Middle Eastern Chicken on Flatbread with Fattoush

Posted on August 10, 2013 by julianrolfe

Another busy week this week included William Curleys‘ Patissiere, awesome Massamam Curry at Chaophraya in Manchester, amazing Arnavut Cigeri (Albanian Style Lambs Liver) & Kaniyarik (Aubergine stuffed with mince meat, onions, peppers, tomatoes cooked in the oven and served with rice), at Meze in Darlington. Oh, and a couple of full english breakfasts!!

It’s me and the ‘Bosses’ 25th wedding anniversary this year, and to do something a bit different we are planning a trip to Padstow, to attend a two-day Indian course at Rick Stein’s Cookery School, watch this space for a review if we manage to make it.

Back to the kitchen and more middle eastern inspired food, this time chicken….

WARNING, ITS GOING TO GET GORY AND MESSY, SPATCHCOCKING A CHICKEN IS NOT PRETTY

Every time I am in the kitchen I try to do something new or different (or both!), this time was the art of spatchcocking. Before dealing with the Chicken, I prepared a marinade. A pot of Yeo organic Yogurt is put into a bowl with a good generous handful of chopped fresh Thyme, the same of coriander, 4 tablespoons of Harissa paste, a teaspoon of Sumac, a teaspoon of Coriander powder, 1/2 a teaspoon of Cumin. Add the grated zest of a Lemon, and its juice and mix together well. Set aside whilst we prepare the chicken.

Take your chicken and turn it over so that its Breast side is facing away from you and the open cavity is on the top. Take a sharp knife (Or kitchen scissors if you have them), and cut close to the bone that runs down the centre of the chicken. You should end up with a cut like above. Turn the Chicken over so you can finish the cut safely.

Next, place the Chicken with the open flesh face down on the chopping board with the breast side up. Put your hands on the body, pushing down to flatten and ‘break’ the spine firmly.

It should look like the picture above, I was a bit nervous about this process but its actually quite easy to do if you take it steady and be careful with the knife!

So that’s the Chicken and marinade sorted, you now need to cut through and ‘slash’ the Chicken in several places to let the marinade penetrate and impart its flavour. Mine looked like this after the next element of butchery!!

The next stage is to place the Chicken on a roasting tray and smother it in the marinade, a lovely messy job but very satisfying. Make sure you massage the marinade into the cuts to make sure the flavours penetrate right into the meat. I put mine in the fridge after this stage and left to rest for about 7 hours….

Next step is to prepare the Fattoush, a Middle Eastern Salad of toasted Bread, Tomatoes, Onions, Radishes, Dill, Parsley, Sumac, in fact loads of delicious flavours. There are many different variations on this dish and the one I chose was a variation on the lovely Bethany Kehdy, and her new book ‘The Jewelled Kitchen’, its beautiful and one of my favourites at the moment.

It’s an exercise in ‘Mis en place’, a phrase used in professional kitchens meaning put in place or preparing everything ready for cooking or construction, in the ways of salads.

As an experiment, I changed some of the ingredients slightly, adding about 150 grams of mixed Red Quinoa, White Quinoa and Bulgur Wheat that had been boiled for 10 minutes and left to cool. I made a dressing from thinly sliced Red Onion, 60ml of Rapeseed Oil, 4 table spoons of Sherry Vinegar, some Salt and Pepper and massaged it all together leaving it to marinade for 10-15 minutes.

My Fattoush looked like this when completed.

Prior to starting cooking, I had popped into Waitrose to pick up some bits and pieces (read wine!), and was considering what and how to serve the Chicken. Not being inclined to spend too much time on making bread I found some interesting looking Italian Flatbreads that were thicker than a Tortilla, and had some body and texture to them. These were going to be the ‘blanket’ for the dish.

I came up with an idea to make them even more interesting, and it involved a 1/2 inch paint brush!!

