Red onion, cheese and bacon muffins
Posted: September 30, 2011 Filed under: Pastry and Baking | Tags: Bacon, Cheese, Muffin, Red onions Leave a comment »
A totally unhealthy but delicious muffin… Definitely calories worthwhile ingesting. Better if eaten with wine or beer, and a little side salad.
The original recipe was found on Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall‘s column in The Guardian. As you usual, I had to do a couple of tweaks. If you are novice to muffin baking, just follow his advice. You cannot go wrong…
Red onion, cheese and bacon muffins
Ingredients
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 100g streaky bacon, cut into 1cm pieces
- 1 red onion, finely diced
- 250g flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 80g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 yogurt (the original recipe called for 200ml buttermilk)
- 1 tbsp finely chopped chives (optional)
- 150g gruyere (original recipe called for a strong cheddar)
Method
Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 and line a muffin tin with 12 paper cases.
Warm the oil over a medium heat and fry the bacon in it until just crisp. Lift the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. In the same fat, sauté the onion until just softened, about five minutes, then set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. In a jug, whisk the eggs, butter and buttermilk, stir them into the flour mixture with a spatula until just combined, then fold in the cooled bacon, onion, chives, if using, and two-thirds of the cheese until just evenly distributed.
Spoon or scoop the mixture into the muffin tin, sprinkle on the rest of the cheese, and bake for about 18 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.
Anchovy, hard boiled egg and caper on toast (pintxo de anchoas)
Posted: September 28, 2011 Filed under: Eggs, Fish, Snacks | Tags: Anchovies, bread, Spain Leave a comment »
In a literal manner, tapa means a cover or lid in Spanish. But, if you are talking about food, a tapa refers to a range of fine appetizers and nibbles that are served in bars and pubs to accompany a glass of wine or beer. Over the years, tapas have evolved into a completely new concept, being now a synonym of miniature dishes – sometimes very sophisticated – which are put together to form a meal. In any case, tapas, or its closely related pintxos and raciones, are the center of informal meals and allow you to focus on chatting and socializing rather than scoffing a full blown dinner.
Even risking sounding a bit pedantic, the dish I am doing today is a pintxo. Traditionally, this combination with anchovies is ubiquitous in the Basque Country. And, you simply are not not served tapas in the Basque Country. Up the there, the pieces of bread with something on top are called pintxos. Incidentally, unlike other parts of the country, you also have to pay for them. In case you wonder, about.com does a excellent job on explaining with great detail and accuracy what is one or the other, and the difference between them.
As of late, I have been kind of missing this sort of flavors from home… A poker night presented itself like the perfect opportunity to give it a go. After googling a bit, I ended up finding this Spanish blogger from Bilbao, whom had a recipe that looked very much like the pintxos de anchoa you can find all over the Basque Country.
Anchovy, hard boiled egg and caper on toast (pintxo de anchoas)
Ingredients
- 150 grs. of cream cheese, like Philadelphia
- 2 tins of salted anchovies
- Sliced bread (I use the equivalent of a French bagette, cut diagonally).
- 2 hard boiled eggs, chopped very finely.
- Capers or sliced gurken
- Olive oil
Method
Put the cheesed and the anchovies (plus its olive oil). Mix well with a blender until you obtain a homogenous mix. Reserve.
Cut the bread crust out, and cut each slice in half so you can obtain 2 rectangles. Fry in a generous quantity of olive oil. Be careful to not let the olive oil overheat to avoid the bread to burn. I was on a hurry this day, and simply toasted the bread until it was crunchy. This version is also less caloric.
Spread a generous quantity of anchovy mix so you obtain a thick layer on top of the bread. Cover with the egg and put a couple of cappers on top of it.
Crushed courgettes and roasted chicken
Posted: September 26, 2011 Filed under: Chicken, Vegetables | Tags: Courgette, Garlic, Herbs, Masterchef Australia, Yotam Ottolenghi, Zucchini Leave a comment »
In a couple of weeks, courgettes’s season will be almost over. But, for the time being, we still can find them at the supermarket screaming to be cooked with loads flavors to soak up. For example – garlic, thyme and mint, as in this crushed courgettes dish Yotam Ottolenghi created for The New Vegetarian.
