Orange and Chili Tiger Prawns with Lemon Thyme

Although I have posted about prawns before (and here, and here, too), I still don’t feel that I have done this amazing, healthy and luxurious food justice.  In my opinion, crustaceans in general, and giant prawns in particular, are among the best things to eat – and easiest to prepare as well.

Besides, it’s early March, which here, in Sweden, is still technically winter – if you count -12C overnight temperatures and snow piles not yet melted outside as winter.  I mean, we have flowers now, too – the snowdrops are blooming their white little hearts out – but it’s still winter.  Not for much longer, though – and while I love the Scandinavian winter, I long for summer warmth.  And nothing screams summer like citrusy prawns with just a touch of heat and bite from chili.  When consumed, they instantly transfer you to a sunny spot in a garden – provided that you’ve remembered to shut the windows against the bright sunny -5C day outside after freezing airing the apartment out.  What I am trying to say, is that these aren’t just for when it is summer out – they are even more wonderful when you wish it already were.

The best part about these (after how divinely they taste – the clean, bright flavors are such an antithesis to all the winter soups and stews and roasts!), is how amazingly easy and fast these are to prepare.  You know me.  I will not wiggle a lazy little toe more than I have to, and yet I want to eat and I want to eat healthy and gorgeously.  And these prawns are it.  And you can start with a bag of them deep-frozen, like I have, because prawns are one of those foods that defrost quickly and well when submerged in a sealed bag in a bowl of cool water.  You can have these prawns out of the freezer and on the table within 30 minutes if you want – although I would recommend taking closer to an hour during which you do something else – like take a shower, read a book or vacuum the apartment out – while they marinate.  But because seafood soaks up flavors so fast, an entire 40 minutes of marinating is not strictly necessary – these will be fine just after ten.

Ready?  Here’s what you need for a summer-invoking lunch for two:

• 6 giant tiger prawns or 10-12 regular-sized ones
• 1 orange, zested and juiced
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, stripped off twigs and chopped (I just took scissors to my lemon thyme pot on the window with some rigor)
• 1 teaspoon of chili flakes (more or less depending on how hot your chili flakes are and how much heat you like)
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of salt to taste
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, pressed
• A squeeze of lemon (entirely optional – I added this because my orange was very sweet and lacked any hint of citrus tang.  If you are blessed with a tangy orange, this is not needed)
• 2-3 tablespoons of neutral cooking oil – I use rapeseed (canola) because it has a similar fatty acid profile to olive (very good for your health!) but not the strong olive taste
• A cast iron griddle
• Makings for a green salad and/or some bread – whatever you like with your crustaceans

Here’s what you do:

• Put your frozen-solid prawns into a plastic bag and submerge it while holding the top above water, into a bowl of cool water.  Clip top shut after the air is forced out.  Let float.
• In meantime, juice and zest your orange.  Discard pulp and put the zest and juice in a bowl.
• Press garlic into same bowl, add chili flakes and chopped thyme and swirl with a spoon to dissolve salt and taste, then adjust seasoning if needed.  Set aside.
• Poke your prawns.  They should be defrosted or nearly so.  Rinse them in cold water and using sharp kitchen shears cut through their backs and devein them if needed.  Devein if needed, cut through backs in any case unless they are already pre-cut.
• Drain on paper towel where they can finish defrosting if they are still a little stiff inside.
• In meantime add the oil to your marinade and swish with a spoon or fork to mix.  Add prawns one by one to the bowl, poking them about so that marinade gets inside the cut  backs of shells.  Push them into the liquid as far as they’ll go (mine stuck out some) and let sit 10-40 minutes, depending on how hungry you are.
• Five minutes before you take the prawns out of the marinade (or nearly right away if you are opting for the 10-minute marinade), preheat a heavy cast iron frying pan coated with a thin layer of lard (if you are against lard, use non-hydrogenated shortening, coconut or cooking oil, whatever floats your cookware!) on medium heat.  I use setting 6/9 on my induction stove.  The pan should get hot enough to sizzle if you splash a drop of water on it, but not nearly hot enough to smoke.
• While pan heats, arrange your salad on plates, toast bread, etc.
• When ready, fish prawns out of the marinade (I use a pair of steel kitchen tongs), shake excess marinade off, and set them onto the hot pan.  Prawns (over)cook very quickly, so don’t walk away!
• Cook without moving on one side until the prawn flesh has gone opaque at least to the halfway point in the cut you made in back of shell, and the shell on the underside has turned gorgeously pink.
• Flip the prawns and cook until the prawn is opaque throughout and no bits of shell are ‘uncooked’ grey.  Do not cook longer than that, because overcooked prawns, which you have all met in many restaurants and family dinners, are rubbery.  And that’d be a shameful thing to do to such wonderful food!

Pour yourself a glass of sparkling or just a good white wine, and sit in a sunny spot in your room.  Instant summer!

