Beating It

A good beating really can make a difference.

In Ireland we tend to be shy about beating meat into submission but it is a habit worth forming.

Feel free to wallop a piece of tough rump steak to tenderise it before you slice it against the grain and marinate it for stir frying

For Chicken Cordon Bleu beat some chicken breasts thin, roll them with a slice of ham and Gruyère and secure with a tooth pick. Sprinkle on breadcrumbs, dot with butter and bake in the oven.

Veal is the traditional meat for escalopes but you can also use pork fillet or turkey breast.

The French like to make a creamy sauce to pour over thinly beaten meat to make up for the lost juices. Fry some mushrooms in butter, add some white wine and boil it down, then add some Dijon mustard and some cream and cook until thickened.

The Austrians exalt their Wiener Schnitzel (thin escalope slices of veal fried in breadcrumbs) but they probably robbed the idea from the Italians.

Pork Escalopes à la Milanaise
Mix 200g breadcrumbs with 50g of finely grated parmesan cheese and the finely grated rind of a lemon (feel free to use a food processor to make the crumbs extra fine). In a separate bowl mix two eggs with a splash of milk and add a good pinch of salt and pepper. Trim a pork steak fillet of all fat and sinews and cut into 2 inch slices.

Lay a piece of cling film on a chopping board and beat each piece of pork with a meat mallet or a rolling pin until it flattens to a 3-5mm thick escalope. Sprinkle the escalope with some salt and immerse in the egg wash, then press both sides into the parmesan breadcrumbs.

Drizzle a small amount of oil on a frying pan followed by a knob of butter. Once the butter is sizzling, fry as many escallopes as will fit in the pan for. 2 minutes per side until golden brown. Place in the oven at 120oC to keep warm while you cook the rest. Add fresh oil and butter to the pan before you cook each batch.

Serve immediately with slices of lemon and some creamy pasta or a salad

Sephardic Chicken and Rice Croquettes

From the Evening Herald - 30th April 2009

Jewish Passover celebrations last week sent me back to Claudia Roden’s Book of Jewish Food, as much a cultural history as a cookbook.

When most of us think of Jewish food we think of Woody Allen films and New York Jewish jokes about chopped liver, matzo balls and gefilte fish.

Roden’s book does indeed have many recipes from the Ashkenazi (European) world but the book is most interesting when it explores the cooking of Sephardic Jews.

Sephardic originally meant those Jews that had lived in Spain under the Moors but now signifies the Jewish diaspora with roots in the Mediterranean, Middle East, India and Africa.

Jewish dietary laws apply to both cuisines but Ashkenazi food is standardised while Sephardic food varies from country to country and even family to family, depending on their origins.

The main differences are based on climate and ingredients. The Ashkenazi world with its cold damp winters used lots of animal fats, meat, salted fish, potatoes and onions.

The Sephardic world is hot, and their cooking is lighter using olive oil, rice, aubergines, peppers and spices.

Roden’s recipe below is from the Baghdadi community in India, so called because most are of Iraqi descent and mix Indian flavours to the Iraqi and Syrian dishes they brought with them when they settled in India in the 19th century.

Risotto rice works best for this dish but you could also use pudding rice.

Baghdadi Chicken and Rice Croquettes
125g round rice (e.g. Arborio), 250g Chicken Fillets, 1 garlic clove, 1 inch piece of peeled fresh ginger, ½ tsp garam masala (or curry powder), ½ tsp turmeric, 4 tbs chopped parsley. Oil for deep frying.

Boil the rice in salted water for 15 minutes only, then drain. Mince the chicken to a paste in a food processor and then add the other ingredients, including the cooked rice, and blend until fully mixed.

Oil your hands as the mix is sticky. Take walnut-sized lumps and roll into fingers 5-6cm long. Deep fry in hot oil for c.5 minutes until golden.

Serve with salad, dips and relishes such as Mango Chutney and Raita (natural yoghurt mixed with chopped fresh mint, grated cucumber and lemon juice).

Easter Chocolate

My helpers for this Article are pictured above: Catherine, Grellan and Belle.

