Tiramisu & Brownie

Critic Issue 25 – Food Column

These are a couple of my favourite, effortless, sure-to-impress recipes to satiate those sweet cravings. This blend of a Gordon Ramsay recipe and a random recipe, makes one of the best Tiramisus that I’ve ever had - sweet, luscious and creamy, with just the right chocolate and coffee overtones. Plus, it sounds fancy but is actually easily thrown together – which means that you will impress, without doing much at all. 

Tiramisu

Ingredients:

250g mascarpone

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp Marsala, brandy or Tia Maria

150ml strong coffee or espresso, cooled to room temperature

150ml single cream

4 tbsp icing sugar

Sponge fingers (savoiardi)

Chocolate shavings

Hot Chocolate powder

Method:

1. Whisk the mascarpone with the vanilla, Marsala and 50ml coffee, until everything is thoroughly mixed together. Whisk the cream with the icing sugar until smooth, then fold in the mascarpone mix. Pour remaining coffee into a wide, flattish bowl.

2. Take one sponge finger at a time and dip it in to the coffee for one second, remove and arrange at the bottom of a 2-3 inch deep, glass container. Repeat until you have a layer of coffee soaked sponge fingers.

3. Spoon a layer of the mascarpone mix onto the first layer of sponge fingers, then top with a layer of hot chocolate powder and chocolate shavings. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to make another layer.

4. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer to allow it to set and flavours to infuse. Cut into squares with a soft, plastic spatula, serve and bask in the adulations.

Also, everyone needs a good, fuss-free brownie recipe for chocolate emergencies. Of all the brownie recipes that my friends and I have experimented with, this one (that C found) is by far the simplest and yields brownies that are just as heavenly, moist, chocolatey, decadent and guilt-inducing as the complicated recipes. Commit it to memory.

Brownie (adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped walnuts/peacans

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 cups flour

3 whole eggs

1 cup melted butter (227 g)

1 tsp vanilla essence

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 175°C.

2. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the wet ingredients and mix until combined completely.

3. Pour and spread the batter into a greased/floured or lined 9X13 baking pan.

4. Bake 25-40 minutes or until a skewer test comes out clean.

5. Scoff while it’s fresh out of the oven and still delightfully warm, with some vanilla ice cream. Also keeps well….apparently.

Chopsticks 101

Critic Issue 24 - Food Column

Pork Spareribs with Orange Sauce and Vegetables

Judging by the lunch and dinner time crowds, many have already discovered the good, reasonably priced food and great service at Chopsticks 101. The current proprietors have kept the menu they inherited from the previous owner, which comprised of generally Malaysian-Chinese food, but I would attribute their newfound popularity to their new menu, which features a long list of (what I assume are) favourite Taiwanese dishes.

Roast Chicken Leg with Vegetabless

The first thing that I tried from the new menu was the ‘CrispyRoast Chicken Leg with Veges’ which is a bit of a misnomer since the chicken isn’t actually crispy, but delicious nonetheless [Edit: After I wrote this, I discovered that they had crossed out 'Crispy' on the menu and scribbled the more accurate "Roast" in its place]. The chicken is saturated in a nice, savoury, mild but distinct herbal flavour, drizzled with the same tasty sauce (every last drop of which I try to mop up with the rice) and accompanied well with blanched vegetables. It is now my favourite Chopsticks 101 dish, despite some other strong contenders. I also really enjoyed the ‘Pork Spare Ribs with Orange Sauce and Vegetables’, which tasted great, even though it was a little difficult and messy trying to get the meat off the bones. When I did, however, the meat was beautifully, savoury and coated with a yummy, sweet, orangey sauce, which gave it a pleasant combination of savoury and sweet flavours.

Crispy Roasted Pork Belly with Tofu in Earthen Pot

The ‘Crispy Roasted Pork Belly with Tofu in Earthen Pot’ is second on my ‘favourite Chopstick 101 dishes’ list with tasty, savoury pork pieces, tofu, mushrooms and vegetables soaked in delicious gravy, all in one scrumptious, hearty, satisfying, ‘one-pot’ meal. Again, the pork isn’t actually crispy, but it’s still good. Perhaps the nicest surprise of all was discovering that Chopsticks 101 serves decent ‘Sweet & Sour Pork’, which, since coming to Dunedin, has been a bit of a mission to source, even though it is the one of the most common, stereotypical Chinese dishes. Now, I can just go to Chopsticks 101 for a quick and easy sweet and sour pork fix, instead of contemplating cooking it or going for a pricey, proper, three or four course Chinese dinner.

Sweet and Sour Pork

I also love the 'Deep Fried Tofu' which they served topped with sweet chilli sauce and crushed peanuts (I think). Thin, slightly crispy skin, encasing nice, soft, mushy tofu! Mmm...

Deep Fried Tofu

There are several other items on the menu that I have been eyeing, like the stewed and roast duck dishes that I haven’t had a chance to try yet, because most of the time I just can’t resist ordering my usual favourites. Chopsticks 101 makes a great food haunt because, as mentioned at the start, not only is the food good and relatively cheap, the staff are welcoming and friendly, which, altogether, makes it a rather pleasant place to patronise.

