as one might imagine, mostly i cook for others. and so when it comes time to serve dinner i’m always having to say, ‘please, go ahead and start’, because i am usually behind a lens, tackling a tripod, trying to take a pic of whatever’s on my plate. so sometimes i rush. and this was most certainly one of those times. and i just felt the need to try and explain, while pledging to try and do better – and with no real guarantees…
so, we all have cookbooks that we go to regularly, and while i’m quite partial to my collection – each book chosen with care, with those that disappointed either given away or banished from the kitchen – i have some serious favorites. and honestly, i think i am most in love with chefs rose gray and ruth rogers, who comprise the dynamic duo team at ‘the river cafe’ in london. their food is simple, with short ingredient lists that rarely outnumber your fingers. and their inherent understanding of what works together never ceases to excite and inspire me. it is rustic italian food – my kind of food, in its highest form.
i was to make a dinner for some new friends as a reciprocate gesture to a decadent meal served in their home one week ago. for the record they served five (5) different wines with dinner, from a champagne to a dessert wine with whites and reds inbetween that had years like 1997 on the bottles and set the table as though martha stewart was coming to dine. and so it was to be a tough act to follow.
with cary’s endlessly late hours at the office, my kitchen has become a revolving door of constant friends and food. i’m put to task regularly and by choice – and i love it. every now and then i’ll make something totally out of my comfort zone but pretty much the food i am cooking is ingredient driven, and simple. kinda like this…
chickpea and shrimp
italian easy recipes from the london river cafe by rose gray and ruth rogers
(this recipe is listed as a soup but i would think it to be more like a stew as there isn’t much liquid. i added about 1/2 cup of water to thin it out a bit.)
14 oz can of chickpeas
1 lb shelled shrimp
1 oz dried porcini
3 garlic cloves
2 dried chiles
2 T dried oregano
14 oz can of chopped tomatoes
1/2 lemon
ciabatta loaf
ex. v. olive oil
soak the porcini in 1 cup hot water.
drain and rinse the chickpeas. peel and chop 2 garlic cloves, and crumble the chiles.
strain the porcini, keeping the liquid, and roughly chop.
heat a thick-bottomed pan with 2 T olive oil, add half the chopped garlic, the porcini, oregano, and chile and season.
cook for 4 minutes. add the tomatoes, and simmer for 20 minutes, adding the porcini water as the tomatoes reduce,
to keep the soup liquid. season. in a separate pan, heat 1 T olive oil and add the remaining chopped garlic.
add the shrimp and when colored, add the chickpeas and stir to warm through. season.
add the juice of the lemon. mix together with the tomato.
cut the bread in slices and grill on both sides, rub with remaining peeled garlic clove and place in bowls. pour the soup over and drizzle with olive oil.
and it was even better the next day. but served with a shaved pear and fennel salad with crisped d’artagnan jambon de bayonne (aka french prosciutto), it was pretty damn fine the night before…
god bless italy
16 responses so far ↓
1 Emily // Apr 5, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Just popped by from NiT and wow, does this look good!
2 amy @ minimally invasive // Apr 5, 2008 at 9:13 pm
…and bookmarked. Yum.
3 Julie // Apr 6, 2008 at 5:41 am
Sounds perfect. I have one of the River Cafe cookbooks and just ordered a second last week. They seem to be masters of the whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts thing.
4 mari // Apr 6, 2008 at 6:03 am
Claudia, that looks DELICIOUS, stop busting your own (photographing) chops!
I’m lucky enough to own a personally autographed copy of this book that a dear friend picked up for me when dining at the restaurant a few years ago. Thanks for reminding me that I don’t use it nearly enough!
5 ponyboat // Apr 6, 2008 at 7:31 am
Yum! Thank you for stepping away from the pig, even if just for a moment! I have been offline due to Bar Mitzvah Madness, but I am glad to come back and see these delicious veggie/fishie dishes. This particular dish would also be good curried up with a little cumin, coriander, and ginger, sans the mushrooms and oregano.
6 Mary Coleman // Apr 6, 2008 at 10:02 am
Now this looks delicious!
