Som Tam

Som tam is one spicy mother of a salad. Memorably, I once visited the Thai Food Festival in Greenwich Park after a heavy girls' night on the ciders (and Campari - bleurgh). I needed fresh clean reviving flavours. Staggering around in the blinding sun, I made my way over to a stall selling som tam; a lady with an enormous mortar and pestle was pounding away, creating this salad. She'd hold up various ingredients - 1 birds eye chilli? Two? Salted crab? - and with a nod or a shake she'd throw them in, and within minutes I had myself a tray of the stuff. Settling down, I took my first bite. My face was engulfed with fiery chilli flames, and I legged it over to the nearest stall, hopping on each foot until I got my hands on a watermelon juice to soothe the pain. Despite all this, it was addictive; salty, spicy, sour and sweet with a hint of fish.

Som tam is Thai, and it is translated literally to 'sour pounded'. Typical ingredients include shredded unripe green papaya, chilli, palm sugar, salted crabs or dried shrimp and fish sauce. I used a green mango for this instead, as I like the fragance it gives and it's easier to find than papaya. You should keep tasting and tasting as you add ingredients to get that perfect balance of sweet, salty and heat.

Som Tam

Serves 2

1 large green unripe mango
2 birds eye chillis (or to taste)
A small handul of dried shrimps
1/2 a lime
1/2 a clove of garlic
1 tsp palm sugar
5 cherry tomatoes
2 tbsp fish sauce

Peel your mango and grate it on the large grater, place it in a bowl. In a mortar & pestle, throw in the clove of garlic and pound to a paste. Add the dried shrimp and give them a pounding. Add the sugar, juice of the lime and the birds eye chillis (whole) and give it a quick bash. Add half the shredded mango and 1 tbsp of the fish sauce. Give it a good bashing, then mix it together with the rest of the shredded mango. At this point, taste it to see if it needs any more fish sauce or sugar. It should be face-crunchingly spicy. Smash the cherry tomatoes (shield yourself for squirtage) in the mortar, and then add to the mango. Leave to sit for half an hour, and then serve with some sticky rice.

Hey, Nice Glove!

Whenever someone sends me a link to check out a new food-related product or invention, my first question is, "is this a real product, or a joke?" After watching half of this video, I still wasn't sure. What do you guys think of this invention? Great idea? Totally ridiculous? Too hard to match with your shoes and belt? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Speaking of turning meats with your hands, Michele and I are headed up to Sacramento to grill some steaks with the in-laws. I hope you all have a delicious weekend, and stay tuned for a bunch of tasty new video recipes!

Faking Making Bacon – Part One

The inspiration for my recent making-bacon-at-home fascination comes from this "My BLT From Scratch" post on Michael Ruhlman's blog. Last summer Ruhlman challenged his readers to create and submit their own interpretations of a completely homemade BTL. This included baking the bread, making the mayo, preferably growing the lettuce and tomatoes, and of course, making the bacon.

No ingredient makes people lose their minds like bacon, so let me be clear right from the start, this is not technically "bacon," so save the "this is not technically bacon" emails. My only goal here was to establish a homemade bacon baseline. Instead of trying to paint a masterpiece on my first attempt, I thought I'd start with a simple charcoal sketch.

The technique shown herein is very straightforward, and could be easily mimicked by anyone able to get their hands on pork belly. The idea was to rub the meat with smoked paprika, salt and cracked black pepper, before slowly roasting until tender. After an overnight chill, the belly would be sliced and fried crisp.

For a first attempt, I was very happy with the results. The texture produced by this approach was very bacon-like, although I sliced it too thick for it to get truly "crisp." Above and beyond textural considerations, it needed more salt. Next time I'd be much more aggressive during the dry rub application.

Stay tuned for upcoming versions, which will include brining, curing, and some kind of smoking. In addition to better flavor and texture, these future attempts will also be much more exciting as we substantially increase the odds for some type of serious food borne illness.

By the way, since this wasn't "real" bacon, I decided to show it as humble breakfast meat, and not displayed in its most glorious form, the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. Enjoy!




Ingredients (what I used here):
3 pound piece pork belly
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

White Wine Clams

Cooking with seafood really marks the summer months for me. Seafood dishes tend to be lighter, bursting with freshness and are usually ready pretty quickly. This dish was supposed to be made into a seafood medley served with buttered spaghetti, but, after a day spent at the beach - nibbling at freshly purchased red berries and soaking up the sun - a very light meal was calling my name. The clams were deliciously soothing served with a couple slices of crusty garlic bread to soak up the sauce.

There really is something about the sauce that emanates from cooked clams. When you cook clams this way, they release their wonderfully fragrant flavors into the wine and create the most flavorful stock. If you don't want to use up all cooking liquid, try using some of it in risotto or with any seafood pasta dish. You really can't recreate the depth of flavor that the clams create. They're nothing like it!

