THE INNOVATIVE chefs who are changing food in Britain hold British beef in high esteem, and they have created new dishes that do justice to the fine flavor of the meat. They use fillet steaks a great deal as these are very practical in restaurants, always tender, quickly cooked, and uniform in size. The home cook can use other steaks that are less expensive and just as suitable for the chef’s sauces and garnishes. These are not everyday dishes, with the exception of Braised Oxtail, but they can make a dinner party for special friends doubly special.
Lamb is exceptionally fine and chefs make fine use of it. They delight in this lean and succulent meat, which they consider both appetizing and healthful. But the Welsh chef does claim that Welsh lamb surpasses all other lamb; the Scots chef knows better, as Scots lamb is preeminent; while the English quite smugly know that nothing beats the best English lamb. It is fortunate the lamb is good enough to support all their claims.
Another favorite meat is venison, which is gaining in popularity with chefs, perhaps because it is another lean meat. Chefs have devised some really splendid venison recipes that would appeal to even the most jaded palates.
Good veal is not easy to get, but when it is, chefs have created some very imaginative recipes to take full advantage of the goodness. They have also developed tempting recipes for variety meats and for pork and rabbit dishes. Today’s chefs very well understand the needs of the meat lover.
Baba Hine, chef-patronne of Corse Lawn House, in a charming eighteenth-century house in Corse Lawn village, Gloucestershire has created this luxurious dish, irresistible to lovers of fresh foie gras. Since fresh foie gras is not an everyday sort of thing to have in the kitchen, I’ve tried the steaks without this special garnish and find Baba’s subtly flavored and uncomplicated sauce entirely tempting. Sirloin or other steaks are equally suitable for this. Serve with a Chianti.
2 tablespoons clarified butter
4 fillet or other tender steaks, each 6 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
½ cup thin-sliced chanterelle (girolle) mushrooms
¼ cup dry Madeira wine
½ cup Beef Stock (see Index)
2 tablespoons butter, cut into bits
4 thin slices of fresh foie gras, warmed
Garnish: parsley sprigs
Heat the clarified butter in a skillet large enough to hold the steaks comfortably. Season the steaks with salt and pepper and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes on each side for medium rare. Remove from the skillet and keep warm. Add the mushrooms to the pan and sauté for about 4 minutes. Add the Madeira and beef stock, and reduce slightly as the sauce should not be thin. Whisk in the butter.
Put the steaks onto 4 warmed plates, pour the sauce over them, and top each with a slice of foie gras. Garnish with parsley sprigs. Serve with an assortment of vegetables and potatoes separately.
SERVES 4.
John Mann, head chef at The Old Lodge in Limpsfield, Surrey, is a chef of exceptional brilliance. His creations are always gratifying to the palate but are seldom sensible dishes for the home cook. This beef dish is part of a far more elaborate dish but since it is splendid by itself, is not complicated, and takes little time to cook, I have taken the liberty of abstracting it. Serve with a Côte de Nuits.
1½ tablespoons black peppercorns
1½ tablespoons white peppercorns
Salt
4 fillet steaks, about 1 inch thick, each 4 ounces
½ tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon brandy
1½ cups Veal Stock or rich Chicken Stock (see Index)
Mix the peppercorns together and crush coarsely with ½ teaspoon salt. Season the steaks with the peppercorn mixture, pressing it in firmly. Heat the oil and butter in a skillet and sauté the steaks for 3 to 4 minutes on each side for medium rare meat. Transfer the steaks to a platter and keep them warm.
Pour away any fat from the skillet, leaving only the pan juices. Flame with the brandy, then add the veal stock and reduce over moderately high heat until it is slightly thickened. Add any meat juices that may have collected on the platter and season the sauce to taste with salt.
Serve the steaks on 4 warmed plates with the sauce spooned over them. There will not be a great deal of sauce. Garnish the plate with boiled potatoes, young carrots and baby turnips cut into olive shapes, snow peas and some straw potatoes, if liked.
SERVES 4.
It isn’t easy to come up with a new way of presenting sirloin steak, but this creation of famed chef Anton Mosimann of the Dorchester looks like it will become a classic. It is also uncomplicated and takes little time. It exemplifies the chef’s philosophy: Make it simple, but make it perfect. Serve with a Côte de Nuits.
4 sirloin steaks, 1 inch thick, each about 6 ounces
2 tablespoons each of crushed black and white peppercorns
Salt
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ cup Cognac or other brandy
1 cup Veal or Beef Stock (see Index)
½ cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons butter, cut into bits
Freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon each of pink and green peppercorns
Season the steaks on both sides with the black and white peppercorns and salt to taste. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet and sauté the steaks for 3 to 4 minutes on each side for medium rare. Transfer the steaks to a platter and keep them warm. Pour off and discard any fat in the pan. Pour in the Cognac and ignite it. Add the stock. Reduce it to half over moderately high heat. Add the cream and reduce the sauce until it is lightly thickened. Whisk in the butter, bit by bit. Taste for seasoning and add as liked. Stir in the pink and green peppercorns, cover the steaks with the sauce, and serve immediately.
SERVES 4.
Chef Michael Collom of the Priory Hotel in Bath has come up with a way of lifting fillet steaks into a new dimension. If I have lots of time and some spare energy I make the béarnaise sauce, which adds a touch of luxury to the dish, otherwise I make this as one of my cook-in-a-hurry dishes, quickly cooked, quickly assembled and very appetizing. Serve with a Côte de Beaune.
½ cup Béarnaise Sauce (see Index) (optional)
6 fillet steaks, 1 inch thick, each about 4 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
12 asparagus tips, white or green, cooked
1 cup Veal or Beef Stock (see Index)
1 cup dry Madeira wine
Garnish: watercress sprigs and straw potatoes
Make the béarnaise sauce, if using, and set it aside. Season the steaks with salt and pepper. In a skillet large enough to hold all the steaks comfortably, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter and the oil and sauté the steaks over moderately high heat for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and keep warm. Warm the asparagus tips.
Discard any fat from the skillet and pour any juices into a small saucepan. Pour in the stock and reduce the mixture to half over brisk heat. Add the Madeira, bring to a simmer, and continue to simmer the sauce over very low heat.
With a very sharp knife cut a diagonal pocket into each of the steaks and stuff with the asparagus tips. Garnish the asparagus with a spoonful of béarnaise sauce, if using it. Stir remaining tablespoon of butter into the sauce, which should have reduced to a slightly syrupy consistency. Put a steak onto each of 6 heated plates, pour the sauce round the steaks, and garnish with the watercress sprigs and straw potatoes.
SERVES 6.
VARIATION: Another attractive and inventive way of serving fillet or other steaks comes from Nicholas Knight, the youthful head chef at Master’s Restaurant in Kensington, London. He masks steaks with a Carrot and Green Peppercorn Sauce which is light and delicious, the sweetness of carrot sharpened by the bite of green peppercorns. (See Index for recipe.)
Peter Jackson created this prizewinning dish when he was head chef at Bodysgallen Hall in North Wales. He is now chef-patron of his own establishment, The Colonial Restaurant on the High Street, in the heart of old Glasgow—a Scottish chef come home. Serve with a Médoc.
1 pound beef fillet, or more if liked
Salt, freshly ground white pepper
1 medium-size onion, chopped fine
1 celery rib, chopped fine
1 leek, white part only, chopped fine
1 medium-size carrot, scraped and chopped
½ cup juniper berries, crushed
2 cups Tawny Port wine
1 cup Sauce Demi-glace (see Index)
¼ cup pickled walnuts, chopped fine
Vegetable oil
Garnish
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup black grapes, halved and seeded
½ cup quartered mushrooms
¼ cup walnut meats
½ cup heavy cream (optional)
2 tablespoons minced parsley
Cut the beef into 4 slices. Season with salt and pepper and put into a fairly deep dish. Cover with the chopped onion, celery, leek and carrot and the juniper berries. Pour in the Port wine and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours, turning occasionally.
When ready to cook, lift out the beef and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside and make the sauce: Pour all the marinade into a saucepan with the demi-glace and pickled walnuts. Simmer, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced to 1 cup. Strain, pressing down on the vegetables to extract all the juices. Rinse out and dry the saucepan and return the liquid to it. Set aside.
In a skillet heat a little vegetable oil and sauté the beef to the required degree of doneness, about 4 minutes a side for medium rare. Prepare the garnish: In another skillet heat the butter and sauté the grapes, mushrooms and walnut meats quickly over moderately high heat. Add the ½ cup heavy cream to the sauce, if using it, and simmer until sauce reaches coating consistency. Otherwise just warm the sauce through. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, if necessary.