To go with the courgettes, nothing better than a roasted chicken. For this one, I used a very basic recipe I saw on Masterchef Australia (with a couple of tweaks).
Crushed courgettes
Ingredients
- 3 large courgettes (750g), cut in half lengthways and then into 6cm pieces
- 1 whole garlic bulb, separated into unpeeled cloves
- 1 tsp dried mint
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1½ tsp coarse sea salt
- Black pepper
- 70ml olive oil
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
- 1½ tbsp chopped dill
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Method
Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Put the courgettes and garlic cloves in a bowl and add the dried mint, thyme, salt, some black pepper and the oil. Mix everything together and transfer to a medium baking dish – make sure the courgette pieces overlap a little, cut side up, and form a single layer. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the courgettes have softened and taken on some colour.
Transfer everything to a colander, pressing the courgettes so they start to release some of their liquid, and leave to cool for at least 30 minutes.
Transfer the contents of the colander to a mixing bowl, and squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins (discard the skins). Mash everything together with a fork (if the courgettes’ skin is on the tough side, you may have to chop them with a knife). Stir in the remaining ingredients and set aside for an hour before serving.
Roasted chicken
Ingredients
- 1 chicken, broken down into legs & breasts still on the bone
- 8 sprigs of rosemary
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Preheat the oven at 220oC
Cover the bottom of a roasting tray with olive oil. Put the chicken into the tray skin, with the side up in one evenly spread layer.
Pat the chicken skin with a paper towel until it is dry. Sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Put the rosemary on top of the chicken pieces.
Put the tray into the oven, and cook the chicken for about 35min.
Pizza Bianca with Potato and Anchovies
Posted: September 23, 2011 Filed under: Fish, Vegetables | Tags: Cheese, Fish, Herbs, Masterchef Australia, Pizza, Potatoes, spinach Leave a comment »
You don’t like tomato sauce on your pizza? Don’t worry, we have have something for you: a pizza bianca, courtesy of Gary Mehigan and Masterchef Australia This elegant combination of flavours and textures is so good, you will have you wish you had made two pizzas. The Classic Pizza Margherita is good, but this one is something else…
Pizza Bianca with Potato and Anchovies
Ingredients
- semolina and plain flour, for dusting
- 1 x 120g dough portion (I used already made pizza dough)
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and bruised
- 3 sprigs rosemary
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, coarsely grated (I replaced it with granna padano)
- ½ cup aged provolone, coarsely grated (I replaced it with Gruyere)
- 1 waxy potato, such as Desiree, very thinly sliced
- ¼ cup wild rocket leaves, washed, drained (I replaced it with baby spinach)
- 60g buffalo mozzarella, torn
- 6 anchovy fillets (optional) (only had anchovy filled with cappers, so used it instead).
Method
Place an unglazed terracotta tile into an oven and heat to 250°C. Sprinkle a clean work surface with semolina and flour and use your fingers or rolling pin to stretch out the dough until about 25cm in diameter or to desired thickness. Dust a wooden paddle or sheet of baking paper with semolina and flour and place dough on top.
Step 2: In a small bowl add garlic, 1 sprig of rosemary, 2 tablespoons of oil and a pinch of salt. Brush the dough with the oil.
Step 3: Combine cheeses and scatter over dough, leaving a 1cm border around the edge. Strip leaves from remaining rosemary and sprinkle over dough.
Step 4: Lay the potato slices evenly over the dough. Brush with oil and sprinkle with sea salt flakes.
Step 5: Slide pizza onto hot terracotta tile and bake for 5-6 minutes or until golden and crisp. Remove pizza from oven. Brush the crust with olive oil.
Step 6: Mix rocket with remaining olive oil and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Scatter mozzarella, anchovies, and rocket over pizza. Season with freshly ground black pepper and serve.
