Author: PK
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Cheese: Sottocenere al Tartufo (truffle)
Sottocenere al Tartufo is a semi-firm, smooth vaccino (cow milk cheese) that hails from northern Italy.
As you can see it is studded with black truffle shavings and is coated in an inedible ash rind infused with herbs so as to flavour the cheese pate.
This cheese is full of flavour with a creamy umami finish. As you can guess it is not the cheapest of imported cheeses but it is well worth the price. As soon as I put it out it gets munched by my family. I feel lucky if I even get to eat some!
Milk
Cow
Origin
Italy
Aged
Yes, slightly.
Aroma
Spicy and savoury.
Taste
Mildly spicy with savoury goodness.
Texture
This cheese has a smooth but firm bite.
Look
Yellow smooth interior, flecked with truffle shavings, with no openness.
Serving
By itself or with other cheeses. Lots and lots of it!
Wine
No wine required except your favourite.
Here are some more posts about cheese:
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How To Make Chinese 5 Spice Mix
Chinese 5 spice is a must-have blend of sweet, sour and umami flavours. It imparts a red colouring when used as a dry rub, marinade and basting sauce. The perfect example of this is a roast duck or chicken basted with the 5 spice mix, soy and caramel cooking sauce.
I couldn’t find it in my local grocery stores. That’s OK as I prefer to make my own spice mixes from bulk bought ingredients.
Most recipes call for a mix of cloves, cinnamon, fennel seeds, star anise and Sichuan peppercorns but there are many variants.
Note: I had to substitute the Sichuan peppercorns for a mix of coriander seeds and black peppercorns (an established substitute).
Simply
Add this list of spices to a herb blender and mix until you get a rough but even consistency:
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp coriander (cilantro) seeds
- 1 tsp cloves, whole
- 1 tsp cinnamon, ground
- 0.5 tsp black pepper, ground
- 2 star anise seed pods, whole
Storing
Use any airtight container.
Enjoy,
PK
Here is some more Chinese cooking content and a wide range of spice blends :
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Avocado, Cheese And Pine Nut Pasta Salad
The creamy avocado paste, grana padano cheese and pine nuts make this cold pasta salad a real hit. Throw in some cherry tomatoes to make the colours pop and you will have an irresistibile crowd pleaser.
I’ve used tagliatelle here but it works well with short pasta shapes like fusilli.
Simply
Cook about 120 grams of tagliatelle until al dente. Whilst the pasta is cooking, mix an avocado with some garlic infused olive oil and a handful of grated cheese in a blender.
When the pasta is cooked add it and some of the pasta water to the avocado mixture. Gently fold the pasta through the paste until you have an even coating.
Throw in a handful of cherry tomatoes, a generous amount of pine nuts and chill the salad until serving time.
Serving
I make this for family barbeques and eating al fresco on hot Perth summer nights.
It doesn’t seem to matter how much I make. There is never anything left 🙂
Enjoy,
PK
Here are some more pasta recipes and pasta shapes:
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Chive And Garlic Oil Seasoning
Chive oil is a great way to add a zing to a wide range of dishes.
It is so easy to make and extends the life of your fresh chives for weeks in the fridge. See how below 🙂
Simply
Take a good handful of chives, wash them and pat dry. Now add them to a blender with your choice and quantity of oil. I used mostly pure olive oil with a splash of garlic infused olive oil.
I went for this ratio to get a real kick.
You can use it straight away and store the rest it in the fridge.
Here is a little tip if you are using the oil where you don’t want to add extra water. Wait for the paste to separate (see left picute below) and then scoop the tiny fraction of water that will rise to the top. Then shake and you are good to go for salads , toasted sandwiches and the like.
Serving
It might be easier listing where this paste can’t be used 🙂
However here are some of my favourite uses:
- drizzled on pizzas, toasted sandwiches etc
- mixed through pasta and noodles
- on cheese platters
- a dipping sauce for spring rolls, chicken wings, wontons ….
- drizzled on salads
Enjoy,
PK
Here are some more cooking ingredients and and a range of my favourite sauces:
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What Does The Cooking Term Maceration Mean?
Maceration is the technique of soaking fruit or vegetables in a liquid. This liquid is often their own juices that are drawn out using salt and or sugar. The goal of maceration is to enhance flavour, improve texture and aid in digestion.
A good example is Friggione, an Italian slow cooked tomato and onion relish where the onions are macerated for 4 hours. The drawn out water is retained in the dish for flavour and the onions take on a creamy texture when cooked.
You can also use this technique on vegetables that have a high water content such as egg plant or cabbage. Cooking these types of vegetable can make them become a soggy mess.
Macerating cabbage for 30 minutes is great for salads too.
Simply
Use a colander with a bowl underneath to catch the juice. Sprinkle some salt and sugar on the cabbage.
Discard the water that is extracted.
Rinse the cabbage and pat dry to get nice crispy shreds with an enhanced flavour.
Enjoy,
PK
Here are some more cooking techniques:
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Basic Kitchen Skills: Broiling And Grilling
Broiling and grilling refer to very similar processes in the kitchen or outdoor cooking scenario. Both involve placing food near strong heat sources and turning the food to cook one side at a time. Both methods cook the food relatively quickly and are considered somewhat healthy as the fats and juices drain away.
