fisherman's rouille

There’s something romantic about any dish that’s described as a fisherman’s meal, and this is what drew me towards this cuttlefish and potato salad, which I cooked as part of Murdoch Book's 365 Challenge to cook every recipe from Stéphane Reynaud's 365 Good Reasons to Sit Down to Eat.

Rouille is from the Carmargue area, in the south of France, and gets its name from its colour: rouille = rust.

The seafood was perfectly tender and the honey-sweet saffron was so flavoursome in the garlic-laden mayonnaise. Overall, a wonderful little side dish for a lunch on a warm afternoon.

Fisherman’s Rouille

Recipe from 365 Good Reasons to Sit Down to Eat by Stéphane Reynaud. Serves 6.

Ingredients:
1kg cuttlefish hoods or octopus, cleaned
3 onions
200ml olive oil
700ml white wine
800g potatoes
3 garlic cloves
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon mustard
150ml sunflower oil
Salt and pepper
1 pinch saffron threads

Method:
1. Cut the cuttlefish into wide strips.
2. Peel and slice the onions.
3. Sauté the onions with a little olive oil in a flameproof casserole dish
4. Add the cuttlefish and moisten with white wine.
5. Cook, covered, over a low heat for 1 hour then uncover to allow the wine to completely evaporate
6. Peel the potatoes, cut them in large cubes cook them for 15 minutes in boiling water.
7. Peel and chop the garlic, combine it with the egg yolk and mustard, add the sunflower oil to make a mayonnaise
8. Season then add the saffron threads.
9. Combine the potatoes and cuttlefish. Dress with the garlic mayonnaise in the dish.
10. No more vampires!


Here's a cute little extract from the book:

Garlic is a great friend of cooking but a great enemy of the mouth. It permeates the body like a colony of ants in a packet of sugar – you breathe it, you sweat it and it clings to your skin.


What can I do, I hear you say, so that the pleasure of the palate doesn’t turn you into a walking garlic clove?


1) Find a special friend who, like you, adores garlic, good conversation, maybe even more . . . it could become a true tale of Marseille, putainnn con!
2) Stop eating it. Unbearable.
3) Remove the digestible sprout inside, eat a coffe bean ro cardamom pod to offset some of the odours.
4) Stop talking for six hours, what’s more, that’ll give us a break!

polish pickle soup

 
Almost two years ago, Jonas and I found a great little Polish restaurant and enjoyed a tangy soup made from pickles: Zupa Ogórkowa.

I’d never heard of such a wonderment, but it combined two of my favourite things: pickles and soup.

In fact, zupa ogórkowa doesn't event feature on the SoupSong site - one of my all time favourite resources for unique and interesting soups.

Despite loving it at the restaurant, I'd put off making it myself for so long, imagining it wouldn’t be as good at home.

Turns out to be so easy and incredibly tasty, and frankly I think our homemade version was better.

The broth is clear, but there are so many vegetables and herbs floating through it that the soup still feels hearty and filling.

It’s a perfect winter flavour and reminds me of my family in Slovakia, but it could easily be served cold in summer, perhaps with a little more cream stirred through it and topped with smoked salmon.

This is another tick off the 2011 Food Challenge list!

Zupa Ogórkowa (Polish Pickle Soup)

Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 2 as a main or 4 as an entrée.

Ingredients:

1 white onion, finely chopped
½ carrot, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1 litre rich chicken broth (or vegetable)
4 pickled cucumbers (polskie ogórki) , coarsely grated
1 tablespoon fresh dill, finely chopped
2 tablespoons (40ml) pouring cream
¼ fresh parsley, chopped finely
Salt and pepper, to taste
Butter, for frying
Olive oil, for frying
Sour cream, for serving

Method:

1. Heat butter (and a little olive oil to prevent butter browning) in a saucepan.

2. Sauté onions and carrots until translucent, around 2-3 minutes.

3. Add grated garlic and potatoes and fry for another 2 minutes.

4. Add chicken stock and bring to the boil. Cook for around 7 minutes until potatoes begin to soften.

5. Add grated cucumbers and dill, and continue boiling for another 7 minutes. Test to make sure potatoes are completely cooked but be careful not to overcook.

6. Add pouring cream, adjust seasoning and then add parsley. Mix through.

7. Serve hot with dollops of sour cream.

I'd like to enter this into Weekend Herb Blogging with dill being my ingredient. After all, the dill pickles are what made this soup and the dill is what made the pickles.

Our WHB host this week is Astrid from Paulchen's Foodblog. Check back at the end of the weekend to see her round up of all the recipes.

cambozola & taleggio potato bake

 
This is last of the Potato Week recipes and is the best potato bake ever! It’s rich, hearty, cheesy and simply delicious.

Using two oozey, melty cheeses I think we hit perfection (and the heights of cholesterol inducement).

First up is Cambozola. If you’ve never tried it before, once you do you’re going to regret living all those years without it!

Cambozola is a soft, cow’s milk cheese from Germany. It’s white rind exterior and soft, triple cream centre is a similar to Camembert, while it contains threads of mild blue mold just like Gorgonzola.

If you had a cheese plate, buy a wedge and leave it out at room temperature before serving. The oozing, delightful result is just divine.

