Fig and Prosciutto Salad

Today's artwork :

No cooking here, just assemble fresh figs, slices of shaved prosciutto and serrano ham (or other cured meat that you might fancy) from the local deli, bocconcini, cherry tomatoes, parsley, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar. And freshly craacked black pepper. No salt needed as the cured meats and cheese should provide enough saltiness.

The flavors are unbelievably perfect.

Especially with a glass of cold James Squire Golden ale.

Life is good :)

Coq au Vin

I was inspired to make this dish after seeing a TV show where the host got a bit emotional, saying that coq au vin has always brought memories of her childhood. (I can relate to this notion - everytime I come home with a headache I always remember how my mom's freshly cooked sinigang or sinampalukang manok  (my all time favorites) with hot steaming rice would make it all go away.) It did remind me of our previous trip to Paris, and we just had to order one, for that 'authentic coq au vin experience' :)

This was my first attempt at cooking coq au vin - literally 'rooster in wine' - which was traditionally made of rooster marinated in wine, mainly to relax the tough meat. If using chicken, this step may be skipped as the meat itself will not really need to be tenderized, but won't hurt if you're after a more intense flavor. I made the quicker version and based the recipe from this link  at Gourmet Traveller.

Coq au Vin
serves 8

olive oil

90g softened butter

1 whole chicken (around 1 kg), jointed

bacon or pancetta, diced (i used speck)

16 small brown onions or pickling onions

1-2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

24 button mushrooms (or a combination of different mushroom types)

1 bottle of red wine (i used Chemin de Papes)

4 sprigs parsley

3 bay leaves

6 sprigs thyme

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp flour

6 sprigs parsley, minced

I like to use a whole chicken because other than the joy of butchering (*evil laughter*) the carcass can be used to make chicken stock. Once you get used to jointing a chicken, you'd find it's a quick and easy process. You can also trim as much of the excess fat as you like.

before

...and after

Heat the olive oil and a quarter of the butter and brown the chicken pieces. Transfer on to a plate and drain excess fat, keep warm.  

the brown bits make a huge difference in flavor!

In the same pan, add the speck (or bacon/pancetta, whatever you have) and render the fat. Add the onions and cook for around 5-7 minutes, until slightly golden or caramelized. 

Add chicken back to the pan, pour the wine (almost the entire bottle, but leave a glass' worth for the cook!), stock, herbs, garlic and season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat and let simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 45min.

i tied the herbs with kitchen twine to make a bouquet garni, making it easier to fish out later!

Meanwhile, cook the mushrooms in olive oil. Set aside.

When the chicken is cooked, sieve the cooking liquid into a clean saucepan and set the chicken and onions aside and keep warm. Cook over medium heat and let simmer until around a third of its amount has been reduced.

keep warm!

Make a paste out of the remaining butter and flour (a french technique for thickening sauces, called beurre manie) and whisk it into the sauce until it has thickened and coats the back of a spoon.

just mash em up!

Now to bring it all together!

Return the chicken and onions into the sauce, add the mushrooms and let them all heat through. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve with mashed potatoes, or fondant potatoes, or rice, or polenta... and maybe some more wine ;)


The dish received rave reviews from my official reviewer! :p

the coq au vin at Saint Michel restaurant, along the Seine, in Paris

(related previous post here)

Blooms and Colors

Sometimes I find myself just wandering around the garden, exploring, like a kid lost inside a toy palace made of cardboard boxes.

Blooms in autumn.... some are left overs from summer's glory, plants basking in a seemingly perfect temperature...not too hot, not too cold. Seen around the front and side garden one afternoon. 

kaffir limes coming up

something likes to eat the bay leaves

a little red parrot perched on top of a tree at the front garden

bloomin' beaut - i don't know it's name but when the sun starts to disappear it also looks to wither away

this is not purple rain

australian native

another australian native :)

and yet another australian native

that's just what i call flowers that i don't know about yet hehehehe

pink cuties

now this, I know, is a joya

flowers of a cambodian chili plant

iris?

nothing like the color of maple leaves that scream autumn

Salty Chocolate and Chili Meringues

The right amount of salt makes almost anything tastier... and it also holds true for chocolate! I found this recipe from the Kitchenaid website although I didn't have hazelnuts and did not bother substituting, and instead of shards of chocolate I used bittersweet chocolate buttons. I think I should have added more chili flakes though :) I did this in quite a hurry so the photo on the Kitchenaid website definitely looks nicer!

