
Pour the contents of the casserole into a colander set over a large bowl, take out the pieces of oxtail and set aside. Discard the remaining solids. Pass the cooking liquor through a fine sieve into a saucepan, skim off all the fat from the surface and reserve for the croustillants. Boil the stock until it has reduced to 500ml; it should now be a rich, dark-red, meaty sauce. Adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Lift the meat off the oxtail bones and pick through it to ensure no small bones have found their way into it. Season with a little salt and pepper and set aside for the croustillants.
OXTAIL CROUSTILLANTS
Place a saucepan over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute. Add 50g of the fat from cooking the oxtail, followed by the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook for 3–4 minutes, until the onion is translucent and soft. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, for 3–4 minutes. Tip the mixture into a bowl and add 250g of the oxtail meat and 75ml of the oxtail sauce. Stir gently to combine but do not over mix or the meat will break up too much. If you are doing this a day in advance, cover and store in the fridge.
A couple of hours before cooking, lay out a sheet of feuilles de brick and trim the sides so it is 16cm wide. Trim the curved top and bottom off and brush with melted butter. Place 50g of the oxtail mix in a line 10cm wide at the end nearest you and then roll it, compressing as you go, into a ‘spring roll’, turning the excess feuilles de brick in towards the centre halfway through. Repeat with the remaining 7 sheets of feuilles de brick. Set aside in the fridge.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Peel the potatoes and, using a Japanese ‘turning’ mandoline, turn them into long, continuous strands of potato spaghetti. Plunge them into the boiling water for 15 seconds, then drain through a colander and refresh under cold running water. Carefully place these long bundles of potato on absorbent cloths and leave to dry for 1 hour.
Carefully feel your way through the potato, lifting it into manageable quantities, and one by one wrap the oxtail ‘spring rolls’ in a continuous, single layer of potato – starting at one end and finishing at the other. Cut as required and tuck the final strands back under the preceding ones to prevent it unravelling during frying. Set aside, covered, in the fridge.
SNAILS
If you are using fresh snails, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and plunge the snails into it for 30 seconds. Drain through a colander and refresh under cold running water. Using a toothpick or a small fork, extract the snails from their shells, trim off the intestinal tract and set aside, discarding the shells.
Place a heavy-based pan over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the butter, followed by the vegetables and a pinch of salt. Sauté for 4–5 minutes, until lightly coloured, then add the bay leaf, thyme and garlic and cook for a minute longer. Add the snails and 1 litre of water. Bring to the boil, season with salt, then cover and place in an oven preheated to 120°C/Gas Mark ½. Cook for 2½–3 hours, until the snails are tender. Let them cool in their liquor. Pass the contents of the pan through a colander, collecting the stock in a bowl underneath. Pick out the snails, transfer to a small bowl, cover with some of the cooking liquor and discard the remaining solids and stock. Chill the snails.
OTHER INGREDIENTS
Soak the marrowbones in cold salted water for 12 hours. If the water becomes bloody, discard it and cover the bones with fresh water. After 12 hours, carefully extract the marrow by pushing it out with a finger and then soak it in cold salted water for a further 12 hours. Drain, cover and chill.
TO SERVE
About an hour before serving, peel the 2 white onions. With the root end on the work surface, carefully cut vertically down through each onion so it is virtually cut in half – i.e. do not cut right the way through. Turn the onion through 90 degrees and similarly cut down again so it is now virtually cut into 4. In a similar way cut the onion 4 more times to give rise to 12 equally spaced cuts. Repeat with the second onion. Place the onions on a baking tray 15cm apart. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil. Put a 1cm cube of the butter on the apex of each onion and place in an oven preheated to 250°C/Gas Mark 10. After 10 minutes, turn the oven down to 170°C/Gas Mark 3 and baste the onions. They should have opened out like flowers. Cook for a further 30 minutes or until all the tips are blackened. Remove from the oven, season the centre of each onion and keep warm. If you have a whole fillet of beef, cut it into 8 equal steaks. Place 2 large, heavy-based frying pans over a high heat and leave for 2 minutes. Season the beef generously with salt and pepper. Add 50ml grapeseed oil to each pan and follow immediately with the steaks. Colour for 2–3 minutes on the first side, then turn and repeat on the second side. Add 50g butter to each pan, briefly turn the steaks on to their sides and roll them in the butter to seal. Turn them back on to the first side and place in an oven preheated to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Cook for 6 minutes, then remove from the oven, lift the steaks on to a rack to rest and return the pans to the hob, over a medium heat. Divide the ceps between the pans, add a pinch of salt and a twist of pepper and sauté over a high heat until golden. Drain the stock from the snails and add the snails to the ceps. Add the garlic and parsley and sauté for a further 30 seconds. Drain into a colander.
Melt 25g of the butter in a large pan, add the spinach and stir over a high heat until completely wilted, then drain through a colander. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Cut the bone marrow into 5mm-thick slices and poach for 2 minutes in the water. Drain, put the marrow on kitchen paper, season with salt and pepper and keep warm.
Heat the vegetable oil to 180°C in a deep-fat fryer or a deep, heavy-based pan. Carefully add the croustillants and deep-fry for 2–3 minutes, until golden brown. Break each onion into 4 pieces and warm them in the oven. Gently reheat the sauce. Lay out 8 preheated large plates. Place a pile of spinach on each one and sit a steak on top. Top and tail each croustillant, cut them in half and place 2 pieces on each plate. Garnish with the sauté of ceps and snails and a piece of onion. Spoon over a generous quantity of the sauce and finish with the bone marrow. Serve immediately.
BREAST OF GUINEA FOWL WITH BUTTERED VEGETABLES, HERB GNOCCHI AND SPRING TRUFFLE PESTO
SERVES 8
If an occasion calls for a simple, clean and light dish, this is a perfect choice. The time of year to serve a main course where the focus is on the vegetables is spring/early summer, when nature provides us with luxurious ingredients that are bursting with flavour and vitality. Despite all the advances in cooking techniques in professional kitchens, there is still a place for a simply cooked breast of guinea fowl.
