Double Feature weekend - Chicken Tagine and Tiramisu..

Wow, what weekend of great food and cooking! Marty definitely got his groove back and decided to cook up a storm on Sunday! Chicken, Olive and Preserved Lemon Tagine followed by Tiramisu. I will say right up front I have never been a Tiramisu fan, but this one was unbelievably good. Not too heavy, beautiful flavours and quite simply to die for. The Chicken Tagine however I feel needs some work and a couple of adjustments, but to that later!

Before I go any further, here is the link for the Tiramisu recipe - because you have to go and try it: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/other-recipes/best-tiramisu. I'll run you through the tagine recipe, and also let you know what would be the variations we'd do now. I think after the Beef tagine was such a success, I expected the same from this dish. Not that it wasn't, it just wasn't what I'd been expecting. In most Moroccan dishes there's this beautiful balance of sweet and savoury and spicy, as was the beef with the prunes and the Moroccan spices. This one was much saltier - should have guessed it by the name I suppose - and there are are definite things that can be done the next time we make this - because there will be a next time - to improve on this first experience and make it a dish to remember. I've learnt from Marty that the most important thing about cooking is a little experimentation, and when you're trying something new and it doesn't work, it's best not to give up, but tweak and adjust because that's where a beautiful dish can come from. I mean, Jamie does is a cookbook all about tweaking and updating traditional recipes!

The first step in the tagine is the preparation of the chicken.To serve 4-6 the recipe calls for a whole chicken, skin-on and jointed into 4. The butcher would be able to do it, but you can generally buy it like this in a 'barbeque' style pack. Then you need to prepare a rub for the chicken to marinate in consisting of:

• 1 heaped tsp coriander seeds, bashed up
• 1 level tsp ground cumin
• 1 heaped tsp ground ginger
• 2 tbs olive oil
• seal salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix all of this together, put the chicken pieces into a large bowl and massage the rub into the chook, cover and allow to marinate for a couple of hours or preferably overnight.

When it's time to cook, you're going to brown the chicken in your casserole pot/tagine, and while that's happening you want to chop a fennel bulb into 8, chop a couple of onions, and get a good sized bunch of fresh coriander and cut the stalks off. That's the part you want to use. You can add these to the mix once that chicken is deliciously golden brown and mix around. Now here comes the exoticness! A good pinch of saffron, about 80gm of stoned black and green olives (1st bit of salt) and a preserved lemon, chopped up. 1 if it's homemade, 2 if it's store bought. Add about 500ml of hot stock, chicken and preferably organic, cover and simmer on a low heat for about and 1 and a half. It was more like 2 in the end. Keep an eye out and give it an occasional stir. Add water if it's starting to look dry, and if, when the chicken's cooked and it looks a little bit liquidy, let it blip away with the lid off for a little to thicken slightly (Jamie's words not mine! but it accurately describes the sound it makes!)

Serve with steaming couscous and a sprinkle of coriander leaves. It is such a simple delicious dish. However, whether it was the combination of cooking a little longer, preserved lemons being strong or the added olives I found it overwhelmingly salty. The lemons are preserved with salt - another subject for another post- so they have a lot going on already, and I did our homemade ones Marty's way without adding the cinnamon and bay leaves which would have helped to soften the flavour. They've also been preserving for about 3 months now so they're pungent. Next time I would only use half or a quarter instead of 1 for a more subtle taste. the olives themselves where salty, so the 3 variations I can see in the future are:
1. No lemons
2. No olives
3. No olives or lemons.

I'll get back to you on what combination worked best. I think that by halving the lemon and maybe the same for the olives will allow the rest of the dish to work without being overwhelmed by these strong flavours.

I have no variations for you on the Tiramisu, only to say it was simple to make - I helped with some of it, and absolutely delicious. the added egg whites to the mascapone meant that it wasn't a thick, heavy dessert and it wasn't overwhelmed with coffee and cream. I used freshly ground and percolated coffee as opposed to instant coffee and it made a lot of difference to a smooth and subtle taste.

Looking forward to hearing how it went when you make it!

Ciao xoxo

The Christmas Dessert showdown... Part 2.

Let me begin by quoting Jamie for this one, 'It's exotic, dramatic and absolutely delicious...' What chance did my humble trifle have? Marty made the amazing M'Hanncha with Date sauce and although I've searched for the recipe online, I must advise you to watch the series and grab the Jamie Does... cookbook. This is another nod towards Morocco, and another reason that we have to plan a holiday there in our future. Just another example from a fabulous place that they have some exciting and appealing cuisine.

This was a work of art when Jamie did it, and I'm sure with plenty of practice we'll get it looking the same, and although it wasn't an exact replica it was impressive. I have never seen anyone make quite so much mess though! The pictures tell a great story, and this was delicious days after warmed with ice-cream.

I also know that many chefs have tempers and are foul-mouthed, but I haven't heard one of them ever say those things to filo pastry before. Let's suffice it say that it was a b@#%ch to deal with! The method to make this is complex in the execution as it requires a quick hand to keep the pastry pliable, put the filling down, and then roll it into a snake shape. Frustrations abound. But it was delicious, dramatic and worthwhile, and sometimes a picture really does say a thousand words. Enjoy.

And that my friends is the finished product! Not quite the same as the picture in the cookbook, but super delicious!!

Ciao xoxo

Venetian steaks and Spanish Patatas Bravas!

