thepassionatecook

Scrambled egg in avocado with sunblush tomatoes

I've written about our attitude towards presents before and the fact that rather than completely stressing out at traditional present-giving times like Christmas and birthdays, we give presents whenever we feel like it or whenever we find something suitable... last week, this happened to almost coincide with Valentine's Day and I got a beautiful gift I am absolutely thrilled about.
Although I felt the dire need for improvements in this area, I'd never have gone and bought myself a new camera - I've been driving the same old car ever since we moved to the UK (and a dustbin on wheels before that in Vienna) simply because if it ain't broke, it's good enough to be driven. I don't see the old automobile as a status symbol, which saves me precious time on the weekend, not having to wash and turtle-wax it every Sunday ;-) and I've been applying the same rule to camera and other equipment - it works fine, so I won't spend God-knows-how-much on a new one.
Getting one as a present is a whole different story, however! I just love my new toy, the above is a just quick snapshot made when I first got it. Bound to make even better pictures when I'm done reading the manual, probably at around the same time next year...
PS: It was all meant to be about the picture - but since so many of you seem to be intrigued with the dish itself, I am adding the recipe retrospectively.

Tomato & cheese fondue

So we went skiing a few weeks ago and I bet you've been drooling over that gorgeous picture of the Swiss Alps ever since! Well, here's one that's bound to set your juices flowing even more... we stayed at our friends' house who happen to own a chalet directly on the piste - no excuses not to put on your skis there, even if you've had a rough night! On Saturday, we stumbled down the hill for a well-deserved cheese fondue after a day of skiing. Now, I've had fondues before, Chris makes a mean one, I have to say and I have even posted a recipe for it a while ago. Our version used to involve bread on sticks and penalties when you lost your bit in the pot and it was a simple recipe only with cheese & wine. That night in Verbier, I was introduced to a fondue where you ladle the cheese over boiled potatoes (skin on) and they had lots of different flavours as well: blue cheese, green peppercorn, mushrooms, pears etc. We tried the "fondue à la tomate" which was delicious and has overtaken Chris' in popularity now, since it is somehow lighter than our version. Not sure why, but the tomatoes seem to make it more digestible, as that night, for the first time, I did not feel completely stuffed when I finally made it into bed... and that's without participating in the schnaps drinking competition the guys pulled off - "purely for medicinal purposes", of course!

Lobster sandwich with crispy bacon & vanilla mayo

This recipe is based on Rick Tramonto's "Amuse-bouches" ("Lobster club sandwich with vanilla aioli") and I am not sure why he calls it a club sandwich or where the aioli comes in, as this would involve heaps of garlic which is most certainly uncalled for!
The Club must be the only sandwich which is universally known to contain a seemingly undisputed list of ingredients: double-decker of white bread involving chicken, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo. What we have here bears no ressemblance to a club sandwich, though, as it's just a single-decker sandwich, no chicken involved, of course, and I didn't even have tomatoes on hand either - but I'd choose this over a club sandwich any time, call me decadent...
This Rolls Royce of a sarnie is non-the-less delicious, however, I made it after I had some lobster left over... ah! The challenge of buying lobster remotely! I never seem to remember how much I ordered last time and my fishmonger seems to consistently underestimate our appetite (or he is genuinely worried about the effect a given purchase will have on my bank account).
So I had two gorgeous lobster claws sitting in the fridge after last week's Valentine's dinner and went for something I'd been meaning to try for ages. I've paired lobster with vanilla successfully in the past - you'll be forgiven for thinking vanilla and mayonnaise to be an unlikely couple, but it works brilliantly. It somehow re-inforces the sweetness of the lobster without completely overpowering it, but is strong enough in this combination to be an equal partner for the crispy bacon. Sounds unlikely? You'll have to try it for yourself, I guess...

