S&H is a new, collaborative kind of food blog where we talk (and cook) while you read (and cook)! We are three different voices that all share one true passion – a love for food.
We love: great meals, new cookbooks, exchanging recipes, making a bit of a mess in the kitchen, ice cream before dinner, and… cheese!
Join in the fun that is food.
(sorry for the delay in posting this!)
I’m really into colorful food. In fact, I know that all of us here feel strongly about having a lot of colors on the plate at any given time. It’s tasty, nutritious and looks good!
We spent our last early evening in Antibes (what feels like a lifetime ago to me now!) cooking, deciding to make something seasonal and full of flavor and shades of the beachy locale.
The menu ended up consisting of: crab (stick), corn, rice and mustard mayonnaise salad; fig, hearts of palm, tomato and mustardy greens salad dressed with lemon and a little tiny bit of aioli; trine pasta with fatty, lightly smoked salmon and a sauce of tomatoes, garlic, onion, cream and reduced lobster bisque.
The salads:
The first is really easy and a definite Russian holiday table classic: cook some basmati rice (in this instance we cheated and used the readymade kind), chop up some crab sticks and toss this with some canned corn (sweetcorn). Then put in enough mayonaisse to make the salad ’sticky’ so that it is not dry but also not goopy. I do have to say that the original Russian recipe would encourage as much mayo use as possible!
The second salad is a great example of how you can take a random assortment of seasonal produce and concoct something amazing so, we took:
- 3-4 ripe figs
- a bagful of mixed greens/baby greens salad leaves
- a jar of hearts of palm – chop them up
- couer de bouef tomatoes – also chopped
- juice of half a lemon – mix the lemon juice with the oil and aioli (garlic mayonaisse) for the dressing
- a bit of salt & pepper
Pasta:
Trine pasta with salmon in a lobster bisque and tomato sauce
1. Boil trine pasta. Without breaking it, preferably!
2. Chop up half a couer de boeuf tomato, about half a small clove of garlic and half a medium-sized white onion.
3. Sautee the garlic and onion with a mix of olive oil & butter.
4. Add in about 1/2 of a can of lobster bissque. Mix in about 1/4 cup of cream, adding more to taste.
4.1 NB! Don’t add too much salt as the bisque will most likely be a bit salty.
5. Let reduce, add in the tomatoes as liquid reduces.
6. Keep stirring and tasting to adjust any ceam and salt proportions as need be for about 10-15 minutes.
7. Add in fatty smoked salmon, chopped into small pieces. Stir to combine with sauce and heat through.
8. Put pasta in a large bowl and pour sauce and salmon on top. Garnish with roughly chopped parsley.
9. EAT 
Makes a perfect late fall lunch to enjoy with your friends!
I love cooking with apples, as you may have noticed. This is a recipe I worked on for my food writing class this week (we had to create and test a recipe and then write it up in various book and magazine formats).
These apple fritters will give you that perfect crunchy, tart and sweet taste in one bite, perfect for a festive brunch or a fruit-filled snack. You can also use pineapple or bananas instead of apples, if you prefer.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour, 1 cup semi-dry champagne, 2 egg yolks, 1 tablespoon of sugar. Set aside batter.
Peel, core and slice crosswise 2 baking apples (Bramley, Granny Smith) into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Toss with 2 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp sugar and set aside.
In another medium bowl, beat together 2 egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into batter mixture.
Heat canola or peanut oil in a high-sided skillet to 375 F.
Dip apple slices into the batter, looping the apple rings on your finger and gently turning to cover apples evenly. Fry, turning to crisp both sides, until golden brown.
When ready, lift out with a slotted spoon and let drain on a paper-towel-lined plate. Toss in confectioner’s sugar or cinnamon sugar, if desired, and serve immediately.
Makes about a dozen.
Wired.com ran this interesting article on the constituents of coffee and in the article – it said:
3,5 Dicaffeoylquinic acid – When scientists pretreat neurons with this acid in the lab, the cells are significantly (though not completely) protected from free-radical damage. Yup: Coffee is a good source of antioxidants.
An ongoing 22 year research by Harvard School of Public Health states that the overall balance of risks and benefits (of coffee consumption) are on the side of benefits but it probably doesn’t recommend drinking (up to) 5 cups of coffee per day! Underlined sentences are my own emphasis…
Caffeine
This is why the world produces more than 16 billion pounds of coffee beans per year. It’s actually an alkaloid plant toxin (like nicotine and cocaine), a bug killer that stimulates us by blocking neuroreceptors for the sleep chemical adenosine. The result: you, awake.
Water
Hot H2O is a super solvent, leaching flavors and oils out of the coffee bean. A good cup of joe is 98.75 percent water and 1.25 percent soluble plant matter. Caffeine is a diuretic, so coffee newbies pee out the water quickly; java junkies build up resistance.
