Tamarind and Thyme

It was the end of another year and I was determined that we the girls would have a nice pre-Christmas meal together. And after a year of lacklustre working day lunches, I wanted something nice and anyway, Christmas time was the only time of year we could get away with a long lunch on a weekday. Hibiscus has been on my to-eat list for a while and their £29.50 set lunch seemed a good and affordable option. Run by chef Claude Bosi and his wife Claire in front of house, the restaurant retained its two stars when it moved from Shropshire to London two years ago. And yes, the a la carte prices are on par with other two starred restaurants. However, only until recently, lunch was only served Monday through Friday and there was no way I could take off so much time during the day to eat there. Christmas it would be (but now they offer lunch on Saturday too).

So, the Wednesday before Christmas at 1:30pm, we found ourselves at the entrance to Hibiscus. After shedding all our outerwear (and there was a lot that chilly day), we were led to a round table near the back. The dining room was much smaller than I expected but I didn’t dislike the minimalist decor.

After ordering, bread and butter arrived for the table – that bread was warm with a wonderfully crisp crust. Along came an amuse too – a little egg filled with a cream and custard of ras el hanout, a Moroccan blend of spices. I could have downed two of them – the custard was incredibly appetising and I could barely wait for the rest of my meal.

We all started with the Terrine of Woolley Park Farm Goose & Foie Gras, Confit “Main de Buddha”, Black Radish Salad, Curry Oil. A generous slice of terrine appeared with dollops of confit puree. I was quite excited to taste some Buddha’s hand fruit (yes, I’m sad) and it didn’t let me down; it had a strong citrus flavour, as you would expect from a fruit with a ridiculous rind surface area. And I thought it paired well with the rich foie and goose meat.

For mains, we again all chose the same thing: Roast Shropshire Partridge, Caper & Raisin Sauce, Glazed Savoy Cabbage, Smoked Beurre Blanc. Our cutlery was changed and we were presented with the oddest looking knives we’d ever seen. My maroon, Rachel’s pink and Mirna’s turquoise monogrammed knives with matching knife stands were possibly the most colourful and possibly kitsch cutlery ever presented to us. We noticed that men at other tables were presented with good old black ones. Rachel and I went around the plate, tasting each little bit individually before tucking in properly. I also burst out laughing when I got to the Savoy cabbage – there must’ve been at least 50% butter in that little green quenelle. The partridge was moist and tender and delicious with the beurre blanc and caper and raisin sauce and the pomegranate seeds added a lovely tart crunch along with adding to the paint palette of a plate. A little square of toast spread with the bird’s rich liver sat at the edge of the plate. The vegetables on the side (apart from the cabbage) were just alright. Rachel found two bits of shot inside her partridge leg; it’s as expected when it comes to game but I’m still glad she didn’t chomp down on them!

Mirna and I selected the Iced Chestnut Parfait, Sharon Fruit Sorbet for dessert. The parfait was studded with lots of chestnut bits and came topped with a light and crisp sugar layer. It was topped with a smooth sharon fruit sorbet and a wedge of the most ripe sharon fruit I’ve come across and it was surrounded by a moat of sharon fruit puree. I thought there was a bit of sharon fruit overkill – perhaps the puree could have been replaced with another flavour that did not overpower the gentleness of the parfait. Still, a lovely dessert.

Rachel chose the Sicilian Mandarin Trifle to shake things up a bit. It seemed lightly scented with orange blossom and the taste I had included some gorgeous mandarin jelly. The honeycomb toffee on top was equally fantastic.

We needed coffees after such a rich meal. One espresso, one americano, one latte. My espresso came quite long, looking like the biggest espresso I’d ever had in a restaurant. Rachel’s americano was mixed at the table for her and she was pleased with it. Mirna did not like her latte though, finding the espresso too long and the whole thing too milky. The coffees came with some petit fours. From the front to the back, these were a smoked caramel fudge, white chocolate with a passion fruit filling, milk chocolate with a caramel filling and a dark chocolate with a softer dark ganache within. I quite liked the fudge with its light smokiness and the passion fruit white chocolate was gorgeous but unfortunately the final two chocolates were let down by a strange sourness in the fillings. It was bad enough that we just couldn’t finish them. The only major negative to the meal but it didn’t get us down.

