Modernist Pantry

I found out about Modernist Pantry via the latest Cooking Issues radio episode, they had arranged a promo for a free sample of Activa RM (meat glue) for the listeners of the radio show, and that was all it took for me to open up my web browser. However, I had little hope that they would ship internationally, but they do. Oh dear, I had suddenly turned in to a kid in a candy store!

I managed to restrain myself and only place an order for a few items (however if the shipping is swift, I might go a little crazy, sorry in advance to my credit card). On order I have some Agar (gelling), Calcium Lactate, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Alginate, Xanthan Gum (reverse spherification), and Activa RM. The shipping is very reasonable at $14 (US), and the prices aren't too bad either, I have seen these products available in New Zealand but are usually overpriced.

The offer is good for the rest of the week, but you'll have to listen to the show yourself for the promo code.

Clam spaghetti

A very simple pasta with a big hit of flavour. The sauce is made from the clam juices and butter with a good sprinkle of parsley.


I used clams, red onion, parsley, garlic, chilli, butter, vermouth, and lemon juice.


With the spaghetti cooking, get a good portion of butter on to the heat.


Soften the onion and garlic in the pan, sprinkle over some chilli flakes, then deglaze with vermouth.


Put in the clams and some of their cooking juices (make sure to taste the juice as it can be quite salty), then sprinkle over some chopped parsley.


Toss through the spaghetti with a little of the pasta water, and a squeeze of lemon.

Beer bread

Whipped up a batch of no knead bread to cook on the pizza stone this weekend. It's so easy, all it takes is a little patience which is rewarded with extra flavour the long ferment brings.


I used a ratio of 10 parts flour to 8 parts liquid (which happened to be an opened and undrunk bottle of flat beer) with about a tablespoon of yeast and enough salt. Mix to incorporate the flour, cover and let sit for 24-36 hours (if you plan on leaving it longer you will need to 'feed' it with extra liquid and flour after 24 hours to keep the yeast going).


Knocked back after 36 hours, very fragrant, I think it almost smells like mashed bananas fermenting.


Shape it the best you can, it's very soft. I placed it on a sprinkling of fine semolina flour so it would slide easily on to the pizza stone.

While the dough is proving (30-60 min depending on how active the yeast is) preheat the oven with the stone in it, I set mine to 250°C and wait for it get up to temperature then drop the dial down to 200°C when the dough is ready to place in the oven.


Slide the bread on to the stone and cook for about 20 minutes, until the bread sounds hollow then tapped.

It had a nice subtle beer taste and hints of sour dough, made a great salami sandwich.

Hollandaise

Woke up with a bit of fuzz in my head and in serious need of a cure. I had some ham in the fridge that needed to be used and I hadn't pulled out the truffle oil in a while so I ended up making some truffle hollandaise with poached eggs and ham.

Just got Michael Ruhlman's Ratio in the post a couple of days ago, it's really well written and easy to read. I used the ratio from the book of 5 parts fat, 1 part egg yolk and 1 part liquid for the sauce.

Whisk the egg yolk, lemon juice and a few drops of truffle oil until light. Slowly whisk in melted butter until emulsified, and then place over a pot of steaming water and whisk until thickened.

[Edit 27/02/2012]
The method I currently use to make this sauce is slightly different, a little easier and a bit more fool proof.

1. Melt and clarify some unsalted butter, leave it in the pot, but off the heat.
2. In a bowl place egg yolks, and squeeze in lemon juice, whisk until the yolks have become pale in colour and increased in volume (about 2-3 times).
3. Heat up the clarified butter until very warm.
4. While whisking the yolk mixture pour in the butter in a slow steady stream.
5. When all the butter has been incorporated, continue whisking until you reach the desired consistency.
6. Taste and season.

Chocolate Brioche

I've been meaning to make a batch of brioche for a while and last weekend I finally got around to it. You do have to make the dough the night before you want to bake it, and can keep in the fridge for 24 hours (or 36 as I found out when I got home far to late to bake it on the day I had planned).

Pizza

I finally used the pizza stone I recently bought. You can find my pizza dough recipe here. The only difference is we cook our pizza at about 260°C.


A few toppings for the pizza, simple passata for the sauce. Golden rule though less is more on your pizza.


We usually make thin bases, and like serving it with a good pile of rocket and folding it in half.

Sunday Market

Easy going Sunday morning at the Wellington markets on the water-front.


Empanada, Hot fresh and stuffed with cheese, a definite favourite.

Nachos

Instead of chucking a whole lot of stuff in with the beef when making chilli for nachos, I prefer to have lots of accompaniments so you can choose with each bite what you want. Pictured above are corn chips with chilli beef, avocado (dressed with lemon and fresh coriander), confit of capsicum, pickled red and green jalapeno pepper and pickled carrot, oh and a bit of a sprinkle of cheese straight on the chilli beef.


Confit of capsicum
Blister and char a capsicum, you can do this either under a grill or over an open flame.


Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, leave for about 5 minutes and scrape of the charred skin.


Slice in to strips, arrange in a baking dish with some garlic, crushed coriander seeds and a bay leaf, pour in enough oil to cover and cook at 130ºC for about 40 minutes.


Quick pickled carrot
Either by hand or with a handy mandoline julienne a carrot.


I find a zip lock bag is best for a quick pickled as you can massage the ingredients together. Combine the carrot, thin slices of onion, grated garlic, vinegar, sugar and salt. Massage together and set aside.


Chili beef
I'm sure everyone has their own version of chilli so I wont bore you with a long recipe.

Very finely dice an onion and soften in a pan, add coriander, cumin, chilli, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until fragrant, try not to colour the onion too much. Deglaze the pan with a little vinegar. Add minced beef and cook until brown, tip off any excess fat if you wish. Squirt in a bit of tomato paste and cook down. Pour in enough passata (or tomato purée) to cover and simmer until thick. Stir in some chopped coriander and parsley. Adjust seasoning.


Keep an eye out for La Morena products at your local shop, they're very good.

Meat!

Well aged piece of rump.


Very hot pan cooked med-rare seasoned, and a simple salad.

Truffle powder

I've had a bunch of N-Zorbit sitting at the back of the pantry for a while. N-Zorbit is a tapioca maltodextrin which absorbs 2 times its weight of oil/fat. N-Zorbit is very very light, 1 litre = 100 grams. 1 litre would absorb 192mls of olive oil (1 litre = 920 grams). It turns in to a free flowing powder that dissolves back in to oil in the mouth.


Blitz in the food processor with some truffle oil, ready to pass through a sieve to get rid of any lumps.


Very light coating of oil on the popcorn then add the powder.