It was few days ago when I had the pleasure to try what I would like to be my future job; but let’s start from the beginning.
Some time ago a friend of mine told me about the birthday of a friend of his, nothing peculiar so far; the nice part came when he told me that he was thinking of gifting him a dinner. Nice idea, no? You get to sit with your friends, drink good wine, chitchat, listen to good music and eat a meal especially prepared for you. The bottom line is that he wanted me to prepare that meal.
Pointless to say that I was very happy of this opportunity; my first dinner as a cook! I, in the kitchen cooking, plating and so on; them enjoying the results in the living room.
It was a very nice experience indeed. The kitchen was quite well equipped in tools and space but a cook’s knives are irreplaceable, don’t you think so too? Thankfully I already learned to travel with some of my equipments whenever I have to cook at a friend’s place.
It took me a couple of days to figure out the menu to prepare. I opted for a combination of traditional, regional and seasonal elements.
It’s asparagus time and Germany is quite a good producer of them (especially the white ones but I prefer the green). Strawberries are another hit of the season. The specimens coming from Bornheim are a nice orange read, roundish and of a wonderful smell; so aromatic, they are amazingly good!
My Ebooks:
A thoughtful blend of original photography, haiku and calligraphy; a cathartic journey upon fluid images and simple words.
28 May 2009
7 Apr 2009
And the winner is…..
It’s already 1 week since when I got that email.
The story begins though some months ago, in September. After reading my first book written by Herve This “Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor”, I decided to look for more information about his academic activities and the possibilities to follow some of his lectures. Through his web-page at the INRA I found information about his monthly seminar at the Ecole Supérieure de Cuisine Francaise. At that time, I had enough money to allow me a trip to Paris to follow the course of September.
Along with testing the effect of freezing on the growth of baked layer pastry (btw not many differences between the frozen and the fresh specimen were observed), madame Renaudin announced the 4th edition of the Rencontres Science Art et Cuisine. I decided to participate. My first gastronomical competition!
The theme of this year was: Modernize our Tradition, with a second module on innovation centred on the use of the Methylcellulose.
It took a couple of months to finally sketch the projects that I wanted to develop as submissions. Naturally I wanted to focus on my Italian origins but more precisely I wanted to research a bit of Sicilian cooking traditions.
I decided to submit two savoury dishes:
• Rosemary Tiramisu with Pink Pepper and Caraway-Chocolate Rose Window shards
• Meat and Ricotta Cassata cake with Almonds glaze, Candied Orange peels and Eggplant Cracklings.
Indian Kebab with Roasted Hazelnuts and Dried Apricots
The past week-end I was invited for a friendly dinner at friends place. Since they just came back from a trip to India, the theme of the night were: Indian Kebabs. I made a batch of meat mixture to bring along, here there is the recipe.
Ingredients:
(make roughly 30 kebabs)
• 125g chickpeas flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 500g mixed minced meat
• 4 black cardamom
• 1 handful of green cardamom (ca 15 pods)
• 4 cloves
• 1 tsp caraway
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• Ca 20 hazelnuts, roasted
• 5 dried apricots
• 1 carrot, grated
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 tsp red chilli flakes
• 50cl brandy
• 2 pinches of freshly grated black pepper
How to:
Using a spice grinder or a mortar, grind the spices together: the seeds from the cardamoms, the cloves, the caraway seeds and the cumin. Crush the hazelnuts in small pieces but not to flour.
In a bowl put all the ingredients together and mix well to combine. Let the mixture rest in the refrigerator for 1h.
When ready to grill your kebabs, oil a bit your hands and form elongated patties with the meat mixture. Grill till ready and the outside is nice and browned.
Ingredients:
(make roughly 30 kebabs)
• 125g chickpeas flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 500g mixed minced meat
• 4 black cardamom
• 1 handful of green cardamom (ca 15 pods)
• 4 cloves
• 1 tsp caraway
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• Ca 20 hazelnuts, roasted
• 5 dried apricots
• 1 carrot, grated
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 tsp red chilli flakes
• 50cl brandy
• 2 pinches of freshly grated black pepper
How to:
Using a spice grinder or a mortar, grind the spices together: the seeds from the cardamoms, the cloves, the caraway seeds and the cumin. Crush the hazelnuts in small pieces but not to flour.
In a bowl put all the ingredients together and mix well to combine. Let the mixture rest in the refrigerator for 1h.
