Cooking for Friends

by Gordon Ramsay

  1 pound live mussels

  2 tablespoons peanut oil

  1 tablespoon palm sugar

  2½ tablespoons fish sauce

  5 ounces sugarsnap peas

  3–4 scallions, minced

  handful of fresh basil or cilantro leaves for garnish

  toasted coconut shavings for garnish (optional)

  Lime and coconut rice:

  1½ cups jasmine rice, washed

  1 cup coconut milk, mixed with ¾ cup water

  juice of 1 lime

  2 kaffir lime leaves

  pinch of sea salt

  Curry paste:

  3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

  3 large shallots, roughly chopped

  6–7 large, mild, red chili peppers, deseeded and chopped

  2-inch piece of fresh ginger, chopped

  small handful of cilantro stems, chopped

  1 lemongrass stalk, minced

  2 kaffir lime leaves, minced (or finely grated zest of 2 limes)

  ½ teaspoon ground coriander

  ½ teaspoon ground cumin

  ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

  3–4 tablespoons water

  Put the monkfish pieces into a large bowl with a little seasoning and spoon a few tablespoons of coconut milk over them. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to cook. Wash the mussels; discard any that do not open when gently tapped. To make the lime and coconut rice, put all the ingredients into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cover the pan. Simmer until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid, 8–10 minutes. Without removing the lid, remove from the heat and let the rice steam for 5–10 minutes.

  While the rice is cooking, put all the ingredients for the curry paste into a food processor and blitz to a smooth paste, stopping the machine once or twice to scrape down the sides. If necessary, add a little more water to get a finely ground paste.

  Heat the peanut oil in a deep pan or a wok. Add the curry paste and stir-fry for over low heat just until the paste smells fragrant, 2–3 minutes. Pour in the coconut milk and water mixture, then stir in the palm sugar and fish sauce. Bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

  Tip in the sugarsnap peas, stir, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the mussels and monkfish, cover the pan, and simmer until the mussels have opened and the monkfish is opaque and just cooked through, 2–3 minutes. Scatter the scallions and basil leaves over the top. Serve immediately with the lime and coconut rice, garnished with a sprinkling of toasted coconut shavings.

  Breaded and fried oysters with sauce gribiche

  Crisp breaded oysters are a good choice for those who are averse to eating them raw. I serve mine with sauce gribiche, which is similar to tartar sauce, but with the addition of finely chopped hard-cooked egg. This is great to have with a glass of chilled white wine or Champagne.

  SERVES 4 AS A FIRST COURSE

  Breaded oysters:

  20 fresh oysters

  ½ cup all-purpose flour

  1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten

  ¾ cup Japanese panko bread crumbs

  peanut or vegetable oil for deep-frying

  Sauce gribiche:

  1 extra-large egg

  1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

  1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar

  ½ cup light olive oil

  1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained

  1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

  First, prepare the sauce. Put the egg into a small saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 9 minutes. Drain and cool under cold running water. Peel and halve the egg, then scoop out the yolk into the bowl of a food processor. Mince the white and set aside. Add the mustard, vinegar, olive oil, capers, and a little salt and pepper to the food processor and blitz for a few seconds. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the egg white and parsley. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Spoon the sauce into a serving bowl and set aside.

  Shuck the oysters one at a time: Hold an oyster in a thick, folded towel in one hand and take an oyster knife in the other. Stick the knife through the hinge of the oyster, holding it level, then wriggle the knife from side to side to cut through the strong hinge muscle. Push in the knife and twist up to lift the top shell. Pick out any large pieces of shell, then slide the knife along the bottom shell to release the oyster. Tip the oyster and juice into a strainer set over a bowl.

  Mix the flour with some salt and pepper in a wide bowl. Place the beaten egg in another wide bowl, and the bread crumbs in a third. Toss the oysters in the seasoned flour and shake off any excess. Dip into the beaten egg, then coat evenly with the bread crumbs. Arrange on a plate and set aside.