Bush tomato sea bass with spinach, sunblush tomatoes and onion purée

Seabass is definitely one of my favourite fish - it is widely used in the Mediterranean kitchen, but we also get a lot of it round here. Unlike salmon or cod, the flesh is less firm, it's a sort of flaky, melt-in-the-mouth experience. Perfect to be cooked whole, I also use fillets quite often, one fish will give you two generous fillets, so it's perfect for two... and they're very quick to cook as they're relatively thin.
Last week, I decided to use a new spice: Australian bush tomato. I bought it ages ago at a herbs & spices workhop I attended at Harvey Nics. Bush tomato (aka Akudjura when it's ground) is a native Australian spice with a pale tan to dark brown colour. It tastes sort of fruity, but with a smokey, almost caramel-like character and it's slightly tangy. I'd never used these unusual berries before, but sprinkling the ground spice over the fish just before frying worked very well, although I am convinced that the flavour characteristics would come out even more in a stew or casserole where the bush tomato would be left to infuse for much longer - so this will be something to try next time... The flavours were very well complemented by the sunblush tomatoes, I will choose sunblush over sundried tomatoes any day, you've got all the packed ripeness in them, yet they're able to release much more of their flavour when they're still moist and tender. We particularly liked the roast onion purée with it, as it added another unusual twist - I was worried it might be too strong, but roasting them in the oven for so long really takes the edge off and produces a lovely smokey flavour which is a great pairing for the smokiness of the bush tomato. All in all a perfectly light dish, great for a weekday dinner, as long as you can roast the onions ahead of time, maybe the night before, then this should not take long to put together at all!

Claridges chicken pie

I've told you all about the most pleasant and best value-for-money meal I've had in London so far... Gordon Ramsay @ the Claridges Hotel is an institution in London and rightly so. I also never fail to sing the praises for Ramsay's "Secrets", one of the best cook books I've ever bought (and believe me, there are many!). Amongst "Haute Cuisine" there are a fair number of traditional British dishes... a few years ago I'd never have thought that I'd once stoop that low (back then British cooking ranked very low on my list of desirable cuisines, and I guess it still does in a way), but Gordon Ramsay even makes the traditional British thoroughly delectable!
So this is a recipe for a pie - very traditional here. I am pretty sure most pubs (and the home cook) use it as a clever way to use up all left-overs they've got in the kitchen. Ramsay embraces all that is good about it - bold flavours, very down-to-earth cooking: bacon, mushrooms, cream - comfort food doesn't get any better. He cooks the pastry separately, though, and uses puff pastry instead of shortcrust... the result being a a very hearty stew of chicken fillet and vegetables, topped with some crispy pastry rounds - seconds, anyone? Yessir!!!
Wine suggestion: 2001 Chassagne-Montrachet, 1er Cru Clos des Murées, Domaine Fontaigne-Gagnard

Passionfruit mousse in fillo basket

I am a passionate lover of exotic fruit... I remember growing up on apples for most of the year and plenty of stone fruit in summer. Every once in a while, my Mum would buy a basket full of exotic fruit - mango, papaya, pineapple, kiwi, lychee and the likes, and I couldn't stop admiring and exloring the different shapes and colours, I thought they all looked so beautiful! While some of them are stunning from the outside, but not really all that rich in flavour or smell when you eat them (eg the star fruit), others may not have a spectacular coat on, but choosing them amongst all other fruits is greatly rewarded. The most deceptive of them all, with its purply-brown and thoroughly wrinkled skin is the passion fruit... I love to scoop the pulp out of the soft white interior shell with its lightly rose-coloured "tentacles"... and looks aside, it definitely boasts one of my favourite flavours!
This time, I paired the passion fruit with a more traditional Austrian fruit - black currants. These berries are also a firm favourite for me, but while common in Austria, they're difficult to find around here. I like the combination with the exotic, especially with super-ripe pineapple - in summer, I often slice pineapple extremely thin, carpaccio-style, and scatter some black currants over. Sprinkled with some lime sugar, this is a perfect, healthy dessert.
Some people find passion fruit hard to eat because they're not too keen on the little black pips, which almost outweigh the yellow pulp. I don't mind them, so will often leave them in, especially since the two are hard to separate. When I made this mousse, I tried a new technique which worked wonders: scoop out the pulp, heat in a little pot for no more than 2 minutes or so and only then strain through a (relatively wide-meshed) sieve. Sooo much easier! I can't believe I only thought of this now!

Listen what's cooking!

