Posts by tammi

The Tin (wo)Man

Artwork by Andy Warhol
Image taken from wallyg

Some people are against all forms of processed foods. Nigella (my goddess!) is an example of one. She believes in eating lots of ‘real foods’, but can’t stand ‘processed foods’.

But what are processed foods exactly?

One example of processed foods that is commonly given is canned food, and I have to admit that I’ve had (have!) a secret love affair with them. Yes, I do believe in ‘real foods’, but tinned goods have so much to offer! They are always on hand, cheap and last for absolute ages! No, I don’t think that you should have it for every meal, but when it’s late at night and everything else needs prep, tinned foods can be that shining beacon of light saves you from the hunger! I remember when I was a kid and a quick, easy, comforting lunch would be bread and a creamy bowl of Campbell’s soup.

Apparently, Campbell’s soup was meant as a luxury side dish for the upper echelons, but they found out that the ‘lower class’ were the ones buying the product and using a tin as an entire meal! Either way, tinned soup just evokes warm, fuzzy memories of childhood.

The best time was when I was sharing a tin of oxtail soup with my mom, and it had an egg cracked into it. We had the soup with soft white bread, sitting across from each other at the dining table.

What’s your best food memory?

Hung Out to Dry

I was flipping through one of Heston Blumenthal’s books where he was talking about the perfect Pasta Bolognese. There were loads on the perfect sauce, but he also discussed the perfect pasta.

Apparently, (and this is backed up by my extensive research – Iron Chef on TV had similar information) all freshly made pasta needs to be dried. This gives the pasta more body and bite, and helps it ‘stand its ground’ when there’s sauce added.

So I decided to experiment.

First, the basic fresh pasta recipe:

6 egg yolks (or three eggs. Not the perfect outcome, but acceptable for everyday food)
2 cups (300g) strong superfine flour (plain flour’s fine, you just have to knead it more)

Mix the egg yolks in with the flour. You can do this in a food processor till there’s a course crumb, or by hand in a bowl. Once it comes together, tip it out onto a clean counter top an knead till the dough is smooth and elastic. Wrap the dough in cling and leave to rest for 1/2-1 hr.

*On a side note, if the dough is too dry, add more egg. It all depends on the size of the egg you’re using.*

Next comes the fun part. Section the dough into 100g balls. I use a pasta machine to roll it out, but you can do it by hand if you want (it’s quite a bit of grunt work though). If you’re using a pasta machine, feed the dough through the machine on the widest setting once, then fold it over and feed it through the machine again. Do this a couple of times. After that, keep moving setting thinner till you get a sheet that you can see newsprint through.

Put the sheet through the pasta-cutting-roller-thing, so you get your linguine/fettuccine/etc.

Oh, and always remember to keep your dough lightly floured! Otherwise you’re going to end up with a sticky mess.

There are two main ways of drying out pasta. The first is the hanging method.

Get a clean rack and drape your carefully rolled out pasta over it. I’m using a plastic bath towel rack with suction cups, but any rack should do the trick as long as it will take the weight and you can clean it properly. The pasta strands are not supposed to touch, or mould will form. (I know I’ve got some that are touching – they were fine, but just try your best)

Drying time will depend on the climate you’re in. In Heston’s book, it’s mentioned that low heat and low humidity work well, and I can safely say that it’s the case for me. The pasta was completely dry (as in, stiff-as-a-board dry) in a couple of hours.

The second method is the nest method. This was a bit tricky.

Ok, so mine’s not so much a nest as it is a heap. You’re supposed to roll it into a nest shape and dry on a rack. For some reason mine just kept rearranging itself into heap formation. Either way, it seems to me that this produces a more semi-dry pasta, as opposed to the fully-dry hanging one.

The other thing that’s mentioned in Heston’s book is the cooking of said pasta. Apparently the holy ratio of pasta cooking is 10:100:1000. That is, 10g of salt, 100g of pasta, 1000g (1L) of water. Bring the salted water to the boil and add the pasta. Check after 5 minutes whether it’s cooked, and then a couple of minutes after that if it isn’t. The fully-dried pasta takes longer to cook.

