Cheddar Strawberries!

Having previously moaned and bitched about how horribly disappointing eating out is, I've been in England for 5 days now, and I've eaten out 4 times, and not been dissatisfied with the food once.   There's very little pretension here, basically what's described on the menu is exactly what's served, without any of the frills or fancy names, a salad for example, is just that lettuce, cucumber, cress and tomatoes, but it's all really fresh, flavorful and delicious, with no unexpected surprises. The food served isn't drowned in sauce, or dwarfed by a mountain of rice or fries, the portions are smaller, but sweeter, and less really is more.

I get so excited when shopping for ingredients in England it's just so much fun, the fruit and vegetables, especially the locally grown produce are absolutely packed with flavor.

This weekend Mum and I drove to Cheddar, which is only a few miles from where my Mum lives, and it's the home of the best cheddar cheese, and strawberries in the world (in my opinion).  The cheddar is mouth-wateringly fabulous, the texture is smooth, and the taste scale's up from mild to extra strong, or vintage, so strong in-fact it can make your eyes water, which is exactly how I like it.

On the road as you leave Cheddar there's a little roadside stall selling locally grown fruit, this is where you will find the sweetest strawberries,  you can smell them as you step out of the car, and the flavor is so incredibly sweet, it almost makes you want to cry.  The perfection of these strawberries is the stuff dreams are made of.

We bought so many I decided I would make a desert,  I had enough to play around with. This is my twist on a summer pudding.

Daisy's Strawberry Stack

I loaf of Brioche
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
2 cups strawberries, hulled (preferably small ones)
1 ripe mango, peeled and sliced

Put the raspberries, lemon juice and honey into a blender and whiz to liquify, strain the liquid through a sieve to remove all the seeds, and set the strained liquid aside.

Slice the Brioche into 1/2 inch slices, remove the crusts, and cut roughly into 1 1/2 inch circles.
Dip the circles of brioche into the raspberry liquid.
Using a 1 1/2 inch diameter deep round cutter, press the soaked brioche into the base of the cutter and layer with the mango and the strawberries.
Repeat this until you have 2 layers of fruit and 3 layers of Brioche. Finishing with a topping of strawberries.

Press down gently on the strawberries and carefully pull off the cutter, place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche, or clotted cream.

Enjoy :o)

Food Snob

I just don't enjoy eating out anymore. I'm so very often disappointed, perhaps my expectations are too high, but then when I know I can prepare food better than a trained chef who does it for a living, something must be wrong.  I'm not talking about your fine dining, Michelin Star restaurants that most of us only get to eat in on very special occasions. I'm talking about restaurants, where you pay a decent amount, and are entitled to expect reasonable food.  Finding those restaurants, where the chef obviously takes pride in what is presented, food that demonstrates his/her passion with the food they prepare, and the dishes they serve to their customers, those restaurants are so hard to find.

Personally I find this confusing, because culinary art is so in vogue right now,  with so many chefs in the spotlight, or seeking the spotlight, and shows and competitions on prime time TV, cooking has very much become the in thing, and restaurants really need to step up their game in order to bring the customers back. When a self taught, home cook can prepare a dish far superior to a trained chef in a 4 star resort, that's just not right.

While traveling back to Europe this week, we stayed overnight at an up-market, expensive hotel in Panama, and had dinner in their restaurant. I've been so looking forward to coming back to the UK, I've been dreaming about shrimp, or prawns as we Brits call them.  The prawns you get in Europe are so succulent and delicious, they're tender and have so much flavor, I absolutely can't get enough of them.   So when I saw shrimp on the menu I thought "let's try it" perhaps Panama has lovely flavorful shrimp/prawns like Europe! 

I ordered the shrimp cocktail, and Greek salad, nothing complicated, 2 pretty simple dishes, how could it go wrong?  I usually order what I term "safe" food when I eat out, something that I know is fool proof.  I really didn't think anyone could mess up these dishes, I was so wrong, the shrimp was frozen, and had obviously been quickly defrosted in the microwave (I can always tell when a microwave's been used) it tasted bland, and had a dry, woody texture, if I closed my eyes and someone put the food in my mouth I would have thought I was chewing on cardboard.  The iceberg lettuce was soggy from all the dressing that it had probably been sitting in since that morning, and the shrimp was drowning in a spicy overpowering sauce, I think someone must have dropped the bottle of hot sauce in during the preparation.  

