The Kitchen Caddy

I'm just this foodie, you know.

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A restaurant that serves expiring ingredients may not whet one's appetite but this concept may just be the solution to the rising food waste problem.

http://thekitchencaddy.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/uk-dining-concepts-trend-5-of-5-rubbish.html

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[Crowdfunding] gives an upstart control over its business model and affirmation that the people who pledge money to a worthy proposal, want it in their community and their initiative also serves as a gauge for the new restaurant's potential customer base.

http://thekitchencaddy.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/uk-dining-concepts-trend-3-of-5.html

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The move southwards (South London) is deliberate as restaurateurs prepare themselves for the anticipated exponential residential and commercial growth in this area.

http://thekitchencaddy.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/london-dining-concepts-trend-2-of-5.html

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When a restaurant offers comfort food with strong Italian and Asian influences, it sets itself up for global appeal.

http://thekitchencaddy.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/uk-dining-trend-4-of-5-glocal-collection.html

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London supper clubs are taking over permanent premises to meet demands and offer 'licensible' activities such as selling alcohol.

http://thekitchencaddy.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/london-dining-concepts-trend-1-of-5.html?view=magazine

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My Specialty & Fine Food Fair 2014 Trends Report is Out. By thekitchencaddy

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Do you like this? Wait till you see how simple its recipe is. Click to find out...

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This Corn and courgette blossoms salad with ricotta cheese recipe is like summer on a plate. Click to get recipe.

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Like this? Click and get the recipe.

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Recipe: Caramelised orange, fennel, tomatoes, and ricotta salad

On the second day of my home away from home-cooking adventure in Milan, where the city sleeps in summer, I found a local grocer that was open and teeming with fresh ingredients and people. What a relief! The Scilian oranges and fennel were large and succulent, and needless to say, there were more types of tomatoes on offer than there are days in a week. And the ricotta cheese, not packed commercially by famous brands, but rather homemade, cut into a wedge and simply packed in a plastic container and secured by cellophane tape. When you see these ricotta cheese, get them. Fresh ricotta like these have a strong meaty flavour, giving your salads and sandwiches an umami flavour profile. 

Ingredients ( for two)

1 large orange, peeled, cut into 4 cross-section rings, deseeded

1 large fennel bulb, sliced thinly

2 medium tomatoes, skinned, reseeded and diced

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp of unsalted butter

1 tbsp lemon juice

Leaves from 1 stalk of flat leaf parsley 

Chilli flakes (optional)

Flaky salt and black pepper (season to taste)

2 tbsp of ricotta cheese

Toss sliced fennel in a mixing bowl with 1 tbsp of oil and chilli flakes (optional), then either grill the pieces on a gridle, over fire or in an oven under the grill setting until the fennel starts to brown. Heat butter in a skillet until the butter froths but just before it turns black, then add orange rings to cook for a few seconds on each side. Set aside away from heat. And simply toss charred fennel, diced tomatoes and flat leaf parsley with remaining oil and lemon juice. Season to taste, top with caramelised orange and ricotta cheese (two rings of orange and 1 tbsp of ricotta per serving).

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Home away from home-cooking: Milan in Summer

What do you do when you're on a city break to Milan in August when most businesses are closed for summer? Why, shop at major supermarkets for seasonal ingredients and cook at my AirBnB, of course.

Recipes are adapted from the August issue of Bon Appetit magazine and serve two.

Day one: 

I made this shaved honeydew, fennel and olive salad as a starter. I love how the bitter-sweet flavours meld together into a refreshing dish.

Ingredients:

Half a small honey melon, sliced, rind removed

1 medium fennel bulb, washed and thinly sliced

Green olives, pitted and chopped roughly 

Half an orange, prepped 2 ways: zest and juice

2 tbsp extra virgin oil

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Basil leaves, torn

Season to taste

Place melon, fennel and olives into a mixing bowl while you prep the dressing. Whisk together the orange juice, oil, lemon juice, salt and black pepper. Taste, adjust seasoning, before drizzling over the salad. Toss gently before scattering basil leaves and orange zest. You've not tasted summer until you've tried this.

Next, my version of the pappa al pomodoro, with quinoa instead of bread. Oh and made with Italian heirloom tomatoes.

Ingredients:

2 medium heirloom tomatoes, quartered

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 stalks basil 

Salt and pepper to taste

4 cups veggie stock, hot

Half a cup of quinoa

Season to taste

First I sweat the onion until its golden and fragrant, then I toss in the garlic with the tomatoes, stirring gently until tomatoes start to collapse but not burn. I pour in the quinoa and veg stock (If, like me, you're cooking whilst on holiday, use a stock cube, please). Let it come to a boil before lowering the heat to a simmer. At this point, the soup should still be watery, it not, add just enough hot water to cover the ingredients. Cook until quinoa take on a fluffy appearance and remove from heat. Drop in the basil leaves and cover with lid to let it steep for 3-4 minutes. Taste, adjust seasoning and add a splash of extra Virgin oil. This light soup is perfect for a cool Mediterranean night.

