Blue Food......

Often heralded as one of the few things on the face of the earth which can stimulate all the senses at the same time food plays on your emotions with colors, aromas, taste and design.  All the colors of the rainbow presented to you on the surface of a plate.  Well, all the colors but blue that is.

No blue food here.  Or is there?

Have you ever seen blue food?  Why is it that despite the enormous diversity of cuisine from around the world, blue food doesn't get a look in anywhere.  Obviously the answer to this is that there aren't a huge amount of blue ingredients in the first place.  Here's a little clip of the great american comedian George Carlin thinking he's onto something:

Despite the fact we humans seem to be evolving faster than an aquarium full of sea monkeys we are essentially simple creatures at heart.  Our ancestors would have seen blue and black berries as danger signs and a warning to stay away.  And perhaps a bit of that fear has stuck with us throughout time.  Nature doesn't produce blue food therefore it doesn't seem natural to eat it.

Studies have shown that blue is actually an appetite supressant.  If you want to make sure you don't come home from a night on the town and stuff your face with cold ham and custard put a blue light in the fridge.  Prevent that want for a second helping by adorning your dining room with a blue lamp.  Your neighbors might start to think you've started a 'second job' though.

The recipe below incorporates one of those not really blue foods.  Blue cheese.  This is a hearty meal that is packed full of flavor.  Something that won't take you long to put together but will provide you with oodles of satisfaction.  I like to make it on stay at home Friday evenings in Autumn when I know I'm gonna want to spend more time on the couch than in the kitchen.

Walnuts and Blue Cheese work really well together.  Toasting the walnuts removes their bitterness but be careful not to burn them.  By the time you can smell them, it is usually too late!

Blue Cheese, Walnut and Bacon Spaghetti

Serves 2.  

Prep Time 10 min.  

Cook time 25 min.

Ingredients

200g Mushrooms, thickly sliced
4 slices streaky bacon
½ onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
75g Blue Cheese

¼ cup cream.
½ cup chicken stock
1/3 cup  roughly chopped walnuts.
150g Spaghetti

Method

1. Turn the oven onto 180 degrees C and put the jug on boil for your pasta water.
2.  Heat a dash of Olive oil on a medium heat in a medium sized pan.  Fry the bacon slices until crispy, about 3-5 minutes.  Remove and place on paper towels.

Bacon is not blue.

4.  Place walnuts on an oven tray and toast in the oven until fragrant, about 5 minutes.
5.  Add the onion to the pan.  Cook for 2 minutes, then add the mushrooms.  Cook for a further five minutes.  6.  Add the garlic, season the mixture and cook for a further minute.  Remove the mixture from the pan.
7.  Place the spaghetti in rapidly boiling salted water (it should taste like sea water) and cook as per packet instructions.
8.  Place the chicken stock in the used frying pan and let it reduce by half.  Add the cream and the diced blue cheese.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the cheese has melted and the sauce has thickened.
9.  Add the spaghetti to the sauce, mix thoroughly.  Slice up your bacon and add to the pasta along with the mushroom mix. Scatter the toasted walnuts over the finished dish and eat moorishly with remote control in hand!

Doubled over by a Double Down

It's the hot topic of the last week and it's about food.  So I thought I better get involved.  Kiwi's from North to South appear to have been doubled over by KFC's latest marketing strategy aka 'burger'.  And what a campaign it has been.

A double down inspired DOUBLE DOWN.  Cooked by a Masterchef contestant.....i.e ME!

As the great jazz musician Miles Davis said 'It's not the notes you play; it's the notes you don't play.'  So are we to believe that KFC have created a revolution by providing a 'burger' without buns?  Will we soon be eating Big Mac's where two meat patties will be cushioned between another two meat patties?  I'm not sure the amazonian rain forest or the public healthcare system could handle that.

You do however have to dip your hat to the people behind the idea.  Who would have thought removing bread could cause such a stir.  The 'burger' has caused a storm wherever it has been released. Selling more than 10 million units in the US and becoming the fastest selling burger in Canada it has achieved numbers usually reserved for Justin Beiber's latest single.

