Cheese and Buckwheat Scones
There is a quick recipe that I improvised from a traditional scones mix that I was use to use in a hotel in Scotland. I was thinking how to make this a bit more interesting and healthier.
This buckwheat scones make a great accompaniment to smoked salmon or delicatessen or even a poached egg.
So, this is how it goes :
- 150g Strong white organic flour.
- 250g Buckwheat flour.
- 4 Teaspoons of baking powder.
- 100g Gratted Parmesan cheese.
- 80g Gruyere cheese cut in small dices.
- 20g Oat flakes.
- 20g Linseed.
- 4 Eggs.
- 250g Melted butter.
- 8 Tablespoons of soy milk.
In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together. Mix in the melted butter and soy milk. Work energetically that dough for about 5 minutes.
Fill up some darioles moulds, previously buttered and floured, 2/3 up.
Bake in a preheated over for 20 to 30 minutes at 180 degres Celsius.
Eat warm.
Suitable for vegetarians, Replace the cheese with some smoked tofu and use margarin instead of the butter to make it suitable for vegans and dairy free.
Everything I eat has been proved by some doctor or other to be a deadly poison, and everything I don't eat has been proved to be indispensable for life. But I go marching on.
George Bernard Shaw
A Broad Survey of the Beneficial Effects of Chemicals in Fruits and Vegetables
It is well understood that some chemicals in fruits, vegetables, herb and spices can affect various aspects of our health. There is a very broad survey of a very rich and complex subject.
Prevent oxidative damage to important molecules in the body : antioxidants
Eye: slow cataracts and macular degeneration
Kale, many dark green vegetables.
Caroteinoids: lutein.
Citrus fruits, corn.
Carotenoids: zeaxanthin.
Blood lipids: slow the development of heart disease
Grapes, other berries.
Phenolics: anthocyanidins.
Tea.
Phenolics.
General : reduce DNA damage and the development of cancer
Tomatoes.
Carotenoids: lycopene
Carrots, other orange and green vegetables
Carotenoids: Beta-caroten
Tea.
Phenolics.
Green vegetables.
Chlorophyll.
Broccoli, daikon, cabbage familly.
Glucosinates, Thiocyanates.
Moderate the body's inflammatory response
General: slow development of heart disease and cancer.
Raisins, dates, chilis, tomatoes.
Salicylates.
Reduce the body's own production of DNA-damaging chemicals
Many fruits, vegetables
Phenolics: flavonoids.
Broccoli, daikon, cabbage family.
Glucosinolates, thiocyanates.
Citrus fruits.
Terpenes.
Inhibit the growth of cancer cells and tumors
Many fruits, vegetables.
Phenolics: flavonoids.
Soybeans.
Phenolics: isoflavones.
Grapes, berries.
Phenolics: ellagic acid.
Rye, flaxseed
Phenolics: lignans.
Citrus fruits.
Terpenes.
Mushrooms.
Carbohydrates.
Slow the body's removals of calcium from bones
Onions and parsley
Responsible agent not yet identified.
Encourage the growth of beneficial bacteria in the intestine
Onion family, sunchoke.
Inulin
Prevent the adhesion of infectious bacteria to walls of urinary tract
Cranberry, grapes
Phenolics: proanthcyanidins
Cancer and Cooking meat
A report about a technical Food and Agriculture Organization study "World agriculture: towards 2015/2030" published in 2002, shows that meat consumption in developing countries, has risen from only 10 kg per person annually in 1964-66 to 26 kg in 1997-99. It is projected to rise to 37 kg per person per year in 2030. As it seems that we are not going to become a society of vegetarians anywhere soon, let's make sure that we know the danger that a meat rich diet can have.
In the middle of the 20th century, medical researchers began to concentrate on the role of nutrition in the two main diseases which can cut our gastronomic life short: heart disease and cancer. It happens that meat and its mouth watering taste, has its downside: a diet high in meat is associated with a greater risk of developing heart disease and cancer. In our post-industrial lifestyle which consists of a lack of physical activity and an unlimited ability to indulge our taste for meat, the high consumption of meat contributes to obesity which increase the risk of various diseases.
The first contribution of meat towards shortening our life of "gastronomes" comes from the meat itself : FATS. To be more precise saturated fats. This type of fat is known to increase our blood cholesterol levels and can contribute to heart disease. And to the extent that meat displaces from our diet the vegetables and fruits that keep heart diseases and cancer at bay, it raises our vulnerability to both.
