To hot not to really.....

I am writing this from my kitchen table, ambient temp in the room about 35 degrees. Why do tomatoes, so essential for the best condiment known to woman, appear right when it is least comfortable to have the oven on, or indeed be anywhere near the kitchen at all? While I ponder this & other mysteries of the universe (Marmite , the appeal of those incredibly sad animal rescue programs on TV, Rap music....) I have a couple of kilos of homegrown tomatoes roasting away in the oven. My desire for delicious pizza sauce has outweighed my desire for a nice cool house.

Instead of standing over a bubbly pan or several hours I am taking the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall route and making an oven roasted sauce. Place about 1.5-2 kg of tomatoes on an oven tray. I use a mixture of heirloom cherry tomatoes from plants Mum gave me & a slightly bigger variety called Tommy Toe. This I brought solely because I have a cat called Tommy, as you can see I'm quite the scientific gardener.......

Anyway, toss your chosen tomatoes with a good glug of Olive oil, a clove or two of chopped garlic, a few sprigs of thyme & a few of oregano, sprinkling with plenty of salt & fresh pepper. Roast in a 180C oven for about 45-50 mins until the fruit has collapsed, with tinges of brown. You may also have collapsed from the heat, can I just say its worth it?

Let the tomatoes cool for a while, then either push through a sieve or commender your Mums retro cool orange Mouli, (burnt melted bits where it was left on the stove countless times optional). Actually with the resurgence in interest in sauce making I have seen this beauty, certainly a bit more stylish than mine.....! Unlike a food processor a mouli gets rid of skin & pips, saving you having to skin hundreds of cherry tomatoes, surely the quickest way to a complete sense of humour fail.
This recipe makes about 500 mls of sauce depending on the moisture levels in your tomatoes If you find it a bit thin for your liking reduce it down by rapid boiling in a saucepan. Use right away or pop into the freezer for a taste of summer another day.....

I used a little of this as a basis for homemade pizza. Due to the fire ban in Auckland at the moment (we have not seen rain in weeks, the lawn looks like a brown and Mr PK is the only person happy about it, no mowing required....) the pizza oven is a no go. I spied a pizza stone at Farro on special for $20 and decided to splash out. Yet more heating up of the oven, but homemade pizza is SO much better than brought........

My go to pizza dough is here, if you have not made your own before I urge you in the strongest yet least bossy terms I can to try. A great crispy base, rich roasted sauce, a bit of mozzarella, maybe a few basil leaves, how good does that sound? 
I am a real purist when it comes to pizza, I think I am going way out when I put mushrooms on. Strangely I am married to a man who thinks Tandoori chicken & banana is completely acceptable as a pizza topping, at least making my own I have complete control. I do enjoy a hot pizza out of the oven topped with prosciutto, I like it cold & chewy rather than crispy after cooking, but its up to you.  Control freak I hear you murmur? Hmmmm.........

Are you having a tomato glut at the moment? 

Oaxacan Pizza......and tractor films

Before I begin Mr PK would like it noted he is putting the washing out while I post on my blog. He will then clean the cat litter tray, and the trap in the shower. Your a marvel darling, noted.
Now onto much more exciting things , a Mexican pizza. From Oaxaca to be precise. That's pronounced Wha-ha-ka. you may well already know this, I didn't the first time I saw it...apparently in Oaxaca these are a night time street snack called Tlayudas, that's clae-yoo-das..........I think I'll stick with pizza.

These are truly fantastic, cheap, quick and delicious. I had two flat bread left over from Burritos the other night, and various bits & bobs in the fridge. With not too much effort they produced a great Saturday night dinner, with a bottle of this new NZ ginger beer

The inspiration for this came from one of my favourite cookbooks, Mexican Food Made Simple by Thomasina Miers. Her version uses chicken, guacamole and rocket. Instead I have used grilled fennel, mushrooms, chopped avocado & grilled prawns. As you will see this is a very flexible dish, go with what you like, and more importantly, have on hand.......

