Monday 27 September 2010

селедка под шубой - Herring under a fur coat.

Selyodka pod shouboy otherwise known as herring under a fur coat is the

most beautiful salad I've ever seen. The first time I saw this was in a little

Cafe on Nevsky Prospekt in St Petersburg. We'd spent the day exploring

the Peterhoff Palace, comparable only to Versaille with its ornamentation

and gilded statuary.


Such things make me hungry. Our Russian guide and friend Olga

recommended a cafe for our arrival back in the city. I ordered

chicken and a slice of what looked like purple cake, while my

friends and travel companions Emma and Mike waited.



The purple cake turned out to be Herring under a fur coat and here's

how you make it.


Par boiled, grated potato
Salted herring fillets 
Spring onions
Grated carrots
Boiled eggs
Grated Beetroots
Mayonaise


Spread the potato on a plate followed by the herring and spring onion.

Cover this layer in mayonnaise. Add the layers in order of the list above

and photos and cover each time in mayonnaise. Leave over night for the

beetroot juices to run through each layer turning the whole thing purple.

Serve in slices like a cake.

Proposal. Crunchy Baharat Chicken and Sumac Rice


This is Loch Ken in south west Scotland, taken moments before I proposed to S. 

She said yes and I've never seen such joy pouring from a person's eyes. We will

marry in Cornwall in late September 2011.


There's nothing like a bit of exciting news to inspire you in the kitchen and this 

week brought the following delightful and somehow autumnal dish. I won't

pretend it's seasonal though.



This is chicken thigh strips in a baharat spice mix and ground toasted rice which 

gives it a crunchy and aromatic coating. Imagine a Turkish KFC and you'd be 

close. The rice contains diced red onion, pistachios, sultanas, parsley, garlic, 

sumac, cinamon and lemon juice. The recipe asks for saffron, but I recommend  

extra sumac as its a really interesting sour fruity flavour which is brought out by 

the lemon juice.

The Baharat spice mix is the fun part. You could buy the mix from a specialist 

shop but it's far more interesting to get to know your spices. Start with the

whole spices, create the mix, toast in a dry pan for a minute until you start to 

hear popping, then grind the spices while still warm. 



Turkish Baharat contains mint. This is the key ingredient. Use a large amount. 

Also black pepper and paprika are a large constituent. As with any spice mix, the

ingredients vary so you can include coriander, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, 

cardamom, cassia, nutmeg, allspice. I recommend at least the holy trinity of Cs 

(a termed coined by my father) which for me makes up the heart of any spice 

mix: Coriander (seeds), cumin and cardamom.

Sunday 22 August 2010

Rhubarb Custard Crumble Pie

Recipes like this are not as popular as the classics because they're difficult to 

categorise. The simple rhubarb crumble is my favourite pudding. It has a 

strong nostalgia for me because my granddad used to make it. Grandma 

would say he'd made one specially for me, but there were plenty of us on a 

sunday afternoon eating it. I like to share.


This recipe however results in a pie and it's also a crumble, with custard 

inside rather than on top. S is away until the weekend so this time 

unfortunately (for her) I didn't share and I gained a pound in the 

process. Trust me though, that's a good thing; I wouldn't mind a few 

extra pounds and it was very delicious.


Here's the link for the recipe because I'm not going to pretend it's my own. 

I would recommend however the largest oats you can find to mix in the 

crumble topping and my big pastry secret, salted butter. Yes you read 

correctly. It's only very unhealthy if you eat the whole cake in three 

days, but I'll be ok. It makes tastier pastry.

From top left anticlockwise, sweet shortcrust pastry, crumble topping, rhubarb, raw custard.

Saturday 21 August 2010

A simple supper from the garden

I'm back on the theme of

local and seasonal

food
. This year I've had

no access to a garden,

just a small, very concrete

urban back yard. I wasn't

about to let that stop me


from growing Things to Eat, however!


