Monday, February 27, 2012

Bok Choy

1 1/2 pounds bok choy or baby bok choy
1 1/2 tablespoons sesame, vegetable or peanut oil
1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
3 tablespoons broth or water (or 2 tablespoons broth/water + 1 tablespoon sake)
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil(omit if sesame used above)

Start by trimming the stem off - don't trim too much - just the end. Cutting the thick stem off will ensure that the bok choy cooks evenly. Separate out the leaves, keep the tender center intact and clean under running water. Drain.

Finely mince garlic and grate fresh ginger with a microplane grater.

Place wok or frying pan on your stove and pour in the cooking oil. Add the garlic and ginger. Turn the heat to medium-high. Let the ginger and garlic gently sizzle in the oil. When the aromatics become fragrant and light golden brown, add the bok choy leaves. Toss very well to coat each leaf with the garlicky, gingery oil for 15 seconds. Pour in broth, water or wine. Immediately cover and let cook for 1 minute. Season with salt and drizzle a bit of sesame oil on top.

Recipe from SteamyKitchen.com

M&S Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1 tbs at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
Bake for 11 to 13 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

All Recipes

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Veggie Cobbler Ezra Poundcake

1 TABLESPOON VEGETABLE OIL (OR BUTTER)
1 1/2 CUPS COARSELY CHOPPED ONIONS
1 FENNEL BULB, CORE REMOVED, THINLY SLICED (OPTIONAL)
2 OR 3 GARLIC CLOVES, MINCED
1 TEASPOON SALT
1 TO 2 TEASPOONS DRIED THYME
1/2 TEASPOON CRUSHED RED PEPPER FLAKES
4 TO 5 CUPS SLICED MUSHROOMS
1 TABLESPOON DIJON MUSTARD
2 CUPS PEELED AND CHOPPED SWEET POTATOES (OR BUTTERNUT SQUASH)
2 CUPS CHOPPED POTATOES
2 CUPS PEELED AND CHOPPED CARROTS (OR PARSNIPS)
1/2 TEASPOON GROUND BLACK PEPPER
3 CUPS WATER OR VEGETABLE STOCK
3 TABLESPOONS CORNSTARCH DISSOLVED IN 1/2 CUP COLD WATER
1 CUP FRESH OR FROZEN GREEN PEAS
1 CUP FRESH OR FROZEN CORN KERNELS
1 TABLESPOON SOY SAUCE
1/2 TEASPOON SALT
DASH OF HOT SAUCE (OPTIONAL)

Biscuit Topping:
2 CUPS UNBLEACHED ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
1/2 TEASPOON SALT
1 TABLESPOON BAKING POWDER
1/2 TEASPOON BAKING SODA
6 TABLESPOONS MELTED BUTTER
1 CUP BUTTERMILK OR PLAIN YOGURT
1 TEASPOON CHOPPED FRESH DILL (OR ANY HERB YOU HAVE ON HAND)

Warm the oil in a Dutch oven or soup pot. Add the onions, fennel and garlic, cover, and cook on medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the salt, thyme, crushed red pepper flakes, mushrooms and mustard. Cook until the mushrooms start to release their juices, about 5 minutes.

Add the sweet potato, white potato, carrot, black pepper and water or stock, and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the vegetables are just tender.Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

Stir the dissolved cornstarch mixture into the simmering vegetables, stirring constantly. When the liquid starts to thicken, mix in the peas, corn, soy sauce and salt. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed. (You can also add a dash of hot sauce.)
Pour the vegetables into the prepared baking dish, and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, mix together the melted butter and buttermilk or yogurt. Combine the wet and dry ingredients with as few strokes as possible to make a soft dough.
Drop the biscuit batter over the vegetables in the dish in six equal mounds. Sprinkle the dill over the dough.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of a biscuit comes out clean. Serve immediately.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Nigella's Tarragon Chicken

2 Tsp garlic oil
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
2 chicken breasts
80 ml white wine
!/2 tsp sea salt
60 ml double cream
Pepper
Fresh tarragon

Hear garlic oil in smallish pan and add the tarragon, cook for 1 minute. Put the chicken in the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Turn the breasts over and add the wine. Let the wine come to a boil and add the salt. Turn down temperature, cover and let simmer for 10 minutes. Check the chicken is cooked through.

Remove breasts from pan. Bring liquid to a boil and add cream. Add some pepper and sprinkle with fresh tarragon.

Nigella's Scallops and Peas

500g frozen petits pois
1–2 x 15ml tablespoons Thai green curry paste
75g crème fraîche
sea salt flakes or pouring salt, to taste
2 teaspoons groundnut or other flavourless oil
2 teaspoons butter
6 big scallops (such as sold in shell by fishmongers) or 10–12 small ones (such as sold in packets in the supermarket), preferably diver-caught
juice 1 lime
1–2 x 15ml tablespoons chopped
fresh coriander or Thai basil

Cook the peas in boiling, slightly salted water until tender, then drain and tip into a blender, adding 1 tablespoon curry paste and the crème fraîche. Season to taste with salt and perhaps add more curry paste, depending how strong it is.
Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan until foamy, then fry the scallops for about 2 minutes a side. If you are using big scallops, then it is sometimes easier to cut them in half across. When they are cooked, they will have just lost their raw look in the middle and be lusciously tender, while golden and almost caramelized on the outside.
Lift the scallops onto 2 warmed plates and then de-glaze the hot pan by squeezing in the lime juice. stir to mix well and pick up every scrap of flavour, then pour this over the scallops on each plate.
Dish up the pea purée alongside the scallops, and sprinkle with the chopped coriander or thai basil. Serve with another wedge of lime, if you feel like it.

Serves 2 (this is a LOT of peas)