About 100 years ago, my agent, Pat Lomax, was quite interested in my idea for a cook book: ‘food and the single man.’
The moment has long passed. But having revisited my notes, I am intrigued once more. so here are my:
NOTES IN PROGRESS
Food and the single man: recipes for survival (and seduction)
Rack of lamb:
Spike a small carre d’agneau (500-600g) with garlic; place in a small baking pan and dress with rosemary, Dijon mustard; olive oil and balsamic vinegar; maybe a knife-tip of spice (raz el hanout). Surround with a few small tomatoes and a little of my home-made gravy stock, which I often refresh by splashing in some red wine.
Roast for 35 minutes (160 degrees). I often simply eat it with steamed leaf spinach (three minutes).
Serves one (or two)
Nora Ephron’s Mashed Potatoes:
‘Nothing like mashed potatoes when you’re feeling blue. Nothing like getting into bed with a bowl of hot mashed potatoes already loaded with butter, and methodically adding a thin cold slice of butter to every forkful.’
‘For mashed potatoes: Put one large (or 2 small) potatoes in a large pot of salted water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for at least 20 minutes, until tender. Drain and place the potatoes back in the pot and shake over low heat to eliminate excess moisture. Peel. Put through a potato ricer and immediately add 1 tablespoon of heavy cream and as much butter and salt and pepper as you feel like. Eat immediately. Serves one.’
Perfect Four-Minute Eggs: Put the eggs into cold water and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat immediately and cover the saucepan. In 3 minutes, you will have perfect four-minute eggs. (Nora Ephron)
Boiled Eggs: Allow a pint of water for each egg. Bring water to a rolling boil. Put a lid on the saucepan and turn off the heat. Wait six minutes and serve.
Hard-boiled Eggs: Place the eggs carefully into plenty of boiling water. Give the eggs about 8 minutes from the time the water starts boiling again. Then put them in a large bowl of cold water, or run them under the cold tap, before shelling them. Heating the eggs too much or boiling them too long produces that unattractive gray-black ring around the yolk. This is due to the sulphur in the egg white combining with iron in the yolk. A good talking point.
Spanish Omelet (from Javier Benedi-Garcia: a traditional recipe from his mother): Dice 4 cooked potatoes and 1 large onion. Salt and pepper them and put in a medium-size frying pan with a generous amount of olive oil and cornflower/sunflower oil. Cook at moderate heat, removing the pan constantly from the flame. Beat 6 eggs in a large bowl. When the potatoes are soft, remove the pan from the flame and tip out all the oil. Add the eggs and cook over low heat. Turn the omelet over with a spatula so that it cooks on both sides. The inside should be runny or undercooked. Cut the omelet into slices like a cake. Serves four. According to Javier, this is a dish that is even more delicious when eaten cold. Like revenge, perhaps.
Bacon Hash: Chop some bacon into small cubes in a heavy frying pan and cook over a slow flame until it starts to sizzle. Then add diced cooked potatoes, rake the mixture with a spatula and cook slowly until the potatoes and bacon are brown and crisp. Serve with fried eggs.
Peggy’s Pate (from my mother):
A pot (3/4 lb) of fresh chicken livers (or 3 packets quick-frozen chicken livers), ¼ lb butter, an eggcup of brandy, a large clove of garlic, 2 tablespoons cream, salt, pepper, paprika, a pinch each of marjoram, nutmeg and basil. (I sometimes add a pinch of tarragon).
If using fresh chicken livers, be sure to cut out any yellow bits, since this can make the pate bitter.
Melt a tablespoon of butter in a thick frying pan (I sometimes add a splash of sunflower oil). Add the livers, cover with a lid and simmer very gently. Meanwhile, cut the rest of the butter into small cubes. Turn the livers over and simmer them until they are cooked. Take care not to overcook – they should be slightly pink inside. Lift the livers out of the pan, put them in a blender and add the butter and cream. To the liquid in the pan, add salt, pepper and paprika, the nutmeg and the herbs. Pour the liquid over the livers, add the garlic and the brandy. Blend until the mixture is the consistency of thick whipped cream. This takes about 2 minutes. Pour the mixture into an earthenware pot and chill it. The pate will keep for 8-10 days in the fridge. Serve with crusty bread and a crisp, green salad.
Ham with Orange Sauce (from my mother):
Soak a nice piece of smoked ham with its rind overnight in cold water. Add a slice of lemon. Change the water, bring to the boil and simmer – allow half an hour’s cooking per pound.
Prepare the sauce: juice of three oranges; Dijon mustard, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg. When the ham is cooked, place it in a roasting pan in a medium oven for 20 minutes and baste with the sauce. Carve and serve with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable.
Chicken Noodle Soup with Spicy Meatballs:
Make the chicken soup or bouillon your favorite way. I usually boil up the carcass and leftovers from a previous meal. You can cheat by adding a discreet chicken cube. Take care. Any hint of Maggi or Knorr will destroy the effect. Cook small pasta al dente. I use those tiny curved macaroni) and drain. Use best ground steak for the meatballs. Season well. I add curry powder or my special hot spice with a touch of mustard. Mold them so that won’t break apart in the hot soup. Add the pasta to the soup and bring to a boil. Drop in the meatballs and turn down the heat. Let the soup simmer for 2 minutes and serve in little bowls. Sprinkle parsley or grated parmesan on top to show you really care.
