So This Is What Einstein Felt Like…

Seriously folks, it’s like I’ve discovered the Theory of Relativity. E=mc²? More like E=bd² Whereby the E stands for Excellent, the b stands for Bri and the d is Dorie, she’s squared because I used multiple Dorie recipes. Dorie x Dorie is just good sense.

After trying Dorie’s Chocolate Ganache ice cream, and Burnt Sugar ice cream, I was hooked. The woman knows ice cream. I was impressed. I knew then that I had to try her other frozen treats. Dorie (for those of you who have been living underground for the last little while, I’m referring to Dorie Greenspan and her marvelous book Baking: From My Home to Yours) has a recipe for Creamy Dark Chocolate sorbet, which she claims offers the same satisfaction of ice cream, with the same creaminess and satiny melt-in-your-mouth pleasure, without cream or eggs. Could this be? I was going to find out. But I was feeling adventurous, I wanted something mouth than just chocolate. Here’s where my brain went into Einstein mode and I came up with a Chocolate Chai sorbet, which is fan-freaking-tastic! It really is. This also made me decide that Dorie needs to do an entire book of ice cream recipes and that I’m the person to help her do it… A girl can dream.

It was also yesterday that I got a phone call that went something like this:

Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring! (I hate answering the phone and I always hope someone else will do it, or I just let the machine pick up, it’s never for me anyways).

Me (finally): Hello?
Mom: Hi, I need you to make 9 dozen cookies and wrap them up into mugs for me. (What do you know? It was for me…)

Me: Anything in particular?

Mom: Whatever you want.

Sweet! I went straight to Dorie’s book to figure out what I’d be baking. I found all sorts of things and in the end I made Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters, Buttery Jam Cookies, My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies, Cottage Cheese Pufflets and then I botched a batch of Caramel Crunch Bars, (sorry Dorie, my fault). I also set out to make World Peace cookies for the first time because I finally acquired some fleur de sel. You have to chill these for a few hours before baking so I started them last night and then stuck them in the fridge to make today. As I was wrapping them up last night I noticed the mixture was pretty crumbly, I had used big chocolate chips instead of little ones so the dough wasn’t holding together and I had clearly added too much flour, (I tend to do this a lot… ugh, I wish all recipes were written in weighted measurements that I couldn't screw up) but I just stuck it in the fridge and hoped for the best. This morning I pulled out the dough and it was still crumbly and definitely not bakeable. I set it aside and began making Midnight Crackle cookies. But as I made those, I was snacking on the World Peace cookie dough. What? It was really good. And that’s when I decided to combine the World Peace dough with the Midnight Crackle dough. It was another Einstein moment! Amazing cookie #1 + Amazing cookie #2 =Super amazing cookie! I was very happy that this actually turned out. I didn’t want to give them away because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to recreate these proportions again. It wasn’t quite a whole batch of World Peace cookie dough that was added to the Midnight Crackles because by the time I got around to mixing the two together I had eaten an awful lot of the World Peace dough. (I told you it was good, quit judging me!)

Anyways, after all this baking, I started assembling the mugs. Then I realized that because of the botched Caramel Crunch Bars, I was going to be short some cookies. I would have to make some more, but what? As you know, I haven’t had the best relationship with Nigella. We’ve had our ups and downs and we last parted on a sour note. But then a saw a post from Ivonne of Cream Puffs In Venice singing the devil's praises and urging me to give Nigella another chance. I grudgingly got out my copy of How To Be A Domestic Goddess and flipped through, looking for another cookie recipe. I recalled a post by Ellie of Kitchen Wench where she had made Nigella’s Snickerdoodles and she didn’t seem to have any problems with them. In fact, she claimed they were quite tasty. Then I read Nigella’s description of them and decided that since they have such a fun name and seemed to be alright, I had to make them at least once. And wouldn’t you know it, I actually like them. They reminded me of a more cookie like Timbit, I even made them approximately the same size. There was no Einstein moment here, but the cookies were good and I guess mumbleNigellamumbleisn’tmumblecompletelymumbleevilmumble.

Chocolate Chai Sorbet (Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Creamy Dark Chocolate Sorbet)

1 cup milk

1 cup water

7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

¾ cup sugar

5 chai tea bags

Put milk and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Once heated, add the tea bags and allow to combine for 7 minutes. Remove tea bags and add chocolate and sugar, stir. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and watching the pan so it doesn’t boil over. Pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl and refrigerate until chilled before churning the sorbet. Scrape the chilled sorbet into the bowl on an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions. Pack the sorbet into a container and freeze for at least 2 hours- unlike ice cream which can be served soft, this sorbet needs time in the freezer to firm up.

***Bonus points to anyone who can tell me what the following picture is of:

Technorati Tags:

Cookies + Baking + Ice Cream + Chocolate + Dorie Greenspan

I'm an Embarassment to Paster Makers Everywhere

I’m still working on refining my pasta making skills. They don’t seem to be improving, but I guess they’re not getting worse either. Despite my mediocre pasta, the filling for this ravioli was delicious. Once again I went and retrieved some mushrooms from my mushroom growing friend, (all legal, I assure you) and was delighted to find that he had some shiitakes, oysters and lion’s mane ready for me. Wicked! My ravioli filling was practically made for me with a spread like that. All I had to add was a little butter, garlic, onion, peppercorn bacon, (bacon makes everything better) and white wine. Then came the tricky part of trying to actually get my pasta to look like nicely shaped ravioli. That never happens. They’re always a multitude of sizes and shapes and if I’m lucky, one or two of them might actually look like ravioli. I still have no problem eating them all, but I know they could be much, much better. Perhaps having better flour would help, maybe this “00” flour I keep hearing about for pasta making. I’m not sure exactly where I could procure this flour, but I will have to look into it. I’m certain I could order some online, you can find everything on the internet. Everything.