I had some Ghee in the cupboard so took my trusty brush (that is really handy in the kitchen), and brushed each Bread with the Ghee all over. I then sprinkled Dukkah and Za’atar over both, giving them a good covering as evenly as possible.

Prior to serving, the bread’s were put together with the clean side on the outside, and heated through in a frying pan for a couple of minutes before turning over and repeating on the other side.

The Chicken needs about 1 1/2 hours in the oven, I used a temperature of 170 degrees in our fan assisted beast. The smells coming from the kitchen invoked memories of wandering around Jemaa el-Fnaa in Marrakesh, Morroco. The market square is famous for the food stalls that start cooking late afternoon and swamp the area with amazing aromas and exotic spices.

The Chicken was roughly divided and placed onto the warm Flatbread and served with the Salad. It was absolutely delicious and actually really simple to make. You can prep the Chicken in the Morning and leave to marinade. The Salad is mostly a construction exercise, the results will delight the palate.

Have a go yourself, I am pleased I did.

L8ers, till next time.

Jules

بلاد الشام / Bilad al-Sham / The cuisine of Levantine

Posted on July 29, 2013 by julianrolfe

When the weather is hot my cooking turns to the middle east, as you will have noticed in recent posts. I find that I cannot manage to eat large meals, and whilst salads can be exciting, a Meze type meal is healthy, easy to digest and great fun to create.

Shawarma is traditionally cooked on a vertical spit, and comes from the turkish word ‘çevirme’ which means turning. One of my food heroes Yotam Ottolenghi has his version of the dish in the book ‘Jerusalem’ which was also a TV series shown on BBC 4.

As you can see, quite a lot goes into this dish apart from a leg of Lamb, that has been ‘punctured’ with a long thin knife to let the marinade penetrate over a 24 hour period.

If you want to have a go, you will need Peppercorns, Clove, Cardamom pods, Fenugreek seeds, Fennel Seeds, Cumin Seeds, Star Anise, Cinnamon sticks, Nutmeg, Ground Ginger, Sweet Paprika, Sumac, Sea Salt, Fresh Ginger, Garlic Cloves, chopped fresh Coriander, Lemon juice and……………………..Groundnut Oil………..!

Pop all the ‘seedy’ spices into a pan and dry roast them, the kitchen will be filled with exotic aroma’s n no time at all. Grind the spices once heated through and add to a bowl with everything else and you have you marinade. Once done, take you leg of lamb and puncture the meat in several places and then put into a dish, smother with the marinade and rub well in. Cover and stick in the fridge for 24 hours, taking out from time to time to turn over and make sure the leg is really well coated.

I was planning to serve the Lamb with various salads, a simple Red Onion piquant one was created by combining Sherry Vinegar with Rape Seed Oil, Salt, Pepper, Lemon Juice and Zest, and some fresh Coriander and finely chopped Mint.

The second Salad was some Baby Gems leafs, Tomato, Cucumber, Coriander (lots), and a dressing of Sherry Vinegar, Rape Seed Oil and Za’atar.

The lamb goes into a low oven (150 deg Fan, 170 deg Convection), for 4.5 hours. You need to add some water from time to time and cover the meat for the last 3.5 hours so the spices do not burn.

I made some Cacik to go with the Lamb, Yoghurt, grated Cucumber, Garlic, some Lemon Juice and drizzled with Olive Oil and sprinkled Sumac on the top too. I do like this particular dish, its adds a freshness and tartness which goes well with the Lamb, especially when served in grilled Pitta Breads, used a pockets to hold the various tasty fillings.

As you can see from the heading photograph, this meal is pleasing on the eye as well as giving the tastebuds a real treat. As the Lamb is cooked gently, it is meltingly tender and when stuffed into a ‘Pitta Pocket’ with the various salad’s and Caciik, you end up with the most delightful fresh taste, that will take you to the Casbah’s of distant lands.

Sahtain..

