taste2taste

June 21, 2015

Fresh Fast Food Italian Style – My favorite 10 minute Tuna and Bean Salad Lunch

Sometimes, you have just 10 minutes, or so, spare in your weekend schedule to come up with Lunch, as I had today.

The lazy option, of which so many of us are guilty, is to pop a box into the microwave and ‘Hey-Presto’ BING! All done.

A juicy lemon, tuna, Italian Cannellini beans and sea salty capers

In recent years, I’ve been coming up with new ways of providing quick healthy food for lunch. My current Summer favorite is this Tuna & Bean salad, which was inspired by a similar fabulous dish I had on the Italian Riviera.

It is a great recipe, as it combines ingredients, fresh and preserved, contrasting in texture and flavor, that mix together to form a punchy light meal in around 10 minutes.

The Ingredients I use are:

Parsley, celery, red onion chopped and ready!

Half a Red Onion finely chopped
3 sticks of Celery finely chopped
A handful of Italian (flat leaf) Parsley finely chopped too (surprise, surprise!)
The juice of half a Lemon – freshly squeezed please!
1/2 a handful of Salted Capers, or Capers in Brine (don’t forget to wash – if salted)
1 can of Cannellini (White Kidney) Beans – drained
1 can of Tuna in Olive Oil. You will be using the Tuna and the oil from the can!
A pinch or two of salt & pepper to taste

What next?

All the ingredients in the bowl, then mixed and ready to serve

Simply throw all the ingredients into a large bowl, mix thoroughly and voila!

Within minutes you’ll be eating scrumptious, fresh, zingy, crisp, soft and healthy Italian Fast Food.

Enjoy with a slice or two of warm Ciabatta bread!

June 20, 2015

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Baking Scones with Mum (& Marguerite)

I have lots of happy memories learning to bake with my Mum. My passion for food, baking, cooking and career in food design and development was fuelled by Mum and Grandma (Mum’s Mum). Mum has a big box file of recipes collected from magazines, newspapers, family and friends with hand written notes on hints, tips, tweaks & comments on the outcome. We would have a rummage through the file to decide what to make. A particular favourite was Marguerite Patten’s cake recipes and following my Facebook tribute to Marguerite I decided to make scones as a thank you to Mum & tribute to Marguerite, an iconic British cookery writer, who sadly passed away recently.

For our American readers, this recipe is for British scones, which have less fat in the recipe versus American scones/biscuits. Read on, the final picture showing the serving suggestion should explain why!

Here’s the basic recipe I use in pictorial form.

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F.

Ingredients

Ingredients ( salt not shown)

225g/8 oz/2 cups Plain (all- purpose) flour

1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 level teaspoon of cream of tartar

pinch of salt

50g/2 oz/1/4 cup softened butter

50g/2 oz caster(superfine) sugar

150ml/5 fl oz/2/3 cup semi skim (2% fat) milk

Method

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda & cream of tartar into a bowl and add a pinch of salt.

Hint & tip 1: You can use 2 level teaspoons of baking powder instead of the bicarbonate of soda & cream of tartar.

Rub the softened butter into the flour by hand until well incorporated resembling fine crumbs (bottom left photo below).

Make a well in the centre and add the sugar & milk.

Mix to form a soft but non sticky dough using your hand.

Hint & tip 2:

If the mixture is a bit sticky add a teaspoon of extra flour.

If the mixture is a bit dry add a teaspoon of extra milk. However try to avoid adding too much extra flour as the dough should be soft.

Roll out on a lightly floured surface, also lightly flouring the rolling pin so the dough does not stick.

Gently roll out until approximately 2cm/ 1 inch thick. Hint & tip 3: the trick for well risen scones is not to roll the dough too thinly. Cut out into rounds using a metal cutter.

I used a 5cm/2 inch cutter with a fluted edge for small scones but a larger cutter is fine too.

Place on a non stick baking sheet ( no need to grease) leaving a gap (right , middle photo above)

Brush the top with milk. Hint & tip 4: make sure you don’t let the milk dribble down the sides as this will impede the scones rising evenly. Sprinkle some granulated sugar on top.

