Gong Hei Fat Choi! Happy Chinese New Year

Gong Hei Fat Choi!

Happy Chinese New Year, wishing you Happiness and Wealth and Joy.

 Chinese New Year festivities start on the first day of the lunar month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is brightest.  This year the festival starts on 10 February 2013, is the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar.  Also known as the Spring Festival it celebrates the start of new life and a season of sowing and ploughing.  

In 2013 the Chinese are welcoming in the year of the Water Snake.  People born in the Year of the Snake are said to be intuitive, private and reticdent, as well as wise.  Regarded as great thinkers, they like to live a peaceful life in a quiet environment.

Crispy Aromatic Duck - the mix of heady aromatics, Chinese Five Spice, Hoi Sin Suace, and succulent crumbly meat, wrapped in little pancakes with slithers of spring onion and cucumber is a combination which is very difficult to beat. Marks and Spencer Crispy Aromatic duck is one of the finest I have tasted. Placed in a very hot over the skin crisps quickly without drying the meat. Peking duck is very difficult to make at home because of the process of curing the meat, and basting and cooking, over severals hours. This duck was restaurant quality but served at home, and its server without MSGs or other nasties.

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Duck spring roll - the sweet and savoury heady mix soft sweet duck and Chinese Five Spice, which interestingly sometimes continues seven spices, served in crispy crunchy rice pastry, takes some beating. Marks and Spencer have got these duck spring rolls down to a tee, and they make a perfect nibble to serve with drinks or they can be served family style, along with everything else.

Chinese culture is filled with fascinating tradition and ritual, New Year is no different.  Before the festivities start, Chinese people usually spring clean their houses.  Believing they are sweeping away any bad luck. On New Year's Eve, all brooms, dustpan and brushes are put away so that good luck can not be swept away. Houses are decorated with paper scrolls with good luck phrases such as 'Happiness' and 'Wealth'. 

Mini spare ribs - always a winner in my house especially when there is rugby on. The sweet sticky sauce, over broiled then roasted meat is just right in these Marks and Spencer Creations. They disappeared very quickly.  I will know in future to get in more than one box.

A Chinese friend of mine told me it is good to celebrate Chinese New Year with foods that are well seasoned with pepper and basil, ginger and cinnamon, cloves and chili, coriander and nutmeg because bold flavor is associated with the year of the snake.  Red food is very important at this time of year because the colour red symbolises fire which will scare away evil spirits, so people dress in new red clothing.

Veg spring rolls - I absolutely love spring rolls, and these little fellas are just the ticket. Cooked again in a hot over, the rice pastry crisps to a crunch, and the inside remain juicy. I served them with a jar of Chilli and Mango Chutney, which has quickly become a staple in my home. This chutney, works brilliantly with Asian food, but also a jar of it mixed with some sliced chicken fillets, and cooked slowly in the oven, served with a spinach salad, makes a very popular tea in my house. My tip is to always make sure there is plenty leftover for lunch the next day, it wraps perfectly into sarnies or as a filling for a baked potato

Families get together for a large traditional meal, after which they stay up to midnight to let off fireworks to frighten away evil spirits.  On New Year's Day children will wake up to find a red envelope filled with money and sweets under their pillows left by their parents and grandparents.  This year I celebrated Chinese New Year with my soon to be sister-in-law Sarah and some scrumptious dishes from Marks and Spencer.  Their dishes are the best you will find on the high street, and the research that has gone into making each dish has taken the team to seek advice from some of the top Chinese chefs in the world.  Like David Chang at his legendary New York restaurant, Momofuku SSam Bar, who is the king of Pork Buns.

Char Siu Roast Pork in Chinese style BBQ sauce - Somehow the Chinese do BBQ unlike any others, except perhaps for the Southern States of the USA, and then again, the flavour combinations are different, but both somehow achieve a balance of sweet and south, depth of flavour, with a slightly zingy flavour left on the tongue. This roast pork with tender, and not in the least fatty or greasy, a normal complaint when eating pork, and had a melt in the mouth consistency.

