Going solo in Milan

Armoires of wine all along the back wall. Good sign. A brick oven in the back with a man flipping pizza dough, another good sign. Glasses clink and conversation buzzes around the room. Mixed tables of people, a few solo (like me!). Otherwise couples and groups of friends catching up. Wait, I hear a Froggie, finally a language I understand. They would stick out in London by their dress sense, but not here.
It all made for an auspicious beginning to my first night out alone in Milan.
I’ve been seated right behind the Froggies and I can’t help but eavesdrop… This reminds me of the time when I used to travel a lot in Asia. You either get used to eating out alone or you get very familiar with the room service menu.
I use to always take a book with me, but found that I might as well have been in my hotel room. The whole point of eating out is to soak in the atmosphere, which you won’t even notice with your nose buried in a book. Then I discovered writing. Bringing a discreet little notebook out is not the same at all. To write, you are obliged to look around and take notice, observe, write about anything, invent stories about the people around you. It’s great fodder for the imagination.
I’ve ordered an insalata di piovra alla ligura (octopus and potato salad to you and me). It’s warm (caldi) and a bit chewier than I expected, but what a lovely flavour!
I scribble all this down, when my primi arrives, it is spaghetti alla vongole con bottarga (with clams and dried grey mullet roe). My waiter, Giorgio, has told me to stop writing and eat before it gets cold, in the nicest possible way of course.
The Froggies keep talking about Americans and “this war is no longer about politics, it’s about economics.” I’d love to come back with a smart aleck remark in French, but can’t think of one, mainly because I don’t have a clear stance on this subject. To be honest, I’m very mixed about the war. On with my dinner…
I have almost choked on a vongole; a stunning man has just walked in. Okay, I may be a very happily married woman, but I did still have a pulse last time I checked, so there. Ah, he’s been seated behind me. Just as well, probably would have made him uncomfortable with my staring.
Back to more important things, the bottarga is grated all over the very al dente pasta, like a smokier, more pungent Parmeggiano. It’s fabulous! As a big fan of salty, strong tasting food, this hits the spot. And the al denteness is just how I like it, slippery and almost chewy. Very liberal with the olive oil, but it is supposed to be good for you. Plus it just tastes so good. Would it be rude if I sucked on the clamshells? There’s so much bottarga sprinkled on, I would hate to waste it.
That course demolished, I sit there grinning like a Cheshire cat. Much to Giorgio’s dismay, I can’t face the dessert menu so I decide on un ristretto (my third coffee of the day!) and along comes a plate of biscotti. The drink is perfect, concentrated, dark, strong but smooth. Why can’t I get coffee like this in London? And the biscotti are a perfect accompaniment, crunchy, sweet and nutty.
Perfect, a guy has pulled up outside on a red Vespa. I know it’s a stereotype, but it puts a smile on my face nevertheless.
I’ve turned around for a look and I can see the back of a girl’s head. Think Cyndi Lauper on a bad hair day… Maybe she’s a rock star wannabe and she’s having dinner with her manager. See what I mean about making things up?
The whole point is, dining alone can be fun. A few tips to ensure a good time:
When you first enter the restaurant and say per una per favore (or preferably the local language where you happen to be…), judge the reaction. If they don’t seemed fazed, grab a seat. If they wince, suck air through their teeth or display any variety of negative body language, try somewhere else. The wait staff makes a huge difference to your dining experience. Then sit down, order as many courses as you like, take your time, make up stories, talk to your neighbours and enjoy. Remember you deserve more than room service.

What a catch!

All right, I confess, I didn't whip this up for supper last night. My camera has gone AWOL and I am dipping into my reserves. I cooked this big fella (an 8kg salmon, thank you very much) and his twin brother for a party of 35. We started the meal off with gazpacho, then moved onto this poached salmon with a big aioli. We finished off with polenta cakes with strawberries and crème fraîche and everybody seemed pretty pleased.


It's amazing how resourceful you can be when necessity strikes. I mean these suckers (the salmon, not the guests) just would not fit in any poacher or pot that I could find. I end up triple lining the biggest roasting pan I could find with foil and sealing the top to trap the steam. And maneuvering it afterwards onto the platter? Yikes! Yet somehow it all worked, right down to the cucumber scales...

Smokey the Duck (Paper Chef # 11 - Favourite Fall Foods)

Well gosh, I am a Paper Chef virgin and I have to say I'm quite excited! I saw the ingredients list and thought hmmm, what to do? Then I realised I actually had all the ingredients (duck breasts in my freezer, hazelnut butter on the shelf, ginger in the fridge and pears in the fruit basket). So I set myself the further challenge of not buying anything else for this experiment.

