Spicy Asian Udon Noodle Stir-Fry

Did I mention we like spicy food? Anyhow, udon noodles are something we always have laying around and everything else in this recipe is a cupboard item (except the herbs). We like to throw this together when we want something fast, simple and with a spicy kick.

250 g udon noodles, or any noodles, really
2 tablespoons groundnut oil
2 tablespoons garlic, chopped finely
2 tablespoons ginger, chopped finely
2 red chili, deseeded, destemmed, chopped finely
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons cooking water
1 teaspoon sesame oil
¼ cup cilantro, (coriander) roughly chopped
2 tablespoons peanuts, roasted, chopped

First, get a pot of water boiling. Once boiling, add a good handful of salt. Drop the udon noodles in and gently separate them with tongs or chopsticks and let them cook for about a minute, or until done (this time will vary depending on what kind of noodles you are using). Drain the noodles in a colander and reserve some of the cooking water. Set both aside.

Heat a wok over medium-high heat. When hot, add the oil and give it a few seconds to heat through. Add the garlic, ginger and chilies and stir to coat in the oil. Cook for 15-30 seconds, just until everything starts to smell fragrant, stirring constantly. Add the fish sauce, hoisin and cooking water to the wok and let it bubble away, thickening, taking a 15-30 seconds.

Dump the noodles, sesame oil and cilantro (coriander) in and stir gently through to coat. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed. Add the peanuts and stir through quickly. Divide the noodles into bowls. Serve hot.

Sausage Pasta and Yummy Dessert

Two great recipes here from last night from the two most recognizable chefs in Britain: Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver. The pasta dish from Jamie Oliver was an *overwhelming* success and didn't take a whole lot to throw together. We had originally planned on this pasta for leftovers, but we (and a lucky guest) finished off the pot. I can't recommend this one enough.

The dessert was similarly easy and had an equal payoff. Again, just a few ingredients and not a lot of fuss in putting them together. I hope you try and enjoy them. As a side note, the cookbooks these recipes came from (Cook with Jamie and Gordon Ramsay's Fast Food) are two of the best cookbooks I own in terms of having recipes that are both simple and really delicious. They are worth a look.

Proper Blokes' Sausage Fusilli

2-½ teaspoon fennel seeds
2 red chili, dried, crushed
olive oil
600 g sausages, Italian and/or Cumberland (good-quality)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
200 milliliters white wine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
500 g fusilli pasta, dried
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
40 g butter, (a few knobs)
½ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
½ cup parsley, fresh, leaves only, chopped

Bash up the fennel seeds and chilies in a pestle and mortar (or spice grinder) until coarsely crushed, then put to one side. Heat a splash of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan. Squeeze the meat out of the sausage skins and put into the pan, really breaking it up using the back of the spoon. Fry for a few minutes until the meat starts to color and the fat has rendered slightly, then crush it once more so that it resembles coarse mince (ground meat). Add the bashed-up fennel seeds and cook on a medium heat for around 10 minutes until the meat becomes crisp, golden brown and slightly caramelized.

Stir in your oregano, then pour in the white wine and allow it to reduce by half. Add the lemon zest and juice. Turn the heat down to low while you cook your pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water. When the pasta has cooked to al dente, drain it in a colander, reserving some of the cooking water, and toss the pasta in with your sausage mixture. Coat the pasta in all the lovely flavors then add the butter, Parmesan and chopped parsley, and a few spoonfuls of the reserved pasta cooking water. This will give you a lovely loose, shiny sauce. Taste and check for seasoning, then serve immediately with a little extra grated Parmesan over the top. Serve with a Valpolicella Classico.

Banana Mousse with Butterscotch Ripple

100 g light brown sugar
40 g butter
550 milliliters whipping cream
4 bananas, chilled in freezer for 1-2 hours
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon dark chocolate, grated

Put the sugar, butter and 150ml of the cream in a saucepan over medium heat and stir continuously until the sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted. Let bubble for a minute or two, stirring frequently, then remove from the heat and leave the sauce to cool completely.

Pour the remaining cream into a blender. Peel and chop the bananas and add to the blender along with a squeeze of lemon juice. Whiz until smooth, thick and creamy.

Spoon a little sauce around the sides of four glasses, smudging some of it for an attractive effect. Divide the banana mousse among the glasses and top with more butterscotch. Use a small teaspoon the ripple the butterscotch through the mousse. Grate over a little dark chocolate and chill until ready to serve.

Burger Time!

Look, it's usually pretty cold around here. I get antsy for nicer weather, and lately, it has been less gloomy than usual. And when the "good" weather hits, I crave food that reminds me of the good 'ol days of living in south Texas, where you could pretty much bank on some nice weather for most of the year.

I am pretty proud of these. The turkey burger gets a little lift from the corn and the spices in the patty (and it's healthy). The sauce is one I have been making or awhile and I whip up a batch everytime BBQ-type food gets made. I am reluctant to let the recipe go here, as it is somehwat of a "secret recipe" of mine, but what the heck.

The onion rings were the star of this meal amongst a very strong field. A smallish commerical grade fryer is best for this (and any other deep-frying applications) is its heating coil maintains even heat so much better. Trust me, pick one up and it'll pay for itself after making these onion rings. Super crispy and light. Enjoy.

Smoky Paprika Turkey Burgers
1 cup bread crumbs, from 2 thick slices of bread
½ cup corn , thawed, if frozen
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon paprika, smoked, if available
½ cup red onion, from 1/2 onion, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
2 tablespoons parsley, fresh, finely chopped
500 g turkey, ground mince
4 buns
½ cup arugula, (rocket), rinsed and shaken dry

Combine the bread crumbs, corn, salt, pepper, paprika, red onion, Worcestershire sauce, egg and parsley in a large bowl. Mix through thoroughly until all of the ingredients are moistened by the egg. Now add the turkey mince and knead thoroughly with slightly wet hands. Make sure everything is mixed evenly. It helps of the turkey and the egg is somewhat cold, as they tend to be harder to work with once they become warmed up.

Separate the mixture into four parts. Pack each part into a ball, compressing it a bit. Flatten the ball out into a well-rounded patty, about 1/2" or so thick. You don't want these too thick, otherwise they will not cook through (which is bad for turkey) by the time the outsides are done.

Finish all of the patties and wrap them in foil and put them in the fridge for at least an hour to set the shape and make them easier to handle when the time comes to cook them.

When ready to cook, preheat a non-stick grill pan to medium-high. Pull the patties out and when the pan is hot, cook the burgers for 6-8 minutes on each side. Ensure the meat is done and remove from the pan. Place on toasted buns and top with some arugula (rocket) and some smoky barbeque sauce. Serve hot.

Spicy Barbeque Sauce
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon molasses, or treacle
⅛ teaspoon paprika, smoked, if available
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
¾ teaspoon garlic, finely minced
½ teaspoon cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Check seasoning. You should be getting some tang and acidity from the cider vinegar and ketchup. You should be getting some spice from the garlic, chili flakes and paprika. The sweetness comes from the molasses (treacle). Taste for these elements and adjust as necessary.

NOTE: Smoked paprika makes this sauce SO much better; it's worth investing in some. If you have liquid smoke, that can be used as well, though the paprika adds smoke as well as the hint of paprika spice.

Leffe Beer-Battered Onion Rings
1-⅓ cup flour, self-raising
1-¾ cup beer, preferably Leffe (or a good Belgian wheat beer, if you can get your hands on it)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon paprika, smoked
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, cut into somewhat thick rings

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. The consistency should be that of a thick custard, almost a pudding. Adjust either liquid (beer) or flour levels to achieve this. Chill in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

Preheat fryer to 375F/190C. Dip the rings in the batter and fry (in batches) until golden brown, about 30-45 seconds, moving them around so they don't stick together. Drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle with salt. Serve hot.

