Kitchen Wench — Page 41

Weekend Herb Blogging Round-up

May 28, 2007 | 57 views

I just wrote up the round-up for this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging…and then my computer died, so I have to start over

What can I say about this week’s round up? We’ve got a variety of entries and ingredients, from basil to truffles and the dishes cover everything from scrambled eggs to risotto. Thanks to everyone who submitted entries to this week’s edition of Weekend Herb Blogging, and I hope that you will enjoy the round-up as much as I did!

Also folks, bear in mind that next week, this event returns back home to where it was created, over at Kalyn’s Kitchen. Entries need to be up by June 2nd, and can be sent to kalynskitchen AT comcast DOT net and the rules for entries can be seen here.

And now, without further ado, onto the round-up!

	From Myriam at Once Upon A Tart, we’re treated with a recipe for Basil Oil, which can be used to add a boost of basil flavour to any dish.
	Neil from At My Table gives some interesting reading on the topic of preserving basil to use in your kitchen. Head over to read about preservation in oil vs. salt.
	Valentina from Trembom celebrates asparagus in a delightful Asparagus salad with brown butter and lemons
	Vanessa at What Geeks Eat harnesses the power of black sesame to add nutrients and flavour to a Ginger Black Sesame marinade for her perfectly cooked chicken.
	Joey from 80 Breakfasts treats us to a visual feast, while lamenting the lack of recipes for one and consoling himself with a beautiful Crispy Sage and Brown Butter Pasta.
	Susan from Food Blogga extolls the many virtues of fresh cherries, and gives us a delightful dish to try them in with her Quick Chocolate-Cinnamon Mousse with Cherries
	Amy at Nook & Pantry brings us a buttery golden Honey & Lavender Brioche, giving a new twist to a familiar favourite with the use of her lavender.
	Kalyn, author of Kalyn’s Kitchen and creator of this marvellous event, brings us a dish that melds together many flavours in her Greek Style Roasted Mushrooms with Red Pepper, Oregano, Mint, and Feta
	Patricia from Technicolor Kitchen uses ingredients on hand to make a lazy Sunday lunch of Tomato, broccolini and basil risotto
	Emily from Superspark gives us a new alternative to the old artery-clogging potato salad, with a French potato salad with baby greens, blue cheese, and walnuts
	The Trinigourmet educates us on the flavour and versatility of ginger with her delightful Friendship Cookies.
	The Chocolate Lady from In Mol Araan creates a delightful gesture to hummus with her Hemp Seed and Tahini Salad
	Sarah from Avenue Food delights with a warm and hearty Orange Lentil Soup with Curry Powder and Spinach, utilizing her newfound orange lentils.
	Pam over at The Backyard Pizzeria shows off her haul of homegrown veggies and combines them to create Baked Sage and Bacon Mushrooms
	Truffle from What’s On My Plate shares with us a recipe for Spinach and 3 Cheese pie, a dish that she promises us is very easy and ready in (relative) flash!
	This week’s entry marks a special occasion for Haalo from Cook (almost) Anything, as it means that she has taken part in this event for a whole year without missing a single week! She celebrates this momentous occasion by making some delightful Stewed Quinces.
	Meanwhile, Ulrike over at KÃ¼chenlatein bemoans the loss of her tarragon and lemon balm to the backyard pests, but makes some yummy Courgette Fritters with Tomato and Mozarella using her salvaged basil.
	Chris from Mele Cotte provides information on why butternut squash is good for us and hints on how to pick a good the perfect squash. Putting this knowledge to use, she presents a Quinoa Butternut Squash Casserole
	Astrid from Paulchens FoodBlog makes dinner in a flash with a very tasty dish she’s named Catfish ‘all in a pot’
	Pookah from What’s Cooking in Carolina provides a delightfully light and summery dish with her zucchini carpaccio with avocado, lemon thyme and pistachio oil
	Ed from Tomato takes Scrambled Eggs and pimps them up with some a 22g, $53 chunk of Western Australia grown black Perigord truffle. Head on over to see his perfectly scrambled eggs, I think Bill G has some competition!
	After Claudia from Fool for Food discovered that there were preservatives in her beloved Lemon Pepper spice mix, she set out to make her own that she could use worry-free!
	The KitchenMage educates on a delightful yet sorely underappreciated herb called Lovage, and provides a recipe for Halibut with Apple, Leek and Lovage Ragout.
	Katie from Thyme for Cooking proves that her garden yields are organic with a little garden pest, and uses her haul to create a Salad with Sausage and Quinoa.
	Burcu from Almost Turkish Recipes provides a delicious recipe for Baked Zucchini
	Christine from Christine Cooks shares a newfound love of beans with us, singing their praises for their many health benefits as well as the flavour that is to be tasted with good-quality produce.
	Helene from News From The Kitchen provides hearty fare with her Rabbit As Cooked by a Hunter’s Wife
	Last of all, I present to you a recipe for Mushroom Ragout, a rich and hearty dish that tastes great at any time of day.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the round up, and make sure to head on over back to Kalyn’s Kitchen next week to see what culinary delights spring up for next week’s edition of Weekend Herb Blogging!

