Five-Spiced Duck with a Bourbon-Peach Sauce and Pumpkin Puree

This is an original of mine, taking the flavor combination here of duck, bourbon, peach and pumpkin. The sauce was great, but could have used more peach in it to bring out a fruitier note. Nice spice on the sauce and duck, too, and the pumpkin puree was nice and smooth. I consider this a work-in-progress, but a good first attempt anyways.

FIVE-SPICED DUCK
4x200 g duck breasts, skin on
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon cayenne
1 tablespoon five-spice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground allspice

BOURBON-PEAR SAUCE
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion
2 cups bourbon
2 dried ancho chiles, blistered, soaked, seeded, chopped
1 dried habenero chile, blistered, soaked, seeded
5 cups chicken stock
1 cup peach puree
2 star anise
1 stick cinnamon
10 Sichuan peppercorns
1/3 cup brown sugar

PUMPKIN PUREE
600g pumpkin, peeled, chopped
½ cup double cream
1/4 cup milk
1 knob butter
salt and pepper
cilantro, to garnish

DUCK
Score the duck skins and trim off any sinew. Combine the brown sugar, cayenne, five-spice, salt and allspice in a small bowl. Rub the mixture all over the duck and set aside. Heat the oven to 200C.

SAUCE
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the red onion and saute until softened (but not colored), about 5-7 minutes. Add the bourbon and bring to a boil. Reduce the bourbon down to a few tablespoons. Add the stock, peach puree, star anise, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns and brown sugar. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Let this reduce down halfway, stirring, about 15-20 minutes. Strain the mixture and put back into a clean saucepan. Reduce down to a sauce consistency, about 15 minutes. Add a splash of bourbon in the last few minutes. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.

PUMPKIN
Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Add the pumpkin and cook until pierced easily with the tip of a sharp knife, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the cream and butter until the butter is melted and the mixture is warm.

Puree the pumpkin in a blender with some of the cream mixture, adding more until you reach the desired consistency. Pass the puree through a fine-sieve. If it is too liquidy, reduce in a saucepan until it reaches desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

FINISH
Put the duck, skin-side down in a cold cast-iron pan set over medium-high heat. When the duck starts to render it's fat out, cook for 5 minutes or until the skin is nice and golden brown, but not burnt. Drain the fat out and flip the duck over and briefly cook the meat side just long enough to put some color on it, 15-25 seconds.

Drain the fat again, put the duck back in the pan (skin-side down) and put the duck in the oven for another 5-6 minutes. When the duck is cooked medium rare (internal temperature of 145F), pull them out of the oven and the pan and rest skin side up for 5 minutes.

Lay down some pumpkin puree on a plate. Slice the duck and arrange on top. Spoon over sauce. Garnish with cilantro.

Farm-Raised Chicken with Curry Leaves, Plantain Mousseline and Butternut Squash and Curry Emulsion

I am sort of on the fence about this one. I gave it 3/5 stars. Maybe because, in the end, it tasted sort of autumn-y and given the warm weather around here, it wasn't what I wanted to eat. Also, I slightly overcooked the chicken.

I mean, the flavors were good. I think it could have benefited from a little more spice or something, because it came out tasting sort of sweet. This wasn't at all unpleasant, just kind of one-dimensional. I might have to toy around with this one next time.

CHICKEN
6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
200 ml skim milk
4 large, corn-fed chicken breasts (breast halves), skin on
½ teaspoon GARAM MASALA
12 small fresh curry leaves
a pinch of ground ginger
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground white pepper

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND CURRY EMULSION
2 tablespoons olive oil
150 g butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and diced •
25 g onion, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
½ tablespoon Madras curry powder
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1.5 liters chicken stock
100 g butter, cut into small cubes

PLANTAIN MOUSSELINE
400 g half-ripe plantains, peeled
150 g ripe plantains, peeled
200 g potatoes, peeled
200 ml full-cream milk
90 g butter, cut into small cubes and kept ice cold

VEGETABLES
300 g runner beans, trimmed
20 g butter
200 g butternut squash, peeled and cut Into very small dice
3 ½ tablespoons chicken stock

Blanch the garlic cloves 3 times in boiling water, changing the water each time. Put them in a saucepan, cover with the skimmed milk and cook for about 20-30 minutes, until the garlic is mellow and tender. Leave to cool, then peel the garlic and puree in a blender. Pass through a fine sieve.

CHICKEN
Lift the skin away from the chicken breasts, rub the garlic puree and garam masala over the flesh and insert 3 small curry leaves under the skin of each breast. Make sure you do not rip the skin. Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with the ground ginger and some salt and pepper. Pack the breasts 2 at a time in zip-lock bags, or wrap them in cling film (plastic wrap). Remove as much air from the bags as possible, then seal. Heat a large saucepan or deep roasting tin (pan) of water to 80°C/178°F, place the sealed chicken breasts in the pan and leave for 15-18 minutes, using a thermometer to check that the temperature of the water remains constant. (Poaching the wrapped-up chicken like this captures all the flavours and keeps the flesh fantastically moist.) Cool the chicken breasts down rapidly in a large bowl filled with ice cubes and water. Place this in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

EMULSION
For the emulsion, heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the squash, onion and ginger and cook for 7-8 minutes, until lightly caramelized. Add the curry powder and turmeric and sweat for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Mix with a handheld blender until smooth. Add the butter and mix vigorously, then check the seasoning and pass through a fine sieve. Keep warm.

