Sunday, June 14, 2009
Food for Thought
I've just noticed that it has been a few months again since I've blogged my thoughts on food, which is giving me some serious food for thought. Why is it that some evenings I can't wait to go online and share what I have eaten, seen and thought that day and others I don't even think of thinking? It's certainly not due to a lack of wonderful food in London. On the contrary.Since I last logged on to this space, I have discovered a cornucopia of new foodstuffs and eateries. The Asian greengrocers on Roman Road, for example, have been an endless source of new things. I've had some lovely Alphonso mangoes the other day. They are in season at the moment and the perfect accompaniment to cereal, yoghurt or, simply cut into cubes, a glass of iced tea on my sunny balcony. I've also been eying the plantains. I love fried ripe plantains - much sweeter than the green variety often served in Caribean places - but have not actually bought any yet. I have had some Afghan pomegranate, which is great for the taste buds, my health and my social conscience as it gives the population a true alternative to this most destructive of crops - the opium poppy. I have so far shied away from the the vegetables. I really have no idea what they are and have been too embarrassed to ask. Every time I'm in my little veg shop I make plans to ask next time. And every time I chicken out.
My Saturdays are now also filled with a new market routine. For a few weeks, I so acutely felt the loss of Temple Bar Market that I could not get myself to find a replacement. Then I ventured out to Borough Market, which I used to love in my previous life as a visitor to London and which I thought would become my new haunt. Unfortunately, while the choice of food is amazing and the prices mostly OK, I did have the impression that it was loosing its soul under a mass of tourists. Nice on a Friday, a no-go on a Saturday, so no longer an option. So Waitrose took its place. Not that that has much soul, but at least it doesn't have as many visitors. And then I read about Broadway Market and decided to give it a go. It's a leasurely 10-minute cycle ride away from home, it's got the same sort of farmer-ly, homey, but somehow forward-lookingly lefty atmosphere as Temple Bar Market and the perfect mix of stalls, shops and cafés for my needs. OK, it has no real farmers like Jenny, but I love the organic pork belly, the home made brownies, the apple pick'n mix (all of which I will photograph and describe in more detail next week) and, most of all Ca Phe VN, a Saigon-style street café selling the most amazing beverages I have tasted since I had my fist Macchiato at the Algerian Coffee Stores in Soho about 5 years ago. It's sweet and bitter and strong and uplifting. Great hot or cold. I sound like a press release... I think I should stop now and wait until next week's Broadway Market picture special. That will make my point better than a thousand words.
In fact, I think I am nearing a thousand words and have not even begun to answer my original question as to the reason of my frequent disappearance. I suppose the answer is multi-faceted. I work too much, so I don't have much time for blogging. I get home in time to blog or to cook, so I have been opting for the latter. Another reason is my dark kitchen. taking pictures of the outcome of my cooking adventures is difficult there, so I would really have to take my dinner out onto the balcony for proper lighting. Another is London, which gives me so much to see and do that even when I have time to cook, eat and blog, I tend to spend it running around the city. And yet another is human nature. If I let my routines slip, it's hard to get back into them. So I will make no promises, but I have every intention to get back into the habit of blogging. Maybe with a slight delay, maybe with some weird pictures, but I will be back. "Yeah, right!" I hear you say. "I belive that when I see it." Well, I guess we'll all have to wait and see.
Christine at 9:59 pm
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Salmon and Prawns with Stir-Fried Vegetables
Whenever I'm too lazy to cook, we have something from my imaginary book of quick dinners. During the winter the main staple tended to be bangers and mash, which is a brilliant winter warmer that can be made quickly. The one thing to remember is to make biggish batches of gravy when you've got the time and freeze them for when you don't. But yesterday was a bright sunny day and we were really not in the mood for winter food. So what to do?Springtime quickies are a bit more difficult to come up with. It's not hot enough for the summer favourites of salad or sushi and too warm for stews and the like. But there is a way out...fish! It's quick to prepare (I promise, scaling gets easier with practice) and even quicker to cook. And served with some super fast stir-fried vegetables, it makes a lovely spring time dinner in about 20 minutes.