  Heat 1½ inches of oil in a small saucepan until hot. (A little piece of bread should sizzle vigorously when dropped in.) Fry the breaded oysters in two or three batches until evenly golden brown and crisp. This will take only a few seconds. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Serve immediately with the sauce gribiche.

  Smoked trout pâté with horseradish cream and melba toasts

  This easy, prepare-ahead first course is ideal for entertaining. Make the smoked trout pâté a day ahead and chill it. The melba toasts can be made several days earlier, as they store well in an airtight container. When your guests have arrived, all you need to do is to dress some salad leaves, garnish with cold smoked trout, and bring everything to the table.

  SERVES 4

  Smoked trout pâté:

  8 ounces skinless hot-smoked trout fillets

  ½ cup crème fraîche

  ½ cup heavy cream

  1 tablespoon cream-style horseradish

  squeeze of lemon juice, to taste

  small handful of fresh dillweed, 4 small fronds reserved for garnish and the rest chopped

  For serving:

  8 slices white or brown bread

  8 slices cold-smoked trout

  few handfuls of salad leaves

  Put all the ingredients for the pâté into a food processor and pulse until well mixed. Leave the mixture coarse for a rustic texture. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper, then spoon into individual ramekins or ceramic pots and garnish each with a frond of dill.

  To make the melba toasts, preheat the broiler and toast the bread lightly on both sides. Cut off the crusts, then, holding the toast flat against a chopping board, slide the knife between the toasted edges to split the bread horizontally. Cut the split bread into triangles and arrange untoasted sides up on a baking sheet. Toast under the broiler until the triangles are golden and crisp and the edges have curled slightly.

  Serve the individual pots of pâté with the melba toast and a couple of slices of smoked trout draped over a handful of salad leaves.

  Whiting in piquant tomato sauce

  This is one of the easiest and healthiest ways to cook fish. Make a delicious sauce, place the fish fillets on top, cover, and steam. The sauce can be made in advance, then the fish needs only a few minutes to cook. Saffron rice or crushed new potatoes are ideal accompaniments.

  SERVES 4

  4 whiting fillets, about 5 ounces each

  2 tablespoons olive oil

  1 onion, minced

  3 garlic cloves, minced

  2 anchovy fillets in olive oil, minced

  splash of dry white wine

  ½ cup fish or chicken stock (see Chapter 9) or water

  14-ounce can crushed tomatoes

  pinch of dried red-pepper flakes

  ½ teaspoon dried oregano

  pinch of sugar

  few dashes of hot-pepper sauce

  fresh basil leaves for garnish

  fish and shellfish 87

  Trim the fish fillets to neaten the edges, then remove any pin bones with a pair of kitchen tweezers.

  Heat the oil in a wide, heavy-based pan over low to medium heat. Stir in the onion and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook until the onion begins to soften, 4–6 minutes. Add the minced garlic and anchovy and fry for 1–2 m
inutes longer. Pour in a splash of white wine and let it simmer until the pan is quite dry, then stir in the stock, tomatoes, pepper flakes, and oregano. Let simmer until the tomatoes have broken down and the sauce has thickened, about 30 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding a pinch of sugar and hot-pepper sauce to taste.

  Season the fish fillets with salt and pepper, then lower into the pan of tomato sauce and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Steam the fish over medium heat until it is just firm and opaque, 3–4 minutes.

  Lift the fish out with a slotted spatula. Serve with generous spoonfuls of the tomato sauce and a sprinkling of basil leaves.

  Stuffed bream wrapped with bacon

  Stuffing fish with forcemeat, or in my case sausage, is a classic idea that even featured in Mrs. Beeton’s recipes in the 1800s. I find wrapping the bream with thin slices of bacon not only holds in the stuffing, but also imparts a smoky and savory flavor to the fish.