Bacchus – Prestbury, Cheshire

Posted on July 27, 2013 by julianrolfe

A meeting in Macclesfield was an excuse for an overnight and some good food.

Prestbury is a quaint little village in Cheshire and the location for Bacchus, a delightful restaurant in the village centre. Their website quotes modern english with a hint of european influence.

The midweek special is very good value for money, 2 course’s for £16 or 3 for £18, including coffee and petit fours, and I arrived with a good friend who I had not not seen for about 8 years so the night was particularly special.

First course was Tempura Hake, with beautiful Chips, home made Tartare Sauce, the dessert was quite delicious, Pineapple Tarte Tatin with Lavender Ice Cream.

Service was unfussy but attentive, the food superb and ambience was perfect.

If ever you find yourself in the neighbourhood, book a table, you won’t be disappointed.

A Mixture – شكشوكة‎ or שקשוקה (Shakshouka)

Posted on July 22, 2013 by julianrolfe

I was not expecting to cook over the weekend, but the heat of Sunday evening and the lure of the kitchen got the better of me.

We have been having a clear out and re stock in the kitchen, herbs and spices from Steenbergs recently purchased have included Sumac, Za’atar, Dukkah, Turkish Oregano, Spearmint from Egypt so opening the herb and spice cupboard is like an unknown journey across the seven seas!

The boss had taken our son out on sunday, leaving me to relax in the quiet and finger through some recipe books whilst listening to some hedonistic holiday anthems. Titanium, Bom Bom and Loca People hit the walls and ceilings with vigour, whilst in my head I was in far off places, Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia.

It was soon evening and what to eat….Shakshouka was the answer.

The word means mixture if you believe wikipedia, and mine was going to be a blend of a couple of recipes from two of my favourite chefs, you know who I am talking about.

We had some Toulouse sausages in the fridge, these were de-skinned and put into a bowl with copious quantities of Sumac, Oregano, Chilli flakes, Habanero sauce (just a few drops, hot hot hot!) mixed with a fork, and left to marinate for an hour or so.

After an hour, the meat mixture was rolled into small balls, dusted with flour and fried in olive oil for a couple of minutes to brown, then set aside on kitchen paper to drain.

Next, an onion was chopped and added to a frying pan with some olive oil and butter, cooking slowly for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, I added some Salt and Pepper, Za’atar, a pinch of Sumac, chopped Garlic, fresh Coriander seeds and Cumin seeds. Quantities are according to your taste, as sometimes I find recipes need more than stated but its your chance to experiment. Remember you cannot take out but you can always add more, so taste as you go if unsure…..

I thought we did not have any peppers in the house, but remembered that I had been given a jar of roasted peppers as part of a christmas present, they came to the rescue and having been roasted and de-skinned already were absolutely perfect. Chopped into approx. 1cm pieces they were added to the pan and cooked for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Next I added a tin of chopped tomatoes to the mixture, and a sprinkling of sugar to bring out the tomatoes sweetness and counteract the acidity. The mixture was left to simmer for about 30 minutes on a low heat, enabling the flavours to develop.

Next step was to added the pre-fried meat balls, and continue to simmer for about 20 minutes on a low heat, this ensure the meat was cooked through.

At this stage, put on the oven, and set to 160 deg (Fan oven), or 180 deg (Convection/Gas) and set aside to dishes big enough for one serving, or whatever takes your fancy.

Transfer the mixture to the two bowls, ensuring the meat balls are around the outside enabling an egg to be broken into the centre, and shrouded by the piquant tomato sauce. Then put into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes until the eggs are set, but yoke still runny.

My version of the Shakshuka was served with some nutty bread and tasted delicious. Small balls of meat that were full of garlic and punchy spices, mellowed by a slightly sweet but flavourful sauce with the egg adding both texture and richness. To finish I sprinkled some Parsley and Sumac over the top which you can see in the picture at the top of the page.

