Sweet Thangs!

Patate Dolce Ripiene, al Vapore & al Forno con Salsa di Yogurt & Erbe
Steamed & Baked Stuffed Sweet Potatoes & Yoghurt - Herb Dip

Sweet potatoes are such wonderful, versatile and down-to-earth vegetables, we really should be cooking them more often! They bring so much rich and wonderful flavor with them already, that all we really need to do is to make the most of that flavor, but not to overpower it as is sometimes the case. 

Although there is a little bacon smuggled in here (which DOES bring a LOT of excellent flavor that we definitely will love in this dish!), this makes for a healthy meal on the whole. There is no cheese, no cream- just the lightest drizzle of olive oil and honey along with plain low-fat yogurt in here. Can I hear a "hallelujah!" for that? Thank you! Now let me carry on and tell you how to make this...

The ingredients needed to prepare 2 mid-sized sweet potatoes were 4 lean and very thin rashers of bacon, a Spring onion, 1 red pepper, a handful each of parsley and ramps (or chives), about 2" of fresh ginger and 2-3 cups of plain low-fat yogurt.

The preparation was very simple too- the first step being to scrub the sweet potatoes clean, to halve them and to pop them into a saucepan, on a steam-rack, to cook for 10 minutes whilst I prepared the other ingredients for the topping and the yogurt dip...

For the topping, the first step was to finely chop the bacon and to start it sizzling in a dry frying pan. The next step was to finely chop the pepper, the onion and the ginger and to add this with a little salt and pepper and stir-fry them for 4+5 minutes until everything including the bacon, becomes nicely and lightly browned.

After this time, the sweet potatoes were also ready, so using a teaspoon, I carefully scooped out the soft centers and mashed them simply with a fork- there is really no need to use anything other than a fork for this. I then added the finely diced ingredients, 2 tablespoons of yogurt, salt, pepper and about a teaspoon of smoked paprika powder- yum, yum, yum!

Before I got busy with the topping, I very lightly drizzled the potato shells with just a touch of olive oil, seasoned them inside and out with a little salt and pepper and popped them into the oven at 350°F for 5-10 minutes, whilst I took care of the filling...

I then turned my attention back to the filling, which I stirred vigorously using a wooden spoon. This in turn transformed everything into a smoother, softer mix which would be nice and easy to fill into the hollowed out potatoes. I made a point of not adding cheese or butter as I wanted to do something a little different to the usual this time around. Well- actually, I ALWAYS like to do things a little differently- but I'm pretty sure that you have all noticed that by now!

Now that the filling was ready, I took the hollowed-out shells (carefully as they were HOT!) out of the oven and re-filled them with the seasoned mashed potato. I drizzled them very lightly with olive oil and honey, added a last sprinkle of salt and pepper and popped them back into the oven for 5 further minutes at 350°F and then for 4-5 minutes under the broiler before they came out lightly toasted and golden brown.

Whilst they were baking, I used the time to prepare the simple yogurt dip by chopping up the parsley and ramps as finely as I could and then stir them into 2 cups of yogurt, along with a tablespoon of Tahini, salt and pepper and the juice of about 1/3 of a lime. All that needed to be done here was for it to be stirred together, again, simply with a fork- no fuss but plenty of fun and flavor!

So there you go... a simple but fun baked potato idea for you, with less fat but much more flavor... and fun-factor! Also... they just happen to look as terrific as they taste! 

Hope you give these a go and see that you can indeed have a great and flavorful, fun and exciting meal without the fatty, cheesy, usual and ultimately boring suspects... and I suspect you may well like this more! Enjoy!

All Ears at Suppertime...

Orecchiette con i Carciofini, Piselli, Pancetta, Erba Ursina & Menta

Orecchiette, Artichoke Hearts, Peas, Bacon, Ramps and Mint

Are you listening carefully? Good- then I will tell you all about my supper this evening! Because whilst we are on the subject of listening, I can't help but remind you again that the pasta shape named "orecchiette", literally translates as "little ears" in English... which you most probably already knew- but if you didn't already know it... then you do now!

