After missing last weekend through bank holiday revelry, let’s ease ourselves back into things with a run down of the latest recipes organised by newspaper group.
The Financial Times
Tim Hayward waxed lyrical about Bao. In turn, the restaurant founders, Wai Ting, Shing Tat Chung and Erchen Chang, shared recipes for beef soup rice (to be garnished with black truffles) and water chestnut and shiitake stuffed rolls, (to be served in kombu stock). Thumbs up. Would love to know results if people try these.
The Times and Sunday Times
If you didn’t picnic or light a barbecue yesterday, then I assume you wished you had done. As if by magic, outdoor cooking was the theme of Ben Tish’s column in The Sunday Times, with three recipes from his book ‘Grill, Smoke, BBQ’: paella cooked over hot coals; pork ribs with quince glaze (these look goooood); and charcoal grilled peaches with lavender honey and mascarpone ice cream. Nice menu.
I’m pretty keen on Jamie Oliver’s pudding, also in The Sunday Times magazine: an amaretto pannacotta with coffee syrup. But, sorry, I still can’t get very excited about Nadiya Hussein’s baking in the Saturday Times Magazine. This week, we got Viennese Fingers. “Who knew there could exist a biscuit so buttery and crumbly that you could not even begin to fathom how it was made?” Who knew indeed.
On the pages before Nadiya, Hélène Darroze paraded some 2* chicken dishes in celebration of the lavish Sunday lunch at her restaurant. The roast chicken they do for that event involves a Les Landes bird (yellow, corn fed) stuffed with foie gras, garlic and brioche breadcrumbs. But the recipe she shared was in which the chicken is stuffed with macaroni, girolles and black truffle. Blimey. She provided other recipes too (soup, pie, tacos), but none as unusual as a roast chicken with pasta in it.
The Telegraph
“Basically, I believe that any food I love – cheese, crab, wild mushrooms – will taste even better when encased in buttery pastry and a rich savoury custard” wrote Diana Henry in Sunday’s Stella Magazine, before providing some useful tips for avoiding a soggy bottom. Of her three recipes, a carrot, preserved lemon and coriander quiche stood out immediately. Though on second reading I was mighty tempted by Thai seasoned salmon and crab tarts too.
Stephen Harris was one of a number of writers this week to provide recipes for soups. I dunno. I’m not sure that’s what I want to eat in May, but obviously many of you could disagree. If so, the Sportsman’s chef-patron suggested curried carrot and leek and potato.
As an internet rather than paper reader of the Telegraph, I’m never quite sure what recipe relates to which day in the paper (if at all). Accordingly, I often miss Rose Prince’s contributions. But I couldn’t help notice her recipe for spinach and pea fritters served with a sharp caper dressing. There’s also a recipe online from Rose for butterhead lettuce soup with curd cheese and artichoke buttered toast. Which makes me take back everything I said above about not fancying soup right now.
The Guardian and Observer
In fact, on the subject of soups, tarts and springtime fritters …
Oliver Rowe is the latest Guardian Cook resident. His first two recipes include a watercress and wild garlic soup, plus a textbook and very appealing blue cheese and asparagus quiche. Worth keeping your eyes on his recipes over the coming weeks – Oliver makes things you want to cook and eat. Which tends to help, I find.
Newish Cook columnist Anna Jones gave us two more spring fritter recipes: one using white beans and burnt spring onions; the other, chermoula, carrot and chickpea.
Her fellow regular recipe contributors laid on ideas for a blissful, bitter greens and ricotta pasta number (Rachel Roddy) and a disco-lux mango buttercream chiffon cake (Claire Ptak).
Over in the glossy mag, Yotam Ottolenghi proved he has a tighter grip on olive oil than any celebrity injunction ever could. Poached spring greens and trout will be lush; I like the idea of lamb and chickpea pies made with an olive oil pastry; and pasta alla Norma is a winner – basically, fried aubergines, chilli, toms, oregano and stuff. Well done Norma.
Thomasina Miers’ crab and potted shrimp ideas were stellar. Great use of buckwheat in a crab and grapefruit salad; and nutty kamut flour in soda bread to go with potted brown shrimps.
Sunday’s Observer brought timely words from Neil Rankin. Neil’s book ‘Low and Slow: How to Cook Meat’ has just been published. The book gives the low-down on cooking meat perfectly in a variety of methods, though this article focussed on barbecuing, which made a lot of sense given the weather. In addition to light touch tips for a variety of meats, there were recipes for BBQ’d whole chicken (at a lowish 120C, then blast) and a blackened salad.
It’s strange times now there’s no Independent and therefore no Mark Hix. Not least because it falls on someone else to herald the British asparagus and broad bean season. Step forward Nigel Slater, who had recipes for both of these things in the Observer mag: a simple harissa broad bean and heritage carrot salad, to go with slices of coppa; and an asparagus and fresh herb salad light flecked with cracked wheat and sprouted mung beans.
On the Internet
I keep reading that babka is the current thing – the new cupcake, or doughnut, or cronut or whatever. Which obviously doesn’t actually mean it’s really a physical thing. Yet. But that one or two people have written about it because they were seeking something to write about. And other people have seen those pieces and written a bit more, continuing to perpetuate the myth that there is any such thing as a thing anyway.
Point being, I stumbled across a coconut custard babka on Food52. Might be an interesting to waves of chocolate in an enriched dough loaf. Might not.
#Supplemental cooking
There I was with all the ingredients for Anna Jones’ blackened spring onion fritter, but a broken food processor. I’m sure I could’ve chopped and mashed. Though in the end decided to flick through the new (brilliant) ‘Duck Soup: the wisdom of simple cooking’ book instead. Oven roast tomatoes, blistered cherry toms and ricotta made for a lovely supper in the Sunday sunshine.
Weekend Menu, 07 and 08 May 2016
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Buckwheat, crab and grapefruit salad
Thomasina Miers, The Guardian
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Rost chicken stuffed with macaroni, girolles and black truffle
Hélène Darroze, The Times
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Pannacotta with coffee syrup
Jamie Oliver, The Sunday Times
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