Bertinet Bread

Bertinet Bread
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

This evening I baked some rolls using a recipe from Richard Bertinet's book Dough which I bought last week. This is a book that promises to provide countless hours of entertainment!

I started with this, one of the simplest recipes in the book. The tricky part of cooking from this book is that the author asks you to believe that, however wet you think the dough might be, it WILL turn into a 'proper' dough and make a wonderful bread. He's not wrong, of course, but it IS very difficult, indeed, to stay the course. My dough was very wet and sticky but, after about 4 minutes of 'working' it, a transformation took place and I had in my hands some of the most amazingly elastic, pliable dough I have ever touched in my hands. Amazing!

Bertinet Crumb
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

Upon opening the oven I saw (before my eyes) the most beautiful buns I have ever made. The crust was golden and tight, the bread itself felt springy and light and, cutting it open after it cooled revealed a beautiful, even crumb. I really enjoyed working this dough and making this bread. I recommend this book very highly!

Happy baking!

Double Happiness Wonton Soup

Wonton Soup
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

It was Saturday night. We were tired after a long, hard week at work and doubly tired from walking all over Cambridge earlier in the day. We were cranky. I wanted to make wonton soup for the first time. We were hungry. At first it was very quiet in our kitchen while we struggled with trying to wrap the filling in the wrappers - that was after the disagreement over how to interpret the instructive photos in the cook book. Then we fell into a rhythm and started talking again. Not long after that we were beaming at our accomplishment and fretting over whether they'd all stay together in the pot of boiling water. They did. Then we made the simple broth to go with them.

At the end of the meal, we were both stuffed full of wontons, chatting merrily away; our troubles all but forgotten. For this reason I'll call this dish 'Double Happiness Wonton Soup'!

P.S. - If you want to double your happiness, the recipe can be found here...

Big Saturday Loaf

Big Saturday Loaf
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

Now that we've gotten used to making (blasé, even!) our weekly bread for our lunch boxes, I thought it would be interesting to have a different sort of bread for the weekend. I wanted to try a large loaf from which we could hack slices as and when we needed to. So, this is it - funnily enough, the yeast wasn't super fresh so I gave it a longer time to prove. This resulted in a slightly sour, dense-ish loaf that was delightful to eat and kept well into the week.

Now I'm really feeling adventurous...

Thai Chicken and Galangal Soup

Thai Chicken and Galangal Soup
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

Mmmmm... getting carried away here with the East. The Far East, that is! I love making this soup almost as much as I love eating it. It's a favourite of mine at Sala Thong restaurant in Cambridge. This bowl of rich soup, crammed with chicken and mushrooms steeped in coconut milk which has been infused with galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime (rind and juice, in the absence of leaves...) is heaven on the tongue. The restaurant serves it with Thai sticky rice (and I do too, when I can!) but it's just as good with Thai fragrant rice. The tricky bit, I think, is getting the consistency right - you need to remember that the mushrooms don't require more than about 5 minutes in the soup AND they give off a lot of liquid in cooking. I always fumble with that but I've never been disappointed with the results!


Chicken in Coconut Milk Soup
250 gms chicken breast, slice
2 cups coconut milk
6 thin slices young galangal
15-20 closed-cup white mushrooms, quartered
2 stalks lemongrass, lower portion, cut into 1-inch lengths and crushed
5 fresh kaffir lime leaves, torn in half (or 3-4 strips of kaffir lime + juice)
4 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
2 teaspoons sugar (...or honey)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
Garnish with a handful of coriander leaves, torn and the remainder of the sliced red chilli.

Method:
1. Combine half the coconut milk and half the sliced chilli with the galangal, lemongrass and lime leaves (or juice and rind) in a saucepan. Heat to boiling.
2. Add the chicken, fish sauce salt, sugar and white pepper. Simmer for about 4 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked, and then add the remaining coconut milk.
3. Heat just to boiling. Place the lime juice and fried chilli paste in a serving bowl and pour the soup over them.
4. Garnish with coriander leaves and sliced red chillies.

Serve with steamed fragrant or sticky rice. Serves 4, with accompaniments.