Part of my obsession with pasta lately might have something to do with the fact that I just finished reading Heat by Bill Buford. I’ve been waiting about 6 months to get this book from the library and I feel like I’m the last person on earth to have read it, (that, and The Omnivores Dilemma, I’m still waiting on it). What I’ve learned from the book is that I really can’t learn proper pasta making without going to Italy. Even then, I’d be hard pressed to find someone who would be willing to teach me. And if I was lucky enough to find a crazy old Italian pasta maker, she’d be afraid that I would tell her secrets to Mario Batali and she still wouldn’t teach me. Eventually though, I would win her over, only to find out that upon my return to Canada I would never be able to find eggs and flour like the stuff she uses and consequently, my pasta would always be sub-par, which it about where I’m at right now. Sup-par. Sigh… but I keep trying.

As I keep trying to improve my dismal pasta, I recall the words of the great Julia Child: "The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude." So what the hell! I’ll keep making thick, tough, oddly shaped pasta. At least my sauces have been good, but that’s only because I haven’t been to Italy and I wouldn’t know any better. Ignorance is bliss.

Technorati Tags:

Ravioli + Mushrooms + Pasta + Dinner

I Also Like Butter

A few days ago I mentioned a Top Secret Project that was underway and would be revealed on January 30^th. Well that’s today! And what’s so special about today? It’s National Croissant Day of course! You can’t even imagine how happy it makes me that I can now say that I’ve made croissants and that my croissants arre edible. Not only are they edible, they’re actually pretty decent. It’s not Paris in my kitchen and it never will be, but I made croissants and they aren’t awful! You’re probably wondering why a nincompoop like me would even attempt to make croissants, (I could easily have celebrated National Croissant Day with a bakery purchase). Rightly so since I’m the same person who routinely forgets to put yeast in bread and then can’t figure out why it didn’t rise.

Well, it all began way back in November when I saw Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice and Lis of La Mia Cucina collaborate to make pretzels from the same recipe and then post about it on the same day. I asked them if I could join in on their next project and they graciously agreed. So in December, the three of us, along with Peabody of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody and Helen of Tartelette baked biscotti from a Dorie Greenspan recipe. This was my first Dorie recipe and I’ve been hooked ever since!

Sometime after the biscotti project was over, Lis informed us that, (like it or not) this would be a monthly event. And that’s when I opened my big mouth and suggested that we make croissants next. I made this suggestion based not on any skills I possess, but rather on my uncompromising love of butter. I have never made croissants or puff pastry or any kind of complex pastry. I draw the line at pie dough and it’s taken me a long time to become comfortable with that. So why on earth did I think I could tackle croissants? Possibly because I have an unrealistic belief that I’m Superwoman… Then I received the recipe from Ivonne and it was FIVE pages long and I started feeling like croissants might be my kryptonite. As I skimmed over the recipe I noted that not only was it FIVE pages long, but that it would be a THREE day long project. What on earth had I gotten myself into? Well, at least I wouldn’t be alone. In addition to Ivonne, Lis, Peabody and Helen, Veron of Veronica’s Test Kitchen and Quellia of All Things Edible would also be joining in.

For three days I had no clue what I was doing. I was shocked when the dough wouldn’t mix in my mixer and I had to knead it by hand. I was baffled when it didn’t rise like it should have. I was then astonished when, after shaping, (misshaping?) my croissants the dough rose to alarming heights and resembled the Michelin man. I was lost as I foolishly tried to transfer risen croissants from the butter tray to a clean one, (they didn’t appreciate that). And then I danced around the kitchen like a lunatic, trying to figure out how many trays it would take to bake these suckers. The recipe said one tray would do it, but I ended up using three. What is this? A kitchen made for ants? In the end though, after three days of hoping against all odds that I could bake croissants, I actually did it. And you can too, but I don’t suggest it. If you’ve never made croissants, you might want to continue enjoying them in blissful ignorance. You don’t want to know how much butter goes into them, (I thought I knew, I then had to multiply that number). But they’re soo-oh-oooo good! Like all baking experiences, I’ve learned a few things, (aside from the butter content of a croissant): I’ve learned that I can’t roll dough out into a rectangle. I can’t cut in a straight line. I have difficulty following instructions, (I may have already known that...) and I can’t refuse a challenge or a hot croissant right out of the oven, even though I know how much butter is in there. Correction: I can’t refuse THREE hot croissants right out of the oven. And yes, I realize they’re absolutely enormous. If I die from a heart attack, I want a picture of a croissant and the caption “I died happy” on my tombstone.

Perhaps the only thing better than a fresh croissant is a fresh croissant dipped in rich hot chocolate, for breakfast. When I lived in France I ate it every morning and usually every afternoon too, (so that’s where those 20lbs came from…). The croissant soaks up the hot chocolate and if you don’t bring it to your lips quickly you’ll loose it. Not to worry though, a few sips later you’ll find it again at the bottom of your mug and it will be as good as ever.

I must say though, it will be a long time before I ever go to the trouble of making croissants again. Yes, they were delicious and I was so proud of myself for making them, but come on! They took three days! The recipe was 5 pages long! I ate a few pounds of butter! They’re dangerous.

Technorati Tags:

Croissants + Butter + Blogging Event + Baking + National Croissant Day

I Like Elephants

I’m always happy to participate in any event that Meeta of What’s For Lunch Honey? is hosting, so much so that I’m currently involved in two of them. Every month Meeta hosts a little mingle over at her place and since Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching, she has chosen Sweet Love as the theme for this month. Meeta professes to love Valentine’s Day but I can’t say that I share her sentiments. Maybe it’s because I hated pink as a child and there’s an abundance of it around Valentine’s Day. Maybe it’s because stores stock pile heart shaped chocolates that taste like plastic and yet we still buy them. Or maybe it’s because I’m a single and cynical. The only good part of Valentine’s Day is that it gives me another excuse to bake and eat sweet things. Oh, and I like cinnamon hearts too. When I was younger, (last year) my friend and I used to have competitions to see how many cinnamon hearts we could eat before our mouths caught on fire. It usually got to the point that we didn’t have tastebuds and couldn’t taste anything for days.

