Monday, March 16, 2009

Pineapple sage


I was wondering in class today when I came across a plant in the window its called Pineapple sage . It smelled so good.

Salvia elegans, commonly called Pineapple sage, is a perennial shrub native to oak and pine scrub forests at 6,000-9000 ft. in the highlands of Mexico and Guatemala.[1] It has tubular red flowers and an attractive scent to the leaves that is similar to pineapple. It produces numerous erect leafy stems and flowers in the late autumn. The red flowers are attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies. In a highland temperate forest in central Mexico, pineapple sage was found to be one of the three most-visited species by hummingbirds.[2]
From here

What could you cook with this? . I found these Ideas.
Walnut & pineapple sage paste
2 cups walnuts, 2 cups (packed) p. sage leaves, 3 cloves garlic, 1/3 to 1/2 cup walnut oil. It's wonderful on pork and chicken. I also sauteed some leeks in butter, added white wine and the walnut/p. sage paste and used it as a topping for grilled salmon: heavenly! From here

You can fry the leaves and serve as an appetizer: dip them in egg thinned with water and olive oil, dip in flour, fry quickly in oil, salt and pepper. from here


Here is lots of great Ideas http://www.nefffamilyfarm.com/PineappleSage.html

Pineapple Sage Salsa
2 cups fresh pineapple cut into 1/2" pieces
1/2 cup sweet red pepper
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon chipolte pepper, crushed (hot chili powder can be substituted)
1/4 cup pineapple sage flowers, coarsely chopped

Note: To get 1/4 cup of flowers, you'll need 20 or more flower stems of pineapple sage. It's a bit tedious, but you need to pluck the tiny, bright red flowers one-by-one. It's okay of you end up with a little bit of the sepals (the green stuff around the base of the flower.)

Combine all these ingredients in a nonmetallic bowl. Cover, then refrigerate for at least 12 hours before using. This allows plenty of time for the flavors to meld.

The salsa is also good as a dip with chips or served on seafood. And believe it or not, it tastes pretty good on ice cream, too! You might consider eliminating the onions, even though they're sweet.

Pineapple Sage Chicken

1/4 C Teriyaki or Tamari Or Soy sauce
1/4 C honey
1/2 C Olive Oil
2 TBS lemon Juice
2 TBS Apple juice
2 tsp ground ginger
Handful of Pineapple Sage leaves chopped
Boneless Chicken Breasts
Marinade chicken in above ingredients. Cook on grill
Serve with Pineapple kabobs

Pineapple sage is extensively used in Mexican traditional medicine, especially for the treatment of anxiety. Although scientific information about these medicinal properties is scarce, a preliminary study on mice found support for the plant potentially having antidepressant and anti-anxiety properties.
From here

I cant wait to try some of these.


maaakan sampai kenyang

hari nih. x buat pape sgt. maaakan je. bangun2. lmbt jgk. x mkn pape dr kul 12 mlm semlm sampai la 4 ptg td. dlm kul 3 camtuh... TTM dtg. and. da nak hujan kot~ oleh itu. sy mls nak drive. kadar rabun makin tnggi. ala. alasan. mmg malas nak drive. haha. bg kunci keta dkt die. die drive! hua...lepak~ terus g gombak. dua - dua da lapar. g mkn nasi ayam mancongkam. 1st time sy mkn. die janji lame da nak bwk. tp hari ni. baru tertunai. sampai2 n order, hujan. kami duduk d luar, d canopy. ingt x lebat la hujan. tp sy nmpk da kilat. sy ajak die pindah ke dlm. die tammo! then mknan sampai. baru bape suap. hujan turun dgn lebatnye. n mule2 sy bertahan lg. then last2...yerr. kami mkn dlm hujan. tempias yg amat since hujan tu ditiup angin yg kuat. sy rase dlm nasik n sup n air sy, da ade kandungan air hujan. tp kalo pindah ke dlm pon, akan basah jgk time proses perpindahan tuh. last2 sy bising2...

me ; tu lah! td suruh pindah tammo! huuu...mkn dlm hujan da.
TTM ; ok pe. romantic pe. [sambil tahan ketar]
me ; romantic lari dlm hujan! ni mkn kot. wawawa~~~

