COOKING THE BOOKS - PART ONE

Okay so this does not relate to Stockbrokers,Bankers or Bernie Maddof, this is a food blog for Christ sake not a hedge fund conspiracy. We are talking greed in a way, but forces that are darker and far worse are at play- Obsession, lust, betrayal and porn! What the hell am i talking about the latest blockbuster thriller or the darkest of Evil,or is it just one mans obsession with cookbooks!
It's a bad pre-occupation you know-just got have it the latest release,sometimes even before they are published- thank god for the net! Haven't tried therapy yet, and the other half is worried, no not about me, but space for Christ sake, where are we gonna store them!
OK an average month will see at least a couple of new editions but the last 2 1/2 months have seen a mini bookstore sprout up like a bean stalk, new shelves have been built and they are now full. During October my pre-orders arrived The Big Fat Duck Cookbook,Alinea and Under Pressure by Thomas Keller, along with November/December releases- A Day At el Bulli, Rick steins latest creation Coast to Coast and Indian made easy by Anjum Anand. You see i have no loyalty, this is the betrayal part I buy what i like, ok there is some writers i don't buy, maybe they are too girly and i'm too alpha, but truth be known i like restaurant cookbooks, expensive one's that are hard to purchase, that is the porn part in case you were worrying!
Just last week on a pre Christmas visit to my sister and family i managed to buy no less than 6 books, 5 of them on cooking, the 6th on photography(this will be used to hopefully take better food pictures).
But why, most of these books i will not use, for reasons other than skill levels, i do not possess the time or the equipment. Take under pressure(Keller) all the recipes use a sous vide water bath and require a vacuum packer. I do not have this equipment, and i knew what the book was about,before i bought it. Hestons latest book, his life in print, will it go to the kitchen -fuck no, it will stay on the shelf, and only come out for reference or too marvel at the culinary genius of this man.
I can't honestly remember the last time i cooked from a recipe, but i do use the books for inspiration, so we now come to the lust part. Yes there are books i lust after a couple more el Bulli books would be welcome, oud sluis from the restaurant, i want along with many others, but this will take time and money, luckily we still have the obsession part. Books old and new grace my shelves to be plucked from obscurity to find that somewhat lacking inspiration that creeps in from time to time. This coming year i have decided to collect old cookbooks, not antique but as old as i can afford, i will stalk the charity and thrift shops looking for the unwanted, and build shelves all over the house, ok the last part about the shelves is fiction, but i'm sure my collection will grow. I have read somewhere that Gordon Ramsay has over 3,500 cook books that's a serious amount of paper and serious cash. I'm not going for that amount but.......................

MOOR & MORE BEER SHOP

At long last a shop for the serious consumers of that wonderful drink from the gods, you know the one i mean - no not champagne or wine, you still guessing, well it's the one and only BEER.

As luck would have it, right on my doorstep as well, a shop devoted to the beers of the world 300 different kinds, plus local brews that are unique to the west country, they even carry stock for people with dietary conditions. Now i will warn you, if you want quality you have to pay, this shop will not appeal to the weekend abusers of this great treat, who universally give Beer a bad name through lack of tolerance and the need to consume far more than they could possibly handle. This is a shop to frequent when you want something quality, maybe for an evening with friends or too reminisce about distant shores you have travelled or even a great beer after a hard day at work. A good selection of beers are carried from the continent with the better known names taking pride of place between the smaller brewers. Approximately 38 different country's are represented and a selection of ciders and Perries. Gift sets can be purchased for that special person in your life, with a selection of your choice! There is a beer for all pockets and all occasions at this delightful little shop.

• www.moorandmorebeer.co.uk

Moor&More Beer

11 Frankfort gate

Plymouth city centre

01752 2222oo

Check out the website from the shop for more information and useful links to all things Beer!

BEER LAO - THE NATIONAL BREW

When a country does not produce much apart from rice,opium and graceful women, it yearns for some sort of identity. Having Earned the accolade of the most heavily bombed place on the face of the earth courtesy of uncle Sam, the country and population have always needed something more stable , a product that identifies the plight of the people and reaches further than the eye will ever see, straight to the heart of the nation . A product that can play with the big boys of the brewing world and rightly so. Without a doubt the boys at beer Lao who first initiated the idea of a national drink probably did not envision the success that this brew would achieve or the pride of place that the nation would hold there national brew. Established in 1971 with production starting in1973.Brasseries et glaci e res du Laos(BGL) was formed as a joint venture between a French investor and locals, following political change in 1975 the Laos government bought back all foreign shares and established a state enterprise which has grown considerably over the ensuing years. Joint ventures were undertaken at later stages of the companies growth, but 1993 saw two investors pull the plug, and a return to Laos government ownership in 2002, immediately Carlsberg Asia and a Thai company TCC a business partner of Carlsberg Asia bought 25% each leaving the Laos government with the remaining 50%.
Beer Laos is made with local jasmine rice that has been polished, with malt being imported from France
and Belgium which are used along side quality German hops and yeast. Luckily Beer Laos take quality control seriously and it shows in the final product, with regular tests from the HACCP(Hazard critical control point), and CILAS(Carlsberg inter laboratory analsysis). Thank god for those tests the finished product is far superior to the competition over the border, with a sensible strength beer coming home at 5%. The drink itself is clean tasting and does not feel syrupy and thick on the palate, a great beer.
Beer Lao original can be bought in 330ml bottles/cans and super size 640ml bottles which are unique to south east Asia these cost $1/70p for a small bottle and $1-40/92p for a large 640ml size, these prices are pretty standard for bars as well. Beer Lao also market a lite version at 2.9% alcohol, plus a Beer Lao dark at 6.5% both these come in a standard 330ml bottle. Draught beer called Bia Sot(fresh beer) can also be purchased in bars, plus there own brand of drinking water tiger head. If in Lao you could always try the local rice wines ,but believe me Beer Lao is easier on the head. If your not in South East Asia beer Lao can be purchased globally -You have no excuse to not try this excellent smooth brew. Beer Lao is available in Plymouth, England from Moor&More Beer down at Frankfort gate- no 11. http://www.moorandmorebeer.co.uk/, retailing around £1.70 a bottle(330ml).

Beer Lao websites;

• http://www.beer-lao.com/
• http://www.beerlao.co.uk/
• http://www.beerlao-usa.com/
• http://www.beerlao.nl/
• http://www.beerlao.co.th/
• http://www.beerlao.com.hk/
• http://www.beerlao.ch/

ENJOY ALCOHOL SENSIBLY - TRY NOT TO SPILL ANY!

PICKLED ONIONS

Yuletide is upon us, approaching faster than a Hurricane. Too many, the festive period is a time for eating,drinking and much merriment, and what better way to enjoy those cold cuts and abundant cheeses than with homemade pickled onions!Pickling is a way of preserving foods that is used worldwide, and varies between different cultures and country's, and certainly in the use of ingredients that are pickled. Pickled onions are a good old British favourite that put an appearance in around the festive season, but are also sold as snacks in pubs, over the counter in Fish and chip shops or in jars ready made in supermarkets. There are many recipes, for pickling here is ours!

The peel;

First the tedious task of peeling the onions. It is important to try not too bruise the onions whilst peeling, a simple top and tail with a sharp knife should be sufficient to enable peeling.

The brine;

Allow 500g of salt to 1.5lts of water. Dissolve the salt in the required amount of cold water. Quantity's will depend on the amount of onions/shallots you wish to pickle. This is an easy ratio to half or double as required. Place the peeled onions into the brine solution, with enough solution to cover and leave to soak for at minimum of 24 hours up to a maximum of 72 hours.The spice mix;

8 cloves

8 allspice

8 coriander seeds

16 peppercorns

3 bay leaf

5 dried chilli's

2 cinnamon sticks

3 tablespoons of sugar

The vinegar;

NOTE; This recipe calls for unspiced vinegar, if buying ready spiced, omit the spice mix and follow the rest of the recipe.

You will need to measure the amount of water you used for the brine as this will be the amount of vinegar required to pickle the onions. You have a choice of vinegars to use, the vinegar of choice is normally malt, but clear vinegar, white wine vinegar or a 50/50 mix of white wine vinegar and malt is used depending on the recipe. Here we have used a mix of white wine and malt vinegar.

To make;

You will need adequate jars for storing the pickles, kilner jars are probably the best but not necessary, as old coffee jars and sweet jars make an excellent alternative, any jar of sufficient size can be employed for the task as long as it has a lid. Place a small sheet of cling film/wrap between the onions and the lid, before bottling as vinegar is corrosive to certain materials.

