Monday, April 28, 2008
CCC2: Pasta Broccoli
Chris over at Mele Cotte is replaying for the second time his great idea of a blog event to highlight one of the scourge of our age - cancer. To encourage us to cook food that combats this disease.I don't know if you notice, it seems cancer is spreading to epidemic proportions. Rare it is to find anyone who does not personally know someone who is afflicted with cancer. My husband's family is not stranger to it. An aunt and an uncle in his mother's side died of lung and breast cancers respectively. Then his several aunts and uncles in his father's side also has/had it in various forms. For me, an old high school classmate died of breast cancer at the age of 36 leaving behind 5 young kids whose father had long abandoned the family when he learned of her illness. How heartbreaking is that?
What I can do about it? Not much except maybe support them however I can in prayers, care, and whatever help I can extend. But I think the better way would be to take care of myself and my nearest loved ones in hopefully these would not befall us. One of the obvious thing to do is to eat healthily which this post will help in giving a recipe with several cancer-fighting ingredients.
A blogging friend sent me some of these lovely orecchiette (ear shaped) pasta which she got me from Italy. Thanks Sha! I've never tried these shapes before and quite curious of its texture and quality.
Then I got this recipe in the latest Delicious magazine. Their May edition is an all Italian issue. I had to halve the recipe because there's just too much of it. This recipe I adapted contains broccoli, garlic, and chilli peppers which are touted to be top cancer-combating food. I love the simplicity of this dish which can be had on its own or with other meats.
Pasta Broccoli
200 gm orecchiette pasta (ear-shaped)
1 big garlic clove - thinly sliced
1 red chilli - deseeded and sliced
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 anchovy fillets (bottled or canned)
250 gm broccoli - cut into small florets
- Blanch the broccoli in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Cook the pasta 1 minute less than the pack instructions. Drain and set aside. Reserve some of the pasta water.
- A few minutes before the pasta is done, gently heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil and saute the garlic and chilli. Do not let it burn.
- Add the broccoli and cook for about half a minute. Add another 1 Tbsp olive oil. Stir to mix.
- Add about 1/4 cup of the hot pasta water and the anchovies. Cook in low heat while stirring frequently until the anchovies dissolve.
Season with salt and pepper. - Add the pasta and stir to combine. Cook for another 2-3 minutes to allow the broccoli to cook some more.
- Add the last 1 Tbsp of olive oil and mix well. Dish up and serve immediately.
Labels: pasta
Posted by celia kusinera :: 10:35 PM :: |
Friday, April 25, 2008
Pear-Chocolate Clafoutis
I was hoping to enter this in the Hay Hay It's Donna Day #19 blogging event but it's only now that I read the rules carefully. It turned out that you have to follow a certain recipe using either berries or plums. Darn!
Never mind, I've always wanted to do this pear clafoutis recipe adapted from Green & Black's Chocolate Recipes cookbook. And I've never done clafoutis before I thought this would be a good chance to experience one.
If you don't like your clafoutis a little gooey in the middle then this is not the one for you. The extra liquid from the poached pears ensure that the middle part (at least) of the the cake is a bit wet. I absolutely love the moist, smooth texture of the conference pears with the sticky chocolate cake.
Pear-Chocolate Clafoutis
*For the poached pears:
6 pears
75 cl red wine or 3 cups water
110 gm [1/2 cup] caster sugar (superfine)
juice of 1 lemon
*For the batter
110 gm [3/4 cup] self-raising flour
1/8 tsp fine salt
100 gm [1 cup] ground almond
165 gm [3/4 cup] caster sugar (superfine)
2 large egs
1 large egg yolk
175 ml [2/3 cup + 1 Tbsp] full cream milk
75 gm unsalted or slightly salted butter
100 gm dark chocolate (minimum 60% cocoa solids)
- To poach pears:
- Peel pears but leave the stalks on (it's easier to turn pears around).
- Put wine (or water) in a saucepan with the lemon juice and caster sugar. Stir to dissolve sugar. Bring to boil slowly then lower the heat to a simmer.
- Cook/poach the pears the pears in the syrup for 10 minutes. Turn the pears from time to time.
- Take the saucepan off the heat and leave the pears in the liquid to cool for about 2 hours.
- After cooling, drain the pears and slice them in half lengthwise. Using a small teaspoon or melon baller remove the cores carefully. Cut off the stems if you like.
- For the batter:
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.
- Grease a 13 x 9-inch oval baking pan or two 9-inch baking pans.
- Break up the chocolate and melt with the butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Mix well then set aside and cool a little.
- Put the flour, almond, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix well.
