Cappuccino Freddo/Coffee Granita

This was going to be a post for Risotto with Artichokes and Italian Sausage, and I'm sure you can see the connection .... oh, not so obvious?

Ok, let me explain.  This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where we are enjoying six months of cooking with Tessa Kiros, our theme is Under the Tuscan Sun.  "Excellent!!" I thought, as I had long ago bookmarked Tessa's recipe for risotto with artichokes and Italian sausage in the Italian section of her book, Falling Cloudberries, and I knew this would be the perfect occasion for making and posting it.  With me so far?

Well, I need to go back a bit.  Last week at IHCC our theme was Winter Wonderland - an opportunity to break out all those lovely wintery, comforting dishes likes soups, stews and lasagnes.  Of course, they're a pretty good group over there, and they realise that not all of us are blanketed under several inches of snow right now.  So those of us residing in warmer climes right now were directed to come up with some kind of icy treat, something that reminds us of ice and snow.

When I came across Tessa's Coffee Granita with Whipped Cream, I absolutely could not resist sharing this icy treat.  Now this is not the kind of granita that goes into the freezer, and which you scrape with a fork every so often to break it up into millions of tiny icy shards.  No, this is something much more instant - and let's face it, who of us doesn't like a little bit of instant gratification.  The kind of thing you whip up when you're gasping for a caffine fix, but don't feel like a hot drink.

This is very reminiscent of the Cappuccino Freddos which I enjoyed on a daily basis on my trips to Greece, the only difference being that a Cappuccino Freddo uses cold frothy milk on top rather than cream, but the principle is the same.

So this I thought would be the perfect treat to share for our Winter Wonderland theme.  Trouble was the week came and went and somehow, the post never got posted.  However, since this recipe appears in the Italian section of Falling Cloudberries, I thought I could share it with you this week after all.  That artichoke and sausage risotto is just going to have to wait!

Now on with the recipe.  Actually, this is really more of a method than a recipe, and I did depart a little from Tessa's method, but you do need an espresso maker of some sorts for this - whether that be an Italian-style stove top type, or something altogether more sophisticated.

• Three-quarters fill a sturdy glass with small ice cubes, or crushed ice
• If you like your coffee sweet, sprinkle sugar into the glass (I don't have sugar in my coffee, but just for the fun of it I added some vanilla syrup - courtesy of Bron Marshall's giveaway last Christmas)
• Pour a double shot of espresso over the ice
• Whip 1/2 cup cream together with 1/2 tablespoons icing sugar (this will be enough for two people), just until very soft peaks are starting to form.  I kept mine really very soft - so it was not of a "dolloping" consistency, but a bit thicker than normal pouring consistency.  Of course if you would prefer your cream to sit in a thick dollop on top of your coffee just beat it some more.

For an authentically Greek experience serve with spoon sweets on the side;  or, if you're going Italian then a biscotti or amaretti biscuits on the side would be a great accompaniment. 

If you would like to get to know Tessa a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

         

I'm also sharing this at Cookbook Sundays - this week's linky is open here.  There's some great entries in already - why not add yours?!

Fregola Soup with Shrimps & Chorizo and Cookbook Sundays # 5

The thing I love about cooking, as opposed to baking, is the way that you can take just about any recipe and adapt it to suit your tastes or the ingredients you have on hand without necessarily sacrificing anything in the way of the quality of the dish.  Baking on the other hand is a precise science, and disaster lurks in the wings for those novices who dare to tinker with the recipe.

Today's recipe is a great example of being able to adapt and still come up with a great dish.  I would not for a moment suggest that my adaptation is an improvement.  After all, the original came from the book Molto Italiano by Mario Batali, the orange-clogged "God" of all things Italian, and I'm pretty sure his word cannot be bettered.  Still, I like to think that my interpretation of his Fregola Soup with Clams turned out to be a pretty good dish.

So this is the way it went down.  Having half a bag of fregola languishing in my pantry, I had decided a couple of days ago that I was going to make this dish today for my contribution to this week's Cookbook Sundays.  Trouble is, I forgot to check the recipe before I went out this morning to do my shopping.  I knew I had to get clams, but not finding any available today, I opted for some shrimp which I thought would make a good substitute.  Since I keep a fairly well stocked pantry, I thought that I would have pretty much everything else necessary on hand.  Turns out I was wrong.  For starters, I didn't have a red onion, but there were a few spring onions in my vege crisper and I knew that I could get away with finely slicing just the white part of them - of course, a shallot or two would also make a reasonable substitute.  The recipe also called for some prosciutto, which was conspicuously absent from my fridge, but I did have some chorizo sausage, which was a great alternative and paired really well with the shrimp.  I was also missing some basic tomato marinara sauce, but I had some really good hot, roasted pepper sauce that I have been loving lately, so subbed that in instead.  Also, as I am only one person, I halved the original recipe (intended to serve 4 people) to create two very generous servings, which means that tomorrow night's dinner is already sorted!