Chopsticks 101

380 George Street

Dunedin

Croque Monsieur

Critic Issue 23 - Food Column

As a continuation of last week’s French theme and Meryl-Streep-movie mania, I went hunting for this recipe after watching ‘It’s Complicated’. The Croque Monsieur, which loosely translates as ‘crispy’ or ‘crunchy’ mister, is basically a fancy toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Not being cheese-crazy, I wasn’t sure that I would like it, but it turned out to be unexpectedly tasty (at least on our first attempt). The first time we made it, the Croque Monsieur was delicious, albeit somewhat rustic looking because we couldn’t cut the ciabatta into nice, even slices. It was nice and crunchy around the edges, but soft and cheesy in the middle, giving it an interesting, somewhat unusual texture. Just looking at the recipe initially, I was concerned that combination of the white sauce and cheese would be overwhelming. But, the mustard gave the sandwich the critical piquancy required to cut the richness of the white sauce and cheese, and so the flavours were actually very well balanced. On our second attempt, we tried to use normal, thick cut pre-sliced bread, and it turned out too dense and soggy because the bread wasn’t dry enough. If that wasn't bad enough, we must have played around with the amounts a little because the flavours were milder, so it wasn't as tasty. Of course, the second attempt was when we decided to make double the amount we had the first time. Ugh, not pleasant. Moral of the story, get the good stuff and remember to taste as you cook!

Croque Monsieur

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

1 1/2 cups milk

A pinch each of salt, freshly ground pepper, nutmeg, or more to taste

6 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (about 1 1/2 cups grated)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (packed)

8 slices of French or Italian loaf bread

12 ounces ham, sliced

Dijon mustard

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Make the béchamel (white) sauce. Melt butter in a small saucepan on medium/low heat until it just starts to bubble. Add the flour and cook, stirring until smooth, about 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk, whisking continuously, cooking until thick. Remove from heat. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in the Parmesan and 1/4 cup of the grated Gruyère. Set aside.
3. Lay out the bread slices on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven, a few minutes each side, until lightly toasted. For extra flavour you can spread some butter on the bread slices before you toast them if you want. (Alternatively, you can assemble the sandwiches as follows in step four and grill them on a skillet, finishing them in the broiler with the béchamel sauce.)
4. Lightly brush half of the toasted slices with mustard. Add the ham slices and about 1 cup of the remaining Gruyère cheese. Top with the other toasted bread slices.
5. Spoon on the béchamel sauce to the tops of the sandwiches. Sprinkle with the remaining Gruyère cheese. Place on a broiling pan. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, then turn on the broiler and broil for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, until the cheese topping is bubbly and lightly browned.

Jizo - Addicted!

I have previously raved about the Original Teriyaki Chicken sushi at Jizo (twice, because once just wasn't obsessive enough) and most of my friends here know that I am addicted to the food at Jizo. I have since discovered several other divine, mouth-watering dishes that quickly became 'must-orders' every time we patronised Jizo (which is pretty much weekly and sometimes even twice a week!). The following is my dutiful report on my favourite Jizo items:

Karaage Chicken - Juicy, crispy, crunchy, deliciously tasty, succulent fried chicken pieces, which I think is even tastier when dipped in the Jizo mayonnaise salad dressing, even though it comes with plain mayonnaise. The problem is, I prefer the garlic dressing for the salad. Nevertheless, my desire for Karaage dipped in Jizo mayonnaise always supersedes my preference for the garlic dressing because having the Karaage without the Jizo mayonnaise dressing is a diminished experience, in my opinion.

Salmon, Avocado & Mango roll - This is one of the most refreshing, delicious, bright, clean tasting sushi that I have ever had. I don't even like raw salmon, normally, but this is an exception. I think it's the mild sweetness of the mango slices, coupled with the perfectly flavoured (and cooked), sourish sushi rice, that gives it its delightful fresh and bright quality. And, the light, creamy sauce dabbed on each piece rounds it all off with just a little richness. The combination of ingredients also make it beautifully colourful and pretty and I get a little happier just looking at it. Like bites of rainbow. Stellar.

Kushiage Tofu - Grilled (I think) tofu pieces with a tasty, sticky, caramelised coating of teriyaki or miso sauce. Smells heavenly and is mouth-watering-ly tasty. Yum yum!

Teriyaki Chicken with Curry - Bite-size, tender, teriyaki chicken pieces, accompanied with rich, thick, tasty Japanese curry. Hearty and so satisfying, especially if you're hungry.

Agedeshi Tofu - Tofu with light, crunchy coating, in nice, light, clean tasting soy and ginger sauce, topped with spring onions. The spring onions and the ginger in the sauce gives the dish a nice freshness and, combined with the sauce and the crunchy tofu, results in a delicious dish with a wonderful combination of textures and flavours.

Chicken Katsu with Curry - J's favourite. Can't go wrong with the curry and they know their way around the fryer at Jizo, so you don't get thin, hard pieces of overcooked chicken. You get, as you can see, a nice, juicy, thick piece of crumbed chicken breast.

Jizo's Original Teriyaki Chicken Sushi - I just had to put up another picture this because they're just so beautiful I could weep. I can't get enough of the Teriyaki Salmon sushi either. This is just about as close as you can get to perfection on earth. Glorious, exquisite, euphoric, and unrivalled....for  now.

Jizo Japanese Cafe & Bar

56 Princes Street

Dunedin