Grilled Puff Balls & Salsa Verde

This got the best review at dinner last night. Seriously tasty and unlike any mushroom we've had before. Had to trek to Borough market to find them, and they're only available during September. I remember riding my bike as a kid in the forests in Germany, and they were everywhere!

puff balls

parsley

one or any combo of basil, tarragon, chives (your taste)

grilled garlic, mashed

capers

red wine vinegar

dijon mustard

EVOO

S&P

1. cut puff balls into half inch slices
2. put in large bowl, douse with EVOO, S&P
3. heat stove top grill very hot
4. make green sauce by chopping up herbs, capers, garlic & mixing in EVOO, vinegar, mustard, S&P
5. grill puff balls on both sides until you see brown grill marks--add S&P as you go
6. serve on a plate, spoon green sauce on top

Tonight's Dinner

A tasty dinner for newlyweds Mark and Gaia, who are off to Singapore.

negroni sbagliato

mozzarella, chili, marjoram, lemon rind & creme fraiche

san daniele ham & apple salad

radish, celeriac, pomegranate, pecorino & truffle oil vinaigrette

grilled puff balls & green sauce

rigatoni a la gricia

oven dried fig, young pecorino, dessert wine

finely sliced raddichio & rucola salad

frozen muscat grapes, artisan du chocolat tablets, dessert wine

Cockley Cley Chicken

Ali Maurin made this comforting dish for us at her family's picture perfect home in Norfolk. A lovely weekend lunch dish in that you can pop it in the oven before your morning errands, ready on your return. Serve with salad and fresh bread.

chicken pieces (thighs and legs for flavor)

flageolet beans

onion

garlic

lemon juice & zest

chicken stock

S&P

fresh thyme

1. brown chicken pieces in oil, transfer to an ovenproof dish
2. soften a chopped onion in the same frying pan and add to dish
3. put pre-cooked or tinned flageolet beans in the dish with the onion and add peeled cloves of garlic, juice of lemon (quantity depending on amount of chicken or to taste) and some zest
4. add some chicken stock
5. sprinkle finely chopped thyme, S&P
6. cover tightly and bake very slowly for 1-2 hours at 160 c

Home-Made Mayo Varieties

Scribbles from a Tyler Florence book a few years back when I was obsessed with making mayo. Still am. Generally speaking the additional ingredients must be blitzed so that they blend in smoothly with mayo.

arugula, orange zest & almond mayo

roasted garlic, anchovy & capers mayo

curry, orange zest, mint & peanuts mayo

sweet pepper, fennel, paprika mayo (saute 1st two with saffron)

lemon & caper mayo

Coq au Vin Mamie

Another discovery in my piles of papers tonight. A fax from 6 September 1996--almost 13 years ago to the day--from my aunt in Paris to my office in Singapore. I had asked her to ring my grandmother for her coq au vin recipe that I obviously needed quickly for one of our faux winter dinner parties. Apparently my grandmother had resisted sharing the recipe given the futility of locating a rooster in Singapore. Of course she was right, so we had to settle for a firm chicken. I've retyped it here, word for word.

1 coq de 1.5 kg

50 gr beurre

100 g lard de poitrine fume

1/2 litre bon vin rouge

2 cuilleres a soupe de cognac

2 oignons

2 gousses ail

2 cuilleres a souple de farine

bouquet garnie

sel et poivre

1. faire revenir les morceaux de coq
2. ajouter les oignons en rondelles
3. saupoudrer de farine, melanger
4. arroser de cognac et faire flamber
5. couvrir de vin rouge
6. ajouter sel et poivre, ail, bouquet garni
7. porter a ebullition
8. couper le lard en des, mettre les des dans une casserole d'eau froide et faire bouillir 5 minutes pour enlever l'exces, bien egoutter et ajouter dans la cocotte
9. laisser cuire 1 heure ou meme 1 heure et demi selon l'age du coq

Notable Meals

From Great Queen Street the other day, with a 37.5 of chilled Beaujolais.

grilled puff balls with salsa verde

ham hock & foie gras terrine

green salad with mint & coriander vinaigrette

freshly-baked bread & butter

Norwegian Delight

A little number I remember from --must have been 2002 or something-- a dinner with Wilhelm and his Norwegian friends. One of the wives had made this, and I remember it being so fresh and fishy and delicious. I recently served it on an endive leaf- looked pretty and tasted good too.

sour cream (thick)

red onion chopped very finely

tiny cooked prawn, halved

smoked salmon, chopped

dill

S&P

small lettuce leaf (escarole)

1. mix all ingredients together
2. put in fridge to thicken
3. serve on cooled, toasted bread
4. lettuce leaf (I think this was on top not between bread and topping!)