Tea & Biscuits

July 18, 2024
by kaysdad
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Risotto – The Process

Ah, risotto! Who doesn’t love a bowl of luscious, creamy risotto?

Of all the things I make, this is the recipe I am asked for the most. I learned long ago that risotto is not so much a recipe as it is a process. And once you understand the process you can let your imagination take over and create your own delicious risottos.

To be sure, there are a few essentials you need to know about the process but ultimately making risotto is just a matter of slowly adding a hot liquid to rice until the rice is cooked. For flavorings you are limited only by your imagination, from a simple cheese risotto to something more sophisticated and elegant with ingredients like truffles or saffron and the like. Keeping in mind that the fewer the ingredients the more they need to be the very best you can find.

OK, so let’s talk about the main ingredients.

The Rice:

Since it is the star of the show it makes sense to start here.

It probably won’t come as any surprise that the word Risotto comes from the Italian word, Riso, which translates to rice.

There are several types of rice used to make risotto but perhaps the most common and widely available (outside of Italy, at least) is Arborio. It is not the only one though. Many aficionados prefer Carnaroli rice which, they say, is better for risotto because throughout cooking it retains its “heart”. Properly cooked risotto should be ever so slightly al dente – that is, the rice should offer a little resistance as you bite on it. Arborio will cook to very soft but Carnaroli will always have that little resistance at its heart. There are a few other risotto rices but they not generally available to us.

I haven’t tried it myself but I am told that the Spanish Bomba rice (used for paella) makes a decent risotto. But what does not work is regular old long grain rice, Basmati, Jasmine, Japanese sushi rice or any of the other kinds you may see on the grocery store shelf. Not to get too deep in the weeds here but it all comes down to the kinds of starches in the rice – Amylose and Amylopectin – that give risotto its characteristic creamy consistency. Arborio and Carnaroli rices have the ideal combination of these two starches.

An interesting factoid — depending on who you talk to, there are thought to be between 70,000 and 100,000 kinds of rice in the world. Of these only about 100 are cultivated for consumption.

The Liquid:

Often there are two liquids used in risotto – usually wine and a stock or broth of some kind. In my experience the wine is usually white and the stock is most often chicken. Red wine is sometimes used or even beer. The stock could be vegetable, veal, seafood or indeed, just plain water, among other options.

The Wine:

We don’t drink a lot of white wine so we don’t always have bottle to hand when we are in the mood for risotto. For cooking (whether risotto or anything else calling for white wine) I keep a bottle of dry vermouth on the shelf. Vermouth has two distinct advantages — it is a fortified wine and therefore keeps well after opening the bottle and it is inexpensive (keep the good stuff for your martini). Above all, avoid using any wine sold as ‘Cooking Wine’. It is very poor quality and often contains salt. Why that stuff continues to be sold is beyond me!

Red wine, although not as commonly used as white wine, is nevertheless perfectly acceptable. The down side for me is the purple hue it gives the risotto. If you are OK with that, by all means use red wine instead of white. Me, I’ll pass, thanks.

You would want to use an inexpensive (but drinkable) dry white wine or, if you are going with red, a Pino noir. Don’t use a full bodied or fruity red. An alternative to wine is beer. You would want to choose a lager style beer or IPA rather than a heavier porter style.

In the risotto making process the alcohol, if it’s used, is added to the rice before the main liquid component. It is cooked for a minute or two to cook off the alcohol, leaving behind its underlying flavor.

The Main Liquid:

The most commonly used (but by no means the only) liquid for risotto is chicken stock and when it comes to stocks home made is undoubtedly the best, especially if you are doing a simple risotto with only a few ingredients. (If you are feeling adventurous and want to make your own chicken stock, click here to check out my post on how to do it). In the long, slow simmering stock making process the collagen in the skin and the meat’s connective tissue breaks down into gelatin which gives the stock a rich texture and mouth feel you simply do not get in commercial stocks.

But still, a good store bought stock will work as well. If you are using a store bought stock be sure to check the nutrition label for the salt content and take it into account when you are seasoning the risotto.

What about those stock cubes such as OXO, for example? When they were sold originally in the early 1900s these stock cubes were concentrated beef stock. If only that were sill true, but sadly, not. Today, stock cubes are mostly salt with flavor enhancers and yeast extract and with only a hint of chicken, beef, lamb or whatever flavor it is supposed to be. Does that mean they are bad? That’s not for me to judge. I do not use them because I am fortunate to be able to take advantage of better quality products, including home made stock. But, if convenience and cost are important to you, a stock cube will definitely fit the bill. Just remember to adjust any added salt to account for the salt in the stock cube.

We have focused on chicken stock because it is the most commonly used liquid for risotto. However, depending on the risotto you are making you might choose to use a beef, fish, vegetable, mushroom, or whatever stock best suits the flavor of your risotto.

I like to salt my stock rather than adding salt directly to the pot with the rice. As the rice cooks it absorbs the stock and is uniformly seasoned.

Add-ins:

There is almost no limit to what you can flavor your risotto with – mushrooms, shrimp, butternut squash, asparagus, are all favorites but there are so many more options. I like to add raw vegetables (cut up into small dice) along with the first addition of stock and let them simmer gently as the rice cooks. Alternatively I will par-cook the veg and add it in with the last addition of stock to finish cooking in the hot rice. With delicate proteins like shrimp I always pre-cook them to not quite done and let them gently finish cooking with the last addition of stock. That way they won’t over cook and become rubbery.

Cheese:

Almost always risotto is finished with a handful of cheese and perhaps a nob of butter for extra richness. And again, almost always the cheese of choice is Parmigiano-Reggiano, considered by Italians to be the king of cheeses – Long live the king!

While a wedge of Parm is my go-to cheese for risotto I have also used Pecorino Romano (a sheep’s milk cheese) and occasionally blue cheese.

Now, when it comes to parmesan cheese I would strongly urge you to buy a wedge of genuine Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano for its superior flavor and grate it yourself. Pre-grated parmesan cheeses quickly loose moisture and flavor and often contain fillers. Domestically produced (non-Italian) parmesan cheeses do not compare to the real McCoy for quality and flavor.

(Here’s a tip for you – when you have grated your wedge of parm down to the rind, don’t throw the rind away. Put it in a freezer bag in the freezer and keep it to add a nice Umami boost of flavor to a pot of soup or stew).

Ratio of Rice to Stock:

Typically when you steam rice you would use a 2:1 ratio of liquid to rice by volume. Making risotto we use a ratio of about 4:1 liquid to rice. There are two main reasons for this:
1. When you steam rice the pot is covered with a lid so little or no moisture is lost, whereas risotto is cooked in an open pot allowing some of the liquid to evaporate. And
2. Steamed rice is relatively dry, unlike risotto which has a much looser consistency. Indeed properly cooked risotto should flow on to the plate, come un’onda – like a wave.

When you steam rice it takes about 18 minutes for the rice to fully cook. It will take that long to cook the risotto also, starting from the first addition of stock. The stock you add to the rice may evaporate faster or slower depending on how high you have the fire. If your fire is a little too high you may need a little extra stock if the rice is not fully cooked by the time your stock is used up. The pot should boil very gently after and between each addition of stock – it should not boil violently.

The Importance of Adding Hot Stock to the Rice:

Risotto recipes will always say to heat your stock to just a bare simmer and hold it at that point throughout the process and it’s important you heed that instruction.

When the rice is heated, the starch molecules – Amylose and Amylopectin – begin to separate and allow water (in the sock) to penetrate the rice grains. Eventually the starches begin to leach out into the surrounding stock, thickening it to the characteristic creamy texture of risotto. This is a process called Gelatinization.

The opposite of Gelatinization is called Retrogradation where the starches begin to revert back to their original crystalline structure when the temperature of the rice is lowered. Adding cold stock to the rice will lower its temperature so that the stock cannot be properly absorbed and your risotto will not be the creamy consistency it should be.

The Process in a Nutshell:

The very basic risotto process goes something like this:

Seasoned stock is heated in a pot and kept just barely simmering throughout the process.
A quantity of finely chopped onion is sautéd in some olive oil until it softens.
Rice is added and ‘toasted’ for a few minutes. It doesn’t actually take on any toasty color but the grains will become translucent around the outer edges.
Dry white wine (or red wine or beer) is added to the pot and the rice is stirred until the liquid is almost all absorbed.
A cup (240ml) of hot stock is added to the pot along with any add-ins (see the note above about add-ins) and stirred into the rice until it is almost completely absorbed.
The hot stock is added to the pot, 1/2 cup (120ml) at a time until each addition is almost completely absorbed before adding the next ladleful.
After about 20 minutes the rice is done, taken off the heat, covered and allowed to rest for 5 minutes or so.
Parmesan cheese and a bit of butter are stirred in to the rice.

Et Voila! Risotto is served.

Risotto Shortcuts:

I’ve seen several recipes that add the bulk of the liquid all at once, leaving some to adjust the texture towards the end of cooking. There’s no adding by increments and no constant stirring involved. Can that really produce the classic taste and texture of a traditionally made risotto? Proponents say, yes. I have never personally made it that way, in part because I can’t quite let myself trust that it will work and also because I enjoy the slow, rhythmic stirring routine which I find to be quite therapeutic.

In 2023 Kenji Lopez-Alt at Serious Eats wrote an article on Perfect (Almost) No-Stir Risotto. (Click here to read the article). In typical Kenji fashion he rigorously researched and tested recipes to come up with a method that I might be convinced to try, at least once (only because Kenji says it’s OK). I’m not at all opposed to modernizing old, traditional recipes adapted to new food science understanding. In this case I just like the relaxing (for me), almost zen like experience of stirring a pot of risotto. If you would like to make risotto without all the fuss, this may be a good option for you.

A Final Word:

This is not a comprehensive discussion on how to make risotto and nor is it a recipe. It is intended as an overview of the process so that after following a published risotto recipe (such as this one) to get more detailed instructions, the cook can riff off of that and create their own recipe.

A Final, Final Word:

With an eye towards Cultural Appropriation, I should say I am not Italian and do not have any cultural connection to Italy beyond loving the food and the country. (It is my personal belief that for the flavor to simplicity ratio you cannot beat Italian food). When I make Italian food I try to respect the cultural traditions of the Italian cucina but ultimately whatever I make (or write about) results from my own experience and research.

July 7, 2024
by kaysdad
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Shrimp and Corn Risotto with Saffron

Years ago when I worked at the Campton Place Hotel in San Francisco, the executive chef there, Jan Birnbaum, developed a recipe for crab cakes with a sweet corn relish and yellow pepper vinaigrette. I asked Jan how he managed that since crab season is in winter and corn is a summer vegetable. He smiled and said, “We live in California. We can get corn year round”. ‘Nuff said! This recipe for shrimp and corn risotto is inspired by Jan’s crab cakes insofar as that’s where I got the idea to combine seafood and corn.

Jan gave me his crab cake recipe and I served it each December 31st with a glass of bubbly to celebrate the New Year. I’ve since pared it down to just the crab cakes with a lemon aioli as an appetizer preceding a paella main course which has become a New Year’s tradition in our house — along with the bubbly, of course!

I had planned to keep these head notes (relatively) short but who am I kidding? For someone who’s motto is, “Never use one word where 10 will do”, that’s a tall order! I wrote a more in depth post on the risotto process and If you are interested you can check it out here https://tea-and-biscuits.net/2014/07/08/risotto/. For this particular risotto there are still some things we need to discuss before we get started, to help you better understand the why’s and wherefore’s of what we are doing. So, here goes…

For the stock

Chicken stock is by no means the only liquid used in making risotto but it is probably the most common. For this recipe we’re going to make a quick stock from shrimp shells and a corn cob. We’ll supplement it with enough chicken stock to make up the volume we need.

