winosandfoodies

Tortilla Espanola From Spain And The World Table

I love this book,  Spain and The World Table  from the Culinary Institute of America. It isn't a book for the novice cook.  I doubt I'll cook  from it very much - like using 18 egg yolks for Crema Catalana.  And there are things in I don't approve of - like Sushi Paella or Red Wine Sushi Rice. And there are things in there I love - like Paella Valencia or Mission Fig Flan. And recipes using salt cod -  if I can find salt cod in Australia.

Every spare moment this week I've found myself curling up on the couch a cup of coffee in one hand the book in the other. From the gorgeous looking Shrimp in Garlic on the cover to the final recipe on the last page for Crema Catalana, I imagine I'm back in Spain.

During our 6 weeks in Spain in 2004 we ate a lot of Tortilla Espanola and Creme Catalana. Every bar offered tortilla and every menu del dia featured flan . So I'm a pretty good judge of Tortilla Espanola. I make it often, sometimes following a recipe, sometimes winging it with whatever is in the fridge and how much time I have. With this one I followed the recipe but substituted  some ingredients with what I had available.

Here is the original recipe.

TORTILLA ESPANOLA

900G (2 lbs) Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 3/4 teasp salt, divided use
1/2 cup, plus 2 tablesp extra virgin olive oil, divided use
1 cup chopped yellow onions
1/3 cup chopped red bell peppers
1/3 cup chopped green peppers
1/2 cup diced choriizo sausage
1 cup diced Serrano ha
10 large eggs

Toss together the sliced potatoes and 1 teasp salt in  a medium bowl.
Heat 1/2 cup olive oil in a large heavy non stick or well seasoned cast iron skillet over medium heat and add the potatoes.
Cook stirring occasionally, until the potatoes start to soften but not brown, about 5 minutes.
Add the onions, peppers, sausage, and ham.
Continue to cook, stirring often, until the potatoes are tender, the chorizo cooked through, and the ingredients well blended, another 5 to 10 minutes.
Transfer the potato and onion mixture to a colander placed over a large bowl and drain.
Clean the pan.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl until smooth, then stir in the potato mixture.
Season with 3/4 teasp salt.
Return the pan to medium heat and add 2 tablesp of olive oil.
When the oil is very hot, add the egg mixture to the pan.
Tilt the pan so that the eggs run over the bottom of the pan in an even layer, then turn the heat to low.
Cook, shaking the pan from time to time until the omelet has set, about 8 minutes.
Cover the pan with an omelet turner or flat bottomed pot lid. Then carefully slide the inverted omelet back into the pan.
Return to the heat and cook the other side until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
Slide the omelet out onto a plate.
Allow to cool to room temperature, cut into 8 wedges  to serve.

I did things a little different with the ingredients I had on hand. I used red onions; green peppers only, no red; salami in place of the  chorizo and Serrano ham. Real Serrano ham is so expensive here I'd never put it in a tortilla. I'd rather just eat it on its own. I didn't bother with turning the omelet over, instead I placed it under the grill to set the top.

It was excellent. Everyone loved it.

For a more academic review of the book visit this blog.

I received Spain And The World Table as gift from DK Publishing.

Thank You To The Daring Bakers

What a wonderful surprise when the Daring Bakers May posts started appearing on the web today.  In support of LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow the Daring Bakers had been encouraged to decorate their fabulous Opera cakes in pastel colours. If you check the Daring Bakers blogroll you will see their fabulous  cakes.

Thank you for this kind and thoughtful act. It really made my day. I am a little overwhelmed with your lovely words. I feel very blessed to be a part of the caring and loving group of people that make up the  food and wine blogging community. You are all very special. Thank you Darling Daring Bakers.

A special thank you to the originators of the Daring Bakers, Ivonne and Lisa. I very much appreciate your support.

LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow is over for another year. Thank you to everyone who participated. It is because of you it was so successful. Thank you to those who shared their stories. I hope you found comfort in reading how others are coping. To the lucky ones not touched by cancer thank you for your support. With so many blog events available I appreciate your finding the time to participate and  support  LiveSTRONG Day in the blogging community.

