Category Archives: Italian

Excuse the Picture, The Pasta was STUNNING!

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I’m watching Heston Blumenthal stuff a Cod’s head with Veal Mince at the moment, a recipe from Charles Elmé Francatelli a famous chef from the 1800’s and Queen Victoria’s favourite dish apparently!

Whilst in New York recently a number of meals had been organised to ‘feed the troops’, along with some Rooftop Bars to enjoy the Manhattan Skyline and soak in the atmosphere of the city that never sleeps, it was an amazing experience.P1030939New York has strong ties to Italy (amongst other countries) and that was very evident from some of the restaurants we ate in, although one of the stand out dishes came from Tao, a Pan Asian establishment with attached Night Club.LKwmP6YITLOkh4Bk00BFCQThe menu seemed endless, Hot Endamame, Chefs’ Sushi, Chicken Gyozas, Pan Roasted Halibut, Dry Aged Sirloin and Broccoli Drunken Vegetable Pad Thai the flow of food just didn’t seem to stop. It was all beautifully presented and very tasty indeed. The restaurant was huge, and floor walkers with radio communications kept in contact with the Chef’s to ensure the food was cooked at the right time and that no table was left waiting for the next course.Photo 30-05-2018, 10 47 36All the food was good but one dish was just amazing, the ‘Satay of Chilean Sea Bass with Miso Dressing’. It does not look much but the texture and flavour was sublime, perfectly cooked fish (to the point as Rick Stein might say), it was silky, moist and packed with flavour, my favourite of the whole evening and in the top three of the trip.428rK9AOS42cIKw99DmkdwThe following night we were at Cecconi’s in DUMBO! That’s Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass, a restaurant that looks over at Manhattan from Brooklyn, the other side of the river, we were to follow dinner with another rooftop bar but it was raining so it was not quite rooftop!VIW0Zgo0Q8ev5ObyMwBsGQThis was Saturday evening and I had spent the day eating on the Brooklyn Culture and Food Tour, the location of Cecconi’s was our last stop on the tour and over the road was the Chocolate Shop I had been in a few hours earlier with my foodie chum!

I was going to face a new challenge over the next couple of days, I had run out of my Metformin, used to help the Insulin I inject every morning get absorbed by the body so less carbs was the order of the day, and hopefully I had enough in me to get home (I did)!G2%X5mLsR52W5TGXioTk9ACecconi’s was a typical Italian restaurant, homely, cosy and carb heavy with Risotto and Gnocchetti but luckily there was Chicken on the menu so I was sorted, the starters included Calamari Fritti with Lemon Aioli and Chilli which was very tasty.

The stand out dish for me is in the previous picture, Burrata, Heirloom Beetroot and Aged Balsamic Vinegar, simple but the flavours just sung.fullsizeoutput_78e.jpegNow onto Il Cortile situated in Little Italy, right next to Chinatown! Over 11 dishes on the menu for our group at this 40 year old traditional restaurant which has a reputation for amazing Italian food cooked exceptionally well. Everyone commented on the Antipasti, the Baked Clams and Fried Prawns were really good, the Roasted Italian Loaf was something new, never heard of that before!ulhzrx1oqpmsuckipidgg.jpgI went for the Veal Scaloppini for mains, it was very tasty but I think the Veal could have been cooked less, it was a bit to over for my liking but still nice.poritib1rwmlwbaypql6bq1.jpgThe stand out dish was definitely the Capellini with Peas and Prosciutto, it was amazing, absolutely stunning and the picture is the featured image of this post, you have to visit just for this dish, its that good.s8BgBI3TTf6U0737ZOQfVAI did gain a few ounces over the 4 or so days and had the chance to taste some great food. New York is mad, manic and full-on, but you do slowly get used to it, the range of cuisine is enormous and you can get fed for not a lot if you know where to look.

 

………………………………….Until next time……………………L8ers………………….

