Thank You & Thank You!!!
Firstly, the lovely and talented Marianna handed me a Big E! For Excellent. Just wanted to say thank you to her. My manager will be in contact shortly. Secondly, The lovely chica Nuria, who hails from the very vibrant city of Barcelona and Helen from the Uk, have handed me the "Arte Y Pico" Award. It honours fellow bloggers for their creativity and their contribution to the food blogging community. Nuria and Helen, I really want to say "THANK YOU" out loud so the whole blogosphere can hear me! I really do appreciate it and the fact that you thought of me.
Now comes the hard part. I wont pass on the E! award because everyone I know has one already. That solves that. The "Arte Y Pico" award should really be given to ALL food bloggers. Yes I know that sounds cliched like in a "I wish world peace to all nations" kinda way, but I really mean it. Food blogging is a serious business these days. It can take a lot out of you. WE WORK HARD! There's cooking, photographing and lots of recipe writing involved. We should all be awarded for our skills and talent. But I digress. This award asks me to pass it on to 5 other people. There are a whole heap of rules associated with it. I've taken these from Nuria's bog and pasted them here.
2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3) Each award-winning, has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the ward itself.
4) Award-winning and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y pico"blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5) To show these rules.
Here's me contemplating who to give the award to....
Without further ado, I will pass this on to the following recipients. You can pass this on if you wish or not. It's entirely up to you...No pressure! If you've already ben handed this, no worries. Just do as you wish!
Peter from Kalofagas. This man is better than any Greek cookbook I have ever laid eyes on! You will find it all at his blog. He's been doing a great job educating a lot of people about Greek culture and about food in his very unique way. Γεια σου Παντελη!
Laurie from Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska. Laurie is the "Superwoman" of ingredients. She highlights recipes in a way that wants me to read more. Her use of varied ingredients and the things she creates in her kitchen are outstanding. I follow her CSA box arrivals religiously and I look forward to see what she will do next. I ALWAYS learn something from her.
Ben from What's Cooking. The Mexican Powerhouse of the blogosphere! This chico takes a poblano and makes a masterpiece out of it. His blog is a wealth of information. He has sections dedicated to "health", "Ingredient of the week", and my favourite "What's Cooking World?" where guest bloggers highlight dishes from their region. Seriously, his blog is better than any glamorous cooking magazine. Check it out!
Emiline from Visions Of Sugar Plum. Emiline is the baking Maestro. Cookies, sweets, slices and pies. She has it all. Her creations are masterpieces and really, who needs Martha Stewart when you have her showcasing her baking skills! Her take on the hospitality industry is hilarious...she has some very entertaining stories. I encourage you to read her blog....but be warned. You might get very hungry!
Maraianna from Swirl and Scramble. This woman's passion for food is a 10 on the Richter scale. She LOVES food and her recipes showcase fresh ingredients in a unique way. She travels the globe taking very artistic photographs of food (of course!), people and urban culture.
There you go! All done. I've got some olive flatbreads that I need to take out of the oven...
Parsley Pesto
Parsley Pesto...very versatile
I came back from the markets the other day with bunches of fresh parsley wanting to make the classic Lebanese dish "tabouleh". A good look at the weather had me thinking otherwise. So after a change of plans I utilised the fresh parsley by making a gremolata for my lamb shanks. With the remainder of the bunch I decided to make a pesto. I had never ever thought about using parsley as a herb in pesto before. After a quick google search I found this recipe on the "Country Living" website. It sounded so fresh and I also had a whole heap of walnuts that were waiting to be used.
Let me start off by saying that I have never really had an opinion on parsley before. I always remember the "curly" variety being the star for garnishing a lot of dishes in the 70's....(yes I'm that old!). Then I discovered the "flat leaf" variety or "Italian" parsley as it was referred to. It was only until I got older and a lot more adept in the kitchen, that I truly discovered its many versatile uses. Tossed through pasta with a Napolitana sauce, used with lemon to flavour dish and of course tabouleh! It has a lot of health benefits and is very rich in anti oxidants and iron. Reading through Wikipedia I also discovered a lot of medicinal uses for it. You can see a lot more information here.