- Whisk the eggs, egg yolk, and milk together then add to the flour mixture. Blend until smooth.
- Stir in the melted chocolate mixture until well combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and arrange the poached pears in the batter placing the thin end facing towards the centre of the pan.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes. The centre of the cake will always be gooey because of the extra liquid in the poached pear so do not be alarmed if a skewer inserted in the middle does not come out clean.
- Serve hot or cold with some cream or creme fraiche.
Labels: cakes
Posted by celia kusinera :: 7:47 PM :: |
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Canteen
Pictures of my lone dinner to the restaurant in the Spitalfield Market area called Canteen didn't come to the surface until now. I went there last October when I had a training down in London. Because of my long illness right after that I didn't get a chance to review all the pictures I took until now that I'm generally better.
Canteen is one of the most ideal restaurant for me. I never hid the fact from anyone that when it comes to dining places the environment and ambiance are way down my list of criteria. First and foremost for me is the food (that's what it's all about innit?) secondly is the price - it had to be at least good value for money. So you can just about guess that down to earth places with reasonable prices and great food are my absolute favourites. If the surroundings and cutlery are nice then I would consider that a bonus.
This restaurant is no fancy place but had good settings in a minimalist way. The name was true to its word - it looks like a canteen. Most of the food are standard pub fodder but done in the best way possible. I likened the whole enterprise as like stripping a restaurant naked and exposing and highlighting the fabulous food it offers at prices that would not break the bank - I promise!
I ordered a steak (and ale ?) pie with mash and greens. The mash was the best I've tasted outside of my kitchen. Very buttery, creamy and ultra smooth. And the pie? On the outside the pastry was crisp and the inside was a great thick and flavourful beef stew. Although the filling was quite hot making me regret scoffing a spoonful as soon as I broke into it. I was wondering to myself how they managed to retain the crispiness of the pastry. Maybe they have them ready as baked shells and then fill it, top it then baked to crisp the outside. Hmmm ... food for thought.
Thank god the greens didn't come out cooked to death. It was handled just right making a fine complement to the pie and creamy mash. Oh before I forget, the gravy was delicious enough to bind them all together to give me a very satisfying meal.
Now I couldn't remember exactly the ice cream I had for dessert. I think it was raspberry one with a pistachio biscotti sticking like a tower on the side. But I could distinctly remember that the fruit flavour was vivid in a starring-role style not like some insipid ice cream whose intended flavours barely registered in your tongue. And did I say it was as creamy as a premium Italian gelato?
Well, what else can I say? It's obvious that I enjoyed my food in Canteen and will be definitely be back with a vengeance if I'm in the vicinity. I just hope they keep up the quality of their offerings and hope they won't get diluted once they start branching out. Please Canteen promise me you won't be another Wagamama ...
Canteen
2 Crispin Place
Spitalfields
London E1 6DW
Tel. No.: 0845 686 1122
Labels: dining places
Posted by celia kusinera :: 10:14 PM :: |
Monday, March 10, 2008
White Chocolate-Blueberry Cheesecake
Look ma, no baking so no oven needed! Gary Rhodes' article in the BBC Good Food magazine provided me with the recipe to adapt for this confection which is really very easy to make!
I know, I know, the picture doesn't look too polished. I brought this to our nephew's baptism reception and there wasn't any plate big enough nor a knife to properly slice it. So a squashed pie plate was produced and everybody just hacked it with plastic forks and spoons. Not a pretty sight but well worth having as it was not too sweet with just the right balance of the white chocolate and cream cheese and with nary a smidgen of sour cream. The topping of course are lovely blueberries that always marries well with cheesecakes.
White Chocolate-Blueberry Cheesecake
*Biscuit Base:
225 gm plain Hobnobs* - crushed to fine crumbs
100 gm unsalted butter - melted
*Cheesecake:
300 gm white chocolate - chopped
200 gm cream cheese (or Philadelphia cheese) - at room temperature
25 gm [5 tsp] caster sugar
2 cups double cream
*Topping:
350 gm blueberries
100 gm icing sugar (confectioner's)
2 Tbsp water
- Line bottom and sides of a 23cm/9-inch round springform pan with greaseproof paper.
- Mix crumbs and butter. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan. Chill in the fridge.
- While the the crust is chilling, melt white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water in a saucepan. Remove from heat and cool a little until warm.
- Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
- Stir in melted chocolate. Mix well.
- Whip double cream to very soft peaks then gently fold into the white chocolate mixture.
- Pour into the prepared pan. Spread and smooth top. Chill in fridge for 2-3 hours or overnight.
- For the topping:
- Place blueberries, icing sugar and water in a saucepan and warm gently until sugar has dissolved and the berries are starting to soften but still retains their shape.