OVERVIEW
The guinea fowl breasts are fried and gently roasted, then topped with a pesto made with grated spring white truffle, crushed hazelnuts and Parmesan. They are served with herb gnocchi and a light emulsion of spring vegetables: asparagus, peas, broad beans, young carrots, baby leeks and grelot onions. The emulsion is based on a vegetable stock.
FOCUS ON
Guinea fowl can be scrawny, so make sure you buy plump breasts weighing at least 180g each.
Spring white truffles from Italy are not so easy to get hold of but they have a unique flavour. Thankfully they are not too expensive, but at this time of year there are no alternatives.
A dish like this collapses if the vegetables are lacking. Buy local, use bunched carrots, and peas and broad beans that are still in the pod, and generally make sure the vegetables are crisp and fresh. It is also critical that they are not overcooked; they should be al dente when blanched ahead of time. Use well-iced water to refresh them, as described below.
Choose an extra virgin, cold-pressed hazelnut oil – it will make a world of difference.
KEY COMPONENTS
Truffle pesto
Herb gnocchi
Vegetables
Vegetable stock
TIMING
The truffle pesto can be made a day in advance. The herb gnocchi can be made up to 12 hours in advance but the preparation and blanching of all the vegetables should be done no more than 2 hours before serving. The vegetables stock is very quick to make and requires the asparagus peelings, so this too will be a last-minute task.
8 x 180g guinea fowl breasts, with wing bones attached
TRUFFLE PESTO
20g skinned hazelnuts
10g spring white truffle
20g Parmesan cheese
10ml grapeseed oil
40ml extra virgin cold pressed hazelnut oil
HERB GNOCCHI
2 large Agria potatoes or other baking potatoes
200g rock salt
40g ‘00’ pasta flour
35g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
35g egg
15g very finely chopped mix of parsley, tarragon, chervil and chives, stalks reserved
9g salt
VEGETABLES
16 English extra-select asparagus spears
600g peas in the pod
600g broad beans in the pod
16 young, small carrots
16 young, small leeks
16 grelot onions
24 small morel mushrooms
½ tablespoon olive oil
VEGETABLE STOCK
the trimmings from the grelot onions, above
250g pea pods, from above
asparagus peelings, from above
leek trimmings, from above
the herb stalks from the gnocchi, above
8 guinea fowl wings, from above
OTHER INGREDIENTS
4 tablespoons olive oil
100g unsalted butter
METHOD
Remove the wing bones from the guinea fowl. Trim any untidy bits from the breasts and set aside, covered, in the fridge. Chop the wing bones and set aside.
TRUFFLE PESTO
Place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and roast in an oven preheated to 170°C/Gas Mark 3 for 8–10 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven, cool, then transfer to a bowl. Using the end of a rolling pin, crush the hazelnuts finely.
Use a nailbrush to scrub the truffle gently under warm running water. Dry the truffle and grate it on a microplane into the hazelnuts. Grate the Parmesan into the bowl, season lightly with salt and a few twists of pepper, add the oils and stir to combine. Cover and chill.
HERB GNOCCHI
Wet the potatoes under cold running water. Place half the rock salt on a baking tray, stud it with the potatoes, prick them with a fork and sprinkle them with the remaining salt. Transfer to an oven preheated to 170°C/Gas Mark 3 and cook for 1¼ hours or until they are completely tender. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 20 minutes, then cut them in half and scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Pass this through the fine mesh of a drum sieve or through a potato ricer. Take 150g of the potato flesh, place it in a bowl and add the flour, Parmesan, egg, herbs, salt and some pepper. Using a slicing action with a table knife, chop the flour into the potato until well combined. Turn out on to a well-floured surface and knead briefly into a smooth dough. Leave to rest for 5 minutes.
Place a large pan of salted water on to boil. Dust the work surface with flour, cut the gnocchi dough in half and roll one half into a long sausage, 1.5cm in diameter. Cut it into 1cm lengths, separate them out slightly and gently press the surface of each with the back of a fork – just hard enough to leave an imprint. Using a spatula, transfer all the gnocchi to a sheet of baking parchment. Repeat this procedure for the second half of the dough – you should have at least 32 gnocchi.
Lift up the gnocchi on the baking parchment and tip them into the pan of water. Let it return to the boil, then turn down the heat and cook at a base simmer for 2–3 minutes, until they float to the surface. Lift out the gnocchi, refresh in a bowl of iced water for 2 minutes, then drain. Lay them on a tray lined with a kitchen cloth, cover and chill.
VEGETABLES
Bring 2 large pans of salted water to the boil. Trim the bottom 2.5cm off the asparagus spears and peel them as lightly as possible, reserving the stalks and peelings. Set aside. Pop the peas and broad beans out of their pods, keeping them separate, discard the broad bean pods and roughly chop the pea pods. Set aside. Trim the tops of the carrots, leaving about 5mm stalk still attached. Using a lightly abrasive scourer, gently scrub the carrots. Rinse them and set aside, covered in water. Trim any root from the base of the leeks, remove the dark green tops and, if tatty or dry, take off the outside layer. Reserve the trimmings. Rinse the leeks and set aside, covered in cold water. Similarly trim both ends of the grelot onions and remove any outer layers. Set aside. Trim the base of the morel stalks and plunge the mushrooms into a sink of cold water. Agitate for 30 seconds, remove from the water, dry in a salad spinner and then set aside, covered, on a tray lined with a kitchen cloth.
Drop the asparagus spears into one of the pans of boiling water and cook for 1–2 minutes or until al dente. Remove and refresh in well-iced water for 2 minutes. Drain and lay on a tray lined with a kitchen cloth. Add the peas to the water and cook for 3–4 minutes, until just tender. Drain, refresh in iced water and set aside. Add the broad beans to the pan and cook for 1 minute or until just tender. Drain, refresh, remove from the iced water and pop them out of their thin skins. Place the carrots in the second pan and cook until just al dente. Drain, refresh and set aside.