I set about making a miniature green haven out of a motley assortment of

growbags and plastic milk bottles, and have managed to coax a more-or-less

reluctant crop of veggies into life. It may not be the most cost-effective

way to get hold of the freshest and most seasonal produce but it's certainly

rewarding, and I'd recommend it to everyone who has even the tiniest bit of

outdoor space!


Today I was very excited to be harvesting

the first of my aubergines.


Aubergines! In England! I've never grown

them before and their delicate ballerina-

like flowers and startlingly purple-veined,

fearsomely spiky leaves were a real

delight.







I wanted to cook something

very simple to showcase the

aubergine, so I diced and

roasted
it with garlic and

some of the just-ripening

cherry tomatoes
from

my surprisingly effective

upside-down-milk-bottle

growing system.




Stirred through linguini with a sprinkling of cheese and a scattering of

thyme from the kitchen windowsill this made a tasty and satisfying

supper- and tasted all the better for knowing that most of the

ingredients had come from no more than six feet away!



Monday 16 August 2010

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe


I'm coming to the end of a very good bag of Ethiopian coffee. Ethiopia, the origin 

of the coffee bean. Who knew that? Coffee is not truly indigenous anywhere else.

I highly recommend this Yirgacheffe. It's smoothe and fruity with hints of dates and 

big grapefruit and apricot tastes. 


S has been learning to drink coffee. Not out of ambition, but more to be a part 

of something quickly becoming a ritual culture in my house. Also she can't resist 

the smell of freshly ground coffee and my enthusiasm at finding out how to make a 

nicer cup than the last.   

.

Sunday 15 August 2010

Chicken Risotto with a secret ingredient

The secret ingredient is taragon. There, that wasn't much of a secret was it? Neither 

are the shitake mushrooms in the photo. But feel free to keep it a secret from 

your friends, because they will be asking "What did you put in this?"



Ingredients



Olive oil

1 onion chopped finely
1 clove garlic chopped
1 aubergine diced
6 shitake mushrooms sliced
200g arborio rice
Cooked chicken breast diced
Tarragon
1 pint chicken stock (best home made by boiling chicken bones with vegetables and bay leaves, white wine optional)

Method

Fry the onions and garlic in olive oil until soft then add the aubergine and 


mushrooms, cook until soft. Add the rice and cook for a minute before 

adding half of the stock. This "toasts" the rice and allows it to absorb the 

liquid slowly without going mushy.

 

Simmer until the liquid is absorbed before adding half of what is left of the stock. 

Risotto needs your full attention and the trick is timing. Adding the stock 

bit by bit allows you to get the correct consistency as the rice is cooked. Perfectly 

cooked risotto should not be hard and stick to the serving spoon, nor should it be 

so wet that it runs off your plate.

 

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Saturday 14 August 2010

Meatballs


This week has been about luxuries. I've been drinking expensive coffee and even 

more expensive cognac, neither of which I've had to pay for. Lucky me! So 

when it came to familydinner and my turn to cook I found myself craving 

something simple and non luxury. Not that I'd been eating foie gras, caviar 

and oysters all week, but I felt like I needed a contrast. For me there isn't much 

more family orientated and simple than meat balls with spaghetti and 

tomato sauce. I'll happily tell all about my Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee and my 

quest to make the perfect cup of coffee, and the Fine Champagne Cognac that I 

also profited from this week, but I'd just as soon (or sooner) talk about meat 

balls and how they're an easy way to feed and impress a large group. 



There are plenty of meat ball recipe available online. I've made them in a food 

blender and without blending and it makes a difference, but get your 

seasoning right and either makes a delicious meat ball. I use rosemary in the 

meat and thyme in the tomato sauce. 


Friday 6 August 2010

The Variable Cake

I like to encourage people to make recipes their own, to give ideas of what works

well as opposed to strict recipes. Here is a great example of that. This crumble 

cake comes out different every time because I deliberately don't follow 

a recipe.

If yours looks different to this, you have succeeded.


