Where in the world is Calla?

Probably above Russia and heading south to a small pacific island.

Weddings, in plural.

Friends, in multiple.

And finally my side of the family, together at last.

If you happen to stop by, I wish you a worry-free and prosperous 2013.

I look forward to talking to you in this space next year.

That's a promise.

Here are a few more of my favorite things

Domenico Zipoli Adagio per oboe, cello, organo e orchestra

Tommaso Albinoni Oboe Concerto No. 2, Second Movement in Andante

Serenade For Winds; K 361; 3rd Movement 

(You know I like everything by Mozart, right?)

I like - John Field

John Field was born in the late Eighteen century and active throughout the almost first half of the century after. Already famous at his life time, he was influential to other bigger familiar names such as Chopin, Brahms and Schumann. His music is not as embellished or technically demanding as Chopin's or others, but that's part of his charm. His music is great at relaxing my mind and allows me to enjoy the sheer beauty of one's creation.

Nocturne No. 1

Nocturne No. 12

Nocturne No. 2

Nocturne No.5 

I make - Grilled sausage and puy lentils with porcini

I don't seem to get enough of the earthy flavor of porcini these days. It has become an indispensable ingredient to my current favorite tomato sauce. Tonight I tried it with lentils. What can I say? It has not let me down. The dish pairs perfectly with green beans braised in tomatoes.

Grilled sausage and puy lentils with porcini 

Serves for two and with leftover

- 1 cup of puy lentils, washed and drained
- 1 scant cup of loosely packed dried porcini, about 30 g
- 1 tbsp of butter
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 2-3 small carrots
- 3-4 ribs of celery
- 1 bunch of parsley, about a cupful (optional)
- 2 tbsp of tomato paste
- freshly boiled water
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 links of sausages

Soak porcini in a cup of hot water for 30 minutes.

Chop carrots, celery, parsley finely with a sharp kitchen knife or in a food processor.

Heat butter and olive oil in a sauce pan. Fry gently the chopped vegetables for 10 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and fry for another two minutes.

Strain the porcini mushroom and reserve the liquid. Add the porcini into the vegetable mix and cook for two minutes. Add in puy lentils, porcini soaking liquid (minus any bottom debris) and sufficient hot water to the pan. The lentils should submerge in water completely (the water level should be at least 1 cm above the lentils). Bring the pot to a lively boil. Then reduce the heat to a lowest setting to simmer the lentils for 40 minutes with a lid on.

Only salt the lentils until they are fully cooked.

Five minutes before lentils are ready, slice each sausage in the middle and flatten it on a separate hot grill pan. Grill the sausages until they are nicely golden. Put the sausages into the lentils and cook the whole mixture for another 10 minutes. Season as required.

Green beans braised in tomato garlic sauce 

Serves two

- 200-250g green beans, topped and tailed
- 2 new potatoes, quartered
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tin of crushed tomatoes (400g)
- 1/4 tsp dried basil leaves or 4 fresh ones
- salt and pepper to taste

Microwave green beans and potatoes each for four minutes. Alternatively, you could cook the vegetables in boiling water or by steaming. Leave the cooked vegetables aside while you prepare the tomato sauce.

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a sauce pan. Fry the garlic for a few minutes until they turn golden on the edges. Tip in tomatoes and basil. Bring the pot to boil and reduce the heat to low to simmer the sauce uncovered for 10 minutes.

Add into the tomato sauce the green beans and potatoes. Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes. Season with black pepper and salt.

I like - Muse

They created and sang the London Olympic 2012 Game official song, remember?

Survival

I am a classical musical buff but their music has cast a magical spell on me. I don't seem to be able to stop listening to them. It shows (again) that good music (or art) is beyond genres. 

Here are a few more which capture my heart.

Neutron Star Collision

I Belong To You (A genius stroke starting at 2:18)

Resistance

Can't Take My Eyes Off You

I love Muse.

2012 Christmas day

Brunch:

Buttery croissants, black currant jam, homemade plum vanilla jam and black coffee

Afternoon:

A long relaxing and mind cleansing walk

Russian earl grey at home

Dinner:

Basil tomato salad with balsamic glaze

Pancetta wrapped cod loin stuffed with garlic lemon parsley stuffing

Saffron risotto (risotto alla Milanese)

Garlic shallot green beans

Buche de Noel

2012 Christmas eve for two

Are you having a busy day ahead like me? We have our biggest meal on the Christmas eve, unlike the Brits on the Christmas day. We've gone back to the turkey this year. We tried turkey once many years ago, first in brine and then roast. I didn't like it at all. Although juicy, I felt that the meat lost its sweetness and original flavor with the brining process. The only taste I had was, well, brine. This year I will try another way to roast turkey, with a buttered muslin.  What? I can hear you scream. Yes, draping my turkey all over with buttered muslin and then roast. I will let you know the outcome later. Promised.

Below is the menu I drafted for a household of two. As Mae West once said, "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful". Who am I to argue?
Have a great holiday, everyone.

Starter: 

Scallops with white wine, butter and shallot reduction sauce (beurre blanc)

Main: 

Roast turkey with thyme, garlic and black pepper

with

Chestnut stuffing

Fine green beans with caramelised shallots

Butter braised carrots

Cheese platter:

Charouse

Saint Agur

Dessert:

Homemade buche de noel with coffee chestnut filling

Updated: I really like the turkey roasted with buttered muslin cloth. The turky turned out to be picture perfect, golden crust with crispy skin. Yes, the meat is not as juicy as the brined turkey but certainly not dry. More importantly, it retains a nicely meaty and sweet flavor of a bird. Besides, with a really nice overall turkey flavor and a bowl of lightly sherried gravy, we were happy to have a big piece of each.

