Smoked haddock paté with wasabi butter and oatcakes

Tick-tock, cried the grandfather clock, tick-tock.
Divine Cherry was sitting in her favourite armchair. She was looking morose. Small Perfect Cloud was on her lap, desperately waiting to be given some attention. But Divine Cherry had even forgotten that it was there. She was looking straight ahead. The gaping void before her was filled with the passing of time only. There was no escape. There was no other way. Think as she might about it, there was nothing else she could do. She had to. She knew that, but still she resisted it.
Tick-tock, pondered grandfather Time, tock-tick.
On the table in front of her was a plate. It was as empty as the moon – in fact, it was the moon. Divine Cherry was observing it. She knew she didn't have much time left. With a great effort of will, she pushed off a sleeping Small Perfect Cloud (who was quite distressed indeed at the sudden change of spatial location) and got up. "I've got to decorate that moon! It's just too white: it'll never look good in the sky like this!" On the table, next to the moon, lay the latest copy of Domestic Decorations - How a House becomes a Home. Divine Cherry had been reading again, cheeky cherry that she was. She took the moon (which wasn't full that day), and decided to fill it so as it give it more shine and sheen. So she brought it to the kitchen and started rummaging in her divine fridge in search of something worth filling the moon with. It had to be something light, smooth, yet with bite; and with a distinct quality of deliciousness and subtlety. First of all, in order to fill the moon, Divine Cherry made oatcakes, for they had the perfect shape – the moon was different back then. Then she decided to prepare some smokingly smoky smoked fish pâté. She put the pâté on the oatcakes and started filling up the moon, creating a perfect circle again. Once satisfied, she hung it on her wall (the sky for you). That is why the moon has those dark smudges when seen form afar: it's simply the spread of the pâté!
However, unbeknownst to her, a resentful Small Perfect Cloud was plotting a revenge. And so it was that as soon as Divine Cherry had turned her back, Small Perfect Cloud jumped up at the moon (lured by the irresistible smell of fish) and bit off a bit of the new decoration.
And so it is that the moon, today, waxes and wanes periodically: in remembrance of its filling and emptying by Divine Cherry and Small Perfect Cloud.

Smoked Haddock pate'

- 100 g smoked haddock, clean and deboned
- 1 table spoon milk
- zest of half lemon, grated
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1/2 garlic clove
- 40-50 g unsalted butter
- salt

Wasabi butter
- 1/2 teaspoon wasabi powder
- 10-15 g unsalted butter

Cook the fish fillets with a little milk. Let them cool and put them in a blender with remaining ingredients. Blend until mixture is smooth and creamy, add more butter if necessary to get more creaminess. Pour into a bowl and smooth the surface. In the meanwhile, melt the remaining butter with a pinch of wasabi powder, mix well. Pour the melted butter over the surface of the paté, cover with cling film and leave to solidify in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. Serve with oatcakes.


Oatcakes - Recipe adapted from " The Glasgow Cookery Book"

- 100 g of oatmeal
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 5-7 grams of dripping or cooking fat (I used butter)
- Hot water (about 1 cup)


In a large bowl mix the oatmeal, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Pour in the melted butter, stir and add enough hot water to make a soft consistency. Knead well. On a work surface covered with parchment paper, roll out the dough as thinly as possible with a rolling pin. If the dough results sticky sprinkle some oatmeal on the surface. Cut the oatcakes with a cookie cutter. Cook them on a hot griddle. When they are cooked on one side, dry off in a cool oven or under grill.

Smoked Haddock pate'
- 100 g haddock affumicato, pulito e spinato
- 1 cucchiaio di latte
- la buccia di mezzo limone grattata
- 1/2 cucchiaino di peperoncino in polvere
- mezzo spicchio d'aglio
- 40-50 g burro
- sale

Burro al wasabi
- 1/2 cucchiano di wasabi in polvere
- 10-15 g burro

Cuocere i filetti di pesce con poco latte. Farli raffreddare e metterli nel mixer con gli altri ingredienti. Mixare fino ad ottenere un composto liscio e cremoso, se necessario aggiungere altro burro per ottenere un composto ancora più cremoso. Versare in una ciotolina e lisciare la superficie. A parte sciogliere il resto del burro e metterci un pizzico di wasabi in polvere, mescolare bene. Versare il burro sciolto sulla superficie del pate' e far solidificare il tutto in frigo per un paio d'ore o anche tutta la notte. Servire con degli oatcakes.