The verdict? The thick fully dried pasta suits a meatier sauce, and the thinner fully dried one suits a simpler sauce or an Aglio e Olio type dish. The semi-dried one tasted a lot eggier, and I’m thinking that it’s more compatible with a cream-based sauce.

The fresh pasta was certainly worth the effort, it tasted like it had character of it’s own, rather than just the carbohydrate component to a dish. I would strongly recommend trying it. =)

Happy munching!

Ribbed for Your Pleasure

I just love slow-cooked ribs. Firstly, because I love slow-cooked anything. It barely takes any prep, and just bubbles away while you’re at work! And the smell when you come home is…well, it’s as if someone’s been slaving away to prepare your dinner for you!

And well, ribs. No one can resist that melt-of-the-bone succulence that comes with a well cooked rack of ribs.

I’ve got a recipe for slow-cooker ribs that is honestly, well, cheating. It’s not the most wholesome, from-scratch recipe there is, but it’s easy (and tasty)! And we all need a bit of ease in our lives once in a while.

Ingredients:

2kg Pork Ribs
1 Large Brown Onion
2 cloves Garlic
1 tbsp Chilli Powder (or 2 fresh chillies, chopped finely)
1 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Dried Rosemary
Enough tomato and BBQ sauce mixture to almost cover the ribs

Directions:

Thickly slice the onion and lay it on the bottom of a lightly oiled slow cooker. This acts as a trivet for the ribs so that it doesn’t burn on the bottom. Next, throw in the rest of the ingredients and cook on LOW for 6 hrs (or on HIGH for 4).

Serve with a selection of steamed veggies. 

By the way, the time that I specified is more of a minimum. I usually put it on in the morning and then go out, leaving it on for about 8 hrs. It’s all good.

Hope this gives you as much pleasure as it does me.

Happy munching!

Just Keep Swimming

I love seafood.

It has been somewhat of an obsessive pilgrimage. The endless search for the fresh, the sweet, the succulent. The chase of the briny flavour of the sea, coupled with bright, seductive colours.

I can never resist the promised flavour explosion that the sweet coral of a crustacean brings. And as someone once said to me, “You can never get fat on seafood”. Whether or not that is true, it is but a consolatory statement as I gorge on all the sea has to offer.

Just looking at these Alaskan crabs through the glass, my mouth begins watering. Their perfect, coral legs splayed in the air just inspires a ravenous hunger for the sweet/salty flesh within.

It was a very good day. A very good day indeed.

Cous in Bouche

Image by artwork_rebel

Cous Cous /kuskus/
Wikipedia

“…a dish of spherical granules made by rolling and shaping moistened semolina wheat and then coating them with finely ground wheat flour.”



I know I’m probably incredibly behind in food trends, but I’ve just discovered the wonders of Cous Cous in the home!! I had taken awhile to try Cous Cous because a friend provided a description of “like sand”. But after seeing it fluffed with a fork my gluttonous will could hold out no longer. I tried some and it was absolutely lovely. It was light and soft, and was an excellent carrier for the flavours that were bestowed upon it.

But it took an episode of Nigella for me to fully realise how easy it is to prepare at home! All you have to do is put the Cous Cous in a bowl, add whatever spices/flavour you’d like, and cover with hot water! Leave it to stand and 10 minutes later fluff with a fork. This is even easier to cook than rice!

This is definitely going to be an addition to my pantry cupboard.

Happy Munching!

Beef Up Your Stew!

Lentil
Wikipedia

“The lentil or Masoor daal or Masoor dal (Lens culinaris), considered a type of pulse, (generic translation daal or dal,) is a bushy annual plant of the legume family, grown for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about 15 inches (38 cm) tall and the seeds grow in pods, usually with five thousand seeds in each.”