The thing about Valentine’s Day is that it celebrates cute, mushy things and I can’t support that. People give teddy bears and flowers and boxes of chocolate, all of which are some shade of pink, (what a wussy colour) and they seem to throw out all common sense. At what other time is it acceptable to give someone an ugly pink bear with a fuzzy heart glued to its chest that says “I WUV U”? Never! It shouldn’t ever be acceptable, and yet Valentine’s Day makes people do all sorts of things they shouldn’t. Don’t even get me started on the baby talk… The only acceptable gifts on Valentine’s Day are high quality chocolates, (read: not the kind that only appear at Valentine’s Day in Quickmarts) cars, houses or cookbooks.

Despite my dislike of the day, I will indulge Meeta in her liking of it and am therefore submitting this cherry dessert. And yes, I’m aware that it symbolizes everything I don’t like about Valentine’s Day: it’s cute, it’s heart shaped and it’s a shade of pink. But it’s tasty. I made it with some leftover sweet dough and a bing and sour cherry filling. I considered showing a picture collage of its subsequent destruction, but instead I gave it to Mom and she appreciated it.

Meeta is so caught up in Valentine’s Day that not only has she organized her Monthly Mingle around it, she’s also hosting the second round of Blogger Postcards from Around the World with Happy Valentine’s as the theme. She’s trying to force me to like it. Let the record show that I’m participating, but that I’m doing so in protest. Above is the card I made, (you just can’t find good Valentine’s postcards) that’s being shipped off to some secret destination. Before you even start on me for making such a pink and heart filled card, I’d like to say that I didn’t do it because I like Valentine’s Day, I did it because I like being crafty and I like elephants.

Technorati Tags:

Valentine’s Day + Pie + Cherries + Blogging Event + Blogger Postcards Around the World

Ramekins Are So Last Year

They look kinda cool, but didn’t turn out as well as I would have hoped. This round of Hay Hay it’s Donna Day, is being hosted by Tami of Running with Tweezers, (again! That Tami i s crafty) and she chose a theme that strikes fear into the heart of many homecooks- soufflés. I’ve only ever made soufflé once before, but it was a huge success so I didn’t think I should have any trouble. Obviously, my one success meant that I was a pro. As such, I was trying to think of a different way to do soufflé. If I was going to do something fancy, I probably should have had a recipe. Well I did, sort of. I based my creation loosely on a Roast Red Pepper Souffle recipe that I found online after googling pepper souffle. The recipe I found is supposed to be made in ramekins and it’s supposed to be made by following the directions. I did neither of those things. I decided to roast the tops of my peppers and use the bottoms for ramekins. And I sort of skipped over the beginning of the recipe because it seemed like it took too long and I already had chicken started which couldn’t wait. Using the red peppers as ramekins looked pretty, but the peppers themselves didn’t cook at the same rate as the soufflés. This is alright if you don’t mind slightly crunchy peppers, but I wasn’t overly impressed. Roasting the peppers first would have been tastier, but they then couldn’t have held my soufflés so I guess it was a trade off. The chicken was good, I used some leftover pureed roast pepper in the sauce for it, but that’s neither here nor there.

Unfortunately my Chocolate Coconut soufflés didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped either, (made on a different night). This may have been in part due to the fact that they were the dessert that followed my favourite dinner of late. Or maybe it was because I used too many eggs yolks, not enough egg whites and I underwhipped the egg whites and overbaked the soufflés. It’s hard to do that many things wrong, but I did it with gusto. I’m including the recipe because I’m fairly certain that if I were actually to have followed it, my souffles would have turned out quite nicely. I began to stray from the recipe right off the bat. I wasn’t paying attention while I was separating my eggs and when I got to the fourth one, I cracked it too hard against the bowl and broke the yolk. To save the whites from getting any yolk in them, I basically tossed the whole eggs into the bowl with the yolks. This meant that instead of having three yolks beaten together, I had four and some egg white. And instead of whipping four egg whites, I only had three. Come to think of it, I could have just gotten another egg out of the fridge, or scooped out some of the yolk, but I didn’t think of those obvious solutions at the time. Then, while I was whipping my egg whites with a hand beater, it broke. All of a sudden the normal whirring of the motor turned into a rat-a-tat-tat machine gun sound, scarring me half to death. I was afraid the beaters were going to shoot right out of the bowl. Once again, the logical thing to do here would have been to continue whipping the whites with Wilbur, but I didn’t think of that. I broke out the hand whisk and went to work.

Apparently I’m a huge wimp because I thought my arm was going to fall off and the egg whites still weren’t as whipped as they should have been. Again, I just powered on through, spooning the goo into my four prepared ramekins. And then I had to prepare four more ramekins because it would seem that I have the tiniest ramekins ever. Once again, if I had of stopped for two seconds to think about what I was doing, I wouldn’t have left my soufflés in the oven for the full baking time because I was fully aware that they were half the size they should have been and would therefore bake much faster. I didn’t think of that. My soufflés were dry and didn’t puff as high as they should have. They probably could have been slightly saved by a heap of chocolate sauce, but I didn’t have any. Then my brain started functioning a little bit and I recalled Ellie’s post about soufflé making, where she froze the soufflés as soon as they came out of the oven. Since I had 8 of them, I put half in the freezer. I actually liked them better the second day, but they still weren’t great.

Chocolate with a Hint of Coconut Souffle (Adapted from Stephen Cooks)

Makes 4 fairly large individual souffles

3 oz unsweetened chocolate

3 T double strength brewed coconut coffee

1 T rum

3 egg yolks, beaten lightly

4 egg whites

¼ cup sugar + 2T

Powdered sugar to dust ramekins

Preheat oven to 400º.

Butter four ramekins and dust with powdered sugar.

Heat chocolate, 1/4 cup sugar, coffee and rum over low heat, stirring, until smooth.

Off heat, stir in the egg yolks and beat a few strokes.

In another bowl, beat egg whites until medium peaks form, gradually adding the remaining sugar to the whites. Fold chocolate mixture into the beaten egg whites and spoon into the ramekins.

Bake 'till puffed, about 10 - 12 minutes.

Technorati Tags:

HHDD#9 + Souffle + Peppers + Chocolate + Donna Hay

Happy Australia Day!

