Brioche with Nectarine

Last night, the restaurant where I am currently working full time, Chez Dominique, had a lot of leftover brioche bread. What a pity, so sad to waste such a delicately perfected creation. So of course I had to take some home with me and it wasn't difficult to find some delicious ways to use it straight away for breakfast the next morning. 

Brioche is a french bread and the famous 'cake' referred to when Marie Antoinette declared 'Qu'ils mangent de la brioche' (let them eat cake) about the protests coming from the malnuorished and hungry masses. Because brioche is made with a lot of butter and sometimes eggs, it very easily crumbles and is very delicate, but very delicious. I myself have made several unsuccessful attempts at this bread, but perhaps in my next attempt I'll take tips from our in house baker. (Blog on this coming later)

Since I had some perfectly ripe nectarines, I decided to make a light syrup with them, putting a quarter cup of sugar and an eighth of a cup of water and a pinch of nutmeg to a small sauce pan and let boil. I added the slices of nectarine, skins and all, and let them soften.

Then I simply cut some of the brioche lightly in half. I was so glad about my recent purchase of a Fiskars knife set on sale, 50% off. 5 Pro series Fiskars knives for 25e. Now I finally have the perfect bread knife.

I toasted these lightly in our toaster oven. Using a regular toaster would have been disasterous because it would have squished them and then you would not have been able to get the pieces out. You would be left with brioche crumbs in the bottom of the toaster, burning, and nothing more. You can also use the regular oven's broiler for a few minutes.

Finally, I topped the brioche with the nectarine and syrup and served with some plain turkish yogurt on the side. Perfect breakfast food to share with A before he jets off to work.

Chorizo and Shrimp Stew

I love when I have an unusual ingredient that I want to make into something new and different (to me at least). After I'd made the traditional paella from the chorizo I brought home with me from Barcelona, I still had some left and wanted something delicious to make with it. Among the many good ideas was this stew, which I adapted from foodandwine.com. 

The ingredients were simple, some olive oil, onion, garlic, frozen shrimp, a few roasted red bell peppers (this time I used those from a jar and didn't roast them myself), crushed tomatoes that serves as the base of the stew and of course, chorizo. 

Start by thinly slicing the chorizo and dicing the onion and garlic. First add the chorizo to a deep heavy coated stew pan with a drizzle of olive oil (the chorizo will not need a lot of added fat to cook, as it has plenty of its own). Stir in the heat until sizzling. The sides of the chorizo slices will curl up and become very fragrant.
Remove the chorizo from the pot, leaving the oils in the bottom. Set the chorizo aside with the shrimp for later.
Next, soften the onion and garlic in the pot. You may also use sliced or diced carrots. Once soft, you may add a tablespoon of flour to the mixture and stir until yellowed and bubbling if you wish to thicken this into a stew. Then add the crushed tomatoes, sweet roasted red peppers (about 2), and a few cups of water and bring to a boil. At this point, I made the texture of the stew smoother by using a few short pulses with my hand blender. Lastly, add the shrimp and chorizo and cook for a few more minutes.

Serve with fresh slices of avocado and enjoy.

Deviled Eggs

This super budget-friendly appetizer is easy to make and fits in well for get togethers and occassions. I've made several batches of these in the last couple months, once for a big dinner we hosted for Easter and another time for a Partylite party at a friend's from school. Both times they went over really well, and were gone in a flash. Good to make more than you think you'll need. 

 Start by boiling your eggs. I used an entire box, which in Finland is 10 eggs (not a full dozen- I still haven't quite accepted that). Everyone has different methods. I have adopted a method for this to avoid over cooking. That it, place the eggs in a really large pan so that all of the eggs are distributed equally, cover with water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, but as soon as a boil has been reached, turn off the stove and cover pot with a lid and let sit for 8 minutes. With an electric stove, I even take the pot off the burner, since the range is still hot even having turned it off.

