First First Thursday Attempt (Failed)

This is prerecorded. As you read this, I am floating on a canal somewhere in England, exhausted from tackling the 34 locks of the Tardebigge flight

I am terribly addicted to thursday night smackdown. I love the way she writes, honest, funny and painful. Months ago, I had this great plan to play along with her First Thursday event. The challenge that month was to actually follow a recipe, no cheating, no tweaking. A REAL challenge for me!
I chose my Les Halles Cookbook. I have never cooked from it, although I do enjoy reading the recipes, and its about time I gave it a chance.
Today's recipe is palette de porc a la biere. I will be honest, I couldn't get a bone in pork shoulder. The recipe as written below is totally simplified from the book; I would recommend picking it up if you are interested in traditional recipes with an irreverent prose style.

Of course, I never got my @#$% together and here it is almost 3 months later and I am finally getting around to posting the results...

Palette de Porc a la biere

Ingredients
4 to 6 lb pork shoulder, bone in
salt and pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
2 small onions
2 carrots
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup cider vinegar
12 oz beer
1 cup chicken stock
4 tbsp dijon
2 tbsp breadcrumbs

Season the pork and sear in 2 tbsp of oil and 2 tbsp butter. Discard the fat and add the remaining oil. Saute the vegetables until soft and slightly caramelised. Add flour, cook 2 minutes. Stir in Vinegar and beer and reduce by half, then add teh chicken stock and bring to a boil. Return pork to the pot and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for two hours or so.
Preheat the oven to 450F. Remove the pork from the pot and place on baking sheet. Brush with half the mustard, then press the breadcrumbs on. Brown for 15 minutes, then allow to rest for 5
Strain the cooking liquid into a sauce pan. Simmer about 15 minutes, check seaoning. Remove from heat, whisk in mustard and serve with the sliced pork.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the results were delicious...

England here we come

Nine months of waiting are finally over. Rob and I leave for England in a few short hours. Aggie gets her own holiday from us with lots of people coming to stay with her at our place.
Details when I return.

660 Curries ~ Tart-Hot Beef with Malt Vinegar and Cayenne

I have had this book languishing on my shelves for almost a year now (maybe 6 months)and poverty finally made me dig it out. I had some frozen beef stew meat in the freezer and no budget. I have almost every spice you could imagine, but this recipe only requires a few. And I had some time on my hands.
The effort was minimal but the result was spot on. I served it with fresh mango, coconut rice, peas and cauliflower and my own homemade flatbread.

Gosht Vindaloo
Serves 4
1/2 cup malt vinegar (umm, I am poor right now, so I used what I had on hand. Coconut vinegar).
2 teaspoons cayenne
1/2 teaspooon ground turmeric
1 lb boneless beef stew, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 tbsp canola oil
4 oz pearl onions, peeled cut in half lengthwise ( again with the budget. Regular onion, 1/2 inch dice)
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
6 dried red thai chilis or cayenne, stems removed (only had fresh on hand)
1 tsp coriander seeds, ground
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, ground
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tbsp chopped cilantro for garnish

Combine vinegar, cayenne and turmeric. Toss with meat and allow to marinate for 2hrs or overnight.
Heat oil in a sauce pan over medium high. Add onion, garlic and chili and cook for about 5 minutes.
Add beef and marinade. Cook until marinade has evaporated, 12 - 15 minutes. Add spices and salt, cook for a minute or two.
Add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook until meat is fork tender and sauce is reddish brown ~ 40-45 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

 

Meatballs

I have to admit, every time I make meatballs, I think of Sher. Weird, I know, but we all have our ways of remembering...
Anyway, Mission Use Food From The Freezer Because we Are To Poor To Buy New Stuff (heretofore known as Operation FreezerRaid) is underway. This easy dinner came from a pound of ground pork lurking in the freezer.

Pork Meatballs in Gravy
Serves Four

1lb ground pork
1 onion, finely diced, split
1 egg
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
herbs, to taste ( I used sage and oregano.)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Combine ingredients, using only half of the onion. Cook a small piece to test for seasoning. Form meatballs and sear in a sauce pan over medium high heat. Set aside meatballs. In the same pan, using the fat from searing the meatballs, cook the remaining onion till soft and sweet. Add 2 tbsp flour and cook, stirring, for a minute or two. Add 1 cup of red wine, cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Add two cups of chicken stock and return the meatballs to the pan. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. (Longer is better.) Season sauce and sdjust for thickness.

Maple Soy Salmon

It has been months since I have had salmon ~ I went through this phase of not enjoying. I know, sacreligious when you hail from BC. Anyway. Rob made this for dinner the other hight and it brought me back to the salmon loving fold...

Maple Soy Salmon

1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp fresh ginger
2 salmon fillets

combine ginger, soy and maple syrup. Marinate salmon for 2-3 hours. Strain marinade and reduce to a glaze.
Sear salmon for 1 minute, turn and transfer to a 400F oven for 5 minutes or until just cooked through. Drizzle with glaze and serve with your favourite sides (we had bok choy and rice).