Red Chili Con Carne for Dark Stormy Days

I’ve needed a bit of a rest after the activity of the parties, the guests, and running around all of previous weekend.  In addition to this, a couple of cyclones with reeeally low-pressure zones have passed over Sweden in the past week, rendering me into a tiny ball of hibernating creature in a pile of blankets.

So, I have spent the remainder of the week recuperating, reading books for my university, and eating comfort food.  What food?  Well considering that I am a huge fan of chili peppers and I love all things meat, and legumes are my friend – chili con carne of course!  It’s warming, it’s comforting, it’s filling and full-bodied and spicily aromatic, it’s thickly meaty and it’s simply gorgeously red – well, at least this one is!

... and it's holiday-colored to boot!

I’ve heard it (rightly!) said that there are as many ways to cook chili as there are cooks, and in fact there are more, because there are different kinds of chili that I make depending on what’s in the house and what I feel like, and in fact I’ve written about white chunky chili with black and white beans before (and the post linked has a lot of good info about stews and beans in general), and that one is wonderful.  But just because I love the black formal dress, doesn’t mean the red cocktail one languishes forgotten – and so this week, I made my glorious(ly easy) red chili.  Because tomato marries amazingly with the meat and beans and chili peppers and because when the weather is gloomy, this is what you need.  So, in my enlightened opinion, you should make it.  Seriously.

Now, before I go any further, please let me (again) admonish you to use good quality dried beans.  Beans are, for some reason, regarded as culinarily interchangeable in terms of where and how you get them (canned, packed, dried, whatever).  That is not true.  Neither is it true that beans all taste the same or have the same texture.

Pinto beans - thank you, wikipedia!

Having lived in the USA, I love pinto beans.  Not only are they bead-jewellery pretty, but their skins are not tough (compared, for example, to red kidney beans, which are), and they are wonderfully tender when cooked, which makes them (in my view) ideal for thick stews and chili.

Now, in the case of this chili, it is not of paramount importance which beans you prefer, but the quality of them, and the pre-soaking does matter.  Yes, you can buy the canned or packed versions, but they will not be the same simply because they always have firming agents added to prevent the beans from disintegrating while in aseptic storage (in the can or tetrapack), and that degrades both their taste, and more importantly, their texture.  I am not here (today) to preach about the evil of the food additives, but in this case, just about the fact that this specific one makes you compromise on the quality.  Your choice.

So, if you do want to follow my suggestion, this will involve overnight soaking of beans.  But, fear not – you need not stand over them all night!  A pot of cold water and the fridge do all the work!  No, really, they do!  And besides, cooking the beans at home after soaking reduces, the, ahm, less fortunate gastric effects of eating them, which is a good reason to do it all on its own!

So what do you need to make this?  (Makes a 2L pot of chili – feeds 4, or 2 – twice)

• 1 cup (2.5dl) dried beans of your choice, soaked in cold water overnight, drained and rinsed.
• 1-2 onions (depends on size of onions and how well you like them), peeled and chopped.
• 5-6 tablespoons of cooking fat of your choice.  I swear by rendered bacon grease, but butter or olive oil, or a combo of any of the above will work.
• ~ 500g ground meat.  I prefer to use blended beef and pork for more tenderness and flavor.
• 1dl white wine (optional but good!)
• Up to 1L of stock or boiling water with some meat or chicken fond in equivalent amount
• 1 box crushed tomatoes (about 500ml)
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1 large red chili OR 1-2 teaspoons of chili flakes OR the one fresh chili and some chili flakes, OR 2 red chilies… it all depends on your capsaicin tolerance (and mine is pretty high).
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of ground chipotle (smoked dried red jalapeno peppers), chipotle paste, or smoked hot paprika.
• 1-2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• A pinch of dried culinary lavender (optional but oh so gorgeously great – it goes amazingly well with chili pepper!)
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder or granules (entirely optional, but I am a garlic nut and it tends to bring out the flavor of the fresh garlic used more… MORE!!!)
• 3-4 bay leaves
• Sea salt to taste
• Some fresh oregano, parsley or coriander leaves (to serve)
• Sour cream or 10% fat turkish or greek yogurt (to serve)

What you do:

