GOM Chapter 14: The menu and the crossword.

Menu approved for Saturday's dinner party.

Fishcakes (a la The Ivy) with tartare sauce to begin - Tarragon chicken with good old fashioned roast potatoes, lemon glazed carrots and snow peas for main and dessert will be Orange Tiramisu (translation for tiramisu, “pick me up”). Not only is the menu approved but my friend wishes to be a student for the fishcakes and the chicken – he isn't fond of desserts but, at the age of 72, wants to expand his culinary repertoire and includes the tiramisu too. More of this to follow nearer the time.

Now a word about crosswords. I'm not talking about the coffee break “quickie” - these are complex, high velocity full on “slowies”. For some time now I've referred to them as “Chinese crosswords” because they might as well be written in Mandarin. You get my drift.

The GOMs day begins with sudoku and other miscellany and they then move on to the big stuff. Imagine an ordinary grid – normally you're given a list of clues, down and across. With the Chinese version you're given a title, plus a set of instructions that on their own would defeat most mortals but become clear when the puzzle is successfully solved.

The GOM spend hours pouring over their quest. Did you know there is a specific crossword language, for example the initial “r” can mean “take”, “right”, “rule”, I could go on!

This particular day is an easy “go with the flow” day. I am on hide duty watching all my regular friends, the herons, the jumpin' fish, the swallows et al. There is a faint background bickering from the GOM but nothing out of the ordinary.

Moving on 2 hours and critically close to a very important sporting event – can't remember which - either golf or soccer on the widescreen – but the pressure is on, suddenly there's some colourful loud language – they had solved the puzzle but weren't too pleased – the correct reading of the instructions resulted in the completed grid being totally empty – best to keep my distance.....I'll stick with dinner party planning!

GOM Chapter 13: Edgar Allan Poe, dinner and all that

Post crossword “meeting” with the GOM this morning and we've decided to invite the neighbours for dinner this coming weekend. One quick phone call later and it's arranged for Saturday. I'm left to ponder what to serve so, back to the old drawing board – another meeting scheduled with proposed menus for approval tomorrow morning. How very business like!

Gotta run – next dance class - it was great, but I have to say it would make life a lot easier if I was twenty years younger and had any sort of coordination! Not helped by the fact that our instructor is drop dead gorgeous, a professional dancer and about 25 years old – do you detect a shade of green creeping in – absolutely!

Exercise over it's back home to relax – no cooking today, looking forward to another visit to Sullivan's Island – this time to eat.

Out early doors which suits us all – off we go back to Sullivan's Island to Poe's Tavern. As mentioned previously Sullivan's Island is just as you imagine a typical small seaside place to be – one main street – each side with small shops and restaurants. An easy, laid back atmosphere and you feel it as soon as you get out of the car. The veranda has tables and chairs and people are sat having a beer, chatting – informality is the key, together with the anticipation of good food. We were not disappointed. The restaurant's history surrounds Edgar Allan Poe. He was stationed at Fort Moultrie at the western end of the Island for thirteen months in November 1827 and his time there inspired “The Gold Bug”, a story about a mystical beetle that led to buried treasure.

I should perhaps explain that my husband is not a burger fan but, there are burgers and there are burgers – that famous name that everyone knows - this is not! All the burgers are half pounders, ground in-house and cooked to order. Everything else is freshly made too. To tempt you with a burger or two, you could have The Pit & Pendulum – with applewood bacon and cheddar cheese, or the Starving Artist, bunless with a choice of pimento, roasted garlic bleu, sweet pepper goat or jalapeno jack cheese, served with marinated bacon-bleu cheese coleslaw. I could go on, suffice it to say that the Gold Bug – a cheeseburger with either Monterey Jack or Swiss cheese was a huge hit. The fries (not chips!) were the thin variety but clearly cooked in their skins, excellent, nay outstanding.

Back home for a night-cap – have a good one.

The Leftovers – arancini and riso al salto

When I suggested what to do with leftover risotto it was greeted with “and good luck with that” - there are never any leftovers. Nowadays I make this basic risotto and leave it to cool for the next dish - arancini (Italian rice balls). Traditionally mozzarella cheese is used but, thanks to the food writer Ravinder Bhogal I discovered taleggio cheese – another Italian cheese which melts very well and so is perfect for these beauties and makes a change.

In addition to the basic risotto you'll need 200g taleggio cheese, rind removed

and cut into small cubes, 3 eggs – beaten and 150g breadcrumbs.

