Jane and Hugh do lunch…
I am back from London, back from cooking lunch for Hugh Grant.
Because I have written a piece for Parade magazine - out in December - I cannot tell you much about it until then, but I will just tell you this:
He was utterly adorable.
Thoughtful, curious, and disarmingly good company.
He also loved my cooking, so he is extra-specially nice, and welcome to have lunch in my kitchen any. Time. He. Wants.
Now on to more important stuff…the food. For those of you who wish to have a taste of my experience with Hugh Grant, I am providing the recipes for the food I made, and it was, if I do say so myself, seriously delish. I haven’t provided a recipe for the caramelised plum tart, because I was supposed to be making a tarte tatin, but I couldn’t find a pan that would go in the oven.
I had borrowed my friend Annie’s house, in which to cook HG lunch. Once upon a time it used to belong to Tina Turner, so it’s seriously swanky, in Notting Hill, and has La Cornue wall to wall in the kitchen.
Sadly, when I got there, I remembered that Annie doesn’t cook. I only remember this an hour before HG arrives, and I go to blend the stuffing, and realise the hand-held blender is from 1984, and emits worrying whiffs of smoke every time I turn it on.
And then - oh the horror - not a sharp knife in the house. I run over to the hotel, burst in, and babble something about HG coming for lunch and no knives and please, please, please may I borrow their very best carving knife.
Finally, no pan for the tarte tatin. So I cut puff pastry into rectangles, placed plums on the top, and made a quick caramel sauce with butter and sugar, and poured it over, then baked it…It was good, but I have no idea what the measurements are - it was all rather panicky guesswork…
Roasted Tenderloin of Pork with Fig, Prosciutto and Sage Stuffing.
Ingredients
1 Tenderloin of pork
8 slices prosciutto
8 dried figs
handful of chopped fresh sage, or ½ teaspoon dried
1 stick butter
seasoning
olive oil
4 apples, sliced in wedges
2 red onions, cut into wedges
string
Pre-heat oven to 450.
Directions
Take the pork and cut through the center until you are about a centimeter away from the other side – you don’t want to cut it all the way through, but slice it so it opens like a sandwich.
In a blender, blend butter, figs, prosciutto, sage, seasoning to make stuffing.
Press stuffing onto one half of tenderloin, then bring the other half over the top to sandwich it.
You will need to then wrap string around the pork to hold it together. Cut the string into 6 lengths, and tie each length, about an inch apart.
Place pork in pan, and arrange apples and onions around the pork.
Season everything, and pour generous glug of olive oil over all.
Cook on 450 for 15 mins, baste pork, then reduce to 350 for one hour.
The apples and onion caramelize and cook down to a delicious sauce…
Wild Mushroom Polenta
Ingredients
3 cups chicken stock
2 cups polenta
1/2 cup half and half
4 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup Mascarpone
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano cheese
seasoning
Directions
Combine milk, salt, and stock and bring to a simmer. Add the polenta in a slow steady stream and bring the mixture to a simmer. Stir with a wooden spoon and cook at very low heat for 1 hour, stirring frequently. If the mixture begins to thicken too much, add more simmering stock. Finish with mascarpone and butter, then season and add Parmigiano. It should be like loose mashed potatoes.
Mushroom sauce
Ingredients
1 cup assorted gourmet mushrooms, i.e. porcini, morels, etc
(Costco do an amazing jar of dried mushrooms which are perfect for this once soaked)
olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 onion, finely chopped.
4 tablespoons chicken stock
seasoning
1 sprig of thyme.
chopped parsley.
Directions:
Rinse the mushrooms thoroughly if fresh, then slice them and sautee them with the garlic and onion in olive oil for about 10 minutes.
Add thyme, seasoning and stock, and turn heat on high, uncovered, to reduce and thicken sauce.
When ready to serve, spoon over polenta and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
October 15th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Dear (beautiful) Jane,
lucky you …
But why did you have your hair cut ?
Kind regards- one of your dearest readers
October 15th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Oh. My. Goodness. !!!!!
October 15th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Lucky you and lucky him. The menu looks delish. I may try it for one of my supply-the-food shelters based upon my weight loss.
October 15th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Wow, lunch with Hugh Grant! I loved Four Weddings and a Funeral – totally captured the humor/humour as your books do too. It must have been a tasty and interesting meal, despite the initial panic. Think about it: do you know anyone in Notting Hill who actually cooks? Really.
Cute new haircut and diet: sometimes when life gets to be too much, it helps to change the things you can control. Lunch with Hugh Grant wouldn’t hurt either.