• (Skip this and next steps if using canned beans, just drain and rinse those) The night before, rinse your beans under running water, place in a bowl or pot, cover with a lot of cold water, put the lid on or plastic-wrap the top of bowl, and put in refrigerator (to prevent sprouting).
• When ready to make chili, drain, rinse again, and put in the pot with some cold water.  Bring to a boil, drain, rinse, replace water with fresh cold water, and then cook until nearly tender (this can be as little as 20 minutes or as long as 1 hour depending on your beans).
• While beans are cooking, preheat a large soup pot on medium heat, and add 2-3 tbsp of olive oil, butter or bacon fat.  When hot, add the onions and cook them slowly until they begin to caramelize (are translucent and get browned edges).
• In a frying pan (nonstick is ok), heat 1 tbsp of aforementioned fat on medium-high heat, and fry the ground meat until it’s browned.  Shove to the side, add garlic and chili (fresh or dried), and fry for a minute or so, then mix in and fry another 1-2 minutes on medium heat.  Turn heat off and add to the pot with onions as soon as onions are ready.  Rinse frying pan with a bit of boiling water or deglaze with wine and add to the pot.
• Add the chopped tomatoes (and if you have any sad-looking aging tomatoes in your fridge, they should get chopped and added too), the chipotle powder or paste, cumin, oregano, (optional) garlic granules or powder and bay leaves.  Add the nearly-done and drained beans, and enough stock or water+fond to nearly cover the meat and beans, and stir.
• Bring to a very low simmer, turn heat to low, cover and allow to cook, stirring occasionally, for about an hour, 1.5 hours is better.
• Taste, adjust seasonings, fish out the bay leaves if you can find them (or else you can do that when you eat, no huge deal), and add the lavender (if using), crushing the florets in your fingers.  Stir in.
• Place a heaping tablespoon or two of sour cream or yogurt into the bottoms of your serving bowls, ladle the chili over, and sprinkle with greenery.
• Take to sofa, pull the throw over your lap, lay a napkin on it, and go at it.

Bring along a huge mug of coffee, and listen to the wind howling outside.  There you go, gloominess and chill negated.

Thai Opulence In Your Kitchen

A few weeks ago I had decided that I wanted Thai food.

In particular, I wanted proper Phanaeng (aka Panang) curry, and I wanted to cook it myself.

So, with that goal in mind, we (that being myself and a Thai classmate from my Swedish course) went to the local Thai supermarket for various Southeast Asian food supplies.  Yes, I know regular Western supermarkets have them these days too, but neither the price nor quality compare.  Not to mention that the regular supermarkets flat-out don’t have some things, which even in my non-Thai view, are essential – such as frozen gyoza wrappers or fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves (no, dry ones don’t do it for me, and neither should they for you if you are after that good-Thai-restaurant flavor).

I find it interesting that a lof of Westerners (I use the term loosely and as opposed to Thai or other Southeast Asian people here, i.e. those who know about this sort of food from home kitchens) consider Southeast Asian food a bit of a mystery, despite loving it and eating in frequently in restaurants.  (I also consider it a bit of a mystery that after eating at some of those restaurants they still love it, but that’s a point aside…)  Yet, despite loving the food, very few ever learn how to make it, and most (that I’ve talked to) consider it both, complicated and difficult.

Truth be told, that while there are dishes in every cuisine which challenge even renowned chefs, most of the food you’d get served in a Thai restaurant is not that difficult to make at home, nor are the ingredients unobtainable in major cities throughout EU or North America.  And, if you have trouble getting to one of the major cities, they are even available (as is everything) for online ordering.  But, to keep in line with where I was going – Thai curries are easy.  And, we were going to the Oriental supermarket to buy supplies.  Why?  Because, as anyone who had tried to cook Thai curry from the packets or pastes bought in a Western shop has discovered, they just don’t taste the same as the stuff they’ve had in that nice Thai restaurant.

Unsurprisingly, people then assume that they are missing out on some far-Eastern secret and give up, resigning to the supermarket route for their fix – and they really, really don’t need to.  The solution to the authentic and rich taste is simple – do as the Thai do, not as the supermarket packets say.

How do the Thai do?  Well, the ones I know here in Stockholm, and the Thai acquaintances in the USA, would buy a bucket of the real, strong and concentrated Thai curry paste (Mae Ploy brand is commonly imported and has no artificial colors, flavors or MSG or MPG and it keeps forever in the fridge), and then invest in fresh vegetables and greens, which is what really imparts the distinct flavor of Southeast Asian dishes: fresh galangal rhizomes and lemongrass stalks, chili peppers, and fresh or frozen Kaffir lime leaves.  No, I would not substitute dry versions for any of these.  If pressed, I might sub ginger for galangal, but the flavor would be different then.

I returned from the Oriental supermarket victorious, bearing frozen gyoza wrappers (not for the curry, but I will give them their due and speak of them another time), a bucket of Mae Ploy Panang curry paste, a packet of frozen lime leaves, and fresh galangal and lemongrass.  From the sauce isle, I got a bottle of rice vinegar, a bottle of fish sauce aka Nam Pla (it’s cheaper there than in regular supermarkets, and probably fresher, having a likely higher turnaround rate), and a bottle of toasted sesame oil (not for curry, but the aforementioned reasons apply to it as well).

The remainder of the ingredients could be easily purchased from a regular supermarket – full-fat coconut milk in a can, prawns, fresh coriander leaves, a lime and Thai Jasmine rice.

