The Aperitif Guy

We all have dishes we return to regularly. Perhaps they are ones you know so well that their preparation is relatively easy to you, or perhaps you simply love the flavour combinations involved. We have a friend who, when I first met him, would always start a formal dinner with a feuilleté of Bavarian ham and Gruyère cheese. It was delicious. He made it so often that he knew all the pitfalls, all the little tricks and techniques to get the texture of the pastry right, the seasoning properly balanced and could change its entire character by simply adjusting the dressing on the salad garnish. He hasn't done it for a while because he feared he was getting boring, which is a shame. While we might sometimes worry about repeating dishes and menus, I think it's good to have a repertoire of dishes that are reliable and familiar; it takes a lot of stress out of feeding guests.  I think the starters that I use most often are soups. They make everything so easy, because they can be prepare...

In a recent article for Handpicked Harrogate magazine¹, I wrote about how home cooks put themselves under tremendous pressure to cook a turkey "with all the trimmings." It seems that over the last 20 years or so, we have come to expect our seasonal bird to come with a vast array of accompaniments, vegetable dishes and sauces. As far as I can tell, we only seem to have these massive expectations with turkey. Given that most of us will be reducing our Christmas guest-list this year, a 16lb turkey is likely to be too much, anyway, and I thought I'd have a look at alternatives. Chicken Before the advent of battery farming, chicken was considered a luxury meat. The idea that it had more flavour is not down to nostalgia: slower-growing breeds have time to develop more flavour but are, inevitably, more expensive to rear. Having said that, you can be confident they will have had space to roam and a generally better life, especially if you're buying from an independent butche...

Dodine de canard with légumes à la grecque and salad I mentioned a few weeks ago that I love the opportunity to try out new dishes and extend my range as a cook. This winter, a bit of quiet time allowed me to learn how to make the famous French charcuterie dish dodine de canard . This is made from a whole duck that has been boned out, stuffed with flavoursome forcemeat and baked whole. The process takes at least two days, as the duck has to be marinated overnight, when raw, then rested a second night when cooked. Only on the third day or after is it ready to be eaten. Served cold with mild pickles and salad, it makes a spectacular starter at dinner or a tasty main course for a cold lunch. I first saw a dodine prepared on Michel Roux Jr's TV programme some years ago. Although I could never hope to match his talent, I still decided it was something I wanted to try my hand at. I found a blog that reproduced his recipe, and it seemed straightforward enough. Between the recipe...