Cooking Demo Evening: Warm Leek and Zucchini salad with Sauce Vierge

It was my pleasure to host a cooking demonstration on this tuesday evening. The idea came about when a friend of mine asked if I had any “official” training and if I could point her in the direction of a course to take.

Unfortunately I could not help her there. All the food that I made has been as a result of simply diving in and getting my hands dirty in the kitchen. And finding that since I had been doing this for as long as I can could stand on a chair and reach the stove (it still boggles my mind that my somewhat astute and protective mother gave me free reign in the kitchen – she must have trusted me!) that I probably had accumulated a bit of experience. So the thought crossed my mind, that I should share this with others.

Since I was lucky enough to have an open-plan kitchen in my flat, with the stove in the counter I could demonstrate how to make some of the dishes that make a really delicious dinner, but which people are often too worried to make.

Then it came to me that what I would do is three dishes, as if we were having a dinner party.

I spoke a bit about how to put dishes and food together; I expounded my core notions that there should be balance in all dishes and across the courses. That there should be a combination of textures and tastes and that, most of all it should be made with love.

For the main meal I chose to demonstrate my tomato risotto, since risotto seems to hold an air of the formidable about it to those who have never tried it before. And indeed, it is a labour of love, but it is easy enough to do and to get the perfect texture when you have seen how! The recipe for the risotto is already up and you can find it here: http://gourmandays.blogspot.com/2010/03/tomato-risotto-finally-rrecipe.html

We ended with mishugina profiteroles, but that is a funny story for another post. 

To balance the meal, and since we have been experiencing the cooler weather that announces winter is on its way, I decided on a warm leak and zucchini (or baby marrow) salad with a sauce vierge as the starter. This salad is delicious with the leeks becoming sweet and the zucchini still crispy. The sauce vierge adds the spice, with capers for salt, finely chopped basil serving for a peppery flavour and a well ripened tomato for warmth and a finely chopped shallot to add a dash of zest. Serve over warm chiabbatta crostini and you have yourself a delicious starter.

It is also fairly easy to make and soon, with everyone having contributed to the slicing of the zucchini and a quick chat about wines and their flavours, we sat down with our warm salads accompanied by a glass of Sauvingnon blanc which adds a nicely fresh counterparts to the dish.

A lightly oaked chardonnay would work just as well though. Especially in the cooler climes as it adds something of a robustness.

Below is the recipe for the Leek and Zuccini salad

Use 1 leek per person

Use about 1.5 zucchini per person

1 slice of bread per person – thickly cut

Salt 

Black pepper

For the sauce vierge (enough dressing for four portions):

Half a largish shallot: finely cut or minced

1 ripe tomato – roughly cut into cubes

1 generous teaspoon capers

A handful of basil- finely chopped

¼ cup of your finest extra virgin olive oil

¼ lemon

Clean the leeks and cut them lengthways. Pop them in a heavy bottomed pan with a little bit of cooking olive oil. Allow them to sweat over a low heat until they look wilted and glossy. Remove. 

While the leeks are sweetly sweating, cut the zucchini lengthways about 5mm thick. Fry lightly in olive oil and add salt an pepper to taste.

In a seperate dish, put the tomato, shallot, capers and basil. Toss with a spoon. Add the olive oil and mix gently. 

Cut the ciabatta into cubes, and layer the leeks and zucchini on top, sharing them between the number of servings. 

Spoon over the sauce vierge. 

Because of the colour of the sauce vierge, this looks especially nice plated up on white plates.

Fresh Produce: It's hard to beat the pleasure of eating just-picked tomatoes off the vine

Dear Readers,

I thought that I'd just share with my readers, my own little mid-summer triumph. After lovingly tendering my potted vegetable garden on the landing to my flat, there is suddenly a ripening crop of tomatoes and one whole and decent-sized green pepper to show for my efforts! All spurred to grow well with the help of my worm tea from my mini worm-farm. Feel oddly proud of myself for orchestrating their growth. Now I can't wait to munch them up!

Which is what I then did: This was the best cheese and tomato sandwich ever! The tomatoes were so sweet.

Tomato Risotto - Finally, The Recipe

After much raving about the tomato risotto, and many promises about bringing you the recipe soon, here it is.

30 g butter
1 small onion, finely sliced
1 large garlic clove
Salt
Black pepper
1 ½ cups of Arborio rice
¾ cup white wine
+/- 750 ml home-made chicken stock.
250 g baby tomatoes
A drizzle of olive oil
A can of chopped plum tomatoes
½ cup cream
Medium bunch of basil leaves

Cut up the baby tomatoes into quarters and liberally season with salt and black pepper. Drizzle over the olive oil and roast under the grill till the tomatoes are caramelised and a little charred on the edges.

Melt the butter in a heavy –based pan. On a medium heat,  add the onion, salt  and pepper and the garlic. Gently sauté, allowing the garlic to flavour the oil and the onion to turn sweet and translucent.  Add the rice and stir, allowing it to be covered with the butter. I like to turn up the heat a bit here and then throw the wine over. Stir until it evapourates.
A soup ladle or two at a time, add the stock. (I will save my rantings about the taste-value that comes from making stock yourself rather than using the cubes diluted in water- I’ll do a post on how to make chicken or vegetable stock)
Stir until each addition of stock has been absorbed.  Repeat until the rice is al dente.  Allow the moisture to evapourate a little and then add the can of chopped tomatoes.  Then toss through the baby tomatoes.
Stir through the cream and then tear the up the bunch of basil leaves and stir them through too.

Serve with a green side salad with a light vinaigrette.  Also lovely with some pancetta or black forest ham on the side.  Otherwise it makes a lovely vegetarian meal.
I had mine with the Lourensford Shiraz rosé which complimented the tomato flavours very well.