So it was about a month ago since this particular meal, so I hope I can recall all the details! I do remember that I had been to the gym for a very strenuous workout, hadn't eaten well all day and by the time we needed to hit the supermarket, I was particularily 'hangry' (hungry + angry! Good phrase!!). The need for food and soon outweighed the lengthy discussions that would normally take place and with some beautiful ribeye on special - decision made! Now the recipe isn't online because it is 'dead simple' to quote Mr Oliver. Steak, olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic and some fresh rosemary rubbed over the steak. Pop it onto a grill/bbq/braai or a good grill pan on the stove and cook to your specifications! If you'd like to infuse the meat with loads more flavours, rub the meat with all the above, and put it all together and covered in the fridge for 5-6 hours.

From Jamie - some guidelines to cooking your steak: "As a general guideline, cooking the steak for 10 to 12 minutes will give you a blue to rare meat. 15 to 17 miuntes will give you rare to medium rare, and around 20 to 22 minutes will give you medium...Once cooked to your liking transfer to a plate for 5 miuntes to rest."

Now to make this dish Venetian Style it is best served with a great little salsa! What you'll need for the salsa is:
1 Fresh chilli
8 cherry tomatoes - I used fresh tomatoes from our tree and the pecorino ones you buy. the combination was good
1 clove of garlic, peeled
a smalll bunch of free flat-leaf parsley
a small bunch of basil - again from the garden:)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
50g ricotta or feta cheese. I used feta.

I'm using 'I' because Marty was making the potatoes at this stage, and I whipped up the salsa. Seasoning a la Ainsley, and lugging in the olive oil, my instincts kicked in and the taste was good! A bit of practice before I made my avocado dip the following weekend!

And now onto the potatoes! Well, these feisty little potatoes actually translate to 'fierce potatoes'. Kinda the way we were feeling having not eaten all day! Now, no matter where you go for tapas you will find these babies on the menu. A particular favourite that I've just had was at Hairy Canary on Little Collins St, a must for anyone that likes tapas! Now the recipe is alluding me and sleep is calling me so I'll update it fully tomorrow for you when I tell you about the fabulous chicken and avo wraps we did!

 2 stunning pieces of meat from the local butcher!

 These potatoes can be used as a great side dish for most meals as well, and we'll definitely be doing them with our next bbq!

The finished product!

Ciao xx

Some Sexy Buns on a Monday night

As promised! Some long overdue photos! I have so much to update you all on, Venetian steaks, fabulous salsas and guacamole and an impressive dessert. Plus a guest appearance from Gordon's trifle!

Be back soon! xx 

The Monday in question was a scorcher! With Marty determined to make these Swedish buns - they looked amazing on the Jamie does..Sweden episode of the series, I decided I would preserve lemons. No that's not a funny way of saying 'I'll believe it when I see it'. In the Moroccan chapter there was recipe for Preserved Lemons and so I picked up some lemons on special with all intentions of doing it while Marty had a few beers in the sun with the boys!

The lemons didn't make it into the jar until a week later and I'll post some pics of the process soon. I've got a month to find out whether that was a success or not! I followed Marty's adaptation of the original recipe and if it turns out good, bad or otherwise I'm going to make it the Jamie-way as well! Just waiting on another lemon special!

I digress. So super hot day, it was decided the barbeque needed to be lit and some friends popped over for butterflied lamb, new potatoes with loads of parsley (out of the garden!) and butter and a fresh garden salad. Before dinner he'd made the dough up so it could prove and double in size, and once it had cooled down outside he set to making these tasty morsels up.

It has got to be one of the messiest recipes to make, BUT they were worth it. These were the kind of buns I"ve only ever seen in a bakery and would never have imagined they'd be possible at home! Quite simply follow the recipe and instructions completely and you'll end up with Sexy Swedish Buns that look just like they're supposed to!

Heres the recipe http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/bread-recipes/sexy-swedish-buns tell us how you went! I enjoyed mine warm and actually had some ice-cream with it, and the next day I warmed up the leftover half and popped a little butter on it.

Pictures to follow! I still need to put them on the computer :)

The Beef Tagine

The 1st recipe we decided to tackle was the Beef Tagine http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/beef-tagine. We pulled our beautiful tagine pot out - a wedding present that hadn't been used yet - and got to it! We'd hit the supermarket just before and had hopefully picked up all the bits and pieces we needed. The recipe was easy to follow and do, with Marty making adjustments - as you do when you're a chef ;) and spicing it up as he saw fit!

We served it with Israeli couscous instead of Moroccan couscous for a change. The difference between these 2 is not just size. You cook the larger Israeli couscous as you would pasta and the flavour and texture is really tasty. As with any couscous - season!season!season! I popped open a bottle of Ante Barbera - yes it had an actual cork - and we hooked into it! It was as tasty and gorgeous as it looks and will definitely be done again! It would have fed 4 people, but it was so delicious that we went back for seconds and devoured the rest for lunch the next day!



And there you have the Beef Tagine. Give it a go, you don't need a tagine pot to do it, just a good casserole dish. I'd love to hear what you did and how it went. Especially if you tried something different and it worked! This is definitely a recipe that can be tweaked and played with for something different every time!

The next week Marty wanted to make the Sexy Swedish Buns! Not as rude as it sounds, but definitely something different. Stay tuned..