Spaghetti alla Notte di San Lorenzo (from Hazel Selbourne): Chop and mix the following ingredients with cooked and well olive-oiled al dente spaghetti: I nice fresh (buffalo) mozzarella, several anchovy fillets (those you buy in a tin or jar in olive oil), several nice grape tomatoes and fresh basil leaves. Mix well with spaghetti and oil in a pan and heat gently until the mozzarella begins to melt but the basil isn’t spoilt. Add black pepper and more salt if necessary. If everything is fresh and the spaghetti well a dente, this is easy, quick and delicious. Buon appetito!
[I usually pass on the anchovies and use gorgonzola instead of mozzarella. Spaghetti ‘al dente’ for Italians is too chewy for my taste. I cook spaghetti no. 5 for 15 minutes instead of the 8 minutes on the packet. Cooked spaghetti is always useful. To stop it going dry, untangle the cold spaghetti with a fork, dribble olive oil over it, add dried basil, turn it over well with a fork and stick it in a covered bowl on the bottom shelf of the fridge.]
Pat’s Toasted Avocado: Take an avocado. Halve it and remove stone. Slice the flesh and spread out in a fan shape on a plate. Crumble some stilton (or any other tangy cheese) and mix with butter to make a paste (quantities depend on how much you like cheese). Spread over the avocado and put under a grill to heat until the cheese is melted. Eat immediately.
(Pat Lomax)
Cheat’s Bouillabaisse: Buy two or three fillets of fish (cod, loup de mer, rougets…) and fry lightly in a pan with a little sunflower oil and seasoning. Take a jar of (expensive) fish soup, heat in a saucepan, but do not bring it to the boil. Add crushed garlic. Pour the soup over the fish fillets (throw in a prawn or two) and serve with rouille and crusty bread. You can buy rouille in little cans or jars or make it by adding crushed garlic to Hellman’s mayonnaise laced with Dijon mustard.
Moules Marinieres: Buy 500 gms each of mussels (and any small shellfish or clams). Clean the mussels well in a colander under running cold water. Remove the ‘beard’ or fuzzy bit from the ‘hinge’ side. Simmer in a casserole with water and dry white wine, garlic and seasoning. Let the soup cool and pop in the fridge. Next morning, filter the soup, throwing out the shells and cooked shellfish. Check the seasoning. Bring soup to the boil and add a new batch of mussels. Cook for about 10 minutes until shells have opened. Serve.
(N.B. my rule with shellfish – or anything else for that matter – is if you don’t like the look of it, throw it out. This includes cracked shells along with mussels that have not opened in the cooking.)
Vegetable Soup: This is what French friends call ‘soupe a la fourchette.’ Chop mixed vegetables – cauliflower, leeks, onions, carrots, celery, potatoes – and cover with cold water in a saucepan. Cook until they are tender and leave to cool. Blend in the mixer, add more water, season, and stash in the fridge. ‘Later that day…’ or whenever, put a similar mix of vegetables (roughly cut) in salted water and simmer gently until lightly cooked (crunchy or al dente). Add the newly-cooked vegetables to the original soup; heat gently, season and serve. I add a dash of Worcester and sprinkle with parmesan.
*Recipes for cooking rice – my way, my Pakistani friend’s way…
My Way to Cook Rice: Take half a cup of rice and wash thoroughly for at least three minutes in a colander under cold running water. Put in a small frying pan, add water nearly to the brim and bring to the boil. Then turn down to the lowest heat and stick a lid on the pan. When the rice is nicely moist and most of the water has evaporated it is ready to serve. Allow about 20 minutes. The method requires some trial and error. But once you get it right – the quantities, heat and timing, it is (almost infallible). Cold rice is a versatile staple to keep in the fridge for last minute salads and stir fried dishes.
The Hefferlump’s Mackerel Pate
Smoked mackerel fillets
Butter
Garlic flavored olive oil
Coarse-chopped garlic
Moroccan spices/café de Paris butter
Hot horseradish
Drop of soya sauce
Lemon juice
Soured cream
Black pepper
Fine-chopped parsley
Cognac
Mash up with a fork (very tedious) put in little pots and chill.
Potato Salad
Boil spuds and slice when hot; toss with lemon juice, olive oil, splash of vinegar, salt. When tepid, add chopped dill.
Serve on a plate of smoked salmon.
Splash dressing made from: crème fraiche, lemon juice, and grated horseradish.
Potato ‘Chobble’
Slice some cold potatoes; add chopped apple; chopped (red) onion; capers; chopped cornichons. Dressing: vinaigrette of Dijon mustard, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Cappucino d’avocat
Avocat (avocado)
Bouillon de volaille (chicken stock)
Crème
Jus de citron
Piment rouge
Roughly cut avocat to fill about half of mixer
Add bouillon nearly to the top, then crème, jus de citron, and piment.
Mix
If consistency is too thick, add more bouillon.
Chill
RAZ EL HANOUT (my favorite all-purpose mixed spice) contains:
cumin/caraway
carvi
aniseed
ginger
coriander
fennel
cloves
chili
turmeric
basil
rosemary
thyme
sarriette/savory
origano