October 28, 2008
Relaxed dinner for four:
Diptych of pork, pumpkin and orange – panfried slices of smoked Middle-white leg fillet on roasted pumpkin and orange puree/grilled pumpkin cubes with twice-cooked cheek of suckling pig and orange sauce;
Warm salad of grilled hearts of palm and stewed fagioli beans;
Soft-boiled quails eggs with truffle salsa;
Laksa wonton in double boiled lobster broth; and
Flourless pea and duck pie, red wine reduction.
March 23, 2008
It is always daunting cooking for people whose lives revolve around eating and drinking so a menu that takes in a deconstructed Toro Nicoise (served in a martini glass with the vegetables at the bottom topped up with tuna mousse and garnished with hard-boiled egg and chives) followed by a twist on that prince of leftovers Arancini (duck ragout topped with risotto and a parmesan and basil breadcrumb crust) and then a main of Bollito Misto (chicken, shin, brisket and tongue with red and green sauce, mixed vegetables) with a surprise addition of a puree of Melanzane Arrosto with Japanese and Cantonese influences (deskinned and warmed with sake, miso and sesame oil then topped with deep fried bacon bits and dried shrimp) was always going to be a bridge too far. Drinking sketch on my other blog.
February 24, 2008
As it turned out, we started with XPY’s rillettes served on toasted baguette, chilled panna cotta with tomato and basil followed by the confit bayaldi garnished with a nice tapenade of bacon bits, olives, ginger, carrot and celery (in a very fine brunoise dice) and the cote de beouf served with a red wine and shallot reduction.
As I am off to Hong Kong for a week, spent last night cooking and freezing food for Mrs P for the coming week – fish soup, lap mei rice and a more traditional ratatouille as well as some stir fried pork with garlic and scallions. Flying off to cook a risotto for an engagement party in Hong Kong now.
February 15, 2008
After a longish hiatus, Porco will be back in the kitchen this weekend – his thoughts have turned to toro nicoise in a spoon followed a somewhat deconstructed gazpacho – jellied in different layers with different parts of the tomato topped with a tiny garlic crouton. For the main perhaps a cote de beouf with a little truffled potato puree and maybe a slightly pared down version of a confit bayali. In case you are wondering, Porco does not do desserts.
November 1, 2007
Ribeye steak, fried egg and instant noodles. Two pans, ten minutes. Priceless.
September 8, 2007
Easiest dinner party so far – started with a Sesame Tofu with Tangerine infused Roast Pumpkin. This has evolved for a while and gelatine was used in place of agar agar this time which gave a greater density but lower melting point and mixing tangerine juice into the mashed pumpkin. Then Vietnamese Beef with poached Quails Egg. Simple – rib eye in grill pan, 4 minutes each side – cubed then marinated in lemon juice, coriander, chilli, sugar and soy sauce. Tipped a soft boiled quails egg in. Followed by Spanish Omelette in the classic El Bulli style – onion jam, raw egg and potato foam. Only tweak was truffle oil in the foam. Then Capuccino of Garlic Mushroom – clear mushroom consomme topped with foam of cream and slow roasted garlic. Temperature was a little off so foam did not hold – will consider milk or adding lecithin next time. Main course was Slow Roasted Baby Pork Ribs marinated in lemongrass, chilli and garlic – which was slightly overdone. Cest la Porc, bebe.
To drink – Haute Smith Lafitte Blanc 2003, Pichon Lalande de Comtesse 1975, Pape Clement 1997 and Leoville Las Cases 1997.
August 15, 2007
It still continues to amaze me – the biggest number of referrals to my blogs remain the searches for masala tea (which I had mis-spelt and turned out as marsala tea). Not only do they look for a cup of spicy chai, they seem to get the spelling quite consistently wrong as well.
In Porco’s freezer, there are many tubs. Most of these are of stock, boiled down many weeks ago and because Porco has forgotten to label them, no one (not even Porco) knows what they are. So on Monday night, Porco took a tub out and left it to defrost by the sink while he went to get some vegetables from the market. When he returned, he discovered the stock was crab stock so he fried up some bee hoon and then left it to braise in the stock before adding some vegetables. Topped with some fatty pork braised in dark soya sauce left over from Sunday night’s dinner. Served it with a nice cold bottle of champagne – just a Pol Roger NV but it was very nice.
July 30, 2007
Last Friday, a rack of baby pork ribs. Salt and pepper then lightly browned in a grill pan. Dusted with a dry rub of garlic, parsley and lemongrass then into the oven for 90 minutes at 120 degrees C.
Moist but slightly underdone and not quite crisp on the outside.
Served with roasted lady’s fingers (first sauteed with chilli, garlic and onions) and a confit of garlic mushrooms (shiitake and oyster).
July 24, 2007
Heston Blumental famously said that you would get a more intense experience if you bit into a tea leaf then sipped some hot water than if you steeped the tea leaf in the water. Sure, but sometimes I want a cup of tea and sometimes, I would even like a little milk in it.
Weekend before last, I poached the beef brisket in beef stock, spooned the roasted red peppers (only lightly pulsed in the blitzer) over and drizzled basil oil around before dusting with parmesan shavings. Not sure if it would have been better if I had stewed the whole lot together.
July 23, 2007
Higgledy Piggledy Kitchen Sink 