Quinoa crazy

Have you discovered how supremely wonderful quinoa is or are you, like me, late to the party too? I recently had my first taste of quinoa and I was blown away. Blown away. Yes I said it twice. I've been eating very little else since, trying to incorporate quinoa in my meals at least three times a week. Too much? No way. 

Here are some things I've recently learnt about quinoa:

1. Quinoa is pronounced Keen-Wah not Kee-No-Wah. 

2. Quinoa is not a grain. It doesn't come from the family of grasses like wheat or barley but rather from the family of plants like spinach and beets! So what is it if not a grain? Quinoa is a seed. And it's super nutritious. Its a terrific source of protein which is important if you too are a vegetarian/vegan and have limited sourced of protein. 

3. Though it has only recently become "trendy", quinoa has been cultivated by the Andeans in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Columbia for over 7,000 years.  

4. It's freakishly delicious. Yes, healthy food has, for some reason, obtained the nefarious reputation for being tasteless and boring but quinoa is just wonderful both flavour wise as well as texturally. Especially when cooked in stock or salted (and herb or spice infused) water - as the seed absorbs the flavours as it cooks. It has a nuttiness and a crunch that's just delightful.

5. There are over 100 varieties of quinoa but what we get are the common trio of the white, black and red seeds.  

6. It takes just 15 minutes to cook (and another 15 minutes to rest!).

7. When not cooked properly, quinoa can have a slightly bitter after taste. This bitterness comes from the coating around the seed which is actually a layer of Saponins, an organic chemical that keeps predators away. How do you get around this? Simple, rinse or wash the seeds thoroughly (as you would rice) before cooking them.

8. You cook quinoa as you would rice: one cup of quinoa is cooked in two cups of water/stock. To enhance it's flavour however, I like to toast the seeds (once they've been rinsed) in a little olive oil for a few minutes. 

9. South Americans actually use quinoa to brew beer. I haven't figures this out but I wouldn't mind having a go at a quinoa beer!

10. I've saved the best for last: it isn't fattening! Whoooopadeedooda. a 1/4 cup of dry, uncooked quinoa has only 174 calories of which 24 are from protein, 12 from sugars and the rest complex carbohydrates, fiber and healthy fats! 

While quinoa can be used as a rice-replacement, I usually just add it to salads.  I used 1/2 cup of dry quinoa for these two salads below.

Quinoa

1/2 cup dry white quinoa

1 cup vegetable stock

1/2 tbsp olive oil

Place the dry quinoa in a saucepan and wash it under running water, rubbing the seed to wash off the bitter coating. Strain.

Heat the oil in a skillet and add the strained quinoa. Toast in over medium heat for a few minutes. 

Transfer the quinoa into a saucepan and add the stock and heat it on the stove. When the stock starts to boil, turn down the heat, cover and cook for 15 minutes. 

After 15 minutes, turn off the heat, take the pot off the stove and let the quinoa sit in the covered pot for 15 minutes. Then, using a fork, gently fluff up the seeds so they don't clump together.  

The 1/2 cup of dry quinoa should yield at least 2 cups now!

Warm Broccoli and Corn Salad with Quinoa 

1 cup cooked quinoa

2 cups broccoli florets, blanched in salt water

1/3 cup steamed sweet corn

1 cup green pea shoots

1/4 cup grated cheese 

1 garlic clove, minced

a large handful of walnuts, toasted

2 tbsp Olive oil

salt and pepper

Set aside 1/2 the broccoli to make a pesto. Add the broccoli, cheese, olive oil, garlic, half the walnuts and blitz in the blender to make a pesto. Season with salt.

Add the quinoa, corn, remaining broccoli, pea shoots, remaining walnuts in a bowl big enough for you to toss the salad in. Add the pesto and olive oil and gently toss so everything is coated with them. Season and serve.

Warm Brussel Sprouts, Mushroom and Cranberry Quinoa Salad

1 cup cooked quinoa

6 brussel sprouts, blanched and sliced thin

6 mushrooms (I used fresh button mushrooms)

2 tbsp dried cranberries

2 tbsp sunflower seeds, toasted

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

Olive oil

salt and pepper

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet. Add the mushrooms and saute till the moisture leaves the the shrooms start to brown. Add the sliced sprouts and cook for a couple of minutes and season. Remove the vegetables off the heat.

Place the quinoa, cooked vegetables, cranberries and sunflower seeds in a bowl. 

Whisk the mustard and about 2 tbsp of olive oil together in a separate bowl.

