Archive | November, 2010

Cleaning & Organising My Kitchen

5 Nov

Every six months or so, I try and do a total clean-out of my kitchen. Well, let me be honest here, I dont do it alone – my beloved Hildabilda and AngelKitten are on hand to help — and also to take home the doubles and sometimes triples of things I find hiding out in dark places! Without these two, I doubt I would have the energy to tackle my kitchen. Though it is tiny… I can almost touch the four edges if I stand in the centre… it is packed from floor to ceiling with stuff.

And sometimes, stuff gets so crowded upon each other that I cant see or find the thing I desperately need – so instead of taking a breath, and finding it, I go out and get a new one! This drives me crazy. As does the spice-herbs-oils-vinegar collection that sits around and gets sticky and confused and …lets say, unfresh.

So… once every six months, I do a total clean-out. I inspect every drawer, take everything out, and put most everything back again. I assess if I really want something or not. My philosophy is that if I have not used it or thought of it or seen it in six months, well then, its not a part of my life. Its out! And those things I do want, need or use, sometimes need a little wipe down, spices need to be checked for freshness (after 6 months, they usually get tossed), and oils need to be checked for ripeness. Anything I can recycle, I do – to other people, or to the recycling centre at Ikano.

And my reward? A kitchen where baking pans are well organised and stacked beautifully. Where a box of cookie cutters, natural dyes and other playthings sit waiting, happily for my busy hands. Where everything is in its proper place – a baking drawer, a stove top implements drawer, a cleaned up baking cabinet… I am so happy I made another batch of Starry Starry Night Cookies to celebrate! And I invite you to take a peek at my newly organised (well at least for me, in the tiny amount of space I have) kitchen…

And Herbs

My spices and herbs shelf. Finally organised so savoury spices and herbs are on the left, and those flavourings usually used in baking sweet things on the right. This shelf was so full that I could never find anything. I think I had 3 tins of baking powder, 3 jars of rosemary, 5 different kinds of salt. Now I can reach what I need easily, and I can tell that actually, Im running out of cinnamon!

Beautiful Knives

My much used knife rack. Note the addition of my Shun Elite Santoku and paring knives. Oh how I love love love them! I sharpened and cleaned the knives as part of the general clean up today. They are all happy and purring as a result.

Sharpeners

 

My graters, sharpeners and knife guards all in one place! The knife guards and Shun sharpener are from the US. The Microplane graters I could not live without. And Im always scrabbling to find them. Now they all live in one place, together.

Cabinet

My baking cupboard – finally with everything in its place. My beloved Alessi cake stand, my measuring jugs, fantastical bundt pan, and all shapes and sizes of baking pans – from cake tins, loaf tins, spring form pans and pie tins. On the bottom shelf, on the left, is my cookie cutter box – all the different cookie cutters I have collected for years, all in one place! Hooray!

and Timer

The inside of my oven – with my new Oxo oven thermometer which has changed the way I bake – I now know exactly what temperature my oven is running at (its usually too hot) and I can adjust! And my new cookie sheets – they were dwarfed in my sister’s large oven, but they actually act as cookie racks in my little oven. No matter, they make perfect cookies, no burning, no twisting of the pan, smooth even heat. Such joy.

Pans

My rack of pots, pans, wok, sieves, and my brand new and much beloved (I bought a bigger suitcase just to fit it!) copper mixing bowl – the lightest most gorgeous egg whites! I cant tell you how much I love that piece.

Salts

My oils and vinegars and sauces (chili, soy, tabasco, etc). All wiped down and organised. 2 rice wine vinegars, 4 toasted sesame oils, 2 olive oils! Enough is enough – so I chose the ones I used all the time and gave away the rest. And my precious Fleur de Sel and Maldon salt, which I use for cooking all the time, in airtight boxes on the right.

Drawer

The utensils I use when I cook over open flame. My brand new recycled cherrywood spoons (love love love), a couple of silicon spatulas, spoons, pasta spoon and ladle. Now when Im cooking, and something needs stirring, I wont be looking everywhere like a lost duck!

Drawer

 

My baking drawer. Teaspoon measures, whisks, spatulas and smoothers. Electric instant read thermometers. And my two favourite purchases from the US – my red bowl scraper which gets every last drop of batter or chocolate or whatever I am making out of a bowl, but which also acts beautifully as a smooth silicon extension of my hand… and my Oxo Good Grips dough scraper, divider, chopper, flipper. One of the coolest most useful tools ever!

