Kenyan pork fillet with roasted veg, freeze dried apple and red wine sauce

Kenyan pork is one of my favourite proteins I can buy here.  It seems to be scented with herbs somehow.....I'm not sure what those pigs eat but whatever their diet it certainly makes for a mouthwatering pork fillet - a cut that can be pretty blah.  It's also supremely tender.  I cook pork fillet to just under medium or just over medium rare.  I know, people are scared to eat it this way but it's the way you'll get it in most good restaurants and in Spain.  It really does lend to an incredibly textured meat properly rested.

Served this time with a simple red wine sauce (made with the trimmings, red wine, onion and port and passed)....over roasted parsnip for a chewy result, beetroot, properly charred leek and a few freeze dried apple pieces for taste and texture.  Delicious and rather simple considering the flavours and textures.

Lamb loin, lamb and rosemary jus, parsley rosemary anchovy stuffing

I bought the most beautiful looking bone on loin of lamb from the Butcher Shop and Grill here.  I don't know why the whole loin isn't more readily available........it's usually chopped with the fat cap and bone on into short rib pieces.  I've never cooked loin butchered this way as I simply have no idea what I'd do with it.

The whole piece, on the other hand, is a different story.  I cut away most of the fat leaving around 3mm which I scored.  I took the bone off (and hacked it into pieces for the stock).

A stuffing was made simply of anchovy fillets, garlic, parsley and rosemary all blended together.  I then tied up the loin into a (if I might say) very pretty log.

The bones were browned really well, leek and tomato added and caramelised, deglazed with white wine, a further lamb sauce I had in the freezer was added for additional depth plus good chicken stock and fresh rosemary sprigs, all cooked together then strained twice to give a beautiful glossy, rich lamb jus.

I did a potato galette which isn't really my thing (when I make this again....and I will...I will replace the galette with maybe potato and leek dauphinoise or omit the potato altogether).  Lesson learnt, don't make things you don't really like that much!  Duh!!

The lamb was browned off and put in a 130deg C oven for 18 minutes and rested in foil.  Superbly cooked.  Served with slow roasted tomatoes, a little cauliflower garlic puree, parsley and that sublime sauce.......it was tender, fragrant, sweet and utterly UTTERLY scrummy.  A bit of an effort but worth every hour.

Aged eye fillet with cauliflower

We are lucky enough to get the best of the best when it comes to aged beef.  Butcher Shop and Grill here is a South African chain and they sell aged beef over the counter.  Eye fillet is generally pretty blah but Butcher Shop aged eye fillet is something else.  Meltingly tender, incredibly flavourful and utterly addictive.

I have a technique (which I don't know why more people don't do actually) of lightly salting meat I will be pan cooking and leaving it uncovered in the fridge for the day or overnight.  It essentially draws moisture from the protein but only on the exposed pieces.  Therefore I find that when I go to roast, grill etc the surface area is now nice and dry and a crust forms easily with very little splatter.  I use this technique for chicken with the skin on too.  It allows the skin to dry out and crisp up easily in the oven.

OK so anyway Andy cooked the steak.  Cooked it to rare - medium rare perfection.  Turning it every 30 secs in a good pan on a decent heat creates a beautiful crust and loads of caramelised blood flavour.  Yum.

I made a cauliflower puree with umami flavours in mind.  I added a little bit of raw garlic, some parmesan and a touch of MSG.  I KNOW.... it's not the thing to do but I disagree with that consensus. MSG is a great flavour enhancer and will do you absolutely no harm.  I mean billions of people eat loads of the stuff.  They seem fine.  I like MSG.

The cauliflower puree was topped with crisp cooked cauliflower pieces.  The steak is resting on top of a baked portobello mushroom.  I topped it off with some truffle oil (yes that beast of a thing that gets a big bad wrap but again I LIKE IT and can't get truffles so all you truffle oil snobs can snob away.

Viola!  Simple steak deliciousness.

