czech garlic soup

Česneková Polévka

Back in 2003, I went on a little road trip through Slovakia and the Czech Republic with my cousin (Jožko), his girlfriend (Miška) and his pal (Braňo). It was an awesome journey taking in Prague, Karlštejn, Hluboká, Tabor, České Budějovice (Budweis) and Český Krumlov, not to mention the ingestion of copious amounts of beer and wine and slivovica - as only people in their youth can do!

Since the crew were Slovaks, we often ate in tiny traditional restaurants that rarely saw foreigners. It meant I had fantastic guides who explained the indecipherable menu thoroughly which allowed me to try some seriously delicious, authentic, local food.

My favourite food memories were the Bryndzové halušky (Slovak potato gnocchi with a sheep’s cheese sauce), utopenec (Czech pickled sausages), smažený sýr (a crumbed cheese steak, like a schnitzel made entirely of cheese) and this wonderful garlic soup.

We were eating in a small sporting club, somewhere in Bohemia, and the little restaurant served this rich, clear garlic broth. It was cold outside so the broth was intensely warming.

But what really lifted the soup to dizzying heights was the discovery of melted cheese and smoky pieces of pork at the bottom of the bowl. Each mouthful was an oozing spoonful of molten cheese and garlicky broth. Perfect!

For these past 8 years I have thought of that soup so often. Now that I’ve made it, as part of my 2011 Food Challenges, I can honestly say my own version is an excellent tribute to the original experience.

Cook it, and you can experience the joys of Czech food too.

Česneková Polévka (Czech Garlic Soup)

Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 4 as an entree (starter).

We used Eumundi Smokehouse's
pork fillet

Ingredients:
1 bulb garlic
1.5 litres chicken broth
Grated zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon marjoram leaves, picked over
300g peeled and cubed potatoes
50g smoked pork fillet, thinly julienned
125g edam, grated
Salt and pepper, to taste
Knob of butter, for frying
Teaspoon olive oil, for frying
A few extra marjoram leaves, for garnish
Crusty bread rolls, for serving

Method:
1. Peel the skin from all the garlic cloves and slice each into thin slithers.

2. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large pot then sauté garlic until very soft.

3. Add lemon zest and chicken stock, then bring to the boil.

4. Add salt and pepper, marjoram and potatoes. Boil for 8 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

5. Meanwhile, either in a large oven proof serving dish (or individual oven-proof serving bowls) spread the pork on the base and top with grated cheese. Grill for a few minutes until the cheese has completely melted. This way it sticks to the bottom of the dish when you add the soup.

6. When the potatoes are ready, taste the soup is seasoned properly, then ladle into the serving dish and sprinkle with a little more marjoram leaves. Eat immediately with crusty bread.

Note: If you can’t get hold of smoked pork, use a smoky ham. Also, you might be able to tell from the photos that I used thyme. Marjoram is the traditional ingredient; I just couldn’t find any that day! Thyme is a good substitute in a pinch.

stinging nettle & ricotta gnudi

Gnudi are so-called, because they are the filling of a raviolo, without the pasta encasing it. They are, in effect, “nude”.

This recipe is simple and quite elegant. Small ricotta dumplings, flavoured with vitamin-rich nettles, floating in simple chicken broth: it’s absolutely delicious and soul-satisfying.

Using high quality ingredients in this recipe is critical because there’s not much done to each element to disguise inferior quality. Excellent chicken stock, parmesan and ricotta will make all the difference.

You must wear gloves when handling the nettles because getting stung is a nasty experience. Be sure to wash them thoroughly from any grit or potential pesticides.

Blanch them in boiling water for 30 seconds, then drain them and refresh under cold water. Wash them again to remove any remaining dirt.

You can use your hands at this point because once they’re blanched, although the barbs still look nasty, they’re soft and sting-free. I promise.

Gnudi all'Ortica con Brodo
(Nettle & Ricotta Dumplings in Broth)


Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 4 as a starter.

Ingredients:

200g blanched stinging nettles
200g ricotta
1 egg
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 garlic cloves, grated finely
1 tablespoon wholemeal flour, for binding
1 litre vegetable stock
Zest and juice of a lemon
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
100g parmesan, finely grated
Piece of parmesan rind
Olive oil, for cooking
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. After blanching nettles in boiling water for 30 seconds, make sure to squeeze firmly them to remove excess moisture.

2. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan, add crushed garlic cloves and nettles, salt and pepper and sauté until garlic has softened.

3. In a food processor, blend garlic and nettle mixture with ricotta and egg.

4. Remove and mix in half the parmesan to form a dough (reserve remainder for serving). If it’s too sticky, add a little of the wholemeal flour to bind.

5. Take a teaspoon of mixture and roll into small balls. Set on tray and refrigerate until ready to cook.

6. In one saucepan, bring a lot of salted water to the boil (for cooking gnudi).

7. Meanwhile in another saucepan, bring the chicken stock, parmesan rind and lemon zest to the boil. Reduce to simmer.

8. To cook the gnudi, gently drop them into the boiling water. Cook until they rise to the surface (between 1-3 minutes). Remove with slotted spoon and rest on tray, keeping warm.

9. When gnudi are ready, taste broth for seasoning then discard parmesan rind.

10. Add lemon juice to taste, then ladle into bowls. Add warm gnudi and sprinkle with parsley and parmesan before serving.

Note: If you can’t find nettles, use spinach instead.

This is my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging, this week hosted by Chris from Mele Cotte.

blue swimmer crab bisque

I have always wanted to make a bisque, a seafood soup heavily flavoured by the shells of crustaceans.

The word bisque sounds so uplifting and fresh, a perfect image for any seafood dish. It seems the etymology of bisque seems to come from the Bay of Biscay, that rather large bite of land missing between Spain and France. Makes sense, no?

Keen to give bisque a whirl, I was pretty excited when I was allocated the Spider Crab Bisque as part of the Murdoch Book's 365 Challenge to cook every recipe from Stéphane Reynaud's 365 Good Reasons to Sit Down to Eat.

The original recipe uses spider crabs, only there weren’t any at my poissonnerie, so I opted for gorgeous blue swimmer crabs. Their azure shells are so photogenic.

The recipe is extremely easy to make and produces a perfect bisque. The extreme shellfish flavour really comes through, with chunks of crab meat adding texture to the velvety soup.

Only problem . . . it seems I don’t actually like bisque.

The moment the soup hit my lips I remembered, with utter disappointment, having eaten this soup in many fine French restaurants, and even at my mother’s table, and never having liked it!

After all the preparation and investment, I couldn’t believe I had forgotten this simple fact.

But don’t let my forgetfulness put you off: this recipe is perfect, so if you like bisque you’ll just love it!

Crab Bisque

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

Ingredients:
6 fresh spider or blue swimmer crabs
2 potatoes
2 carrots
2 french shallots (eschalots)
3 tablespoons olive oil
250ml (1 cup) white wine
2 very ripe tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon tomato paste (concentrated puree)
200ml pouring (whipping) cream
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Poach the spider crabs in a large volume of water for 15 minutes.

2. Remove the meat from the shells (this will take a little time) and using a lobster pick, empty out each of the spider crab claws. Also get the roe found in the body cavity.

3. Rinse out the body shells of the crabs in water. They will be used, to our great delight, as tureens for the bisque. Ah, Brittany, the joys you bestow upon us.

4. Peel the potatoes and carrots, cut them into cubes.

5. Peel and slice the shallots.

6. Sauté three-quarters of the shallots with the carrots and potatoes in the olive oil, moisten with the white wine.

7. Add three-quarters of the crabmeat, the tomato and tomato paste, cook for 20 minutes.

8. Add the cream, then puree and season. Serve the bisque in the crab shells, (oh, it's so beautiful).

9. Add the rest of the crabmeat and a few shallot rings.

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.

achiote & tequila cured beef w pozole rojo

Image supplied by Ellie

"Paddock to Plate" Beef Degustation

A few weeks ago I participated in a very exciting event organised by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and hosted by Warren Turnbull and his team at Assiette.

A lot of organisations are jumping on the social media band wagon, not understanding the differences between social media and traditional media.

You can’t just broadcast one-way to bloggers and expect them to pick up your content with interest. Blogging is about interacting with your readers and the world, not just a blathering monologue.

Sorry, was I blathering?

The point I’m trying to make here is that MLA created a social media event to draw food bloggers in a fundamental way: they made us the event. Clever.

