Somewhere in Dandenong is a small Indian restaurant that serves Pani Puri, which is an Indian street food, crunchy deep fried stuffed with what looks like lentils, potato pieces, chili sauce and served with 'puri', which is water, where the crunchy pieces are dunked. As it is a restaurant we were a bit more refined, so had to spoon the water into the holes in the crunchy bread, and stuff the whole thing into your mouth. Priceless.
I still dream about these yummy treats... Especially if I can one day go to India for the real thing :)
Showing posts with label eat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eat. Show all posts
Monday, July 25, 2011
Pani Puri
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Tea Smoked Salmon, and Other Seafood
It was a Saturday and we had a quick trip to the city for some errands, and then we decided to swing by Queen Vic market for some seafood. We were a bit desperate as the local fishmonger was undergoing renovation and has been closed for the past few weeks so it was a great opportunity to go seafood shopping while we're in the city.
I have a particular fascination with markets. Growing up, I would be my mom or dad's tail as they weave through the wet market. It wasn't too far away from our house, and it would be normal to go to the market daily (especially at the time when we didnt have a proper functioning fridge) or every other day just to get fresh meat or fish. The smells, the hustle and bustle, chaos and wet slushy floors in some areas, flowers, the piles of dried shrimp and stacks of dried goods in some shops... There is an energy that radiates from markets that draw me in and i can happily spend the day browsing through things, unusual ingredients, learning, sniffing, tasting whenever possible!
Anyway, Queen Vic market is especially awesome, especially the delis and their smoked meats and sausages. Not particularly cheap, but I think you get your money's worth with stuff that you buy there (or maybe I am just trying to convince myself, hehe). But the main business was fish, so we bought sashimi grade salmon and tuna and 2 moreton bay bugs for what would be a Saturday night Seafood Platter.
The salmon got the tea smoking treatment. I know you're probably thinking - sashimi grade salmon is best eaten as a sashimi, yeah? :) But the tea smoking process does not take very long and the center of the salmon is still very pink, yet it infuses the most amazing smoky flavor that lingers (both in the palate and in the kitchen - i mean the smoke. Hehe)
The kindling is made of rice, brown sugar, lemon verbena leaves (only because i have them and the leaves die in winter...), thyme and jasmine tea, on a bed of foil.
This foil sits on top of small frying pan. The pan is subjected to high heat, and a bamboo steamer placed on top.
The salmon was just seasoned with salt and pepper, and placed in the steamer lined with a small piece of baking paper.
This is a relatively big piece of salmon, and i usually would steam a 1.5inch wide darne of salmon in 7 minutes. These pieces are 2 inches wide and i still steamed them for 7 minutes. I only placed the bamboo steamer when the 'kindling' have started to emit a lot of smoke.
The moreton bay bugs had to be prepared by splitting them into two, the innards removed, and simpy brushed with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper before being placed under the grill for around 12 minutes (or less depending on how big they are). You'll notice the translucent flesh turn white. It is best not to overcook them so that after grilling they are still nice and juicy.
Had to take out the big guns to halve this...Nothing like a cleaver to do the trick!
(i had 2 mushrooms with garlic, thyme and olive oil grilled as well)
The tuna was simply seared for a couple of seconds, both sides. A dipping sauce of soy sauce and wasabi was prepared accordingly.
I read somewhere that moreton bay bugs take on asian flavors very well, so using a toy i purchased from a tupperware night (!!!), i made a little salsa - blitzed a cheek of green mango, half a tomato, half a red onion, half a clove of garlic, olive oil and a couple of leaves of parsley. And a dash of fish sauce. Coriander leaves would have been very tasty too, but i have a lot of parsley! This was spooned over the bugs.
This toy is basically a manual mini food processor. You pull the white handle, and out comes a string which twirls the blade in the center.
What I also love about seafood dinners is that they are quick to whip up.
Sorry there was not enough patience to make the whole platter pretty.....Just wanted to eat the lot! And yes, for the record, this served two people.
Burp.
