The question I keep asking myself – can I pull off the first night of Delicious Six …. and what will I cook.
It’s the middle of November as I recall the moment I had excitedly volunteered to host the first Delicious Six at number 53. Let’s face it, I’m not the best cook in the world and with two weeks to go, the thought of cooking something extraordinary quite frankly frightens me. What am I going to cook and where will I find my inspiration. I could easily take the safe road and cook a chilli, one of my favourite dishes and I know everyone will enjoy it. But will it take their breath away and will my friends be in awe of what I have produced – probably not.
It was Wednesday 25th November, I was on my daily commute into London and checking work emails on the train. I’m subscribed to ‘Stylist’ magazine as I like the different features and articles of interest and it makes the usual 40-minute train journey a breeze. So here I am scrolling down when my attention is immediately drawn to the words ‘Special Edition – The Christmas Food Issue’. In an instant, I think to myself, this is it, there must be some out of this world menu that will stand off the page and be my inspiration for the inaugural Delicious Six. And oh did I find the one – if only it was this easy to find a boyfriend – Braised short-rib and truffle buns, by Nuno Mendes, head chef of Chiltern Firehouse. Voila!
So I skim over the recipe, actually I think I was drooling so much over the thought of truffles, that I didn’t really take too much notice of any ingredient and whether I was able to source it or not. I mean between a supermarket, butcher and baker, surely everything is covered, right? So I find myself looking at the recipe for the first time on Sunday night, 3 nights before Delicious Six. Ok, so where does one get truffle paste from and what is preserved lemon? I start googling and much to my horror, there doesn’t appear to be many choices aside from very specialist shops for the truffle paste. My initial thought is, this is London, we have Selfridges, Fortnum and Mason and Harrods, I’ll easily be able to buy what I need if the supermarket doesn’t stock anything. Oh my, was I so wrong!
Monday – 2 days before Delicious Six
It’s Monday, I get to work and nothing is on my mind other than buying the truffle paste as this seems to be the key ingredient. If there is one thing I need to buy, it is the truffle paste. I speak to my colleague as I tell her the plan for Wednesday night and in the afternoon think that I should probably make a few calls before I dash to the other end of the city on my way home. I call Harrods…no, I call Fortnum and Mason…no, I am now panicking, ready to scream in fact – what if I can’t get any truffle paste. I call Selfridges and my worst fear becomes a reality as the lovely man gives me another ‘no’. What now I say, searching for answers and hoping that he has the answer. He tells me they have truffle sauce in stock which should do the job. My limited knowledge tells me he is probably wrong but I listen intently as he brings a jar to the phone and tells me it’s quite thick and not to forget that truffles are very strong so even if I could get the paste, it might be too strong for the recipe? Really? Do I believe this man over the head chef of Chiltern Firehouse who’s recipe quite clearly states 50g truffle paste. I’m in despair, I have my mind so set on this recipe that whatever Selfridges has, I’ll take it as I’m determined to make this work (she thinks nervously).
I leave the office at 5pm and head to Selfridges, scanning the shelves – up and down and across – not scanning once, but twice and three times – I am desperate. But one success almost immediate, I find a jar of preserved lemon which makes me feel a million dollars, but only for a split second. It wasn’t the key essential truffle paste. By the time I turned to the shop assistant, I had also found the jar of truffle sauce – sauce verses paste. A million thoughts are running through my mind as he tells me confidently that the sauce will work, it’s thick and will work nicely with the recipe as truffle can be strong (I’m already sick of hearing this now). So I pay for my goods – not entirely convinced, but I have no choice – and as I turn around, the sight of the Champagne and Caviar Bar catches my eye. Not thinking about truffle at all but more interested in drooling over champagne, caviar and salmon, if only for a moment of an uplift. I start speaking to the man behind the counter and as I was staring at all the delights, it came to me like a magnet, the sight of tubes and tubes of truffle paste in the display cabinet. If ever I could have leaned over and kissed someone, this was the time. I felt the relief and the happiness on my face, it was overbearing and I probably looked like a child who had just tasted my first sweet ever. Yes, I said, I need 50g please. Of course I know that truffle is not cheap, but I didn’t think I would be paying £25 for 25g! I talked to my now ‘Hero’ about what I was cooking and the dilemma I had faced on this quest to find the one essential ingredient. I said goodbye and left walking on clouds en route to the station. Not only do I have the truffle, but also the preserved lemon, everything else can surely be found in the supermarket.