When ready to grill your kebabs, oil a bit your hands and form elongated patties with the meat mixture. Grill till ready and the outside is nice and browned.
2 Mar 2009
Oh boy! Whatta week-end….
Everything started on Friday…
After a nice day spent studying my new cookbook it was time to drive, with some friends, to the location of Classical Indian music concert.
The way wasn’t as long as expected but it brought us in the middle of the German countryside through dark streets and sparse houses (thankfully we had a GPS system :P).
The location was the workshop of an artist friend of us.
The old farmhouse from the end of the 19th century newly restored was concealed in the dim light of few lamp posts and the main door lighting. The house, on three levels, was bright, fresh and welcoming; the many paintings of our friend were covering the walls with coloured figures barely sketched, as just come out of a dream. After a small chitchat we headed toward the 3rd floor and workshop.
Waiting us were the musicians. As just looking at a TV-screen, the beautiful lady was sit in a yoga position, covered by a dark green sari and holding a nicely carved Sitar; beside her was the Tablas player in a light brown robe.
The concert went on for almost two hours with a few breaks. It seemed like 5 minutes.
The music was totally hypnotic; I could barely hold the camera and take a few pictures. My heart pounding at slow motion and me scratching my shoulder even slower :P.
Colourful paintings were all around us, inspiring the musicians and lifting up our moods.
By 23h we were home and I was hungry and what do you do when you reach home, you are late, hungry with close to nothing in your fridge? Pasta!
Third fastest Italian Pasta
Ingredients (makes 2 servings):
• 150g Pasta
• Olive oil
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 anchovy fillet
• 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
• 3 black olives
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
Procedure:
While the water for the pasta is on the fire, skin and slice the garlic cloves. Put a fare amount of olive oil (it will be the body of the sauce) on a small saucepan, add the garlic, the chilli flakes and the anchovy fillet and let warm over medium heat. Be careful not to burn the garlic, it shouldn’t take much colour while cooking.
After 2 minutes that the garlic is sizzling add 2tbsp of water to the pan and sprinkle lightly with a pinch of flour. Shake the pan to combine well. Slice and pit (if it’s the case) the olives and add them to the pan.
Now it should be time to cook the pasta, don’t forget to put salt in the water. Let the sauce reduce while the pasta is cooking.
When the pasta is ready, drain it well, transfer it into a bowl and toss with the sauce. Serve it sprinkled with some parmesan and enjoy.
All this was before I checked my business email.
Let’s say that I had finally to write down what was going on into my mind since a few months. Hard stuff.
Saturday went still under the weight of those few words; I even turned down a few friends invitations for the evening. I wasn’t really social material that night.
Let just say that I ended up making myself cinnamon pancakes that night.
Sunday has been a bit better. After having massaged my chicken with the orange marinade, I left for a walk with some friends.
It was a nice relieving afternoon completed by a hefty dinner:
Roasted Chicken in Orange-Garlic marinade.
Ingredients (makes from 2 to 4 servings):
• 1 whole chicken of roughly 1kg
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 oranges (possibly red)
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tbsp dried sage
• 2 tsp horseradish
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Splash of red wine
• 1 pinch of flour
• Salt
• Pepper
Procedure:
Cut the backbone out of the chicken using a carving scissor or a serrated knife and wash the bird thoroughly.
To prepare the marinade, skin and slice the garlic. In a bowl combine it with the herbs and the juice of one of the oranges and the lemon. Add the horseradish, 1 tsp of salt and the olive oil. Mix the marinade well to combine.
Flatten down the chicken and make four incisions to it, two at the conjunctions of the thighs with the body and the other two at the conjunctions of the wings with it; this will help speed up the cooking process (technique courtesy of Jacques Pépin). Rub well the marinade over the chicken and let it infuse in your fridge for a couple of hours before cooking (you might want to do it directly in the baking tin).
When ready to bake the chicken, heat the oven to 220 deg C; spread the chicken on a baking tin, if it’s not there yet and when the oven will be at the desired temperature, bake for 35-40 minutes.
To make the gravy, transfer the chicken on a dish and keep it warm into the oven covered with a lid. You should have around 2tbsp of fat in the tin, if there is too much of it just spoon it out. Put the tin directly over medium fire and deglaze it with the red wine. Scrape well the bottom of the tin and let reduce for a few minutes before adding the juice of the other orange. Sprinkle a pinch of flour over the tin and let the gravy reduce over the fire till you obtain the desired consistency. Taste it and regulate of salt and pepper and pass through a sieve pressing well.