Place a heavy-based pan over a low heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the olive oil followed by the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook gently for 5 minutes, without letting the onions colour. Add 100ml water, cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes longer. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
VEGETABLE STOCK
Place the vegetable trimmings and the guinea fowl wings in a pan, cover with 500ml water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Pass through a colander, discard the solids and pass the stock through a fine sieve. Set aside to cool.
TO SERVE
Place 2 large, heavy-based frying pans over a high heat and leave for 1 minute. Season the guinea fowl breasts with salt and pepper, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to each pan and lay 4 breasts in each pan, skin-side down. Cook for 2 minutes or until the skin is golden. Turn the breasts over and seal for 30 seconds. Turn them back on to the skin side, cook for a further 30 seconds and then transfer them to a roasting tray. Place in an oven preheated to 140°C/Gas Mark 1 and cook for 8–10 minutes, then remove from the oven and set aside in a warm place to rest.
Divide the grelot onions and their cooking liquor between 2 saucepans and add 200ml of the vegetable stock to each. Cut the asparagus spears into 3, on the diagonal, and divide between the pans, along with the remaining cooked vegetables.
Place a large, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat, add 25g of the butter and swirl the pan to melt it. Add the morels and a pinch of salt and sauté for 2 minutes, until softened. Divide the morels and the butter between the pans of vegetables. Return the frying pan to a medium heat, add 25g butter, swirl the pan to melt the butter and place all the gnocchi, imprinted-side down, into the pan. Cook for 1 minute or until lightly coloured, then turn them all over and remove the pan from the heat.
Divide the remaining butter between the 2 saucepans, place them over a high heat and bring quickly to the boil, swirling the pan to mix the contents and emulsify the butter. Taste the emulsion and season as required.
Coat each guinea fowl breast with a generous spoonful of the pesto.
Lay out 8 preheated large shallow bowls and divide the vegetables between them. Sit a guinea fowl breast in each and garnish with the gnocchi. Serve immediately.
BRAISED VEAL CHEEK WITH HAND-ROLLED MACARONI, CAULIFLOWER AND TRUFFLE
SERVES 8
So many braised dishes are dull, as the meat can be dry. Cheek has a very high collagen content, with veins of it running throughout. When cooked, this gives rise to meat with a phenomenal texture and richness. Here, combined with macaroni and truffle, the veal is surprisingly decadent and luxurious for a humble stew.
OVERVIEW
The veal cheeks are braised slowly in a fully flavoured mushroom stock. They are served with crushed cauliflower – that is, cauliflower cheese that has been lightly broken down with a fork – and a fricassee of hand-rolled (optional) macaroni, Swiss chard and salsify.
FOCUS ON
Carefully browning the meat before you braise it. This has a significant impact on the outcome of the dish.
Braised dishes that taste dry are the result of overcooking – either too hot or too long, or both. Take care with this. Ensure that the pot is never more than just ticking over.
The hand-rolled macaroni are a fantastic refinement but good bought macaroni would more than suffice. If you intend to make the macaroni yourself, the pasta dough must be firm (see Firm Pasta Dough).
Vegetables such as salsify and Swiss chard are delicate in flavour and require plenty of love and careful seasoning to bring their qualities to the dish.
KEY COMPONENTS
Braised veal
Macaroni
Cauliflower cheese
Finishing the sauce
TIMING
The veal can be cooked and the cooking liquor reduced to the finished sauce a day, or even two, in advance. The pasta dough is best made the day before, but the macaroni and all the vegetable components must be made on the day. There is, however, no last-minute cooking for this dish.
BRAISED VEAL
16 veal cheeks
100g plain flour
100ml grapeseed oil
100g unsalted butter
1 onion, quartered
1 carrot, quartered
1 leek, quartered
1 celery stick, quartered
250g button mushrooms, cut in half
1 calf’s foot, split in half lengthways
1 bay leaf
10 peppercorns
a sprig of thyme
500ml Veal Stock
MACARONI
1 quantity of Firm Pasta Dough
CAULIFLOWER CHEESE
50g onion, finely sliced
50g leek, finely sliced
90g unsalted butter
400ml milk
1 bay leaf
1 large, firm, heavy cauliflower
40g plain flour
75g Beaufort cheese, grated
75g Parmesan cheese, grated
TO FINISH THE SAUCE:
150g shallots, finely sliced
200g button mushrooms, finely sliced
50g unsalted butter
400ml white wine
OTHER INGREDIENTS
50g plain flour
4 thin sticks of salsify, about 20cm long
juice of ½ lemon
4 Swiss chard stalks
75ml crème fraîche
1 Périgord truffle, finely grated on a microplane
METHOD
BRAISED VEAL
The backbone of flavour of any braised dish comes from the initial caramelisation of the meat and vegetables. The extent to which you do this varies from dish to dish but it is a critical point, the importance of which cannot be overestimated. Place a large, heavy-based casserole on the stove over a high heat and leave for 3–4 minutes. Trim any excess skin and membrane off the cheeks and pat them dry with a cloth. Transfer to a large tray, season with salt and pepper and press each side of each cheek into the flour on a plate. Pour the oil into the pan and add the cheeks (you will probably have to cook them in batches). Veal goes a rich golden colour when caramelised; do not take it past this point. Turn the cheeks when the underside is just golden, then add a little of the butter with each batch of cheeks and caramelise the second side. Turn the cheeks over a couple more times to ensure a thorough colouring is achieved. If at any stage it looks as if the butter is going to burn, turn down the heat. Remove the cheeks from the pan. Add all the vegetables to the pan with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly coloured all over. Return the meat to the pan, add the calf’s foot, bay leaf, peppercorns and thyme and cover with water. Bring to the boil and skim off any scum. Let the mixture tick over for 5 minutes and then skim again. Add the veal stock, cover with a lid or a disc of baking parchment and transfer to an oven preheated to 110°C/Gas Mark ¼. Cook for 1½ hours, then check 2 or 3 pieces of veal; it should feel supple and tender, but still have some bite to it. If it feels firm, return it to the oven and check for tenderness every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool to room temperature.