Drawer

And finally, the everything else drawer! My mother’s flying saucer grilled cheese sandwich press from my childhood, my rolling pins, hard cheese grater, and some tongs, as well as my new Alessi pasta measure from the Museum of Modern Art in NY (it was so pretty, I really couldnt resist!)…. all inspected and passed muster by my beloved Kai.

And now, I am going off to clean myself from my massive clean and organisation frenzy! It may not look like much to you, but for me, cooking will be even more pleasurable, clean up will be easier, and life will be happier – because everything is now settled in its own happy home 🙂 … as am I!

Happy cooking!

 

 

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Starry Starry Nights

4 Nov

NightsAnd after the phenomenal Savoury Polenta Tart Tatin… we are back to sweet again! I have been wanting to bake these little chocolate cookies for ages now. The recipe is in the wonderful book, Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado. Say the name of that book, out loud, three times fast, and have a good giggle! It sets the tone for the entire read – funny, intelligent and immersed in the pleasures of baking. I really resonated to the story in this book because Bullock-Prado had the bravery to changer her life mid-stream, to acknowledge who she was, and what her true calling was – baking. Its kind of what I am doing now, and its terrifying, but its also so incredibly joyous.

I love the stories in the book, because they are so intensely personal – memories of her father, and their shared passion for good food, loving memories of her mother, her elegance, her charm, and her ability to bake the most gorgeous cakes, memories of her grandmother and aunts in Europe, and learning what afternoon coffee was all about. This book is a series of stories that enables us to look into Bullock-Prado’s life and understand who made her who she is today – and who gave her her passion for baking.

Starry Starry Nights are a gluten-free chocolate cookie, made with almond meal, sugar, honey, chocolate, eggs and cocoa powder. They are incredibly easy to put together – but its the waiting that drives me crazy. In order for these perfect, dark chocolate, baked truffle morsels to bake up properly, you first need to refrigerate the dough so it can set up, and then you need to freeze the little cookies for about 2 hours so that they are rock hard when they go into the hot oven. Dipped twice in sugar, they have a crackly nubbly exterior, glistening with sugar stars. The interior is like nothing I have ever tasted before – deep dark chocolate, beautiful and delectable.

I think I am going to try and have a bag of these in the freezer at all times – ten minutes to baking so I should never be caught wanting! Try them… and buy the book. Its wonderful, smart and funny and the recipes will make you drool. And if you want to check out a demo of how to bake Starry Starry Nights (complete with mimosas!) check here!

Gesine Bullock-Prado’s Starry Starry Nights

Makes about 80 small cookies or 50 slightly larger ones

  • 8.2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (2 bars + 2 strips of Lindt extra dark – 85%)
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar plus more for rolling
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 5/8 cup ground almonds
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp non-Dutch processed cocoa powder

Chop the chocolate and put in a metal bowl with the butter.

Fill a saucepan about 1/3 full of boiling water, and put over medium heat. Place the bowl over the saucepan and gently mix the chocolate and butter together, mixing gently to incorporate the butter into the chocolate. Set aside to cool for a moment.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the eggs, sugar and honey. Whisk for at least five minutes, or until the eggs have turned creamy and golden, and have quite a bit of air incorporated into them.

In a small bowl, combine the ground almonds, salt and cocoa powder.

Using a silicone spatula, fold the almond mixture into the melted chocolate. Make sure everything is incorporated well.

Once the eggs have been whisked to a creamy, ribbony, golden consistency, fold about 1/4th into the almond-chocolate mixture to lighten everything up a bit. Fold in the rest of the eggs, and refrigerate the batter to let it firm up. You need to let it sit for at least an hour, preferably 2.

Once the mixture has firmed, prepare a cookie tin by lining it with parchment paper. Put a couple of tablespoons of sugar in a bowl. Remove the batter from the fridge, and use a very small cookie scoop or a melon baller to scoop out small balls of dough. Roll the cookies in the sugar, and place neatly on the parchment paper in the cookie tin. Continue doing this until you have completely used up all the dough.

Freeze the mini cookies for at least two hours.

If you have 40 – 80 cookies, you will need to bake in batches. I prefer doing a few at a time – about 20 – 25.

Once the cookies have frozen through, remove them from the freezer. Preheat your oven to 180C (350F). Line a second cookie pan with parchment paper, and put a couple more tablespoons of sugar in a little bowl.

