Legs of Lamb

OFM Awards

2010-04-19T04:41:00.001-07:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/observer-food-monthly-awards

We Need your Votes! And you can Win great stuff too ... just for voting!

Our sister bar 69 Colebrooke row is winning all the accolades ... isn't it our turn?

Halloween means Pumpkin Pie!

2009-11-03T12:21:00.000-08:00

My Pumpkin carving skills went down well on the other side of the pond last week and left us with the usual abundance of pumpkin flesh.

I looked up a pumpkin recipe in the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook that I'd sent my sister on her arrival to Boston this summer thinking, rather stereotypically, that she might find herself in need of a whole book

dedicated to cupcakes and 'pies'.

She is sadly been too busy with visiters and with settling my nephews into new school.

We baked the pumpkin flesh in the oven on a fairly low heat for about an hour (kind of steaming it) then mashed it into a puree (or magi-mix it)

We had 500g of pureed pumpkin and to that we added

a small tin of condensed milk 375ml

300 grams of light brown sugar

1 egg and one yolk

1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

pinch of salt

Mix up in one bowl and fill your pastry cases (this should make two large flan tins lined with crumb or shortcrust pastry)

We cheated(?!) and bought a couple of pre made crumb pie casings but if you use shoert crust be sure to blind bake thoroughly as there is little worse than a pumpkin pie with soggy pastry.

We had ours in a fan assisted oven at 325c for 50 minutes. Shake the tray, if its still wobbling in the middle then they need longer in the oven.

Pumpkin Pie is rather sweet and I serve with creme fraiche to balance out sweetness.

Barking Crab in Boston Harbour

2009-11-03T11:45:00.000-08:00

Our last supper in Boston whilst visiting my sister and her family was one of the finest seafood feasts i've ever had.

Not because of the selection or the quality of the wine list or the consistancy of their mayonaise (which was not home made!). It wasn't posh and the service was fast but not refined, it was though, a great meal out with family in a magically simple setting with great food at great prices.

We ordered a huge plate of crab claws and legs from varying varieties ... the King crab legs having the most amount of meat i've ever been able to extract from one crustacean limb!

The kids had deepfried clams?! and fries with sides of coleslaw.

I chose a good friend of mine on the stateside to join the party in my tummy ... Samuel Addams Boston Lager MMMMMMMmmmmmm,

crab and beer heaven.

Balthazar... Lunch in Manhatten.

2009-11-03T10:36:00.000-08:00

Whilst in Manhatten last week I couldn't resist visiting my old favourite, Balthazar on Spring Street, Soho.

The chaotic entrance was crowded with an baying crowd of hopefuls, thankfully our good friend William Clarke had secured us a booth with a great view of the festivities.

Exquisite oyster selection from both East and West coast of the Americas and a chunky brandade with toasted sourdough were followed by a steak frites for me, a boeuf bourguignon with parpadelle for Hobby, warm salad of trout with spinach and lentils for Sarah (Williams wonderful wife, and a whole lot more!) and William had a sauteed skate with capers ... all immaculately cooked with plenty of butter and washed down with a wonderful bottle of 2003 Condrieu, just as it should be in a french brasserie.

With the release of Julie and Julia (which I watched on the flight home!) we are reminded that those pesky yanks do know how to cook french food and its great to find it served in the setting of its homeland with wonderful and informed service. Fabulous.

Huntsham Court Farm Longhorn Beef Box...

2009-10-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

We had a delivery from Huntsham Court Farm in Hereford last week which consisted of a mixed box of Longhorn Beef bits. All the meat had been hung for 32 days and was of exceptional quality. The Marrow Bones were straight out of the Natural History Museum!

We managed to get 14 Sirloin steaks (which were served with Roquefort butter,new potatoes and a simple salad)

We also got 4 kilos of stewing beef and a couple of oxtails which became partners in a delicious stew based on one that maman used to make when I was little. A lot of people shy away from oxtail as its quite fatty, but you know how me and Sanchia are about all things fat!

Its difficult to tell what quantities as we make so much at the pub so these are guesstimates for approx 6 to 8 people.

One Oxtail

1.5 Kilos of stewing beef

500ml of red wine

500ml of stock

Tin of Tomatoes

Tomato Puree

8 large carrots

8 large shallots

garlic (to taste)

4 sticks of Celery

the peel of 1/2 an orange

12 juniper berries

a couple of mace blades

8 black peppercorns

sea salt

You can see said stew in 3 stages above. Stringing up the oxtail vertebrae is essential otherwise it falls off the bone and you will get lots of oxtail vertebrae and no defined oxtail meat. Sealing the meat in oil also helps it stay together when added to liquid later.

Sweat off lots of shallots, celery and garlic and orange peel in the same oil that sealed the oxtail until soft then add a generous amount of red wine and equal parts beef or veal stock (or veg stock would also be fine as we are putting in plenty of flavoursome beef into this dish).

Add in Carrots and large cubes of stewing beef... and any other root vegetables that you want (turnips and parsnips would work well) and a few Bay leaves, black pepper corns, the mace and the juniper berries... the oxtail can be returned to the pot at this stage. A tin of good quality peeled tomatoes should be added at this point with a couple of spoons of tomato puree. Taste after 10 minutes and add salt to taste ... you may not need any as the stock should have some in already.

This can then be left for approximately 6 to 8 hours on a low heat simmering away. As most stews, this gets better after a day in the fridge! We served ours with a good potato puree/ mashed potatoes ... you need some thing to mop up the juice with so make sure you have some crusty bread on hand.

We have a couple of Huntsham Farm Tongues and a Longhorn Brisket sitting in Brine awaiting some attention from Sanchia ... watch this space for more beefy offal dishes!

Christmas Menu ...

2009-10-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

Its ready, finished, priced and signed off.... This years Charles Lamb Christmas menu is ready to be viewed by all. The bookings diary is now officially open!

Bubbles on arrival … so don’t be late!

00000

Butternut Squash Soup with crème fraiche and truffle oil

Smoked trout pate with pickles and toast

Beetroot, goats cheese and hazlenut salad

Speck (smoked ham) with caperberries

00000

Roquefort and Chestnut Dauphinoise with seasonal greens

Confit Duck, Celeriac puree and spiced red cabbage served with a cranberry and apple sauce

Venison and red wine casserole with rosemary suet dumplings

Smoked Pollock and oyster pie with curly kale

00000

Charles Lamb Figgy Pudding with brandy cream

Spiced poached pear with crème fraiche and ameretti

Manchego with quince chutney

00000

Coffee and chocolates

12.5% Service Charge will be added to your bill which is then distributed between the Bar, Floor and Kitchen.

Tables are available for 6 up to 12 persons

Larger groups can be accommodated at certain times, please ask!

A non-refundable deposit of £12 per person is needed to confirm your booking.

happy Camille

2009-10-12T14:36:00.000-07:00

Of course Camille's never happier than when in a pork shop...

and here she is in Charctuerie Mas' shop in the Auvergne, watching as her very own ham is prepared...

of course she had carefully calculated her Ryanair hand luggage...

I'm sure she'll be pleased to know that they also have a blog: lesproduitsmas.blogspot.com - get your fill of pig porn!

Inchivala...

2009-09-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

Melinda Lovells 60th Birthday gathering brought the legs of lamb together for the first tme in months in the unlikely region of Cantal in the Auvergne.

I say unlikely but it is home of Cantal cheese and also Aligot one of our favourite cheesy potato dishes so it was inevitably on a long list of places we'd like to visit. It is also home to Sanchias parents and their wonderful 'Potage' which we spent the weekend raping and pillaging . Well it is after all Harvest time and we did have 25 people to cook for! We had a guest leg of lamb for the weekend too, in the guise of Oliver Rowe chef patron of Konstam at the Prince Albert.... and there were arguments either!