Easter means chocolate, too much chocolate. (From Today's Evening Herald - 16/4/09)

In our house Easter eggs and various chocolate bars hang around for weeks after Easter (guzzling) Sunday.

Melting the chocolate with whatever else is left over is a good way to rid the house of this waist stretcher and get the kids interested in cooking.

Cover marshmallows or plain biscuits with chocolate, dip strawberries or grapes, make rice crispie cakes, spread on pancakes, pour on ice cream, or simply use your finger to dip and lick..

Melting cheap milk chocolate as found in the average Easter egg is more difficult due to the lower (or non-existent) cocoa solids so proceed slowly.

Break the chocolate into a small bowl with a couple of spoons of fresh cream (or milk) and place over a saucepan of hot water on low heat. Make sure the bowl is not touching the water (less important for dark chocolate) and that the chocolate melts slowly. Gradually add more chocolate and stir all the time.

Short bursts in a microwave set to medium (fifteen seconds, remove and stir, repeat and repeat) can also work.

Most chocolate bars such as mars and toblerone melt well, a bashed up crunchie or twix will add texture, and smarties or m&ms add colour.

If the chocolate splits and goes grainy you can rescue it by gradually adding the grainy mix to a small amount of hot milk on a very low heat and stirring vigourously.

Biscuits (for dipping or coating)

Ingredients: 350g plain flour, 140g caster sugar, 170g unsalted butter (chilled and chopped), 1 egg, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, pinch of salt.

Sift the flour into a bowl or food processor, add the caster sugar and butter and mix well until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add the egg, vanilla and salt to a cup, whisk with a fork and add to the biscuit mix. Work the dough lightly until firm; add a teaspoon of water if the mixture is too dry. Roll into a ball, cover in cling film and refrigerate for 30 min.

Roll out the mix on a floured board until the dough is 2-4mm thick, cut into shapes, transfer to a baking tray and bake at 140C/gas 3 for 15 minutes. Allow to cool on a rack and then decorate with melted chocolate and smarties.

Tortilla Espagnole

Penelope Cruz winning her Oscar last month sent me back to her last great performance in the wonderful Pedro Almodovar film Volver where her character accidentally ends up running a restaurant (having hidden a dead body in their freezer – trust me it makes sense in the movie). In the film she cooks Tortilla and other classic Spanish dishes.

A Spanish tortilla is simply a potato omelet and is no relation to the Mexican tortilla. Tortilla is impossible to avoid in Spain, no matter the region; every family home, pub or restaurant will have their own version.

Most Spaniards believe it should be kept simple with just potatoes, onions, eggs and a little salt, but don’t be afraid to experiment.
Optional ingredients include fresh herbs, paprika, chopped tomato, red or green peppers, Chorizo, cooked ham, mushrooms etc. Try not to overload the omelet however, as potato and egg are the stars of the dish.
The quick and dirty version is to fry some chopped cold (cooked) potatoes with some onions, add some beaten eggs and cook as you would any omelet. However for best results cook the potatoes from scratch as in the recipe below.
Spanish Omelet
Gently heat 100ml of Spanish Olive Oil in a small frying pan (7-8 inches). Peel and slice 200g medium potatoes and cook in the olive oil until soft, turning occasionally (this may take up to 25 minutes).
Once the potatoes are almost cooked add a large sliced onion and cook until translucent.
Add 6 very fresh eggs to a bowl with a good pinch of salt and pepper and whisk with a fork. Remove the potatoes and onions from the pan with a slotted spoon and mix well with the eggs. Remove half the oil from the pan to a cup and turn heat to high for 30 seconds. Pour the eggs and potatoes onto the pan, reduce the heat and cook gently until the omelet has set and is golden underneath.
Place a large plate on top of the pan and flip out the omelet. Add the remaining oil to the pan, heat until sizzling, and slide in the omelet to cook the other side. Remove when golden underneath and eat hot or at room temperature with a glass of young Tempranillo.

Scoil Mologa Food and Wine Matching Masterclass

Scroll to the bottom of the next post for links to recipes for Orange cake and smoked salmon quiche.