For this we’ll need uncooked, shell on shrimp. You can certainly use shelled shrimp if that’s all that is available to you and your risotto will still be delicious. The shells, packed with flavor, add a bit more nuanced complexity to the dish. Oh, and by the way, it doesn’t matter too much what size the shrimp are but, if they are very big you may want to cut them in two pieces to make eating them easier. You don’t want to be using a knife to eat a bowl of risotto.

As well as shrimp shells we’re going to use the corn cob from which you have cut the kernels which will add a subtle sweet corn flavor. I have seen lots of demos on how to cut the kernels from a corn cob – some really elaborate affairs involving bowls within bowls, all in an effort to keep the kernels from flying all over the counter. I prefer to lay the cob down on the counter and use my chef’s knife to cut off a row of kernels along its length, taking care not to cut too deep so as to cut out the root of the kernel. I then roll the cob on to the flat cut side and slice off another row. Two more times rolling the cob and slicing off kernels until you are left with a square cob. Now I stand the cob on its end and slice down to cut off the ‘corner’ kernels. Not totally mess free but almost. Of course, you can buy a gadget to cut the kernels from a corn cob but I personally don’t use those. Just another single use tool to keep in the drawer and clean after each use.

And so, what if you can’t get fresh corn on the cob? You can use frozen corn, thoroughly defrosted and patted as dry as you can get it with paper kitchen towels. You are going to be sautéing the corn and you don’t want any water causing excessive splattering. I do not recommend using canned corn – the taste and texture do not work at all here.

If it happens you end up using only shelled shrimp and frozen corn you won’t have anything with which to make your stock. That’s OK, just use all chicken stock. You will still get a great tasting risotto but with a slightly different flavor profile.

Saffron

I like to add a pinch of saffron to my shrimp and corn risotto. Totally optional but it does give the risotto a beautiful golden hue and an added layer of flavor. You can get the same coloring with a teaspoon of turmeric but not the flavor.

Risotto as a process

I addressed this issue in my post discussing risotto but it bears repeating here. I think of risotto more as a process than a recipe. Once you understand the process you can adapt it to suit whatever flavor profile you want. Except for the rice and liquid, I don’t measure the ingredients. My experience lets me know when ‘about that much’ is enough. For less experienced cooks or for those new to risotto that’s not going to work so, out of necessity I have quantified the ingredients. Except, in this case…

I haven’t given specific quantities for salt and chicken stock. The amount of salt you need will depend on how much shrimp/corn stock you end up with and the chicken stock you use to supplement it. If you are using home made or a low sodium store bought stock you may need 1 to 1.5 Tsp of salt. If your store bought stock is particularly salty you will need to add less salt or none at all. Taste it and judge for yourself, keeping in mind the old adage, “You can add more but you can’t take it out”. Your stock is what is going to season the rice so make sure it is adequately salted.

All that being said, risotto is very forgiving and there is no need to be too precious about quantities. So cut yourself some slack, relax and enjoy the process.

Do ahead options

To make your life a bit easier you can get some of the steps done an our or two ahead of time. For example:
– You can shell, devein and marinate the shrimp.
– Likewise you can make the shrimp and corn broth and have that ready to warm up when you start cooking.
– So long as you are in Do Ahead mode, might as well sauté the corn too.
-If you complete your mise-en-place by measuring and prepping the remaining ingredients you will be all set to go when it comes time to cook your risotto.

Perp times

Recipe authors often put unrealistic prep times in their recipes. Or perhaps it’s more correct to say the prep times do not come with what is, in my opinion, an important caveat. That being, the time it takes to prepare all the ingredients will vary depending on the cook’s skill and confidence levels. Also, if you’ve made a recipe a hundred times before your prep time will be much quicker than when you make it for the first time. The 30 minute prep time I give in the recipe is how long it took me but it may take you a little longer. Keep this in mind when you are planning what time to eat. Another reason perhaps, to take advantage of some of the do ahead options until you get a sense of how long it takes you to prep.

Shrimp and Corn Risotto with Saffron

A delightfully golden hued creamy risotto featuring briney shrimp with sweet corn

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1 10

Equipment

medium bowl to marinate the shrimp
medium pot (2-3qt (2-3L) for the simmering stock
medium large pot (about 4-6qt (4-6 L)) to cook the risotto
10" (26cm) non-stick skillet to sauté the corn kernels and cook the shrimp
large wooden spoon or rubber spatula to stir the risotto

Ingredients

Shrimp and Corn Stock

shells from 1/2 lb (250g) shrimp – deveined shrimp reserved for risotto
1 corn cob cut into 3 pieces – kernels cut from the cob reserved for the risotto
1/4 cup onion – roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
salt – see note below
chicken stock – see note below

Risotto

1/2 lb (250g) shrimp – peeled and deveined, shells reserved for stock
1/2 Tsp sea salt
5 TBS (75ml) extra virgin olive oil – divided
1 cup corn kernels – cut from an ear of corn, cob reserved for stock
1 cup onion – finely diced
2 Tsp garlic – minced
1.5 cups (300g) Arborio or Carnaroli rice
1/2 cup (120ml) dry white wine or dry vermouth
1/4 Tsp saffron threads or 1 Tsp turmeric – optional
1 oz (25g) grated Parmesan cheese – about a cup of cheese
2 TBS (30g) unsalted butter – cut into 4 pieces

Instructions

For the Stock

Cut the corn cob into 3 pieces. Place the pieces, the shrimp shells, onion and bay leaf in a medium pot. Add enough water to cover the cob and shells. Bring to a boil over high heat then reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
After simmering for 15-20 minutes, strain the stock into a large liquid measuring jug and discard the solids. Add enough chicken stock to make 5 cups (1.2 L). Taste the stock and add salt as needed. See note below.

For the Risotto

While the stock simmers, place the shrimp in a medium bowl and toss with 1/2 Tsp of salt. Pour in 1 TBS (15ml) of the olive oil. Stir to mix and refrigerate until ready to use. See note below.
Over medium high heat add 1 TBS (15ml) olive oil to a 10" (26cm) nonstick skillet and heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the corn kernels and sauté until the corn begins to get golden brown in spots, about 2 minutes The corn may pop and splatter a bit so watch for that. Transfer the corn to a plate and set aside.
Do not clean the skillet; you will use it to sauté the shrimp later on.
Pour the seasoned stock into a small pot and bring to a simmer. Adjust the heat to low so the stock is just barely simmering.
Gather the remaining olive oil, onion, garlic, rice, white wine and optional saffron or turmeric.
In a 4-6qt (4-6L) pot heat the remaining 3 TBS (45ml) of olive oil over medium heat until it begins to shimmer. Add the onions and sauté for 3-4 minutes until they are softened and translucent. Try not to get any color on the onions.
Add the garlic and sauté for 30-60 seconds more.
Next, add the rice and stir continuously for 1-2 minutes. It will begin to feel heavy like wet sand and it will click against the side of the pot.
When you see the edges of the rice turn translucent, add the wine (and optional saffron or turmeric.) Stir the rice until the wine is almost completely evaporated, about 30-60 seconds.
Begin adding the stock: Add about a cup (240ml) of the hot stock and stir the rice gently and continuously until the stock is almost completely absorbed by the rice and the pot is nearly dry. When you add the stock to the rice it should boil gently, not violently. Adjust the heat accordingly.
Add the reserved corn to the pot along with 1/2 cup (120ml) of the stock. Continue adding the stock by half cupfuls, stirring continuously after each addition until the pot is almost dry before adding the next ladle.
It should take about 18-20 minutes from when you first add the stock to completely cook the rice. At the 15 minute mark taste a grain of rice. It will be underdone but it will give you a clue as to how much more time and stock it needs.
After the last addition of stock, stir it in then cover the pot and shut off the fire.

Adding the Shrimp

Heat the skillet you used for the corn over medium high heat. Add the shrimp and sauté for 2-3 minutes, tossing the shrimp to cook on both sides. When the shrimp curl up and begin to turn pink, transfer them to the risotto and stir them in. Cover the pot and let it sit for 5 minutes The shrimp will finish cooking in the hot rice.
Finally, stir in the butter and parmesan cheese before serving in warmed bowls.

Notes

As I mentioned in the head notes above, how much salt and chicken stock you will need to make up 5 cups (1.2L) of broth will depend on how much shrimp and corn broth you end up with and the chicken stock you use to supplement it. If you are using a home made chicken stock you may need to add up to 1.5 Tsp of salt. If you are using a low sodium store bought chicken stock you may need to add up to 1 Tsp of extra salt and if your store bought stock is very salty you may not need any extra. The only way to know is to taste it and make a judgement. The stock is going to season the rice so it needs to be adequately seasoned itself. You should anticipate needing about 2-2.5 cups (0.5-0.6L) of chicken stock to make up the amount needed. It may be less than that but it is unlikely to be more.

Make Ahead Options:

You can prep your mise-en-place and roll right into making the risotto in one go. Or you can build in a little flexibility by preparing the components an hour or two in advance:

– Peel, devein and marinate the shrimp. (Be sure to salt the shrimp before adding the oil. Salt does not dissolve in oil and you want to make sure the shrimp are seasoned.)

– Make the shrimp/corn stock

– Sauté the corn

– Prepare and have ready to hand all the other ingredients.

– If you can, it helps to line up your ingredients in the order you are going to use them. This will make for a more relaxed and stress free experience.

Collectively this is called Mise-en-place which, if you don’t know, loosely translates to, ‘everything in its place’.

December 14, 2023
by kaysdad
0 comments

Spinach and Bacon Pie

This recipe was inspired by chef Joyce Goldstein; artist, teacher, restauranteur and author of The Mediterranean Kitchen cookbook. While I was perusing the book I came across a recipe for Kotopitta — Greek for Chicken Pie. It’s a rich cream based, roux thickened mixture of spinach and chicken which, in chef Goldstein’s interpretation, is baked in individual ramekins topped with a phyllo pastry crust. The phyllo crust is baked separately to keep it nice and crisp.

A staple dinner on rotation in our house is chicken pot pie. A side dish also on rotation (not with chicken pot pie though) is creamed spinach. It occurred to me that Kotopitta is essentially a blending of the two — pot pie and creamed spinach. It also occurred to me that I could lighten the dish somewhat by reducing the amount of butter called for in chef Goldstein’s recipe (4 oz/115g) and replacing the cream with milk.

I set out to try these modifications only to find I didn’t have any chicken in the fridge. I did, however, have some bacon. “Will that do”? I wondered. Silly question really. I mean, when did bacon not make everything taste better? A good choice as it turned out. The bacon gave the creamy spinach a distinct but not dominating smokey bacon flavor. Replacing the butter for the roux with the rendered bacon fat not only reduced by half the amount of fat in the recipe, it added more bacon flavor. All together, a winning combination.

So, let’s break this down…

The Spinach:

If you have a ton of spinach growing in your garden by all means use that. For convenience though, a bag of frozen spinach works perfectly well. I have used whole leaf, cut leaf and chopped spinach and all worked very well. I prefer the whole or cut leaf over the chopped spinach for texture. But go ahead and use whatever you can get your hands on.

You will want to defrost the spinach of course – just follow the instructions on the bag. If you have enough foresight, you can take the frozen spinach out of the freezer hours before you need it and let it thaw on the counter. I’m not that well organized so I usually dump the spinach into a microwave safe bowl, cover it with a plate and nuke it for 5-6 minutes until it is completely thawed.

Recipes that call for frozen spinach usually have you squeeze out the excess water in the spinach after it is thawed and before adding it to the pan. It’s a messy process with bits of spinach getting stuck in the strainer, on your hands and the countertop (it’s like glitter; it just doesn’t seem to go away) and there are more utensils to clean up. For this application I have chosen to forego this step and instead add the spinach, water and all, to the pan. It not only streamlines the process but also lightens the dish further by contributing to the liquid component in the béchamel and thereby reducing the amount of milk needed. The spinach flavor is not muted by all the extra dairy and as an added bonus, the nutrient rich spinach water is included in the dish instead of being poured down the sink.

