Nigella's Pea Risotto

We are forever stealing risotto recipes from Nigella Lawson's How to Eat cookbook, but this one is so good we can't help it. Unfortunately, I bought the book while living in England so none of the metric measurements have been translated into the more familiar American cups and ounces. Normally I would do that for you before posting the recipe online, but today I say "It's time for you to buy a scale!" A simple, cheap, mechanical version will suffice. You should be able to find them at any vast box selling merchandise.

Pea Risotto

serves 2
60 g unsalted butter
2 liters stock (chicken or vegetable)
150 g frozen peas
one small onion, small dice
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
200 g Arborio rice
80 ml dry white wine
2 Tbs. parmesan
nutmeg*

In a small saucepan melt 1/3 of the butter on low heat. To this add the peas and cook for 2 minutes. Meanwhile warm the stock on a neighboring burner and hold it there. Add 2 ladelfuls of stock to the peas, cover, and cook for five more minutes. In a large skillet, melt another 1/3 of the butter. To this add the evoo and onion. When the onion is translucent, add the uncooked arborio rice and stir to cover the grains in fat. They will glisten and become clear at their tips. Add the wine to the pan and allow it to bubble away. When the rice is almost dry (take care that it isn't sticking to the skillet) begin adding the warmed stock a ladleful at a time allowing the rice to absorb the liquid between additions. You will continue in this way until all the stock has been added stirring the risotto from time to time to ensure it cooks evenly.
Now for the peas that have been patiently waiting. Ladle half of the mixture into a blender and pulse until it is pureed. Add this puree and the whole peas with their cooking liquid to the risotto near the end of its cooking time.
When all the stock has been added taste the risotto for doneness. It should have the consistency of al dente pasta. If it is still undercooked, make more stock and continue adding it. If it is finished, go ahead and add the parmesan cheese, the last 1/3 of the butter, and a quick grating of nutmeg. Viola!

*Nutmeg is one of those spices like pepper that loses much of its impact in powdered form. Buy it whole and grate it when needed. Another tip, it can usually be found more cheaply packaged in bags alongside the plethora of Mexican goods sold in most southwest stores. However, it needs to be stored in a glass container at home to protect and preserve it.

Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo

Here is something we tried the other night when we were bereft of groceries and willpower, but not inspiration...no! Tyler wanted Fettucini Alfredo with roasted red pepper, and we thought, why not puree the pepper and fold it into the sauce? We were pleasantly surprised.

1 red pepper, roasted, skinned, seeded and pureed

1 cup heavy cream

2 Tbs. butter, unsalted

1/2 cup parmesan

1/2 pound fettucini

salt and pepper

variations

add fresh basil

try red chili flakes for a spicy dimension

add shrimp to the pasta

use fusilli instead of fettucini

or maybe cheese ravioli...

Under the broiler in the oven, roast the red pepper turning occassionally until the skin is burnt and blistered. Remove pepper from the oven and either place it in a sealed ziploc bag or simply in a bowl with a kitchen towel over top. This will trap the steam and encourage the skin to separate from the pepper. Leave it to steam for five minutes, then under running water (some would argue that this sacrifices flavour but I say, "boo!") slough off the skin, remove the stem and seeds. Puree the pepper in a Cuisinart with 1/2 Tbs. of butter. Begin boiling water for the pasta in a large pot, when at a boil add a generous amount of salt to the water. (Marcella Hazan says pasta should be cooked in water that tastes like the sea, she's right.) Add the pasta to the sea water. In a large saucepan warm the remaining butter and cream on medium heat. You are looking for the cream to lose a little moisture and thicken slightly. Fold in the red pepper puree, and parmesan cheese. Once your pasta is al dente add it to the saucepan as well and toss it to coat it in the sauce. Voila!

Seafood Linguini with a Curried Cream Sauce

Oh my goodness! We found this recipe online at epicurious.com, and it is amazing. It always illicits a second helping. It would be a good dinner to roll out at a party and impress your friends. And it has the added bonus of being easy enough to fix on a work night. The flavours, however, are a little unusual and they may not suit everbody's pallette.

