The Interview

Drum roll please ladies and gentlemen. I've got a job! Yep, this lady of leisure is very soon going to be cooking for a family out in the Hamptons for the Summer and occasionally in their West Village apartment in Manhattan. The interview process was extensive but great. Why was it extensive, well, it is only the second time in my cooking life I have been asked to cook for someone as part of the interview process.

The first time being for a yacht chef agency run by the brilliant Beverley Grant, owner and director of Culinary Fusion in Miami. That time I had to cook a three course meal for four guests and Beverley threw a curve ball by announcing five minutes before I started cooking that she wasn't able to get everything on my list - a very common reality when cooking on yachts in remote locations.

This time, it was again a three course meal for four, sans the curve balls. Instructions were as follows: a salad, followed by a protein, followed by a light dessert. That was the long and the short of it all. This is what I prepared:

Baby Vegetable Salad with Persian Feta, Shimeji Mushrooms and Hazelnut Dressing
Red Braised Lamb Shank with Roast Tomatoes and Garlic
Rolled Pavlova with Fresh Raspberries and Pistachio Praline

I start this Saturday and I can't wait! I'll keep you updated with all the lovely things I will cook. I've never been to the Hamptons and if their kitchen in Manhattan is anything to go by, I am going to be in kitchen heaven and there's also the beach!

Here's the recipe for the lamb shanks. It is adapted from the brilliant Kylie Kwong "Heart and Soul" cookbook. I love lamb shanks. My Dad's Mum who was an extraordinary cook used to make the best lamb shanks. She told me once that when she was a little girl, she grew up on a sheep station in South Western Queensland they used to throw the lamb shanks to the dogs. I'm mighty glad things have changed. This is a true marriage of East and West. You will often see the red braising stock referred to as a master stock in other cook books.

2 lb (1kg) lamb shank
1 quantity of red braising stock
3 garlic bulbs, unpeeled
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
12 campari vine ripened tomatoes
1/4 bunch basil
1 teaspoon ea slat
pinch of cracked pepper
2 tablespoons of sherry vinegar

Red Braising Stock
6 quarts cold water
3 cups Shao hsing (Chinese cooking wine)
2 cups dark soy sauce
1 cup light soy sauce
1 cup soft dark brown sugar
12 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup sliced ginger
8 scallion (spring onion) stems, trimmed
10 whole star anise
4 cinnamon quills
1 piece of dried orange peel

Place all the ingredients for the red braising stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to infuse.


Skim any impurities like you see here from the stock with a ladle.

The stock is now ready to used, or can be set aside to cool and then refrigerated for up to 3 days. It lasts in the freezer for about 2-3 months.

Trim the lamb shanks of fat if necessary. Place the shanks in the already simmering red braising stock. Make sure they are all submerged, cover and let simmer for 2-3 hours until they are soft and almost falling from the bone. Allow them to cool in the stock, this gives them a beautiful deep red color.

Set your oven to 300 F or 150 C. In two separate roasting tins place the garlic bulbs drizzled with olive oil and cover with foil. Place the tomatoes in another drizzle with oil and basil, salt and pepper and roast both for about an hour.



The tomatoes will collapse and be soft and the garlic, soft and caramelized.



Cut the garlic in half cross ways and squeeze out the pulp into the bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of the red braising stock.

Take the pan juices from the tomatoes and add to the vinegar.

I served this with a shallot and celeriac root puree.

To serve:
A good helping of the shallot and celeriac root puree, with one lamb shank topped with a tomato and spoonful of roasted garlic with a drizzle of the vinegar dressing. I also ladled a little braising liquid around the bowl.

It's Not An Emergency

Yesterday afternoon a friend of mine texted and said this, "It's not an emergency but could you come and help me tonight. I have a buffet dinner for seventeen on the upper east side."

How do I know Casey? It's a little like, Simone in Ferris Beuller, "My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl ..."

Well, I have a husband called James, who has a piano teacher named Joe who with his wife have a daughter named Casey and we were introduced due to our shared loved of food.




Casey was formerly a wedding planner and now chef. She is my favorite kind of chef, self taught and just oozing passion for food and flavor. Her enthusiasm is infectious and I wish I could eat what she cooked last night, right now. You will want it too. This is what she served:

Soft herb salad with edible flowers and a mustard vinaigrette
Leek, fennel, thyme, shallot baked fillet of salmon in parchment
Green beans with lemon beurre noisette (lemon nut butter)
Cous cous of toasted almonds, olives and golden raisins.