All things considered, all though I changed the dish quite significantly, I was really pleased with the end result.  The earthy flavour of the saffron which comes through in the broth is both comforting and a great foil to the brininess of the shrimp - I can imagine that this would be amplified if you used clams here as they have even more of that briny quality than the shrimp.  This definitely works as comfort food, but it also has an elegance about it, and I would not hesitate to serve it to company.

Fregola Soup with Shrimps & Chorizo

Adapted from recipe by Mario Batali from

Molto Italiano

Makes 2 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

250g (1/2 lb) fregula (see note below)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 spring onions, white part only, finely sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

125g (4.5 oz) chorizo sausage

250g (1/2 lb) peeled shrimp

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup chicken stock

pinch saffron threads

1/4 cup basic marinara sauce*

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes*

(*I used a hot, roasted red pepper sauce as a substitute for both of these ingredients)

large handful flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

Note:  Fregola is the Sardegna version of couscous.  It is not that easy to find here in New Zealand, but you will come across it in gourmet specialty stores such as Mercato, Zarbo, Farro, Sabato or Nosh.  It does have a fairly hefty price tag, so if that's not in your budget you could substitute Israeli couscous (mograbieh).  Mind you, that too can be pricey, so if that is still not in your budget go and check out this post from Mika at milliemirepoix for a more budget friendly Palestinian couscous.

Set a large pan of water over high heat and bring to a rapid boil.  Salt the water very liberally, then add the fregola and cook according to the package directions - could take anywhere from 12 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, set a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add the olive oil, and once the oil is hot add the chorizo sausage.  Saute until the chorizo is just starting to brown, then add the spring onions and garlic.  Continue to saute until the onion has softened and the garlic is fragrant.

Add the shrimps, wine, stock, saffron and roasted red pepper sauce.  Bring to the boil.

Drain the cooked fregola, add it to the pan, and cook until the shrimp is pink and you have reached the consistency of a soupy risotto.

Stir in the parsley and serve in warm bowls.

 

Earlier I mentioned Cookbook Sundays.  What is that all about, you are perhaps wondering.  Well, if you're anything like me you have dozens of cookbooks gathering dust on your bookshelves, some of which have never even been cooked from.  Sure I spent hours browsing through them when I first bought them, marking all the recipes I was going to make with little post-it notes, and yet still those books languish in the bookcase and never make it to the kitchen.  There are others from which I have made but one recipe which was such a resounding success that I've made it over and over again, and yet somehow I've never made anything else from that book.  Sound a bit familiar?!

Take comfort - you are not alone, and now Cookbook Sundays is your opportunity to change that.  Every Sunday I'm going to share with you a recipe that I haven't made before from one of my ever expanding collection of cookbooks.  And, because I know that if you have read this far then you are guilty of this too, I'm inviting you to join in with me.  Each week my Cookbook Sundays post will have a linky for you to share something you've cooked from one of your cookbooks.

The rules for joining in are simple:

1. Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
2. Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post.  Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
3. You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like.  Old posts are also welcome.
4. Lastly,  remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants. 

Now, go and dust off those cookbooks and get cooking!  Use the linky tool at the end of this post to submit your entry/entries - simply scroll down to where it says "You are next ... Click here to enter", and then follow the instructions.  The linky will be open for one week.

Lastly, if you would like to use the Cookbook Sundays badge in your post, simply copy the code in the box beside the badge below and paste it into your post.  Feel free to also use it in your sidebar if you wish.

<a href="http://couscous-consciousness.blogspot.com/p/cookbook-sundays.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa476/Susan_Busch/CookbookSundaysBadge.jpg" border="0" alt="CookbookSundays"></a>

I'm also sharing this post at Souper (and Sammies & Salads) Sundays hosted by my lovely friend Deb, at Kahakai Kitchen, and at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the equally lovely Michelle, at Ms enPlace.

