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
Monday, February 11, 2008
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!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Dreaming of perfumed lands...
In the heartlands of American, I would be a real traitor. For many reasons, but probably the fact that I don't really feel the desperate desire to return to live in the homeland (no healthcare, no vacation, and very often tasteless ingredients to cook with- probably my biggest complaint) and that I cook Middle Eastern food constantly are my biggest faults. But here is one of my absoloute favorite recipes, thanks to the cooking genius, Claudia Roden and her book Tamarind and Saffron, one of my all time favorite cookbooks. I'm making it tomorrow and can't wait to have it!
Oranges with Orangeblossom Water
10 oranges
2 cups of freshly squeezed orange juice (Tropicana will do in a pinch)
1 cup of sugar
1-2 Tablespoons of orangeblossom water
Cut the rind off the oranges- cut a slice off each end, then cut away the entire peel around the whole orange so that the flesh is exposed. Then cut in thick slices and finally quarter the slices so you have rind free chunks. Heat the juice and sugar together until the sugar melts and then remove from the heat and add the orange blossom water. Pour over the oranges and then refridgerate until you are ready to eat.
For that, I'd join a harem!
Oranges with Orangeblossom Water
10 oranges
2 cups of freshly squeezed orange juice (Tropicana will do in a pinch)
1 cup of sugar
1-2 Tablespoons of orangeblossom water
Cut the rind off the oranges- cut a slice off each end, then cut away the entire peel around the whole orange so that the flesh is exposed. Then cut in thick slices and finally quarter the slices so you have rind free chunks. Heat the juice and sugar together until the sugar melts and then remove from the heat and add the orange blossom water. Pour over the oranges and then refridgerate until you are ready to eat.
For that, I'd join a harem!
Friday, October 12, 2007
Real fried rice
Just to explain, I've learned to cook Chinese food from my Chinese mother-in-law, so its not always like restaurant Chinese food. Fried rice is a good example of that... Here is what I do.
Get out your leftover white steamed (never boiled) rice. This should be (but don't be paranoid about it) Chinese/Japanese/Korean as other styles, even Thai, won't be the right texture for traditional fried rice.
If you want meat/chicken/shrimp in your fried rice that is not cooked yet, make a paste of rice wine, soysauce and some cornstarch and let your meat sit for at least 20 minutes, red meat longer.
boil some water and pour over a few dried shitaake mushrooms (you can substitute fresh, even though the flavour is different, but just slice, don't soak) and dried shrimp (optional)
Next, beat 2 eggs with 1/4 tsp of salt and a tsp or a little less of sugar and a tsp of sesame oil. Heat a pan on high with some oil and when very hot, pour in the eggs. They should cook into folds almost immediately. Don't let them cook absolutely through as they will finish cooking later.
Shred some greens (spinach, tong choi/cong ching tsai, watercress, whatever)
shred a couple green onions
finely shred a nub of ginger
mince a couple cloves of garlic
You can also add chopped preserved gourd, rehydrated day lily buds, fried tofu (don't use fresh, it goes to mush)
Then prepare any cooked meat by shredding
Heat some oil with the garlic and ginger until very hot. Drain the marinade from the meat and begin to stir fry (adding mushrooms, either the fresh sliced or the rehydrated sliced). When mostly cooked through, add the the onions and greens. When wilted, add the gourd, fried tofu, etc, and cooked meat. When fried off a little, add the rice. Pour over the mushroom soaking water except for the last spoonful which is normally full of debris. Keep stirring and frying and, if needed, add a little more oil or stock. When the rice has absorbed the oil and liquid, add in the eggs and mix. Voila, real fried rice!
Get out your leftover white steamed (never boiled) rice. This should be (but don't be paranoid about it) Chinese/Japanese/Korean as other styles, even Thai, won't be the right texture for traditional fried rice.
If you want meat/chicken/shrimp in your fried rice that is not cooked yet, make a paste of rice wine, soysauce and some cornstarch and let your meat sit for at least 20 minutes, red meat longer.
boil some water and pour over a few dried shitaake mushrooms (you can substitute fresh, even though the flavour is different, but just slice, don't soak) and dried shrimp (optional)
Next, beat 2 eggs with 1/4 tsp of salt and a tsp or a little less of sugar and a tsp of sesame oil. Heat a pan on high with some oil and when very hot, pour in the eggs. They should cook into folds almost immediately. Don't let them cook absolutely through as they will finish cooking later.
Shred some greens (spinach, tong choi/cong ching tsai, watercress, whatever)
shred a couple green onions
finely shred a nub of ginger
mince a couple cloves of garlic
You can also add chopped preserved gourd, rehydrated day lily buds, fried tofu (don't use fresh, it goes to mush)
Then prepare any cooked meat by shredding
Heat some oil with the garlic and ginger until very hot. Drain the marinade from the meat and begin to stir fry (adding mushrooms, either the fresh sliced or the rehydrated sliced). When mostly cooked through, add the the onions and greens. When wilted, add the gourd, fried tofu, etc, and cooked meat. When fried off a little, add the rice. Pour over the mushroom soaking water except for the last spoonful which is normally full of debris. Keep stirring and frying and, if needed, add a little more oil or stock. When the rice has absorbed the oil and liquid, add in the eggs and mix. Voila, real fried rice!
Best sandwich ever...