Onions, Beetroots, pumpkins, purple runner beans, carrots, apples and quinces .... and a leg of ham from a local butcher.... There are a few things to fill you in on but I will have to wait until next week when I have photos.

I will leave it to Pippa and Sanchia to add to this escapades tales. More from me next week!

The Eagle (cookbook) has (re)landed!

2009-09-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

The Eagle had its 18th Birthday earlier this year and its coming of age has brought with it a reprint of the original Eagle Cookbook with additions from chefs past and present...like David Eyre, Tom Norrington-Davies, Sam & Sam Clarke, Margot Henderson, Trish Hilferty and Ed Mottershaw, the present head chef, to name a few.

The unlikely pair who started it all are Mike Belben (on the left) and David Eyre (on the right) and the forward of the new edition, which is written by Fay Maschler, summarises how it all started and where it stands now amongst all the spin offs and copy cats ... and all of us who learnt a thing or two from working there.

You can buy this book on amazon for a steal and probably buy it in Borders or Waterstones too, however I recommend buying your copy in the eagle after sampling something from the book so that you can see for yourself where the Gastro Pub began!

The Eagle, 159 Farringdon Road EC1R 3AL, 020 7837 1353

What a busy Summer!

2009-08-19T05:48:00.000-07:00

WOW what a busy summer we've had!

Venice for the Biennale in June ... and the delights of the rialto market and this lovely market on a boat that I spotted!

July brought us Bastille Day (a drizzly one) but there was sunshine in our food with Grand Aioli, Ratatouille, Merguez Galletes, Provencal fish stew, Gateau Breton (see piccy!) and much more...

Later that month a visit to Sablet ... home to Wine,the Mistral, Tour de France .... and Pippa and Pascals wonderful holiday cottage where the afternoons were spent cooking and baking indoors as it was too hot outdoors! (see piccy of Hobby and Claudette helping make a "Tarte Reine Claude")...

Last week Ferragosto was celebrated at the Bar with No Name at 69 Colebrooke Row ...

We had a lovely buffet that included

Fennel, Mozzerella and black olives and orange salad

Fregola and Pine nut and pepper, basil tomato salad

Caponata

Gorganzola and spinach Frittata

Affettati (ventricina, speck, finochiona, prosciutto cotto )

Sardines in soar (pickled in vinegar red onions and sultanas)

Orange almond and polenta cake

Tiramisu

and Americanino cocktails all round kindly sponsered by Martini (see photo of Tony C on Martini Vespa that he didn't want to give back!)

The summer isn't over yet so we'll try and fill you in on a few new ideas and discoveries in the next couple of weeks!

The Porky Pie...

2009-05-11T08:30:00.001-07:00

Last Tuesday I arrived at the Charles Lamb to find a veritable plethora of pork goods. This isn't an unusual occurence, but notably they were all too small and annoying to become a main course so I was a bit flummoxed and contemplated eating them all throughout the day and thus disposing of them without waste.

There was pork mince, (probably a surplus from the weekend's scotch eggs), 3 slices of roast pork belly, some insignificant scraps of bacon, and a few confit pig cheeks.

Soon, there were shallots, celery, thyme, garlic and red wine, and some spectacular looking porky jellied stock/gravy all getting up close in a big vat with the pork goods, suet pastry happening in a large quantity, and pie on my mind.

It apparently didn't last long. It sat on the bar with its golden crust and Camille's porcelain blackbird still seated in the middle letting the steam out and people ravaged it. One man had it as a starter, followed by a smoked pork belly main, and then, as an afterthought, took an extra slice home with him for breakfast. That man has my great respect.

Fruit de Mer Supper

2009-05-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

Grand Aioli as only Sanchia can do it!!!

Globe artichokes, duck eggs, chicory, carrots , celery, radishes, brown shrimp and winkles. This was our starter ... our vegetables before the seafood feast ahead! It was accompanied with a delicate Provence Rose from Boutinot wines I think Sanchia's ration of garlic cloves to egg yolks in her aioli is 3 to 1 but she may want to correct me if I'm wrong.

Whilst I was was plating up the platters, Papa challenged Laura to an Oyster (from Maldon) shuck off. I wasn't present but on my return from the Kitchen it seemed that Laura had won but both had a sweaty brow. I think its safe to say that although Laura opened more, Papa definately ate more!!!

The Fruit de Mer was amazingly fresh and was simply accompanied by a dry and minerally Muscadet sur lie and Sanchia's lemon mayonnaise.

The dessert was Gateaux Breton, Mamans almond and apple cake and apple sorbet with a Corsican desert wine, Muscadeu, a light, dusty red dessert wine which went down a storm.

The night ended with desert wine over Papa's crotch, Joyeaux Anniversaire being chanted to Maman sending her into a slight dizz! A wonderful night was had by all and a special thank you to Chris Michel from Boutinot wines for supporting us and Laura from Clerkenwell Kitchen for the use of the kitchen for prep and her expertise on all things live and snappy!!!

Fruit de Mer ... preperation...

2009-05-04T13:16:00.001-07:00

We had a Fruit de Mer Supper on Saturday at the Charles Lamb. Langoustines, Crabs, Crevettes, Winkles, Brown Shrimp. First we had to cook it all up.

It a arrived live and snappy Saturday morning and I transported it to Clerkenwell Kitchen and the awaiting expert on all things live and snappy, Laura.

Massive pans of rolling boiling salted pans of water awaited the catch. The Langoustines (scottish) got 2 minutes before being thrown into an icy cold bath. The crabs got 1 minute per 100g (approx 15 minutes each for the monsters we got).

We then made an apple sorbet to go with the Gateau Breton that Sanchia made and the apple and almond cake my mum made.

Bramley apples, peeled , cored and drenched in lemon juice then put in the freezer for 45 mins (to intensify flavour and colour) wizzed up in blender with a splash of juice and some sugar syrup. We popped it into the ice cream machine and after a while grated in some more apple into the mix. Perfect green apple sorbet!

Prudence's Garden ...

2009-05-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

We started planting this week. We don't have a garden at the Charles Lamb, but our neighbour Prudence (78 years young!) has one that she is willing to share with us.

We have dug up some woody shrubs (with the help of her grandson) and planted in lots of garden herbs for use in our kitchen! This way Prudence is the envy of many with 3 lunches a week from the Charles Lamb and a visit from myself and Claudette every other night to water and have a bottle of rose before going home for tea! How very civilised!

Above you can see Claudette planting sunflower seeds with Prudence's grand daughter Hannah.

a few of our favourite things...

2009-04-23T05:28:00.001-07:00

I've just got back from France and have brought some of our favourite things that one just doesn't seem to be able to get in London...

Harissa in a tube - it's so handy!

Le Petit Marseillais Savon Liquide du Cuisinier - hand soap for cooks with lemon oil to keep our dainty hands fragrant, no more weird looks for garlicky fingers! (they also make a great "Bricoleur & Jardinier" one with gritty bits)

Benedicta Lemon Mayonnaise - it just tastes of France in the 70's! mmmm those memories!

Spigol - ground spices for couscous or rice in mini sachets and great old-fashioned boxes - an essential for the kitchen store cupboard

I'll drop them by later girls!

our olive trees have arrived!

2009-04-09T00:59:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we finally received delivery (and plantation) of our two ten-year old Verdale olive trees, for the garden at La Tour des Anges

www.maisonsprovencales.fr

There was a lot of digging and pulling out of huge stones left behind from the house that used to stand where the garden is now.

The trees have had to undergo some drastic pruning for the transplantation, so it'll be a while before we can see them in all their glory...

Verdale is the classic local variety, which grows all around the Mont Ventoux and is primarily for pressing into oil, but you can eat them too. There used to be a huge local production of olive oil until the 1950s when an incredible freeze killed most of the trees and the area was replanted solely with vines (which go into deeper sleep in the winter and can withstand temperatures below -30˚C), which in turn sparked the rise of the Côtes du Rhône appellation.