    

Wild Rice, Black Cherry & Goat Cheese Salad and Cookbook Sundays # 4

It's Saturday evening in my part of the world, which means that it's time to dust off another of my cookbooks and share something with you for Cookbook Sundays.  If you'd also like to scare a few moths out of some of your own seldom used cookbooks and join the fun, you'll find full details later on in this post.

It's also New Year's Eve here and, although I have no plans for partying, I still felt compelled to make something a bit special and seemingly celebratory for my dinner.  At the same time, since I've been a bit unwell this week, I wanted something that was both healthy and slightly comforting.

For healthy and comforting, one of the best places to turn in my opinion is the divine Heidi Swanson.  A couple of weeks ago I shared a recipe from her first book Super Natural Cooking;  however, I thought it was time I turned to her more recent book Super Natural Every Day.

I came across a recipe for "Whole Grain Rice Salad", which certainly sounded wholesome enough, but that seriously doesn't sound like celebration fare, now does it?  Still the picture in the book looked pretty and a read through of the ingredients convinced me that this dish could indeed be a festive dinner.  Now, really, don't you think that a dish of wild rice, studded with black cherries, toasted hazelnuts, goat cheese and tossed with a cherry vinaigrette, and which looks like this, deserves a better name than Whole Grain Rice Salad?

I did change things a bit from the original recipe.  Firstly, I used half wild rice and half brown rice, since my budget didn't run to using all wild rice.  The original recipe claimed to serve six, but since I didn't have five other people to feed, I reduced the amount of rice by half.  But as I still wanted this to be a substantial meal, and I wanted there to be leftovers, I kept all the other quantities roughly the same.  For the dressing I adjusted the ratio of vinegar to olive oil as I found it to be just a bit too, well ... vinegary.  I also added a bit of maple syrup to the dressing as I felt it need just a bit more sweetness - this of course might depend on how sweet your cherries are.  I replaced walnuts with toasted hazelnuts, just because I love them and also because I love the way shape of the hazelnuts echoes the shape of the cherries.  And, lastly, because I am ever one to gild the lily, I added some pomegranate seeds.

Wild Rice, Black Cherry & Goat Cheese Salad

(previously known as Whole Grain Rice Salad)

adapted from a recipe by Heidi Swanson from

Super Natural Every Day

Serve 2 as a substantial meal or

serve 3 as a light meal or

serve 4 as a side dish

Vegetarian

(for a vegan alternative omit the goat cheese)

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

125g (4.5 oz) wild rice

125g (4.5 oz) brown rice

3 large handfuls of baby spinach leaves

2/3 cup toasted hazelnuts

200g (7 oz) black cherries

125ml (4.2 fl oz) extra virgin olive oil

40ml (1.4 fl oz) white balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon maple syrup (optional)

flaky sea salt

handful of crumbled goat cheese

small handful of baby basil leaves

small handful of pomegranate seeds (optional)

Put the rice into a large saucepan with plenty of salted water, and boil until tender - about 30-45 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the cherry vinaigrette:  remove the pits from and combine one third of the cherries in a blender with the olive oil, vinegar, salt and maple syrup.  Blend until the mixture is smooth, taste and adjust any of the elements as necessary.  Set aside.

Once the rice is cooked, drain, and put into a large bowl along with spinach leaves and most of the hazelnuts.  Toss together well until the spinach begins to wilt slightly.  Add a generous amount of the dressing and toss well.  Taste and add more salt if necessary.

Cut the rest of the cherries in half and remove the pits.  Then stir most of them into the rice.

Tip everything out onto a platter.  Strew the remaining cherries and hazelnuts over the top, along with chunks of the goat cheese and the pomegranate seeds.  Finally stud with the sprigs of basil and serve immediately.

This is a great dish for a summer celebration - packed full of amazing flavours and textures - and I do hope you'll try it.

This last year has not been without its difficulties, and I won't be sad to close the door on it in a few hours time.  However, there have also been wonderful moments in my year - new friendships forged, the kindness of strangers, memorable travels, and the opportunity to start a new life in a new home and city.  Most of all I am immensely grateful for all of you who stop by here regularly, who take the time to read what I have to say, leave me your comments, and lend me your support and wisdom.  I am optimistic about the year ahead, and for all of you I wish you a happy and inspirational time in 2012.

 

Earlier I mentioned Cookbook Sundays.  What is that all about, you are perhaps wondering.  Well, if you're anything like me you have dozens of cookbooks gathering dust on your bookshelves, some of which have never even been cooked from.  Sure I spent hours browsing through them when I first bought them, marking all the recipes I was going to make with little post-it notes, and yet still those books languish in the bookcase and never make it to the kitchen.  There are others from which I have made but one recipe which was such a resounding success that I've made it over and over again, and yet somehow I've never made anything else from that book.  Sound a bit familiar?!

