Ask the A2K cooks!

Lemon Grass
A key seasoning ingredient for the foods of Southeast Asia, lemon grass is also used, but to a lesser extent, in India and China. If possible, use fresh lemon grass, because much flavor is lost in the drying process. If fresh is not available, these cross cuts of the lower stem make the best substitute. The lemony flavor combines well with the ginger-garlic mix that is the backbone of most Asian cuisines. Lemon grass can be thrown into soups and sauces or ground with other spices to make the traditional Thai-style curry paste.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus_staigeriana

Eucalyptus staigeriana, Lemon Ironbark or Lemon-scented Ironbark, is a small rough barked sclerophyll tree that grows naturally in pure stands on hills in the Palmer River region of Cape York, North Queensland, Eastern Australia. The complex essential oil is distilled from the leaves and used for flavoring and aromatherapy. The whole leaf is also used as a bushfood spice and herb-tea ingredient.

E. staigeriana fresh weight leaves yield 2.9-3.4% essential oil. It contains a range of essential oil components, including geranial, neral, phellandrene, terpinolene and geraniol. It is used like a bay-leaf in savory cooking, and is also used in confectionery and teas. It has a fruity-lemon flavor, with a rosemary-like edge.

You can search A2K not just on A2K but also on Google.

Type freezing pesto site:able2know into Google. This thread has not yet been picked up by Google, but it should be very soon, e. g. within a week or two.

In the meantime:

VARIATIONS ON A THEME

I can make focaccia. I have made it with rosemary and garlic; with tomatoes, oregano and basil; with chocolate and vanilla (subbing canola oil for olive oil); and with raisins, dried cranberries and blueberries. What else could be a good variant for this basic flat bread recipe?

VARIATIONS ON A THEME - FOCACCIA

I've made it with:

carmelized onions, sliced cooked potatos, parmesan and rosemary

red grapes, rosemary, anise seeds, and smokey gouda cheese

Kalamata olives and garlic and leeks

Pecans and apple chunks

Awesome, great suggestions, I might try the carmelized onion one this weekend. Thank you!

LEMON MYRTLE and FOCACCIA

I didn't mean to be arrogant, dadpad - I was busy at the time looking pesto recipes up in a dozen cookbooks instead of on google, and I'd not heard of Backhousia, and it wasn't listed in the tome on my desk - neither was lemon myrtle), so I started guessing it was another name for a euc citriodora, as eucs are myrtaceae. Since then I've googled and learned more about the Backhousia.

On my tangent about Eucalyptus glyptostromboides, you were right, I was mixing up the name with the Metasequoia. I meant, instead, Eucalyptus deglupta, mindanao gum - I was off riffing about the bark, seen in the following picture. But no - that has nothing to do with recipes, at least that I know of.

source


All those focaccias sound delicious, butrflynet. I'll add that I've seen/eaten focaccia with italian sausage pushed into the dough as well.

I just bought a lot of scampi the other day and really feel like eating some right now!

Has anyone got any suggestions on how to prepare them?
I love the taste of scampi, but have never tried to prepare them myself.
They are frozen and I don't think they have been cooked, since they have no color (white and grey).

SCAMPI


This recipe sounds like it would work out as a long-remembered favorite dish from a restaurant, Scampi alla marsala - a dish I've tried to reproduce on my own, but not just this way.

from cooks.com - http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1818,155169-232206,00.html


ITALIAN SCAMPI
1 lb. lg. shrimp, shelled & deveined
1/2 c. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 c. marsala wine
Lemon wedges
Wash shrimp and drain on paper towels. Melt butter in 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish in oven. Add salt, garlic and 1 tablespoon parsley. Mix well. Arrange shrimp over butter mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Turn shrimp and sprinkle with lemon peel, lemon juice and rest of parsley. Bake 4 minutes longer. Add Marsala wine. Bake 5 more minutes, longer if necessary to make shrimp tender. Arrange on a heated platter. Pour drippings over top or serve in a separate bowl as a sauce. Garnish with lemon wedges. Yield 4 servings.



I'm not so sure I'd bake it that long myself... but I'd follow the recipe the first time.

Usually I just marinate shrimp in white wine and olive oil and lots of garlic and chili flakes, salt and pepper, for about an hour, and then saute until just done through. (I usually drain and saute in fresh olive oil.)
I don't even peel them before cooking, but that's me.

SCAMPI

Here's a shrimp tapas recipe from CDKitchen.com -

Garlicky Shrimp Tapas Recipe
Submitted by: rec.food.recipes arianej

Ready in: < 30 minutes
Difficulty: 3 (1=easiest :: hardest=5)
Serves/Makes: 4

Ingredients:
1/2 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 small bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, depending on how hot you want it
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Directions:

Heat oil in skillet. Add the minced garlic, bay leaf and red pepper flakes and stir one minute or until fragrant and garlic is slightly softened. Add shrimp and stir until just cooked through, about 3 minutes--be careful not to overcook! You just want the shrimp opaque and still crunchy/tender. Sprinkle with parsley and salt and pepper to taste. You can also use precooked, shelled and de-veined shrimp, but cook garlic slightly longer and toss shrimp only enough to heat through.

