Sunday, June 28, 2015

The Cottage Cooking Club | June Recipes

The CCC cooking through River Cottage Veg
by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall



My choices for June are:

Quick Couscous Salad with Peppers and Feta 
Macaroni Peas 

To see the complete list of recipes offered for June - click here



Quick Couscous Salad with Peppers and Feta


Oops! I made the wrong recipe - as I was at the store, I realized I had not written down the ingredients on my shopping list - I ran home, threw the other groceries in the garage, grabbed the book, and went back. Unfortunately, (or fortunately for me) I read the ingredients for the main recipe; this salad was already in the line-up back in August of last year. This month's recipe was a variation on that one, using fresh tomatoes and olives.

The salad I made, uses jarred roasted red peppers (I used sweet cherry peppers - so good), cucumber, red onion, feta cheese, parsley, and of course, couscous. I added some spring onion from my CSA box, in addition to the red onion; and to the leftovers a couple days later, I stirred in some fresh corn kernels from the leftover corn on the cob we had the night before - it was really tasty with the added corn.



I ended up using pearl couscous, which is a lot larger than your regular couscous. I remember when I first came across a recipe calling for the pearl, I could not find it. Now, when I wanted regular couscous, all my local store had, was the pearl couscous. Go figure. I actually ended up liking it with the pearl couscous, which I will use again the next time I make this - and there will be a next time.

The salad has a very light dressing made up of just olive oil and lemon juice, which is tossed with the warm couscous - I'm thinking this is Hugh's favorite.. he uses it often. However, I felt it could have used a little more dressing.

I may have made the incorrect recipe, but this was darn tasty - so light and refreshing; and it tastes just as good days later. This would make for great lunchbox fare (Ash!). 




Speaking of corn....  I received in my CSA box, corn on the cob, that the tops were lopped off! A third to half of the cob! Am I wrong to be disturbed by this? The company I received my box from, commented (on their FB page) that they cut just the tops off (ah, more than just the tops!) because they were unsightly looking. "Unsightly looking" to me, construes that maybe the corn isn't as fresh as I thought. It did still taste good, and that is what counts, but I felt this was just plain wrong.  Sorry to digress - had to vent a little. (Update: Received a phone call from my CSA - the reason for the tops being cut off, is due to WORM problems. The corn had worm holes... yeah, that would be unsightly.)



Macaroni Peas


Time was not on my side this month. I only completed two of the five recipes I committed to making. I almost did not get this one made - for I knew I would not be going to the farmer's market, and really did not want to make this recipe with frozen peas.


I got lucky - there was a whole bin of fresh peas at my grocery store. So I grabbed a bunch with hopes I would be able to get around to making the recipe - and I did!


This was a simple recipe, though it does require quite a few dishes to prepare - three pots and a blender. In the old days, it never, ever, crossed my mind as to how many dishes a recipe would use - and I used to prepare meals that would take a good four hours or so to complete! I guess I'm getting lazy in my increasing years...


The sauce for this dish is made up of fresh peas, garlic infused butter, and cheese; all is whirled together and then tossed with the noodles, along with additional (cooked) fresh peas, salt, and pepper. Just before serving it is topped with grated cheese and shreds of basil. The more cheese you use, the tastier the dish will be.

I found this to be pretty bland, even though I used three garlic cloves, to Hugh's one. I thought the sauce tasted pretty good on its own, and was looking forward to dinner, but the flavor was lost once it was tossed with the noodles. The bites with the most cheese tasted best, but I was trying to keep this on the healthy side, so I refrained from adding more.


To see what recipes the other members chose for this month, head over to the the CCC website and look for the May LYL post for a list of their links - or click here to be directed automatically.

We have been asked not to publish the recipes here on our blogs. We encourage you to go out and purchase the book and join us on this fun and healthy adventure!





 




Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Wok Wednesdays | Taiwanese-Style Stir-Fried Scallops and Shrimp with Yellow Chives

WW wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young




Wow. Wow. Wow. On cloud nine...


Bowl 1: Ginger
Bowl 2: Scallops, shrimp, dry sherry, ginger, salt, pepper
Bowl 3: Ginger
Bowl 4: Ground bean sauce, sambal oelek
Bowl 5: Yellow chives
Bowl 6: Dry sherry
Bowl 7: Salt

I have never really cared for scallops. No - let me rephrase that. Before this recipe, I have not cared for scallops.