If you haven't already seen the round up you will find it here:

LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow Part 1 and Part 2.

Green Tea Choux Pacman for Donna

My choux pastries look a lot like a Pacman.  This a less frightening photo of them. Believe me when I say some of them looked quite scary Pacmans with green tongues.

Suzana at Home Gourmets is this months host of Hay Hay Its Donna Day and she has chosen choux pastry as the theme. I remember the first time I made choux pastry. It was a disaster. Now I'm always careful about how many eggs I add. Go just a half an egg too far and you will have flat choux. I grew  up calling these cream puffs, unlike today where they are called profiteroles.

I used Donna's recipe but stopped at four eggs. I thought about filling them with green tea ice cream but I was far too impatient to wait for ice cream to set. These are filled with a green tea blancmange and topped with a lemon green tea icing.

Green Tea Blancmange
2 cups milk
2  tablespoons cornflour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon matcha tea powder.

Place 1 1/2 cups milk and the sugar on stove and bring to boil.
Blend green tea and corn flour with remaining 1/2 cup milk.
When milk boils tip a little hot milk onto green tea mixture. Pour all back into hot milk and stir until it thickens about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Lemon Green Tea Glaze
1 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon matcha tea powder
Juice of 1 lemon

Blend matcha with a lemon juice.
Add sifted icing sugar.
Thin with a little milk if needed to obtain right consistency.

To Serve
Cut profiteroles in half and place a spoon of blancmange in base .
Top with second half.
Drizzle with glaze.

Music Meme

I'm a cook who cannot sing who married a musician who cannot cook.  I'm the one singing off key at birthday parties and he is the one eating honey on toast for dinner when I'm not home. I listen to music with my heart, sometimes having to resist the urge to jump up and dance on the table. He listens with his head searching out instruments, timings, bars. He laughs when my eyes glaze over when he says "Listen, hear that french horn come in". His eyes glaze over when I say "can you taste the hint of cardamom".

When my favourite  wino-sapien tagged me for the music meme I was a little nervous. Me, talk about music. Not likely.  Then I read the rules:

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they’re listening to.

...hmmm I can do that. No dissecting the song into chorus' or verse. The songs didn't even have to be any good. That's good because I have very commercial tastes in music and some of what I enjoy probably isn't very good. In no particular order here are seven songs I'm listening too.

1. Anything by Chris Botti but I do like Someone To Watch Over Me. Our neighbors introduced us to a Chris Botti DVD they'd bought in the US. Twelve months before we moved home to Australia we moved from the big house to a townhouse. The same week another couple moved in next door, he and Bryan looked at each other, and realised they'd played in a band together when they were schoolboys. Bryan went on to be a professional musician, Mark went on to be a 747 pilot.....but he never got over wanting to be Cliff Richards, so the guitar was never far away when we got together. Many of my Daring Bakers cakes and desserts were shared with next door and were always followed by wine and singing. Even I sang on the night we told them we were moving.  That was the night we thought it a good idea to drink our drinks cabinet dry in one night.

2.Time To Say Goodbye - Sarah Brightman with Andrea Bocelli.  I have heard people send this one up but I never tire of this song.

3. Lisagna - Toto Bona Lokua. I discovered Toto Bona Lokua when I received some promotional Cd's from Putumayo Music.

4. Besame Mucho - Cesaria Evora. I sought out her music after reading about her in  a magazine article. Twice I've been where she was performing. Paris in 2004 and sold out when I tried to get tickets. This year she was at the Adelaide Womad Festival and I'd already made other plans for that week. Check out this version - you won't believe it.

5. Gorecki Symphony No 3 Feeling down? Play this. It will take you even further down and then suddenly you'll find yourself lifted up and the world doesn't seem like such a bad place. Well that's how it makes me feel. (This clip is from the second movement. To really appreciate the music you need to hear the entire album.)

