NAME: _Silver Beet and Gnocchi
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
1 bunch silverbeet
1 tbsp flour
100g thin sliced rolled pancetta
1/2 medium onion
1 clove garlic
50g tasty cheese
2 tsp olive oil
500g potato gnocchi
salt
1 vegetable stock cube
METHOD:
Wash the silverbeet carefully and shake off the water. Cut the silverbeet leaves from the stems, cut into 3cm strips, place in steamer basket and put on to steam. Meanwhile slice the onion, garlic, and pancetta thinly and fry over low heat in the 2 tsp of olive oil. Select several silver beet stems and slice thinly across, add to the pan and continue to cook over low heat.
Place four slices of pancetta between paper towel and microwave for 3 minutes or until crisp. Allow to cool and crumble up, serve in a bowl to sprinkle over each plate. Dice or grate the cheese and set aside.
When the silverbeet has steamed to limpness, lift it from the steamer and place aside, boil water for the gnocchi, and when boiling, add the gnocchi and boil until they rise to the surface, then about a minute more. Drain the gnocchi, refresh with cold water and set aside.
When the onion garlic pancetta and silverbeet stem mixture has softened, add the flour and stir well, allow to fry a minute or two longer, then add about 250ml of water, the cheese, and the vegetable stock cube. Stir until thickened, add water (or, if desired, milk) to make a rich creamy sauce, then add the steamed silverbeet and stir through well. Salt to taste.
SERVING:
Serve immediately, spoon the silverbeet and sauce over each plateful of gnocchi and garnish with crumbled pancetta. Mild green olives are a nice side to this dish.
NOTES:
The whole meal takes about 15 minutes if you do things concurrently, and now in the spring is the time to find good fresh leafy greens for your diet. Light steaming preserves the taste and nutrients in the silverbeet, and the pancetta with a tasty cheddar cheese is a lovely counter to the slightly bitter taste of the silverbeet.
Sunday, 23 September 2007
Monday, 27 August 2007
Cute New Vegetables
Okay a quick post on nutritive and local. I posted a bit here on the subject but there's a few things that aren't covered by that brief post nor the article I linked to.
I've been buying local and to me that means within a few kilometres of Perth (and specifically me!) where possible. Things that are cool at the moment are kohlrabi, a turnip-like vegetable that's currently in season, and some cool black potatoes you can see in this picture, which are purple inside. Only place I've found those potatoes to date is at the Magic Apple continental supermarket on the corner of Nicholson Rd and Albany Highway, who aren't always local produce but at least they are always fresh and of reasonable value.
The more observant among you might recognise the shopping bag in the background as coming from the Yuang Chan Vegetable Market at Canning Vale Market City, it's another place that has veges that just rule. What they sell is always fresh and crisp.
Now to those black potatoes: I have no idea what they are (I found them next to the kipflers but the two are not alike at all) and due to the beautiful plum purple colour of the flesh I am concluding that these are potatoes that have antioxidant properties. Due to the soft nature of the flesh I am also concluding that these are actually a variant of sweet potato, which is fine with me to because the are beautiful drizzled with melted butter and sprinkled which chopped chives. No I didn't peel them, the skins are washed and fine, and it hasn't killed us...
Anyhow - the main thing is that both these places are within a few kilometres of me and both have extremely good fruit and vegetables at the moment - so I'll make an effort to provide a few recipes as I come up with them.
For your part, you have to make the effort and break out of the "ColesWorth Rut" and start buying your fruit and vegetables from markets where the produce is more likely to be fresh and local! And if you don't, I'll send Ghostie after you!
Well, not really, he wouldn't know how to say "ROWR!" but he does get distressed every time the Big Supermarkets take away another choice from us. And you should, too, and remember to ALWAYS BUY LOCAL FIRST...
I've been buying local and to me that means within a few kilometres of Perth (and specifically me!) where possible. Things that are cool at the moment are kohlrabi, a turnip-like vegetable that's currently in season, and some cool black potatoes you can see in this picture, which are purple inside. Only place I've found those potatoes to date is at the Magic Apple continental supermarket on the corner of Nicholson Rd and Albany Highway, who aren't always local produce but at least they are always fresh and of reasonable value.The more observant among you might recognise the shopping bag in the background as coming from the Yuang Chan Vegetable Market at Canning Vale Market City, it's another place that has veges that just rule. What they sell is always fresh and crisp.