Oaxacan Pizzas ( from Mexican Food Made Simple by Thomasine Miers)

I bag/bunch of normal or baby spinach
Knob of butter/splash of oil
Salt & black pepper
2 flat bread (I use fresh ones from my local Mexican, but any flatbread would be fine)
1 fennel bulb, sliced
Handful of Mushrooms
4 spring onions
1 avocado, peeled, chopped into chunks & splashed with lemon/lime juice
Handful of grated cheese (Mozzarella would be lovely, but anything that melts would be fine)
6 kings prawns (or you could use leftover cooked chicken)
Handful of semi dried tomatoes (in summer I would use fresh chopped tomato)
Handful of chopped coriander & parsley

Wash the spinach & shake off in a colander. Heat a medium frypan and add a the butter or oil. Add your spinach, and let it wilt for a couple of minutes. Take out and put back into the colander to cool off, then grab a handful of squeeze out the liquid (spinach has a lot of water!) . Put into a bowl & season with salt & pepper.

Using a griddle pan or the same frying pan, heat up again over a medium heat, then brush the vegetables roughly with oil, and griddle or fry your fennel, spring onions & mushrooms until charred & tender.

Sprinkle your prawns with salt & pepper, or use this spice mix recipe, I like to have in a jar in the pantry. You could also use a shop brought spice mix of course. Chuck your prawns onto the griddle pan/frying pan and cook for a minute or two until charred and pink. Take out and pop onto a plate.

To assemble your pizza use a medium sized frying pan (you can use the same pan for everything in the recipe, just give it a wipe with paper towel before your cook your flatbread) and pop your flatbread into it.
A sprinkle of water helps the flat bread heat up. When it is browned on the bottom, flip over & sprinkle with half your cheese. After a minute or two the cheese will start to melt, top with half of your spinach, then lay half of your grilled vegetables on top. Sprinkle over the chopped avocado, 3 of your prawns, some semi-dried tomatoes and a sprinkle of herbs.

Allow to heat for a minute of two, then fold one half over onto the other and slide onto a plate. Slice and serve with a ginger beer, chilli beer, beer beer............whatever.

There are lots of variations to this, if you don't have spring onions, some red onion finely sliced and doused in lime juice would be ideal. If you wanted to make this vegetarian simply omit the prawns and use a salty feta sprinkled over just before you fold. Griddled fish or Chorizo would also be fantastic. For an extra kick some chopped chilli sprinkled on just before serving is great too.........

My nephew is making this for his cooking night this week, if he can make it anyone can.......:)

Tractor films? About six years ago Mr PK and I went to see a movie at the film festival, I cant recall the name, but it was a Finnish film about a paraplegic who is travelling to the firm who made the tractors involved in his accident. I wont say it was terrible, ............well actually yes I will say that, what a dog.
The lead character was thoroughly unlikeable, the subtitles were in white, which on a snowy background is near impossible to read, and it went on.............and on.
Obviously there were Finnish people in the audience, they laughed away like drains while we struggled to decipher the subtitles........to make matters even worse the Springboks were playing the All Blacks that night, needless to say Mr PK was not impressed. So whenever we see a dodge film, it's a tractor movie. Luckily we have avoided any at this years festival, instead we have so far enjoyed.........

Submarine
Very funny, 80's Wales never looked so bleak. Cringe in parts, but a clever script, and great casting. Noah Taylor rocking the Jewish carpenter look, yikes........tractor recommends 7.5/10

Taxi Driver
I had not seen this before, so it was a treat to see it on the big screen. Robert De Niro is hotter than ever, the soundtrack is pure 70's funk, and it wasn't nearly as violent as I imagined. Cybil Shepherd, now I get what all the fuss was about, she is luminous in this film. Gritty is such a cliche, I'll get back to you when I have something better.........tractor recommends 7/10

Mysterious of Lisbon
At nearly five hours this would be the longest movie I have ever seen, but I think it is worth the length. The story is captivating, it looks beautiful, and has the time to fill in all the gaps. Just a shame the Civic, while a beautiful theatre, is a bit of a trial for a 6 foot 3 inch husband.....for this it loses a point Tractor recommends 6/10

Jiro Dreams of Sushi
I love documentaries, especially low key ones like this, Jiro has been making sushi for 75 years (the best in Japan according to many), in his 10 seat restaurant in the Ginza subway station, and his passion is captivating. Also an interesting look at father son relationships in Japanese culture. Tractor recommendation 8/10

The Trip
I laughed my head off, witty, funny, the impressions for both leads are beyond clever, see this film! Just a shame I saw the 9.15pm show, again at the Civic, again a bit cramped. Tractor recommends 8.5/10

Still a few more to see this week, plus of course Happy Potter, am I the only person who has not seen it yet??? Any one else been along to the film fest, let me know if you can recommend any more films......?

