Dinner Menu 24 February 2007

• Caviar Versailles
• Conchiglioni con Cavalo Nero, Spec e funghi Galletti
• Roasted Fennel
• Saltimbocca a la Romana
• Cheese
• Chocolate brownies

Caviar Versailles is a brilliant method of getting you the three most important food groups namely, carbohydrates, cream and Caviar (Beluga naturally). You make potato mash with mealy potatoes, double cream and white pepper (white is important as black is too strong and looks odd) until you have a smooth but lumpy mash. You then load the mash into a whiskey tumbler sized glass upto half way, cover with a layer of crème frais and cover that with as much caviar as you can afford. If you are Roman Abromovitch stop at the top of the tumbler. This is apparently how caviar was served at Napoleon’s coronation at Versailles. I have no idea where I originally got the recipe but it is one of the best methods of serving caviar I’ve ever come across.

Served with: Reykja Vodka

The Conchiglioni (literally pasta shells) are loosely based on a River Café recipe principally how to prepare the cream sauce. In any case you remove the central stem from the Cavalo Nero, tear the blades into two to three pieces and blanch in gently simmering water. Heat about 300 ml double cream (or single or even yogurt) with loads of garlic (I used five cloves for a seven person recipe) and keep it simmering until the garlic is cooked, pulverize in a blender. Reconstitute the mushrooms as per below. Cut the speck into relatively thick sticks and fry at medium heat with a bit of olive oil until caramelized on all sides. Add the mushrooms and Cavalo Nero and turn until the Cavalo looses its water and sort of wilts. Poor over the cream and garlic sauce, season to taste and poor over the Conchiglioni.

To prepare the Conchiglioni the most important thing you can do is, as I’ve discovered, to completely ignore the bloody instructions on the pack. Apparently, pasta shells due to their size and thickness take a long time to cook but not the 25 minutes that the F***er who wrote the instructions for Waitrose thinks. This I unfortunately did not discover until I had six people sitting at my dinner table so rather than make them wait they had soggy pasta. As far as I can tell 15 min in boiling salted water is just fine.

Roasted Fennel as per 4 February 2007.

Saltimbocca as per the ’06 Christmas menu except I served it with zucchini. I cut the zucchini into a two centimeter cubes and fried them with butter, truffle olive oil, salvia, salt and pepper. I left the zucchini to simmer in the oil and butter until cooked through but still al dente. This turned out to be an excellent vegetable to have with the Saltimbocca.

Served with: Chataux Montrose 2001

Update: David says we got the Caviar recipe from Saveur Mag.

Saltimbocca alla Romana

(Made 25 November 2006)

I am assured that this is the most classic of Roman dishes but as I’ve never been I can’t confirm. I first had Saltimbocca, which means Hope-In-The-Mouth, at a Roman friend’s house and the recipe below is loosely based on his. I say loosely because it is from memory and Andrea may very well have done something frightfully clever which I’ve forgotten.

The combination of veal, sage and Parma ham is one of those that is so perfect that you simply can not imagine an improvement. The addition of butter and white vine just serves to bring the whole thing together.

1. Veal Cutlets (for main course assume about 250 grams per person) flattened out to a thickness of about 0.5 cm;
2. Parma ham enough to cover the cutlets;
3. 1 large leave of fresh Sage per cutlet;
4. 100 grams of floor;
5. 2 tablespoons of butter;
6. 1 large (175 ml) glass of white vine;
7. Salt & Pepper;

Put a leave of Sage on each cutlet and cover with the ham. Fold over and fix in place with a toothpick (if you have time to do this a few hours before so that the sage has time to infuse the meat that’s even better). Mix floor, salt and pepper together on a large plate and use to coat the veal. Melt the butter on a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil (this is just to increase the frying temperature of the butter) and start frying the Saltimbocca. After about 1.5 min turnover and fry for another 1.5 min before adding the white vine. When the vine is all but evaporated and it and the butter forms a thin sauce the Saltimbocca is ready. Serve with the sauce pored over. I never serve anything with the Saltimbocca but if you wish roast potatoes go perfectly as will fresh veggies such as string beans.

To turn the Saltimbocca into Saltimbocca bites as per the menu below instead of the cutlets buy veal fillet. The fillet needs to be about a hand wide and long enough so that you can roll it up. You then prepare the veal exactly as above except you roll it up instead of folding it. After frying the veal you then stick toothpicks through it at about 1 cm intervals and then cut the rolled up veal to form the “bites”.