So, eight bloggers were invited to learn more about beef with the help of a well-known Sydney-based chef, Warren Turnbull of District Dining and Assiette.

Each of us were allocated a cut of beef to create our own recipe and then Warren and his team would transform it into a restaurant dish for a special degustation dinner. Genius.

Beef producer, Alison McIntosh, handed over one of her prized Angus steers and Anthony Puharich, CEO of Vic’s Premium Quality Meat and owner of the fabulous butchery Victor Churchill, made the cuts and shipped them out.

I got given the beef knuckle. I had no idea how to cook a beef knuckle or even what it looked like! I thought it might be something I’d need to braise for hours. Nope!

Luckily Warren explained that a beef knuckle is a big slab of meat, often called a beef round, and is usually slow cooked as a roast.

One of the best parts of the challenge was talking through my ideas with Warren. It was fun to workshop recipes with a chef and even more rewarding to introduce him to some new ingredients (like hominy and achiote).

I think he was pretty excited about the opportunity to experiment too.

I steered him towards a pozole recipe, and he encouraged me to give curing a go. I think we were both happy with the results.

Here’s what I came up with.

Achiote & Tequila Cured Beef Knuckle with Pozole Rojo

Anna's recipe. Serves 8-10.

Achiote & Tequila Cured Beef Knuckle

Ingredients:
1.5kg beef knuckle eye, trimmed
330g (1½ cups) raw sugar
100g (1 cup) sea salt
190ml (¾ cup) tequila
1½ teaspoons achiote paste
4 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
½ teaspoon dried epazote (or dried oregano)

Extra for roasting:
1 teaspoon achiote paste
2 tablespoons olive oil

Method:
1. Grind the peppercorns and coriander seed with a mortar and pestle until coarsely crushed.

2. Add sugar and salt and grind a little. Add oregano.

3. Mix achiote paste with tequila to loosen it up, then add to sugar and salt. Mix until it has the texture of wet sand.

4. Lay a few layers of plastic wrap down, then coat all sides of the meat with a thick layer of the curing mix.

5. Wrap tightly then refrigerate for 24hrs (use a plate in case it leaks).

6. The next day, unwrap the meat and scrape off all the curing mixture. Wash and pat dry with kitchen paper. The meat will be darker and the exterior will have hardened a little.

7. Preheat the oven to 170’C (350’F).

8. Mix together the olive oil and extra achiote paste as well as you can. Rub the achiote oil mixture all over the meat.

9. Place on a roasting rack in a roasting tray. Set aside and allow the meat to come to room temperature.

10. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes for rare, but no more than 1 hour or until the centre reaches 50’C (120-125’F)

11. Remove roast and allow to sit for 20 minutes before cutting. Serve in thin slices.

Pozole Rojo (Red Hominy Soup)

Ingredients:
822g can pozole (hominy)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon achiote paste
2 onions, grated
12 garlic cloves, grated
2 chipotles chillies (in adobo sauce)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 litres beef consommé
Pinch of sugar
Salt, to taste

Garnish:
1 avocado, cubed
3 limes, juiced
½ iceberg lettuce, shredded
¼ cup fresh coriander, finely chopped
½ cup diced radish
½ cup crumbled queso freso (or tangy feta)
Thin slices of Achiote & Tequila Cured Beef Knuckle (above)

Method:
1. In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add pozole and cook for 15 minutes. Drain.

2. Heat olive oil in heavy based saucepan.


3. Add achiote paste, onion and garlic. Mash paste throughout and fry until mixture becomes dry.

4. Add chipotles and fry a little.

5. Then add tomato paste and fry until thickened.

6. Next add beef consommé and sugar and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes.

7. Add pozole and simmer a further 5 minutes.

8. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice to taste.

9. Ladle soup into bowls. Pass garnishes separately so people can add to taste.

~ ~ ~

So, how did it look when Warren and the team were done with it?

Much more beautiful of course! It’s actually amazing to see how much skill and artistic talent chefs bring to humble home cooking.

Warren said they stuck to the curing recipe pretty closely, but reduced the tequila. But the biggest difference was the addition of agar agar to the soup broth transforming a warm dish into a cold one served with a thick sauce rather than soup.

The Assiette team were quite nervous that I wouldn’t like it, or that the flavour of the soup wouldn’t be the same, but once you mixed all the ingredients together and started to eat it could have been the very same dish as mine.