Here they are planted out - I can't wait to be sitting down there with the Legs of Lamb and a nice chilled bottle of rosé this summer!

Cheesy Tits!!!!!!!!

2009-04-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

I found these t-shirts and couldn't resist!

Clerkenwell Kitchen ...

2009-04-07T05:27:00.000-07:00

The Lovely ladies at Clerkenwell Kitchen have started opening on Thursday evenings so now all of us who work in the day can sample their delights! Last Thursdays simple short menu was almost impossible to choose off, as I wanted everything. My friend Paula went for the witch sole served with brown shrimp and a wild garlic butter. I was torn between pork belly served with a saffron mash and cockles and the onglet served rare with marrow bread sauce, laura's chips and watercress. As you can see from the bloody plate I went for the onglet!

We had a rhubarb belini to start and a great bottle of Gruner Veltliner. The plate of cheese from the fromagerie broke us and I was sent home with a basket of lovely leaves (dandelion, sorrel, red chicory and some radishes) which had been over ordered. Nice one!

Ransom wars

2009-03-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

I think it is finally spring. Or at least, a few errant days of faux spring before real spring arrives. There will be all sorts of my favourite things available, and we can all finally bid a slightly jaded farewell to the parsnip and the jerusalem artichoke (and all their rooty friends).

Wild garlic leaf season is definitely one of my most eagerly anticipated delights, in good company with English asparagus season and Piedmont porcini-and-truffle o' clock. I was finally rewarded last week and promptly over-ordered with glee, especially as I'd been discussing how soon they would arrive with my friend Oliver at Konstam, and knew he'd have to wait longer to get some from within Greater London, whereas I could cheat and accept those from anywhere nearish. (Although I wasn't in the lead for long as a professional London forager turned up at Konstam with a big sack of them yesterday).

Obviously, I've been slinging them in everything willy nilly all week, (Chicken, salsify and w.g.l. pie... smoked haddock, gruyere and w.g.l tart...) but my favourite new usage has been wild garlic leaf aioli, which today is befriending some confit pig cheeks, chicory and croutons in a nice fatty spring salad.

Wild garlic leaf aioli:

5 egg yolks

1 crushed clove garlic

1 pint mildly flavoured oil

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

juice of half a lemon

sea salt

2 generous handfuls ransom leaves, shredded

Add the milder oil to the egg yolks and crushed garlic drop by drop to form a smooth emulsion, whisking constantly - you can start to add it in a steady stream about half way through - when you've added all of this oil continue with the extra virgin oil, fold in the shredded leaves, crushing them as you go, then finally add the lemon juice and salt to taste.

Eat with most things... toast... fish... potatoes... eggs... etc

Ripailles at the Charles Lamb...

2009-02-27T15:41:00.000-08:00

Sanchia and I are going all out Breton tomorrow for a pork and cider feast (feast = ripailles).

The main event is the Kig ha Farz, a breton version of the classic pot-au-feu. It involves shin of beef, ox cheeks, ham hocks and marrow bones with a tasty stock which you poach your buckwheat flour dumpling wrapped in linen along with cabbage, turnips, carrots.... Cider is being served throughout the 3 courses of course! We will take lots of pictures, I thinks there will be several recipe blogs, including a first tryout on my apple and boudin noir tarte tatin!

Watch this space...

And the pig jelly...

2009-02-23T12:46:00.000-08:00

Forgot to mention, Camille saw a pig shaped jelly mould and thought of me. So I made pig shaped ham and parsley terrine, ( a process involving 8 pig's trotters and numerous other bits of pig) which was to my eyes an aesthetic wonder. Splendid.

Day of the egg

2009-02-23T12:29:00.000-08:00

On Thursday we over ordered eggs. Happily, I like making egg based sauces. First some saffron aioli (I'm sure I've mentioned this before, so I'll be brief... 2 cloves of garlic per yolk this time). Then tarragon mayonnaise, then some celeriac remoulade, and finally, a delicious Gribiche which adorned in this case slices of ox tongue, but has previously on our menu been a charming bed-fellow to purple sprouting broccoli, baby leeks, asparagus (soon, soon...), globe artichokes, assorted cold meats, and one hungry morning, a solitary but satisfactory breakfast involving a ramekin and a teaspoon.

Sauce Gribiche:

10 hard boiled eggs
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons oil (rapeseed is lovely, but Olive oil does pretty well too)
Tablespoon white wine vinegar
half bunch chopped chervil
half bunch chopped parsley
smaller amount chopped chives
Handful rinsed salted capers, chopped a little
Sea salt and black pepper

Remove the yolks from the eggs and mash with a fork. Combine with the vinegar and mustard. Slowly incorporate the oil ( you don't have to be as careful as with mayonnaise). Fold in the herbs and capers, and season to taste.

Seasoning pork mince...

2009-02-19T13:22:00.001-08:00

You could stuff beef tomatoes (tomate farci),large spanish onions (oignon farci)or bell peppers, make scotch eggs or stuff Squid tubes, mussel shells or large clam shells.... a speciality of Setes , a large fishing port in South West France.

1 kilo of Minced pork shoulder will go along way (3 kilos stuffed 10 large squid tubes and made 16 scotch quails eggs for me today!)

3 chopped shallots

4 cloves chopped garlic

chopped sage, tarragon, parsley and thyme

breadcrumbs

1 egg

pinch of sea salt ground pepper ... also try fennel seeds if stuffing squid, mussels or fishy stuff ... coriander seeds for tomatoes ... celery salt for scotch eggs..

Above you can see me stuffing some rather large squid tubes ... we ordered small ones, however you can't guarantee what you get when you at the mercy of deliveries! Sanchia made a simple tomato sauce with plenty garlic , shallots etc in it which got blizted by the hand blender then poured over the stuffed "encornet" covered the tray with foil and in the oven for about 45 mins at medium heat.

To serve we made some saffron pilaf rice and we scored the squid pouring the tomato sauce at the side.

I think scotch eggs will have to be another post....

Charles lamb Menu

2009-02-18T13:02:00.000-08:00

It occured to me today that we have never posted a menu for the Charles Lamb Pub on the blog ... so here is a menu that I was inspired to take a photo of as it had all my favourites (apart from cassoulet) on it!

We change the menu everyday and usually between lunch and dinner too. Its short and sweet and we tend not to waste ... there are usually backup dishes to move onto the menu if its a particularly busy session.

Cassoulet in Castelnaudary...

2009-02-17T09:02:00.000-08:00

The birth place of Cassoulet ... it was only a 2 and a half hour drive from where we were sampling wines so I thought it'd be rude not to! Teamed with a night in Carcassone it was hard for my better half to say no too. The Cardogan Guide to the south of France declared this "the best gourmet restaurant in town". Perhaps it was... 20 years ago! The decor was incredibly OTT and out of date but this was more amusing than off putting. It was cold and raining outside and we were pleased we'd made it in time for lunch sessions last orders (2pm!)

There were many pre fixe menus ranging from €13 through to €45 ... not wanting to go crazy for lunch we picked a 4 course affair at €20.

Foie Gras wrapped in sausage meat then a thin rolling of lard covered in trotter jelly galore!

as you can see from the photo, the late seventies decor also made it onto my plate along with tasteless tomatoes and olives(?!)

The Cassoulet came with 2 thin chipolata sized sausage, a piece of pork knuckle and a slice of pork belly along with a piece of goose which i couldn't work out where on the goose it was from as it was so small and dry! The beans were plentiful of course and delicious too I just thought the whole dish (which was for both of us to share!) was very mean on the meat.

After the cassoulet arrived "faisselle de fromage blanc" which was homemade fromage frais swimming in cream sprinkled with white sugar which took me straight back to my childhood.

Finally we got creme caramel with a generous amount of liquor. We had this with a lovely bottle of corbieres.

