Mustard With Mutton

I know the thought of overcooked broccoli won’t make anyone’s mouth start watering.  The image that springs to mind is the over-boiled, mushy, waterlogged vegetables from our childhood.  Now everything is cooked “crisp tender” and thank goodness for that.  Except, maybe not.  This recipe for broccoli cooked for two hours (yes, 2 hours) is probably the best broccoli I’ve tasted.  Think more of a broccoli confit.  The broccoli is cooked in a bath of olive oil that’s been infused with garlic, red chilli and anchovy.  The only trick is to be very careful when you’re turning the broccoli and when plating as it’s so tender you could easily end up with mush, it would still taste great though. The other thing is to make sure you’re heat is very very low and to use a heat diffuser if you have one.  I have an induction stove so can get my hotplate down to a very gently heat.  This is great as a side dish to any meat or fish but would also be a delicious way to prepare broccoli for a pizza or bruschetta.

Ingredients – Serves 4-6   Adapted from Roy Finamore at Food52.com

2 bunches (about 1kg) broccoli
1 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
2 small chilli peppers, halved lengthwise (or even a big pinch of red chile flakes)
2 anchovy fillets, chopped
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While the water is heating, cut the florets off the broccoli, keeping them in fairly large pieces.

When the water comes to a boil, add the broccoli and cover the pot to bring it back to a boil quickly. Blanch the broccoli for five minutes. Drain.

Put olive oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat. When the garlic starts to sizzle, add the chillies and anchovies. Cook, giving a stir or two, until the anchovies melt.

Add the broccoli, season with salt and pepper (be quite generous with the salt, you’ll be surprised with how much it can take) and stir well.

Cover the skillet, turn the heat to very low, and cook for two hours. Use a spatula to turn the broccoli over in the skillet a few times, but try not to break it up. It will very tender when done.

Gently transfer the broccoli to a serving dish. It’s delicious hot or at room temperature.

You would swear when tasting these chips that they were deep-fried.  In fact these oven fries have a depth of potato flavour that is often missing in deep fried chips.  The secret to making them so crispy is to pre boil the potatoes first, as you would with roast potatoes.  Up until recently I would slice the potatoes into chips then boil them briefly.  This would yield good results but it was hit and miss – crispy potatoes one time, not so crispy the next.  I’ve now found a foolproof method, boil the potatoes whole and unpeeled until they are just under half way cooked and then slice them.  This prevents too much liquid penetrating the potatoes resulting in perfectly crisp chips every time.  The addition of good quality truffle oil and parmesan as soon as they come out of the oven elevates these from great to amazing.

Ingredients – Serves 4
5 -6  large evenly sized roasting potatoes – I used Desiree
Olive oil
Salt
Truffle oil
2-3 Tablespoons finely grated Parmesan

Method
Preheat the oven to 220C. Put the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold water.  Add salt and bring to the boil and cook for about 10 – 15 minutes or until the potatoes are just under half cooked.  Don’t over cook them otherwise they will be hard to slice.  Once cooked drain and when cool enough to handle slice into finger size chips.  Put your roasting pan in the oven, and allow it to heat up for about 5 minutes.  Add a generous splash of olive oil to the pan, about a quarter of a cup, and pop the pan back into the oven for another few minutes.  Take the pan with the oil out of the oven and carefully add the potatoes and with a spatula gently toss the chips to coat them with the oil.  Make sure the fries are in one layer and not overlapping. Add a final drizzle of olive oil along with a generous sprinkle of salt and put into the oven.  

After 20 minutes reduce the oven temperature to 200C and cook for a further 30 -40 minutes, depending on your oven.  Basically you want the potatoes to be golden brown all over.  During the final cooking time check the fries and turn them over once or twice to ensure even cooking on both sides. Once cooked remove from the oven and place on a warmed platter.  Drizzle with truffle oil and parmesan and serve immediately.

This recipe comes courtesy of Nigel Slater’s book, Real Food.  The original recipe calls for 75g of butter, which I thought would be excessive, so I used 50g.  I should’ve listened to Nigel – the mushrooms really soak up the butter.  They were incredibly flavourful though and I tweaked the recipe a bit by adding a drizzle of truffle oil when they came out of the oven.  This would be a great way to prepare mushrooms for a risotto.

Ingredients – Serves 4

15 cloves of garlic, peeled

300g oyster mushrooms

75g butter

A few sprigs of fresh thyme

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C.  Put the garlic cloves in a small saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to the boil, the drain and return to the saucepan with more cold water and bring the boil again.  Once boiling lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes then drain. 

Spread the mushrooms in an oven proof dish that will hold them snuggly.  Nestle the garlic cloves in and around the mushrooms.  Dot with butter and sprinkle over the thyme leaves.  Season with salt and pepper.  Place into the oven and bake for 20 – 25 minutes until the mushrooms are golden.  During the cooking time frequently baste the mushrooms with the butter in the pan to avoid them drying out. 

As the name would suggest this recipe is French and dates back to the 17^th century.  The sweetness of the fresh peas makes this a great side for any kind of poultry or game.  It can be made vegetarian by omitting the speck/bacon and using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. I paired it with Thomas Keller’s roast chicken (see previous post). If you’re unable to source fresh peas then frozen ones will do although they won’t have the same mellow sweetness, but you’ll certainly save time podding them!

Ingredients – Serves 4

1kg fresh peas, podded
30g butter
1 bunch of spring onions (4) – the kind that has the little onion bulb at the end
100g speck or bacon cut into large thick dice
1/2 – 3/4 cup chicken stock
1 small baby cos or romaine lettuce, outer leaves removed and sliced thickly

Method

Cut the onions off the spring onions and quarter them and slice the green sections finely. In a large frypan or skillet, which has a lid, melt the butter over medium heat.

Add the onions and the green sections along with a pinch of salt and sauté gently for about 5-8 minutes until the onions have softened, be careful not to get any colour on them.  Add the speck and cook for another couple of minutes.  Increase the heat and add ½ a cup of stock and the peas along with another pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper.  Bring to the boil then lower the heat, cover and cook for about 8 minutes or until the peas are tender.  If the pan is running dry add some more stock.  Once the peas are cooked remove the lid and if the peas are too watery increase the heat and boil until only about 2 tablespoons of juice remain.  Add the sliced lettuce and cook until just wilted through. Check the seasoning and serve immediately.