The name Cambozola could be a reference to Cambodunum, the Roman name of the city (Kempten) where the manufacturer (Champignon) is located. It might also refer to the cheese being a unique combination of Camembert and Gorgonzola.

The second cheese is Taleggio, which most of you are very familiar with. It’s a soft, washed-rind cow’s milk cheese from Italy that melts easing with heat. It’s mild but has a strange yet pleasant flavour, not unlike overripe fruit.

Cambozola & Taleggio Potato Bake

Jonas & Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 6 as an accompanying side dish.

Ingredients:
1kg potatoes, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
100ml milk
100g crème fraîche
200g cambozola, sliced
200 taleggio, sliced
½ cup parmigiano, finely grated
1 large red onion, sliced into half circles
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.

2. In a large bowl mix the milk, crème fraîche, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Whisk until well combined.

3. In a large baking dish, make alternate layers of potato slices, onion, taleggio and cambozola.

4. The final layer should be covered in taleggio then sprinkled with parmigiano.

5. Pour the cream mixture over the potato layers and flatten potatoes with a spatula so that the top layer is resting in the sauce.

6. Cover with foil and bake in oven until potatoes are tender (about 1hr 15-30mins).

7. Once potatoes are tender, remove foil and continue baking until top has turned golden brown.

Note: this recipe was written after we made it when we were trying to remember everything! Use your instinct with the measurements (ie more or less cheese / cream mixture etc.

patatas bravas

Here's Day 6 of Potato Week with another Spanish recipe, and what better for a Friday night than this tapa with a glass (read jug) of sangria.

Patatas Bravas

Recipe from Taste.com.au. Serves 4 for tapas.

Ingredients:
1.5kg sebago potatoes, peeled
1/3 cup olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
½ teaspoon chilli powder
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1/3 cup dry white wine
400g can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.

2. Place potatoes in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil over medium-low heat (potatoes should still be firm). Drain and set aside for 15 minutes.

3. When cool enough to handle, cut potatoes into 2cm cubes.

4. Pour ¼ cup oil into a roasting pan. Place in oven for 5 minutes or until oil and pan are hot.

5. Carefully add potatoes to pan. Turn to coat. Roast for 40 minutes or until crisp and tender.

6. Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a saucepan over low heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until soft.

7. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.

8. Add chilli powder and paprika. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

9. Add wine. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Cook for 3 minutes or until reduced by half.

10. Add tomatoes and oregano. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

11. Transfer sauce to a food processor and process until smooth. Return to saucepan.

12. Cook, stirring, over medium heat for 3 minutes or until heated through. Stir through parsley.

13. Transfer potatoes to a serving bowl. Spoon over sauce and toss gently to coat. Serve with alioli.

Note: Jonas and I like to make double the sauce quantity then scrape the serving dish clean with chunks of crusty bread. We also add a little more chilli powder to increase the heat.

gnocchi w sage & burnt butter

Sticking to my Potato Week theme (today is Day 5), this is my contribution to Presto Pasta Nights, hosted by Joanne from Eats Well With Others.

Gnocchi are really Italian potato dumplings, just like Swedish palt, German schupfnudeln, Hungarian krumplinudli, Slovak halušky and Lithuanian didžkukuliai (awesome names, huh!).

According to Wikipedia, gnocchi "was introduced by the Roman Legions during the enormous expansion of the empire into the countries of the European continent. In the past 2,000 years each country developed its own specific type of small dumplings, with the ancient gnocchi as their common ancestor. In Roman times, gnocchi were made from a semolina porridge-like dough mixed with eggs, and are still found in similar forms today, particularly in Sardinia . . . The use of potato is a relatively recent innovation, occurring after the introduction of the potato to Europe in the 16th century."

This burnt butter sauce is one of Jonas' absolute favourites.

Gnocchi w Sage & Burnt Butter

Recipe from taste.com.au . Serves 4 (main) or 6 (starter)

Ingredients:
100g unsalted butter, chopped
16-20 small sage leaves
1 recipe gnocchi, cooked
1 cup (80g) shaved or grated parmesan

Method:

1. Place chopped butter into a large frying pan over medium heat.

2. Cook until melted then add sage leaves to pan.

3. Cook butter and sage leaves, swirling pan often, for 4-5 minutes or until sage leaves are crisp and butter has turned a deep nut-brown colour.

4. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

5. Add gnocchi to frying pan and toss to coat in burnt sage butter.

6. To serve, divide gnocchi among bowls, spooning over any burnt butter that is left in the frying pan. Sprinkle with parmesan and enjoy immediately.

Note: I love to add a few tablespoons of toasted pine nuts at the end.

colcannon

 
Potato Week - Day 4!

Now that we've got some Irish in the family, it's time I posted a decent Irish recipe. And if it's Irish, of course the recipe needs to include potatoes.

My sister, Stinky, came home from her year in Amsterdam with a lovely Irish lass, M.E., whose stories about "Gordon science" and quaint villages with men reeking of silage put me in stitches.

Colcannon, or cál ceannann, is a delicious way of using up leftover cabbage or potatoes by throwing them together into a tasty mash. Traditionally I think white cabbage was used, but I prefer the colour and flavour of kale in this recipe.