Here is the Chef ... Monsieur Francois Gibassier ... He probably thought I was some guide book critic! We had a lovely lunch and for the price it wasn't bad. I have a theory that if you are known for one thing, and its as much as a faff as cassoulet you're going to get a bit lazy and cut a few corners after doing the same dish day in day out for 20 odd years ... so Castelnaudary may be the birth place of cassoulet and you may be able to get it in every hotel, restaurant, cafe, bar and bistro in town but it may not be the best you'll ever have!

Domaine St Hilaire

2009-02-09T08:11:00.000-08:00

Just a couple of shots to keep everyone interested upto date on our search for the Charles Lamb wine. Hobby and I are currently in the Languedoc region in the South West of France staying at the Domaine St Hilaire just outside Montagnac. We currently stock a rose from this estate and are here investigating their reds & whites whilst also discussing printing our own labels.

The Domaine has a lovely "boutique" chambres d'hotes which is making our visit all the more pleasant! Semi retired couple Anne and Jonathan James took over the domaine in 2002 and have turned it into a great place to visit and buy wines from too!

Cassoulet

2009-02-04T22:07:00.001-08:00

I like to think that this is my signature dish. I don't remember having this as a child and my mum has never attempted it (its far to unhealthy for Maman!) although she has had mine and is very complementary of it. The first time I made it for my parents they were about to leave for a trip to France for one of my many cousins weddings, Papa told all his brothers (he has 6 brothers, 5 sisters!) that I had attempted the cassoulet and achieved success ... after such compliment I couldn't help but to endevour to improve it!

Ingredients for a Cassoulet for 6 people

6 duck or rabbit legs

1 litre (about 2 jars) of Goose fat or Duck fat

600g of pork belly

12 toulouse sausages

1 large onion

1 bouquet garni

6 cloves of garlic

1 bottle of white wine (optional)

Couple of carrots and celery sticks

4 large tins or 8 little tins of Flageolet beans(aprox) or 250 grams of dried Flageolet beans

Any dried pork scraps you may have stock piled!

I sometimes add confit pig cheeks, confit gessier, left over rilletts, terrine or saussison!

Day 1

If you are using dried Flageolet you need to soak them or 24 hours (or at least over night!)

Confit you Duck or Rabbit legs by placing them in a roasting tray and rubbing big salt generously all over them. Add rosemary twigs garlic cloves to the tray and then pour over melted fat until the legs are covered. Cover the tray with foil and place in an oven of about 200c for about 2.5 hours. Remove from the oven and check that the flesh and skin has come away from the bone. Allow to cool before storing in the fridge for the next day.

If you are going to the trouble of confiting for you cassoulet i always think its worth doing a couple more legs as they keep in the fat for at least a week or two. You could shred them and make a duck, orange and chicory salad or even attempt rillettes! You could just reheat in the oven for 20 minutes and serve with celeriac mash and red cabbage.

Day 2

Put together your stock pot of white wine, water, carrots, celery, bouquet garni & halved onion.

If you are using dried beans them drain them and add them to you pot once its been brought to the boil and add your pork belly (you can cut this into strips about 2cm thick before popping in the pot).

The beans need about 1.5 to 2 hours (they should be over cooked to normal standards but still hold their shape).

Whilst this is going on you need to brown your toulouse sausages in some of the fat from the confit tray and set aside for later. You don't have to cook through the sausages as they will cook through in the dish in the oven later.

Once the pork has been in the stock pot about 45 minutes scoop it out and set aside to cool down. Trim off the skin and layer of fat from the topside of the belly, cut into cubes and set aside for later.

Once the beans are done drain them but keep the stock and set aside. You can discard the bouquet, carrot and celery but keep the onion

Pull your confit legs out of the fat. The skin and flesh should have come away from the bone, hold the bone and gently twist it until it comes free of the internal knuckle.

If you can find the cloves of garlic in the fat pull them out too and with a heaped tablespoon of the fat pop into the magimix or blender along with the onion from the stock pot.

If you are using tinned beans make sure they are well drained and rinsed.

You now have to fry those little cubes of fat in another spoon of fat from the confit tray. This is a horrid job and I find the best thing to do is keep the heat down and pop a lid on top of the frying pan. Add these to the blender after about 10 minutes and wizz up the fatty oniony mess!

Now you can build your cassoulet... and get fat all over yourself!

Coat the inside of your oven dish with the wizzed up oniony fat. A layer of beans at the bottom of the dish followed by a spoon full of the onion fat on top of which the toulouse sausages then fat then beans then fat then the strips of pork belly and any scraps of pork products you have knocking about then fat then beans then fat then you confit duck or rabbit legs.

Pour in some of the stock that you set aside earlier into the the dish but don't cover the legs ... you should only just see the stock under the last layer of beans.

Cover the dish and place in the oven at 300c for 1 hour then turn down the oven to 180c for another 2 hours. Take out of the oven and allow to cool.

Day 3

Preheat the oven to 200c. Reheat your cassoulet for 1 hour until violently bubbling and serve with bread and a green salad on the side.

This dish does take a while to prepare and is a very messy fatty dish to prepare but is worth it and if you confit extra legs you have another meal or so almost ready to go.

It is perfect for dinner parties as you have only to reheat on the night and enjoy your guests company.

There are cheats... like buying ready confited duck legs so adapt it your self however be aware that the amount of love and fat that goes into will show through in the end product!

Of starch and cheese… again (sorry)

2009-01-22T15:08:00.000-08:00

I was in a fantastic cheese shop in Paris and saw they were selling tomme fraîche from the Auvergne... so I popped to the organic veg stall in the street market for some potatoes and went home to make Aligot... It's basically cheesy mash, but as made by the gods.
For four people:
1kg floury potatoes (I used red skinned ones)
350g Tomme Fraîche (Elizabeth David says you can substitue very young Lancashire if you're desperate), chopped into little cubes
2-3 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped
250g crème fraîche
150g butter

Boil the potatoes, then peel them and pass through a mouli to get a nice fluffy mash
heat the cream and butter in a large pan until the butter melts
Add the potatoes, garlic and cheese and stir vigourously with a wooden spoon until the mixture goes really elastic.
Enjoy.

Some people eat it with lentils and bits of pig, I had it with some fresh cèpes sliced and fried like schnitzel...
mmmmmm

Madelaine madness....

2009-01-08T13:23:00.000-08:00

These are real madelaines that I actually made! Over christmas my madelaines obsession went overboard in that we decided that instead of the might mince pie we would tamper with the classic madelaine recipe and come up with some chistmassy alternatives to have with coffee.

We had Coffee and Cardamon, Candied peel and cinnamon, Allspice, prune, nutmeg, mace, ginger & cinnamon.... other successful flavours were ameretto and dark choc chip

and fig and walnut. The regular recipe that I use for Madelaines (which I might add does not need embellishment at all, only for Christmas Fun!) is as follows

150g of quality unsalted butter

200g of plain flour

100g of caster sugar

100g of ground almonds

6 free range eggs

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 orange

Mix the butter, sugar and ground almonds together with your hands until a buttery ball, then crack one egg at a time mixing it in with a wooden spoon ...

you should now have a runny batter.

Sift in the plain flour bit by bit ... if it gets lumpy then take to it with a whisk.

Lastly, finely grate the rind of one orange and together with a teaspoon of baking powder mix into the thickened batter.

Madelaines have there own type of shell like moulds which you can get in tin or silicone form ... the latter will save you alot of time and heartache in the end. You should be able to pick these up from a good cookery shop or cooks department in John Lewis.

Fill up the mould only half way (a heaped teaspoon should do it) and bake at around 170c for about 15-20 minutes. Eat them within an hour to get them at their best!

The mixture should keep in the fridge for a couple of days at home (although make sure its kept in the fridge as there is raw egg involved) They are wonderful warm for breakfast, elevenses, goute...

When I first started making them a couple of years ago I was sure that there was something missing from the batter as a remembered a crunchiness from my childhood ... I eventually came to the conclusion that as I mostly ate madelaines on the beach in the summer holidays or in the car on the way home from the beach, that the crunchiness was probably sand!

