Using your loaf

Baking is a skill which I have been honing for some time now.  I really have no interest in creating anything sweet (you might have noticed a complete absence of anything sugary in my blog?).  Making bread is something I like to try my hand at with limited and sporadic success, but there is something compelling and rewarding to create a tasty loaf from a few, key ingredients.  Flatbreads are, in my opinion easy to master, indeed, any bread that doesn't require leavening or cooking in an oven (as opposed, to a hot, flat pan) seems to be rather manageable.

Today I had an urge to make a loaf, and after some probing through a couple of cookbooks I settled on a Moroccan rustic bread from my Moro cookbook.  I followed the recipe, but found that it required some tweaking - with the ingredients and methodology.  Baking, although a fine art, seems to hit the middle ground between alchemy and science - not really proliferating enough into either craft to firmly establish its cooking roots.  

Here's what I did:

Rustic Moroccan Bread

•    Add 3/4 of a teaspoon of yeast to 20ml of tepid water.  Allow to mix together for 2 minutes.
•  Add a good few squeezes of honey to the warm water.  Stir.
•  Warm 100ml of milk in a pan.
•  Mix 200ml of wholemeal flour with 100ml of plain, strong bread flour.
•  Make a well in the middle of flour, add the water/honey/yeast.  Add 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt.
•  Using your index finger like a dough hook start to mix the liquids in.
•  Slowly add the warm milk until you have a tacky, but not wet dough.
•  Flour a surface.  Kneed the dough for 5 minutes until it becomes soft and elastic.
•  Split the dough into 2 balls.  Roll each ball into a disc, 1cm thick and 15cm wide.
•  Oil 2 baking trays.  Place each disc onto a baking tray.
•  Cover the trays with a tea-towel each.  Leave in a warm place for 4 hours until they have roughly swelled to double size.
•  Preheat the a fan assisted oven to 200C.
•  Put the two trays in.  Bake for roughly 10 to maximum 15 minutes.  The bread should resemble the photo above.

A rather hot affair.

My girlfriend is quite aware of it, I don't try to hide it.  I've been having a very hot affair for some time now, and I cannot stop myself.  Since the first time I ever went to SE Asia, to Malaysia, back in 2002 I have been horribly addicted to chilli's.  I eat them with everything, and if I can't get them, I douse whatever I am eating in Tabasco, or some kind of chilli sauce.

It has been scientifically proven that chilli's elicit a euphoric sensation when eaten (rather like chocolate, but a different chemical), they are addictive and, you build a resistance to them.  All in all, it sounds like many a drug you see emblazoned on the front of newspaper, headlining the next killer craze.

With this chilli addiction in mind, I like to keep a healthy stock of the fiery fruit to fuel my fixation.  Here's a lowdown on the chilli's I like to have:

Weapons of choice

So, going from top left, in clockwise rotation, you will see, lemon chilli, bhut jolokia, cherry bomb, cayenne, generic Thai red, and some kind of Mexican red chilli (I lost the label).  They each have their culinary uses, but all of them are dried.

For example, the lemon chilli I like to use in pasta, the jolokia is obviously reserved for fiery Indian dishes, and the generic red Thai chilli I impart into anything of a SE Asian nature.

I only buy fresh green chilli's, usually the birds eye, thin, finger-like ones you can get from Asian grocers.  In Indian cuisine you only ever use fresh green chilli - red chilli's are always dried.

It is possible to rehydrate these chilli's if you desire.  This can be achieved by warming up some water, not to boiling point though, just tea temperature.  Then I cut the top off the chilli to allow the water to ingress (otherwise the chilli just floats on the surface).  Put the chilli in the hot water, get the water inside it too, and try to sink it.  Leave it for at least 30 minutes, an hour if possible.  It should have regenerated some of its water content, and become plump and juicy, once more.