I could eat a plate of the stuff for dinner without anything else!

There are as many colcannon recipes as there are cooks in Ireland, so you could easily find versions with leeks, chives, garlic, ham and bacon.

This one's for you M.E.!

Colcannon

Based on a recipe by Maggie Beer. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
1kg potatoes
400g cabbage, shredded
100g butter
100ml milk
3 spring onions, sliced
Salt and white pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Boil potatoes in a pot of salted water until soft but not falling apart. When cooked, drain off water and allow to steam dry.

2. Steam cabbage until tender but crisp, about 2 or three minutes.

3. Warm butter and milk in a pan. Set aside.

4. While potatoes are still warm, put through a mouli/ricer.

5. Add cabbage and spring onion and mix in the milk and butter. Season to taste.

tortilla de rosamaria

Day 3 of Potato Week and guess what? It's Jonas' birthday!!!

Happy Birthday old man! I love you!

So on his birthday I'll share one of his recipes, this simple rosemary and potato tortilla.

Tortilla de Rosamaria

Jonas' very own recipe. Serves 2 as dinner.

Ingredients:
300g waxy potatoes, peeled
1 red onion
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 eggs, beaten
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil, for frying

Method:

1. Slice potatoes and onion into thin rounds.

2. Heat olive oil in a frying pan

3. Sauté onion and garlic until softened.

4. Add potatoes and sauté until soft (10-15 minutes). Remove from heat.

5. Pick leaves from rosemary twig and discard twig.

6. Mix rosemary leaves, salt and pepper into eggs.

7. Combine the potatoes and onions with egg mixture.

8. Clean the frying pan then add a little more oil and heat.

9. Add potato mixture, shake to settle evenly in pan, then allow to cook until set (5-8 minutes).

10. Lift edges gently with a spatula then flip tortilla onto a plate, sliding uncooked side into pan to be cooked a further 2 minutes.

11. Serve cut into wedges with a side salad.

tomato, caper & feta potato bake

Day 2 of Potato Week!

This dish is probably best as a side, but could easily be an easy and comforting winter meal.

The flavours are almost like spaghetti alla puttanesca, but instead of pasta it's baked with slices of potatoes and topped with cheese. There's also feta throughout the dish.

OK, so it's not the healthiest, but surely it's better for you than a creamy potato bake?

And definitely delicious!

Tomato, Caper & Feta Potato Bake
Jonas' very own recipe. Serves 6 as an accompanying side dish.
Ingredients:
1kg potatoes, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded parmigiano
½ cup crumbled feta
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
¼ cup capers
500ml tomato passata
1 teaspoon cracked pepper
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Olive oil, for frying

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.

2. Heat olive oil in a pan and fry onion and garlic until soft.

3. Add the tomato passata, salt, pepper and chilli flakes. Simmer for 10 minutes.

4. In a baking dish, spoon a little of the tomato sauce to “grease”, then alternate layers of potato slices, capers, feta and tomato sauce.

5. On the final layer ensure it is topped with tomato sauce then sprinkle over mozzarella and parmigiano, then dried oregano.

6. Cover with foil and bake in oven until potatoes are tender (about 1hr 15-30mins).

7. Once potatoes are tender, remove foil and continue baking until top has turned golden brown.

Note: For a non-veggie version, add anchovies to onions and fry until broken up before adding the tomato passata.

rösti

Announcing the spud themed Potato Week on Morsels & Musings!

My relos, Lynn and Chris, have a farm in Robertson where they grow a number of things including potatoes. This year there was a bumper crop and Jonas and I were lucky to receive a sack of potatoes. They were the most delicious potatoes we have tasted in a long, long time.

In honour of this potato bonanza, starting today, I plan to blog a potato recipe for seven days straight. On the menu is:
Rösti (today)
Tomato & Caper Potato Bake
Tortilla de Rosamaria
Colcannon
Gnocchi w Sage & Burnt Butter
Patatas Bravas
Taleggio & Cambozola Potato Bake

Prepare yourself for a delicious starch and carbohydrate overdose!

Today I begin Potato Week with the delicious Swiss rösti. These pancakes of grated potato are spectacular for breakfast with smoked salmon, as a fair snack or for dinner alongside meat or poultry.

There are great debates about making rösti: whether to use boiled or raw grated potatoes, whether to add ham or cheese or apples, whether to only fry or also bake . . . the list goes on.

Jonas is the rösti maker in our home, and this is the recipe he uses to great, great success.

His rösti are always crispy on the outside and edges, but with a centre of soft, moist potato (yet never mushy).

The only problem with his recipe is that they are too delicious and one is never enough.

Rösti
Jonas’ very own recipe. Makes 2 large (breakfast) or 6 small (sides).

Ingredients:
5 potatoes
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Parboil potatoes in salted water, for approximately 10 minutes. Potatoes should be firm but not hard.

2. Cool potatoes to room temperature.

3. Coarsely grate potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Heat oil and butter in frying pan until very hot.

5. Form potato into patty and fry until golden (approximately 5 minutes on each side).

The potato is my theme ingredient for WHB this week.