Stirring Up the Charles Lamb Figgy Pudding

2009-01-08T13:02:00.000-08:00

A bit belated but here are some pictures from the end of November when we made the Charles Lamb Figgy Pudding. As you can see its a real family affair with Claudette, Hobby myself and bear all having a good stir. Sanchia put it all together with a liitle help from a recipe sent from my sisters husband mother?!?....

Christine up in Newcastle. Our Secret? ... Soak the figs in quality London Porter for at least 3 days before you even get going on the rest.

Salon of Taste to Tuscany in six drunken days

2008-10-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

Last week I went on holiday by mistake. But I’m quite glad about it. It all started in Torino, at the Salon of Taste…
http://www.salonedelgusto.com/eng/pagine/02_i_presidi.lasso?-session=salonedelgusto2008:42F9478B13d38064F4mwtK342406
Salone del gusto was just amazing – an unfathomably huge building brimming over with edible delights. The experience for me was, on the first day, fairly goat based. Soft goat salami (pitina), which might conceivably be the most delicious meat product I’ve ever consumed; more of a cured meatball than a salami really, rolled in maize and smoked over juniper. And Cypriot sun dried goat with sea salt and oregano. Then Violino di Capra. Yes, goat violin. A whole air-dried goat leg which looks like a violin (and is sliced as if playing a violin) but tastes like meaty, salty, aromatic joy.
(Actually, the violino that we purchased was almost tragically lost in a bar later that evening, in what has become known as ‘goat-gate’. Turns out it wasn’t lost, but perhaps our minds were, after tasting quite so many Vermentino).
In other, non-goat news, there was the Lardo. Eating thin slices of cured pig fat is officially not a chore. And then there was the Palermitan spleen bun. Unctuous offal in a bun. Has to be the new burger. A lot of dipping cheese in honey occurred after this point, and interspersing slivers of mullet bottarga with pistachio granita and oysters. It is all a blur.
The gastronomic odyssea next took in Alba’s annual truffle festa, where the main occurrence was a fairly gratuitous inhalation of truffle spores, then to pretty Bra, the headquarters of the slow food movement where Osteria Boccondivino (http://www.boccondivinoslow.it/ita-boccon/storia.htm) cruelly forced me to eat the most ambrosial panna cotta in history. Plates were licked. Involuntary sounds were made. They made me drink some extraordinary Barolo, too. Nightmare. (But go there).

Then, via a tiny Ligurian beach holiday within a holiday (lasting 2 hours and a lot of onion foccacia) final destination, San Pancrazio was reached:
www.corzanoepaterno.it
This place is something of a paradise on earth where abounds endless chianti, beauty, pecorino and generosity. And lamb smoked over rosemary in a fireplace, a stone pizza oven in which dough was obedient, poached eggs with shaved truffles, and a little trattoria where they tried really hard to destroy me with truffles and porcini, but I’m a fighter so I survived to tell this tale. Go there, too.

2008-10-14T03:01:00.000-07:00

The Family Hobby-Limon recently returned from a trip visiting Pippa and her patner Pascal at their home in Sablet in the southern Rhone near Avignon. Hopspitable hosts to the end we were shown the best of the area at the best time of year ..vandange(the grape harvest).
Our first port of call was to the Domaine de Piaugier run by Jean Mark and Sophie Autran. The vineyards have been in Jean Marks family for generations and his father still helps out at busy periods. They primarily grow Grenache but also a little Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault and Counoire. Pippa helped out a couple of years ago so I won't go into to much detail as she can add to this with more details of the style and content of there wines!
However I did take some lovely photos so here you are!

Rillette Love

2008-09-12T04:30:00.000-07:00

I’ve had a soft spot for rillettes for some time now, ever since my father and I purchased a glut of the goose variety from humble Intermarche in Maurs la Jolie and ate them on a misty picnic off the bonnet of the 2CV, (next to an impressive castle, which frankly just compounded my view that I’m destined to stalk the tapestried corridors of one of those beauties, imperiously ordering suckling pigs from my beleaguered chefs, after making a splendid aristocratic marriage).
Until yesterday, I’d never actually made my own rillettes, but they were so fabulous that I might now do it on a weekly basis. Rillettes are one of those lovely French things, which vary slightly from region to region but always hold true to the basic principles of cooking meat really slowly with salt and fat. Nutritionist’s dream, I say. Apparently, the rillettes of Tours and Anjou are referred to as ‘brown jam’, a fact which convinced me yesterday of their acceptability as a breakfast food - I was essentially eating toast and jam with my coffee. Mine were of Rabbit, which brings me to the other trend of my week: strangely alliterative foodstuffs.
It all began with rabbit rillettes, but before I knew it, radicchio, rosemary and red wine risotto appeared with some smoked pork belly, (psychedelic food, but it looked so pretty) and crab and cockle chowder transformed some crab stock from the freezer into joy in a bowl. I’m going to try extra hard to vary my consonants next week, it is becoming ridiculous.

Bastille action and the Whitstable oyster glut

2008-07-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was a good’un for eating. The Charles Lamb celebrated Quatorze juillet in grand style on the nearest Saturday, douze juillet. Bunting traversed Elia st, Petanque pitches flanked the pub, Ricard and Rosé abounded.
And then there was our fabulous menu Français, which, apart from using most of London’s stocks of garlic and goose fat, was in our opinion a triumph. It featured Le Grand aioli, a village tradition in Provence in which you eat a lot of things dipped into a massive pot of aioli. Yum. Elizabeth David says that aioli is ‘affectionately’ referred to as the ‘Butter of Provence’ – as far as I’m concerned, butter and Provence in the same phrase can only be a happy thing. I was most delighted to be told by a French customer that it was as good as the aioli that her Grandmere in Avignon makes at Christmas. This is probably high praise, at least I like to think so...The secret? One garlic clove to one egg yolk. (Put the picture up Camille!).
Elsewhere on the menu were merguez sausages in buckwheat gallettes, Basque fish stew, Coquilles St Jacques (we really do love the 1970's) and Camille’s famed cassoulet, which suffice it to say, did not last long. The making of the cassoulet was truly a sight to behold - Camille was quite literally up to her elbows in goose fat, there is probably still a vague aroma following her around. Pig skin, garlic peel and slicks of poultry fat filled the entire kitchen, but it was all worth it for the elusive cassoulet smell…
Sunday morning welcomed me with a special Ricard hangover, but nonetheless I duly set out for my friend’s birthday day trip to Whitstable. Scorching day actually, and after knocking back 9 amazing oysters and a large bottle of cider on the beach, only a snooze would do. The day was rounded off with masses of Champagne, crab sandwiches and potted shrimp. No one could argue with that.

Carrion Call

2008-07-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

Back in the Auvergne the other day I was somewhat shocked when during a (slow) walk in the chestnut woods, I came suddenly across 4 cows that had been actually struck by lightning. It wasn't the carrion aspect that was disturbing - (they looked as if they'd produce a fabulous glut of steak haché in which an ethical meat eater could only delight - field kill could become the new road kill) more one's own susceptibility to being similarly struck down whilst comfortably grazing. (What is it that you have to do to avoid? Go under a tree? Don't go under a tree? Stay away from les Vaches?).

My nerves were significantly calmed by the discovery back at the house of a jar of confit duck sausages - sausages happily residing in their own fat, waiting to be fried with other things. What could be nicer. Those having been put away for lunch, I demanded that leeks be harvested from the vegetable patch for leek, tarragon and watercress soup (can't garden myself, of course), and found a jar of prunes that I'd, with great forethought/greed, immersed in some Armagnac on my last visit. They had developed a not at all unpleasant alcoholic aroma. Tarte aux Pruneaux was the inevitable result, and very nice it was too.

