from Jamie Oliver’s the naked chef.
Cut 4 medium endives into eighths. Wash and drain and dry well. Blitz or finely chop (or pestle and mortar) 6 anchovy fillets with 1 tbsp capers. Add 5 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp lemon juice, black pepper.
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poached figs
Written on Saturday, December 2nd, 2006 at 7:00 pm
There’s little to beat a freshly picked fig, still warm from the summer sun. But it’s also good to have a few ways of turning them into a stylish dessert.
Lots of variations on a theme – I’ll add variations as I come across them.
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Figs in sweet Beaume de Venise muscat wine
8 fresh figs
1/2 bottle of beaumes de venise
strip of lemon zest
1 vanilla pod
stab the figs 2 or 3 times, and gently poach covered 5 – 10 mins in the simmering wine, lemon zest and vanilla pod. Use a wide frying pan that will take them in a single layer. Drain, remove lemon and vanilla, reduce liquid, pour over figs, cool.
Alternatively, cut them through into quarters, but not right the way through the core; put into baking dish with montbazillac (sweet desset wine); or rasteau, or even cassis; bake … and I serve at room temperature.
Serve with creme fraiche, creme anglaise (vanilla custart), or vanilla icecream.
Or vanilla fromage frais, or any of the varieties of not quite yoghurt/not quite cream/not quite cheese stuff that fill the dairy of shelves of french supermarkets (and range from 0% through to 33% fat content). Just add sugar and the vanilla seeds from a vanilla pod
chicken with sherry vinegar and tarragon sauce
Written on Saturday, December 2nd, 2006 at 6:54 pm
Delia’s adaptation of the classic French dish Poulet au Vinaigre. I’ll do a proper comparision some day. But in the meantime, I know that this one works well as I’ve been cooking it for years.
It’s easy to buy sherry vinegar here – but I can’t find sherry! Have to do a little trip into Spain sometime ….
Ingredients
1 x 3½ lb (1.75 kg) chicken, jointed into 8 pieces, or you could use 4 bone-in chicken breast portions
5 fl oz (150 ml) sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
12 shallots, peeled and left whole
4 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
15 fl oz (425 ml) medium-dry Amontillado sherry
1 heaped tablespoon crème fraîche
salt and freshly milled black pepper
To garnish:
8 small sprigs of fresh tarragon
You will also need a large, roomy frying pan, 9 inches (23 cm) in diameter.
First of all, heat the oil in the frying pan and season the chicken joints with salt and pepper. Then, when the oil begins to shimmer, fry the chicken (in two batches) to brown well: remove the first batch to a plate while you tackle the second. Each joint needs to be a lovely golden-brown colour. When the second batch is ready, remove it to the plate to join the rest. Then add the shallots to the pan, brown these a little, and finally add the garlic cloves to colour slightly.
Now turn the heat down, return the chicken pieces to the pan, scatter the tarragon leaves all over, then pour in the vinegar and sherry. Let it all simmer for a bit, then turn the heat to a very low setting, so that the whole thing barely bubbles, for 45 minutes. Halfway through, turn the chicken pieces over to allow the other sides to sit in the sauce.
When they’re ready, remove them to a warm serving dish (right side up) along with the shallots and garlic. The sauce will by now have reduced and concentrated, so all you do is whisk the crème fraîche into it, taste it and season as required, then pour the sauce all over the chicken and scatter with the sprigs of tarragon. This is lovely served with tiny new potatoes tossed in herbs and some fresh shelled peas.
This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Summer Collection and The Delia Collection: Chicken.
caramelised fennel
Written on Saturday, December 2nd, 2006 at 6:33 pm
Works with fish or roast chicken.
To make it more provencal, I’d probably substitute white wine vinegar for the cider vinegar, and might even give it a slosh of pastis. Or perhaps use some quince juice if I had some open. Although we mainly use olive oil for cooking, using butter here helps the caramelisation
From Delia again
Ingredients
4 medium-sized heads fennel
1 oz (25 g) butter
1 rounded teaspoon granulated sugar
10 fl oz (275 ml) medium cider
2 fl oz (55 ml) cider vinegar
pinch salt
You will need a wide saucepan with a lid, of about 9-10 inches (23-25.5 cm) in diameter, into which the trimmed fennel will fit snugly.