Dessert was a gorgeous bowl full of roasted summer berries with a red wine, vanilla and cinnamon reduction accompanied by honey fromage blanc and apricot and cardamon cookies. It was a home run.

I've included the recipe for the salmon, quantities are for four.

4 x 6 oz salmon pieces skin on
1 leek sliced (white part only)
1/2 fennel shaved
2 golden shallots finely diced
a good handful of cherry tomatoes
fresh thyme
olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Set the oven to 350 F/180 C.
Cut all ingredients apart from salmon and combine with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Season your fish. Place each piece on alumunium foil, put a good handful of vegetable mix over the salmon, give a good grind of black pepper and wrap loosely.

Bake for about 8 minutes.

I like my fish cooked all the way through, reduce to six minutes, if you like it rare. Be aware that this will continue to cook in the foil after you take if from the oven.

Butter instead of blood

I ate so many of the Chocolate, Orange and Coconut Cookies and so much of the Asparagus Tart that if I fell over and scraped my knee, there's fair chance butter would pour out instead of blood.

So I'm making a simple salad. Not even. I'm having lettuce with a vinaigrette. Obviously, that's not all I'm eating today (I've already eaten a poached egg on toast and four, yes four Chocolate, Orange and Coconut Cookies - either the cookies are THAT good or I have no self control. A little from column A and a little from column B and you're pretty close to the truth. )





Romaine Hearts with French Vinaigrette

You will need:
Romaine Hearts (what, not spinach?)

For the French Vinaigrette
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 small clove garlic, crushed
1 3/4 oz (50 ml) Champagne vinegar
7 fl oz (200 ml) olive oil
1 tablespoon parsley chopped
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

I used seeded Dijon because I still haven't replaced it from when I dropped it, but you can and most do use smooth Dijon mustard. It is a little less aggressive I find in taste.

Put everything together and whisk. Check for seasoning. This will last in the refrigerator for about a month or so.

Wash your lettuce, arrange on your plate and pour over the vinaigrette.

The note

A man died. I'm not sure who, well I do know the name but I don't know anything about him as a person. The only reason I know that he died is that when I came back from a run yesterday afternoon there was this note posted on the entrance door to the apartment building.




Our neighbor Nancy must know, she was holding court early this morning on the stoop talking to everyone about it, really loudly. It's not her fault, Nancy just can't talk without shouting.

Rochelle, had another neighbor also joined her on the stoop. Now, Rochelle always makes me feel like I'm a young girl again. Not in that carefree, spirited way but in that "RUN for your life, they're coming!!!" kind of way."

When I grew up there were these kids in our neighborhood called the Mean Boy and Girl, a brother and sister duo. I never knew their names, everyone, even the parents just called them the Mean Boy and Girl. I know, it sounds like a children's book. I would know the Mean Boy and Girl were approaching without even seeing. It would suddenly go dark as their huge menacing frames blocked the sun momentarily. (Well, that's how it was in my seven year old brain) and I, we, all of us would just take off running until we got to safety.

They never caught us.

But as I valued my life, I never too the chance. To get to my friend Louise's house when coming from the lane way the direct route would take you past their house. I went this one once or twice, breaking the land speed record both times, but usually I just walked the long way in safety.

Rochelle kind of elicits the same response from me. I know her by reputation and from what I hear. I'ts impossible not to hear her, her voice is like a foghorn. She's a big woman with an even bigger mouth and a tongue that can cut people to shreds. In fairness, this depends on how much booze is in her blood at the time.

She's either all sugar or nesting python. There ain't no middle ground. It's either a "Hey baby," or a torrent of abuse that would have any self respecting cursing sailor reeling. I have a certain amount of respect for people who can curse really well, I can let fly myself when necessary, but Rochelle, she takes it to a whole new level and trust me, it's not pretty.

It happens every now and again and from the sound of it, today is her day. She's already started on the bottle this morning, I could tell that from her voice. But I had to go downstairs to leave a note on the door for the UPS man to call when making a delivery for me as the buzzer is broken.

I opened the front door and saw that she was smoking a cigarette and sitting right in the middle of the stairs. She could be there for five minutes or an hour. I'd wait. Then I heard Nancy, my saviour. So I bolted downstairs and got to Nancy and Rochelle at the same time. I gave Nancy a big hello.

