Recipe: Chocolate & Cherry Clafouti, with Grappa

I read recently an article by Harold Magee, which in turn was quoting the fact that Heston Blumenthal uses vodka as 50% of the liquid content when making batter in which to fry fish. He maintains that it produces a much crisper result, and the fact that the alcohol will evaporate more quickly than water clearly supported the hypothesis. Since I believe that frying battered fish is best left to commercial establishments with a ready supply of newspaper and malt vinegar, I wasn't interested to follow his advice directly - but since batter is batter is batter, it seemed worth experimenting with a clafouti recipe to see whether what he says is indeed corrrect. Any relatively flavourless 'white' alcohol will work in the same way as vodka, and so - having industrial quantities of it lying around, I substituted grappa.

It certainly works. The cooked batter was light and held together very well, with a beautifully crisp top. The flavour of grappa was definitely present, and - as the Technical dept said - the combination of grappa with cherry and chocolate produced an all round 'very grown-up' result. If, like me, you make the batter in advance and then give it a final whizz just before putting the clafoutis in the oven as the main course is going to table, then leave it until this point to add the grappa - if you do it earlier, the volatiles within it will just evaporate as the batter sits around.


For two individual clafoutis:

Ingredients: 24 cherries, pitted; 1 egg; 40g butter; 40g flour; 1 tsp vanilla essence; 1 tbs chocolate powder; 50 ml milk; 50 ml grappa; 30g sugar (or Splenda); icing sugar, to serve (optional).

Method:

1. Arrange the pitted cherries in two greased egg dishes.

2. Heat the oven to 180 degrees C.

3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and allow it to cool. Add this to all of the other ingredients in a blender jar and process for ten seconds or so, to produce a thickish homogenised batter.

4. Pour the batter over and around the cherries - try and do it so that the cherries remain fairly evenly spaced and don't all get pushed to the edge of the dish.

5. Bake for about 25 minutes, until the batter is puffed and crisp.

Dust with icing sugar, and serve immediately.

Days of the Week...

One huge difference between Italy and London is the structure of the days of the week. In London, it's very easy to lose track of which day it is, since - apart from the changing schedule on Radio 4 - there's very little to distinguish one day from another. The shops are always open...everything is always available...it's terribly practical, but it doesn't do a lot to give rhythm to everyday life.

In Pisa, things are completely different, and if you don't get a grip on what happens at what time, then it can all get very frustrating. There's a complicated structure to it all, which requires a specific choreography in order not to waste a lot of time and energy, not to mention risking regular disappointment!

To buy flowers, you have to remember Wednesday and Saturday mornings - Wednesday, when there's a flower stall in the market in San Martino, and Saturday, when the San Martino Market also operates, but there's a much better choice from the man who sets up shop halfway down Borgo Stretto. On Saturdays, it's important to be up and at any of the the shops early, since the army of italian Mammas - intent on preventing their families from starving before Monday - descends like a plague of locusts, and if you haven't got everything you want by 9.30, you risk being stuck in queues for the rest of the morning! Everything shuts every day at 1.00 for lunch...everything...and you're then stuck if you get caught short in the kitchen until the shops re-open at 3.30 (or 5.30 in the hot summer months). Poultry and fish shops don't open in the afternoons at all....and I don't think the pasta sellers do, either, but I've obviously never tried to buy fresh pasta at that time of day (or else I'd know). In general, food shops are open on Monday mornings - all apart from the fish sellers - which is when all of the other shops are closed, presumably to make up for having been open on Sunday evening, when they take advantage of the passagiata, to catch passing trade.

Sundays in general are bliss! The mornings are peace incarnate - the streets are empty of people and traffic, and the only shops which are open for emergency supplies of bread or milk are in Via Cavour, or the shop run by the Argentinians in Via Cavalca.

What else? Well...the baker in Via San Francesco only takes delivery of Altamura bread on Thursday mornings, after about 10.30, and has generally run out for the week by the following day. The dry cleaners in San Paolo al'Orto only opens in the mornngs during the summer; and neither the ironmongers in Via Cavour nor Maurizio, the butcher, open at all after lunch on Saturday. Signor Tempestini (the plant-man) closes half an hour earlier than anybody else for lunch at any time of year....and so it goes on.

It might sound very complicated - but since it all helps to make Life's Tapestry a little richer, I wouldn't have it any other way...