2 salmon fillets, cleaned (about 150g each)
250 g of prawns
a medley of your favourite vegetables, cut into bite-sized pieces (I used mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, carrots and baby corn)
½ onion, sliced lengthwise
1 clove of garlic, sliced
¼ lemon, zest only
¼ tsp stock granules
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper
oil for the pans
Pat the salmon and the prawns dry using a paper towel. Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Bring a small pan of water to the boil. Blanch those vegetables that may not get tender enough simply through stir-frying. I gave the whole baby carrots 5 minutes, the asparagus 3 and the broccoli 2, but this step depends entirely on your taste and the vegetables you use. When the vegetables are done, remove them from the water, drain and refresh in cold water to stop them cooking in their own steam.
Keep the veggie water boiling to reduce it, this will be the base of a little bit of sauce later.
Heat some oil in two frying pans, one over medium high, one over medium low heat.
Add the salmon fillets to the hotter pan, skin side down. Fry without disturbing (too much moving and prodding will prevent the skin from going crispy) for about 3 to 4 minutes.
The other pan is for your vegetables. Add the onion and fry for a minute. Then add the garlic and fry together for another minute. As my mushrooms wanted high heat, I then removed the onion/garlic mix from the pan, turned up the heat and added some more oil. I then fried the quartered mushrooms without too much stirring until they were golden brown, about 4 minutes. Return the heat to medium low.
Turn the salmon fillets over and, once again, fry without disturbing for about 3 minutes.
Add all the remaining vegetables to the mushrooms along with the garlic, onion and lemon zest and stir fry for another 2 minutes. Then add some of your reduced vegetable water along with the stock granules. Toss to coat the vegetables. Add the butter and toss some more. You should have a rich, thick glaze coating your vegetables. Season with salt and pepper as needed.
When the salmon is crispy, turn it over one last time and move it to one side of the pan. Then add the prawns to the pan. Fry on both sides until pink and slightly crispy.
When all is done, arrange your vegetables on a plate, add the salmon and throw the prawns on top. Drizzle with any pan juices you fancy.
Christine at 2:00 pm
Friday, March 20, 2009
Chicken Shock
I know this space is meant to be reserved for my own culinary adventures, but during my morning's web surfing I came across an item that I felt had to be shared with the world:
CANNED WHOLE CHICKEN!!!!!This is on of the few occasions in my life when I'm lost for words. Sort of. Things like Why? Yuck! Who in the world...? run through my head, but really, apart from such nonsense, I haven't got much to say.
Except, maybe, thank the gods, the inventors of this dish and Sweet Sue herself that the damn thing is at least "fully cooked".
Christine at 1:40 pm
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Aaaahhhh....
Success!
Christine at 1:32 pm
A few Thoughts on Coffee
I love the coffee in London! I find the great selection of high quality coffee and the near fetish-like devotion some roasters show for their beans really, really, really exciting. My coffee man in Dublin - Michael Kelly of Ariosa - had wonderful coffee and an infectious enthusiasm for quality beans. In fact, he was the one who converted me from a coffee drinker to a coffee lover, so I was very worried that I might be in trouble without him. I needn't have worried. While I still miss my weekly chat with him (and some of his rarer coffees - if you ever get a chance, try the organic Indian, it's divine for a flat white!), I have suffered no interruption in my supply of great coffee.My greatest find is Monmouth Coffee, a small chain with shops in Borough and Covent Garden. I tend to pop over to Borough Market on Fridays (a seperate post is coming next time I'm down there) and pick up my weekly supply of beans. If the weather is good, I also love to have a Macchiato and a cigarette sitting in the sun watching the world go by.
