Recent Recipes
Week 14 - The Cookbook Challenge: Sushi
Comments (16) | Sunday, February 21, 2010
Week 14
Theme: Japanese
Cookbook Used: Japanese Home Cooking
Author: Shunsuke Fukushima
This week I had planned to make sukiyaki beef, but ran out of time. I had time to make sushi, and I had a few critics who helped me eat it all at a picnic on Saturday night.
Disappointed that Woolworths didn't stock sushi rice, Hamsley and I had to take a trip to the nearest Asian grocery shop in Clayton. We ended up having a ball shopping there, finding Japanese iceypoles, as you can see here on twitter. We found the shop keepers so friendly and cheery; as well as all the ingredients we needed nice and cheap.
I have made sushi before, but the 2nd time I made it the rice was super gluggy as I over worked the rice whilst trying to make it cool down. This time, I seasoned it then let it cool down; only stirring it occasionally until it was cold.
I used the rice cooking instructions from Taste.com.au as they were FAR less complicated than the ones in the book. The rice was cooked to perfection, nice and fluffy; not gluggy or too dry.
I made 3 different flavours; vegetarian, chicken and tuna. I cut off the bum ends as they weren't very pretty, and Hamsley and his housemate gobbled them up. Hamsley was unsure if he would like sushi, but after one bite, he was hooked. His house mate had expressed his thoughts on sushi whilst I was rolling it, by saying 'I had sushi once... didn't like it'. We invited him to try my sushi, and he was pleasantly surprised. He stuck around and ate more.
Sushi
Get your hands on:
1 cup sushi rice
1/4 cup sushi vinegar
Your choice of fillings: eg; tuna, chicken, avocado, carrot, omelet, etc..
Japanese mayonnaise
Serve it with:
Wasabi
Soy Sauce
Pickled Ginger
1. Rinse and drain rice 3 times or until water runs clear. Place rice in a strainer. Drain for 10 minutes.
2. Place rice and 1 cup cold water in a saucepan over medium heat. Cover and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, for 12 minutes or until rice has absorbed water. Remove from heat. Stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Transfer to a large ceramic dish. Stir rice with a plastic spatula to break up lumps. Gradually add seasoning while lifting and turning rice every now and then, until the rice is cold.
4. Cut each roll into 6 piece, and serve with soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger.
Rice recipe makes 3 cups.
1. Rinse and drain rice 3 times or until water runs clear. Place rice in a strainer. Drain for 10 minutes.
2. Place rice and 1 cup cold water in a saucepan over medium heat. Cover and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, for 12 minutes or until rice has absorbed water. Remove from heat. Stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Transfer to a large ceramic dish. Stir rice with a plastic spatula to break up lumps. Gradually add seasoning while lifting and turning rice every now and then, until the rice is cold.
3. Place a nori sheet, shiny-side down, on a clean work surface. Use wet hands to spread one-quarter of the rice mixture over half the nori sheet, leaving a 2cm-wide border along the edge closest to you. Arrange your fillings across the centre of the rice.. Roll up firmly to enclose filling. Brush edge of nori with warm water to seal. Repeat with remaining nori, rice, avocado, capsicum, cucumber and carrot. Set rolls aside, seam-side down, for 5 minutes to rest.
Rice recipe makes 3 cups.
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Eating Out: Moka Pot Cafe
Comments (18) | Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The day was the international day of love, Valentine's Day. I always thought it was just a crappy day to sell more flowers, and make all the single people feel like crap. But this year, I decided to embrace it. I bought gifts, cooked dinner, and spent the whole day with Hamsley. We were awake fairly early, even after a late night with Chinese New Year's Eve the night before. Having no bread in the house, we headed out for breakfast; even though we had no idea where we were going. We eventually ended up in Balwyn, at a cute cafe called Moka Pot.
I never saw the appeal of eating breakfast out. Now I can though, but for the people who order toast when they go out for breakfast; I say, "buy a loaf of bread, some of your favorite spread and stay at home!" It's far cheaper for you that way, and you can be all cafe chic at your own place.. buy a coffee machine if you have to!