  SERVES 2

  2 small, whole bream, or similar fish such as porgy (scup), scaled and gutted

  20 slices of bacon

  olive oil for drizzling

  few sprigs of fresh thyme

  4 garlic cloves, skin on, halved

  lemon wedges for serving (optional)

  Forcemeat:

  7 ounces fresh, bulk pork sausage (or pork sausage links with casing removed)

  leaves stripped from a sprig of fresh thyme

  small handful each of fresh flat-leaf parsley and chives, chopped

  pinch of cayenne pepper

  few drops of lemon juice

  Preheat the oven to 425°F. Mix all the ingredients for the forcemeat and set aside.

  Clean the fish and pat dry with paper towels. Rub all over with a little salt and pepper, then stuff the gutted cavities of each bream with the forcemeat.

  For each fish, take 10 bacon slices and lay them out in chevrons on a cutting board, crossing each pair over at the base of its “V.” Put the fish in the middle and wrap the bacon around it to secure the forcemeat, alternating left and right.

  Place the fish in a shallow roasting pan. Drizzle some olive oil over the fish and scatter sea salt, thyme, and garlic halves on top. Bake until the bacon is golden brown and crisp and the fish is cooked through, 25–30 minutes, turning the fish over halfway through the cooking. Serve with lemon wedges, if you like.

  Thai-style fishcakes with sweet chili sauce

  These light and flavorsome fishcakes are so easy to make, and they don’t need to be coated in bread crumbs. Authentic Thai recipes include minced yard-long beans, which you can find in Asian markets and some supermarkets, but tender young green beans make a good alternative, and they don’t require blanching. You can buy sweet chili sauce in the supermarket, but the best one will be the one you make yourself.

  SERVES 4

  8 ounces skinless white fish fillets, such as hake, whiting, or pollack

  8 ounces peeled shrimp, deveined and roughly chopped

  1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste (to make this yourself, see Chapter 3)

  ½ cup coconut milk

  finely grated zest of 1 lime

  small handful of cilantro, minced

  2 tablespoons fish sauce

  1 teaspoon palm or light brown sugar

  2 ounces fine green beans, very finely sliced into rounds (about ½ cup)

  1 scallion, finely sliced into rounds

  2–3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

  peanut or sunflower oil for frying

  Sweet chili sauce:

  1/3 cup sugar

  3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

  1½-inch piece of fresh ginger, roughly chopped

  small handful of cilantro leaves

  3 long, fresh, red chili peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped

  juice of 1 large lime

  1 tablespoon fish sauce

  1 tablespoon light soy sauce

  First, make the chili sauce. Place the sugar in a small, heavy-based saucepan with 3–4 tablespoons of water. Stir to dissolve the sugar, then bring to a boil and boil until the syrup has caramelized to a light golden color, 5–8 minutes.

  Meanwhile, place the garlic, ginger, cilantro leaves, chili peppers, and lime juice in a food processor and blitz to a coarse paste. When the sugar syrup has reached a light golden caramel color, carefully add the wet paste (stand back, because the caramel will sputter and spit). Stir in the fish and soy sauces. Return to a simmer, stirring frequently to dissolve any caramel that has hardened, then immediately take the pan off the heat. Let cool completely before spooning into individual dipping bowls.

  To make the fishcakes, cut the fish into rough chunks, discarding any bones you come across, then put in a food processor with the shrimp. Add the curry paste, coconut milk, lime zest, cilantro, fish sauce, sugar, and a little salt and pepper. Pulse to a rough and sticky paste—don’t over-process the fish—then transfer to a bowl and stir in the chopped green beans and scallion.

  Put the flour into a shallow dish. Divide the fish mixture into 12 or 16 pieces. With wet hands, roll each piece into a ball, then flatten into a round patty and coat lightly with flour. Heat 1 inch of oil in a wide frying pan and fry the fishcakes in batches until golden brown, 1–1½ minutes on each side. As the fishcakes are cooked, drain on paper towels. Serve the fishcakes warm, with the sweet chili sauce for dipping.

  Clams with bacon

  This first course is a regular feature on my pub menus. Serve with crusty bread on the side to soak up the savory juices.

