THE BARELY COOKING ONE
Don't even THINK about turning the oven on.
THE BARELY COOKING ONE
MENU TO SERVE 6 PEOPLE
HAM BUTTER WITH BREAD AND PICKLES
TOMATOES, ANCHOVIES, GOATS CHEESE AND SAGE OIL
LE TRÈS GRAND AÏOLI
RASPBERRY FOOL
As many of you will have been experiencing here in the UK over the past few days, the weather is rather hot right now. Which is great, don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled. However it does not make cooking easy or appealing, not least cooking for a crowd. WELL GUESS WHAT. I am here to tell you there are a MYRIAD of ways to barely do any cooking and still construct a glorious, impressive and fun Dinner Party.
I think there still exists some old fashioned thinking that cold dishes that are assembled rather than heated are sort of cheating and a bit lazy. Laziness has birthed some of cooking’s best inventions so it is certainly nothing to worry about - I love lazy cooking. Using tricks, leftovers, great ingredients or ready made bits to get around hours of prep is a sensible, practical way of cooking. So that’s what we are here to do today. We are 100% channelling the queen of “I picked this up from the deli” - Ina Garten.
This menu will hopefully inspire you to strip it right back. To boldly invite your friends over and not turn on the oven once. To create a table of delights which requires very few trips to the stove. That’s why I HAVE to call it the Barely Cooking One - because there is a small amount of stove top time. But it’s really negligible and very easy.
One of the nice things about an entirely ambient menu is that it can be served all together. The three savoury dishes on this menu don’t need to be divided into snacks/starters/mains. It’s too hot for that shit. You don’t want to be up and down like a yoyo when it's 30 degrees, so don’t!
My first suggestion for a barely cooked dish is Ham Butter with Bread and Pickles. The gram has gone bonkers for compound butters of late (@thomas_straker is to blame and good on him). A compound butter simply means a flavoured butter. And who doesn’t love Bread and Butter? And Ham? And Pickles? The pickles are the only cooking part too, and you don’t even have to do that if you can’t be arsed, you are more than welcome to just buy them.
Then we come to the staple of the season - a Tomato Salad. Is it a summer party if you don’t have a tomato salad? They are at their peak right now so take the stress off yourself and buy some exquisitely ripe tomatoes and serve with good anchovies, creamy cheese and a fragrant, infused sage oil. It’s a lovely way to do it and requires virtually no effort.
Next we turn to France, a nation that does lazy cooking exceptionally well. Ever heard of Fondue? Ever heard of Salad Nicoise? Yeah. Those guys barely cook. Le Grand Aïoli is a fabulous sharing spread of delicious crudités, a few cooked bits and a heaping vat of freshly made aïoli to dip it all in. It’s like a reverse fondue but with garlicky mayonnaise instead of cheese (ps feel free to do a fondue if you prefer). It’s beautiful and delicious and easy as hell. I’ve been very into my chilled soups recently though too, mastered by the Spanish who are incidentally another nation of devoted lazy cooks ( ever heard of pan con tomate? yeah). Salmorejo is a chilled tomato soup thickened with bread and spiked with garlic and vinegar and is a great and super non-traditional addition to a Grand Aïoli.
Finally we are bringing it back home for pud to our great nation of Britain and we are making a SUPERBLY easy pud; Raspberry Fool. I don’t know why it’s called a fool - perhaps because you’re a fool if you don’t make it. Anyway it’s traditionally made with a stewed fruit that is then chilled and swirled through whipped sweetened cream. Obviously we are skipping the cooking part and just whizzing up the quickest and easiest raspberry coulis to make it instead.
So crack open something icy cold, dust off your chopping board and we can begin to barely cook.
HAM BUTTER WITH BREAD AND PICKLES
One of my favourite cold starters in a restaurant is Rillettes of any kind. Meat like pork, duck or rabbit is briefly cured and then slowly cooked in fat (usually pork or duck fat) and then shredded and preserved in said fat. Served with pickles and wedges of good bread, they are so good but they take AGES. Enter Ham Butter. Soft butter mixed with cooked, shredded ham hock, some spices and some mustard. You. Are. Welcome. Served with quick pickled mushrooms and shallots and some gorgeous bread - this is a showstopper that is almost too easy for words.
Serves 6
For the Pickles
100g baby chestnut mushrooms, quartered
2 shallots, sliced into rounds
A pinch of flakey sea salt
For the brine
150ml rice vinegar
150ml water
30g caster sugar
1 tsp fine salt
1 clove garlic, peeled and bashed
1 tbsp dried dill
1 tsp black peppercorns
6-8 sprigs of dill - 2 whole and the rest finely chopped
For the Ham Butter
150g cooked ham hock, shredded
125g unstalted butter, cubed and soft
¼ tsp gound nutmeg
¼ tsp of ground cloves
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp white pepper
1 tbsp wholegrain Mustard
½ tsp english mustard powder
Lots of salt and Black pepper to taste
A dash of tabasco - optional
Good sourdough baguette to serve
To make the pickles, season the raw mushrooms and shallots with the sea salt and then leave to sit for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, boil the kettle and pour the hot water over to cover the veg and leave for another 5 minutes before draining. This takes away any harsh rawness and softens the mushrooms a little. Meanwhile put the brine ingredients together except for the fresh dill and bring to the boil. When the mix is boiling, take off the heat and pour over the mushrooms and shallots. Add in a couple of sprigs of dill and leave to cool completely. When they are cool mix through the remaining dill that you have chopped and they are ready to eat, but the longer you leave them the tastier they will be.
