Tag Archives: recipe diagram

Madame Fromage’s Semolina Crackers (book review)

December 6, 2014 Johanna 4 Comments

Another cookbook that’s become one of my favorites is Di Bruno Bros. House of Cheese: A Guide to Wedges, Recipes, and Pairings by Tenaya Darlington, aka Madame Fromage (Running Press, 2013). I have mentioned the book here several times but I think the book is worth it’s own post. First of all the book is not just a cookbook it’s an introductions to 170 different cheeses. The book is a collaboration with Di Bruno Bros., a well known cheese shop in Philadelphia.

In the book Tenaya simply tells stories around the selected cheeses, includes several ideas and tips on how to serve, what to drink and pair them with. Tenaya also teaches you how to buy a cheese and how to talk to a cheesemonger. The main purpose of the book is to help the reader find the cheese of their dreams. Unfortunately I want them all!

The book has several recipes for treats that works well with cheese, such as Lavender Mustard, Balsamic Poached Figs and Semolina Crackers (see below). There are also many cheesy recipes, for e.g. Manchego & Marcona Almond Pesto and mouth watering Grilled Peaches with Quadrello di Bufala

I’m so looking forward to her next book, which is a cocktail collaboration with her brother André Darlington. When ever I read something by Tenaya, the book or something on her website I end up hungry with a big smile on my face. Tenaya has loads of humor. Chapters as Baby Faces, Stinkers and Pierced Punks is just a few examples of her excellent wittiness!

I’m dreaming that one day Tenaya will have me over for dinner…
© Johanna Kindvall

Madame Fromage’s Semolina Crackers

(I didn’t counted them but there were plenty to serve with a cheese plate for 4 people)

As you know, I like to bake, so after receiving the book last Spring I almost immediately baked Tenaya’s Semolina Crackers (that are adapted from Heidi Swanson‘s recipe). I like the way Tenaya bakes them, just simply rolled out on a baking sheet, baked, cooled and then “cracked” with your hands before serving. You can also roll them out with a pasta machine, like I suggest here below. I have halved the recipe and changed the method slightly, otherwise it’s pretty much the same as in the book.

dough
¾ cup (123 grams) semolina flour cup
¾ cups (106 grams) all purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough
one teaspoon flaky sea salt (more if you like saltier crackers)
½ cup (about 120 ml) warm water
about 2½ tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for brushing

flavour
fresh rosemary

Mix together the water and the olive oil in a large bowl before adding the flours, sea salt and chopped rosemary. Work together well with a wooden spoon or spatula. Transfer the dough to a floured flat surface and knead for about 5 minutes. The dough should feel smooth and not sticky. Shape the dough into a ball. Place in an olive oil greased bowl. Let the dough rest in the fridge for one hour.

Cut out small pieces (size depends on how long crackers you want) and flatten them out slightly with your hands. Roll them out about 2″ wide with a rolling pin or pasta machine. Roll them out as thin as you can and desire. (I roll them out to level 5 in the pasta machine which is less than 1/8 inch thickness). Dust with more flour if the dough feels sticky.

Grease a baking sheet with olive oil. Place the long crackers on the sheet and bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown. Let the crackers cool completely (not stacked) on a flat surface. Store in airtight containers. My crackers never lasted that long, but according to Tenaya they store well up to a week.

Tenaya will have some book signings (around Philadelphia) in December (2014).

More with Tenaya Darlington on Kokblog

Your Spring Goat Cheese Primer (part 1) collaboration between Tenaya & me
Late Summer Cheese Picnic (part 2) collaboration between Tenaya & me
Smoke and Funk: A Fall Cheese Board (part 3) collaboration between Tenaya & me
How to Turn Your Desk Into a Cheese Board – guest post by Tenaya

Ceviche with Mango and Avocado

June 7, 2014 Johanna 2 Comments

Ceviche has been one of those dishes I have wanted to make for a very long time. And now I can’t stop. I like it as the illustrated recipe above, which has a great balance of spice and fruitiness. I have tried other versions as well but this one is so far my favorite.