It was quite an amazing experience and the best social media PR event I’ve been invited to take part in because we were truly included rather than just bystanders. Kudos to Haussmann Communications for coming up with it and bravo to MLA for having the sense to agree. Take note other PR agencies!

Image supplied by Ellie

The full list of dishes served on the night really showed the diverse ways beef can be cooked and eaten.
- Beef & Ale Pie
- Achiote & Tequila Cured Beef Knuckle w Pozole Rojo
- Seared Sirloin, Buttered Roots, Horseradish & Wakame
- Thai Beef Salad w Mint, Peanuts & Chilli Dressing
- Beef Satay w Spicy Peanut Sauce, Rice Cake & Herb Salad
- Scotch Fillet w Moghrabiyeh
- Pulled Beef & Pine Mushroom Cannelloni
- Braised Beef in Coffee w Brandied Cumquats & Onion Milk
- Slow Braised Brisket w Cauliflower Cream & Pedro Ximenez Muscatels

If you want to see all the dishes of the night, check out these posts on my fellow blogger’s site:
Almost Bourdain
Aficionado
The Food Blog
The Gourmet Forager
Inside Cuisine
Taste
 

persian pomegranate soup

Ash-e Anār

I first heard of this Persian soup when a friend gave me the gorgeously designed 2006 Marsha Mehran novel called Pomegranate Soup.

Despite my lukewarm response to the book, I had an overwhelming urge to slurp down this sour, tangy soup rich with Middle Eastern flavours and aromas.

When I finally made it, I wasn’t disappointed. The pomegranates give it a sour, earthy flavour and the lamb adds intensity and richness.

This type of Iranian stew is thick and hearty with chunky ingredients. I highly recommend it.

Persian Pomegranate Soup (Ash-e Anar)

Anna’s adaptation of various bloggers' recipes. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
1kg lamb, diced
2 onions, thinly diced
6 garlic cloves
½ cup yellow split peas
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Aleppo pepper
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
1 cinnamon stick
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
4 cups (1 litre) beef stock
2 cups (500ml) water
½ cup parsley & coriander tender stems, very finely chopped
¼ cup fresh mint, chopped
1 small beetroot, peeled & diced finely
¼ cup basmati rice
2 cups pomegranate juice*
¼ cup pomegranate molasses
1 cup green scallions, chopped
½ cup fresh coriander, chopped
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds for garnish
1 tablespoon fresh coriander, chopped for garnish
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped for garnish
1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped for garnish

Method:
1. In a large pot, brown the lamb in batches and then set aside,

2. Next add in the onion and garlic cloves and cook until tender.

3. Add in split peas, salt, black pepper, turmeric, cinnamon stick and Aleppo pepper and stir for a minute.

4. Add stock and 2 cups water. Bring to the boil then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Stir in rice, mint, parsley and coriander stems and beetroot. Simmer, partially covered, for another 20 minutes.

6. Add the lamb and its juices, the pomegranate juice and pomegranate molasses. Simmer for 10 minutes.

7. Taste soup to balance out sweet and sour. Add more pomegranate juice (or lemon juice) to increase acidity or a little sugar for sweetness.

8. Add scallions (green parts), coriander, parsley and lemon zest and simmer for another 5 minutes until herbs have wilted slightly.

9. Ladle soup into serving bowls then garnish with pomegranate seeds and fresh herbs.

Note: *I managed to get around 2 cups from 3 very large and juicy pomegranates.


This recipe, with pomegranate as the theme ingredient, is my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Simona from Briciole.

armenian yoghurt soup w chicken & pistachio dumplings

I had dreamt of making this recipe for some time so I made it one of my 2010 Food Challenges to make sure I finally did it.

I liked the idea of a warm, sour, creamy soup. It seemed wholesome and hearty, but somehow still fresh. And the tasty dumplings stuffed with spiced chicken and dotted with pretty green pistachio were pretty.

The soup actually has a very mild flavour. It might be considered bland to some people, or homely and comforting to others.

The dumplings were also gently flavoured, although the mild spice added more impact. The nuts add a soft chew to the texture and I certainly would prefer to eat the soup with the mante rather than on its own.

It wasn’t a bad meal, it just probably wasn’t as exciting as I’d imagined, but you can’t win them all.

