Menu ideas: Casual dinner party

Due to my intolerances, eating out has been rather rarer occurrences, with a more than probable chance of "backlash" and all other manners of unpleasantries. Instead, we would have friends over for meals quite often, in my attempt at keeping some semblance of social normality. As I have, very ego-maniacally, been shoving my duck and thyme blog down my friends' throats, they rather feel obliged to ask me for dinner menu suggestions when they themselves have guests over - not because I throw good dinners, but in fear of me taking offence in not being consulted and, in revenge, poison them.

In my defense, coming up with a menu is not always easy (at least not to me and we are only talking about casual dinners rather than dinner parties) and depends on the occasion, the guests, the season, weekend vs week day, the manner of invitation, the hosts, etc... It is also never a good idea to try a new recipe when you have more than 6 dining, unless everyone is forewarned and given time and unblindingly obvious opportunity to back out politely. I did this with dessert, with expected outcome: http://duckandthyme.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/review-of-choccy-bean-cake-alla-rachel.html?m=1

We recently had a couple of friends over for dinner on a Friday night. Since it was a work night and as part of me turning away from my die-hard habit of overfeeding, I decided (read, the Italian forced me) to take the approach that not everyone needs a kilo of meat and pasta to be satiated. I was wrong. Rather, he was wrong. For the first time, I decided not to do a starter and stick to only a main course and dessert, and lo and behold, the strategy fell flat on my face. We ran out of food. Some habits are die-hard for a reason.

Example of a casual week night menu:

Stuzzichini - Kale crisps & homemade hummus (this hummus is really, really, really worth doing) served with carrots and bread

Stuffed Lamb L'albigeoise, 

couscous, spinach and avocado salad

Rachel Khoo's Chocolate Bean Cake

French and Italian cheeses minus crackers

Alcoholic digestives to finish

For stress free hosting, prepare lamb the day before and reheat at 200 degree C for 20 minutes. 1.4kg of lamb stuffed with 0.8kg of sausagement is just not enough for 10 adults, without a starter. I'd increase lamb to about 2kgs and sausagement to about 1kg. 

We were actually expecting 11 adults. Now, that would have been a tragedy.

Bone broth and kale bonanza..!

We made our bets earlier in the year- we were convinced broth would be the IT word of the food-year. Bone broth was recently featured in duckandthyme -

http://duckandthyme.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/its-in-my-bones-broth.html?m=1

Low and behold, featured last night in the Evening Standard: 

And Kale (http://duckandthyme.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/kale-crisps.html?m=1) not to be missed out either, was on the back page: 

Next up, kale flour!

Simple dinner made from leftover duck

The simplest, yummiest dinner, making use of leftover crispy duck, ju-ju-ed up with siracha and pickled cucumbers. Heaven.

Duck, and time! Allergy free aromatic crispy duck!

It's our first time doing aromatic crispy duck in celebration of the new year for chineses, and we had to try a combination of recipes found on the internet as unfortunately neither Larousse nor the Barefoot had a recipe for it. It is also adjusted to be completely allergy free, so a triumph for me! It replaced traditional Sunday lunch, and I must say I have not been as full up since 2010 which is unsurprising as the build up to the actual eating of the duck took three full days, so much so that I rushed the last and most important bit of the cooking process in my glee and haste to tuck in. And tuck in we did.

Apart from time and candles, there have been other sacrifices too, as we have been unable to spend too much time in our open plan kitchen / living room in the last 24 hours and the Italian has been hiding in the spare room for most of that. But was it all worth it? You bet! Our inability to carry ourselves post "yum cha" style lunch proves it. 

It is an unusually long post but with a three day preparation time, did you expect anything less?

As it was our first time and this also serves as a food diary, here are some pointers for future versions:

1) definitely get a small and skinny duck. We got a porker of a 2kg duck and not only was it rather difficult to wield, a smaller duck would also be tastier, 

2) fry with a full pot of oil and for at least 8 minutes for the first fry,

3) a sweet sauce is non negotiable - I was going to skip it as I could not be bothered to make plum sauce.. But I made a last minute allergy friendly concoction which we thought made a big difference!