Place a fillet on each of 4 heated plates. Cover with the sauce and spoon the garnish over each one. Finish with a sprinkling of chopped parsley. Serve with new potatoes and a green vegetable.
SERVES 4.
This unusual and richly flavored steak dish comes from Vaughan Archer of 90 Park Lane Restaurant, London. It is a luxurious dish that can be assembled in very little time, a great comfort to those who like to eat well but have minutes rather than hours available to spend in the kitchen. Serve with a Rioja.
2 cups dry red wine
1 cup Beef Stock (see Index)
Salt, freshly ground pepper
4 fillet steaks, about 1 inch thick, each 6 ounces
6 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons Roquefort or other blue cheese
2 tablespoons snipped chives
¼ cup fine-chopped mushrooms
Combine 1 cup of the wine with the beef stock in a small saucepan and reduce to 1 cup over moderately high heat. Set aside.
Salt and pepper the steaks. Heat half of the butter in a heavy skillet and sauté the steaks for 3 to 4 minutes on each side for medium rare. Lift out the steaks and keep warm. Pour off any fat from the pan and add remaining cup of wine to the pan juices. Reduce over high heat until syrupy. Add the reserved wine and beef stock and the Roquefort cheese mashed with the rest of the butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if necessary. Stir in the chives and mushrooms, and keep warm.
Cut the steaks into lengthwise slices. Pour the sauce onto 4 warmed plates and arrange the steak in a fan on each plate. Serve with Stuffed Potatoes (see Index). If preferred the steak may, of course, be served unsliced.
SERVES 4.
Christopher Grist, head chef of Great Fosters, a Tudor mansion now a hotel and restaurant at Egham in Surrey, is a meticulous cook. He presents these steaks in puff pastry baskets that look very attractive. This is a step I am apt to omit as I find the steaks taste just as good with their luscious sauce poured in a small puddle on the plates, with the rest of it over the meat. It makes this luxurious dish both quick and simple to cook—unless there is some puff pastry in the freezer waiting to be used. Serve with a Médoc.
Puff Pastry (see Index)
2 fillet steaks, 1 inch thick, each about 4 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon chopped shallot
¼ cup Marsala wine
½ cup sliced chanterelle mushrooms
2 artichoke hearts, quartered
Pinch of dried tarragon, or ½ teaspoon fresh tarragon leaves, chopped
½ cup heavy cream, or Fresh White Cheese (see Index)
Garnish: chopped parsley and watercress sprigs
Roll out some puff pastry to a thin sheet and cut two 3-inch circles. Prick lightly with a fork all over and place over two 1-cup ramekins or small soufflé molds. Bake in a preheated moderate oven (350°F.) until golden brown. Remove from the oven. When cool enough to handle lift cases gently from the molds. Keep the pastry baskets warm. These are the baskets in which the steaks will be placed. This step can be omitted for a simpler dish.
Season the steaks with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy skillet and sauté the steaks over moderate heat, turning once, for 3 to 4 minutes on each side for medium rare. Set aside, covered, and keep warm. Add the shallot to the pan and cook until soft, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the Marsala and stir to scrape up any brown bits. Add the mushrooms, artichoke hearts, tarragon and cream and simmer until the sauce is reduced by half. If using fresh white cheese, just heat it through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add any juices that may have collected on the plate with the steaks. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of butter.
If using the pastry baskets, arrange the baskets on 2 heated plates and put a little sauce into each. Add the steak, then coat the steak with the rest of the sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley and a few sprigs of watercress.
SERVES 2.
This recipe from Philip Burgess, head chef at the Arundell Arms in Lifton, Devon, a favorite hotel with salmon-loving anglers, takes even less kitchen time than Vaughan Archer’s Beef Fan with Roquefort Cheese. It pleases both beef and cheese lovers as well as the economy minded, as leftovers from a whole Stilton cheese can be used. Serve with a Rioja.
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup Beef Stock (see Index)
½ pound Stilton cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 sirloin steaks, each 8 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Garnish: watercress sprigs
Combine the red wine and beef stock in a saucepan and reduce over moderately high heat to 1 cup. Set aside. Mash the Stilton cheese with 1 tablespoon of the butter and set aside.
In a heavy skillet heat the oil and remaining tablespoon of butter. Season the steaks with salt and pepper and sauté over fairly high heat for 2 minutes on each side, longer if better done steak is preferred. Spread the steaks with the Stilton cheese mixture and broil until the cheese has melted. Pour the red wine sauce over the steaks.
Serve garnished with watercress and accompanied by green vegetables and potatoes.
SERVES 4.
Philip Burgess is a Devonian, and now at the Arundell Arms he is back in his native county. Though young, he has had a wide experience of cooking, but he still relishes the good things of his childhood. He has developed his own version of this old favorite, which he describes as a warming winter dish. It is also satisfying. Serve with a Beaujolais.
½ cup all-purpose flour
Salt, freshly ground pepper
2 pounds meaty oxtails, cut into 2-inch pieces
6 tablespoons beef dripping or vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped coarse
1 large carrot, chopped coarse
1 celery rib, chopped
1 medium-size leek, trimmed, thoroughly washed, and chopped coarse, including a little of the green part
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of fresh thyme, or ⅛ teaspoon dried
1 garlic clove, crushed
6 cups Beef Stock (see Index), approximately
1 tablespoon tomato purée
2 tablespoons dry sherry wine
Garnish: chopped parsley
Season the flour with salt and pepper and dredge the oxtails with the mixture, shaking to remove excess flour. In a large skillet heat 3 tablespoons of the beef dripping or vegetable oil and brown the pieces of oxtail, in batches if necessary. Lift them out into a large ovenproof casserole. Add the rest of the fat to the skillet and sauté the vegetables and herbs until the onion is softened. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of the flour and stir to mix. Continue cooking until the flour is lightly browned. Transfer the contents of the skillet to the casserole. Pour in enough stock to cover, adding a little more if necessary. Stir in the tomato purée and bring to a simmer on top of the stove. Cover, and put into a preheated moderate oven (350°F.). Cook until the meat is tender, about 3 hours.
Remove casserole from the oven and put the oxtail pieces into a serving dish. Keep them warm in the turned-off oven. Skim excess fat from the casserole and strain the liquid through a sieve into a clean saucepan. If the liquid seems very abundant or a little thin, reduce it over moderately high heat until it is lightly thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in the sherry.
Pour the sauce over the oxtails and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve with plain boiled potatoes.
SERVES 4.
This easy-to-make, sturdily flavored sauce is the creation of Nicholas Knight, the young head chef at Master’s Restaurant in Kensington, London. It is wonderfully useful for lifting an ordinary meat or poultry dish into a special category. I’ve also used it with a strong-flavored fish like halibut with great success. The chef feels it is best with white meats like veal, pork, chicken or turkey, and certainly it is good with these. I found that it is also surprisingly good with beef. Try it as a sauce topping on a hamburger. Serve with a Beaujolais.
1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon leaves, or dried tarragon soaked in warm water, squeezed out and chopped
1 tablespoon coarse-grain mustard, such as Moutarde de Meaux
3 tablespoons Chicken Stock (see Index)
2 tablespoons dry white wine
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1½ cups heavy cream, or 1 cup Fresh White Cheese (see Index)
Heat the butter in a saucepan, stir in the tarragon, cover, and let it sweat over very low heat for about half a minute. Add the mustard, stock, wine, salt and pepper to taste and the cream and simmer, uncovered, until the sauce is slightly thickened. If using fresh white cheese, simply stir in and heat through.
SERVES 4.
This is one of the delectable recipes Michael Quinn created when he was head chef at the Ritz in London before going off to be in charge of the kitchen at Ettington Park, near Stratford-upon-Avon. When I find good veal hard to get, I make this with skinned and boned chicken breasts. Serve with sherry.
1 pound fillet of veal in one piece
1 cooked lobster tail, 6 to 8 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
½ pound (2 sticks) butter
Shellfish Sauce
1 cup Shellfish Stock (see Index)
1 teaspoon tomato purée
1 tablespoon dry vermouth, preferably Noilly Prat
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon brandy
Sherry Sauce
2 tablespoons minced shallots
½ cup dry sherry wine
½ cup Veal Stock (see Index)
¼ cup heavy cream
Garnish: sprigs of fresh chervil (optional)
Cut a slit in the veal fillet, being careful not to cut right through the veal. Insert the cooked lobster tail, then tie the fillet into shape with kitchen string. Season with salt and pepper. In a skillet large enough to hold the veal comfortably, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter and quickly seal the meat on all sides over moderately high heat. Lower the heat to moderate and cook the fillet for 15 minutes, turning often. The meat should remain pink in the center. Transfer meat to a warmed platter and let it rest; keep it warm. When ready to serve, cut it into thin slices.