6.Brian Wilson Live At The Roxy Theatre. I'm naming the entire album here. Last year we were in Melbourne on holiday and saw a late night TV documentary on Brian Wilson. Next day we went all over Melbourne to find this CD. Then we played it non stop on the 5 day drive from Melbourne to Brisbane. You can here the damage from the drugs when he talks but this album is brilliant. It's all the old Beach Boys songs and more but with a newer younger band.
 
7. Alfie - Burt Baccarach.I'm not sure I even like this song yet, but I'm trying. Bryan has been learning it this week so I've heard it over and over from the other room. I didn't like the movie so I didn't like the song. We saw Burt perform it in Auckland last year and driving home in the car Byran and Mark were raving about it being such a great song, the anthem of our youth etc etc. A few days later we saw a clip on TV of Cilla Black recording the original song and doing take after take, over and over until well past midnight. My God how young was Burt back then, or how old is Burt now.

My turn to tag and first off I'm going to punish tag Dale and Brad for buying and selling me on Facebook. Staying with the boys I'm also tagging Benito and Bruno. I'd also like to know the music that moves Chris, Arfi, and Gilli. But only if you want to.

Waiter There's Dried Fruit and Nuts In My White Chocolate and Matcha Cream Pots

 
 
Last week we took a trip to the Sunshine Coast, a couple of hours driving north of here. After a visit to the Buderim Ginger Factory I came away with a packet of organic uncrystallized ginger. This is like crystallized ginger but without the sugary coating. Across the road is the Macadamia Nut factory and after sampling the entire line up of flavoured nuts we  decided on a 1kg bag of raw macadamias.

I've been so busy the past couple of months I haven't had time to enter many blog events but I thought I might combine my nuts and ginger, which is not actually a dried fruit, and enter Waiter There's Something In My - Dried Fruit and Nuts, hosted by Andrew at Spittoon.

After a little thought I decided macadamia nuts and ginger would make perfect partners for white chocolate and matcha. I googled white chocolate pots and the first one up was one from my favourite  Tartelette.

 Earlier in the week I made another Tartelette recipe  - Lemon Madeleines. 
 
Without the lemon glace icing you can see the perfect little bumps.
 
These would be perfect served with my adapted Tartelette recipe for white chocolate pots.

WHITE CHOCOLATE AND MATCHA CREAM POTS WITH MACADAMIA NUTS AND GINGER
(Enough for two greedy people or 4 sensible people)

1/2 cup heavy cream
100 mls whole milk
150 grams white chocolate
3 egg yolks
25 grams raw macadamia nuts roasted in oven for 10 minutes and finely chopped
25 grams crystallized ginger, sliced, or if you can get it, uncrystallized ginger.
2 teaspoons matcha powder dissolved in 4 teaspoons milk

1. Combine milk and cream and bring to the boil.
2. Melt white chocolate over hot water
3. Whisk egg yolks into melted chocolate
4. Pour boiling cream into chocolate and eggs whisking constantly. Bring temperature up to 71C (160F). It will take about 3 1/2 - 4 minutes.
5.Remove from heat into stainless steel bowl placed in bath of iced water.
6. Cool, stirring constantly with whisk till it comes down to 32C (90F), about 4-5 minutes.
7. Divide mixture into two bowls. To one add the chopped macadamia nuts.
8.To the other add the matcha and chopped ginger.
9. Pour macadamia mixture into glass and leave to set in fridge for a couple of hours.
10 Add matcha and ginger flavoured chocolate to top. Leave to set in the fridge.

The matcha flavoured chocolate is not as green as I hoped and maybe I need to add more. If anyone has a formula for flavouring with matcha please leave a comment.

Taste Of Yellow Photo Competition

Thank you to the judges Andrew at Spittoon, Susan at Food Blogga and food photographer Lou Manna.  From all the fabulous photos you contributed to  LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow  they selected Helene at Tartelette as the winner. Congratulations Helene you will be receiving a copy of Lou's book Digital Food Photography.  Thank you to Lou and his Publishing Company for their kind donation.

And here is the winning photo.