P.s. On consulting in drastically inneffectual French with the afflicted farmer regarding the cows I discovered that a.) 16 in total were struck, and b.) they were destined to become 'croquettes pour les chiens' - dog biscuits. Ignoble ends indeed.

Cherche la Truffe!!

2008-04-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

As the truffle season has come to a close, I find myself pining and becoming more and more obsessed with this particular fungus….
Known as the Black Diamond, the Melanosporum, or black truffle, is a tuber which has been equally feared and revered in its long history. In the middle ages it was considered the food of the devil, being both black and subterranean (even the white ones, Tuber Magnatum, look pretty dark when first exhumed).
Part of the mystique comes from their defiance in the face of attempts at cultivation, their stubbornly short season and of course their ethereal, almost intangible, yet intense flavour.
In modern days they are prized by gourmets and can fetch prices well into the thousands of pounds for a kilo. The big money they attract and the rarity of finding a good haul leads to all sorts of underhand behaviour, with truffle hunters tresspassing, following one another in the dark, cloak and dagger stuff. They usually go hunting around dawn so they don’t have to carry torches which would make them more conspicuous. No-one in France or Italy will tell you where they get the good ones – there are often offers of walks at dawn with a man and his dog, but of course they won’t show you the secret places…

Lacking a canine, and the cats not being too biddable, I took my visiting parents recently to the Domaine de Bramarel (www.ayme-truffe.com, they do mail order!), a sort of ‘truffle farm’ near the village of Richerenche, in Provence. The roots of trees, mostly oaks and beeches (there is a variety of oak known as the truffle oak which grows on sandy banks and hillsides and is altogether lankier than its stout English village green cousin) are sprayed with spores of the truffle before they are planted out, in the hope that they will encourage the underground gems to show up.

Well trained dogs are then taken truffling when the season comes and the truffles are dug up carefully by hand. A cry of “cherche la truffe!” will send the dogs into a sniffing craze. The smell that the truffle exudes is only detectable when they are ripe and ready to eat, or else when something burrows into them, thus releasing the inner odour.

It is altogether a safer bet for the forager, but the cheating farm isn’t nearly as much fun I think as when my parents went truffling themselves in the late 50s – tins of truffles were purchased at huge expense from Fortnum & Mason; a large pig was hired from a farmer and coaxed into a jeep, a decent shovel procured, headscarves donned; a picnic was prepared and the friends set off into the Savernake Forest, where summer truffles have been recorded since at least the 18th century.

Tins were opened and truffles buried for some basic porcine training – which of course resulted in the creature’s snaffling all the Fortnum’s truffles for himself. Sniffing and digging resulted in no tuber action (at least none that the humans got hold of), truffle-free picnic was consumed and piggy taken back to the farm.

I did see an advert for training for Chiens truffiers, or truffle dogs – using the same methods as police dogs – and I thought that could be a way forward - don’t you think it’s time Mascha started earning her keep?

Of starch and cheese…

2008-03-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

I arrived home weary one evening last week, after a long train journey from France, to find my lovely cousin Anna, fresh from ski-instructing in Austria, had let herself into the house armed with a spätzle hobel and her Auntie Anita’s recipe, to prepare a restorative repast for the travellers from the warm south – we were to succumb to the joys of Käsespatzle!

Spätzle are a form of short, fresh egg noodles and can be found anywhere from Alsace to the far reaches of the former Austro-Hungarian empire. Combined with copious quantities of various mountain cheeses and topped with fried onions, they are a staple for any vegetarian attempting alpine winter sports – simply the best way to pile in the starch and protein you need to keep you warm and active, plus they always seem to be prepared without the ubiquitous bits of pig one finds lurking in every corner of an Austrian menu.

The hobel is an exciting utensil (you can make spätzle with a colander but it's very messy). It resembles a flat cheese grater mounted with a hopper which slides back and forth. The almost unworkable, moist dough falls happily through the holes as it is pushed back and forth in the hopper, towards its joyful fate in a large pan of boiling water.

Once the spätzle come to the surface, they are skimmed off with a slotted spoon or spider and deposited in a dish where they are layered with mountain cheeses (gruyère and emmenthal can be substituted – or for some proper Austrian gear, visit Kipferl, the lovely Austrian café/deli in Long Lane, London EC1 www.kipferl.co.uk).

Sliced onions are dusted with flour and then fried quickly in very hot fat until brown and crispy, then sprinkled on top of the Käsespätzle.

A green salad is the traditional accompaniment – and don’t forget the white wine, which helps break down the cheese, preventing it from forming a big lump inside you (well, that’s my excuse). A nice crisp Grüner Veltliner perhaps?

Regional issues and haddock leanings

2008-03-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

Today has been all about Brandade.

The word Brandade comes from the Provençal verb brandar, meaning to stir, (which activity I admit to relishing in all its guises). It is alleged to have originated in Nimes but is well travelled and some might say dreadfully bastardised; these accusations can as always be refuted by vague mumblings regarding regional variation. My brandade, I shall now assert, is Toulousain in origin due to the garlic content. Languedoc and Provence can whistle. On this occasion only, you understand.

Adolphe Thiers, 17th Prime Minister of France was known to receive illicit pots of the substance from his historian friend Mignet – these he ate furtively, and it is said exclusively in his library, where one might have assumed that his full attention would and should have been absorbed with affairs of state. There is no accounting for the rampant appeal of garlic and slightly rotten fish, it seems. Perhaps the Southern muck left him spent, and thus immune to other lascivious and risky entertainments that a man of his position ought avoid.

We’ve previously had brandade on our menu, but noted a slow sell, perhaps due to the word ‘salt’, and I recall substituting the salt cod for equally challenging smoked eel last summer, to mine and Camille’s (only) delight. Today’s brandade featured menu friendly smoked haddock and I therefore hope to see it ravaged by tomorrow morning. Not least because I’m experiencing a sudden resurgence in my fondness for smoked haddock and cannot reasonably subject my public to smoked haddock and bacon chowder, or smoked haddock and chard tart until the menu is again haddock free.

Cava Institute Tasting ...

2008-02-21T10:56:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had a legs of lamb field trip to the Hospital on Endell Street in Covent Garden. The Cava Institutes PR company kindly invited me to a sit down formal cava tasting with a master of wine which I dragged sanchia and Pippa along to. We went through the pro's and con's of new and old styles of Cava, questioning the British attitude towards it as a brand and how to change that attitude. They have a long way to go before they see a marked improvements in sales and until restaurants and independent wine shops start stocking better quality styles (instead of the cheap brands that get sold or given away in the supermarkets) they will be fighting a losing battle. Interesting though it was I was surprised not to see more restaurateurs from places such as Moro barrafina and other tapas places that have opened in the borough market area and the west end lately. Either the PR isn't being done properly or restaurateurs don't have the time or interest to sit through 50 different styles of Cava in an afternoon!

In the evening Sanchia had to work her other job at Konstam at the Prince Albert so I took Hobby for supper there ... we were also joined at the last minute by another couple Marv & Vicky. We had a wonderful meal and some great british wines. My lambs heart starter was particularly good and the rapeseed dressing with carraway and fennel was inspired on Vicky's squid. The mains were all good I had duck with marmalade and fried potatoes but the sloegin and sherry trifle was an alcoholics heaven ... basically a bramble with cream on top! The tarte tatin was also excellent with a lovely lavender cream. Sandhurst winery served us well with an good Pinot Noir but its dessert wine was incredible an apple, pear and elderflower delight!

Pot on the fire

2008-02-05T16:01:00.000-08:00

Today Alex and I grudgingly conceded that we are both, although not entirely incompetent, only painfully average at making pancakes. We were immediately deeply grateful that this was not a skill required of us on a daily rather than an annual basis. We are, however, fabulous in other culinary and personal ways so we're not feeling too shabby about it.