- If syrup is too thin, take the blueberries with slotted spoon into a container. Leave a few pieces and mash these to release the juice. Continue simmering the syrup for a few minutes to thicken.
- Combine with the blueberries. Leave to cool.
- To assemble:
- Remove cheesecake from baking pan then spoon the cold blueberries with syrup over the top.
*Note: For the crust, you can use either Hobnobs (or any oaty biscuit), Digestives, or graham crackers.
Labels: cakes
Posted by celia kusinera :: 11:20 PM :: |
Friday, February 15, 2008
Buttermilk Scones
Scones here are more or less the equivalent of what the Americans call biscuits. They are favourite staples of afternoon teas. I love to have them with some clotted cream and strawberry jam plus a steaming cup of Earl Grey. They are one of the more easier quickbreads to make. So easy even my daughters can make them without my help at all.
One of the secrets in making a flaky, fluffy and well-risen scones is by using buttermilk. It reacts with the baking powder in the self-raising flour to give us light and airiness in the scones. Also when rubbing the butter into the flour, lift it a little bit to incorporate more air in the mixture. The other one is in dipping the cutter in flour before cutting into the dough. If it's not well floured it tends to crimp the edges which prevents it from rising well.
This particular recipe is adapted from Angela Nilsen's The Ultimate Recipe Book. I reduced the milk to make it less sticky and increased the sugar a little for more sweetness.
Buttermilk Scones
450 gm self-raising flour
1/2 tsp fine salt
75 gm [5 Tbsp] caster sugar (superfine)
100 gm chilled butter
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup milk
a little flour for dusting
- Preheat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas mark 7. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
- Mix flour and salt in a bowl.
- [Optional] Cut butter into small pieces.
- Add butter to the flour mixture and using a pastry cutter or two butter knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until they are pea-sized. Then shift to using your fingers and rub the butter and flour mixture lifting as you go along to aerate the mixture until it more or less resembles bread crumbs. Try not to over rub as the scones will be lighter if the mixture is a bit flaky.
- Mix the buttermilk and milk. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour the buttermilk mixture in it.
- Gently mix them together until it forms a soft and sticky dough.
- Put the dough in a lightly floured surface and knead 3 or 4 times only to get rid of the cracks. Do not overwork the dough or it will become tough.
- Pat the dough gently to a thickness of about 1-inch. Dip a 2-1/2 inch round fluted cutter in flour and cut out the scones by pushing down quickly without twisting. Make sure to dip the cutter in flour every time before cutting through the dough.
- Cut out the rest of the dough by gathering the trimmings lightly then patting to 1 inch thick again.
- Place in the baking sheet and sift a light dusting of flour on top or glaze with beaten egg. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until well risen and golden.
- Cool on a wire rack uncovered for crisp tops or loosely covered with a teatowel if you prefer it soft.
- Serve with clotted or whipped cream and strawberry jam.
Labels: breads
Posted by celia kusinera :: 9:38 AM :: |
Friday, January 04, 2008
Roasted Teriyaki Salmon
We usually go for something different on either Christmas lunch or dinner. In the last one we had the kid's favourite roast rib of beef for lunch so I thought of keeping it a little lighter for dinner.
Often salmon is dealt with in our kitchen by grilling it. This time it is baked with some veggies stuffed in it. I think it still needs a little more seasoning although my husband it was just right. Anyway he said we always have a dipping dish of soy sauce and lemon on the side. However as a variation, this dish can be marinated first with teriyaki sauce to make the salmon more flavoured. But forget my gripes, I highly recommend this as an alternative to your usual turkey or beef roasts.
This was adapted from the Good Housekeeping magazine from the mid 90s. Enjoy!
Roasted Teriyaki Salmon
4 spring onions
225 gm asparagus (optional) - halved lengthwise
225 gm carrots - peeled and julienned
225 gm leeks
1 large red or orange bell pepper
3 garlic cloves - finely minced
50 gm canned water chestnuts - julienned or roughly chopped
4 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce*
2 salmon tail fillet (about 1.8 kg in weight) - skin on and scaled
sea salt flakes
fresh ground pepper
- Cut off the ends of the leek and into about 4-inch lengths crosswise then cut into julienne strips.
- De-seed the bell pepper and cut into julienne strips.
- Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in a wok. Saute the garlic for a few seconds.
- Stir fry the rest of the vegetables for 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the teriyaki sauce and cook for about 1 minute.
- Remove from pan and set aside to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan.
- Put the salmon fillets cut side up on a work surface. Sprinkle some teriyaki sauce, sea salt and pepper on them.
