Showing posts with label
Cindy's Homemade Food-Wine Pairing.
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Showing posts with label
Cindy's Homemade Food-Wine Pairing.
Show all posts
First time finishing up a blog entry while waiting for my ride at a train station cafe. Passersby curiously peaked through behind since I was the only one popping out the laptop (while others chatting and playing with smart phones). Hope these mushroom pictures made them hungry somehow. *Wink.
Sautéed button mushrooms with balsamic vinegar -
Ingredients?
- 12 button mushrooms
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- Some red chili flakes
How?
Peel and mince the garlic cloves. Halve the button mushrooms. Combine water and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl.
Drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil and add in one tablespoon of unsalted butter to the pan. Turn to medium heat and wait for the butter melts a little.
Add in minced garlic and cook till the aroma comes out, but not burning these little pieces. Add in halved mushrooms along with some salt and black pepper.
Sauté for about 30 seconds, pour in the water/balsamic mixture and give it a quick stir. Keep cooking till the liquid has been reduced, somewhat glaze-like coated on the mushrooms. The size of the mushrooms should also reduce from 1/3 to 1/2 after cooking.
Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle some red chili flakes.
This recipe works well as a fancy meal side dish. The earthy and semi-heavy sauce also pairs well with red wine. A more staple pairing calls for Pinot Noir, but Barbera can be another fun match.
Other tapas and bar food recipes:
It's convenient and hassle free when buying already peeled and deveined shrimp from the grocery store. However, the shells are not just merely rubbish. When used properly, they can enhance the flavor of your seafood dishes, doesn't matter western or Asian cuisine.
Keep reading this recipe below, you'll see how I store and utilize the shrimp heads. Perhaps you can give it a try next time. Instead of buying prepared seafood, maybe pick up some fresh whole shrimp at the market in the future.
Lemony shrimp risotto with homemade shrimp stock -
Ingredients (for 2 to 3 portions)?
- 1 cup of Acquerello, Arborio, or other high starch white rice
- 3 cups of homemade shrimp stock
- 1/3 cup of dry white wine
- 1/2 onion
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
- 12 shrimp (peeled and deveined)
- 1 teaspoon of sea salt
- 1 lemon
- Some grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- Some parsley (optional)
Shrimp stock:
- 20 shrimp heads
- 2 celery stalks
- 1 big carrot
- 1 onion
- 1 teaspoon of sea salt
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 7 cups of water
How?
When I buy whole shrimp, if not cooking them with shells intact, I'd like to peel, devein, and butterfly the shrimp then store in the freezer for future use. Most of the times the shells are discarded but the heads are kept for making stock. Just be sure to use a scissor and cut away the pointy thing sticking out the head called "rostrum." Even though the shrimp are dead, but their body armor remains feisty.
Let's start with the stock, which can be made ahead and stored in the freezer up to one month.
Drizzle some olive oil to a big non-stick pot and add in peeled, cubed onion along with some salt. Turn to medium high heat and cook till the onion turns translucent.
Peel and chop the carrot into large cubes, also chop the celery into same sized pieces. Toss both into the pot and give it a quick stir, cook about 2 minutes.
Add in defrosted shrimp heads and crush them with a spatula, so the flavors can get released more easily to the stock.
Pour in 7 cups of water, bring to a boil then keep it at a slight simmer for about one hour. Skim off the foam floating on the surface during the process. In the end, the liquid should be reduced by at least half, leaving you condensed and aromatic stock. Drain and even sift the stock if needed. Cool down before storing in the freezer.
As for the risotto, peel and chop half of the onion into small cubes. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a nonstick pot and turn to medium high heat. Add in cubed onion along with 1 teaspoon of sea salt. Give it a quick stir and cook till the onion turns translucent.
Add in about a dozen peeled and deveined shrimp and cook till half way through. Scoop it out and set aside for later use.
In the same pot, add in 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter. Once it melts a little, pour in one cup of rice and stir gently, make sure every grain has been coated with butter. About one minute.
Pour in 1 cup of shrimp stock and 1/3 cup of white wine. Cook till the liquid has almost been absorbed by the rice then add in a few ladles of stock again. The key here is to add in the liquid a little bit at a time instead of pouring everything into the pot all at once. Check the texture of the grains towards the end, cook till your preferred consistency. However, the recipe here yields al dente textured rice.