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In season inspiration: tamarillo

It's like a cross between a very tart peach and passionfruit and holds well when cooked. Don't think I know anyone who eats its bitter and tough skin, so to remove the skin, slit a cross across its bottom, plunge it into rolling boiling water and count to 10 Mississippis. Remove and cool down in cold water. By this time, its skin should be easy to peel with a paring knife. 

Taste it then dice it or slice it anyway you like. Out of the two tamarilloes I got, I cut 8 slim slices for plating and diced the rest to make a chutney sauce to go with a mustard crusted pork loin. It's an alternative to the apple sauce.  You'll see...

Tamarillo chutney sauce (makes two)

2 tamarillo, skin removed 

1 tsp corn flour

1 clove

A snip of star anise

2 tbsp runny honey (more if you like it sweeter)

1 cup water

Method

Use a sharp knife to slice 8 thin wedges and set aside. Dice the rest, removing the white core which can be bitter.

Add the diced tamarillo into a saucepan and mix in corn flour, clove, star anise, honey and water. Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring often. If you prefer, add more honey to taste. I added a pinch of kosher salt at the end to enhance the flavour. Remove clove and star anise before serving. 

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In season inspiration: one cow heart tomato, two ways

Recipes adapted from Bon Appetit August 2014 issue. For 1 serving.

Seared scallops with tomato water, lemon juice, mint leaves and truffle oil 

Ingredients

1 medium cow heart tomato, chopped and placed in fine-mesh set over a bowl 

1 tsp salt to season and draw out the water from tomato

1 tbsp veg oil

3 scallops side muscles removed, patted dry

1 tbsp lemon / lime juice

Fresh mint leaves garnish 

Method

After about 30 min, you should have collected about 1/2 cup tomato water. I use a ladle to crush and toss tomatoes about in the fine-mesh to work it some more. 

If water is chunky, strain through another fine mesh. I use a cheese / jam cloth to do this and the result is clear tomato water.  

Add lemon juice to taste. If necessary, add more salt.

Pour water on a shallow bowl

Decorate with mint leaves and drops of truffle oil. 

Heat oil in skillet, season scallops with salt and sear until browned, about 2 minutes. Turn scallops, remove from heat and let them cook in residue heat for 30 seconds. Strain excess oil onto kitchen towel and place scallops onto tomato water. Sprinkle with black pepper.

Brown rice spaghetti with burst tomatoes and chilli 

Ingredients

70 grams spaghetti

Salt

1 red jalapeños chilli, roughly chopped

1 cow heart tomato (same piece from above)

3 tbsp olive oil

1 cup pecorino (or any good salty hard cheese) 

Method

Cook spaghetti in large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente.

Heat chilli and oil in large skillet until sizzling, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, increase heat to medium-high, and cook, turning tomatoes occasionally, about 5 mins. 

Add pasta and about 1tbsp of grated pecorino, toss. If it's too dry, add some pasta cooking liquid until sauce coats pasta. Season to taste (but hold back on salt as you'll be adding more pecorino later).

Serve pasta topped with remaining Pecorino.

(End)

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Packing for lunch: chicken rice noodle with pho inspired pesto sauce

Have you ever bought too much herb? I mean, all I needed was a stalk of culantro and sweet Thai basil to go with my pho last week and I came home with two full bags of each. Instead of letting them go off in my fridge, I came up with a simple pho-inspired pesto noodles on Sunday evening to pack for lunch. The most difficult part is waiting until lunchtime on the following day. 

Making a pho-inspired pesto

Chicken rice noodle with pho inspired pesto sauce

Pho-inspired pesto sauce

Ingredients & Method: simply blend all of the following together. Taste and adjust seasoning.

A bunch of Thai / Sweet Basil, picked, washed and dried.

A bunch of culantro, roots removed, washed and dried.

Juice from half a lemon

1 clove of garlic

1 mild red chilli, deseeded

1 slice of ginger

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

1 cup sesame oil

Seasoning:

2 tbsp of fish sauce (to taste)

A few coarse grains of Himalayan salt (to taste)

To assemble the lunch box, simply cook rice noodles in hot water for 2-3 minutes, drain and toss in sesame oil. Dollop about 2 tbsp of pesto and mix well with noodles. Leave to cool then top with raw bean sprouts, fried shallots, chicken pieces and a wedge of lime. I did not cook through the noodles at this stage because I know I'll be flashing the dish in the office microwave the next day to finish the cooking process.

