For me, soup is a daily necessity until the weather turns warm enough to go outside without a jacket. And then salads are my daily fix. Happily, this just happened here and so I've been on a salad rampage for the past week. I've been buying a few heads of bio (organic) lettuce at the market and then washing, spin drying and storing them in the fridge so I can have a fast lunch. But what is a salad without the dressing? Or even the other additions? So here are my favorite dressings- for those of you who don't make your own, try it. Its not difficult, you just need a mortar and pestle or a blender.
First, if you are doing a dressing with garlic, always remember to grind it to a paste with sea salt as it removes the bitterness.
Typical French Vinagrette
a garlic clove, peeled
sea salt
5 tablespoons (or so) good extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons (or less) of good red wine vinegar
1 rounded spoon of Dijon mustard
Grind the garlic and the salt together, add the oil, blend, add the vinegar, blend, add the mustard, blend well. Easy.
Suggestions: substitute various sea salts, try olive oils from different countries, substitute part of the oil with walnut or pumpkin seed oil (that's the family favorite, usually without the mustard), try sherry or rice vinegar or lemon juice, change the mustard (our current favorite is a dijon with Pain d'Epices- spice bread- that my hubby picked up in Dijon) or even eliminate the mustard.
That is also my favorite dressing for spring asparagus or for salad Nicoise.
My favorite Japanese sesame dressing (from Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking)
I ususally make a batch x4 so I can have some on hand for quick lunches...
2 tablespoons of sesame paste (I use tahini)
2 tablespoons freshly roasted and ground white sesame seeds
2 tablespoons of dashi stock
1 tablespoon of rice vinegar
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of caster sugar
salt and chili or sichimi togarashi to taste (optional, I haven't tried it with yet!)
combine all ingredients well.
My other favorite dressing (from one of my all time favorite cookbooks, Moro)
Pomegranate Molasses dressing
1 garlic clove, crushed to a paste with sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses
1 tablespoon of water
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of caster sugar (optional)
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
mix in the cinnamon and pomegranate molasses to the garlic paste. Add the water and then whisk in the olive oil until it emulsifies.
I love this on fall or winter salads with blue cheese, fresh walnuts and apples or with walnuts and pomegranate seeds. Moro recommends it with fish, quail or braised spinach as well- I just haven't gotten around to trying it!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
Fish pie, Welsh stylie...
On a recent tour, our quintet was in Wales. As it is near the ocean, my good friend Kristina decided some fish pie would be delicious. I went for some Cawl, Welsh lamb and leek stew and Dave had some suet pudding with beef and onions (he had wanted a light meal, I'm glad he didn't want something heavy, I don't know what he could have been satisfied by!!) When the fish pie arrived, it was lovely with mashed potatoes covered in melted cheese, gorgeous! But the fork went in and out came... bones. Then more bones, then a fish head, followed by an eyeball. some strange black stringy things, spine with part of the tail.... Kristina tried eating it, thinking it was the Welsh style of fish pie, but in the end she was defeated. So I took the pie back to the counter for her. The conversation was...
Me: Excuse me, but my friend couldn't really eat this.... (pointing to the head and the one eyeball we had found)
Barman: Oh my god! I am so sorry!! (looks pale, then bursts into hysterical laughter at what looks like a slaughter on the plate)
Me: Thats fine, things happen- we thought maybe this was Welsh style fish pie?
Barman: (when he stops laughing) um, no
Me: Only thing is, she's kind of gone off fish pie at this point... (He starts laughing again) Could we have some dessert instead?
Barman: For that, you can have 3!
So we got Apple and Rhubarb Custard Tart, Cheesecake, and Sticky Toffee Pudding.
Real Fish Pie
1 small onion, halved
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
600 ml (1 pint) milk - this means 1 1/4 cups, Americans!
300 ml (10 fl oz) double cream- and this means 3/4 of a cup
450 g (1 lb) cod fillet
225 g (8 oz) undyed smoked haddock
300 g (9 oz) peeled prawns (shrimp), cooked
100 g (4 oz) butter
45 g ( 1 3/4 oz) plain flour- sorry, I bought a scale so I can't tell you this in measures!
5 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
1.25 kilos (2 1/2 pounds) peeled floury potatoes (like Maris Piper or baking potatoes in the US)
sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
Stud the onion halves with the cloves. Put the onion in a large pan with the bay leaf, 450 ml (15 fluid oz) of the milk, the cream, cod and smoked fish. Bring just to the boil and simmer until just cooked through. Strain the fish and let cool on a platter. Strain the liquid into a pitcher. When the fish is cool enough, flake it into large chunks into a large casserole, mix through the prawns (shrimp).
Make a white sauce with 1/2 the butter, the flour and the strained cooking liquid, reserving 1/2 a cup of the liquid. This means, melt the butter over medium, slowly add in the flour blending the two together completely after each new sprinkling of flour into the pan. When the paste is very thick, add the liquid bit by bit, incorporating it completely between each addition or it will become lumpy. Let it cook long enough to take away the raw taste of the flour and to thicken it. Remove from the heat and add in the parsley, salt and white pepper and taste for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the fish and let cool while you make your potatoes.
Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain, mash and add the rest of the butter with the rest of the cooking liquid and enough additional milk to make a soft mash. You can also add a bit of cheese into the potatoes or grated on top, if you like.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C or 350 degrees F. Spread the potato over the fish evening the thickness and leaving peaks in the mash as these will turn toasty brown and lovely! Bake about 40 minutes.
Optional: you can slice some mushrooms and fry them with a finely chopped onion in the butter for the white sauce, then create the sauce around the vegetables and continue as stated.
