Pears for Poaching

The first time I had a poached pear was in Switzerland, in a tiny inn off the side of a mountain during Christmas time. I remember it was paired with ginger cake & hot tea. Savouring that sliver of warm fruit nestled to the side, combined with the snow outside & the warmth within was absolutely magical. It took me a long time to figure out the perfect balance of ingredients, but it was worth it. The most amazing thing is how incredibly simple it is to make; anyone could do it.

I initially tried David Lebovitz's recipe for poached pears, but it didn't work for a number of reasons. First, it's near impossible to get the special type of pears that he uses (Bosc / Conference pears) here, which are of course great if you can get them, because they are firm & sturdy, perfect for poaching. The Asian pears, which are what we get here instead are very crisp & great for eating raw, but fall apart easily when simmered for a long period of time. The Anjou pear, a good in-between, can be found in Cold Storage fairly frequently throughout the year. 

Secondly, there were several adjustments made to the spices & other ingredients used in order to suit my own taste. I don't like to use lemons because it can overpower the subtle flavours of the other spices. I substituted it with an orange & cardamom seeds instead to retain the fresh citrus flavour, but feel free to experiment... you're the one eating them after all :) Perfect for a rainy evening, or for Christmas dessert.

Spiced Poached Pears

If served with a slice of cake or on top of a tart, the best thing to do is to reduce the remaining liquid & use it as a sauce/glaze. Otherwise, warm poached pears are perfect with some good-quality vanilla ice-cream, or even on its own.

Ingredients

1l water

1 cup of sugar

200g honey

6 medium-sized Asian/Anjou pears

1 orange

1 split vanilla bean OR 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence

1 cinnamon stick

3 teaspoons of cloves

3 star anise

1 teaspoon cardamom seeds

Ginger slices (optional)

1. Put the water in a large saucepan / pot under low heat & slowly mix in sugar & honey till dissolved


2. Meanwhile, peel & core the pears, cutting them into quarters or halves. (Halves take longer)

3. Slice orange into half & allow it to stew face-down in the water for a couple of minutes. 

4. Add remaining spices & oranges, constantly stirring & making sure the pears are fully 
submerged for an evenly-poached texture. You can also cut a piece of parchment paper to lay on top of the pears.

5. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove the pears & set aside.

6. Retain the liquid in order to keep leftover pears in. Or turn the heat up a little & reduce till it's concentrated to about half it's original amount (to use as sauce/glaze with accompaniment) 

Serves approx. 6-8 people for dessert

Cicada summers

Tomorrow will be the end of summer as I know it. Holidays are coming to an end! It's crazy. It feels as if the last exam of Y1S2 ended yesterday and I was just getting ready to relax with friends & a stack of good books. The thought of fourteen more weeks of assignments & stress... geez. Apologies, it's just the regular school blues. It's been a good summer though.

Every since seeing the scene in the movie Bridesmaids where Annie is handed a tall glass of pink lemonade by the classy waiter (so good that she had to stop & say, 'God, that's delicious.'), I've been trying to fabricate the summery beverage. God knows we need a drink for weather like this. The base recipe for lemonade is dead simple right? A mixture of water, lemons & sugar that you bung into the fridge to chill & twenty minutes later, voila! Lemonade. It's a bit harder than it looks though: the key to getting the perfect lemonade is to get the right ratio of ingredients to suit your taste. In my case, I like my drink more tart than sweet, the light pink shade that cranberry juice gives, & I love the extra fizz that soda water gives, unnecessary as it might be. Most of the time, the best things in life are the non-essentials.

I've been making this since summer last year, huge quantities at a time to last for as long as a week. It can easily be turned into an alcoholic party drink as well, just add a splash of schnapps or light rum, whatever you have in your fridge really. Garnish with lemon & orange slices, turn on a Beach Boys / Gold Motel album (or anything from this summer playlist), & sink back into relaxation.

Pink Fizzy Lemonade

You can halve, double or triple the recipe as long as you remember the base ratio (mine is 1:1:4). Remember that not everyone likes it as tart; you may have to add more sugar to make it sweeter, or more water to make a less-concentrated drink. Also, if you are serving this quite some time later, add the soda water to the mixture just before serving or all the fizz will be gone by then.

