Culinary tips I didn't know...
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AlexandraCarlyle
Posts: 1,603 Member
...about, until recently.
Item one: I watched a UK cookery programme recently, and the host travels to different countries for a 'long weekend' (I'm sure filming alone takes a fortnight!) then brings back wonderful recipes from those countries to try at home. Recently, he visited Reykjavik, in Iceland. They like to use whey liberally, in their dishes, to add tartness, flavour, substance and goodness to them. White wine can be a substitute, but it just ain't the same, and the flavour is subtly different. This is good news for me, because I make a lot of cream cheese out of my spare home-brewed Kefir, and often wonder how to use up the whey. To be honest, up to now, I've just been drinking it!
In Iceland, they also use copious quantities of butter - another point in their favour!
A great recipe is this one:
Cod Gratin with a Béarnaise sauce topping.
(Yes, I know it contains flour. But honestly, very little so I think the carb content from this will be negligible. As ever, if you want to use a different thickener, go ahead. If I substitute, I'd probably use finely-ground flax seed with (ditto) chia seeds, or even buckwheat flour, which is better than grain flour. Still contains carbs, but the fibre and protein are better.)
Ingredients
2 leeks, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 onion, chopped
40g/1½oz butter, plus extra for greasing
600g/1lb 5oz i]really good, fresh quality[/i cod loin, skinned and cut into 3cm/1in chunks
2 tbsp plain flour (see note, above)
50ml/2fl oz dry white wine (See post, above)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Béarnaise sauce:
70ml/2½fl oz white wine vinegar
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 sprigs fresh tarragon, plus 1 tsp freshly chopped
1 bay leaf
6 peppercorns
4 free-range egg yolks
300g/10½oz unsalted butter
Method
Gently fry the leeks, carrots and onion in the butter until softened and starting to caramelise.
Add the cod and flour and stir over the heat for a minute or two.
Stir in the whey/wine and cook for another minute to allow the sauce to thicken a little. Season with salt and pepper.
Turn off the heat.
For the béarnaise sauce, gently heat the vinegar in a saucepan.
Add the shallots, tarragon sprigs, bay leaf and peppercorns.
Heat gently over a medium heat until the volume of liquid has reduced by at least half.
Strain and set aside until cooled.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 and butter a shallow ovenproof dish.
Beat the egg yolks with a teaspoon of water.
Stir the mixture into the strained, cooled vinegar and pour into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Make sure the base of the bowl isn't IN the water in the pan!
Whisk constantly until the sauce has increased in volume and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
During this process, melt the unsalted butter in a saucepan.
Remove the bowl from the heat and slowly pour in the melted butter in a steady stream, whisking continuously, until the mixture has thickened and is smooth.
Fold in the chopped tarragon and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Spoon the cod and vegetable mixture into the ovenproof dish.
Pour over the béarnaise sauce and bake in the middle of the oven, for 15-20 minutes. No more, or the cod will toughen.
Bon appetit!
(If anyone would like to add a Culinary "Well, I never knew THAT!" comment, feel free! We're here to learn!)
Item one: I watched a UK cookery programme recently, and the host travels to different countries for a 'long weekend' (I'm sure filming alone takes a fortnight!) then brings back wonderful recipes from those countries to try at home. Recently, he visited Reykjavik, in Iceland. They like to use whey liberally, in their dishes, to add tartness, flavour, substance and goodness to them. White wine can be a substitute, but it just ain't the same, and the flavour is subtly different. This is good news for me, because I make a lot of cream cheese out of my spare home-brewed Kefir, and often wonder how to use up the whey. To be honest, up to now, I've just been drinking it!
In Iceland, they also use copious quantities of butter - another point in their favour!
A great recipe is this one:
Cod Gratin with a Béarnaise sauce topping.
(Yes, I know it contains flour. But honestly, very little so I think the carb content from this will be negligible. As ever, if you want to use a different thickener, go ahead. If I substitute, I'd probably use finely-ground flax seed with (ditto) chia seeds, or even buckwheat flour, which is better than grain flour. Still contains carbs, but the fibre and protein are better.)