Udon noodle bowl with Chinese chives, bamboo shoots and roast duck

Udon noodle bowl
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

After that scrumptious feast of a meal we had the evening before, my appetite was still hungry for more of the same the next day! We had a considerable selection of leftovers which meant "playtime" for me and my cupboard. It took very little time to come up with this - a noodle bowl with a delicate soup, soy sauce, mirin, Chinese chives and leftover roast duck. I served this sort of "semi-wet" - the ratio of noodles to broth was quite a bit higher than I normally do for a bowl, but it worked just fine. I have to repeat this dish before I can post a recipe but you have the basic ingredients list here should you want to try it:

Ingredients for Udon Noodle Bowl

Cooked duck meat, picked from the bone (about a cup)
3 packs Udon noodles (the soft, pre-cooked type work well)
a good handful of Chinese chives, cut into 3cm lengths (or any Chinese greens, roughly chopped
1 small can bamboo shoots
grated fresh ginger and grated fresh garlic (about 1-2 tsp each)
soy sauce (about 2-3 tbsps)
mirin (or honey or sugar) 1 tsp
rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp
2 cups good-quality chicken broth
ground white pepper
salt

Optional:
small handful of mushrooms, sliced

This can also be made vegetarian by substituting some nice mushrooms (shitake or oyster, for example) for the duck.

Enjoy!

Hot and Sour Soup

Hot and Sour Soup
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

Last weekend we had a few Chinese friends over for a kind of informal 'dumpling dinner party'. It was great fun hosting a party with people cooking all around us and being at their beck and call to provide everything they needed in the way of utensils, pots and ingredients. The result was a sumptuous meal of delicious pork dumplings, sautéed vegetables, hot and sour soup and a roast duck. The spread was enormous - a bit like Thanksgiving Day in January; the company convivial and appreciative. A good time was had by all - especially by us. I'll post more pictures very soon, I hope!

Coconut Fish Curry; Kerala, South India

South Indian Fish Curry
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

This is the first time I've tried cooking a fish curry. In truth, I've only ever twice had a fish curry - both times at The Rice Boat, a restaurant in Cambridge specialising in the cuisine of Kerala, South India. I'd never tasted anything like it before. On later perusal of our favourite Indian cookbook, Indian Essence (Atul Kochhar, Quadrille Publishing, London) I discovered a recipe that promised to be every bit as sumptuous. Had I not experienced the subtle tastes of fish and Eastern spices at the Rice Boat, I doubt I would have tried this recipe myself. The ingredients are relatively simple but the resulting dish is something not to be missed. I hope you agree.

For the fish, I used frozen Kingfish steaks, available from any good Asian market. I would say that, in my humble opinion, 'curry leaves' are essential to the full appreciation of this dish. Although they can be hard to find, being available only in specialist Asian food stores, they freeze well and keep for months.

Coconut Fish Curry

Ingredients
4 sea bass fillets, each about 150g (I used Kingfish steaks instead)
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1-1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil
2 medium onions, finely sliced
6 green chillies, slit lengthways
3 garlic cloves, sliced into thin strips
25-30 curry leaves
2.5 cm ginger shredded
400 ml coconut milk
2 tbsp lime juice
coriander sprigs, to garnish

Method
First, mix 1/2 tsp salt with 1 tsp turmeric and gently rub into the fish steaks.

Then, heat the coconut oil in a wide pan and add the onions, chillies, ginger and garlic.  Sauté for a few minutes then add the curry leaves and keep cooking until the onion is translucent.  Take out half of the curry leaves and set aside for the garnish.

Next, add the rest of the turmeric and salt to the pan,  Pour in the coconut milk and heat through, then add the fish steaks and simmer very gently for 3-4 minutes until just cooked. 

Serve immediately, garnished with the reserved curry leaves and coriander.

Chicken and Vegetable Couscous

Chicken and Vegetable Couscous 3
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

This was the 'second generation' of a meal we served when a couple of friends came over for dinner one night. One of them was a life-long vegetarian and I was looking for something that would be tasty, filling and warming to eat (it's January, after all!). Having cooked this for myself and Steve years ago, I trotted out the old recipe and tried it out on our friends. The result was so surprisingly good that I made it again, the following week - but this time with the addition of chicken pieces (jointed and skinned wings with bones). This, too, was very pleasant to eat.

Chettinad Chicken Curry

Chettinad Chicken Curry
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

This is an example of 'Midweek Madness' wherein Steve and Lisa get the urge to cook up a storm. We were, of course, both exhausted from a good day's work but were unable to resist the temptation of cooking a big Indian meal. We cooked this Chettinad Chicken Curry, Aubergine in Yoghurt (both from Indian Cooking Made Easy, my newest cookbook) and I made a tarka daal to go with these. We had this with plain white basmati rice. It all tasted as good as it looks...