Previous tea smoking Here
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I have a particular fascination with markets. Growing up, I would be my mom or dad's tail as they weave through the wet market. It wasn't too far away from our house, and it would be normal to go to the market daily (especially at the time when we didnt have a proper functioning fridge) or every other day just to get fresh meat or fish. The smells, the hustle and bustle, chaos and wet slushy floors in some areas, flowers, the piles of dried shrimp and stacks of dried goods in some shops... There is an energy that radiates from markets that draw me in and i can happily spend the day browsing through things, unusual ingredients, learning, sniffing, tasting whenever possible!
Anyway, Queen Vic market is especially awesome, especially the delis and their smoked meats and sausages. Not particularly cheap, but I think you get your money's worth with stuff that you buy there (or maybe I am just trying to convince myself, hehe). But the main business was fish, so we bought sashimi grade salmon and tuna and 2 moreton bay bugs for what would be a Saturday night Seafood Platter.
The salmon got the tea smoking treatment. I know you're probably thinking - sashimi grade salmon is best eaten as a sashimi, yeah? :) But the tea smoking process does not take very long and the center of the salmon is still very pink, yet it infuses the most amazing smoky flavor that lingers (both in the palate and in the kitchen - i mean the smoke. Hehe)
The kindling is made of rice, brown sugar, lemon verbena leaves (only because i have them and the leaves die in winter...), thyme and jasmine tea, on a bed of foil.
This foil sits on top of small frying pan. The pan is subjected to high heat, and a bamboo steamer placed on top.
The salmon was just seasoned with salt and pepper, and placed in the steamer lined with a small piece of baking paper.
This is a relatively big piece of salmon, and i usually would steam a 1.5inch wide darne of salmon in 7 minutes. These pieces are 2 inches wide and i still steamed them for 7 minutes. I only placed the bamboo steamer when the 'kindling' have started to emit a lot of smoke.
The moreton bay bugs had to be prepared by splitting them into two, the innards removed, and simpy brushed with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper before being placed under the grill for around 12 minutes (or less depending on how big they are). You'll notice the translucent flesh turn white. It is best not to overcook them so that after grilling they are still nice and juicy.
Had to take out the big guns to halve this...Nothing like a cleaver to do the trick!
(i had 2 mushrooms with garlic, thyme and olive oil grilled as well)
The tuna was simply seared for a couple of seconds, both sides. A dipping sauce of soy sauce and wasabi was prepared accordingly.
I read somewhere that moreton bay bugs take on asian flavors very well, so using a toy i purchased from a tupperware night (!!!), i made a little salsa - blitzed a cheek of green mango, half a tomato, half a red onion, half a clove of garlic, olive oil and a couple of leaves of parsley. And a dash of fish sauce. Coriander leaves would have been very tasty too, but i have a lot of parsley! This was spooned over the bugs.
This toy is basically a manual mini food processor. You pull the white handle, and out comes a string which twirls the blade in the center.
What I also love about seafood dinners is that they are quick to whip up.
Sorry there was not enough patience to make the whole platter pretty.....Just wanted to eat the lot! And yes, for the record, this served two people.
Burp.
Previous tea smoking Here
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Crispy Crackling Pork with Plum Sauce and Bok Choy
Ahhh... pork. It is the meat of choice for (most of) us Filipinos. Cheap and tasty meat, available everywhere, can be used for a myriad of recipes, easy to cook, so flavorful....
... and also has high cholesterol :) so it is a rare treat at home where the preference is lean meat (I know there is lean pork, but pork without the fat just doesn't quite make sense to me!) But when the cravings come for pork, they come calling quite loud. So one weekend during the usual trip to the butcher, there was a nice piece of pork belly that called my name. And the rest was history.
I still had some of the plum sauce from the last batch so I thought I'd just give the meat a dry rub of sea salt+sichuan pepper and bake it in the oven in a pan as it rests on a bed of chopped brown onions, and the last few minutes under the grill to make the crispy crackling. When it's done and while the meat is resting, the pan (with the onions still there, now caramelized) is deglazed with cherry liquer, the plum sauce added in and a bit of extra seasoning.