Working quickly, roll the cookies in sugar for a second time, and place them on the second prepared cookie pan. Put the rest of the (unrolled) cookies back in the freezer.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, turning the pan after 5 minutes to ensure even baking. The cookies will begin to crack on the top – you want this! Dont let the sugar burn though…

Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan, on a rack, for a few minutes before transferring to a plate, or your waiting hungry mouth.

Enjoy these unique and beautiful cookies with someone you love 🙂

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Savoury Polenta Tart Tatin

3 Nov

Tart TatinOne of the things I love about reading great recipes is that they inspire me to create unique dishes of my own. For a long time now, I have been fascinated by tart tatin, the great French creation where you pour caramel into the bottom of a cake tin, layer over caramelised apples, and then top it all off with puff pastry. The pastry bakes at the top, becoming crispy and light, and the apples caramelise even further. When the tart is done, you flip it out of the cake pan, et voila! A perfectly crisp bottom, and sensuously caramelised apple.

I have always wanted to make a tart tatin that was savoury… but part of the trick is that sweet caramel sauce that you pour in first. How to make something savoury with that? And then… I read Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe for a caramelised garlic tart – with goats cheese and puff pastry. I read the actual recipe for the caramelised garlic and realised that there is a sweet savoury caramelised sauce that coats those gorgeous garlic pieces. And then… I read a recipe for polenta with sauteed mushrooms. I do love mushrooms, and polenta is another obsession of mine. I fell asleep last night daydreaming of a perfect dish… and this morning, when I woke up, I knew what I needed to make a savoury polenta tart tatin.

I cant tell you how happy this makes me. Its like I have figured out some remarkable puzzle. It may have been made before (after all, in cooking, relatively little is new), but I have never read a recipe like this. I loved it from the moment it popped into my head, and I was determined to make it!

It took me more than 3 hours to make this today. Its a hell of a recipe, but … you could definitely do it in stages. Almost everything (even the polenta) can be made in advance and refrigerated until needed (though I would make the spinach mixture on the day). If you spend a day or two caramelising garlic, sauteeing some mushrooms and burnishing them with old thick balsamic, preparing some polenta, thickened with parmesan and butter … well, then this recipe would probably take you about 40 minutes from assembly to final stages of cooking.

And I am here to tell you… Its damn worth it! It is so good. Outrageously good. Celebration, birthday, vegetarian Thanksgiving, dinner party good. Its gorgeous and dramatic, and the layers of flavour are unbelievable. Fluffy yet creamy and cheesy polenta, with a crisp crust, is topped with creamy spinach, which in turn is topped with balsamic mushrooms and caramelised garlic. Its a beautiful tart, and very dramatic. If you want to add a bit of flair, you could probably decorate it with a few sliced cherry tomatoes stuffed strategically into place, but it really does not need it. This tart is a tour de force of flavours and textures … It is sublime, if I say so myself.

Feeds 6 – 8

Caramelised Garlic (from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty)

  • 3 medium heads of garlic
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 220 ml (about 1 1/4 cup) water
  • 3/4 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp chopped rosemary
  • 1 tsp chopped thyme (I did not have any fresh thyme, so I used about 1/2 tsp dried herbes de Provence)
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Break the heads of garlic up, and peel the cloves. I realised I had many different sizes of garlic cloves, so I chopped the larger pieces in half to make them all approximately the same size.

Place the garlic cloves in a small saucepan and cover with water. Place over medium-high heat and bring to the boil. Lower heat so the water is simmering, and blanch the garlic for 3 minutes. Drain well.

Wipe out the saucepan (make sure you do this well – oil and water sputter badly), and place the olive oil in the saucepan. Over high heat, saute the garlic for 2 – 3 minutes. You want the garlic just to begin to brown around the edges.

Add the balsamic and the water (be careful, it will spit and spew at you as the water hits the hot oil), and bring to the boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Then add the sugar, rosemary, thyme and salt, and mix well. Simmer on medium heat for a further 10 – 20 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated, and you have a thick  dark caramel sauce and deep dark soft garlic.

Take off heat and set aside. If you are only cooking the tart in the next day or so, transfer to a bowl or container, cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before assembly.

