Cookbook Challenge #3: dinner party French

Rick Stein's French Odyssey by Rick Stein: BBC Books, 2005.

ISBN 0 563 52213 5

Like many people with an unhealthy interest in food, I have an Amazon problem. It does not take much to tip me over the edge: an enjoyable holiday, a hot new chef or - as in the case of the latest challenge book - a random encounter with my mother's food magazines. Some years back, browsing her latest copy of Olive, I came across an article testing the usefulness for dinner party cooking of four different celebrity cookbooks. Back then, it was clear to me that the Rick Stein book was the winner; and that was all the excuse I needed to get online and order a copy.

Since then, the book has seen a moderate amount of use. Whilst I wouldn't go so far as to call it a favourite, it has been dusted off on a few occasions, more than one of the recipes followed and one dish (the squid below) has been made more than once. A far cry from the interested neglect meted out to the first two tomes. It has even been leant to my Ma and Pa who liked it so much that an intervention was required to return it to my clutches. 

The reason it seems to have avoided the back of the shelf is the straight-forward, clearly explained instructions, combining French classics with some interesting, often unusual, regional dishes such as Bullfighter's stew from the Camargue, a Niçoise onion tart and, my favourite, a squid and potato stew from Sète.

Organising a dinner party for friends and wanting to follow a book for the challenge, it seemed natural to follow roughly in the footsteps of my original inspiration and crack on with cooking Stein. I didn't follow all of the original choices but opted instead for spinach soup with poached egg, the squid stew and a walnut tart to finish. We also had a tub of oozing vacherin that slotted in somewhere towards the end.

With the exception of my drinking a bit too much cava and forgetting the tart, leaving it to grow a little crisp, everything worked wonderfully. The verdant spinach soup was nicely smooth with an earthy but not overly ferrous spinachy flavour. The poached eggs were a real success: bursting out little clouds of not-quite-set yolk into the emerald soup. Even with its slight overcooking, the walnut and chestnut honey tart came out delicious. The sticky, sweet  and crunchy filling ended the meal with a potent hit of sugar, in a way that hinted at the sweet, nutty pastries that sometimes finish a Middle Eastern meal. The squid, as always, was the highlight: the fat, white rings responding predictably well to a long slow simmer in tomatoes, pepper and stock, finished off with a dollop of a harissa-infused rouille. An unashamedly powerful blast of sea, garlic and spice.

Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients, most of them are cheap and easy to come by. And if the idea of making harissa seems like a step too far when you have guests descending on you in an hour, then cheat. I have done it both ways (home-made and bought) and it always turns out well. Enjoy.

Squid and potato stew with rouille

750 g unprepared large squid

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, sliced

60 ml cognac

1 red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

2 medium tomatoes, skinned and sliced

1 tablespoon tomato purée

1 pared strip of orange peel

1 sprig of thyme

1 bay leaf

2 'petals' of star anise

180 ml dry white wine

600 ml chicken stock

250 g small evenly sized waxy potatoes, such as Charlotte, peeled and quartered lengthways

5 tablespoons rouille

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopeed flat-leaf parsley to serve

Slices of pain rustique (rustic white bread), to serve

Clean the squid and cut the pouches across into 1-cm-thick rings and the tentacles and wings into similar sized pieces.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large deep frying pan. Add the onion and garlic and fry gently until soft but not browned. Add the cognac, light it with a match and shake the pan until the flames have died down. Then add the red pepper, tomatoes, tomato purée, orange zest, thyme, bay leaf, star anise, white wine and stock and bring it up to a simmer.

Heat another tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan, add half the squid and a little seasoning and stir-fry over a high heat for 2 minutes until lightly browned. Add to the sauce and repeat with a little more oil and the rest of the squid. Season to taste with salt and pepper, part-cover the pan and leave the stew to simmer gently for 1 hour, until the squid is tender and the liquid has reduced and thickened.

Meanwhile, put the potatoes in a pan of well-salted water (1 teaspoon per 600 ml), bring to the boil and simmer for 7-10 minutes until just tender. Drain well and set aside.

When the squid is tender, remove the orange zest and pieces of star anise from the stew, add the potatoes and simmer for 5-10 minutes so that they take on some of the flavours.

Meanwhile, make the rouille (as below). Take the pan of stew off the heat and add 2 spoonfuls of the liquid from the stew to the rouille. Mix well and stir it back into the pan, but don't put the pan back over the heat or it might curdle. 

Adjust the seasoning if necessary, sprinkle with parsley and serve with plenty of bread.

Rouille

25 g slice day-old crustless white bread

A little fish stock or water

3 fat garlic cloves, peeled

1 egg yolk

250 ml olive oil

For the harissa:

1 roasted red pepper

1 teaspoon tomato purée

1 teaspoon ground coriander

A pinch of saffron strands

2 medium-hot red chillies, stalks removed and roughly chopped

1/4 teasponn cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the harissa, put the roasted red pepper flesh, tomato purée, ground coriander, saffron, chillies, cayenne and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt intoa food processor and blend till smooth. Transfer to a bowl.

For the rouille, cover the slice of bread with the fish stock or water and leave to soften. Squeeze out the excess liquid and put the bread into the food processor with 2 tablespoons of the harissa, the garlic, egg yolk and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Blend until smooth.

With the machine still running, gradually add the oil until you have a smooth, thick mayonnaise-like mixture. This will store in the fridge for up to a week.

Mr F plays with fire