Recipe, to serve four as a starter or with other dim sum dishes:
Marinate (48 hours)

Dry roast 5 tablespoons of salt, 2 tbsp Sichuan pepper, 2 tbsp black pepper, 2 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 star anise and 1 tbsp five spice until smoking. Pound to fine dust in a pestle and mortar or in a spice grinder. Rub the seasonings all over the inside and outside of a 1.2kg small and skinny duck. Put in a pan and cover with parchment paper and refrigerate for two days, turning half way through.

Steam (2-3 hours)

After two days, remove duck from fridge and let it come to room temperature before stuffing five thick slices of ginger (slapped with the back of a knife) and 3-4 spring onions into the cavity. Drizzle 5 tbsp dry vermouth (or GF rice wine if not allergic to rice) all over the duck (in and out). Place the duck on a plate and let it lie flat if possible. Steam duck for 2-3 hours, removing fat from the plate and topping up on water levels every hour. 

Our duck was steamed in an decidedly un-oriental manner, in one of those pasta pots which comes with an inbuilt "colander", which in turn impacted steaming time. Our 2kg porker was steamed for three hours on gentle steam the first two hours then fierce steam for the last. A 1.2kg duck should steam gently for at least 2 hours. Remember to ensure the pan never runs out of water as that would be extremely dangerous. I placed a foil container at the bottom of the "colander" to save the rendered duck fat and juices. The "fatty juice" was cooled which allows the fat to separate from the essence and these were then bagged and stored separately. Some of the essence will be used to make the sweet sauce (scroll down). When the duck is ready, it's leg should wiggle easily and you should be able to see it's shin bones as the flesh would be shrunk up to the thigh by then. Try to keep windows open for the duration of the steaming stage, both for ventilation and your sanity. 

Air dry (8 hours)

Let the duck cool on a cake rack for at least 8 hours (after which, it could be refrigerated for a couple of days). Ideally, during that 8 hours, the duck should be hung and a fan pointed at it to air dry but this was impractical for obvious reasons. I hand fanned it for about ten minutes before I was decidedly bored... I could tell this impacted the end result and might borrow a stand-fan for the next version, unless there are very cool and edgy, preferably copper, stand-fans out there...?

Home run fry (30 minutes)

When ready to serve, cut the duck into quarters, removing the back bone for other use (bone broth etc.). Prepare a slurry made of 5 tbsp cornflour and 4 tbsp water plus 1 tbsp fish oil (since I'm intolerant to soya as well as gluten, otherwise a gluten free soya sauce may be used) and rub into the duck. Leave on cake rack for ten minutes to drain then dust cornflour liberally over the duck pieces until they are completely covered. In the mean time, in a casserole pot, heat up enough rapeseed oil such that the duck pieces would be completely submerged. Test the heat of the oil by putting the tip of a wooden chopstick into the pan - if bubbles rise from where the chopstick meets the pan, then that oil is at about the 170degree C mark. When the duck pieces are carefully slid into the oil, the oil should immediately froth up around the duck, quite like a submarine emerging from the sea. Fry two pieces of duck at a time for at least 8 minutes, the breast pieces could stay for a further 2 minutes. Do continuously ladle oil over if duck is not completely submerged. When all four pieces are fried and excess oil drained and blotted, raise the temperature of the oil to 185degrees C - this would be where oil froths when you put in the wooden chopstick. Re-fry the duck quarters for about 30 seconds each. 

Serve immediately with sweet sauce, julienne whites of spring onions and cucumber (and rice pancakes for non-freetarians). For an authentic yum cha experience, shred the flesh of the duck with two forks whilst at the table.

My surprise sweet concoction

Rather unprepared for the sauce aspect of the dish, just before frying the duck, I looked into the cupboards and fridge for a "hoisin" / plum sauce substitution and found some mince meat (of the Christmas kind) in our fridge - I made this for Christmas mince pies so there were allergy friendly. Two heaping tablespoons of that was heated with four heaping tablespoons of duck essence and thickened with one teaspoon of the drained cornflour slurry. Unexpectedly yum.