Then, in order to facilitate the shelling process, I rinse them straight away in cold water, then let them sit in cold water for a few minutes (don't want to burn my fingers.) Finally, I deshell all of the eggs and carefull cut them in halves lengthwise. I put them in a serving dish as seen on the left. 

Place the yolks into a large bowl and add equal parts of mayonaise, sour cream (creme fraiche) and then a little pickle relish, cream cheese, and mustard to taste. Stir and mash together as you go and you will see if you need to add more to soften the mixture. This will depend a lot on your own preferences, as well as the consistency of the yolk after you've boiled the eggs.

Once the filling mixture has been mashed and mixed and tastes to your preference (this recipe is really loose because everyone like them a different way), scoop the mixture into a clean bag with a pointed end. Cut off a small tip of the corner of the bag, just enough to pipe the filling neatly into your egg white halves. (Note: You can skip this step all together if you'd rather just spoon the mixture into the egg whites, but it will be considerably messier.)

Then, you will squeeze the mixture into the egg white halves for the final product. Easy. I like to dust mine with paprika the way my mom always did it, to add a little color. And there you have it. The whole process takes less than half an hour, and costs less than 3 euro to make, so cheap fast and easy. Enjoy.

Chicken Chorizon Paella

Any time I've ever made paella in the past, I've felt slightly lacking in authenticity due to the lack of chorizo in the recipe. Though I was not eating meat back then, and I have made paella with soy 'chorizo', the taste was obviously lacking something. I keep comparing my paella to that of the well known paella at Taberna del Alabardero, where I worked one summer in 2006. Well finally A and I took a holiday to Barcelona. I can't believe it took me so long after living in Europe to make it to the country of my second language! We had a great time and ate out and enjoyed parks and seaside views and I didn't leave without buying some chorizo to take home with me.

What's great about chorizo, and much like all of the different types of cured ham you can find in Spain, the curing process allows the meat to stay good for quite a long time, even at room temperature. So taking it home was entirely possible and safe. Paella is such an easy recipe to make. Especially since it's really a one dish recipe. You can cook everything in the same deep pan.

This large stick of chorizo 'picante' cost only 3,45e.

Start with onion and bell peppers and fry them in some olive oil. 

 Add the chicken and diced chorizo and cook for a few minutes. Add a cup of porridge rice to two cups of water, or as much rice and water as you can fit in your pan, with a 1:2 ratio. It depends a lot on how many servings you want. You can also use normal long grain rice or brown rice, but keep in mind that it takes longer to cook. Add peas and stir in salt or other flavorings. I used one cube of chicken stock and some chilli pepper. Saffron would also make this dish even more authentic. Alas, I didn't have any.

Cover and don't lift the lid for about 20 minutes, or as long as the rice package indicates. 

The result is a colorful, nutritious and filling dish that everyone will like. I enjoyed my paella out on our balcony on the picnic table :)  Now I'll have to come up with something new to make to use up the rest of the chorizo.

As it is.

I could go on a political rant today, seeing as the Finnish parliamentary elections were concluded yesterday, and the results aren't exactly promising for a brighter future for Finland. The true Finns quadrupled their representation in parliament, which means that they will be taking ministerial positions, actively representing Finland in international politics. Some of their stances will be holding out funds for the Portugal bailout, restricting immigration rights, and possibly even an EU pull out all together. This isn't a blog about political rants though, so before I get upset and start telling you about the True Finns party's plans for 'culture' and 'education', I'll go switch it up a little...

