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.
02 mai 2006
Hummus – Take 2
Adzuki bean hummus
When reading about macrobiotic food, I learnt a lot about Adzuki beans,
an ingredient I only associated with moon buns and anko so far. They’re said to be yang
(Good for your skin apparently).They are a good source a protein and are
considered to have a positive action on kidneys.
Having said that I rarely came across a savoury recipe for Adzuki beans.
Apart from the boring “boiled adzuki and rice” or “Adzuki soups”. Such a
wonderful ingredient deserves to be used in more exciting ways.
Time to be creative. I thought their nutty flavour would suit a hummus. It
sounds rather crazy, I don’t know how the idea occurred to me.
To have a full on bizarre recipe, I also made black sesame tahini. Black
sesame is a bit sweet and it is a yin ingredient (which balances the yang beans).
Black sesame seeds are a source of phosphorous, magnesium, iron and calcium.
I followed the same recipe I previously used for hummus and tahini.
Adzuki hummus is rather thick and floury. It is maybe too thick for dips but I
works wonderfully spread on pitta bread with vegetable.
I was rather pleased with my recipe. Very delicious and so healthy!
27 avril 2006
Alternative diets
All from scratch: Pitta Bread, falafel and tzatziki
After
reading an article on macrobiotic food, I have increasingly been interested in
this diet. The article started with a typical macrobiotic menu:
Breakfast:
Quinoa, pumpkin seeds, yoghurt and fresh raspberries
Lunch: Tofu
patties
Dinner: Fish
green curry
Having never
been a fan of big fry ups, this simple menu convinced me to look for further
information.
Like most
people I was completely misinformed on macrobiotic. For me, it sounded like the
sort of diet followed by some anaemic hippies grazing on wheat grass and rancid
yoghurt.
The truth is
much more joyful. The term macro (great) biotic (life) first appeared in a
German book in the late 18th century. Since then, it has been
theorised and developed to what it is know as now: A diet characterised by
balancing yin and yang foods. A balance diet leading, theoretically to a
balanced life.
Yin
symbolises expansion while Yang characterises inward movement. Although both
sides should be balanced, foods considered extremely yin or yang are not to be
consumed. Extremely yang foods are typically meat and animal products including
eggs and extremely yin foods are coffee, refined sugar and chocolate.
While I do
not mind restricting yin foods, I strongly believe cutting off yang foods leads
to severe deficiencies.
Therefore,
reading and learning about macrobiotic diet is a way to introduce new
ingredients to my everyday meals. Such as tofu, whole grain, seeds, adzuki
beans, etc… It’s like discovering a new world of food and dishes.
My first
macrobiotic dinner was a delicious and healthy pitta filled with chickpeas and
tzatziki.
A very Middle
Eastern delight, easy to make and oh-so-tasteful.
Remembering
my hummus nightmare, I chose to use canned chickpeas for the falafel (A
combination of spicy chickpea It is rich in fibre and protein)
Falafel:
1 medium can of chick peas
3 garlic cloves
Cumin (1 teaspoon)
Flour (1 tablespoon)
Coriander and/ or parsley
1 egg
1 tb flour
Salt and
Pepper
Mix all
ingredients in a blender with flour and egg. Add a little water if necessary
but do not overblend. Shape into balls or patties and brown into little oil.
Tzatziki
originates from Greece
Drain 1 1 unsweetened
yoghurt in a cheesecloth for at least one hour. Finely chop a cucumber, remove
seed and drain for an hour.
Blend
drained yoghurt, fresh mint, lemon juice and a clove of garlic until smooth and
mix with the cucumber.
It is very important
to drain both yoghurt and cucumber, otherwise the tzatziki will turn into a
soup.
I used Barbara’s pitta bread recipe and divided the quantities by 3
and ended up with 6 beautifully brown pitta.
11 avril 2006
The big dive into winter
Salmon
raviolo and Rosé wine sauce
Back again. Sorry for being a yoyo! My sudden disappearance is due to a series
of unfortunate factors. First a new job, then the end of summer. Less light,
shorter and colder days…… I – and it is very sad to admit – turn into a
two-minute-noodle-cook. When trying to get my spirit and desire to cook and
shoot back, I realise that my “mojo” was gone. My maori potato gnocchis turned
sludgy, an attempt to layer roast banana and white chocolate looked as terrible
as it tasted and my matcha sponge was somewhat flat and burnt.