Lift out the cheeks, place on a tray, season gently with a pinch of salt and then cover with cling film. Strain the stock through a colander, discarding the vegetables, and then pass through a fine sieve. The stock can be chilled at this point or made into the finished sauce – see below.
MACARONI
Roll out the pasta dough and make the macaroni as described on Rolling Fresh Pasta and Making Macaroni. You will need 64 macaroni.
CAULIFLOWER CHEESE
Sweat the onion and leek in 30g of the butter with a pinch of salt for 2–3 minutes, until softened. Add the milk and bay leaf, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Leave to cool for 15 minutes, then pass through a sieve and set aside. Break the cauliflower into large florets and boil in a pan of salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and place in an ovenproof dish.
Melt the remaining butter in a pan over a high heat. When it begins to smell nutty, turn the heat down, add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Now gradually add the milk, stirring all the time, until you have a smooth white sauce. Return to the boil and cook for 1 minute. Add the Beaufort and Parmesan and stir until smooth. Season to taste.
Spoon the sauce generously over the cauliflower, cover with foil and bake in an oven preheated to 170°C/Gas Mark 3 for 25 minutes, removing the foil for the last 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool to room temperature.
TO FINISH THE SAUCE
Sweat the shallots and button mushrooms in the butter with a pinch of salt for 2–3 minutes. Add the white wine and cook until it has completely evaporated. Add the veal cheek braising liquor, bring to the boil and skim. Simmer until reduced by half; you should have 800ml left. Pass through a fine sieve into a clean pan, return to the heat and taste the sauce. It should have a beautiful, rounded flavour and enough body to coat the back of a spoon. If it lacks body, make a paste with a teaspoon of cornflour and a tablespoon of water and add it to the simmering sauce bit by bit until you have achieved the desired consistency. Set aside.
OTHER INGREDIENTS
Whisk the flour into 100ml water and pour into a large pan containing 4 litres of cold water. This is called a blanc and will keep the salsify and Swiss chard white during cooking. Season with salt and bring to the boil. Peel the salsify and place in a bowl of water with the lemon juice. Remove the top from the Swiss chard by snapping off the leafy part and removing any strings from the stalk in the process. Discard the tops. Cut the stalks into pieces approximately 10cm x 3cm. Cut the salsify as required to fit into the pot. Place the salsify in the blanc, turn the heat right down and cook for 10–15 minutes, until just tender. Lift out the salsify with a slotted spoon and allow to cool to room temperature. Similarly cook the chard stalks for 6–¬8 minutes, until tender. Once the vegetables are cool, cut the chard across into 3mm pieces and the salsify into diagonal slices 3mm thick. Set aside in the fridge.
TO SERVE
Reheat the veal by putting all but 200ml of the sauce into an ovenproof pan, adding the cheeks, bringing to a simmer, then covering with the lid and placing in the oven at 130°C/Gas Mark ¾. Leave for 30 minutes, turning the cheeks from time to time. Reheat the cauliflower cheese in the same oven. When it is hot, remove from the oven and lightly crush the cauliflower with a fork to give a coarse-textured mix. Cover with foil and keep hot.
Plunge the macaroni into a large pan of boiling salted water for 15 seconds. Drain well, transfer to a large pan and add 4 tablespoons of sauce from the cheeks, plus the crème fraîche and grated truffle. Stir carefully to coat the pasta, then taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Add the salsify and Swiss chard to the macaroni and heat through for 1 minute, tossing constantly.
Place a spoonful of the cauliflower into each of 8 preheated large bowls and place the macaroni on top. Place 2 veal cheeks on the macaroni and coat generously with the reserved 200ml sauce.
ROAST RUMP OF VEAL WITH TRUFFLED SPATZLE, CALF’S TONGUE, GRILLED LEEKS AND SALSIFY
SERVES 8
Rump of veal is one of the great cuts of meat. It has all the delicate qualities of veal but is full of flavour and character. Served here with truffled spätzle, it makes a supremely elegant dish and is brought to life with the inclusion of Parmesan.
OVERVIEW
A small rump of veal is gently roasted in butter and served with finely sliced calf’s tongue, truffled spätzle, cauliflower purée, grilled leeks and glazed salsify. The dish is sauced simply with the reduced roasting juices.
FOCUS ON
The cooking of the veal – undercooked veal will still be tender but will have no flavour at all, while overcooked veal will be lean and bland. If possible, use a temperature probe.
Seasoning the spätzle. Ensure the spätzle mix, its cooking water and final butter emulsion all get seasoned to lift this garnish to the utterly delicious state it should be.
Do not overcook the calf’s tongue.
KEY COMPONENTS
Spätzle
Cauliflower purée
Calf’s tongue
Rump of veal
TIMING
The spätzle and cauliflower purée can be cooked the day before. The calf’s tongue must be cooked the day before. The salsify and leeks can be prepared and cooked in the morning and finished at the last minute. The rump of veal should be roasted an hour before it is carved.
SPÄTZLE
250g plain flour
10g salt
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
25ml milk
¼ teaspoon truffle oil
8g fresh Périgord truffle
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
CAULIFLOWER PURÉE
400g cauliflower florets, finely chopped
250ml whipping cream
CALF’S TONGUE
½ onion
½ leek
1 carrot
1 celery stick
50g unsalted butter
1 calf’s tongue
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
20 black peppercorns
RUMP OF VEAL
1 rump of veal, weighing about 1.2kg
2 tablespoons olive oil
100g unsalted butter
100g shallots, sliced
½ leek, sliced
100g button mushrooms, quartered
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 bay leaf
a sprig of thyme
500ml Brown Chicken Stock (see Brown Chicken Stock)
OTHER INGREDIENTS
500g salsify, 1.5cm thick
juice of ½ lemon
50g plain flour
4 long, slim leeks
200ml Chicken Stock
100g unsalted butter
100g Parmesan cheese
METHOD
SPÄTZLE
Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and mix together. Add the eggs, yolks, milk and truffle oil and mix to a firm paste. Grate the truffle into the mixture using a microplane, then cover and set aside at room temperature for 1 hour.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Using a spatula, press the mixture through the holes of a colander to ‘dribble’ it into the boiling water. Once all the mix is in, leave it to cook for 3 minutes, keeping the water at a simmer. When the spätzle are done, they will float to the surface and feel firm to the touch if you lift one out and squeeze it. Drain through a colander, rinse under cold running water, toss with the grapeseed oil and transfer to a stainless steel bowl. Set aside, covered, in the fridge.
