Since Friday night, I have cooked pretty much nonstop: Hazelnut & Apricot Scones; Chocolate, Hazelnut and Espresso Shortbread; so many variations of miniature quiche I lost count (hundreds of them); Roasted Carrot Hummus; Sun-Dried Tomato and Olive Spread; Crostini; Pork Tenderloin with Orange and Pomegranate Molasses; Potstickers; Chicken Satay; Stuffed Rolled Turkey Filet; Roast Turkey, made into sandwiches with Maple-Orange Sweet Potatoes; Roasted Beet, Purple Potato and Carrot Skewers; Espresso Chocolate Chunk Brownies; and Coconut Milk & Ice Wine Chocolate Truffles, not to mention the menu from last night.
Today, being Sunday, the sound of racing on TV triggered a Pavlovian response in me – an urge to putter around the kitchen and bake scones or something. But I resisted; instead we went to the Bowlerama.
I swore last night I wouldn’t cook dinner tonight, and I didn’t. We ordered pizza. I’d like to say I’m sick of food; sadly, I don’t ever seem to tire of it, unless I’m pregnant. (I’m not.)
But here’s something: I went for coffee at Cafe Rosso last week with a few friends, one of whom picked up a vegan bar made with quinoa. I was shocked to learn that my friend A*, who is vegetarian, had never heard of the stuff. (Although come to think of it, it is entirely possible she may just not have recognized the proper pronounciation – KEEN-wah – and just thought it was something new to her. The teeny uncooked specks in the bar were hardly recognizable.) Nevertheless I dropped off a bag on her mailbox today, and was going to email her cooking instructions, but decided to do it here instead. Not only because I think everyone who is getting more than a little tired of rice should know how to make quinoa, but just because I know she reads this blog.
Here are my top 11 reasons you should try quinoa:
1 ) it contains a balanced set of essential amino acids, making it an excellent source (about 20%) of complete protein. (In fact, the WHO claims that quinoa contains a better protein balance than any grain, being at least equal to milk in terms of protein quality)
2 ) it’s a good source of dietary fiber
3 ) it’s gluten free, and considered easily digestible
4 ) it makes you feel nutritionally in the know when you pronounce it properly in conversation
5 ) it’s high in B vitamins, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, folic acid, vitamin E, iron and zinc
6 ) rice is so last millenium
7 ) its mild, nutty flavor lends itself well to soups, hot grain breakfast cereals, or really anything you’d use rice or couscous for. I bet it would make great rice pudding (except that you’d have to call it quinoa pudding)
8 ) it may be germinated in its raw form – germination activates natural enzymes and boosts vitamin content. Quinoa apparently has a short germination period: only 2-4 hours resting in between paper towel soaked in water is enough to make it sprout; this softens the grains, making them suitable to be added to salads etc.
9 ) it has a light, fluffy texture; isn’t hard or heavy like many other whole grains
10 ) it’s cheap, and you can buy it in bulk
11 ) like rice, you can freeze it in freezer bags once it has cooked and cooled, then thaw it for quick salads or side dishes, to throw into soup, etc.
The biggest thing to remember when cooking quinoa is to rinse it very well first - it usually has an invisible coating that tends to be bitter. Otherwise, you can just cook it like pasta, in a pot of boiling salted water for 15 minutes, or like rice: 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa, boil, turn down to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Easy.
* Names have been withheld to protect the reputation of innocent vegetarians.
March 16 2008 | grains | 5 Comments »
This is what my day looked like:
Go to bed at 1am (I have to count this detail, because it technically was part of my day)
7am: get up, make hazelnut-apricot scones and chocolate-espresso-hazelnut shortbread for event at Willow Park. (Sidenote: they called yesterday to ask if I could help cook for customer appreciation day.)
9am: arrive at Willow Park and start cooking like a madwoman. Cooking at customer appreciation day is actually really fun, if your idea of fun is going through the fridges (they have one designated only for cheese), freezer and cupboards and coming up with things to make, like Gordon Elliott’s Door-Knock Dinners. (I do consider this a blast.) Except on a much larger level – they had over 1000 people over to eat. One of the best creations was roasted carrot hummus – Friday night we roasted a bunch of beautiful carrots, beets, purple potatoes and Yukon golds for the organic wine festival, and ended up with a sheet of leftover roasted carrots. They were cut in half lengthwise, drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted until they were soft with golden bits. I threw a few of them into the blender with the usual chick peas, garlic, tahini, lemon and olive oil to make hummus, and added a big pinch of toasted cumin. It was a beautiful color, and a total hit.
4pm: run home, unload the car, reload the car, change.
4:45pm: rush out the door, stop at Bite to pick up a fig log imported from Italy (I should make these things – they are a blend of figs and nuts and aniseseed, shaped into a log and wrapped in plastic and then dried leaves - and sells for $25).
5:30pm: and arrived to do a private hands-on cooking class/demo Tuscan-themed dinner for the 50th birthday of a wonderful lady and her husband and friends.
6:30: guests arrive, have peach bellinis and some antipasti I picked up at the Italian Supermarket, the aforementioned fig log, and nubbly bite-sized chunks of Parmesan-Reggiano cheese, drizzled with honey and white truffle oil and sprinkled with fresh pepper. This is one of the easiest appetizers you can do – it takes about 2 minutes. Bob Blumer taught it to me.
7pm: we start cooking.
Menu
Antipasti
Parmigiano-Reggiano drizzled with White Truffle Oil & Honey
Balsamic Mushroom Crostini (one of my favorites)
Prawns wrapped in Prosciutto (at Willow Park yesterday the guys from Escoba came and did the same thing with capicola ham) and served with pesto
Spinach & Ricotta Gnocchi with browned butter
Grilled Lamb Chops with olive oil, lemon, garlic and oregano
Forest Mushroom Risotto
Courgettes & Carrots a Scapece
Dolce:
Mascarpone Panna Cotta (an experiment, and a definite winner)
Chocolate, Hazelnut & Espresso Shortbread
The host did some fantastic wine pairings with each course.
12:30ish: Leave
1am: arrive home and crawl into bed.
So here I am, finally, in bed with my laptop. And here’s a recipe from tonight’s feast:
Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso Shortbread
If your hazelnuts are whole, coarsely chop them in the food processor first, then transfer them to a bowl and blend the rest, adding them back in at the end.
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. instant espresso or coffee (or finely ground espresso beans)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, cold and cut into chunks
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned, and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional, to drizzle)
Preheat oven to 350°F. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, brown sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, espresso and salt. Add butter and vanilla and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add nuts; blend until finely chopped. Transfer dough to floured work surface. Knead just until dough comes together.
Divide dough in half and press each into an 8″ or 9” round cake pan, or tart pan with removable bottom. If you like, press around the edge with the tines of a fork. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until set. Cool on a wire rack, then cut each shortbread round into 12 wedges.
If you want to drizzle your shortbread with chocolate, put the chocolate chips into a zip-lock baggie and seal. Place in a bowl of very warm water and let sit until melted. Knead the bag a bit to make sure there are no chunks left. When smooth, snip a tiny corner off and drizzle chocolate over cookies. Let stand until chocolate sets.
Makes about 2 dozen wedges.
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March 16 2008 | cookies & squares | 4 Comments »