Zest and juice one lemon. Add both to the pot when the risotto is almost ready. Mix well and pour the previously stir fried shrimp back to the pot. Quick stir and turn off the heat, the shrimp should be just cooked through when the risotto is ready to serve.
Plate the risotto and grate some Parmigiano Reggiano all over for extra savory flavor. Garnish with finely chopped parsley if desired.
On a side note, Riesling kabinett pairs well with lemony shrimp risotto in case you want to dress up this semi-fancy meal.
Not sure if it's due to the cold weather or not, I've been craving for sweet treats almost on a daily basis (or is that normal?). In order to maintain a healthier eating style and my unwillingness to settle for artificial sugar or margarine, I had to fight with my desires.
This tug of war lasted for about 4 days, 4 straight days without eating any cookies, cakes, ice cream, and even my beloved boba milk tea. Unfortunately this battle was lost on day 5 to the evil created by my own hands - chocolate and banana bundt cakes. Cakes..
Ingredients (for two 3 cups bundt cakes)?
Cake:
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
- 1 cup of cane sugar
- 1/2 cup of sour cream
- 1/2 cup of bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) of unsalted butter
Chocolate ganache:
- 1/2 cup of bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
- 1 tiny pinch of salt
How?
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the microwave in low power till almost turn liquid form. Brush the inside of the bundt molds with melted butter, don't forget to brush the center surface.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Peel two ripe bananas and mash them in a bowl. Make sure the bananas are at least as ripe as the ones shown in the picture below. Black dots actually mean sweeter bananas, more fragrant, and even more nutritious.
Whisk in the flour, baking soda, and salt in a big bowl. Take another bowl and add in the remaining butter in room temperature. Beat the butter till creamy with few small lumps, add in the sugar and beat until fluffy, takes at least 2 minutes.
Add the vanilla extract, blend a little then add in one egg, room temperature also. Beat for another minute then add in mashed bananas.
Carefully pour in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in two batches. Blender or mixer off before adding the powdery ingredients otherwise you'll get flour all over your face. Pour in the first half and blend a little. Mix in cubed sour cream along with the other half of dry ingredients. Mix till incorporated, about 1 to 2 minutes. Fold in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.
Pour the mixture to the mold about half way through. Lay a towel on the table and whack the mod in order to release the air bubbles in the mixture. I also push the mixture up a little bit along the inner and outer edges. This should help the cakes form and bake into the correct shape.
Transfer the molds to the oven and bake for 65 to 70 minutes. There is no need to use a baking sheet beneath the bundt molds. Once ready, you can run a toothpick test by sticking it into the center of the cakes and see if the toothpick comes out clean or just with a few cooked crumbs, instead of sticky mixture.
Remove the molds from heat and let them cool down first, about 10 minutes. Invert the cakes out onto a flat plate, the cakes should come out fairly easy.
As for the chocolate ganache, add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl. Take a medium pot and heat up the heavy whipping cream together with just a tiny pinch of salt. Bring almost to a boil but make sure not to let the cream start bubbling. Pour the heated cream to the chocolate chips bowl and start stirring till fully blended.
Wait a few minutes till the ganache cools down and thickens before drizzling over the cakes.
Wait till the ganache has been settled and harden on the cake before serving. This semi-sweet cake is ideal to serve with a cup of hot tea or coffee. For wine lovers, a small glass of port could do the trick. Ladies and lighter wine drinkers, Prosecco can be an easy drink and good alternative.
Punica Barrua 2010 - an Italian red wine with 85% Carignano, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Merlot grape varieties. My friend from Wine & Taste handed me this bottle of wine and see what recipe can go with this versatile blend.
Wine and Taste is a membership based website in Taiwan promoting wine cultures. Members receive a bottle of wine each month along with detailed information regarding its background, estate stories, pairing suggestions and more. Other services include periodic articles, recipes, event invitations, etc. Personally speaking, I think this type of service is ideal for someone who wants to know and enjoy a bottle of wine but do not have the knowledge nor time to pick one personally.
Punica Barrua comes with strong red fruits aromas and a slight hint of liquorice, which works with lamb ragu especially with the use of mint in the recipe.
