Posts Tagged ‘Garlic’
Thursday, August 4th, 2011
Going back in time a bit, on the last day of the bread section of my course we had a flat bread day. We made pitta, pizza, lavash and naan breads. Knowing we were going to make them, I thought I’d give my course mates a little taste of ‘home’ by making some spiced fillings for a few of the naan. Well everyone knows how much us Brits love a curry.
The breads are made with a whole wheat biga, which is a (typically) Italian stiff pre-ferment, although I imagine the Indians would use hunks of ‘old dough’ to add flavour and a bit of leavening. As the biga is made of whole wheat and has a wee bit of yeast in it, you don’t need to make it the night before, just a few hours before you make your final dough, which has a 3 hour bulk ferment, so you’ll need to get a bit organised.
I made the meat (keema) filling for the carnivores and a vegetarian version for the herbivores and we baked the breads in the schools wood fired oven, which I’m guessing most of you out there don’t have. Don’t worry, you can cook them in your oven at home. Just make sure it’s as hot as Hades, and that you bake the naans on something solid and heat retaining like a pizza stone or heavy roasting tin.
Ready?
Ingredients (makes 4)
For The Bread
380g White Bread Flour
30g Whole Wheat Flour
170g Water (temp of around 26c)
16g Ghee or melted butter
12g Salt
1g Instant Yeast
160g Goat or regular low fat Yoghurt
225g Whole Wheat Biga (see below)
More Ghee / Butter for brushing the bread with
For The Keema
400g Minced Beef
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Tags: Biga, Bread, Butter, Coriander, Cumin, Garlic, Ghee, Keema, Naan, Onions, Oven, Tandoor, Turmeric, Whole Wheat Flour, Wood Oven
Posted in Recipes, Snack, Travel | No Comments »
Sunday, July 17th, 2011
‘Barbecue’ is a bit of a national obsession in the US. From what I can gather there’s a bit of rivalry between the North and South in terms of style. I forget which, but one part of the country favours the dry, and the other the more saucy, but whatever side you meat falls on, it can be some tasty shizzle.
This recipe is a culmination of a bunch of different barbecue recipes we’ve read and tasted since we’ve been out here. A lot of the more recent ones seem to favour balsamic vinegar and going heavy on the sugar as part of the sauce, which to my taste is a bit sweet, and you end up with almost Chinese style ‘candied’ ribs. I prefer a bit more of a balance between sweet and savoury, so have used apple cider vinegar. But be careful not to go too far the other way or you’ll end up with something that will strip the enamel off your teeth.
The ribs get a double dose of flavour from a dry rub (which you should allow to do it’s work for a good few hours; or ideally overnight) and a wet barbecue ‘mopping sauce’ that you douse the meat with whilst it cooks on the barbecue.
Right, lets get our grill on.
Ingredients (serves 2-3)
1.2 – 1.5 kg rack of baby back (loin) ribs
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Tags: Allspice, Baby Back Ribs, Barbecue, Bourbon, Brown Sugar, Cider Vinegar, Coleslaw, Corn, Cumin, Deliverance, Dry Rub, Garlic, Ketchup, Onion, Paprika, Pork, Sauce, Soy Sauce
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Travel | 2 Comments »
Thursday, July 7th, 2011
As you’ll see form the previous post, American Independence day fell over this weekend. So for the 4th of July, we rented a cabin up in Lake Tahoe, which gave us the opportunity to do something we’d been gagging to do since we got here. Get our grill on.
We cooked a bunch of stuff on the barbecue which came with our weekend digs including ribs (recipe soon), steak, corn, s’mores and this great little clam recipe that the missus spotted on the New York Times website a few weeks ago.
It’s a really simple and easy, a bit different, and makes a perfect starter. We approximated the quantities as we didn’t have any on-line access whilst there, but I think we winged it pretty successfully.
Ingredients (serves 2)
20 clams (about 10 per person)
100g buter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Small handful chopped flat leaf parsley
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Tags: 4th July, Barbecue, Butter, Cabin, Clams, Garlic, Independence Day, lake Tahoe, Lemon, Parsley, Shelfish, Worcestershire Sauce
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Travel | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
The other day the missus suggested that I should tackle some indigenous recipes on Hand To Mouth. The kind of food that, for better or worse, the good ol’ US of A is known for. So this is the first of these American Classics, Southern Fried Chicken.
I’m no food snob. I love a bit of fried chicken. A KFC or Junior Spesh after a night out is one of life’s pleasures. But there’s nothing wrong with elevating it a couple of notches either. I use thighs for this recipe, as to my taste they’ve got the right skin to flesh ratio, and of course that tasty dark meat. I also use a good dose of not very traditional herbs and spices in the coating.
Buttermilk isn’t that easy to get in the UK, so if you can’t get it, some live yhogurt will do just as well. Lets get cookin’.
