My First Cookbook

I just received an advance copy of the American cookbook I recently authored for Parragon Publishing. I was just too excited to wait for better light, so I shot this with my iPhone tonight for a little tease on YouTube. While this is not the official Food Wishes cookbook, I'm very, very proud of it. Stay tuned for specific details regarding pricing and availability. Thanks!

Speedy Stir Fry Series - Green Been and Beef Stir Fry

This week marks the first of a Speedy Stir Frys Series from my second half in the kitchen. Long before I attended culinary school and decided to make a career around the realm of food, we were just two college students that really enjoyed good food. I started this blog and the rest is history. This small section is a welcomed addition to Chocolate Shavings and I hope you enjoy it.

Always an avid taster of the recipes I develop, O. has witnessed the making of this blog since day one. We share a passion for photography and eating and spend a great deal of time in the kitchen. He will be writing a weekly section on his favourite stir fry recipes.. many of which we enjoy on busy weeknights.... so welcome!

Dear Chocolate Shavings readers,

It's long been my belief that the advent of asian fast food joints have given stir frying a bad name. It's become synonomous with chunks of cheap meat, covered in a sickly sweet sauce sitting in a pool of oil.
A couple years ago, Jenn bought me a Breath of a Wok, by Grace Young, and it has truly transformed the way I cook. I've discovered how stir frying correctly can be a versatile, powerful style of cooking. For the many many recipes Jenn has expertly served me over the years, I thought I'd contribute a tiny amount to the culinary wisdom that she shares.

Green Bean and Beef Stir Fry
Serves 2-3 people

This is a classic stir fry of mine. It has all the essential parts: simple ingredients prepared quickly and methodically to bring out deep, clean flavors. The most important part of the dish is the sear: leaving the beans and then the beef to sit, undisturbed, on high heat.

2 tablespoons of Shao Hsing rice wine (a chinese rice wine easily available in most asian grocers)
1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons of cornstarch
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, diced
300 of flank steak
3 handfuls of green beans, ends trimmed
2 teaspoons of black sesame seeds

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Mix together the soy sauce, rice wine, and cornstarch. Take the flank steak and cut across the grain into 2-3 inch portions. For each portion, cut with the grain into 3-4 sheets. Stack the sheets and slice finely against the grain into strips. Mix the meat into marinade.

Preheat the wok or skillet to medium-hot.

Prepare the green beans, trimming the ends and washing thoroughly. Blanch in the salted water for 2-3 minutes and drain.

Now you're ready to stir fry: Add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to the hot pan. Add in your meat mixture. Let it sear for 30-40 seconds. Spinkle on the garlic and ginger. Stir fry briefly then push meat to the side of the pan. Add the drained green beats and, similarly, allow to sear at the bottom of the pan for 30-45 seconds. Stir fry entire mixture for 1-2 minutes until meat and beans are cooked through. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve with noodles or rice.

Thailand, New Cross

I've walked past it many times, but a couple of Fridays ago I finally made it to Thailand, a restaurant on an ugly strip in New Cross. Decent Thai food is hard to come by in London; I've had thick, sickly sweet 'green curry' at such places like the chain, Thai Square. At other places, the dishes felt dumbed down for the Western palate with none of that hot, sour and sweet balance, and bereft of the chilli zip I would like. Patara came close, but it's fancy and has prices to match.

When we arrived at Thailand, we were the only diners at 7pm on a Friday night, and it was to remain that way. An extensive menu featured a page of Laotian specials as well as a £10 set menu to include a starter, main and a glass of wine. To supplement our set menus, we ordered a dish of Thai sausages (above). Sweet, intensely porky and eaten with a little coriander and red onion, the skins burst juicily with a prod of the fork.

Chicken tom yum soup was deliciously deceptive. Slowly but surely, a nose-running, eye-streaming heat built up as I carried on slurping at it. Just the right balance of sour and spicy, tender pieces of chicken bobbed in the broth.

The laab style main I ordered came with raw cabbage which I thought rather odd; I'd have rather lettuce leaves to scoop the minced pork up with. Studded throughout with Thai basil, the crunch of the ground toasted rice was pleasing.

'Angry Lamb' looked suitably menacing and the tender, slightly pink chunks of lamb languished in a fire-packed sauce. Red peppers and onions bulked it out, and I was grateful of the steamed rice to cool the flames.