One More Taste Of Yellow...and Gremlins

Firstly I'm having further problems with my blog which go back to the previous problems I had. Up until this morning everything  was working, then Typepad went down and when Typepad came back up  my blog decided to be silly. So you may have problems assessing a page and you will have a problem leaving a comment. If you remove the words "my weblog/" from the browser bar comments will work.

I hope to sort it out soon. It couldn't have happened at a worse time.

We have one two more participant to A Taste Of Yellow.....and that brings us to  180 181.   From Chuck in San Francisco at Sunday Nite Dinner the 180th entry is Spicy Corn Salad.

...and one I missed, number 181....

Chicken Biriyani from Ranji at Ranji's Kitchen Corner. Biriyani is a mixture of spices, meat/vegetable and yogurt and the word comes from the Persian word "berya" which means fried or roasted.

LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow Round Up 2008 Part 1

Drop dead gorgeous
I'm dying to know
I nearly died of embarrassment
To die for
I'm dying to go on holiday, give up work, move house, get married, whatever.

I don't think so.

No one ever died  because they were attractive.
No one died because they didn't know the latest gossip.
No one ever died of embarrassment.
Did you die when you ate that creme brulee, chocolate cake or drank vintage champagne?

.............and no one ever, ever died because they didn't go on holiday, continued to work, stayed in the same house, didn't get married, or whatever.

People die from accidents, heart attacks, any number of diseases like liver disease or kidney disease. Some people die because they are born into poverty in a third world country and some people die in war.

Then there are those who die from cancer.  Mothers, fathers, grandparents, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, friends, work colleagues, nieghbours.

Happily there are also those who beat  cancer. The ones who discover it early. And that is the secret to beating cancer - early detection. Which is why they have tests like mammographies, PAP smears, colonoscopies, PSA's, skin and mole checks. If you have a history of cancer in your family these checks are even more important. Discuss cancer screening with your doctor next time you visit.  It could save your life.

I would like to thank the 179 fabulous bloggers who cared enough to participate in LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow - 2008. Thank you for sharing your stories.   I cried, I laughed and I rejoiced at the stories you shared. I'm honoured some of you chose to share your very personal stories with me via email, stories too painful to share with the world.

While I was writing the round up I received a call to tell me a  friend had lost her battle with cancer. There was a big difference in our ages and until we were both diagnosed with cancer we weren't close. Our friendship developed as we shared our cancer journey. Some of our conversations were about death and our theories on an after life.  Those around us found it hard to comprehend how easily we talked about death. How we could laugh about how we wanted to look in our coffins. For her it was to be no make up at all , for me it is to be no rosy cheeks or red lipstick. She'd chosen her outfit already - something simple. I'm in no hurry to choose my outfit. I'm thinking something white and angelic :) No harm in looking the part. Don't be shocked when your loved ones use humour to talk about their cancer  - it helps us overcome our fears. 

As much as I use humour to talk about my cancer, I no longer use the expressions - drop dead gorgeous, I'm dying to know, this chocolate is to die for, I'm dying to go on holiday, whatever.

I'd like to dedicate A Taste Of Yellow 2008 to my friend Augusta . A remarkable woman with a great sense of humour, she enjoyed whiskey, Scotch Finger biscuits, good cheese and semillon wine.
 
Because there were so many entries I have split it into two posts. There will be a link to the second part at the end of this post. I'd like to thank everyone who participated in LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow 2008. The following is in no particular order apart from entries with the wristband being featured first.


Lynn in Augusta Gorgia at Cafe Lynnylu persuaded her  husband Alex to pose for her entry in the photo competition. I'm sure he was rewarded with the bowl of this delicious Lemon Ice Cream with Lemon Curd Swirl.

Some days I achieve very little (apart from a lot of laughter) when I spend far too much time on line chatting with Bron Marshall back in New Zealand. This  Yellow Patty Pan Squash with Lemon and Currant Quinoa is just one of her many brilliant creations.

 Bev at Yummy In My Tummy in Kortenaken, Belgium made Lemon and Ginger Muffins in honour of her  grandfather . Her handsome, smiling grandfather lost his battle with cancer only four years ago when he was just 68 years of age.

