fri02sep2011: roast chicken & kale tagliatelle, walnut cream sauce

this week's fridaynightdinnerbox was inspired by local chef missi scott, who cooked it for me on the fly late one afternoon, in her kitchen on the slopes of mangawhau.
totally delicious, organically grown flavour, walnuts toasted, organic kale & freerange chicken, bound by a creme sauce

your part is easy, just let me know how many you want & i'll see you friday:
call me on 021 2414 020
or email pabloskitchen@yahoo.com

recipe: risotto al limone

who doesnt like risotto?? is it possible? so delicious, & yet so simple...

this week's fri26aug2011 fridaynightdinnerbox is all about simplicity, in flavour, in ingredient, in method:

for the risotto:                          for the salad:                                                       for the veg:

olive oil & butter                      rocket leaf                                                            courgette bean spinach

shallots/onions & garlic        bean & alfa & sango sprouts                         cracked pepper

thyme & parsley stalks           almonds sunflower & pumpkin seeds       olive oil & lemon juice 

aborio rice                                   olive oil & lemon juice

homemade chicken stock       

lemon, zest & juice

parmesan cheese

*3 pans on: one for boiling water, one for boiling chicken stock, one for cooking yr risotto

*olive oil/butter in the warm risotto pan & be generous here. finely dice the onion/garlic, into the pan & sprinkle over salt & a little thyme. leave it, covered, on a low heat till the sweetness & translucency thing happens, shaking the pan from time to time.

*separately, bring chicken stock to the boil

*turn risotto heat up & add aborio rice, turning it in the pan to coat all the little ricicles with olive oil for a cpl of minutes. then slowly add about a cup or so of stock, just covering rice. let the risotto simmer gently now, waiting till the liquid has been absorbed before adding a bit more as its required. in this manner, keep going till the rice has reached the al-dente stage, which means: firm to the bite; firm but not crunchy, softening but not gluggy. understatement alert (>) this is pretty important. just imagine mamma mia is standing over yr shoulder checking its a la perfecto-rama.

*about half way thru the process i zest a cpl of lemons into the risotto & squeeze the juice in as well

*add a little cream to finish, grating parmesan over & some watercress bunched on top to serve

*while yr risotto is coming along, slice courgettes, beans, carrots, spinach...whatever your veg of choice, & blanch them for about 30-60 seconds in the boiling water. immediately take them out & plunge them into an iced water bath, blanching colour fasts the veg so that it doesnt go grey & washed out & people arent subjected to the torture of mushy over boiled things on the plate.

*when yr ready to serve, just drop them in the boiling water again for 30 seconds & theyr done! squeeze lemon juice over the top & a drizzle of olive oil, season with salt flakes & cracked pepper.

*the salad is quickest, so is done last. toss rocket leaf bean & alfa sprouts, toasted seeds, dried cranberries in some olive oil & lemon juice.

in the eating of this dish, i like to bring it all together, folding the rocket thru my risotto. the crunch of the salad greens meets the creaminess of the rice, salty seediness, tang of parmesan, sharpness of lemon, peppery fire... to me is close to the blissful state

important to note here, while the risotto is best done a little slowly, its important to stay with it while it cooks, 10-20 mins depending on heat. also, while it can be made a day or 2 in advance, the veg must be done on the day & the salad must be done at service time. 

if you take away the lemon factor, this risotto is a base for many other flavour combos, all of which can be made to order, bringing variety to your risottos with minimal preparation. 

lend me yr imagination for just a mo: 

...you arrive home, starving tired. its not a friday night so you cant emergency dinnerbox it pablo style.  

...heating the plain risotto in a pan, you rummage round for olives s/d tomatoes artichokes & the like in the fridge (yknow, the ration essentials no self-respecting refrigerator would ever be seen without) 

...after a quick dash to the balcony garden yr chopping a handful of parsley, 

...in goes a spoonful of cottage cheese/marscarpone/fraiche/sourcream/plainyoghurt(ummm?)

