Eggs Benedict (and the Perfect Poached Egg)

Once again The Daring Kitchen has managed to challenge me with the very technique that I’ve been struggling with. Just the other day I was saying that the main reason I go out for brunch is to get perfectly poached eggs, so now that I’ve perfected the technique there’s no reason to leave the comfort of my home for brunch, right? Well, aside from creamy chai lattes that is...

Blog-checking lines: Jenn and Jill have challenged The Daring Cooks to learn to perfect the technique of poaching an egg. They chose Eggs Benedict recipe from Alton Brown, Oeufs en Meurette from Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan, and Homemade Sundried Tomato & Pine Nut Seitan Sausages (poached) courtesy of Trudy of Veggie num num.

Recipe: Eggs Benedict
Serves: 2
(printable recipe)
4 eggs (size is your choice)
2 Rossettes, halved (you can use English muffins, or any bun, or even 4 slices of bread)
Splash of vinegar (for poaching)
I small bunch of asparagus
1 tomato (roma if possible)
Salt and pepper to season
1 T Olive oil
For the hollandaise
2 medium egg yolks
1/2 tsp. (2.5 ml) water
1/8 tsp. (.75 ml) sugar
6 Tbl. (85 g/3 oz.) unsalted butter, chilled and cut in small pieces 
1/4 tsp. (1.25 ml/1.5 g) salt
1 tsp. (5 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
Pinch cayenne / black pepper (optional)

Halve the tomato, season with salt and pepper, and place on an oiled baking tray in a preheated 220 degree oven.  Fill a large saucepan halfway with water and bring to a simmer. Cut the chilled butter into small pieces and set aside.

Whisk egg yolks and 1/2 tsp. (2.5 ml) water in a mixing bowl large enough to sit on the saucepan without touching the water (or in top portion of a double boiler). Whisk for 1–2 minutes, until egg yolks lighten. Add the sugar and whisk 30 seconds more.

Place bowl on saucepan over simmering water and whisk steadily 3–5 minutes (it only took about 3 for me) until the yolks thicken to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat (but let the water continue to simmer) and whisk in the butter, 1 piece at a time. Move the bowl to the pan again as needed to melt the butter, making sure to whisk constantly.

Once all the butter is incorporated, remove from heat and whisk in the salt, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper (if using). Keep the hollandaise warm while you poach your eggs in a thermos, carafe, or bowl that you’ve preheated with warm water.

If the water simmering in your pan has gotten too low, add enough so that you have about 13cm (5 inches) of water and bring back to a simmer. Add salt and a splash of vinegar (any kind will do). I added about a tablespoon of vinegar to my small saucepan (about 3 cups of water/720 ml of water), but you may need more if you’re using a larger pan with more water.

Using a slotted spoon (or similar kitchen utensil) spin the water to create a whirlpool (about 7 full circle rotations should be enough). One at a time crack the eggs very gently directly into the centre of the simmering water (or crack first into a bowl and then gently pour into the water). The vortex you created by spinning the water helps to create neat, round eggs. Cook for 3 minutes for a viscous but still runny yolk – check the progress by lifting the eggs out of the water and prodding the egg, you want to feel a firm white but still have a soft feeling yolk.

While waiting for the eggs, quickly toast your English muffin and cook the asparagus spears for 2mins in boiling water. Remove tomato from oven (after 20-30 mins, you will see the skin start to retract and the tomato will take on a slight brown tone).

Place one piece of tomato and half the asparagus in each plate. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon, draining well and place one on each half of the rosette (or bun / muffin / bread), top with hollandaise and enjoy!

Food Photography Sydney brought to you by Pixelchicken.com, courtesy of Liz Laughton.

Savoury Souffle Recipe: Watercress and Parmesan Souffle

This months Daring Kitchen challenge had me revisit a previously unsuccessful dish – the Souffle. Ignited with encouragement and advise from the Monkeyshine-ers I tackled this dish with confidence and determination – and it paid off with some delicious, (almost) perfectly risen souffles. Gone are the days of the sou-flops!

 A souffle can be either savoury or sweet, and is a great example of just how wonderful and versatile the humble egg is in the kitchen. I mean those little beauties are just so damn useful! The basic principle of the souffle is that you seperate the eggs, use the yolks to create the ‘base’ (either roux-based sauce for savoury or a thick custard for sweet), then the egg whites are beaten into submission and added to the base just before baking. Baking sees the souffle rise magically, leaving you with a puffy creation that is deliciously firm on the outside and moiste in the middle.