First the jars will have to be sterilised this can be done by placing them through a full cycle in a dishwasher or alternatively place the jars into boiling water and boil for ten minutes.

In a non aluminum pan Bring the required amount of vinegar and spices to a simmer and leave simmering for 30 minutes, remove from the heat and leave to infuse for a further 30 minutes. Whilst the vinegar is standing the onions will need to be rinsed. The onions will need to be rinsed completely, too rid them of the brine. When the 30 minutes is up, strain the vinegar and dispose of the used spice. Bottle once the vinegar is cold.



Leave for a minium of 1 week in a cool place before opening, but the onions are better left for a month before eating.

SPICE MIX FOR PICKLES

Basic pickling spice mix for onions,eggs,beetroot and so on............................
The Mix;
8 cloves
8 allspice
16 peppercorns
3 bay leaf
8 coriander seeds
5 dried chillies
2 complete cinnamon sticks
Place all the spices into the desired vinegar that you are using, add 3 tbsp of sugar then bring to a simmer for 30 minutes. Take off the heat and leave the vinegar to steep for 30 minutes before straining. Spices can now be thrown away. The vinegar is now ready for bottling with the desired
ingredients.

BASIC BREAD RECIPE

To make 1 loaf;



500g strong white flour plus extra for dusting

300ml water

25g unsalted butter plus a little for greasing

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar or 2 tsp for a crusty loaf

1.5 tsp dried yeast



A standard bread recipe that will make 1 loaf or 6 rolls.



Method;



Bring together flour,butter,salt,sugar and yeast in a mixing bowl, incorporate 300ml of warm water(use a 3rd boiling to 2/3 rds cold water), now form a dough. Once the dough is pliable, lightly flour a work surface and knead for approximately 10 minutes, you will need to put some effort into this part. Using the heels of your hands press down and stretch then fold and repeat.

After kneading the bread will have to prove. Grease a loaf tin with butter, of if making bread rolls form into the desired shape. Place in a warm place for 1 1/2 t0 2 hours until doubled in size. 15 minutes before baking pre-heat an oven with a small bowl of boiling water placed in the bottom. Oven temperature to reach 225c. Place the bread into the middle of the oven and bake for approx 35 minutes for a loaf and 15 minutes for rolls. Turn down the oven to 200c after 10 minutes of baking. Turn out onto a wire rack.

To test the bread, to see if it is cooked through, tap the bottom of the loaf, if hollow leave to rest on the rack, if not cooked through return to the oven with out the tin and cook for a further 5 minutes. Alternatively you can remove the bread from the tin for the last 5 minutes of cooking and return to the oven with a light dusting of flour.

Notes;

The bread is cooked at a higher temperature to start with to compensate for loss of heat once bread is placed in the oven. A bowl of water is placed in the bottom of the oven to create steam which gives the bread a thicker crust.

CARROT SOUP WITH CORIANDER OIL

Carrot soup anyone? To many this must sound at the fore front of bland. Carrots like the humble parsnip must be among the most versatile of root vegetables, not only can we cook them in a multitude of ways they also appear in desserts in the form of cakes!

Growing up, like most kids i was put through the torture of carrots cut into rounds, then cooked to affinity till all of the goodness had leached from the poor vegetables to form an orange tinted water that was then thrown away. I'm still convinced to this day that pouring that water on the garden would have made you king of horticulture. Many a year was spent wondering how Bugs bunny enjoyed this humble veg!

As years have passed my taste buds have developed thank god! A carrot is no longer held or seen in the light that was previously shown to it, but to reach this stage of carrot enlightenment you have to ban all carrot killers from the pot, take up the apron or find a cook that understands the humble root veg!



A recipe for Carrot soup that is lightly spiced, with the addition of coriander(cilantro) oil.



Serves 4 as a starter( Quantities can be increased, but try to keep to the figure of 250 between the carrots and liquid i.e. 750g carrot to 1000ml liquid, increase to 1000g of carrot to 1250 ml liquid and so forth), reason for this is texture and thickness. This ratio works well with a good silky texture.



Recipe:



Roast carrots:



750g of carrots

Olive oil

Sea Salt and Freshly Ground pepper



Carrot soup:



1000ml of good chicken stock preferably homemade. For a vegetarian version omit chicken stock and replace with vegetable stock.

750 g of roasted carrots

A good handful of fresh coriander

1 teaspoon of roasted and ground coriander seeds

Half a teaspoon of cumin powder

Sea salt

Freshly Ground pepper



Coriander(cilantro) oil:



100ml of extra virgin olive oil

20g of fresh coriander(stems and leaf)

A grain or two of sea salt (no more)

Method:



Top and tail the carrots and clean as necessary trying to leave skins intact. Pre-heat your oven to 190c and lightly coat the carrots in a roasting tray with the oil. Season well.Cook for 40 minutes of until roasted and cooked through.

While the carrots are roasting make the coriander oil. Bring a big pan of water to the boil and blanch the coriander for 30 seconds then plunge into an iced water bath. Pat dry and add to a liquidiser with some of the EVO oil, add the small amount of salt and blitz in the liquidiser adding the rest of the oil until a vibrant green oil is achieved that is free of coriander pieces. Transfer to a container and refrigerate till needed.

In another pan bring the desired amount of chicken stock to the boil, once the carrots are cooked add to a liquidiser with the stock, and puree. Add fresh coriander then season, add ground roasted coriander seeds(see note), and cumin and continue to puree to a smooth consistency is achieved!

Transfer to a clean pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer for at least 15 minutes, stirring at intervals.



To serve:



Transfer to serving bowls, and add a teaspoon of coriander oil to each bowl.



Notes:



To roast the coriander seeds, place a skillet or frying pan onto a hob, place the seeds into the pan and lightly toast till the aroma is released. Once the aroma is released remove from the source of heat and pound to a powder in a pestle and mortar.



The coriander oil will yield a lot more than is needed for this soup, but is very versatile and can be used as a sauce for other dishes or as an ingredient.

QUICK GUIDE TO DINING VIENTIANE

Thinking top dining destinations, I'm sure Vientiane does not even enter the list, well think again as all this could change in the coming future!

Ok, so London,New York,Tokyo and Paris first come to mind, but this charming south east Asian capital has more to offer than first meets the eye! When thinking south east Asian you automatically assume the cuisine of the big culinary destinations in this part of the world and rightly so with the vast array of delights to be had in Singapore, the fragrance of Thailand or the depth of flavours associated with Vietnamese cooking, Laos being a minor cousin, and often overlooked is stating it's claim as fast as the country embraces democracy and peace.

All of these country's have there famous dishes, but Lao's national dish laap pronounced larp is probably little known outside of the country or the Laotian community's that have settled in the USA. With tourism and the high numbers of Aid workers on the increase it could even grow in popularity world wide. Laap is a dish of minced meat normally pork, but can be made with fowl or fish,which is then tossed with lime juice,garlic, roasted sticky rice(that is ground to a powder),scallions,mint and chillies. Authentic laap is made with raw pork that is then minced, but to cater to different tastes you will normally be served the pork at least cooked. Laap can be fiery hot, but most restaurants will tone down the mak phet(chili) to western palates.
Laap is served on a salad of leafs, normally consisting of lettuce with lao sticky rice being the normal side order, Another favourite lao dish is papaya salad. Lao cuisine is very similar to Thai in its use of fresh ingredients that are balanced to achieve healthy and delicious meals that can be a little too hot for the western palate, but still achieve that perfect balance of sweet,sour,salty and hot. Vietnamese and Chinese influences are to be found throughout Lao with the noodle being a firm favourite, but Laotian food is not only confined to eastern influences with the french making an impact during there colonisation of french indo china. Not only are there french restaurants of note in Laos but the humble baguette is big on the agenda often being eaten for breakfast with condensed milk and throughout the day with lao pate( think pork luncheon meat). Baguettes can be found from street vendors throughout the day. For exceptional baguettes along the river front you will find PVO opposite the BCEL bank they have some of the best in town, along with tasty spring rolls. Full size baguettes are cheap and very filling. Bakeries are good and have a loyal following throughout the city with some great eats on offer and tasty pizzas.

