Gourmet Worrier

Merry Christmas ~ Il-Milied It-Tajjeb

2009-12-25T01:12:47Z

On Boxing Day we head down the coast for a week. Both Stephen and I are going to leave our MacBooks and mobile phones at home. Hence, I won't be blogging while we are away as we'll be spending our days on the beach and lazing in the sun. I hope to resume life as we know it by the second week of January, or there about.

So have yourself a very Merry Christmas and may the year ahead be filled with abundant joy, hope and new adventure.

Raspberry & White Chocolate Tiramisu

2009-12-23T11:40:06Z

I have all my side of the family coming over to our house for dinner this Christmas Eve so it will be loud, chaotic and very Maltese. Hence, I wanted to try and keep it simple food wise, so I plan to make a couple of one dish wonders yet again. There will be Timpana for the carnivores and a huge Spanakopita for the two token vegetarians, although I'm sure some of the meat eaters will no doubt dive head first into the spanakopita as well. I have put my sister on 'salad duty' so she is going to make a large fattoush and my sister in-law is on 'fruit duty' which basically means that she will bring cherries, mangoes, berries and a load of cheese.

For dessert I wanted to make something summery and festive so I decided to make a tiramisu of sorts with layers of fresh raspberry purée and zabaglione, yet instead of using the traditional Marsala I used Grand Marnier. I also added some fresh mascarpone to the zabaglione and then folded through some melted white chocolate for good measure.

]]> Yorkshire puddings to mop up our gravy with and a huge plum pudding (store bought) with homemade custard. I intend to drench the plum pudding with brandy sauce and then set it a light, in the hope of impressing the mother in-law.

Fingers crossed everyone as I hope to make it through to the festive season with my eyebrows in tact!

Raspberry & White Chocolate Tiramisu with Grand Marnier

It would be better if you were to make this the day before you intend to serve it so to allow the savoiardi biscuits to soften and the mixture set. I used a large trifle dish that is approximately 20cm in diameter and 11cm deep.

For the Zabaglione

10 organic egg yolks

5 tbsp of caster sugar

200ml Grand Marnier

500g Mascarpone

300ml thick cream

200g white chocolate, melted (I used Greens & Black)

For the Raspberry Purée

800g of fresh/frozen raspberries

100g caster sugar

100ml water

And

300g savoiardi biscuits

Method

1. Place the raspberries in a food processor and blend them into a purée. Strain the purée through a sieve and discard the seeds. Make a syrup with the sugar and water. Once the syrup is cool add it to the purée and set aside.
 
2. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. When the mixture is tepid add the Grand Marnier and whisk for another five minutes or until it has thickened. Gently fold the cream, melted chocolate and mascarpone into the egg, sugar mixture.

3. Arrange the savoiardi biscuits in a single layer in the bottom of a trifle dish (about 20cm in diameter and 11cm deep) covering the bottom completely. Ladle a layer of the raspberry purée evenly over the savoiardi biscuits. Using a spatula then spread a layer of the zabaglione over the layer of raspberry purée. Repeat layering of savoiardi biscuits, raspberry purée and zabaglione three more times ending with a layer of zabaglione.

4. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

A Few of My Favourite Things

2009-12-22T11:55:20Z

At this time of year when gift giving is at it's peak, I thought I'd share with you a few of my favourite things that have found their way into my kitchen this year.

M-CUPS

This set of 6 dry-measure cups nests neatly just like traditional Russian matryoshkas. They accurately measure 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4 and 1 full cup, and they're built from heavy-duty, food-safe, long-life engineering plastics. M-Cups are useful, easy to store, and quite charming, so why not doll up your kitchen with a little Russian folklore?

]]> Nigella Lawson Melamine Serving Hands

"Pretty serving utensils, like lamps, are practically impossible to find, so I have been longing to come up with them for ages. They are great to use; I hate to feel at arm's length from food and these really make you feel part of the food you've cooked. You just dig in to salads or pasta, holding them either way up so you've got spoons or forks as you like. Think of them as maracas for the kitchen!"