Enjoy the chicken with its life partner: mashed potatoes! :D
After a nice day spent studying my new cookbook it was time to drive, with some friends, to the location of Classical Indian music concert.
The way wasn’t as long as expected but it brought us in the middle of the German countryside through dark streets and sparse houses (thankfully we had a GPS system :P).
The location was the workshop of an artist friend of us.
The old farmhouse from the end of the 19th century newly restored was concealed in the dim light of few lamp posts and the main door lighting. The house, on three levels, was bright, fresh and welcoming; the many paintings of our friend were covering the walls with coloured figures barely sketched, as just come out of a dream. After a small chitchat we headed toward the 3rd floor and workshop.
Waiting us were the musicians. As just looking at a TV-screen, the beautiful lady was sit in a yoga position, covered by a dark green sari and holding a nicely carved Sitar; beside her was the Tablas player in a light brown robe.
The concert went on for almost two hours with a few breaks. It seemed like 5 minutes.
The music was totally hypnotic; I could barely hold the camera and take a few pictures. My heart pounding at slow motion and me scratching my shoulder even slower :P.
Colourful paintings were all around us, inspiring the musicians and lifting up our moods.
By 23h we were home and I was hungry and what do you do when you reach home, you are late, hungry with close to nothing in your fridge? Pasta!
Third fastest Italian Pasta
Ingredients (makes 2 servings):
• 150g Pasta
• Olive oil
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 anchovy fillet
• 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
• 3 black olives
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
Procedure:
While the water for the pasta is on the fire, skin and slice the garlic cloves. Put a fare amount of olive oil (it will be the body of the sauce) on a small saucepan, add the garlic, the chilli flakes and the anchovy fillet and let warm over medium heat. Be careful not to burn the garlic, it shouldn’t take much colour while cooking.
After 2 minutes that the garlic is sizzling add 2tbsp of water to the pan and sprinkle lightly with a pinch of flour. Shake the pan to combine well. Slice and pit (if it’s the case) the olives and add them to the pan.
Now it should be time to cook the pasta, don’t forget to put salt in the water. Let the sauce reduce while the pasta is cooking.
When the pasta is ready, drain it well, transfer it into a bowl and toss with the sauce. Serve it sprinkled with some parmesan and enjoy.
All this was before I checked my business email.
Let’s say that I had finally to write down what was going on into my mind since a few months. Hard stuff.
Saturday went still under the weight of those few words; I even turned down a few friends invitations for the evening. I wasn’t really social material that night.
Let just say that I ended up making myself cinnamon pancakes that night.
Sunday has been a bit better. After having massaged my chicken with the orange marinade, I left for a walk with some friends.
It was a nice relieving afternoon completed by a hefty dinner:
Roasted Chicken in Orange-Garlic marinade.
Ingredients (makes from 2 to 4 servings):
• 1 whole chicken of roughly 1kg
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 oranges (possibly red)
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tbsp dried sage
• 2 tsp horseradish
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Splash of red wine
• 1 pinch of flour
• Salt
• Pepper
Procedure:
Cut the backbone out of the chicken using a carving scissor or a serrated knife and wash the bird thoroughly.
To prepare the marinade, skin and slice the garlic. In a bowl combine it with the herbs and the juice of one of the oranges and the lemon. Add the horseradish, 1 tsp of salt and the olive oil. Mix the marinade well to combine.
Flatten down the chicken and make four incisions to it, two at the conjunctions of the thighs with the body and the other two at the conjunctions of the wings with it; this will help speed up the cooking process (technique courtesy of Jacques Pépin). Rub well the marinade over the chicken and let it infuse in your fridge for a couple of hours before cooking (you might want to do it directly in the baking tin).
When ready to bake the chicken, heat the oven to 220 deg C; spread the chicken on a baking tin, if it’s not there yet and when the oven will be at the desired temperature, bake for 35-40 minutes.
To make the gravy, transfer the chicken on a dish and keep it warm into the oven covered with a lid. You should have around 2tbsp of fat in the tin, if there is too much of it just spoon it out. Put the tin directly over medium fire and deglaze it with the red wine. Scrape well the bottom of the tin and let reduce for a few minutes before adding the juice of the other orange. Sprinkle a pinch of flour over the tin and let the gravy reduce over the fire till you obtain the desired consistency. Taste it and regulate of salt and pepper and pass through a sieve pressing well.
Enjoy the chicken with its life partner: mashed potatoes! :D
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