Parmesan Biscuits

Canapes / hors d’oeurves to serve with drinks…. Delicious, bite sized morsels that go well with drinks and don’t turn you into a kitchen slave – translation, they take 15 minutes to make!

Perfect for a summer‘s evening, sitting on a terrace, sipping cocktails with friends while the sun sets, I do paint a pretty picture now don’t I.

These Parmesan Biscuits are perfect as they are a little salty and have a kick of black pepper which nicely offsets the sweetness of a drink.

This is a slight adaptation of The Cook’s Companion recipe, I have reduced the salt by 1/4 and the cooking time by 3 minutes.

ERIKA ALLISTON – Food Blog: PARMESAN BISCUITS

Makes about 24

• 110 g (1 cup) grated Parmgiano-Reggiano cheese
• 55 g (2 oz or 1/2 stick) butter, softened
• 85 g (2/3 cup) all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper (1/2 for dough, 1/2 for decoration)
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

Directions:

1. Combine Parmesan and butter in a  food processor.
2. Add flour, egg yolk, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Mix well.
3. Roll into a 15cm long log, wrap in plastic, refrigerate for 1hr
4. Pre-heat oven to 180°C/(350°F)
5. Cut log into 1/2cm thick rounds, place 2cm apart on a baking sheet
6. Sprinkle each with salt & remaining black pepper
7. Bake for 11 minutes, or until golden

Gougères - French Cheese Puffs

Gougères – French Cheese Puffs

Gougères are classic French cheese puffs made with choux pastry and grated cheese (Gruyère / Comté). French they may be but it was in Russia that I really took a liking to them.

I blame it on the French bakery Volkonsky‘s, which was in dangerous proximity to Katya’s Moscow appt. A small bakery / café selling delicious pastries, sandwiches, breads and coffee not to mention gougères.

It was a lesson in how something so innocent can be so addictive … I could have eaten them by the handful.

In memory of  Volkonsky’s gougères, here is  my recipe (see link Gougères below):

Gougères – French Cheese Puffs Recipe : ERIKA ALLISTON – Sweet Pea Blog

• 250 mL cold water
• 75 gr unsalted butter (in small cubes)
• 3 pinches salt
• 150 gr white flour (sifted)
• 4 eggs
• 80 gr Gruyère cheese (finely grated)
• grated nutmeg to taste

Chou Pastry – Method:

1. Place water, butter & salt in a sauce pan. Heat till just boiling.
2. Remove from heat.
3. Add flour all at once. Using a wooden spoon, stir vigorously untill a smooth dough forms (see photo)
4. Let cool for 5 minutes.
5. Add 1 egg, mix well. Don’t panic, it will take a few minutes of vigorous stirring for the egg to fully mix in. At the beginning the dough will separate and look lumpy, just keep stirring!
6. Repeat step 5 for remaining three eggs, adding them one by one.
7. Now fold in the grated cheese & nutmeg.

Baking – Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C (normal not convection heat)
2. Using a teaspoon, place generous dollops of dough on a lined baking sheet (see photo), leaving 2cm  / 1 inch between them. *
3. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
4. Let cook and serve immediately. You can keep and reheat the gougères but they will lose their perfect consistency

NOTE : other recipes suggest chilling the dough before baking ie. 30-60 minutes in the fridge. I tired this and felt that it didn’t make a large difference, except that when cooked my gougères were slightly paler in colour  and softer in texture.

My NEW Dutch FOOD ADDICTION….  

ROAD TRIP - ok that’s not 100% true as I took a plane, so it’s PLANE trip…  and that just doesn’t have the same ring now does it. Oh well.  

Point being, I went to visit my brother in Holland this past weekend. Didn’t really know what to expect – outside the lovely architecture, Dutch paintings & Amsterdam’s claims to fame (wacky tabcky & the dancing shows…) But I was really there to see him so the rest was just details.  

