Tag: excuse

Orange Cumin Vinaigrette featuring the Old "Make-n-Shake" Salad Dressing Method

One of the first things you’re taught at culinary school is
how to make an emulsified salad dressing. Of course, we were no longer allowed
to call them “dressings,” and had to refer to them by the proper French name,
“vinaigrette,” but I knew deep down they were the same thing.

After learning how to spell “vinaigrette,” which I’m still
working on to this day, we were set up with bowls and whisks, and shown how to
properly achieve the celebrated emulsification. The chefs demonstrated that by
slowly dripping oil into vinegar while whisking like crazy, one could magically
bond the two elements together.

It took quite a while, and despite a burning shoulder, and
cramping forearm, the method did work beautifully. The dressing was perfectly
emulsified, and stayed that way. I was impressed. Of course, the next day they
showed us how to do the same thing in a blender in 10 seconds, which really
annoyed everybody. Why not show us the easy way first?

Well, little did I know there was even an easier way, than
the easier way. That’s right, I’m talking about the old “make-n-shake” salad
dressing method. By simply shaking vigorously in a small jar, you can create a
temporary emulsification that should stay blended more than long enough to
dress a salad.

Now let’s be clear, this method should only be used if you
are going to eat your salad right away. The good news is, this accounts for
roughly 95% of salad-related scenarios. For the rest of the time, when you need
the dressing to stay perfectly blended for hours, like on a buffet, you should
use the classic method instead.

Anyway, I’d promised to show you the very tasty orange and
cumin vinaigrette that we used on our raw kale salad, and I figured it was the
perfect excuse to demo this simple salad dressing trick. I hope you give it
a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients (makes about 3/4 cup):

1 rounded teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 rounded teaspoon orange zest

1 tsp cumin, or to taste

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 tbsp fresh orange juice

1/4 cup rice vinegar (or white wine or sherry vinegar)

1/3 cup olive oil, or to taste

salt and pepper to taste

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The Great Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano) Experiment! – Penny Wise, Parm Foolish

I’ve wanted to do this little demonstration for a long time now, and it has nothing to do with proving people wrong. Okay, that has a little bit to do with it, but mostly I really want people who could be enjoying “the good stuff,” but don’t because they think it’s too expensive, to finally realize that’s not the case.

As you’ll see, a little bit of real, imported Parmigiano-Reggiano only costs about 20 cents per serving. Basically, for the price of a large gumball, you could be enjoying this world-class cheese. Of course, some people still won’t buy Parmigiano-Reggiano, even after seeing this.

For them, cost really has nothing to do with it. This is a convenient excuse they use because they secretly enjoy that stuff in the green canister. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that. To each his own, but at least be honest, and don’t claim frugality as your motivation.

By the way, I edited this video while in New York visiting family, and somehow lost a small portion of the audio. So, in the middle of the clip you’ll hear a change in the quality, from the usual mediocre sound, to something much worse. I didn’t want to wait until I got back into the studio to re-record, so I’m posting as is.

Nevertheless, I hope I’ve persuaded some of you to switch over to what you should have been using all along. As a wise man once probably said, “Life’s too short for fake cheese.” Enjoy!

Duck and pancake (sort of)

I spent almost my entire first pregnancy worried about how much harder and worse it would be to be pregnant with a toddler in tow.

Of course, I was right to be worried. It’s absolutely horrible. I have also got much fatter and stiffer quicker this time and am out of breath and feel queasy and faint at any sort of physical effort. Bending down makes me feel dizzy and lightheaded and if I pick Kitty up I feel like my bum is going to fall off.

But in some ways, being pregnant the second time around is easier. No-one pushes you around. No-one lectures you about how shit/marvellous having a baby is. Basically no-one really cares and it is great.

I also now know how long nine months is. It’s a fucking long time. So you might as well take your coat and shoes off and arrange all your stuff around you nicely and get comfy because you’re going to be in this state for a flipping age. My friend AC compares it with flying long-haul, economy. Just when you think you can’t stand it any more, it turns out you’re only in Dubai and you’ve got another huge slog left.

Mistake #1 that I am not going to make with this pregnancy is to look like a horrible slob. Last time around I just slopped around in disgusting denim jeggings and filthy Converse and ugly jersey tops, thinking that money spent on maternity jeans, or tights or new shoes or underwear or anything was a waste.