- Place the cooled vegetable on top of one then cover with the other salmon fillet, cut side down.
- Tie the salmon tightly together at intervals using cotton strings.
- Brush the of the salmon on top with the rest of the olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.
- Put the salmon in a roasting pan and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through.
- Remove from oven and put under a hot grill (or increase the oven to 250C/230C fan) for 2-3 mins to brown the salmon.
- To serve, cut into thick slices and with lemon and soy sauce.
*Notes:
- You may use store-bought teriyaki sauce.
- This can be prepared ahead by doing to end of step 10 up to one day ahead. Chill in the fridge until ready to use.
- When baking from chilled, cook for 35-40 mins.
- The salmon may also be marinated with the teriyaki sauce for about 15 minutes to increase flavour.
Labels: seafood
Posted by celia kusinera :: 8:38 PM :: |
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Sticky Toffee Pudding
This was intended as an entry for the SHF #38 with a theme of pudding. I thought the deadline was end of the month I forgot that this is a Friday event. Duh! So I missed it again as I always do ... arrrgggghhhh!
Nevermind, I still want to include this in my list of recipes here as a reference for moi. For I have found my ultimate sticky toffee pudding - at last! I first sighted this in the Good Food magazine as far back as 2006. I have made this before but just forgot (there's that word again) to take a picture. So Christmas dinner this year provided the perfect excuse to indulge in our most favourite of all puddings.
Among the commercial varieties the only one that pass my family's finicky taste is Marks & Spencers. My husband buys only their sticky toffee pudding when he occasionally hankers for one. The rest of the store-bought ones didn't get enough points for us to buy a second time.
This type of pudding is typical of traditional British ones. Though upon research I found out that it was anything but ancient. There is controversy regarding its origins. Some say it's from a Lake District hotel some say it's from somewhere else. In any case, hats off to whoever it was for inventing a totally addictive pud.
When I was making this I realised that the most important bit is really the toffee sauce. Once you get the right balance of the ingredients for the sauce, it does not matter whether the pudding itself does or not have any dates in it. Actually I think even if you have just plain sponge as a base but have the perfect toffee sauce then it is all well and good exactly like the better store-bought ones.
The recipe is very good and easy to do. My only gripe is the black tracle in the toffee sauce causes it to turn a slight greyish tint when it cools off which can be a little off-putting for some people. So I'm recording that down as optional. I highly recommend this especially when served warm with cream or custard. Yum!
Sticky Toffee Pudding
*Pudding:
200gm pitted and chopped dates
2/3 cup boiling water
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
175 gm self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
85 gm butter - softened
140 gm demerara sugar
2 tbsp black treacle or dark molasses
1/3 cup + 1 1/2 Tbsp milk
cream or custard to serve
*Toffee Sauce:
175 gm light muscovado sugar
50 gm butter
1 cup double cream
1 Tbsp black treacle or dark molasses (optional)
- Pour the boiling water on the dates in a bowl. Let soak to soften for at least 30 minutes. Mash the dates with a fork or puree with a liquidiser. Set aside.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4. Butter and flour seven small pudding molds or cups (about 200 ml in size).
- Mix the flour and bicarbonate of soda well. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for several minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition.
- Beat in the black treacle.
- Using a large metal spoon, fold in one-third of the flour mixture alternately with half of the milk while making sure not to overmix. Repeat until all the flour and milk are used.
- Add in the mashed dates and stir until just incorporated.
- Divide the batter evenly among the seven pudding molds. Place molds on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, cool for a few minutes then loosen them by running a butter or pallet knife on its side. Turn out from the molds to cool completely.
- While the pudding is baking, make the sauce by combining the sugar, butter and half of the double cream in a saucepan.
- Bring to boil in medium heat while stirring all the time until sugar has dissolved.
- (Optional) Stir in the black treacle if using.
- Let it simmer away for about 2 minutes while stirring from time to time making sure it does not burn.
- Remove from heat then stir in the rest of the double cream.
- To serve, pour the sauce over the upturned pudding in individual plates or bowls with cream or custard.
*Note: The pudding will taste even better if it sits in the sauce for a day or two. Cover the bottom of a baking dish with some of the sauce. Sit the upturned puddings on the baking dish and pour the rest of the sauce over it. Cover with a loose tent of foil so it will not smudge the sauce.
To reheat, you can put the covered baking dish in a 180C/160C fan oven for 15 minutes. Though I prefer to microwave the individual puddings because baking tends to dry out the sauce a little making it a tad sweeter than I would like it to be.
Labels: dessert
Posted by celia kusinera :: 8:43 PM :: |