Thailand has its faults but I felt the food there to be a cut above the London chains and perfect when you're in need of a spice hit. I'm looking forward to going back for the curries; absurdly, they operate a 'happy hour' during which they offer a starter and main with rice to eat in for £3.95. It would cost me more than that if I attempted to make it at home.

Thailand

15 Lewisham Way
London SE14 6PP

Tel: 020 8691 4040

What to do with Leftover Puff Pastry: Chocolate and Almond Pear Tarts

This is the follow-up to my last post featuring my Goat Cheese and Tomato Tart. As I was mentioning, I've found myself countless times with leftover scraps of puff pastry which sadly never really turn into anything. This recipe is my easy way to do something productive with these leftovers, and to waste less!

I designed this recipe for 4 individual tartlets, but it's such a simple recipe that you can easily modify the quantities to fit any number of tarts. These tarts take minutes to make and are the perfect way to end any meal - or to enjoy as an afternoon treat. There is no added sugar, just some velvety bittersweet chocolate, some powdered almonds and some pear. Pear, chocolate and almond is always a winning combination in my book and I never tire of coming up with different combinations to use them together.

I've often been asked what items I always have in my pantry - and bittersweet chocolate chip and powdered almonds are always great staples to have on hand. Powdered almonds are used in a variety of desserts and add that perfect touch of nuttiness to any sweet treat. Adding powdered almonds to certain tart doughs is absolutely delicious, as is adding it to tart fillings. Canned pears, on the other hand, are not an item I usually have on hand but for quick desserts like this one, it really helps to ensure that your dessert will be perfectly cooked in very little time as the pears are juicy and soft. So here goes..!

Chocolate and Almond Pear Tarts
Makes 4 tartlets

1/4 cup of bittersweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons of heavy cream
3 tablespoons of powdered almonds
2 halves of canned pears, cut into 4 pieces
Leftover puff pastry
Muffin pan

Preheat your oven to 350F. Roll out your leftover puff pastry until it's about 1/8 inch thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut out 4 circles of dough, slightly bigger in size than the diameter of each muffin mold.

Lightly grease 4 of your muffin molds and add one puff pastry circle into each mold, Using your fingers, gently press down on the center of each circle so that they take the shape of the mold.

Melt the chocolate chips in a small double boiler. Add the cream and stir until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered almonds and stir. Divide the chocolate mold between the 4 tartlets. Add a piece of pear at the center of each, and, using your fingers, gently crinkle the dough on the sides of the muffin mold so it folds back onto the chocolate batter.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the puff pastry is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Peach and Escarole Salad – 'Cause I'm Tired of Greens You Can Gum!

This magnificent peach and escarole salad was inspired by one Michele and I had on our recent trip to New York City. We were taken out to dinner by my publisher (which has nothing to do with the story, but I really enjoyed typing that) to a place called Hearth, in the East Village.

The salad course was a plate of roughly torn escarole, dressed with a slightly sweet sherry vinaigrette. As I ate, I kept thinking to myself, damn, this is one delicious salad. The odd thing was, it took me a good while to actually put my finger on what exactly made it so wonderful.

Then it hit me. It was made with real, full-grown, somewhat tough, slightly bitter greens. 95% of the salads I eat in restaurants these days are made with the ubiquitous "baby greens" – that bland, one-dimensional, melt-in-your-mouth mixture of lettuce, so soft and delicate you don't even need a set of teeth to eat them.

This was the polar opposite of that. I had almost forgotten how interesting a salad could be! So, when Michele brought home a couple small heads of escarole one afternoon, I decided to film a salad recipe video, combining the mas macho greens with sweet peaches, goat cheese, and walnuts.

One trick with escarole is to make sure you are using a sweet enough dressing to offset the bitterness. I accomplished that with a dressing of sherry and rice vinegar, and then, just to hedge my bets, I added some perfectly ripe peaches to the mix. The result was one of the best salads I've had in years. Enjoy!




Peach and Escarole Salad Ingredients:
1 small head escarole (smaller is better, as it gets too bitter when large)
1 ripe peach
4 oz goat cheese
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
2 tablespoon olive oil
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Hotel Room Cooking Adventures: Cup o' King Salmon

Hello from Seattle! Running off to get ready for the opening reception of the 2010 International Food Bloggers Conference, but I thought some of you may enjoy this quick and dirty (but very tasty) video recipe I did for cooking salmon with a hotel room coffee kit.

Please, do not try this at home!! Enjoy!