Built + Alexander Girard

Who says bringing your lunch has to be boring? The rich and vibrant Alexander Girard patterns make the Lunch Purse the coolest accessory around, and give new meaning to eating your lunch in style. This insulated neoprene lunch bag stretches to fit whatever provisions you need for a satisfying meal, and includes an inside pocket to stash your favorite treat. Toss it over your shoulder, and never worry about what you're going to have for lunch again.

Envirosax

The philosophy of Envirosax is to help create a better future for our planet by spreading the environmental message through colour and script using the Envirosax eco-friendly reusable bag as the vehicle. Envirosax bags are lightweight, portable, waterproof and each one holds the equivalent of two supermarket plastic bags thanks to reinforced seams

Spongioli

 Counters need cleaning or dishes need doing? Spongioli to the rescue! These ravioli-style pop-up sponges are far better than old-fashioned cellulose - they're super absorbent, strong and long-lasting, anti-bacterial, static-free, low in carbs, and pretty darn irresistible. Six compressed sponges in each clear recyclable PET package.

Ecology Egg Separator

The Ecology egg separator separates egg yolks from the whites with ease. No more shell in your cake or yolk in your meringue when you use this nifty little gadget.

Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker

•    Double insulated freezer bowl holds up to 2 litres of frozen dessert
•    Brushed stainless steel housing with embossed logo
•    Fully automatic
•    Heavy-duty motor makes frozen desserts or drinks in as little as 25 minutes
•    Large ingredient spout for adding mix-ins

Voluspa Candles

Voluspa candles are pure luxury. We don't cut corners or put anything into our
candles that is not of the highest quality. Our fragrances are second to none
and take hours of careful development to create. With over 50 to chose from
throughout the Voluspa range collections there is truly something for everyone.

Emma Bridgewater Tea towels

This Black Toast Tea Towel would make anybody feel better about having to do the drying up, well almost!

Does your heart jump a beat each time you see Daniel Craig walking out of the sea? Yes, I rather thought so. Mine does too.

Timballo - the one dish wonder!

2009-12-17T11:10:07Z

Now that you all know that my name is Nanette I thought for the sake of ease I would no longer refer to the father of my children as Huxley, but instead use his real name - Stephen. I'm going to continue to refer to the children as Hoover and Fussy because Hoover still inhales her food and Fussy, well he is still pernickety.

So now that we have attended to that little bit of housekeeping and are all on the same page I'll thought I'd let you know what I made the other week for Stephen's birthday dinner.

Unfortunately Stephen was going to be in America for his birthday, as he had to go to Chicago for work. I was not too thrilled about the situation and the children were rather upset at the prospect of not being able to 'help papa blow out his birthday candles'. So at the very last minute I invited Jacqueline and Andrew and their two gorgeous girls over for a lovely impromptu birthday dinner for Stephen - minus the birthday cake.

]]> accidently broke Stephen's chocolate and ricotta cake while I tried to remove it from the springform pan before it had cooled completely. It was an irredeemable mess and no amount of ganache or cream was going to mask my ridiculous impatience. Thankfully I always have a packet of savoiardi biscuits in the pantry so I was able to quickly whip up a tiramisu. Later that night, Hoover and Fussy were none the wiser as I gently shoved a couple of token candles into their papa's birthday tiramisu.

After the birthday cake palaver I decided to make something simple for dinner so I set about making a huge timballo, which is a basically a baked pasta pie. I love one dish wonders as it gives me more time to sit and relax around the dinner table with a glass of wine, rather than fuss in the kitchen while everyone is drinking all the good wine!

Hence, these elaborate baked pasta pies or pasticci are said to date back to Renaissance Italy. Apparently, the French soon discovered how deliciously simple these pies were and embraced them into their cuisine and renamed them timbales. Of course two centuries later the Italian's reclaimed the timbales and thus christened it the timballo.

Timballo

I used my Spanakopita pie dish for the Timballo which is approximately 30cm in diameter and about 6cm high. The original recipe does not suggest that you cover the pie with ziti pasta, but I did, as I didn't want the pie to dry out.