One last mention about the story, we were drinking Brains, the Welsh national beer, but I preferred the Double Dragon while Kristina liked the Celtic Gold. Give them a go!
Next time, Sticky Toffee Pudding
Me: Excuse me, but my friend couldn't really eat this.... (pointing to the head and the one eyeball we had found)
Barman: Oh my god! I am so sorry!! (looks pale, then bursts into hysterical laughter at what looks like a slaughter on the plate)
Me: Thats fine, things happen- we thought maybe this was Welsh style fish pie?
Barman: (when he stops laughing) um, no
Me: Only thing is, she's kind of gone off fish pie at this point... (He starts laughing again) Could we have some dessert instead?
Barman: For that, you can have 3!
So we got Apple and Rhubarb Custard Tart, Cheesecake, and Sticky Toffee Pudding.
Real Fish Pie
1 small onion, halved
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
600 ml (1 pint) milk - this means 1 1/4 cups, Americans!
300 ml (10 fl oz) double cream- and this means 3/4 of a cup
450 g (1 lb) cod fillet
225 g (8 oz) undyed smoked haddock
300 g (9 oz) peeled prawns (shrimp), cooked
100 g (4 oz) butter
45 g ( 1 3/4 oz) plain flour- sorry, I bought a scale so I can't tell you this in measures!
5 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
1.25 kilos (2 1/2 pounds) peeled floury potatoes (like Maris Piper or baking potatoes in the US)
sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
Stud the onion halves with the cloves. Put the onion in a large pan with the bay leaf, 450 ml (15 fluid oz) of the milk, the cream, cod and smoked fish. Bring just to the boil and simmer until just cooked through. Strain the fish and let cool on a platter. Strain the liquid into a pitcher. When the fish is cool enough, flake it into large chunks into a large casserole, mix through the prawns (shrimp).
Make a white sauce with 1/2 the butter, the flour and the strained cooking liquid, reserving 1/2 a cup of the liquid. This means, melt the butter over medium, slowly add in the flour blending the two together completely after each new sprinkling of flour into the pan. When the paste is very thick, add the liquid bit by bit, incorporating it completely between each addition or it will become lumpy. Let it cook long enough to take away the raw taste of the flour and to thicken it. Remove from the heat and add in the parsley, salt and white pepper and taste for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the fish and let cool while you make your potatoes.
Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain, mash and add the rest of the butter with the rest of the cooking liquid and enough additional milk to make a soft mash. You can also add a bit of cheese into the potatoes or grated on top, if you like.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C or 350 degrees F. Spread the potato over the fish evening the thickness and leaving peaks in the mash as these will turn toasty brown and lovely! Bake about 40 minutes.
Optional: you can slice some mushrooms and fry them with a finely chopped onion in the butter for the white sauce, then create the sauce around the vegetables and continue as stated.
One last mention about the story, we were drinking Brains, the Welsh national beer, but I preferred the Double Dragon while Kristina liked the Celtic Gold. Give them a go!
Next time, Sticky Toffee Pudding
Friday, January 11, 2008
Post holiday post...
I've put off my postings for a good few months!! So here it is, past the holidays, and I think I must put on a few things that were part of my seasonal festive comestibles. If only to reminisce about delicious things gone by...
From the all day house party on December 23
Stilton with Madeira (normally with port, but a lucky gift meant we had its close sibling instead).
Hummous
2 jars of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
juice of 1/2 lemon
4 tablespoons of tahini
1/3 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup water
2 garlic cloves crushed to a paste with salt
salt and pepper
Blend. Adjust flavors as needed- spread in a dish, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on some smoked paprika or chopped parsley if desired. Serve with vegetables.
Tea Eggs (specialty of my husband)
For this, we took 80 quails eggs, boiled for 1 minute, gently cracked them all over, then boiled a pot of water with plain black tea, star anise, chinese rice wine, soy sauce (lots), and then replaced the eggs in the tea off the burner (there are optional other ingredients for the broth as well, dry orange peel, cinnamon, green onion, ginger...). Once they are cool, when they are peeled, they are beautifully marbled and taste of smoky tea. You can do it with chickens eggs as well, but boil for 3 minutes to start.
Chicken Liver Pate from Nigel Slater's Appetite (recommended book!)
Also, various cookies, candy, fruit, nuts, a Chinese congee with chicken from a friend, and lots and lots of wine, eggnog, bloody marys (made with fresh horseradish, mmmm), and loads of friends. Thanks to all of you who came, you made the day really great!
From the all day house party on December 23
Stilton with Madeira (normally with port, but a lucky gift meant we had its close sibling instead).
Hummous
2 jars of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
juice of 1/2 lemon
4 tablespoons of tahini
1/3 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup water
2 garlic cloves crushed to a paste with salt
salt and pepper
Blend. Adjust flavors as needed- spread in a dish, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on some smoked paprika or chopped parsley if desired. Serve with vegetables.
Tea Eggs (specialty of my husband)
For this, we took 80 quails eggs, boiled for 1 minute, gently cracked them all over, then boiled a pot of water with plain black tea, star anise, chinese rice wine, soy sauce (lots), and then replaced the eggs in the tea off the burner (there are optional other ingredients for the broth as well, dry orange peel, cinnamon, green onion, ginger...). Once they are cool, when they are peeled, they are beautifully marbled and taste of smoky tea. You can do it with chickens eggs as well, but boil for 3 minutes to start.
Chicken Liver Pate from Nigel Slater's Appetite (recommended book!)
Also, various cookies, candy, fruit, nuts, a Chinese congee with chicken from a friend, and lots and lots of wine, eggnog, bloody marys (made with fresh horseradish, mmmm), and loads of friends. Thanks to all of you who came, you made the day really great!
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