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Procrastinating Happiness

January 3, 2010 by trissalicious

Dorie Greenspan’s Cinnamon Raisin Buns , Brown Sugar Sticky Pecan Buns

Sticky, gooey, cinnamon buns with a dough recipe from Dorie Greenspan

Let me tell you a story about Annie and her husband. I’ve never met Annie, never spoken to her and she doesn’t even know I exist. And her husband? He died at the age of 35.

But somehow, I know they will change my life. I came across Annie while reading an article from the New York Times. The article was on how people tend to procrastinate having fun. How many of us are guilty of NOT redeeming frequent flier miles, NOT cashing in gift certificates, NOT drinking that special bottle of wine (in my case, SAVING that special bottle of balsamic vinegar for a special occasion)? Many of us are by nature, procrastinators of pleasure.

If there is one thing I urge you to do today please read these articles . I don’t think I can paraphrase better than the author can write so best you check it out yourself . Please don’t just bookmark it and save reading for a day when you have more time. Read it now.

So I learned about Annie when I read her comment to the article. This is what she said:

“My late husband was a frugal, intelligent, cautious man who made choices carefully, researched his options, weighed the cost versus benefits of any situation and generally erred on the side of saving, money, time, and energy for later. He worked very hard, took good care of his health and his things and didn’t allow himself too much pleasure, often stealing from the pleasures he did allow to touch him by worrying that they were undeserved or could have been gotten for a better price, the time or money used for something more “useful”. He died when he was 35 years old with money in the bank and all his bills paid. He loved to ski but hadn’t done any skiing in years. He was waiting, who knows what for? I have made it my task in life to honor his memory by living the life he denied himself. I appreciated everything about him, and I know he is glad that I am living a joyful life in his absence. It was the only request he made of me before he left the planet, that I be happy. If you can’t seem to allow yourself joy for your own sake, do it for someone who can’t do it for themselves. A friend or love one who is in the hospital or sick, or dying or gone. Do it in celebration of them and the life they didn’t get to live fully….”

Why do people put of for tomorrow what they can enjoy today?

So here’s a simple New Year’s Resolution that I have made to myself – start having fun… NOW!

Oh, and what better way to do it than to make some delicious Cinnamon Raisin Buns using Dorie Greenspan’s Spiced Sweet Dough.

Cinnamon Rolls


Basic Recipe – Spiced Sweet Dough Adapted from Dorie Greenspan

  • 1 cup warm whole milk (41 c)
  • 2 envelopes active dry yeast (total 14 grams or 4 1/2 teaspoons)
  • 1/4 teaspoon plus 2/3 cup sugar
  • 3 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature(125 grams)
  1. Stir milk, yeast, and 1/4 teaspoon sugar in small bowl. Let stand until mixture bubbles, about 6 minutes. Stir again.
  2. Mix remaining 2/3 cup sugar and orange peel in medium bowl.
  3. Add flour, cinnamon, salt, and ginger to bowl of heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment; mix on low speed. Add yeast mixture; mix on medium-low speed until dry shaggy mass forms, scraping down bowl occasionally, about 2 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk; beat on medium speed until well blended. At this point in time I was starting to doubt the recipe was going to work. The dough did not seem to be coming together into a smooth mass, it had looked almost like it had split.
  4. Add sugar mixture; beat until moist soft dough that resembles thick batter forms, about 3 minutes. Dough now starting to improve… looks like there is hope!
  5. Add butter by 1 1/2 tablespoonfuls; beat on medium-low speed until almost incorporated before adding more, about 2 minutes (dough will be sticky). Beat dough on medium-high 2 minutes longer. Finally dough has come together into a smooth mass! Hooray! Let dough rest in bowl 10 minutes (dough will become less sticky).
  6. Scrape dough out onto work surface; gather together. Place in large buttered bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise at room temperature until almost doubled, about 2 hours. Punch dough down; cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.

Fill with cinnamon, brown sugar, raisins and orange zest

Recipe for Filling – adapted from Dorie Greenspan

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 6 tablespoons golden brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange peel
  • 3/4 cup raisins
  • Spiced Sweet Dough (above)
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, warm room temperature (Around 125 grams)
  1. Butter two 33 x 23 x 5-cm baking dishes.
  2. Whisk both sugars and cinnamon in small bowl.
  3. Turn cold Spiced Sweet Dough out onto floured surface; sprinkle with flour. Divide dough in half. Roll out dough to two 38 x 30 -cm rectangles. Using fingers, spread 4 tablespoons butter evenly over each rectangle. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar, half of the grated orange peel and half of the raisings over each. Starting at 1 long side of each dough rectangle, tightly roll up dough jelly-roll style, enclosing filling. Using a piece of butcher’s twine, cut each roll crosswise into fifteen 1-inch-thick slices. (See image below, otherwise, use a sharp knife). Arrange 15 dough slices in the baking dish, spacing evenly apart. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in warm draft-free area until buns are puffy and doubled, about 1 hour 45 minutes. This will depend on the weather as well. It has very hot the day I made these and only needed an hour before the buns rose.
  4. Preheat to 170 °C (fan forced). Bake buns until deep golden brown and filling is barely bubbling around edges, about 25 minutes. Let buns stand 2 minutes. Cool at least 45 minutes. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Use butcher's string to

