Treat yourself with these great lockdown feasts
In the latest of his home-cooked triumphs, chef Paul Tamburrini brings you his recipes for Caesar salad, fried chicken, and chocolate cake with chocolate sorbet. Enjoy!
Over the past few weeks, chef Paul Tamburrini has been creating fantastic feasts for you to make at home, so you don’t feel you’re missing out during lockdown.
This week’s recipes are a sumptuous three-course meal fit for any table:
Caesar salad with lettuce emulsion
Serves 4-6 starters
4 Romaine lettuce hearts, cut into bitesized bites
200g parmesan shavings
8 fillets of good quality anchovies in oil, halved lengthways
For the bread croutons
1 day-old baguette Extra virgin olive oil Sea salt
For the dressing
1½ cloves of garlic, green germ removed and finely grated
5 fillets of salted anchovies in oil
2 free range eggs
50ml red wine vinegar
2tsp Dijon mustard
240ml grapeseed oil
75g finely grated parmesan
Juice of ½ lemon
½ tsp of Worcestershire sauce
2 drops of Tabasco
Salt and black pepper to taste
For the lettuce emulsion
240g baby gem leaves, green only (washed)
1½ tsp Dijon mustard 200ml vegetable oil
100ml cold water
Table salt
For the bread tuilles
Preheat the oven to 160C – cut 12 very thin slices from the baguette, so you have 2 per person. Place on a baking sheet and drizzle with a little olive oil and season with sea salt and black pepper. Bake for around 8-10 minutes until golden brown and remove from the oven.
For the dressing
Place the garlic, anchovies, egg yolks, red wine vinegar and mustard in a blender and blend until smooth. While the machine is still running, gradually add the oil and water and create an emulsion. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve and correct the seasoning – set aside.
For the lettuce emulsion
Blanch the leaves in lightly seasoned boiling water for 2 minutes. Refresh in ice-cold water and drain thoroughly onto kitchen paper. Place the lettuce along with a pinch of salt and the mustard in a food processor and blend until super smooth. Reduce the speed and slowly add the oil and water a little at a time to create an emulsion. Pass through a fine sieve into a clean bowl.
Serve
Toss the Romaine lettuce in the Caesar dressing and coat evenly, then layer the dressed leaves with the Parmesan shavings, bread tuiles and anchovies so that they are distributed through the salad. Repeat this until the layers are finished. Serve the lettuce emulsion on the side to this wonderfully versatile salad.
Fried chicken
Serves 6
For the brine
600g boneless chicken thighs cut into quarters
120ml buttermilk
6g salt
6g coriander seeds toasted and crushed 3g black peppercorns toasted and crushed
For the flour mix
100b plain flour
25g semolina
2 tsp of fine sea salt
6g coriander seeds toasted and crushed 3g black peppercorns toasted and crushed 2g smoked paprika
1. Mix all the ingredients for the brine in a bowl, add the chicken thighs, cover and chill for 24 hours.
2. Set a wire rack on a baking sheet, drain the chicken thighs from the marinade, strain the marinade through a fine sieve and transfer into a shallow baking dish; set aside. Remove and discard any pieces of onion from the thighs, dredge each peace of the chicken in the season flour and dust off any excess flour so that the pieces are evenly coated. Dip the chicken pieces in the reserved marinade and shake of any excess marinade, then dredge each piece of chicken again in the seasoned flour. Dust off any excess flour and place on a wire rack. Place the chicken pieces in the freezer until ready to fry.
3. Heat 3 inches of vegetable oil in a heavy pot over a medium heat to 165C. Cook in small batches and fry the chicken until golden and crispy, and cook through for around 8 minutes. Transfer the fried chicken to paper towels to drain the excess oil.
4. Serve with creme fraiche and freshly grated lemon zest – season and serve.
Chocolate cake and chocolate sorbet
Serves 4
For the cake
210g butter, plus extra to grease tin 320g good-quality dark chocolate 100g plain flour
80g cocoa powder
4 large eggs
260g caster sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Grease a 20cm square baking tin and line with baking parchment, leaving a slight overhang on each side to act as handles. Grease the parchment with butter.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Sift the flour and cocoa powder together into a small bowl.
3. Using an electric mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar together until the mixture is pale and thick enough to form a ribbon trail when the beaters are lifted (about 7-10 minutes). Carefully fold in the flour and cocoa mixture, using a rubber spatula.
4. Pour in a quarter of the melted chocolate mixture and fold together. Repeat until all of the chocolate is fully incorporated.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the top is firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack.
6. When cool, lift the cake out of the tin on to a board, using the paper handles. Now, using a serrated knife dipped in hot water, cut the cake into slices.
For the chocolate sorbet
50ml milk
75g caster sugar
20g liquid glucose
15g unsweetened cocoa powder 25g milk chocolate, chopped 25g dark, bitter chocolate chopped
1. Put the milk, 200ml water, the sugar, liquid glucose and cocoa powder into a saucepan. Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat, stirring continuously with a whisk. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 2 minutes.
2. Take off the heat, add all the chopped chocolate and whisk for about 2 minutes until fully melted and smooth. Allow to cool.
3. Once cooled, pour the mixture into an ice-cream maker and churn until almost firm. Transfer to a suitable container, seal and place in the freezer until ready to serve. Best eaten within a week of making.
To serve
Melt 20g chocolate and paint a little on each plate (optional). Add a slice of cake. Dust with cocoa powder (optional). Serve with sorbet on the side.