Liver and Onions with Figs

Ewww! Liver?!?

Wrong. Well, you're right...it IS liver. But, ewww?

No.

In fact, it was awesome. I always tell people who are reluctant to eat offal (or 'guts' as I like to call them) that ANYTHING can be made to taste good in the hands of someone who knows how to work with it. This recipe is no exception.

This is another offering from Thomas Keller, widely considered the best chef in America. There are a couple of components here to work with, but the payoff.... wow.

The red wine jus which goes over the top would be at home on top of a nice, grilled steak. The figs provide a nice sweet punch in contrast with the iron-richness of the liver, the saltiness of the bacon and sweetness of the caramelized onions.

NOTE: When you use a WHOLE BOTTLE of wine to cook something, there's nowhere to hide. If it is 'cheap' wine, your dish will come out tasting 'cheap'. Cook with something you would feel happy drinking.

Red Wine Jus
1 bottle red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
1 cup Spanish onion, diced
1 cup carrot, sliced
1 cup leeks, sliced
1 cup shallot, sliced
1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
3 sprigs thyme
6 sprigs parsley
2 bay leaf
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
3 large garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
5 cups Veal Stock (chicken stock will work in a pinch)

Combine all the ingredients except the stock in wide heavy saucepan or pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for 45-50 minutes, or until the wine has reduced almost to a glaze.

Add the veal stock, bring to a simmer, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Prepare an ice bath. Strain the jus several times through a fine-mesh strainer or a colander lined with cheesecloth. Cool in the ice bath, stirring occasionally. (Refrigerate for up to 3 days, or freeze for longer storage.) When ready to use, reduce down to a glaze consistency and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Liver and Onion with Figs

SACHET
1 bay leaf
1 star anise
4 whole cloves
1 sprig thyme
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
FIGS
12 black mission figs
½-¾ cup dry red wine
1 stick cinnamon
GARNISHES
8 thin slices bacon
4 ounces piece slab bacon
20 small cipollini onions, peeled
Canola oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large thyme sprigs
2 garlic cloves, skin left on, smashed
½ cup Chicken Stock (page 317)
LIVER
4x8 ounces pieces calves' liver
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour
Canola oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 sprigs thyme
4 garlic cloves, skin left on
1 tablespoon minced chives
1 tablespoon minced Italian parsley
4 sprigs chervil
1 cup Red Wine Jus (page 323), warmed

FOR THE SACHET: Place the bay leaf, star anise, cloves, thyme, and black peppercorns on a piece of cheesecloth and tie into a sachet with kitchen twine.

FOR THE FIGS: Place the sachet and stand the figs in a saucepan that holds the figs snugly in one layer, add enough red wine to come one-third of the way up the figs, and add the cinnamon stick. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat and cook over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the figs are soft. Transfer the figs, wine, sachet, and cinnamon to a bowl or another container. (The figs can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before using.)

FOR THE BACON: Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with foil and place a rack over the pan. Place the strips of bacon on the rack and bake for 15 -20 minutes, or until crisp. Remove from the oven and allow the bacon to sit on the rack for about 15 minutes to drain.

Meanwhile, trim away and discard the rind ftom the slab of bacon. Cut into lardons 1 1/2 inches long and 3/8 inches thick. Spread the lardons in a single layer in an ovenproof nonstick pan and place in the oven for about 10 minutes. Stir the Iardons and return to the oven for another 10 to 20 minutes, or until just cooked. Drain on paper towels.

FOR THE CIPOLLINI: Use a paring knife to score an X in the root end of each onion. Heat an ovenproof skillet that will hold the onions in a single layer over medium-high heat, then add a thin film of oil and the butter. When the butter has browned, add the onions, season to taste with salt and pepper, and add the thyme and garlic. Cook, tossing the onions with the seasonings, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until a rich, golden brown. Add the stock to the skillet and place in the oven to cook for about 15 minutes. Turn the onions and return to the oven for another 15 minutes, or until tender when poked with a paring knife. Remove from the oven and leave the oven on.

TO COMPLETE: Pat the pieces of liver dry with paper towels. Season both sides with salt and pepper and dredge lightly in flour. Pat to remove any excess flour.

Heat a thin film of canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. (It is important that the skillet be large enough to hold the liver without crowding or it may steam rather than saute.) When the oil is hot, add the butter and let it brown, then turn the heat down to medium, add the liver, and saute for about 2 minutes, or until the underside is a rich, golden brown. Turn the liver and saute for another minute, using a spoon to baste the liver with the oil and butter. Place the sprigs of thyme over the pieces of liver, baste again, and transfer the liver to a baking pan; set the skillet aside. Remove the figs from the liquid and place alongside the liver and top each piece of liver with a garlic clove.

Transfer the baking pan to the oven to cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the liver is medium-rare.

Meanwhile, drain the fat from the skillet and add the cipollini. Saute over medium heat just to add a little color and rewarm the onions. Reduce the heat and add the lardons to the skillet to heat through.

Return the sliced bacon to the oven to rewarm as necessary.

At the last minute, toss the chives and parsley into the onions.

TO SERVE: Arrange the onions, figs, and lardons on serving plates. Discard the thyme and garlic on top of the liver, arrange a piece of liver on each plate, and crisscross 2 pieces of bacon over each piece. Garnish each with a sprig of chervil and spoon the red wine jus around the plates.

Oxtail and Kindey Puddings

Heston Blumenthal is the chef and owner of the second best restaurant in the world. It's called the Fat Duck and is located in Bray. I had the privilege of eating there for my birthday back in September of 2007. It was unbelievable.

He also owns the pub which is just a short walk from the Fat Duck called the Hind's Head. It was there that I first tried this dish a few years ago. I had been waiting to get up the courage to try it and that day finally came. This IS the recipe from the Hind's Head.

Allow TWO DAYS for this to come together. It is SO worth it when it does. We ate it today, which is cold, rainy and crappy. This is great 'stick-to-your-ribs' pub food. The bright punch of the braised cabbage is a nice counterpoint, especially with the wintry cloves and cinnamon running through it.

Yeah, there's not a lot bad I can say about this.