Bake the scones on the top shelf for about 10 minutes or until they feel firm when gently pressed at the sides.

Hint & tip 5: Avoid opening the oven door until nearly done as this will affect the rise.

When baked take out the oven & leave to cool on a rack .

I like to eat mine the traditional way with strawberry jam, lots of clotted cream and a lovely cup of Earl Grey tea. Thanks Mum (& Marguerite).

Cream tea: scones, jam & clotted cream

June 20, 2015

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Fathers Day? What could be better than a Dram of Single Malt Scotch for Dad

Fathers Day has crept up on us again. Well, to be honest, here in the USA, its been so heavily promoted I doubt you could miss it!

As a father and aficionado of Single Malt Scotch Whisky, I cannot think of a finer gift. However, choosing a Whisky can be every bit as difficult as selecting fine wine. I’ve often found shoppers staring at the Scottish Whisky Shelves in my local liquor store in Westchester NY with that look:

“Help – what on earth is the difference between The Glenlivet and Laphraoig ? How do I choose? “

Introduction to Single Malt Scotch

In this post I will be making some recommendations and identify personal favorites among the plethora of Single Malt Scotch Whiskies.

To begin, it all comes down to taste. How do you like it? Sweet? Spicy? With a touch of Heather? Or absolutely smoky Lapsang Souchong Tea Special? Or perhaps you prefer a mix of the above? Then do you want subtle flavors, or big bold and bad?

The Speysides

Speyside malts including The Glenlivet, Aberlour (pronounced Aber-lar) and The Macallan 12 Yr Old

Malts in this region, such as The Glenlivet, Aberlour or The Macallan are often matured in Sherry Casks that impart a sweet spicy flavor and a darker color to the malt.

The 12 Year Old Macallan is a beast of a Speyside. Sweet, nutty and toffee like to taste deep dark and amber in color with a smooth finish and one of my favorites of its kind.

The Highlands

If your craving is for something that is softer and mixes its flavor , then try some of the Highland concoctions such as, a 15 Year Old Dalwhinnie, whose floral heather, honeyed taste goes down a treat.

The Dalmore & Dalwhinnie representing The Highlands

I am keen on 15 Year Old – The Dalmore, which smells of orange marmalade, cinnamon and nutmeg and tastes of Mandarins, vanilla, ginger and apples. Yum!

The Islay Malts

For the smoky, peaty, big and bold flavors of the sea, look no further than the offerings of the curious Island of Islay (pronounced “I la”) in the Inner Hebrides.

No less than 8 distilleries pepper its 240 sq miles – including the medicinal, seaweed, pungent and slightly acrid malts of Ardbeg, Lagavulin and Laphroaig whose casks breathe in the sea air in warehouses by the ocean within 2 miles of each other.

Bunnahabhain & the Islay next door neighbors

The pungent smoky seaweed imbued Islay malts

Perfect served with creamy mature Mull of Kintyre Cheddar cheese. Personally, my taste in Islays veer towards Bunnahabhain – slightly smoky, light fruity and nutty and a bit gentler on the palate than it’s cousins.

The Islands

My absolute favorite single malt comes from the far North of Scotland, closer to Norway than the UK, the remote Orkney Isles where the malts of Highland Park and Scapa are distilled.

Scapa – the authors favorite single Malt

A 16 Year Old Scapa is my dream dram. Honey, heather and light smoke combine and finish with malty sweetness. Simply delicious!

Some Final Thoughts

DON’T drink the stuff neat, especially if its been bottled at cask strength (generally around and above 100% proof). A couple of drops of mineral / spring water (Scottish, if you can find it in the US – good luck with that!) releases the flavor of this ancient and wonderful drink.

DO drink it in a Glencairn Glass (see pic to the right) not a whisky tumbler. It allows all those wonderful smells and flavors to concentrate and be savored and of course for Dad and you to enjoy!

Happy Fathers Day and Slainte Mhath.