Archive for December, 2009
Thai Restaurant Flavours
If you’ve enjoyed a wonderful meal out at a good Thai restaurant, you may be wondering how to reproduce some of the dishes you’ve tasted at home. Thai cuisine is quite simple to prepare, without too many complicated cooking techniques, but you do have to have the right ingredients to make it taste authentic at home. You also have to learn the balance of flavours, sweet, sour, salt and spicy, but that will come with experience, the more you taste good Thai cooking.
Thai cuisine emphasizes good fresh ingredients and uses fresh herbs and spices rather than dried ones. To cook Thai cuisine at home, these are some of the essential basic ingredients you’ll need; obviously the fresh herbs and spices should be bought fresh on the day you will use them for the best possible flavour:
Fish sauce or nam pla is an essential ingredient in many Thai dishes. It provides the salty seasoning to counterbalance the sweet element of coconut milk and sweet herbs. Made of small salt-fermented fish, it should be clear and brownish in colour and provides minerals and vitamins as well as protein.
Thai chilli peppers are used in so many dishes and sauces that Thai cuisine would be unrecognizable without them. Used to give heat to curry paste, in soups and dipping sauces, there are hot varieties and milder ones but no meal is complete without some form of chilli.
Kaffir lime leaves add aromatic fragrance and astringency to soups and curries giving a clean citrus flavour.
Lemongrass is a key ingredient in much Thai cooking. Its woody stem adds a lemony flavour and more fragrance to curry pastes and other dishes.
Garlic is used to start off most Thai dishes providing a stabilizing base note to the aromatic herbs.
Galanga is the Thai version of ginger, slightly milder than the common ginger we use. It has medicinal qualities to aid digestion and adds a light acidic note to the Thai spice combinations.
Fresh coriander is used both in its leaf and root form. The leaf is frequently used as a garnish and the root to give a deeper note to the cooking of a dish.
Coconut milk is used in savoury dishes and desserts, whenever a creamy rich element is needed. It replaces the dairy ingredients that predominate in European cuisine, but which are rarely used at all in Thai cuisine. Coconut milk is made by grating the meat of a ripe coconut and mixing it with water then squeezing out the juice, but can be bought in a can for easy cooking.
Jasmine or fragrant rice is indigenous to Thailand and is used to accompany every main meal as the main starch as breads are rarely used.
Before you start cooking, refresh your taste memories by visiting a good Thai restaurant, so that you can remember the correct balance of flavours and produce your own authentic version at home.
Have you been to Thai Dusit in Derby?
Thai Snacks and Street Food
Visiting Bangkok, you’ll be overwhelmed by the number of food carts on the streets and the aromas of cooking wherever you go. Thais love food, enjoying regular snacks and eating street food often. You’ll find a huge assortment of foods available to eat as you go even in small provincial towns, where street vendors often assemble in car parks or squares at dusk to transform them in to bustling food markets.
Some of the wares offered as street food are full meals, usually one-dish meals to satisfy workers and travelers who can’t cook at home: curries served over rice, noodle dishes stir fried with egg and vegetables. Noodle dishes such as Pad Thai and Rad Naa are popular street foods, and often you’ll find a street vendor selling just one signature dish, with a queue of eager customers who know them well, from years of eating that same dish. You’ll find a charcoal grill set up at a night market, grilling skewers of satay to be served with a peanut sauce. Or a vendor who just cooks the most delectable fried rice.
Other street vendors will specialize in snacks that are labour intensive and harder to prepare at home: savoury and sweet snacks to tempt people as they visit the markets before going home to prepare their meal. Portable deep fried snacks that are easy to eat with your fingers such as spring rolls, thai fish cakes, Toong Tong pastries filled with minced chicken and prawn, are all delicious morsels that if you’re lucky you can also find served as appetizers in Thai restaurants here in Britain.
Crispy golden crepes, coconut pancakes, sweet sticky rice with jackfruit or mango, Thai street food offers a host of sweet treats as well as savoury ones. Leaf wrapped parcels of sweet meats are on offer among the scents and aromas of all sorts of street cooking.
If you want to taste many of these treats you’ll have to travel to Thailand yourself with an adventurous spirit, prepared to plunge in to taste your way around this wonderful cuisine. But even if you are stuck at home you can get some idea of the vibrant tastes and flavours of Thai street food at your local Thai restaurant. Sample the appetizer menu in search of different textures, herbs and spices, order a main meal comprised of several different dishes to share with friends and you’ll get an idea of the richness and variety of Thai food, where lots of small mouthfuls of different flavours are preferred to the monotony of a large plate of just one dish.
Have you visited Thai Sabai in Melton before?
Chosing a Meal at a Thai Restaurant
Thai cuisine is full of fresh and vibrant flavours offering a wonderful meal that is healthy and light, but satisfying to the palate, and made for sociable dining out. There are two styles of eating a main meal in Thailand. You can order a single dish meal for a quick lunch or supper: something like a rice or noodle based dish with meat and vegetables all thrown in; or you can linger over a communal evening meal, where you order a selection of dishes, which are shared between you all and chosen to provide a balance of flavours and textures.
In British Thai restaurants soups are usually served as a starter, to fit in with Western eating habits, but in Thailand a soup is just one of a selection of dishes that you will order as part of your main meal. In a typical Thai meal, a clear broth soup, Gang Jeude, or a spicy one with coconut milk, Gang Ped, may be served alongside a steamed dish, a stir fried dish, a spicy curry and a grilled meat with a variety of sauces for dipping; each person will have their own serving of rice and will help themselves from the various communal dishes a little at a time.
The number of dishes ordered depends on the number of people eating; as a general rule two people would order three dishes to go with their rice, four people order five dishes and so on, so the greater number of people dining the larger the selection of different dishes.
Most Thai restaurants in Britain offer a variety of set menus, with dishes chosen to balance each other, so that you can experience a traditional Thai meal without too much trouble deciding on how to combine different dishes. Not all dishes in Thai cuisine are spicy; a Thai meal is usually chosen so that a spicy dish is balanced by a more subtle bland one, a fried dish by a steamed one and can often include a salad dressed with a salty spicy dressing of chilies, herbs and fish sauce instead of a spicy curry. Plain grilled meats are served with spicy or sweet chili dipping sauces.
Many meals in Thailand will finish off with some of the wonderful fresh fruit available there; mangos, papaya, melon, grapes, jackfruit and so on, but there are also a variety of desserts based on coconut milk and rice, sweet syrups and egg custards. The rambutan, a tropical fruit related to the lychee, preserved in syrup is a popular dessert.
Most of all a Thai meal should be a wonderful series of tastes, different dishes offering your palate plenty of variety, so that you feel replete and satisfied but not weighed down by your meal.
Thai Cuisine Guide
A flavourful, aromatic and healthy cuisine, Thai food has become popular all over the western world as we have embraced its fresh herbs and spices wholeheartedly. Fresh coriander, leaf and root, galangal, lemongrass, lime leaves and basil along with a variety of chillis, flavour a cornucopia of fresh ingredients cooked simply with great attention paid to the balance of flavours in each dish.
The simple Thai cuisine of the a thousand years ago, which relied on grilling meats over fires, boiling stews and rice in simple clay vessels or putting together salads of fresh, raw ingredients, has been influenced over the centuries by many other cultures and traditions bringing more complexity and new ingredients to make the Thai cuisine we know today.
The Chinese introduced the wok which made stir frying possible and also the use of noodles. Western traders with their use of dairy products in their cooking, started the idea of using coconut milk in curries. It was even the Portuguese traders who introduced the chilli to Thailand from South America, without which modern Thai cuisine would be unrecognizable.
Harmony and balance are the guiding principles of Thai cuisine. A meal should consist of a variety of dishes, some spicy, others less so, with cooling condiments and various textures so that the palate is stimulated but not overwhelmed. The fresh nature of Thai herbs and spices means that, while a curry may be hot, the burn only lasts briefly, unlike the hot dry spices of Indian cuisine. Spicy should be balanced with subtle, sweet with sour. The principle salty seasoning is nam pla, Thai fish sauce, added to most dishes to provide the salty counterbalance, with lime juice to add the sour note.