Tahnaboor (Armenian Yoghurt Soup)
Based on these two recipes. Serves 4.
Ingredients:
¼ cup rice
1 teaspoon salt
500ml chicken stock
1 litre water
1 egg
250ml plain yoghurt
1 tablespoon cornflour
Extra virgin olive oil, to serve
½ teaspoon dried mint, to serve
Method:
1. Boil rice in stock and water with salt until very soft.
2. Beat together the egg and cornflour, then add yoghurt and mix well. Add 2 teaspoons water to loosen the mixture a little.
3. Pour the yoghurt into a large pot and cook on a very, very low heat to prevent curdling. Cook for 15 minutes stirring continuously.
4. Slowly add in rice/water/stock mixture, a bit at a time, stirring continuously to combine.
5. Turn heat to medium, allow mixture to come to the boil, then turn down again and cook for another 10 minutes. (meanwhile boiling mante)
6. To serve, ladle into serving bowls, top with mante then drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of dried mint.

Mante (Chicken & Pistachio Dumplings)
Recipe from Australian Gourmet Traveller. Serves 4.
Ingredients:
100g minced chicken
20g coarsely chopped pistachios
½ small onion, finely chopped
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
40 wonton wrappers
Method:
1. Combine all ingredients except wonton wrappers in a bowl and season to taste with sea salt.
2. Place a heaped teaspoon of filling in the centre of each wonton wrapper, brush edges with water, place another wonton wrapper on top and join ends together, pressing to seal.
3. To cook mante, boil a pot of water and gently lower in dumplings, cooking for 3 minutes or until mante float to surface. Be careful to prevent them sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Note: the original recipe called for 20 round wontons, folded in half, but I used two wonton wrappers pressed together per dumpling, to create more substantial dumplings.

This is my entry for the Presto Pasta Nights event. This week's PPN is hosted by Daphne from More Than Words, so be sure to visit her blog for other pasta and noodle recipes. PPN's founder however is Ruth from Once Upon A Feast.

breakfast miso soup

I discovered this healthy breakfast while on holidays in Australia's red heart, visiting Uluru (otherwise known as Ayers Rock).

There are so many tourists from all over the world that the resort offered a breakfast for all cultures. The Japanese station provided hot miso broth and I watched the Japanese girls whisk eggs and vegetables into it, then tried it myself and was very pleased with the results.

So once I came home I replicated it for Jonas, who also became a big fan.

You can have this for breakfast, or even have it as an afternoon or late night snack. It pretty good anytime of day.

Breakfast Miso Soup
Anna's very own recipe. Serves 2.
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 stock cube (mushroom, vegetable or beef are best)
1 cup shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon shallots, soft green part
1 tablespoon shallots, hard white part
10cm piece wakame
4 teaspoons miso paste
2 teaspoons peanut oil
Sesame oil, for drizzling
Method:
1. Soak wakame in warm water for 5 minutes. Cut into thin strips.
2. Heat peanut oil in saucepan. Fry white shallots and mushrooms until tender but not soft.
3. Add 2½ cups of water and crumble in stock cube.
4. While waiting for water to boil, crack each egg into 2 separate serving bowls. Pass a fork through the egg a few times to break the yolk and white into smaller streaks, but do not beat or whisk.
5. Add 2 teaspoons of miso paste to each bowl.
6. One bowl at a time, strain the boiling stock into the first bowl, quickly stirring the egg as it cooks in the hot water and dissolving the miso. Once the egg and miso has blended through, the soup will have milky colour.
7. Divide the wakame and mushrooms between the bowls and serve.

This week, my Weekend Herb Blogging theme ingredient is wakame.

Wakame (ワカメor undaria pinnatifida) is a sweet, edible seaweed that has been grown for food for hundreds of years in Japan and Korea. It’s leaves are cut into tiny pieces which expand significantly during cooking. It’s best in soups or salads with soya sauce and rice vinegar.

Wakame is said to help burn fatty tissue, purify blood, strengthen digestion and regulate menstruation, not to mention its usefulness as a topical beauty treatment and for aiding skin, hair and reproductive organs.