Cod with leek and potato sauce, bonito flakes and leek ash

This Heston Blumenthal recipe is one I've done before.  I changed it slightly this time round.  After making the sauce and passing it, I used the thick leftover which was like a leek mouse and added chopped cod from the trimmings.  When heating together before serving the cod is just cooked to which I added peas.  I popped this mix onto the centre of each plate, poured the passed sauce around and the cooked whole piece of cod on top.  The addition of leek ash gave the dish a kick if, well bitter I guess....which sounds gross but works very well here.  Leek ash gives a big toast note to any dish.  Bonito flakes were used in my fish stock and they are also fabulous as a garnish to give that lovely hint of smoke.  I topped the cod off with some deep fried onion pieces.

This, as a result, tasted like a luxury fish pie, with everything cooked to perfection.

Stuffed duck neck

The first time I've cooked duck neck (well duck neck skin that is).  Salting it first and leaving it in the fridge for a few hours before rinsing it and drying it ensures excess moisture is taken away and means when it's cooked it renders easier and doesn't spit as much.

I used a mixture of chopped sourdough bread, sautéed onion and mushrooms, iberico bellota ham finely chopped, thyme and sage (a delicious mix).

Stuffing the neck is easy peasy and I tied off each end and chopped off any excess.  It made a really tidy sausage.  It needs to sit in the fridge for a few hours after stuffing and before cooking to set it.

Cooking is easy too, brown it off well in a pan, pop it in the oven for around 10 minutes and viola.

I served it with a vinegarette for an acidity balance, shaved fennel and fig and spring onion.  The skin itself was nice and thin, it sounds incredibly heavy but was light to eat and easily a nice starter for two cut in half.

Duck breast, duck jus, leak puree, roasted leeks, freeze dried blueberries, poached fig.

The duck breast was covered in a spice mix of fennel seeds and star anise.  My favourite spices for duck (cardamon is great with duck too).

I reduced the jus till a glaze with a touch of sugar and sherry vinegar, adjusting the salt at the end.  The leek puree was done with the green of the leek which is usually discarded.  I don't know why it's usually discarded.  I love it.  The roasted leeks were pre cooked in duck stock to render them melting before a hot oven gave them a roasting.

The freeze dried blueberries is a new product here and I thought they would go well, I ground some and left some whole.  They balanced beautifully in this dish.

The figs were poached in a little pommegranate molasses to give them a sharpness.

The duck - I do make an effort to get every single bit of sinew I can from the meat.  I cannot stress enough how much this pays off.  The meat (put in a cold pan and cooked on medium heat skin side until crispy and rendered, turned over for 30 secs on the flesh side then taken out of the pan to rest for as long as it was cooked for) was meltingly tender and quite frankly divine.

I pour the duck fat out of the pan and tip the reduced jus mix into this pan to reheat and scrape up any yummy bits and use this as my sauce.  It's a personal preference to have the sauce ready to go (i.e. pre reduced, pre seasoned etc) so that a quick tip into the pan that was used for the meat becomes a quick deglazing job and it's all done.  It's the way I do all my sauces because I like to relax at the end of cooking.

Duck heart, kidney, liver and mushrooms

Very simple and delicious to sauté some mushrooms with onion until the mushrooms.  Quickly fry whatever offal you're using in duck fat or oil on a high heat, but not cooked through.  A few seconds of searing is what's required.

Add some reduced stock that has been cooked down with a little bit of caramelised sugar and vinegar.  Some herbs (tarragon works well as does thyme).

Add the mushrooms and seared offal to the reduced stock and heat until just warmed through.  The offal needs to be pink to be tender.

Serve as an entree in small bowls with chives and grilled sourdough (my own of course!).  Also superb served as an open ravioli without the bread.

What to do with a whole duck…..

 I buy them occasionally when I have the inclination.  They are cheap at Lulu supermarket.  Around $15USD (50 AED) for a pretty big duck.  They come thawed from frozen.  It doesn’t affect the meat at all in my opinion.  It’s one of those few breeds that freeze well.

So a whole duck for two people does pose a little problem in regards to eating it.  This one had particularly large breasts.  Therefore half a duck breast as a main was sufficient. 