Curried Seafood Linguini
2 Tbs. evoo
1/2 cup shallots, small dice (about 4)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
8 large shrimp, peeled and deveined (20 count)
6 oz crabmeat
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 3/4 cup chicken stock
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 Tbs. curry powder
a pinch of saffron threads
1/2 cup of cream
1 pound linguini or fettucini
salt for the pasta water

Prepare your shrimp and chop your shallots and garlic. Warm your chicken broth and pour 1/2 cup of it into a bowl that contains the 2 tsp cornstarch. Stir well to combine and set aside. Put the pot of water on to boil for the pasta. When it is ready add a generous amount of salt 2 - 3 Tbs. and the pasta. Heat the evoo in a medium to large skillet on medium heat. Begin by sauteeing your shallots and garlic stirring often until they soften. Add the shrimp and cook for a minute. Add the crabmeat and stir to combine then add the white wine. Allow the wine to simmer and boil off until only a few tablespoons of moisture are left in the pan. Add your warm chicken stock and your chicken stock with cornstarch and stir to combine. Bring the sauce to a boil and lower the temperature to a simmer letting the sauce cook for a minute until you notice the cornstarch thickening the sauce. Add the Tbs. of curry powder, the pinch of saffron threads, and the 1/2 cup cream and allow the mixture to warm up. Hopefully, your pasta is ready or almost ready at this point. Drain the cooked pasta in a colander and return it to the large pasta pot off the heat. Add the sauce on top and stir to coat the pasta in the tasty goodness. Voila!

German Potato Salad

I'd like to think it's the best potato salad in the world, but Tyler disagrees. He hates it prefering a mayonnaise based dressing instead. But this is the kind of salad I remember my mother making - the salty crunch of the bacon, the pucker-inducing bite of the vinegar... all mellowed by the smooth creamy flesh of the potatoes. Let me know what you think

"The best potato salad in the world"...
3 pounds small/creamer potatoes (the itty bitty baby ones that sell for $3 a pound).
3 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, rough chopped
2 onions, sliced thinly (if you want, but I can't stomach raw onions)
5 strips bacon
1 Tbs. sugar
1/3 cup evoo
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 tbs. water

Do all your chopping while you cook your eggs and your bacon. Wash you potatoes, put them in a generous amount of boiling water, and boil them until they are tender enough to pierce with a fork - about 15 to 20 minutes. Combine your eggs, bacon, celery, and onions (if using). To them add your sugar, salt, pepper, and evoo and stir gently to combine. When the potatoes are ready drain them and transfer them into a bowl large enough to accomodate the entire salad. In a small saucepan combine your vinegar and water and bring to a boil. (I have no idea what this step does except maybe take the bite out of the vinegar or perhaps the heat causes the potatoes to better absorb the acid...) Once the vinegar is warm pour it over the hot potatoes and toss them to coat. Now add your veg/egg/bacon/s&p mixture to the vinegary potatoes. The salad is ready to serve at this point and, I think, at its best with warm fluffy potatoes and contrasting cold crunchy celery, bacon, and eggs. Enjoy!

Tuscan Chickpea Soup

It really can't get any easier than this. This soup takes about 30 minutes from start to eating. It has relatively few ingredients so the focus is on buying the best you can afford.

Tuscan Chickpea Soup
1/4 oz. pancetta, medium dice
2 Tbs. evoo
1 onion, peeled, medium dice
4 cloves garlic, peeled, rough chopped
2 celery stalks, medium dice
6 sage leaves
1 quart chicken stock
1 14oz. can diced tomatoes
1 14oz. can chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper
really good olive oil (not meant for cooking but for eating raw)

*Notes on substitution: You can substitute bacon, but pancetta is the best option. It is unsmoked, and usually of a higher quality that most supermarket bacon. The pancetta will render lots of gorgeous fat into the soup that gives it a wonderful mouth feel.
Strangely, pancetta and sage seem to be seasonal - at least in Arizona. I made this soup last night and found it impossible to locate either item at the local shops. I did use bacon (shock, horror); and found that rosemary made a good change from the sage. However, because rosemary is stronger in flavour I only used three 3 inch clippings from our plant in the backyard.