And looking at the shape of them, it is not hard to imagine how someone came up with the name, many, many moons ago- because this is indeed one of the older pasta shapes and forms and one of the best loved too. It's hollowed-out shape makes it a perfect carrier for sauces- but also for bacon, herbs and peas this evening... and some lovely, baby artichoke hearts too, just to make it extra delicious!

Apart from the fact that I happened to have lovely, fresh peas from the market and delicious ramps to "up the stakes" in the flavor department- this was actually a bit more of an "emergency meal" and is definitely one that you can whip together in just 10 minutes... I kid you not!

The ingredients I needed for this were- a couple of handfuls of orecchiette, 2 lean rashers of bacon, 4 artichokes out of the jar (in water), 4 leaves of ramps and a good couple of handfuls of fresh peas. As usual... such an easy but good combination- at least I think so! Anything with mint and peas and artichokes in it... I am your man! And with crisy bacon on top... that all just sounds too wonderful for words now- doesn't it?

To make this, I started off by shelling the peas of course, which I did whilst the water I needed for the orecchiette to come up to the boil,. Once it did, I added a good pinch of salt to water, added the orecchiette, gave them a good stir and added the peas, as they do take a few minutes longer than frozen peas. 

And whilst the orecchiette and peas bubbled away, I took care of the rest...

I cut the bacon rashers into small pieces and popped them into a non-stick frying pan, turned the heat up high and let the bacon begin to sizzle. In the meantime, I scooped 4 artichokes out of the jar and let them drip dry for a couple of minutes. Mine were the kind preserved in brine and not oil, but either kind is good. 

I halved the artichokes and added them to the bacon in the frying pan, with the cut surface facing downward, so that they could brown nicely whilst I got busy chopping up the herbs- a handful of fresh mint and the 4 tender ramp leaves.

By now the pasta had been boiling for 5-6 minutes, which made it perfect to move on to the next step of preparation. I removed the crispy bacon and artichokes from the pan, poured off most of the water from the orecchietti and then poured them into the frying pan... whooosh! There was a sudden cloud of steam and then the water in the pan came up to a nice gentle simmer, bringing up all of the good flavor from sizzling the bacon. 

Next step was to add the fresh and finely chopped ramps and mint, along with a nice grating of fresh nutmeg and plenty of freshly ground pepper. I let the orecchiette simmer for a further 2-3 minutes until they were nice and "al dente" and the water had all but evaporated away.

With the artichokes and bacon bits added, a light drizzle of olive oil, a little fresh pepper and a grating of salted Ricotta cheese, this wonderful and sophisticated pasta dish was complete. And it was so simple to make as well- which is always something that I like and something that I am guessing, you will like too!

Artichoke, mint and peas... a classic combination! Bacon and salted Ricotta? Almost guaranteed to float most everybody's boat! It certainly did mine this evening... in fact, I wish I had made a little bit more of them... so that I could have a second plateful right now!  

Pretty Rustic

Torta Salata Rustica di Spinaci, Ricotta Salata, Scorza di Cedro, Uvetta & Pinoli
Rustic Pie with Spinach, Salted Ricotta, Cedro Lemon Zest, Raisins and Pine Nuts

Considering that the preparation and the ingredients for this little pie were so simple and that I really just threw it together in a rough and ready kind of way... the result is relatively pretty to look at I'd say! What's better still is... that it was really good to eat, too!

I had the last of the fresh spinach from Saturday and wanted to use it up whilst it was still "at it's best", so decided to quickly improvise something quick and easy. And it is at times like this that I am glad that I always keep a roll of puff-pastry in the fridge as a "staple"- it is always good to have it to fall back on and you can almost always dream up something that can be made wonderful by giving it a crispy, flaky shell... Something like this for example!

I had spinach, Spring onion, pine nuts, raisins, the zest of a lemon (a lovely big "Cedro" lemon in this case) and an egg. Simple stuff! Which is the kind of stuff that I am happiest cooking with at any given time! Oh, it may be fun every now and then to go crazy and do something extravagant in the kitchen... but for me, probably what gives me the greatest joy is to transform the most everyday of ingredients into something cool and delicious to share with family friends... or to just enjoy by myself. To me, that is what real cooking is all about.

