S T A R T E R S
From La Grotta Ices by Kitty Travers (Square Peg, £18.99); photography by Grant Cornett
plenty of Oz in this handsome, almost Scandistyle book – kingfish and yellowtail crop up many times – but there’s lots of Japan, too. The pages are packed with fresh, not-toointimidating vegetable-based dishes, as well as interesting Asian twists on hearty Euro classics, from sandwiches to gratins. With many dishes featuring only a half-dozen ingredients and a handful of instructions, Cibi takes the fear out of Japanese cooking – and if something like the slow-cooked beef cheek with red wine and hatcho miso is slightly more complicated, the operative word is ‘slightly’. This book is strong on light dishes in particular, and may well transform our lunchtimes. Matt Bielby PLANTED: A CHEF’S SHOW-STOPPING RECIPES Chantelle Nicholson (Kyle Books, £25) Chantelle began her culinary career at The Savoy before moving on to work with Marcus Wareing. Now group operations director for Marcus Wareing Restaurants, co-author of his cookbooks and chef-patron at Tredwells, she’s released her first solo book of plant-based recipes. Through her collection of imaginative, seasonal dishes she explores many culinary uses of fruits and vegetables, inspired by a childhood spent outdoors, growing food. Recipes largely feature everyday ingredients and, although they take home cooking to new levels, their lists of components and methods are largely kept short and simple. Snacks such as beetroot and pine nut tartlets, mains like slow-cooked aubergine with tamarind and white bean purée, and desserts like the fancy lemon meringue tarts will have you achieving restaurant-standard dishes at home. Jessica Carter
BARBADOS CUSTARD THIS IS A LIGHT and not-too-sweet ice cream, with a delicious old fashioned flavour. It’s my signature vanilla and is popular all year, as it’s refreshing in summer yet also excellent served alongside more wintery puddings – I’m thinking of Christmas pudding, in particular. SERVES 4-6
1 vanilla pod 400ml whole milk pinch of sea salt 6 egg yolks 60g sugar 50g raw turbinado (or light brown muscovado sugar) 200g crème fraîche 1 tbsp dark rum
LA GROTTA ICES Kitty Travers (Square Peg, £18.99) A whole book of ice cream recipes sounds a little samey, but La Grotta Ices is immensely entertaining, thanks to the intriguing flavours on offer – pear, myrtle and ginger; sea salt, rosemary and pine nut; cucumber and sour cream – as well as to Kitty herself. She sells her creations out of her Piaggio Ape and travels regularly through Italy and the US, exploring new techniques and flavours. Her passion and humour shine through in the book, as she discusses everything from the smell of papaya (baby sick, apparently) to getting bleeding gums from eating too much kiwi fruit. Little surprise, then, that La Grotta Ices was shortlisted for the Jane Grigson Trust Award – or that we’re going to try making pea pod ice cream next weekend, something we never thought we’d hear ourselves saying. Matt Bielby
1 Split the vanilla pod using the tip of a sharp knife, scrape out its seeds then add both seeds and pod to a nonreactive pan, along with the milk and sea salt. Stir often using a whisk or silicone spatula to prevent it catching. Once the liquid is hot and steaming, whisk the egg yolks and both sugars together in a separate bowl until combined. 2 Pour the hot milk over the yolks in a thin stream, whisking continuously. Return all the mix to the pan and cook over a low heat until it reaches 82C, stirring all the time to avoid curdling the eggs and keeping a close eye on it so as not to let it boil. As soon as your digital thermometer says 82C, place the pan into a sink of iced water. 3 Add the crème fraîche and rum and whisk into the custard. Speed up the cooling process by stirring the mix every so often. Once the custard is at room temperature, scrape it into a clean container, cover with cling film and chill in the fridge. 4 The following day, use a small ladle to push the custard through a finemesh sieve or chinois into a clean container. Reserve the vanilla pod then liquidise the cold custard with a stick blender for a minute. Pour the custard into an ice cream machine and churn according to the machine’s instructions until frozen and the texture of stiff whipped cream, about 20-25 minutes. 5 Scrape the ice cream into a suitable lidded container. Top with a piece of waxed paper to limit exposure to air, cover and freeze until ready to serve.
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