Take comfort - you are not alone, and now Cookbook Sundays is your opportunity to change that.  Every Sunday I'm going to share with you a recipe that I haven't made before from one of my ever expanding collection of cookbooks.  And, because I know that if you have read this far then you are guilty of this too, I'm inviting you to join in with me.  Each week my Cookbook Sundays post will have a linky for you to share something you've cooked from one of your cookbooks.

The rules for joining in are simple:

1. Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
2. Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post.  Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
3. You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like.  Old posts are also welcome.
4. Lastly,  remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants. 

Now, go and dust off those cookbooks and get cooking!  Use the linky tool at the end of this post to submit your entry/entries - simply scroll down to where it says "You are next ... Click here to enter", and then follow the instructions.  The linky will be open for one week.

Lastly, if you would like to use the Cookbook Sundays badge in your post, simply copy the code in the box beside the badge below and paste it into your post.  Feel free to also use it in your sidebar if you wish.

<a href="http://couscous-consciousness.blogspot.com/p/cookbook-sundays.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa476/Susan_Busch/CookbookSundaysBadge.jpg" border="0" alt="CookbookSundays"></a>

I'm also sharing this post at Souper (and Sammies & Salads) Sundays hosted by my lovely friend Deb, at Kahakai Kitchen, and at My Meatless Mondays hosted by Chaya at My Sweet & Savory.

Rolled Almond Meringue with Christmas Mince Ice Cream & Cookbook Sundays # 3

Happy Christmas everyone - I hope you are all enjoying a lovely day with your families, and enjoying good food on your tables.  This year is a quiet Christmas for me, my partner being away in Australia for work, and finances being such that travelling to spend time with family or friends was just not an option this year.

Nevertheless, I am having a lovely relaxing day, and will certainly be enjoying my share of festive fare.  Dinner tonight will be a salad of crispy-skin, five-spice duck, with watercress, mango, sweet potato & crispy noodles, with a tamarind and sesame dressing.  Dessert will be this rolled almond meringue filled with a fruit mince ice cream.  The great thing about a dessert such as this is that I can cut off a slice (or three), and keep the rest frozen for another occasion.

This is an adaptation of a recipe from Jan Bilton's Fresh & Fancy Fare, a book I've had for about 25 years and haven't used nearly enough, so I thought this would be a great submission for this week's Cookbook Sundays.  The original recipe calls for a filling of whipped cream mixed with shredded coconut and oranges, but since I wanted to create something less perishable the ice cream filling instead of cream seemed the way to go.  And besides, who really needs an excuse to make ice cream?!

As luck would have it, I just happened to have half a jar of Christmas fruit mince left over from last year.  It was however looking a bit dried out and sad, but I remembered that it had been particularly good, so I felt sure that if I gave it a bit of love I could resurrect it and use it as the base for my ice cream.  I added a heaped tablespoon of my home-made Seville orange marmalade, 50g of chopped chocolate (I used Whittakers Dark Ghana), and a hefty slosh of my Damson gin.  Not only did that breathe new life into my old Christmas mince, but I think I successfully improved it.  Any good quality Christmas mince that you happen to have on hand will suffice here.

For my ice cream custard, I used David Lebovitz's base for his Brown Bread Ice Cream - well, him being the God of all things ice cream in my opinion, where else would I turn?

There is brown sugar and sour cream in the ice cream base which gives it a lovely caramel base flavour, with a hint of tartness, all of which married beautifully with the spices, bitter orange, chocolate and almond flavours coming through from the Christmas mince - utterly divine.  You can be sure there will be more than one batch of this whipped up over the summer - actually beautiful flavours for a winter ice cream too, which is not to be sniffed at since ice cream is (hands down) my favourite dessert all year round.

The meringue is beautifully chewy and marshmallowy (is that a real word? - you know what I mean), and the hint of almond adds yet another layer of flavour to those coming through from the ice cream.

Rolled Almond Meringue with Christmas Mince Ice Cream

Adaptations from recipe by Jan Bilton

from Fresh & Fancy Fare

and recipe by David Lebovitz

Serves 6-8

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

For the ice cream:

1 cup whole milk

1-1/2 cups cream

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

pinch of salt

225g (8 oz) sour cream

5 large egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup good quality Christmas fruit mince

For the meringue:

5 egg whites

1 cup caster sugar (mine was vanilla infused)

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon white vinegar

2 teaspoons cornflour

Begin by making the ice cream, and I suggest that you start this at least 24 hours before making the meringue.