The world revolves because every living being things that he is the Lord and creator of the material world. Material consciousness has two psychic divisions. One is that I am the creator and the other is that I am the enjoyer, but neither is the creator nor the enjoyer but a cooperator..... For instance, part of a machine cooperates with the whole machine a part of the body cooperates with the whole body. The hands, legs, eyes and so on are all parts of the body, but they are not actually the enjoyers. The stomach is the enjoyer. The legs move, the hands supply food, the teeth chew and all parts of the body are engaged in satisfying the stomach because the stomach is the principal factor that nourishes the bodys organisations. Therefore everything is given to the stomach. One nourishes the tree by watering its root and one nourishes the body by feeding the stomach, for if the body is to be kept in a healthy state,m the the parts of the body must cooperate to feed the stomach.... and we, as subordinate living beings, are meant to cooperate... The cooperation will actually help us just as food taken by the stomach will help all other parts of the body. If the fingers of the hand thing that they should take the food themselves instead of giving it to the stomach, then they will be frustrated. By cooperation they enjoy.
-Bhagavad Gita

What is the message here?

Thai Marinated Beef with Mixed Greens and Mango Salad

Ever since I got the cookbook 'Travels with Thai Food' by the authors of 'Spirit House,' I've been wanting to try new combinations and recipes (Thanks Ms. P!) I rarely cook by the book, but when entering unchartered territory, such as this, it's really handy to have such a comprehensive guide (and such lovely pictures).  After pouring over the book with A one night, we settled on this recipe for dinner and I went on the hunt for the grocery list.

The beef can be a fillet or any other decent quality beef. But it should be marinated a day in advance if possible. The marinade calls for: lemongrass (bruised and chopped), a large chilli, coriander, kaffir lime leaves, lime juice from one lime, galangal, ginger, sesame oil, sugar, and fish sauce. I cheat a little because I have a pre-made Thai paste that has most of the aforementioned ingredients. I would love to have lemongrass and galangal fresh, but I just wouldn't use it fast enough- and I hate to waste anything. (Lemongrass freezes just fine- though I don't have a freezer). I just added some lime juice, the oil and fish sauce and covered the beef and set it in the refrigerator.

The salad called for a variety of things that can only be found at the asian markets. Luckily, there are several in Hakaniemi and they are very close together. As it calls for a green and a ripe mango, coriander, mint and basil, watercress, garlic and lime, quite a few fresh ingredients were needed. I used Thai mint basil, rather than buy mint and basil separately (those cross breeds come in handy!) 

Watercress is a perky little green bunched into uneven sprigs, highly aromatic (though I can't quite put a finger on the scent, but it just reminds me of an Asian restaurant). I roughly pulled the leaves from the bulkier stems and put them in a strainer for a rinsing. I wasn't too meticulous however about some stems left on, as I felt this gave the base of the salad some nice crunchy bulk.

Green and ripe mango

Thai mint basil

I was a little shocked to find such a large pit in the mangoes. For some reason, I remembered more flesh. The green mango was especially hard, but it made it easier to peel and julienne. After all the greens had been torn and washed and tossed, I added the mango strips. 

 A made the tamarind dressing by chopping a few cloves of garlic, a large red chili, and a teaspoon of sugar and crushing them in a pestle and mortar, adding a tablespoond of fish sauce, 2 tablespoons of lime juice, a tablespoon of tamarind and a splash of water. Since this is rather spicy at the end, a little goes a long way, but it's definitely worth the effort.

I loved this meal, it was light and had such a variety of tastes mixed together. It might take some accustoming to the uninitiated, but basil/mint/coriander/lemongrass/spicy.....yummmm.

Guilty Pleasures Salad

Pssst! Want to know the real reason I couldn't remain a vegetarian? I.love.bacon.

I also love blue cheese and salads and dijon mustard. Truly some of my favorite things. That's why this combination makes a killer salad. A salad so good, it serves as a main course. A salad so good, it deserves a blog post. 

So simple: fry up some bacon and drain it on paper towels, or use some leftover bacon. Throw together some chopped lettuce (I used ice-berg and ruccola) and tomatoes, chunks of blue cheese and add the bacon once it has cooled a bit. For the dressing, use some of the bacon fat, a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper, a heaping tablespoon of mustard (yellow or dijon) and a tablespoon of apple cider or white wine vinegar and whisk together.

