On Toast...

I've written before about my love of things on toast. Since opening Cook House I have been working on my repertoire. It has become a staple menu item, changing topping week to week, depending on what's in season, what I've spotted in books, magazines, or on my travels. I came home from Mallorca with a couple of Sobrasada in my suitcase last week. I'm not entirely sure that's allowed, so don't tell, but that made up last week's toast; the spicy chorizo type paste that is specific to the Balearics spread on hot toast, topped with creamy homemade ricotta, good olive oil and some dressed pea shoots.

We're talking about an open sandwich in basic terms, I find it a lot more interesting than thinking of sandwich fillings however, and find inspiration from around the world. Everyone has their own variation whether it's called a taco, a pizza or pintxo...

These are ideas more than recipes... You're looking for balance; think sweet, salty, bitter and sour and see where you end up... 

Smoked Leeks on Toast with Whipped Feta and Black Sesame

I was inspired by the Trial Shift boys, when they took over Cook House for a pop up event a few months ago; I found them cooking their aubergines in the embers of my stove. Kicking myself that I hadn't thought of using the stove myself (why did I not?!), as soon as they handed the keys back I stuck some leeks into a roaring fire, totally incinerating the outside. When removed and left to cool I then carefully removed all the black outer edges and tore off ribbons of soft sweet smoked leek into a bowl and mixed with a dash of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt.

I served this on toast with feta cheese whipped up with some Greek yoghurt and extra virgin olive oil until it takes on the consistency of cream cheese. Spread onto toast, leeks piled gently on top and scattered with toasted black sesame seeds. The sweet smoky leeks with the salty cheese and toasted nutty sesame is delicious, this is probably my favourite invention so far.

Carrot and Lemon Pâté on Toast with Feta and Pea Shoots

I have been making a carrot, lemon and yoghurt pâté for a while now. I discovered it when I was putting together a vegetarian middle eastern style mezze supper last year. I made tons of different Lavosh crackers topped with different seeds and herbs and wanted lots of tasty colourful dips to go with them.

Chop 500g of carrots into large chunks and roast at 200˚C with about 6 cloves of garlic still in their skins and lots of olive oil until the carrots are soft, about 20 minutes. Then pop the garlic out of their skins and blitz with 2 big spoons of yoghurt the zest and juice of half a lemon and a pinch of salt. It's a lovely sweet dip with a rich hint of roast garlic and sharp lemon.

Sprinkle with crumbled feta or goats cheese, and top with a pile of dressed fresh pea shoots or rocket. The rich sweet pâté is delicious with the sharp salt cheese and fresh shoots.

Whipped Feta on Toast with Pear, Pea Shoots and Toasted Seeds

The whipped feta base mentioned previously is good with lots of toppings, as it's so salty and tart my favourite is something a little bit sweet. I've found a popular menu item to be fresh sliced pear, with pea shoots or rocket and toasted seeds, sometimes hazelnuts or a bit of chopped mint too.

I have tried it with pickled grapes and mint too, delicious; sharp, sweet and tasty. I also tried sliced blood oranges with toasted walnuts, normal oranges would work too, that was a pretty good brunch dish I think...

Or you could try fresh peppery radish with mint, black pepper and ricotta. Or ricotta, slow roast tomatoes and toasted cumin seeds... Or crushed peas and broad beans with lemon, mint and crumbled goats cheese... We're in a good season for lovely fresh toppings so I'll keep working on my repertoire...

Chou Farci or Stuffed Cabbage

Inspired by TLI's little jaunt to Paris last week we began to flick through Elizabeth David at the weekend. He has been making me jealous with tales of dauphinoise potatoes, veal, red wine in the Marais, little lunchtime back street restaurants where they only serve a few dishes but everything is delicious... One such dish was a Chou Farci, a French stuffed cabbage dish. Be warned it isn't that pretty... Before we cooked it it looked like an alien's brain, or a weird dishevelled cabbage chicken... But once sliced up it was a bit more rustic looking and incredibly tasty. I imagine a bowl of it in the countryside with some crusty bread to mop up the delicious juice and a glass of good red wine. Rustic is definitely the word for it. Next time I will try and make smaller individual parcels per person that may look prettier than a large cabbage brain.

So we set off for the Grainger Market and returned with spring peas and baby turnips and lots of bits of pig. Mince, chops and a trotter to be precise, and some chicken livers just to up the meat quota a bit more...

