The Color Purple

Piadina di Farina di Mais Viola, con Insalata di Fagioli Neri & Epachote

Purple Corn Flatbread & Black Bean Salad with Epachote

Sometimes you make mistakes. And the thing to do, when you make a mistake, is to try to learn from it or to make good in some way or other. Which is exactly what I did today. The mistake I made was to simply assume I could use this groovy purple flour I found at Mrs Wong's stall at the market hall today, in the same way that any other flour is used. Even after consulting the internet and reading otherwise... sigh!

Harina Morada is actually more suitable for preparing drinks or puddings from- definitely not for baking! So, after one failed attempt at creating a decent dough (my first dough looked great but was too crumbly when I rolled it out), I decided to make my flat bread into a cross between a tortilla and a pancake, by adding an egg to the dough/batter and counting my losses! I had decided what kind of meal I was going to make and I wasn't going to let some crazy flour get the better of me!

For my dough, I simply cracked an egg into a bowl and added 1 tablespoon of yogurt to it, a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil. I whisked these together and then began to add the purple flour, little by little, working it in with a wooden spoon until it became at first and smooth paste and then ultimately a firm dough. It took around 15-16 tablespoons of flour in all.

Once the dough had a nice, firm and smooth consistency, I wrapped it in cling-film and popped it into the fridge to rest and to start doing its thing..

After 30 minutes or so, I took out the dough, separated it into 2 and then rolled each portion out between 2 sheets of cling-film to the desired size, making sure to turn the dough so that I got nice even circles of dough... which did not stick to my work surface, or my rolling pan! I sprinkled the dough lightly with cumin and fennel seed- I thought I may as well do something original whilst I am at it!

I carefully lifted and placed the flattened dough onto a dry frying pan and turned on the heat pretty high... this was a kind of bread after all and it did need to "bake". Which meant not touching it for the first 3-4 minutes and only THEN flipping it over. After another 3-4 minutes from the other side, with some constant  pressing down with a wooden spoon, it was done... now it was time to make some black-bean salad!

I used black beans from a can to make this- there was only minimal cooking to this dish and that's perfect in the Summer months. To make it I first started a handful of finely chopped bacon sizzling in a pan and then added a little cumin- Once the bacon was beginning to brown, I added the beans and let them sizzle away together for 2-3 minutes.

In the meantime, I finely chopped a Spring onion, 1 small orange pepper, 1 regular sized tomato and 1 handful if finely chopped Epazote. This is a great herb if only for one reason... pardon my French now, but it does work wonders against any possible build-ups of gas after eating. Let's just leave it at that. And get back to our salad!

Once the bacon and beans were nicely browned together, I then added all of the ingredients I mentioned earlier, along with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and sriracha chili sauce- oh yes! It was a great mix!

I served the bean salad up with the bread, a generous scattering of cilantro and chili flakes and some slices of cucumber to counterpoint the hot, rich spice- it was pretty delicious! At least try the salad out as it is really good! As for the bread- maybe next time I will do better! Enjoy!

Bowled Over!

Couscous, Zucchine, Piselli, Erbe Miste e Pancetta

Couscous, Zucchini, Snow Peas, Mixed Herbs and Bacon

Oh yes, dudes and dudettes- this bowl of yummy couscous really had it going on this evening at suppertime! Of course it would make a wonderful, light, Summer lunch too- or just a delicious side dish to share and enjoy at your next barbecue...

I don't think I will ever be able to impress you again by saying that any of my recipes are particularly quick or particularly easy to make... but dammit! Sometimes they ARE! This took all of 10 minutes to make- try beating that if you dare! Especially if you are are going to try to make something so healthy and with so much flavor!

Ok- time to get busy! Boiling water needs to be poured over that couscous as you know! Once that little task is out the way, we can get all of the other ingredients together, to add at the end. First of all, get a non-stick frying pan nice and hot and then add 4 rashers of lean bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces. Whilst they are beginning to brown, slice up a Spring onion and couple of mini bell peppers (yellow in this case), as well as that yummy zucchini and the sugar snap peas which I cut into fine diagonal slices... oh! And of course- they all go into the pan too! Give them 2-3 minutes to start browning and then fluff up the couscous with a fork, ready to mix it all together..