Review of choccy bean cake alla Rachel Khoo

With all the vegan-ism rage especially in the dessert making jurisdiction at the moment, I could easily be mistaken as one of those "foodie-nistas" who readily embraces and undertakes a full head and total body immersion in the newest food trends. Well, foodienista I am not and (hope that I) never hope to be. My food style is only currently in vogue because of my body's irascible dislike of gluten, dairy, eggs, you get the drill...

So when Rachel Khoo published her "vegan valentine's cocoa bean cake", and as we were having a casual dinner party, I decided to give the recipe a try.

The verdict: non of the guests jumped up and down with delight even though they were polite about it, and the Italian said  whilst the "mousse" (the icing) was interesting, the cake itself was not one of the better ones I have made - at this point I had not divulged whose recipe it was. I found the cake a little dry but very promising, especially as breakfast the next day, with coffee drizzled over. With a few tweaks (sorry Rachel), it could be gorgeous! Choccy beans for breakfast, anyone?

Lifestyle: to cream or not to cream

As half the world - the chineses in us - welcomes the year of the Ram, video calls are the preferred form of communication for those who are unable to cross continents home. I was very excited to call the family only for my dearest Mum to greet me with a shocked look followed by an oh-dear-your-skin-looks-terrible-and-your-mascara-is-running verbal onslaught. I had just woken up and, no, I was not wearing mascara... On a day where words are obliged to be sweet to symbolise an equally sweet forthcoming year, I am thankful that Mum let it lie soon after (a very haughty look from myself might have given it away).

But the countless times Mum has "politely" noted the condition of my skin - you look old - is rather beginning to concern me. In addition, I was recently asked about my "beauty" regime and truth be told, not for a lack of products do I go to bed most days without washing or moisturising, unless I am not completely exhausted whence which I might then slather on some cream. But I am told that it is the norm to cleanse, then tone, then apply serum, then cream - all products which I have - but who has the time to actually do it? I do look like a haggard spotty teenager with a very wrinkled neck, so I guess I should really make the time, what with it being the new year of the Ram et al.

Time to love ourselves so that others can love us too, and leave "polite" comments at the tip of the tongue. Oh, do try not to forget the SPF and the neck area; as my dad famously said: You can hide the lines on your face but never those on your neck. Cream it!

"It's in my bones" broth

Broth is the operative word of the year and we've made many a pot especially during winter. As my heritage dictates that even now, I feel the familiar itch for broth every third day or so, we seem to have something on the hob every other day of the year, let alone the winter season. The Italian has it with pasta, "pasta in brodo", and I have it as is or with some green bean noodles. Broth is extremely versatile and can be made in any style, Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese etc. but my absolute favourite is bone broth which may make me seem a little weird when I'm squirreling away bones and carcasses, especially after a roast chicken, where I also skim off any fat from the bottom of the roasting tray and save the gelatinous brown "chicken essence" as stock, fat discarded.

This pot is made from lamb bones, chicken and mallard carcasses, what with all the cooking we've been doing with Larousse. Fear not though if you do not have lamb etc. bones, any bones would do and do add chicken wings. It is hearty and you would need to skim off any excess fat and unsightly things from the surface but it is oh so good...! As you can see below, I kept some of the fat so there is no wonder why my cholesterol is high...

Recipe:
Put 2 red onions chopped into large wedges under a hot grill (or on a griddle pan) to caramelise for 10 minutes. In the mean time, put bones and chicken wings (preferably at least 6) into a stock pot, and cover with cold filtered water. Water level should just cover the bones if you are using chicken bones or if using red meat bones, by about 5cm. On medium to low heat, bring the water to a boil. It is important to bring the broth to a boil slowly to "acclimatise" the bones for maximum release of goodness and minimum release of scum; and if there are any, do skim it off at this stage. Scum that is. Add in the caramelised onions, a bulb of garlic cut horizontally into half, couple of large carrots cut into quarters and 4 (or more if it is a big pot) tomatoes cut into quarters. Add in 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns for every 3 liters of water. Cover, bring to a boil on medium to low heat and turn down to a simmer for at least 4 hours. For the time rich, do make a big pot and let simmer for 12 hours. When simmer time is up, lift the lid and all the fat released should be pooled together at the top (this happens when the broth is at a boil, and is the easiest way to remove fat), and skim off with a ladle in one smooth move. Strain the broth then back on the hob, add salt and dash of black pepper (I sometimes prefer white) to taste and serve piping hot. Leftovers should be brought back to boil then cooled and stored in the fridge (in a pot or bowl) for 3 days or can be frozen (in glass container) for future use.

