Weekend Herb Blogging #102

Ulrike from Kuchenlatein is the host of this edition of Weekend Herb Blogging and once again I've been tempted by something new at the market.



These rather unusually coloured citrus I spied at the Turin Market immediately got my attention and I knew I just had to try them. Some of there eaten but some have made the journey with me to Florence.

Unfortunately I can't give you an exact name as yet as I've seen them referred to as various things but they are clementine like - there's some acid to cut the sweetness, a bit like a lemony orange. On a warm day, they are very refreshing.

I can now give you a name - they are Miyagawa and they originally come from Japan but are now grown in Sicily.






The Florence market has been full of wonderful fruit so I thought why not make an Italian style fruit salad - Macedonia di Frutta using these refreshing citrus fruits with the best of the days market finds.



Macedonia di Frutta/Marinated Fruit Salad

strawberries, halved
raspberries, hulled and left whole
wild strawberries, left whole
peaches, diced in bite sized pieces
white grapes, halved
fig, cut into bite sized pieces
silician citrus, peeled and cut into half, then broken into segments
melon, cut into small dice
fruit juice, I used a mix of apple and pear
Prosecco, sparkling white wine

Naturally enough you can use whatever fruit you like - this is just what I used. Try to cut the fruit into even-sized pieces

Place all the cut fruit into a sealable bowl then pour in the fruit juice and Prosecco - use enough to just cover the fruit. Make sure you taste and adjust the proportions to suit you.

Chill in the fridge to allow the fruit to macerate.

You can serve this with ice-cream, cream or yoghurt but when in Italy, use gelato!



In this case it's a lovely Fior di Latte Gelato from a local Gelateria (in case you're wondering the dark one is Nocciola, a hazelnut gelato)



Tagged with Weekend Herb Blogging

Pici with Fresh Porcini and Pecorino

This edition of Presto Pasta Night sees me back cooking "live" so to speak, it's just that my location has changed and I am now in Florence.

Yesterday it basically rained all the way from Turin to Florence and it was still raining when I went to the market this morning.

I'll be combining the rather wintery conditions with typical produce of the region to produce a dish fit for not only the weary traveller but anyone at all.

One of the first things I bought this morning was fresh Porcini



the rain just said mushroom weather to me.

From my last visit I knew there's a stall that makes fresh pasta so why not take advantage of that fact



Here they are busy preparing the pasta for the day.



The pasta I've chosen is called Pici



Pici are a Tuscan pasta that you can see are somewhat like a course and thick spaghetti.

To keep in the Tuscan spirit the cheese I'm using is a Pecorino



that hails from the Tuscan town of Arezzo.

Putting all these ingredients together I get this



Pici with Fresh Porcini and Pecorino

fresh Pici
fresh porcini, cleaned and sliced
fresh thyme leaves
red onion, sliced finely
1 garlic clove, sliced finely
pecorino, roughly grated
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat a little butter and olive oil in a pan and when the butter has melted add the onion and garlic and cook gently until softened and beginning to colour.

Add a little more butter followed by the sliced porcini and sauté until soft and golden, sprinkle over with the fresh thyme and a some rough sliced slivers of pecorino.

Allow the cheese to melt before adding the cooked pasta, along with a grind of salt and white pepper. Toss this around to allow the pasta to soak in all the pan juices before serving into bowls.

Sprinkle over with a little more pecorino and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Giardiniera

Johanna from The Passionate Cook is hosting this edition of Waiter, There's something in My... and selected the theme of Savoury Preserve.

As I would be in Italy by the time this event finishes I've decided to think ahead and make that ultimate Italian Pickle - Giardiniera.



Giardiniera is a staple on antipasto platters - a mix of vegetables preserved in a vinegar based liquid. Its aim is to preserve vegetables at the peak of their season, the crunch in the vegetables a nod to their freshness.

There's no hard and fast ingredient list but you normally find things such as cauliflower, onion, carrot, beans and peas, red capsicum, celery and zucchini to name but a few. The preserving liquid is basically made from 2 parts white wine vinegar to 1 part water to which sugar and salt are added to create a balanced brew. Seasoning such as peppercorns and bay leaf are also used.

The best part is that its pretty much read to eat once you've made it.

Giardiniera

1 fennel, sliced

1 red capsicum, sliced

4 small white onions, cut into eights

2 carrots, peeled and cut at the diagonal

2 celery stalks, cut at the diagonal

½ cauliflower, cut into even sized florets

2 parts white wine vinegar

1 part water

sugar

salt

peppercorns

Place the white wine vinegar and water into a large pot and heat it. Add sugar and salt and stir until it dissolves - taste and then adjust the seasoning levels.

