Wednesday 31 January 2018

Chia Egg

Fair warning: I have never actually used a chia egg. I am including a post about it because it was recommended as a good addition when making pastry that is both vegan and gluten-free.

Chia Egg
From Minimalist Baker
1 Tbsp. chia seeds
2 1/2 to 3 Tbsp. water

1. Add chia seeds to a small dish and top with water.
2. Stir and let rest for 5 minutes to thicken. (It should become thick and gel-like.)
3. Use as an egg substitute in vegan baking.

Note: May not be an exact 1:1 substitution in all recipes. Also, chia eggs will not necessarily bind or stiffen the way chicken eggs do, so they may not work in all recipes.

Infused Oils

I think I included the instructions for how to make onion(-infused) oil in my post on Chinese vegetable stock. It now occurs to me that it would make a lot more sense to have it as a stand-alone post. That way it's easy to reference and refer back to if I ever want to suggest using it in other recipes.

Onion Oil
From Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking
1 3/4 c. peanut oil
1 lb. onions, very thinly sliced (should give ~4 c.)

1. Heat a wok over high heat for 30 seconds.
2. Add the peanut oil and onions and cook for 7 minutes, stirring often to prevent burning.
3. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring often, for another 15 minutes. (Onions should turn light brown and crisp.)
4. Turn off the heat.
5. Strain the oil through a fine-mesh strainer into a heatproof bowl.
6. Allow the oil to cool to room temperature.
7. Pour the cooled oil into a sterilized glass jar and close tightly. Oil will keep at room temperature for 1 week or 3 months in the fridge.
8. Transfer fried onions to an air-tight container. Onions will keep in the fridge for up to 3 months.

Scallion Oil
From Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking
2 c. peanut oil
4 large bunches scallions (~1 1/4 lbs. total), cut into 2" lengths and white portions lightly smashed

1. Heat a wok over high heat for 30 seconds.
2. Add the peanut oil, then the scallions.
3. Allow to bubble and boil for a moment, then reduce heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20-30 minutes. (The oil should turn golden-brown.)
4. Turn off the heat.
5. Follow straining and storage instructions as for onion oil above.

Garlic Oil
From Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking
1 1/2 c. peanut oil
2 1/4 c. thinly sliced garlic (~3 heads)

1. Heat a wok over high heat for 30 seconds.
2. Add the peanut oil and garlic and stir.
3. Reduce heat to medium and allow to bubble and boil.
4. Reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes, stirring once every minute, until the garlic turns light brown.
4. Turn off the heat.
5. Follow straining and storage instructions as for onion oil above.



Adaptations


FODMAP Considerations

While onions are not FODMAP-friendly, the onion-infused oil is. Use it in dishes that need a bit of savoury, onion-y goodness! However, if you're on a low FODMAP diet, you should either toss the fried onions or give them to your FODMAP-tolerant friends.

If you make your scallion oil with only the green parts of the scallions, then both fried scallions and the infused oil should be FODMAP-friendly.

Ragada Samosas

Ragada samosas are possibly one of my very favourite things to come out of the curry cookbook. I mean, samosas are already delicious, but eating them with a chickpea stew and spicy-sweet tamarind sauce... is a transcendent experience! Now, Iyer provides detailed instructions for making your own samosas from scratch. Which I'm sure is even better. That said, using pre-made samosas turns this into a meal that is not only incredibly delicious, but also easy.

So, here's how I normally do ragada samosas. (Don't worry, I'll provide the full instructions for making your own samosas from scratch below if you're keen to try that.)

Ragada Samosas
Slightly adapted from 660 Curries
For the Stew:
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1/2 c. chopped red onion
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1/2 tsp. turmeric
3 c. cooked chickpeas (or whole yellow peas)

samosas (1 or 2 per person, depending on size)

For the Sauce:
1 Tbsp. tamarind concentrate
3/4 c. chopped jaggery (or firmly packed brown sugar)
2 fresh Thai (bird's eye) chiles
2 Tbsp. ginger paste

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until light brown (~2 minutes).
2. Sprinkle in sugar, coriander, salt, cumin, cayenne, and turmeric. Stir and let sizzle for 5-10 seconds.
3. Immediately add the peas and 1 c. of water.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, covered, for 25-30 minutes.
5. While stew is simmering, cook the samosas according to package directions. (Probably by warming them in the oven for 20 minutes or so.)
6. Whisk tamarind concentrate into 1 c. of water.
7. Stir in the jaggery, chiles, and ginger.
8. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil, uncovered, for 10-12 minutes.
9. Allow sauce to cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a blender and puree.
10. Transfer sauce to a bowl and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes (or 30 minutes in the fridge).
11. Ladle some stew into a bowl or soup plate. Drizzle with sauce. Top with samosa(s). Enjoy!

