Author: Dino

Dino agreed to join the supper club based on the assumption that he wouldn't be preparing dishes, only tasting them. Even though he was completely misled, Dino has begrudgingly learned to enjoy dabbling in the culinary arts.
Posted on » by Dino » Theme:

Australian Sausage Rolls

Australian Sausage Rolls are a seasoned sausage wrapped in a flaky, buttery pastry. They are very popular in Australia and Europe and are delicious for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or as an appetizer.

Recipe by Andy Allen taken from Tastemade

Ingredients

  • 6 garlic cloves, diced (but finely chopped)
  • 6 french shallots, diced (but finely chopped)
  • 1 long red chili, diced (I used two pinches of cayenne pepper)
  • 1 medium fennel bulb, diced (but finely chopped)
  • ¼ cup fennel seeds
  • 4 thyme sprigs, leaves removed
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 granny smith apple, grated
  • 1 carrot, grated
  • 1 kilogram pork (or turkey) mince
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • ½ tablespoon black pepper
  • 40 grams breadcrumbs
  • 3 sheets of puff pastry
  • 1 egg for the wash
  • Black sesame seeds

Instructions

  1. Pre heat the oven to 350°F.
  2. In a large frying pan, gently saute the garlic, shallots, chili (or cayenne) and diced fennel in the olive oil for 3 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of the fennel seeds and also the thyme leaves. Cook the mixture down for a further 2 minutes.
  3. Then, add the apple and the carrot. Continue to saute the mix for a further 3 minutes and then take off the heat. Place the mixture in the fridge to cool.
  4. Once the mix has cooled, in a large mixing bowl, combine the meat mince with the vegetable mixture. Add salt, pepper and the breadcrumbs. Using your hands, combine the mixture until everything is just incorporated. You don’t want to stir too much, or the mince will go tough once it has been cooked, due to overworking the protein.
  5. Place the puff pastry sheets onto the bench and cut them in half, giving you 6 pastry sheets. Then, divide the mixture into 6 even portions. Form the mince into a long, thick sausage at one end of the pastry. Roll the pastry over the length of the sausage to create the sausage roll. Brush the sausage roll with egg wash and then slice into 3 identical smaller sausage rolls.
  6. Transfer the sausage rolls, seam side down, to a baking tray lined with baking paper. Sprinkle with the black sesame seeds and leftover fennel seeds. Bake the sausage rolls for 25 minutes (closer to 35) or until they are golden brown and cooked through.

Video

Posted on » by Dino » Theme:

Tandoori-Style Chicken

Recipe from J. Kenji Lopéz-Alt at Serious Eats – The Food Lab

Notes

The moment that Red theme was drawn my gut instinct was to make Tandoori Chicken. When it was determined that Red theme night would be held at our place, I went straight to the Serious Eats site figuring that they may have a recommendation as to how to make the dish without owning a Tandoor oven.

Serious Eats noted that the special feature of the oven is that it can get to 900°F which you can achieve at home using a conventional charcoal grill. I used these Weber Char Baskets to bundle the coals just an inch or so under my grill to get it the hottest possible temperature. I was very happy with the results, and the marinate seemed to be spot-on to replicate this dish.

The spice blend calls for toasted ground cumin, toasted paprika, and toasted ground coriander seed. We toasted these ourselves in a shallow frying pan until the oils were released and then allowed them to cool.

Ingredients

    • 4 Cornish game hens, about 1½-pounds each
    • 2 tablespoons toasted ground cumin
    • 2 tablespoons toasted paprika
    • 1 tablespoon toasted ground coriander seed
    • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
    • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
    • 1 tablespoon achiote or a few drops red food coloring (optional)
    • 8 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane grater
    • 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated on a microplane grater
    • 2 cups yogurt
    • ½ cup lemon juice
    • ¼ cup kosher salt
    • Thinly sliced raw onion
    • ½ cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves
    • 2 lemons or limes, cut into wedges