Now to those black potatoes: I have no idea what they are (I found them next to the kipflers but the two are not alike at all) and due to the beautiful plum purple colour of the flesh I am concluding that these are potatoes that have antioxidant properties. Due to the soft nature of the flesh I am also concluding that these are actually a variant of sweet potato, which is fine with me to because the are beautiful drizzled with melted butter and sprinkled which chopped chives. No I didn't peel them, the skins are washed and fine, and it hasn't killed us...
Anyhow - the main thing is that both these places are within a few kilometres of me and both have extremely good fruit and vegetables at the moment - so I'll make an effort to provide a few recipes as I come up with them. For your part, you have to make the effort and break out of the "ColesWorth Rut" and start buying your fruit and vegetables from markets where the produce is more likely to be fresh and local! And if you don't, I'll send Ghostie after you!
Well, not really, he wouldn't know how to say "ROWR!" but he does get distressed every time the Big Supermarkets take away another choice from us. And you should, too, and remember to ALWAYS BUY LOCAL FIRST...
Sunday, 26 August 2007
Cannelloni Tricolore
NAME: _Cannelloni Tricolore
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
12 cannelloni tubes
150g finely minced pork
150g fine white fish
100g spinach leaves
100g ricotta cheese
white flour
1 tsp ground fenugreek
1/2 tsp gound fennel seeds
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
1 tbsp tomato paste
150g butter
1 tsp salt
half a medium brown onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 litre milk
2 chicken stock cubes plus two cups water or
2 cups strong chicken stock
METHOD:
Chop the onion really finely, divide into half, divide one half into three. Chop/mince the garlic with the salt, divide into four parts.
Mix tomato paste, the pork mince, one of the sixths of onion, two portions of garlic, half of the fenugreek and fennel, and all the Italian herbs to a paste consistency, use this to fill four of the cannelloni tubes.
Chop the fish, mix with the remaining fennel and fenugreek, one part of garlic, one sixth of onion, a tablespoon of flour, and enough water to form a paste. Fill four cannelloni tubes with this mixture.
Chop the spinach leaves quite finely, mix with the ricotta cheese, the last part of garlic, one sixth of onion, mix together, and use to fill the last four tubes. With that you have the three colours of the flag, so now arrange the tubes in a baking dish two layers deep.
I make a "cheat bechamel" sauce because I don't mess about scalding milk nor with tradition, here's the cheat way:
Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the 1/2 of chopped onion that somehow ended up laying there on the cutting board looking forlorn, and lightly fry until the onions are transparent. Add about five to seven tablespoons of flour (you will need to make enough bechamel to completely cover the tubes, and it's better to have more flour as you can thin the bechamel easier than thickening it), and stir well. Gradually mix in the milk in a thin stream, making sure lumps are pressed out at this stage, then add the chicken stock or water and two chicken cubes. Stir until it begins to thicken, then keep stirring until it doesn't thicken any more. Adjust the consistency with extra water to a thick creamy consistency.
Pour the bechamel over the cannelloni ensuring it gets in between and under the tubes, and covers them, then cover the baking dish and place in an oven at 170 degrees for an hour.
SERVING:
One tube of each colour, covered with a bit of the bechamel, is a pretty filling serving. Don't serve grated cheese with this, it has fish. Fine chopped parsley makes a nice garnish. You can serve a salad or something - but not necessary, this will happily stand on its own.
NOTES:
Have to admit I prefer the spinach/ricotta and the pork mince cannelloni, but the fish is pretty excellent too. These are all pretty untraditional ways to fill the little suckers too, but then I prefer it that way. Tradition is good, good robust flavour is better.
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
12 cannelloni tubes
150g finely minced pork
150g fine white fish
100g spinach leaves
100g ricotta cheese
white flour
1 tsp ground fenugreek
1/2 tsp gound fennel seeds
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
1 tbsp tomato paste
150g butter
1 tsp salt
half a medium brown onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 litre milk
2 chicken stock cubes plus two cups water or
2 cups strong chicken stock
METHOD:
Chop the onion really finely, divide into half, divide one half into three. Chop/mince the garlic with the salt, divide into four parts.