A good place to ease your self into the complexities of Lao cuisine is Ban Lao beer garden on Th Francois Nginn, with a menu consisting of Lao staples with the odd western dish, the food is honest fare over seen by villay and her female cooks. With many dining options to choose from on this street, you could eat modern tapas at the Full Moon cafe, then head next door to stickies for a modern take on food that would not be out of place in the trendiest of eateries. Along the street you can dine on a mix of Lao and french fare at Douang Deuane or eat barbecue Lao style at the entrance for 50 cents a piece. For a drink in good company head further along the street to the Hare and Hound pub where john will keep you amused with his good humour and tales of south east asia, and his graceful wife will feed you if your hungry, good for imported steaks and British fare. Tasty Indian can be found around town with the Taj mahal being a popular choice and very reasonable on price, just be careful with the rice, somtimes it moves!

Dining options are endless in Vientiane with good lao food from vendors and the riverfront providing sun set dining from the numerous restaurants along the mighty Mekong. Word on the street being Le Belle Epoque is one of the best options for fine dining with other good french restaurants about town, La Vendome and Le Cote D'Azure being very popular with ex-pats. You can find Japanese, Korean, Italian, Chinese and most cuisines in some shape or form in the capital. A quote from an ex-pat living in lao and written in a top guide book, read as " Dollar for dollar the best dining in the world" He is not far wrong!

PHOTOS FROM MAKPHET TRAINING RESTAURANT -LAOS

Makphet training restaurant,Vientiane Laos.

Front sign with a description of the restaurant.

"Yum mak nee" Banana flower salad with grilled pork

fillet,tamarind and chili.

Coconut lime cake with "mar not" sorbet and Red hibiscus

flower syrup.

"Mar not" Sorbet

MAKPHET TRAINING RESTAURANT -LAOS

Modern Lao food for the uninformed can take many guises, but none more so than at Makphet restaurant in Vientiane Laos. I chanced upon Makphet after leaving the restaurant next door, although not dissapointed with what i had just eaten, deep down i was a little annoyed at not having found Makphet an hour previously. I made a note to have lunch there the following day, as a sign outside informed the public that they were to shut the day after for a ten day break!

Makphet translated as Chili in Lao language is very unique in that it serves as a training restaurant for former street children. The restaurant is overseen by the teachers with the former street kids cooking and tending front of house. Students and teachers alike are adorned in identical green t-shirts with the Makphet motif and respective grade adorned on the front.


Makphet is overseen by a charity Ngo called Friends international, a charity committed to helping former street children and there mothers through training in the hospitality industry and the making of handicrafts. http://www.friends-international.org/laopdr.html

Friends international have a similar set up in Cambodia with training restaurants in the capital Phnom penh. Makphet has a second floor that sells handicrafts made by parents with 70% of the profit being retained by the crafts person, while the other 30% is injected back into the enterprise.

The very modern menu with it's culinary roots ingrained in Lao cooking and culture is a revelation. The menu you are handed by your Laotian waitress is given with a gracefulness that could hail from the former royal courts, only this is a former street child with the determination to make good fortune of one self. If other restaurants could put the thought into the design, that has taken place with the menu you are handed at Makphet i'm sure there clientele would be back for seconds! The menu itself could hail from a Sydney cafe at the height of fashion, only this comes from a training restaurant. You are handed a lime green coloured professionally designed booklet with amazing food photography and delightful writing that describes the dishes on offer. With dishes starting in the range of 40,000 kip and ranging to 55,000 kip for mains, and desserts starting from 30,000kip(exchange rate at time of meal 8,500kip to the $) this is a little bit on the pricey side for Vientiane but offers extraordinary value for money once you have sampled the goods on offer, if you could sample food of this quality in a major western city you would be sure to pay a small fortune!

The food on offer is inventive sounding with good use of local ingredients. I opted for a banana flower salad, grilled pork fillet and chili and tamarind called yum mak nee. The dish it's self was lovingly presented, without the need to be pretentious. A nice background of sweet sour flavour with a gentle kick of chili, this salad is tantalising to the palate with the pork fillet beautifully cooked and moist with a succulent bead of crisped fat still attached. For dessert i found it rather more difficult to choose as they all jumped out to grab your attention and shout EAT ME!!!

Dessert is a big let down in south east asia with many desserts in the asian repertoire, a lot of places offer some abomination not native to the region, when all most people want to eat is authentic cuisine! For my dessert i was faced with a task of mammoth proportions-what to order! The selection starts at 30,000 raising to 35,000 kip, with Red Hibiscus,Passion fruit sorbet with Meringue and Pineapple in Palm Sugar Caramel with Coconut Gelato and chili amongst some of the selection on offer, i opted for Coconut Lime Cake,Hibiscus flower syrup and a sorbet made from a local fruit called Mar not. While not over the top with the presentation, enough effort had been taken to plate the dessert but the taste was Divine, overshadowing the presentation by a long way. The sorbet with a taste i can only describe as being somewhere between Mango and Passion fruit, was technically perfect and would not be out of place in a Michelin starred kitchen, and i would say probably the best i have ever eaten yet, the lime coconut cake was a good texture, moist and full of flavour. A sauce of Hibiscus flower syrup remained in the background ,but was a welcome taste although the dish could stand alone, if needed.

My view might read as biased, but this a genuine review and i am in no way associated with Friends International or Makphet restaurant. The food is really of exceptional quality being served from a rare little gem of a place, with happy smiling faces serving and not a hint snobbery to be found!

One main course, one dessert, a side of Laos sticky rice and two coffees 109,000kip, approx £12.50/$20 us

If you are fortunate to be visiting Vientiane be sure to drop into Makphet, and don't forget to leave a jolly good tip!!!

Makphet is located down a side street off Th Francois Nginn, next door to Ban vilaylac restaurant, directly behind Wat Ong Teu Mahawihan. Open monday to sat for lunch and dinner.

KOBE BEEF @ kABUKI: SIAM PARAGON

The search had started months before the scheduled flight to Krung thep a.k.a the city of angels but better known to you and i as Bangkok for that mythical piece of beef known as kobe. This may seem a long way to go for a sample of the worlds most expensive beef, but their was a method behind the madness. For one i would not be able to afford to sample Kobe beef in London, without a second mortgage. Bangkok seemed to be a good choice to start, seeing as japan would not be on the culinary radar for at least a couple more years, and a large Japanese presence in Bangkok, means good Japanese food. Bangkok must at least, be one of the major culinary destinations in our modern world, with some very good restaurants to boot,fabulous local cuisine, extraordinary street food that turns even the most ardent of food snobs into drooling animals whilst dripping namh prik down the front of there overpriced and over sized designer labelled clothing.


I started my search on that trusted friend google, with results showing a smattering of establishments that serve imported Kobe beef. The first was a joint that specialized in steak of all kinds and at reasonable prices with the Kobe steak coming in at 13 Thai baht a gram, on the other side there was the big hotels with even bigger names that import Kobe but again the problem being the big price! I eventually settled on Kabuki restaurant in the Siam paragon mallhttp://kabukithailand.com/. Kabuki was offering Kobe for 20 Thai baht a gram while not the cheapest, in my mind it would offer the better experience being a Japanese restaurant, and association was to be a key element of this dining experience.


To be classed as Kobe beef the cattle must be born in hyogo prefecture, fed by a farm in hyogo prefecture and be slaughtered in hyogo prefecture. The cattle being Tajima ushi breed of wagyu cattle. WA- meaning Japanese and Gyu meaning cattle, so wagyu translates as Japanese cattle. Tajima cattle originated from ancient stock, called kuroge wagyu translated as black haired Japanese cattle. Wagyu cattle are now bred in Australia,America and Britain but cannot be classed as Kobe due to the strict breeding measures! Kobe cattle and associated products still retains an air of mystery with the strange breeding practices you read about being true. The cattle are fed beer, but not as a luxury. The beer serves a purpose, and is used to help stretch expensive feeds, increase the appetite in the summer months and fatten the cattle. Another practice that is employed is massage with the use of sake! Massaging the cattle may sound extreme, but one purpose of this technique is to make the meat more tender as tajima cattle are prone to inactivity, therefor the massage stimulates the effect of muscles being worked.

Kabuki restaurant is located on the ground floor of Siam paragon an ultra modern top end mall, with the ground floor being dedicated to food.

On entering Kabuki you are greeted immediately then shown to either a private booth or a central seating area. In my case i was shown to a private booth with seating for four, probably on account of my enquires seconds earlier about the availability of the infamous and elusive Kobe beef, which incidentally is hard to find. Kobe was offered in two different cuts sirloin or fillet.