Balsamic Mushrooms

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tbsp truffle oil (if you have it – if not, use olive oil or any other flavouring oil that you like)
  • About 8 medium to small portobello mushrooms (about 250 g – 1/2 lb) peeled and sliced thickly
  • About 3 – 4 Swiss brown mushrooms, peeled and sliced thickly
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbsp butter

In a large non stick frying pan, heat the olive oil and truffle oil over medium high heat. Add all the portobello mushrooms, and stir well to combine, and to ensure that most of the mushrooms have been slicked with a little oil. Leave the mushrooms in the pan, not stirring, and allow them to brown and caramelise on their own. The heat and the olive oil will do the trick – you just have to NOT stir! Once you start smelling a wonderful mushroomy smell (about 3 – 5 minutes – possibly longer if your heat isnt that high), flip the mushrooms over. You should see that the bottom side is well browned.

Add the Swiss browns, mix again, and allow to saute, undisturbed for another few minutes. Salt and pepper well, stir, and then add the balsamic all at once. It will immediately begin to bubble and coat the mushrooms completely. Slice the butter directly over the mushrooms, and allow it to melt into the mixture. The butter will flavour the mushrooms as well as adding a bit of needed oil to the balsamic coating.

Taste, adjust seasonings, and once you are happy with the mushrooms (they should be slightly burnt, sticky, gooey, balsamic-y and intensely mushroom flavoured), tip out into a bowl and set aside. Transfer to a bowl or container if you are making the tart in a day or two, and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before assembly.

Creamed spinach

  • 2 cups baby spinach, tightly packed
  • 2 heaping tbsp cream cheese
  • 1 tbsp cream
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • Lots of black pepper
  • 1/2 cup (or more, depending on your cheesiness) grated cheddar – I used an organic white cheddar which was phenomenal here

Wash the baby spinach very well, and then roughly chop it. Add the spinach to a large non stick pan over medium heat. You still want a bit of the water to be clinging to the leaves – this will help it cook. Saute the spinach briefly – a minute or two will do it – until it turns dark green. Remove the spinach from the heat, and place it in a sieve to drain the liquid from it. Allow to cool a little.

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, cream and egg. Add the spinach (squeeze it with your hands before adding to the mix to make sure youve gotten rid of as much moisture as possible). Using an immersion blender (or you could transfer the lot to a blender or food processor), cream the spinach until it has completely integrated into the cream cheese mixture. Add salt and pepper, and mix well.

Add the grated cheddar, and mix well. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Set aside until ready to assemble the tart.

Cheesy Polenta

  • 2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup whole milk (low-fat will do, but its better with whole milk)
  • 1 cup polenta (cornmeal grits)
  • 1/2 cup mixed water and milk if you are making as below (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Loads of black pepper
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan
  • 2 tbsp butter

Polenta is usually made in a saucepan, but I actually like the quickness and control I get from making it in a large, non stick, frying pan. You need a good spatula or wide flat wooden spoon.

Place a large non stick frying pan over medium heat and pour in the water and milk. Bring just to the boil, and once it boils, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Pour in the polenta in a steady stream, mixing constantly as you do so. This will ensure that the polenta is smooth and creamy and without lumps.

Keep stirring, the polenta should begin to thicken almost immediately. I usually use an almost scooping motion – circular, and right at the end, I scoop some polenta, and flip it over itself. Almost like folding egg whites gently into cake batter. Keep stirring and scooping for about 5 – 10 minutes. If the polenta gets too thick, add the water and milk mixture in gentle dribs and drabs.

Taste the polenta – it should be uniformly creamy. Any grittiness, and you need to continue cooking.

Once the polenta has reached a creamy consistency of thick oatmeal, and there is no grittiness, add the salt and tons of black pepper. Stir well and combine. Add the parmesan and butter, and combine well. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Set the polenta aside (in the pan if you like) until it comes to room temperature. The polenta will firm up quite a bit but this is fine. Refrigerate if you are not making the tart immediately, but bring to room temperature when you assemble.

Polenta Tart Tatin – Assembly

  • Caramelised Garlic
  • Balsamic Mushrooms
  • Creamed Spinach
  • Cheesy Polenta
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan
  • Butter for the cake pan

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F), and prepare a 9 – 10 inch round cake tin. Butter the cake tin, and place a circle of grease proof wax paper in the bottom. Butter this as well.