Far more than in Western cooking, Thai cooking is done by taste rather than measurements. The intensity of a fresh herb or spice can vary, so the right balance of flavours is learned by taste and experience: sour, sweet, salt, and creamy with the heat of spice on top of that have to be balanced by feel to get the flavour just right. If you want to learn to cook Thai food yourself, the best introduction is to sample dishes cooked by expert Thai chefs in your local restaurant, so that you get an idea of the flavour combinations you should be aiming towards.
Thai food is prepared in bite sized portions and in earlier times people would have eaten with their fingers, but nowadays a spoon and fork is laid at the table, the fork used to push the food onto the spoon. No knife is needed at the table as meat is already cut into small pieces. Chopsticks may be used to eat Chinese style noodle dishes.
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view Thai restaurants in Nottingham, Thai restaurants in Derby or Thai restaurants in Leicester
Roast Pepper and Onion Mashed Potato recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant Derby
Roast Pepper and Onion Mashed Potato recipe by Nick Buckingham
A rich and savoury take on mashed potatoes, this version provides a hearty accompaniment to a meat dish with an extra touch of sophistication. The added flavours of roasted pepper and onion bring complexity to this favourite potato comfort food and the cream makes it rich, smooth and velvety. It can be prepared earlier in the day and reheated on the stove if required.
Amount
8 Portions
Ingredients
1 kg / 2lb Potatoes
110g / 4oz Butter
55g / 2 oz / 4 tablespoons Fresh Cream
110g / 4 oz Sweet Red Pepper (cut into thin slices)
110g / 4 oz Onions (cut into thin slices)
Seasoning
Method
Peel the potatoes and cut into large pieces. Put the potatoes in to a pan of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer for twenty minutes until just tender.
Drain well allowing the steam to rise off and then hand mash until smooth, before adding any liquid or butter.
Pan fry the thinly sliced onions and red pepper in the butter until soft. Add to the potato with all the butter and liquid from the pan and beat in with the cream.
Season with care
Reheat when required in pan on stove
Points to Watch
Make sure the consistency is correct. It should be soft and fluffy, but not gluey.
Always mash the potatoes while they are still hot.
Do not add the butter or cream until the potatoes are fully mashed.
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Venison recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant Derby
Venison recipe by Nick Buckingham
Venison is a rich and well flavoured meat, and also happens to be a great low fat option for the gourmet who is trying to eat healthily. Loin of venison is naturally quite tender so doesn’t need marinating. Cook the meat very simply as in the recipe below, with just a little flavour from herbs or lavender flowers. Then serve it combined with the complex flavours of this ragout of wild mushrooms.
Amount
8 Portions
Ingredients
1.5-2kg / 3-4 lb Piece of Loin of venison (completely denuded of all bone, fat, skin and sinew)
1 tsp Lavender Flowers
Seasoning
55g / 2 oz Garlic Butter
Method
Pan fry the venison to your liking in the garlic butter
Dust the meat with the lavender flowers and then roast in the oven for twenty minutes.
Season with care and keep warm until ready to serve.
To Serve
Slice the venison allowing three pieces per person. Arrange them on the plate with ragout of wild mushrooms to accompany.
Point to Watch
Venison can get tough if overcooked or reheated.
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Traditional Roast Duck recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant Derby
Traditional Roast Duck recipe by Nick Buckingham
Roast duck is looked upon as a gourmet dish, but there is nothing complicated about cooking it. If you can get hold of some good Gressingham duck you have the makings of an impressive dinner party main course for very little effort. The succulent rich meat bastes itself, so all it needs is a few herbs and a little seasoning. Served with a port and redcurrant sauce and perhaps the spinach and apple stuffing on the side it makes a wonderful winter meal.
Amount
8 Portions
Ingredients
4 Whole Gressingham Duck
Fresh Thyme
Seasoning
Method
Remove all the pin quills and trim the excess fat from the duck.
Trust the duck with string to preserve its shape.
Rub a little seasoning and thyme all over the duck and roast in the oven for two hours at 180C / 375F in a large roasting tray until the skin is crispy and most of the fat has melted away.
Allow the duck to cool for 15 minutes, then split it in half down the breast and remove the bones apart from wing and leg bone.
Place on a clean tray, season and place in oven to keep warm until serving.
To Serve
Serve with this Port and Redcurrant Sauce
Points to Watch
Do not overcook the duck
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Salmon Teriyaki recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant Derby
Salmon Teriyaki recipe by Nick Buckingham
An extremely simple supper or elegant main course for a dinner party, teriyaki salmon has plenty of flavour but is really easy to prepare and is very healthy too. Make sure that you buy good quality salmon and take care not to overcook it and you can’t go wrong. For extra flavour the salmon can be served with this piquant sauce.
Amount
8 Portions
Ingredients
8 x 110g / 4 oz Salmon Fillets (skinned and boned)
55g / 2 oz / 4 tablespoons Soy Sauce
27g / 1 oz Sugar
Small amount of Japanese Green Horseradish or English Mustard
13g / ½ oz / 1 tablespoon Rice Vinegar
Method
Mix together all the ingredients to make a marinade. Marinate the salmon in the mixture for at least an hour to allow the flavours to penetrate. Turn the salmon in the marinade at least once during the time.
Roast the marinated salmon fillets on a tray in a hot oven for six minutes.
To Serve
Serve on a leaf salad with this piquant sauce.
Points to Watch
Do not over cook the salmon.
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Red Onion Marmalade recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant Derby
Red Onion Marmalade recipe by Nick Buckingham
A mellow red onion marmalade makes a wonderful relish to accompany all sorts of dishes from cold meats, pates and cheese to grilled meats and steaks. Plus it adds zest and flavour to many vegetarian dishes. The marmalade keeps well if bottled in sterilised jars and refrigerated, so you can make a bigger batch and store it until needed.
Amount
1 Pint
Ingredients
4 Red Onions
½ pt Water
¼ pt Red Wine
110g / 4 oz Sugar
Method
Slice the red onions very thinly. Cover with the water and red wine and bring to boiling point. Simmer together until the onions are really soft.
Add the sugar and stir in until it dissolves.
Bring the pan back to the boil and cook at a simmer until the mixture becomes a thin marmalade and no longer looks liquid. Stir regularly once the mixture is reducing, so that the onions don’t stick and burn.
To Serve
Serve in small bowls for people to help themselves or else put a dollop of the marmalade on top of a steak or burger or crostini.
Points to Watch
Ensure the onions are really soft before adding the sugar.
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Ragout of Wild Mushroom recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant
Ragout of Wild Mushroom recipe by Nick Buckingham
A rich autumn dish, redolent of woods and fields, wild mushroom ragout is a real gourmet pleasure when you can get hold of really good wild mushrooms. It is a fine accompaniment to venison and other game dishes and will add interest to otherwise plain grilled meat and chicken. The wild mushroom varieties listed below are ideal, but otherwise use whatever combination of good, well-flavoured edible mushrooms you can find.
Amount
8 Portions
Ingredients
55g / 2 oz Trumpet De mort (wild black mushroom)
55g /2 oz Mouseron Mushrooms (wild fairy ring mushrooms)
55g /2 oz Pierre d Mouton (sheep foot mushroom)
110g / 4 oz / ½ cup Venison Stock
55g /2 oz Butter
55g /2 oz Shallots
55g /2 oz Cream
Chopped Chives
Seasoning
Method
Pick over all the mushrooms, getting rid of any grit and cleaning them well. Drain any excess water from washing the mushrooms buy letting them dry on a kitchen towel before using.
In a pan with a lid melt the butter and soften the shallots. Add the wild mushrooms whole if small or cut in halves or chunks if larger.
Gently fry the mushrooms until starting to soften.
Add the stock and cream. Season with care and then bring to simmering point.
Gently cook until tender. Check the seasoning and add chives before serving.
To Serve
Serve with Venison
Points to Watch
The creamy sauce should not be too runny.