Pour the oil into the salad and toss. Season. 

Dutch Crunch

This spotted spread was unanimously called Tiger Bread up until about a year ago when a nine-year-old British girl wrote to Sainsbury (a supermarket chain in the UK) suggesting that it be renamed the "Giraffe Bread" as the cracked pattern on top of the bread resembled a giraffe more than a tiger. She had a point. And that's why the supermarket chain decided to change the name of the bread sold in their stores to Giraffe Bread instead.

Perhaps, as in this case, all we need to do is ask when we want something changed. Maybe not.

Well, tiger or giraffe, this is also known as the Dutch Crunch. What it is essentially is a soft white bread (made with sesame oil in it) with a crunchy topping made from a mixture of rice flour, yeast, oil and water. The ingredients for the topping and mixed to form a paste which is then brushed on top of the bread in the final stages of rising.

The trick is to get the paste to the right consistency: thin enough to spread but not too thin that it becomes runny and doesn't stay on the surface of the bread. Oh, another point to be careful about: when spreading the paste on the bread (this is done after shaping and midway through the final rise) is to make sure you don't press the surface of the bread so hard that it deflates. 

Apart from that's it's not too complicated at all.

It's unique appearance aside, the topping adds a crunch to the bread which is really cool. It's not the usual crunch of a good bread crust but something more biscuity. The topping also lends the bread a   sweetish, yeasty taste that I find quite nice. 

But who am I kidding. Mostly, I like it because it looks really cool. 

Instead of a loaf, I used a basic bread recipe and made burger buns instead. I added a little chilli oil to the olive oil required in this recipe because I figured a bread that goes by the name "tiger" should have a little heat and a little bite to it. Right? The chilli oil added just a hint of heat but a lot of nice flavour to the plain white buns which was super. 

I decided to make a sandwich for myself with the buns. Immediately. They were too good to resist. And, after my double work out yesterday (I hauled my heavy behind to the gym in the morning and evening: to make up for a week of non-activity -- don't judge me. I am a little crazy), I figured I could afford a hearty mid-day sandwich. 

The filling was uncomplicated and made with things I had in my fridge (isn't this always the case?): a grilled Portobello mushroom with lots of butter and garlic, some leftover pesto, grilled broccoli, caramelised onions and melted cheese. I wanted to use some pickled cabbages but I couldn't open the jar in which they were in. (Hey, weight lifting isn't part of my gym routine in case you're wondering.)

Dutch Crunch Bread

For the buns

3 cups bread flour

1 tbsp sugar

2 tsp instant yeast

11/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil (or you could use 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tbsp sesame oil)

1/4 cup milk, warm (110C)

1 cup +2 tbsp warm (110C) water

For the topping

2 tbsp instant yeast

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp salt
11/2 cup rice flour
1 cup water (use as much as needed)

For the buns, whisk the flour, sugar and yeast together in a bowl. Add the salt and mix it in. Add the oil and the warm milk and 1 cup of water and mix together to form a dough. Start kneading the dough in the bowl, adding the extra 2 tbsp water if necessary. The dough should be sticky but not wet. Transfer onto a lightly floured counter and knead for about 5 mins or until dough is smooth and elastic -- pinch of a bit of the dough and see if it can stretch thin without breaking.

Pour a little olive oil in a bowl and transfer the kneaded dough into the bowl and roll the dough around so its nicely coated with oil all over. Cover with cling film and leave to rise for an hour or till it had doubled.

After an hour, gently punch the dough down and divide into eight equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball and place on a baking tray. Leave it to rise.

While waiting, make the paste. Mix the yeast, flour, sugar and salt together. Add the oil and then the water, a little at a time, until you get a spreadable paste: kinda like mayonnaise. Leave for 15 minutes. The paste will bloat a little because of the yeast. After 15 minutes, stir again and gently, using a small spatula, spread a layer atop each bun.

Let the buns rise for a further 15 mins (they should rise about 35-40 mins in total) and bake in a preheated oven (180C) for about 20-30 mins or until the tops are golden and cracked.

Mushroom, Cheese and Hazelnut Mille Feuille

Mushrooms. Puff pastry. Cream Cheese. Hazelnut cream. Each of these components sound (and taste) delicious! But, want to know what happens when you put them together in a savoury Mille Fueille? Yep, you are right. An out-of-this-world amazing blend of flavours and textures in each bite!

