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Guinea fowl with sloe gin and juniper berry cream with pears
Posting this recipe on the first day of Autumn was irresistible. A most autumnal dish in every way. Autumn brings game and wild berries to our plates. I have constructed this dish with flavours that I feel are most welcome and. in a way. rather spiritual at this time of year. The sloe gin, juniper berries and cream work extremely well together, the dish being further enhanced by the guinea fowl infusion into the sauce. This dish serves 2 or 3 people.
1 guinea fowl cut into 8 pieces, carefully separating the breast meat from the bone. Wash away the blood stains from the bones.
2 oz (60 gms) unsalted butter
3 cloves of garlic, core removed and crushed
3.5 oz (100 mls) sloe gin
3.5 oz (100 mls) madeira
20 dried juniper berries
2 pears peeled, cored and each cut into 8 pieces
4 cups (1L) chicken stock
1/2 cup (150 mls) double cream
Peeled baby carrots, chard and blackberries to garnish
In a large pot, sauté all the guinea fowl pieces and bones in the butter until they turn golden brown. Carefully transfer the pieces and bones to a warm plate. Add the crushed garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds. Deglaze the pan with the gin and add the juniper berries. As the liquid in the pan begins to sizzle add the madeira and reduce again until the liquid in pan begins to sizzle. Add the pear pieces and sauté them until they turn golden brown. Transfer the pears to a warm plate. Transfer all the guinea fowl pieces except for the boned breasts back to the pan. Deglaze with the chicken stock and bring the pan to a simmer and cover. After 20 mins add the breasts and simmer for a further 15 minutes. Uncover the pan and remove the bones from the broth. Remove the legs, wings and breast pieces and transfer them to a warmed plate. Raise the heat and reduce the broth by about a half. Add the cream and reduce again until the broth is rich a creamy. To plate the dish, add the carrots and pears and layer the breast pieces or legs. Spoon on the thickened broth and include some juniper berries. Garnish the dish with chard leaves and fresh blackberries.
Beef sukiyaki, fried tofu and Japanese glass noodles with shiitakes
Wafer thin slices of beef heaven. Sukiyaki is a definite favourite of mine traditionally served as a winter hotpot dish. I have interpreted it here as a small taster course. The key is to choose a nicely marbled beef. I have chosen rib eye. Fine slices are available pre-prepared in oriental supermarkets. To achieve that fine cut, place the meat in the freezer for 2 hours and, using a very sharp chef’s knife, carve the meet against the grain into wafer-thin slices while the meat is semi-frozen and maintains its shape.
1/2 cup (125 mls) mirin
1/2 cup (125 mls) sake
1/3 cup (85 mls) soy sauce
1/4 cup (70 mls) sugar
20 thin slices rib eye beef (see above)
5 spring onions, cut into small lengths
6 Shiitake mushrooms, stalks removed and sliced
A handful of Japanese glass noodles
A handful of fresh bean sprouts
5 inch (10 cms) section of cucumber, julienned or cut into spaghetti using a mandolin
Fresh tofu cut into 3 inch (7-8 cms) lengths
1 tbsp vegetable oil
sesame seeds, sesame oil and chive garnish
Warm the mirin, sake, soy sauce and sugar in a pot until simmering point. Add the beef, spring onions and mushroom slices. As the beef turns brown, add the noodles. In the meantime, carefully sauté the tofu slices in the oil in a separate frying pan until browned on each side. Arrange the dish by draining and layering the beef slices in the centre of the dish. Add the fried tofu. Drain and arrange the noodles, cucumber spaghetti, bean sprouts and mushrooms. Add a small amount of sesame oil to the noodle combination and sprinkle sesame seeds. Add chives as an optional garnish
Truffled clams on Japanese cucumber pickles
It came as a surprise to me how beautifully truffle oil enhances the flavour of clams. Feel free to use razor clams instead. The combination with the pickled cucumber gives the dish the quality of being a Japanese amuse bouche.
For the pickled cucumber
2 Japanese cucumbers or English cucumber
3 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup (80 mls) rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
Further pinch of salt
2 tbsp sesame seeds
Slice the cumber into moderately thin roundels. Place them into a bowl and stir in the salt. Leave the cumbers for about 30 minutes then rinse and drain them. Place them in a bowl then add the rest of the ingredients. Place them into a lidded container and leave to pickle for a few days.