Mix tomato paste, the pork mince, one of the sixths of onion, two portions of garlic, half of the fenugreek and fennel, and all the Italian herbs to a paste consistency, use this to fill four of the cannelloni tubes.
Chop the fish, mix with the remaining fennel and fenugreek, one part of garlic, one sixth of onion, a tablespoon of flour, and enough water to form a paste. Fill four cannelloni tubes with this mixture.
Chop the spinach leaves quite finely, mix with the ricotta cheese, the last part of garlic, one sixth of onion, mix together, and use to fill the last four tubes. With that you have the three colours of the flag, so now arrange the tubes in a baking dish two layers deep.
I make a "cheat bechamel" sauce because I don't mess about scalding milk nor with tradition, here's the cheat way:
Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the 1/2 of chopped onion that somehow ended up laying there on the cutting board looking forlorn, and lightly fry until the onions are transparent. Add about five to seven tablespoons of flour (you will need to make enough bechamel to completely cover the tubes, and it's better to have more flour as you can thin the bechamel easier than thickening it), and stir well. Gradually mix in the milk in a thin stream, making sure lumps are pressed out at this stage, then add the chicken stock or water and two chicken cubes. Stir until it begins to thicken, then keep stirring until it doesn't thicken any more. Adjust the consistency with extra water to a thick creamy consistency.
Pour the bechamel over the cannelloni ensuring it gets in between and under the tubes, and covers them, then cover the baking dish and place in an oven at 170 degrees for an hour.
SERVING:
One tube of each colour, covered with a bit of the bechamel, is a pretty filling serving. Don't serve grated cheese with this, it has fish. Fine chopped parsley makes a nice garnish. You can serve a salad or something - but not necessary, this will happily stand on its own.
NOTES:
Have to admit I prefer the spinach/ricotta and the pork mince cannelloni, but the fish is pretty excellent too. These are all pretty untraditional ways to fill the little suckers too, but then I prefer it that way. Tradition is good, good robust flavour is better.
Monday, 20 August 2007
Zucchini/Eggplant bake
NAME: _Zucchini/Eggplant bake
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
500g - 1kg Zucchini (or eggplant)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup water (optional)
1/2 cup chopped fresh spearmint
1 tbsp zartar or dried thyme
salt and a pinch of cumin to taste
1/2 cup grated yellow cheese (optional)
1/2 cup crumbled fetta, hamoumi, or similar cheese (optional)
2 very ripe tomatoes (optional)
METHOD:
Slice the zucchini or eggplant into 1cm thick slices. (If using eggplant, sprinkle generously with salt and leave to draw out the liquid for an hour. Rinse, squeeze dry. Test and if stil bitter, repeat. I find one good salting/rinsing gets most of the bitter liquid out.)
Mash or blend the spearmint and add the oils and tomato paste and mix together well. You can add a teaspoon of raw sugar or grape molasses if the tomato paste is a particularly acid one, mixing in well. You may wish to adjust the thickness with the 1/2 cup of water.
Brush the baking dish with EVOO and lay the sliced vegetable in a layer at a time. (I cut slices in half so they will fit all the way out to the edge, your choice.) Sprinkle the zartar or thyme over at each layer, and add some of the tomato paste, then when all vegetable has been laid in the dish, pour in the remaining tomato mixture.
At this stage you can either bake it as it is, or else add the sliced tomato in a layer, then the grated and crumbled cheeses.
Bake in a medium (180) oven for about 30 - 60 minutes, until the cheese is brown.
SERVING:
A side dish - or you can make it a main, served with rice or bourghul and some meat kofta or something.
NOTES:
Eggplant is the right vegetable for this dish but because of its flavour you may prefer zucchini. I've made both and I prefer the eggplant.