Note:
1) for a Vietnamese twist, add half a palm sized piece of ginger and same amount of shallots, both treated the same way as the onions, and add 1 star anise per liter of broth.
2) For normal broth, use meat instead of bones in the same way and add zucchini, potatoes and other vegetables if you so choose for a hearty meal. Skip the straining process if there are no small pieces of bones.

Roast chicken friendships

Whilst chatting to some friends I have known since I was a wee girl, I was surprised when they declared that they couldn't cook. Thinking it was just modesty, I paid no heed until one said she was making almond cookies, and the other asked "How many almonds would you need?". Not to be outdone, the reply claimed "I don't know, I will look it up".....  When I wouldn't stop laughing and pointed out that we would probably go by weight instead of number of, utter confusion followed (for once, it was not I who were confused) and a full debate as to whether almonds were countable or otherwise for the purposes of baking ensued. Great friendships are thus wise irresistibly enduring.

In the same conversation, the almond-cookies-baker casually mentioned she did not even know how to roast a chicken because "I don't really feel like putting my hand inside a chicken's ass" (she thought you needed to stuff the chicken in order for it to be roasted). This is a literal quote unquote.

It would be unforgivably amiss of me if I did not at least try to debunk the myth of roasting chicken to my oldest friends. Here goes a step by step guide to succulent and moist roast chicken. To enduring friendships!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

- ONE whole chicken from the supermarket, with feathers and giblets removed but bones still intact. Go for a 1.2kg chicken to start to serve 2

- ONE fresh unwaxed lemon

- ONE whole bulb of garlic (not one clove, one bulb - there would be no need to count how many cloves there are in a bulb of garlic...)

- THREE sprigs of fresh thyme

- ONE tablespoon sea salt (use 1.5 tablespoons if using table salt)

- ONE tablespoon pepper (preferably freshly ground)

- ONE tablespoon olive oil

Method:

Preheat fan oven to 180 degrees Celsius (remember to do this at least ten minutes before putting chicken in). Cut lemon in half. Cut garlic bulb horizontally in half. Put chicken into roasting tray and pat dry with kitchen towel. Sprinkle dash of salt and pepper into chicken cavity. Put one half of lemon, thyme sprigs and one half of garlic bulb into cavity (yes, that would be the ass to you) but note that there really is no need to put your hand in. Put remaining garlic and lemon under the chicken so chicken is essentially balancing on them. This will allow hot air to circulate the chicken. Sprinkle remaining salt and pepper over chicken and drizzle over olive oil. Roast in oven for 40 minutes exactly. Take the chicken out and wrap very loosely with foil and let it rest for 20 minutes. Then put the chicken under the grill at 220degrees for 10 minutes for crispy chicken skin. Serve. Chicken should be just cooked, with a dash of pink. If pinkish is not desirable, increase oven time from 40 minutes to 50 minutes. Always rest chicken for at least 20 minutes.

Wild mushrooms, spinach and yuzu-ed rocket

We've been relatively lucky with fresh(ish) produce and, inspired by Bouchon of Santa Barbara, we attempted to recreate "chanterelle and wild mushrooms served on watercress and spinach with a spinach purée". I am sure the name of the dish is something snazzier but we none of us can remember it.

There were substitutions of course in true duck and thyme style. Nothing too exciting or earth-shattering; the purée was made from rocket instead of spinach. I am not intolerant to spinach which is an exception to the norm, I merely wanted to use up the rocket in the fridge (egad). What we did find though is that rocket is rather stringy, so we had to put it through a sieve to achieve the desired consistency but it was yummy and most of it ended up in my mouth before it got to be "artfully" smeared with my pastry brush on the plate (not a norm but we had dinner guests..).