This recipe is loosely based around Elizabeth's Chou Farci a la Mode de Grasse, a speciality of the town of Grasse in south east France, she actually has a whole chapter of stuffed cabbage recipes, this borrows a little from the others as well. These amounts could easily serve 6, we will be eating it all week... The concept is to separate the cabbage leaves out and then layer them back up with the meat mixture between each to reform a cabbage shape, tie it up and cook...

Firstly I set about shelling the huge bag of peas, you will need about 225g. At the same time blanch a white cabbage in a pan of boiling water for 5 minutes to loosen its leaves, drain and leave to cool when the time is up. When it is cool enough to handle peel away the leaves individually and leave to dry. I only got about half way into the cabbage before it was no longer blanched enough to continue, it was not a problem as there was too much food as it was... Put the peas in a large bowl, add a finely chopped leek, the finely chopped heart of a lettuce and 30g of uncooked white rice.

Now for the meat. Add the meat of 4 pork sausages, 4 slices of bacon finely chopped, one pork chop finely chopped and 3 or 4 chicken livers also chopped. Mix all of the meat with the pea mixture, add an egg yolk, and season with salt, pepper, mace, nutmeg, a crushed clove of garlic and some chopped rosemary and thyme. Then spread a layer onto each of the cabbage leaves.

Now you need to layer up the leaves one on top of the other, until they are all used up, finally rolling them round to reform a cabbage shaped ball... I freaked out a bit at this stage and am not at all sure I did it correctly. I will definitely make smaller individual parcels next time, I think it will be much easier, less stressful and prettier. Then you need to tie the whole thing up with string. Voila...

Line the bottom of a large casserole dish with squares of bacon and add 3 or 4 chopped baby turnips and 3 chopped carrots, the pigs trotter and a herb bundle of thyme, parsley, rosemary and a bay leaf. Put the cabbage into the centre of the pan and pour over a tumbler of chicken stock and a glass of white wine. Cook in a low oven, about 160°C for 2 to 3 hours.

It may be an ugly little rustic dish but it is definitely full of flavour. Serve in a bowl, with a big ladle of the gravy and the turnips and carrots. I will definitely be continuing my exploration of the Chou Farci, especially into autumn as I have already book marked a version with chestnuts, smoked sausage and partridge...

Spring Panzanella Salad

The EAT! Festival is in full swing in Newcastle and Gateshead at the moment, with markets and events happening everyday, all over the city. On Monday I went to an Eat-a-long film, we watched 'Julie and Julia' whilst being served the same food appearing in the film. We all sat at little tables and chairs in Gateshead Town Hall, checked table cloths and menus laid out and began to watch the film. Every so often the film would pause as the characters were about to tuck into something tasty and waiters would scurry around bringing us the same dish. It was a brilliant idea and a brilliant evening. We were served pepper and basil bruschetta, fresh bread and butter, little cups of lobster bisque, brie and grapes followed by beef bourguignon and raspberry and white chocolate truffle for pudding. We left incredibly full having thoroughly enjoyed the film...

Some salads were called for, to balance out huge French feasts on a Monday night... This is a lovely spring salad of bread, peas and asparagus. A traditional Italian panzanella is a stale bread salad made with squashed tomatoes and basil that soak into the the toasted bread. This is a green version that I found on the '101 Cookbooks' blog full of lots of spring greens, it will serve 2 or 3 people as a main dish or more as a side.

To start cut some day old bread into chunky cubes, I used a traditional wheaten Irish loaf which I love. Place the bread in a bowl and add a finely chopped shallot, a finely chopped clove of garlic, the leaves from a few springs of thyme, a pinch of salt and a large glug of olive oil. Mix everything together and then turn the bread out onto a baking tray and bake in the oven at 170°C for 15 minutes or so, until golden and toasted.

In a cold frying pan pour a splash of olive oil, a large splash of water and a pinch of salt. Turn the heat up high and when the water is bubbling furiously add about 8 spears of asparagus cut into segments, boil for about 20 seconds, then add 2 large handfuls of peas. Fresh or frozen, I used frozen as mine are still tiny pods on my pea plants. After a few seconds add 2 large handfuls of spinach and allow to cook until the spinach begins to wilt. There should still be a small amount of liquid left with the greens, this becomes a dressing for the whole salad.

Mix the greens with the toasted bread in a large bowl and add a handful of shredded basil and mix again. The bread is toasty and warm with garlic and thyme and the greens are tasty and perfumed with basil, all combined together it is a very fresh delicious spring salad.