Once you have prepared the vegetables add them into the liquid according to their cooking time - the harder vegetables go in first, the softest go in last. Simmer until they have softened slightly but still retain a bit of crunch.

When they are ready pour into preserving jars and seal.

They should keep in a cool spot or you could eat them once they have cooled completely.

In case this recipe isn't authentic enough then here's a photo taken yesterdy of real Italian pickles at Eataly in Turin

That's not excessive

It's only one a day!

Sugar High Friday #35

Ivonne from Cream Puffs in Venice is the host of this edition of Sugar High Friday and the theme selected was Figs.

It's not really fig season here at the moment so this is a perfect opportunity to take advantage of dried figs. By the time this posts I will be in Italy so I thought I'd make something with an Italian spin to it.

I dare say we will have nibbled on some biscotti by now, so I'll be baking a batch of Fig Biscotti - the recipe comes from Jared Ingersoll's Sharing Plates.



Fig Biscotti
[Makes over 40]

500 grams plain flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
165 grams softened butter
200 grams caster sugar
2 eggs
165 grams dried figs, chopped (I used these Organic White Turkish figs)
1 tablespoon honey
1 lemon, zested
1 orange, zested

Beat the butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy. Beat in the honey and then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until well combined.

Sift the flour with the baking powder and add to the creamed mixture along with the figs, lemon and orange zests. It may look like it is too dry but keep stirring as it will amalgamate.

Once the mixture has come together, turn it out onto a board - divide into two and roll each half to form a flattened sausage shape about 20cm/8 inches long.

Place on a baking tray and brush with a little milk. Bake in a preheated 170°C/325°F oven for about 20 minutes or until the surface is golden.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack. Then cut using a serrated knife into 1cm/½ inch thick slices.

Put the slices back onto the baking tray and cook for 5 minutes before turning them over and cooking for another 5 minutes or until golden and dry.

Cool on wire racks.



Enjoy with a good espresso, "corrected" with a little grappa if the mood strikes you.

Other fig recipes:
Fig Walnut and Date Bread
Muesli Bars
Black Genoa Figs with Buffalo Mozzarella
Fruitmince

Tagged with Sugar High Friday

Castagnaccio

Myriam, that brownie babe extraordinaire from Once Upon a Tart is the lovely host of this edition of Weekend Herb Blogging.

This is one of those posts I prepared before I left and as I am in Italy I thought I would do something typically Italian.



Chestnut Flour is something my mother grew up with as her family harvested and milled the chestnuts. It is quite a laborious process and the chestnuts spindly coating making it potential painful as well.



This brown tinged flour has a distinctive sweet, nutty aroma but you need to careful with its storage - keep it in an airtight container in a cool place like the fridge. To have it at its optimum, buy it in small quantities.

For those with gluten intolerance you'd be happy to know that this is gluten free.

One of the main dishes made with this is Castagnaccio and when I asked my mother about it, she really couldn't understand why I'd want to make it. She had it almost every day growing up in Italy, which understandably explains why she has never made it here in Australia.

The version made by her family was rather plain and lacking the raisins, pinenuts and rosemary that you see in many "traditional" versions but it was served with their home-made ricotta and honey.

So for this version I've kinda mashed the recipes together and created my own version.

Instead of rosemary leaves, I've used the rather delicate and beautiful rosemary flowers.



I wanted something a bit more subtle and Rosemary is anything but subtle - the flowers on the other hand give you just that hint of flavour in a rather delicate mauve package.



I've also replaced the pinenuts with slivered almonds and as our raisins are quite large, currants take their place.



Castagnaccio

chestnut flour, sifted
cold water
olive oil
slivered almonds
currants
rosemary flowers
good ricotta cheese
honey (I used Heritage Natural Comb Leatherwood Honey)

I'm not giving exact measurements as this dish doesn't have any - it's done by feel.

Sift flour into a bowl and then whisk in enough cold water to form a smooth batter - we are looking for it to achieve the consistency of runny cream.

Take an oven dish and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the dish. Pour in the batter - you only want it to be 1-1½ cms (½ inch) thick.

Sprinkle over with some slivered almonds and currants and then finely with the rosemary flowers.

Bake in a preheated 180°C/350°F oven until cooked (the time will depend on the size) - the top will have a crackled appearance when done.



Turn out and cut into wedges - eat when hot or warm, topped with ricotta cheese and a good dollop of honey.

Maybe this version will tempt my mother?

