Saffron, Honey and Ricotta Ice Cream Recipe

I've been going through an ice cream making phase, much to the delight of my husband and friends. When I was 17 I made honey and saffron ice cream by hand and the sweet saffron fragrance, pale orange hue and rich, honey flavour stayed with me which is why I decided to try it out again, this time using an ice cream machine and ricotta which adds an interesting texture to the mix. Happy eating!

Saffron, honey and ricotta ice cream (serves 6 to 8 medium-sized portions) 

What you need:

• An ice cream machine
• A double boiler (this will boil the milk slowly and evenly so it doesn't burn. It will also help prevent cooking the eggs in the custard.) If you don't have a proper double boiler you can use one pot over another (the bottom one with two to three inches of water). The most important thing is that the water/steam doesn't get into the milk mixture in the saucepan on top.
• A jug or bowl with spout cooled in the freezer
• A teaspoon of saffron strands
• Two tablespoons of honey
• 100g of castor sugar 
• 5 egg yolks
• 500g ricotta (broken apart with a fork so it's not too chunky)
• 500ml full fat milk
• 250ml double cream
• A quarter of a cup of pine nuts

What to do...

1. Put the saffron in the milk and heat until just before boiling point.
2. In the meantime beat the egg yolks and sugar until the colour changes from golden to pale yellow.
3. Add half the milk to the egg and sugar and stir well until everything is properly mixed.
4. Pour the mix into the milk in the saucepan and stir continually with a wooden spoon until it thickens. When the custard coats the back of the wooden spoon it's ready.
5. Remove from the heat and whisk in the double cream, then ricotta, then honey.
6. Pour the mix into the chilled jug or bowl and let it cool for a few minutes.
7. Pour the mix into the ice cream maker and churn as per the manufacturer's instructions or until the mix is frozen and has the texture of ice cream.
8. While the ice cream is churning put the pine nuts into a saucepan and lightly toast them.
9. Once the ice cream is finished, serve with a sprinkle of pine nuts and a drizzle of honey.

Wagyu steak, sweet carrot coins and butter broccoli served with wild rucola and parmesan salad

So here is the second recipe (for dinner) that I spoke about a few days ago in my Easy Peanut Chicken and Mango Salad recipe post. This dish is just as simple and quick to prepare. Happy cooking!

Wagyu steak, sweet carrot coins and butter broccoli served with wild rucola and parmesan salad (serves 2)

What you need:

• Two wagyu steaks. (Remember the thicker the steak, the longer it will take to cook.)
• Coarse salt (in a salt grinder)
• Coarse pepper (in a pepper grinder)
• Cold water
• A drizzle of olive oil
• Two carrots
• About ten florets of broccoli (a small broccoli head should be enough)
• Ice blocks
• Two teaspoons of sugar
• Two tablespoons of butter
• A box of wild rucola (rocket) leaves, rinsed
• A cup of coarsely grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
• A sprinkle of olive oil for the salad
• A sprinkle of white balsamic vinegar for the salad

Tips before we start...

Here are some guidelines for cooking steaks. I'm still working on my 'perfect steak' techniques but I've been doing some reading online and I came across these times which work well with the times I've used in the past. (I found these on this site: http://www.lobels.com/recipe/perfectsteak.aspx)

Rare (120-130°F)	2 minutes each side
Medium Rare (130-140°F)	3 minutes each side
Medium (140-150°F)	4 minutes each side
Medium Well (150-160°F)	5 minutes each side

 
Tips for working with wagyu meat...

Before you start cooking, remove steak/s from the packaging and let them sit on a plate to breathe for about 15 to 20 minutes so they warm up to room temperature.

To make the recipe...

