Strange but Delicous

I needed to make a side dish for a chicken i was roasting, and i recalled a dish i saw Laura Calder prepare on her show French Food At Home. It looked quite strange because the lettuce is added at the end and cooked down, but i was intrigued and decided to give it a go. Let me tell you, it was worth it. So easy to make, and really tasty.

PETIT POI A LA FRANCAISE

2 tbsp butter
16 x pearl onions, peeled and halved
4 slices bacon, cut into lardons
1 lb. shelled fresh peas
1/2 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper
1 x bib lettuce, cored and sliced

Melt the butter in a sauté pan. Add the onions and cook two minutes, then add the bacon and continue cooking until done. Add the peas and stock. Season. Cover and cook until the peas are almost tender. Add the lettuce and stir through. Cover one minute to wilt. Check the seasonings, and serve.

Daring Bakers: Spring Opera Cake

Here's my version of a springtime Opera cake. Instead of the traditional coffee and dark chocolate flavours mine had joconde cake which i layered with vanilla pastry cream and raspberry buttercream, and i topped it off with a white chocolate raspberry ganache. It was lovely, but in my opinion there's still nothing like the original ;).

Sarah Molton's Smoked Salmon Reuben

I miss the old Food Network, when it was all about the food. It seems like these days, it's more about entertainment value... food-porn. I am fed up with watching Giada's bobblehead and exposed breasts; even Nigella's new show feels forced and contrived...most of the recipes and shortcuts on that show make me shudder.

This is an ode to the OLD Food Network. We need more people like Sarah Molton back on, people who aren't just celebrities but real chefs.

SARAH MOLTON'S SMOKED SALMON REUBEN

1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons chili sauce or ketchup
2 tablespoons finely chopped dill pickle
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and freshly milled black pepper
8 slices rye bread
4 to 6 ounces thinly sliced Gruyere, Italian Fontina, or Swiss
8 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon or smoked turkey
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can sauerkraut, drained, rinsed and gently squeezed dry
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Combine the mayonnaise, chili sauce, pickle, lemon juice, and salt and pepper, to taste. Spread 1 side of each slice of bread with some of the dressing. Arrange half of the cheese on 4 of the slices. Divide the salmon, sauerkraut, and remaining cheese among the cheese-topped slices of bread and top each with 1 of the remaining bread slices, dressing-side down.

Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat; add the sandwiches and something heavy (such as a cast iron skillet, flat saucepan lid, or heatproof plate and a weight such as a food can) to firmly press the sandwiches down. Cook for 6 minutes a side or until golden and the cheese has melted. Cut the sandwiches in half and serve.

Spanish Tortilla with Beans

My Mom makes the most delicious spanish tortilla, and as i was feeling a bit homesick, i thought i'd try my hand at it . Well, i discovered that its not the easiest thing in the world to make. My first attempt was a disaster to say the least...it was burnt on the outside and yet raw inside :(.

This one here is my second attempt, and i am happy to say that it turned out beautifully. It doesn't hold a candle to my mom's tortilla, but nevertheless, its still tortilla...and its edible! Next time though i think i'll omit the beans....not a fan of the beans.

Tortilla with Beans
3 tbsp olive oil
2 Spanish onions, sliced thinly
300 g. waxy potato, cut into dice
1 3/4 cups shelled fava beans
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
6 large eggs
3 tbsp mixed chopped chives and parsley
salt and ground pepper

1. Heat oil in a deep non-stick frying pan. Add onions and potatoes and stir to coat. Cover and cook gently until potatoes are cooked and onions are collapsed.
2. Meanwhile cook the beans in a pan of boiling salted water for 5 min. Drain and set aside to cool.
3. When beans are cool, peel and discard the outer skins. Add the beans to the potatoes, together with the thyme and season with salt and pepper. Stir well and cook for a further 2-3 min.
4. Beat the eggs with salt and pepper to taste and add the mixed herbs. Pour eggs over potatoes and increase the heat slightly. Cook gently for about 5 min. or until the egg on the bottom sets and browns. During cooking, gently pull tortilla away from the sides of the pan and tilt to allow the uncooked egg to run underneath.
5. Cover the pan with a large plate and invert the tortilla on to it. Add the remaining oil to the pan, heat till hot. Slip the tortilla back into the pan, uncooked side down, and cook for 3-5 min. until the underneath browns.
6. Slide the tortilla on to a plate. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

Daring Baker's Challenge: Perfect Party Cake

This month's Daring Baker's Challenge: Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake.




Okay, so the cake is tall and beautiful, and i had a blast making it. But i have to say, i did not enjoy eating it.

I have two or three objections to this cake. a.) the recipe didn't call for any salt. Weird. I added some anyway. b.) the cake was waaaaaaaaay too sweet!!. And c.) i am not partial to buttercream. It makes me feel like my arteries are clogging up with every bite. Yes, I know its probably just all in my head, but nevertheless thats how it is.

So i decided to make another version....just with layers of fresh berries and sweetened whipped cream. Yum. This cake was devoured before the day was out.

Sourdough

I haven't been able to update this blog much due to work and just being busy, but i hope to start baking more soon :). This is a soudough loaf I baked early this month. I was too lazy to make my own sourdough starter (it needs a lot of attention, and i don't think i'll be making bread that often anyway), so i bought and used a dry sour. It turned out better than i thought it would! I used half bread flour and half dark rye flour, added some cornmeal and some caraway seeds, and the result was a soft and tender loaf of bread. I admit though, i couldn't wait for it to completely cool before i cut into it :P.

Daring Baker Challenge: Julia Child's French Bread

I really enjoy making bread, so this challenge was met with open arms. I was a little daunted when i printed the recipe...and it was 9 pages long! But i just kind of drew from experience and luckily, I didn't have too many problems.

My mixer isn't powerful enough to really knead the dough enough to develop the gluten, so i had to do it by hand (which i actually enjoy anyway :) ).

dough after kneading, putting it to rest and to rise

Although it states in the recipe to let the dough rise for about 3 hours, mine only took about half that time to rise. My scale was acting up and i am pretty sure I didn't measure the full amount of salt called for.

risen dough

I baked my loaf on a pizza stone, and i also used some steam which helped create the crusty exterior. My slashes were a little wonky though, maybe next time a razorblade will work better than a knife, but i'm not one to complain....there is nothing more pleasant than hearing a crusty loaf cooling...it crackles and pops, and smells oh-so-good :).

baked loaf

Overall I was really quite pleased and proud of my little loaf, especially the crumb. God, I love bread :) !

You can find this recipe at http://breadchick.com/?p=336. ...and if you can, be sure to check out my fellow Daring Bakers' posts.