Next, use the juice of a half an orange to deglaze the pan and add the couscous, toss it gently and then set it to one side whilst you quickly prepare all of the herbs and spice. 

As far as herbs were concerned- this was basically simply what I had at home - in this case parsley, mint, oregano, thyme and dill. 

I stirred-in the finely chopped herbs, added a drizzle of olive oil, a little splash of green Tabasco and the juice of 1 lime. And I am sorry to say, that having done that you are almost finished... darn! And we were all having so much fun!

This was fine hot, ok lukewarm and equally delicious cold from the fridge- the choice is totally yours! I added more fresh herbs as a garnish and then decided to call it a day, settle down and enjoy my supper- which had also helped me clear out my fridge! So you see- this recipe is more than just tasty- it has got smarts to go with it!

Beat It!

Linguine con Salsa Battuta di Melanzane e Pomodoro

Linguini with a Quick Eggplant & Tomato Sauce

You are going to hate me for claiming that this is a quick, easy and delicious dish... and do you know what? It really was! In fact it was all of that and a whole lot more! I had been saving the last of my cute, little, baby eggplants for making something special with, but then decided to go ahead and use them to make this pasta sauce instead... only to discover that the result WAS something special!

The term "battuta", means "beaten" when translated into English- as in "briskly stirred with a spoon". Which is more or less the way this sauce was made. The secret is to make it in a frying pan rather than a saucepan, as you will have a larger surface area of sauce cooking at a given time, therefore the sauce cooks and evaporates at a faster rate. There is no rocket science involved in this dish- just plenty of flavor and fun! 

First things first- that pasta needed to be boiled! And whilst it was bubbling away, I started my sauce sizzling in a frying pan, by finely chopping a little bacon, celery, garlic and Spring onion and popping them into a dry frying pan. You know by now that the bacon has enough fat and you don't need any added oil at this point. Whilst that was gently browning and the pasta was boiling, I sliced up the mini-eggplants to make the sauce- 4 of them went into this single serving, but a half of a regular-sized eggplant would work just the same. 

After the pasta had been cooking for 5 minutes, I added the eggplant slices to the water, letting them just float on top and cook for the last 3 minutes of time the pasta needed. Whilst that was happening, I diced a regular-sized plum tomato and added it to the frying pan along with a little finely chopped parsley and basil and a good pinch of chili flakes. I seasoned it with salt and pepper, a little grated nutmeg and a pinch of sugar, then added a tablespoon of tomato paste and kept on stirring...

Once the pasta was done, I removed the eggplant from the top, using a slotted spoon and added it to the frying pan, along with a little of the cooking water- which of courser immediately deglazed the frying pan and began to transform the cooked-in yumminess of all of the ingredients into a yummy sauce. At this point I added a little olive oil and turned up the heat, stirring the eggplant in and letting it get nicely browned off. 

I drained the pasta and gave it a drizzle of olive oil to keep it nice and smooth and delicious, so that it didn't dry-out in the meantime- but of course that sauce didn't take too much longer to come together... which was a very good thing... because I was a very hungry customer by that point! All in all it took just 10 minutes- 15 at the most to make :-)

Onto the pasta the sauce went, onto the sauce went some freshly grated Parmesan, on top of that went a sprinkle of coarsely ground black pepper as always and last but by no means least went a last drizzle of olive oil, Told you it was easy- told you it was quick! But I doubt that I need to tell you that it was delicious! Nope- I didn't think so! Enjoy!

Plum & Spice to the Power of Pie

Crostata di Prugne & Zenzero, Speziata, in Padella

Plum, Ginger & Spice Pie-in-a Pan

It looks amazing... it tastes amazing... in fact it IS amazing! But the most amazing thing of all about this beautiful little pie is that it was amazingly simple to make! Looking at it, no one would believe how little work went into it- and you know you want to make stuff like this to wow your friends with... I KNOW you know it!