Tonight's Dinner:

Sautéed Chicken Livers & Rosemary, with an Orange, Fennel & Lentil Salad.

Lamb Mentonais, with Green Beans.

Panna Cotta.

Recipe: Duck Confit

Nothing to beat it - a deliciously crisp skin, and meat in which the flavours have been richly concentrated by long slow cooking. There's no waste, as the meat falls cleanly from the bones; and it's a time-efficient dish as well, since the process of re-heating the pieces of confit takes only twenty minutes or so in a medium-hot skillet...which is perfect for post-cinema supper, for instance, or having just got home, at the end of a long day.

These days, I generally make confit from the legs and wings of any duck I buy. The bird is boned, breasts are reserved to be grilled separately (from a decent sized bird, two breasts will be ample for four servings), the bones make a rich stock, the fat is trimmed and reduced for future use, and the legs and and wings go for confit. That way, one bird has the makings of six different dishes for two people, which is pretty efficient household management however you look at it.

Ingredients: Legs and wings from a duck ( a 2.5 kilo bird is a decent size for this- you can use smaller, but a bird this size will give generous servings); 2 tsp Salt; approx a dozen grindings of Black Pepper; 3 dried bay leaves, crumbled; 2 tsp dried Thyme; duck fat, approx 1 pint.

Method:

1. Place the duck pieces in a bowl, and coat them with all of the other ingredients, apart from the duck fat.

2. Heat the oven to 150 degrees C.

3. In a large, heavy pan, fry the pieces for ten minutes or so on each side over medium heat. They should be lightly browned all over.

4. Place the browned duck pieces in a shallow oven-proof dish, pour the fat over them, and cook in the pre-heated oven for two and a half hours.

5. Leave to cool completely in the fat, and then store the confit (still encased in fat) somewhere cool. When you want to eat it, pull the pieces of confit from the fat and fry gently for twenty minutes or so, until heated through. The fat can be retained for making future confit, or just for use as a frying agent in the kitchen.

Theoretically, the confit will be fine to eat even if left for for several months - I think the longest I've managed to last is about three weeks before breaking down and serving it!

Low-carb eating...

Maria's words...or mimes...at the beginning of the week must have struck home, and the Technical Department has the bit firmly between his teeth on the weight-loss front. Rather depressingly, there's mention of no pasta or risotto (for which also read 'nor pastry'.......nor potatoes) for several months to come. Which wasn't entirely what I had in mind...

Starters and main courses are actually quite easy on a low-carb regime. Shellfish in any form for starters: moules marinières; crayfish tail salad; prawns in cream & vermouth; crab tart (phyllo pastry shell, naturally); scallops - either as they are, in various forms, or as a mousseline. Or chicken livers, with wild mushrooms in a crisp tart shell, or lightly sautéed with garlic to go on top of a salad; or smoked salmon, either tiède, on a soubise of onion and basil, or as a timbale, with basil and celery and a gazpacho dressing....the list is fairly long.
Main courses are pretty straightforward: meat, fish and poultry are pretty much ok, in whatever form they're cooked, as long as there's nothing en crôute. Vegetables are a bit more demanding, but not much: parsnips are out, as are potatoes; carrots should be avoided.....tomatoes and peppers are surprisingly low in carbs, and as long as you stick to the 'greener' end of the vegetable spectrum, then it's pretty much ok (asparagus, mange tout, beans, broccoli - anything like that is fine). Steamed and mashed broccoli or cauliflower make surprisingly good substitutes for mashed potato.

Desserts, however, require a lot more thought. IMHO, custard-type fillings don't work very well with phyllo pastry shells - which is the only kind of pastry really permissible if you're being serious about being low carb (the TD weakened at this point, and began to mutter about "if it's rolled really thin, then shortcrust surely would be ok, if it's just for individual tarts" ; I don't think so....not if we're taking this seriously...sounds like the thin end of the wedge to me...and it wasn't my choice, after all, to veto pasta and risotto!). I suppose, if one really hungers for the taste of a chocolate or lemon tart, then there's always the option of baking the filling inside a ramekin, and foregoing the pastry - but I suspect it would be a rather dismal substitute for the real thing. So, without shortcrust or puff pastry in evidence, it's apple, pear, cherry, peach, and blueberry tarts...and as long as the phyllo shell also contains a layer of slivered almonds, then I think you can just about get away with a filling of flavoured crème pâtissière, topped with a layer of fresh strawberries or raspberries. And as far as any creamy desserts are concerned, it's a question of working out which ones require sugar in order for the texture to work properly (in which case, they're off the list) and which ones will be fine with just Splenda instead. So, bavarois, semifreddo and panna cotta are 'in', but ice creams and sorbets are definitely 'out'.