To Glaze (optional)

  • 1 cup icing sugar, sifted
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  1. Heat the milk and maple syrup in a small saucepan.
  2. Pour the milk mixture into a bowl with the icing sugar and stir until the mixture is lump free.
  3. Spread over the cinnamon rolls.

Variation – Bon Appetite Magazine also has Ms Greenspan’s recipe using the same sough for Brown Sugar-Pecan Sticky Buns.

Posted in Bake | Tagged , , , | 39 Comments »

Blueberry and Vanilla Mousse Tart & Generosity

December 30, 2009 by trissalicious

Blueberry and Pistachio Tart

As 2009 draws to an end, I can’t help but reflect on what a wonderful and fulfilling year it has been.  I started this blog at the end of March this year and I can clearly remember how early on I struggled to find my voice and sense of style.  This led to very infrequent posts and for the first few months, I was discouraged by the lack of progress I was making with my blog and nearly gave up. 

Throughout the year I have met some wonderful bloggers that have provided invaluable guidance and have encouraged me to pursue this little project of mine.  Many of them have now become friends.  I am sure, if you read this, you know who you are.  We see each other almost every day – through a comment, an email or even an occasional gathering. And then there have been people who I thought would never give me the time of day only to be surprised at their generosity and total willingness to go out of their way to help me. 

Take Peter for instance from Souvlaki For The Soul.  Peter’s blog is recognized as one of the top 50 World’s Best Food Blogs.  With the number of blogs out there, this is not a accolade that is handed out lightly.   When you visit his site – you will understand why.  A combination of beautiful photography, gorgeous styling, delicious recipes and witty writing leaves me entranced with each visit.  I emailed him one day asking advice about camera lenses and we got to talking.  One thing led to another and the next thing I know he is giving me tips on photography and styling.  To Peter, Thank you! … ευχαριστώ.

Blueberry and Pistachio Tart

Recipe (adapted from Stephane Glacier’s Verrines et Petit Gateaux)

Sable Breton

  • 250 grams butter
  • 235 grams sugar
  • 7 grams salt
  • 100 grams egg yolks
  • 335 grams flour
  • 12 grams baking powder
  1. Beat the butter, sugar and salt in a stand mixer using a paddle attachment.
  2. Add the egg yolks, one at a time and beat until combined.
  3. Add the sifted flour and baking powder.
  4. Knead lightly on a lightly floured surface and wrap in plastic wrap.
  5. Rest the dough for at least two hours before using.
  6. When ready to use, roll the dough to around 6 mm thickness and cut with greased rings (I used egg rings)
  7. Bake in the rings in a preheated oven at 150c (fan forced) for 30 minutes.

Vanilla Mousseline Cream

  • 250  grams milk
  • 1/2 vanilla pod
  • 50 grams egg yolks
  • 50 grams sugar
  • 27 grams corn starch (or custard powder)
  • 125 grams butter
  1. Heat the milk, half the sugar and the vanilla pod split lengthwise in a saucepan.
  2. In a bowl, mix the rest of the sugar and the cornstarch and then add the egg yolks.
  3. Once the milk boils, remove it from the heat and pour some of the milk in the bowl with the egg yolks.  This is to temper the mixture.
  4. Then add the rest of the milk into the bowl and mix.
  5. Pour the whole mixture back into the saucepan  and boil for around 2 minutes, constantly stirring.
  6. Add the butter and mix thoroughly. Transfer to a bowl.
  7. Cover the top of the mixture with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 20 minutes to cool quickly.
  8. Keep in the fridge overnight to set.
  9. Use an electric hand held mixer and whisk at an average speed to obtain a light cream.  This is now ready to use.

Assembly – top each baked tart shell with some vanilla mousseline cream and top with your favorite fruit.  (I used blueberries but strawberries or mangoes would work well too!).

Stumble It!

Posted in Bake | Tagged , , | 50 Comments »

Eggplant Ravioli and Second Chances…

December 27, 2009 by trissalicious

Eggplant and Taleggio Pasta

How often are you likely to give someone a second chance? More than two years ago I asked my husband if we could get another dog to keep Baci company during the day.  For those who don’t know, Baci is my four year old labrador.  At two years old I thought it was about time Baci got a companion.  So after some persuading, and some research we got a little labrador from a breeder.  Her name was Bisous.  As all labrador puppies are, she was adorable (and yes I am biased!) but other than that, there isn’t much that I can say about her  because I hardly got to know her.

