Baked Cauliflower and Broccoli Cannelloni

Merry Christmas, folks!

We got back from Egypt and totally escaped the travel nightmares that have plagued Europe, so we thought we ought to celebrate Christmas with a bang (not to mention a few Euromillions tickets).

Since we were making a pork roast and roasted potatoes, I thought we'd push the boat out with a pasta dish as well.

This is the second time I'm making this baked cauliflower and broccoli cannelloni, adapting Jamie Oliver's recipe:

500g broccoli
500g cauliflower
Olive oil
7 cloves garlic, finely slice
1 small bunch of thyme
25g anchovies in oil
Black pepper
2 cups passata
Red wine vinegar
500ml creme fraiche
200g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
16 cannelloni tubes
1 small bunch fresh basil, leaves picked
100-200g mozzarella cheese
Extra-virgin olive oil

 First boil the cauliflower and broccoli in some salted water for about 5-6 minutes. 

Next, add a good glug of olive oil to a pan and fry the finely sliced garlic. Add the anchovies and thyme, give it a good mix and then add the vegetables. (The original recipe called for dried chilli but I didn't have any so did without.) Coat, add a few tablespoons of the leftover vegetable water and let it cook for about 20 minutes. Don't cover it entirely, and stir regularly.

While Jamie said to mash the vegs after they are cooked, I found it made more sense to mash it while it was cooking - it speeds up the cooking, no?

Season the vegetables and then let them cool.

Place the passata (I didn't have any so just used canned diced tomatoes, which made the hubby very happy because he prefers that anyway, plus he didn't have to go to the store on Christmas Day...) onto a baking tray (check that the tubes fit first!), add a swig of red wine vinegar, and a pinch of salt. Mix well.

Make a nice white sauce by mixing the creme fraiche, half of the grated parmesan cheese, and a touch of water. In the spirit of moderation, I used lower-fat creme fraiche. Plus running in the cold is no fun so I ain't doing it.

Now, place the cooled veg mix in a piping bag (I'd a few left over from my recent cuisine course). Twist the end, cut the tip, and let the fun begin!

Pipe the vegetables in a cannelloni tube, packing it tightly, and then place it on top of the tomatoes.
Repeat until you have a nice layer of tubes.

(Tip: I had a fair amount of leftover vegetables, even after adding two more tubes than the recipe called for. Next time I do this, I'd pipe the tubes first and see how large a baking tray they fit onto before laying out the passata. It can definitely use more than 20tubes from what I can see..)

Next, add a good sprinkling of basil - whole leaves or roughly chopped are fine.

Add a slather of the white sauce and spread it evenly.

Sprinkle the other half of the parmesan cheese on top, tear off chunks of mozzarella cheese and sprinkle on top (I only used half the amount called for).

Finally, drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 190 degC for 30-40 minutes until it's golden brown on top.

I curled up with the hubby, put a movie on and tucked in! Happy Holidays!

Yay

I did it.

I have my first culinary course, and passed my Basic Cuisine course. Tonight I will celebrate my pass with a lovely bottle of Tattinger and SICHUAN food :)

No carrots, butter or shallots.

Making pasta

Oris, our 14-year-old English Springer Spaniel, has been coughing alot. A few nights ago, she woke me up good at 4am. I got up to let the dogs out for a wee, could not get back to sleep, and decided to make good use of my time by...

Making pasta!

Mad I know, but hey you remember how Izzie used to bake to take her mind off things in Grey's Anatomy, right? Kneading can be very therapeutic! 


So here's what you need:


250g of '00' flour, or strong flour
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
Pinch of salt
20ml water (optional)


First, sift the flour into a metal bowl with add salt. Mix. Make a hole in the centre of the flour, and add the eggs and egg yolks.

Using your hands, start to mix the flour into the egg. Moving the bowl as you go helps! Use the water very sparingly. It's better to have a dough that's on the dry side (trust me, I am saying this from experience!)

When it is well mixed, move the dough to a clean and cool surface. Marble works best. 

Using your palm to press into the dough, knead for at least 5 minutes. (I was taking the photo with my left hand, otherwise it'd be on the dough) Add a slight dusting of flour if the dough begins to stick to the surface.

When it's got a nice elastic touch, wrap it in clingfilm and let it rest for 5 minutes, so it can rid itself of dimples. 