Baked salmon with fennel and tomatoes
Posted: September 21, 2011 Filed under: Fish, Vegetables | Tags: BBC GoodFood, Fennel, Lemon, Salmon, Tomato Leave a comment »
If you are about my age, and studied organic chemistry, there is a very big chance one of your lab practices was the synthesis of anisaldehyde, a chemical compound which is found in anise, tastes like licorice and smells of sweet almonds. I don’t recall it as being excessively difficult, but what made this lab memorable was the strong aniseed smell of the whole experiment. It was like a haze that would stay with you for a couple of days, and sort of thing that would put you off of anything that might resemble it. For example, licorice, almond oil or even amarguinha, a Portuguese almond liqueur. Later, in my short (but intense) academic career, I ended up using anysaldehyde in my experiments for a good 4 years. It still smelled the same, and it still would give me headaches.
Needless is to say, my motivation for using anything that might be slightly aniseed was almost non existing. But, one day I took a picked a bit fennel salad in a buffet. And, much to my surprise, it tasted good. It was crunchy, fresh and it had a slight taste of anise, that just made it a bit more interesting. A vegetable you could see in a salad during Summer, or in a more autumnal roast. Or, all year round paired with fish – a combination of flavors made in heaven.
The recipes of salmon-cherry tomato-fennel are ubiquitous. For this dish, I turned to BBCGoodFood, for no special reason other than being a todpop‘s favorite.
Baked salmon with fennel and tomatoes
Ingredients
- 2 medium fennel bulbs
- 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
- zest and juice 1 lemon
- 175g cherry tomatoes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 salmon fillets , about 175g each
- few black olives (optional)
Method
Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Trim the fronds from the fennel and set aside. Cut the fennel bulbs in half, then cut each half into 3 wedges. Cook in boiling salted water for 10 mins, then drain well. Chop the fennel fronds roughly, then mix with the parsley and lemon zest.
Spread the drained fennel over a shallow oven proof dish, then add the tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil, then bake for 10 mins. Nestle the salmon among the veg, sprinkle with lemon juice, then bake 15 mins more until the fish is just cooked. Scatter over the parsley and serve.
Banana and chocolate bread
Posted: September 16, 2011 Filed under: Chocolate, Dessert, Snacks | Tags: Banana, Cake, Chocolate, Sugar 1 Comment »
What do to feed the 11-year-old for breakfast? Well, easy answer: banana and chocolate bread. He even agreed to by my sous-chef, raised for the occasion and thanked profusely. The original recipe is by Bill Granger, found during a totally random google search.
Banana and chocolate bread
Ingredients
- 250g of all-purpose
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 125g unsalted butter, softened
- 250g caster (superfine) sugar (I used regular sugar)
- 4 ripe bananas, mashed
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- Seeds of 1 vanilla pod
- 175g good-quality dark or milk chocolate chips
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl.
Mix the butter, sugar, banana, eggs, vanilla seeds and chocolate chips in a separate bowl.
Add to the dry ingredients and stir to combine, being careful not to over mix.
Pour the batter into a non-stick, or lightly greased and floured, 19 x 11 cm loaf tin and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the bread is cooked when tested with a wooden skewer.
Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
Grilled aubergine with tahini dressing
Posted: September 12, 2011 Filed under: Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tags: Aubergine, Gordon Ramsay, Herbs, Tahini Leave a comment »
A super easy and quick dish, perfect for a hot Summer day: grilled aubergine finished with a creamy tahini dressing, by the great Gordon Ramsay . It looks a pale shadow of the sabih, tahini sauce and zhoug dish I tried earlier this Summer, but on its simplicity it is an elegant (and) delicious dish that goes well as a salad, entrée or put on the side.
Grilled aubergine with tahini dressing
Ingredients
Grilled aubergines
- 1 large aubergine trimmed
- olive oil enough to brush and drizzle
- sea salt and black pepper
- few rosemary springs, plus extra to garnish
- 3 bay leaves, plus extra to garmish
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
Tahini dressing
- 1 tablespoon tahini paste
- 2 tablespoos of natural yogurt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon runny honey
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely crushed
Method
Cut the aubergine into 1 cm thick slices. Generously brush with olive oil on both sides and tub all over with salt and pepper. Toss with the rosemary and the bay leaves
Heat a griddle pan, then add the aubergine slices with the herbs. Griddle for 4-5min on each side until cooked. Transfer to a serving bowl and while still warm, drizzle over some more olive oil and the lemon juice. Toss well to coat and set aside to cool.