Altogether it came to £40 each for the set lunch menu, a shared bottle of water, coffees and petit fours, and service. And that service was exemplary. One of my friends was interested in the coffee cups (for a possible present) and I tried to surreptitiously take a photo of the name of the maker at the bottom of the saucer. The hostess saw me and then kindly told us the manufacturer and where we could purchase it (Selfridges). Just before we left, she handed us an envelope with further information – manufacturer, model of the cups, and another shop (Harrods) where there was still stock of that model! Had they actually called up these department stores to find out?! Anyway, I’d love to come back to Hibiscus when we’ve got a little more disposable income to spend on one of their tasting menus on Friday or Saturday.

Hibiscus
29 Maddox Street
London W1S 2PA

Right, when this post comes out, I should be on a plane to Barcelona already. Have a happy new year, everyone! See you in 2010!

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas day! It was a quiet day for us, just me and my brother this year, but we still feasted on a roast spiced pork belly roll, Indian-spiced mashed potatoes, cavolo nero, bacon-wrapped cocktail sausages and much much much later that evening, a tiramisu. The pork belly was rubbed with salt and fennel and chili and cooked on a layer of onion and garlic, pretty simple and inspired by Niamh’s version. It was fabulous but if it’s one thing I learned this year, I prefer a flat slab of pork belly as the crackling crisps up more evenly. The cavolo nero was cooked with garlic and chili and a touch of chicken stock. The mashed potatoes were gorgeous with lots of fried onion throughout and that idea came from the Amateur Gourmet’s description of aloo bhurta (that’s a great post, by the way – do read it!), though I’m going to increase the spice content next time. There were plenty of leftovers which we turned into a lunch of bubble and squeak with sausages today.

We barely made a dent in dessert yesterday and when I finally had a taste (yummy!), my stomach expanded to a new level of bloat. I wanted to make a tiramisu similar to that I had in Rome – no alcohol involved and with bits of chocolate inside. Chocolate shavings were used but they just ended up being a pleasant chocolate layer rather than bits. I’m going to have to chop it up and add a layer of it in the middle next time.

What did you feast upon yesterday?

Indian-Spiced Mashed Potatoes
serves 4.

mashed potatoes for 4 (with butter and cream and seasoned to taste)
1 small-medium onion, very thinly sliced
3 tbsps sunflower oil (or other neutral oil)
1.5 tsps cumin seeds
1.5 tsps mustard seeds
0.5 tsp crushed chili flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced

Heat the sunflower oil over medium high heat. Add the very thinly sliced onion and fry, stirring often, until they’re brown and crispy. Drain from the oil and set aside. Leave the oil in the pan and reduce the heat to medium.

Add both the cumin and mustard seeds to the hot oil and fry until the mustard seeds start popping. Throw in the chili flakes and continue frying for another minute. Add the garlic and ginger together, stir for a bit until the garlic is fragrant and then dump the whole lot into the mashed potatoes. Stir through. Add the fried onions and stir through again. Serve.

Tiramisu
serves 4-6.

3 large egg yolks
1/3 cup milk
2 tbsps sugar
200g mascarpone
12-16 lady’s fingers
espresso/moka coffee, slightly sweetened
dark chocolate shavings

Make the non-alcoholic zabaglione first. Whisk together the yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl. Add the milk and whisk together again. Place the bowl on top of a pot of simmering water (yes, a double boiler) and continue whisking until the volume of the mixture triples and then thickens. It should resemble a thick, airy custard. Take it off the heat. Let cool for a few minutes and then whisk in the mascarpone until well combined.

Get out your tiramisu container – I used a tupperware container as it was the right size. You can also make individual tiramisus – you’ll probably need to break the lady’s fingers so they fit. Dip half the lady’s fingers in the coffee (careful, they go soggy quickly) and make a single layer at the bottom of your container. Add a thin layer of chocolate shavings and then spread half of the mascarpone mixture on top. Repeat again with everything and then top with a final layer of chocolate shavings.

Cover the container (with the lid or some cling film) and place in the fridge for a few hours to set. Serve. This will keep in the fridge for up to two days.

It’s all been a bit meat heavy in the recipes here lately, hasn’t it? Apologies but here’s another one! It’s yet another big cut of meat – a whole ham this time. After seeing it on one of Nigella Lawson’s programmes, I’ve been wanting to try her Coca Cola ham for a while. It sounded good, the sweetness and spiciness of the Coke going well with the ham’s meaty saltiness.

The recipe is pretty brainless. Chuck the gammon into a pot, pour over the Coke, add a few aromatics and leave it be for two hours. Take it out, trim it and glaze it and roast for a litte bit. Done. I added a few things here and there that I thought would work well in it and I quite liked them in there. I tossed in some smoked paprika into the glaze to try to enhance the smokiness of the barbecue flavours in the ham. I think it worked rather well – the smokiness and the sweet.