Ingredients (2 to 3 portions)?
- 0.5 lb of ground lamb
- 1 cup of pomodoro sauce
- 1/2 cup of red wine
- 1/2 bag or 250 grams of casarecce or rigatoni pasta
- 1/4 teaspoon of dried mixed Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 big shallot
- 2 garlic cloves
- Few springs of fresh mint leaves
- Some ricotta cheese
- Some sea salt
- Some freshly ground black pepper
How?
Bring a big pot of water to a boil and add a few pinches of salt to flavor the water. Add in the pasta and give it a quick stir once a while, cook till al dente in texture, about 10 minutes. Once done, drain well and set aside for later use. I used casarecce pasta here but usually most recipes call for rigatoni.
Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves. Peel and chop the shallot into tiny cubes. Save the prettier looking mint leaves for garnish and finely chop the remaining.
Drizzle enough olive oil to evenly coat the bottom of the pan, about 2 tablespoons. Turn to medium high heat. Add in the shallot and garlic, also some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Give it a quick stir and cook just till the garlic is about to get burned.
Quickly add in the lamb. Stir a bit so the ground meat doesn't stick together. Add the Italian seasoning and mix well. Cook till the mixture dries up a little.
Pour in the wine, I simply took some from my precious Punica Barrua. Also pour in the pasta sauce, I used the one with mushroom and ripe olives. Other varieties such as roasted garlic or mushroom pomodoro sauce work pretty well too. Mix well, bring to a boil and lower the heat to keep it simmer for another 5 to 7 minutes or till the sauce has been reduced by at least 1/3.
Mix in the pasta along with about 1 tablespoon of finely chopped mint leaves. Cook for another 30 seconds or so before plating.
Top the pasta with few dollops of ricotta cheese and garnish with some mint leaves. Some prefer to mix in the ricotta cheese during the cooking process. That is fine but I like to add it in the end for presentation purpose. Don't you like the pure white and green contrast for the lamb ragu?
Generally speaking most red wine works well with red meat. In addition, the herbal note from the Punica Barrua echoes the aroma from the lamb and the mint leaves. Italian wine with Italian dish, what else can you asks for?
Maybe dessert.
Ok I'm getting too greedy here.
This New York style cheesecake requires no water bath and can be made ahead to store in the fridge. However, the texture is on the denser side unlike those fluffy Japanese style cheesecakes. You can also pre-slice the cake and put in the freezer, which will give you a more custard/pudding like texture.
Ingredients (for a 9 inch springform pan)?
- 12 to 15 graham crackers
- 4 large eggs
- 4 packages/8 ounces of cream cheese
- 1 cup of sour cream
- 3/4 cup of whole milk
- 2 and a tiny bit more tablespoons of unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
- 3/4 tablespoon of vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
How?
Melt the butter and use some of it to grease the inside of the springform pan, including the side. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Put the crackers into a Ziploc bag and seal tightly. Crush the crackers into crumbs, a rolling pin can be a wonderful helper here.
Take a bowl and mix the cracker crumbs with the remaining melted butter. Press the buttered crumbs mixture onto the bottom of the pan evenly.
Transfer the pan to a baking sheet.
Take another large bowl for mixing the filling. Blend the cream cheese first then gradually add in the sugar and milk. Blend till smooth.
Blend and add in the eggs, one at a time, make sure don't over mix it. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract, mix till incorporated. Lastly blend in the flour until smooth.
Carefully pour the mixture into the springform pan.
Transfer to the oven and bake for 1 hour. No peeking so don't even think about opening the oven door during the process. After one hour, turn off the heat and keep the cake inside the oven for another 5 hours, or till completely cool down.
Once ready, run the edges with a knife making sure the cake is not sticking to the side. Remove the cake from the springform pan.
Run the knife with hot water and pat dry before each cut. This will help in getting cleaner and smoother edges between slices.
You can play with this cake recipe such as adding fresh strawberries or drizzling some melted chocolate on the cake. Otherwise, simply serve it with some chocolate covered raisins also sounds like a good idea.
Serve the frozen cake with a cup of hot coffee or hot tea, enjoy how the filling just gradually melts in your mouth. For wine lovers, try a glass of Riesling with this cake, you'll be amazed.