Skate with Tomato, Saffron, Garlic and Sultanas

This one came out of the Rick Stein "Mediterranean Escapes" cookbook, which has produced some winners in the past. A few cool things about this one: it cost £3 for two pieces of skate to serve two people. I had everything else on hand. It tasted GREAT. The interesting thing about it (to me) was the use of sultanas (or raisins) in the tomato sauce. It really worked nicely; they were a little hit of sweetness as you ate it, and were a nice contrast against the spice of the sauce and the saltiness of the capers. Also, it was EASY. Gotta love the easy things to make that yield a huge payoff... this is one of them!


450 g skate, 2 skinned and trimmed wings
100 milliliters olive oil
6 garlic, finely chopped
400 g chopped tomatoes, canned
30 g raisins, or sultanas
¼ teaspoon saffron, a pinch
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, a pinch
2 bay leaf
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon capers, rinsed and drained

For the sauce, put the olive oil and the garlic in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the garlic starts to sizzle, add the tomatoes, raisins, saffron, chili flakes, sultanas (or raisins), sugar, bay leaves and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer and leave to cook for 30 minutes, stirring every now and then, and breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Remove the bay leaves, season to taste with salt and pepper and keep warm.

Bring 1.5L (6 cups) of water to the boil in a large, shallow pan. Add one tablespoon of salt and the skate wings and leave them to simmer gently for 10 minutes until cooked.

Lift the skate wings out of the water onto a board and cut each on into 2 or 3 pieces. Spoon slightly more than half the tomato sauce onto the base of a warmed oval serving dish and place the skate pieces on top. Spoon the rest of the sauce down the center of the skate, scatter with capers and serve.

Poached Salmon with a Graprefruit, Avocado and Mint Salsa

Vanessa told me the other day that she had read something about grapefruit and avocado together in a salsa. I got to thinking about it and this is what I came up with. It is really a springtime dish; full of fruity acidity with the rich oiliness of the salmon, the coolness of the mint and the peppery-ness of the rocket (arugula to my American friends and family). It is well-balanced and yummy. Serve it with a flinty, dry and fruity Chablis. This is one of my originals and I hope you try it and like it.

½ cup white wine
8 cups water
10 black peppercorns
2 bay leaf
3 parsley, whole sprigs
½ lemon , in slices
½ tsp. lemon zest, zest of half a lemon
350 g salmon, fillets, skin off
3 tablespoons grapefruit juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ cup mint leaves, fresh, chopped
1 teaspoon grapefruit zest
¼ cup chopped grapefruit, with no pith
½ cup avocado, diced
30 g arugula ( a few small handfuls)
1 tablespoon olive oil

First make the poaching liquid by combining the wine, water, peppercorns, bay leaves, parsley sprigs, lemon zest and lemon slices in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium, heat, then as it starts to bubble, reduce the heat to low.

As you are waiting for the poaching liquid to get hot, make the salsa. Combine the grapefruit juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, grapefruit zest and mint in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Add the grapefruit chunks and avocado and mix through gently. Now taste and season as necessary. You want to taste the acidity of the grapefruit, the coolness of the mint and the earthiness of the avocado. Proper seasoning will make all of those flavors stand out. Add some more grapefruit material (juice or zest) if you're not getting enough fruity acidity. Mint if you don't taste enough mint and so on. You're looking for harmony. Set aside.

Rinse and spin (or pat) the arugula (rocket) leaves dry. Dress with the olive oil and some of the salsa. Mix around gently with your hands. Put a small pile of dressed leaves in the middle of a plate.

When the poaching liquid is ready, carefully put the salmon in, ensuring it is fully submerged. Poach for 3-5 minutes. Carefully remove, as it will want to flake apart. Place the salmon fillet on top of the dressed leaves. Top with reserved salsa. Serve immediately.

Visitors and a Little Food

We are back now after a short hiatus as Vanessa's mom and sister came out to visit. We went to Paris for a few days and hung out in London for a bit before laying low back here in P-town. We made some pretty good food while they were here, but I didn't have time to write a lot of it down. I'll follow with one recipe after a few travel pics here...




The Food


The cool thing about this was the springy-ness of the flavors... good acidity from the fruit and coolness from the mint with the oiliness of the swordfish really balanced each other out. Great for springtime with fresh, clean flavors.

Grilled Swordfish with Salsa di Giovanna

Juice of one lemon
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
3 garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
4 mint leaves, roughly chopped
5 oregano leaves, roughly chopped
600 g swordfish, 4 fillets

Squeeze the lemon juice into a bowl and add 3 times the amount of olive oil. Season with SOME of the salt and pepper and stir in the garlic, oregano and mint. Set aside.

Heat a griddle or frying pan until very hot and season the swordfish on both sides with some more salt and pepper. Place the fillets in the pan and cook for about 1 minute on each side, until golden. This will leave the fish slightly pink in the middle (which is good). You can cook it more if you want to. Divide the fish between the plates and spoon the sauce over the top.

Asparagus with Citrus, Parsley and Garlic

675 g asparagus
2 tablespoons lemon zest
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 garlic, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, fresh, finely chopped
2 tablespoons mint leaves, chiffonade
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon salt, preferably sea salt

Snap off the fibrous bottom part of each stalk of asparagus (it will break off naturally where it becomes very tough, provided that you grasp the very bottom of the stalk with your fingertips).

Bring 4 quarts (4 liters) of water to the boil in a large pot, and add 3 tablespoons of salt. Set up an ice bath next to the stovetop. Drop the asparagus in the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about 1 1/2 minutes. Remove and immediately submerge in the ice bath to cool for five minutes, moving the stalks frequently to make sure no hot spots remain. Add more ice if it all melts.

Remove the asparagus and drain on paper towels, then transfer to a large bowl. Add the zests, lemon juice, mint, parsley and olive oil and toss gently to mix well. Arrange the spears in a platter and pour the mixture remaining in the bowl over them. Sprinkle with the sea salt and serve.

Roasted Aubergine Curry with Cauliflower

This was a quick vegetarian dish from Waitrose. They publish these recipes every month which usually coincide with the use of some seasonal vegetable. English aubergine and cauliflower are at their peak now, so we gave this a go. I was pretty good, but it needed some 'love' in the spice department. I added some garam masala in with the curry powder and it did take a good bit of salt and pepper to taste right. In the end, it turned into a nice (healthy!) vegetarian curry.

1 eggplant, (aubergine) medium-sized
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, medium, chopped finely
2 garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons ginger, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons cumin seed
½ cauliflower, cut into large florets
150 g red lentils, washed and drained
100 g yogurt, natural
20 g cilantro, (coriander), finely chopped
150 g pomegranate seeds

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Place the whole aubergine on the rack and roast for 15 minutes. This helps it to cook more quickly, giving a more concentrated flavor. Remove and allow to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium saucepan and saute the onion over medium heat for 3-4 minutes until starting to soften. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a further minute without coloring Sprinkle in the curry powder and cumin seeds, and cook for 1-2 minutes over a gentle heat, stirring continuously.

Add the cauliflower, red lentils and 900ml of water and some salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then stir, reduce the heat to low and cover. Leave to simmer for about 20 minutes, until the curry has thickened and is a smooth consistency.

Peel the aubergine and remove the stalk. Roughly dice the flesh and tip into the curry. Simmer for another 15 minutes, until all the ingredients are tender.

Stir in the yogurt and half the coriander, and warm through. Divide between four bowls and top with the pomegranate seeds and the remaining coriander. Serve with extra yogurt for spooning over, plus rice or a selection of indian breads or chutneys (if desired).

Scallop Pizza with Leeks and Fennel Seed

I tried to take a photo of this, but for some reason it didn't save on my phone. No matter. This was one of the best pizzas I have tasted in terms of there being a variety of complex flavors at work which work so well together. Remember the pizza dough we made a few days ago? Well, we popped one of the frozen ones in the fridge to thaw last night and it was ready to go by tonight.

This was really, really good and tasted great with the wine we had leftover from the cooking. We went with a light Chardonnay. I sincerely hope you try this, as it represents a real departure from ideas you may have about what makes a good pizza in your mind.

