Aye Chef - Cooking with style

Bruschetta is an appetizer from central Italy whose origin dates to at least the 15th century. It consists of roasted bread rubbed with garlic and topped with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Variations may include toppings of spicy red pepper, tomato, vegetables, beans, cured meat, and/or cheese; the most popular recipe outside of Italy involves basil, fresh tomato, garlic and onion or mozzarella. Bruschetta is usually served as a snack or appetizer. This was a way of salvaging bread that was going stale.

Ingredients (Yields 4)
600g Tomatoes
4 Bagette slices
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Garlic
50g Basil
Salt
Pepper
2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar

Directions

1. Cut the tomatoes into quarters, de-seed and dice finely. Peel the garlic and cut in half.
2. Brush the bread slices with olive oil and place on a hot ribbed grill. Cook on both sides until toasted. Rub the bread with the garlic.
3. Pile the tomatoes on the bread. Season and garnish with basil leaves, then drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

This wonderful dish will complement a main serving on the side, or can be a dish on its own. I normally don't go for vegetarian dishes, being a carnivore myself, but my wife requested this so I thought, why not. The result was extremely tasty and was immediately added to my personal recipe book.


Ingredients (Yields 4)

360g Pumpkin
100g Zucchini
2 tsp Garlic
50ml Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp Honey

Directions

1. Wash the vegetables and peel the pumpkin.
2. Channel the zucchini and cut lengthwise into 3cm long strips. Dice the pumpkin into 1.5cm pieces.
3. Peel and crush the garlic.
4. Heat a frying pan and add the oil.
5. Season the pumpkin and fry. Toss in the pan for ~5 minutes, until it is evenly colored and cooked through.
6. Add the garlic and toss through briefly. Add the zucchini and toss through briefly. Add the honey and cook for another minute.

Café de Paris sauce is a complex butter-based sauce served with grilled meats. When it is served with a beef rib or sirloin steak, the resulting dish is known as entrecôte Café de Paris.

The sauce was first popularized in the 1940s by the Café de Paris restaurant in Geneva, then owned by Arthur-François (Freddy) Dumont, and entrecôte Café de Paris remains the restaurant's specialty. The Café de Paris attributes the origin of the sauce to Mr Dumont's father-in-law, one Mr Boubier. Today the restaurant also ships the sauce to several other restaurants which serve it under license: the Café de Paris in Lausanne, the À l'Entrecôte in Sion (Switzerland), the Brasserie L'Entrecôte in Lisbon, and the Entrecôte Café de Paris restaurants in Dubai, Kuwait, and Riyadh.

While researching the subject, I've stumbled upon many variations of this recipe, most listing ketchup as one of the ingredients. I have complete and utter confidence that no self respecting French recipe will EVER use ketchup as an ingredient, therefore, I went with the version presented below. It is worth mentioning that the actual recipe is trade secret and therefore unknown to the public. While I have never tasted the actual sauce, from the results of this recipe I can presume it comes quite close. And if not, I like the result all the same. Enjoy :)


Ingredients (Yields 32 servings)
500g unsalted Butter
3 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt
Pepper
3 tsp Capers
60g French shallot Onions
1 tsp Garlic
2 Anchovy fillets
1.5 tbsp Parsley
1.5 tbsp Chives
0.25 tsp Marjoram
0.25 tsp Dill
0.25 tsp Thyme
0.25 tsp Tarragon Vinegar
0.25 tsp Rosemary
2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Curry powder
0.25 tsp Cayenne pepper
0.5 Orange
0.5 Lemon
0.5 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1.5 tbsp Madeira
1.5 tbsp Cognac
2 eggs

Directions

1. Cut the butter into 1cm cubes and place into food processor or mixer with the mustard and seasoning.
2. Chop the capers, shallots, garlic, anchovies and herbs and add to the butter.
3. Zest the orange and lemon, then juice the lemon.
4. Add the spices, zest and juice to the butter and blend until it is light and aerated.
5. Work in the Worcestershire sauce, Madeira and Cognac.
6. Separate the eggs and add the yolks to the butter to emulsify it.
7. Place the mixture onto a greaseproof paper or tinfoil, roll it into a log or sausage shape and refrigerate.

Notes

• I didn't have Madeira or Cognac, so I've used a bit of Irish Whiskey instead, in my case, Jameson.
• You can substitute the Tarragon Vinegar for a Balsamic Vinegar and add a bit of tarragon as herb, if you like its flavor. I do not.
• Be careful with anchovies, if you put too much, even a little, the end result will be too salty. You can balance with a bit of white sugar, or some liquid honey, if you want to go sugar free.

The Amish, sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches. The Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, and reluctance to adopt many conveniences of modern technology. This is one of the recipes attributed to them, but of course, I have no way of knowing whether its true or not. Nevertheless, enjoy this delicious bread!

It is important to note that while I respect Amish way of life and everything, I use an electric mixer. If you want to go completely traditional, use only your hands to knead the dough.

Stromboli is a type of turnover filled with various cheeses, typically mozzarella, Italian meats such as salami, capicola and bresaola or vegetables. The dough is Italian bread dough.

Stromboli is reported to have originated in 1950 in Essington, Tinicum Township just outside of Philadelphia, at Romano's Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria, by Nazzareno Romano. There, William Schofield supposedly gave it the name, after the movie Stromboli, starring Ingrid Bergman. Other sources claim the stromboli was the brainchild of Mike Aquino, Sr., and that he created it in Spokane, Washington, in 1954.
Ingredients:
makes 1 loaf:

Dough
500 g/1 lb 2 oz strong white flour, sifted
6 g sachet fast-action dried yeast
2 tsp sea salt flakes
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for brushing
350 ml/12 fl oz lukewarm water

Filling
85 g/3 oz thinly sliced Italian salami
175 g/6 oz mozzarella cheese, chopped
25 g/1 oz basil leaves
2 red peppers, roasted,
  peeled, deseeded and sliced
  (or ready-roasted peppers from a jar)
freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:
Combine all dough ingredients and knead for 10 minutes or until wet and elastic. Let it sit for 1 hour to double in size.

