=-RIMEMINRIZZES
YESTERDAY I went to a champagne reception, no less, to celebrate the winners of the Commis Chef of the Year 1987 competition sponsored by the Academie Culinaire de France (UK). All the grand chefs were there in their whites and med- als. They had been doing the judging in the afternoon and just imagine — they found the food so filthy that no one won and no prizes were given. Wasn't that a brave decision? Let's hope they all pull their aprons up for next year. We drank lovely Bollinger and munched perfectly delicious smoked salmon so all was not lost, Jack.
I was thinking how good Omelette Arnold Bennett is, but like all omelettes it is impossible to do for many people; so using the same ingredients more or less I made a mousse. It was rather, good and very easy.
Arnold Bennett mousse
12 eggs 3/4 lb of smoked haddock, cooked and flaked 1/2 pt of thick cream 1 envelope of gelatine (11g or 0.4 oz) 1/4 pt dry vermouth 2 tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan cheese salt and pepper 1 tablespoon sunflower oil Put the gelatine into the vermouth and leave to get spongy. Scramble ten of the eggs gently in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water or in a bain-marie if you have one, using the oil instead of the usual butter. When they are scrambled but still creamy, stir in the gelatine and the parme- san cheese until thoroughly dissolved. Turn out into a cool bowl. Whip the cream slightly until it makes a trail, add to the eggs. Mix in the cooked haddock. Grind a generous amount of black pepper into the mousse and salt to your own requirements. Pour into a rinsed out loaf tin 93/4" x 53/4" x 23/4" or some other suitable dish and chill for at least six hours. When ready to serve, run a knife round the edges and turn onto a pretty plate surrounded by tiny cherry tomatoes and black olives. Hard boil the remaining two eggs, chop and sprinkle over the top with a little parsley.
Another first course I tried recently was from a newspaper and may have been one of Fay Maschler's recipes in the Evening Standard some time ago; it was from a friend in Ibiza, I recall, so many thanks to whoever produced it. 2 lbs of courgettes 3 medium onions 6 oz of fresh white breadcrumbs 3 eggs 1 tablespoon of chopped tarragon 1 tablespoon of chopped mint 1 heaped teaspoon of cornflour salt, pepper and nutmeg 3 tablespoons of olive oil 2 lbs fresh spinach, washed, cooked and chopped Slice the courgettes and the onions finely and stew in the olive oil until soft, then mash them into a pulp. Stir in the corn- flour, mix well then remove from the heat; stir in the breadcrumbs, herbs, the eggs well beaten, season with salt, fresh ground pepper and nutmeg; make sure that the already cooked and chopped spinach is as drained as possible — wring it in your hands. Oil a dish or tin as in the preceding recipe, put half the courgette mixture in it, then spread the spinach over the surface adding the rest of the courgettes on top. Cover with an oiled piece of foil, place in another oven-proof container with water in it and bake in a pre-heated oven, gas mark 2 (F310, C154) for an hour. Let it cool, then chill for six hours, turn out and serve with this tomato dressing: cut four good tomatoes into small dice, sprinkle with a teaspoon of sugar, salt and a lot of ground pepper. Stir in six tablespoons of best olive oil and two of wine vinegar.
For an Easter treat you could make petits pots au chocolat in the blender, which takes but a trice.
Petits pots au chocolat
6 oz Meunier chocolate 1/2 pt of single cream 4 drops of vanilla essence pinch of salt 1 egg Break the chocolate into a blender. Bring the cream to boiling point and pour over the chocolate. Whizz for a moment or two with the lid on. Add the egg, salt and vanilla. Whizz again until all are amalga- mated. Pour into the little pots or whatever and chill for at least 24 hours. It only gets better and denser the longer you leave it, within reason. A little freshly ground coffee sprinkled top doesn't come amiss.
Jennifer Paterson
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