Jean Christophe Novelli's Burger à la Michelin Star.

Yours truly chilling with "J.C"

Oui my little croissants, yesterday was spent in a glorious flurry of champagne-quaffing and celebrity chef hob-nobbing, whipping up a meat storm with cookery TV's Mr. Handsome: Jean Christophe Novelli. 

J.C, as we call him, ("we" being the 20-odd starry-eyed journalists swooning over cheddar cheese cubes) was at L'Atelier des Chefs

being "the face" of a new campaign by Flora to promote healthy heart awareness in Britain. Now, I'm always sceptical when it comes to celebrity chefs flogging supermarket food stuffs. Witness Marco Pierre White trying to convince me that the Knorr stock cube was his saving grace. 

The idea of Jean Christophe Novelli making roux at the Four Seasons using a pack of Flora marge just seemed wrong, in so many ways. That was until I nabbed one of the sugar-dusted biscuits proffered to us at the reception and experienced a blissful moment of orgasmic butteriness. Surely this delight couldn't have been made with dreaded margarine, could it? But yes! Evidemment!

So, it took precisely one biscuit and three words issuing from the mouth of Jean Christophe to convince me that Flora "butter" is nectar of the Gods and that I will forever more keep it within my arsenal of dastardly cooking must-haves.

Maybe not. But we did learn a lovely little trick for cooking mushrooms. Which is to NEVER use olive oil, as the mushrooms simply soak it up like a sponge, then release it all again in a river once they're on your plate. To cook a perfect mushroom, place them in a searing hot pan, coat with a teaspoon or two of melted butter (or Flora...) and shoogle them about to coat them thinly and evenly. Cook for about a minute like this, then add a soupspoon of water and cover, allowing them to steam and the butter to evaporate leaving only a delicious taste and moistness... C'est parfait!

On to the recipe! What did Michelin-starred Jean Christophe Novelli rustle up? Un hamburger, naturellement! No froths, jus, or glazes for us, mes amis, no wine reductions or fiddly stacks of julienne veggies. just a good, hearty, juicy, cheesy and oozing-goodness burger.

Jean Christophe Novelli's Family Favourite: Cheese and Mushroom burger.

Ingredients:

1 x 400g lean beef mince

1 medium onion

60g reduced fat cheddar cheese, diced

2 tspn English mustard

1 tblspn Worcestershire sauce

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

cracked black pepper

Combine all of the above ingredients in a bowl, knead well and divide into even-sized burgers.

2 beef tomatoes cut into four slices

1 small bread stick

2 tblspn Flora Buttery, melted

8 large portobello or flat cap mushrooms

cumin seeds

balsamic glaze

2 cloves garlic

fresh thyme

Cook the tomatoes in a very hot pan with a little Flora, seasoning with salt, pepper and garlic. Turn once and finish with a little balsamic glaze to sweeten.

Remove from the pan and leave to one side.

Trim the underneath of the mushrooms so they have a flat base. Season with pepper and melted Flora. Cook these in a hot dry pan, flat side down to start with, adding a little cumin seed if required. Turn over and cook on the other side but add a splash of water and voer with a lid. Keep warm.

To cook the burgers grill them for about 6-8 minutes turning a couple of times until cooked through. 

Toast the flattened slices of bread in a hot dry pan or toaster.

Stack your burger like this: slice of bread, mushroom, tomato, burger, tomato, mushroom, slice of bread. Skewer to hold it in place until ready to eat.

Melanzane M'Mbuttanate - Cilento Stuffed Aubergines by the Itinerant Epicure

Three goats eye me suspiciously as I slice a plump, sweet aubergine in two and stuff it with a thick, creamy mixture of their own soft cheese, some egg yolk and bread crumbs. Behind me, Signora Cerullo, a portly mamma in clogs and black skirts, clatters a thick iron pot over the open brazier in her backyard, stewing wild greens picked this morning behind the farmhouse.
I'm sweating under a timber awning at a vast wooden table, hand crafted by Zio who sits on a stool in front of me, in complete silence, observing me pensively - the first inglese he's ever met. Mamma is teaching me to make melanzane 'mbuttanate, Cilento dialect for stuffed eggplant. For each slice I make, I am fed something impossibly delicious off the table to the sound of orgiastic groans from the small crowd of villagers who have come to ogle my rustic Italian cooking skills, or lack thereof.
This makeshift outdoor kitchen, with its battered copper pots swinging from the rafters, rusty old weights and cavernous stone bread oven look like they've been here for centuries. Less than two generations ago, however, the Cerullo family lived lì sopra, or "up there" says "Zio", finally opening his toothless mouth and shrugging in the direction of the brittle grey mountain behind him.
The jagged, crumbling outline of a stone and whitewash ghost town juts out from the summit at awkward angles, barely visible from down below. Row upon row of houses lie empty atop the mount, broken windows and hollow doorways gaping at the wind that howls constantly, hurtling like a banshee through the "gola del diavolo" or devil's gorge that splits the mountain down its middle. There had been a thriving merchant settlement here, uninterrupted, since the Norman era, with some evidence even of iron age burial sites.The poverty which devastated post-war southern Italy forced farmers to abandon San Severino and wind their way downhill to settle in Centola, in the shadow of their former village, where Mussolini had a train track built to carry their sons and daughters away to the economic powerhouse of the North.