While the meat is cooking and resting, make the sauce. Pour the shellfish stock into a small saucepan with the tomato purée, dry vermouth and heavy cream and reduce to ½ cup. Stir in the brandy and taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper, if necessary. Set aside and keep warm.
In another saucepan combine the shallots, sherry and veal stock and reduce over moderately high heat to 1 tablespoon. Add the cream, stir to mix, and strain through a fine sieve into the rinsed and dried saucepan. Over low heat beat in the rest of the butter, cut into bits, to make a creamy sauce. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary. Add a little more dry sherry. Keep warm.
To serve, spoon the shellfish stock onto 4 heated plates. Arrange the sliced veal on top of the sauce. Spoon the sherry sauce over the veal. Garnish, if liked, with sprigs of fresh chervil.
SERVES 4.
Denis Woodtli, head chef at Lochalsh Hotel, Kyle of Lochalsh, in Scotland, uses the tart sweetness of strawberries to enhance the sauce for this simple, uncomplicated dish. Serve with a Beaujolais.
2 veal scallops, each 6 to 7 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1 cup, about 5 ounces, ripe strawberries
4 tablespoons clarified butter
½ cup heavy cream
Garnish: sliced strawberries and parsley sprigs
Flatten the veal scallops to ¼-inch thickness, or have the butcher do it. Season with salt and pepper. Purée the strawberries in a blender or food processor, then strain through a sieve set over a bowl. Set the strawberry juice aside. Spread the pulp on one half of each scallop and fold them over. Secure with a toothpick. Heat the butter in a skillet and cook the veal over low heat for 5 minutes on each side. Lift out onto a warm plate, cover, and keep warm.
Add the cream to the skillet and cook until it thickens to coating consistency. Add the strawberry juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Put the scallops on 2 heated plates and pour the sauce over them. Garnish with sliced strawberries and parsley sprigs.
SERVES 2.
This is another of the simple yet imaginative recipes of Christopher Grist, head chef of Great Fosters of Egham in Surrey. It takes very little time to cook and makes an ideal dish for two for an elegant dinner. Serve with a Beaujolais.
1 large lemon
½ teaspoon sugar
5 tablespoons butter
2 slices of veal fillet, each about 5 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
¼ cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 large leaves or 2 small sprigs of watercress
Cut the peel from half of the lemon in julienne strips. Put into a small saucepan with cold water to cover and bring to a boil over moderate heat. Drain, refresh in cold water, and drain again. Return the peel to the saucepan with the sugar and 1 tablespoon water and cook over very low heat until the water has evaporated. This intensifies the color of the peel. Set aside and keep warm.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet. Season the veal with salt and pepper and sauté veal in the butter over moderate heat for about 5 minutes on each side. Remove veal slices to a plate, cover, and keep warm. Pour the wine into the skillet, scraping up any brown bits. Reduce the wine to 1 tablespoon, then beat in the rest of the butter bit by bit to make a creamy sauce. Add the chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper. Pour any juices that have accumulated on the plate with the veal into the sauce.
Put a slice of veal on 2 heated plates, and pour the sauce over them. Cut the unpeeled half of the lemon into 2 wedges and put on the side of the plates. Sprinkle the veal with the julienne of lemon peel and place a sprig or leaf of watercress on top. This is nice with rice and a mixture of young spring vegetables, tossed in butter. It is also very good made with boned chicken breast instead of veal.
SERVES 2.
This is a delicate dish with a lively butter sauce sharpened with vinegar. Murdo MacSween, head chef at Oakley Court near Windsor, created it. The dish bears the stamp of his originality. Serve with a Côte de Nuits or a Margaux.
2 slices of veal fillet, each 4 to 5 ounces
¼ cup herb and garlic cheese
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Butter Sauce
6 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
5 tablespoons dry white wine
1 teaspoon chopped shallot
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon snipped chives
Slit the veal slices to form pockets and stuff with the cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Cut 5 tablespoons of the butter into bits. Put the wine vinegar, dry white wine and shallot in a saucepan and reduce by half. Add the cream and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter bit by bit to form a creamy sauce. Stir in the chives and keep warm.
Heat remaining tablespoon of butter in a small skillet and sauté the veal over moderate heat, turning once when lightly browned on the first side. The slices need only minutes to cook.
Arrange the sautéed veal on 2 heated plates and pour the sauce over them. Fresh noodles are a good accompaniment, with a green vegetable such as green peas.
SERVES 2.
Lovers of veal kidneys will welcome this unusual, simple, and most delicious dish, the creation of Simon Hopkinson, head chef of Hilaire restaurant on London’s Old Brompton Road. This makes a perfect Sunday night supper. Serve with a Chianti.
2 veal kidneys, cleaned and cut into thick slices
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Flour
¼ pound (1 stick) butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large Savoy cabbage, sliced thin
1 garlic clove, chopped fine
Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
½ to ¾ cup olive oil, according to taste
Season the sliced kidneys with salt and pepper and dredge lightly with flour, shaking to remove excess flour. In a heavy skillet heat 2 tablespoons of the butter with the tablespoon of olive oil and sauté the kidney slices for 1 minute on each side. Transfer to a warm plate, cover, and keep warm.
Add remaining butter to the skillet. Season the cabbage with salt and pepper and sauté in the butter with the chopped garlic, quickly over moderate heat, stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes. The cabbage should remain green and fresh-tasting.
In a bowl beat the mustard and sherry vinegar together. Beat in the oil gradually, using ½ to ¾ cup to taste. Season with salt and pepper.
Divide the cabbage among 4 heated plates in neat mounds. Arrange the slices of kidney on top. If any juices have collected on the plate with the kidneys, add them to the vinaigrette. Pour the vinaigrette over the cabbage and kidney. Serve with mashed potatoes.
SERVES 4.
Melvin Jordan, head chef at Pool Court, Pool-in-Wharfedale, West Yorkshire, has an original way with calf’s liver, this with avocado, and a variation with blackberries, both delicious. Serve with a Chardonnay.
8 slices of calf’s liver
Salt, freshly ground pepper
¼ pound (1 stick) butter
16 fresh sage leaves
1 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 large ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and cut into 8 lengthwise slices
Season the liver slices with salt and pepper. In a large heavy skillet heat 2 tablespoons of the butter and sauté the slices of liver over moderate heat for no longer than 1 minute a side. Lift out onto a heated plate, cover, and keep warm. Add the sage leaves and wine to the skillet, stir to scrape up any brown bits, and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in the lemon juice, then whisk in the rest of the butter, cut into bits. The sauce will have a light coating consistency.
Arrange the liver slices on 2 warm plates and pour the sauce over them. Top with avocado slices.
SERVES 2.
VARIATION : Instead of the sage leaves, add 1 cup ripe fresh blackberries.
This is one of the simple and attractive dishes that John Hornsby worked out while he was head chef at the Castle Hotel in Taunton, Somerset. Serve with a Côte du Beaune or Côte de Nuits.
1 cup Veal or Chicken Stock (see Index)
½ cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons minced fresh herbs such as tarragon, rosemary, thyme, basil, mint and parsley
4 tablespoons butter
Salt, freshly ground pepper
2 slices of boneless loin of lamb, trimmed of fat, each 4 to 6 ounces
In a small saucepan combine the stock and wine and simmer, uncovered, over moderate heat until reduced by half. Stir in the herbs. Cut 2 tablespoons of the butter into bits and beat into the sauce, a piece at a time, until they are all absorbed. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste and keep warm.
In a skillet just large enough to hold the lamb comfortably, heat remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Season the lamb slices with salt and pepper and sauté in the butter over moderately high heat for 3 to 4 minutes, turning once. The lamb should be pink.
Pour the sauce onto 2 heated plates and arrange the slices of lamb on top. Serve with new potatoes and an assortment of vegetables such as green beans and cauliflower on a separate plate.
SERVES 2.
Martin Rowbotham, head chef at Huntstrete House, an eighteenthcentury country manor house now a country house hotel near Bath, has created a pleasantly different dish with the saffron-flavored sauce in gentle contrast to the spinach. Serve with a Médoc or Margaux.