If you can find a source of good ready-made samosas, this makes for a delightful low-effort dinner. (In theory this is meant to be an appetizer, but I've often just had a slightly larger portion of stew and had it for dinner.) If you like the idea of making your own samosas (or want more control over what goes into them), Iyer includes instructions for that as well. I must admit, I've never done it the long way, so I can't vouch for the samosa recipe, but it certainly looks like it would make wonderful samosas!

Samosas
Slightly adapted from 660 Curries
For the Samosa Shells:
3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
8 Tbsp. butter, chilled, cut into thin slices
~1/2 c. ice water
For the Filling:
1/2 lb. russet (or other floury) potatoes, diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
1 c. frozen green peas, thawed and drained
1/4 c. chopped mint
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
2 fresh Thai (bird's eye) chiles, minced
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 c. minced red onion
1 Tbsp. ginger paste

To Make the Samosa Shells:
1. Combine the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse to blend.
2. Add the butter and cut it into the flour by pulsing until the butter forms pea-size rounds.
3. Drizzle in the cold water, a few Tbsp. at a time, continuing to pulse until it just starts to come together to form a soft ball.
4. Stop the processor and transfer the dough to a cutting board or dry, clean counter top.
5. Knead it gently to form a smooth ball, then roll it to form a 12"-long log.
6. Cut the log into 12 equal pieces and shape each one into a ball.
7. Press each ball flat to form a patty. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.

To Make the Samosa Filling:
1. Bring some water to a boil and add potatoes and carrots. Reduce heat to medium and boil until tender.
2. Drain and coarsely mash the veggies.
3. Stir in the peas, mint, cilantro, salt, and chiles.
4. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add the cumin and sizzle for 5-10 seconds.
6. Add the onion and ginger and cook until light brown around the edges (3-5 minutes).
7. Add the fried aromatic mixture to the potato filling and mix thoroughly.

To Assemble the Samosas:
1. Place a small bowl of water right next to the bowl of filling.
2. Remove a chilled patty from the refrigerator and place it on a lightly floured board.
3. Roll it out to form a round roughly 4-5" in diameter. Dust with flour as needed.
4. Slice the round in half.
5. Lay one half across the finger of one hand (the best position is when you four fingers are together and your thumb is pointing skyward) with its straight edge in line with your forefinger.
6. Dab a little water over the dough, leaving ~1/4" border.
7. Lift the edge closest to your themb and twist it, laying the flipped side against the wet side, fashioning a cone.
8. Spoon a heaping Tbsp. or two of filling into the cone, pushing it down.
9. Wet the top round edge of the cone and press it together to seal it tightly shut.
10. Place the triangular samosa on a floured plate.
11. Repeat with the remaining patties and filling.

To Cook the Samosas:
1. Pour oil to a depth of 2-3" in a wok or Dutch oven.
2. Heat the oil over medium heat until it reaches a temperature of 350F. (Use a candy or deep-frying thermometer to monitor the temperature. Make sure the thermometer does not touch the bottom of the wok/pot/pan.)
3. Line a large plate or cookie sheet with several sheets of paper towels.
4. Once the oil is ready, gently slide a few samosas into the pan/wok. (Do not crowd the pan as this will drop the temperature of your oil as well as make managing the samosas difficult.) Fry, turning occasionally, until they are caramel-brown and crisp all over (~5 minutes.)
5. Remove them with a slotted spoon and place on the paper-towel-lined plate to drain.
6. Repeat until all samosas are cooked. (Be sure to keep an eye on the oil temperature and adjust heat as necessary to maintain it at 350F.)



Adaptations

So, I decided that maybe I'd try this new thing where I suggest alterations to recipes to make them more <specific diet>-friendly. I won't try to do it with every recipe I post, but if there's something that's nearly <specific diet> already, I'll try to add a section where I make the necessary adjustments to nudge it over into actually <specific diet>-friendly.

I will list all the ingredients (not just substitutions) in the adaptations section since I figure this makes it easier to see everything you need at a glance. As a general rule though, I won't bother writing out all the instructions again and will just make note of any changes to procedure needed due to the substitutions.

It is also worth noting that, unless stated otherwise, I have not personally tested any of the "adapted" versions of the recipes. I am lucky enough to not have any dietary restrictions, so I tend to just cook the base recipe as is. I can make suggestions for how to adapt it but, at least in most cases, I will not have actually tested it. You have been warned.

So... here we go!

Vegan-ize It!

For the Samosa Shells:
3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
8 Tbsp. vegan butter, vegetable shortening, unsalted margarine, or solid coconut oil
~1/2 c. ice water

If you use coconut oil, do NOT chill the dough. The coconut oil will get very hard in the fridge (much harder than butter) and the dough chilled dough will not be workable. Coconut oil tends to have a fairly narrow temperature range in which it's workable so, if your house tends to be either very warm or very cold, you're probably better off using one of the other options.