Maejito

Now it is a bit very cheeky but I have to say the results of this experiment was very pleasant, and hence shall be named after its creator.

Featuring the mae-jito!

This highball is based on the typical mojito recipe (mint, sugar and lime muddled together, with a shot (or two?!) of rum and topped with sparkling soda water), but this has no sugar but has sugar plant leaves in it! I also used a combination of lemon and kaffir lime.

Maejito
serves 2

8 sugar leaves
a handful of mint and peppermint leaves
1 small kaffir lime, quartered
1 lemon, quartered
4 shots Bacardi rum
sparkling tonic water, to top up

sugar leaves and mint 

kaffir lime

the zest of which was used here

in a tall glass tear 4 sugar leaves and a sprig of mint and peppermint leaves

2 kaffir limes wedges and 2 lemon wedges

muddle until the juices of the citrus and the essence of the leaves are released

(muddling is a nice therapeutic activity

I used to use the end of a rolling pin for this but I have upgraded since..

so now I have a proper muddler :)

add 2 shots of the rum and top up with chilled sparkling tonic water

garnish with a mint sprig

All the leaves and fruit used for this drink are homegrown!

Enjoy :)

The Firehouse

Somewhere not too far away from where we live is a cozy place called The Firehouse, an ex-fire brigade that was given a make over and converted into a restaurant. With its fine selection of food, cocktails and wines, we may just end up finding ourselves grazing over their tapas after a leisurely evening stroll.

The building definitely feels old but the interior decor is modern, with artwork for sale hung on the walls and empty wine bottles showing telltale signs of how they were once eagerly consumed. For some reason I am having a cocktail thrill these days, so I started with the curious Sage and Butterscotch Martini. It was nice, but probably too sweet for me (but hey, it has butterscotch, what was I expecting?)

Sage and Butterscotch Martini

tequila, butterscotch schnapps, lemon juice, cointreau and sage

After that first round the second drink was interestingly named "Here's Johnny 16" - apparently an Italian take on the Rob Roy cocktail. With limoncello, ginger, lemon thyme and Johnnie Walker Red scotch - who would have given it a miss?

 

 slurped

The selection of tapas was also quite tempting, everything on the menu sounded good. By unanimous vote, the following arrived:

(left to right)
whitebait, corn and coriander egg fritters with sour cream,  

marinated char-grilled octopus with fennel seeds,

beetroot cured ocean trout, horseradish mascarpone and chervil,

and country terrine of duck & pork, roasted pickled fruits, melba toast.

Across the table is a glass of Pontack's Head cabernet sauvignon.

The fritters were very tasty, the octopus so-so (but meat was tender), the beetroot cure on the ocean trout was very interesting and made us wonder how they did it :) The terrine was also flavorful, and was perfectly combined with the pickled plums.

With eyes bigger than bellies we continued on to the main course of lamb shoulder bastilla with pumpkin and cinnamon (a parcel of crispy puffed pastry with very rich meat) and another small plate of short cut beef ribs with mole sauce.  Yes, it was as yummy as it sounded.

Will definitely come back!

Interested? Check out their website. Bookings essential!

* photos from my blackberry

Breakfast in Bread

This was inspired by last night's episode of The Cook and The Chef where the chef (Simon) made mushroom dumplings and Maggie made an omelet using a new approach - the eggs weren't fully scrambled together, simply 'mixed' (sort of). You can still see traces of the egg whites and the yolks aren't fully incorporated. She added a touch of cream and salt and pepper.

Mushroom is one of M's favorite things in this planet, so after seeing the show he started drooling over mushrooms. I have a couple of packets of dried mushrooms (shiitake and black mushroom) stashed in the pantry so I sneaked out and started hydrating them with the intent of using them in the morning.

I sauteed the shrooms (excess water drained and saved, it is full of flavor!) in a some extra virgin olive oil and a couple of cloves of garlic, finely minced. After around 8 minutes of moving it around on high heat, I set it aside.

I wanted to see what Maggie's omelet recipe would be like, but I am not a huge fan of using cream in cooking our usual meals, except for baking (the calories are shared!) :p so I just added a tiny dash of milk and followed her style. I used 5 eggs for 2 decent sized omelets and topped it with the sauteed mushrooms. And a bit of fresh thyme for an extra heavenly scent.

The omelet was surprisingly fluffy!