 

 

 

 

 

A Michelin Masterclass with Angela Hartnett MBE (Plus a look at the Michelin starred Woodspeen Restaurant)

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I was sitting in Cafe Lucca in Bath and my heart was pumping for a couple of reasons, I had just walked up the hill from the station which is something not attempted before, and I was going to be spending a day learning from a food hero Angela Hartnett MBE, who also happens to have a Michelin Star, no mean feat!

Cafe Lucca was also a new experience, my trip to Bath has previously landed me at the station with just enough time to get a taxi to the cookery school, this time the timetable had changed and I was over an hour early, enough time to grab a bite to eat.It was a really tasty plateful, Pancetta, Boiled Eggs that had been coated in Parmesan and stuck under the grill, Roasted Tomatoes, Toast and Marmalade with a pot of Assam Tea, it was all very tasty.

I’d been looking at twitter that morning and Richard Bertinet, the owner of the School had been posting the odd picture of food that we would be using that day. A massive crate of wild Mushrooms including Trompette and Girolles, it was going to be a great day. I’d booked this course in May as a Birthday present so it was a long time coming.So the menu for the day included Pumpkin Tortelli, Partridge with Turnip and Mushrooms and Plums with Ricotta, seasonal dishes that as we found out, would require a lot of skill and technique to prepare, no ready made Pasta, that was to be done by hand along with preparing the Partridges, they were whole, Heads, Wings and Guts!!Angela is an absolute delight, taking the 12 of us students through the process of making the pasta by hand, understanding the  look and feel once it was ready to roll, cut and shape as required, imparting lots of tips on the way it was great fun. We were grouped into fours and encouraged to interact our group starting chatting away sharing experiences as we went on.I have made Pasta by hand before in Italy, but it was over four years ago (sorry, my food experiences have meant that I am never trying a particular country or region for that long)! It was a really good session, I had never used a Pasta Machine before similar to others in the group so it was interesting to see the difference not having enough Flour in the mix made, it was slightly too wet and produced interesting results when put through the Pasta machine.I’d never heard of Tortelli before, they are like a rectangular Raviolli, where you place the stuffing close to the edge nearest you, flip over, egg or milk wash the front and sides, and in between the covered filling and flip over the other side like a blanket, mine were by no means perfect but the looked ok once finished.Before preparing the Pasta, we had quartered a Pumpkin, seasoned and placed on oiled baking trays for a session in the oven to soften.  Angela encouraged us to answer questions and shared many of the experiences working with the likes of Gordon Ramsey and Marcus Wareing which was really interesting and very amusing indeed !!I LOVE Partridge, in fact our 11 year old son loves Partridge too, and cooks it himself when available (with parental assistance of course). We were each given one to prep after being shown how to do it by Angela, removing the legs in the right place, (you can go further down the joint towards the body which makes for an unstable cooking experience as it wobbles in the pan)!

Then the Wings, the Head was removed close to the Head, rather than close to the body and the Neck was to be used in the game sauce we were to make. The next bit was interesting, food digestion is a slow process and the cavity between the Neck and the Body contained all sorts of Seeds, bits of food that the Partridge was still ‘processing’. Next the Guts, Heart, Lungs etc. We kept the Heart and Kidney to add to the Game sauce towards the end to add extra richness and flavour.We were prepping and cooking for several hours, it was hard work but really good fun. One of the students had come all the way from Norway to attend the 1 day course, she owned a Bakery and had been to the school before to learn advanced bread making techniques which the owner Richard Bertinet is a master at, this is an awesome cookery school and Richard attracts some seriously good chefs to come along and share their knowledge and experience.We worked tirelessly from about 10:00 till 12:30, then a break for refreshments, and a quick snack of Cheese and Ham Toasties with Bechamel using Richards famous Bread, they were very tasty indeed. The ‘Baker Girls’ or Bertinet Backstage are the great team that assist, wash up, clean and generally help things go smoothly and as usual, they did an exceptional job.Earlier, we had removed the legs from the Partridge ready for a bath in Duck Fat, Garlic and Thyme, we were going to confit the legs and add to a Salad with Pickled Walnuts. Before the ‘Duck Fat Bath’, the legs were fried in Olive Oil to colour, there was lots going on during the course, loads of different cooking techniques were learnt on the way it was excellent value for money and everyone was sweating in the heat of the kitchen.The Partridge Crowns got the Pan treatment, in LOADS of Butter and Thyme, a few minutes before hitting the oven for finishing off.Angela was more than happy for us to video, take pictures, selfies and was a real joy to spend time with, her knowledge and experience is just something  you don’t often get the chance to access, I need to practise my photography from a selfie perspective although we were right by the hob, and everything was hot in the kitchen.

