Filming ‘The little Paris kitchen’ bbc 2 on the roof of the Grand Palais.

Tags: Beehives, honey

On the 3rd of June I held my first clandestine dinner in Paris. Never to be one to do just a ’simple’ dinner party I had make it more of a culinary event and decided upon doing something fun with the 80s and French food. The 80s are not one of the decades to be known for it’s culinary delights which I discovered after hunting down some beautifully food styled (the more food or props they could fit in one photo the better) 80s recipe books.

The menu kicked off with a Tom Cruise inspired shaken cocktails (red berries, limonchello and gin) which fit perfectly with the summer evening and was accompanied by some 80s coloured savoury macaron (cream cheese & wasabi and green olive tapenade – Pierre Hermé started his macaron experimenting in the 80s).
First course was edible pacman with pâté powerballs and confit cherries. I had wasted considerable amount of time playing pacman in the name of research. Second course was twisted bacon and a two toned tartiflette, a kind of deconstructed version with the use of sweet potatoes and some peppery roquette to balance the Reblochon. Tartiflette was created in the 80s by the Reblochon producers to promote their cheese.

Homage to 80s power dressing and those big shoulder pads: main course of Power puff pastry shoulder pad with a boeuf printanier (slow cooked spring beef stew).
A cold war soup: communism watermelon gazpacho and cucumber capitalism sorbet was served as a palate cleanser. And to finish off a 80s Paris Brest (the 8 was filled with a praline pastry cream and the 0 with a salted butter caramel cream).
The first 4 dishes were accompanied by red wines recommended by my great local caviste who matches all my wines for me as I’m hopeless. He also recommended a lovely caramel/light Irish whisky to go with the dessert.

Special thanks to myprivatedinner for providing the apartment, Jay-P for an awesome 80s music mix, my lovely culinary assistant Bernadette, Sten Pittet for taking some pictures for me and my lovely guests for coming!

Tags: 80s, clandestine, foodie, fun, myprivatedinner.com, Paris, theme

Pies, pies and more pies were on plates for a big dinner this Sunday. Why pies you may ask? Well, I like to stay true to my London roots and show those Parisians that the English know a thing or two about cooking   Plus my friend who was allowing me to cause some ‘khooking’ carnage in his kitchen likes to spin a few tunes on the old decks. So I came up with the idea of doing a “Pie & mash up”. Me ‘khooking’ up some tasty pies and him doing a musical ‘mash up’.

Pies traditionally come with mash potatoes. Some London caffs still do the real deal at a bargain price £3. Normally meat filled with a short crust or puff pastry lid served with “liquor” (no, not alcohol – although the Brits do have a soft spot for it) a.k.a. gravy/sauce plus a nice dollop of mash potatoes. Cooking for large amount of people can be a bit daunting especially when you don’t know everyone’s taste. But everyone seemed to be happy (plates were scraped clean) with a crazy  (=sweet potato, parsley and plain mash topping) cottage pie and this veggie pie. I had my ‘khooking’ crew helping me out too. Great fun bossing two boys around the kitchen. And another friend rocked up with a delish chicken pie. Thanks guys!

I found the recipe for the veggie pie on BBC Good Food website. It all sounded very yummy regardless of the long list of ingredients. I left a few things out, added a few of my own touches et voilà…

Spiced Veggie pie (makes 2×20cm pies)
Adapted from this

1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika , plus extra for dusting
150ml/¼ pint olive oil (a little extra for frying the shallots and squash)
900g squash , peeled and cut into small chunks (about 2cm)
12 shallots , finely sliced
2cm/1½ in piece root ginger , finely grated
140g whole blanched almonds
140g shelled pistachios
140g pine nuts
2 tbsp clear honey
500g pack fresh spinach (washed and stalks removed, if large)
400g can chickpeas , drained and rinsed
1 garlic clove
1 tsp ground cumin
1 juice of one lemon
200g butter
16 large sheets of filo pastry

Harissa yoghurt sauce

200g carton Greek yogurt
3 large sprigs mint , leaves chopped
2-3 tsp harissa spice mix (I got mine from the Spice shop off Portobello road)

Preheat the oven to fan 180C/ conventional 200C/gas 6. Mix in the paprika, cumin, coriander, 1⁄2 tsp salt and 4 tbsp oil. Tip the squash into a roasting tin, pour over the spiced oil and toss. Roast for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp of oil in a frying pan, add the shallots  and ginger. Cook until they start to brown. Stir in the 100g each almonds, pine nuts and pistachios. When brown, add 2 tbsp honey, and the spinach so it wilts. Take off the heat and stir into the squash, when it comes out of the oven. Set aside.
In a food processor, whizz the chickpeas with the garlic, cumin, remaining oil, lemon juice, 2 tbsp water and salt and pepper to make houmous.
Melt the butter in a small pan. Put a loose-bottomed 20cm quiche tin on a baking sheet and brush with some butter. Keeping the filo covered with a damp cloth so it doesn’t dry out. You can either follow these directions and make one massive pie. Or do my version: which is to layer 6 sheets. Make sure to butter each sheet really well otherwise it will unstick while baking.
Spread half of the  houmous on the bottom, pile half the squash mixture in the centre of the pastry. Butter two sheets of filo pastry together and place on the top to cover. Press the edges together to make sure they stick.  Brush carefully with more butter. Repeat the same procedure for the second pie.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until crisp and golden. Just before the pie is ready, reheat any remaining butter in the pan, tip in the rest of the nuts and fry until golden. Sprinkle the nuts over the pie. Serve with Harissa yogurt sauce (mix the yogurt, harissa and mint together. Taste and season if needed) and salad (optional).

Many thanks to TF for taking the photos.

Tags: dinner parties, Paris, pie & mash up, staying in, vegetarian

My first cookery workshop at La Cocotte on the 24th April 2008. The students were in for a treat with a tips on how to make the perfect muffin. Muffins on the menu: very berry, dulcheese (dulce de leche & cream cheese), triple chocolate, sweetcorn & gucamole savoury muffin.

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Tags: Cookery classes