Skate Knobs with Crab Potatoes & Beurre Blance

I got the recipe for the crab potatoes from Santino Busciglio the chef at Mennula in Charlotte Street. The restaurant btw is highly recommended. They serve very simple but delicious Sicilian food that hits all the buttons as far as I am concerned.

Ingredients (for a starter for 4 triple everything for a main):

1. 300 gr mealy potatoes e.g. King Edwards;
2. Fresh preferably white crab meat;
3. 2 spring onions;
4. 3 tbsp best quality EVOO;
5. 1 tbsp white wine balsamic;
6. S&P to taste;
7. 1 large skate knob per person;
8. Beurre Blanc.

Instructions:

• Bake the potatoes in their skins on a bed of coarse sea salt at about 160 to 180 depending on their size;
• When potatoes are cooked through slice the potato in half and scoop out the flesh into a bowl;
• Crush the potatoes with a fork (crush don’t mash you want the texture of potato) and the olive oil, sweet white balsamic vinegar, chopped spring onions, season with salt and finally the fresh crab meat. Do not over mix as it will turn in to crab glue.
• Fry skate knobs in oil on a hot pan for about 1 min per side;
• Form crab potatoes into a circular pile by pressing them through cake cutters, add skate knob on top, add about a table spoon of the beurre blance. Serve immediately.

Fondant potatoes

Gordon’s own recipe more or less. I have been cooking those a lot lately after having forgotten about fondant potatoes for a long time.

Ingredients:

1. 2kg potatoes;
2. 50g butter;
3. 400ml chicken or vegetable stock;
4. 1 sprig fresh thyme;
5. 2 peeled cloves garlic;
6. Freshly ground pepper and salt

Preparation:

• Peel and cut the potatoes into even-sized barrel shapes, approximately 4cm in length, 2.5cm in width. It is important that the potatoes be of a similar size so that they cook evenly. I usually just them to size and to a more of a square form than barrel;
• In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over a low heat, add the potatoes, thyme and garlic and cook slowly, shaking the pan and stirring regularly until potatoes are golden brown all over. This will take 15-20 minutes;
• Add 200ml of the stock and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add the remaining stock and cook for 35-40 minutes until the stock has reduced and potatoes are tender. Season and serve immediately.

My Perfect Mashed Potato

Making mash begins with selecting the right potatoes, boiling them correctly, mashing and then adding a source of fat and liquid. Everything else is flavoring.

The potato should be as starchy as possible and in the UK that usually means King Edward potatoes. Sometimes you can get Yukon gold and Russets but I don’t think they are grown in the UK. Second choices are Maris Piper and a potato called Desiree that I almost never see in the shops. According to the British Potato Council the King Edward is a 6 on a 10 scale in starchiness and the other two are a five. Presumably, 10 is pure starch and not quite achievable. Your baking potato would be about a 3 on the same scale according to the potato experts at the council.

I steam the potatoes as that yields tender and dry potatoes which extremely important. If too much of the starchy boiling water comes along with the potatoes the mash becomes too liquid and the glue like quality that mash sometimes has can also be caused for by the water. If you boil the potatoes in salty water start with hot water and after the potatoes are done but them back into the pot over low heat to dry off. Whichever method you use the most important point is to cook the potatoes to a point where they are tender but not falling apart. Never undercook the potatoes as they will become gummy when you mash them.

Ideally you should mash the potatoes immediately after cooking them as they are more want to go lumpy if you allow them to go cold. I prefer my mash quite rustic and grainy rather than the very smooth mash one usually gets in restaurants. This does not imply my mash is not smooth as I often push it through a sieve to get a finer texture. I however, never use a mixer or a blender for mashing although that is very much an accepted professional method. I always use the kind of specialised whisk that kitchen stores sell and quite possibly call a potato masher. The important tip about using the masher is to only use an up and down motion. If you make a circular motion you will pull out/extend the potato and get the glue like quality I mentioned above.

The next step is to add the fat, i.e. oil, milk cream and/or butter. All typical classical recipes call for milk or cream and butter I however have always preferred olive oil to milk or cream. Using cream make the mash fluffy and mousseline, which works in conjunction with some food such as pork neck and lobster. Milk will make for a less creamy but still rich, if less so, mash that is good with most food (certainly poultry and fish) but in my humble opinion not tasty enough to cope with a steak or game. That being said even when I use mostly olive oil I do add a little bit of milk.