To prepare the fennel bulbs, first cut off the leafy fronds and reserve them for a garnish. Now trim off the green shoot by cutting diagonally to make a V-shape. Then slice off the root part at the other end, keeping the bulb intact, and remove any tough or brown outer layers, then slice across each bulb to cut it in half.
Then place the fennel in a fan steamer set in the saucepan with 1 inch (2.5 cm) of boiling water under it. Cover and steam for 10 minutes, then remove them from the steamer, throw out the water, wipe the inside of the pan with kitchen paper and return it to the heat.
Next melt the butter and sugar in the saucepan and when it starts to foam, stir it around the pan until the sugar dissolves, then add the fennel, cut side down. Keeping the heat fairly high, brown it for 5 minutes, then turn the pieces over and brown them on the other side for another 3 minutes.
Now combine the cider, cider vinegar and a little salt, and pour this into the pan; then, keeping the cut side of the fennel facing upwards, cover with a lid and simmer gently for 20 minutes. After that turn the fennel over again. Then continue to cook for a further 20-25 minutes (this time uncovered). Watch carefully during the last 10 minutes and test to see if it is cooked by inserting a skewer.
When the fennel is tender enough, raise the heat so that the remaining juices reduce to a glaze. Shake the pan carefully to give an even covering of the caramel glaze. Now transfer the whole lot to a warm serving dish with the cut surfaces upwards and scatter with the chopped fennel fronds as a garnish.
This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Winter Collection.
roasted red peppers with fennel
Written on Saturday, December 2nd, 2006 at 6:19 pm
Another way to fill a red pepper! One of the important thing to watch when cooking with seasonal and local ingredients is to make sure that you can get the ingredients for a recipe at the same time of year. As we get a lot ingredients brought up from Spain, this should be good from early summer through to the end of the year. (It’s 2nd December today, and both peppers and fennel are available in the local greengrocers. There are fresh plum tomatoes as well, so need to use tinned ones).
Ingredients
4 large red peppers
2 small bulbs fennel
1 x 14 oz (400 g) tin Italian plum tomatoes
8 dessertspoons extra virgin olive oil1 rounded teaspoon mixed pepper berries
¾ level teaspoon whole coriander seeds
½ level teaspoon fennel seeds
juice ½ lemon
finely chopped spring onion for garnish (optional)
sea salt
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C).
You will also need a shallow baking sheet (I use a Swiss-roll tin).
Slice each pepper in half lengthways, cutting right through the green stalk end and leaving it intact; though it won’t be eaten, it adds much to the look of the thing. Remove all the seeds. Place the pepper halves on the baking sheet, then drain the tomatoes (you don’t need the juice), and divide them into eight equal portions, placing each portion inside a pepper half.
Now pare off any brownish bits of fennel with your sharpest knife and cut the bulbs first into quarters and then again into eighths, carefully keeping the layers attached to the root ends. Now put them in a saucepan with a little salt, pour boiling water on them and blanch them for 5 minutes. Then drain them in a colander and, as soon as they’re cool enough to handle, arrange two slices in each pepper half. Sprinkle 1 dessertspoon of olive oil over each one, using a brush to brush the oil round the edges and sides of the peppers.
Next, lightly crush the pepper berries, coriander and fennel seeds with a pestle and mortar or rolling pin and bowl, sprinkle these evenly all over the fennel and peppers, and finish off with a grinding of sea salt. Then bake the peppers for about 1 hour on a high shelf in the oven until they are soft and the skin wrinkled and nicely tinged with brown. After removing them from the oven, sprinkle the lemon juice all over, cool and serve garnished with a little finely chopped spring onion or as they are.
This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Christmas.
roasted tomato salad
Written on Saturday, December 2nd, 2006 at 6:09 pm
Again on the theme of roasted vegetable salads, this is very similar in execution to the piedmont roasted peppers.
It’s another from Delia’s summer cooking. Personally, I don’t bother by skinning the tomatoes; too much effort, and leaving them on helps hold them together. If people don’t want to eat the skins, they can just eat the innards.
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Ingredients
12 large tomatoes
2 large or 4 small cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
12 large fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly milled black pepper
For the dressing:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
To garnish: fresh basil leaves24 black olives
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6, 400°F (200°C).