White Wine Clams
Serves 4

2 pounds of Manila clams, scrubbed well
1 cup of good quality dry white wine
5 sprigs of thyme
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
1 handful of coarsely chopped cilantro

Remove the leaves from the thyme stems and coarsely chop. Add the thyme stems, leaves, white wine, garlic and clams to saucepan on medium heat. Cover. Bring the stock to a boil and reduce to a high simmer for about 3-4 minutes.Shack the pan being careful to secure the lid down to make sure the clams open. Place all the opened clams in your serving bowl and discard any closed ones. Discard the thyme stems and simmer the stock for another 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice to the sauce and pour the sauce over the clams. Add the cilantro and serve immediately with some crusty bread. Enjoy!

Aubergine & Tomato Galette

I always thought a galette was a pancake made out of buckwheat flour, but like many terms in food, it also means something else. Wikipedia says it's a general French term for any kind of flat, round or freeform cakes. This one is very freeform indeed.

I first saw the galette on this blog and knew I had to try it immediately, and of course with my favourite vegetable with the aubergine. The crust, made with sour cream was flaky, crumbly and light; the cream is definitely an inspired addition. Soft melting vegetables, fresh aniseedy flavours of basil and with a nice cheesy hit, a slice of this with a dressed green bean salad made a filling but summery dinner.

Aubergine and Tomato Galette

Feeds 4

1 large or two medium aubergines
6 large ripe tomatoes
A handful of basil leaves
1 tub of ricotta
1 ball of mozzerella
50gr Parmesan
2 cloves of garlic

200gr plain flour
115gr butter, very cold cut into a dice
4 tbsp water
4 tbsp sour cream
A large pinch of salt
A squeeze of lemon juice
1 egg yolk

Slice the aubergine to about a finger's thickness and fry in hot oil on both sides until browned. Set to one side. Slice the tomatoes to a similar thickness, drizzle with oil. Mince the two cloves of garlic and scatter on top, seasoning with salt and pepper. Place under a medium grill for about 15 minutes.

Drain the mozerella ball and place in a sieve with a plate on top, and a tin of beans on the plate to squeeze some water out. Add the flour and salt to a big bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour, working quickly. In a separate bowl, mix the water, sour cream and lemon juice until it's all incorporated and add it to the flour. Mix with your hands until it forms a dough and then stop immediately. Wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Grease a large sheet of greaseproof paper and place on a baking tray. Roll the pastry out into a rectangle to a half inch thickness. Leaving about a 3 inch gap, spread the ricotta over the pastry. Place a row of tomato slices (these should be thick, messy and gloopy), then a row of aubergine slices, slightly overlapping until you get to the other side. Scatter the basil leaves on top, reserving about 3 or 4. Slice the mozerella ball roughly and place the slices evenly on top, then repeat with the tomato and aubergine. Grate the Parmesan on top.

Glaze the pastry with the egg yolk and place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until it's all bubbly and lovely and the pastry is browned. Leave to stand for 10 minutes, then slice the remaining basil leaves into slivers and scatter on top before serving.

Grilled Spanish Mustard Beef Doesn't Have a Ring to It

When people ask me if I'm ever afraid of running out of recipes to film, I usually joke that new recipes aren't the problem, it's running out of things to call them that's the real fear. Take this horribly named Spanish mustard beef for example. Least poetic name, ever.

Despite the awkward name, this fast and user-friendly wet rub did a fine job flavoring some carne asada I grilled recently (yes, that was redundant). I'm calling it Spanish mustard since I spiked the Dijon with a couple of my favorite ingredients of all time – smoked paprika and sherry vinegar.

Be sure to go find the real stuff (that it comes from Spain is one clue). If your marinade is only going to have a couple ingredients, you better make sure you're using top shelf stuff. The other two keys to this recipe are as follows: only let the meat marinate for about an hour, otherwise it may start to "cook" in the acid; and be sure to build a very hot fire.

Since this is a wet rub, we need the meat to sear and caramelize, not to steam in its own juices. After successfully grilling and slicing thin, against the grain, this can be eaten in hundreds of ways; all delicious. You'll see my tortilla delivery system, but everything from paper-thin rice paper wrappers to thick slices of grilled bread would be perfect.

This is also a fantastic marinade for thin-cut pork shoulder chops, or any of your favorite chicken parts. By the way, while you're grilling, sipping on a cold beer, or sangria, try and think of a better name. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
2 pounds thin sliced beef (any thin flap meat, skirt steak, flank steak, round steak, etc.
2 tablespoons Dijon
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
4 cloves minced, crushed garlic, optional
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1/4 cup light olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to tastes

A Tuesday Tease: Homemade Bacon

Antipasti Platter

Okay folks, this is clearly not a recipe! I just thought it could be useful to some of you readers to share my favourites for a perfect antipasti platter - basically a way-out for those days when you don't want to cook too much! Sometimes, you spend a lot of time preparing a main meal and a dessert for guests (on this particular day, I was having oven-baked lemon halibut with sauteed garlic rapini and chocolate and lemon tartlets) and you don't want to spend too much time on an appetizer. On those days, or the hot summer days where you're only having a light meal with a cool glass of wine, an antipasti platter is always a great option. It's easy, pretty to serve and incredibly flavourful. All guests can make their own little plate from your selection and pick and choose what they like.



