Chicken roulade with pistachio butter filling and capsicum rice pilaf

Who doesn't love the internet?!  And social media at that!  Generally, being online and on social media is just about as normal as eating these days.  While not all people have access, a lot of us do, and it quite frankly changing has changed the way we interact and live.  Sans online bullying and inappropriate content, there's a lot of good things to be had with the internet and social media.

Learning has never been so convenient, and information so close, inspiration is there if you start looking and reaching out globally has never been so easy.  And there's another plus.  It's the use of the internet and social media to remind us that yes, despite the negativity happening around us,  there's a lot of reasons to spread good cheer and celebrate humanity, wisdom and kindness.  

I chanced upon this website Wake Up Project through my Facebook page timeline.  A foodie blogger I follow kickstarted her #wakeupproject kindness experiment by paying for an extra burger at lunch and people paid it forward a few seconds after she did.  Amazing!  And so I got on the Kindness Revolution, signed up and received my kindness cards from the post yesterday.  The idea is to think of a kind act, anonymously do your kind act and leave the card.  The card left will tell the recipient of your act and asks them to repeat (or pay it forward) to someone else.  Imagine the ripple effect of something this small.  

As quoted in the Wake Up Project website, "One kind person, multiplied by a 1000s creates a kindness revolution."

While there are lot of people already doing this, volunteers and workers who take time to support a cause, a random act of kindness can create an amazing effect on a person. 

Check out this video from Life Vest Inside titled Kindness Boomerang

                   

Now to food and what's new in ADU.

Well, I've done it!  I have finished my commercial cookery course at TAFE (technically I still need to submit some logbook requirements though, but all good!).  It's such a cliche but time did fly.  And it was a lot of fun!  

And to cap the 2.5 years was of course, a practical test in the kitchen, ala not-so-mystery-box challenge.  Ingredients were given a week before and we were to prepare a 3 course meal.  I'm sharing this simple dish I prepared for my mains.  It's simple because all I really wanted to do on the last day was.... get it all over with! Ha ha!

This recipe is something I just made up but inspired from a Masterchef Au episode. There are 3 main elements in the dish.  The chicken roulade, the rice pilaf and the mushroom sauce.  As I learned in the kitchen, when you're making a dish with several elements, the first thing you do is the sauce.  So here goes.....

To make the mushroom sauce

1 cup button mushrooms, finely chopped

1 onion, finely diced

1/2 cup thicken cream

1 teaspoon of Kikkoman soy sauce

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil

Method

In a pan, heat some olive oil then cook the onions until soft. 

Add the mushrooms and stir to mix for a few seconds.

Add the cream and the soy sauce, and season with salt and pepper.

Let it simmer for about 20 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened.  

Set aside.  You can warm this up again when ready to serve.

To make the chicken roulade

Ingredients

2 pieces chicken breast fillet, about 180-200g each

1/2 cup roasted pistachios, coursely chopped

60g  (1/4 cup)  salted butter, softened

1/4 cup sultanas

Method

Slice the chicken length wise so that you have a thin slice of fillet which you can roll.  You can also use a wooden or metal meat tenderiser.  Spread the chicken on top of some cling wrap and cover again with another portion of cling wrap, then pound until you get the desired thickness - about 2-3 cm

In a small bowl, combine the softened butter, sultanas and pistachios and mix together with a wooden spoon until incorporated.

Prepare the one chicken portion onto some fresh cling/plastic wrap.

Spread the pistachio butter filling then roll the chicken gently while tucking in the cling wrap.  You should have a wrapped chicken with filling.

Repeat with the other chicken portion.

In a shallow pan, boil about 1-2 cups chicken stock.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer.

Place the wrapped chicken portions in the simmering stock and shallow poach until cooked, about 15-20 minutes.

Let the chicken cool slightly before slicing diagonally and serve on a plate.

Pour the mushroom sauce onto the chicken when serving.

