Recipe: Paupiettes of Pork

For Four:

Ingredients: 1 Pork Tenderloin, trimmed of any fat or membrane; 6 Anchovy Fillets; 6 large fresh Basil Leaves; 1 Egg; 1 tablespoon of Milk; 25g grated Parmesan; 50g Plain Flour. Butter (for frying)

Method:

1. Slice the Tenderloin into 12 even slices, crosswise. Using a meat tenderiser, beat each slice until it is quite thin (about 6 mm), and has probably doubled in size.

2. In the centre of each slice place half an Anchovy Fillet and half a Basil Leaf. Fold each slice over, to contain the Basil and Anchovy, and then press the sides together to seal (I generally beat round the edges lightly with the tenderiser, to make a better seal)

3. Beat Egg and Milk together in a shallow dish. In a separate shallow dish put the Parmesan and Flour, thoroughly mixed together.

4. Dip each Paupiette first in the Egg and Milk mixture, and then in the Flour and Parmesan mixture. Make sure they are well covered on each side.

5. Fry in melted butter, 3 minutes on each side.

Goes well with any green vegetable - Spinach works well, or lettuce braised in butter with Broad Beans, for example.

Cook's Perks......

There was an interesting article recently in the New York Times, about cooking with wine. I have to confess, I had no idea it was quite such a rarified subject - and I'm not entirely sure my memory agrees with that of the journalist who wrote the piece, with regard to the advice given by the late-great Julia (Child). Journalist has Mrs Child advising that a 'good' wine should be used for cooking, and the image is conjured up of serious consideration being given to which precise vintage from the Child cave was going to be solemnly opened for the purpose. In practice, my memory of l-g-j's approach was that you should chuck in a generous glassful of pretty much whatever you had on the go at the time (which, in her case, was never going to be undrinkable plonk, anyway!), and that should do nicely. I recall somebody telling me of attending a recording of her show on one occasion - when in fact, a number of shows would be recorded back-to-back in the course of an entire day - and by the end of the process, Julia was comfortably pickled. The ensuing incident in which a duck carcase flew from her grasp right across the kitchen and her remark that she was grateful to have a 'self-clean floor' gave rise to such a flood of eager enquiries about the supplier of such floors that the following week she had to issue a shamefaced acknowledgement that her remark had actually been 'ironic'. Oh, well.....

In short, on the cooking-with-wine front, I entirely agree with the verdict that vermouth should generally be used when a recipe calls for white wine - more economical, in general, and the flavours are nicely complicated - and I can see little point in buying especially 'poor' red wine to cook with. After all, as the cook, you're more likely than not to want 'Cook's nip' as kitchen work progresses, and why on earth would you condemn yourself to something you'd never have bought to pour into a glass in the first instance!


Tonight's Menu:

Celery Risotto

Roast Beef (Mrs Kafka's method - succulent and caramelised), with Carrots roast in Duck Fat.

Tartes aux Citron.

Recipe: Beef & Porcini Strudel...

For Four.

Ingredients: 7 sheets Phyllo Pastry, each 12"x6"; 30g Butter, melted; half a cup of dried Porcini; 250g minced Beef; 1 small Onion, diced finely; Salt & Pepper; half a teaspoon of ground Nutmeg; 2 Eggs; generous teaspoon of Truffle Oil; 2 tablespoons Cream.

Method.

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C.

2. Soak the dried mushrooms 20 minutes or so in a cup of very hot water.

3. Lay four of the Phyllo sheets out on a tea towel, to form a large rectangle; the sides of the sheets should be slightly overlapping. Brush the Phyllo with melted Butter. Lay the remaining sheets of Phyllo on top, facing in the opposite direction, so that the seams of the first 4 sheets are covered by the top layer of Phyllo. Brush this in turn with melted Butter.

4. Mix together the minced Beef, chopped Onion, Eggs and seasoning.

5. Drain the mushrooms, retaining the soaking liquid. Rinse any grit from the mushrooms, then chop and add to the Beef mixture, along with the Truffle Oil.

6. Spread the mixture over the Phyllo rectangle, leaving two inches uncovered all round the edges. Fold all of the edges in over the filling, and carefully roll up to make a 'sausage'. Place this, seam-side down, on a greased baking tray and brush with the remaining melted Butter.

7. Bake the Strudel 45 minutes in the pre-heated oven. Meanwhile, strain the mushroom soaking liquid through kitchen paper and then reduce it in a small saucepan until about 5-6 tablespoons remain; stir in the Cream and check for seasoning.

8. Once the Strudel is baked, remove from the oven, and slice into 1 cm thick slices. Serve two slices per person with a spoonful of the cream sauce.

NB. Delicious served cold on the following day!

The Archive.....

Do people still keep battered notebooks, containing motley collections of once and future favourite recipes? I consulted mine yesterday, to check the 'official' details for Poulet Antiboise, which I know for a fact was inscribed there sometime in 1979, sitting at a cafe table in a courtyard garden, fountain trickling, in a blisteringly hot Greek summer......