The how-to for this Tiger Prawn Panang Curry is simpler than one’d think, but for easyness’ sake, I recommend cutting up all greens in advance and defrosting the prawns (especially if they aren’t deveined and you need to cut their backs and devein them before the cooking).

Ingredients:  (serves 3, or 2 very hungry people)

• Jasmine rice (cooked or steamed, to serve)
• 300g raw (fresh or defrosted) tiger prawns – deveined.  Shell on (but if you prefer neater eating, you can use shelled prawns)
• 1-3 tablespoons of Panang curry paste (the real, thick thing – Mae Ploy or other brand such as Peacock, you pick – but, please please don’t be tempted to use the soupy jarred stuff like this!)
• 1 can full-fat coconut milk
• 1 cup (about 250ml) prepared vegetables of your choice.  I like bite-sized paprika, sliced green onions, but you can use whatever you like
• 1 stalk lemongrass, washed, trimmed and sliced crosswise into 1-mm thick slices.
• 5-6 kaffir lime leaves, defrosted or fresh, chiffonaded
• 4-5cm piece of galangal, cleaned and trimmed, then sliced into thin slivers or slices
• Fish Sauce – to taste
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar or palm sugar
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 red chili or 1 birdeye chili, seeded and chopped (optional, to taste)
• A handful of chopped fresh coriander leaves, to garnish (optional, and can be skipped if you – like some people – dislike fresh coriander)

Instructions:

• Prepare all ingredients (wash, dry, devein, drain, chop, as needed). Set aside in bowls.  This step simplifies the entirety of the process immensely – if you are new to curry, don’t be tempted to cut-as-you-go.  That way lies burnt curry.
• Cook rice according to package directions or your rice cooker directions if you have one of those.  Cover and keep it warm.
• Heat a large heavy-bottomed pot or deep pan on medium heat.
• Open the coconut milk can without shaking and spoon some of the thick or solid portion of the milk (coconut fat that floated up on top) into the pan and let it melt.
• Spoon your curry paste into the pan and mash it into the coconut oil with a wooden spoon, then fry gently until it softens and releases aroma.
• Add remaining coconut milk to the pan, along with sugar, galangal, lemongrass, chili (if using) and 2/3 of the kaffir lime leaf strips.  (Reserve remaining 1/3 of the leaves for garnish.)
• Bring to a gentle simmer and add the vegetables.  Stir.
• Slowly add fish sauce – 1 tablespoon to start, then stir in and keep adding until the sauce is salty enough for you.  You can add a little sugar to taste as well.
• Cook until vegetables are just about ready, then add the prawns and stir them in.  Prawns cook very quickly and will be ready in just a few minutes – once they are opaque, shells are bright red, and the prawns are curling up some.  On average, this takes about 5-6 minuges, but it will depend on the size of your prawns (smaller ones will obviously cook faster).
• Once prawns are cooked and the curry is simmerling gently, take it off heat and add lime juice little by little, stirring and tasting after each addition – again, to taste.  Stir in chopped coriander leaves (if using).
• Ladle into bowls, garnish with remaining kaffir lime leaf strips and serve with rice.

In my experience, depending on how long it takes to chop/prepare all the ingredients, the actual cooking normally takes 30 minutes or less total.  All in all, faster than phoning up a local Thai takeout and getting the food from there – and (unless you are really lucky with your Thai takeout!) one heck of a lot fresher and better, if I do say so myself!

Note:  I would like to thank my friend Maneewan for helping me out with some of the selections and recipe tips.

My Friend Kae’s Tiger Prawns In Ginger

Whenever I sit down to write a blog post, what I (entirely too often) catch myself writing (and then replace with something else to avoid repetition) is something along the lines of “I have always adored {insert food item/type here}.“  It’s not my fault.  Really.  (And it’s true every single time, too.)

And as usual, today I could quite honestly start with  “I have always loved prawns…” and that, too, would be true.  On the other hand, there is more to say about today’s lunch, as it happens – and that is that it is possibly my favorite way of eating prawns, and also that the recipe was taught to me in early 2000s by my friend Kae, an American of Taiwanese extraction, and whose father is an amazing chef in his own right.

I remember whining to Kae about how whenever I tried to make prawns at home, they’d never taste as cleanly ‘prawn-ey’ as they did in a good restaurant – or at her place, and asked her what I was doing wrong or missing.  After which, she got some prawns out of the freezer, and made this, explaining every step as she went.  And yes, this really does taste like the prawns you’d get from a good restaurant, without a hint of fishy flavor, or being overpowered or overpowering by/with the seasonings.

So, what’s the magic secret?  There are a couple, actually, and while some are self-explanatory, one was actually a surprise to me at the time.  That one is the fact that, if you want your seafood to taste good, really good, you want alcohol.  I have mentioned this before (here), but it bears repeating – white wine, mirin or plain sake will remove any traces of fishy smell from fresh seafood.  So, there’s wine in this recipe, though not as a rinse but rather as a sauce ingredient.