MOUSSELINE
To make the plantain mousseline, put the plantains and potatoes in a pan and cover with cold salted water. Bring to the boil, cook over a medium heat for about 25 minutes, until tender, then drain. In a separate pan, heat the milk to boiling point, then remove from the heat. Pass the potatoes and plantains through a vegetable mill or a sieve into a heavy-based saucepan. Put the pan on a low heat to steam the vegetables dry, then gradually incorporate three-quarters of the milk, mixing vigorously. Now mix in the butter in small amounts to give a smooth mixture. Season with salt to taste. Only add the remaining milk if the mousseline is too dry. Keep warm and covered till needed.

VEGETABLES
For the vegetables, blanch the runner beans in a large pan of boiling salted water, then drain and cool down rapidly in iced water. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the diced butternut squash and cook for 3-4 minutes, until very lightly caramelized. Add the blanched beans and the chicken stock and leave to simmer until nicely glazed. Keep warm.

FINISH
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based non-stick frying pan (skillet) over a medium heat. Unwrap the chicken breasts, put them in the pan skin-side down and cook over a low heat for 8-10 minutes, until the skin is golden brown and crisp, basting it every minute with the olive oil to prevent it drying out. Drain on kitchen paper towels and cut each breast into 5 slices. Arrange a 'nest' of the runner beans in the centre of 4 serving plates and fill up with the plantain mousseline. Sprinkle the butternut squash dice on top of the beans. Mix the emulsion with the handheld blender until frothy and spoon it around the runner beans. Place the crispy chicken on top and serve.

Brown Trout with Wild Garlic Quinoa and Roasted Garlic Cream

This was a huge knockout from the folks at Le Champignon Sauvage. I had to substitute rocket (arugula) for the wild garlic and I couldn't get my hands on quinoa, so I used pearl barley. I have reprinted the original version of the recipe.

What can I say? It was buttery, garlicy, nutty and rich. Looked good on the plate. We're still basking in the glow of this one a bit, so I apologize if I am at a bit of a loss for words. The fish we got was super-fresh. We used some rich homemade shellfish stock that we had in the freezer. I can't knock a thing about it.

BROWN TROUT
2x450 g brown trout fillets
50 milliliters olive oil
25 g unsalted butter

GARLIC CREAM
2 heads garlic
20 milliliters olive oil
500 milliliters FISH STOCK
50 milliliters milk
200 milliliters double cream

QUINOA
50 milliliters olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
½ onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
100 g quinoa
300 milliliters FISH STOCK
120 g wild garlic leaves

TROUT
Make sure there aren't any bones left in the trout. Cut each fillet into 3 pieces and place in the fridge until needed.

ROASTED GARLIC CREAM
Remove the papery outer layers from the garlic. Moisten the heads with the olive oil and place on a baking tray. Roast in an oven preheated to 180C for 20-30 minutes, until tender and golden. Pop the garlic cloves out of their skins and place in a saucepan with the fish stock. Bring to the boil and simmer until reduced by half. Add the milk and double cream, bring back to the boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. Push through a fine sieve and season to taste.

WILD GARLIC QUINOA
Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof frying pan and add the onion, garlic and quinoa. Cook without colouring until you can smell the slight nuttiness of the quinoa. Immediately pour in the fish stock. Bring to the boil, stirring all the time, then reduce to a light simmer and cook until tender. When it is ready, the quinoa should have a white ring surrounding the centre of the grain. Taste; it should be tender with a little bite. Set aside 6-8 wild garlic leaves and blanch the remainder in a large pan of salted water for 30 seconds. Refresh the blanched wild garlic quickly in a bowl of iced water to set the color. When it is cold, squeeze out excess water and place the garlic leaves in a food processor. Process to a puree, adding a little water if needed.

Finely chop the raw wild garlic leaves. Whilst the quinoa is still warm, fold them through it and then fold in the wild garlic puree. Season and drizzle with a little olive oil. Keep warm.

COOKING THE TROUT
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan over a high heat. Season the trout fillets and add them to the pan, skin-side down. Add the butter and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until you see the trout change around the edges from translucent pink to a paler shade of pink. Turn the fish over, count to 10 and turn off the heat. Move the pan to a cooler part of the stove so the fish finishes cooking in the warmth of the pan. Drain and re-season the trout.

SERVING
Place a small mound of the quinoa in the middle of each serving plate and arrange the trout on top. Froth the sauce with a stick blender and pour it around the fish.

Eggplant Caponata (Caponata di Melanzane)

This has been one of our favorites here since we ate it at Carluccio's in London. We've tried three different recipes of this, and I would put this one up there with any we have tried. Vanessa found it a bit too tart, but I loved the zip of the vinegar with some of the heat in the back of the throat from the pepper flakes. This is a traditional Sicilian 'relish' which would be good on toasted bread, an it's own or mixed up in some pasta.

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons pine nuts
3 tablespoons dried currants
1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes
2 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
¾ cup basic Italian-style tomato sauce
½ cup balsamic vinegar
salt and black pepper
1 baguette, 3/4" rounds

In a 10- to 12-inch saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Add the onion, garlic, pine nuts, currants and red pepper flakes and cook until the onion is softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the eggplant, sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the thyme, tomato sauce, and vinegar and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. (The caponata can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

To serve, spoon the caponata onto the crostini and arrange on a platter, or put it into a bowl with the crostini on the side so your guests can help themselves.

Tortilla Espanola

I did a space-age version of this awhile back. Since the weather here has been more agreeable lately than in the last two years combine, we have been feeling it for 'warm-weather-food'. Spain sounded good to me and we were just a few potatoes away from heaven.