For three days she was with us, I would take Baci for a walk very early in the morning (as I always do).   Bisous was too small to leave the house so I left her in the house while my husband slept.  Every morning as I started walking up the road I heard Bisous whimper and then she started yowling and I said to myself that she must be lonely but she would eventually stop after a few minutes.

Coming back around 30 minutes later, she would still be crying when I got home.

Pasta sheets

One day I got home and my husband met me at the door – he was frantic.

“Guess what” he said.  “Bisous has been crying the whole time”.

“Oh no…” I closed my eyes and prepared for the worst.

“The neighbor came, complaining.  They said if I didn’t make her shut up – they would!” he added.

I panicked.

To make a long story short, I called the breeder and asked her if she could take back Bisous for a few weeks and train her to be “more independent” – maybe teach her to be on her own a few hours a day so that when she came back to me she wouldn’t cry like she did that first morning. The breeder was kind enough to agree so that night my husband and I went to take Bisous back.

On the way home I was full of guilt and confusion about what I had done.  I started crying and telling my husband that we should have tried harder to train her, that he should have just woken up the same time I did every morning and kept Bisous company while I walked Baci.

Then, my husband said something that just made everything clear.

“Maybe we just weren’t ready.”

Truth was, I wasn’t.  We were working 12 hour days there was just no time for a new addition to the family.

The next day, I called the breeder who understood and was even grateful for my honesty.  But I really felt like I blew it.  I had lost my chance at getting a companion for Baci.

Six months later, my parents came for a two month holiday and I decided then that this was the right time to get a new puppy.  After all, my Dad was an early riser, he could keep the puppy company during the day and while I walked Baci (strangely enough, the new puppy never cried when we left her alone).  Again, after much persuasion (even more than the last time!), we got Bizou.

When I look back at the events that took place in order to get Bizou, I think “how stressful!”.   But then when I am sitting on the lounge, and she jumps up and lays by my side and rests her head on my lap – I know it is all worth it.  I am glad to have had a second chance.

Some recipes also deserve a second chance.  Like this one here.  When I first started blogging I wrote about how I learned to make this recipe after attending a class at the Council of Italian Restaurants in Australia.  This recipe was passed on by Logan Campbell, the head chef at Lucio’s restaurant.  Lucio’s is a two hat restaurant (awarded by the Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Food Guide) and one of Australia’s finest Italian Restaurants.

To be perfectly honest, I was not planning to blog about this pasta dish as I had already done so in the past.  But I made it tonight for a family dinner and I had to go back to my old post to look for the recipe.  I saw the old pictures and I thought I didn’t really do justice to the dish.  It is such a delicious recipe that I knew it deserved… a second chance.

Eggplant and Taleggio Ravioli

Recipe

Pasta Ingredients

  • 300 grams plain flour
  • 3 large eggs
  • pinch of salt

Filling Ingredients (you will probably have leftover filling depending on how you fill your pasta)

  • 1 large eggplant, diced
  • 1/2 bunch picked thyme
  • 100 grams diced taleggio cheese (I used Mauri Taleggio)
  • 50 grams parmesan cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 bunch chopped parsley
  • salt and pepper

To Serve

  • 125 grams butter
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
  • A few sprigs of parsley

Pasta

  1. Pour flour onto benchtop and make a well in the centre.
  2. Place the salt and add the eggs into the well and incorporate until the dough forms
  3. Knead for 5 minutes and rest covered for 1 hour

Filling

  1. Sprinkle the eggplant with salt and let stand 20 minutes
  2. Rinse off the salt and drain
  3. Saute the eggplant in a little olive oil, add thyme and cook until eggplant is browned
  4. Allow to cool and then mix the eggplant with the cheeses, egg and parsley
  5. Season with salt and pepper

Ravioli

  1. Using a pasta machine roll out the dough until a thin sheet is formed. Brush with egg wash and place some the ravioli mix along the sheet 3 centimeters apart.
  2. Roll another sheet and place on top of the first, pressing down around the mix to remove any air pockets. Using cutters, cut the ravioli out removing excess dough around each one. Place on a floured tray and cover.
  3. Bring a pot of water to the boil.
  4. Melt the butter in a large frying pan.
  5. Blanch the ravioli for three minutes the drain.
  6. When the butter is brown and foaming, add the pasta, balsamic vinegar and walnuts.
  7. Garnish with chopped parsley.
  8. Toss and serve.

Buon Appetito

Stumble It!

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Tortilla Española

December 26, 2009 by trissalicious

Tortilla Española

Do you find that your taste in food changes over the years? I know a few people that used to detest fruitcake but now enjoy it.  Growing up, one of the only tapas I refused to eat was the Tortilla . For some reason I had this notion that because it was just made from onions, potatoes and eggs, it was so boring and when you were faced with a spread of garlicky prawns, creamy croquetas of chicken, or stuffed mussels, it was easy to overlook the tortilla.