"It came in a fancy glass", is about the best thing I can say about this dish. I'd asked for some bread for the table, and what arrived was defrosted, microwave heated rolls, that became hard as they cooled, and individual butter portions in plastic!

Then the Greek salad arrived, again soggy lettuce, and what must have been an entire jar of Spanish (stuffed) olives, and crumbled feta cheese, well I give them credit for getting the cheese right, but sadly the salad was totally overpowered by the olives.  Not wanting to appear ungrateful, as Bob was paying a lot of money for the meal I ate what I could, but it made me wonder what was going on back in the kitchen, and I also realized that I'm becoming a real food snob. 

If the ingredients you start with are sub-standard, then it doesn't matter what sauces you cover it with, the  food will always be sub-standard.

Anyway, back in the good old UK, Mum had bought prawns for me, so I set about preparing my version of a prawn cocktail, which was delicious.

Daisy's Sweet Avocado and Prawn Cocktail

12 ounces prawns

2 Avocado's, peeled, cut in half, pit removed, 

2 heaped tbsp's good mayonnaise

2 tsp tomato ketchup

2 tsp apricot jam

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 tsp lemon zest

dash of hot sauce

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Mixed salad leaves, rocket, cress, lamb's leaf, baby spinach

I freshly baked French baguette

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4 thin slices of lemon for garnish

12 cherry tomatoes sliced in half

Dry the prawns on some kitchen paper and set aside.

Using a sharp knife, vertically slice a piece off the rounded side of the avocado halves, so you have 2 flat side's.

In a medium bowl add the mayonnaise, ketchup, apricot jam, lemon juice, lemon zest, hot sauce and black pepper, and mix well to combine.

Toss the prawns in the sauce.

Cut 4 thick (1 1/2 inch) pieces of the baguette and toast (broil) lightly on both sides, place one piece of bread in the center of each plate, drizzle a little olive oil over the bread, place the avocado half on top of the bread, (flat side down) place a lemon slice on top of the avocado and stack the prawns on top. 

Place the salad leaves on top the prawns and garnish the plate with the the tomatoes, and remaining salad leaves.

Serve immediately

serves 4

Enjoy :o)

Bit of a Delay

While I'm bobbing around the ocean and islands off Panama I won't be posting to Daisy's galley.  I'll be back in about 10 days, check back around June 26th

:o)

Did you Know "D" Deglaze

The culinary term to DEGLAZE, is to boil a small quantity of wine, stock or other liquid with the cooking juices and sediment left in the pan after roasting or sauteing in order to make a sauce or gravy.

Today's recipe does not include deglazing (we'll do that later on), instead we're going to use a bain-marie, now everyone knows what that is, and you will enjoy this recipe I promise,  it's just another scrummy, decadent desert: with very little actual cooking required.

Delicieux Surprise


4 1/2 oz good dark chocolate
1 tbsp single cream
1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp 2% milk
grated zest of 1 Orange
1 large Pound cake cut into thick slices (see note below)
7 tbsp Rum
3 pears

Topping
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp very cold milk
1/4 cup sugar

Using a bain-marie melt the chocolate.   Slowly add the single cream, butter, milk and orange zest, stirring gently to mix, and keep warm in the bain-marie.
Cut the pound cake into thick slices and place in a dish,  sprinkle with the rum.
Peel the pears, removing the cores and slice, place the pears on top of the pound cake.
For the topping:
Whip the heavy cream and milk, adding the sugar slowly, then pour over the pound cake and pears.
Pour or drizzle the hot chocolate sauce over the cream and serve immediately.

note:
(This dish is traditionally made using a Brioche Mousseline, which is a soft loaf made from a yeast dough enriched with butter and eggs, it's tall and cylindrical and is the most delicate of all the different types of Broiche.  I substituted the Brioche Mousseline with pound cake, which is easier to find here in the States, the result is a heavier desert, but it's still delicious)

This recipe adapted from a recipe in Larousse Gastronomique, culinary encyclopedia.

