Showing posts with label impressed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label impressed. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

perfect poached eggs and haddock

Ever tasted something so simple, so old school, but so perfect? Langan's Brasserie does a poached eggs with smoked haddock that so hits the mark, it seems a shame to try and recreate it. You actually might as well go there for the real thing. Great place, wonderful service and proper decent honest food. Their snails in garlic and parsley butter decent too, Welsh rarebit very good (salad dressing on the leaves outstanding) and a very very good lemon tart.

All that said, there is nothing quite like that bursting egg yolk running into the poached haddock, thickening the sauce and in this version here, soaking into cabbage spiked mashed potato. This is where ingredients come together to continually improve a dish as you eat. We don't have enough of these.

Smoked haddock with poached egg and colcannon

Serves 4


about 400ml milk, for poaching
200ml light fish stock
1 bay leaf
4 skinned smoked haddock portions, each about 160g
2 shallots, finely chopped
300ml double cream
1 tbsp chopped dill
4 eggs
knob of butter

for the colcannon
300g Savoy cabbage, cut into rough 2cm pieces
salt and freshly ground white pepper
6 spring onions, shredded
400g floury potatoes, cooked and mashed
40g butter, or more if necessary

Cook the cabbage in boiling salted water for about 5-6 minutes until soft, but not overcooked. Add the spring onions and simmer for another 30 seconds drain in a colander then mix with the mashed potato, butter and seasoning. Keep warm in a covered pan until required, or allow to cool and reheat in the microwave when required.

While the colcannon is cooking, bring the milk and fish stock to the boil with the bay leaf. Add the haddock, bring back to the boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Remove the fish carefully and transfer to a plate. Cover with foil and keep warm.

Transfer half of the cooking liquid to a clean pan, add the shallots and boil to reduce the liquid by two-thirds. Add the double cream and reduce it again by two-thirds, or until it thickens to coating consistency. Adjust the seasoning if necessary, add the chopped dill and simmer for another minute.

While the liquid is being reduced, poach the eggs until just set but still soft inside. 

Spoon the colcannon on to warmed plates, carefully break the haddock fillets in half and press carefully into the colcannon. Drain the eggs with a slotted spoon and rest them in between the two pieces of haddock. Finish the sauce by stirring in the knob of butter and spoon it over the eggs and fish to serve.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

hong kong bumps into moscow

In a city I'd never made it to before a couple of weeks ago, Moscow; there are some utterly brilliant people, the most amazing sights and some of the most wonderful magical ingredients still to be properly discovered outside the region. Among the fantastically shaped bottles, jars and sachets which I'm now lucky to have at home, is a great big bottle of tkemali. 

Tkemali is the name of the wild sour plum which gives the sauce its name, and I'm to believe is Georgian in origin. It's a ketchup like condiment, and has everything going on from pungently tangy to tart, sweet and sour, but above all else, its insanely addictive now I've opened my bottle.

Fried rice pops up at home an awful lot, and every time it comes out just that little bit differently, I guess the nature of what's at home and kicking about in the fridge will always dictate as such. This time of the year it has to be glutinous rice though, makes the whole thing more sticky and warming, perfect as winter begins to take shape (21°c and blue skies here today)

fried rice, bbq pork, tkemali

For the glutinous fried rice

Serves 4

500g glutinous rice, soaked overnight
50g dried shrimps, soaked and cleaned
50g shredded dried cuttlefish, cleaned
3 Chinese dried sausages, sliced
8 large mushrooms cut into cubes
1 bunch of spring onions, chopped
4 tblsp garlic oil
2 egg omelette, shredded
25g fried peanuts

Seasoning
1tbsp dark soya sauce
1tbsp oyster sauce
2tsp salt

Clean and drain the soaked glutinous rice and steam for about 35-45 minutes. Sprinkle water into the steamed rice every 15 mins and continue steaming. Fluff up the rice after 25 minutes and continue sprinkling water till the rice is soft. You can pinch some rice and try if it's soft enough, if not, just continue to steam.

