28 April 2006
26 April 2006
melancholy in the kitchen or the fundamental interconnectedness of all things
lately i have done a lot of research on different italian dishes. an interesting side effect is that finally i find it useful having learned (some) italian in school because who wants to read italian recipes in german or english? not me.
all the occupation with italy and mediterranean cuisine made me think of how terribly hot it's there in summer which brought back fond memories of ireland and led to the usual melancholic state i invariably fall into when i imagine how nice it would be to have a cup of tea at (the old) bewley's (before it was converted from a nice coffee house into a mainstream-italian-influenced-cuisine-restaurant), to read a book sitting in the park on merrion square, to buy good smelling stuff at lush and to have a vanilla malt at eddie rocket's or dinner at govinda's.
but of course that was not enough, when i do something then i have to do it properly. so more melancholy it was. childhood memories specifically. when i was a kid, i would usually stay a week or two at my aunt's weekend house in styria together with my grandmother and a bunch of other aunties. we went gathering berries in the nearby forest and when (pretty soon) i had enough of that i would paint patterns on my arms and knees with the juice from mashed blueberries and build houses and boats with pieces of bark, leaves and blades of grass. we often made heidelbeerstrudel from all the blueberries we had picked and ate it fresh from the oven with lots of whipped cream that melted on the piping hot strudel. mmmh
the result of all this is that now i have to make pasta alla norma, have a cup of tea (well maybe not only one... or maybe a pint of guinness) and i am afraid i have to buy frozen blueberries to bake heidelbeerstrudel... *sigh*
note to self: next time you are in dublin at least have some breakfast or lunch before you visit the jameson distillery and the guinness storehouse on the same day because after your complimentary whiskey and pint of guinness you felt a little dizzy...
23 April 2006
let it blossom let it grow
today i started the project SPROUT. in my secret alchemistic lab i threw exactly two hundred eighty-five energized seeds into a highly specialized growing device, pointed my magic stick at them, mumbled a complicated ancient formula and soaked them in an extremely potent chemical substance that will turn them into green slightly hairy individuals that have to be eaten alive in dark full moon nights while bathing in a pond chanting mantras of the names of unknown gods and goddesses together with elves and dragons.
and tomorrow i will plant two strawberry plants on my balcony.
22 April 2006
a fragrant springtime spell
last week we made a huge batch of pesto from this recipe which is a little different from the one in the english wikibooks in that it uses pecorino as well as parmesan. freshly made pesto has an intoxicatingly delicious smell and tastes absolutely divine beyond description. no exaggeration.
other culinary highlights include...
my brother's vegetarian not-quite-bœuf stroganoff
- 300 g marinated seitan and/or tofu-type stuff, cut into strips
- 200 g button mushrooms, sliced
- one onion or a couple of shallots, diced
- olive oil
- a heaping handful of carrot cut into short sticks
- tomato paste (about one tablespoon)
- paprika
- flour
- vegetable stock
- pickles, cut into slices
- salt and pepper to taste
sweat onion/shallots and carrots in olive oil, add seitan/tofu/whatever and fry until it begins to brown. (actually, it might be easier to fry the seitan/etc seperately before adding it to the vegetables, will try it this way next time).
stir in tomato paste and a little paprika. sprinkle about one tablespoon of flour over the mixture and stir to distribute evenly. pour over enough vegetable stock to almost cover everything stirring constantly. add pickles. cook until vegetables are soft but not overcooked and correct seasoning. serve over noodles or rice.
this makes a nice, comforting meal, nothing too fancy but very satisfying.
