Dinner From Three Continents

Another lovely night with friends so the menu was “Food from Three Continents”
Italian Starter. Asian Main and American Dessert.

Our friend Jeannie gave Dale a bottle of Krug for his last significant birthday not only a bottle but a Magnum. We have been waiting to share it with her, so as she was going to be a guest at dinner Dale decided we would have it last night. Lucky all of us.

It was beautiful
I really love French Champagne.
There are some excellent Methode Champagnoise made here in New Zealand
But Krug well I ask you – one would never turn that down!

English Chef Hugh Fearnly Whitingstall made these Baby Caesar Salads
Which I thought would be lovely with the champagne
Really simple...
Baby Cos leaves filled with crunchy fried breadcrumbs
Topped with this beautiful Caesar Dressing.
This is courtesy of Ina Garten.

1 extra-large egg yolk at room temperature
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
8 to 10 anchovy fillets (optional)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups good mild olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Place the egg yolks, mustard, garlic, anchovies, lemon juice, salt, and pepper into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
Process until smooth.

With the food processor running, slowly pour the olive oil through the feed tube (as though you were making mayonnaise), until thick.
Add the grated Parmesan cheese and pulse 3 times.
It’s a superb dressing. Certainly makes heaps we will eating Caesar salad for days
(Actually since I originally wrote this, we have had the Dressing on new potatoes in a BLT made with my Fabulous French Bread.)
Lots of uses

Fry the bread crumbs and cook in olive oil till crispy.
Wrap Cos lettuce leaves around breadcrumbs and serve with Caesar Dressing.

So onto the meal... we start with Italian
I have finally got my own copy of Marcella’s Italian Kitchen and when I opened it…it fell at this recipe.
Perfect for a spring dinner
Baked Prawn with Asparagus
It is her version of a classic recipe from a restaurant in Venice called Fiore.
She changed it a bit using potatoes instead of rice.

It is great.
Simple, and you can make it 2-3 hours ahead, just assemble before baking as shown below.

1 kilo asparagus
1 kilo prawns
250gms potatoes
2/3 cup chopped onions
5 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup cream
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Plus an extra 2 tablespoon for topping
Freshly ground black pepper.
Trim asparagus and break off hard ends
Cook in big pan of boiling salted water
Juts cook for 2-3 minutes
Drain and cool
Cut each spear into 3 pieces

Wash the prawns in cold water and pat dry with paper towel and reserve.

Boil potatoes in salted water
Put them through a food mill or ricer in a bowl large enough to take all ingredients
Put 3 tablespoon of butter and the oil into a pan
Add chopped onions and sauté till golden brown
Add asparagus toss around for about a minute.

Now you can prepare to this stage and let sit about 2 hours.
Which is great for a dinner party.

To continue
Heat oven to 210C
Add onion mixture to potatoes
Then cream and 1/2 cup cheese salt and freshly ground black pepper
Toss around and add prawns
Pour into baking dish
Top with remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan and knobs of the remaining butter.
Bake 15- 20 minutes till prawns are pink.
Let sit for 5 minutes and serve.
The flavours are amazing. Loved it.

So for the Main course...Off to Asia and another recipe off the telly
Inspired by Huey’s Cooking Adventures

Asian Beef with Lemon Grass and Ginger
2 large onions chopped
1.5 kilos of cross cut blade steak (this is excellent for stew. It likes long slow cooking) Cut into cubes.
1 x 400 gms tin coconut milk
1 x 400 gms tin of diced tomatoes
1 cup beef stock
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 heaped teaspoon of Sambal Olek

But first make a paste in the mortar and pestle of
2 x lemongrass stick hard skin off bashed and chopped finely
3 x red chilies de-seeded
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2 tablespoon toasted coriander seeds
Chopped 2 large onions in
2 tablespoons oil in pan
Add onions and paste cook down till soft
Add turmeric, cumin and Sambal Olek
Add the beef
Brown the meat
You will have to transfer to a bigger pot for this amount of meat

Add coconut milk and diced tomatoes
1 x cup beef stock
Bring to simmer cook slowly about 2 –3 hours till meat is tender.
Garnish with a few coriander leaves and serve with rice
In between courses of course we have the smokers
and the non smokers
Now for the Americas and dessert.
Actually the recipe is from Nigella Lawson( British) - but who makes the best Margaritas.
America of course
So our Canadian friend Laurian (pictured 2nd from right) made this delicious ice cream for us.
And I made the most American of Cookies - Chocolate Chip.