The Bacon:

Here in the US bacon comes almost exclusively from the pig’s belly; called streaky bacon in the UK. The bacon most Brits are familiar with is from the animal’s back and looks for all the world like a super thin pork chop. Curiously, here in the US back bacon is often marketed as Irish bacon. Go figure! Anyway, it’s the smoked streaky bacon you want for this recipe, cut crosswise into biggish pieces about 3/4″ (2 cm) wide.

Feta Cheese:

My recipe for this Spinach and Bacon Pie was inspired by Joyce Goldstein’s Kotopitta recipe. Chef Goldstein in turn was inspired by the classic Greek Spanakopita (spinach pie) which includes feta cheese. Chef Goldstein’s Kotopitta has feta and so does my spinach and bacon pie; it adds a slight tangy creaminess.

Don’t skimp on the feta and get the good Greek stuff made with sheep’s milk. Avoid feta made with cow’s milk which just doesn’t have the flavor of sheep’s milk feta.

The Pie Crust:

Spanakopita is traditionally made by layering a pie dish with several sheets of phyllo, adding the filling and topping with more phyllo. As I mentioned above, Joyce Goldstein bakes the phyllo separately alongside the filling to form the lid to top the pie when it comes out of the oven. This way the pastry retains its characteristic shatteringly crisp texture. Baking the pie with the pastry lid on will cause at least the first few layers of phyllo to become soggy.

If you have ever worked with phyllo dough you know how finicky it can be. The tissue thin sheets tear easily and they dry out very quickly becoming even more brittle and prone to crumbling at the slightest touch. Still, with a little bit of care and understanding of the nature of phyllo it is entirely doable.

Phyllo is typically sold in the frozen food section of the grocery store and obviously it must be defrosted before use. The instructions on the package will likely tell you to thaw it out overnight in the fridge. Once you open it up and unroll the sheets of dough you will want to keep them covered with a damp kitchen towel. This will keep the sheets nice and pliable and less prone to tearing. With phyllo you typically lay multiple sheets on top of each other, brushing each sheet with melted butter or olive oil before adding the next one. If one sheet tears a little bit don’t sweat it, it will be covered with the next sheet anyway.

So, if you keep the thawed out dough sealed in its original package right up until you start assembling your pie, it is a very convenient, approachable and traditional option.

Speaking of tradition, I should point out that while this Spinach and Bacon Pie has its roots (in part at least) in spanakopita, is not and does not claim to be any representation of that classic Greek dish. That being so…

Are there alternatives to using Phyllo?

Indeed there are!

You can buy ready made pie dough in the freezer section at the grocery store, alongside the phyllo if you are willing to pay a premium for it. Store bought puff pastry is another expensive option. You can keep the cost down by making your own puff pastry and it’s not that difficult really, but that may be over the top for this simple dish. Ya think?

But then again this is a pie after all so why not just use a standard flakey pie crust? Sure, home made pie dough has its challenges just as phyllo does and especially for home cooks who do not make pies that often. So you’re exchanging one set of challenges for another but it is an option worth considering I think.

The thought of making pie dough can strike fear into the hearts of even the most confidant cooks. If you are a professional baker making pie dough all day and every day you know instinctively when the dough is right. The fat is cut into the flour just enough. The amount of liquid added is exactly right. The dough is handled just enough to give it structure without it becoming tough. Home bakers who bake a lot of pies also develop an instinct for it. But what about the rest of us for whom making pie dough is a hit and miss affair fraught with peril? Is there no hope? Indeed there is.

Many home bakers who make pies have their own tried and true recipe for pie crust that they swear by (“works every time”, “everybody loves it”, etc., etc.) and I am no exception. If you have a favorite recipe you are happy with use it by all means. If you are on the look out for the perfect, all butter, flakey pie crust recipe, I highly recommend taking a look at Kenji Lopez-Alt’s treatise on pie crusts at the Serious Eats web site. Kenji is the guy who first came up with the idea of adding vodka to pie dough. His rationale was that gluten, the arch enemy of tender flakey crusts, will only develop in the presence of water. And since vodka is 60% water and 40% alcohol you could add more liquid to your dough to make it more manageable without risking it coming out like a hard tack biscuit. In the Serious Eats article Kenji goes further, making perfect flakey pie crust every time, guaranteed – sans vodka!

I always make extra pie crust because there never seems to be quite enough of it if you just cover the pie. I cover the pie with some of the crust and bake the rest alongside. The underside of the crust on the pie remains soft of course but we don’t mind that. The pie doesn’t look like a pie without its crust, I don’t think. If you prefer, you could bake the pie and crust separately; just cover the naked pie with foil while it bakes. You would want to cut your pie dough into serving sized pieces before popping it into the oven though, say 1-1/2″ x 2-1/2″ (3.75 x 6.25cm).

Most recipes tell you to chill the dough for an hour before rolling it out, to let the gluten relax and to fully hydrate the flour. Contrary to conventional wisdom I roll out my pie dough as soon as I make it, laying the rolled out dough on a sheet pan before chilling it. The soft, freshly made dough is so much easier to work with than the chilled dough and it seems to me if you are going to beat up your dough (mixing and rolling) you might as well do it all at once and get the suffering over with. It gets to rest in the fridge either way.

Dill:

Dill is a traditional ingredient in Spanakopita. Chef Goldstein adds it to her Kotopitta but I choose not to use it in my spinach and bacon pie because I don’t particularly like the taste of dill. I’m also not sure how the dill would play against the smoky bacon flavor. However, if you like dill and want to include it, by all means add a half cup or so to the spinach mixture.

This is what you will need:

From the top: Pie crust (this is my own home made but you can buy a pie crust if it is more convenient for you), Spinach, Flour, Nutmeg, Garlic, Milk, Bacon, Feta Cheese and Onion. (Not shown: salt, pepper and optional dill).
Prepping these ingredients before you start cooking (called, Mise-en-Place) is recommended.

The Process Goes Like This:

If you are making your own pie crust do that first. While you prepare the filling the dough can rest up a while in the fridge. You can make the pie dough several hours ahead and keep it chilled until you are ready to bake the pie. If you are using a store bought, frozen pie crust, make sure you leave plenty of time to let it thaw.
Defrost the frozen Spinach according to the packet instructions (this too can be done a bit ahead of time) and prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Pre-heat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
Fry the bacon and once it is done remove it from the pan and set aside.
Sauté the onion and garlic in the rendered bacon fat.
Stir the flour into the onions and cook for a minute or so.
Pour in half the milk, stirring to blend in the flour and onions.
When the roux starts to thicken, pour in the rest of the milk and bring to a simmer.
Cook the roux gently for about 5 minutes or until the raw flour taste has gone.
Season with salt and pepper — about 1/2 Tsp of salt and 1/4 Tsp of pepper.
Stir in the thawed spinach, water and all, and mix until thoroughly combined.
Stir in the crumbled feta cheese.
(Add 1/2 cup of fresh dill if you prefer. This is optional).
Add a grating of nutmeg and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
Pour half the filling into a 2qt (2L) dish and sprinkle on the reserved bacon.
Spread the remaining filling over the bacon and cover with the pie crust.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until the crust is GB&D (that’s Golden Brown and Delicious) and the filling is bubbling.
(If you made extra pie dough to serve on the side, place it in the oven at the 20 minute mark to bake alongside the pie.)
Allow the pie to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.
(If the extra pie crust looks a bit pale when the pie is ready, leave it in the oven another few minutes to fully cook while the pie cools.)

Spinach and Bacon Pie

Creamed Spinach Delicately Flavored with Smokey Bacon and Topped with a Delightfully Tender Buttery Crust

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Greek

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1 15

Additional time to make or thaw pie crust 1 30

Total Time 3

Equipment

medium microwave safe bowl to thaw the frozen spinach
2 cup (0.5L) jug to measure out the milk
10" (26 cm) non-stick skillet
slotted spoon to scoop cooked bacon out of the skillet
rubber spatula so you don't scratch your non-stick pan
2Qt (2L) oven safe dish

Ingredients

10 oz (285g) pie crust – store bought or home made rolled out to 1/8" (3mm) thick
16 oz (450g) frozen spinach thawed
8 oz (225g) smoked bacon cut crosswise into 3/4" (2cm) pieces (See headnotes above)
6 oz (about 1-1/2 cups) onion finely diced — about 1/4" (6mm)
2 Tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup (35g) all purpose (plain) flour
2 cups (450ml) milk
4 oz (115g) sheep's milk feta cheese crumbled
1/2 cup finely chopped dill optional
1/4 Tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper

Instructions

Have ready your pie crust, either home made or store bought. (See headnotes above)
Pre-heat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and place the rack in the middle position.
Place the frozen spinach in a microwave safe bowl, cover with a plate and thaw according to the package instructions.
Fry the bacon in a 10" (26cm) non-stick skillet to your preferred doneness. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the bacon on to a paper towel lined plate. You should have about 1/4 cup (60ml) of rendered bacon fat remaining in the pan.
Over medium heat fry the onions in the bacon fat for about 5 minutes until they are soft and translucent. They should not take on any color.
Next, add the garlic and cook 30-60 seconds until it becomes fragrant.
Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir with a rubber spatula to make a roux. Cook, stirring continuously for a minute or two.
Pour in about 1/2 of the milk and stir vigorously to blend in the roux. Bring to a simmer and as the mixture begins to thicken add the rest of the milk. Cook, stirring often for about 5-6 minutes.
Season with 1/2 Tsp of salt, 1/4 Tsp of pepper. Stir in the 1/4 Tsp of nutmeg and optional 1/2 cup of dill.
When the mixture returns to a simmer, add the spinach and stir thoroughly to combine.
Gently stir in the crumbled feta cheese. Don't over mix; you want some little pockets of cheese in the mixture.
Taste for seasoning and adjust to your liking.
Pour half the spinach mixture into a 2Qt (2L) oven safe dish and sprinkle the reserved bacon bits over.
Spread the remaining spinach mixture over the bacon.
Cover with the pie crust. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown.
Rest the pie 15 minutes before serving.

Notes

When preparing this dish (or any other for that matter) it helps to have all of your ingredients prepared in advance — what chefs call, Mise-en-place which literally means, Set Up in French. You will find it makes the process go more smoothly because everything is at your fingertips when you need it. You can further streamline the cooking process if you have all the ingredients lined up in the order you will need them.

Having the tools you need ready to hand also makes life at the stove go more smoothly. Nothing worse than searching in the drawer for your rubber spatula only to find it’s in the dishwasher at the moment you need it.

Make ahead: You can make this pie several hours and up to a day ahead. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to bake. You should plan on adding an extra 10-15 minutes to the bake time, keeping in mind the filling is fully cooked so you just need the crust to cook and the filling to get hot.

October 23, 2023
by kaysdad
0 comments

Clotted Cream

Clotted cream. For someone unfamiliar with it, clotted cream might not sound very appealing. I mean, it sounds like cream with lumpy bits in it so you might be forgiven for turning up your nose at it. It is, however, a deliciously decadent spread to go with fruit preserves on your scones. It is commonly associated with the counties of Devon and Cornwall in the southwest of England where debates rage over whether to put the clotted cream on your scone first and then the jam, or visa versa. The best answer to that question I have heard is, if the scone is warm put the jam on first and if it is cold put the cream on first. The reasoning being, a warm scone will soften the cream causing it to loose its thick, luscious, texture.

No longer confined to Devon and Cornwall (if it ever was), clotted cream is served in tea shops all across England as an accompaniment to cream teas – an afternoon snack featuring tea, sandwiches, scones and other pastries. Aside from being a substitute for butter on your scone, clotted cream can also be used to thicken sauces or add a dollop to top a slice of pie. It is very rich though (upwards of 60% milk fat) so a little goes a long way. Clearly it is not one of the more healthy food choices but you can treat yourself to a once in a while indulgence – totally guilt free!!!

