13 juin 2006
One Pot Cooking
Veal Marengo
Veal Marengo
Much to my disappointment, I found out this dish does not include olives while researching a proper recipe. Nevermind I ditched the recipes and used my home cured olives.
Cooking like my grand mother has something to do with witchcraft: Add a pinch of this and drizzle a bit of that as you go. No need for scales and measuring jugs.
All in all, it is impossible to go wrong with Marengo. The
result always comes in form of a rich, bright red gravy and glistening with
olive oil. It tastes typically Mediterranean and the meat is really tender and bursting with flavours.
Here is a guideline, more than a proper formal recipe. Chicken or pork can also be used.
500 grams veal (stew meat)
150 grams button mushrooms
1 can tomatoes in juice
1 onion
2 shallots
A little bottle of dry white wine. (35cl, I think)
1 cup of beef stock
A handful of green olives.
Parsley
Bay leaf
Thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat a little olive oil, add thyme, chopped onion and shallot. Saute in olive oil until soft, add veal and brown. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour, stir and quickly add white wine. Let boil for a few minutes and add bayleaf and beef stock.
Simmer for 1 ½ hours and add tomatoes, olives and mushrooms. Simmer for a further 30 minutes.
09 juin 2006
Winter Treats
Heart shaped self saucing puddings
Winter has finally kicked
in. Temperatures are nosediving. I was trying to drink a glass of Bordeaux yesterday but my
lounge was freezing. The wine was far too cold for the aromas to develop. Far too cold to be fully appreciated.
I miss warmth and I miss
summer food. Times like that call for emergency comfort. To rise spirits up,
nothing beats the warmth and cuddliness of chocolate cakes – especially when
we’re talking heart-shaped gooey chocolate cakes.
I tried Bill
Granger’s recipe instead. This is the first time I tried
one of his recipes and I was not disappointed, I had the result I was hoping
for; except for the white chocolate one. It was not self saucing at all but
still delicious and terribly soft and chocolaty.
I baked my cakes for a
little shorter than indicated in the recipe because my moulds are not tall.
They are not very heart-shaped either...
02 juin 2006
Give Silken curd a chance!
Tofu in ginger flavoured tempura batter
Who said tofu was dull and boring? I was first
introduced to tofu when I was 7 and I was not impressed, not impressed at all. It
looked like a burger pattie but tasted like.. uh? Pre-chewed rubber?
Later much later I gave tofu another go. We used to
try a different restaurant every month with my friend Lulu, who is vegetarian. One
night, we decided to go to Hare Krishna. We had tofu massala. It was sumptuously
delicious. The tofu had absorbed all the flavours, it was soft and simply divine..
Tofu does not have much taste by itself but it
works like a canvas to present other flavours. Curry is one example. Deep fried
tofu is also exceptionally delicious. I first had it in a Japanese restaurant.
It was coated in a ginger flavoured tempura batter. The crust was light and
crispy while the tofu inside was soft - custard-like and ginger flavoured.
Tofu is available in different textures from silken
to firm, depending on the moisture content. I love the texture of silken tofu
but it doesn’t cook very well, so I used a firmer tofu for my tempura.
For tempura, the tofu has to be sliced thin or
diced in bit-size cubes.
Tofu nibbles
Tempura Batter
1 egg beaten
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup super cold water. Using very cold water is important. It keeps prevent
the batter from becoming sticky.
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger.
Combine all
ingredients but do not overmix otherwise the batter will absorb more oil.
Coat the tofu in
this batter and fry in batches until crispy.
Miscellaneous
dipping sauce:
Combine a tablespoon of thick soy sauce, a teaspoon
of mirin and a pinch of five-spice mix. Pour on tofu.