The slow food trendies have begun to trickle down to these rural backwaters, although the term here is obsolete: the Cilentani know no other kind of eating. Rafaello Cerullo, who owns the farm, hopes this new income will allow the villagers to reclaim San Severino and rebuild it to its former glory. Until that happens though, I smile privately at the joy of being the first Brit to taste this unctuous, warm ricotta, drink Zio's heady, syrupy wine and be given the eye by the Godfather of all goats.

Countryside Alliance Rewards Local Food Heroes

The Countryside Alliance handed out its “Rural Oscars” at a Parliamentary reception on Wednesday 3rd February. British titles have gone to businesses from Cumbria, Yorkshire, Worcestershire and Dumfries, political awards went to Sir Alan Beith MP and Philip Dunne MP and the Rural Hero of 2009 Award went to Lincolnshire’s Agricultural Chaplain, Rev Canon Alan Robson. The fifth annual Countryside Alliance Awards were launched in September and attracted a record 2.500 nominations from across Britain. Regional winners were declared in December and those winners went forward to the grand final, judged by Countryside Alliance Chief Executive Simon Hart along with Clarissa Dickson Wright, Farmers Guardian Editor Emma Penny, Daily Telegraph commentator Charlie Brooks and British Food Fortnight Director Alexia Robinson. Simon Hart announced the winners at a packed reception which was attended by all regional winners, keen to add a British title to their regional one.

Winners in the food and agro-produce departments are as follows:

Local Food Award: Beadlam Grange Farm Shop and Tea Room, Pockley, Yorkshire. 01439 770303.


Simon Hart says: “This Award goes to a family run farm with total commitment to local produce, the surrounding community and the future of farming. To help their children have a career in the industry, this family gave them the best possible start, converting the foldyard into a farm shop and tea room which is now a much-used for a variety of different events, from Young Farmers Club parties to craft fairs and local schools’ days. The produce speaks for itself and is truly the best: all beef and sheep are from the farm and the local abattoir is only four miles away, meaning all meat can be hung on site and butchered by the resident butcher. The tearoom serves a huge variety of traditional dishes and you can be assured a huge Yorkshire welcome whenever you visit from owners Mark and Jenny Rooke.”

Highly Commended: White Haywood Farm, Herefordshire.



Daily Telegraph Traditional Business Award: The Greyhound Inn, Grizebeck, Cumbria 01229 889224 Simon says: “A unique initiative, this is a community-run pub which I think can provide a model for other struggling village pubs. Rather than see their local pub falter, Grizebeck’s locals pulled together and saved it. This is especially impressive when you consider how many local pubs are closing every month. Initially run totally by volunteers, it is now once again a thriving traditional village pub which forms the centre of the community, running events such as quiz and music nights and serving local produce. Saving the Greyhound has brought together people from different parts of the local area to work with a common focus, and in doing so they have saved something which, if lost, may never have been revived.”

Highly Commended: SW Doughty Butcher, Doddington, Kent.


Rural Hero of 2009: Canon Rev Alan Robson, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire. Simon says: “This year’s Rural Hero is someone for whom serving the countryside isn’t so much a job as a calling, having been Lincolnshire’s Agricultural Chaplain for the past 10 years. He formed the Lincolnshire Farmer Support Group, which is run by a group of volunteers with a wide understanding of farming issues and offers a confidential telephone helpline. As well as this, Reverend Canon Alan Robson works with local groups to support the migrant worker population which contributes significantly to the area. Alan’s most recent achievement is the Epic Project, a centre for innovation to explore new technologies and responses to global warming. The centre was his brainchild and through his determination the £6.2 million building which was opened last summer. Alan Robson is a heroic character with a passion for agriculture, food production and pastoral care.” Highly Commended: Tim Rollings, owner of Fishers Farm Park in West Sussex, for employing and encouraging over 30 young people a year at his rural educational park.

St Lawrence Food Hall - Toronto

St. Lawrence food market is a traditional covered city centre market with a permanent food hall with deli foods from all the different ethnicities represented in Toronto (hundreds! its fantastically diverse) and a Farmer's Market on Saturdays in an adjoining hall.

THe first is exciting because you'll get a hold of great ethnic foods and all the stalls allow you to taste and try things out, check out the hot chipotle dips at the mexican counter, or Bubble TEa at the Japanese diner...

The latter is exciting because it showcases local Ontario farmer's produce, including some incredibly shaped and coloured gourds (Oh my gourd! exclaimed my friend...), purple peppers, emu oil (as you do...) and of course, peameal bacon, sizzling hot and slathered in wholegrain shallot mustard from a counter which sells over 100 varieties of the condiment!!!

Chat with local farmers, hear some great buskers and organise a great packed lunch to take with you to the lake-front.