According to Wikipedia “wakame is a rich source of Eicosapentaenoic acid, an Omega-3 fatty acid. At over 400 mg/100 kcal or almost 1 mg/kJ, it has one of the higher nutrient:calorie ratios, and among the very highest for a vegetarian source. A typical 1-2 tablespoon serving of wakame is roughly 3.75-7.5 kcals and provides 15-30 mgs of Omega-3's. Wakame also has high levels of calcium, iodine, thiamine and niacin.”

Wakame has also been nominated one of the world's worst 100 invasive species and is particularly damaging in Auckland, New Zealand and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Check out the WHB round-up from our host, Janet from Tastespace.

tab tim grob - thai dessert

Tab Tim Grob (ท้บทิมกรอบ) is also known as Tabtim Grawb or Tup Tim Krob, but in English it’s known as Red Rubies.

This Thai dessert, made from water chestnuts, is a seemingly weird combination to serve in a sweet course, but surprisingly it works very well.

Although water chestnuts are usually served with savoury dishes, they don't have much flavour on their own so their wonderful crunchy texture takes on the sweetness of the surrounding coconut milk.

Be brave and this dessert will reward you.

Tab Tim Grob (Thai Water Chestnut Dessert)

Recipe from asiafood.org Serves 4.

Ingredients:
250ml coconut milk ice
220g canned water chestnuts
185g white sugar
185ml water
Approx. 4 tablespoons tapioca flour
Few drops jasmine or rose essence
Few drops red food colouring
¼ teaspoon salt
Sliced jackfruit, for serving
Crushed ice, for serving

Method:

1. Halve canned water chestnuts into bite sized pieces.

2. Put into a bowl and add just enough cold water to cover. Drop food colouring into the water, stirring, until there is a strong red colour.

3. Add a few drops of rose essence.

4. Leave water chestnuts to absorb the colour for 15-20 minutes. When the water chestnuts have absorbed enough colour, drain in a sieve.

5. Meanwhile, dissolve sugar and water in a saucepan to make syrup. Allow to cool.

6. On a sheet of paper spread the tapioca flour and roll the pieces of water chestnut in the flour until well coated. Put the water chestnuts in a dry sieve and shake off excess flour.

7. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Drop into the boiling water and cook until the pieces rise to the surface. Lift out on a slotted spoon and drop immediately into a bowl of iced water.

8. Mix the coconut milk with the salt.

9. In each serving bowl or glass pour some of the syrup, then spoon in some water chestnuts. Gently pour in some of the coconut milk, scatter in a few slices of jackfruit and last of all add a spoonful of crushed ice. Serve at once.

This is my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging, but I have already blogged about water chestnuts in the past, so forgive me for stealing from my own posts:

The Chinese water chestnut Eleocharis dulcis is a sedge (water grass) that grows in freshwater swamps, marshes and flooded rice fields. Its tubular, leafless stems can grow to 1.5 metres tall, although it is cultivated for its corms.

In fact the white corms remain crisp even after cooking, making them popular in Western-style Chinese food. The corms can be eaten raw, boiled, grilled or pickled. They can be even ground down to make flour.

Nutritionally, the water chestnut is rich in carbohydrates as well as dietary fibre, vitamin B6, potassium, calcium, iron, potassium and zinc. But watch out – uncooked fresh water chestnuts can pass on Fasciolopsiasis, an intestinal infection caused by parasitic flukes (worms).

Water chestnuts grow in many varieties across China, South East Asia, India, Polynesia, New Guinea and northern Australia. In the Northern Territory, the native Australian variety is small, sweet and a food source for millions of birds.

For other WHB recipes, check out the recap from my blogging pal, Chris from Mele Cotte.

broccoli & stilton soup

This Nigella Lawson recipe is simply delicious. Jonas and I almost devoured the entire between us and I've been craving it ever since.

Luckily it's very easy to make and the ingredients aren't very expensive. Too good.

Broccoli & Stilton Soup

Based on a Nigella Lawson recipe. Serves 4 as supper or 8 as a starter.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons (45ml) garlic oil
6 spring onions, finely chopped
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1kg broccoli, broken into florets
3 cups (1.25L) hot vegetable stock
200g crumbled or chopped Stilton
freshly ground pepper

Method:

1. Put the garlic oil in a large pan over a medium heat, add the chopped spring onions and cook for a couple of minutes.

2. Add the thyme and the broccoli, and stir in the heat for a minute or so.

3. Add the hot vegetable stock and bring to a boil, then cover and cook for until broccoli is soft.

4. Remove a few broccoli florets and reserve.

5. In batches, liquidise in a blender with the crumbled Stilton

6. Pour back in the pan, add florets and pepper then reheat. Serve hot.

Note: Nigella uses frozen broccoli, I used fresh.