1 rack of lamb, about 6 chops
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1 pound spinach
2 tablespoons butter
1 small garlic clove, crushed
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup Lamb Stock (see Index)
⅛ teaspoon crumbled saffron
Ask the butcher to cut the lamb so that the chops can easily be carved. Pare away all excess fat. Season to taste with salt and pepper and roast on a rack in a preheated moderate oven (375°F.) for 25 minutes for rare, 30 minutes for medium rare. Remove the lamb from the oven and keep it warm.
While the lamb is cooking, blanch the spinach in a large saucepan of briskly boiling salted water for 4 minutes. Refresh under cold water and drain thoroughly. When ready to serve, reheat the spinach by tossing lightly in the butter.
Pour off excess fat from the roasting pan. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the white wine and let it reduce over moderate heat to about one third. Add the lamb stock and the saffron and simmer until the sauce is reduced to ¾ cup.
Divide the spinach among 3 heated plates. Carve the lamb and put 2 chops on top of the spinach on each plate. Pour the sauce over it.
SERVES 3.
David Harding, head chef at Bodysgallen Hall near Llandudno, North Wales, specifies Welsh lamb for this dish. Welsh lamb is exceptionally sweet and tender, but lamb from other parts of the world will also do well. Serve with a St. Emilion.
1 loin of lamb, 3 pounds, fat removed, boned and rolled
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1 pound plums
2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
½ cup dry red wine
4 tablespoons Clarified Butter (see Index)
Garnish: watercress
Cut the lamb into 12 slices. Season with salt and pepper and set aside while making the sauce.
Put the plums into a saucepan with the sugar and wine and simmer until they are soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Put the plums through a fine sieve and return the purée to the saucepan. Taste and add more sugar if necessary. The sauce should be quite tart. If the plum purée is very thin, reduce it over moderate heat to the consistency of heavy cream. Cool.
In a large heavy skillet heat the butter and sauté the noisettes of lamb for about 2 minutes on each side. They should remain pink. Coat 4 heated plates with the plum sauce and arrange 3 noisettes on top of the sauce. Garnish with watercress.
SERVES 4.
For a lighter meal, serve 2 slices of lamb per person and serve 6.
Lamb has a natural affinity with herbs. In England it was traditionally served with mint sauce. John King, head chef at the Ritz Club in London, has created a different kind of mint sauce, which makes this simple lamb dish something very special. Serve with a St. Emilion.
2 racks of lamb
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1 cup loosely packed fresh mint sprigs
¼ cup vegetable oil
4 tablespoons butter
½ cup dry white wine
2 teaspoons arrowroot
Have the butcher remove the fillets from the racks of lamb and chop the bones and meat trimmings. Make 1 recipe lamb stock with the bones and trimmings (see Index). Cut the lamb fillets into 12 slices and flatten them slightly. Season with salt and pepper.
Keep a few of the best mint leaves for a garnish. Chop the rest very fine.
Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet and quickly sauté the lamb scallops on both sides over fairly high heat for 1 or 2 minutes on each side, keeping them pink inside. Lift out to a warmed dish and keep warm. Pour off the oil from the skillet and add 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the chopped mint and cook over low heat for about 1 minute. Add the white wine and simmer for 2 or 3 minutes, then pour in the lamb stock. There should be 2 cups. Simmer, uncovered, to reduce this by about half. Whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper if necessary. Mix the arrowroot with a little water and stir into the sauce. Cook only until the sauce is lightly thickened.
Arrange 3 slices of lamb on each of 4 heated plates, coat with the sauce, and garnish with the reserved fresh mint leaves. Serve with small new potatoes and a green vegetable.
SERVES 4.
Martin Lam, head chef at L’Escargot in London’s Soho, has a very discriminating palate and a great love for traditional English food. He uses the old term “collop” for slice but puts together his ingredients in a refreshingly new and modern way. The rich morels are perfectly balanced by the clean taste of the young turnips. Serve with a Médoc or St. Emilion.
Fillets from 3 boned racks of lamb
½ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
Salt, freshly ground black pepper
¼ pound (1 stick) butter
3 tablespoons chopped shallots
½ pound fresh morels, or ¼ pound dried, soaked
1 cup dry Madeira wine
½ cup Veal Stock (see Index)
24 young white turnips, peeled and cooked
Marinate the lamb in the olive oil, thyme, salt and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper overnight.
In a skillet heat 2 tablespoons of the butter and sauté the shallots until soft. Add the morels and sauté for 2 minutes longer. Add the Madeira and reduce by half. Add the veal stock and simmer for a few minutes longer to blend the flavors. Set aside and keep warm.
Lift the lamb fillets out of the marinade and wipe off the thyme with paper towels. Heat a little olive oil in a large heavy skillet that will hold the lamb comfortably and sauté it for 5 minutes, turning once or twice. It will be nicely pink. Cut the fillets into slices (collops).
Have ready 6 heated plates. Spoon the sauce onto the plates, making sure there are some morels on each plate. Divide the lamb among the plates. Arrange the turnips alternately with the lamb slices, or in any decorative way. Serve immediately.
SERVES 6.
I like the straightforward character of the dishes developed by Willie MacPherson, whose cooking I greatly enjoyed when he was head chef at The Feathers in Woodstock, near Oxford. The mixture of flavors here is delicious. Serve with a Médoc or St. Emilion.
4 firm pears, peeled
4 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup sugar
1 pound boneless loin of lamb
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1 cup mixed chopped fresh herbs such as thyme, parsley, mint, tarragon, rosemary, chervil or basil
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup Sauce Demi-glace (see Index)
4 tablespoons dry red wine
Put the pears in a single layer into a large shallow saucepan. Add the lemon juice and sugar and cold water barely to cover. Bring to a simmer, cover, and poach until the pears are tender, about 15 minutes. Cool pears in the liquid. Lift out pears, halve and core them, then cut them into lengthwise slices. Set aside.
Season the lamb with salt and pepper, then roll in the chopped herbs, pressing lightly so that the herbs stick to the meat. In a skillet heat the butter and sauté the lamb over moderate heat, turning frequently so as not to burn the herbs. Cook for about 5 minutes, or longer if better done lamb is preferred. Lift lamb out of the skillet onto a board and cut it into 4 crosswise slices. Cut each slice lengthwise on a slant and arrange in an overlapping pattern on one side of each of 4 heated plates. Arrange the slices of pear on the other side of the plate.
Heat the demi-glace in a small saucepan with the wine and bring to a simmer. Pour the sauce onto the middle of the plates and serve immediately.
SERVES 4.
David Moir, whose cooking I enjoyed when he was head chef at Gleddoch House at Langbank near Glasgow in Scotland, uses much the same mixture of fresh herbs as Willie MacPherson, but the finished dish is very different. It is wonderfully well flavored, and delightful for a dinner party as it is not difficult or time-consuming. Serve with a Médoc or St. Emilion.
2 racks of lamb, cleaned of fat, rib bones trimmed
Salt, freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 medium-size tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 cup mixed chopped herbs such as mint, chives, rosemary, chervil and sage
3 tablespoons freshly made bread crumbs
4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1½ cups reduced Lamb Stock (see Index) for gravy
Ask the butcher to cut the rack so that it is easy to carve through the chops. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and put it into a baking pan. Bake in a preheated moderate oven (350°F.) for about 20 minutes. The lamb will be pink.
While the lamb is cooking heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small skillet and cook 1 tablespoon of the shallots, the garlic and tomatoes for 3 to 4 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl. Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in the same skillet, add the rest of the shallots, and sauté until they are soft. Stir in the herbs and bread crumbs, season with salt and pepper, and stir to mix. Transfer to a bowl.
When the lamb is cooked, remove it from the oven and spread it liberally with the mustard, then coat with a layer of the tomato mixture topped with a layer of the herb and bread-crumb mixture. Return to the oven for a few minutes to reheat.
Serve on a heated large platter and carve into 2 chops per person. Serve with the lamb gravy and straw potatoes.
SERVES 6.
This makes a change of pace from the usual lamb dish, and is uncomplicated to cook. Robert Gardiner, head chef at Ardsheal House Hotel at Kentallen, of Appin in Scotland, developed the recipe, which has his own special touches in the way the beans are cooked and in the Port wine sauce. Serve with a white Port.