  SERVES 4 AS A FIRST COURSE

  4½ pounds littleneck clams

  2 tablespoons olive oil

  8 ounces slab bacon, cut into thick 1½-inch chunks

  few sprigs of fresh thyme

  splash of dry white wine

  squeeze of lemon juice (optional)

  Wash the clams and discard any that do not shut tightly when gently tapped.

  Place a large, heavy-based pan (with lid) over medium heat. Add the oil, bacon, and thyme and fry until the bacon is golden brown around the edges, 4–5 minutes. Pour off excess fat, if you like. Increase the heat, pour in a splash of white wine, and immediately tip in the clams. Give the pan a shake, then cover. Let the clams steam until they have opened, 3–4 minutes. (Discard any clams that remain closed.)

  Grind some black pepper over the clams and add a squeeze of lemon juice, if you like. You probably won’t need to add salt, because the clams and bacon are already salty. Divide the clams, bacon, and pan juices among warm bowls and serve at once.

  Sea bass with olives, tomatoes, and fennel

  This is a delicious and healthy way of cooking whole sea bass. It takes me back to my younger days, when I worked aboard a luxury yacht as a private chef. I made elegant and sophisticated dishes for the guests, but staff meals had to be quick, easy, and satisfying. Dishes like this one made me very popular among the crew. Serve with new potatoes on the side.

  SERVES 4

  2 whole, small sea bass, about 1 pound each, scaled and gutted

  2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to rub over the fish

  1 large or 2 medium fennel bulbs, thinly sliced

  splash of dry white wine

  10 plum or Roma tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped

  ½ cup sliced black olives

  handful of fresh basil or dillweed, roughly chopped

  Clean the fish and pat dry with paper towels. Score the fish several times on each side, then rub all over with olive oil. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and set aside.

  Preheat the oven to 400°F. Heat the oil in a stovetop-to-oven casserole that is wide enough to hold the fish side by side. Add the fennel and a little seasoning. Sauté the fennel until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Pour in a generous splash of wine, then stir in the tomatoes and olives. Scatter half of the basil over the sauce, then rest the sea bass on top.

  Transfer the casserole to the oven and bake until the fish is just cooked through, 15–20 minutes: It should be opaque at the
thickest part of the flesh. Serve the fish and sauce straight from the casserole.

  Broiled herring with harissa

  Harissa is traditionally made with soaked dried chili peppers, garlic, various ground spices, mint, and olive oil. I prefer to make mine with fresh chilies, sweet roasted red bell peppers, and a splash of vinegar to give the sauce a fresh zing—a perfect contrast to rich, oily fish such as herring. Any extra harissa will keep well in the refrigerator, covered with a thin layer of olive oil.

  SERVES 4

  Broiled herring:

  4 whole herring, scaled and gutted

  olive oil

  1 lemon, thinly sliced

  squeeze of lemon juice

  plain yogurt for serving

  Harissa:

  3 large, fresh, red chili peppers

  1 roasted red bell pepper in brine, drained

  2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

  pinch of saffron strands

  1 teaspoon ground coriander

  1 teaspoon ground cumin

  1 teaspoon tomato paste

  1 teaspoon red-wine vinegar

  3 tablespoons olive oil

  pinch of sugar (optional)

  Lightly score the herring on both sides, then season all over with salt and pepper. Oil a baking sheet and arrange the lemon slices on it in one layer. Place the fish on top of the lemon slices. Drizzle a little olive oil and lemon juice over the fish. Sprinkle with a little more seasoning. Refrigerate while you prepare the sauce.

  Split the chili peppers in half lengthwise and scrape off the seeds. Roughly chop the flesh and put it into a small food processor or blender. Core, deseed, and roughly chop the roasted red bell pepper. Add to the chilies. Put the rest of the harissa ingredients, except the sugar, into the food processor with a little seasoning to taste. Blitz until smooth, stopping the machine once or twice to scrape down the sides of the processor bowl. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding a pinch of sugar as necessary, to balance out the flavor.