1 cup whipping cream
¼ cup white wine
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 leek , sliced, white part only
¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
¼ teaspoon mustard, whole-grain
3 scallion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
5 scallops, sliced in half to make 10
1 pizza dough
½ cup arugula, washed
½ teaspoon sherry vinegar

In a heavy saucepan, bring the cream and wine to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the cream has reduced by one-third and is thick. Season the cream with salt and pepper and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a saute pan over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and saute the leeks and fennel seed until the leeks and fennel seed until the leeks are tender and soft, about 8 minutes. Be careful not to brown the leeks or they will become bitter. Season the leeks with salt and pepper.

Stir the leek mixture into the cream mixture and add the mustard, scallions and garlic. Turn the scallop on its side and split it down the middle so that you have 2 thin discs. Repeat with the remaining scallops so you have 10 pieces.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F (or preheat the grill to high heat with a pizza stone in the oven). Roll the pizza dough out as thin as possible, dusting with flour as you go. Make sure the dough is room temperature.

Place the dough on the pizza stone or heavy baking sheet. Spoon the leek mixture onto the pizza crust, and spread as evenly as possible. It should be very thin (as it is very rich) like butter.

Arrange the scallop slices on each crust and then season them with salt and pepper.

Place the pizzas in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the edges are crisp and browned and the top and bubbly.

Slice and serve hot with plenty of rocket (arugula) lightly dressed with sherry vinegar and olive oil.

Mongolian Hot Pot

We dug this up in a magazine called Cooking Light, which is sold in the States; we used to have a subscription. The recipes are supposed to be better for you. I mean, it can't all be cream and butter all of the time. So we whipped this up, and it makes 6 servings. It was pretty good, though I found myself adding a little more soy, hoisin and crushed red pepper flakes at the end to bring the spice and saltiness level to my taste.

2-½ tablespoon ginger, grated, fresh
2 tablespoons soy sauce
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
225 g flank steak, or skirt steak, thinly sliced and cut into 1 1/2" lengths
2 garlic, large cloves, minced
450 g bok choy, thinly sliced
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 cup carrots, cut into julienne
½ cup scallion, thinly sliced
2 cups hot water
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
28 ounces beef broth
110 g soba noodles, uncooked, buckwheat (or substitute egg noodles)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1-½ teaspoon sesame oil, divided use
soy sauce, to taste

Combine the first five ingredients in a large zip-top bag and seal. Marinate in the refrigerator for 2 1/2 hours, turning occasionally.

Heat a small dutch oven over high heat. Coat the pan with cooking spray. Add the beef mixture to the pan; stir-fry one minute or until browned. Remove the beef mixture and set aside.

Add bok choy, mushrooms, carrot and scallions to pan, stir-fry for two minutes or until bok choy begins to wilt. Add water, hoisin and broth; bring to a boil. Stir in noodles. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes or until noodles are done. Stir in beef mixture and vinegar. Ladle 1-1/2 cup of soup into each of 6 bowls. Drizzle each serving with 1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil. Serve.

Seared Salmon with Egyptian Garlic and Coriander Sauce

I have this cookbook which focuses on the flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean, or more specifically, the spices of Turkish food. The author of the book is also a chef in Boston (Ana Sortun) who won a big-deal chef award for her restaurant in Boston a few years ago. Our friends have been to the restaurant and suggested (strongly!) getting this book. We have not yet been disappointed.

She cooks fish differently than I do in that I like to leave it a bit rare in the middle. Salmon is great for this because you can watch the fish cook and see the color of the fish change along the side as it goes. I generally cook fish on medium-high heat and watch for the color change until it reaches about 2/3 of the way to the top. Then I flip and let it go for another 30 seconds to a minute. This usually gets me where I want to go with fish. I may try this method one day. In any case, the salmon was a success with the peanut and toasted coriander seed providing an interesting contrast. If I had some chard, I probably would have given it a quick saute and served it underneath the fish. Anyhow, hope you like it. Here is the recipe as written in the book:


1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
2 cups tomatoes, peeled, seeded, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons coriander, seeds freshly ground, lightly toasted
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
800 g salmon, fillets, 4 x 200g
2 tablespoons peanuts, lighty toasted, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, (or coriander) roughly chopped

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with one tablespoon of the olive oil until the butter starts to turn brown. Stir in the garlic and cook, stirring constantly until the garlic toasts and turns golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. The garlic will start to release its sugar and stick to the spoon just before it browns.

Immediately stir in the tomatoes and coriander. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the tomatoes for 20 minutes, until they are soft and make a sauce. The consistency of the sauce may vary depending on how juicy the tomatoes are. If it seems too dry, add a teaspoon or more of olive oil and a teaspoon of water.

Season the sauce with salt and pepper and set aside. Season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper on both sides.

In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When the pan is hot, place each salmon fillet on it's skinned side (the oily side, which browns the best) in the pan and cook for 6 to 7 minutes until a nice golden brown crust begins to form. Lower the heat to low and cover the pan with a lid or heavy foil. Continue cooking the salmon on this saide for another 6 minutes, until it's almost completely cooked except for a little rare spot in the thickest middle part of the fillet. Turn off the heat and flip each fillet over to cook the rare spot, letting the fillets sit for about 3 minutes.

Remove the fillets and place each on a dinner plate, crispy side up. Top each fillet with 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce and sprinkle them with the peanuts and parsley. Serve immediately.

Pizza Night

We have the Jamie's Italy cookbook and in it is arguably the best pizza dough recipe I've had the pleasure of trying. Usually, I make a big batch of it which yields 4 pizza dough balls. (Below, the dough is the first six ingredients - you would have to quadruple those six amounts. I highly recommend this, as the dough would make a few extra, freezes well and it's great to just whip up a pizza sometimes). Anyhow, we've made loads of variations, and it's really up to you. I recommend keeping the toppings relatively light, as the crust gets nice and crispy outside and soft in the middle, too much crap on it may turn it soggy.

Caramelized Shallot, Marsala Mushroom and Bacon Pizza with Gruyere Cheese and Thyme

100 g strong white bread flour
25 g semolina flour
⅛ tablespoon fine sea salt
2 g yeast, instant packet
⅛ tablespoon sugar
81 ml water, lukewarm
2 tablespoons butter, divided use
3 shallots, finely sliced
1 teaspoon thyme, fresh
100 g mushrooms, sliced
½ cup marsala
4 strips bacon
1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil, truffle infused, if available
Thyme leaves, to sprinkle on at the end

Prepare the pizza dough. Add the yeast and sugar to the water and stir through with a fork and leave for a few minutes. Meanwhile, sift the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the flour and mix on low for 10 minutes or so, until the dough is smooth, springy and soft.

Flour the top of the dough and cover with plastic wrap and let rest for at least 15 minutes. The dough is easier to roll thin at room temperature. Divide the dough into as many balls as you want. Alternatively you can wrap some up now and freeze them until you need them, pulling them out the night to thaw in the fridge - just remember to bring to room temperature (an hour or two should do it) before rolling out.

Timing-wise, it's nice to roll the pizza out 15-30 minutes before you want to cook them. Preheat the oven to 500F/250C. A pizza stone REALLY helps here (or a piece of granite) - if you have one put it in the oven to get it nice and hot, if not, it does help to heat up whatever you are baking it on.

Meanwhile get the toppings prepped. Get three saute pans hot over medium-high heat, two with a tablespoon of butter. When hot, place the shallots in one buttered pan and stir through, adding some salt and pepper. In the second buttered pan, add the thyme and for 30 seconds, let it infuse the butter. Next drop the mushrooms in with some salt and pepper. In the third (dry) pan, add the bacon strips and cook until browned on both sides, about 10 minutes, draining on paper towels when done. Cook the shallots, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown well, about 10 minutes, and remove from the heat and put into a small bowl. In the mushroom pan, keep cooking them until soft (about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally), then put the marsala in, cooking until fully absorbed by the mushrooms. Remove from the heat and put in a small bowl. Grate the cheese and set aside. Tear the bacon into little pieces. Your toppings are now prepped.