Dish up with steamed rice and bok choy. And enjoy the crackling!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Homemade Squid Ink Pasta
It was just one of those things that I've always wanted to try to make, so when I saw some whole squids at the fishmonger, I declined the offer to have it cleaned so that I can harvest the ink myself and make some squid ink pasta.
Growing up, I would bear witness to all the cleaning of fish and seafood in our kitchen, so I didn't need to google how to extract the ink. You need to gently pull the tentacles away from the body and above the eyes, there is a little sac that looks somewhat silver-ish... That's where it is. (see photo below - that little sack dangling in front of my pinkie).
I had 500grams of squid in total and about 6 small squids. With the patience that I didn't I know I had I managed to get maybe a teaspoon's worth of ink. Or less!
After that, I cleaned the casings, scraped leftover skins, removed the backbone and chopped them into rings. I used squeezed half a kiwi over them to tenderize the meat - believe me it works! (my mom can perfectly cook squids without making them rubbery at all - I on the other hand need a bit of a cook's trick to pull this off, heheh).
For the pasta, I used 300 grams of type 00 flour, 3 small eggs, a good glug of olive oil and the ink, mixed and kneaded into a ball, wrapped in cling film and left in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before rolling it.
The pasta was cooked in boiling water for around 3 minutes or until they rise to the top, then drained.
I minced 3 cloves of garlic, half a red onion, 1 green chili. A hot pan, evoo, and a couple of seconds for the garlic to turn golden brown (not burnt!) ensures a deeper taste. The onions and chili went in next, then squids for just a minute or until they turn the translucency disappears, then the drained pasta tossed into the mix.
This was served with cavollo cheese shaved generously on top, finished with cracked black pepper.
Our brains think that food which is black or grayish is not very appetizing! But give it a go, and see how good it can be!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Saturday Night (cooking) Live
Instead of heading out to get something to eat, there was a decision to create a 3 course meal, prepared as a team, one lazy Saturday night.
For the entree : scallops, black pudding and parsnip mash with horseradish
The mash was made with 1 parsnip, pan fried in butter until tender. Then it was mashed with cream, more butter, milk and grated horseradish. It was seasoned to taste and left covered to keep warm.
Meanwhile, the black pudding was pan fried in the same pan. Roughly 4 minutes before the black pudding was done, the scallops (seasoned with salt and pepper) were fried on one side of the same pan, just about 2 minutes each side. The mash was spooned onto the serving plate into 3 mini piles, the black pudding placed on top, and the scallops last. A parsley leaf on top of the tower, a little sprinkle of chili flakes to echo the heat from the horseradish... And it's a gourmet treat.
The main : baked barramundi parcels with lemon, ginger, soy and mirin
2 round slices of lemon on baking paper
Add barramundi on top
Pile 2 thinly sliced ginger
Salt and pepper
a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and
1 wombok leaf, the top part (the part of the leaf around 2 inches from the top) sliced and shredded and placed alongside the fillet
The rest of the wombok served as a cover over the fillet
A flavorful sauce made with a dash of black sesame oil, a dash of soy sauce, a dash of mirin and about 2 tablespoons water will serve as the tasty steaming liquid
... then parcel was wrapped and tied up, and placed into a 180C hot oven for 20 minutes
Ad that's done! This fish was served with par boiled potatoes finished by panfrying in duck fat, and steamed asparagus. What I would change is to serve it with plain rice, or noodles. Nevertheless, it was very, very tasty.
Dessert was a lemon souffle. The recipe was originally called 'hot lemon curd souffle' due to the lemon curd base.
The lemon curd is a quick version made of 1 egg whisked with some sugar, lemon zest and the juice of 1 lemon, and a teaspoon of cornflour. This was whisked over low heat until it thickened to the consistency of curd. This was spooned over buttered ramekins, and set aside on room temperature. Then, 2 eggs were separated, the yolks whisked with a bit more sugar and the zest and juice of 1 lemon. The whites were whisked to stiff peaks, facilitated with a teaspoon of white sugar. A spoonful of the whites were mixed with the yolks to slacken the mix, then the whites were folded in. This mixture was dolloped over the curd, and baked for 15 minutes on 180C or until the tops were golden.