I have already waxed lyrical about potatoes previously, so forgive me from stealing straight from my own post.

The root of the Solanum tuberosum is the world's most widely grown tuber and is in fourth place as the most produced food crop after rice, wheat, and corn. China and India are the world's largest potato producers.

Research seems to put the potato’s origin in the Andes from Colombia / Venezuela to northern Argentina and the first evidence of cultivated took place in Peru 7,000 years ago. Some 99% of the world’s cultivated potato varieties descend from a subspecies indigenous to South-Central Chile, probably due to the trading routes that carried the first plant exports.

Potatoes made the journey to Europe in the mid 1500s and quickly became a staple food crop, particularly for the poor.

Lack of genetic varieties in Europe left potato crops vulnerable to diseases, such as Phytophthora infestans, which resulted in the infamous Irish famine and a reduction of Ireland’s population by 25% from starvation, disease and emigration to the New World.

The English word potato comes directly from the Spanish patata, which itself is a compound of two Native American words for potato and sweet potato: papa (Quechua) and batata (Taino)

Many Slavic, Baltic, Germanic, Scandinavian and Balkan languages derive their word for potato from an ancient word for potato which also meant “truffle”. French, Dutch, Hebrew, Finnish all have names meaning “earth fruit/apple/pear”, whereas Slovak and Polish use words that mean simply “ground”. Different Chinese languages have meanings such as “foreign taro”, “horse yam” or “earth bean”. Although the Hindi and Nepali word for potato is aloo and in Indonesian it is kentang, I don’t know what the base meaning of these words are.

Potatoes have excellent carbohydrate content but also good levels of Vitamin C, potassium, Vitamin B6 and traces of thiamin, riboflavin, folate, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, iron and zinc.

The glycemic index (GI) of potatoes can vary considerably depending on the type, location grown, cooking methods and with what it is consumed.

Potatoes contain glycoalkaloids such as solanine and chaconine, which are toxic compounds found in high concentrations in wild potatoes. Light exposure and aging increases toxin levels but cooking at over 170°C (340°F) partly destroys the toxins. Affects are weakness, confusion, headaches, diarrhea and cramps and although coma or death could occur, poisoning from potatoes is very rare.

Common international varieties include Bintje; Désirée; Fianna; King Edward; Kipfler; New; Nicola; Pink Eye; Pink Fir Apple; Red Pontiac; Rooster; Russet Burbank and Spunta.

Fun Wikipedia facts!
• Potatoes are part of the deadly nightshade family, a group of poisonous plants including tomatoes and tobacco.
• There are about five thousand potato varieties world wide. Three thousand of them are found only in the Andes, where over 100 varieties of potato can be found in one valley alone!
• In France the potato was considered suitable only for cattle. In the mid 1700s Antoine Parmentier devised an ingenious strategy to encourage the French peasants to eat potatoes. Apparently he grew a field of potatoes and had it heavily guarded to make it look like a delicacy for the nobility. The peasants stole samples and started to enjoy them.
• Belarus has the world’s highest consumption of potato per capita with each Belorussian consuming 338 kg in 2005.
• The fibre content of a potato with skin equals that of many whole grain breads, pastas, and cereals.
• The notion that all of the potato’s nutrients are found in the skin is an urban legend. While the skin does contain approximately half of the total dietary fibre, more than 50% of the nutrients are found within the potato itself.

Our Weekend Herb Blogging host this week is Susan from The Well Seasoned Cook.

Other potato recipes on the Net are:
Beetroot & Potato Salad - Nami-Nami
Cheddar, Chive & Potato Bread - Apple Pie, Patis, Pate
Crab Boil Potato Salad - Bacon Concentrate
Creamy Garlic Potato Gratin - Freestyle Cookery
Curried Potato Chips - TriniGourmet
Cypriot Potato Salad - Morsels & Musings
Feta Mash - Morsels & Musings
Gamja Jorim (Korean braised potato) - Kitchen Wench
Jeera Aloo (Indian cumin potatoes) - Book of Yum
Lentil & Potato Curry - Cooking with Amy
Potato & Cabbage Casserole - Vanessa Barrington
Potato & Long Bean Rendang - Feeding Maybelle
Potato Breakfast Curry - Morsels & Musings
Potato Chip Cookies - Cooking with Amy
Potato Kugel - Off The Broiler
Potato Skins - Simply Recipes
Potato, Squash & Goats Cheese Gratin - The Kitchn
Pytt i Panna (Swedish hash) - Morsels & Musings
Rosemary Potato Pizza - Apple Pie, Patis, Pate
Rustic Potato Chowder - 101 Cookbooks
Schoppala (Hungarian noodles) - Delicious Days
Schupfnudeln (savoury German noodles) - Book of Yum
Schupfnudeln (sweet German noodles) - Addicted Sweet Tooth
Sour Cream, Potato & Chive Bread - Knead for Bread
Spicy Potato Empanadas - From Argentina With Love
Swordfish & Potato Tortino - The Perect Pantry
Warm Potato Salad w Smoked Trout - Morsels & Musings

-------------------------------------------------------
This time previously on M&M:
2008 - Swedish food
2007 - Mulberry & Cinnamon Cake
2006 - Caprese salad

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Irish_Famine

basque oxtail stew

I have always enjoyed eating oxtails but, until this year, I had never cooked them myself. That's why they were another one of the tasks I set myself in my 2009 Food Challenges.

