Just had this for supper to use up the multitude of zucchinis we have this year! Wonderful!
Grate coarsely
4 medium unpeeled zucchini
Mix in
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup (2 fluid oz in a measuring cup) plain flour
1/4 t (teaspoon) garlic powder
1 t salt
1 onion, grated
Fry by tablespoonfuls in hot oiled skillet, turning once when golden brown. Arrange on platter and top with sauce.
Combine in saucepan
1 cup chicken broth (8 fl. oz)
2 T. (tablespoons) soy sauce
1 T. cornstarch
Cook and stir over low heat until thickened. Serve with rice.
Options:
Add fresh bean sprouts with grated zucchini.
Switch from Chinese to Italian meal by topping with tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese. Serve with spaghetti.
Monday 30 August 2010
Tuesday 24 August 2010
A recipe for left-over chicken
Chicken Julienne
Ingredients
serves 4
175 g (6 oz) long grain rice
3 Tbsp (40 g) butter
3/8 cup (40 g) plain flour, sieved
1 1/4 cup (300 ml) 1/2 pint chicken stock
1 1/4 cup (1/2 pint) 300 ml milk
350 g (12 oz) cooked chicken, cut into long narrow strips
2 tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice
4 oz (100 g) green beans, cooked
pinch of dried thyme
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp (15 ml) chopped fresh parsley
4 oz (100 g) carrot, peeled, cut into julienne strips and blanched
1/4 cup (25 g) 1 oz flaked almonds, toasted
3 Tbsp (40 g) butter
3/8 cup (40 g) plain flour, sieved
1 1/4 cup (300 ml) 1/2 pint chicken stock
1 1/4 cup (1/2 pint) 300 ml milk
350 g (12 oz) cooked chicken, cut into long narrow strips
2 tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice
4 oz (100 g) green beans, cooked
pinch of dried thyme
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp (15 ml) chopped fresh parsley
4 oz (100 g) carrot, peeled, cut into julienne strips and blanched
1/4 cup (25 g) 1 oz flaked almonds, toasted
Method
1. Cook the rice in a saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, but not soft. Set aside and keep hot.
2. Melt the butter in a pan, stir in the flour and cook gently for 1 minute, stirring. Remove pan from the heat and gradually stir in the stock and milk. Bring to the boil and continue to cook, stirring until the sauce thickens.
3. Gently stir in the chicken, lemon juice, green beans, thyme and seasoning and cook for 5 - 10 minutes until heated through.
4. Add the parsley to the cooked rice and toss lightly. Make a border of rice on a serving dish and spoon the chicken into the centre. Decorate with carrot and almonds.
2. Melt the butter in a pan, stir in the flour and cook gently for 1 minute, stirring. Remove pan from the heat and gradually stir in the stock and milk. Bring to the boil and continue to cook, stirring until the sauce thickens.
3. Gently stir in the chicken, lemon juice, green beans, thyme and seasoning and cook for 5 - 10 minutes until heated through.
4. Add the parsley to the cooked rice and toss lightly. Make a border of rice on a serving dish and spoon the chicken into the centre. Decorate with carrot and almonds.
Sunday 15 August 2010
Italian Sponge Cake
I rather like the sound of this cake. It is used in a recipe for Tirame-Su (Pick me up cake) which is found in Venetian restaurants.
Pan de Spagna (Italian Sponge Cake)
5 eggs, yolks and whites separated
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups white cake flour, sifted
1 t vanilla essence
1/2 t grated lemon rind
Put the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat till lemon coloured. Add the sifted flour, a little at a time, mixing in well. Add the essence and rind.
Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry and fold into the flour mixture.
Butter and flour a cake tin about 10"/25 cm in diameter. Pour in the cake mix and bake in a moderate (350F/180C) oven for 40 minutes.