Moving on from Shrove commitments, and having re-established a love for January and February's produce (after a severe post Christmas backlash involving ennui with the chestnut) I happily surveyed the day's delivery. Roots aplenty had materialised from our new vegetable supplier, including their gift of an intriguing muddy box of Salsify. After some discussion, the roots were fried in butter and served with skate. They go by a common name of 'oyster plant' - funnily enough, Camille and I (who have been known to put away an oyster or 12) couldn't for the life of us distinguish why it all tasted so damned familiar...

The remaining vegetables, in the company of some free range chickens and various beef, suggested a day long project: Pot-au-Feu, the results of which will be apparent on tomorrow's menu. I'm hoping that few to no French purists will find grounds to criticise my broth, as it was a labour of love and is somewhat delicious.

Necks of Lamb

2008-01-28T07:24:00.001-08:00

There has been some recent heckling as to why our blog has not yet mentioned lamb, or indeed legs. Presumably some lovely photos of our legs in the kitchen would not be unwelcome, but today lamb is of the essence.
I'm of the view that January is not the month for lamb legs to be eaten at their juicy best, but lamb neck is perfect for the type of warming wintery stew that everyone wants a piece of after battling through sleet to the cosy Charles Lamb. Last week's stew involved rosemary, capers and spelt, and was quite northern Italian in flavour (sorry Camille! FYI Camille doesn't do Italian) but I think this week I might fall under the sway of Moroccan warm spices and apricots. If the mood takes me...

Pork joy

2007-11-27T17:25:00.000-08:00

Today Brian the meat man made me happy. Apparently it doesn't take much. He delivered a pork belly of outrageous dimension, and after slashing it viciously I massaged it with garlic, fennel seeds, paprika and olive oil and roasted it to golden delicious. As we had a bit of an onion glut, I thought some nice oignons farci on the side would make my day, so blanched, halved and nestled into duck fat, topped with garlic, parsley, thyme, salt and breadcrumbs, they ventured into the oven for a couple of hours and emerged ambrosial. Pork joy indeed.

Also rocking my world this week: quails eggs, rolled in toasted cumin seeds and guerande salt, as featured at the Christening party I cooked for on Sunday, along with 60 meringues filled with rose cream and pomegranate seeds.

Finally, must mention the guilty pleasure roast chicken sandwiches that Camille and I put away at lunchtime. They had a shameful amount to do with tarragon and chicken fat. Don't knock it, chicken fat is the food of the Gods.

squash rage and hotpot

2007-11-19T12:09:00.000-08:00

I thought long and hard about what to put on for vegetarians today ... I woke up from a dose yesterday evening with a start as a realised i hadn't done the ordering. Mmmmm Squash I thought. Alex slow roasted some the other week and they were delicious.
Stuffed with feta and toasted pine nuts. So they arrived and I set to them with a knife, slicing them length ways scooping the seeds out sprinkling of salt and pepper... but there was a sticker on the second to last one." Latina Squash, Panama" it said. I was straight on the phone to the veg supplier. "Why bother cooking with the seasons if it's flown in from the other side of the world?" I Said. "You need to specify british or european if thats what you want ... we just get what looks the best quality at the best price. The Supermarkets take all the british stuff so what ever is left is expensive" they said. Am I alone in thinking that this is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a long time? I don't shop for fruit and veg from the supermarkets because most of it comes from peru, mexico, thailand or south africa ... and I am blessed with chapel market with its varied produce(yes yes I know a lot of it is from far flown places but there is lot that is not!). Anyway enough squash rage (they did come out nice all the same) and onto my Hotpot.

My Hotpot recipe is taken from Mark Hix's(...I heart him...) British Food Book, although I've changed it here and there over time.

Lamb Neck fillet 2k
Lamb Kidneys 1k (optional)
Maris Pipers 8 large
Spanish Onion 2 large
Quality Lamb of Beef Stock (chicken of vegetable can be used)
Rosemary 3 sprigs
plain flour a cup
salt pepper half a teaspoon of each

Slice the Lamb neck in to chunks about a finger width in thickness and put in a tray or bowl with some of the flour salt and pepper to coat all the meat in the seasoning and flour.

If using the Kidneys, take out the white sinewy stuff with scissors or small knife and slice in half then use the rest of the flour salt and pepper to coat the kidneys. (This will make a gooey mess but this is normal)

Slice the onions thinly and brown/caramalise in frying pan with oil. Bring your stock to the heat and add the onions. Leave simmering until needed. This may seem thin for a gravy but the flour that the lamb is coated in will thicken it when all together in the casserole dish in the oven.

Using the same fryng pan start sealing the lamb neck, this only need about 30 seconds on each side if your pan is hot enough. Set aside the lamb neck on a plate/bowl and repeat with the kidneys.

Peel your potatoes and slice about 2mm thick.... Now its time to start building the Hotpot.

Take a large Casserole dish or earthenware dish. It doesn't matter if you don't have a lid as foil to cover will do.
Line the bottom of the dish with potatoes , overlapping but not too much as this is more a meat than potato dish! Next arrange some of the lamb and the kidneys over the potaoes then pour over some of the onion gravy until almost covering the lamb and kidneys and add some sprigs of rosemary... then more potatoes, lamb and kidneys then onion gravy and rosemary. Carry on going until you fill the dish finishing with a neat layering of potatoes on the top.
Place a lid or cover with foil and put into the oven Gas mark 6 for 2 hours. If you are eating immediatley then take off the lid for the last 15 minutes to brown the potatoes on the top, if having later or the next day then pop in the oven without the lid/foil for 20 minutes of so.

I'm making cassoulet tomorrow. Now that is a recipe ... I'll try and get it on the blog by the end of the week.

How's the mushroom picking Pippa ?... hope you took some photoes to brighten up the blog!

Smoked eel and the origins of chowder

2007-11-14T16:06:00.000-08:00

This month is all about eels.
Camille arrived back from Chapel market bearing 'a present' , not an unusual occurence. I wondered if it was going to be a salami or perhaps a vegetable peeler, but no, it was a muscular water beast with leathery skin, in a plastic bag. I had a hangover so I only dealt with the tail end that day, having glimpsed its rapacious features lurking in the bag like a predator in a 'B' movie. The back end became an eel and ale pie, which sounded pleasingly Dickensian.
Later in the week the self same eel (now ripped apart sans qualms) was turned into a brandade, in the place of salt cod, and into smoked eel and bacon chowder. We had been discussing whether something as 'American' as a chowder should feature on our menu, but greed led me to some etymological research and I discovered that chowder comes from the French 'chaudière' , apparently some sort of three-legged iron cauldron in which fishermen made stews from the catch of the day, so as is so often the case, in went the cream and potatoes.
I sadly neglected to immortalise the eel in a photograph, but as it was certainly no oil painting, this may be for the best.

pumpkins

2007-10-30T13:07:00.003-07:00

Halloween was a few days early this year as we celebrated the second birthday of the Charles Lamb Pub. I scooped out 25 Pumpkins of varying size for the locals to carve and this was put to good use in a Black Cabbage, Pumpkin and Pinenut Lasagne .... and Mariannes infamous Pumpkin Pie which brought a couple of regulars running over for their fix. I'll try and pry the recipe out of her to put up here!

Witches Brew was on the house ... a good autumn cider/perry punch spiced with star anise, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, cardamon, clove, soft brown sugar, some sharp apple juice, a little orange peel and a good slug of brandy.

It goes without saying that I was feeling a little worse for wear on Sunday ... too many Jägermeister shots I think.

Christmas Menu

2007-10-22T03:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks for sending me the Christmas Menu, Camille! I can't wait to have a taste, it looks great!
It's now up on the Charles Lamb website, together with the new wine list, but I thought it should go up here too:

The Charles Lamb Christmas Menu 2007 - £27.50 per person

Cauliflower Soup with pickled pears and Roquefort

Pheasant and pistachio terrine with cornichons

Smoked Salmon with beetroot relish

Smoked Haddock and Scallop Pie with seasonal vegetables

Daube of Venison with roasted root vegetables

Confit of Duck with red cabbage and celeriac mash

Chou Farci stuffed with wild mushrooms, chestnuts and Reblochon

Tarte Tatin with Calvados crème fraîche

Figgy Pudding with brandy cream

Brie de Meaux and Fenugreek Gouda with chutney

Filter coffee with chocolate truffles

This Christams Menu is available from Tuesday the 4th until Friday 21st of December.