This recipe for Garlicky Shrimp Tapas serves/makes 4

Recipe ID: 8547





and from Recipezaar, 5 Minute Sherried Shrimp Tapas

http://www.recipezaar.com/61474

12 jumbo shrimp or prawns, peeled and deveined
salt & freshly ground black pepper
Tabasco sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons sherry wine

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and stir fry the prepared shrimp or prawns for 2-3 minutes until pink.
Add the sherry to the pan; stir and continue to cook for 30 seconds until the shrimp are very fragrant.
Season with Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Thanks a lot Ossobuco!
Seems tempting to go for the one that's ready in 5 mins the first time I try preparing the scampi.

You are welcome, and welcome to A2k, HH.

I've chased a scampi marsala (a sicilian wine) recipe for decades now, and just now found it at your prompting, so that's the one I'll try. I remember it being brought to the table sizzling in some sort of clay pot, and being really good. But then I've not been able to just do that myself. Now that I have a recipe...

You're right to want to do the easiest first and see how it goes. It's important not to overcook them...

HHippo, look at that link itself, as people comment on the recipe...
and besides, it's a good food site.

(back here after 2 days of not being able to post)

Another question, if I may:

SORREL: What can you do with it, besides using it in salads.

I think that's what I planted. (I'm always experimenting with new seedlings. I forgot to label these ones. But yes, from the taste & the appearance of the leaves ( checked my books) , it appears to be sorrel. Growing abundantly!)

I'm very "into" experimenting with greens right now. Just made the simplest, easiest soup imaginable, using rocket & a few other ingredients. Surprisingly yummy!

I sent an email off to Penzey's Spices with info about lemon myrtle and asked them to consider stocking it. Also suggested the anise and cinnamon scented myrtles as well.

Will post when I get a response.

Adapting a casserole dish to a clay baker:

I intend cooking a barley/mushroom casserole on the weekend (sort of a barley "risotto", I guess) and was thinking about cooking it in my Romertopf instead of the usual casserole dish.
Any idea of how I should adapt the length of the cooking time? The suggested cooking time is 1 hour in a 180 C/350 F oven. And the oven temperature?

Any general "rules" one follow when converting recipes from casseroles to clay bakers?

SORREL - I love this soup:

Sorrel potato soup, in Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book

"Margaret Costa's Green Soup"

1 + 1/2 oz butter
1/2 onion, finally chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled, diced (I use reds)
1 + 3/4 pint of good chicken stock
salt, pepper, grated nutmeg, pinch of sugar
2 good handfuls of sorrel
4 tablespoons double cream (I use a tad of half and half instead)
chopped chives

Melt the butter and cook the onion in it until soft but not brown. Stir in the potatoes and stock. Add seasoning. Soimmer until the potatoes are cooked. Meanwhile cut away any thick stems from the sorrel and wash it well.

Puree the soup in the blender with the sorrel leaves, until smooth and bright green. You will have to do this in batches. Return it to the pan, check the seasoning and consistency, addiding more stock or water if necessary, and reheat without boilin (if you boil the soup, the sorrel will become dark green and lose the full vigour of its flavour). Add the cream and chives. Pour into a tureen and serve with cubes of bread.

This soup can be served chilled, but it will need a little more cream and quite a lot more liquid.

I love Penzey's too - that's a good idea, butrflynet.

Grigson has some recipes for Sorrel sauces for Fish, for Sorrel Omelettes.

I'll post them tomorrow as I'm falling asleep at the wheel here.

Thank you, osso!

I made a similar soup recently. But using rocket in place of the sorrel. And lots of garlic ( ), olive oil, plus a bit of chili. No cream, though. It should have had toasted bread at the bottom of the soup bowl, but it being summer here & all ...
Anyway, I loved it! BTW this was one of the easiest, no-fuss soups I've ever made.

Potatoes seem to exist very happily (& deliciously!) with greens!

I will give this one a try!

CLAY BAKERS:


According to this site:

http://www.fantes.com/romertopf.htm


Regular recipes usually can be converted for clay pots by increasing the cooking temperature by 100° F, and deducting one-half hour of cooking time.

Looking forward to those, too!

Hmmm ... Sorrel sauces! Sounds good!

Many thanks, Ms Butterfly.

I love the way food tastes cooked this way!

You know, I got rid of my little collection of Romertopfs when I shifted house a few years back. To a tiny abode from a big one. Always missed them, though.

Then recently, a friend gave me one of her (little-ish) ones.
Then I came across an unused one in a thrift shop, priced $5 Australian. Considerably less than $5 US! How could I knock that back?

Oh well, what's a bit of clutter when you can produce such good food with them?