Chop-chop - " used to tell someone to hurry." Cambridge Dictionary
Well I am in a hurry today. Dentist and shopping - done, but this afternoon there is a 75+ medical checkup, so less time than usual to meander around the net. So here are a few random bits and pieces done in a hurry.
Coincidentally I see on the picture at left - a shot from the film Julie and Julia in which Julia is practicing chopping onions - well slicing actually but same thing - a quote either from the film or Julia herself - "You should have seen the way those men looked at me." Coincidental because I was originally going to get into sexism because of recent reading - but will save that for another day.
Back to chop-chop though. I am a slow chopper. I cannot do that speedy thing that chefs do. I never learnt how to do that. I suspect that most of the cooking that we did at school was actually baking and didn't involve chopping, so the correct technique was never demonstrated and none of my other mentors knew it either. Hence it takes me a longer time, than most recipes specify to prepare my ingredients. Practice makes perfect I know - as Julia Child demonstrated - but I'm now so old I can't be bothered, and besides I have time.
I'll finish this little introductory session however, with an origin tale for the phrase 'chop chop' as given in Wikipedia.
"Chop chop" is a derogatory phrase first noted in the interaction between Cantonese and English people in British-occupied south China. It spread through Chinese workers at sea and was adopted by British seamen. "Chop chop" means "hurry" and suggests that something should be done now and without delay."
In Cantonese the phrase is 'chok chok' - 'kap kap' I saw elsewhere.
Interesting - but I should get on with this. Time is running out. And no I am not a fast chopper.
Cheese rind hacks
I thought this was just going to be about one thing to do with cheese rinds but I seem to have opened a Pandora's box that deserves a post of its own, so I will restrict myself to two - the first two I came across - today.
I think, via Smitten Kitchen I came across an article on the Food Hero website in which 10 famous chefs shared food waste hacks. One of these was a chef called Jareth Mills:
"Another tip of his includes reusing discarded bits of cheese rind by coating them in batter, deep frying them and serving them with a drizzle of truffle honey for a simple, yet stunning appetizer."
The 'drizzle of truffle honey' is the master touch I guess - something that makes it posh, but it did sound like an intriguing idea. Not that I shall ever do it. I can barely remember to put rinds into a soup or even the pasta water which many recommend for the umami hit it gives. Although I do remember to freeze the rinds. But if you like to play around in the kitchen you could give it a go. Alas I searched but could not find a picture or detailed instructions.
However I did find these Parmesan crust cheese balls from Veronica onTikTok, in which the Parmesan rinds are softened, then blended, rolled into balls and cooked like gnocchi. Now these looked pretty good. I also found detailed instructions for this from a lady called Beryl Shereshewsky who had actually organised the TikTok video I think. On her website the recipe is written out with its Italian name - Polpette di crosta di Parmigiana
So, coming soon a post on what to do with cheese rinds. The original Jareth Mills thing was just cheese rinds, not necessarily Parmesan.
8 cool ways with salmon from Jamie
We are having salmon for dinner tonight - little pieces like this. Well they are so expensive these days aren't they? But then salmon is quite rich and a small piece is really all you need.
There will also one of Nigel's non recipes for asparagus yesterday - just butter and lemon juice would go perfectly with my salmon. Maybe with a touch of the green sauce that I concocted the other day from various wilting green things. It was actually quite tasty and I have a jar of it begging to be used.
Plus some oven baked chips. Some kind of crispy or almost crispy potatoes anyway.
I probably won't be using any of Jamie's suggestions but I do admire him for doing this, because they are all a bit different if you're bored with the classic plain thing and I also wanted to say that he has yet another new book out aimed, as always at 'ordinary' people who don't like cooking.
So many books though - at least one a year. I wonder does he do it all himself? Ditto for all of those other cookbook authors really. Nagi Maehashi has her new cookbook Tonight out as well and is embarking on book signing tours. And Nigel has one on its way too. Just in time for Christmas. No well in time for Christmas really. Another topic for another post perhaps.
Diseased tomatoes
There was an alarming report on the ABC's 7.30 last night about a highly infectious tomato disease - the brown rugus virus - which has infiltrated one of South Australia's - indeed Australia's - largest tomato growers - Perfection Fresh, whose CEO claims they provide 30% of Australia's tomato. Because of the infection there, they have had to quarantine the site, losing thousands, maybe millions of plants with many people losing their jobs. Not to mention the money. I won't go into all the tit for tat arguments about whether it should be so drastically tackled, etc. The article I have linked to is basically a transcription of the program if you are interested. What I will say is that it may well increase, yet more, the price of tomatoes, even if this company does not supply your supermarket. Supply and demand will kick in and those that can supply will be putting up their price. My local Coles had plenty today. Who knows tomorrow. So buy and also consider planting some and growing your own this year. Mind you the appropriate government website tells you that if you do grow your own you should be careful to make sure the seedlings are clear of infection and report anything abnormal to the appropriate authorities. I wasn't going to grow tomatoes this year. I am such a failure at it, but maybe I should reconsider. They say it also affects capsicum and chilli but there doesn't seem to be a problem with them so far. The infection came from a batch of seeds, which had been certified as disease free. There's a lot more politicising and argument on that too.
I have no idea now where I found this reference to pasta fazool. I do remember I wrote it down because 'fazool' seemed such a non-Italian word. It sounded more Middle-Eastern or North African to me. Well I think I was sort of right. Pasta fazool I now seem to understand is an American/Italian dish based on a Neopolitan dish - Pasta e fasule. 'Fazool' comes from fasule, which means beans in the Neopolitan dialect, and I'm guessing the Arabs had a fair amount of influence in Naples for a time. MInd you just when you think you have finally understood what it's all about, you find somebody who says the exact opposite.
The real problem is that some equate it to pasta e fagioli - pasta and beans. At the end of it all I have decided it is a dish that is more like a pasta dish than a soup which pasta e fagioli is, and that it contains sausage meat as well as the beans. Some say it has to be nduja - but that is so hard to find, in spite of an increasing number of recipes demanding it. Chop up a chorizo sausage instead I saw somebody say. The pasta itself is ditali which seems to be a kind of macaroni but some say cavatelli. A homely, healthy dish. Try it some time. Another way of getting those legumes into you.
A cake to try from Smitten Kitchen, although as she says, it's not really a cake as it contains no butter or milk. Well actually there are a lot of cakes without them aren't there? Anyway it's a Russian thing - a recipe from her mother-in-law, which is virtually all apple. Lots of apple chopped up and put into a cake tin. Then you pour over a mixture of eggs, sugar, flour with a touch of vanilla, and sprinkle the finished cake with cinnamon and icing sugar. Sounds good doesn't it? Easy too. But I'm not very fast at peeling and chopping apples either. Maybe next time the family comes round for dinner.
THOSE YEARS GONE BY (SWIFTLY ALAS)
October 16
2023 - Normandy apples and cream
2022 - What was it all about?
2021 - Hot dipping
2020 - Bolognaise in a sandwich?
2019 - Couscous
Well the crumbed fish was delicious and aided by the large slices of tomatoes as a sise salad with an oil but no vinegar dressing - they added to each other.. I am looking forward to the Apple Sharlotka!