A few years ago I reconsidered the tortilla and am glad I did.  With such simple (and might I add, limited!) ingredients – one of Spain’s most loved dishes is created.  The tortilla is simply a potato omelet.  However, the technique to making this is not that simple – the three tip  to a successful tortilla are:

  1. slice the potatoes thinly, using a mandolin if you can
  2. don’t fry the potatoes, instead, cook them slowly in olive oil, the idea is not to get too much colour on them
  3. don’t be afraid to practice “flipping” the tortilla – this is what gives it its shape.  When you first start, the smaller the skillet, the easier to flip.  You might want to first half this recipe and use a smaller skillet for the first few times.

But with anything, once you know the technique, it is fun to make.  This is the best “make ahead” dish I know.  This is one of the dishes I served at the recent foodbloggers picnic.  It is actually best served at room temperature but it is so versatile you can serve it hot or cold.

Eggs, potatoes, onions and olive oil - that's it!

Recipe – serves 6 as a tapa (adapted from Penelope Casas The Foods and Wines of Spain)

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 4 large waxy potatoes, slicely finely
  • 1 onion, sliced finely
  • 4 eggs
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Heat some of the olive in a 20 cm skillet.  Add some of the  potato slices so that you cover the skillet with a layer of the potatoes.  Next, add some of the onions and season with salt.  Alternate the potatoes and onions, adding olive oil as you go.  So basically it is potatoes, then onions, the salt, then a drizzle of olive oil before you add on the next layers.  Potatoes, onions, salt, olive oil etc.  Cook this over medium heat, turning the mixture once in a while until the potatoes are tender but not browned.  This took me around 15 minutes but cooking times can vary.
  2. When the potatoes are done, they should be tender enough to be pricked with a fork without any resistance, drain them in a colander, reserving the olive oil to use for cooking the rest of the omelet.  If there is more oil than what you need, don’t throw it away – this can be used for cooking other things as well so save it for future use.
  3. Beat the eggs in a bowl and add the drained potato mixture and let sit for around 15 minutes.
  4. Clean the skillet and heat 2 tablespoons of the olive in the large skillet until very hot and add the potato mixture, rapidly spreading it out in the skillet.  Lower the heat to medium and shake the pan often to prevent sticking. Use a thin spatula to run along the sides of the skillet so that some of the egg can run under and cook more evenly.  This takes around 6 to 8 minutes.
  5. When the mixture begins to brown and just before you flip the tortilla, loosen it by sliding a thin spatula between the egg and the side of the skillet walls. Place a plate slightly larger than the skillet over the skillet.  Remove the skillet from the heat and flip the omelet on to the plate so you can brown the other side.
  6. Add about 2 tablespoons more to the skillet, and then slide the flipped omelet back on to the skillet so that the cooked side is facing the top.  Cook the omelet for another 5 minutes over medium heat.
  7. Flip the omelet 2 or 3 more times (this helps to give a good shape), cooking briefly on each side.
  8. Transfer to a plate, use some kitchen paper to drain the excess oil.
  9. Cut into wedges, place a toothpick on each wedge (and a chorizo adds a nice touch too).

Stumble It!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments »

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2009 by trissalicious

Happy Holidays from Baci and Bizou!

Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Comments »

Niçoise on Choux & a Story on Miss Tuna

December 23, 2009 by trissalicious

Niçoise on Choux Pastry

I met Wendy during my third job after University.  I was what they called a “dealer” which basically entailed buying and selling stocks on behalf of the firm’s institutional clients.  One day, I found out that she was hired to be my assistant.  She wasn’t reporting to me directly, but she was junior to me and she would help me execute the orders on the busy days.  Being only a few years apart, we became great friends.  She was cheerful (even on a Monday), totally outspoken (even if she was junior to everyone in the office she was not afraid to speak her mind to the most senior of bosses), and her attitude was infectious.

On most days we would have lunch at the office cafeteria.  I eventually dubbed her “Miss Tuna” as she would always order the tuna sandwich.  Everyday she would carefully scrutinize the cafeteria board as if she was planning to order something else.  Sometimes, she would ask the lady behind the counter “whats today’s special?”  but inevitably, she would order the tuna sandwich.

Not only were we close at work, we also hung out after work as well.  She knew I had a crush on one of the dealers from another firm and she would set up after work drinks so we could all hang out together.  I knew that her mother disapproved of her boyfriend so she would tell her mom that we were going out when in fact she was out with her boyfriend.  If you ask me if we were best friends, no we weren’t… but we were good friends, more like partners in crime.