Did You Know "C", Confit and Creme Brulee

CONFIT
I have to admit that until recently I didn't know what 'confit' was.
A confit is the term used to describe a piece of goose, duck or turkey cooked in its own fat and stored in a pot, covered in the same fat to preserve it.
Did you know confit is a speciality from South-western France, and is one of the oldest forms of preserving food.  Different regions of France have their own confit specialities, for example in Saintonge they have confit of mallard, in Brantome, confit of duck or truffled turkey, and in Bordeaux confit of young turkey.
Goose is the most commonly used bird for making confit, because the meat is so tough this method provides an ideal way of preparing it.  A special stoneware pot container called a 'gresale' is used to marinate the meat.  Chicken, veal, rabbit, guinea fowl and woodcock are also prepared as confits throughout other regions of France.
Did you know that to obtain an authentic confit, it should be stored in a cellar for 5-6 months.

I debated whether or not to add a recipe for goose confit,  and came to the conclusion that very few would actually want to dedicate so much time in the preparation of such a dish, so instead I'm sticking with the letter of the day 'C' and including my quick and easy recipe for Creme Brulee...

Did you know that Creme Brulee is a dessert consisting of a rich custard of egg yolks, sugar and cream, sometimes flavored with either chocolate, coffee, fruit or liquer. The chilled custard is then covered with sugar and caramelized with a blow torch or under a broiler.  There's a stigma attached to this dessert that it is difficult and fussy to make, nothing could be further from the truth, this is such a simple, quick and delicious desert I beg you to try it, I know you will love it...

Creme Brulee

2 extra large eggs

4 extra large egg yolks

½ cup sugar + 1 tbsp extra for caramelizing

3 cups heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

The seeds from 1 vanilla bean

1 tbsp Grand Marnier

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Mix eggs & sugar together until well blended

Scald the cream until hot but not boiled

Add the cream to the eggs and mix slowly

Add the Grand Marnier, the Vanilla and the vanilla bean seeds, stir gently.  Pour into ramekins

Put ramekins in a deep pan and fill ½ way up the sides of the ramekins with boiling water. 

Bake for 40 -45  mins.

Refrigerate when cooled.

Immediately before serving sprinkle sugar over the custards, and caramelize the sugar with a blowtorch.   

If you don’t have a blowtorch, you can caramelize the sugar by placing the ramekins under a hot broiler.

Enjoy :o)

Did You Know "B"

There are lots to choose from today, some common, and some not so common culinary terms and sauces that begin with B, for example, Bain-Marie, Baking Blind, Beaucaire, Bearnaise, Bechamel, Beurre-Blanc, Beurre-Marie and Braising, to name just a few.  

So, which one to choose? I decided I should write about all the above, but just briefly. Starting with Bain-Marie, as I've been asked so many times what this is.

A Bain-Marie is a tall, cylindrical shape pan with a handle near the top, which is designed to be set in a pan of hot water. Traditionally bain-marie pans are used in restaurants to keep sauces warm. The tinned-copper pans are best, but they're quite expensive.  The stainless steel bain-marie pans are hard to find, and the aluminum ones react with some of the sauces.

Did you know that the name bain-marie was considered to refer to the Virgin Mary, the symbol of gentleness, since the term implies the gentleness of this method of cooking.

Similar to a bain-marie, and a great substitute, is a double boiler, which is used for cooking individual sauces.  The double boiler is in 2 parts which slot one inside the other, the lower part contains the hot water. The water is kept at a gentle simmer and must not boil because that would cause the mixture to overheat and curdle, also condensation can form which will get into the mixture.

Baking Blind:
This is quite simply the term given to cooking a pastry case prior to adding the liquid filling.   The pastry case is lined with parchment paper and filled with baking beans to prevent the pastry from rising as it cooks.


Beaucaire:
The French name given to recipes including a mixed salad, soup and chitterlings (intestines) usually associated with Provencal cuisine.