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Packing for lunch: mung beans and black berries compote pudding

I'm on a mission to create new and exciting recipes that are good for me and easy to make. When I started feeling sluggish, I knew something had to go. First off my list was gluten, followed by sugar. Not an easy task, especially for someone who prides herself as a big eater. Two weeks later, I have become much more of myself, and less of the dead weight I've been lugging around.

If you think gluten is a hard habit to kick, sugar, to me, is more like an exorcist. I might have expelled it from my system, yet it haunts me through cravings and migraines. What I'm about to share with you is not sugar sweet but nature's sweetness. I was inspired by Asian flavour profiles of sweet, sour and umami. Feel free to add sugar, but for my goodness sake, I'm counting on nature's way to help me wean off artificial or processed sugar.

A cartouche

Almond milk with split Mung beans

Ingredients:

1 cup of split mung beans, soaked overnight, washed and drained

1 tsp cornflour

2 cups of homemade raw almond milk (blend 1 cup almond flakes with 2 cups water and strained)

1 tbsp vanilla essense 

Method 

Dust cornflour over mung beans. This helps to thicken the pudding as it cooks out. Mix all the ingredients together in medium saucepan, cover with cartouche and simmer in low heat for 40 mins until mung beans are tender. Top up with more water or almond milk if necessary, do not let it dry out. The catouche will help prevent a skin from forming at the top. Remove from heat and let it rest.

Blackberries compote

2 cups blackberries, washed and dried

1 kafir lime leaf

1 slice of ginger

Just enough Water to cover

Method

Mix all ingredients into medium saucepan and simmer for 40 mins, until blackberries have broken down. The kafir lime leaf and ginger goes well with the tartness of blackberries and gives it very much refreshing flavour. Remove from heat and let it rest.

Serve compote over mung beans and I sprinkled some of the ground almond reserved from my almond milk.

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Packing for Lunch: Tapioca Sago Mango Pudding

From the moment I saw the word tapioca on my gluten-free list of ingredients, Sago has been my best food buddy. I make 1 cup's worth each time and that is sufficient to fulfil all of my pudding needs in a week. I drizzle a smidgen of agave syrup (just a wee bit, can't harm anyone) and a generous dollop of coconut milk as the base. Then I split them into good serving sized jars like this one in the picture and top up each day with some freshly cut fruit. I cannot highly recommend this enough.

Tapioca sago with coconut milk and mango topping

Tapioca sago with coconut milk and mango topping

Ingredients

1 cup tapioca sago pearls (soaked in water overnight and strained before cooking)

100 ml coconut milk

Agave syrup (optional)

Freshly cut fruit

Method

Bring a large pot of water to boil before adding the soaked and strained sago pearls. The soaking plumps up the pearls and makes cooking through these little gems much faster. Having said that, make sure to stir constantly to prevent lumps from forming and watch as the pearls turn translucent. It should take roughly 10 mins before all the pearls are cooking through. Strain the pearls and leave it to cool.

I like to lightly heat up coconut milk before serving. In fact, I even add two grains of coarse Himalayan salt to bring out the flavour. I've known some people to infuse coconut milk with a bunch of pandan leaves, which makes it gloriously fragrant. Once I'm happy with my coconut milk, I take it off the heat and let it cool.

Before it turns stone cold, I pour the coconut milk over the sago and gently fold in the mixture until it's all nicely mixed together. I don't want it too dry or thick so I might add some sago cooking water to "thin it out" if need be.

And that's the base done. Next is the fun part of selecting fresh fruit toppings.  Honeydew melon and mango are my top choices. I might also consider using berry compote for a more seasonal touch.

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Temple food for the guilty: buddha's Delight Pasta

Buddha's Delight Pasta

Have you ever taken your body for granted and think you can get away with eating crap and still expect your body to keep you going as usual? Well, I have. So I dug deep into my memory bank for any recollection of healthier times and this lo han chai Buddha's delight resurfaced. Traditionally cooked with Chinese greens and served on Chinese New Year, I decided to recreate it with gluten free pasta instead. 

Buddha's Delight Pasta

Ingredients

Gluten free brown rice pasta, cooked till almost al dente

Black moss seaweed (fat Choy) soaked in warm water

Deep fried soya bean curd sliced into strips

Wood ear mushroom, soaked in warm water and sliced

Spinach

Mini shiitake mushrooms

Pine nuts, lightly toasted

Seasoning

Tamari soya sauce

Himalayan salt 

Cold pressed sesame oil 

Method

Heat wok till smoking hot

Add oil (I used rapeseed oil) and toss in all ingredients and cook briefly till everything is covered in oil.

Mix in the seasoning and keep tossing until spinach has wilted.

Serve (I added a dash of Japanese chilli pepper for some heat)