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Port and Redcurrant sauce recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant Derby
Port and Redcurrant sauce recipe by Nick Buckingham
This is a classic thin sauce to accompany any duck dish, the citrus notes and fruit of the jelly complementing the rich meat of duck, while the port adds a gloriously mellow flavour. This sauce would also go well with venison and other game. It’s so full of flavour that you need a fruity, full bodied wine to drink with any dish that you serve this sauce with, otherwise the sauce can overwhelm the wine completely.
Amount
8 Portions
Ingredients
110g / 4 oz Red Currant Jelly
110g /4 oz / ½ cup Port
26g / 1 oz Finely Chopped Shallots
1 lemon (juiced and zested and fine julienne)
2 oranges (juiced and zested and fine julienne)
2 pts Duck Stock
Seasoning
Method
Bring the duck stock to the boil and reduce it by half its volume. Add the red currant jelly and port and stir well. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer together in the sauce for approx five minutes until tender.
Season with care
To Serve
Serve with any duck course, in particular this Roast Duck Recipe
Points to Watch
This is not a thick sauce
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Piquant Sauce recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant Derby
Piquant Sauce recipe by Nick Buckingham
When you want a piquant, slightly spicy sauce to go with fish or chicken, this is the one to choose. Chinese five spice gives a fragrant aroma and just enough heat to make the sauce interesting. Vinegar provides the sour note and the vegetables a savoury base for all the complex flavours to mingle.
Amount
1 Pint
Ingredients
165g / 6 oz Sugar
½ pt Vinegar
110g / 4 oz Red Pepper
110g / 4 oz Onion
110g / 4 oz Celery
110g / 4 oz Tomato
Five Spice
Fresh Thyme
Seasoning
Method
Chop the onion, celery and red pepper quite finely. Peel the tomatoes and dice them. In a heavy based pan, cook up all the ingredients and simmer together until the vegetables are soft and tender.
Add a little water to the sauce if it seems too thick.
Pass through a thermomix to make a smooth sauce, or else process through a food processor or food mill.
Strain through a sieve to make sure the sauce is completely smooth.
To serve
Serve with any Fish or this Teriyaki salmon recipe.
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Spanish Desserts Guide
Spain has a rich feast of sweet things in her culinary tradition, so that anyone with a sweet tooth will be in their element exploring the Spanish pastelerias or pastry shops. The Moorish occupation of Spain brought with it the almond tree and also sugar cane and citrus fruit and that influence has contributed hugely to the desserts today, many of which are based on almond pastries and sweet creams. The sweet spices brought over from the Middle East also play a vital role in flavouring pastries and desserts: cinnamon, anis, nutmeg and cloves can all be found adding a special twist to a variety of tarts and biscuits.
When you visit Spain at Christmas there are loads of special biscuits and sweets to sample – the polvorones are rich crumbly almond biscuits that melt in your mouth; mantecados are light crumble cakes with a delicate aniseed flavour There is also the sweet Turron, almond nougat made with honey as a traditional Christmas treat.
Desserts that you will find in Spanish restaurants in Britain use the same traditional ingredients to create an authentic Spanish flavour. Tarts made with sweet almond pastry are very popular, often filled with fruit and topped with a crumble topping.
Dairy based deserts served with a caramel sauce or fresh fruit are an authentic Spanish pairing. Crema Catalana is the Spanish version of crème brulee, with a vanilla infused custard topped by caramelized sugar. Then there is a Spanish flan, which is a set custard that is usually served with caramel sauce but can also be flavoured with orange or strawberries for a delicious dessert.
Churros are long ridged dough fritters, a bit like our doughnuts, popular as a late night snack or even for breakfast in Spain and are served with hot chocolate and topped with sprinkled sugar or honey. They are often sold by street vendors at festivals and cooked in cafes for breakfast, as the Spanish often enjoy a sweet snack at breakfast or mid-morning.
Lemon and orange sorbets make an ideal light ending to a meal, when you don’t feel like a rich dessert and are a popular and refreshing summer end to a meal in Spain.
Besides the ever present almonds there are a variety of desserts that use hazelnuts and walnuts in tarts and custards or combined with chocolate for a richer indulgence. But equally authentic is to finish a meal with some of the summer fruits that proliferate in Spain, either simply eating a ripe peach or apricot or cooking peaches, pears or even figs in wine for a more festive dessert.
What to Drink with Your Tapas
When you’re heading out for a sociable evening of tapas at your local Spanish restaurant, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to deciding what to drink. Spain has a fine selection of wines both red and white, is the home of delectable dry, medium and sweet sherries and also boasts the original Sangria as its favourite summer aperitif.
Sangria has been a popular party drink for years but as a result has got a bad name as a sort of non-descript fruit and wine punch made with the cheapest of wine. But made properly as it is in Spain outside the tourist areas, in homes and at local fiestas, with a good young, unoaked red wine, plenty of fresh summer fruit, a dash of brandy and some freshly squeezed orange and lemon juice, then chilled overnight, Sangria is a wonderfully refreshing and festive drink that goes well with tapas on warm summer nights and when you’re in the mood to celebrate. It should be served with plenty of ice and some of the wine soaked fruit.
Tapas goes really well with the quintessential Spanish aperitif, a sherry from Andalusia. Forget about the image of old aunts sipping a glass of sickly Bristol cream sherry before dinner, sherry or jerez (pronounced hereth) as it is called in Spain is an authentic and delicious choice to accompany tapas as an aperitif or to drink throughout a meal. A good Manzanilla sherry is pale, dry and crisp with a delicate flavour and should be served chilled. Or you could go for the nutty aroma of Amontillado, still dry with plenty of flavour. A more fragrant, heavier dry to medium sherry is the oloroso with its darker colour.
You could start your tapas with one of these dry sherries and then move on to a glass of a sweeter sherry, such as the Pedro Ximenez or Moscatel with dessert if you want to enjoy a whole meal of sherry tastings. Remember though that sherry, being a fortified wine, has a higher alcohol content than wine, ranging from 15% for the lightest to 22%, so if you are drinking it throughout the evening you’ll need plenty of water to go with it.
Spain has a fine selection of red and white wines to choose from and they all go well with tapas. After all tapas originated as a series of snacks to accompany a glass of wine before dinner. Rioja is perhaps the best known Spanish red wine, with full flavour aged in oak and Ribera del Duero is another quality red. Fine white wines from Rueda and both red and white wines from Penedes are also well recognized internationally. Cava is a fine traditional sparkling wine and there are a whole range of modern Spanish wines now being developed with different grape varieties.
Spanish Tapas Guide
Spain’s tradition of tapas has captured the imaginations of people all over the world, so much so that Spanish restaurants in Britain often focus almost exclusively on tapas with just a few main dishes thrown in for good measure. It’s true that what started in Spain as small snacks and appetizers to while away a sociable evening between work and the traditional late dinner hour of 11, have become a small microcosm of Spanish cuisine, allowing people to have tasters of several different dishes and create a whole meal from them.
Tapas started out quite simply as perhaps a slice of ham or a handful of olives to eat with a glass of wine. The name tapas means cover, and popular history says that they evolved from the tradition of covering a glass of wine given to travelers outside an inn with a slice of bread or ham to keep the flies out. Another story has it that Castile’s King Alfonso X made it a law that taverns must serve food with wine to avoid drunkenness. What is also true is that the Moorish occupation of Spain brought many Middle Eastern culinary traditions with it, among them the use of mezze as appetizers.
A selection of tapas in a village bar in Spain can be quite simple, with just a few small bowls of olives, cheese and slices of ham or sausage, but in bigger cities such as Seville and Madrid, specialist tapas bars will serve a whole range of cooked dishes as well. You can sample the whole range of Spanish gastronomy, from the fine hams and sausage products to seafood, dishes of squid, prawns and clams. In the big cities you can bar hop, having a drink and plate of tapas in several different bars and sampling their various tapas specialities before eventually settling down to your evening meal at a restaurant.
This versatile way of eating has translated well to the British restaurant scene, where you can make up a whole meal of varied tapas dishes or choose one or two as a starter before choosing a main dish, perhaps of paella. Tapas suit themselves to long drawn out sociable evenings, where you select a few dishes and then order more as your appetite dictates, but they also work well when you are looking for a light evening meal with plenty of different flavours. Put together a selection that includes some bread and olives, ham and a few cooked dishes such as calamari or meatballs and a vegetable dish like patatas bravas. You will end up with a lightning gastronomical tour of the flavours of Spain, enjoyed in a relaxed and convivial atmosphere that is the secret ingredient of Spanish dining.