Note: L'haddock e' un pesce simile al merluzzo. Si trova al naturale o spesso affumicato. E' abbastanza salato e non ha niente a che vedere con il salmone affumicato. In caso la ricetta si puo' fare con dei filetti di merluzzo freschi o con del baccala'.

Oatcakes - Ricetta adattata da " The Glasgow Cookery Book"
- 100 g fiocchi d'avena
- 1/2 cucchiaino di sale
- 1/4 cucchiaino di bicarbonato di soda
- 5-7 g di lardo (io ho usato burro, dal momento che il lardo non staziona nel mio frigo abitualmente...;) )
-  acqua calda (1 bicchiere scarso circa)

In una ciotola capiente mescolare l'avena, il sale e il bicarbonato. Aggiungere il burro fuso, mescolare e versare sufficiente acqua calda a ottenere consistenza morbida. Impastare bene. Sulla superficie di lavoro coperta da carta forno, stendere l'impasto il più sottilmente possibile con il mattarello. Se l'impasto dovesse risultare appiccicoso spargere dei fiocchi d'avena in superficie. Formare gli oatcakes con dei tagliabiscotti. Cuocere gli oatcakes su una bistecchiera rovente. Quando sono cotti da un lato metterli sotto il grill tiepido (o forno a 50 C) ad asciugare.

Anche questa ricetta partecipa al MT Challenge di Febbraio, il cui tema è il paté.

Chocolate Tipsy Laird for Burns Night - Ciotolona a strati ubriaca

Some say that one day the world will come to an end. Meteors will strike the earth and tidal waves will wash up their mess. Some even say that the sky will fall, and that the sun will freeze. Some, however, say that the Incas were right in thinking that the Mayas were but attention-seeking calendar makers. But none of them know. The end of the world will come - in fact, it has come, but not from the sky: from a bowl. And it has a name (cf above).

Like every year, Divine Cherry and Celestial Dragon celebrate the birthday of their good friend Bob. A large dinner is given somewhere, and the guests are invited to heartily partake in the traditional Bag of Sheep. Mashed non-birds accompany the feast while a minstrel sings of Bob's glories and recites his everlasting poems. This year, of course, was no exception. The songs were sung, the drinks were drunk, the non-birds were mashed and the Bag of Sheep was emptied. Except for one small but determining detail: the bowl. Divine Cherry had prepared it (not the bowl itself, of course; its content), and at the end of the joyful celebration, she brought it forth. And all about her knew that this was the end, for they were satiated to the brim and the meal was over. Yet none could look away. All eyes were fixed upon the gleaming, glistening and alluringly beckoning Tipsy Laird. And so it was that the end of the world did not happen at the end of the year, rather at its beginning. And because the end has gone by already, Divine Cherry has made it possible for this year to only become better and sweeter.

Chocolate Tipsy Laird - serves a regiment of hungry young people

- 500g of sponge cake
- raspberry jam
- 300g of fresh raspberries
- a handful of amaretti
- chocolate custard
- 500g of whipped cream
- 1 glass of whisky and 2 tablespoons of Porto or sherry

Chocolate custard:
- 525g of whole milk
- 1 vanilla pod
- 7 yolks
-120g of sugar
- 52g of cornflour
- 300g of dark chocolate broken into small pieces

•       Prepare the custard:

Follow the instructions reported here. In the latter stages of cooking add the chopped chocolate and stir well to dissolve it. Allow the cream to cool completely in a bowl covered with plastic wrap.

•      Prepare the trifle:

Cut the cake into rectangular slices, spread half of slices with raspberry jam and form sandwiches with the remaining slices. Place the sandwiches on the bottom of a large transparent bowl. Squeeze them a little with your hands. Pour the mixture of whisky and port evenly over the cake slices. Arrange a layer of fresh raspberries and crumbled amaretti (these are my addition to the traditional recipe), making sure to push some raspberries at the sides so that you can see them from outside. Let it stand for a couple of hours (or overnight) in the fridge. The next morning, cover it with the custard. Leave it to rest in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap until the moment to serve.
A few moments before serving the trifle, decorate the surface with whipped cream and sprinkle with crushed amaretti or slices of almonds.