I have to say oxtails were a little difficult for me to prepare. It felt like they took forever to get tender and, once they were, I had a doozy of a time picking the meat from their boney wheels. But I'd certainly cook them again.

This particularly recipe was a hearty winter dish. The flavours are warm and robust and I loved eating the rich gravy over chunks of boiled potato.

On egin!

Behi Buztanak Anda Goriren Zaltzan (Basque Oxtail Stew)

Recipe adapted from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines by Jeff Smith. Serves 2-4.
Ingredients:800g oxtails, rubbed with salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup chopped celery
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 shallot, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1¼ cups beef stock
¾ cups red wine
2 bay leaves
¼ teaspoon dried thyme, whole
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:

1. Using a heavy pot, brown the seasoned oxtails in the olive oil. Remove to a plate to rest.

2. Leave the oil in the pot and sauté the celery, onion, carrots, garlic, shallots, and parsley.

3. When the onions are clear add the flour and stir in well. Sauté for a few minutes.

4. Add the beef stock, red wine, bay leaves, and thyme, along with the oxtails. Simmer partially covered for 1 hour, or until tender. Stir occasionally.

5. Add salt and pepper to taste as the dish finishes.

I have actually posted about thyme previously for WHB but, since I’m only plagiarising myself, I thought I’d re-post it here:

The name thyme covers a genus (Thymus) of around 350 herbaceous plants and shrubs, native to Europe, North Africa and Asia. The stems are narrow and woody while the leaves are dense and evergreen in most versions.

Thyme has been used for millennia for a variety of different purposes: Ancient Egyptians used it for embalming; Ancient Greeks scented theirs baths and candles with it; Romans used it to flavour cheese and alcohol; and in Medieval Europe it was used to aid sleep and prevent nightmares.

It has been believed to bring courage since the times of Ancient Greece and during the Middle Ages in Europe knights and warriors would receive sprigs as gifts.

It’s essential oil contains 20-55% thymol, which is an antiseptic and apparently the active ingredient in Listerine mouthwash. Previously thymol was used to disinfect bandages; kill foot fungus; treat coughs, bronchitis and throat inflammation; and aid childbirth. Gargling water that has been boiled with thyme can be a useful mouth and throat antiseptic.

Unlike other herbs, thyme retains much of its flavour after being dried and is used widely in the cuisines of Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Lebanon and the Caribbean. It pairs well with game meat, lamb, chicken, eggs, tomatoes and cream. Thyme is also a feature of famous spice blends such as bouquet garni, herbes de Provence and za'atar.

This week our WHB host is Marija from the gorgeously photographed blog Palachinka! Try her red risotto, leche frita, elderberry jam or homemade orange liqueur for starters, then check out her round-up of this week's herby recipes.

Other thyme recipes from The Net include:
Baked Jerusalem Artichokes w Thyme & Lemon - Morsels & Musings
Butter Bean, Bacon & Thyme Soup - Greedy Gourmet
Corn Bite w Thyme - Eat Make Read
Green Beans w Almonds & Thyme - Simply Recipes
Mushroom & Thyme Farro Salad - Closet Cooking
Peach & Thyme Sorbet - Je Mange La Ville
Peach, Blueberry & Thyme Cupcakes - Cupcake Blog
Poached Pears w Wild Thyme & Raspberries - Dhanggit's Kitchen
Roast Chicken w Lemon & Thyme - Morsels & Musings
Roasted Figs w Thyme, Cinnamon & Honey - Nami Nami
Roasted Strawberry & Thyme Sherbet - Baking Obsession
Sage, Rosemary & Thyme Ice MilkJe Mange La Ville
Savory Pecan, Parmesan & Thyme Shortbread - Pittsburgh Needs Eated
Strawberry, Rhubarb & Thyme Shortcakes - Baking and Books
Strawberry Thyme Stuffed Cupcakes - Feeding Maybelle
Thyme-Braised Lentils w Petimezi - Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska
Thyme Flower Ice Cream - Chez Pim
Thyme, Hazelnut & Lemon Cookies - My Own Sweet Thyme
Tomato-Thyme Soup - Farida's Azerbaijani Cookbook
Venison w Juniper, Blueberries & Thyme - Morsels & Musings
Zucchini Bake w Feta & Thyme - Kalyn's Kitchen

This time previously on Morsels & Musings:
2008 - Chorizo & Chickpea Tapa
2007 - Spelt Fettucine w Hazelnuts & Goats Curd
2006 - Lebanese coriander potatoes

earth hour: low-carbon cooking

This is my entry into my own food blogging event celebrating Earth Hour 2009 by cooking recipes with low-carbon footprints that can be enjoyed by candle light.

With full disclosure, I am heavily involved in organising Earth Hour in Australia and now that the day has arrived I am more than a little nervous as to whether the lights will go off across the country tonight. I just hope everyone remembers to switch off at 8:30pm!