Here are some of my suggestions for a perfect antipasti platter. Start with some cured ham - you can choose an array of different kinds (I would suggest bresaola, prosciutto, rosette de lyon and coppa), a selection of good quality olives (I love kalamata, greek olives as well as garlic and almond-stuffed green olives). Arrange the cured meat and olives on one platter. The only work here is to toast some fresh baguette for an extra touch. Cut the baguette into slices, drizzle a little olive oil and set in a warm oven. Once the bread is just crusty, remove from the oven and rub the inside of the bread with a peeled clove of garlic. This is a small and easy step but it really makes a big difference as far as flavour goes!



On another platter, choose about 5 or 6 items amongst oil-preserved sun-dried tomatoes, anchovies, caper berries, sweet roasted garlic cloves, mini buffalo mozzarella balls and artichoke hearts. If you're serving this as a complete meal, I would suggest adding a simple lettuce salad with an array of chopped herbs (chives, parsley, coriander) dressed with a basic olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. This recipe is just a guideline to the platter I served here, but let your imagination run free!



Antipasti Platter

Serves 4



6 slices of prosciutto (finely sliced)

1 cup of mixed olives

1 baguette, cut into slices

1/2 cup of sun-dried tomatoes

1/4 cup of caper berries

1/4 cup of roasted garlic

18 anchovies



Arrange nicely on 2 or 3 platters, serving the bread freshly toasted. Enjoy!

Beef Rendang

Beef rendang has been on my to-make list for ages. I was tempted and teased by these blog posts, and last Sunday I finally got my arse into gear and was well rewarded for my efforts. Rich, thick, unctuous and intensely beefy, the meat is cooked in various spices and coconut milk, with the liquid finally reducing so that it then fries in all the leftover oils.

It's not for the faint-hearted - literally, the amount of fat in there almost makes my heart stop - but, you know, you could eat salad for a week after or something. Scooped up with a hot flaky roti, pepped up with the sweetness and crunch of an onion salad, it's no wonder this dish is so popular.

I left mine overnight for the flavours to properly intensify; it was addictive in all its spicy, tender glory. I gorged on it so much I felt a bit sick afterwards. Don't eat two portions in one go.

Beef Rendang

Serves 4

1kg beef shin
5 shallots
1 inch of galangal
5 cloves of garlic
2 inches of ginger
10 dried red chillis (or 5, if you're a wimp)
3 green cardamom pods
2 dried bay leaves
2 star anise
3 cloves
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cinnamon
4 stalks of lemon grass
6 kaffir lime leaves
1 coconut
1 tin of coconut milk
1 tbsp palm sugar or dark brown sugar
5 tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp salt

Chop the meat up into chunks. Soak the chillis in hot water. Meanwhile, chop the shallots, the whites of the lemongrass, ginger, galangal and garlic and pound to a paste. Chop the softened chillis finely and add to the paste.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the shallot paste until fragrant, on a low heat. Throw in the cloves, star anise, cardamom pods (you may want a muslin bag for this - I don't mind pulling spices out of mouthfuls), ground coriander and cinnamon and stir well. Add the meat and the coconut milk, and then a tinful of water. Set to simmer.

While this is simmering, open your coconut by smacking it hard with the blunt end of a knife across its equator between the three eyes and the other side. It will take about 5 minutes of headache-inducing bashing. It should split neatly open. Catch the coconut water in a bowl, drink it, chuck it away, whatever. Extract the flesh, grate it and then toast it on a very low heated dry frying pan. This is a right pain in the arse, so if you can find unsweetened dessicated coconut, toast that instead - about 6 tbsp.

Add the sugar, coconut, bay and the lime leaves, sliced thinly. Simmer for an hour and a half, and then turn the heat up to a vigorous simmer for at least half an hour, stirring it frequently. The liquid should have almost evaporated off. When it has done so and the oil has separated, fry the beef in this oil, stirring so that it doesn't stick. It should be thick and very dark brown.

Serve with this onion and pomegranate salad and some fresh, fluffy roti. Eat with your hands. If, like me, you leave it overnight then when you come to reheat it, add a splash or 5 of water to loosen it up a bit, simmering it until it's all gone.

A Grilled Salmon Sauce So Simple Even Someone Like You Can Make It

There's a certain art to making a recipe sound very easy and approachable, but at the same time not insulting people's intelligence.

