If you live in London, you may already know Books for Cooks, in Notting Hill, just off the Portobello Road. It's a gem of a place, with hundreds, if not thousands, of cookery titles neatly arranged on floor to ceiling shelves and a test kitchen at the back of the shop where they give cookery demonstrations. As a result, you're greeted with wonderfully rich food and wine smells when you step over the threshold.
They've also published their own run of excellent cookery books. most of which are still available either from "Books for Cooks" themselves, or amazon.co.uk. By popular request, here's one of their best recipes (taken from Patricia Wells' At Home in Provence: Chicken Stewed with Saffron & Fennel, with Red Pepper Aioli.
First, take some chicken thighs; remove the skins and bone, and chop them in half. Season them with salt and pepper and then fry them in olive oil, until golden. Take the chicken out of the pan and add two crushed garlic cloves, a pinch of saffron threads, a teaspoon of fennel seeds, three sprigs of thyme, two bay leaves, two tablespoons of tomato puree, a dash of Pernod, a cup of dry white wine, and two cups of chicken stock. Stir, and bring it to the boil. You'll get a lovely, Saffron infused, rose-coloured sauce.
Next, add the chicken pieces and some quartered and peeled potatoes, and simmer slowly for about twenty minutes. In practice, you may find that you need to par-boil the potatoes first, as they seem to take longer than twenty minutes to cook- especially if you're simmering the dish on a lowish heat.
The Red Pepper Aioli is straightforward. First char-grill some red peppers. All this means is placing some quartered peppers directly onto the gas flame. Once they start charring, you will find it easier to peel off the skin. To help this along, put the hot peppers into a bowl and cover the bowl with a cloth.
In your Magimix, whizz up the skinned red peppers, with two egg yolks, six crushed garlic cloves and some salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and make a mayonnaise in the usual way. You will end up with a pink-coloured, garlicky aioli. Season with Cayenne Pepper and serve with the Chicken Stew.