So there we go, another trip to the Middle East and a journey well worth taking. I am not travelling so much this week so hoping to get back in the kitchen and experiment some more.

il-hanā’ wa ash-shifā (May you have your meal with gladness and health)

Sahtain – Double Health

Posted on July 21, 2013 by julianrolfe

The last couple of weeks have been manic. New car arrived, loads of travelling up and down the country with over 1200 miles already on the clock after one week. The kitchen has had a summer clean thanks to the most important person in the house, and a new collection of organic food goodies is arriving this Friday, thanks to the team at Riverford.

Reading a twitter by Yotam Ottolenghi, I have discovered a new inspiration in Bethany Kehdy.

A fantastic cook and blogger, Bethany has just launched a new book The Jewelled Kitchen, which features Lebanese food with stunning pictures and excellent instructions. At the back of the book, details on how to make some of the spice mixes, preserved lemons, and accompaniments to the many delicious recipes in the book. Her food blog Dirty Kitchen Secrets is just awesome and inspirational, I hope one day I will be able to improve the layout and look of mine as I get more experienced, and look at some proper authoring tools to improve the design and feel of my blog.

Not being in the kitchen this week, I wanted to mention a restaurant I had a fantastic meal in whilst on business. In Manchester, there is an eclectic mix of cuisine, I have found Ethiopian (I am going to try that one soon), and Korean is also on the list but this week it was 63 Degrees that caught my attention.

63 Degrees is a French restaurant in the Northern Quarter of Central Manchester. Run by the The Moreau family, 63 Degrees is a modern french eatery that uses quality locally sourced ingredients to delight the palate.

On Tuesdays, they have a special tasting menu that costs £25 which was within my budget and so it was ordered almost immediately on arrival, and consisted of the following;

Terrine de lapin à l’estragon et pousses d’épinard
Rabbit terrine with tarragon and spinach shoots

Velouté de courgettes
Creamy courgette soup

Saint-Jacques poêlées, écrasée de pomme de terre en vinaigrette d’herbes
Pan-fried scallops, mashed potato with herb vinaigrette

Filet de canette, polenta à la framboise et jus réduit
Duckling fillet, polenta with raspberry and reduced jus

La gourmande
Gourmet dessert platter

I was with a good friend who persuaded me (It wasn’t difficult!) that we should try a cocktail before dinner, wow it was worth it. I had the ‘Bonne Maman’ rich, velvety apricot jam shaken with Armagnac and a hint of Lavender for a smooth, strong sipping cocktail, it was stunning. My friend had the ‘La Petite Anglaise’ The ultimate gin and tonic marries French grapefruit liqueur with British gin and slight bite of Italian bitters. We ended up sharing the cocktails they were so delicious!!!

The food was stunning, helped along with a Sauvignon Blanc, and before desert, we did go 50/50 on the cheese course which was also quite delightful.

If you are ever in Manchester overnight and fancy a delightful meal, try 63 Degrees, I for one will be going back.

Quickly back to Bethany, if you fancy seeing the real Lebanon from a foodie perspective then you need to check out a ‘Lebanon Culinary Journey’, which she leads. An inspiring trip to see the real Lebanon and get to visit some of the places the produce authentic local food. Check out the website for more details. I plan to go in 2014 funds permitting.

Watch out for the next cooking experiment in the next week or so.

Byeeeeeeeeee

Kofta b’siniyah & طحينة (Tahini) – An evening in Jerusalem without the flight!

Posted on June 30, 2013 by julianrolfe

This week I am in Darlington again and have a place booked at my favourite new Bistro, Meze which I am really looking forward too.

Inspired by warmer weather and the thought of past holidays in exotic locations this weekends kitchen efforts have been focussed on Turkey, Egypt and Jerusalem. I have two of Yotam Ottolenghi’s books and looking through ‘Jerusalem” my eyes were drawn to Kofta b’siniyah, a delicious looking dish of mince shaped into sausages, full of exotic spices and herbs, and served on a sauce of Tahini, and dressed with toasted Pine nuts, Parsley and Sweet Paprika.