We were given menus and a nice amount of time to deliberate over what to get. So many delicious choices, I know I'll be back again.
The moka was fantastic. It wasn't bitter at all like you get with some mokas, and it wasn't sweet, it was just creamy and so pleasant to drink.
Ham Benedict - $12.90
Poached eggs with grilled virgina ham on toasted sour dough bread topped with hollandaise sauce.
Hamsley was very impressed with his ham benedict, with it's thick crusty bread; a far more filling serve than at our other favorite breakfast haunt, Brown Sugar Cafe. The bread was nice, the ham was slightly seared, and the poached eggs were perfect and runny.
It is called 'ham benedict' rather than eggs benedict, as they also have salmon benedict on the menu; which is served with, you guessed it; smoked salmon.
Because Hamsley is a good boyfriend, he said my eggs benedict were still better.
Served with strawberries, maple syrup and cream.
For me it was a toss up between the salmon benedict, bircher muesli or the pancakes. I wanted my eggs scrambled, but the menu said no changes to dishes on weekends; so I left that out as an option. Then I decided, I don't have enough pancakes in my diet; so pancakes won this time. We were both wide-eyed and impressed with the size of this serve.
The pancakes were just fantastic. I didn't think I would be able to finish them, and I probably would have even if Hamsley didn't have a few bites so he could taste how fantastic they were.
Flavours from top purple going clock wise:
Blueberry Cheesecake, Mint Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Turkish Delight, Pistachio, Lemon Tart, Salted Caramel, Licorice Chocolate (center)
- Blueberry Cheesecake: I'm pretty sure it was cheesecake. It was amazing however. Creamy with a jam center, no other words to describe it than 'just awesome'.
- Mint Chocolate: My favorite of all the macaron flavours. Had a subtle mint flavour, not over powering and perfect with the chocolate filling.
- Dark Chocolate: Creamy with a distinct bitter dark chocolate flavour.
- Turkish Delight: A light, yet somewhat powerful rose water flavour, but not potpurri-ish like the Lindt Cafe rose flavour. A lovely jelly/jam centre to emulate the Turkish delight.
- Pistachio: Far better than the Lindt pistachio flavour. You can actually taste the pistachio, but also the almond used in the macarons.
- Lemon Tart: Tangy, but not too tart. Perfect and soft.
- Salted Caramel: Sticky and sweet, with a nice deep caramel flavour. The caramel taken to the point just before burning.
- Licorice Chocolate: The aniseed flavour is not over powering. It goes perfectly with the chocolate creamy centre. I was told there was a little bit of Sambucca in this one.
Speaking of macarons, Billy from A Table For Two has a monthly t-shirt in his new shiny online store. There are only 50 units of each t-shirt, hand made and designed by Billy himself. 10% of the profits go to KILT landmine victims in Cambodia. So I couldn't resist buying a funky macaron t-shirt which helps those less fortunate than me. For more information, check out Billy's store here: http://www.atablefortwo.com.au/shop
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Week 13 - The Cookbook Challenge: Penne Alla Vodka
Comments (12) | Monday, February 15, 2010
Week 13
Theme: Love
Cookbook Used: Feast
Author: Nigella Lawson
I've been wanting to recreate a post Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella did about 2 years ago, for quite some time. Being Valentine's day, I wanted to cook instead of being sucked into banquets and other over priced set menus that restaurants were offering. So I thought, "Ah-ha! I'll do the penna alla vodka... but it's not in a cookbook I own." Then I re-read Lorraine's post, and I found it was in a cookbook I owned; alas, the love theme was covered.
I headed to Aldi for the heart pasta, heart biscuits and picked up a chocolate rose whilst I was there.
I own quite a few books by Nigella, but I have previously never had too much success with them. I'm not the only one, Rilsta from My Food Trail also has hesitations when trying a Nigella Lawson recipe.
I did however, enjoy her cocoa-cola cake recipe I tried a few years ago.