1½ cups dried flageolets, soaked in cold water overnight
1 onion, stuck with 2 or 3 cloves
8 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium-size onion, chopped fine
½ cup dry red wine
2 medium-size tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons tomato purée
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt, freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1 rack of lamb, boned but with fillet still attached to the “flap” of meat, trimmed of fat
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
½ cup Tawny Port wine
1¼ cups Veal or Lamb Stock (see Index)
¼ cup light cream (optional)
Drain and rinse the soaked beans and put them into a large saucepan with cold water to cover by about 2 inches. Add the onion stuck with cloves. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer, covered, until the beans are just tender, about 1 hour. The time will vary according to the freshness of the beans. Discard the onion. Drain the beans and put into a bowl. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
Rinse out and dry the saucepan. Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter and the oil and sauté the onion until soft. Add the wine and reduce over moderately high heat by half. Add the tomatoes, tomato purée, garlic and the 1 cup cooking liquid from the beans. Simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the sauce is thick. Add the beans, mix thoroughly, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Just before serving reheat the beans and stir in the parsley.
Roll up the boned rack of lamb loosely and put into a baking pan with the folded end down. Cook in a preheated hot oven (425°F.) for about 25 minutes for rare, 30 minutes for medium rare. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the flap. Be careful not to overcook as the lamb should be pink. Lift out of the baking pan and set on a warmed platter to rest for 10 minutes.
While the lamb is resting make the sauce. Pour off the fat from the baking pan and add 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the shallots and sauté over moderate heat until they are soft. Pour in the Port wine and simmer until reduced almost to a glaze. Add the veal or lamb stock and simmer to reduce until it is thickened. Add the cream, if using it, heat through, and remove from the heat. Beat in remaining 4 tablespoons of butter, cut into bits. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, if necessary.
Cut the lamb into 9 slices. Put a pile of beans in the center of each of 3 heated plates. Arrange the lamb slices around the beans and spoon the sauce over the lamb, or serve the sauce separately.
SERVES 3.
This is a rather grand dish, the creation of Nick Gill, head chef at Hambleton Hall, in Oakham, Leicestershire, an attractive country house hotel run by Tim and Stefa Hart with great flair. It is not a difficult dish to make. With a little organization and doing things ahead of time, it can be a splendid dish for a dinner party. Serve with a Médoc or St. Emilion.
2 to 2½ pounds boned loin of lamb
Salt, freshly ground pepper
¾ cup olive or vegetable oil
½ cup minced mixed herbs, preferably fresh
4 cups Lamb Stock or rich Chicken Stock (see Index)
½ cup each of chopped fresh tarragon, chervil, mint, thyme and parsley, or other fresh green herbs
3 tablespoons minced shallots
½ cup dry vermouth
1 cup heavy cream, or Fresh White Cheese (see Index)
Vegetable Garnish
3 pounds small new potatoes
2 pounds small white turnips, peeled
2 medium-size carrots, scraped and sliced
½ pound snow peas, trimmed
12 asparagus tips
A day ahead of time season the lamb with salt and pepper and put it into a shallow dish with ½ cup of the oil and the ½ cup chopped mixed herbs. Combine thoroughly, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to cook, pour the lamb stock into a saucepan and reduce over moderately high heat to 2 cups. Plunge the herbs into a large saucepan of briskly boiling salted water and blanch for 1 minute. Drain and refresh in cold water. Drain again thoroughly and put into a blender or food processor. Reduce to a purée. Add the shallots and vermouth to the lamb stock and simmer until the stock is reduced to 1 cup. Stir in the cream and simmer over low heat, uncovered, until the sauce is slightly thickened. If using fresh white cheese, stir it into the stock and heat through. Add the herb purée, taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper to taste. Strain through a sieve into a saucepan, pushing down hard on the solids to extract all the juices. Reheat and keep warm.
Cook all the garnish vegetables separately in boiling salted water, and drain. Arrange on a heated platter, cover, and keep warm until ready to serve. Fry the cooked new potatoes in a little of the oil until golden.
Remove the lamb from the marinade and wipe off the herbs. In a large heavy skillet that will hold the lamb comfortably, heat remaining oil and sauté the lamb over fairly high heat, turning from time to time, until lamb is browned on the outside and pink inside, about 8 minutes. Remove from the pan and slice into medallions.
Have ready 8 heated plates and pour the herb sauce onto them. Arrange the lamb slices in a semicircle on each plate and arrange the vegetables in little heaps on the plates. Serve any extra sauce separately.
SERVES 8.
This is a most attractive way to serve a medley of lamb, using the innards as well as the loin. It is the inspiration of Paul Gayler, head chef at Inigo Jones restaurant in London. Serve with a St. Emilion.
Sauce
6 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons minced shallots
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bunch of rosemary sprigs
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup Lamb Stock (see Index)
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Lamb
4 lamb tongues
1¼ pounds loin of lamb
½ pound lamb sweetbreads, blanched
4 lamb kidneys
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a small saucepan and add the shallots, garlic and 1 sprig of the rosemary. Cover and cook over very low heat until shallots are tender. Add the white wine and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the lamb stock and simmer over moderately high heat until the sauce is thickened. Strain the sauce and stir in 1 tablespoon of the butter. Set aside.
Put the lamb tongues into a saucepan just large enough to hold them comfortably and add water to cover. Simmer until tongues are tender, for 1 to 1½ hours. Add salt halfway through the cooking. Lift tongues out and cut into lengthwise ¼-inch-thick slices. Return to the cooking liquid and keep warm.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a baking pan and sear the loin of lamb, turning to seal all over. Roast in a preheated moderate oven (375°F.), topped with a large sprig of rosemary, for 20 minutes. The lamb should be pink. Remove from the oven, cover, and keep warm.
Put the sweetbreads into a saucepan with salted water to cover and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Drain; cover with cold water. When cool remove any membranes. Sauté sweetbreads in remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Cut into thin slices, cover, and keep warm.
Cut the kidneys into slices about ⅜ inch thick and sauté in the vegetable oil over moderately high heat for about 1 minute.
The garlic cloves can be cooked in the oven at the same time as the lamb. Wrap them in a piece of aluminum foil and put into the oven with the lamb. When the lamb is done, turn the oven up to 400°F. and cook the garlic cloves for about 30 minutes longer, or until they are soft. When cool enough to handle, peel off the skins.
To serve, have ready 4 heated plates. Cut the lamb into 4 slices, then cut the slices lengthwise and fan them out onto the plates. Arrange the tongues, sweetbreads and kidneys round the lamb, then pour the warmed sauce around the meats. Garnish with the garlic cloves and sprigs of rosemary. Serve immediately, with celeriac or spinach on a small plate.
SERVES 4.
VARIATION : Alan Vikops of the County hotel in Canterbury, Kent, has an interesting variation on Meli-Melo which he calls Potpourri of Lamb with Tarragon Sauce. Instead of loin, he uses the fillet of a boned rack of lamb, cut into 4 slices and sautéed quickly in butter for about 4 minutes in all. Instead of sweetbreads he uses 2 pairs of lamb brains, which are peeled, blanched, and cooked in lamb stock for about 8 minutes, then sliced and kept warm. He does not have the garlic cloves or rosemary as a garnish; instead, he uses two 2-inch-square puff-pastry cases, stuffed with 8 sautéed and sliced lamb kidneys.
The sauce is quite different. In a saucepan combine 1 cup dry white wine, 2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar, 1 tablespoon chopped shallot and a few tarragon stems. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced by half. Add 5 cups hot lamb stock and continue to simmer until the liquid is reduced to 1 cup. Strain. Return liquid to the saucepan. When ready to serve, warm it and beat in 3 tablespoons butter, cut into bits; keep the sauce warm. The tongues, simmered in lamb stock for 1 to 1½ hours, are sliced.
To serve, pour the sauce onto 4 heated plates. Put the stuffed pastry squares in the center of the plates and surround with the lamb, tongues and brains. Garnish with a sprig of tarragon.
SERVES 4.
Roy Richards, chef patron of Manor House restaurant, Pickworth in Lincolnshire presents a leg of lamb in a new guise. This unusual, but not difficult recipe would make a fine party dish. Serve with a Beaujolais.
½ cup shelled hazelnuts
7-pound leg of lamb, boned
Freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
Salt
¾ cup Cognac or other brandy
2 tablespoons minced parsley
Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast them in a preheated moderate oven (375°F.) for 15 minutes. Wrap the nuts in a kitchen towel and let them steam for 15 minutes, then rub off the skins. Crush them coarse with a rolling pin.
Cut the lamb across the grain into ¼-inch scallops. Season them generously with freshly ground black pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large heavy skillet and sauté about one third of the lamb scallops for 30 seconds. Turn them and sprinkle with one third of the orange rind, one third of the nuts, and salt to taste. Sauté for a further 30 seconds. Transfer to a platter, cover, and keep warm while cooking the rest of the scallops. Sauté remaining scallops in 2 batches in the same way. Transfer them to the platter and keep warm.