To accompany the kofta I spent some time on the internet searching for a dish similar to the one I had recently at Meze. It was a Patates Salatasi or Potato Salad but without the mayonnaise, and I eventually found an original recipe by Ayla Algar a Turkish cook and writer here, from another food blogger!

To prepare the salad, I had some Organic Colleen potatoes supplied by Riverford. These are a waxy variety and seemed ideal for this particular dish. I steamed them for about 35 minutes and then removed the skins whilst still hot. I recall a TV programme many years ago saying most of the flavour is just under the skin, I think they were right as they were amazing. The dressing is made from Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar, Lemon Juice, Mustard Powder, Salt, Pepper, Dill & Flat Leaf Parsley. The dressing is added to the potatoes while still hot, that have been cut into smaller pieces, this allows the flavours to penetrate better. I ended up using the spring onion (chopped finely) in the potato salad and the red onion went in the tomato and pepper salad.

Other dishes to complete the meal were ‘Cacik’ a dish of Yoghurt, Cucumber, Garlic, Salt and in my case some Sumac, a salad of Tomato, Red Onion, Orange Pepper, Coriander, dressed with Sherry Vinegar, Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper, and toasted Pitta with some Olive Oil, sprinkled with Dukkah, an Egyptian spice mix.

The meal was delicious and was full and flavour, it took some time to prepare but was well worth the effort. Some genuine food from the kitchens of the Middle East.

The table, if you are wondering, is a slice of ‘rock’ from Erfoud in Morocco, about 3/4 inch thick and polished. Its full of Fossils and in the centre an Ammonite. It was purchased from HERE when we were on a tour a few years ago and shipped over within a week. It weighs 175Kg’s and always reminds us of our holidays in the sun.

Enjoy……

Sardinhas em brinde, meu caminho or Sardines On Toast, my way!!!!

Posted on June 24, 2013 by julianrolfe

There is a heady aroma in the house this evening, Garlic, Thyme, Rosemary, Lamb, Wine, Red Currant Jelly & Port, braised Lamb Shanks are on the menu with ‘Butter’ Mash and Green Beans wrapper in Pancetta.

Last week was hectic, manic and downright crazy with lots of travelling, eating, workshops and courses so the energy levels were rather low this weekend and cooking was not on the agenda. The benefit of travelling was the chance to try some great food, Meze in Darlington is really worth a visit and my review is already on Tripadvisor. Pauline and Cem made me most welcome, they don’t normally open on Monday evenings but my booking was accepted over the internet and the restaurant was all mine for the night. After a delicious starter of Feta stuffed filo ‘cigars’ with a selection of side dishes the main of Izmir Kofte returned fond memories of our two holidays to Turkey, eating proper home cooked food.

The Delicious Starter of Feta stuffed Filo, Yummy!

A real treat was when being cheeky, and mentioning I was ‘into’ food, could I see the kitchen and meet the chef, within minutes I was sitting with Cem, drinking coffee and talking food, a lovely end to a fantastic evening, thank-you both for your warm Turkish hospitality.

Another treat was some ‘posh nosh’ at the 5* Rockliffe Hall Hotel just outside Darlington, imagine Wild Garlic and Smoked Potato Veloute with crispy Frog’s legs, it was beautiful. The main was a difficult choice as there was lots to choose from, in the end it was the Sea bream ‘French style peas’ Pancetta & Parmesan Dauphine that got me, beautiful cooked. Dessert was ‘Rhubarb and Custard’ you will have to eat their to try it, it was fab.

So back to this weekend, feeling rather ‘zonked’ the only outing was a trip to the New Forrest to get some fresh air, see the Ponies and surprisingly, find a fab Fish and Chip shop in the centre of Lyndhurst which was just brilliant.

On getting home, a snack was in order but not feeling up to much a quick look in the cupboard to see what could be thrown together quickly.

