I tend to mean what I say: inlife, generally; in recipes, certainly. I spend a lot of time getting recipes to what I believe is their perfect point, so if three-quarters of a teaspoon of something is listed in the ingredients, you can bet the dish has also been tested with both half ateaspoon and a full teaspoon.
An exception is when the list reads: "Greek yoghurt (optional)." It might seem that I'm suggesting you can take it or leave it, but what I'm really thinking is, "Unless there's a reason you can't eat yoghurt, you'd be crazy to skip this stage." Why get so far and not go that small final step to elevate a dish into something very special? Yoghurt cuts sweetness and richness, tempers spice and makes a dish sing. (Other dairy-based options include ricotta and sour cream.)
Citrus, too, refreshes hearty dishes. A squeeze of lemon orthe grated zest of a lemon or orange (as it comes, or mixed with garlic and parsley in a gremolata) is a brilliant finishing touch to osso buco or cuttlefish stewed in red wine. Nuts and seeds likewise: toasted, buttered flaked almonds, say, round off a rich, chilli-hot meat stew, just as a tahini crust completes today's lamb dish. As for herbs, instead of that final sprinkling of the freshly chopped stuff, make a paste by blitzing a handful with olive oil and a pinch of salt.
You can mix and match all these elements, too: lighten plain yoghurt with dried mint and a little white-wine vinegar; or combine the lot in aguacamole. It's one small (optional) step for a dish, one giant leap for the end result.
Spicy venison stew with guacamole
Yes, of course you could serve this chilli-rich stew on its own, but the guacamole acts as a sharp, vibrant counterpoint to the deep flavours inthe meat; it also takes mere seconds to prepare, so there are no excuses not to make it. Serves four.
About 90ml olive oil
500g shallots, peeled
350g smoked bacon lardons
1 large dried ancho chilli
3 dried chipotle chillies
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp white-wine vinegar
½ tsp caster sugar
1kg venison shoulder or neck, cut into 2.5cm dice
2 tbsp plain flour
250ml white vermouth
5 large sprigs fresh thyme, tied together with string
400g tin butter beans, drained
Salt
150g sour cream, to serve
For the guacamole salsa
2 avocados, halved, stoned, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
½ red onion, peeled and sliced thin
15g coriander leaves, chopped
2 tbsp lime juice
Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Put all the guacamole ingredients and a quarter-teaspoon of salt in a bowl, mash roughly with a fork, cover and refrigerate. (Bring it back to room temperature before serving.)
Put a large, heavy-based sauté pan on medium-high heat. Add two tablespoons of the oil, the shallots and bacon, and fry for 10 minutes, stirring, until the shallots have softened and the bacon browned.
Put all the chillies in a bowl with 150ml of boiling water and leave to rehydrate for 30 minutes. Strain (save the water), then cut the chillies down the middle. Scrape out and discard the seeds and put the flesh in the small bowl of a food processor with the garlic, cumin, vinegar, sugar, a tablespoon of oil and a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Blitz, adding chilli water with the motor running, until it's a smooth paste, then set aside.
Put the venison in a large bowl. Sprinkle over the flour and half a teaspoon of salt, and mix to coat. Return the pan to a medium-high heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Add a third of the venison, sear for two minutes, browning it all over, and transfer to a colander. Repeat twice more with the remaining venison, then tip all the meat back in the pan, with the onions and bacon. Add the vermouth, boil for two minutes, then add the chilli paste, 120ml of water and the thyme. Cover and cook in the oven for 90 minutes; 10 minutes before the end, add the butter beans, cover again, and return to the oven. Remove, leave to stand for 20 minutes and serve with guacamole and sour cream alongside.
Lamb siniyah
Yes, there's a bit of effort involved in blanching and peeling the tomatoes, but it's time well spent because it helps keep this fantastic Arabic dish fresh-tasting; so don't be tempted touse tinned tomatoes instead. Ilike this with plain rice. Serves six.
About 70ml olive oil
2 small onions, peeled and finelychopped
4 medium sticks celery, finely sliced
1 tsp tomato paste
1 tbsp baharat spice mix
200g tahini paste
1½ tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove, crushed
Salt and black pepper
1kg stewing lamb (shoulder, leg or neck), cut into 2cm chunks
500g whole tomatoes, blanched, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tsp paprika
1½ tsp caster sugar
60g pine nuts, toasted
40g parsley, chopped
Put two tablespoons of oil in a large sauté pan for which you have a lid and put on a medium heat. Add the onions and celery, cook for 10 minutes, stirring, until soft. Add the tomato paste and baharat, cook for two minutes, then tip into a bowl.
Put the tahini in a medium bowl with the lemon juice, 160ml water, the garlic and a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Whisk to a thick but pourable consistency, like double cream – add more water if need be – and set aside.
Season the lamb with three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt and agood grind of black pepper. Add ateaspoon and a half of oil to the pan in which you cooked the onions and put on a medium-high heat. Add a quarter of the lamb and fry for three minutes, turning to brown all over. Transfer to the onion bowl and repeat with the remaining lamb, adding a teaspoon and a half of oil to each batch. Return all the lamb and vegetables to the pan, and stir in two-thirds of the tomatoes, the paprika, sugar, half a teaspoon of salt and plenty of black pepper. Bring to a boil, turn the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer gently for 70-90 minutes, until the meat is very tender and the sauce thick (you may need to take off the lid so the liquid reduces more).
About 10 minutes before the meat is ready, heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Stir the pine nuts, parsley and remaining tomatoes through the stew and pour the lot into a 25cm x 25cm ovenproof dish. Pour over the tahini sauce so it tops the meat in a layer around 1cm thick. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes, until the tahini forms a golden-brown crust (the sauce will look like it's separating, but don't worry). Remove, uncover and leave to rest for five minutes. Brush the top with oil and serve.
Old-fashioned apple pudding
This hot and sweet pudding, with its super-crusty almond topping, is normally cooked for hours in an Aga using windfall apples. Savour this romantic image even with my real-world adjustments. Thanks to Esme Robinson for remembering this from her childhood, and for letting me shake it up by adding rhubarb and sage. Serves four to six.
100g unsalted butter, softened
160g dark muscovado sugar
100g ground almonds
1 egg
700g cooking apples, peeled, cored and roughly grated (550g net)
250g (net) rhubarb, trimmed and sliced into 2cm pieces
50g demerara sugar
40g breadcrumbs
10g sage leaves, roughly chopped
250g Greek yoghurt
Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Put the butter and muscovado sugar in the small bowlof a food processor and cream for a couple of minutes, until smooth (you will need to scrape down the sides of the bowl once ortwice). Addthe almonds and egg and process for four or five minutes, until you have a smooth batter.
Put the apple, rhubarb, demerara sugar, breadcrumbs and sage in alarge bowl and mix. Transfer to around, high-sided oven dish, about18cm in diameter. Press down with your hands so it's relatively even, then pour the batter over the top. Use a spatula to spread it evenly in alayer about 1.5cm thick.
Bake uncovered for two hours, until the batter has formed a thick crust. Remove, leave to cool down abit, about 10-15 minutes, and servewith the yoghurt alongside.
Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi and Nopi in London.
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