It's arrival in Australia meant it was too close for us not to sample and aided by a facebook campaign the KFC execs decided to release the burger here.  NZ shook as fat people rejoiced and attempted to high-five each other before deciding that an appreciative nod and a 'Wooha!' was a perfectly acceptable reaction.

Nutritionists across the country were in disgust at the brazen celebration of a self prescribed heart killer.  So vehement were their cries that you would think medical insurance companies would have a new question on their application forms:  How much do you smoke?  How much do you drink?  How many Double Downs have you eaten?

Given blanket media coverage, helped by the free supply of samples to anyone remotely linked to journalism, the hype quickly developed.  People queued before opening.  Some people bought two in case they sold out.  And guess what.  In some locations they actually did sell out!

So with the boys coming over to watch the Warriors on Sunday I thought why not give this double down thing a go?  Masterchef styles of course.  The mission, to consume, critique and then recreate the Double down burger.

The boys arrive and we go through the plan, while consuming a home made mince and cheese pie fresh out of the oven.  You have to warm up the stomach for these types of adventures!  We hit the road and rather excitedly we join an elaborate queue at the KFC drive thru.

Only one car away from service and I see there is a notice on the window.  I jokingly suggest to the boys that they might have run out of double downs.  Ha!  Double Ha!  A fast food restaurant running out of fast food.  That kind of stuff just doesn't happen.  It would be like a gas station running out of petrol, or West Auckland running out of bourbon.

So shock of all horrors.  It was true.  2.03pm.  New Lynn KFC.  No double downs.  We hurriedly offer more cash.  All that we have.  No use.  I even go so far as to place an order of 100.  Surely they will rush some in. No use.  New Lynn is done for double downs.

So unfortunately the plan hit a huge speed bump.  Without the KFC version I had nothing to critique.  Though luckily, with all the publicity, I've got the contents of the burger down pat.  We decided to give it a go anyway.  Two chicken breasts coated in that special crispy batter surrounding melted cheese, bacon, and some kind of sauce.

The sauce is the unknown but I decide to go for something that will make the dish a bit more lively and add a bit of flavor to try and cut through the grease.  A Rouille seems like a good choice.  This is an aioli which also has roasted red capsicum blended into it.

The most important trick to getting this right was to marinade the chicken.  Chicken breast can be lean but when you leave the meat in a buttermilk or yoghurt marinade overnight it becomes beautifully tender.  I decide to spice up the marinade with garlic, ginger, chicken salt, paprika and a bit of chilli powder.

Once marinated I batter the chicken by dipping in flour, seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika, oregano, onion powder and garlic powder, then placing it in an egg wash before going back into the flour, back into the egg wash and then into Panko breadcrumbs.  Panko breadcrumbs are a bit more chunky than the standard stuff and they provide a great crispy covering for any fried goods.

The chicken then gets shallow fried in a pan with enough oil to come half way up the chicken.  About 4 minutes on either side and the chicken is done.

Chicken shallow fried and ready to be finished in the oven

For the cheese I chose Over the Moon's Double Delight brie.  The name comparison made sense.  For the bacon I chose Henderson's Dry cured bacon.  Smoked over Manuka this bacon has a wonderful strength of smoky flavor that you don't find in other brands.

And so, after about an hour of fiddling about we have a result.  A homemade double down.  I look at what has wound up being a monstrous plate of food.  Do I use a knife and fork?  Never!  Gripped firmly between two hands I proceed to devour.

A very proud creation

 I can't tell you how good the KFC one is.  I couldn't get my hands on one.  But I can tell you that my own version is blooming amazing.  Yes it felt bad.  Yes, as I write this, two days later, I can still feel the 'burger' inside me. Will I make another?  Perhaps.  KFC are only selling the 'burgers' for a limited time so perhaps I can set up a clinic for those who get addicted and need their fix?

If anyone wants the full recipe to try it themselves drop a comment below or send me an email and I'll put it together for you.

Now......what can we do next......that four pattie Big Mac?

Bacon wrapped Monkfish on Pea Risotto with a Burnt Lemon Butter

 
One of the best starts to a sentence that, 'Bacon wrapped'.  There were a few catch phrases in the Masterchef house.  We would spend quite a bit of time in each others company during the show, often with not a lot to do, so there was a fair amount of banter going on and some things stuck more than others.