We have a tradition of adding pine nuts and raisins to our savory dishes in Sicily, which dates back to our Arab ancestors in days of yore... and I kind-of like that touch of unusual and exotic flavoring in my food and so decided to do a little of that this evening too.

This dish is so simple to make that I will let the pictures do most of the talking for me- especially as so many of you have mentioned how much you enjoy the step by step visuals... and as always- I aim to please!

So- after washing the spinach thoroughly and steaming it, together with 3-4 slices of lemon zest, I squeezed out as much moisture from it as I could- as one does! And it is quite amazing and always just a little bit depressing to find that the whole saucepan full of spinach that you began with, ends up being nothing more than a handful once it is cooked... but don't be too sad!

Chop the spinach up quite finely- but don't overdo it, then pop it into a bowl along with a handful of raisins, a handful of grated salted Ricotta, 1 finely sliced Spring onion and the zest, chopped into fine shreds.

Next, add the egg and season well with freshly grated nutmeg. Stir it together thoroughly and you will find that the Ricotta will begin to blend in with the egg and become soft and creamy. There is no need to add any salt for seasoning as the salted Ricotta takes care of that- something to bear in mind! Don't get adding too much salt and spoiling things! In fact, I added the raisins to give a nice contrast and balance to the saltiness of the cheese!

Once the ingredients are nicely blended together, add more fresh pepper and ricotta, but do not stir this in as thoroughly as before- it's nice to have some extra seasoning on the top of the pie.

Next, cut the pastry to fit your frying pan... you will want it to be a bit larger, so that you have to fold it into shape a little as seen in the picture below... this was just a small frying pan as you can see.

Next, obviously, you need to add your filling. Spread it out evenly, but leave the outer edges of the pastry nice and free so that you can fold them over and form a nice edge.

And forming a nice edge does not being super-accurate or overly fussy- as you can see- haha! Just make sure it is folded over relatively evenly and make sure to sprinkle a little extra grated Ricotta and the pine nuts on first, so that the folded edge stays nice and clean. 

Now turn on the oven to the highest setting to get it nice and hot and in the meantime, pop that frying pan onto the stovetop and start "baking" the pastry from below before it goes into the oven. As you may have noticed by now- this is always, always my preferred method for baking pastries and pizzas at home, as it ensures that turn out firm and crispy rather than limp and soggy- ugh!

And after 5 minutes on the stovetop and 15-20 minutes in the oven, baking on the middle shelf, at 350-375°F, that rather limp looking pastry in the image above, comes out looking golden and flaky and deliciously golden as the one in the image below! I kid you not!

The important thing at this point, is to try and practice restraint! Because doesn't that just look terrific? The fragrance of the nutmeg and the toasted pine nuts is pretty amazing- I think it is only right for me to warn you! I was sooo eager to cut myself a slice... but first things first- a guy has to have his priorities and my priority is always to try to get some nice pictures taken to share with all of you good people. That's just the guy I am! Haha!

The great thing about this is of course the contrast between the salty cheese and the sweet raisins, which just elevates the flavor of the spinach, which is after all a pretty simple vegetable. That nutmeg is one of spinach's best friends is common knowledge of course- and I hate for friends to not be together and always enjoy seeing them re-united in my dishes. And then of course come the pine nuts, which have also become an ultra-perfect golden brown color in the meantime... not to mention how wonderfully their flavor has become!

Well, dear friends- that was my simple and yet slightly exotic little pie. And it was "easy as pie" to make- so much so, that I absolutely recommend it! With so little in the way of ingredients, time and effort, I would say that this is not only a great dish to make for a special occasion, but also one that you can whip-up on any weekday night too. So what are you waiting for?? Get into that kitchen and get cracking! And enjoy!