Once again, I am amazed that with so few ingredients, you come away with a dish that has such amazing flavor.

The seafood is marinated for half an hour in a simple mixture of dry sherry (or Japanese sake if you have it), ginger, salt, and pepper (white pepper is used in this dish, but I used black pepper by mistake).

The scallops and shrimp are stir-fried in a garlic infused oil (oil is heated in the wok along with some smashed garlic) just long enough for the seafood to obtain some color, then it is removed from the wok, and fresh oil and garlic are added and heated again, before returning the seafood back into the wok along with the bean sauce, chives, dry sherry (or Japanese sake), and some salt, and stir-fried just until the seafood is cooked through.

I had issues with some of my scallops breaking apart while stir-frying, as well as my friend Karen, of Karen's Kitchen Stories, and she mentioned this on the WW FB page; another member stated that she lets them sear on one side, then turns them over, and just kinda shakes the wok when they are done - great tip! Thanks Peng!


This recipe alone is worth the purchase of Grace's book, not to mention the rest of the recipes!

I can't stress it enough - GO GET THE BOOK ALREADY!!! Seriously. You'll be happy you did.




Yellow chives (aka golden chives, gau wong, albino chives), have a delicate garlic flavor, with a warm gentle "bite" to them. They are also a lot larger than your typical western chives.


photo credit: specialty produce




We have been asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will find it on page 178, of  Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library. I highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed.  

Wok Wednesdays is an online cooking group. If you would like information about joining us, click here, or visit us on Facebook. Would love for you to wok along with us!





golden chives, Gau wong and albino chives
golden chives, Gau wong and albino chives
golden chives, Gau wong and albino chiveshave a delicate garlic flavor, with a gentle "bite" that you get from garlic

Friday, June 12, 2015

TWD | Baking Chez Moi | Chocolate-Cherry Brownies

Tuesdays with Dorie baking through Baking Chez Moi
by Dorie Greenspan




Hello, deliciousness...


This is a pretty basic brownie recipe, aside from the addition of a little black pepper, extra chopped chocolate to stir in at the end, and dried cherries that have been reconstituted in simmering water and port (or another sweet wine), which I did not have either of, so I used a dark crème de cassis.

There was a lot of chatter about the recipe taking far longer to cook than the twenty-seven to twenty-nine minutes in a 325°F oven as instructed - so I set my oven at 350°F and they were done in twenty-five minutes, and were perfect.

These brownies turned out deliciously gooey, full of chocolate flavor, with a slight tartness from the cherries. They also were pretty sweet. I'm thinking next time I'll cut back on some of the sugar.

These were really, really good. I made sure hubby took them to work the next day so I wouldn't pig out on them - which I definitely would have.

Well, I went into work two days later, and there were still some left over?!! How can that be? So of course I had to try another one (or two, maybe three... um yeah..) to see how they fared two days later. They were not as gooey, a bit more dense, fudge like - so very good still! I don't think the guys cared for the cherries... oh well, their loss, my gain - literally, unfortunately.


We have been asked not to post the recipes here on our blogs. You can find the recipe on page 322 of Baking Chez Moi.

You can check out my fellow baker's results, by clicking here for a list of their links.



Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Wok Wednesdays | Hong Kong-Style Broccoli

WW wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young



This is the second recipe we have made that calls for Chinese broccoli. It truly has become a favorite of mine. If you have never had this wonderful vegetable, you really need to seek it out, and while you're at it, you'll want to get Grace's book, Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, so you can make the most delicious stir-fries. Ever.

 Mise en place.

Bowl 1: Ginger
Bowl 2: Chinese bacon
Bowl 3: Chinese broccoli (aka gai lan in Cantonese)
Bowl 4: Soy sauce, dry sherry
Bowl 5: Sugar, salt


Such a simple and tasty side dish to prepare. A quick sauté of the ginger until it is fragrant, toss in the bacon and stir until it releases its fat, add the broccoli - stems first - for about a minute or so, then the leaves, and stir-fry until just wilted. The soy sauce mixture, salt, and sugar are added, and tossed together for a short time until the broccoli is crisp tender. 

Voilà! A most delicious side to any meal; and the sauce that accumulated at the bottom of the serving bowl... tasted fabulous poured over my grilled salmon.  


We have been asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will find it on page 190, of  Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library. I highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed.  

Wok Wednesdays is an online cooking group. If you would like information about joining us, click here, or visit us on Facebook. Would love for you to wok along with us!