Recipe: Roast Figs in Balsamic Syrup

I think this is probably the last Fig recipe of the year. I made this dish several days ago using fruit that looked fine, but from which it turned out that the flavour had all-but disappeared. For this recipe to fulfil its true potential, the dark, rich flavours of the syrup need to be offset by the concentrated flavour of the roast Figs.......and I'm not sure that the end-of-season offerings are quite good enough to carry it off. Worth trying, though, before Figs disappear once and for all until next summer.



Ingredients: 6 ripe Black Figs; 3 tablespoons of clear Honey; 200g sugar; 200 ml water; 1 teaspoon of ground Cinnamon; 2 Cloves; the inside scraped from 1 Vanilla Pod, or one teaspoon of good quality Vanilla Essence; 2 Star Anise; half a teaspoon of Orange Oil and half a teaspoon of Lemon Oil (or the grated zest from half an Orange and half a Lemon); 3 tablespoons of good Balsamic Vinegar.

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees C.

2. Trim the tops from the Figs, and cut a cross in the top of each one (as though preparing Brussels Sprouts). Place the prepared Figs in a baking dish.

3. Put all the remaining ingredients into a saucepan, bring to the boil and cook at a rolling boil for three minutes. Spoon this mixture over the figs and bake uncovered for thirty minutes, basting the figs with the liquid every ten minutes or so.
When finished, the Figs should be quite soft when pricked, but should still keep their shape in the dish.

4. Leave to cool down, in their syrup, and then place in the fridge.

Serve chilled.

Mrs Beeton, 2007........

In general, I care much more about the kitchen equipment I use than about the plates the food is served on - with the possible exceptions that desserts always look good on a black plate and that nothing ever looks good if the plate is too small. .....

Drinking glasses are another matter, though - and there is no doubt that a good wine does taste and look better when drunk from a fine wine glass than from a plastic beaker (speaking from plenty of experience of both). Unfortunately, in the rough and tumble of daily life, wine glasses take a beating - and not predominantly from the actual process of drinking. Short of managing to break them, the most irritating thing about good glass is the (almost inevitable) appearance on it over time of 'dishwasher-bloom'. In an ideal World, of course, it would all be washed by hand, before being lovingly polished and carefully returned to the cupboard........

That's the Ideal World version.

In the Real World, though - the 'life's too short' version - nine times out of ten, the glasses go in the dishwasher along with everything else.....With the result, over time, of a growing collection of milky hazy wine glasses which are perfectly serviceable except that they have a displeasing foggy bloom on them. Generally, too, this is on the outside of the glass so it doesn't even disappear when the glass is full....

You can remedy the problem by the judicious use of jewellers' rouge, (a) if you can find any, and (b) if you don't mind the tedious process involved in carefully polishing away all the tiny scratches and abrasions in the glass which go to make up the bloom. The Technical Department has come across a rather bizarre alternative method though: application of a proprietary brand of something that is in fact manufactured as a Rubber Bumper and Trim Polish for cars. It rejoices in the name 'Back to Black', and I assume is targeted at boy racers who worry about things like the pristine condition of their dashboards. In my mind, I associate it with the sorts of cars that have fluffy dice dangling from the rear-view mirror. Why we have any of it lying around is completely beyond me, and even more fascinating is why the Technical Department even thought of using it to restore the Riedel glasses to their pristine condition........Sometimes, it's just better not to ask! It works, though. Amazingly, it does.......

I doubt it's safe to use inside the glass, since I'm not certain what the stuff actually contains - but since most of the bloom is on the outside anyway, there's little temptation to risk it. Given that the bottle bears a large yellow sticker proclaiming that the product 'Contains Alcohol', I'm not sure we aren't in practice returning it to its spiritual home.

If you want to get hold of any of this stuff, I suggest you google it and find your nearest boy-racer online supplier! Difficult to think of Mrs Beeton and boy-racers in the same breath, but I suspect that were she around now, she would approve.......

Dinner Tonight:

Crab Tarts.

Chicken with Mascarpone & Dill stuffing. Celeriac Mousse.