Once you are happy that the dough is dimple-free and of the right texture, let it rest in the refrigerator for a minimum of 25 minutes. The longer you rest it, the better - overnight is super duper!

Here's how my dough looks like after resting - see how relaxed and contented it looks? :)

So now, we are ready to call in the Pasta Maker and make some serious mee. First, roll out the dough.

Pass it through the pasta maker, starting with a greater width. Note that pasta makers usually work from 2-6, but the same number can be different width on different models (yup, that means 6 can be thickest OR thinnest depending on your machine). So play around with a small amount before you go all out.


The sad truth is that making some types of pasta is best suited for TALL people with LONG limbs, so either divide your pasta dough up and make a few more rounds, or put your spouse/lover/partner to good use and use THEIR limbs :) 

When it's nice and thin, transfer the dough to the cutter and run through. I used my knife sharpener to catch it for easy hanging and drying. 


Freshly made pasta is truly yummy, one of life's top pleasures. It's easy once you get the hang of it, so give it a try! 

Roast beef - practice round

I used a small topside from Marks & Spencer for practice. Ideally, I should be using a sirloin.

Preheat the oven to 180degC.

Tie up your lovely roast with some twine (as you can see I was never in the Girl Guides). Season well with salt and pepper. Then, brown it in a pan on high heat. You want a happy sizzle as you put the meat down!

Place the mirepoix on a roasting pan and place the beef on top of the vegetable mix, and stick the lot in the oven for at least 20-25 mins.

Brown the potatoes in a small pan with an unhealthy amount of butter and touch of salt. Because the Hubby was out with clients at dinner, I decided to simply use the spuds I was turning for practice. We usually have A LOT more potatoes than this!

Because I'd browned the potatoes on a non-stick pan, I transferred them to a small roasting pan before letting it join the roast.

 

Use a meat thermometer to check on the roast when time is up. Remove and let the meat rest. Ideally, you should rest it for as long as you took to cook it (so say it was in the oven for 25 minutes, then rest it for 25 minutes). Cover partially with kitchen foil to retain the crispness.

Now, get on with making your jus. Drain the mirepoix of excess oil and place it in a small pot, along with a bouquet garni and beef stock. Bring to a boil, skimming off any oily or scummy bits. Strain it, then reduce to half. Season to taste.

For me, I was going for a rare to medium rare roast, so here's how it looked before plating:

Homemade beef stock

Beef stock is not something I would made everyday. It is a super long process... and I don't use beef stock regularly (more chicken stock, which I make regularly). But we learnt it in school, so I decided to have a go at home.

It is best to use veal bones, but my local butcher did not get veal bones this weekend so I made do with beef bones.
 
First, brown the beef bones on the stove.

Place all the bones on a roasting pan and stick that in the oven at 230 deg C to roast for about 20 minutes.

While the bones are roasting, work on the mirepoix. Brown the vegetable mix on the stove.

Place the entire pan in the oven for about 5 minutes, replace on the stove and add mushrooms and tomato paste. Mix well.

Return to oven for about 5 minutes.

Place the bones in a huge pot, and cover with cold water.

Add the mirepoix to the pot, and add a bouquet garni. Degrease and deglaze the pan, and then add the liquid to the pot.

Skim the top of scummy bits as you bring the stock to a boil, then leave to simmer for 8 hours. Strain and viola, you have homemade beef stock.

Mei chai ko rou (pork belly with preserved salted vegetables)

Mei chai ko rou (pork belly with preserved salted vegetables) is one of my all-time favourite comfort foods. It ain't the prettiest of dishes, and just looking at it can choke your arteries. But when you've had a crappy day, it is one of the best things ever. Matched with plain rice, it's hard to beat.

Because I am well past the Three-O mark and anything I eat stays around my waist for centuries, I increased the amount of pork in anticipation of having to chuck the yummy fatty bits (in other words, most of the pork) away. Yes, I can hear the howls of protest about throwing the best bits away. Look, when you are out there running the 15th kilometre with me, I will consider eating the yummy super fatty bit okay?

Ingredients:

800 grams pork belly, (the Oriental stores sell it with the skin on)
250 grams mei chai (preserved vegetables - get the sweet version)

Pork seasoning:
3 tbsp dark soya sauce
3 tbsp light soya sauce
2 tbsp Shaosing wine
1 tbsp black bean sauce
6 slices of ginger
5 garlic cloves
2 star anise

Mei chai seasoning:
1 tsp light soya sauce
1-2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp Shaosing wine

Mix the pork seasoning in a metal bowl and coat the meat well. Marinate for at least half a day to let the flavours work their way in. Remember, the longer it soaks, the more it is shiok!