Margarita Ice Cream with Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

150gm icing sugar
125mls fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons tequila
3 tablespoons orange liqueur- Grand Marnier, Cointreau or Triple Sec

Mix together then add
500ml double cream
Whisk in until soft and creamy
Freeze

You will find the recipe for the cookies…just click here

French Bread and Fishes - Providing Our Own Food

Dale went fishing and he caught his first ever fish. I had to take a picture.
It was lovely we had it simply pan fried for dinner.
I made some fish cakes with the trimmings.
An excuse for using the remains of my Caesar Salad dressing
recipe in the Dinner from 3 Continents blog.
But now onto the main event. French Bread.
A while ago my good friend Diana gave me baguette tins. I have tried many recipes and have had success, but this is the closest I have got to bought French Bread.

I love this cookbook from Terry Thompson. It’s called “Cajun Creole Cooking”
She is so informative and instructive just like The Divine Marcella. I also include here as truly inspirational Elizabeth David and Mrs Julia Child...anyway
I read Terry's book frequently for inspiration and it seems the page was always falling open on this recipe French Bread New Orleans Style.
It seemed so simple anyone could make it. And it is so!

It is designed for the food processor and what more can I say.
Actual work time is only minutes but there is the usual resting time for the rising.
So I started this at 8am and it was ready at 11.30 for our lunch.
I turned my share into this yummy BLT.
The flavour of this bread is fabulous. A great crispy crust and beautiful crumb.
Fantastic flavour.
All explained in the quote from Terry’s Book below.

“A scientific discovery my good friend Shirley Corriher led to the addition of flavoured vinegars to the French Bread recipe. When testing breads prepared according to the age-old, long, slow rising French method, it was discovered that the dough became acidic during the extended and numerous risings. Her conclusion was simply to add acid at the beginning of the bread making process. The resulting loaves had both the aroma and the taste of the slightly soured and yeasty breads of Europe, without the long rising! Try this method with your favourite bread recipe, using as your guide one teaspoon of fruit-flavoured vinegar to every three cups of flour. Don’t be tempted to add more vinegar; excess acid could destroy the gluten in the flour.”

I am so excited about this bread. It should be great on the boat.
Have to take the food processor on board.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups warm water hand hot 45C
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 pkt dry yeast (8gms)
About 3cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or any other mild fruit flavoured vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Glaze
20 gms cup butter melted with 1/2 teaspoon salt

In a 2 cup measuring cup combine water and sugar.
Sprinkle in yeast; stir till blended
Leave till foamy 5-10 minutes
In a food processor with steel blade blend 3 cups flour, salt and vinegar
Add dissolved yeast mix all at once
Process 3-4 seconds to combine.
The dough should be wet and sticky with a slight degree of body
If it is too soupy add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time, processing between each addition until a wet sticky dough is formed.

Process no more than 15 seconds to knead dough.
Pour oil into a large bowl and oil your fingers
Take dough from processor and pull of (with oiled hands) any dough stuck to blade and bowl.
Form dough into a rough ball.
Turn dough over several times to completely coat with oil.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise till double in size. (approx 1- 1 1/2 hours)
Lightly oil your tins
Knock the dough down and pinch it into shape and pull to fit the tin.
Brush dough with butter and salt glaze.
Cover loosely with plastic wrap again

Let rise till double in bulk
Pre-heat oven to 205C
When loaves are ready take plastic wrap off
Brush again gently with butter and salt mixture.
Into pre-heated oven

It should take around 20 - 25 minutes to bake.
Cook completely on cooling racks.

This made 3 baguettes.
Crisp crunchy crust and look at the crumb
Just like a bought one.

Let's Go Eat Italian

The camera took this shot by mistake. I love the colour of the tomatoes signs of Summer…Hooray.

