Luca, squash and festive desserts
4 December 2023
Introduction
I am now cooking temporarily on an Ikea portable induction hob which rules out cooking anything with an oven, so this week I made Diana Henry’s spiced citrus and pomegranate compote from last Saturday’s festive menu in the Telegraph.
I cooked aubergine kasundi from the Towpath Cookbook, dal and rice when my brother came for a midweek dinner and then lamb meatballs with harissa from the same book when friends came for a late Saturday lunch. I made Nigel Slater’s lemon sherbet mousse cake for dessert which is similar to the ‘fluffy lemon cheesecake’ my mother used to make, although I don’t know what recipe she used. I used the juice and zest of four lemons, not two although maybe mine were smaller, and a 12g packet of powdered gelatine which barely set it, so you didn’t know the gelatine was there. It’s one of my favourite things although maybe not for vegetarians. The packet gelatine was made from beef and some sheet gelatine, I had in the cupboard, was made from pork.
Below, some leftover aubergine kasundi, which they recommend having on toast with feta, a little accident I had with the pot of salt when making the meatballs, and the leftover lemon cheesecake. Noi photos allowed at the table when guests are there…
Recipes
It’s time for pumpkin and squash this week.
Four easy ways with squash by Mark Hix in the Telegraph, red mullet with squash salsa, grilled squash salad with pickled walnuts, flageolet bean and squash soup and whipped butternut squash with ricotta
And more recipes for winter pumpkin and squash by Michael Wignall in the Guardian for roast pumpkin and chilli soup with feta, butternut squash, parma ham and a pumpkin and sunflower-seed pesto on toast, and roast squash with a Japanese glaze. Michael Wignall is chef/patron of The Angel at Hetton near Skipton in North Yorkshire.
And Rachel Roddy in the Guardian with fennel, potato, squash and sage bake ‘which is layers of sliced fennel, potato and pumpkin, flavoured with sage and glued together by melty pecorino. Another one to add to the ‘when I have an oven again’ list.
Alternative festive puddings with Giorgio Locatelli’s chocolate, amaretti biscuit and fig roll, Claudia Roden’s chestnut and chocolate cake and Sally Clarke’s marzipan and mincemeat pasties in the Times as well as Nadiya Hussain’s alternative Christmas cakes which are chocolate ginger cake, ice cream cake and a baked Alaska loaf. Ravneet Gill’s black grape clafoutis in the Guardian
Twenty Christmas biscuits in the Observer. It’s worth having a good look at all the recipes if you’re planning on baking someth ing new . I like the sound of alfajores de dulce de leche recipe by Ana Ortiz, tahini, almond and honey cookies by Georgina Hayden and redcurrant and coconut marshmallow wreaths recipe by Helen Goh.
Cheddar and cider soup by Nigel Slater in this random article about what to make when it’s dark outside along with chocolate truffles and mulled wine in the Observer.
Three lamb recipes by Mark Kempson, sticky lamb ribs and cucumber relish, marinated lamb leg steak with winter slaw and slow-cooked lamb shoulder with piperade and roasted garlic in the Sunday Times. He is the head chef at Kitchen W8 in London,.
Diana Henry in the Telegraph thinks duck can be ‘downright delicious’ if you know what to do with it and gives recipes for duck breast with bean purée and olive herb salsa, Venetian stuffed duck recipe with an Italian filling of pancetta, parmesan and chicken livers and duck legs with plums, cinnamon and star anise.
Jose Pizarro’s recipe for sherry-braised pork belly with spinach and chestnuts in the Guardian
Recipes for Persian-style braised tofu with sour yoghurt and spinach, a simple cabbage and poppy seed pasta, and steamed fish with cumin and tomato oil in the Guardian by Ottolenghi which he calls midweek dinners.
Meera Sodha’s vegan three-treasures soup, a Chinese-style winter warmer of tofu, cabbage and spring onions in the Guardian.
Nigel Slater’s recipes for butter beans, cannellini and cavolo nero, and a prune, chocolate and orange frangipane tart where the frangipane has less flour in it than his previous frangipane recipes in the Observer.
Sardine sfiha from Honey and Co in the FT where they say ‘the benefit of a well supplied pantry is the best stock there is’. Their recipe uses tinned sardines.
Tomato and red wine risotto with soft goats cheese in and a garlic bread done on the hob from Eleanor Steafel in the Telegraph. This is one I could try this week so watch this space.
Books
Even More Basics to Brilliance by Donna Hay
In the Times, she gives a simple and a more complicated way of making a recipe chocolate mousse and then chocolate and salted caramel mousse tart
crème brûlée and rhubarb and ginger crème brûlée
vanilla bean semifreddo and chocolate, pistachio and nougat semifreddo
Basque cheesecake recipe and one with a with a tangy lemon twist
Restaurants
I had a great bar express lunch at Luca this week although it did last quite a long time.
In the FT, Tim Hayward went to Baudry Greene, the 10 Cases team's new European cafe in Covent Garden and announced ‘this is how I want to eat now…….Half cocktail joint, half European café, central London needs more places like this one. ‘
In the Guardian, Grace Dent went to Claridge’s in London W1 and said ‘Claridge’s never truly changes, but there’s enough happening now to keep me curious. I’m set for another 25 years.’
In the Observer, Jay Rayner was in Sheffield at Domo, a Sardinian restaurant and said, ‘there is a loose-limbed goofiness about the place. They are determined to show you a very good time, and they do.’
In the Standard, Jimi Famurewa went to Saltine in Highbury Park, London N5. It had ‘deft, grown-up indulgence’ and he wanted to go again.
In the Sunday Times, Charlotte Ivers didn’t like the Oak in Bath.
In the Telegraph, William Sitwell was at Strakers in Notting Hill, London and thought it had ‘generous, rustic confidence, with faultless cooking. and ‘a wonderful crescendo of epic dishes.’
In the Times, Giles Coren was in London, having Dim Sum on the Terrace at Harrods and then at Acme Fire Cult in London E8
Travel
UK
20 of the best UK pubs with bedrooms, for lunch and a winter walk in the Guardian and their readers’ favourite UK pubs for food.
How to do London right in the Independent.
Europe
How to do a festive food and booze dash to France to Calais, Boulogne or Lille in the Times
The world’s biggest wave at Nazaire in Portugal and how to see it in the Times
Winter is the best time to visit the sunny Portuguese city of Nazare for its immense immersive surfing spectacles, with safer options for swimmers — and much more.
Ultimate guide to Freiburg in Germany in the Independent and a 48-hour guide Brussels in the Times where the journalist has visited a dozen times and says ‘it’s a lazy stereotype to label this city as boring when it is home to contemporary art, natural wine bars, live music and much more.’ That’s telling you.
Last but not least, the Telegraph has a guide to the best European cities in winter which include Berlin, Seville, Venice and I kid you not, Birmingham.