Summary

From their table to yours....Welcome to the home kitchens of the world's finest chefs. In Off Duty, forty-eight of the world's top chefs and food writers abandon the heat of the professional kitchen and share their passion for home cooking. Revealing the favorite menus they love to cook for family and friends, they place the emphasis on delicious, straightforward recipes using ingredients and techniques familiar to the home cook. An interview with each chef offers fascinating insights into everything from their favorite piece of cooking gear to what they feed their children. With 144 recipes -- 48 starters, 48 main courses and 48 desserts -- there is something to suit every mood and every capability level. A sample menu might feature Gary Rhodes's starter of Toasted Tomato Salad with Melting Gorgonzola and Rocket Leaves or Delia Smith's Baked Eggs in Wild Mushroom Tartlet. For a meaty main course there is Nigella Lawson's Shin of Beef Stew with Pasta or Gordon Ramsay's Calves' Liver with Sweet and Sour Mushroom and Rocket Marmalade. At-home desserts include Jamie Oliver's Raspberry and Blackberry Meringue with Hazelnuts, Caramel and Chantilly Cream and Michel Roux's White Peaches Baked with Honey and Lavender. Off Duty has a range of vegetables, fish and meat dishes to tempt every palate and a roll call of chefs to inspire, day after day. Bringing together today's top culinary talents,, this collection is a must-have for the home cook.

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Excerpts

Off Duty
The World's Greatest Chefs Cook at Home

Saikyo Grilled Salmon

Serves 4

The salmon portions for this dish may seem quite large but they will shrink after marinating and cooking. Serve with salad, steamed rice or stir-fried vegetables.

Ingredientss:

100ml (7 tablespoons) sake
100ml (7 tablespoons) mirin
150g (¾ cup) caster (superfine or granulated) sugar
300g (10oz) white miso paste
4 x 200g (7-oz) salmon fillets, skin on
lemon wedges, to serve

Instructions:

Heat the sake in a large, heavy-based pan and ignite it to burn off the alcohol. Add the mirin and sugar and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Carefully whisk in the miso paste a little at a time, making sure the mixture is smooth. Raise the heat a little and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring constantly to make sure the mixture does not burn on the base of the pan. Strain and leave to cool completely. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Place the salmon fillets in a non-metallic container, large enough to hold them in a single layer, and pour some of the cooled marinade over them, making sure that the fish is completely surrounded; save a little of the marinade for later. Leave in the fridge to marinate for 24 hours, turning the fillets over once during this time.

When ready to cook, preheat an overhead grill (broiler) and remove the salmon fillets from the marinade, wiping off any excess. Place the fillets on a non-stick baking tray and grill, skin-side down for 5-6 minutes, taking care that they do not get too dark or caramelized. Turn the salmon over to cook the skin side until nice and crisp. Serve with lemon wedges and a little of the reserved marinade on the side.

Mochi Ice-cream Balls

Serves 4

Do not make this dish on a humid day, as the paste will sweat and become unusable.

Ingredients:

100g (1 cup) mochi flour, often labelled as Japanese rice flour
210ml (7½oz) water
95g (scant ½ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
any of your favourite ice cream flavours, to serve

Instructions:

Mix the mochi flour and water together, ensuring there are no lumps, then mix in the sugar. Put the mixture in a non-stick pan and cook over a low to medium heat, stirring vigorously, for 8 minutes, until it is stiff and elastic; take care not to let it catch on the side of the pan. Turn the paste out on to a lightly floured board and leave to cool. Meanwhile, scoop the ice cream into small balls, no more than 2cm (¾ inch) in diameter, and return to the freezer.

When the mochi paste is cold, roll it out to about 3mm (1/8 inch) thick and dust with flour. Place on a baking tray and put it into the freezer for 1 hour.

Remove the paste from the freezer and cut out rounds using a 4-5cm (about 2-inch) cutter. Place a ball of ice cream in the centre of each one and wrap it up in the mochi paste. Return to the freezer.

Off Duty
The World's Greatest Chefs Cook at Home. Copyright © by David Nicholls. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

Excerpted from Off Duty: Great Chefs Cook at Home by David Nicholls
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