Another Food Blog

Those Thanksgiving leftovers are usually eaten in turkey and cranberry rolls, remembering that cold turkey needs salt to pep it up. I had one of those, and decided to use the rest in a pie. I made a shortcrust pastry base and a puff pastry top. The former I made myself, the latter was made from a piece of Jus-rol (it takes too long otherwise). I heated a quarter pint of milk with a spoon of cornflour to thicken it, then added a quarter cup of chicken stock and a couple of shakes of Mrs Dash’s mixed herbs. I put the pieces of turkey into this to heat up and simmer a while, then poured it into the pie base, put the top on, sealed it, crimped the edges, made two slits in the middle, and brushed the top with beaten egg.

It had half an hour in a 180 oven, then I let it rest 5 minutes before serving it with sautéed mixed peppers, using the liquid from them as a gravy on the pie crust. It was very good indeed, moist, delicious, and an excellent use for leftover turkey.

I was at a dress-up dinner at Peterhouse, with the boys in white tie and tails or in black tie and dinner jackets, and the girls in long shiny dresses. The dining hall was candle-it and was very atmospheric. We had started the evening on prosecco until called into dinner. After Latin grace we were served with a spiced butternut squash soup flavoured with cinnamon. It was well done, and accompanied by a Peterhouse labeled white, a Chilean Concha y Toro chardonnay.

The main course was roast quail wrapped in bacon and stuffed with spinach and cranberry (brilliant). We helped ourselves to braised beetroot with marjoram (excellent), mangetout and broccoli florets, and Dauphinoise potatoes (delicious). The wine was a Peterhouse labeled red, again a Concha y Toro Chilean, merlot this time.

The pudding was an apple and pear treacle sponge with crème Anglaise. Unusually, I ate it all. The quantities and number of courses were sensible, which I much appreciated. With the coffee and mints came a Peterhouse ruby port, then more of the merlot. Afterwards a few of us sat outside at Brown’s across the road from Peterhouse, and enjoyed cohiba Havana cigars.

I was with a couple of student friends at Cambridge’s Chop House – the original one in King’s Parade, rather than the new St John’s Chop House. There are some new dishes; I hadn’t seen the steak and stilton suet pudding before, or the wild boar chop. I spotted an interesting new starter and ordered it: a pumpkin, leek and honey tart (as you know, I like pumpkin). It was done on puff pastry and tasted gorgeous. Now this is a dish I’m going to make myself to serve to guests pretty soon. I can reverse engineer it and come up with something similar. For my main course I went for the hand-made house sausages, choosing pork & sage with mushroom sauce and horseradish mashed potato. Also very satisfying. We drank a Chilean Reserva Nostros pinot noir from the Casablanca Valley alongside. It was superbly fruity and complex. I think it was 14.5 percent.

Some friends invited me to join them for formal hall at St Edmund’s Hall, Oxford (called ‘Teddy Hall’ by generations of undergraduates). I’d left my black gown in Cambridge so they rustled up a spare scholar’s gown for me to wear. After a glass of wine in the college bar, we trooped across to the Old Dining Hall, which dates from 1659 (the college itself dates from 1287). After Latin grace we began with melon, fresh and crisp, followed by whitebait, which was similarly serviceable and tasty. The main course of chicken korma was not really to my taste since I rarely eat Indian food, but I picked at it, and by the time dessert came along I was too full. I did, however, enjoy St Edmund’s Chilean sauvignon blanc (12.5 percent) and the college French cabernet sauvignon at 13.5 percent.

After I had spoken to the Philosophy, Politics and Economics Society of St Hugh’s College, Oxford, some of the students too me for dinner afterwards to Gee’s restaurant on Banbury Road. We were seated in the conservatory section, which was light and spacious, even on a winter’s evening. I began with quail’s eggs and celery salt. It’s something I regularly order if I see it on the menu, because it makes a light but very tasty starter course.

I went on to their battered fish and chips for my main course. The fish was Alaskan wild cod, responsibly caught, I trust, and the chips were suitably plump and hand-cut. Good fish, good chips. There was quite a large group of us so we had two wines, a South African chenin blanc called “The War Horse,” and an Argentine Malbec called “La Chamiza.” I sampled both and thought them both really pleasant wines, and good value, too.

It’s the quintessentially American festival, but I’ve celebrated it for many years now, ever since I lived and worked in the US. I was helping to cook for seven people. Non–US people might like to know that it consists of the foods prevalent in the New World , and was originally held by the Pilgrim Fathers to give thanks for their first successful harvest. First course was New England clam chowder. Then I cooked a 12lb turkey with cranberry and orange stuffing, and with sweet potatoes, corn and peas alongside. I had a leg, since I like the brown meat while most others line up for the white breast meat. There was cranberry sauce and gravy.

Finally a pumpkin pie, made with my usual shortcrust pastry (bran added to white flour), and a filling of whipped eggs, goat’s mik, puréed pumpkin, a little sugar, plus cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. It came out perfectly done, and the whole pie, served with fresh double cream, was gone in seconds! Our feast was good, though not on the scale of the US ones…

I revisited the Atrium at 4 Millbank, and ate on the terrace rather than in the inside café as I usually do. It is lighter and more spacious, but the service can be noticeably slower. I was surprised to find how much the food has improved. I began with the scallops with a whirl of potato purée, and found them quite delicious, with a light browning on the outside, but moist and tender inside.

For the main course I chose the goat’s cheese salad on a bed of peppers. It was superb. There was no toast, no pastry base, just roasted peppers with the cheese above, and garnished with pesto and olive oil. Yet again I chose a South African chenin blanc to drink. The quantities on each plate were small, but that’s how I like it, especially at lunch. I really do not like places that try to “add value” by filling the plate with things you don’t want and probably won’t eat. The Atrium seems sufficiently confident to serve small but delicious portions; or maybe I just chose well.

Yes, it’s that time of year. I peeled my pumpkin, cut it into one-inch pieces, brushed them with olive oil and baked for 25 minutes, turning once. I fried some chopped onions, and added them and the pumpkin to half a pint of chicken stock. I added black pepper, a long squeeze of lemon juice, then a level teaspoon of nutmeg, and half that of cinnamon and ginger. When it had simmered nicely, I zapped it in the blender, then added half a pint of goat’s milk, and a generous pour of fresh single cream. So my pumpkin soup came out as spicy as usual, with the back taste of the pepper, but creamier than I usually do. It made a nice change.