On medium heat warm the evoo (extra virgin olive oil) add the pancetta and render the fat before adding the celery, garlic, sage and onion. Allow the veg to sweat and soften for about 15 minutes. They will color a little, but I found this is a lot of food for my stockpot and the crowding lowered the temperature and let the vegetables get steamy. This is okay.
Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, and chicken stock to the soup and allow everything to heat through - about 10 minutes. Viola! (I said it was easy.) Season to taste with kosher salt and please, freshy cracked pepper.
Eat the soup with crusty bread and a good drizzle of the olive oil overtop. We also sprinkled our bowls with strips of proscuitto we had languishing in our refrigerator.

Ibarra Chocolate Cookies

Finally a post to match the title of the blog...a "recovering pastry chef" recipe. This is my own recipe - a double chocolate cookie that we used to make in the bake shop at the Sheraton. It has Ibarra chocolate in it which is actually a Mexican hot drinking chocolate that you can find in most grocery stores. You will just need a good food processor - Cuisanart etc, - to help you pulverize it into dust.

Yield: about 5 dozen

4 1/3 cups All purpose flour

1 cup sifted cocoa powder

2 tsp. Baking powder

2 tsp. Baking soda

2 tsp. salt

2 cups softenend butter

2 cups sugar

2 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

3 tbs. vanilla

3 cups semi sweet choc chips

2 cups Ibarra chocolate, pulsed in a processor

Preheat oven to 300 F.

Sift together the dry ingredients - flour, cocoa, baking powder and soda, and salt.

In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer cream the butter and both sugars together at medium speed until combined (about 3 minutes). Crack the eggs into a small pitcher and whisk them quickly to break up the yolks to this add the 3 Tbs. vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the eggs onto the butter waiting for the two substances to combine before continuing to add the eggs. Halfway through the addition of your eggs it is a good idea to thoroughly scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl for even mixing. Next you will add your dry ingredients. If your bowl is smallish (most likely the case if you are using a stand mixer) turn the mixer off and add 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Quickly turn the beater of the mixer on and off three or four times to work in the flour then make your next addition. You simply don't want to throw the mixer on high and get covered in flour. You also don't want to let the mixer run with the flour in the batter and build the gluten - this will toughen your cookies. So mix the flour only enough to thoroughly combine it with the butter. Lastly, fold the the Ibarra dust and then the chocolate chips into the batter by hand. Form the cookies into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place them on the sheetpan evenly spaced and press down on them lightly to flatten them just a little. Bake for about 20 minutes turning your pan halfway through the baking time.

Mushroom Risotto

I was speaking to Nina last night and she was somehow dubious that dried mushrooms and rice could approximate anything close to Italian food. So I told her I would send her the recipe. Before I post it a few words on risotto. Risotto is actually short grain Italian rice that is cooked by slowly adding liquid rather than the common drown and boil of most rices. There are three kinds of risotto - arborio, carnaroli, and vialone nano. If you are shopping at a regular grocery store you will most likely only encounter arborio rice which is fine. But if you really get into cooking and eating risottos like I have you will want to seek out the other grains at specialty food shops they differ from arborio and each other in firmness and creaminess.

Nigella Lawson's Mushroom Risotto

4 tbs. unsalted butter

2 Tbs. evoo

1/2 an onion, small dice

15 g dried porcini mushrooms (about 3/4 cup)

3/4 cup hot water for soaking mushrooms

1 cup arborio rice

3 cups chicken stock

2 to 3 Tbs. grated parmesan

a handful of Italian parsley rough chopped for garnishing

black pepper

Soak the mushrooms in water for 20 minutes or so. I have never actually sprung for porcinis because they are so expensive (and I am so cheap). I use dried shiitakes that I buy from the Asian grocer for a song. Make your stock and keep it warm on a neighboring burner to this add your leftover mushroom soaking water. Melt 2 Tbs. butter in a large skillet. Add the evoo and the onions and on medium heat saute until translucent. Add the rough chopped mushrooms and the uncooked rice. Stir the rice in the fat until the grains are glistening and become translucent at the tips. To this add a ladel or two of stock and allow the rice to absorb it before adding more. This is how the rice is cooked, slowly, adding moisture a bit at time. The whole process takes about twenty minutes. Be sure to occasionally stir the risotto so that it cooks evenly. When the stock is almost gone taste the risotto for doneness. It should be firm like al dente pasta. You will finish the risotto with the remaining 2 Tbs. of butter and the grated parmesan cheese. Add black pepper as needed for flavour and garnish with fresh Italian parsley.

