Skate with black butter
A classic. You will need everyone's attention here. Dawdlers will miss the frisson of the hot, vinegary-buttery sauce sizzling over the pearly-white fish. I think you need greens here, perhaps some young cabbage, steamed, or some some plain boiled potatoes to squish into the piquant juices.
serves 2
300-400g pieces of skate
1 carrot
1 small onion
2 bay leaves
black peppercorns
120g butter
2 tbsps capers
2 tbsps red wine vinegar
a small bunch of parsley
Put the skate into a large, shallow pan and add enough water to cover it. Scrub the carrot and slice it thinly then add it to the pan. Peel the onion, slice thinly, separate the rings and add them to the fish. Drop in the bay leaves and about six whole black peppercorns.
Bring the liquid to the boil, then immediately turn down to a simmer, leaving the skate bubbling very gently until it is opaque and tender. While the skate is cooking, roughly chop the parsley. Depending on the thickness of your fish it will take 10-15 minutes to become tender. Lift the fish from its liquor and place it on two warm plates.
Melt the butter in a shallow pan and when it starts to foam watch it carefully. As soon as it turns a pale nut brown (it will go black in seconds) pour in the vinegar, add the parsley and the capers and immediately pour over the drained fish.
Grilled pork steaks with fennel and vermouth
Putting a chop on the grill, even one seasoned purely with salt and pepper, will give you a simple supper of juicy flesh and deep savoury pleasure. But we can do better than that. Even the briefest time spent in a marinade of appropriate aromatics - in this case garlic, rosemary and lemon - will add much in terms of flavour. You simply mash the seasonings to a paste with olive oil then leave the meat in it for an hour or more.
serves 2
2 pork steaks
leaves from 2 bushy sprigs rosemary
2 cloves garlic
6 black peppercorns
1 tsp salt
3 tbsps olive oil juice half lemon
2 medium bulbs of fennel
a thick slice of butter
a small glass of white vermouth
Strip the rosemary leaves from their stems and chop them finely, then tip them into a mortar. Peel the garlic, chop it roughly and add it to the rosemary together with the peppercorns and the salt. Pound these aromatics in the mortar, mixing in the olive oil slowly until you have a loose paste, and then stir in the lemon juice.
Scrape the marinade into a shallow dish and turn the pork chops in it until they are covered. Leave them to marinate in a cool place for a good hour, longer if you have it. Slice the fennel thinly and rinse it under running water. Tip it into a small, deep pan with the butter, and let it soften over a moderate flame, stirring from time to time so that it does not burn. After five minutes pour in the vermouth, cover with a lid and leave to cook for 20 minutes over a low flame till soft and lightly caramelised. Warm the grill then cook the chops till they are golden brown on each side, the fat lightly charred a little here and there. Serve them on warm plates with the fennel.
Tomato and butter bean stew
Chorizo picante - the warmly spiced Spanish sausage best cooked slowly in tomato-based stews - is what you want here. The smoky, paprika-rich flavours are drawn out as the sausages soften in the oniony tomato sauce. Deep, earthy flavours for a cold day.
serves 4
1 medium-sized onion
2 tbsps olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
5 chorizo picante
a wine glass of dry sherry
2 400g tins chopped tomatoes
2 400g tins butter beans
a couple of bay leaves
a small bunch of parsley
Peel the onion, cut it in half and then each half into four. Let it soften in the olive oil over a moderate heat for 10 minutes or so, until it is soft and pale gold in colour. Peel the garlic, thinly slice it and add to the pan. Peel the skins from the sausages - this is easiest if you slit the skin with the point of a knife then pull off the skins. Cut the sausages into short lengths - about four pieces per sausage, then add them to the pan.
Turn up the heat and pour in the sherry, letting it almost evaporate before adding the tomatoes, beans and a couple of bay leaves. Season with black pepper and a little salt then bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer and leave to bubble gently for 25 minutes, until the beans are fully tender and the sausage is soft but still chewy. Chop the parsley and stir it into the beans then serve in deep bowls with the bread.