The other part is that the prawns need to be cooked with their shell still on.  I am not so much of a purist as to insist on cooking them with their heads on as well (some argue that is the way to truly superior flavor), but I rather dislike the idea of buying peeled prawns for this.  Although, for reasons of niciety, and if you can be bothered, you can remove the legs.  Why shell on?  Very simply, because if the shell is off when the prawn is cooked in any way other than deep or shallow frying, it’ll become tough and lose all its juices, since it’s shell is actually it’s skin as well.  On the other hand, if you can’t find any but peeled prawns, this will still be heavenly with those – just make very, very sure that they are completely defrosted before cooking.  Cooking peeled prawns from frozen will not work very well (or, if I am to be honest, won’t work at all).

The third part is that while I am quite relaxed about cooking prawns from frozen if they are cooked in a soup, fish stew or curry, they must be defrosted and well-drained for this (or for any other dish where prawns are to be sauteed).  I don’t go so far as to dry them on paper towels, but a few minutes and a few shakes in a colander are the very minimum (and it’s not like it’s difficult to defrost and rinse the prawns and then stick the colander over a bowl or plate to drip while you prepare the remaining ingredients).

Once ready, these can be served on rice, on salad, or with a baguette to sop up the sauce, but as I have recently purchased a bag of fantastic quality round-grained (sushi-grade) Japanese rice from Hong Kong Trading here in Stockholm, for today’s lunch I simply steamed the rice, piled it into bowls and then put the prawns and sauce on top of its slightly-clinging sticky mounds.  Since rice cooking methods vary immensely based on what rice it is, my best advice here is to follow the cooking instructions on your bag of rice.  For sushi-grade rices, my usual method is to rinse the rice in cold water and then soak it in a sieve in cold water for 15 minutes, then drain and add 1.5 measures of boiling water for each measure of rice (as it was measured when dry before soaking) to the rice in a pot, bring to a high boil, stir and quickly reduce heat to low and cook covered for ~15 minutes.  Then, the lid can be lifted and wrapped in an absorbent kitchen towel and replaced, to collect condensation and avoid rice getting cold or wetter than it needs to be.

To prepare the prawns, here’s what you need:

• ~300g defrosted and drained prawns (shell-on) – serves 2 persons.  I use tiger prawns, but smaller species can also be used.
• 3-4 tablespoons canola or peanut cooking oil
• 1.5dl white wine, sake or mirin (if using mirin, omit the following 1tbsp of sugar)
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1-2 fingers of fresh, peeled ginger – sliced finely
• 3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced finely
• a pinch or more of chili flakes (to taste)

How-to:

• Heat oil in a large non-stick pan on medium-high heat.
• Add ginger slices and chili flakes and saute till ginger just looks cooked and edges start to barely color.
• Add garlic and fry several seconds unti fragrant and bright white in color.
• Move ginger-garlic mixture aside and turn heat a bit higher, then add prawns and spread them as much as possible into a single layer.
• Sprinkle sugar and then salt over the prawns, and once the down-side of those is turning red, pour in the wine.
• Mix the prawns, wine, ginger and garlic and turn heat to high.
• Saute the prawns while the wine reduces around them until they are bright red on both sides (flip those that have a darker side up) and flesh is white and opaque.
• Remove off heat and serve over rice.

Note:  Don’t forget a bowl or plate for prawn shells which are to be peeled off while eating.  No, this is not a dish to be eaten elegantly (like any other dish involving cleaning crustacean shells off while eating), but the sharp and sweet ginger-garlicky flavour and the juicy prawn flesh are really, really more than worth the mess.  Trust me!

For Hangovers And Otherwise – Baked Artichoke Dip

Although March is here,  and it is technically (or at least according to the theoretical calendar) a spring month, the snow outside remains untouched by melt (or not enough to matter, and it all froze up last night again anyway!), and so my mood for warm winter food continues – in the next instance with an utterly fantastic American-Italian dish of somewhat murky origins:  Artichoke Dip.

- presented in my new favorite Chasseur mini-cocottes

The reason I call its origins murky is because although the ingredients used are very traditionally Italian, I have only ever encountered this dish in the United States, and in all my searches I have only ever seen it categorized under “American Food” (which incidentally confirms my understanding of where it comes from).  However, if you know better, please do feel free to correct me.  In any case, to me, artichoke dip is American food done right, rather than the general European view of American food as = McDonalds, which I, incidentally, don’t even consider food short of a state of biological starvation.  In which case it’s a toss-up between that and finding some possibly edible reed roots to gnaw.