If you opt for shortening, you may find the flavour of the pastry somewhat lacking. Hopefully the surrounding (very flavourful) curry will somewhat mitigate this fact. :)

For the Samosa Filling:
1/2 lb. russet potatoes, diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
1 c. frozen green peas, thawed and drained
1/4 c. chopped mint
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
2 fresh Thai (bird's eye chiles), minced
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 c. minced red onion
1 Tbsp. ginger paste

For the Stew:
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1/2 c. chopped red onion
2 tsp. agave syrup
2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1/2 tsp. turmeric
3 c. cooked chickpeas or whole yellow peas

I don't recommend using granulated sugar in the stew since many cane sugars are filtered with bone char. If you can find a vegan sugar, feel free to use that instead.

For the Sauce:
1 Tbsp. tamarind concentrate
3/4 c. chopped jaggery
2 fresh Thai (bird's eye) chiles
2 Tbsp. ginger paste

In the non-vegan version of this recipe brown sugar is suggested as a substitute for the jaggery. If you are trying to make this vegan though, I recommend avoiding brown cane sugar as it, like the granulated sugar above, is sometimes filtered with bone char. Again, if you can find vegan brown sugar (I believe Sugar In the Raw brand along with a few others are) feel free to substitute that.

Make it Gluten-Free!

Okay, I won't bother writing the all the ingredients out again for this one since the only gluten-containing item is the pastry. In theory you should just be able to substitute a gluten-free flour blend for the all-purpose flour and have at it. In practice it seems that some people find the gluten-free pastry too crumbly to roll out. If you are gluten-free but not vegan, adding an egg might help. If you are gluten-free and vegan then I've read good things about using "chia eggs".

For the Samosa Shells:
3 c. gluten-free flour blend
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
8 Tbsp. butter, vegan butter, vegetable shortening, unsalted margarine, or solid coconut oil
1 egg or chia egg (optional)
anywhere from 1/4 c. to 1 c. ice water

If you are using an egg, add it after you've incorporated all the fat. Mix it through and then start adding water.

Depending on which flour blend you use, which fat you use, and whether or not you use an egg, you will probably need wildly different amounts of water.

Make it FODMAP-Friendly!

For the Samosa Shells:
3 c. gluten-free flour blend
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
8 Tbsp. butter, vegan butter, vegetable shortening, unsalted margarine, or solid coconut oil
1 egg or chia egg (optional)
anywhere from 1/4 c. to 1 c. ice water

See gluten-free section for notes and ideas on making pastry with gluten-free flour.

For the Filling:
1/2 lb. russet potatoes, diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
leaves of 1 leek
1 c. chopped green beans
1/4 c. chopped mint
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 fresh Thai (bird's eye) chile, minced
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1/4 tsp. asafetida
1 Tbsp. ginger paste

Add the leek leaves and green beans to the pot when boiling the potatoes and carrots. Remove leaves before mashing.

Add the asafetida to the oil with the cumin seeds.

For the Stew:
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. asafetida
3 c. tinned chickpeas, drained and thoroughly rinsed

Add the asafetida with the turmeric and other spices.

Chickpeas are only FODMAP-friendly in quantities of 1/4 c. or less so portion your stew accordingly. Using tinned (rather than freshly boiled) chickpeas helps reduce their FODMAP content. Including spices like turmeric and asafetida should also help mitigate the effects of any remaining problematic sugars. This may allow for portions somewhat larger than the specified 1/4 c., but if you tend to be sensitive to legumes anyway it's probably best to play it safe and stick to a smaller amount.

For the Sauce:
1 Tbsp. tamarind concentrate
3/4 c. chopped jaggery
1 fresh Thai (bird's eye) chile
2 Tbsp. ginger paste

Parmesan Pork Cutlets with Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

  • 256mL + 30mL all-purpose flour
  • 3 large eggs
  • ~500mL freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
  • salt and pepper
  • 2mL dried oregano
  • 8 ~85mL boneless pork cutlets, ~1cm thick
  • 64mL canola oil
  • 256mL premade marinara sauce, warmed
  • 30mL chopped fresh basil
Procedure
  1. Place 256mL flour in a shallow dish.
  2. In a second dish, beat eggs.
  3. In a third dish, combine parmesan, 5mL salt, 1mL pepper, oregano, and remaining flour.
  4. Season cutlets with salt and pepper.
  5. One at a time, coat cutlets lightly with flour, then egg, then parmesan mixture, then coat with flour again, pressing lightly to adhere.
  6. Heat half the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook four cutlets until golden brown and cooked through, 3-5 minutes/side. Repeat with the remaining oil and cutlets.
  7. Serve topped with marinara sauce, basil, and extra parmesan.

