Lemon Risotto & Scamorza

An interesting combo indeed, observed on the menu of a restaurant in Santa Margherita.  This is how I'd do it.

risotto rice
zest and juice of a lemon
chopped parsley
maldon sea salt
scamorza
home-made chicken or vegetable stock
butter
EVOO
onions
shallots
garlic
white vermouth
white wine

1. chop onions, shallots and garlic finely and saute in a tad of butter and EVOO
2. add rice, coat it with the chopped onions and shallots
3. add a half cup of white wine to boil off 
4. add broth slowly until rice is al dente
5. near end chopped scamorza
6. add lemon zest and juice, parsley
7. add more butter, then 1 tblsp of vermouth
8. let sit for a minute with cover
9. serve with plenty of ground black pepper

Trofie & Bottarga

This sounds like a great combo, remembering from a restaurant menu I glanced at in the street somewhere in Liguria.  This is my guess on how one might make it.

mullet bottarga
trofie
EVOO
tad of butter
lemon zest
dried red chili
chopped parsley
maldon sea salt

1. boil pasta until al dente
2. add all ingredients to taste, grating bottarga last and stir 
3. serve pasta in warmed bowls

Insalata di Granchio

From a River Cafe menu dated  Wednesday, 24th October, 2012. Heaven.

puntarelle
celeriac
fennel
treviso
crab
bottarga
EVOO
lemon juice
maldon sea salt
ground black pepper

1. shave celeriac into a bowl with puntarelle, thinly sliced and marinated fennel, treviso and dress with EVOO and lemon juice; season
2. dress crab with EVOO and lemon juice, season separately and arrange on the bed of salad
3. grate bottarga over the whole lot

Eel, Horseradish, Beets

Looking at an old St John's menu. A bit of classic, so why don't I make it more often? Dear me.

best quality smoked eel
fresh horseradish
creme fraiche
lemon
lemon zest
chives
maldon sea salt
ground black pepper
beets (baked Ari-style)

1. bake beets on bed of salt; let cool to room temperature; cut into bite sizes and dress with EVOO, a tiny and unnoticeable tad of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper 
2. grate horseradish, mix with creme fraiche and lemon juice and some zest, salt, chives
3. serve eel, beets and horseradish sauce on a white plate

Tongue, Lentils & Mostarda

There isn't much else to say. Glancing over an old Anchor & Hope menu, this immediately leapt out. Needs to be made. I know why I'm losing a bit of weight. There's no western restaurant in HK that comes close to making such a tantalizingly appetizing dish like this.

ox tongue
lentils
onion
carrot
celery
thyme
sage
home-made chicken broth
parsley
tomatoes
mostarda

1. prepare the ox tongue (need specific recipe) and slice it on a machine slicer
2. prepare lentils using ingredients listed-easy on the tomatoes, add parsley last
3. serve tongue warm with lentils and mostarda 

The London List

Places to go in London when next in town. Ari, maybe you can sample for me if you haven't already?

• Otto's: Otto Tepasse is apparently the king of the Duck Press. His Canard a la Presse is apparently divine. I want to go and I want a duck press!

Octopus & Truffle

Something Ito-San includes every time I order a plate of sashimi. Easy to replicate and perfect with an apperitivo.

sushi grade cooked octopus
truffle paste

1. cut octopus into bite-size pieces
2. mix with a bit of store-bought black truffle paste

Zurich Observations

What a delightful discovery actually stopping to visit. So many years of passing through on the way to the slopes. The air so fresh and crisp, the river so pure. A great first impression. We didn't do justice to the food scene, hitting some of the old dames this time around.

• Kronenhalle Restaurant: beautiful smoked salmon on a large and flat blini, followed by a veal with cream sauce. The bar next door was nearly perfect, as was the Americano replacing campari with a Swiss equivalent.
• Helvetia: classic, old-style Italian restaurant with table-side service and all.

