1980s REVISITED:Compiled by Marie-Claire Digby
Peppercorn sauce for the Noughties
Remember those annoying uncrushed green peppercorns, straight from the jar, that lurked in the 1980s version of steak with peppercorn sauce? Not so nice. So we asked Brian Miller (left), a tutor at the Dublin Cookery School, and former executive chef of special events at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, to bring this old classic right up to date. "The proper balance of flavours, texture and appearance is important in creating a good modern sauce, with the goal being to carefully enhance natural flavour elements in a dish while avoiding excess of richness or seasonings," Miller says. "This modern sauce, finished in a blender, marries three key flavour points - herbaceous (parsley); piquant (mustard); and spicy (green peppercorns), carefully balanced to enhance the natural flavour of the beef. The zestful, bold emphasis of the parsley puts a unique spin on a green peppercorn sauce of yesteryear."
Miller's masterclass on sauces was a sell-out at Dublin Cookery School earlier this year, and will be repeated next year.
PARSLEY, MUSTARD AND GREEN PEPPERCORN SAUCE (serves 6-10)
30g butter
30g flour
350ml chicken stock
2 tbsp cream
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp green peppercorns in brine
50g curly leaf parsley (not flat leaf), leaves washed and dried
130g butter, at room temperature
Melt the 30g of butter in a small saucepan, stir in the flour and combine well. Cook over a low flame, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds, cooking without browning. Using a whisk, add the chicken stock and cream and bring up to the boil. Continuously whisk the sauce as it comes to a boil, so it is smooth and without lumps. Turn down the heat to a low simmer and cook the sauce very gently for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the Dijon mustard. Transfer the sauce to a blender. Add the wholegrain mustard and green peppercorns, cover and blend on medium speed. Next, on high speed, add the curly parsley leaves, a pinch at a time, until all the parsley is incorporated and the sauce is smooth and bright green. Add the remaining butter, whizz once more, and season with salt to taste.
Chocolate hits
Those were the days . . . when Wagon Wheels were big, in every sense, and Mintola were the height of sophistication. Who could have foreseen, in the heady days of the 1980s, that we'd be eating chocolate bars spiked with all manner of things, from green tea to chilli? Some combinations work better than others, but the organic milk chocolate with Fleur de Sel, made by French company, Saveurs & Nature, and on sale in Terroirs food and wine shop in Dublin, is outstanding. Chocolate and salt in one delicious, artery-attacking hit. But it is organic.
Françoise and Sean Gilley sourced this exceptional chocolate in France during the summer. "My mum took us for afternoon tea in this small town beside Saumur called Beaufort en Vallée. There is a new tea shop there called Délicieux Instants, and in the shop we saw this chocolate and decided to grab a few bars. They were absolutely delicious. Back in Dublin, I contacted the company and placed an order," says Françoise.
There are cranberry, nougat and confit ginger varieties, in addition to the Fleur de Sel, and the price is €6.85. It's pricey, but this is definitely chocolate worth travelling for, or you can also have it delivered by post. It will also be available to buy online. See www.terroirs.ie, 01-6671311.
The prawn cocktail years
What could be more 1980s than prawn cocktail? Done correctly, it's an enduring classic. But it's also amenable to some gentle tweaking to bring it bang up to date, and one of the easiest ways to do this is by varying the constituent parts of the marie rose sauce.
Nigella Lawson has an excellent suggestion - substituting harissa, the smokey, Moroccan chilli paste, for the tomato puree (or sauce, as some people prefer it), and using lime juice instead of lemon. Runny honey can be added to balance the hot, sour flavours.
If you can get hold of it, Belazu's rose petal harissa is an excellent choice. It's available in some Superquinn branches, and from Donnybrook Fair (€3.99 for a 70g jar), which has just opened its first branch outside Dublin, at Grattan Court, Upper Kindlestown road in Greystones, Co Wicklow. There's a celebratory food fair there today, to mark the opening of the new store, which features Donnybrook Fair's first in-house stone pizza oven.