Hi everyone and welcome to the blog. This week’s blog is all about trying something you’ve probably not tried before, new taste sensations, but still continuing with the your good start to the new year with your resolution for a new, healthier you. The features recipes this week are Celeriac and Parsnip Soup, Malay-style Lamb Steaks and Pooky’s Pick Me Up. The spice of the week is Kaffir Lime.
My first recipe is Celeriac and Parsnip Soup, recipe courtesy of http://www.hipohyfryd.co.uk./
Celeriac is not the prettiest vegetable to look at, it‘s appearance is more like something out of a science fiction fantasy, rather than a wholesome and diverse vegetable. It is a kind of celery, grown as a root vegetable for its large and bulbous hypocotyl rather than for its stem and leaves. The swollen hypocotyl is typically used when it is about 10–12 cm in diameter; about the size of a large potato. Unlike other root vegetables, which store a large amount of starch, celery root is only about 5-6% starch by weight. Celeriac may be used raw or cooked. It has a tough, furrowed, outer surface which is usually sliced off before use because it is too rough to peel. Celeriac has a celery flavour, and is often used as flavouring in soups and stews; it can also be used on its own, usually mashed, or used in casseroles, gratins and baked dishes. It can be roasted like a potato, giving it a crispy edge.
This recipe serves 4, takes 10mins to prepare and can take approx. 40mins to cook, including blending time.
2 tbsp x Olive Oil
1 x Medium Onion – finely chopped
3 x Medium Parsnips – peeled and roughly chopped
1 x Large Celeriac - peeled and roughly chopped
1000ml x Organic Vegetable Stock
5 x Garlic Cloves - quartered
A Handful of Fresh Parsley - roughly chopped
Lemon Juice
½ tsp x Sea Salt
½ tsp x Szechwan Pepper (or 1 tsp x Fresh Black Pepper)
Fry the onion with the olive oil over a low/medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the parsnips and celeriac to the onions and fry for a further 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stock to the pan and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the parsley to the vegetables. Place the soup into the blender and whiz away until smooth. Once blended it may look too thick, add more hot stock or water until the soup has thinned to your liking. When I made this myself I added almost another litre of stock, as the fluid level had reduced during simmering and had caused the soup to thicken too much. Mix the lemon juice, salt and pepper to the pureed soup and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Add more salt and pepper to taste. This dish is delicious with fresh crusty bread.
My next recipe is Malay-style Lamb Steaks, recipe by Atul Kochhar, courtesy of Delicious Magazine February 2011.
This recipe serves 4, takes 20mins to prepare and can take 10mins to cook, plus marinating.
6 x Lamb Leg Steaks
FOR THE MARINADE
4 x Garlic Cloves
4 x Shallots
1 tbsp x Lemon Grass - sliced
1/2 tsp x Kaffir Lime Leaves – fine chopped
4 tbsp x Water
4 tbsp x Light Soy Sauce
4 tbsp x Tomato Ketchup
2 tbsp x Wine Vinegar
1/2 tsp x Ground Black Pepper
60ml x Runny Honey
FOR THE MINT DIP
100g x Cucumber
1 tbsp x Fresh Mint - chopped
1 tbsp x Fresh Parsley - chopped
1 tbsp x Lemon Juice
1 tbsp x Tabasco Sauce (or to taste)
1/2 tsp x Salt (or to taste)
125ml x Natural Yogurt
2 tbsp x Wine Vinegar
Trim the fat from the steaks, then pound them with a meat mallet to tenderise and flatten them. Dry the steaks with kitchen paper, then place in a shallow dish. To make the marinade, whizz the garlic, shallots, lemongrass and lime leaves to a paste in a food processor. Combine the paste with the rest of the marinade ingredients in a bowl, then pour over the steaks and coat well. Cover with cling film, then refrigerate for a minimum of 4hrs or preferably overnight. Meanwhile, make the mint dip. Peel the cucumber, halve it lengthways, remove the seeds with a teaspoon, then chop into thin slices. Combine the remaining ingredients in a medium-size bowl. Beat lightly with a hand whisk until well blended, then stir in the cucumber. Transfer to a serving bowl, then chill until ready to serve. Heat a griddle pan over a medium-high heat, then cook the steaks for 3mins each side, basting several times with the marinade. Set aside to rest for 5 minutes, then serve in slices with the mint dip alongside.
Spice of the week – Kaffir Lime (citrus-hystrix)
Harvested from a shrubby, evergreen tree native to Southeast Asia, the rind and leaves of the kaffir lime have long imparted a clean, citrus flavour to the dishes of the region. Kaffir lime is now also grown in Florida, California, and Australia. The English name kaffir may originate in colonial usage or be a corruption of another word; some cooks may prefer to call this spice by its Thai name, makrut lime.
Lime leaves are responsible for the tangy, citrus perfume of many Thai soups, salads, stir-fries, and curries. Grated rind goes into curry pastes, larp, and fish cakes. Both are used in some fish and poultry dishes in Indonesia and Malaysia. Always use fresh leaves when available and never use dried in a salad. Whole leaves may be removed from a dish before serving, but if leaves are to be eaten, for example as a garnish for a clear soup, shred them very finely – as fine as a needle – with a small, sharp knife. The leaves keep their flavour well when cooked. If you buy rind in brine, wash it well and scrape off the pith before using; shredded, dried rind is best soaked briefly before being added to slow-cooked dishes. The pith makes dried rind bitter, so use sparingly. To give a citrus flavour to a western dish, use leaves in chicken casserole, with braised or roasted fish, or in sauces to serve with chicken or fish.
The juice and rinds are used in traditional Indonesian medicine; for this reason the fruit is referred to in Indonesia as jeruk obat ("medicine citrus"). The oil from the rind has strong insecticidal properties. The juice is generally regarded as too acidic to use in food preparation, but finds use as a cleanser for clothing and hair in Thailand.
My last recipe for this week is completely my own creation. My fiancee (Pooky) was feeling alittle under the weather and asked me to make her a pick me-up... and here it is. Pooky's Pick Me-Up
This recipe serves 1 person, takes minutes to prepare and cook.
1 x Large Measure Dark Rum
1 x Lemon (juice of) & 2 slices
1 tsp x Clear Honey
1/2 x Cinnamon stick
Boiling Water
China mug
Whilst the kettle is boiling, cut 2 slices of lemon and cut the remainder in half (lengthways). Squeeze the juice into the mug. Pour in a large measure of Dark Rum and stir. Put the 2 slices into the mug. Add the honey and a measure of the orange cordial (according to taste). Add the boiling water and stir, then add the cinnamon stick and allow to infuse for a few minutes, remove the cinnamon stick and serve. Alternatively, whisky can be used in place of rum, however if this is the case increase the honey to counter balance the bitterness of the whisky Scotch or Irish Whiskey.
If you have enjoyed my blog, or have tried out the recipes I have included and wish to comment, please feel free to comment using the comment button or by visiting my guestbook, all comments and suggestions will be gratefully received.
Hope you enjoy!!..... ChefGarfy =D
http://chefgarfy.blogspot.com/
http://chefgarfy.blog.co.uk/
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