Then Rochelle started, "Hey, someone been coming round here taking five dollars....." Nancy jumps straight in, "she ain't Mexican, she's a happily married woman, she's Russian or something, she don't know nothing about that, so don't go starting in on her with that stuff."

Russian, Thai, Ukranian, Vietnamese, Indian - who cares, as long as Rochelle didn't start. I posted my note for the UPS man and then had to sidle past her again as she finished her cigarette. I didn't run, last time I did that she cursed me out for running away from her and then started yelling at the top of her voice she was going to burn the building down and didn't care if she went to jail for "arsonry."

Don't be alarmed, she's not serious when she does this, just horribly drunk. However, I still didn't think it was going to be my finest moment to stick my head out the door and offer, "Excuse me Rochelle, before you burn the building down it's arson, not arsonry."

Well, it's all quiet now, so Rochelle must be upstairs sleeping like a little lamb. One thing's for sure, life in Harlem, hell, life with this many people in such close proximity anywhere, can never be dull.

One way to beat the recession

This is a new addition to our street, not the lady, the graffiti.




After I took this shot, I met Mr Davis who lives downstairs with Mrs Davis. He pointed at the new graffiti with his walking stick, "I wouldn't eat mine," he said, "but I might eat somebody else's." I see his point, he's in his eighties, so his kids are probably pretty big.

Just thought I'd share that with you, a little Harlem update streetside, and now to the kitchen. Well, not "the" kitchen, but my kitchen at least.

James often comes up with really cool ideas for dishes, the other day he says to me, "what about, orange, chocolate and coconut cookies?" That along with Indian Lamb Pie have been his best.

So after a couple of attempts, here's my best shot.


Chocolate, Orange and Coconut Cookies



41/2 oz (125 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
53/4 oz (165 g) soft dark brown sugar
1 medium egg lightly beaten
1 tsp orange extract
zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoons coconut cream
61/2 oz (185 g) plain flour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons cocoa
4 oz (120 g) dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup toasted coconut
Extra shredded coconut for top of cookies)

Set oven to 350 F/180 C/Gas Mark 4

Cream together the butter and brown sugar.



Add the egg, coconut cream, orange extract, zest and combine. Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cocoa and fold through the mixture. Add the chocolate chips and shredded coconut. Use a tablespoon to scoop out the mix on to a baking sheet (tray) lined with baking parchment.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes in the center of the oven until golden brown and slightly puffed. Remove and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Asparagus, Nutmeg and Parmesan Tart

I'm going to keep this short and straight to the point.
Make this. Enough said.

Asparagus, Nutmeg and Parmesan Tart

First make the pastry:

The trick with good pastry is not to overwork the flour. I gave James directions once to make pastry while I was in Australia and he was in New York. He rang me the next day to say the filling worked well but the pastry was terrible - he had used a potato masher to combine the fat with the flour. Gentle as a sledgehammer on glass.

5oz (150g) butter
1 egg
8 oz (250g) plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of sugar
2 tablespoons of milk

Using electric beaters, cream the butter. Add the egg and mix well until combined.
Add the flour and beat on the lowest possible speed until incorporated, 1-2 minutes and this should be done.
Add the salt and mix for another forty seconds. Add the sugar and milk and stir these in by hand. Cover this with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

After resting, take half the pastry and roll out the pastry to a thickness of about 1/2 inch (1.5cm) on a lightly floured surface. Place into a greased tart mould. I used a 12 inch 30 cm)pie tin.

(After pressing the pastry into the tin, use the rolling pin to go around the edges to remove any excess pastry and give your tart a really clean line.)



Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C/Gas Mark 4.


Allow to rest again for about 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Line the tin with baking paper and fill with pastry weights, dried beans or rice. Blind bake for 10-12 minutes until pale golden in color.


Prepare the filling:

1 bunch asparagus
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
31/2 oz (100g) Parmesan cheese grated
10 fl oz (300ml) Heavy Cream (Double cream)
Salt and pepper
Good pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
Dash of cayenne pepper


Cut the asparagus 21/2 inches from the top. Reserve the tips and set aside.

Cut the remaining stems into small chunks, don't use the woody ends. Place the small chunks in a blender or food processor and pulse, until there is a smooth green pulp.