So, I made some really nice roasted peppers the other day (just with regular red and yellow bell peppers, although using the long, very sweet Romano pepper is extra good). After they cooled down and I peeled off the skin, I stored them in layers with Maldon sea salt (a favorite of mine) and some nice Greek olive oil. Then I made the following sandwiches,
grilled free range chicken, roasted peppers and basil in a wrap for my daughter
buffalo mozzarella, roasted peppers and basil in a wrap for me.
I'd love to have another today for lunch, but I've got leftover rice to use up so I'll be making fried rice with shrimp (prawns to the Brits). See my next post...
grilled free range chicken, roasted peppers and basil in a wrap for my daughter
buffalo mozzarella, roasted peppers and basil in a wrap for me.
I'd love to have another today for lunch, but I've got leftover rice to use up so I'll be making fried rice with shrimp (prawns to the Brits). See my next post...
Monday, October 8, 2007
What to add to spaghetti sauce...
Here are some interesting things to add to your spaghetti sauce (known as spag bol in Britain, and red sauce in the USA, and basically unknown in Italy...).
Herbs de Provence (nice mix of herbs, rosemary, thyme, sometimes lavender, and various others)
Smoked Spanish Paprika (my favorite)
Splash of balsamic or sherry vinegar
Splash of Worcestershire Sauce (this is typical in UK, and unheard of in the US)
a teaspoon of Chinese chili-bean sauce (my hubby's favorite, and it is really good!)
a glass of red wine (sort of necessary, in my book, but someone might forget)
Instead of using ground beef, take sausages, slit open the casings and fry the spiced meat mixture instead. British sausages don't work well for this as the meat has been ground 2x and is too finely textured, but any "Italian style" sausage in the USA or sausage de campagne on the mainland of Europe works pretty well.
If you are veg, try making the same sauce with Quorn or with cooked Puy or Beluga lentils (these both hold their shape when cooked so can stand the extra cooking). Or freeze cotton (not silken style) tofu and then defrost, drain with a weight on top for 1 hour and then grate. This becomes very similar in texture to ground meat.
Herbs de Provence (nice mix of herbs, rosemary, thyme, sometimes lavender, and various others)
Smoked Spanish Paprika (my favorite)
Splash of balsamic or sherry vinegar
Splash of Worcestershire Sauce (this is typical in UK, and unheard of in the US)
a teaspoon of Chinese chili-bean sauce (my hubby's favorite, and it is really good!)
a glass of red wine (sort of necessary, in my book, but someone might forget)
Instead of using ground beef, take sausages, slit open the casings and fry the spiced meat mixture instead. British sausages don't work well for this as the meat has been ground 2x and is too finely textured, but any "Italian style" sausage in the USA or sausage de campagne on the mainland of Europe works pretty well.
If you are veg, try making the same sauce with Quorn or with cooked Puy or Beluga lentils (these both hold their shape when cooked so can stand the extra cooking). Or freeze cotton (not silken style) tofu and then defrost, drain with a weight on top for 1 hour and then grate. This becomes very similar in texture to ground meat.
What I had for dinner...
This is something I came up with after reading about traditional Italian cooking, vegetarians, beware, it is not for you! In the fall, in our local shops here in Luxembourg, we get a pretty good selection of game. Its pretty expensive (as I feel all meat should be, if it is well taken care of) so I picked up two things. One was a pre-made quail pate with pistachios and a bit of red currant jam which was very delicious, and the second was about a pound (1/2 kilo) of stewing venison. So, after reading about the Italian traditions with venison, I made a ragu (in the traditional Italian sense of long cooked meat in wine with flavorings) of venison, red wine, juniper berries, cinnamon, allspice, and rosemary. Served with pappardelle, it was really fabulous!
olive oil
one onion, finely minced
1 pound or 1/2 kilo of stewing venison
1/2 bottle of red wine (remember, the better the wine, the better the sauce)
2 Tablespoons of tomato paste (try the kind in a tube or a glass jar, its much better than canned)
10 juniper berries
1 generous teaspoon of cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon of allspice
3 large sprigs of rosemary
salt and pepper
Cover the bottom of a pan well with olive oil and add the onion. Fry on medium/medium high until softened and lightly golden. Now push to the sides and fry the venison until browned on all sides. Pour in the wine, and add all the herbs and spices. Bring to the boil, then stir in the tomato paste and turn down the heat. Simmer for 2-3 hours until the meat is very tender and the sauce is thick (I covered the pan for most of the cooking time to get the right thickness). Season with salt and pepper. Serve with noodles.
olive oil
one onion, finely minced
1 pound or 1/2 kilo of stewing venison
1/2 bottle of red wine (remember, the better the wine, the better the sauce)
2 Tablespoons of tomato paste (try the kind in a tube or a glass jar, its much better than canned)
10 juniper berries
1 generous teaspoon of cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon of allspice
3 large sprigs of rosemary
salt and pepper
Cover the bottom of a pan well with olive oil and add the onion. Fry on medium/medium high until softened and lightly golden. Now push to the sides and fry the venison until browned on all sides. Pour in the wine, and add all the herbs and spices. Bring to the boil, then stir in the tomato paste and turn down the heat. Simmer for 2-3 hours until the meat is very tender and the sauce is thick (I covered the pan for most of the cooking time to get the right thickness). Season with salt and pepper. Serve with noodles.
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