Being so involved in Earth Hour inspired me to bring it to my food blogging pals, hence my invitaton to this blogger event.

But the challenge I set my fellow bloggers was a really difficult exercise.

It made me realise that every country is so interdependent on each other for food and products. I went through my cupboard and found that my rice came from Thailand, crushed tomatoes from Italy, dried fruits from Turkey, pepper from India and salt from Australia.

Think of all the processing, packaging and transport they each took to get from its natural state to its final product in my pantry. It’s mind boggling.

So what could I make that reduced packaging and transport? Something fresh, in season and very local. Living in the inner city, that becomes quite difficult. And even if I did purchase fresh vegetables at a farmers’ market, I needed to mix them with something (packaging/transport) or cook them (energy consumption).

For those that want to be sustainable, this puts us in a bind. No one wants to live in the dark ages, munching raw vegetables we pulled from the earth so how can we find a balance?

Other bloggers have found their balance by using ingredients from farmers’ markets or growing vegetables in their own gardens. I decided to show another way we can all reduce our carbon footprint: using leftovers.

I took leftovers from multiple meals to make one mighty delicious dinner and reduced the waste and landfill of my home. It’s a simple option that so often people neglect.

When food is plentiful, people are often extravagantly wasteful. I think I’m worse than most due to my craving for new flavour sensations and my disdain for reheated food. Since I started working for a conservation organisation and had a lot less personal time I have become quite adept at turning leftovers into a meal in their own right.

In this case I took:
- avocado and a tomato halves remaining from making sandwiches
- some cherry tomatoes leftover from a salad
- potato and feta mash leftover from a previous dinner
- half a zucchini remaining from making a pasta sauce
- a few olives from an antipasto platter
- basil grown in my garden

And I turned it into Potato & Feta Cakes with two toppings of Caponata and Tomato & Avocado.

Potato & Feta Cakes w Two Toppings
Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 1.
Ingredients:
Cake
1 cup potato & feta mash
1 egg, whisked
Olive oil, for frying
Avocado Topping
Tomato half, cubed
Avocado half, cubed
½ teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon shredded basil
Caponata Topping
1 garlic clove, crushed
½ zucchini, finely sliced
4 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 black olives, chopped
1 tablespoon capers
1 tablespoon shredded basil
Method:
1. To make the potato cakes, combine the egg and potato & feta mash and mix well. Form into two patties. Refrigerate while you prepare the toppings.
2. In a bowl add avocado and tomato cubes, the remaining basil and season with salt and pepper. Dress with a little olive oil and white wine vinegar and toss to combine. Set aside at room temperature.
3. In a frying pan, heat olive oil. Fry the garlic and zucchini until softened.
4. Add the cherry tomato halves and squash. Add olives and capers and fry until tomatoes are soft also.
5. Remove from heat, add 1 tablespoon basil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside at room temperature.
6. In a frying pan, heat olive oil. Fry the potato patties until crispy on the outside.
7. Plate patties and spoon the toppings onto each patty. Serve immediately.

For those who want to do more to improve their carbon footprint in the kitchen, although I do not profess to be an expert, here are some sustainable tips:
* Reduce your consumption of meat and fish and choose animal products from local, ethical and sustainably-focused farmers.
* Educate yourself about aquaculture and learn which fish are endangered. Try to buy fish from plentiful stocks caught with sustainable methods.
* Shopping at farmers markets, butchers or a green grocer (rather than the supermarket) means you can ask questions about the produce and know where it came from and how it was grown. Prices are higher but the quality usually is higher too.
* When buying fruit and vegetables, use your sense of smell. Large, scentless produce is usually mass and often unsustainably produced. Smaller, less perfect specimens with fragrance are often the result of smaller scale farming techniques.
* Better still, grow your own food. Everyone has space for a pot of their own herbs, chilli plants and perhaps a citrus or tomato plant.
* Wash vegetables in a sink, not under running water.
* Cook with your leftovers. Turn baked potatoes into a frittata, leftover takeaway rice into fried rice or roast chicken bones and scraps into soup.
* Compost bins or worm farms are perfect for kitchen scraps, makes good fertiliser and reduces landfill. Just make sure there’s proper aeration or your compost may produce methane and undo your good work.

WWF has a great carbon footprint calculator. I took the test and came out at 3 planets - thanks to my vegetarian husband and not having a car - but even that is still too high. Take the test and see where you can cut down your emissions!

I hope to see many more of you participating in this event. For details click here.

And if you don't have time to join the food blogging event, please join Earth Hour: turn off your lights at 8:30pm (your own time zone) on Sat 28 March and cast your vote for the future of our planet. Register online to be counted!

moroccan chicken tagine

I requested a tagine for Christmas and my parents kindly obliged. I have made two of the Moroccan casseroles since then, the chicken and olive version I'm posting here and a vegetarian version that I'll share soon.

Both were delicious.

Tagines are rich with spices and flavoured with preserved lemon, my Weekend Herb Blogging theme ingredient for the week.

Making a tagine was one of my 2009 food challenges, so I’m felling pretty positive about moving through my goals of the year too.

Tagines are so easy to make and you don’t really need the specially shaped conical pot. A good casserole dish will suffice, and may even be necessary for cooking large portions when juices may slosh out of a shallow tagine base.