Last month's Daring Bakers challenge had us making puff pastry from scratch for a mille feuille. It was a fun challenge and I discovered how uncomplicated making puff pastry really is, dispelling all the myths about how it's close to impossible for home cooks to attempt. It's not! It's an achievement, yes, but it's not too difficult. It does however require time and patience. Check out my previous post for more details on making your own puff.

So, after completing the challenge — I made a mixed berries and cream mille feuille — I had some left over pastry which I'd already baked and cut into sheets. I popped them in the freezer because in the process of deciding on what I'd make for the challenge, I came accross a recipe for a savoury mille feuille which I wanted very much to try. There were three fillings for that mille feuille: mushrooms and herbs, goat cheese and chives and caramelised onions. Oh and then there was the hazelnut cream that was drizzled on top of each layer.

It looked and sounded fantastic (you should really check it out). I wanted to recreate the original but I  didn't have quite a few of the original ingredients and so I decided to improvise and use ingredients I had on hand. After all, as with most things, it's the idea and the essence of a dish that counts the most, right?

The first thing to go was goats cheese. A shame, really, as  love goats cheese. Actually, I love all cheeses but I didn't have goats cheese at home so I opted for the cream cheese which I had an abundance of in my fridge. I had chives so I added that to the cream cheese along with a few drops of lemon juice.

Next, I love caramelised onions. Really, I do. But I wasn't in the mood today to nurture them over a slow fire for close to an hour. I decided to omit the onions, certain that the mille feuille would taste just as fantastic without that one component. 

There were a couple of other ingredients which I didn't use: hazelnut oil and thyme -- both of which I also didn't have. I used olive oil instead and my all-time favourite herb: parsley. Oh!And I added chilli flakes.

Never too many mushrooms, I believe.

I don't know what the original tasted like (am sure it was nothing short of heavenly) but I was soooooo pleased with the flavour of my version: the Mushroom, Cream cheese and Hazelnut mille feuille.The thick, creamy cheese with chives against the crisp buttery pastry was one layer of goodness. Add to that a generous layer of sauteed mushrooms (with garlic, parsley and chilli)? That's the second layer of goodness. Now, top that with a thick drizzle of hazelnut cream. My, Oh! my! I think hazelnut cream has become my new favourite thing.

The hazelnut cream on top is a little thicker than intended but I ran out of cream! Still good, though!

Mushroom, Cream Cheese and Hazelnut Mille Feuille

Puff pastry (2 large sheets)
 For the mushrooms
2 cups mixed mushrooms (any type, sliced thin)
Parsley, a handful chopped fine
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
Chilli flakes, a sprinkling (depending on your heat tolerance)
Butter for the pan.
salt and black pepper.

For the cheese paste
3 tbsp cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp finely chopped chives

For the hazelnut cream
1/3 cup hazelnuts, skinned and roasted
1/3 cup heavy cream  
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and black pepper

Heat the oven to 180C. Cut the sheets of puff pastry into long strips, about 3 inches wide. Place on a baking sheet. Place a sheet of parchment paper on top of the sheets of pastry and weigh it down with a heavy baking dish. Bake for about 25 mins. Remove the baking dish that's used as a weight and the parchment paper and bake for a further 5 mins till golden on top. Remove and cool.

Heat a skillet and add the butter. When it melts, add the garlic and a few seconds later, the mushrooms. Allow the juices to flow out of the mushrooms and add the chilli flakes. Keep the shrooms on the heat until the moisture disappears. Just before removing it from the stove, add the parsley and season.

Put the hazelnuts and cream in a blender and whiz till the nuts are almost all blended. Pour in the oil and seasoning and whiz some more. Remove.

Mix the cream cheese and the chives till well incorporated.

Assembling the mille feuille.
Cut the pastry to equal portion sized rectangles. Take one rectangle and spread a thick layer of cream cheese on it. Pile a layer of mushrooms on the cheese and then drizzle the hazelnut cream over the shrooms.

Repeat. this and then pile one layer atop the other.

Place a third sheet of pastry over the two layers and garnish with some cream, chopped nuts and parsley. 

Not-Bacon Breakfast Muffins

I love Sunday mornings. There's a distinct feel about Sunday mornings, don't you think, that just isn't present any other morning of the week. It's ok to be lazy on Sunday mornings. You can sleep in, not brush your teeth till noon, stay in your pajamas, read a book in bed or bake something special that's loaded with flavour and calories, hips and waist be dammed.

As much as I like to roll around in bed, my internal alarm clock wakes me up at 5am everyday, completely oblivious to how special Sundays are. I stopped fighting it years ago. 