It appears there's no way I can get out of this... I have been volonteered to participate in a sort of strip-blogging event, where you're asked to lay bare - well, only your musical tastes, really, nothing to worry about! Anne's Food and I were both tagged by OsloFoodie, and Anne nominated me as well, probably because I took a while to respond... but I have a good excuse, lamentable as it may be - my laptop has died, after months of grave illness, and it'll take some time before I get over the loss (or rather, get myself a new machine).
So, what music do I cook by? Unfortunately, this question isn't even asked... but I will make a point of adding it onto the list!

What's the total amount of music files on your computer?
Zilt. Zero. Nil. It seems I am not fully riding the wave of downloadable tracks at all. Yet. Not that I am stuck with vinyls, either, but CDs are as sophisticated as it gets round here. We're currently re-vamping our living room, however, and - in a plead to get rid of all clutter - are thinking of buying a home entertainment system which will also host all our albums digitally.

The CD you last bought?
Not sure, actually. Recent acquisitions (and they're likely to originate from ONE packet from amazon) include Jack Johnson "On and On", The Scissor Sisters's album of the same name, Stan Getz "Getz plays Jobim: Girl from Ipanema".

What were you last listening to before you got this message?
I can't actually remember, it's been almost a week. But the last thing I listened to before I wrote this post was "Max", the German entry to the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest. Always makes me laugh because of the Germanisms in the lyrics and I had a great time watching my 13-month-old son (incidentally also called Max) dance to this track... he's got a great technique which is sure to win over the ladiezzz!

Write down 5 songs that you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.
It is easier for me to list albums rather than individual tracks, so I will give you a mixture (in no particular order):
The one song that sticks out is "I found my love in Portofino". Portofino is the most picturesque coastal resort in Italy (and probably all the Mediterranean) and it provided the most spectacular setting for our wedding. After fending off hordes of Japanese tourists who were fighting to take pictures of us, leaving our photographer to struggle, my Dad pulled out this song, which apparently was a great snogging-theme in their adolescence. Since then, we make a point of listening to it every year on our anniversary or whenever we have a romantic moment...

Baked apple & white chocolate mousse millefeuille

As I mentioned yesterday, my plans for today's SHF organised by A la cuisine have gone out of the window a little bit... I won't lie, I've always been scared of making my own puff pastry, it seems such a time-consuming effort and I am not convinced it makes that much difference. Whether my fellow foodbloggers will prove me wrong today, I am curious to see!
So I went to the supermarket instead. Bought a plain, fresh, but bog-standard pack of puff pastry. Even ready rolled! Because the one thing that's missing in my kitchen is a proper rolling pin. Mine is 15 years old and from IKEA - now, I can positively warn you that you should never, ever buy anything there which is not flat packed. A cobbler should stick to his last! And sticking is exactly what the dough does when I roll it with this stupid pin!
For the longest time I have been wanting to re-create a delicious cake that I had the last time I went to Vienna. Sitting in the beautiful surroundings of the Palmenhaus in the Burggarten, I sampled two delicious and quite unusual cakes. This provided the idea for today's recipe, although I am not even approximating what I had back then. I used puff pastry (today's theme) instead of shortcrust pastry and sponge, and the white chocolate mousse is also not original. I think they just use some cream strengthened with gelatine, whereas I followed a tip from my Mum, melting chocolate in cream, cooling and then whipping it up the following day. The topping turned out very nicely - thin almond slivers, roasted and then "glued" together in a mixture of butter, juice and honey... although I was very happy with the outcome of my baking adventure, I will still try and get closer to what I enjoyed so much in the Palmenhaus - with the sponge and shortcrust, you could even make a big birthday cake out of it, rather than individual desserts... I like puff pastry, don't get me wrong, but in this setup, it can be a messy business and not something you want to serve at a formal dinner party...

If you want more yummy recipes involving puff pastry, savoury and sweet, try:
Aubergine, pine nut & goats cheese puffs
Salmon & caviar scrambled egg tartlets
Roast red onion & fennel tartlets
Caramelised mushroom tart
Quick “pizza” with artichokes, tomatoes & parmesan
Plum tarte tatin with caramelised walnuts

Enjoy!

