Archive for the 'Food' Category Page 2 of 3
1.5 cups smoked almonds
1 tablespoon coriander seed
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1.5 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1/2 cup sesame seeds, lightly roasted
1/2 teaspoon salt flakes
1/4 teaspoon hot chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon Chinese five spice
You can really taste the sesame seeds now, maybe too much. The chilli is noticeable but not overpowering. More nutmeg is good but any more than this would probably ruin it. The five spice seemed to add nothing. The smoked almonds probably made it taste different but this wasn’t a side-by-side comparison with version 1.0 so it’s hard to tell. I’d give this one a 7.5/10. It doesn’t get 8/10 due to the dominance of the sesame seeds. So probably not best to roast them, or if you do, use less.
The other day, Dad and I went out for tea in town and they had Dukkah and Turkish bread on the menu. Dad liked it so much that he bought me a spice grinder so I could make my own! So last night inspired by this Dukkah recipe I made my own. Had to substitute some of the ingredients, but overall I was quite impressed with my first Dukkah. Any like all good Dukkahs I just kept on eating it until I ran out of bread.
1 cup almonds
1 cup macadamia nuts
1 tablespoon coriander seed
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt flakes
Grind the nuts coarsely. Grind the coriander, cumin and peppercorns finely. Add the nutmeg, sesame seeds and salt flakes. This makes 2.5 - 3 cups in volume.
For the Dukkah n00bs out there, it’s served by dipping bread in extra virgin olive oil, then in the Dukkah. I think the bread just has to be fresh, and Turkish bread is my fave for this. Much to my surprise I found some garlic Turkish bread at Bakers Delight which was quite yummy. I like to microwave the bread for a minute after cutting it up. If you have leftover Dukkah be sure to store it in an airtight container to minimise moisture absorption.
Reflections: My grinder turned the almonds into a fine powder with large chunky bits that didn’t grind up, so it wasn’t exactly the uniform coarseness I was hoping for. I discovered that macadamia nuts are the most oily nuts in the universe; they turned completely to mush. You want the nuts about the size of the crushed nuts you buy in the supermarket, so I suggest using a rolling pin or mortar and pestle. If the nuts are moist after crushing you’ll need to dry them out first or the Dukkah will clump up, and you don’t want that. Half an hour on a big tray in a 150 °C oven should do it, stirring occasionally. I wasn’t sure how much ground nutmeg would equate to half a whole one, so I just guessed. But you couldn’t really taste it.
I’d give this Dukkah a 7/10. But I’ve only tried about 4 other Dukkahs so far and they were all very edible.
Last week, in what has been described as an evolutionary impossibility, a rare species of potato chip was spotted at a local supermarket. Previously believed by scientists to have been extinct since the mid 1990s, the Ruffles species seems to have mysteriously reappeared without explanation.
We can only surmise that the species has been lying dormant in hibernation for over a decade. So far, only the pure breed has been sighted, with none of the known mutations yet to reappear. The precise reason for this latest resurgence is still unclear, and many scientists fear the worst if nothing is done to encourage the Ruffles to thrive in their natural environment.
4 egg yolks
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cornflour
¾ cup milk
½ cup cream
Beat egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and cornflour until smooth and creamy. Transfer to saucepan and gradually add cream and milk. Stir until smooth. Stir over medium heat until sauce thickens. Bring to the boil, stirring continuously, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool, stirring occasionally.
Tonight I went to my first ever French restaurant. It’s called The Little Snail, and before you ask, yes they did have snails and yes I tried them. After previously trying chicken feet at Yum Cha purely out of curiosity, Im starting to notice a pattern emerging with these weird delicacies; you pay through the nose for something that wouldn’t feed a newt. These snails were absolutely tiny, the size of a smoked oyster with similar texture but more chewy. The chewiness would be about half way between a smoked oyster and not overcooked calamari. Maybe getting fed isn’t the point though, perhaps its supposed to be about flavour. It’s hard to say what snails taste like because these were doused in garlic butter; a preparation I suspect exists for the benefit of sooky westerners. You know the ones that think sushi is just “oh so gross”. In summary I’d say it was worth $10.50 to satisfy my curiosity, but I doubt I’ll have the urge to eat snails again.
The rest of the menu looked pretty darn tasty and I ended up having duck for the main with a fig and ginger pudding for dessert, which at $9.50 was a major anticlimax. The service was great, though and they even called us a cab. Overall it was pretty good experience and I would recommend French food to anyone who hasn’t yet tried it.
Today, I thought I’d try my hand at the elusive art of jam making. Considering I was a jam virgin, I reckon this batch turned out OK. It’s not as good as Aunty Anne’s though. I probably boiled it for too long in the last stage, as the fruit pretty much turned to mush. It was a good thing I got a tip about “Jam Setta” which is basically powered pectin for when the jam doesn’t set (which mine didn’t). The jam tastes OK but maybe the citric acid in the Jam Setta made it less sweet. I used 1kg of apricots.
I think I’ll make strawberry next but other suggestions are welcome.
My dairy-free cabonara alternative. Serves about 4 depending on how much pasta you cook.
Ingredients
300g chicken fillets, diced
2 rashers bacon, diced
1 onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 a red capsicum, diced
2 cups (approx) mushrooms, peeled & sliced
1 cup tinned chick peas, thoroughly washed
Extra virgin olive oil
400ml can coconut milk
Breadcrumbs (optional)
Pasta of your choice
Method
- Fry the onion, garlic, capsicum, mushrooms and chick peas in oil then remove from pan.
- Fry chicken and bacon until browned. I like to add paprika at this step.
- Add coconut milk and the vegies you fried earlier. Simmer for 15 mins or more.
- Add breadcrumbs only if you want to thicken the sauce. It actually works quite well and is better than flour which screws the taste. About 2 TB is a good amount but be careful because it takes a few mins to thicken as they soak up the liquid.
- Oh yeah, cook and drain the pasta at some stage :-)
- Serve with lots of freshly ground black pepper (Chris Taylor style).
Notes
Chives would probably be good in this but I didn’t have any. Tuna instead of chicken might be a nice variation. I have it with chinotto but I’m just into it at the moment.
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