View posts for » March, 2008

I was in charge of making saffron rice to accompany the Indian fish curry we had for dinner the other night (if you look closely you’ll see it in the top right-hand corner of the photo). As it was cooking, the aroma of the saffron-infused basmati rice drifted through the kitchen and mingled with the fragrant cooking smells of the curry. What a harmony of smells that was!

We don’t always have saffron rice with our Indian curries; usually it’s just plain basmati rice — which is still beautiful. But occasionally it’s nice to jazz things up a bit, and also add a bit of color to the table.

Saffron is the pungent dried stigmas of the crocus sativus plant, and it’s the world’s most expensive spice by weight. Thankfully, you don’t need to use much to impart a wonderful flavor, vibrant color and delicate aroma to dishes such as paella, bouillabaisse, and of course saffron rice.

As usual we like to take the simple approach, and our version of saffron rice uses the bare minimum of ingredients but it still has maximum flavor and, thanks to the saffron, that perfect bright yellow color.

Simple Saffron Rice

Serves 2 as a side dish

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup basmati rice (rinsed in cold water, then drained)

BRING the water to a boil in a medium saucepan and stir in the saffron threads, butter and salt. ADD the rice and bring to the boil, cover, then reduce the heat to very low. SIMMER gently for 15 minutes without lifting the lid.

Here are some dishes that are an ideal match with saffron rice:

Fish, Spinach & Tomato Curry
South Indian Shrimp Curry
Lentil, Pea & Potato Curry
Dhal with Carrot & Cauliflower

This recipe shows that you don’t have to have every spice under the sun to cook a good Indian curry. Nor do you need to be a connoisseur of Indian cuisine. Contrary to popular belief, making an authentic curry is actually pretty easy, especially if you keep the ingredients simple and use a few shortcuts.

For instance, I adore using freshly ground spices but don’t always have them on hand, so I keep a basic stock of ground spices at the ready. For this curry, apart from essentials like cumin, coriander and chili, I used the classic Indian spice mix garam masala, a flavorful blend of aromatic spices which added a warmness and slight sweetness to the dish.

In addition to the spices, I simply added canned tomatoes and coconut milk, as well as spinach, onion and garlic bought at a nearby farmer’s produce stall, plus a couple of fresh fish fillets procured from our local fishmonger, and a lemon from our own tree. Regional and seasonal food at its best!

Fish, Spinach and Tomato Curry

Serves 2

• 2 tablespoons canola or peanut oil
• 1 onion - finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic - finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 cup chopped canned tomatoes
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 cups washed, drained and roughly chopped fresh spinach
• 2 x 6 oz (180g) firm white fish fillets (such as snapper, cod or haddock)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

HEAT the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes. ADD the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, then add the cumin, coriander and chili and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. ADD the tomatoes, coconut milk, garam masala and salt and bring to a boil. REDUCE the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. WHILE the curry simmers, bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. STIR in the rice and keep stirring until the water returns to a boil. COVER the pot with a tight-fitting lid, reduce the heat to very low, and simmer the rice gently for 15 minutes. ADD the spinach to the curry and cook, covered, for 4 minutes, then add the fish and spoon the sauce over the fillets. COVER with a lid, and simmer for another 7 minutes. STIR in the lemon juice and serve on a bed of the rice.

A favorite comfort food from my childhood is chawan mushi, an elegant, Japanese style steamed egg custard. (The name literally means something like “steamed in a teacup.”) I first encountered this dish at home at the breakfast table, when my mother would sometimes have a little fun and make chawan mushi instead of the usual fried or scrambled eggs. Silky and light, it melted in the mouth…I instantly loved it. Finding it at breakfast in the morning was always a happy, festive start to the day.

There are beautiful lidded cups that are designed specifically for cooking and serving chawan mushi. I own several and love them dearly, but you don’t necessarily have to use them…you can also use teacups or personal sized ramekins. My ever resourceful Taiwanese mom would simply add her egg mixture to a small rice bowl, cover it with a saucer, and then pop everything into a covered wok with a small amount of water on the bottom to steam. The resulting product always turned out beautifully.

As an adult, I still have a soft spot for chawan mushi, and find that it makes a stylish appetizer or light meal. I also think it would be just the thing to eat after a night of drinking or overindulging. Whenever you decide to eat it, whether it’s for a festive breakfast, a fun meal starter or something to pamper your post-party stomach…chawan mushi is easy to make and the perfect comfort food in a cup.

