Cauliflower a la grecque

So the past few days have gone something like this; Another visit to the ice cream shop which now has legendary status in my little world. Dolcezza in Georgetown cannot do wrong and this week threw up a combo of espresso and purple raspberry - sublime, sensual and thoroughly memorable in every sense. My new rule for this place is 'only when I have visitors' while my little voices are telling me 'who are you kidding, that will never last'

This took me back to reality with a little lunch party at the Embassy on Sunday which threw together a few lovely summer time rug on the grass kind of dishes, one of which was a neat little mushroom a la greque number. I felt it worked out pretty good assisted by the quite stunning weather and a number of other dishes in keeping with the moment. Something as simple as this was all that was needed to split the day up to recharge. Got me thinking though, and next opportunity it'll be cauliflower trated the same way. Perversely, here's a photo of Sundays' mushrooms, and  a sweet little recipe for the future of cauliflowers...

Serves 4-6

90ml tomato puree
90ml olive oil
90ml dry white wine
1 large onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
2 spoons coriander seeds, crushed
5ml grated fresh root ginger
450ml water
1 large cauliflower, broken into florets
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
15ml lemon juice
1 tsp shredded coriander leaves

Place the tomato puree, oil, wine, onion, garlic, coriander seeds, ginger, water, and salt and pepper in a large pan. Bring to the boil, and then simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the cauliflower and cook for 10-15 minutes, until just tender. Leave to cool.

To finish, stir in the lemon juice and check the seasoning. Transfer to a serving dish and leave to come to room temperature. Sprinkle with coriander to serve.

This took us through to Sunday evening where the only thing left to do was light the barbecue and take in the sunshine as the day drew to a close. Sundays are totally made for this treatment and I could not imagine for a second spending this latest one anywhere near indoors, or worse still, a restaurant to fill me up. A few little quails all crunchy and charred to the point of almost being a little bitter on the skin, some big fat beef sausages spiked with thyme and a bit of cayenne and some chicken skewers marinated in onion juice and yoghurt helped wash a few local micro brewed beers down just nicely thank you very much. I think there were a couple of salads bouncing around in there, and a definite trace of anchovy in the air, but quite frankly, it was all about the meat/beer finishing off a glorious weekend.

Back to the day job, and the oppotunity to assemble some lighter lunch dishes is always great fun. Using the garden as inspiration, keeping the food light and in season while ensuring everything makes sense is just the direction I need to keep motivated, and this lobster dish ticks each and every box. So for lunch today we've got some steamed lobster claw meat, a few baby roasted artichokes, the tiny hearts of a couple of lettuces, paper thin shavings of a couple of different radishes and courgettes all brought together with the faintest splash of vinaigrette and a zesting of lemon. All good in DC right now...

Roast quail with parsley risotto

Serves 4

When planning today's lunch at the Embassy (last night with the late evening sun still giving off that warm glow you never want to go away) I was thinking light risotto, simply roasted quail, little bit of salad from the garden - you know the scene. But with storm clouds above earlier today, I basically took the below recipe and beefed it up a little.

I removed the legs and breasts of the birds and took the thigh bones out of the legs leaving them as little drumstick lollipops. These I slow roasted with some baby onions, garlic and thyme, finishing off with a splash of good sherry vinegar and a few leaves of spinach from the garden. The breasts were simply seared quickly, 2 minutes max, and left to rest while the risotto was finished with just a heap of roughly chopped parsley for a slightly earthier feeling. The juices in with the legs and the onions made enough sauce to finish the whole thing off nicely.

Either approach makes a substantial first course, before a lighter fish main course maybe, or a good lunch with salad leaves dependant on the weather I guess. The heart of the dish being the risotto, which is finished differently from the standard saffron job, and gives a fresher taste for me.

4 fresh quails

Salt, pepper and a little olive oil

For the risotto

1 tblsp olive oil

1 tblsp chopped shallot

150g risotto rice

75ml white wine
500ml chicken stock
50g grated parmesan

For the parsley puree
200g parsley, washed
200ml olive oil
1 little lemon zest
a small clove garlic, crushed

Preheat the oven to 200ºc/gas mark 6

Make the parsley puree by blending the parsley with the olive oil, lemon zest, black pepper and crushed garlic. It should be completely smooth and a dark, rich green colour.