When the stone (or baking sheet) is nice and hot and the dough has been rolled out and is ready, remove the stone from the oven and place on the stove top. Sprinkle some cornmeal over the top of the stone so the pizza doesn't stick. Put the pizza dough on the stone and it will immediately start cooking the bottom. Drizzle the olive oil on it and spread it around lightly with your fingers. Top with the mushrooms, shallots and bacon and season with salt and pepper. Return the pizza to the oven and cook for another 5-8 minutes, or until hot and the cheese is starting to go brown.

Carefully remove the pizza and slide it off of the stone and onto a cutting board so you can slice it. Slice and serve.

Viva la Mexico, La Parte Dos

Well, Dave and Karena wrapped up their European adventure here and, as is the custom, we had to do a Mexican dinner. We have historically done this whenever we get together, and this time was to be no exception. This time, though, we decided to wing it and make up our own stuff. Everything turned out wonderfully and maybe even that little bit better since we came up with the ideas ourselves.

I know it'll sound like tooting our own horns here, but I have to say that this was among the better dinners we've had in a while. The flavors were rich and distinct.

Starter: Tequila-Lime Shrimp with Chili and Cilantro
400 g tiger prawns, raw, peeled, deveined
4 garlic, finely chopped
2 red chilies, finely sliced
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ cup tequila
¼ cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, diced
¼ cup cilantro
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons tequila

Marinate the prawns in a bag with the garlic, lime juice, lime zest, chilies, tequila, cilantro, salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least an hour. After an hour, strain the marinade out, leaving just the prawns and whatever marinade ingredients are sticking to the prawns.

Heat a pan to medium-high heat with a touch of oil. When very hot, add the prawns and saute quickly, about 2 minutes. When the prawns have just gone pink and are curling up, add the rest of the tequila and light on fire, sauteing for a further 30 seconds or so, adding the red pepper flakes.

Dump the mixture into a bowl and add the avocado and cilantro. Check the seasoning and serve.

Main: Chicken Enchiladas with and Roasted Chili and Tomatillo Sauce and Goat Cheese
3 green chilies
3 green pepper, cored, seeded, stemmed
12 tomatillos
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 garlic, finely sliced
1 red onion, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
8 corn tortilla
2 chicken breasts
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon coriander
⅛ teaspoon chili powder
225 g goat cheese

Preheat the broiler. Prepare the roasted ingredients by taking the chilies, green pepper pieces and tomatillos and placing them on a baking sheet lined with foil and drizzled with oil. Drizzle a little more oil over the top and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Place 4 inches or so under the broiler and cook until the skin is charred, turning the chilies over halfway through, about 10-15 minutes altogether. Remove from the oven and set the tomatillos aside in a bowl. Take the skin off of the green peppers and chop roughly. Next, roughly chop the chilies. Put this all in the bowl with the tomatillos and set aside. Change the oven temperature to 350F.

Get a large saute pan hot over medium heat with the oil. When hot, add the garlic and onions and saute, stirring occasionally for 8-10 minutes, or until the onions are well softened and starting to go brown in spots. Add the tomatillos, peppers and chilies and cook until it starts bubbling some, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, until most of the liquid rendered out by the tomatillos has evaporated and the mixture is somewhat thicker. Take off the heat and set aside.

Heat some canola oil (at a depth of about 1/8") in a small saute pan (just big enough to fit a tortilla) over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, fry the tortillas, one at a time, for just 5-10 seconds per side in the hot oil. Pat dry between some layers of paper towels and set aside.

Heat a bit of oil a medium sized fry pan or skillet over medium-hig heat. Rinse and pat the chicken breasts dry. Season with cumin, coriander and chili powder to taste. When the pan is hot, fry the chicken quickly, browning on each side, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from the heat and put the chicken on a cutting board. When just cool enough to handle, slice the chicken into chunks. The chicken will not be cooked through yet, and that's OK. Crumble the goat's cheese and reserve a 1/4 cup of it. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray and assemble the enchiladas by laying some chicken and goats cheese along the middle of a tortilla, rolling it up carefully, and laying them side by side in the baking dish. (NOTE: I recommend doing the actual assembly inside the baking dish). Pour sauce over the top of the enchiladas and top with the remaining goat's cheese. Place in the oven for 12 minutes or so, until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese toasty and melty, and the sauce is bubbly. Serve hot over Mexican rice.

Mexican Rice with Smoked Paprika and Bacon
6 slices bacon, diced
1 onion, small, finely chopped
1 cup rice
2 garlic, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, small, diced
1 teaspoon paprika, smoked and hot
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1-¾ cup chicken stock

Heat a saute pan over medium heat. Fry off the bacon until browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon.

Add the onion to the same pan and fry until translucent, about five minutes. Add the rice and stir thoroughly to coat in the oil, cook for an additional two minutes. Add the garlic, paprika and tomatoes, and cook 1 more minute.

Add the stock and bring to a boil. When it starts to boil, reduce the heat and cover, simmering until the liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Check the seasoning, fluff with a fork and serve hot.

Dessert: Sopapillas
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
½ tablespoon canola oil
5 tablespoons milk
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons honey

Sift dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, sugar) together in a bowl and add milk and oil. Mix well until it comes together in a ball of dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour. Combine the remaining sugar and cinnamon and mix through. Set aside.

Roll dough out to 1/4" thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut into squares or circles.

Heat 1" of oil in a pan over high heat. Fry the dough in oil until golden brown, turning once. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Put on plates and drizzle with sugar. Serve immediately.

Meal fit for a Chairman

Our honeymooning friends Dave and Karena are back with us before going back to the States and we decided to have an authentic Chinese food throwdown before they left. Any of these ingredients can be found at a reputable Asian food market, and once you have bought a few key pantry items, you can make a wide range of stuff. All of these recipes appear in cookbooks written by a British woman named Fuchsia Dunlop, who is the first Western woman to ever be allowed to study (and graduate) from the Chinese Culinary Academy in Sichuan Province. She has written two cookbooks, "Sichuan Cookery" and "The Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook", the latter dealing specifically with Hunan food.

The Dishes:
-Beef with Cumin
-Chairman Mao's Red-Braised Pork
-Fragrant and Hot Prawns
-Steamed Aubergines with Chili Sauce
-General Tso's Chicken (Taiwan Version)

A few observations:
1) We had six people over and made five dishes, plus some rice and it turned out to be just the right amount of food, with everybody being able to sample some of everything and not get too full.

2) The dipping sauce which accompanies the steamed eggplant (aubergine) is good enough to put on anything you want to eat which needs a spicy Asian kick.

3) Any of these dishes can be made on their own, put with some rice, and would comfortably serve two.

4) All of these dishes destroyed anything you could ever get in a mall food court or even most Chinese takeaways. That, and they were super easy to make. No reason to buy Chinese take-out again, in my book.

After this we watched The Big Lebowski, drank white russians and then played competitive sports on the Nintendo Wii until late. A good evening was had by all. Hope you like this food.

Beef with Cumin (Hunan)
340 g sirloin, trimmed of fat
2 teaspoons ginger, finely chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
2 red chilies, deseeded, finely chopped
3 teaspoons red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons cumin
½ teaspoon salt
2 spring onion, green parts only, finely sliced
1 teaspoon sesame oil
400 ml groundnut (peanut) oil , for frying
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon corn flour
1 tablespoon water

Cut the beef across the grain into thin slices. Add the marinade ingredients (Shaoxing wine through the 1 tablespoon of water) and mix well.

Heat the peanut oil to about 140C/275F. Add the beef and stir gently. As soon as the piece have separated, remove them from the oil and drain well; set aside.

Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the oil. Over a high flame, add the ginger, garlic, fresh chilies, chili flakes and cumin, and stir-fry briefly until fragrant. Return the beef to the wok and stir well, seasoning with salt to taste.

When all ingredients are sizzlingly fragrant and delicious, add the spring onions and toss briefly. Remove from the heat, stir in the sesame oil and serve.

Chairman Mao's Red-Braised Pork (Hunan)
500 g pork belly, skin removed
2 tsp. peanut oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
20 g ginger, skin left on and sliced
1 star anise
2 dried red chilies
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt
1 spring onion, finely sliced on the diagonal

Plunge the belly pork into a pan of boiling water and simmer for 3-4 minutes until partially cooked. Remove, and when cool enough to handle, cut into bite-sized chunks.