Underground / Over Ground

Cavolo Rapa, ripieno di Maiale Trittato "Penang"

Penang Ground Pork & Kohlrabi

Some things are just made for each other and 2 such things are pork and greens... Be they Chinese leaves, pak choi, Brussels sprouts or cabbage of any sort for that matter, the sweetness of the greens is a perfect accompaniment for pork. And one of my other favorites in the vegetable department, the humble but delicious kohlrabi, made for a wonderfully satisfying meal this evening. With just a handful of ground pork and some great, Thai spice in the form of Penang curry paste, these 2 simple ingredients were transformed into a yummy, comforting bowl of goodness!

Thai curries are wonderful- rich and creamy and delicious with their coconut milk-rich sauces... but infinitely too rich to be indulged in too often. Yes it is delicious,,, but it is also, sadly, very fattening! Sigh! That is the bad news... but the good news is, of course... that you do not HAVE to use those great curry pastes only exclusively in combination with coconut milk! What a crazy world we would be living in if that were to be the case!  Nope- this evening it was curry paste but no coconut milk that went into my supper-and the result was still mighty fine!

Using just a little ground pork, a Spring onion, a little cimmaron or cilantro, a kohlrabi and a cupful of rice, I had more than enough food for a satisfying evening meal for one. And with just 1 tablespoon each of Penang curry and of tomato paste, I had all that I needed to fix an easy but totally flavorful supper. In just 30 minutes. Yes I know, I know... you like that almost as much as I do! Which is the main reason that I do this every night- because it is great for me to have fun making these fast and simple meals- and nicer still when I can share them with all of you!

There is only one piece of real "prep-work" in making this dish, and that is to peel, top and tail the kohlrabi and then to scoop out the insides, using one of those gadgets that you use to scoop out melon with in the Summer... you know- a "thinga-ma-jig"- or whatever they are called! You can see it in the picture below in any case- haha! If you don't have one of these, you CAN use a teaspoon, if you are careful and patient... I have done it in the past and it does work... but this little gadget does work so much better ;-)

I popped the kohlrabi into my rice cooker upside down, added enough water to cover it about a third of the way up and let it boil and steam away for 5 minutes. I then seasoned it with a little salt, flipped it over and seasoned it with salt from the inside too. And then I added the rice around the outside of the kohlrabi, stirred it into the hot water, put the lid back on and let it carry on cooking for a further 5 minutes or so.

In the meantime, I put the ground pork into a nonstick frying pan and started it sizzling away. I added a tablespoon of Penang curry paste and stirred this in with the meat, mashing it down and mixing it in, until it became nicely incorporated. I stir-fried them together for 4-5 minutes or so and then checked on my rice and kohlrabi again...

The rice was now almost ready- it had soaked up all of the water and needed a little top-up, so I added a little more water, stirred it once, thoroughly, replaced the lid and turned off the power... there was more than enough residual heat in the cooker to finish both the kohlrabi and the rice perfectly by the time I was ready with the curry!

Now that the pork was cooked, I added first about half of the kohlrabi that I scooped out earlier and the white end of the Spring onion. I stirred these in and then seasoned with about a tablespoon of fish sauce and a pinch of pepper- these go well to just "round off" the flavor of the curry paste.

I then added a tablespoon of tomato past and the juice of half a lime, stirred these in and then added enough boiling water to transform everything into a nice, light sauce. I gave this another 5 minutes or so of simmering away together and whilst that was happening, sliced up 4-5 leaves of cimmaron to add towards the end- if you can't get cimmaron, you can of course use cilantro. I added the stem-ends of the cimmaron, with the white stalk, to the pork and kept the green ends for later...

... and indeed, 5 minutes later, I was ready to plate up! In went the rice first, then the empty kohlrabi "bowl". And then of course I added the curried pork with the delicious Penang sauce on top. I added a generous sprinkle of Spring onion and cimmaron and a drizzle of Hoisin sauce as a tasty garnish... and I have to say... this was another great success!

If you like Thai curry- you will like this... it is a simple version of the great flavors you know and love and what can be wrong with that? It has only the fat that can be found in the ground meat... and as this was just a handful of meat in the first place, I would say that it's not worth worrying about. So this is "pretty healthy" too... one more reason to try this out and probably the best reason to ENJOY!