Wines from last night's tasting were as follows -
Crement de la Loire, Chateau de Putille, bought from the producer for €6.40. They are based about 45 minutes from Nantes near Angers in a small village called La Pommeraye.
Food - Romanian Pork Sausages bought in Troyes Butcher on Moore St.
- Smoked Salmon and Dill Quiche. recipe at the bottom of the next posting.

Santa Rita Reserva Sauv. Blanc, Casablanca Valley, Chile – 13.50 in Dunnes
Penne with chicken and mushrooms in a creamy sauce

St Halletts Poachers Blend White, Barossa Valley, Australia – 64% Semillon 23% Sauvignon Blanc and 13% Riesling
Served with Egg Fried Rice

Sangre de Toro Torres 10.70 in Dunnes
Garnacha and Carinena (Grenache and Carignan)
Tortilla Espagnole - Spanish Omelette

Parallel 45 Cotes du Rhone Paul Jaboulet
Rare Steak - tanins and steak go particularly well together

Santa Rita Medalla Real Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
Cous Cous with Merguez Sausages and Preserved Lemon

Anjou Coteaux de la Loire, Chateau de Putille, Chenin Blanc Moelleux
Orange Cake
White Chocolate

Bonnezeaux Domaine des Petits Quarts 2001

On Phylloxera I mentioned the following book
Phylloxera: How Wine Was Saved for the World by Christy Campbell
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Phylloxera-How-Wine-Saved-World/dp/0007115369

Wine and Food Matching

Below is a copy of the wine and food evening I conducted at Next Door Enfield on Thursday last March 26th. Recipes and links are below the text.

Few other topics in the wine world bring forth as much discussion as the great debate on what food should be served with what wine. The most important thing to remember when considering this subject is that there are relatively few certainties in food and wine matching and much is down to personal taste.

The first myth to dispel is “white wine with fish and whit meat, red wine with red meat”; while true in many instances this is simply too broad a statement. Oily fish such as salmon or tuna both go extremely well with lighter red wines such as those made from pinot noir or even light Bordeaux. Consider the weight of the food not the colour.

Similarly, rich white wines such as Pinot Gris from Alsace can be an interesting combination with lighter red meats and other savoury foods we traditionally associate with red wine such as game birds.

One useful tenet to remember is that wine should either complement the food or offer a contrast. Hence a creamy pasta sauce will go well with a light refreshing white wine such as Orvieto or Verdicchio from Italy, but can also go well with a richer ‘creamy’ wine such as a Chardonnay.

A food high in acidity and sweetness such as a granny smith apple could cause a rich wine to taste thin and metallic, while a savoury food such as mature hard cheese can make a lighter wine taste fuller and softer.

A salad dressing made with vinegar or lemon juice can make a cheap, acidic wine taste fuller and richer; while simply overpowering the taste of a top quality mature red wine making it taste somewhat bitter.

If the wine you have chosen seems too astringent and tannic adding a little more salt to your food will make the wine taste softer. Salt also brings out the residual sugar in a wine such as an Alsatian Gewurtztraminer making them taste sweeter.

Tannins in red wine combine well with the flavours we find in rare steak, the two textures seem to merge causing the tannins to soften and melt into the other flavours. Tannins can however overpower the delicate texture and flavour of a simply cooked white fish such as sole when what you really need is something acidic and crisp (in the same way that we sometimes squeeze lemon juice on our fish) that will lift and emphasise the delicate flavours.

If however the fish is served with a tomato based sauce (which of course adds acidity to the dish) then a red wine will often work better such as a Chianti or light Merlot. A wine light in tannins such as Beaujolais can work quite well with many fish dishes.

Salty and richly savoury food such as mature cheese (and especially blue cheese) will generally go very well with a sweet white wine, which can cope with the richness much better than a dry white wine, or a mature soft red wine. Salt in food seems to make a sweet wine taste even sweeter as mentioned above and as most cheese contains salt a dessert wine almost always works well cheese.

Champagne works surprisingly well with sausages as the bubbles and acidity cut through the grease of the sausages and lift their flavour; proving once again that Champagne is the perfect breakfast wine. Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon also goes very well with Champagne (making an excellent Valentine’s breakfast).

