Mushroom Bourguignon

1. 
   
   Pour boiling water over 300 g pearl onions and soak them for 10 mins. to make them much easier to peel. Then add 2 tablespoons butter or oil to a large Dutch oven or pot and set it over medium heat. 
2. When the fat is hot, stir in the onions and softly fry them during 10 mins till nice and brown, Use a slotted spoon to transfer the onions to a large bowl or plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
3. Add 2 more tablespoons of butter to the pan and add 250g mushrooms (such as portobello, king oysters, shiitake and chestnut, thickly sliced). Without moving them around too much, cook the mushrooms until they are brown on one side, about 3 minutes. Stir and let them brown on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes more. Use a slotted spoon to transfer mushrooms and onions to a large bowl or plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
4. Repeat with another 2 tablespoons butter and another 250g mushrooms, seasoning them as you go.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add another 1 tablespoon butter or oil to pan. Add a diced leek and 2 thinly sliced carrots and sauté until the leek turn lightly golden and start to soften, 5 minutes. 
6. Add 1 minced garlic clove and sauté for 1 minute longer. 
7. Stir in 1/2 tbsp tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. 
8. Stir in 1,25 tbsp flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then add 2/4 cup red wine, 180 cl vegetal stock, 1/2 tablespoon tamari, 1/2 tsp thyme and a bay leaf, scraping up the brown bits at bottom of pot.
9. Add reserved cooked mushrooms and pearl onions back to the pot and bring to a simmer. Partly cover the pot and simmer on low heat until carrots and onions are tender and sauce is thick, about 40 minutes. Taste and add more salt and tamari if needed. Stir in a grated garlic clove.
10. Just before serving, heat a small skillet over high heat and add 1/2 tablespoon butter or oil. Add 100g of cleaned and sliced chanterelles and let cook without moving until they are crisp and brown on one side, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side. Transfer to a plate and sprinkle with salt and smoked paprika.  
11. I served my Mushrooms Bourguignon, topped with fried mushrooms and parsley, with gratin Dauphinois, but you can do it over polenta, noodles or mashed potatoes. 
12. (Click here for the original NYT recipe by Melissa Clark)
    

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Pasta Alfredo

Cook 125g of spaghetti in fiercely boiling water till al dente. Drain, cool in a colander under running water, then set aside.

Cut 100g of smoked streaky bacon or thinly sliced pancetta into finger- thick pieces, then cook in a shallow, non-stick pan till crisp, adding 2 peeled garlic cloves, thinly sliced. 

Quarter 125g mushrooms, panfry them till soft and golden in butter

Put the drained pasta in a mixing bowl with 200ml of double cream, 100ml vegetable stock, the bacon and garlic, then season with salt and black pepper.

Toss everything together then transfer to a baking dish, scatter the surface with a good handful of grated parmesan and bake at 180°C/gas mark 4 for about 30 minutes till the surface is lightly golden. Serves 2

(Here Nigel Slater's original recipe)

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Roasted Rack Of Venison With Spiced Red Cabbage

Start with the sauce by browning 25g smoked bacon in 1 tbsp butter. Finely cut an onion and 2 mushrooms and sweat with the bacon. Deglaze with 50 ml red wine and reduce as much as possible. Then add 200 ml brown game stock and softly reduce.

After 15 mins add 300 ml cream and 1 tbsp mustard and reduce for another 5 mins. Finish with 13g dark chocolate (min 60% cacao).

Then prepare the cabbage. Cut out the core and finely shred 1/2 red cabbage. Heat a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat and add a generous drizzle of olive oil. Add 1/2 peeled and sliced onion and sweat for 2–3 minutes, then add the red cabbage and cook for 1–2 minutes.

Add 2 star anise, 1 stick of cinnamon and some salt and pepper and cook for another 1–2 minutes to release the flavours.

Now add the zest of an orange and sprinkle in 50g light brown sugar. Add the juice from the orange and 50 ml white wine vinegar and let bubble to reduce down. 

Pour in 300ml red wine and 100ml red port. Add 50g sultanas and leave to cook gently for 40 minutes.

Peel, core and dice a sweet apple. Add to the cabbage, toss to mix and set aside.

Meanwhile, for the venison, heat the oven to 190°C. Heat a large non-stick ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat and add a drizzle of oil. Season the venison rack on both sides with salt and pepper and place in the hot pan.

Colour the meat well on all sides, for about 3 minutes. Add 50g butter to the pan and let it melt and foam, then add some sprigs of thyme and baste the joint with the foaming butter.

Transfer the pan to the oven. Roast the venison for 15 minutes, then check; the meat should still be pink inside.

Transfer to a warm platter and leave to rest in a warm place for 10 minutes. Save any juices in the pan.

Slice the venison and arrange on warm plates with the braised cabbage and some rösti. Reheat any pan juices and drizzle over the meat.

Add a spoonful of redcurrant jelly and a sprinkling of pepper to serve.

(Here Tom Kitchin's original recipe)

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Grilled salmon, mangochutney

Mix 1 tbsp honey, the juice of 1/2 lime, 1/4 finely sliced red pepper and the hacked stems of coriander. 

Marinate 2 fillets of 125g of salmon in it for 1 hour.

Pan fry the fish a few mins

Serve with samphire, lime, coriander and a spoonful of mango chutney

(Here Jeroen de Pauw's recipe in Flemish)

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Red mullet, sauce vierge

Toast a tsp of fennel seeds in a dry pan. Set apart.

For the sauce vierge: cut another garlic clove finely and brown in some olive oil. Add more oil, 2 tbsp soy sauce and a tbsp  Ricard. 

Add fennel seeds. Keep warm.

De-skin a tomato, remove the seeds and cut into small cubes.

Fry the fillets of mullet, skin side down till crisp. Turn the heat off and then turn the fish for another 2 mins.

Serve as shown, with tarragon.

(My favourite Rick Stein recipe)

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Coconut Chicken Curry

1. 
   
   Trim 6 boneless and skinless chicken thighs of excess fat and cut into 2 cm pieces; transfer to a bowl. Add 1/2 tbsp paprika, 1/4 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp salt, and use your hands to mix well. Let the chicken marinate at room temperature while you prepare the other ingredients, or cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. In a large pot, heat 2 tbsp sunflower oil over medium-high. Stir in 1 finely diced onion, lower the heat to medium-low and cook gently, stirring often to prevent scorching, until tender and translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. 
3. Add 2 minced garlic cloves and continue to cook, stirring often, until most of the water from the onions has been cooked out and a glossy layer of oil has risen to the surface, about 5 minutes more.
4. Add the marinated chicken and stir to release the spices into the onion.
5. Pour in 200 ml coconut milk and bring to a near boil. Let the coconut milk simmer briskly for about 4 minutes to thicken a bit. Lower the heat to medium-low and add 1 tbsp fish sauce. Stir in 160 ml water and bring to a near boil. The broth will thin out as the chicken starts to release its juices.
6. Lower to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is tender, 30 to 45 minutes. Droplets of paprika-red oil will rise to the surface. Stir in 1/2 tbsp Madras curry powder and 1/8 tsp cayenne, simmer briefly and remove from the heat.
7. If time permits, let the curry sit for at least 20 minutes before serving. This allows the chicken to soak in more flavors as the curry cools. Bring to a simmer again right before serving and taste, adding more salt or fish sauce if desired. 
8. Serve over rice or noodles (or flatbread) with stir fried spinach, coriander leaves and lime wedges.
9. (Here the original recipe by Desmond Tan in the NYT)
   
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