And, when I get up, Mojo (my adorable but spoilt dog) gets up too. So this Sunday morning, after playing with Mojo for a bit (yeah, the neighbours must hate me for throwing a bone for Mojo to fetch at 6am) I decided to bake.

Hot out of the oven. 

On the menu this Sunday morning was a savoury breakfast muffin I adapted from a recipe from Dine & Dish. The original is a bacon (yes, real bacon of the pork variety) and cheese muffin. It looked appetizing. Naturally, I had to adapt it to make it vegetarian. 

Now as it turns out I bought a packet of vegetarian bacon when I was in New York City last week. Yup. It was in Chinatown (where I swear you can find anything). I usually am not a big fan of fake-meats but vegetarian bacon — this one I could not resist. I had to try it. 

When I became a vegetarian 23 years ago, the hardest thing for me to  give up was bacon. I loved my bacon. But, I'd made a choice that I was sure of and I gave it up. 

Don't get me wrong, I have no misgivings. I don't have any desire to eat bacon although when I watch chefs/cooks using it in the recipes and extolling the taste it brings to a dish, I understand. So to have a vegetarian version of bacon in front of me... well, I was skeptical. The person who could replicate the taste of bacon using purely vegetarian ingredients must surely be a genius.

Seriously? Vegetarian bacon?

Visually, the vegetarian bacon looks somewhat like real bacon. A little paler, perhaps. There is even that layer of fat as you can see in the pictures above. But taste-wise? Well, it really tastes nothing like the bacon I remember eating years ago.

Not bacon and eggs. Nah...

What did I make with the vegetarian bacon? Well (fake) bacon and eggs, of course. The eggs were good. The bacon ... well, it was ok. It was tasty but not tasty enough to be eaten on it's own like this. I wouldn't make this again but what I thought I would do was use the fake bacon to add flavour to other recipe or to add texture to a sandwich, maybe (for it crisps up well).

I decided to use it also to add a little something to these breakfast muffins.

The bacon was the star ingredient in the original recipe on Dine & Dish but not in mine. I added mushrooms, chopped and sauteed in garlic oil. I added herbs (basil and chives) and I added something else I bought in NYC: Sriracha hot sauce (see pic below).

I know, I know. Who goes to NYC and comes back with chilli sauce? Seriously it's amazing. Have you ever tried it? It's bloody good. Spicy and tangy, it's the real deal. Not half-assed at all. I brought a bottle home but how I wish I'd brought three or four.

So, yeah. Forget about the fake bacon. Go for Sriracha. Originally a Thai Chilli dipping sauce, this bottled Sriracha sauce is actually produced in the US by Huy Foong Foods (founded by Davin Tran, a Chinese Vietnamese who came to the US in 1980) since 1990.  

Of course, you can substitute this with any hot sauce you have (the Tabasco jalapeno hot sauce is a close second) or you can add chilli flakes. But if you can, try Sriracha. 

Mushroom and Cheese Breakfast Muffins (with fake bacon and Sriracha)

2 cups all purpose flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 egg

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup milk

2 tsp Sriracha chilli sauce (or any hot sauce) or 1 tsp chilli flakes

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms, lightly sauteed in garlic oil/olive oil

8 strips fake bacon, crisped and crumbled (optional)

1 cup cheddar cheese (I used mozzarella as that was all I had)

1 tsp chopped chives

3 basil leaves, chopped

Preheat oven to 200C.

Whisk the egg, milk, oil and chilli sauce. Add the cheese, mushrooms, fake bacon and herbs and stir to combine. 

Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt and mix in the black pepper. Add to the egg mixture and stir to combine.

Spoon the batter into greased muffin cups and bake for 15-20 mins or till tops and slightly golden and a knife inserted comes out clean.

Spaghetti Not-Bolognaise

The Bolognaise or Bolognese sauce is a beef-based sauce (some variations use pork, chicken or turkey much to the displeasure of gourmands) that originates from Bologna, Italy. The sauce dates back to sometime before the 5th century. Italian chefs have dubbed the spaghetti Bolognaise to be the most abused Italian dish in history. In the first place, they say, the Bolognaise was supposed to be eaten not with spaghetti but tagliatelle. Also, the many variations to the sauce itself — the use of anything other than beef mince as well as the addition of alien ingredients like cream or butter — has made the original Bolognaise sauce a real rarity.

As a result, although my mushroom sauce was made to look like the Bolognaise, I wouldn't dare to deem it a mushroom Bolognaise. No, that would be ridiculous and unacceptable. So instead, let's just call this a mushroom sauce or, if you want some comparison to the original from which it is inspired, a mushroom not-Bolognaise sauce.