Fillet being 25 Thai baht a gram, i decided on sirloin at 20 baht a gram which was bought out on a platter with the best part of £500 worth of steak on show, the marbling of each piece being an extraordinary off white colour, with a good ratio, almost equal of red meat to white fat. My choosen steak being priced at 3900 baht for a 190 gram steak roughly- £69/$115 us.

I started my meal with an 8 piece sushi roll set that was moist and succulent with the rice clinging to the roll providing a lovely texture. A small piece of toro sushi nigiri that cost 250 baht was next and a new experience for me. The tuna belly melting into the mouth and dissolving on the tongue like a pillow of air, giving me an insight into the Japanese Psyche about quality fresh tuna of superior grade!

The Kobe arrived on a small black plate with three pathetic chips and a garnish of julienned vegetables. When you are paying this much for a steak the garnishes make little difference, a little soy would have been a better gesture, rather than an attempt at haute cuisine arrangement with crap chips that a fast food restaurant would be happy to serve!

My steak was very good but unfortunately did not compare to a wagyu meal i had in Singapore several months previous. Now don't get me wrong this was far superior to what your average person has ever eaten or will probably eat with out taking the plunge and parting with serious money, but something was lacking the steak was a little over done, and a little seasoning would have benefited the meat rather than trio of crap chips! While melt in your mouth tender, i struggled a little bit with the amount of fat content!

If i was to compare wagyu and kobe to 4 and 5 star hotels obviously Kobe is the 5 star, but i prefer to stay 4 star, much more comfortable!

I have eaten in some very top restaurants around the world, but have never managed to spend £92 on a complete meal and be in and out of a restaurant in under 40 minutes. Incidentally on leaving the restaurant prangs of guilt set in with the amount i had payed and the less fortunate i passed on the streets of Bangkok, becoming a top concern. With no access to welfare, i dug deep into my pockets and spent half that amount again in handouts to the needy and not the greedy, as i was feeling the wrath of greed!

Kabuki(Thailand)co.ltd

• Siam Paragon
• G27 ground floor. 991/1
• Rama 1 rd. Pathumwan
• 10330 Bangkok Thailand
• Tel: (66) 0-2129-4423
• Fax (66)0-2129-4424

Open daily from 11.30-2115(last orders)

Sky train stop Siam BTS.

info@kabukithailand.com

http://www.kabukithailand.com/

LOW TEMPERATURE COOKING

Consider this lovingly cooked piece of beef.Would you believe that this has been cooked for 17 hours! Welcome to low temperature cooking.

A method of cooking i have utilised for the past 5 years, which gives surprising results. Cooking at low temperature for long periods is not a new practice and is used extensively in the restaurant world, with many top restaurants using sous-vide water baths to cook for extended periods, with results far behind the reach of the normal oven.Now the problem. Like most people, myself included i do not have access to sous-vide, but by cooking at very low temperature in a domestic oven you can achieve wonderful results, and even turn lower quality beef, lamb into a special treat. I will not urge people to buy cheap meat or even intensively rear meat that sees the animals living in below standard conditions, but it is a fact of life for many of us who struggle on day to day that at some point we will buy supermarket beef, and globally we are having to watch the Penny's more, with the recession that appears to be taking a grip. In the UK the main supermarkets have taken to selling joints of beef which are only marked roasting joint, this is not a lot of help to the home cook. Think beef wrapped in netting then sealed in plastic, the consumer has no say in what they are buying or the quality which appears to be hit and miss at times. Independent butchers that care about the product they sell are always going to be the best bet for quality, with the major advantage of being able to see what you buy, with advice as part of the purchase! You can't go far wrong in this scenario but we do not live in an ideal world, and unfortunately for the majority, expensive beef is beyond everyday reach.

I first started to use low temperature cooking after an accident in the kitchen left me with a shorter index finger. I was preparing to cook a lamb dish not much different in execution than Kleftico(traditional Greek bandits meal), when a three legged cat ran across the garden shed roof. This was in my field of vision, which resulted in a fraction of a seconds loss of concentration, which caused a slip of the knife. After this little accident a rapid loss of appetite ensued, so a haphazard approach to the rest of the prep occurred with the lamb shanks being thrown into the oven on the lowest possible setting! With the oven temperature set around 50c, i trundled off to the pub for local anaesthetic. Six hours later i returned to the oven feeling no pain to retrieve my lamb, and what a delight! That was my introduction to low temperature cooking. Of course over time we adapt our methods, so i adapted this for roasting with the theory being that what ever the oven temperature is set to the meat will not reach a higher temperature inside. This theory is OK as long as you use an oven thermometer to calibrate your oven as most ovens vary quite a few degrees in their true cooking temperatures. With science playing a bigger part in our cooking today i could waffle on about collagen and molecules but that is best left to the super cooks!

Method:

Pre- heat your oven to the required setting somewhere in the region of 53c-63c. Season your meat all over with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.Take a skillet or saute pan big enough to brown your meat. Brown your meat, in a little oil on each side for a minute or so or until a dark brown. Remove from the pan and place in the centre of the oven, direct onto the oven rack, with a roasting tin placed at the bottom to catch drips!

Sit back and relax!

Notes;

For fan assisted ovens i have not got a clue! I have utilised these methods with gas and electric only.

If your not the one cleaning the oven, tell whoever is that you got this method from some telly chef, and not this dodgy blog!

If you crucify your nice expensive joint of beef don't blame me, because it was obviously you who messed it up as i was not there!

This method of cooking is not really used for expensive lean cuts, it is best used for cheaper cuts or cuts with good marbling.

Cooking at 53c will give you rare beef, so please bear this in mind if you decide to cook this way!

Using this method to cook at 100c is stupid so don't bother!

Cooking at 63c will give superb results!

ROAST POTATOES

What can beat a well roasted potato, an essential part of the British roast dinner with variations around the world! It is important to choose your potato well as not all varieties of potato are suitable for roasting! Waxy potatoes in particular are not really suited, neither are new potatoes but good floury potatoes are by far the best roasters!


Maris pipers and king Edwards being a good choice here in the UK, the latter being my preferred choice. Potato varieties globally tend to go by different names, so at least try and stick to a Floury variety!

Once you have your choice potatoes you need to give the cooking medium some consideration, plus your choice of cooking vessel! I will start with the cooking medium!

For the most adorable potatoes goose or duck fat will make you many friends, but that is only if you can persuade your guest of the health giving properties of this wonderful full flavoured animal fat, that just so happens to be low in saturates.

Beef dripping is another tasty choice for potatoes especially if rendered from meat just cooked, but unfortunately suffers from being very high in saturates, lard will achieve a very good potato but again very high in saturates, with a mix of fats you could still use a little dripping, but combine with oil for a healthier and tastier choice! Personally i would not use butter for roasting, unless mixed with another oil(this should prevent the butter from burning), but even then i find that the potatoes can be too rich!

Olive oil is another healthy option and yields good results as the photo above is testimony, vegetable oil, sunflower oil all coming in close behind! Mixtures of oils at about a 50/50 mix for example olive and vegetable or sunflower/olive and so on will give good results. Olive oil with the a small amount of rendered meat fat or juices are a delight!

The cooking vessel should at least be a good size with ample room to provide space for the potatoes to crisp, overcrowding is never a good practice! A good metal roasting tin /tray should be sufficient, as long as it is of appropriate size.

To cook;
Pre-heat oven to 190c, place a appropriate sized roasting tray into the oven with approximately 5mm of your chosen cooking medium. while your roasting tray is heating up, bring a pan of lightly salted water to the boil.
Peel your potatoes, once peeled run under the cold tap to remove excess starch(2-3minutes approx). Par boil your potatoes for approximately 8 minutes, then drain. Shake off all excess water. Remove the roasting tray from your oven, and add your par boiled potatoes, shake the tray or use a spoon to make sure all potatoes are liberally coated with fat. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper,now place the roasting tray into the hot oven for approximately 1-1 half hours.

Note:

Roast potatoes are very giving, so you will be able to get away with overcooking. For extra crunchy roast potatoes rough the potatoes a little after boiling, this can be achieved buy vigorous shaking of the tray or draining colander.

MORO - THE COOKBOOK

My copy looks how a cookbook should look, stained dirty and lived in. This is not a book for the shelf as my copy is testament, it should live in the kitchen and be used regularly!