Preheat oven 180/160fan/Gas 4

The eggs and breadcrumbs should be in separate dishes -

I use the foil variety – it's easy to shake the arancini around in the egg first

and then the breadcrumbs without too much handling

• the technique is called “pane”

You can now make your arancini as large or small as you

like – the recipe will give you 12 large (the size of a tennis ball)

or 30 small for canapes or a starter

Roll the rice into a ball then place a piece of taleggio

inside and close up the ball. Dip in the egg then in the breadcrumbs.

Shallow fry in oil.

Serve with a salad drizzled with a rich balsamic glaze

(a quick and easy quality product)

and then there's

Riso al salto

Melt butter in a non stick pan. Press leftover risotto into pancakes, 1cm thick.

Fry until crisp, turn, repeat, serve with grated Parmesan. Worth making a risotto for!

Useless bit of culinary nonsense – al salto means “to flip”. This recipe came from “The Leftovers Handbook” by Suzy Bowler.

If you've any space left and want to serve a dessert the Lemon Tiramisu would be good.

Ps. The arancini freezes well – defrost thoroughly and warm through in a pre-heated oven 160 fan/180/Gas 4 for 15 minutes.

Pps. There are various arancini fillings, pancetta, basil and mozzarella, sun dried tomato and mushroom to name but three.

Delizioso!

Next Lucky Dip - Indonesia

Risotto or bust...

Weekend cooking is different – it's time to kick back, relax and enjoy yourself. If you love your cooking it's reflected on the plate or in this case, in the bowl. I long since gave up seating visitors in a different room when all they want to do is hang around the island where the hob is - chatting, with the obligatory glass of something, munching on crostini and watching. Plus you can always get someone to pitch in and help with the stirring. Cooking this way also encourages reluctant teenagers to taste without pressure. If this picture is appealing to you you'll find that risotto is the perfect dish for the occasion.

On that note what follows is a basic risotto recipe – you can add whatever you like – seasonal vegetables, for example broad beans, podded of course. Risotto is a rustic dish and I think perfectly acceptable to serve from the hob to the table in its pan.

1 litre vegetable or chicken stock

40g unsalted butter

1 tbsp groundnut oil

2 small onions, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves (or 3 tsps paste)

350g risotto rice

150ml dry white wine

2 tbsps flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

100g Parmesan cheese, grated

salt and black pepper

Bring the stock to a boil and simmer gently. Heat the butter and the oil in a pan and fry the onions and garlic until soft. Season with salt. Stir in the rice and fry for 2 minutes until the edges become opaque. Add the wine. Start adding the stock, a ladle at a time – the liquid should be absorbed before you add the next. Add the parsley, black pepper and the Parmesan cheese.

It's imperative that your stock is kept hot and added a ladle at a time. If you follow these basic principles you'll be fine.

At the risk, again, of sounding like a broken record I'd strongly recommend you do your mise en place (“put in place” or ducks in a row) ahead of the game. If you're intending to serve a risotto on a weekend evening prep all your ingredients in the morning – it'll take a few minutes but you won't regret it, it's so much less faff. I'd lose the will if I had to start from scratch. I just want to get on and cook (and enjoy a glass of something too).

If you're cooking for guests/family that all have different tastes try these options on for size. Keep the risotto basic (plus any seasonal vegetables). Top the risotto with balsamic mushrooms – an easy recipe, bags of flavour and it looks really cheffy.

Mushrooms in Balsamic

4 tbsp rapeseed oil or similar

500g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

pinch of salt

4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp brown sugar

60g grated/shaved parmesan

Heat the oil, add the mushrooms and garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook on high for 5 minutes until browned. Mix the vinegar with the sugar and pour over the mushrooms.

Stir until syrupy – 1-2 minutes, serve on toasted broad. Sprinkle with Parmesan to serve.

Would serve 6 as a bruschetta topping

or

quarter the mushrooms and serve as a topping on a risotto and add shavings of parmesan – would not recommend using grated parmesan.

Top the risotto with seared scallops. For those who aren't familiar with cooking scallops, a few pointers. Dry your scallops with kitchen roll before cooking, season with salt and black pepper. Cooking time is 1½ minutes each side, the centre should be translucent – if you prefer not then increase to 2 minutes each side but beware overcooked they are not nice, becoming rubbery. Add a little oil and butter to your frying pan and ensure it is hot before adding the seasoned scallops. To achieve the timing easily either use a kitchen timer or visualise the pan as a clock face. Place a scallop at 12 o'clock and then continue in a circle to 11 o'clock. Turn the 12 o'clock scallop and repeat round the clock – cooked. For guidance the size of the scallops used is 1-1½” thick.