Anyway, back to the recipe at hand. This was by far one of the most tastiest pestos I have tossed through pasta in a long time. The lemon, provided the perfect zing and the toasted walnuts gave it an extra crunchiness that was just magical. Apart from being used in pasta I also smeared it on warm, freshly toasted pita bread as well. Highly addictive and dare I say delicious. So this is my entry for this week's Weekend Herb blogging event hosted by Laurie. This woman should be named Queen of the Herbs! She has so many delicious recipes and I always learn something when I read her very informative and delicious posts.
Double dipping anyone?
RECIPE FOR PARSLEY PESTO WITH WALNUTS
Again I varied the original recipe slightly. Not by much. I always encourage people to play around with their food!
- 1 cup of parsley leaves tightly packed or a big bunch with all the stems removed
- 1 cup of slightly toasted walnuts (shells removed of course!)
- 1/2 a cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
- 1 clove of crushed garlic
- juice and zest of half a lemon
- 3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Place all ingredients except for oil in a food processor or blender. Once the ingredients have been pulsed a few times proceed to add the olive oil in a thin stream. Scoop out the mixture and toss through some warm, freshly cooked egg noodle pasta. Or smear it lavishly over flat bread or pita.
Lamb Shanks with Soft Polenta
Melt in the mouth shanks with soft polenta
I was looking to make a dish to unleash the carnivore within. One that would suit the current "cold snap" as it's referred to on the news. What's better than slow cooking some meat on the bone and mopping up all the juices with some crusty bread? Nothing! I really wanted to embrace the cooler weather with a hearty dish. I love lamb and when I saw these beauties on sale I couldn't resist. It's quite an inexpensive meal overall and paired with polenta even better. I thought about using mashed potatoes with the lamb shanks but instead paired with some really high fibre cornmeal a.k.a polenta. Polenta can be quite "bland" on its own so I jazzed mine up with some good Danish butter and some Grana Padano cheese. The final touch being heaps of cracked pepper. Jut be let it known that I used "instant" polenta. There was no way you were going to catch me sitting at the stove stirring for 45 mins. I understand that a lot of Italians consider the instant variety a "sin". Well, it was the quickest sin I've ever committed! Five mins to be exact...LOL I also forgot to mention that I garnished my lamb shanks with some gremolata. Gremolata is a blend of finely chopped flat leaf parsley, garlic and lemon zest. Its traditionally spooned on that other Italian classic osso buco. I made mine without the garlic. It gave the dish an added lift and some extra zing!
RECIPE FOR LAMB SHANKS
Again, let me emphasise that I have no "set" amount of ingredients when I cook winter type stews. I always fry my meat off first ensuring it browns all over and seals the falvours. I also make a "base" by sauteeing some diced onions or leeks with some carrot and celery in some olive oil. To this dish I also added a fresh chopped chilli and some pancetta. Once the base had become translucent I added my browned shanks in along with their juices. I then placed in a can of chopped tomatoes, about 2 cups of chicken stock and a decent amount of red wine to cover the shanks. My herbs of choice were some fresh thyme and oregano and a few bay leaves. Once this had come to a boil on the stove, I placed my "oven friendly" (no plastic handles!!!) pot into a pre heated oven. I let it sit in there for about 2-2.5 hours at 160 deg C. The result were soft, "fall of the bone" cooked shanks.
RECIPE FOR SOFT POLENTA
It's almost like watching a science experiment. The moment you take the polenta off the stove it starts to "firm" up on the plate. This is my quick and easy way to cook it.