I like - Au fond du temple saint

Au fond du temple saint performed by Andrea Bocelli and Bryn Terfel

Also known as the "friendship duet" from "Les Pêcheurs De Perles/The Pearl Fishers" by Georges Bizet.

I think the tone suits the spirit of Christmas quite well, don't you?

Happy holidays, my friend.

Holiday chemistry session I

Cranberry caramel almond tarts

Spinach and feta pie

To flip or not to flip

That's the question when it comes to steak cooking.

There are two schools of thoughts, leaving the meat alone (turning once or twice) or flipping the steak at regular intervals (in seconds).

The method works for me reliably is the latter, flipping at a controlled speed.

The key is to get a pan smoking hot before cooking the meat. Because if your pan is hot enough, nice crust is formed almost immediately when the meat comes in contact with the pan surface. The chemical reaction behind this nice crust which contributes to its rich flavor is called Maillard reaction. Maillard reaction takes place at 154 centigrade while water boils at 100 degrees. That gives you an idea as how hot the pan should get. It's not enough just to boil the water. Literally you have to see smoke come up from the pan (see the video demonstration below). Therefore, it makes sense to use oil with a high smoking point in the beginning and add butter towards the end for flavor.

Frequent flipping has an advantage especially for thin steaks, if you don't want it well done. My steaks usually come in half-inch thick. For this level of thickness, flipping it every 20 second in a very hot pan for no more than 90 seconds gives a nice rare to medium-rare level which I prefer.

See how one expert does it. It really works!

Dîner chez moi - 8-14 December

Saturday - Flash grilled flat iron steak, prawn mac and cheese, blanched green beans

Sunday - Spinach and feta filo tart, grilled chicken legs

Monday - Pan-fried salmon, braised puy lentils

Tuesday - Chicken in soy and chestnut sauce, steamed rice

Wednesday - Tuna, caper and chili taglioni

Thursday - Spinach and feta filo tart, grilled prawns in rosemary and garlic.

Friday - Wildcard

I make - Tomato porcini sauce

I discovered the combination of tomato and porcini with Anna Del Conte. Her recipe calls for no more than five ingredients but the end result packs loads of flavor. Indeed, porcini, a famous power house of umami, lends a deep savory and earthy note into the final sauce without using any meat.

Over time, I've seen other variations of tomato porcini sauce. One caught my eyes which uses parsley and tomato puree/paste, not the canned tomatoes. Tomatoes are also known to be full of umami. I wanted to find out how the flavor could be further deepened by using its concentrated form, like in the paste. I adapted the recipe to add a little bit body to the sauce by using a small amount of chopped carrot and celery. The end result, wow, is a flavor bomb. This is not the usual tomato sauce as you know it. It's a veggie sauce which will make any carnivore happy.

Tomato porcini sauce (adapted from here)

- 1 cup of loosely packed dried porcini mushrooms
- a bunch of Italian flat parsley, stalks and leaves (about 2 cups loosely packed)
- 5 to 6 large garlic cloves
- 1 small yellow onion, cut into large chunks

- 1 small carrot

- 1 rib of celery
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 150 g tomato puree/paste (I use double concentrate strength)

- 1 can of peeled tomato (~400 g)

- salt and pepper to season

Quickly rinse the porcini mushrooms with cold water, swirling them in the water once or twice. Remove the mushroom and place into a heat resistant container. Pour freshly boiled water in, enough to submerge the mushroom, about 1 1/2 cups. Leave the mushroom to plump up for at least 20 minutes while you prepare the rest.

Place parsley, garlic, onion, carrot and celery in a food processor and pulse into a coarse chop, about 10 pulses. Set aside. Alternatively you could use a knife to chop them finely.

Strain the porcini from its soaking liquor. Reserve the liquor and carefully separate most liquid from the sediments sitting at the bottom of the container. Chopping the mushroom is optional. You could if you like fine texture in the end.

Heat a pan over medium heat. Add oil and butter. When butter melts, add in the vegetable mixture. Cook until onions are translucent and the juice from vegetables disappears. Stir in the porcini and tomato puree. Mix until thoroughly incorporated. You want to cook the tomato puree a little bit so that the flavor comes out (also healthy components such as lycopene and vitamin A get released from tomatoes). Tip in one can of tomatoes. Cover and simmer over the lowest possible heat for 60 minutes, adding water if the sauce becomes too thick and stirring from time to time.

Season with sea salt and black pepper. I like to put some sugar (say 1 teaspoon) into my tomato dishes to have the right balance of acidity and sweetness. It's up to you.

Great on pasta, steamed rice, or as a dressing sauce for vegetables or grilled fish/meat. It's a wonderful stuff!

The Light of the World

One of the memorable paintings from the Pre-Raphaelite exhibit in Tate Britain.

painted by William Holman Hunt (1853–54)

Revelation 3:20: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me". 

I thought of this song, In The Bleak Midwinter, when I saw The Light of the World. Then I just discovered that the words are from Christina Rossetti's poetry, another pre-Raphaelite movement contributor beautifully set by Gustav Holst. Perhaps its more than just a coincidence.