- Feb 5, 2025
- 23 min read
Updated: Nov 25, 2025
After Claudia Legge's excellent piece about her great-grandmother, the icon of romance Barbara Cartland, we’ve gone all pink and bubbly. So what better way to celebrate the romantic month of February than by revisiting the gloriousness of her celebrated 1984 book The Romance of Food?
Whether or not you care to acknowledge the 14th of February as anything more than a capitalist invention is neither here nor there, these pages are to be devoured with your eyes, offering sustenance through their humour and gaiety. Both are in short supply at the moment and should be scooped up feverishly.
Wild Duck With Cherries
Ingredients:
2 wild ducks salt and pepper 50g/2 oz butter 150 ml/ pint Madeira 1 (425-g/15-oz) can stoned black cherries 150 ml/z pint stock I tablespoon cornflour 2 tablespoons port 100 g/4 oz fresh cherries for garnish
Instructions:
Set the oven at moderate, 180C, 350F, gas 4. Wipe the ducks, inside and out, with a damp cloth, then truss and season them. Heat the butter in a large, heavy, flameproof casserole and slowly brown the birds on all sides. Pour off the fat and add the Madeira, the juice from the canned cherries and the stock. Cover and cook in the heated oven for about 45 minutes, until the ducks are tender.
Remove the ducks from the casserole and keep them warm. Skim the fat from the gravy in the casserole. Mix the cornflour with the port, then bring the gravy to a boil and gradually stir in the cornflour mixture. Simmer for I minute, stirring constantly. Taste for seasoning and stir in the canned cherries. Serve, garnished with fresh cherries. Serves 4.
Barbara Cartland: Ducks have always played their part in History with the Beyptians who made them a stron oid and of couper the hines Wild ducks when they fly in from the sea at dawn provide sportsmen with some of the most difficult game shots.
Salmon Starter with Green Mayonnaise
Ingredients:
600 ml/1 pint water I small onion, sliced I stick celery, sliced bay leaf juice of i lemon salt and pepper I (225-g/8-oz) piece fresh salmon asparagus tips and cucumber diamonds for garnish
Green mayonnaise
I tablespoon chopped parsley I tablespoon chopped tarragon the leaves from i bunch of 150 ml/4 pint mayonnaise watercress, blanched and salt and pepper sieved
Instructions:
Place the water, onion, celery, bay leaf and lemon juice in a wide saucepan. Season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Carefully lower the piece of salmon into the liquid, cover the pan and poach the salmon for 10-15 minutes, until cooked. Allow the salmon to cool in the poaching liquid. Just before serving drain the piece of salmon and divide it into 4 portions.
To make the green mayonnaise, stir the chopped fresh herbs and watercress purée into the mayonnaise and season to taste. Spoon a little over each portion of salmon and serve, garnished with asparagus tips and cucumber diamonds. Serves 4.
Seafood in a Melon Basket
Instructions:
For a most romantic and delectable starter for two, cut a medium-sized Ogen or cantaloupe melon to form a basket (see photograph). Scoop out the flesh with a ball cutter, mix with 50 g/a couple of ounces of prawns or other seafood and return to the shell. Serve surrounded by ice and garnished with soft fruit.
San Francisco Tomatoes
Ingredients:
4 large tomatoes salt and pepper 300 ml 1/2 pint béchamel sauce (see below) 3 tablespoons mayonnaise I clove garlic, crushed grated rind of ½ lemon I tablespoon chopped parsley 100g/4 oz peeled prawns extra prawns for garnish
Instructions:
Cut the tops off the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds, then sprinkle a little salt in each and turn upside down to drain. Make the béchamel sauce, then add the mayonnaise, crushed garlic, lemon rind, parsley, salt and pepper. Fold in the prawns, then spoon into the tomatoes. Place in a baking dish and bake in a preheated oven, 200C, 400 F, gas 6, for 20 minutes. When removing the tomatoes from the dish, be careful they do not split. Place on individual plates which have a layer of thin béchamel sauce already on them, then place the lids on top of the tomatoes and garnish with extra fresh prawns. Serves 4.
