potionstopesto.blogspot.com: Cold weather dipping

Monday, June 14, 2010

Cold weather dipping

The promised birthday fondue happened this week, with a minimum of traditional style fondue eating guests in attendance. The quandary I had was what to serve as appetisers and desserts. My old fondue book, published in 1970 (in Australia) recommends cherries ‘a la kirsch,’ and various other fruits in combination with other types of alcohol. No mention of appetisers but it is recommended that you drink a glass of kirsch halfway through the meal. Only in the 70’s could you get away with thinking that bread cheese and alcohol was a balanced meal! Knowing Amita would heartily endorse this philosophy, I quickly hid the cookbook.

Poking around in the pantry, I pondered that as fondue was a cold weather meal, it would make sense to pair it with seasonal produce. Pecans, olives and Granny Smith apples are abundant at the moment. Warming food seemed to be the order of the day so I started with olives baked in red wine - a recipe I posted here this time last year. With the pecans I tried a recipe I had been told about by my friend Tova. It was one of those that had been enjoyed by her family for years. It didn’t really have quantities or times but sounded easy.

Here is what I did:

Roasted pecans in their shells

Pecans in shells

Sea salt

In a mortar and pestle or with a rolling pin, gently crack a split in the shell of each nut while preheating the oven to 180C.

Dissolve about 2 tsp of sea salt in a litre of warm water. You need enough brine to cover the nuts.

Soak the nuts, in their shells, in the brine for 5-10 minutes.

Drain.

Place the nuts on a baking tray.

Bake until the nuts have begun to toast, they will give off a nice toasty smell. Shake them once or twice during cooking.

Serve warm and let people shell their own.

These are really delicious as the nuts are soft, sweet and warm. Next time I would add a little more salt but you could have some on the side for serving.

For dessert, I stuffed some of the apples with some more pecans, processed with butter, home dried figs and brown sugar with cinnamon, baked and served with double cream for those too weak to refuse it!

It was a lovely meal and quick to prepare, the longest job was washing the greens for my salad which I had to make to reassure myself that everyone had eaten wisely as well as generously. I am happy to report there were no fondue fork injuries suffered!

Eat well,

nirala

1 comment:

mrtempehJune 15, 2010 at 4:54 PM
Just to let everybody know that I am still alive didnt die of duelling wounds or indigestion...
I survived another fabulous bithday dinner and sorry for and to all my friends who didnt share in this one hehehehe
thanks Nirala I hope you enjoyed your greenbits
love Amita
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Thanks for leaving a comment...always good to know that someone is reading and (hopefully) enjoying.

Baked Olives

Pickled Red Cabbage

2kg red cabbage (prize winner if possible!)
3 Tbsp salt
2 litres spiced vinegar, purchased or homemade.

Shred cabbage finely, layer one third cabbage in a ceramic bowl, sprinkle over one third salt and repeat twice.
Put a layer of plastic wrap over the cabbage and then a small plate.
On top of the plate put a heavy weight. A pot of water or a couple of bricks on top of a round chopping board work well.
Leave overnight and in the morning drain liquid and rinse well.
Put in steriised jars and cover with spiced vinegar.
Leave one week before eating with cold meats or cheese or as a side dish with bangers and mash.

One of my all time favourites - perfect for a quick meal on a cold day.

Chickpea and Chorizo Soup

1 onion diced
1 red chilli seeded and chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
420gm can of tomatoes, chopped
1 can water
2 tsp All Purpose Seasoning (see Seasonings)
1 chorizo sausage, cubed
1 can chickpeas, drained
150gm cabbage, sliced finely
Grated parmesan

1. Sauté chilli and onion in oil for 2 minutes, stirring.
2. Add tomatoes then water, sausage and seasoning powder and bring to the boil.
3. Add chick peas and cabbage and cook until cabbage is wilted.
4. Serve with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.
TIP
Use other beans if chick peas are not available, use two cans for a main meal dish. Broccoli, cauliflower or spinach can substitute for cabbage. This soup improves with age, I like it better reheated.

Lemon Mushroom Pasta

Serves 4.
Dressing
½ tsp chilli powder
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cm piece ginger, peeled and grated
¼ cup white wine vinegar
¼ tsp salt
⅓ cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp dark sesame oil
3 Tbsp olive oil

Pasta
400g dried linguine cooked according to the package instructions
300g fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 block tempeh, cut in 2cm squares (optional)
1 Tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 Tbsp spring onions, finely chopped
¼ Lebanese cucumber, sliced
1 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

1. Make the dressing by combining all ingredients, except for the sesame oil and olive oil in a food processor or hand blender. Run the blender for a few seconds, until all ingredients are combined. With the machine running, drizzle in the oils.
2. Heat a frying pan over high heat. Add the butter and oil and when the butter starts bubbling, add the mushrooms. Sauté on high for 3 minutes. Remove from pan.
3. Add more oil if needed and sauté the tempeh until brown.
4. In a large bowl, toss the cooked linguine with all the other ingredients and some of the dressing (to taste.)

Tempeh Pate

2 cloves garlic
1 onion
1 Tbsp butter
300g tempeh
2 eggs
3 Tbsp brandy or ¼ cup port
2 tsp mushroom soy
2 tsp vegemite or promite ½ tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp allspice
2 tsp chilli sauce
¼ tsp pepper
1 Tbsp sesame seeds

1.Saute chopped onion and garlic in butter until soft.
2. Place in food processor with all other ingredients except sesame seeds and process until smooth.
3. Pour into a small, well greased casserole dish. The pate needs to be at least 2 cm deep.
4. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and cover tightly with foil.
5. Bake at 180˚C for about 50 minutes until set. Remove foil and cook a further 5 minutes or until the top has browned slightly.