May 05

Asparagus – 10 things you never knew about this tasty vegetable

May is National Asparagus Month and to celebrate this amazing vegetable, the King of Vegetables, here are 10 things that you might, or might not know about asparagus.

The Smell

Asparagus Pee

This is a fact that most people know, that your pee (urine) smells after eating asparagus, however it seems that not everyone is able to detect the smell and some others don’t actually produce the smell. Experiments have found the population can be put into four groups when it comes to asparagus. There are people that produce the distinctive asparagus pee smell, those that don’t and then there are those that can detect the smell and those that can’t. So when someone says there pee doesn’t smell after eating asparagus, they could in reality just not be able to smell it.

Ditch the Water

I think this is the most important fact about cooking asparagus. According to Heston Blumenthal, the chef proprietor of the Fat Duck Restaurant, the flavor compounds in asparagus are water soluble and leak out during cooking with methods such as boiling, blanching, steaming and microwaving, however remain intact when cooked in fats and oils. So though you will hear many people tell you to blanch your asparagus, try roasted, grilled, broiled or sauteed with olive oil and/or butter instead to keep in more of that delicious, delicate asparagus flavor.

Store like cut flowers

How to store asparagus

How to store asparagus

Once harvested, asparagus rapidly starts to lose flavour and nutrients. If not using immediately you can prolong its shelf-life by treating it like cut flowers or fresh herbs and keeping it cool. Cut about half an inch off the bottom of the asparagus stems, place them into a glass of water so that the bottom 1 inch is cover. Cover the tops with a plastic bag and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Wine pairing is tough

Wine

Because of the chemical compounds in asparagus, pairing with wine is particularly tough. Avoid oaked whites or tannic reds, and choose crisp, herbal, citrusy white wines instead such as Pouilly Fumé, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc , Sancerre or Sparkling wine. Other tips to help asparagus pair better with wine, is to cook it using the barbecue or broiler to create a char, cover it in a creamy sauce such as hollandaise, cheese or use thinner shoots which have less flavour.

Green, White or Purple

White Asparagus

White Asparagus

Most of the asparagus you encounter will be green, and you could be mistaken that white asparagus is a different genetic variety. However white asparagus, which is popular in early Spring in Northern Europe is the same plant, but it is kept in the dark, by burying the spears with dirt while it is growing which means that it cannot produce chlorophyll that accounts for the green color. White asparagus has a more subtle, sweeter flavour than green asparagus.  Purple asparagus is a different variety and it sweeter than its green cousin, but when cooked it loses its color and reverts to green.

To snap or not to snap

Snapping Asparagus

Snapping Asparagus

To prepare asparagus, the woody, fibrous and tough bottom of the stem needs to be removed before cooking. There are two schools of thought on how to achieve this. The first is cut off the bottom fifth of the spear, the second is to snap the stem between the fingers and it will naturally split where the tender stem starts and the woody stem finishes. Neither method is without problems. Cutting can produce too much wastage, while snapping might not be 100% accurate enough. No matter which way you prefer the trimming can be added to stock or to make asparagus soup. Another method that is sometimes mentioned is to peel the bottoms of the spears. Peeling the stem can be done once they are snapped to remove the outer, tougher part of the stem, but it won’t get rid of the inner woody part.

The Food of Kings is Expensive

The Food of Kings

The total world production of asparagus is about 8 million tons per year, with the most, 88%, being grown in China and the next largest, 4% coming from Peru, which might seem like a lot, but demand easily outstrips supply and there are a few reasons why asparagus is still expensive to buy. The first is that it takes 3 years from planting the asparagus crown, before spears can be harvested from it. The second is that asparagus is harvested by hand. Though there are machines that transport the workers over the fields, the spears have to be cut by hand to ensure that they aren’t damaged. Thirdly asparagus loses nutrients very quickly after being cut and they must be shipped to market quickly to be in prime condition, which usually means air transport.

