Jason Atherton was making a similar thing on Saturday Kitchen recently, that brought back memories of a Nobu signature dish.  People pay £22 for a portion of  Black Cod with Miso, which is quite something, stunning on the plate, silky smooth and unusually sweet. I found a recipe online that was supposed to be a simplified version of that Nobu recipe, I bought a bottle of sake, as the recipe called for it and made a marinade on Friday, as soon as Ocado delivered the fish.

I used 1/4 cup of sake and same of mirin, 4 tbsps of white miso paste and 3 tbsps of sugar and cooked the whole thing off quite quickly, then cooled and drowned my cod in it. It enjoyed it for 2 days and this evening it went to the oven, 200 degrees for about 13 minutes, then a quick treatment of a blow torch to add the colour. The most exciting was the smell of sake coming out of the oven, it brought Ubon back to mind. The taste, I must say did not. Ok, it was a nice plate of food, but it lacked a wow factor. It lacked the sauce to carry it, something vivid, maybe a salad with sharp dressing. I felt like I was eating a healthy, light, good for you thing, that is all ok, but I know I’ll be hungry in 2 hours. There’s got to be a way to improve it.

I’ve been thinking of making the duck this way since having it in Wine and Sausage, local pub in W’combe a few weeks ago. It was surprisingly good for pub food. The reason it took me so long is that I’m the only fan of duck in our house, Iz is too small to appreciate it and Florian just doesn’t like it- frustrating. Ocado sells 2 duck legs per packet, decently priced unlike the breasts, so I bought some and made it today, for myself, Florian’s had a chicken kiev.

Lots of recipes are available for a confit beginner, I went with Raymond Blanc, who would know if not a Frenchman. So last night the legs got a nice rubbing of salt, pepper, garlic, fresh thyme and bay leaves and spent the night in the fridge, covered, marinating away. Now, the recipe says the marinade should be washed off and the legs patted dry. I didn’t stick them until the running water, I thought the amount of salt I used is not that great. So I brushed it all off and placed in the casserole dish, then covered with melted duck fat, at the temperature of 85 degrees, as Raymond recommends. It would have worked better if I had more of that fat, as they should have been submerged in it, but they weren’t, so I kept on turning them every now and then, within nearly 3 hours they were in the oven, uncovered in 150 degrees.

With the duck I fancied some braised cabbage. Delia’s recipe appealed to me most and what’s really awesome, my own Florian, much against cabbage in general, has had his kiev, dauphinoise and cabbage and he loved it. Creamy, he said, flavoursome, great combination. Delia’s cabbage is a keeper, maybe a bit weird to smell in the kitchen in summer, but I’ll happily make it around Christmas. Finely shredded, alongside an apple a shallot and a  garlic clove. Nicely spiced up with cinnamon, nutmeg, lots of brown sugar, salt and pepper.  A good splash of white wine vinegar, all this tossed together well , a know of butter on the top and into the oven, covered,150 degrees, for 2 hours.  It’s superb. 🙂

Obviously, with dauphinoise on the side, it is not the lightest and healthiest meal ever, mint tea to follow, but every now and then it is flavour above the calories. Amen.

One more from Waitrose magazine.  British asparagus still available, still crisp and delicious.  New thing is thyme and lemon butter, that the monkfish was baptised in- fresh thyme leaves from the garden, a clove of garlic, some lemon zest all mashed into a know of butter.  Risotto done usual way, but with no wine this time, just good chicken stock, asparagus in pieces thrown towards the end of adding the stock. Lots and lots of freshly grated parmigiano.

Monkfish panfried separately with that lovely butter  crowned the risotto beautifully. Not a grain of rice left on our plates. 🙂

From Waitrose magazine. I like croquetas a lot, so this combination of ingredients appealed to me immediately. And I had everything in the fridge, so it was an easy choice for supper tonight.

First, 250 ml of milk got warmed up and infused with peppercorns, nutmeg and – bay leaf- which I didn’t use, due to torrential rain and unwillingness to get wet. A shallot and a garlic clove chopped and fried on butter, a splash of milk added and all cooked down for a few minutes. In another pan finely chopped pancetta was happily sizzling away, about 50 g of it. Then a bit of butter in, to make it all lighter and healthier, 40 g of plain flour and a lovely golden roux happened. In goes the infused milk bit by bit and at the end the peas mixture, roughly blitzed, but  not too finely, it’s nice to taste the whole pea too. Seasoned, a handful of  chopped coriander added( parsley in the recipe, but I hardly ever buy parsley), then chilled for 2 hours.  Afterwards it’s as always- flour, egg, panko and into the oil.

Dipping sauce this evening was truffle mayo, which might be sensational when made from scratch, also with the use of white truffle paste. I used jarred mayo, soaked porcini mushrooms and a splash of truffle oil, plus salt and pepper, and blitzed into smoothness.

Loved it. It made 8 croquetas and we ate them all. To be made again. 🙂

From “The Art of Pastry” book, that I pick up every now and then and discover things I feel like doing immediately. Especially nice pastry, I have to say, great idea to add ground walnuts.