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Mushroom mania

May 21, 2007 | 856 views

in Pork,Stews, Soups & Salads,Vegetables & Vegetarian

I have always been a lover of mushrooms, they come in a huge variety of varieties and each have their own distinct characteristics and flavours that can really give a big boost to almost any dish. Though their bodies mostly consist of water (hence the drastic shrinkage during cooking), many varieties contain lots of fibre and protein as well as minerals such as iron and potassium. Though the wilder mushroom varieties are said to contain far more robust flavours than the cultivated varieties, there’s quite a bit of choice for the average supermarket shopper. For a strong mushroom flavour in soups and broths, the use of dried porcini and shiitake mushrooms which have been rehydrated can give a boost, and supermarkets these days tend to stock everything from enoki to shiitake on their shelves.

The only thing to beware of with mushrooms is their delicate texture – overcooking will either make them make them horribly rubbery or render them completely textureless to the point of disintegration (neither being a desired result!). Be wary also that the size of your mushroom will also play a part in cooking time, the thinner/smaller you have chopped or sliced them, the shorter the cooking time will be!

I know that I’m due to blog that chocolate sauce, but since the lovely Kalyn from Kalyn’s Kitchen gave me the chance to host Weekend Herb Blogging this week, I thought I’d dedicate this week’s posts to herbs and veggies in order to get my blog ‘in the mood‘ for it And what better way to start than with my new favourite mushroom dish! This was the first thing that I cooked out of my Marie Claire ‘Comfort‘ cookbook and I have to say that just this one recipe has made me glad that I decided to buy this book. It is rich and full of the earthy mushroomy flavour that I love, and when served on a slice of thickly sliced and toasted sourdough and topped with a poached egg, makes for the perfect lunch or dinner!

It’s not exactly a quick recipe so if you’re looking for a 5 minute meal for dinner, this isn’t the one to choose. However, it IS one of the dishes that can be made beforehand and just zapped in the microwave before serving, and I find that the flavour is even better after an overnight stay in the fridge.

The round-up for Weekend Herb Blogging will be up on Sunday, so make sure that you’re entries are up before then You can email me the link to your entry (along with your name, blog name and the name of the recipe) to chipmunksneeze [at] hotmail [dot] com anytime from the 21st May till the 26th May!

Mushroom Ragout
(from Marie Claire ‘Comfort‘)

Ingredients
10g dried porcini mushrooms
2 tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 slices of bacon, finely chopped
500g mixed fresh mushrooms (such as Swiss brown, shiitake, morels and field, with the stems removed)
250mL red wine
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp corn starch

To serve:
2 handfuls flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, roughly chopped
50g shaved pecorino cheese, or
4 poached eggs
4 thick slices of brioche or sourdough

1. Rehydrate the dried porcini mushrooms with 250mL of boiling water and allow to soak for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat and add the onion, garlic and bacon and cook for 5 mins or till the onion is soft and transparent.

2. Thickly chop the fresh mushrooms and add them to the saucepan and sautÃ© for a minute, then strain the rehydrated porcini mushrooms and add the liquid to the pan. Finely chop the porcini mushrooms then add them to the pan along with the wine, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Reduce the heat and cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 30-40 minutes, or till the mushrooms have cooked and all the flavours are well combined.

3. Put the corn starch in a small bowl with 3 tbsp of water and stir till dissolved, then add to the pan and stir till the mixture has thickened. Remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle chopped parsley on top. Toast the brioche/sourdough and place some of the mushroom ragout on top, then either sprinkle some shaved pecorino on top or a hot poached egg and enjoy!

[tags]mushrooms, ragout, stew, easy meals, weekend herb blogging[/tags]

P.S. Thanks to all those who wished me luck with my studies I’m struggling to find time to do much other than hitting the books and am worried sick about my exams, so your well wishes were very very very much appreciated Aww, I love you guys!

