You spend 2 days in Sydney and would rather spend your small amount of free time buying the most amazing truffled pecorino instead of snapping up pics of Opera Houses, Harbour Bridges etc….
Meet my new best friend….
Truffled Pecorino
But in the spirit of all good cooking media…Here’s some pics of our lovely Harbour city I prepared earlier….
Sydney Harbour BridgeSydney Opera HouseBondi Beach
My cheese and I are about to enjoy a fantabby long weekend. I’ll keep you posted as to what we get up to!
Have a great week!
I say that, but given that most of you don’t have a long weekend or truffled pecorino…what I really mean is sucks you be you do the best you can.
God Bless the Greeks. They invented democracy, philosophy and some damn fine food. Including fried cheese. How good is that stuff? You take cheese…which is one of my all time best ever foods to begin with…and fry it. That;’s not even eleven. That’s twelve! Possibly thirteen. But, I digress, yeah, I know opening paragraph…and we’re already off track, because today we’re talking about the second wonder of the Greek cuisine pantheon…(or should that be Parthenon?) the cheese and spinach pie, also more formally known as the Spanakopita.
Spanakopita 1
I live in Melbourne, which as anyone in Melbourne will tell you has the largest population of Greek people outside of Athens. I have no idea if this is actually true or just one of those urban myths about the city you live in. Regardless of numbers, there are a lot of Greek people and hence a lot of super delicious Greek food. In fact, just as much as some families have the local Chinese or Indian restaurant, my family would go Greek.
No, not like that you bunch of perverts….I meant we would celebrate family occasions at the local Greek restaurant.
Spanakopita Ingredients
Mind you, this did come after a debacle at the local Chinese. You know the classic tale of the gauche family who drink the fingerbowls? Not that old chestnut for my family. No way. Uh huh.
We’re a much classier lot.
So when, towards the end of our meal, the waiter delivered some small bowls of water to our table we dutifully dipped and dunked and positively soaked our fingers revelling in our (sub) urban/e sophistication. He then reappeared with a plate of…I can best describe them as caramel coated sweet dumplings. The idea being that you dipped your caramel dumpling into the icy cold water thereby changing the caramel from a hot liquid to a crispy shell. We all looked to our now slightly grubby bowls of warmish water and the thought of dessert suddenly didn’t seem so good.
Now, I can’t speak a word of Mandarin, but believe me, that wasn’t a prerequisite to understand what our waiter was muttering as he swished away the original bowls. There is a certain tone people adopt when they say “You people are morons” that is pretty much universal.
We celebrated with Greek food from then on.
Spanakopita Ingredients – pre massage
The February Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Audax of Audax Artifex. The challenge brought us to Greece with a delicious, flaky spanakopita – a spinach pie in a phyllo pastry shell. I had thought I was au fait with the cooking of this particular dish as it is something I make fairly regularly. However Audax’s version had a few curve balls.
First there was massaging the ingredients. It made me think about those Wagyu cows…
Spanakopita 2
Then post the massage there was the squeeze….this was both kind of disgusting and a shit ton of fun.
Squeezing…kind of gross.Squeezed Spinach (and my abnormally large man hands)
Post the squeeze, you end up with two bowls. Once containing a dry mixture, one containing a milky green liquid.
Post Squeeze Spanakopita
It is at this point that I would diverge from the recipe as given by Audax and add some more cheese into the dry mixture. I don’t know what happened to the cheese but somewhere during the massage or the squeeze it kind of disappeared, leaving a less cheesy spanakopita than I would normally have. For me, it’s all about the cheese.
Anyhow, then you add some couscous to the liquid and let it soak it all up. This is utter brilliance. The couscous bulks up the mixture so you can have a higher pie and it stops the bottom pastry getting soggy.
Spinach Juice and Couscous
Another brilliant idea? Cutting the squares before baking. Stroke of genius!
Pre-Baked Spanakopita
Spanakopita – hot from the oven
Huh, I just realised I’ve mentioned fried Greek cheese in at least two out of the last three posts. I think my subconscious is trying to tell me something.
I’m going to be spending my week having at least one trip to the Paradise of Lindos to partake of some plate smashing, some haloumi and maybe even a little bit of this…
So, we had our first bbq in the new house on the weekend. And to celebrate, I made the Prune Kebabs from Nancy Spain’s All Colour Cookbook. Before we sail this ship we call the Titanic into that particular iceberg, let’s talk about kebabs.
Prune Kebabs
There seems to have been no standard spelling for food before about 1980. I’ve seen these things spelled Kebabs, Kebobs, Kabobs and even Kaboobs….
I’m actually a little disappointed we didn’t go with Kabobs. It sounds likes something out of Batman. KA-BOB!
Whereas kaboobs? Another thing altogether.
But I digress. Where were we? Oh yeah, Nancy’s kebabs…Nancy’s Prune Kebabs. Jeez, Even I’m distracted by Dolly’s boobage….I can only imagine what it’s like for all you boys….