Spinach and Mushrooms and Bears- Oh My!

Funghi Pleurotus alla Griglia, Polenta alla Erba Ursina & Spinaci

Grilled Oyster Mushrooms, Ramp & Parmesan Polenta & Spinach

Bears!??!!?! you cry! Has he totally lost his senses now?!?! What have bears got to do with anything here anyway? I mean- there is not even any meat on the plate!

Ah, but you see, there are ramps in season- and they are the stars of this delicious dish of vegetarian goodness. You are not familiar with ramps? Oh, then you may want to scroll down a little and look at the picture of the ingredients I used to make this... Ramps are a wonderful, leafy green herb which have a mild garlic and onion type of flavor... and of course fragrance. And it is this fragrance that bears are first to smell in the Springtime, when new life begins to sprout in the woods.

And this is the reason that ramps are know as "Baer-Lauch" in Germany, or "Erba Ursina" in Italy... because it IS the bears favorite leafy green- and who could blame them for loving it?

The other ingredients, were also, lovely young and tender, large-leafed spinach, from Mrs. Wongs gardens here in Frankfurt, and some lovely oyster mushrooms which I also got from Nina at the market hall... I am so lucky to have these great suppliers here!

I decided to enjoy the mushrooms and spinach together with some polenta- always a great choice as it is so versatile. So I thought I would flavor the polenta with ramps and keep the other ingredients nice and simple in their preparation, just bring out the most of their own natural flavor and let them speak for themselves... which is maybe not always, but most usually the very best way to go.

So, first things first- the polenta! This too I kept simple- as I quite dislike the way vegetable or chicken stock is added to things as a matter of course. That may be a safe way to get good flavor into your food, it may be an easy and convenient way, and it is definitely the norm... but the thing is- everything ends up tasting the same way! If I am making a soup, or a sauce, I prefer to finely chop some carrot, celery and onion and use that as a flavor base and then let the other ingredients have a chance to maintain their own identity.

Which is why I wanted the polenta to taste of polenta. I wanted it to taste of corn, with the mild garlic and onion flavor of the ramps, a little Parmesan and nutmeg, and a drizzle of olive oil at the end. 

Enough chatter now- back to work! I brought up enough water to the boil to make my single serving, about 3 cupfuls and then added 1 cupful polenta, stirring constantly and vigorously to avoid any lumps forming. I added a little salt and pepper and stirred, grated in a little nutmeg and stirred once again and then continued to let it simmer on for the duration of the cooking time whilst I prepared the mushrooms and spinach...

To get the oyster mushrooms to become wonderfully tasty and delicious, all that I did was to place them onto a very hot grill- pan. And wait. It took a little while, but after 3-4 minutes, you will notice them beginning to shrink- this is because a lot of water is evaporating from them. Next step is to flip the mushrooms over, using a pair of tongs and to season them with plenty of salt and pepper. Do not keep moving the mushrooms as they taste better when they get slightly scorched. And don't worry about that either- there is still so much moisture in them that it will take a while for anything serious to happen.

Next- pop the well-rinsed spinach, as moist as it is, into a nonstick frying pan with just a drizzle of oil, some salt and some pepper. Put the lid on and let the spinach collapse together, then add a nice grating of nutmeg and add just 1-2 finely chopped ramp leaves, just to give it that extra bit of body.

In the meantime, the polenta had thickened up and at this point I added a little milk, just to thin it down, a bit more finely grated nutmeg and about 1 tablespoonful of grated parmesan... not too much! I reduced the heat and got back to the mushrooms to finish them off before serving... and I could hardly wait!

Not that the mushrooms were grilled and much drier, it was time to add liquid that would give them flavor, but first, I added a couple of very finely chopped ramps leaves to the pan and a very generous grind of pepper. I then added a light drizzle of olive oil and made sure that the mushrooms got coated with the ramps as well as the oil- and then after a minute or so, I squeezed in the juice of a quarter of a lime, just to bring all of those good flavors in the pan to life.