Nah, I think I prefer to call it a mushroom sauce. 

The base ingredients of this mushroom sauce are similar to the Bolognaise: finely chopped onions, celery stalk and carrots. Of course, since this is a vegetarian sauce, there is no pancetta or minced beef. Instead, I used minced mushrooms: shitake and portobello. 

Also, instead of beef stock, I used vegetable stock — homemade for the absolute fullness of flavour. 

Add to that some tomato paste.

Simple but delicious. The sauce tastes good warm but, to me, it tastes a whole lot better after it has rested for a couple of hours. So let your pasta be hot and your sauce cool. And this you must not forget: serve with a generous portion of grated fresh parmesan. 

Rich Mushroom sauce

(adapted from the Los Angeles Times)

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup finely chopped celery stalk

1/3 cup finely chopped carrots

1/3 cup finely chopped red onions

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup minced shitake mushrooms

1 cup minced portobello mushrooms

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 cup vegetable stock

1/4 cup red wine

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper for seasoning

Head the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the onion, garlic, celery and carrots and cook until the onions start to caramelise, about 8 mins. Keep the heat low.

Add the mushrooms and stir together with the rest of the ingredients. Cook until the mushrooms sweat and start to get brown, about 5-7 mins.

Add the tomato paste and stir well. Cook until a thin layer of tomato begins to appear at the base of the pan, mixed with the oil. 

Add the stock, the red wine and the bay leaves and cook (low to medium heat) until the sauce thickens. Season and remove from the heat. Allow to cool. 

Serve generously on pasta with a huge portion of parmesan. No compromises there!

Wholesome Mushroom Soup

I think I started liking mushroom soup the minute I ate it. At the time — I musta been about 7 or so — my favourite mushroom soup came out of a can, a red and white iconic can (come on, you can guess which one I mean, right?). Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one in the family who loved mushroom soup and so any hope of a second helping was slim (and that's on a good day). 

When I eat out and I spy soup on the menu, I usually order mushroom. Sometimes, I deviate when I spy another favourite on the menu — pumpkin. Oh my.  Once, I decided to be adventurous and ordered a split pea soup and lived to regret it — it wasn't bad y any means but it didn't stroke my soul the way a good mushroom soup does. 

I like my mushroom soup thick and dark, creamy and rich. I like it peppery. I like it slightly chewy. I like my mushroom soup with a little sour cream or yoghurt on top and croutons. Must have croutons. Parsley is good. Basil is nice. Garlic? Sure. 

Making mushroom soup isn't complicated. You need mushrooms, some form of allium, liquid, cream/thickener and seasoning.

I like to use different types of mushrooms in my soup, and I often experiment with different combinations — just for fun. Yeah, I know I perhaps need to go out more if this constitutes fun for me, eh? Today I used three types: baby portobello, brown button mushrooms and white oyster mushrooms. 

While mushrooms are naturally the star of the soup, an important ingredient is the allium. I often use a little garlic and red onions but today I went with leeks and a couple of cloves of garlic. 

To dilute the soup, you can use water or stock. I used a combination of both, more stock than liquid though. 

To thicken the soup and add an element of creaminess, I used milk this time around. Sometimes, I use a light cream. Some cooks use flour or a white sauce like the béchamel but I have yet to give that a go. I also added a tablespoon or so of plain yoghurt for a slightly sourish taste. You can omit the yoghurt, no problem. 

A bay leaf adds flavour and fragrance and of course, seasoning of salt and black pepper.

To garnish, I used croutons, sauteed button mushrooms, chopped basil and some shredded cheese. Jamie Oliver adds a little lemon juice and zest which I've tried and quite like too. 

Wholesome Mushroom Soup

600g mushrooms, roughly chopped (set aside some quartered buttons for garnish if you like)

1/3 cup sliced leeks

1 litre stock/water

1 cup milk (or 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup cream)

1 tbsp yoghurt (optional)

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper

olive oil/butter

a couple of basil leaves, chopped

Heat about 1 tbsp olive oil/butter in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the mushrooms and toss till they brown a little and then add the leeks. Let the two cook till soft and the moisture disappears and season with salt and pepper. 

Add the stock/liquid and bring to a light boil.

Transfer soup to a blender and puree it roughly/to your satisfaction. I like my soup a little chunky so I just pulse it a few times in the blender.

Return the soup to the heat. If it's too thick, add some water. Add the bay leaved as when it starts to simmer add the milk/cream. Season and cook till it starts to boil.

