Entertaining at Home - Rachel Allen

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(optional) and ground black pepper

      1 Open the oysters one by one. Place an oyster on a tea towel, flat side up. Wrap your non-cutting hand in another cloth so you won’t get cut if the knife slips. Take an oyster knife, look for a chink in the shell at the narrow, hinged end, then insert the blade and, applying quite a bit of force, press, turn and lever upwards.

      2 Put the opened oysters into a sieve set over a bowl and cut away the flesh from the shells. Discard the shells or wash them and use as salt and pepper holders. Tip the juices into a heavy-based frying pan, then, on a high heat, bring the juices to the boil. When they are boiling, whisk in the butter.

      3 Add the oysters and, still on a high heat, toss for 1 minute or until the oysters are warmed through and have firmed up slightly and the sauce slightly reduced.

      4 Meanwhile, toast the bread and butter it, and place on plates.

      5 Just before serving, add the lemon juice and taste — it probably won’t need any salt. Place the oysters on the buttered toast, pour over the juices, add a grinding of black pepper and serve.

       Lazy weekend Bloody Mary

       This refreshing tipple is strictly for Sunday mornings. Celery salt isn’t essential, but it goes to perfection, so do get hold some if you can.

      SERVES 10

      50ml (2fl oz) Worcestershire sauce

      1 tsp Tabasco sauce

      1 tsp celery salt (optional)

      5 tbsp lemon juice

      1 tsp grated horseradish

      1 tsp peeled and finely chopped shallot

      1.8 litres (3 pints) tomato juice

      2 tbsp dry sherry

      300ml (½ pint) vodka

      10 small sticks of celery, to serve

      1 Whiz all the ingredients in a blender, then strain the mixture through a fine sieve. Serve in glasses over ice with a stick of celery.

       Isaac’s frittata

       A frittata is a thick and almost endlessly versatile Italian omelette. It can be flavoured with just herbs and cheese or almost a whole fried breakfast!

      SERVES 4–6 VEGETARIAN

       (with non-vegetarian variations)

      8 eggs

      50ml (2fl oz) milk

      Salt and ground black pepper

      2 tbsp chopped chives or parsley

      110g (4oz) Gruyère cheese, grated

      25g (1oz) butter

      25cm (10in) diameter ovenproof frying pan

      1 Preheat the grill on a medium setting.

      2 Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk together with the milk, seasoning with salt and pepper. Next gently mix in the herbs and grated cheese.

      3 Place a large non-stick frying pan on a low-medium heat. Add the butter and when it has melted and starts to foam, add the egg mixture to the warm pan. Using a wooden spoon, scrape the cooked mixture from the bottom, from the outside in, filling its space with liquid egg by gently tilting the pan. Do this 5–6 times, then allow the mixture to cook for a further 2–3 minutes or until the bottom of the frittata is golden — you can tell this by lifting it slightly up at the edge using a palette knife or fish slice.

      4 Take the pan off the heat and place under the grill, making sure that you leave a gap of a few centimetres between the frittata and the grill element. Continue cooking for a few minutes until the mixture has fluffed up nicely and is beginning to turn golden brown on top, by which stage the frittata will have cooked through to the centre.

      5 Using a palette knife or fish slice, loosen the edges and slide onto a plate. Serve immediately or allow to cool to room temperature.

      VARIATIONS

      Make the recipe as above, adding the following to the basic egg mixture just before cooking:

      Breakfast frittata: 150g (5oz) sliced mushrooms, fried in a little butter and seasoned with salt and pepper, and 10 rashers of streaky bacon, cut into 1cm (½in) pieces and fried until crispy.

      Frittata ranchera: 150g (5oz) peeled and chopped onion, sweated in a little sunflower oil or butter, 4 small tomatoes cut into 5mm (¼in) dice, 1 tablespoon of finely chopped and deseeded red chilli (or more to taste) and 2 tablespoons of chopped coriander.

LUNCH

       Spinach soup with rosemary oil

       The aromatic flavour of rosemary, drizzled as an oil over this soup, works to perfection with spinach. Instead of making the rosemary oil, you could add 1 tablespoon of chopped rosemary leaves to the soup just before blending, or a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg.

      SERVES 6 VEGETARIAN

       For the rosemary oil

      1 sprig of rosemary, broken in half

      50ml (2fl oz) olive oil

       For the spinach soup

      15g (½oz) butter

      110g (4oz) peeled and chopped onions

      150g (5oz) peeled and chopped potatoes

      Salt and freshly ground black pepper

      600ml (1 pint) vegetable stock

      600ml (1 pint) milk

      275g (10oz) spinach (any large stalks removed before weighing), chopped

      1 Put the rosemary in a small saucepan with the olive oil and heat gently on a low heat until tepid. Remove the pan from the heat and let the rosemary infuse for 10 minutes. Strain the oil through a sieve into a jug.

      2 For the soup, melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the onions and potatoes, season with salt and pepper, cover with a lid and cook on a very low heat for 10 minutes, stirring every now and again.

      3 Meanwhile, pour the stock and milk into another saucepan, bring to the boil and add to the vegetables. Bring the mixture back up to the boil, then tip in the spinach and cook, uncovered, over a high heat for 1–2 minutes or until the spinach is just cooked.

      4 To preserve the fresh flavour, blend the soup straight away, in a blender or using a hand-held blender. Serve in individual bowls with a drizzle of rosemary oil over the top.

       Skirt steak with spicy potatoes

       A lunchtime steak is not for the faint hearted, so this is one to save for the weekend. Skirt steak is wonderfully tender and has a great flavour, though it needs to be cooked very quickly or it can overcook and toughen.

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