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Who said all fakes are bad?

May 17, 2007 | 350 views

in Cheese & Dairy,Fruit Flavour

An ice-cream maker has long been on my list of things I wish to buy for my kitchen, but since quitting my job to concentrate on study in February, money has definitely been one of the things I’m lacking in (well, the purchase of my highly overpriced but much loved Canon G7 probably had a bit to do with that too!). This has left me ice-cream maker-less and pining over my computer every time I’ve seen those luscious ice-cream posts on other food blogs! However, when I spotted this faux banana ice cream on the lovely Lis’ blog ‘La Mia Cucina‘, I literally jumped out of my chair and whooped for joy. Why, you ask? Because this recipe could be made WITHOUT an ice-cream maker!

*listens to a heavenly choir a-singin’ in her ears*

Ahem.

Anyway, we had a stash of bananas, but none were really ripe/bananay enough to give this a try, so thus began the waiting game. A rather dangerous waiting game, truth be told, as my brother has a tendency to devour 1-2 bananas every day. This means that unless there is a MOUNTAIN of bananas in the fruit basket, very few actually make it to the point where the skin starts to brown I *could* have hidden one…but then again, with my memory, I would likely have forgotten it’s existance only to discover it far too late later down the track whilst cleaning out my pantry (there is a story here…involving a mango and my pantry. It is a sad tale of woe, and I won’t share it except to say that never in the history of mankind have ants had such a feast!)

Stopping short of writing “MY BANANA! DON’T EAT IT” in black marker all over one of the doomed fruit, I advised my brother that it would be in his best interests to leave just one banana for me, and so every morning I checked the bananas, until that one fateful day when suddenly I spotted one that had begun to brown! At last, victory was mine! MU-HA-HA-HA-HA!

However, since I’m one of those silly individuals that can never leave well enough alone, I tinkered with the recipe to make it more caloriffic (though the healthy recipe is over at Lis’ blog so make sure you check it out if you’re better at following your diet than I am!) and the result was something that almost had my sister and brother fighting for the remains.

I’m sorry I’ve been absent on the blogosphere of late, but I’m at the arse-end of my semester and have an essay, research project, web coding assignment and 2 exams to study for that are all within the next 3 weeks, so time is very scarce. Add that to the fact that my internet access has died (I’m currently sitting in the courtyard at uni before my lecture and freezing my little mitts off!) and so I just don’t have the time nor means to browse your lovely blogs! I’m guessing I’m going to have a LOT of reading to catch up on once I come back!

At any rate, here’s the recipe – trust me when I say that you need to make this. Really, there’s no excuse not to (and yes, I slathered my ice cream in a non-dairy chocolate sauce, which will be my next post. Promise!)

Faux Banana Ice-Cream
Makes 4 servings (about 2 cups)

2 very ripe large bananas
1/4 cup thickened/double cream
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Peel the bananas and slice them into 2cm-thick pieces. Place them on a cookie sheet and freeze till rock solid, about 1-2 hours minimum.

2. Blend the frozen banana slices in a food processor till slightly creamy, then add the cream, sugar and vanilla extract and pulse till smooth and creamy, occasionally scraping down the sides and giving it a good mix up with a spoon.

3. Pour into a container and freeze for 1-2 hours minimum, then scoop out into ramekins/bowls to serve. Drizzle your choice of topping on top and serve up and enjoy!

[tags]banana, ice cream, fake ice cream, dessert, sweets, recipes[/tags]

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The sweetest puff of all

May 13, 2007 | 2,008 views

in Bread & Pastry,Cheese & Dairy,Desserts

Cream puffs are one of those desserts that can appear either super posh or as everyman’s fare, depending on how you dress them. Filled with a simple vanilla pastry cream and dusted with a little icing sugar, they are delightful sweets that are easily held in the hand and devoured in a few quick bites. To turn them into something breathtaking, they can be dipped in caramel to build a towering croquembouche, decorated with swirls of spun sugar till it shines with a golden hue like a beacon from afar.

The basics of these sweet bites are the same – choux pastry either spooned or piped into rounds are then baked, which allows a pocket of steam to build up inside their firm exterior. Baked till they are firm enough to hold their form once the steam is removed, the hollow can carry almost any sweet or savoury filling, though typically they are served with some pastry cream, custard or chantilly cream.