I always get a little chuckle when I see food blog articles that contain wording like, "…for Dummies" or "A Complete Idiot's Guide to…"

Of course, since Food Wishes enjoys the reputation for having the smartest, cleverest, best looking audience in the entire blogisphere, I don't need to resort to such discourteous phraseology (pandering is another story).

Having said that, if you are indeed a dummy, and/or an idiot, pay particular attention to this amazingly simplistic salmon sauce recipe.

I never get tired of this style of grilled fish topping. As I say in the clip, there isn't really anyway to screw this up. As you watch the video, I want you to already be thinking about how you would tweak the formula.

As long as you start with the basic brown sugar and rice vinegar reduction, you can swap out any of the other ingredients to create countless versions.

This is really wonderful on salmon, but equally delicious on swordfish, halibut, tuna, or any other firm, full-flavored fish. I hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!




Ingredients for 4 portions:
4 (8-oz) grilled salmon filets (by the way, fish was salted before grilling)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sambal chili sauce, or any spicy Asian-style chili paste
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger or ginger puree
4 cloves garlic, very finely crushed or minced
1 teaspoon soy sauce, or to taste
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup basil chiffonade

"Steak Pizzaiola" Sunday Dinner with Someone's Italian Grandmother

Anyone that grew-up in an Italian-American family can tell you about Sunday dinner, where someone just like the adorable woman in this video cooks an old family favorite, after which the family gathers around to eat, drink, and talk way too loud.

I've wanted to film a version of Steak Pizzaiola for a while now, but can't decide which version to do; the quickly seared, pan sauce style, or the long, slow-cooked recipe seen here. Maybe I'll try and combine the best of both. Thanks to fellow YouTube foodie, Foxbytes, for this tasty-looking clip. If you have a favorite recipe for this Italian-American classic, please send it my way. Enjoy!

Contests and Awards Update!

You may have noticed over the course of the last year or so, I've been much more aggressive in regards to entering, or asking for nominations in, various contests and competitions. While these awards are good for the ego, more importantly, they're also great for generating new traffic. I want to thank you for all you've done to sustain these efforts, and for your continued support!

Next Food Network Star YouTube Challenge


The response to my entry has been stunning! My loyal, cult-like following of 56,000 subscribers on YouTube has basically taken over the Food Network's YT channel, where there have been over 1,000 comments of support. If we're chosen as one of the 15 finalists, the voting will begin on August 2, so stay tuned for an update then!




On the Lamb


Our All-American Lamb Moussaka Burger has won the grand prize in the American Lamb Board's third annual “Get Your Grill On” video competition. The prize is two tickets to the New York City Wine & Food Festival’s “Blue Moon Burger Bash, hosted by Rachael Ray. Of course, we'd have to fly to NYC and get a hotel to collect, but still.


Help Nominate Chef John for a 2011 Tasty Award!


The Annual Tasty Awards are the premier broadcast awards show to celebrate the best in food and fashion programs on TV, in Film, and Online. Last year, Food Wishes wasn't nominated for an award, but that was my own fault. I was so busy at the time the awards were announced, I never asked for a help getting nominated!

If you'd like to help nominate me, please follow this link and cast your vote. Nominations are open through September 5th. I believe you can nominate the website in several categories, but "Best Food Program - Web" and Best "Home Chef in a Series" are the ones I'm hoping to get. Thanks!

Rochester's Famous "Chicken French" - Spoiler Alert: Only Half the Name is Correct!

Chicken French has everything I love in a recipe. It's delicious and easy, frugal, yet fancy, and everyone loves it. Better yet, it has a vague, confusing history and completely preposterous name.

This not-French recipe hails from the Rochester area of New York State, where it's a staple on virtually every Italian-American restaurant menu. It's something of a mystery why this recipe would have exploded in popularity in this one city in particular, but that's exactly what happened.

The origins of the recipe go something like this. Italian cooks in northern Italy have a sautéed veal dish called vitello francese, which uses a wine/lemon/butter pan sauce similar to ones used in France. The recipe comes to New York City with the first wave of Italian-American immigrants, where it becomes known by the locals as "Veal French."

Eventually, the recipe migrates to Rochester's large Italian-American community, where chicken is substituted for the more expensive and harder to find veal. The rest, as they say, is history – delicious, tender, moist, buttery history.

Since I'm from the Rochester, NY area, it's a little surprising I haven’t done this one already. Thankfully, a wonderful dinner at my Aunt Joyce's on a recent trip home caused me to realize I hadn’t yet immortalized this hometown favorite. I really hope you give it a try. Enjoy!




Ingredients for about 4-6 portions:
1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
4 eggs, plus 2 tablespoon milk, beaten
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
cayenne to taste
2 tablespoon olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon butter for sautéing

For the sauce:
Juice of 2 lemons
1/2 cup good white wine or dry sherry
1 cup vegetable broth or chicken stock
4 tablespoon cold butter, cut in cubes
1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Coming Soon: Chicken French

Tomorrow we'll be airing a new video recipe for Chicken French. This delicious and super-fast chicken recipe from Rochester, NY is a bit of a culinary mystery. Stay tuned!

Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa

Regular readers of this blog will know that I don't do too well with spicy foods. Don't get me wrong, I want to be able to order those spicy Thai and Indian dishes - but the truth is that I just can't! I've gotten better over the years out of sheer determination but I'm not quite there yet. For that reason, I've had trouble truly experiencing good Mexican food. This next sentence might make true Mexican food connoisseurs cringe, but Chipotle really made me want to make Mexican food at home. Although a lot of their offerings are spicy, their carnitas with mild tomato salsa, a dollop of guacamole, cilantro-rice and crispy tacos are really quite amazing. I'm not a fast food lover, but in my opinion, Chipotle really delivers on flavourful food while keeping in mind the ethics surrounding meat products. The meat is naturally and sustainably raised and is absolutely delicious.

When I was completing my Culinary Arts degree at the French Culinary Institute, I lived pretty close to a Chipotle and I must admit that I was often too tired to cook for myself after a long day of intense kitchen training... so this was my inital inspiration! This recipe is a different though, and features beautiful pieces of flaky halibut. Fish tacos are a healthy and light meal for a summer night as well as a perfect party food. Lay out a plate of seasoned fish, a tangy sauce and some mango salsa and every guest can make their own taco. I use greek yogurt to make the sauce as a healthier option to sour cream, but feel free to use sour cream - it is a little more authentic!

Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa
Serves 4

3 medium halibut fillet
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 lime
Olive oil

Mango Salsa:
1 mango, diced
1 avocado, diced
1 tomato, seeded and diced
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro
1/2 lime, juice and zest
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil

Sauce:
1/2 cup of Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon of lime juice
1/4 cup of finely chopped cilantro
Salt and freshly ground pepper

12 hard tacos, reheated in a warm oven

Generoulsy season the fish with salt and pepper. In a pan on medium heat add a drizzle of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the fish to the pan and cook untouched for 5 minutes. Turn the fish over and cook for another 5 minutes or until the fish is just cooked through. Cut the fish into cubes as soon as it's cool enough to handle and arrange on a platter with some lime slices.

For the salsa: Add the mango, avocado, tomato and cilantro to your serving bowl. Add the lime juice, zest, olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper.

For the sauce: In a small bowl, add the yogurt and fold in the cilantro and lime juice. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Serve the fish, tacos, salsa and yogurt sauce at the table and let everyone make their own taco. Enjoy!

Using My Melon… for the Third Time!

So, to celebrate the last rerun you'll have to suffer through for a while, I've decided to post this spectacularly delicious watermelon and feta salad with toasted cashews. Not only is this a rerun, it's a rerun of a rerun.

The original was filmed when I first started online. The camera I used back then was a tiny web-cam, duct-taped to a spice rack. The sound was bad, the humor even worse. A couple years ago, I decided to use the original footage and some of the audio to produce a new clip in iMovie.

Above and beyond having some fun at the expense of the rerun complainers, I wanted to post this today because watermelon has been super-sweet lately, and there are few things as perfect together as sweet, wet watermelon and salty, feta cheese.

This is Michele's favorite summer salad (probably mine as well), and anyone I've ever talked to that's made this, and brought it to a summer cookout, has gotten an embarrassingly large amount of compliments. So if you're into that kind if thing, please give it a try!

UPDATE! Sorry, I should have mentioned that this salad is even more awesome with some fresh mint on top (as pictured above).

Note: We attended a very cool cookbook release party at Domaine Chandon last night (if you were following me on Twitter, you saw some of the highlights, like this blurry iPhone pic of green gazpacho with tiger prawns), and are driving back into San Francisco today. Stay tuned for some amazing new video recipes very soon! (like tomorrow, I hope)

The Squidgiest Brownies You Ever Did Taste

Last weekend saw me helping my good friend Helen out with her Big Lunch. It was a completely mammoth task, pulled off brilliantly; we figured that we'd be cooking for around 30 people, and donations flooded in left right and centre from generous producers and lovely pub people. For a full list and a video of all the shenanigans, have a look at Helen's excellent post here.

The Beast and Gilberta, ready for action

A particular item we made garnered lots of compliments and many requests for the recipe, so I thought it best I post it here. These brownies are properly squidgy; oozy, gooey centres, crisp shiny tops and studded with nuts. I spied more than two people slathering Rodda's Clotted Cream on top of them which is seriously indulgent, and seriously wonderful.

I used to post on the BBC Messageboards, which is where I got this recipe from, specifically a user called Sue_L. She was amazing for all things baked, and though this is the only brownie recipe I've tried, it's so good I haven't bothered trying any others. There's just no need. I have, of course, made a couple of teeny weeny tweaks.

