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.