My family do love their desserts, but they’re not huge fans of overly sweet or extravagent sweets, so things like these profiteroles are what bring the most amount of joy to everyone, and watching their faces light up when I present these surprise bundles feels almost like it’s Christmas, and I’m Santa Claus!

Having simple sweets is fine by me, but sometimes I want something a bit fancier, so my favourite way to enjoy these treats is with a drizzle of a gorgeous chocolate sauce (recipe to come up later this week!), which I think does wonders to provide a flavour contrast to the sweet, vanilla flavoured custard inside the puffs. Either which way, these golden little balls make for a marvellous sweet snack or dessert, and their sheer versatility makes choux pastry/profiteroles a recipe that I think every home cook should have and know

(Sorry this is a bit of a short entry, folks, but I have a research project that I need to work on so my time is a bit limited! Nonetheless, on to the recipe!)

Profiteroles with vanilla pastry cream
(makes about 25 – 30 large, or 50-60 small)

Pâte à Choux ingredients
125g all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup whole milk
113g unsalted butter
Half tsp salt
4 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Place the water, milk, butter and salt in a medium-sized saucepan, and on medium heat bring the liquid to a rolling boil.

2. Remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately add all the flour, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon till combined and the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

3. Place the pan back on the heat and continue to cook for another minute, to help remove excess moisture from the dough. Leave the dough to cool for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally (you need the dough to be cooler before adding the eggs otherwise they will solidify and cook).

4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition (you can do this with a wooden spoon if you are like me and don’t have a mixer. It just needs a bit of arm-power!). Continue beating/mixing till the dough is smooth and shiny, then pipe/spoon into forms on lined baking trays.

5. Place into oven and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 180 degrees C and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or till golden and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack, then pierce a hole into each profiterole to allow the steam to escape (if you don’t do this then the steam will be absorbed by the choux pastry and they’ll become soggy), then set aside till completely cool.

6. Crème Pâtissière (pastry cream), custard or Crème Chantilly into the hollows of each then serve as desired

Crème Pâtissière ingredients (from The Cook’s Book)
250mL full-fat milk
22.5g corn starch
65g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste
3 egg yolks
25g butter, at room temperature and cut into walnut-sized cubes

1. Whisk together the milk, corn starch, vanilla paste and 30g of sugar in a heavy-based pan. Slowly bring the mixture to a boil over low heat, whisking continuously.

2. Once the milk mixture has reached a rolling boil, remove from the heat. Whisk together the egg yolks and remaining 35g of sugar, then slowly pour in the milk in a thin stream, whisking continously. Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and bring just to a boil, whisking constantly, then immediately remove from the heat.

3. Stand the pan in a shallow bowl filled with ice and leave to cool to about 60 degrees C. Once cooled, add the pieces of butter and whisk briskly till they have melted and the sauce is smooth and shiny.

4. Remove from the pan and place in a non-reactive bowl (glass or ceramic is good), cover surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate till needed.

This Crème Pâtissière can be flavoured with a variety of flavours if you want to try something different:

Chocolate: Add 125g finely grated plain chocolate to the warm sauce in 3 batches, stir till smooth.
Coffee: Dissolve 2.5g instant coffee in 1tsp hot water, then add 2 drops espresso. Add to the warm cream and stir till smooth.

TIP:

For a lighter treat, cut half the Crème Pâtissière with freshly whipped cream when it is cool and thickened but before it sets. It lightens the dessert and makes it a perfect pairing for fresh fruit such as strawberries!

[tags]choux pastry, profiteroles, pastry cream, Crème Pâtissière, custard, dessert, sweets, pastry [/tags]

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Food bloggers are good for both body and mind

May 11, 2007 | 687 views

in Bread & Pastry,Fruit Flavour,Pies & Tarts

One of the web’s many food bloggers who never fails to grab my attention is Neil from At My Table. A fellow Aussie and Melbournian, he’s a seasoned cook who makes delights such as infused cherry vodka and mussels in cider as well as writing on a variety of topics from wines and spices to kitchen gadgets and processed foods. One of the few food blogs on the internet that (till recently) wasn’t accompanied by photographs, his writing never fails to engage my attention and make me think.His highly personal blog also helps to draw his readers in, there’s no way that you can’t become drawn to him as he tells tales of his past and present, and shares the thought-provoking stories of life as an individual, husband and father.