With all the spare time I now had (thanks to the long simmering time), I made some mashed potatoes (ok, not exactly time consuming) and stewed green beans on the side. Along with the ham, they made a lovely trifecta of meatiness, creaminess and freshness. Leftovers keep well – this served the two of us for three meals; I’d originally wanted to have this for Christmas but wasn’t too sure what our post-Christmas shopping plans were so moved this meal forward. It would make a nice festive main course though!

A note: Nigella suggests saving the coca cola stock and making black bean soup with it. So I did. And immediately regretted using the stock straight up. The soup was ridiculously sweet and we could barely finish it. If you do want to use the stock, I’d suggest cutting it with some vegetable stock or water.

Ham in Coca Cola
adapted from a Nigella Lawson recipe.
serves 4-6.

1.5kg smoked gammon ham joint
2L coca cola (full sugar)
1 small onion, peeled and halved
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 bay leaves
1 star anise

cloves

For the glaze:
2 tbsps light brown sugar
1 heaped tsp mustard powder
1 heaped tsp prepared yellow mustard (like French’s, not Colman’s)
1/2 tsp hot pimenton
2 tsps honey

Place the ham joint into a pot that’ll fit it. Cover with the coca cola (top up with water if needed) and toss in the onion, garlic, bay leaves and star anise. Bring it all to the boil and then turn the heat down and leave to simmer for one and a half to 2 hours. Skim off any of the gunk that floats to the top.

When the simmering time is almost up, preheat your oven to 240 C.

Line a roasting pan with tinfoil. Take the ham out of the coke and sit it upright in the roasting pan (skin side up). With a sharp knife, cut off the skin, leaving a thin layer of fat all over the surface of the ham. Score the fat into large diamonds and stick a clove in at each point. Stir the glaze ingredients together and schmear it all over the fatty surface of the ham.

Stick it in the oven for about 10-15 mins. The glaze should be bubbling hot. Slice it thinly and serve.

This is said quite often on London food blogs but this time I’m sure it’s true: I think I must be the last food blogger to make it to Franco Manca. I’ve just not found my way to Brixton market to try their pizzas, made with their renowned slow-risen sourdough. Last weekend though, this famed pizzeria opened a second branch on Chiswick High Road, only a short bus ride away from us. We visited on Tuesday evening.

There was a mix of smaller tables with benches for four and larger communal tables – we sat at the end of one of these, right by the beautiful tiled wood burning oven. The tables were set with the menus as placemats and cutlery and napkins were all bunged into big tins in the centre. I already liked the casualness of the place; service was friendly and eager to please. What struck me were the prices – they’re significantly lower than most of the well-known pizza chains and also cheaper than Rossopomodoro. And most of their ingredients are organic, with a lot of the non-perishables brought over from Italy and the fresh ingredients sourced locally. How do they do it?!

We started with a bottle of their organic homemade lemonade (£3.60 for a large bottle) and some filtered water (complimentary). Their lemonade was an odd colour – no lemonade I’d ever had was the colour of…orange squash. I think they must use golden caster sugar or some other more raw sugar for their lemonade to be this colour. It was refreshing and not too sweet but not lemony enough for us.

To offset the carbs we’d be consuming, we’d ordered a small salad (£1.90) on the side. This arrived before our pizzas: lettuce, tomato, cucumber, mint, alfalfa sprouts all in a honey mustard dressing. This was actually quite pleasant and we made short work of the bowl. Their menu indicates that salads do change based on the seasons and market availability.

A number 4 for me: tomato, garlic, oregano, capers, olives, anchovies and mozzarella (£6.20). I started cutting a slice out and as my knife went through the crust, the surface started making little crispy, shattering sounds. Brilliant. The tomato sauce was very flavourful and all the toppings delicious and just salty enough. The centre of the pizza did go a little soggy due to the sauce and cheese but it was something I’ve encountered before – not sure how to overcome this while keeping the crust extra thin (How do the pizzerie in Napoli do it?). Bottles of very moreish garlic oil and chili oil were set on the tables and made for excellent crust dipping.

For Blai, the meat special of the day: pancetta, rocket, wild mushrooms, parmesan, mozzerella (£6.90). This was a tomato sauceless (aka white) pizza, which was actually fine with me this time. I felt like I didn’t miss the tomatoes at all – the toppings were all so rich and flavoursome. The pancetta was sliced so thinly and became crisp after baking while the wild mushrooms were all fresh (not tinned!). These pizzas were excellent and I think some of the best Neapolitan style ones we’ve found in London (and possibly the cheapest!).