Moro; from the Spanish word meaning Moor

Moro is a restaurant in London's clerkenwell road that specializes in Spanish and middle eastern food, run by a husband and wife, incidentally with identical names- Sam and Sam Clark. Without writing a mills and boon they met, shared there passion for Spanish and Mediterranean middle eastern food then embarked on a culinary tour of there favourite places, opened a restaurant to great reviews and three books later................. as they say the rest is history!
I dare any aspiring cook to try the saffron rice recipe on page170 it is a delight to eat, lovingly spiced with an appealing hue that tantalises the taste buds. Most of the recipes grab at you from the well crafted pages, even the non middle eastern food fans might even be inspired to cook this wonderful lightly spiced cuisine that is so often overlooked in favour of the nations you could only class as the culinary big hitters. If there is one book to convert the masses this surely is the book. Peppered with stories throughout, and quality insight into products with a suppliers list at the end. Recipes that are not only simple in their construction but approachable and cook friendly!
Spanish recipes abound with a section devouted to Tapas and Meze, a good introduction to sherry, not the cheap stuff British Granny's guzzle with such fervour that you end up questioning which group of people actually started the binge drinking culture. Since the publication of this book sherry has become more widespread,with appreciation reaching new proportions, due too it's ability to enhance other flavours and tastes.

The marriage between Spanish and the middle east is probably not a well known one, but read the history, you might just be surprised! With occupation by the moors in Spanish lands between eighth and fifteenth century's a culinary legacy and cooking style was mixed with surprisingly earthy and beautiful results.
Weighing in with 280 pages, and a retail price of £15 it is wonderful value and a fantastic read, a must have for any home cook with a passion for great food. Recipes in this book may appear to some as simple, but it is the importance of quality ingredients that make these dishes so special!

FRIED RICE WITH EGG

A simple standby fried rice with egg that will satisfy your soul, at any meal time!
This recipe will serve 4 people, or alternatively leftovers are wonderful eaten cold!

Note;
Traditionally rice is fried after being cooked and left for a day or maybe a little longer. This dish calls for rice cooked in the present and makes a wonderful supper dish or standby!



400g American long grain rice

2 large organic eggs

100g peas

1 bunch spring onions/scallions- approx 8

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp sesame oil + more if desired

1 tbsp light soy sauce + more if desired

3 tbsp sunflower oil

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper(preferably white) to taste



Bring 2 litres of lightly salted water to the boil.

Whilst waiting for water to boil;


Lightly whisk 2 eggs with a dash of soy sauce, heat a saute pan with 1 tablespoon of the oil, over a medium heat, cook the eggs as per a plain omelette, once eggs are set fold each side into the middle and slide onto a plate, reserve.

Trim the spring onions reserving the green ends(make sure green ends are cleaned and free of dirt and grit). Finely slice the whites of the onion on the diagonal, and cut the green ends into slightly larger pieces, now finely chop the garlic.


Add rice too boiling water and cook for approx 10 minutes or until cooked but still giving a little.

It is important to keep an eye on the rice whilst cooking. Loosen the rice from time to time, and check to see if rice is cooked.


Once cooked strain the rice into a colander and run under the cold tap for 1 minute to remove excess starch and stop the cooking process. Set aside.


Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a wok or high sided saute pan, once hot add the garlic and stir fry for 1 minute or until a slight change in colour, add peas and cook for a further 2 minutes then add spring onions and cook for 1 minute before adding cooked rice. Do not dump all of the rice into the wok in one go, add a little at a time until all the rice is coated with oil. Add 1 tbsp 0f sesame oil, toss then add 1 tbsp of soy, again toss. Once happy that all rice is thoroughly coated, taste and adjust with either more soy or sesame oil or both.


Add cooked egg and toss, add a turn or two of pepper and salt if required-Serve.

THE ROAST DINNER

A Sunday roast is almost ritual for many, the only chance for a group gathering during our hectic lives. Traditionally the males went to the pub for Sunday lunchtime ale and the womenfolk tended to the roast dinner. Now days this would sound almost chauvinistic that the man is in the pub, with the women at home, but god help any man who was not back at the desired time. Many a last laugh was had at the expense of the alpha male who decided to have that extra pint!If you were foolish enough to stay drinking there was a very good chance that the wife would march to the pub,and you would wear the dinner. That would be the unlucky version of events. If the wife was in reasonable spirits you might just be dragged out by an ear, at least with the latter you still managed to partake your dinner, by which time your humiliation might have subsided enough to sleep the rest of the afternoon in the armchair!
The Sunday roast not only has a history with traditional Sunday public house opening hours but also a meal that was eaten after church in the more traditional days.

In days gone by the Sunday roast provided a lot more than a meal for the family on Sunday, leftovers could be utilised for the following day. Shepard's pie being a dish that would be made with leftover lamb, bubble and squeak with leftover vegetables, possibly with the inclusion of a little dripping or fat that had been rendered from the cooked meat. Rendered fat being used as a cooking medium.
Dripping would be spread on bread for supper, and left over meat could be sliced for sandwiches for the children or the breadwinners lunch the following day. Even the dog normally gets lucky!
The roast is not only about the choice of meat but vegetables, gravy and accompaniments. Before the supermarkets held society to ransom with mass choice,our vegetables would be seasonal, with what you ate being governed by the harvest and what was available at the time . Accompaniments have always played a great part of the Sunday dinner. Accompaniments playing the part of making a marriage of flavours that might not be too welcome on there own. The classic Lamb with mint sauce, a sauce made from fresh mint, vinegar and sugar which provides an acidic note to cut through the fattiness of the lamb, or a nice white onion sauce to accompany roast lamb. Roast Beef with horseradish or mustard, just has to be a match made in heaven, that slight background of heat which somehow manages to bring all those wonderful tastes and flavours together! Roast pork with apple sauce and crackling, is another classic combination, made even more wonderful if made useing freshly picked apples.
Yorkshire puddings with the roast, although traditionally eaten as a starter, have eventually progressed to being eaten as part of the main roast Beef dinner. Now a lot of households will eat them with any roast, this is not to be condemned by the purist! It is a truly worthwhile part of the experience that i must confess to. Being of the persuasion that now views Yorkshires as a part of any roast! Suet crust pudding has lost appeal now days in our more health conscious society, but what a treat to eat with homemade gravy.
Gravy made from the pan juices, then thickened and poured over the dinner as an almost self contained sauce, helps to lift the roast to new heights and i almost forgot the tatties. Roast potatoes crispy on the outside and soft and moist inside are an absolute joy to eat. King Edward potatoes being my choice for roasting, preferably cooked in goose or duck fat, that incidentally is not as unhealthy as people assume!

A fond memory from my childhood, would be the Sundays spent at my aunts who cooked the roast whilst the men would go to the rugby club, a dinner would be cut out for a relative that lived alone, and then be delivered on foot, by whoever was old enough or available.
I was young then and like most children, had a dislike for vegetables but i would enjoy roast dinner cooked by my aunt.
Traditionally roasting was a method of cooking meats before the invention of the domestic oven, the meat would be cooked in front of an open fire using the spit roast method with a tray placed underneath to catch the juices, which could then be used to baste the meat. Basting being a method that is still in use today. The juices from the meat are spooned back over the meat to provide moisture, and stop the meat from drying out. Although sometimes fat from the animal or a fatty product such as streaky bacon is used to provide ready hands free method of basting.
In my opinion a roast dinner needs care and attention. An element of cooking skill is needed, maybe some flair and an understanding of basic techniques also. This is not a meal to be taken lightly- Done well a roast can be sublime, with the recipient experiencing all of the major taste sensations. Done badly a roast is nothing short of a minor catastrophe.
Sunday meats would normally be either Beef,Lamb,Pork or Chicken, this remains the same today in average households,with Seasonal game sometimes eaten by the more affluent family's or large estates. Rarely in normal circumstances, would this extravagance extend to the working class home. I feel that the soul of the roast dinner remains firmly with the mid to lower classes, but this was not always so. Many years ago when people were employed in the service of large households, meats were too expensive for the workers, or working class, so remained for a long time a food for the affluent.
Over the years society has changed with the advent of better wages, mass production of meat and poultry plus better and easier cooking methods. These changes are not necessarily for the better, years ago when the eating of this important meal became widespread and food was not wasted, we cared more for what was provided on our plates. The roast was viewed as a special meal to be enjoyed by the family, while not being cheap the cost of produce for this meal had to be justified with leftovers not going to waste, and the cost to the family eating and conversing together could be wholly justified and beneficial rather than the TV dinner that so often is a focal point of modern times. Modern times has produced a consumer society where excess is paramount, and society no longer cares for the old methods that we used through need and necessity, in modern times the housewife no longer has to worry about what is in the larder, what will be eaten Mondays, or if foods will spoil. Although times have changed, the roast is still a central part of British culture, and like most cultures the ritual of eating and bringing family and friends to the table remains central to ones identity.