The quantity to use varies a bit according to what the ultimate use of the mash will be and also how starchy the potatoes are which can vary depending on the time of year. Storage also matters as if the storage temperature is too hot sugar will convert to starch. You consequently need to heat more milk or oil than you expect to need and add it as needed. I use a rule of thump that you need 25% of the volume of the potato as milk/oil and about 100 grams butter per kilo of potato.

Whatever the source of the fat it has to be hot before use so scald the milk, and heat the butter and oil until warm but not boiling. You can add the butter at anytime so I tend to heat it with the oil. Make sure the potatoes are smooth before adding any liquid as you will not be able to get the lumps out afterwards.

You can season the mash at any time although I tend not to leave it too late as once you have mashed the potatoes you do not want to be turning them over to get the seasoning in. Nutmeg is a classic addition to mash and supposedly it removes the taste of storage that potatoes can have at the end of winter. I’m not a fan. Salt and white pepper are a must – always white pepper as black looks odd and is too strong. To this you can add almost anything. Truffles, boiled vegetables, mustard etc it all depends on what you will be eating with the mash.

Keep in mind that if you leave mash to sit the starch will cause it to become blander. So if you are not using the mash immediately make it tastier than you want it to be when served.

Gato di Patate

This is originally an Anna del Conte recipe but has over the years become much bastardised by repeated experimentation. This is in anycase one of these Itlaian stables where every family has an opinion so you can find endless variations in cookbooks. The basic idea, however, is to make a Gato out of potato mash and cheese as brunch.

Ingredients:

1. Mealy potatoes (about 800 gr) boiled and pealed
2. Olive oil
3. Butter
4. Milk
5. 2 eggs & 1 egg yoke
6. Grated Parmesan cheese (50 gr)
7. Mozzarella cheese (sliced about 150 gr)
8. Parma ham (or similar)
9. Basil & Parsley (couple of tablespoons each)
10. Grated nutmeg (optional)
11. Salt and white pepper

The proportion of oil to butter to milk is just a case of personal preference. The original recipe does not call for olive oil but I prefer a little bit of it in the mix.

Melt the butter with the oil before adding the milk and bringing the whole thing to a simmer. Add the liquid to the potatoes while mashing them. Mix in the eggs, Parmesan and herbs; season to taste.

Butter an oven proof form and half fill it with the mash. Add the mozzarella and ham and cover with the rest of the mash. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 C for about 20 min. Let the gato sit for 10 min before serving.

It is very tempting to add loads of mozzarella at this point but it does not actually work; too much and the gato becomes soggy and overly rich. I use 125 gr mainly because that is the size they sell in Waitrose and find that it is just about the right amount. A little bit more is good but since that would involve opening another pack I never use more. The ham can be replaced by sausage or mortadella or just about any meat. I really like the parma ham.

Lunch Sunday 4 February 2007

Menu

• Stracciatella Soup
• Smoked Wild Icelandic Salmon on Potato Latkes and Crème Fraise
• Roasted Fennel with Lemmon Oil Dressing
• Braised Phesant with Forest Mushroom Sauce, Stir Fried Savoy Cabbage and Vacherin over Fresh Potatoes
• Lemmon Tart with Rosemary Mascarpone and Green Tomato Jam

Stracciatella Soup for me is nothing but a method for making plain chicken broth more interesting. By the same token I only ever have it when I happen to have particularly good chicken broth. To make chicken broth into Stracciatella mix an egg, parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs and a pinch of nutmeg together and blend into the broth after whirling the broth quite fast. Whirling the broth is supposed to ensure the egg mixture breaks up and does not clump together. I actually think it is fun to put a dollop of the mixture on the bottom of a bowl before pouring in the broth leaving it to the diner to break up. Salt and pepper to taste.

Alternatives, to this recipe are to add finely chopped parsley, coarsely chopped spinach (then apparently it is called an Italian Wedding Soup), semolina (instead of the bread) and you can skip the nutmeg. Actually I prefer skipping the nutmeg.

For the Salmon recipe it really helps to have a brother who is an enthusiastic salmon fisherman, who catches more than he consumes of Icelandic Salmon and is generous with his catch. If this is lacking in your family I highly recommend getting one as they are really handy. Alternatively, use high quality farmed salmon. Try to find salmon that has very little fat marbling. Wild salmon is basically nature’s tri athlete and has no fat other than what is in its muscles. Farmed salmon in contrast are really sloppy city cousins who feed on junk food and have completely unnecessary fat deposits. There is no similarity in taste but farmed salmon has been getting better at the top end of the market.

