Wednesday 21 January 2009

A sweet AND a savoury treat

Having had two culinary successes in the last couple of days that the SO has raved about, I feel obliged to share. First, a ridiculously simple, in no way authentic, put-it-on-everything guac:

1 ripe avocado (or more if you're trying to use, say, some of the 10 for $10 you bought in a fit of excitement because avocadoes have been $1.99 a piece lately)
1 small wedge of onion (1/2 oz or 15g), diced finely
1/2 lime (fresh is better, but if all you have is bottled, go for it)
Sriracha to taste
Salt to taste

Directions:
1. Slice avocado in half. Twist gently to separate halves. Scoop out seedless half with a spoon, gently running the spoon around the edge of the avocado skin. Do the same to the half with the seed. Gently pull the avocado flesh away from the seed. Taste a bit of the avocado now to get a sense of how much salt you want to add.
2. Mash the avocado to the desired level of smoothness with a fork on a cutting board. I like it chunky :)
3. Place the avocado in a bowl. Add the lime juice, onion, Sriracha, and salt. Stir well and arm yourself with a fork to fend off the SO as he comes barging into the kitchen with every intention of eating ALL of your freshly prepared stash.

I actually love to use this mixture, mixed with salsa, as a salad dressing. But I'm weird.

And now, the sweet. Full disclosure: this dessert requires a bit of skill and some artificial sweetener. But sometimes, a girl needs a little fix. So, without further ado, I present broiled figs with sabayon;

6-8 nice plump figs, sliced in half lengthwise
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp butter, melted
3 egg yolks
1 tbsp Marsala wine/spiced rum/another liquor of your choice
1 packet Splenda

1) Turn on oven broiler to low. Place the figs on a baking sheet, cut side up. Mix honey and butter together.
2) Set the bottom half of a double boiler on the stove, filled with water, and boil water. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks together until nice and homogenous. Place the eggs in the top half of the double boiler and with a whisk, begin beating the egg yolks vigorously. The goal of the exercise is to warm the yolks, but NOT to scramble them, so moving them constantly is important. As the yolks get thick and lighter coloured, add the liquor and Splenda. Continue beating until the mixture is pale yellow, at least doubled in volume, and when you raise the whisk, ribbons of egg foam fall from the whisk.
If you don't have a double boiler, you can achieve the same effect by placing the eggs in a glass bowl or metal bowl over a pot of boiling water.
3) Immediately remove the eggs from the heat and pour into a bowl.
4) Slide the figs into the oven and broil until the figs are starting to cook, about 2 minutes. Remove from the oven, brush with butter/honey mixture, and return to oven until honey browns lightly. Remove from oven and divide figs onto two plates. Allow the figs to cool for five minutes, spoon the sabayon over the figs and dig in :)

The sabayon recipe works well on any fruit, raw or cooked. In the summer I have it with fresh berries. It also goes very well with poached pears in the winter.

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