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Monday, August 11, 2014

[Recipe] Couscous of Götz

I got this recipe from Götz, my culinary light. This recipe turns couscous into something quite special! You can tune your own intensity for the dish - if you are serving this as a side dish and you want to highlight your main dish, you may want to tune down the intensity a bit by adding more water and less stock.

You will need:

- Couscous - for every 500g couscous, you will need 1L of liquid
     - You can use between 100% stock to a 50:50 mixture of stock and water, but never less.

Tip: If you are serving fish, use vegetable stock or fish stock. If you are serving beef, chicken... well use your imagination.

For 500g couscous:
- 1/2 Leek
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1/4 cup Olive oil
- Lemons

What to do:
In a heavy pot with a lid, cook chopped leeks with the olive oil for about 3 minutes in medium heat until soft. Add crushed garlic and cook another 2 minutes. Add stock and bring to a boil. You may add salt and pepper at this time. Add couscous, mix and close lid. Cook another minute and turn the heat off. Fluff the couscous with a fork, serve. Sprinkle lemon zest and juice. Simple!

I made this dish using 1 kg of couscous and a 50:50 stock and water ratio in a 24cmØ Le Creuset cast iron pot. It was amazing. Cheers to Götz, my culinary father.

Dish Modification
You can add spices like paprika, a Moroccan spice mix... whatever you want. Chillies also give a good kick. I like eating this drizzled with chopped chillies drowned in a pool of good olive oil.

Touch of Olive Oil food blog

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Crépes like in Strasbourg... In Sydney.

On my visit to Strasbourg, Alsace, France just a few months ago I came across something quite beautiful - classic French crépes. There I got them simply smothered with butter and sugar. It was thin, expertly crafted - quite divine.

It was until my friend took me to what she said was a really good crépe place that I did not believe I could experience the same in Sydney. So we walked up to Randwick from UNSW to a little place called Four Frogs Créperie where we had a really good lunch.

Feeling for something lighter, I ordered a spinach and feta crepe. It looked (and tasted) very, very good. But everything was overshadowed by my friends' two crepes: A mammoth cheese-mushroom-egg-chicken monster and a decedent caramel-ice cream-almond sweet crépe. Now, those two.... were really really good. So yes, the crépes were just like the ones I had in Strasbourg - not too thick and with a slight edge of beautiful crispiness.


Their menu

Definitely the winner crépe. Mushrooms, chicken, cheese and egg savoury crepe.

Do's: Forget your diet. Order the ones that you really want!

Verdict: Magnifique, oui.

My first experience with herring. SWEDISH STYLE!

It was my fascination with everything Swedish that fuelled my urge to visit my local Ikea store on a cold sunday evening. I arrived at the store 30 minutes before its closing and for the first time, I got myself something quintessentially Swedish: Pickled Herring. It took my a couple of minutes to decide which one to get - they've got a pretty impressive selection, Ikea. From mustard to sour cream-enhanced. I got the more traditional option - dill flavoured herrings in a glass jar they called "Sill Dill"

My swedish side knew what to do immediately upon the opening of the herring jar - simply served with potatoes with a healthy dollop of sour cream.

SILL DILL
By IKEA FOOD

Never judge a herring by its appearance. Although it looked a bit, well frankly, nasty - looks in this case shall deceive you. The smell was familiar - fishy and laced with sweetness. The taste was sweet too, which was a surprise. Those black balls I think are juniper berries.

Served it with sour cream and potatoes - which complemented the herring beautifully.

Herring close up. SILL DIL!

Verdict: AWESOME!

So get yourself to the nearest Ikea store and get yourself some herring! Unless you live somewhere without access to this blue and yellow mecca of Swedish awesomeness - in that case, I feel sorry for you.