First of all make an ice bath by putting ice cubes and a bit of water into a medium bowl.  Then put the sour cream and 1 cup of the cream into another medium sized bowl.  Stand this bowl in the ice bath and set everything aside.

Put the egg yolks into yet another bowl, whisk slightly to break up the yolks, and then set this aside also.

Put the milk, the remaining 1/2 cup of cream, the sugars and the salt into a medium-sized saucepan, and heat over a gentle heat.  Stir constantly until the sugar has dissolved completely and the mixture is warm.  Test by sticking your little finger into the mixture and when it is too hot to hold your finger there it is ready.

Remove from the heat, and gradually pour some of the milk mixture onto the egg yolks.  Whisk constantly as you pour - this is important or you will end up with scrambled eggs.  Once about half of the milk mixture is incorporated into the eggs, scrape the whole lot back into the saucepan, again whisking constantly.

Set the pan back over low heat, and stir constantly until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spatula.

Remove from the heat, and strain the mixture over the top of the cream and sour cream mixture resting in its ice bath.  Whisk constantly until the mixture is smooth and has cooled completely.  Stir in the vanilla.

Cover with cling film, pressing it right down onto the surface of the custard.  Refrigerate for several hours at least - ideally overnight.

Next day, churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.  Remove the churned ice cream to a cold bowl, stir through the Christmas mince, then freeze until firm.

Now make the meringue.  Begin by preheating your oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).  Lightly butter a Swiss-roll tin and line it with parchment paper.  Set aside.

In a scrupulously clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff.  Add the sugar, a little bit at a time, and continue beating until all the sugar is dissolve and the mixture is stiff and glossy.

Fold the almond extract, vinegar and cornflour gently into the meringue.

Spread the mixture into the prepared tin, and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, spread another sheet of baking paper out onto your kitchen bench and dust it liberally with icing sugar.

Remove the cooked meringue from the oven, and turn it out onto the icing sugar dusted baking paper.  Allow to cool completely.

Spread ice cream over the centre of the meringue (soften your ice cream first if necessary), roll up from the long edge.  Wrap in parchment paper and freeze until you are ready to serve.

Enjoy and have a happy Christmas - for those of us here in New Zealand it's nearly over, but I know that for many of you it is only just beginning.

 

Earlier I mentioned Cookbook Sundays.  What is that all about, you are perhaps wondering.  Well, if you're anything like me you have dozens of cookbooks gathering dust on your bookshelves, some of which have never even been cooked from.  Sure I spent hours browsing through them when I first bought them, marking all the recipes I was going to make with little post-it notes, and yet still those books languish in the bookcase and never make it to the kitchen.  There are others from which I have made but one recipe which was such a resounding success that I've made it over and over again, and yet somehow I've never made anything else from that book.  Sound a bit familiar?!

Take comfort - you are not alone, and now Cookbook Sundays is your opportunity to change that.  Every Sunday I'm going to share with you a recipe that I haven't made before from one of my ever expanding collection of cookbooks.  And, because I know that if you have read this far then you are guilty of this too, I'm inviting you to join in with me.  Each week my Cookbook Sundays post will have a linky for you to share something you've cooked from one of your cookbooks.

The rules for joining in are simple:

1. Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
2. Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post.  Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
3. You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like.  Old posts are also welcome.
4. Lastly,  remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants. 

Now, go and dust off those cookbooks and get cooking!  Use the linky tool at the end of this post to submit your entry/entries - simply scroll down to where it says "You are next ... Click here to enter", and then follow the instructions.  The linky will be open for one week.

Lastly, if you would like to use the Cookbook Sundays badge in your post, simply copy the code in the box beside the badge below and paste it into your post.  Feel free to also use it in your sidebar if you wish.

<a href="http://couscous-consciousness.blogspot.com/p/cookbook-sundays.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa476/Susan_Busch/CookbookSundaysBadge.jpg" border="0" alt="CookbookSundays"></a>

 

I am also sharing this post with Sweet New Zealand, a monthly blog event created by the very lovely Alessandra Zecchini, and which this month is hosted by the equally lovely and incredibly talented Bron Marshall. This is an opportunity for all Kiwi bloggers (whether you are living in New Zealand or overseas), as well as for non-Kiwi bloggers living in New Zealand, to connect and share some of those sweet treats from your kitchen.  So, head on over to Bron's and share something sweet.