Ingredients
2 leeks, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 onion, chopped
40g/1½oz butter, plus extra for greasing
600g/1lb 5oz i]really good, fresh quality[/i cod loin, skinned and cut into 3cm/1in chunks
2 tbsp plain flour (see note, above)
50ml/2fl oz dry white wine (See post, above)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Béarnaise sauce:
70ml/2½fl oz white wine vinegar
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 sprigs fresh tarragon, plus 1 tsp freshly chopped
1 bay leaf
6 peppercorns
4 free-range egg yolks
300g/10½oz unsalted butter
Method
Gently fry the leeks, carrots and onion in the butter until softened and starting to caramelise.
Add the cod and flour and stir over the heat for a minute or two.
Stir in the whey/wine and cook for another minute to allow the sauce to thicken a little. Season with salt and pepper.
Turn off the heat.
For the béarnaise sauce, gently heat the vinegar in a saucepan.
Add the shallots, tarragon sprigs, bay leaf and peppercorns.
Heat gently over a medium heat until the volume of liquid has reduced by at least half.
Strain and set aside until cooled.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 and butter a shallow ovenproof dish.
Beat the egg yolks with a teaspoon of water.
Stir the mixture into the strained, cooled vinegar and pour into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Make sure the base of the bowl isn't IN the water in the pan!
Whisk constantly until the sauce has increased in volume and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
During this process, melt the unsalted butter in a saucepan.
Remove the bowl from the heat and slowly pour in the melted butter in a steady stream, whisking continuously, until the mixture has thickened and is smooth.
Fold in the chopped tarragon and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Spoon the cod and vegetable mixture into the ovenproof dish.
Pour over the béarnaise sauce and bake in the middle of the oven, for 15-20 minutes. No more, or the cod will toughen.
Bon appetit!
(If anyone would like to add a Culinary "Well, I never knew THAT!" comment, feel free! We're here to learn!)
5
Replies
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Am making this next week, after shop day. If I can't find cod, I'll use a suitably chunky substitute. Pictures WILL follow!0
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Bacon wrapped avocado eggs
(Yes you read right, a way to make avocado's even more amazing)- 1 extra large avocado
- 1 egg (I use small or medium, remember you are filling in the pit hole)
- Streaky bacon 7ish is what I use, you might want less or more, depending on the size of your avocado.
Toss your egg in simmering water for six minutes, then transfer it into a bowl of ice water.
Slice the avocado in half and remove the skin carefully (you'll want the green stuff to maintain its shape). Pull out the pit to make a little egg hole (you can scoop more if the pit hole is too small).
Peel your egg carefully and drop it in the center of the avocado, then put the two halves together.
Lay five (more or less, depending on the avocado size) strips of bacon side-by-side and roll that avocado up in the good stuff.
Take two additional slices of bacon and roll them around the top to seal it all off.
Fry the thing in a pan, starting with the loose ends of the bacon to make a seal. It takes about 10 mins. Turn it around constantly so it's cooked evenly, then cut it open and dig in. At the right heat (I use gas so no temperature gage) the outside will be crispy, and the egg still runny (Unless you hard boil it)
Put it on your plate, and digg in OMG!!!3 -
Bacon Wrapped Jalepeno Poppers (or, as we've come to call them, bacon wrapped cheese canoes)
Jalepenos
Cream cheese
Bacon
(Amounts depend entirely on how many you want to make. 1 slice of bacon is usually sufficient for each jalepeno.)
Cut bacon in half.
Slice peppers in half lengthwise. Remove seeds.
Fill hollow area with cream cheese (this works best a little soft).
Wrap peppers in bacon. It's okay to stretch the bacon a little to get them wrapped.
Place on a hot skillet, cheese side down first, until bacon is cooked to crispness on down-facing side. Flip and cook until bacon is done (the bacon on the sides might be a little under done, feel free to cook them on the side a little if needed).
Try not to eat them all.2 -
I mix cheddar in the cream cheese for the above recipe -- totes delish0
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I was a food network junkie, wanna be chef. I found a dvd series that gives a close to culinary school experience. Its reasonable price as well.
https://m.ebay.com/itm/DVD-Cooking-From-A-to-Zest-Jon-Manning-Acceptable-Cond-Kierstin-Buchner/401381436963?epid=101769756&hash=item5d7432ae23:g:w9oAAOxylpNTUA8S
Im still no chef but really helps the skills.1 -
tcunbeliever wrote: »I mix cheddar in the cream cheese for the above recipe -- totes delish
Ground Sausage or seasoned ground beef is another great add in - with or without the cheddar!0
