TGRWT #5: Waiter, there's chocolate in my pasta!

Who would have thought? Pasta and chocolate go well together! I was a skeptic at first but given that the assignment for TGRWT #5 (They go really well together) was to find a chocolate and meat recipe, I decided to ignore my misgivings and try out a meat sauce recipe that i found in this book, one of my favourite books on one my favourite foods in the world - chocolate.

Besides the addition of chocolate, this pasta sauce was otherwise much like any other bolognese sauce, albeit a hearty one with the addition of pinenuts and raisins as well. It took a relatively short amount of time to cook and soon M and I were sitting down to dinner. Since I hadn't told M in advance that I was planning to try this recipe, I told him that I wanted him to taste the pasta and guess what special ingredient I had added to the sauce. Unfortunately, the cocoa nibs that I put in a small side dish for garnishing the pasta was a dead giveaway. He guessed chocolate. After asking him if he could actually taste it though, he confessed that if he hadn't seen the nibs, he wouldn't have thought there was chocolate in the pasta.


Tasting the pasta for myself, I had to agree with him. The first sensation of flavour that I got when I took my first bite was the lingering aroma of the red wine, and although the sauce was sweeter and slightly thicker than most bolognese sauces, I wouldn't have guessed there was chocolate in there either. Despite not being able to pick out the chocolate flavour, we both agreed that the chocolate added to the richness of the sauce. If you get a chance to make it, I'd highly recommend garnishing with cocoa nibs - they add an interesting texture to the dish.

Giuliano's sweet and savory meat sauce with chocolate
From bittersweet

1 medium red onion
3 celery stalks
2 medium carrots
1 medium garlic glove
10 sprigs Italian parsley, leaves only
4oz pancetta
3 to 4 tbsp olive oil
1 pound lean ground beef
11/4 dry red wine
1 cup drained canned Italian tomatoes, or 3/4 cup tomato puree
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup raisins
2 tbsp pine nuts
3/4 ounce bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tbsp sugar
1 pound dried or fresh tagliatelle or other egg pasta
Cocoa nibs, crushed with a rolling pin or coarsely chopped (optional)

Finely chop the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and parsley. Dice the pancetta. In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil. Add the chopped vegetables, parsley, and pancetta, and saute slowly over low heat for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables are translucent and beginning to brown. Add the ground meat and stir it into the sauteed ingredients with a fork or wooden spoon. When the meat is no longer pink, add the wine and simmer to evaporate it, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, unless using puree, pass the tomatoes through a food mill.

When the wine has evaporated, add the tomato puree to the pan. Season lightly with salt and pepper, and simmer slowly for about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the dolce-forte: Combine the wine vinegar, raisins, pine nuts, chocolate, and sugar in a small bowl; set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

When the sauce is ready, stir in the dolce-forte and simmer 5 minutes longer. Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper, and add additional vinegar or sugar if necessary.

Cook the pasta until al dente. Reserve some of the cooking water, then drain the pasta. Pour a little sauce into the bottom of a serving dish and top with the pasta and the remaining sauce. Toss the pasta and sauce together, moistening it with a little of the reserved pasta water if necessary. If you like, pass a bowl of cocoa nibs at the table to sprinkle over the pasta.

Green tea delight

M is a big ice cream fan and truth be told, so am I. As such, our ice cream maker is probably one of the best investments I ever made. Besides, ice cream is one of those desserts that really doesn't take that much work to make but that never fails to impress guests. Maximum reward for minimum effort, what more could you want?

One of my favourite flavours which I have never been able to get quite right is green tea ice cream. Until today, that is, thanks to a recipe that I first saw on Kuiadore, a food blog written by the enormously talented Joycelyn. I think the addition of white chocolate in this recipe adds depth and richness to the green tea, making this an incredibly luxurious way to finish off any dinner.

For us, it was a perfect way to end a perfect weekend.

Dreaming of Chinese New Year

One of my favourite celebrations of the year, besides Christmas, is Chinese New Year. For me, growing up, Chinese New Year was always a time when family got together to celebrate the start of what was hoped to be a prosperous new year. On top of that, my memories of CNY are also filled with food. It is customary when visiting friends and relatives to bring along mandarin oranges as the word for them in cantonese sounds like gold. In return, you also receive oranges and are usually treated to an array of sweets and cookies.