Heat the oil and sugar in a wok over a gentle flame until the sugar melts, then raise the heat until the sugar turns a rich caramel brown. Add the pork and splash in the Shaoxing wine.

Add enough water to just cover the pork, along with the ginger, star anise, chillies and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 40-50 minutes.

Towards the end of the cooking time, turn the heat up to reduce the sauce and season with soy sauce, salt and a little sugar to taste. Add the spring onion just before serving.

Fragrant and Hot Prawns (Hunan)
500 g tiger prawns, thawed
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
1 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon chili bean paste
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons water
¼ teaspoon soy sauce
2 spring onion, finely sliced
1 tablespoon red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sesame oil
peanut oil, for frying

Twist the heads off of the prawns and get rid of the legs. Remove the veins. Rinse the prawns, then mix with the salt and Shaoxing wine and set aside.

Heat the groundnut oil (about 300 ml) in a wok over a high flame until it reaches 180C/350F. Shake the prawns dry. Tip them into the wok and deep-fry for less than 30 seconds, until they have turned pink and are partially cooked. Remove from the wok with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the oil, and return the wok to the hob over a medium flame. Add the ginger, garlic, chili bean paste and pepper flakes and stir-fry until the oil is fragrant and is stained red by the chili bean paste. Add the water and soy sauce and bring to the boil.

Add the prawns and then cook over a high flame to reduce the sauce, stirring constantly. When the water in the sauce has evaporated, add the spring onions and red pepper to give them a lick of heat. You should smell the fragrance of the onions after a few seconds, at which point remove the wok from the heat, stir in the sesame oil and serve.

Steamed Aubergines with Chili Sauce (Sichaun)
2 eggplant, large
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt
1-½ teaspoon Chinese vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons chili oil, with chili flake sediment
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Cut the large aubergines (eggplant) in half and sprinkle the cut sides lightly with salt. leave for at least a half hour to draw out the bitter juices. Oriental aubergines (the smaller ones) do not need this treatment and can be left whole.

Steam the aubergines over a high flame for 5-10 minutes, until tender. Leave to cool then cut into chunks.

Combine the soy sauce, vinegar and sugar in a small bowl, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the oils.

Serve the aubergines and the sauce as a dip.

General Tso's Chicken (Taiwan Version)
340 g chicken thighs, boned, skin on
6 dried red chilies
2 teaspoons ginger, finely chopped
2 teaspoons garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons sesame oil
peanut oil, for deep frying
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
½ teaspoon soy sauce
1 egg yolks
2 tablespoons corn flour
2 teaspoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon tomato puree, mixed with 1 tablespoon water
½ teaspoon corn flour
½ teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
3 tablespoons water

Unfold the chicken thighs and lay them, skin side down, on a chopped board. Use a sharp knife to make a few shallow crosscuts into the meat (this will help the flavors to penetrate). The cut each thigh into bite-sized pieces. Place the chicken in a bowl.

To make the marinade, add the soy sauces and egg yolk to the chicken and mix well, then stir in the corn flour and lastly the peanut oil; set aside while you prepare other ingredients.

Combine the sauce ingredients (tomato puree through the 3 tablespoons of water) in a small bowl; set aside. Use scissors to snip the dried chilies into 3/4 inch pieces, discarding as many of the seeds as possible.

Heat enough oil for deep-frying to 180-200C/350-400F. Add the chicken and deep-fry until it is crisp and golden (fry in batches, if necessary, to not crowd the pan). Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and set aside. Pour the oil into a heatproof container, and clean the wok if necessary.

Return the wok to a high flame with 2-3 tablespoons of the oil. Add the dried chilies and stir-fry briefly until they are just changing color (do not burn them). Toss in the ginger and garlic and stir-fry for a few seconds longer, until fragrant. Then add the sauce and stir as it thickens. Return the chicken to the wok and stir vigorously to coat the pieces in sauce. Remove from the heat, stir in the sesame oil and then serve.

Cabbage Rolls alla Grandma

One thing I always remembered about going up to the grandparents when I was a kid, was that you could always count on a plate of cabbage rolls to work its way into your stomach at some point. I don't know the origins of the recipe, but I'll bet it was passed down through the generations. It is simple, honest food. I had been talking about trying to recreate this dish for awhile now, and it was only after I raided the freezer that I found the leftover sausage stuffing from 'Italian Night' (see that post for details). Anyhow, All I needed for a head of cabbage to make this one work and I have to say, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia when I bit into it. Lots of good childhood memories of Grandma. I hope you like it.


1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, medium, sliced thinly
1 fennel bulb, cored removed, sliced thinly, fronds reserved
2 lb. pork shoulder, ground
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
2 tablespoons rosemary, fresh, chopped
6 garlic, thinly sliced
1 cup bread crumbs, fresh
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 head savoy cabbage
3 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoon pancetta or bacon lardons

In a large saute pan, heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil over medium-high heat until smoking. Add the sliced onion and fennel and saute until softened and browning a little, about 10 minutes. Add the ground pork, fennel seeds, rosemary, garlic and 2 tablespoons of pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pork is no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a strainer to cool, allowing the fat to drip away.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Put the pork mixture (when cooled) into a bowl and add all but 1 tablespoon of the fennel fronds, the bread crumbs and eggs to the mixture and mix gently.

Put a few dabs of butter into a baking dish and spray it with cooking spray. Next, take the cabbage leaves off one by one. Put a little stuffing in each one and roll it up, turning the ends inward halfway through the roll to try to seal the ends up (admittedly, this didn't work very well for me but I tried). Repeat until you run out of either cabbage, stuffing, or room in the baking dish.

Once assembled, put some more butter dabs over the cabbage rolls and sprinkle the bacon (or lardons) pieces evenly over the top. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the cabbage has browned some and the butter is sizzling. Plate the cabbage rolls and drizzle with any buttery/bacony goodness left in the dish.

Clean Out the Cupboard!

I took an inventory today of everything we had on hand and got some ideas. I just needed to buy the fish from down the street and that was it. It's surprising what gifts a well-stocked pantry can offer. I get a good feeling out of just being able to 'throw something together' on what's laying around. I hope you like these.

Lunch: Grilled Halibut with Mash and Genovese Pesto. Yummy. I made the pesto in the traditional way. Now I can see why practically nobody (outside of Genoa) does it. Though the taste was superior to the food processor version.

Lunch Dessert: Chocolate Fondant with Framboise Whipped Cream. I adapted this out of Gordon Ramsay's 'Fast Food' cookbook, which is so useful. Everything in there can be thrown together in 30 minutes or less and it produces a great result. Nothing out of a can in there, just fresh ingredients. The inside was molten and gooey.

Dinner: Thai Green Curry with Chicken. OK. I cheated here. In the process of searching through the cupboard (and fridge) I saw that I had a perfectly legitimate jar of Thai Green Curry Paste. I normally like to make my own curry paste (and advocate it forcefully), but I do want to work my way through that jar eventually, so I used it. I bought it in an Asian food store and the words on the jar are in Thai - I can only assume it came from there.

Dessert: Lychee, Passion Fruit and Blood Orange Ice Cream. I had a blood orange and a can of lychees (in syrup) and some passion fruit and a bunch of eggs. I thought it would go nicely after the spiciness of the curry, and was in keeping with the whole Thai theme. This turned out pretty good.

Lunch: Grilled Halibut with Mash and Genovese Pesto


2 oz. basil, fresh, leaves only
1 tablespoon pine nuts
1 garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon pecorino cheese
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ cup olive oil, good quality
800 g halibut steaks
5 russet potatoes, large, skinned and cut into chunks
100 ml milk
50 g butter, cut into cubes, kept cold

Start the mash by putting the cut-up potato in a saucepan. Cover the potatoes with cold water. Place over medium-high heat until it starts to bubble, then reduce the heat to medium low and cover, simmering for 20-25 minutes or until they pierce easily with a knife. Meanwhile, pull the fish out to bring to room temperature. Drizzle both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, coating the sides with you fingers to ensure even oil distribution. Set aside.