To make the capsicum rice pilaf

Ingredients

1/2 red capsicum, finely diced

1/2 onion, finely diced

375 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) long grain  or basmati rice

1-2 cups chicken stock

olive oil

Method

In a medium sized pot, heat some olive oil then cook the onions until soft.

Add the rice and stir to coat.

Add the capsicum and stir to mix together.

Add the 1 cup chicken stock and reduce heat to medium, cover with a cartouche* and let the rice cook.

Check every once in awhile if the liquid is drying up.  Add the other cup of chicken stock, reduce to simmer and let the rice cook.  

Fluff the rice with a fork and make sure its not sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Serve onto a plate with the chicken roulade.

* Here's a handy tip on how to make a cartouche when cooking.  It's basically a piece of baking paper folded and shaped into a round to cover what you're cooking to avoid forming skin.  I usually use it when poaching fruits and cooking rice stove top.  It's also handy to cut a little piece off the point in the middle so you have a hole for the steam to pass through when poaching or cooking.

So did you check out that Wake Up Project and Life Vest Inside website yet?  I tell you its amazing.  It's inspiring.  And it touches hearts.  I hope to spread some good cheer my way with my kindness cards soon.  But we don't really need a card to do a good deed do we?  Let's spread some kindness around, shall we?

Chermoula chicken sticks

Now that its Spring, and the barbie's definitely out from hibernation, this is a great fish or chicken marinade that's sure to impress anyone.  Your family, your guests and even you neighbours.  This is a Moroccan dish we've tried at home. The paste is made either using a food processor (if you have one) or a large heavy mortar and pestle (granite or marble ones are best).  Then the paste is rubbed on the chicken pieces and left to infuse the flavours for half to one hour.   The smell of this when you're cooking them on the pan or on the grill is so inviting, you'd have your neighbours coming out of the homes to get a whiff.  

We've made this at home several times using Poh's recipe with chicken breast pieces shallow pan fried and made this for a BBQ at a friend's place using chicken thigh pieces skewed with bamboo sticks.   We also made a version of this in Kitchen 8 during our Seafood Module and used snapper (with fins trimmed and head cut off and the skins scored).

60 ml olive oil

juice of half a lemon

1/2 bunch coriander, washed and roughly chopped including stalks and roots

1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley, washed and roughly chopped

1 Spanish onion, quartered

2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped roughly

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper

1/2 teaspoon Moroccan seasoning (or Ras El Hanout if available)

Place all ingredients in a food processor (or a mortar and pestle) and process for one minute.

Slowly add the olive oil until you get a thick paste consistency.

Add the lemon juice and stir to combine.

Place in an air tight container to keep, or in a large bowl if using immediately.

Rub onto chicken breast pieces and place in a shallow bowl and set aside for half an hour.

Shallow pan fry the chicken pieces 3 or 4 at a time, depending on the size of your pan.

Or alternatively, grill the chicken until cooked through.

If using snapper, clean the fish and trim off fins and head.  Score the skin and rub the paste and set on the grill. 

You can also make the paste ahead of time as they are good to keep in plastic containers in the fridge for about a week. If you're keeping some of the paste for future use, make sure you separate the amount that you're using from the ones you're keeping.  You wouldn't want to contaminate your paste with those you've used to rub the chickens with.

Brioche bread and butter pudding

Puddings made with bread and butter are just the easiest things on the planet!  If there is one sweet dessert recipe that should be included in your repertoire, it should be the humble bread and butter pudding.    It is a simple baked dessert or morning/afternoon tea treat.  It is easy.  The ingredients are almost always, staples in your everyday pantry.  Easy, simple and yet quite impressive when served.  

This Brioche Bread and Butter Pudding was one of the 2 dessert tasks last week in Kitchen 11.  Supposedly simple, but Chef A had other plans.  He insisted that with the time we had in class, we could make brioche from scratch – Plan B.  And try I did.  First attempt failed. – dough thrown out.  Second attempt 50/50 – dough looked wet but we still went ahead and baked them.  The turn out?  Nice looking brioche loaf and muffins, but hard as rock.  Great for practicing tennis, as what Chef A jokingly said.  So after wasting about 5 egg yolks, it was time to go back to Plan A – use the dry store ready-to-use brioche and prep for dessert.  