This, however, is no McDonalds and no tough roots, and is in fact wonderfully delicious, despite this particular version being vegetarian – a fault easily remedied by adding crumbled bacon or some cooked and chopped prawns, crabmeat or crab sticks to the mix.  It can also work great with some spinach – just thaw some chopped spinach, squeeze the water out, and toss in along with artichokes.  On top of being lovely on any other occasion, this is amazing after having had a bit to drink the day before – and one doesn’t really  need the excuse of a real hangover (neither T nor I had one after last weekend’s parties) to have an excuse to make a stomach-settling hangover, excuse me, Sunday brunch.

In addition to being good to eat, and very, very easy to make, this has the benefit of being very low in carbohydrates and high in fibre (for a dip), and therefore also of negligibly low GI index (for those concerned), and suitable for diabetics.  In fact, I am surprised this isn’t more popular in Europe.  It should be.  It certainly is with me (T tends to make happy-male noises whenever I make it, and then puts it away with a heartwarming gusto).

So, what gives?

• 1 standard sized can of artichoke hearts in water – drained and with the water squeezed out
• ~ 2dl Turkish yogurt (the 10% fat version).  Greek may be substituted.
• 2 cups (3-4dl) loosely packed (not compacted) shredded cheese – I use a mix of whatever is in the fridge and parmesan in a proportion of 3 : 1
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3-5 large garlic cloves (For me – you can use less.  Or more, if you are brave.)
• ~ 20g (a few small pats) of butter, salted or unsalted does not matter here
• 1 chili pepper, seeded (unless green in which case I don’t bother beyond washing and cutting tail off)
• 1 teaspoon dried or 1 tablespoon dried oregano or thyme, or 1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence mix
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

How to:

• Preheat oven to 175-180°C.
• Put garlic, salt and chili in the food processor.  Blitz until finely minced.
• Add artichokes (half if using a mini-chopper, all if yours is large), blitz till chopped.  Flop into bowl.  Repeat with remaining artichokes if using the mini-chopper.
• Add yogurt, oregano (or other dried or fresh herbs) and black pepper.  Mix thoroughly.
• Add 2/3 of the cheese.  Mix until combined.  The mixture should now resemble grey-green lumpy thick batter (rather unattractive to be honest)
• Place a small piece of butter into each individual casserole or several around the bottom of a larger baking dish.
• Spoon the dip out into whatever you want to bake it in (on top of said butter) and top with remaining cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until the dip is melted together and the cheese on top is browned.

Can be served with crudites, corn chips, toasted bread pieces, or just a fork.  I like the fork.  It, along with a personal cocotte (so that I don’t have to – gods forbid! – share), is my ultimate way to greedily devour this.  Curled up on sofa with a throw in my lap and a glass of moderately dry white wine.  Yes.

Black And White Bean Chili Con Carne With Three Kinds of Chili Pepper

- reheated in oven with cheese browned under broiler

I have always believed (and still do) that no food is as satisfying in really, really cold weather, as a stew.  And when the Swedish February forcefully reminded us that it is still well and truly winter with temperatures plunging below -10°C and half a metre of (newly fallen) snow on the ground, it seemed like the perfect excuse (should I have needed one) to make chili – and this one, stripped down to basics and allowed to cook slowly on even, low heat, is infinitely warming and satisfying when outside the windows, snow keeps falling in large, pretty clumps… horizontally.  Or as close to horizontal as nevermind.

First of all, to me, chili con carne, is essentially – or at least according to the Texans who claim the dish as their own – with some argument from other American locales in which I will not take sides – a stew of beef, onions and chili peppers, and whatever else the chef in question wants it to be.  Hence the prevalence of chili preparations with or without beans, with or without tomato, etc.  I take that as freedom to interpret the chili as a stew within the guideline stated above, with or without whatever else seems to go with it on hand.  Though, since I like beans, those usually do make an appearance.

Secondly, of beans.  I should, and will, write a longer entry about legumes and the virtues as well as cooking thereof, but in short – I love eating beans, I do not love flatulence.  Neither does anyone I am acquainted with.  Thankfully, that is a problem easily avoided – I do not use canned beans if I can help it.  Beans that are canned, while generally fine to eat, are not soaked long enough, and not cooked in enough water, and so retain their natural oligosaccharides (the stuff which causes gastric upset due to being indigestible by us – but happily digestible by our intestinal flora).  Oligosaccharides are soluble in water, and so dry beans (which are also cheaper to buy) can be prepared at home with fairly minimal effort to avoid this problem.  The key is – soak the beans for at least 12 hours in cold water in the fridge, then rinse, bring to boil, drain (can be repeated once more if you are bored), add boiling water from kettle and cook (unsalted) till tender (after the long soaking, usually far less than an hour, unlike whatever the packages say).

Thirdly, I do not use thickeners in my stews and soups.  It is a matter of both principle and taste – I don’t like adding unnecessary white flour (high-GI carbohydrate) to my food, and I feel that when cooked at home and with proper ingredients, no stew will require further thickener than will naturally be present from its own ingredients.  I am in no hurry to join in the ranks of the diabetes II sufferers, nor would I encourage anyone else in that direction.