Despite being warned that Holland was not one of the top 10 ten gastronomic heavens of this world,  (there was mention of much frying, mayonnaise & starchy carbs ), I still managed to followed my stomach around like a blood hound on the scent…

  

The mayonnaise was no deterrent – it has been my ketchup since I was little. And on hot crispy hand made french fries, who could say no.

The cheese was also spectacular. Though the service was a little brisk, and my request for only 200 grams promptly ignored – & replaced by a large DUTCH SLICE = 1/2 a kilo… The taste and choice was wonderful.

But the real diamond in the rough was the STROOPWAFFLES  If you haven’t tried these yet, you are in for a real treat. This is a cookie made of two thin vanilla waffles, with a thick sweet gold caramel in between. They are served hot in the Rotterdam Saturday farmers market, in small, medium or large sizes. It can be argues that they are surprisingly even better when left to cool!

A MAN OF 300 CHEESE: In my ever growing pursuit to support & promote our local specialty food shops & producers, those who sweat & toil to bring us superior quality, hand made produce direct from the source, I recently organised an interview with Dominique Ryser, current owner of the Fromagerie Bruand in Geneva.

This was a great opportunity to meeting the man behind the cheese !!!  I have often passed his store, and each time la gourmandise (love of food) takes over my senses – no longer am I the self composed, rational shopper with list – no, I have become a mouse… and a large drooling one at that. Completely mesmerized by his cheese display, I forget where I am walking, thinking only of the endless choices infront of me  … salty Gruyere, soft tomme, nippy cheddar, crumbly sbrinz, creamy vacherin, velvety chevre…. and all the wonderful recipes that I could make with these. It is truly a sight to hold.

HISTORY: The Fromagerie Bruand was started in 1982 by Mr. & Mrs Bruand, mother & step-father to Dominique Ryser. In 1998 they decided to turn their attention to other pastures, these being outside of Geneva, in the Swiss town of Ovronnaz - Valais. It was here that they opened the Chalet Gourmand, a fine food store offering cheeses (fromages), dried meats (charcuterie), wine (vinothéque) and other local specialty products. The silver lining of this move was that it left room for Dominique, a chef by trade, and his wife Carole to take over the family business that same year.

TODAY: Today they are the proud owners of this flourishing local cheese shop, located in the heart of Geneva’s most prominent food hall, Halle de Rive (the same location of my recent on Pain d’épice (spice bread). Their shop is well lay out and boast a superb collection of over 300 types of cheeses, of which 60% are Swiss, 30% European and 10% coming from abroad. It comes as no surprise that with Dominique’s welcoming attitude, extensive knowledge of cheese and wide selection of quality produce, that the Fromagerie Bruand  has build up a loyal clientele and a name of excellence in the industry.

PHILOSOPHY: Dominique refers to himself as a ‘chineur en grands fromages’ , which roughly translates to an expert hunter of great cheeses . His desire & expertise lies in sniffing out the best quality cheeses, which are aged to perfection – not by large companies, but by the hands of individual specialised farms. More than half are sourced from small local Swiss producers, whose families are long steeped in the tradition of cheese making, and whose lively hood comes directly from this source. Thus the support & fidelity of cheese shops such as Bruand is imperative to their well being and existence.

CHEESES: Each of their 300 cheeses is selected for its superior quality - aged & finished to perfection by each of the cheese producers. Dominique explains that the perfection of a cheese lies in its aging, and that there is nothing worse than a cheese that is plucked at the wrong time. Too young and it has an unpleasant acidity, while cheese that has passed its prime…  left to mature for too long, develops a characteristic bitterness. For example the famous gruyere is perfect after 24 months but by 28 the salt will have turned it bitter. Cheese with little or no taste, are often what you find in the mass produced variety sold in the supermarket.