I would normally serve this dish with blinis but I am very bored with those mainly because of certain friends who keep asking for them. The potato latkes are something I learned to make in cookery school about 15 years ago and have never made since. I was reminded of them when I came across a recipe for them in a women’s magazine. Sadly I did not rip the recipe out of the magazine because I’ve forgotten the recipe and my Cordon Blue book is somewhere at the bottom of a moving box.

From a very hazy memory I grated together about 400 grams potatoes (half coarsely and half fine), two shallots and a handful of finely cut chives. I then squeezed as much liquid out of the potato mixture as possible before adding 1 egg, 1 egg white and a tablespoon of flour and a pinch of salt. I then formed pancakes from about a tablespoon of the mixture and fried them in Olive oil. I actually fried the latkes twice, first with very little oil, because I was afraid that doing them in one go would leave them very oily. I don’t know if this is really a part of the recipe but it worked as I the latkes where not oily at all. I got 14 latkes out of this recipe.

To serve I put the crème fraise on top of the latkes, some more chives on top of the crème before adding salmon on top. I served the latkes with cold champagne although white wine would be the obvious choice.

The Roasted Fennel recipe is from my newest favourite cookbook the River Café Cookbook. You cut up the fennel into ½ cm slices in such a way that the stalks remain whole and then roast the slices until cooked but “al dente”. I did this in my sandwich maker which worked just fine. After roasting toss the fennels in a dressing made by beating five parts olive oil into one part lemon juice, drizzle with sea salt and serve. The Rive Café recipe is a little different but not that much.

I got the Phesant from my friend James, who was invited for lunch, and I must say having friends that are enthusiastic hunters is quite cool as well. I had four guests and three Phesant which was a lot but not ridiculously so as basically we had ½ bird left over. The birds where fresh and had not been hanged which my guest preferred but I think is a shame as game really needs to hang to get the full taste.

To make this dish you need to start by reconstituting about 50 grams of dried mushrooms, I used mixed forest mushrooms. You do this by pouring about 400 ml of warm water over the mushroom in a bowl and covering the bowl. After about 10 minutes remove the mushrooms and rinse any remaining grit under running water. Pour the mushroom water through a very fine sieve or paper to get any grit out and set a third of the liquid aside. Mix the remaining liquid with about equal amount of white wine.

To prepare the Phesant clean it of any bits and pieces such as stray feathers and fat. In a braising pan that is large enough to cover with all the birds inside, fry all sides of the birds until brown and remove from the pan. Soften one large onion and two cloves of garlic in the pan before adding back the Phesant. At this point there are two options you can either add all the mushroom and wine liquid, cover and leave to simmer in a 160 degrees Centigrade hot oven for about 40 minutes or you can do the difficult method. The difficult method involves pouring in about a fifth of the liquid covering, letting the liquid reduce to almost nothing, adding more liquid etc for about 20 – 25 minutes at high heat. You then remove the birds and add any remaining liquid to make the sauce. I had other things to do so I selected the easy method. I also added three sprigs each of rosemary and thyme, a dozen or so black pepper corns, three bay leaves and salt to taste.

The lazy method is also good if you like me underestimate the time it will take to get through to main course because by turning the birds and lowering the heat you can prevent them from drying out. This way, even if you leave the birds in there for more than 90 minutes, they will still be moist when served.

While the Phesant is cooking fry the mushrooms in butter and when they have absorbed the butter start to slowly add in the remaining mushroom liquid. The objective here is to reconstitute the mushrooms in such a way that they regain some volume. Do too much though, and the mushrooms become soggy and unattractive, so pay attention.

For the Savoy Cabbage you need a sliced clove of garlic, 50 grams cubed pancetta, ¼ cup each red vine and stock and naturally enough Savoy Cabbage. Prepare the cabbage by removing the thick white central stalk and tearing each blade in half. Fry the pancetta in a large pan until brown, add the garlic and fry until soft. Add the cabbage to the pan and heat through. Add the liquid and simmer until it is completely gone.

For the sauce remove the Partridge and pour the remaining liquid through a sieve into a sauce pot. Add about a teaspoon of sauce thickener (maisana or flour or even roux if you can be bothered) and the mushrooms and reduce until you have achieved the desired thickness.