You're probably wondering why I'm talking about Chinese New Year in August. Well, the reason is simple, its the theme for my entry into SHF #34. When I read that the theme was local or regional specialities, I knew immediately that I had to make pineapple tarts. Although you can get pineapple tarts year round in Singapore now, they are particularly associated with Chinese New Year where there are often served to guests when they come a visiting. Having spent so many years away from home, they are one of the foods that I miss the most. I have never been able to find them outside of Singapore and often have my parents bring me a few boxes whenever they come to visit.

For those who have never had a pineapple tart, they are really more like a cookie than a tart and they are filled with a pineapple jam that has been spiced with cinnamon, star anise and cloves. The pastry itself has a tender, flaky crumb that marries perfectly with the sweetness of the jam. Pineapple tarts are just one of those things that I find impossible to stop at just one. Can you?

Pineapple Tarts
From Shiok!

Pineapple jam:
4 cans (about 500g each) pineapple chunks in natural juice
1 whole star anise, broken into petals
3 cinnamon sticks
7 cloves
450g caster sugar, plus more as necessary

For the pastry:
400g plain flour, sifted
2 tbsp caster sugar
⅔ tsp salt
250g cold unsalted butter, cubed
3 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla extract
50 ml iced water
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water

To make the pineapple jam, drain pineapple, reserving juice, and chop it very finely in a food processor. Combine with juice, spices, and sugar in a large, wide pot. Stir well over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Taste, then add more sugar as necessry for good tart-sweet balance.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring very frequently, until the mixture is reduced to a thick, amber-colored jam, 1½ to 2½ hours. Watch it carefully towards the end of cooking, stirring constantly to prevent it from burning. Let cool completely. Store in a clean airtight jar.

To make the pastry, whisk flour, sugar and salt together in a large mixing bowl until well blended. Add butter cubes and rub them in with your fingertips or a pastry blender, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Whisk egg yolks, vanilla, and water together and drizzle evenly over flour mixture. Stir with a fork to bring dough together into a ball. Knead lightly for 5 seconds, then divide into three portions. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour. Repeat this step to make another batch of pastry as you will need at least 2 batches of pastry to finish using up the jam. Alternatively, the jam will keep well in the fridge for use at a later time.

While dough is chilling, pinch off small teaspoonfuls of pineapple jam and shape them into little balls about 1-1.5cm in diameter. Warning: the jam is very sticky so it is a good idea to have a wet towel nearby.


To make open tarts (as in the opening picture), roll out pastry dough about 5-6 mm thick. Cut out tarts with open tart cutter. Place one ball of jam onto the centre of each shape and pat it down gently. Place tarts on baking sheet and gently brush the rims with eggwash if desired. Bake at 325°F/170°C for 15-18 minutes, until pastry is pale gold. Cool on a rack.

To make closed tarts (as in the picture below), take a walnut-sized ball of pastry and flatten it to a round about 4 mm thick with your fingers. Place a ball of jam on pastry and bring up edges to enclose. Pinch off excess pastry and pinch seams well to seal. Then, roll ball between palms to make it evenly round. Brush tart with eggwash and stick a clove into the top for decoration. Place tarts on baking sheet and bake at 325°F/170°C for 20-25 minutes, until pastry is pale gold. Cool on a rack.

Potato dumplings with pesto

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been looking forward to taking part in the various food blog events online. When I first saw that the theme of the latest HHDD is gnocchi, I was really excited. I have never made it before and though I'm not necessarily a big fan myself, M is. So what better excuse than to give it a go? Here then is my entry for Hay Hay, It's Donna Day #14 - Gnocchi di patate al pesto, which translates to potato dumplings with pesto.

For my recipe, I turned to this book, a trusted reference on Italian cooking from which I have enjoyed everything I've had the chance to make so far. I've been wanting to try his restaurant here in London but haven't had the chance yet. Hopefully that'll be a post on this blog sometime soon!


I have to confess that after having read through the recipe, I was concerned about the results given that I have never made fresh pasta before. As it turned out, the process was even slightly more involved than I expected. Rolling the dough into ropes and then shaping each individual nugget takes patience! Since I was battling against the clock to have something ready in time for dinner, I was probably less conscientious in making the gnocchi as uniform as it could be. Despite that, the results (while probably not the best looks-wise) were still yummy.