Presto Pasta Night #30

By now you might have twigged that I'm in Italy but I haven't forgotten about Presto Pasta Night and as they seem to say on all the cooking shows, here's something I prepared earlier.

I think it's only appropriate that I make something typically Italian...but with a little twist.

Last year I posted my Gnocchi making secrets and rather than just repeat the exercise I thought I'd use those same principles but applied to a different type of potato. In this case I've chosen the highly distinctive Purple Congo.



I am an avowed potato lover and though this is a gorgeous potato, I find it mealy and altogether a rather less than inspiring potato when used in dishes like salads. If looks matter more than taste, then this is for you.

Having said that, there was one thing I hadn't used it for and that was to make gnocchi - but that was until now.

Purple Congo Gnocchi

purple congo potatoes, choose those of a similar size to even out cooking time
plain flour
salt

First off, wash the potatoes and then boil then whole until they are tender. You boil them whole so that they don't absorb the water and become soggy and boiling these potato fingers is quite a quick process.

Drain and then peel them - this should be done while there's still heat in the potato so don't wait for the potatoes to become cold.



With the skin off you can see just how purple they really are - the colour does go right through.

Once peeled, put them through a potato ricer - this is really one tool you need to get that soft and fluffy result. If you don't have a ricer, try mashing them by hand but never ever put them in a food processor, you'll end up with potato glue.



Yes, they do look a bit like purple Plasticine but that really is the potato.

Tip the potatoes out onto a board and grind over with some salt. I have read on occasion that people don't add salt but for me that makes no sense. Just like pasta dough, salt is essential to bring out the flavour.

The next part is the addition of flour and I make no apologies for this, but these gnocchi are egg free. In the earlier post I listed a rough guide of using at most 175 grams of flour for every 500 grams of potato. I found it very interesting that I used considerably less flour to make this dough.

The method is to use just enough flour to form a dough that is no longer sticky.

I then take portions of the dough and roll it out to form sausage shapes about the thickness of my ring finger. Once I've made all theses rolls, it's time to cut them into gnocchi.

Once again I prefer my gnocchi to be small, probably about the size of a fingernail - they need to fit easily on the tines of a fork, which is useful when it comes to the formation of that traditional ridging.

Take your fork and rest the tines onto your bench - hold it at a slight angle with the curve of the fork facing the gnocchi. The fork position is shown in the photo below.



Place a gnoccho at the base of the fork and then very gently roll it along the tines - you'll find that your fingertip will cause an indentation on one side and the tines will form the ridges on the other. This is a really quick process and you don't need to apply pressure to do this - if you do then you've probably got quite a floury mix that isn't going to give you that light result.

Once all the gnocchi have been formed, it's time to cook them!

As with all pasta, a large pot of boiling salted water is needed. When the water is rapidly boiling add in the gnocchi, stir and allow to cook. They will rise to the surface when cooked. Drain and toss them through the sauce and serve immediately.



For a sauce for these most colourful gnocchi I thought I needed something equally strong in colour. So I came up with a simple mix of onion, pancetta lardons and peas - those green orbs look so striking against the purple.



A fine grating of Parmigiano-Reggiano the final touch.

Tagged with Pasta

On Route

While not currently in the air we soon will be.

It’s been a long couple of days so far - Sunday started at 4am with a trip to the airport and we didn’t reach our midway destination until 7pm.

Actually it was even longer than that.

Since we needed to leave at 4am we never went to sleep Saturday night - so we’d been up and about since 7am Saturday morning!

Today we have a 12+hour flight which will be followed by an overnight train and come Tuesday morning we still won’t be at our final destination.

That will take another two hours or so by train.

Now, what will all this travelling mean to this blog. Well I have things scheduled to appear here but I’ll also be blogging at our other spots

Eat - will have our day to day travels and the Moblog for those instant happenings.

We have some really interesting events scheduled over the weekend so there should be plenty to see and read.

Hopefully by Wednesday we'll be nicely settled.

Weekend Herb Blogging #100

Katerina from Daily Unadventures in Cooking is the host of this 100th edition of Weekend Herb Blogging.

This week I've got another unusual subject



Is it some type of baseball mitt?



A misshapen hand of some sort?



Of course it is neither, it is a Japanese variety of fungus called snow cap mushroom.

The aren't all as interestingly shaped as these - they can in fact be almost saucer like in shape, such as this one



What attracted me to these mushrooms besides their appearance was their description - they taste like lobster. You slice them finely and cook them in butter for about 30 seconds, just brown each side and that's it - you treat them in the same way you would abalone.

