Our book this week was Three Star Chef by Gordon Ramsay. Just the two recipes this week
Roast Gressingham duck breast with honey-glazed baby onions and salsify, minted peas and a Madeira Sauce. Salsify was not in season, so I took the suggestion of using mushrooms. This plate of food was stunning. The combination of a bed of pea and mint purée giving a fresh base, then the spinach upon which the delicious duck sat. Surrounding the duck was earthy celeriac purée and glazed chestnut mushrooms and pearl onions. All finished off with a genuinely excellent Madeira sauce. The prospect of pealing pearl onions is not one I relish – thankfully, I found that Picard does excellent frozen pearl onions already peeled. Perfect for this and beouf bourguignon.

Next was Chilled tomato consommé with asparagus peas, tomato concasse and basil. I’ve never attempted consommé, so this was a step into the unknown. Making the base soup was very straightforward and tasted delicious. Then came the clarification process. Essentially it’s using raw egg white and whisking it in with the cooled soup as you bring it to the boil. As it cooks, the egg white grabs all the solid matter from the soup to leave a clear broth. I have to say, and when I added the egg white (which in this instance is flavoured with tomato and pepper) to the soup, I was pretty sceptical that this soup would ever clear. I persevered, and the result was, though I say it myself, pretty perfect.

Gordon, your book is brilliant, and the recipes though challenging, worked perfectly. Next, we head to New York.