2.5 kg oxtail
flour for dusting
150 g (3/4 cup) dripping or lard
100 ml (7 tablespoons) brandy
250 ml (1 cup) red wine
175 g (1 3/4 cups) leeks, sliced
75 g celery (2/3 cup), sliced
175 g carrots (generous 1 cup), sliced
300 g (3 cups) onions, sliced
½ star anise
200 g (2 3/4 cups) mushrooms, sliced
4 tablespoons olive oil
a little caster (superfine) sugar
250 g (9 oz) tomatoes, halved
1 bay leaf
6 sprigs of thyme
8 black peppercorns
1 liter (1 quart) beef stock
1 liter (1 quart) chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
KIDNEYS
2 ox kidneys
2 sprigs of thyme
2 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
SUET PASTRY
1 kg (heaped 7 cups) self-raising (self-rising) flour
15 g (1 tablespoon) salt
500 g (18 ounces) suet
600 ml (2 1/2 cups) water
1 egg, lightly beaten, to glaze

Season the oxtail with salt and pepper and dust with flour, Heat half the dripping or lard in a large frying pan (skillet), add the oxtail and cook until well browned all over (you will probably have to do this in batches). Remove from the pan, pour in the brandy and red wine and bring to the boil, stirring to deglaze the pan. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Heat the remaining dripping or lard in a large pan, add the leeks, celery and carrots and fry until well coloured. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the onions and star anise to the pan and fry until tender and almost caramelized, then remove and set aside. Finally, add the mushrooms and fry until well coloured. Set aside with the other vegetables.

Heat the oil and a sprinkling of sugar in a large frying pan over a fairly high heat, then add the tomatoes, cut-side down, and cook until caramelized. Deglaze with a splash of water and remove from the heat.

Put the oxtail, vegetables and tomatoes in a large casserole, add the bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns and beef and chicken stocks and bring to the boil. Cover the pan and transfer to an oven preheated to 160C/325F. Bake for 4 hours, until the oxtail is very tender. Leave to cool, then strain the mixture, reserving the sauce. Pick the meat off the bones in as large pieces as possible and set aside.

Trim the ox kidneys and remove any sinew. Place in a pan with enough cold water to cover and bring to the boil. Drain and refresh in cold water, then return to the pan with the thyme sprigs, peppercorns and bay leaf. Cover with cold water again, bring to the boil and simmer for about 2 hours, until tender. Leave to cool, then drain and dice the kidneys.

To make the suet pastry, sift the flour and salt into a bowl and stir in the suet. Add the water a little at a time until the dough comes together; do not overwork the dough. Cover and leave to rest for at least 20 minutes.

To assemble the puddings, take six 300ml pudding basins (ovenproof bowls), or use one 1.7 litre basin, and butter them 3 times, freezing them briefly each time. Divide the pastry into 6 balls and roll out each one into a circle 5mm (1/4 inch) thick. Cut away a quarter wedge from each circle to use for the lid, then use the rest of the pastry to line the pudding basins. Roll out the pastry for the lids to the same thickness. Put the cooked oxtail and kidney in the basins, then fill them up with the reserved sauce, so it comes just below the rim. Brush the lip of the pastry with the beaten egg, then place the lids on top and seal. Double wrap each basin in cling film (plastic wrap) and steam for 2 hours. Let them rest overnight, then reheat in a steamer before serving.

BRAISED RED CABBAGE

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 small head red cabbage, shredded
1 tart green apple, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 ½ cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 cinnamon stick
1 pinch ground cloves
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons currant jelly
1 teaspoon lemon juice, or to taste

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent, 6-8 minutes.

Stir in the cabbage and cook until limp, 3 minutes. Add the apple, broth, vinegar, cinnamon, cloves, sugar, 2 tsp salt and pepper to taste. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil.

Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and braise, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender. About 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the jelly and lemon juice. Taste and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Remove the cinnamon stick before serving.

The Perfect Omelet...at last!

A common test for new chefs in a professional kitchen is to make a simple omelet. A perfectly done omelet is unbeatable. There are 100 things (all right, maybe fewer) that factor into the whole thing coming together. Here's a few of the keys:

1) Size of the pan (I use a 7" non-stick)
2) Heat of the pan (medium)
3) Amount of eggs used (2 - if you use more, you run a greater risk of the bottom overcooking and the top being runny)
4) How long you stir the eggs before leaving them alone to let them set for a minute
5) When you stop cooking
6) How you turn it out onto the plate

and so on...

Well... today I have finally achieved perfection. I define perfection in the following ways:

1) External appearance - NO BROWN SPOTS. Once you start to brown eggs, they start to go rubbery. Rubbery = awful.

2) Internal softness. The French call this consistency 'baveuse'. It means soft in the middle - JUST BARELY cooked JUST past the point of runnyness. The egg will DISSOLVE in your mouth when you eat it. It is super-soft and a totally luxurious mouthfeel.

3) Seasoned properly

4) Appealing on the plate. Rolled-up in a nice, neat package.

It has taken me a long time to get here. I hope you give this a try. That said, I have gone through MANY omelets to get here. It is so gratifying. Don't give up.

2 eggs
1 tablespoon milk
pinch of pepper
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon butter

Combine the eggs, milk and pepper in a small bowl and whisk through to combine. Do NOT add the salt yet. Adding it too early to eggs can make them go watery.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. When hot, add the butter. When the butter has sizzled and bubbled and is JUST starting to subside, the pan is just the right temperature. Add a pinch of salt to the egg mixture now, stir and add to the pan.

With a rubber spatula, start stirring the eggs around until they start to form some good-sized curds. The eggs should appear to be about 40% cooked. Leave it to cook for 1 minute so the bottom can set.

With the spatula, carefully lift up an edge of the omelet, while tilting the pan slightly. The idea is to get any runny, uncooked egg to run down and pool under where you have just lifted the egg up, thus speeding up the cooking of the runny parts. Work your way around the pan like this until most of the runny parts have been drained down underneath the omelet.

Let this cook for another 30 seconds or so. (Note: if you had fillings, you'd put them in now in a row across the middle, perpendicular from the pan handle.) Pull the pan off the heat. Tilt the pan away from you and, using the rubber spatula, carefully lift up the edge closest to you and roll it toward the bottom end. It's OK to simply roll it in half here too.

When you have it rolled out, grab the pan as though it were the fretboard of a guitar. Hold a plate with the other hand and tilt it up to the edge of the pan. With a swift motion, flip the pan over onto the plate. If you have done it right, the omelet will roll itself up when it lands on the plate. (NOTE: This take a few times to get right)

Sprinkle with a little sea salt and pepper and serve.