CAULIFLOWER PURÉE
Place the cauliflower and a generous pinch of salt into a medium heavy-based pan. Cover with the cream, bring to the boil over a gentle heat, then cover the pan and cook at a base simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat, leave to stand for 15 minutes, then pour into a blender and blend to a smooth, velvety purée. Pass through a fine sieve, season if required and set aside in a bowl to cool. Cover and transfer to the fridge.
Peel the vegetables and cut them into 3cm pieces. Place a heavy-based casserole over a medium heat and leave for 2 minutes. Add the butter, allow it to melt, then add the vegetables and a generous pinch of salt and sauté until just golden. Add the tongue, bouquet garni, peppercorns and just enough water to cover. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and place in an oven preheated to 120°C/Gas Mark ½. Cook for 2 hours, then check the tongue by piercing it with a metal skewer. While the skewer should penetrate without force, the tongue should only just resist it. Continue cooking the tongue if it feels too firm, but check every 5 minutes until it is cooked. If it is overcooked, the interior will disintegrate and render it inedible. Remove from the oven and leave until cool enough to handle. Lift out the tongue and carefully peel off the thick outer ‘skin’. Return the tongue to the cooking liquor until thoroughly cooled, then remove it, wrap in cling film and place in the fridge. Once chilled and firm, take 8 very thin slices along the length of the tongue – preferably using a meat slicer – and store in the fridge, interleaved with baking parchment.
RUMP OF VEAL
Place the rump of veal on a chopping board skin-side down and trim off any visible sinew and excess fat. A rump of veal is a large single muscle with another small triangular one tucked between this muscle and the external layer of fat on the underside. This should be clearly identifiable with careful inspection and the two can be teased and separated by cutting with a knife between the 2 muscles and the skin. Cut the large muscle into 3 strips – cutting in line with the grain of the meat, which you can easily see. An average rump of veal will serve 12 people, so you may wish to reserve the triangular piece of meat for another dish. Set the rump aside in the fridge.
OTHER INGREDIENTS
Peel the salsify quickly and top and tail it. Place it in a large bowl of water acidulated with the lemon juice. Whisk the flour into 100ml cold water, place it in a large heavy-based pan, then add 2 litres of water. Season with 15g of salt and bring to the boil, whisking occasionally. This ‘blanc’ will help to keep the salsify white. Add the salsify and cook for 10–15 minutes, until just tender. Remove from the pan and place on a tray to cool. Cut into 4cm lengths and set aside, covered, in the fridge.
Bring a large pan of generously salted water to the boil. Trim the roots off the leeks and trim each leek to 15cm. If the leeks are wider than 2cm, take the outer layers off to reduce them to this size. Place the leeks in the boiling water and cook for about 3 minutes, until tender. Remove from the water, place on a tray lined with kitchen paper, and allow to steam dry for 5 minutes. Place, uncovered, in the fridge.
TO COOK THE VEAL
Place a large, shallow, heavy-based casserole over a high heat and leave for 2 minutes. Season the veal generously with salt and pepper. Add the olive oil to the pan, followed by the veal, and seal it until golden brown on all sides. Add the butter, let it foam up, roll the veal in it, then remove the meat from the pan and set aside. Add the shallots, leek and mushrooms to the pan and fry over a high heat for 5 minutes, until lightly coloured. Add the garlic, bay leaf, thyme and brown chicken stock, bring to the boil and return the veal to the pan. Place in an oven preheated to 170°C/Gas Mark 3 and cook for roughly 15 minutes. The veal should feel supple and springy when gently squeezed and the core temperature should be 48°C if using a temperature probe. Remove the veal from the pan and set aside at room temperature to rest. Place the pan back on the hob, turn the heat up and boil until the liquid has reduced to 160ml – at which point it should be just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pass through a colander and then through a fine sieve. Transfer to a small pan, adjust the seasoning if necessary and set aside.
TO SERVE
Bring three-quarters of the chicken stock to the boil and add 50g of the butter, a pinch of salt and the spätzle to the pan. Stir to combine and heat through. Remove from the heat and keep warm. Warm the cauliflower purée up in a small pan. Cut the leeks in half lengthways, melt 25g of the remaining butter in a large frying pan, add the leeks, cut-side down, and gently colour for 1 minute.
Place the remaining chicken stock in a pan, bring to the boil, then add the salsify and the remaining 25g butter. Toss the salsify until hot and coated in the chicken stock and butter emulsion.
Lay out 8 preheated large plates. Lay a slice of tongue across the centre of each and cross this with a line of spätzle. Carve the veal and sprinkle the cut surface of the meat with some fine sea salt. Lay the veal over the spätzle and surround it with several small pools of cauliflower purée. Garnish with some leeks and salsify and finish with a small quantity of sauce and some grated Parmesan.
RUMP OF SPRING LAMB WITH A JERSEY ROYAL AND BROAD BEAN CROQUETTE, GRELOT ONIONS, PEAS AND MINT
SERVES 8
A rump of spring lamb is almost the perfect piece of meat. Incredibly tender and bursting with magical flavours, it is one of the cuts I never tire of using. Here it is served with a broad bean croquette, lightly braised new season’s grelot onions, peas and mint – a collection of ingredients that have such an affinity with each other that to do anything else with the lamb at this time of year would be a crime.