Pour the syrup from the caramelised garlic, and cover the entire bottom of the cake tin with the sauce. Tilt to make sure you coat the wax paper completely. Arrange about half (or all if youre greedy – I like to keep some back for other uses!) of the garlic on the syrup, and arrange the balsamic mushrooms over the garlic. With the garlic and mushrooms, you will cover the entire bottom of the pan. Dont mix them up though, they should remain quite insular.

Pour over the creamed spinach, and use a spatula or knife to ensure that the spinach completely covers the garlic and mushrooms.

Bake the tart in the oven for about ten minutes, or until the spinach has firmed up and puffed a little – it will bronze a bit. Take out of the oven and allow to cool for about ten minutes or so.

Prepare the polenta. Sccop up a handful of polenta, and flatten it between your hands. It should be less than 1/2 inch thick. You will have a polenta patty – place this gently onto the baked spinach in the tin. Keep doing this until the spinach is completely covered. You can patch up the polenta if there are small holes or bits youve missed.

Grate the parmesan over the polenta, and bake again in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the parmesan has burnished and become a gorgeous burnt mass on top of the polenta.

YumRemove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 to 10 minutes, in the pan, on a cake rack.

Run a sharp knife around the edges of the pan to make sure that nothing is sticking to the sides. Place a serving plate over the cake pan, and using oven gloves (as the pan may still be hot), flip the tart over in one smooth move. Remove the cake pan, and the wax paper, and adjust any bits of garlic or mushroom that may have fallen off.

Serve warm, at room temperature, or even cold the next day. Any which way, its mind-blowing-ly deeeeeee-licious!

Enjoy!

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Suji (Semolina) Cake

2 Nov

CakeLast weekend, at the family BBQ, my Mak Enda and Kak Manja really enjoyed the lemon bundt cake. They liked its simplicity and charming tartness, the fluffy texture, and as well as the addition of whipped cream and strawberries! But of course, they are Malaysians… and so, they started to dream about the next cake they wanted to taste, whilst reveling in the lemon one 😉

And the cake they wanted was suji (aka sooji aka sugee aka semolina) cake. Suji is the coarse, purified wheat middlings of durum wheat – and it is an extraordinary and much used grain all over the world. The Italians use it to make pasta and pizza and breads. Indians use it to make dosa and uppam. And the list goes on and on. I have posted a recipe for white chocolate semolina pudding that sent some friends into total ecstasies. I love suji, and suji cake is a particular emotive memory for me.

Malaysians (of all races, creeds and kinds) are very attached to suji cake. Its kind of like our version of pound cake. Buttery, fluffy, rich and yet incredibly simple. It is pure deliciousness. The suji cake of my memory has almonds in it – crushed ground almonds, and little chunks of almonds. You can leave them out, but why would you want to? They give the cake a wonderfully grainy texture that stands up to the semolina, and enhances the crumb. We Malaysians serve this little cake at almost all the high holidays, and though many people adorn it (with rose syrup, glazes and icings), I am not in that camp. I like my suji cake plain and unadorned, perfect in its simplicity and golden beauty.

For me, suji cake is the ultimate coffee cake. Its not too sweet, its immensely satisfying and very very comforting. When people taste it they smile, and remember a time when things were easier, less complicated, when they were more connected. Its a cake to give to those you love, wrapped carefully in aluminum foil, knowing that they will appreciate it for its clean loveliness as much as you do.

But know this. Despite its almost stark simplicity, suji cake does have its secrets. You need to soak the suji in butter, sugar and a touch of milk to allow the grains to plump up a bit. Some recipes ask that you do this overnight, but I am too impatient and have found that about an hour will do me. You need to beat the eggs and sugar for at least five minutes to get air into the mix, but also to get a almost puddingy consistency. And you need to watch the cake – the top burns easily, so I almost always put a little foil cap on it for the last half of the baking time. And it really does help if you have a stand mixer, but a hand held, or your own strength will do – it will just be rather tiring!