Two things would make this place even better: 1. Fritti like they do in many Italian pizzerie and 2. Dessert. But what they are doing, they’re doing very well so please don’t change that!

Franco Manca
144 Chiswick High Road
London W4 1PU

(Oy, Franco Manca! You’ve got to update your website with your new branch information!)

Or, How I Tried to Make Heston Blumenthal’s Bolognese with a Few Shortcuts. Have you seen the recipe for his perfect spaghetti bolognese (featured on his book and show In Search of Perfection)? Spaghetti Bolognese is one of Britain’s favourite dishes and I’m sure every household has their own recipe for it. I also grew up eating it, my mother making vast quantities of the delicious meaty sauce at a time. However, the recipe I remember and still use involves frying off the ingredients in the same pot, chucking in wine and tomatoes and simmering it all down – easy peasy.

Kok Robin had a go at Blumenthal’s recipe last year and it was a massive three day undertaking. As I only had a day to spare (plus I wanted to make pasta and biscuits on the same day), I thought I’d take ideas from the original recipe and use them to improve the bolognese I usually make. I wanted to use the caramelised onions idea with the star anise. That sherry vinegar at the end looked good too. The list of unconventional ingredients added to the tomato base also seemed intriguing. I had to simplify the meats though (didn’t want to spend all day cooking oxtail) and so stuck with pancetta, pork and beef. Even with the shortcuts though, I spent a whole afternoon and evening on the sauce.

Upon first tasting my finished bolognese (tossed with freshly made pappardelle), a gentle sweetness from the caramelised onions was apparent and was countered well by the acidity from the sherry vinegar added at the very end. However, it didn’t blow my socks off. But after a day of maturing in the fridge (yay for leftovers!), the bolognese really came together. It was incredibly rich and meaty but still there was that hint of acidity that tempered it. A second day in the fridge improved things further. So in the end, it really did take all of three days to make a superb bolognese! Now all I need is a trip to Bologna to compare it to the original…

I’ve divided my modified recipe into six steps, each very doable. Something I’d do next time is also add some freshly grated nutmeg at Step 4. I’d also like to fry the ingredients in Part 5 into a thick, rich paste and perhaps use fresh tomatoes instead of passata.

Ragù alla Bolognese
adapted from Heston Blumenthal’s recipe.
serves 6-8.

Part 1
500g minced beef
250g minced pork
50g pancetta, chopped
30mL olive oil
200mL white wine

Get a big pot ready (I used a stockpot, you can also use a Dutch oven or casserole). For Part 1, heat the pot over medium heat and add the olive oil. When it’s hot, add the meats and brown them. When they’re all cooked, add the white wine and simmer until reduced by at least half. Turn off the heat and set the pot aside.

Part 2
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1.5 stalks celery, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
30 mL olive oil

For Part 2, heat a frying pan over medium heat and add the oil. When heated, add the chopped onion, carrot and celery add fry until they’re soft. Add the garlic and continue cooking for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the mixture to the meat in the big pot.

Part 3
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 star anise
20 mL olive oil

For Part 3, reheat that frying pan over medium-low heat and add the oil. Add the chopped onion and star anise and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the onion is caramelised and brown and sweet. Remove the star anise and add the cooked onion to the big pot.

Part 4
350mL whole milk
2 bay leaves

Add the milk and bay leaves from Part 4 to the big pot and stir to combine all the ingredients. Set the pot over medium heat and then reduce the heat when it’s bubbling. Leave to simmer, half-covered, for an hour.

Part 5
3 pinches dried thyme
8 drops Tabasco
8 drops fish sauce
1.5 tsps Worcestershire sauce
1.5 tbsps ketchup
400 g tomato passata

After the hour is up, add all the ingredients from Part 5 to the big pot, stir well to combine, and then leave to simmer for an additional 3-4 hours (the longer the better). I’d originally wanted to cook down these ingredients together in the frying pan but sheer laziness prevented me from it – I wonder how much of a difference this would have made to the finished product. Anyway, try to reduce the mixture as it’s simmering (so no cover) – you want a very thick sauce.

Part 6
a couple tablespoons of butter
a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
sherry vinegar

When the bolognese has simmered down to a consistency that you’re happy with (I like it super thick), add the olive oil and butter and stir through until melted and combined. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Then give it a little splash of sherry vinegar. This really cuts the richness of the sauce and prevents it from being too cloying. Add a little at a time until you’re happy with the flavour, making sure to stir well after each addition.

Serve with spaghetti or fresh tagliatelle or pappardelle.