ETIVAZ CHEESE

I asked him to give me a good example of a historical Swiss cheese he stocks, other than the famous Gruyere we are all so familiar with. He returned with the cheese Etivaz:

• A Swiss Alp cheese
• 1st Swiss AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée = Controlled Designation of Origin) This states the origin (region), quality and production location
• Made in 130 Swiss chalets, at high altitudes in the Swiss Alps
• Production season from May 10th - October 10th each year
• Over 72 Alp farmers & their families contribute to the making of this cheese
• Each farm has 38-45 cows
• Cows graze only on rich alpine pastures
• This gives the cheese its subtle flavours and excellent consistency
• The cows are milked and then the milk processed on the same premises, according to strict AOC sanitation regulations 
• Approximately 400 tonnes of cheese made per year

ETIVAZ CHEESE MAKING PROCESS:

• Morning milk is poured into large copper cauldron
• Next naturally-skimmed evening milk is added
• Milk is heated by a wood fire
• Natural lactic bacteria from young calves is added – this curdles the cheese
• Using a curd knife the curds are cut into smaller & smaller beads
• This mixture of curd & whey (over 1,000 litres) is reheated to 57°C, while being continuously stirred
• The cauldron is then removed from the heat & the cheese maker, with the help of his wife, stretches a cheesecloth tightly over a frame, which he then slips under the curd
• The curd is lifted out, drained and placed in a linen-lined mould
• It is then pressed, turned over several times & branded
• Each cheese weighs 10-38kg
• Next the cheese is rubbed with salt & stored at the farm on spruce racks for up to 7 days (@ 10-16°C)
• Cheeses from the 72 farms are delivered to the cooperative cellar at Etivaz, to be matured
• First they are immersed in brine for 24hrs, then salted & regularly brushed with salt
• The salt comes from the Saline de Bex, in the depths of the Alpes (Canton Vaud, Switzerland)
• Samples of fresh cheese are analyzed every week for quality control
• The cheese (called wheels) are then stored for 7 months, on spruce shelves and turned every 5 days

The result:  is a round, raw milk, hard cheese, 8-11 cm high, 30-65 cm in diameter, with a healthy outer rind and a firm, ivory coloured interior. 

The taste:“clean & aromatic, salty yet fruity, with a slight flavour of hazelnut”. The vieux (old) Etivaz variety, has a slightly crumbly / flaky texture, yet remains moist without any bitterness.   

The use: excellent on its own or as a desert cheese, also used in fondue and other cooking dishes as it is salty, easily grated or shopped. This cheese is especially good to use in omelets and quiche, as its salty strong flavour comes through better than say Gruyere or cheddar.  

This summer has been busier than normal with all the wedding planning. However, as part of the festivities, my girlfriends got together to organise a surprise hen-weekend (bachelorette) & to my delight, they booked an afternoon cooking course at Scook, the new cooking school of Anne Sophie Pic - 4th generation head chef of the French 3 star Micheline restaurant, Maison Pic.

The course was well planned, orchestrated and adapted to our large group, which included people with different levels of cooking experience. In a modern, luminous kitchen, each student was given an apron, copy of the recipes to be cooked and access to fresh seasonal ingredients. We then worked through the dishes step by step, with the added chef’s perks of being able to eat what we made. This hands on approach, with direct interaction with the chef, left you feeling confident, with a broader knowledge of the culinary arts.

Out of the things we learned that day, there was one idea that I felt would make an excellent base for other dishes. This was the unpuffed puff pastry rounds - a contradictory idea I know, but ever so good. Thus I have borrowed this idea to build the dish above - a sumptuous tower of soft grilled aubergines (eggplant), caramelised tomatoes and fresh goats cheese, with a hint of black olive tapenade & rosemary.

RECIPE - SWEET PEA BLOG

{TARTE AUX AUBERGINES et TOMATES CARAMELISES}

Recipe for 4 people

• 1/2 a role of puff pastry
• 1 fresh goats cheese
• 4 small sprigs of rosemary
• 1 tablespoon black olive tapenade

For the tomatoes:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 thick tomato slices (each 1cm)
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• pepper to taste

For the aubergines:

• 8 thick round aubergine (eggplant) slices (each 1cm thick)
• salt for sprinkling

NOTE: to make this recipe aesthetically pleasing, choose three tomatoes & one aubergine of approximately the same diameter – your vegetable towers will appear more even.