Yesterday we had my parents, and one of my nieces over for Easter lunch.  My father is a fussy old so and so, and doesn't like any "foreign muck".  I made him a Vlaamse stoofkarbonaden and passed it off as a Lancashire hotpot.  This neutral lunch inspired me to fire up the evening with something a bit spicy.  I plumped for a Linguine All'Arrabiata (angry linguine!):

Linguine All'Arrabiata 

•   Finely chop one onion.
•   Add a few glugs of olive oil to a heavy-based pan.
•   Medium to high heat, add the onion and cook until just coloured.
•   Add 2 cloves of minced garlic.
•   Finely dice up half a dried chilli (I used a lemon one).  Add to the pan.
•   Whizz a can of peeled plum tomatoes in a mini blender.
•   Add the tomatoes.
•   Season the sauce and keep on a medium to high heat.
•   Reduce the water content out of the sauce until it is glossy and sticky (takes about 15 minutes).
•   Cook your pasta to al dente, drain and add to the sauce.
•   Toss in the sauce.
•   Serve with finely grated parmegiano reggiano.

Poor man's potatoes

If you have ever read Chris Stewart's mirth-inducing trio of books about his transition from Genesis drummer to Spanish subsistence farmer you will be familiar with the rustic Iberian treat of "patatas al o pobre".  It's a great way to eat potatoes, and really should be more widely appreciated than its better known cousin, "patatas bravas" (which incidentally means "wild potatoes" not "brave").

I struggle to think of anything more appealing (as an Englishman) as potatoes, cooked in olive oil with peppers, onion, garlic and bay leaves.  Ideally you should use a waxy potato, to inhibit the propensity of a more floury potatoes tendency to go mushy, but I can attest that good old Maris pipers work just as well (as long as you temper the heat and cut them nice and thick).

Patatas al o pobre

It is stupefyingly simple to concoct - here's how you do it:

•   Add approximately 4 generous tablespoons of good olive oil to a thick bottomed pan and heat under a medium heat.
•   Peel and thinly slice 3 medium onions.  Add them to the pan and cook slowly for 15 or so minutes until they become golden, sticky and sweetly perfumed.
•   Meanwhile chop 2 peppers - doesn't matter which colour you use - I used orange and red in mine tonight.  Roughly chopped is fine.  Add them to the pan.
•   Peel and thinly slice 4 garlic cloves.  Add them to the pan.
•   Add 2 bay leaves.
•   Peel 4-5 medium sized potatoes or a bag of 500g waxy potatoes.  Cut into chunks (see my picture above).  Add them to the pan.
•   Season well with salt and black pepper.
•   Top up with oil if you think it needs it (this is an oily dish).
•   Cook until the potatoes are soft but not disintegrating.

 

4 meals with one bird.

Times are hard, they say, "there's a recession on", a global, economic downturn.  Here, in England, in our little esoteric land, we have decided it is time to put 20% VAT on hot pasties, but none on cold pasties (as a hot pasty is designated a meal and therefore subject to restaurant takeaway VAT).  A tin of tuna (yes, I know, I should check if it's line-caught) is well over a pound now, and the other day, in London I saw an artisan bakery punting loafs of organic sourdough for 6 quid.

You might recall I bought a whole chicken on Tuesday?  It has now made 3 meals (1 x chicken tikka in pitta bread and 2 x chicken makhani).  I still have well over a litre of decent chicken stock too, and this no doubt, will end up as a soup or risotto.  That's not bad for a 6 quid bird!

Last night was definitely a rehash, but it was delicious!  We had a banquet of butter chicken, egg-fried turmeric rice and I made some fresh naan bread:

Chicken Makhani

A lot of people find they have problems when making egg-fried rice - finding it sticks, or dissipates in the pan, ending up as some amorphous mush.  As long as you have cooked the rice correctly in the first place, and here's the secret - allowed it to cool to fridge temperature - it is facile and elementary.  Here's how I make the rice:

Turmeric egg-fried rice

•   As usual, I eyeball how much rice I need.  I washed it twice to remove as much residual starch as possible.
•  I fill the saucepan with enough water to cover the rice with approximately 1cm excess water.
•  I put 1 teaspoon of powdered turmeric in.
•  Put the heat on medium-high.
•  After 8 or 9 minutes check it.  If you think to yourself "it's not quite ready", turn off the heat.
•  Drain the rice into a sieve and set it over a pan.  Put the saucepan cover on top of the sieve to make a subtle seal.
•  Let it steam like this for 3 minutes.  
•  Remove the saucepan lid and fork to fluff up!