Broccoli is from the Brassicaceae family, along with cauliflower and cabbage. It’s been part of the European diet for more than 2,000 years and was well-loved by the Ancient Romans. It’s very name denotes its origin, coming from the Latin brachium or branch/arm.

Broccoli travelled from the Mediterranean into Asia Minor, only to head back to Italy in the 16th century, northern Europe during the 17th century and then finally to England in the 18th century. Broccoli was introduced to the USA by Italian migrants in the early 1800s, but only became well known in the 1920s.

Broccoli is jam packed with dietary fibre, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and Vitamin A. It provides the vital vitamin B that prevent birth defects, is also good for boosting immune systems, maintaining stronger bones, protecting against prostrate cancer and heart disease and contains all kinds of good stuff that equates to a major cancer fighter.

This week our Weekend Herb Blogging host is Yasmeen from Healthnut. Be sure to check ou her round-up.

The time previously on M&M:
2008 - Muzlu Süt (Turkish almond & banana milk)
2007 - Omani Spiced Tuna
2006 - Spaghetti con Zucchini

Reference:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=9
http://www.freshforkids.com/veg_pages/broccoli/broccoli.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broccoli

tamarind & kaffir broth

It's been a while since I got my act together and participated in Presto Pasta Night! But here I am with this tangy, quick comfort soup that I whip up when I'm hungry. The ingredients (or most of them) are usually on hand ever since my parents gave us a kaffir tree for the balcony.

It's delicious, healthy and really hits my sour spot!

Tamarind & Kaffir Broth w Vermicelli

Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 2 as a starter.
Ingredients:

500ml vegetable stock
1 small red chilli, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
2 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons tamarind concentrate
2 tablespoons fresh chopped coriander
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1 tomato, finely diced
1 tablespoon peanut oil
80g thin rice vermicelli

Method:

1. Heat peanut oil in a small saucepan.

2. Add chilli and kaffir leaves fry for a minute.

3. Add garlic and fry another minute.

4. Add tomato and scallion and fry, smashing tomato, until it begins to break down a little.

5. Add stock and tamarind concentrate and bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes.

6. While soup simmers, prepare vermicelli according to manufacturers instructions.

7. Drain vermicelli and add to soup. Remove from heat and stir through fresh coriander and lime juice. Serve hot.

This week's host for Presto Pasta Night is Rachel, The Crispy Cook. Be sure to see what other pasta/noodle delights await.

italian white bean soup

Served with good crusty bread, this soup makes a quick and simple lunch or a light starter at dinner.

Although I prefer it hot during the autumn and winter, you can easily chill it and serve at a summer barbecue.

Zuppa di Fagioli Cannellini (Italian White Bean Soup)
Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 4 as starter.

Ingredients:
500ml vegetable stock
600g canned cannellini beans
1 white onion, chopped finely
4 garlic cloves, crushed
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
¼ cup finely grated parmesan
Pinch of chilli powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil, for frying

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot.

2. Sauté onion and garlic until soft.

3. Add beans, stock, chilli powder and plenty of freshly ground salt and pepper.

4. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes, uncovered.

5. In a blender, add lemon juice then puree soup to smooth consistency. Taste for seasoning.

6. Eat hot or cold with crusty bread and garnished with olive oil, parsley and parmesan.

pozole verde: mexican stew

At first this soup seems mild, almost bland and disappointing, but as you continue to eat, it becomes moreish and intoxicating. We made a huge batch and between three of us we devoured the entire pot within minutes, greedily going back for seconds and thirds.

Afterwards we all agreed that the first mouthful seemed dull but the last mouthful left us wanting still more. It had a ravenous effect on all of us and we declared the recipe a delicious success. A triumph!

Cooking this pozole also fulfilled two 2009 Food Challenge by ticking off yet another Mexican recipe (one of the cuisines I have set out to explore this year) and also cooking with hominy.