OVERVIEW
The rump of lamb is gently roasted in butter. Jersey Royals are boiled, mashed with a fork and mixed with crushed broad beans, Parmesan and cream, to be shaped into croquettes and deep-fried. The carved lamb is placed on a bed of crushed carrot with lightly braised new season’s grelot onions, finished with baby spinach and peas, and sauced with a light lamb and mint jus thickened with a little butter.
FOCUS ON
Spring lamb starts to appear towards the end of March but accessing top-quality lamb is easier said than done, as it is mixed with older and barn-reared lamb, two completely different beasts. Discuss well in advance with your butcher and order as advised.
The sauce should be a light, delicate affair, not dark and heavy. It will look pale but, with careful cooking and seasoning, it will be as sprightly as the lamb.
Grelot onions are small, bulbous spring onions. If these are not available, ordinary spring onions would suffice.
There is nothing quite like a sweet fresh pea, but my single invitation to the freezer in this book would be to use frozen petits pois if you can’t get really good fresh peas. A woody, bland, tasteless fresh pea has no place on this plate.
Use organic carrots – commercially farmed carrot varieties have no sweetness and flavour.
KEY COMPONENTS
Lamb sauce
Broad bean croquettes
Crushed carrots
Grelot onions
TIMING
Spring dishes are full of delicate flavours that require mostly last-minute attention. However, the sauce for the lamb and the broad bean croquette mix can be made the day before. The croquettes can be formed 4 hours in advance, chilled to firm them up and coated in crumbs up to 2 hours before serving. The onions and crushed carrots can be cooked up to an hour in advance. The peas are added to the onions at the last minute. The rumps of lamb should be cooked no more than 45 minutes before serving and require a good 10 minutes’ resting.
LAMB
8 x 200g boned rumps of new season’s lamb (ask your butcher to reserve the bones and chop them for you)
LAMB SAUCE
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
the bones and trimmings from the rumps of lamb
10g unsalted butter
4 shallots, sliced
½ small leek, sliced
½ small carrot, chopped
½ celery stick, sliced
1 teaspoon plain flour
2.5 litres Chicken Stock
a sprig of mint
BROAD BEAN CROQUETTES
175g Jersey Royal potatoes, scrubbed until white
125g shelled broad beans
50ml crème fraîche
55g Parmesan cheese, grated
10 mint leaves, finely sliced
100g panko breadcrumbs
50g plain flour
2 eggs, beaten with a fork
CRUSHED CARROTS
6 organic carrots
225g unsalted butter, diced
a generous pinch of sugar
GRELOT ONIONS
24 grelot onions
150g unsalted butter
OTHER INGREDIENTS
4 tablespoons grapeseed oil
15g unsalted butter
1 litre vegetable oil, for deep-frying
320g shelled fresh peas
200g baby spinach leaves
8 mint leaves
METHOD
LAMB
The rumps of lamb should be neat, tidy, rectangular pieces of meat. Trim any loose pieces from the rumps and add them to the bones. Cover and chill the meat.
LAMB SAUCE
Place a large, shallow, heavy-based ovenproof pan over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute, then add the oil. Add the lamb bones and trimmings and colour gently for 3–4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the butter, allow it to melt, then stir in the vegetables and a small pinch of salt. Transfer to an oven preheated to 170°C/Gas Mark 3 and cook for 25 minutes or until everything has coloured lightly. Place the pan back on the hob. Stir in the flour, pour over the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and cook at a bare simmer for 1 hour. Drain through a colander, discard the solids and pass the stock through a fine conical sieve into a clean pan. Cook at a rolling boil until it has reduced to 450ml and is just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Taste this; it should be full of flavour. Season if required, add the mint and set aside. Remove the mint after 5 minutes.
BROAD BEAN CROQUETTES
Put the Jersey Royals into a pan of salted water set over a medium heat, bring to the boil and cook for 15 minutes or so, until they are tender. Meanwhile, add the broad beans to a pan of boiling water and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain, refresh in iced water, then drain again and pop them out of their thin skins. Set aside. Drain the potatoes, leave to steam dry for 2–3 minutes and crush them with a fork. Similarly crush the broad beans and add them to the potato, along with the crème fraîche, Parmesan and mint. Mix to a rich, textured croquette mix, then check the seasoning and adjust if necessary. Place in the fridge for at least an hour to firm up.
Divide into 16 portions. Roll each into a perfect cylinder and chill again. Transfer to the freezer 30 minutes before coating in crumbs.
Place the crumbs, flour and eggs in 3 shallow dishes. One by one, roll the board bean croquettes first in the flour, then in the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs. If they are too soft to handle, leave them in the freezer for longer. Place the coated croquettes on a small tray, cover and leave in the fridge.
CRUSHED CARROTS
Peel the carrots, cut them in half lengthways and cut each in half lengthways again. Cut across to yield rough 1cm dice; discard the tops. Place in a heavy-based pan, add enough water to half cover them and then add the butter. Season with the sugar and a small pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat, cover with a lid and cook at a bare simmer until the carrots are completely tender. Turn off the heat, leave to rest for 5 minutes, then drain off and reserve the liquid. Crush the carrots in a shallow dish with a fork. Add enough of the cooking liquor to them to give a light, buttery, textured mix. Taste and season with salt and sugar as required.
GRELOT ONIONS
Carefully trim off any root from the onions and cut the tops away to leave 3cm remaining. If the outside layer of the onions is dry or damaged, remove it. Cut the onions in half through the root. Place 2 large, heavy-based casseroles over a medium heat, divide the butter between them and swirl the pans to melt it. Divide the onions between the pans and cook, swirling gently so as not to break up the onions, for 3–4 minutes, until they have softened slightly. Add a pinch of salt and a twist or two of pepper to each pan, then pour 300ml water into each one, cover and transfer to an oven preheated to 150°C/Gas Mark 2. Cook for 5 minutes, then return the pans to the hob. Cook, uncovered, over a medium heat until the stock has glazed the onions. Turn off the heat and set aside at room temperature.
