Fish Checkerboard with Rice Cream and Mushroom Fumet

         Last year Alessandro Pavoni, the chef and owner of a one hat restaurant Ormeggio  in Sydney, appeared a few times on Masterchef Australia Series 3 – mostly to take part in the so called “immunity challenges” where the amateur cooks compete against professional chefs for the right to win immunity from elimination rounds of the show. One of the signature dishes that Alessandro once brought to the Masterchef kitchen was Cuttlefish checkerboard. It looked so impressive that I started to think of the ways to reproduce the dish at home.

            From the very beginning I decided to substitute cuttlefish with plain white fish which is more readily available in the local markets (and enjoyed more in our family!). The question was how to make it black. Needless to say, it’s next to impossible to get the squid ink (which is used in the original recipe) in Kolkata. I wanted to find a black food condiment that could be used for “painting” the fish – just the same way as I did for creating fish “braid” – but I failed, so I had to leave the idea of making Pavoni’s dish for a while.

            This year, however, when a friend from Italy brought me a jar of Tartufona – thick bread spread made with black truffles – I realized that I can eventually make my “checkerboard”. In order to stress the earthy flavour of truffles I substituted the calamari broth with mushroom fumet. Looking at my serving plate I couldn’t but admit that’s it’s totally a fusion dish: pieces of fish marinated in Italian truffle paste, served on a bed of Indian basmati rice cream with traditional French fumet. It is amazing sometimes to see how different elements combine and merge to form a sheer delight on the plate!

Cheesecake Ice Cream

         I love cheese (well, this is pretty obvious when you look at the name of my blog!): I love to cook savoury things with it and, needless to say, sweet treats. No wonder, one of the most popular desserts in the world – classic cheesecake – is one of my favourite dishes as well. Whenever I yield to temptation to cook one, I try to restrict myself to having only one or two pieces and the rest of it – in case I don’t have a proper help for consuming it – usually goes into the freezer (luckily, it’s a type of a cake that can be easily frozen for up to one month). The only disadvantage is, if you suddenly have an urge to indulge into a piece of a velvety goody, you will have to wait for quite a while till it defrosts properly.

            Last year, however, I came across a cheesecake ice cream recipe. Wow! I’m actually a big fan of frozen desserts and the perspective of having my favourite cheesecake in the form of an ice cream was very appealing! It was a recipe by the British celebrity chef Nigella Lawson. Actually all her recipes are trust-worthy but since I had already tried her Margarita ice cream I was absolutely convinced that this woman is an expert in frozen yummy treats! As I don’t have a special machine at home, I couldn’t make this ice cream in a big container – it would have lost the creaminess in this case; setting it in small ramekins, with a crunchy base (just like a real cheesecake!) saved the situation. Now I can go for a cheesecake any time I want – just restricting myself to having only one piece…or two!

Scone Festival

         Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

I've never made the scones before but they were always on my list of “trying-to-cook-one-day dishes”. It turned out that they are very easy to make, fast to bake and – amazingly – very versatile! These small biscuits can be savory and sweet, with any kind of added ingredients, and can be served as a tea/coffee accomplishments, as a cocktail snack or as a side for a main course.

As Audax provided us not only with the detailed instructions for making the perfect scones, but with the links to the recipes of scone variations as well, I couldn’t resist a temptation to visit my all-time favourite web-resource where I discovered the dishes that use basic scone dough for creating something new. I got really inspired to cook quite a number of different things and it turned out that during this month’s challenge I made a journey around the world!

Polenta Leaves with Zucchini Mille-Feuille and Coriander Fondue

           This week, as I wrote a post about “Trilogy of mushrooms”, I mentioned that I managed to get (quite in a mysterious way) a book featuring vegetarian dishes served at one Indian five-star hotel chain. As I said, the book – or, to be more precisely, simply a huge (more that 400 pages) magazine – is full of mouth-watering dishes. The only problem is – they are vegetarian. So my husband didn’t quite share my overwhelming excitement on getting this source of amazing recipes (when I try to serve vegetarian meal at home, he protests: “Honey, is there a widespread famine? Where is meat?!”) 

            Luckily, one of these days we had our piscaterian friends for dinner. Since I made quite a decent range of seafood starters, I felt that I had the right to prepare a vegetarian main course. My choice was a dish that struck me most when I looked through the book: beetroot and haricot layered zucchini mille fuille with polenta leaves and parsley fondue. I had to change beans for green peas and to substitute parsley with coriander (as I didn’t have the necessary ingredients in the fridge) but overall the dish looked exactly as on the photo from the book. To say true, it turned out to be decisively simple: it actually took me two hours to prepare it (there are quite a lot of elements that go on the plate!) but, needless to say, it was worth it. Even my husband who, to put it mildly, is not a big fan of polenta, finished it off in a few minutes!