Tips for a succesful souffle:

- The smaller the souffle baking dish the more likely it is to rise, I recommend starting with baking multiple individually sized portions and working your way up to a larger souffle – less likey to deflate!
- Mise En Place – get everything washed, chopped, measured and ready to go before you start the recipe. It’s important to work quickly when you make this recipe.
- Egg whipping edicate: Use room temperature eggs and make sure that the bowl and wisk (or mixer) is free of any greese, yolk, detergent etc as any interfeering substance will result in badly whipped egg whites.
- Temper the egg yolks before you add them to the base mixture, otherwise you run the risk of creating scrambled eggs when the cold yolkes are mixed with the hot base mixture. See how to temper eggs here.
- Oven edicate: the oven must be really well preheated, and fight the urge to open it during the cooking process. The loss of any heat during the crucial first 15mins of cooking will result in a deflated and sad souffle.

Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose Soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge! Dave and Linda provided many of their own delicious recipes plus a sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe found at the BBC Good Food website.

Recipe: Watercress and Parmesan Souffle
Makes 5 individual souffles (or 1 large, in a 1.6-2l baking tray)
(printable recipe)
2 Tbsp 1 oz/30g butter plus additional for the soufflé dish
3½ Tbsp (55 ml) 1 oz/30g plain (all purpose) flour
1 cup/8 fluid oz (240ml) milk
½ cup (120 ml) 2 oz/60g parmesan cheese, finely grated plus additional for the soufflé dish
1 cup (250ml) 2 oz/60g finely chopped de-stemmed watercress (can substitute spinach) – about 1 large bunch (this measure is the leaves after they’ve been washed, de-stemmed, and chopped)
4 large eggs, separated
½ tsp (2½ ml) (3 gm) (.1 oz) prepared mustard
¼ tsp (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) (0.05 oz) cream of tartar OR ½ tsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Butter the soufflé dish(es) thoroughly, then grate a small amount of cheese in each dish and tap so that the sides are evenly coated with the cheese. Place the dish(es) in the refrigerator until needed (according to some sites, this helps the soufflé climb).

Preheat the oven to moderate 350º F / 180º C / gas mark 4.

Wash and chop the watercress if you haven’t already.
Finely grate the parmesan cheese.

In a medium sized saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, then stir in the flour to make a roux. Cook 1 minute, then add the milk, a little at a time, and stir until just thickened, about 1 minute. Add the cheese and stir until it’s just melted. Remove from heat then add the watercress and salt and pepper.

In a larger pan, bring water to a gentle simmer. Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl set just over this water until pale and slightly foamy – about 6 minutes. (I held the bowl just above the simmering water to be sure I didn’t cook the eggs).

Mix the egg yolks into the watercress sauce.

Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until they form stiff peaks yet are still glossy.

Fold the egg whites into the sauce in 3 additions so that it’s evenly mixed, but you don’t lose too much volume.

Remove the soufflé dish from the refrigerator and spoon the mix into it. Use a spatula to even the tops of the soufflés and wipe off any spills.

Bake 25 minutes for small dishes or 40 minutes if using a large soufflé dish, then serve immediately.

How To Prepare Aubergines For Cooking

This simple ‘How To’ recipe will give you sweet, succulent aubergines (that’s eggplants to all the Australians out there) every time.

Until recently aubergine was a vegetable I loved to eat but I was never happy with it when I prepared it myself – it always had the tendency to have a slightly bland and bitter flavour. I’ve learned how to stop that from happening, and it’s a really easy process. You just soak the aubergine in salted water for 10minutes before cooking it and you have a lovely sweet tasting aubergine every time.

See my aubergine recipes for some great meal ideas.

How To: Prepare Aubergine
(printable recipe)
Aubergine
Salt
Water

Slice the aubergine in whichever way your recipe requires, then sit in warm well-salted (about 1tsp per litre) water for 10-15 minutes.  The aubergine is then removed, rinsed and dried (either in a colander if you have time to let it sit for 10 minutes or with a clean tea-towel or in a salad dryer) and used as you normally would. Guaranteed to improve the flavour of your aubergine dish.