Apparently what we now call clotted cream was in ancient times a method used to preserve buffalo milk. And although it is associated with the quintessential English cream tea it is thought to have been introduced to England around 2000 years ago from the Middle East region.

Now, you can buy clotted cream of course and pay a pretty penny for it too! Or, you can make your own. No, seriously! Clotted cream is incredibly easy to make and has only one ingredient: Cream! There is no ‘recipe’; you simply put some cream in a very low oven for 12 hours or so then chill it in the fridge for several more hours before harvesting your clotted cream. You can make as much or as little as you like depending on your needs. Any left over will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a week or so.

What kind of cream to use to make clotted cream:

It may seem obvious; it’s just cream, right? Not exactly. Cream is sold in a number of different forms with different levels of fat content and not all are suitable for making clotted cream. Here in the US we have a very light cream called half and half, weighing in at a mere 11% milk fat. When you ask for cream with your coffee, that’s what you get. So called ‘light’ cream has about 18% fat while whipping cream has between 30% and 35% fat. Heavy cream (single cream in the UK) has between 36% and 40% fat and the heavy weights, manufacturing cream here and double cream in the UK clock in close to 50% milk fat.

But that’s not all. Some producers pack their cream with additives to help stabilize the cream so it doesn’t separate after whipping and to extent its shelf life. I have never made clotted cream with these products so I cannot speak to how the additives might affect the end product, if indeed they do. I am an avid label reader and wherever possibleI I try to avoid food products with chemical additives. So, when buying cream the only ingredient I want to see on the carton is cream – and organic cream at that!

OK, here’s the super easy way to make clotted cream:

Set your oven to 175°F (80°C) (about as low as a gas oven will go).
Pour 2 cups of heavy cream into a non reactive dish just big enough to hold it, preferably a wide, shallow dish. In the UK, use a 600ml tub of single cream.
Place the dish, uncovered in the oven for 12 hours. I usually start at 9:00pm the evening before and take it out at 9:00am the next morning. Most modern ovens shut themselves off after 12 hours anyway so there is no risk of burning the house down if you forget it.
In the morning remove the dish from the oven and set it on the counter to cool for a bit. It will still be very liquid and you might think nothing has happened. Be patient.
After 30 minutes or so, once the cream has cooled a little, cover it with a paper kitchen towel, wrap it tightly with foil and place it in the fridge for 4-6 hours. The paper towel will absorb the condensation and the foil will protect the cream from picking up fridge odors.
Remove the foil and paper towel to reveal a thick crust of delicious clotted cream.
Just one last step: insert a regular table knife at the edge of the dish and ease the clotted cream aside. Pour off the whey underneath and harvest your delicious clotted cream.
The clotted cream will keep a good week or so in an airtight container in the fridge. And don’t throw out the whey; add it to mashed potatoes or a tablespoon or two to your scrambled eggs for extra richness and flavor. If you are making scones to go with the clotted cream, use the whey as part of the liquid ingredient in your mix.

In the UK I have made clotted cream with both single and double cream. I was expecting a higher yield from the double cream but I was surprised to find they both produced the same amount of clotted cream. The moral of the story being, no need to spend the extra £££ on double cream.

June 20, 2023
by kaysdad
0 comments

Garlic Mushroom Pasta

What’s for dinner? The age old question. I’m staring in the fridge to see what I’ve got to work with and I see a tub of Costco crimini (chestnut) mushrooms. Mushroom risotto is always an option (a favorite of May and her mum) but I get tired of making the same dish over and over. And so, as I often do, I consulted Dr Google.

There are thousands of recipes using mushrooms but this one from The Mediterranean Dish website caught my eye. It being a miserable rainy day in March I didn’t fancy a trip to the store to buy ingredients so I adapted the recipe from the original to accommodate what I had on hand.

In the first place, Suzy Karadsheh, author of The Mediterranean Dish, calls for 3 kinds of mushrooms: plain old white button, crimini and portobello. I only had crimini and some dried porcini ‘shrooms. She also adds 1/4 cup (60ml) of red wine (Merlot specifically) and I wasn’t inclined to open a bottle for just 1/4 cup. Yeah, I know, I could have drunk the rest of it but then who knows how the recipe would have turned out! Anyway, I chose to use the porcinis and reduce their soaking liquid to 1/4 cup to use instead of the wine. It reduced to almost a syrupy consistency and added an even more intense mushroom flavor. Yup, that was a winner! Suzy adds walnuts for a little textural contrast. We are not big fans of walnuts so I added a handful of pepitas (a kind of pumpkin seed) I had in the fridge. You could add some toasted pine nuts too if you like, or coarsely chopped and toasted cashews.

The Great Unwashed!

Do you wash your ‘shrooms before cooking them? I don’t.

Unless you are foraging for your own mushrooms in the forrest, the ones you buy at the store are almost certainly grown in a sterile compost material. But even though it is sterile the bits of the growing medium you see on the mushrooms need to be removed for obvious reasons. So how do you do that?

Some people insist you wash your mushrooms. However, if you do you should do so right before cooking otherwise they can become slimy. You can buy these cute little brushes to dust off any debris but that just means another single use tool to keep in your drawer. I prefer to lightly dampen a kitchen towel – paper or cloth – and gently wipe off any dirt. But that’s just me. I’m not here to tell you how to clean your mushrooms, just as long as you do clean them.

The Pasta

This is a pasta dish and choosing which pasta to use is something to consider. In Italy it matters a great deal to choose the right pasta to match the sauce that goes with it. Chunky sauces need a pasta shape such as orecchiette, farfalle, tubetti, penne, etc. that will capture the chunky bits. Long pasta shapes are better with smoother sauces. I must confess, not being Italian I do not have the same passion for matching pasta to its sauce as a native Italian might. When I make pasta dishes I do try to respect the traditions of the Italian cucina but I am not obsessive about it. So for this dish, ideally you will want a shape suitable for a chunky sauce but failing that, just use whatever you have on hand.

Kinda Sorta Related…

Well, not really but an interesting aside anyway.

You’ve likely heard of MSG, right? That’s Monosodium Glutamate if you don’t know.

Glutamic Acid is a substance found in seaweed. There is a lot of science involved with the effects of glutamic acid on the taste sensors on the tongue but suffice to say, it boosts the flavor of foods and contributes to what we have come to know as Umami, a Japanese word that broadly translates to ‘savoriness’. Many cultures around the world eat seaweed in one form or another, including Japan. Somewhere around the turn of the 20th century a Japanese chemist isolated the glutamic acid in seaweed and created MSG. This gave us the convenience of seaweed’s umami boosting glutamic acid in a jar.

Now it turns out, not too surprisingly, that while glutamic acid is abundant in seaweed it is also found in other foods like tomatoes, mushrooms and parmesan cheese among many others. This is why, in my opinion, for the flavor to simplicity ratio you can’t beat Italian food. That is to say, you can make very simple Italian dishes that are intensely flavored and with relatively little effort.

Another little diversion and then we’ll get back to the recipe…

When you buy a wedge of parmesan cheese (the real McCoy mind you. None of the cheap stuff and certainly not anything pre-grated!) it will contain that umami boosting glutamic acid. But here’s the thing, the highest concentrations of it are nearest the rind. And what do we do when we get down to the rind? We chuck it in the compost bin, right? Big mistake! Put it in a freezer bag and keep it in the freezer. Next time you make a pot of soup or stew, throw in a rind or two for a boost of flavor.

OK, back to the Recipe

The whole point of that discussion on MSG is to say that this recipe has a lot of mushrooms – over 6oz (170g) per serving (not to mention umami rich tomato paste) so you can imagine how tasty it will be. 170g per person might seem like a lot but that’s the uncooked weight. By the time it cooks down it will have given up much of its water and it will be reduced by about half; a much more reasonable amount per person. It comes together pretty quickly too; the most tedious part being the cleaning and chopping of all those mushrooms. And speaking of chopping the mushrooms, you will want to chop or slice them into fairly large pieces – something between 1/4″ and 1/2″ (6-12mm) and tending towards the bigger size. If you cut or slice them too small they will cook down and disappear into the sauce rather than be the dominant presence they are intended to be.

Once you have your mise-en-place done this comes together quite quickly. You will want to rehydrate the dried porcini mushrooms in hot water a good 30-60 minutes before you start to give them time to soften and to get cool enough to handle.

While the porcinis are soaking you can get on with the rest of the prep: cleaning and chopping the mushrooms, mincing the garlic and shallot and gathering the rest of your ingredients and equipment.

The process goes something like this…

First, carefully lift the rehydrated porcinis out of the water and squeeze them to remove as much water as possible. Take care not to pick up any of the grit at the bottom of the jug you soaked the mushrooms in. Roughly chop the porcinis.
Now slowly pour the porcini soaking liquid into a small pot, again taking care to leave behind the grit at the bottom of the jug. It’s better to sacrifice a couple of tablespoons of soaking liquid than to ruin the dish by including mushroom grit. Set the pot on a medium high fire and bring it to a boil. Reduce the liquid to about 1/4 cup (60ml). It should be slightly syrupy. Depending on how high you have the fire this will take about 15 minutes or so. Remove the pot from the heat and set it aside.
You will want to put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Now you can go the traditional route, using a lot of water and a lot of salt, or you can use less water which will provide you with a very starchy pasta water that will give your sauce a lovely silky texture. If you do use less water you will want to reduce the salt a bit too, otherwise it may be too salty. For this much pasta I would recommend going with 2 quarts (2L) of water and 1-1/2 Tsp salt.
Have ready a colander set in a large bowl in the sink to drain the pasta and capture the pasta water.
While the pasta water is heating up you will heat the oil in a 12″ (30cm) skillet over medium high heat and sauté the garlic, red pepper flakes and shallots for a minute or two. Don’t let the garlic burn! Then you will add the crimini and porcini mushrooms with a generous pinch of salt. You will want to cook them for about 10 minutes by which time the water released from the mushrooms will almost completely evaporate.
As soon as the mushrooms are cooking you are going to add the pasta to the now boiling water and cook it to 2 minutes shy of the time recommended on the package. It’s all about timing; you want the pasta to be ready when the mushrooms are just about done so set your timer.
Back to the mushrooms; when the pasta has a minute to go it’s now time to add the tomato paste, rosemary, reduced soaking liquid, pepper and 1/2 cup (120ml) of pasta water to the pan and give it a little stir.
Drain the pasta in the colander you have ready in the sink and don’t forget to save the pasta water.
You are going to dump the pasta into the mushrooms along with 1/2 cup of the pasta water. You will need to continue cooking the pasta, adding some of the reserved pasta water a 1/2 cup at a time for 2-3 minutes until it is just cooked through but a tiny bit al dente. You need to toss the pasta continuously at this point since it isn’t completely submerged in water as it was in the pot and the exposed top won’t cook properly. When the pasta is cooked to your desired doneness (al dente is preferred but you’ve got to eat it so cook it how you like it) there should be a little bit of thick, starchy water in the bottom of the skillet.
Why are we going to all this trouble, you may ask. Why not just cook the pasta completely in its water then add it to the mushrooms? Yes, you could certainly do that but slightly undercooking it before adding it to the sauce lets the pasta absorb some of the mushroom flavor so the whole dish is flavored throughout. Tossing the fully cooked pasta into the sauce will give you a tasty sauce on top of neutral flavored pasta. However, you’re the boss in your kitchen so you decide which way you want to go.
Either way, you will want to turn off the fire when the pasta is cooked through and continue tossing the pasta for a minute or two, adding a dribble of pasta water if the pan gets too dry. This will let the pan cool down a little bit before you add the parm. If the pan is too hot when you add the cheese it will separate and turn rubbery.
Add the parmesan cheese and the butter, tossing to create a luscious creamy sauce and adding a tablespoon or two more of pasta water if necessary to get the consistency you like.
Finally, stir in the pepitas or pine nuts.
Serve on warm plates with another sprinkling of parm and if you are feeling decadent, a little drizzle of truffle oil.
If you are confident enough you can reduce the porcini soaking liquid, cook the pasta and the mushrooms all simultaneously. If not, do it in stages like this:

Reduce the porcini soaking liquid and set it aside. This can be done well in advance.
Cook the mushrooms but stop after Step 6 above and before you add the tomato paste, rosemary, reduced soaking liquid and a scoop of pasta water.
Cook the pasta and when it’s half way done, reheat the mushrooms and continue with the recipe as described in Step 7, above, adding the tomato paste, rosemary, soaking liquid and a little pasta water.