I use varying amounts of each ingredient and different fruits and spices each time.

You start with a crumble mix, which is roughly half fat to flour. This time I've used

whole meal flour and oats. You can use self raising flour or add baking powder if

you want a raised cake, or just plain flour if you want something flat and dense.

See what I mean? It varies but never fails. 




Add whatever fruit and spices you have to hand. In this instance it was

plums (of course) and ground corriander seeds, but I've used apple and

rhubarb with cinnamon. Add sugar or honey or golden syrup.


Finally add enough water or fruit juice or spiced tea or milk or yoghurt to wet the

mix. The more liquid you add, the more moist the cake.


Bake in variously shaped tins at 180 degrees C until brown.

Have fun experimenting!

Wednesday 4 August 2010

The fastest plums in the west (midlands)



Despite complaints from Australia (Am I a Connoisseur has gone international!)

that an earlier article was too English and that not everyone has the luxury of a 

local ancient hedgerow, I can't stop talking about free plums.


I picked these yesterday having spotted them next to a redder brand of free

hedge plum. Surprisingly they're ripe. They're slightly sweeter, but more

excitingly, they're bigger and quicker to plunder - a pound a minute, as

opposed to a mere half pound for the cherry plums. They're not that spectacular

to eat on their own so I have to rate them in more creative ways.

 

 

Tuesday 3 August 2010

Out-of-season seasonal soup


I've had these photos hanging
around for a while now so I though I'd share

them with the world- the best
Autumn soup recipe I know! Give it a

couple of months and the ingredients will be in season again.


It's adapted from my all-time favourite recipe book, Christine McFadden's

Frugal Feasts
. It was invaluable as a student but has stayed such a firm

friend that I recommend it to
everyone, to the extent that I've given away

several copies and had to buy new ones. Look out for Pear and Chocolate

Pudding
, which I'm b
ound to blog about sooner or later!


Squash and Chestnu
t Soup

12 oz (350 g) squash

or pumpkin

2 oz (50 g) butter

or margarine

1 onion, chopped

12 oz (350 g) chestnuts

2 strips ora
nge peel

1 pint stock

Ginger
(root and powder)
to taste

100ml orange juice

Salt and pepper







You can use any kind of squash, not just flown-from-South-Africa butternut

types- this is one one of the dozens of winter squash varieties grown

in the uk. Support your local farmers and greengrocers!


The recipe says to boil the squash but you'll get much more flavour if you

roast
it- saves all that fiddly peeling too, as you can just slice the tender

flesh off the rind once cooked.


And on the subject of peeling- a magic tip for dealing with chestnuts! Just

pierce
them and microwave for 1 minute, and the steam inside the shell

will lift the inner skin off, making them (almost) easy to peel!


So, a simple and delicious autumnal soup. Just soften the onions in the butter,

add the prepared chestnuts and squash (and celery, bleaugh), season with salt,

pepper and ginger and simmer with the stock and orange rind until tender.

Pass through a sieve and add the orange juice. Roll on Autumn!

Monday 2 August 2010

Balsamic Vinegar. Is it worth paying a little extra for?

Left - Fattorie Giacobazzi £7.49. Right - Trattoria Verde £0.99

Without venturing into the expensive realm of Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale, I'm 

interested in comparing the quality of a £0.99 bottle and a £7.49 of 

commercial balsamic vinegar. 


I will taste them without knowing which is which to avoid bias to see if the price 

difference is warranted.


Bottle one is  fruity but with only an acidic aftertaste which lingers slightly

unpleasantly. I would probably only use this as I would use malt vinegar, 

on chips, or mixed with something sweet to counteract the acidity.

 
I have to wait for the taste and the shudders to disappear.

 
Bottle two is Similarly fruity like the first but much smoother and without the 

strong acidic aftertaste or burning at the back of the throat. It's a warmer, 

rounder and brighter flavour. This surely has to be the more expensive 

bottle and it is. I'm excited by the prospect of cooking with it.