Restaurant Review: Fattoria Di Titignano

http://www.titignano.com
+39.0763.308.000
Cuisine: Italian – Traditional Umbrian
Cost: $40 AUD per person all inclusive

A restaurant within a village owned entirely by Prince so-and-so of what-sit. No menu; 13 courses; drinks included. This is more than enough information to whet my appetite. It also fixed my expectation to the 'glamorous' and 'expensive' setting. Post-meal my appetite was indeed whet, flooded, gently rinsed then once again drenched. Though pleasantly my bank balance and non-designer clothes were both at home and well intact after my meal at Titignano.

Fattoria Di Titignano is the Agritourism (hotel, restaurant, food and wine producer) of Titignano, a charming microvilliage in the Umbrian hills not far from the Tiber valley.  Built 900yrs B.C and currently owned by the decedents of Prince Don Tommasio di Filippo Cosini, the Titignano castle and surrounding village houses are today an insular working village that boast a unique 'from the farm to the table' dining experience.

The term's 'prince' and 'no menu' evoked images of ladies that lunch, Gucci sponsored apparel and ours being the only car not to sport a soft-top.  Adversely the clientele resembled any other local Italian restaurant.  Galley tables housed 20 strong families with everyone in attendance from the 90-day-old to the 90-year-old.  Dress code varied from pool-wear (presumably the hotel guests) to Italian causal with just a whiff of Gucci.

Our table was politely ushered to another of the dining rooms that seated the smaller groups, as our party of four is clearly a mere shadow of an Italian lunch group. When seated and happily tucking into some Grechetto (Umbrian white wine) we notice that we are the only non-Italians in sight and instantly decide that we are indeed in for a treat. Our air of dining confidence does not dissipate through the meal; each course brings a new flavour, a new star ingredient and a new round of very appreciative noises.

Antipasto accounts for the first four courses; a herbed foccacia sandwich encasing spinach, sausage and cheese that is just the right mixture of crunch, cream and spice; wafer thin slices of cured meats; a trio of crostini; and aranchini set the tone for a very generous home style Umbrian feast.

Still digesting our antipasto we move on to the Sangratino wine and self congratulate our restraint at only accepting one encore of the antipasto dishes.  I am secretly worried that if all the courses are this delectable that I may regret wearing skinny jeans.

Seamlessly the precise and yet friendly waitresses (not a waiter in sight) arrive with two pasta dishes. Taggliatelline with truffles shines here and goes on to be the star of the meal for me.  The pasta, a smaller version of tagliatelle as the name suggests, is freshly made with a fluffiness that only home made egg pasta can give; the truffles are plenty without being overpowering and the absence of cheese is noted as a fabulous way to spotlight the woody flavour of the fresh black truffle.

Whilst I'm still communing on a higher plane about truffles the next courses arrive.  By this time reflex has taken over any real hunger and I am enjoying the flavours of the rare roast beef, pork with carrot and apricot glaze, passata with chickpeas and vegetable flan with less gusto than the previous courses.

Dessert is a fabulous Italian tribute; tiramasu with an extra gutsy coffee tang, dessert wine with biscotti for dipping, fresh summer fruits and strong black espresso. Hindsight offers this mutual advise to diners: resist the shiny breaded temptations served first and save some room for the hero's served in course seven through to ten.

By this time the dining rooms' previous medley of noise is muted save for the occasional heady raucous laugh, and our table descends from our mountainous feast with the dreamy quiet only the found in the truly content diner.  You walk away from this dining experience with just that; it wasn't just a meal it's a gastronomic marathon which we will remember as 'the big one of 2010'.  And my appetite? Drowned - it will be MIA for the next 18 or so hours...

Slow Cooked Peppery Pork Wine Stew

We've been inundated with rain for the past few days, which I've welcomed as it's a wonderful excuse to make a slow cooked stew. I have been reading Jamie's Italy and decided to make his Peposo - a famous Tuscan hunter's stew.  So I toddled off to the butcher and not until I arrived did I realise that my Italian (I'm at the point where I no longer need my phrase book for simple conversation) did not yet include butcher talk.  So after much gesticulation I walked away with a pork shin instead of a veal shin and the realisation that I'd need to change the cooking times somewhat.

The tradition behind this stew conjures up vivid images of hunting parties. Tough men-of-the-land living in the wilderness for weeks at a time; armed with nothing but their weapons, some wine and a pouch full of herbs. I envision them spending the afternoon skinning carcasses then carefully adding a pinch of pepper (pinky raised) to the bubbling pot with such finesse as to make you forget that they were blood splattered butchers not a minute before.