The second one comes from the way the meat is prepared. I have to say that I was probably like most, apart from the odd cremated steak. I did not suspect that the way I cooked meat could end up creating some potentially dangerous types of carcinogenic by-products. Scientist have identified three families of chemicals created during meat preparation that potentially damage our DNA and that may increase our risk of developing cancer of the large intestine.
Let's start with the Heterocyclic Amines (HCA). They form at high temperature by the reaction of some minor meat components, creatine and creatinine (women may have heard of the first compound as some cosmetics producers advertise its benefits to tackle wrinkles) with amino acids (basic elements of proteins). HCAs are generally greatest at the meat surface where the temperature is the highest and where the meat juices collect. They also appear on meats that are grilled, broiled or fried well done. Oven roast meat surfaces are more or less free of HCAs but the pan drippings can show great amounts. It is relatively easy to reduce the production of HCAs. Acid marinades, for example, decrease the creation of HCAs. Gentle cooking and aiming for a rare or medium doneness would help too. Furthermore, the consumption of vegetables, fruits and acidophilus bacteria seem to bind HCAs in the digestive tract and prevent their absorption.
The second type of carcinogenic chemical that can be created while cooking meat is called Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons or PAH. They are created when nearly any organic material, like wood or fat, is heated to their burning point. This is what happens when butter overheats and burns. This is the reason why most food authorities have simply banned the traditional "raie au beurre noir". Back to our meat, PAHs are mainly found on meats that have been cooked over a smoky wood fire that will deposit PAHs on the meat or smokeless charcoal fire which will create PAHs from the fat, if the fat is allowed to fall and burn. Small amounts of PAHs can be produced during high temperature frying. PAHs can be minimized by cooking meats over a wood fire only if it has been reduced to coals, by leaving the grill uncovered, by avoiding fat flareups and by eating smoked meat with moderation. 
Finally, there is our third bad guy. It is known by the name of nitrosamines. They form when nitrogen-containing groups on amino-acids (basic constituents of proteins) and related compounds combine with nitrite, a chemical used for centuries in salt-cured meats and prevent the development of the Clostridium Botulinum responsible for botulism. This reaction happens both in our digestive system and in a hot frying pan. Nitrosamines are well known to be a very powerful DNA- damaging chemicals, despite the lack of evidence that nitrites present in cured meats can increase the risk of developing cancer. Though, it's seems prudent to eat cured meats with moderation and cook them gently. To end this alarmist panflet about meat, I would like to quote Harold McGee in "McGee on food and cooking", Hodder and Stoughton edition, who rightly says : "It's prudent, then to temper our species' infatuation with meat. It helped make us what we are, but now it can help unmake us."
Why do fish stock should not boil?
Fish stock or "fumet", which means aroma in French, is a very simple and quick base for various sauces, cooking liquid to poach fish, aspic or Japanese and Korean consommés. A lot of recipes like the consommés and aspic require a perfectly clear fumet. But, most of the time, even with the best recipe it will turn cloudy, like on that picture below. Why is it happening?
Well, the first cause may be that the fumet has been cooked for a too long period of time (20 minutes is best). The second is that the fish stock was boiled instead of a steady simmering. Boiling or overcooking have basically the same effect on the liquid. They dissolve calcium salt from the fragile fish bones in the stock. These salts will make the final liquid cloudy and give it a chalky taste.Note that these salts cannot be removed at a later stage, when performing the clarification of the fish stock for the purpose of an aspic or fish consommé cooking.
Seasonality of Fish, Crustaceans and Molluscs
In a previous post called "why is there seasons for fish and crustaceans" label question on food, I wrote about the reasons behind fish and crustaceans seasonality. Now I will make a short list of fish, molluscs and crustaceans and when they are available. This is important to know the seasonality of seafood as their price varies a lot whether there are in seasons or not. Trust me, I run the kitchen of a fish restaurant for a good while and my cost would fluctuate a lot depending on the time of year for a particular fish or crustacean.
A small precision here. The seasonality chart below is based on the fishing zone of the North Atlantic, West Atlantic, North Sea, English Channel, Irish Sea, Norwegian Sea and Mediterranean Sea only.
Round White FishCod : Available from June until March. Low season April May. Nowadays the availability of cod depend mainly on the strict quotas which regulate the marine stock.
Cod Roe : Only available in February and March. Low season January. Unavailable from April until December.
Haddock : In season from June until February. Low season end of March until the beginning of May.