October 15th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
I love Hugh - the picture of both of you is great. I’ve had you in my thoughts since your last post.
October 15th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
I have been wondering when you were going to share something about your fab lunch date with us! I also wondered if youvwould cook vegan for Hugh Grant. It all looks as wonderful as I imagined, as if it were a scene from a Richard Curtis movie. Can’t wait to read the whole article!
October 15th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
It’s one of the two: either he’s going to star in a movie made after one of your novels or you were in the same English class back in school!
October 16th, 2009 at 4:19 am
Wow, this sounds delicious (both HG and the recipes
Well done. If HG was coming for lunch, or - even better - George Clooney - I’d just sit and stare and him: definitely wouln’t be able to concentrate on cooking!
October 16th, 2009 at 4:32 am
Only recently discovered your website after reading your books for aeons. I’m almost as happy as when I read your first book!
Quelle surprise! I’m sure Hugh was entranced with your company too.
Lovely recipes - could you just confirm the amount of mascarpone in the Polenta please Jane? I’m not a Nigella and need everything spot on….
October 16th, 2009 at 5:59 am
Merci beaucoup
October 16th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Absolutely love the new hair cut!!
October 16th, 2009 at 9:46 am
I’m looking forward to reading the Parade piece. There is no substitute for a good, sharp chef’s knife. Had a giggle thinking of you frantically running back to the house with a borrowed knife in hand. Did paparazzi get a glimpse of you? I can envision the tabloid piece now and Perez marking up you photo…
October 16th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Look at you with the great hair, spending an afternoon with Hugh Grant! Please trade me lives, Jane, please. Just for a day or two - preferably a day like the one pictured above. K? Thanks! You’re the greatest!
October 16th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
A) Cute haircut
B) Cute lunch date
c) Really, both are seriously adorable
October 16th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
He may very well enjoyed your cooking, and we all know you’re very charming and great company. However, I’m going to guess Hugh was just being Hugh and really wanted you! You can’t blame the bloke.
October 19th, 2009 at 5:27 am
I seriously love anything Hugh Grant. You wouldn’t believe it but before I read this article i had thoughts about cooking a meal for Hugh Grant. I’d love to cook something for him. I have a secret dish i’d love to cook for him and dessert would be just perfect. I love cooking for people who appreciate it and he looks like he did. I’m jealous that it wasn’t me who did it for him. boo hoo hoo
October 19th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
I agree Jane, the hair is fab! The food looked great and as for the lunch date, phwoar!!! xx
October 20th, 2009 at 9:01 am
I LOVE Hugh Grant… but I love you new haircut even more!
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Sexy! (and I mean your hot new haircut- I love it!) Oh, and Hugh, he’s pretty good looking too! Can’t wait to read the article!
November 5th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Sorry Jane, but this is my introduction to you. I must say that if I were having a meal with Hugh I wouldn’t be able to consume even one tiny bite, I’d be so fixated on his handsomeness. I’d be salivating, for sure, but not over the food. You are one lucky devil, IMO. Good God, he’s so handsome. Was he drinking wine? What was he like?
November 8th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Jane, I was ROFLOL at your tale of cooking!
Just too funny … straight out of an “I Love Lucy” episode! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new do, too! Thanks for sharing!
November 10th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Hello Jane,
I had the pleasure of meeting you at the La Jolla Writers Conference and also seeing the photos of Hugh Grant and Harrison Ford. Thanks so much for being such a kind, approachable woman, and I had to mention you on my blog post.
November 11th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Hi Jane, your piece with Hugh will be in the November 22nd issue of Parade. Fans can look out for it in their local newspaper or check Parade.com for listings. Yea, Jane and Hugh!!
November 20th, 2009 at 7:12 am
The dishes are lovely, and I will certainly use them next time I have Huge Grant to lunch (ha ha) Seriously, lovely food, thanks.
November 22nd, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Read your piece in Parade this morning and loved it =)
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:41 am
I saw the Parade magazine this weekend, and I was so surprised when I found out you wrote the article on Hugh grant. I have read a lot of your books. I am a fan of Hugh’s too. I love good fiction, good movies, good art. Thank you.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Just read the article in parade - and you seriously did not fancy him :)) Love the hairdo, love the food XX
February 21st, 2010 at 12:33 am
Finally saw the movie this afternoon and had to do a little research. Hugh becomes more handsome every passing year. Ran across your article and am new to your work. Enjoyed the article so much that I had to look you up. What fun - a new author to explore! BTW, how does one get in touch with Hugh??