It’s a lily, but not a flower

Lily

Botanically asparagus belongs to the lily family, Liliaceae which also contains garlic, chives, leek, onions, etc., however in another genus. The origin of asparagus is believed to be somewhere around the Eastern Mediterranean and Persia. The word asparagus itself comes from the Persian word asparag which means sprout or shoot, which in turn gives rise to the Greek word aspharagos, and ended up as asparagus in English via the Medieval Latin word sparagus.

The shoots shoot up

Though asparagus takes 3 years from planting the crown to being able to harvest the first spear, it grows at an incredible rate once it gets going. If the conditions are just right, asparagus can grow about 10 inches in a day

Anti-Gravity

Asparagus curving

After harvest asparagus tips will naturally turn upwards (negative geotropic curvature) if they are stored on their side or upside down, hence the reason they are shipped upright or heat treated to prevent curved tips.

Apr 28

Sun Dried Tomato Bread – A savoury Mediterranean loaf

Once you try this Sun Dried Tomato Bread, you’ll be looking for excuses to make it again and again. Most of the time nowadays I make sourdough, but it does take a bit of effort and planning, where as this bread recipe is really quick by comparison and the sweet fruity, slightly sour and umami flavors of the sun dried tomatoes more than make up for the sourness of sourdough. Not only is this sun dried tomato bread recipe very, very tasty, but it is really versatile and as well as good for sandwiches, it is great with soup, toasted cheese, crostini, as a base for a ‘personal pizza’, etc.

Sun Dried Tomato Bread

Sun Dried Tomato Bread

“Why not just use normal tomatoes”, I can hear my friend Bill say. After he made a post on all the types of tomatoes he uses in the kitchen, the major omission was the sun dried tomato. He said that he didn’t see the point of them. To me though, sun dried tomatoes have a more intense flavour than fresh or even tinned tomatoes and the umami flavor is really pronounced, hence why this bread is so ‘more-ish’

Sun Dried Tomatoes

Sun Dried Tomatoes

I usually make bread by hand because I love kneading, but you could easily use a food mixer for kneading or adapt this recipe for a breadmaker. I braided this bread, but you could easily turn this into any shape you like or make a pull-apart bread for dipping.

Note: Sometimes I use sun dried tomatoes in oil, and omit the olive oil in the recipe, other times I use ones from a packet, but I use the oil from a left over jar of sun dried tomatoes that I keep in the fridge for adding flavor to dishes.

Sun-Dried Tomato Bread Recipe

Total time: 4 hour 20 min
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients

  • 500g (17.5oz) strong white bread flour
  • 300g (10.5 oz) luke warm water
  • 75g (2.5 oz) chopped Sun-Dried Tomatoes
  • 5g (1 tsp) salt
  • 7g (2 tsp) active dry yeast
  • 15g (1 tbsp) olive oil
  • Optional additions – mozzarella, goat’s cheese, blue cheese, basil, chopped olives, rosemary, cooked onion, garlic, fennel, sun dried tomato pesto

Method

  1. Mix together the flour, water and yeast into a soggy loose mass. Cover and leave for 30 mins to allow the yeast to get going and the dough to autolyse.
  2. Add the salt, half the sun dried tomatoes and the olive oil (see note above). Mix quickly together and then turn out onto a clean work surface and knead for about 5 minutes. Return to the bowl, cover and leave for 1 hour to rise.

    Dough resting

    Dough resting

  3. Punch down the dough, cover and leave for another hour to rise.
  4. Dust your work surface with semolina flour and roll out the dough into square, cover with the rest of the sun dried tomatoes and any other flavors you wish. Roll the dough into a log and cut into two pieces.