Pozole Verde (Hominy, Tomatillo & Pepita Stew)
Variation on recipe by Serious Eats. Serves 3 – 4.
Ingredients:
800g can hominy
800ml canned tomatillos (green tomatoes)
1 cup raw hulled pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
2 serrano chillies, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped white onion
½ cup chopped fresh coriander
¼ cup vegetable stock
1 teaspoon salt
3 radishes, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons dried epazote (or oregano)
2 limes, cut into wedges
Method:
1. Dry toast the pumpkin seeds in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until seeds are lightly browned. Remove and let cool for a minute. Then grind in a food processor or blender. Set aside.
2. In a blender add the tomatillos, coriander, chillies, salt, onion and stock. Process until smooth.
3. Heat the tomatillo mixture in a large pot. Sprinkle in the ground pumpkin seeds. Stir constantly until mixture has thickened, around 7 minutes.
4. Add the hominy along with its liquid. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 30 minutes.
5. When the hominy is tender, season to taste. Ladle soup into bowls and top with radishes, a sprinkling of epazote and a squeeze of lime juice.

Hominy, also known as nixtamal, is dried corn kernels which have been treated with an alkali, a process known as nixtamalisation.

In Mexico people use lime-water (calcium hydroxide) and in the US wood ash was used to create lye-water (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide solution). The process removed the germ and the hard outer hull from the kernels, allowing easier digestion.

The process also changes the nutritional value of the corn, allowing the body to more easily absorb certain nutrients such as Vitamin B, amino acids, calcium and phosphorus.

Nixtamalisation was used as early as 1500 BCE in Guatemala. The fact that the kernels were dried meant they could be soaked and processed any time and many native people in Central and North America relied on hominy as an integral food source.

Hominy is my theme ingredient for Weekend Herb Blogging, this week hosted by Chriesi from Almond Corner.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hominy_(maize).JPG

mushroom & barley soup

This recipe is vegetarian, but it certainly feels meaty.

Perhaps it’s because there are so many chunky pieces of mushroom and a rich earthiness to the broth, but it’s so “meaty” some vegetarians might be concerned about what they’re eating!

Never fear, this truly is a vegetarian recipe submitted to the vegetarian food blogging event No Croutons Required. January’s theme is ‘vegetable soup’ in order to built up the nutrients lost during the excesses and gluttony of the festive period.

Our host, Lisa from Lisa's Kitchen, wants us to focus on vegetable concoctions so instead of using a variety of different veggies I've gone with a variety of mushrooms. The barley just adds to the hearty, nutritiousness of it all.

Although I’m in the middle of my summer, and this soup is suited to cooler weather, I thought I’d offer it up to my blogging pals in the northern hemisphere who are shivering through one of the coldest winters in a long while.

Mushroom & Barley Soup

Recipe by Maggie Beer. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
850ml vegetable stock
200g pearl barley (cooked in 1½L water for 1hr)
200g onion, diced
100g shitake mushrooms
200g Swiss brown mushrooms
200g field mushrooms
80ml sherry
40g butter
20g dried porcini (soaked overnight in 500 ml hot water)
20g salt
10g garlic
10g rosemary
3g fresh thyme
1g pepper
Chopped fresh parsley, to serve

Method:

1. After barley has cooked in 1½ litres water for an hour, strain.

2. Melt butter and fry onion until translucent.

3. Add garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper and cook together.

4. Reserving the liquid, strain the porcini (which were soaked overnight in water) and chop.

5. Add chopped porcini, reserved porcini liquid, precooked barley, stock and sherry to the onion mixture.

6. Chop the shitake, swiss brown and field mushrooms

7. In another pan, sauté the mushrooms in olive oil, seasoning with salt.

8. Add mushrooms to the barley and stock.

9. Cook for approx 10 minutes and season with black pepper.

10. Serve topped with chopped parsley.

Note: This can of course be made with all one kind of mushroom to equal 500g.



UPDATE: Thanks to all the wonderful people who voted for my soup! My soup has officially made me the No Croutons Required January Winner! Can you believe that this is the first ever blogging competition/honour I have won? I've come in a close second before, but never won. Thanks everyone! And thanks Maggie Beer for the recipe in the first place.

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes barley mushroom barley soup mushroom soup soup vegetarian recipes barley soup recipes mushroom soup recipes barley recipes mushroom recipes soup recipes