One day my boss gave me a large order to execute for a first time client.  This was the “test” order and the pressure was on the make sure that nothing went wrong.  Things were hectic and the market was moving so I called Wendy (she was stationed in the trading floor while I was in the office) to take care of some of the orders.  When the stockmarket closed I called her up to the office to sort our trades.

“Where’s the fifth trade?” I asked her.

“What fifth trade?  You only gave me four.” She replied.

“No! That’s can’t be – it was five trades.  See?  I have it written down.”  I told her.

Of course she insisted she only heard me say four.  It was really a game of she said, she said.  Maybe I was wrong, and only gave her four trades.  Or maybe she was wrong and she just forgot to execute the last trade… all I remember is that things were strained that afternoon.  I had to explain to my boss what happened and of course my boss lashed out on me.  I, in turn, gave Wendy the silent treatment the whole afternoon.

Niçoise on Choux Pastry

The next day we didn’t have lunch together.  Neither did we have lunch the day after, or the day after that.  We still chatted at work but things were never the same.  No longer did she help me set up the after work drinks and I never found out who she used as an excuse to go out with her boyfriend anymore.

When I left the job a few months later she didn’t even say goodbye.

I suppose, if we both really wanted to, we could have made it work.  I could have said sorry, I could have clarified why I was so angry that day.

Or even, I could have invited her to lunch the day after for a tuna sandwich…

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!


Recipe

Choux Pastry Here

Niçoise Salad – no recipe here  – It was just some lettuce, tuna (dressed with some olive oil, anchovies, and red wine vinegar), hard boiled eggs and tomatoes.  Feel free to add black olives and capers if you have them on hand.

Stumble It!

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The Sushi Party!

December 21, 2009 by trissalicious

Jack and Ben getting ready for the Masterchef Challenge... Itadaki-masu

One of my first memories in the Kitchen was watching my Mom cook.  I can recall asking her if I could help her.  Whether it be just to stir a sauce, chop an onion or peel a carrot.  The answer was usually that we should “just watch”.  As you know, “watching” isn’t half as interesting as  “doing” which is why we really didn’t develop that interest in cooking until much later on.

The latest range of Junior MasterChef products is a great way to encourage children to get interested in cooking at an early age.  When Kath from Be.Interactive and Fiona from Mark Communications offered that I test drive one of the kits available, I immediately jumped at the chance and asked for the Rice Kit.  Being Filipino, rice is very much considered a staple in our culture, as well as most Asian cultures.  I am glad that the new range also catered to all those that love rice!!

The Rice Kit contains a microwaveable rice cooker,  rice bowl, serving spoon, chopsticks, measuring cup and recipe cards.  I thought that it would be fun to get my nephew Ben and one of his best friend’s Jack to come over this weekend and road test the rice kit and have a sushi party!  The idea was to make the rice ahead of time and provide the boys with a selection of sushi fillings and get them to make their own rolls.

I was a bit apprehensive to use the microwave to make “sushi” rice but I am happy to report it turned out fine.  The technique I used to microwave the rice can be found here.  The recipe for the sushi dressing for the rice was given to me by Jack’s Mom (who is Japanese) and it was so simple to prepare and came out perfect – just like what I would have in any top Japanese restaurant.

Junior Masterchef Rice Kit

Recipe

  • 3 1/2 cups short grain rice, washed
  • 4 cups water
  • 3 inch square konbu (optional)

Vinegar Dressing Recipe

  • 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
  • 5 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt

When cooking the rice in the microwave, place the konbu on top of the rice.  Prepare the vinegar dressing by dissolving the sugar and salt on the rice vinegar over low heat.  Force cool to room temperature by pouring the hot vinegar mixture over the rice and place this on top of another bowl of water and ice.  Twirl the rice using the serving spoon provided until the rice comes to room temperature.

The fillings we used for the rolls were as follows – seaweed, salmon roe, tuna, king fish, salmon, cucumbers, prawns, tamago yaki (egg) and  crab sticks.

Sushi Roll Fillings

Recipe Tamago Yaki

Tamago Yaki

Put two five year olds in a room with some sushi rice, sushi roll fillings and a little bit of imagination and you get loads of fun !!  I asked Ben what the best part of the sushi party was and he said “putting fillings in the rice and rolling them up!”  Would he want to do it again?  “Yes please!” he said.

Ben and Jack with the Junior Masterchef Rice Kit

Clowning around before we got to cooking...

Okay... here we go!

"You mean we can put ANY filling we want? Do you have chocolate??"

"I'll have a prawn..."

"Rolling is fun!"

"This is soooo yummy!"

"Can I have one more?"

"Using chopsticks is easy!"

"We had so much fun!"

The end... Gochiso-sama

 

The Junior MasterChef kits are available to purchase from here.  They are also available at all the leading retailers such as Myer, K-Mart, Target and Big W. It’s the perfect Christmas present so hurry while stocks last.