"Refridgerator Suey"

"Refridgerator Suey"
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

What to eat after Christmas over-indulgence when you're stuffed full of rich food, meats, cheeses and wine?  Well, I looked through the fridge this evening and came up with a treasure-trove of vegetables to play with.  What better foil for vegetables after troughing at the horn-of-plenty?  I came up with this - noodles with shrimp, snow peas, spring onions, wakame seaweed, bamboo shoots, red (bell) pepper, leek and mushrooms.  It's a good idea, I think, to have a well-balanced larder!  Yin and Yang.  Moderation.  It makes sense, doesn't it?

However,  I managed to get a lot of other stuff in my wok....

Like onion, garlic, soy sauce (light and dark), ginger, white pepper, Chinese cooking wine, ground white pepper, Japanese mirin, and...... lots o' luv! :) It wasn't too bad...

Happy 'Post New Year's day' ;)

xx

Happy New Year!

Brunch, New Year 2008
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

Happy New Year, everyone!

This is our traditional New Year Brunch - and Christmas Brunch and Birthday Brunch and... We started our New Year celibrations with a dinner of quail and polenta. After dinner I called my good friend Mary-from-the-Bronx whom I haven't spoken to in quite a long time. just before midnight GMT, Steve opened the Prosecco and we raised our glasses all together. We sipped to Big Ben ringing in the 2008 on the radio. Hope your celebration was fun and we both wish you a healthy and happy New Year.

All the best for 2008!

New Year's Eve

Quail and Polenta
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

As the title suggests, we had quail and polenta for dinner on New Year's Eve. Two quail each was probably more than we really needed (is it just me or are quail really getting bigger???) but that just means it was twice as good!  Steve made the polenta with butter and parmesan (and he made the beans, too) and I roasted the quail, coated with sage, salt and freshly ground black pepper.  The result was an uncomplicated meal that was relatively easy to make and simply delicious.

I probably will blog a lot less, now that the vacation is over - I'll be busy at work! See you soon!

A Provençal Daube

A Provençal Daube
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

For the penultimate meal of 2007 Steve prepared this exquisite dish of beef and vegetables with Provençal herbs and seasonings. The original recipe comes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittenstall's 'Meat' cookbook and was altered slightly at the suggestion of a good friend who has retired to the South of France.

The recipe, in its adapted form, can be found here. The result was one of the best beef stews I have ever tasted! Chapeau, Steve!

Cloister ruins, Bury St. Edmunds

Cloister ruins, Bury St. Edmunds
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

Yesterday, Steve and I visited Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, E central England - about 45 minutes from Cambridge by train. It was a dreary day but we enjoyed the afternoon shopping and visiting the ruins of the old Abbey of the cathedral of St Edmunds Bury. 

The town has a rich (and long!) history: In 903 the remains of King Edmund were interred here in a monastery, founded c.630, which later became a famous shrine and Benedictine abbey founded by Canute. In 1214, English barons struggling against King John took an oath in the abbey to compel him to accept their demands. The result was the Magna Carta (1215). Among the buildings of historical interest in the town are a Norman gate, ruins of St. James Cathedral, and a 15th-century church. Moyses Hall, a Norman residence, has been made into a museum.

We spent a while walking among the ruins and, I, marvelling at how such an historical structure could simply be part of the town, in a park amongst swings and slides and other playthings. The ruins were extensive, too, and we could have spent a lot more time there were in not for a noxious-smelling stench coming from what looked like smoke nearby. If a smell can be "spooky", this one was - it was acrid and unidentifiable. Most mysterious was the fact that although Steve and I were made very uncomfortable by it, others at the site didn't seem to notice it. Hmmmm...

Phalaenopsis ("Moth Orchid")

Phalaenopsis ("Moth Orchid")
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

It's all happening here; I'm posting something that isn't food related - a somewhat remarkable occurrence - prompted by the "birth" of my first orchid blooms! It's very cool, indeed. Granted, these beasts are not all that difficult to keep but if you are not an orchid hobbiest having this small success is brilliant! 

I've had this plant for almost 2 years now and after flaunting its blooms for over two months, when they finally fell off they showed no signs of flowering again. One evening last Spring, Steve and I went to dinner at some colleagues' of his and what did they have sitting in their windowsill (and under a skylight, which I'll admit, seemed an insurmountable obstacle) but a gorgeous Phalaenopsis in full bloom. I asked what their secret was and the answer surprised me: weekly submersion of the pot in water - that was it! 