For the garnish

Melt some butter in a saucepan and saute the mushrooms till nice and brown. Season lightly.

Cut bread into cubes and toast lightly in the same pan that was used to cook the mushroom garnish (this way the croutons will get some extra flavour.

Arrange the mushrooms, croutons and basil on your soup and, if you want, drizzle some olive oil or lemon juice on as well — don't overdo it though!

Cloudy with NO chance of meatballs.

Neatballs? I went online to see the kitchen exploits of fellow vegetarian cooks and came across several sites featuring recipes for Neatballs. One click later and I realised neatballs is a term that's been coined for vegan meatballs.

Why "Neat"?  Well, the "N" represents the "normal" ingredients that go into a neatball. Normal as in common, everyday, easy to find ingredients. Seriously?

A neatball is really a new-fangled way of saying vegetarian or vegan koftas. Instead of ground meat as the base, vegetarians use beans, tofu, nuts, mushrooms, eggplant or pulses as the base for their balls/cutlets. The different base ingredients determine not only the taste of your cutlet but also the texture. Using eggplant, for example, will yield you a smooth, soft cutlet while a nut-bean combo will give you a rough, crunchy texture. Mushrooms, of course, make anything taste good :)



Mushrooms are my favourite base ingredient for vegetarian koftas. And, unlike most recipes using mushroom, with koftas, I find the stems more useful than the caps so I buy the king oyster mushrooms (the one where the stems are at least a couple of inches thick and the caps are tiny and pale) and mix them with some shitake (stems and caps). The stems give you the koftas a kind of toughness you won't find with most vegetables.

I drained the mushrooms (about 2 cups)  and roughly chopped them up. Next, I seasoned them with just salt and pepper and dry roasted them for about 30 mins (150C). Let them cool.

Once cool, mix the caps with other ingredients of choice: I used walnuts (1/4 cup), some carrots (1/2 cup), parsley (a handful, chopped) and eggplant (1/2 cup, lightly roasted) and blend them till they are slightly pureed -- allow for some chunkiness. Add some mash potato (1 potato) and breadcrumbs (just 1/2 cup, optional) and season with oregano, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Roll into balls, and you're set.

Bake at 180C for 20 mins or till they're nice and browned. I cooked my koftas in a tomato-based stew and ate it with spaghetti but I kept several aside to eat on their own for my dinner tomorrow. They're that tasty ..

A case for mushrooms

I have way too many cookbooks. Some of these cookbooks I inherited but most of them I bought. I have so many that there are some I haven't used -- sure, I've browsed through them but haven't tested the recipes.

Since we started reviewing cookbooks for Don't Call Me Chef column in StarTwo (together with Marty Thyme and The Hungry Caterpillar), I've accumulated even more cookbooks. Yowza!

So, for today's review, I decided to unearth a cookbook I bought about six months ago at a book sale dubbed the Big Bad Wolf sale: the Good Housekeeping Step-By-Step Cookbook. The 460-odd paged book is an essential for beginner cooks as it has step-by-step instructions on basic but fundamental cooking techniques with recipes to accompany.

But it is also a keeper for those of us who know a little about cooking and are  learning: especially Asian cooks who need to know the fundamentals of western cooking styles using Western flavouring.

From jams to pot roasts, chocolate brownies to paella, the cook book is replete with recipes to try out. For the column in the newspaper, I tested two recipes, one for herbed butter and another for a basic lemon cheesecake. Read the full review and get the recipes HERE.

Having tried the two recipes, I wasn't quite done with the book. There were several other recipes I wanted to try: tomato sauce, chilli sauce, the sweet mocha bread (which looked divine), the chocolate chip cookies (if this book could guide me to baking great cookies, it's definitely gold-star worthy as I am hopeless at cookies) and many more.

I started with the recipe for Mushroom Baskets simply because I love mushrooms and had some on hand.  They're really tasty (you can't really go wrong with mushrooms) and though the baskets in the recipe are individual meal-sized portions, they'd make really good canapés if you make downsize them to tartlets.



There are just two steps to these baskets: Step 1 is making and pre- baking the pastry and Step 2 is making the mushroom filling.