Squidgy Brownies

200gr butter
1 large pinch of salt (it works...)
600gr caster sugar (yes, really 600gr)
200gr chocolate - use at least 70% cocoa; we used Green & Blacks' 72%
250gr strong white flour (makes them chewier)
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp cocoa
1 handful each of hazelnuts and walnuts

Break up the chocolate and add to a bowl with the butter. Set over a bain marie, ensuring that no water gets into the bowl or you'll have a big seized mess.

Once melted, take the bowl off the heat and leave to cool for 10 mins. Add the sugar in and then the eggs, 1 at a time, beating them in well as you go. Add the vanilla extract and the sift in the flour. Sift in the cocoa and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Chop the nuts and mix them in.

Pour the mixture into a lined deep square tin or roasting dish and bake at 180 degrees C. After 40 minutes, give it a skewering to check its doneness. It should still have a little chocolate stick to the pokey but not so it's sloppy. Remove and leave to cool in the tin, and then remove and cut into squares.

Serve with clotted cream if you dare.

Thanks to Helen for letting me use her photos.

Sushi Ga Ga

It was with some trepidation that I accepted an invitation to review Sushi Ga Ga. Located on Lisle Street, Chinatown isn't particularly known for its good Japanese (or otherwise) restaurants. Fears were strengthened when we walked into the packed restaurant and were studiously ignored for a good 10 minutes. I noted that all the staff there were Cantonese, as were most of the customers, save the two teenagers sulkily queuing who decided to tastelessly mimick everyone around them.

The waitress would do anything at all but to approach us. In the end I marched to the counter at the back of the restaurant to explain I was booked in and they had no idea about it. A few minutes later, and with an apology from the what looked like the head waitress or manager, we were seated. The same lady served us, and when I asked what she would recommend or what her favourites were, she was stumped. Eventually she led us to the specials page, and to the most expensive dishes. We ordered our selection, and she retreated back to the counter to eyeball us for the majority of our meal.

House sake was served hot - an oddity for summer, especially as we weren't asked how we wanted it. It was mostly tasteless. A bizarre platter of sushi and sashimi arrived first; garnished with mint, a leaf of lollo rosso and a sad little pile of cress, it was rather pitiful. Nigiri were skinny and flacid.

Nasu den, miso grilled aubergine was soft, silky and sweet. This was to be the best thing we'd eat at this meal.

Agedashi tofu was made with firm rubbery tofu, no silkiness within it and none of that gorgeous jelly-like texture you get through the crunch of the crispy shell.

Seaweed salad was served with a thin, watery sesame sauce on the side. It tasted of nothing. Oh no wait, the sesame sauce gave it a faint hint of the seed and the tang of vinegar. At £6.50, it seemed a whopping rip-off. We didn't finish it.

Speaking of whopping rip-offs, this black cod miso was a sorry affair. At £17, the plate was enormous, making the portion size look small. Deep fried aubergine on the side drizzled with some sort of sauce tasted like air freshener. The fish had obviously been a corpse for longer than is good; its skin was tough and I spent my entire journey home with the stale taste of fishiness in my mouth from it. Extremely unpleasant.

On par with unpleasantness was the tempura scallops with a wasabi dressing. The dressing tasted of mayonnaise with a dab of mustard in it. The scallops tasted of old oil.

The list goes on, really. A side of rice had a hard crust on it, as if it had been hanging around for a while. Miso soup was pedestrian. The dessert menu was comprised mainly of ice cream and I was excited to see mochi on there, but alas, we were told the ice cream machine was broken. I didn't really fancy a plate of mixed fruit, so we called it quits.

We left feeling despondent, the whiff of disappointment about us. If we had paid we would have easily hit the huge £70 mark though it's currently running 50% off on it's menu to celebrate it's opening. I shan't be returning; unfortunately, Sushi Ga Ga was just blah blah.

Sushi Ga Ga (they don't seem to have a website)

16 Lisle Street,
London,
WC2H 7BE

Tel: 020 7287 6606

En Route

I'll be traveling all day today (including a lovely 5-hour layover at JFK where I'm posting this from…hey, I'm still smiling!). I arrive into San Francisco late tonight after a wonderful, albeit too short visit to my homeland, and as many of you predicted, I have a head full of new video recipe ideas!

FYI: Michele and I are heading up to Napa Wednesday for a special event at Domaine Chandon, but after that it will be back into the kitchen to do what we do. Thanks a million to all of you who commented on the Next Food Network Star YouTube Challenge, as well as defended my honor against the "others." It means a lot. Stay tuned!

Haddock with Braised Lettuce

A common Chinese dish is cooked lettuce; it has a great juicy and crunchy, yet soft quality to it. The Chinese rarely eat raw vegetables, and an early memory of mine is of my dad serving my grandmother a tuna salad he'd made - she promptly headed off to the kitchen to give it a good stir-frying.