(NOTE: I have made mine here with some mushrooms, garlic and shallots sauteed in some butter and thyme. Also, there is a bit of grated Gruyere cheese. You can fill them with anything, but be careful of the volume. You don't need a ton of filling - it will be much harder to work with and it may mask the flavor of your perfectly cooked egg)

Grilled Soy-Miso Glazed Tuna with Ginger and Garlic Sauteed Bok Choy

Here's one of mine from last week. We had some leftover Saikyo glaze in the freezer which kept really well and the fish market had some great tuna. Put that with some bok choy and viola! Doesn't get much simpler than this.

100 milliliters sake
100 milliliters mirin
150 g sugar
300 g miso paste
2 tuna loin steaks
peanut oil
1 clove garlic, minced
½-inch piece ginger, minced
2 heads bok choy
2 tablespoons peanuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

Heat the sake in a large, heavy-based pan and ignite it to burn off the alcohol. Add the mirin and sugar and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Carefully whisk in the mise paste a little at a time, making sure the mixture is smooth. Raise the heat a little and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring constantly to make sure the mixture does not burn on the base of the pan. Strain and leave to cool completely. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Marinade the tuna in this glaze for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.

Heat a grill pan and a wok to medium-high heat. When hot, put the tuna steaks on the grill pan and grill each side for about 1 1/2 minutes (or to desired doneness). Add a bit of leftover glaze to each side and sear it in. Set aside to rest.

Add the oil to the wok. Add the ginger and garlic and just swirl around to get the aromas released, about 10-15 seconds. Add the bok choy leaves and saute until just starting to wilt. Season with salt and pepper and add the peanuts.

Place the bok choy on a plate and top with the tuna. Garnish with the peanuts and serve.

Wild Mushroom and Venison Stroganoff

Another solid Jamie Oliver recipe here which is really getting into some autumn flavors. Venison is great for this time of year as are mushrooms. We went with oyster and shiitake mushrooms for this. Lots of fresh parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice really ties this one up nicely.

200 g white rice
extra virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
300 g venison loin, fat and sinews removed, trimmed and sliced into finger-sized pieces
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
250 g mixed exciting, robust mushrooms, wiped clean, torn into bite-sized pieces
a small bunch of fresh flatleaf parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped, stalks finely chopped
a knob of butter
a good splash of brandy
zest of 1/2 a lemon
150 ml creme fraiche or soured cream
a few little gherkins, sliced

Cook the rice according to the packet instructions until it's just undercooked and drain in a colander. Put the rice back in the pan, cover with tinfoil and leave to one side to steam - this will give you incredibly light and fluffy rice.

Heat a large frying pan on a medium heat and pour in a glug of extra virgin olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook for about 10 minutes until softened and golden. Remove from the heat and spoon the onions and garlic out of the pan on to a plate. Keep to one side.

Season the meat well with salt, pepper and the paprika. Rub and massage these flavourings into the meat. Place the frying pan back on a high heat and pour in some more olive oil. Add the mushrooms and fry for a few minutes until they start to brown. Then add the meat and fry for a minute or two before adding the parsley stalks (you can do this in two pans or in batches if your pan is not big enough) and the cooked onion and garlic. Toss and add the butter and brandy. You don't have to set light to the hot brandy, but flaming does give an interesting flavour so I always like to do this.

Once the flames die down, or after a couple of minutes of simmering, stir in the lemon zest and all but 1 tablespoon of the creme fraiche and season to taste. Continue simmering for a few minutes. Any longer than this and the meat will toughen up - it doesn't need long, as it's been cut up so small.

Serve your fluffy rice on one big plate and your stroganoff on another. Simply spoon the remaining creme fraiche over the stroganoff, then sprinkle over the sliced gherkins and the parsley leaves. Eat at once!

Roasted Artichoke and Garlic Pizza with Smoked Anchovies

We like to get back with pizza every once and awhile. The thing is, the pizza dough recipe we use makes four bases - so we always have a few in the freezer whenever we want to throw some pizza together quickly.

Roasted artichokes and roasted garlic are awesome. We all know this. The addition of smoky, salty anchovies, fresh buffalo mozzarella and fresh parsley bring it all together. I won't write out a full recipe here, because I just told you what's on it! Add the parsley AFTER it comes out of the oven.

Here's the most important pizza dough recipe you'll ever use (courtesy of Jamie Oliver):

400 g strong white bread flour
100 g semolina flour, or more strong white bread flour
½ tablespoon fine sea salt
7 g yeast, instant packet
½ tablespoon sugar
325 ml water, lukewarm

Add the yeast and sugar to the water and stir through with a fork and leave for a few minutes. Meanwhile, sift the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the flour and mix on low for 10 minutes or so, until the dough is smooth, springy and soft.

Flour the top of the dough and cover with plastic wrap and let rest for at least 15 minutes. The dough is easier to roll thin at room temperature. Divide the dough into as many balls as you want. Alternatively you can wrap some up now and freeze them until you need them, pulling them out the night to thaw in the fridge - just remember to bring to room temperature (an hour or two should do it) before rolling out.

Timing-wise, it's nice to roll the pizza out 15-30 minutes before you want to cook them. Preheat the oven to 500F/250C. A pizza stone REALLY helps here (or a piece of granite) - if you have one put it in the oven to get it nice and hot, if not, it does help to heat up whatever you are baking it on.

When the stone (or baking sheet) is nice and hot and the dough has been rolled out and is ready, remove the stone from the oven and place on the stove top. Sprinkle some cornmeal over the top of the stone so the pizza doesn't stick. Put the pizza dough on the stone and it will immediately start cooking the bottom. Drizzle a little olive oil on it and spread it around lightly with your fingers. Top with the remaining toppings and remember - less is more. Return the pizza to the oven and cook for another 5-8 minutes, or until hot and any cheese you may have on it is bubbly.

Carefully remove the pizza and slide it off of the stone and onto a cutting board so you can slice it. Slice and serve.

ANOTHER Massive Dinner Undertaking

We had our good friends Andy, Laurie, Mark and Selena around for a big-deal dinner. I guess this is turning into a rotating dinner party between our three couples. Being that everyone is English (except Vanessa and I), I thought it only appropriate to cook everything out of the Great British Menu cookbooks.

