Smokin' hot!

Nduja from Calabria

'Nduja (pronounced 'un-doo-ya) di Spilinga - A firey, smokey, soft spreadable salami which originates from the small town of Spilinga in the region of Calabria, in the deep South of Italy. 

In 2008, a stumble upon the roadside Trattoria da Mimma, in the Capo Vaticano area of Calabria, changed my life. Ok, well as far as food experiences go, the simple pasta dish I had at this trattoria had me craving it well after the holiday ended. To this date, I think this single food item forms one of the most memorable dishes I have eaten on all my travels. 

Ah, the joys of the simple things in life. Spicey and smokey, there is just something so addictive and moorish about the flavour. Fast forward a year or two later after my trip and I spot a Calabrian stand in London's Borough Market and I was ever so excited to see the 'nduja for sale here! It also started appearing on some pizza and pasta menus in London overtime.

It is apparently made with various parts of the pig that produce a high fat content, including belly, shoulder and jowl. The meat is ground very finely and then mixed with some salt, and ALOT of roasted and ground sweet and hot peppers (another region specialty). It is then stuffed back into the large intestine and smoked for about a week, then dried for three weeks or more. Then voila, you have this versatile ingredient, that can be spread on bread, eaten with cheese, mixed into pasta sauces and a whole host of other recipes that I can't wait to try!

For now though, it is best as a quick and simple pasta sauce.

My quick pasta alla'nduja e pomodori (Serves 2)

Ingredients
1. Enough pasta for two people (traditionally served with a long fusilli of the region, but linguine or whatever pasta you prefer is fine)
2. 1-2 tbsp of 'nduja to taste, depending on how much spice you can handle
3. Handful of cherry tomatoes
4. Salt and pepper to taste and basil to garnish

Method
1. Cook your pasta as you normally would
2. At the same time, in a little olive oil, throw in some cherry tomatoes and add the nduja to gently melt it. I prefer the cherry tomatoes still relatively fresh, so only cook these until the skin bursts. You could also use chopped tomatoes (tinned or fresh) if you prefer a more tomatoey flavour with just the hint of 'nduja.
3. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking water and mix the pasta into the sauce. Add some of the liquid if the sauce is to dry. 
4. Salt and pepper to taste and garnish with basil if so desired. I have also seen it served with ricotta, so you could add a dollop of ricotta or other soft cheese when serving, to soften the flavour of the 'nduja - it will melt and mix into the sauce.
5. Enjoy!

Quick and tasty dinner - 'nduja with pasta

Trattoria Da Mimma - Capo Vaticano in 2008

Fusilli alla 'nduja - the original dish I had

New Experiments and a Fresh Tart

Lemon and Lime Tart

I love citrusy and tangy foods. I have made a lemon meringue tart only once before, four years ago, inspired by my brief stint in the South of France at the time. For some odd reason as much as I enjoy this dessert, I have not made it since. 

Then Delicious magazine came and it was on the cover page and calling out to me to bake it, in an attempt to expand my repertoire. Of all the shortcrust pastry recipes I have tried, this one turned out the best. I didn't have to mould and press and mend the dough into the tart tin. It fell in in one go and did not break, so I will definitely be using this recipe again. 

The tart filling had the right amount of zest and sourness I thought (if you prefer your tart sweeter, this tart is not for you!). However, it was slightly under cooked and needed perhaps another 10 minutes. I made small tarts with the leftover pastry and filling and they were a good alternative if you prefer a less citrusy filling to pastry ratio!

Rick Stein's Lemon and Lime Tart (serves 10-12)
(Takes 25 minutes to make, 50 minutes to cook, plus resting and cooling)

Ingredients

For the pastry
250g plain (all purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
25g icing sugar
150g chilled unsalted butter, cubed
2 medium free-range egg yolks
1 egg white, lightly beaten

For the filling
3 large or 4 small lemons
2 limes
6 eggs
250g granulated sugar
150mL double cream
icing sugar to dust (optional)

Method - For the Pastry

1. Begin by sifting the flour, icing sugar and a pinch of salt. Next, chop your butter into small cubes and, if you have a magimix, pulse until it resembles fine crumbs. 