The boys came up with an 'if all else fails' catch cry:  'If in doubt wrap it in bacon and deep fry it.  Everything's better wrapped in Bacon.'  Very wise words those, except for vegetarians......and certain religions...and Bacon hater's....The world hasn't come to that though has it?  People who don't like Bacon.  I understand those who don't eat bacon due to principle but that aside surely everyone likes Bacon.  Not liking Bacon just seems weird.  It's like not liking Hugs, or wishing Sunday evening would go a bit quicker.

Fresh from the fish markets I had picked up some tasty Monkfish fillets.  I first encountered this fish in the Gastropubs of London, where it is commonplace to find it wrapped in bacon or prosciutto.  A mild tasting fish it is distinct because of its meaty flesh.  Often called the poor man's lobster, due to it's meaty texture and mild flavor, the Monkfish has to be up there as one of the ugliest fish around.  You certainly won't see this being served whole on a platter!  I'll spare the squeamish and not put a photo up but google it if you are intrigued!

After wrapping the Monkfish fillets in bacon I'm going to serve it on a lovely pea risotto and serve it with a burnt lemon butter, where we get melted butter to that proper, nutty, colored stage and then freshen it up with lemon juice and zest.  This dish is a real star.  The classic flavors of pea, bacon and lemon work with the fish so well.  If I did ever open my own Kiwi Gastropub this would definitely make it to the menu!

Ingredients

400g  monkfish tail fillets cut into 2 fillets with tapered ends.
eight strips of streaky smoked bacon
Few sprigs of Thyme

1 litre Chicken Stock
1/4 cup wine
200g Aborio Rice
1/2 onion choped finely
2 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 cup Frozen Peas

30g Butter
Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon

Method:

 Lay out the Monkfish fillets on a board and sprinkle over the thyme leaves and season with salt and pepper.  Place one fillet on top of the other so each end has one thick and one thin end of the fillets.
Lay the bacon on a board with each piece slightly overlapping and then place the Monkfish slightly to one side as in the picture.
Wrap the Bacon around the fillets.  Wrap the rolled bacon and fillets tightly in cling film and then place in the fridge for about 30 minutes.  This will keep the bacon in shape when cooking.

Put the oven on Grill at about 200C.  Unwrap the cling film and then place onto a grill pan with the bacon joins facing down.  Grill for about 15-20 minutes turning every 5 minutes to get all parts of the bacon crispy.  The fish is cooked when it feels firm when pressed on top.

To make the pea risotto melt 1 Tbsp butter in a small saucepan.  Add the frozen peas and cook for a few minutes until defrosted.  Add chicken stock until the peas are just covered, about 1/4 a cup, and cook for a few more minutes.  Place the cooked peas and stock in a food processor and puree.  Put to one side.

Place the remaining stock in the saucepan and put onto a medium heat.  You want the stock to be simmering, but not boiling for when you add it to the risotto.

Melt the remaining butter and the Olive Oil in another saucepan.  Add the onion and fry for a few minutes.  Add the aborio rice and cook for a further two minutes stirring constantly.  Add the wine and let it cook off.

Now the next part of the process differs from cook to cook.  Some people make their risotto by putting all the stock in at once and then leaving the rice for 20 minutes.  I go the other way, adding a ladle at a time, stirring constantly until the stock has absorbed and then repeating that process until the rice is al dente.  I find this method produces a creamier risotto, even if it is more work.

Either way you go, just before all the stock has been absorbed, towards the end of cooking, add the pureed peas and stir thoroughly.  Season the rice to taste.

Lemon butter.  Notice the color of the butter.  A light shade of brown

To make the burnt lemon butter place the butter in a frying pan and melt.  When melted add the lemon zest.  Cook the butter gently until it starts to turn light brown and produces a nutty aroma.  Be careful as you don't want to actually burn the butter.  When ready add the lemon juice.

To serve spoon the risotto into the middle of a plate.  Slice the monkfish into about six pieces and place on top of the risotto.  Drizzle the lemon butter around the risotto.

Meaty fish, salty bacon, creamy sweet pea risotto and sharp citrusy butter.  Heaven!

Enjoy with your favorite white wine.

Have you ever cooked with Monkfish?  What are some of your favorite things to wrap in bacon?