GIVE ME THE NIGHT
Make your party pop with perfect bites to serve alongside bubbles, from Fiona Smith
CHAMPAGNE AND SPARKLING wines shout celebration, don’t they? While I am definitely of the Lily Bollinger/ Coco Chanel school on the subject, I do think it comes into its own at a party, lifting spirits and adding zest with its bubbles. Luckily for these occasions, Champagne is amazingly forgiving and complementary to so many foods. While you can really narrow down specific varieties to perfect food matches, there are a few classic tricks that work every time with a brut style. Champagne loves fatty foods; the fresh crispness cuts through the fat and balances the mouth so you would not be frowned upon if you sat down to a dinner of fried chicken and bubbles. Be liberal with your butters and oils and choose rich seafood, fatty meats, creamy cheeses and so on. At the same time, Champagne can pair very well with lighter flavours and stands up incredibly well to acid, so acidic fruits such as citrus really zing; a squeeze of lemon will never go amiss or a hint of pickle. It also appreciates salt, loving the saline quality of oysters, so don’t skimp on the seasoning and salty additions such as miso or soy.
MAKES 32-40 BITE-SIZED WAFFLES / PREPARATION 30 MINUTES PLUS PICKLING TIME / COOKING 30 MINUTES At Cuisine, we love the savoury waffles served at Little Culprit, so this is my homage to them. The waffles go soft quite quickly, but you can cook them ahead then reheat, which crisps them up. The toppings are also great on crostini or grilled bread.
FOR THE PICKLED PEACH
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup white wine vinegar
2 firm peaches, peeled and cut into small dice ¼ teaspoon salt Put the honey and vinegar into a small saucepan, heat to dissolve the honey, then cool. Put the peaches into a container with the salt and the vinegar mix and stir well. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 5 days, stirring occasionally.
FOR THE WAFFLES
150g orange kūmara, peeled 75g butter
½ cup wholemeal flour ½ cup self-raising flour ¼ cup cornflour
½ teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon turmeric ¼ teaspoon caster sugar ¼ teaspoon salt 100ml milk 100ml buttermilk
2 medium eggs Cut the kūmara into even pieces and cook in simmering water until tender then drain and mash well. Set aside to cool.
Melt the butter and set aside to cool.
Put the flours, cornflour, baking powder, turmeric, caster sugar and salt in a bowl and mix together, then form a well in the middle.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, buttermilk, eggs and kūmara to make a smooth mixture. Stir this into the dry mix until smooth then gently fold in the butter.
Heat a waffle iron to a medium setting. The shape of your waffle iron will determine how much batter you put in: for a deep 4 x square iron I used 2 tablespoons per square and made 2 waffles; for a shallow, round waffle maker I used 3 tablespoons and made 5 waffles. The cooking time will also vary, approximately 6 minutes for a deep waffle and 4 minutes for a thinner one, but test the first one to see that the batter is cooked through and they are nice and browned.
TO SERVE
150g chèvre-style goat’s cheese
100g crème fraîche
100g pancetta selection of soft herbs (I used chervil, baby basil and nasturtium) Warm the waffles in the oven at 180℃ for 5 minutes to crisp up. Put the goat’s cheese and crème fraîche in a mixer and whisk together until smooth (you may want to add a splash of milk if your cheese is a firmer style).
Cook the pancetta in a frying pan until crisp and drain on paper towels.
To serve, cut the waffles into bite-sized pieces and top each with a little cheese, peach, pancetta and a few herbs. Grind over some black pepper to finish.