PESTO WITH COUS COUS

This simple recipe came to light with the need to use the last 4 tablespoons of homemade pesto!

Serves 4

100g pancetta
1 medium onion
olive oil
4 tablespoons 0f homemade pesto/shop brought pesto
400g cous cous - cooked to the brands instructions
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan, over a medium heat, add the pancetta, once coloured a little
add the finely diced onion. Cook the onion until soft and translucent, then add cooked cous cous and toss. season with salt and pepper to taste then stir through the pesto, serve ! A quick easy supper.

MADE IN ITALY FOOD AND STORIES - GIORGIO LOCATELLI

Sceptical at first about this book, as i was looking for a real italian cookbook, i did not want another book on restaurant cooking at that time, especially one from a Michelin starred chef. I was after a book offering authentic italian food, with reference to the country's relation between food, people and culture!
Having passed this book on the shelves on more than one occasion, i thought i just as well have a look, well how wrong could i have been? Very wrong- a quick glance was enough for me to make for the counter, and part with £19.99. This book is a masterpiece of food writing, an italian cookbook through to the core, probably the mother of all italian cookbooks(coincidentally this book along with david thompsons thai, are probably my two all time favourite food related books, both very similar in composition, and focused purely on the country in question).
A nice thick book that delivers for your hard earned money, 615 pages not including some photos at the end, like most books on italian food it is broken down into chapters with an outstanding first chapter on antipasti, which runs to 128 pages, a small book in itself! Other chapters include zuppa(soup),pesci(fish),pasta,carne(meat) and dolci(sweet). A stand alone chapter devoted to rissotto, running at 72 pages is passionate, but you wouldn't expect any less from a northern italian. This chapter like the others is more than just rissotto, included within are pages on the foundation of all good rissotto's. Pages on stock, porcini and for the wealthy amongst us truffle! To see rissotto with it's very own chapter is special, normally rissotto is tagged onto the end of a chapter on pasta, which i find infuriating.
Amongst the individual chapters you will find random pages on produce, food stories from the authors childhood, and a real sense of seasonality that has founded italian cooking, of course there are references to the restaurant(locander locatelli), but these are welcome, a nice touch that allows the reader to put the dishes in perspective.
A wonderful read with only one gripe, it's a pain in the backside to read in bed! An easy way to counter this is to take the book into the kitchen, start cooking the recipes and enjoy. I have!

WOW- WHAT A MONTH

Plunging head first into iced water, might well have been an easier undertaking, than putting my thoughts and recipes into print! A month on i still feel out of my depth, but out of the iced water. Along the way there has been quite a lot of highs, and of course some lows.
Seeing a recipe i have constructed, with one of my not so good photos alongside, has certainly been a worthwhile investment of my time and patience.
On the couple of occasions the damn computer has refused to behave, i have managed to keep my chin above the water, and not drown. I will continue to hold my head above, even when misbehaving gadgets with keys refuse to perform but neglect to inform the incompetent user
how to operate them.
So back to the blog- so far i have achieved a lot more input than at fist expected, although no order as of yet, has happened.
This month has also seen me take the plunge and try my first raw fish- in a japanese restaurant. In the past i have been no stranger to the delights of japanese cooking, so naturally the next step was raw fish sushi. Did i enjoy it? You bet i did, it was a revelation!
On a sour note this month, i somehow managed to go against the grain of my kitchen philosophy, and dare i say the word waste, well unfortunately this was the case. I'm not proud, somehow i managed to overbuy a little, maybe not super shopper style, and all the produce was fresh. Mistakes are made, with not allowing for a 4 day break in between i arrived home to bell peppers,carrots and salad produce all past its best!
Considering our track record the last three years with minimal waste it is not all bad! But again a mistake i would not like to repeat to often, somehow ironic that our first real wasteful week occurs the month i start to write.
This month also saw the arrival of a relative, who duly informed us that he does not eat anything apart from microwave meals, and finds a sandwich to much of a chore to make???
Since departed i now have a freezer full of frozen snot- with no takers for meals! More waste, but this stuff i would rather see not eaten, although more waste in the packaging for the environment!
On a good note we have just found out from other relatives, that we can have a half share of their allotment whilst we fester on a long waiting list somewhere in the depths of a local councils filing system, for our very own!
So all in all a very good first month blogging and an unfortunate incident of waste!

MAFALDINE PASTA

Mafaldine - Ribbon shaped pasta that is approximately 25cm long by 1cm wide. Mafaldine is a flat pasta with wavy edges, it holds form and shape very well after cooking, and retains an al-dente texture.

Mafaldine has a colourful history behind it's origin, being named for an Italian Princess by the Neapolitans. Princess Mafalda di Savoia, who was married to a German aristocrat, before the second world war, unfortunately she met a gruesome end whilst incarcerated at the hands of the German Nazis, in a concentration camp. A bomb blast next to where she slept eventually claimed her life.

Some say that Mafaldine resembles old lace, which gives this delightful pasta a touch of elegance.

Mafaldine would normally be used with a delicate sauce, that would showcase the pasta and textures. I have used it here instead of spaghetti for a tomato sauce.

A SIMPLE TOMATO SAUCE FOR PASTA

A tomato sauce that uses fresh tomatoes, although 2 decent tins of plum tomatoes can be substituted. This sauce will serve four with pasta.

10 ripe tomatoes medium size(peeled & crushed) This can be done with a potato masher or More fun but very messy is to crush them in the palm of your hands!

2 tbsp fine chopped onion

2 cloves garlic

80-100g pancetta (cubed/diced) or equivalent cured bacon

1.5 tbsp of good olive oil

1 tsp of red wine vinegar

10 torn basil leaves

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

First peel your tomatoes; Make a small star shape incision at the vine end of the tomato, place into a pan of boiling water for 10 seconds, remove from heat, and plunge into iced water to stop the cooking process, your tomatoes will now peel easily! If using tinned tomatoes, there is no need to peel.You will still need to lightly crush.

Heat the oil in a saute pan, then add finely chopped onions. Saute the onions until they start to change colour a little, add pancetta, saute for 2 minutes, then add the garlic, but do not let the garlic colour!

Add your tomatoes to the pan and turn down the heat a little, once the tomatoes take on a sauce consistency add a splash of red wine vinegar.

This sauce should take roughly 30 minutes, at the end of the cooking and off the heat add the torn basil leaves.

Season throughout cooking at intervals - but be aware that the pancetta will provide, an element of salt already, plus a grating of fresh parmasen will add another element of salt.

Once sauce is cooked add your pasta of choice and incorporate, so that the pasta is coated in the tomato sauce. Serve immediately, with a grating of fresh hard cheese such as parmasen.

Note;
Omit the pancetta for a vegetarian tomato sauce. Without the pancetta this sauce is still very good. I have used a pasta called mafaldine with this sauce but others such as spaghetti or penne are all excellent.

PAPARDELLE WITH HOMEMADE PESTO

Allow 100g of Papardelle per a person and a tablespoon of pesto.

Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil(allow 1 litre of water for 100g of pasta), cook pasta to preference or packet instructions. Drain pasta and add back to the pan, add a table spoon of cooking liquid, then stir through the required amount of homemade pesto(recipe can be found under the heading pesto) if using.

Finish with a grating of Parmesan, and season with freshly ground salt and pepper.

Shop bought pesto could be used!

FETTUNTA

Fettunta is tuscan bread and oil. Fettunta translates as slices oiled.



A very basis preparation which relies on good quality ingredients.



Often eaten with antipasti or as a stand alone snack, i sometimes wonder if this the original garlic bread.







Method;







Country bread



Garlic



Extra virgin olive oil


Half a ripe tomato



Salt and pepper(freshly ground)



Lightly toast the bread on both sides, rub with garlic on one side then drizzle with oil, an optional rub with half a ripe tomato, gives this bread a nice colour as can be seen in the above picture.
season with salt and pepper.







I like to add a little finely sliced basil to this bread!

PESTO

This recipe for pesto, is wonderful for the home cook to attempt, although made with the help of a food processor, the result is very robust with good flavour!

Better results would be achieved with a pestle and mortar, but just the small step from shop bought to homemade is a revelation!

100g pine kernels/nuts(lightly toasted)

200ml extra virgin olive oil

50g fresh basil leaves(approx 2 handfuls)

25g Parmesan(freshly grated)

3 medium cloves of garlic

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method;



First lightly toast the pine nuts in a saute pan without colouring or burning, toast until they release a little aroma!