Ingredients

12 medium lemons (enough to make 2 cups of lemon juice)

2 cups of white sugar

8-9 cups of club soda

Cranberry / Raspberry Juice

Orange slices

Ice cubes to serve

1. Squeeze most of the lemons, leaving at least one to be sliced for garnish. Put lemon juice aside.

2. In a large pot, heat up 2 cups of club soda under medium-low heat, adding in the 2 cups of sugar slowly till it has dissolved into a thick sugar mixture.

3. Add the lemon juice, stirring constantly for about 3 - 4 minutes till everything has melded together. Allow to cool for a while

4. Pour the warm mixture into two large pitchers, and add the soda water. Add the appropriate amount of cranberry or raspberry juice to colour the liquid a light pink shade, while constantly stirring with a wooden spoon.

5. Put in the fridge to chill for about an hour. Add ice cubes, and garnish with lemon & orange slices.

Makes approx. two 1.5l pitchers 

Mix

I've never dabbled with anything to do with flour before. No cookies, no delicate french pastries, no fluffy cupcakes. I've always seen baking as a delicate art, something which involves precise measurements and the exact following of recipe steps, and then praying & hoping for the best when you put it into the oven. I've never been able to do that, but some days you wake up and you just have to eat pancakes (and not those from the box). It kinda feels like a life-and-death-situation. I'm sure you foodies can relate.

And pancakes... Well, pancakes are a nice in-between cooking and baking. The recipe is adapted from I Am Baker, a wonderful site with excellent recipes & food photography. I like it because unlike many other pancake recipes, it insists on using only egg whites. The recipes using yolks tend to produce more moist and heavier batches, which is fine too, if you like it that way. I like the insides of mine fluffy :) In fact, this recipe is so light that you could use it as a crepe mix.

On toppings and fillings: go crazy on the fruit, icing sugar, chocolate sauce and honey. One thing I love to do is to toss a few blueberries on one side of the pancake and flip it over, patting it down softly so that the berries burst and you can see beautiful irises of juice splattered on one side. Semi-sweet chocolate chips work the same way. It's nice to see the half-melted chips smeared on the top, or burst berries peeking out of one side of the pancake.

Reminiscent of all things sweet and summer. Enjoy!

Peppermint-scented Buttermilk Pancakes 
with Blueberries

The recipe halves nicely, if you're making it for two or three (go ahead and use three eggs for half the amount of batter). Highly recommended with a thick, milky cup of tea. The trick to having that smooth golden-brown hue is using vegetable oil spray instead of butter when it comes to greasing the pan (a lesson I learnt after four terrible pancakes). This video is also especially helpful when it comes to whisking the egg whites by hand. 

Ingredients

3 cups of plain flour

5 tbsp white sugar

2 tsp baking powder

5 egg whites

2 & 1/4 cups of buttermilk

50g softened butter

4 tsp vanilla extract 

Vegetable oil

Peppermint oil

Blueberries

Strawberries (optional)

Maple syrup/honey

Icing sugar

1. Place flour, sugar, baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Fold in the melted butter and mix, forming a well in the centre for the liquid ingredients.
2. Combine two cups of milk, the vanilla essence and 4-5 drops of peppermint oil/extract in another mixing bowl.
3. Whisk the egg whites into soft peaks.
4. Slowly mix the liquid mixture into the base mix, and then fold in the egg whites. By hand, it can take  a good five minutes of mixing till you get the right consistency. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of milk in slowly, to ease the mixing.
5. Grease frying pan with vegetable oil using a brush, or oil spray (anything that will coat the skillet evenly. Put on medium heat.
6. To make smaller pancakes, pour in 1/4 cup of batter at a time and spread them out a little with the back of your ladle.
7. They are ready to flip when tiny bubbles start to appear at the top. Just before flipping to the other side, add blueberries or chocolate chips on the top.
8. Pat the pancakes gently to break the berries. Fry till ready.
9. Garnish with icing sugar, and serve with halved strawberries and honey!

Makes 18 - 20 small pancakes, serves 5

Lent: Day 18

It's been a tough eighteen days, ya'll. It's not easy to give up two meals a day, especially on sixteen-hour school days that is full of commuting, essay-writing and the like. But this fast has been wonderful; somehow I've managed to keep the intense hunger at bay and use the extra hours for QT, which has been rewarding for the soul.