Djej Emshmel (Moroccan Chicken Tagine w Lemon & Olives)

Anna’s adaptation of Elise’s recipe. Serves 4 - 6.
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1.5kg chicken thighs and drumsticks
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
2 zucchini, sliced
2 potatoes, sliced
1 preserved lemon (see recipe below)
1 cup green olives, pitted
2 cups chicken stock
½ cup raisins
¼ cup chopped fresh coriander
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt, for seasoning
Olive oil, for frying

Method:

1. Rinse preserved lemon in cold water. Discard pulp then cut peel into thin strips.

2. Combine all the spices in a large bowl.

3. Pat dry the chicken pieces and put in the bowl, coat well with the spice mixture. In a tagine (or heavy bottomed skillet), heat the olive oil on medium high heat.

4. Add the chicken pieces and brown for five minutes.

5. Remove chicken, lower the heat to medium-low, add the garlic and onions and any spices left in the bowl. Fry until soft.

6. Add potato. Fry for 5 minutes.

7. Add zucchini. Fry for 3 minutes.

8. Add the preserved lemon, olives, raisins and stock.

9. Bring to a simmer then add chicken. Cover and let cook for 10 minutes.

10. Turn chicken pieces over. Cook another 10 minutes (without lid if you need to reduce liquid). 11. Adjust seasonings to taste then mix in fresh parsley and coriander just before serving. Serve with couscous or rice.


My focus for WHB this week is preserved lemons.

I wrote a previous post about lemons, but now specifically I’m drawing your attention to Morocco’s preserved lemons.

They are central to North African and Middle Eastern cuisines and are actually a pickle, since the lemons are preserved in brine (salty liquid).

The flesh can be used, although the rind is preferable. To use, simply wash to remove excess salt and chop. The lemons add an extremely citrus flavour to stews, soups, salad dressings, slow braising casseroles and even as a cocktail garnish.

Hamad Muraqqad (Moroccan Preserved Lemons)

Recipe by Maggie Beer.

Ingredients:
Thick-skinned lemons
Salt: 1 dessertspoon per lemon + one extra for the jar
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Preserving jars

Method:

1. Cut lemons into quarters. Place the lemons, flesh side down, in the jar, sprinkling each quarter with salt as you add it to the jar.

2. For every lemon use a good dessertspoon of salt, and one for the jar.

3. When the jar is full, press right down on the lemons to squeeze as much juice out, filling the jar with more slices, again squeezing right down. Pack them in very tightly as they will shrink.

4. Immerse all the lemons by topping up the jar with fresh lemon juice.

5. Put a lid on the jar and 6-8 weeks later they will be ready to use.

Note: To hold the lemon quarters under the lemon juice, use the little plastic devices found in takeaway pizza boxes that stop the topping from sticking to the cardboard lid.

To read the WHB round-up for this week, visit Haalo's Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once.

And for more preserved lemon recipes . . . .
Algerian-Style Duck w Preserved Lemon & Olives
Baby Cos Hearts & Asparagus w Preserved Lemon Dressing
Chicken, Haloumi & Preserved Lemon Skewers
Chorizo & Preserved Lemon Turkey Roll
Cumin-Spiced Snapper w Preserved Lemon Moghrabieh
Fennel & Preserved Lemon Salad
Feta & Preserved Lemon Salad
Fettuccine w Preserved Lemon & Roasted Garlic
Fried Artichokes w Preserved Lemon Dressing
Grilled Striped Bass w Preserved Lemon Rub
Kumera & Preserved Lemon Skewers
Marinated Yellow-Tail w Preserved Lemon
Moorish Lamb Cutlets w Preserved Lemon Yoghurt
Preserved Lemon & Goats Cheese Croutes
Split Pea, Sausage & Preserved Lemon Soup
Swiss Chard, Potato & Preserved Lemon Pot Pie
Tuna Tartare w Preserved Lemons
 

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preserved_Lemon
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-moroccan-preserved-lemons.htm
http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/pr/Preserved_Lemon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Preserved_Lemons.jpg
Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes weekend herb blogging whb tagine chicken tagine preserved lemon chicken tagine recipes preserved lemon recipes chicken recipes tagine recipes moroccan recipes moroccan food moroccan cuisine north african recipes north african food north african cuisine

warm roasted vegetable salad

Families come in all shapes and sizes.

Until I was 7 I grew up with a mother, a father and two brothers. Then my parents divorced and I suddenly had two extra sisters, a step father and an extra mum and two wonderful extra grandparents.

Not to mention my stepsisters' mother and her new husband and his kids. And my mother's two close female friends their children. Whoa!

You get the picture. It's a mega tribe that was not without its fights and frictions but now that we're all adults the bad egg was weeded out and the true, loving family members remain.

I'm reflective of all of this because one of my closest friends just had a baby. She had planned, so hopefully, to have a home birth but her son showed his first streak of parental rebellion. He refused to come out and too late grew too big for my friend’s tiny frame and she ended up having to have a caesarean.

I felt bad for her because she's wanted that home birth so much, but then I also felt so happy for her that she was able to make all the right choices throughout her 9 months that led to a beautiful, healthy boy - at 9.1 pounds no less (4.1kg)!!!