A couple of minutes was worth the wait to cool the curd down a bit. The souffle would have deflated during this time, which may take some wow factor away during serving... But the taste should be able to compensate!
Served with a sliver of lemon peel just for additional color.
Every bite has to be spooned from the bottom for maximum impact,
Two bottles of shiraz later, the after glow of a fabulous dinner remains.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
For the entree : scallops, black pudding and parsnip mash with horseradish
The mash was made with 1 parsnip, pan fried in butter until tender. Then it was mashed with cream, more butter, milk and grated horseradish. It was seasoned to taste and left covered to keep warm.
Meanwhile, the black pudding was pan fried in the same pan. Roughly 4 minutes before the black pudding was done, the scallops (seasoned with salt and pepper) were fried on one side of the same pan, just about 2 minutes each side. The mash was spooned onto the serving plate into 3 mini piles, the black pudding placed on top, and the scallops last. A parsley leaf on top of the tower, a little sprinkle of chili flakes to echo the heat from the horseradish... And it's a gourmet treat.
The main : baked barramundi parcels with lemon, ginger, soy and mirin
2 round slices of lemon on baking paper
Add barramundi on top
Pile 2 thinly sliced ginger
Salt and pepper
a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and
1 wombok leaf, the top part (the part of the leaf around 2 inches from the top) sliced and shredded and placed alongside the fillet
The rest of the wombok served as a cover over the fillet
A flavorful sauce made with a dash of black sesame oil, a dash of soy sauce, a dash of mirin and about 2 tablespoons water will serve as the tasty steaming liquid
... then parcel was wrapped and tied up, and placed into a 180C hot oven for 20 minutes
Ad that's done! This fish was served with par boiled potatoes finished by panfrying in duck fat, and steamed asparagus. What I would change is to serve it with plain rice, or noodles. Nevertheless, it was very, very tasty.
Dessert was a lemon souffle. The recipe was originally called 'hot lemon curd souffle' due to the lemon curd base.
The lemon curd is a quick version made of 1 egg whisked with some sugar, lemon zest and the juice of 1 lemon, and a teaspoon of cornflour. This was whisked over low heat until it thickened to the consistency of curd. This was spooned over buttered ramekins, and set aside on room temperature. Then, 2 eggs were separated, the yolks whisked with a bit more sugar and the zest and juice of 1 lemon. The whites were whisked to stiff peaks, facilitated with a teaspoon of white sugar. A spoonful of the whites were mixed with the yolks to slacken the mix, then the whites were folded in. This mixture was dolloped over the curd, and baked for 15 minutes on 180C or until the tops were golden.
A couple of minutes was worth the wait to cool the curd down a bit. The souffle would have deflated during this time, which may take some wow factor away during serving... But the taste should be able to compensate!
Served with a sliver of lemon peel just for additional color.
Every bite has to be spooned from the bottom for maximum impact,
Two bottles of shiraz later, the after glow of a fabulous dinner remains.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Saturday Slacking and Martini Madness
So. It's a long weekend and the unanimous vote is to stay at home and do nothing. Well... it's not really possible to do nothing, so it was pretty much chill, eat, drink and be merry.
Sounded like the best plan all week!
Started with breakfast - wholemeal pancakes with honey and homemade jam.
Lunch was Tasmanian oysters as entree (with a bunch of tasty condiments), homegrown green tomato salsa and grilled fresh sardines (with rice!).
Now, notice the beer on the side - Dry Dock - the recent Dan Murphy's purchase which was on special - but honestly, would not buy that again (sorry, just personal taste!). Average house beer on a really warm day, and... that's pretty much it though. (Not for guests!)
Anyway - the green tomato salsa had 2 variants for this afternoon. One was with the flat cilantro and the other was with parsley and verjuice (the acidic juice of green grapes - have only heard it from Maggie Beer and found it at Coles!). I was requested to remember the recipe (an instantaneous Saturday afternoon salsa recipe) so before I forget, I shall write it down...
