Recipes
Twice-baked goats' cheese soufflés
A classic starter from the ‘70’s but one that our customers seem to enjoy every bit as much today. This version originally came from a book called Take Twelve Cooks and was one of Pru Leith’s recipes. However Stephen Bull attributes it to Peter Kromberg of Le Soufflé at the Intercontinental who was also featured in the book . . .
A Champagne (or sparkling wine) tasting and Russian-style smoked salmon and 'caviar' feast
In the run-up Christmas there’s not much time for time-consuming dinner parties so this tasting and light supper is a fun and indulgent way to entertain good friends. Ask each of them to bring a chilled* bottle of bubbly - Champagne or otherwise - provide a couple of your own, cover up the bottles and taste them ‘blind’. Great fun for a start to see who can spot the ‘real’ Champagne (don’t worry if you can’t - many professionals are fooled by these kind of exercises) and a delicious way to get into festive mood.
The ultimate strawberry tartlets
Before home-grown strawberries disappear totally from the shops, a re-run of what I reckon is the ultimate strawberry tart recipe from Orlando Murrin's irresistible book, A Table in the Tarn and which he used to serve at his French guest house Le Manoir de Raynaudes.
Beef fillet in red wine and soya sauce
In our final extract from Cape Wine Braai Masters we feature a recipe intended for Gemsbok from Michael Bucholz, winemaker for the Obikwa range but as antelope are a bit thin on the ground in the UK I've adapted it for beef fillet.
Roast vegetable stacks
Another recipe for your World Cup celebrations from the Van Loveren family. It comes from the new Wines of South Africa cookbook Cape Wine Braai Masters but you could equally well cook it with a conventional oven and grill.
Can Can chicken
Continuing with our series of South African Braai recipes to celebrate the World Cup, here’s winemaker Paul Cluver’s version of beer-can chicken made with apple juice rather than beer.
Warm smoked eel with carrots, marjoram and apple sauce
Smoked eel is not so difficult to find but most retailers sell it vacuum packed*: the problem with this technique, whilst keeping the fish admirably, is that it tends to express the oil from the meat. It is worth drying the fillets on kitchen paper before slicing. Most people don’t peel young baby carrots: I prefer to because I like to see them look smooth and glossy but I see the point of those who don’t.
3 things to remember about making the perfect pot of tea
By chance I had two tea tastings last week with Henrietta Lovell of the Rare Tea Company and Kate Gover of Lahloo. I’m still trying to digest all the information they gave me but three things stand out as making the difference between making an ordinary cup of tea and a great one. Apart from using loose leaves rather than teabags which I knew (though confess I don’t always put into practice).
Pigeon breast and chocolate mole with red currants and parmesan mash
Signe Johansen’s winning recipe from a recent bloggers' food and wine matching event which required her to create a dish to pair with a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon
A quick, easy way to make a delicious pie
I love pies but you can’t get away from the fact that they’re fiddly and time-consuming so here’s a neat idea for cutting the time they take by at least half and possibly trimming a few calories off the meal into the bargain.
Chicken with Chardonnay and Chanterelles
I spotted some chanterelles in our local deli yesterday which reminded me I hadn't made this stylish little recipe for a while which comes from my book Cooking with Wine. It is basically an indulgent spin on chicken in white wine and mushroom sauce using wild mushrooms (dried ones work perfectly well) and a decent Chardonnay instead of the dreaded 'cooking wine'. It's worth the extravagance, believe me.
A stylishly presented alternative cheese board
We tend to get stuck in a bit of a groove when it comes to serving cheese, picking five or six and serving them on a big cheeseboard but if you’re serious about trying to find a good wine match that isn’t the best strategy.
Mushroom 'caviar'
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned a brilliantly wine-friendly spread called ‘mushroom caviar’ I’d tasted at our favourite local restaurant Culinaria. Well, I’ve now cracked the recipe and here it is:
Irish cocoa
A 'naughty but nice' alternative to an Irish coffee to treat yourself to on St Patrick’s Day!
Summer berries and pink Champagne sabayon
As far as I’m concerned, summer is no time to be serving hefty puddings. Take advantage, instead, of the brief season when berries are at their ripest – but make them special by adding a layer of gently foaming sabayon made with ros Champagne (or sparkling wine). As you only need to use a small amount of fizz to make the sabayon, you can always serve the rest of the bottle as an aperitif . . .
Terrine Beaujolais
My favourite cookery book so far this year is the delightfully idiosyncratic Pork & Sons by Stephane Reynaud (25 Phaidon) the grandson of a butcher and the owner of Village 9 Trois in Paris. It's an unabashed homage to all things porcine but written and illustrated with a great deal of humour. (Don't miss the butchery lesson on p. 44-45 which shows one pig marking out where to make the cuts, cosmetic surgery-style, on another.)
How to make the perfect Caipirinha
A smart new Brazilian restaurant and cocktail bar, Mocoto, has opened in Knightsbridge, so I thought I’d go down and check out their Caipirinhas, which is to Brazil what the Margarita is to Mexico. And one of my very favourite cocktails.
A cassoulet lunch
After the frantic cooking of the holiday period I tend to go on strike at this time of year. I don’t want to do formal. I don’t want to do complicated. I just want to have friends round and enjoy a good glass of wine and a simple, relaxed meal with them - which I will have prepared in advance.
Brasato al Barolo (braised beef in Barolo)
Marc Millon is a polymath. A food writer, a wine importer and a web designer. He patiently steered me into getting my first website www.foodandwinematching.co.uk up and running 5 years ago and has no less than four himself including www.vino.co.uk the wine side of his activities.
Essence: recipes from Le Champignon Sauvage by David Everitt-Mathias
If you haven't heard of David Everitt-Mathias I wouldn't be surprised. But ask any leading chef in Britain - including Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal, who have both paid tribute to him in this book - and they certainly will.
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