Sardines, what could we do with a couple of tins and some half decent Rye Bread and a few brain cells kicking into action, so here goes!!!!

Take some Ras-al-Hanout and Dukkah spice (about a tea spoon of each) and stick into a cup with some olive oil and mix to make a marinade, you will need to adjust the quantity depending on how many people you are making this for.

Put the marinade into a flat dish and add some sliced Tomato for 30 mins or so. Empty the Sardine’s and Oil into a dish, add some chopped Garlic and sprinkle over some Dill, Thyme and some Black Pepper from the mill. Grate some lemon zest over the top, and squeeze half a lemon’s juice, turning the Sardines over to ensure both sides get the treatment.

Butter the bread (or brush with Olive Oil), and bake in the oven until crispy (about 7 mins at 180 deg fan). Remove from the oven and lightly spread some tomato paste (the stuff in the tube) over the bread, you need about 2 inches worth for each line.

Layer the marinated Tomato over the tomato paste on the Bread and bake for another 2 mins.

Split the Sardines into two, removing any eggs and place 2 slices on each piece of bread and bake in the oven for about 5 – 7 minutes.

The end result is just delicious, crispy buttery Bread, soft Tomato with a kick of spice and added flavour from the Tomato paste, and the Sardines with a hint of Lemon, Dill and Garlic. Good food does not need to involve expensive ingredients, I have added this one to the memory banks for later.

Hope you all have a great week, until next time.
Jules

Esta comida es muy picante – Mole and the Lemon Tart Revisited

Posted on June 10, 2013 by julianrolfe

Olé Mole!

This week has been hectic, I’ve recently started a new job and it was induction time in Darlington (a 4 1/2 drive for me), then to Solihull to help paint a ‘Children’s Hospice’ as part of a volunteer team from work, and then up to Macclesfield before home down south.

Luckily, I was able to include some excellent restaurants so if you like Indian, Rose Murree in Hagley Road Birmingham is worth a trip, and for excellent English fair, Bacchus in Prestbury is also worth a trip the weekday special being extremely good value money. Click on the names to see their web sites.

I recently decided to spruce up the herb and spice cupboard and venturing food wise into Mexico, ordered a range of dried chilli’s amongst other exotic items such as Dukkah Za’atar and Ras al Hanout.

My inspiration was ‘Mole‘ Mexican for sauce. There are lots to choose from but I was going to attempt Mole Poblano, more often used for celebrations as its apparently quite time consuming to make, it was about time for me to find out. Having the chilli’s to hand the rest of the ingredients were assembled, and there are quite a few. Peanuts, Ground Almonds, Onions, Tomatoes, Chocolate (YES, I had some special Peruvian, more of that later). Here is a picture of what you will need.

I used three different chilli varieties Pasilla, Mulato and Guajillo which needed soaking in hot water for 15 mins to soften them, after I had dry fried them for a couple of minutes in a hot pan to help; release their flavor oils.

I was using a combination of recipes for this Mole, William Harcourt-Cooze, of chocolate fame in conjunction with a web find and Tomasina Miers, Masterchef winner and owner of the ‘Wahaca‘ restaurant chain. The reason for this combination was that there were subtle differences in some of the processes, such as roasting the onions and tomatoes in a dry pan, and using Tortilla Chips as a thickening agent and flavour layer. The chocolate I used is a pure Cacao from Peru (Peruvian Black 100%), you can get it in Waitrose in the cooking section, or mail order if you click on William Harcourt-Cooze’s name above.

The spice mix on the left (Cloves, Cinnamon Bark), and the Peanuts were both dry fried to bring out their flavour before grinding into a powder. Once you have dry fried the chili’s, soak them for 15 minutes in hot water, reserve some of the liquid as this is added to the Mole to intensify the taste. Once soaked, remove the stalks and seeds before chopping up, and adding to the Onions, Garlic and Tomatoes.