I so totally understand about the pic taking,but I think you do a grand job!
7 Donald // Apr 6, 2008 at 10:38 am
Simple and yet elegant.
These are two of my favorite things!
I think you can do so much with this as is or even as a base.
8 lifeinrecipes // Apr 6, 2008 at 1:00 pm
I am inspired on a daily basis by all of the River Cafe Cookbooks . Truly.
9 claudia // Apr 6, 2008 at 1:16 pm
emily – it was excellent, truly. thanks for stopping in!
amy – cool. you’ll love it.
julie – exactly! i couldn’t have said it better. that is what they do best – figure that all out for us. of course they change their menu 2x a day using the freshest freakin everything…
mari – i want the green and blue book. a lot.
pony – hey girl! man, don’t mess with perfection. this is so perfectly balanced.
mary – thanks. i have come to the conclusion that my photography is boring and i just wanna be like amy from MI because her pics are brilliant – but mine are just ok…
donald – simple and elegant. my kinda food. absolutely.
lifeinrecipes – the inspiration really helps… it’s important when you cook often.
10 democommie // Apr 6, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Claudia:
I love beans, but they so often don’t love me. That whole polysachrides thing. I like to use Goya and an Italian brand (I forget the name off the top of my head–s’okay, they don’t got ‘em here in Upstate NY), they seem to be the least problematic.
I just think it’s so cool that after liking, for a long time, to put together things like white beans, artichokes, tomaotoes and pasta I found out that Tuscany cooking is okay with that.
My copy of the cookbook is the one with the recipe for the salad of lemons and artichokes (I think I’ve mentioned this before) have you ever tried it?
I’m hoping to find a place to eat around here, that doesn’t charge an arm and a leg for good, simple–but inventive–food.
11 democommie // Apr 6, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Well, I got cut off, I guess.
I was saying your photography is just fine, but you could probably benefit from getting some pointers on lighting (not from me, I can’t figure flash tables out to save my ass) . I bet there’s a great “table top” photographer in the Nashville area who would be willing to barter some cooking tips–or some meals–for a quick lesson in controlling contrast and all that jazz. Just a thought.
12 robin // Apr 6, 2008 at 8:13 pm
I never imagined chickpeas and shrimp together but it sounds wonderful! And good for you for entertaining so much, I really need to start doing it more, but it takes so much… work.
13 claudia // Apr 6, 2008 at 8:33 pm
demo – i just gotta learn how to use my adobe cs3 photoshop that i ignore. i think that’s help A LOT. i’m not sure which cookbook you’re speaking of. is it a river cafe book?
robin – when i have people over, often everyone chimes in and helps. i get people chopping and filling pots with water… i never set a ‘fancy’ table anymore. when i was younger i’d make a huge fuss. but no more. it’s all about the food and the friends – only.
14 Casey // Apr 6, 2008 at 10:31 pm
I’m a huge fan of the River Cafe cookbooks and had a wonderful meal the one time I ate at the restaurant — I also set the carpet on fire.
http://caseyellis.blogspot.com/2008/01/river-cafe.html
15 democommie // Apr 7, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Claudia:
Photoshop is one way to go at it. I was told by a Nikon rep, during a little class that I took when I bought my first DSLR that flash is tricky but, ultimately, will save mucho timeo. The Nikon Picture Project software has a feature called D-lighting which pumps up the contrast and brightness on frames that are underexposed or contrast impaired. It certainly ain’t perfect. Nikon Capture, which is their stripped-down version of Photoshop has a lot more features (which I can’t begin to figure out).
I’ll know which cookbook it is (or if I am confusing it with another) when I dig it out of the banana box mountain where it currently resides.
16 joycooks // Apr 8, 2008 at 4:30 pm
You’ve inspired me to buy this cookbook which I’ve been wanting for a long time. I just hit ‘buy’ on amazon. thanks, claudia!
and, one of my favorite restaurants in the world which is in my former home of boulder, co., is a river cafe alum-run place called the kitchen. now i have 2 reasons to buy it!
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