Strip Steaks with Sauteed Onion and Mushrooms

Ingredients

  • 2 (~500g) boneless steaks, 2-3cm thick
  • salt and pepper
  • 30mL vegetable oil
  • 250g cremini mushrooms, sliced thin
  • 1 onion, halved and sliced thin
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 64mL balsamic vinegar
  • 45mL chopped fresh chives
  • 30mL unsalted butter
Procedure
  1. Season steaks with salt and pepper.
  2. Heat 15mL oil over medium-high heat. Cook the steaks until well browned and meat registers 125F (for medium-rare), ~5 minutes/side. Set aside.
  3. Heat remaining 15mL oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, 2mL salt, and 2mL pepper and cook until well browned, ~5 minutes.
  4. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, ~30 seconds.
  5. Stir vinegar and accumulated beef juices into skillet, deglaze, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, ~1 minute.
  6. Remove from heat and stir in chives and butter.
  7. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  8. Slice steaks and cover with sauce.

Aloo Chaat

In theory this dish is meant to be made with thinly sliced potatoes. In practice I tend to get lazy and just buy frozen hash browns (diced potatoes) at the grocery store and just make it with those.

Aloo Chaat
From 660 Curries
1 lb. russet potatoes (or other floury potato), cut into quarters if large and sliced thin
2 Tbsp. canola oil
2 Tbsp. mint-yogurt sauce
2 Tbsp. chile-garlic sauce
1/4 c. tamarind-date sauce
1/4 c. yogurt sauce with black salt
1/2 c. chopped scallions
chaat masala
2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro

1. Fry potatoes in oil over medium heat until crispy and brown (5-10 minutes).
2. Layer the potatoes with the sauces: potato, then mint sauce, then more potato, then hot sauce, more potatoes, tamarind-date, a final layer of potatoes, and top with the yogurt and black salt sauce.
3. Sprinkle with scallions, chaat masala, and cilantro.

Tuesday 30 January 2018

Chicken-Avocado Salad Sandwiches

Another Cook's Country April/May 2015 recipe (I have a bunch of these to post). This is another recipe card for some quite tasty and easy to assemble sandwiches.

Ingredients

  • 64mL buttermilk
  • 30mL lime juice
  • 15mL olive oil
  • 5mL sugar
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and coarsely chopped
  • 1 (~1kg) rotisserie chicken, meat shredded, skin and bones discarded
  • 8 slices sandwich bread, toasted
  • 1 head Bibb lettuce, leaves separated
  • 2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
Procedure
  1. Combine buttermilk, lime juice, sugar, and 2.5mL each salt and pepper in a bowl.
  2. Add avocado and mash with a fork or masher.
  3. Stir in chicken. Salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Assemble sandwiches using toast, lettuce, tomato, and a generous portion of salad for each sandwich.

Monday 29 January 2018

Hearty Vegetable Soup

Ended up deciding to make this soup after contemplating potential applications of celery. The celery certainly doesn't take centre stage here, but it uses a few ribs and makes a really tasty, hearty soup, so I'm pretty happy with that.

I based the soup off of a recipe I found here, but I ended up improvising a bit on some of the ingredients. In theory it was supposed to have carrots, celery, onion, green and yellow split peas, green lentils, butternut squash, celery root, potato, olive oil, and kale. In practice... I didn't have any green split peas, so I just used all yellow split peas. I had green lentils, but I've really been enjoying my French lentils lately, so I swapped some of them in. I thought I had some cubed butternut squash in the fridge, but I guess I'd had it in the fridge for a little longer than I'd realized because it had gone kind of sad and mushy. But I ended up uncovering some forgotten sweet potato fries in the freezer, so I ended up chopping them into little cubes and tossing those in in place of the missing squash. And I knew I didn't have any celery root or potato but, rather than trying to run out and grab some at the last minute, I decided to just toss in a bit of brown rice, some extra celery, and a bit of celery seed to make up for the missing components. Seeing as the sweet potato fries had a bit of oil added to them, I ended up deciding to skip on the extra olive oil added at the end. And, since we'd already used up all our kale in the kale extravaganza, I tossed a bunch of frozen spinach into the pot instead. And then, because we still had a serving or so of the lovely spicy kale and beans, I figured I might as well throw those in too. So... yeah, definitely not "recipe as written", but it's still following the same general idea. And it was really flavourful and tasty!

Hearty Vegetable Soup
Adapted from Life Made Simple
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
3 ribs celery, diced
1 large carrot, grated
~1/3 c. garlic paste (I didn't really measure it)
10 c. chicken (or vegetable) stock
herbs de provence1
40 grinds black pepper
1/4 tsp. hot paprika (might up this to 1/2 tsp. next time)
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
1/4 tsp. celery seed
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 c. yellow split peas
1 c. French lentils
2 c. diced sweet potato fries (or squash or just regular sweet potatoes)
1 c. long-grain brown rice (although I think I'd reduce this to 1/2 c. next time)
8 frozen spinach discs2 (~2 Tbsp. each)
leftover kale and beans (optional)
1/4 c. fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 grated Parmesan

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add onion and let cook for a minute or two.
3. Add celery and allow to cook for another two minutes.
4. Toss in grated carrot and garlic paste and allow to cook and sizzle for a minute.
5. Pour in chicken stock.
6. Season with herbs de provence, black pepper, paprika, rosemary, celery seed, and vinegar.
7. Bring to a boil and add split peas and lentils.
8. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
9. Add sweet potato, rice3, and frozen spinach and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.
10. Stir in parsley and Parmesan and (if using) the leftover kale and beans (or whatever other miscellaneous leftover veggies you might have).
11. Serve with garlic toast and extra cheese.