Make the pesto. (The traditional Genovese way has you crushing everything by hand in a mortar and pestle, which DOES improve the quality of the pesto by drawing out more of the essences inside the basil) Combine the basil, pine nuts, garlic and a bit of salt in a mortar and pestle or small blender. Mix until combined into a rough paste. Now add the cheeses and salt and pepper and mix through thoroughly, slowly adding the oil in, stirring constantly. Check for taste and consistency and set aside. It should be a liquidy paste now with some texture to it.

Finish the mash. Heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, as you don't want to scald it. While that's heating, drain the potatoes and keep the saucepan you used handy. Take the potatoes and pass them through a ricer or a drum-sieve (if you have one), the idea being that you can eliminate virtually all of the lumps this way. If you lack this equipment (or have just completed this step) put the potatoes back into the saucepan you used to cook the potatoes. Put it back on the stove for a second and watch for steam to start coming out of the pan, as you are now getting rid of excess moisture left behind. After a bit of that, take it off of the heat and start adding the butter cubes, a few at a time.

Get your grill pan (or non-stick pan) for your fish going over medium-high heat while you finish the mash. Beat the potatoes and butter senseless with a wooden spoon at this point, to incorporate the butter. Once the butter is fully mixed in, add a few more butter cubes, and repeat, until all of the butter is mixed in. Add some salt and pepper here and add some of the hot milk and really give it a good bashing with the wooden spoon, stirring (and adding milk as necessary) to achieve a creamy, smooth mash consistency. Check the seasoning and adjust as necessary. Keep warm in a low oven while you do the fish.

If the grill pan is nice and hot now, go ahead and start the fish. Place the fish in the pan, and it should sizzle somewhat loudly. If not, it means the pan is not hot enough and you should pull the fish off and wait another minute or so. If it sizzles pleasingly, put all of the fish on there and cook for about 2 minutes, until you start to see some browning on the bottom. Flip the fish over in the same order as you put them in, and allow to cook for another 1 1/2 minutes. While this is cooking, plate the mash and the pesto. When the fish is cooked, pull out of the pan and arrange on the plate. Drizzle with good olive oil (lemon-infused, if you have it) and serve.

Lunch Dessert: Chocolate Fondant with Framboise Whipped Cream


50 g butter
2 tsp. cocoa powder
50 g chocolate, bittersweet, good quality
1 egg
1 egg yolks
60 g sugar
2 tablespoons irish cream, or suitable liqueur
50 g flour, sifted
100 ml whipping cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar, AKA icing sugar
1 tablespoon framboise, or any berry liqueur

Heat the oven to 160C (320F). Butter four ramekins and dust liberally with cocoa powder. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl set over a simmering saucepan of water, then take off the heat and stir until smooth.

Using an electric mixer, beat the whole egg, egg yolk and sugar together until pale and thick, then incorporate the chocolate mixture. Fold in the liqueur, followed by the flour.

Divide the mixture between the ramekins and bake for 12 minutes. While that is baking, beat the whipping cream, icing sugar and berry liqueur together until it holds together and has increased in size.

When the fondants are baked, turn them out onto plates and serve immediately with a dollop of the whipped cream.

Dinner: Thai Green Curry with Chicken


2 tablespoons peanut oil, or wok oil, if you can get it
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
2 thai chilies, sliced thinly
4 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
3 tablespoons thai green curry paste
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup light coconut milk
4 kaffir lime leaves, optional, but really tasty
12 leaves basil, fresh, torn
2 tablespoons peanuts, toasted and crushed
1-½ cup jasmine rice, cooked

Cook the rice in accordance with package directions. If you have a rice cooker, this makes things so much easier.

Meanwhile, make the rest of the dish. Get a large non-stick pan hot over medium-high heat. Combine the garlic, ginger and chilies in a small bowl to have close by. When the pan is hot, add a spoonful of this mixture to the hot oil. Almost, immediately add the chicken and saute around until they go light brown, and most of the pink is gone. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

Add the curry paste and another bit of the spice mixture. Give it a quick stir just to heat it through and then add the chicken stock, coconut milk and lime leaves. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and stir through. When the liquid starts to bubble, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, allowing the liquid to reduce some, about 10-15 minutes.

Add the chicken back to the pan and allow to heat through and cook the rest of the way, about another 3-5 minutes. Check the seasoning and adjust levels of garlic/ginger/chili, curry paste and/or salt and pepper. Add the basil in now, just stirring to combine.

Put rice in a bowl and ladle the curry over the top. Top with toasted peanuts and serve.

Dessert: Lychee, Passion Fruit and Blood Orange Ice Cream

1 can lychees, in syrup
3 passion fruit, insides scooped out
1 blood orange, zest and juice
6 egg yolks
¾ cup sugar, divided use
3 cups milk

Dump the lychees and syrup from the can into a saucepan. Add the scooped out insides of the passion fruits and the orange segments, orange zest and orange juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat the medium-low and simmer for about 20-30 minutes to get the lychees nice and soft.

With about 15 minutes to go on the fruits, get the milk and 1/2 cup of the sugar to a simmer in another saucepan. While that is coming to heat, whisk the egg yolks and remaining 1/4 cup of sugar vigorously, until it turns pale yellow.

Dump the fruit mixture into a blender and blend until liquidy. There will be passion fruit seeds left behind and that's OK. Strain the mixture through a sieve, discarding the solids. Set this aside.

Now that the milk is hot, take a few ladles of it and put gradually into the egg yolk mixture to temper it. Stir it around to incorporate and add it back to the saucepan with the rest of the milk. Add the fruit juice to the saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat for 5-8 minutes, stirring constantly. You DON'T want the milk to boil or it will all turn into a curdled mess. When the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove from the heat and cool rapidly in a bowl set inside a larger bowl of ice water, stirring to release the heat.

Move the cooled mixture into a container, and chill for 24 hours for the best consistency. If you can't wait, chuck it into your ice cream maker and get it started. If you don't have an ice cream maker, you can freeze the stuff as is, giving it a stir every hour or so until it reaches the consistency you want, though I cannot vouch for this method.

Sicilian-Style Fish Stew - Zuppa di Mare

Hey, what can I say? I got inspired by being in Sicily and decided to come up with somewhat of an homage to the food we had there. Vanessa has been sick the past few days and the weather here in the UK is (predictably!) crap. So a good spicy, hearty stew seemed the way to go. So here is my own version of a Sicilian-style seafood stew.

8 tomatoes, cut into quarters, seeds removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 raw jumbo shrimp, shells, tails and head reserved, deveined
1 tablespoon tomato puree
6 cups water
4 stalks parsley
10 peppercorns
2 bay leaf
½ teaspoon paprika
1 lemon , zest then slice lemon itself
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 red chili, sliced in half lengthwise, then sliced finely
1 potato , skinned, diced
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 cup vermouth
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 can chopped tomatoes
½ teaspoon paprika
300 g monkfish tail, sliced into bite-sized chunks
6 squid, small, cut into rings, tentacles reserved
¼ cup parsley, chopped

First, roast the tomatoes. Preheat the broiler on high. Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes into quarters and cut out the seedy middles. Lay them down on some foil on a baking sheet which has been drizzled with some olive oil. Drizzle some more oil over the top and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Put under the hot broiler for 10-15 minutes, or until you get a good degree of charring on the skins. Pull the sheet out of the oven and peel the skins off of the tomatoes when cool enough to do so. Discard the skins and set the tomatoes aside.

Now, make the shellfish stock. In a medium sized saucepan, drizzle the olive oil in there and get it hot under medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put the heads, tails and shells in the oil and keep stirring them around, watching as they go pink and smelling as they release their juices. After 5-8 minutes of this, add the tomato puree and stir through to combine thoroughly. Let the puree get dark and start to smell sweet, about a minute. Add the water, parsley, peppercorns, bay leaves, paprika, lemon zest, and lemon slices to the pot. Heat until it looks like it is ready to start boiling and drop the heat to low, simmering for 30 minutes, skimming any scum that rises to the surface. When it's done, strain through a sieve and set aside.