Goat Cheese and Tomato Tart

I re-created this tart after enjoying it with my family in the Basque country in the South of France this summer. Served with a simple leafy green salad, it's the perfect meal. This also is part 1 of my puff pastry series for the summer.

First, a few words about puff pastry. Puff pastry is deliciously buttery, made of layers of butter and flour that rise and separate in the oven to create the perfect texture of velvety flaky pastry. If you're ever in search of a Sunday afternoon activity, you can definitely try making this at home - but be prepared to spend your afternoon working on it. For everyday cooking, buying puff pastry is really the best and easiest option. Homemade doughs are usually the way to go but puff pastry really is too much of an under-taking for everyday cooking and a good-quality store-bought puff pastry really does the trick.

I designed this recipe to make a full-size tart for 6 people as well as an easy dessert recipe for the leftover scraps of puff pastry. As you will see in part 2 of this post, you can make an easy sweet treat using the scraps. If you're like me, you often want to use leftover pieces dough but for some reason never end up making something very productive with it. This recipe makes it easy to use up leftovers and make real second dish out of them! So stay tuned for my chocolate, almond and pear tart dessert.

For now, let's stick to the goat cheese tomato tart!



Goat Cheese and Tomato Tart
Serves 6

400 g of frozen puff pastry, thawed according to package instructions
1/2 cup of soft goat cheese
1/2 cup of light ricotta
1/4 cup of whipping cream
3 eggs, beaten saving 2 teaspoons in a separate bowl
1/4 teaspoon of cracked black pepper
A handful of cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon of chopped coriander or basil
11 Inch x 7 Inch quiche pan

Preheat your oven to 325F. Lightly flour a working surface and place the block of thawed puff pastry dough in the center. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough until it's about 1/8 inch thick and large enough to fit your 11 x 7 inch pan. Lightly butter the quiche pan and gently transfer the dough to the pan, trimming the dough as necessary.

In a large bowl, add the goat cheese, ricotta and cream. Whisk the mixture until smooth and creamy. Add the beaten eggs (except for the reserved 2 teaspoons) and whisk again. Add the pepper and mix. Pour the mixture on top of the dough. Top with the cherry tomatoes. Using a pastry brush and the reserved 2 teaspoons of egg, brush the sides of the pastry. Bake for 30 minutes or until the dough is just golden brown and the filling is cooked. Sprinkle with the chopped herbs and serve alongside your favourite leafy greens. Enjoy!

Seattle, Here I Come!

I'm heading up to the Pacific Northwest today to attend the 2010 International Food Blogger Conference. The event brings together leading food bloggers for a conference focusing on the fusion of food, writing, and technology (and possibly drinking). This will be my first trip to Seattle, but I love strong coffee, rainy weather, and grungy rock, so this should be a great weekend! Let's see, did I hit all the Seattle stereotypes?

Of all America's regional cuisines, the Pacific Northwest is probably the area I know the least about. So, in addition to taking in all the seminars and presentations, I will be doing my best to taste and experience as many of the local specialties as possible. If you want to follow along, I'll be providing bite-by-bite coverage on Twitter. Otherwise, check back here for updates from the event, as well as recipes and photos I collect along the way. Stay tuned!

Homemade Chicken Stock – Buy Low, Sell High

With over 400 video recipes produced thus far, it probably seems odd that I'd never done a proper chicken stock recipe. In the early days of the blog, I decided that I wouldn’t do video recipes that would eventually appear in the online culinary academy curriculum.

I had planned on having a selection of videos featuring key techniques that people would pay to watch, but with all the various projects going on, I've never quite been able to get that together. Anyway, this chicken stock video recipe would have been included in that collection.

While I can often be seen using my carton of all-natural chicken broth, there's nothing like homemade. It does take a long time to simmer, but the actual work is minimal, and the procedure quite simple. It's also a very frugal undertaking, with the bones I used costing 80-cents a pound. That's three quarts of chicken stock for about $3 in costs!

Please note that you can use this exact same recipe/procedure with roasted chicken bones. In fact, most of the homemade chicken stocks I make are the result of a roast chicken dinner, but for this video I decided to go classical. Unlike beef and veal, chicken stock is not traditionally made from roasted bones.