Follow these instructions closely, and you will have a cake that tastes like home… no matter where you are 🙂

  • 1 3/4 sticks (14 tbsp/200 gm) butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1/2 cup + 1/2 cup fine (caster) sugar – brown or white is fine – and make these scant cups – suji cake is not overwhelmingly sweet
  • 3 tbsp cream or milk
  • 3/4 cup suji or semolina
  • 3 eggs + 2 egg yolks (whites reserved for another use)
  • 2 – 4 tbsp vanilla
  • 2/3 cup all purpose flour (it needs to be all purpose to stand up to the suji and the almonds)
  • 1 tsp  baking powder
  • Large pinch of salt
  • 2/3 cup ground almonds
  • 1/2 cup almond nibs or finely chopped almonds

Start by preparing the suji mixture. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and 1/2 cup of sugar for about a minute or so, or until light and fluffy and completely combined. Add the cream, and mix briefly – it will loosen up the butter mixture substantially. Fold in the suji by hand, cover the bowl and leave in a cool place to let the mixture really get to combine well for at least an hour, and up to three.

While youre waiting, read a book, play with a child, listen to music or cook something else 😉

Once the hour is up, preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and butter a cake pan extremely well. Line the bottom of the pan with grease proof baking paper, and butter that too. Set aside.

Beat together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla for five minutes. It would help if you have a friendly kitchen gnome to do this for you whilst you get on with other things (that or a stand mixer!).

In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, ground almonds and almond nibs. Just a note on ground almonds. They tend to be rather expensive, so I often pound almond nibs into ground almonds – this is very easy if you measure out the almonds, stick them in a zip loc bag and bash away with a rolling pin or other heavy object. You can also use a mortar and pestle, but thats sometimes more trouble than its worth. Either way, I always use almond nibs for this recipe, without the skins on, and give them a good whack till they are pulverised. Combine the flour mixture well and set aside.

By now, the eggs should have been beaten for at least five minutes. They should have increased in volume, and they will look golden and creamy. Uncover the butter-sugar-suji mix, and get ready to combine everything.

Gently, using a wooden spoon or silicon spatula, fold about half of the egg mixture into the butter mixture. Do this quickly, surely and gently. Fold about half of the flour in, and then add the remaining eggs, and finally the remaining flour, folding gently but confidently after each addition.

Transfer the batter into your prepared cake tin, and bake, in the centre of your oven for between 30 – 45 minutes. Check at about 15 minutes to make sure the top is not burning, and if it is, cover the cake with a bit of tin foil. The cake is ready when a tester goes in, and comes out clean.

YummmLet the cake cool, in the pan, for about ten minutes on a rack. Then turn out onto the rack, and turn right side up again. Cool further, or if you are like me, and your happiness cant wait, serve yourself a slice, warm, crumbly, buttery, almondy, vanillay, delectably evocative, warm from the oven.

This cake will keep, wrapped well in foil for at least 4-5 days in the fridge. But I have never managed to keep it for that long 😉

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New Cookbooks

1 Nov

Cookbooks are, as I think I have noted before, a form of pleasure, relaxation and happiness for me. I read cookbooks at night, before bed, and the ones I love the best are filled with the personality of the writer – their opinions, descriptions, passions. I love being drawn into a story about food – and I am forever fascinated by the minds of great cooks – how they think about food, what they choose to put together with what, and how they cook.

I treated myself to a few cookbooks recently that I have really been wanting to read. I share them with you here, in the hope that they might inspire some culinary pleasures of your own 🙂

Gesine Bullock-Prado

Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado

Bullock-Prado once worked in the high flying world of Hollywood – as a producer for her famous sister’s company. She made movies, but all the while, she was dreaming of food … of baking in particular. Finally, she acknowledged her true self, and with her husband by her side, settled in Vermont, and opened her own bakery. This book is her story – intertwined with the stories of the powerful women in her life – her mother Helga (a famous German opera singer), her sister and her grandmother and aunts. Their European sensibilities about food and baking pervade her story. And after each chapter comes a recipe – for Helga’s Cake, Raspberry Meringues, Apfelkuchen, and Starry Starry Nights – a kind of baked truffle meringue cookie which is “black with chocolate.” Bullock-Prado’s advice for baking these cookies is wise and exemplary of a true cook:

Starry Starry Nights are as much careful process as they are high-quality ingredients. It’s easy to cut a corner and court disaster. Pay attention: to the chocolate, to the eggs, to the temperature and feel of your ingredients at every stage. Make sure to have extra chocolate on hand to nibble as you work; it calms the impatient baking beast beautifully.

