Food, glorious Food

[Leftwinger]

We had Greek pastitso tonight.

My awesome Mother cooked up heaps of it this afternoon .. and made a number of nice platters for each of her kids to come and pick up.

http://souvlakiforthesoul.com/pastitso

A lot of work in terms of preparation but OMG .. the taste is to die for!

This in one of the meals I often cook for the week on Sunday (I usually make a few things that either freeze well or keep well in the fridge, this saves time during the week. You get home buggered from work and dinner's already made for everyone). Makes good lunches to take to work as well since the flavour seems to be even better the next day.

[Leftwinger]

Yup, it is a good investment to buy one of those cheffy-type zesters, zesting is quick and no danger of getting any white pith.

We talked about that for a while, remember. Then by chance, I was in a shopping mall in Brisbane and found a proper kitchenware shop. That little zester is one of the best things I've ever bought for the kitchen!

[Jovial Monk]

Yup, they cost $40-50 but boy they make zesting or finely grating ginger easy and quick.

[Leftwinger]

I need to get me one of those avatars


Tonight was a roast chook. Nothing fancy at all, pretty plain. But along with it was my favourite tropical vegetable - roast yam. Not what Americans call yam (that's what we call sweet potato and the Kiwis call kumera - I grow those as well). This is the Pacific yam, Dioscorea sp. A very long climbing vine with large, heart-shaped leaves, bearing a large, rough-skinned tuber under the ground. I have a good sized patch of them running up trellises and generally running rampant everywhere. Each vine bears only one tuber (though they form ariel tubers in the leaf axils which fall to the ground and take root) but the tubers can be enormous - 75 kg is not unusual. That's after a number of years of undisturbed growth of course and as you might expect, at that size much of the tuber is woody and fibrous. The biggest one I have grown for the table was around 6 kg. The bottom end of the tuber is white and arrowhead-shaped with a very thin skin. This is the best bit and is delectable - almost faintly sweet.

The best thing about them is the way the crisp up in the oven just like the crispiest and crunchiest deep-fried potato chips, only with less oil. The super crispness comes from a property they have called "phytoplacticity". You notice when you peel and chop them that they bleed the gooey-est and slipperiest mucalageous starch. They're forever slipping out of your hands as you prepare them. They are completely inedible steamed or boiled as this activates the phytoplastic properties. I made this mistake once, trying to mash them. I ended up with a substance resembling rubber cement. But at higher (roasting) temperatures, this substance breaks down and forms the wonderfully crisp shell around the cooked chunk.

An excellent vegetable, especially for the warmer parts of Australia!

[Jovial Monk]

Avata, here you go:


Just chop the rightwing off, perfect! And Australian too.

I made some sweetpotato wedges, obviously oven wasn’t hot enough!

[Jovial Monk]

Apple butter
1 slow cooker
4-6Kg cooking apples, grannie smith or Jonathon (good luck finding Jonnies at a supermarket!) unwaxed, preferably organic, don’t mix apple variety all grannies or all Jonnies
Spices: spice it right up with; cinnamon, 2-3 sticks, cloves 10-12 whole, star anise 3-4 stars, cardamon 6-8 pods, nutmeg, small piece, mace, small pinch mace bark
1L apple or pear juice
Sugar—optional, good true unrefined sugar, Billington’s light Muscovado would be the business

Wash apples well, really well
Core and segment do not peel! Lots of lovely pectin just under the peel, helps it set, chuck into slowcooker
When all in pour over the 1L juice, put lid on, leaving small space for steam to escape, set slow cooker to low and switch on

12 or 24 hours later it should be cooked down to about half the volume, press through a sieve (I use a moulie, much easier) to separate apple from skins and spices. Return to rinsed slowcooker bowl, taste. If you want to, add the sugar to taste.

The apple butter is ready when it mounds on the spoon and when transferred to a ceramic saucer there is no ring of moisture around it. Fill into sterilised jars, waterbath process 20mins.

Bloody good on toast. If you made it unsweetened—may I congratulate you on your good sense—it is orgasmically good with pork.