    Braided sun dried tomato dough

    Braided sun dried tomato dough

  5. Roll these two pieces into longer logs and then braid them together and put it into a baking pan.

    Braided Loaf in baking tin

    Braided Loaf in baking tin

  6. Cover the bread and leave for about an hour to rise again.
  7. Pre-heat the oven to 200C (400F). Place a small dish of water in the bottom of the oven to produce steam. Cook the bread for about 30mins.
  8. Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool before trying to slice it. With most bread, it is easier to cut if left for a day, but the smell from this bread will make you want to eat it as soon as possible.
  9. Enjoy

Apr 23

Dogs Nose Salsa (Xni Pec) – Habanero salsa from the Yucatan

Dogs Nose Salsa, or its proper name Xni Pec, is another Mexican salsa with a funny name, e.g Pico de gallo (The rooster’s beak). Xni-Pec (pronounced ‘shnee pek’) is ancient Mayan for ‘The Dog’s Nose’, probably because you’ll be sweating like a Dog’s nose after eating it because of the addition of habanero chilli peppers.

Xni Pec - Dogs nose salsa

Xni Pec – Dogs nose salsa

This habanero salsa hails from the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, not surprisingly as the Yucatan is the world’s largest producer of habaneros, and is a common table sauce throughout the region and is served at most meals. While travelling around the Yucatan a few years ago, I got addicted to this particular salsa. The fruity taste of the habaneros, along with their citrusy aroma, go particularly with the orange juice in the salsa and makes it a good accompaniment for fish, chicken or enjoyed just with tortilla chips.

Habanero Chilli Peppers

Habanero Chilli Peppers

Habanero chilli peppers used to be regarded as the hottest chilli pepper in the world, but it has lost that claim to fame many times over to chillies such as the Bhut Jolokia, Trinidad Scorpion Butch T and the Carolina Reaper. Though the habanero has lost title as the world’s hottest chilli, it still packs a mighty punch at between 100000 to 350000 Scovilles. Compare that to a Jalapeño, which most people will know of, at between 2500 to 8000 Scovilles. When preparing the habaneros for this salsa you can choose to discard the seeds if you want, but don’t be mistaken that you will have reduced the heat, as chilli peppers have the majority of their heat in the placenta, i.e. the white pith.

XniPec de Yucatan – Dogs Nose Salsa

Total time: 45 mins

Ingredients

  • 1 medium ripe tomato
  • 1 small onion
  • 2 or 3 Habanero peppers
  • Juice from half an orange
  • Juice from half a lime
  • 1 small handful of cilantro (fresh coriander)
  • Salt to taste

Method

  1. First roast the Habanero peppers and remove the skins. See this post how to roast peppers.

    Roasted Habanero Peppers

    Roasted Habanero Peppers

  2. Chop the chiles finely and add to a bowl.
  3. Finely dice the tomato, onion and cilantro and add them to the bowl with the habaneros.
  4. Add the orange and lime juices to the bowl and combine.

    Xni-Pec ingredients

    Xni-Pec ingredients

  5. Add some salt to taste
  6. Refrigerate the Xni-pec for about half an hour before serving to allow the flavors to blend together.
  7. Serve with grilled meats or with tortilla chips as a snack.

Apr 13

Our favourite Tex-Mex Recipes, food and a bit of Mexican

Tex-Mex is a great example of a crossover or fusion cuisine that is a relatively recent invention and by saying that particular Tex-Mex Recipes are authentic don’t really have much historically backing, though Tex Mex food in its own right has developed some ‘classics’ such as the burrito.

Tex-Mex

Tex-Mex CC image by JD Hancock

The Cuisines of Mexico - Diana Kennedy

The Cuisines of Mexico – Diana Kennedy

The word Tex Mex gives a hint to where its influences come from, i.e. Texas and Mexico, specifically North Mexico, though the term wasn’t really used in the U.S. before the 1940s and it wasn’t until the 1970s when Diana Kennedy’s cookbook, The Cuisines of Mexico, clearly ‘drew a line in the sand’ between Mexican and food from North of the border.