TO SERVE
Remove the lamb from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Place 2 large, heavy-based frying pans over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute. Season the lamb on both sides with salt and pepper. Divide the grapeseed oil between the pans and place the lamb in it, fat-side down. Leave for 1–2 minutes, until golden brown underneath. Turn the rumps over and seal for 30 seconds. Return them to the skin side, add the butter and roll the rumps in it. Transfer to a roasting tray, skin-side up, pour over the fat and roast in an oven preheated to 140°C/Gas Mark 1 for 14–16 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes in a warm place.
Pour the vegetable oil into a deep-fat fryer or a deep heavy-based pan; it should be no more than two-thirds full. Heat to 180°C.
Heat the onions up over a medium heat, add the peas and spinach and cook for 2 minutes, until the spinach has wilted and mixed in evenly with the onions and peas.
Place the croquettes in the hot oil and deep-fry for about 2 minutes, until golden brown. Lift out and drain on kitchen paper.
Warm through the crushed carrots. Warm through the sauce. Cut the mint into fine shreds and add it to the sauce, then tip in any juices from the lamb. Carve the rumps of lamb, cutting across the wider side through the skin into about 6 slices each. Place them back on the roasting tray and warm through in the oven for 1 minute.
Lay out 8 preheated large bowls. Place a mound of carrot in the centre of each and surround with the onion and pea mix. Place the carved lamb on top of the carrots, coat with a spoonful of the lamb sauce and garnish with the broad bean croquettes and onions.
BREAST OF CHICKEN WITH A SAVOURY BAKED POTATO, CARAMELISED ONION, LARDONS, CHANTERELLES AND RED WINE
SERVES 8
Volumes have been written on how to roast a perfect chicken and I too take great pleasure in sitting down to tuck into a whole roast bird. However, a carefully fried and roasted breast of chicken is a delicious thing. Quick, simple and full of flavour, and here served with a petite but wholesome chicken-liver-spiked baked potato, the humble chicken provides a solution to the perfect autumn lunch.
OVERVIEW
The breasts of chicken are fried in butter and briefly roasted in the oven. They are served with a small baked potato that has been scooped out and the contents mixed with onions, lardons and chicken livers. The dish is garnished with chanterelles, caramelised onion and spinach and finished with a red wine sauce mixed with the roasting juices.
FOCUS ON
No creature has suffered more than the chicken, the result of modern farming methods, and at the very least you should source breasts from free-range birds. Not only will this ensure that the birds’ brief lives were enjoyable but it will also provide you with an ingredient worth cooking.
Make sure you completely empty the potato when you scoop it out. The luxurious mix will yield a refined end product if it is not set back into a potato with turgid, dense walls.
The onions need to be coloured hard to caramelise the surface and roasted thoroughly to ensure that they are soft and juicy – do not rush this process. Try to source Roscoff onions. Failing that, a medium white onion would be preferable to any other.
There are several types of chanterelles. Try to find the delicate, yellow European variety.
KEY COMPONENTS
Red wine sauce
Baked potatoes
Caramelised onions
TIMING
The sauce can be prepared the day before. The rest of the dish must be done on the day. The potatoes can be baked 3 hours in advance, the filling can then be made and the potatoes refilled. They simply need reheating before serving. The onions can be caramelised and cooked an hour before serving, leaving only cooking the chicken, chanterelles and spinach as last-minute tasks.
CHICKEN
8 boneless chicken breasts, skin on, weighing 180–200g each
RED WINE SAUCE
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
500g chicken wings, chopped
50g pancetta, diced
125g shallots, sliced
125g button mushrooms, quartered
50g unsalted butter
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of thyme
500ml red wine
200ml Brown Chicken Stock (see Brown Chicken Stock)
200ml Veal Stock
250ml Chicken Stock
BAKED POTATOES
8 Charlotte or Roseval potatoes, about 6cm x 3cm
250g rock salt
75g chicken livers
80g unsalted butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
75g pancetta, trimmed and finely diced
1 sprig of tarragon about
25ml milk
CARAMELISED ONIONS
4 Roscoff or medium white onions
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
50g unsalted butter
OTHER INGREDIENTS
250g yellow chanterelle mushrooms
240g spinach
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
100g unsalted butter
METHOD
CHICKEN
Trim the chicken breasts of any scraggy bits, then place them on a tray, skin-side up, cover and chill.
RED WINE SAUCE
Place a large, shallow heavy-based pan over a high heat and leave for 2 minutes. Add the oil, followed by the chicken wings and a small pinch of salt. Allow the wings to cook for 1–2 minutes, until they are a rich golden colour on the underside. Stir the wings, scraping the bottom of the pan if necessary, and leave to colour for about 2 minutes longer. Stir again and continue this process until the wings are evenly coloured. Stir in the pancetta, shallots and mushrooms and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until the vegetables have coloured similarly. Add the butter, bay leaf and thyme and cook for a minute longer. Add the red wine, bring to the boil and cook until it has reduced by three-quarters. Add the stocks, bring back to the boil, turn down the heat and cook at a bare simmer for 45 minutes. Turn off the heat, leave to sit for 15 minutes, then pass through a colander. Discard the solids and pass the stock through a fine conical sieve into a clean saucepan. Place over a high heat, bring to the boil and simmer until reduced to 400ml. This should now be a full-bodied, flavourful sauce. Season if necessary and set aside.
BAKED POTATOES
Wet the potatoes, sprinkle half the salt on to a small tray, stud with the potatoes and sprinkle with the remaining salt. Place the potatoes in an oven preheated to 190°C/Gas Mark 5 and cook for 35 minutes or until completely tender. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for 15 minutes.
Trim any excess veins from the chicken livers and, using a large knife with a rocking motion, chop them to a pulp. Place a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat for 1 minute. Add 20g of the butter, swirl the pan to melt it, then add the livers and a pinch of salt. Sauté for 3–4 minutes, stirring constantly, until you have a crumb-like mix. Turn off the heat and set aside.
