tomatoes, mozzarella, anchovies, breadcrumbs

Seeing as burrata with tomatoes was the last thing I committed to paper, why not continue the theme I thought. Dull as it may seem, the simplicity of adding sharpness and salt to a tomato is a wonderful thing to do. As this is a baked number, plum tomatoes tend to hold their shape better than the majority of the round varieties, but don't let that stop you if round ones are what you have.

Baked tomatoes with mozzarella, anchovies and breadcrumbs

Serves 4

12 plum tomatoes

175g fresh breadcrumbs
8 anchovy fillets
2 large cloves garlic
a good handful of basil leaves
a ball of mozzarella
6 tblsp olive oil

Chop the anchovies, peel and finely chop the garlic and cut the mozzarella into small dice.

Preheat the oven to 220°c/gas 7. Slice the tomatoes in half lengthways and scoop the seeds into a bowl. Place the tomatoes skin-side down in a roasting tin so that they nudge up against one another.

Mix the tomato innards with the breadcrumbs, anchovies, garlic, basil, mozzarella and two tablespoons of the olive oil.

Season the stuffing with salt and black pepper, and pile the filling into the tomato halves. Pour over the remaining olive oil and bake for 25 minutes until the filling is golden.

the humble burrata

Just to set a little record straight. Burrata is not mozzarella. So there. Burrata isn't even buffalo mozzarella, even though it is made from the milk of that particular beast.

As I understand, burrata is formed of the same stringy cheese that makes up the solid ball of a mozzarella, but rather than a ball, these strings are formed into a ball but rather a hollow pouch and filled with fresh cream and the softer trimmings from the mozzarella making process.

The thin casing of the burrata is literally just there to hold the delicious contents within. If it's at all chewy or thick, your burrata is getting on a bit. At the end of the day, it has nothing really to do with the packaging, it's all about the filling.

Eat burrata as nature intended, plain of course, and on crisp bread, but also try it in salads and pastas, top off a pizza right before eating and drop into a soup, and as dessert. 

pizza and biryani, what a combo

If ever there was a combination sure to surprise and delight, pizza followed by a killer biryani actually works, trust me as I wasn't one bit convinced to begin with either. The pizza needs a decent hit of chilli fire, obviously, and an open mind, definitely. This recipe here is only just a starting point, and there really is no pizza recipe out there that is the definitive article. Toppings are totally at everyone's discretion. This blog post is actually now so messed up that the photo neither reflects a biryani or a puff pastry based mushroom and taleggio pizza. What the photo actually is an incredibly delicious pizza had in Weymouth while watching the Olympic sailing in the Summer of 2012, that was a great combination. 

Mushroom and taleggio pizza

Serves 4

Puff pastry provides an instant base to the pizza, and the crust stays crisp slightly longer than regular pizza dough. A nice salad of wild rocket leaves with Parmesan shavings would be great with it.

25g unsalted butter
3 tblsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
450g mixed mushrooms (such as girolle, portobello, shiitake and chestnut mushrooms), roughly sliced into a similar size
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed
375g puff pastry
1 medium egg, beaten
4-5 tblsp grated Parmesan
100g taleggio cheese, torn into small pieces
Handful of oregano, leaves picked and roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6. Heat a pan with the butter and olive oil. Add the sliced mushrooms and sauté for a few minutes until golden brown. (You may need to do this in two batches if your pan is not wide enough.) Season well with salt and pepper. Add the crushed garlic and cook for a few more minutes. Transfer to a plate and allow to cool.

Roll out the pastry on to a lightly floured board to a large rectangle about 3mm thick. Slide this on to a baking tray. Using a long knife, lightly score a 1cm border around the edge of the rectangle, taking care not to cut through the pastry. Brush all over the pastry with the beaten egg. Layer the sautéed mushrooms around the inner rectangle of the pastry. Sprinkle the parmesan and taleggio over the mushrooms. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the pastry has puffed and browned. 

Scatter the chopped oregano leaves over the pizza and drizzle with a little olive oil before slicing into four and demolishing until the biryani is ready to tackle.

carpaccio and happiness, at home, where it should be

This is at its very best served really informally at home with the right person, with homemade mayonnaise - which is a traditional carpaccio accompaniment, and properly delicious with chips too. 

The quality of your meat is everything. It needs to come from an animal that has been fed correctly and well hung to ensure it is tender. I prefer the flavour and texture of a pure Angus breed, but there are plenty other good breeds too.

It is pretty much all about the setting and the company. If the food is a bit more than half decent, the full package has pretty much been achieved. That's where something like this comes in. Buy a great piece of meat, do precious little to it, savour the occasion - perfection achieved.

Beef carpaccio/Parmesan/rocket/radishes

Serves just the 2, 4 at a push

500g trimmed fillet of beef
freshly ground black pepper and good quality salt
40g fresh rocket

80g shaved Parmesan

60g fresh very cold red radishes, shaved

40ml extra virgin olive oil

20ml lemon juice

Season the beef well with the pepper and roll up firmly in a large piece of cling film or foil. Roll the film back and forth to make the meat even and nicely rounded. Chill for 30 minutes.

With a very sharp knife, slice the meat as thinly as possible and arrange on a serving platter. Garnish with the rocket, drizzle with the oil and a splash of lemon juice and finally the radishes and Parmesan, and a sprinkle of salt.

Homemade mayonnaise

I more often than not add water or sometimes crème fraîche to my mayonnaise, both to whiten it and to make it lighter on the palate, so that it doesn't overpower the beef.

2 free range egg yolks
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp English or Dijon mustard
150ml groundnut oil
150ml olive oil
2 tblsp cold water

Place the egg yolks, vinegar and mustard in a bowl and whisk together with a balloon whisk. Gradually incorporate the oil, whisking continuously until you have a thick emulsion. Add the water and season. Transfer to a clean jar. The mayonnaise will keep for five days in the fridge.

a half decent hummous

Is it hummous, hummus, hommos, humos, hommus or hoummos even? It certainly isn't humus, we know that for sure. Weirdly my spellcheck only recognises hummus. It's now actually having a problem with my recognises, but I'm refusing to put a z in there.

Never tire of it, can eat it for ever, and it also does the business in so many other ways other than just jabbing some arabic bread into a pot of the stuff.

Hummous

Serves a few as just one element of a mezze (or is it mezzeh or meze even?) spread, but make sure it always features

225g tinned chickpeas
6 tblsp tahini paste
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
6 tblsp lemon juice
3 tblsp olive oil
cayenne pepper
freshly ground black pepper
salt
olive oil, for drizzling

Whizz up the chickpeas in a food processor or blender with a little of the liquid from the can until they are smooth.

Add the tahini, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil and work in the processor or blender until very smooth. Season with the peppers and salt. Turn into a dish, scraping out all of the hummous from the mixer bowl with a rubber spatula.

Flatten the top slightly, then drizzle over some olive oil and serve with warm pitta bread.

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.

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.