Scampi Risotto

Another recipe I must research. It comes up frequently along the Ligurian shore. Key is to have access to these little creatures, but I could substitute some good quality prawn. The prawn heads would be crucial for making the broth.

broth
scampi or shrimp heads
leeks, onions, one garlic clove
1 tomato
celery
black peppercorn

scampi (or prawn)
parsley
white wine
butter
EVOO

1. make broth using ingredients and reducing until dark and rich, strain through a fine sieve
2. saute rice in butter and EVOO, deglaze with wine
3. add broth until rice is al dente
4. add a bit more butter and sliced prawn at the very end, cover and let sit for 1-2 minutes before serving 

Gnocchi Romana & Pesto

This is more of a reminder to learn to make these gnocchi well. Perfect for a large dinner party. I broke all rules by eating them with pesto, but I won't tell anyone.

gnocchi romana
home-made pesto

1. bake gnocchi
2. drizzle with pesto 

Octopus & Courgette

The trick here is to know how to make octopus carpaccio, for which there are many recipes. The main thing is to compress the octopus in a tightly-wrapped cellophane and refrigerate. Once cool, the naturally-occurring gelatin will make it easy to slice on a machine slicer. Kind of need to get one!

octopus
best quality courgette
EVOO
dried chile
lemon
maldon sea salt

1. prepare courgette; slice length-wise and quickly blanch; drizzle with EVOO, lemon and salt
2. slice courgette finely on machine slicer, then break up or cut into smaller pieces
3. mix octopus with courgette, season with salt and chili

Veal, Parmesan, Celery

A lovely dish we had take-away for our train ride to the airport. Seems like it was made in the following way...

roast veal
parmesan shavings
celery thinly-sliced at an angle
EVOO
maldon sea salt
ground black pepper

1. once veal is at room temperature, slice thinly with a machine
2. lay veal out on a large platter, smother with parmesan, more EVOO
3. sprinkle with celery
4. season

Shanghai Observations

A few notes from a trip last month. The French Concession makes Shanghai special.

• Jesse (Huaihai Lu): good home-cooking, simple and delicious.
• Franck (Hunan Lu): a Frenchman's bistrot with authentic fare, chalkboards and all; must be cozy on a cold winter's night. I asked Franck why he couldn't do the same in HK....
• Mr & Mrs Bund (Bund): honestly don't understand what the hype is all about; food is stuck in an early 2000s time warp. Keep it real, keep it simple, keep it fresh!
• Mercato (Bund): Jean-Georges latest venture in town; he keeps it real, simple and fresh. Enjoyed a couple of perfectly made Americanos at the bar. 
• Goga (Dongping Lu): California diner with an Asian twist; big portions as you would expect. Small and fun; food was fine but need to return as head chef was on vacation. 

Salmon & Red Peppercorn

A simple dish from [ ], my favorite delicatessen in Santa Margherita.

best quality salmon filets, slice lengthways
EVOO to coat fish
1 tblsp red peppercorn
lime juice to taste

1. drizzle lime juice and EVOO into a flat, earthenware dish (preferably white)
2. layer salmon in dish, drizzle more EVOO so that fish is coated, then sprinkle some red peppercorns over the lot

Proper Bellini

I'm so happy to have found this Bellini, from Tortuga in Santa Margherita. Dare I say better than Harry's Bar? Thanks to Ali and Michelle for the discovery. If fresh and ripe white peaches are not on hand, best to wait until they are. Below is for one serving.

best quality white peach
about a tblsp of lemon juice, to taste
about a tblsp of white sugar, to taste
a good prosecco

1. in blender, mix the peach, lemon and sugar and let set a few hours
2. put a few ice cubes in a cocktail shaker, then add about equal quantity of prosecco to the amount of peach puree on hand (the recipe doubles, triples etc)
3. add the peach puree to the prosecco in the shaker and stir with a long spoon
4. poor into some glasses (preferably without stems) as you hold ice back with a bigger spoon--this allow for the foam to enter the glass as well

Cotto & Potato Salad

A dish I've never seen, from between Parma and Mantova, according to the Basilicatan chef. Need to do this asap, love it very much. Oddly, his potato salad was closer to the Japanese mashed variety, but I might make a more traditional variety.

best quality cotto, fairly thickly sliced
potato salad

1. heat plate in a oven broiler
2. take out, lay slices of ham on top, cover with foil for a couple minutes
3. remove foil, serve with potato salad

Fennel, Black Olive, Bottarga

Nice little number from one of my new favorite Italian restaurants in HK, Giando. There's some slice celery in here too, which is clever.

1 bulb fennel
1 stalk celery
some Italian black olives, pitted
parsley and chives
white wine vinegar
EVOO
maldon sea salt
cracked black pepper
bottarga (mullet)

1. slice fennel and celery, dress with EVOO, vinegar, salt and pepper
2. let sit a couple hours
3. add black olives chopped herbs
4. shave bottarga over top and serve