Panna Cotta recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant Derby
Panna Cotta recipe by Nick Buckingham
This creamy Italian dessert makes a fine end to a meal, set in moulds and plated surrounded by a profusion of summer berries or any other ripe fruit. Delicately infused with vanilla and orange zest, the texture is smooth and just set; perfect for when you want a satisfying yet subtle dessert.
Amount
8 Portions
Ingredients
1 Vanilla Pod (split and scraped)
1 pt Cream
4 Soup Spoons Rum
8 Soup Spoons Orange Juice and Zest
55g / 2 oz Sugar
4 Leaves of Gelatine Soaked and Squeezed Out
Method
In a heavy based pan, bring the cream, vanilla, rum, orange juice and zest to boiling point, then remove from the heat and infuse over night if possible. If you are making on the day a minimum of one hour to infuse is a must.
After infusion, bring the cream to the boil again slowly with the sugar, so it has time to dissolve. Add the gelatine and stir in well. Strain the mixture through a sieve, pushing as much through as possible so that the vanilla seeds are included.
Cool the mixture over ice, stirring until setting point is achieved. The idea is for the vanilla seeds to be set throughout the mix, rather than just at the bottom of the mould.
Place the mixture in stainless steel moulds and chill until needed.
To Serve
Dip the moulds in hot water to release the panna cotta. Serve with fruit.
Points to Watch
Do not add any more gelatine. The beauty of this dish is in the soft creamy texture.
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Mustard Seed Vinaigrette recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant
Mustard Seed Vinaigrette recipe by Nick Buckingham
If you want to bring a new depth of flavour to a salad and turn green leaves into a rich sensation of flavour then this dressing is the one to go for. Using an orange mustard relish and orange vinegar it has a slightly sweet depth complemented by the walnut oil which will work well both with side salads and main dish salads. You’ll find orange vinegar available at good delis and online gourmet stores.
Amount
8 Portions
Ingredients
55g / 2 oz Orange Mustard Relish
55g / 2 oz / 4 tablespoons approx Orange Vinegar
160g / 6 oz / 10 tablespoons approx Walnut Oil
Salt and pepper
Chopped Chives
Method
Combine Mustard, vinegar, oil and mix together well
Then add chives and season
To Serve
Spoon round dish
Points to Watch
Balance of flavour
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Mocha Sauce recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant derby
Mocha Sauce recipe by Nick Buckingham
Thick and delicious this mocha sauce has a number of uses, so even this generous amount won’t last long in the fridge. Pour it over ice cream, use as a filling for a sponge cake or a topping for a dessert, and even stir a spoonful into a cup of coffee, to give it a wonderful mocha richness. Of course the success of the sauce depends on the ingredients; use good dark chocolate and a rich strong coffee for best results.
Amount
1 Pint
Ingredients
1 pt Coffee (fresh strong ground)
160g / 6 oz Chocolate
Method
Make the coffee in a cafetiere. Pour the hot coffee over the chocolate, broken into rough pieces and whisk until smooth. Allow to cool.
Store in fridge until needed.
To Serve
This is a very thick sauce and has many uses - a spoon full in coffee make a mocha coffee, it can be used as a spread or a topping.
Points to Watch
Make sure that all the coffee grounds are strained out
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Spanish Paella
Paella is probably one of the best known Spanish dishes outside Spain and one that you will find in a hundred variations when you visit the country. Basically a rice dish cooked with various meats, seafood and vegetables together in a huge paella pan it has a long history behind it, beginning with the Moorish occupation of Spain.
While the Romans brought irrigation to the Eastern coast of Spain it was the Moors who introduced rice and made it one of the staple crops of the Valencia region. Rice dishes with spices and fish were prepared as part of religious feast days. The name paella comes from the pan that the dish is cooked in, a large shallow frying pan. Paella continued to be a dish cooked for celebrations, rather than an everyday dish. Very often it was cooked in the open air over a fire, on the beach or in the orchards and it came to be traditional for men to be the ones who cooked the paella, much like our barbecues today. Everyone would sit around in a circle and eat directly from the pan, each marking out a pie wedge section for themselves.
Valencia is the original home of paella and many will argue still produces the best paellas today, even though most regions of Spain will have their own version. A genuine Valencian paella will include meat, green vegetables and snails, as well as beans. An authentic mixed paella can include many combinations of seafood and meat, though most often will combine chicken and seafood such as prawns, clams and fish. Tomato, olive oil, paprika and saffron are the other traditional ingredients. The other main variety of paella current today is the seafood paella, with mussels, lobster, shrimp and cuttlefish.
The cooking of Valencian paella differs from the Italian risotto method, in that the meats and vegetables are first sauted, spices added and then the broth poured over and simmered before the rice is added. Other paellas add the rice before the broth, but the main difference from risotto is that the rice is not stirred constantly, but left to simmer with all the ingredients until it is cooked and has absorbed the broth. The crust that a paella develops on the bottom of the pan over an open fire is considered a delicacy and the aroma of toasted rice essential to the flavour.
A paella should rest for five minutes and then be served immediately, so the dish should be prepared freshly to order, which is why it is usually cooked for a minimum of two people and often for a whole group. Expect it to take at least thirty minutes to be cooked for you in a restaurant and much longer if you are cooking it alfresco with a group of friends from scratch and making a whole occasion of it.
Maxine Potatoes recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant Derby
Maxine Potatoes recipe by Nick Buckingham
Beautiful golden discs of overlapping potato slices look elegant and intricate but are actually quite simple to make. You just need a number of individual oven-proof plates to prepare the potato sunflowers on. After that you can prepare them up until the steaming step and then just bake them in the oven immediately prior to serving, so that they are golden and sizzling. Do these potatoes to serve with any plain grilled meat to add interest to the plate and drizzle with a delicate sauce like this Madeira sauce to add extra flavour
Amount
8 Portions
Ingredients
12 Large Potatoes
2 oz Butter
Seasoning
Method
Peel the potatoes and cut them into even cylinder shapes (5cm / 2 inch in diameter)
Slice the potatoes thinly on a mandolin. Butter one 10cm / four inch round oven proof dish per person. Place one potato circle in the centre and start from the outside completing a full circle around the dish overlapping the potato by ½ cm / ¼ inch (looks like a sunflower).
Steam the dishes for four minutes in a steamer or cover with cling film in and cook in a microwave for one minute.
Bake in a hot oven for fifteen minutes until golden brown. Serve immediately.
To Serve
Loosen from edge of dish with large vegetable slice and place on the centre of the plate. This potato goes well with any grilled meat.
Points to Watch
Drain excess water from the dish before placing it in the oven
Season with care
Keep round shape
View Nick Buckingham’s restaurant with one table, book online or call 01332 925 016.
read more of Nick Buckingham’s incredible recipes
Guide to Spanish Cuisine
Spanish cuisine, as we sample it in restaurants in Britain, brings together a wide variety of dishes from the various regions of Spain. Over the centuries Spanish cuisine has stayed close to the land, integrating influences from each culture that has come into contact with it, featuring the freshest of local and seasonal vegetables, with seafood on the coast and pork, lamb and game in the inland regions.
The Roman Empire left its mark with the garlic and olive oil that features throughout Spain, as the preferred staple flavouring of many dishes. Even in those times, Spain was famed for its fine hams and pork products which were exported to Rome along with huge quantities of the olive oil that Spain produced.
The Moorish occupation of Spain from 711 -1492AD left its greatest mark on the cuisine of the southern regions of Spain where the influence was felt the longest. Here almonds and citrus fruits were introduced, with huge groves established, as well as sugar cane and spices like cinnamon, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, sesame and aniseed. The sweet nougats and confectionery of Southern Spain all evolved from this period of history. It was also at this time that rice was introduced to the flat tidal area of Valencia, giving rise to the famed Spanish dish of paella with its hints of saffron from the same Arabic influence.
