40411 11141k
Hedgehog roast
T do not really like the description 'meat
loaf, nor have I ever liked the taste of the product. It always seemed a trifle dry and sawdusty, though I am sure you have all had deliciously succulent ones.
This receipt is what I like to think of as a rather grand meat loaf that eliminates the loaf entirely. It is a good bourgeois, inex- pensive dish which smells wonderful whilst cooking and is easy as pie to serve simply carve it through in thick slices. For eight people you will need: llb each of minced beef, pork and veal 1/21b of chicken livers 1/21b of unsmoked streaky bacon 1/21b of mushrooms 1 large onion (grated) 10 juniper berries (crushed) 3 cloves of garlic (crushed) Salt, ground pepper, rosemary, thyme, powdered allspice, bay leaves Blanched almonds or halved walnuts (optional) 1 egg Slice the mushrooms and the chicken livers,Sauté gently for five minutes. Leave aside to cool.
Take a large bowl and put all the minced meats into it, together with the grated onion, crushed garlic and juniper berries and a good teaspoon each of thyme and allspice, salt and about 20 turns of the pepper mill. Break the egg over it. Add the mushrooms and chicken livers. Mix together.
Place this mixture in a baking tin and mould to the shape of a hedgehog. Adorn with strips of bacon, criss-crossed Union Jack-wise, sprinkle with rosemary and place a couple of bay leaves over it. Take the almonds or walnuts and stud the roast with them standing upright to form the hedgehog shape (this is entirely optional but often pleases grown-ups as well as children).
Place in a preheated oven at gas mark 8 (230C, 450F) for 1/4 hour. Turn down to gas mark 4 (180C, 350F) and cook for 1/4 hour per pound (11/2 hours in all).
When it is cooked you will find a large quantity of juices in the bottom of the pan. Save these and refrigerate for another day. The fat will rise to the top and can be used for sautéing potatoes or bread; the deli- cious jelly below can be used for addition to gravy and sauces.
It is also excellent for cooking eggs in ramekins instead of the usual cream. But-
ter four ramekins, place an egg in each and cover with the jelly, having melted it into • liquid form again. Put the ramekins into a frying pan large enough to hold them. pour hot water into the pan to come half way uP the sides of the ramekins, simmer gently for three to five minutes with a cover. The eggs should not be too hard and they will go on cooking in their containers once you have removed them from the water with the aid of a perforated spoon or spatula. But to continue. Lift the hedgehog out, of the pan with a perforated spatula an
° place on a warmed platter. Serve with the following tomato sauce: 28oz tin of Italian tomatoes 4 tablespoons of tomato purée 4 tablespoons of olive oil 1 clove of crushed garlic Salt, pepper and a teaspoon of sugar Chopped basil
Simmer ingredients, covered, for a good 1/2 hour (more if possible — it only gets• better) and finally stir in the chopped basil or, failing that, parsley. This is a very good dish served either hot or cold. I think it is even better cold, but there is usually some left over if you are aiming at eight people, so you can tryjt both ways. A baked potato and a good salad should he ample to serve with it. Now for a very much quicker dish and very good: grilled mackerel with Dijon mustard and fennel. You will need:
4 mackerel Strong Dijon mustard 3 teaspoons of fennel seed
Get fine fresh mackerel from your fish- monger (not a supermarket) and ask hire to clean but not split them. Cut three deep incisions diagonally across the backbone. Salt the wounds and the inside of the fish. Spread liberally with mustard and sprinkle with well-pounded fennel seed. Heat yo,n,r hs grill for five minutes before putting the fish under it. It is a good idea to place the fig' on foil before putting it on the grid. .slou, will then be able to throw the bones an mess away together after consuming the fish. Grill fiercely for five minutes. Turn over and put more mustard and fennel on the underside. Then grill for a further five minutes. The skin should be slightly charred and crisp. Eat with brown breaa and butter followed by a green salad or hot potato salad dressed with vinaigrette.1
Jennifer Paterson
Previous page