Ingredients (serves 2)
6 chicken thighs
For the ‘marinade’
1 pint (600ml) buttermilk
1 clove of garlic
1/2 an medium onion
Sprig of rosemary
Sprig of time
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Tags: American, Buttermilk, Classic, Crispy, Egg, French Beans, Fried Chicken, Garlic, Lemon, Mashed Potato, Melinda's Hot Sauce, Onion, Recipe, Rosemary, SFC, Smoked Paprika, Southern, Thighs, thyme
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
As you may know, Hand To Mouth is a big fan of the avocado. Particularly for breakfast. And we couldn’t be be better placed right now to feed our addiction. California produces around 90% of the US’s crop, so San Francisco is awash with them, and seeing as we’re living in a Mexican area of the city, I thought I’d pay homage to the ‘alligator pear’ by throwing together a guacamole.
I’ve got a lot of love for guacamole. Eating a bunch of it with some corn chips and washing it down with a couple of cold beers is, in my opinion, time well spent. Whole Foods does a pretty good one, but at 6 or 7 dollars a tub, it’s not exactly cheap, so we’ve been making our own. We’re living on a budget after all.
Before we get cracking, a quick couple of pointers. Avocados will discolour pretty quickly once cut, so prep all the other ingredients first. I also like a few chunks in my guacamole, so keep back one quarter of chopped avocado to add to the bowl once you’ve mixed together all the other ingredients.
Ingredients
2 ripe avacados
1 habanero chilli, de-seeded and finely diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2-3 spring onions, finely chopped
1/2 a plum tomato, de-seeded and diced
1/2 handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
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Tags: Avocado, Beer, Chilli, Coriander, Corn Chips, Garlic, Guacamole, Habanero, Lime Juice, Spring Onions, Tomato
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Travel | No Comments »
Sunday, April 3rd, 2011
Mussels are back in season, and I can think of no better way to do them justice that with the classic French Marinière.
Not only is this recipe incredibly tasty, it’s as fast as hell; from chopping board to stuffing your face in 15 minutes flat as long as your mussels are clean. As an added bonus, mussels are pretty cheap, with a kilo coming in at around 5 or 6 pounds.
Lets do this.
Ingredients
1 kilo of mussels
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1/2 large onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
200ml good white wine
Nob of butter
Olive oil
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Tags: Bread, Broth, Celery, Dinner, Fishmonger, French, Garlic, Kohlrabi, Lunch, Moules Marinières, mussels, Onion, Recipe, Salad, Sea, White Wine
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 15th, 2011
Pretty much anyone who knows me will tell you that I have a mild addiction to Pakistani food, and in particular the tandoori lamb chop. I’d more than happily spend an evening at Mirch Masala in Tooting, or Tayyabs, but my favourite place to get a fix is Lahore in Whitechapel (long overdue a ‘Local Hero’ post). The chops may be a bit smaller, but my god they taste good. Spicy, deeply flavoured and smokey. Yep, my mouth is watering and it’s only 9am.
But enough about my issues. This recipe is my attempt to re-create Lahore’s greatness at home. Funnily enough, I don’t have a tandoor in my kitchen so I use a griddle pan to get the charring and smokey flavour, and whilst this recipe doesn’t quite live up to East London’s finest, it’s not half bad. If you don’t have a griddle pan, you could grill them on both sides.
I use lamb cutlets as opposed to thicker chops, and serve them with a coriander and mint raita.
Ingredients
8 lamb cutlets
(for the marinade)
2 large cloves of garlic
1 thumb sized piece of ginger
2 green chillies, seeds removed
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Tags: Bread, Chillies, Cinnamon, Coriander, Cumin, Cutlets, Garlic, Ginger, Griddle, Lamb Chops, Marinate, Mint, Naaan, Olive Oil, Pita, Tandoori, Turmeric, Yoghurt
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes | 1 Comment »
Monday, February 21st, 2011
I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it before or not, but we start every week with Macca’s ‘meat free Monday‘. Don’t hold it against us.
As a confirmed carnivores, it can be quite tough to build up the enthusiasm to cook a bunch of vegetables, but this curry is healthy, tasty, and as it uses a ready made paste, its fast too. I use a spicy madras paste in this recipe, but you can use what ever floats your boat.
Ingredients
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 heaped teaspoon of chopped fresh ginger
2 tablespoons madras curry paste
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tin chopped tomatoes (400g)
1 tin chick peas (400g)
200 ml water
150g fresh spinach, roughly chopped
Handful of fresh coriander, chopped
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Tags: Basmati Rice, Chick Pea, Coriander, Curry, Garlic, Ginger, Madras, Meat Free Monday, Onion, paste, Paul McCartney, Spinach, Tomato
Posted in Dinner, Recipes | 1 Comment »
