A Mother's REACTION ! ....sharing kidneys....

‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’ #24   “A Mother’s REACTION…. shaRing kidneys”

  “A MOTHER’s  REACTION… ShaRiNG  KiDNeyS ” 

 

  My Jewish  genes are 100 percent…even though the lifestyle and non-beliefs are most definitely Secular !     Sometimes  those old  traditions  creep though…especially when it comes to cuisine  and  flavours , and  adding that EXTRA spoon of ‘whatever’ , onto my dinner guest’s  plate when dishing portions too!

My culinary quests…my cooking varieties….are vast and variable and  do not adhere to Jewish law/lore…

A mountain of my kichel

So one Friday evening, with  The Mother  as guest at our table, while enjoying the ‘far-better-than-homemade’ suburb-of-Sea Point JewishDeli delights of gefilte fish, sweet chopped herring, chopped liver decorated with chopped boiled egg – the hard-boiled yellow yolk separate from the hard-boiled egg white – just for aesthetic purpose,  chrain (horseradish) too – a choice ‘nog al’  of white(strong) , and red (with grated beetroot), and of course, My  homemade kichel, I spoke of ‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’ ,  and the progress of readership and the amazingly far reaches she had achieved: from Russia to Malaysia …besides the conventional U.K to New Zealand, Oz to USA…Germany to France….and L-a-t-v-i-a too!

 The Mother   is a strict Critic of my ramblings and my sometimes too convoluted style, and when I showed her the ‘Blog’ about  a  PORK CHOPS    recipe…she absolutely fLinCHeD !

 …The colour drained from those cheeks of stylish blush , the eyes: -  a-twitter, for a split second were as round as saucers,  a loud inhaled GASP  heard!…and  Her  sheer reaction, ‘My M’‘, sitting across the dinner table from  Her  , did show was quite comical ! ...unintended, but so!......and thus  Her  hiccups began!

And so?....should  I write of sheep’s brains, …or tripe,……or how to prepare ram’s penis?  - a recipe from traditional Jewish Yemenite cuisine -  No! …after all, who knows if any of that   is KOSHER?!!  …not to even think of the appetite appeal!!!

…And come-to-think-of-it…. A leg of lamb is not supposedly kosher, as it is part of the ‘hind-quarter’… so?.. , is that ram’s  penis  comf’tably  kosherly “kosher” ?   ..huh !

So, I’ll revert to my childhood, and the occasional “OLD FASHIONED”  treat  that, until a few years back, I’d totally forgotten about…a delectable dish rarely proffered in this modern era.  Yes, whom of ‘ You ‘  have sampled the flavour of lamb KIDNEYS-ON-TOAST!

And so! ...when ‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’   is on a quest to purchase 7 lamb kidneys at BloodyPack’nPiyClaremont supermarket ,  and discovers a choice of none, corners  ButcherBoy,  and won’t leave his counter until 7 plump kidneys are miraculously found…welllll, cut out from the yet-to-be-portioned meat. They know to clean and trim them, as a service, too.

                              

And so to recipes…..   

 LAMBS’ KIDNEYS  – ON TOAST  

A feast of lambs' kidneys-on-toast

To some of ‘ You ‘, this might seem a little out of your comfort zone – but go-on, worth a try!    7 kidneys are enough as a meal for 2, plus leftovers…or generous too, for 3 servings.

 Ingredients:

7 kidneys

1 cup milk (for pre-soaking)

50g ( about ¼ cup BUTTER)

4 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon Bisto (optional) …this is brown gravy powder..you could substitute some beef stock powder

½ teaspoon white pepper

½ teaspoon salt (or more to taste)

2 tablespoons brandy

 ½ cup boiling water

Further salt and white pepper to taste – if necessary!

Slices of toast for serving – ‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’   traditionally prefers white toast for this dish.

 METHOD:

1) As ‘a-shortcut-slightly-spoilt-and-uncomplicated’   cook,   I make sure first that my “mise en place” (pronounced “ miz ɑ̃ plas “ ), is done!  - it’s a French phrase - literally means:  "putting in place" -  ….I suppose it’s the  ‘pre-preparation’

~ Remember  to  prepare  your  “mise en place”… think  ahead of  what  dishes,  utensils and ingredients  you’ll  need for your  ‘prep’ , as you won’t  want  to  be  handling cupboard  doors and clean  dishes  when  your  hands  are  busy  with  kidneys!~

2)  With a thin non-serrated flat-blade sharp kitchen knife, slice each kidney, length-wise, in half.  I use a “paring” knife.

