First Harvest + Quick Meals #2

Phew. I managed to save my parsley plant. Despite its colour being slightly yellowish—at least it's still alive—I strategically pruned it and got my first parsley harvest today. It's quite hard to ignore the aroma of freshly cut parsley so, of course, I had to use some right away. 




Dinner: Baked Salmon with Miscellaneous Sauce (elaborated below) topped with fresh chopped parsley and served with a simple tomato and cucumber salad with lots of feta (mmmm!!mmm) and balsamic vinegar. I have been eating A LOT of this salad; it's just so easy and quick to make. Most importantly, it's cheap. Student Cooking 101: It's all about convenience, speed and budget. As you can see in the photo, I did not even bother discarding the parsley stems. The more the merrier.

Right, the Miscellaneous Sauce. 

Ingredients in Miscellaneous Sauce (a.k.a. a mixture of random things I found in my fridge...):
-Ketchup, Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce, Salad Cream (in equal quantity, I put about one tablespoon each)
-Spring Onions (chopped)
-Ginger (diced)
-Garlic (finely diced)
-Olive Oil

Surprisingly, it was really tasty. I think it's the ketchup; ketchup makes everything taste better. I also seasoned the fish with freshly ground black pepper and chinese five spice before loading the sauce onto the fillets. I think, in post-rationalisation, I was going for an Asian Fusion type thing?! 

I finished the dish with a sprinkle of dried parsley. 

Phyllo Log with Caramelized Apples

Probably the best advice that I can give is to not choose the wrong phyllo dough recipe. That sounds unbelievably simple (and yes, I'll admit it, slightly anti-climatic) but it's the dead honest truth.

Phyllo dough is not difficult to make. There must be some conspiracy out there trying to embed the concept into women's minds that making homemade phyllo dough may be the most strenuously terrifying experience (aside from childbirth I'm speculating) that they could possibly put themselves through. Yet women will have no hesitation spending hours and numerous you-had-better-spent-them-on-a-treadmill calories making three-tier chocolate cakes and 15-pound turkeys. Even lasagne takes more time and effort to make.

The second and almost-just-as-important advice is: When you think it's thin enough, it could probably be thinner. Yeah you will never be able to roll out the dough to factory-machinery thinness but you can sure try. And it will be worth it.

The third advice, work fast and with smaller chunks of dough. You don't want to phyllo to start drying up. Smaller chunks will allow you to push out the dough thinner without running out of room on your board.

Conclusion? Do not pick a recipe that calls for butter or lard-related substances in the dough. It's ok if you brush it on after, that's what you're supposed to do. No eggs either. Neither made a huge difference in the end result tastewise or texture wise and if it's not needed, why add the extra fat? Also, don't forget, keep rolling and be quick!

Oh a word of caution, not advice, just words from a klutzy me. Don't be an idiot and think that your (little) flour well/mountain/hole that you'd made can hold in ALL the liquid that you're about to pour into the centre. Chances are, the liquid will bulldoze its way through the flour and spill all over your kitchen countertop. Use a bowl or add the liquid a little bit at a time.

I will be trying a new recipe which only calls for flour, vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice and hot, hot water. Much healthier.

Stick it to...

Why do I do these things to myself? If you read my new upcoming challenge, you'd probably think the same thing. Yes, I'm planning on making my own phyllo dough and sheets. Just typing about the challenge makes me palpitate. Why can't I be like any other normal person and pick up a pack of premade frozen ones from the closest supermarket? Why do I find kneading and rolling and re-kneading and re-rolling out pastry until they are tissue paper thin actually exciting?

I just don't trust it. "It" being "The Man".
What does he put in my phyllo dough? I don't know. 
Can I ever trust "The Man" to look out for me? Most likely not. 
Why does "The Man" deceive me to believing that a cute, squeaky white dough boy with a fake bellybutton is in charge of overseeing the production of my premade baking products or that frozen dinners are actually made with my lifestyle in their mind? To rob me of my money and health.
This is the same reason why I make my own pie crust and almost everything from scratch if I possibly can (within the limits of my present kitchen - ie: my mother). "The Man" is out there. Fellow health-lovers, agree with me, we must not give in...

So begins my new challenge.