One of the vegetarian substitutes for mince is the humble lentil. Usually, the image that lentils conjure up is that of buckets of water, and having to soak them overnight…all of that effort. I know I’m probably not the first one to think of it, but I’ve just found a way to avoid all of that!

Stews.

A stew-type recipe (like a bolognese)  calls for a mixture of mince, and when you’re making a big pot (presumably for a large family), you’ll need a large amount of mince or risk the stew ending up watery, rather than rich and hearty. And meat is expensive! The solution?

Lentils!

Because of the long cooking hours, you don’t have to soak the lentils. Just rinse it in a strainer until the water runs clear, and add them in with the rest of the stew. When the stew’s finished, the lentils are nicely cooked and the stew’s really nice and hearty!

Great for those cold winter nights coming up.

Happy munching!

Junk in the Trunk

Image by mauricesvay

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I’ve been busy moving house, and it’s absolutely killing me that I don’t have a useable kitchen at the moment. Everything’s in boxes and I think that I’ve actually run out of space in my kitchen!! =(

Seeing as how it’s a public holiday (Easter long weekend in Australia), there aren’t many healthy alternatives if you don’t have a kitchen. Which I don’t at the moment. So it’s been pizza and burgers, and as much as I appreciate junk food once in awhile, I just can’t take it anymore!! What I would give to have rice and veg at the local hawker’s in Singapore!!

I miss hawker food like you can’t imagine.

I miss late night hawker food even more.

I NEED VEGETABLES!!

Ticking Timebomb

Image taken from JENDELA HISTORIOGRAFI

A couple of nights ago my partner S and I came home quite late after work, and uni, respectively. He had forgotten to bring lunch to work, and so was extremely hungry when he got home. I had eaten lunch, but still felt hungry. The time was 8pm, and the both of us were at a loss as to what to cook before we feel like we’re absolutely starving.

S is not much of a cook, so it’s a bit hard for us to split duties like chopping (a stir fry is quick but the prep takes time) between us so it’s more efficient, and I’m too picky to just have a sandwich. I have realised, though that, as we are fitting more stuff into our schedules, the time to partake in the choosing and preparing of food that we enjoy is fast running out. On some days it does seem that fast food or takeaway ends up being the only viable option.

I shudder to think that fast food will evolve to become the only option in a food-lover’s life. In the past hectic months I’ve just realised how hard it is to keep on top of everything that’s clamouring for your attention, and still take the time to think about what you’re putting in your body.

Sometimes I wish that time would physically manifest itself as a grilled cheese sandwich, so that when it melts away at least it’s tasty. (Although not the healthiest thing out there)

Sometimes I wish that the healthy option is the easy option.

Comfort Eating

Photo by Tower Girl

Food makes me happy. There. I’ve said it. I’ll also be the first to admit that I constantly turn to food whenever I’m having a bad day. Whether I’m cooking, (or more often) eating, food is that constant friend that is always on hand and is an extremely good listener.

Most people (and they’re probably right) say that comfort eating is an avoidance of your problems, and by doing that you’re not really facing up to and solving the problem. But I do believe that everyone needs to find a way to get out of the negative headspace, especially during highly emotional moments. A quick escape button, if you will.

It’s almost like how some people call their mom when they’re at a particularly hard time in their life, just for comfort. Same thing. Sometimes you just can’t measure the rush of pleasure that that first bite of bacon (or your comfort food of choice) will give you.

Comfort eating may not be as bad a thing as we convince ourselves it is.

Happy munching.

Under Pressure

Guess what I got today??!!! I’ve always been a biiiiiiig fan of stews – they are very satisfying on a cold night, and they are a good way to spend very little but get a lot – but the problem always has been that they take too long. The answer to that problem?

A pressure cooker!!

I’ve been thinking about one since last winter, and now that we’re finally going into the cold season again, I’ve got one!! I’m so very excited. That pot just helped me make a full-flavoured bolognese…in thirty minutes!! I can’t believe that I’ve just completely halved the time for a stew.

Now just some al dente homemade pasta to go with the sauce!

Happy munching!