Michael in Dublin also recommended Square Mile coffee roasters. It's run by a friend of his who he promised to be just as obsessed with coffee as himself. I must admit I'm a bit shy when it comes to ordering coffee online. I want to see it and smell it at least once before I commit. But I should really given them a try.
Anyway, this wasn't originally meant to be a brief guide of the coffee roasters in my life. This post has its origins in a mistake I made this morning. Normally, I start my day with a nice, relaxing cup of coffee, a tall glass of juice and a bowl of cereal. -- Aaaahhh, the perks of being unemployed! ;o) -- Depending on my mood and the weather, I either catch up with the day's headlines from the Guardian, the Times Online and Die Zeit or I plonk myself down somewhere and read an actual paper, which is generally way out of date (the Christmas issue of the Observer anyone?). This is not to say that I see print media as outdated. On the contrary, to me it is a nod to the longeavity of their content. A good weekly publication to me is one that is still interesting months later. News age quickly and need to be consumed fast. The press give me the opportunity to get background information and analyses, which takes time and requires appreciation. I could rant on about this for ages, but this blog is meant to be about food, so maybe I'll take the news talk over to Pink Orange.
Now back to the coffee. This morning, I accidentally started doing some household chores before my first cup of joe. Big mistake! When I finally did get on with making coffee, I found that I had accidentally put my milk jug in the dish washer and just started a washing cycle. Disaster! Since my departure in Dublin - a slightly disorganised affair and a story for another day - I've had to make due with only one milk jug, so if that's unavailable, I have to use a mug. Being all into keeping waste to a minimum, I decided against using two mugs, but to simply steam the milk in and then just add the coffee to it. Another big mistake! When I finally sat down at my PC and took a sip, I remembered my dear friend Emily telling me "Never let the coffee drip directly into a mug full of milk foam, it spoils the taste". How right she was. The beans that had yesterday produced a lovely, velvety cream of goodness today hit me with an acidic bitterness and lack of depth that was astounding. I'm shocked that you can take freshly bought organic espresso beans from a quality roaster, freshly grind them yourself, brew them in an obscenely expensive Gaggia machine (thank you, Mulmi, that was a great housewarming/Christmas present!) and serve them with farm assured organic milk, but if you get the order of things messed up, the result will taste like Nescafé gone wrong. So, what's the lesson of the day?
I'll leave you with this bit of wisdom and head off to make a fresh cup of coffee. ... And wash out my milk jug. Have a good one.Christine at 9:17 am
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Re-Launch
Well, not really a re-launch...more of a revival. After a few years of living out my exhibitionist side on social networking sites, I've returned to blogging. Facebook is fun enough, but somehow I miss my monologues about all things edible. So I'm back.Initially I was going to come back with a bang - a complete redesign of this blog. Ditch the doily and bring in something fresh and exciting. But then I read a very interesting article about immobility as counter movement to the ever increasing speed of change, which made me change my mind. Don't get me wrong, I'm by no means a backward-looking reactionary. I love change. Nor do I fear speed. But the two need to be in sync with the rest of life. They are not values in itself. They do not need to be forced; they should just happen. And at the moment, the doily is not quite yesterday's news yet.
In fact, when it comes to food, the old, traditional, granny style has been the new, the hip, the done thing for a while now. This return to the past may soon be the past again - especially when we emerge from this credit-crunch (is it just me or does this sound like a candy bar???) induced recession and start to move headlong into the next adventure to forget the past/present. But while I'm frequently serving up bangers and mash, sticky toffee pudding and old fashioned meat and 2 veg (OK, maybe new-fashioned wannabe oldy), I'll stick to loving lace.