Now, egg-fried rice doesn't sound massively compatible with Indian food, but really it is.  I have to confess the idea stems from my partner - she always would order egg-fried rice from a takeaway menu.  At first I thought the idea reproachable, but honestly it works.

•  When the rice has cooled down, refrigerate it until it is cold.
•  Line a wok, or a karahi pan with some neutral oil - not much, just a teaspoon.
•  Heat the wok on a high heat.
•  Mix an egg and beat it together in a cup.
•  Throw the rice into the wok when it is nice and hot.
•  Stir fry for 30 seconds.
•  Add the egg and stir vigourously.
•  When the rice is heated and the egg is cooked (2-3 minutes) it is ready.

I served this platter with a home made naan bread.

Chicken Makhani, Turmeric egg-fried rice and naan

I wonder if it is possible to make a decent naan bread, at home, without the luxury of a tandoor?  I can make a palatable bread, but in all honesty it does not resemble, or taste like a naan.  My gut feeling is that you cannot - it needs the roaring rasp of a proper tandoor to get it to bubble and crisp on the outside, but retain a hot, steamy and doughy interior.

Home-made naan bread

A quick precis of what I did is this:   I made a dough with flour, yeast, oil, salt and warm milk.  It rose, and doubled in size.  I knocked it back.  I preheated the oven and grill to maximum and put a thick baking tray in to heat it up.  I shaped my naan and then slapped it onto the hot tray.  3 minutes at 240C, then 30 seconds under the grill.

As I say, they tasted nice, but nowhere near an approximation of a naan bread.  

If any of you have a better recipe and method I'd be very intrigued to hear it.

By fair means or fowl.

After a two week abstinence, we finally made it to the supermarket yesterday.  The trolley was 3/4 full by the time we made it to the groceries, due to much buying of nappies, baby-wipes, baby food, toilet cleaner and other sundry items of a non-edible nature.  This, of course, left little room for the things I like - food.  Before we set off I mentally prepared myself for a two day curry marathon - my partner was going out on the razz two nights on the trot.  

I decided that I would try my hand at chicken tikka, followed, the day after by chicken makhani (or butter chicken, as it is often known).  This means I could buy a whole chicken, joint it, marinade, roast then use the left over tikka to make the makhani on the Wednesday night.  I have jointed a whole chicken before, but I confess to using what might be termed as a "slash and burn" approach - i.e an industrial-sized Global cleaver.  This works but it's a bit messy.  I decided to watch Dhruv Baker joint a chicken on a Waitrose endorsed video (you can watch it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYmoRg_vcmE ).  It was actually excellent and I can now say I am an expert jointer of chickens.

The tikka itself is fairly simple - you just need some time to marinade.  Madhur Jaffrey advises you to take at least 6 hours, but I decided to go with a measly 4 hours.  Just out of interest, as you might know, I love etymology, the word tikka comes from the hindi word, "tukra" which means pieces.  So in fact a tikka is nothing about how you cook it, more so how you prepare your chicken. 

I took a picture this morning of the residual chicken that I will make my makhani tonight with:

Chicken Tikka 

•   I used a whole chicken weighing approximately 2kg.  I jointed it into wings, thighs, drums and breasts.  The carcass and wing tips were used to make a stock (for a separate, unrelated dish).  The joints were gashed, not too deeply with a knife.
  
•  The joints were placed into a bowl, salted with a pinch of sea salt and covered with the juice of a lemon.  I mixed the juice and salt into the chicken pieces.  Leave for 30 minutes.
•   In a mini-blender add 3 small, hot green chilli's, 4cm of peeled, roughly chopped fresh ginger, 4 peeled cloves of garlic, a small onion, roughly chopped, a heaped teaspoon of regular paprika (for colour) and 2 teaspoons of garam masala.  Blend to a smooth paste.  I simply refuse to use food colourings in anything I cook, and this is no exception. 
•   Mix the paste into 500g of full-fat yoghurt.
•   Pour the paste over the chicken.  Cover and refrigerate for >3 hours.  Overnight is best, but I scrimped with 4 hours and it was fine.
•   Heat your oven to 220C.
•   Take a large baking tray, line it with aluminium foil.  
•   Shake off as much as the marinade as you can from the chicken pieces and place on the tray.
•   Cook for 20-25 minutes.