3)  Remove the white fat with same knife.

4)  Slice kidneys into small squares, about 1 ½ cm  to 2cm square

5)  In a glass bowl, soak these cut kidneys in the milk for at least 30 minutes – (this removes much of the “ever-so-slightly-unpleasant” smell of raw kidneys! )

*** If I remember, I do so the day before and leave soaking in a GLASS bowl, overnight in the fridge –covered with clingfilm.

6)  Drain the kidneys

7)  In a separate bowl, mix the flour, Bisto/beefstock powder, salt, white pepper, and coat the cubed kidneys, scoop up the kidneys and shake off excess seasoned flour (set aside to use with the cooking process)

8)  In a large frying pan, gently melt the butter, add the kidneys, and stir to brown them…just about 2 minutes on high-ish heat

9)  Add the brandy, stirring as not to stick

10) Sprinkle the remaining seasoned flour into the pan, stir around, then…

11) Add the boiling water, taste to see if need more salt and white pepper, then cover with a lid,…simmer on LOW  heat for 15 minutes.

Serve on slices of toast. Mmmmmmmmmm……..

A mouth-watering dish -  kidneys-on-toast

Till nest time...

'COOKINGWITHMAVIS’

"...To arrange an orange"

‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’ #23      “…To arrange an orange”

 As the years progress, ANYTHING with the flavour of orange turns my tastebuds into a tizzzzzzzz!

I fixate during Winter, on every orange peel that I waste…knowing that I REALLY should, prior to peeling, grate the living daylights off every pith, and save all that gloriously fragrant oily rind…scoop it off my grater, and into one of many miniature freezer-containers, to keep for the “ what-if’ s ” in Summer, when oranges just aren’t readily available, and I might need a tablespoon-or-two of  glorious rind  as flavouring!

But do I ? ....do I   have the patience to stop all that I’m  doing? … or to delay the taste gratification of juicy peeled orange segments downing my  gullet, by grating BEFORE  peeling  those  glorious globes?

Well, just occasionally, do I  manage to get that sequence right!

...seldom, but sometimes, I   have the willpower to grate the rind for “freezer hibernation”, mmmmm…yes! ...for summer storage! ...meanwhile, let me introduce you to one of my favourite  adaptations of orange and almond decadence……

And so to recipes…..

 Whole Orange & Almond Bundt cake…  

A Bundt baking tin is a heavy, fluted ring pan.

Whole-orange and almond bundt cake

Texture and moisture are the immediate sensations that make this cake so deliciously scrumptious!   Don’t expect a light and fluffy featherlight cake, ‘cos this isn’t it!

This is the kind of cake you proffer just a sliver, as a sliver is a sample slice, ample to savour!     I use both butter AND oil in this recipe – butter for flavour, and oil to keep this cake moist. 

Heavy, and textured, full-bodied with chunky pieces of tangy orange rind and the crunch of toasted almonds, together with a hint of almond flavour mixing with the tangy orange rind makes each piece very “more-ish”!  Mmmmmmmmm……….

A slice of heavenly, heavy, moist orange and almond bundt cake

INGREDIENTS:           

2 whole large oranges, with the peel-and-all… pips removed

6  ‘jumbo’-size eggs (‘extra large’ will do too)

250 g  butter (1 cup)

90 ml  sunflower oil

2 cups sugar

2 cups cake flour

1 cup semolina

4 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped almonds (without the skins)

¼ teaspoon almond extract 

Coarsely chopped whole oranges

Lightly toasted chopped almonds

The Glaze :

½ cup water

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons marmalade

2 tablespoons apricot jam

 METHOD:

Bundt tin filled with thick orange/almond cake batter

1)  Measure a cupful of slivered / chopped almonds and gently toast in a dry frying pan on medium heat, …keep on shaking them around so that they don’t get brown, letting them change only slightly in colour.  You’ll know when it is enough as the heat brings out the aroma!

2)  In a Pyrex glass jug, melt the butter and oil gently, on low in the microwave, or in a small pot on the stove, just enough to gently melt the butter – then leave to cool a little.

