The Encyclopedia of Herbs, Spices, & Flavorings

Hi Chums,

It has been rather a while since I last recommended a book to the World at large ,that would be you lot by the way.

In the main this is because I have been far too busy working on my own cookery book which will be launching rather soon. Hint Hint…

As such it is rather fitting that the book I am all in a lather about is one that dovetails nicely with my own.
The Encyclopedia of Herbs, Spices, & Flavorings 

Here is what those nice chaps over at Amazon have to say about it:

“An illustrated sourcebook to these all-important cooking ingredients includes information on more than two hundred herbs, spices, essences, edible flowers and leaves, aromatics, vinegars, oils, teas, and coffees”

I on the other hand will stick to simply issuing an instruction -

IF YOU COOK  AND DON’T OWN A COPY GO AND BUY ONE. NOW.

Not quite Wordsworth but hopefully the point comes across. I very rarely encounter anything that I look at and think wow this is something which everyone should own. However on this occasion I really am that impressed.

Not only are they lots of high quality pictures, excellent descriptions of various herbs, spices and flavourings and their uses but there are also over 200 recipes so you can leap straight in and start applying all this new-found knowledge.

Danny Cash’s Radical Heat Red Habanero Hot Sauce

Two words describe this little gem: awesome sauce

Quite literally.

The flavour of the habaneros is great and comes through strongly, really fresh and fruity. The heat is pleasant, more than enough to notice but not enough to destroy your taste buds for days.

The sauce is a little thicker than Tabasco but still quite thin with just a few flakes of pepper and seeds

To say I really, really like this sauce would be an understatement of epic proportions.  If I had to pick just one table sauce, this would be it. Kudos Danny Cash!

Great sauce 5/5 in my not so humble opinion.

The most expensive ingredients in the World

After my recent move into the new house some people have started to wonder whether I haven’t developed ideas above my station.

Well just to cast aside all doubt here is a quick round-up of some of the most expensive ingredients in the World…

Saffron – $1,000/lb

A classic contender for World’s most expensive ingredient. Saffron is the dried stigma of the cunningly named “Saffron Crocus” or Crocus sativus to give it’s proper name.

For anyone who is wondering why some dried pieces of a flower are so expensive have a look below at what wikipedia has to say…

“To glean an amount of dry saffron weighing 1 lb (450 g) is to harvest 50,000–75,000 flowers, the equivalent of an association football pitch‘s area of cultivation; 110,000–170,000 flowers or two football fields are needed to gross one kilogram. Forty hours of labour are needed to pick 150,000 flowers. Stigmas are dried quickly upon extraction and (preferably) sealed in airtight containers.

Saffron prices at wholesale and retail rates range from US$500 to US$5,000 per pound, or US$1,100–11,000/kg, equivalent to £2,500/€3,500 per pound or £5,500/€7,500 per kilogram. The price in Canada recently rose to CAD 18,000 per kilogram. In Western countries, the average retail price is $1,000/£500/€700 per pound, or US$2,200/£1,100/€1,550 per kilogram. A pound contains between 70,000 and 200,000 threads.”

White Truffles: $ 14,000/kg

Another long time heavy weight of the culinary World, white truffles have long been sought after by discerning gourmets for their earthy taste and pungent fragrance.

Native to the Piedmont region of Northern Italy although they can also be found in parts of Croatia. White truffles are the rarest and most costly of all the various species of truffle and as such carry the biggest price tag, the highest price ever paid for a single truffle was set in December 2007, when Macau casino owner Stanley Ho paid 330,000 USD (£165,000) for a specimen weighing 1.5 kilograms (3.3 lb), discovered by Luciano Savini and his dog Rocco.

Bit different from paying 99 pence for a kilo of button mushrooms in Tesco!

Edible gold: $90-100/gram

Though gold has no nutritional value, 24k gold is perfectly edible and adds a luxurious and beautiful decoration to dishes and drinks.

Edible gold leaf is popular in cake decorating and for adding a bit of flair to certain cocktails. The metal apparently passes directly through the body unaltered, not sure I would want to try and retrieve it though!

 Ass (Donkey) Cheese $700/lb.

Home to 100 Balkan donkeys, the Zasavica Special Nature Reserve along the Zasavica River produces a smoked donkey’s milk cheese that they call “Pule.”

They justify the obscene price of the cheese by quoting the rarity and  value of the milk used…Not sure I would want ass milk either to be quite honest!

 

 Hop Shoots $1300/lb

Hop shoots are funnily enough the young shoots of the hop bine, yes bine not vine.

Hop shoots are only available between January and mid April. Because of the short period of availability, labour intensive cultivation and low yields hop shoots often rank as the most expensive vegetable in the World!

 

 

New cookery book coming soon!

Hey all.

Today seems like a good day to indulge in a little bit of shameless self promotion!

As such I am proud to announce that work on my new cookery book “Some Like it Hot” is very nearly complete… just a few finishing touches to be made and will be launching soon.