Chawan Mushi/Steamed Japanese Egg Custard

(Serves 2-3, depending on what cups you are using)

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1.5 cups dashi stock
• 1 tablespoon light colored Japanese style soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon mirin

(Note: To make dashi stock—Take a 6-inch piece of kombu (dried sea kelp), wipe clean with a damp towel, and make a few cuts along the edges with scissors (This will extract more flavor from the kelp…more surface area exposed = more flavor). Add kombu to 5 cups of water in a saucepan and cook over medium heat. Just before it reaches a boil, remove the kombu and add 2.5 cups of dried bonito flakes. Turn off the heat and let sit for about 6 minutes or until the flakes sink to the bottom. Strain into a bowl through a piece of cheesecloth. The dashi stock is now ready to use or freeze (will keep in the freezer for about a month). You can also use instant dashi powder to make the stock.)

Filling:

• 1 sliced shiitake mushroom (fresh or rehydrated)
• 2-3 asparagus spears, sliced into pieces about 2 inches long.
• 2-3 shrimp, cleaned, deveined and with tail left on

(Note: Feel free to go ahead and change the filling ingredients according to your preference. Just be sure to limit it to no more than three, or it will overwhelm the delicate flavor of the custard. You could try water chestnuts, tofu, small cubes of chicken, crabmeat, baby corn…anything you think of or have on hand. Just go for it and have fun creating your own unique combination.)

Garnish:

• Mitsuba (Japanese parsley) or if not available, flat leaf parsley or cilantro

Equipment:

• A pot with steamer basket
• Cheesecloth or fine strainer
• 2-3 chawan mushi cups (or teacups/small ramekins and aluminum foil)

Directions:

Fill pot about halfway with water and bring to a boil.

Combine egg, dashi stock, soy sauce and mirin in a bowl and with smooth strokes, gently beat with chopsticks. Try not to create too much froth, because you don’t want a lot of air bubbles in your custard.

Strain egg mixture through cheesecloth or strainer.

Divide egg mixture among the chawan mushi cups.

Add a few slices of mushroom, one shrimp, and an asparagus piece (using an end piece that includes the pointy tip looks best) to each cup. Cover with lids if using chawan mushi cups, or cover with foil if using the ramekins or teacups.

When water in pot reaches a boil, place cups into steamer basket. Steam on high heat for 2 minutes, then reduce heat to low for another 10-12 minutes.

Test the surface with toothpick or skewer to check doneness…some clear liquid should form on top when prodded. Custard should be smooth and soft but not super firm. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look completely gelled, it is supposed to be a silken consistency. If it looks underdone, just keep on the steamer and re-cover, checking back at 1-2 minute intervals until it reaches the desired consistency. I have an old gas stove that is sometimes difficult to control accurately, so for me, there is a lot of “check and see” to this…sometimes that means an extra minute or two, sometimes it means an extra 10. Just make sure the flame isn’t too high or custard is not cooked for too long or it will get tough and unattractive.

When the custard looks done, remove from steamer, garnish surface with a leaf of parsley or mitsuba, and serve immediately. (Or for you Flickr addicts, that means immediately after you take all your photographs…you know what I’m talking about.)

Grab a spoon and enjoy!

Gnocchi are not only a delicious Mediterranean dish, but the culture behind them is so rich that cooking and eating them is as much a pleasure for the palate as it is for the learning appetite.

Although the most common version known around the world and in Italy are made from potatoes, there is also Gnocchi Alla Romana made from semolina, Cannederli a typical dish from north Italy which is made from bread crumbs and similar to Knödel, which is a side dish common in Germany and Austria.

There are types of Gnocchi big and small, simple and stuffed with all kinds of fillings, and often mixed with colored vegetables not only to enrich their flavor and nutritional value, but also to make them look nicer.

Although typically Italian, it is also traditional in countries with Italian influence like Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. And it is precisely there (or at least in Argentina, as far as I know) where there is a curious tradition of eating Gnocchi on the 29th day of each month.One of the possible origins of this tradition comes from the Veneto, the Italian northeastern Region where Venice is situated. In the 8th century, a pilgrim doctor named Pantaleone starving in his journey on a 29th was receieved by contadini (farmers) to share their bread based poor meal and, in return, Pantaleone predicted a year of great crops and fishing that became true. Pantaleone is an important Saint of Venice, although St Marcus is the actual patron of the city.

Being a cheap food, Gnocchi also has a background as Cucina Povera (the “cuisine” of the poor) meaning that many of the variations of it were made out of the necessity to overcome food and money shortage, rather than gourmet projects.

One of the things that I like about Cucina Povera is that a daily reinvention of the dish is already part of the culture behind it. So, following the Cucina Povera spirit, I decided to create my own version of Broccoli Gnocchi.