Remove the meat from the bowl and pat dry with kitchen towels. Set aside the liquid, removing the bits and bobs.

Brown the meat over medium heat, then let it cool on a chopping block. Be sure to keep the dogs out of the kitchen :)

Mix the mei chai in the listed seasoning and fry for about 5 minutes, then set aside.

 Cut the strips of pork into 5-cm chunks, and then slice each chunk into half (or thinner).

Arrange them in a large bowl, skin side down, and then spread the mei chai evenly on top of the meat. Add the meat marinating liquid.

Steam for an hour.

Now here's the tricky bit but well worth a go for presentation: Cover the bowl with a plate, and carefully drain the now yummy sauce into a smaller bowl using a small gap. Set aside.

It should look like this BEFORE flipping:

With a firm hand and the bowl fully covered, flip it such that the bowl is now on top. Gently lift and add return the liquid to the dish.

And there, my friend, you are now ready to enjoy the mei chai ko rou with your loved ones!

Mine was not perfect (it looks a tad messy), but the Husband loved it. And that was the best part of dinner :)

American pie for the American birthday boy

I have made a French apple tart before, and I could do my apple crumble blind, but for his birthday Ray asked for an American apple pie with lattice top. Yes, give them a tart and they ask for a top!

Anyway, here's my first attempt, adapted from Epicurious.com:
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 pounds Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, thinly sliced

Because I was making an open top vegetable pie, and roasting a chicken on the same day, I saved time by using short crust pastry from the supermarket.

The process was surprisingly easy, although the prep work for the apple was dead boring. Thank goodness for Mad Men!

I found there was too much apple and not enough nutmeg. But overall the apple flavour was very good, even better than the tart and crumble. Yes, I liked it!

One thing: I baked the base for 10 minutes, which made crimping the edges of the lattice out of the question (hence the less than elegant appearance). I will try doing it without baking the base next time.

Which might be today given I have lots of leftover apples!

Chicken pie

Funny how much I love chicken pie, and yet I've been in the UK for almost three years and not attempted to make it.

I guess ready availability has something to do with it, but recently my friend Siew Ching showed me shots of her creations and that got me motivated.

I looked up a few recipes and decided to, well, make it up as I went along!

First, I fried some bacon in olive oil. Then I added chopped mushrooms and tossed the lot about for about 5 minutes.

While that was coming along, I put my diced chicken breasts in a plastic bag with some plain flour and dried thyme, and tossed it about to get it all well coated.

I fried the chicken lightly in butter in a separate pan, and then added it to the bacon-and-mushroom mix.Then I added celery and frozen peas. I didn't cook the peas in the microwave as I didn't want them to become mushy by the time they come out of the oven.

I then added two bay leaves, a tin of mushroom soup (yes, the regular supermarket kind), and pepper to taste. Don't cook it for too long - you will have the pie in an oven at 200 degC for about 20 minutes so it'd have plenty of time for flavours to come out.

For my first attempt, I used both filo pastry and shortcrust pastry.

The filo pastry was a FLOP!

This was before it went in the oven...

It came out like this...

The shortcrust pastry version was much more successful!

It came out like this!

Ray said it's the best pie he's ever had - he liked the strong thyme flavour. See why I married him?! :)

Beefy, not leafy!

Many of the supermarket chains in the UK offer special cuts and aged beef. They are not as delicate or marbly as the wagyu beef that I love, but it's tastier than the average steak.

Earlier this week, I decided to do a beef face-off.  So I picked up a Marks & Spencer Special Reserve Aberdeen Angus fillet steak for almost £8.

Next came the somewhat cheaper cut from Sainsbury's, a 21-day aged steak. I got two steaks for almost $12.

Here's how they looked on the grill:

I loved the deep redness of the M&S beef!

Then it was onto a plate (M&S still on the right)...

We whipped up a quick mushroom and red wine sauce:

Here's a close-up of the two fillets:

I liked the texture of the M&S fillet (R) better, although I don't think it's worth THAT much of a jump in price. Also, I probably cooked it for a minute or so less, so that may have made a difference.

Both were pretty tasty and gave us a perfect excuse to indulge in a bottle of red wine!