Tonight's Dinner

Tasty food all around with the Maurins and Bowens.

• radish & butter
• ricotta chili bombs
• celeri remoulade & smoked duck bruschetta
• scallops, buttermilk & yuzu
• vitello tonnato to go
• escargots, mash & girolles
• cotechino, lentils & mostarda
• truffle marscapone-stuffed brie
• endive & herb salad
• macaroons & chocolate mints
  
  

Scamorza & Marjoram

Found this recipe flipping through a Babbo cookbook in Manila.

scamorza

marjoram

sun dried tomatoes

spicy oil

EVOO

fresh chile

red pepper flakes

paprika

1. make spicy oil: simmer EVOO for ten minutes with other ingredients; strain and let cool overnight
2. rub grill with oiled paper towel
3. slice scamorza in two, grill cut side down on the coolest part of the grill
4. slice sun-dried tomatoes into thin strips
5. remove scamorza from grill, sprinkle with sun-dried tomato
6. drizzle with spicy oil
7. sprinkle marjoram on top

Sake Splash

Barman's signature drink at the Cortina in Munich.

300 ml vodka

600 ml sake

120 ml fresh lime juice

600 ml ginger beer

splash of lemonade

100 ml lemongrass syrup

2 cucumber slices

1. shake ingredients well
2. poor over ice, dressed with cucumber

Vitello Tonnato to Go

I love this dish anytime of the year. Normally it is presented carpaccio style on a large serving platter. Here we treat like a canape, all condiments ready to go.

400 gr veal filet

day old sourdough bread

100 gr top quality tinned tuna

aioli

capers

anchovies

parsley

lemon zest

micro herbs

lemon juice

extra capers (tiny ones if possible)

crispy garlic

1. preheat oven to 160 c
2. slice sourdough thinly, lay on baking tray, drizzle with EVOO, season with maldon sea salt, cook until golden brown on both sides
3. reduce oven temperature to 140 c
4. sear filet, place on baking tray, cook ten minutes until medium-rare, let rest 20 minutes
5. slice and fry up garlic until golden
6. make tonnato (use this blog's recipe and include lemon zest)
7. when veal ready, slice thinly
8. spread tonnato on crouton, place veal on top, garnish with garlic on top; add a few capers and sprinke a few herbs on top

Snapper Tartare & Yuzu

Yuzu like yuzu? From one of those Australian canape books, but I forget the name.

250 gr snapper filet

50 ml yuzu juice

1.25 tblsp soy sauce

.5 tsp pepper

.5 tsp grated garlic

6 tblsp grapeseed oil

jalapeno chile, diced

small shisho leaves

1. dice snapper into small cubes
2. put in chilled bowl
3. combine dressing ingredients
4. coat snapper with dressing
5. divide between small glasses, garnish with chile and shiso

Eel, Carrot & Horseradish

This has been on the Le Gavroche menu a long time apparently. I think it is presented in fancy fashion in the restaurant, but I think it probably looks and taste better if presented in a slightly more rustic style. Go generous on the horseradish cream and coriander oil. I've done two things differently from the original recipe, i.e. I've made a horseradish cream using sour cream and creme fraiche rather than whipped single cream; and I've used a regular dijon vinaigrette as opposed to Roux's oil-vinegar-sugar dressing.

1.2 kg smoked eel

2-3 carrots

maldon sea salt

pepper

coriander leaves

groundnut or rapeseed oil

Horseradish Cream

3 tblsp sour cream

2 tblsp creme fraiche

5 tblsp freshly-grated horseradish

chopped chives

1 spring onion, thinly sliced

maldon sea salt

ground pepper

1. grate carrots finely, make sure there are long strands rather than short pellets; season with light dijon vinaigrette; let set for up to 12 hours
2. to make horseradish cream whip cream until stiff, stir in horseradish, spring onion and chill until needed
3. cut eel into diamond shapes
4. drain carrots, reserve liquid
5. blend oil and coriander together
6. put a few tblsp of carrots on a plate
7. arrange eel on top, spoon some cream on the side
8. drizzle lots of coriander oil and carrot liquid around the mound of carrot and eel

London's Most Overrated

In a bad mood. Got a problem with that? Any other suggestions out there?

• Hibiscus
• Launceston Place
• Cambio di Tercio
• Tendido Cero
• Locanda Locatelli
• Ristorante Semplice
• Trattoria Semplice
• York & Albany
• Yauatcha
• Dehesa
• Meditteraneo
• Scott's
• E&O
• Maze
• Nobu