Well Known Sauces:


Bearnaise:
A classic hot creamy French sauce made from egg yolks and reduced vinegar, whisked together over a low heat and mixed with butter. commonly served with broiled (grilled) meat or fish.
Did you know the association between the name of this sauce and the birthplace of Henry 1V probably came about because it was first made by Collinet in the 1830's in a restaurant in Saint-Germain-en-Laye called the Pavillion Henri 1V.

Bechamel:
A white sauce made by combining hot flavored or seasoned milk with a roux (explanation later under R)
This is a classic basic sauce, using milk flavored by heating it with a bay leaf, a slice of onion and some nutmeg, other ingredients such as carrot, celery, ham and even mushroom peelings may be added. The sauce is then left for about 30 minutes to infuse.  Did you know that Bechamel commonly refers to a white sauce with simple seasoning.
The Italian balsamella (sometimes infused with garlic, bay leaf and onion) is now a white sauce with nutmeg.
Bechamel is commonly used in Lasagne, and with egg, vegetable and gratin dishes.  It is often used as a base for other sauces.

Beurre Blanc:
This is another classic French sauce made with reduced vinegar and shallots to which butter is added, called white butter sauce in English. Beurre Blanc is commonly served with fish.
Did you know that a chef from Nantes called Clemence, while attempting to make a bearnaise sauce for the Marquis de Goulaine, forgot to add the eggs to the sauce.  The sauce was however a great success, and Clemence went on to open a restaurant at La Chebuette near Nantes, which is where Mere Michel learned the secret of the beurre blanc, before opening her famous restaurant in the Rue Rennequin in Paris.

Recipe for Beurre Blanc:


5 shallots, finely chopped
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 1/3 cups fish stock
1/4 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
8oz very cold salted butter cut into small pieces

In a saucepan add the shallots, white wine vinegar, fish stock and ground black pepper; reduce by two-thirds.
Remove the pan from the heat, and add all but one piece of the butter at once and whisk until smooth.  Finally add the last piece of butter stirring into the mix gently (not to make a froth).
Season with salt and pepper and pour the sauce into a bain-marie to keep warm until needed.  the sauce can be stabilized by adding 1 tbsp of double cream.
Recipe for Beurre Blanc taken from: Larousse Gastronomique Culinary Encyclopedia. 

Enjoy :o)

Beurre Marie:
A mixture of butter and flour used as a thickner for soups, stews, sauces and other liquors towards the end of cooking.

Braising:
A moist cooking method using a little liquid that barely simmers at a low temperature on top of the stove or in the oven.

Information in this post taken from:  
SAUCES by James Peterson,  
and LAROUSSE GASTRONOMIQUE, Culinary encyclopedia.

Did You Know "A"

So, here is the first of my "Did you know" posts.  Starting with A.  The first thing that pops into mind is the Avocado

Did you know the Avocado originated from Central America, and the name comes from the Mexican abuacatl, which means 'testicle.'

This sometimes round, and sometimes pear shaped fruit has a dark green, or purplish-brown skin, with a pale green buttery flesh, that taste's ever so slightly of hazelnuts, and a large round pit, or stone.

The fruit is ripe when it gives under pressure of the finger.  Avocados ripen well off the tree, or can be stored in the refrigerator where the ripening process slows down.

It was the Spanish that discovered the avocado tree, and sent the first saplings to other countries.  The avocado wasn't very popular for a long time, the first reference to it was in a cook book in France back in the 1950's.

The avocado is now cultivated in Australia, America, and throughout the warmer parts of Europe, the West Indies and Israel.  The popularity of the avocado today is largely due to Israel, who made a huge investment in the fruit following world war 2.

Avocados discolor quickly when peeled and exposed to the air, so they need to be prepared immediately before serving, or acidulating (sprinkling with lemon or lime juice).

Did you know that avocados provide around 20 essential nutrients including, vitamin C, B-vitamins, vitamin E, riboflavin, potassium folic acid and fiber.  Many of the essential vitamins required daily for a healthy diet are found in Avocados.

Many of the worlds leading nutrition organizations recommend including avocados in their dietary programs.

Now you know how good avocados are for you, cut one open and dig in... Alternatively make some delicious guacamole...