Recent & upcoming events

If it's been a bit quiet around here over the weekend, it's because I just couldn't resist the offer to go skiing in the beautiful, snow-clad mountains of Switzerland. Especially not since we were staying with our friends, and not just anywhere, no! It had to be a chalet directly on piste! Once you've managed to walk up the piste through the snow (Max in the sling providing the necessary balance for what is a quite heavy rucksack with a month's worth of provisions we didn't really need), you are instantly rewarded with the most breathtaking views over the valley and the mountains... so stunning that I almost thanked our little one for waking me up at 6 am, which allowed me to admire the most spectacular sunrise I have  seen in years!
And although we're keen on skiing, a fair bit of our stay was spent relaxing and sampling the local cuisine - dry-cured meats, cheese, various fondues... including one à la tomate for which I managed to secure an (albeit vague) recipe. I cannot share the pleasures of the viande sechée with you, but I will be making the aforementioned, deliciously light version of a cheese fondue very soon - two hours of questioning, pleading and, eventually, bribing a defenseless waitress mustn't have been spent in vain!
In my absence, I missed two major events in the foodblogging world. Paper Chef, the February edition, and a new initiative supporting my long-held belief that often simple is best, the End-of-month-egg-on-toast-extravaganza. Luckily, hostess Jeanne thought my post of Pumpkin seed scrambled eggs with prosciutto soldiers qualified and included my in the round-up!
Now, all eyes are on A la Cuisine for the 5th instalment of Sugar-high Fridays taking place this week, and I have to admit that my skiing trip has tripped me up somewhat, as I won't have enough time to create my own puff pastry (especially not since I am a novice and would probably take more than one try to get it right!).
Be sure to stop by tomorrow, though, as I am planning to make your mouth water with a quite unusual mille-feuille...
(Picture courtesy of Bruce Edwards)

Recipes and copyright

I went to a concert the other day - and in true De Bono fashion, I found inspiration in something completely unrelated to what I am doing. The discussions around food blogs and copyright (how much exactly you need to change in a recipe to call it your own) have been going on an on and there is still no common agreement - copyright laws are just too fluffy and anyway, who owns the rights for the bleeding obvious? If I write a post saying that 1:7 is the right dilution for orange squash or that you should season your steak with salt and pepper, do I need to give credit to someone? And to whom?
But I digress. So we saw the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall recently, with Riccardo Muti directing. It was part of the 60th birthday celebrations (of the orchestra, not Muti, although he must be about the same age, actually) and they played Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D (Op. 61) and Schubert's Symphony No. 9 in C... the latter a quite unusual piece of work, but very intriguing and brilliantly performed! Chris and I then spent the interval sipping (and not finishing) horrendous wine and trying to come up with a list of our favourite composers of all times. For me, it looks like this:
1) Bach
ex aequo with
1) Mozart
3) Schubert
4) Haendel ex aequo with
4) Haydn
6) Vivaldi
Am I a chauvinist? 5 great composers out of 5 Germanic? Well, but really, who else? I can easily name the bottom of the list as well (incidentally also of Austrian and German origin) - Wagner ex aequo with Schoenberg. But the top? One-off wonders like Bizet? Britton, anyone? I know it is highly subjective, but there you go, I think that Central Europe did produce the greatest composers of all times and I'd like to hear from anyone who doesn't share this opinion.
But I digress again. In the programme for the evening I read the following (which really got me to think): "(...) sounds suspiciously like the Ode to Joy from the last movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Perhaps this was a tribute - whether conscious or not - of Schubert's great musical hero (...)".
Good approach, I think! Next time someone accuses another of stealing a recipe, they should take it down a notch: the author might not even be aware of the recipe they're alluding to, it might have been handed over from generation to generation without knowing a source, they might just reproduce something without claiming it's their own or it might genuinely have been thought up at the time of cooking... maybe they should rather say that something is "remeniscent of" something else they've had before or seen somewhere, or that it might be "inspired by" or be a "tribute" to a great chef or another! I trust that most of us foodbloggers are honest enough to quote our inspirational source, if there is one, because after all, most of us do it for the love of, well, food - without any commercial motives to propel us along...
(Image © UNESCO)