Spittoon Extra

A Morcilla Tapas

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:25:45 +0000

The photo shows dish that inspired this Tapas round of Waiter; a Morcilla dish eaten during my recent trip to Madrid.

As with all things tapas, the freshest ingredients matter most but simple and quick cooking are also important. Attempts to recreate this dish have moved on from using black pudding (it works but doesn't have the same texture and contains more fatty lumps) to using the 'real thing' from Spanish deli Brindisa.

The morcilla is fried in a little olive oil, an egg is added and 'stir-fried', mix in a handful of toasted pine nuts too. Serve on top of a slice of toasted bread spread with a little homemade tomato sauce (Spanish tomatoes roasted for 15 minutes or so with olive oil and herbs, then pushed throough a seive). You'll have to play with specific quantities...

As it is the height of summer, and fewer people are inclined to blog at this time of year, we have extended this edition of Waiter until the end of July; plenty of time to submit your ideas on tapas. I just adore Spanish tapas - so lets see your ideas!

Picota Cherry and Manchego 'Tapas' Salad

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:00:25 +0000

While technically a small 'starter'; this delicious salad is the first of my suggestions for a tapas dish. The original recipe, written by Jose Pizarro head chef and co-owner of the critically acclaimed Tapas Brindisa in London, made use of almonds (I subsititued toasted cashews) and Frisee salad (where I used peashoots).

Keeping to Spanish theme however, the cherries are the acclaimed Picota cherries from Spain and the cheese is Manchego. I forget the type of meat but this too is Spanish in origin.

Serrano Ham and Manchego Salad - Serves 4 as a starter

Ingredients
75g Frisée salad leaves 20 Picota cherries, pitted 25g Flaked almonds, toasted 4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 Tablespoons apple or white wine vinegar Salt and pepper 200g Serrano ham 100g Manchego, cut into cubes 4 Stems of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Method

1. Mix together the frisée, cherries and almonds in a bowl.
2. Whisk together the olive oil and vinegar, add to the salad and toss thoroughly.
3. Arrange the ham slices on a large plate and heap the salad in the middle.
4. Place the cheese around the salad, then scatter with parsley.

Photos: More from Eguisheim, Alsace

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:45:12 +0000

With time only for a short jaunt through Eguisheim, less than 20 minutes at a guess, surprising to find have many photos I snapped of this one town. Demonstrates the picturesque qualities of the place...

Photos: Eguisheim, Alsace

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:00:01 +0000

First stop in the Alsace wine tour, Eguisheim home to, amongst others, Domaine Paul Zinck and the restaurant Au Vieux Porche. While the father and son manage the wine making, seperated by a cobbled drive way a sister manages the restaurant.

Over lunch an introduction to the wines of Paul Zinck, thus specifics and photos over on Spittoon, then a more formal tasting and a wander through Eguisheim. It is one of those quintessential Alsatian villages, verging on the twee perhaps but a delight to discover.

Photographs Taken at Artisan & Vine

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 12:25:39 +0000

A selection of four photos taken at Artisan & Vine, perhaps London's Best Wine Bar. If you are ever at Clapham Junction of an evening you really, really should go. But what to drink from the impressive wine list? Head over to spittoon...

Artisan & Vine
126 St John's Hill,
Clapham, SW11 1SL

Photos from South Africa 8 - Beyerskloof

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:00:39 +0000

A lunch at Beyerskloof, the spiritual home of Pinotage. The restaurant overlooks vineyards and in the distance the Kanonkop hill. This was a signal station with the canon firing when ships arrived in the Cape Town harbour.

The restaurant is not as high-brow as some of the other vineyard restaurants we visited; a welcome change actually. My choice of starter was my initiation into snails, meaty little blighters, dripping with garlic butter. Superb with Beyerskloofs Brut Sparkling Rosé.

No idea how I managed to snap a picture of an empty restaurant; the place was full and buzzing!

The Pinotage burger had been touted all week as the restaurant's best dish; so it seemed churlish not to try it. It is the relish on top, rather than the burger itself, that contias the pinotage. It was nice, rather than being terribly memorable (unlike the snails) but washed down with copious glasses of the Beyerskloof Pinotage Reserve made for a most enjoyable lunch...

Waiter There's Something In My... Tapas

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:05:17 +0000

The mantle of hosting the next edition of Waiter falls on my unworthy shoulders... the theme is tapas. Ingredients-wise we are talking of all things Spanish - beans, morcilla, seafood, olives, herbs, chorizo, rice, saffron, and olive oil in abundance. Freshness being the key. Of course tapas, being tapas, one dish is never enough! Your recipes please then, by the end of the month if you could be so kind.

For inspirational mood-setting, three photos from my recent trip to Madrid. It was a while ago now but I've been saving these photos for just this occassion. (More photos on flickr.)