So what’s the difference?
Broiling generally refers to cooking food using a heat source above the food:
Photo by Louis Hansel @shotsoflouis
Grilling sees the heat source below the food like on this barbecue:
Enjoy,
PK
Here are some more cooking techniques:
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Cheese: Grana Padano
Grana Padano is a hard cow milk cheese that hails from northeastern Italy. Like Parmigiano-Reggiano, Grana Padano is aged and is similarly grainy in texture and flaky. Indeed, grana in Italian means grain.
It is full of flavour with a distinct but pleasant bight.
As such it is the perfect table cheese and can also be used in salads, sandwiches and grated on stews and pasta. The list is endless.
Milk
Cow
Origin
Italy
Aged
Yes, 16 months to 2 years.
Aroma
Fruity and savoury
Taste
Deep savoury goodness.
Texture
Hard gritty texture but not as much as Parmigiano-Reggiano. Very crumbly.
Look
Yellow interior with little to no openness.
Natural straw-coloured rind.
Serving
Grana is so versatile you can use it anywhere. I even love munching on it as I cook.
And of course any and all pasta 🙂
Manufacturing and Salting Method
Handmade/traditional cheese making methods are used. The curds are partially cooked, then pressed into moulds, dry salted and finally brine salted prior to a long ageing process.
Wine
Cheese.com says ‘ Wines such as Barolo, Zinfandel or Gavi white wine make a perfect match.’
Here are some more posts about cheese:
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Italian Crumbed Chicken Fillets
I got this Italian styled crumbed and shallow fried chicken breast recipe “Petti di pollo impanati e fritti” from my favourite Italian cooking website Giallo zafferano.
The chicken breast fillets are marinated in lemon juice, olive oil and parsley for several hours and then coated in breadcrumbs.
The result is moist tender chicken with a noticeable citrus taste and aroma. Heaven.
Steps
- Marinating the chicken
- Coating the chicken
- Shallow frying
- Serving
Equipment
- 1 chef’s knife
- 1 bowl or plastic bag for the marinade
- Several plates
- 1 frypan
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, skinless, cut into 4 fillets length-ways
- Flour, enough to coat the chicken breasts
- breadcrumbs (I used panko)
- 6 Tbsp olive oil
- 60g butter
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp grated parmigiano/parmesan or grana padano (optional)
- Juice of a small lemon
- 1 – 2 Tbsp parsley. finely chopped
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Marinating the chicken
- Combine in a bag (or bowl) the juice of 1 lemon, 4 Tbsp of oil, the chopped parsley and black pepper to taste.
- Add the chicken fillets , close the bag and gently massage it until all the meat is covered by the marinade.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Coating the chicken
- On each plate put the ingredients required to coat the chicken.
- One plate each for the flour, the whisked egg (with finely grated cheese mixed in if you like) and finally the breadcrumbs.
- Place each fillet in the flour and turn it over to coat each side.
- Do the same in the egg and then again in the breadcrumbs.
- Pop the now coated fillets back in the fridge if you are preparing ahead of time.
Note: the crumbed fillets can be frozen at this point.
Shallow frying
- Over medium heat melt the butter and oil in a frypan until the butter starts to foam.
- Reduce the heat and cook the crumbed fillets until they are golden brown and cooked through (~10 minutes each side).
Serving
My suggestion is to serve them with a green salad and some potato thins. They also make for an awesome chicken and salad sandwich.
Enjoy,
PK
Here are some more Italian cooking content and a wide range of chicken recipes :
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Looking For Inspiration In The Kitchen?
Perhaps, like me, you are always looking for something new to make.
When I start thinking about my next dish I might start with a main ingredient in mind and go from there. It is just as likely though that I feel like a particular cuisine or I just discovered a new cooking technique……I tend to go through phases 🙂
With the cards below I have tried to group the blog’s ‘cook it’ posts in the hope it helps you try something new or remember an old favourite.
Enjoy,
PK
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Soga Citrus Lever Hand Press Review
As usual around this time of year I am drowning in lemons, limes and oranges. A great problem to have!
Apart from eating them fresh you can do so much with them. Making jars of preserved citrus, drying slices of them and making home-made salad dressings are just a few examples. I have many more here.
Best of all is making fresh juice and lemonades. I’ve had a variety of presses and juices over the years but they are either hard work and or messy. So this year I bought a Soga hand operated lever press that makes short work of any citrus glut. I am not endorsed to say this but I love it because it doesn’t use electricity, is not made from plastic and actually cleans up as easily as advertised.
The unit is well made and has a nice heavy stable base. The lever action is powerful, you don’t even need to cut the larger fruit into pieces.
Just look at how much juice was extracted from this lemon:
It breaks down easily for cleaning. The metal sieves wash up easily in soapy water and I wipe the rest of the press down with a wet cloth.
So, any negatives?
I am keeping an eye on the bolts that hold the lever in place. I noticed a bit of surface rust after a few months. So I am protecting them with a bit of olive oil after each use.
At the end of the day though I feel that I have tried everything else including electrical cold press juicers but I prefer my hand press for a steady supply of cold juice.
I hope my review helps you,
PK
Here are some more of my reviews:
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