The cure for the case of the Mondays

Pizza with red onions, olives, feta and garlic.

Mondays come and go. Afterall, it's just a 24 hour span of your life that society has given a name and placed ordinally between Sunday and Tuesday and what's the big deal anyway? My Monday was spent bombing a intermediate German final and finding that someone had stolen my makeup at the gym. Otherwise...The weekend flew by, it was only 48 hours, and it'll be humpday before we know it. (And I'll be missing a Joni Mitchell cover band in lieu of a thesis meeting).

After working all last week in, well, the nicest restaurant I've ever even stepped foot in, I was ready for some relaxation. Down to earth time at home. Then again, I thought, I deserve to do something nice for myself too, and be classy while I'm at it. (Most of the time I'm called 'classy' it's sarcastically and I've got a 1.5 litre beer taped to each hand, but that's another story for another Monday)

Pizza with green pesto, chevre, and zucchini.

 I was in Stockman's Hullut Paivat (Crazy Days) super sale 3 out of 5 of the days it was running, and somehow I wasn't overwhelmed and felt completely relaxed. Maybe all the rumoring about how chaotic and annoying it is has really helped to deter the masses from going. I managed to go and find exactly what I was looking for: A pair of gloves, an umbrella, lefty scissors (well actually I bought righties by accident and exchanged them the next day).... Saturday was time for me and A to finally have some quality time together, so we met up in this crazy place and went to their gourmet grocer and parted the crowd looking for the best olive oil on sale, the best coffee on sale, etc etc. So don't ask me how we ended up with 4 types of cheeses in our cart, but it happened. Normally I think rationally and might say something to A like, 'don't you remember we already have a lot of cheese in the 'frig'? But ok, we hardly ever buy such AWESOME cheese. I especially like the goat cheese (chevre) we bought. Yum. Gouda, aged Guyere, mascarpone....

We already had in the refrigerator: 2 types of blue cheese (because of lack of shopping communication), 2 types of mozzarella (because I was going to make lasagna and never did), cream cheese, parmesan, and feta. Now what? Pizza!! I know it looks like I made a lot of pizza and,  yes, I made all four pizzas tonight..... but my oven is currently the size of a microwave, so these pizzas are like individual sized and we only ate the equivalent of 3. I started with this pizza dough....

Quattro Fromaggio

 If you have any suggestions what to do with the other cheeses, or for other pizza topping suggestions, let's hear it. (Though I finished off the mozzarella thankfully)

Pizza with roasted red and yellow bell peppers and grilled chicken.

Avocado Smoothie

Running out of time with those extra avocados? I was. The simplicity of this was amazing.

Just add milk, avocado and honey (or I used organic agave nectar)

 I put it in my handy container and blended it with a hand mixer.

Walah! My food buddha approves.

Chicken Chiliquiles

Did you know that I eat meat now? No not much, but enough to supplement myself once more with healthy animal fats that allow my body to more easily absorb healthy nutrients to my brain. Without embarking on a long an unnecessary justification of my personal dietary decisions, I will go ahead and show you what I cooked up this time!

This started with some onion, garlic and jarred jalapenos.

Then I added some corn, black and kidney beans, and tomato sauce. Amounts can be modified.

Then I crunched some tortilla chips in my hands and tossed them into the pan with the veggies and sauce. Try not to over crunch the tortilla chips, but don't leave them whole either.

Add some chicken on top, either breasts or legs, or whatever you have. 

Oops, we were so hungry I forgot to take pictures of the finished product until it was almost gone!

Avocado-Zucchini Soup

So now that avocados and zucchini are both in season, I over-zealously bought a-lot. Well, at least a bag of 6 avocados cost me only 3euros, which I thought was a killer deal. Best of all, they were in varying degrees of ripeness, so I was able to use some and save some for a little later without worrying about wasting any. However, after a few busy nights of not cooking, I haven't been using them, and I started to think- hey, better use up those softies!