Unfortunately, due to train timetable changes I had to leave earlier than expected and only managed to sit down for the Pumpkin Tortelli starter which was really tasty, I was given some Partridge Breast, some of the Mushrooms, and the Turnip dish we prepared and had them in the evening for tea, very tasty indeed. I really can’t wait to book my next session at Richards Cookery School, its ‘Bloody Brilliant’.

This is the eighth course I have completed at Richard Bertinet’s Cookery School, each of them have had their own qualities, this was equally as enjoyable as the previous seven, but made more special but being taught by such an iconic chef, full of energy, passion and Angela is just a lovely person, thank-you Angela. If you get the chance, just book and your will be guaranteed an amazing time.

A Birthday Treat At the WoodSpeen Nr Newbury

Where to go to celebrate my Birthday? It took less than 10 seconds to reach a decision and a booking at the local Michelin starred restaurant, ‘The WoodSpeen’ was completed online. I’ve eaten here before with a good friend, but only for lunch and we had their lunchtime special which was very good, this time it was to be the ‘Full Monty’ a la carte.Sat at our table an Amuse Bouche arrived, Courgette Soup with Black Olive. I am not sure about Courgettes, I eat them a lot but they tend to be part of a dish and not going solo, the soup was really very tasty, quite a surprise but a good one. We had been given some lovely home made bread and polished off the dish before more bread arrived, very good attentive service.For starters I opted for the Roasted Scallops, with Chicken Thigh, Cauliflower and Hazelnut, OMG it was so very tasty. The Scallop was perfectly cooked, the Chicken tender as it could be and really rich the whole dish just sung ‘eat me’.My partner in crime opted for the Woodspeen Smoked Salmon, Beetroot, Goats Curd and Apple which was apparently delicious and was demolished quite effortlessly, with a big smile of satisfaction to finish.We were then surprised with another Amuse Bouche, Buratta with Heritage Tomatoes and Olive Crumb, another exceptional taste bomb that really cleansed the taste buds, this was going really very well indeed.I adore fish and the Bass did not disappoint, with Clams, Squid Ink Gnocchi, Fennel and Champagne Sauce. Everything was cooked perfectly and the Champagne Sauce is THE best I have ever had, seriously tasty and moorish, I could have drunk it out of a cup it was that tasty.Steak was the choice for Mrs R, with Garlic Mushrooms, Onion Ring, Triple Cooked Chips and Bearnaise. We usually find steaks are ‘OK’, either the meat is not the best or the cooking is not quite right, this was spot on perfect, and the chips, oh my we thought we had found the best chips locally and they are very good, but these WERE the best, praise indeed.It was my birthday so I WAS having a dessert, the Pina Colada sounded really nice. Coconut Parfait, Macadamia Crumble, Pineapple and Lemongrass Sorbet. I was in heaven, it was yum yum yum the tastes and textures dancing around on the tongue it was a perfect end to a perfect meal.

The Woodspeen is highly recommended, the food is excellent, the service is excellent un-fussy but very attentive, we will be definitely going back very soon.  I think it’s great value for money considering the quality of the service, ingredients and cooking.

Thanks you to the team at The WoodSpeen for making my birthday very special.

 

……………………………Until next time……………..L8ers………………….

 

 

Firming Agents & Ragù alla Bolognese – Proper Italian!