- 2 cups of water
- 2 cups of full cream milk
- 1 cup of instant polenta
- 50 grams of butter
- 1/2 a cup of grated Grana Padano
- salt and pepper to taste
Place the milk and water n a medium heat and allow it to come to a boil. Stir in the polenta and stir very quickly with a wooden spoon. It will thicken almost instantly. Look for the consistency of mashed potatoes. Take off the heat an stir in the butter and cheese. Add salt to taste and heaps of cracked black pepper. You may wish to add more butter or cheese but don't over do it.
Scoop the polenta out of the pot and place it on the plate. Place shanks on top and garnish with the chopped parsley and lemon zest or "faux" gremolata.
Tropical Fruit Cups
One, two or three!
What do you do when you have leftover ingredients from the Joust? And a fridge full of unused fruit? You make fruit salad! Or as "modern" publications call them....Fruit Cups. Seriously though, its a good way to increase your fruit intake. Chop up a whole batch of fruit, squeeze some lime, add some passionfruit pulp add a good amount of thick Greek yogurt and top with freshly toasted coconut. The final touch is to grate some fresh lime zest. Aaaahhh...I'm dreaming of tropical temperatures again!
More Fruit Cups
I basically used what I had around. I chopped up some bananas and pears and squeezed some lime juice over them so they wouldn't go brown. Add some oranges, kiwi fruit and mango and voila! The real treat was the lime zest. It provided the right amount of "zing" and "zestiness". Mmmmm...and lets not forget the toasted coconut. Another added treat. I wish I could breakfast like this every day.
Add some lime zest...for that "extra" touch
Vanilla and Cardamom Rice Pudding
Rice puddings infused with vanilla, cardamom and topped with mango
Its time again for the Royal Foodie Joust. I've been participating in these for the last few months and I thoroughly enjoy them. You can read all about the joust here. The winner of last month's Joust, Michelle chose her three ingredients for the challenge. She opted for cardamom, brown sugar and mangoes. A very "exotic" combination! As usual, I stewed about what I was going to cook and only decided once the activities for Greek Easter had quietened down.
In the end I opted for individual rice puddings. Rice puddings are pretty much a staple in a lot of cultures. The Greek version, a.k.a. "rizogalo" uses cinnamon as the topping and is highly addictive. The Spanish have their version, known as arroz con leche, enriched with condensed milk. I love rice pudding and I wanted to somehow combine the Joust ingredients in one. After a bit of "research" I found a recipe that had featured over 7 years ago in a local newspaper and it utilised all of the Joust items. A bit of tweaking by moi and my version of the rice pudding was born.
Leave it infuse for at least two hours...
The original recipe called for regular full fat milk. I changed that and used a combination of coconut milk and water. Instead of using cardamom powder I crushed a few pods for a milder flavour. Overall, it was delicious but a little too rich for my liking. Its quite easy overall and once you mix all your ingredients you just "set it and forget it". For a couple of hours anyway. The final touch is to top it with freshly sliced mangoes and a brown sugar caramel! Its not for the diet conscious!
RECIPE FOR VANILLA AND CARDAMOM RICE PUDDING
* 1 cup of arborio rice
2 cups of coconut milk
2 cups of water
* 1 vanilla bean, split in half
* 1/3 cup brown rice syrup or sugar
* pinch of sea salt
* 3-4 cardamom pods, crushed
sliced mangoes
banana leaf for decoration
For the brown sugar caramel blend 2 tbsps of brown sugar with a knob of butter over a medium heat. Allow it all to melt and serve immediately.
Mix all the ingredients (except the mangoes and banana leaf) in a non reactive pot. Allow the mixture to come to a boil and then leave it on the lowest possible heat for about 2 hours. Stir it occasionally. We're looking at a gentle infusion of flavours. Most of the liquid should be absorbed and the mixture should resemble a very cooked risotto. Allow it to cool slightly and place in individual moulds. Turn out onto a plate that has been decorated with cut banana leaves. Top with sliced mango and drizzle with brown sugar caramel.