Which is why I am here to share with you :-) You see- I'm a nice guy in that respect! I am all for saving time, sharing happiness and having fun eating yummy food! What could be better than a pie of 4 portions, made of little more than 8 fresh plums, a slice of candied ginger and a few wonderful spices? Not much! It's all good stuff and it's all written up, right here!

The first thing you need to do, is to halve the plums and remove the stones, then cut each half into 3 slices... that is the perfect size for the plums to cook quickly and to eat easily. Pop the plum slices into your frying pan with just a small pat of butter and start them frying on a moderate heat and in the meantime, get ready to grind up some spices!

With a mortar and pestle, or an electrical thingammyjig if you prefer, grind up the seeds from 2 cardamom pods, 2 points from a star anise and a half teaspoon of coriander seeds. Either add a small piece of cinnamon and grind this with the other spices, or add a teaspoon to the other spices... which can now be added to the plums.

Stir the spices in well, add a pinch of salt and sweeten to taste using Stevia, Sugar or Honey and allow to bubble away gently for just 2-3 minutes... you don't want them to get too soft! Now add a nice large-sized slice (or 2 smaller ones, haha!) of candied ginger, cut into very fine shreds. Stir these in and then set the plums to one side to cool off. And isn't it just wonderful what a beautiful deep red the yellow plums become as they cook? Beautiful!

Whilst the plums are cooling, cut a circle from your puff pastry to use as the base and lay this into a non-stick pan... with no added fat, thank you! There is way more than enough butter in that puff pastry to make it delicious... and also slippery enough to slide right out of that pan!

Cut the remaining pastry into strips of 1" or so and roll these very loosely into little spirals to use for the topping- I don't like to waste anything- and neither should you!

Once the plums cool off, their natural pectin will thicken the juices nicely into a rich syrup- simply gorgeous! Now, gently pour the plum mixture onto the pie base and then lay out the little spirals of pasty evenly on top and pop your frying pan onto the stove top at a moderate heat for 2-3 minutes to get the base going in advance... you know my methods by now!

After 2-3 minutes, pop the pan into a pre-heated oven at 300°F for 10-15 minutes until the pastry is lovely and golden brown and the spirals of pastry set on top are puffed-up and wonderful! Give them a 1 minute blast under the broiler if you want a little extra color, but then remove from the oven and allow to cool off... for as long as you can resist temptation!

I kept things simple and enjoyed mine as it was... but a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a little fresh whipped cream or even a little yogurt or ricotta would also have been nice additions. Next time maybe! This evening is was a light dusting of powdered sugar... and that was all that it need to be honest!

Give it a go and you will love how easy it is to make, almost as much as you will love the flavor... although all of those yummy freshly ground spices and the fresh and juicy fruits make it an act that is pretty hard to follow! So get rolling that pastry, get baking that pie and start enjoying yourselves!

Lighten Up!

Polpettini di Manzo & Finnocchio, con Cavolo Rapa, Porro, Limone & Aneto

Mini Beef & Fennel Patties, Kohlrabi, Leek, Lemon & Dill

A quick and light supper was my plan for this evening... I got home a little later than usual after working on location at a food photo-shoot and had been nibbling on and off all day... and was feeling guilty! But still... despite the guilt... I was still feeling HUNGRY!

So, as always, improvisation was the hero of the day and the best ingredient in this dish. I had one last hamburger-sized portion of ground beef left over from my escapades on Sunday, which I had been planning on using to make some kind of sauce... but I had actually already done that! Duh! Change of plan! With a subconscious desire for some "salsiccia", some real Italian sausage, with fennel and peppers and red wine, I came up with these little meatballs with all of the same flavors, in no time at all... And the kohlrabi- well to steam it and flavor it with lemon, butter and dill was just the perfect addition! Oh yes- it was very, very nice indeed!

To make the little patties, I added a tablespoon of bread crumbs, a little chopped onion, some finely chopped parsley, a tablespoon of Grana cheese, and a tablespoon of yogurt to the ground beef. Again- this was to make a single serving, out of just one good handful of ground meat. I added a teaspoon of fennel seeds, a pinch of oregano, salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne as seasoning and kneaded everything together into a smooth blend. 