• Put the rocket in a bowl and grate pecorino or parmesan cheese on top. Drizzle a little olive oil and white balsamic vinegar over it. Toss and set to one side.
• Rinse your carrots and cut them into carrot coins. Throw the ends away.
• Cut off the trunks of your broccoli and rinse. Break it into bite-size florets.
• Fill a medium-large saucepan with water and bring to the boil.
• Drop the vegetables into the water once it's boiling and cook until tender. (2 to 6 minutes.) To test if the vegetables are tender take one of each out and bite into them.
• Once cooked, drop the vegetables into the ice water. This will stop the residual heat from cooking them further and will keep them crisp until you want to butter them.
• Heat two small saucepans.
• Put a tablespoon of butter in each.
• Melt the butter in each.
• In the one you'd like to cook your carrots, put two teaspoons of sugar and stir until the sugar melts.
• Add the carrots once the sugar is melted and cook until golden. They shouldn't crisp but they should change colour.
• Put the broccoli into the saucepan with no sugar and cook for a few minutes until the edges are just wilting.
• While the vegetables are cooking, take your steak/s and poke it with a few holes using a fork. Grind some salt and pepper into a bowl and add a drizzle of olive oil (about a tablespoon) to the mix. Baste the mixture on one side of the steak using a basting brush. Remember to leave a little for the other side.
• Heat a large non-stick or cast-iron frying pan. Make sure it's large enough so that each steak has a decent amount of empty space around it to cook properly. I wouldn't recommend cooking more than two steaks in one pan at a time.
• Once the frying pan is very hot, put the steak (salt-and-pepper-basted side down) in to the frying pan. It should sizzle when it hits the pan.
• There should be enough olive oil basting on the steak for it not to smoke until the time you have to turn it over, but if it does, dip your fingers into the cup of water and flick the water into the frying pan to add a little bit of moisture to the steak so that it doesn't dry out or burn. This will also cool the pan down a little. Don't put too much water or the steak will lose its colour and flavour. This might sound funny, but to make sure the steak sucks up the water and then steams it out evenly, take a spatula and hold the steak down in the pan, turning it around and around like a record as you do so. This will encourage it to suck up the water and cook without getting watery.
• Before you turn your steak over the first time, remember to baste the top with the olive oil, salt and pepper again. You can just baste it while it's in the frying pan.
• Turn it over as per how you'd like your steak done. (See the table above or go to the link above for more steak cooking time tips.)
• Once the steak is cooked, take the vegetables and steak off the stove and serve hot with rocket and pecorina/parmesan salad.
• Enjoy!

Easy peanut chicken and mango salad for supper tonight (or lunch tomorrow)

Like many people in Dubai I work full time, so when I get home the last thing I want to do is slave over a stove. Yesterday I decided to make my life a little easier and whip up two super simple dishes - one for supper last night and one for lunch today - that were straightforward to prepare, taste delicious and look good without too much fussing.

I'm going to share the lunch dish with you today. The supper recipe I'll share later this week.

Easy Peanut Chicken and Mango Salad (serves 2)

What you need...

• Three boneless chicken breasts
• A generous sprinkling of cayenne pepper
• A generous drizzle of honey
• Three generous tablespoons of chunky peanut butter (or smooth if you don't like chunky)
• About two tablespoons of olive oil
• A quarter of a cup of water
• A third of a box of wild rucola leaves, rinsed
• One orange pepper sliced into thin, short strips
• Two Alphonso mangoes, peeled, the ripe part of the fruit cut into strips. Make sure you get soft, sweet mangoes for this recipe. 
• A slice of buttered nutty bread or warm, toasted Arabic bread
• A handful of grapes

How to make the dish...

1. Cut the chicken breasts into chunky strips.
2. Drizzle half of the olive oil in a large frying pan and let it heat for a minute or so.
3. Put the chicken into the pan and sprinkle generously with cayenne pepper
4. If the chicken seems to absorb the oil quickly and sticks to the pan, splash a handful of water into the pan. 
5. Cook the chicken, stirring occasionally.
6. In the meantime, cut the mangoes and peppers into strips.
7. Rinse the wild rucola.
8. Once the chicken is cooked, put it in a strainer over the sink to drain any water.
9. Put the 'dry' chicken back in the pan and drizzle with the remainder of the olive oil.
10. Scoop three generous table spoons of extra chunky peanut butter over the chicken. As it heats stir it through the chicken so it coats each piece properly.
11. Add a generous sprinkling of honey over the top of the chicken and mix.
12. Cook the peanut butter/honey-coated chicken until it's golden and a little crispy.
13. Set to one side.
14. Put the wild rucola in a bowl and add the mango and orange pepper. Stir it up.
15. Add the peanut butter chicken.
16. This salad can be served warm or at room temperature and will taste delicious with a slice of rich, nutty bread or Arabic bread and grapes as I discovered quite by accident at lunch time today!

I shared this salad with a friend of mine at work today so to make more
of a meal of things I added toasted Arabic bread and grapes. Yum!

Julia's delicious duck rillettes recipe

I'm expanding my recipe search and looking to friends and family around the world to contribute to my blog. This time it's my sister, gourmand and chef extraordinaire Julia Baillie's turn, with her recipe for rillettes, a rustic pate that's made from meat that's been poached in its own fat. This is not a halal recipe as it contains pork. [Editor's note - If you're interested in the history of rillettes, please scroll down to the bottom of this post.] Before we get to the recipe, here's a little something about Julia.

My sister, gourmand and chef
extraordinaire Julia Baillie

What’s the most delicious thing you have ever eaten? Almost everyday I have the most delicious thing I have ever eaten. The most recent delicious thing was a duck liver parfait, a mousse-like cloud on hot toasted sour dough bread with onion marmalade. I ate a lot of that!