Casa Labra, C/Tetuan 12 is famed for its cod croquettes; cheap too.

El Abuelo, C/Victoria 12 supplied the most delicious, quickly fried prawns, washed down with a fresh, crisp white wine.

Casa Lucas, Cava Baja, 30 is one of my favourite wine bars. If memory serves this looks like a combination of beans, olive oil and squid. What I do recall is that it was damn delicious.

Dessert of the Week - Raspberry Duck Egg Custard Tart

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:45:59 +0000

Now I'm not certain but the original for this - a Rhubarb custard tart - is probably from Dessert: Dessert Recipes from Le Champignon Sauvage by David Everitt-Matthias. I say probably as the recipe is in Fork; The Real Food Magazine (which someone recommended on twitter) but doesn't specifically mention that the recipe is in the book...

By using a ready-made pastry case that is smaller than the recipes 22cm diameter the custard filling obviously has to be reduced too. Basically I cut everything by half; but still had excess cream left over. The other thing I should, perhaps, have done is to strain the raspberry puree. While I don't mind the crunch of the little seeds it did lack a certain finesse and smoothness a simple strain would have provided.

Raspberry Duck Egg Custard Tart

For the Custard

400ml double cream

5 duck egg yolks

55g caster sugar

For the Raspberry Puree

Punet of frozen raspberries

a knob of unsalted butter

80g caster sugar

(I also added a slug of my elderflower syrup but this added little to the final flavour)

Simmer the puree ingredients until a thick, quite dry puree is produced. Part bake the pastry case. Then spread most of the puree over the base of the pastry.

Bring the cream to the boil. Lightly whisk the egg yolks and sugar together and slowly add the cream on to this mixture, stirring all the time. Pour back into the saucepan and heat through for 2 minutes again constantly stirring. Strain the custard through a fine sieve and pour it onto the pastry case. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the filling is just set. A temperature of 180C seems about right.

Allow to cool and serve with a spoonful of the remaining raspberry puree and clotted cream.

PS: Fork Magazine has a blog

Warm Chicken and Potato Salad with Lemon and Elderflower Sauce

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:35:22 +0000

There are several things in my life that I can be pretty confident are not going to happen. I'm never going to keep homing pigeons, learn to crochet or become a chimney sweep. I'm hardly likely to perch on the summit of Everest (vertigo; grief Snowdon was bad enough) or walk on the moon. I very much doubt I'll own a penthouse in Hong Kong or run a quaint pub in the depths of the English countryside either. Owning a bistro is hardly likely to happen (a tapas bar in Madrid is far more appealing) nor a Michelin starred restaurant.

Actually I have no idea what a bistro is or how it differs from a restaurant. I'm assuming they are generally smaller and with less formality in both deco and style of food served. A bistro, at least if I ran one, would forgo side plates and such frivolous additions to the 'dining experience'. Under my management of course there would be an award winning, deliciously interesting wine list specifically tailored to the seasonally inspired dishes available.

I never got as far with a wine to match this 'salad' - too pumped on Gin and Tonic I'm afraid. But the locally grown baby potatoes, my own Elderflower cordial and the home grown sorrel leaves are as fresh and as local as you could want. The chicken wasn't but if I had any sort of space equivalent to a garden there would be a chicken run...

Warm Chicken and Potato Salad with Lemon and Elderflower Sauce

There are no specific quantities to this dish - use as many little boiled potatoes as you wish to eat tossed with pan-fried diced chicken breasts. The sauce is the interesting bit. Heavily reduce a quantity of chicken stock (enlivened with several strips of lemon peel and two sprigs of rosemary). Strain before returning to the heat with a hefty slug of cream. Reduce further. Add a slug of homemade Elderflower cordial (also good in the G&T!) to taste and maybe a little lemon juice. The sauce needs to be quite thick; the addition of a knob of butter helps. Pour over the chicken and potatoes and dress with a few sorrel leaves.

If any were available a few quarters of fresh figs would have been added (semi-dried figs are too sweet I thought) to give that 'real bistro' feel; if there is such a thing!

My entry to this months Passionate Cook hosted Waiter event.

Dessert of the Week - Strawberry & Elderflower Creams

Sun, 31 May 2009 19:30:54 +0000

Being blessed with a fine Elderberry tree right outside my apartment it seems only natural to utilise the seasonal flowers and make a batch of Elderflower cordial. Now that I have three large bottles of the stuff in the fridge I have to find a use for it outside of adding it to a gin and tonic! This recipe, from Sophie Grigson's Country Kitchen, seemed ideal combining the Elderflower cordial with that other spring/summer staple, strawberries.

Strawberry and Elderflower Creams
Serves six apparently (I managed to fill three large glasses).