An old fav for a New Year.....hello dough balls

Happy 2011! When I was a kid I remember my Aunt telling me the older she got the faster the years seemed to go, at the time I think I was waiting for Christmas and the days seemed interminable. I figured she was so old she was a bit confused (she would have been all of 50 at the time..), but I think I get it now.
Each new year brings that very slight feeling of well concealed panic. Did I achieve anything last year? Am I a better person? What was on my list to do? As per I cant actually find my 2010 resolutions, I think they were in the back of the diary that was in my handbag when it got nicked , but in line with the 15 years before that they probably ran something along the lines of losing 15 kg, drinking less, exercising more (probably with something like the Auckland 1/2 marathon pencilled hopefully in), learn a new language (non non non!)......Actually I did start a supperclub, and my cooking classes, so I am chuffed with that, but they probably were not even ON the list....

A new approach for 2011, as clearly the old one isn't working, and committed to cyberspace so I cant actually lose them.......

Take my lunch to work in my nifty new sandwich bag, so I always have something yummy, instead of spending a fortune I food I can do better myself.....

Appreciate all the good things that come my way. It will be a challenging year I think, so it will be good to remember all the good stuff (I am so lucky, there is so much good stuff)

Drink more red wine..and maybe a little less Chardonnay.

Be bold. Especially when I don't feel like it.

Stick to my food budget, eat well,  and save the rest for a lovely holiday in Europe at the end of they year. Even if it means visiting WWI battlefields with people old enough to be my father........

Remind Mr PK what a star he is, even on days when he watches WWII marathons on the History channel, or Quintin Tarantino box sets.

Go for a walk every day.

OK, that's me. Enough of the navel gazing, how about some food?
I had some goat cheese left over from Christmas, and lovely salad greens. In my London days we would sometimes go to Pizza Express at Canary Wharf for work lunches, people leaving etc. I always had the Goat Cheese salad with Dough Balls. Little balls of bread with garlic butter to dip, yum. I am not sure these are exactly right, to be honest I cant really remember , but they were tasty, and a nice change from croutons.

Goat cheese and bacon salad with "dough balls" - with apologies to Pizza Express

For the salad I used baby salad greens with some pea shoots, then added some sweet little baby tomato's (needless to say not grown by me), crispy fried bacon and a crumble of fresh sweet goat cheese. If you don't like goat cheese then use a soft blue, or even a crumble of cheddar. The dressing was made in seconds, shake the following in a small jar

3 tbsp really good olive oil
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp of Dijon mustard
1 tsp of runny honey
salt and pepper

For the dough balls I use my go to pizza base recipe, which is based on one from Dish mag, the Italian issue
Pizza Dough
1 cup lukewarm water
1 1/2 tsp dried yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp rosemary, finely chopped (optional)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp olive oil (use the good stuff, it adds flavour here)

Put your water in a jug and stir in the sugar & yeast. Leave in a warm place to froth for 10 minutes or so. If it does not froth your yeast is dead (RIP yeast) and is no good, get a new jar.

Put your flour, salt, and rosemary in a bowl, and add the olive oil and about ¾ of your water yeast mix. Stir by hand, or use the dough hook on your food mixer. If working by hand, add as much water as necessary for most of the flour to come together, but don’t over wet it. Turn the whole mess onto a floured bench, bring it together with your hands and begin kneading. This is simply the action of pushing the dough outward with one hand, turning it with the other hand and repeating the process. The whole manoeuvre, besides being a great workout for your bingo wings, is designed to stretch the gluten in the flour, making it springy and elastic. You can feel the dough changing as you knead, it will feel ‘short’ and tight when you begin, but gradually become more elastic, you will know it is done when you can press your finger lightly on the dough and it will spring back.

Wipe the inside of your bowl lightly with oil, and put the dough back in to rise, again in a warm spot covered with some cling film. It will double in size in about 1-1 ½ hours. Punch the dough with your fist (deeply satisfying) and turn out again onto a lightly floured bench. You can now roll out into one large pizza or several smaller ones, and either freeze, or cook.

 
For the dough balls I shaped half the dough into little walnut sized balls (the rest I popped in the freezer, ready to whip out for potato pizza.) Cover the balls with a tea towel and let them rest for 20 minutes or so, then brush with milk, sprinkle on some sea salt and pop into a 200C oven for 15 minutes.
 