For a small tart for 2 I used 90 g of plain flour, 1 tsp of brown sugar, 25 g of cold butter, 40 g of ground walnuts, a splash of lemon juice and some cold water to bind it together, Kitchen Aid turned it into dark, unattractive looking dough, that chilled in the fridge for about an hour.

I then blind baked it in 190 degrees for about 20 minutes, which  turned out to be too long, the pastry was a bit too dry when sliced.

The whole leek, chopped and fried up on a bit of smoky bacon( bacon was idea, I just love leek and bacon combo), added to the pastry case, generous amount of lovely roquefort crumbled onto it. Then a mixture of about 130 ml of double cream and one beaten egg, all seasoned.  After about 25 minutes in the oven I pulled out a very posh quiche.  Served with a simple tomato salad.

Saitake sell excellent, toasted sesame seeds. Last Sunday when I made sushi I promised myself  I’d give them 5 star review in Ocado, where I get it from. I didn’t, in the end, but used them this evening when making a light supper of tuna tartar. We had a roast for lunch, so not much was needed. Tuna tartar made the same way as always, Michel’s way- chopped and mixed with chopped ginger, spring onion, chilli and coriander, dressed with soy, sesame oil, lime juice and honey. Sesame seeds added, generously. Toasted ciabatta from the griddle pan tastes so good tonight, that tuna long gone, we’re still toasting more bread. I would be very happy to eat this kind of food every day. I would. 🙂

Proper.  🙂

I followed Jose Pizarro’s recipe from recent GF, hoping for a dish similar to those we used to enjoy in La Tasca, Spanish restaurant in Canary Wharf,  back in Ubon times.  I do make nice roast chicken croquetas, Michel Roux’s recipe, but these are proper, with very thick bechamel type of sauce and serrano ham.  We both loved them and when I asked Florek this morning, ahead of ordering Ocado delivery for next week, if there’s anything he fancies, he asked for croquetas again, exactly the same.

So to start with I fried finely chopped leek on some olive oil, then added about 100 g of serrano ham, finely chopped too, a bit of salted butter. Then 60 g of plain flour mixed in and cooked for a couple of minutes. 300 ml of milk plus 100 ml of chicken stock, all seasoned generously with nutmeg, heated up, I added bit by bit to the ham and leek mixture. Once all the liquid was used, I cooked the whole thing on a small heat for about 10 minutes, till nice and thick. Seasoned with pepper a bit, no salt was needed. Then transferred the mixture to the baking dish, cooled, covered with cling film and chilled in the fridge for over an hour. It thickened nicely, so I was able to shape small croquetas with a spoon. Afterwards it’s the usual trick- flour, egg and panko breadcrumbs. Prepared this way, croquetas chilled in the fridge again for about 30 minutes. Deep fried, served with asparagus from Over Farm near Gloucester. Yum.

One watches Masterchef, one gets ideas. One happens to have an excellent butcher down the road, so having seen beef cheeks cooked again, one went in and asked the butcher for the beef cheeks.  Nice, encouraging price of £3.70 per cheek,  I got excited and went home to cook. I googled a few recipes, one called for Madeira, I had none, so I went with my instinct and just braised them like I would good lamb.  Browned them first, did not trim anything off, as Toby said it would all render off nicely while cooking. When browned all over I threw in 2 chopped shallots, a carrot, some celery, some crushed garlic, bay leaves, thyme. A slosh of white wine- I had none red opened, but I’ll make sure I will have it on Sunday, when I cook them again for Izzie’s birthday.  Also, used chicken stock, on Sunday it will be beef. A few porcini mushrooms, a few whole peppercorns. And slowly on the stove for 3 hours they braised.  I finished the sauce with a bit of flour and water, it needed no extra seasoning. Served with green beans, carrots and a leeky mash.

I have to say, I loved the meat. But the opinions were different on this occasion, Florian wasn’t sold on texture ( that was the best thing about it!), but thought the sauce was great.  I found my sauce the weakest part of the plate, but hey, things will be perfected on Sunday.

Pleased. 🙂

Not exactly a height of sophistication, I know, but tasty and enjoyable. The reason it’s here again is the sauce I’ve made this evening, following the recipe from my GF folder.  I normally infuse my milk with garlic, peppercorns and bay leaf, but today I threw half a chopped leek too and I was astounded at how aromatic and tasty it made the sauce. Also, when making the roux, added a tsp of mustard powder. The sauce itself tasted great, with generous addition of grated cheddar, nutmeg and more pepper, as well as some chopped spring onions,but will add more mustard next time, as the cooked pasta washed it down a bit. Also new- crunchy topping made of a handful of panko and parmesan.

Lovely supper with green beans.

Yup, I did it again. Better.  I baked my spuds slowly, while we went for a lovely, sunny walk to Stanton and Toddington.  Once cooled enough to handle, I pushed them through the ricer, it does make the difference to the consistency.  I ended up with about 470 g of potatoes, I added 120 g of 00 flour and 1 egg. The amount of dumplings was perfect for the 2 of us, not a piggy amount, but we’re not craving a dessert either.

They cooked a lot faster than the shop bought ones, as soon as they floated to the surface I removed them, drained them and placed in the lovely, tomato-chili sauce waiting on the hob. A sprinkle of parmesan and to the gob. 🙂