500g hulled strawberries

3 tablespoons Elderflower Cordial

85g caster sugar

4 gelatine leaves

300ml whipping cream

2 strips lemon zest

Select a few strawberries for decoration and process the others with the cordial and sugar.

Soak the gelatine in a dish of cold water, leave to soak while heating the cream. Add the lemon zest to the cream and heat slowly and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat. Add the gelatine (squeeze out the excess water) and stir to dissolve. Cool until warm. remove the zest then mix in the strawberry puree. Spoon into glasses and leave to set in the fridge for 3-4 hours. Bring back to room temperature before serving.

English Wine Week 2009 - Bloggers Meet Up

Sun, 24 May 2009 22:15:28 +0000

A bunch of twittering bloggers meet up in my home town of Wallingford for a day of English wine and food. The wine notes and main twitterings are over on Spittoon but thought a few of the pictures I took on the day were good enough for posting here. Text excerpts are from the tweets posted during the day. For full coverage of the tweets the tag #aeww (Awsome English wine week) was used (just ignore the odd Brazilian stuff that pops in occassionally if you read the full tweets!). More aeww pictures on flickr.

wine_scribbler: lovely stroll thru vineyards and lakeside at brightwell vineyard #aeww

eatlikeagirl: Gorgeous walk around the vineyard. It's beautiful here! Very relaxing. Lots of pics to post. There's pigs here too. I want to move in. #aeww

Dessert of the Week - Mango & Lemongrass Tart with Coconut Pastry

Tue, 19 May 2009 15:15:59 +0000

If you are gonna get critical then, indeed, the mango could be more daintily sliced and the pastry could be finished more professionally ... but in my defence my tart tin was a different size to the one in the recipe and frankly, if you are the only one to be eating it, does it really matter if the fruit slices are a little 'chunky'?

The recipe comes from the June issue of Delicious magazine. Not totally convinced the bruised lemon grass added much to the fillings flavour but mango and coconut do combine well. I have in mind an excellent sweet wine (that I sampled at the London Wine Fair last week) that would go superbly with this; sadly the wine is not yet available in the UK. I'll get the note up on Spittoon shortly but it's the Plunkett Fowles The Exception Late Harvest Viognier 2008!

Mango and Lemongrass Tart with Coconut Pastry

300ml double cream

3 lemongrass stalks bruised

2 large egg yolks

75g caster sugar

1 1/2 gelatine leaves

1 large mango peeled and thinly sliced

For the coconut pastry

200g plain flour

100g chilled unsalted butter

30g desiccated coconut

1 tbsp icing sugar

Dessert of the Week: Nature's Pleasure Rhubarb Crumble Tart

Sun, 10 May 2009 17:56:16 +0000

The recipe below is as supplied (from the people behind Kellogg's new Nature's Pleasure baked cereal). I made a few changes. Rather than making my own pasty case I used a 'Delia cheat' ready-made one and, seeing as fresh rhubarb has yet to arrive around these-'ere-parts,a mix of frozen fruits (blackberries, rhubarb, blackcurrants and plums) was substituted. Still good though.

Nature's Pleasure Rhubarb Crumble Tart
By Simon Rimmer

Ingredients:
Pastry - 225g flour
100g butter
25g sugar
1 egg
Small amount of milk to bind

Egg wash

250g rhubarb
Pinch of ground star anise
Pinch of ground ginger
150g sugar
Juice 1 orange

Top - 100g flour
100g dem sugar
100g Nature's Pleasure Cherry and Raspberry
150g butter
Pinch of ground cinnamon

Method:
1. Pastry - pulse together in blender, then roll out, line a 200mm tin, chill for 2 hours. Bake blind at 200c for 15-20 minutes. Then brush with egg wash and cook for extra 5 minutes

2. Filling - put the rhubarb, spices, sugar and orange in a pan and cook until just soft. Spoon into the case

3. Top - rub all together, spoon on top of the fruit. Bake at 180c for 12 minutes

4. Serve with custard

Three More Photos From Madrid

Wed, 06 May 2009 18:20:50 +0000

I cannot for the life of me remember which bar this was taken in; the wine was the cheapest white on the bars list. I'll have to check my tweets to find the details.

A little train trip south and you get to the palace and gardens at Aranjuez; this is Roberto.

Three Photos From Madrid

Tue, 05 May 2009 15:00:21 +0000

I simply love Madrid - the style, the night life, the tapas, the architecture, the history... In what is becoming a yearly event I've just returned from another long weekend, hanging out with my good friend Roberto in a ceasless round of bar hoping, tapas and getting drunk. Three pictures; more tomorrow and later on Flickr.

Casa Labra - a bar just off Puerta del Sol famed for its left wing meetings and cod based tapas.

A young couple at the Real Jardin Botanico.