So….

I had the bits and bobs (being the kidneys, liver and heart) for an entrée, I had the neck skin for another entrée, I had two breasts for two mains and two legs for a main PLUS all that carcass bone for stocks.

Oh not to forget the wings which I roasted off separately with some salt and we scoffed as a snack.  The skin and meat ends out chewy and gooey utterly delicious. 

The next few posts are … well lots of ways with one duck!

Indian with a twist

The basics of this dish are taken from my Rasio cookbook by Vineet Bhatia.  He serves it as a tasting dish - wild mushroom khichdi laced with truffle oil, makhni tomato ice-cream, roasted field mushrooms, fresh herb chutney.

I have served the dish previously as per the recipe and it was delicious.  This time however I decided to serve it with the addition of lamb backstrap and a duck egg ravioli.  

I KNOW!  Sounds a bit odd but seriously it was stunning.  I coated the lamb with freshly ground coriander, star anise, fennel seed and black pepper and cooked it to rare.  The addition of the duck egg ravioli with the cold spicy tomato ice-cream and rich mushroom khichdi was sublime.  

Textures, temperatures, beautifully balanced use of spice are typical of any of Mr Bhatia's dishes.  This however was absolutely transformed to a different level with the oozy yolk and spiced backstrap.  

Chinese 5 spice duck breast, soy ginger sauce and slow cooked duck egg

I took this recipe from the book Heston at Home.  Heston Blumenthal serves it with pak choy.  I had beetroot so swapped it out.  Otherwise this dish is as per his version with the addition of a slow cooked (70 deg, 20 mins) duck egg.  

I thought the addition of the duck egg made this dish.  The unctuous yolk with the soy ginger sauce and 5 spice.....yum.  Shards of raw leek soaked in ice water makes a super crispy mild onion addition.

It's the first time I've used duck egg.  They are really delicious. 

Beetroot cured salmon, wasabi cream, leaks with Japanese dressing, crispy salmon skin

Yes my new favourite way of preparing salmon is still beetroot cured.  I took it in a Japanese slant by cooking some leeks until tender, tossing them in a simple dressing of sesame oil, ponzu, finely diced pickled ginger (squeezed of excess juice) and shichimi togarashi.  I mixed some strained yoghurt with wasabi paste for the wasabi cream and crispy cooked the salmon skin.

It looked better in life than in this photo.  The taste was utterly sensational.  A beautiful entree.

  

Pumpkin ravioli with beurre noisette (again!)

This time with beetroot cured warmed through salmon, parmesan crisps and local spinach.  The cauliflower puree and sautéed pieces do bring this all together in my opinion.  It's a dish worth the effort and any excuse to have noisette butter is good enough for me!  

Pigeon, pigeon jus, turnip puree, beetroot and 5 spice

I love pigeon.  I have eaten it in some pretty high ranking restaurants.  I have high standards for my pigeon.  It is my absolute preferred protein with wings.

They are hard to come by here.  Not sure why as they are a Middle Eastern favourite. When we first moved to Dubai they were commonly available but now it's rare so when I see them I cannot resist.

The farmed birds I get are 350gms each and for a main course one each is required.  I take time and care with my pigeon as I hold them in very high esteem.  I therefore like to spend time over butchering to enjoy the whole bird.  This time I fully deboned two wings, keeping two wings as is, I took off the breast fillets, removed the legs and thigh bone, frenching the little leg bone so for each person I had two breasts, two boned french legs, one boned out wing and one wing bone in.

My jus was made with the carcass and like the boning this takes time.  Chopping the bones and roasting them in the oven for an hour is the key to developed flavours.  I used duck fat to help it along as well, then deglazed with red wine and port, added water, cooked it for another hour on the stove top then refrigerated it to take off the fat layer, strained it through a new cloth, reheated to reduce to sauce consistency adjusting with good sherry vinegar, salt and sugar at the end.  This was a serious sauce that I'm pretty sure most cooks would be proud of.