Béchamel Sauce
Ingredients:
225ml/8 fl oz milk I bay leaf 20g/3/4 oz butter I 1/2 tablespoons flour
Instructions:
For the béchamel sauce, gently heat the milk with the bay leaf and bring to the boil. Allow to cool. Remove the bay leaf. Melt the butter, stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add the milk, stirring continuously, until thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Crinoline Lady Cake
Ingredients:
175 g/ 6 oz soft butter or margarine 175 g/6 oz caster sugar 3 eggs 175 g/ 6 oz self-raising flour, sifted few drops of vanilla essence I sugar or porcelain bust of a lady sugar flowers and silver balls for decoration
Icing
175 g/6 oz softened butter 350g/12 oz icing sugar, sifted I¿ tablespoons honey I tablespoon milk Icing 2 teaspoons lemon juice, or to taste (optional) few drops of food colouring of your choice.
Instructions:
Set the oven at moderate, 180C, 350 F, gas 4. Lightly grease a 900-ml/17-pint ovenproof glass pudding basin. Cream the butter or margarine and sugar until smooth. Gradually beat in the eggs, then fold in the flour and vanilla essence. Spoon the mixture into the basin, level the top and bake in the heated oven until golden brown and firm to the touch, 25-30 minutes. Turn out the cake and cool on a wire rack, then slice it across into 3. To make the icing, cream the butter or margarine until smooth, then gradually beat in the icing sugar. Stir in the honey, milk, lemon juice if using, and a few drops of the food colouring of your choice. Sandwich the cake layers together with a little of the icing, then spread a little more on top to attach the sugar or porcelain lady. Put the remaining icing into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe rows of icing over the cake as in the photograph, to resemble a crinoline. Decorate the crinoline with sugar flowers and silver balls. Serves 6.
Summer Splendour
Ingredients:
600 ml/1 pint water 1small onion, sliced 1 stick celery, sliced bay leaf juice of 1 lemon salt and pepper 2 salmon steaks asparagus tips, salmon roe, slices of lime, cucumber diamonds and sprigs of dill for garnish
Herb mousseline
4 tablespoons mayonnaise 4 tablespoons lightly whipped cream 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs salt and pepper lemon juice
Instructions:
Place the water, onion, celery, bay leaf and lemon juice in a wide saucepan. Season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Carefully lower the salmon steaks into the pan, cover the pan and poach the steaks for 10-15 minutes, until cooked. Allow the steaks to cool in their poaching liquid and drain just before serving. To make the herb mousseline mix together the mayonnaise and whipped cream and stir in the chopped herbs. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice, and serve with the salmon steaks. Garnish as shown in the photograph. Serves 2.
Blackcurrant Gâteau
Ingredients:
1 rounded tablespoon cocoa powder I75 g/6 oz self-raising flour 175g/6 oz soft margarine 175g/6 oz caster sugar 3 eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder chocolate buttons for decoration
Filling
225 g/8 oz blackcurrants 3 rounded tablespoons granulated sugar 2 rounded teaspoons cornflour
Butter icing
150 g/ 5 oz butter 275 g/10 oz icing sugar few drops of vanilla essence few drops red food colouring
Instructions:
Do use blackcurrants in their own juice to give an unusual flavour to this exciting gâteau. Preheat the oven to moderate, 180C, 350F, gas 4, and brush a 20-cm/8-in cake tin with melted butter, then line the base with greaseproof paper. Blend the cocoa with 3 tablespoons water in a bowl and add the remaining cake ingredients. Mix, then beat for 1-2 minutes until smooth and glossy. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 25-30 minutes then test by pressing with the fingers. If cooked, the cake should spring back and have begun to shrink from the sides of the tin. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, turn it out, remove the paper and then leave to cool on a wire rack. Cut the cake into 3 pieces horizontally.
To make the filling, remove any stalks and leaves from the blackcurrants, then wash the fruit, drain it well and place in a small saucepan with the granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons water. Bring the mixture to the boil and simmer until the fruit is tender. Blend the cornflour with a tablespoon of water and add to the pan, stirring. Bring to the boil, boil for 1 minute and leave to cool. Spread the blackcurrant mixture over one layer of the cake. Place a second layer of cake on top. To make the butter icing cream the butter and icing sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy, then beat in a few drops of vanilla essence and colour pink with a few drops of red food colouring. Spread half the icing over the cake filling and top with the third cake layer. Place the remaining icing in a nylon piping bag fitted with a medium sized star nozzle and pipe all over the cake. Serves 8-10.