With the discovery of the New World and Spain being at the forefront of exploration, new foods such as potatoes, tomatoes and peppers were brought back to Spain and wholeheartedly embraced into the cooking traditions of most regions. So a simple bowl of gazpacho soup with its fresh tomato and red pepper, flavoured by garlic and olive oil, really spans many centuries of history and half the world to satisfy our taste-buds.
The renowned Spanish tradition of tapas, snacks and appetizers before a meal, also arrived in Spain from the Middle East with the Moorish occupation. The Spanish sociable character, enjoying long lunches and evenings spent talking with friends over drinks and tapas, before a late meal at 11pm, has meant that tapas have evolved from simple snacks of cheese and olives to a whole range of cooked dishes that can be put together to make up a whole meal if you prefer.
However Spanish cuisine also has a fine tradition of hearty main dishes that are often overlooked in Britain: rich lamb and bean stews, chicken and prawn dishes, fried seafood, sausage casseroles and vegetable stews. To explore the huge variety of regional cuisine you really need to travel to Spain yourself, but you can get a taster of the flavours of Spain from the varied tapas menus of some of our Spanish restaurants at home before you go.
view Spanish restaurants in Nottingham, Spanish restaurants in Derby or Spanish restaurants in Leicester.
Availability at Weekends and Key Times during December – Nottingham
In an effort to make finding those last minute tables a little bit easier, we have created this blog based on the availability of restaurants in Nottingham as of 12/12/09. We shall try to keep this as up-to-date as possible over the coming days…
Availability on the 18th, 19th, Christmas day & Boxing day (subject to change):
108 Grill (British/city centre, Nottingham):
18th (evening) – 7pm or 9pm small groups
call 01159 940 516
1877 (European/city centre, Nottingham):
12th (evening) – limited
call 01159 940 920
Amarone (Italian/city centre, Nottingham):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – 6pm or 9pm+
call 01159 940 813
Archies restaurant (British/Sandiacre, Nottingham):
18th (lunch) – table for 10
18th (evening) – limited
19th (evening) – two tables of 2 at 9pm
call 01159 940 745
Belle and Jerome (Beeston, Nottinghamshire):
18th (lunch) – seating for up to 10 people
18th (evening) – yes
19th (evening) – 10-12 seats available
call 01159 940 779
Bianco (Italian/ Carlton,Nottingham):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – yes
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – yes
call 01159 994 0863
Bluu British/city centre, Nottingham):
Fully Booked 18th/19th
call 01159 940 653
Bombay Bridgford (West Bridgford,Nottingham):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – yes
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – yes
call 01159 994 0985
Chops City Steakhouse (Surf and Turf/ City Centre, Nottingham):
19th (lunch) – limited
19th (evening) – limited
call 01159 994 0935
Chutney (Indian/ City Centre, Nottingham):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – yes
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – yes
call 01159 994 0883
City Spice (Indian/ City Centre, Nottingham):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – yes
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – yes
call 01159 994 0831
Dakota Grill (Steak and British/ Sherwood, Nottinghamshire)
18th (lunch) – under 10 seats left
18th (evening) – yes – early only
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – under 10 seats left
call 01623 220 945
Fat Cat (British/city centre, Nottingham):
Fully booked throughout
call 01159 940 920
Fire and Ice (Anglo/Italian/ West, Nottingham)
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – yes
19th (lunch) – yes
call 01159 940 895
Harts (British/ City Centre, Nottingham):
18th (lunch) – 15 seats left in main restaurant
18th (evening) – 10 seats left at 9:30pm-10pm
19th (lunch) – private dining only
19th (evening) – 20 at 9.30pm
Christmas Day – Private dining only
Boxing Day – 4 seats left
call 01159 940 938
Home (British/ Arnold, Nottinghamshire):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – 6.30pm only
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – yes – 6pm-7.30pm only
call 01159 940 814
Iberico World Tapas (Spanish and World Tapas/ City Centre, Nottingham):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – early times and 9.30pm only
01159 940 933
La Tasca Nottingham (Spanish Tapas/ City Centre, Nottingham):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – after 9pm
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – yes
call 01159 940 968
Latino (Italian/ Beeston, Nottinghamshire):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – yes
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – yes
call 01159 994 0812
Le Mistral Nottingham (French/ City Centre, Nottingham):
19th (lunch) – limited
19th (evening) – limited
call 01159 994 0867
Loch Fyne (Italian/ Beeston, Nottinghamshire):
18th (lunch) – limited
18th (evening) – limited
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – yes
call 01159 994 0567
MemSaab (Indian/ City Centre, Nottingham):
18th (evening) – yes
19th (evening) – yes
call 01159 994 0728
Merchants (British/ City Centre, Nottingham):
18th (evening) – yes
19th (evening) – limited
New Years Eve – limited
call 01159 994 0873
Mogal-E-Azam (Indian/ City Centre, Nottingham):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – yes
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – yes
call 01159 994 0628
New Delhi (Indian/ Arnold, Nottinghamshire):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – yes
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – yes
call 01159 994 0815
Pappas (Greek/ West Bridgford, Nottingham):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – only 10 seats left
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – only 10 seats left
call 01159 994 0906
Pretty Orchid (Thai/ City Centre, Nottingham):
18th (evening) – yes
19th (evening) – 7pm only with table required back by 9pm
call 01159 994 0912
The Sanctuary (European/ NG12, Nottinghamshire):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – 9pm onwards only
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – limited
call 01159 994 0147
Shaws (British/Seafood and Tapas/ City Centre, Nottingham):
18th (evening) – 20 seats left
19th (lunch) – yes
call 01159 994 0916
Strada (Italian/city centre, Nottingham):
18th (evening) – Up to 6’s
19th (evening) – Tables of 2’s and 4
call 01159 940 926
Tamatanga (Indian/ City Centre, Nottingham):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – yes
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – yes
call 01159 994 0174
The Living Room (British/ City Centre, Nottingham):
18th (lunch) – yes – 1pm onwards only
18th (evening) – yes – 6pm and after 9pm only
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – yes – 9.30pm onwards only
call 01159 994 0978
The Lord Nelson (British/ Burton Joyce, Nottinghamshire):
18th (lunch) – limited
18th (evening) – yes – 6pm and after 9.30pm only
19th (evening) – yes – 6pm and after 9.30pm only
call 01159 994 0120
The Verve Grill (British/West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire):
17th – fully booked
18th (lunch) – fully booked
18th (evening) – fully booked
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – fully booked
XMas (evening) – yes
NYE – Gourmet night
The Wollaton (British/Wollaton, Nottinghamshire):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – yes
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – yes, 7pm particularly
call 01159 994 0036
The Verve Grill (British/Chilwell, Nottinghamshire):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – yes for set menu
Vienna (British/Chilwell, Nottinghamshire):
Fully booked 12th/18th/19th
Woodborough Hall (British/ Woodborough, Nottinghamshire):
18th (lunch) – yes
18th (evening) – yes
call 01159 994 0976
Yamas (Greek Tapas/City Centre, Nottingham):
18th (lunch) – yes
19th (lunch) – yes
19th (evening) – only 10 seats left
call 01159 994 0199
If you are still stuck for ideas – just give us a call on 01159 506 804 or email bookings@godine.co.uk and we will help as much as we can.
Happy Christmas!
The Go dine team
Madeira Sauce recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant Derby
Madeira Sauce recipe by Nick Buckingham
This is an elegant and delicately flavoured sauce that goes well with all meats, from beef to chicken and pork. It is excellent for adding interest to plain grilled meats without overwhelming them. It is quick and simple to make and relies on the flavour of a good Madeira wine for its success.
Amount
1 Pint
Ingredients
1 pt Clear Stock
55g / 2 oz Minced Onion
Sprig of Thyme
Seasoning
Butter
Madeira
Method
Bring the stock to the boil with the onion and thyme and cook at a steady simmer. Reduce the stock by half.
Season and strain the stock back into the pan. Reheat the reduced stock and add Madeira to taste. Finish with butter, when ready to serve, by stirring a generous knob of butter in off the heat to give a shiny glaze to the sauce.
