Recipe of the Week
july
For a simple supper, try a cheese and onion sandwich on French bread. Cut two peeled Spanish onions into fine half moons then sweat with a knob of butter and some olive oil for 10 minutes until soft. Meanwhile, toast the crust side of the halved baguette. Pile the onions on to the dough side, top with grated Emmental or Gruyere and cook in a hot oven for five minutes. Serve with a green salad.
More ideas:
Make your own blue cheese dressing by using a fork to mash some blue cheese such as Roquefort or Gorgonzola with a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a good splash of vinegar and olive or sunflower oil. Excellent on lambs’ lettuce or frisee with cubes of smoky bacon which you have fried until crispy.
The price of game is now more reasonable after the August high, and a brace of roast partridge makes a luxurious supper for two. The key is to make sure the oven is really hot before you put the birds in. Roast them for 20 minutes then rest for five before eating while you microwave ready-prepared red cabbage. A watercress and orange salad is a good addition.
For a sophisticated pasta supper, try fresh crab in tomato sauce with linguine. Sweat chopped garlic and red chilli in olive oil then add a tin of cherry tomatoes. Whilst the sauce is simmering, boil the dried pasta in plenty of salted water. At the last minute, stir dressed crab into the sauce and finish with shredded basil.
In Belgium this unctuous autumn pudding is known as a belle helene. Peel and slice a couple of ripe pears (poire Williams are ideal) then put the slices over vanilla icecream. Meanwhile melt squares of dark chocolate with a generous quantity of double cream. Pour the hot sauce over the icecream and pears and eat straight away.
It’s nearly Ramadan, which means there are plenty of dates, the traditional way to break the fast, in the shops. Chop them up and mix with sliced apples and celery then dress with a creamy vinaigrette for a retro salad. Or eat them as they do in Morocco with soup.
The secret to poaching an egg lies in adding plenty of white wine vinegar to the water, which should be at a rolling boil (gently bubbling). The eggs also need to be very fresh; duck eggs work especially well. Simply break them into the water and, once the white has coagulated around the yolk, lift out with a slotted spoon before serving on brown toast.
For a quick sauce for rump steak, fry a couple of finely chopped garlic cloves in olive oil for a couple of minutes then add a glass of red wine, a tablespoon of tomato paste and some dried red chillies to taste. While it all bubbles, grill the steaks to your liking then turn them in the sauce.
Watching rugby calls for meat, but it doesn’t need to be beef. Make your own veal or lamb burgers spiced up with Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce and lots of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Serve with hamburger rolls and a garnish of gherkins and tomato ketchup.
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