...& suddenly yr looking at those masterchef muppets with slightly less wistfulness than before :)

>fast fwd 20 seconds

...yr just about to say "yummy!" when someone else beats you to it

enjoy!

fri26aug2011: risotto al limone e parmigiano

this week's fridaynightdinnerbox dish is in honour of the lemon trees at my mother's little farm in mangawhai. a bounty of fruit this year, that beautiful yellow & so perfectly shaped, i can reach over the balcony now to pick what i need. i found myself this weekend drinking very lemony g&t's & preparing dishes that also, incidentally, needed lemons. what a luxury.
& so delicious
a vegetarian dinnerbox this week. risotto with lemon & parmesan, with a spring salad of leafy greens herbs sprouts&seeds on the side.

your part is easy, just let me know how many you want & i'll see you friday:
call me on 021 2414 020
or email pabloskitchen@yahoo.com

recipe: boeuf bourguignon

the recipe for fri19aug2001 its a good hearty stew is this dish. an old fav. with lots of variations...
tho one thing remains the same & that is time; for best results think in terms of slowly.
mine takes 3 days, tho that might seem a bit indulgent, but then...yea, so what?
allow the meat to marinate overnight; turn temperatures down low & let the dish happen slowly.
my butcher this week suggested flank steak. quite lean, versatile as a cut for a range of slow dishes, an english cut, it works well tho not every butcher will have it; chuck/blade is fine in any case.

so then;
-1.5kg braising steak, diced large bite-sizedly
-pour over a bottle of red (an open hawkesbay cab/mer is what was within reach for me this time!)
-add a few cloves of garlic, battened flat a bit, sprigs of thyme, bay, some chopped up parsley stalks
& let this marinade sit covered in the fridge overnight
next day;
-in a heavy pot, a little olive oil, carrot leek onion celery, bacon ( i get unsmoked bacon offcuts, or pork belly cubed up, streaky bacon works fine) lid on & sweat it for a while
-separately, in a little olive oil, brown the beef in a hot pan, about 5 mins, & add to the bacon pot
-deglaze the hot beef pan with a little tomato puree, splash of brandy & then a little of the red wine marinade & add to beef. i add a little flour at this stage, but i like nice & saucy so use a lot of wine too. anyway, one way or the other, use all the marinade.
-simmer this for a good 3or4 hours on a low heat (crock-pot, all day on low=awesome)
so, i sit this overnight, cos its always better the next day. same day is acceptable tho...
finish the bourguignon;
-saute some mushrooms & baby onions, & add them to the beef stew, a good grind of cracked pepper. simmer for 1/2 an hour or so
-separately, steam some potatoes, i like to use gourmet reds or baby agrias, urenikas are pretty yum if you can get them, & toss them with good olive oil, spring onions, fresh herbs, salt.

to serve, potatoes in a bowl, bourguignon ladled over the top, parsley to finish.

>for the best potato combo i ever had i used pink fir potatoes, steamed, tossed with freshly chopped oregano & mint, spring onions, toasted sunflower seeds & a splash or two of matakana olive oil; a salad in itself.

fri19aug2001: boeuf bourguignon

a classic. every french region has its version, as do i. this friday's dish is a casserole of beef & red wine which slowly cooks for the day, streaky bacon, onions mushrooms & so on.
the casserole will come with potatoes, & as an optional extra a green salad is available upon request.


your part is easy, just let me know how many you want & i'll see you friday:
call me on 021 2414 020
or email pabloskitchen@yahoo.com

recipe: chicken&corn chowder

perfect for winter, this week’s recipe, a chowder, conjures up childhood memories of my mother’s cooking like few other dishes: she would appear at the front door & call us in from the garden, where we were playing, grubby & breathless from climbing the pohutakawa tree, laying down a basket of bread & steaming bowls of chowder,  rich & creamy, & full of flavour.

i’ve taken a few liberties (standard practise, really) this time to allow for dining in a gluten/wheat sensitive age. straying from the standard white flour norm, i like to combine alternative grains & flours to explore what can only be described as an often neglected aspect to the way we approach those types of ingredients equally as available, but sadly less regularly stocked & used in the modern pantry.