So armed with one I headed home to try it out for myself. As this was just a test I only sliced a quarter of the mushroom, browned it in the butter and a word of advice, 30 seconds means 30 seconds. As soon as one side is brown, flip it over and that's basically it.

Eagerly I tasted a slice and yes, indeed, while not exactly like lobster, it did have the consistency and a taste that was lobster-like. Needless to say those testing slices disappeared very quickly and a few other snow caps have passed through my hands since then.

For this week's recipe, the snow caps do cry out for a simple solution. You don't want to bury them with sauces or other strong flavours - what you want is to enhance their flavour and make them the star of your dish.

So I've come up with a rather indulgent brunch or breakfast idea - a generous serving of sautéed slices of snow cap atop a good, crusty whole-grain baguette with a soft poached egg to crown its glory.



Sautéed Snow Caps with Poached Egg

snow cap mushroom, finely sliced
butter
whole-grain petit pain, partially split in half
soft poached eggs>

I love soft poached eggs but I understand that some can't stand them and in some places it isn't safe to have runny yolks. However, I must say that the yolk works so well with the slices of mushroom - they become pseudo toast soldiers soaking up that eggy goodness.

Petit Pain, the small French bread rolls are an excellent size for this dish. Cut them lengthways at a slight angle stopping before you cut straight through the roll. Pry it open to create a nest in while you can pile the sautéed snow cap slices.

In cooking the mushrooms be generous with the butter as it will be left in the skillet but you do need a good quantity in which to sauté the slices.

Once the butter has melted and is sizzling add the slices in a single layer - when you see that they are starting to colour, flip them over to brown the other side and then remove them immediately. Don't be tempted to cook them for any longer.

Pile the slices into the bread and top with the just poached egg.



My favourite part is jabbing the egg and watching the yolk spill out...



You could serve the mushrooms on scrambled eggs if preferred.

Before you ask, for those in Melbourne, if you hurry you can find these at Damian Pike's stall at Prahran Market.

Related Recipes

Sautéed Mushrooms with Wasabi
Slippery Jack Omelette
Roasted Swiss Brown Mushrooms with Chèvre and Lemon Thyme
Fettucine with Mixed Mushrooms
Mixed Mushroom and Goat Cheese Bruschetta

Presto Pasta Night #29

For this week's Presto Pasta Night I'm taking it real slow and making lasagne.

At the heart of a good lasagne is the Ragù - the rich, slow-simmered meat sauce that provides a counter to the creamy Béchamel sauce.

Growing up, making ragù was a Sunday morning ritual. After my mother returned from the early mass, we would set the process in motion. Onions, carrots, celery had to be finely chopped - parsley, sage and rosemary picked from the garden.

There are several steps that are vital to the success of the ragu - first you must allow the vegetable base to cook down - the vegetables must soften slowly and be allowed to gently colour. This takes time - a good 20 to 30 minutes.

Next you must brown the minced meat in this vegetable base - add the meat in stages so that it sautés rather than stews. The colour you build on the meat in this stage will reward you at the end with a greater depth of flavour.

Finally, once the tomatoes have been added, it's then becomes a question of time. Cook it slowly and cook it for a long time. Our Sunday morning ritual was so designed that the last hour of cooking happened while we were at the 11am mass. On return all that was left to do was put on the pasta.



Lasagne

pasta sheets
béchamel sauce
baby Bocconcini (mozzarella balls)
grated Parmigiano
sautéed mushrooms (optional)

Ragù
500 grams minced beef
4 Italian pork sausages, peeled and cut into pieces
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
fresh rosemary, finely chopped
fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
tomato paste
diced tomatoes
dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in boiling water
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Make the Ragù:

Place olive oil and a knob of butter into a large pot over a medium-low heat and when the butter has melted and has started to sizzle add the onion, carrot, celery, sage and rosemary. Stir this well and allow to cook slowly until the vegetables soften and start to colour. As I mentioned before, don't rush this stage and allow it 20-30 minutes to get to the right stage.

Add the minced meat a little at a time, increase the heat slightly to make sure the mixture doesn't stew. You need to keep stirring and breaking down the meat so that it evenly colours and no lumps remain. Once one portion has browned add the next. Then end result should be quite a dry mixture.

Now add the sausage pieces a few at a time - stir this well but don't be as rough, allow this to stay a little chunky.

When all the sausage has been added it's time to build the tomato base.

Add tomato paste to the mix, increase the heat a little and stir it vigourously through the mixture. You need to cook the raw taste from the paste so give this 5 minutes before moving onto the next stage. You should notice a change of appearance in the paste, it will darken and almost look like it has split.