With the above in mind, chili with beans is actually a wonderfully healthy dish, and while not devoid of carbohydrates (present in beans and onions, and tomatoes if you use those), it is very rich in dietary fibre (from beans), protein and a variety of other nutrients (the exact composition of which depends on what you put in it, obviously).

The above chili is without tomatoes, mostly because I have wanted to see the pretty black and white-turned-pink beans in all their glory.  That, and though I often cook chili with tomatoes, I wanted to see just how much flavor I could coax out of the meat and chili peppers on their own, without the overpowering cannon of tomato, and the boxed complexity of prepared chili powder.  The result, especially after a day in the fridge, was overwhelmingly wonderful, and proclaimed by T to have been the best chili he’s ever had (hard compliment to top, but I will try to in the future!).  I wouldn’t argue with him, of course – heated in little clay casseroles in the oven and then topped with cheese and browned under the broiler/grill element it did indeed taste fantastic.  And, while somewhat time-consuming, it was not even that difficult to make – and most of the time very little effort is required other than the occasional check on the liquid level.

What you need:

• Large (preferably cast-iron) shallow stovetop-safe casserole with a lid.
• 500g-1kg stew meat sliced into 5mm thick pieces across the grain (I bought a box of good-looking cut-up stew beef and cut it up further)
• 100-250g streaky bacon (or any other bacon), cubed or, if rashers, then sliced thinly.  I use salt pork belly and cube it.
• 1-2 large cayenne chili peppers (commonly sold as just red chili)
• 4-5 green jalapeño peppers
• 1 teaspoon bird’s eye or any red chili flakes (less if you are afraid of scovilles!)
• 4-6 large garlic cloves (peeled)
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 2-3 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander seed
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
• 1 cup each black and white beans (rinsed, soaked overnight, cooked as per above instruction, and drained)
• 2 large or 3 smaller yellow onions (peeled and chopped into 1x1cm pieces)
• 2 tablespoons of bacon grease or butter
• Canola (Rapeseed) oil as needed (this will depend on the fattiness of your beef, but don’t skimp on it)
• 500ml chicken or beef stock + boiling water as needed
• 2 large bay leaves
• 1/2 glass dry white wine
• Shredded cheese of your choice, sour cream or turkish yogurt (10% fat), and chopped coriander leaves (to serve)

How to do it:

• Preheat bacon grease or butter with a bit of rapeseed oil in your casserole dish on medium heat.
• Add chopped onions and cook on medium heat until beginning to turn golden and edges caramelise.
• While onions cook, seed the cayennes and cut tails off jalapenos (I don’t bother seeding those), and toss them, the garlic cloves, and a bit of salt into a food processor.  Process for a few seconds until all cut into bits/shreds.  Set aside.
• Add half the chili flakes to the pan, mix and move the onions to the side.  Increase heat to medium-high.
• Add chopped bacon and fry until done but not crispy.  Move aside to sit with the onions.
• Add the meat in batches, browning and moving to the side to avoid it getting wet.  If some liquid appears, stop adding beef and cook until evaporated, add more oil and continue until all meat is browned.
• Reduce heat to medium.  Mix the meat into the onions and move aside to make a little space in bottom of casserole.  Add oil if necessary, and scrape the chili-garlic mixture out into the pan.  Fry gently until soft and aromatic, then add 1 cup of stock and scrape the bottom to deglaze.
• Add beans, bay leaves, remaining chili flakes, coriander, oregano and cumin (if using), and enough stock to almost cover the beans and meat.  Reduce heat to low simmer and cover.
• Cook on very low heat for 1 hour, checking every 30 minutes and adding stock or boiling water if necessary to keep the liquid level up.  After 1 hour, taste meat for tenderness.  If not yet fork-tender, add liquid as needed and cook in 30 minute increments until it is (the time between 1-2.5 hours will depend on the kind of meat you used).
• Once meat is tender, crack the lid of the casserole partially open and allow chili to reduce to desired consistency.  I add the wine at some point during this time.
• Serve topped with a little bit of Turkish yogurt, shredded cheese and coriander leaves.

Om nom nom nom nom!

This can obviously be combined with chili seasoning, smoked spanish paprika, chopped celery, a box of sieved tomatoes, and any of your other favourite chili ingredients. Having tried the above with those, any one or combination of them hurts it not at all!  And, like with any stew, it is even (and much) better the next day, and the day after (if you are like me and make a huge vat of it so that there is any left over)!

Grilled Duck Breast with Oriental Chili Sauce

Duck Breast With Oriental Chili Sauce

My cooking style, when presented with options in terms of time and selection of raw materials, tends to run, almost regardless of season, to fusion-food styles, which are inspired by a variety of cuisines, ranging from rustic French and Italian to Southeast Asian, with anything and everything (provided it tastes good and can be combined well) in-between.