You can find this dish in just about every cafe in Spain. It's a classic. It's simple. It's delicious. The recipe comes out of Food & Wine magazine and is from Mario Batali.

I served mine with some of the 'Red Sauce' from the Gaudi dish a few weeks ago.

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 2 T
1 ¼ lbs. red bliss potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8" thick
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
8 large eggs

Preheat the broiler. Heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet. Add the potato and onion slices, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until the potatoes and onion are tender but not browned, about 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs and season with salt and pepper. Scrape the potato mixture into the bowl, being sure not to leave any in the skillet.

Return the skillet to the heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the egg mixture, spreading it out in an even layer. Cover and cook over low heat until the tortilla is set on the bottom and the edges, about 10 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and broil 8 inches from the heat just until the top is set, about 1 minute longer. Set a large plate over the skillet and carefully invert the tortilla onto the plate.

Let stand for 5 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

Crunchy Gooseberry Crumble

Gooseberries have been on our ever-expanding list of 'must-try' items. We had heard about them (like so many other things here in the UK) but had just never gotten around to eating them. They are quite tart, and require a good shot of sweetness to balance that tartness.

I liked the flavors at work in this dish though, given the proportions in the recipe, there wasn't enough 'stuff' on top (butter and sugar) to really bind the oats together into something resembling a crust. So when I scooped it out, the granola stuff just kind of slid off in bits rather than sticking to itself (and the filling).

Next time, I think I'll put some more butter and sugar in the topping mixture and see if it binds it up a little more.

GOOSEBERRY FILLING
450 g gooseberries
75 g caster (superfine) sugar, to taste

TOPPING
175 g crunchy oat cereal or granola
1 tablespoon demerara sugar
25 g butter, cut into small dice

Heat the oven to 200C and place a baking sheet inside to heat up. Wash the gooseberries, remove the husks and pat dry with a clean tea towel.

Tip the gooseberries into a pan, add the sugar and place over a high heat until they begin to release their juices, shaking the pan frequently. Divide the gooseberries among four individual ovenproof dishes.

For the topping, mix the crunchy cereal and demerara sugar together.

Sprinkle evenly over the gooseberries to cover them and dot with the butter. Bake for about 10-15 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the gooseberries are bubbling up around the sides. Leave to stand for 5-10 minutes to cool down slightly before serving.

Hot and Sour Soup with Shrimps (Tom Yum Kung)

This is one of our favorite soups, and great for clearing out the ol' sinuses. I made a few modifications to the recipe, but the core of it remains in tact. I added some chopped up scallions and some rice noodles to make a more substantial soup. This is really good and simple to make.

SOUP
9 shrimps
7 ounces straw mushrooms, halved
9 Thai chiles, lightly crushed
1 stalk lemongrass
5 kaffir lime leaves
1 tablespoon ROASTED CHILE PASTE
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons lime juice
4 cups chicken stock

GARNISH
kaffir lime leaves
lemongrass slices
Thai chiles

Remove the outer layer of the lemongrass stems and wash thoroughly. Cut off stems 2 1/2" from base and slice diagonally into 1/4" pieces.

Boil chicken stock, add lemongrass and continue boiling until fragrant. Then add straw mushrooms and shrimps and boil until cooked.

Add fish sauce, lime juice, chile paste, kaffir lime leaves and chilies. Boil once more.

Pour Tom Yum Kung into a serving bowl, garnish with kaffir lime leaves, slices of lemongrass and chilies. Serve hot with fragrant cooked jasmine rice.

Angry Chicken

Fans of the show Iron Chef know Masaharu Morimoto. Apart from being a ninja in the kitchen, he also owns a chain of fine dining establishments around the world. While in Australia recently, I picked up his cookbook which looked to be full of delicious recipes. This is our first attempt from his book.

Now, I like spicy food. Reading the recipe over, I was wondering if I was going to bite of more than I could chew with this one. I did try to eat some of the roasted pepper a quickly decided to just stick with the chicken.

In spite of reading like a very spicy dish, the spicing is actually just right. You can taste everything and the marinade makes the meat extremely juicy, provided you cook it to 160F (72C) and no higher. The lime juice is a nice, acidic cooling contrast to the spices. We marinated our chicken for about 36 hours. Delicious.

CHICKEN
2x2 kg chickens, quartered

SPICY YOGURT MARINADE (makes 3 1/2 cups)
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
½ teaspoon cumin seed
¼ teaspoon coriander seed
¼ teaspoon cardamom seeds
1 teaspoon chile powder
½ teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups Frank's hot sauce
1 ⅓ cups yogurt
½ cup heavy cream
⅓ cup soy sauce

DISH
24 long green and red hot chiles
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil, or other vegetable oil
fried rice noodles
lime wedges, for serving

CHICKEN
Trim any excess fat from the chicken, Rinse and pat dry, Place the chicken quarters in a large bowl. Measure out 1 cup of the Spicy Yogurt Marinade and reserve for the sauce: refrigerate in a small covered container.

Pour the rest of the marinade over the chicken. Turn the pieces to make sure they are all well-coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 and up to 24 hours.

About 1 hour before you plan to serve the chicken, preheat the oven to 450F (230C). Remove the chicken from the marinade and arrange the pieces on 1 or 2 half-sheet pans or large baking sheets. Discard the chicken marinade.

Roast for 40 minutes, until the chicken is tender and lightly browned and the juices run clear when the thighs are pricked with the tip of a small knife. Transfer the pieces to a platter and tent with foil to keep warm.