Just a few words about the ingredients; I LOVE duck (sorry Daffy!), more meaty and flavourful than chicken, but not quite as heavy as a beef or mutton. In fact I often do a braised duck dish about now with daikon or a little bit later on in the year with chestnuts. Ginger is warming which is good to remove some of the chill we are starting to get. And it's a great time for pears, the markets are full of them at the moment. How to put all that together (and nut butter too)?

After mulling about it for a little while, a dish started to take shape. Okay it's fall, but in London it is neither here nor there in terms of weather. I saw people in the park today in T-shirts, yet as soon as the sun went behind a cloud, I was very happy for my jacket, it all turned chilly quick. So I needed some in-between kind of food which led me to a warm salad, those are always good right? Then I thought, let's make it a bit more interesting by smoking the duck breast after marinating in spices. The hazelnut butter sauce was inspired by a sesame sauce that I do for chicken and I added the ginger for a bit of zing. Pears are good in a salad as long as they're not overripe and I added the daikon for pepperiness and crunch and the red pepper for colour, sweetness and crunch also.

Anyway, the recipe is a bit long-winded but it turned out just fine. My husband sure seemed to like it and had a second helping! Good thing I always cook too much ;-) The dish had a great combination of flavours and textures, just the thing after a long afternoon walk in the park.

(NOTE: The quantities are all approximate as they are from memory, I didn't take notes as I went along, tsk, tsk!)

Tea Smoked Duck Breasts and a Ginger Hazelnut Butter Sauce
with a Pear, Daikon and Red Pepper Salad

Spice rub/marinade:
2 tbsp. Sichuan peppercorns
2 tbsp. coriander seeds
1 tbsp. cardamom pods
1 tbsp. 5 spice powder
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. Maldon sea salt

2 duck breasts (preferably Barbary)

Smoking agents:
½ cup black tea
½ cup white rice
½ cup sugar

Sauce:
1 tsp. fresh ginger Microplaned (fine)
1 tbsp. hazelnut butter (or nut butter of your choice)
1 tsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar
Salt & pepper

Salad:
1 pear, sliced
1 red pepper, julienned
2 inch piece of daikon, julienned
Mixed salad greens (lollo rosso, watercress, beet greens, batavia)
Oil & vinegar
Salt & pepper

In a dry pan, toast the first 3 spices until fragrant and grind in a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder. Put ground spices plus 5 spice, sugar and salt in a container that will hold the 2 duck breasts. Score the duck breast skin lightly then coat in the spices and leave to marinate overnight.

The next day, rinse off the spice mixture and pat dry. Line a heavy bottomed pan with two layers of foil then add the smoking agents and heat. When it starts to smoke, put the duck breasts on a rack in the pan and cover. Smoke the duck for 10 minutes on each side. Remove and cool.

When ready to eat, put the duck breasts skin side down in a hot, dry pan for 2-3 minutes until the skin is crispy and golden brown, then turn over and cook for a minute on the other side. Remove and let rest, covered with foil.

Dress the salad, daikon, pepper and pear with a light vinaigrette made with the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pile the salad on a plate. Slice the duck and arrange next to the salad. Drizzle with the hazelnut ginger sauce and serve extra sauce on the side. Enjoy!

© Vivian Pei, 2005

Another way to incorporate kimchi into a meal...

Okay so I lied, I've still been a lazy blogger... I did work a LOT in France in September and all my pictures were home in London so that's sort of an excuse. But basically I was just lame. Anyhoo, I never was very good at keeping daily journals, so you'll have to put up with my sporadic appearances.

That said, one thing I do actually do daily is eat (and in true Hobbit fashion, more than 3 meals a day if I can help it!). When I am not too greedy and I remember, I try to record some of the more interesting things I put in my mouth, ahem. I've been experimenting more with Asian food lately, having had such an overload of French (as good as it was). Below is my version of that Korean classic, Bibim Naeng Myun.


I don't have an exact recipe, but here's what I do:

First I make Braised Beef (I buy beef shank for some yummy texture) by scalding the beef with boiling water to remove impurities then putting it in a big pot with water, soy sauce, Shaoshing wine, ginger slices, whole spring onions, brown sugar, and a spice bag with cinnamon, star anise, fennel and clove. Bring it to a boil then cover and simmer for a couple of hours.

Then you have to make the chilli sauce. Take some kochu jang, add some soy, sesame oil, sugar, 7-Up (yes, seriously), and vinegar. Mix it up to taste.