True Love
Ingredients:
I recipe Crème Brulée (see below) 8 passion fruit, scooped out 225 g/8 oz raspberries, puréed, sieved and sweetened to taste
Orange mousse
4 eggs, separated 100 g/4 oz sugar 4 teaspoon cinnamon generous pinch of salt. 450 ml/ 3/4pint milk 15 g/ 1/2oz gelatine 2 oranges 3 tablespoons Marsala or sherry I tablespoon lemon juice 150 ml/1/4 pint stiffly whipped cream
Instructions:
Three-quarters fill 8 heart-shaped moulds or ramekins with the Crème Brulée. Top 4 with the passion fruit flesh, and 4 with the raspberry purée. Make up the orange mousse. First prepare a custard with the egg yolks, sugar, cinnamon, salt and all but 3 tablespoons of the milk. Melt the gelatine in 3 tablespoons boiling water, add to the custard right away and leave to cool. Grate the rind of i orange, and cut the other into julienne strips, then peel both carefully, removing all pith, and cut into wedges. Pour over Marsala or sherry and chill. When the custard begins to set add the lemon juice, orange rind and marinated wedges and lastly add the whipped cream and beaten egg whites. Pour into 4 heart-shaped moulds or ramekins and top with the julienne strips of orange rind. Serves 6.
Crême Brulée
600ml/ pint single cream 200g/7 og caster sugar strip of lemon rind, shredded 2 teaspoons orange flower water 2 teaspoons sifted flour 6 eggs, separated
Bring the cream to a boil with 100 g/4 oz of sugar and the lemon rind, then leave to cool. Beat the yolks of 6 eggs and the whites of 4 in separate bowls. When the cream is cooled put in eggs with orange flower water and the sifted flour. Set it over a low heat, stirring until thick. Put into a shallow fireproof dish. When cold, sift the remaining caster sugar all oxer and put it under a hot grill until it forms a caramel-coloured glaze. Serves 6.
Lemon Shortcake
Ingredients:
Pastry
225g/8oz plain flour 2 eggs yolks 150g/ 5oz butter, in pieces 65g/2 1/2 oz icing sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Filling
300ml / 1/2 pint cream 150ml / 1/4 pint lemon curd home-made if possible
Icing
icing sugar a little lemon juice thinly pared lemon rind and slices and caster sugar for decoration
Instructions:
Sift the flour onto a board, add the butter, icing sugar, egg yolks and vanilla essence, then knead together until a smooth paste. Leave to set in a cool place for i hour. Roll out three 20-cm/8-in rounds flute the edges and prick with a fork all over and bake on baking sheets in a moderate oven, 180C, 350F, gas 4, for 10 minutes. For the filling, lightly whip the cream and fold in the lemon curd. Spread this evenly between the rounds of shortcake leaving, the top bare. Make a white icing with icing sugar, water and add a touch of lemon juice making sure that it is fairly thick, spread it over the top layer and decorate with thinly pared lemon rind, lemon slices and sifted caster sugar. Serves 6-8.
Lobster Amourette
Ingredients:
For each serving
I small lobster I small jar lumpfish roe
Instructions:
This must be one of the simplet and sost astractive ways of serving fresh whole lobster. Simply gorish, as the photograph on page 127 suggests, with heart of lottace and lemon frists, and serve with black of red caviar.
Fleur-de-Lis d' Amour
Ingredients:
2 egg whites 100g/4 oz icing sugar 300 ml/ 1/2 pint green apple sorbet (see below) 300 ml/ pint orange sorbet (see below) 300 ml/ pint strawberry sorbet (see below)
Melba sauce
50g/2 oz sugar I tablespoon Grand Marnier, kirsch or cointreau 150 ml/ pint strained raspberry purée I tablespoon redcurrant jelly
Instructions:
Whip the egg whites lightly in a bowl then add the icing sugar and continue whipping until they are stiff and glossy. Pipe into a lined baking tray in the gas & for 4 hours. Take out when ready and cool for a few minutes. Place a scoop of each sorbet in the petals and then place on individual plates which have already got Melba sauce on.