Garlic Mushroom Pasta

A Rich, Creamy Mushroom Pasta Dish Without Cream

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Total Time 50

Servings people

Equipment

12" (30cm) skillet
Colander to drain the pasta
A large bowl to capture the pasta cooking water

Ingredients

1 oz (30g) dried porcini mushrooms – about a cup's worth
10.5 oz (300g) pasta – See Head Notes above for pasta shape
1/3 cup (80ml) olive oil
2 Tbs shallot, finely chopped
1-1/2 TBS minced garlic
1/4 Tsp crushed red pepper flakes – more or less to suit your tolerance for spicy hot
1.5 lb (680g) crimini (chestnut) mushrooms – chopped into 1/4-1/2" (6-12mm) pieces
1 Tsp Kosher salt (or 1/2 Tsp sea salt) – plus more for seasoning pasta water
1/4 Tsp pepper
3 TBS (45g) tomato paste
1 Tsp fresh rosemary or thyme leaves, chopped -or 1/2 Tsp dried. See note below
2 Tbs (30g) unsalted butter
1 oz (30g) Parmesan cheese, fresh grated – about a cup of grated cheese
1/4 cup pepitas, toasted pine nuts or toasted, coarse chopped cashews

Instructions

In a 2 cup (1/2L) jug add the porcini mushrooms and pour in hot water to the 1-1/2 cup (360ml) level. Set the jug aside for about 1 hour to let the mushrooms rehydrate.
Meanwhile, with a lightly dampened kitchen towel (paper or cloth), gently wipe any dirt from the crimini mushrooms. Coarsely chop or slice the mushrooms into 1/4-1/2" (6-12mm) pieces.
Gather and prepare the remaining ingredients.
When the porcinis have softened and cooled, gently lift them out of the soaking liquid and squeeze out as much water as you can. Take care not to disturb the grit at the bottom of the jug. Coarsely chop the porcinis and add to the chopped criminis.
Carefully pour the porcini soaking liquid into a small pot, again taking care to leave behind the grit on the bottom of the jug. Set the pot over medium high heat and bring to a boil, reducing the liquid to about 1/4 cup (60ml). It should have a slightly syrupy consistency.
Measure 2 qt (2L) of water into a large pot with 1 TBS Kosher salt or 1 1/2 Tsp of sea salt and bring to a boil (See note below). Have ready a colander set in a large bowl in the sink.
Heat the oil in a 12" (30cm) skillet over medium high heat and sauté the shallots, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes for about a minute. Add the crimini and porcini mushrooms with 1 Tsp of Kosher salt (or 1/2 Tsp sea salt) and 1/4 Tsp of pepper.
Once the mushroom are going, add the pasta to the pot of boiling water to cook, stopping 2 minutes shy of the recommended cooking time on the package. (Set your timer once the pasta comes to a boil.)
Cook the mushrooms, tossing occasionally, for 8-10 minutes. The crimini mushrooms will release their water which will almost completely evaporate by the time the pasta is done.
Add the tomato paste, rosemary, reduced porcini soaking liquid and 1/2 cup (120ml) of pasta water to the mushrooms and give it a quick stir.
Drain the pasta in the colander you have ready in the sink. Add the pasta to the mushrooms along with 1/2 cup of pasta water.
Toss the pasta with the mushrooms for 2-3 minutes, adding pasta water by the 1/2 cup until the pasta is cooked al dente. (Continue cooking the pasta and adding water if you prefer your pasta more done.) By the time the pasta is cooked there should be a tablespoon or two of thick, starchy water left in the skillet.
Off heat toss the pasta another minute or two, adding a dribble of pasta water as necessary if the pan gets too dry. This lets the pan cool off a little before adding the parmesan cheese.
Add the butter and parmesan cheese, tossing to create a creamy sauce. Add a tablespoon or two of pasta water as necessary to get the sauce consistency you like.
Finally, stir in the pepitas before serving on warm plates with a sprinkle of cheese and a drizzle of olive oil. Or, if you are feeling decadent you can drizzle on a little truffle oil instead.

Notes

Traditionally you would boil pasta in lots of well salted water to give the pasta room to ‘dance’ in the water. In this case we are using much less water and proportionally much less salt since we are going to use the pasta water in the recipe. If we went the traditional route the pasta water would be less starchy and way too salty. Using only 2 qt (2L) of water will give you super starchy water that will give your sauce a luscious, silky texture without being too salty.

I prefer to use fresh herbs but if you only have dried herbs use half the quantity called for. Also, add the dried herbs at the beginning along with the garlic, shallots and red pepper flakes. And don’t forget to check the “Best By” date on your herbs. The essential oils that give herbs their flavor and aroma dissipate quite quickly. If you open the jar and don’t get a strong scent of the herb it won’t impart any flavor to the dish.

February 4, 2023
by kaysdad
0 comments

Linguini with Lemon and Shrimp

When I buy seafood I almost always buy fresh the day I plan to eat it or at most, the day before consumption. And that includes shrimp, although in reality unless you are lucky enough to live on the doorstep of where shrimp are harvested, pretty much all the shrimp you buy at the fishmonger has been frozen. They are so perishable it couldn’t be otherwise.

I usually buy from a fishmonger where I can see what’s on offer at the time and I can buy just enough for my immediate needs. A couple of weeks ago I had an urge for something with shrimp but I didn’t have the time or the inclination to drive the 30 mile round trip to my usual fishmonger. Instead I went to the local supermarket where I found a 2 lb (900g) bag of frozen shrimp. My first instinct was to walk right by it but on closer examination I had second thoughts. I noticed the shrimp were wild caught Gulf (of Mexico) shrimp, flash frozen. So, I took a chance and bought a bag and I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised. The shrimp were fresh tasting, sweet and altogether delicious.

I used the last of them the other day to make this simple shrimp pasta with garlic and lemon. Trolling the internet for ideas I saw lots of recipes that were mostly quite similar. Many were in cream based sauces which were in essence a lot like Alfredo sauce. I didn’t want anything that heavy; I wanted the clean, fresh flavor of the shrimp to shine through. I cherry picked some of the features I liked from several recipes and eventually came up with this simple version with tender sweet shrimp delicately perfumed with lemon and just a hint of garlic.

I like to buy shell on shrimp because the shells are chock full of flavor and it is a terrible waste to throw them out before extracting as much of that flavor as possible. In this preparation I begin by sautéing the shells in a little oil. The oil takes on the flavor of the shrimp shells and provides a base for the rest of the dish. That being said, it’s an extra refinement that is not strictly necessary so if you choose not to do it, that’s fine; you will still have a delicious dinner.

Like all seafood shrimp need to be treated with care when cooking. Overcooked shrimp will become tough and rubbery; just right and they are tender and sweet with a little brininess of the ocean.

A little planning goes a long way to streamlining this recipe. If you have everything prepared and ready to go, this dish comes together in a flash. The bulk of the prep time is taken up by peeling and deveining the shrimp. While you are doing that you can have your pot of water on the go, ready to add the pasta when you are done peeling the shrimp.. And while the pasta cooks you can be sautéing the shrimp. A last minute toss of the pasta into the shrimp and dinner is ready.

The sequence goes like this:

1. Put the pasta water on to boil.
2. While it boils, peel and devein the shrimp.
3. When the shrimp are ready, add the pasta to the pot to cook.
4. While the pasta cooks, Sauté the shrimp shells, then the shrimp.
5. By then the pasta will be done. Add it straight from the pot to the shrimp using a pair of tongs. No need to drain the pasta.
6. Add a little pasta water to the pan and toss the whole lot to finish cooking.
7. Off heat swirl in the butter, parmesan cheese and basil. (Adding the butter off heat lets it emulsify in the little bit of pasta water left in the pan and the cheese tightens the whole into a luscious sauce barely enough to coat the pasta without weighing down the dish.)

OK, so what if it doesn’t quite go to plan? Maybe you are interrupted by a phone call or the kids need attention or whatever. Stuff happens, right? No worries, there is some flexibility in the recipe.

For example, it takes longer than you thought to peel and devein the shrimp and the pasta water is boiling away. Turn the fire down to maintain a simmer and when you are ready, crank up the heat to bring it back to a rolling boil.

The pasta is done cooking before the shrimp are ready. OK, so now you can drain the pasta and put it back into the now empty pot. It will be fine to sit a couple of minutes until you are ready for it. Don’t forget to save some of the pasta water though!

Or, it’s the other way round and the shrimp are ready before the pasta. In that case just turn off the fire under the shrimp and turn it back on again when the pasta is ready.

I buy my dried pasta at Costco because the product they sell (called Garofalo) is the best dried pasta I know in terms of taste and texture (and also because my local Costco is a convenient 5 minute walk away!). But here’s the thing, Garofalo sells their pasta in 500g (1 lb-2 oz) packages while most other pasta brands sold in the US are in 1 lb (450g) packages. I’m calling for the US standard 1 lb of pasta here but if your package of pasta is 500g, just use that. No point in leaving out the odd 50g.

This recipe will feed 6 adults but it can easily be halved.

Linguini with Lemon and Shrimp

A simple shrimp and pasta dish with a delicate lemon flavor and a hint of garlic

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 15

Total Time 35

Servings people

Equipment

12" (30cm) skillet (For 1/2 recipe use a 10" (26cm) skillet)

Ingredients

1 lb (450g) linguini or any long pasta – See note 1 below
1-1/2 lb (650g) large shell on shrimp – peeled, deveined and shells reserved
2 Tbs olive oil
6 Tbs (75g) unsalted butter – divided
1 Tbs minced garlic
1/4 Tsp red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
1 lemon – zest and juice
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (See note 4 below)
1 oz (30g) about 1/2 a cup parmesan cheese – plus more for serving

Instructions

Bring a pot of well salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta to a minute or so shy of recommended cooking time.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, 12” (30cm) skillet over medium high heat. Add the shrimp shells and sauté until they begin to get spotty brown, about 5 minutes. Remove and discard the shrimp shells. (See note 2 below).
Reduce the heat to medium and add 2 TBS (25g) of the butter to the now empty skillet. When the foam starts to subside add the garlic and pepper flakes. Cook for about 30 seconds or so until the garlic becomes fragrant. Be careful not to over do the garlic or it will take on a bitter, acrid taste.
Add the shrimp and season with a generous pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Sauté for about a minute and a half until the shrimp begin to turn pink. Toss the shrimp and cook on the second side another minute.
By this time the pasta should be ready. (See note 3 below). Add it to the pan with the shrimp and toss to combine, stirring in 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water. Continue to cook, tossing and adding pasta water by 1/4 cup fulls until the pasta is fully cooked but still al dente, another 2-3 minutes. There should be 2-3 TBS of thick, viscous pasta water remaining in the bottom of the pan.
Off heat stir in the remaining butter, lemon zest, juice, the basil leaves and the parmesan cheese.
Serve on warm plates sprinkled with more parmesan cheese and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil..

Notes

1. If your pasta is sold in 500g packages, no need to hold back the 50g from the 450g called for, just use the whole package.