This recipe is from the Prepare Cook and Serve Food for Service, TAFE NSI Booklet.

1 loaf brioche bread

7 eggs

450ml milk

450 ml cream

230g caster sugar

50g sultanas

1 tsp vanilla extract / essence

apricot jam, for spreading

butter, for spreading

icing sugar

 Preheat oven to 160*C.

Grease baking dish or ramekins (use either a medium-sized oval or rectangular dish or individual oval ramekins)  with butter. 

Slice the brioche bread thinly, retaining the crusts.

Spread with butter and jam.

Layer into a greased baking dish or ramekins.

Sprinkle sultanas and orange rind over the bread.

In a large bowl, with a balloon whisk, mix the eggs with the sugar.  Add the vanilla, then the milk and cream and gently mix together.

Pour the custard over the bread and ensure it is well soaked in prior to baking.

Bake at 160*C for 40 minutes and almost set in the centre.

Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve warm with Sauce Anglaise and a sprig of mint.

*Sauce anglaise is one of the greatest creation there is in the dessert world!  A tricky recipe learned in Kitchen 10 which shall be for a future post or you can have a look at David Lebovitz post).

 

And to make up for all the egg yolks lost and egg whites gained, a corner of Kitchen 11 was concocting some other sweet dessert - a practice attempt at the classic Aussie Pavlova with dramatic results (see photo).  Which paved the way to the Cherry Pavlova Mess, which hopped its way into the first ever Australian Pavlova Bloghop which made its way into our tummies, which made everyone smiled and my heart melted. Amen.

 

Make some brioche bread and butter pudding today!  It's easy!  You don't even have to use brioche.  Any bread would do!  In fact, we've got so much mini croissant that might just end up being pudding later on in the week! 

Tartlet of caramelised onions with clotted cheese and roasted tomato

 

It has been an exciting week!  After the fabulous day, my tweeting ability has multiplied a thousand fold.  Well, maybe exaggerating a little bit. But still learning.  This was in my twitter timeline on Friday" #ff.  And embarrassing as it may be to admit it, but I had to consult good ol' friend Google.   I'm hopeless, but will keep up.  Technology is amazing!

Now going back to the kitchen, these entrees were from last week's Lesson 4 in Kitchen 10.  Was on the roster for entrees/appetizers.  And this kept me going from 3-7pm.  It did take that long, including resting the dough, blind baking the pastry, making the clotted cheese, roasting the tomatoes and cooking the caramelised onion.    What made it exciting was cheese making and making the short crust pastry - a first time for this Pinoy chef wannabe.   And while its seems overwhelming to look at the long list of ingredients and to do's, this can be done in a home kitchen on a weekend.  Who say's multi-tasking is only for the corporate environment?

ready for service

Enough of the chit chat!  Let's get to work!  First things first!  Savoury short pastry!

125ml water

250g unsalted butter

500g flour

1/4 tsp salt

The basics of short savoury pastry: 1-2-4: meaning one part water, two parts fat, four parts flour.

Cut the butter into small cubes, and rub the flour with the butter in a large bowl until it resembles fine crumbs.  (This is something that doesn't happen in a rush.  You need to rub rub rub the flour and butter for a good 15-20 minutes to get good results.  You know you're done rubbing when there are no more big lumps of butter, instead of you have a bowl of grainy flour).

Add the salt and the water and mix together using your hands.  You will create a soft dough.  

Do not overwork.  

Wrap in cling plastic and rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

After resting, grease the tart pans with butter or oil spray. Line the pastry onto the pan, cutting edges with a kitchen scissor then press firmly.

the dough pressed onto 8cm disposable tins

 Cut out round or square baking paper and lay these onto the pastry.  Use baking beads or beans and pour these onto the pans.  Bake blind for 15-20 minutes in a 200*C preheated oven.

the pastry ready to be baked blind using mixed beans

The pastry is ready when they are golden and are easily lifted off the pan/molds.

