The Second Foray
So, another week, another excuse to attempt to "cook". I still don't call myself a cook, just a creator of something that is passably edible. Okay... I jest - a little more than that - my expectations aren't THAT low.
In planning for tonight, my thoughts went mostly to the bottom level of the fridge: what is the most efficient (and hopefully tasty) method to clear out my oversupply of vegetables? Easy: Minestrone (vegetable soup). With soup as an entree/main, pastas and an Italian theme became an obvious follow up. With a little bit of help, a three-course meal became a four choice feast - enjoy!
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Menu de tema Italiano
Pane : Variant on Bruschetta
Zuppa: Minestrone
Primi: Spaghetti Bolognaise
Dolce: Coconut Sago with fresh fruits
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For me, planning this first course was the challenge: I had the other three parts planned and prepped, but felt that I lacked something. Shout out to Lindy and Tina for being my sounding boards and offering suggestions, leading me to this choice.
I felt starting with a bread dish might be a bit heavy: I've got carbs and tomato flavours aplenty, so why another dish featuring carbs and tomato? The idea of an entree is to tease the palette a little, yet be light and refreshing. So a bruschetta (crunchy bread) could fit the bill, depending on how you select your toppings.
Rather than doing all the work, I chose to serve the toppings separately and let my friend choose how much to add and suit personal tastes. What I have here is melted Camembert on Sourdough bread, topped by chilled dicing of cherry tomatoes, Lebanese cucumbers and basil, drizzled with olive oil.
Recipe:
(8) Cherry Tomatoes, diced or cut into 8ths
(7cm) Lebanese Cucumber, unpeeled, finely diced
two leaves of basil, shredded by hand
olive oil
Long stick of bread (I used Sourdough from the Coles bakery)
125g block of Camembert, sliced
Prep work:
1. Split the cherry tomatoes into 8th or finely dice. Likewise for the Lebanese cucumber - the quantity will vary depend on your tastes, number of serves, etc. I had enough here for 4+ serves.
2. Add the shredded basil leaves (and other herbs of your choice).
3. Mix everything together in a small bowl, stir through to mix evenly, and drizzle as much olive oil as you want. I poured a very fine stream for about a second.
4. Cover with gladwrap and chill.
Notes: my thoughts was that the cucumber provides a light tone, cherry tomatoes for a sweeter-sour note, with the cheese to provide a sticky stronger flavour underneath.
Service:
1. Grab your breadstick and cut on the diagonal - as many slices as you need.
2. Slice the cheese appropriately (cheese knife preferably) so you have strips of cheese running almost the whole length of your slice of bread.
3. Toast until bread is lightly brown or cheese gets melty (to your liking) - whichever comes first.
4. Top with the relish and serve immediately. Or put everything up on the table and let everyone tuck in.
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Zuppa: Minestrone (Asian Edition): a.k.a. 羅宋湯
Now this soup is one of my personal favourties and can often be found in Asian all-you-can-eat places. Also labelled as "Borscht" (without beetroot) or "Vegetable Soup"
With all soups, the major aspects involved are Patience and Flavour. Patience for the soup to boil, and appropriate additon of flavours and herbs to get your outcome.
Recipe: prefer to start this the night before to let the flavours come out in the soup.
1L Beef Stock
4 Tomatoes (quartered)
3 Potatoes (diced)
2-3 stalks of celery (diced)
6 carrots (peeled and diced)
1/4 Cabbage (shredded) - I grabbed drumhead from my local fresh food market)
100g tomato paste
Basil, Thyme (Herbs for flavour)
Pepper
Salt
2 tbspn of white vinegar
Method:
1. Prep up: Peel/Dice your carrots, celery, potatoes. Remove the vine/junction and quarter your tomatoes. Remove the core and stem from the cabbage, and roughly cut the outer leaves into 1cm strips (ie shredded).
2. Bring the Beef Stock to boil. Add water to dilute if the flavour is too strong.
3. Add all your diced materials (leave Tomatoes and Cabbage), bring the pot back to boil.
4. Add the quartered tomatoes, spoon in the tomato paste (for a sour and richer flavour). Add the shredded cabbage, herbs, then bring the pot back to boil.
5. Now turn down the heat to a slow simmer (you still want to see bubbles). Cover your pot with the lid, and leave a small crack for venting. Asian tip: grab a toothpick and wedge the lid open with a TINY crack... just be careful about not losing that toothpick INTO the soup ;)
Simmer for about 40mins, and add the white vinegar and a dash of pepper sometime in the last 5 minutes (roughly). Add more salt and pepper and vinegar to get the balance just right to your liking - and taste test every so often (and enjoy the flavour).