Whiting : Available from June until May. Low season March until May.
White Pollock (Blossom) : Available from May until February. Less fishing in March and April.
Black Pollock (Coley) : Available in June until January. Less fishing is made between February and May.
Hake : Available from June until February. Low season March until May.
Ling : Nearly available all year around with a small period of shortage in August.
Conger Eel : Available from spring until the beginning of the winter months.
John Dory : This fish is available all year around. Now the market can depend on some fluctuations because of the weather during winter months and the demand on the market around Christmas.
Monkfish/ Angler fish : Available all year around. Quite difficult to find around Christmas and the New Year due to a n increase in the demand.
Grey Mullet : Available from August until February. Low season March until July with a peak in May.
Gurnard : Available from July until February. Low season March until June with a peak in April and May.
Sea bass : Available all year around. Extensive farming in Greece, France, Portugal and Turkey offer a non stop supply all over Europe. In some European countries sea bass fishing is restricted or banned like in Ireland, but in general wild sea bass season starts around April, peaks in July and August and ends around October.
Dogfish : Available all year around.
Dogfish : Available all year around.
Ray : Available all year around.
Shark : Available all year around.
Flat White FishFlounders : The main fishing season starts in July to end in February. The peak of the low season is April .
White Sole/ Witch : Available from June until February. Low season March until May.
Dab : Available from September until March. Becomes rare between April and August.
Brill : Available from July and February. Low season March until June with a peak in April and May.
Turbot : Here I am talking about wild turbot. Turbot farming is one of the most successful fish farming adventure after salmon. It has contributed to make turbot available all year around and more affordable. So, wild turbot is available from April until February but it is still a quite rare fish.
Halibut : Available all year around.
Plaice : Available from June until December. The low season starts in January and peaks in February, March and April.
Oil Rich FishMackerel : Mackerel is available all year around on our markets, but the peak of the season for this fish is late August until the end of September. It may become scarce during winter months because of the weather conditions.
Herring : Available all year around with a time of scarcity around the end of March and April.
Tuna : Available all year around for the yellow fin and mako tuna. Due to the increasing rarity of the blue fin tuna fishing vessels have to follow very restrictive period of fishing that depend on the country. Here in Ireland, tuna fishing starts in the late summer for a period varying between 2 to 6 weeks.
Swordfish : Available all year along though imports. Now, Irish fishermen start fishing for swordfish at the end of the summer.
Sardines : Available from June until August. Due to a drop in the stocks of sardines the authorities have put a serious clamp down onto sardine fishing, especially
Wild salmon : The commercial fishing of salmon comes under Ministerial order. In Ireland it is usually June, July sometimes May.
MolluscsPeriwinkle : All year around.
Whelk : All year around.
Rope-culture mussels : Available all year around, but can come in short supply during spring.
Bottom mussels : from July until March. Low season peaks in May.
Cockles : Available from September until June.
Clams : Available from September until June.
Scallops : all year around. In some part of Europe the fishing of scallops is restricted, in the bay of St Brieuc and the bay of Brest in Brittany in France for example.
Oyster Gigas : The golden rule for oysters is that they are at their best the months finishing by a R such as September, November...
Oyster Native : This concerns only Irish native oysters. They are only available from September until April. It is not aloud to sale native oysters from May until August.
Ormer/Abalone : The fishing of abalone is very strictly protected in Europe and Australia. It is very scarce and is listed as an endangered species in some parts of the World. Here in Europe, it is available from October until April and limited to 12 molluscs per fisherman, per day. It is, also, aloud to fish ormer 3 days previous a full moon and 3 after.
Squid : All year around.
CrustaceansDublin Bay Prawns/ Langoustine : All year around. Some shortages happen around Christmas and New Year due to an increase in the demand. And just a small precision about D.B.Prawns. THEY DON'T ALL COME FROM THE DUBLIN BAY, as a lot of customer would argue with me when I tell them that the D.B Prawns that I use come from Cork. This is the English name for the "Nephrops norvegicus", Noway lobster.It is also known as langoustine french word that roughly mean small lobster, scampi plural of their Italian name scampo.
Shrimp : All year along.
Lobster : All year around. But there is some short period of time when the lobster grows therefor need to change its shell. It is called the molting. There is only one way to know when this event happens is to ask the lobsterman!
Crayfish : All year around.
Brown crab : All year around.
Spider crab : All year around. It is mainly fished in late December and January.
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