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 Starter: Oysters served with Champagne sabayon
To Drink: Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon 1999
For the sabayon:
- 1 large free range egg yolk
- A squeeze of lemon juice
- Small glass Champagne
- Pinch of salt
- Crushed ice and seaweed for presentation
Shuck the oysters and release the muscle that holds them to the shell being careful not to lose any of the precious juices within the shell. Pour this juice through a fine sieve into a bowl and reserve. Arrange the oysters on a platter covered with crushed ice and seaweed.
To make the sabayon: place all the ingredients including the oyster juices into a bowl set over a pan of simmering water - do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water – whisk hard until the consistency of firm foam is achieved. Spoon a little of the sabayon over each oyster and serve immediately.
Main course: 'Between the sheets' - mushrooms between layers of pasta
To Drink: Amayna Pinot Noir 2004
- 150g wild mushrooms, (chanterelles, ceps, shitake, oyster etc.)
- 1 tablespoon dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 small onion, peeled and finely sliced
- 50 g unsalted butter
- A handful of chopped flat leaf parsley
- 2 heaped tablespoons of crème fraîche
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Freshly made and rolled out sheets of pasta
For the pasta:
- 7oz Tipo '00' pasta flour plus extra for dusting
- 1 large free-range egg (plus one extra just in case the pasta is too stiff)
- 2 large free-range egg yolks
- Pinch salt
- Splash of olive oil
To make the pasta, place all the ingredients into a processor and pulse until well mixed. Pull together into a ball of dough. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for
20 minutes.
The pasta should be rolled out nice and thin, about 1mm. This is easy with a pasta machine, but can be achieved with care using a rolling pin. Cut the pasta into 8 squares approx. 120x120mm. Spread them out on clean tea towel to dry a little before cooking.
In a cup, cover the porcini mushrooms with a little water and let them soak for about 5-10 minutes. Squeeze them out, but save the lovely brown liquor. Strain the liquor through butter muslin to remove any gritty particles.
Carefully wipe away any earth clinging to the mushrooms, but don't wash them unless they are gritty. Water settles in their gills and this results in the mushrooms being stewed rather than fried. If you have to wash them be sure to drain them on kitchen paper for a couple of hours to dry thoroughly before cooking.
Boil plenty of water in your largest stewpan.
Heat the butter in a large frying pan that has been rubbed with the cut surface of a garlic clove and when sizzling add the onion along with the salt and pepper. Stir continuously to stop them from browning too much and then add all the mushrooms. Stir and cook for 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile cook the pasta sheets until al dente (about 2-3 minutes). Lay the sheets back on the clean tea towels to drain and pat the tops dry with paper kitchen towels.
Whisk together the crème fraîche, chopped parsley and soaking liquid from the porcini mushrooms and stir this into the pan with the mushrooms.
To serve, spoon a little of the sauce only onto each warmed plate and then lay down two sheets of pasta end to end. Spoon a generous serving of mushrooms onto the centre of each sheet and cover them with the top sheets of pasta. From the centre fold back one corner of each top sheet in opposite directions and drizzle over the remaining sauce.
Now all you have to do is dive in between the sheets. Mmm, delicious.
Dessert: 'light-as-a-feather' vanilla and orange treacle pudding (really - its made light by eliminating the suet and incorporating meringue in the pudding mix.)
To Drink: Roberto Anselmi I Capitelli
- 50g caster sugar
- 50g unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg separated
- 30g self-raising flour
- 2 tablespoons golden syrup
- 2 tablespoons good quality orange marmalade
- ½ vanilla pod
Mix together 50g sugar with the butter until pale and creamy. Add the vanilla extract and beat in the egg yolk. Fold in the flour. Whisk the egg white in a separate bowl until firm. Whisk in half the remaining sugar and when incorporated whisk in the remainder of the sugar to make a firm and glossy meringue. Stir a quarter of the meringue into the egg yolk mixture to loosen it and then gently fold in the rest.
Strip the seeds from the vanilla pod and add them to a pan together with the syrup and marmalade and the vanilla pod. Heat through stirring continuously. Remove the vanilla pod and divide the mixture between 2 well-greased ramekins. Top with the pudding mixture to about ¾ full. Place the ramekins in a roasting tray of hot water to come halfway up the side of the ramekins. Cover loosely with foil and bake in the oven at 180° for 45 minutes.
Turn each pudding out onto a serving plate and top with a generous amount of thick cream.
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