1 Original recipe calls for 1 Tbsp. herbs de provence. I don't have pre-mixed herbs de provence, so I just eyeballed it. I think I put in 1 bay leaf, ~1 tsp. fresh parsley, maybe 1/2 tsp. each of {marjoram, basil, rosemary, and savory}, and ~1/4 tsp. {thyme, fennel seeds, and oregano}. And I would've put in ~1/4 tsp. tarragon if I'd had any. I guess that works out to a bit more than a Tbsp. Oh well, it was delicious and I certainly didn't mind a bit of extra seasoning. It smelled amazing while it was cooking!
2 If using fresh spinach, I recommend using a full, lightly packed, 2 c. The frozen spinach is packed very densely, so 8 discs (1 c. equivalent) seemed like enough. Fresh spinach, even lightly packed, will not be nearly so dense. Also, if you plan on using fresh spinach, I would add it at the same time as the parsley and Parmesan since it just needs to be warmed rather than thawed.
3 If you put in the full cup of rice, you may need to add more water part-way through cooking. I found I needed to add ~3 c. This is why I said I'd go with only 1/2 c. of rice next time.

Chocolate-Rooibos Cupcakes (from Something Awful)

I loved the Something Awful cake thread when it was active. There were so many great recipes and beautiful cake decorating projects shared there. It's a shame that it kind of fizzled, but it had a good run.

I've been craving baked goods lately, so I decided to look to the cake thread for inspiration. Sadly, this recipe didn't turn out quite as well as I'd hoped, but it has given me inspiration for future baking adventures, so... stay tuned!

Chocolate-Rooibos Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream
Adapted slightly from C&C Cakery (via Something Awful)
2 Tbsp. rooibos tea (I used rooibos chai)
1 c. boiling water
1 2/3 c. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. canola oil
4 eggs, separated
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
pinch cream of tartar

0. Place egg whites in a large bowl and place in fridge until needed.
1. Pour boiling water over tea and set aside to steep for ~15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, combine cocoa powder, vanilla, and oil.
4. When the tea is done steeping, strain it (or remove the bags).
5. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugars together.
6. Pour the cocoa mixture into the sugar and mix until blended.
7. Pour the tea in, a bit at a time, and mix until blended.
8. Gradually add the flour.
9. WASH YOUR BEATERS.
10. Get the egg whites out of the fridge and add a pinch of cream of tartar.
11. Whip until they form soft peaks. (I think mine were closer to stiff peak stage. Seems to have worked out okay though.)
12. Scoop about 1/4 of the whipped egg whites into the batter and stir them in well to loosen the batter.
13. Add the rest of the egg whites and very gently fold them in.
14. Pour ~1/3 c. batter into cupcake liners (in a muffin tin) and bake at 350F for 16-18 minutes.
15. Allow to cool completely before icing.

Caramel Buttercream
6 Tbsp. heavy cream
1 tsp. rooibos tea
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
6 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. water
3/4 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 c. icing sugar

1. Warm cream in the microwave (20-30 seconds).
2. Stir in tea leaves and set aside to steep for 15 minutes or so.
3. When tea is done steeping, strain and stir in vanilla.
4. Combine sugar and water in a small pot or pan and cook over medium heat until mixture just begins to brown.
5. Remove from heat and pour in cream while whisking.
6. Cream butter. Sift in icing sugar while continuing to beat.
7. Pour in caramel and mix until blended.

The actual cake part of these cupcakes was fine. They had a nice texture. Were light, but chocolate-y. And the rooibos did come through a bit. The icing, on the other hand, was a disaster. First of all, the original recipe calls for 1 1/2 CUPS of butter! Seeing as I didn't want to use up 3/4 of a pound of butter in one go, I decided to just do a half batch of icing and deal with maybe not having enough for all the cupcakes. All I can say is it's a good thing I decided to start with a half batch!

I can only assume that the recipe author had a brain fart and actually meant 1 1/2 STICKS of butter. I did up a half batch of the icing according to the recipe and it just tasted like butter. After adding the full amount of icing sugar, it was actually starting to taste like icing, if somewhat bland. So I figured that it must've been a typo and made up another batch of caramel to add to it as well. Since the first bit of caramel didn't really seem to have much presence in the icing, I decided to do the second batch with brown sugar to boost the flavour a little bit.

It still just tasted like vanilla icing.

So, now I had twice as much icing as I'd originally intended to make and, while it was inoffensive, it didn't really seem to have much going on. It was very sweet and very bland.