I don’t care how much snow there is outside. As far as I’m concerned, it’s Australia Day and that means it’s warm and nice and I should be on the beach at Byron Bay, eating ice cream. Two years ago today, that’s where I was and that’s where I’d like to be right now. Unfortunately that’s not an option, so instead I made ice cream to drown my tears in. I actually made ice cream yesterday as well. It was Dad’s birthday so I made him his regular, angel food cake, from scratch, with chocolate whipped cream. That meant I had a whole lot of egg yolks leftover that needed using up. I was undecided on what to make with them but was feeling as though something was missing in my life, but I couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Then it hit me: I hadn’t made a Dorie recipe in over a week. The horror! (I’m not actually joking here…) But I knew that there were ice cream recipes in Baking: From My Home to Yours, and I knew that ice cream required egg yolks. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened next. Since Dad’s a big chocolate fan I opted for the Chocolate Ganache ice cream. Yes, you read that correctly, a ganache ice cream! I’d actually never made ice cream using egg yolks before, (usually mine was just mass amounts of cream) but I was confident that with Dorie behind me, everything would be ok. But why make things easy on myself? I decided to make the Chocolate Ganache ice cream at the same time as I worked on a top secret kitchen project that will be revealed January 30^th. Since it’s top secret, I can’t tell you anything else right now, but suffice to say that it’s a project that required my undivided attention and I shouldn’t have been making ice cream at the same time. But despite my difficulties in multi-tasking, this was the best ice cream I’ve ever made, and possibly one of the best ice creams I’ve ever tasted. And that’s saying a lot. I used to work in an ice cream store that served over 35 flavours… This ganache ice cream was smooth and creamy and wonderfully chocolaty.

You are perhaps looking at the first picture and noticing that it doesn’t look very chocolaty. That’s because it’s not, it’s Burnt Sugar ice cream. Everyone ate all of the chocolate last night with the angel food cake. I was sure I’d have some leftover for Australia Day, but noooooo, they licked the bowl clean. I suppose I should be flattered by that, but somehow I’m more annoyed that that I don’t have any super tasty ice cream leftover. I guess I can’t be too annoyed with them because it running out of the chocolate ice cream meant that I got to make another batch, and try out another Dorie recipe. This time I went for the Burnt Sugar ice cream, (you could also call it caramel). But why stop there? I went on to make Dorie’s Chocolate Oatmeal Drop cookies as well. They look pretty on the side of the ice cream but they’re even better when they’re broken into pieces and mixed in. Mmmm cookies and ice cream. Although the Chocolate Ganache ice cream was better, I still thought this was a worthy contribution to the celebration of Australia Day. I just wish I was actually there.

For those of you who have not experienced Australia, you’re missing out. But allow me to tell you a few of the reasons I love Australia:

1- I don’t think I need to state this, but their accents are pretty freaking cool.

2- They have Tim Tams.

3- They have the best sand for playing beach volleyball in.

4- Despite the fact that English is the primary language, you wouldn’t always know it… Aussies love to vary words and use short forms. Only an Aussie could manage to make the lowly blood sucking mosquito sound appealing by calling it a mossie. Bikkies are cookies, a bottle-o is a liquor store, an esky is a cooler, university is uni and if someone tells you they’ll see you this arvo, it means this afternoon. I could go on forever. I love it.

5- They embrace the concept of “Go big or go home” with countless ‘Big’ roadside attractions such as the Big Banana, Big Prawn and Big Pineapple just to name a few. Oh and they’ve got that reef that’s big, and that rock too.

6- Australia has all of the world’s top 10 deadliest snakes and is home to a variety of other deadly critters. Even the cute little platypus is venomous.

7- They have the best place names like Indooroopilly, Wollongong and Gympie, (and those are the normal ones).

8- It’s warm.

9- The people are fun.

10- Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!

Technorati Tags:

Australia + Ice Cream + Chocolate + Dorie Greenspan + Cookies + Caramel

Welcome to the Jungle

This meal is brought to you as part of the “Culinary Jebus” series, (apparently 2 posts constitutes a series). In other words, I was very happy with how it turned out. The dish was inspired by a recipe in Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid called Jungle Curry. The name Jungle Curry reminded me of a trip to Salad King (cheap and soooo good!) in Toronto where I selected Evil Jungle Prince from the menu solely because of its wonderful name. After making that association, I couldn’t get my head around the fact that this dish was Jungle Curry and not Evil Jungle Prince. No matter what you call it though, it was tasty! Of course, when you’re starting from such a great book, you can’t go wrong. The title alone should tell you that this book is a keeper. Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet contains recipes interwoven with stories of the authors’ experiences traveling in Southeast Asia and every recipe is bursting with flavour. Mmmm flavour! Who’s taking me to Southeast Asia?

I’m sleepy tonight, so just look at the pretty pictures, ready the following quotes and come back tomorrow for something new.

“Gourmandism is one of the most important influences in our social life; it gradually spreads that spirit of conviviality which brings together from day to day differing kinds of people, melts them into a whole, animates their conversation, and softens the sharp corners of the conventional inequalities of positions and breeding.” The Physiology of Taste, Brillat-Savarin.

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin was definitely ahead of his time. I think he would have made an excellent blogger and just been a cool guy to hang out with. And he was funny too! He says that some people are predestined to be gourmands, others no, and for “people to whom nature has denied the capacity for such enjoyment… it is undoubtedly they who invented trousers to hide their thin shanks.” HA!

And here’s one more quote from Brillat-Savarin, cause he’s much more entertaining than I am tonight: “Thinness is a horrible calamity to women: beauty to them is more than life itself, and it consists above all of the roundness of their forms and the graceful curvings of their outlines.” Why oh why wasn’t I alive in the early 1800’s?

Evil Jungle Bri Curry, (Inspired by Jungle Curry from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet)

¾ lb boneless pork
2 T safflower oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
½ inch sliced ginger
Evil Jungle Bri Paste
2 cups chicken stock
5.5 oz wild mushrooms, assorted
4.5 oz snap peas
6 oz bean sprouts
2 broccoli stalks
2 T fish sauce
Handful buckwheat noodles
Juice of ½ lime
Dozen basil leaves, chopped

Cut the pork into cubes and set aside. Heat a large wok over high heat. When it is hot, add the oil and swirl to coat, then toss in the garlic and ginger. Fry the garlic until it begins to turn golden, then add the pork and Evil Jungle Bri Paste, (recipe follows). Fry for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add everything except the noodles, basil and lime juice and cook for about 4 minutes. Add the noodles and continue to cook until noodles are soft and sauce has reduced a bit. Remove from heat and stir in the basil leaves and lime juice. Serve with lime slices.