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Kulinarya Club Celebrates Noche Buena

December 20, 2009 by trissalicious

Prawns Thermidor

Noche Buena is a traditional celebration in the Philippines.  Literally meaning “Good Night”, this usually entails families gathering on the eve of Christmas for a late family meal.  Growing up, I had two Noche Buenas.  The first one was celebrated with my Dad’s family and the second and later one, with my Mom’s. For Noche Buena with my Dad’s relatives we would spend each year in his sister’s house.  My Tita Bebe (my father’s elder sister) would prepare a fantastic feast but the one dish that really stood out for me were the Prawns Thermidor.  I’ve always associated this dish as being so decadent and festive.  She would prepare this dish by

  1. removing the prawn meat but keeping the shells whole
  2. preparing the thermidor sauce and adding  the prawn meat
  3. stuffing the prawn thermidor into the shells
  4. and finally baking them

You can imagine what a laborious process, especially when feeding her family and friends, but I guess she really only had to do it once a year!

Prawns Thermidor

When I moved to Sydney and was going to spend our first Christmas away from Manila, I immediately emailed my Aunt for the recipe.  Since then, it has been one of my staple dishes – it’s a sure crowd pleaser and if you are not inclined to stuff the prawns, just place it in a festive serving dish.  So here’s my favourite Noche Buena dish.  Enjoy!  And as we say in the Philippines – Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon (Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!)

Recipe (serves 5 as part of several main dishes)

  • 10 king prawns
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • 1 small carrot, finely diced
  • 1 celery stalk, finely diced
  • 1/2 red pepper, finely diced
  • 5 to 10 button mushrooms (depending on size), diced
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 cup cheese (I used parmesan and gruyere)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Remove the prawn meat from the prawns by placing the prawn on a chopping board (eyes facing upwards), cutting the prawns in the middle with knife, or use scissors.  Carefully remove the prawn meat, keeping the shells intact.

    Prawn Shells

  2. Once the meat is removed, cut into bite sized pieces.
  3. Heat the olive oil and saute the onion until translucent.  Add the carrot and celery stalk and cook until soft, around 5 minutes.
  4. Next, add the red pepper and saute until soft, around 10 minutes.
  5. Add the mushrooms and cook for around 5 minutes.
  6. Deglaze the pan with the while wine and let cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.
  7. Add in the flour and cook out for 3 to 5 minutes.  Slowly add in the milk until the mixture thickens.
  8. Lastly, add the prawn meat and heat until just cooked.
  9. Cool the mixture and then stuff the prawn shells with the cooled prawn thermidor sauce (if you are not stuffing shells, just place in a serving dish)

    Prawn Thermidor Filling

  10. Top with cheese and bake in a preheated oven at 180c (fan forced for 15 minutes).

Prawns prior to baking

Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colourful cuisine.

Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.

If you’re interested in joining our Kulinarya Cooking Club, please feel free to drop by our foodblogs and leave a comment – we would love to hear from you!

Trissa, Kath and Trish

http://sugarlace.fragiled.net/

http://www.acupcakeortwo.com/

Welcome new Kulinarya Members (if I have missed anyone out PLEASE email me!)

Olive http://www.latestrecipes.net/
Caroline http://whenadobometfeijoada.blogspot.com/
Peachy http://www.thepeachkitchen.com/

Posted in Bake, Cook | Tagged , , , , , | 24 Comments »

A Day at The Kitchen of Quay Restaurant

December 16, 2009 by trissalicious

Quay's Confit of South Australian Squid

If you were curious enough to read the About Me section (which needs some serious updating!), you would have seen I spend my days working in a bank and the rest of the time I like to think of myself as a frustrated cook.  Who would have thought that these two seemingly opposite interests would one day marry?  This is exactly what happened a few weeks ago when I was invited (along with two other coworkers) by an investment bank for the first ever private lesson with Peter Gilmore at the kitchen of Quay Restaurant!

Free Range Chicken cooked with Truffle and Early Spring Vegetables

Peter Gilmore is the executive chef of  Quay Restaurant and has been running the kitchen since 2001.  Recognized as one of Australia’s finest restaurant, Quay has been awarded Restaurant of the Year for two consecutive years by both the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide and the Australian Gourmet Traveller for 2009 and 2010.  Additionally, they have been named as one of the world’s top 50 restaurants awarded by S. Pellegrino for 2009.

So you can imagine, being one in a group of only six people to watch Peter Gilmore cook  was somewhat like a child being invited to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory!

Confit of Shaved South Australian Squid, Garlic Custard and Roasted Squid Consomme

The first part of the class was a three hour session where Peter demonstrated three of his signature dishes.  The first dish was the his Confit of Shaved South Australian Squid, Garlic Custard and Roasted Squid Consomme.  I asked Peter how he got the squid so finely shaved.  Apparently they stack layers of squid, freeze them and then pass them through a slicer.  At this point, I am already adding slicer to my Christmas wish list!