For the potatoes add them to the pan with the Phesant for the last twenty minutes or so. You heat the cheese in the oven with the Phesant inside its box for about 10 – 15 minutes. When you remove the Phesant you also remove the potatoes and put them into individual small bowls, crush them and drizzle with sea salt. When it is time to serve the birds you pour about a tablespoons worth of cheese over 4 – 5 potatoes per person.

To serve cover a plate with the Savoy Cabbage and place the Phesant on top. I carved the partridge in such a way that each guest had two medium slices of breast cut along the whole breast with half a leg placed over. Pour over the sauce and serve with the potatoes.

Served with: Chataux Montrose 2001, (Pessac-Leognan)

The Tart is a classic Italian Torta di Limone although I took the recipe from the River Café cookbook. It is made from butter, sugar, almond flour (in equal measures), ½ measure polenta, eggs (about 1 egg per 300 grams of the other stuff) and vanilla extract plus the juice and rind of lemon. My innovation is to serve it with the Rosemary flavoured Mascarpone and green tomato jam. To make Rosemary Mascarpone you need Rosemary flavoured honey and mascarpone cheese which you whisk together until you have the desired flavour. I like the flavour of the Rosemary to be very much in the background but you can add more of the honey if you actually like a stronger taste. The green tomato jam I buy in the South of France from a particular farm but I’m sure you can find it everywhere these days. The combination of these three somewhat diverse flavors really works.

Served with: d'Arenberg Riesling, The Noble (a very fine Aussie dessert wine)

Hey presto one Sunday lunch!

Wild Goose Compote with baked Vacherin over salad potatoes

I had the following conversation with my brother Siggi:

Him: I have been keeping the legs of all the geese I have shot for the past few years in the freezer but I do not have a recipe. What can I do with them?

Me: ehh!

As my brother is the most prolific hunter I know I knew he was not referring to two or three pairs of goose legs. I just knew I was looking at a massive quantity. I also knew that since he kept the legs on whim they would just have been dumped in a bag and not prepared. I was not looking forward to this. As it turned out he had about 30 pairs (about 5 kg) in his freezer (and therefore not at all the legs he could have had) that had been cleaned to say 90%, therefore not bad at all.

I also knew he was talking about some of the most difficult meat available. The legs from wild geese are dry, sinewy, chewy and gamey to a point where they can not be eaten after any normal preparation. They have nothing in common with the legs of domesticated geese that taste more like duck legs. Normally, you would spend hours removing the sinews and all other undesirable bits before marinating the meat in something with a high ph level to soften the meat.

Alternatively, you can cook the meat for a very long time which magically gets rid of all the “issues” including the sinews. I choose to use the same method as the beer braised beef recipe below with a few changes. I chose to use a darker beer (ended up with Beamish although I was really looking for Guinness) to match the stronger taste of the goose. I also removed the cinnamon but added sage.

After about five hours (when the beer was reduced to about a fifth of the 3 liters I started with) I took out and shredded all the meat. I shredded the meat in my hands so it was quite chunky. I then put the meat back in the sauce after removing all the nasty bits like the stem of the rosemary. The goose meat is so dry at this point that the remaining sauce literally disappeared as I mixed the shredded meat back in so what I ended up with was a kind of compote hence, the name.

When I was ready to serve the meat I reheated the compote (btw, for the pendants out there compote just means stewed even if you’ve only ever encountered it in connection with sugary fruit concoctions) and added about 500 ml of cooking cream. The cream is not strictly speaking necessary but it does bring out the richness of the meat.

The Vachrin dish is the dish I mentioned below in writing about the Anchor and Hope. You simply heat a Vachrin in its wood box in an oven at about 200 degrees for about 15 minutes. The time it takes varies depending on the temperature of the cheese when it goes into the oven. You need to watch the cheese closely by taking it out frequently after the tenth or so minute. The problem with Vachrin is that it hits a point where it goes completely liquid and just runs out of the box. You want to serve it just before that point.

I chose potatoes, which I think of as French salad potatoes that are not starchy but quite firm after boiling, that you can serve with the skin on. To serve I put the potatoes warm (not hot) on a serving plate and slightly crush them and salt with sea salt. I then pour the warm cheese over the potatoes on individual plates and serve with the compote.