Beef in black bean sauce - tender strips of broiled beef, served in a rich sauce that had a peppery bite, with chunks of soft red pepper that brought a sweet depth to the dish, enhanced the smooth finish on the tongue in terms of final taste.  Add to this the crunch of water chestnuts and you are somewhere near a perfect bite combining, soft and succulent, spicy and sweet, with crunch and texture. This was one of my favourite dishes of the evening. The sauce was absorbed by the fried rice, which actually tastes more like boiled rice, with lovely bits of soft omlette and peas - fried rice, without the greasy aftertaste is something very difficult to achieve, and Marks and Spencer, execute it very well here.

One of my favourite things about eating Chinese food, is the way it is eaten - family style. A range of different dishes and textures, flavours and colours all served in the middle of the table for people to share is the perfect way to eat. I love how eating in this way encourages conversation, and interaction at the dinner table, something always to be encouraged when children are around.

Children are very important at Chinese New Year, and they are an intrical part of the celebration. The layers of flavour, the ease of cooking, the quality of the meat and the taste of the Chinese Food from Marks and Spencer, make it easily the best food Chinese Food on the High Street, it is so good in my opinion that I would have to be eating at a really good Chinese restaurant to beat it.

 Gong Hei Fat Choi!

That's it for now ...

Nics

Salt and Sparkle = Life Remarkable 

Julie's Dallas Tacos

Dallas (the tv show) started its new season with us lastnight. I celebrated it's return with my friends Julie & Benny.

Julie had cooked up the most amazing feast of Tex Mex inspired food that has ever graced a table.

Tomato salsa, guacamole, beef juice dip, tortillas, and the crowning glory 'Dallas Tacos' made with pot roast & grilled cheese tacos. With gallons of ice tea - the national drink of Texas - to wash it down.

It was one of the best meals I have eaten for weeks. In fact they are in my top five tacos ever eaten.

Julie had slow cooked a pot roast - 12 hours people - in garlic, jalapeños, cumin, red wine vinegar, and onions. Then shredded it making it look like crispy duck from a
Chinese restaurant. It was the most succulent & sweet meat I have EVER tasted. It literally oozed flavour.

When wrapped in a warm taco with her chilli heavenly guacamole & garlicky salsas each bite was sweet, spicy, and SUPERB.

I've included a photo of Jules' recipe and I definitely recommend you try it. Your life will never be the same again.

Oh and Dallas it was funky and fun. The power mad Euwings where in full throttle with a fast paced script- full of, family feuding, power hungry manics, glamour & steely looks. The good acting, and as many twists and turns as a mountain road in Ireland and of course oil. Everything was about oil!

What a show. I'm glad it's back. One hour of pure escapism that instantly hooks the viewer into the storyline. None of this you need to watch three episodes to get it. The first bars of the soundtrack play & your there a silent observer in Texas at Southfork.

As JR says 'blood is thicker than water and oil is thicker than both.'

Enjoy the show & the Tacos.

That's it for now ...

Nics

Salt & Sparkle = Life Remarkable

Pizza -It's all about the dough

The secret to good pizza without doubt is the 'dough'. Which when cooked at the highest heat possible should be chewy, olivey and slighty dry. A bad base, makes for a puffy pizza, full of air and no substance. Pizza - simple and yet sophisticated, get one thing wrong and the whole experience is ruined forever. Get it right and the pleasure is nothing short of heavenly.

I took my first bite of pizza, when I was seven.  Instantly I was in love, and its a love affair, that's lasted.

'Eat it with your fingers Nicky! No not with a knife and fork, with your fingers.' said my Uncle.  Copying him I did the unthinkable and lifted food off my plate with my hands. It felt dangerous and exciting. I bit in. A slightly tangy tomato sauce met a crispy base, topped with grilled cheese. It tasted forbidden and eating it with my hands, added to the illicitiness of the experience.

Since that first taste I have been addicted to good pizza.

Good pizza is surprisingly difficult to find. I've looked for it in Sicily, hoped I'd find it in New York City, dreamed about it in Hamburg, searched for it in London, given up my search in Belfast, been disappointed in Barcelona and found close to perfection in  Charleston, South Carolina. In the past 20 years pizzas have been bastardised, deep fried and generally abused. Cheap nasty ingredients, pungently chemical tomato sauces, soggy bases and greasy cheese make for a downright horrible experience. Sadly, pizzas like this abound in supermarkets, takeaways and restaurants. I recently had a pizza served to me in a restaurant, that was literally swimming in a pool of grease, with a base that hadn't seen a hot oven in it's life.

