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I recently rediscovering the joys of truly amazing extra virgin olive oil. Over the past week, there has been nothing I’d rather snack on late at night than slightly toasted bread, sprinkled with crunchy sea salt and doused in extra virgin olive oil. After trying out the multi grain bread from Yazdani for a few days, I decided I’d make something fragrant, something slightly experimental.
I leafed through my current favourite bread book and stopped at focaccia (perfect, considering the Italy theme – Italian Bread, Italian Olive Oil, cooking in Italy). I thought I’d play a bit with the topping and decided on using grape and rosemary because the flavour pairing has been on my mind for a couple of weeks now. This is surprising, because I’m not usually the type to experiment with fresh fruits in bread. I’d happily use dried berries and nuts, but fresh fruits? Not really. I suppose it was the thought of having bread mottled with purple juices from the grape that got me excited. I felt utterly proud of myself for having thought this up. But my moment lasted all of 30 seconds – for I found the grape-rosemary pair already mentioned in my beloved Flavour Thesaurus. (I hope to discover a flavour pairing not mentioned in the book, and then proudly email the author. One day.)
I call this a wannabe focaccia because although I had every intention of making a focaccia, I underestimated the dough’s rising capacity. I filled my pan with more dough than required, thus resulting in a not-so-very-flat flatbread.
I used the recipe from Artisan Breads Every Day (US | UK | India), and I suggest you get yourself a copy if you’d like to make your own bread – it’s a book with stunning recipes that don’t end up intimidating you. I’ve used this book several times (remember the chocolate and cinnamon babka, or the pesto bread rolls?) and I keep going back to it. I stuck to the focaccia recipe, except that I added a load of fresh black grapes, a sprinkling of dried rosemary, and a dusting of brown sugar (for a little browning) on top of the dough a few minutes before I popped the dish into the oven for baking. The instructions for the focaccia are a little more detailed to be replicated on the blog, but if you’d like, here is another recipe for focaccia.
The trip to Italy was filled with all sorts of fun things – visits to cheese factories and wineries, olive oil tastings, lots of food shopping and a few cooking lessons thrown in fom good measure. One such cooking lesson was held at Academia Barilla, where all of us donned chef hats and aprons and got working under the tutelage of Chef Matteo Carboni.
We made ourselves a 4 course meal, and the menu for our dinner read:
- Artichoke cream with procini mushrooms and goat cheese
- Swiss chard tortelli
- Lamb chops with hazelnut crust served with endive and spinach timballo
- Sbrisolona almond cake and Zabiaone.
What I was especially excited about were the lamb chops. One, because I think I don’t cook enough meat. And two, because there is no way I’d pass up an opportunity to work with hazelnuts.
The recipe for the hazelnut crusted lamb is really straightforward, and rather quick to make. The hazelnut crust was a definite winner – I began nibbling on bits and bobs of the crust initially for a quick taste-test, but I couldn’t stop after that. One thing I’d do differently – bake the chops instead of frying to cut back on all that grease.
Cut the rack of lamb and trim the meat.
Chop up the herbs
Mix together the herbs, toasted bread crumbs and hazlenuts
Beat the eggs. (Such yellow eggs!)
Coat the lamb chops first with a little flour, then dip it in egg, and finally with the hazelnut mixture. Fry it.
Plate it. Eat it.
Lamb Chops with hazelnut crust
Serves: 4
Recipe source: Academia Barilla
600g lamb rack
20g parsley, chopped
20g marjoram, chopped
10g thyme, chopped
200g bread (a day old)
100ml olive oil
120g hazelnuts, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
flour for dusting
salt to taste
100g butter
- Cut and trim the lamp chops of the excess fat. Set aside.
- Sauté the herbs and bread crumbs in a little olive oil (about a tablespoon). Stir in the hazelnuts.
- Now, dust the lamb chops with flour, then dip them in the eggs and finally coat them with the hazelnut mixture. Line the coated pieces of lamb chops in a plate until they are all ready to be fried. Season with salt.
- Heat a pan, add the remaining olive oil and butter and cook the lamb chops until golden brown on either sides, about ten minutes.
This trip to Italy was sponsored by the Italian Government and the EU as a part of the European Art of Taste (EAT) Program.