I'm also sharing this at Bake with Bizzy.

Finnish Mustard

 

Of necessity, this post is going to be brief.  Firstly, it's Christmas Eve, and right now I feel more inclined towards settling down with a nice glass of wine than I do towards writing a lengthy blog post.  Secondly, at the risk of repeating myself, it's Christmas Eve, and I'm fairly sure that right now you too feel more disposed to relaxing over a festive tipple than you do towards reading a lengthy post from me.  So brief it shall be.

I am sharing this post at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where we continue to cook with the delightful Tessa Kiros, our theme for this week being Holiday Goodies.  Great theme, since I still had a few little treats that I wanted to make to give to friends, but I wanted to come up with something other than all the tooth-aching sweetness that abounds on the net right now.  Don't know about you, but even though I've been managing to avoid the consumption of cookies, cakes, fudge and bucket loads of chocolate, just the sight of so much of it everywhere I look has started to give me that "over-indulged" feeling.  I was looking for something more savory, and when I stumbled upon Tessa's recipe for Finnish Mustard in her wonderful book, Falling Cloudberries, I knew I'd found just the thing.  This would be the perfect gift for friends who almost certainly have enough chocolate already, as well as a great item to keep in my fridge for slathering on those endless summer sandwiches.

This was a breeze to make, has a generous amount of heat, softened with a nice bit of sweetness, and would make a nice accompaniment to all manner of cold meats.  I can imagine it also going well in dressings, or slathered on some nice ciabatta bread with some char-grilled vegetables.

I did make a couple of minor changes to the recipe.  The first change was intentional - I used rice wine vinegar, because I wanted to make it gluten-free, but use any vinegar that you like.  The other change was really accidental - the original recipe called for the inclusion of a tablespoon of olive oil, but I forgot it.    Now, I don't know what difference the olive oil would have made - it seems perfectly fine without it, and in fact I didn't even realise I'd omitted it until I started to prepare this post.  But if you feel so inclined, go right ahead and put it back in.

Hope you'll give this a try.  As a gift I think it makes a nice change from all the sweet stuff going around, which seems guaranteed to make your gift all the more memorable.

Finnish Mustard Recipe

Adapted from a recipe by Tessa Kiros from

Falling Cloudberries

Vegetarian, Gluten Free

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1/3 cup mustard powder

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup cream

1 tablespoon olive oil 

(I omitted this, but feel free to include it)

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 

(or vinegar of your choice)

juice of 1/2 a lemon

Put the mustard powder, sugar and salt into a small saucepan, and mash with a wooden spoon to get rid of all the lumps.  Now add the cream, oil (if using), vinegar and lemon juice, and set the pan over low heat.  Stir continuously until it comes to a boil.  Then cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly, until it has darkened and thickened - it will look like caramel.

Remove from heat, and give it a stir from time to time as it cools down.  Pour into glass jars.  Will keep for several weeks in the fridge.

And my tip for getting that last little bit of mustard out of the jar ... when you get down to those last traces of mustard sticking around the corners and sides of the jar, add 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, generous pinch salt, and 1 teaspoon maple syrup to the jar, shake vigorously, and hey presto - vinaigrette and no wasted mustard.

If you would like to get to know Tessa a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

         

Lastly, in case you're wondering, Cookbook Sundays will be up and running this week as usual, but will just be a day late.

"End of Spring" Ministrone with Rocket, Spinach & Walnut Pesto and Cookbook Sundays # 2

It's been a funny old week.  It may be the start of summer here but, with torrential rain and heavy flooding in many parts of Nelson, it's felt rather more like winter.  Many families in our city had to be evacuated from their homes, either because of flooding or because of danger from hillside slips.  Thankfully, we live high enough on a hill to escape flooding and were lucky enough not to be subjected to any slips either.  A special thanks also to so many of you for your kind thoughts and concerns for my safety - your thoughtfulness never ceases to warm my heart and is a constant reminder of the joys of belonging to this food blogging "family".

So, after all that rain something warming, nourishing and comforting seemed to be called for, but at the same time I wasn't wanting anything too heavy.  When I came across this recipe for Spring Ministrone in Super Natural Cooking (one of my favourite cookbooks) by Heidi Swanson it seemed to fit the bill perfectly.  I also knew that this would be perfect for my contribution this week to Cookbook Sundays (read more about that at the end of this post).