Since the friend who visited the weekend before last is Norwegian, she was not very used to the English abundance and inexpensive availability of duck, and so after having had it at the Yee Rah and liked it, we have decided to have the quacky bird for dinner the next day as well, provided the supermarket supply gods were merciful. Which, as it happens, they were.

We had gone for a walk around Liverpool One again, with the objective of shopping (Bravissimo featuring on my list as always), and then dropped by the new Tesco across from the BBC Radio building. The fresh food department downstairs yielded the following:

• A fresh duck crown of about 1.2kg in weight
• A large bunch of coriander
• A bag of washed rocket (aka arugula or rucola for non-British)
• A few red chilies
• Two chilled flatbreads with spices and red onion
• A box of rather happy-looking chestnut mushrooms

… all of which was gleefully purchased, and dragged home along with the requisite box of cream and fresh berries for dessert.

The pantry (storecupboard for the British) at home contributed:

• Blue Dragon Sweet Chili Sauce (hot variant)
• M&S Thai Fish Sauce (Nam Pla)
• Kikkoman Soy Sauce
• Tesco Toasted Sesame Oil
• Sea salt and black pepper (in grinders)

The following recipe is heavily Southeast Asian-inspired, but I by no means claim any authenticity to a specific style, nor care to.  The only assurance of success I ever go by, is my own, and my guests’ happy smiles while eating, and by that measure, this is well worth the (relatively minimal) efforts.

Overall, the preparation for this is very simple, but it does require a very sharp knife, and a good (in my view, best if it is cast iron) grill pan, or at least a heavy flat griddle, though the latter would be fiddlier to deal with, considering the fat layer on the duck.  (If your grill pan has a non-oven-safe handle, you will also need a baking dish to finish the duck in the oven.  Mine’s fully cast iron so I simply move the entire thing in once done searing.)

Unpack and rinse and pat dry the duck.  If using a crown or whole carcass rather than prepped breasts, lay it securely on a cutting board, and using a very sharp knfie, carefully slice the breasts off, starting with a lenghtwise cut alongside the breastbone and continuing downwards to the wing joint.  Separate the breasts and trim the fat edges (fat will overhang the meat on any well-fattened duck).  Put carcass/half carcass (from crown) aside in a plastic bag – refrigerate or freeze for later use in soup (recipe to follow another day).

Turn the breasts fat-side up and pat dry, then cross-hatch the fat with diagonal cuts through skin, without cutting into the meat at all/not too much.  I usually aim for 1x1cm diamond cross-hatching, or smaller – but if it is uneven or a bit larger, it is no matter.  Salt and pepper the duck on both sides and place on a plate or board to rest.  About an hour should be enough, one and a half is better to allow the meat to come to room temperature.  In meantime, make the sauce:

Mix 1/3 of a cup of sweet chili sauce (I use the hot kind) with about a teaspoon or three (to taste, so taste after small-portion additions) of soy and fish sauces.  Blend well with a fork, add some sliced red chilies and top with sesame oil.  Allow to stand.

Clean the mushrooms, preheat oven to about 180°C, and the grill pan on high heat on stovetop.  Arrange rocket and some of the chopped coriander on plates.  In meantime, start grilling mushrooms on the pan.  When those are done, remove to the plates and place duck breasts fat-side down onto the very hot grill pan.  (You should have the exhaust on and a window open at this point, as the duck fat will smoke.)

Grill time will depend on how well-done you like the duck, and the heat of your stove/quality of grill pan.  Best advice I can give you is to watch it – and turn it over once the fat is crispy and golden and possibly a touch charred in places.  Cook the duck meat-side down until it is seared and crispy, and the sides are still showing red/pink rawness, then turn the stove off and place the grill pan directly into the hot oven for about 5-6 minutes (or place into baking dish and put that in the oven if the grill pan is not oven safe).  This will result in a pink-medium-rare duck.  You may keep it in the oven for longer if desired.

Take the duck out of the oven, remove to a board and cover with a tent of foil for 3-6 minutes, then remove tent and slice crosswise, arranging the slices on the bed of greens.  Sprinkle with a bit more coriander and sliced chili, and drizzle the sauce over.

We ate this with sparkling water and green tea, and a side of heated up spiced flatbread, but you could steam some rice or boil some noodles if that’s your poiso… starch of choice.

Other than being spectacularly delicious (at least to my taste, and that is obviously the main consideration), the dish is also rather healthy (provided you do not overload it with the sweet sauce as that contains sugar), and can (omitting the flatbread) be good for those on reasonably low-carbohydrate diets, diabetic or coeliac sufferers (make sure that your sauces you use are, of course, safe for your level of sensitivity).

Good luck, have fun cooking, and above all - do enjoy, both that and the subsequent eating!