Carottes Glacees (Glazed Carrots) - Sunday April 11, 2010

(Photo courtesy of www.Recipes4us.co.uk)

Veggies are a problem in my house, as the 2 girls only eat certain ones - and only at certain times ("I only liked those last week") - and, with the exception of corn on the cob, the boy won't knowingly come within 10 feet of a vegetable.

Glazed carrots are a sure winner for the girls, and even the boy has been known to sneak 1 or 2 into his mouth when I'm not looking. This recipe again comes from Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and it's quite easy to prepare. Ok, maybe the sugar isn't the best thing for the kids - especially on a Sunday night - but hey, they eat them all up and have fruit for dessert, if it's even needed.

I substitute chicken stock for the beef in the recipe, as that's what we have around the house. I also use brown sugar rather than white. Nobody seemed to suffer much from the substitutions.

(Serves 6 as a side)

- 1.5 lbs carrots, peeled, quartered and cut into 2-inch lengths
- 1.5 cups good brown stock or beef boullion
- 2 Tb granulated (or brown) sugar
- 6 Tb butter
- 2 Tb finely minced parsley
- salt and pepper to taste

Boil the carrots slowly in a covered sauce pan with the stock, sugar, butter and a pinch of pepper for 30 to 40 mins, until the carrots are tender and the liquid is reduced to a syrupy glaze. Correct seasoning.

Reheat just before serving and roll the carrots gently in the pan to coat them with the syrup. Season to taste.

Turn into a warm serving dish and sprinkle with the parsley.

Roasted Baby Leeks With Thyme - Saturday April 17, 2010

(Image courtesy of David Loftus at JamieOliver.com)

For the veg portion of my prepare-in-advance Saturday night dinner, I made these Roasted (Baby) Leeks with Thyme, which I pulled from Jamie Oliver's "Cook with Jamie".

I have mixed feelings about Jamie Oliver. He's so ubiquitous that I don't really want to like him. But his shows are generally charming and great fun to watch and his recipes are straight-forward, almost always delicious and work. I guess I like him... This is his recipe entirely below.

Couldn't find "baby" leeks here in Singapore, so I tried to find the smallest leeks I could at the market. I prepped everything ahead of time and just stuck them in the oven right before dinner was served. We ate all but one of them.

• 20 baby leeks
• olive oil
• red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced

"Preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. I like to serve 4 or 5 baby leeks per person, depending on their size. Lightly trim both ends and peel back the first or second layer of leaves and discard.

"Drop the leeks in a pan of boiling salted water for 2 to 3 minutes to soften - this is called blanching. Drain them well (if there's too much water in them they won't roast properly) and toss in a bowl with a good glug of olive oil, a splash of red wine vinegar, the chopped thyme leaves and the garlic.

"Arrange the leeks in one layer in a baking tray or earthenware dish and roast in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes until golden and almost caramelized. Keep your eye on them - I've seen many chefs burn baby leeks when cooking them this way and it drives me mad!"


• from Cook With Jamie

Gazpacho Andaluz - Saturday April 17, 2010

Photo courtesy of Zizania.

I wanted to make sure that I could prepare as much of my Saturday night dinner as possible ahead of time. So, sticking with the Spanish theme and Teresa Barrenechea's "The Cuisines of Spain", I opted for a simple gazpacho as a starter. The hardest part of this recipe is selecting the ripe tomatoes, everything else is a breeze. Let it sit for 4 or more hours in the fridge before serving - the flavors blend better that way.

6 ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks
1/2 large cucumber--peeled, halved, seeded and cut into chunks
1 green bell pepper, cut into chunks
2 garlic cloves, chopped roughly
1/2 cup water
1/3 to 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
Salt to taste

Optional hot sauce, for serving. Serves 4.

In a blender or food processor, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, garlic, water, oil and vinegar and process until coarsely pureed. Season with salt and refrigerate until chilled. Serve with hot sauce.

Verdict: Very nice, always a great way to start a meal. This particular version was very simple - but you can garnish it with pretty much anything, including some roughly chopped versions of the ingredients or a drizzle of olive oil.

I served it plain, with a sliced baguette, some olive oil on the side and a bowl of olives. Strangely, my 2 girls, who ordinarily love anything that has vegetables in it, hated this. More for me, too bad.

Pollo en Escabeche - Saturday April 17, 2010

(Photo courtesy of Spanish Recipes: http://recipespicbypic.blogspot.com)

Had a friend over for dinner Saturday evening, and wanted to have as much food prepared in advance as possible. As the 2/3's of the kids don't really like spicy food, I hadn't had a chance to really try much in my newly purchased "The Cuisines of Spain" by Teresa Barrenchea (cover below) and this gave me a fine excuse.

As her Pollo en Escabeche recipe was pretty simple - and almost demanded a few hours of cooling and settling - this seemed like a good one to try out. Fast, simple and nothing really too exotic.

Escabeches are foods that fried or steamed, then cooked and/or simply stored in a brine. Obviously these come from the days before refrigeration. Apparently, you can cook/store just about anything this way, including partridge, quail, trout, sardines, mussels, prawns, etc. As most of these aren't available in Singapore, I opted for the chicken version here.

2-pound chicken cut into serving pieces (done at the market - so be sure to wash it thoroughly before cooking)
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, halved
2 bay leaves
10 black peppercorns
1 or 2 sprigs of rosemary
1 cup red or white wine vinegar
1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon sweet pimenton or paprika (I used the latter)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Brown the chicken pieces in a big skillet, casserole, whatever - as long as it's big enough to hold all the chicken and allow the brine to cover it while cooking. Add everything else (which then constitute the "brine"). Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30-60 mins, until the chicken is cooked.

Let it cool completely, then store in the brine at cool room temperature for a day or up to a week in the fridge. I kept mine in the fridge for about 4 hours to cool and then let it sit another 2 hours out to hit room temperature.

Verdict: Certainly easy enough too cook and everybody - including, surprisingly, all 3 kids the next day - really liked it. The most common comment was that there simple wasn't "enough" flavor and that it needed more salt. That's never really been a problem in out house, so I was a bit surprised by that, but it was fixed easily enough at the table.

Yes, I'd definitely make this again; but perhaps with a little more kick. A good, fresh paprika or pimenton would probably help on the flavoring front, so I'll experiment more next time around. Definitely a winner.