Turn out on to a cake rack and cool
To make Tirame-Su using Italian Sponge Cake, use the following instructions:
1 Italian sponge cake (baked in a 14"/35cm pan)
1/2 cup strong black coffee
3 1/2 fl oz / 100ml kirsch or Tia Maria or any other favourite liqueur
1lb 2oz / 500 g cream cheese sweetened with icing sugar to takst
unsweetened cocoa powder
Cool the sponge cake and split in half. Mix together the liqueur and coffee and carefully sprinkle half over bottom half of cake. Spread some cream cheese over this half and place the second half on top of this. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the rest of the liqueur and coffee and spread the rest of the cream cheese over the top and sides of the cake. Sieve a thickish layer of unsweetened cocoa powder over the top and transfer to a serving plate. This cake should only be about 2 in/5cm in height and should be fairly moist without crumbling inside.
Pan de Spagna (Italian Sponge Cake)
5 eggs, yolks and whites separated
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups white cake flour, sifted
1 t vanilla essence
1/2 t grated lemon rind
Put the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat till lemon coloured. Add the sifted flour, a little at a time, mixing in well. Add the essence and rind.
Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry and fold into the flour mixture.
Butter and flour a cake tin about 10"/25 cm in diameter. Pour in the cake mix and bake in a moderate (350F/180C) oven for 40 minutes.
Turn out on to a cake rack and cool
To make Tirame-Su using Italian Sponge Cake, use the following instructions:
1 Italian sponge cake (baked in a 14"/35cm pan)
1/2 cup strong black coffee
3 1/2 fl oz / 100ml kirsch or Tia Maria or any other favourite liqueur
1lb 2oz / 500 g cream cheese sweetened with icing sugar to takst
unsweetened cocoa powder
Cool the sponge cake and split in half. Mix together the liqueur and coffee and carefully sprinkle half over bottom half of cake. Spread some cream cheese over this half and place the second half on top of this. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the rest of the liqueur and coffee and spread the rest of the cream cheese over the top and sides of the cake. Sieve a thickish layer of unsweetened cocoa powder over the top and transfer to a serving plate. This cake should only be about 2 in/5cm in height and should be fairly moist without crumbling inside.
Venetian cooking
I was in the local Oxfam shop yesterday and discovered a copy of Taste of Venice: Traditional Venetian Cooking by Jeanette Nance Nordio. I bought it for a number of reasons. I love reading the books of Donna Leon with her wonderful descriptions of meals en famille in Venice, the book was beautifully illustrated and finally, I am looking for new recipes to enliven our mealtimes. So far, I have been rewarded with a recipe for a tomato sauce and one for Italian sponge cake, both of which I will make today! I have looked on the Internet for Jeanette Nance Nordio but it seems that Taste of Venice is the only cookbook she has written. What a shame!
Tomato Sauce
500g unskinned jam tomatoes (plum?) or 14 oz/400g tinned, peeled tomatoes
1 clove
1 small onion
1 small carot
1 stalk celery
3 T (tablespoon) parsley
2 T basil
20 g butter
1 t (teaspoon) olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
In a copper or earthenware pot melt the butter and oil and add the celery, carrot, onion and parsley finely chopped together. cover the pot and cook over a moderate heat for a few minutes, stirring from time to time.
Add the tomatoes, cut into large pieces, the basil and the garlic and recover the pot and allow to cook over a low hear for 15 minutes. Add the salt, sugar and pepper and blend or sieve the sauce.
Return to a low heat and gently simmer for another 25 minutes until the water from the tomatoes has been consumed and the sauce has thickened. Do not overcook as it will tend to become acid in taste.
This sauce may be bottled and sealed like jam to be used when needed.
Tomato Sauce
500g unskinned jam tomatoes (plum?) or 14 oz/400g tinned, peeled tomatoes
1 clove
1 small onion
1 small carot
1 stalk celery
3 T (tablespoon) parsley
2 T basil
20 g butter
1 t (teaspoon) olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
In a copper or earthenware pot melt the butter and oil and add the celery, carrot, onion and parsley finely chopped together. cover the pot and cook over a moderate heat for a few minutes, stirring from time to time.
Add the tomatoes, cut into large pieces, the basil and the garlic and recover the pot and allow to cook over a low hear for 15 minutes. Add the salt, sugar and pepper and blend or sieve the sauce.
Return to a low heat and gently simmer for another 25 minutes until the water from the tomatoes has been consumed and the sauce has thickened. Do not overcook as it will tend to become acid in taste.
This sauce may be bottled and sealed like jam to be used when needed.
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