If you could fly anywhere in the world for dinner tonight where would you go and what would you have to eat? Vietnam. I'd dine on a selection of street food.

What’s in your fridge at the moment? Soft caramel toffee waiting to set; a bottle of duck rillettes ready for hot toast; broccoli soup; lots of salad greens and herbs that are on standby for a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe for dinner.

What was the last thing you baked? My Butter Daisies, large shortbreads shaped like happy daisies.

Which chef would you love to invite for dinner? That would be Anthony Bordain and Rick Stein.

Julia's delicious duck rillettes recipe  

(Serves eight)

You will need: 

• 600g pork belly cut into small pieces
• 800g duck legs
• 100 ml white wine
• 200 ml water
• 1 tspn sea salt
• 1/4 tspn black pepper
• 1/2 tspn ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tspn ground allspice
• 1 large garlic clove, crushed

1.) Preheat the oven to 140 degrees (275F).

2.) Place all of the ingredients together with 200 ml water into a casserole dish and mix thoroughly. Cover with a lid. 

3.) Bake for four hours. The meat should be soft and surrounded by liquid fat.

4.) Pour through a strainer and reserve the fat. Remove the meat from the duck legs and shred all the warm meat using two forks as tools. The meat must be 'stringy' and not a mush. Season if necessary. You can add a little of the strained liquid if need be.

5.) Pack into a 750 ml dish or terrine, or glass jars as a gift, and leave until cold.

6.) Strain the hot fat through a sieve lined with damp muslin.

7.) Once the meat is cold pour the fat over the top. You can reheat the liquid fat if it has solidified. 

8.) Lay a bay leaf and pink peppercorns in the liquid to make it look gorgeous. 

9.) Keep covered in the fridge. 

10.) Serve at room temperature on warm toast. It will last for up to a week.  

Julia's duck rillettes that she sells in
Hermanus, South Africa

If you're keen on sharing your favourite recipe, please email me on angela.hundal@gmail.com. Chat soon!

The History of Rillettes

According to this link http://dineonswine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55:rillettes&catid=36:swine-recipes&Itemid=82 'the first writings on rillettes can be found in 1480 in cook books from Touraine, located in the centre part of France. [Francois] Rabalais, 15th century writer and philosopher, author of Gargantua and Pantagruel, describes them as the "brown jam" as their main property is a capacity of long term conservation. 

Traditionally rillettes were made twice a year when pigs were killed, using all the leftovers after the classic meat cuts. After long and slow cooking, the meat was stored in ceramic jars and covered by 3cm of pure fat, keeping it away from oxydation [sic]. They were therefore used for long travels as it was an easy way to have fat and proteins, kept in aseptic conditions. In some books they have also been described as plated in the shape of a pyramid and topped with the pig's tail. The rillettes were proudly displayed to the guest of honour as a sign of wealth. 

Today the cooking style is applied to game birds, wild rabbit and fish. And like any French dish, it has many regional definitions. In general most rillettes are served cold and spread on toast much like a pate.' 

For more on rillettes, read:

• http://www.regions-of-france.com/regions/pays_de_la_loire/food-gastronomy/rillettes-porc/
• http://ckenb.blogspot.com/2011/04/home-made-rillettes-de-lapin.html

Pizza Connection (Tecom)

Why should you order from here? Pizza Connection has the best pizzas in Dubai. Honestly. If you're into the over-the-top cheese fest that is part and parcel of most fast food delivery pizzas nowadays, then these gourmet beauties are not for you. The staff, including the delivery men, are friendly and the service is efficient and speedy. You can also order online.

What can you buy? Pizza Connection is a small restaurant in Tecom that's run by an Italian chef who actually works in the restaurant, so you can be sure that the food you're getting is the real deal. They serve out-of-the-wood-burning-oven thin crust pizzas delicately topped with fresh ingredients, from artichoke to anchovies and pineapple to avocado. Their pizzas aren't overpowering so you can really experience the flavour of each topping. Their pastas are perfectly al dante and drenched in a variety of scrumptious sauces from an I-wish-I-had-made-this chicken-alfredo to a spicy arrabiata that will have you panting a little.

What do you recommend? The Calzone Alle Verdure (Dh44) with tomato, mozzarella, eggplant, mushrooms and roasted peppers offers the most delicious flavour composition, with the eggplant roasted down to its ideal subtly spicy softness and the slightly sweet roasted peppers perfectly blistered without losing their hue. If you love spice try the Mumbay pizza (Dh34 - Dh45) with tomato, mozzarella, off-the-skewer tandoori chicken, onion slices, chili flakes and jalapeno peppers. My friends and I have tried it several times and we come away feeling very satisfied, albeit a touch sweaty, every time. It's quite hot, so be warned! The Tagliatelle alla Bolognese (Dh44) tastes like home cooking. Rich and flavourful, it's the perfect comfort dish to satisfy your belly after a long hard day. The panna cotta, a sweet and creamy Italian dessert made with cream, milk and sugar, is smothered in slightly sour berry confit that's as beautiful as it is delicious. A rolled wafer biscuit perched gently on the top adds a playful crispness. My pictures really don't do any of the meals justice. (I had to prise the pizza boxes from my friends' floury hands to take pictures...) 