I dusted the pigeon with Chinese 5 spice and salt and roasted the wings in the oven, adding the little legs near the end as they only took 10 minutes to cook.  I wanted the bone in wings to cook until crispy.

The breasts and the deboned wings were done in a pan with duck fat.  Pigeon breasts have a very small window of perfection.  In my opinion once the skin is rendered they should be turned over, removed from the heat and left to rest.  No more cooking than that.  This results in sweet tender perfectly rested rare meat that is melting.  Even taking them to medium or the slightly rarer side of medium will result in a livery taste which is unpleasant and you'd be left wondering why anybody would like them.

Beetroot and pigeon work very well together.  I roasted some beetroot off, fried some sage leaf until crisp and made a smooth creamy turnip puree.  The result was a sublime balance of slightly bitter/sweet/creamy turnip, rich deep jus with the right balance of acid vs sweet, earthy beetroot, sweet pigeon, crispy skin and sage.  It was a show stopper even for me and I am so SO critical on myself.

  

Beetroot cured salmon with wasabi cream

This time I tried curing salmon in beetroot (raw beetroot blended with some salt and sugar).  The colour is stunning.  I left the skin on and once the salmon had been cured rinsed, dried I cooked it high heat for a few seconds skin side down.  Therefore the salmon was still a cured result but with a crisp skin.

The wasabi cream was simply strained yoghurt, a touch of wasabi mayo and some wasabi paste.  Topped with simple shaved cucumber and pickled ginger.  Superb.

Pumpkin tortellini, beurre noisette with sage, cauliflower puree, roasted pumpkin seeds...

I had never made tortellini before but having tried them now I will make them again.  They are more robust to handle than ravioli and therefore easier to cook and plate.  You need to work with thin pasta otherwise the result will be too heavy.  I took it to number 6 on my kitchen aid.

Keep the filling amount small otherwise they will be impossible to seal.  Half a teaspoon for the size I was making was plenty.  I cut rounds (you can do squares too).  Put the filling on one half and use a little water to seal them well.

Yummy.  Seriously.  I mean you can't really go wrong can you?  Beurre noisette is just so utterly delicious.  The addition of cauliflower and scattering of parmesan gave this dish almost a cauliflower cheesy taste but with the sweetness of the tortellini and the great crunch of the pumpkin seeds.  This was a knockout.  Note to myself - I cooked the sliced cauliflower and used the same pan to make the beurre noisette.  Once the butter was completely browned and nutty added the sage, poured it into a dish and then deglazed with a little white wine and added that to the butter rather than lemon juice stated in most recipes.  The wine gives enough acidity without too much in my opinion.

Baby carrots and leeks along with cauliflower slices were my garnish and on tasting the dish the leeks in particular are essential to give that sweet soft onion flavour.  As I said, YUM.

Cured salmon, salmon skin, corn and beetroot purees with salt and vinegar jelly

The salmon for this dish is cured with cardamon, salt and sugar for 24 hours.  The result is a softly perfumed cardamon flavour (very subtle) and that beautiful dense texture of cured salmon.

I cooked the skin separately (tip - cut the skin into the portions with scissors and put on a plate in the fridge uncovered overnight.  This dries out the skin sufficiently so that when you cook with a weight on top it only takes a short time. )

The standout of this dish in my opinion is the salt and vinegar jelly.  Made with good Spanish sherry vinegar, tabasco sauce, sugar syrup and salt with gelatine leaf to set.  It's a gutsy punch of flavour and one that would be a standout to many fish dishes.

This entire dish is served cold, making it a perfect dinner party entree.

Naan bread

I wanted to use some whey from all the yoghurt I strain and found a recipe for naan bread using whey.  I tried twice.  Both times the whey seemed to kill the yeast.  No idea why so I tried using an Atul Kochhar recipe with the traditional yoghurt and milk.  Perfect!  Yay fluffy fresh naan with dinner tonight.

Fresh local Mackeral

 I'm just skiting now but it's just a pleasure to have fish so fresh it's still in the rigour mortis stage.  Makes filleting a little different.  Who needs to buy "sushi fresh" when local fresh is this good.  The eyes tell the story!