Though there have been many recipes that Neil has blogged that I have bookmarked to make (both the vodka and mussels are from the top of that list), when he blogged this creamy apple tart I knew that it had to be made immediately – my family are absolutely mad about apples (we go through a 5kg bag of fuji apples about once a fortnight during the season) and any apple-icious dessert usually gets an automatic thumbs up. And being in the middle of apple season at the moment, these crunchy, sweet, juicy fruit are at their absolute best and this dish celebrated every aspect of this. The creamy caramel was rich without being too sweet, and paired with the caramelized apples, it made for a delightful dessert that went down marvellously with a dollop of freshly whipped cream. This is one of those desserts that I guarantee won’t last till the next morning – if you make this, don’t be surprised to catch various family members cutting themselves “just another morsel”, including yourself

A few weeks ago, Neil also managed to inflate my head and ego to the size of a swollen summer watermelon by tagging me with the Thinking Blogger “award”. Coming from Neil, that’s quite a compliment, but it also means that I had to really think about who I’d pass this baton to. I wasn’t sure whether I was allowed to tag people who had already been tagged, but after browsing the creator’s post I realized that that was perfectly alright, and therefore my list may consist of people who have already done this but this is going to be an honest list with no empty flattery, damnit.

1. Tanna from My Kitchen In Half Cups – There are some blogs that you can skim read, taking in a brief summary of their post, but Tanna is not one of those. Her recipes are wonderful examples that home-cooking need not be difficult nor tedious, and her writing is always entertaining, sharing her successes and failures with her beautiful flair for words.

2. Neil from At My Table – For all the reasons stated at the beginning of this post, plus more. Neil is not only a talented cook and writer, he’s also an intelligent and super-friendly person whose personality shines through in everything he writes. If you haven’t read his blog, then you’re missing out. Trust me.

3. Haalo from Cook (almost) Anything at least once – Haalo is without a doubt one of the best original recipe cooks in the food blogging circut. Not only are most of her recipes originals of her own creation or family dishes, but her photography also never fails to put me to shame. However, the thing that really draws me to her is her use of produce, local and sometimes the more exotic. Reading her blog always makes me want to step outside my comfort zone and challenge myself.

4. Rob from Hungry in Hogtown – This blog was recommended to me by another blogger, and since I started reading it I can’t bring myself to stop. Rob has opened up a world of cooking that was completely unknown to me before (molecular what??). With creations such as deep fried rabbit ears, canteloupe caviar and nutella powder, he makes me rethink cooking as not just an activity but also a science, and I’m always eager to see what he’s cooking up next.

5. Callipygia from FOODChair – Reading Callipygia’s blog is like reading a book of poetry dedicated to life and food – her eloquence and artistry is to be admired (and somewhat envied!). Everytime I see a new post, I sit and read it over and over, her magical writing washing over me and painting the most vivid and vibrant pictures in my mind.

I think that everyone on my list has actually been tagged, so I won’t bother with the instructions, but I do recommend to my readers to give each of them a visit as they make for very good reading!

Creamy Apple Tart
(At My Table’s adaptation from Memories of Gascony)

Ingredients

Shortcrust Pastry

250g (9 oz) flour
1 egg
5g (3/4 teaspoon salt)
10g (1.5 teaspoons) sugar
150g (5 oz) butter, diced and slightly softened
1 tbsp milk

1. Place the flour, sugar and salt on a work counter, make a well in the centre and put in the egg and butter.

2. Gradually rub in the flour and when everything is almost mixed, add the milk and knead the dough two or three times to combine everything. Try not to work it too much or the dough will shrink back later. Leave to rest in the fridge for an hour.

3. Roll out to fit a 25 cm (10″) flan dish and prick the base with a fork all over. Line with foil, fill with pastry weights or beans and rest in the fridge for thirty minutes.

4. Bake in a 200 c (400 f) preheated oven for ten minutes, remove the weights and foil and cook for another ten minutes.

Apple Filling

5 large golden delicious or Cox’s orange pippin apples
50 g butter
100 g caster sugar
125 ml double cream
2 egg yolks
pinch cinnamon

Peel and core the apples and cut each into eight segments. Heat the butter and 75 g sugar in a large pot, add the apples and slowly cook until the apples are half done and remove them. Boil down the remaining juices until a caramel forms, then carefully add the cream and remaining sugar, be careful it will splatter. When combined and somewhat cooled whisk in the egg yolks and cinnamon. Arrange the apples neatly in the tart case and pour over the caramel. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes.

[tags]apples, fruit, tart, dessert, sweets, recipes[/tags]

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