To Serve
Pour over and around the meat and serve immediately.
Points to Watch
The sauce should be bright and shiny
Watch out for the delicate flavour
View Nick Buckingham’s restaurant with one table, book online or call 01332 925 016.
read more of Nick Buckingham’s incredible recipes
Amount
1 Pint
Ingredients
1 pt Clear Stock
55g / 2 oz Minced Onion
Sprig of Thyme
Seasoning
Butter
Madeira
Method
Bring the stock to the boil with the onion and thyme and cook at a steady simmer. Reduce the stock by half.
Season and strain the stock back into the pan. Reheat the reduced stock and add Madeira to taste. Finish with butter, when ready to serve, by stirring a generous knob of butter in off the heat to give a shiny glaze to the sauce.
To Serve
Pour over and around the meat and serve immediately.
Points to Watch
The sauce should be bright and shiny
Watch out for the delicate flavour
Langoustine Sauce recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant Derby
Langoustine Sauce recipe by Nick Buckingham
A wonderful, well-flavoured, rich and creamy sauce to serve with baked fish or any other seafood dish. This recipe makes a large quantity of sauce, so you may want to halve or even quarter the quantities if you are just cooking for a few people. The sauce can be prepared earlier in the day and refrigerated, then re-heated and finished at the last moment when you are ready to serve.
Amount
2 Pints
Ingredients
1.3kg / 3 lb Langoustine Shells
220g / 8oz Peeled Vegetables – Onions, Leeks, Carrots, Celery (cut into dice)
6 pts Fish Stock
27g / 1oz Garlic Butter
27g / 1oz Flour
Fresh Dill and Dill Seeds
Seasoning
Brandy
¼ pt Tomato Passata
1 pt Cream
Butter
Method
Fry the Langoustine shells, vegetables, dill and dill seed in the garlic butter until golden brown.
Add a dash of brandy.
Add the flour and cook out, stirring for a minute or two. Then pour in the stock and add the tomato passata. Work the sauce stirring until smooth.
Bring the sauce to the boil and reduce the liquid by half. Add the cream and cook at a steady simmer for 10 minutes.
Allow to stand.
Season with care. Strain through a chinois or fine mesh sieve and allow to cool.
To Serve
Reboil to serve, add a knob of butter to finish.
Check for flavour and season
Points to Watch
Make sure the flavour is good and strong.
If sauce has separated, liquidise to bring back to smooth texture before reheating and adding the final knob of butter.
View Nick Buckingham’s restaurant with one table, book online or call 01332 925 016.
read more of Nick Buckingham’s incredible recipes
Juniper and Sloe Gin Sauce recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant Derby
Juniper and Sloe Gin Sauce recipe by Nick Buckingham
Juniper berries and sloe gin make a classic combination of flavour to complement venison. Juniper is already an essential flavouring of gin and the sloes add just enough tart fruit to create a fantastic sauce. If you live near blackthorn filled hedgerow it is easy enough to make your own sloe gin in autumn after the first frosts and the vibrant dark red liqueur can also be used to add flavour to desserts or as an after dinner drink. Otherwise buy your sloe gin ready made from good supermarkets or online.
A mirepoix is the French name for the classic mixture of finely chopped onion, carrot and celery that starts off so many dishes. Use two parts onion to one each of carrot and celery.
Amount
8 Portions
Ingredients
26g / 1 oz Mirepoix
14g / ½ oz Garlic Butter
5 Crushed Juniper Berries
1 pint Venison Stock
14g / ½ oz / approx 2 teaspoons Brown Sugar
14g / ½ oz / approx 1 tablespoon Vinegar
14g / ½ oz / approx 1 tablespoon Orange Juice
26g / 1 oz / approx 2 tablespoons Sloe Gin
Seasoning
Method
Saute the mirepoix gently in the garlic butter until softened along with the crushed juniper berries.
Add the brown sugar and brown it well to extract the nutty flavour.
Pour in the stock, orange juice, sloe gin and vinegar and simmer. Let it reduce until it has a good flavour. Set aside until your venison has cooked.
To Serve
Deglaze the pan in which you have cooked the venison with the sauce, then correct the consistency and seasoning. Strain and serve with the venison
Points to Watch
Ensure well balanced of flavour. If needed add more sloe gin at the last moment.
View Nick Buckingham’s restaurant with one table, book online or call 01332 925 016.
read more of Nick Buckingham’s incredible recipes
Italian pizza guide
Pizza has a long history as a flat bread lost in the mists of time, but the modern day pizza started life as a poor man’s street food in Naples in the 19th century. Sold in slices slathered in tomatoes by street vendors it didn’t take long until the first pizzeria opened, baking pizza in wood fired ovens for customers to eat in the restaurant. By the time Italy’s Queen Margherita visited the Pizzeria Brandi in 1889, pizza was becoming known throughout Italy and the red (tomato), white (mozzarella) and green (basil) pizza created for her to represent the colours of the new Italian flag is still a staple on a pizzeria menu today.
Italian pizzas are a far cry from the stodgy American style pizzas that we so often get as take aways. Always thin crust, they should be baked in wood-fired ovens, where the heat cooks the dough quickly so it is light and crispy. Skilled pizza chefs work the dough swiftly, stretching it out to a thin circle in no time, so that it doesn’t get tough.
There are a huge variety of toppings, some traditional combinations and other modern creative interpretations. Old favourites such as Quattro Formaggi, with four Italian cheeses, Capricciosa, with ham, mushrooms olives, artichokes and egg, rub shoulders with newcomers such as cherry tomato and rucola (rocket) on the menu in Italian pizzerias. Calzones, pizzas folded over to close in the filling which then puff up delightfully as they cook, can be filled with a wide variety of ingredients, from the classic spinach and ricotta combination, maybe with some ham thrown in, to a full on feast of melted mozzarella, ham, salami, artichokes and even egg.
Going out for a pizza in Italy is an informal affair, often with paper tablecloths and beer or coke instead of wine. There are no rules except that the pizza should be crisp and straight from the oven and you can make up your own pizza toppings as you like or go for an old favourite from the menu.
When you’re heading out for a pizza in Britain and want true Italian flavour, look for a restaurant that offers a wood fired pizza oven in the traditional Italian style. Pizza bases should be thin and crisp and the toppings shouldn’t be heaped too high; you want a generous scattering of the good bits like prosciutto, and a thin layer of mozzarella, not a smothering blanket, so that the flavours are well balanced and light.
Taste a real Italian pizza fresh and sizzling from a hot stone in a wood-fired oven in your local restaurant and you’ll never want to order a pizza delivery again.
view the Italian restaurants guide with Go dine:
Italian restaurants in Leicester | Italian restaurants in Nottingham | Italian restaurants in Derby
Hazelnut Bavarois recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant Derby
Hazelnut Bavarois recipe by Nick Buckingham
Light and deliciously creamy, these individual hazelnut bavarois make a wonderful dessert to end a meal on a sophisticated note. More subtle than a chocolate mousse but with the same satisfying texture, they can easily be prepared ahead and chilled until you are ready to serve. Use a good quality hazelnut chocolate to get the best results.
Amount
8 Portions
Ingredients
3 Egg Whites
3 Egg Yolks
½ pt Milk
½ pt Cream
190g / 7 oz Hazelnut Chocolate
80g / 3 oz Sugar
4 Leaves Gelatine (soaked in water)
Method
Bring the milk to boiling point, then add the hazelnut chocolate and gelatine, off the heat, and stir until the chocolate has all melted in.
In the meantime whisk the egg yolks with sugar in a mixer or with an electric beater until they have reached ribbon stage.
Pour the boiling chocolate mix over the whisked egg yolks and stir in well.
Cool down and then add the cream.
Place the bowl over ice and whisk until the mixture reaches setting point.
Whisk the egg whites in another bowl until they form soft peaks.
Remove the chocolate mixture from the ice. Whisk well once more and fold in the whisked egg whites with great care until just mixed in.
Spoon the mixture in to small moulds and set in the fridge until ready to serve.
To Serve
Dip the moulds in hot water for two seconds to release the bavarois and turn out on to a serving plate.
