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Croque Monsieur, à la ClareLatimer |
Food for thought after the Old Vic
Clare Latimer is so taken with the dishes on offer at a Waterloo restaurant that she’s inspired to recreate them, with her own twist
I HAVE always loved the Old Vic theatre due to its personal touch and the fact that you can park right outside in the evenings, unlike the Wimbledon theatre (where if you park outside the stage door on a single line after 6.30pm you are given a ticket as there are signs at either ends of the road that contradict each other).
I recently went to see Complicit, starring David Suchet, who was superb, and although the play was over-complicated it was worth every minute to watch the great man.
I once met him at the BBC when I was on some chat show and remember him as a delightful, modest, gentle person.
The only gripe I had that evening was the fact that the chair had a sprung spring in the seat that made me feel like the top of an ice-lolly (as it was being rather intrusive to my body) but when I reported this at the end of the show, they were very apologetic.
The theatre is now showing Dancing at Lughnasa which is a play that I am planning to see.
You may wonder what this has all got to do with recipes and cooking but here you are.
It was suggested that we ate at the Waterloo Brasserie, which is opposite the theatre, and I was not expecting too much.
Well, to my surprise it was superb – fun, modern, really good food and either small snacks or a full blown dinner.
Also the Bloody Mary’s were yummy and certainly did the trick. What a perfect evening!
Either go door to door from Camden on the Northern Line straight to Waterloo station or drive and park with confidence, enjoy a great play and tuck into a perfect dinner.
One other bonus is that you may well see Kevin Spacey in the Brasserie.
Goat’s cheese salad with honey and
lavender dressing
I emailed the chef to ask if he would like to share his recipes but had no reply so here are my versions of two recipes that are on his menu.
Ingredients
Serves 4
4 baby goat’s cheese
4 handfuls various salad leaves
12 cherry tomatoes.
For the dressing:
3 tbsp virgin olive oil
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 teaspoon French mustard
1 desp runny honey
1 teaspoon dried lavender flowers
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400F / gas mark 6. To make the dressing put the olive oil, cider vinegar and French mustard into a jug and stir well until smooth.
Put the lavender flowers, lemon juice and honey into a small saucepan and warm through on a very gentle heat, not allowing to boil. Leave to cool and infuse.
When cool, strain and add the lemon juice and honey to the oil mixture and discard the lavender flowers.
Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Bake the goat’s cheese on a baking tray in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until the outside browns slightly.
Toss the washed salad leaves in the dressing and arrange on a plates.
Place the warm goat’s cheese in the centre of the leaves and serve.
Croque Monsieur
This has always been one of my favourite dishes, particularly for a brunch style meal or lunch with a salad.
Translated, it means “gentleman’s crunch” but you can change the sex by adding a poached egg to the top and then it becomes a “Madame” – but I am not sure what the translation would be then!
I do this recipe in a slightly different way which uses less bread and is healthier so I hope you approve.
Ingredients
Serves 4
4 slices white or brown bread
Some butter to spread
75g grated gruyere cheese
2 desp crème fraîche
2 teasp dijon mustard
1 teasp Worcestershire sauce
Good scratch of fresh nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
4 slices ham.
Method
Preheat the grill to high. Spread each of the slices of bread with the butter on both sides.
Mix the gruyere cheese, crème fraîche, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and nutmeg in a bowl.
Brown one side of the bread under the grill and then remove.
Turn over and top the “soft side” with half the gruyere mix spreading it right to the edges.
Then place a slice of ham on each and then top with the rest of the gruyere mix.
Grind over some black pepper. Put back under the grill and cook until lightly browning and bubbling. Serve hot. |
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