Be brave!

Leftovers to follow.

Cicchetti

Cicchetti

and Ciao!

Pronounced chee-keh-tee. Cicchetti are to Venice what tapas are to Barcelona

Cicchetti are usually a bargain with most dishes going for 2-5 euros and possible to have an assorted platter and a couple of glasses of wine for the price of a single plain pizza.

The traditional home of cicchetti is the BACARO – a bar serving wine and cicchetti. Most bacaro have an extensive menu of wines by the glass along with Venice's signature cocktail, the Aperol Spritz.

Various cicchetti – small toasts covered in spreads to unadorned chunks of cheese or salami, from grilled fish to shrimp salads. There is an entire class of tiny triangular sandwiches with crusts removed called TRAMEZZINI. Cicchetti can be small portions of more traditional dishes such as risotto, stuffed mussels by the piece small plates of olives or fried items such as fritters and crunchy cheese sandwiches.

There are 3 typical cicchetti every visitor should know,

BACCALA is cod, and the most traditional preparation is a mousse or pate of dried cod spread on sliced bread found at virtually every bacaro.

SARDE IN SAOR is the signature dish of Venice also on most restaurant menus sweet and sour whole sardines usually served with the tail (but not the head) sauteed and marinated in vinegar with raisins and pine nuts.

POLPETTE are small meatballs, traditionally veal but they can be any meat or seafood, often mixed with some mashed potato filler. Be precise when ordering these because POLPETTE sounds identical to POLPETTI – or whole baby octopus, another common cicchetti.

After discovering cicchetti I went in search of a book that would do it justice – it's called, not surprisingly, “Cicchetti” by Lindy Wildsmith and Valentina Harris”. I knew of Valentina Harris, so any tome with her name attached has got to be good – truly wonderful stuff – here are two examples from the book, tried, tested, served, thoroughly enjoyed and repeated.

Stuffed mini pancakes with broad

bean cream

Serves 4

250g broad beans, fresh or frozen

30g robiola or similar cream cheese *

1 tbsp grated pecorino

4 eggs

3 tbsp milk

1 tbsp plain flour

2-3 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley

salt and black pepper

2 tbsp rapeseed oil

4 slices cooked ham (Italian if you can

get it)

Boil the broad beans until softened in lightly salted water for 5 minutes. Drain, cool and “pop”.** Place in a food processor with the cream cheese and the pecorino and blend until smooth. Season to taste.

Beat the eggs in a bowl with the milk, flour, flat leaf parsley and salt and pepper.

In a lightly oiled, non-stick pan, use this mixture to make about eight small flat, thin omelettes, cooking them on each side for about four minutes. Make sure they are cooked through but soft enough to roll up. Leave to cool.***

Lay a slice of ham on top of each little pancake and spread with the broad bean and cheese mixture, then roll up and cut across into bite-size pieces, sealing each one safely closed with a wooden cocktail stick.

Chill until required.

*Robiola is very difficult to get hold of. You could use ordinary cream cheese or, for an extra tang, try Boursin – I appreciate that Boursin is French and Robiola is Italian but hey, needs must!

** and *** are elements that can and as far as the omelettes are concerned should be made ahead.

Dates wrapped in Parma ham

Makes 20 canapes

1 tsp vegetables oil

20 dried dates, pitted

20 small cubes of parmesan or other hard cheese

10 slices of Parma ham, halved

Pre-heat oven to 190c/170fan//Gas 5. Grease a baking tray large enough to fit all the dates. Place a cube of cheese inside each date. Wrap each date with half a slice of Parma ham and fix with a wooden cocktail stick. Arrange on the baking tray, bake for about 10 minutes – until the ham begins to crisp – serve hot.

Whistle Stop Tour - Culinary Lucky Dip

I hope by now you're feeling a bit more enthusiastic and back in the zone. I thought I'd give you a few ideas to use when you've more time to spend over the weekend - dipping into different cuisines, for weekend suppers (or large lunches). One or two of the recipes you may find a little more challenging than of late, others not. First stop, Italy!

On the “not” list is Crostini – literally meaning “little toast”. It's an appetizer, using small slices of toasted bread with toppings. Bruschetta is similar and originates way back - peasant food in that the toasted bread acted as the “plate”.

