Like an ominous feeling creeping up the back of your neck, I can just feel the stale heat of summer creeping in through the end of the spring breezes. And because I’m an absolute wuss about the heat, I’ve got a recipe for a rosy pink fruity iced tea that will chase the sticky heat away.
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I think the moral of the story is that I should never be in charge of buying prosciutto. I had originally bought prosciutto to make these Peach and Prosciutto canapés, but somehow bought wayyyyy too much. So I also made these Dried Fig and Prosciutto parcels, but there are only so many canapés I can make.
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After making my Peach and Crispy Prosciutto canapés for a party, I learnt a few lessons:
1. Prosciutto is my favourite cured meat for that sweet/salty combo
2. Don’t buy so much prosciutto!
I had wayyyyyy too much prosciutto left over because I over estimated how much to buy, and now I’ve gotta use them up. The answer? This version of Devils on Horseback.
Devils on Horseback is usually made with prunes and bacon, and this fig and prosciutto idea first came to me from Nigella.
I used:
The rest of it is just a matter of assembly. Simply cut a dried fig into half – or quarters – add a touch of blue cheese, or any cheese you prefer, and roll up in prosciutto. I only needed half a slice of prosciutto for mine, but it would really depend on what you prefer. And how thick your prosciutto is sliced, and so forth. Then when it’s all on a platter, I just drizzled the lovely Habenero Honey that I got from Honeycomb Valley and garnished with baby mint leaves from my garden.
If you want to make it ahead of time, this dish is great to hold as little parcels. Simply arrange them on a platter and keep them in the fridge. When you’re ready to serve, leave them at room temperature for about 10 minutes – the prosciutto will thank you for it – and drizzle over the honey and scatter those mint leaves!
Simple, and delicious, if I do say so myself.
With the temperatures climbing, it’s time to once again dust off the ice cream machine, and get cracking on those frozen treats that make a hot day bearable.
This time I chose to go for a tropical themed sorbet because I love how it evokes images of being in the tropics, by the beach…and also because my local green grocer had a special on guava juice. I simply mixed pineapple one part pineapple juice to two parts guava juice, and dissolved 25% by volume of sugar – the magic sorbet ratio provided for by David Lebovitz.
The holiday season is drawing near, and so is the season of fantastic produce!!! This year, peaches caught my eye, and I have soft spot for peaches grilled with a touch of butter. And you know what goes well with stone fruit? The salty cured porky goodness called prosciutto.
And how better than to share that with friends than to put it on a canapé for the holidays?
This recipe is so simple I almost didn’t want to call it a recipe.
I used:
Peaches, pitted and cut into 8ths
Prosciutto, 1 slice per canapè
Roquefort
Rocket, to garnish
Truffle honey
Butter
Crackers
To pit the peaches, just half it vertically, and twist gently to separate the two halves. It can get a bit soft when the peaches are really ripe, so it might get a touch fiddle-y. Then, carefully, use a paring knife to take the pit out. Cut each peach half into quarters, giving you 8 wedges per peach. Give it a bit of colour in a pan or under a grill with a touch of butter.
For the prosciutto, lay out flat pieces on a non-stick pan on medium heat. Some of that fat will render out, and the prosciutto will start curling slightly and get crispy. When it’s all nice and brown – it will still be slightly limp – place them on to a flat tray lined with paper towels. You can keep them warm in the oven, or even do them the day before. They stay crispy in an airtight container for up to three days.
The rest is just an assembly job. Place two wedges of peach on your cracker, one if your cracker is small, and crumble over the roquefort. Or any blue cheese you like. Top with the crispy prosciutto and arrange on a platter. Drizzle over honey and scatter over rocket for colour and some flavour.
Like any person with a new toy, I’m completely obsessed with different flavours of sorbets/ice creams/frozen treats right now. Anything becomes and inspiration, and everyone knows I love trying new things. Well, a long time ago I came across a recipe for Lime and Chilli Sorbet, and because limes can be expensive all by their lonesome, I thought to finish that tropical theme and use pineapple juice as well.
It’s hot. It’s really hot. I know, I’m from Singapore and I should be used to heat worse than this right? And I should stop my whinging? Well whether I whinge or not, IT’S STILL HOT. And having been in Sydney for a few years now, I know that the hottest is still to come. So I think that it’s a good time to start making fruity frozen treats that will get us through to hot chocolate weather again.
As when I made my blood orange sorbet, the basic ratio is simple: for every cup of liquid, you add a quarter cup of sugar. So for this mixture, I used:
**Not lychees in syrup. I bought unsweetened lychee juice in at a small green grocer, and it was a blend of lychee and grape.