Great British Menu is an annual competition between the UK's top chefs. All of the recipes they make must make use of British ingredients and is really a celebration of how great and plentiful food is in the UK. The amuse bouche was my idea - another homage to spherical ravioli. Unfortunately, there is no picture of it.

Starter - my first time home-curing fish. I thought it turned out pretty nice.

Main - I couldn't get my hands on caul fat, so I wrapped it all up in pancetta. I wish I had been able to get it a little crispier. On the plus side, every one ate their sweetbreads!

Pre-Dessert - Vanessa made this and it has delivered before. The key to ANY SORBET, is boiling the sugar syrup for 4 MINUTES. It has something to do with the density of sugar in the water which you achieve after 4 minutes boiling. What is gives you in the end is a very smooth, very scoopable, velvety sorbet stright out of the freezer.

Dessert - From start to finish, this turned out as well as I had hoped. It was my favorite part of the meal and nice to have it come at the end. Sticky Toffee Pudding is not something most Americans have tried of or even heard of. You MUST try some. Pound for pound, it's my favorite dessert from the UK.

This took me two days to throw together and I am pretty happy with the result. The menu:

Amuse Bouche: Mango Ravioli with Rum and Ginger, Cucumber, Mint Sugar and a Mint Crisp
Starter: Cured Slices of Salmon Trout with Onion Confit and Smoked Bacon
Main: Canon of Lamb with Black Pudding, Minted Pea Puree and Wild Garlic Potato Cakes with Lamb Sweetbreads and Rosemary Gravy
Pre-Dessert: Bombay Sapphire Gin and Tonic Sorbet
Dessert: Sticky Toffee Bread and Butter Pudding

Here we go:


Starter: Cured Slices of Salmon Trout with Onion Confit and Smoked Bacon
1 kg side of salmon trout (sea trout), with skin, pin bones removed
200 g rock salt
50 g caster sugar
grated zest and juice of 3 limes
12 thin rashers of smoked bacon, preferably Cumbrian
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
salt and pepper
ONION CONFIT
50 g unsalted butter
3 small white-skinned onions, preferably new season's, halved and cut into 3mm slices
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of thyme

Lay the fish flat, skin-side down, on a tray with raised sides. Mix together the rock salt, sugar, and lime zest and juice. Press this mixture all over the flesh side of the fish. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 8 hours. Don't leave for longer than this or the fish will over-cure and become solid.

Scrape off the salt and rinse the fish thoroughly under cold running water. Now put the fish in a large bowl, cover with cold water and leave in the sink with the cold tap trickling gently for 20 minutes. Lift the fish out and dry thoroughly with a cloth.

Remove the skin from the fish with a sharp knife. Cut the fish into thirty-six 1 cm-thick slices, working from the tail to the head end. Arrange the slices, slightly overlapping in six groups of six, on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Cover and keep in the fridge.

To make the confit, heat the butter in a large pan until it melts and starts to bubble. Add the onions and herbs, and season with a good pinch of fine salt. Cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the onions are very tender and have caramelized to a deep golden brown. Stir frequently and add a teaspoon of water from time to time, to prevent the onions from catching on the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat, discard the herbs and keep the confit warm.

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C.

Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Lay the bacon rashers in a single layer on the tray and cook in the oven for 6-8 minutes or until crisp. Remove the bacon and keep warm on kitchen paper.

Drizzle the slices of trout with a little olive oil and warm in the oven for 5-6 minutes.

Meanwhile, make a simple dressing by whisking the 4 tbsp olive oil with the
vinegar and a little salt.

Season the fish with a light sprinkling of sea salt and a twist of pepper, then lay six slices neatly on each plate. Make a quenelle of the onion confit and place next to the fish. Place two rashers of bacon on the confit and finish with a drizzle of dressing.


Main: Canon of Lamb with Black Pudding, Minted Pea Puree and Wild Garlic Potato Cakes with Lamb Sweetbreads and Rosemary Gravy

LAMB
4x150 g boneless loins of lamb
6 tablespoons rapeseed oil
200g black pudding, preferably Pat O'Doherty's
100 g caul fat, soaked in salted water for 4 hours, rinsed and dried
POTATO CAKES
800 g floury potatoes, such as Dunbar Standards, peeled
100 g wild garlic leaves, finely chopped (see note on page 142)
PEA PUREE
200 g freshly shelled peas
4 sprigs mint, leaves only
SWEETBREADS
200 g lamb sweetbreads
salt and pepper
GRAVY
300 ml red wine
1 tablespoon roughly chopped rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon roughly chopped thyme leaves
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
300 ml brown beef stock
4 tablespoons redcurrant jelly
60 g chilled salted butter, diced

Season the lamb. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a heavy frying pan until very hot Add the lamb and sear over a high heat for about 2 minutes until browned on all sides. The meat should still be very rare inside. Place the loins on a wire rack and allow them to cool to room temperature.

Remove the skin from the black pudding. Soften the pudding in a bowl, then spread a thin layer on top of each lamb loin. Wrap each loin in caul fat, then in cling film, and put in the fridge to firm up.

To make the potato cakes, finely grate the potatoes into a bowl. Season and add the chopped garlic leaves. In a heavy frying pan, heat 1 tbsp oil until it is just beginning to smoke. Press one-quarter of the potato mixture into a 10 cm round, add to the hot pan and cook over a medium heat until golden brown on each side. This should take 8-10 minutes in total. Repeat with remaining mixture to make four cakes altogether, adding more oil as needed, and placing them on a baking tray as they are cooked.

Meanwhile, cook the peas in boiling salted water for about 5 minutes or until soft but still vibrant green. Drain and puree in a blender until smooth. Add the mint and puree a little more. Rub the puree through a very fine sieve into a clean saucepan, to remove the pea skins. Set the potato cakes and pea puree aside in a warm place.

For the gravy, pour the red wine into a pan and add the rosemary, thyme and garlic. Bring to the boil and reduce by two-thirds. Pour in the stock., bring back to the boil and reduce by three-quarters, Add the redcurrant jelly and stir until melted, then strain the gravy into a clean pan. Finish by whisking in the chilled butter, a piece at a time, for a high gloss. Set the gravy aside.

Blanch the sweetbreads in boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain and refresh in iced water, then lift the sweetbreads out and remove the outer skin with a very sharp knife. Set the sweetbreads aside in the iced water.