You should try both ways, and see which you like, and for what dishes. By the way, even though I didn't roast the chicken bones, I still got quite a nice, richly colored stock, which comes in large part to leaving the skins on the onions. I don't remember exactly why that is, which is fine since I really I don't care that much. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
3 pounds chicken bones, backs and necks
1 large onion, skin on
2 carrots, peeled, cut in large chunks
1 large or 2 small ribs celery cut in large chunks
1 bay leaf
9 black peppercorns
4 springs thyme
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3 quarts cold water

Hog Roast at The Red Lion & Sun

I first met Heath Ball, owner of The Red Lion & Sun, at The Ship in Wandsworth. He told me about his pub which is located in Highgate - so far north of the river it's nosebleed-inducing. I knew it was unlikely that I would visit his pub any time in the near future.

However, dangle a carrot in front of a pony and the pony will eventually knock you clean out of the way, wrenching that sweet carrot from your grasp. That is what Heath did to me; the offer of a hog roast. A whole pig on a spit. I gathered 30 of my friends and we made the mission. Immunisations all up to date, we headed to leafy Highgate.

We walked into the garden to be greeted by cute jam jars of Four Roses bourbon, kindly donated by them. I'm not usually a fan of whiskey, but this concoction, full of sweetness and lime, was addictive and thirst quenching. A tray of puffy, crispy crackling dipped in apple sauce kept the hunger pangs at bay while the wafts of pork on the spit wafted over tantalisingly.

The poor piggy had his head chopped off to fit in the spit. A whopping 75kg Gloucester Old Spot, it was basted regularly with bourbon.

Salads were laid out and they were not your usual buffet affair. A multi-coloured tomato salad with plenty of basil featured actually ripe tomatoes that tasted of something. Potato salad had bite and no clag, while the leaves had ribbons of carrots and half moon slivers of red onion. We were never going to make even a dent in the most enormous bowl of white bean salad.

"The foccacia smells like real foccacia!" squealed one Italian lady. I didn't get a bite of it (why eat bread when it could be room for meat?) but everyone that did raved about it.

Photo above by Emma Dickinson

The pork was served to the masses. It was absolutely delicious. I haven't been to a hog roast where I didn't encounter a dry piece of meat, usually from the loin as it's lean and it dries out the quickest. Not here; all of it was juicy and tender. I had 2 platefuls before I had to take a break.

I casually walked past the spit again, and Heath got my attention. "Here, have some belly" - he ripped it straight off the pig with his hands. Oh. My. Silky, fatty, porky, all those adjectives. I shared a bit with a friend and the only noises we could make were "ahhhuhhmmuuuuhhhhhh". It was slightly obscene. Later on, I was accosted with some tenderloin; still pink, it felt like biting into butter.

Claire from D'Arenberg Wines, an Australian winemaker from Adelaide, kindly supplied us with copious amounts of booze. I liked how they all had odd names; my favourite was The Last Ditch. It was a delicious Viognier from 2008 and it matched the food well (if you believe in that kind of thing) - fuzzy fruits and slightly nutty.

We finished up in a far more uncivilised fashion. Oh, those Jägerbombs.

We paid a measly £10 each for all that grub, though we got lucky on the booze front as Four Roses and D'Arenberg catered for us. Poor Heath has gone well and truly off lamb and pork after having roasted hundreds of the beasts in two years, so you should make the most of it and book your next celebration there. Or you don't even have to be celebrating. We had a truly cracking night, to be followed by 3 hours sleep and a dog-rank hangover the next day. Jägermeister for you, I suppose.

Red Lion & Sun

25 North Road
Highgate Village
N6 4BE

Tel: 020 8340 1780

Zucchini Fritters

This weekend, I had a couple of my friends visit for a little get together. It was a great opportunity to have a lovely homemade breakfast before heading out for a busy day of visiting Toronto and catching up. I had been meaning to make zucchini fritters for a while and they ended up being the perfect addition to a poached egg on some toasted olive sourdough bread.

These really are easy to make, and can be whipped up while you toast the bread and wait for your poached eggs to cook. I hope you appreciate the photo as I saved the last four for a quick photo session and they then had to be eaten cold! I'm heading back to Montreal in a few days, after almost four month out of town. Between a job at the BBC in London, visiting my family in Paris and in the South of France and working from Toronto it's been quite an eventful summer! I'm looking forward to getting back to my kitchen though.. especially since I only had a few days to play around with my new pink Kitchen Aid. Be prepared for many recipes with that baby!