When that happens, add in the diced tomatoes. For this amount 1-2 cans should be sufficient. I always use Italian tomatoes as none come close to them in quality - they have great flavour and ripeness. You could also replace one of the cans with tomato passata if so desired.

For special occasions, my mother would add porcini mushrooms. Dried porcini need to be softened in boiling water for about 30 minutes - strain, but reserve the liquid.

Chop the porcini roughly and add to the mixture along with the reserved liquid - the liquid gives the sauce a deeper colour and added porcini flavour. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Simmer the mixture for about 30 minutes then turn the heat down low so it barely bubbles and cook for another 1½-2 hours. Add the chopped parsley just before it's finished cooking.

If you don't want to cook this on the stovetop, you can also cook it in the oven for a similar amount of time. Keep an eye on it as it does tend to dry out a little quicker in the oven so you'll need to add liquid to keep it moist.

One of the best things about Lasagne is that you can make large quantities easily and it freezes so well. Rather than OD on lasagne I make some to have fresh and I put the rest away in these nifty foil containers.



The first layer of lasagne is Ragu - add it sparingly, it is used to moisten the base of your dish. This is then followed by a pasta sheet. If you are using dry then under-cook them so that they aren't al dente - the pasta will finish cooking when you bake the dish.

Add more ragu topped with béchamel sauce.

As a little treat I've then added some sautéed mushrooms.



The pattern repeats - pasta, ragu, béchamel and ripped bocconcini



The final layer goes on - pasta, ragu, béchamel and a sprinkling of Parmigiano-Reggiano and grated Mozzarella. If you are freezing the lasagne, then omit the cheese - add it fresh when you cook the lasagne.



Sealed away, perfect for those lazy days.

Tagged with Pasta

Tea - Triple Happiness

It's been a while between teas so I thought it might be a good time to change that.



This is called Triple Happiness and it refers to the three flowers, Marigold, Lily and Jasmine that lay hidden inside this parcel of green tea.



This tea is said to have calming and relaxing effects and helps boost your immune system and detoxifies the body.


Related Posts:
Chinese Flower Tea
Good Fortune
Jasmine Pearls
Seashell with Pearls
Seven Angels
Spring Snow
Tian Shan Lotus


Tagged with Tea

Super Soup Challenge

Super Soup Challenge is an annual event created by Tami from Running with Tweezers to honour her mother's life and love of cooking.

Lately the soups I've made have been very simply structured with many extraneous ingredients omitted to allow the main ingredient to be the focus. In keeping with that, I've turned my attention towards cauliflower and put a different spin of the standard Cauliflower and Blue Cheese Soup.

In many ways what I've made is a soup version of Cauliflower and Béchamel Sauce and as a final touch I've frothed it up to give it almost "cappuccino" like consistency. It's creamy, it's soothing and it's comforting.



Cauliflower and Blue Cheese Soup

cauliflower, cut into florets
milk
blue cheese, broken into small pieces (I used Maffra Glenmaggie Blue)
freshly ground salt and white pepper, to taste

Put the cauliflower florets into a pot and cover with milk - place on a low heat and allow to gently simmer until the cauliflower has softened.

When you can mash the cauliflower with a fork, remove the heat. Pour into a blender (or use a stick blender) to process the soup until smooth.

Strain the soup through a fine mesh sieve back into a clean pan. Return to the heat and add a few pieces of blue cheese at a time to the soup. Add as much or as little of the blue cheese as you like. If you don't like blue cheese, try using a Grana or Parmigiano.

When the cheese has melted into the soup, it is ready to serve. Do taste and if necessary, add salt and pepper - depending on the cheese used, you may find you don't need to add any additional seasoning.

Just before serving, froth the soup using a stick blender to create that light and fluffy top.



I've served the soup in little hug bowls so you can happily wrap your hands around the bowl and sip to your hearts content.

Tagged with Soup

Cheese: Maffra Cheese Company

Maffra Cheese Company is located in Gippsland, an area here in Victoria that is well known for its Cheese producers just as Jindi and Tarago River.

The cheese is made using only the milk from their herd of Holstein Friesian cows - this classes them as a farmhouse producer. Non animal rennets are also used.

Cheese Maker: Maffra Cheese Company
Cheese Name: Maffra Glenmaggie Blue
The dairy is not open to the public but contact information and details on where you can buy the cheese can be found on their website.

This is the Maffra Glenmaggie Blue named after Lake Glenmaggie that is located nearby. It's made in a "Stilton style".