Add the yolks and 1-2 tbsp water, then pulse again until the pastry comes together. Remove and gently knead the dough before wrapping in cling film and leaving to chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

2. Once the pastry has chilled, roll it into a thin layer (using flour to dust) to line a 25cm diameter, 3cm deep loose bottomed tart tin. Prick the base of the tart with a fork and put it into the fridge to chill for 25 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/fan 180ºC/gas 6/395ºF and place a baking tray in the oven to pre-heat as well.

3. Line the tart tin with baking paper and baking beans, and bake for 12-15 minutes until the edges are very lightly browned. Remove the baking paper and beans, and bake for another 4 minutes. Remove once again, brush with the whisked egg white, and return to the oven for a final two minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 120ºC/fan 100ºC/gas ½/250ºF.

For the filling

1. Begin by grating the zest from the lemons and set aside, then squeeze the juice from all of the lemons and limes (to achieve 150-175ml of liquid). In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs and sugar together by hand (you don’t want the eggs to be frothy), add the citrus juice and cream, and sieve the resulting mixture. Add the lemon zest last.

2. To bake the tart, to avoid spilling, Rick Stein suggests placing the baking sheet back in the oven, placing the pastry case on the tray and pulling the shelf half way out of the oven. Pour the filling into the pastry case, slide the shelf back into the oven and cook for approximately 50 minutes (until just set). The mixture should be quite wobbly in the centre still but will continue to firm up after it comes out of the oven. Remove from the oven and leave to cool (don’t refrigerate). Dust with icing if you feel inclined and serve on the same day if you can.

Perfect pastry

Fresh out of oven

Slightly runnier than it should be

Mini lemon tarts

You Rich and Evil Tart!

A Rich and Indulgent Tart

Chocolate and raspberries - you really can't go too wrong with this combination, the sharpness of the raspberries cutting the rich and bitterness of the chocolate in a perfect marriage of flavours. 

A new Magimix in tow (thanks peoples!), and a reason to bake had me sampling this recipe I had bookmarked for awhile now. The pastry was rather delicate and hard to roll out without breaking but nonetheless, once baked, you will know no difference! My tart tin was smaller than the recipe called for so I had plenty of chocolate mixture leftover. Baked in small ramekins, this makes for an easy and quick (but very rich) dessert. I would perhaps add some orange zest to the mixture and serve with creme fraiche or cream, if you are not concerned with the extra calories from what is already an extremely indulgent dessert! 

Silky Chocolate and Raspberry Tart (Serves 10-12)
(Takes 30 minutes to make, 50 minutes to cook, plus 35 minutes chilling)

Ingredients

1. 1. 150ml whole milk
2. 2. 500ml double cream
3. 3. 65g golden caster sugar
4. 300g good quality dark chocolate (ideally 70 per cent cocoa solids), broken into small squares
5. 4. 2 medium free-range eggs
6. 5. 1 tsp vanilla extract
7. 6. 200g fresh raspberries, plus extra to serve (optional)
8. for the crisp chocolate pastry
9. 7. 175g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
10. 8. 25g good quality cocoa powder
11. 9. 50g icing sugar
12. 10. 100g chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
13. 11. 1 medium free-range egg yolk
14. 12. 3-4 tsp cold water

Method

1. 1. For the pastry, sift the flour, cocoa powder, icing sugar and a pinch of salt into a food processor. Add the butter and whizz until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Beat the egg yolk briefly with the water. Add to the food processor and whizz until the mixture starts to stick together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until smooth. Shape into a flat disc, wrap in cling film, then chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
2. 2. Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll it out thinly on a flour-dusted surface. Use it to line a 25cm (across the top), 4cm deep, loose-bottomed tart tin. Trim the pastry edges, then chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
3. 3. Put a baking sheet onto the middle shelf of the oven and preheat to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6. Line the pastry case with a sheet of crumpled baking paper and a thin layer of baking beans or rice, then blind bake on the preheated baking tray for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans/rice and blind bake for 5 more minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool and crisp. Turn the oven down to 170°C/fan150°C/gas 3½.
4. 4. For the filling, put the milk, cream and sugar into a pan and slowly bring to the boil, stirring gently. Take off the heat, add the chocolate squares and stir until smooth. Cool slightly, add the eggs and vanilla extract, then mix together well.
5. 5. Scatter the raspberries in the tart case. Pour over the filling, carefully slide the tart back onto the baking sheet in the oven, then bake for 20-30 minutes or until the filling is cooked but still slightly wobbly. It will continue firming up as it cools. Remove and leave to cool somewhere cold (but not in the fridge) until set. Serve cut into thin slices and serve with additional fresh raspberries if desired.

