GARLIC HERB FOCACCIA

 

ARCTIC CHAR CONFIT IN HERB INFUSED OLIVE OIL

ARCTIC CHAR CONFIT IN HERB INFUSED OLIVE OIL

Confit as a cooking term describes when food is cooked in fat, oil or syrup, at a lower temperature, as opposed to deep-frying. The term is usually used in modern cuisine to mean long slow cooking in oil or fat at low temperatures. In meat cooking, this requires the meat to be salted as part of the preservation process. After salting and cooking in the fat, sealed and stored in a cool, dark place, confit can last for several months or years. Confit is a specialty of Southwestern France.

By Confiting the Arctic Char in olive oil we expand the benefits of the fish and olive oil as well as keeping the fillets wonderfully soft and moist.

Ingredients

·       Lemon

·       Bouquet Garni (Fresh Aromatic Herbs)

·       2 tablespoons of Sea salt (coarse)

·       2 Arctic Char fillets (skinless)

·       500 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Procedure 

·       Take your arctic char fillets and place them on a large plate and salt them heavily on both sides.

·       Get an ovenproof dish that is large enough to fit all your fillets and then cover the fillets completely with olive oil. Ensure that the fillets are completely submerged in olive oil with slices of lemon and bouqet garni.

·       Set your oven to a temperature of 170F

·       Place arctic char fillets in the middle of the oven rack to ensure even cooking. Leave the fish to cook for 20 minutes.

Once cooked, use a fish spatula to carefully lift the fillets from the oil bath and allow the excess oil to drip off the fish first. Place the fish on your serving plate and garnish it with greens.

HUMUS; You will never get a store version when you try making yours...

HUMUS

Ingredients

·       250 gr (1 cup) Chickpeas (Canned or if dry soaked overnight and boiled)

·       4 cloves garlic, crushed

·       50 gr (¼ cup) tahini

·       Fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon

·       10 gr (½ tbsp.) cumin

·       Salt to taste

·       50 gr (1/3 cup) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish

·       Cumin or paprika, for garnish

Method

1.     In a medium bowl, combine chickpeas with 2 lt cold water and let soak overnight. Drain chickpeas, transfer to a saucepan and cover with fresh water. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until very tender, 40-50 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let cool slightly.

2.     Drain chickpeas, reserving some cooking liquid. To the bowl of a food processor, add chickpeas and 4 cloves garlic and process for 2 minutes.

3.     Add some the cooking liquid along with tahini, lemon juice, cumin and olive oil; season with salt. Process, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl, until the mixture is very smooth, about 5 minutes.

4.     To serve, place hummus in a bowl and make a small indentation in the middle using the back of a spoon.

5.     Garnish with olive oil, cumin or paprika.

IRISH SODA BREAD

Ingredients

4 cups flour
4 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 Tbsp butter, cold
1 cup raisins
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1¾ cups buttermilk

Directions

- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Mix your dry ingredients in a large bowl,
- Chop or grate the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter is mixed in well,
- Add raisins,
- Create a well in the mixture and pour in your egg and buttermilk.
-Stir the dry ingredients into the liquid slowly with a wooden spoon until it is solid enough to kneed.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and kneed together to form a ball, careful not to over-kneed the dough. The dough should remain somewhat shaggy looking.
-Transfer your dough to your pre-heated/hot cast iron pan or a sheet pan and use a large knife to cut an X into the dough about 1 inch deep.
- Bake in oven for 45-55 minutes or until internal temperature reads between 200-205F. The bread should sound hollow when tapped.
- Remove to a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with lots of butter :

IRISH STEW WITH GUINNESS

o   1 cup (250ml) homemade meat or chicken stock or low-sodium broth 

o   2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil

o   3 pounds (1.25kg) whole boneless beef chuck roast

o   Salt and freshly ground black pepper

o   1/2 pounds carrots (250g; about 2 large carrots) peeled and cut into large dice 

o   1/2 pound yellow onions (250g; about 2 medium), cut into large dice 

o   4 medium cloves garlic, lightly crushed

o   2 (15-ounce) cans Guinness Draught beer (900ml)

o   1 bouquet garnis (about 4 sprigs thyme, 3 sprigs parsley, and 1 bay leaf, tied together with kitchen twine)

o   1 tablespoon (15ml) Worcestershire sauce

o   ½ pound small waxy potatoes (250g; about 20), such as baby Yukon Golds

o   Flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish

Preheat oven to 300°F.