I'm sure there will be more on this in due course; I hope it doesn't become tedious...

Tonight's dinner:

Unmoulded Mousse of Celeriac, with a Mustard Cream Sauce.

Chicken Breasts stuffed with Emmental, in Sage & Vermouth; Celery, braised in Butter.

Blueberry and Vanilla Tarts.

Recipe: Cherry & Almond Tart

We're 'en regime'. A recent diet of too much pasta and risotto, not to mention shortcrust and puff pastry.....and the occasional orange or apple cake....has taken its toll. Maria let it be known at the beginning of the week, in a kind of portuguese-english (where every fifth word is a version of english, and the rest relies heavily on mime) that she thought the Technical Department had put on a lot of weight. I think that was what she meant to communicate, by dint of puffed cheeks and hand movements in the waistline area, and a pointed finger in his direction. And so...the next few weeks means no pasta or rice, potatoes and bread are strictly forbidden, sugar is off-limits, and the only form of pastry allowed will be phyllo.

Which is where this recipe comes in. Almonds meet the low-carb criteria, as does the phyllo pastry shell; sweetener replaces sugar, with no perceptible difference to the taste, and the end result is a delicious combination of concentrated cherry juices and the rich edginess of almonds.

Virtuous as well as self-indulgent!

For two individual tarts:

Ingredients: 2 sheets of Phyllo pastry, each approx 12" x 6"; 1 oz Butter; 1 dessert spoon of slivered almonds; 4 heaped dessert spoons of ground almonds; 2 dessert spoons of Splenda (or sugar, if not going the low-carb route); 1 tsp Almond essence; 20 fresh cherries.

Method:

1. Grease or Trennwax two individual false-bottomed tart tins. Turn the oven on to 200 degrees C.

2.Melt the Butter,and use it to brush the sheets of Phyllo. Cut each sheet in half, to make two squares from each sheet. Line each tart tin with a square of buttered Phyllo, tucking the edges in all round, to make a neat tart shell, and divide the slivered almonds between the two shells. Then make a second layer with the remaining squares of buttered Phyllo on top of the layers of slivered Almonds. Bake these shells in the oven for about seven minutes, until they've turned a rich golden brown.

3. Whilst baking the tart shells, stone the cherries.

4. Take the bakedshells from the oven, and put into each one 2 spoonfuls of ground Almonds and 1 spoonful of Splenda (or sugar) and divide the Almond essence between the two tarts. Arrange the stoned Cherries on top of the Almond/Splenda mix, packing them together quite tightly, and spoon the remaining Splenda(or sugar) over the top of the Cherries.

5.Return the tarts to the oven and bake for about half an hour. When the fruit has collapsed and obviously shrivelled asit cooks, remove the tarts from the oven and allow to cool down before serving.

Two weeks' break...

...from selling-the-house activity. Which is going quite well ( I think - although, until the ink has dried on the cheque, I'm not sure how you can tell.) Smiling encouragingly at coachloads of potential purchasers has become a little 'tired', I admit, and they've been coming through the door at an average rate of three a day (potential purchasers, I mean, not coachloads) ...so a fortnight back in London to recharge batteries is quite welcome.

The garden has been doing its utmost to support the sales strategy, with cascades of blooming roses all over the south pergola, along with geraniums, and water lilies, the occasional iris, masses of jasmine blossom, and a whole host of dianthus (which will now continue flowering right through until Christmas, I should think). I'm not sure how much of an effect it all has on the Italian P.P.s, though, as - contrary to what you'd expect - gardening really isn't an Italian thing, and so it may be that when they stand on the terrace and appear to be admiring the view, in fact they're merely thinking what a hell of a lot of work it all looks!

When we move out, we'll initially be renting somewhere to live, as the one we want to buy is being sold at auction only in September (hence wanting to sell first, in order to be in a position to participate), and anyway won't be habitable for many months to come. First rental option looks very possible - the piano nobile of a palazzo on the lungarno, with views across the river, a carriage-rutted entrance hall and a grand staircase which are both straight out of 'Room with a View', and a ramrod-backed white-haired Contessa for a landlady who lives on the floor above. The fact that the bathroom (singular) also appears to come from 'Room with a View' and the absence entirely of a kitchen are matters to be addressed as part of the negotiation process. Not insuperable obstacles, though.