Food-wise: I've found that stuffing your face with carbs and protein during that singular meal will leave one nauseated and sickly for the rest of the night. I've not a fan of vegetables or salads, but I've been eating a lot of this dish lately for that very reason. 

It was 'created' a couple of months ago, from a box of almost-stale swiss mushrooms and a box of pea sprouts. The tomato pipérade used in this dish involves a whole lot of simmering and reducing, so pasta sauce does just fine! This warm salad tastes better if left to stand for a couple of hours.The salad is best served with toasted slices of rustic bread with a dry crumb, to eat with the leftover olive oil and vinaigrette. 

Pea Sprout & Zucchini Salad

Ingredients

1 medium/large zucchini

20 red cherry tomatoes

25 medium swiss brown mushrooms

75g of fresh pea sprouts

2 cloves of garlic

Extra Virgin olive oil

White wine vinegar 

Tomato pipérade / pasta sauce (Prego)

Fresh & dried basil

1 bay leaf

A few sprigs of fresh thyme

Salt & Pepper

1. Prep: Slice the zucchini into half-inch thick crescents. Then, halve the cherry tomatoes (do not throw them in whole. Cutting them into half means that the dish will be more flavourful from the pulp inside). Chop the cloves of garlic finely.Take the stalks off the mushrooms and slice them thinly. Do not be surprised by the quantity of the mushrooms; the entire mound will reduce in size by at least half after sauteing and reducing.

2. First, heat a good lug of olive oil in a large skillet (at least 12 inches in diameter) at medium heat. Add in the zucchini and sauté for about 4 - 5 minutes, stirring and flipping the slices constantly. 

3. When the zucchini is just about to turn tender, throw in majority of the pea sprouts. Stir-fry for about 2 - 3 minutes

4. Add in the tomatoes, basil, thyme, bay leaf and a heaped tablespoonful of tomato pipérade / good-quality pasta sauce (Prego or Dei Fratelli). Stir to mix everything. Reduce heat to low and cover with lid, allowing the flavours to meld for a few more minutes. Put the vegetables aside.

5. Add more olive oil and the chopped garlic on the skillet on medium heat, adding a tablespoon of olive oil if necessary. Sauté mushrooms for about 5 - 7 minutes. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly grated black pepper. Cover with lid, and let the mushrooms cook under low heat for another 3 minutes.

6. Take off lid and combine mushrooms with the vegetables. Add a good splash of white wine vinegar and more olive oil for dressing.

7. Add a generous dash of salt (1/3 table spoon) and more pepper. Adjust according to taste. Give the remaining pea sprouts a quick fry in the pan (not till limp) and place on top of the entire salad for garnish. Remove bay leaf. 

Serve with toasted focaccia or ciabatta slices 

Baby, it's cold outside

I'm not big on vegetables. As much as I admire the honourable and noble intentions that come with veganism, giving up meat is my worse nightmare. However, if I had to quell the carnivorous inclination and eat vegetarian grub, this thick provençale stew would do the trick.

Unfortunately, this recipe doesn't give you the lovely, layered confit byaldi casserole you see in the Pixar movie. Of course, that version is a sight to behold, but it involves  a) making a considerably more complex pipérade for the layers b) a mandoline slicer and c) a long time to bake in the oven. I like this chunky version, adapted from Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life (A biographer-lover and foodie essential) because the eggplant and zucchini are sauteed separately and have an even texture. Also, it's fast and easy, something to cook in less than half an hour. The resulting dish is perfect as a robust side or as a simple meal on its own. Preferably the latter, with a few rashes of bacon. Some things never change!

Grilled Ratatouille Niçoise

The thing about ratatouille is that although it tastes wonderful hot off the pan, the flavours meld wonderfully in the fridge to make an even better dish after 24 hours. Also, there's no need to worry about having all the herbs in this recipe. I've tried it with only dried basil and a little oregano and it still tasted good! This stew is good for the upcoming Christmas dinner; and a reminder to eat healthy in the midst of honey baked hams and artery-clogging stuffed turkeys.