My recipe is based on a ceviche I was treated to on my last day of 2013. The host made it with cod, which was excellent and he also included freshly cooked shrimps, which I haven’t. The lime ratio I got from Michael Ruhlman’s gorgeous looking Red Snapper Ceviche recipe as it sounded like a good measure. My recipe suggests monkfish but it works with any other white firm sea fish such as cod, tilapia, halibut etc.

1 lb (about 1/2 kg) fresh monkfish*, whole or fillets
1/2 cup (120 ml) lime juice (4-6 limes, dep. on the fruit’s juiciness you might need more or less)
1/2 shallot
one jalapeño
one mango
one avocado
cilantro
salt

If not using fillets, bone and remove skin from the fish. Rinse. Cut the fillets into small pieces (approximately 1/2″ cubes). Chop the shallot very fine. Place fish and shallots in a bowl and cover with lime juice. Make sure everything is evenly coated. The process can go quite quickly and some say it may be done in 10 minutes. All depends on how thin or thick your pieces are. I often let it marinate for 2-3 hours before I serve it. During this time, keep it cool in the refrigerator. You may check on it and stir it around a little every so often. When ready, the fish should be white and not translucent.

Just before serving: remove the seeds and chop the jalapeño finely. Cut the mango and avocado into small cubes. Place everything including the fish in a large serving bowl. Season with salt. Decorate with plenty of fresh cilantro. Serve with tortilla chips or as I sometimes do, thin knäckebröd.

* To be on the safe side it’s a good thing to get frozen fish or even freeze the fish for 2 – 3 days before making ceviche. The freezing will kill any possible parasites in the fish. I have had good results both ways. Please note that the fish, frozen or not still has to be of good quality. Here is an old article at New York Times about it.

Before buying any fish check with Seafood Watch for the most sustainable options.

Other ceviche recipes
Swordfish Ceviche with an Asian Flair by Winnie Abramson at Food52
Sea Urchin Ceviche by norecipes

Hazelnut & Cinnamon Cookies

October 11, 2013 Johanna 1 Comment

As you’ve probably noticed I haven’t been posting articles for a bit – which is a good sign I’ve been drawing other projects. Anna Brones and I have now almost finished our first draft for our book (scheduled to be published in Spring 2015). So if I haven’t been in the kitchen developing recipes I’ve been at my drawing table drawing them (or on a ladder patching and painting walls for my new home). In late July the book “The Culinary Cyclist” by Anna Brones was published. The book is illustrated by me and it’s for sale here in my SHOP. I also have many other drawing projects that I will share with you when the time is right.

Autumn is here and I don’t know about you but I think its a perfect time to crawl up on the couch with some cookies and a book.

Hazelnut & Cinnamon Cookies
35 cookies
5 oz (140 gram) butter
1/3 cup (67 g) brown sugar
2/3 cup (95 g) raw hazelnuts
1 cup (140 g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Turn the oven on to 350°F (175°C).
Toast the hazelnuts in a skillet. Blend them roughly in a food processor (or chop them into tiny pieces).
Mix together hazelnuts, sugar, butter, flour and cinnamon in a wide large bowl or directly on top of the counter. Work all quickly together with your fingertips (or with a knife) into a dough. Form two separate 7″ long rolls, about 1″ in diameter. Let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
With a sharp knife, cut about 18-20 slices to each roll. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until they are a nice color. Let the cookies cool separately from each other on a flat surface before storing them in sealed containers. The cookies can also be stored in the freezer.

Want more cookies… Coconut Macaroons

Pernod & Herb Risotto

June 13, 2013 Johanna 3 Comments

Now, in the beginning of summer, there is not much I can harvest in the garden. But there are a few things like rhubarb, mint, black currant leaves, thyme, sage, oregano, tarragon and parsley etc. The sage and the tarragon are doing well, so the other day they were successfully used in a simple risotto together with some Pernod that I found in my liquor cabinet. The risotto was served with just an apple and carrot salad, however I can imagine it will work as a side dish with many other things.