While the chicken is roasting, make the sauce. Boil the chicken stock in a medium saucepan over high heat until it is reduced to 1 cup. Whisk in the reserved 1 cup Spicy Yogurt Marinade and cook just until heated through; do not boil, or the yogurt will separate. Keep the sauce warm.

As soon as the chickens are done, preheat the broiler. Toss the chiles with the oil to coal lightly and spread them out on a broiler rack or small baking sheet. Broil the chiles about 4 inches from the heat, turning them a couple of times until they are blistered and lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

To serve, layer the chicken and chiles on a large platter. Pour the sauce around the chicken, Top with the Fried Rice Noodles. Serve with lime wedges to squeeze over the chicken.

SPICY YOGURT MARINADE
To make the marinade, grind the peppercorns, cumin, coriander seeds, and cardamom in a spice grinder or use a mortar and pestle. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add the chile powder, garam masala and salt. Add the hot sauce, yogurt, cream, and soy sauce and whisk until smooth and well blended.

FRIED RICE NOODLES
Add vegetable oil to reach about 2 inches up the sides of a large saucepan or a wok. Heat the oil over high heat to 340F (170C). Separate 1 bundle of thin rice noodles (mai fun) into 2 portions. Working with one portion at a time, add the noodles to the oil. They will puff up almost immediately. Using a large wire skimmer, transfer to paper towels to drain.

Proper Southeast Asian BBQ

I recently extolled the virtues of feather steak awhile back (when we had fajitas) and I brought it back this weekend for a BBQ we went to with some of our good friends. This steak worked a treat and the sauce is a yummy, sweet-spicy sauce that is just wonderful. The sauce recipe here works for any meat, really, and probably would work on a stronger-tasting fish as well.

The other is more or less a Thai-style BBQ shrimp with a peanut dipping sauce. Classic Thai flavors there and super easy to prepare. We were in such a hurry to eat everything, I neglected to take a good photo. Hopefully, you get the idea.

Indonesian Five-Spice Barbecue Sauce
3 garlic cloves
1-inch chunk of peeled fresh ginger, coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon sambal oelek (Indonesian chile paste), or 1 small fresh serrano or jalapeno chile, stemmed and seeded
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder
2 tablespoons tamarind concentrate or paste
1 tablespoon tomato paste
½ cup soy sauce (preferably Tamari)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons peanut or canola oil

Place the garlic and ginger in a blender or the workbowl of a food processor and process to finely chop. Add the chili paste and process again to chop. Add the brown sugar, five-spice powder, tamarind concentrate, tomato paste, soy sauce, lime juice, and oil and process until smooth. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator, covered, up to 1 week.

Spicy Shrimp with Asian Peanut Dipping Sauce

DIPPING SAUCE
¼ cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
¼ cubes shrimp stock or clam juice
1 teaspoon honey
salt and black pepper
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
¼ cup scallion, finely sliced

SHRIMP
½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 chile de arbol, or hot Asian chiles, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro, coarsely chopped
48 large shrimp, shelled and deveined
salt and black pepper

DIPPING SAUCE
Combine the peanut butter, gingerroot, garlic, soy sauce, lime juice, vinegar, stock, and honey in a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon into a medium bowl, fold in the chopped cilantro, and sprinkle the green onion on top. May be refrigerated, covered, for 1 day; serve at room temperature. Makes 2 cups.

SHRIMP
Combine the oil, lime juice, chiles, gingerroot, garlic, and cilantro in a large shallow pan or baking dish. Add the shrimp and toss to coat. Refrigerate, covered, for 2 hours, no longer.

Preheat a gas or charcoal grill to high. Remove the shrimp from the marinade, shaking off the excess (discard the used marinade). Grill until just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. To serve, arrange the shrimp on a large serving platter and accompany with a bowl of the Peanut Dipping Sauce.

Braised Ox Cheek with Carrot Puree and Spring Vegetables

For my money, there are two kinds of people in this world:

A: People willing to try things
B: People not willing to try things

Type B people annoy me when it comes to food. Fortunately, Vanessa and I and a vast majority of our friends are Type A folks, so that's been working out well. I even have a few converts in the works, which is fun. Why do I mention this?

Ox cheeks. Was your initial reaction disgust? (Type B response) Or was your initial reaction "Hmmm... I wonder what that tastes like," or "I remember the last time I had it and it was the most tender, succulent and awesome piece of meat I've ever had." (Type A response)

After all, it's just protein. A collection of muscle fibers. No different sitting raw on your cutting board than any fillet steak, or leg meat, or rib, or shin, or chop. All there is is protein. And depending on which part of the animal the cut came from, will determine how much sinew and fat content the cut has (depending on what kind/how much work the muscle did) and thus, how it should best be cooked.

Ox cheeks appear on many of the best fine dining restaurant menus in the Europe. This is not intended to confuse or disgust their diners. It's not some kind of trick... I mean, the chefs aren't sitting back in the kitchen, peering through the window in the door to see if a diner ACTUALLY puts it in his/her mouth, so they can all snicker to one another and call it 'gross'.

It might just be because it is awesome. And if you never try it, you'll never know. I am here to tell you that for slow-cooking, low-heat applications, nothing beats the cheek for softness, tenderness and flavor. It is amazing. Also, it is by weight, one of the cheapest cuts you can buy. This is because of a few things:

1) Demand is not high because
a) people think it's gross (without having tried it)
b) people don't know how to prepare it

Now onto the recipe.