I think this dish epitomizes Peter’s philosophy of looking to nature for inspiration and letting natural produce speak for itself.  Decorated with baby radishes and native violets, the dish is so beautiful I am hesitant to taste the finished product – but do anyway – and what can I say – it’s love at first bite!

The next dish up was the truffle poached chicken with early spring vegetables.  To prepare this dish does take some skill.  The first the skin of the chicken is removed, and then the dark meat is separated from the breast (the dark meat is not used in this dish), the skin is then laid on a flat surface and the breast meat and truffle butter is laid on top of the skin and rolled with cling film like a sausage.  The meat is then allowed to rest in the refrigerator for four hours to allow the protein to set.

Free Range Chicken with Truffles and Early Spring Vegetables

Once the chicken is ready, it is cooked in a temperature controlled water bath set at 68c for around 40 minutes.  Simultaneously, the vegetables are prepared and cooked in boiling salted water and dressed with butter.  Once the chicken is cooked and rested (around 5 minutes), more truffle butter is added and the chicken is finished in a moderate oven.

Plating the Chicken with Truffles and Early Spring Vegetables

If you are so inclined to try Quay’s signature recipe ( I am still working up the courage to try it myself!) here it is.

Gently Poached South Australian Squid, Garlic Custard, Baby Radishes, Native Violets, Roasted Squid Broth

Recipe (serves 4)

  • 1 kilo whole Southern squid
  • 2 Chinese red core radishes or 4 regular red radishes
  • 500 mls clarified butter
  • 16 small cherry bell radishes
  • 16 native violet flowers (optional)
  • 12 social garlic flowers (optional)

Garlic Custard

  • 2 small cloves garlic
  • 20 grams unsalted butter
  • 180 mls full cream milk
  • 1 whole egg
  • 1 egg yolk

Roasted Squid Broth

  • 1 litre chicken stock
  • 500 grams squid trimmings
  • 500 grams chicken wings
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 4 golden eschallots
  • 2 stocks white celery
  • 50 grams shitake mushrooms
  • 1 small carrot
  • 200 mls dry sake
  • 25 ml olive oil
  • salt

For the Roasted Squid Broth

In a heavy based saucepan heat the olive oil and add the squid trimmings, and chicken wings.  Roast in the oil until the squid and chicken wings are golden brown.  Moving them around with a wooden spoon as much as possible will help.  Once they are browned, finely chop all the vegetables and add them to the pot.  Saute for a further minute or two, add all of the sake to deglaze the pot and reduce until the sake has almost reduced completely.  Add the litre or chicken stock and simmer gently for 1 hour skimming any scum that comes to the surface using a ladle.  Turn the heat off and allow to infuse for 1 mor ehour.  Pass the broth through a fine muslin cloth lined strainer, discard the solids, keep the liquid, skim any remaining fat from the top, adjust the seasoning with sea salt.  You should have approximately  1/2 a litre or liquid left.  If you have more, reduce until you have 1/2 a litre remaining.  Place in the refrigerator until needed.

Garlic Custard

For the garlic custard, melt the butter in a small saucepan and chop the two garlic gloves roughly.  Gently sweat the garlic in the butter but do not allow it to colour.  Add the 180 mls of milk and bring the liquid to the point just before simmering (about 90c).  Remove the pot from the heat and allow the garlic to infuse into the milk for about 15 minutes.  Strain the milk and discard the garlic.  Season the milk with sea salt to taste.  When the milk has cooled sufficiently, whisk the milk onto the egg and egg yolk in a stainless steel bowl.   Place the egg and milk mixture into 4 ceramic containers, approximately 50 mls in each.  Cover the container with cling film and place in the refrigerator until needed.

Squid and Radishes

Clean the squid, removing all the guts.  Cut the tubes in half and with a clean kitchen towel, rub off all the skin.  Slice the squid tubes into 1 cm wide strips – put aside.  For the red core radishes, peel the radishes and slice into fine discs.  If you are using regular radishes do not peel them, just slice into fine discs.  Cut the tiny cherry bell radishes in half and put aside.

To Complete

Place the garlic custard ramekins into a steamer and steam on high for approximately 8 minutes.  In the meantime blanche the radishes for 1 minute in boiling salted water and in a shallow fry pan heat all of the clarified butter on a medium heat.  Quickly saute the sliced squid for less than 1 minute, you are just looking for the squid to turn opaque and slightly curled.  Drain the squid on kitchen paper.  Reheat the squid broth to just before boiling point.