Laurie from Astoria, New York with the delightful blog name Heaven is Chocolate, Cheese and Carbs has made these Sunny Caramel Cupcakes decoareted with yellow and white fondant.

Chris at Mele Cotte runs another cancer themed event Cooking To Combat Cancer. She honours her gran who lost her battle with pancreatic cancer with a Mango Pepper Salsa.

If Helene that lovely French Tartelette in the US comes to visit me I would hope she would pack her suitcase full of  macarons. She makes the most delicious sounding (and looking) ones I've ever seen. Today she serves them in her Tropical Fruit Verrine with Peach Macarons. How good does that sound!

Kalyn you all know from Kalyn's Kitchen in Salt Lake City said this about her Chipotle-Lime Deviled Eggs - these deviled eggs were so good, I ate the ones in the photo before the pictures had even loaded into my computer. She had me craving deviled eggs when I read the post.

I decided to put these two dishes together as they both involve eggs but are totally different, which is the beauty of food blogging. I love how we see things differently and share our ideas. These Ouefs Mayonnaise are a favourite of Fred's and after previous mayonnaise attempts everything finally came together and Sam at Becks and Posh  in San Francisco was happy with her home made mayonnaise.

Recently I've been on a similar cooking wave length to ChichaJo at 80 Breakfasts in  Manila in the Philippines. We both made labnah the same week and there I was eating a bowl of semolina when her Semolina Porridge popped up for A Taste Of Yellow.

Arfi at HomeMadeS in Auckland New Zealand contributed two entries. She had some time to herself while her little ones were visiting their Grandmother so she whipped up this wonderful Banana and Coconut Pudding.

Tami at Running With Tweezers in Atlanta Gorgia contributes a Tangy Tarragon Vinaigrette to serve with Yellow Tomatoes.
 
Lori at Lip Smacking Goodness honours an aunt and her mother in law lost to cancer and celebrates those who have triumphed with this recipe for Mini Passionfruit Cheese Cake with Passionfruit Curd.

Bron Marshall couldn't resist a second entry and as it is the end of summer in New Zealand corn is everywhere. I often bought it from road side stalls when driving on the outskirts of Auckland. Bron served the family a snack of  Yellow Grilled Corn with Chilli Butter.

My favourite Cream Puff in Canada, Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice is another blogger touched by cancer with the loss of her father in 2001. Thank you Ivonne for finding the time to participate with another fabulous cake. This year she lays a little yellow on us with a Lemon-Lime Cocounut and Macadamia Nut Cake.

A healthy and colourful Corn Salad from the sweet Paz at The Cooking Adventures Of Paz. I get to enjoy the streets of New York through Paz's weekly photos.

Tammy at Wee Treats By Tammy  in Auckland dedicated her recipe from Cuisine for  Lemon Rice Pudding With Cinnamon Ice Cream to her aunt undergoing chemo at the moment.

Jennifer at Use Real Butter in Nederland Colorado has kicked cancer's ass. To make these Lemon Petit Fours despite currently undergoing chemo shows her strength of character.

Ilva from Sweden now lives in Tuscany, Italy and daily shares her impressions of Italy with her photos at Lucullian Delights. She shares her recipe for Saffron and Carrot Cupcakes With Cardamom and Pinenuts.

Arundathi at My Food Blog in  Chennai, India contributes with an intriguing recipe for Lemon Rice.

This fabulous looking Lemon Layer Cake is  from Karen at Do Better in the  San Francisco Bay Area.
 
From Bristol in the UK, Sam's Mum Chris at Ms Cellania shared her delicious Lemon Curd last year. This year she has gone savoury  with a delicious Kedgeree.

From the family comments at the bottom of the post at Bake at 350 I can see Bridget's Mom Gayle was special and much loved. Bridget from Spring Texas made  Rose Sugar Cookies in tribute to her  mother.

In New Zealand Morven at Food Art and Random Thoughts dedicates her recipe for Sicilian Peppers to friends and family touched by cancer.

Judy at