For the tahini dressing, mix all ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. Stir in 1-2 tablespoons of hot water to loosen the dressing until it is of the consistency of double cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Drizzle the dressing over the grilled aubergine and garnish with a few fresh bay leaves and rosemary springs.Serve with some warm flat bread on the side.
Pan fried chicken with a white wine, mushroom and tarragon sauce
Posted: September 9, 2011 Filed under: Chicken, Vegetables, Wine | Tags: Chicken, Mushrooms, sauce, tarragon, Wine Leave a comment »
A confession – this dish is not my creation but have no idea where the recipe comes from… I found it some place lost in The Internets, made the dish and forgot to bookmark it. By the time I wanted to cook it again, was not able to find it and the details had washed away. So, I kind of have to recreate it from memory. After all, it is a good Summer dish. The white wine and tarragon flavors combine for a light and fragrant sauce, which compliments the chicken perfectly. Caramelising the onions with the star anise makes them feel meatier, a trick I have learnt from George Calombaris during one of his Masterchef Australia’s Masterclass. I found it had to believe, but it works and slightly aniseed flavor is also a bonus.
Pan fried chicken with a white wine, mushroom and tarragon sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 Chicken thighs
- Flour (I used Maizena)
- 4 Medium size yellow onions, sliced in half-moons
- 3 Star anise
- 1 Clove of garlic
- 500g Button mushrooms, cut in 2cm slices
- Tarragon to taste finely chopped (I used about 4 bunches)
- 100mL dry white wine
- 200mL chicken or vegetable stock
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 4-5 tablespoons of olive oil.
Method
Dip each chicken drumstick in the flour, salt and pepper to coat them lightly. In a sauté pan, put the equivalent of 2 tablespoons of oliver oil over medium-high heat. When it is shimmer, add the chicken thighs, and cook them for about 3 minutes on each side, until they get a little golden. Take them out from the heat and reserve.
In the same pan, put the sliced onions and the star anise, salt and pepper. Let it caramelise for about 15min, or until they are soft and translucent. Once they are ready, take them out from the heat and reserve.
While the onions are cooking, heat the equivalent of 2 olive oil tablespoons in another sauté pan. When the olive oil starts to shimmer, fold in the sliced mushrooms. Cook, stirring often, until lightly browned (about 15min). Take them out from the heat and reserve.
In the same sauté pan you cooked the chicken thighs and the onions, put the 100mL of wine to deglaze. Let the wine reduce on a medium heat, and then put in the mushrooms and onions . Mix well to combine and let them absorb the wine for 5min. Put the chicken thighs in, and add enough stock to cover them. Once the stock is bubbling, fold in the tarragon. Let it is simmer for about 30min or until the stock is almost totally evaporated
Classic Pizza Margherita
Posted: September 7, 2011 Filed under: Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tags: Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris, Herbs, Masterchef Australia, Mozzarella, Pizza, Tomato 1 Comment »
Pizza – enough said. For a quick meal and trying to keep the 11-year-old happy, I gave a go to the pizza Margherita recipe George Calombaris demonstrated during a Masterchef Australia’s Masterclass. A classic combination, which was as named after the Italian queen who first tried (and loved) the tomato, mozzarella and basil in a pizza bread.
To cook this pizza, I took a short cut that is generally a no-no for a high-class number, and used already-made dough. But, if you feel you have bake your own pizza dough, here is an recipe, also from Masterchef Australia. Also, instead of sticking to pizza sauce, I just took a jar of tomatada [Portuguese style tomato sauce] I had sitting in the fridge and put it to good use.
George and Gary (Mehigan) have another trick to bake a crispy dough for the perfect pizza. To distribute the heat evenly across the pizza base and to extract the moisture, place an unglazed terracotta tile into an oven and heat to 250°C. (I didn’t - if only I knew where to find terracota tiles in Zurich which doesn’t cost the equivalent of a 100g of white truffle).
