Cookery Elisabeth Luard
SPLIT BUNNY, SPLIT VEG
Among the best of the spring crop of culinary offerings, two in particular are more than capable of earning their place in the library as well as the kitchen.
How to Eat a Peach (Mitchell Beazley, £25) by Diana Henry, a writer who needs no introduction to those who relish a well-turned recipe in the footsteps of Elizabeth David, delivers a sumptuous evocation of place, mood and atmosphere through gloriously simple recipes.
The other, a book without recipes in th eMF K Fisher tradition, is Thom Eagle’s First, Catch (Quadrille, £16.99), an equally evocative deconstruction of what goes on in the mind, heart and kitchen of a young chef drawing millennial Londoners to the bar stools around his workspace at Little Duck in Dalston. As he is a vegetarian turned ethical carnivore (my kind of meateater), free-range bunny is on the menu.
Thom Eagle’s way with
a Suffolk rabbit ‘Take your rabbit and lay it out on a chopping board, face down, with the back legs towards you; these you will need, I’m afraid, to dislocate. Place your thumb at the base of the spine and curl your fingers round the front of the thigh, then, bracing the one against the other, pull it sharply towards you with the hip joint as a hinge, and you should hear a crack; repeat with the other leg. Now pick up your knife, the good sharp one, and taking the left leg first, slice neatly through the dislocated joint, working from the top of the hip and down, round the surprising bodybuilder’s strength of their ham, and then out at the groin. Put the left leg to one side, flip the rabbit over, and repeat with the other leg.
‘The shoulders are just a little harder to remove… find the last rib on each side and cut through the flap of skin that joins it to the body, then, putting forefinger and thumb into the space you have made, pull the ribs sharply forward, exposing a clear section of spine. Take your heavy cleaver or more probably your hammer and your knife and cut through…’ And so on. When you have a neat pile of little joints and loin cutlets, pack in a pot, brine overnight and braise the following day.
Roast Split Aubergines with Goat’s Cheese Something a little less challenging and vegetarian from Ms Henry. Good olive oil is key. Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a starter
4 medium aubergines, rinsed Sea salt flakes and freshly ground pepper Extra virgin olive oil 200g soft mild goat’s cheese A little sumac
Roast the aubergines on a preheated baking sheet at 190C/375f/gas 5 for 45-60 minutes, till completely tender. Split each aubergine down the middle so it opens out. Season with salt and pepper, pour over olive oil and spoon in the goat’s cheese. Sprinkle with more olive oil and a little sumac. Serve immediately.
Strawberry and Buttermilk Ice Cream No custard, no heat, says Diana Henry: the result is a lovely, sherbet-like texture. Just in time for the first of our homegrown strawberries. Makes a litre
500g strawberries, hulled and sliced 175g caster sugar; 1 vanilla pod 375ml buttermilk; 115g sour cream Pinch of sea salt flakes
Put the sliced strawberries in a bowl with half the sugar and scraped-out seeds of the vanilla pod and leave to make juice for about 30 minutes. Transfer fruit and juice, with rest of sugar, to a food processor and whizz to a purée. Push through a nylon sieve and mix in the buttermilk, cream and salt. Freeze in the usual way (for full instructions, you’ll have to buy the book).