Pastry

250 g plain flour

150g chilled butter, cubed

1 large egg

Crumble the butter in the flour till it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add egg and mix (by hand or pulse in a food processor) till the mixture comes together. Knead lightly on a floured surface and shape into six balls. Wrap and chill for 30 mins. Once chilled, roll the pastry out on a floured work surface (big enough to fully line the tart tins) and line the tins (loose based tart tins are recommended) . Prick the base with a fork and chill for 20mins. Heat the oven to 200C. Line the base of the cases with parchment paper and fill with beans. Blind bake for 10 mins. Remove the beans and bake for a further 5 mins or till cooked. reduce oven temp to 180C.

Making the filling

15g dried mushroom

50g butter

2 onions, finely chopped

450g mixed mushrooms, sliced

1 clove garlic, cruched

300 ml med-dry sherry (I used red wine)

250 gm double cream

salt and ground black pepper

fresh thyme to garnish

Soak the dried mushrooms in boiling water for 10 mins. Heat the butter in a pan and add the onions. Cook for 10 mins. Add the fresh mushrooms and garlic and cook for 5 mins. Remove from pan and set aside.

Put the dried mushrooms and the liquid (about a cup) in a pan with the sherry. Bring to a boil, bubble for 10 mins and add the cream. Cook till it becomes syrupy.

To serve

Put the pastry cases in the oven to heat them up, about 5 mins. Add the cooked fresh mushrooms to the sauce  and season on low heat. Pour into cases and garnish with thyme.

Mushroom magic

I learnt my lesson the hard way. About six years ago, I was lunching with  some buds in a deli-styled eatery in KL and I ordered a mushroom burger thinking it would be a vegetarian burger made of mushrooms. The menu didn't offer a description of the burger so I assumed...

Imagine my embarrassment when the burger arrived: a huge chunk of beef patty with a generous mushroom topping and some white sauce, some variation of mayonnaise I assume. I protested, but to no avail of course. The waiter thought I was being ridiculous: who would order a burger made of mushrooms (he didn't say it but his expression shouted it!).

I pushed my plate aside, dejected, an sipped on my smoothie. Oh bother, these all-meat eateries.

Mushroom burgers are not something I conjured up, in case you are wondering. Portobello mushroom burgers are quite popular, perhaps not in our cafes. I've had them (they serve them at The Daily Grind in Bangsar Village) and I love them. You can't go wrong with mushrooms, really. Especially not the Portobello, surely a royal mushroom.

At home, I make mushroom burgers/sandwiches all the time. I either incorporate them in vege burger patties or, like the one above, I make sandwiches with a variety of mushroom fillings. The one above is made from sautéed mushrooms in a creamy cheese sauce, served with roasted tomatoes on sprouts. I usually use lettuce or salad but I had some sprouts at home and used them instead.

Cheesy Mushroom chompers

1 cups mushrooms (swiss brown, button white and fresh shiitake), separate the stems from the caps.

1/4 cup cheddar

1/4 cup parmesan (you can add blue cheese too if you feel extravagant)

4 tbsp butter

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

2 sprigs thyme

1 med onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

Chop the mushroom stems; quarter the caps.

Heat 2 tbsp butter and saute the caps with thyme, season with salt and pepper, remove and set aside.

Heat  butter. Add onions and then garlic and saute till soft. Add chopped stems and cook till soft, about 5 mins. Stir in cheese and nuts. Cook for a couple of mins.

Lay sautéed caps on baking sheet and pour half the cheesy sauce over. Bake in 180C oven for about 15 mins. Remove. Pour remaining sauce over.

Assemble the chomper: Layers of sprouts, mustard, cheesy mushrooms and roasted tomato in between sesame burger buns.

Soba meets cheese

I won a packet of cha (green tea) soba noodles recently. It was a lucky draw, you see, and I won a hamper of food stuff which included the packet or soba noodles. Soba or buckwheat noodles are often eaten cold: the noodles, once cooked, are rinsed under cold water. The cold noodles are eaten with a dipping sauce and often, wasabi.

Our hot weather is the ideal impetus for a plate of cold soba. But I don't fancy cold noodles. They have to be a little warm, at least. Besides, since I don't usually cook Japanese dishes, I didn't have the requisite ingredients for the dipping sauce: no dashi, no mirin, no Japanese soy sauce, no bonito flakes. I didn't want to go out and buy them: they're quite costly and since I don't them use them often enough, it would be foolish. I could give the noodles to friends who do cook Japanese food often but I was curious and wanted to play with my noodles.

So, I decided to use the soba as I would pasta (purists, turn away now) and tossed it with garlic powder and grated parmesan cheese and garnished with a mushroom and scallion tapenade. How un-Japanese is that, eh?