While it looks quite fierce it has a creamy texture that offsets its sharp bite. As it ages it will break down and more sweeter flavours will emerge.

I wouldn't recommend it for the bluecheeseaphobics, solely based on its appearance but if Blue Cheese is your thing, then do give this a try.

Weekend Herb Blogging #99

Katie from Thyme for Cooking is our host for this edition of Weekend Herb Blogging.

Though I'm forsaking the liver and a nice chianti I am taking a closer look at Fava Beans or as they are also known, Broad Beans



Broad beans are one of those vegetables that seem to suffer the curse of being overcooked. The key to their enjoyment is a two step process. First, briefly blanch the podded beans in boiling water - between 10 seconds and 30 seconds will be more than enough.

Drain them immediately and then peel away the thick outer skin to reveal the tender deep green beans. It is fiddly but well worth the effort as soon as you taste that sweet hidden jewel.

Unfortunately people will still boil the beans until that outer skin is tender, a process that destroys the character of the bean.

When you take a close look at that outer skin you can see just how thick it is - why would you want to eat it?



So if you are like Paalo and thought they didn't like broad beans then perhaps you too will be converted when they are cooked in this manner.

Today's recipe is all about enjoying the fresh taste of broad beans and I am teaming them with another favourite, peas. As it's now spring here, the peas are really coming into season and also need the barest of cooking to experience them at their best.

Presented as a topping for bruschetta, the combination of smashed broad beans and peas combined with fresh goat's curd, just screams freshness.




Broad Bean, Pea and Goat Cheese Bruschetta

freshly podded broad beans
freshly podded peas
fresh goats curd
freshly ground salt and white pepper
ciabatta bread, sliced thickly
olive oil
garlic clove, peeled

Put a pot of water onto boil and when boiling add the broad beans. Blanch for less than a minute - if your beans are on the small size then cut down the time to 30 seconds. Use a spider to remove the beans from the pot. You can then add the peas and boil them for a minute - drain them immediately.

Now the boring bit begins - pop the broad beans from their skin.

Put half the podded broad beans and half the peas into a mortar, grind over with a little salt and white pepper and pound until roughly crushed. Add enough fresh goats curd to form a sticky paste then add the remaining peas and broad beans - fold through until just combined.

Cut the Ciabatta into thick slices, brush with a little olive oil and cook over a hot grill. When one side has developed ridge marks, flip over and repeat with the other side.

Rub one side of the hot bread with the garlic clove - this gives it a lovely delicate hint of garlic. Top with a good mound of beans and serve immediately.




Tagged with Weekend Herb Blogging

Presto Pasta Night #28

For this edition of Presto Pasta Night, I'm taking a more leisurely approach and making meatballs.

I know my method will probably be at odds with the meatball traditionalists but this is how I like them and it works to produce a moist meatball. One of the most important parts in to have a very rich tomato based sauce that has slowly cooked to develop its flavour.



Fettucine con Polpette/Fettucine with Meatballs

For the meatballs:
lean beef, diced and minced
finely grated Pastorello (you can use Parmigiano-Reggiano, Grana or Pecorino)
fresh rosemary, finely chopped
freshly ground salt and white pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
breadcrumbs

For the sauce:
2 red onions, finely sliced
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
fresh rosemary, finely chopped
tomato paste
Italian canned diced tomatoes (use fresh only if in reason and ripe)

Make the meatballs:

I tend to mince my own rather than buy it minced. I use one of my favourite cuts of beef called Girello (or silverside). It's a very lean meat so it can dry out when cooked.

To my minced girello I add some finely grated Pastorello and a little finely chopped fresh rosemary - rosemary is quite a pungent herb so a little does go a long way. Next is a good grinding of salt and pepper followed by the lightly beaten egg.

Now you mix this all together and nothing does this better than your hands. It's the only way I've found that really allows you to work the proteins of the meat and allows you to feel them transition. It's going to be a bit sloppy at this stage so add a little breadcrumbs and continue mixing until it forms sticky but homogeneous mass.

It's not just a matter of pinch walnut sized pieces of the mixture and rolling them into balls. I prefer the meatballs to be a touch on the smaller size.

This next step is probably where the eyebrows will raise. Once I've formed all the meatballs I them dust them in the really fine coating of breadcrumbs. Perhaps it is because I am using a very lean meat but I find that this coating protects the meat from drying out and becoming just hard lumps.



The best way I've found to dust the meatballs is to place a little breadcrumbs into a spherical pan, add some of the meatballs and then jiggle the pan, the meatballs will follow the curve, picking up just the finest coating of crumbs. Best of all you don't need to over-handle them.