To assemble, place the sliced radishes in a ring around each bowl.  Place a spoonful of each garlic custard in the center of each bowl.  Top the custard with the squid slices.  Garnish the squid with cherry bell radishes, native violets and social garlic flowers in using.  Pour the squid broth into a jug and pour a little onto the dish at the table in front of your guests.  The idea with this dish is that you have a spoonful of lush garlic custard, hot silky squid and roasted squid broth all at once.

The last dish was the Vanilla Mousse with Raspberries.  The recipe can be found here.

Which restaurant kitchen would you want to spend a day in?

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Quay’s Vanilla Mousse with Fresh Raspberries and The Ghost of Christmas Past

December 13, 2009 by trissalicious

Vanilla Mousse with Fresh Raspberries

Sometimes we hurt someone and never have the opportunity to say sorry.  Has this ever happened to you?  I am ashamed to admit that over the course of my life, the number of people I have upset or wounded by my unkind words has been too many to remember but there is always one incident that stands out… especially since it happened so close to Christmas time.

When I was much younger,  My Mom asked me to buy a box of frozen raspberries which she was going to use to make a Christmas pudding.  It was a few days before Christmas and I headed to one of the groceries situated beside a large shopping mall in the Philippines.    You can imagine, a few days before Chrstimas, everyone trying to finish their last minute shopping – it was almost impossible to find a parking space!  After almost twenty minutes in the parking lot, I finally spotted a free spot which I drove towards.  At the same time, another car pulled up from the other side to try and park in that one slot.

There was no way I was going to let that slot go!  I guess the driver in the other car had pretty much the same idea and was also determined to take that slot.

BEEEEEP! I honked my horn.  BEEEEP BEEEEP!! He replied.

Vanilla Mousse, Raspberries and Raspberry Gelee

I was pissed and we both got out of our cars.

I knew immediately when I saw him that he was someone’s chauffeur.  His shirt was a faded blue as if it  had been washed too many times and there was a little hole that had been stitched up on his sleeve.  He was much older than I was, or so he seemed, maybe 50 or so.  His hair was grey and his face dark brown and wrinkled.

We argued for a few minutes and the conversation between us went something like this:

Me:  What do you think you’re doing?  I got here first!

Him:  Of course not!  I saw the parking slot first – and I am going to park here!

Finally, I was tired and cranky and decided to put this to rest.  I told him something that I will forever regret.

“Get out of my way, you’re just a driver. I’m going to park in this slot whether you like it or not”

He looked at me shocked.  As if I had slapped him.  His face, although a deep brown,  turned bright red.  I could see he wanted to say something, to defend himself, to maybe hurt me as much as I had hurt him… but he didn’t.  He shook his head and got into his car and drove away.

I had won!  But I never felt more like a failure. I tried to justify my actions by saying he had tried to steal my parking slot.  But whichever way I looked at it – I was wrong.  How could I have said something so heartless… I don’t know.

How could I have hurt someone like that over a box of raspberries… I will never know.

Sometimes during the Christmas season I remember him and think of him as my “Ghost of Christmas Past”. The ghost that is there to remind me that  words can hurt.  There is no way that I can tell him how truly sorry I was and no way to make amends.  As much as I try to forget, my actions will haunt me forever.

Who is your Ghost of Christmas Past?

Fresh Raspberries

Recipe – adapted from Quay Restaurant

  • 250 ml milk
  • 50 grams caster sugar
  • 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
  • 1 1/2 sheets titanium gelatine (7.5 grams) soaked in cold water for 5 minutes
  • 250 ml cream
  • 70 ml egg whites ( about 2 eggs from 55 gram eggs)
  • 125 grams caster sugar
  1. Heat the milk, 50 grams sugar and vanilla bean until just simmering.
  2. Squeeze water from the gelatine and whisk into the milk until dissolved.  Cool slightly (15 to 20 minutes), strain into a bowl.
  3. Meanwhile, whisk the cream in a bowl until soft peaks form.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggwhites, gradually adding sugar until stiff peaks form.
  5. Fold the cream and meringue gently through the cooled milk mixture.
  6. Place in a bowl and refrigerate until set (around 6 hours)

Raspberry Gelee

  • 420 grams raspberry puree
  • 35 grams caster sugar
  • 1 1/2 sheets or 7.5  grams of gelatine leaves (titanium strength)
  1. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water.
  2. Heat the raspberry puree and sugar until the sugar dissolves and the puree comes to a boil.
  3. Remove the raspberry puree mixture from the heat.
  4. Remove the excess moisture from the gelatine and heat the gelatine in the microwave until it melts, around 15 to 20 seconds
  5. Temper the gelatine by adding a little bit of the raspberry puree to the gelatine and stir gently to combine
  6. Then add the raspberry and gelatine mixture to the rest of the raspberry puree.

Quay's Vanilla Mousse

To Assemble

Pipe some vanilla mousse on to a cup, add some raspberry gelee, top with more vanilla mousse and finish with fresh raspberries.

Stumble It!

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