Decorate as you wish (see photograph for ideas. For the green apple sorbet you will need 150 ml/4 pint water and 75 g/3 oz sugar. Dissolve the sugar in the water over a low heat, bring to the boil and boil for 1o minutes, then add 2 teaspoons lemon juice, and 450g/1 lb peeled and cored cooking apples, partly cooked then puréed. Mix well, allow to cool, then freeze to a mushy consistency. Beat 2 egg whites until stiff, fold them into the apple mixture and freeze again. For the orange sorbet, again put 150 ml/ pint water and 50 g/2 oz sugar, boil together for 10 minutes, then add the grated rinds of 1 orange and 1 lemon and leave until the mixture is cold.
Add the juice of ½ lemon and 2 oranges, strain into a dish and freeze to a mushy consistancy. Then whip 2 egg whites until stiff and fold into the orange mixture and return to the freezer. For the strawberry sorbet, strain 150 ml/ pint of strawberry purée and the juice of { lemon in a bowl, add 150 ml/ pint sugar syrup then freeze. Whip 2 egg whites until stiff and fold into the strawberry mixture. Return to the freezer. To make the Melba sauce, mix the ingredients well together over a low heat until the redcurrant jelly is dissolved, then cool.
Champagne Sorbet
Ingredients:
450ml/ 3/4 pint sugar syrup 1.25 litres/2 pints champagne juice of i lemon I stiffly beaten egg white 50 g/2 oz caster sugar 2 teaspoons honey
Instructions:
Mix the sugar syrup and the champagne and lemon juice in a bowl, put into ice-cube trays and put into the freezer. When it is half frozen, fold in the egg white, sugar and honey, and put back into the freezer to harden. Serve in a soufflé dish, or better still, in chilled glasses. Serves 6-8.
Meringue Hearts
Ingredients:
225g/8 oz raspberries icing sugar 2 egg whites 100g/4oz caster sugar
Decoration
Strips of angelica marzipan or fondant hearts 4 rosebuds I egg white 25g/1 oz caster sugar
Instructions:
Set the oven at very cool, 110C, 225 F, gas 4. Line a baking sheet with nonstick baking parchment. Whisk the egg whites until very stiff, then gradually whisk in the caster sugar. Spoon the mixture, which should be very stiff, into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. Pipe 4 hearts onto the baking sheet. Bake the hearts in the heated oven until crisp and dry, about 2 hours, then leave to cool. Purée the raspberries in a blender until smooth, then press the purée through a sieve to remove the seeds. Sweeten the purée to taste with icing sugar.
For the decoration, dip each rosebud in egg white, shaking to remove the excess, then dip in caster sugar. Allow the rosebuds to dry in a cool place. Cut strips of angelica into arrows, then cut through the shaft of each arrow. Spoon a layer of raspberry purée onto each plate and place a meringue heart on top. Decorate each meringue heart with a rosebud and arrange marzipan or fondant hearts and angelica arrows around the edge of each plate, as shown in the photograph. Serves 4.
Sole Confetti
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon tarragon I sherry glass white wine salt and pepper butter for greasing 3 tablespoons cream I tablespoon chopped parsley I sole I shallot, chopped I medium tomato or 2-3 cherry tomatoes, skinned and sliced 50g/2 oz mushrooms, chopped I small carrot, sliced
Instructions:
Skin and fillet the sole and fold it in half. Then place in an ovenproof dish with the shallot, tomato, mushrooms, carrot, tarragon, white wine, salt and pepper. Cover with buttered greaseproof paper, and cook for 10 minutes in a moderate oven, 180 C, 350 F, gas 4. Remove the fillets and place them in a heated serving dish and keep hot. Meanwhile reduce the stock a little and add the cream. Heat through and spoon over the fish. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. The sauce will look like confetti, with vegetables showing through. Serves 2.