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
500g - 1kg Zucchini (or eggplant)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup water (optional)
1/2 cup chopped fresh spearmint
1 tbsp zartar or dried thyme
salt and a pinch of cumin to taste
1/2 cup grated yellow cheese (optional)
1/2 cup crumbled fetta, hamoumi, or similar cheese (optional)
2 very ripe tomatoes (optional)
METHOD:
Slice the zucchini or eggplant into 1cm thick slices. (If using eggplant, sprinkle generously with salt and leave to draw out the liquid for an hour. Rinse, squeeze dry. Test and if stil bitter, repeat. I find one good salting/rinsing gets most of the bitter liquid out.)
Mash or blend the spearmint and add the oils and tomato paste and mix together well. You can add a teaspoon of raw sugar or grape molasses if the tomato paste is a particularly acid one, mixing in well. You may wish to adjust the thickness with the 1/2 cup of water.
Brush the baking dish with EVOO and lay the sliced vegetable in a layer at a time. (I cut slices in half so they will fit all the way out to the edge, your choice.) Sprinkle the zartar or thyme over at each layer, and add some of the tomato paste, then when all vegetable has been laid in the dish, pour in the remaining tomato mixture.
At this stage you can either bake it as it is, or else add the sliced tomato in a layer, then the grated and crumbled cheeses.
Bake in a medium (180) oven for about 30 - 60 minutes, until the cheese is brown.
SERVING:
A side dish - or you can make it a main, served with rice or bourghul and some meat kofta or something.
NOTES:
Eggplant is the right vegetable for this dish but because of its flavour you may prefer zucchini. I've made both and I prefer the eggplant.
Sunday, 19 August 2007
Chicken breasts in yoghurt
NAME: _Chicken breasts in yoghurt
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
2 whole chicken breasts, halved.
1 cup yoghurt
1 cup unsweetened cream
1 cup chopped parsley leaves
1 cup chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp cardamom seeds
2 cloves garlic
4 - 8 stalks spring onion
several sprigs or parsley and coriander
salt
2 eggs
1 cup of yellow cheese such as mild cheddar, grated
some crumbled fetta, haloumi, or peynir kasar type cheese
Ceramic or cast iron baking/casserole dish that will just hold the four half chicken breasts laid out flat, or four small baking dishes to the smae specification as above that are just the right size for a breast half each. (I recommend the latter, I have four small oval ceramic dishes that are ideal, made by Mayfair & Jackson, will add a picture here next time I make this recipe.)
METHOD:
Crush the cardamom seeds in a pestle and mortar, or put in blender, until all crsuhed fine. Add
1/2 cup each of the green leaves, spring onions, all the garlic, and blend or mash again until pretty much liquid. Add the yoghurt and cream, and either mix together or one quick burst blend to mix.
Add remaining finely chopped greens, mix in, and use about 1/3 of this mixture to marinate chicken breasts in a plastic bag for an hour or more.
Place each marinated chicken breast flat in its baking dish which you have brushed with a bit of olive oil to prevent sticking, and set aside to marinate some more.
Add the two eggs to the remaining yoghurt/cream mixtures and beat in. Pour a quarter of the mixture around and over each breast, put in the oven at 190 - 200 for 20 minutes. Add the grated cheese in equal parts over the top of each dish, similarly the crumbled specialty cheese, return to oven for a further 20 - 30 minutes, or until the yellow cheese has browned.
SERVING:
Leave to cool slightly and serve in the baking dish, placing this on the plate of each person. This dish can be served with couscous, rice, salads, or a dish like baked eggplant or similar - or any combination, and probably a few more I haven't even thought of yet.
The egg will set the yoghurt/cream mixture around the chicken breast, which is why it's better served in the individual ramekin or dish - but equally, you could make them all in one baking dish and serve to the plate along with the accompanying dishes.
NOTES:
The ceramic dishes I have are oval, about 10cm in the long direction, and about 1.5cm deep, and were part of a set with a much larger similar shaped dish that I have no idea what the set was for as it was a gift one Christmas. I'll do some research...
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
2 whole chicken breasts, halved.