The mushrooms were meaty and tasty, the spinach, dressed simply, was light and fresh. The (lack of) rocket puree with it's dash of Yuzu, tied it all together. Simple but definitely worth a try!

Recipe serves four as a starter:

400gms Wild and chanterelle mushrooms were wiped with a damp cloth and fried with a little oil, salt and pepper on high heat for about 15minutes, after which half a finely diced garlic and dash of fresh thyme was added. In the mean time, in a pestle and mortar grind 20g rocket leaves with sea salt until it becomes a paste before adding half a garlic, zest and juice of half a lemon, pound then mix in 3-4 tablespoons olive oil and teaspoon of yuzu juice (stuff from heaven). Taste and adjust. Consistency should be at the smearable level, not unlike paint. In a separate bowl, dress watercress and spinach salad (100gm) with salt and olive oil. When the mushrooms are ready, tip into spinach and toss lightly. Serve on rocket purée spread on plate. Could be accompanied with grilled bread but I forgot to do so...

A step backward and into a world of chocolate...

It's one of those weeks where the body needs bed rest and lots of food to recalibrate itself - at least that is what I'd rather call it, instead of the dreaded "setback". Having been almost bed ridden for half the week, I've realised that whilst leaving the house can be trying at times like these, I'm very adept at crawling from bed to kitchen and wonderfully artful at stuffing my face. So much so that I might call in the "secret eaters" police and claim I have no idea how I got to this stage - I positively eat too little, when I'm not eating... Those on the other side of the Atlantic who do not know the delights of the "secret eaters" program, do google!

It's a difficult balance this, eating and sleeping for energy, yet neither delivering when required. But is it so bad? After all it is Valentine's Day soon and therefore the month of love-yourself-very-much. After be-mean-to-be-thin January, February is the complete opposite where we are free to be true to ourselves and our desires and encouraged to indulge-to-impress, be it with chocolate, flowers, steak, yoga, chestnut brownies, etc.

So indulge I did, and only with a bar of gluten and dairy free chocolate, as I could not muster the energy to cook. And it might have been 18x3x1 inches in size and I did not have to share, but I was being nice to myself, and so should you...?

Chestnut brownie: gluten, egg, dairy free

Getting excited is not my usual style; I'm more the water on flame type, occasionally the air around but never the oil, if you get what I mean. Unprecedented as it is, I am rather (read, really) excited about my chestnut brownie. Whilst we have had successes (or so we claim) with recipes from Larousse and Barefoot Contessa, these are tried and tested recipes from real chefs. We, on the other hand, have never had success of this scale in recipes I have created for and by myself! 

However, to caution and be water to flame is my nature and so especially deservedly here - I have not had a "real" brownie in at least two years and so my taste buds would be slightly skewed. The recipe also, by design, calls for half the usual amount of sugar and fat in normal brownie recipes and may not satisfy a palate which is more accustomed to the usual fat-sugar-salt trinity.

But unless my guinea pigs (note the plural here) were all lying to me to protect a false sense of achievement, which are very acceptable and usually encouraged dinner party manners, then the brownies are good. Real good. And "healthy" to some extent too. Recipe included after the picture.

On that belief, we ate with wild abandonment and epic satisfaction. And just this once, I, like chocolate to brownie, was oil to flame. 

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 180degrees (fan). Cream one can of 416gm chestnut purée with 170gm trex (vegetable fat) for five minutes in a large bowl. Add 170gm golden caster sugar - this results in a subtler sweetness but do increase to 250gm if you would prefer a sweet dessert. Cream together for another minute. In the meanwhile, melt 100gm high quality allergy free cocoa powder in 140ml hot water. Add 1 tbsp of instant coffee granules and 1tbsp of vanilla extract (never essence) to the mix. Mix together 45gm potato flour with 150ml water and add this mix to the cocoa mix and stir until well married. In another bowl measure out 110gm almond flour and mix in 1tbsp baking powder and 3/4 tsp salt. Both the chocolate mixture and the dry mixture can be added to the chestnut purée and folded in by hand. Bake in a 12x18 pan in the preheated oven for exactly 22 minutes (I finally got a timer and for once remembered to set it). It is most important to have brownies completely cooled before tucking in so leave to cool for ten minutes and then cover the tin with a tea towel until completely cooled and ready to be eaten. 