Chocolate Pastry

I used 70% Cocoa Lindt chocolate

Perhaps less raspberries than this to allow more chocolate space!

Silky Chocolate Ganache

Out of the oven

Duck Duck.....Waffle

Duck and Waffle

A combined birthday dinner brought us here, up on the 40th floor of the Heron Tower, on Bishopgate, the sister restaurant of Sushi Samba and only recently opened at the time. Lead up through a nicely designed bar with an accompanying roof terrace that would afford a beautiful setting and views over the city on the few balmy London evenings that we encounter.

It is not uncommon for us to order copious amounts of food between our friends. In fact, it would almost be a crime to not do so. Quite used to being told we have ordered too much, and rather smugly always proved the wait staff wrong, on this occasion with a menu of small bites, we did ask the waiter to tell us if we had too much. So we ordered...and ordered...with a menu that is actually not very big at all, we read through the list and asked for the recommended umber of portions. We would be fine he said.

So out came the food. The problem was it did not stop. We were comfortable after the starters and yet had numerous 'mains' to follow. So much so, that in a blur of flavours, meats, sweet, savoury and all the rest, I can only recall a few dishes.

Crispy Pig ears - my favourite of the evening. Deep fried and covered in BBQ salt, would be nicely paired up with an ice cold beer. Reminded me of McDonalds shaker fries, only nicer. I would go back to order this...but prefer it to go!

Bacon wrapped dates was another dish that stood out for me, very simple, mix of savoury and sweet and whilst you could not eat too many. It worked. Foie All Day Breakfast - I can't say I actually loved this dish but it was interesting and for my love of all things foie, I remembered it.

Now by the time, we had got through al the smaller bites, we really struggled to breathe. But alas, we had the mains to come..a whole roasted chicken on a bed of mushrooms with truffles. This was one of the best dishes of the night (after the pig ears), but it was brought out last and we could not eat it nor appreciate it at the time, but it was extremely tasty.

The last dish was their signature Duck and Waffle - a confit duck leg on waffles with a fried duck egg on top, accompanied by a maple-ish dressing. It was interesting but at this point all we wanted was our bed. Nonetheless, a nice evening with beautiful views across London, all in good company and I would return for this and the pigs ears alone.

Duck and Waffle
Heron Tower
110 Bishopgate, London
EC2N 4AY

Crispy Pig Ears

Bacon wrapped dates

Foie All Day Brekkie

Chicken with mushrooms and truffle

Beautiful View of the City

Paris - A Manger

Paris by addresses - my growing list of places in Paris to eat, to drink, to snack and to shop. Something I can add to on subsequent visits - which, there will be many of. Without a doubt most of these places are going to centre around my favourite area - Le Marais (3eme and 4eme). I am biased as this is the area I have spent the most time in, but, after my most recent trip, also extends to the 1eme and 2eme, around the Rue Montorgueil area. 

Being able to spend a full week in Paris with no real agenda, with could dos, not must dos and having the time to just soak in the Parisian charm, people watching and sipping aperitifs is a luxury that I could relive again and again. There is a certain joie de vivre in Paris that you just can't escape.

On an unrelated note, I learnt a new French phrase yesterday - "Plus ca change, plus c'est le meme chose" - The more things change, the more they stay the same. Whilst can be applied to many things, my love for Paris is certainly one of them.

A manger (To eat) - The lines are rather burred given the large number or Parisian 'bar a vins', that also serve meals but nonetheless these are my distinctions. 