This is pretty much how I put it together: Start by sauteing some chopped onion at low heat with a generous amount of butter until soft and golden in color. Raise the heat and brown the rice for a bit before adding a little Pernod. When it starts to caramelize pour in enough vegetable stock (homemade) to cover the rice. Add fresh sage and thyme. Stir and feed with more stock whenever you need to until the rice is tender but still a little al dente. The risotto should feel thick and creamy. Add a lump of butter and freshly grated Parmesan. Stir carefully. Remove from heat and let the risotto rest covered for a couple of minutes. Decorate with fresh tarragon before serving.

Later on I will have lettuce, mustard greens, kale, spinach,beans, zucchini, carrots, beets, coriander, dill, strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, elderflower, black & red currants and many other things in my garden. Down the road there will be wild apples and black cherries. But until then I’m pleased with what I have already.

Pide (by Jeremy Shapiro)

December 2, 2012 Johanna 9 Comments

Let me present my next guest blogger here on kokblog: Jeremy Shapiro, a professional chef and incredible baker. For over 20 years Jeremy has been cooking in top kitchens in New York City and beyond. Today he is the head chef in a super secret private club in New York where he lures customers with endless sweets and savory treats.

Jeremy is also creator and editor of Stir the Pot, a food blog that he started in 2005. If you visit his site you will soon discover that bread is a major subject. Jeremy explores different kinds of baking methods as well as flour and grain types. He bakes both sweet and savory, including croissants, fruit tarts, rustic rye breads, pizza, baguettes, bagels, loaves and breads with airy crumbs & crispy crusts. This summer Jeremy started a Micro Bakery in his apartment kitchen (just bigger than a bread box according to him). I’m impressed by his energy; he seems to be active, baking and cooking 24 hours per day.

Jeremy also interviews people in the food world that he finds interesting, from professional chefs to home cooks like myself (ahem), including Ibán Yarza who has previously appeared here on kokblog as a guest blogger. He has also connected with Sandor Ellix Katz, Anthony Bourdain, Dan Lepard and many many more. I really recommend listening to his interviews, or just reading through the list of names. It’s a great and unusual recourse of inspiration.

Pide
by Jeremy Shapiro

While on my visits in Istanbul cooking for my friend in her restaurant, I would daily pass a pide restaurant. Though I never tried from this specific place, I was able to try some from a young knowledgeable baker employed by my friend. He’d show his amazing hand skills with dough’s supple and see through like durum, not the flour of the same name, but the roll up wrap style sandwich bread a common street food in Turkey. When I returned to NYC, I’d often yearn a good pide with suçuk or sujuk, a spicy sausage that can be ground or sliced to accompany a canoe shaped pide, filled with cheese, tomatoes, eggs. When I finally sourced an amazing Montenegro butchers suçuk I was in business. As well as playing with this dough for different guises, like a lamacjun or a Ramadan flat bread.

It’s a bit tricky to make pide with sourdough, so an easy and quick yeast dough is just as good.

Pide Recipe

500 grams flour (all purpose is fine)
15grams salt
12 grams yeast
25 grams sugar
300grams water

You could approach this basically like any straight dough, mix all the ingredients and bulk ferment till doubled. Then divide and shape according to your desired need. For a pide, or pizza you could take say 80g-100g of dough, roll it out with a rolling pin, or press your hands to flatten the dough oblong about 10 to 12 inches long. Keeping the ends pointy and the sides about 6 inches wide.

The choice of fillings can be anything, think local if you can, and seasonal… Though I love cheese, onion, tomatoes and egg, and yes, suçuk, that may not be a possibility to find those items. Some nice choices, beet tops and feta, or chorizo with pumpkin?

•••

more about Jeremy:
Bread Inspiration from a Master Baker – zen can cook meeting Jeremy Shapiro
You can also follow Jeremy and his work on twitter, @stirthepots