Pour the Cognac or other brandy into the skillet, set over moderate heat, and scrape up any brown bits. Sprinkle the lamb with the parsley and pour the Cognac mixture over it. Serve with potatoes and a green vegetable, or with a green salad.
SERVES 6.
Graham Flanagan, head chef at the Cottage in the Wood, Malvern Wells, Hereford and Worcester, greatly values traditional regional cooking, which he feels is of real importance in a nation’s cooking. It often needs updating, which he does while keeping the true spirit of the dish. Serve with a Rioja.
1 pound boneless pork, preferably loin, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 pork kidneys, cut into ½-inch slices
Flour for dredging
Salt, freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium-size onions, chopped fine
½ pound tart green cooking apples, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
¾ pound hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, cut into pieces 1 by ½ inch
Pinch of dried sage, or 1 fresh sage leaf, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon tomato purée
2 cups brown stock
Dredge the pork pieces and kidney slices with flour seasoned with salt and pepper, shaking to remove excess flour.
Heat the butter and oil in a large heavy skillet and brown the meats lightly. Lift out the meats with a slotted spoon and transfer to a casserole. Add the onions to the skillet and sauté over moderate heat until onions are soft. Add the apples and cucumber and sauté for 1 minute longer. Transfer vegetables to the casserole, season with salt and pepper, and add sage, bay leaf, tomato purée and stock. Add a little more stock if necessary barely to cover. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 1 hour, or until pork is tender.
SERVES 4.
Brian Prideaux-Brune of Plumber Manor, the family home of the Prideaux-Brunes at Sturminster Newton in Dorset since the early seventeenth century, and now a restaurant with rooms, is an unpretentious but highly original chef, not interested in cooking whims and fashions. Serve with a Beaujolais.
4 tart green apples, such as Granny Smiths, peeled, cored, and chopped coarse
2 medium-size onions, chopped
Salt, freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons butter
12 thin-cut boned pork loin chops
⅓ cup dry vermouth, preferably Noilly Prat
1¼ cups Veal Stock or Chicken Stock (see Index)
⅔ cup heavy cream
Combine the apples and onions and ¼ cup water in a saucepan. Simmer, covered, until apples and onions are both soft. Drain; discard the excess liquid. Mash the mixture to a purée with a fork, or purée quickly in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat the butter in a large skillet and sear the chops very quickly on both sides. Transfer chops to a baking pan large enough to hold them in a single layer, and spread them with the apple and onion purée. Cook in a preheated very hot oven (450°F.) until done, about 7 minutes. Transfer chops to a platter and keep them warm.
Pour the vermouth into the baking pan on top of the stove and simmer over moderate heat, scraping up the brown bits. Add the stock and simmer until the liquid is reduced to about ½ cup. Add the cream and simmer until sauce is lightly thickened. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.
Spoon the sauce onto 4 heated plates and arrange the pork chops on top.
SERVES 4.
This recipe is another from Michael Collom, head chef at the Priory Hotel in Bath, Avon. The hotel, built in Gothic style, is set in spacious gardens near the center of the charming Georgian town. Michael’s cooking is consistently excellent. His aim is to put together ingredients that will create the right harmony in a dish. He is open to new ideas but refuses to follow the whims of fashion, as this dish shows. Serve with a Côte du Rhône.
4 eggs
1 cup grated Gruyère cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt, freshly ground pepper
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups thin-sliced mushrooms
¼ pound lean ham, cut into julienne strips
¼ cup Veal or Chicken Stock (see Index)
6 pork scallops, each about 6 ounces
Flour
Oil for deep-frying
Savory Rice (see Index)
Garnish: watercress sprigs
Break the eggs into a bowl, stir to mix, and add the Gruyère and Parmesan cheeses. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Set aside.
Heat the butter in a skillet and sauté the mushrooms over moderately high heat until they have given up all their liquid, about 6 minutes. Add the ham and cook for 1 minute longer. Transfer the mixture to a small saucepan, pour in the stock, and set aside.
Dredge the pork scallops with flour seasoned with salt and pepper; shake to remove excess flour. In a large skillet heat about 2 inches of oil. Dip each scallop into the egg and cheese mixture and deep-fry in the oil until crisp and golden, turning once or twice, about 15 minutes over moderate heat. Drain on paper towels. Warm the ham and mushroom mixture.
Have ready the Savory Rice. Serve the pork scallops on top of a serving of rice with the ham and mushroom mixture at the side. Garnish, if liked, with sprigs of watercress.
SERVES 6.
Martin Bredda is chef to the Earl and Countess of Normanton who make the family seat, Somerley in Hampshire, available for special lunch and dinner parties and weekend stays, as well as for banquets and business seminars. His aims are simple: a high standard of cooking and good presentation. This stew transcends his aims. It could hardly be easier to cook or more delicious to eat. Serve with a Rioja.
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
¾ pound sliced bacon, chopped coarse
6 tablespoons minced shallots
6 tablespoons tomato purée
4 cups dry white wine
7 cups brown stock
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons juniper berries, crushed
Bouquet garni: 1 bay leaf, 1 thyme sprig, 2 parsley sprigs, tied with a piece of thread
Grated rind of 1 lemon
3 oranges, well washed and halved, seeds removed
6 pounds boneless shoulder of venison, cut into 1½-inch cubes
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Flour for dredging the venison
In a large heavy casserole or kettle heat 1 tablespoon of the oil and add the bacon and shallots. Sauté over moderate heat for about 8 minutes. Add the tomato purée and stir well to mix. Add the wine, stock, garlic, mushrooms, juniper berries, bouquet garni, lemon rind and halved oranges. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer, stirring from time to time, for 20 minutes.
Season the venison with salt and pepper and dredge with flour, shaking off excess flour. Heat remaining 3 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet and sear the venison cubes in it, in batches. Transfer to the casserole or kettle, cover, and cook in a preheated hot oven (450°F.) for 1¾ hours, or until the meat is very tender. Serve with potatoes or noodles and a green vegetable or salad.
SERVES 14 to 16.
The recipe can be halved.
This was one of Alan Casey’s dishes that I most enjoyed when he was head chef at Culloden House, Inverness in Scotland. Serve with a Côte du Rhône.
8 medallions (slices) of venison, each about 3 ounces
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons brandy
1 cup Game Stock (see Index) or brown stock
4 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon red-currant jelly
½ cup heavy cream
Salt, freshly ground black pepper
16 dried apricots, soaked
Flatten the venison medallions to ¼-inch thickness. In a skillet heat the butter and sauté the venison over fairly high heat, turning once, for about 3 minutes a side for rare, 4 minutes for medium rare. Pour 3 tablespoons of the brandy over the meat, and ignite it. Remove venison from the skillet, cover, and keep warm while making the sauce.
Into the skillet pour the game stock; add the cloves, bay leaf and red-currant jelly. Reduce to half, then stir in the cream and simmer until slightly thickened. Strain the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper and warm through.
Put the apricots and the water in which they have been soaking into a small saucepan and simmer them gently if they are at all hard. If they are soft, simply warm them through. Drain. Coat apricots liberally with freshly ground black pepper. Sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of brandy.
To serve put 2 medallions of venison on each of 4 heated plates and pour the warm sauce over them. Garnish with the apricots.
SERVES 4.
Philip Burgess, head chef at the Arundell Arms in Lifton, Devon, has a great respect for all types of food. He enjoys cooking with sophisticated as well as simple ingredients. His aim is to produce dishes that are not disguised with heavy garnishes or sauces and where natural flavors emerge from the cooking at their peak. Serve with a Côte du Rhône.
Marinade
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 medium-size onion, chopped
1 medium-size carrot, scraped and chopped
2 cups dry white wine
1½ tablespoons olive oil
1 bay leaf
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Venison
1½ pounds boneless venison loin, cut into 8 slices
Flour for dredging
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 tablespoons butter
¼ cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon green peppercorns, crushed
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup lightly thickened rich brown stock
Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in an earthenware, stainless-steel or enamel bowl, add the venison, and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Lift the venison out of the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Lightly flatten the slices to about ½-inch thickness. Dredge with flour; shake to remove excess flour. In a large heavy skillet, heat the oil and butter and sauté the venison for 5 to 7 minutes, turning occasionally. The meat should remain pink inside. Lift meat out of the skillet onto a plate, cover, and keep warm.