 

 
Serve with garlic butter, made by mixing softened butter with chopped fresh garlic. OK, not the healthiest of dips, and you could use any dip you liked, but I wanted my little taste of London, so garlic butter it had to be. These are moreish, tasty, cheap and cute to look at, next time I will add some grated cheese to the dough, for even more savoury yumminess.
 
Off to the garden centre now, I shall add one more thing to my goals for 2011. To grow a decent tomato. I wont be making a lot of sauce with this years crop..........
 
 

Gorgeous eggplant/aubergine dip......and a tiny piece of advice

My little heart skipped a beat the other day when I saw shiny firm glorious eggplants (or aubergine if you are posher than me, which is entirely likely...) at the food market on a 2 for $5 deal. Maybe this means I need to get out more, or am simply very easily pleased , or both, but I fairly skipped up to the counter.

I adore eggplant, and we eat plenty all spring and summer. The texture is great, be it grilled until tender on the BBQ or grill, fried with loads of garlic and tomato, or as in the following recipe, a delish smokey dip. Whatever you do with eggplant, give it plenty of seasoning, and do cook it well, a half cooked eggplant is grim indeed, it needs to be soft and melting........

The following dip is a simplified version of an Ottolenghi recipe (yes, again!) , from Plenty. It is easy, tasty, and has already become a fav in our house, try it.
Please don't let the Pomegranate Molasses put you off, I found this at my local supermarket, but any specialist food shop or Middle Eastern shop should carry it. I FINISHED my last bottle, it didn't just sit there until I threw it out......... It is fab in dressings, and I have a glorious red pepper and walnut dip it really peps up, I will post the recipe as spoon as I dig it out of my overflowing recipe box....if you cant find it, I would try some tamarind paste/water which is available at any Indian store....

Eggplant Dip (based on Burnt Aubergine with Tahini recipe from Plenty)

2 Eggplant
2 tbsp of tahini paste
1/4 cup of cold water
1-2 tsp pomegranate molasses
Squeeze of lemon or lime juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tbsp chopped parsley (coriander is also great, and mint)

Prick your eggplant a couple of times with a knife, and place on a baking tray lined with foil or baking paper (if you are using foil make sure the shiny side is up so it reflects the heat). Place under a hot grill for 45 minutes or so until the skin is black, and the eggplant is collapsing. This sounds nuts, but you are not eating the skin, and this burn imparts a lovely smokey flavour to your dip. Trust me.

 When the eggplant has cooled down a little, split it in half and scoop the soft insides into a colander.

You can biff the skin, it has done it's job.

 I know it does not look terribly appealing at this stage, but bear with me.

Let the eggplant flesh drain for about 20 mins or so, and place into a bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Mix together, then taste and check the flavour.

The pomegranate gives a lovely sweet sharpness, while the tahini adds depth, adjust adding a little more or less depending on how you like it.

We have had this a couple of times recently, once as a yummy creamy topping for lamb pita pizza's....

and once as a delish side for some lamb kibbe patties I made, experimenting with bulgur wheat. I have not perfected this recipe yet, but when I do I will post it toot sweet........

On another note entirely, can I offer you a friendly piece of advice? If you are tired, and cooking Mac n Cheese, because you require comfort food, and a recipe you can make without actually engaging your brain, BE AWARE! Testing your little pasta shapes for al denteness can result in a hidden pocket of boiling water bursting out and dribbling down your lip and onto your chin..........this can then result in much swearing, burning, tears before bedtime and general unhappiness. And some clown at work asking if you have a cold sore. No, I have a severe pasta burn............and it isn't funny pal.
Lets be careful out there.

Another pizza......with potato. Yes, potato.

In a delicious "Naples by way of Dublin" twist I give you the new fave in the Plum K. household, the potato pizza.