Tuesday – the day before Delicious Six
It’s Tuesday, the day before and in the back of my mind I know that I have to make a brioche dough which needs overnight refrigeration. A quick scan of the recipe tells me I need dough hooks, I don’t have any? Oh Lisa will have some I think, so I see her at the school gates, but no, she doesn’t. That’s fine, I’m sure normal beaters will do the trick and it’s something that I will get on with later this afternoon as I pretty much have everything else under control. I’ll go to the butcher for the meat and supermarket for anything else which should be straight forward – soy sauce, pearl barley, shitake mushrooms, honey, spring onions etc etc. Too easy. In the afternoon I realise that it’s fresh yeast I need, where on earth do I get that from! I Google again, seems ok as bakeries will generally sell it or give it free give if only a small amount. I only need 15g so it shouldn’t be too difficult given the number of bakeries and supermarkets close by. After lunch I drive down to the supermarket to buy all the other ingredients, I’m happily picking everything up I need and then stall at the meat counter as I ask for 1kg beef short-ribs. They don’t have any but it’s not a concern as I was always intending to buy this from the butcher anyway. I ask about the yeast and am told that the baker has gone home for the day and therefore they can’t do anything until tomorrow. Tomorrow? Tomorrow is too late, I need it today, not negotiable. If there was ever a time I am giving myself a coronary, it is over this recipe, why, why didn’t I look at sourcing ingredients over the weekend…grrr. Oh well onwards and upwards as I drive to the butcher, there is a specialist bakery next door so I’m sure I’ll be able to get both yeast and meat in one trip. Oh no, it seems someone has it over me today, the baker is not in until tomorrow morning (I should have worked this out of course, bakers start early morning around 4-5am and finish early afternoon) and the butcher tells me that they always have beef short-ribs but it seems that everyone living in my area has had the same thought over these past few days – are you kidding! He offers me a solution and gives me the number of a butcher 5 miles down the road, I’m now panicked, I call but there is an answering machine so I leave a message of desperation, good luck to anyone if they know what I said. First things first, I need the fresh yeast so call another supermarket 20 minutes away. I am in luck, the baker is still there and it’s fine for me to come now and get some. Another thing sorted, slow work, but small steps are bringing me success – I won’t mention the stress. One thing left, just another essential ingredient, the beef short-ribs. I call my local butcher and explain the situation, completely unfazed he says he can order it this afternoon for collection at 0700 the next morning. My heart is beating too fast to be normal, can I trust him, what if something goes wrong, the supplier doesn’t have any or the truck breaks down in the morning – so many possibilities. I cannot afford for this to go wrong. He reassures me so I go ahead and order. Finally I am home again, I have all the ingredients now organised, it’s just that I don’t have them all with me at this time. Then the phone rings and it’s the butcher I tried calling earlier, he has beef-short ribs but they are frozen and will need to be thawed. What to do, drive 10 miles for frozen or wait for delivery tomorrow morning. I trust my local butcher and decide to wait until tomorrow. It’s on my mind all night. First success is in making the brioche dough tonight, aside from not having dough hooks and fighting with dough going everywhere, so far so good, it’s chilling in the fridge looking happy. What a day, what a night.
Wednesday – the day is here, Delicious Six
I wake with the immediate feeling of getting to the butcher so I jump out of bed and drive down at 0700. My butcher welcomes me with a beaming smile – now there’s another man I could kiss on this quest – and says, you’re here for the beef short-ribs, let me just cut them for you. He tells me how to cook them, tenderly and for a long time on very low heat for the best result. I smile to myself and think, if you only knew my journey so far, but there was too much for me to tell him at this time, I needed to get home. I walked my children to school but not before looking over the recipe again when it dawned on me that I need to cook the barley. Oh no, please tell me this is the last shock I will give myself today. I get home and the production begins, meat in the oven on slow cook, barley on the stove and a last minute check to make sure that finally, I do have every ingredient I need. Yes, thankfully. The rest of the day breezes through, everything is working out nicely and coming together. My friends are arriving at 8pm so I have more than enough time for final preparation and cooking. For the first time this week, panic has subsided and everything is coming together nicely. At 7pm, the buns are all rolled and sitting happily on the tray ready for baking. I have done it, I think. Well they look right, I just need to make sure I cook for the right time and hope, pray that the taste is as awesome and mouth-watering as described. By now, I have butterflies of excitement and the feeling of accomplishment is almost there. I set the table, presentation is everything so I have individual wooden boards with crumpled brown baking paper and I’ll pop a bun onto each one after they have cooked. Looking good JK, I’m feeling quite smug.
Arrival – let’s hope it’s not the Last Supper
My friends arrive in anticipation to see what I’ve cooked. Tonight is going to set the standard so I needed to bring out the big guns and challenge myself which as you will have read, I have. Thankfully I am still standing, and now laughing to myself as I think back to how the week has unfolded, what a comedy act without even trying, big lesson learnt. Must make a note to self: check recipe, check ingredients…. in advance.
Tonight was a huge success, I challenged myself like never before and the joy from this experience (though tense) was a massive uplift to an otherwise miserable year. I felt I had achieved, my friends were genuinely overwhelmed with comments of “I’d eat this in one of London’s top restaurants”. Wow, wow, wow, I did it and all of us can’t wait to the next installment of Delicious Six. RT, get it on.
Recipe to follow.
delicious six 