The Duc's Fantasy
Ingredients:
225g/8 oz plain flour pinch of salt 2 tablespoons icing sugar 150g/5 oz butter 4 tablespoons iced water I egg yolk, beaten 225g/8 oz black grapes 225g/8 oz green grapes 300 ml/ 1/2 pint apricot glaze (see below) crystallised grapes for decoration (optional)
Instructions:
Sift the flour into a mixing bowl with the salt and sugar and rub in the butter very gently and lightly until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and beaten egg yolk and work into a dough. Leave to rest for I hour in a cool place. Roll out on a floured board, line a 25-cm/10-in flan ring and bake blind in a moderate oven 180C, 350 F, gas 4 for 20 minutes. Pip the grapes and arrange in the flan case in sections. Spoon warm apricot glaze over and leave to set. Decorate if you wish, with crystallised grapes. Serves 6-8.
Apricot Glaze
Heat 300ml/ 1/2 pint sieved apricot jam and 5 tablespoons water until dissolved.
Coulibiac of Salmon
Ingredients:
225g/8 oz frozen puff pastry, thawed 225g/8 oz cooked fresh salmon 300 ml/z pint mayonnaise 2 hard boiled eggs I medium onion 25 g/I oz butter 225 g/8 oz mushrooms I lightly beaten egg yolk salt and pepper shrimps, samphire, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and lemon slices for garnish 150ml/ pint cream
Instructions:
Nigel Gordon: While the puff pastry is thawing, pound or purée the cooked salmon and mix with half the mayonnaise. Then separate the egg whites from the yolks and chop both finely. Sauté the onion in the butter until soft, add the mushrooms and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Season.
Roll out the pastry into a rectangle 30 x 33 cm/12 x 13 in and arrange the ingredients for the filling in layers, starting with the salmon, the mushrooms and onion next, and finally the egg yolks and white on top. Close up the pastry, folding over the edges from each side, and brushing them with egg yolk to seal.
Shape the coulibiac so that it resembles a fish and decorate with small, overlapping circles of pastry to form scales, securing them and glazing them with egg yolk. Bake in a preheated oven, 200C, 400 F, gas 6, for 45 minutes. Garnish as shown in the photograph. Add the cream to the remaining mayonnaise and serve separately as a sauce.
Jugged Hare
Ingredients:
I hare, jointed, head, liver and blood reserved 2 onions, chopped I carrot, chopped 50g/2 oz seasoned four 25 g/1 oz dripping or lard 150 ml/4 pint red wine I tablespoon redcurrant jelly salt and pepper bouquet garni 50g/2 oz redcurrants, stripped from the stalk blackberries, redcurrants, redcurrant jelly and fluted rounds of courgette and carrot for garnish I tablespoon bramble jelly
Instructions:
Cut all the meat from the bones of the hare. Put the bones and the head into a saucepan, add i of the onions and the carrot and cover with water. Cover, bring to a boil and simmer for 1-12 hours. Strain the stock, then simmer the liver in this stock for 25 minutes and set aside. Coat the hare meat in the seasoned flour. Melt the fat in a frying pan and quickly fry the meat on all sides, until golden. Add the remaining onion and fry quickly. Transfer the onion and meat to an ovenproof casserole. Add any remaining seasoned flour to the frying pan and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute, or until lightly browned.
Stir in the wine, redcurrant and bramble jellies, the sieved liver, the blood and 300 ml/z pint of the stock.
Bring to the boil, stirring constantly; if the gravy is too thick, add a little more of the stock. Season to taste and add the bouquet garni and redcurrants. Set the oven at moderate, 160C, 325 F, gas 3. Pour the gravy mixture over the meat and onion in the casserole. Cover and cook gently in the heated oven until the meat is very tender, 22 3 hours. Remove the bouquet garni and taste for seasoning. Garnish as in the photograph, with blackberries, redcurrants and redcurrant jelly, and a few fluted rounds of courgette and carrot. Serves 6-8.
Normandy Pheasant
Ingredients:
salt and pepper bouquet garni 150 ml/ 1/4 pint double cream carrot juliennes and peas for garnish I 1.5-kg/3-lb pheasant 25g/I oz butter I onion, chopped 1/4 glass brandy or Calvados 150 ml/ pint chicken stock 2 eating apples, peeled and cored
Instructions:
Brown the pheasant all over in the butter in a frying pan. Add the onion and cook until golden, then flame with the brandy or calvados and when the flames subside pour on the stock. Add the seasoning, and the bouquet garni. Cover and put into a moderately hot oven, 190C, 375 F, gas 5 for about 30 minutes or until cooked through. Half-way through the cooking time put the apples into the oven to bake. Remove the pheasant from the sauce and put in a hot place to keep warm, then put the sauce into a liquidiser and blend until smooth and strain it into a clean pan. Add the cream and heat through. Serve the sauce separately, and the pheasant in a deep dish, garnished with the apples, hollowed out and filled with peas and carrot juliennes. Serves 4.
