Meals on Blogs

OK, so it’s a little late, but here are some quick thoughts on that menu.

It was all good – a very successful meal. The ricotta gnocchi were unbelievable – light and subtle, they’ll turn into a regular feature here. The aubergine with mint and the braised beef in barolo were also successful.

Last night I served a five-course meal, just for fun. I’m not going to give you the recipes because I took them directly from books. I only publish recipes I’ve changed substantially.

So here goes:

Starters

Griddled Aubergine with Mint
Grilled Mushrooms with Mozzarella
Steamed Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Green Beans with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Lemon Juice (all from Jamie’s Italy)

Pasta course

Gnocchi di Ricotta e Salsa di Gorgonzola (from Complete Italian Cookery Course by Ursula Ferrigno)

Main Course

Manzo Brasato in Barolo – Beef Braised in Barolo (from Complete Italian Cookery Course by Ursula Ferrigno)
Stoved Salsify (from The Crank’s Vegetarian Bible by Nadine Abensur)
Fried Courgettes with Lemon and Anchovies (from Jamie’s Italy)

Cheese Course

Dolcellate
Gorgonzola
Provelone
Manchego
Country-style Bread (from Waitrose)

Dessert

Pavlova with Strawberries and Raspberries (made by my wife, Sam, from Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course)

So many recipes call for red or white wine, but opening a whole bottle for a gravy or sauce is madness as you may not want to finish the rest of the bottle.

Since I cooked a Jamie Oliver recipe for baked fennel that suggested dry white vermouth as an alternative to white wine, I’ve kept a bottle for when I need only a small amount of white wine. It’s a great alternative that works in just about any recipe that doesn’t rely on the wine as the primary flavour.

I also keep a bottle of ruby port open for adding to gravies, sauces and casseroles. It’s not as direct a substitute for red wine as vermouth is for white wine – it’s sweet, so has a very different basic character – but think of how many times the word ‘port’ has got your mouth watering on a restaurant menu.

Port is bubbling away in a casserole as I write this.

Not only are vermouth and port longer-lived than wine, they’re also very much cheaper, so I feel much more like adding them to everyday cooking. Everybody wins!

There are some things – ingredients, books, gear – that I can’t do without in the kitchen.

Today sees the start of a series of posts about them.

What can’t you do without?

Our vegetable box really reflects the seasons. This week, the preponderance of root vegetables – celeriac, swede, sweet potatoes and large maincrop carrots – plus a cauliflower, tells me it’s winter.

I love this seasonal thing. It’s constantly prodding me to rethink what I’m cooking, rather than letting me settle gently into a rut.