Set them aside while you make the sauce.

Make the tomato sauce:

Heat olive oil and a small knob of butter in a large pan and when the butter has melted and the mix is sizzling add the vegetables and rosemary. Sauté this until golden over a medium-low heat, stirring often to prevent the mixture from burning. This will take a good 15-20 minutes.

Add a spoonful of tomato paste and stir this through - cook it out for a couple of minutes before adding the tomatoes. Keep the pan on a simmer and allow this to cook for 30 minutes. During this time you want the mixture to lose some of its liquid and the sauce to begin to darken and reduce.

Cook the meatballs:

Pour a little oil in a frypan and place over a medium heat. When the mixture is hot add the meatballs, a few at a time, being careful not to overfill the pan. At this stage, I am looking to just colour the meatballs - they will finish cooking in the sauce. Once the meatballs have coloured, remove them to a plate and finish cooking the remainders.

When all the meatballs have cooked add these to the sauce - stir them through well ensuring that they are well coated with the sauce. If it seems a little dry you can add a touch of water.

Let this simmer away for another 20 minutes - this will allow the meatballs to absorb all those lovely juices and flavours of the sauce and will produce a moist and tender meatball.



I've served these with fettucine and rather than using Parmigiano I've kept the flavours consistent and used the Pastorello.

Tagged with Pasta

Heritage Honey

During my meanderings around Prahran Market I've come upon many interesting things and this is latest find is no different.

Much like Miellerie, Heritage Honey also hails from Tasmania but it is based in the Lenah Valley, south of Hobart. Only in operation since 2003, they now have 240 hives and are Tasmania's only certified organic honey producer.



The honey I'm looking at today is their natural comb Leatherwood.



On lifting the lid, there's that unmistakable aroma of Leatherwood, there's a certain spiciness in its scent.



The honeycomb is quite fine and surprisingly delicate and when eaten along with the honey adds a creaminess to its mouth feel. It's certainly not the indigestible element that some may lead you to believe.

What did surprise me is how clear the honey is - what I'm used to with Leatherwood is a cloudy quasi-white coloured appearance. Perhaps that is a reaction to the filtering process.

It's a most interesting honey and certainly would be a talking point over breakfast - served on toasted fruit bread it's hard to beat.



Tagged with Honey

Cheese: Donnybrook Farmhouse

One of the great things about the recent Australian Specialist Cheese Show was finding new cheese makers and getting to taste their wares.

Donnybrook Farmhouse are very much a family concern making traditional style cheese using the milk from their own herd. They produce quite a large range from Brie to Pecorino as well as yoghurt and butter.

For this post I'll be looking at their Pastorello

Cheese: Donnybrook Pastorello
Location: 915 Donnybrook Road, Donnybrook
Open: Tues-Sun 8am-5pm (Closed Mondays and Public Holidays)

Pastorello is a blend of cow and ewes milk. Covered in a brown skin the cheese is full flavoured with a distinct nutty taste, very much in the vein of cooked cheese such as Parmesan.

It grates fairly easily and tends to split into thick shards when sliced - sprinkle it over your pasta or enjoy it on a hunk of crusty bread.

Tagged with Cheese

Darkest Dark Chocolate Brownies

It's due to a bit of misfortune that I was able to make these brownies. You see, the lovely Myriam from the equally lovely, Once Upon a Tart who hosts this event came down with the flu and so had to extend the closing date.

The inspiration for this brownie comes from this chocolate from local chocolatier Monsieur Truffe

This is 100% Venezuela and it is not as Paalo thought when he mistakenly took a nibble, just referring to the fact that it is 100% single origin, it is in fact 100% cocoa mass - there are no added sugars or cocoa butter. Yes, it was quite a surprise as he tasted it, though its dark matt form might have given him a clue

So with this rather bitter chocolate in my possession I sort to make the ultimate adult brownie, something devilishly dark and more suited to small bites that will accompany the luscious sweetness of an well aged Tokay or Muscat.

I've adapted a really nice brownie recipe found in Jared Ingersoll's Sharing Plates

Darkest Dark Chocolate Brownies

[Makes about 10-12 brownie cupcakes]

50 grams melted butter

90 grams caster sugar

75 grams Dark Chocolate (I used 70% Lindt)

1 egg

40 grams plain flour

25 grams Dutch process cocoa

90 grams Macadamia nuts, roasted and then quartered (substitute halved roasted Hazelnuts)

100 grams 100% Venezuela Chocolate, broken into squares

Place the butter in a small pot and melt over a low heat, add the sugar and allow this to dissolve, remove from the heat. Add the dark chocolate and stir well - the chocolate should melt in the residual heat. Set this aside to cool slightly.