You will also need a shallow roasting tin 16 x 12 inches (40 x 30 cm), oiled.
Skin the tomatoes first of all by pouring boiling water over them and leaving for 1 minute, then drain and, as soon as they are cool enough to handle, slip off the skins. (Protect your hands with a cloth if necessary.) Now cut each tomato in half, around the middle rather than vertically, and place the halves in the roasting tin (cut side uppermost) and season with salt and freshly milled pepper. After that, sprinkle on the chopped garlic, distributing it evenly between the tomatoes. Follow this with a few droplets of olive oil on each one, then top each one with half a basil leaf, turning each piece of leaf over to get a coating of oil.
Now place the roasting tin in the top half of the oven and roast the tomatoes for 50-60 minutes or until the edges are slightly blackened. Then remove the tin from the oven and allow the tomatoes to cool. All this can be done several hours ahead.
To serve the tomatoes, transfer them to individual serving plates, then whisk the oil and balsamic vinegar together and drizzle this over the tomatoes. Finally top each one with an olive and garnish with basil leaves. Lots of crusty bread is an essential accompaniment to this.
This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Summer Collection and Delia’s Vegetarian Collection.
piedmont roasted peppers
Written on Saturday, December 2nd, 2006 at 5:55 pm
My variation on a recipe originally published by Elizabeth David in Italian Food, then Delia Smith in her Summer Cooking.
Where the original recipe calls for anchovy, I use a teaspoon of tapenade (black olive paste) per pepper. As tapenade often contains capers, this seems to substitute well for the saltiness of the anchovies. And it makes the whole dish fine for veggies.
I took a whole tray of these to Jo’s garden party in les Pilles last September, and they went down a storm.
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Ingredients
4 large red peppers (green are not suitable)
4 medium tomatoes
8 tinned anchovy fillets, drained
2 cloves garlic
8 dessertspoons Italian extra virgin olive oil
freshly milled black pepper
To serve: small bunch fresh basil leaves
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C).
For this it is essential to use a good, solid, shallow roasting tray, 16 x 12 inches (40 x 30 cm). If the sides are too deep, the roasted vegetables won’t get those lovely, nutty, toasted edges.
Begin by cutting the peppers in half and removing the seeds but leaving the stalks intact (they’re not edible but they do look attractive and they help the pepper halves to keep their shape). Lay the pepper halves in the lightly oiled roasting tray. Now put the tomatoes in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Leave them for 1 minute, then drain them and slip the skins off, using a cloth to protect your hands. Then cut the tomatoes into quarters and place two quarters in each pepper half.
After that, snip one anchovy fillet per pepper half into rough pieces and add to the tomatoes. Peel the garlic cloves, slice them thinly and divide the slices equally among the tomatoes and anchovies. Now spoon 1 dessertspoon of olive oil into each pepper, season with freshly milled pepper (but no salt because of the anchovies) and place the tray on a high shelf in the oven for the peppers to roast for 50 minutes to 1 hour.
Then transfer the cooked peppers to a serving dish, with all the precious juices poured over, and garnish with a few scattered basil leaves. These do need good bread to go with them as the juices are sublime – focaccia would be perfect.
This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Summer Collection.
goats cheese and tapenade toasts
Written on Saturday, December 2nd, 2006 at 5:44 pm
either serve as a starter on a bed of leaves with a balsamic vinegar dressing; or as they are to go with aperitifs out on the terrace …
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sliced baguette, lightly toasted; spread with tapenade (the paste made with olives) and top with a slice of goats cheese cut from a goats cheese log.
put under grill or into hot oven to slightly melt the cheese
pears in almond sponge
Written on Saturday, December 2nd, 2006 at 5:18 pm
Having had this as a great dessert the other night at the Charette Bleue, I thought I’d hunt down a recipe to use as a starting point.
I found this one on the BBC web site – by Rachel Allen
I’ll come back and give some news on how it works. This is for a large “tart”, whereas the one I ate was an individual sponge with a whole poached pear inside.