The yogurt was simply there to soak together with the bread crumbs and make the mixture a little bit more moist... it was an experiment as I thought an egg would add too much moisture for such a small amount of meat. But it was an experiment that worked! In fact, the mixture was a little too firm for my liking, so I added just a tiny splash of red wine too- now I had all the flavors of my beloved Italian sausage... perfect!

The beef patties went into a dry frying pan, at a moderate heat- you know by now that I think there is enough fat in ground meat that I never add any additional- and began sizzling away gently. In the meantime, I peeled the kohlrabi, cut it in half and then in turn, cut each half into slices. I popped these into a saucepan, on a steam rack and let them steam for remainder of the time that the patties needed... which wasn't that long!

After about 3 minutes of sizzling, the patties were ready to be flipped over and at that point, I added the sliced leek and a little crushed garlic. I let them sizzle with the meat for a minute or so and then deglazed the pan with a simple splash of water. The was a "whoosh!" of steam, but very, very quickly the water had evaporated away again and the meat had begun to sizzle again. But what had the water done? Well... it had lifted all of the flavor from the bottom of the pan, added good moisture to the meatballs and the leek of course and ensured that everything cooked quickly and thoroughly and in all of its own flavors and juices. 

In the meantime the kohlrabi was cooked and tender and ready to get a pat of butter, a pinch of salt, a little pepper and a little squeeze of lemon juice. I served the meat patties together with the kohlrabi and leek with a sprinkle of fresh dill and a little very finely chopped lemon zest- the combination was terrific! But, you know what? Don't take my word for it! Follow my example instead and find out!

Don't Get Confuzed

Piccoli Melanzane Thailandese con Coriandolo Vietnamese
Spicy Yellow & Green Thai Eggplants with Vietnamese Coriander

Thai eggplant... Vietnamese coriander? What craziness is this?!? Oh, just the usual mealtime madness! I bought the lovely little yellow eggplants as I was so taken by their vibrant color... don't laugh- but I had never seen them in yellow before! So of course I picked up a bag- and wouldn't you know it, right behind them were these incredibly cute, purple cousins of theirs- and of course the little green and white ones too! So how could I have resisted? And more to the point... why should I have? ;-)

I picked up a few other things including some lovely, locally grown fresh herbs- and then Mrs Wong asked me if I knew what the lovely little leaves you can see in my photos was. Of course I didn't know and of course she encouraged me to pluck a leaf and taste it... and so I did... and wow! Such a wonderful flavor- so rich and intense... I loved it. And this of course was the Vietnamese coriander- much richer and more robust than our light, feathery cilantro. She was so kind as to pop me a couple of leaves into my bag as she had only just started growing it and the plant needed to get better established. I am just glad that she did have it and totally happy to have something new to try! So- thank you Mrs Wong!

Thai eggplants are much firmer and almost crunch in texture compared to their big brothers- they are full of seeds and have a slightly bitter and peppery undertone to their flavor- but taste wonderfully rich and intense. And I had these lovely yellow and green examples to use for supper! I wanted to save the purple ones for another night- they can be turned into something Italian... tonight I was in the mood for Asian!

I cut the little eggplants into quarters and popped them straight into a steamer with just a little pinch of salt, for 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, I sliced a Spring onion finely on the diagonal and a mini bell pepper also into fine strips. I also cut of about 1" of fresh ginger and finely chopped that too. I wanted to have the other ingredients cook quickly later when I fried them with the eggplant, being as it would already be relatively tender after steaming.

So- 10 minutes or so later I was ready to go! I drained the eggplant, let it sit for 4-5 minutes to cool off a little and stop steaming and heated a little peanut oil up ready t get frying! I like peanut oil because you can get it hot, hot, hot, without it getting smokey. In went the eggplants and the ginger, along with a little crushed garlic. I stirred the eggplant gently ever now and then- not stirring too much... I wanted it to brown slightly but didn't want it to over-cook and go too soft. After 2-3 minutes, I added the peppers and onion, a teaspoon of 5-spice powder, a half teaspoon of turmeric and stirred these in well. I added a handful of snow peas, the juice of half a lime and a drizzle of honey and after a further 2-3 minutes everything was done!