Evil Jungle Bri Paste

4 garlic cloves
1 inch piece ginger, grated
1 T minced lemongrass
1 ½ teaspoons sambal oelek (chili pepper paste)
1 T minced cilantro
Zest of 1 lime
1 teaspoon Korean pepper paste
2 teaspoons Pad Thai sauce
1 T honey

Blend everything together.

Technorati Tags:

Curry + Recipe + Dinner + Asian

Make Yourself a Dang Quesa-dilluh!

I had good intentions of participating in Leftover Tuesdays hosted by David of Cooking Chat. I was looking forward to trying to come up with something to do with leftover risotto because reheating it the next day is entirely unappetizing, why ruin a good thing? However, I didn’t have a chance to do that because even though I thought I had made tons, it was all gobbled up. But all is not lost as I have since learned from Mickey of Kitchen Inferno that leftover risotto can be made into little balls, covered in egg wash, crumbed and then fried. This was then confirmed by Rob of Hungry in Hogtown who went on to add that they’re called arancine which means little oranges. Rob also suggested that for a real treat I should put a ball of buffalo mozzarella in the centre before frying. After reading that I’m thinking of making risotto just for the leftovers! Even as I write this, more suggestions are still coming in, thanks folks. I will definitely be trying some of those ideas next time but unfortunately no number of risotto leftover suggestions could actually produce leftovers for this round of LOT. Ha, since when is not having leftovers a problem? You know you’re addicted to blogging events when…

No worries though, leftover chicken came through in the clutch. I roasted a chicken last night, nothing fancy, but I had leftovers and I knew that I could think of something good to make with them. I always make stock from the bones which I make soup out of or freeze for another time, so I didn’t want to post about that. It didn’t feel special enough and I like making new things. Then I remembered seeing that Freya of Writing at the Kitchen Table had recently made quesadillas and she made me want to make them too. I don’t know what I was waiting for so I got in the kitchen and made myself a dang quesa-dilluh! My next problem was what kind of quesadilla to make? Clearly I had none of the traditional ingredients, but that’s a-okay. What I did have was leftover chicken, a ripe mango, some old cheddar, black olives and a Curried Mango Grille Sauce. That sounded like a winning combination to me. But what about the tortilla? Right. I didn’t have any. But I did find some enormous whole wheat pitas, perfect. I split one in half and filled it with chicken and my other finds and stuck it in the oven at 350F until the cheese was nice and gooey. The pita even ended up being a nice change from a regular tortilla. It got crispy and chip-like which made for a lot of crumbs, but tasty crumbs. This was leftovers made easy and I certainly enjoyed it for lunch.

What was even better than my lunch was the discovery I made while preparing it. As I was reaching for the Curried Mango Grille Sauce, (which I looove) the logo on the jar caught my eye and I had a sudden flashback to last month: I could see myself standing in front of the fridge with a spoon in one hand and a jar of Spiced Rum Butterscotch Sauce in the other, shamefully scooping it into my mouth. On that jar was the same logo as on the Curried Mango Grille Sauce! The Spiced Rum Butterscotch Sauce, (which I had received as a gift) was the one that I raved about when I paired it with Dorie Greenspan’s Black and White Banana Cake. At the time, I longed to have the recipe for the sauce, but like an idiot, I didn’t even look at the jar closely enough to realize there was a website for the company printed right on it. Well, I’ve since smartened up and have been doing a thorough investigation of the Stonewall Kitchen via its website. I’ve also realized that I’ve tried quite a few of their products and all of them have been amazing. If you’re looking for a tasty foodie gift for someone, this is a great place to check out. They sell all sorts of drool inducing delectables, such as: Pineapple Rum Raisin Sauce, Black Cherry Cognac Sauce, Vidalia Onion Fig Sauce, Tequila Lime Cocktail Sauce, Raspberry Peach Champagne Jam… Oh I could go on, and they have more than just food, there are other great things for your kitchen too.

One last though on leftovers: If you’re ever stumped about what to do with them, just think that EVERYTHING can be improved by adding bacon, cheese, chocolate or olive oil. Over on Matt’s blog, Deglazed he suggested it as a fun dinner party, to try to come up with a food that couldn’t be improved by adding Bacon, Cheese, Chocolate or Olive Oil. It’s an interesting challenge indeed, but not possible. Anything you suggest, I can argue how it would be improved with one of those four ingredients.

Technorati Tags:

Quesadillas + Chicken + Recipe + Cheese + Leftovers

Just Call Me Culinary Jebus

I cook and bake all the time, (obviously) and for the most part it’s edible. Every now and then it’s not. You win some and you lose some. C’est la vie. The thing is though, I’m pretty critical of the things I make so even if other people claim to like a dish I might not think it was much of a success if it didn’t turn out the way I thought it should have. Also, other people lie. That being said, when I’m happy with a dish it’s a great feeling. It’s like sunshine, lollipops and rainbows… You know, warm and fuzzy on the inside. Tonight’s dinner was one of those rare times that I was really happy with the way my cooking turned out, (dessert was subsequently a failure, but I’ll try not to dwell on that). I’m still savouring the flavour of Braised Short Ribs with Chocolate and Rosemary (adapted from Bon Appetit), served atop a bed of wild mushroom risotto, (my own creation). I’ve never done chocolate in a savoury dish, but it’s chocolate, so I figured it couldn’t possibly be bad. I had no idea it could be this good! You don’t get a strong chocolate taste in this dish but I think it lends a nice amount of richness. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the chocolate was paired with savoury rosemary, delicious red wine and tender, falling-off-the-bone short ribs which was then layered onto a plate of creamy, flavourful shiitake risotto. I’m telling you, this meal was so high quality, that my meals for the rest of the week are destined to pale in comparison. I might as well fast for the week because no food I eat is going to be as satisfying. Am I overhyping this dish enough for you? I think I should put up a warning right now, telling you NOT to make this dish because I don’t want anyone to think poorly of it in case it doesn’t turn out the same for you as it did for me.