Recipe adapted from The Food of Italy 2000

Ingredients

1 onion, finely chopped

2 fresh bay leaves

3 cloves of garlic, finely minced

Olive oil

1 400g tin of San Marzano tomatoes

700g of organic chicken thigh fillets

A glug of dry white wine

A handful of fresh thyme, finely chopped

A handful of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

300g mushrooms, sliced

100ml thick cream

4 organic eggs

200g provolone cheese, grated

Sea salt & freshly ground pepper

500g ziti, boiled and drained

Method

 1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4  2. Sauté the onion, garlic and bay leaf in some olive oil until soft. Add the tinned tomatoes and cook for five minutes over a low heat. Add the chicken thigh fillets, thyme and white wine and cover the pan and cook over a moderate heat for about 20 minutes.

3. Add the mushrooms to the saucepan and cook for another 10 minutes, turning the chicken once or twice until it is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the saucepan and continue to cook the sauce until it has reduced and thickened. Remove the bay leaves and allow the sauce to cool to room temperature.

4. Shred the meat and return it to the sauce. Stir in the eggs, provolone cheese, cream and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Grease a baking dish and lightly dust it with some fine semolina.

5. Meanwhile cook the ziti in a large pot of salted boiling water according to the instructions on the packet. When the pasta is al dente drain well and place in the dish one by one, in a single layer, starting in the middle and spiraling outwards to cover the base and the sides ensuring that there are no gaps. Fill the centre with the chicken sauce and repeat the process again until the top of the pie is covered with pasta.

6. Bake for an hour or until the top of the pie is golden and crisp. Allow the timballo to rest for a few minutes, then invert onto the plate to serve. Hence, after the birthday cake fiasco I decided to serve the timballo as is as opposed to inverting it onto a plate!

For more timballo photos please click here.

Surprised by Joy

2009-12-15T10:12:29Z

Today marks a year since I published my first ever post on Gourmet Worrier and thus made my debut onto the blogging scene. In doing so, I unexpectedly joined the ranks of those suffering from what has been referred to by some as 'gourmand syndrome', which as far as I'm concerned is a most pleasurable and joyous condition to be struck down with.

In looking back at the year that was, I can honestly say that I didn't really think that anyone would be remotely interested in what I had to say, think or cook. Hence, I am completely gobsmacked that people actually take the time to read my blog and continue to do so every day!

I primarily started this blog for me, as I desperately needed a place where I could find my 'own' voice and 'vent my gastronomic spleen'. If truth were told, I never set out to write for any given audience, because no one was really out there, right? I was happy with my little piece of the blogosphere, content being Ms Gourmet the anonymous, naive, newbie blogger.

Yet within what seemed like a matter of moments I began to connect with other like-minded food centric souls who not only understood me, but also wanted to 'follow me' and get to know me. Your genuine interest, honesty and sincerity demanded that I shed my alias and reveal myself - pronto! So down went the 'bumblebee' avatar and up went the photo of moi! Yes I was cautious and tentative like the rest of you, but I allowed myself to be led by instinct and began to let you in one at a time.

I now enjoy the many conversations that fill my day with people I would never have had the chance to connect with due to the obvious constraints of time and geography. For someone who is painfully introverted, deeply suspicious and at times can border on paranoid - blogging has proven to be a most therapeutic outlet.

Despite my major faux pars and the huge learning curve before me, many fellow blogger's have proven to be incredibly generous and helpful with their suggestions and advice, and so for this I thank you! Very early on there was Christie with her constructive, yet ever so gentle criticism, followed shortly there after by Ilva who although frank and direct is also incredibly seasoned, honest and wise. Then along came Bron, Deb, Jessica and Mona and to my utter joy came Heidi, Jamie, Anissa, Pip and Denise. Never in a million years would I have ever believed that Marcella herself would show up on Gourmet Worrier.

Dear readers I'm constantly blown-away by your friendship and incredible kindness, despite us having never met face to face or having shared a meal together. Well all except for Mona who not only shared a meal or two with Huxley and I when we were recently in Malta, but who then graciously allowed us to crash in her guest room after that unforgettable meal at Tal-familja.

It was only late last week that I found this gorgeous comment that Elaine had recently left on my very first post. Hence, Elaine managed to articulate everything that I am currently feeling at this time:

'Blogging serves a purpose if only to allow some to bloviate endlessly. However, when one magically connects with a food geek that is serious about their obsession then palates are expanded, relationships developed and food knowledge grows. Sharing meals, cooking marathons, or visiting markets together all virtually, makes those experiences all the more sweeter.