Note: Traditional Tipsy Laird is with vanilla custard (just omit the chocolate in it) and the amaretti are used just as an alternative decoration on the top of the cream. Sometimes you can also find slices of banana mixed with the fresh raspberries on top of the sponge cake layer.

Trifle ubriaco al cioccolato - dosi per un reggimento di giovani affamati

- 500 g torta tipo pan di spagna o plum cake

- marmellata di lamponi

- 300 g lamponi freschi

- una manciata di amaretti

- crema pasticcera al cioccolato

- 500 g panna montata

- 1 bicchiere di whisky e 2 cucchiai di Porto o Sherry

Crema pasticcera al cioccolato:

- 525 g latte intero

- una bacca di vaniglia

- 7 tuorli

-120 g zucchero

- 52 g maizena

- 300 g cioccolato fondente a pezzetti

• Preparare la crema pasticcera:

Seguire le istruzioni riportate qui. Nelle ultime fasi di cottura aggiungere il cioccolato tritato, mescolare bene in modo da scioglierlo in maniera uniforme. Lasciar raffreddare la crema completamente in una ciotola coperta con pellicola, per evitare la formazione della pellicina.

• Preparare il trifle:

Tagliare a fette  rettangolari la torta, spalmare meta' fettine con la marmellata di lamponi e chiudere a panino con le fette rimanenti. Disporrre i panini sul fondo di una ciotola capiente e trasparente. Schiacciarli un po' con le mani. Irrorare lo strato con la bagna alcolica di whisky e porto. Disporre uno strato di lamponi freschi e amaretti sbriciolati (gli amaretti sono una mia aggiunta), avendo l'accortezza di spingere alcuni lamponi ai lati, cosi' che si vedano dall'esterno della ciotola. Lasciar riposare per alcune ore (o meglio tutta la notte) in frigo. L'indomani mattina, coprire con la crema pasticcera. Lasciare riposare in frigo la ciotola coperta fino al momento di servire.

Pochi istanti prima di servire il dolce ricoprirlo con la panna montata e decorarlo con amaretti sbriciolati o lamelle di mandorla.

Note: Il Tipsy Laird viene tradizionalmente servito durante la Burns Night, cioe' la sera del 25 gennaio, giorno in cui si festeggia in tutta la Scozia  il compleanno del poeta Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796).

Tradizionalmente nel Tipsy Laird la crema pasticcera e' alla vaniglia invece che al cioccolato e gli amaretti si trovano solo come decorazione finale sulla panna montata in alternativa alle lamelle di madorla, ma io trovo che un po' di amaretti nel mezzo si sposano bene con la cioccolata e danno un po' di croccantezza in piu'. Inoltre una comune variante vede delle fettine di banana aggiunte ai lamponi sopra lo strato di torta.


Enjoy,
And Spread the Mess

Scones for the Daring Bakers

Have you ever wondered what colour Celestial Dragon is? How do you picture him? Blue, red, green? There have been innumerable representations of dragons throughout history, but the fact of the matter is that no one has actually ever seen one (except through the Lens of Opium). Accordingly, however you may picture Celestial Dragon, chances are that you'd be wrong. Furthermore, dragons, just like their descendants the chameleon, can change colour at will - which of course does not simplify our task. There is, however, a clue as to his true colour.

A number of years ago, Celestial Dragon was walking on the clouds above a great northern isle. They were his favourite kind of clouds: permanent, heavy, grey, dreary, miserable, stiff, polite, almost infinitely long and always wet. And because he felt safe behind the black cumulus shelter, he had decided to appear in his true form. And if you had been there, and if indeed you had looked intently at the sky, you might have discerned a shining shadow behind them. However, since there are no (living) witnesses, we can't corroborate this claim. Nevertheless, something peculiar happened that day: Celestial Dragon was in an exceptionally good mood. And so it was that he decided to make the people underneath the clouds a present. He drew himself up to his full height, cracked his knuckles, smacked his lips, and began. He shook his body so violently that the scales fell off and plummeted down towards the earth. At that time, no one knew what meteors were, so the people had no name for the strange, glowing stones that came falling down from the sky. And as they looked up to see where they were coming from, they saw Celestial Dragon looking down at them, smiling. The people realised that what had descended on them like stones were actually his scales. And they were happy and grateful. So much so that this event, although unrecorded, has survived through the ages till our time in a bakery that reminds the world still of that day: the scones. The clue lies in their name: they are a dragons scales that look like golden stones. And so it is that we may deduce that the heavenly sweetness and goodness of the scones is a reflection of Celestial Dragon's colour: Oven-Baked Gold.