My apple tart

I love sweet short pastry and I blame my nana for my lifetime addiction.  She was the producer of the most sublime apple shortcake.  I will never forget nana’s apple shortcake!

I therefore have continued my love of apple desserts and I love playing around with different ways of making them.  

This is a really simple tart.  A classic sweet short pastry (butter (lots), egg yolk, flour, sugar, lime or lemon zest).  Chilled, rolled into rounds, chilled, pricked, baked until crisp.  I made some decorations, coated with sugar and baked them off at the same time.

I sliced the apples and fanned them out and baked them separately until cooked and slightly browned (in my opinion no need to peel). 

When the pastry was cooked and the apples were cooked I spread the pastry with some warmed cherry jam (because it’s what I had) and slid the apple on top.  I then topped them with the decorations of pastry and viola! 

A beautifully crisp, perfectly cooked apple tart with all the deliciousness of nanas apple shortcake done in a slightly different way.

Really REALLY good served with whipped cream that has freeze dried raspberries mixed through it or passionfruit ice-cream or even simple strained yoghurt with lime zest.

Sea bream with red wine reduction and rouille

I used the remainder of my red wine reduction made from poaching octopus a couple of weeks ago (kept the reduction in the freezer).   This sauce alongside a middle eastern influenced cumin rouille from my Malouf cookbook complemented each other and the fish with a punch (in a good way).  Rich seafood and acidity in the red wine reduction, a heady combination of saffron spice and olive oil in the roulle, crisp skinned bream.... you get the drift.

Sultan Ibrahim (yes again, fresh out of the sea), tomato, ginger and fennel sauce with coconut pistachio khichdi

I've made this sauce so many times now I can almost do it eyes closed.  Every time it's a knock out.  Originally from my Rasoi cookbook, I've made a few adaptations over the years.  It's gorgeous with fresh fish and khichdi of some description (like an unstirred slightly thick risotto).

Pea Jelly with salad

This is a simple pea puree spiced with a touch of cinnamon and set into a very soft jelly.  I made a fresh herb salad of mint, dill, parsley and tomato with a sumac, olive oil, lemon juice, honey and pomegranate molasses dressing then crumbled with very firm local feta.

A fresh and simple entree that is elegant enough for a dinner party.  Needs cold plates as the jelly must be only just set (think pannacotta consistency) to get the most of the flavours and textures.

Local red mullet (Sultan Ibrahim) with red wine reduction

So as I was saying, I kept the red wine cooking liquor used to cook the octopus in the previous post to play around with.  I reduced it to a sauce consistency, added a touch of salt, sherry vinegar and sugar to balance at the very end and it tasted to me like it would work perfectly with our beautiful local red mullet.

A very simple dish as you can see, salt baked potato, herb salad (parsley, mint, sumac etc), that sticky red sauce and the freshest of red mullet only just cooked.  I can tell you with all honesty the flavours defied the simple presentation.  Complex yet fresh and light, it was SUPERB.

Octopus cooked in red wine

We tried this version of octopus at Lokanta Maya a superb restaurant in Istanbul.  I asked the chef how she'd prepared the octopus, I couldn't work it out.  Red wine was her secret and slow cooked until meltingly tender, giving it a high heat sear at the end to caramelise.  Yum.  Easy too.

I served it with a simple parsley, mint, tomato  salad dressed with pomegranate molasses, olive oil and lemon juice and sumac.  Mint and parsley together are old hat but for some reason I'd never fully explored them solely as a salad green.  They make the most beautiful salad to go with anything.  Somehow together they balance each other's flavours to produce a new taste which is more subtle than their individual components.

I kept the red wine the octopus was cooked in just to experiment and the next post is the result...

Prawn raviolo on fennel puree with fennel and apple salad

This Josh Emmet recipe was on Masterchef NZ recently and just looked to gorgeous not to try.

The filling of the raviolo is a prawn mousse with a beautiful hit of lime zest and ginger which makes this whole dish sweet, light and perfectly balanced.