Souffles of Vanilla & Apricot.

Recipe: Caramelised Mushrooms

Bizarrely, although this dish differs only slightly from mushrooms fried au naturel, for some reason the addition of shallots, butter and parsley at the end of the process gives to the flavour of the mushrooms a surprising depth and richness. This is excellent with grilled meat or with sausages.

For four.

Ingredients: 1 lb of Button or Field Mushrooms (halved or quartered if they are large) ; 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil; 2 medium Shallots; 1 tablespoon of Butter; Salt & Pepper; 3 tablespoons chopped Parsley.

Method:

1. Heat the Oil over high heat in a saute pan. When hot, add the mushrooms, and reduce the heat to medium. Leave to cook, covered, for twenty five minutes, until the Mushrooms have released all their juice and it has cooked away.

2. Peel and dice the Shallots. Add these to the cooked Mushrooms and stir to combine. Cook for a further two to three minutes.

3. Add the seasoning, Butter, and Parsley and cook for another minute, stirring, until the Butter has melted and all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed together.

Serve.

Bottled Summer.......

I don't recall how or why I first came across the range of Vedrenne Creme Liqueurs. I can remember numerous glasses of Kir being consumed as pre-lunch tipples nearly thirty years ago in the course of endless Greek summers - generally accompanied by slices of Hungarian Donkey Salami (the flavours of the two have been inextricably linked in my mind, ever since) - and the Cassis that was used on those occasions always came from the distinctive Vedrenne bottle..........But when it was that I realised that Vedrenne is not just Cassis I couldn't tell you. Or indeed why it is that no retail outlets that I can think of ever seem interested to move beyond the - admittedly very good, but on one level slightly pedestrian - blackcurrant.

Now I come to think of it, I suspect it was exactly because of lack of retail availability that I learned that Vedrenne products come in a whole battery of other flavours. I tracked down the UK importer (an outfit called Grape Ideas, based somewhere in Oxfordshire) and established that I could buy from them at trade price, as long as I bought a minimum of a case at a time. A dozen bottles of Cassis seemed quite a challenge even for the levels of consumption in this household, and I suspect my pause on the phone prompted G.Ideas Inc to add hurriedly that it would be perfectly ok for the case to be a mixed case. And that in turn prompted careful enquiry as to exactly what the options for that mix might be......

That first time, we decided to cast our net wide, in a spirit of adventure, and the order included Creme de Peche de Vigne, Green Apple, Wild Strawberry, Bitter Cherry, Raspberry, and of course the inevitable Cassis. They're all made and bottled in Nuits St George, and there are actually more flavours that come out of Nuits St George than those I've listed, but which inexplicably have been deemed uninteresting by the good people of Grape Ideas.........there's a Mirabelle, I think, and a Bilberry. ...and possibly more that I don't recall. The blurb available about the process is quite unrevealing, and the only details I could glean in trying to research Vedrenne was that absolutely no additives are used 'not even those allowed by law' (nice touch, that!) and the fact that only 'dry' sugar comes into play...

The flavours are superb! There are some oddities, I'll admit, for which a good use took a little time to discover. Green Apple, for instance, left me completely cold until I tried a small amount of it in the bottom of a Gin & Tonic. Delicious! Wonderfully refreshing, and inexplicably tasting of almonds......Equally, the Bitter Cherry I nearly gave up on, until I tried a small slug of it as part of the contents for a Cherry Tart. For the others, though, there was never any question: Peche de Vigne with Prosecco; Framboise, or Cassis mixed with a chilled glass of Pinot Grigio.....all perfect! And they all come in handy in the kitchen as well - a little Wild Strawberry added to the base for a Strawberry Souffle, for instance, or Peche de Vigne to give a little kick to a Nectarine Pie. It's all good stuff.......

And given how summer in London now seems entirely to have given up trying, then there's much to be said for the bottled variety. Within 48 hours of touching down at Gatwick, I'd managed to contract a stinking cold, and much time is now devoted to sneezing my way around Kensington Gardens, as the four-footeds enjoy chasing squirrels in the pouring rain!