1. First prepare the pastry rounds: Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Removed pastry from the fridge 5 minutes before using. With a glass or circular cutter, approx. 1cm LARGER in diameter than your tomatoes (ie tomatoes 5 cm diameter, use cutter 6cm diameter, to produce a nice tart boarder) cut out 4 pastry circles and place on the baking sheet.
2. Place a 2nd piece of baking paper on top of the pastry rounds and then a 2nd baking sheet.
3. Cook pastry at 180°C (convection heat) for 10 minutes or until golden on both sides
4. Now for the tomatoes: Cut into 1cm thick rounds. Use 1 tbls olive oil to grease the centre of a small baking tray, place the tomatoes on top,  sprinkle with 1 tbls olive oil, then oregano, salt and pepper.
5. Cook tomatoes for 10 minutes at 180°C , then 20 minutes at 150°C (convection heat) until all the water has evaporated and the tomatoes are caramelised.
6. Now for the aubergines: Starting from the thick end, cut 1cm thick rounds & set on a plate. Sprinkle with salt. Wait 5 minutes and then blot water with paper towel. Repeat on the other side.
7. Heat a large frying pan (medium/high heat) with 3 tbls olive oil – making sure the surface of the pan is evenly covered. Cook the aubergines on one side until soft & golden brown, then repeat with 3 tbls olive oil on the other.
8. Place on sheets of paper-towel to remove oil.
9. Cut the goats cheese into 4 even rounds & set aside.
10. Preheat your grill to 190°C with the wrack not too close to the top of the oven.
11. Creating the towers: On a new lined baking sheet place the 4 flat pastry rounds. For each pastry round, spread a thin circle of olive tapenade in the centre, then add 1 of the largest aubergine slices, followed by 1 of the largest tomato slices. Repeat in decreasing slice size. Finish with a slice of goats cheese, sprinkled with olive oil, pepper, and topped with a sprig of rosemary.
12. Place the towers in the oven to grill for 2 minutes.

There comes a time in every girls life where she has to face facts – that if ones beloved husband, boyfriend, fiancé (mine very much included in this list…) brother, partner, father, the list is long but distinguished here, has become an official OFFICE MOLE – one of those very dedicated, over achieving, hard workers, who should basically set up camp under their desk, you are going to have to join the ranks of those who triumphed over the work pile! It will not take an army, nor a city wide power shortage, you loosing your mind, or having a shout, all you need is your OVEN and a couple of ingredients.

Now the saying goes that you may be able to bring a horse to water but you can’t make it drink, but I can tell you – you can bring a hungry overworked man to the table and believe me he will eat!! The story is the same if the roles of the sexes are reversed. So if you are going to lure them out of their den, you need to make it worth their while. Which got me to thinking about an Italian dish my colleague Melissa made last year – one that had so much success that no sooner had she placed the platter on the table but the dish was clean. I figured that this would do the trick.

My first attempt at RICOTTA STUFFED PASTA SHELLS,produced a dish that while savoury, was a little dry for my liking and lack that unctuous creamy quality Italian cooking is so famous for. Melissa’s shells however are filled with three types of cheese which solves this problem. Like many cooks who are comfortable in the kitchen, she cooks by her nose and not necessarily by the book, so I had to invent my own proportions etc based on the ingredients she normally uses. Half the fun of cooking is the art of improvisation & personalisation!