Points to Watch
Bavarois should be very light
View Nick Buckingham’s restaurant with one table, book online or call 01332 925 016.
read more of Nick Buckingham’s incredible recipes
Guide to chosing Pasta at an Italian restaurant
Talk about Italian food and the first thing anyone will think of will be pasta. And when you eat out at an Italian restaurant you’re very likely to choose pasta as one of your courses. Though risotto or soup also make a delicious choice for your primo (first course) it is pasta that has captured the imagination of the world. It is so versatile, comes in an infinite variety of shapes and has almost as many different sauces to go with it, so you could probably eat a different pasta dish every day of the year if you wanted to!
Matching a pasta sauce to a shape that suits it is almost as much an art as cooking the sauce. Certain shapes are especially designed to capture thin sauces in textured surfaces and hollows, while long ribbon pasta shapes like tagliatelle are perfect for wrapping around chunkier sauces, like thick meat ragu made with rich wild boar or venison.
Pasta can be divided into two main types: fresh pasta, made usually with egg and slightly dried before cooking, which includes tagliatelle and fettucine as well as stuffed pastas like ravioli; and dried factory-made pasta in a host of different shapes and sizes.
In Italy, fresh pasta is the first choice for feast days and celebrations. Making your own fresh pasta, especially filled pasta like tortellini, is a labour of love and the excellence of the fresh pasta is the badge of a good family restaurant. Often behind the scenes is a dedicated group of grandmothers, aunts and in laws sitting around a huge table deftly hand-shaping intricate parcels of pasta, filled with ricotta and spinach or a savoury meat mixture, for a wedding or big event. In Britain your fresh pasta is more likely to have been skillfully prepared by the chefs and it is a delicious choice for a first course – you can try ravioli filled with wild mushrooms or with salmon or go for the traditional spinach and ricotta filling with a delicate sauce.
Though considered more the everyday pasta, dry pasta still has an honorable place on the restaurant menu. There are many fine sauces that only work well with dry pasta and would be totally lost in combination with fresh pasta. For example spaghetti aglio olio with a simple but tasty garlic and oil sauce and spaghetti alla carbonara with its creamy egg sauce suit the spaghetti shape and texture perfectly.
Freshly grated parmesan cheese adds mellow flavour to a lot of pasta sauces but doesn’t go well with all of them, so you may want to taste your pasta before automatically sprinkling cheese liberally over your plate. As a rule parmesan complements most meat sauces and many cream and tomato based sauces, but its flavour can overwhelm very delicate sauces and it generally isn’t used on seafood pasta dishes like spaghetti alle vongole (with clams) and some very fresh light sauces are also better without.
view the Italian restaurants guide with Go dine:
Italian restaurants in Leicester | Italian restaurants in Nottingham | Italian restaurants in Derby
Ham Hock and Green Peppercorn Terrine recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant
Ham Hock and Green Peppercorn Terrine recipe by Nick Buckingham
Ham and Christmas go together, with a Christmas gammon featuring high on the list of favourite things to go with the turkey. If you want the flavour of ham without going all out and cooking a whole gammon, these terrines make a great addition to a Boxing Day lunch or New Year’s buffet. Make one for a fine summer picnic centrepiece too and enjoy with salads and a home-made piccalilli.
Amount
1 Terrine
Ingredients
1 Ham Hock
1 Bay leaf
1 Onion
12 Green Peppercorn (crushed)
110g / 4oz Chopped Parsley
Method
Bring the ham hock to the boil in large pan with plenty of water. Add the bay leaf and onion.
Cook at a gentle simmer for two to three hours or until the mustard spoon bone comes out easily with a twist.
Strain, reduce the stock and test for setting and flavour
Allow to cool.
Trim the fat and outside layer of skin and sinewy meat away from the ham hock. Finely chop all the tender meat and fat from ham hock
Bring the stock back to the boil. Add the meat, fat and peppercorns to the stock. Simmer for ten minutes, then allow to cool over ice. When tepid add the chopped parsley. Check for seasoning.
With a spider or slotted spoon strain the meat into a terrine mould and pour some of the stock just to cover the meat. It should be just floating in the terrine moulds. Set in the fridge over night
To Serve
Chill over night in fridge.
When set, demould by dipping the mould briefly in hot water and turning the terrine out onto a serving plate or board. Slice and serve with garnish.
Makes a great accompaniment to Pan Fried Lamb Sweetbreads.
Points to Watch
Make sure the stock is not too salty. If it is, replace some stock with water and add gelatine. This will only happen if the ham hock has been too heavily salted in brine.
The terrine must be well jellied or it will be difficult to carve thinly. Test set the jelly in the fridge first.
If when set the terrine is not carving well, it can be cooked up again to boiling point, adding an extra 1oz gelatine.
View Nick Buckingham’s restaurant with one table, book online or call 01332 925 016.
read more of Nick Buckingham’s incredible recipes
Pan Fried Lamb Sweetbreads recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant Derby
Pan Fried Lamb Sweetbreads recipe by Nick Buckingham
The velvety texture and mild flavour of sweetbreads makes them a real delicacy and they can be cooked in almost any way. Here they are quickly pan-fried to melt in the mouth tenderness and served with a slice of ham hock terrine as an original starter.
All sweetbreads must be carefully prepared for cooking. First soak them in cold water for at least several hours to get rid of any traces of blood. Then blanch them by putting them in a pan of cold water and bringing to the boil. After boiling point is reached they should then be plunged into iced water to cool. (Larger sweetbreads can be simmered for a few minutes before cooling) Trim off any veins, gristle or exterior membrane. Now you are ready to proceed with this recipe.
Amount
8 Portions
Ingredients
8 Sweetbreads (cleaned, picked, poached)
1 Egg (beaten)
110g / 4 oz Breadcrumbs
Seasoning
Butter
Method
Gentle press the sweetbreads: lay them on a clean towel on a tray, in one layer. Place another towel over them and then a second tray. Weigh the tray down with a heavy weight. Leave them in a cool place being pressed for about two hours.
Once they are cool, dip the pressed sweetbreads in beaten egg and then breadcrumbs.
Pan fry on all sides in butter until golden brown.
Season with care
To Serve
Drain on kitchen paper
Serve with Ham Hock Terrine
Points to Watch
All sinew and muscle must be removed
View Nick Buckingham’s restaurant with one table, book online or call 01332 925 016.
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Chosing wine at an Italian restaurant
Italian wine has come a long way in the last thirty years. For example Chianti in Sixties and Seventies Britain was a cheap wine in raffia covered flasks, but it has now grown into a well regulated and finely crafted wine that belongs to Italy’s strictest wine classification DOCG, a guarantee of quality that it shares with only five other big Italian wines: Barolo, Brunello, Vino Nobile, Barbaresco and one white wine, Albana di Romagna.
Italy’s wine growers have refined their grape varieties and wine-making to produce a huge number of world class wines. Italian restaurants in Britain can choose from 450 traditional DOC wines, the six DOCG big players and a growing number of new designer wines, such as Tignanello and Solaia, created for the world market by innovative wine makers in the best growing areas.
When you are choosing an Italian wine to go with your meal in a restaurant, it helps to consider what you will be eating so that the wine can complement your food. The big red wines are delicious but can overwhelm the subtle flavours of a delicate pasta sauce or seafood. They are best matched with a hearty red meat dish or game.
Italy produces a whole range of white wines that go perfectly with antipasti, seafood and light pasta sauces. Smooth, dry Frascati Superiore, rich, fruity Pinot Grigio, or crisp and elegant Gavi di Gavi are but a few of the whites you could choose to start with.
If you prefer red wine and want to choose one to go throughout the meal, a medium bodied Valpolicella or Chianti Classico can take you from a full-flavoured tomato based pasta dish through to a main meat course, working well with both.
To drink the big red wines like Barolo, Amarone Classico or Brunello di Montalcino, if makes sense to choose a main course of red meat or game which will complement the rich aged flavours of those wines. Select a white wine to accompany your antipasto and primo and then experience how well Italian food and wine go together as your Brunello is effortlessly complemented by the rich taste of a perfectly cooked steak or a venison casserole.
