Photos: Passport & Plate - Epifania's Greek Stuffed Tomatoes and Peppers

jessrigg — Thu, 5 Mar 2015 22:51:00 GMT

Ingredients: 5 large, firm, fat and round tomatoes 5 large peppers 1 large red onion, finely chopped 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1/2 cup each of Italian/continental parsley, mint and dill all roughly chopped 1/2 cup pine nuts of silvered almonds 1 heaped tablespoon tomato paste 1/2 cup of Mizithra, Kefalograviera or Parmesan cheese cut into small cubes (optional) 2 cups uncooked rice sugar to sprinkle 4 medium sized potatoes, each cut into 8 wedges (optional) Tzatziki and loaf of lovely, crusty bread to serve. How to prepare this recipe PREPARE THE GOODS Carefully slice the tops off the tomatoes, trying to keep the top still attached. Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh and keep to the side for later. Cut the tops off the peppers and use your hands to remove the seeds and membrane. Place tomatoes and peppers in a pan large enough to hold them snuggly and sprinkle a little sugar on the inside of each one. In a large, heavy based pot, add a good lug of olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally until coloured and fragrant. GIVE THE TOMATOES A LITTLE EXTRA LOVE Strain the reserved tomato flesh and blend the solids in a food processor until pureed (if you don't have a processor just squish up the flesh using your hands) and keep the liquid to the side for later use. Add the pureed tomato to the pot and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. NOW FOR SOME FLAVOUR Add to the pot the parsley, mint and dill. Add pine nuts or silvered almonds, a good heaped tablespoon of tomato paste and stir until well combined. Add 2 cups of rice (we used white short-grain, but you can use whatever rice you prefer or have in your cupboard) Add 1 tsp each of salt and pepper - remember to trust your taste buds and adjust to taste
Stir until well combined and check that you have a nice, thick consistency. Add more rice if needed. Take of the heat and stir through the cheese. STUFF THEM GOOD Stuff the tomatoes and peppers 3/4 of the way full with rice mix and pop the tops back on. Pour the reserved liquid from the tomatoes over the vegetables into the baking pan. SHAKE AND BAKE Toss the potato wedges in olive oil and salt and pepper to taste and then wedge in-between the tomatoes and peppers. Bake in a preheated 180C oven for about 1.5 hrs. The should be lovely, blistered and tender. LET THEM FEAST! Allow the vegetables to sit for about 30mins to firm before serving. Serve with Tzatziki and a loaf of crusty bread to soak up all the delicious juices. The story behind this recipe I had come to Santorini alone for a 7-day stay but 6 weeks later, the days and my plans had swept-away as I grazed along the island’s veritable gourmet trail with locals in the know. We gorged on mezedhes, drank Vinsanto at vineyards, sipped frappès at kafenions and in the evening legendary feasts would ensue and raki would flow well into the early hours. Cravings for home-style cuisine inspired my exploration of the South, an area almost forgotten, far removed from the usual tourist trail and where I discovered Dimitris, a family-run taverna reserved for locals that hadn’t changed in decades. The fading mosaic-floor ran to a mezzanine where I sat myself at a rickety table, under the pouring sun. A short, older lady with dark hair and quick eyes greeted me and smiled approvingly as I requested her favourite dishes. Surrounding sunburnt fields harvested the intensely flavoured tomatoes that had been fried into irresistibly soft-centered tangy tomato fritters, or domatokeftedhes. The plump wild capers were so addictive I almost made my tongue numb, the eggplant so juicy and sweet I sang praises to the Greek gods. The rustic provincial cooking gave the produce center stage and every morsel the purest of flavour. Over and over I would return to bond with the family over wistful nostalgia and culinary philosophy. They welcomed me into the kitchen and in turn to their family. Long days were spent learning traditional dishes like stuffed peppers: blistered, earthy and delightfully tender. It wasn’t always easy to communicate; so they taught me to be Greek and speak with my hands. Soon it felt like home and I found a calm I had forgotten existed. My time as a Greek was no bland encounter; instead a whole tasting experience like savouring a dish with complex flavours and expressive character. We found understanding through a shared passion for food, which, when in the hands of Greece will no doubt take hold of you; uplift, soothe, emancipate and most definitely alter you.