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

Scones Recipe from Audax Artifex (his post is very detailed, so please have a look)

Ingredients

-140g of flour

-10g (1tsp) of baking powder

-a pinch of salt

-30g of butter

-100/120g of milk

-45g of raisins

-15g of sugar

Preheat the oven at its highest temperature (230°C-240°C).

Sift the flour with the baking powder and the salt. Add the cold butter cut in small pieces and form crumbs  working with your fingertips the flour and the butter. Add the raisins and the sugar. Then, add the milk and mix quickly with the help of a spoon just to mix everything. Don't overwork at this stage.

Put plenty of flour on the work surface and pour the mixture, which will be very sticky, on it. Add a little flour on the surface as well, flatten the dough and quickly knead it 4-5 times, alternatively turning and bending it.
Flatten the dough into a rectangle about 2cm high and cut it into 8 pieces. Place the pieces on a baking tray covered with parchment paper and bake in the oven for no more than 10 minutes (check after 8 minutes and turn the tray). The scones are ready to be enjoyed with a cup of tea, or any other liquid that's just handy!

Note:

- Audax advises to sift the flour and baking powder 3 times to improve the leavening. As I don't dispose of a sieve right now, I've mixed the dry ingredients well with a fork in order to incorporate air, and thus favour the leavening process.
- The crumbs of butter and flour should be formed quickly so as to not heat the butter. The smaller the crumbs are, the softer the scone will become. That said, irregular crumbs will also give you a good result; the scone will be flakier.
- After adding the liquid in the mixture, it will be very wet: however, the wetter the dough, the softer the scone shall be. Help yourself with a spatula and knead the flour on the work plan.
- This recipe is extremely fast- 10 minutes to mix the ingredients and another 10 minutes for baking everything. The result is a deliciously soft bun, and it's well worth a try!

 

Scones  Ricetta di Audax Artifex (il suo post e' estremamente dettagliato, dateci un'occhiata)

- 140 g farina

Enjoying our scone in morning sunlight...
with some cramberry and clementine
 marmelade

- 10 g (1 cucchiaino) di lievito

- una puntina di sale

- 30 g burro

-100/120 ml latte

- 45 g uvetta

-15 g zucchero

Accendete il forno al massimo (230°C - 240°C).

Setacciate la farina con il lievito e il sale. Aggiungere il burro freddo tagliato a pezzetti, e formare delle briciole lavorando velocemente con i polpastrelli la farina e il burro. Aggiungere uvetta e zucchero. Aggiungere il latte e mescolare velocemente con l'aiuto di un cucchiaio soltanto per amalgamare il tutto, ma senza lavorare troppo.

Infarinare abbondantemente il piano di lavoro e versare il composto, che sara' molto appiccicoso. Aggiungere un po' di farina anche sulla superficie, appiattire l'impasto e lavorarlo velocemente girandolo e piegandolo 4-5 volte.

Appiattite l'impasto formando un rettangolo alto 2cm circa e tagliatelo in 8 pezzi. Ponete i pezzi su una teglia coperta con carta forno e infornate a forno caldo per 10 minuti esatti (controllate dopo 8 min e girate la teglia). Gli scones sono pronti per essere gustati con una tazza di te'!

Note:

- Audax consiglia di settacciare la farina e il lievito ben 3 volte per migliorare la lievitazione, io non avendo il setaccio ho mescolato bene gli ingredienti secchi con una forchetta per incorporare aria.

- Briciole di burro e farina: vanno formate velocemente per non scaldare il burro. Piu' piccole sono le briciole, piu' morbido sara' lo scone, ma anche delle briciole irregolari daranno un buon risultato rendendo lo scone piu' friabile.

- Dopo l'aggiunta di liquido l'impasto e' molto umido: piu' umido l'impasto, piu' morbido lo scone finale. Aiutatevi con una spatola e farina per lavorarlo sul piano di lavoro.

- Queste ricetta e' estremamente veloce, 10 minuti per mescolare gli ingredienti e altri 10 per la cottura. Inoltre il risultato e' un panino morbidissimo, vale la pena di provarla!

