Hallowe'en has always had a strong association with food, and with special dishes to celebrate the ancient feast. Traditionally, it was the time to eat good corned beef with cabbage and potatoes, and even when the church decreed it a day of abstinence in honour of the Feast of All Saints, there were still special dishes for the day, such as colcannon and champ for the supper; boxty pancakes; barmbrack with the hidden ring; apple fadge, and nuts and apples collected by the children for the party.
But this year, rather than taking our inspiration from the traditional foods of Hallowe'en, we have chosen to take our cue from the ghoulish things about Hallowe'en which children love so much - the witches and skeletons, the bonfires and spookiness, that little touch of evil which so transfixes them - and have come up with dishes that play out trick and treating, the bubble, bubble of Shakespeare's witches in Macbeth, and finally a grand consomme for the skeletal bones.
Trick and treat
This first dish is one of the most brilliant culinary tricks and one of the most brilliant culinary treats I know. The Chinese-American food writer Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, was taught it by the monks of the Taoist monastery, Ching Chung Koon, in Hong Kong, and when I met Eileen some years back as she was working on her book, From the Earth - Chinese Vegetarian Cookery, this was the dish she singled out as being an especially stunning example of the trickery and magnificence of Chinese vegetarian cookery. Vegetarian "oysters" are not oysters at all, of course, but the confection is so artful that they look just like fried oysters, right down to the ring of dark skin of the aubergine which mimics perfectly the dark exterior ring of the oyster. Small aubergines work best of all. The batter, incidentally, is especially good, and also works for making cracking fried onion rings. The Szechuan peppercorn salt is a very important detail when serving the dish. You could serve these with drinks, with a dipping sauce, or as part of a Chinese meal, but I think they would also be a perfect accompaniment to a very good steak.
Vegetarian Oysters
2 small aubergines 3 tablespoons shredded pickled ginger (available in Asian stores)
1/4 medium onion, thinly sliced
4 cups peanut oil
For the batter
1 1/2 cups strong white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
10 fl oz cold water
2 tablespoons peanut oil
First, make your Sechuan Peppercorn Salt, see below. Then the batter.
To make the batter, place the flour in a bowl, add baking powder (I usually sieve the baking powder), then add water gradually, stirring until smooth. Add the peanut oil and blend in until the batter is even and smooth. Set aside.
Now, slice the aubergines diagonally at eighth-of-an-inch intervals, cutting the first slice all the way through (discard the end), then the next about three-quarters of the way through and the next all the way through. The result will be a slice with a pocket. Repeat until both aubergines are sliced. There should be about 20 pockets.
Into each eggplant pocket, put five to six pieces of shredded ginger pickle and an equal amount of sliced onion. Fill all the eggplant pockets. In a wok, heat the peanut oil to 350 F. Dip each "oyster" into the batter, holding tightly with chopsticks or tongs. Coat well. Place four to five "oysters" at a time into the hot oil. Carefully monitor your heat. If the oil starts to heat up too quickly, turn off the heat. When the aubergines brown on one side, turn them over. Adjust the heat again to bring the temperature of the oil up. The oil should be a constant 325F to 350 F, but no hotter. This will ensure the aubergine pockets will fry to a golden brown. Remove and serve immediately with Szechuan Peppercorn Salt.
Sechuan Peppercorn Salt
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
1 teaspoon whole Szechuan peppercorns
Grind the peppercorns in a pepper mill (we use one of those pepper grinders that you buy on the spice shelves in supermarkets, which we have reserved now especially for Szechuan peppercorns).
Heat a wok over medium heat for 45 seconds to a minute. Lower the heat and add all ingredients. Dry-roast, stirring occasionally, until the five-spice powder turns black. Remove, place in a small dish, and serve. This seasoned salt can be made in advance, but must be kept in a tightly sealed jar. It will keep for four to six weeks.
Hubble, bubble ...
Our witches brew here is a quintessential autumnal stew, with beef and barley combining to make a smashing dish, just the sort of thing to keep your interior warm as you enjoy the bonfire. This is an Anne Willan idea, from her book "Creative Casseroles".