My re-enactment was somewhat less romantic, but the result was (I'm sure) just as rustic and fulfilling.  This recipe has a lovely strong flavour that works without being too overpowering.  You may shudder at the sheer volume of garlic and pepper in the recipe but I assure you that the flavours marry perfectly when the meal is cooked.  I enjoyed the meal with some fresh spinach leaves (just stirred them into the hot juices in the oven tray before serving as they cook so quickly) but for those with larger aspirations this would be lovely on chunky piece of bread or with roast vegetables.

Pre-cooking notes: Warning - cooking time 4 or 6 hours, so plan ahead with this meal.  Also, don't buy the cheapest of the cheap wine, my rule is that if you won't drink it you shouldn't cook with it.  Any overly-acidic flavours pre-cooking will negatively affect the dish post cooking so spend another couple of bucks. You won't regret it.

Recipe: Slow Cooked Peppery Pork Wine Stew
Serves 6 with accompaniment
Recipe adapted slightly from Jamie's Italy (Jamie Oliver)
(printable recipe)
2 kg pork shin
20 garlic cloves, peeled
4 heaped tbsp freshly ground black pepper
Sea salt to taste
5 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 btls Chianti or other fruity red wine
2 bay leaves
Accompaniment
Fresh spinach leaves and sliced crusty bread

Slice the meat into chunky slabs and get it all off the bone, preheat the oven to either 150 degrees (4 hours cooking time) or 100 degrees (6 hours cooking time).  In an oven proof pan, just large enough to fit all the ingredient, place a layer of sliced meat with a few garlic cloves one spoon of pepper and a little salt.  Add a couple of rosemary sprigs then repeat the layering process until all the ingredients are used. Next pour the wine over the top, add the bone and bay leaf and top up with water if necessary to cover the meat.

On the stove top bring the pot to the boil then cover tightly with a double layer of foil then place in the oven for your chosen time (depending on the temperature) or until tender.  Well-sealed foil will keep the moisture in the pot.

When the stew's done skim any surface fat and remove the bone, bay leaves and rosemary twigs. Taste and season if it needs it.  Serve with either: fresh spinach leaves and a slice of bread or some roasted vegetables.

Plum and Mulberry Tart

 

So I watched Julie and Julia and loved it.  From the opening sequence through the expected dramatic girl-looses-guy middle and on to the unexpectedly imperfect ending.  Julia Child's character is totally lovable: always hungry; graceful in a way that only large framed women can almost pull off; obsessed by butter. Lets just say I identified.

The film motivated me to refer to my own copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking and try my hand at soufflé. Now, the soufflé didn't work. In fact it was my grandest cooking failure to date. Totally inedible, not even my loving fiancé could manage to digest and lie to me.

On a positive note, the kittens enjoyed some (almost) posh nosh and now peer in the kitchen window obsessively. And I know where I went wrong: I was successfully halving the recipe right up until where you add egg yolks to the mixture at which stage I forgot to halve-sies, resulting in a very gluey, very sunken mess. Lesson learnt.

To cheer myself up I cooked a fruit tart and I plan to work toward re trying the sou-flop another day.  Being my first short crust pastry endeavour I stuck meticulously to the recipe and was not disappointed - and how could you be with all that butter? The key to a successful short crust pastry is not to let the butter melt too much, as that will result in a soggy, overly crumbly pastry. The filling I played with a little, using what was in the garden instead of buying something more traditional like cherries. I used wild plums (a smaller, more tart plum), mulberries and a little orange and the resulting flavour was a lovely harmony of sweet berry with sour plum. Yum.

Recipe: Julia and Oni's Italian Plum and Mulberry Tart
Makes 12 slices (an 8-9 inch tart)
(printable recipe)
Sweet Short Crust Pastry
150g flour
1.5 tbl castor sugar
1/2 tsp salt
120g chilled butter, cut into 1cm pieces
4 to 4.5 tbl cold water
Filling
120g granulated sugar
1/2 orange
100g mulberrys
500g Italian plums (you can use any plums, or you can substitute for peaches or apricots)

Making the pastry...

Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl, add the butter and rub it into the flour with your finger tips until the butter is all the size of oatmeal flakes. Do this quickly, and don't over blend as if the butter melts the pastry is spoilt and there's a step later that blends the butter more thoroughly.