I ate the chicken tikka in pitta breads with a shredded, green lettuce, some mayo and mango chutney. 
 

Sustainable fish - what's on the menu?

I liked to think I have some understanding of fish sustainability.  I changed my stance on this when I began to investigate exactly which fish species are at risk and are vulnerable in our seas at the moment.  We don't eat a huge amount of fish in our house (maybe you read about my worm incident?), but Luca loves it, and I am rather fond of smoked fish.  

Here's some fish, which I thought were OK to eat, but in fact are on Greenpeace's "Red List" (ref:  http://www.greenpeace.org/international/PageFiles/173748/Oceans_Advocates.pdf):

Monkfish, Tuna*, Haddock (unless line caught Icelandic), Greenland & Atlantic halibut, Common sole, Hake, European Cod (unless line caught Icelandic, or that bought from Waitrose or M&S), Plaice, Atlantic salmon (wild and farmed), Tropical shrimp (wild and farmed).

Honestly, how many of you can safely put up your hand and attest to knowing all of these are "red listed"?  

*I thought it was interesting what Greenpeace state about even dolphin-friendly Tuna, "Dolphin friendly labels generally means very little since they adhere to no legal standard or minimum criteria."  "If you have to eat Tuna then eat only line caught skipjack tuna.".

I am really trying to stick to herring, mackerel and sardine when I eat fish - mainly for health reasons (I am an advocate of fatty acids), but also for financial and sustainable reasons.  If I go to a restaurant, though, I find it difficult to resist the temptations of a few of those aforementioned fish.  I will now think differently.

Anyway - guess what I am eating tonight?  Tuna fishcakes.  Meep.

Fast Food - Pizza

Potato and Pepperoni Pizza

No!  I did not order a pizza last night.  Why anyone would want to buy a pizza from the supermarket, or to order one from a local delivery service is beyond me.  With just a few ingredients you can have a much tastier, healthier (have you any idea how much salt they put in those things?) and in many cases quicker meal than if you had picked up the telephone.

There are many things that revolve around in my head when I am trying to get to sleep.  Quite often it is Keira Knightley.  One, more tangible icon, though, is a wood-fired oven.  I would love to have one of those cocoon-shaped brick ovens in my back garden, where it is possible to conjour up impressive breads and pizza's.  Maybe one day, when we have a large enough garden I will treat myself to one of these luxuries (along with the wine cellar, tandoor and inflatable film star).

A quick reconnaissance of the fridge revealed a rather disappointing paucity of pizza toppings - salami and a potato.  Here's how to make the dough:

•   I never measure out the flour, which in last night's case was strong Canadian bread flour.  I imagine it was about 300-350g.  
•   I added a small pinch of sea salt.
•   In a jug I added about 200ml of warm water and a nearly full teaspoon of quick yeast.
•   I slowly add the water and mix with my solitary index finger (to roughly resemble the action of a dough hook) until I have a ball of pizza dough.  It should be pliant and slightly sticky.
•   Flour a clean work surface and kneed it for 5-10 minutes until it is soft, stretchy and no longer sticky.
•   Place in a bowl and leave for 30 minutes.
•   Knock it back and split into two.  Roll each ball into an amorphous pizza shape, the dough should be 4-5mm thick.

  
There are two ways to make a tomato sauce.  The quick way, and the not-so-quick way.  Today is the quick way:

•   I had 3/4 of a can of peeled plum tomatoes left over.  I put them into a mini-blender.
•   Add a squidge of tomato ketchup.
•   Blend to a smooth paste!

I'm sure you don't need me how to tell you how to put tomato sauce, or toppings onto a pizza.  The potato, however was sliced razor thin using a vegetable peeler, and the cheese I used was a combination of tasteless cheap cheddar and salty pecorino.

It takes about 10 minutes in the oven at 180C (fan assisted).  It will be crispy around the edges, but perfectly cooked in the centre.