Ingredients

1 medium eggplant

1 large zucchini

1 medium yellow onion

1 large red/yellow bell pepper

3 medium tomatoes (preferably Roma)

1 teaspoon of tomato puree

5 cloves of garlic 

1 bay leaf

3 sprigs fresh thyme

5 - 6 basil leaves

1. Prepare all your vegetables Slice your eggplant and zucchini into 1/2 inch rounds and slice the onion. Core, seed and chop the bell pepper and the tomatoes. Slice four cloves of garlic.

2. Warm a good lug of olive oil at medium heat, over a large skillet. Arrange zucchini slices in the pan and cook for four minutes on each side, or until they are turning tender.

3. Remove zucchini from pan and then sauté the eggplant quickly in the skillet. Be careful to not overcook the eggplant; the texture will be rather stringy and unpleasant after 5 minutes.

4. Remove the eggplant. If there is no more olive oil, add a couple more tablespoons to the skillet and cook the sliced onions till browned.

5. Add the bell pepper and slices of garlic. For a more intense flavour, smash the last clove of garlic and let it simmer at the base of the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes.

6. Lastly, add the tomatoes, tomato puree and all the herbs. Reduce to low heat and simmer for another 5 minutes.

7. Add zucchini and eggplant to the stew. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

8. Cook and stir for about 10 minutes, till the entire pan of vegetables is nicely browned and tender.

9. Remove bay leaf before serving!

Serves 4 - 5

Homemade

Last week was full of unpredictable events, including an unfortunate ambulance ride and a whole lot of panic. That, however, is an entire different matter. Instead of focusing on the gristly details of the former, I'll share about another part of my week... a delicious cottage pie.

I love food, which a plain enough fact to see, but it's hard to find time or the effort. I'd like to blame a mom who abhors cooking anything beyond toast, and a household where dinner is often takeaway from wherever one of us are, (or worse, tuna from the can on crackers), but mostly it's just my laziness. When my godmother graciously and bravely offered to teach me how to make a simple enough dish of meat & potato fare, I jumped at the opportunity. And two hours later... Voilà! A beautiful casserole, brimming with goodness!

I'm not joking when I say that family inhaled the entire thing in minutes. The recipe is that good. I've made it only once since, altering a couple of measurements here and there. Mostly though, it remains my Godma's pie, hearty and homemade. 

Aunty Stella's Shepherd's Pie

Godma likes to make hers with a 3:2 meat and baked beans ratio, but I go heavy on the minced beef because I'm carnivorous like that. Feel free to throw in whatever you like though, almost anything goes! Also, I served the pie with slices of fried buttered bread the last time, to mop up the slurry of gravy that gathers at the base of the casserole dish.

Ingredients

5 medium russet potatoes

75g of butter

100ml of milk

Olive Oil

1 & 1/2 medium yellow onions

500g minced beef

A handful of sweet corn nibblets

100g of button mushrooms (halved or quartered)

1 & 1/2 beef stock cubes
150g of thick tomato puree
3 slices of streaky bacon
Salt
Pepper

1. Skin the potatoes and cut them into quarters. Throw these pieces into a pot, with a generous dash of salt and just enough water to cover. Boil for about 15-20 minutes. They are ready when you can pierce through one easily with a fork.

2. While waiting for the potatoes to boil, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Dice the onions and cut the bacon into rough 1-inch pieces. 

3. Mash the pieces with kitchen masher, of it you don't have one, use the back of a fork. It suits me just fine. I like having slightly lumpy mashed potatoes :)

4. Cut off small chunks of butter and immerse them deep into the mound of potato and let the chunks melt. Add the milk slowly and mix it into the potato.

5. Put the mashed potato aside. Preheat oven to 200°C. Heat up some olive oil in a wok and add the  diced onions, stir-frying at medium heat.

6. When the onions have turned slightly brown, throw in the minced beef and continue to stir-fry at medium/high heat for about 3 - 5 minutes.

7. When meat has turned a pinkish-brown hue, add in the sweet corn, mushrooms, tomato puree and stock cubes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

8. Add in about 50ml of water slowly and reduce on medium heat.

9. When the meat mixture is done, pour it into a 12x8x3inch casserole dish. Gently place the mashed potatoes on top. I like to run a fork across the surface so the ridges become browned and slightly crispy, yum!

10. Scatter the bacon pieces on top and bake in oven for about 30 minutes.

11. Take out, cool, and serve!

Serves a rabidly hungry family of five.