Christine at 3:59 pm
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Grilled Zucchini Marinated in Garlic & Herb Oil
Something I nearly forgot earlier is the lunch I prepared for tomorrow. Our canteen has introduced a salad bar, so while it is warm outside I am tucking into the green leaves supplemented with my own little extras. Tomorrow that extra is going to be grilled zucchini that I marinated overnight in garlic and herb oil and a few slices of freshly toasted ciabatta bread. This dish is a great as a starter or a light snack and perfect for parties. Use a variety of vegetables, such as zucchini, aubergines, green beans, asparagus and bell peppers and vary the herbs and spices from dish to dish and you have an impressively colourful array of nibbles that can easily be pre-prepared and is no harder to make for 20 than for 2.125ml olive oil
1 large zucchini, cut into 8mm thick slices (or any other vegetables you are using, trimmed and/or sliced; peppers only need to be halved and deseeded)
1 garlic clove, sliced
a few springs of fresh herbs such as basil, thyme, or oregano
1 tsp sea salt
Heat a ridged non-stick grill pan (or, if yours went the same way as mine, simply use a shallow frying pan) over moderate heat.
Lightly brush both sides of the zucchini slices with oil. (If you are using aubergines, salt them and leave them to stand to release some of their water. Rinse well, then grill. Other vegetables, such as asparagus or beans need blanching before grilling. Bell peppers should be baked in the oven until the skins are browned and then peeled. They do not need grilling afterwards.)
Grill the zucchini slices, turning over once, until tender, 8 to 10 minutes total. Set aside to cool. Place the zucchini and garlic slices in alternating layers into a medium sized bowl, lightly sprinkling each layer with sea salt. Tuck the herbs in between the zucchini and pour over the oil. Cover and marinate for a few hours, preferably over night.
Christine at 8:43 pm
Roast Mallard with Wild Mushroom Gravy
After all these (hopefully mouth-watering) pictures, I feel it is finally time for me to share another recipe with you. Unfortunately, my life has not calmed down at all. I'm still trying to juggle my job, my dissertation and my private life and as I'm hoping to get a promotion in the not too distant future, the former has taken over again. But at least I am no longer letting this drag me down. In fact, after a relaxing weekend I'm in good spirits again and ready to cook up a storm.Dinner tonight was a reflection of this mood. When I went to the market yesterday I found something new: One of the meat stalls had two
wild ducks, or mallards as they called them, hanging from their canopy. This, I was told, is their sign that the Irish game season has started and fresh venison and game birds are now available. Luckily, they also sold them plucked and cleaned. Not that I would not do my own plucking if I had to. I'm not like those people who, as the guys at the stall told me, complain that putting dead animals on display is bad for the kids who see them, that it is animal cruelty or bad taste or god knows what else. But I do maintain that plucking birds is a pain in the behind, even when you only have to remove the small amount of feathers left on a pre-prepared ones. I'd rather use my time finding great ways of cooking them. Tonight I think I succeeded. My choice was bacon-wrapped mallard stuffed with herb crushed potatoes and served with roast potatoes (you can never have too many spuds), squash purée (yes, it was the leftover squash I baked the other night), baby kale and wild mushroom gravy, and what a nice choice it was!For the duck:
1 wild duck
3 to 4 rashers bacon
salt and pepper to taste
For the stuffing:
2 to 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size chunks
a knob of butter
½ onion, finely chopped
a handful of mixed fresh herbs (such as chives, thyme, oregano or marjoram), chopped
2 bay leaves
For the roast potatoes:
4 tbsp duck fat (or goose fat, dripping or olive oil)
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
For the mushrooms gravy:
1 tbsp butter
4 pearl onions, halved
a handful of wild mushrooms, sliced
1 to 2 rashers of bacon, chopped
80ml red wine
80ml water
salt and pepper to taste
1 Oxo cube
To serve:
vegetables of your choice
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Pick the duck over for feathers, clip off the ends of the wings and season with salt and pepper. Wrap the breast with the bacon rashers and set aside.
For the stuffing, heat the butter in a shallow frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and fry until translucent, about 5 minutes. Boil the potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Crush with the back of a fork and mix with the onions and herbs. Add the two bay leaves and place the mixture inside the duck's chest cavity. Put the bird in the centre of a large roasting tray. Place in the oven and roast for about 30 minutes.