 Thank you internet, for bringing together a food community we otherwise may never have known, with those such as Ms. Gourmet.'

 So thank you for coming along with me on this journey of sorts and for helping me to understand that genuine, authentic connection is far more rewarding than hits and page views!

Late for Work

2009-12-11T06:38:21Z

I do not consider myself to be a religious person, although I do have this thing for religious icons. My latest acquisition involves old, disused holy water fonts and vintage Mary statues and miraculous medals. I have no idea why, but it just 'is' at the moment.

Hence, when I was in Rome last year feasting on great food, ancient art and religious icons galore I found that I was suddenly surrounded, as it were by nuns in full habit. It seemed that everywhere I turned there standing before me was a nun. I spotted nuns shopping at Campo dei Fiori, standing outside Zara and chatting on their mobile phones.

The one above taken on the Rome Metro is a current favourite of mine.

Solace in a Cup

2009-12-09T10:09:00Z

In Melbourne we're really spoilt for choice when it comes to coffee as we have a plethora of café's that serve outstanding coffee, consequently I have very high caffeine standards. Hence when I'm abroad and in pursuit of my daily hit, I find that my frustration in trying to find a semi decent espresso is often interpreted by those around me as - 'whingeing princess'.

One year, out of sheer desperation I packed the Bialetti and 250g of ground Genovese coffee, so to ensure caffeine consistency whilst on holiday. This year I thought I'd throw caution to the wind so I left my Bialetti and the Genovese coffee at home.

Stupid move!

Within a couple of days of being in Malta I found myself desperately reaching out to the locals on twitter for some caffeine assistance. Thankfully Mona, Andrew and Andrea came to the rescue with the unanimous suggestion that I should pay a visit to Piadina Caffe in Valletta. Whilst being grateful for the 'local knowledge' it didn't solve my caffeine crisis whilst on the island of Gozo, although I did find momentary bliss here. Yet, what it did do was urge me to board the next ferry to Malta in search of this famous café in Santa Lucia Street in Valletta.

]]> Café Vergnano 1882 . After a week of drinking barely passable coffee, I found that I was pleasantly surprised and incredibly relieved. I would also go as far to say that the coffee at Piadina is in fact the best coffee I have ever had on the entire Maltese archipelago!

Yes I am aware that this is a bold claim, but it's the truth!

As well as fabulous coffee Oana makes some of the best piadina's I have tasted outside of Italy. She uses specially sourced bread made by Cristiano Bagnaschi of Lo Spuntino in Msida and fills them with quality Italian cheeses and parma ham, chicken, chorizo, rocket, fresh tomatoes and cream di peproni. Piadina Caffe is closed on Sundays, but open Monday to Friday from 8am through to 4pm and on Saturday between 8am and 2pm.

Blood Orange & Vanilla Sorbet

2009-12-07T01:58:02Z

When you think about blood orange sorbet you would naturally assume blood orange juice + sugar and then churn, freeze and serve, no?

Well think again and think vanilla! Yes, I said vanilla - bean, seeds and all!

I know. I too was slightly dubious when I first came across this recipe because blood oranges and vanilla are not your normal run of the mill bedfellows. Needless to say I had to try this one for curiosity sake more than anything else. And can I just state for the record that this sorbet just tastes so 'right' in a nature intended kind of way 'right' .

Do you get what I'm saying?

How about you get half a dozen blood oranges and make a some sorbet for yourself and then you'll see that I haven't gone stark, raving mad here.

]]>
Blood Orange & Vanilla Sorbet

Recipe adapted from Feasts: Food for Sharing from Central & Eastern Europe

Ingredients

700ml of blood orange juice, freshly squeezed

170g golden caster sugar

100ml water

Vanilla bean, split & seeds removed

Method

1. Put the sugar, water, vanilla bean and seeds together in a saucepan and stir over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Remove the vanilla bean and allow to cool.

2. Juice your blood oranges and then stir in the water and sugar mixture.

3. Chill thoroughly and transfer the sorbet mixture to your ice cream maker and proceed according to the manufacturers instructions and then freeze.