Aylesbury Duck with Orange and Grand Marnier Sauce
Ingredients:
1.75-kg/4-lb Aylesbury duck 2 oranges I tablespoon brown sugar I teaspoon tomato purée 2 teaspoons honey I liqueur glass Grand Marnier orange segments and strips of orange rind for garnish
Instructions:
Roast the duck and carve into slices and keep warm. Break up the bones of the carcass and put with the roasting juices into a casserole with the orange juice and the peel. Then add 2 teaspoons of the sugar, a teaspoon of tomato purée, the honey and the Grand Marnier (or to taste). Allow the casserole to boil for 3-4 minutes then, in a separate saucepan, brown the remaining sugar, add the ingredients from the casserole to it, skim the top and thicken the sauce with flour. Garnish with orange segments and blanched julienne strips of rind. Serve with fine french beans, petits pois, asparagus or courgettes.
Chicken Marengo
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons oil 2 tablespoons butter small roasting chicken cut into serving pieces 100 g/4 oz mushrooms 175g/6 fl oz stock I clove garlic, crushed 17 teaspoons flour 2 large tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and sliced 100ml/4 fl oz dry white wine 2 tablespoons tomato paste salt and pepper mushroom caps for garnish
Instructions:
Melt the oil and butter in a large skillet and cook the chicken pieces in it until almost tender, about 20 minutes. Turn them frequently to make sure they brown all over. Remove the chicken and keep warm. Simmer the mushrooms in the stock in a saucepan for 5 minutes. Then add the garlic and flour to the cooking juices in the skillet, stir well to blend and add the sliced tomatoes and the wine, also 100 ml/4 fl oz of the mushroom stock. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add i tablespoon of the tomato paste, salt and pepper to taste. Return the chicken to the skillet, add the mushrooms and simmer all together for 5 minutes. Garnish with a few of the mushroom caps, topped with the rest of the tomato purée. Serves 3-4.
Chicken with Peaches
Ingredients:
I 2-kg/4-lb roasting chicken I tablespoon butter 2 small onions, sliced 2 medium carrots, sliced 50g/2 oz bacon rashers, chopped I (410-g/ 142-oz) tin peaches 4 teaspoon dried thyme I bay leaf salt and pepper 3 fresh peaches, peeled, stoned and cut in half watercress and parsley to garnish
Instructions:
Roast the chicken in a hot oven, 200C, 400 F, gas 6, until cooked - about I hour. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onions, carrots and bacon and cook slowly for about 15 minutes then add the peaches, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper and cover to cook for a few minutes. Put the whole lot in the liquidiser for a few seconds and adjust the seasoning. Remove the chicken from the oven, carve and cover with sauce. Then garnish with the fresh peaches, watercress and parsley. Serves 4.
Pink Chicken
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Worcester sauce 2 tablespoons tomato purée okra to garnish I 1. .5-kg/3-lb chicken 300 ml/½ pint cream 150 ml/ 1/4pint chicken stock I teaspoon prepared English mustard
Instructions:
First of all boil or roast the chicken until tender. Then slice in pieces, place on a serving dish and keep warm. Meanwhile make the sauce by putting the cream, stock, mustard, Worcester sauce and tomato purée, in a saucepan and bringing it just short of the boil. Mix well and pour over the chicken. Garnish with slices of okra. Serves 4.