Pour excess fat from the pan. Add the wine, peppercorns and cream and reduce over moderate heat by half. Add the brown stock and any juices that may have collected on the plate with the venison, and simmer until the sauce is slightly thickened. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.
Arrange 2 medallions of venison on each of 4 heated plates and pour the sauce over them. Serve with rice or potatoes and a green vegetable.
SERVES 4.
David Harding of Bodysgallen Hall in Llandudno, Wales, is able to get very fine venison. He has developed this recipe to take advantage of it. The medley of flavors combines deliciously. Serve with a Rioja or Cabernet Sauvignon.
4-pound saddle of venison, boned, bones reserved
1 cup dry red wine
12 juniper berries, crushed
2 sprigs of thyme
2 sprigs of marjoram
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium-size onion, chopped
1 medium-size carrot, scraped and chopped
½ cup Sauce Demi-glace (see Index)
½ cup light cream
Salt, freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons Clarified Butter (see Index)
1 tablespoon raw butter
½ cup fresh cranberries
1 tart apple, peeled, cored and diced
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons minced parsley
Put the venison into a dish just large enough to hold it comfortably. Pour in the wine, add the juniper berries, thyme, marjoram and bay leaf. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours, turning 2 or 3 times.
Chop the venison bones. In a casserole heat the oil; add the bones, onion and carrot and cook over moderate heat, stirring from time to time, until bones are browned. Lift venison out of the marinade, pat it dry with paper towels, and set aside. Add the marinade to the casserole with the bones and cook uncovered until the marinade is reduced by half. Add the demi-glace and simmer, uncovered, over low heat for 20 minutes. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve. Return it to the casserole, stir in the cream, taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper if necessary. Keep hot.
Cut the venison into 8 equal slices (collops) and season with salt and pepper. Heat the clarified butter in a heavy skillet and sauté the collops for 1 minute on each side. They will be pink inside.
Put 2 slices of venison on each of 4 heated plates. Keep warm. Meanwhile in a small pan heat the tablespoon of raw butter and quickly sauté the cranberries and apple sprinkled with the sugar. Pour the sauce over the venison slices and top with the cranberries and apples. Sprinkle with the parsley.
SERVES 4.
VARIATION : In his Mignon of Venison with Black Currants, Ken Stott, head chef of Kildrummy Castle Hotel, in Grampian, uses the same cut of venison as David Harding with different but equally delicious results.
2 pounds boned saddle of venison, cut into 8 slices
4 tablespoons butter
¼ cup Crème de Cassis liqueur
½ cup Sauce Demi-glace (see Index)
½ cup heavy cream
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1 cup black currants
Flatten the venison slices. Heat the butter in a large heavy skillet and sauté the slices quickly on both sides. Keep them rare as they should be pink inside. This takes only about 1 minute a side. Remove venison from the pan, place on a warm platter, and keep hot, covered. Pour the Crème de Cassis into the pan, add the demi-glace and cream, and simmer until slightly thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the black currants, cook for 1 or 2 minutes longer, and pour over the venison.
SERVES 4.
Laverbread, a Welsh specialty, is made from purple laver (Porphyra umbilicalis), a seaweed which looks very like sea lettuce except that it is purple-red or brown instead of green. It is cooked down and sold canned in specialty shops and health-food stores and is eaten as a garnish, either hot or cold, with seafood, meat or poultry. It makes a delicious, fresh-tasting and delicate sauce for the richly flavored venison. Cooked, very thoroughly drained and chopped spinach can be used instead as laverbread is not always easy to find. Tim Cumming, chef-patron of the Hole in the Wall restaurant in Bath, developed this unusual dish. Serve with a Rioja.
2¼ pounds boned and tied saddle of venison, preferably roe deer
6 slices of bacon
Sauce
½ pound laverbread, or 1 pound spinach
Grated rind of 1 orange
½ cup orange juice
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Wrap the venison in the bacon and place in a baking pan. Roast in a preheated hot oven (425°F.) for 10 to 12 minutes. Meat should remain pink in the middle. Remove and discard the bacon and cut the venison into 6 slices. Cover and keep warm.
If using laverbread, which is already cooked, put it into a saucepan with all the other sauce ingredients and heat it through, stirring to mix. Season it generously with black pepper. Taste and if necessary add a little salt.
If using spinach, wash and trim away any coarse stems. Drop the spinach into a large saucepan filled with briskly boiling salted water, bring back to a boil, and cook for 4 minutes. Drain and refresh in cold water. Drain again very thoroughly and chop. Put into a saucepan with all the other sauce ingredients exactly as for laverbread.
Spoon a layer of sauce on each of 6 heated plates and put a noisette of venison on top. Serve immediately.
SERVES 6.
Stephen Ross, chef-patron of Homewood Park, at Freshford, near Bath in Avon, likes his dishes to be well flavored with plenty of character. He particularly likes to cook with fine, local produce. This dish, like many others that he and chef Antony Pitt create in the Homewood Park kitchen, is the result of fine ingredients stimulating creative talent. If the haunch of a young roe deer is not available, use tenderloin or round of venison. Serve with a Rioja.
1 small haunch of roe deer
¼ pound (1 stick) butter
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 slice of bacon, chopped fine
½ cup dry white wine
½ cup Chicken Stock (see Index)
½ cup lemon juice
Grated rind of 2 lemons
1¼ cups sour cream
2 tablespoons capers
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Have the venison cut into twelve ½-inch slices. In a skillet heat the butter and sauté the venison slices over fairly high heat, turning once, for about 1 minute a side. Remove to a serving dish, cover, and keep warm.
Add the onion and bacon to the skillet with the white wine and chicken stock and simmer, uncovered, to reduce by half. Add the lemon juice and grated rind, sour cream and capers. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Put 2 slices of venison on each of 6 heated plates. Spoon the sauce over them and serve with rice or new potatoes.
SERVES 6.
Julian Waterer, who was head chef at Greywalls hotel in Scotland, great venison country, is now at the Salisbury restaurant at Old Hatfield, Hertfordshire. He serves this as an appetizer, attractive in a meal where the main course is fish. I find it makes a perfect main course for two for a warm weather lunch or dinner. It is well flavored and original in concept like all Julian’s recipes. Serve with a Rioja.
Jelly
2½ cups clarified Game Stock or Beef Stock (see Index)
¼ cup dry red wine
¼ cup Tawny Port wine
1 envelope unflavored gelatin, 7 grams
1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
Venison and Sauce
12 ounces boned and tied saddle of venison
1½ teaspoons green peppercorns
3 bunches of watercress
Salt, freshly ground pepper
6 Oatcakes (see Index)
Pour the stock, red wine and Port into a medium-size saucepan and reduce over moderate heat to 2 cups. Sprinkle the gelatin over ¼ cup cold water and stir into the hot stock; simmer for a minute or two to dissolve the gelatin. Combine the vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer until the mixture is syrupy. Stir into the stock and simmer over low heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Cool.
Roast the venison in a baking pan in a preheated hot oven (425°F.) for 8 to 10 minutes. It should be pink inside. Remove from the oven and cool.
If serving as an appetizer, pour a thin layer of jellied stock into 6 small (about 1-cup) ramekins or soufflé molds and refrigerate until set. Sprinkle with the green peppercorns. Cut the venison into 6 slices and put a slice into each mold. Pour in the rest of the jellied stock to cover the venison and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
While the jelly is setting, make the watercress sauce. Wash the watercress and remove and discard the tough stems. Put the watercress into a blender or food processor and process to a purée. Transfer to a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve, place an oatcake on each of the 6 plates. Make a border of watercress purée round each oatcake. Unmold the jellied venison and place one on each oatcake.
If serving as a main course for two or three, either serve 2 or 3 venison molds on larger plates per person, or make them in larger molds, cutting the venison into thicker slices. If liked, pour the watercress sauce onto the plates and serve the oatcakes separately. The crunchy flavor complements the venison.
SERVES 6 as an appetizer, 2 or 3 as a main course.
RABBIT is an ideal meat from today’s dietary point of view. It is lean, high in protein, with less fat and cholesterol than chicken or beef, yet it has been singularly neglected for years. Its popularity is now increasing. Excellent top-grade American packaged rabbits, weighing 2½ to 3 pounds, can be found in supermarket freezers, usually cut into serving portions, though some whole or halved rabbits can be found. Fresh rabbits are sometimes available in butcher shops. Domestic English rabbits are of very high quality, and sometimes a member of the kitchen staff of a country house hotel will raise a few domestic bunnies as a sideline. They have tender white flesh, and some of the best dishes I have eaten have been the rabbit dishes of inspired young chefs. I have collected the ones I enjoyed most.