Three Coins in the Fountain

2009-12-03T10:14:17Z

Last year I went to Rome seeking hope, happiness and answers

And like the proverbial tourist I threw three coins in the fountain

One coin for each child of mine

and a coin for me...

Three coins in the fountain,

which coins will the fountain bless?

'Where would we be without salt?' - James Beard

2009-12-01T21:22:20Z

If I manage to drag myself out of bed early enough when on holiday in Gozo, I love to walk from Marsalforn to Qbajjar all the way around to Xwieni Bay. There's just something magical about being up just after dawn, before the hustle and bustle of daily life begins to intrude upon the previous nights silence.

I love watching the faithful fishermen set out to sea from Marsalforn Bay in their brightly painted fishing boats. Every Maltese luzzu, which is said to be of Sicilian origin, proudly bears the eye of Osiris on her bow, a symbol that dates back to the time of the Phoenicians. These unique and sturdy boats have been carrying men out to the ever-present Mediterranean Sea, which has 'throughout the ages, made men excellent mariners' as this 'ubiquitous sea has always attracted men to fish'.

]]>

Xwieni salt is said to have a distinctly unique flavour because of the location of the salt pans and their close proximity to surrounding olive and almond trees and also because of the wild thyme that grows along the edge cliffs.

If you have a spare ten minutes today take a look at the facinating documentary below about salt harvesting in Xwieni that was produced locally by a team of university students. It explains the traditional salt harvesting process that has faithfully taken place in Gozo for the last 150 years.

Baci Ice Cream without Nutella

2009-11-30T11:35:05Z

The other day I was at the Mediterranean Wholesaler stocking up on some olive oil, Parmesan, tins of San Marzano tomatoes, Limoncello and Marsala. I have been shopping at the wholesaler for the last ten years or so and both Hoover and Fussy often tag along as they love it there. They especially love to sit down at the café mid-shop and have a slice of pizza or a bombolini filled with chocolate custard.

On this particular occasion I was unencumbered and child-less so I was able to chat to Mario in the wine section about how I could get my hands on some Sicilian Cannellino (thanks Mona I can't find it anywhere hint hint) and I was also able to have a decent, uninterrupted conversation with Sandra from the cakes section.

]]> Gelato di Cioccolato del Cipriani and then she gave me her secret Baci ice cream recipe without Nutella.

Yes, you read correctly *without* Nutella!

I've always wanted to make Baci ice cream, but all the recipes I have googled use Nutella. Nothing against Nutella - truly we love the stuff and we even participated in World Nutella Day this year. It's just that in my humble opinion I have always thought there had to be a better way to achieve that heavenly chocolate - hazelnut combination.

So my dear friends without further ado, I give you Sandra's secret Baci ice cream recipe made with Perugina bitter cocoa and with Relanghe brittle hazelnut nougat, both of which you can readily get from the Mediterranean Wholesaler in Brunswick.

Sandra's Baci Ice Cream

Ingredients

600ml of full fat organic milk

600ml of organic cream, heavy

½ cup of caster sugar

½ cup of brown sugar

75g bitter cocoa powder

150g of brittle hazelnut nougat

Method

1. Put the milk, cream, sugar and nougat in a saucepan and over a medium heat slowly bring to the boil. Add the cocoa and cook for about 10 minutes or until the nougat has completely melted and stir frequently.

  2. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool completely. Place in an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Talk about a Revolution

2009-11-27T01:04:57Z

I went on a bit of a door and balcony photo frenzy while I was in Malta and Spain. This photo was taken one afternoon while walking around the El Born district - it's such a great place!

A gift from Rena's farm

2009-11-24T21:13:36Z

I was recently gifted with a kilo's worth of fresh raspberries from Rena's farm as she has had a bumper crop this year and I was fortunate enough to get my hands on some - for free! If you were from Melbourne you'd know what an amazing gift that is as the current price for a measly 200g punnet of fresh raspberries is close to $7.00.

Rena is my neighbour's aunt and she makes the most divine raspberry jam and plum sauce that I have ever tasted. Although the children love Rena's plum sauce they're not that keen on fresh raspberries as they find them a little too tart.