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat for a few minutes until it's hot. Add the onion, garlic and chilies together and saute until the onions soften, about 5 minutes. Add the potato and saute everything together for another minute, Add the tomato puree, stir to coat and allow it to sweeten and get dark (as you did with the stock). Add the vermouth (or dry white wine) and crank the heat up to medium-high. Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any bits up with a wooden spoon. Let the vermouth cook down until almost fully evaporated, and then add the roasted tomatoes and the canned tomatoes. Let this start to bubble, stirring through a few times along the way. Add the stock from earlier, some salt and pepper and the paprika. Bring to a boil, then drop the heat to low and simmer for awhile (an hour or more) to let the stew base thicken somewhat until it reaches your desired thickness.

Turn the heat up to medium and immediately add the monkfish and allow it to cook, about 3 minutes. Next add the squid parts and and shrimp and allow it to just cook through, about 2 minutes, or until the shrimp have curled up and gone pink. Lastly, add the parsley and stir through. Check the seasoning and give a taste to each of the seafood types to check for consistency and doneness. Ladle into soup bowls. Serve hot with crusty bread.

Sicily!

Well, it was only a matter of time before we took a trip to justify calling this a blog about food and travel. This time, we decided to take a trip to Palermo, Sicily. Overall, the trip was a success. The food was great, we stayed in a great B&B and the weather (at least during the days we were actually out and about) was quite warm compared to what we have been used to in the UK for the last SEVERAL months.



Day One: When we touched down in Palermo, the weather was extremely bad with very high winds and rain. So rainy, in fact, that older folks getting off of the plane were literally almost knocked over the handrail. I, myself, was jolted sideways by the wind as I got down off of the plane. We made it to the rental car place and got our car. To make a long story short, the GPS stuff on my phone wasn't working right and all we had to go on was a paper map. Mind you, it's in the evening now, in very crappy, dark and rainy weather trying to navigate our way through streets that were designed before the Norman conquest pre-1000AD. Couple that with a car that had a non-intutive method of putting the car in reverse, to the point that we didn't figure it out until the next day. Couple THAT with the fact that Palermo has some of the worst driving I have ever seen. You could say that we had some trouble finding the B&B, is what I am getting at. You could say that we were nervous wrecks by the time we got there. You could say I had to get out and push the car backwards in the rain and gale winds because of the reverse gear situation. You might say that I was ready to swear off driving forever. But, eventually we made it (as we always eventually do). Our host, Claudio, was sympathetic and met us out in the rain to navigate to the B&B through a dark and narrow alleyway. Fortunately, the Ristorante Santandrea was literally right around the corner from the B&B and was open and serving some pretty top-notch food. Vanessa went with a sort of seafood tartare some sort of fruit juice marinade and stuffed squid for a main course. I had lamb ravioli to start and rolled and stuffed swordfish for the main. All of this food was the sort of thing we had read about beforehand - Sicilians really like their seafood and spice.


Day Two: The next morning we ate breakfast as a group. There was a couple from Washington State who had just started to experience Europe. The was a solo American who seemed to be continuing a long and distinguished travel lifestyle. Lastly, there were two women from Portugal who were also big into food and wine. More about them later. After breakfast we went on a walking tour of Palermo. We happened to be staying in the historic eastern part of the city and making it around to all of the major monuments and such took up the whole morning. We ended up near this place called the Antica Focacceria San Francesco, which was mentioned in a book I'm reading about the history of Italian food and also mentioned in the 'Where to Eat' section of our travel guide. Essentially, it is a huge speciality in Palermo and this is the place that is famous for it. It is a sandwich made out of sliced veal spleen which has been cooked briefly in a savory broth and put on a bun with fresh ricotta and topped with grated mozzarella. Some of you may be thinking "Oh....spleen. Gross." Let me tell you something. This sandwich immediately, and in stunning fashion, rocketed straight into the top three sandwiches I have ever eaten. Also amazing was the price. Two euro. It's delicious street food at its best. So Vanessa and I had two sandwiches and a half-liter of Sicilian red wine for a grand total of eight euro. I would have paid twice that had I known how good it was going to be. So, the moral of the story is to not be down on eating guts until you give it a shot. The whole trip to Sicily was enhanced by one simple sandwich made of guts. Anyhow, we celebrated our good lunch fortune by taking a nap. Later, for dinner, we ate a place which can only be described as sort of a Mediterranean/Japanese fusion restaurant. I know this sounds weird, but it did work and we enjoyed it very much. Later that night, Claudio took everyone staying at the B&B for a tour of the city. Some parts were spooky in the dark (which was cool) and the place took on a completely different character. The group was befriended by two stray dogs that sort of turned into our guard dogs. One dog in particular was very protective of us whenever a car got too close to us and he took to barking at/chasing the car away. Also, both dogs seemed to have a distaste (as I do) for people who try to sell flowers to couples. They sort of attacked one of these vendors (on our behalf) and the vendor was yelling and screaming and brandishing his bouquet of flowers at the dogs to keep them away. The dogs did put on quite a show then, lots of snarling and wild dog noises. After that we hit a late night wine bar, had a drink and went home to sleep.


Day Three: After breakfast, the two women from Portugal and us took the train to Agrigento, on the south coast of Sicily. The train ride itself passed through some of the most beautiful country we've ever seen. After a few hours, we got off of the train in Agrigento and found a lunch spot which served great seafood and such. After that, we went on to the main attraction of the city, the Valley of the Temples. The weather was gorgeous and there were just a few light, fluffy clouds, with a temperature of around 70F. The temples themselves were spectacular, built by the Greeks around 500BC and extremely well preserved. We walked around there for awhile and took the train home. We were pretty wiped and Vanessa had started getting sick earlier in the day. We made a quick stop to the pharmacy for some cold/flu drugs and went on to dinner. The place was down the street from the B&B and didn't look like much but the food delivered hugely. Vanessa had bruschetta and grilled squid. I had a mussel soup and some of the spiciest pasta I have ever had. I have eaten a LOT of pasta in my day and I prefer it to be spicy. This was a whole new level of spice and I would put the effect somewhere near what it is like to eat a spicy curry, on par with a Madras or Vindaloo. I was sweating and crying, but that's what eating spicy food is about. After that, a chocolaty cannoli from down the street and off to sleep.

Day Four: The crappy weather came back but fortunately we were leaving in the morning anyway. We returned the car having only driven it once (from the airport to the B&B). The driving really was dangerous and I wouldn't recommend it. If you must, here are a few tips:

1) Don't make eye contact. If you do, you have just given your consent to be cut off or walked in front of.

2) Lane markings are merely guidelines to assist you. Use them. Or don't.

3) It is actually safer to drive fast than slow.

4) Your horn is an extension of your voice. Use it when you wish you could talk to someone in the car ahead of you.

5) Everything seems to just work out in the end, but it's not because of any outrageous concepts such as traffic laws or a desire for order.

Check out the rest of the photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kbruyette/sets

Lamb Baguette with Fresh Mint Sauce and Endive, Apple and Walnut Salad

Lamb and mint is one of my favorite combinations and one I hadn't really discovered before making it to the UK. You can buy mint sauce in a jar, but nothing really beats fresh mint. I put it with a little side salad. If you can find it, I highly recommend a lemon-infused olive oil for the vinaigrette. This sandwich is another one out of "One Perfect Ingredient".


400 g lamb neck fillet
1 tsp. vegetable oil
1 baguette, halved lengthwise
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
50 g sugar
50 ml white wine vinegar
1 cup mint leaves, fresh picked from one large bunch

First, make the mint sauce. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar in a small pan over a low heat, then bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. Leave to cool for 10 minutes. Add the mint leaves and blitz with a handblender until roughly chopped. Set aside.

Cut the lamb into 1cm thick slices on the diagonal. Season well. Heat some oil in a frying pan over medium to high heat and cook the lamb slices until well seared on both sides, about 5-8 minutes. (KEVIN'S NOTE: Alternatively, you could pan sear the whole neck fillet whole (instead of in slices) searing on each side until cooked to medium-rare. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting into slices)

Meanwhile, get the grill hot. Remove the lamb from the pan and let it rest in a warm place for 5 minutes or so while you toast the cut sides of the baguette under the grill.