17 April 2006
the importance of foreplay
well, i could have put it differently but that wouldn't be quite like me. what i am talking about is the fact that it is really worth investing time into making bread. things like kneading for a couple of minutes and a second prove enhance the structure of the bread dough drastically. plus all the kneading and punching will bestow me with arms like popeye. so now that i have experienced the miracles a little patience can do, no more excuses for throwing the bread into the oven right after the first prove!
btw, the tomato bread was magnificent!
bread with almonds
- 5 cups of wheat flour (all purpose or type 480)
- 120 g of almonds, finely ground
- 60 g of almonds, roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons of butter
- 200 g curds or cream cheese
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- 40 g of fresh yeast or 7g of dried yeast
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 200 ml tepid water
- additional flour, water as needed
- olive oil
put flour into a mixing bowl, add salt and curds. slowly roast almonds in butter until fragrant and a tiny little bit browned, add to flour and let cool down a few minutes. dissolve yeast and sugar in water, pour into bowl with flour. knead for a few minutes adding water or flour as needed to produce an elastic dough.
let rise until doubled in bulk. punch down, roll into oval loaf. brush surface with a little olive oil (as though the dough didn't already contain enough fat...). make three or four parallel cuts into surface and then let rise again. bake in preheated oven at 160-180°C for thirty to fourty minutes. check towards end of baking time.
14 April 2006
daily soap and bread
the day before yesterday i made my last batch of soap and decided my short career as a soapmaker would have to end because while making soap can be great fun it's also very dangerous.
soap is basically made out of fat (vegetable or animal) and very concentrated lye. so you have to be really careful (wearing goggles and rubber gloves) while mixing together everything and you have to religiously clean every surface, pot, container and spoon the lye or the finished product could have come in contact with.
what it boils down to is that for me personally the risk involved simply isn't worth it. working with lye and "raw" soap in the kitchen obviously isn't a major problem for a lot of people but i get too paranoid doing things like that. so goodbye soap making!
the good news is that now - after a lot of cleaning - i can use the huge stainless steel pot i previously used for making soap for cooking larger amounts of pasta.
oh yes, and we took a trip to the naschmarkt. i was overwhelmed with the smells, the food, fruit and vegetables offered ranging from local produce to indian, chinese and lots of turkish/greek specialties.
among other things we bought olives, egypt style sheep's milk cheese, turkish flatbread, baklava, falafel, tamarind paste and curry leaves. so much for local eating. *lol*
and another major investment (at least for a poor student ;-)) was made: i finally bought a mortar big enough not only for grinding spices but for making pesto and indian spice pastes too.
olive bread:
- 4-5 cups of white breadflour
- 1 7g-sachet of dried yeast
- 2 heaping handsful of black olives
- a little salt (not too much, olives are usually salted!)
- 2-3 tablespoons of good quality olive oil
- water as needed
mix the flour, salt and yeast. pit olives and mix with the flour. add olive oil and as much water as needed to form an elastic, non-sticky dough. let prove until doubled in size, form desired shape, brush with olive oil and bake at 150-180°C (do not preheat oven!) for 30-40 minutes.
currently, i am baking this tomato bread and although it is still sitting in the oven i already know i will definitely make it again (soon!) because the tomato mush alone tasted so good i licked my fingers and the pan and i am only slighty embarassed!
10 April 2006
sometimes a rolling pin is just a rolling pin
pasta con finocchio
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 2 small bulbs of fennel, diced
- olive oil
- a handful of raisins
- a generous pinch of saffron
- half a cup of dry white wine approximately
- granulated garlic
- white and black pepper
- salt
- a handful of chopped almonds or pine nuts or both, lightly toasted
saute onion in olive oil until translucent. add the fennel and soon afterwards the raisins. cook stirring frequently until halfway done. then crumble saffron into wine and pour mixture over vegetables.
cook until desired degree of doneness is obtained, stir in almonds or nuts and season with garlic, pepper and salt to taste (be generous with the pepper). serve with pasta.
this came out really nice, tasting sweet and saffrony. i should have added a little more pepper though. and it reminded me that is two months since i last made my beloved risotto milanese.
today i bought my very own rolling pin (beech wood). it's not as long as some of its italian brothers but it's longer than my mom's and most important of all it is mine. and after having obsessed over the impressive length and beautiful wood it is made of i discovered an olive wood ladle that i simply couldn't resist although i had not planned to spend nearly as much money as i did in the end.