When you are ready to serve, preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C.

Remove the cling film from the lamb and sear the loins in a very hot pan, rolling
them over, for about 2 minutes or until the caul fat is browned on all sides. Transfer the loins to a baking tray and roast on the top shelf of the oven for 5-8 minutes, according to how well done you like your lamb. Remove and allow to rest for 2-3 minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 160C/fan 140C.

While the lamb is roasting and resting, heat 2 tbsp oil in a heavy frying pan. Drain, dry and season the sweetbreads. then pan-fry over a medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until lightly browned. At the same time, quickly reheat the potato cakes in the oven, and the pea puree and gravy on top of the stove.

To serve, carve the lamb into neat slices. Put a potato cake on each plate and top with slices of lamb. Garnish with the sweetbreads and pea puree, and pool the gravy on the side of the pancake.


Pre-Dessert: Bombay Sapphire Gin and Tonic Sorbet

150 ml Bombay Sapphire gin
500 ml tonic water
250 ml water
250 g caster sugar
Zest of 1 lemon and 1 lime
Juice of 1/2 lemon and lime

Mix the water and sugar together in a small pan and over a low heat bring up to boil until the sugar dissolves. Allow the stock syrup to boil for 4 minutes, remove from heat and cool. Combine the tonic water; gin, lemon and lime zest and juice together and then add this to the cooled syrup mixture.

Churn in an ice cream machine until thick and slushy. Place into a container and freeze for at least 1 hour before serving.


Dessert: Sticky Toffee Bread and Butter Pudding

200 g stoned Medjool dates
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
6 slices white bread, crusts off
75 g softened butter
3 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
75 g caster sugar
500 ml double cream
Demerara sugar
pouring cream to serve
SAUCE
100 g butter
100 g golden syrup
100 g soft dark brown sugar
100 ml double cream
100 g stoned Medjool dates, finely chopped (optional)

Place the dates and bicarbonate of soda in a saucepan and just cover with water. Simmer gently until the dates break down.

Butter the bread, then cut each slice in half to make triangles or cut out rounds. Alternately layer the bread and dates in four buttered 150ml ramekins or a buttered 25 x 20cm baking dish, starting and finishing with a layer of bread.

Beat together the whole eggs, yolks, seeds scraped from the vanilla pod and caster sugar in a bowl. Heat the cream to scalding point, then pour on to the egg mixture, mixing well. Pour over the bread and dates. Leave to soak for at least 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 175°C.

Set the ramekins or baking dish in a roasting tray of water. Bake for 16 minutes for the ramekins or 25 minutes for the large dish or until the custard has set.

To make the sauce, simply combine the butter, syrup and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil. When it's all smooth and dissolved, remove from the heat and stir in the cream and optional dates. Keep warm.

Sprinkle the top of the pudding evenly with Demerara sugar and caramelise under the grill. Serve a good portion of pudding with the sauce and pouring cream.

Black Angel Tagliarini

We have been hard at work preparing for today (Saturday's) dinner. So yesterday (Friday) we had to make something that could be throw together rather quickly. We had some leftover salmon trout scraps that we threw into this, so as not to waste it.

We love pasta. We REALLY love squid ink pasta, and we can rarely get our hands on it. Sure, I could order it, but we usually just buy some whenever we see it when we're out and about.

There are so few moving parts to this recipe and it tasted excellent. Regular readers of this blog KNOW that I appreciate something simple that delivers hugely. This is one of those things.

500g good-quality dried black spaghetti (known as Nero de Seppia in Italian markets)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
delicate extra virgin olive oil
8 large fresh scallops, sliced in half lengthways and scored
1-2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 large bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves and stalks very finely chopped
2 wineglasses wineglasses of white wine
3 large knobs butter
½ lemon

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and leave the water on the boil, ready for the pasta to be chucked in as the scallops are cooking. if you're using dried pasta, put it on now as it'll take a bit longer to cook.

To make the sauce, put a large casserole-type pan or frying pan on a high heat and put 2 or 3 glugs of delicate extra virgin olive oil into it. Season your scallops, then, when the oil is nice and hot, add them to the pan in one flat layer so that each slice takes on a nice bit of color. Shake the pan around and add the chillies, garlic and half of your chopped parsley. Now is the moment to cook your fresh pasta for 2 to 3 minutes until al dente. Once the scallops have had a good couple of minutes, and have a little color on them, add the white wine and allow to reduce a little. Add the butter and reduce for another minute, then just turn the heat down to low while your pasta finishes off.

Drain the pasta in a colander, reserving a little of the cooking water, then toss it into the pan with the scallops and a squeeze of lemon juice so every piece gets coated in the lovely white wine sauce and juices.

Now get everyone around the table. If the pasta looks a little dry then add some of the reserved cooking water to loosen it slightly. Toss the pasta with the rest of the parsley, then serve immediately on a large platter in the middle of the table or on individual plates.

Bengali Chicken Stew

This was a pretty easy thing to throw together. Lots of good Indian spices and not a lot f fuss to cook. One tip: wait until your chicken has thawed completely. Some parts of mine were a bit frozen and it threw off the cooking time.

In retrospect, I'm going to take the meat off the bone before eating and maybe pull it apart a little bit next time. Most of the goodness in the stew is in the broth, which you don't get so much when you're just eating the meat with a knife and fork. It would be better to scoop it all up in a spoonful at the same time. We'll try that when we have it for leftovers tomorrow night. Otherwise, I think it's pretty good!

1.2 kg whole chicken
80 milliliters vegetable oil
1 teaspoon panch phoran* (1/4 tsp each cumin seed, fenugreek seed, mustard seed, fennel seed - ground together)
1 bay leaf
2 cloves
5cm cassia bark or cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste*
1.5 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoons ground cumin
2 large tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
150 g potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
150 g cauliflower, cut into florets
¼ teaspoon Bengali garam masala* (or any garam masala you have laying around)
1 tablespoon coriander leaves, chopped

Joint the chicken into 8 pieces and remove the skin. Heat the oil in a large deep saute pan and saute the chicken pieces for a minute or so, without colouring. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Reheat the oil remaining in the pan. Add the panch phoran, bay leaf, cloves and cassia or cinnamon. Saute for 1-2 minutes, then add the ginger-garlic paste and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until it loses its raw taste.