So I tried it... I got very regular about the watering and, wouldn't you know it, before long an new spike was asserting itself. It took many months for the spike to begin to show buds (around 8 months, in fact) and then another couple of months for the buds to open, one at a time, at a rate of about 1 bloom every 7-10 days. The whole process was a joy to behold - the plant seemed to 'spend' so much time and energy that it would have been heart-breaking had anything prevented the flowers from opening.  Ahhhh... gorgeous!

Quail Risotto

Quail Risotto
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

Mmmmmm! Boxing day. We went for a long walk in the Fens and finished up with a pint at the Blue Lion. As soon as we got home we started this... The recipe is from my new cook book, Francesco's Kitchen by Francesco da Mosto, a Christmas present from Steve. Very simple, very elegant, and very delicious.  It was lovely.

Tomorrow, duck with a prune and chestnut stuffing - and a day trip to Bury-St-Edmunds... And, maybe, rye bread! More later...
xx

Merry Christmas!

Yeast bread, Christmas Day -2
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

Today I baked bread (it was 'baking day'...) to have with Christmas dinner. It looked so attractive I had to photograph it before we tucked in! Finally, I've solved my problem with bread - I simply don't like to eat bread that's more than a day or two old (there are exceptions to that, of course!) and so now, rather than having to figure out how to get to a store with a decent bakery, I make my own. This bread here, for instance will probably last us a couple of days - some will be had tonight with our snails and garlic butter starter. Tomorrow's breakfast and lunch will account for the rest (unless we are more restrained than usual...)
Hope you had a happy Christmas!

Greek Style Octopus Stew

Octopus Stew
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

Steve bought an octopus from the Cambridge Market fishmonger on Friday. I have cooked this beast before but wasn't really happy with the results. This time I decided to try something based on a delicious dish I once had at the Eraina Taverna on Free School Lane, off Bene't Street in Cambridge. As is my custom, I looked in several cook books and Googled around until I found what I thought would be the perfect recipe. Using a combination of two main recipes, one for the tenderising technique and the other for the actual ingredients, I was able to produce a very tasty dish very close to my memory of the dish I had in the taverna. We had it with white rice and broccoli although it might have benefitted from a big bowl of Greek salad which would have been more in keeping with its cultural and culinary aspirations!

Feta cheese sandwiches -2

Feta cheese sandwiches -2
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

Today I made more bread (!) and more Greek Salad sandwiches. I took some photos to try and illustrate how they are constructed but no picture can describe how delicious they are! This is not an original idea - where I work there comes each day a sandwich van, filled with lovely, creative (and sometimes strange!) sandwiches, rolls and baguettes. The Greek Salad ones are a real favourite of mine as are the hummus and falafel baguettes. The Greek salad sandwich allows the bread to be really appreciated while being satisfying and full of goodness - it's the perfect foil for my homemade bread. As I described in a previous post the sandwich consists of slices of feta cheese, tomato and black olives with lettuce, good olive oil & vinegar, salt, pepper and oregano. Try it soon - you won't be disappointed.

I B Baking!

Baps
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

This morning I baked baps for the first time for my lunch. I've been so impressed with the baking exploits of my colleague Barney that I just had to try his recipe for the Scottish morning roll called baps. Although it required a few simple steps the night before (I used the 'overnight' version of the two recipes provided) and me getting up before dawn (well, it is almost winter here and the sun is as lazy as I am about getting up!) to finish up and bake the baps, the smell alone is worth the effort!
I'm going to make my sandwiches now...
Hope you have a great day!

Post-lunch update: The bread is wonderful! I made mine with 3 parts strong white bread flour to 1 part flour with 'kibbled bits'. Yum! For my lunch today I made some of my favourite sandwiches - Greek Salad sandwiches containing chunks of feta cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and black olives. I left out the usual slices of red onion in deference to my co-workers! (Although I am not always so kind...). The sandwiches are 'finished' with a slug of extra virgin olive oil, a dash of red wine vinegar, freshly ground black pepper and salt. For those of you who want to try this bread, visit Barney's blog now (click here to get to the post 'A simple Bread') and give it a whirl. One caveat, though - try not to panic at the consistency of this dough when you begin to work it - it really is very, very wet (and it is best to work it with a spoon...)! Stick it out, though,  and you will not be disappointed.