Place the lamb slices over one half of the bread. Drizzle with the pan juices and mint sauce, then top with the other half of the bread. Cut into quarters and serve.

The Salad

2 endive, cure removed and leaves separated
2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon-infused
¾ tablespoon white wine vinegar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
1 apple, cut into several slices
¼ cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

Toast the walnuts in a hot pan until fragrant and starting to brown a bit. Remove from the heat, roughly chop, and set aside.

Make the dressing by combining the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and beating vigorously until it emulsifies. Set aside.

Sear the endive off in a hot, dry pan for 30-45 seconds until hot but not yet starting to wilt. Take off the heat and combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mixing by hand to dress. Serve.

Sole with Butter Bean and Chorizo Hotpot

I love the silky, buttery texture of these cooked beans and it wasn't until we got here that we really discovered them. Further, pairing them with Spanish-style chorizo is an AMAZING combination that we revisit frequently. The sole was a bit tricky to deal with in that the fillets are quite flat, and yield little actual meat after you skin it. This is a very delicate fish and skinning it can be tricky, in that it wants to fall apart. To be honest, you could probably get away with chunks of fish in the hotpot and it would taste just as well. This recipe appears in the cookbook 'One Perfect Ingredient' by Marcus Wareing, head chef of the two Michelin-starred Petrus in London.

400 g lemon sole, fillets, skinned, cut lengthwise in half
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely sliced
2 garlic, peeled and crushed
150 g chorizo picante, Spanish-style
1 tsp. paprika, smoked (or 'pimenton' if you can get)
500 ml chicken stock
1 can butter beans, drained and rinsed
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Roll up the sole fillets with the skin side facing in, and secure with a toothpick. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a flameproof casserole or deep saute pan and soften the onion and garlic over low to medium low heat. Meanwhile, remove the skin from the chorizo; thinly slice one-third of it and chop the rest. Set aside.

Sprinkle paprika and seasoning into the pan, then add the chopped chorizo, stirring for 5 minutes. (NOTE: Chorizo can be quite salty, so be careful about how much salt you're adding right now. See how the dish taste toward the end and determine how much you need to add to finish the dish) Pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low or low and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Stir in the butter beans. Place the sole rolls on top and spoon some hot stck over the top. Cover the pan tightly and simmer for 8-10 minutes to cook the fish. Meanwhile, pan-fry the reserved chorizo slices in a bit of oil until crisp, then drain on paper towels.

Lift out the sole and remove the cocktail sticks. Stir the broth and taste for seasoning. Serve the bean hotpot topped with the sole and garnished with the chorizo slices.

Turkish Delights!

We were pretty exhausted after our trip to Oxford, yet we had been talking about cracking into the cookbook Dave and Karena brought called "Spice", which explores some flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean. Anyhow, after 90 minutes, everything was prepped and ready to get cooked. I highly recommend this cookbook (Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean by Ana Sortun) to anyone who wants to learn more about these flavors. I will be purchasing the book based on the strength of this dinner.

Starter: Fried Haloumi Cheese with Pear and Spiced Dates


1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon coriander
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom, not the green pod
¼ teaspoon pepper
8 dates, cut in half, pits removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
¾ lb. haloumi cheese
1 pear, quartered, seeds removed, cut into 8 total slices
3 tablespoons ouzo, or grappa

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a small saute pan big enough to hold the dates, mix the lemon juice, lemon zest and brown sugar and heat over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar melts. Add the spices and dates and cook until the dates soften a little, about 5 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and set the mixture aside.

Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Arrange the cheese slices in the skillet, being careful not to overlap or crowd them. Brown the cheese, about 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown on each side. Transfer to a heavy gratin or baking dish, placing the haloumi side by side.

Using the same saute pan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium-high heat and then add the pears. Brown the pears for 4 to 5 minutes on one side. Remove the pears from the pan and add them to the baking pan with the cheese. Spoon a date onto each piece of haloumi and place the pan in the oven until it gets hot and the cheese gets a little softer, 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven, place it on the table, and without waiting, add the ouzo (or grappa) to the pan and carefully ignite it. Stand back when you do it as the flames can reach 5 inches. The fire will burn off the alcohol, and after about a minute, it will leave the sweet flavor of the ouzo.

Main: Ground Beef, Lamb and Pistachio Kebobs

½ lb. ground beef
½ lb. ground lamb
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon dried mint
1-½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon pepper
1 red bell pepper, roasted, skins removed, finely chopped
1 egg white
1 cup pistachios, out of the shell, toasted and coarsely ground
1 teaspoon salt
4 pita bread
1 cup red onion, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon sumac
1 cup greek yogurt
1 tablespoon dried mint
1 tomato , large, chopped

Prepare a charcoal, gas grill or stovetop grill pan. Mix the red onion and the sumac together in a bowl and set aside to pickle. Combine the yogurt and the mint in another bowl and set aside. Place the chopped tomatoes in a bowl and set aside.

Knead the ground meat with the cumin, oregano, dried mint, red pepper flakes and freshly ground black pepper in a standing mixer using a paddle attachment on medium speed for about 5 minutes, until the meat becomes creamy and a little sticky.

Add the egg white and pistachios and continue to knead the meat with the mixer until it comes together again and resembles a wet dough. You can pinch off some of the meat, cook it in a hot pan and taste it to check it for seasoning.

Shape the meat into eight 2-ounce patties or short sausage shapes. You can also press them around a metal skewer, which is preferred, shaping them into long thin meatballs.

Grill the kofte for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown and cooked through. Rest the meat on the pita bread. Assemble the kebobs with the garnishes and eat hot.

TO MAKE YOUR OWN PITA BREAD

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 sachet of instant yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 500F.

Combine the water, yeast and sugar together. Stir until the yeast dissolves and wait a few minutes until the yeast starts to bubble.

Combine all of the ingredients together in a stand mixing bowl, and knead on medium speed for 30 seconds, just until it comes together. Turn the dough out onto an oiled surfaace and knead for a few minutes until soft and elastic. Put in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap, allowing it to rise for 20 minutes, until doubled in size.

Punch the air out and turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Divide the dough into 12 pieces and roll each one out to about a 5mm thickness. Place on baking trays and brush with water. Let sit another 20 minutes.

Brush again with water (if they are dry) and place in the over for 4-5 minutes, until they puff up and start to go golden brown. Cool on racks and/or wrap them in foil until you are ready to use them.

Dessert: Kunefe with Champagne-Cardamom Syrup

½ lb. phyllo, dried and shredded
10 tablespoons butter, melted
½ lb. mozzarella, buffalo-style
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
½ cup whole green cardamom pods
1 bottle champagne
1 tablespoon lemon zest
¼ cup lemon juice
1-½ cup sugar
½ cup pistachios, coarsely ground
8 tablespoons mascarpone cheese

Preheat oven to 375F.

Place the phyllo in a food processor and chop finely into 1/4 inch shreds so that it looks like shredded wheat cereal. Place the shredded pastry into a medium mixing bowl and add the butter and milk, stirring to coat the phyllo. Line an 8-inch baking dish with half of the mixture.

Mix the mozzarella and nutmeg in a small mixing bowl. Spread this mixture onto the phyllo. Top with the remaining shredded mixture. Press the mixture with your hands, so that it becomes compressed or even packed down. Bake for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, crush the cardamom by placing the pods in a plastic bag and pounding them with a rolling pin until the pods open and you see the black, oily seeds.

Combine the crushed pods, wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar in a medium-large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer the mixture for about 40 minutes, until it is slightly thick and syrupy and is reduced by about a third (so that you have 2 cups left) strain through a fine sieve.

When the pastry comes out of the oven, ladle the syrup evenly into it, and give it a minute to soak into the phyllo.

Cut the kunefe into slices and serve it immediately while warm. Sprinkle each slice with pistachios and a dollop of mascarpone cheese.