This portion only serves Tyler and I, but we tend to eat A LOT of risotto and nothing else as a side dish.

Tomato and Cream sauce

I made this sauce last night to go with homemade spinach and ricotta gnocchi. They were awesome - an attempt to use up wilting spinach as well as containers of ricotta cheese lurking in our fridge from previous endeavours into baked ziti. The recipe is from Marcella Hazan's Classic Italian Cooking. It was easy, tasty, and the leftovers can be frozen for those nights when cooking dinner is a desperate task.

1/4 pound unsalted butter, that's one stick, typically 4 ounces. (I know, don't tell my husband.)

3 Tbs. finely chopped onion

1 stalk finely chopped celery

2 carrots, finely chopped

1 28oz can of diced or crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper

Combine all the ingredients except the cream in a large skillet and cook at the slightest simmer for one hour. Remove from the heat and process in a Cuisanart. Be sure to turn off the machine before the sauce looses all of its texture. Return the sauce to the heat on low and add the cream, taste and adjust seasoning.

The gnocchi recipe was also from her book, and if anybody is interested, I will post that as well. Otherwise I would recommend a tubular pasta for this sauce like penne, or perhaps a broad, flat, noodle like fettucini; but I am sure I am breaking some solemn Italian custom of shape and sauce matching...

My Mother's Chicken Cacciatore

That she found in Craig Claiborne's New York Times Cookbook...

This is not only my favourite Cacciatore recipe, it is my favourite way to eat chicken and spaghetti; even though Tyler makes a killer chicken parmesan. It is my mother's secret weapon in her culinary arsenal; and she would often entertain with it. Inevitably, she would rather proudly confide to her guests that the recipe contained vast quantities of alcohol. But don't worry, it boils off during cooking; and you can omit it; but then...

4 pounds chicken, bone in thighs and breasts

1/4 to 1/2 cup all purpose flour for dredging

1/4 cup evoo

2 tbs. shallots, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/2 cup dry white wine, my mother always used Chablis

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper

3/4 cup chicken stock

1/2 of a bay leaf

1/8 tsp. dried thyme OR 3 sprigs fresh

1/8 tsp. dried marjoram

1/2 to 1 cup mushrooms, preferably crimini or baby bellas

1/4 cup Brandy

Begin by dredging the chicken in flour and setting it aside. Pour the olive oil into a skillet large enough to accomodate the chicken - you should also have a lid for this skillet. Heat the oil to medium high and begin by browning the chicken. Remove the chicken and add the mushrooms. Again, the mushrooms should be added on a high heat for a good carmelization, so if you don't hear a good sizzle when they are added, raise your temperature. You may also need to add more oil as the mushrooms love to soak it up. When the mushrooms are carmelized with the heat at medium to medium high add the onions and sweat until translucent. Add the garlic at this point. I usually don't chop garlic because it will burn more easily if it is smaller - and burnt garlic is terribly bitter. I will peel the garlic and then crush it under the side of my knife so it breaks open. Once you smell the garlic, add the tomato paste and let it cook for thirty seconds to a minute. At this point add the wine and scrape up the brown bits clinging to the pan. The wine will evaporate. When there seems to be only one or two tablespoons remaining add the rest of the ingredients, return the chicken to the pan, bring the pan to a slow simmer, cover and cook until the chicken is finished 45 to 60 minutes. I prefer a runny sauce and have, at times, cooked the cacciatore with too much heat thereby thickening the sauce. If this happens you can add water or chicken broth, but taste the sauce for saltiness and adjust. This recipe is best served alongside spaghetti dressed with olive oil.

My brother, Sean, recommended I make wine parings for the recipes I list, but I have to admit that he is much better at something like that than I am. Perhaps he'll contribute and I can post it here. But for now I'll tell you that we had a Toad Hollow, Paso Robles red table wine with our dinner that we enjoyed very much.

Bomb A** Pork Chops

This recipe came from Jerry Traunfield's Herbfarm Cookbook, a seredipitous purchase in our household that holds the position of The Cookbook. We always turn to him for fantastic recipes. The recipe is easy enough to make after work - seriously. If you are willing to spend a half hour in the kitchen, you can whip these up. And if you are as talented as Tyler you can produce some mashed potatoes with gorgonzola cheese and collard greens boiled then sauteed with garlic and red pepper flakes. He's such a good wife!