The whole process took about 2 1/2 to 3 hours which includes soaking time, dry frying, grinding and reducing the sauce. Was it worth it, hell yeah. The flavour is just fantastic, deep rich and very satisfying. Its not too hot but warming and very satisfying.

To go with the Mole I got a couple of chicken breasts seasoned with salt and pepper, placed 3 fresh oregano leaves on the top and wrapped them tightly in cling film. They went into a saucepan of water that was simmering VERY gently, and cooked slowly for about 20-30 minutes (size dependent).

The Mole was served on top, alongside Basmati Rice with Sweetcorn and Red Peppers (diced very finely), and a salad of Tomato and Onion. Have a go, its worth the effort.

Lemon Tart Revisited

You may recall in my last post ‘the accident’, I dropped my Lemon Tart as it was being extracted from the oven ( I have a small scar to prove it, ouch).

My good friend Anna-Rita in Italy, showed me how to make this delicious Lemon Tart, something that would be perfect after a warm spicy number such as the Mole with Chicken. The Tart consists of a sweet pastry base, top and bottom and a filling of lemon crème/custard. Its easy to make BUT the pastry is DIFFICULT to handle due to its short sticky nature and even some time in the fridge did not seem to make too much difference.

The crème/custard is made by putting a couple of eggs, castor sugar, lemon zest and juice from 2 lemons into a saucepan and whisking over a moderate heat until thick. Don’t have the heat too high or you will end up with scrambled eggs. When thick, turn off the heat cover with some cling film to prevent a skin forming and leave to cool (you can put into a pan of cold water if you don’t have much time to speed the cooling process).

The pastry is a 3:1 ratio of Flour to un-salted Butter, Sugar, Eggs and Dried Yeast. This is mixed in a Kenwood to bring it together and then 2/3 of it rolled out on Baking Parchment. Once in a greased fluted baking dish, add the lemon crème/custard roll out the remainder and put on top, sealing the edges. You should have about 1cm of crème filling, cut away any excess pastry.

30 minutes at 160 deg (fan oven) and you end up with a delicious dessert fit for any dinner table. I served mine with Mascarpone and slices of Lemon Confit which had developed a beautiful intense sweet/sharp flavour since they were made a couple of weeks back.

That’s it for this time foodies….. I hope you enjoyed the blog and have a go yourself……

Lets make Focaccia

Posted on May 28, 2013 by julianrolfe

The bank holiday seemed an excuse to spend some time in the kitchen practising some of my new skills learnt on my recent foodie vacation.

I’ve had a go at bread before but usually use a bread machine for the kneading part, so Focaccia would be perfect as its not a ‘kneaded’ bread!!

I think Anna-Rita, Guiliano and Angelo would be proud of me, I got some fresh yeast from our local Tesco’s bakery (they do have at least one use!), added it to the warm water and sugar and put it to one side for 10 minutes to let the yeast start to feed.

In the trusty Kenwood bowl, Tipo ’00’ flour, milk and olive oil were added and the mchine put into a ‘canter’!

Once the ingediants are combined and you can see some ‘life’ in the yeast/water sugar mix, add it to the bowl and continue to mix. The bowl on the left is after the 1st rise, as it was a sunny afternoon I put the bowl on the window ledge and let nature do its stuff.

I was thinking of a nice light dessert and remembered the Lemon Tart that was part of the ‘Italian Experience’, and the sweet confit of lemon that was served with it. Out with the Mandolin and two lemons later the slices were ready. The method I choose (thanks Google), was to pour hot water over the lemons first and allow to cool, do this twice before making a 50/50 sugar/water mix in a saucepan and simmering on a gentle ‘bubble’ for 1 1/2 hours. The soaking in hot water apparently removes any bitterness. You should end up with a jar like this.