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Ingredients
175g/6oz icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
50g/2oz plain flour
100g/4oz ground almonds
1 lemon, zest only
5 free-range egg whites
175g/6oz butter, melted, plus extra butter for greasing
2 ripe pears, peeled, cored and quartered, then cut into long slices about 5mm/¼in thick
25g/1oz flaked almonds
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Lightly grease the sides of a 23cm/9in tart tin with a removable bottom and place a disc of greaseproof paper on the base. If you prefer, you can serve this tart on the tart tin base,
in which case do not use a disc of paper.
3. Sieve the icing sugar and flour into a clean bowl and stir in the ground almonds and
lemon zest.
4. Place the free-range egg whites into another clean bowl. Whisk the egg whites for 30 seconds, until just frothy.
5. Add the whisked egg whites and warm melted butter to the bowl containing the dry ingredients. Mix the ingredients until the Ingredients combine and become smooth. Then pour the mixture into the prepared tart tin.
6. Arrange the pieces of pear on the top of the mixture and sprinkle the flaked almonds onto the top of the pears.
7. Transfer the tin to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then turn down the heat of the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and cook for a further ten minutes or until the mixture has risen and has a pale golden colour. The filling should feel firm to the touch in the centre when cooked through. Remove the tin from the oven and allow it to sit in the tin for a few minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack.
8. To serve, place the tart on a clean plate and dust with icing sugar.
VARIATIONS
Instead of pears I sometimes use 100g/4oz raspberries or blackberries (either fresh or frozen) for the topping. Alternatively, I use 50g/2oz pine nuts instead of fruit. You can also make this with 100g/4oz peach or nectarine slices, which is particularly nice in the summer!
chicken basque
Written on Saturday, December 2nd, 2006 at 4:48 pm
This recipe is originally from Delia Smith’s summer cooking. I use epautre (a local grain, sometimes called smelt in English) that was an ancient ancester of wheat instead of Delia’s rice.
I often use epautre instead of rice or pearl barley. A great advantage is that it always keeps a bit of bite.
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Ingredients
1 x 3½ lb (1.75 kg) chicken, jointed into 8 pieces
2 large red peppers
1 very large or 2 medium onions
2 oz (50 g) sun-dried tomatoes in oil (or tin of good cherry tomatoes)
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
5 oz (150 g) chorizo sausage, skinned and cut into ½ inch (1 cm) slices
brown basmati rice or epautre measured to the 8 fl oz (225 ml) level in a glass measuring jug
10 fl oz (275 ml) chicken stock
6 fl oz (170 ml) dry white wine
1 level tablespoon tomato purée
½ level teaspoon hot paprika
1 level teaspoon chopped fresh herbs
2 oz (50 g) pitted black olives, halved
½ large orange, peeled and cut into wedges
salt and freshly milled black pepper
You will also need a wide, shallow, flameproof casserole with a domed lid, measuring about 9½ inches (24 cm) at the base; or, failing that, any wide flameproof casserole of 8 pint (4½ litre) capacity.
Start by seasoning the chicken joints well with salt and pepper. Next, slice the red peppers in half and remove the seeds and pith, then slice each half into six strips. Likewise, peel the onion and slice into strips of approximately the same size. The dried tomatoes should be drained, wiped dry with kitchen paper and then cut into ½ inch (1 cm) pieces.
Now heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in the casserole and, when it is fairly hot, add the chicken pieces – two or three at a time – and brown them to a nutty golden colour on both sides. As they brown remove them to a plate lined with kitchen paper, using a draining spoon. Next add a little more oil to the casserole, with the heat slightly higher than medium. As soon as the oil is hot, add the onion and peppers and allow them to brown a little at the edges, moving them around from time to time, for about 5 minutes.
After that, add the garlic, chorizo and dried tomatoes and toss these around for a minute or two until the garlic is pale golden and the chorizo has taken on some colour. Next, stir in the rice and, when the grains have a good coating of oil, add the stock, wine, tomato purée and paprika. As soon as everything has reached simmering point, turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. Add a little more seasoning, then place the chicken gently on top of everything (it’s important to keep the rice down in the liquid). Finally, sprinkle the herbs over the chicken pieces and scatter the olives and wedges of orange in among them.
Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook over the gentlest possible heat for about 50 minutes-1 hour or until the rice is cooked but still retains a little bite. Alternatively cook in a pre-heated oven at gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C), for 1 hour.
This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Summer Collection and The Delia Collection: Chicken.