We were losing a valued member of staff Kerry.
He is going on to better things and we wish him well, but will miss him.
So a farewell lunch for Kerry was planned. I hadn’t made a staff lunch for ages…it was long overdue.
Of course we still have a couple of people to take into consideration when planning lunch. There is a dairy problem.
So I made 2 pasta dishes. One containing heaps of dairy and the other none.

Mrs. Ina Garten was the inspiration for this one and it was fabulous

Lemon and Broccoli Cream Pasta
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic (2 cloves)
2 cups heavy cream
3 lemons
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch broccoli
500 gms dried Fusilli pasta
200 gms baby arugula (or 2 bunches of common arugula, leaves cut in thirds)
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 punnet grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat,
Add the garlic, and cook for 60 seconds.
Add the cream, the zest from 2 lemons, the juice of 2 lemons, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper.
Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until it starts to thicken.

Meanwhile, cut the broccoli in florets and discard the stem.
Cook the florets in a big pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes, until tender but still firm.
Drain the broccoli and run under cold water to stop the cooking.
Set aside.
I used the same pot and water to cook the pasta
Bring it back to a boil, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the pasta, and
cook according to the directions on the package, about 12 minutes,
stirring occasionally.
Drain the pasta in a colander and place it back into the pot.

Immediately add the cream mixture and cook it over medium-low heat for 3 minutes, until most of the sauce has been absorbed in the pasta.
Pour the hot pasta into a large bowl, add the arugula, Parmesan, tomatoes, and cooked broccoli.
Cut the last lemon in half lengthwise, slice it ¼ inch thick crosswise, and
Add it to the pasta.
Toss well, season to taste, and serve hot.
This was so good I repeated it last Saturday for lunch with a group of old friends.
A wonderful lunch with wonderful friends.
Terry and Barb (below) were in Auckland for the weekend from Wellington.
We all lived there in the past. That’s what I mean by old friends not age, but time.

There was Pete

Elphie his wife

And our dear friend Catherine (pictured being greeted by Terry) and popping up in most photos (dressed in the virginal white) the lovely Dale.

Meanwhile we have turned our friends Pete and Elphie onto The Divine Marcella Hazan.

So Pete made this wonderful Scallop dish for our starter.
Unfortunately I didn’t have a photo but this is how you make it.
Very simple.

Sautéed Scallops and Mushrooms
For 4 people
500 gms firm fresh mushrooms
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
1 tablespoon garlic chopped
Sea salt
½ cup dry white wine
500 gms scallops
1 teaspoon chopped dried hot pepper or 2 teaspoons of fresh hot pepper
3 tablespoons chopped parsley

In a large sauté pan add 5 tablespoons of oil
Turn heat to high add shallots and cook till golden brown
Add garlic and when that is golden
Add mushrooms
Turn down the heat
Add salt and cover the pan.
As you stir from time to time you will find that the mushrooms throw off some liquid
After 15 minutes uncover the pan and
Turn up the heat to medium heat to evaporate the liquid.
Then add white wine
Cook stirring until the wine has also evaporated and the only liquid in the pan is olive oil.

Rinse the scallops in cold water and pat dry thoroughly
Put them into the pan with hot freshly ground black pepper and parsley.
Add a little m ore salt.
Turn up the heat to high and cook for 3-4 minutes stirring frequently
Serve piping hot.
Great with crunchy bread.

Our friend Catherine supplied dessert
Once again very simple and delicious.
She made the lemon curd but you could buy it..

Little Filo Pastry Cases filled with Lemon Curd topped with Strawberries and Cream

She also supplied the beautiful Whisky Chocolate Fudge.
That is just fabulous.
Now back to the staff lunch. Here is the non dairy dish

Giada de Laurentis supplied this recipe. It also was stunning
Lemon Prawn Pasta
Ingredients

For the lemon oil:

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon, zested
Combine the olive oil and the lemon zest in a small bowl and reserve.

For the pasta:

500 gms linguine pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
500 gms frozen shrimp
¼ cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1 lemon, zested
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
100 gms arugula (about 3 packed cups)
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

For the pasta:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy skillet warm the olive oil over medium heat.
Add the shallots and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the shrimp and cook until pink, about 5 minutes.
Add the cooked linguine, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper.
Toss to combine.
Turn off the heat and add the arugula.
Add the reserved lemon olive oil and add the oil to the pasta.