2-Ethylphenol
Creates a tarlike, medicinal odor in your morning wake-up. It’s also a component of cockroach alarm pheromones, chemical signals that warn the colony of danger.
Quinic acid
Gives coffee its slightly sour flavor. On the plus side, it’s one of the starter chemicals in the formulation of Tamiflu.
3,5 Dicaffeoylquinic acid
When scientists pretreat neurons with this acid in the lab, the cells are significantly (though not completely) protected from free-radical damage. Yup: Coffee is a good source of antioxidants.
Dimethyl disulfide
A product of roasting the green coffee bean, this compound is just at the threshold of detectability in brewed java. Good thing, too, as it’s one of the compounds that gives human feces its odor.
Acetylmethylcarbinol
That rich, buttery taste in your daily jolt comes in part from this flammable yellow liquid, which helps give real butter its flavor and is a component of artificial flavoring in microwave popcorn.
Putrescine
Ever wonder what makes spoiled meat so poisonous? Here you go. Ptomaines like putrescine are produced when E. coli bacteria in the meat break down amino acids. Naturally present in coffee beans, it smells, as you might guess from the name, like Satan’s outhouse.
Trigonelline
Chemically, it’s a molecule of niacin with a methyl group attached. It breaks down into pyridines, which give coffee its sweet, earthy taste and also prevent the tooth-eating bacterium Streptococcus mutans from attaching to your teeth. Coffee fights the Cavity Creeps. (but stains your pearly whites?)
Niacin
Trigonelline is unstable above 160 degrees F; the methyl group detaches, unleashing the niacin—vitamin B3—into your cup. Two or three espressos can provide half your recommended daily allowance.
Note: Following is an act of love (for food), only a handful of prawns were being harmed in the process and any resemblance to them frying in oil, last no longer than 3minutes.
Plus they were coated with flour.
See, no contact with oil.
This snack is one of my family’s favorite afternoon snack – it’s crispy golden on the outside and inside, it’s a mélange of sweetness from the sweetcorn and caramelised onions fusing with the kick from dried chilli and pleasure of sinking your teeth into fresh prawns. Bring on the prawn pleasure!
Ingredients:
- fresh prawns (shelled,de-veined, roughly chopped)
- sweet corn (they came out of a can)
- onion (white)
- 2 dried chilli (minced to tiny bits)
- plain flour
- water
- salt
I dont normally measure the exact proportion of ingredients but the ratio of prawns, onions and sweetcorn should roughly work out to be 1:2:1.
1. Mix de-shelled prawns, onions, sweetcorn, dried chilli, flour and water to a smooth texture – it should be paste like but not too runny. Add several pinches of salt to taste.
2. Heat oil (or turn on the deep fryer), scoop/sculpt prawn mixture using 2 tablespoons and fry vulnerable prawn mixture ’til it’s golden brown on both side.
3. transfer to paper towels, let it cool before serving.
How does everyone feel about potentially doing a breakfast series – i.e. everyone take pictures and describe their typical weekday breakfast vs weekend breakfast?
I think that could prove to be illuminating!
The three of us had our weekly catch-up at the Chelsea Bun today, which is a vaguely ‘American’ style breakfast location here in London. They don’t really take bookings for the weekends but since it can get really crowded, it’s good to try to get your name on a list of some kind anyway. I think ours was on the ‘I’ll see what I can do’ list. When we go there though, a table had just freed up and we were able to sit down and start studying the big menu right away.
The most American-breakfast part of the breakfasts offered here is really their size! Otherwise, they can be slightly ‘exotic’ for what they call their ‘gourmet breakfasts’. For example, Priya had the Tijuana eggs benedict with chorizo – delicious! Minyi had (actually, very tiny!) Scotch pancakes with ice cream and maple syrup. And I had the some poached eggs, hash browns and a piece of french toast.
And then we all snacked on the cookies that Priya had backed the day before and brought along for us, but that’s a whole other story!
So, what do you think?
So, completely out of the blue, I ended up baking a new kind of apple pie today. It is a slight variation of a recipe that Clotilde has in her original Chocolate & Zucchini book. She calls it le gâteau de mamy, but I think it’s more apt to call it not your gran’s apple cake!
Really, I was meant to be practicing various savory cake recipes for our Russian bar night in a few weeks but it was getting late and all I really wanted after dinner was a piece of gooey, golden deliciousness. This turned out to be just that kind of cake, with the dough having almost a souffle-like texture with a bit of caramelized crunch.
Not your gran's apple cake!
This cake is now firmly on the list of my new favorite (but also easiest!) things to bake.
You’ll need the following ingredients:
- 125 g (1/2 stick) butter
- 70 g regular flour (approx 1/3 of cup)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- cinnamon and ginger ,to taste
- 2 medium-large apples, preferably Bramley
- 150 g sugar (2/3 cup)
- 30 g ground almonds, finely ground or processed are both fine (approx 1/8 cup)
(Since measuring conversions is sometimes confusing, this is a handy online measure conversion reference guide by ingredient.)
