Copyright 2006 by Rules |
"We tend to think of burgers as being made with minced beef, but pork is an excellent mince, too, offering plenty of succulence...The mozzarella is an unusual addition, and oozes seductively as you eat." - Nigel Slater, October 2008 Observer Food Monthly.Looking at the above photo and contemplating oozing cheese - one of my weak points - I was seduced myself into trying this recipe myself last night. I had accidentally bought a package of minced pork back in August and it was waiting in the freezer for just such an occasion. (These things happen when you order online and don't read the details closely.) So when I came across this recipe in the food monthly, it looked perfect: interesting, easy to make, likely to please husband and children alike and most importantly, a way to use up that package of minced pork. I don't have a lot of ideas when it comes to minced pork.Being me, I couldn't follow the recipe exactly, but I kept the spirit of it intact. I substituted anchovies for the pancetta and added a sprinkle of pepper flakes to please my dear Critic. Both moves were unqualified successes.Unqualified success? Did I use those words in regard to this recipe? Because there is one aspect of the recipe to which those words could not be applied. Check out the photo above: crispy, succulent little meat patties with the cheese - as mentioned - oozing seductively. Here is a photo of my patties seconds after I put them in a nonstick pan. (With a little oil just for good measure - because I could see disaster looming and I was right.) And here is a photo of the pan when I took them out. The patties themselves were, shall was say, unphotogenic. Look at Nigel's photo if you want pretty: he probably has a food stylist. And he probably got the pan a lot hotter than I did before he started. But even so, allowing for mistakes on my part, I think it is a basic flaw in the recipe. Next time, rather than mixing mozzarella into the mince as the recipe indicates, I'm going to form a ball around a pocket of cheese. Same oozing glory and none of the mess.Otherwise, the recipe was a roaring success and I am - as always - indebted to Nigel for providing me with a new recipe that everyone in the family will love. The pork stayed moist and tender, the anchovies and pepper flakes gave it zing and the cheese was the icing on the proverbial cake. With a side of steamed broccoli and baked potato, it was just about perfect. If a bit ugly. Continue reading "Nigel Slater's Pork Patties with Thyme and Mozzarella"... Posted by Meg in Paris at 11:39 AM | Comments (2) Print-friendly version November 10, 2008 Last of the summer tomatoes (part II) 
It's November, I know that. And I have stood on my soap box and loudly (and frequently) proclaimed the virtues of eating fresh vegetable in season and from local sources. I swear - and our friend Sam is my independent witness - that I made this dish just last week. With local and sustainably grown tomatoes. (You can ripen tomatoes until January, you know.) And if you'll allow me to get back on that soap box for just another brief moment, I will tell you that this is quite possibly the best tomato dish I have ever tasted, largely because the tomatoes were locally grown. It's simple and like all simple things it relies on the best and freshest ingredients. And the fact that this is probably the last time I'll taste fresh tomatoes (bar the occasional guilty indulgence) until next June at least, it had an emotional whammy that couldn't be beat. My mouth is watering just remembering it. I made it once, and then I made it again two days later and now all my tomatoes are gone, all gone. But I will remember this tart in June and we will start our love affair all over again.Puff pastry. Tomatoes. Mustard. Cheese. It's that simple. (Barrett, are you listening? For once, it's vegetarian too!) Continue reading "Last of the summer tomatoes (part II)"... Posted by Meg in Paris at 8:24 PM | Comments (3) Print-friendly version November 4, 2008 Scotch Broth: who would have thought the Scots would be good at antidotes for cold dark nights? 