Broccoli Gnocchi with Cheese sauce

Ingredients for the gnocchi

• 200g (7 Oz) of broccoli
• 3 medium potatoes
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of flour

Directions for the gnocchi

1. Chop the broccoli in pieces and boil or steam until tender,
2. Cut the potatoes in pieces and boil them until tender,
3. Smash the potatoes and let them reach room temperature or slightly above,
4. Pass the broccoli through the food processor or chop it in very small pieces,
5. Save about a spoon of grated broccoli for decoration and mix the rest with the potatoes,
6. Add the egg and the flour, add more flour if needed, but don’t let it become too dry, ideally it should stick to the hand,
7. Put flour on a clean surface and roll the mix to form long and slightly thick pieces,
8. Cut them into small pieces and cook them in abundant boiling water, the Gnocchi are going to sink, but they’ll float as soon as they are ready, collect them from the surface and prepare them to serve.

Ingredients for the sauce

• 1 cup of milk
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 50g (~2 Oz) of grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper

Directions for the sauce

1. Mix well the flour with the cold or room-temperature milk,
2. Add the salt and pepper,
3. Cook it on low flame mixing slowly and constantly until it starts to thicken,
4. Add the grated cheese and mix until it melts and pour over the Gnocchi,
5. Add the extra broccoli you saved for decoration.

Serves: 2/3

The other night, Trudy and I dropped into our local supermarket to pick up a few staples, and while I was in the refrigerated section something really caught my eye. It was a flashy looking new brand of pesto.

Now, I’m a pesto lover from way back, but I’m usually pretty wary of pre-packaged pesto — simply because I’ve had some rather dismal tasting pre-packaged stuff in the past. But the packaging was so slick, and the contents looked so remarkably good that I at least had to look at the ingredient list to see whether it was made to the classic Genoese recipe. (The Italian city of Genoa is where pesto originates, by the way.)

I scanned the ingredients list, and wasn’t disappointed.

Basil. Check.
Garlic. Check.
Extra virgin olive oil. Check.
Parmesan. Check.
Pine nuts. Check.

And there weren’t any bizarre sounding additives or preservatives either — a definite bonus.

At this stage I was getting seriously tempted to just throw the pesto in the cart, but I knew that Trudy would need some convincing first. Like me, she’s very aware that pre-packaged pesto can be very hit or miss. But after showing her the authentic list of ingredients, and pointing out how incredibly tasty it looked, she agreed that it was at least worth giving a try.

Well, the pesto might have contained all the right ingredients and looked glorious, but when we got it home and tossed it through some pasta with shrimp and green beans, it tasted far from glorious. It had a slight vinegary undertone, and the consistency was way too dry (I think this was because they’d skimped on the extra virgin olive oil, and probably the pine nuts as well — both relatively expensive ingredients).

Anyway, the upshot of the evening was that we vowed never to buy pre-packaged pesto again, no matter how flashy the packaging! And besides, we have our own pesto recipe that we both really adore. Yes, it takes a little more work than pulling the top off a package of store-bought pesto, but not that much more.

We don’t take the time-consuming route and use a mortar and pestle to pound the pesto into a paste by hand. We’ve found that the results in a food processor or blender can be excellent, and we actually prefer the slightly more textural consistency of pesto made this way.

And speaking of consistency, we’re definitely not fans of pesto that’s either too oily or too dry. So we’ve found a great trick is to add a little water along with the other ingredients before processing. This gives the pesto a perfect consistency — moist, but not too oily. It also helps the blades process the other ingredients more easily into a paste.

We’ve also found that it’s a good idea not to go overboard with the garlic. Raw garlic is very pungent, and it can easily overwhelm the flavor of the other ingredients in the pesto. Of course, if you’re a bit of a garlic fiend, feel free to add more!

Pesto

Makes roughly 1 cup

• 1 cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
• 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a food processor or blender, combine the basil, Parmesan, pine nuts, garlic, water, salt, and pepper. While you process, slowly pour the olive oil into the mix until all the ingredients turn into a smooth paste (you may have to scrape the sides occasionally). Store in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Serving Ideas: Pesto has a myriad of uses, such as tossed with hot pasta, spread over bruschetta, used as a pizza sauce, stirred into soups just before serving, mixed with mayonnaise to dress salads and sandwiches, used as a filling for baked potatoes, or served as a dip with vegetable crudités.

Variations: Walnuts, pistachios, macadamias, almonds, or cashews can be substituted for the pine nuts.