Ask your wine waiter for suggestions and enjoy a taste exploration of Italy through its wines, trying a different one each time you eat out, with so many subtle flavours and different grape varieties, and plenty of very different wine producing regions it will be a satisfying journey that you’ll keep coming back to.
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Chosing a meal at an Italian restaurant
Nobody really needs a guide to help them decide whether to order pizza or pasta when they’re eating out, but if you been to Italy and enjoyed eating long and leisurely meals in an excellent trattoria or restaurant, you’ll know that there is more to an authentic Italian meal than just pizza and pasta.
Italians take their food seriously and a meal out will usually be composed of at least three courses: a primo (first course) of pasta, soup or risotto, a meat or fish secondo (main dish) with a contorno (vegetable side dish) or salad, and a dessert. An antipasto is often added at the beginning as a starter for a leisurely weekend meal. On real feast days like New Year’s Eve and Easter you could expect to sit down to a meal that will last several hours going from an antipasto, through two different pastas and a risotto, a fish dish then a meat course, only then reaching dessert and coffee. But somehow even at a huge meal like this, eaten at a leisurely pace with moderate portions, Italian food is still digestible and isn’t heavy.
Eating out at an Italian restaurant in Britain you might not want to go for the full four courses from antipasto right through to dessert, as portions tend to be larger than in Italy and the menu often seems to be chosen to be slightly richer to suit local tastes. However you can still enjoy a balanced and interesting selection of flavours.
Antipasti offer a range of great choices that we often overlook in favor of pasta. A typical antipasto misto of various sliced salamis and hams is full of flavour, a mixed seafood antipasto or, in summer, prosciutto e melone, with salty sweet parma ham contrasting with the sweetness of melon, all these are simple but satisfying.
You could then skip straight to your meat course if you are looking for a lighter meal, but the primi are often too tempting to resist. Fresh stuffed pasta in a creamy sauce, delicately flavoured risotto with wild mushrooms or asparagus or even a simple spaghetti aglio olio, for some these dishes are better than the meat dishes and not to be missed. For a group a good option would be to ask for two or three different pastas to be served as assaggi (tastes) so that you each get to have a small taster portion of a few dishes
In Britain you can often order pasta and risottos as a main course instead of the meat, and this is a good option for vegetarians, but if you are looking for authentic Italian dining then the meat course is a must! If you have ordered a creamy and filling pasta dish, then choose a simple meat dish without a sauce; grilled sword fish or vitello al limone are good suggestions. Try to vary your courses, avoid a tomato pasta dish followed by a meat dish with a tomato sauce and the same applies to creamy sauces.
And to finish a dessert: tiramisu is an Italian classic that has taken the world by storm and many Italian desserts are similarly rich and creamy, like panna cotta which is delicious served with berries.
Of course you can still enjoy Italian cuisine without eating it in the traditional Italian way – many UK restaurants serve Italian cuisine in a modern European format that has moved away from the three course meal you’ll find in Italy still, encouraging you to enjoy the tastes of Italy, fresh local produce and wonderful fresh pasta in more informal style. The choice is yours. Buon Appetito!
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Mushroom Stuffing recipe by Buckingham’s restaurant Derby
Mushroom Stuffing recipe by Nick Buckingham
A tasty black mushroom stuffing that can be used to transform a plain meat fillet into a gourmet delight, as in this recipe for fillet of beef with mushroom and pancetta. Use it to stuff chicken, pork or lamb too and enjoy the deep flavour of mushrooms that is really brought out by this treatment. The stuffing can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated till needed.
Amount
1 lb Mix
Ingredients
450g / 1 lb Black, Paris Browns and Button Mushrooms
110g /4 oz Finely Chopped Onion
55g / 2 oz Garlic Butter
55g / 2 oz White Breadcrumbs
Seasoning
12g / ½ oz Fresh Chopped Parsley
Method
Heat the garlic butter in a frying pan, add the finely chopped onion and sauté gently until the onion is soft and translucent.
Wash the mushrooms ensuring that no sand or grit remains. Slice them finely.
Add the sliced mushrooms to the onions and continue to cook until tender.
Reduce any cooking liquid that is left from the mushrooms.
Add the white breadcrumbs and parsley to the pan and mix well.
Season with care
Allow the stuffing to cool before using.
To Serve
Use this stuffing for any meat
Points to Watch
The stuffing must be cold before stuffing raw meat with a large nozzle
View Nick Buckingham’s restaurant with one table, book online or call 01332 925 016.
read more of Nick Buckingham’s incredible recipes
Guide to Italian Cuisine
Italian cuisine, just like the country, is a rich and varied tapestry with dishes, ingredients and cooking methods varying hugely from region to region. The emphasis in Italy has always been on local food and wine, the closer to home the better, with fresh seasonal ingredients dictating the dishes created. You eat seasonally, with people traveling miles from the big cities to small mountain villages to feast on wild mushrooms and truffles in autumn, family restaurants featuring fresh asparagus or even the delicacy of wild asparagus in spring.
If you’re looking for authentic Italian cuisine in Britain, seek out a family run restaurant that includes some regional specialities on their menu rather than just a range of anglicized pasta and meat dishes. If you’ve seen the movie Big Night with Stanley Tucci, you’ll probably remember the purist Italian chef despairing of his American customers, who have ordered meatballs with their spaghetti: “sometimes the spaghetti likes to be alone.” Spaghetti is rarely served with meatballs in Italy, and Italian cuisine has a host of much more subtle flavours than just tomato sauce with everything.
Northern Italy with its wide plains and fertile hills has plentiful dairy and beef in its signature dishes: creamy pasta sauces, parmesan cheese, veal, rich cow’s milk cheeses like gorgonzola and dolcelatte, parma ham and the biggest of red wines Barolo, all come from here. Short grain rice is grown here and many of the wonderful creamy risotto dishes originate in the north.
Central Italy with wild hills and the Apennine mountains was always much poorer than the north and less fertile, supporting sheep but few cattle. Sheep’s milk cheese (pecorino), beans and vegetables, with plenty of game for celebrations, such as wild boar, pigeon, guinea fowl and venison, then wild mushrooms and truffles gathered in the woodlands make up many of the traditional dishes here.
Southern Italy was poorer still, but its extensive coastline has produced a cuisine with plenty of fantastic seafood dishes; tomatoes are another staple creating a rich variety of tomato based sauces, fantastic summer vegetables give a wide variety of marinated and grilled vegetable antipasti; sheep and goat cheese are the dairy staples. In the south you would grate pecorino cheese rather than parmesan over your pasta.
This is of course a simplistic division of the country and there is an infinite amount of variety within each region.
So seek out your local Italian family restaurants that have connection to a specific region of Italy so that you can taste the real flavours of a particular part of their beautiful country.
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Grand Marnier Sabayon recipe by Nick Buckingham
Grand Marnier Sabayon recipe by Nick Buckingham
This light and foamy custard sauce adds a depth of flavour and contrasting texture to citrus based desserts such as this citrus soufflé recipe.
The important thing to remember when cooking sabayon (or zabaglione) is not to let it get too hot or the eggs can end up scrambling. Suspend your bowl over a pot of barely simmering water, without it touching the water and if the eggs look like they are turning grainy remove from the heat and continue to beat until it smoothes out again.
Amount
8 Portions
Ingredients
2 Eggs
2 Egg Yolks
26g / 1 oz Sugar
13g / ½ oz Orange Juice
55g / 2 oz Grand Marnier
Method
Bring water in a bain-marie or pan which fits the bowl you will be using, up to the point of barely simmering. Put the eggs, yolks, sugar and orange juice into a clean, dry stainless steel bowl and start whisking, then put the bowl over the bain-marie and continue to whisk over the heat until it is pale in colour and has reached ribbon stage, when the liquid from the whisk forms a ribbon pattern as you drizzle it back into the mixture
When it is thick add the Grand Marnier and whisk again.
To Serve
Drizzle over or around the citrus soufflé in this recipe.
Points to Watch
Do not overcook
The sabayon can be made ahead of time and re-whipped again if it has gone down.
View Nick Buckingham’s restaurant with one table, book online or call 01332 925 016.
