Potatoes Sauteed a Crus

These come out nice and crispy, based on a recipe by Joel Robuchon's cousin near Poitiers. Key is to use waxy red-skinned potatoes, to rinse the latter very well and to season just before serving so that they don't go soggy. Make sure potato pieces are all about the same size to assure even cooking.

450 gr small red-skinned potatoes

1 tblsp goose fat

1/2 garlic clove, minced

maldon sea salt

1. peel, rinse with cold water and quarter potatoes; rinse again with several changes of water and dry thoroughly with a thick towel
2. in a large skillet, heat the fat over medium-high heat; when hot add the potatoes and brown thoroughly one side before tossing to brown the other side (resist temptation to meddle!).
3. cook until potatoes are nicely browned and offer no resistance when pierced with a fork, about 15 minutes
4. add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more; don't allow it to brown!
5. transfer the potatoes to a serving bowl, season with salt and serve immediately

Lasagnette Pesto

A superb dish that makes its presence known! First discovered in Santa Margherita, this is indeed a very popular local dish. The most renowned version is at Da Laura, an island beach shack just a quick motorboat ride out of Portofino. The trickiest thing about this dish is to keep it hot without cooking the pesto. Doing the latter makes the parmesan gooey and the pesto separates into a sad affair.

silky pasta (see blog entry)

pesto (see blog entry)

butter

maldon sea salt

parmesan

1. make pasta, put through finest setting, cut in 3x3 inch squares
2. heat plates in oven
3. spread 6-7 tblsp of pesto on a serving platter, put the latter over the pot of boiling water as lasagnette are cooking (a better, more risk-free option is to put the pesto into a large bowl straight into a low heat oven to slightly warm)
4. add 1-2 tblsp butter to pesto, stir to melt and take platter off heat (or out of oven); drain pasta well, mix in with pesto and toss well until lasagnette are perfectly coated (alternatively remove pasta sheets from boiling water with thongs and place straight into bowl of warmed pesto-- the pasta water will help to warm the pesto as well)
5. bring to table, grate parmesan over lasagnette and add a bit more salt, if you like before serving

Notable Meals

Hereford Road, lunch, cold and rainy winter day. Perfect!

Salt Cured Pollack, White Beans, Watercress

Celeriac Soup & Seared Foie Gras

Whole Guinea Fowl, Rocket & Dandelion

Green Salad

Young Potatoes

St Tola

Hot Chocolate Pudding & Vanilla Ice Cream

Bordeaux Chateau Nardon, 2002

Bowling Alley Club Sandwich

Been wanting to make a proper club sandwich for a long time. Harry's Bar is famed for having the best, but I'm sure there are other versions (including the one, from what I understand, at the Hotel de Paris in Monaco)! This was a good start. For two, with some good quality crisps and Negro Modelos!

6 slices of quality white bread

2 small quality chicken breast

best bacon

ripe and sweet tomatoes

home-made mayo

bibb lettuce

S&P

cayenne pepper

1. make mayo (or if you prefer a little bit of zing, mix some commercial Spanish aioli, commercial French mayonnaise and dijon mustard into a tasty spread)
2. season chicken breasts with salt, pepper and a little bit of cayenne; saute in pan for 3 minutes on each side, then place in a pan in oven at 180 c for 10 minutes
3. while chicken in oven, fry bacon in pan until crisp
4. toast bread slices while carrying out steps 2 and 3
5. place 2 slices on cutting board, smear each with mayo followed by lettuce, chicken, bacon and tomatoes
6. smear mayo on both sides of 2 more slices of bread and put these on top of first 2 slices; repeat using up rest of toppings; finish by adding a final slice of bread, which has also been spread with mayo.
7. cut sandwiches in 2 triangles and fasten with tooth picks.

Fennel, Frisee & Almonds

I had this at Polpo some time back. One can replace the frisee with red or yellow endive.

2 medium fennels

big handful frisee

1/2 tblsp lemon juice

EVOO

maldon sea salt

handful toasted whole almonds

1. slice fennel in mandolin as thinly as possible
2. dress with lemon juice, EVOO and salt
3. combine fennel with the frisee and let flavors mesh
4. sprinkle almonds over salad

Charred Mushroom Salad

Just made this now, and what a fun way to have leftover mushrooms. The texture is at once chewy and crispy. I think if you grill them just right, they can be juicy too.

portobello mushrooms, sliced half inch thick

EVOO

sherry vinegar

tiny squeeze of lemon

piment d'espelette

garlic puree

maldon sea salt

fresh ground pepper

chives

parsley

1. crush a quarter of a garlic clove in mortar & pestle with some salt
2. put grill on stove top over medium-high heat
3. scatter mushrooms over grill, let be for 15-20 minutes
4. when charred on one side, turn over for a few minutes and grill some more
5. cut mushrooms up roughly, dress with above ingredients (be careful not to overpower with garlic)

Treviso Bergamasche

This reminds me of my favorite little trattoria in Bergamo. For whatever reason we've always ended up there on our way in or out of Italy with time to spare for a quick meal. Invariably Nona is always happy to tuck our suitcases away into a corner cabinet while we dine. Nona--who has a striking resemblance to my aunt 20 years forward-- cuts her radicchio and rucola extremely fine and dresses the leaves at the table. Actually she uses just regular radicchio but if you happen to have some treviso even better. A nice quality EVOO is imperative.

treviso

rucola

aged balsamic

EVOO

maldon sea salt

1. cut treviso and rucola very finely
2. dress with vinegar, EVOO and salt