Word of warning: While I admire Tetsuya Wakuda, widely considered the best chef in Australia, his cookbook is lacking in the area of the descriptiveness of his recipes. The recipes assume a pretty high baseline of knowledge. Fortunately, I have enough knowledge to be dangerous. The recipe below it reprinted as it appeared in his cookbook. Items in parenthesis are mine, slipped in to clairfy some key points, such as: how long to cook this for and at what heat.

All that aside, the dish was amazing. The cheeks were wonderful and succulent, with semi-gelatinous strip running through the middle which broke down during cooking and created the most wonderful mouthfeel. The veggies were not a mere afterthought, but really cut through the richness of the meat. We're about to go cheek-crazy here soon. Look for more animal's cheeks in the coming weeks.

And rhymes.

2 ox cheeks, approximately 400 g each
plain flour for dusting
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
1 liters chicken stock
100 ml soy sauce
1 leek, halved
2 stalks celery, left whole
200 ml sake
2 medium-sized carrots, whole
sea salt and white pepper
4-6 asparagus, halved
6 snowpeas
12 butter beans, halved
3- 4 baby carrots
1 large handful spinach

Clean the ox cheeks and cut into 4 pieces. Lightly dust with some plain flour and brown in the grapeseed oil in a frying pan. Transfer the browned pieces to a stockpot and cover with the chicken stock, soy sauce, leek, celery and sake. Add the medium-sized carrots. (Bring the liquid to a simmer. Cook the cheeks for 3 hours - until tender and soft) Once the carrots are soft (after an hour or so) remove from the pot and puree in a food processor. Adjust the puree to your desired consistency with more stock. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Keep cooking the ox cheeks over a low flame until tender, taking care not to overcook. Remove the cheeks from the pot and place on a plate. Cover with another plate and weigh down the ox cheeks. (Rest the ox cheeks like this for at least 20 minutes - you can finish the veggies and reduce the sauce during this resting time.)

Blanch the asparagus, snowpeas, beans, baby carrots and spinach separately.

(Reduce the cooking liquid at a rapid boil until it reaches desired consistency, or you can't take waiting anymore.)

To serve, place a little spinach at the base of each plate. Top with the ox cheek and spoon over some carrot puree. Place the asparagus, snowpeas, beans and baby carrots on top, and spoon over some sauce.

Lemon Meringue with Marinated Strawberries

This one is from Gordon Ramsay's high-roller cookbook entitles 3-Star Chef, which has his recipes from his flagship restaurant. I am proud to say that we ate there last month for our anniversary and it was wonderful.

This was a great summer dessert. It is also my first foray into making tuile biscuits and they aren't such a big fuss after all! This serves four people who will be suitably impressed.

LEMON MERINGUE:

50 g egg whites (2-3 large eggs)

37 ½ g caster sugar

finely grated zest of 2 lemons

icing sugar, to dust

STRAWBERRY SORBET:

250 g ripe strawberries, hulled

juice of 1 large lemon

100 g caster sugar

100 milliliters water

2 ¼ teaspoons liquid glucose

BLACK PEPPER AND SESAME TUlLES:

37 ½ g icing sugar

10 milliliters cold water

12 ½ g plain flour

25 g lightly salted butter, melted

15 g white sesame seeds

cracked black pepper, to sprinkle

VANILLA OIL

seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod

2 tablespoons olive oil

TO SERVE:

125 g strawberries (ideally including some fraises des bois), hulled and larger ones halved

good-quality aged balsamic vinegar, to drizzle

handful of small basil leaves

First, make the sorbet. Put the strawberries and lemon juice into a food processor and whz to a smooth puree. Tip into a saucepan, bring to the boil and let bubble until reduced by half. Allow to cool slightly, then rub the puree through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. Leave the puree to cool completely.

Put the sugar and water in a heavy-based saucepan. Add the liquid glucose and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and boil the syrup for 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Cool completely, then mix with the strawberry puree. Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn until almost firm. Transfer to a suitable container and freeze until firm.

To make the tuiles, preheat the oven to 180C and line a flat baking sheet with a silicone liner (such as silpat or bake-o-glide). Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add the water and stir until well blended. Mix in the flour, then stir in the melted butter. Finally, stir in the sesame seeds.

Spread 1-2 tsp of the batter on the prepared baking sheet. Place a large piece of baking parchment on top and roll out the batter thinly using a rolling pin. Carefully peel off the parchment and sprinkle over the black pepper. Bake for 6-8 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool for 1 minute only.

While the tuile is still warm and pliable, cut it into long strips, about 1.5cm wide and 9cm long. If it becomes too brittle to cut, return to the oven for a minute to soften slightly. The tuiles will crisp up once cooled. Repeat, using the rest of the batter, to make more tuiles. Store in an airtight container, separating the layers with baking parchment, until ready to serve.

For the lemon meringue, preheat the oven to 200C. Line a nonmetal tray (suitable to go in a microwave) with baking parchment. Put the egg whites into a large clean bowl (or the bowl of an electric mixer). Beat slowly to begin with, then increase the speed to high and beat continuously until the egg whites form soft peaks. Gradually whisk in the sugar, a tablespoonful at a time, until fully incorporated and the meringue is smooth and glossy. Do not over-whisk; stop if the meringue begins to look grainy around the edges. Finally, carefully fold in the grated lemon zest.

Pipe the meringue in batches. Spoon into a disposable piping bag and cut off the tip to create an opening about 3.5cm in diameter. Pipe thick straight lines, about 9-10cm in length onto the lined tray. Gently pat down the peaked ends of each meringue with a wet finger. Microwave on the highest setting for 20 seconds. Remove and slide the baking parchment onto a baking sheet.