Prepare a thin omelette with a couple of eggs, a pinch of salt, some water and a splash of Shaoshing wine, then cook up a very thin omelette (in 2 batches if you have a small frying pan) which you will slice up once cool. Julienne some cucumber, kimchi, Asian pear if you can get some. Cook up some Korean myun (noodles), rinse under cold water and toss with the chilli sauce you made earlier. Transfer to a large metal bowl, top with finely shredded beef, cucumber, omelette, pear and kimchi. It tastes delicious and I think it looks pretty too, don't you? Try it, you'll like it!

I'm back! (sort of...)

Hello folks,

Can't believe I haven't posted in so long. Basically my computer had a meltdown and I lost ALL my photos (yes, even those yummy ones). Then once I got the computer up and running again, my internet connection died. Intersperse this with several weeks in France in between and presto, the invisible blog!

Just to let you know I am still here and will start posting a bit more regularly soon (though still going to France quite often).

Here are a few more pictures from Madrid that were still on my camera, thank goodness. It seems ages ago that I went, sigh.

More later...

A step back in time...

Madrid is a bustling, on the go city where people, literally, do not stop. But if you ever want a break, be sure take it at Casa Lhardy on C/ San Jeronimo near Puerta de Sol. There is something so utterly charming about this shop, from the dark wood, to the silver samovars (serving consommé!), from the uniforms to the friendly chatter (and free samples of goodies!). I thought I died and went to heaven. In 4 days I went back 3 times, I loved it that much. While everything I had there was delicious, they had the most kick ass croquetas in town (and I get them everywhere as a test of the kitchen's prowess). They are my new gold standard. In fact, no photos of them cause I scarfed them down faster than you can say croquetas!


The shop that time forgot...


Hojaldritos @ Casa Lhardy


Hojaldritos up close and sooo flaky!


I do not have a sweet tooth, I love these, need I say more?


Palmares, plain or choco?

La Vida Loca

FINALLY! I am back after a week of computer problems, almost chucked the thing out the window several times....

And so much to share! My husband, Sean, and I spent a fantastic long weekend in Madrid and whilst we did several fantastic cultural things, these were of course all scheduled around food.

What I love about the Madrileños is their respect for an animal, thereby eating all of an animal rather than just the bland breast for example. And their willingness, in fact, sheer enthusiasm for bits of an animal that might make weaker mortals blanch made me feel right at home. One of my favourite tapas bars was called La Oreja de Oro (or Golden Ear), c/Victoria 9. I'll let you guess what the house specialty is...


Golden ears, yum! 

Aren't they beautiful? A glistening combination of crunch and chewiness, accompanied by a hint of smokey paprika, oh my.

So many others to report, more later...

A healthy supper (for once!)

Well, after a rather self-indulgent weekend (so what else is new?), I thought a healthy meal would be in order. After all, we all told to eat fish, especially oily fish like this mackerel to get our quota of EFAs (essential fatty acids).

Maybe so, but how about just because it's delish and so easy? I just asked my fishmonger to behead, gut and take out the central bone. I sprinkled salt and Colman's mustard powder (quite a lot if you like a kick) on each fish, flesh side up in a pan and grilled them for only about 6 minutes total. Then I served them with a beetroot and corn salad in vinaigrette, chives, chervil and some new potatoes crushed with rocket and crème fraîche. No sauce necessary as the oiliness of the fish, plus a squeeze of lemon are all you need. Sorry about the fuzzy photo, was in a rush to eat!


A healthy supper (for once!)

Frugal Gourmet

I just can't bring myself to throw anything away, even a bit of Spam left over from my jigae, so I rustled around to see what I could come up with. And this is it folks. I had some lovely little Asian dinner rolls, so I spread them with my secret sauce (okay okay, Kewpie Mayonnaise and Sriracha), then pan-fried Spam and topped that with kimchi, sesame seeds, spring onions and more sauce. Consume immediately is the order of the day. You're lucky to even get a photo, hee hee!



Kimchi Spam burger, oh yeah! 

La Vie en Orange...

This is my first contribution to IMBB, hosted this month by Foodgoat. In fact I only just discovered there was such a thing, blogging newbie that I am. Fortunately, my food ESP must have been on this weekend as I made some righteous orange food! Please see the the Kimchi Mania post below... I promise to make a proper, conscious contribution next time! Oh yeah, the recipes: (Note - this is 'throw it in a pot until you see something you like' cuisine so these are only guidelines)

Kimchee Pajon

• Pajon mix (from Asian market)
• Water
• Kimchi
• Vegetables cut into julienne (I used red peppers and courgettes 'cause that's what was in my fridge!)
• Spring onions

Mix all the ingrdients together well. Heat a few tablespoons of oils in a frying pan. If you are on a diet, don't make this! Seriously though, you need enough oil to get a nice crisy edge on the pajon or it's not as much fun. When the oil is quite hot, pour in a ladle full of mix and tilt the pan around to make a pancake. Repeat until mix is used up, then chow down!