Pizza dough is surely the easiest of all breads to make, and if you are not in a tomato frame of mind this makes a top variation. We are often not in a tommy frame in our house, due to an unfortunate incident yonks ago with a dish very accurately labeled "three kinds of tomato pasta". I was newly arrived in London, lonely and jobless while my suited and booted other half trooped off to the City to talk about football all day and head to the pub after work (I think he did something in banking in between times). We were living with an 80 year old family friend, so as you can imagine we had little to converse about after the weather....I saw the offending recipe on an morning TV show, and thought I could at least be useful and make supper.......my two compatriots were sick all day & night, i was fine so I dispute to this day it was my tomato extravaganza ......I spied this recipe in Dish last month, it is very similar to the focaccia dough I make, and the idea of potato, to a good Irish girl like me , on a pizza was intriguing.......anyway, enough raving, all you need for your dough is:

1 cup lukewarm water (remember heat kills yeast, so "blood temp" is about right), into which you place 1 teaspoon of sugar or honey, and 1.5 tsp dried yeast ( I used Tasti brand, in the baking aisle at any supermarket). Leave this for 5-10 mins in a warmish place till the little balls of yeast are replaced by a foam on the top of the water. This tells you the yeast is alive, and with the help of the sugar, is turning into the gas that will combine with the gluten in the flour and help your dough rise. It's magic! In a large bowl put two cups of High Grade flour. This has more gluten than standard, it might also be called Strong or Bread flour. Add to your flour a good tsp of salt, and a tsp or so of chopped fresh rosemary. This will smell heavenly when your dough is cooking.

Now add the yeast liquid to your flour, and using your hands mix together. You may not need all the liquid, just add about 3/4 of the cup and see how you go. I realise this lack of exactness is frustrating for newbies, but bread making is not an exact science, which is a good thing, honest. You will feel the dough coming together and when it is mostly a ball, rather than lots of separate bits of sticky flour, tip it onto the bench and start to knead. This is not tricky, just use your right hand to push the front of the ball of dough away from you, then pull it back and with your left hand twist the dough a quarter & repeat. Imagine you are stretching the dough, and as you work it, it becomes easier to stretch. After about 4-5 mins you will have a dough that feels smooth and springy under your fingers, if it still feels "tight" just give it another minute or two. Really that's all there is to it. Your dough can now be chucked back in the bowl with a tiny bit of oil rubbed on the surface, and left for about an hour or so in a warm place (I pop mine next to the heater, or next to the stove if I have the oven on) to double in size. This is called proving. I have made this in the morning while getting ready for work (honestly, it took all of 10 mins while I ate my toast) and then put it in the fridge, which slows down the proving time. When I got home I just left it on the bench for about 30 mins while I took makeup off, got changed blah blah, and it was good to go. Heat your oven to about 200 C, and place an oven tray in to heat also.

To make the topping simply thinly slice some waxy potato's (I use Red Desiree, Jersey Benne would be perfect also) and put in a saucepan of water with some salt. Bring to the boil, and boil for 1 minute, then drain, and slosh through some good olive oil. I use the peppery fancy stuff here, as I want plenty of flavour. A good grind of black pepper, an srpinkle of sea salt and some more chopped rosemary or chive and you are done. Take your dough out of the bowl and on your bench which has a sprinkle of flour, knead it again for about 30 seconds. Now you can roll it out to one big pizza or several smaller ones. I use a rolling pin, but an unopened bottle of wine would also work? I like quite a thin base, but it is up to you how you like it......

Take your hot tray out of the oven and slap the pizza dough on top. No oil or anything is needed on the tray. Tip your potato onto the dough and spread out so it is one thin layer. Sprinkle over a generous amount of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. The Kapati one is nice if you don't want to spend a fortune on the Italian stuff. I also used mozzarella last night because I had been given some, but it is fine without. Put the tray back in the oven, and in about 15-20 mins you will have a fabulous supper. I like to sprinkle a little more olive oil after it comes out, and some parma ham is also lovely, as is some fresh rocket. But the plain version is just fine...trust me.

A Middle East pizza........kinda

This is Mr D's fav supper. It is based on two recipes from Julie Le Clerc's wonderful 'Taking Tea in the Medina", a great book, with wonderful evocative pictures. Homemade pita dough , not that I think he would care one jot if it was homemade or not, rolled out onto a hot oven tray (sadly I have no pizza stone) and covered with a yummy mix of onions fried with minced lamb, a little allspice & sumac, a touch of chilli and some pine nuts. To this version I also added some preserved lemon, I thought I had run out but found one more jar lurking in the pantry from last years batch. I also added a sprinkle of raisins to the Dried Fruit Fiend's pizza........Blast in the oven until crispy, then put big dollops of yohurt over the top, with a handful of mint, a squeeze of lemon & some black pepper. Serve to waiting man on couch glued to The Pacific, basking in the glory of your sheer fabulousness. Make him do the dishes.