Dust the meringues heavily with icing sugar, then bake in the oven for about 3 minutes until lightly golden. The meringues should feel a little crisp on the outside where the sugar has caramelized, with a soft, slightly mallowy center.

For the vanilla oil, mix the vanilla seeds with the olive oil.

When ready to serve, trim the ends of the meringues diagonally, then use a palette knife to carefully lift them onto individual serving plates. Arrange the strawberries on both sides and drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar. Scatter the basil leaves around the berries and drizzle a little vanilla oil around each plate. Add a scoop of strawberry sorbet and a tulle to each plate and serve immediately, with the rest of the tuiles handed around separately.

Braised Shoulder of Lamb with Garlic Potato Mash

A braised hunk of meat is a sight to behold. Also, it is the easiest damn thing to cook, in my opinion, and one of the most rewarding. We put it here with some garlic mashed potatoes and away we went. Serve the roasted shallots and garlic alongside, if you like. Absoulutely delicious!

1 shoulder of lamb, on the bone
20 whole shallot, peeled
20 cloves garlic, peeled and whole
1 splash olive oil
1 bundle thyme and rosemary
½ bottle white wine
1 liter light chicken stock
sea salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 150C.

In an oven tray deep and wide enough to house your shoulder of lamb, brown the shallots and garlic in oil. Lay the bundle of joy in the pan and put the shoulder of lamb on top. Pour on the white wine and stock. Season the shoulder liberally.

Cook for 3-4 hours, flipping the lamb over every now and again to give all of the meat some time cooking in the liquid.

Reserve the shallots and garlic. Let the lamb rest for a good 30 minutes. Meanwhile, reduce the braising liquid to the desired sauce consistency.

Garlic Potato Mash

1 kg medium potatoes

5 cloves garlic

50 g butter

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

300 milliliters cream

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Scrub the potatoes and boil whole, with skin on, in salted water for 30 minutes. Drain. Peel and mash with potato masher.

Meanwhile, roast the whole garlic cloves for about 10-15 minutes, until soft. Cool slightly, then peel off the skin.

Combine the garlic, butter, salt and pepper in a saucepan. Mash together over low heat, stir in the cream. Gradually add the mashed potato, stirring constantly, until all blended. Add more salt and pepper to taste if required.

Honeyed Yogurt and Blueberry Tart with Ginger Crust

Vanessa had been feeling it for blueberries lately and this IS the season for berries. I also have had an itch to throw a dessert tart together so that pretty much decided dessert for us. This appeared in Food & Wine magazine. We don't have graham crackers here in the UK, so we used plain digestive biscuits. To be honest, it worked just fine without the spicing of the graham crackers. The crystallized ginger was a wonderful addition to the tart crust. We finished these in a matter of seconds.

10 whole graham crackers, broken into pieces, OR 1 2/3 cups digestive biscuits
¼ cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pinch salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg white
2 cups Greek-style nonfat yogurt, drained overnight
2 tablespoons honey
1 ½ cups blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray a 14-by-4 1/2-inch rectangular fluted tart pan with a removable bottom with cooking spray. In a food processor, pulse the graham crackers with the crystallized ginger, sugar and salt until finely ground. Add the butter and egg white and pulse until the crumbs are evenly coated. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned. Let the crust cool completely.

In a medium bowl, mix the drained yogurt with the honey. Spread the yogurt in the crust and arrange the blueberries over the surface of the yogurt. Cut the tart in slices and serve.

Coriander Chicken Tikka and Turmeric Rice

This dish, while the picture did not make it look like much, was actually fantastic and LOADED with yummy Indian spicy flavors. We paired this with an Oloroso sherry, as the recipe came from a cookbook called "The Perfect Marriage: The Art of Matching Food & Sherry Wines from Jerez". A lot of big league chefs got together and threw in a few recipes each. This one is from Vicky Bhogal. The nuttiness of the sherry brought out some interesting notes from the chicken, for certain. We put it over Turmeric Rice, which has never let us down.

CHICKEN

4 green chiles
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 large handfuls cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons garam masala
6 cloves garlic
1 small onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon ginger, grated
1 tablespoon natural set yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
450 g chicken breast fillets, boneless

Place all the ingredients, except the chicken, in a blender or grinder and whiz to a thick paste. Massage the chicken with the paste, cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 150C/375F. Shake off any excess marinade and place the chicken on a baking tray. Roast for 30 minutes, turning over halfway through. Serve immediately or eat cold.

RICE

2 cups basmati rice
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cloves
1 bay leaf
4 cardamom pods
1 stick cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt, plus enough to season to taste at the end

Put the rice in a bowl and wash well in several changes of water. Drain and leave in a strainer set over a bowl.

Put the oil in a heavy saucepan and set over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the cloves, bay leaf, cardamom pods and cinnamon. Stir once or twice and put in the garlic. As soon as the garlic turns medium brown, put in the rice, turmeric and salt. Stir gently for a minute. Now put in 2 1/4 cups water and bring to a boil. Cover tightly, turn the heat down very, very low, and cook for 25 minutes. Season to taste before serving.

A Tribute to Gaudi: Pan-Roasted Monkfish, Confit Peppers and Fiery Patatas Bravas with Chorizo-Albarino Emulsion

This recipe comes from Eric Ripert, who runs Le Bernardin in New York City. It has held three Michelin stars for a long time and it is widely regarded as the best seafood restaurant in the United States. It is currently the #15 restaurant in the world, according to the Restaurant Magazine's Top 50 Restaurants of 2009.