For the clams
Sauté the clams in butter for about 30 seconds then place the clams in a small ramekin. Add a teaspoon of truffle oil and gently coat the clams by stirring gently
Completing the dish
Place a bed of diced pickled cucumber into a small receptacle such as a Chinese spoon. Carefully place some clams on the top.
Tomato powder
Tomato powder is essentially flavourless but can add a beautiful garnish to food.
Preheat an oven to about 230F/110C. Carefully place 6 tomatoes in a bowl of boiling water for 15 seconds then drain and place them into ice cold water to prevent them from cooking. The skins will be easy to peel. Place the skins onto a baking sheet that has been covered in baking parchment. Bake the skins in the oven for 40 minutes and remove them from the oven. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes then place the skins in a coffee grinder, pulsing them until they form a fine powder.
Langoustine risotto with sautéed nashi pear
Creamy, buttery langoustine infused risotto – just so delicious. I am fortunate to have nashi pears growing in my garden. They are crisp and sweet and available for much of the year in Asian/Oriental supermarkets or grocers. My nashis do not compare to the superb specimens available in Korean market stalls but have served this dish well. Nashi pears have the outward appearance of apples as can be seen in the picture below. For added effect I have garnished the dish with a cherry tomato rose, tomato powder and leaves from the nashi pear tree. This recipe feeds four people as a main course.
Langoustines are a huge favourite of mine. They go beautifully with risotto. They also look simply irresistible on the fishmonger’s stall…and dare I say it…rather friendly!
For the langoustine stock
5 tbsp unsalted butter
1 onion chopped
Shells fro 12 langoustines, flesh carefully extracted and retained
18 oz (500 gms) baby clams
3 1/2 pints (2 litres) fish stock or water
In a large pan, sauté the onions in the butter for about 2 minutes. Add the langoustine shells and stir them into the butter and onions until they become pale. Add the clams then stir for another minute. Add the stock /water and simmer for about 30 minutes skimming off impurities. Strain the stock into a container.
For the risotto
5 tbsp unsalted butter
4/5 cup (200 mls) carnaroli rice
150 ml white wine
Prepared fish stock /water
4 tbsp mascarpone cheese
Sauté the rice in the butter in a medium size pan for about a minute. Add the wine then stir the rice for another minute. Slowly ladle the strained langoustine stock stirring the rice continuously so that its starch infuses into the risotto. Keep stirring and ladling in more stock until the rice reaches the perfect consistency, that is just soft enough to chew easily. Add the mascarpone cheese and stir it into the risotto.
Completing the dish
A knob of unsalted butter
Nashi pears, peeled and cut into cubes
Langoustine flesh
Sauté the nashi cubes in the butter for 30 seconds for each of the six surfaces. Set aside. Sauté the langoustine flesh in butter in the same pan until they are just cooked with a soft golden-red colour. Plate out the rice, nashis and langoustines and add the garnishes
The best hollandaise sauce recipe
This recipe is traditionally made just before serving the dish. It can, however last all day if it is kept in the oven at a constant 60C.
Small stainless steel pan or roundel
Glass bowl which is heat proof and can sit well upon another saucepan for emulsifying
1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 ½ tsp finely crushed white peppercorns
1/3 cup (90 mls) cold water
6 egg yolks
26 oz (750 gms) clarified butter
Sea salt
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp truffle infused oil
Truffle shavings
Prepare the clarified butter by gently warming it in a pan and skimming off the surface froth then carefully pouring the butter into a bowl ensuring the milky sediment is left in the pan. Keep it slightly warm.
Bring the vinegar, peppercorns and water to the boil in a small saucepan and reduce by about a third. Leave this to cool completely then whisk in the egg yolks. Pour the mixture into the glass bowl then place the bowl over a simmering saucepan and heat gradually, whisking all the time to emulsify the contents. It is vital not to let the temperature of the emulsification to rise above 63oC or it will begin to split. If it does begin to split, take the bowl immediately off the simmering pan and add ice cold water. After about eight minutes of whisking under the controlled heat, the contents will become very smooth and creamy. Take the bowl off the heat and whisk in the tepid clarified butter. Then whisk in the lemon and truffle oil. The sauce should have the consistency of mayonnaise.
Eggs benedict
Eggs benedict has to be one of the naughtiest breakfasts in existence. One particularly fine specimen is to be found in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong. Who can resist waking to a strong coffee and taking in lashings of hot butter sauce on soft poached eggs, soft ham and toasted English muffins. The key ingredient is hollandaise sauce. The very best hollandaise recipe can be found in this post…piquant and delicious! For extra luxury, I have added truffle oil.
