everyday experiments with food
I’ve just bought a salt block from Williams Sonoma after looking online at a few. It comes from Pakistan. You can use it as a platter, cool it for cheeses or desserts, or heat it and cook at the table.
I chose the Williams Sonoma one because of the size and the metal holder. For $42 it’s not unreasonable just as a fancy platter. But I want to cook with it!
I hunted around online to see how you use these and find some recipes. I’ve started a Pinterest salt block page here.
So how did we go?…
Last night I made gnocchi, using the tried and tested Philip Johnson recipe.
The sauce was made from
– 2/3 cup white wine, reduced by 2/3
– 2/3 cup cream
– 1/2 cup grana padano or parmesan
– 1/3 cup feta cheese
– 1/4 cup mild blue cheese
– 2 egg yolks to thicken
Cherry tomatoes were halved. Chopped fresh garlic sautéed in oil, cherry tomatoes added, then a few tbsp of sherry vinegar and a couple of teaspoons of sugar.
Each plate had a couple of smoked rainbow trout pieces seared in a pan, then fresh basil on top and a slide of seared lemon.
Very happy with this. It’s going on my cafe menu.
We have a zucchini glut, so we’ve been making “Zoodles” – pasta from zucchinis turned into noodles using a spiralizer. Google it.
The zucchini noodles just need to be warmed in a microwave for 30 seconds, then add the rest of the meal.
Tonight I added crab meat, prawns marinated in pesto and then seared.
Blue swimmer crabs, cooked in salty water. Fiddly but tasty.
I had sautéed some garlic, then added 2/3 cup white wine and reduced, then added halved cherry tomatoes and garlic. I put the prawns into the pan to finish them off and add flavour.
My original plan was to sear the prawns and zucchini flowers on the BBQ, but it was a total fire ban day.
So it was topped with pan-seared zucchini flowers and haloumi.
Fine.
BBQ prawns with
glass noodles
green papaya
red capsicum
snow peas
coriander
vietnamese mint
basil
eschallot leaves
Dressing of chilli, garlic, lime juice, palm sugar, fish sauce dressing, a splash of soy sauce
Fried shallots and crushed peanut on top
I’ve decided that Asian salads are a thing.