You can serve it right away if you like, but a running joke in my family is that the soup tastes even better after standing overnight. Which is why I'd recommend prepping the soup the night before and letting it stand and cool overnight (or put it in the fridge, no difference there). Before service, bring the soup back to boil and let it simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes - gives you time for last minute adjustment of flavours.
One last personal note: my mum has a variant of this where she adds beef towards the end as well - I'm just not sure exactly which cut of beef she uses. My suspicion is that it is slices of beef skirt, marinated the night before with soya sauce, sugar, salt, pepper and baking soda, possibly a dash of sesame oil, and added straight in after the cabbage.
Anyways, enjoy boiling and reboiling... just make sure you don't let the pot boil dry!
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Primi: Spaghetti Bolognaise.
Okay, after the inspiration for the soup, I fell a little bit flat with regards to serving up a full main, opting for a simple pasta dish. To add a bit of flair, I threw everything into the sauce...
Recipe:
Your choice of spaghetti/pasta, served according to packet instructions.
1 jar Pasta Sauce - I used Leggo's 400mL Venetian Herbs Tomato Sauce.
500g Lean (4-star) Coles Beef Mince
Carrots
Celery
White Onion
4-5 small White Mushroom cups
Cherry Tomatoes
Basil, Thyme
Potato chips: One Potato, peeled and thinly sliced
Broccoli Stems (or any vegetable matter of personal choice)
Method:
1. Dice up your onion, carrots & celery, Dice or slice your white mushrooms.
2. On high heat, fry your onions in oil for 1 minute or until slightly brown.
3. Toss in your diced carrots and celery and continue the stir-fry for another minute or two.
4. Turn down to medium heat, add the mince and use a spatula or wooden spoon to break the mince down into manageable size. Continue frying for another 4 minutes.
5. Quarter the cherry tomatoes, add this, the mushrooms and the Pasta Sauce and stir through. Bring to a slow simmer for 20 minutes.
6. At any point, add the herbs for flavour.
7. Pasta: follow the packet recipe for al-dente outcomes, or boil for +4 minutes for a more softer-in-mouth texture.
P1. Have oil on high heat on the frying pan for the potato chips: your intention is to use very hot oil to crispen the potato slices without frying the whole 'chip' to charcoal.
P2. Turn once at the 1.5, 2 or 3 minute mark: depends on how thick your chips are, and fry for another 1-2 minutes (vary by thickness)
B1. In a boiling pot of water: blanch your veggies for 1-2 minutes. Longer blanching = more soggy veggies.
Service:
Either ladle the sauce and serve, else place everything together and let everyone help themselves.
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Dolce: Sago dessert.
Now I love my Asian desserts, and this one is an easy one for me. Fortunately my friend feels the same way about sago - so create, chill and serve!
Recipe:
Coconut Sago:
Sago/Tapioca Pearls
Coconut Milk (1 can)
3-5 tablespoons sugar
Seasonal Fruits
Method:
You'll need to look up online for how to prepare "sago pearls" or "tapioca pearls" - there are a few variants on how to do this. The following way works for me:
1. Bring a pot of water (1-2L) to boil.
2. Add 3 tablespoons of dry sago pearls (that's plenty for 4 people) directly to the boiling water.
3. Lower to medium heat, Use a wooden spoon to stir the boiling mixture (not constantly, something between 'often' to 'frequently') for about 5-7 minutes, making sure the mixture is simmering/bubbling.
4. Use a strainer/colander/fine mesh thing to pour the mixture away, catching the pearls.
5. IMMEDIATELY run the pearls under a thin stream of cold water.
[The starchy tapioca will cause the pearls to glue and stick together if you left it in the boiling water - running under cold water reduces this effect and also tries to stop the pearls from being overcooked and become spongy]
6. Set aside.
Coconut Milk mix:
1. Bring one can of coconut milk to boil. Add one half-can of water, or milk, to dilute.
[Pressure point: practice of this step allows you to modify the flavour for your personal desire. I stay with milk + water + sugar for my personal combo]
2. When bubbles start forming (ie just before boiling), add 3 tablespoons of white sugar. Stir through with WOODEN spoon. [Add more sugar if you reckon you need more - again, something you master and adjust with practice. Most I have ever used is 5 tablespoons worth of sugar, but I liked it super-sweet at one stage.]
3. Maintain full boil for one minute, then turn off and let it cool gradually.
Service:
You can serve this hot - spoon sago into a bowl, add the hot coconut milk directly and eat.
Served cold: either add the cooled coconut milk to sago then chill the mix, or keep the parts separate right until service time.
Me: diced the strawberries, mango and kiwifruit together into a 2nd bowl, and served this alongside the combined-then-chilled mix of the coconut sago into the tumblers, as imaged.
Okay, Enjoy!!