Pork Chops with Sage, Onion, and Proscuitto

2 thick-cut loin or rib pork chops (about 1 1/4 inches thick - he suggests 10 to 12 ounces each, but I think ours were smaller)

salt and freshly ground pepper

2 Tbs. evoo

1 large onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh sage

4 ounces thinly sliced proscuitto, cut into 1/4 inch-wide strips

You can substitute bacon for the proscuitto in a pinch.

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 tsp. Dijon

Season both sides of the chops with the salt and pepper. Heat the evoo in a large skillet over medium high heat. Brown pork in pan on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove chops from pan and set aside. Reduce heat on skillet to medium-low and add the onions and sage. Cook uncovered stirring often until the onion is softened and lightly browned. Stir in the proscuitto and cook until it loses it's color. Add the stock and mustard. Return the pork to the pan, reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and gently simmer the chops until they reach 145F to 150F. You can check with a thermometer. We never do. They take about twenty minutes, and seem to stand up to overcooking. Transfer the chops to a warm plate and raise the heat on the skillet. Boil the sauce until it thickens slightly. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper if neccessary. Serve.

*If substituting bacon for the proscuitto add it to the skillet after the chops are removed. Render the fat on a low heat and cook the bacon until it begins to brown. Now add the onions and sage to brown.

Last Night's Dinner

We had some good luck last night when we made dinner for our friends. Tandoori chicken, curried green beans, and almond raspberry tart. I am including the recipe for the tart here because it was so gosh darn easy. If you find nice raspberries at the store, I highly recommend it. I found it in last month's issue of Sunset magazine.

Raspberry Almond Tart

The crust of this tart tastes more like a frangipane than a sugar dough and you simply press it into the bottom of the tin - no pesky walls to break. Then pop it in the oven for baking without pastry weights or docking!

Crust

3/4 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup All purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

1 egg + 1 yolk

1 tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 350. In a food processor, pulse almonds and sugar until finely ground, being careful to stop before they turn into nut butter. Add flour and salt and pulse to blend. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. With motor running, add egg, egg yolk, and almond extract. Stop as soon as dough comes together. Press dough into the bottom of the tart tin and bake until golden - about 25 minutes. You may need to turn the tart once if your oven heats unevenly. Let tart cool and remove from tin.

Ganache

3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 tbsp. cream

This most definitely flies in the face of any ganache I have made, but really the quantities are so small that the method works. Heat chocolate in a bowl or double boiler over steaming water. Make sure the water is never too hot, and remember to stir the chocolate less it burn; and never, never, drip any water into your bowl of chocolate. Once your choclolate has melted add your cream. The chocolate will cool and not readily combine with the cream. Simply continue to stir the mixture over the hot water with a spatula until it all comes to a consistent temperature and combines. Pour ganache on top of cooled crust and spread it out to the edges. You can leave a little crust bare around the edge like a pizza for a better appearance.

Cheesy Goodness

4 oz. mascarpone cheese

1/4 cup + 2 Tbs. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup cream

Beat whipping cream with a whisk in a stand mixer or with any other sufficient kitchen contraption. Once it begins to gain volume but before it has much stiffness add the mascarpone. You will need to turn down the mixer a little until the cheese softens, and it will not combine right away. Give it a moment. As the mixture begins to smooth add the powdered sugar with the beater on low. Once the ganache is set and cooled spread cheese on top of tart.

2 pints raspberries

Decorate tart with lots of raspberries!

Wonton Soup

I was craving wonton soup last week. But what began as an intended trip to PF Chang's quickly degenerated into ordering delivery pizza. This week now that Tyler is back from vacation, I have cleaned up my act. Starting with the wonton soup I made last night. The recipe is from a supplemental recipe book I received with my Saveur subscription.

Wonton Soup

4 cups chicken broth
1 half inch piece of ginger, sliced
4 scallions rough cut, whites only

Combine in a pot and bring to a simmer on medium high. Reduce heat and cook for 30 minutes. Remove solids when finished and hold broth on a low burner to keep warm.