 Santa brought me my first pizza cookery set and since then I have been on the quest to bake perfect dough. There is something very connecting and soothing for me about mixing a mound of flour, olive oil, yeast, and salt with water to make an elastic dough. The simple process of kneading and rolling, knocking and and bringing the dough together, then flipping it between the palms of the hands to make thin circles is almost a spiritual pursuit.

Sadly time is not always on my side, and making dough becomes a luxury rather than a necessity. With my love of pizza never waning I have trawled shops to find good cook at home pizza because sometimes well a lot of the time in my case you want pizza. You want it to be good, and you want to be able to pop it in the oven, toss a salad, pour something sparkling then eat, at home maybe at the table. Possibly on your lap while sitting on the sofa watching a movie. Or maybe to share with a pal over a beer. It's that idea of pizza without fuss or fret. For years I have searched for this rather elusively I must admit. But I am delighted and excited to announce I think finally I have found it. It's not the perfect pizza, but the dough is nothing short of astounding.  

May I introduce you to Marks & Spencer Woodfired Pizzas. In my opinion the best pizzas to have made it onto the high street shelves in a decade. I tasted the three pizzas listed above.

The Chorizo, Sweet Peppers and Manchego Cheese was my favourite.  The combination of spicy sausage, sharp cheese and succulent sweet peppers was very morish. The flavour was rich, and warming, and needed only a tossed salad to accompany it.

But it is the crust that takes the biscuit, wins all the gold medals and does a jig. I have never tasted a home cooked shop bought pizza with such a base. In fact there are few pizzas served in restaurants with such a good base.

The crust is not too thick, or so thin the ingredients slide off,instead it has a chewy and crispy texture, with a good flavour of a grassy olive oil, and a hint of salt. For me it is the perfect dough, I think I could eat it right out of the bowl.  Seriously, it is that good!

I asked Serena Vickers, the M&S Pizza Expert about the dough, she told me, 'The base is key in creating authentic pizza. Ours are made with only the finest natural ingredients; water, flour, yeast, salt and olive oil. These ingredients are then married together in a secret combination, and the dough is slowly fermented overnight using traditional methods. To deliver a wonderful flavour as well as the perfect texture.'

I shared the pizzas I tasted with several friends. Asking each of them 'What makes this pizza stand out for you?'

The reply was without waiver 'the dough'.

In fact the crust was so good I would love to be able to buy just the wood fired base, maybe dusted with rosemary, crystals of sea salt and anointed with olive oil. Or even scattered with roasted garlic and chilli flakes. Or even a base on its own for me to cook as I wished.

Pizzas need heat. Hot! Hot! Hot! ovens. Temperatures the average cooker will never reach. To ensure the dough cooks the instant it finds the heat and the toppings follow immediately afterwards. Wood fried ovens abound in good pizzerias across the world. I remember standing beside one in Sicily, where the dry heat coming in waves from the oven felt like a sauna. Pizzas took minutes to cook. How can results like this be possible with a cook at home range?

The secret is two fold, first the wood fired pizza that will be cooked at home has already been wood fired "the pizzas are baked through a scorching hot open flame stonebed oven. The oven bed is made of lava stone, formed by the solidification of magma on the surface of the Etna Volcano in Sicily! It's the unique porosity of this stone which means the heat is retained within the stone itself which cooks the pizza to give the perfect crispy base." Serena said.

This means when the pizza gets to our ovens it only needs a short blast at a high heat, which will work the toppings into each other, and heat the base through, adding an extra layer of crispiness.

Serena told me about the stores research journey to create this pizza, saying that the search took their 'team of experts over a year to develop with lots of research and visits to pizzerias all over Italy and the UK ... an extensive trawl of Italy's finest pizzerias.' Learning from generations of Italy's expert pizzaiolas, the M&S team took in Da Michele in Naples; featured in the film; Eat, Pray, Love, and Antica Forno in Rome.

M&S's research has clearly paid off because these pizzas, especially the crust are delicious.

The pizzas are currently on a 3 for 2 offer in M&S stores throughout the UK.  Have you tried them? I'd love to know what you think?

Tell me how do you like your pizza?

That's it for now ...

Nics

Salt & Sparkle = Life Remarkable