Would I make it again? Maybe, but I might skip the part requiring that each piece be shaped by hand. The pesto, however, is a keeper.



Potato dumplings with pesto
From Made in Italy by Giorgio Locatelli

1/2 recipe quantity of potato gnocchi dough (see recipe below)
handful of green beans
1 large potato, cut into about 1cm dice
knob of unsalted butter
6-7 tbsp pesto (see recipe below)
2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
salt and pepper

Make the potato gnocchi as described below.

Blanch the beans in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes until just soft. Split then in half lengthways.

Put the diced potato in a small pan of cold water with the butter. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer until just beginning to soften. Take off the heat and leave in the cooking water to finish cooking and soften a little more.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil, salt it and put in the gnocchi. Keep stirring until they rise to the surface (a minute or so).

While the gnocchi are cooking, lift the potatoes out of their water with a slotted spoon and put into a sauté pan, together with the pesto and the beans, over the very lowest possible heat (if necessary, hold the pan above the hob, so that the pesto only slightly warms and keeps its flavour and colour).

Lift the gnocchi out of the cooking water carefully, using a slotted spoon or spider, and put them into the pesto.

Add the Parmesan and toss the gnocchi in the sauce very briefly to coat, adding a little of the cooking water if you think the sauce needs loosening - but don't leave the gnocchi on the heat for longer than a minute, or they will start to break up. Season if necessary and serve.

Serves 4

Potato gnocchi dough

1 kg very starchy potatoes
2 small eggs, lightly beaten
about 320g plain flour
pinch of salt

Leave the potatoes whole, still in their skins. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer until soft (about 45 mins-1 hour depending on the size). Put the potatoes into a warm oven to dry.

While the potatoes are still hot, peel them and put them through a fine sieve. Put them in a bowl or on your work surface, make a well in the centre, then add the egg, a pinch of salt, and about 3/4 of the flour. Mix well and, as soon as the dough comes together, stop - only adding the rest of the flour if you really feel that you need it.

Dust your work surface lightly with flour, then take your dough and flatten it down with the palms of your hands into a rough square about 1.5cm thick.

With a knife, cut the dough into strips about 1.5cm wide. Dusting your hands with flour, roll each piece lightly until it is cylindrical.

Take 2 or 3 cylinders at a time, lay them next to each other, then cutting through them all at the same time, trim off the ends and cut the rest into pieces (1-1.5cm in width). Repeat with the rest of the cylinders, until you have lots of little nuggets of dough.

Lightly dusting with flour all the time, take a fork and push each piece of dough on to the prongs, so that it rolls itself up and is marked with lines. Try to make them all the same size so that they will all cook evenly. As you make each one, roll it on a tray dusted with flour.

Makes about 1kg

Pesto

2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons pine kernels, toasted
250g fresh basil leaves, picked
2 tbsp pecorino or Parmesan, grated
300ml extra-virgin olive oil
tiny pinch of salt

Either in a food processor with a sharp blade or using a pestle and mortar, start with the garlic and salt. Smash the garlic, then add the nuts and crush them, but try not to overwork them.

Drop in the basil leaves a few at a time and work them in as quickly as you can.

Then add your cheese and finaly the oil, until you have a bright green paste.

Makes one small jar

The fleeting days of summer

Summer is almost over. Or, if like me, you live in London, it never really came. In any case, there's not much time left to savour the sunshine, warmth and produce that summer usually brings. One of my favourites is berries - something I did not grow up eating in Singapore but which I have come to love. Just last weekend, I came across some blackberries and lingonberries growing in the wild while walking through a trail in Gothenburg and I must say they were the best, juiciest berries I've ever had.

In an attempt to recreate that sensation and to savour the fleeting days of summer, for dessert tonight I made rhubarb consommé with summer berries. While berries are perfectly great on their own, I find that a simple rhubarb soup dresses it up just enough to make it a dessert that you can serve when you have friends over. Yet the soup is still light enough to not overpower the dish leaving you with a fresh, light taste of fruit. Perfect for serving after a summer BBQ!