Beef Wellington with Lettuce and Tomato Salad
Ingredients:
450g/1 lb mushrooms I large onion 50 g/2 oz butter 300 ml/ pint béchamel sauce (page 22) salt and pepper 5 egg yolks 175g/6 oz mousse de pâté de foie gras (optional) 2 kg/4 lb fillet of beef 225g/8 oz frozen puff pastry, thawed I carrot, a few mushroom caps and watercress sprigs for garnish I beef stock cube 150 ml/ pint water black pepper Wine sauce 150ml/ pint white wine gravy powder
Instructions:
Mince the mushrooms and onion and cook in the butter, then add the béchamel sauce and season well with salt and pepper. Add the egg yolks to the sauce, and continue to cook until thick. Season the beef and roll it in very hot fat until sealed. Allow it to cool and coat with the purée of mushrooms or the mousse de pâté de foie gras (reserving a little for garnish). Cover with the rolled out puff pastry and bake in a moderate oven, 180C, C, F, gas 4 for 50 minutes. Garnish, as shown in the photograph, with fluted rounds of carrot, and watercress sprigs. Pipe the reserved mousse onto the mushroom caps. Meanwhile make the sauce. Dissolve the stock cube in the water, season with black pepper and add three quarters of the wine, then mix the remaining wine with the gravy powder, add it to the gravy also and heat, stirring all the time, until the sauce is fairly thick but you are still able to pour it. Serve with the braised beef. Serves 8-10.
Chicken with Orange Surprise
Ingredients:
I teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon sea salt freshly ground black pepper 1.5 kg/3 lb roasting chicken I tablespoon butter or sunflower oil I onion, sliced 4 thin-skinned oranges I tablespoon cornflour 150 ml/ 1/4 pint orange juice 150 ml/ 1/4 pint cider 2 tablespoons golden syrup 6 wishbones for garnish (see note below)
Instructions:
Mix together the ginger, salt and pepper and rub into the chicken then roast it in oven preheated to 180C, 350F, gas 4 for I hour. Melt the butter and sauté the onion and finely shredded peel of ½ orange until clear. Then blend the cornflour with a little orange juice, add the remainder of the orange juice and the cider. Bring this mixture to the boil, stirring, and then blend in the golden syrup. Remove the chicken from the oven and cut it into slices, place on a serving dish and pour over the hot sauce. Garnish with the remaining oranges, peeled and divided into segments. Arrange the wishbones down the centre of the dish. Note: To prepare the wishbones, scrape all flesh from them, then soak and wash well in a mild bleach solution.
Tournedos Rossini
Ingredients:
I small onion, chopped clove garlic, finely chopped 75 g/3 oz butter 25 g/1 oz flour 300 ml/ pint stock I glass burgundy salt and pepper 4 slices toast, cut in a heart shape 100g/4 oz smooth liver pâté, cut in 4 heart-shaped slices 4 slices fillet of beef, trimmed lightly sautéd button mushrooms, watercress, mange tout peas and slices of lime for garnish
Instructions:
Fry the onion and garlic in 25 g/1 oz of the butter until softened but not too brown, then add the flour and make into a sauce by simmering for 5 minutes or so with the stock and wine. Season to taste and keep warm. Heat the toast gently in a low oven. Dot the tournedos with the remaining butter, season and place under a hot grill for 2 minutes. Turn and grill the other side until cooked to your taste, then remove and put each tournedos on to a piece of toast. Pour over any juices and top with a slice of pâté. Garnish with mushrooms, watercress, mange tout peas and slices of lime. Serve the sauce separately. Serves 4.
Spanish Rhapsody
Ingredients:
5-6 veal escalopes 40-50 g/12 2 oz unsalted butter 25g/1 oz butter I rounded teaspoon curry powder ½ teaspoon paprika 20g/ oz flour Velouté sauce 450 ml/ pint jellied chicken stock 150ml/a pint double cream 2 egg yolks Créole Rice 225g/8 oz long grain rice 50g/2 oz almonds, blanched and split I small pineapple, peeled and sliced red and/or green pepper and cherry tomatoes for garnish
Instructions:
Trim and flatten out the veal, then cut each escalope into three. Gently heat a thick frying pan, drop in the butter and when melted lay in the veal. Sauté gently for 4-6 minutes without allowing them to take colour and lift into the serving dish. Then prepare the velouté sauce: melt the butter and add the curry powder and paprika off the heat and gently cook for a minute or two, then stir in the flour. Draw aside and blend in the stock. Season lightly and stir over a moderate heat until boiling. Boil gently for 3-4 minutes. Then blend the cream with the egg yolks and add this liaison by degrees to the sauce and adjust the seasoning. Reheat the veal and pour over the sauce. Serve with boiled rice into which fresh pineapple and split almonds have been forked. Garnish with strips of red and/or green pepper and whole cherry tomatoes. Serves 5-6.