The eggplant still had bite to it, the peppers and peas were crunchy and sweet as a contrast to the slightly bitter and tangy eggplant and the ginger and spice made it lovely and spicy... it was pretty delicious! I added a splash of fish sauce, a light drizzle of hoisin and little squeeze of sriracha sauce to make it really come together. Tabasco would also have worked well- but I decided to stay with the Asian flavors- none of that Irish stuff this evening!

I served up the eggplants on some plain white rice and gave them a tiny drizzle of sesame oil for a little added richness... and last but not least, a nice scattering of the deliciously aromatic Vietnamese coriander leaves- perfect! Whoever claims that vegetarian meals are boring or missing something... well they are probably boring or missing something themselves! Because as much as I enjoy meat, chicken, seafood or fish... this was pretty darned good without any of those things!

Try it and you'll see!

Passa la Pasta

Garganelli Fatti in Casa

Hand Made Garganelli Pasta

"Passa la pasta", or "pass me the pasta"- is what you would be hearing from anyone sitting at a table set for supper with such wonderful home made fare as these... I have to say that they were pretty damned good considering they were a first attempt!

I had received a pasta machine from my mother for Christmas and had bought myself one of those little wooden blocks for rolling out gnocchi and cavatelli... but not got around to using them yet! Well today was a dull and grey Sunday and the time had come! I decided to make my first home made pasta!

The dough is a simple affair of 1 egg to each 100g of flour. Which is enough for 1 portion. But I made enough for 2 ;-) and yes, the other portion of dough is frozen and saved for another time... I did not eat it all! Make a well of the flour, crack the eggs into the middle, and pinch them, then the flour, until they become to come together. Add a pinch of salt and keep pulling the flour from the "walls" of your well into the egg and soon enough it will form a smooth, firm dough. Work the dough with the heel of your hand, folding it over, pressing down, revolving and repeating for a good 5-10 minutes, then wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least half an hour to give the flour a chance to rest.

Once the dough was ready, I rolled it out with a rolling pin until it was flat enough to feed into my pasta making machine and then used the machine to get it down nice and thin- I needed to put the pasta through 3 times to do this. Once the pasta was nice and thin, I cut it into squares of around 1.5" and then wrapped them around the handle of a wooden spoon at a 45° angle. I then rolled the spoon over my little ridged wooded block and pressed the pasta into shape- so I had ridges in the middle and the outer edges were smooth- lovely! Of course, if you don't have one of these wooden blocks, you can always make the tubes without and have flat, smooth pasta which is also lovely. At the end of the day... all pasta is good pasta!

I sprinkled the finished pasta tubes with flour to prevent them from sticking to each other and set them to one side to dry for at least 30 minutes... which gave me time to make this quick tomato, ground meat and thyme sauce...

I started the sauce by getting a handful of ground beef (left over from the mpanatigghi of course) sizzling in a dry frying pan, I added a little finely chopped carrot, onion, celery and garlic and stirred these in well. I seasoned with salt and pepper, added a splash of little splash of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of sugar and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. 

Whilst the tomato paste sizzled away, I diced-up a regular sized roma tomato and added it to the pan along with just enough water to get the tomato paste dissolved down and smooth. I added 3-4 sprigs of thyme, a couple of bay leaves, a couple of basil leaves and let it simmer away for 2-3 minutes.

By now I was ready to boil my pasta- which being fresh, took only 2-3 minutes to cook and come floating to the surface in the pot. As soon as it was done, I drained it off, but not too thoroughly and added it to the tomato sauce. I added a drizzle of olive oil at the end and then carefully tossed it together to get everything nicely coated... and after 1-2 minutes it was absolutely perfect and ready to serve!

As usual, coarsely ground black pepper and grated Parmesan were a must- as was the whole dish! Quick and easy at the end, it made up for the little extra work and time it took to make the pasta... and the reward was... well... amazingly wonderful and delicious! You can see the pictures... and well, need I say more? Other than Buon Appetito!?!