RECIPE – SWEET PEA Blog

Stuffed Past Shells Ingredients:

• 35 conchiglioni rigati (large pasta shells N°126 from De Cecco)
• 125g ricotta cheese
• 125g cottage cheese
• 100g mozzarella cheese
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 250g fresh large leaf garden spinach
• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• pepper
• 1 egg, well beaten
• 80g of Gruyere cheese to sprinkle over shells before baking

Homemade Tomato Sauce Ingredients:

• 400g chopped tomatoes (or 1 1/2 cans)
• 4 generous tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 a medium white onion, finely chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 dried laural (bay) leaves
• 1 whole clove
• 2 cardamon pods
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper to taste

TOMATO SAUCE:

Prepare the tomato sauce FIRST!

Start by finely chopping your tomatoes & then onion and set aside. Now in a sauce pan, heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add the laural leaves, clove and cardamon pods and cook for a minute. Now add the onions. Let cook until unions turn soft and translucent. Now add the minced garlic.

Next add the chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper. Stir well. REDUCE the heat to low and leave to simmer gently for at least 10 minutes so that most of the excess water from the tomatoes has evaporated. Set the sauce aside.

COOKS TRICK : If you are using out of season or canned tomatoes & find your sauce a little sour, you can always add a sprinkle of white sugar!!

STUFFED SHELLS:

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F

SHELL preparation: Fill a very large saucepan 3/4 full with water. Add two generous teaspoons of salt and bring to the boil. Now add your pasta shell and cook for 5 minutes. Drain the shells rinsing them well with cold water and set aside.

SPINACH preparation: Wash the leaves well and remove the stalks. Place in a large heat proof bowl. Wilting : Boil 1L of water in a kettle and then pour over the spinach leaves. Cover well and leave to stand for 5-10 minutes until the leaves have wilted and are soft. Drain the spinach, removing as much water as possible. Now cut the leave up into small pieces and set aside.

FILLING preparation:Chop the mozzarella into very small 1/2cm cubes and place in a large mixing bowl. Next add the ricotta & cottage cheese, minced garlic clove, nutmeg, salt, pepper, chopped spinach, and beaten egg and mix very well.

STUFFING shells: You will need about 30 of the shells you cooked. Line the base of a oven safe cooking dish with a thick layer of the tomato sauce. Now take the shells one by one and using a small teaspoon fill to the top with the cheese/spinach filling, and place on the bed of tomato sauce with the cheese side facing up.

Grate the Gruyere (or cheddar) cheese and sprinkle over the top of the shells. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 20-30 minutes.

NOTE: an alternative method is to make twice the sauce and to cover the top of the shells with sauce and then sprinkle with your desired cheese (mozzarella, Gruyere, cheddar) and then bake.

This is my fist SWEET PEA blog post!

I will begin with a story of my dear friend Eliane, who came to visit last week. During the course of our dinner, while chatting about cooking she mentioned that life would not be the same without trying the sumptuous ‘BURRATA’.

This for me was like a carrot to a rabbit. So with great enthusiasm I set off Saturday morning to the Cavalieri & Fils cheese stall in www.halle-de-rive.ch , an indoor food market in Geneva. To my delight, there was the sign marked ‘Burrata’ and the owner had one left!

Imported from Italy, originally from the Apulia region, BURRATA meaning ‘buttery’, is a fresh cheese made from mozzarella and cream. It ranges in sizes from 250 to 500g, and should be eaten within 24 to 48 hours of buying. I took these instruction to heart and went straight home to unwrapped my bundle of joy.

The cheese was packed first in a plastic sheet followed by two asphodel leaves (leeks), which are used as indicators of freshness – as long as they are a bright green, the cheese is fresh. The first taste I can only describe as heavenly - an outer shell of solid mozzarella which opens to reveal a rich, velvety texture of mozzarella and fresh cream. 

After trying the cheese on its own, I found that a little olive oil marries well with the Burrata’s creamy taste and that a fresh baguette and buffalo tomatoes are nice accompaniments. After a second helping, I must confess, that my eyes were bigger than my stomach and that as this is not a light cheese perhaps a little moderation in the future would be a good idea! A 500g cheese is definitely too much for two people, however the silver lining is that I have a half left over and I think I will try it melted over some fresh pasta for lunch!!