Sablefish with Miso Butterscotch and Braised Leeks

 

Last year, on my New York trip, I experienced a flavour combination that I could never forget. At Tailor, I had pork belly with miso butterscotch. The salty and sweet were so perfect together, I kept wanting to try it at home. Finally, I got brave.



4 tablespoons butter
1 cup of packed brown sugar
¾ cup heavy whipping cream


In a heavy saucepan, melt butter over low to medium heat. Then add all dark brown sugar at once and stir with wooden spoon until sugar melted. Cook for about 3-5 mins until sugar resembles molten sand. Whisk in Cream (off heat and be careful, bubbling happens) and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occaisionally. Finish with miso paste to taste.

The sablefish is simply seasoned with salt and roasted. The leeks braised with ginger. The result was decadent and every bit as good as I imagined. Rob wanted to eat the butterscotch straight up, but I wouldn't let him. There would be pork belly for dinner the next night.....<

 

Life

This is embarrassing! How long has it been since I posted??
Well, I have been busy ~ I took Level 2 First Aid, I .... okay, fine, I haven't been busy, I have been lazy.
A mere 8 days from now, I will be taking off for my holiday in England and 17 days from now, I will be turning 30. I will admit to some trepidation as I eye 30 ~ realizing that I am not invincible, I will not remain forever young is a little bit of a reality check. I never really thought about the future before, but it seems to be all that is on my mind these days.
I am very much looking forward to this holiday. For the first time since 2001, Rob and I will be enjoying more than a long weekend together (16 days) AND I will be returning to the UK for the first time in 4 years ( I think, it may have been 5). Rob and I are hiring a narrowboat from Black Prince for 14 days and cruising the Avon Ring. I will get to meet up with my friends Louise and Lorna and hopefully eat some good food, drink, shop for old stuff etc.
I am very grateful that several of my friends and family will be staying with Aggie the cat while we are away, making the trip even more stress free.

Rob's Birthday

Every yaer, I cook a dinner for Rob's Birthday. He picks a few items that he really wants and I try to build a menu around that. This year, his picks were creme brulee and pork belly.
I start off by setting the table properly and writing up a menu for him.

The first course was butter poached spot prawns in a bouillabaise-style bisque. I started by poaching and peeling the prawns, building a tower with them and then I topped it all off with a crouton and some rouille. At the table, I poured the hot bisque around the prawns. The bisque was made with a homemade fish stock, tomatoes, onions, fennel and saffron. The wine pairing was a 2005 Pinot Noir from Bourgogne, courtesy of Kitsilano Wine Cellars

A tomato and brie tart was served on a fresh herb salad lightly dressed with olive oil and balsamic.

The least successful course was the pork belly. Rob still enjoyed it, but I wasn't happy ~ totally overcooked. I strayed from what I know and followed a recipe, even though it felt wrong. The flavours were great though and I have already been toying with some ideas as to how I could make it better. The wine pairing was a Nichol Vineyards Gewurtztraminer.

The final course, creme brulee, was excellent. I made one totally traditional creme brulee and then I made an Early grey custard, folded in a meringue made with the leftover egg whites and hot simple syrup and froze it in individual ramekins. At dinner, I bruleed the top of both and I had one cold and frothy creme brulee and one warm and decadent one. Rob was in heaven and ate four creme brulee in total. We enjoyed this with a 1996 Sauternes ~ heaven in a glass.

 

"Keep Calm and Carry On"

That was the motto that greeted us as we stepped into Cascade on Main St. I think I may need to adopt that for my own personal use...
I was having a catch-up/birthday dinner with M and Cascade happens to be so close to her place, we ended up there by default. The cocktail lists were impressive, lots of old school cocktails, lots of creative new cocktails, I went with a Clover Club (gin, raspberry, egg white lime and something else delicious) and M had a hemingway daquiri.

 

 

I want to go back just to drink my way through the cocktail menu!
After much deliberation, I settled on the oxtail and M went for the veggie burger.

 

The oxtail was decadent... lots of bacon, tender oxtail. I also loved the little pot they brought it in. I picked a glass of red to drink with it and it turned out to be an excellent choice. Of course, when I sat down to write this post, I couldn't actually remember the name of the wine. I fired off a quick email to the restaurant and received a prompt and detailed reply with a link to the liquor store listing. I will be scoring a bottle of this for nice dinners...

 

I tried a bit of M's burger patty and I found the flavour/texture to be interesting and appealing, but I am not sure I would like it in a bun - too much starch on starch. Of course, I am not a vegetarian, so perhaps not the best choice to judge a veggie burger...
All in all, an excellent dinner and I am sure I will find myself back there sometime in the future. I was also happy with the service and will be recommending this place to others.

Christmas Dinner

I know, I know, Christmas was weeks ago. But I was lazy and didn't feel like posting even though I was snowed in. So here it is. No recipes, no break from tradition.
Prime Rib with Yorkshire pudding

 

Apple pie with vanilla ice cream.

 

I am heading to Cascade tonight for a friend's birthday. I will take pictures; she is used to it now and maybe I will have something interesting to talk about tomorrow!