1 cup yoghurt
1 cup unsweetened cream
1 cup chopped parsley leaves
1 cup chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp cardamom seeds
2 cloves garlic
4 - 8 stalks spring onion
several sprigs or parsley and coriander
salt
2 eggs
1 cup of yellow cheese such as mild cheddar, grated
some crumbled fetta, haloumi, or peynir kasar type cheese
Ceramic or cast iron baking/casserole dish that will just hold the four half chicken breasts laid out flat, or four small baking dishes to the smae specification as above that are just the right size for a breast half each. (I recommend the latter, I have four small oval ceramic dishes that are ideal, made by Mayfair & Jackson, will add a picture here next time I make this recipe.)
METHOD:
Crush the cardamom seeds in a pestle and mortar, or put in blender, until all crsuhed fine. Add
1/2 cup each of the green leaves, spring onions, all the garlic, and blend or mash again until pretty much liquid. Add the yoghurt and cream, and either mix together or one quick burst blend to mix.
Add remaining finely chopped greens, mix in, and use about 1/3 of this mixture to marinate chicken breasts in a plastic bag for an hour or more.
Place each marinated chicken breast flat in its baking dish which you have brushed with a bit of olive oil to prevent sticking, and set aside to marinate some more.
Add the two eggs to the remaining yoghurt/cream mixtures and beat in. Pour a quarter of the mixture around and over each breast, put in the oven at 190 - 200 for 20 minutes. Add the grated cheese in equal parts over the top of each dish, similarly the crumbled specialty cheese, return to oven for a further 20 - 30 minutes, or until the yellow cheese has browned.
SERVING:
Leave to cool slightly and serve in the baking dish, placing this on the plate of each person. This dish can be served with couscous, rice, salads, or a dish like baked eggplant or similar - or any combination, and probably a few more I haven't even thought of yet.
The egg will set the yoghurt/cream mixture around the chicken breast, which is why it's better served in the individual ramekin or dish - but equally, you could make them all in one baking dish and serve to the plate along with the accompanying dishes.
NOTES:
The ceramic dishes I have are oval, about 10cm in the long direction, and about 1.5cm deep, and were part of a set with a much larger similar shaped dish that I have no idea what the set was for as it was a gift one Christmas. I'll do some research...
Monday, 13 August 2007
Homemade Dill Pickles
NAME: _Homemade Dill Pickles
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
around half a kilo of thin pickling cucumbers
half a litre of wine or apple cider vinegar (you can try different ones)
half a litre of water (see Method for exact amount of water + vinegar)
about 50g - 150g fresh dill
one packet "pickling spices" (see Notes)
level dessertspoonful of rock salt (NOT iodised salt)
half a brown onion (optional)
one clove garlic (optional)
Couple of heatproof jars with sealing lids
METHOD:
Slice the cucumbers to suitable slices, I make mine about half a centimetre thick, try out in jars - set aside as many jars as you will need to fit your sliced cukes with between 1 and 4 cm space per jar. Take the cucumber slices back out, fill the jars with reasonably hot water from the tap, make sure they don't shatter. If they pass the test, go to make the pickling liquid.
Half fill each jar you're going to use with vinegar, tip that vinegar into a stainless steel pot. Keep about a cupful back to place in a blender with most of the roughly chopped dill. (Keep a few small sprigs to decorate the jars.) Add the lightly blended dill and vinegar liquid to the vinegar in the pot, then do the same measurement (half the volume that jars need) with water and add that to the pot too. Add the salt and the pack of pickling spices and bring this mixture to the boil. Slice a few rings of onion per jar, half a crushed peeled clove of garlic if using, and get the reserved sprigs of dill ready.
Once the pickling mix is boiling reduce to a simmer and allow to simmer for a few minutes, meanwhile refill the jars with very hot water and leave to stand for a few minutes, then use a tea towel to emtpy them and fill up with a few onion rings, the sprig of dill, the garlic if using, and then the cucumber slices as you did before. Using a fine strainer, pour enough liquid into each jar to come right to the top. Fish out a peppercorn or two from the pickling spices and add to each jar, then close the lids lightly. I do this stage with the jars sitting in the sink, just in case.
After about five minutes the jars will have cooled a bit, close the lids tightly and allow to cool to room temperature. Once at room temp, place in refrigerator or a very cool storeroom for a week. The boiling pickling liquid will have just blanched the cucumbers without taking the crispness out of them, and the flavours will have percolated through by then.