tempias nih bukan tempias biase ok. tempias yg amat. meja kami mmg fully basah. n kami sdiri pon dah sejuk. huhu. then abis mkn cpt2 nak blah. tp...kete dkt luar. hukkk. basah kuyup jgk la jwbnye. sy lari mcm ape. da la sy baru rasmikan flip flop yg BH kasi. waaaaaaaa~~~ then. gerak g JJ AU-setiawangsa. gi toilet dulu! kesejukan. hahahaha... sy kuar toilet. sy cari TTM sy nih. guess what die tgh buat ape? sedap duduk mkn ubi kayu panas2. huh. x leh blaaa. 1st time jgk sy mkn sweet potatoes itu. not bad. mcm yg kte slalu mkn d kampung jgk. kene plak panas2 tgh hujan...yummy~ after that. bantai big apple plak. berebut! sy nak sume chocs, die nak sume strawberry. then die suruh try yg die. sy baru bukak mulut, die tenyeh donut tu dkt mulut! huaaa... da bertmbh comot muke sy. sy pun ape lg. ambik donut sy n tonyoh la dkt mulot die jgk. x sempat nak snap pics. tgn berlengas. hahahaha... ape pon. hari nih not bad. perut kenyang gile~

esok. tataw lg buat ape or g mane. die nak bwk mkn tmpt mane tah lg. but tataw lg cmne. anyway. hurmmm. sy selalu terpk. hari2, sy nak pastikan sy cuba @ buat bnda yg baru. sy mmg nak sgt! tp x hari2 sy dpt belajar bnde baru. rugi sngguh rasenyer... maybe bnde tuh org lain da lame try, tp sy ttp nak cube. at least once in a life time. as an example hari nih 1st time sy mkn nasi ayam mancongkam & sweet potatoes tuh. n 1st time sy mkn dlm hujan. wahahaha... XD


Nose to Tail Tuesday (N3T) - Lambs' Hearts

Not only are we moving away from the magnificent pig this week, having stuck resolutely to the extremities for the last fortnight (with cheek and tail), we’re heading towards the centre of the beast.

Right to the very heart, in fact.




Despite enjoying exactly the same biological construction as muscle tissue, the heart is firmly within the bracket loosely titled ‘offal’. Why? Because it does something. It performs a function, a function with which we are conspicuously familiar.

Whilst I’ve cooked the occasional pate, offal is not something I’m familiar with. Part of the philosophy behind this feature is to attempt to rectify this glaring omission in my culinary experience.

I’ll admit now that I am squeamish about certain things but I’m also rapidly learning to put aside my fears and prejudices. Partly because I think it important, partly because I hope it makes for good reading.

The same could also be said for my increasingly courageous and accommodating girlfriend. It’s one thing to cook ‘the nasty bits’ for yourself, quite another to foist them upon your loved ones.

‘I knew you were going to walk out of there with something odd,’ she said to me last Saturday as we exited the deceptively cavernous Middle Eastern supermarket on Cambridge’s Mill Road.

I tried to defend my actions, admittedly hard to do when clutching a small plastic bag containing two lambs’ hearts. ‘But they were only fifty pence each,’ I offered hopefully and somewhat ineffectively.

I failed to convince myself, despite my outward confidence.

‘It’s just like a steak,’ I added.

‘It’s not though, is it? It’s a heart. I know what it does and I’ve got one. I don’t have any steaks or fillets but I do have a heart. They are quite important.’

It was a good point. There is a linguistic difference when talking about meat: pigs become pork. Cows become beef and the names of the cuts are often comfortingly vague: rack of lamb, sirloin, brisket, fillet.

With offal it is a different story.

Offal speaks to you in plain language. Sure, there is the occasional softener (sweetbreads, for example) but mostly it is unadorned: liver, kidney, brain and heart. We can relate to these. We know what they do. We have them, as had been adroitly pointed out.

‘I really don’t think I can eat heart.’

This was going to be a challenge. But one I was looking forward to.

There are, it seems, three ways to cook heart. They can be stuffed and roasted, sliced and fried like a steak (no more than medium rare, unless you wish to be chewing on it for a month), or slow cooked in a braise.

Being a fan of the magical alchemy of slow cooking, I chose the latter, sure that if I could convince my most honest critic, I could convince almost anyone.

Braised Lambs’ Hearts with onion and black olive pie, spinach, nettle and mint puree, fondant potato and glazed carrots



Once the sinew and fat has been trimmed away and the heart meat cut into manageable pieces, it takes on a more familiar appearance. It looks, to all intents and purposes, like meat.

Knowing what works, all that was needed was to coat the pieces in seasoned flour, brown them in a hot pan then add them to the Le Creuset along with some onion, garlic, carrot and rosemary. Topped up with red wine and lamb stock, the whole lot goes into a cool oven to cook away for at least two hours.

This is, generally, a good approach to take with any number of cheap cuts which need the low temperatures and lengthy cooking times to break down the connective tissue and collagen that holds the meat together. The benefit is a deliciously rich and unctuous stew with meat as tender as any prime cut.

While spoonfuls of this could easily be served alongside a baked potato or underneath a golden pie crust, the Thomas Keller school of cookery (and if anyone knows a thing or two about food, it is that man) advocates discarding the vegetables (which have already imparted its flavours into the pot), removing meat and reducing the sauce down to a thick, sticky jus.