Les Fines Gueles - beautiful building

Les Fines Gueles - Beef Tartare

The best beef tartare in Paris? Fameux Tartare de Limousine au Couteau - Hand-cut steak tartare. The meat was drizzled with olive oil and mixed with fresh basil and aged parmesan. I hadn't had French beef tartare until now so I have no point of comparison but the beef was hand cut and the dish resembled an Italian beef carpaccio with the addition of basil and parmesan, Whilst nice, I do prefer the Czech version though sun and lack of appetite detracted from this meal. However, equally it was one of these so called bar a vins, housed in a beautiful building near the Place des Victoires, where you could have an aperitif in the afternoon.

Les Fines Gueles

43 Rue Croix des Petit Champs

Paris, 75001

Metro: Bourse or Sentier
http://www.lesfinesgueules.fr/ 

L'avant Comptoir

Savoury macaron of black pudding and pig trotter croquette

Ham croquettes and Fried foie gras 

L'avant Comptoir was easily one of my favourite places of my most recent trip - so much so, that I went twice and the waiter recognised me and gave me a frequent visitors card. If only I could. It was a mixture of the food, service and experience on both occasions. It is a tiny tapas bar, next door to the well known bistro - Le Comptoir, but unlike its neighbour - you can walk in anytime of the day. With only standing room at the bar, you would have a better chance in the off hours where you could stand leisurely and have the place almost to yourself - as we did. The menu is hung on the ceiling with laminated cards and ranged in price from EUR3-7 for bite size, tasty, and some creative tapas. A perfect way to wile away a wet afternoon.

L'avant Comptoir
9 Carrefour de l'Odeon
Paris, 75006
Metro: Odeon

Kunitoraya Sainte-Anne

Onsen tomago - highlight of the meal

Natto udon

Katsudon

Recommendation and a craving for Japanese lead us here. A udon place in the Japanese area around Rue Sainte-Anne. A small line was formed outside the restaurant when we arrived, and like all places Parisian, we were greeted by a small dining space with just a few seats around an open kitchen. Whilst the udon was good, we perhaps did not choose the best, ordering the Natto (fermented soy beans) version, and the Katsudon was the better dish. The highlight however, was the Onsen Tamago (Hotspring egg)- a super creamy egg cooked slowly at a low temperature. I first had this at an Onsen in Japan and whilst it created a curiosity of how to replicate this homestyle, sans hotspring waters, the taste in Japan actually did not compare to the one in Paris. It's just an egg you say - it is, but an extremely creamy and tasty one. We tried to order more, but they said no. I don't think it was personal, the kitchen was just closed.

Kunitoraya Sainte-Anne
39 Rue Sainte-Anne
Paris, 75001
Metro: Pyramides 
http://kunitoraya.com/ste-anne/

Verjus

Crispy Basque pork belly,  pickled chillies and spicey mayo

Celery Root Dumplings with dan dan sauce

Verjus - interior 

Supper club, Hidden Kitchen, run by an American couple has been turned into a restaurant/wine bar called Verjus. The menu at the bar a vin consists only of 7 or so small savoury plates, some cheese and a handful of desserts. Only open in the evening, the dishes are all heavily Asian influenced. Worth a stop perhaps if you are in the area for a glass of wine and a craving for buttermilk fried chicken or dumplings, Oriental style. 

Verjus
52 Rue deRichelieu
Paris, 75001
Metro: Pyramides
http://www.verjusparis.com/ 

Au Petit Sud-Ouest

Foie gras cru (raw) 

Foie gras poelee (fried)

Margret de Canard (Duck breasts with Cepes)

French heavy, hearty fare does exist in Paris - we just really didn't eat much of it on this occasion -instead preferring little wine, tapas bars, picnics or Oriental eateries. On a previous occasion a group of us had a meal of duck and foie gras - that was essentially what the menu consisted of. So if you don't like duck, foie gras, or really, if you don't like artery clogging, fattening food - I would suggest you don't visit this place. Duck itself being already a highly fatty meat, combined with large portion sizes makes for rolling out of this place - but great service and a private room/cellar/storeroom made for an enjoyable evening.

Au Petit Sud-Ouest
46 Avenue de la Bourdonnais
Paris, 75007
Metro: Ecole Militaire
http://www.au-petit-sud-ouest.fr/

To be Continued.....