Lately I’ve been doing well with savoury dishes, (last night’s dinner was pretty darn good too!) and there seems to be a snowball effect happening here. Tonight’s meal has been built on the back of other good meals, each one contributing a little bit to the final outcome. I always like cooking, but recently I’ve been even happier than usual when I’m in the kitchen. My timing has even improved somewhat. I’m no longer finishing the main course before the sides are ready, or serving dessert before the main. I’m feeling a sense of flow, zen-like if you will, a higher connectedness, a feeling of euphoria, maybe it’s the drugs... As I was making my risotto tonight, I remembered something that I had read, (and pardon me for forgetting which blogger wrote it) about making risotto- that it was similar to the process of kneading bread, all of that stirring being somehow therapeutic. I definitely agree. Risotto’s not hard to make, just time consuming and I was certainly consumed by the process tonight.

Everything’s a balance though. The more effective I am in the kitchen, the less effective I am with my computer. Blogger is still annoying me, but I’m not competent enough to do anything about that so I’m currently pretending everything works, regardless of whether or not it actually does. Related to my computer problems are recent camera problems as well. I think my camera is on its last legs and it was threatening to keel over and die in my risotto tonight. As a result of this, my photos don’t reflect how great this dish truly was, (I spent waaay too long in photoshop trying to fix them). And in my haste to devour it, I wasn’t too keen on wasting time taking pictures and letting my masterpiece get cold. After putting almost 4 hours into this dish, (granted some of that was idling time) I was going to enjoy it.

In conclusion, this was an amazing meal, but I beg of you, even though I’m providing a recipe, DON’T make it. Trust me that it was as good as I say, but don’t make. Don’t ruin the dream!

I made a huge amount of food last night with the good intention of having leftovers so that I could attempt to create something for a new event called Leftover Tuesdays started by David of Cooking Chat. I wanted to figure out what you could do with leftover risotto, cause it’s just not good the second day. Despite the large amount of food I made, it all disappeared and I consequently have nothing to post. Curses. Next time, I promise.

Braised Short Ribs With Chocolate and Rosemary (Adapted from Bon Appetit, January 2006)

2 strips of peppercorn bacon, diced
3 pounds bone-in short ribs
1 finely chopped onions
1 finely chopped celery
1 finely chopped peeled carrots
1 finely chopped peeled parsnip
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ cups dry red wine
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 400mL can of diced tomatoes
1 T mixed herb paste
½ teaspoon dry thyme
1 bay leaf
2 ½ tablespoons shaved bittersweet chocolate
1 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 350F. Heat heavy large pot over medium heat. Add bacon and sauté until crisp. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper. Working in batches, brown ribs in drippings in pot over medium-high heat until brown on all sides. Transfer to plate. Add onions and next 4 ingredients to pot. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until vegetables are soft, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add wine. Boil uncovered until liquid is reduced by half, scraping up browned bits. Add broth, tomatoes, herbs, thyme, bay leaf, and bacon. Return ribs to pot, making sure they’re covered in sauce, cover partially, and put in the over for about 1 ½ hours. Uncover and simmer until rib meat is tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 1/2 hours longer.

Transfer ribs to plate; discard bay leaf. Boil sauce until beginning to thicken, about 8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add chocolate, cocoa powder, and rosemary; stir until chocolate melts. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Return ribs to pot. Simmer to rewarm, about 5 minutes.

I served this on top of a shiitake risotto for which I have no recipe because I made it up as I went along. I had all of the usual risotto ingredients like Arborio rice, butter, white wine, stock and parmesan cheese as well as onion, garlic, peas and a whole lot of fresh shiitake mushrooms. Mmmm mmm good.

*I can tell already, this is one of those posts I’m going to read tomorrow and wonder what the hell I was on when I wrote it, (sunshine, lollipops and rainbows???). It’s also going to result in a myriad of kitchen disasters to bring my ego crashing back down to earth where it belongs. It’s not like I’m Ferran Adria here, I just assembled ingredients, the oven did the work. Someone should remind me of that before my head gets too big and you start calling me Little Big Head like a certain Food Network personality...

Technorati Tags:

Short Ribs + Risotto + Recipe + Chocolate + Food

You Wish You Were This Clever, (So Do I...)

Gee, truffles for a Sugar High Friday with Chocolate as the theme, how predictable. I’m sooo boring. I simply can’t come up with anything other than a chocolate truffle. Ha! I laugh in the face of boring! Truffles? Hardly! Looks may be deceiving. Granted, I didn’t actually come up with this idea, but I love it. They’re grapes covered in chocolate and don’t feel bad if you were fooled and thought they were truffles, everyone is. I think I giggled like a giddy little school girl every time I offered one of these to someone new. Each person would look at the bowl and exclaim “oooh truffles!” (or something like that) and I would smile innocently as they plucked one from the dish and popped it in their mouth. I delighted in watching their expression as they bit into the “truffle” and were greeted with a burst of juicy grape. I suppose if you have a huge chocolate craving and you get one of these instead, you might be disappointed, but mostly people are happy to have been deceived in such a fun way.

This will likely not be the chocolatiest entry into this month’s round of Sugar High Friday, but I think it’s an interesting one. David Lebovitz is hosting and has chosen Chocolate by Brand as the theme. The “by Brand” part of the theme wasn’t a huge thing for me. I have to admit that I don’t usually go for some fancy chocolate brand. That’s probably not even an option where I live, apparently country folk don’t eat expensive chocolate. I hardly even make note of what brand I’m buying unless I really didn’t like it and then I won’t get it again. But don’t listen to me when it comes to chocolate. Someone like Sir Lebovitz is in a much better position than I to speak about chocolate and he could probably tell you exactly what brands are better for what ventures, frankly though, I haven’t got a clue. All I know is that there’s a huge variety in price and I don’t know if the price actually reflects an increase in quality or an increase in fancy marketing. That being said, there’s all types of chocolate in my cupboard because I don’t have a loyalty to any one. I’ve got Baker’s, Cote D’or, Lindt, Organic Fair Trade and Presidents Choice, just to name a few. They come in varying degrees of chocolateness and on any given day I might have unsweetened, semi-sweet, bittersweet, 60%, 70% or 80% cocoa chocolate bars at my disposal. I have no hard and fast method for choosing which one I’m going to bake with either. If a recipe calls for a particular kind, I’ll likely use that. However, if it calls for entirely milk chocolate, I’ll likely balance that out with a little dark chocolate because that’s what I prefer.