3)  Cut the oranges into quarters, and blitz by short pulsing in a food processor (you could chop by hand into rough pea-size pieces) – you don’t want to blend to a purée!

4)  Grease the bundt tin ( I spray with ‘Spray ‘n Cook’)

5)  Into a bowl mix together the flour / semolina / salt / baking powder.

6)  Preheat oven to 180 ° C

7)  In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar well.

8)  At medium speed, add the melted cooled butter/oil mixture.

9)  Add almond extract.

10)  Fold in a few spoonfuls of the flour mix and alternate with a few spoonfuls of the chopped orange (starting and ending with the flour mix).

11)  Fold in the cupful of toasted almonds, then gently pour batter into the bundt tin, and bake @ 180  ̊ C for 60 minutes …or until a sharp knife inserted, comes out clean – it might need a further 7 minutes only.

12)  When ready, remove from oven and leave to cool for ½ hour.

13)  With a spatula or small round-tipped knife, gently prize the edges of the cake from the central funnel and the sides of the baking tin.

14)  Quickly invert, turn tin upside down, and place on a baking rack to cool further, and when cooled for at least 1 hour, gently try to lift the bundt tin off the cake.

15) Spoon the warm glaze over the cake.

 To make the glaze  :

- In a heavy-based pot, bring the sugar and water to the boil

- Add the marmalade and apricot jam,

- Stir till thickens

- Leave to cool about 20 minutes

- Then spoon over the cake

- You can scoop up excess glaze that escapes under that rack, and put it again and  again , onto the cake!

Voila!   …Cut thin slices of heavy moist dense whole orange and almond flavours to tantalize your tastebuds! ….it’s   HEAVEN !!!!

 - c'est  la meilleure chose jamais !   ......    - is  the best  thing  EVER  !   

Moist, textured, crunchy Whole-orange and Almond bundt cake

                           ……OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOrange….

To view ‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’s   previous blogs,  just scroll up to the top right, and click on the previous YEAR… or any month, to see….

-  ” Crisp Creamcheese ”  , 

-  “  …‘Mavis’ s  Breasts ”   ,…. 

-  “ To Eat an Artichoke”   , …

-  “ Jewish Chicken Soup”   ,…

- “  Preserved Goose ”  , ….

And my favourite:

…all about YOU  , is blog #13 : –

“ Behind the Scenes ”  …and more !

Till next time….

     ‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’   

"Slow-roasted tomatoes"

‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’ #22   “Slow-roasted tomatoes - use red-and-ripe…”

                                                       

Friend Lee -and-Me, we arranged to meet early one Saturday morning at the Hope Street Food Market in Cape Town’s “East Village”….

Now, sadly I arrive well-fed , having downed at home, a scrumptious breakfast of assortment of fruits accompanied by Spar Brand GREEK DOUBLE-CREAM yoghurt, and glorious Moerse Padstaal’s thick crunchy toast with lashings of butter and Mad’s Marmalade (see blog #10   – “Crisp Creamcheese”), thus appetite none, to confuse the tastebuds with the enticing , mouthwateringly glorious selection of wonderful foods…

The smells and aromas, the visuals, the proffered tastings, the ……

Some being made while you wait …and others ‘prêt à manger’ (ready-to-eat).

And then stumbled upon, the veritable variety of preserves and bottled goods..and GOOD HEAVEN S- ! ….Such a stranomical   price for a  bloody  jar of  slow-roasted tomatoes  in  olive oil !!!  Helllllsteeth : …I-CAN-DO-THAT!...so do that I did, and did so, so well !

Soon after, I happed to be at favourite Fruit-and-Veg City , and saw they had a “Special”…whole boxes of tomatoes for next-to-nothing, so two I bought……….I won’t tell you that it took 4½plus  bloomin’ hours for roasting @ 150 *C

So , if you think that I am going to, yet again, wait 4½ hours for those bloomin’ tomatoes to slow-roast in my oven, you must be dreaming!!!  Just the cost of electricity used, is mindboggling…and the next visit to Fruit-and-Veg , I had an epiphany !   Yes!..they had 500g packs of  BABY  ITALIAN  ROSA  TOMATOES   on “Special”…..you know, the size of cocktail tomatoes: red ’n ripe ‘n shiny too !   