Noisettes of Lamb with Baby Vegetables
Ingredients:
For each serving
3 small noisettes of lamb baby carrots, mange-tout peas, courgettes, potatoes and asparagus for garnish a little tomato purée (optional)
Instructions:
Nigel Gordon: Grill the noisettes for 5 minutes each side then serve, following our suggestion in the photograph, with a selection of tender new vegetables. You can also, as we have done, serve a reduced tomato sauce or purée in a hollow slice of courgette.
Honeyed Lamb Cutlets
Ingredients:
50g/2 oz raisins 6 lamb cutlets 2 tablespoons oil 2 teaspoons flour juice of 1 lemon 2 teaspoons honey I chicken stock cube 300 ml/ pint water 350g/12 oz long grain rice 6 gherkins, sliced 1 (410-g/14-oz) can apricot halves
Instructions:
Soak the raisins in boiling water for 3o minutes. Meanwhile brush the cutlets on both sides with oil and cook under a hot grill until brown on both sides. Reduce the heat and cook for 15 minutes then keep hot while preparing the sauce. Pour 1 tablespoon fat from the grill pan into a saucepan, stir in the flour, then blend in the lemon juice, honey and stock, made with the 300 ml/ pint water and the stock cube, and stir until thickened. Continue to cook for 3 minutes, stirring all the time. Cook the rice in boiling salted water for 15 minutes, then drain and rinse under hot water and put on a serving dish. Arrange the cutlets on top of the rice and surround with the gherkins and drained apricot halves filled with raisins. Serve the sauce separately. Serves 6.
Gypsy Magic
Ingredients:
25 g/1 oz butter 175g 6 oz watercress leaves and tender stems, finely chopped I onion, chopped 25g/ 1 oz flour 600 ml/ 1/4 pint milk salt and pepper 2 egg yolks 150 ml/ pint cream
Instructions:
Melt the butter in a pan, add the watercress and onion, cover and stew for about 5 minutes. Draw aside and mix in the flour and milk, stirring as you do so, then bring to the boil and add salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes then liquidise or put through a fine sieve. Return to the pan and add the egg yolks and cream which have been mixed together well. Then bring slowly to the boil and serve. Serves 4.
Terrine of Fish
Ingredients:
225g/8 oz skinned and filleted salmon 3 eggs 3 egg whites juice of 1 lemon salt and pepper grated nutmeg 225 g/8 oz scallops, coral removed 275g/10 oz skinned and filleted sole 450 ml/ 3/4 pint double cream 6 tablespoons spinach purée radish roses for garnish
Instructions:
Set the oven at moderate, 180C, 350F, gas 4. Grease a 1. 5-litre/2 1/2 pint terrine or loaf tin and line it with greased greaseproof paper. Cut the salmon into strips and blend in a food processor with 1 whole egg, 1 egg white, a little of the lemon juice and a little salt, pepper and grated nutmeg. When the mixture is very smooth transfer the contents to a mixing bowl and chill over ice or in the freezer while preparing the rest of the mixture. Wash out the bowl of the food processor and blend the scallops with i whole egg, I egg white and a little lemon juice and seasoning. When smooth, chill as before.
Lastly, process the sole with the remaining whole egg, egg white, lemon juice and seasoning. Chill. Transfer the chilled salmon mixture to the bowl of a mixer and beat well using the whisk attachment. Gradually beat in one-third of the cream; the mixture should be very thick. Set aside.
Repeat the operation with the scallop mixture and set aside. Finally, beat the remaining cream into the sole mixture, with the spinach purée. Spoon half the sole mixture into the terrine and spread evenly until level. Spread the salmon mixture on top, then a layer using the remaining sole mixture.
Finally, cover with the scallop mixture. Cover with greased greaseproof paper and a lid or foil. Stand the terrine in a water bath and bake in the heated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Turn out the terrine and serve it hot, with hollandaise sauce (page 102) or butter sauce (page 112) and chopped parsley, or cold with parsleyed mayonnaise. Garnish with radish roses. Serves 6.
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