"So, do you like the curly kale in the soup? Is it okay?" I asked nervously. (The Critic is not fond of exotic vegetables entering his dinner.) "Is that the Sugar-Puffs stuff?" he replied somewhat grumpily. "No, that's the barley. The kale is the leafy green stuff." "It's okay. Actually, the soup is surprisingly good," he allowed grudgingly. There was a reason I didn't tell him advance exactly what kind of soup I was making and it was so that I wouldn't go into the dinner already depressed and certain that no one would like it. In fact, it was delicious.One of the effects our new lifestyle has had on my cooking is that it forces me to use new ingredients more often and this soup is a good case in point. The box of vegetables from the local organic farm included curly kale, something I would normally have had to seek out in Paris. And the leg of lamb I cooked a few weeks ago made a beautiful rich lamb stock that just begged to be paired with barley. When I realised that Scotch broth is a soup that traditionally calls for all these ingredients, well, the Critic's preferences went out the door, I'm afraid. I think he'll forgive me though. We had a filling, nutritious, delicious soup. Little brother and I had it for lunch the next day and it was even better then. I'll be making it again, especially now that I know I won't be the only one who likes it. When the rain is pittering on the roof of the conservatory and the skies are dark at four p.m., you need a soup with fortitude to get you through the night and this one fits the bill perfectly. Continue reading "Scotch Broth: who would have thought the Scots would be good at antidotes for cold dark nights?"... Posted by Meg in Paris at 10:17 AM | Comments (0) Print-friendly version October 21, 2008 Shepherd's Pie: converting the conservative heathen one dish at a time 
Moving from a central Paris apartment to a bungalow in a village of 1600 inhabitants (one shop, four pubs) has meant a lot of lifestyle changes, obviously. It has been much easier to eat locally and eat well than it would be in a city: our organic vegetables arrive each Friday from a local farm and the milk has to be tasted to be believed. We now drink Sussex beer instead of Chablis wine (mostly). We eat sausages and go to the fish and chips van on Tuesdays. And one other Great British Tradition that I've adopted is the Sunday Roast. I started out slowly, with a chicken. The Critic adores roasted chicken and roasted potatoes, so he hardly noticed that it was a Sunday and - for once - the entire family was sitting down to a meal together. Well, no, that's actually a lie: it's hard not to notice when you are being forced to eat with a picky three year old and his messy toddler brother. But he didn't know it was part of a greater plan. Next up, was a leg of lamb, because our friend Mac offered to get us a half a lamb from a friend of his. And then last Sunday I made my first attempt to roast a real British pork with crackling. (I've been reading about this for years, unable to try my hand in France because the roasts are larded instead.)This drive for a Sunday roast has several points. Firstly, as mentioned, I want our family to sit down to dinner together at least once a week. During the week, the Critic works late hours and so it's not feasible. But once a week, darn it, the TV is off and the children and I will face each other and their father over a dinner table. Secondly, I love making roasts. In the world of cooking, roasting a bit of meat is the simplest way to make the most flavorful food. No fancy techniques, just good quality ingredients a few spices and time are needed. And lastly, a Sunday roast nearly always fosters a few more meals later in the week. The leftover chicken meat was made into chicken pies and the carcass was boiled to make broth. I used the broth in a risotto for myself and the children while the Critic was away in St. Lucia. (Don't ask, I'm not sure I've forgiven him yet.) The lamb yielded about a gallon of broth, which is in the freezer, to be used later this week with barley, I think, in a soup. Or maybe white beans and kale. And the leftover lamb meat furnished us with the best shepherd's pie I have ever made. Seriously. Not only did the Critic and I love it, but our conservative food-challenged three year old ate a huge helping. His brother, a.k.a. the Hoover, of course loved it too. So I am now adding this recipe to the small, but important list of "child-friendly" recipes on this site. One dish at a time, we shall overcome... Continue reading "Shepherd's Pie: converting the conservative heathen one dish at a time"... Posted by Meg in Paris at 11:30 AM | Comments (8) Print-friendly version October 16, 2008 A Simple Chinese Curry 
Chinese. Curry. These are two words that do not sit well together in my mind. It has taken me a long time to reconcile them. Yes, Chinese food has a few ingredients in common with most Asian curries: ginger and garlic to name just two. But somehow for me the two categories - Chinese and Curry - have always remained separate and distinct in my mind's recipe index. When I sat down to write up this recipe, I tried to do a little research (I do try to save you some trouble when I can) but I found very little information on Chinese curries. My Breath of a Wok has a recipe for a Chinese curry, but no explanation on its origins. Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible is strangely silent on the subject, though she does include curries from countries as diverse as Guyana and Japan. In the end - as always - Wikipedia came through with a marginal reference in the curry entry and confirmed my suspicions that the Chinese curry you commonly find in restaurants around the world probably descended from a Singaporean/Malaysian variety. So now you know.All I know is that I am glad I overcame my prejudices and came up with this dish. I've had Chinese curries in restaurants a few times but this was my first attempt at home - and since I was able to tailor it to my and the Critic's tastes it tasted much better to me. In fact, aside from adapting the vegetables a bit to what is in season, I don't see any reason to change the recipe a whit. And I'll be making it again, don't worry. Spice and coconut and soy sauce: who knew they could make such a first class meal in one? And best of all for a busy parent, it was done in the time it takes to cook a pot of rice. Continue reading "A Simple Chinese Curry"... Posted by Meg in Paris at 11:12 AM | Comments (0) Print-friendly version September 30, 2008 Think of the Children! Via Bookslut (a favorite literary blog of mine) - The Haphazard Gourmet has a good time pairing foods with books that have been banned in celebration of Banned Books Week. Posted by Barrett in Maryland at 12:09 PM | Comments (1) Print-friendly version 
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