Simply mix the lychee juice and sugar in a saucepan over low heat just till the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon juice, then chill in the fridge overnight and churn according to your ice cream maker instructions.
As much as I love to eat sea urchin straight out of the sea, I also can restrain myself from popping these sweet morsels in my mouth long enough to know that it is also a versatile and delicious ingredient. So how better to top delicate pacific oysters than with a luxurious sea urchin butter?
Inspired by Tetsuya’s sea urchin butter that he puts on veal, I decided to play up a slightly more citrusy note because I’m serving these oysters as canapes and I don’t want something too rich weighing my guests down. The trick to this is to use the freshest ingredients, and thankfully I got given some amazing sea urchin from Cando Fishing.
I used:
I placed everything in a blender – quantities to taste – then rolled it up in some baking paper to harden in the fridge. When it came time to serve the oysters, I cranked up the grill to its highest setting, and topped each oyster with half a teaspoon of butter – just a pat. Grill till the oysters are warmed through and the butter is melted and toasty brown, then finish with grated orange zest, to lighten it up.
I love how the sea urchin just boosts the ‘seafood-ness’ of the oysters, with the butter providing a luxuriousness, and the suggestion of wasabi and lemon in the background to cleanse the palate. You can, of course, add a choice of herbs like chives if you’d like a little green, but I like this mouthful as it is. Juicy, plump, and decadent. I had a couple of friends who weren’t too crazy about the fresh sea urchin – nothing’s ever a hundred percent – and they loved the oysters.
If you are thinking of trying sea urchin but not quite sure how to get a good fresh one, you can read about my chat with John of Cando Fishing here to find out more.
I ADORE sea urchin. Well, I adore all seafood, but sea urchin has a delicate creaminess that sends me to the moon and back. There is just something about the way that it melts on my tongue, coating my palate with the sweetness of fresh seafood before fading away, leaving me with a craving for more. But sometimes when you want to serve urchin at a party, you want to dress it up just a little – maybe a simple dressing to enhance the flavour perhaps?
Well thanks to Cando Fishing, I had some really fresh sea urchin to play with.
For the dressing, I used
I first placed the soy, miring and slices of ginger into a pot, and heated it gently to infuse. I added just a touch of sugar to balance the saltiness, and the yuzu to provide a light citrusy flavour. Then I remove the ginger slices, and let the dressing cool.
Then place your pieces of sea urchin in your shot glasses, drizzle the cooled dressing over the top, and top with finely diced seeded chilli – I didn’t cause my guests were not chilli eaters – and a light grating of ginger. I find that if I keep my ginger in the freezer, it gives me feathery shavings that just add a light zing to the sea urchin. If you like a little booze in your shooters, might I suggest a tiny splash of sake.
This is a slightly different angle to shooters – if you like oyster shooters you should absolutely try sea urchin shooters – and this allows you to enjoy the natural sea flavour of the urchin. So tasty.
The most important thing is to get super fresh urchin, and I very luckily got given mine by Cando Fishing that I met at the Fine Food Australia Trade Show. I had a chat to John, who was from Cando fishing and very patient in answering my questions. You can read about my chat with John – and all about the best season for urchin and how to pick the best urchin – here.
Recently, I attended the Fine Food Australia Trade Fair at the Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre. I got chatting to the exhibitors, naturally, and got to know the fabulous people at Red Belly Citrus, who produce blood oranges that are the gorgeous colour of red wine.
Blood oranges, if you’ve never had them, taste to me like a more tart orange, but not quite as astringent as a grapefruit. Curiously addictive, this fruit is fantastic as a refresher and as a palate cleanser. I was very lucky to score a 2L bottle of juice from Red Belly Citrus, and managed to stop myself from polishing off the bottle for long enough to make some sorbet!
There are only a couple of principles to follow in sorbet:
But really, with summer round the corner, there shouldn’t be any issue getting the fresh stuff.
I dissolved the sugar over low heat in half the juice, then added the rest and made sure that the mixture was thoroughly chilled. Why chill it first? Well when the mixture freezes quickly, it doesn’t give large ice crystals the opportunity to form. Which means a smooth sorbet.
Then churn the mixture according to your ice cream machine instructions, and add just a touch of vodka or other liqueur at the end if you really want to. I used 2 teaspoons of vodka for 750ml of liquid. It’s not for flavour, more for those above-mentioend reasons.
Then top with your favourite garnishes – I used pomegranate seeds and mint from the garden – and serve! I put mine in shot glasses because I was doing canapés, but hey, eat it out of the tub if you want to. I do. =)