Add the eggs and pulse again. Add the parmesan, cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne and pulse again. YOu don't need a fine puree, just everything nicely combined, a little texture works well in the final product.

Pour the creamy mixture into the blind baked pastry case. Place tips on top. Bake on a tray in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until set.

(For some reason, I saw this photo and thought, oh wow, look "Jaws" view. And yes I mean Spielberg's Great White - good chance my sister Katie is the only one who will understand.)

Cool on a wire rack.

These are for the cool girl on the metro

Saturday night, one pair of very high heels, and one "tutu" style skirt and James and I headed to 145th St station in Harlem. Granted, I was feeling a little self conscious, we were on our way to a 1980's party and Cyndi Lauper had been my inspiration for the skirt. I did once get on a train in Madrid, dressed up as a butterfly, by myself, wings and all - mind I had imbibed a decent amount of courage before I left the apartment that night.

We get on the train and the doors hadn't even closed when this young woman, say early twenties, jumps up and offers me her seat. I immediately thought, "oh my god, do I look old or worse, this skirt doesn't make me look pregnant does it?" I'm still digesting the sting I feel when I am in France and am now referred to as Madam instead of Mademoiselle. So naturally, I politely refused. She insisted, then said, "c'mon, I've walked in shoes like that before, sit down."

What a girl! So kind, so cool and oh so right - my poor little feet looked like they'd been assaulted by the end of the night. These cookies (biscuits) don't have anything to do with that experience. They're easy, simple and comforting - they are in fact the exact opposite of taking on Manhattan in heels. Except, if I knew where that cool girl lived, I'd give her these.

This recipe is taken from my maternal grandmother, my Nana, handwritten recipe book. You know the one, where people would write who gave them the recipe beside the title, in long hand.

Peanut Chocolate Cookies
41/2 oz (125g) unsalted butter at room temperature
31/2 oz (100g) soft brown sugar
1 egg
5 oz (130g) self raising flour
good pinch of salt
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
8 oz (250g) skinless peanuts, chopped roughly

Preheat the oven to 350 F/180C/Gas mark 4.

Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and cream. Add the egg and beat well so that mixture is well combined. Sift the flour, salt and cocoa into the butter and sugar and add peanuts. Stir everything together and make sure the peanuts are evenly distributed.

Take a sheet of plastic wrap (clingfilm) and put the mix into the centre. Roll it up so that it looks like a sausage, tightly twist both ends. Put this in the refrigerator until it is firm, about twenty or so minutes.



When firm, unwrap the plastic (clingfilm) and cut into thin discs and evenly space on a baking sheet (tray). Bake for about 12-15 minutes, making sure that the peanuts do not catch.

The cookies (biscuits) are done when golden. Cool on a wire rack.

In Search Of Pesto

Genoa is a busy, dirty, crowded place. Filthy in parts, beautiful in others, very poor, very rich. Lots of dog poo regardless and hot, really hot in the Summer. I spent time in Genoa, visiting friends who were on boats there and when a boat I'd been working on had been getting work done in one of the shipyards. Genoa is the home of a church that looks like licorice, fantastic food and the mother of pesto.

Years ago, living in Galway, Ireland I decided one day to go in search of pesto. Back then, it didn't occur to me to make it. But I would soon be forced to learn out of necessity and shocked by it's simplicity. I remember it was a fine day (if you know Galway weather you would also remember if it was a fine day)and every shop I went into either hadn't heard of it (amazing now considering Ireland's culinary standing in the world) or didn't stock it. Walking out of town back towards Salt Hill, I remembered another small shop that I thought I would try, you know for luck's sake. There was a young girl behind the counter and I went up and asked her if they sold pesto?

"We do," she says confidently.

"You do? Oh great, where is it?"

"Just down the back there."

As I'm walking in the direction she pointed me, she sings out, "Now, that is the stuff you kill bugs and tings (things) with, is it not?"

It still makes me smile.

Pesto
1 cup well packed, washed basil leaves
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts (I toast mine, but it's entirely up to you)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt
2 oz (60 g)freshly grated parmesan cheese

Put everything in the blender and blend until smooth. Adjust seasoning with salt or oil or parmesan.


This is delicious over spaghetti or linguine, if you do use the pesto for this, add a little of the water used for cooking the pasta to thin it a little.