More updates and a sneak preview to follow shortly so watch this space!

Lancashire Cheese & Onion Tart with Black Pudding and Bacon

 Back when I was at school it was obligatory to study home economics and if I am really honest it was great fun and I really learnt a lot.

One of the recipes that always sticks out in my mind is Lancashire cheese and onion tart, I can remember vividly the excitement at pulling it out of the oven, tucking into a big savoury slice and then taking the rest home to Mum and Dad.

Well that is nearly 20 years ago now and over time I have refined that original recipe quite a bit, the bacon was an obvious addition and sprang from using up leftover rashers, the black pudding however had a little more thought behind it.

Ingredients:

• 250g plain flour
• 160g butter
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 large egg
• 4 egg yolks to glaze
• 400g black pudding
• 10 rashers of smoke bacon
• 2 large onions
• 350g Lancashire cheese
• 300ml double cream
• 200ml milk
• 4 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• Chopped thyme
• Black pepper

Method:

In a food processor blend the flour, butter and salt until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and egg. Mix until it becomes a dough. Wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Roll the pastry into a greased tart ring 28cmx 4cm and blind bake for 20-25 minutes at 180°C . Take out your baking beans and bake for a further 5 minutes for a golden brown base. Brush with egg yolk.

Fry off your bacon until cooked and your onions until softened and lightly brown

 Mix together the cream, milk, eggs, yolk, black pepper,onions, thyme and half of the cheese

Pulse the black pudding in a food processor until you have a paste.

Roll the black pudding paste out between two layers of cling film so that you have a sort of black pudding patty which will cover the base of the tart

Pop your black pudding onto the pastry and cover with a layer of bacon

Spoon over the cream, cheese and onion mixture and sprinkle over the rest of the cheese and add a few slice of tomato if you want to.

Bake in a pre heated oven 180°C for around 40 minutes until set. You can then finish it off for 5 minutes or so under a hot grill to crisp up the cheese.

Stuffed Jalapenos

Stuffed japaleños are great for parties and picnics. I like these stuffed jalapeños instead of cheese and crackers they are just a much more manly hors d’oeuvres.

Ingredients

• 12 large jalapenos /poblanos halved and deseeded
• 8 oz. soft cream cheese
• 8 oz. grated cheddar cheese
• 6 rashers of  smoked back bacon

Directions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Halve and deseed the  jalapeños.

In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese and Cheddar cheese.

Chop the bacon in to small pieces (bacon lardons work perfectly for this) and mix in with the cheese.

Stuff the bacon and cheese mix into the peppers and dust with a little chilli powder

Arrange jalapeños in a single layer on a lightly greased medium-sized baking sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes, but cooking time can vary, so keep an eye on it. When the cheese is brown and bubbling the jalapeños are done.

Chilli Rellenos

 To make  really great chile rellenos you need to balance three ingredients just right

The first and most important is the chile. The pod has to be of the right size, thick fleshed, and with the right heat level. You want something along the lines of a large Jalapeno or Poblano because it has these characteristics. Here in Ireland I often find it difficult to get large chillies so often use those long Romesco peppers that you can get in some supermarkets, because the heat in these isn’t much more than a bell pepper I often chop up a jalapeno or two and mix them in with my stuffing.

Next the stuffing, you want to use a cheese that will melt well and has just the right strength of flavour, I personally like to use asadero  as it is a traditional Mexican cheese and goes well with the chillies. The basic recipe calls for just cheese but I often like to mix things up a bit and throw in some shrimp some lightly fried lardons… delicious!

Finally, the batter must be light and with just  the right amount of salt and black pepper to enhance the combination, but not detract from the flavors of the chile and stuffing. A great chile relleno captures the unique TexMex flavours of the USA

Ingredients

• 8 Jalapeno or Poblano chillies, roasted, peeled, and de-seeded.
• 8 sticks of asadero or mozzarella about the size of a finger.
• 4 eggs, yolks and whites separated
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• ½ cup flour, plus more for the chiles
• Oil, enough to cover 1½-inches deep in a skillet

Method:

Prepare chile pods. Peel and deseed the chiles. Remove the seeds by cutting a slit in the pod from just below the stem and slice about half way down the chile. Stuff the pods with the cheese, but don’t force things. The open edges of the chile must still come together. Hold the edges together with toothpicks.

Next, prepare the batter. Beat the egg whites with salt and pepper until stiff. In a separate bowl beat egg yolks, add salt and flour and mix well.

Fold the yolk mixture into egg whites just enough to mix. (Use quickly, as this batter will separate.) Roll chiles in flour to coat. Dip chiles into batter. Fry in hot oil until golden brown. If oil is hot enough, this will only take a few minutes. Turns chile once, then drain on several layer of paper towels.

Stilton and bacon Empanadas

I had some left over shortcrust pastry from baking a quiche the other day and decided to make something that I haven’t made for a very long time…Empanadas.