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WP_20150807_15_56_11_ProI was in two minds as to whether I should/would post this particular recipe but looking on the internet and in the shops I decided I would do so. Driven by authenticity, ragù alla bolognese appears to have been changed out of all recognition with jars of artificial tasting sauces lining the supermarket shelves. One item that seems to appear in all the varieties I checked is SUGAR! yet the original 18th century recipe does not contain Sugar, nor Basil, nor Thyme, nor Oregano nor a ‘Firming Agent’, which seemed to feature in some of the jarred varieties.WP_20150807_16_26_48_ProThis version of ragù alla bolognese is not exact, there is one ingredient I missed out (well forgot actually), the milk. I believe that adding the milk would have balanced the acidity from the Tomatoes but the judge of my cooking creations said it tasted fantastic, so I managed to get away with it!

This dish takes a MINIMUM of 2 hours to make, mostly in the slow cooking but the starting point is preparing a Soffritto or Mirepoix, a mixture of finely chopped Onions, Carrots and Celery. You can see how fine you need to go in the picture above, I used approximately 1 stick of Celery, half a Carrot and half a large white Onion. You also need to chop up 6 slices of smoked Pancetta, Italian cured Bacon.WP_20150807_16_29_06_ProThe Pancetta needs frying first in some Olive Oil, we use it a lot in our household and have found that the Organic Olive Oil from Riverford is very good value for money, originating from Puglia we use it quite a lot. A recent study has proved that next to Lard, Olive Oil comes 2nd in the ‘good for frying’ league with other oils such as vegetable coming lower due to their production of aldehydes when heated, you can find the details HERE, its really interesting.WP_20150807_16_38_55_ProOnce the Pancetta has crisped up, add the Onion and cook slowly for about 5 minutes , you want just a bit of colour as in the picture above, before you add the carrot continuing to cook on a medium heat.WP_20150807_16_46_44_ProFinally add the Celery and 2 Cloves of Garlic, I tend to grate my on a long Microban, which usually results in the skin being left behind and works better than any crusher I have tried, alternatively you can use some sea salt and a knife if you prefer.WP_20150807_16_54_46_ProI strongly believe food and cooking needs a lot of respect, what you put in, in terms of effort will repay you with great results.  So when you come to add the Mince (I used 1/2 Kg of Beef), please don’t ‘whack it in and mush it up with a spoon’, it only takes a few minutes to gently separate the grains and cook a bit at a time so you don’t get any clumps, it’s much nicer. Then add a tablespoon of Tomato Paste and cook out for a few minutes.WP_20150807_17_00_42_ProNow for the Wine, I chose a really nice Primitivo from Puglia, two decent sized glasses are needed, turn the heat up high to enable the alcohol to burn off, which should only take a minute or so, then turn the heat back down and add a tin of chopped Tomatoes, then season with Salt and Black Pepper.

You want a slow simmer, for about 2 hours in order to enable the sauce to thicken, I left my pot covered for the first hour with a cartouche over the ragù and uncovered for the second hour.WP_20150807_20_04_50_ProThis meaty rich sauce is NOT served with Spaghetti (we are not making Spag Bol, it’s a British invention), the reason is because it does not have the surface area for the sauce to stick, you should be using Tagliatelle which is what is used in the traditional dish.

Mine took about 7 minutes to get to just ‘al dente’ which is what we are looking for, not soggy and sloppy.WP_20150807_20_18_49_ProTo serve place about 2/3 of the Tagliatelle on the plate, pile some ragù on top and then grate some Parmigiano-Reggiano on top, then add the remainder of the Tagliatelle, some more ragù and then grate some more Parmigiano-Reggiano to finish, job done.

So rather than use a shop bought jar of ‘stuff’ that bears no resemblance whatsoever to a ragù alla bolognese,  have a go at the real thing and delight those taste buds. Apart from some knife work and a slow cook it’s really easy and VERY VERY tasty so please give it a go, next time I might remember to add the touch of milk at the end……..

…………………………….Until next time………………………..L8ers………