Tonight's Dinner:

Aubergine & Parmesan Tarts

Grilled Steak, with Caramelised Mushrooms

Pears, poached with Rosemary & Honey

The Great Debate.......Progress?

I think I've got somewhere on Joanna's issue about why the way in which food is consumed is important. It's a contract. Between the members of the group that constitute a household unit. Cooking is undertaken with the wellbeing of the group in mind; and the way in which the food is consumed demonstrates respect for the thought and effort that went into its production. Grazing from the fridge, or chowing-down on a pork pie in the street as you wander away from the supermarket, or even sitting down in a group and eating as you all stare at a TV screen is to relegate food to the status of a purely functional energy-giving fuel source. It devalues it as an element within the relationship 'glue' that exists between the group members.

Does that work? I believe it does, or at least in part......it explains, for instance, why microwave cooking doesn't count, since the time, thought, care and skill involved in the process are fairly negligible. I think (Passionate Palate) it also works in the context of cooking just for yourself - demonstrating respect for yourself and for the standards by which you live.....

Not a complete thesis, but the beginnings of a skeleton of one. Perhaps.

Talking of food and theses, I was astonished by the student meal-planning system enthusiastically trumpeted abroad by the authorities at Carnegie Mellon University. Something they call 'community-oriented dining experiences'. I kid you not - they honestly do.....! I was left completely baffled by the minutiae of it all. In any event, though, the students there must be phenomenally clever, since, in order to get to grips with the Red, Blue, Green, Plaid, Commuter eating plans....and probably polka-dot and rainbow coloured plans, too, for all I know .... they must all have the IQ of Einstein.I suspect that in their position, I would merely be discovered at the end of term as a pile of whitened bones or at the very most an emaciated cadaver, skeletal fingers wrapped tightly around a copy of the Carnegie Mellon Meal Plan programme! You can read it for yourself , if looking for a challenge. You will be tested on it afterwards......

Tonight's Dinner:

.....will be taken in the shady glades of Kensal Rise, courtesy of Ms Robinson.

Recipe: Steamed Clams & Eggs.....

This recipe was passed on to me, recently - I believe it was taken from the New York Times, but before that its provenance is unknown. If anybody could tell me where it came from, and where I might find more by the same author, I would be very grateful! It read 'interestingly' on the page, and I let it sit there for quite a while before I tried it. In practice, it is absolutely delicious - and unusual, too, in that the texture is light, yet the flavour is a beguiling combination of the strong tones from the soy and the onion , along with the subtle flavour of the Clams which pervades the steamed souffle.......


Ingredients: 12 small Clams, scrubbed; 2 eggs; 1/3 cup Chicken Stock; Salt & Pepper; Sesame Oil (small amount); a dash of Soy Sauce; 1 tablespoon of minced Spring Onion.

Method:

1. In a large pot fitted with a steamer rack large enough to hold 2
(8-ounce) ramekins, bring a quart of water to a boil. Divide the Clams between the ramekins.

2. In a small bowl whisk 1 egg until frothy. Whisk in an equivalent amount of Chicken Stock along with a dash of Salt and Pepper. Pour this mixture over the Clams in one of the ramekins. Repeat with the remaining egg. Place the ramekins on the steamer rack in the pot.

3. Cover the pot and simmer for 12 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the steamer. Garnish each with a small drop of sesame oil, a few drops of soy sauce and a sprinkle of scallions.

Serve.

Meanwhile, Up in Brancoli......

Two splendidly bucolic days up in the hills above Lucca! Tempo Italia - online Italian weather forecast - got it completely wrong, as it does 50% of the time, and there was no need for the gum boots and sou-westers that had been gloomily predicted......

On the first evening, we sat under the Persimmon Tree and generally put the World to rights over a glass or two of pre-prandial Prosecco, as the swifts gathered, and the sun went down over the valley. Brancoli is steep and heavily wooded, and taking in the view down towards the plain and Lucca in the distance gives the impression of being high, high up in some alpine fastness.