Since the new school year is upon us, I thought I would share the names of a few cookbooks that are coming out this fall. My ever-growing collection (I must have hit 70 by now!) has been missed this summer as I only had room for a couple books to bring with me during my travels. I'm looking forward to browsing these new cookbooks and something tells me that they will make their way to my over-stocked library shelf...

Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?: Fabulous Recipes & Easy Tips, to be released on October 26th, 2010. I have yet to try an Ina Garten recipe that wasn't absolutely fabulous. As most spontaneous and intuitive cooks will recognize, it's not that easy to write a fail-safe recipe but Ina does just that, every time.

Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook: Breakfast, Brunch & Beyond from New York's Favorite Neighborhood Restaurant. This is one of my favourite breakfast spots in NYC and they are now releasing a cookbook. I hope it does not disappoint! To be released on November 8th, 2010.

Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented: If you loved the original Baked book, you should love this one! Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito will give us their take on popular dessert this special twists and tweaks. Release date set for October 1st, 2010.

Tartine Bread: One of my favourite spots in San Francisco is coming out with a second cookbook dedicated to bread. Making bread is really an essential skill for any home baker and I bet these recipes will make it ever more accessible. Release date set for September 29th, 2010.

What new cookbooks are you looking forward to this Fall?

Zucchini Fritters
Makes about 12

1 pound (about 2 medium) zucchini
1 tablespoon of freshly grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, stems removed and leaves finely chopped
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Olive oil

Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the zucchini into a medium bowl, leaving the skin on. Add the lemon zest, chopped parsley, and eggs. Mix well to combine. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper Slowly add flour, stirring so no lumps form. Fold in the parmesan.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until oil sizzles when you drop a small amount of zucchini mixture into the pan. Carefully drop about 2 tablespoons zucchini mixture into pan; repeat, spacing fritters a few inches apart.

Cook fritters until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Turn fritters, and continue cooking until golden, 2 to 3 minutes more. Transfer fritters to a plate; set aside in a warm place. Cook remaining zucchini mixture, adding more oil to pan if necessary. Serve warm. Enjoy!

We Did It! Foodwishes Wins the Next Food Network Star YouTube Challenge!

You may have already heard by now, but I was the grand prize winner in the Next Food Network Star YouTube Challenge! Thanks to you, as well as my large, unbelievably passionate, and supportive subscriber base on YouTube, we dominated the competition.

The voting was closed, so there was no way to monitor the number of votes cast, but gauging by the comments on the Food Network's YouTube channel, we crushed it. The response was nothing short of awe-inspiring! It seems one thing is very clear, despite my reservations; most of my fan would love to see me get some kind of show on the Food Network.

By the way, contrary to popular belief, that's not the prize. The grand prize is a trip for two to New York, dinner at one of the Food Network's chefs' restaurants, and an interview with the network executives (although I should warn them – I'm money in an interview). In that meeting I will pitch the idea for a Food Wishes style show, where the food's the star, and the chef is rarely, if ever, seen.

Thanks to all of you who voted! Stay tuned for more information as the adventure has only just begun!

Buttermilk Fried Chicken & Creamed Corn

I have a deep love for sweetcorn. I often boil a couple handfuls of the frozen stuff and eat it with a spoon, a sprinkle of salt over it. Corn on the cob, steamed and then slathered with butter to then be drizzled with lime juice, chilli flakes and salt is a common snack in my house. Corn, freshly popped and drizzled with salty butter, or sprinkled with spices and then deep fried till crunchy, the list goes on and on.

I've never had creamed corn. Having never been to America, there aren't a great deal of places otherwise that serve it. However, I saw this recipe and knew I had to have it. Immediately. But it is considered a side dish, and I could do nothing but go the whole hog and cook me up some fried chicken. Marinated in buttermilk, spices and aromatics, the chicken is deep fried until it had a crunchy coating revealing juicy moist flesh within the crust. The buttermilk tenderises and moistens the meat, while the double flour buttermilk combination ensures perfect crispness.

If you have high cholesterol, look away now.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Serves 4

4 chicken thighs
3 cloves of garlic
2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1 onion
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
6 peppercorns
284ml tub of buttermilk
Flour
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Pound the Sichuan & normal peppercorns in a pestle and mortar until it is a fine powder. Mince the onion finely and add to a pestle and mortar. Add the garlic cloves and the salt and pestle into a fine paste. Add the paprika and incorporate well. Add to a bowl, mix in the buttermilk. Toss the chicken in the buttermilk, fit snugly and marinate overnight.

