Potato something or other.

This is the first time I'm trying something like this and its surprisingly tasty. It was from some odds and ends I had.

I had 2 chorizo sausage and some marinated minced pork from a previous project in the freezer. Also had potatoes on hand, as well as a small amount of vegetable soup.

I browned sliced sausage in the pan, then took it out.

I sliced one yellow onion and one stalk of leek. Sauted it in a pan with a teaspoon of fennel. 

I took the lot out, then fried the minced meat at high heat until cooked, stirring well. Then I added back all the other ingredients and large diced potato from about 5 potatoes plus a small amount of vegetable soup. Pushed the lot into a 200C oven for about 40 minutes or so or until the potatoes were tender.

Chana Shorba

mw had this soup at a buffet and she liked it. So I tried to replicate it.

Turns out that the internet has as many recipes for this as there are search results.... almost.

And none of them pureed their chickpeas like mw had in her buffet.  So I winged it a little.

It was quite nice.

1. Fry slices of one yellow onion (with sliced leeks from one stalk) in a little oil, with about a tablespoon of cumin seed, very slowly to caramelise it, spraying water from a spritzer as necessary to keep it from charring up, until well browned.
2. Add this to about 1 knob ginger, 1 knob fresh tumeric 1 teaspoon powered tumeric, 4 cloves garlic, a few shakes of chilli flakes, about half a tablespoon or more of pepper, 2 tablespoons yoghurt, 3 tablespoons tomato paste, sliced bits of 1 fresh tomato, generous shake of dried coriander, 1 kaffir lime leaf. Then blend the lot finely.
3. Fry the blended mix for about 10-15 minutes at medium heat. This is the marsala.
4. Add 2 cans of pre-cooked garbanzo beans (chickpeas) with their fluid. Add a bit more chicken stock or water, bring to boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add salt to taste.
5. Put the lot into a blender and puree the soup. 
6. Put it back in the pot, add a little water if necessary to make it less thick.

jeera rice

I've tried doing Jeera rice without butter - nope doesn't work.

Anyway, this version is pretty simple. Toast generous pinch of cumin seeds in butter till fragrant. Then add basmati (pre-soaked and then dried partially) and gently fold rice to coat with fat. Continue turning over rice for a few minutes. Pour in about 1.25 times the volume of the rice with stock. Bring to the boil at high heat, then cover and cook at low heat for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let it sit for at least another 20 minutes. Lift cover and test for doneness and whether it needs more water. If necessary, add a touch of water, put the lid back on and turn the heat back up for a bit, and then let it rest again.

PIzza

After about 4 tries, still trying.

My pizza is fairly mishaped, don't think I've gotten the hang of jerking it off the peel nicely yet.

Crust tastes ok'ish. Probably better than chain pizza, but needs improvement. Not sure how I can do that. Will be trying again.

Lesson 1: the dough needs to be high hydration! e.g. 70% (like baguettes). Otherwise will turn out leathery.

Lesson 2: 6 mins at 275C on a pizza stone will do it. Don't over do it in the hope of seeing more browning.

Beef ragout on mashed potato

Tastes rich and velvety.

1. I used a mix of Beef Cheeks and Short ribs (trimmed). Approx 1.5kg.

2. I cut off the bones off the ribs with some meat and used it to make a quick beef stock in the pressure cooker with celery, carrots, onions and a dash of fish sauce + marmite (the last 2 when added in small quantitites add umani without intruding with their unique fermented flavours).

3. Cut the meat into smallish cubes. Then brown in batches in pot.

4. Slice in half 2 medium carrots, quarter one large yellow onion. Put in mix of red wine (merlot) and beef stock in about 1:2 ratio. add a small bunch of fresh thyme and about 3 tablespoons of tomato puree. The stock/wine mix should just barely cover the beef.

5. Braise for 9 hours at 100C in oven (overnight in my case). Traditionally 140C for about 4 hours will also do. The meat will be practically falling apart into small pieces and strands.

6. Strain out solids, pick the meat out from the vegetables and put aside. Discard vegetables.

7. Thicken the stock with regular blond roux. About 120g per litre of stock. Salt and pepper to taste. I used quite a lot of pepper to make it distinctly peppery. Add more tomato paste for balance if necessary.

8. Put meat back and warm the whole thing up. Pour over a bed of mashed potatoes and garnish with chinese celery.

9. The beef is rich, so mashed potatoes should not be too buttery. Also serve with plain vegetables (e.g. steamed baby carrots or sweet corn).

Salmon en papillotte

Was already half eaten before I remembered to take a photo.

Anyway, "en papillote" but using aluminium foil and steam.

I took a thick piece of salmon, slashed it vertically and horizonally. Then rubbed dill pesto all over including the cuts. Dash of pepper and salt with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Steamed in wrapped packet for approx 20 mins (I used a thermometer to have it read 58C). Let it cook slightly further in residual heat without opening after taking it out. Could have used regular baking but my steam oven was already wet from a previous use.

The dill pesto was approximately this recipe: https://www.thespruceeats.com/lemon-dill-pesto-with-scandinavian-twist-2952900

Except I used pine nuts instead of walnuts. Also I found the raw garlic taste too strong, so I cooked the pesto in a pan for a few minutes on medium heat before applying.