For this soup brown rice is cooked in a light vegetable broth, with spring vegetables (I used asparagus, zucchini, and peas) added right at the end, so that the vegetables are still bright green and crispy.  I made a pesto from some spinach and rocket (arugula) I'd harvested from my garden, and topped the soup with a generous dollop of that, along with some freshly grated lemon zest and shaved pecorino cheese.

I know that there are amongst you those who love soup and could eat it (or should that be drink it) just about every day of the week.  I am not such a person.  I don't mind a bowl of soup now and again, but you know maybe 6-8 bowls of soup in the whole year is probably about my fix.  It is not something I would ever order in a restaurant, unless of course it's an Asian restaurant of some sort, in which case there is a very strong possibility that I would order the noodle or wonton soup.  This doesn't count as one of the 6-8 bowls of soup previously mentioned, as I think of this as noodles, not soup - those are the rules!  My other soup rule is that I almost never have soup in summer.

Now, I've got to say this .... this soup just broke all of my soup rules.  This is quite possibly the best soup I've ever tasted - at least, the best one that I've ever made, and you know what?  This soup is definitely going to have me exceeding my annual soup quota - in fact there is a good chance I'll exceed that before the week is out.  This is a soup that I could really eat every single day - of course, things like asparagus and fresh peas won't be around for much longer, but I will be making the most of it while they're still here.

The nuttiness and chewiness of the brown rice gives that little bit of "comfort factor" and enough substance to be able to make a meal out of this.  The crisp, green vegetables provide a lovely textural balance to the rice, while the hit of fresh lemon and fragrant pesto keeps the spring-like freshness in this dish.

Of course, you could swap out the vegetables I used with all sorts of other alternatives:  green beans, snow peas, broad beans, artichoke hearts, edamame, cauliflower, broccoli, bok choy.  Just keep it green would be my mantra here - save the carrots, pumpkin, corn, etc, for something else.  I urge you to try it - I know you won't be disappointed.

"End of Spring" Ministrone with Rocket, Spinach & Walnut Pesto

Adapted from a recipe by Heidi Swanson from

Super Natural Cooking

Makes 4 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Vegetarian

For the soup:

2x tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2x shallots, thinly sliced

1x garlic clove, minced

1x cup brown rice, rinsed

6x cups vegetable stock

2x zucchini, thinly sliced

8x asparagus spears, cut on the diagonal into 2.5 cm (1 in) lengths

1x cup freshly shelled green peas (frozen is fine too)

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

For the pesto:

3x large handfuls of rocket (arugula) & spinach leaves

1x large handful of toasted walnut pieces

2x cloves garlic

extra virgin olive oil (about 1/3 cup)

1/2 cup freshly grated pecorino cheese

flaky sea salt

To serve:

freshly grated zest of 1x lemon

pecorino cheese, freshly shaved

Begin with the soup.  Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the shallots and garlic to the pan, and saute for a couple of minutes until the shallots have softened and the garlic is fragrant.  Add the rice, and cook for a minute, stirring constantly until every grain of rice is coated in the oil.  Now add the stock to the pan, bring up to the boil, then cover the pan with a lid, lower the heat to a simmer, and cook for 30 to 45 minutes until the rice is tender.

Meanwhile make the pesto.  Put the walnuts, rocket, spinach, garlic and salt into a food processor and pulse until the leaves and nuts start to break down. Then leaving the motor running, begin to add the oil in a steady stream until you have a smooth paste. Remove to a bowl, stir in the grated pecorino, taste and add a little more salt if necessary. Set aside.

Now back to the soup.  Once the rice is tender, add the vegetables and season generously with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Simmer for just 2 or 3 minutes, so that the vegetables are still bright green and crisp, add freshly grated lemon zest, and serve immediately.

Ladle into bowls, add some fresh shavings of pecorino cheese to each bowl, and top each with a generous dollop of the pesto.

 

Earlier I mentioned Cookbook Sundays.  What is that all about, you are perhaps wondering.  Well, if you're anything like me you have dozens of cookbooks gathering dust on your bookshelves, some of which have never even been cooked from.  Sure I spent hours browsing through them when I first bought them, marking all the recipes I was going to make with little post-it notes, and yet still those books languish in the bookcase and never make it to the kitchen.  There are others from which I have made but one recipe which was such a resounding success that I've made it over and over again, and yet somehow I've never made anything else from that book.  Sound a bit familiar?!

