Serge the Concierge

Dilled Meatballs Recipe from Food From Many Greek Kitchens, Spoon Required

Meatloaf might be too heavy a dish for summer.

Meatballs can always be put to use.

Here's a second recipe from Food from Many Greek Kitchens (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2011) by Tessa Kiros.

Yuvarlakia-Dilled Meatballs Recipe:

Serves 5 or 6

14 ounces ground beef

14 ounces ground pork

1 egg, lightly beaten

½ cup medium-grain rice

½ teaspoon ground allspice

5 tablespoons coarsely chopped dill

5 tablespoons coarsely chopped italian parsley

1 large red onion, grated on the large holes of a grater

2 tablespoons olive oil

5¼ ounces milk salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons each chopped dill and parsley stalks

²⁄³ cup shelled peas (about 10½ ounces unshelled)

2 tablespoons chopped italian parsley, extra

1 tablespoon chopped dill, extra

2 eggs

juice of 2 lemons

  This is a lovely dilly brothy dish to be eaten with a spoon. I use a large cast-iron pot, but a high-sided nonstick pan is good, too. I love this with some peas, but the traditional way is without.

  Mix the beef, pork, egg, rice, allspice, dill, parsley, onion, olive oil and milk in a nice big bowl and add pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt. Knead very well. Break off pieces of about 1½ ounces, and roll them into compact balls.

  Heat a large pot and add the meatballs in 2 batches with no oil. Put the lid on and cook on high heat until the color of the meatballs changes and they firm up enough for you to turn them. When their undersides are lightly golden, turn them. Cook until golden all over, then transfer to a plate. Do the next batch, add all back to the pot and cook until golden. Add 6 cups of water, about ½ teaspoon of salt and a little pepper, and the dill and parsley stalks. Cover and simmer gently for about 50 minutes. The meatballs will look like hedgehogs and that’s the way they are, but if you boil them too hard, they might break up. Add the peas and simmer until tender but still green, about 10 minutes; it must be nice and brothy ( you will still be adding the egg and lemon sauce ), so add a little more hot water as you think necessary. Add the extra parsley and dill, then turn off the heat.

  Whisk the eggs and lemon juice in a bowl with ½ teaspoon of salt. Add a ladleful of the meatball broth, whisk in to acclimatize, then add another ladleful. Pour it back into the pot and gently stir with a wooden spoon. Leave for a minute or two for the sauce to thicken a bit, holding the pot and shuffling. Taste for salt. Serve warm, with a good grind of pepper.

(* Dilled meatballs recipe from Food from Many Greek Kitchens reproduced courtesy of Andrews McMeel Publishing, photography by Manos Chatzikonstantis)

Wear Artichoke as a Brooch, Eat it as Ricotta and Artichoke Torta, Delicious Jewels

Stefan and Sylveli Hemmerle of German jewellery House of Hemmerle call their new collection a jeweled vegetable garden of delights.

To shine a new light on this line, they asked Tamasin Day-Lewis to create a dozen recipes to go with this jeweled vegetable garden, all brooch except for the 'carrots' earrings.

The jewels and the recipes share the stage in Delicious Jewels (Prestel, 2011)

The Breton in me had to choose the Artichoke brooch (Copper, white gold, purple sapphires) and Ricotta and Artichoke Torta as first in show.

Ricotta and Artichoke Torta Recipe:

Serves 6-8, Preheat oven to 200 Degrees C ? Gas Mark 6

This is a bit of a showstopper of a dish for a summer lunch, buffet or picnic: it can be served hot, warm or at room temperature and is really a savoury cheesecake, dense with ricotta and Pecorino, a confetti of summer herbs, and jewels of artichoke lurking in every slice. Please go to a good cheese shop and find fresh ricotta, not the tasteless industrial tubs, and a well-aged Pecorino Sardo for depth and complexity of flavour. Ready-prepared artichokes in oil or brine are not good enough for this dish; you need the flavour of the fresh ones.

You will need a 22 com springform cake tin to make the torta in.

Ingredients:

6 large artichokes, prepared and cooked in acidulated water at a roiling boil until tender

900g fresh ricotta

3 large organic eggs, separated

3 tbsp each chopped basil and parsley

1 tbsp each chopped rosemary, thyme and sage

3 heaped tbsp freshly grated Pecorino Sardo

25g unsalted butter

1 tbsp brown breadcrums torn from a stale loaf and dried until crisp in a low oven

Sea salt and black pepper

Directions:

When the artichokes are cool enough to handle, remove their chokes and slice the flesh into chunks, including as much of the stem as possible that is not tough to the knife.

Turn the ricotta into a large bowl and stir in the egg yolks, then the herbs and the Pecorino. Season well.

Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Stir in the first spoonful; the mixture will feel pretty dense, but don't worry. Fold in the rest of the whites quickly and lightly, adding the artichokes at the end and folding them in evenly. Butter the springform tin generously, then add the breadcrumbs and press them to the base and sides of the tin.

Scrape the mixture into the tin and put on the middle shelf of the pre-heated oven.

Check after 50 minutes. If the top has turned golden brown and the torta has set when you shake the tin a little, remove it and place on a rack. cooking time can be anywhere from 50-60 minutes.

Rest on the rack for 10 minutes before unhinging the tin sides and turning the torta upside down onto a plate to serve. You may wish to sprinkle a little extra finely chopped parsley and basil over the top for their fresh greenness.

If you are serving the torta warm or at room temperature, don't turn it out onto the serving dish until it has cooled for 30 minutes. Serve with a feisty green salad: some watercress, avocado, finely sliced raw fennel, celery, a few mustard leaves, cos lettuce, whatever is in season, dressed with a good slug of peppery olive oil and some mellow, aged balsamic vinegar.

A good alternative is some heritage tomatoes simply quartered and dressed with a few drops of white wine vinegar followed by a sprinkle of sea salt.

(* Hemmerle ‘artichoke’ brooch from Delicious Jewels with Tamasin Day-Lewis, Copper, white gold, purple sapphires,  Courtesy Hemmerle...Recipe from Hemmerle’s Delicious Jewels with Tamasin Day-Lewis, Recipe Photography by Simon Wheeler...Courtesy Hemmerle)

Munching on Artisan Cookies for Grown Ups, 8 Takes by Lark Fine Foods

Our latest, newest (tastier?) feature Mouth Pleasers has not found its rhythm yet, its frequency.

In keeping with the idea of covering all gourmet goods, we follow our first installment, gluten-free (some spicy) Miss Jenny's Pickles by munching on artisan cookies for grown ups thanks to family owned Lark Fine Foods located in Essex, Massachusetts.

Options go from savory provencal inspired Scourtins (black olive wafers) to Russian Teacakes (nut butter cookies rolled in confectioner's sugar).

Amongst the 8 numbers in their repertoire, the only ones I did not have a chance to taste were Russian Teacakes.

I took a special liking to Salted Rosemary Shortbread (touch of sea salt) which will be at home with a tray of amuses and the Whole Grain Lady Birds, oat cookies with cranberries and bittersweet chocolates, nice crumbly mouth feel.

Runner up would be Cha-Chas, right combination of spice and chocolate for a palate seasing experience.

Filling in for the Cookie Monster...

Handcrafted Popsicles from Locopops to King of Pops, Talk of the South Spotted

Getting tired of sitting in your air-conditioned house, it might be time to head for the sweet version of a cooling station, the local gourmet popsicle shop.

Garden and Gun magazine did not wait until the summer heat was upon us to offer a roadmap to their favorite pop stops in the South with The Popsicle Gourmet (May 12).

They start by noting that 'inspired by Mexican-style ice pops called paletas, traditionally made with fresh seasonal fruit, today’s pops go well beyond the syrupy sweet concoctions you remember as a kid.'

They quote Summer Bicknell owner of Locopops as recommending Raspberry Hibiscus and Cucumber Chili. The North Carolina pop sensation has 3 locations in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. The article mentions that Summer Bicknell also offers the "nana-nilla, a homemade version of banana pudding frozen and put on a stick."

The other mini conglomerate of cool listed by Popsicle Gourmet is King of Pops run by trio of brothers. Their pop carts can be found around town in Athens, Atlanta, Asheville and Charleston. Check their website for days, times of roving locations.

Year round flavors are:

• Arnold Palmer
• Banana Puddin'
• Chocolate Sea Salt
• Coconut Lemongrass
• Grapefruit Mint
• Mexican Chocolate
• Raspberry Lime
• Strawberry Lemonade

Other picks from Popsicle Gourmet are Las Paletas in Nashville and Meltdown in New Orleans.

Feel free to add your own favorites to the list.

Stay cool!

(* Top pops image courtesy of Locopops)

Fleur de Sel Caramels Recipe from Miette Cookbook by Meg Ray

A couple weeks ago, i shared a Lime Meringue Tart recipe from Miette cookbook (Chronicle Books, summer 2011).

Here's a second helping from this treat of a book.

Fleur de Sel Caramels Recipe by Meg Ray

Although many people feel they have to choose between a hard and soft caramel, Miette’s are right in the middle. The trick to controlling the texture is in the temperature, so you must use a candy thermometer and watch it very carefully. If you let the temperature rise above 246 degrees F, the result will be a hard, chewy candy. If it doesn’t reach that temperature, the caramel will be gooey and pale. We make our caramels dark and buttery with flakes of fleur de sel to finish.

Be sure to cook it in a medium saucepan (at least 6 quarts), as the bubbling mixture will double in volume.