2. Sautéing the shrimp shells is not an essential step but they do add their unique flavor. So, if you can’t find shell on shrimp or simply don’t want to add this step, by all means omit it. In that case heat the oil and butter together before adding the garlic and red pepper flakes.

3. If you have done your mise-en-place and everything is ready to go this dish comes together quickly. The time to cook the shrimp and the pasta should coincide allowing you to add the pasta directly from the pot to the shrimp. However, if the pasta is done before the shrimp is ready to receive it, drain it, saving some of the pasta water and put the drained pasta back into the now empty pot. When you are ready, add the pasta to the shrimp with some pasta water and proceed with the recipe.

If the shrimp is ready before the pasta, simply turn off the fire under the pan and turn it back on again when the pasta is ready.

4. If your basil leaves are small and tender add them whole. If the leaves are larger and less delicate, cut them in a chiffonade before adding them.

If you don’t know, “chiffonade” is term used to describe leaves that are cut into thin strips. To do this stack a few leaves together and roll them up like a cigar then slice the ‘cigar’ crosswise into strips.

December 26, 2022
by kaysdad
0 comments

Biscuits and Gravy

Biscuits and gravy. Most Americans will know what that is, right? Non-Americans? Maybe not so much. So here’s a quick primer for you:

The difference between Biscuits and ‘Biscuits’

First of all, the biscuits are not ‘biscuits’ as we Brits understand biscuits. Here in the US, biscuits are kind of like an unsweetened scone. In fact, the similarity between scones and biscuits is quite striking with two notable differences: biscuits are made with a lot more butter and the liquid is almost always (but not exclusively) buttermilk. While biscuits are popular all over the US, they originated in the American south. They are often served warm with butter and honey or jam (much like a scone) or for a hearty and delicious breakfast (or lunch, or dinner), with sausage gravy.

Biscuit varieties

By an odd coincidence I’ve recently been watching a number of Southern chefs on TV making biscuits and no two made them the same way. Some of them alluded to their family’s recipe, handed down through the generations but to their credit, none of them claimed that their method was the ‘traditional’ way to make biscuits – just that it was their family’s’ traditional way. I believe that when it comes to classic regional foods there is no one single way that is the definitive ‘traditional’ way to make it. And so it is with biscuits.

Broadly speaking biscuits come in two varieties: tall and fluffy or slightly less tall and flakey but in between there are almost as many ways to make biscuits as there are home bakers who make them. I have made biscuits many different ways and I have to say, they are all good! If you have ever made scones you won’t have any trouble making biscuits.

In the recipe below I give my own personal preferred biscuit recipe but please, feel free to use your own favorite if you have one.

The flour

The flour used to make biscuits matters to some extent. In the South where this quick bread originates, cooks use a ‘soft’ flour; that is to say, one with a relatively low protein content. Softer flour makes a more tender biscuit. Other national brands of all purpose flours in the US have a slightly higher protein content which will still make very good biscuits but not quite as soft as those made with lower protein flour. Most all purpose (plain) flours sold in the UK are produced from lower protein wheat and work well for making biscuits. ‘Pastry’ flour, somewhere between cake and all purpose flours in its protein content, is perfect for biscuits too. In a pinch you can make your own pastry flour by mixing all purpose flour with 25-30% cake flour. But in the end the all purpose flour you have in your pantry will do just fine.

Forming the biscuits

Other than drop biscuits where you scoop a loose, wet dough into a cake tin (it’s much too wet to roll and cut out), most recipes have you roll out or pat the dough flat and use a cookie cutter to cut out the biscuits. You then gather the scraps to roll out and cut again until all the dough is used up. At each subsequent rolling of the scrap bits, more gluten is being developed which will make for less tender biscuits. Instead, I roll the dough into a rectangle, trim the edges removing as little dough as possible and cut them into squares. (Trimming the edges allows the biscuits to rise fully and evenly in the oven). That way I only roll it out once and besides, who said biscuits have to be round? And those trimmed edges? Gather them up loosely into a round and bake it with the rest of the biscuits. That will be the baker’s treat when they come out of the oven.

The Gravy

And what about that gravy? Say the word, gravy and you think of the luscious, silky smooth liquid you pour over your Sunday roast. In this context however, gravy refers to a simple Béchamel sauce cooked with savory sausage meat. It is variously called white gravy, sausage gravy, country gravy or just plain gravy. Whatever you want to call it, poured over biscuits still warm from the oven and you have something so simple and yet so sublime.

As with many simple foods the dish represents what in Europe might be called, peasant food. And like many hitherto peasant foods, biscuits and gravy has acquired a certain status in its own right, appearing on menus all across the country, even at white tablecloth restaurants. It is though, at its heart, a simple and thoroughly satisfying meal whether it is served for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

For the gravy you remove the meat from the casing of your favorite breakfast sausage and fry it up in a pan, breaking it up into small pieces as you go. In a typical béchamel sauce you would combine more or less equal amounts of fat (usually butter) and flour to make a roux. In this case we use the fat rendered from the sausage meat in lieu of butter. Depending on the particular sausage you buy it may or may not render enough fat to do the job. If not you can add a knob of butter or a spoonful of bacon fat or, in a pinch, a glug of olive oil. To the roux you stir in a quantity of milk to make a basic béchamel sauce which you season with a little salt and a generous sprinkling of fresh ground pepper. I like to add some fresh chopped sage and/or thyme and perhaps just a little sprinkle of nutmeg.

Ideal gravy texture

Most recipes will give you a quantity of flour to add to the sausage, along with a quantity of milk. I like to add about half the milk called for and bring the mixture to a gentle simmer at which point the flour will have thickened up, then I add the remaining milk. You will want your gravy to be a bit thinner than you think it should be. If you serve it when it’s at the “ideal” texture in the hot pan it will begin to congeal as it cools on the plate and become unpleasantly thick.

How to avoid lumpy gravy

You will find all kinds of advice on how to avoid lumps in your roux thickened gravy. Most common is the instruction to slowly pour in the liquid, whisking as you go. I have never had much luck with that. I find that the flour starches immediately absorb the liquid creating the very lumps I’m trying to avoid! I have found that adding a larger quantity of liquid all at once (usually about half the liquid called for) works better. Adding a lot of liquid all at once lowers the temperature of the roux allowing the starches to dissolve before their heat sensitive thickening properties are activated. Whisking vigorously at this stage helps to break up and dissolve the roux. Then, as the sauce heats up and the starches begin to thicken the remaining liquid can be added with no risk of forming lumps.

Serving biscuits and gravy

By the time the gravy is done the biscuits will have baked and cooled a little. You simply split the biscuits, place the two halves on a plate and smother them in your creamy gravy perfumed with sage and nutmeg.

Although biscuits and gravy are best when eaten fresh, leftovers can be reheated. Just put the gravy into a frying pan with a splash of milk and gently bring it to a simmer, adding more milk as necessary to get a smooth creamy consistency. For the biscuits, you can nuke them for 15-20 seconds to warm them up or, if you have the time and the inclination, pop them in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 5-10 minutes for a more fresh baked biscuit experience.

Biscuits will freeze very well too. To reheat, thaw them on the counter and warm them in the oven as described above. Oh, and by the way, these biscuits make a great accompaniment to soup. Because they only take half an hour to make, you can easily have fresh quick bread on the table with your soup.

Biscuits and Gravy

A light and tender quick bread smothered in a savory sausage gravy

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1

Servings people

Ingredients

The Biscuits:

10 TBS (5oz/140g) unsalted butter – divided, cold from the fridge
2 cups (10 oz/285g) all purpose (plain) flour – preferably low protein but use whatever you have on hand
1 1/2 TBS baking powder
1 TBS granulated sugar
3/4 Tsp salt
1/4 Tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
3/4 cup (170ml) buttermilk – cold from the fridge

The Gravy:

1 1/4 lb (570g) savory sausage meat from your favorite breakfast sausage
1/4 cup (35g) all purpose (plain) flour
3 cups (680ml) milk
1 TBS chopped fresh sage and/or thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground pepper
A light grating of nutmeg optional

Instructions

The Biscuits:

Pre-heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
Cut 8 TBS (115g) of butter into very small pieces.
In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking powder and then add the cold butter. Squeeze the butter pieces between your thumb and fingers to flatten them. *See note below.
Pour in 3/4 cup (170ml) of the cold buttermilk and stir to form a loose, crumbly dough.
Dump the dough on to your work surface. Notice the pieces of butter showing and not all the flour has been incorporated yet.
Gather the dough together to form it into a somewhat cohesive mass. If you have a bench scraper it will help make this stage easier. Otherwise, working quickly, just use your hands. It won’t come together completely and will still be a little crumbly.
Roll the dough into a rectangle 1/2" (12mm) thick and about 11" x 7" (28 x 18cm) and use your bench scraper or the edge of your hand to even out the edges. With the long edge of the rectangle facing you, fold the right 1/3 of the dough onto itself. Then fold the left 1/3 over as you would a business letter. Roll the dough out to 1/2" (12mm) thick again and do the letter fold as before.
Repeat the rolling and folding once more but this time roll the dough out to 8" x 4" (20 x 10cm)" and about 1" (25mm) thick. You can see the dough has come together quite nicely after the 3rd roll and fold. Pat the dough into a neat rectangle and removing as little as possible trim the edges with a sharp knife. Trimming the edges will allow the biscuits to rise evenly and to their full height in the oven.
Again, using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 more or less equal pieces. Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet. Gather the trimmings and form them into a loose round and set it on the baking sheet too. (That will become the baker's treat.)
Melt the remaining 2 TBS (25g) of butter and use it to brush the tops of the biscuits.
Bake for about 15 minutes until well risen and golden brown on top, rotating the pan half way through to ensure even baking.
Cool on a wire rack. Notice the flaky layers created by the rolling and folding (laminating) process.

While the biscuits are baking, get cracking on The Gravy:

Remove the meat from the sausage casings. Score the casing along its length to make this job easier.
Heat a 10″ (26cm) non-stick skillet over medium high heat and add the sausage, breaking it up into small pieces. Cook until there is no trace of pink meat left.
Sprinkle the flour over the sausage and stir for a minute or two to cook off the raw flour taste. (There should be enough fat rendered from the sausages to make a roux but if it looks like there isn't, add a knob of butter or, if you have it, a tablespoon of bacon fat.)
Add about half the milk and whisk vigorously to incorporate the roux (the fat and flour ) and to prevent lumps. (See headnotes above on how to prevent lumpy gravy). Continue whisking as the milk heats up and the sauce begins to thicken. Add the remaining milk and keep whisking, more gently now until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes or so. Adjust the consistency of the sauce with more milk if necessary – it should be like a pancake batter. (See headnotes above on ideal gravy texture).
Add the herbs, a generous pinch of salt and a good sprinkling of pepper. Start with 1/2 Tsp salt (adding more if you think it needs it) and pepper to your taste. I prefer a fairly assertive pepper taste here but you can add as much as you like.
Finally, grate in a little of the optional nutmeg but go easy with it; nutmeg can easily overpower the dish which should have just a hint of nutmeg in the background.
Continue to cook a minute or two longer to allow the flavors to blend together, adjusting the seasoning as necessary and additional milk to maintain a pancake batter like consistency.
By now the biscuits will have baked and cooled a little. Split a biscuit on each plate and smother with the gravy. If you have any chopped herbs left over, sprinkle a little on each plate

Notes

The butter pieces need to be quite large for this preparation and therefore you don’t want to rub the butter in as you would for a pie dough or a scone, for example. Instead, you will flatten the pieces between your thumb and fingers to create large flakes of flour coated butter. These will translate into flakey layers in the biscuits.

If you don’t want to bother with the laminating process, rub the butter more thoroughly into the flour before adding the buttermilk. The dough will be more cohesive than the laminated dough and the resulting biscuit will be taller and more fluffy but still delicious.

You can freeze any leftover biscuits for another meal. The biscuits make a great accompaniment for soup too!