Of late I’ve been reading a lot about Italy. Everyone and their mothers are vacationing in Italy and then documenting their summer experience on their blog. This leaves the proletariat like me yearning for the unfulfilled experience. And it doesn’t stop there – I also have Italy talk going on in my inbox with so many readers. So, what’s the next best thing I can do to allay my emotions? Cook myself something Italian, of course! With a renewed sense of hope, I set out to make some risotto from a recipe I’d bookmarked eons ago.
With corn in season, it was time I ticked this corn risotto recipe off my list. I used white and yellow sweet corn in the risotto. I was toying with the idea of using either basil or mint because I wanted to maintain the delicate flavours of the corn risotto, instead of using a strong herb like thyme. So I tried both, and am happy to report that the mint flavour paired beautifully with the sweet corn (just like in the caramelised corn with mint). I’d pick that any day over basil, despite being a huge basil lover. Another thing worth noting is that adding sugar to the risotto while cooking brings out the innate sweetness of the corn. While it’s just so good to make it with homemade stock, I cheated and used cubes because I didn’t have any chicken carcasses at hand.
My only grouse with risottos is that you need to serve it immediately after they’re cooked – it’ not something you can prepare ahead of time, unless you precook the rice, like in restaurants. Even so, you will still have to do all the other work in the kitchen. It’s a pretty perfect meal that gets even better with some garlic bread. Two thumbs up.
Double Corn Risotto Recipe
Adapted from: This Week’s Menu
Yield: 4 servings
2 cups uncooked corn – white + sweet yellow
4 cups chicken broth
3 tbps butter
2-3 tbsp sugar (depending on how sweet your corn is)
1 onion, minced
1 cup Arborio rice
2 tbsp chopped mint
Salt and black pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Equipment: Pans, chinoise, sauté spoon.
Method:
- Puree 1 cup of the uncooked corn in a food processor until smooth. Strain it through a chinoise to get rid of all the tough corn skin.
- In a saucepan, heat the chicken broth to a simmer.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 2 tbsp butter. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes.
- Add the rice and sauté, stirring, 3 minutes.
- Stir in 1 cup of the chicken broth and the pureed corn and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid has been absorbed, 5-7 minutes. Continue adding the remaining broth, 1 cup at a time, stirring frequently and waiting until the previous addition has been absorbed before adding more.
- After adding 2 cups of the broth, add the remaining whole corn kernels. Add sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until it tastes right (not overtly sweet). Add in the seasoning.
- After the last cup of broth has been absorbed, let the risotto cook 3 minutes more (I prefer it to be slightly liquid I might add a few tablespoon of broth after turning off the heat as well).
- In the end, stir in the mint, parmesan and butter and cover it with a lid for all the flavours to marry, about 2 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
I’m going to keep it short for two reasons: words fail me because this is more delicious than I ever expected something with zucchini to be and secondly because you must run to the kitchen and make the zucchini bruschetta this very minute (or head to the store if you haven’t any zucchini).
I had this bruschetta at a brunch I went for recently and I absolutely loved it! I learned a few things I’d like to share:
- Thyme and zucchini is a match made in heaven.
- The bruschetta tastes especially good at room temperature. This makes it an excellent do-ahead recipe.
- The bread was toasted in a ridged pan until some spots were slightly charred, imparting a pleasantly earthy taste. This was a refreshing change from my usual practice of toasting bread in the oven.
It’s so easy to put together, can be made ahead of time, and is so full of flavour. What’s not to like? I can imagine a smear of goat’s cheese on the bruschetta being a superb addition to the flavours. Reminds me of the zucchini and goat cheese pizza I made a while ago. Mmmm.
Zucchini Bruschetta Recipe
Serves: 4-5
1 large zucchini or two medium ones if you want a mix of colours, diced into small cubes
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped
Few sprigs of thyme, leaves removed
1 baguette, sliced
3-4 tablespoon olive oil or melted butter to brush on the bread
Parmesan cheese, to serve
- On a medium flame, heat a pan and add olive oil and garlic followed by thyme. Add the zucchini when the oil gets fragrant. Cook for 2-3 minutes until slightly browned in spots. Do not cook for too long, else it might get too soft and mushy. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- In the meantime, brush the sliced baguette with a little olive oil or butter and toast it in a hot cast iron skillet or a ridged pan until crisp on both sides. Lay it on a platter.
- Spoon the zucchini over the toasted bread and grate some parmesan cheese over it. Dig in!