Place basil leaves and garlic cloves into a food processor, and pulse gently, until roughly chopped, now add the pine nuts, pulse again, add a little oil to loosen then lightly season. Now add the parmesan pulse again, and add the rest of the oil in a steady stream.


Taste and adjust seasoning!


This will make approximately 350g

This pesto will keep in an airtight container, for about 7 days.



Note on pesto:

Pesto is a ligurian speciality, that is now wide spread throughout italy. A measure of pesto's success and taste is revealed by it's use all over italy, and it's rampant spread across the world.
Pesto is a sauce, with vivid green colour, that can be used with pasta, minestrone and other dishes to add colour and flavour. Pesto can be made with other varieties of nuts, sometimes.
walnuts are used, and some commercial varieties might include inferior nuts!
There are many versions of pesto, with each recipe being personal to the cook, some remain secret to this day!

If ligurian oil is available, please use as pesto is a ligurian speciality. Each oil brings it's own unique taste, and pecorino could be substituted for parmesan, the variations are many!

BRUSCHETTA

Bruschetta from the word brucare meaning to grill or toast over coals, possibly originated in central italy's Abruzzo area around the 15th century.

Usually served as an appetizer or sometimes part of antipasti or a lunch dish in it's own right, Bruschetta has become a food for the global community, elevated to posh in some restaurants with the inclusion of finer ingredients, or rustic among others. Bruschetta in it's most basic form is toasted bread with garlic and oil, in America it might include chopped tomato, basil and mozzarella.

Method:

Country style bread or ciabatta

Good ripe tomatoes

A clove of garlic

Basil leaves

Slices of buffalo mozzarella

salt and pepper

Lightly toast the bread on each side, remove from the grill and rub the clove of garlic over one side between 2 and 5 times, depending on your tolerance for fresh garlic!

Add tomato and mozzarella slices to the top of the bread and pop back under the grill for a short while,but not long enough to melt the mozzarella!

Remove and season with salt and pepper and garnish with torn basil leaves.

CONCHIGLIE WITH PORCINI AND PARSLEY

Conchiglie is a shell shaped pasta originating from campania, due to it's shape, it is good to use with sauces, although this recipe does not hold sauce, the shape of the pasta proves to be worthwhile host for all the flavours from this dish.

This recipe calls for dried porcini mushrooms, which are reconstituted in boiling water. Pour enough boiling water to cover the mushrooms and a little more, for good measure. Your drained water can then be used as a mushroom stock.
This recipe is suitable for vegetarians.



Serves 4



Ingredients;



2 lts lightly salted water

400g conchiglie pasta (100g per person)

40g dried porcini mushrooms( 10g per person)

60g pecorino cheese(15g per person)

2 medium cloves of garlic

25g unsalted butter

olive oil

a large pinch of mild chilli powder

2tsp fresh lemon

2 tbsp of mushroom stock- reserved from reconstituted mushrooms

A handful of fresh- flat leaf parsley(if using a small hand, please use a large handful)

Sea salt and ground pepper



Method;

You will need to reconstitute the dried porcini mushrooms in boiling water, for approx 30 minutes. Once reconstituted, pass the mushroom liquid through a fine sieve or strainer, and reserve.
Bring 2lts of lightly salted water to the boil, once boiling add 400g of conchiglie.

While waiting for pasta to cook, peel 2 garlic cloves, and wrap your parsley into a nice tight bunch, finely chop the parsley and garlic together.
Add 25 g of butter and a splash of olive oil to a large skillet/saute pan, once hot add porcini and cook for a couple of minutes, then add parsley and garlic, keep the pan ingredients moving, after a minute add a pinch of chilli, incorporate, add 2 tbsp of mushroom stock to loosen the ingredients,then add 2 tsp of fresh lemon.

Be cautious when seasoning this dish as you will have salt from the cooked pasta and pecorino, a turn or two of the pepper mill will be more than sufficent!

Check the pasta to see if cooked to your liking(personally i like pasta very firm to the bite), if happy, turn off heat and add a cup of cold water to the pasta pan to stop, the cooking process!
Drain the pasta and add to the saute pan and toss to mix through. (do not rinse the pasta under a running tap, as this will impair the flavour).
Turn onto desired serving wear, and then add freshly grated pecorino, and serve at once.

Note;

These are guideline amounts, feel free to vary. The amounts shown work well in this dish.

Any other hard cheese could be substituted for the pecorino.

A NOTE ON BUILDING BLOCKS

Stock while essential to an honest restaurants kitchen, is sometimes overlooked by the home cook. Often stock is viewed as a complicated chore, at times when a recipe calls for veal stock, can we actually acquire the the veal bones? Supermarkets do not usually carry bones as a matter of course.
Stocks form the basis of most soups and sauces, and can be made from beef,veal,lamb,chicken,rabbit,fish and vegetables.
The japanese have a version of stock called dashi, which requires the use of kombu(seaweed) and bonito(dried tuna).
You will find during a search as many different recipes for stock as uses. Stock is a personal thing, i like to include star anise in my meat and chicken stock, with aromatics such as parsley, bay and thyme. I like to include carrot,onion,garlic and sometimes a parsnip, a couple of pepper corns as well. Some people like to include celery, some don't because it can leave a bitter note. I have found recipes for stock that includes only two ingredients bones and water, these recipes are striving for a pure unadulterated stock. A great many cooks will roast bones first, to develop colour and flavour,some even coat them in tomato paste! I make my stock using a big saucepan, but use a pressure cooker and you can develop great flavoured stock in under an hour!
For me stock is about my mood, i don't have to abide by rules in my kitchen, so i can tailor my stock for what ever use i intend! This is the beauty of cooking, you can break the rules, as long as the end result is good! If i will be cooking an Asian dish and require a light chicken stock i can change the aromatics maybe include lime leaves instead of bay, a little lemon grass,the choice is endless!
Recently when i have simmered a ham, i have included aromatics and vegetables, after removing the ham, i will let the cooking water reduce- then strain and bingo, a ready made stock, i like to clarify this as much as possible to use with pea or pea and ham soup. This is not cutting edge cooking, just minimising waste, the cooking fluid would have ended up down the drain and i have a pea soup with a lot more body!
Most people i know will use cooking water from the veg on a Sunday to add to the gravy, again this is a kind of stock- a building block.
A little while back when experimenting with carrot soup i made three side by side. The first was made with chicken stock, second with beef stock and the last with the cooking water!The object of that exercise was to try and make a very tasty soup without a meat based stock, they were all exceptional soups, the beef had the most body with out a doubt, but the use of a vegetable stock would have been great, but i achieved my goal i made a soup that was exceptional without any stock and at the point i knew if i hit hard times i wouldn't go hungry!
Stocks can often be reduced, to develop a great flavour, therefor they become a building block of a great sauce. I have often thought of using juiced fruits, such as apple as a stock for a pork or a ham dish. Maybe this would not work, but with an understanding of flavours it could.
The building blocks of good dishes are endless, we have traditional stocks for a reason, they build flavour!

A NOTE ON FLAVOUR BASES

Flavour bases come with many names and disguises, although essentially they all serve the same purpose - to add flavour!

In some asian cooking garlic is added to very hot wok, then stirfried until golden brown, this then adds a nutty note, which is essential to some dishes, but not all. In other dishes this nutty note, would be a very dominant flavour that would not be desirable.

Flavour bases worldwide, have different names, in the dessert world a sugar syrup is a form of flavour base - a simple combination of sugar and water!

In france a flavour base is often referred to as THE TRINITY-(meaning the state of being or a group of three). The trinity consists of three ingredients onion,carrot and celery. Cajun and Creole cooking have a similar combination, named THE HOLY TRINITY- a slight variation consisting of onion,celery and green bell pepper, with the carrot omitted. This would be found throughout cajun and creole dishes. The italians have there version the soffritto, translated means sauteed. A spanish version might consist of garlic,onion and tomatoes cooked in olive oil. Although i have mentioned four different countries the onion remains constant.
A french culinary term MIREPOIX is often referred to when talking of flavour bases, this would sometimes contain onion,celery,carrot- (the trinity) plus cubed ham or sometimes bacon. All these bases add wonderful flavour to stocks and sauces or individual dishes.
A mirepoix or savoury vegetable base can start with any number of different vegetables, including leeks,shallots and garlic. Herbs are sometimes included, parsley and thyme being the most popular.
By cutting the vegetables into very small dice we increase the surface area to be cooked therefor maximising the extraction of flavour. Small diced vegetables are more suited to shorter cooking times, meanwhile large cut vegetables have a place,especially in stocks and stews. The larger area being more suited to the longer cooking times.