Recommended use. Chicken breast cut into strips and fried with garlic, salt 

and pepper. Add a generous helping of balsamic vinegar (a quality bottle), 

and simmer to reduce. Add spring onions for the last two minutes and serve 

with linguine.

Sunday 1 August 2010

Wild Plum Jam


3lb  6oz  wild  plums
 
3lb  sugar

 
Instructions - Read  a  number  of  jam  instructions  because  they  vary.  

The  way  to  find  the best  method  is  really  just  to  have  a  go  yourself.

 
This  batch  actually  turned out  a  little  bit  too  sweet  because  we  followed  

a recipe for  sugar  amounts,  so  my  tip  would  be  to  pour  in  the  sugar  bit  by  

bit  and  taste  as  you do. Your fruit will vary in ripeness and sweetness.




Plums  are  forgiving  and  easier  to  make  jam  from  than  other  fruits.  Pick 

your  own  wild  plums  from  your  local  hedgerow.  There  is  an  area  in  my  town  

(not  telling)  where  there  are  5  or  6  different  species  all  next  to  each  other.  




The  great  thing  about  them  is  that  they  ripen  at  different  times,  so  we  can  

keep  picking  cherry  plums,  green  gages,  green  egg  plums,  mirabelles,  

bullaces,  damsons  (don’t  ask  which  are  which!)  collectively  known  as  wild  

plum  type  things throughout  the  summer.  There  are  also  sloes,  which  are 

related  too. 


Coming  up,  sloe  gin, plum sauce, plum ketchup, plum pudding, plums on their 

own.

Naan Pizza

S made Naan breads for a curry we had yesterday. Ask her for the recipe, I 

think the difference between them and normal dough is yoghurt and egg. Today I’m

using the left over uncooked naan dough to make pizzas. I mixed tomato puree 

with  water and herbs (that’s what they do at authentic Italian restaurant Pizza 

Hut) and  used Pilgrim's Choice cheddar cheese (not too much because its strong),

bacon, onion, red pepper. 


The most important rule with pizza is not to use too much of any 

toppingalthough be generous with the generic pizza herb, also known as oregano. 

Also use basil or thyme if you’re feeling adventurous. I just heard S call 

from the next room, “smells good!” Let me assure you (or if I’m re-reading this, let 

me assure me) they will be.


Cook at a maximum of 180oC and you won’t burn the cheese before the base is

cooked. You can use shop bought or leftover take-away naans to make these too.


Serve on 1980s dinnerware with a large side salad.


You may think I’m being over confident about the quality, so after this sentence, I’ll

come back later to let you (me) know how nice they were.


Really very nice.

Saturday 31 July 2010

Rowse Organic New Zealand Forest Honey. Am I or could I be a connoisseur?



I've always loved honey, but have never ventured into 

connoisseurship. I begin now and Rowse Organic New Zealand Forest 

Honey is a good start. If I’m serious about being any kind of 

connoisseur (and I’m not sure that I am, I just like to taste nice 

things) then I should probably think of better words to use than 

“good.”



I taste the honey by itself on a tea spoon and am assaulted for just a 

second by a bitter ear wax taste. It’s fleeting and almost 

unpleasant and then it’s gone. Actually it’s not quite gone, but sits in 

the background and allows the glory of the honey to come forward, 

slowly washing through my mouth, dispersing the flavours of a forest 

on different parts of my tongue. 


It’s difficult to describe the complexity of it. I taste it again and this 

time the waxy assault doesn’t happen. Subtle sap and floral hints float 

around rolled up in something deeper and earthy, like strong, but 

sweet ale. The sweetness is smooth and doesn’t burn in the throat. 


Am I a connoisseur? A connoisseur would identify recipes which 

work well with this particular honey. I don’t think a connoisseur 

would continually eat the honey from the jar with a spoon. However, I 

am now drinking a can of Ruddles County Ale whilst taking small 

drops of the honey and they go together very well.