·      In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons (30ml) oil over medium-high heat. Season cubed 2 inch chunks of beef  with salt and pepper and add to Dutch oven. Cook, mixing occasionally, until beef is well browned, about 10 minutes.

·      Add diced carrots, cubed onions and garlic to Dutch oven and cook, mixing occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

·      Add stock, Guinness and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a simmer, then lower heat to maintain simmer.

·      Add potatoes and bouquet garnis.

·      Transfer to oven, cover with lid and cook for 2 hour, stirring every 30 minutes.

·      Continue to cook until beef and potatoes are tender, removing lid for last 20 minutes.

·      Remove stew from oven.

·      Discard the bouquet garnis.

·      Allow to cool slightly before serving, then serve topped with chopped parsley.

Bon apetite…

(My Irish Stew Recipe was on local magazine where they put me on the cover this month,  check my page for the interview, and please like and follow; https://www.facebook.com/cucinaberna/)

Heartwarming Minestrone

Minestrone is the general term for any kind of thick soupy dish in Italy but translated as "vegetable soup" into English comes from the Italian word "minestra" which means soup. You can find hundreds of recipes on the web for minestrone but to be honest, there is no set recipe for it and this is why I love this dish.

Main idea, this is a vegetable and legume soup with addition of pasta. It can be vegetarian or you can have meat addition. What you use is regional and seasonal, this is the other idea I always support in food. The most common use is onion, garlic, carrot, celery, lentil, beans; barlotti beans is the common version in Italian cuisine and pasta addition at the very end.

How I cooked my minestrone...

I cooked mine with beef, chopped my beef into small cubes and sautéd with onion and garlic. Added small diced carrot, celery, potatos and peas. I had soaked red lentil, green lentil and pearled barley and boiled some adzuki beans and small white beans after soaking. I add all boiled and soaked legume, some hot water, about a table spoon of tomato paste and pepper paste and some spices and dried herbs; cumin, turmeric, oregano and thyme. Of course some salt and pepper to taste.

I like using heavy cast iron pots. I cooked my minestrone on very low heat for about two hours till it turn into a concise texture.

I paired my minestrone with a nice bottle of Italian DOCG wine, 2013 Chianti Classico Reserva since rustic soups with beans pairs well with medium bodied rustic red varietal like Syrah, Sangiovese or Cotes du Rhone.

All About Burgers

The first secret of good burgers is to start with good quality beef. When you buy your beef ground you never can make sure about what is going into it. I you have the facilities to grind your own beef, my recommendation is grinding your own meat instead of buying ground stuff.

This time I didn't do what I say; I had organic and free range Australian 80% Lean, 20% Fat ground beef and I make use of it.  

About seasoning your ground beef, it is up to you, use the spices you like better. 

What I used for my seasoning is; 

Garlic Powder

Cajun Blackened Seasoning

Dried Porchini Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper (Black&White Pepper mixture)

Mix your seasoning mixture in your ground beef and let it sit in your fridge for at least half an hour.

Make uniform size and shape patties so they cook even. You may have precise eyes but I believe in perfection, so I scaled my ground beef and created 4 equal patties, 115 gr (about 4 oz each). When it comes to cooking even, thickness matters, my patties were 2,5 cm (1 inch) thick.

I prepared my patties before we started the BBQ so I let them sit in the fridge while getting my charcoal going. 

About cooking your burger if you don't feel like struggling with BBQ you can simply sear it in a pan, heavy cast iron pan would be ideal.

For both techniques I recommend you use a thermometer to test the inner temperature of your meat while cooking. Do the temperatures mean nothing to you? Ok, here is a simple estimated guideline;
  Rare; 49°C /120°F and below 
  Medium Rare; 54°C /130°F 
  Medium; 60°C /140°F
  Medium well; 66°C /150°F 
  Well done; 71°C /160°F and above

  Bread you use also matters, try to get some nice buns, if you have time, you can bake your own buns, not so difficult, it will be another topic on my blog.

 

  About assembling the burger, it is up to your taste, my preference is always roasted/grilled vegetables, slice of nice juicy organic beef tomato, some salad greens, lettuce, arugula, etc. The common way is using some ketchup and/or mayonnaise. You don't need lots of heavy sauces and dressing if you start with good quality ingredient.