For this unbelievably easy recipe which I got out of Michel Richard’s Happy In the Kitchen, (great book!) I used a dark Organic Fair Trade chocolate bar and cocoa from Just Us! Coffee, Canada’s first Fair Trade coffee roaster. I know you’re thinking that sounds a little too fancy for me, but I can explain, it was a gift. The dark chocolate is 70% cocoa and I like it quite a bit. I also think that most people wouldn’t notice a huge difference between this chocolate and any other one I could have used unless they were doing a side by side taste test or they really had strong feelings about chocolate. I find there’s a lot of snobbery associated with particular brands. It seems some brands may be fundamentally better but I think a lot depends on personal taste too. I’m not one to discriminate, I’ll try anything. And I’ve tried a lot of chocolate. I’m not saying there’s not a difference in taste between good and poor quality chocolate. It’s very true that some are exponentially better than others and that if I had tons of money, I’d always buy the top quality, but I don’t. So I appreciate really good chocolate when I have it, but I settle for a reasonably less expensive variety the rest of the time.

Chocolate Grapes from Happy In the Kitchen
(or as I like to call them, Faux Truffles)

1lb cold firm seedless grapes, stems removed

4 ounces 60% semisweet chocolate, melted, at body temperature

1-2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Dry the grapes and place them in a bowl large enough to toss them easily. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.

Add the chocolate to the grapes about 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring well with a spatula, carefully scraping the sides of the bowl and folding through the center of the grapes to coat them all evenly.

When the chocolate begins to set, using a small strainer, sprinkle the cocoa powder little by little over the surface. Gently toss or stir the grapes as you sift, continuing to add the cocoa until all of the grapes are well coated and separated. Spread on the prepared sheet.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the chocolate is set, or for up to 1 day.

*Note- since I used 70% dark chocolate, I also added a bit of superfine white sugar, I probably didn’t need to.

Question- Is my blog displaying any better now? And why are people using anything other than Firefox? Whyyyyyy?

Technorati Tags:

Chocolate + SHF27 + Grapes + Foodblogging Events

I Don't Care What You Say, Cupcakes Are Healthy

Do you ever have those days when nothing seems to be working out the way you want it to? Maybe blogger isn’t doing what you want it to and you’re not willing to accept the fact that you’re an idiot and can’t follow simple instructions… Not that I’d know anything about that. Well, for future reference, if you find this happening to you, I suggest you say to yourself: “F this! I’m going to make cupcakes.” Go on, try it. I’m not saying that the cupcakes will solve any of your (blogger) problems, but they’re tasty and at least you can eat your mistakes in the kitchen. Nibbling on your computer is not suggested. And since I was wasting time, ignoring problems I didn’t, (and still don’t) know how to fix, I decided that not only should I make one batch of cupcakes, but that I should make two. And why not, since Cupcake Bakeshop and Vanilla-Garlic are hosting a Cupcake Round Up, calling out to all you souls who long to make cupcakes. Break your computer, go make cupcakes and send them on over to Cheryl and Garrett by January 26th to be included in the fun.

Back in high school there were two things the cafeteria made that were edible. One was taters, which they one made on Tater Tuesdays. Cafeteria taters were thick cut fries with some sort of spiced seasoning on them. Tuesdays were pretty much the only day I didn’t bring a lunch with me because I would order taters. The second thing the cafeteria did well was giant carrot muffintops with cream cheese icing. It was very much Seinfeld influenced in that they really only served the muffintop, it was great! And what made it even better was the thick layer of cream cheese icing they spread on top. Thank you high school cafeteria, for instilling in me a love of highly caloric foods. Fortunately for my health, I don’t often make taters, (of the deep fried variety) or carrot and cream cheese muffintops very often. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time I made carrot cake. This is maybe because I know other people who do it better. One of my Aunts makes an amazing carrot cake, though not nearly often enough for my liking. In any case, I decided that a carrot cupcake with cream cheese frosting was just what I needed. Somehow I decided I also needed banana cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting. No story there, I just wanted them. I justified my decision by noting the health benefits of each. Carrot and banana are very good for you, ergo carrot and banana cupcakes are also very good for you. How’s that for logic? Right or wrong, I’m still the captain.

Odds & Ends:

Sometimes I get people asking questions in the comments and I have good intentions of replying, but it doesn’t always happen. Also, I frequently ask questions in other people’s comments, but then I forget where I asked the question and usually don’t find my answer, even if one has been posted. So in case anyone else is as dense as I am, here are a couple responses to questions people have asked:

• How did I make my coconut whipped cream? When I made coconut whipped cream for my Victory Cups I simply added coconut extract and sugar to whipping cream and I thought it turned out quite nicely. A word of caution though, add the coconut extract in very, very small quantities because it packs a whole lot of flavour and if you overdo it, you’ll be sorry.

• When I made Tater Timbales I rambled on about how happy I was to finally have a mandoline. Someone asked what brand it was and the answer would be Cooks Quarters. I have no idea how this compares to other brands, but I noticed my pasta maker is also from Cooks Quarters, and I like it.

And finally, a discovery I made that I wanted to share with you, particularly the tall girls among you. In my random clicking I ended up on a blog called Mixed Bag and a post about a book called The Tall Girl’s Handbook by Gwen Davenport. It was originally published in 1959, it sounds hilarious and I must find a copy. Excerpts include such literary gold as:

• Nothing looks handsomer to average people than a tall person standing up straight, as if he or she came from a race of gods.