I added a touch (a teaspoon or so is all that's needed) of pernod to the fennel puree at the end of cooking which gave it an extra hit of anise along with that sharpness from the alcohol.  The fennel for the salad needs to be put straight into acidulated water after mandolining it into shavings to keep it's white colour.  The apple can be added too and then drained patted dry and dressed at the last minute.

A punchy vinaigrette is in order here, we added a touch of ginger and lime zest and used aged sherry Jerez vinegar that I buy in Spain.

The raviolo take exactly 5 minutes in simmering water from fridge cold.  It's important to keep the raw prawn mousse as cold as possible when working with it to keep the sweet freshness of the prawn flavour.

A delicious dish and one to make again.

Turkey

We had been meaning to go to Turkey for many years (I'm talking decades).  It finally came together last minute when I booked a villa in Selimiye on the Bozburun Peninsular.  http://www.premiumturkishvillas.co.uk/accommodation/villagelincik

The photos on the website do not do this place justice.  It's a beautiful villa, well considered and everything is provided including plenty of tea light candles to create your own light effect against that blue black sky.

We've lived in Dubai for almost 6 years but rarely hear the call to prayer. On an early morning run I hear it depending on the daylight hour but it's a rare event.  I did not realise how many Mosques would be in Turkey.  Might sound a little dim but I really just didn't think of it.  I admit I'm not looking out for Mosques when I travel and an advance notice might just have put me off HOWEVER,  in this instance it added to my experience. This is a country, from my observance. of humility,
tradition and today.  It's an eclectic hedonistic mix which is very powerful.  It threw me off balance and I have to say Turkey was an eye opener.  A beautiful ensemble of religion and cuisine, tradition and modernity.  Quite something.

The call to prayer is so wistful as opposed to the harsh bell of the Christian church (sorry but those Christian bells in small villages when your bed seems to lie next/under it is pretty loud for light sleepers!).  The call to prayer  is a lovely sound that does not intrude, it makes one rather inclined to relax and listen.  Well me, anyway.

The food in Turkey is complex.  A heady mix of spice, fish, shellfish, lamb, goat, all cooked to perfection depending on the cut and protein and village/area to showcase it's distinction.  The high use of dried herb in amongst the fresh, the zesty peppery paprika, the sweet SWEET onions and tomatoes (the onions so sweet I can eat them raw and I never eat raw onion - these simply are beautiful and do not destroy one's palate).  I am getting more and more intrigued with Middle Eastern cooking and it covers a massive expanse of continents and ingredients.  I defy a person interested in cooking to not deeply delve into the aromas, spices and palate deliciousness of truly balanced dishes from the far ranging spheres that the entire Mid East has to offer.  It covers southern France and Spain along with the more obvious regions of Turkey, Lebanon, the Gulf ... it's hugely expansive.

Yes we enjoyed our foray into Turkey.  We completely fell in love with the crazy city of Istanbul and I think the main reason is because of the area we stayed in (The House Hotel Vault Karakoy).  Karakoy is arty,  young and has really great bars and coffee houses.  The hotel was close enough to the Bospherus that we enjoyed an incredible night at Ali Ocakbasi and  Lokanta Maya which were both superb.  Different, Ali Ocakbasi was more traditional and Lokanta Maya was more modern.  Both fresh, perfectly balanced with the spice and zest that Turkish cuisine is renowned.  

We will return to Turkey.  I sussed out a run on our return taxi trip to the airport so next time I can run easily in Istanbul (for runners, from the Europe side of Galata bridge, cross the bridge in the underpass and turn left, continue for a km and the waterfront will appear and continue, no chance of getting lost!  It's a crazy city you need a plan if you are running!!).

I'll post pictures later.

Slow cooked beef short ribs with spices and a heck of a lot of yumminess ...

I have been vaguely looking out for beef short ribs for a fair while now and have never seen them until the other day.  I bought two beautiful pieces with a cap of fat on each and used a Josh Emmet recipe to put them to the test.