You can make Crostini as small or as large as you like. The smaller version is used as a canapé and part baked baguettes are perfect - larger loaves, sliced and toasted would satisfy a big appetite for lunch.

It's back to my lists again, but you'll see that it can be as easy or as complicated as you'd like to make it.

Part baked baguettes, sliced – gluten free option

works very well (and I promise you wouldn't taste any difference)

Garlic (fresh or paste)

Olive oil

Tapenade*

Pesto*

Tomato puree*

Toppings

Finely chopped chilli – red and/or green

Goat's cheese – cubed or sliced

Any Italian cheese – e.g. Dolcelatte or Gorgonzola, cubed

Parmesan, Pecorino, Grand Padano (grated), Mozzarella and Taleggio

Olives, pitted and chopped

Mediterranean vegetables, roasted and diced

Parma ham, cut into small triangles, twisted into a cone shape

Salami, as for Parma ham

Anchovies, chopped finely

If you are using garlic paste add olive oil and mix to a paste. Spread sparingly onto the bread. Top with any option marked * above. Add topping of your choice – two – three – don't overload.

Cook in a hot oven until golden and crispy – 3-4 minutes at 200/180fan/Gas 6

More options:

Make your own tapenade. You can of course buy it ready-made but it's easy to make and sooo tasty. 100g black olives, pitted, 4/5 cloves of garlic (or equivalent tsps of paste) – blitz in a small food processor. Drizzle in extra virgin olive oil, add black pepper only. Add lemon juice – try a dessert spoon – you can always add more, you can't take it away, personal taste – again. Add 4 finely chopped anchovies and 75g chopped capers. In modern parlance – boom!

Pesto again is easy to make but just as easy to buy.

Tomato paste – bit strong for my taste but, preparing some of each will cater for everyone's taste.

One might say fiddly to do, but, almost all of it can be done in advance and you can take short cuts for example, you can buy sliced pitted olives so it only takes a minute to chop them ready for use.

Coming next on our fleeting visit to Italy, the challenge of a risotto and what to do with the leftovers.

Ciao!

GOM Chapter 12: Slob Sunday

It's a good job we have an easy day today - sleep interrupted during the night by a spectacular thunderstorm – the noise is so loud it's scary – even if you're not generally bothered. I should explain that we have the guest suite which is on the ground floor – Choo Choo sleeps in the kitchen in her cage (not locked) and is terrified of storms. When my grumpy old man got up to visit the bathroom, there sat Choo Choo in the doorway to the suite – well it would have been cruel and unkind not to invite her in to spend the rest of the night.

After our visitors depart for home the boys decide to continue their vehicular quest and so depart late am for a couple of hours. Yippee, since it's overcast I'm going to find myself a film and settle down to veg out for a couple of hours with Choo Choo for excellent company. You've heard the expression “the best laid plans.......” no less than 5 minutes after the boys left and I'd chosen said film, blank screen – power cut, sorry power outage in USA speak. Absolutely typical. Didn't last long though - about an hour so all's well with the world.

Some things in life are meant to be and if you are patient long enough, then you get your reward. 5.30pm two baby dolphins came down the creek searching for their tea. What a display, right in our own back yard, a truly magnificent sight. The tide was low and if you've ever watched how dolphins feed one will circle around, driving the small fish so that the other meets and hence the feeding frenzy. I appreciate that in this day and age seeing dolphins is quite commonplace. For me, to witness these truly beautiful creatures, free and doing as nature intended is beyond special. As the Richter scale is used to express the magnitude of an earthquake from 1-10 I have my own Hummingbird scale – seeing a hummingbird 12 inches away and the sound that wings make rates 10 – but this spectacular display is up there with the hummingbird!

Out for dinner tonight and we are off to The Outback, yep an Australian restaurant complete with boomerang décor. The reason for the visit is twofold, a fantastic reputation for steaks and The Blooming Onion. Hey if you are going to eat something that is really bad for you then make a good job of it. This onion is approximately 8” in diameter, looks like a lotus flower, except that it is coated in spicy seasoning, dipped in batter and deep fried. The onion is served with a dip. The comparison, ridiculous though it may sound, is similar to pulling the leaves from an artichoke – a truly decadent experience. The boys loved their steaks and for me, stuffed mushrooms, wonderful.

I hope you realise how seriously I take getting the absolute best out of my stay!