So that’s what I did.

100ml of cassis liqueur was added to a pan along with the same amount of gravy from the stew and a few cubes of frozen beef stock. A couple of sprigs of rosemary and a split clove of garlic were also dropped in before the whole lot was reduced down. After passing through a fine sieve, the meat was returned back to the jus to warm through.

Although refined, this dish screamed ‘hearty’ (excuse the pun). And what could be heartier than a pie?

I remembered reading somewhere that in parts of France, lamb is often served with black olives. It seemed like a flavour combination that would work so I fried off some onions in olive oil, added some finely chopped black olives and then made a basic vegetable suet pastry to house the faintly sweet mix. Brushed with eggwash, they took barely ten minutes in a hot oven.

Mint is also a classic accompaniment with lamb but instead of a sweet and vinegary mint sauce of the type that graces dinner tables across the land every Sunday, I plumped for a more delicate side of spinach, nettle and mint puree (cook the leaves – one part fresh mint, one part nettle, two parts baby leaf spinach – in a little water, blitz, drain and season).

For the rest of the vegetables, sweet glazed carrots and fondant potatoes, cooked in a little chicken stock, completed the dish.



So, to get to the heart of the matter (sorry), how was it?

It wasn’t just surprisingly good, it was deliciously good. It was the sort of food that somehow has the ability to make you very happy indeed. It was rich, tasty, satisfying and all those other things that go into making a successful braised dish.

The heart had a deep flavour though not over-powering. It was ever so slightly ferric, like very mild liver but also deeply meaty. Texturally it had bite but wasn’t chewy or tough. The small morsels offered a little resistance but more than compensated in flavour. This is everything that is good about food.

‘Can I quote you?’ I said to my girlfriend after she had proclaimed it ‘completely delicious, so good. It’s possibly the best thing you’ve ever cooked. I can’t believe you got me to eat heart and enjoy it this much! Mmmmm, so, so good!’

‘Of course you can quote me,’ she replied. So I just did.

Verdict: N3T – Lambs’ hearts: a complete and utter success. Do again? With absolute certainty. And at fifty pence a go, it is almost sacrilegious not to buy these when they are available.

Any changes? Serve with buttery mash and wilted spinach. Simple, hearty and, in the words of my girlfriend ‘so, so good.’

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Cashew Nut Butter and 'Live Blogging'

Sometimes you read something in the food pages that strikes a real chord with you. Often the recipes featured are distinctly seasonal and faintly inspiring but occasionally one will come along that simply shouts ‘Try me!’

In last Saturday’s Guardian, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall was talking nuts. More specifically those big packets of nuts that sit in the back of a dark cupboard slowly going stale.

‘Don’t we have a bag of cashew nuts in the back of our store cupboard?’ said my girlfriend.

I tried to think back to the last time I’d used a cashew. ‘Erm, I think we might,’ I replied. Vague memories of toasting and grinding cashews to top a Phad Thai back in the Summer came to mind.

I went to check.

She was right. It appeared I’d bought a rather ambitious kilo of them after we returned from Thailand last August, no doubt purchased in a fit of enthusiasm and a desire to recreate some of the great food we had whilst on holiday.

But there was still a vast quantity left. ‘I’m going to make this,’ she said, pointing to a recipe for cashew nut butter. I nodded an approving nod, made a positive noise and watched her bound into the kitchen.

After a few minutes and much noise, she returned with a teaspoonful of what looked like peanut butter, only the colour of clotted cream.



It was delicious, especially over the remainder of the oatcakes I made last week.


Cashew Nut Butter (after HFW)


200g unroasted and unsalted cashew nuts
3-4 tablespoons of rapeseed or groundnut oil (we didn’t have either so used sunflower oil instead. It worked just fine)
1-2 tablespoons of runny honey
a pinch of salt.

Mix this lot together in a food processor until you have a creamy paste and there you go. It should keep for about a week in a sealed and refrigerated container.


Live Blogging
In other news, tomorrow will see my first attempt at ‘live blogging’.

I’ve been invited by the good people at the Miele Experience Centre to go and try out some of their gadgetry and learn how to rustle up some quality Irish fayre in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.

I’ll be posting throughout the day from about 11am. Just drop by from then to follow what’s going on.

Alternatively, follow me on Twitter.

*Currently cooking to the sounds of Handsome Devil by Jim Bianco. Excellent debut from the gravel voiced Hotel Cafe resident. Snippets of sleazy prohibition era Americana, delicious ballads and some cheeky dittys thrown in for good measure. Also excellent live. 8.5/10

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh, Happy Saint Patricks Day

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh

Paddys Day in Suncheon.

Saturday night In Elvis, Music, Stew, Soda Bread and great craic.
Also we raised quite a lot of money for the orphanage
Thanks everyone who showed it was a fun night.