This is the first thing I have tried to make of his, and you can see what all the fuss is about when you eat it. It is simply magic. Total harmony of ingredients. Tastes of Spain. Light. Complex. I could go on. The point is, the man has skills. He was inspired by a visit to Barcelona when he made this dish. If you have ever been there, this dish will take you back there. Unless you were eating at McDonald's while in Spain. Then you will probably miss the point of this. And maybe should just stay home next time instead of traveling hundreds of miles to Spain. But I digress...

I was not able to find monkfish, but I used coley, which is a nice, meaty white fish. This didn't take that long to throw together, either. This would be a killer 'show-off' entertaining dish! I would eat the red sauce for breakfast.

RED SAUCE
1 cup red bell pepper, 1/4" dice
½ teaspoon Scotch bonnet pepper, seeded and minced
1 ½ teaspoons spicy paprika
fine sea salt
1 ½ teaspoons esplette pepper powder

WHITE SAUCE
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons creme fraiche
1 teaspoon lemon juice
fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper

PATATAS BRAVAS
2-3 Yukon Gold potato
canola oil, for deep frying
fine sea salt

CONFIT PEPPERS
1 small zucchini
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic
4 sprigs thyme
½ cup red bell pepper, julienne
½ cup yellow bell pepper, julienne
½ cup red onion, julienne
fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper

CHORIZO-ALBARINO EMULSION
bones from 1 monkfish, chopped in 2" pieces
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 ½ ounces Spanish chorizo, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons shallot, sliced
1 tablespoon garlic, sliced
2 ½ cups Albarino or other dry white wine
½ cup chicken jus or full-flavored stock
fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper

MONKFISH
2 tablespoons canola oil
4x7 ounce monkfish loins
fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
Wondra flour

GARNISH
sprig micro parsley

RED SAUCE
For the red sauce, combine the peppers, paprika, salt and Esplette pepper in a saucepan and add just enough water to barely cover the peppers. Bring the water to a boil, then recude to a simmer and cook until the peppers are very soft and the liquid is thick. Remove from the heat to cool slightly. Puree the sauce in a blender until very smooth. Set aside.

WHITE SAUCE
For the white sauce, mix the mayonnaise, creme fraiche and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Season with salt and white pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

POTATOES
For the potatoes, cut each potato into 8 long wedges, about 3/4" wide, without peeling them. Lay each wedge on it's side and cut out the center portion with a 3" round cutter; discard the trimmings. Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until they are tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and cool them on a towel-lined baking sheet, then cover with another towel and set aside.

CONFIT PEPPERS
While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the confit peppers. Slice off the skin of the zucchini and julienne the green parts. To cook the vegetables, combine 1/4 cup of the extra-virgin olive oil and 3/4 cup of the regular olive oil in each of four small pans. (you can use one larger pan for both kinds of peppers, if you wish, combing 1/2 cup of each oil.) Add 1 garlic clove and 1 thyme sprig to each pan and heat over very low heat. Add one type of vegetable to each pan and cook until tender (for zucchini, this should be 3-4 minutes; for the peppers, 10-12 minutes, for the onion, 12-15 minutes). Drain the vegetables and combine them in a small pot. Season to taste with salt and white pepper.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

EMULSION
For the chorizo-Albarino emulsion, put the monkfish bones in a small roasting pan and roast for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add the chorizo and cook over low heat until it has rendered it's fat, about 10 minutes. Add the shallots, garlic and fish bones to the chorizo and cook until the shallots and garlic are soft. Add the white wine, bring to a boil, and reduce by a little more than half. Add the chicken jus and simmer until lightly thickened, about 10 minutes.

Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and season with salt and white pepper. Emulsify the sauce with a handheld immersion blender.

FINISH POATOES
Heat the canola oil for the potatoes in a deep pot until it registers 400F. Fry the potatoes for 5-7 minutes, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and season with salt.

MONKFISH
Meanwhile, to cook the monkfish, divide the canola oil between two large ovenproof saute pans and heat until the oil is very hot but not smoking. Season the monkfish on both sides with salt and pepper and lightly dust with Wondra flour. Add the monkfish to the pans and cook until the fish is golden brown. Transfer the pans to the oven and cook the fish 3-4 minutes, or until a metal skewer can be easily inserted into the fish and, if left in for 5 seconds, feels just warm when touched to your lip. Turn the monkfish onto the unseared side briefly before removing from the pans. Allow the fish to rest for a minute before slicing.

While the monkfish is cooking, briefly warm the pepper confit; keep warm.

FINISH AND SERVE
To serve, arrange 4 potato wedges in a fan on one side of each serving plate. Drizzle them with the red sauce and then the white sauce. Slice each monkfish into 5-7 pieces (depending on the size) and arrange the slices on the opposite side of each plate. Spoon some warm pepper confit on top of the monkfish and garnish with the micro parsley. Spoon or pour the emulsion over and around the fish, and serve immediately.

Strozzapreti Cheese

OK. It's macaroni and cheese with different pasta in it. We pretty much had the stuff laying around for this, and it turned into a very quick lunch to throw together. It was delicious, but how could it not be? It's pasta and cheese. You can't lose really, unless you use some funky processed cheese in a bag or something.

500g pasta (strozzapreti, as shown here)
200 ml milk
300 ml single cream
1 handful grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 handful grated Gruyere
1 handful grated mature Cheddar
3 slices Parma ham, baked until crisp, chopped
salt and pepper
grated nutmeg, to taste
parsley, chopped, to garnish

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, put the milk and cream in a large saute pan and bring to a simmer. When simmering, add the cheese and stir until it melts. Let the mixture simmer and thicken some.