Passport & Plate - Sate Lilit Ayam

jessrigg — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 17:32:03 GMT

Ingredients
Ingredients for Peanut satay sauce

250g raw peanuts with the skin still on
5 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1-2 birds eye chilies, thinly sliced
25g kencur, finely chopped
3tbs palm sugar syrup
50ml high quality coconut milk
2 kaffir lime leaves, middle rind removed and thinly sliced
1tsp kaffir lime juice
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 pinch sea salt
1 cup coconut oil for frying
1/2 cup water

Ingredients for Base Gede

300g large red chili, halved, seeded and sliced
200g shallots sliced
100g garlic
150g galangal
75g ginger, peeled and finely chopped
50g kencur peeled and finely chopped
175 fresh tumeric peeled and finely chopped
75g candlenut
2tsp coriander seeds
150ml coconut oil
250ml water
1tsp black pepper corns
2 sticks of lemon grass, bruised and halved
2 bay leaves
3 kaffir limes leaves
2tsp tamarind juice
3tsp palm sugar syrup

Ingredients for chicken

300g chicken mince ground into a smooth paste using a food processor.
2 cups freshly grated coconut. If you are unable to use fresh coconut, soak dried coconut until soft.
1/2 base gede (see recipe)
5 kaffir lime leaves, middle rind removed and thinly sliced
2 tsp palm sugar syrup
1 tsp tamarind juice
sea salt to taste
lemon grass stalks
coconut oil to coat

How to prepare this recipe
Method for peanut satay sauce

1. Heat coconut oil in a wok over medium heat. Add peanuts, garlic, chillies and kencur and shallow fry, gently stirring constantly to avoid burning until golden brown and aromatic. Using a metal slotted spoon, remove from oil.
2. Using a mortar and pestle, pound ingredients to a paste.
3. Heat coconut oil in a heavy based saucepan and add the paste together with water, stirring until a consistent and smooth texture. 4. Add kaffir lime leaves and continue stirring until thick.
5. Add coconut milk and then simmer uncovered, stirring frequently to prevent the sauce from burning for 10 minutes.
6. Stir through the kaffir lime juice and palm sugar syrup

Method for Base Gede

1. In a mortar and pestle ground chili, shallots, garlic, galangal, ginger, kencur, tumeric, candlenut, coriander seeds and pepper corns
2. Add ground paste to a heavy based pan along with remaining ingredients except for palm sugar and tamarind juice and simmer over medium heat for approx 20 mins or until golden and fragrant.
3. Add palm sugar syrup and tamarind juice
4. Leave to cool. Once cooled, remove lemon grass, bay leaves and kaffir limes leaves

Method for chicken sticks

1. Combine chicken mince with all other ingredients in a bowl (except lemon grass and coconut oil)
2. Gently but firmly mould a heaped tablespoon of chicken mixture over the top of a lemon grass stalk or around a thick wooden skewer.
3. Gently coat the chicken in coconut oil to achieve a nice gloss
4. Grill chicken skewers preferably over charcoal or instead bbq until golden brown
5. Serve with peanut sauce

The story behind this recipe
Last year I quit my job to chase a dream. A dream that saw me falling to sleep with books like ‘Around the World in 80 dishes’ on my pillow, dreaming of eating in far exotic places, and waking with a grumbling appetite for adventurous eating. When I was 18 years old I faced the most difficult challenge of my life, fighting cancer. 7 years on I’ve had invaluable friendships, unforgettable moments and the pleasures that come with a comfortable life. With my comfortable life came routine; routine is a dangerous thing. It will give you tunnel vision, it will hear you complain, condemn and utter the words “one day” a thousand times over. I spent years scrawling my dreams in a notebook, lists of destinations and culinary experiences I would fulfill ‘one-day’. But two years ago a wake-up call changed everything. I was facing the threat of cancer once more, which meant the risk of my ‘one-day’ list bearing a new name: ‘I wish I had of’. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. I promised myself that if I came out of this alive, I wouldn’t just be alive - I would live. And I stuck to it. I quit my job, sold everything and bought a one-way ticket to begin a gastronomic journey. This is not a vacation, not a gap year, this is life. I began in Bali where I arrived ready for a food frenzy. After one week of hunting down warungs, chasing street-carts and befriending local chefs I was hospitalized with a parasite infection. Shaken, I needed something to turn this daunting experience around. The day after being discharged I went to a local cooking class which left me with a renewed sense of confidence and excitement. This recipe is from that day. A day when I was reminded of the conviction and courage that I needed to change, of the liberation of forgetting my fears and taking charge of my life. It is the first recipe that I learnt on my journey, the first recipe I sent home to friends and family and the recipe that I will now remember as the beginning of my new life.

Passport and Plate

Photos: Passport & Plate - Epifania's Greek Stuffed Tomatoes and Peppers

Passport & Plate - Sate Lilit Ayam