Set aside to cool.

Its time to make the fillings!  Roasted tomatoes first!

 

5 large Roma tomatoes

1/4 bunch thyme

salt and pepper

Cut the tomatoes into quarter.  Season with salt and pepper and chopped thyme.  

Place on a baking sheet or roasting tray and slow roast at 140*C for approximately 40 minutes.

And while the tomatoes are roasting in the oven, prepare the caramelized onions.

200g (about 2 medium sized) Spanish onion, sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

20g brown sugar

1/4 bunch basil

50ml olive oil

20ml balsamic vinegar

In a medium sized pan, sweat the onions with garlic and olive oil.

When cooked (onions have softened), add the sugar and caramelise, add vinegar and seasoning.   

Set aside in a plate or bowl and cool.

To serve: arrange the caramelised onions and roasted tomato in the pastry.  Serve topped with clotted cheese and some basil leaves. Or if you're not making the cheese, fresh ricotta or some crumbled feta would be just as great.

Have a great weekend everyone!  And while we're still coasting through the middle of November, best to get on with some Christmas shopping! 

Clotted cheese

hanging by a thread :)

I first read about home made queso blanco from a former office colleague S and promised to try and make the same at home.  And then just a few weeks back, NQN posted a recipe for home made ricotta cheese.  Both bookmarked and tucked away for some future kitchen episodes.  

Cheese is a universal and versatile ingredient – it goes with sweets and savoury dishes.  Great as entrée’s, in soups, topped or mixed into meat and seafood dishes, in cakes and desserts and even in ice cream!  But it goes without saying that cheese making, or making cheese from scratch is an art.  Like artisan bread making, it entails dedication and passion and skill.   So it was a surprise when clotted cheese was in the menu for entrée for Lesson 4 on Prepare, Cook and Serve Food in Kitchen 11 (we're moving kitchens this term, but Kitchen 10 is close to my heart)  this week   It’s a simple recipe.  2 ingredients + 3+ hours waiting time.  Milk and vinegar together, curdles and becomes cheese!  Don’t we all know that already?! Yeah, right.  Of course.  Its not rocket science, is it?

To make this simple clotted cheese:

2 litres milk
200ml white wine vinegar


Heat the milk to a tepid 35°C.  Add the vinegar and let it sit for 20 seconds.  Stir slowly with a spatula and let the milk curdle.

Using a muslin cloth placed over a large bowl, pour the milk and let it drain.  Knot the ends of the muslin cloth and using kitchen twine, tie it on a wooden spoon handle.  Suspend over a deep dish or tray and let the liquid drain from the cheese for 3 hours or more.  The cheese is ready when it is firm.

* You can drain for more than 3 hours for a firmer cheese.

The milk + vinegar mixture = cheese, after 3 hours.  Slightly firm with that texture from the muslin cloth.

The result was a slightly sour cheese that was almost ricotta like.  As the basic cheese was not seasoned as per the recipe, Chef just tossed a few herbs (finely chopped chervil and thyme), salt and pepper, and it completely changed the cheese.  We topped it over the day’s entrée of Caramelised Onion Tartlets - which shall be for another post.

Crumbled clotted cheese seasoned with salt and pepper and chopped herbs

Would I make my own cheese at home?  Probably when it calls for impressing someone - like when my in-laws from overseas fly for a visit?    Otherwise, I'm a simple cheese kinda gal.  I love provolone cheese in my pasta, some gruyere with crackers and chutney, some ricotta and feta for that attempt with the Greek spanakopita  and gorgonzola for those once in a blue moon cravings.  I’m not a cheese aficionado, but I do love them when they come in simple form, i.e. a block of tasty cheese.  But that's just me.  There's still hope of course, before that "under the Tuscan sun" retirement.  If that's ever going to happen.   Meanwhile, why don't you try making this at home?  It's easy and afterward, you can add home made cheese to your list of culinary repertoire.

Caramelised onion tartlet with clotted cheese and roasted tomatoes