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!

All change!

We're selling the house. Or that's the idea, at any rate...Had you asked me several months ago, I'd have laughed at the suggestion, but to cut a long story short, a building we've lusted after for years from afar (in fact, a mere two streets away...but it's always seemed an impossibility) has unexpectedly come onto the market. We can't have both...and the prospect of sixteenth century frescoes and a garden four times the size of our present one make the whole thing a bit of a no-brainer.

As a result, we're suffering an onslaught of prospective purchasers and agents - eight in the past three days alone! - and there has been much strategic 'home and hearth' cooking, in order to encourage the process. Since the smell of freshly-brewed coffee will apparently clinch a deal faster than the speed of light, there seemed good reason to pull out the stops and get the gastric juices flowing as a backdrop to pointing out the glories of underfloor heating and the generous storage space under the stairs. Tuesday morning's visits were conducted against a backdrop of baking Apple cake (with generous quantities of cinnamon - the smell as it wafts through the house is fantastic!), and the afternoon show-rounds were accompanied by Ragu, richly aromatic as it bubbled gently away on the stove. The smell of baking pastry works pretty well, too, and lemon and tomato tarts have both appeared on the dinner menus this week as fringe benefits to the house-selling initiative...

Watch this space...

And the other all-change is puppy-related. With all fingers crossed, it seems that a great-niece of Bosun's is due to produce puppies next month; one has been reserved, and the Junior-Four-Footed (who has been terribly stressed at being on his own for the past couple of months, poor thing) is now Senior-Four-Footed-in-waiting. The mother-to-be is very beautiful, and in fact looks quite like Bosun, who is greatly missed by all.

New house...new dog...here we go, again!


Tonight's Dinner:

Ravioli with asparagus filling.

Pork Loin, roast; potatoes roast with Sage, Rosemary & Garlic.

Crespelle, filled with Pears sautéed in Butter & Cinnamon.

The Perfect Risotto...

We were up at Brancoli for the weekend, and went for dinner on Saturday to La Mora, just across the river from Ponte a Moriano. Dinner was good, the vintages were excellent (both from a fattoria called Querciabella, which was new to me, but which the brancolis both knew well), the groups of other diners - stout local ladies, for the most part, sporting hairstyles and large handbags - were worthy of comment....but the centerpiece of the evening was the risotto we all chose for our primi. The best risotto any of us had ever tasted! Bar none. And this from a group who've been eating pretty determinedly in Italy for several decades, now. Perfect texture, and a flavour that was quite show-stopping.

Described in the menu as merely 'double-cooked risotto of Pigeon', it was a challenge to deconstruct the dish (as a basis for recreating it subsequently at home, needless to say). The pigeon had been made into confit as a first step, and then this in turn was transformed into a flavour-rich stock...in the course of which the pigeon flesh had been reduced to a few thread-like strings, barely discernible in the final dish. This stock was used to make the risotto in the standard way(using carnaroli rice, inevitably), with a little very finely chopped sage added at the end, and a mantecare of egg-yolk and cream. It seemed that a small amount of highly concentrated sauce - presumably made from the carcasses from the original birds - was added just before serving, along with a couple of slices of perfectly roast pigeon breast as a garnish.

And the result was perfection. A risotto to cross continents for...and certainly one that would justify the price of a plane ticket from London!

We're back in Brancoli next weekend, as it happens...

Tonight's Dinner:

Papardelle, in a sauce of Courgettes, Cream, and Pecorino

Chicken breast, stuffed with Emmental and braised in sage butter.

Mango bavarois.