Back to the Focaccia, after the batter has risen, add loads of olive oil to a tray, and also cover your hands in it too, tip the mix into the tray and gentle spread out to the sides, I used a combination of ‘exotic’ cherry tomato’s and Rosemary to decorate the bread and enhance the flavour. Mine looked like this when ready. I let it rise for about another hour before putting in the oven to bake.

I had picked up some Veal from our trusty farm shop to make Braciole, a stuffed meat dish that is used to flavour a tomato based sauce that goes with pasta such as Orecchiette. It needs to be flattened out to make small ‘escalopes’, stuffed with two cheeses, I used Gran Padano and Parmesan and some fresh flat leaf Parsley. Dont forget to season with Pepper, you don’t need to add salt due to the cheese. Once wrapped the rolls are secured with a couple of cocktail sticks.

Fry the Braciole in a saucepan, in Olive Oil until sealed all over, pour in a jar of Passata and simmer for 90 Minutes untill everthing is tender and the sauce reduced. The Sauce is served with the Orecchiette. I will talk more about the lemon dessert another day as I managed to drop mine as I was getting it out of the oven!

So there we have it, Braciole, Focaccia and Orecchiette in tomato sauce.
Delizioso, Buon appetito!

Arrivederci Masseria Montenapoleone

Posted on May 14, 2013 by julianrolfe

Today I am off back to ‘sunny’ England but not until I complete one more class with the lovely Anna-Rita, and the two comedians Giuliano & Angelo!

I was waiting at the kitchen door and hey presto, there was Anna-Rita with her trusty bible of family secrets, I wondered was the plan was for today. Angelo and Giuliano were not around to interpret so we just carried on until they arrived.

Cavatelli Ai Frutti Di Mare was on the menu today, Cavatelli are another Semolina based pasta, but with a smaller squashed up shell shape! The Frutti Di Mare was a mix of Langoustine, Mussels, Prawns and Squid.

The Limonchello needed filtering and a water/sugar mixture added to temper the 95% proof alcohol we had used to extract the flavour and ‘cook’ the lemon peel and leaves.

We were also going to bake a Bass, with white Onion, Cherry Tomatoes and baby potatoes, and also make a couple of Focaccia from Scratch, I was particular looking forward to this lesson.

Pouring the liquid through a sieve and muslin cloth or coffee filter to remove any bits and you have a beautiful coloured liquid. Different families have different proportions of water to sugar and syrup to alcohol. Whatever proportion the sugar has to be dissolved in the heated water first, and then cooled down before adding to the lemon essence. It needs a further week before you can drink it to allow the sugar and alcohol to work their magic.

For the baked fish, we had a gutted and descaled Bass that was very fresh, we covered in sliced white Onion, quartered cherry Tomatoes, Parsley a little sea salt and grated Parmesan cheese. The Frutti Di Mare required olive oil to be flavoured with Garlic, and then the Garlic removed. Add quartered cherry Tomatoes, Pepper, NO salt as there is some in the juice of the seafood mix which has salt in it. Another option is to not use the brine, or make you own mix, and use wine, burning off the alcohol.

The Focaccia was really tricky. Whack the ingredients in a Kenwood Chef, Cover and leave to proove in a warm place. Slit the mixture between two REALLY well olive oiled trays. Smother you hands in olive oil and gently spread the mixture. Poke in your toppings of choice, we had Rosemary and Cherry Tomato and Oregano, remembering to squirt some more olive oil on top, and then leave to proove some more. Bake at fan oven 180 for 15 – 20 mins.

The last 8 days have been a real adventure seeing the sights of Puglia, learning about the food culture, having a pop star as a guide and interpreter, going to an ex-pat birthday party and chilling out with a great bunch of guys at Doppio Passe, Angelo’s private bar.

Thanks to Giuliano, Anna-Rita, Angelo, Maura, Veronica and all the team at Masseria Montenapoleone for making my stay so fantastic and especially Anna-Rita for teaching me so much about Puglian food that has been passed down over many generations.

I will be going back.

Julian Rolfe

My Foodie Life