Did you know that avocados are full of good stuff, like oleic acid to help lower cholesterol, potassium to help regulate blood pressure, folate for your health, and vitamin E which is great for your skin? I bet you didn't also know, that botanically, zucchini is actually a fruit, not a vegetable. Cool huh?

So after a bit of recipe browsing, I adapted this soup::

2 ripe avocados
1 to 2 zucchinis, depending on the size, or whatever you have
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 green chili
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 cube of vegetable or chicken broth
3 cups of water
olive oil
thyme, salt, pepper, to taste
So basically I just chopped the zucchini, onion, garlic, chilli and softened them in the soup pot with a little olive  oil. Once soft and fragrant I poured in the water and the broth cube. After boiling a while, I cut the ripe avocados, threw them in, blended it together, spiced it to taste and...... YUM! I can feel my blood pressure lowering already.

Dahl Mahkani - Black Lentil Curry

This is one of A's specialties, and I don't know his secret recipe, so I'll have to be patient with him to be a guest blogger here, as he's busy now with his own blog, coming soon on Facebook. 

Warm Asparagus Salad

I bought asparagus the other day when it was on sale and for some reason I had no idea what to do with it. I would usually make some kind of risotto, but that's the oldest recipe in the book. So I referred back to my ever handy Homestyle Vegetarian and found just what I was looking for. 

Starting with 2 red bell peppers, heat the oven to 200C and while waiting for the oven to preheat, cut the peppers into flat long pieces, discarding the seeds and core. Lay the pepper skin facing up on a baking sheet and place the baking sheet in the oven on the highest rung. It should take anywhere between 10-15 minutes for the skin of the red peppers to bubble and blacken, depending on the heat distribution in your oven. At this, take the peppers out and allow them to cool under a damp, clean kitchen towel. 

While the peppers are baking, you can prepare the bunch of asparagus. First, cut of the stumpy ends. These are usually a bit white-ish in color and very tough to chew through, even when cooked. Usually this is about 1-2 inches off the bottom. You can either cut them in half, or boil them whole. I cut them in half and put the bottom halves of the asparagus in the boiling water a few minutes before the tops, so that both halves reach the same softness and the tops aren't soggy when the bottoms are finally ready. Drain the asparagus and rinse with cold water after about 7 minutes. 

Mix together in a bowl a few cloves of crushed garlic, 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, the juice of one squeezed lemon (or two tables spoons of white wine vinegar) and 2 tablespoons of prepared pesto. Salt and pepper to taste. Whisk together. By now, the peppers should be cool enough, and you can remove the skin and dice the peppers. If you have baked the peppers long enough, the skin should peel off without much fuss. 

Place the aparagus on a serving plate. Sprinkle the chopped pepper on top, add some kalamato or black olives, and pour about half of the dressing on top, more later if you like.  A said this was restaurant quality, so I'm adding it to my list of favorites, and I'll never wonder what to do with asparagus again :)

Meringues

About twice a month, I treat myself and my sweetie to Eggs Benedict for breakfast. The Hollandaise sauce leaves me with a lot of leftover eggwhites. Being that I won't waste anything perfectly usable, and that egg whites present the perfect excuse to experiment, I kept them in the freezer for a week before I figured it out. Meringues. Let me just forewarn now, that the recipe I followed will not be used again, but the tips I learned in the process for beating egg whites was invaluable. Something I have struggled with for the last several years, without a stand mixer, I have finally avowed my revenge by doing it right. The tips were partly gathered by the Baking911 website on beating egg whites. If you don't have the patience to read through these, I'll give you the few vital basics: when separating the egg whites, don't allow even the teeniest bit of yolk into the mixture. The fat from the yolk will contaminate and impede the fluffing. Further, the egg whites should be at room temperature when beating. And third, start slowly and work your way up in speed. You don't want your arm to fall off, but slowing down after reaching soft peaks may ruin the loft. Save your arm speed for the end and give it a good burst of energy.

