Pan-seared duck breast, toasted hazelnuts and red current sauce

Make, in a tight crisscross pattern, very shallow cuts across the surface of 2 duck breasts. Cutting through to the flesh, however, will expose the meat to direct heat, overcooking it before enough fat has rendered out, so maintain a delicate touch while scoring the skin.

Mix 1/4 tsp cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, some chili flakes, 1/2 tsp salt and 2 tbsp olive oil and massage this mix onto the flesh side. 

Massage another 1/2 tsp sea salt into the fat and leave for 1 hour to get room temperature.

In the meantime prepare the sauce. Toast 50g hazelnuts in a dry pan. Cool.

Finely slice 1/2 onion and softly fry in 1 tbsp oil during 5 mins.

Keep a few hazelnuts for decoration and ground the rest in the blender. Add 135ml chicken stock, 1/2 stick of cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg and 1 tbsp red current jelly and the light browned onions and softly cook for 30 mins.

Use the blender again to make a nice sauce.

Put the duck in a dry and cold frying pan on a low heat to melt part of the fat and gently warm the meat. After 15 mins go to medium heat and turn the breasts.

Cook for another 2 mins. for medium-rare.

Wrap in alu foil and rest for 10 mins before serving in a 70°C oven.

Pour the fat from the pan and deglaze with another 90 ml chicken stock and scrape the brown bits from the bottom. Add to the sauce (after removing the cinnamon stick), plus finely sliced parsley.

Serve as shown

(Here Dosia Brewer's original recipe )

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Pastrami, fig and watercress salad

Preheat grill to high.

Tear 3 figs in half. Place, torn-side up, on a lightly oiled oven tray, then drizzle with extra oil and apple syrup. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then grill for 5 minutes or until warmed through.

Meanwhile, whisk lemon juice, oil and a pinch of salt in a small bowl.

Arrange 3 slices pastrami, some watercress, goats cheese and parmesan shavings on each of 2 plates. Top with figs, then drizzle over dressing. 

Scatter over 1 tbsp crispy Asian fried shallots and stand for 15 minutes to allow flavours to develop. 

(Here the recipe on Taste)

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Amuse smoked eel

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Cut a brioche into 9x2x3 cm soldiers, brush with olive oil

Put in the hot oven for about 10 mins, till nicely toasted

Panfry slices of apple

Cover the brioche with apple syrup, then with apple.

Finish with smoked eel

(Inspired by Maris Piper, Amsterdam)

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Cockels and octopus piperade

Save yourself a lot of work and try to find these  cute Spanish tins with ready to eat cockles and pieces of octopus! >>>

Start with one of these elongated sweet Italian paprikas, remove the seeds and dice. Finely slice 1/2 sweet onion. 

Sweat them in 1/2 tbsp olive oil with 1/2 tbsp thyme leaves and 1tsp paprika powder. Add 50 ml chicken stock and 10 ml cream and reduce to 50%.

Taste and season with salt and pepper. Use the stick blender to make a nice sauce.

Then peel a red paprika and use 1/3 to cut into small cubes. Finally slice 1/2 shallot. Mix the raw paprika and shallot with the content (about 60g) of a tin of octopus and a tsp of jalapeño  relish. Season with pepper and salt, then add 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp sushi vinegar and 1 tbsp coriander leaves.

Serve this mix in empty mussel shells (8 pp), add cockles from another tin and teaspoons of the sweet paprika sauce. Finish with a small cube of lemon on each shell and dust with sumak.

(my interpretation of a Sergio Herman recipe)

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Sofrito with lobster and chickpeas

To boil the lobster make a court bouillon with 2 carrots, 2 onions, 1 leek, 1 celery stem, 3 sprigs of thyme, 1 sprig of rosemary, 1 clove of garlic, salt & pepper and 2 l water.

Bring to the boil and boil 2 small (300g) lobsters for 3 mins.

At the same time slice 1/2 sweet onion and grate 2 cloves of garlic and sweat them in 2 tbsp olive oil. Add 2 tbsp thyme leaves, 1/2 tsp ras el hanout and 1 tsp chili flakes. Fry for a couple of minutes. Remove the skin of a tomato and cut in big pieces, add to the onion mix and season with pepper and salt. Add 250 ml chicken stock and stew for 40 minutes.

In the meantime take the meat from the lobsters, put the court bouillon trough a sieve, discard the veggies, re-heat, add the lobster heads and shells and simmer for 20 mins. Take out the lobster parts and reduce to 1 liter.

Season the lobster meat with black pepper, some minced garlic and 1/2 tsp ras el hanout.

Mix 100g mayo with 15g fresh estragon.

Boil 4 green asparagus and 4 sugar snaps for 3 mins.

Panfry the lobster meat briefly in butter.

Add 1/4l lobster stock to the soft and add 100g chickpeas to warm. Then serve in 2 bowls, with the lobster, slices asparagus, sugar snaps and teaspoons of the estragon mayo 

(Recipe by Sergio Herman)

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Salad with Padrón peppers

Preheat the oven at 170°C

Make a vinaigrette from 7 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp chardonnay vinegar en the zest of a lemon. Season with salt and black pepper.

Crumble 100g goat's cheese.

Peel 2 tomatoes, de-seed them and slice into cubes

Halve 2 elongated sweet peppers lengthwise and remove the seeds. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and black pepper. Put them in the oven with 200ml oliveoil to soften in 25 mins. Then remove the skins.

At the same time coat 10 green Padron peppers with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Put them in the oven with the sweet peppers for 20 mins.

Mix the tomato cubes, with the red paprikas, 2 finely sliced shallots, 10 shredded leaves of fresh basil and the vinaigrette.

Tear a slice of sourdough bread in pieces and pan fry them in 5 tbsp olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt.

Serve a shown with chives

(Recipe by Sergio Herman)