Sift the cocoa and the plain flour together into a bowl.

Lightly whisk the egg and add to the flour mixture - stir it through before adding the cooled butter mix. Add the chopped Macadamia nuts and squares of Venezuela Chocolate and mix until it is just combined.

It is going to be quite a chunky mix but what I want are large hits of that pure chocolate through the brownie countered by generous pieces of Macadamia.

Scoop out into cupcake cases - you could bake this as one regular rectangular brownie.

Bake in a °170C/340°F oven for about 15-20 minutes - it will depend on the size you make, so do keep an eye on them.

Let the brownies cool completely before removing them from their cases.

Now, for a special treat because Myriam is such a sweetheart, I made this heart of brownie darkness in honour of her

Weekend Herb Blogging #98

Weekend Herb Blogging is hosted this week by its founder Kalyn and each week it gets more exciting as we approach the 2 year celebration. If you have any ideas on how we should mark this milestone do let Kalyn know.

This week my focus is on Barberries



Barberries (also known as Zereshk) are the fruit of the Barberry Bush which originally grew in Europe, North Africa and Asia. When dried, they produce these deep red and tangy (almost lemony) berries. They are very similar in size and appearance to currants.



Unfortunately the plants presence in Europe is almost non-existent as it harbours a rust that devastates wheat crops. The Spanish famines of the 10th Century have been blamed on the barberry bush. These days its use is mainly confined to Middle Eastern cuisine.

Barberries are high in pectin so they make excellent jams and jellies - old English recipes refer to them as pipperages. They also contain more Vitamin C than oranges.

I'll be using one other unusual ingredient, Amaranth Grain.



Although it is called Amaranth Grain it is a pseudo-grain (much like Quinoa) as neither are true cereal grains. What must be welcome news for Celiacs, Amaranth Grain is Gluten Free.



The grains are quite tiny, similar in size to poppy seeds and when cooked have a slight nutty taste. They are a good source of fibre and protein and contain Vitamins B1 and C as well as Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Niacin, Phosphorus and Riboflavin.

This dish I've made certainly ended up in a place I had not imagined and it's a lesson that you should never really have preconceived ideas of how food should be used and that you should always be open to different possibilities.

My idea started with the barberries and the Persian dish of Jewelled Rice and as I had just purchased amaranth I thought it might be interesting to substitute it for the rice.

From what I can gather, Jewelled rice is a mix of Basmati rice, various dried fruits and nuts (barberries are always present) and saffron and it is usually served alongside meat dishes.

So what I had imagined would be something suited to savoury dishes ended up in the course of cooking, into something totally different.



Jewelled Amaranth

amaranth grain
dried apricots, cut into small dice
currants
slivered almonds
slivered pistachios
fresh dates, cut into small dice
barberries
pomegranate molasses

You must cook the amaranth before you can eat it and it's best to follow the directions on the packet. For this particular amaranth use 2½ parts water to 1 part amaranth.

Place the water and amaranth into a pot and bring to the boil - it needs to cook for a good 15-20 minutes until the water has absorbed and the grain has softened.

In relation to the dried fruit and nuts I tended to keep in the spirit of the original dish. It's important that the larger fruit is cut into a small dice, similar in size to the barberries. I haven't given exact measures as I feel this is something you need to add to taste.

Once the amaranth is cooked remove it from the pot - put the pot back on the heat and add a small knob of butter. When the butter has melted add back the amaranth and the prepared fruit and nuts and toss through. Cook over a gentle heat just long enough to allow the fruit and nuts to warm through - this will also allow the barberries to plump up from any remaining moisture in the dish.

Stir through a little Pomegranate Molasses and cook for a minute more before removing it from the heat. Once again I used Pomegranate Molasses as I feel its taste is very much in keeping with the nature of the dish.



This is a close up of the finished dish - the amaranth grains look almost caviar-like and the barberries positively glow crimson against them.

It's only on tasting that I discovered that this wasn't a savoury dish - Paalo described it as "like Bircher Muesli".

When warm the grain has a creamy feel in the mouth and so with that in mind I created a little breakfast or brunch idea...



On a base of jewelled amaranth I've added a good dollop of yoghurt and a extra drizzle of Pomegranate molasses which is then topped with just a spoonful of the jewelled amaranth.

As I said, the finished product is somewhere I never expected it to be and I must say, I'm delighted to have reached this most unusual destination.

Tagged with Weekend Herb Blogging