(You can strain out the zest but I like it to remain.)

Add the chopped parsley to the pasta and toss to combine.

Serve immediately.

Some of our lot tucking in.

Bye Kerry we shall miss you.

Lazy Blogger

I really haven't been a lazy blogger.

I have been Grandma Extrordinaire while our daughter Katie and her Husband Chris are in Rarotonga at this wonderful resort

I have set up a blog of the kid's break from their parents.

Have a look

http://miaandcleo.blogspot.com/

Back to food next week.

Whitebait: New Zealand's Divine Treat

Whitebait Season is here again

This time last year we were heading off for our intrepid adventure, touring New Zealand.
Which was a fantastic month. We loved it. It’s a beautiful country we live in.
It was just at the end of the Whitebait season and we ate it at every opportunity, as we drove down through the country, until the season ran out and there was no more.
You can buy it frozen but I’m looking at fresh here.

I bought $20 worth last night and there was enough to make a lovely omelet.
It is so expensive these days…when I was young it was cheap as chips, but now it is about $150 per kilo…but we have to treat ourselves to this New Zealand delicacy.
So I buy it as often as I can afford.

This time I accompanied it with a Broccoli Slaw.
I always keep breadcrumbs made from leftover good bread and freeze them in little bags.
You can toast them in some olive oil to crisp them up.
Makes a wonderful crunch for pasta and also sprinkled over salads.

Ingredients
Broccoli,
Tomatoes cut into wedges and seeded
Basil sliced
For crunch
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil


The Dressing
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sea slat
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Mix together the first 6 ingredients with a small whisk or a fork

Slowly add the oil whisking well

Pour over broccoli
Put into the fridge for at least an hour
Meanwhile
Heat the olive oil in a pan, med heat
Throw in the breadcrumbs and fry them for about 4 minutes till crispy.
Add tomatoes and basil to broccoli and leave for another 10 minutes to meld the flavours.
Add the crispy breadcrumbs and serve
Now for the omelet
You may be surprise at the flour addition but I find it helps to bind it together

For 2 people

Pre heat oven to 190C
6 eggs
1 tablespoon flour
200 gms whitebait
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoon olive oil

Beat eggs in a bowl
add flour, S & P
Whisk again
Add whitebait

Heat oil in a pan (that will go into the oven)
Till it is hot
Throw in egg and whitebait mixture
Shake it around over the heat for a minute or two.

Into the oven for 5 - 7 minutes
It should just be set don’t overcook it
Cut into wedges and serve with a slice of lemon to squeeze over.
We ate the salad separately.

It was family dinner Sunday at Karen and Steve’s house and of course as usual the star of the day is The Baby Cleo
The new trick “Where is Cleo?”
Here is the three youngest watching DVD’s while the adults eat fab food and drink wine.

Monday was Vegetarian Day at our house
Leek Tomato Asparagus and Basil Risotto

For 2 people
1 cup Arborio rice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 leek washed and sliced
Sea salt & pepper
1 cup white wine
Approx 2 cups hot chicken stock
Parmesan Cheese grated
1 bunch asparagus tough ends broken off and chopped
2 tomatoes seeded and sliced...Reserve seeds

First in a pot add the chicken stock
Bring to boil and add asparagus
Cook till al dente
Drain and reserve stock for the risotto
Add tomato seeds to the stock for extra flavour
Heat oil in pan over med heat
Add leeks and sauté till soft but still green
Add rice and toss around to fully coat the grains of rice.
Season with S & P
Add wine and stir till all wine is absorbed
Keep adding the hot stock one soup ladle at a time
Keep stirring as each amount of stock is absorbed.
When the grains of rice are cooked
Add tomatoes and asparagus
Stir well
Check seasoning and adjust if necessary
Add basil and serve.

Sandwich French Bread a la Julia Child: Pain de Mie

This is quite a different dough from the bread I have been making over the last couple of years.

I saw Mrs. Child make this on an old programme on Food TV. I just had to have a go.
In France this particular bread is made specifically for sandwiches and toast.