When the pasta is done, drain it and add it to the cheese mixture. Add the bacon, salt and pepper and nutmeg and stir to combine. Taste and reseason as necessary. Serve hot.

Spring Vegetable Stew

This was a really simple, fresh-tasting stew that was quite pleasing. We had some dried shiitake mushrooms laying around and some of my homemade chicken stock, as well as broad beans and peas. you could subtitute just about anything in here, really.

¼ cup dried porcini mushrooms
1 cup warm water
1 large lemon
6 large artichokes
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 medium leeks, white part only, cleaned and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 cup baby carrots
12 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
½ cup dry white wine
2 ½ cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup baby lima beans, fresh or frozen
1 cup shelled fresh peas (about 1 1/2 pounds unshelled) or frozen peas
4 teaspoons butter
Freshly ground pepper to taste
¼ cup chopped fresh chives
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

Cover mushrooms with warm water in a small bowl. Let stand for 30 minutes. Strain, reserving liquid. Rinse the mushrooms well under cold water; drain and chop. Strain the reserved liquid through a coffee filter or paper towel to remove any dirt.

Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with water; juice the lemon and, reserving half the juice, add the rest along with the lemon halves to the water. Pull off outer leaves from an artichoke. Using a small, sharp knife, remove the leaves down to the heart. Trim the bottom of the stem, then peel the stem. Scrape out the choke with a melon baller or spoon. Cut the heart into quarters and place in the lemon water to prevent browning. Repeat with the remaining artichokes.

Heat oil in a large deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leeks, carrots, garlic, thyme, mushrooms and the artichoke hearts; cook, stirring often, until the vegetables start to brown, about 5 minutes. Add wine and cook until slightly reduced, 2 to 3 minutes. Add broth, salt and the reserved mushroom liquid. Cover and cook over low heat until the artichoke hearts and carrots are almost tender, 30 to 40 minutes.

Stir in lima beans and peas. Increase heat to medium, cover and cook for 10 minutes more. Stir in butter and the reserved lemon juice. Season with pepper. Serve the stew in shallow bowls, garnished with chives and parsley.

Chicken in Cilantro Sauce (Pollo al Cilantro)

This is another one of those super-simple dishes that is a real testament to how good simplicity can be. I mean... this was NOTHING to put together. And, MAN, was it good. I took this from a book of recipes put out by a really good restaurant in San Antonio, so right there you know it's authentic.

I made a few minor tweaks to the recipe here, namely, whizzing up the cilantro stalks with everything else (as they have loads of flavor) and I improvised on the rice as to compliment (but not overpower or compete) with the chicken and sauce.

Our internal judging panel bestowed upon it our coveted 5-star rating. Yum.

CHICKEN
6 skinless boneless chicken breasts

SAUCE
1 bunch cilantro
2-3 serrano chiles (to taste)
1 can evaporated milk
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ onion, sliced

RICE
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 cup white rice
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 chicken stock cube
salt and pepper

CHICKEN
Place the chicken breasts in a large pot, add water to cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook for 30 minutes (or until internal temperature reaches 65C (150F). Drain thoroughly, and rest in some foil until the internal temperature reads at least 70C (160F). Transfer to a serving platter and cover to keep warm.

SAUCE
Meanwhile, combine the cilantro, chiles, milk, and salt and pepper in a blender and blend thoroughly, 2 to 3 minutes.

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute the onion until translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the cilantro mixture and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

RICE
Heat the oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add the cumin seed and coat in the oil. When the cumin becomes fragrant (after 30-45 seconds or so, in warm oil), dump in the onion and stir to combine. Cook for 3 minutes or so, until starting to go translucent. Dump in the rice and stir to coat in the oil. Add the water and stock cube, then bring to the boil. When it reaches the boil, turn the heat down to low, cover, and simmer for 25-30 minutes, or until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked. (If it runs out of water and rice needs to cook more, just add a bit more water, recover and cook until absorbed and the rice is done). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

FINISH
Plate the chicken and rice. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve.

Butter Bean, Chorizo and Red Onion Soup

We made this not too long ago while in Australia, but I think this version came out a little better. The chorizo here had a higher paprika content, which made the broth flavorful and tinged it with a rich, dark red. I also added in a teaspoon of the smoked pimenton (paprika) to add a bit of a smoky element to it. This is one of our favorite all-time soups and super easy to whip up.

225 g chorizo picante, skin removed
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra
2 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and very finely sliced
3 sprigs thyme
2 cans butter beans, drained and rinsed
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 squeeze lemon juice
1 large handful parsley, roughly chopped

Chop the chorizo into small bite-sized pieces. Put the kettle (or a pot of water) on the boil.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan and add the onions, garlic and thyme. Cook, stirring for 2 minutes then add the chorizo. Stir over a high heat for a few minutes until the oil has taken on a reddish-golden brown hue from the chorizo.

Tip in the butter beans and pour just enough boiling water to cover them. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for about 10 minutes.

Season generously with salt and pepper and add a squeeze of lemon juice. Scatter over chopped parsley and ladle the soup into warm bowls to serve.

Scallop and Crab Cakes

Remember the Tian of Brixton Scallop and Crab Mousse from last night? Well, no real stroke of genius here other than to put about 1 cup of panko breadcrumbs in the mix, with some chopped up scallions and cilantro (coriander). I gave them a final dip in more panko breadcrumbs before pan-frying them in a little vegetable oil for 4-5 minutes on each side. Good way to use up leftovers in a different way. This would work with any seafood mousse, really. The Lemongrass and Ginger Sauce was a nice compliment, as before.