Beef, Barley, and Mushroom Stew
1.4kg (3lb) braising steak
625g (1 1/4 lb) onions
375g (12oz) carrots
500g (1lb) mushrooms 4 celery sticks
45ml (3 tablespoons) vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
1 bouquet garni, made with 5-6 parsley stalks, 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme and 1 bay leaf
1 litre (1 2/3 pints) beef stock
200g (6 1/2 oz) pearl barley
Trim off any fat and sinew from the beef and discard it. Cut the beef into thick slices, then cut crosswise into 5cm (2 inch) cubes. Peel the onions, leaving a little of the root attached, and cut them lengthwise in half. Lay each onion half flat on the chopping board and cut crosswise into thin slices. Peel and trim off the ends of the carrots; if large, cut the carrots lengthwise in half. Cut them crosswise into 1.25cm (half inch) slices. Clean and slice the mushrooms. Trim the celery sticks, peel off the strings with the vegetable peeler, and cut them across into 1.25 cm (half inch) slices.
Heat the oven to 180C/350 F/ gas 4. Heat the oil in the casserole on top of the stove. Add half the beef and brown well. Transfer the beef to a bowl. Brown the remaining beef in the same way.
Add the sliced onions and a little salt and pepper to the casserole. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until lightly browned, five to seven minutes.
Add the beef, bouquet garnis, salt and pepper to the casserole. Pour in the beef stock and stir to combine. Cover the casserole with a lid and transfer to the heated oven. Cook the stew, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/2 hours.
Add the carrots, celery, and barley to the stew. Stir in more stock or water if necessary to keep the casserole moist. Cover and continue cooking until the meat and vegetables are tender when pierced with a fork, 40-45 minutes longer. The barley should be tender, but still slightly chewy. About 10 minutes before the end of cooking, add the sliced mushrooms and stir to combine.
Discard the bouquet garni and taste the stew for seasoning. Serve in warmed individual bowls with crusty bread.
Dem bones
I know anything made with bones is considered out of order these days, but for those of us who like to disregard conventional wisdom, a good consomme is the finest example of the beneficence of bones. Yes it takes time - hours and hours of simmering - but it doesn't take much work, as the process of creating the stock and then clarifying it is done with little intervention, and the result is worth any amount of effort. Here is the consomme recipe we have used for years, from Jacques Pepin's book, La Technique.
Consomme
The stock:
1 unpeeled onion, halved
4 lbs beef bones (or a mixture of beef and chicken bones)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 medium-sized onion, peeled and stuck with 3 cloves
2 teaspoons salt
The consomme
1 cup cold water
1lb very lean ground beef
6 egg whites
1/2 cup diced celery leaves
3/4 cup diced tomato
2 cups sliced green of leek (or 1 cup green of scallions)
1/2 cup coarsely cut parsley and tarragon mixed
3/4 cup sliced carrots
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves
Salt, if needed
12 cups stock
To make the stock: place the split onion, cut sides down, in an iron skillet and place on medium heat. Let cook until the onion is burned and very black. It is essential the onion is burned on the cut side. It will cook with the bones for hours, and will give the amber colour a consomme should have.
Place all ingredients in a large kettle and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, skimming off any scum that forms at the surface. When boiling, lower the heat and simmer slowly for six hours. Strain.
During cooking, add water if there is too much evaporation. You should have 12 cups of liquid left. Let cool and remove fat from the top.
To make the consomme: In a large saucepan, combine all the ingredients, except the stock.
Add the stock and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly to avoid sticking. Do not worry if the stock becomes very cloudy and a white foam forms. The albumin in the egg whites and the meat is solidifying, and this is the process that will clarify the stock. When the mixture comes to a boil stop stirring and reduce the heat to a simmer. As the mixture simmers, you will notice that the ingredients form a "crust" on the surface of the liquid with one or two holes, through which the liquid boils slightly.
Allow the consomme to simmer gently for an hour without disturbing the little "geysers" in any way. Turn off the heat and let the consomme settle for 15 minutes. Taking care not to disturb the crust, pour off the consomme and strain e it through a sieve lined with a paper napkin. After the consomme has rested one hour, check to see if there is any fat on the surface. If so, remove it by blotting the top with paper towels. The consomme can be served hot or cold. With different garnishes it takes on different names such as celestine with shredded crepes, or royale with cubes of meat-flavoured custard.
The crust is usually discarded, but with the addition of whole eggs, breadcrumbs and seasonings, it can be turned into a satisfying meat loaf. Be careful to remove the peppercorns if you do so.