Category: Local

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Walnut, Quince & Must Confit

Alchemy

wine & walnut confit

A few years ago I spent an enchanting week cooking, making salumi and visiting cheese, balsamico, parmiggiano and prosciutto factories in Emilia Romagna. There we made a stunningly smart preserve from the “sabah” or grape must called “Savor” and since then Ive been making it here.  Traditionally the Italian version is eaten with a fresh soft cheese with an unpronounceable name “Squaquarone” (there, I did warn you!) but I think it is great with “Urda” (Romanian cheese) or on your cheeseboard.  Its also a great alternative to jam.

The method is simple and you end up with a preserve with no added sugar – everything in your jar comes from fruit and nuts. Brilliant! So smart and so economical.

Ingredients for 8  200ml jars 

  • 1.5 litres of must (which is the grape juice before it turns into wine, also called “must” in Romanian)
  • 1kg quince (gutui)
  • 0. 5 kg apples (mere)
  • 300g walnuts (nuci)

Thin strips of orange peel (optional)

How To

1. Boil the must until it is reduced by half (be prepared for a very fragrant kitchen not to say intoxicating)

2. Chop the peeled fruit into small 1cm approx cubes. To make life easier I bake the quinces sometimes before.

3. Add the fruit and boil gently until a jam like paste with no excess liquid. Once again the air will be heavy with fragrance

4. Add the nuts and make sure they are heated through

5. Bottle in heated sterilized jars

I then water bath the jars to be sure they are properly sterilised after which you may keep as any other preserved food.

Man Pasta – Buckwheat pasta with walnut, rucola, mushroom & truffle sauce

reaches the parts other pasta doesn’t reach

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This pasta is so rich in taste and so full of everything a man needs (nutritionally speaking of course)  its hard to believe it doesn’t actually contain oodles of red meat. Add to that the method of throwing everything in the pan  without exact measurements and really all it needs is its own cave.

Ingredients – for 4

A large heavy bottomed frying pan or a wok is ideal.

  • 1 quantity of Black Pepper Buckwheat Pasta       or some good fettucine
  • 150g cherry tomatoes
  • 100-200 g rucola or a lot of parsley or a packet of baby spinach
  • a lot of garlic. 4 cloves pp , about 16 cloves. I’m serious.
  • 150-200g mushrooms. Favourite ones of course can be porcini but the shitake meaty type ones work well.
  • 200g roughly chopped walnuts. Not peanuts. Not pecans. Not hazlenuts but walnuts or “nuci”.  They are often found in the baking section not the beer section or the snack section of supermarkets. Just saying.
  • Good olive oil – you will want an extra virgin of course
  • Some thyme and or oregano
  • Some truffles – fresh if you are lucky or those clever little Italian jars if you are  mortal. Half a black truffle grated. Approx 1 tablespoon of the jarred truffles but it depends on your taste.
  • Pumpkin seeds to garnish
  • Some grated parmesan to serve
  • Chilli – I think it does not enhance the dish.  Can I just say that sneaking it into the dish without prior consultation is not a smart move.

How To

Although the method is quite easy, the order you do it in does affect the dish.  Make sure you have a large pan of boiling water for your pasta.

The actual making of the dish takes about 10 minutes so if you are a bit nervous about cooking fresh pasta and making this simultaneously, just make the pasta first and drain it, and place on a damp tea towel. Alternatively  make the pasta simultaneously.

Firstly fry the garlic and walnuts in the olive oil, next add the mushrooms, thyme or oregano and truffles and cook until the mushrooms soften.

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Now put the pasta in the water – it will be done in 3-5 minutes.  If using shop bought – follow the cooking time instructions.

Now place the cherry tomatoes on top of the walnuts and mushrooms. Place the rucola on top of those. Add a lid to cover and switch the heat down a bit.  This is where you want the rucola to wilt and the tomatoes to sweat.  The great thing about the tomatoes is that they act like taste bombs in the dish.

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Once the rucola is wilted the dish is ready to serve. take it off the heat.

Now drain your pasta and combine through gently all the sauce ingredients.  Dribble on more olive oil. serve. sprinkle over some parmesan. Add a glass of red wine for yet more life enhancement.

Food Smarts

Buckwheat – keeps your blood flowing, regulates blood sugar, thwarts cancer

Walnuts – Good for your heart: less heart attacks, lower your cholesterol, battle cancer and in particular prostate cancer due to their elagic acid, high in vitamin E. High in zinc which is needed to create testosterone.

Mushrooms – The Japanese use shitake mushrooms to treat tumours and the shitake also lowers cholesterol

Olive Oil – A monounsaturated fat and all round superfood. We all know its good for the heart and cholesterol but did you know its also good for testosterone too?

Garlic – It thins the blood, wards off the vampires and lowers blood pressure but do you know its good for producing testosterone too?

Pumpkin seeds– great for halting prostate cell overgrowth. And another great source of zinc.

Veggie Stuffed Tomatoes

for times when you find BIG RIPE tomatoes…

My love of stuffed tomatoes started young. On a holiday to France we were driving through Marseilles. I think I was nine. My mum stopped at a charcuterie and as we waited in the car a girl rode by with a pet monkey on the child’s seat of her bicycle. The small black monkey, the smell of those still warm stuffed tomatoes, eating them as a picnic lunch…I can still taste how good they were. Its funny how certain memories are etched on your brain forever. So here is a recipe that I make over and over again whenever I find giant tomatoes.

Perhaps buying the tomatoes is half of the fun?

 

Gadgets & Gizmos
Deep baking tray or ceramic dish

Ingredients: serves four

This recipe is a guide as stuffed vegetables should be seen as handy recipients for leftovers:
• 4 x 200g of big fat ripe tomatoes  or 6 smaller ones
• 100g rice and 50g green lentils  or 100g couscous and 25g currants
• 1 small onion finely chopped or 3 spring onions
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
•  Selection of fresh herbs: parsley/ basil/ thyme/ mint chopped roughly
•  1/2 tsp allspice 
• Olive oil for brushing and drizzling
• 60g hard cheese (optional) something like parmesan or gruyere but strong cheddar is fine
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Very thick Greek yoghurt to serve

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