Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Not really food but food related

Sorry for posting lately but I was busy organising my spices, this included building a new spice cupboard.

Hopefully I will be back posting food soon

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Eggs Baked in Tomatoes


These are delicious and super easy. All you have to do is scoop, crack, bake and eat. They're also pretty filling - I made two for dinner but with some toast on the side one tomato will fill you up.

Romaine Pesto and Egg-Stuffed Tomatoes
Adapted from Gourmet*

6 tbsp pesto, any kind
6 large tomatoes (about 3 inches in diameter)
6 large eggs at room temperature
Parmesan for serving

Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 400°F.

Cut off about 1/8 inch from top of each tomato with a sharp knife. You may also want to cut a sliver off the bottom then oil the cut bit so they stand upright better. Scrape out pulp and seeds with a spoon and discard them. Put tomatoes, cut sides up, in a 9-inch glass or ceramic dish and spoon 1 tablespoon pesto into each tomato. Crack 1 egg into each tomato and season with salt and pepper. Bake eggs in tomatoes until whites are set and yolks are still runny, 18 to 22 minutes. Grate some Parmesan on top and eat.

*The original recipe also included a instructions for making your own romaine-parsley pesto. As I find storebought pesto perfectly delicious and much simpler, I didn't bother making my own.


Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Coady

I haven't tried this yet, but I thought I would post it. I read about "Coady" sauce in the newspaper and googled it to find out what it is. It's a Newfoundland thing and I thought I'd share it.

If anyone tries it first, let me know how it tastes!


Figgy Duff

“Figgy” refers to the raisins and “Duff” refers to the dough mixture.

2 cups breadcrumbs
1 cup raisins
1 tsp. baking soda
tbsp. hot water
¼ cup butter, melted
½ cup flour
½ cup molasses
1 tsp each of ginger, allspice & cinnamon


To make breadcrumbs soak dry bread in enough water to soften. Drain and squeeze bread to remove excess water. Break into crumbs and measure 2 cups. Mix crumbs, raisins, molasses and melted butter. Them combine baking soda and water to crumb mixture. Mix well. Grease 4-cup molds and pour pudding into the mold. Cover top with a piece of greased foil and fold over the sides of the mold to keep steam out. Place molds in a large pot and add boiling water till it reaches the halfway mark on the molds. Cover and steam for 2 hours or until firm to touch. Serve with Molasses Coady (below).

Molasses Coady

1 cup molasses
¼ cup butter
¼ cup water

In a saucepan, combine ingredients. Heats to a boil then simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Serve over Figgy Duff.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Tomato, Barley and Garlic Risotto


This is a really easy and delicious risotto. The only thing I found wrong with the recipe was the amount of garlic: it originally suggested using two whole heads, and even though I cut that down to a quarter of a head it was still pretty garlicky. Next time I think I'd use just two cloves.

Barley, Tomato and Garlic Risotto
From Yotam Ottolenghi's The New Vegetarian

2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and quartered
750g fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
200g (1 can) tomato paste
½ tsp smoky paprika
⅛ tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tbsp picked thyme
4 strips fresh lemon zest
1½ tsp caster sugar
1 tsp salt
270g (1 ½ cup) pearl barley, well rinsed in cold water and drained
Roughly 200ml water
20g chopped coriander leaves, plus extra to garnish (Didn't have, didn't use)
Black pepper
200g feta, crumbled roughly (Ditto)

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a medium-sized saucepan and sauté the garlic quarters for about two minutes, or until golden. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, paprika, chilli, thyme, lemon zest, sugar, salt, barley and a ladleful of water; stir and bring the mix to a simmer. Cook over minimal heat for 50-60 minutes, until the barley is tender but still firm to the bite. You'll need to stir it from time to time, so it doesn't stick to the pan, and add water occasionally, making sure there is always just enough liquid left in the pot to cook the barley. At the end of the cooking, the mix should be runny enough easily to spoon into bowls.

Once done, remove the pan from the heat, stir in the coriander and some freshly ground black pepper. Add most of the feta, stir gently so the cheese doesn't break up too much and stays in largish chunks, taste and adjust the seasoning accordingly.

Spoon into serving bowls and sprinkle with the reserved feta and coriander.