Once I had plated everything up, I added a light drizzle of olive oil to the polenta, a last grind of pepper- and that was it!

3 great individual flavors that went well together and the ramps to unite them all and make them even more special... and if it worked for me- for sure it will work for you!

Carnival Coffee Tawk

Chiacchiere di Carnevale al Forno, agli Agrumi
Baked "Chiacchiere"- Italian Carnival Cookies- with Citrus Zests

I have always loved the name of these simple little cookies... and still have no idea where it originates from! "Chiacchiere", means "chat" in Italian- a strange name to give to a cookie, but it describes what I associate best with the thought of having a big plateful of these... sitting with friends, picking idly at these little crunchy snacks and having a good time!

Chiacchiere are made for carnival and are traditionally deep fried- another one of the many traditional sweets made for "Mardi Gras"- which translates from the French into "Fat Tuesday" the final day of the carnival period and a day of numerous fried and sweet treats, historically speaking. And as we are speaking right now- let's have a little talk about these "chatty" little cookies...

Traditionally, they are simply made of flour, egg, butter, a little grappa and a hint of lemon zest- then sprinkled with powdered sugar or drizzled with chocolate. Today I made them with the zest of a mandarin, lemon and lime to make them a little more fun and used a lemon liquor to make them even more fruity (I also happen to have designed the graphics for it- just sayin') :-) 

Being as this was my first attempt, I made a small batch- and yes, these are rather lightweight cookies- so all it too to make a yield of between 30- 40, was 1 egg, 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of butter and the zest of half each of a lemon, lime and a mandarin orange. And a nice shot of that good lemon liquor of course ;-) 

To make them, simply pour the flour into a bowl, add the sugar and zest, stir it together thoroughly and then form a well and add the egg. And a tiny pinch of salt and then pinch the flour into the egg little by little until it is all incorporated. Once you have gathered up all of the flour,  work-in the butter too. It is very un-fussy stuff this- it will come together very easily- no problems! When it comes to baking- if I can do it- anyone can!

Once the dough is nice and smooth, pop it into the fridge for at least 15 minutes, but better still a half hour to rest- this will make it easier to roll out nice and thin. Looks pretty, doesn't it- with all those flecks of color?

After it has rested, roll out the dough to about the thickness of a credit-card... ok, well not quite THAT thin- but almost! Haha- just look at the pictures my friends and that should give you a rough idea. The dough should be thin... but not dangerously so!

Cut the dough into strips that are about the width of 2 fingers, using a pastry cutter with a fluted edge... that is the traditional way to do it- you can obviously just cut them straight too. Then cut your cookies from these strips, this time about the length of your finger. I cut mine on a slight diagonal... because that is the way my sister once showed me- but again. that is rather unimportant and you can cut them any way you wish.

The characteristic and fun part of shaping chiacchiere, is that you need to cut a slit down the middle of them and then "turn them inside out"- that is the best way I can describe it to you... hopefully the picture below will show you what I mean. You need to fold the dough back on itself and poke it through the slit you have just cut into it. Pull it through halfway and that's it. You just need to make a couple and you will soon get the knack of it- again... if I can do it- anyone can!

So there you have them- the little carnival cookies- all different sizes- which is how it should be... these are hand-made and should also look that way- don't obsess over them and try to get them all exactly the same- there's no fun in that!

The cookies now simply need to bake for between 15-20 minutes, depending on your oven, at around 375°F. just until they become golden brown... make sure to keep an eye on them as they are thin and really do not take long! 

Again, traditionally these would be deep-fried, which is also fine and also delicious... but I always like to say that if you can do without frying... then do without frying!

After around 15 minutes, my chiacchiere looked like this- crispy dry and golden brown. Well, I say that, but they actually only really become crisp after they have cooled down completely... if you can wait that long! They also taste better after a little while, as the aroma of the zest comes through better after it has had a chance to "seep out" through the temperature of the baking and the molten butter, into the cookies. So... try to be patient!