While living in Texas, I was speaking to a recent immigrant from Mexico and we got chatting about food, and he said that one of the main differences between Mexican and Tex-Mex food is that cheese in Mexico is white and used as ingredient, while Tex-Mex cheese is yellow and used as a topping. Though, to be fair, cheese is a pretty recent ingredient in Mexico too, as dairy was introduced by European explorers in the 16th Century as well as wheat, rice, garlic, pork, chicken, beef, sheep, goat and new herbs and spices. Until then the Mesoamerican basic food staples were corn (maize), beans and peppers with a little meat such as turkey.

Most Mexican restaurants that you find outside of Mexico will most likely be a Tex Mex restaurant, serving dishes such as burritos, fajitas, chili con carne, nachos, and chimichangas which are all Tex-Mex, alongside dishes such as enchiladas, salsa, guacamole, tostada, pico de gallo, quesadillas, corn tortillas, mole and Chile Relleno which are all Mexican in origin.

Our Best Tex Mex Recipes and Mexican inspired dishes

A small selection of some of our favourite Mexican and Tex-Mex Recipes

Apr 08

Carnitas – Delicious Mexican Slow Cooked Pulled Pork

At our friends Cecilia and Eric I had the best tasting carnitas I’ve ever had. Being from Texas they were homesick for some comforting food and searched out for the best carnitas recipe they could find and tweak it. After living in Houston, I’ve tried carnitas many times, but theirs was truly delicious. Carnitas are a bit like pulled pork, but instead of just braising the meat to get the meat to break down, carnitas are also fried to give a delicious crunchy edge to them.

Tacos de carnitas

Tacos de carnitas

Carnitas are a popular street food originally from Michoacán, a Mexican State to the west of Mexico City, but are now found all over Mexico and the Southern states of the US. The name carnitas translates as ‘little meats and are usually served as tacos de carnitas. An authentic carnitas recipe uses nothing more than a whole pig, salt, lard, water and a little lime juice, cooked in a large copper pot called a Cazo for hours until the meat becomes crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. There is a similar dish found in the Yucatan, Mexico called Cochinita pibil, a Mayan dish, but it uses roasted baby pig and isn’t fried.

Making carnitas at oven doesn’t have to involve the whole pig but it is best to try and get a cut of meat from the shoulder of the pig such as Boston Butt, picnic ham or neck as these have enough fat to fry the meat without adding any-more and also are suitable for long slow braising. Though you could make carnitas in a slow cooker or in the oven, these will still take a bit more effort than this simpler method of braising and then frying in a large stove-top pan such as a cast iron Dutch oven.

Pork neck

Pork neck

Carnitas Recipe

Total time: 3 hours

  • 3 lbs (1.4kg) of boneless pork shoulder
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) of freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp of salt

Method

  1. Cut the pork into chunks about 1.5” (40cm) in size and cut the garlic in half.
  2. Mix together the orange and lime juice, the cumin and salt in the Dutch oven. Place the meat and the garlic into the mixture and then cover the meat with enough water to just cover it.

    Pork having a Margarita bath

    Pork having a Margarita bath

  3. Bring the pot to the boil and then reduce to a simmer. Leave uncovered for 2 hours and do not stir or touch in any way. The meat will initially swell up, but during the braise it will shrink and the water will evaporate.
  4. After 2 hours, increase the heat to medium high and occasionally stir the meat. The rest of the liquid will now evaporate and the meat will now fry in its own fat creating crispy edges. Depending on whether you want the carnitas to completely break down like pulled pork or to stay as larger chunks this process will take between 30 and 45 minutes.

    Carnitas starting to break down

    Carnitas starting to break down

  5. Serve in warm corn tortillas with thinly sliced onions, cilantro (fresh coriander), guacamole or whatever you prefer such as a topping for salad with sour cream or on a dish with refried beans, salsa or pico de gallo.
Salad with pork carnitas, sour cream and salsa

Salad with pork carnitas, sour cream and salsa

Once you try this really simple way of making pulled pork you’ll find it hard to go back to the old way of making it again. Also though pork is the traditional meat of choice when making carnitas Duck, chicken and beef could also be used to make tasty alternatives.