when this vegetarian chef cooks meat, she does so with style

[saansaturday]

We've been eating well:


Cranberry Orange Chocolate Pepper Bread

3 cups unbleached flour
1 cup raw sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
9 grinds of black pepper, or more, to taste
zest of one orange, finely grated
1 egg
1 2/3 cup whole milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup roughly chopped cranberries
100 grams dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Grease a loaf pan; set aside. In a large mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, orange zest and pepper. Make a well in the center and set aside.

Beat the egg in a medium mixing bowl. Beat in the milk and oil. Add the wet mix to the dry mix and stir just until moistened. Fold in chocolate and cranberries. Pour into the pan.

Bake at 180 C/350 F for about an hour or until it passes the toothpick test. Cool completely on a wire rack, wrap and store overnight before slicing.



Chocolate-covered Drunken Strawberries

33 small fresh strawberries with leaves (the smaller ones taste better)
1/2 cups Grand Marnier
500 grams bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 Tablespoons shortening
2 Tablespoons cream
1/4 cups Rum

Wash strawberries, rinse and dry well. Use a syringe to slowly inject about 1 teaspoon of Grand Marnier into each strawberry. Put them on a plate and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate and shortening in a double boiler, stirring until smooth. Stir in cream and rum. Dip strawberries into chocolate with chopsticks, leaving the leaves exposed and letting the excess drip off before placing on parchment to set. When the chocolate has hardened, eat with abandon!



Rosemary Skewered Sea Devil with Pancetta, Buffalo Mozzarella and Ciabatta

This is basically Jamie Oliver's recipe, modified slightly by me.

455 grams trimmed sea devil
1 ciabatta loaf
2 rounds fresh buffalo mozzarella
4 (25 centimeter long) fresh rosemary twigs
7 cloves garlic, peeled
Extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8 strips pancetta
1 to 2 tablespoons good balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Cut the fish into a 1 inch (2.5 centimeter) dice and add to a bowl with the ciabatta and mozzarella, chopped up into similar-sized pieces. Keeping the top 2 inches (5 centimeters) of rosemary leaves, run your thumb and forefinger down the length of the stalk, removing all the leaves. Throw these into a pestle and mortar and bash up with the garlic. Then stir in 5 or 6 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil. Pour this over your fish, cheese and bread and toss around. Now begin to skewer the kebabs. At an angle, slice the tip off the rosemary stalks, so they are sharp. Put a piece of fish on first, then bread, then mozzarella and repeat until you nearly reach the end and lightly season. Loosely wrap 2 pieces of pancetta around each kebab, weaving it in and around the fish, bread and cheese. Place the kebabs on a roasting tray, sprinkle with any leftover oil and rosemary, and bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the bread is crisp and golden. Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar over each piece of sea devil, then a little extra olive oil and any juice from the tray.



Chicken Noodle Soup from homemade chicken stock, with carrot, fennel, celeriac and whole-grain noodles

-a pretty obvious recipe