1 head bok choy, washed and chopped in bite sized pieces

Cook bok choy in a large pot of boiling water until tender 3-5 minutes. I typically trim the stems at the base of the leaf.

1/4 pound shrimp, shelled, deveined and chopped
2 oz. ground pork
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. cornstarch
Wonton wrappers

Combine the sesame oil and soy sauce. Add cornstarch and mix until it dissolves. Fold in the raw meat until evenly combined. To make wontons, work on a clean surface with a small bowl of water nearby. Place a wrapper flour side down on the surface with the point towards you, so it looks like a diamond. Place a small amount of the filling in the middle of the wrapper 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. Wet the top 2 edges of the wrapper then press them together with the bottom 2 edges. The wonton should now be triangle shaped. Wet the left and right hand corners of the triangle and bring them together pinching lightly. They should look like little tortellini. Cook the wonton in boiling water in batches of 4 or 5. When they are done, they will float.

Place wontons in the bottom of the soup bowl, add some bok choy, and ladle the hot broth on top. Use fresh chopped scallions to garnish.

Anniversary Orzo

Tyler and I went away last weekend to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. We ate dinner one night at a fun local, woodsy eatery that had been frozen in time in the 1970's, "Would you like Thousand Island with that?" And the next night we cooked Cornish Game Hens on the grill at the cabin we were renting. Here is the sidedish we made to go with the hen. I have to give a little warning about this recipe. This is something I made up on the spot, five days ago. My memory of quantities could be effected by time.

Anniversary Orzo
2 Tbs. oil
6 oz. mushrooms sliced
1/3 cup diced red onion
3 cloves garlic
2/3 cup orzo
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
3 bay leaves
1 Tbs. dried oregano
1 12oz. can fire roasted tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped Kalamata olives

I am particular about mushrooms. I liked them cooked on a high heat so they are deeply carmelized and flavourful. I hate spongy, moist, insipid mushrooms and spend most of my time picking them out of food. So begin this dish by heating the oil to medium high in a dutch oven. Saute the mushrooms first. You want to hear an angry sizzle when you add them to the pot. If you don't, it's not hot enough. Once the mushrooms have a good color on them, reduce the heat to medium, add the onion and sweat until translucent. To this add the garlic and uncooked orzo. Have your chicken broth ready and warming on very low heat on an adjoining burner. You will cook the orzo like a risotto. Once the orzo is covered with oil and you can smell the garlic, begin slowly adding the chicken stock a ladelful at a time waiting for it to absorb between additions. This is where my quantities could be a little rusty. You should test the orzo throughout cooking. Once it is almost done stop adding broth. During the addition of broth add the dried herbs. When the orzo is still a touch firm add the tomatoes and their water. This additional moisture will help to cook the orzo completely - you can always add more broth if I'm lying. Lastly add the olives and serve the dish once they are heated through.

Self-confessed Food Nerd

I am browsing through a book called Food in History by Reay Tannahill, hence the aforementioned "food nerd". And I couldn't believe this excerpt concerning food additives in the 1800s:

"China tea was green, and fake varieties were often produced from thorn leaves by drying them and then colouring them with verdigris, which was, of course, poisonous...The usual thing was for merchants simply to buy up used tea leaves from hotels, coffee houses and the servants of the rich, stiffen them with a gum solution and re-tint them with black lead. Even after treatment with verdigris or lead, however, tea was still a healthier drink than some of the 'gin' that had been sold a century earlier - compounded, according to one recipe, from ingredients that included sulphuric acid and oil of turpentine.
...crusted old port was new port crusted with supertartrate of potash; ...pickles owed their appetizing green colour to copper; ...many table wines gained their 'nutty' flavour from bitter almonds, which contain prussic acid; ...the rainbow hues of London's boiled sweets were produced by the highly poisonous salts of copper and lead; ...most commercial bread was loaded with alum; and ...the rich orange rind of Gloucester cheese came form ordinary red lead."

Shrimp Fettucini with Pesto and Asparagus

This was a foray on our own last night with a little help from Marcella Hazan's Classic Italian Cookbook. I used her recipe for blender pesto and omitted the pine nuts and romano cheese simply because we didn't have either on hand.