1. Preheat oven to 180 C (170 for fan ovens; about 350 F).
2. Melt the butter (easiest to do in a microwaveable bowl). Grease bottom of a round non-spring cake pan with some of the butter. Keep the rest for later on in the recipe.
3. In a small mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder.
4. Wash and core the apples. I prefer not to peel them. They will cook really thoroughly so it won’t matter and I think the flavor and texture is better this way, but by all means peel the apples if you want. Cut the cored apples into half-inch (1.25 cm) slices and lay out along the bottom of the pan. Cover generously with cinnamon, a bit of ginger, whatever else you like. The overall flavor of the cake is relatively delicate so I wouldn’t recommend any other spices that are too overwhelmingly strong.
5. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar until fluffy and golden (this takes some forearm strength! I am still impressed with how Chef Christophe at the Cordon Bleu here in London whipped eggs into meringue in about a minute while chatting away to a group of prospective students, including Priya and I).
6. Add the dry ingredients (flour etc.) into the egg mixture and whisk until combined. Add the melted butter and whisk again to get everything blended together.
7. Pour batter evenly over the apples in the pan. Bake for about 40 minutes. The top of the cake will rise a little like a souffle (this may happen a bit unevenly i.e. the top of the cake will look ‘hilly’, that’s totally fine because you will actually be flipping it over!).
8. Let the pan cool slightly, for about 10 minutes. Run your knife along the edge of the pan, then cover the pan with a big plate/platter and flip the cake onto it, turning it upside down. It will be very delicate, as I said, so it will get squished easily so, be gentle!
9. Eat! My favorite part .
Best eaten slightly warm still. This is so good I can’t even tell you. I would imagine it would be quite good with nice juicy pears as well. We’ll have to try it out sometime soon.
Enjoy!
- K
So we spent some of last week hunting around the Antibes marche provencal for various saffron (and honey) themed ingredients. The market did not disappoint.
honey at the marche provencal
We tried a bit of the local honey made from Provence flowers (unsurprisingly, has a bit of a lavender taste to it).
If you are interested in honey harvesting techniques and benefits, there was a great article in the NY Times this week about the White House beehive (part of the White House cooking theme they seem to have going there this week/month).
We also looked at different saffron(s) – in threads and in the more common powder form; mostly it seemed to have come from Morocco.
spice 'rack'
As part of a project for a food writing course that I’m taking, I am going to research the origins and value of saffron in various cultures in more detail – so, you’ll know more as soon as I do! I am also going to interview my friend Meena, who has much more firsthand knowledge of saffron than I do.
So stay tuned for more.
-K
Here’s my recipe for jerusalem artichoke soup with chestnut and truffle oil – good news for everyone, it’s a relatively easy starter to make – takes circa 30mins -20mins to soften the artichokes+onions and 10mins to re-heat and serve.
p.s: read it was difficult to clean jerusalem artichokes but I lucked out with some clean ones (good on you harrods!) and a really good veg peeler (kuhn rikon).
Ingredients:
- 250g of jerusalem artichokes
- 1/2 or 50g of onion (diced)
- 250g of chicken stock
- 100ml of water
- white truffle oil
- chestnuts
- seasonings: salt
- window dressing aka garnish: parsley
1. these are main ingredients in artichokes soup (visually):
2. First, clean, peel and cube the jerusalem artichokes; then dice the onions.
jerusalem artichokes - scrubbed and peeled
3. melt the butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan, cover and sweat the onions+artichokes til tender (turning it occassionally); turn up heat after 10 mins, pour 250ml of chicken stock and 100ml of water. Bring to boil, reduce heat then boil for another 10mins or so until artichokes yield when you poke with fork.
4. Blend stock and artichokes.
5.Re-heat pureed soup, add 2 tablespoon of milk (or double cream, up to you)- taste, add salt and adjust.
6. Add chopped chesnut, parsley and serve with a dash of truffle oil.
The soup has a rich and velvety texture and from now on, this will be one of my favorite winter starter dishes (until I find another worthy contender of course) 
love, minster
Our first recipe post!
I found this recipe on the Food and Wine website and tried it out right before our adventures in France. Yummy plain or with ice cream or fresh fruit or even with chocolate chips baked into it (or rose water which I am currently obsessed with)!
Ingredients
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 large eggs (!!!)
1/4 cup milk, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups plain flour
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Butter a 10-by-5-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with a strip of parchment paper that extends 2 inches past the short ends of the pan (I didn’t do this and it came out fine).
- In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar, vanilla and salt at medium speed until fluffy, 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 2 at a time, beating between additions. Beat in the milk. Sift the flour over the batter and whisk it in until smooth. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface.
- Bake the cake for 1 1/2 hours, until it is cracked down the center, golden on top, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then unmold the cake and let cool completely.
So simple. It stays moist for at least two days (not sure what happens after that since we ate it all by then)!