November 2, 2022
by kaysdad
0 comments

Plokkfiskur (Icelandic fish and potato stew)

I was fortunate to be able to visit Iceland for the first time last year and what an incredible experience that was. If you are a fan of remote, rugged beauty as I am, I highly recommend a visit to Iceland.

Given that it is an island whose population is concentrated around the coastline it will not come as any surprise that fish features heavily Icelandic cuisine. Plokkfiskur showed up on many menus and curious to know what it was, I ordered it one day (in a Reykjavik Fish and Chip shop actually). Little chunks of potato and tender pieces of cod swaddled in a creamy, slightly cheesy sauce, it was just what the doctor ordered after a day photographing some of the most spectacular landscapes anywhere in the world. I loved it. So much so I began to research it when I got home.

Turns out, even though I am calling this an Icelandic fish and potato stew, Plokkfiskur did not originate in Iceland. It is believed to have come from the Nordic people who first settled the Island, although fish stew in some form or another can be found all over Europe.

When we talk about regional recipes like this one, inevitably the question of tradition and authenticity arises. There are any number of variations for Plokkfiskur, any of which can claim to be ‘authentic’ or ‘traditional’. I don’t get too hung up with the concept so long as I am satisfied I am staying true to the essence and origins of the dish. The addition of cheese in Plokkfiskur which is widely used nowadays is definitely not traditional but it does taste good!

This is very easy to make and comes together quite quickly so dinner can be ready in about 30 minutes. You start by poaching the fish for 10 minutes and then boiling the cubed potatoes in the same poaching water. Cooking the potatoes in the fish poaching water imparts some additional flavor but, if you want to shave a few minutes off the overall cooking time you can poach the fish and boil the potatoes simultaneously in separate pots. It just means one more pot to clean!

While the potatoes are cooking you crack on making the béchamel sauce, starting with sautéing the onions in the butter for a few minutes before adding the flour to make a roux. You add the milk and cook it for several minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper and a pinch of nutmeg and/or a spritz of lemon juice. You stir in the potatoes and fish and lastly, the cheese. You cover the pot and let it sit for 5 minutes to let all the flavors blend together.

et Voila! Dinner is served!

Plokkfiskur (Icelandic fish and potato stew)

A simple and satisfying stew, perfect for dinner on a cold winter evening

Course Main Course

Cuisine Icelandic

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Thaw frozen fish 1

Total Time 1 45

Servings people

Ingredients

1 1/4 lb cod (560g) or any firm fleshed white fish
1 lb potatoes (450g) whatever you would use for mashed or baked potatoes
1 Large onion sliced
1 1/2 cups milk (300ml)
2 oz unsalted butter (4 TBS, 55g)
3 TBS all purpose (plain) flour see note below for a GF option
About 1 cup grated cheese medium sharp Cheddar or Gruyere
1 Tsp salt
1/2 Tsp pepper
1/4 Tsp nutmeg
1 TBS lemon juice optional

Instructions

Before you begin, if you are using frozen fish, be sure to defrost it at room temperature until it is completely thawed out.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the fish. Turn off the fire, cover the pot and poach for 10 min. *See note below. Remove the fish to a plate, leaving the water in the pot.
While the fish cooks, peel and chop the potatoes into 3/4" (20mm) cubes. Bring the poaching water back to a boil and add the potatoes. Boil for about 10-12 minutes until they are cooked through and soft.
In the meantime, melt the butter in a 10" (26cm) skillet over medium high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring often until they are softened and translucent – about 5 minutes.
Stir in the flour and cook over medium heat for a minute or two before adding the milk all at once. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Season with a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of pepper and continue cooking for 4-5 minutes until the flour is cooked and the sauce has thickened. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg and the optional lemon juice if you are using it.
Flake the fish into bite sized pieces, picking out any bones that may be present.
Stir in the potatoes and the fish. If the stew is too thick for your liking, add a little more milk to loosen it up a bit.
Stir in the cheese until it is completely melted. Cover and rest 5 minutes to let the flavors blend together. Check for seasoning and texture and adjust as necessary.

Notes

As a general rule I do not buy frozen fish. I think the flavor and texture of fresh fish is far superior to that of frozen. This dish is the exception to the rule. Frozen cod fillets work very well here and it is a lot less expensive than fresh which makes it even more appealing.

You can shave a few minutes off the cooking time if you cook the potatoes and fish simultaneously in separate pots. It just means one more pot to clean!

*Do not boil the fish and do not poach it beyond 10 minutes or it will overcook and become tough.

To make this gluten free, substitute the all purpose flour for an equal amount of sweet rice flour.

You can omit the cheese if you like but it does add a little complexity and richness to the dish.

June 14, 2022
by kaysdad
0 comments

Spanish Tortilla – Tortilla Español

I should start by saying I am by no means an authority on Spanish food, including this tortilla. I have only been to Spain twice. Both times I never ate a tortilla there (it was a very long time ago and I didn’t know then there was such a thing!) so I have no first hand knowledge of a Spanish tortilla in Spain. My only experience with the dish is from making it here in the US and research I have done for this post. My apologies if I offend anyone with any glaring mistakes.

What’s in a name?

In Mexico and in the US if you ask for a tortilla you will get a kind of flat bread made from flour (for wrapping burritos and quesadillas) or corn (for tacos and enchiladas). In Spain, however, if you ask for a tortilla you will get a kind of omelette similar to an Italian frittata but made with eggs and potatoes. Sometimes called a Tortilla Española or Tortilla de Patatas, visitors to Spain can sample it at tapas bars where it is served at room temperature and usually with a garlicky allioli.

What’s in a Spanish tortilla?

Aside from eggs, a tortilla de patatas, as the name suggests, is made with potatoes. Along with olive oil and seasoning that’s it according to purists. Many people (me included) like to add sliced onions because onions make everything taste better, right? I am told that in Spain the addition of onions can be quite controversial and tortillas de patatas are widely available with or without to satisfy both camps.

Other strictly non-traditional add-ins might include chorizo sausage, peas, ham, red pepper and pretty much anything else you would like to add. Tradition notwithstanding, in your kitchen you are the boss and you can add whatever you please. My preference is to stick to the basics – eggs, potatoes, onion and olive oil. Too many add-ins can muddy the flavors and you loose the essence of the dish in my opinion.

The Potatoes

Since the spuds are the star of the show let’s take a few minutes to discuss what kind to use and how to prepare them for the tortilla.

We talk about starchy potatoes, waxy potatoes and those all purpose potatoes in between. I can’t name the potatoes to use because I don’t know which of the 200 or so varieties are available where you live. If you are not sure I would suggest asking Dr. Google! I can say, here in the US I have used russets (starchy), fingerling (waxy) and Yukon gold (in between), all of which have produced excellent tortillas de patatas.

Basically any potato will work. Waxy potatoes will hold their shape during cooking giving your tortilla a firmer texture. Starchy potatoes produce a softer, creamier tortilla but require more delicate handling to prevent them from falling apart as they cook.

Strictly speaking it is not really necessary to peel potatoes but as a general rule I do. Especially thick skinned spuds where blemishes and bruises can be hidden by the rough, dark skins. The skins can also hide the green tinge some older potatoes get which is an indication of a toxin called solanine.

I may or may not peel thin skinned potatoes, depending on how I am going to use them. If the potatoes are small I definitely won’t peel them because peeling small potatoes is a pain in the you-know-what and for this tortilla I generally don’t bother.

I am told that for a truly authentic tortilla de patatas the potatoes should be gouged into irregularly shaped but equal sized pieces using the tip of a small knife. That strikes me as being unnecessarily laborious and not to mention downright dangerous. It is more practical (and safer!) to cut the potatoes into 1/8″ (3mm) slices. You can do this with a sharp knife or a mandoline.

How to prepare the Tortilla de Patatas

Don’t worry about ingredient lists and instructions at this point. What follows is a narrative describing the process for preparing a tortilla de patatas. You will find the specifics in the recipe proper.

As with any dish with so few ingredients it can be tricky to execute well but it won’t take long to get the hang of this one. You can ad lib to an extent but try to keep the potato to egg ratio as close to the recipe as possible. Too much potato and too little egg to hold everything together will make your tortilla difficult to handle.

Many recipes will have you cook the potatoes in copious amounts of olive oil – as much as 4 cups (1 L). Once the potatoes are cooked the oil is drained off before adding the eggs. (The oil is saved for the next tortilla or anything else you might need it for). I have never done this but it seems like a messy job and potentially a bit wasteful. Other recipes (like this one) use a relatively modest amount of oil and no messy draining required.

So, starting with your mise en place you will have your potatoes and onions cut into 1/8″ (3mm) slices.

(A quick word here on slicing onions: after cutting off the stem and root ends you cut the onion in half and remove the skin. I see many people slice the onion half crosswise into half moons. Onion slices cut this way will break down as they soften, causing them to disintegrate. Instead, it’s better to cut the slices lengthwise to maintain their structure.)

OK so now you will toss the potato and onion in a bowl with olive oil and a generous sprinkle of salt.

Next you’re going to heat a little more olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat until it begins to shimmer. Then you’ll add the potato and onion along with all of the oil in the bowl, spreading it out in an even layer. Now you will cover the pan and reduce the heat to medium low. You will want to gently stir and toss the mixture every 5 minutes or so to make sure the veg on the bottom does not become overly brown (a little color is fine.) Continue cooking and stirring until the potatoes are cooked and tender. This should take around 15-20 minutes depending on how high you have the heat. Don’t judge by the clock, though. Instead, poke the potatoes with the tip of a small knife to test for doneness.

Meanwhile, in the empty bowl the potatoes and onion were tossed in, you are going to whisk the eggs with salt and pepper.

Once the potatoes and onion are cooked you will want to turn off the fire and let them cool for 10 minutes or so. You are going to add them to the eggs and you don’t want the hot veg to scramble them.

When the potato mixture has cooled ever so slightly you are going to pour it into the bowl with the eggs and toss the whole lot together. With the skillet back on medium heat you will pour in the contents of the bowl and spread it out to evenly distribute the potatoes and onion. You’re going to want to gently agitate the mixture with a rubber spatula to let the uncooked eggs have their turn at the bottom of the pan.

Once the eggs look like they are halfway scrambled you are going to cover the pan and turn the heat to medium low and you are going to let the eggs cook until you see the edges begin to puff up slightly. How long that takes will depend on how high you have the fire but it should be about 10-15 minutes. If you have the fire set low, it will take longer and the bottom will be light golden brown. A higher fire will cook faster and the bottom will be a deep golden brown. There is no wrong answer here – whatever you prefer.

If at this stage, if there is a lot of uncooked egg in the middle of the pan, use your rubber spatula to lift the edge of the tortilla and tilt the pan to let the runny bits pour underneath to finish cooking.

Now, here comes the tricky bit – you need to flip the tortilla over to finish cooking the top. First though, you need to make sure the tortilla will release from the pan. There’s nothing more frustrating than struggling to get a mass of egg and potato out of a pan when it is stuck! So, you’ll run your spatula around the edge of the pan and under the tortilla, progressively farther into the center until it releases and slides around as you gently shake the pan. Now you are ready to flip.

The easiest way I have found to do this is to slide the tortilla onto a large plate, cover it with a second large plate and having the courage of your convictions, quickly and confidently flip it over. This is a case of, he who hesitates may have a mess to clean up. (Yup. Been there, done that!) Go on. You’ve got this.

Having successfully flipped the tortilla you will slide it back into the skillet (having first added another splash of oil) and use your spatula to tuck in the edges to make it look pretty. Finishing cooking shouldn’t take long, again depending on how high the fire is set – maybe 5 minutes or so. You can leave it longer to get the bottom to be the same color as the top but I generally don’t bother: the top is the presentation side and that looks good already.