Meringues are a tricky thing, and a common tried and true recipe is elusive. For whatever reason, no two recipes are alike. I made these by whisking 4 egg whites with half a cup of plain granulated sugar, a tablespoon of vanilla sugar, and a teaspoon of lemon juice, until stiff peaks were formed.

The trouble is, according the recipe I followed, baking at a low temperature for about an hour, the meringues come out with a grainy texture. Let's just say, that in my opinion, a higher temperature and less time in the oven would have been more desirable. Say, next time, I may try a similar recipe, but leave it in the oven at 180 for 45 minutes. I'll let you know how that works out.

Next time I might be bolder and try macaroons, baked alaska, or chocolate covered meringues. David Lebovitz even made an icecream volcano! 

If you want to prosper in 2011- Black Eyed Peas

Several New Years traditions began with Jewish New Years traditions around Rosh Hashana. The food traditions, with the Shepardi Jews, moved to Georgia in the 1700's and the traditions have been given a good dose of Southern flare and hotsauce.

Of those traditions, black eyed peas and greens symbolize prosperity and money. With that in mind, I decided to modify a recipe from Vegetarian Suppers and use some black eyed peas with spinach and onion.

I start with half a bag of black eyed peas, the day before, because they have to soak in cold water over night and simmer for over an hour before being ready to eat.


To a large non-stick pan I added olive oil and one whole yellow onion, chopped. After the onion has cooked a bit, I added a couple handfuls of fresh parsley leaves, garlic powder, paprika, and a tablespoon of tomato paste. I stirred that a bit until incorporated and fragrant then added the spinach. About a half kilo of fresh spinach should do it. Once that has wilted. I strain most of the liquid from the black eyed peas, and add them to the spinach mixture. Salt and pepper as desired and serve over brown rice or bulgar, as I have in the picture. I heaping dallop of plain rich yogurt really goes well with this, and I've used a thick Turkish yogurt, although sour cream would be a good substitute.

Homemade Crackers

Happy New Year-

Time for shopping the sales and making new resolutions. One of mine will be a new commitment to my blogging- as if anyone wants to follow a dusty blog? Time to freshen up. Time to make more trips to the gym, stop eating junk food (not that anyone here does that, do they?) 

So with a keen mind about avoiding the typical snack food, I've decided to make some home made crackers. And of course we needed something to dip in this fabulous horse- radish cream cheese. Of course other favorite snack foods are these wasabi coated peas and we've also been snacking on a 'party mix' of dried papaya, pineable, raisins, cashews, and chocolate coated raisins, which are not as healthy as one might think.

Warning: Both of these snacks are addictive.

So I decided to make some crackers, and before long I found a lot of great recipes to work with, the end result being something like my favorite Wheat Thins (although not as thin). 

The recipe is pretty simple and allows for a lot of personalization. 

1 1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup of ground flax seed

1 table spoon of vanilla sugar

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

1/2 teaspoon of salt

4 tablespoons of butter

1/4 cup water

additional toppings, e.g. oil, salt, poppy seeds, etc

Mix together the dry ingredients, plus any adds, such as sesame seeds, flax seed, grated parmesan cheese, and the like. Cut in the butter and mash until coarse and grainy. Knead in the water until all is incorporated. 

Roll out as thinly as possible on baking parchment. Cut with a knife or a pizza cutter into whatever shapes you like. Add toppings, put the paper on to a baking pan and bake at 230C for about 12 minutes or until they start to brown. 

Of course many modifications can be made. I'd have loved to use a pasta maker to thin these out. As it is, I don't even have a rolling pin and I used an empty wine bottle I had *burp* lying around. You could make them into strips or diamond shapes, or whatever. I used rosemary infused oil and coarse salt to top. These were perfect with A's excellent lentil spinach soup. I'll have to let him guest blog about this recipe. Yum.