Archive for July, 2009
Slow Cook Sunday – Smoked Haddock Risotto
Posted by: Yant Martin-Keyte in Food on July 26th, 2009
You wouldn’t think it is the middle of summer with the grey drizzle that is falling outside. But it is nice weather to be cooking a hearty risotto. I’ve had some smoked Haddock in the freezer for just such a dish, so I just picked up the other ingredients I needed when I ventured out into the damp. Some fresh mint and frozen pea’s.
My approach to risotto is too first to colour the rice in a mix of hot oil and butter. Once the grains are nice and golden I add in some chopped onion to sweat. next in would be white wine and stock but I had to make do with a Knorr cube and hot water. Then in went the fish. After cooking out for a while I add the pea’s cooked out a little further then finished with chopped mint, Parmesan cheese and butter.
Time as always is the key with risotto, you just need to slowly add hot liquid little and often. So I’ve some great risotto for dinner and enough for lunch for a couple of days.
Quick and dirty Cassoulet
Posted by: Yant Martin-Keyte in Food on July 12th, 2009
It’s slow cook Sunday and I’m cooking a quick and dirty Cassoulet. Quick! not exactly slow cooking, I here you say, yes well it’s quick preparation and slow cooking over a couple of hours while I watch the Tour de France highlights. Dirty? It is not a traditional French recipe, it is my own gonzo slightly Spanish version.
So let’s get down and dirty and cooking. I started with some Chilli oil in my heavy faux Le Creuset pan from Ikea and browned off four chunky pork sausages. While they were colouring I chopped some picante chorizo, onion, garlic, potatoes and Romano peppers. They were all thrown onto the pan to sweat out. I assembled the rest of the stew and added it to the pot, dried oregano, beef stock cube, smoked paprika, a tin of butter beans and a couple of handfuls of Puy Lentils. Some hot water and its done, well after two hours slow cooking on the back burner.
In my rush I forgot the carrots oh well…I’m back to watch the Tour in the Pyrenees.
Allez Allez!
Sweet and Salty
Posted by: Yant Martin-Keyte in Food on July 1st, 2009
Jonah over at The Frontal Cortex has an interesting post about the matching of sweet and salty food combinations. He touches on some good research on how salt is processed by our body and brain and his conclusions concur with what I was taught as an Apprentice Chef.
What is not touched on, but something I find useful in the kitchen is the relationship between salt and bitterness. A pinch of salt in my chocolate cake/mousse will just reduce the bitterness of the dark chocolate and make for a more balanced dish. Salted Cucumber will be a little drier and less bitter and this is true of a number of foods.
My favorite sweet salty combo is crisp Granny Smith’s with some strong salty cheddar, what’s yours?