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| tongue-pointy front end and back |
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| the back half of tongue has a crunchy texture |
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| the tip is stewed in soy sauce & star anise sauce |
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| meat on top for soup |
Showing posts with label 2015-06. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2015-06. Show all posts
Many meals out of a cow tongue
Mix seeds bread
Since coming back from Berlin, I have been
making bread with the addition of a small handful of mixed seeds (pumpkin, chia,
sesame, poppy, flax, caraway), just like those traditional bread over there. I
like the flavor and the extra nutrients.
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| chia seed |
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| chia seedlings |
Out of curiosity, I sow chia and poppy seeds
in the flowerbed to see if they can grow here or not. In just 2 days chia seeds
germinated, and in a week, poppy seeds too!
They are so eager to grow, I am now
looking forwards to harvesting my own home grown seeds.
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| poppy seedlings |
Beetroot juice
I like to use raw beetroot in juicing, very
nutritious and wonderful colour.
One of my favorite recipes which has a rich balance of flavors and aroma
is:
beetroot and its leaves and stalks
grapefruit
pineapple, a slice
tomato
cucumber
parsley, a small bunch, leaves and stalks
ginger, a small piece
salt, a pinch
Zucchini Costata Romanesco
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| zucchini Costata Romanesco |
Part of the joy of home gardening is to
grow interesting varieties of vegetable not easily seen in the market. Like
this zucchini Costata Romanesco, unlike the usual smooth cylinder like form, it is heavily ribbed, the flesh is dense white and has flavor.
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| zucchini Costata Romanesco |
Summer vegetable harvest
The summer comes late this year, vegetable grow slowly. I could finally pick enough to make a stir-fried dish with
zucchini, sweet potato shoot, chayote shoot and parsley.
Crispy nutty kale
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| Crispy nutty kale |
This has to be the
best snack, crispy, tasty and healthy, what an unbeatable combination!
1. Use thick dark leave
vegetable like kale, or may be silver beet, remove leave stem.
2. Add 0.3% its weight
each of salt and brown sugar, mix well and wait for an hour, the leaves will
soften.
3. Wipe dry the leaves,
add a few spoonfuls of nut or seed paste (peanut butter, sesame, almond etc). I use home blended walnut here, the slightly
coarse texture is great. Make sure all leaves get a touch of the nut butter.
4. On large baking
trays lined with non-stick baking paper, spread the leaves out flat as best as
possible.
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| Crispy nutty kale |
5. Bake at 50˚C until
crispy, around 5 hours, the leaves shrinks a lot after drying.
Hay bales
In early June when there were 3 consecutive
dry sunny days, the organic cattle farmer nearby came to cut the grass.
The next day the cut grass was flipped over to dry, then on the third day rolled into these giant hay bales. They need to cool down for a while before storing, otherwise they could self ignite and burn down the barn.
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| hay bale |
I really like the view of the grass field
with the hay bales lying idly around, like some giants have been playing chess.
Rack of lamb with walnut and preserved lemon
The crust made of walnut, preserved lemon and
chives adds colour and a rich flavor to the juicy tender lamb.
1. Season rack of lamb with salt and pepper
for a day. Sear the surface well.
2. Roughly ground up walnut, mixed with
chopped up preserved lemon and chives. Spread on top of still warm rack of
lamb.
3. Bake at 180˚C for 10 minutes, then rest
in the oven for 5 minutes with door ajar, for a pink result.
The season of shad (鰣魚)
Like salmon, shad also migrates from sea to
river every year, the season is 2 weeks later than last year. This is a 1.5kg
beauty.
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| shad |
Have to cook it right away, this fish is
famous for turning bad very fast once out of the water.
Clean the belly but keep the scales. Bake
at 220˚C for 15 minutes, rest for 5 minutes with the oven door ajar.
The flesh is so juicy, tender and tasty.
Berry feast
The most reliable and most productive fruits to grow are berries. Berry bushes are small, does not require a lot of space like growing fruit trees, and easy to look after.
I am starting to be able to pick a bowl of
mix berries everyday, one of the best gardening rewards.
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| blackcurrant |
 | ||
| raspberry |
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| gooseberry |
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| loganberry |
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| blueberry |
Beetroot guacamole appetizer
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| beetroot |
My beetroot is growing so well this year
that I need to do a bit of thinning, so that the remaining ones have room to
grow bigger.
I used these small beetroots to make this appetizer,
which has a good combination of flavor and texture.
1. Bake beetroot at 200˚C until soft, around
40 minutes, remove skin and cut into slices.
2. Cream up soft avocados, season with lemon
juice, salt, black pepper, chili and olive oil to make guacamole.
3. Cut bacon into small bits and cook lightly.
4. Use endive leaves as base, put a
spoonful of guacamole inside, add pieces of beetroot, then sprinkle bacon on
top.
Garlic harvest
What a good year, the garlic planted last November is ready early and very plant produce big, fat bulb. I
shall start test making black garlic and fermented garlic.
Chicken with preserved lemon & goji
I like baking with this Tagine cookware,
very effective in holding moisture, relatively light, and presentable.
1. Cut chicken thigh into pieces, season
with rice wine, salt, white pepper and a few rings of preserved lemon cut into
strips, for an hour.
2. Place in Tagine (or any baking dish with
a lid), add a handful of goji berries for colour and sweetness. Bake at 200˚C
until cooked, around 15 minutes
Strawberry
Finally have some sunshine in the last couple of weeks, this is
the first harvest of sun ripened strawberry.
Bacon
Just finished curing
bacon for this summer's breakfast. This time I used pork shoulder instead of
belly, because it is difficult to find belly these day, need to book ahead, so
the next best option is a whole piece of shoulder (梅頭).
The shoulder meat is
1.4kg to start with, finished weight is 1.2kg, sliced into 3mm pieces, divided
into portions and stored in the freezer.
1. Marinate:
3% its weight of salt
3% its weight of brown
sugar
crushed white pepper,
juniper pepper, garlic, chili, bay leaves as much as you like.
2. Rub marinate on
pork, put a heavy weight on top, cover with cling film and fridge, turn over
everyday for 10 days, keep the juice as brine.
3. Wipe marinate away
with paper, place on a rack to dry in the fridge, for at least 10 days, longer
the drier and easier to slice.
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