Thought for Food

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

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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

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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

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Monday, September 04, 2006

Grilled Duck Breast with Wild Mushrooms

As I mentioned yesterday, I bought a ridiculously large amount of food on the weekend. Yesterday and the day before we worked our way through the seafood. Today it was time for something much more earthy: two duck breasts I had bought at Fallon & Byrne.
I used to find duck breasts really difficult to get right. Duck off the bone always turned out tough and chewy until I realized that I simply do not like my meat cooked pink. In my opinion duck is at its best when it is cooked all the way through until soft and tender with a crispy crackly skin. And the only way to achieve that without drying it out in the process is - no, not difficult as hell, but really, really easy and one that can and is used for all roasts that you want tender and moist with a crunchy skin: Cook it slowly over a very low temperature.
So for roast duck breast, I suggest you go about as follows:

2 duck breasts (off the bone)
salt and pepper to taste
a few spoonfuls of red wine

Preheat the oven to 165 degrees Celsius. Heat a shallow frying pan over medium heat. You do not need to add oil, duck is fatty enough for the brief time it will be in the pan.
Season the duck breasts with some salt and pepper. When the pan is hot, add the duck skin side down. Fry until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Turn over and brown the other side. This is to caramelise the sugars and proteins in the meat and give your duck a lovely meaty flavour.
Place the duck breasts in a large roasting tin, large enough for the heat and steam to escape; you want to roast the meat, not steam it. Roast in the middle of the oven for about 45 minutes. Pour a bit of red wine over the duck breasts. Don't overdo it, you just need enough to dampen the roast and make a little puddle in the bottom of the tin. Return to the oven and roast for a further 30 minutes, basting occasionally. Finally, increase the heat to 220 degrees and finish off until the skin is crispy.

Christine at 9:07 pm

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Sunday, September 03, 2006

Griddled Swordfish with Cheesy Polenta

I went a bit over the top with the shopping yesterday. Basically, I went from Meath Street to the market, on to Fallon & Byrne, then to Liston's before returning home. As a result I had way too much food and was once again playing catch-up in preparing it all. Today was a mild and pleasant day, almost Mediterranean in climate, so I decided to go for a light Mediterranean dinner of griddled swordfish on cheesy polenta with garlic butter and tomatoey barlotti beans. I know it sounds terribly complicated, but believe me, it is another one of those Italian dinners that sound and taste great, but aren't half as difficult to make as we may think.

For the fish:
1 large or 2 small sword fish steaks
3 to 4 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
3 to 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ lemon, juice only
4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
salt and pepper to taste
2 to 3 tbsp butter
For the beans:
3 to 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
5 spring onions (including greens), chopped
12 to 16 sweet cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 tin (350g) of barlotti beans (butter or kidney beans would work too), drained and rinsed
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1½ tbsp fresh basil, roughly chopped
1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
For the polenta:
250ml water
100g polenta
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
75g cheddar cheese, grated
salt and pepper to taste

First prepare the marinade for the fish. In a large shallow dish, mix the oregano with the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If you think more lemon juice is needed, feel free to add it. Place the fish in the dish and cover generously with the marinade. Leave to infuse for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make a start on beans. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Add the garlic and onion and gently fry for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and have released most of their liquid. Add the tomatoes and stew until you have a soft, but slightly lumpy sauce. Remove from the heat and add salt and pepper to taste.
For the polenta, bring the water to the boil. Stir in the polenta, garlic and a pinch of salt. Keep stirring until the polenta begins to thicken then remove from the heat.
At the same time, make a start on the fish. Heat a heavy griddle over medium to medium high heat. If you are using a cast iron pan, you may need to add a bit of oil to prevent the fish from sticking. Remove the fish from the marinade and drain well. Reserve the marinade. When the pan is hot, add the fillet(s) and griddle for 3 to 4 minutes on each side.
Just before you are ready to serve, toss the drained beans with the tomatoes and add the chopped herbs. Return to the hob to heat through and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Stir the grated cheese into the polenta and continue stirring until it is melted. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange the beans and polenta on two plates.
Remove the fish from the pan and place on top of the polenta. Rest in a warm place while you are finishing off the butter sauce. Pour the marinade into the hot pan and cook until the liquid has evaporated and the garlic has softened, about a minute. Turn off the heat and add the butter. Stir to mix with the pan juices, then pour the melted butter over the fish and serve at once.

Christine at 10:26 pm

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Saturday, September 02, 2006

Crab Cakes

On Saturday my fishmonger on Meath Street had stone crab claws and king crab claws. And while I have grown slightly weary of their fish during the summer because of the strong fishy smell that has emerged from the place of late, I simply could not resist these beauties. They were quite big and meaty, with a pleasant glow and brightly coloured ends. And, even more surprisingly, a small carrier bag full - just under a kilo in total - cost only about €5.
At that price I bought them expecting the worst, but none of my worries materialised. When I got them home and unpacked them they were as nice looking as they had been in the shop. They smelled faintly of the sea, but in no way of fish. Once cooked they turned beautifully radiant and their flesh tasted sweet and fresh - perfect for crab cakes!
Well, I say that as if it was just a case of cooking and peeling them. In my enthusiasm I completely ignored the fact that we own no pliers that might have been useful to crack their hard shells. Cracking them by hand was out of the question, they were simply too strong. In the end I resorted to whacking them with a heavy saucepan, which was less than ideal because it meant picking the crabmeat over for small bits of shell. But it was quite sufficient and good proof of my theory that there are some gadgets that even a heavily used kitchen does not need. It's a good idea to have some pliers in your toolkit (I'm sure we'll get those in the near future), but your cutlery drawer does not need to be cluttered up with crab claw crackers.

40g cream crackers, possibly a little more or less (alternatively, you can use any other kind of dry, unflavoured cracker or even dry bread crumbs)
350g fresh crabmeat
2 tbsp spring onion rings
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard
a dash of Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
3 to 4 tbsp oil
sweet chilli sauce or mayonnaise to serve

Place the crackers in a plastic bag and crush into fine crumbs with a rolling pin.
Put the crabmeat into a bowl with the parsley and onion rings and add just enough of the cracker crumbs to absorb any moisture from the crab. You may not need them all.
Whisk the egg in a small bowl along with the mayonnaise, mustard Worcestershire sauce and a little salt and pepper. Fold this into the crab meat, making sure not to break up the lumps of crab too much. If the mixture appears too wet, add a little more cracker crumbs. Shape the mixture into 7 cm patties, put them on a plate and chill for at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 100 degrees. Heat the oil in a large shallow frying pan over medium heat. Add the crab cakes in batches and cook over a medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until crisp and richly golden. Keep warm in the oven while you cook the remainder.

Christine at 10:24 pm

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