Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Just this, and a knife

I've been eating chicken and dumplings all week, and as much as I would like to share that recipe with you in all its warm comforting goodness on a day when temperatures are rapidly approaching single digits, I don't think it's a good idea. After all, it was a four hour endeavor that involved much prep work chopping celery, carrots, onions, and garlic, boiling a whole chicken, straining the stock, shredding the chicken, browning the flour and then thickening the stock into a gravy, mixing dumpling dough and cooking the dumplings on the simmering surface of the stewing chicken. Or maybe I'm just slow.

Rest assured, it was good and maybe I'll make it again some day when the memory of it's production fades, much like I imagine the memory of giving birth must fade because indeed the population of the world continues to grow.

Instead, I'll tell you about something much easier to make, and the main thing you need for it is a mandoline slicer. No need for stockpots or whisks or strainers. Just this, and a knife.


Take your knife and hack the base and the fronds off a fennel bulb, so that all you're left with is the bulb. Then, remembering my rule for all good produce, take a whiff of the bulb. If you're totally repulsed by the anise-like smell, you may not enjoy this dish so much, but don't be deterred. Shaved thin, fennel is just another crunchy base for a salad, not an assertive root vegetable. So shave that fennel with your mandoline slicer, until you get a pile of feathery, light flakes. Do the same thing with several crimini mushrooms. Now place half of the fennel on a plate, add a layer of a mushroom, and shave some good parmigiano-reggiano on top of that. Repeat the layers of fennel, mushroom, and parm, then drizzle on a healthy, fruity olive oil, squeeze some lemon juice on, and get your pepper mill going to grind some fresh cracked pepper over it all.

Believe it or not, I ate nearly this entire plate, and by the time I was finished I had forgotten all about my long labor pains with the chicken and dumplings. Which means that by next week, I'll be embarking on another four hour dish.


Fennel and Mushroom Salad
I've read about this salad on Orangette, but it's originally from the Joy of Cooking so I'll give their recipe here with the suggested dressing. But I highly recommend the simple combination of good olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice and pepper. I also happened to have some lemon grapeseed oil (oh the things you'll find in my cabinets) so I sprinkled that on too. It says 6 to 8 servings in the Joy but I used half the mushrooms and got two to three servings from one fennel bulb.

Dressing:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
salt and pepper to taste

Salad:
8 ounces cremini (baby portabella) mushrooms, wiped clean and thinly sliced
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
salt to taste
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese shavings (recommend you get a good parmigiano-reggiano)

Whisk together the dressing. Toss together the salad ingredients through the salt. Pour the dressing over the salad and top with cheese shavings. Or layer it the way I did, and get good chunks of cheese throughout the whole salad.

Live aus Berlin (part IV): Sun children... in the snow!


So here I am with more Berlin pictures! This belongs to our Monday, a day that we spent shopping and having fun around Prenzlauer Breg and the city center of Berlin. We had vintage shopping, ate a delicious burguer, went to Ben Sherman's store (where I bought some things, as my new grey and black coat), after that, we went to the Checkpoint Charlie and finally, we had dinner in a lovely restaurant with Stefano and my cousin Rocío... and of course, que made our photomaton pictures!



 
Laia in our way to Colors, a second hand shop
 
  
Me! I was wearing... 
Top - Second hand
Black cardigan - Mango
Skirt - Bershka (second hand)
Tights - H&M
Boots - Aces of London
Hairbow - Handmade with a Burberry lace

 
  
  
  
  
  
 


In this pictures you can see Albert, Laia, Javi and me!

 
 
 
I love them!!

Today I've been all day listening to The Vines, one of my favourite bands. I really enjoy listening to their music and Craig Nicholls' voice, wich I think is so soft some times and rude in other songs...

 
 

Craig suffers of a type of autism called Asperger's syndrome; these people show significant difficulties in social interaction, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests; but they preservate their linguistic and cognitive development. I think that this is an interesting point, because in some of their songs, you can read between lines things about all this things and the isunderstanding that Craig was having before the treatment of this disorder.

I think that my fvourite songs are "A Girl I knew", "Winning Days" and "Get free"... I hope I could see them this year in live concert, as me and my friends are now planning our summer fest of this year!!

Did you went last year to any summer music festival? Do you recomend me any good festival with good music?

Oh, I almost forgot it! Thanks to MissKellie for this lovely award, I'll doing the rules tomorrow!!

Pork, Apple and Chilli Burgers with Garlic Roast Potatoes

Pork, Apple and Chilli Burgers with Garlic Roast PotatoesThere is nothing difficult about making burgers at home and, in this way, they are far more nutritious and enjoyable than any from a Fast Food restaurant or a supermarket. The added beauty of making burgers at home is that we can be so creative, not only in the type of meat which we use to make the burgers, but in the additional ingredients which we add to them.

I have made these pork, apple and chilli burgers many times over the years and although I would not go so far as to say that they are one of my favourite foods, they are probably my favourite type of burger that I have thus far created.