What I probably should've done at this point was make up another small batch of caramel to mix in. But I was tired and frustrated and I had a little bit of condensed milk sitting in the fridge. So, I decided to try making dulce de leche. And then, because I wanted to make sure that the icing actually tasted of something this time, I added an extra Tbsp. of brown sugar to the milk while it cooked. And then, in my quest to get it just a bit darker and just a bit more flavourful... I went a bit too far and ended up cooking the milk right down to a sort of stiff, extremely chewy caramel candy. Which, needless to say, did not mix into the buttercream terribly well.

At that point, I gave up on the idea of trying to get this icing to take on any sort of flavour and just decided to roll with sugary, slightly vanilla-scented frosting with chunks of chewy caramel embedded in it. Not ideal, but I wasn't really willing to keep fiddling with it.

Honestly, I think what I'd like to do is redesign the whole recipe from the ground up. I think the chocolate-rooibos-caramel flavour combo has potential, but none of them really got to shine here. So, here's what I'm thinking for round two:

Rooibos Velvet Cake with Dulce de Leche and Butterscotch Frosting
Adapted from a red velvet cake recipe in the Something Awful cake thread
1 1/4 c. buttermilk
2 Tbsp. rooibos
1 c. butter, room temperature
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. salt

1. In a small saucepan, gently warm the buttermilk.
2. Add the tea, set aside, and allow to steep.
3. In a separate bowl, cream the butter with the sugars until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the egg.
5. Strain buttermilk and add to batter.
6. Stir in vinegar and vanilla.
7. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cocoa, and salt.
8. Stir dry ingredients into batter until just mixed.
9. Pour into two greased and floured 9" pans and bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes.
10. Let cool completely.

Butterscotch Frosting
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 large egg white
1/2 tsp. salt
12 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Combine sugar, egg white, and salt in a heatproof bowl.
2. Heat mixture over simmering water, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes (until it reaches 150F).
3. Remove from heat and beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add butter, one Tbsp. at a time, and beat until smooth.
5. Mix in vanilla.
6. Increase speed to medium high and beat until light and fluffy.

Assembly
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 layers cake
1 recipe butterscotch frosting

1. Pour the condensed milk into a baking dish and bake until darkened.
2. Place first layer upside down on plate.
3. Spread with dulce de leche.
3a. Optionally, spread a bit of frosting over the dulce de leche.
4. Place second layer (right way up) on top of dulce de leche filling.
5. Frost top and sides of cake.

Obviously I haven't tried out the above recipe yet, so I can't vouch for it. I just thought it might be interesting to replace the food colouring in a red velvet recipe with rooibos and see how it goes. Red velvet cakes already have the slightly chocolate-y thing going on. And I'm not a big fan of all the red food colouring anyway. So I figured this might be an interesting way to play with the chocolate-rooibos combo.

Meanwhile, the suggested butterscotch frosting for this particular red velvet cake sounds somewhat more promising than the caramel buttercream given above. It's got the same amount of butter, but much less sugar. And what sugar there is is brown. And the presence of the egg whites should hopefully give it some body without relying on either icing sugar or yet more butter. *fingers crossed!*

Hopefully I'll be able to take this particular combo for a test run soon and see how my theory pans out. I'll try to do another write-up for it and share the results when I do.

Thursday 25 January 2018

Orecchiette with peas, pine nuts, and ricotta

We have cooked a lot of recipes out of the April/May 2015 issue of Cook's Country, and most of them we haven't written up, so this is going to be the first of a series. It's one of the recipe cards, and may in fact be the recipe that introduced me to the deliciousness that is orecchiette pasta. Orecchiette + peas in particular is an ideal combo, since the peas nestle perfectly into the cup-shaped orecchiette.

Ingredients

  • 125mL part-skim ricotta cheese
  • 45mL chopped fresh mint
  • 5mL grated lemon zest
  • 15mL lemon juice
  • salt and pepper
  • 1mL red pepper flakes
  • 64mL olive oil
  • 3 thinly sliced shallots
  • 250mL frozen peas
  • 500g dried, store-bought orecchiette
  • 64mL toasted pine nuts
Procedure
  1. In the background, bring pasta water to a boil.
  2. Combine ricotta, 30mL of the mint, lemon zest, lemon juice, 2mL salt, 2mL pepper, and pepper flakes in a bowl; set aside.
  3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots, 1mL salt, and 1mL pepper and cook until lightly browned, 3-5 minutes.
  4. Remove from the heat, stir in peas, and set aside.
  5. Cook pasta in the boiling water; once al dente, reserve 125mL of the cooking water and drain the pasta.
  6. Stir shallot mixture and reserved water into pasta. Season with salt and pepper to taste, transfer to serving platter, and top with ricotta mixture.

Spicy Kale and Green Beans

So, I signed up for an organic produce subscription. I'm trying to eat less meat and more veg these days and I figure having a big ol' basket of fruit and veg delivered to my door periodically would be a good (and convenient) way to try to get myself eating more leafy greens. I'm really good with legumes. And I try to keep frozen spinach, peas, and corn on hand so that I can just add them to things on the fly. But I'm honestly not that great about incorporating vegetables into my diet in general. I hate wasting food though! So, if the veggies are getting delivered, then I will be honour-bound to eat them.