• Dress, as nearly as you can, like other people. You will hear short friends tell you that you ought, for instance, to wear nubby tweeds, bulky fabrics, capes, or enormous hats. Don't listen to them, for they are in error. If capes and pictures hats are currently in style, well and good. If not, why be out of style just because you're tall? You will look freakish and doubly conspicuous.

• The trouble with women is men. And the trouble with tall women is small men.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Amen sister.

Technorati Tags:

Cupcakes + Carrot + Banana + Foodblogging Events

Milking This Stew for All It’s Worth

Is this allowed? I don’t know, but I’m going for it. I’m entering this Venison Stew with Dumplings in three separate blogging events. But I swear, it fits into all three of them very nicely. It all started when I heard about the Taste of Terroir event, for which I decided I would make something with venison and morels as they are the first ingredients that come to mind when I think about home. Then the theme for Waiter, There’s Something In My… was announced as stew and one of my favourite stews is venison stew. And finally, A Day That Really Schmecks II was created after such a favourable response to the first round, and as I learned while making my stew, the dumpling recipe I’ve eaten my entire life is from Food That Really Schmecks. Well doesn’t that just tie everything up into a nice little package? I thought so. But before you read on, you must listen to the best kitchen song ever, particularly good when making

stew:
The Robert Cray Band "The Robert Cray Band Collection"— Too Many Cooks

Anna of Anna’s Cool Finds is hosting a one off event called A Taste of Terroir which she dreamt up after reading Food and Wine’s 100 Tastes to Try in ‘07. She noted that it may not be very easy for most people to experience all of these tastes because of where they live, but also that there is a world-wide community of food bloggers who have an eye for taste and aesthetics who might put together a much more unique list, grounded in their own bit of terroir. Anna believes terroir can go far beyond the traditional use in the areas of wine and coffee, and be applied to those foods and drinks which truly give a sense of place, or the taste of the place can be observed in them. This event is to share with others, local ingredients that you have a special connection with and the recipes that you make out of them. For me, venison and morels are two things that I associate with where I live. I can gather both of them from my backyard… Dad usually gets one deer per year and then butchers it himself and puts it in freezer for us to enjoy year round. Same deal for morels but the whole family goes hunting for them. Then we dry them and store them in big glass jars for use until the new crop comes up the next spring. Both the morels and deer can be enjoyed fresh simply fried in butter, allowing the full flavour to come through. They also enhance any dish they’re added to, stew being a perfect example of this. A plain old stew gets a huge boost of flavour when you make it with venison and morels instead of beef and button mushrooms. Welcome to the country.

Waiter There’s Something In My… is a brand new blogging event started by Andrew of Spittoon Extra, Jeanne of Cook Sister and Johanna of The Passionate Cook. Stew has been chosen as the inaugural theme, which is perfect to warm you up during this cold weather, (my condolences to the Australians and other Southern hemisphere dwellers who aren’t up to making stew in 50°C weather). The idea of Waiter There’s Something In My… is to run an event for a finite period (12 months) and to make the themes as broad and inclusive as possible so that everyone can participate by taking the theme and making it their own. Stew is definitely a dish that can be adapted depending on where you live and what ingredients you have on hand, so I suspect there will be a wide variety of entries on this one. And since the category is so open, I suppose we could even get some dessert stews… If it were summertime I’d be entering stewed rhubarb served over vanilla ice cream, there’s something for you Southerners to try!

On January 15th Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict, hosted A Day That Really Schmecks to celebrate Edna Staebler- her spirit, sense of humour and her food. As other people started to hear about this project they wanted to participate as well and so Jasmine is organizing A Day That Really Schmecks II so that more people can enjoy Edna’s recipes. There has been a copy of Food That Really Schmecks on my bookshelf for literally my entire life. I’ve been eating schmecking good food before I even knew it schmecked. I find it funny that I’m still discovering that recipes that I’ve always eaten are originally from this cookbook, such as the dumplings that I always have with my stew. Dumplings were the only reason I used to like stew and I usually ended up with more of those on my plate than anything else. They’re nothing flashy, but I love them. While I was making my venison stew, I asked Dad what recipe he used for dumplings and got a reply something like “It’s in the schmeck book.” Who knew? All along I’ve been eating Edna’s Featherlight Dumplings and was none the wiser. As I flipped through the book, looking for the dumpling recipe I marveled at Mom’s hand written notes, scribbled into the margin making additions, substitutions or just general comments (great!). I love old cookbooks.

Whew, that was a lot of info. Here’s some more:

Venison Stew À La Bri, (There’s no set recipe for this, I change it slightly every time I make it based on what I have in the kitchen or garden, but here’s what I did this time around.)

1+ lbs venison, cubed
1 big carrot, peeled and chopped
1 big parsnip, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, minced
A handful of dried morels, broken up a bit.
2 cups beef stock
1 ½ cups red wine
1 cup water
A leftover bone from a leg of lamb, (most of the meat eaten in a previous meal, any leftover meat removed and added to the pot)
Dash of habanero sauce
A couple dashes of black bean sauce
A couple dashes of Sriracha sauce
A sprinkle of cumin
A sprinkle of garlic powder
A sprinkle of cayenne
A little rosemary
Freshly ground pepper
Olive oil

1- Season the venison cubes with cumin, garlic powder, cayenne, rosemary and fresh ground pepper and then brown the venison in olive oil.
2- Add the onion and garlic and soften a bit.
3- Add all of the other ingredients and bring to a boil.
4- Reduce heat and simmer for a few hours.
5- Remove the lamb bone.
6- Just before serving, make dumplings.

Featherlight Dumplings from Food That Really Schmecks

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
Whatever herbs you want, or none at all, I used basil.
Milk

Combine first 4 ingredients. Add milk just until a thick dough forms, you don’t want it to be runny at all. Drop spoonfuls into the stew and cover tightly with a lid for 10 mins. Don’t peak. After 10 mins, your dumplings will have risen beautifully. Ladle your stew into bowls and serve with dumplings on top.


Technorati Tags:
Stew + Waiter There’s Something In My + Venison + Morels + Foodblogging Events + Edna Staebler