It tasted  good though. Soba noodles are really quite thin, kinda like angel hair pasta. They're usually brown but the one I used was green tea+buckwheat so they were moss-green. I have to say they have a more distinct taste than pasta, a little nutty perhaps and it added flavour to my dinner.

Soba, my way

Soba noodles

3/4 fresh shiitake mushroom, chopped fine

2 scallions, chopped

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1/2  tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Boil a pot of water and slide in the soba noodles and cook them for about 6 mins (or as specified in the packet). Drain, set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the chopped mushrooms and scallions and cook till soft, about 5 mins. Add the noodles and sprinkle the garlic powder and toss. Remove from heat.

Toss the parmesan in and serve. Garnish with a little more parmesan. Eat.

Bouchee. Don't pronounce, just devour.

[caption id="attachment_491" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Stuffed but still pretty."][/caption]

I had it once at a fancy cocktail party somewhere and I think I spent more time studying my bouchee than actually eating it. Ok, it's pretty small and so all it takes is a  couple of bites (one, if your not concerned about appearing dainty).

And then I forgot about it until last weekend. I was at Bangsar Village II and noticed that the Delicious cafe had an annex that sold food supplies and some other cook's toys: crockery and machinary.  I walked in -- just curious, not intending to buy anything -- and 20 minutes later walked out with a packet of 12 mini bouchee cases. I had to  get them because I hadn't thought of those bouchees since that one time I had them many years ago.

[caption id="attachment_493" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Ready made. "][/caption]

Bouchee shells are basically puff pastry cylinders -- kinda like shot glasses made of puff pastry -- in which you stuff with the filling of your choice. Now, I had no intention of making the shells myself but since they  were all done for me  (all I had to do was stick them in the oven (180 C) for five mins or so to warm them up before serving) I started to get excited and began cracking my head over the filling. (An alternative to the shells would be toasted 2 inch bread circles -- a tad less exciting but just as delicious)

Well, I didn't really crack my head. I knew I wanted mushrooms and spinach and I knew I didn't want them together. So I decided to stuff a couple with Creamed herbed Mushrooms and another two with spinach and caramelised onions.

[caption id="attachment_494" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="spinach and onions."][/caption]

The mushrooms were lovely but I think my new favourite combo is the spinach + caramelised onions. So divine. And so simple. Don't believe me?

How could Popeye not like spinach?

A cup of spinach, washed and cut small

1 tsp garlic

salt and pepper

knob of butter

Melt butter. Add garlic and a couple of minutes later, add spinach and a dash of water. Cook till soft and water evaporates; add seasoning and mash spinach and remove from heat.

The spinach- onion hook-up.

11/2- 2 tbsp Olive oil

2 large red onions

1 tsp brown sugar/balsamic vinger

Heat oil in saucepan till it simmers (medium heat). Add onions and stir a little to coat with oil evenly. Stir occasionally -- not to often or they won't brown well. Five minutes in, add  sugar and let the magic begin. Remove before it burns (letting them burn just a little is quite lovely actually) -- should be about 15 to 20 mins.

Stuff bouchee with spinach mix. Spread onions on plate. Place the stuffed bouchee on the onions. Attack.

I told ya, it's easy when you cheat and use store ready shells.

Perfect for a rainy day

[caption id="attachment_222" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Nothing like creamy mushroom soup on a rainy day. And it's Type B perfect."][/caption]

Mushroom soup easily ranks as one of  my favourite things to eat. Especially when its cold outside. For the longest time, homemeade mushroom soup for me meant a can of Campbells'  (I'd add some milk and call it my own).

[caption id="attachment_230" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Hello, old friend"][/caption]

Then, one day I decided to try making my own from scratch. I figure, this way I could add more yummy mushrooms!

Cranking open a can of Campbells is way cheaper than making your own mushroom soup but homemade soup is a gazillion times more tasty. And, seriously, its almost as easy.

♣ Delish Mushroom soup

3 cups mushrooms (Swiss button/ shitake/white button ... as long as it's fresh), cut into 1 inch pieces.

1.5 cups leek, sliced.

300ml vege stock

milk

pepper and salt

Parmesan cheese

Heat some butter in a saucepan and add leek when hot. When soft, add mushrooms and cook till browned -- about 5-7 mins. Add pepper. Add stock and cook till it simmers. Add millk -- about 1/2 cup or 3/4 cup and salt and cook till it simmers. Turn off fire.

Blend (depends on what consistency you want. I like it a but chunky).

Return to stove and cook till it simmers. Add cheese. turn off. Serve with croutons or saltines or crackers.

burp and smile.