The Chinese aren't the only ones to cook lettuce though. Typically a French dish, it reminds me of rustic country farm houses, sun shining in the garden, a big bowlful with a crusty hunk of bread to dunk in the sauce while chugging back a glass of the palest pink rosé. When I shut my eyes (and possibly my ears) as I sat on my balcony bang smack in the middle of New Cross Gate, I could almost imagine I was there. Until the police sirens wailed and the buses honked their horns.


Haddock with Braised Lettuce

Serves 2

2 heads of Little Gem lettuce
1 large haddock fillet
2 eggs
200gr frozen peas
100gr pancetta or bacon lardons
2 cloves of garlic
200 ml chicken stock
4 spring onions
4 tbsp plain flour
1 large knob of butter

Halve the lettuces lengthways, so that they still hold their shape. In a large pan, add the butter and the bacon lardons. Mince the garlic and throw that in too. Next, fry the lettuce on both sides, cut side down first, until they are browned on each side. Add in the stock until it comes up to half way up the lettuces, and with the cut side down, place the lid on and turn the heat down low.

Meanwhile, place the eggs in a cold pan of water, bring to the boil and then take off the heat. Leave them in there for 3 minutes and then remove and run under cold water.

Heat up another non-stick pan with plenty of vegetable oil. Shake the flour out onto a plate and season well with salt and pepper. Take the haddock fillet and dredge in the flour, and fry skin side down first and then turn them over. Remove from the heat.

By now the lettuces should have been braising for at least 10 minutes. Cut the spring onions on the diagonal and throw them in along with the peas into the stock and simmer vigorously for 3 minutes or so, until the peas are tender. To serve, place 2 halves of the lettuce in a deep bowl, and spoon the peas and cooking liqour around it. Peel the egg, halve it and then place chunks of the fried fish on top. Serve with bread, though I found it filling enough as it is.

The Tao of Reruns

Whenever I travel, whether it's somewhere I want to go, or somewhere I have to go, I always get a bunch of irate emails regarding my "slacking off." When I have a trip coming up, I'll film a few videos ahead to post from the road (as I did this time with the beef neck sauce and grilled shrimp recipes), but invariably I have to fill in the gaps with either reruns or other types of filler.

This trip I've been accused of "short-changing" the fans, of being too "distracted by shows and travel," and of "not caring about the blog as much as you used to." Even though I'm sure their hearts are in the right place, I can't tell you how upsetting I find these emails. The only thing more annoying are the accusations that my mustache is not real.

I won't spend too much time explaining myself since I believe 95% of the visitors here "get it," but I did want to cover a few points. I can't make a living (yet) just providing few video recipes on this blog. So, as many of you know, I'm also a freelance employee of the New York Times Co., writing the American Food site on About.com.

It is in that capacity that I'm occasionally blessed with press passes to things like the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen I covered last month (and where the photo above, from one of the after parties was captured). When these trips come up, I jump at the chance to go, not only to collect content for About.com, but also to help raise my profile as a food writer and "influential blogger."

Other trips, like this one, are personal, and I'll never apologize for taking time away from the blog to visit my family (having said that, I believe I still always apologize when I post reruns and filler). I sleep well knowing no one posts more original video recipe content than I do; not even close. By the way, as the regularity of these side trips, projects (like the cookbook), and "distractions" have increased, so too has the blog's traffic and popularity – almost tripling in the last year.

So, in summation, please continue to enjoy what you see here, no matter the frequency (or quality), and save the emails lecturing me on my commitment to the blog. Also, reading the unbelievably inspiring comments under the Next Food Network Star post is pure, ego-swelling joy, but many of you voiced concerns I'd stop doing this blog. That will never happen. I wouldn't take any job that meant the end of Food Wishes.

All right, now that I got that off my chest, here are a couple reruns originally posted way back in 2007. In addition to seeing my mom and sister's family, one of the great treats of returning home is getting to cook and eat with my aunts and uncles. They were very popular when first aired, so I thought I'd give them another run for the newer viewers. Enjoy!

(if you click on the recipe's title you will be taken back to the original post)

Uncle Billy's Chicken D’Arduini



Uncle Billy's Homemade Pasta



Aunt Joyce's Giambotta (Vegetable Stew)

Sushi of Shiori

Sushi of Shiori is tiny. If you walk past it you would think it's just a takeaway. There are 3 seats at the bar, 6 seats by the window looking out into the street. Since it's not likely I would walk past since it's in a back street near Euston, I was lucky to have seen the reviews on London Eating, because once I did, I wanted to go immediately. I persuaded a regular dining companion to come with me, specifically for the omakase menu. Apparently the word means 'it's up to you', so what you get is a surprise menu of whatever the chef wants to make you. I can't think of a better, more exciting way to dine. "Er.." he said. "When I booked they asked me how much we wanted to spend per head. I panicked and said £50". Right then. Thank god for credit cards.