Next, preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Put some flour on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Wipe the marinade off the chicken (reserving the buttermilk). Dredge well in flour and put to one side. Once they are all dredged, dip back into the buttermilk and dredge again. Leave to sit for 1 hour - this means the flour soaks up all moisture making it crispier.

Heat up 3 inches of the oil in a wok until almost smoking. Add the chicken pieces, two at a time, and fry on a medium heat for 10 minutes on each side. Remove and place on a wire baking rack and put in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes.

Creamed Corn

Serves 4

4 ears of corn
2 shallots
2 rashers of streaky bacon
2 sprigs of rosemary
150ml cream
Water

Remove the corn from their husks and using a sharp knife, remove the kernels, reserving any milky liquid. In a frying pan, soften the shallots in a little oil. Add the bacon chopped up. Remove the rosemary needles and mince finely, adding it to the oil. Add the corn kernels in and add a mugful of water. Bring to the simmer and then add the cream. Simmer for 10 - 15 minutes. Remove a large ladleful and liquidise in a blender to add some consistency to the corn. Add back to the pan, bring back to the simmer and then take off the heat. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with the chicken. And some greens to make you feel a bit better about it all.

Beans and Greens for Fun and Profit

"Beans and Greens" is one of those special recipes that truly has it all – it's very easy and inexpensive to make; it's highly nutritious; it's soulful and comforting; and can be served as a main course, side dish, soup, vegetable stew, or my personal favorite…as an appetizer.

It's not my favorite because it's a great appetizer, which it is, but because it's so damn profitable. When I was in culinary school, we were taught the secret to making money wasn't from the main courses, but from selling lots of inexpensive-to-make desserts, salads, and appetizers.

"Beans and Greens" is a popular appetizer in Italian-American restaurants in Western New York, and whenever I travel back east to visit family, I'm always on the lookout for this local delicacy. I'm usually grinning to myself as I eat, fondly thinking back to school and that food costing class, knowing that I'm happily paying $7.95 for something that costs 45 cents to make.

This is my new favorite home version, and uses delicious, beautiful escarole. This type of curly endive has a pleasantly bitter flavor that mellows as it wilts into the hot, creamy beans. This recipe can be adapted a thousand ways, but no matter how you tweak it, be sure to use a good homemade chicken stock (btw, demo coming soon), or an all-natural, high-quality, low-sodium, ready-to-use broth.

If you try reducing some cheap canned broth by half, you'll have something salty enough to choke a water buffalo. Also, try and find some nice Italian cannellini beans. I like the ones that come in the glass jars, but canned will work also. If not, any white bean should do nicely.

It goes without saying, but do not even think about starting this recipe unless you've made an embarrassingly large pile of the Parma crisps. I hope you give both recipes a try soon. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
2 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1 quart low sodium chicken broth
2 (15-oz) jars or cans white cannellini beans, well drained, not rinsed
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 anchovy fillet
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
1 head escarole, or curly endive
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Geoducking

I had no idea I knew so little about the Geoduck! This video, entitled "Don't Judge a Clam by Its Cover: Geoduck," was produced by the incomparable Liza de Guia, from Food Curated. As you know, I'm a huge fan of Liza's storytelling skills, and was particularly fascinated by this episode. For even more geoduck information, please be sure to read her original article here. Enjoy!

Polpetti, Polpette, Polpetto

It's no secret that Polpo is one of my favourite restaurants in London. I've been to this Venetian-style baraco four times since it opened in October 2009, and there really are only a handful of places that I can say I return to regularly; there are so many restaurants to be tried, after all. Polpo always promises me good wine, excellent food and an atmosphere parallel to none, hence my repeat visits. I was more than a little bit excited when they announced the opening of their second branch, Polpetto. I was positively beside myself when I managed to get a booking at the soft opening. (Remember? I LOVE a bargain.)

I eschewed breakfast in favour of the splurge that was inevitable. I arrived ravenous, and my companion and I got to work on the dishes. We joked with the waitress that it might have been easier to tell her what we didn't want off the menu, and this turned out to be true.

There will be a lot of words written about Polpetto in coming weeks, that much I am sure. I'm also sure that this tiny 28-seater room will be packed out to the rafters, and deservedly so. I'll try not to waffle on too much.