Saturday's Fresh Green Tomato Salsa
2 green tomatoes, diced
2 small sprigs each of parsley, mint and thyme, minced
dash of extra virgin olive oil and verjuice
1 green bird's eye chili, minced
Toss all ingredients together with salt and pepper to taste.
(Happy to report that all herbs are from the herb patch!)
Dinner was mussels flavoured with the (leftover) tomato salsa, extra virgin olive oil and vermouth, sprinkled with minced fresh parsley.
Speaking of vermouth.... nothing like mixing vermouth with either vodka or gin to make the classic Martini. So the whole afternoon was pretty much Martini Madness.
The base for the drinks below are mostly from 45ml vodka and 15ml french vermouth (for one serving) unless otherwise specified!
And these were shaken (not stirred) with vermouth rinsed ice in your usual shaker.
Sounded like the best plan all week!
Started with breakfast - wholemeal pancakes with honey and homemade jam.
1 cup wholemeal flour
1 egg
enough water to make a batter which is not too thin but not too thick
whisk all together
leave to rest for a couple of minutes and dollop on to a heated non stick pan with extra virgin olive oil (instead of butter - although butter would be a very tasty option!)
serve with honey and jam (like the apricot jam or the remainder of last year's plum jam!)
AND don't forget the coffee please. :)
Now, notice the beer on the side - Dry Dock - the recent Dan Murphy's purchase which was on special - but honestly, would not buy that again (sorry, just personal taste!). Average house beer on a really warm day, and... that's pretty much it though. (Not for guests!)
Anyway - the green tomato salsa had 2 variants for this afternoon. One was with the flat cilantro and the other was with parsley and verjuice (the acidic juice of green grapes - have only heard it from Maggie Beer and found it at Coles!). I was requested to remember the recipe (an instantaneous Saturday afternoon salsa recipe) so before I forget, I shall write it down...
really proud of these little babies - fresh from the backyard!
they don't look perfect but i guess that's what makes it special!
Saturday's Fresh Green Tomato Salsa
2 green tomatoes, diced
2 small sprigs each of parsley, mint and thyme, minced
dash of extra virgin olive oil and verjuice
1 green bird's eye chili, minced
Toss all ingredients together with salt and pepper to taste.
(Happy to report that all herbs are from the herb patch!)
Dinner was mussels flavoured with the (leftover) tomato salsa, extra virgin olive oil and vermouth, sprinkled with minced fresh parsley.
Speaking of vermouth.... nothing like mixing vermouth with either vodka or gin to make the classic Martini. So the whole afternoon was pretty much Martini Madness.
The base for the drinks below are mostly from 45ml vodka and 15ml french vermouth (for one serving) unless otherwise specified!
And these were shaken (not stirred) with vermouth rinsed ice in your usual shaker.
I can't really say it's a classic, because a classic would have been made with gin
I used vodka (only because we got Gordon's and MAN that can burn!) and it was tough to choose
between and olive and a lemon peel garnish
but affiliation to home grown things won!
so twisted lemon peel it was
(at least for the first round!)
the second round was a bit of a rebellious martini
instead of lemon peel, i used a kaffir lime (also homegrown)
and muddled 2 leaves from a sugar plant with vodka for a hint of sweetness
(ran out of ice at this stage - the bottom part of this glass is supposed to have ice to keep the top part cool!)
round 3 was a almost a classic except for the vodka still. and now the olives take their turn!
now this one I think is a winner
45ml vodka + 30ml vermouth
and the garnish made a lot of difference
a dried chili, speared with olives and a twist of fresh lemon peel
the longer you take to drink it
the hotter it gets
:)
chocnut martini
same martini mix but with dry vermouth (de Bortolli)
chocnut is a sweet treat that Filipino kids would be most familiar with!
this is in memory of the drink with the same name that I had in one of my favorite places back home
There could be one or two more martinis coming up but maybe that would have to be posted later..... !
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