It is a milk and butter dough…Fairly rich.
The French have a special pan to make this square loaf, but I made it in a loaf tin.

There is quite a lot of resting and leaving to rise.
You can’t rush this bread but you can delay it.
If you wanted it fresh for lunch I suggest you make it in the afternoon, leave it in the fridge for the second rise and in the morning you can complete the job,
You will then have fresh bread cooled and ready to slice for your lunch time treat.
Or another option...after the second rise, wrap with plastic and freeze till you need it.

So
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/3 cups tepid milk
2 teaspoons salt
1 pkt yeast dissolved in 3 tablespoons warm water

Mix up with a spatula when you have a sticky ball
Turn out onto bench and rest for a few minutes

Knead on a lightly floured board till the dough gets elastic
Use a flat scraper like a paint scraper to lift the dough
Push down with the heel of your left hand and lift the dough with the scraper.
Pick it up and throw it. No gentle handling here just whack it.
Keep going till it gets elastic and smooth – 3-4 minutes and it no longer sticks to your hand.
Leave to rest again for a couple of minutes

Take 55gms butter from the fridge and bash it flat
Knead it with the heel of you hand.
This makes it malleable ready to add to the dough
Put a small bit of the squashed butter on the dough and start to work it in.
Keep adding the butter and work hard. It becomes quite ropey but it will mix in.
Use your scraper to lift all the bits from the bench.
You shouldn’t have to add more flour it will work in.
Get it into a ball and place back in a clean bowl
Cover and leave to rise about 3 hours
Knock the dough down and onto a lightly floured bench
With floury hands pat into a rectangle and fold into 3 turn pat down again and fold once again into three.
Pop this back into your clean bowl and leave to rise again for another 1 1/2 hours.
Look at this dough it is magnificent
Knock it down
And pat down on the bench with floured hands.
I love handling this dough it is so silky…I bet the little kids would love to play with it.
Now that’s an idea for when they next come over.

I took the delay option and made a little parcel of the dough and wrapped in plastic
It went into the freezer till it was needed.
So I took it out of the freezer and left it overnight to defrost in the fridge.

Next time I would take it out and let it defrost on the bench.
After I had defrosted it...it was time to form the bread.
Pat it out on a lightly floured bench
Fold over and make a crease with your hand on the edge
Turn it onto the crease and make a trench with you hand on the top, and fold it over again.
The idea is to turn it till you get a nice smooth top.
Fold it over again and pinch the edges and put the edge on the bottom you should have a nice smooth top.
Pop it into a light greased loaf tin
Leave to rise in a warm place
Heat oven to 220C
Cook for 30- 35 minutes.
I found in my oven it was ready after 30 minutes.
Isn't it sensational!

Take it out of the tin and cool on it’s side.
Mrs. Child suggested that you leave to cool completely makes it easier to slice.
Now it should keep for a couple of days. T is an enriched bread and tastes like brioche but not so buttery.

It is excellent we couldn’t wait and I cut into it while it was still warmish. Bit hard to handle but it was gorgeous. Well worth trying. We loved it.
Unfortunately because we were greedy cutting the loaf while still warm pushed it out of shape,
The remainder (not a lot) went into a plastic bag and the fridge.
Made great toast.
My breakfast...Peanut butter, tomato and a little basil. What could be better?
So to recap the instructions

Mix the ingredients in a bowl
Turn out onto lightly floured board
Rest for a couple of minutes
Knead using the spatula method till the dough is elastic.
Rest again for 2-3 minutes

Mash your butter to make it malleable
Add a little butter to the dough and work it in
Keep on adding the butter and kneading till elastic again
Make a ball and into a clean bowl to rise
About 3 hours.

Knock down
Pat into a rectangle on floured bench
Fold in three time.
Turn and fold into three again

Back into a clean bowl
Rise again for another 1-2 hours.

Knock down
Now you can either form your loaf or put into the freezer till you need it

Defrost
Pat out on floured board
Form loaf
Into a very lightly greased loaf tin.

Leave to rise in a warm place

Into 220C oven 30-35 minutes
If it is cooked it will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom

Remove from tin
Cool on rack on it’s side
For best results
Leave to cool before cutting

Its not difficult just takes a bit of time and it was worth it.