This dish was very easy to make. The tomato sauce was pretty much instant. I cooked the onion for just under the time required; but still longer than I usually would cook the onion for. It was deliciously sweet and caramelized, thus meaning I didn't have to add any sugar to the sauce for extra sweetness.
I possibly added a smidge too much vodka, but Hamsley didn't complain. I did end up flaking some smoked ham through the pasta, as my man likes his meat. I'm glad I did, as the smokeyness of the ham cut through the vodka-y taste of the pasta.
It was a lovely dish, and I would definitely make it again.
And since I re-created the full meal; my delicious red-velvet Valentine's day cupcakes:
Penne Alla Vodka
Nigella Lawson
Get your hands on:
1/2 good sized onion
1 tablespoons garlic-infused oil
Salt
410g can chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon double cream
500g Heart pasta or penne rigate or other short, preferably ridged, pasta
65 ml vodka
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Serve it with:
Parmesan for grating over at the table
1. If you are cooking this just before you eat, put the water on to boil before you start the sauce. You will need a big pan, enough to take the pasta and its sauce later.
2. Finely chop the onion, either by hand or in a processor. In a large pan, heat the garlic oil and add the finely chopped onion and a good sprinkling of salt. Cook the onion fairly gently for about 15 minutes without letting it catch and burn, which just means giving it a stir every now and again. It should be very soft and just beginning to caramelize.
3. Tip in the can of chopped tomatoes and continue cooking over a gentle heat, simmering for another 15-20 minutes. If you’re cooking this ahead, and I always do, stop here.
4. Reheat the almost finished tomatoes (or just continue as you were if you’re making this in one unbroken fluid movement), stir in the double cream and take the pan off the heat. When the water for the pasta comes to the boil add a good measure of salt and tip in the penne. Set a timer for 3-4 minutes less than the packet instructions for cooking it, as you want to make sure it’s cooked al dente and will need to start tasting early.
5. Drain the cooked pasta, tip it back in the pan and pour over the vodka, add the butter and some more salt. Turn the penne in the vodka and melting butter and then tip it into the tomato sauce unless it is easier to pour the tomato sauce over the pasta: it depends on the sizes of the pans you are using.
6. Toss the pasta in the sauce until it is evenly coated and turn out into a large, warmed bowl. Put it on the table along with a block of Parmesan and a grater.
Serves 4-5.
2. Finely chop the onion, either by hand or in a processor. In a large pan, heat the garlic oil and add the finely chopped onion and a good sprinkling of salt. Cook the onion fairly gently for about 15 minutes without letting it catch and burn, which just means giving it a stir every now and again. It should be very soft and just beginning to caramelize.
3. Tip in the can of chopped tomatoes and continue cooking over a gentle heat, simmering for another 15-20 minutes. If you’re cooking this ahead, and I always do, stop here.
4. Reheat the almost finished tomatoes (or just continue as you were if you’re making this in one unbroken fluid movement), stir in the double cream and take the pan off the heat. When the water for the pasta comes to the boil add a good measure of salt and tip in the penne. Set a timer for 3-4 minutes less than the packet instructions for cooking it, as you want to make sure it’s cooked al dente and will need to start tasting early.
5. Drain the cooked pasta, tip it back in the pan and pour over the vodka, add the butter and some more salt. Turn the penne in the vodka and melting butter and then tip it into the tomato sauce unless it is easier to pour the tomato sauce over the pasta: it depends on the sizes of the pans you are using.
6. Toss the pasta in the sauce until it is evenly coated and turn out into a large, warmed bowl. Put it on the table along with a block of Parmesan and a grater.
Serves 4-5.
We both did well in the present department.Hamsley received a video game he had been wanting for quite some time, as well as some cliche chocolates in a heart shaped box to eat whilst he games away.
I received a shiny new necklace; which I love! As well as Calvin Harris' new album which I've been wanting for while.
Hope you all had a lovely Valentine's day whether you are in a relationship, or celebrating being single and fabulous!
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