Remove from steamer and set aside. In a wok, pour in the garlic oil, then put in the dried shrimps and dried cuttlefish and fry them till aromatic, add the mushrooms, Chinese sausages and sauté for several minutes on a medium heat.

Now add in the steamed glutinous rice and seasonings and keep frying till everything is well mixed with the seasonings.


Taste and add more salt if necessary. Toss in the chopped spring onions, shredded omelette and fried peanuts to finish.

Serve with the barbecued pork, and a heavy handed hit of tkemali and your work for the night is now complete.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

the romance of a steak tartare, no really


It all sounds terribly romantic, but when I’m stuck and can’t come up with anything to prepare for a meal at home, I often turn to what has now become the reliable steak tartare. Well, that is on the abnormally rare occasion where the charm of instant noodles don't overwhelm me. This is a no cook piece of genius that is both simple and elaborate. It holds a lot of ingredients but can easily impress through the lack of cooking. The only thing to be careful about is the quality of the ingredients, spanking fresh beef and good eggs kind of speak for themselves really.

Steak tartare

Serves 4

1 large onion
5 cornichons
1 tablespoon capers
2 sprigs Italian parsley
1¼ pounds sirloin steak, preferably organic and grass-fed
4 very fresh organic egg yolks
Tabasco sauce to taste (lots)
Ketchup to taste (more than you think)
Fleur de sel and freshly ground pepper

Finely chop the onion. Separately do the same to the cornichons, capers, and parsley. Place them in small serving bowls and set aside.

Using a very sharp knife, trim the sirloin, removing as much fat as possible. Cut the meat into ¼-inch dice.

Divide the meat among 4 individual serving plates. Shape the meat into a dome, make an indentation in the centre, and nestle the egg yolks in it.

Serve with the onion, capers, cornichons, parsley, Tabasco, ketchup, fleur de sel, and pepper on the side for each guest to season the tartare according to their taste. Serve with a green salad and chips, should the occasion merit a fryer on the go.

 

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

no california rolls served here

Not every sushi place you go to are all together happy about knocking up a few California rolls. That said, you master this and make them at home, you quite probably will impress everyone you know.
 
1 piece Makisu (bamboo rolling mat)

Dark green nori sheets
Sushi rice, cooked and seasoned
Crab sticks
Thinly sliced avocado
Cucumber (Japanese if available), thinly sliced
Toasted sesame seeds
Japanese mayonnaise
Fine salmon roe
 
Firstly, and in order to keep your rice from sticking to the Makisu and making a God awful mess, carefully wrap the Makisu in cling film.
 
Fold the nori sheets in half to break them, then lay them on your work surface and cover each sheet with about half a cup of sushi rice. To do so, first set the rice on the end of the nori sheet closest to you, then working with the fingertips, gently spread the rice over the surface of the nori.
 
With your California rolls, the rice is generally on the outside, so to continue, flip the rice coated sheet so that the rice side is down, carefully position the sheet horizontally so it will roll lengthwise.
 
Next, place a single row of crab across the middle of the nori. Then, place slices of avocado end to end right against the crab. It’s best to use an avocado that’s ripe but still quite firm. A generous squeeze of Japanese mayonnaise along the length of the roll comes next. Lastly, lay the very thin cucumber slices end-to-end right alongside the crab and avocado.
 
To roll the sushi, carefully lift the edge of the mat closest to you and begin rolling away from you, pressing lightly to keep the roll firm. At this point, the nearest edge of the roll has gone upwards and away from you and the pressure should guarantee a tight roll.
 
Next, lift up the end of the rolling mat and pull it away from you, allowing the roll to roll the rest of the mat. Then carefully remove the roll from the mat and place it on a cutting board. Lay the mat over the top of the roll and exert gentle pressure once more to make sure it’s all secure.
 
Hold the roll on the mat and sprinkle the top with toasted sesame seeds. Dredge the roll through the fine salmon roe to complete.
 
Slice the rolls using a very sharp knife with a smooth wet blade. Begin by slicing perfectly in half. The set the two halves side by side and slice into individual pieces, this ensures each piece is uniform in size.