Stir in the powdered spices, add the tomatoes and saute for 2 minutes. Add the chicken and salt, cook on a low heat for 2 minutes, then add 400ml water. Bring to a simmer and add the potatoes and cauliflower.

Cook for about 20 minutes until the chicken and potatoes are cooked. Serve sprinkled with Bengali garam masala and chopped coriander.

Moules a la Portugaise (Mussels, Portuguese Style)

This is an homage to our recent trip to Portugal. We brought some Portuguese chorizo back with us and used it in this Anthony Bourdain recipe from, once again, the Les Halles Cookbook.

Have I mentioned you need to buy this book yet? Have I told you yet that everything we have made out of it is a knockout?

I love the simplicity of mussels. They are quick to prepare. There are always relatively few ingredients to work with. The delivery on flavor always seems to be there, no matter how I have them.

We get really fresh mussels from a local seafood restaurant (Loch Fyne) and that always works out well. Get yourself some crusty bread and a nice glass of white wine to go with this... you have to open a bottle to cook with anyway! The better the chorizo you buy, the happier you are going to be. And good, fresh herbs make ALL the difference. The broth it leaves behind makes for UNBELIEVABLE dipping with that crusty bread. This serves 2, but you could buy twice as many mussels (to serve 4) and it would still work without having to reproportion everything.

¼ cup olive oil
½ onion, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 ounce chorizo picante, thinly sliced
1 cup white wine
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 kg mussels
knob of butter (optional, but highly recommended)
1 bunch cilantro, leaves only
4 sprigs parsley, finely chopped

In the large pot, heat the oil, add the onion, and cook until soft and beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and the chorizo and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir in the wine. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the mussels and cook with the lid on until all the mussels are open, 8 to 10 minutes. Shake. Add the cilantro and parsley. (If you want, boost with a knob of softened butter.) Shake again.

Serve with Portuguese country bread on the side, or with a thick-crusted Italian or French bread.

Mixed Vegetables with Tamarind

I had some reservations about this Indonesian recipe in that the cookbook from which it comes (The Essential Asian Cookbook), lacks a fair bit of cooking fundamentals. For instance: seasoning food. Practically everything one cooks gets a shot of salt and pepper, or at least salt. None of the recipes in the book list using salt and pepper to season a dish and it does not get too deep into flavoring dishes.

So what we have here is my adaptation of the recipe. The tamarind concentrate DOES bring a lot to the table, but not enough to round the dish out. The additions of red pepper flakes, orange zest, orange juice and fresh coriander (cilantro) are mine. There just something about how sweet, spiciness tastes along with pumpkin that is really great.

This is a pretty simple one that feeds four. No fuss here... just good sweet, spicy, veggie goodness.

2 cups vegetable stock
½ cup tamarind concentrate
2 sticks cinnamon
2 bay leaf
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
10 red Asian shallots (or 3 large regular shallots), peeled, halved and thinly sliced
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2-inch piece ginger, grated
250 g pumpkin, peeled, pulp removed, cut into chunks
200 g potatoes, peeled and sliced
225 g spinach, shredded
200 g baby corn, or 1 can, drained and rinsed
100 g haricot beans, topped, tailed and cut in half
zest and juice of 1 orange
salt and pepper
½ cup coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped

Place the stock, tamarind, cinnamon, bay leaves, garlic, shallots, red pepper flakes and ginger in a large pan or wok and bring to the boil.

Add the pumpkin and potatoes and simmer somewhat vigorously for 5 minutes. Add the corn and beans and cook for another five minutes.

Add the spinach, orange juice and zest and a healthy amount of salt and pepper to season. When the spinach is just cooked through, add the coriander. Serve hot in bowls.

George's "21st" Birthday

We had our friend George and his lady-friend Anna around to celebrate his birthday last night. I like to cook for our friends, especially when there is a birthday involved. We had a lovely time and there was some pretty good food to go around. We broke it up at about 2AM after a good bit of merriment. The candles on the cake read "You're Old"

I invented the soup recipe. I had been dying for some parsnips, as they are just now coming into season. Nothing beats some parsnips with a little honey thrown in to bring out the natural sweetness. If you haven't tried parsnips (I'm talking to you USA!) go out and buy some immediately. They are like carrots, only sweeter. Roasting them with some honey is about the best it gets.

The main is an old French bistro classic: Steak au Poivre and fries. Both recipes appear in Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook, which I HIGHLY recommend.

The dessert also features a key ingredient coming into season: apples. We have been jonseing for some apples; a warm apple dessert at this time of year with the caramel custard that went on top is delicious.

Starter: Parsnip and Thyme Veloute

olive oil
7 large parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks of somewhat equal mass
5 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 liters chicken stock
salt and white pepper, to taste (don't be stingy!)
3-4 tablespoons honey, to taste
6-8 sprigs thyme, leaves only, to taste
284 milliliters double cream

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat in a large soup pot. When hot, add the garlic and stir around to prevent sticking. Cook for about 30 seconds, until nice and fragrant. Add the parsnip chunks, season with salt and pepper and continue to cook, stirring frequently (so nothing sticks to the bottom and burns) putting just a bit of color on the parsnips, about 4-6 minutes.

Add the chicken stock and bring the liquid to a boil. When boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and let it bubble away gently, covered, for 20 minutes or so, just until the parsnips are cooked through and are pierced easily with a knife.

Remove from the heat and add the thyme and the honey. Using a hand blender, puree the mixture until smooth. Add the cream and blend again to incorporate. Check the salt, pepper, honey and thyme levels and adjust as necessary.

Pass through a sieve and serve in warm soup bowls. Alternatively, you could chill overnight and serve the next day, as the flavors will have melded nicely.

Main: Steak au Poivre and Les Halles Frites

Steak au Poivre

4x225 g steaks
56 ml olive oil
56 g freshly cracked peppercorns
112 g butter
25 ml good Cognac
110 milliliters strong dark veal stock, (right now, you really could use a tiny bit of that demi-glace I told you to keep in your freezer)
salt and pepper

COOK THE STEAKS
Preheat the oven to 425°P/220°C. Moisten the meat very slightly with oil, then dredge each of the steaks in the crushed peppercorns to thoroughly coat. Don't be shy with the pepper. Heat the remaining oil in the skillet over high heat. Once the oil is hot, add 2 ounces of the butter.