My notebook is a standard issue blue-covered school exercise book, bought from the Lykos general store, half way up Matogianni, on the right hand side of the street, with the eternally bad-tempered old woman on the cash desk and her bushily be-whiskered husband, the twinkle in whose eye clearly suggested a colourful past (and possibly explained her mood). The pages were quite soon filled, and the book then became a repository for handwritten notes, recipes on postcards from friends, and pages torn from long-vanished magazines - all of which spill out in a stream every time (rarely, these days) the archive is consulted. And they all come with memories: the ratatouille that accompanied roast pork loin at a candlelit dinner party for fifteen in the garden at Piero's old house, followed by a mountain of cold poached pears; Anne Willan's delicious recipe for Walnut Tart, from kitchen supper at 49, Bankside; the fax with Claudia Roden's Semifreddo alla Mandorle on it, which became so faded that I finally had to track down the book from which it originally came (but the illegible fax remains folded inside the exercise book, all the same....)

It must be ten years at least since I graduated to the greater efficiency of a computer-based recipe archive. Much easier to search, and much more efficient when it comes to passing on a recipe to somebody else. But, somehow, it lacks the dog-eared charm of the older method.....There's progress for you - I suppose!

The Mucco Pisano ravioli were very good. Quite 'edgy' in flavour - almost gamey, in fact. Worth watching out for.

Dining out tonight, so the menu is Ms Robinson's responsibility.

Recipe: Poulet Antiboise

For Four.

Ingredients: 1 roasting Chicken, approx 4 lb weight; 2-3 lbs Onions (red, by preference; the flavour is 'meatier'); half a cup of Olive Oil; Salt & Cayenne Pepper; half a cup of Black Olives; 1 tablespoon Cream. Triangles of Fried Bread, for serving.

Method:

1. Thinly slice the Onions. Put in a heavy casserole, along with the Oil, Salt (to taste) and a generous pinch of Cayenne. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the onions have collapsed but not browned.

2. If you know how to make a neat job of it, remove the wishbone from the Chicken (this makes it much easier to carve, subsequently), then season the bird inside and out and bury it in the softened onions in the casserole. Cover, and continue to cook over medium heat until the Chicken is done - an hour or so should be fine. To test for done-ness, prick the fattest part of the thigh, and the juice which emerges should run clear.

3. Carefully remove the Chicken to a dish in a warming oven, add the Olives to the Onions, and increase heat to reduce the liquid. Stir in the Cream towards the end and reduce to thicken slightly.

Carve the bird and serve along with the Onion/Olive mixture and triangles of thinly sliced bread which have been fried in butter.

Odd Uses for Yoghurt.......

Apparently, a liberal application of yoghurt is a sure-fire way of ageing terracotta pots. We have three gleamingly new ones in the garden, nestling amongst the undergrowth, and planted with incipient Coombland White trailing geraniums, which should look splendid later in the year. The pots are about to receive a facepack of frutta di bosco yoghurt, mixed generously with a little potting compost and some crumbled moss - and I am reliably informed that a carpet of lichen will follow, sure as eggs is eggs. Since we are departing for London this afternoon, and leaving the Brazilian builders in possession of the premises for the next two weeks, I shall put off the paint job until just before heading for the airport. The Brazilians can have the pleasure of looking upon purple-smeared pots in those rare moments when they down tools and take a breather.....

A discovery in the Pasta Shop this morning - ravioli of Mucco Pisano. It's a particular breed of beef, raised according to exacting standards and only available round here. Supposedly con piu di sapore than normal beef - comparable to the difference between cinta senese and normal pork, I was assured by Claudia. She then suggested some crema tartufato to go with it - which I can readily believe, as I can't think of anything that crema tartufato would not go with - but I had to decline on the grounds of the cretinous no-liquid in hand baggage rules, and I'm not about to deal with Gatwick baggage handling even for the sake of crema tartufato. I - along with many others - dream of the day when these idiotic rules are relaxed; I heard recently of somebody who was even prevented from carrying on board a slice of vacherin, on the grounds that it was so runny that it could be considered liquid! Words fail me.....

Tonight's picnic:

Ravioli of Mucco Pisano

Salsiccie Lunghe (from Maurizio), accompanied by Fennel cooked in butter with Raddichio di Treviso.

Fresh Raspberries and Double Cream.

Recipe: Lamb Cutlets in Parmesan Batter

For three.

Ingredients: 6 Lamb Cutlets *; 2 Eggs; 1 cup freshly-grated Parmesan; 1 cup dry Breadcrumbs; Salt & Pepper; Oil (for frying).

* These should be thin to start with, and beaten even thinner. In Italy, Maurizio does it with a practiced hand - one blow with the carne-battuto and the cutlet is spread evenly; it is then folded in two, and a second blow, perfectly placed, melds the whole into one evenly tenderised
piece. In London I have to do it myself - and I have a lot less practice at it then Maurizio does! The pay-off is, I suppose, that British Lamb has much more flavour than Italian Lamb - no two ways about it.....

Method:

1. Beat the Eggs, and pour into a shallow dish. Place the grated cheese in a second dish, and the Breadcrumbs in a third.

2. Put the oil to heat in a frying pan which will be large enough to hold all of the cutlets at once.

3. Dip each cutlet first into the cheese, turning it to coat both sides, then into the beaten Egg, and finally into the Breadcrumbs, always turning to coat the cutlet thoroughly.

4. Fry the coated cutlets in the heated oil, until crisp and golden brown. It should take about three minutes on each side. Add seasoning to taste before serving - although the saltiness of the cheese should make anything other than a grinding of black pepper probably unnecessary.

Serve.