Place a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat, add 20g of the remaining butter, swirl the pan to melt it, then add the shallots and a pinch of salt. Cook for 3–4 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the pancetta, cook for 2 minutes longer, then stir in the chicken livers and remove from the heat.
Finely chop the leaves from the tarragon sprig. Carefully cut the tops off the potatoes, reserving them, and scoop all the flesh out into a bowl. Mash with a fork and add the remaining butter. Mix well and add enough of the milk to create a light, buttery mix. Add the liver mix and tarragon, stir to combine, check the seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper as necessary. Gently refill the potato skins, cover with their tops and set aside at room temperature.
CARAMELISED ONIONS
Cut the onions in half through the root, leaving the skin on. Place a heavy-based frying pan, just large enough to hold the onion halves in a single layer, over a high heat and leave for 1 minute. Add the oil, sprinkle a pinch of salt over the base of the pan, then add the onions, cut-side down. Turn the heat down to medium and fry the onions until they have a rich, dark hazelnut-brown colour. Add the butter, let it melt and transfer the pan to an oven preheated to 170°C/Gas Mark 3. Cook for 20 minutes, squeeze an onion to check it is completely soft and then set aside, still in the pan.
OTHER INGREDIENTS
Trim the base of the chanterelle stalks, plunge the mushrooms into a sink of cold water, agitate for 30 seconds, then lift them out, dry in a salad spinner and transfer to a tray lined with a kitchen cloth. Cover and chill. Similarly, pick the stalks off the spinach, wash it and spin dry. Set aside in the fridge.
TO SERVE
Reheat the potatoes in an oven preheated to 150°C/Gas Mark 2 for 15 minutes. Place 2 large, heavy-based non-stick frying pans over a medium heat and leave for 1 minute. Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper and add 1 tablespoon of the grapeseed oil to each pan. Place the chicken skin-side down in the pans and cook for 1–2 minutes, until the skin is crisp and golden brown. Turn over and seal for 30 seconds. Add 50g of the butter, allow it to melt and then transfer the breasts to a roasting tray. Tip the butter over them and place in the oven with the potatoes for 8–10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to rest for 5 minutes.
Place the onions in the oven for 5 minutes. Put a large, heavy-based saucepan over a high heat. Add 25g of the butter to the pan, swirl it to melt the butter, then add the spinach and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the spinach has wilted, then drain through a colander. Place the pan back over the heat, add the remaining butter, allow it to melt, then add the chanterelles, a pinch of salt and a few twists of pepper. Cook for 2–3 minutes, until the moisture released from the mushrooms has evaporated.
Heat up the sauce, tip any buttery juices from the chicken tray into it and whisk briefly. Carve each breast into 6 slices, return them to the roasting tray and, when all are carved, warm through in the oven for 2 minutes.
Lay out 8 preheated large plates. Place a small pile of spinach at the top of each and stud with a potato. Dip a pastry brush into the sauce and brush the top of each potato with it. Place a bed of chanterelles at the front of each plate, carefully put a chicken breast on top of the mushrooms, then place half an onion to the side. Spoon a generous quantity of sauce over the chicken and serve immediately.
Breast of Chicken with a Savoury Baked Potato, Caramelised Onion, Lardons, Chanterelles and Red Wine
REFINEMENT – A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD?
Food is at its best when it is delicious, comforting, beautiful, nutritious and refined. A gain in any of the first four factors will invariably bring about a net improvement to the dish – as long as any one factor is not at the expense of another.
Refinement is more complicated. The process of removing ‘impurities’ or ‘unwanted elements’ from a dish to ‘reduce it to its pure state’ can be achieved by making small changes. In culinary terms, refinement also perhaps insinuates improvement through gentle elaboration. It may well be that an ‘old-fashioned’ component (a flour-based sauce, for example) is brought up to date. Imagine a perfect dish – one that achieves full marks in the delicious, comforting, beautiful and nutritious stakes. It is correct in every way, supremely satisfying to eat and furthermore is seasonal and comes with outstanding moral and ethical credentials. It may be the case, however, from a chef’s perspective, that the only problem with the dish is that it lacks refinement. At The Square, for example, I think the cooking has great integrity and honesty but I am very aware that it has to be pitched at a certain level of refinement for it to be in keeping with the overall product we strive to offer. The key factor in the process of refining is to be aware of the point where the paring back, polishing up and general tinkering with the dish is not only failing to improve it any more but is stripping away the very characteristics that made it so great in the first place. There is a balance, of course, because successful refinement can yield outstanding results.
Deconstruction is a new-wave word often used to describe a process whereby a classical dish or garnish consisting of several ingredients cooked together is broken down into its constituent ingredients and served as such. This is a relatively modern trend and one that is perhaps categorised as refinement. It is exactly this kind of practice that can see something as wonderful as a soothing, flavourful ragout of coco beans, ceps and grelot onions reduced to a trio of unhappy ingredients standing awkwardly on a plate screaming for each other’s company.
It is in the domain of desserts where this is most difficult to achieve. With creative egos to one side, any chef would acknowledge the likes of an outstanding rhubarb crumble with custard, or a treacle sponge or apple pie with vanilla ice cream as their favourite dessert. Take the crumble as an example. The first step to refine a wholesome homemade rhubarb crumble would surely be to try to make an individual one. This is where the crime of refinement can go so horribly wrong. The lengthy process of cooking a large crumble not only enables the topping to achieve its rightful texture but, most importantly, allows the fruit to cook and release its magnificent juice, which in turn rises up through the topping at weak points around the edges and is transformed into a dark, caramelised rhubarb toffee. Allow it to sit for 30 minutes so it can cool to an approachable temperature, cloak it in an unctuous custard and you’re off! Its portion-sized counterpart would be so lacking in character and substance that it would simply pale into insignificance. A thick, albeit ‘posh’, crème anglaise would not cling and lubricate in the same way as a cornflour-based custard.
This simple example shows that some dishes offers little potential for improvement through refinement. The potential downsides must be brought to the fore before the pros can be considered.