The spices in this dish are star anise, cloves, black peppercorns, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, cumin and salt.  The whole spices are dry roasted, beef browned off, then a caramel is made with a small amount of sugar and sherry vinegar added, all thrown in an ovenproof dish (I used a good heavy bottom saucepan and double lined the lid with foil to create a tight seal), water or stock, then cooked (I cooked these for two hours but a larger piece would need 4 to 5).

The smell I have to say which they were cooking was divine, always a good sign.  When they were just falling off the base bone I took them out, strained the liquor and refrigerated this delicious juice in order to take off the fat layer that settle.  When I reduced this it made the most beautifully balanced sauce.  Removing the fat gives a clearer flavour and there's still plenty on the beef itself.  In my opinion sauce should be glossy not fatty.

I served these with some cauliflower and fennel puree, braised baby leeks and a small shaved fennel salad dressed simply with salt, lemon juice and a touch of Pastis (or Pernod).  The salad not only gave a crunch but a freshness to the whole dish.

This was one of the most beautiful meals we have ever eaten and we both agreed on that.  Simple to do but the balance of spice with acid from the vinegar (I have gorgeous Jerez vinegar I get in Spain (I get bottles of the stuff, it's my go to vinegar, very soft and oaky.  Once you've had great Spanish sherry vinegar I defy you to go back to balsamic) balanced with a touch of caramel from the caramelised sugar.....

I'm glad I only had one piece each as if there were more we would have scoffed the lot and that just means more kms around the Marina.  It's getting a bit hot for running more than 10kms now!

  

Lemongrass, star anise and fennel pork belly with dashi

Another from Cut the cookbook by Josh Emmet.  The crackling was just as I love it, chewy and perfect (it's personal I know but I like chewy not crunchy pork skin).  The lemongrass in particular was beautiful and not something I've paired with pork belly before.  I added star anise as I simply love pork belly and star anise.  An elegant dish that would be just as good with pork fillet and the same combination of spices.  The dashi adds a beautiful light touch that makes this a clean way to eat pork belly.  I served it here with braised fennel.

Confit duck leg, glazed cherries, shaved fennel salad, parsnip and saffron puree, parsnip crisps, roasted leek.

Yes I got this beautiful Josh Emmet cookbook from my bro and sis in law and absolutely love it.  And yes Andy's been doing a spot of cooking of late.  I choose recipes for him that I want to eat and that I know he'd enjoy cooking... this is one of them.

I had the duck already confit (and I admit I bought this lot although I have done a fair whack of confit duck amongst others and it's easy but you need to keep a keen eye on salt, home confit can be over salted with the wrong instructions).  Here Geant sells the most gorgeous confit duck at a great price which makes it hardly worth doing it myself in honesty.

OK so I thought Andy would enjoy cooking this dish.  He read the recipe and decided a parsnip saffron puree (from a veal recipe in the same book) would work with this along with the crisp cooked parsnips from the same dish.

Yes I've said before he's a bloody good cook and cooks so rarely it's even more impressive.  His palate is on the money.  Seriously.  The combination of parsnip and saffron puree (or mash or whatever you like to name it) with confit duck, cherries with pomegranate molasses (care of Josh Emmet) and fennel salad which Andy added a touch of pernod to at the end (divine)... and well roasted leek stems.

Really I say this with the wisdom of someone who's eaten a few meals (or more) with a keen eye on classic French.  This was one of the most glorious dishes I've eaten ever.  The cherries with pomegranate molasses is a dish that will stay with me now thanks to Mr Emmet.  The combination of the parsnip and saffron along with the cherries, duck and fennel with pernod is one that will stay with me thanks to Andy.

Cut cookbook is a seriously practical take on elegance and simplicity using beautiful proteins.  My husband has a palate that can see and combine with intelligence that is startling at times.  Together an amazing combination.

Confit duck leg, roasted leek, fennel salad, cherries with pomegranate molasses and parsnip with saffron, utter heaven.