Take comfort - you are not alone, and now Cookbook Sundays is your opportunity to change that.  Every Sunday I'm going to share with you a recipe that I haven't made before from one of my ever expanding collection of cookbooks.  And, because I know that if you have read this far then you are guilty of this too, I'm inviting you to join in with me.  Each week my Cookbook Sundays post will have a linky for you to share something you've cooked from one of your cookbooks.

The rules for joining in are simple:

1. Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
2. Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post.  Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
3. You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like.  Old posts are also welcome.
4. Lastly,  remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants. 

Now, go and dust off those cookbooks and get cooking!  Use the linky tool at the end of this post to submit your entry/entries - simply scroll down to where it says "You are next ... Click here to enter", and then follow the instructions.  The linky will be open for one week.

Lastly, if you would like to use the Cookbook Sundays badge in your post, simply copy the code in the box beside the badge below and paste it into your post.  Feel free to also use it in your sidebar if you wish.

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I'm also sharing this post at Souper Sundays, hosted by the lovely Deb at Kahakai Kitchen, at My Meatless Mondays, hosted by Chaya at My Sweet & Savory; and at See Ya in the Gumbo hosted by Michelle at Ms. enPlace.

Chicken with Coriander & Spinach Rice

It's a rare thing for me to be lost for words, but right now lost for words I am.  You see, I made this dish way back in October for one of the I Heart Cooking Clubs cooking with Tessa Kiros challenges - may have been the "peasant food" week, don't exactly remember.  Sadly, the week came and went, and I just didn't get a chance to get my post done.  Never mind, I thought, there will be another challenge that I can use it for.  Other suitable occasions came and went, and still it didn't get posted.  Well this week is our Pot Luck week, and I can keep it from you no more.

After all this time, however, what can I tell you about this dish?  Well, I remember enjoying this dish a lot and the other half did too.  I recall that by the time I dished up dinner it was too dark for a photo, so I set a portion aside (the one you see in the picture above) to take a photo the next day.  And I also recall said other half being rightly miffed that he wasn't allowed seconds because this portion had to be saved for the photo.  Such are the joys of living with a food blogger - he keeps threatening to write his own blog about that very subject!  I even marked it in the book (Falling Cloudberries) as being a favourite and one that I would make again.

But, two months later, the subtleties, the various nuances of the dish that I might ordinarily want to share with you are forgotten.  So I can only tell you this - it was a great family style dish, and one that could easily be multiplied to feed a crowd;  I know you will enjoy it and I hope you give it a try.

 

Chicken with Coriander & Spinach Rice

Adapted from a recipe by Tessa Kiros from

Falling Cloudberries

Makes 3 generous servings
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

small bunch coriander

100g (3.5 oz) baby spinach leaves

1/2 cup water

olive oil

1kg (2.2 lb) bone-in chicken thighs

2x garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 carrot, diced

1/2 red pepper, deseeded and diced

1x red chilli, finely sliced (deseeding optional)

1-1/2 cups short grain rice

1/4 cup frozen peas

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Spiced Yoghurt:

1 cup plain Greek-style yoghurt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons olive oil

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Begin by making the spiced yoghurt - simply mix all of the ingredients together and set aside until you are ready to serve.

Pick the coriander leaves from the stems and put into a small food processor with the spinach leaves and water.  Blitz into a puree and set aside.

Heat olive oil (about 3 tablespoons) in a large, heavy-based frypan over medium heat.  Add the chicken, and fry until golden brown and crispy all over.  Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.

Add a little more olive oil to the pan if necessary.  Add the garlic, and as soon as it becomes fragrant add the carrot, red pepper and chilli.  Saute for several minutes until the vegetables have softened.

Add the coriander and spinach puree to the pan and cook for two minutes before returning the chicken to the pan.  Season generously with flaky sea salt and pepper.

Saute for another couple of minutes and then add 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes allowing the chicken to cook through and absorb all the flavours.

Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside, keeping it warm.  Add the rice to the pan, and add enough hot water to cover the rice by about 3cm (1-1/4 inches).  Cook, uncovered, until the rice looks as though it has absorbed most of the water (5-10 minutes).  Add the peas.  Turn heat down as low as it can go;  cover;  and, stirring just once or twice to prevent sticking, cook for around 15 minutes, until the rice is cooked.  Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

Put the rice onto a large serving platter, arranging the chicken pieces over the top.  Drizzle some of the spiced yoghurt over the top, or serve in a separate bowl allowing each person to add their own.

If you would like to get to know Tessa a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

         

I'm also sharing this post at Cookbook Sundays, See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by Michelle at Ms. enPlace, and Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage.