Salad Cigala

A retro salad that I love from La Cigala on Lamb's Conduit Street. Put it on an oval stainless steel platter for maximum effect! All the brined ingredients should be Spanish and are easy to find at Garcia's on Portobello.

sliced bibb lettuce
quarted tomato
best quality tinned tuna in oil
brined asparagus

brined artichoke hearts

brined shredded beets & shredded carrots

halved soft boiled egg
sliced red onion
cracked Green olives
EVOO

white wine vinegar
S&P

1. Put handfuls of above ingredients on platter
2. Serve on individual plates
3. Season to taste with EVOO, vinegar, S&P

Vinaigrette Mamie

Although my grandmother first taught me how to make a vinaigrette many years back, mine has since morphed into a very different consistency resembling that of an emulsified, mustardy mayo. I asked my grandma to reproduce the original this weekend, the vinaigrette my cousins and I fondly remember as dipity-doo (because she would hand out pieces of bread to us which we would then dip into her vinaigrette).

empty jar of bonne maman confiture

2 tbsp amora mustard

70 ml of plain white vinegar (wine vinegar ok)

150 ml corn or sunflower oil

1. mix mustard and vinegar in jar
2. add oil, put cap on jar, shake (depending on who's at the table, you can up the oil --1 vinegar to 3 oil --or about 220 ml)
3. stir in s&p when need to use

Tonight's Dinner

A nice little dinner with Toby & Donna, to keep poor David company.

• radish & butter
• spicy cuttlefish
• olives in brine
• rigatoni alla gricia
• red endives & herby vinaigrette
• gruyere & pumpkin seeds
• sweet summer Italian plums
• Artisan de Chocolat salty caramel pearls
• wine: Rosso Toscana, Perlato del Bosco 2001

Duck a L'Orange Vietnamienne

Watching Rick Stein's Far East Odyssey show, I couldn't help but seek out this Vietnamese recipe. I wonder if my buddy Ari--who loathes duck a l'orange-- might come around to this twist on the original?

2.5 kg duck in pieces
50g garlic, crushed
50g. Peeled ginger, thinly sliced
1 liter freshly squeezed oj
4 tblsp fish sauce
1 tblsp granulated sugar
5 star anise
4 red birds eye chilis
2 lemongrass stalks, finely chopped
Ground black pepper
8 spring onions. White part only, plus one whole for garnish
1/2 tsp cornflour

1. Heat pot on medium to high heat
2. Add duck pieces skin side down , cook 5-6 mins until crisp/golden
3. Turn over, cook another 2 mins
4. Pour out all but 2 tblsp of fat out (save this for another dish)
5. Return pan to low heat, add garlic & ginger, cook gently til golden
6. Add oj, fish sauce, sugar, star anise, chili, lemongrass, ground black pepper
7. Return duck to pan, partially cover & simmer 1.5 hrs, turning pieces of duck over time to time
8. Cut white parts of onion in half, add to duck & cool another 30 mins til duck tender
9. Trim remain spr onion, shred lengthways (green partsy
10. Put duck in serving dish-keep warm
11. Skim excess fat off top of liqui
12. Leave to simmer vigourously until reduced and concentrated in flavor
13. Mi cornflour with 1 tsp water
14. Stir in and simmer for on minute
15. Pour over duck. Scatter with onions

Palma Observations

Some highlights from a couple of good tapas/pinxos bars in Palma, with me posing as food writer to extract the best possible suggestions from waiter/chef.

• Tender pork fillet with aioli pinxos, broiled in oven before serving (Tast)
• Sauteed oyster mushrooms with roquefort sauce (La 5a Puneta)
• Best quality disk of goat cheese, sitting on a smattering of anchovy butter, doused with home-made apple marmelade (Ummo)
• Sweetest tomato pinxos with anchovies & drenched with a minced garlic & parsley EVOO (Ummo)
• Perfectly cooked chicken thigh, prawn & shroom on a skewer with hints of rosemary (Tast)
• Bacon-wrapped octopus on skewer (Tast)
• Octopus & remolacha-hortaliza (Ummo)
• Fried baby leek on pastry at booth 9 bar in the Santa Catalina mercato, preferably for bfast with cafe con leche
• Mini sardine pinxos, on a bed of home-made tomato marmalade, drizzled with chili aioli (Ummo)
• Morcilla de Burgos pinxos, on bed of sliced piquillos & garlic, topped with a quail egg (Ummo)
• Tinto: Bavia 2007 at Tast, Ribero del Duero's Marquez de Vecilca at Ummo

Paris Observations

Some napkin scribbles from various Parisian bistrots:

• sliced fresh mushrooms, yoghurt, tarragon, lemon (Gaya)
• campari-pickled beets, razor clams, cheddar, puree (Gaya)
• a mashed potato with cantal (Gaya)
• Ventadour (Badoit-like water)

Squid Ink Spaghettini with Scallops & Bottarga

Assembled this tonight kind of ad-hoc, and came out quite good.

half pack squid ink spaghettini

EVOO

9 medium size fresh scallops, cut into quarters

bottarga--few tbls

garlic

parsley

chives (a quarter of amount of parsley)

fresh red chili

lemon

white wine

butter

sea salt

poudre de piment d'espelette (cayenne if you must)

1. saute garlic until golden, then add scallops & cook less than thirty seconds, stirring around
2. turn up heat just a tad, add splash of white wine to boil off alcohol, turn heat right back down, let sit, adding a couple thumbnails of butter, sea salt, half the chile, ppd'e
3. when pasta is ready, drain & add to pan, stir in with ingredients
4. add parsley, chives, remaining chili & bottarga, as well as another quick splash of EVOO & salt to taste
5. squeeze a bit of lemon right before serving