Actually, one more. On a slightly more disturbing note, did you know if you Google image “kaboobs” this ranks quite high in the list of hits:
WTF? I don’t want to know. Seriously I don’t. Please no one ever explain the link to me. Ever.
Ok back to biz. Which was Nancy Spain’s Prune Kebabs. Nancy recommends these as being popular with teenagers. I find that hard to believe. It’s not like McDonalds didn’t exist then. Believe me, none of the cool kids were chomping on Nancy’s Prune Kebabs. Not when there was even the remotest possibility of two all beef patties, special sauce etc.
Also, given their renowned laxative properties, I would have thought Prune Kebabs more suited to the older gen.
But what do I know?
Sweet FA apparently because this recipe just lurched from one disaster to the next.
Issue 1.
Doing my mise-en-place I realised I had no apples. It must be the only time in the history off the world that we have not had an apple, any apple in the house.
Solution 1
Checked all the other ingredients just to be sure and went down to the shops. Bought apples. Did not realise until a week later when I came to scan the recipe to post that it also needed tomatoes. I swear I must have originally read this recipe in the dark. I didn’t miss them. Use them if you got ’em, if not never mind.
Prune Kebabs Mise En Place
Issue 2
Nancy suggests soaking the prunes over night which I forgot to do. I also do not care for Mango Chutney so subbed in some caramelised onion relish. Maybe because I hadn’t soaked them, stuffing the prunes with the relish was nigh on impossible.
Creative Innovation #1
I smeared the bacon with the relish then wrapped the prunes up in the bacon.
Prunes and Bacon
Issue 3
There was a problem with the cheese. A few problems actually. First , Nancy suggests processed cheese. I would rather eat my own snot. I had some nice cheddar.
Issue 3.1
At the risk of sounding like Captain Obvious, cheese melts. So, how do you cook a sausage and bacon on a bbq without having the cheese melt away to nothing? Also it kept breaking off the skewer. In retrospect, I should have bought some of that super delicious Greek frying cheese.
Creative Innovation #2
I took the sausage out of its skin and made it into a little meatball and popped the cheese inside. It still leaked a little bit but if it hadn’t been wrapped in the meat, you may as well not bother with it.
Prune Kebabs Cheese Meatball
Issue 4
I made two kebabs on my metal skewers then went the drawer to get the bamboo skewers. Only we had no bamboo skewers in the drawer. . .Or the pantry. Or any other place in the house. I can only think we left them at the old house .
So now we’re officially shit out of luck.
And skewers.
There’ no way I was getting in the car and driving to Safeway again. It was as hot as hell out there. In fact I’m blaming the heat on my utter scattiness – we had at least 6 days in a row over 40º. (That”s over 100º for my American friends). My brain is melting.
Creative Innovation #2
Brain melt or no, I may not have had skewers but I had rosemary. And you know what? Those rosemary mini kebabs were not only as cute as hell, but they smelled crazy stupid good when being bbq’ed and gave an extra flavour boost to the kebabs.
Rosemary Mini Kebabs
Finally, they were ready to go on the bbq. Good thing I was also making the cocktail that will feature in my Valetines Day post at the same time because I needed a drink after all that!
Prune Kebabs on bbq
Prunes and bacon are always good. The onion relish was a nice addition as was the smoky flavour of the bbq. The recipe called for chippoloatas, I couldn’t find any so I used a spicy Italian fennel sausage from my local butcher. This was really nice with the cheese that didn’t leak out all over the bbq.
Prune Kebabs 3
The two revelations were the apple…who knew bbq’ed apple was so good? It got a little bit charred and slightly soft but still crunchy, it soaked up the flavours of the bacon and the sausage, apples go fabulously with cheese…it was a real winner. And the other thing I loved was the rosemary. This was the opposite of the apple in that whilst the apple was busy soaking up all the flavours around it, the rosemary was just putting it all out there…the aroma as this cooked was awesome and the skewered items really did pick up some of the lovely rosemary flavour and aroma.
I have included both Nancy’s original and my adaptations below.
If you want more cheesy meaty goodness on a stick, you can look at:
Ever made food where just looking at it made you feel happy?
Spinach and Cheese Arancini
That’s how I felt with the December Daring Kitchen Challenge. Just looking at these golden balls of goodness made me smile.
Yes, I did just say golden balls of goodness, and yes, I did have a little smirk as I did.
Sigh.
I so have the mind of a 12-year-old boy. And you know what? This whole post is full of stuff like that.
So, you know, take a moment….watch this clip from a British tv show called, I kid you not, Golden Balls, which appears to be a game show version of the Prisoner’s dilemma. (Yay, I knew that Philosophy major would come in handy one day! Stay tuned, next week…Baking with Nietzsche…)
Anyway, marvel at the British nuttiness of it all and come back ready to talk about arancini….
January’s Daring Cooks’ challenge was a ball! The lovely Manu from Manu’s Menu brought our taste buds to the streets of Sicily and taught us her family tradition of making arancine – filled and fried balls of risotto. Delizioso!