Dinner that evening was at La Mora, down in Ponte a Moriano, at the foot of the hill. Despite the Brancoli pre-publicity that the restaurant was quite simple in style, it turned out to be an environment of damask tablecloths, candle-light, and discreetly deferential waiters. So, sitting in the restaurant garden, under the densely-leafed pergola, in an atmosphere of elegant calm, it came as something of a shock when the 20.56 from Ponte a Moriano to Castelnuovo di Garfagnana came thundering past, literally five feet away from my left ear, and only the other side of a chain-link fence. Since the restaurant has been in place since 1867 - and presumably pre-dates the railway line - then the unruffled countenances of the staff was largely understandable. And by the time the 21.29 from Castelnuovo di Garfagnana to Ponte a Moriano did the return journey it came as less of a surprise - but, for all that, was still a little like dining on Platform Nine at Euston Station!

The food was - for the most part - extremely good. We had the menu de degustazione - eight courses, in all - from which there were some definite highlights: ravioli in marjoram sauce were very good, indeed; as were zucchini flowers stuffed with force-meat, and served in a light white sauce; confit of pigeon was delicious, and roast pork was good without being spectacular. The Brancolis liked the red pepper mousse (actually more like a bavarois), which I found slightly bland - and we all gave the thumbs down to a rabbit mousse, which seemed intended for people with neither teeth nor taste-buds. The first few courses were accompanied by a Sanct Valentin Gewürztraminer - which was a welcome discovery on the wine-list; Sanct Valentin output is splendid, but there isn't a great deal of it around, sadly - and then we moved onto a couple of bottles of Avvolture 2004 (Moris Farms). Grappa was left until after the return journey up the hill had been negotiated - very wise! - but consisted of a comparison of grappas flavoured with either cherry stones, or cherry flesh (the latter surprisingly - and deliciously - unfruity).

All-in-all, an excellent evening. And not a hangover in sight over breakfast, the next morning!

Lunch that day was idyllic. Vitello Tonnato, accompanied by a cornucopia of salads, and washed down by ice-cold beer. Consumed in the shade on the terrace, looking down over the olive groves beyond the end of the garden. The timetable demanded that we finish all too soon - when I could happily have sat there all afternoon ! - and we went off to visit gardens for the next few hours (Villas Reale and Oliva ), not least as a means of working up an appetite for supper. ....

......which served as the backdrop to a vertical tasting of the Chateau Brancoli output for the past three years: 2005, followed by 2004 ( the so-called 'jug' wine) and then the cream of the crop, 2006. To sop it up, we ate a Risotto di Gorgonzola, followed by Boned Chicken roast with Sage, and braised Celery, and finished off with lavender-poached nectarines and Fig Ice-Cream. We worked our way through the 2005, and the 2004 (which had definitely improved over time, and actually might have been worth bottling after all, we decided).....and then we broached the 2006. Ah! Now that is Wine! was the universal cry around the table. It had been good when first sampled on the night of the luminara, several months ago - but had clearly get better during the period in between. We didn't stop at the first bottle either, and dinner was punctuated by a visit to the Cantina in order to inspect the barrels!

R&R doesn't get much better than that.......

When we left, the following morning, weighed down with plants, and jam, and two more carbuoys of wine - intended for the next grappa distillation - it was with a sense of much pleasure. Only slightly dimmed by the dawning realistion as we unpacked the car back in Pisa that we'd actually forgotten to include our luggage, which was still patiently waiting back in the guest-room up at Brancoli! Maybe the alcohol consumption over the past two days had had a deleterious effect on the brain cells, after all! (Fortunately, yesterday was Ferragosto, the biggest holiday in Italy all year, and so the roads were empty, and it only took forty minutes to drive back and - rather shamefacedly - leave once more, this time with our bags...)

Enough of this! We leave for London for two weeks, this afternoon, and I have a million things yet to do before then......

Tonight's Dinner:

.......is as yet in the lap of the Gods. The Technical Department is muttering plaintively in favour of sausages........