Serves 2

Pesto

2 cups basil leaves

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup good evoo

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

3 Tbs. room temperature butter

Combine ingredients in a blender and pulse. The sides may have to be scraped down occassionally. Remove pesto from blender and beat cheese in by hand. Add butter. Place pesto in fridge until ready to use.

Fettucini

1 bunch asparagus

10 pieces 26 count shrimp, deveined, shell on

2 cloves garlic peeled and minced

2 Tbs. butter

1 bag fettucini

2 Tbs. salt

I keep the asparagus in their rubberbanded bundle and chop off the tough ends. Cut the remaining stalks into three even pieces. Put a large pot with enough water to accomodate the asparagus on the stove to boil. When boiling add the asparagus and cook them until they are tender, about 10 minutes depending on the size of your vegetables. I drain the asparagus and save the heated water to cook the fettucini returning it immediately to the stove on high. Once it is at a rolling boil add the 2 Tbs. salt and enough fettucini for two people. In a medium sized skillet melt 1 Tbs. butter over low heat. Once melted increase the heat to medium low. Add the garlic, cook until you can smell it then add the shrimp. They will take about five minutes to cook through. Do not overcook them or they will be tough. Remove the shrimp from the pan and put in the asparagus with the last Tbs. of butter. Allow them to warm on low heat while the pasta finishes cooking. I generally drain the pasta then return it to low heat in the same pot in which it cooked. To this add the shrimp, asparagus, and pesto and toss until completely combined.

Lavender Iced Tea

Well it had to happen sometime. The temperature has crept up into the nineties this week. And in amongst our whinings about the upcoming summer we decided to make some Iced Tea. It's a summer treat. Something to combat the 100+ degrees when we hole up inside and draw the curtains. We're not there yet, but this will calm our anxiety about the coming inferno.

yield: 3 quarts

Tea

2 qt. water + 1 qt. added at end

10 Lipton or other black tea bags

Simple Syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1 1/2 tsp dried lavender buds - roll them in your palms or fingers to crush them and release their flavour

Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Knot tea bags together for easy retrieval and when pot boils, dump them in. Turn off the heat and let steep for half hour or until mixture cools. To make the simple syrup, combine sugar and water in a sauce pot. Stir to wet all the sugar and put on low heat. At this point make sure there are no sugar crystals clinging to the edges of the pot. They will cloud the syrup. Simply wipe them off using a wet pastry brush or your finger. I'm not particular. When sugar appears to have entirely or almost entirely dissolved up the heat to medium or medium high (depending on patience). Let simple syrup come to a rolling boil for ten seconds. Turn off heat. Add lavender buds. Let steep for 10 minutes. Strain out lavender, add to tea, and add remaining quart of water. Voila!

Sea bass and Fennel Tagine

While Tyler and I are sometimes adventurous enough to "wing it" in the kitchen we often use recipes in cookbooks. This stew comes from Meditteranean by Joanna Farrow and Jacqueline Clarke.

stew

1 1/2 pounds sea bass or other whitefish

8 oz. shrimp

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 bulb fennel

1 onion

2 cups fish broth or weak chicken stock

8 oz. new or waxy potatoes cut into large pieces

chermoula

4 tsp. paprika

4 tsp. ground cumin

3 Tbs. white vinegar

1 Tbs. lemon juice

2 cloves of garlic crushed

2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro

2 Tbs. chopped fresh Italian parsley

Assemble the chermoula first. Shell, tail, and devein the shrimp. Cut the whitefish into large bitesize pieces. Place the seafood in separate shallow containers and coat each in half of the chermoula mixture. Cover fish and place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. In a large dutch oven heat the olive oil on medium. Add the onion sauteing for 2 minutes. To this add the fennel and cook until the vegetables begin to catch the bottom of the pot and brown. Add the stock and scrape up the yummy brown bits on the bottom of the pot. To this add the potatoes, cover and simmer until they are tender - about 15 minutes. Uncover pot, test the potatoes, if they are just about cooked, add the whitefish taking care to also add all the chermoula. Make sure the pot is at a low simmer so the fish doesn't fall apart too much. After about 4 minutes add the shrimp which will take an additional 2 minutes to cook. Serve with a crusty baguette, good quality olive oil (for drizzling) and kosher salt.