Rabbit becomes something special when cooked according to this recipe, the creation of David Nicholls. I first met David and enjoyed his cooking when he was head chef at the Old Lodge at Limpsfield, Surrey, and found his enthusiasm infectious. He is now head chef at Waltons in London. His first job was as a footman to H.M. The Queen at Buckingham Palace, but cooking soon claimed him and at 18 he became the youngest chef de partie the London Waldorf Hotel ever had. His culinary philosophy demands simplicity and the freshest and best produce, and he cares a great deal about presentation. Serve with a Côte de Beaune or Côte de Nuits.
Marinade
2 large Bermuda-type onions, chopped fine
2 cups dry red wine
3 garlic cloves, crushed
4 parsley sprigs
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 sprig of thyme
2 bay leaves
Rabbit
1 rabbit, 2½ to 3 pounds, cut into 8 serving pieces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups Veal or Beef Stock (see Index)
Garnishes
4 medium-size tomatoes, peeled, seeded and quartered
4 small heads of purple broccoli (calabrese), freshly cooked
4 large whole unpeeled garlic cloves, sautéed in butter
2 tablespoons minced parsley
Grated rinds of 1 orange and 1 lemon
Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a large bowl and add the rabbit pieces. Cover and refrigerate for 48 hours, turning the pieces 2 or 3 times.
Lift out the rabbit pieces and pat them dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. In a heavy skillet heat the oil and sauté the rabbit until lightly browned all over. Transfer rabbit to a heavy casserole and pour in the marinade and the veal or beef stock. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook in a preheated moderate oven (350°F.) for 2 hours, or until rabbit is tender. Lift out the rabbit pieces to a heated dish, cover, and keep warm. Over moderately high heat reduce the liquid in the casserole until it is slightly thickened. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary. Strain the sauce and discard the solids. Return sauce to the casserole and heat it through.
Arrange the rabbit pieces on 4 warm plates and spoon the sauce over them. Arrange the warm broccoli and a garlic clove beside the rabbit and the quartered tomato on the other side. Sprinkle with the orange and lemon rind, then with the parsley.
SERVES 4.
Nick Gill, head chef at Hambleton Hall, Oakham, is the originator of this well-flavored, uncomplicated dish, a delight for all lovers of rabbit dishes. Serve with a Burgundy, either a Côte de Beaune or Côte de Nuits.
1 pound saddle of rabbit, thoroughly thawed if frozen
Salt, freshly ground pepper
½ teaspoon dried thyme
2 slices of bacon, halved crosswise
1 carrot, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 parsley sprigs
1 bay leaf, crumbled
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ cup heavy cream, or Fresh White Cheese (see Index)
1 tablespoon moutarde de Meaux, or other French coarse-grain mustard
Garnish: watercress sprigs
Remove as much as possible of the thin, silvery skin covering the top of the saddle of rabbit. Season the rabbit with salt, pepper and half of the dried thyme. Cover the top with the bacon slices. In a shallow flameproof casserole just large enough to hold the rabbit, make a bed of the carrot, onion, celery, garlic, parsley, bay leaf and the rest of the thyme. Pour ½ cup of the white wine over the vegetables and put the rabbit, bacon side up, on the vegetables. Brush the rabbit with oil and roast it uncovered in the middle of a preheated very hot oven (475°F.) for 10 minutes. Add remaining ½ cup of wine and roast rabbit for 10 minutes longer, or until it is tender. Remove the rabbit, cover and keep warm.
Transfer the casserole to the top of the stove and bring to a boil over moderate heat. Reduce the liquid by half. Add the cream and continue to cook the sauce until it has thickened slightly. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve into a saucepan and season with salt and pepper.
Remove the bacon from the rabbit and discard. Remove the 2 fillets from the saddle, each in one piece, and cut them at a 45-degree angle into ½-inch slices. Re-form the slices into 2 fillets and return them to the saddle bones. Transfer the rabbit to a heated platter. Bring the sauce to a boil over moderate heat. Off the heat stir in the mustard.
Pour the sauce over the rabbit and serve garnished with watercress sprigs.
SERVES 2.
VARIATION : Pierre Chevillard, head chef at Chewton Glen Hotel in New Milton, Hampshire, has his own version of the dish.
2 large rabbit legs, each about 12 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 tablespoon moutarde de Meaux
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ cup Veal or Chicken Stock (see Index)
¼ cup heavy cream, or Fresh White Cheese (see Index)
Cooked spinach leaves
Season the rabbit with salt and pepper. In a heavy skillet just large enough to hold the rabbit legs, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the rabbit, reduce the heat to low and cook the rabbit, basting it constantly, for 12 to 15 minutes, or until it is tender. Remove rabbit legs, cover, and keep warm.
Rinse out and dry the skillet. Add the shallots, mustard and wine to the skillet and reduce until the wine has evaporated. Add the veal or chicken stock and the cream. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and cook for 1 minute. Add remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, shaking the skillet until the butter has melted into the sauce.
If liked, remove the main bone from each leg, but leave the bone in if preferred. Put each leg on a heated plate, surround it by cooked spinach, and pour the sauce over the rabbit.
SERVES 2.
Hares belong to the same family as rabbits, Leporidae. They are dark-fleshed and larger than the white-fleshed rabbits and usually have to be bespoken from a specialty butcher unless caught by a hunter. They tend to have a lot of blood but are very flavorful and worth coping with. Julian Waterer of the Salisbury restaurant at Old Hatfield, in Hertfordshire, has come up with a very simple recipe just using saddles. I used the rest of my two hares to make a fine stew. Serve with a Côte du Rhône.
2 saddles of young hare
Salt, freshly ground pepper
4 slices of bacon
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound blackberries
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 cup rich Game Stock or Beef Stock (see Index)
1 tablespoon butter
Season the saddles with salt and pepper and tie the bacon slices on them. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet and sauté the saddles for 1 minute on each side. Put into a baking pan and roast in a preheated hot oven (425°F.) for 15 to 20 minutes, or until saddles are tender. Remove from the pan, take off and discard the bacon, and put saddles onto a heated plate. Cover and keep warm.
Put three quarters of the blackberries in a heavy saucepan; add water barely to cover and ½ cup of the sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Put through a sieve and set the syrup aside.
Rinse out and dry the saucepan. Add remaining ¼ cup sugar and caramelize over very low heat until it is golden brown. Add the vinegar and simmer for 3 minutes, then stir in the reserved blackberry syrup and reduce to half. Gradually add the stock, a tablespoon at a time. The sauce should not be too thin and should remain tangy. It may not be necessary to add all of the stock. Simmer for 4 minutes, then stir in the butter, off the heat.
Remove the hare fillets from the saddles and cut them into thin diagonal slices. Arrange in a fan shape on each of 4 heated plates. Trickle the sauce round them, or if preferred pour the sauce onto the plates and then arrange the hare on top. Garnish with the remainder of the blackberries. Serve vegetables such as new potatoes and a green vegetable on a separate plate.
SERVES 4.
This unusual terrine makes a pleasant main course for lunch or a summer dinner served with salads. It can also be served as an appetizer course. It is another of the rabbit dishes invented by head chef Pierre Chevillard of Chewton Glen Hotel in Hampshire. Serve with a Burgundy, either a Côte de Beaune or Côte de Nuits.
2 rabbits, 2 pounds each
1½ pounds boneless lean pork, chopped coarse
1½ pounds pork fatback
Salt, freshly ground pepper
½ cup shelled pistachio nuts, peeled
½ pound pitted prunes
Bone the rabbits, cutting off as much meat as possible. Chop the rabbit meat coarse and combine it in a food processor with the pork and 1 pound of the pork fatback, chopped. Process just long enough to mince the meats; or put the meats through a meat grinder. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add the pistachio nuts, mixing them in thoroughly.
Line an 8-cup terrine or loaf pan with the ½ pound pork fatback cut into strips, allowing the strips to overlap the terrine. Make a layer of half of the rabbit and pork mixture. Make a layer of the prunes in 2 parallel rows and finish with the rest of the meat. Fold the fatback strips over the terrine and cover with a lid or with aluminum foil. Set terrine into a baking pan with hot water to come about halfway up the sides. Bake in a preheated moderate oven (350°F.) for 1 to 1½ hours, until the meats have shrunk slightly from the sides of the terrine. Remove the terrine from the oven and let it cool. Refrigerate until the juices have set. Unmold the terrine and slice.
SERVES 6 for a main course, 10 to 12 as an appetizer.