Serving wine with dessert can prove difficult. Any dry wine will of course taste bitter but many sweet wines will also taste unpleasant if they are not sweeter than the dessert. Lemon tart for example will simply kill a wine like Sauternes or Coteaux du Layon but can work with a very sweet Riesling or Hungarian Tokaii.
Chocolate is notorious for killing the flavour of wine, mostly because of its rich texture and sweetness. Powerful sweet wines such as Banyuls, the rich fortified wine from Provence can go very well with chocolate as they are simply sweeter and richer. Australian Liqueur Muscat from Australia also works well as can young sweet port. The rich texture and bitterness in Guinness works surprisingly well with chocolate as anyone that has eaten a snack bar with a pint in a pub will attest.

Sometimes it is best not to serve any wine at all (for example with ice cream) and you may find beer works better with oily savoury flavours such as those found in Chinese food. Beer can also work well with Indian food for the same reasons but personally I think a dry Rosé is the best choice with good quality Indian Food.

Simple flavours such as roast chicken will take almost any wine type as they act as a blank canvas on which the wine can work its magic.

If you ever find yourself lucky enough to have very old rare wine to drink, such as 20 year old Bordeaux, you are probably best to stick with simple flavours such as plain grilled steak or roast beef to allow the wine to shine.

In conclusion, try to think about the flavours of the wine or the food you are trying to match and initially decide whether you would like to contrast or complement the flavour. If in doubt open one of each and let your guests decide which combination they prefer.

If you find you have made a bad choice and the combination is not working try adding salt to the food as this can counteract and soften the flavours that are jarring. Also try not to fret too much as sometimes the wine you like best will go best with the food you like best.

Wines
Graham Beck Brut South Africa. 23.99
Smoked Salmon and Dill Quiche (recipe below). Pork Sausages.

Iona Sauvignon Blanc, South Africa – RRP €16.59
Penne with chicken and mushrooms in a creamy sauce. fry a shallot, a cubed chicken breast, some mushrooms. Add some white wine and boil it off a bit. Add a couple of spoons of creme fraiche and mix well. Add to the drained pasta while still hot and stir.

Chateau Tahbilk Marsanne '06 Australia. RRP €11.99
Ray and beurre noisette

Chateau Pique Segue '05, Bergerac, South West France RRP €11.50
Rare Steak - tanins and steak go particularly well together

Huia Pinot Noir '06 New Zealand RRP €19.99
Braised Rabbit. Duck breast.

Lehmann Barossa Shiraz 05 RRP € 10.99
Cassoulet. Cassoulet recipes are all over the internet or in any French cookbook. This is a passable one from the bbc website. leave out the duck legs or replace them with confit duck legs from a tin -

Lehman Botrytis Semillon 06 RRP €10.79
Orange Cake - This is a Claudia Roden Recipe from her Book of Middle Eastern Food. recipe is here:
Nigella's version (which I cooked because my clementines were in better condition than my oranges) is here: http://www.nigella.com/recipe/recipe_detail.aspx?rid=20002

--------------Recipes-------------------
Smoked Salmon and Shallot Quiche (adapted from Sophie Grigson)
Pastry: (bought short crust can be used)
200g plain flour
100g butter
1 small egg.

Filling:
100g shallots, sliced
30g butter
3 medium egg yolks
225ml Crème Fraîche (1 tub)
1tbs chopped dill
Finely grated zest of 1 large or 2 small organic lemons
Salt and Pepper
100g Smoked Salmon cut in strips

Pastry: Whiz the flour and chilled butter in a food processor for 15 seconds and add the egg. Continue to blend for around 40 seconds until the pastry has formed a ball. Remove, wrap in cling film and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.

Pre heat the oven to Gas 6, 200C. Line a greased 8 inch tart tin with the pastry, prick all over with a fork, cover with tinfoil and weight down with old beans or rice. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, remove the tinfoil and beans/rice and replace in the oven for a further 5 minutes to allow the pastry to dry. Allow to cool until lukewarm. Turn the oven down to Gas 4, 180C.