Knead some more and let rest for another 10 minutes.

Roll it to make 25x10cm rectangle.

Cover with salami, basil, peppers and cheese. Close the roll from the long side, on a greased baking sheet and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven for 200 degrees Celcius.

Make holes all over it with a toothpick and brush it will olive oil.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Tiramisu (Italian: Tiramisù; Venetian: Tiramesù " [tirameˈsu]) is one of the most popular Italian cakes. It is made of savoiardi (otherwise known as lady finger biscuits or biscotts) dipped in espresso or strong coffee or rum, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks, mascarpone cheese, and sugar, and topped with cocoa.

There is some debate regarding tiramisu's origin, as there is no documented mention of the dessert before 1983. In 1998, Fernando and Tina Raris similarly claimed that the dessert is a recent invention. They point out that while the recipes and histories of other layered desserts are very similar, the first documented mention of tiramisu in a published work appears in a Greek cookbook. Backing up this story, the authors recalled an article that tiramisu was created in 1971 in Treviso by Giuseppe Di Clemente. Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary gives 1982 as the year of origin.



Several sources (from Vin Veneto, dated 1981, to the Italian Academy of Giuseppe Maffioli and several cuisine websites) claim that tiramisu was invented in Treviso at Le Beccherie restaurant by the god-daughter and apprentice of confectioner Roberto Linguanotto, Francesca Valori, whose maiden name was Tiramisu. It is believed that Linguanotto named the dish in honour of Francesca's culinary skill.

Other sources report the creation of the cake to have originated in the city of Siena. Some confectioners were said to have created it in honour of Cosimo III on the occasion of his visit to the city. Alternatively, accounts by Carminantonio Iannaccone as researched and written about by The Washington Post establish the creation of tiramisu by him on December 24, 1969, in Via Sottotreviso while he was head chef at Treviso, near Venice.

In the original recipe, there was no liquor as the cake was originally aimed at children and the elderly, and the original shape was round. The phrase tirami su literally means "pick me up" or "pull me up" in reference to the effects of the sugar and espresso.

The following recipe is a variation of the traditional one, based on the one put by the Bel Gioioso cheese company. It is light and very enjoyable, especially in the hot Mediterranean summer.

Ingredients: (makes 6 portions)

• eggs, 2 large, with yolks and whites separated
• sugar, 100g
• mascarpone cheese, 250g 
• ladyfingers, 20
• Espresso or Strong Coffee, 1/2 cup
• Dark Rum, 2 tablespoons
• cocoa, 1/8 cup
• Vanilla ice cream, 2 tablespoons per serving
• Hazel nut, for decoration

Preparation: 
Combine egg yolks, 1 tablespoon Espresso, sugar, and Rum into the large mixing bowl. Beat 2 to 3 minutes. Add Mascarpone and beat 3 to 5 minutes until consistency is smooth. In another bowl, combine 3 egg whites and a pinch of sugar. Beat until mixture forms stiff peaks. Gently fold into Mascarpone mixture. Pour rest of Espresso into flat dish, dip one side of each Lady Finger, and layer on bottom of serving dish or glass. Spread some of Mascarpone mixture and sprinkle with cocoa. Continue layering and finish with a Mascarpone layer. Make sure to put 1 tablespoon of vanilla ice cream in the middle and 1 on top. Sprinkle with hazel nuts. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

Challah (also hallah plural: challot) (Hebrew: חלה) also known as khale (eastern Yiddish),(German and western Yiddish), berches (Swabian), barkis (Gothenburg), bergis (Stockholm), chałka (Polish) and kitke (South Africa), is a special braided bread eaten by Ashkenazi and by most Sephardic Jews on the Sabbath and holidays.

According to Jewish tradition, the three Sabbath meals (Friday night, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon) and two holiday meals (one at night and one in the morning) each begin with two complete loaves of bread. This "double loaf" (in Hebrew: lechem mishneh) commemorates the manna that fell from the heavens when the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years after the Exodus from Egypt. The manna did not fall on the Sabbath or holidays; instead, a double portion would fall the day before the holiday or sabbath. It is these hunks of bread, recognizable by their traditional braided style (although some more modern recipes are not braided) that are commonly referred to as challah.

Ingredients: (makes 1 large loaf)
700g white bread flour (Stybel 2)
2 teaspoons sea salt
15g active yeast
220ml water, tepid
3 medium eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons honey
100ml sunflower oil
poppy seeds

Preparation:
Mix flour and salt in a large bowl, make well in the center. Crumble yeast into the water, mix until dissolved. Pour yeast water, eggs, honey and oil into the well and combine until the dough is soft, but not sticky.

Transfer dough to working area, knead for about 10 minutes or until very flexible. Clean the bowl until spotless, oil it a bit and transfer the dough to rise, covered with a sticky nylon, for 1.5 hours.

Punch dough a bit to extract air and cover to rise for another 45 minutes.

Cut into 4 pieces. Make ropes out of each part, about 40cm long and 2.5cm wide.

Now the tricky part, to make a braid. Use the image attached to see all the steps and don't worry if you don't get it the first time, you can try again, the dough will take it, trust me.

After you get your braid ready, transfer the unbaked bread to an oiled oven rack, cover with plastic bag and leave to rise for another 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Brush the loaf gently with beaten egg and sprinkle some poppy seeds on top. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 190 degrees Celsius and bake for another 30 minutes.

Allow to cool.