I love the way Bullock-Prado writes, and how she thinks about food. Her blog is wonderful too! She shares her knowledge freely, and with a lot of precision and intelligence. Enjoy 🙂

Rose Elliot

New Complete Vegetarian by Rose Elliot

It seems I have always had a cookbook or two by Rose Elliot – probably Britain’s best known vegetarian cookbook author. She has written over 50 vegetarian cookbooks, and her chatty and intimate style of writing pulls you in and inspires. I like her recipes for being simple, straightforward, and tasty. I bought the New Complete Vegetarian because it reads as a wonderful reference to just about any vegetable that you can imagine. It also really makes me think about the myriad different ways of presenting vegetarian food. I cant wait to try her Vegetarian Paella, Stilton Pate with Walnuts and Port, and Croustade of Mushrooms, a gorgeous pie made from sauteed mushrooms and soured cream, on a baked base of breadcrumbs, almonds, garlic, herbs de Provence and garlic. Glorious!

Elliot’s voice is clear, confident and completely immersed in the wonders of vegetables. If you can think of it, she surely has a few suggestions on how to prepare it. And for a cook like me, Elliot’s recipes form a wonderful base from which I can let my mind and creativity wander… add a bit of goat’s cheese to that croustade may be … or possibly some oven dried tomatoes? Once you understand how to cook vegetables, and treat them with grace and respect, almost anything is possible. Elliot really provides that basic understanding, and passion.

From her introduction to Pulses:

Pulses – beans, peas and lentils – are one of our earliest-known foods. They are nutritious, health-giving and low in fat; an excellent source of protein, low-glycaemic carbohydrate and fibre; and packed full of valuable vitamins and minerals… I like them – love them, actually – for all of these health reasons but also because … I love all the gentle processes involved in cooking them: the serene soaking, the unhurried boiling, the transformation from hard, dry seed to plum, moist bean that is full of flavour.

Yotam Ottolenghi

Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

I had heard much about Yotam Ottolenghi – both my friends, Karo and JL (aka Goddess’ husband), had forwarded me fascinating recipes of his. A classically trained chef, Ottolenghi has a series of restaurants in London selling bright, fresh salads, cakes and prepared foods. They look amazing, and are on my list to visit the next time I am visiting.

Ottolenghi also writes a column for the Guardian newspaper called The New Vegetarian which is an innovative, passionate and inspiring series of recipes using an extraordinary fusion of international tastes and textures. What is fascinating about this column is that he is not a vegetarian, but his cooking features many vegetarian dishes …. the colour, textures and passion are evident in each dish!

Ottolenghi is daring and brilliant in how he combines different foods – and the freshness and beauty of his plates makes me always want to get down and dirty and cook! He reminds me a bit of Nigel Slater – rough and ready and yet intensely sophisticated. Influenced by his Middle Eastern heritage, Ottelenghi travels to eat, and brings many different styles and approaches into his food.

Plenty is a vegetarian cookbook – a collection of his Guardian articles along with many unpublished recipes. Its a rollercoaster ride of inspiration and passion – brilliant and exciting. He is so clever! A caramelised garlic tart! Caramelised onion tarts are an old stand-by, but garlic? Of course! And what a different taste, yet echoes of the familiar. Enlivened with cheese, made creamy and comforting with eggs and cream, this tart is a wondrous idea – something I cannot wait to make. There are others … Stuffed Portobello with Melting Taleggio, Figs with Basil, Goats Curd and Pomegranate Vinaigrette, Broccoli and Gorgonzola Pie. Each recipe is unique, challenging and beautiful. I love how he thinks, and how he writes.

In the introduction to his (savoury) Green Pancakes with Lime Butter:

I guess these pancakes are so comforting they somehow take you back to your childhood, when the joy of textures and flavours is still pure and unadulterated.

And in the Introduction to the book:

I’ll start with something as simple and unassuming as rice. When I try to think of all the uses for this grain, I immediately go dizzy with all the countless possibilities – within and between cultures, pairing with other ingredients, all the types of rice available, the methods of cooking and when you serve it, the consistency, degree of processing, home cooking, commercial uses. I think of paella, wild rice salad, and ho fan noodles. I visualise arancini with their golden breadcrumb crust, Iranian saffron rice with potatoes, Chinese fried rice, rice pudding. I recall plain steamed rice my mum used to prepare for me when I had a bad tummy, with only a little bit of butter stirred in at the end.

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So these are my three new gifts to myself – my inspirations, my references, my pleasures. I hope they inspire you to may be pick one up to be inspired… but for now, I am going to bed, with a cup of warm milk with a dash of home made vanilla essence and some honey… to read, and to dream.

 

 

 

 

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