Enjoy,

And Spread the Mess

Fishcakes - Tortini di pesce

Think of your favourite thing in the world. Think of something you want really really bad, like a pony if you're a girl or a car if you're a boy. Now imagine it is just behind that door. Can you feel the excitement? Can you feel your pulse starting to race? Can you feel how your entire being is yearning to go towards that door and open it because you know that behind it lies the object of all your desires? Now visualise yourself opening that door. The endless turning of the handle, the whispered creak of the joints, the darkness that lies behind it. Now you peer into the darkness, trying to pierce it with the light of your wanting. But you decided to hit the switch instead. Much easier indeed. And now, finally now, you behold whatever it is you want, and you discover that it is so much better than what you had expected.

Well, let's say you were Celestial Dragon, and let's say that thing we've been talking about was fish. And let's say that the door to the attainment of that desire is the kitchen door. And that the switch with which you illuminate your life is actually Divine Cherry. And that thing that is better than what you wanted are fishcakes.

And in your magnanimity, in your infinite joy and happiness, you decide to share the recipe for those sublime fishcakes. Well done, you, because lo and behold, the recipe has appeared just underneath this text. Do enjoy.

Fishcakes

Ingredients

- 300g of coley or a similar fish

- a handful of shrimps

- 400g of white potatoes

- a handful of capers

- half an onion

- 4-5 spring onions

- a glass of milk

Steam the potatoes in their skins. Meanwhile, cook the fish in a pot covered with milk until it peels off in flakes, and when it's almost ready, add the shrimp and cook for a few seconds. Drain the fish and the shrimps, but save a little milk. Finely chop the onion and the spring onions, and put the capers in a cup of water. Drain and peel the potatoes.
Take a large bowl and mash the potatoes coarsely with a fork while still hot, add the chopped fish, shrimps, chopped onions, chopped capers, salt, pepper and mix well. If it seems to be dry, add a little milk you used for cooking the fish. Form large meatballs and a press them a little in order to give them the shape of an hamburger. In a separate plate, lightly beat the egg. Dip the 'hamburgers' the in egg, then roll it quickly in breadcrumbs. Proceed so until all ingredients have been exhausted. In a large frying pan heat a little of seed oil and fry the patties for about ten minutes. Serve warm.

On the side: stir-fried broccoli with extra virgin olive oil, a clove of garlic, 2 anchovies and lemon zest until tender.

Ricetta in italiano:

Tortini di pesce (per 6 tortini della dimensione di un hamburger)

Ingredienti

- 300 g merluzzo o altro pesce azzurro

- una manciata di gamberetti

- 400 g patate a pasta bianca

- una manciata di capperi

- mezza cipolla

- 4-5 cipollotti giovani e piccoli

-un bicchiere di latte

Cuocere a vapore le patate con la buccia. Nel frattempo, in una pentola cuocere il pesce coperto con il latte, fino a che si sfalda in fiocchi, quando e' quasi pronto aggiungere i gamberetti in modo da cuocerli per qualche secondo. Scolare pesce e gamberetti, salvando un po' del latte di cottura. Tritare finemente la cipolla e i cipollotti, dissalare i capperi in una tazzina d'acqua. Sbucciare le patate cotte.

Prendere un ciotola capiente e schiacchiare grossolanamente le patate ancora calde con una forchetta, aggiungere i pezzetti di pesce, i gamberetti, la cipolla tritata, i capperi sminuzzati salare, pepare e impastare. Se dovesse risultare asciutto, aggiungere un po' del latte di cottura. Formare delle grosse polpette e schiacciarle un po' in modo da dare la forma di un hamburger. In un piatto a parte sbattere leggermente un uovo. Immergere velocemente il tortino nell'uovo e rotolarlo poi nel pangrattato. Procedere cosi' fino ad esaurimento ingredienti. In una padella capiente far scaldare un po' di olio di semi e rosolare i tortini per una decina di minuti. Servire caldi.

Io li ho accompagnati con dei broccoli saltati in padella con olio evo, uno spicchio d'aglio, un paio di acciughe e finiti con una grattatina di buccia di limone.

Note: Di solito nelle ricette di fishcakes,  e' sempre indicato di aggiungere un uovo nell'impasto per renderlo piu' fermo. Probabilmente le mie patate erano molto asciutte, comunque non e' servito. Voi regolatevi ad occhio, se non riuscite a formare delle belle polpette che tengano la forma, aggiungetelo! :)

Enjoy,

And Spread the Mess