Speck & Prune Bomb

Not really a recipe but a lovely combo of contrasting yet complementary flavors. Another addition to the cured meat "bombs".

best quality speck
rociola cheese
pitted prune
young walnut

1. put a spoonful of rociola on one end of the speck slice
2. plop the prune and walnut on top
3. loosely roll the speck up and pop in your mouth 

Easy Chocolate Nemesis

Michelle made this the other night, the perfect staple chocolate cake from The River Cafe. The original version is a tad more complicated, but found that this one is just as good. We had it with some creme fraiche but was thinking it would be amazing with some matcha green tea ice cream, or a hazelnut or mint ice cream.

340g 70% Lindt Dark Chocolate
195g unsalted butter
5 organic eggs
180g caster sugar

1. preheat oven to 120*C
2. grease a 25 cm cake tin using extra butter and line with parchment paper
3. break chocolate into pieces and melt with butter in a bowl over simmering water; while chocolate and butter are melting, beat eggs and 70g of the sugar in an electric mixer until the volume quadruples
4. mix remaining sugar with 100 ml of boiled water and stir until dissolved into a light syrup
5. pour the hot syrup into the melted chocolate and cool slightly
6. add chocolate to the eggs and beat slowly until the mixture is combined
7. pour into cake tin
8. put a folded kitchen cloth in the bottom of a baking tray; put in the cake tin and add enough hot water so that it comes 3/4 of the way up the side of the cake tin
9. bake in the over for 50 mins until set
10. leave the cake to cool in the water before turning out
11. sprinkle with cacao powder before serving

Seoul Observations

A nice discovery in Seoul recently.

• Seokparang: an old villa turned restaurant serving kaiseki-like dinners. This meal included traditional porridge, Gujulpan (pancakes with shredded vegetables), Eomandu (cod dumpling), bo scam (pork belly & condiments), grilled abalone, chilhyanggye (black bone chicken soup with seven flavors), fried red snapper with apple soy sauce, neobiani (grilled marinated beef) and fresh pine mushrooms, sinseollo (hot pot of seafood, meats and vegetables), noodle soup, crispy korean date, fresh ginseng with honey and su jung gwa (best cinnamon tea ever).

Caviar & Brillat Savarin

Thanks to resident HK caviar expert Cyrille for this revelation. At least for me anyway, as this pairing has been savored by those in the know for many years! Some enjoy caviar with Comte even more!

caviar
Brillat Savarin

1. slice of cheese
2. place a little smattering of caviar on the cheese and eat

Proper Bresaola & Remoulade

Filippo has supplied us with the best bresaola ever, but must get the name. Need to make sure that the remoulade marinates 2-3 days, and that includes capers and perhaps some tarragon. Rather than plate this, the bresaola worked well as a wrap around the remoulade. The latter is fine without a mayonnaise maison to keep it on the light side.

celeri root
dijon mustard
mild olive oil
tarragon
cider vinegar
capers
chives

1. make remoulade, ensuring that long strands are grated
2. dress with vinaigrette and herbs, let marinate 2-3 days
3. place a blob of remoulade on bresaola, wrap into a loose sphere, serve immediately

Tonight's Dinner

A great dinner with the Hoffmans, with some new things on the menu. Michelle's first try on the River Cafe's mini nemesis was a hit. Accompanied by some excellent wines including a Sauternes Chateau Yquem 2005 and Haut Brion 2004, courtesy of our generous guests.

• chickpea, anchovy & tahini on corn bread
• baby veggies & tonnato sauce
• proper bresaola bombs with celery remoulade
• salt roasted beets with walnut pesto
• sea urchin & burrata
• scallops, chestnut puree, shiso
• speck involtini with robiola, prune, walnut
• blood orange, onion & oregano
• osso buco ravioli
• radicchio & herb salad
• aged parmesan, black cherry preserves
• chocolate nemesis, creme fraiche