It is an essential ingredient, you won’t be surprised to learn, of apple butter cyser of which more anon.

[Jovial Monk]

Apple Butter Cyser

This recipe courtesy Cruz (brewrat) All rights reserved


Brewing Method: Sparkling Cyser
Yeast: Wyeast #3347
Yeast Starter: One liter
Batch Size: 5 US Gallons 19L
Original Gravity: 1.100
Final Gravity: 1.008
Alcohol Content: %
Pasteurization Time:
Pasteurization Temp:
Total Amount of Honey: 10 pounds 4.6K
Color: Varies
Yeast Nutrient-Amount: 3 teaspsoons Di-ammonium Phosphate
Yeast Energizer-Amount:
Primary Fermentation: 2 months @ 68 deg F. 20C
Secondary Fermentation: 4 months @ 68 deg F. 20C
Additional Fermentation: Bottle condition as long as needed

Honey Bill:

10 pounds of buckwheat or
orange blossom honey (the choice is yours!) 4.6K

Other Flavorings or Fermentables:

5 gallons unpasteurized apple juice 19L
2 pounds dark DME 1K
added to boil pot with one gallon of apple juice
5 pounds muscovado sugar(liquified in pot with the DME) 2.5K
6-12 cloves(added to primary)
12-20 pieces of Cassia bark (added to primary and at bottling)
1-2 pounds of your favorite apple butter .5-1K
(liquified in pot with DME) See recipes below
2 pounds of white raisins/sultanas 1K
(added to secondary and at bottling)
1/2 teaspoon of fresh nutmeg(optional, added to secondary)
serrano peppers (very optional)

Brewers Notes:

Make a one liter starter of #3347 starting two days in advance.
Unpasteurized apple juice is the call by the "pros", but I have found
any juice, even concentrate will work nicely. Place one gallon of apple
juice in a large pot and heat slowly, adding the apple butter, sugar,
DME and honey. You be the judge, but you may need to add a little more
juice to liquify all the ingredients. Stir frequently. I do not boil my
honey, as I feel that this detracts from the flavor and yeast nutrients.
When the mixture is completely mixed add to primary with remaining apple
juice, cassia bark and cloves. Care must be taken not to add too many
cloves, as many commercial brands of apple butter have a very high clove
content. This can lead to an overpowering taste. When the temp is
correct, pitch the one liter #3347 yeast starter. I suggest using a blow
off tube at this point, because this yeast can make for some powerful
ferments. Affix air lock and wait two months. If during this time the
ferment quits, which is rare, add some ghost yeast (yeast hulls) to the
primary. Rack to secondary and toss in the two pounds of white raisins
and the nutmeg if you like it. Let sit at approx. 68 deg F for an
additional 3 to 4 months. If the alcohol content isnt too high, you may
see some additional fermentation from the natural yeasts contained in
the white raisins. Not to worry its not sick!!! Prime with one and a
quarter cups of Lyles golden syrup. I add five or six additional fresh
white raisins and a small piece of cassia bark to the bottle. It not
only looks good, but the yeast contained in the raisins makes a nice
bottling yeast. For something completely different, and if you are
gutsy, try a hot serrano in a bottle or two also. The pepper and apple
combo is fantastic. Condition as long as you like. Enjoy.

[Jovial Monk]

OK, time to start some apple butter going.

[Jovial Monk]

Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe
Prep time: 10 minutes
INGREDIENTS
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Special equipment needed: A food processor

METHOD
1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.

Yield: Makes 1 cup.


http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/fresh_basil_pesto/

[Leftwinger]

And basil pesto makes a fantastic dip as well! I don't have enough sweet Genovese in the garden to make much pesto, will have to get a shitload more going. Grows well all year round here since it's not actually originally from Italy but is native to south-east Asia and northern Australia. When we were up at Lawn Hill last year in north-western QLD...







...on the way back from the falls, we walked through a big patch of native lemon basil. Just brushing past it released a wonderful, fresh lemon aroma into the air. Would have made a fantastic drawn butter sauce to accompany fillets of the big sooty grunter you could see swimming in the crystal clear water. Of course, both the fish and the basil plants were protected.