For the risotto, heat the olive oil, and then sweat the shallot before adding the rice. Season. Gently cook this for a few minutes – you don’t want the rice to colour. Add the wine and reduce right down before pouring in a third of the stock.

Re-boil, cover and leave until the rice absorbs all the liquid. Pour in the remaining stock and bring to the boil. Simmer very gently for a further 10 minutes – the whole operation from raw will take around 35 minutes, until the rice grains are just cooked but still a little firm. If the stock dries out, add more water.

Take the pan from the heat and stir in the Parmesan followed by 2 tblsp parsley puree. The risotto will turn bright green, but this will soften to something more appetizing by contact with the heat for 1-2 minutes. It would turn muddy brown eventually, if left for an hour. You want it to taste fresh and herbal, so quite a strong colour is the aim so that you know the herb is still vibrant.

Season the quails and brush with a little olive oil. Heat a dry frying pan until it is quite hot and then colour the quails on each side. Transfer to a roasting tray and roast until done (for around 20 minutes). Rest the quails before carving into legs and breasts.

Lay each quail over a pile of risotto and pour on cooking juices.

Pan fried mushrooms with toasted bread and parsley

Serves 4

Lunch at the Embassy today was a take on this recipe, with the addition of some sweet little sauteed goujons of John Dory, all tossed through a bowl of just picked garden leaves, including the very first tender courgette flowers of the season. These additions to the dish just seemed to make it all the more complete. The mushrooms as they are stand up well enough for something lighter should the fish and the salad leaves be a chore too far. The weight of mushrooms you need here will depend on the variety you choose. The softer, tenderer mushrooms such as chanterelles and oysters will need less cooking time than firm cultivated fungi. We seem to be blessed here in DC to have a handful of farmers marketers who seem to show up with just enough mushroom varieties to keep it interesting. Apologies for the picture, this was basically what didn't make it onto the plates, I need to eat too you know.

400g mushrooms
80g butter
2 medium sized cloves garlic
a handful of parsley
a lemon
a small ciabatta loaf

Sort the mushrooms into those that are thick fleshed (such as field or chestnut varieties) and into more fragile types such as chanterelles and oyster mushrooms.

Cut the sturdier varieties into large bite-size pieces. Leave the more fragile ones whole. Carefully remove any growing medium, but don't wash them.

Melt 50g of the butter in a shallow pan together with the peeled and crushed garlic. As soon as the garlic is soft and fragrant, add the prepared mushrooms, (firm ones first, tender ones later).

Let them soften and colour for a few minutes then add the parsley and a generous squeeze of lemon juice.

Meanwhile, in a second pan, melt the remaining butter, tear the bread into bite-sized pieces, and fry till golden. Toss with the mushrooms and serve.

Baby gem, radish and goat’s cheese salad

Serves 4

Farmer's markets, plenty of them out there, and while I'm not so sure if the love of them is waning a little, but if you want to keep in touch with your seasons, there are few better places to hang out. Presently I'm totally spoilt in that if I'm prepared to do a bit of legwork, I now have 4 days out of 7 where I can shop this way at different markets, ensuring the whole sustainable thing is being kept in check, while keeping it as fresh and local as I possibly can. Yestrday morning I wandered down to Dupont Circle market here in DC and in amongst the late apples and early rhubarb, an abundance of spring leaves and vegetables have come up for air. This is what took my fancy and made the perfect Sunday night supper with little fuss and even less effort.

1 large baby gem lettuce
40g watercress (picked weight)
20g pea shoots

6 fat radishes, sliced

5 spring onions, thinly sliced
Half a small bunch of dill
80g goat’s cheese, cut into small cubes

For the vinaigrette
50ml good quality white wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
250ml groundnut oil
Salt and pepper

Pick and wash all the salad leaves and set aside.

To make the vinaigrette, mix the vinegar with the mustard, and then slowly add the oil while whisking vigorously or blending with a hand blender.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Dress the salad leaves with about 2 tblsp of the vinaigrette, toss together with all the other ingredients and serve pronto.