Directions

  1. Toast the ground cumin, paprika, and ground coriander seeds in a shallow frying pan until the oils are released. Move to a bowl and allow to cool.
  2. Using sharp kitchen shears, remove the backs from the Cornish hens. Press down firmly on center of breasts until wishbone cracks and they lie flat.
  3. Peel skin off of hens, then using a sharp knife– Tandoori chicken is traditionally cooked with the skin off. While for most methods of cooking chicken this would be a bad idea (skin is an insulator that prevents dry breast meat from becoming tough or stringy), with tandoori chicken, the thick yogurt-based marinade helps to prevent the meat from drying out.
  4. Make deep incisions at 1-inch intervals all over the flesh. By slashing it with a sharp knife at regular intervals along its surface (make sure to slash against the grain), you greatly increase the area in which the marinade can flavor it.
  5. Arrange legs so that they are pointing up towards the top of the breast. Use two long metal or wooden skewers (don’t expect them not to burn in the high heat needed for this type of cooking) to secure legs and breasts in place. Place in a large rimmed baking dish.
  6. Combine cumin, paprika, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, achiote or red food coloring, garlic, ginger, yogurt, lemon juice, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Pour marinade all over Cornish hens, using hands to coat every surface. cover loosely and refrigerate. Refrigerate and allow to marinate for at least 4 hours and up to 8, turning occasionally.
  7. Ignite a large chimney starter full of charcoal and allow to burn until all coals are ignited. Spread coals evenly under one side of grill (or use char baskets) and set grill grate in place. Cover and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Brush grill grates clean.
  8. Wipe excess marinade off of hens then place meaty-side down directly over the coals. Cover partially and allow to cook until deeply charred on first side, 7 to 10 minutes. Flip and continue cooking until hens register 145°F in the thickest part of the breast and 165 to 170°F in the legs, about 5 minutes longer (for larger chickens, transfer to cooler side of grill, cover, and continue cooking until desired temperature is reached). I use a wireless dual-probe thermometer for cooking on the grill– I put one probe in the largest breast, one in the largest thigh, and set my receiver to the appropriate temperatures.
  9. Remove hens to a large cutting board, tent loosely with foil, and allow to rest for five minutes. Remove skewers and using a heavy knife or cleaver, chop each hen into 8 serving-sized pieces. Serve immediately with onions, cilantro, and lemon wedges.

Posted on » by Dino » Theme:

Soba-Cha Pudding (Roasted-Buckwheat Custard)

These egg custards are rich and dense, with a silky-smooth texture. The secret ingredient is Japanese roasted-buckwheat tea (called soba-cha). Somewhat similar to chestnuts, the buckwheat adds a deeply nutty, toasted flavor that pairs beautifully with the lightly sweet dairy in the custards.

Recipe courtesy of Serious Eats.

Yield: Serves 4
Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 5 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces heavy cream (1 ½ cups; 355ml), plus more as needed
  • 1 ½ ounces soba-cha, or roasted-buckwheat tea (¼cup; 45g), plus more for garnish (see note)
  • Pinch kosher salt
  • 6 large egg yolks (about 4 ounces; 115g)
  • 3 ounces sugar (7 tablespoons; 85g)
  • Whipped cream, for garnish

Special Tools

  • 4 (4- or 6-ounce) ramekins
  • fine-mesh strainer
  • flexible rubber or silicone spatula
  • instant-read thermometer

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). Bring a kettle of water to a boil. In a medium saucier or saucepan, combine cream with soba-cha and bring to a bare simmer over medium heat, stirring and scraping the bottom and sides frequently with a rubber or silicone spatula to prevent scorching. Remove from heat and let steep for 5 minutes.
  2. Fine-strain infused cream into a heatproof measuring cup, pressing down on soba-cha to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard soba-cha. Add enough fresh cream to infused cream to top it up to 1 1/2 cups total. Season with a scant pinch of salt.
  3. In a clean medium saucier or saucepan (you can also use the same one from step 1, as long as it has cooled sufficiently that it won’t cook the yolks), whisk egg yolks with sugar, then pour hot infused cream into egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly. Set over medium-low heat and cook, stirring and scraping bottom and sides of pot with a rubber or silicone spatula, until custard registers 140°F (60°C) on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from heat.
  4. Fine-strain custard, then divide into ramekins and set ramekins in a baking dish. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil, leaving a small opening in the foil, and transfer to oven. Pour prepared boiling water into baking dish, being careful not to splash it into ramekins, until water comes about 3/4 of the way up the ramekin sides. Seal foil and bake custards until just set, 30 to 45 minutes.
  5. Carefully remove baking dish from oven, making sure not to slosh water, and let custards cool in water bath for about 1 hour. Remove ramekins from water bath, cover with plastic, and refrigerate until fully chilled, at least 3 hours.
  6. Custards can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. To serve, top with whipped cream and garnish with a few stray roasted buckwheat seeds.