Classic Pizza Margherita
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 medium yellow onions cut in half lengthwise and sliced into thin half moons
- 2 springs fresh flat leaf parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 garlic gloves minced
- 1 kg very ripped tomatoes, seeded and chopped* (or a couple of canned tomato, preferably san marzano, chopped, juices reserved).
- 2 to 3 tablespoons of double concentrated tomato paste, to taste
- 1 small fresh medium red hot chilli pepper, such as Serrano, stemmed, seeded and chopped (it is optional. Sometimes, I just add a few drops of piri piri sauce).
- Freshly grounded salt and black pepper to taste.
- 1 x 120g pizza dough portion (I use already-made pizza dough)
- Plain flour, for dusting
3 tbs pizza sauceTomato sauce to cover the base- 1 tbs baby capers, rinsed and drained
- 6-8 large basil leaves
- 9 halved oven-roasted cherry tomatoes
- 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 50g buffalo mozzarella, torn
Method
Tomato sauce
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until it shimmer. Add the onions, parsley and bay leaf and cook until nicely golden, about 15min. Add the garlic and cook for 1 min more.
Turn the heat to medium low, stir in the tomatoes and their juices, the tomato paste and chilli pepper, if using. Bring to a simmer, cook, lid ajar, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down, about 30min
Toss out the parsley and bay lead and season with salt and pepper. If you wish, you can scrape the sauce into a food processor and buzz until smooth. Store the sauce in the fridge in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid for up to 1 week. It can also be frozen for up to 2 months.
Pizza
On a floured wooden paddle or piece of baking paper, stretch out the dough into a long oval shape about 30cm long and 10-15cm wide, or to desired shape and thickness.
Spread the tomato sauce over the dough, sprinkle with baby capers and scatter over basil leaves. Place cherry tomatoes on top and drizzle with olive oil.
Slide the pizza into the stove and bake for about 5 minutes or until golden and crisp.
Brush the crust with olive oil and scatter mozzarella over pizza.
Baked peaches with thyme and ice cream
Posted: September 2, 2011 Filed under: Dessert | Tags: Herbs, Ice cream, Peaches, Sugar, Summer Leave a comment »
Peaches are long gone, but this dessert will be staying. I saw it on Scarlet Pippin, but the original recipe seems to be by Gordon Ramsay. And, then, I tweaked it a bit more… hopefully, it will become a viral dish because it an ideal dessert for a Summer dinner.
Baked peaches
Ingredients
- 4 whole white peaches.
- 50g icing sugar, 50g caster sugar (I just used 100 of sugarcane sugar)
- 1 vanilla pod
- 25 unsalted butter, melted
- 1-2 teaspoons Cointreau or Grand Mariner (I used prune Schnapps)
- 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves (stripped from stalk)
Method
Mix the icing and caster sugar together and roll fruits in them to coat. Sit peaches in a shallow ovenproof dish. Mix the vanilla seeds with the melted butter and trickle over the peaches.
Bake the peaches uncovered at 190 oC for 5 mins. Remove and spoon the caramelised liquid that has formed in the dish back over the peaches. Return to the oven to bake for 10 mins (spooning over the juices a few more times).
About 5 mins before the peaches are ready, spoon over the liqueur and sprinkle over the thyme. Remove when ready and allow to cool until warm.
Thyme ice-cream
Ingredients
- 250ml of creamy milk
- 250ml double cream
- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme (OR two strands of saffron OR two sticks of cinnamon)
- 6 free range egg yolks
- 90g caster sugar
Methods
Heat the milk and cream in a large saucepan until the liquid starts to creep up the sides of the pan (i.e. boil). Then stir in the thyme sprigs, remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Put the yolks and the sugar in a large bowl and whisk until thick and creamy (ideally with an electric whisk).
Reheat the milk and cream mixture and, when the mixture rises up again, pour into the yolk mixture whilst slowly mixing. Whist until well blended. Strain back into the pan through a sieve (discard the thyme). On the lowest possible heat, stir until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Cool the custard, stirring occasionally to stop a skin forming. Churn in an electric ice-cream maker if you have such things, or otherwise take out of the freezer to stir regularly as it starts to freeze.