We sat at our seats, elbow to elbow, feeling a bit awkward with the lone lady dining next to us. The restaurant was very quiet. Breathing a sigh of relief, she left soon after we sat down. The chef was at work behind the counter, crouched over working diligently. Like a good girl I stuck with Sencha tea, and we were soon served this by our sweet waitress. Crab wrapped in nori in a light, fishy vinegar sauce, it was served cold (like all our dishes). It awakened the palate and left us hungry for more.

Our waitress told us that this course would normally be miso soup, but as it's summer, this cooler dish is served instead. Cold noodles in a beautifully clear dashi broth was topped with a slice of shittake, shards of some sort of ginger and wafer-thin rings of spring onion. The sweetest little sweet prawn sat atop the noodles, its flesh succelent. With such beautiful presentation in gorgeous little dishes, our already enormous excitement grew.

Slices of fatty yellowtail from the belly sat on top of baby spinach and rocket leaves. I'm afraid I missed what that orangey sauce was on top, but the fish was well seasoned from it. The longer the fish warmed in your mouth, the more the fat melted, and I savoured every mouthful.

In between devouring each course, we watched the chef at work attentively. The amount of detail he went to and the care and delicacy he took in constructing each dish was absolutely mesmerising. Little dabs were dotted here and there, shards of vegetable painstakingly balanced on top.

When our waitress was explaining each item, she told us the scallop had 'something special' in it. It was very special indeed; the sweet, melting scallop flesh was the best I've had sashimi'd, and within lay a little black truffle paste. It was a heavenly match, and made me go "ughhhhaaaaaa!" out loud in glee. Tuna chunks were topped with very finely chopped yam and seasoned seaweed that had a pleasantly slimy quality. Another sweet prawn, with a dab of shiso pesto sang with freshness. A gorgeous almost-creamy minced fatty tuna was wrapped into a roll with nori and a layer of yuba (tofu skin); amazing textures of chewiness from the wrapping and the mouth-coating quality of the tuna. These little additions raised the plate from good to jaw-droppingly brilliant.

By no means unpleasant but least favourite of the plate was the tomato stuffed with diced skate and spring onion. Visually it was adorable; the tomato had its lid removed with the little stem hat, and the tomato peeled entirely but on the flavour stake the fish was unremarkable.

The sushi plate arrived next. By now conversation was at stand still and we gazed wide-eyed at the chef's rhythmic workflow. Every time we tried to talk about something interesting my gaze trailed back to what was going on in front of me. Probably best not to take a date here.

Rice was at room temperature and was of a perfect consistency. Salmon and avocado rolls were excellent examples. Squid, with a tiny criss cross cut into it, was chewy and perked up with a small pile of grated ginger. The chef marinates his own fish roe in citrus, and this piece, a huge mouthful was indecently satisfying, citrussy fish roe bursting in the mouth. Sea bass was topped with a glob of sweet plum sauce and had the additional surprise of a hidden slice of shiso leaf beneath the fish. Fatty tuna and fatty salmon were damn tasty. Eel had sancho pepper hidden within it and gave my tongue a good tingle, while the slice of shiitake mushroom nigiri was sweet, sour and salty all at the same time. This is no ordinary plate of sushi, not by a long way.

At this point, our waitress asked us if we were full. "No! I'm fine!" I blurted out, feeling pretty full but incapable of admitting our experience was nearly over. The chef looked over alarmed, and they swapped concerned looks. My friend did the right thing and disagreed with me, so I retracted my words.

The final savoury course was the meat nigiri. Iberican pork, cooked shabu shabu was pearly white in colour, topped with a sesame sauce. But the real show stopper was the wagyu beef, topped with ponzu jelly. I think I chewed it until there was nothing left to chew, wanting to savour every delicious meaty bit of it. Flamed on the outside, raw on the inside, the ponzu jelly gave it that lift.

Finally, we were asked to choose dessert from the list of home-made ice creams. Black sesame was impossibly smooth and creamy, dramatically grey against the white of the bowl. Plum wine sorbet was tart, plummy and palate cleansing. The perfect end to the meal.

Sushi of Shiori isn't cheap, but so much work goes into it. The attention to detail throughout is truly amazing, from the chef slightly hunched to his work station, gently insisting which angle the dishes were to be presented, to the toilet roll in the loos folded in a neat triangle every time you visited. A beautifully sedate procession of a meal, one that I have vowed to return back to regularly. Perhaps on paydays.

Sushi of Shiori

144 Drummond Street,
Off Hamstead Road,
London NW1 2PA

Tel: 020 7388 9962

Omekase menu starts at £30 and must be booked in advance. Like other decent sushi places, Sushi of Shiori operates slightly odd opening hours; they close at 21:30 in the evening.