These were super delizioso but believe me, you’re not making them in any sort of hurry. These babies need some time and devotion to the cause.
First you’ve got to make:
The Risotto
Arancini Ingredients
I’ll put the full recipe at the end. but this is actually a great risotto recipe.
What you end up with is this. How gorgeous is this bright yellow?
This lovely sunshiney yellow is well on its way to becoming my favourite colour. And mmmmm…butter….
Saffron Risotto
Then you lay it into a tray to cool and then you make…
Golden Balls o’ Sunshine…
Saffron Risotto Balls
And you know what? You could stop right here and crumb these babies and they would be all kinds of delicious. But in the daring kitchen, we’re turning that flavour experience up to 11. Yeah. EL-EV-EN.
Starting With:
The Bechamel
Wow. has there ever been a bigger moment of cognitive dissonance?
Did you all just fist pump the air Eye of the Tiger style and then do a double take?
Bechamel? WTF? BlecHHHHHamel more like. Isn’t that the creepy white sauce that tastes like glue?
Bear with me..this one’s good.
You need to make it quite thick.
Bechamel Sauce
And finally:
The Filling
I chose to do a spinach and mozzarella filling. The recipe has a meat ragu version and a cheese version.
I didn’t get a photo of the sauteed spinach.
But it looked like sauteed spinach.
Trust me.
Filling the Arancini 1
You make a hole in the Risotto ball and add the filling ingredients – sauce, cheese, spinach.
And close.
Word to the wise. Do the sauce first. I’ll show you what happens in a moment if you try to do the sauce last…
Filling the Arancini 2
One of these things does not quite belong…guess which one of these was the one where I put the sauce in last?
Filled Arancini
See what I mean about this being a labour of love?
It’s not all over yet folks, now you gotta egg them, crumb them and fry them up.
Bet you’re thinking you can sit down and have a quiet bottle of vino and some valium now aren’t you?
Not so fast, Speedy. These are fabulous and you could quite easily eat them as is. Look at that oozy goodness….
Yep, oozy goodness from my golden balls…don’t roll your eyes…you were warned.
Spinach and Cheese Arancini 3
But remember when i said we were taking this up to eleven?
For eleven you need my spicy tomato relish (recipe below)
The arancini have a delightful crunch, then the aromatic risotto and the creamy cheesey garlicy goodness of the filling. The relish brings some heat and some tanginess. And that my friends is the five food groups covered.
I can’t believe it is almost time to go back to work. Where did the summer holidays go? Actually, the whole of summer was M.I A. I wore winter boots the other day. We’re living in crazy times….
Belle & Sebastian Plum & Feta Salad
But maybe because the réntrée, as the French would say, is about to commence I have had a particular song stuck in my head for about the last four days now. Luckily, this was one I could tolerate, unlike the last time which was Rooms Are On Fire by Stevie Nicks. Can you imagine 6 days of “There is magic all around you, if I do say so myself…”?
Ever wanted to bang your head into a wall just to MAKE IT STOP? That’s what that week was like.
This time is the fabulous Step Into My Office Baby by Belle and Sebastian. Who I love with an almost unrivalled deep and deadly…They’re clever and funny and named after a French book from the 1960’s. They have great album covers and witty whimsical lyrics…
Smart, funny, savvy, slightly nostalgic for a past that probably actually existed…If I was a band I’m almost sure I would be Belle and Sebastian.
And, as if all of that musical talent wasn’t enough, they’re also creators of a super refreshing salad!
I found this recipe in “Lost in The SuperMarket: An Indie Rock Cookbook “by Kay Bozick Owens and Lynn Owens and have been waiting for plums to come into season ever since. And those happy days have finally arrived. The shops are full of them.
As a complete digression…they are also full of hot cross buns. WTF is wrong with people? It’s JANUARY!!!. Ok, don’t even get me started…here’s the book….
And here is more of the Belle & Sebastian Plum & Feta Salad! Tangy from the plums, salty from the feta, sweet from the honey, fresh from the mint….and just look at the fabulous colours…
Belle & Sebastian Plum Salad2
I had mine with a very simple grilled salmon steak and it was a match made in heaven!!! The tanginess and saltiness of the salad cut through the richness of the salmon perfectly.
Belle & Sebastian Plum Salad3
But I think the Belle and Sebastian Plum and Feta Salad would also go really well with chicken or pork and it would be super wicked amazing with duck….
I’ll give you another B&S anecdote just for free…for YEARS, I thought their gorgeous song Piazza, New York Catcher was called PIzza, New York Catcher….food obsessed or what?
So here are my tips to make the réntrée more bearable:
1. Make this salad….it will cheer you up
2. Listen to some Belle & Sebastian… here’s some I prepared earlier…
3. Don’t look up “The Boy With The Arab Strap” at work thinking you will just get the Belle and Seb album cover. You won’t. And some of the images you will get will be definitely NSFW. Not to mention unsavoury.
Zorba