Place the steaks in the pan and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook to desired doneness, about 5 to 7 minutes for rare, 10 minutes for medium rare, and so on. Remove the pan from the oven and remove the steaks from the pan to rest. Have I told you yet to always rest your meat after cooking? I've told you now.

THE SAUCE
Return the skillet to the stovetop and carefully stir in the Cognac. As much fun as it is to create a column of flame as you add flammable material to an incredibly hot pan, it's not really desirable or necessary especially in a home kitchen. Unless you're a pyromaniac, I recommend carefully adding the Cognac to the still-hot pan offthe flame, stirring and scraping with the wooden spoon to get every scrap, every peppercorn, every rumor of flavor clinging to the bottom of the pan. Now place the pan on the flame again and cook it down a bit, by about half. Stir in the veal stock (and demi-glace) and reduce over medium heat until thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Whisk in the remaining butter and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately with French fries or sauteed potatoes.

VARIATION
Incredible as it seems, this dish used to be a tableside standard at many restaurants, meaning waiters would prepare the dish in the dining room over Sterno, usually with great panache-and to inadvertent comic effect. My friend Jack used to order it just so everybody else in the dining room would go home smelling like his dinner. Often, waiters would sneak in a touch of heavy cream, ensuring a richer, easier, faster thickening of the sauce. As well, they'd sometimes offer the variation of a steak Diane, which was essentially the same dish but with a spoon of Dijon mustard and a touch of cream whisked into the final sauce.

Les Halles Frites

4 Idaho potatoes, big, long ones
2.5 liters peanut oil
salt

STEP ONE: PREP
Fill a large bowl with ice water. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1/2 inch thick sticks. Put them immediately into the bowl of ice water to keep them from oxidizing. Leave them in the water anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight, then rinse well in cold water to take out much of the starch.

STEP TWO: BLANCH
In a deep fryer or heavy-bottomed pot, heat the oil to 280°F/140°C. Cook the potatoes in batches, about 6 to 8 minutes for each batch, until they are soft and their color has paled from opaque white to a semitranslucent white. Do not get impatient and yank them out early. Remove them from the oil with the skimmer or wire basket and spread evenly on the baking sheet. Let them rest at least 15 minutes.

STEP THREE: FRY
Bring the oil up to 375°F/190°C. No hotter, no cooler. Fry the blanched potatoes in batches for 2 to 3 minutes each, or until they are crispy and golden brown. Remove from the oil with the skimmer or wire basket, shake off the excess oil, and ...

STEP FOUR: SERVE
...immediately drop the fries into the other large bowl, which has been lined with a clean, dry towel. Add salt to taste and whip out the towel. Toss the fries around in the bowl and serve while still hot.

Dessert: Apple Crumble with Hazelnuts and Caramel Custard


FOR THE APPLE COMPOTE:
juice of 1 lemon
2 kg Bramley apples
300 g caster sugar
50 g unsalted butter
1-2 spent vanilla pods, i.e. with their seeds scraped out (optional)
FOR THE CRUMBLE:
100 g plain flour
50 g granulated sugar
pinch ground cinnamon
50 g unsalted cold butter, diced
50 g toasted hazelnuts, lightly crushed
FOR THE CARAMEL CUSTARD
165 g caster sugar
150 milliliters double cream
375 milliliters whole milk
1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped (optional)
25 g cornflour
4 large egg yolks

First, make the caramel. Heat a heavy-based pan until it is very hot. Gradually add 100g of the sugar, a little at a time, so that it melts immediately on contact with the hot pan. As the sugar melts and caramelises, tilt the pan to swirl and mix the caramel. When the caramel turns a dark terracotta colour, pour in 100ml of the cream, protecting your hand from the steam with an oven glove. Tilt the pan again to mix the cream with the caramel. Remove from the heat and pour through a fine sieve into a wide bowl. Leave to cool completely.

Put the milk, and vanilla seeds if using, into a pan and slowly bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, mix the remaining 65g sugar and the cornflour together in a large bowl. Add the egg yolks and beat to a smooth paste, then stir in the remaining 50ml cream. Just as the milk begins to bubble up the sides of the pan, take off the heat and slowly pour it onto the egg yolk mixture, stirring continuously. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a clean pan and stir over a low heat until thickened. Increase the heat and bring to the boil, stirring all the while. Simmer, stirring, for 4-5 minutes to cook out the cornflour.

Pass the custard through a fine sieve into a bowl and cover the surface with cling film to prevent a skin from forming. Allow to cool completely. Once cooled, mix the caramel into the custard, using a hand-held stick blender, until smooth.

FOR THE DISH
First, prepare the apple compote. Add the lemon juice to a large bowl of cold water. Working with one at a time, peel, core and chop the apples and immediately immerse in the bowl of lemon water to prevent them from discolouring. Drain well and pat dry with kitchen paper.

Put the chopped apples in a wide pan with the sugar, butter and vanilla pod(s) if using. Cook over a medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes until the apples are just soft, but still just holding their shape. Remove the vanilla pod(s). (If making the apple doughnuts on page 198, reserve a quarter of the compote for the filling; otherwise use it all for the crumble.)

Spoon the apple compote into a shallow ovenproof dish, about 23cm in diameter, and leave to cool completely.

For the crumble, put the flour, sugar, cinnamon and butter into a food processor and pulse for a few seconds until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively, rub the butter into the dry mixture with your fingers. Stir in the crushed hazelnuts, then spread a layer of crumble over the apple filling. Chill until ready to cook.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6. Stand the dish on a baking sheet and bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown and crisp on top. Spoon into individual bowls and serve with warm caramel custard.

Fresh Spring Rolls with Hoisin-Peanut Dip (Goi Cuon)

This is kind of a cool little appetizer that turned into dinner last night. I had never worked with the rice paper before, and at times, I prefer it to the deep-fried version. Anyways, don't skimp on the herbs (especially the mint) as they really make the difference here.

I have reprinted the recipe as it appears, though we skipped the sauce. I still had the peanut-chile sauce from dinner the other night, which actually inspired my making this in the first place. We just had to use up that sauce! We'll be off to Portugal for most of the coming week... photos to follow!