Ice cream

Washington, DC, day 5 and I've just seen the light of day - quite literally, and the VERY BEST ice cream I think I can EVER remember having... from Dolcezza Gelato in Georgetown, about a 20 minute walk from my new home, and well worth every step of the way.

I went for three big flavours with a Thai coconut, an amazing Valrhona chocolate and an organic pistachio. The three together just rocked, and I know there are going to be so many return visits now this discovery has proven to be so amazing.

The weather since I arrived has been so so perfect, by all accounts, Spring has come a month earlier than usual, so this afternoons impromptu ice cream trip was made all the better for the sun being high up in a glorious blue sky.

There's a tiny little patch of seating in Book Hill Park, on the way back from Dolcezza, the perfect spot to enjoy my treat while watching the traffic trundle up and down Wisconsin Avenue, I've arrived DC, and you know what, I think I'm going to get to like you.

Quick cassoulet

Serves 4

I think I've mentioned cassoulet before, if so there's an admission of a love affair I'm not shy about. This one is dead easy though, opening, a bit of frying and assembling kind of stuff. Just as long as you buy decent quality sausages you'll get a pretty good end result. At the end of the day this is peasant food, so let's not get all professional and try too hard - decent ingredients layered up with a bit of thoughtful timing and a bit of patience will pay dividends. Should you opt for the slower cooking of the last sector, run yourself a big bubble bath, pour the biggest glass of red you can, and sink into at least an hour's worth of anticipation...

4 plump spicy sausages

1 duck breast or thigh, cut into thick slices

1 tblsp olive oil

225g smoked bacon with plenty of fat, cut into large dice

1 large onion, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tsp tomato purée

55ml red wine

400g chopped tomatoes

2 x 425g cans haricot or butter beans, drained

1 bay leaf

2 tblsp grain mustard

50g coarse breadcrumbs

In a heavy, flameproof casserole, cook the sausages and duck in the olive oil until their fat runs and the sausages and duck are golden on all sides. Scoop out the meat and set aside. Add the bacon pieces to the pan and cook in the remaining fat until golden, then add the onion and garlic.

Cook for 5 or 6 minutes until they have softened slightly then stir in the tomato purée. Cook for another minute or so then pour in the red wine.

Simmer for a minute then stir in the tomatoes, the cooked sausages and the duck. Bring to the boil, stir in the beans, bay leaf, mustard and a seasoning of salt and pepper and then cook over a medium heat at a good simmer for about 15 minutes, or pop into a medium oven for easily an hour if you have the time to kill.

Remove the pan from the heat. Scatter over the breadcrumbs and place under a hot grill, a good few inches from the heat, until golden. Serve very hot.

Dill pickled salmon with mustard mayonnaise

Serves 8

This recipe serves tangy marinated salmon with a rich, homemade mustard mayonnaise, a reliable yet winning combination. Although it seems a lot of ingredients, the assembly is actually very straight forward.

Pickled salmon

900g salmon fillet, skinned and boned

Pinch of salt

Pinch of sugar

Juice of half a lemon

Lemon wedges, to serve

Rye bread, to serve

Marinade

1 bunch of fresh dill, finely chopped

2-3 strips of lemon peel

5g flat leaf parsley leaves only

2 onions, thinly sliced

2 carrots thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

25g mixed peppercorns

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

Freshly ground black pepper

400ml clear malt vinegar

400ml dry white wine

Mustard mayonnaise

2 egg yolks

1 tblsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp sugar

5 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp white wine vinegar

8 tblsp dill leaves, finely chopped

Slice the salmon fillet into 4 cm thick slices. Sprinkle with the salt, sugar and lemon juice.

Mix all the marinade ingredients, apart from the malt vinegar and white wine together in a mixing bowl and stand for 10 minutes. Add the vinegar and wine, mixing well.

Pour the marinade into a large sealable container. Add the sliced salmon, seal and refrigerate overnight. To make the mayonnaise, whisk together the yolks, mustard and sugar in a bowl. Add the oil in a steady trickle, whisking until blended thoroughly. Once the oil has been added, mix in the vinegar and the dill.

Serve the pickled salmon with lemon wedges, mustard mayonnaise and sliced rye bread.