Guacamole

3 Avocados, halved, pitted and peeled

2 fl oz Lime juice

2 medium  Tomatoes, quartered

1 jalapeno, roughly chopped

1/2 red Onion, quartered

4 tbsp chopped Cilantro

1 tsp hot sauce

4 cloves Garlic, chopped

Kosher salt & Black Pepper

Combine the ingredients and process until well blended but still chunky.

Use immediately or cover tightly, pressing the cling wrap down to seal the air out,  and refrigerate until needed.

Best used the same day. Serve with warm tortillas...

Enjoy :o)

Did you Know?

A couple of weeks ago I was shopping in my local wholefoods store when a lady stopped me and asked  if I could tell her what lemon zest was?  Obviously I explained that it's the grated skin of a lemon, but it got me thinking; my culinary knowledge is reasonably good because I read so many books, and watch all the good cooking shows.  I'm not talking about the shows where they show you how to open a tin, make a sandwich, or buy olives at the market.  I'm talking about shows where you actually learn something.  I pay attention to these chefs, and take on board as much information as I can retain, you should see my collection of note books!  The average person probably wouldn't have a clue about some of the more technical cooking terms and as I learn something new every day about cooking I wanted to share, just to those of you that are interested.

Now I'm not a professional chef or a culinary instructor, and don't pretend to be, (I just dream about being one, hence the photo of me in my chef's jacket) 

 but I do have access to hundreds of fabulous cook books, professional books, by some of the worlds best chef's, such as Michael Roux, Gordon Ramsey (like him or not he is one of the best in the world) and of course Julia Child, to name just a few, and I'm passionate about every aspect of food, from basic preparation, organic growing, quality,  seasonal food, plating, baking,  the list is endless, but if food is involved then I'm interested.

Some of the books I've collected over the years were really quite expensive, a lot more than most people would probably want to spend on a "cook book." So I decided it would be fun to add cooking tips, useful culinary information, and interesting facts about food to this blog, taking what I have learnt from my books, and the fabulous chefs that wrote them.
 
I figured a good place to start would be with the letter 'A', and work my way through the alphabet.  Choosing either a food type or culinary term, or individual dish and write about it.

So tomorrow watch for the days   Did you Know? "A"

leftover's

I often have leftover rice in the fridge, as I've yet to perfect the art of measuring out the exact amount needed per person, consequently I almost always make too much, but the leftovers make great fried rice.

Rummaging through my freezer yesterday I came across a bag of 6 scallops, a couple of lobster claws, and about 1/2 pound of raw shrimp.  Enough ingredients for a delicious dinner for 2, (Danni and me).  So I threw this together and called it "3 star, Duchess Rice" because it really was that good, food fit for a Duchess...

note: I increased the amount of ingredients to make a meal for 4

Ingredients

2 cups cooked white rice
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 large eggs, scrambled
1 tbsp chives, chopped
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely diced
1/4 white cabbage, finely shredded
1 cup chopped mushrooms (any variety)
1 tbsp good quality sesame oil
1lb shrimp, peeled and de-veined
4 large lobster claws
12 scallops
1 cup grated Parmagianno-Reggiano
1/4 tsp sea salt
Black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees

Put the lobster claws in a steamer over rapidly boiling water for 3 minutes, then set aside.  When cool enough to handle, crack the claws and remove the meat, cover and place in the oven to keep warm.

Saute the scallops in a little butter for 3 minutes on each side or until lightly golden brown, remove from the pan and keep warm in the oven.

Heat the oil and butter in a deep saute pan, add the onion and garlic and cook over a medium high heat until the onion is soft.  Stir in the shredded cabbage and cook for another 5 minutes stirring frequently until the cabbage begins to wilt.  Add the mushrooms to the pan and continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes.
Once the mushrooms are cooked add the peas, scrambled eggs, and rice, stirring well to combine all the ingredients.  Add the shrimp and cook for another 3 minutes or until the shrimp just turns pink.

Season with salt and pepper, and divide the rice mix between 4 plates, top with the lobster claws and scallops and sprinkle with the chives and the parmagianno-reggiano.

Serve immediately with slices of a hot crusty white baguette.