Saturday, 6th March. My friends Ursula & Serge flew over from Bradford for a long weekend, ostensibly to celebrate my birthday. They came laden with caviar and truffles, and I admit, candidly, to consuming no fewer than 6 bottles of Russian and Polish vodka, 8 bottles of 1994 Ribera del Duero, 6 bottles of Albariño, 4 bottles of Veuve Cliquot, a bottle of 16 year old Royal Chivas Malt Whisky, between Friday evening and the following Tuesday morning. Oh, and one musn't forget that old bottle of Armagnac found unexpectedly under the stairs!
Discovered Tuesday morning, feeling decidedly seedy, so have decided to go on the wagon for a while - or rather, just a while. It is extraordinary how 'cold turkey' applies to alcohol as it does to narcotics, and have been feeling absolutely rotten, even disgusting, this entire week. Rather like a character from a Bronte novel. One can empathise with Branwell completely. The Tenant of Finca Wildfell . . . .
To overcome this nauseatic state of affairs, have resolved to cook my way through it: feijaoda,
pastas and souffles.
Tonight shall see Rigatoni with freshly cooked baby artichokes. wild asparagus. black truffles flavoured with just a few grams of smoked bacon. Followed by chocolate and Grand Marnier souffles. My old friend Jenny Gucci shall join me and Miguel, and we shall devour the feast whilst watching a new DVD of Les Troyens by Hector Berlioz. (Rumbustious recording from the Met with Tatiana Troyanos - approproately - Jessye Norman, Placido Domingo, Allan Monk and Paul Plishka) Almost four hours of mind challenging stuff that the French critics threw to the chiens over 150 years ago.
The artichoke sauce has been prepared thus:
16 average sized artichokes. Outer leaves removed, keeping about 2 cms of stalk, tops cut off, boiled in filtered water with 3 leeks for 45 minutes. Strained and then reduced by half, added to clean, unsalted chicken stock, reduced again to about 2 mugs and put aside. The artichokes in the meantime were steamed over the stock/sauce reduction for approximately 20 minutes. Once cooked, the artichokes must immediately be submerged in extra virgin olive oil with 6 finely chopped cloves of garlic. This can all be done days in advance. At this time of the year, when artichokes are in season, I tend to keep a permanent stock of them on the go; they are very BENEFICIAL and kidney friendly, which is very important to a man in my condition. Dreadnoughts might go forever, but they do nonetheless require careful maintenance.
Best Rigatoni for me is de Cecco, Abruzzo; the one in the blue and yellow packet.
At this point all Hell is let loose.
The Rigatoni takes approximately 14 minutes to cook, which means one has 10 minutes to prepare the sauce and serve up. Once the pasta is in the filtered water, heat up the artichoke stock. Add 3 beaten egg yolks and a generous cube of butter and add to stock. Fold in finely grated fresh Parmesan and one large serving spoon of finely chopped black truffles. Heat without bringing to boil, stirring gently the whole time. A dash of cream might be added, but is not really necessary.
Take 6 artichokes out of the oil and cut them in half. Flash them in a hot iron pan and lay them tidily in heated serving dish. Once the pasta is ready, add to the sauce and stir vigorously so as to ensure the rigatoni is fully coated. Add the beaten egg whites and then place over the artichokes in the serving dish. Sprinkle liberally with finely grated parmesan cheese and place under oven grill for 3 to 4 minutes. For those of us that delight in obsessive truffle over indulgence, drizzle a little truffle oil over the top.
Truffle pate can be bought in jars and is perfect: La Rustichella Tartufi SRL, Frascate.
Servir ¡¡¡ y que aproveche!!!