Otherwise, we've expanded our property empire by leasing some storage space in the same street as the Palazzo we're lusting to buy - tempting fate at this stage, I know - which has until now been the enoteca (wine store) for the Colonnino restaurant. It's somewhere to put all of the garden equipment and loggia furniture, and all of those things which won't very comfortably or appropriately squeeze into the parquet-floored rooms of the lungarno piano nobile. The ex-enoteca belongs to an octagenarian monsignore, who started off by quoting to Massimo - who's fronting all of our property transactions - a monthly rent which seems about thirty years out of date (hurrah!), and then followed it with a suggested rent review schedule which was just eye-wateringly steep. Massimo put him right on the latter (whilst rolling his eyes and making a few pithy statements behind his hand about " priests " and their attitude to money) and we ended up with a very acceptable compromise.

And this week's culinary discovery: the addition of a spoonful of finely chopped fresh rosemary and some vanilla to the base for a tarte aux pommes. Where normal procedure would be to cook the diced apple until it collapses, add butter, sugar (or Splenda) and some dark alcohol and then add lemon, cinammon and some apricot jam, the new version omits the last three ingredients, and instead requires a small quantity of good quality vanilla essence, and about half a tablespoon of finely chopped rosemary. Excellent flavour, and in fact tantalisingly difficult to identify.
I tried it for the first time on Saturday, when we had the Miccoli-Freers to dinner in Pisa, and then again yesterday evening, after a hypothermia-inducing couple of hours at the Gala evening at Chelsea Flower Show.

Tonight's Dinner:

Smoked Salmon tiède.

Roast Beef; Leek Gratin.

Cherry & Almond Tarts.

Recipe: Ravioli stuffed with Asparagus

In fact, this is something of a catch-all recipe: the quantity of asparagus in the stuffing can be replaced by pretty much any green vegetable or herb, depending upon preference or on whatever you happen to have to hand (spinach, parsley, fava beans, chervil....whatever). If not using asparagus, then the final dressing should be just melted butter, along with grated parmesan and ground black pepper.

Any leftover stuffing can be used subsequently as a filling in savoury pancakes. Last week, a couple of days after having served these ravioli as a starter for dinner, I made a batch of crespelle and filled them with a combination of asparagus stuffing, chopped spinach which had been cooked with a little grated lemon peel, and some finely chopped fennel, which had been previously stewed gently in white wine (all of them lefteover vegetable dishes from earlier dinners). The crespelle were filled, rolled, and heated for twenty minutes or so in a 180 degree oven,and then served with a light cream and parmesan sauce. Delicious!

For Four.

Ingredients: Pasta dough, made using 2 cups of '00' Flour, 3 Eggs, a generous pinch of Salt, and a tsp of Olive Oil; a 'standard' bunch of Asparagus (approx 20 pieces); 250g Ricotta; 1 Egg; 20g grated Parmesan; large pinch of Nutmeg; seasoning to taste; 2 oz Butter; 1 clove Garlic.

Method:

1. Make the pasta dough and leave to rest.

2. Trim the Asparagus stems of any 'woody' ends, and cook in boiling salted water until done (approx six minutes, but I always go by the smell - as soon as it's ready, the aroma of Asparagus rises headily from the pan).

3. Chop half of the cooked Asparagus into half centimetre lengths and reserve.

4. Process the remainderof the Asparagus along with all remaining ingredients except for the Butter and Garlic, and leave this mixture to firm up for at least an hour.

5. Roll out the pasta as normal, and make the ravioli, using a teaspoonful of stuffing for the centre of each piece. (NB: When making ravioli, it's important to use each sheet of pasta as you roll it, and finish using it to make the ravioli before proceeding to roll out the next piece of pasta;ifyou wait to form the ravioli until all of the pasta sheets have been rolled, then you'll have problems!)

6. Bring a large pan of water to boil, add salt, and cook the ravioli just until they come to the surface of the water (they can be fragile, so handle them carefully when removing them from the water - I generally use a slotted spoon, and drain them briefly on a towel before plating them) .

7. While the water is coming to the boil, melt the Butter and sauté the minced Garlic briefly; toss the reserved chopped Asparagus pieces in this, and use this mixture to dress the ravioli. Always serve in heated bowls!