We served it with our homemade cashew ice cream - we apologise for being nuts about nuts. 

Strand dining rooms

A fantastic surprise call from an elegant friend on an impromptu two day visit to London led to a last minute booking in The Strand Dining Rooms. Not without classic Duck and Thyme trials of course; we had originally booked a table at Tredwell's but said friend couldn't make it at that time so I changed our reservation and sent a note out to all the attendants... Somehow I missed the guest of honour and guess who turned up at Tredwell's...? Hailing all the way from Singapore and I managed to send her to the wrong restaurant...such is a day in my life.

Profuse apologies later, we started catching up and the poor waiter had to return three times to get us to finally order: both the specials of the day, beef Wellington and silver mullet, and seafood crumble off the menu. The waiter was great, with strong recommendations and with his iPad, extremely conscientious with one's intolerances, a nod here, a discreet shake there, our silent communication as to what one could and couldn't eat. He was even well prepared for dessert-time trials; a rarity for me as waiters usually act as if the main course would have cured me of all my intolerances and I could now eat whatever I desired for dessert.

The silver mullet was tailored specifically for me and it was very good (save for scales, tsk tsk). Stuffed with carrots and almonds, the fish was tasty and cooked just right. I tried the inside of the beef Wellington (to my peril..) and that was cooked to absolute perfection. The wine - I had a sip and wasn't sufficiently enticed to more.

The star of the show, as good as the Wellington was, remains the witty guest of honour and the ensuing gales of laughter. Perhaps company influences the taste of food, but The Strand Dining Rooms is definitely approved, even if based just on the professionalism of our waiter, biased or unbiased as that may be.

Kale crisps!

Kale is a favourite of ours when we are in London and whilst it is no longer trendy in the food fashion world - yes I hear you, food-trend police: kale is sooo three years ago, darling - we still love it. Not boiled, not steamed, not stir fried, but baked in the oven with a generous coating of olive oil, salt and pepper (and a dash of cayenne if you dare) until crispy and a tad brown (10-15 mins in a 190degree oven).

No longer en vogue but still oh-so-yummy, darling, and even the non-veg eater grudgingly succumbs to it, so there!

Sneak Preview of my Allergy free Chestnut Brownie!

A chestnut obsession is driving the other half mad. Creating my new chestnut recipe has been a blast for me but not so for said guinea pig. Or so he claims that he shouldn't like strange brownies as he scoffs it all down, topped with whipped cream and all.

And it is good, and healthy as well! Here's a sneak preview:

Allergy free Puff pastry trials and tribulations..

"Huffed and puffed" pastry has been featuring on my list of to do's for rather a long time and with recent dips in one's recovery just passed, I thought it timely to celebrate with this ground breaking recipe. Or was is? I followed the Larousse recipe for "Puff Pastry with oil" to the letter, save that I made a minor flour substitution...... you know, to accommodate said intolerances.

I'm not quite convinced with the oil situation as after all (my limited understanding of pastry speaks here), isn't it the water in the layers of cold butter trapped in layers of dough which turns into steam when hit by heat which in turn makes a pastry huffed and puffed? No cold butter, no puffing then? An absolutely undeniably resounding no - the "croissant" did no puffing whatsoever and infact was hard enough to break one's resolve to continue, not to mention one's teeth... Yes, it is also rather tragically shaped:

The tragedy was re-enacted with pure sunflower oil which, if you are quite familiar with, isn't as solid as cold butter, resulting in a very soft dough which is terribly difficult to roll and fold, roll and fold, etc. sufficiently. 

Unsatisfied, a third batch was made in which the fat element was substituted with coconut oil from the fridge instead, hoping for the third time lucky charm. 

Well, some sort of pastry (and I use the term here rather loosely) came out from the oven but looks nothing like puff. The second recipe seemed to work best for the other half, who was pretty clear that whatever it was, t'wasn't croissant...

Third on the left, second in the middle, first on the right...and back to the drawing board. I'll keep you posted (ha!)