Poached pears with praline ice cream and chocolate sauce
A seductive contrast of textures here. Silky pears, heavy with syrup, cold, nubbly ice cream and warm, velvety chocolate sauce. One can't help thinking all desserts should be as sumptuous as this. Such decadence would follow pretty much anything - one of the delights of having such a contrast of textures, but it would be particularly soothing after the spicy stew.
serves 4
4 pears
2 tbsps golden caster sugar
1 vanilla pod
200g fine, dark chocolate
praline ice cream
juice of half a lemon
Pour a good litre of water into a deep, wide pan, then add the sugar, vanilla pod and the lemon juice, then bring it to the boil. Peel the pears and tug out their stalks, then halve the fruit and scoop out the cores with a teaspoon. Drop the pears into the sugar syrup and let them simmer for 10-15 minutes till they are translucent and tender. Leave them in the syrup to cool. During this time they will become silkily soft and soaked through with syrup. Get the ice cream out of the freezer. Chop the chocolate. Bring 150 ml water to the boil then whisk in the chocolate, removing from the heat as soon as it has melted - a matter of seconds. Place two pear halves on each of four dishes, add the praline ice cream, one ball per person should be ample, then pour over the warm chocolate sauce.
Talleggio and parsley risotto cakes
I am not a great fan of leftover cookery, generally finding that a discreet binning might have been a more fitting end. Left-over risotto is another matter. Squashed into balls and loosely flattened, yesterday's risotto reheats enticingly in butter, forming a crisp golden crust outside while staying soft and creamy within. A cube of Talleggio tucked inside as you shape them (just a thought and by no means essential) will ooze out softly as you cut into them. Possibly the best use for leftover anything you will ever come across. A crisp salad of, say, Barolo-veined trevise or radiccio sharpened with lemon and parsley, would be just about perfect.
serves 2
400g leftover risotto
a small bunch of parsley
2 heaped tbsps grated Parmesan
125g Talleggio
a little butter and olive oil for frying
Leave the risotto to go cold and stiffen up. If it's yesterday's then all to the good. Remove the leaves from the parsley and chop them roughly (or at least not too finely). Stir them into the rice with the grated Parmesan and a grinding of black pepper.
Cut the Talleggio into cubes, discarding the rind. Take a tablespoon of the rice and press a cube of cheese into it, then press more risotto on top to cover the cheese, squeezing the rice into a rough ball as you go. Set aside and continue with the rest. You will probably make four or five decent-sized balls.
Warm a little butter and olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. Flatten the rice balls a little and lay them in the hot fat. Let them colour on one side, then turn and lightly brown the other. Press the rice down with a spatula so you end up with a thick patty.
They are ready when a golden crust has formed on both sides and the melting cheese is trying to escape. Slide on to warm plates.
The wine list by Tim Atkin
With the tomato and butter bean stew
2001 Chapoutier Organic Còtes du Rhòne (£5.99, Waitrose)
An equal blend of Syrah and Grenache from the southern Rhòne, produced by the region's leading organic specialist, this is ripe and plump with no oak, silky tannins and smooth, red fruits flavours. Perfect with any type of stew.
Poached pears with praline ice cream and chocolate sauce
González Byass Noé (£10.69, Tesco per half)
One of the few wines I know that can cope with chocolate sauce, Noé is a thick, heady, mouth-coating, raisin and date-like sherry made entirely from the Pedro Ximénez grape. The good news is that the bottle will keep once opened.
Grilled pork steaks with fennel and vermouth
2001 Gaia Notios Red (£6.79, Oddbins)
A juicy, ice rink-smooth red from one of my favourite Greek producers, showing fine-grained tannins underpinned by smoky, plummy fruit flavours. Try it slightly chilled.
Talleggio and parsley risotto cakes
2000 Castel del Monte Rosso (£4.49, Safeway)
An unoaked southern Italian glugger from the country's boot heel, this blend of mainly Uva di Troia with a little Aglianico is juicy and rich with flavours of red cherries and sweet plums.
Skate with black butter
2002 Heemskerk Tasmania Sauvignon Blanc (£6.99, Marks & Spencer)
I thought about recommending a red to go with this dish but, in the end, I plumped for this delicious Aussie Sauvignon Blanc, which almost beats New Zealand at its own game. Crisp and gooseberryish with tropical fruit undertones.