Makes sixty-four 1-inch square caramels

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 ¼ cup whole milk

2 cups (14 ounces) granulated sugar

1 ¼ cups (8 ounces) light brown sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup light corn syrup

3 tablespoons water

¼ cup Fleur de sel for sprinkling

Butter the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking dish or casserole. Line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper long enough to extend over two opposite sides by about 3 inches, to use later as a handle, if needed.

In a medium saucepan, combine the cream, milk, granulated and brown sugars, salt, butter, corn syrup, and water. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Place over medium-low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixtures reaches 246 degrees F, about 30 to 40 minutes.

When the caramel reaches the correct temperature, remove it from the heat and pour the hot caramel into the buttered pan, scraping out any caramel clinging to the sides of the pan. Be careful because the caramel is very hot. Let the caramel cool for 15 minutes and sprinkle with fleur de sel, then let the caramel cool completely to room temperature. Wrap the baking dish in plastic wrap and refrigerate the whole pan for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 1/2 hours to help it set up and make cutting the caramels easier.

To remove the caramel from the pan, loosen the sides by running the tip of a knife around the edges. Lift the caramel out using the parchment paper “handles.” If it resists, warm the bottom of the pan briefly with a kitchen torch or over a stove burner. Turn the caramel out onto waxed paper on a cutting board. Measure 1-inch intervals along the sides, and then cut the caramel into 1-inch squares. Peel the caramel squares from the parchment paper.

Wrap each caramel in a square of waxed paper or candy cellophane and twist both ends. Store the caramels in an airtight container for up to 10 days.

(* An excerpt from Miette, recipes from San Francisco's most charming pastry shop (June 2011) by Meg Ray with Leslie Jonath, photographs by Frankie Frankeny, reproduced by permission of Chronicle Books, all rights reserved)

Taste Tonga with Heilala Vanilla Syrup, Now at William Sonoma U.S Stores

I first heard about Heilala Vanilla while interviewing New Zealand born, London based chef Peter Gordon...

Since then I had the privilege to taste their intoxicating vanilla paste and mentioned them on numerous occasions.

Here's how Heilala Vanilla came to be:

"Behind this most intoxicating vanilla lies a story. What started as a gift of land from a Tongan chief turned into an aid project and then a flourishing business.  Our family was lured by the unspoiled beauty of the Vava’u Islands in the Kingdom of Tonga and the beautiful people.  Using our horticultural background and research facilities in Tauranga New Zealand, a Vanilla Plantation came to pass."

They chose 4th of July week to introduce the Heilala Vanilla Syrup to American audiences.

All you have to do is make a trip to your local William Sonoma store and it will be there, waiting, ready to tease your palate.

Heilala Vanilla Syrup is perfect company for pancakes or waffles. 

Surprise you guests with a Heilala Vanilla Martini or Virgin Mixed Drinks like a Vanilla Passion.

For simple pleasures, pour it over ice cream.

Heilala Vanilla Syrup retails for $14.

We are happy to share the intoxicating flavors of Heilala Vanilla with this Sponsored Post.

(* Photo by Waine Tait)

Pickle Me Jenny, Pickle Me Ashlee with Your Made in North Carolina Miss Jenny's Pickles

I have to confess a weakness for cornichons with a slice of Pâté.

It does not mean that I will pass on other pickles.

I can indulge in them with a burger (skip the bun, please no ketchup, whole grain mustard).

Last week I was introduced to Miss Jenny's Pickles from Kernersville, North Carolina.

Call them a food start up if you want since I had the pleasure to talk very briefly to both founders.  First I introduced myself to Jenny who I guess minds the pickling and she passed me along to Ashlee who handles the shipping and took note of my address.

The 2 mompreneurs turned lemons into lemonade when they lost their jobs in the financial industry during the recession and launched Miss Jenny's Pickles.

4 options are offered, Signature Salt & Pepper, All-Natural Traditional Bread & Butter, All-Natural Jalapeno Salt & Pepper and their Award Winning All-Natural Habanero Bread & Butter.

I am partial to the flavor kick from their Jalapeno and Habanero pickles.

All pickles are pre-sliced.

Note they also gluten free (except the bread and butter I guess).

Their secret sauce, family recipes passed along from Miss Jenny's grandma MawMaw.

So far their pickles can be found mostly in the South except for a store in Pennsylvania and one in Minnesota.

I am sure it will not take long before all 50 states fall under their spell.

Pickle me Jenny, Pickle me Ashlee with your made in North Caroline Miss Jenny's Pickles.

Real Pickles by and for Real People.

With Miss Jenny's Pickles we start what should be an every other day take on new Edible Favs and Mouth Pleasers.

Want to be featured in future instalments, contact us first and let us know what you have to offer.