This recipe is for two (hungry) people and is prepared from start to finish in around thrity-five to forty minutes.

Ingredients

- Burgers

1lb minced/ground free range, organic pork
1 Granny Smith apple
1/2 small onion (finely chopped)
1 clove of garlic (crushed or grated)
1 small red chilli pepper (very finely chopped - deseeding is optional)
1 small egg
2 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

- Garlic and Herb Mayonnaise

2 tbsp low fat mayonnaise
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 garlic clove (crushed or grated)

- Potatoes

14 to 16 baby potatoes
1 clove of garlic (crushed)
Salt
1 tbsp sunflower oil

- Garnish

1 tomato
Sprig of fresh parsley

Method

The first step in this recipe is to prepare your garlic and herb mayo. This is in order to allow the flavours to permeate through the mayo and ensure it is enjoyed at its very best. This step can even be taken the night before, or earlier in the day. Simply mix the three ingredients well together in a small bowl, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate until required.

The potatoes should then be added to a pot with a little salt and enough boiling water to cover them - note that they should not be peeled. They should be simmered for fifteen minutes while the oven heats. The sunflower oil should then be added to a baking tray which should be placed in the oven and the oven put on to preheat to 400F/200C/Gas Mark 6.

Once the potatoes are on to boil, the burgers should be prepared. Note that if the seeds of the chilli are incorporated, the burgers will be a lot spicier.

All of the burger ingredients should be added to a large mixing bowl or basin, with the exception of the apple. The apple should be cored and four slices about 1/4" thick cut from the centre for later frying. It is imperative that these slices be immediately immersed in a small bowl of cold water, to prevent them from turning brown. The remainder of the apple should then be peeled, finely chopped and added to the other burger ingredients.

The burger ingredients should then be mixed very thoroughly by hand, before being divided in to four portions, rolled in to balls and flattened in to patties.

When the oven is heated, the potatoes should be drained thoroughly and added to the tray of hot oil. They should then be gently and carefully shaken around in the oil to ensure even coating before being placed in the oven for a total of twenty minutes' cooking time.

A little sunflower oil should be added to a non-stick frying pan and the burgers added to be fried for ten minutes each side. After the burgers are turned, the potatoes should be removed from the oven and the tray once again gently shaken.

When the burgers are ready, they should be removed from the frying pan to a plate and the two apple slices added to the vacated pan. The heat should be turned up to high and the slices fried for about one minute each side. While the apple slices are frying, the potaotes should be removed from the oven and added to a colander lined with kitchen paper to drain. They should then be placed in to a bowl with a crushed garlic clove and gently swirled around to obtain a garlic coating.

It is then time to plate up the meal by placing the apple slices on to the plates, the burgers on top, a slice of tomato on top of each burger and a teaspoonful of the mayo on top, garnished with a little bit of parsley. The potatoes should be added alongside.

How To Be a Healthy Cook: Food Tip of the Day - Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Turkey Breast Steak with Fried Egg, Sage and Garlic Roast Potatoes and Brussels SproutsWhat does the concept of, "How to be a healthy cook," mean to you? What images does it conjure up in your mind? Do you think of only using the freshest of ingredients? Do you think of not using saturated fats such as butter or lard in your cooking, or cutting down on sugar and salt? Do you think of baking or grilling meats instead of shallow or deep frying them?

The reality is that in order to be a healthy cook, you have to consider all of these questions and more. The concept of being a healthy cook does not mean being a good cook. It is possible to be a cook of very average ability and still be a healthy cook, just as it is possible to be an internationally renowned chef and be anything but a healthy cook.

How to be a healthy cook is about acquiring an awareness of what you cook and how and always applying these principals in your culinary pursuits. The article linked to below explores this consideration in much greater detail and offers some very useful tips and advice in this respect.

How To Be a Healthy Cook

A Wee Scottish Brekkie

Our haggis burst.

One second merrily bobbing away in barely simmering water, the next spilling its mealy guts into the pan. The pale casing constricted, growing opaque as it exuded its contents into what was seconds before clear water.

I fished out the quarter sized haggis, sliced it down the centre, spooned out the insides and plated it up onto a pile of buttery mash and roasted carrots. Underneath was a slick of creamy chicken velouté. I’d read somewhere that a whiskey based sauce was terribly gauche. Strictly for tourists only.

The meal was delicious enough for us both to comment that we should certainly be eating haggis more regularly and rue the fact that there was considerably less on the plate than there should be.

But what of the remainder, currently swelling and clouding the water in a pan on the hob?



The water was sieved and the resultant sludge strained overnight. By morning the swollen oats had turned sticky transforming the gloop into something resembling a cake. Some was spooned into the cats’ bowls – cupboards bereft of feline food - the rest moulded into a neat patty and fried in a little oil before being crowned with a poached egg.

The breakfast of Scottish champions. Which explains an awful lot.