Rather than make a Semolina & Raspberry tart I decided to make some Sorbetto di Lamponi - Raspberry Sorbet. Can I tell you, both my two children and my neighbour's children for that matter, could not get this sorbet down their necks fast enough.

So I guess there's no question as to what I'm going to do with the other half a kilo of raspberries sitting in my freezer drawer!

]]> Sorbetto di Lamponi - Raspberry Sorbet

Jessica from La ciliegina sulla torta uses gelatin in her sorbetto. I chose to omit the gelatin and the sorbetto worked out just fine - perfect in fact!

Recipe adapted from La ciliegina sulla torta

Ingredients

500g of fresh (350g raspberry purée)

Juice of a large lemon

Juice of two oranges

130g caster sugar

100ml water

Method

1. Place the raspberries in a food processor and blend them into a purée. Strain the purée through a sieve and discard the seeds.

2. Make a syrup with the sugar and water. Once the syrup is cool add it to the purée along with the citrus juice.

3. Put the mixture in your ice cream maker and proceed according to the manufacturers instructions.

Beautiful Barcelona!

2009-11-23T11:29:25Z

Earlier on in the year when we were planning our trip to Europe we found it incredibly difficult to decide were to go to after Malta. The two real contenders were always Barcelona and Umbria. Hence, the pull towards Umbria was huge, as Deb from Italian Food Forever had invited us to come stay with her and her husband at their glorious farmhouse in Umbria.

Have you not seen their amazing farmhouse? Go take a look and then you can appreciate the dilemma we found ourselves in trying to decide.

Yet, long before my friendship with Deb there was my love and intrigue for beautiful Barcelona. That's not to say I don't value and cherish our friendship Deb, but in terms of 'bucket lists' Barcelona, Gaudi, Picasso and the Mercat de la Boqueria have been high up on my list for well over two decades. So after much debating and to-ing and fro-ing we decided that Spain it would be!

]]> Mercat de la Boqueria. OK I lie - the first thing we did after settling into our wonderful apartment was head down to the waterfront for some tapas and sangria. We managed to find a table at the ever-popular Luz De Gas, which is a floating bar at Port Vell. That was the night I discovered Sangria di Cava in a big way. I still have no idea how we managed to find our way back to our Spanish apartment after four jugs of the stuff- but thankfully we did!

The following morning we decided that coffee and hang-over food was required. So after a quick stop at Cafè de l'Òpera for a much-needed cortado we headed over to the Mercat de la Boqueria for a bocadillo, which is a baguette stuffed with Jamón and Manchego cheese.

Words cannot begin to describe the sights, sounds, colour, smell, life and vibrancy of this most famous market. For an in-depth critique I suggest you read Anissa Helou's article that she recently wrote for Waitrose. In it she provides a brief historical background of the market and let's you know what stall to go to find bacala, Adalusian olives, pulses, cheese and wine.

If you want to see more of what we saw that morning you can do so on flickr.

Here at last!

2009-11-19T10:10:51Z

As you have probably gathered by now, tomatoes are a favourite of mine. Thankfully I had a couple of weeks in Malta in September so I was able to indulge my tomato compulsion - and how I indulged! I could eat tomatoes on their own as one would eat an apple and I also love to add them to all manner of things. Well at long last tomatoes are here!

Well they've been lurking around the supermarkets for the better part of winter, but we don't need to go there do we?

Anyway, this quick and easy lentil tabbouleh is a current favourite of mine. Hence, if you are anything like me you'd probably eat a bowl of this as is. Or you could be a little more civilised and serve it alongside some grilled fish or meat.

]]> Puy lentils, as their unique peppery flavour is pretty spectacular in this salad.

Seeing that we are now on the brink of tomato season here in Melbourne we will, despite the kids loud protests, be eating this dish right through until February.

Lentil Tabbouleh

Recipe adapted from Saha 2005

Ingredients

400g tin of organic lentils, rinsed and drained

250g of organic cherry tomatoes, halved

Juice of a large lemon

1 cup of fresh mint, roughly chopped

2 cups of fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

Extra-virgin olive oil

Sea salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste

Method

Place the lentils and all the other ingredients in a large mixing bowl and toss well. Allow the tabbouleh to stand for 10 minutes or so before serving so to allow the flavours to come together.