For the ham butter, pop all the ingredients into a boil and mix thoroughly - this should be easy enough to do with a spatula if your butter is soft. Check the seasoning and chill if you are not using straight away.
MAKE AHEAD -
You can make the pickles up to a week ahead
The butter can be made up to 3 days in advance, just make sure to bring it to room temperature so that it is fabulously spreadable before you serve.
SUBSTITUTIONS -
If you can’t find cooked ham hock, use good quality sliced ham and pulse in a food processor until just shredded.
Mushrooms could also be sliced cucumber or fennel
TOMATOES, ANCHOVIES, GOATS CHEESE AND SAGE OIL
This is one of those dishes that’s mostly assembly and so good for entertaining. The option here is to make an infused sage oil but you absolutely don’t have to if it feels like too much work. I just love the gentle warmth of the sage with the piquant tomatoes, salty anchovies and creamy cheese and sometimes it’s nice to not use basil. This salad is also excellent served on toasted bread as a bruschetta.
For the sage oil
100ml extra virgin olive oil
1 large clove garlic, smashed
15 sage leaves
For the salad
500g mixed tomatoes, sliced
200g goats cheese, sliced
60g tinned anchovies, drained
Juice of a lemon
A small handful of parsley, shredded
Salt and pepper
To make the oil, pop all of the ingredients into a small saucepan on a medium heat. When the sage leaves begin to sputter and sizzle, give it 30 seconds and then remove the oil from the heat and set aside to cool completely. Sage needs to be heated to remove bitterness and impart its flavour so it is important to do this.
When the oil is cold, layer the sliced tomatoes, drained whole anchovies (tinned ones are easier to remove whole) and goat's cheese on a couple of plates, seasoning in between each layer with salt, pepper and squeezes of lemon juice. Remove the garlic and sage from the oil and then stir through the shredded parsley before dressing each plate liberally. Serve immediately.
MAKE AHEAD -
You can make the oil and keep it in the fridge up to 3 days before.
SUBSTITUTIONS -
Goats cheese can be literally any creamy soft cheese - burrata, mozzarella, stracciatella, ricotta would all be gorgeous too.
If you don't want to make the sage oil, leave out the sage and just finely mince the parsley, garlic and some lemon zest in the oil instead for a zingy dressing.
Anchovies are completely optional if you are veggie.
LE TRÈS GRAND AÏOLI
I think calling a dish “le grand anything” is such excellent PR. I am instantly convinced of its grandness and its importance without even really thinking about the sum of its parts. In this case Le Grand Aïoli when you boil it down is literally a bowl of mayonnaise with stuff to dip into it. But done well, ie. with beautiful veg, a gorgeous fresh aïoli and the addition of a punchy salmorejo this is a fabulous way to both avoid cooking and eat a luxurious spread of goodness.
1.5l chicken stock
500g new potatoes
350g cooked chicken or 2 raw chicken breasts
For the Aioli
4 egg yolks
1 tbsp dijon mustard
3 garlic cloves, grated
Juice of 2 lemons, zest of 1
220ml extra virgin olive oil
120ml vegetable oil
Salt to taste
For the Salmorejo
50g sourdough bread, crustless
6 ripe vine tomatoes
½ tsp smoked paprika
1 clove garlic
60ml extra virgin olive oil
40ml sherry vinegar
Salt to taste
To serve - ALL OPTIONAL
1 avocado, sliced
1 fennel, trimmed and sliced
A bunch of leafy radishes
200g sugar snap peas
½ a large cucumber, cut into sticks
1 red chicory, trimmed and leaves separated
1 yellow endive, trimmed and leaves separated
3 eggs, boiled for 7 minutes
300g cooked prawns
If you are poaching your own chicken breasts, lay them in a pan and cover with the cold chicken stock. Slowly bring the pan up to a simmer on a medium heat, then turn the heat right down and leave to blip away gently for 15 minutes before turning off and removing from the heat. Leave the chicken breasts in the stock for another 10 minutes, then remove and leave to cool completely. You can then cook your potatoes in leftover chicken stock or bring them up to a boil in salted water and cook them until they are tender, draining them and leaving them to cool too. The final bit of stove work is to bring a small saucepan up to a boil and then to boil your eggs for 7 minutes. Pop them in iced water as soon as their time is up and then leave to cool before peeling.
To make the aïoli you can either use a food processor which allows you to pour into it, or you can use electric beaters or whisk by hand. Start by whisking together briefly the egg yolks, mustard, lemon zest and juice, garlic and a generous pinch of salt. Then slowly, whisking or with the food processor on, pour in the oil in a slow, steady stream until you have used it all and you have a thick, glossy mayonnaise. Check the seasoning and loosen with a couple of tablespoons of water if you want. Refrigerate until needed.
