This recipe uses little round courgettes. If you can’t get them, the risotto will do equally well in peppers or onions — or indeed on its own, or as an accompaniment to something else.
Serves 4, or 8 as a starter.
Category: Main Course
Braised chicken thighs with chicory and bacon
Chicory is something I never ate in the UK, and thought I probably didn’t like. But over the last year I have discovered its virtues, when treated correctly (i.e. water should not come anywhere near it, if you want a result that is not limp, soggy, and unpleasantly bitter). Endives au gratin, where the chicory is pre-cooked, wrapped in ham, and covered with a nice cheesy sauce before being popped in the oven, is easy and obvious, but here’s a wonderful Simon Hopkinson recipe that sets it off at its best. Serves 2.
Boeuf aux carottes et à l’orange
Years ago, I had a dish of boeuf aux carottes in a suburban bistro in Paris. Accompanied with noodles and a glass of beaujolais nouveau, it was absolutely divine (although I had a strong suspicion it was actually horse). I have tried several times since to reproduce this classic French dish, without success. This version, cooked by Steve recently using a recipe in a magazine, is as close as I have ever tasted — the tarragon is an inspired touch. Lovely with either noodles or baked potatoes to mop up the sauce.
Boeuf aux carottes bis
Effort versus results: 10 out of 10. It only took me about 10 minutes to prepare, plus another 3 for the buttered cabbage we had with it. Excellent in the pressure cooker; if you don’t have one it will probably need about 3 hours.
Blanquette de poulet
This is real traditional French bourgeois cooking. To be truly authentic, it should be served with plainly boiled white rice to soak up the sauce, but pasta or steamed new potatoes are also possibilities.
[note for purists — strictly speaking this should probably be called Fricassée, not Blanquette, as the meat is browned before cooking]
For 4 people:
Besuc al Horno
A summery Catalan recipe for those days when it’s too cold to eat in the garden.
Baked sea bass
Yet another recipe for sea bass, one of my favourite fish. Where bass is concerned, simple is best — and the success of the dish depends entirely on the quality of the fish. Serves 2.
Poisson cru au lait de coco
The Polynesian national dish, as prepared on a Tahitian beach.
Note: when not on a beach in Tahiti it is much more practical to just buy coconut milk in a can or package. We found it was thicker than the fresh-off-the-tree variety so you could dilute it a bit with water.
Moules farcies au four
Serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main course. Best with the large Spanish mussels — small moules de bouchot should not be wasted on this!
Mouclade
Devised by Steve from several different recipes, this is the best sauce for mussels I have ever tasted. It deserves small, fresh moules de bouchot (grown on posts in Brittany). Make sure you have lots of French bread for mopping up the sauce. This will serve six as a starter, or 3-4 as a main course.