Cheese and bacon may not be the most adventurous or indeed traditional of fillings but it tastes delicious and who doesn’t love cheese and bacon?

In this particular recipe I am using a really sharp nutty stilton  which works brilliantly but you can just as well use any good hard cheese. I have often made these empanadas with a smoked cheddar and can safely say that they are to die for!

Ingredients:

Shortcrust Pastry – Click here to see how to make your own

75g good quality stilton

75g smoked bacon

1 egg

salt and pepper to season

Method:

Chop the bacon into small pieces and lightly fry, place into a bowl and crumble in the stilton.

Combine together the cheese and bacon and season with a little salt and pepper to taste – be careful with the salt and only add if you feel it is really necessary as the stilton is quite salty to begin with.

Roll out the pastry and cut out circles roughly 3 inches across.

Place your filling into the centre of the pastry circles and join the edges together with a little beaten egg to seal.

Brush the outside of the empanadas with the beaten egg to give a nice glaze and place into an oven preheated to 220 C for about 10/15 minutes or until the pastry is lightly golden and puffy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeast free garlic and coriander Naan Bread

 I love bread…it really is one of my biggest weaknesses as a semi- healthy human although now that I think about it drinking and smoking are probably bigger weaknesses but anyway back to the bread.

 Regular readers will possibly have spotted that as well as having a love of bread I also have a little bit of a thing for Indian food in general and curry in particular.  For me no Indian meal is truly complete without some bread to go with it; be it a chapati or a puri or naan.

 As with most things I have over the years given up completely on finding any shop bought Naan bread that tastes even remotely like food and have just started making my own, not only do these Naan taste better than the shop bought variety they are healthier as well.

If you just want to have a plain naan then you can omit the topping before you bake.

Ingredients:

250g/9oz plain flour

2 tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

110-130ml/3½-4½fl oz milk

2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing

For the topping

chopped garlic and fresh coriander

1 tbsp butter, melted, to serve

Method:

For the dough, sift the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into a bowl. In another bowl, mix together the milk and oil.

Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the liquid mixture. Slowly mix together the dough by working from the centre and incorporating the flour from the edges of the ‘well’, to make a smooth, soft dough. Knead well for 8-10 minutes, adding a little flour if the dough is too sticky.

Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea-towel and leave in a warm place for 10-15 minutes. Form the dough into five balls.

Preheat the grill to medium and place a heavy baking sheet on the upper shelf of the grill to heat.

Roll the dough balls out quite thinly, ideally in a teardrop shape, but really this is just aesthetic.

Scatter your coriander and garlic (or anything else you fancy) over the top of your naan and press into the surface of the dough.

Place the naans onto the hot baking sheet and grill for just 1-2 minutes, or until lightly browned. Brush with butter and serve hot.

Thai fish soup

I love Thai flavours and think that they work absolutely brilliantly with fish and seafood.

This Thai soup recipe has delicate spicing that allows the fish to really stand out coupled with a subtle kick of background heat that you will love.

I have used a combination of scallops and salmon in my recipe but it works just as well with prawns, cod, squid in fact any fish or seafood that you can think of.

Ingredients:

2 sticks of celery

1″ piece of ginger

5 shallots

4 garlic cloves

2 sticks lemon grass

handful of lime leaves

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce

1/2 tbsp mustard seeds

6 red chillies

25g coconut cream

2 pints vegetable stock

1/2 tbsp tomato puree

75g red lentils

250g fresh salmon

250g fresh scallops

sesame oil

Method:

chop the onions and garlic and lightly brown in a little sesame oil over a medium flame

roughly chop the celery and add to the pan along with the mustard seeds and the ginger, allow the celery to start to soften

Chop the red chillies (I use a mix of thai birds eye and jalapeno) and pop into the pan

remove the tough outer layer from the lemon grass and add to the pan along with the lime leaves which can be shredded up and added along with the vegetable stock, tomato puree, fish sauce and light soy.

Give everything a good stir, add the red lentils and coconut cream and allow to simmer for about 15/20 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and allow the soup to cool.

Once cooled ladle the soup into a blender and blend until you are left with what resembles a thick puree.

Force the puree through a fine sieve into a sauce pan and then return what is left in the sieve to the blender along with a further pint of water. Repeat the process of forcing the puree through the sieve and once you are sure you have extracted all the liquid discard the solids that are left behind.

At this point you should have a lovely rich, smooth Thai soup that is perfect by itself but even better with some fish or seafood added in.

Return the pan to a low heat and allow it to simmer, chop you salmon into small chunks and added to the soup to cook through gently.

You will now lightly pan sear the scallops to make sure they are cooked through perfectly. If you have large scallops you can chop them up a little but otherwise add them as is to a small pan with a little olive oil. They only need 1 minute each side to ensure that they are just right.

Once the scallops have cooked add them to the soup and allow to simmer for another 3/5 minutes before serving.