For the salmorejo, blitz all the ingredients together in a blender until you get a smooth, unctuous sauce, then keep it chilled in the fridge.
When you are ready to serve, prep and wash all of your vegetables, seasoning anything that gets sliced like the fennel and avocado with a squeeze of lemon juice and salt. Slice the eggs in half and slice the chicken too. Then assemble your Très Grand Aïoli however you see fit! I like to create a giant spread on the table for everyone to dig into, plus it looks spectacular.
MAKE AHEAD -
You can make the aïoli, poach the chicken and cook the eggs up to 2 days ahead, just don’t slice the eggs or chicken until needed and keep it all nicely chilled in the fridge.
SUBSTITUTIONS -
If you can’t face making the aïoli, then simply decant 600g of mayonnaise into a bowl and add the lemon zest, juice and garlic as per the recipe.
If you are vegan then aquafaba makes excellent mayonnaise and there are plenty of recipes online. Alternatively just make the salmorejo!
The dipping elements of this are completely up to you - carrots, celery, toasts, asparagus, poached salmon and lettuce are all excellent options as well what I have above.
RASPBERRY FOOL
My mum always used to make fruit fools for dinner parties when I was growing up, and I loved to steal spoonfuls of the mix in the fridge before the guests arrived (sorry mum). This pudding is so easy it almost feels like it was the lazy result of someone who got halfway through making something elaborate and just thought - you know what I’ll stop there. Lots of recipes call for the fruit in fools to be cooked but this method is great for when you don’t want to and also frozen raspberries are usually cheaper than fresh.
For the coulis
350g frozen raspberries
80g caster sugar
Zest of half a lemon
For the cream
600ml double cream
300ml creme fraiche
Zest of an orange
50g icing sugar, sifted
Start by placing the raspberries, sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and mixing well. Leave the raspberries to defrost and macerate in the sugar and lemon for a couple of hours. When the raspberries are completely defrosted and macerated, blitz the mix and any liquid that has come out in a blender until smooth. Then pass through a fine sieve to get rid of the seeds and achieve thick, smooth coulis.
Whip the double cream, crème fraiche, orange zest and icing sugar together very softly to create soft, barely holding peaks. The crème fraiche is great at providing acidity here with the orange zest giving a lovely fragrance that compliments the raspberries. Finally swirl the coulis, a little at a time, through the cream very gently so it streaks the white with glorious pink but keeps little juicy pockets of coulis. This can be served immediately or if you prefer to get ahead, it can be chilled until needed. Serve with shortbread or cantucci to dip if you like.
MAKE AHEAD -
You can make the coulis up to 3 days ahead.
SUBSTITUTIONS -
A mix of frozen berries or just strawberries would also be delicious here.
Lime or lemon zest can take the place of the orange
TIMEPLAN
This first plan should help you see what you can get done in advance, so that for each course on the day you have at least 1, maybe 2 major parts of it taken care of. I appreciate that not everyone’s weeks are easily peppered with dinner party prep, but if you’re hosting after work or on a day where you can’t be in the kitchen, getting ahead is going to save your arse.
MISE-EN-PLACE
This is the fancy name we give to the food prep each section in the restaurant needs to do for their dishes. Hopefully breaking down each dish like this will help you feel organised.
Use the hour before your guests arrive to organise your space too- I find it helpful to group ingredients by dish so it is all in the same place. Little ramekins are really useful for this.
STYLING GUIDE
HAM BUTTER WITH BREAD AND PICKLES
The important thing as I have pointed out several times is that the butter is room temperature. Then you can shape it or smear it or make a rocher (one handed quenelle) like everyone on the internet. I personally like a big spoon, smooshed down on the plate, but you could even pop the butter in its own bowl or pot. The butter is quite pink so greens and blues are good colours for it.
TOMATOES, ANCHOVIES, GOATS CHEESE AND SAGE OIL
This is just gorgeous on two big plates, everything slightly overlapping and juice and oil pooling in the gaps. Leave a few centimetres gap around the edge of the plate for this. Plates that are completely flat, ie. no rim are good for this too. The colours of this dish are super vibrant so it’s perfect for more muted plate tones - greys or beiges.
LE TRÈS GRAND AÏOLI
This dish is a dream to style - it is so easily beautiful and fun. Just spread all your lovely veg around bowls of aïoli and salmorejo and get everyone to dig in. If you have a wooden board or tray big enough then that’s great, otherwise use a vintage tea towel or napkin to bring some texture to your surface and whack the raw stuff directly on it, putting juicer things like cut veg or cooked prawns on plates.
RASPBERRY FOOL
This is so beautiful in one heaping bowl or individually served in glasses or glass bowls - you want to be able to see that gorgeous swirl! You could also do heaps on pretty plates too - that would also look fabulous. Yellows and oranges would be super striking against the vivid pink.
Ok my darlings I hope this minimal cooking menu inspires you to NOT cook for people - one can still host a spectacular dinner with hardly any time spent in front of a stove. I can’t wait to see how you get on with it all - ENJOY and STAY COOL! Love Rosie x