She is only my second friend to have a child so it's all very new (and frightening!) to me. It makes me think about my own family and when Jonas and I will decide to have kids.

To be honest, I'd rather someone just hand me a 2yr old and say "it's yours!" because babies and pregnancy do not interest me in the slightest. But I highly doubt some tired mother would hand over her toddler in the supermarket and let me keep it, so it looks like I'll just have to grow my own.

I am so jealous of men’s roles in the baby-making process. As a woman I feel utterly ripped off.

Somehow, this little whinge leads into the February Monthly Mingle theme of "healthy family dinners". The host is Michelle from What’s Cooking Blog.

Although most people think “kids” when they think “family” not everyone has kids and so my contribution to this healthy family dinner theme is a recipe for my own little family of two: Jonas and me.

Since he is a vegetarian, my recipe contains no meat. And since it’s winter in the northern hemisphere, where most of my blogging pals and readers reside, I decided to go with a recipe we cooked last winter.

Enjoy!

Warm Roasted Vegetable Salad

Jonas’ very own recipe. Makes ½ cup.
Ingredients:
250g cherry tomatoes
6 potatoes, chopped into chunks
¼ butternut pumpkin, chopped into chunks
1 parsnip, chopped into chunks
150g baby spinach
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon sumac
Olive oil

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180’C.

2. In a baking tray, toss root vegetables with olive oil and crushed garlic.

3. Bake for 20 minutes. Then add another baking tray holding cherry tomatoes tossed with sumac and olive oil.

4. Bake for another 20 minutes until tomatoes are soft and starting to wrinkle and burst.

5. Check the root vegetables and remove when they are tender.

6. Drain the excess olive oil from the tomatoes and vegetables to use in sauce.

7. Toss the warm vegetables with the baby spinach and herb and mustard sauce (recipe below). Serve warm.

Note: cheese in this salad would taste very good too.

Herb & Mustard Sauce
Jonas’ very own recipe. Makes ½ cup.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons fresh chopped chives
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
1½ tablespoons white wine vinegar
5 tablespoons olive oil (use oil from roasting vegetables)
Freshly milled salt and pepper, to taste

Method:
1. In a food processor or blender, combine the herbs, mustard and vinegar until pureed. Add salt and pepper.

2. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil until it emulsifies with the sauce. Taste to ensure acidity is balanced and adjust as needed.

Note: Use as much of the olive you can salvage from the roasted tomatoes and vegetables but ensure at least 5 tablespoons are added to the sauce.

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes salad roasted vegetables vegetable salad winter recipes vegetarian recipes sauce recipes salad recipes roasted vegetable recipes vegetable recipes

smoked trout & warm potato salad

I love warm potatoes tossed in tangy dressing. There’s nothing more delicious in my opinion. The earthy starchiness of the potato is balanced wonderfully by fresh herbs and acidic lemon.

In this salad, gorgeous smoked trout flesh is a rich addition and lifts the recipe from a side dish to a light meal on its own. Capers help to cut through the richness of the fish with their own salty, briny bite.

I simply love this salad, and using my father’s home-smoked trout makes it even more superb.

Smoked Trout & Warm Potato Salad
Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 2 as light starter.

Ingredients:
1 smoked trout fillet
6 large, waxy potatoes
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons capers in brine, drained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint
Juice of 1 lemon
Freshly ground salt and pepper

Method:
1. Peel potatoes and chop into chunks.

2. Boil potatoes until tender but not disintegrating (5-10 minutes).

3. While the potatoes are boiling, make the dressing by combining the olive oil, lemon juice and chopped herbs.

4. When potatoes are cooked, drain and place in a bowl. Top with dressing and toss to combine. Allow to cool 5 minutes and mingle flavours.

5. Next add capers, salt and pepper and toss again.

6. Serve topped with flaked smoked trout.

Capparis spinosa is native to the Mediterranean and is a spiny shrub whose immature bud is pickled and sold as the delectable caper. The mature fruits are also pickled and sold as caperberries.

Capers grow wild in the Middle East and North Africa and there is evidence the Egyptians consumed them as far back as 18,000 years ago.

When the buds are ready for harvesting they turn dark olive green. They are hand-picked then pickled in either salt or brine. Capers are sold by their size, the smallest considered the best: non-pareil (up to 7mm), surfines (7-8mm), capucines (8-9mm), capotes (9-11mm), fines (11-13mm), and grusas (14+mm).

The tiny white blemishes sometimes visible on capers is the crystallisation of rutin, an enzymatic reaction from the mustard oil (glucocapparin) released by the buds.

In Greece, the caper leaves are also pickled and used in salads or fish dishes. Dried caper leaves can also replace rennet in the cheese-making process.

Our Weekend Herb Blogging host this week is Dee from The Daily Tiffin so check out the round-up in about a week.

Illustration & References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ilustration_Capparis_spinosa0.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caper
http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2006/s1602940.htm

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes weekend herb blogging whb entrée starter salad potatoes seafood trout smoked trout potato recipes salad recipes seafood recipes smoked trout recipes trout recipes