Happy New Year

 

Welcome to 2009; here's hoping it is a good one...
My first dinner of 2009 is in the oven after a long day of movie watching (complete with several trips to Videomatica to return a defective dvd). We took in Tropic Thunder and Burn After Reading and tried repeatedly to finish STardust. Unfortunately, every single copy the video store had was defective. Enough about today: the picture posted above is from our dinner two nights ago. I have discovered a very affordable seafood - squid! I prepared it very simply, slicing the tubes into thin strips and seasoning with salt and szechuan pepper. I tossed it in panko crumbs and quickly fried it until just cooked - any longer and you will have well seasoned rubber bands. After the squid was all cooked up, I tossed the remaining panko in the frying pan with ginger, lemongrass and red thai chilis. A quick browning and that was pured over the squid.
I served this on a bed of glass noodles with a crisp vegetable salad and fresh cilantro and thai basil. Refreshing, delicious and under 5$!

Cheap and Easy

Money seems to be on everyone's minds these days and things are no different in our house. Less hours for me as catering enters the slow season means that I am trying to be a little more budget aware. Yesterday's dinner fit the bill. All I had to do was raid the freezer for my homemade yam gnocchi, some pork chops and sweet peas. I pounded the pork chops out, seasoned with salt and nutmeg, dredged in egg and then breadcrumbs, and fried in olive oil.
The yam gnocchi were blanched in a pot of boiling salted water. Once the pork was cooked, I tossed the gnocchi into the skillet, sauteed til crispy, then added half a bag of peas, a splash of Zinfandel and a grating of nutmeg. Easy. Cheap. And you know what? It also tasted good.

 

Menu For Hope

I was disappointed when I discovered that the deadline fro Menu for Hope was looming and I hadn't posted anything. But the deadline has been extended to Dec 31st! Please, check out the wonderful prizes up for grabs and make a donation. I know this is a harder year than previous ones, financially, but I like to remind myself that I am lucky to have a roof over my head and enough to eat when there are so many other without those necessities. Just don't pick the ones I bid on. I particularily want that culinary tour of London ; I will be there in April and would love to take advantage of a prize like that.

Cool Find

From Online Edits

I have been snowed under with work (and actual snow), but I had some free time tonight and while editing some photos, stumbled across this one, taken by my dad.

This photo barely survived my parents' fire and my mom scanned it along with over 500 others. I think the fire damage actually enhanced the beauty of this picture....

Guanciale

What is it? One of the best pork products yet! I picked it up from Oyama on Granville Island ~ I just cannot resist fatty hunks of pork and since my recent cholesterol test was mindblowingly good (the doctor laughed in surprise at the results), I figure I can give in to the occasional pork whim.
I googled guanciale before I went to write this post. I stumbled across a website called FXcuisine which discussed the magic of the pig jowl along with how difficult it is to find outside of Italy Now I feel really lucky!
Basically, Guanciale is a cure pigs cheek. It isn't smoked and the flavour is pretty incredible and porky. I have already explored several different uses. One was slicing it like bacon and serving with eggs sunnyside up for a lazy Sunday breakfast.

 

Delicious Duck

Remember that foie gras with cherries and Apricot Nectar? Well, I saved some of the sauce and the fat from the pan of foie gras. A week later, seared duck breast with the sauce spooned over it, wild rice and yellow beets with honey and cardamom.

The Much debated Foie

Rob loves his foie gras. I enjoy it as well, but I can only eat so much of it, but Rob could probably gorge himself on it until his own liver resembled it! It is one of those hotly contested foods; considered cruel and disgusting by some, pure joy by others. I recently watched an episode of The Wild Chef where he travelled (yes, Em, if you are reading, that is how we spell it here)to a duck farm to check out production of foie gras. I am not going to rationalise or demonise the eating of foie gras, nor will I be swayed from my own personal take on it. Just this.

Brandy. Dried Cherries. Apricot nectar. Crisp brioche. A treat for Rob (I passed this time).

 

Lest We Forget...

A day to remember those who have fought and are still fighting in service of their country.

For Mindy

Here, as requested, photos of a Westcoast fall. And Aggie, of course.

<

Congee Success

I admit it. I am obsessed with congee. Whenever I am at Hon's, I order it for lunch ~ there is something so comforting about the warm rice "porridge" loaded with fresh ginger and green onion. At the Hon's in Chinatown, they add tangerine peel as well. And I always get it with chicken added ~ I should really try branching out...
Anyway, I always suspected I was capable of making my own version of congee, but never sure where to start. I have been battling a cold and Nov 4th found me at home with a box of kleenex, the US election coverage and a vat of chicken congee ~ homemade.

 

I started the day before by removing the breast and thighs from my chicken and throwing the rest in a pot with dried mushroom, onion, garlic and ginger and water. I made a stock which I then used as the base for my congee; 8 cups of liquid to 1 cup of shortgrain rice. I also threw in julienned fresh ginger, dried chinese mushrooms and some dried orange rind.
After simmering for about an hour (it may have been more) my desired texture was reached. I added strips of raw chicken and simmered till they were cooked through.
The first bowl was pretty good that night but the best was saving for the next day and reheating it. The flavours had mellowed and developed and I ate nothing but congee that day. Well until the results poured in and I broke down and had a celebratory glass of wine.