Add the water (not all at once - you don't want the dough to get too moist) and mix quickly in a circular motion with one cupped hand, this will quickly gather the dough in a mass. The dough should just hold together and be pliable but not damp or sticky. Gather the dough, press it firmly into a rough ball shape and place it on a floured bench.

With the heel of one hand (not the palm - it's too warm) rapidly press the pastry by small clumps down the board away from you in a 10cm smear.  This is the final combination of the butter and flour. Gather the dough into a ball with a spatula, kneed briefly into a smooth ball, lightly flour and wrap in greaseproof paper. This needs to be refrigerated for 2 hours (or freezer for 1 hour if pressed for time), it can be left for a maximum of 3-4 days in the fridge if you like.

After refrigeration roll the dough out quickly on a lightly floured surface - you may have to whack it a few times to begin with if the dough's hard. Roll the dough into a circle about 5cm larger than your baking tray, then place it inside the buttered baking tray. There's a trick to this - flour the pastry, fold it into quarters then lay it in the tin and unfold it.

Press the dough lightly into the tin, lift the edges and work it gently 1cm down the edges of the inside of the tin with your fingers to create a thicker edge crust. Then press a decorative edge around the rim of the pastry with the dull edge of a knife, prick the bottom of the pastry with  a fork at 1cm intervals. Press some greaseproof paper into the base and sides of the flan and then scatter some dried beans of clean stones to provide weight that will stop the flan from bubbling.

The flan is baked at 200 degrees for 9 minutes, then the beans and greaseproof paper are removed, the tart base is pricked with a fork and it's returned tot he oven for 2-3 minutes.  It's ready when the shell is just beginning to colour and starting to shrink from the sides.

The filling...

The fruit it blanched, then peeled and cut into small pieces - the exact size is up to you.

Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of sugar on the tart base, then layer the fruit in a pretty pattern around the tart. Symmetrical designs work best. When completed, sprinkle the remaining sugar then cook at 190 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes - you will see that the fruit has coloured and that the filling has become syrupy.

Baked Savoury Figs

The lovely property that we're care-taking has four Adriatic fig trees that are giving, and giving, and giving. The figs are plump lovelies; sensual beauties with an understated sweetness and a beautiful yellow-green hue that are delicious eaten straight off the tree. But with such abundance, I decided to mix things up and try a savoury fig dish as well.

I’ve been reading Virtually Vegetarian, by the hailed pioneer or 'haute vegetarian cuisine' Paul Gayler. His frustration at the unimaginative vegetarian cuisine created by many chefs lead him to invent gourmet vegetarian dishes, and a real buzz around vegetarian cuisine in the 5-star arena (think Inigo Jones and Lanesborough on Hyde Park). I am not vegetarian but I do eat a lot of vegetarian dishes and I've devoured this lovely cook book. So naturally when I wanted to find a savoury fig recipe I ask Paul, and he answered loud and clear: Savoury Baked Figs.

This dish is very quick to make, and delicious. Flavour breakdown: the figs are sweet while the pecorino cheese is salty, and these contrasting flavours are given an extra dimension by the heat from the mustard seeds and pepper. Texturally: the spinach and fig are smooth and creamy and the almonds provide a crunch. What can I say - it's delectable. Even two professed fig-haters enjoyed it...i think that's a good thing...

Baked Savoury Figs
Recipe inspired by Paul Gaylers' Virtually Vegetarian
Serves 4 (alone as started or as a main meal with salad or other accompaniment)
(printable recipe)

1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp olive oil
30g onion, finely sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp almonds (flaked or finely chopped)
2 cubes frozen spinach
1/4 cup gruyere cheese
1/4 cup pecorino or parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
8 fresh figs

Grind the mustard seeds and dry fry them for 1 minute, in the same pan add the oil, garlic and onion and cook on low heat for 3 minutes. Add the almonds and spinach and cook for a further 5 minutes before taking off the heat, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste and adding 90% of the cheese.

Halve the figs from top to bottom, scoop out 2/3 of the flesh and add some of the flesh to the spinach and cheese mixture. Stuff the figs with the mixture and place them on a lightly buttered tray, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake for 10mins (until soft).

Sydney food blog brought to you by Oni Oost, Sydney, Australia. Pictures courtesy of Food Photography Sydney.