I was tempted to give up. Fortunately, fiesting on “comfort
food” (eg: chocolate bars and processed food) revealed unsatisfying and oh so fattening!!!
So well I’m back with low fat goodness! It’s also colourful
to make up for the lack of joy around us.
I did not go as far as making the pasta dough myself.
I used wonton sheets and glued them together with egg wash. It did not break
when boiled. The filling is only salmon and fresh dill. The salmon had been
lightly steamed and seasoned before being shredded.
To create the sauce I lightly cooked shallots and
garlic, added Rose wine, reduced and put a tiny dash of cream. It helps keeping
the sauce together, giving it a velvety texture.
Rosé wine is very seldom used in cooking. Maybe there is a technical reason for not using it. It is a bit more bitter than white wine but it is not an overwhelmingly disturbing. It also gives a very pretty colour to the sauce.
09 février 2006
Minimalist delicacy
Salmon Gravlax and honeydew melon
Now
this is one fancy mouthful. Contrasting bright colours, delicate
flavours, original combination: My idea of cooking. I must have eaten half
of my salad while I was photoshooting.
Graxlax originates from Scandinavia,
the salmon is cured in brine for a least two days, no cooking is
required. I recently read that freezing the salmon for at least a week
prior to curing it is required as parasite may be present in the flesh.
Although the basic recipe only uses kosher salt, dill (whole bunches of delicious fresh dill) and sugar, a few ingredients may be added. I added a teaspoon of Vodka to mine. I love cooking with alcohol, so far I tried Gravlax and sherry, rum and vodka (Unflavoured vodka but I could try with Raspberry Vodka. Lemon Vodka sounds appealing too). What an Iconoclast!
Melon and salmon colours as well as textures combine well. Cured salmon develops strong flavours and it is not as oily as smoked salmon. The fat "melts" and spreads through the flesh giving it quite a consistent texture. The lineage is very well defined and the colour is so vivid, a magnificient piece of edible Art.
23 janvier 2006
Delicious rainbow
While at the beach yesterday, I suddenly came up with an original idea: Snapper, raspberries, cream on a cushion of braised leaks. I was peacefully reading my book (a novel, not a cookbook), lying in the sun, I had lunch not so long before and out of the blue, I visualed this dish. How bizarre!
Back
at home, I gathered the ingredients but figured out leaks and
raspberries would not work, so I replaced the leaks with Kumara. This
looks everything like a dessert, but it's savoury and mind you, the flavours really
work together. My raspberries were not too sweet, even on a bitter side and
they balanced very well the hearty sweetness of the kumaras. I did
not use any herb or spice, I was not sure what would match this unusual - yet delicious - combination of flavours.
.
After tasting my new creation I came up
to the conclusion that the dish does not need any extra flavouring.
It's a very well balanced dish. I very much regretted I had no one to
share it with.
Here is a rough recipe:
-1 big red kumara
-1 small potato
-1 snapper fillet
-5 raspberries+1 to garnish
-Half a lemon
-A spoon of milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Boil kumara and potato, when done mash roughly leaving big chunks of kumara. Add milk and stir with a spoon.
Steam fish
Puree raspberries and sieve.
Mould the lumpy mash in a small ramequin. Place fish on top, pour the equivalent of 2 teaspoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice on the fish and drizzle raspberry coulis.
Garmish with a slice of lemon and a raspberry.
20 janvier 2006
F O O D A R T C H A L L E N G E
One of my favourite Artist ever is Sophie Calle.
She appears, under the pseudonym of Maria in Paul Auster's novel:
Leviathan. In non-fictional parts, she is described cooking
monochromactic dinners. One colour per day of the week. I have always
been fascinated with this concept.
This week end, I will try to think of 7 sets of menus, let's go for 2 course meals - 3 would be too much hassle.
To summarise, I will have to work on:
-Green, the easiest
-Red
-Orange
-white
now I'm in trouble .... uh, blue? no, certainly not!
-yellow
-brown
-pink, I can only think of ham and ginger pickles... I'll have to find more nutrious than that. Any idea?