Jan
02

A post from me? It must be New Year. We had a couple of friends over for New Year’s eve, and I wanted to do some cooking that would allow us to sit in the kitchen and eat things as they came off the stove, so I decided to put together a selection of things that were a bit more than a mouthful, but not something that needed us to sit down with a knife and fork. With that in mind, I put together the selection shown in the picture. Clockwise from top left: ‘Tuna Nicoise’ - this was a slice of fresh tuna, seared on the outside, with a soft-poached quail’s egg sitting on top, and dehydrated olives, capers, and shallots ground in a spice grinder on top of that. Unfortunately the olives retained too much oil and the powders clumped a bit as a result. Steak tartare served on dripping-fried toast. Dripping is rendered beef fat, and frying the little toast slices in it adds a delicious beefy flavour while making the ‘toast’ crisp enough to hold the steak. The beef was skirt steak from Dexter cows (hanger steak in US terminology), finely diced with shallots, capers, and anchovies, seasoned, and bound with an egg yolk. Smoked salmon parfait with caviar. The salmon parfait was made that morning to give it time to set. It’s very simple - smoked salmon simmered with cream and a little water, then pureed. Bloomed gelatine is added, then more cream whipped until stiff is folded into the purée then chilled until set. Poached trout and black pudding. Because on paper it looked much too healthy, I poached the trout in butter until it was just cooked, then flaked it up with a little of the butter and served with a simple grilled chunk of black pudding (a British type of blood sausage). The richness of the black pudding and the lightness of the trout were a lovely combination. Not pictured was a garlic soup - as it was a white soup in a white cup. A whole roasted bulb of garlic, simmered with onions and cream, then pureed. Thick and powerfully garlicky. I was thoroughly pleased with everything cooked there, and as such have a New Year’s resolution - cook more little things! Happy new year, everyone. —Nick

A post from me? It must be New Year.

We had a couple of friends over for New Year’s eve, and I wanted to do some cooking that would allow us to sit in the kitchen and eat things as they came off the stove, so I decided to put together a selection of things that were a bit more than a mouthful, but not something that needed us to sit down with a knife and fork.

With that in mind, I put together the selection shown in the picture. Clockwise from top left:

  • ‘Tuna Nicoise’ - this was a slice of fresh tuna, seared on the outside, with a soft-poached quail’s egg sitting on top, and dehydrated olives, capers, and shallots ground in a spice grinder on top of that. Unfortunately the olives retained too much oil and the powders clumped a bit as a result.
  • Steak tartare served on dripping-fried toast. Dripping is rendered beef fat, and frying the little toast slices in it adds a delicious beefy flavour while making the ‘toast’ crisp enough to hold the steak. The beef was skirt steak from Dexter cows (hanger steak in US terminology), finely diced with shallots, capers, and anchovies, seasoned, and bound with an egg yolk.
  • Smoked salmon parfait with caviar. The salmon parfait was made that morning to give it time to set. It’s very simple - smoked salmon simmered with cream and a little water, then pureed. Bloomed gelatine is added, then more cream whipped until stiff is folded into the purée then chilled until set.
  • Poached trout and black pudding. Because on paper it looked much too healthy, I poached the trout in butter until it was just cooked, then flaked it up with a little of the butter and served with a simple grilled chunk of black pudding (a British type of blood sausage). The richness of the black pudding and the lightness of the trout were a lovely combination.
  • Not pictured was a garlic soup - as it was a white soup in a white cup. A whole roasted bulb of garlic, simmered with onions and cream, then pureed. Thick and powerfully garlicky.

I was thoroughly pleased with everything cooked there, and as such have a New Year’s resolution - cook more little things!

Happy new year, everyone. —Nick

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