Of the cicheti, duck and porcini polpette (that's meatball) was light yet rich and flavoursome. Melanzane Parmigiana had to be ordered - I've never passed up on an aubergine - but we were completely, utterly blown away by the smoked swordfish and dill ricotta. It was such a stunning combination. Polpetti (baby octopus) we've had before at Polpo. Expertly cooked and in beautiful olive oil flavoured with garlic, sage and shallots. "I like eating things that actually look like the beast", said my friend. He echoed my thoughts.

Chickpea and anchovy crostini was flavoured with tahini, fishy little bites of creamy chickpea on crunchy wafer-thin bread.

Piedmontese pepper with marinated white anchovies were a gift from Russell Norman, the brains behind Polpo and Polpetto. He exudes excitement about his restaurants and he told us that barely anyone had ordered this dish, possibly due to a uncompelling menu description. On first taste it seemed just a sum of its parts - anchovies tick, pepper tick. After a couple of mouthfuls though, the appeal shone through. Fresh, juicy and complementary flavours.

Cochetino and pickled raddichio on grilled bruschetta was visually dazzling. The sharp, bitter bite of the raddichio balanced the rich, fatty velvety pork.

I couldn't detect the parmesan in the batter of the soft-shell crab, but it was light and greaseless. The body was split in half between us and orange goo oozed seductively from it. Fennel salad with a creamy lemon dressing lifted the flavours skyward.

Zucchini fries were exactly what the said they were. Although delicious when dipped in the leftover oil from the polpetti, they could be seen as a little boring.

When the pigeon saltimbocca was set before us, I wanted to steal the crockery immediately - it's gorgeous. Cooked till rare on the inside, I managed a bite before the gaminess of the bird got too much for my hungover self. The white polenta was comforting though, and my friend informs me the pigeon was excellent and I had no one to blame but myself for not being able to eat it all.

One of my favourite dishes of the meal turned up, Osso Bucco. Look at that risotto! A full whack of saffron, tender, slightly gelantinous veal on top. We greedily scooped out the marrow.

Chilli and garlic prawns were properly spicy and nicely garlicky. Fingers got messy and we were starting to get full.

Ham terrine was the dish that broke us. It was the only one we physically could not finish. Mustardy egg mayonnaise was with a gorgeously dense, parsley flecked terrine and I am still kicking myself that I didn't ask for the half we left to take away.

There's always room for dessert though. Oddly I never tried any desserts at Polpo, but we decided to go for the lightest, fruitiest-sounding desserts on the menu. Blackberry pannacotta with almond biscotti stole my heart. No face-puckering tartness I often get with blackberries, the pannacotta was wibbly and smooth. Biscotti was standout and we littered the table with crumbs. Lemon and strawberry sgroppino was a boozy milkshake; made of lemon and strawberry sorbets all mixed up with a bit of milk and Prosecco. Sounds a bit rank, but it tasted lovely.

We ate a gluttonly15 items on the menu between us, and our bill would have been about £55 a head including a couple carafes of wine and the spritzes had it not been for the 50% soft opening discount. Outstanding value, and we really did eat double than what is decent and seemly.

So there you are. Go. They don't take bookings at dinner (they do at lunch) - still, I can't think of a better Friday night, after a long week slogging away, than to prop up the nearest bar until a table becomes free. I predict half of London will be doing this and I don't blame them.

Polpetto

Upstairs at The French House

49 Dean Street
Soho
London, W1D 5BG

Tel: 020 7734 1969

How to Make Parma Crisps (in Anticipation of Future Scrumptiousness)

I had originally planned to post the beans and greens recipe seen herein with a simple suggestion to serve it with some delicious, Parmesan crostini. They're such a basic garnish that I take for granted you all know how to whip up a quick batch, when in fact some of you may have never attempted something like this before.

So, I decided to do a quick little how-to for making what I call, Parma Crisps. These are a bit different in concept than your average tossed salad crouton. For those we probably spike the bread with tons of garlic, herbs, spices, and pepper, before making it all crispy and sufficiently decadent, to where it will distract us from even the most mundane of salads.

Here we have to remember these are simply to accessorize another dish of food – something rich, comforting, and with big, bold flavors. In that case I want something crispy, crunchy, with a nice nuttiness from the caramelized cheese, but that's about all. Any more than that, in this humble chef's opinion, would be superfluous.