There is not that much sugar in chiacchiere and that is the way they are meant to be- they are unspectacular little bits of nonsense to nibble on... the added sweetness comes from the powdered sugar, ore lightly drizzled chocolate, or icing, or honey that you may want to add... befor you can finally enjoy them!

So, these were my finished chiacchiere- the first I have ever made, very simple, very nice... and also very quickly eaten up by me!

Have fun if you try them out- like I said- not being fried makes them a lot less fattening than regular cookies, their small size makes it easier to not overdo it when eating them... and... No. Actually- forget that last thing. You may very well overdo it when eating them! So... just make a few more and make it more worthwhile! :-)

Cross-Country Cooking

Carpaccio di Manzo, Puntarelle, Cimmaron e Pinoli

Beef Carpaccio, Puntarelle, Cimmaron and Pine Nuts

I just couldn't resist the puntarelle today at Nina's stall at the market hall- especially as I know how lucky and blessed I am to be able to buy them here in Frankfurt... at the same time- you know me well enough by now... I always like to do something different and new if I can! 

So into my bag they went, along with a few other goodies, and onwards I went. on my search for other ingredients- and lo and behold, Mrs. Wong had more of that lovely cimmaron that I have now grown to love, with its intense coriander flavor. 

Great. 2 ingredients that don't necessarily belong together and still no idea what to cook for supper! There was only one thing for it... to go on shopping and pick up a couple more ingredients until things fell into place...

I decided to pick up a fresh package of pine nuts whilst I was at it, as they always are nice to have and then decided I should maybe just save those things for another day and just make something simple instead. A nice beef carpaccio for a change- a hunk of bread, a little Parmesan on it and a glass of wine- maybe that would be the best idea for a change- just keep things simple and have a stress-free evening- why not?

Well, of course there was no reason "why not" at all- but there was also no reason why I couldn't combine those ingredients after all... because variety IS the spice of life- isn't that what they say?

So I had pine nuts and thinly sliced beef carpaccio, which are pretty Italian in their nature... even more so are the puntarelle, a truly roman ingredient. But then I had the cimmaron as well, which was very fresh and fragrant and more Asian tasting... and that was the thing that made me decide to make a very different kind of carpaccio...

First of all though, just a short word on the subject of carpaccio. Just ask your butcher to slice it for you- he will be pleased to do so- at least mine was today! Do not start banging it flat with a hammer or a glass- that just ruins the structure of the meat. If you want to cut the meat yourself, pop it into the freezer for an hour or so, so that it will become firmer and then slice it as thinly as you possibly can. When you lay it out onto your plate, take the back of your knife and smooth it out- almost as if you are spreading imaginary butter- this will flatten the meat down in a more gentle way. 

Once the beef has been evenly laid out on your serving dish, sprinkle it very lightly with sansho pepper- you really don't need much of it! Don't underestimate how strong it is, as it will literally knock your tongue out if you do! It has a wonderful but incredibly intense citrus flavor which is great in small doses, but will actually have an anesthetic reaction on your tongue if you add too much... and I am not kidding!

Next, finely chop the puntarelle and lay them decoratively atop the meat and then season the meat with a nice drizzle of Hoisin sauce. You can always add salt later as well, or even a little soy sauce, but I wanted to keep things tasting clearly and freshly of what they were, without adding too many outside seasonings.

I then popped a little handful of pine nuts into a hot pan to toast, and whilst that was happening, I finely chopped the cimmaron to go on top of the puntarelle and the carpaccio. I added the cimmaron, a light drizzle of sesame oil and the toasted pine nuts and patted myself on the back for doing something other than the typical, beef, arugula and Parmesan. That's a nice combination at the best of times- but this Asian influenced one ain't bad either! 

The best thing about it was that the sansho pepper was a great, invisible but really tasty spice that totally elevated the flavor of the meat. The puntarelle were slightly bitter but also very refreshing and the combination with the Hoisin, sesame oil and crunchy pine nuts was lovely and well rounded. But oh! That sansho pepper! That's the make-or-break ingredient here!

Go out and get some- be careful- but be daring! And take it from me- you are going to like it too!