Kitchen Memories

SEA BASS WITH PORCINI AND SPRING GREENS

Charles came home the other night with three sea bass fillets. We had with us David, my stepfather, and my little niece, Ella, for the night while her parents were producing a new brother for her. None of us really knew how the evening would turn out in terms of being called and asked to take Ella to the hospital or back to her house, so we decided to just play it by ear.

In my cupboard were some dried porcini and in my fridge a bag of spring greens. Cooking the porcini with the bass imbues the delicate flesh of the fish with the most wonderfully scented flavours. Spring greens prepared simply, just shredded across the leaves and stems then blanched for a few minutes, are the only vegetable you will need and are utterly delicious. The sea bass takes about 5 minutes to cook in the bag and the spring greens about minutes. This is an incredibly easy, quick and utterly delicious supper that is also very healthy.

FOR 4

10g good-quality dried porcini mushrooms

500g spring greens

olive oil

2 rose garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

extra-virgin olive oil

4 sea bass fillets (preferably cut from a large wild fish … the fatter the better), or bream, halibut or brill fillets, each weighing 175–200g, pin-boned

1 lemon, cut crossways into thin slices

4 sprigs of fresh thyme, washed and dried

2 tbsp good-quality dry white wine

sea salt and black pepper

Place the porcini in a bowl and cover with 1½ cups of boiling water. Leave for 20 minutes in the boiling water, then strain the mushroom pieces into a bowl and retain the liquid.

Cut the stems off the spring greens at the base and then roughly shred the leaves into 3cm-wide strips. Wash under cold water.

Preheat the oven to 220ºC (200ºC fan) Gas 7. Put a pan of water on to boil for the spring greens.

Heat a swirl of olive oil in a small, heavy-based pan and, as it starts to get hot, add the garlic. Just before the garlic starts to brown, when it becomes sticky, add the porcini pieces. Toss them in the garlic and oil for a minute or so to release the flavours but don’t allow them to become crisp. Add 4–5 tablespoons of the mushroom juice and let it simmer, reduce and thicken a little for a minute. Remove from the heat.

To make the bags, cut four sheets of silver foil, each 36 × 30cm, and lay them out. Drizzle the extra-virgin olive oil lightly over the foil and season with salt and pepper. Lightly season the bass fillets and lay them, skin-side up, just off centre of the foil (as you are going to fold the foil over to make the envelope). Put a slice of lemon on each fillet, then add a small sprig of thyme and put a few pieces of the cooked dried porcini on top.

Fold the foil in half over the fish, then fold in the sides a couple of times to seal them, leaving the top open. Keep each parcel fairly flat but just tilt it slightly, then add ½ tablespoon of white wine and 1 tablespoon of the porcini juice to each bag. Fold the top opening over twice to seal the bag and to prevent any of the juices escaping. Place the bags flat on a baking tray (but don’t overlap them) and cook in the oven for 10 minutes. The bags will puff out and will be filled with air like plump pillows when they are ready.

While the bass is cooking, blanch the spring greens in the boiling, salted water for 4 minutes or so until tender. Drain and put back in the pan, then season with salt and pepper and a good drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

Carefully cut or tear the bags open at the top so that you can check that the fish is cooked and re-seal if necessary. Slide the fillets out onto the plates and carefully tip the juices out of the bags and over the fish. Serve with the spring greens.

SLOW-ROASTED SHOULDER OF LAMB WITH PEAS AND BROAD BEANS

The young new lamb is often quite pale in colour and needs less time to cook than mature lamb. I love using the shoulder joint, which is delicious roasted slowly on the bone; the fatty juices that are released keep the flesh tender and full of flavour.

New peas and broad beans, freshly podded, add a note of refreshing vibrancy. Podding the beans is a huge part of the enjoyment – sitting at a table with a glass of wine, easing the beans out of their pods is a pleasure in itself that does not compare to opening a bag of frozen broad beans with their dull grey skins, the beans all the same size, graded to within an inch of their lives.

FOR 4

1 shoulder of new season’s lamb (it should be quite small, about 2kg), or ½ shoulder of mature lamb

4–5 garlic cloves, peeled and cut into fine slivers

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked from their stems, washed and dried

300ml red wine

1kg peas in the pod

1kg broad beans in the pod

about 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 sprig of fresh garden mint, washed and dried

salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 220ºC (200ºC fan) Gas 7. Using a small, sharp knife, make little slits about mm deep into the lamb shoulder, about 5cm apart. Put a sliver of garlic (reserving some for the peas and beans) and a couple of rosemary leaves into each slit and season well with salt and pepper. Put the rest of the garlic to one side. Put the lamb in a flameproof roasting tin, cover with foil and put in the oven for 40 minutes, then remove the foil, turn the oven down to 200ºC (180ºC fan) Gas 6 and cook for a further 2–3 hours, adding a slosh of wine every now and again. How long depends on the size of your shoulder, so check after hour of cooking. About minutes before you take the lamb out, pour a final generous glass of wine into the bottom of the roasting tin. Transfer the lamb to a warm dish, cover with a sheet of silver foil and let it rest for 20 minutes.

While the lamb is cooking, pod the peas and broad beans and put in separate bowls. Put a pan of water on to boil with a pinch of salt and blanch the peas for 5 minutes, then drain. Blanch the broad beans in a separate pan of boiling, unsalted water for 4–5 minutes, then drain.

Heat a good drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil in a pan and add the reserved garlic slivers. As they become sticky and start to colour, add the broad beans and peas and toss together, then season with salt and pepper. I add a whole sprig of fresh mint, which I remove when I am ready to serve, as it blackens with the heat from the beans and peas.

Skim off any fat from the juices in the roasting tin and add more wine, if needed. Put on the hob and let it bubble and reduce, then pour into a bowl or small pan to keep it hot.

Pull the meat away from the bone in pieces and serve with the peas and broad beans and the juices from the pan.

I serve this with piping-hot potato gratin, which is very simple and quick to make (see here (#ulink_a635775e-d595-5354-acac-2fd39fcf60b4)).

POTATO GRATIN WITH PARMESAN

FOR 4

20g unsalted butter

300ml double cream

1kg waxy potatoes, peeled and cut lengthways into 3mm slices, then rinsed with cold water

2–3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

60g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

olive oil

salt and black pepper