The very first produce basket was delivered yesterday! We got green kale, onions, red bell peppers, celery, cremini mushrooms, ambrosia apples, anjou pears, lemons, and bananas. Everything looks superb! And, after a bit of rummaging around on the Internet, I found this recipe for kale and green beans. I had to go out and buy the green beans for it, but we had everything else on hand. And it was delicious! Like, really, really good. I'm not even a kale person and I liked it!

Spicy Kale and Green Beans
Slightly adapted from foodnetwork.ca
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
227g cremini mushrooms (original calls for 1/4 lb., but I really like mushrooms)
750g green beans, cut into 1" pieces
1 tsp. coarse sea salt1
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 c. white wine
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 bunch (~250g) kale, rinsed, stemmed, and roughly chopped
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 Tbsp. grated Parmesan

1. Heat olive oil on medium-high.
2. Add onions and cook for ~4 minutes.
3. Add mushrooms and cook for a couple minutes.
4. Add green beans, salt, and pepper and cook for another 2 minutes or so.
5. Add wine and continue cooking for a further 5 minutes.
6. Add red pepper flakes and kale, cover, and cook for 3-4 minutes. (Kale should wilt a bit.)
7. Add Parmesan and lemon juice. Toss to coat. Serve!



1 The original recipe calls for "2 tsp. salt" so, presumably, they're expecting you to use fine salt. Using the same volume of coarse salt should effectively halve the amount of salt going in to the pot, but that still sounded like way too much to me. I cut back to 1 tsp. coarse salt (so ~1/4 the amount of the original) and found that it tasted salty enough for my palate.

Tuesday 23 January 2018

Corn Pudding

While I like this overall, I did find it a tad on the salty side. Next time I'd definitely halve the salt called for and possibly double the cayenne and add a tiny pinch of white pepper. I also think it could be really nice with just a bit of grated Cheddar sprinkled on top.

Corn Pudding
Slightly adapted from Food Wishes
2 lbs. frozen corn, thawed
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
6 large eggs
1/2 c. milk
1 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt (original called for 1 Tbsp. kosher salt)
1/4-1/2 tsp. cayenne
1/4 tsp. white pepper (optional)
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/3 c. butter, melted
1 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
1 c. grated Cheddar (optional)

1. Combine corn, maple syrup, eggs, milk, salt, cayenne, white pepper (if using), flour, and baking powder in a large bowl.
2. Puree. (Either with an immersion blender or by transferring -- possibly in batches -- to a traditional blender.)
3. Stir in melted butter and cream.
4. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish and top with grated cheese (if using).
5. Place a silicone baking mat on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan and place the corn-filled baking dish on top of the mat.
6. Transfer this whole assembly to a 350F oven and bake for 75-80 minutes.

Monday 22 January 2018

Bhel Poori Chaat

The crisp, tart unripe mango in this really makes everything pop. I've tried making it with ripe mango when unripe mango couldn't be found and it was alright, but really did feel somewhat lacking. If unripe mango isn't an option, I'd actually suggest tossing diced cucumber with lime juice and using that in place of the mango.

Bhel Poori Chat
From 660 Curries
1 russet potato (or floury potato of choice), diced
1 large, unripe mango, peeled, seeded, and diced (should be rock-hard)
1/2 c. minced red onion
1 (14-oz.) package bhel mix
1 tsp. chaat masala
2 Tbsp. mint-yogurt sauce with chiles OR store-bought cilantro-mint chutney
2 Tbsp. red chile, garlic, and shallot sauce OR store-bought hot sauce
1/2 c. tamarind-date sauce OR store-bought tamarind-date chutney
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

1. Add water to potatoes to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
2. Drain potatoes and rinse under cold water.
3. Combine the potato, mango, and onion in a large bowl.
4. Immediately before serving, add the bhel mix, sauces, and chaat masala.
5. Toss, sprinkle with cilantro, and serve.

It's also worth noting that this recipe requires three of the four sauces needed for Dahi Chaat as well as the chaat masala spice mix so the two do dovetail quite nicely. If you make one and have sauces left over, making the other is a great way to use them up! (Aloo Chaat also works very well for this purpose.)

Sunday 21 January 2018

Chaat Masala

If you are lucky enough to live near an Indian grocery store (or in India itself) you can probably buy this spice blend ready made. If you don't (or if you'd just prefer to make your own), then I've been quite happy with this recipe.

Chaat Masala
From 660 Curries
2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. dried pomegranate seeds
1/2 tsp. black peppercorns
1 Tbsp. mango powder
2 tsp. black salt
1 tsp. coarse sea salt

1. Toast the cumin seeds in a dry skillet over medium-high heat for a minute or so, then transfer to a plate to cool.
2. Combine toasted cumin, pomegranate seeds, and black peppercorns in a spice grinder and pulverize until finely ground.
3. Combine mango powder, black salt, and sea salt.
4. Stir in ground spices.