A genius I might not be-e-e-e…. but  lightbulbs  whirring in that head-of-mine, that very Mind   –  My Mind    tingling with pride, when I realise that BABY  ROSA TOMATOES   would  HAVE-TO  roast at far less time…thus making this farrrrrrr more economical…flavour same, flavourful, flavoursome!  

So.... 6 packs   I  did  procure!

…&&&&&&&….. A note of nostalgia :

My first experience of such flavours was in Rome, on regular sojourns to Italy and “The South” being Sicily,  in the early 1980s . Sundried  tomatoes  in  olive oil is so typically Sicilian!...a common dish to ‘‘Them’’,  yet a delicacy to Others….and the flavour, so much the delicious same as slow-roasted  too!, perhaps texture much different…..

                                                                                        

And so to recipes…..

      SLOW-ROASTED TOMATOES

               ***************************************

Slow-roasted tomatoes

INGREDIENTS:

Ingredients for Slow-roasted tomatoes

1)  I used 6 bags of 500g each (thus 3 kg baby tomatoes)..the yield was 8 generous assorted sized jars – average size: 250ml to 350ml

2)  Fresh garlic cloves sliced into thin slivers – quantity according to your preference…about 6 large garlic cloves

3)  1 tablespoon coarse (Kosher) salt sprinkled over all (you CAN use table salt- just a lesser quantity!)

4) About ½ cup olive oil drizzled over all.

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 150*C … Oven setting: …I prefer   ‘Convection’ (fan)

1)  I rinse and dry the baby tomatoes  - easiest by laying them flat between 2 clean dish towels

2) Spray 2 large oven trays/pans with ‘Spray ‘n Cook’

3) Divide all the tomatoes between 2 oven pans

4) Scatter the thinly sliced garlic cloves amongst the tomatoes

5) Scatter the coarse salt amongst the tomatoes

6) Sprinkle the olive oil sparingly over all…and shake the trays to coat the tomatoes

7) Put both trays of prepared baby tomatoes into the hot oven

8) Roast uncovered for at least 2 ½ hours…until they begin to wrinkle

9) Remove from oven, and put a “Bain Marie” with the cleaned glass jars into oven immediately -  just turning down the heat to 100*C  for 15 minutes.

10) Remove jars from oven, careful when handling them as they will be too hot to touch – I use a silicone glove, you can use those dishtowels, and fill each jar ½ full with the roasted tomatoes – be sure to gently scrape some of the slightly browned bits too, from the bottom of the baking pan, as well as the garlic, and carefully, a few at a time, place tomatoes into the jars, as not to break them.

11) Add about 1/8 cup good virgin olive oil to each jar, and top-up with the remaining tomatoes, and gently press them down into the jar, so that the oil comes to the top to cover them.

12) Seal jars while still warm.

Note:   if you do it right, they should last well, stored for a few months.

Once a jar has been opened, keep refrigerated..the olive oil will congeal when chilled, but takes 2 minutes to liquify at room temperature! Mmmmmmmmmmm……

Bottling :

You’ll need to sterilize the glass jars:

I begin this process 5 minutes before the tomatoes are ready to come out of the oven, so that these can go into that hot oven immediately.

I wash the jars thoroughly, then gradually pour boiling water into each jar, a little at a time, so that the jars don’t get a shock and crack.

Then once filled, empty the water into the oven pan (pan thus, to become a “Bain Marie”).

Place the jars, standing them upright, without the lids on, in a “Bain Marie” ( this is a basin of shallow water ) @ 100 *C for 15 minutes.

The lids, I soak in boiling water, then dry with a clean dishtowel.

Slow-roasted tomatoes...the proof is in the tasting!

The uses…

- These slow roasted tomatoes, marinated in olive oil, are super when you use just a few in a fresh green salad, or spread on crispy toast (ciabbata is good!)..with basil leaves and freshly cracked black pepper.

- Or Make an open sandwich with feta / pecorino /or other cheese that takes your fancy!

- Use in “sundried” tomato , soup recipes

- Blend with feta and pecorino and some olive oil, for a delicious pasta sauce!

***  Just wait till you see what’s-up NEXT  - you have a choice…ummmm?..actually , no!

 I shall decide, and surrrrrpr-r-r-r-ise you!

Oh? - have you read my very, very  1^st blog ?... “ Preserved Goose” ( “Confit  d’oie” ). Mmmmmm…….

–    see you next week…. 

‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’