Gently sauté the shallots in the butter until soft and translucent. Beat the egg yolks with the crème fraîche, dill, zest and salt and pepper. Spread the shallots and smoked salmon around the pastry base, pour on the cream, egg, dill mixture and bake in the oven at Gas 4, 180C for around 35 minutes until the quiche has set. Serve hot or lukewarm as preferred.

--------------------

credit crunch cooking

From the Evening Herald, 2nd Feb, 2009.

As more bad financial news is announced, the one thing nobody should compromise on is food. You can save a fortune if you just spend a little longer in the kitchen, change the cuts of meat and fish that you buy, and avoid convenience food and eat more pulses.

Your local butcher is almost always cheaper than supermarkets (besides good special offers) ; the quality should be higher, they will do bulk deals for freezing and advise you on cooking cheaper cuts like skirt, belly and brisket (which supermarkets don't stock).

Always cook in bulk; a frozen lasagna popped in the oven on a cold, wet winter evening can be served in 25 minutes. It will make you a bone fide hero to your family.

Making your own brown soda bread takes about five minutes preparation time and costs as little as 50p per loaf -- use brown bread mixes (eg Odlums) to save even more time.

The recipes below are relatively conventional but should feed a large group of people of between six and 12, for around one euro per head.

CREDIT CRUNCH COOKING TIPS
Eat lots of slow release carbs – porridge, lentils, beans
Buy vegetables in season
Learn to love root veg, particularly turnips.
Buy in bulk from Smithfield and markets
Buy from ethnic shops and importer shops (e.g. Little Italy in Smithfield)
Follow the immigrants – the Chinese and Nigerians know where to find cheap food
Buy large amounts of fish on Moore Street or Howth pier and freeze it
Buy whiting instead of cod, chicken legs instead of breasts
Buy or order unusual cheaper cuts of meat from your butcher and ask for advice
Learn to love offal – liver, kidneys and hearts are delicious if cooked correctly
Discover the joys of slow cooking – shin of beef, breast and neck of lamb, belly of pork
Buy lots of special offer meat and freeze what you don’t use
Always check the “reduced to clear” section of supermarkets
Always cook in large quantities and freeze leftovers
Avoid all convenience food – it will not fill your teenagers.

Recipes

Smoked Mackerel Pâté (serve with Champagne)
250g Packet of Smoked Mackerel
125g Mascarpone Cheese
1 lemon
½ French Baguette cut into rounds and toasted

Remove the skin from the fish and chop. Using a fork, mix with the mascarpone and the juice of ½ a lemon until smooth. Place the pâté on a plate and arrange lemon wedges and toasted baguette around the plate and serve.


Slow Roast Pork Belly
You can rub spices such as star anise or szechuan chili into the skin to add exoticism. Have your butcher deeply score the skin of the belly or do it yourself with an electric knife or sharp blade.

1.5kg Piece of Pork Belly
1 large Onion roughly chopped
Rock Salt
Place the chopped onions in a roasting tin. Rub the salt into the skin of the pork and place on top of the onions. You can also rub in some other flavourings such as coriander, star anise, grated lemon rind, chopped herbs etc.

Add a glass of water and roast at 180C for 2½ -3 hours until the flesh is melting and the top is crisp.


Stuffed Breast of Lamb
Use a piece of lamb breast around 10 inches long. First remove all the bones including the softer ones which you will find if you press the meat. Cut off any white fat from the meat side, digging in with a small knife, and tidy up the edges.

To make the bread stuffing fry a finely chopped medium onion in 30g of butter until soft. Blend 2-3 slices of day old bread along with whatever fresh herbs you have to hand (e.g. parsley, thyme, mint, rosemary etc.). Mix the onions and their cooking fat with the breadcrumbs and add some salt and pepper.

Season the meat and add the stuffing to the centre of the breast. Roll the meat around the stuffing and hold it in place with a couple of skewers while you tie the meat with string to ensure it holds its shape. You may need some extra skewers or cocktail sticks to keep the stuffing from leaking out the ends.

Roast at 190oC for 2 hours until the skin is crisp and the meat tender. Slice into rounds of moist meaty goodness and serve with Dauphinoise potatoes and roast vegetables.

Wine Recommendation: Tesco Montepulciano D'Abruzzo - €4.79-5.29.

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