Keep in mind... My husband Aman and I ordered a Pizza Blanche (the Quattro Formaggi) a few months ago. It came without a tomato base (as it should) but not knowing any better we called them up to ask them why it had no tomato and the Italian chef was gracious enough to come on the phone to explain that the quattro formaggi pizza blanche is in fact a white pizza and is intentionally left without tomato sauce of any kind so as not to disturb the delicate flavours of the four cheeses. "Had we tasted it?" he asked "No," we cringed. Of course when we did savour that mouthwatering piece of cheesy paradise we called back and apologised profusely. "It was one of the most delicious things we have ever had," we confessed, not lying. 

Out of ten? Ten.

The Tagliatelle Alla Bolognese (Dh44) is a rich, wholesome nest
of deliciousness

The Hawaiian pizza (Dh32 - Dh44) with tomato, mozzarella, pineapple
and smoked turkey ham 

The spicy Mumbay pizza with tomato, mozzarella, off-the-skewer
tandoori chicken, onion slices, chili flakes and jalapeno peppers

www.pizzaconnection.ae, 04 447 7878

If anyone reading this blog has been to or ordered from Pizza Connection please let me know what you thought about it in the comments section...

Bocadillo (Sheikh Zayed Road)

Who are they? A small cafe/restaurant on Sheikh Zayed Road (near Emirates Towers metro station), although I have to admit that I've never been there. According to a Time Out Dubai write up, it's super casual and much like a 'university common room'. http://bit.ly/19zbAXD 

If I've never been there, why am I writing about them? Because I order delivered lunch from them quite regularly, and if you live or work in the mid-range portion of Sheikh Zayed Road (I work near Safa Park for example), then I recommend you order from them too sometime. 

What do they serve? Mostly salads, soups and sandwiches. I've tried their salads and I have to be honest, they don't leave much to be desired in that there is a lot of lettuce and not much else, although their tuna pasta salad was alright-ish. Having said that, their soup and sandwich combos make a good lunch. They also make a mean baked potato with baked beans and cheese. 

I ordered the chicken and avocado sandwich with a lentil soup (Dh38) the week before last and a turkey and cheese sandwich and lentil soup combo (same price) this week. I am kind of obsessed with their lentil soup at the moment, but I warn you, not everyone will be. It's wholesome, healthy and earthy in the chunky way that hippies and organic foodies like it so if you're more in to the blended, zestier Arabic style lentil soup, this one isn't for you - although it does come with a wedge of lemon wrapped in rather dodgy cling wrap. Naturally creamy brown lentils, soft potato cubes and a green leafy vegetable with the texture of nori (even though it isn't nori), is served in a delightfully rich broth that tastes like what I imagine the soup served fireside to a prince in peasant's clothing in a magical fairytale would taste like. 

The chicken and avocado sandwich was good although there wasn't enough avocado in my opinion and they could have toasted the bread a little longer. To their credit though, the avocado was perfectly ripe. My favourite sandwich by far is the turkey and cheese as it has just the right amount of turkey and just the right amount of (decently strong) cheese to wake up the taste buds. 

Their baked potatoes are really delicious and come steaming hot and drenched in baked beans and cheese with a pot of sour cream on the side. Be warned that if you add the sour cream your lunch will be very, very rich and you might need to take a nap under your desk.  A small side salad with corn, lettuce, tomato and cucumber drizzled in a tastebud tingling lemon dressing will accompany your potato. It's the perfect comfort lunch for days when the air conditioning is turned down so low you can hardly speak through your chattering teeth.

What tip do you have when ordering? The staff are always really friendly but sometimes a little sleepy so make sure you're really clear about what you want to order. Once they've repeated your order back to you, you're good to go. You'll need to specify the type of bread (brown or white); I prefer the brown as the white tastes a little soapy. If, like me, you hate your lettuce or cucumber toasted, ask the restaurant to either remove them entirely or put them on last. Add extra pickles to the turkey sandwich! It's amazing...

Bocadillo, 04 331 3133

If anyone reading this blog has been to or ordered from Bocadillo please let me know what you thought about it in the comments section...

Chicken and avocado sandwich and lentil soup combo (Dh38)
from Bocadillo