Entente Cordiale Tart

2007-10-18T00:54:00.000-07:00

We were invited by some friends for a 'soirée rugby' last saturday - oops, sorry about the result, which slightly pooped the end of the party. Not wanting to take sides (Scotland got knocked out anyway), I took a

Cheddar and Shallot Tart:

Quantites are for a fairly shallow 20cm tart tin - serves 4 mains or 8 starters.

For the pastry:
250g plain flour
50 spelt flour (just to make it more nutty, but you can substitute any wholemeal flour or use all white if you prefer)
75g butter
pinch of salt
1 whole egg
dash of water (if necessary)

Rub ingredients together until they are well mixed and can be formed into a flat lump.
Roll out pastry into well greased tart tin, prick with a fork and bake blind for 10-15 minutes.

For the filling:
200g mature cheddar, grated
6 medium shallots (or 3 medium onions)
50g butter
500ml crème fraîche
2-3 eggs (depending on size)
pinch of ground nutmeg
pinch of ground piment d'espelette (my favourite! if unavailable, you can use sweet paprika instead)
1 tsp dijon mustard
salt & pepper
8 fresh sage leaves (for decoration)

Soften the shallots in butter for 15-20 minutes over a low heat but do not let them brown. Allow to cool.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl, add all the other ingredients, including the cooled shallots.
Pour into the pre-baked tart tin and decorate with sage leaves.
Bake in a medium oven (mine says 6, but the thermostat's decidedly unreliable!) for around 20 minutes until brown on top.
Allow to cool before slicing.

Serve with English leaf salad and French vinaigrette.

The quinces and the nudity

2007-10-02T16:10:00.000-07:00

News from the Auvergne: The three quince trees have had a good year. Luckily the parental vehicle is no longer a 2cv or it would have buckled (on any kind of gradient) under the bulbous weight, both of the quinces and my aligot hungry self. Aligot will, with an inevitability informed by my shameful habit, make an appearance on the Charles Lamb menu next week.

Such was the glut of runner beans (racily named 'Scarlett Runners') in the garden that some had escaped picking and grown over tough - these I podded and their seeds were fabulously pink and lilac, until I dropped them into some chicken stock with tarragon and chicory. Then I ate some magret, roasted with guerande salt over some little garden apples, goose fat pototoes, blettes galore, pale pink onions, a plantation of flat leaf parsley and some quinces baked for 4 hours in Calvados and honey. It is a hard life.

Back in London, I spent the day strategically balancing figs and oysters on naked men for a TV camera. I repeat: it is a hard life.

2007-10-01T02:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry haven't been online much ... Went to Paris for a couple of nights (didn't eat anything worthy of comment) and Claudette has had a nasty cold and cough (which I now have!)
My parents are coming back from France in the next couple of days with 20 kilo's of chestnuts for me from their tree in the woods ... I'm very excited! Sanchia is on her way back from her folks place with a load of Quinces, yeah!

Alex made an amazing chicken, cider and calvados casserole last thursday which needs posting up here!

We had a supper club here on Saturday which was held by a couple of friends of mine Tony & Marco. Tony C is a very accomplished cocktail barman who has worked in Heston's Laboratory making alcoholic jellies and Marco has done a stint in Locatelli's Kitchen so I was expecting great things ... and I wasn't disapointed!

The menu revolved around Alcohol and was a short tasting menu

Bloody Mary Oyster Shot
00000
Pea and Dill Aquavit Soup with Wasabi Pea Croutons
00000
Prawn Cocktail with Tequila Marie Rose
00000
Vodka Pasta with sauce alla ????
00000
Poached pear with poire William Marscapone and Butterscotch
00000
Illy Coffee with Damien Allsop Chocolates

One of the guests at the supper club was a master chocolatier who used to be a pastry chef to Gordon Ramsey and came laden with chocolates for us all to sample!!!
It was the night that The Charles Lamb turned Nouvelle Cuisine and it was alot of fun. My personal favourite was the Bloody Mary Oyster Shot which I recreated for the Staff and a couple of regular customers on Sunday morning... I think it might have to feature on my Sunday Menu as its the perfect way to rid yourself of a hangover.
When are you back from France Pippa?
We need to book in another guest chef night hosted by you and Sanchia! Also Wanted to book in Chocolate tasting outing with Paul Young on Camden Passage.

Will be in touch soon with some pictures and recipes xxx

calvados, hazelnuts, ceps and the dill caterpillar

2007-09-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

Just letting you know I had a great time in Normandy visiting our friend Mo.. she'd been foraging in the woods and got some beautiful ceps for my omelette - it's great in France, you can just take them to the local pharmacie and they'll test them for you.

We were near Domfront where there's a special appellation for Calvados Domfrontais - it's half apple, half pear and not many people make it any more. Don't worry, I've got a bottle stashed away to bring back for you. We were invited next door to the Baloche brothers' farm and I fell off the wagon when invited to taste their 1958 one. They don't make it on the farm anymore because of all the legal crap surrounding sprits these days, what a tragedy!

We also went to visit a farm growing edible flowers and herbs, mostly for restaurants and markets in the area. They had some amazing things, and they do workshops - should we have a trip sometime? They had some weird caterpillars that were camouflaged in the dill flowers! I got a couple of verveine plants and some anise hyssop to put in the garden in france..

I got a great haul of hazelnuts from Mo's garden as well as some lovely, firm, red cooking apples which will go in a tart later in the week I think.

beetroot houmous and roasted squash puree with chilli

2007-09-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

I made these yesterday to kick off an autumn lunch - beautiful gem colours and warm autumn flavours, serve with flatbread or pitta.

beetroot houmous

600g cooked chickpeas
Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
1 clove of garlic
1 large or 2 small cooked beetroots
2 tablespoons of tahini
2 tablespoons olive oil
pinch of ground cumin
sea salt

Mash the chickpeas roughly with a fork and finely grate the beetroot, conserving the bright juice. Crush the garlic clove with a little salt and combine all of the ingredients together, including any juice from the beetroot. Taste the houmous - it will have a sweet, earthy flavour - you may want to add more lemon or salt.

If you are short of time, you can opt to pulse all the ingredients together in a blender, but don't blend too smoothly as a bit of texture is a good thing.

I sometimes hold back a few chickpeas for garnishing, along with fronds of dill.

butternut squash puree with chilli

1 squash
3 large red chillis - don't use smaller, hotter chillis as you want the colour without excessive heat
2 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
fresh rosemary - a couple of stalks
sea salt

Halve the squash and scoop out the seeds. Cover with foil and roast in a hot oven for about an hour, or until thoroughly softened. Leave to cool.
Deseed and finely chop the chillis. Remove the rosemary from the woody stalks and chop it. Finely slice the garlic. Soften these three ingredients with the olive oil on a low heat for about 5 minutes, then take off the heat and add the lemon zest. Scoop the flesh from the roasted squash and mix through the flavoured oil, add salt to taste.

Claudette and the veg box ...

2007-09-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

Claudette is getting in the veg box on a near daily basis and enjoys frizee and aubergines!

Autumn, apples, figs....

2007-09-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

Hey ... I can't believe the chill in the air , what happened to my indian summer? It is nice to be getting some proper apples and figs and pears though. I've got a delivery of conference pears bramley apples and russet apples (a sixteen kilo mixed box!) arriving tomorrow from the lovely guys from chegworth valley farm. I think tomorrow and thursday might be chutney making days if you've got any tips pippa! Sanchia and Alex are in thekitchen and I'm around if you want to pop by.