Stay tuned for the beans and greens video recipe coming on Monday. Since you'll want to serve that with these, you may even think about practicing a few times over the weekend, you know, just to be safe. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
sliced baguette
olive oil (no need to use extra virgin)
freshly, finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Creamy Artichoke and Garlic Spaghetti

I just got back from a few blissful days spent in the Basque country where my family has a house we all reunite in once or twice a year. We spent a wonderful holiday filled with a lot, a lot of food, time relaxing in the sun and some much needed catching up. Family meals have always been a pretty central part of my family life and I can't imagine not recreating that feeling with my own family one day. Sharing a love for flavourful ingredients and satisfying meals, we feasted on the classic 'melon et jambon' - slices of cantaloupe with thinly sliced Bayonne ham -, curried mussels, slowly braised lamb with garlic haricots verts, goat cheese and tomato tarts, pear clafoutis.. and I much, much more!

All to say, that lighter meals are now in order! This pasta dish has become a classic in our house. We always have canned artichokes in our pantry and they come in very handy for these kinds of dishes. I get the ones that are marinating in oil and herbs so they are nice and tasty and needed little extra preparation. This really is a light pasta meal with only a couple tablespoons of cream, and is another one of those easy pasta dishes I can make in the time it takes the pasta to cook!

Creamy Artichoke and Garlic Spaghetti
Serves 2

Spaghetti for 2
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
4 scallions, finely sliced
1 cup of canned artichokes, drained
1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan, and extra to serve
2 tablespoons of whipping cream
1/2 lemon, juiced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Cook the pasta according to package instructions.

While the pasta is cooking, place a pan on medium heat and add a good drizzle of olive oil. Add the garlic slices and leave untouched for 2-3 minutes. Add the scallions and stir. Cook for another 2 minutes and add a good pinch of salt and pepper.

Coarsely chop the artichokes and add to the pan. Reduce the heat to low. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add the cream and stir. Add one tablespoon of the pasta water - the starch from the pasta in the water will help thicken the sauce. Drain the pasta and add to the pan. Stir so all the ingredients mix in with the spaghetti. Add the parmesan, a pinch of salt and pepper, the lemon juice and stir again. Serve immediately, with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy!

Coming Soon: Four Fabulous New Video Recipes!

Goodman City

For over a year now I've been wanging on about how Hawksmoor is THE BEST steak restaurant in London. But I am a big fat fraud. How was I supposed to know what was the best when I haven't visited all of them, or even their strongest competitor?

There have been so many posts about Goodman, so I'm sure you know all there is to know about it. If not, it's simple. They do steak; USDA corn-fed meat as well as grass-fed Irish and Scottish beef.

So, when Goodman opened their second restaurant in the city, I jumped at the chance of 50% off food in their soft opening. I am enormously skint, so I had to make the most of the situation. One lunchtime, I jumped on the tube and ran my sweaty arse over to Bank. The room is cavernous, and very manly indeed, with exposed lights and banquettes in deep shades. There is an aging room for the meat which is on full display, though I managed to miss this entirely in my own oblivious way. The tables were populated by besuited men.

My starter of Frank Henderman's Irish smoked salmon was beautiful. Firm, densely textured salmon was permeated throughout with the flavour of smoke. Discs of raw beetroot were topped with a dill cream, and a slightly cheesy brioche-style bread was rich. On their own, all the elements were delicious but I was unconvinced about how they sat together on the plate.

400gr of USDA rib eye, cooked to medium turned up. The meat was tender and my heavy, Goodman-embossed steak knife slid through with ease. I found an extra grind of salt at the table brought out the flavour of the meat more. Chips were crunchy, fluffy but slightly too thick a cut for my liking (seriously - can someone PLEASE reintroduce curly fries back into the spectrum?) and sugarsnap peas, bathed in butter were crisp and perfectly cooked. I hoovered most of these up.

When all was done and I managed to be back at my desk in 1.5 hours, I was relieved to discover I am still a Hawksmoor girl at heart. Perhaps it's unfair to make comparisons given that Hawksmoor don't do USDA meat, but I found my steak to be underseasoned and the meat, while tender, was lacking in flavour somewhat. My companion's Wagyu rib eye (of which I finished off for him - lightweight) tasted more like the steak I'm used to. The service was charming though, with genuine enthusiasm glowing from our waitress.

Goodman do an extremely reasonable lunch menu; I'll be sure to go back for the burger. Meanwhile, with the Shoreditch branch 20 minutes from house and the new Covent Garden site, opening in November, 20 minutes from my office my steaky loyalties will lie with Hawksmoor.

Goodman City

11 Old Jewry
London
EC2R 8DU

Tel: 020 7600 8220

Mayfair branch here