SERVING:
Anywhere that a side dish of dill pickles is called for. I loved these with the Borschtchi I made the other day, and they have a nice light flavour due to the water diluting the mixture.
NOTES:
These pickles will keep for a few weeks at any rate, but mine never last that long... Also, I realise that some people says that there should never be water involved in the pickling process but every rule is made to be broken, and this recipe needs the lighter flavours.
Pickling spices are sold in packs in most supermarkets but if you want to, just toss a dozen peppercorns in the mixture instead, and a couple of crushed dried bay leaves. Some fennel seeds will give an aniseed hint, or some caraway seeds a slightly more European flavour. Experiment is the key. Also, you may prefer not to use an onion ring for flavouring, nor garlic - and certain things go better with certain vinegars, I used white wine vinegar for this recipe and it is perfect.
I have a so-called "bullet blender" which means I tend to use it a lot - you can also fine-chop the dill and add it to the pickling mixture, but I find that the blender does the job faster than I could, and more uniformly. Your call...
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
around half a kilo of thin pickling cucumbers
half a litre of wine or apple cider vinegar (you can try different ones)
half a litre of water (see Method for exact amount of water + vinegar)
about 50g - 150g fresh dill
one packet "pickling spices" (see Notes)
level dessertspoonful of rock salt (NOT iodised salt)
half a brown onion (optional)
one clove garlic (optional)
Couple of heatproof jars with sealing lids
METHOD:
Slice the cucumbers to suitable slices, I make mine about half a centimetre thick, try out in jars - set aside as many jars as you will need to fit your sliced cukes with between 1 and 4 cm space per jar. Take the cucumber slices back out, fill the jars with reasonably hot water from the tap, make sure they don't shatter. If they pass the test, go to make the pickling liquid.
Half fill each jar you're going to use with vinegar, tip that vinegar into a stainless steel pot. Keep about a cupful back to place in a blender with most of the roughly chopped dill. (Keep a few small sprigs to decorate the jars.) Add the lightly blended dill and vinegar liquid to the vinegar in the pot, then do the same measurement (half the volume that jars need) with water and add that to the pot too. Add the salt and the pack of pickling spices and bring this mixture to the boil. Slice a few rings of onion per jar, half a crushed peeled clove of garlic if using, and get the reserved sprigs of dill ready.
Once the pickling mix is boiling reduce to a simmer and allow to simmer for a few minutes, meanwhile refill the jars with very hot water and leave to stand for a few minutes, then use a tea towel to emtpy them and fill up with a few onion rings, the sprig of dill, the garlic if using, and then the cucumber slices as you did before. Using a fine strainer, pour enough liquid into each jar to come right to the top. Fish out a peppercorn or two from the pickling spices and add to each jar, then close the lids lightly. I do this stage with the jars sitting in the sink, just in case.
After about five minutes the jars will have cooled a bit, close the lids tightly and allow to cool to room temperature. Once at room temp, place in refrigerator or a very cool storeroom for a week. The boiling pickling liquid will have just blanched the cucumbers without taking the crispness out of them, and the flavours will have percolated through by then.
SERVING:
Anywhere that a side dish of dill pickles is called for. I loved these with the Borschtchi I made the other day, and they have a nice light flavour due to the water diluting the mixture.
NOTES:
These pickles will keep for a few weeks at any rate, but mine never last that long... Also, I realise that some people says that there should never be water involved in the pickling process but every rule is made to be broken, and this recipe needs the lighter flavours.
Pickling spices are sold in packs in most supermarkets but if you want to, just toss a dozen peppercorns in the mixture instead, and a couple of crushed dried bay leaves. Some fennel seeds will give an aniseed hint, or some caraway seeds a slightly more European flavour. Experiment is the key. Also, you may prefer not to use an onion ring for flavouring, nor garlic - and certain things go better with certain vinegars, I used white wine vinegar for this recipe and it is perfect.
I have a so-called "bullet blender" which means I tend to use it a lot - you can also fine-chop the dill and add it to the pickling mixture, but I find that the blender does the job faster than I could, and more uniformly. Your call...
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