Nguyệt's Phở

Phở  is one of my all-time favourite of dishes.  Light and utterly delicious.  Any time I can get near a bowl of brothy soupy spicy noodles, whether Vietnamese style, Thai style hot and sour, Singapore style hot and sour, Chinese style still hot sour but with less chilli heat.  It's all good stuff.  I can't pass up a bowl but Phở is really the ultimate.  It's simplicity is it's beauty.

Consisting of a stock with rice vermicelli and vegetables, the meat added back to the hot stock.  Chicken, beef, veg, it's all Phở meaning noodle and can take on many variations depending on region, availability of proteins and herbs.  I'm no expert here so any inaccuracies are my assumption of this dish.  For technical/ historical perfection I may have it all wrong (disclaimer!).

In Dubai it's hard to source the Vietnamese green herb components which are so prevalant in Vietnam.  I've never been to Vietnam but I've been to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia many times and have spent a fair chunk of my life in Hong Kong.   My travel to Thailand in particular taught me the full extent of greens and fresh herbs used in South East Asian cooking.  Whilst here we get abundant coriander, parsley, dill, mint and many other varieties that I'm still learning about specific to Indian and Middle Eastern cooking the herbs specific to Vietnam i.e. holy basil (actually we get that here in the form of Persian basil, same stuff but very short season between October - December), lemon basil, vietnamese mint are not readily available (low demand, it's expected).    

My lovely house cleaner here in Dubai is Vietnamese and her previous job was teaching cooking in Oman before moving to Dubai a few years ago.  She has two children and a husband (all beautiful, I've seen photos) back in Vietnam, and she sees them once every two years if she is lucky and sometimes with a good push from me to get her leave approved.

This is the sacrifice made by millions.  To live and work away from family in order for their children and parents to receive education (children) and health care (parents).  Nguyệt's home is gorgeous.  Her husband, being a carpenter of high repute, has made their house into a beautiful home with hand crafted wood.  They also have the most incredible garden growing fresh herbs and leaves synonymous to Vietnamese food.  She misses it of course but she never speaks of it.  She has pride in her family and home as she should.  Her home, her children and her husband are, well they just are.  Intelligent, proud and artistic, as is  Nguyệt

Nguyệt's  son and daughter (13 and 10) are learning English in Vietnam which is funded by her earnings here in Dubai.  She sees them once every two years.  The decision to leave when they were little in order for them to carve out a future is something I cannot even comprehend.   Tough.  At the end of the day your direction in life is directed by where you were born, khalas (Arabic for done, finished).

So... I was treated today to a cooking lesson of Phở.  In this case chicken Phở .

The recipe goes like this:

One chicken, rinsed really well in cold water.
Rice vermicelli noodles
1 UAE local lettuce (long cos type)
4 spring onions
One red onion
Button mushrooms
1 tomato
fresh chillis
Salt
MSG (yes, surprised me too.  But how bad can it really be?  I mean billions eat the stuff.  They are healthy.  Maybe it's a west preoccupation and it's our problem so I'm saying yes to MSG and by chance I read an interesting article on the stuff in my recent Australian Gourmet Traveller (in the yes camp BTW).
Pepper
Vietnamese herbs
Lime juice to taste
Extra fresh chopped chilli to taste at the end

Poach the chicken in a pot of water.

Remove from the water, keeping the cooking liquid.

Shread the chicken meat removing the skin

Return the chicken meat, skin and bones to the cooking liquid, bring back to the simmer adding salt.

Cook the noodles.

Heat a pan with oil.  Add the sliced red onion and chilli, a good pinch of MSG and salt.  When softened add the sliced mushrooms. Sauté together well.  At the end add some chopped green spring onions.  Take off the heat and add roughly chopped lettuce.

Put hot drained noodles in bowls.  Put the chicken mixture on top.  Dip the shredded white ends of the spring onions in hot chicken stock and put on top with raw green chopped spring onion.  Top with hot chicken broth and fresh Vietnamese herbs.  Adjust to taste with chilli, squeezed limes, black pepper and salt.  Enjoy!

Finished result (minus the herbs).  Absolutely and utterly delicious.