            Now I’m waiting for another opportunity to cook a new dish from my “Vegetarian fare” book!

Mozart Trifle

          I came across sweet treats called “Mozart” a few times in my life. First, there were world-known Austrian chocolate-coated marzipan candies: I tried them and I realized that I love the combination of chocolate and marzipan. Then, I learnt that the phenomenal contemporary French pâtissier Pierre Hermé has a gateau called “Mozart”: a meringue-based chocolate mousse with apples sandwiched between two layers of a rich cake – made, by the way, with yeast and boiled (!) eggs. And, finally, last year I found a recipe of a dessert layered in individual glasses which had the same core ingredients – apples and chocolate – as Hermé’s creation. Since I was fond of “individual desserts” at that time (there is something romantic and cute about them, isn’t it?) I decided to give it a try. The ricotta cream with three different, yet complimenting flavours, was nice, but overall the dessert somehow missed the mark. After a thorough analysis I came to the conclusion that adding layers of soaked sponge to it would upgrade the whole dish to a different level. Indeed, transforming it into a trifle was a great idea. The resulting dessert was bursting with summer flavours and juicy fruits, together with the moist pieces of sponge, beautifully counterbalanced the richness of the cream. To say true, now when I hear about the traditional English trifle, I instantly think of my Austrian version of it – with a refreshing taste and an elegant look.

Asparagus, Salmon and Pea Risotto Quiche

         Once I felt like making an open tart with asparagus and salmon (I think that the combination of the two is close to perfection: really subtle and clean on the palate). I switched on my computer and opened the website of one cooking magazine in search of a recipe of a quiche with these flavours. As I looked through the results, I chose two dishes that I really loved: one was a salmon tart with pea risotto used as a base instead of a traditional short crust pastry, and the other one – a simple asparagus quiche, with the spears arranged in a spectacular way. I couldn’t decide whether I should go for the first variant and place asparagus on the top of it or whether I should merely add chopped salmon to the filling of the second dish. I was like a Buridan’s ass: completely confused by the two options! After hesitating for a great while, I made a decision to combine both dishes and to come up with something that would feature all the elements. It was a real kitchen experiment! Strange as it may sound, it worked! This quiche has been cooked quite a number of times since then although I realize that the whole idea of it may seem quirky to both a Frenchman and an Italian, I would encourage them to try this dish before being very judgmental! 

Trilogy of Mushrooms

         There is always a story behind any dish: it may be romantic, funny, nostalgic, mysterious and – sometimes – unbelievable. Here is one.

            Once I decided to have a cup of tea at the lounge of a five-star hotel while I was waiting for my husband to come. I headed to the restroom to wash my hands first and as I was about to leave it, I caught a sight of some books and magazines on a coffee table (yes, there was a coffee table in the restroom…and a sofa, by the way). One of the huge volumes was a collection of the best vegetarian dishes served at the hotel chain throughout the country. Of course, I couldn’t resist sneaking peek into it. The book was amazing: full of spectacular pictures and mouth-watering dishes, with the detailed recipes included. My attention was drawn to an appetizer called “Trilogy of Mushroom” – a dish of, probably, the most well-known Indian Chef Hemant Oberoi. I loved the idea of putting three elements together: a stuffed mushroom, a mushroom toast and mushroom crème-brulee. I knew that it wouldn’t be a problem for me to stuff a mushroom and to make a toast but I definitely needed the guidance for a savory crème brulee. As I tool a notebook and a pen out of my bag (planning to rewrite the recipe quickly) a girl walked into the restroom. She misinterpreted the look of an enthusiastic cook with the look of a hungry person and, assuming that my date hadn’t come and I was left all alone, without any opportunity to have a proper lunch, – offered me some help. I realized that I actually looked weird: sitting in a restroom, looking through a cookbook – so I felt that I owe her an explanation. To say true, she didn’t quite believe me when I told her about my food blog – in her opinion, I am too skinny for a good cook. Anyway, we sort of made friends with that girl and even went to have tea at the lounge together (you can’t carry on a conversation in the restroom, can you?).

            As far as the dish is concerned, I recreated it that same week. I had just got a blow torch and was eager to use it in action! So, a savory brulee was made, together with simplified versions of a toast and a stuffed mushroom (Hemant Oberoi used different types of mushrooms while I had an access only to one). 

            The story, however, does not end here. A few weeks later, without any explanation, that book was sent to our office on my husband’s name (do they have cameras in the restrooms?!). Well, probably, one shouldn’t act so weirdly at a five star hotel. By saying that, I’m more than happy to have this incredible book now – with the original recipe of the dish and much more!