Dipping Sauce

• Soy sauce
• Sugar
• Rice vinegar
• Water
• Toasted sesame seeds

Mix all ingredients together to taste and serve with pajon, yum...

Kimchi jigae

• 1/2 can of Spam, cut into thick matchsticks
• 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• A handful of mushrooms, sliced
• Green veg as desired (I like a couple of handfuls of spinach, but the okra was good too.)
• A good cupful of Kimchi that's gone a bit sour plus its juice
• 2 cups of stock if you have it, water + stock cube if you don't
• 1/2 block of tofu, cubed
• 100-200g glass noodles or duk (rice cakes)
• 1 couple of spring onions, shredded

Stir fry the Spam and garlic until brown (No oil needed). Add the mushrooms and greens, then the kimchi and fry a couple minutes more. Then comes the kimchi juice, stock and tofu. Let it bubble for about 5-10 minutes, taste for seasoning then add the glass noodles and cook until these are ready. Dish up, top with spring onions and tuck in! Be prepared to sweat, it's good for ya!

Kimchi Mania

Oh dear kimchi, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... kimchi bokum bap, kimchi jigae, kimchi pajon, kimchi manduk, kimchi ramen, kimchi hotdogs (a family creation), kimchi pizza (yet another home recipe), etc etc etc. Forget all those supplements out there, kimchi is a known superfood with healthy bacteria to combat those nasty bugs out there (even reputed to have been why Koreans escaped SARS with practially no damage!)

Well, I've got a large jar of kimchi to use up (such a hard life) so I tried to make a dent in it yesterday. For lunch I made kimchi pajon which you can see below:


Kimchi pajon and dipping sauce

Kimchi pajon, up close and personal! Isn't it beautifully orange?


Then for dinner, as I was inspired by The Scent of Green Bananas Spam posting, I cooked up some kimchi jigae, hot! A Korean ajima or "auntie" showed me how to make it with Spam, so I know it's pretty authentic. I thought it needed some green and I didn't have any spinach so I added some frozen okra for an experiment. Not bad, but I prefer spinach. I also added some wide glass noodles as I didn't make any rice. For those of you who are not familiar with this most lovely, hearty dish, it is usually a a hot pot of kimchi, meat, tofu and vegetables. Okay, if you're really not into Spam, you can also make this with other meats, bacon would be quite good, but how ever you do it, try it, you'll like it!


Kimchi jigae, scrummy!

There goes the healthy eating...

Had one of those days where comfort eating is the order of the day, you know what I mean...

My digital camera was not charged up so you won't get to visually share in my gluttony, but here goes:

Lunch was a pork trotter braised in soy, wine, sugar, ginger and spring onion until it was almost falling off the bone (gosh I love bone-sucking!). So bad for me yet soooo good.

From Chinese I went to All American mac 'n' cheese (yes the boxed Kraft kind, sometimes you just want that industrial flavour) for dinner.

Then over to France for a snack, Pain Poilane with St Marcelin cheese and some duck rillettes. Yummers!

Highly caloric day, but then I did spend a good time of it vacuuming : - )

Hasta luego!

About time

Well, I've spent so much time reading and admiring other people's food blogs I thought it was about high time I started one myself. I even signed up on Blogger ages ago only to have my membership languish. A couple of things called sheer laziness and a natural tendency towards procrastination has prevented me thus far...

Anyway, this is a good a time as any as I have just been working at a one star Michelin restaurant in Paris. It's called Les Ormes at 22 rue Surcouf in the 7th arrondissement and it was fantastic!!! Not only is the food delectable, the chef and his team are superb. It was an experience of a lifetime. I've posted some pictures for your viewing pleasure!

It was so reassuring and refreshing to see someone who cooks such lovely food, uses ingredients wisely and seasonally yet is generous, almost too much so. Everything is made from scratch; the puff pastry, the ice creams/sorbets, the stocks, everything. I learned heaps, in fact I didn't want to leave. Anyway, I will be working on some of the things I learned and will post as I go.

Ciao for now, time to eat!

Oeuf de caille sur un lit de duxelles
 

Crème de laitue, poêlée de cuisses de grenouilles et broccio frais

Langoustines rôties aux pistils de safran, barigoule de legumes, vinaigrette de crustacés
 

Raviole de langoustines avec sa bisque 

Légumes des deux saisons en gelée truffée, ris d'agneau, sot-l'y-laisse rôtis et oeufs de caille pochés

Rognons de veau sautés avec pommes de terres braisés et échalotes confites
 

Saint Pierre aux aromates, jeunes carottes et asperges braisées avec sauce orange