COTTAGE PIE

This, a basic recipe that will yield a very tasty pie. Of course other ingredients can be added at your whim, the inclusion of a little brown sauce works a treat, a member of my family will often add peas, what ever you do, this is a treat to eat. A time consuming dish to make, but the results are superb. A hearty meal that all the family can enjoy with seconds, if you desire! There are several methods, which include browning the mince first, then removing , then adding your flavour base, removing and a simple de-glaze,with red wine. We like to stick to this recipe as it's simple.





Here is our recipe;



2 tbsp of vegtable oil

1000g beef mince(lean)

1lge onion

2 sticks of celery

2 lge carrots

2 cloves of garlic

200ml of red wine

300ml of beef stock

1 tbsp of plain flour

2 tbsp of tomatoe puree

3 tbsp worcester sauce

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

You will need to finely dice the carrot,celery,garlic and onion, as this will be your flavour base.
Once you have prepped your vegtables for the flavour base, you will need a good size skillet or saute pan, add 2 tbsp of oil, place on the heat and add your onions, saute for 2 minutes, then add your carrots and celery cook for a further 2 minutes, add a good pinch of sea salt, and a good grind of pepper, now add your garlic and saute for a further 5 minutes.
Add your mince, cooking to the mince changes colour(you will need to keep the ingredients in the pan moving, to avoid sticking and clumps of mince forming).
Once the mince has changed colour, turn down the heat to low, add 1 tbsp of flour, passed through a sieve, cook for a further 1 minute till the flour is mixed. Add 2 tbsp of tomatoe puree, whilst keeping the ingredients moving, cook for a further 1 minute, before adding 3 tbsp of worcester sauce. Incorporate the worcester sauce, before adding red wine and beef stock.
The cottage pie mixture is now covered and left simmering for 40 minutes, check regularly for seasoning,with a stir now and then being a good idea.

Mashed potato topping;

1.2 kg potatoes

25g unsalted butter

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

Whilst the cottage pie filling is simmering, you will need to bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, prepare the potatoes, cutting into pieces the same size to encourage even cooking. Once the potatoes are cooked and tender(pierce a potato with a sharp knife, if the potato, easily slides off the knife, they are ready). Drain, then mash with the butter and olive oil and season to taste.By this time, you should be ready to remove the cottage pie filling from the hob, place in your desired dish, allow to cool a little. Then spread your mashed potato evenly over the top of your filling, i will leave your desired pattern as a personal choice.

Place your pie/pies in a pre-heated oven about 190c/375f/gas 5 this should be sufficient. Cook for approximately 35minutes or until your topping is golden brown, and the inside of the pie is very hot.

This will serve 4 very hungry people, or six average sized portions.

Note;

This recipe does not require the fat from the mince to be drained. Lean mince is used, and the inclusion of a little that adds wonderful flavour.

We like to eat this, with seasonal vegtables.

Please see note in archive on flavour bases!

REAL YORKSHIRES

The key to excellent yorkshire puddings, is heat. You need a very hot oven.

Eggs are an essiential ingredient, but a lot of recipes call for only one egg. I have used up to six eggs with this recipe , with really good results, i now find three large eggs to be more than sufficent. This recipe will see your yorkshire puddings rise to new heights.

Suitable for vegetarians if using vegatable oil.

Note; Measuring in cups, from your cupboard, use the same size(standard mug is good) for liquid and flour.

1 cup of plain flour

1 cup of milk

3 large eggs(preferably organic)

Beef dripping or vegatable oil

A pinch of salt

You will need to make your batter at least an hour in advance, i often leave the batter for longer so that a good whisk from time to time , will allow the incorporation of air.

You will need a mixing bowl of sufficent size to allow all of the ingredients to be mixed without spillage. Place a sieve over the top of your bowl, and pass the flour through the sieve and add your pinch of salt.

Slowly incorporate your milk until you achieve a batter with a smooth consistency, add the eggs one at a time, until you achieve a lump free batter. The batter should be the consistency of double cream, if your batter is to thick add tepid water until you have the correct consistency.

Allow to rest for 1 hour minimum.

Heat is the key to good puddings, so pre-heat the oven on maximum. Once a good heat has built up, you will be ready to place your yorkshire tray into the oven, when the oil is smoking hot and only when smoking hot, you are ready to pour your batter.

This is the tricky part, you need to maintain the tempature of the oven, so pour the batter into a jug, that is easy to pour from, and keep at the ready.

Take out yout tray, only when the oil is smoking, shut the oven door to maintain oven tempature, and quickly pour your batter into each hollow so that it is level with the top of the tray. Open the door and place on an oven shelf above halfway. Only keep the door open for the shortest possible time.

These will take 20-25 minutes depending on your oven. For the first 5 minutes leave the oven tempature as it is, then turn down to 200c/400f/gas 6, for the remaining cooking time.

Note; Opening and shutting of the of the oven door during cooking, will cause the loss of heat, resulting in the puddings losing height and volume.

EGGS

Potato omlette



6 large organic free range eggs

300 g waxy potatoes

150g cooked ham (omit ham for a vegetarian potato omlette)

1 medium red onion

10 cherry tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 pinches of paprika or mild chiil powder

2 small pinches of cumin

10 basil leaves (torn)

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

sea salt (to taste)

freshly ground pepper (to taste)



pre heat oven to 190c/375f/gas mark 5, and place a saucepan of salted water to boil.

Cut your potato into dice, and add to a pan of salted boiling water, cook the potato till

tender but holding there shape.While potato is cooking finely chop the red onion, garlic,ham and tomatoes, and reserve until called for.

Lightly whisk the eggs,season and add torn basil leaves 2 pinches of paprika/chilli and 1 pinch of cumin. Reserve

Drain the potatoes in a colander and shake excess water until dry. Heat a 12"/30 cm saute pan or skillet with the olive oil until hot, place potato into hot oil and saute for 2 minutes, then season with salt and pepper, and 2 pinches of chili or paprika and 1 pinch of cumin. Saute for a further minute then add chopped onion, continue to saute until onion has softened, season and add garlic, saute for a further 2 minutes, then add ham, continue to saute until all ingredients in the pan are mixed then pour on seasoned egg mixture, continue to cook until bottom of omlette has set, transfer saute pan to a hot oven 190c/375f/gas mark 5, with the door left open so that the top sets, as soon as eggs are set it is ready.

Slide the omlette out whole on to a large plate, serve immediately.

BREAD

Who doesn't like bread?

Malta although not noted for culinary wonders, like all countrys they have hidden gems, there use of rabbit, little pastizzi(small filled cheese cakes, made with a flakey pastry but bearing no resemblence to english cheesecakes), and of course the bread.
Maltese bread is special, very special, that special that your average maltese is said to consume roughly 1 kg a day.
Loafs are big, and for just over half a euro you can eat one yourself...............if your in malta.
Maltese loafs are based on an old tradition of bread making, probably originating from the knights of the order of saint john, similar breads exist in Rhodes.
Methods used are similar, but not identical to the true sourdough bread, made famous by San Francisco.
A maltese loaf is a textural revelation, a thick heavy crust, with a slight burnt note, chewey, moist and slightly sour, which is not devoid of the odd air hole. Most breads would be kocked back, a method used to knock the air out of the dough, during rising, this results in less holes in the finished loaf, this part of the process is omitted with maltese bread.

I have flirted with bread baking at home, with varying degrees of success, it's a very emotional process, almost theraputic, the kneading, then the wait for your loaf to prove, with the baking filling the kitchen with that lovely aroma from the alcehmic process that has happened during incorporation of yeast,flour and water, then introducing your creation to very hot oven.

My last attempt this weekend past, will be my best effort yet, the result was a lovely granary loaf, with a reasonable crust, one that i would be proud to share..........only i didn't.
Bread making so far for me has consisted of the use of dried packet yeast, and well known brands of bread flour. I want more, i want the real deal, i want sourdough .

I have had a recipe for a starter dough for a couple of years, but have never had the courage to take the plunge, after our trip to malta i bought back another starter recipe, i now have two so it's time, the time has arrived!

Over the coming weeks i will make the starter, hopefully with regular feeding i will produce a starter dough that will remain with me for many years, i will post the recipe and progress of my efforts, hopefully daily.

Watch this space.............