Par-boil the roasting potatoes until the outside is beginning to go soft, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain well. Put the lid back on the pot and, holding it firmly down, shake a few times to roughen the potatoes. This helps to make them nice and crispy. Add the duck fat and toss to coat well. Arrange the potato chunks around the duck and return the tray to the oven. Roast for 15-20 minutes, then turn the potatoes and baste the duck. Return to the oven.
In the meantime make the gravy. Gently melt the butter in a non-stick frying pan over medium low heat. Add the onion halves and sauté until they begin to soften, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add bacon and cook for a few minutes to release some of the fat. Now stir in the mushrooms and continue frying, stirring as little as possible, until the mushrooms are beginning to collapse and the onions are soft, about 5 minutes.
Increase the oven temperature to 220 degrees. Pour the wine into the gravy and bring to the boil. Cook until thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Now add the water and crumble in the Oxo cube. Reduce by half, then season to taste with salt and pepper.
Remove the duck from the oven and allow to rest in a warm place for 5 minutes. Serve with the stuffing, roast potatoes and vegetables and pour the gravy over to finish.
Christine at 6:03 pm
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Photo Session
Well, here I am, this time definitely back to the photo blog. This is partly due to the time that
has passed since the last post and my desperate attempts to juggle a job, a dissertation and my home life - oh, and the fact that even I have to repeat my recipes occasionally and really do not think I need to bother you with fiftieth recipe for creamy risotto. So please take this post as an attempt to give you an idea of the flavours I love and some inspiration on what might make a good mix.A combination of the two aspects can definitely be found in the picture to the right - seared tuna steaks left pink in the middle and served on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes with avocado cream and soy glazed shiitake mushrooms. Believe me, what sounds like a totally confused jumble of elements from three continents actually tastes very nice.
The next thing I made that I think deserves a
mention here is a stuffed baked squash. It's very tasty, it's seasonal and, no less importantly at the moment, it is incredible easy to make. Simply take a large squash or pumpkin, cut the top off and scrape out the seeds and fibrous insides and stuff with a mixture of fried onions, garlic, bacon and chilli. Add some thick cream and two bay leaves, season to taste with salt and pepper and fill up to about 4cm from the rim with whole milk. Put the lid back and wrap the base tightly in aluminium foil to prevent your squash from breaking open as it softens. Bake in the oven at 190 degrees until soft, about 45 minutes to 1½ hours depending on size.The next dish I
feel I need to boast about is not exactly mine. A while back I watched Gordon Ramsay make this lovely-looking apple tart and decided I needed a go. As expected, it was a real test of my cooking abilities, used every pan I own and took most of my afternoon to make. And was it worth it? Oh yes! If you've got time to spare and a vanilla pod that you need to use up, I highly recommend, you give Gordon's apple tart 'Thierry' a try. You will not be disappointed.Next on my list is another seafood dish: Seared
baby scallops with saffron cream. I know, I know, if everybody's diet was like ours, the oceans would be even worse off than they already are, but Lofty and I just love seafood. And I do try to vary, go seasonal and buy from sustainable sources whenever I can. By the way, if you want to do the same, but are unsure of what is in fact good or bad for our environment, check out Fishonline, the website of the UK's Marine Conservation Society. I got a lot of helpful information from them.I found very little on how to cook scallops other than with garlic butter, though, so I tried my hand at making my own saffron cream sauce - not bad, but not really worthy of a full recipe post. In fact, I think the saffron was too much for the subtly flavoured scallops. But if you have a white fish with a more robust flavour and texture (or, coming to think of it, mussels), it might work. Simply make a light roux from a knob of butter and a little flour (don't overdo it, the sauce is supposed to be light and creamy, not starchy), add a pinch of saffron and pour in a glass of white wine. Reduce, add some fish stock, reduce again by half then add a bit of double cream and reduce again. Season to taste with salt and serve alongside your fish.
Christine at 10:25 pm
