By Willie Lebus
I made this stunning Ice Cream over Easter Weekend, and tasting the stunning line up of 2010 Sauternes at Bibendum’s Bordeaux 2010 tasting last week, reminded me that I’d promised to publish the recipe on Bibendum Times.
So here we go…
Vanilla Custard –
So you have to make a vanilla custard. Cheating does not work. …
By Willie Lebus
I’ve just come back from Istanbul and apart from Barcelona, it’s the busiest city I’ve visited in a long time.
Here are a few tips for all you foodie travellers out there.
1 – A long weekend is a perfect amount of time in Istanbul. The weekend is manic and Le Tout Istanbul’s partying.
For the Culture Vultures – I’m no …
by Willie Lebus
Red Wines of the Year – Chateauneuf du Pape Pignan 1989
Almost a dead heat between two extraordinary Chateauneufs: Rayas ‘89 and Pignan ‘89. Pignan wins. I’m told the labels were switched. The Pignan has the truffle gameyness overlayed by oodles of deep golden toasted wild strawberries. It was perfect with some sautéed onglet from the UK’s best butcher: …
By Willie Lebus
I made this last night. I am gagging to eat it again tonight!
Ingredients -
For 3/4 people
6 plump scallops
5 large squid tubes
350 grams fresh king prawn tails
4 large cloves of garlic
2 red chillies
1 green chilli
2 leeks
2 banana shallots
300 grams of young spinach leaves
300 grams asparagus (I know!)
200 grams trimmed French beans (I know)
Nam Pla
Palo Cortado Sherry
White wine
Hoisin sauce
Groundnut oil
Crushed roasted peanuts
Fresh lime juice
The Method – …
By Willie Lebus
You need to be hungry to attempt this. Much better for lunch, otherwise you’ll be up all night. This is a Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning recipe. Allow some time and really enjoy the deeply relaxing aspect of assembling the ingredients and the anticipation of Sunday lunch.
For 7/8 people.
Ingredients -
- Saturday
2 decent oxtails
1/2lbs beef shin
A small piece of saucisson sec or Parma ham hock
10 …
By Willie Lebus
If you have a crab apple tree in your garden, you’re sitting on a gold mine. Ours is a Siberian Crab Apple Tree, that ripens late and the apples have a sticky layer protecting them from greedy predators.
The good news is that the Crab Apple Jelly recipe is easy as pie. Pick your crab apples. Ensure they are clean. Destalk and cut them in …
By Willie Lebus
I’ve been on a non stop cookathon this weekend. It finished with a sensational lamb curry produced from scratch in a couple of hours. The trick is to roast and crush your own spices.
Serves 4
Garam Marsala -
A sprinkle of the following into a large saucepan.
Coriander Seeds
Cardamom Pods
Cloves
Black Peppercorns
Blade Mace
Toss these in the pan until hints of smoke appear, then crush in a machine until …
by Willie Lebus
I am deeply in love with redcurrants. They have an aromatic searingly fresh and original flavour. I was worried that this might be compromised by adding my homegrown red chillies. How wrong could I have been! I couldn’t find any recipes incorporating two of my most favourite ingredients. I made two batches of my jelly: one was quite mild, the other a tad hot! …
(While we were all clearing up after the B Festival Tasting, Willie jumped in his chopper with Raffles strapped to his back, and buzzed his way to Cliveden for some more decadent dining. You know the sort of thing…”Would you like to take your Sauternes before or after the orgy, sir?”…that sort of malarkey.)
I was at wonderful Cliveden on Wednesday …