Still nervous about the flip? OK. A good work around is to have your oven preheated to 425°F (220°C). Once the egg is mostly cooked, throw the pan in the oven and cook the tortilla, uncovered, until it begins to puff up slightly, indicating it is fully cooked through. This should take about 5 minutes or so but keep an eye on it because it could be a little more or less. In my opinion this is not as visually appealing but it will still taste delicious. If you plan to use the oven method, be sure your skillet is oven safe. Most are these days but if yours has a plastic handle best not put in such a hot oven.

When the tortilla is finished cooking you will slide it out onto a cutting board and let it cool. These tortillas are best served warm or at room temperature which gives the eggs time to set up so the tortilla holds its shape when you cut into it. So let it cool a bit before you slice it into wedges and serve it with your allioli and a salad.

Make Ahead

You can make the tortilla a day ahead and once completely cool, cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge. Let it come to room temperature before serving, or nuke it for a few seconds to quickly take the chill off. The allioli can also be made ahead and refrigerated.

And what about this allioli?

At its simplest, allioli (aioli in France) is basically garlic mayonnaise. You wanna whisk egg yolks with olive oil, garlic and vinegar to make your own allioli? More power to you. Otherwise mince some garlic and stir it into some good quality store bought mayo along with a dab of Dijon mustard (try some wholegrain for a bit of texture). If you have some in the fridge, a tiny bit of harissa paste or another hot chili paste gives the allioli a pleasant pink hue and adds a gentle background heat that works well with the tortilla.

Spanish Tortilla – Tortilla Español

Course Main Course, Lunch

Cuisine Spanish

Servings people

Equipment

10" (26cm) non-stick skillet
large bowl
whisk
rubber spatula

Ingredients

1 lb potatoes (450g) sliced 1/8" (3mm) thick
1 small onion – about 6oz (170gm) – peeled and sliced 1/8" (3mm) thick
6 TBS (90ml) extra virgin olive oil – divided
1-2 garlic clove – minced
1 Tsp salt
1/2 Tsp pepper
8 large eggs

Allioli

1 cup good quality store bought mayonnaise
1-2 garlic cloves – finely minced
1 Tsp dijon mustard – optional
1/2 Tsp harissa paste or similar – optional

Instructions

In a large bowl toss the potatoes, onion and garlic in 4 TBS (60ml) of oil with half of the salt and pepper.
Heat the remaining 2 TBS of oil in a 10″ (26cm) skillet over medium heat until the surface of the oil starts to shimmer. Add the potato and onion mixture along with all of the oil in the bowl and spread into an even layer. Keep the bowl handy for the eggs.
Reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pan and cook until the potatoes are cooked through and tender, about 15-20 minutes depending on how high the fire is and how thick the potatoes are. Gently stir the mixture every 5 minutes or so to promote even cooking and to prevent the bottom layer from browning too much. a little color is OK. Test for doneness by poking a potato with the point of a small knife.
While the potatoes are cooking, whisk the eggs with the remaining salt and pepper in the bowl you tossed the potatoes in.
Once the potatoes are cooked remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for 5-10 minutes. Once the potatoes have cooled slightly, tip them into the bowl with the eggs and stir to combine.
With the skillet back on medium heat, add the egg and potato mixture. Stir gently so as not to break up the potatoes until the eggs are halfway set, then reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pan and cook until the eggs start to puff up around the edges. This will take about 10 minutes depending on how high you have the fire. A lower fire will take longer to cook and result in a lightly browned tortilla. A higher fire will cook faster and produce a deeper brown tortilla. Either is fine and is a matter of personal preference.
If there is still some liquid eggs on top after the edges begin to soufflé, use a rubber spatula to lift up the edge of the tortilla and tilt the pan to let the uncooked eggs have their turn to cook.
Using your spatula, loosen the tortilla so it slides easily when you shake the pan. Slide it on to a large plate, cover it with another large plate and quickly, with the courage of you convictions, flip the tortilla over. Slide it back into the pan and using your spatula tuck it in around the edges to make it look pretty. Continue to cook, uncovered another 5 minutes or so to set the bottom crust.
Slide the tortilla on to a cutting board and allow it to cool at least 15 minutes before slicing it into wedges and serving with a dollop of allioli.
For the allioli, mix together all the ingredients to thoroughly combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.

June 14, 2021
by kaysdad
2 Comments

French Toast

Over a glass of mimosa with friends at a favorite brunch spot you order your French toast, that perennial favorite on many a restaurant’s weekend menu. And so it arrives at the table along with a little jug of warm maple syrup and perhaps a dollop of fresh whipped cream. Maybe a few berries are sprinkled about the plate too. You may have eaten French toast before, perhaps many times. But still you anticipate that first bite of bread cooked to a perfect golden brown, and the silky smooth texture of the custard within. What’s not to love?

Recipes for French toast abound in cook books, magazines and on recipe web sites; as ever, some better than others. Some presentations are so over the top with add-ons that the custardy bread is almost incidental. A bit like ordering an outrageous drink at Starbucks where you wouldn’t miss the coffee if they left it out. It gives the French name for this dish, Pain Perdu or, Lost Bread a whole new meaning! Gussying it up a little is fine but we shouldn’t loose sight of the simple origins of the dish whose purpose was simply to use up old bread.

I have seen recipes which would have you take a slice of supermarket bread and dip it briefly in a beaten egg before frying it. I am reminded of that scene in Kramer vs Kramer (now I’m really aging myself!) where Dustin Hoffman’s character, Ted Kramer, newly separated from Meryl Streep, is making French toast for his son. He beats the egg in a measuring jug and finding the slice of bread wouldn’t fit, he folds it in two to stuff it in the jug. A later scene shows him with much more confidence, beating the egg in a shallow dish so the bread would lay flat. A brilliant piece of screen writing in my opinion but it was still terrible French toast.

This is my (not so unique) take on French Toast.

So what makes good French toast? That’s pretty subjective but for me it is a thick slice of good bread saturated with a custard mixture and cooked to GB&D (shorthand for Golden Brown and Delicious) on the outside with a luscious creamy custard on the inside. The egg/milk mixture is pretty much a no brainer; I use a ratio of 1 egg to 1/4 cup (60 ml) of milk. How much of the custard mixture you make will depend on how much French toast you are making and how absorbent the bread is.

You can flavor the custard mixture too, adding a little vanilla extract or almond essence. When I made this the other day I had an orange in the fruit bowl so I grated its zest into the custard. A splash of Grand Marnier or other appropriately flavored liqueur would be nice too. Maybe not if you are feeding children though!

French toast is not so much about the frugal habits of past generations any more; witness its appearance on high end restaurant menus. It lends itself to the wide variety of bread products available today and while you can make French toast with almost any kind of bread, some work better than others.

In my opinion it needs to be a good quality bread, sturdy enough to hold up to a long soak in the custard. Your average supermarket bread simply won’t do and since you want to cut it fairly thick, at least 3/4″ (2 cm), most pre-sliced breads are out.

My preferred bread is Pain de Mie, a basic enriched sandwich bread. I make bread a lot so I often have some left over that I use for French toast. You can buy a loaf of bread at any good bakery these days though. Just pick one that has a nice close crumb – no large holes for this – and is sturdy enough to hold up. I have used brioche but the texture of that bread is quite soft and if left too long in the custard it tends to fall apart. I like sourdough bread. I like to make it and I like to eat it. However, in my opinion it does not make good French toast! The nature of the crumb is such that it does not absorb the custard well and the crust, while crunchy and delicious in fresh sourdough becomes tough and chewy in French toast. Others will disagree and say SD bread makes excellent French toast. Each to their own!

(Edit: When I argue sourdough bread is not best suited to French toast I am talking about the so called Country or Rustic loaves of bread. You know, those round boules with the dark mahogany colored crust and open crumb bakers proudly display on Pinterest or Instagram. It was remiss of me to neglect mentioning other sourdoughs. I made an excellent SD sandwich bread with about 25% whole wheat flour. it made great French toast.)

The dish can trace its origins as far back as Ancient Rome and was a way to use up older, slightly stale bread. And indeed, day old bread is the way to go here. Fresh, moist bread won’t soak up as much custard as older, dryer bread. If fresh bread is all you have and you don’t want to wait until tomorrow for your French toast you can dry out your slices a bit in the oven. Not till it is “toast” toast mind, just until it dries out a little.

The process is pretty straightforward:

You are going to cut your 1 or 2 day old bread into thick, 3/4″ (20mm) thick slices.

Next you’ll gather your custard ingredients in multiples of 1 egg per 1/4cup (60ml) milk, along with 1/4 Tsp of vanilla extract and a tiny pinch of salt. Whisk them all together in a bowl till well combined and no stringy bits of egg white remain.

You will lay your bread slices in any dish you have that will hold them in a single layer and pour the custard over. You will want to soak the bread until it is evenly and thoroughly saturated, turning the slices a few times to make sure. (You can do this ahead of time, like the night before, cover and refrigerate until you are ready to cook.)
While the bread is soaking, pre-heat your oven to 350? (180°C)

Once the bread is properly saturated with the custard mixture you will melt a knob of butter in an oven safe, non-sick skillet over medium heat.

When the butter stops foaming you are going to add the bread and cook gently for 2-3 minutes until the bottom is nicely golden brown. Depending on the heat output of your burner and how high you have the fire it may take a minute or two more to get the right color on the bread. With your spatula lift a corner of the bread and take a peek to see how it is progressing.

Flip the slices over. 1st side GB&D.

As soon as the first side is done put the pan into the oven to bake 12-15 minutes. The time given is just a guide line; look for the bread to puff up a little to know when it is done.

That half cup of milk and 2 eggs was enough to saturate my 2 slices of bread with nothing remaining in the dish. A little trial and error will soon let you know how much custard to make for your bread with no waste.

It’s been about 15 minutes in the oven. It is not very clear in this photo but the center has souffléd a little to let me know the custard is fully but not over cooked.

et Voilà! Some maple syrup, whipped cream and blueberries, with a light dusting of powdered sugar. Enjoy!
(A pat of butter and a drizzle of syrup is perfectly good on its own too.)

The process is pretty straightforward; you lay your bread slices in a single layer in whatever you have that will fir them. Pour the custard mixture over the bread and leave it to soak, turning the slices a few times to make sure they are evenly saturated. While the bread is soaking, heat your oven to 325

French Toast

Course Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine American

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 20

Servings people

Ingredients

2 slices 1-2 day old sturdy bread cut 3/4" (20mm) thick
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (120ml) of milk
1/2 Tsp pure vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
2 TBS unsatled butter
Maple syrup for serving

Instructions

In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and salt.
Place the bread slices in any dish that will hold them in a single later and pour the custard over. Soak the bread for 15-20 minutes until it is fully and thoroughly saturated. Turn slices over several times to make sure the bread is evenly soaked.
While the bread is soaking, pre-heat the oven to 350°F (180°C)
Heat the butter in a non-stick, oven proof skillet over medium heat. When the butter stops foaming lay the bread in the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes till the bottom is a nice golden brown color. Lift a corner of the bread and take a peek underneath to check and leave it another minute or so if necessary to get the right color.
Flip the slices over and immediately put the pan in the oven to bake for about 12-15 minutes. At the 10 minute mark keep an eye on it. When the bread begins to soufflé a little that is an indication the custard is just set but still soft and creamy.
Remove from the oven and serve the toast with toppings of your choice. Enjoy.

Notes

To get breakfast on the table quicker the bread can be left to soak overnight in the fridge, tightly covered with plastic wrap. Remove it from the fridge and set aside while the oven pre-heats to take the chill off a bit.

Regular store bought sandwich bread doesn’t work too well with this method. It tends to fall apart when thoroughly soaked. If that’s all you have it’s better to use the Ted Kramer (from the movie) method of dip and fry.

For toppings you can stick to a simple maple syrup and a pat of butter with perhaps a dusting of powdered sugar. Or you can dress it up with berries or seasonal fruit and whipped cream as you please.