No fear. Not this time. I went out and bought, on the advice of my wardrobe guru Becky B, a pair of J Brand black skinny jeans for £185, which the nice girl in the shop, (Trilogy in Hampstead), sent off to get turned into a pair of maternity jeans. Then after you’ve had the baby, they turn them BACK into a pair of normal jeans! Let no-one say I am not thrifty. Although frankly they are probably going to be so knackered by next May that won’t be much left to turn back into normal jeans.

And I’ve got a dress from Isabella Oliver, and ankle boots and a Zara tweed jacket with leather sleeves (I know! I AM fashion!), and some smart harem trousers and THREE new pairs of maternity tights and loads of these t-shirts from Top Shop, which are an absolute life saver.

Giles hates all of it. But as Becky B said as she saw me hesitating over the harem trousers “Don’t ask yourself whether Giles will like it. He will only think you look nice if your arse and boobs are all hanging out.” Becky B is Scottish via Blackheath and I always do whatever she tells me.

But I am, basically, doing all this for Giles. Because the person who really suffers during my pregnancy frump-outs is him. But it’s not for him, him – if that makes sense – because he is a bit wary of all these rather @ManRepeller new clothes, but for other people, looking at him. I don’t want people in restaurants to go “Oh look, there’s Giles Coren and there’s his…. really frumpy… dowdy…. fat… wife… urgh,” I want them to say “Wow Giles must be really cool to be married to someone who wears harem pants!!!”

Mistake #2 I am going to try not to make this time is to get incredibly fat. I’ve already put on a stone, in the first trimester sugar/carb/neausea feeding frenzy – but I am wondering if all the eating I did last time in my 2nd and 3rd trimesters wasn’t done out of self-pity and boredom, rather than actual hunger. I don’t mean going on any sort of diet, I just mean when I’ve got a raging thirst I might try to quench it with sparkling water first, rather than a giant thing of Coca Cola.

(I once read in a pregnancy magazine, by the way, a thing that said “By five months, your jeans might be feeling a little tight.” A LITTLE TIGHT??! Fucking hell, in both pregnancies I was in stretchy waistbands at EIGHT WEEKS. I wanted to set fire to the magazine but it would have made a terrible smell.)

What gives me hope is that I’m not as in to full Sunday roasts and lots of carbs as I was first time. All I really want is sushi. Sashimi, nigiri, california rolls, spicy tuna rolls. Maybe a seaweed salad? Cheeky little hot sake? It’s all I can think about. Large bits of roast meat, creamy things, sticky, rich things all turn me green.

But that’s still what my husband likes to eat, so I bought for his dinner the other day some duck breast. And then it sat in the fridge for days as I found excuse after excuse not to cook it because I just couldn’t face it.

Then I came up with an idea, which was to use it in a sort of ersatz duck-and-pancake thing. I didn’t hold out much hope for this as I only had fajita wraps for the pancake and a bottle of bought hoisin sauce for the sauce and duck breasts for the duck rather than leg.

But it basically worked. Which makes me think that if you could actually get some duck pancake pancakes from somewhere (one of you smartarses must know where?) you’d be really sorted.

I also discovered a very good way of cooking duck breasts, which gives you a really crispy skin and doesn’t fill the kitchen with blue smoke.

1 Score the skin of the duck in a diamond pattern and then place on some kind of grill or grid suspended over the skin then pour 1/2 a kettle-full of boiling water over them.

2 Dry the duck very well and then put in the fridge to dry out completely – all day is great but 45 minutes will make a difference.

3 When you are ready to cook the duck, season with salt and pepper and five spice (if you want) and then put in a dry frying pan skin side down.You don’t need any oil or anything because the duck is going to leak a lot of grease. If you have a skillet that will go in the oven use this. Cook this very gently for about 10 minutes, until the skin is brown and the pan is full of duck fat. Then turn the duck over and cook the bottom for 4 mins.

4 Now put in a 180C oven for 8 mins for medium and 10 for well done.

And that’s it. Eat with your sliced up cucumber and spring onion with plum or hoisin sauce on whatever pancake type thing you can lay your hands on. Close your eyes and you could almost be in Chinatown.

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