DIPPING SAUCE
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon chile paste or hot bean paste
½ cup chicken stock
¾ cup peanuts, dry-roasted
FILLING
225 g rice vermicelli, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes
2 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons fish sauce
¼ teaspoon sugar
pinch black pepper
375 g pork loin, boneless, in one piece
ROLLS
12 rice papers, 8 inch diameter
12 large soft red lettuce leaves, stiff ribs removed
1 carrot, julienned and tossed with 1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup jicama, julienne
1 bunch mint leaves
12 sprigs dill
12 sprigs coriander (cilantro)

To make the dipping sauce, in a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the oil. When it is hot, add the garlic and cook, stirring. until lightly browned, about 30 seconds. Add the hoisin sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and chile paste or hot bean paste, stir well, and simmer for 15 seconds. Stir in the chicken stock; the mixture should have a thick, creamy comistency. Add the peanuts and let cool. Divide among small saucers.

To make the filling, bring a large saucepan three fourths full of water to a boil. Drain the rice noodles and add to the boiling water. Boil until just tender, about 2 minutes. Pour the noodles into a colander and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Drain well and set aside. Toss the noodles occasionally to keep them from sticking together.

In a saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a boil over high heat. Add the fish sauce, sugar, pepper, and pork and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and boil gently until the pork is firm and no longer pink, about 20 minutes. Remove the pork from the stock and let cool. Cur into thin strips 3/4 inch wide by 2 inches long.

Bring a saucepan three-fourths full of water to a boil. Add the shrimp and boil until they turn bright orange-pink, 1-2 minutes. Drain, let cool, then peel, devein, and cut in half lengthwise. Set aside.

To make the spring rolls, lay 1 rice paper round on a flat surface. Lay another paper next to but not touching it. If space permits, layout as many as 4 papers without touching. Using a pastry brush, generously brush the papers with warm water and leave them for 30 seconds or longer until they are softened and feel like wet tissue. While working on one, cover the others with a damp kitchen towel. Arrange 1 lettuce leaf on the lower third of the round. Put about 2 tablespoons of the rice vermcelli, a few strips of pork, carrot, jicama, a few mint leaves, and 1 dill sprig on the lettuce. Fold the lower edge over the filling, half covering it and forming a log. Fold in the sides to enclose the ends. Put 2 pieces of shrimp with 1 coriander sprig across the log. Continue rolling the paper over the shrimp to seal the roll. Moisten the ends with water to seal the seam. Set the roll on a tray lined with plastic wrap. Cover with a damp kitchen towel. Repeat until all the rolls are done.

Arrange the rolls, whole or cut into thirds, on a serving tray. Distribute the dipping saucers among the diners. To eat, dip the rolls into the sauce and eat out of hand.

Yucatan Chicken Skewers with Red Cabbage Slaw and Peanut-Red Chile Sauce

Don't be fooled by the sheer number of ingredients at play here... the slaw takes no time to put together. The marinade takes no time to put together. The only real time-consuming task is the sauce. And, wow, that is SOME SAUCE. Mind you, most of the time is spent just bubbling away on the stove.

Now that we have eaten it, we're trying to think of how many things we can put this sauce on. The list is comprehensive enough to include breakfast cereal, fruit and apple pie. Seriously though, the sauce is magnificent and would be at home being used with anything Asian, such as spring rolls; it is a great dipping sauce. The peanut-y flavor gives way to a subtle heat that is just great.

Let's not forget the chicken. I am sure I mentioned before that thighs are the way to go. I mean, they are just so much more juicy. Sure, it's a little more work to bone them out, but we're talking about 5 minutes. The flavor delivery is worth it, especially with this citrus-y, spicy marinade.

If you make your own flour tortillas, good for you! Keep doing that and make some for this dish. If not, buy some (but don't tell Vanessa). The idea is that you slap the chicken, slaw and some sauce in the tortilla and go to town!

SKEWERS
½ cup fresh orange juice (about 2 oranges)
¼ cup fresh lime juice (2 to 3 limes)
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
6 (6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut in half lengthwise
24 wooden skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 (6-inch) flour tortillas
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish
Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish (optional)
Finely chopped roasted peanuts, for garnish (optional)

SLAW
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
½ cup fresh orange juice (about 2 oranges)
¼ cup canola oil
1 tablespoon honey
½ head red cabbage, finely shredded
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

PEANUT-RED CHILE BBQ SAUCE
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
1 ½ cups Mesa Grill BBQ Sauce (see below)
2 cups Enriched Chicken Stock or low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
¼ cup smooth peanut butter, such as Jif
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

MESA GRILL BBQ SAUCE
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large Spanish onion, coarsely chopped
5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 cans plum tomatoes and their juice, pureed
¼ cup ketchup
¼ cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup molasses
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons ancho chile powder
3 tablespoons pasilla chile powder
1 tablespoon chipotle chile puree
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

SKEWERS
To marinate the chicken, in a large shallow baking dish, whisk together the orange and lime juices, oil, chile powder, and garlic until combined.

Skewer each chicken thigh half with 2 skewers running lengthwise through the chicken so that it lies flat. Put the chicken in the baking dish and turn to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

Preheat a grill to high or a grill pan over high heat.

Remove the thighs from the marinade (discard the marinade) and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until just cooked through.

Place the tortillas on the grill and grill for 10 seconds per side to heat through.

Serve the skewers on a platter accompanied by the cabbage slaw, peanut-red chile barbecue sauce, tortillas, mint and cilantro leaves, and peanuts for everyone to assemble his own wrap.

SLAW
Whisk together the vinegar, orange juice, oil, and honey in a medium bowl. Add the cabbage, onion, and cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Let sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes or up to 1 hour before serving.

MESA GRILL BBQ SAUCE (For use in the main sauce)
Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan. Add the onion and cook until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and 1 cup of water, bring to a boil, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Add the ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire, molasses, mustard, brown sugar, honey, ancho powder, pasilla powder, and chipotle puree, lower the heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 25 to 30 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. The sauce will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator stored in a tightly sealed container.

PEANUT-RED CHILE BBQ SAUCE
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the ginger and cook until soft, 1 to 2 minutes. Raise the heat to high, add the Mesa Grill BBQ Sauce and chicken stock, and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half.

Whisk in the soy sauce and peanut butter and cook over medium heat until thickened, 12 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. This can be made up to 2 days in advance and efrigrerated. Reheat before serving.