  

stage1:

butter

chickpea flour&potato starch

chicken stock

cream

*make yr roux: over a medium heat, melt the butter in a decent sized pot, add an equal quantity of  chickpea/potato starch (ie: 50gbutter +25gchickpea flour+25gpotato starch) & bring it together with a wooden spoon till it forms a kind of ball but don’t let it brown;

*separately, in a 2^nd pot, bring the chicken stock to simmering point;

*roux to veloute sauce: once the roux is good to go, slowly add the hot stock, bit by bit, stirring thoroughly at every step to ensure yr sauce doesn’t go lumpy (swapping yr wooden spoon for a whisk might save yr sanity here);

*veloute to supreme sauce: add a generous quantity of cream, stirring in;

*bring the sauce to a bare simmer (that’s simmer NOT boil) stirring regularly to stop it catching on the bottom of the pot, for 15 mins or so.

onion&bay&whole cloves

*make a cloute by slicing yr onion in half & pinning a bay leaf to the cut side with 3 whole cloves. drop this into the veloute sauce as a seasoning while the sauce simmers away. the cloute brings a delicious savoury sweetness to the sauce (oh, & you remove it at the end!) 

stage2:

onion&garlic

leek&celery&carrot

orange kumara

parsley stalks&thyme

corn kernels, frozen is just fine

s’n’p

*chop yr veg to the same size, i like mine cut macedoine, (smallish & square) & drop all in the now empty chicken stock pot with a good knob of butter, a little salt, put the lid on, give it a shake & sweat yr veg for about 5 mins or so. this lets them all get to know eachother a bit in just the way that makes our finished chowder even better.

*add the veg to the supreme sauce & stir it in gently.

chicken (best quality, free range & organic is yr only option here folks)

*shred the chicken meat & drop into the chowder, stirring gently, & allow it to poach in the simmering chowder. alternatively, roast yr chicken 1^st, then shred & add.  this is a great way to use up yr left over roast from last night.

stage3:

to finish, add a little cream, or stock, to get the right consistency, not too thick&not too thin, then add a big bunch of fresh herbs, roughly chopped, parsley, sage&coriander all work nicely here. i like to grate lemon or orange zest in there as well, just because…

voila!

fri12aug2011: chicken&corn chowder

for this week's dish, i've taken to the idea of a chicken chowder; another favourite dish from my orion cafe days. mine is made using gluten free pulses for the bechamal base. this chowder is creamy & delicious, with the colourful contrasts of winter veg & fresh herbs, organic chicken & corn.

your part is easy, just let me know how many you want & i'll see you friday:
call me on 021 2414 020
or email pabloskitchen@yahoo.com

recipe: cacciatora

so the recipe for fri05aug11, cacciatora, hunter style, is a classic italian trattoria dish.  fragrant & bold, & supremely satisfying, cacciatora is a perfect wintry dish to make when you're pottering around the house all day, writes patricia wells.
recipes vary, as do ingredients; i've gone for a shoulder of mutton but any slow cooking cut will do.
i've also held back from using anchovies as a base ingredient, tho their inclusion adds another dimension.

roughly then:
*shoulder/leg mutton
cubed then marinated in olive oil, crushed garlic & peppercorns over night
browned in a hot pan, not too crowded, on each side, then set aside
*carrot, onion, celery, leek, thyme & bay
chopped to bite size then sweated in pan juices, salt, lid on, over a low heat until they are translucent..15ish
added to the meat
*tomato puree, red wine & chopped tomatoes
deglaze the pan of all the yummy flavoursome bits, added to meat & veg
simmered for several hours, until meat is tender.

i always cook this the day before so i can sit it in the fridge over night & remove the layer of fat that forms on top. this makes the final portion less greasy, & to my liking.

to serve, cook off some pasta or rice, bulghur wheat is a favourite for me, couscous is good too...
& season it with lemon & parsley
perhaps a cheeky turn or two of parmesan to finish

opening the dinnerbox: recipes

being unable to deliver to christchurch cornwall or california, distant demanding friends have insisted upon recipes being posted, that way they can have a go at the dishes themselves.
not just a great way to build your repertoire;
what a nice & pleasing thought: like-minded people preparing & cooking & dining, at the same time but at locations throughout the world, in a sense together, a global kitchen...

fri05aug2011: cacciatora

this week's dish, a favourite at the orion cafe: cacciatora, an italian hunter's stew, slowly braised shoulder of mutton, tomato, red wine & organic cannellini beans, serves with fettucini, te arai olive oil, lemon & thyme


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