Yogurt Sauce with Black Salt

I've never seen this sauce for sale anywhere, so you have to make it yourself if you want it. That said, it is super quick to make. No cooking, no blending, no chopping. Just three ingredients stirred together. It doesn't get much easier than that!

Yogurt Sauce with Black Salt
From 660 Curries
1/2 c. plain yogurt
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. black salt

1. Whisk all ingredients together.
2. Store in fridge until ready to use. Will keep in fridge for up to 10 days. Do not freeze as the yogurt will become both gritty and watery when thawed.

Tamarind-Date Sauce

I have to admit, I've only actually made this once before. And, if I'm being totally and completely honest, I think I like the store-bought versions just as well, if not better.

Tamarind-Date Sauce
From 660 Curries
1 tsp. tamarind concentrate
1/4 c. chopped jaggery (or firmly packed brown sugar)
10 pitted dates, chopped

1. Dissolve tamarind into 1 1/2 c. water.
2. Add the jaggery and dates and bring to a boil over medium heat.
3. Boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until liquid has reduced by half.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
5. Transfer to a blender jar and puree until smooth.
6. Store in fridge or freezer until ready to use. (Will keep in fridge for 5-7 days.)

Red Chile, Garlic, and Shallot Sauce

This is a scorchingly hot, sinus clearing, wonderful sauce. It is, as noted, very hot, but it's not just heat for heat's sake. It has flavour! It is lovely and garlic-y and just thinking about it makes my mouth water and my tongue burn.

Red Chile, Garlic, and Shallot Sauce
From 660 Curries
1 c. boiling water
20 dried red Thai chiles
1/4 c. sliced shallots (or red onion)
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
6 cloves garlic

1. Pour the boiling water over the chiles in a small bowl and set aside for 1-2 hours.
2. Reserving 1/4 c. of the soaking liquid, drain the chiles.
3. Combine chiles, reserved soaking liquid, and remaining ingredients in blender and puree until smooth.
4. Store in the fridge or freezer until ready to use. (Will keep for 5-7 days in the fridge.)

Skillet Bratwurst with Apples & Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

  • 1kg bratwurst
  • 2 onions, halved and sliced thin
  • 250mL water
  • 64mL olive oil
  • 30mL honey
  • salt and pepper
  • 500g brussels sprouts, trimmed and quatered
  • 3 Gala apples, cored and quartered
  • 80mL dried cranberries
  • 15mL cider vinegar
  • 15mL Dijon mustard
Procedure
  1. Combine bratwurst, onions, water, 15mL oil, 15mL honey, 2.5mL salt,and 1mL pepper in a large nonstick skillet.
  2. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until the bratwurst is nearly cooked through, ~10 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking.
  3. Uncover and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until water has evaporated and onions and bratwurst are well browned, ~7-10 more minutes. Remove to platter.
  4. Heat remaining oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add brussels sprouts, 1mL each salt and pepper, and cook, covered, until browned, ~4 minutes, stirring often.
  5. Stir in apples, cranberries, vinegar, mustard, and remaining honey and cook until apples are browned and sprouts are tender, ~5 minutes.

Mint-Yogurt Sauce with Chiles

This is a wonderful chutney. I really love the cilantro-mint combo. That said, I can't generally be bothered to make it from scratch these days. There is an Indian grocery store right around the corner from us that sells jars of "cilantro-mint chutney" that, while not as good as homemade, are still perfectly acceptable condiments.

If you do decide that you want to make your own chutney (or if you can't easily buy ready-made sauces), here's the recipe I use.

Mint-Yogurt Sauce
Slightly adapted from 660 Curries
1/2 c. firmly packed fresh cilantro
1/2 c. firmly packed fresh mint
1 Tbsp. plain yogurt
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
6 fresh green Thai chiles
1 Tbsp. ginger paste

1. Combine all ingredients in blender jar along with 1/4 c. water. Puree until smooth.
2. Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer until ready to use. Will keep 5-7 days in the fridge.

Dahi Chaat

Pani puri seems to be the preferred use of puri/poori shells. To the point where you can't actually buy them without at least getting little "pani puri flavour" packets. And often they come as a whole pani puri kit, complete with chutneys, tapioca beads, and various other bits and pieces. One day I will try pani puri. And I'm sure it'll be delicious. But it's hard to talk myself into making pani puri when dahi chaat is so easy and so incredibly tasty!

Dahi Chaat
Slightly adapted from 660 Curries
1/4 c. Mint-Yogurt Sauce with Chiles OR store-bought cilantro-mint chutney
1/4 c. Red Chile, Garlic, and Shallot Sauce OR store-bought hot sauce
1/2 c. Tamarind-Date Sauce OR store-bought tamarind-date chutney/sauce
1/2 c. Yogurt Sauce with Black Salt
1 russet or Yukon Gold potato (or floury potato of your choice)
1 c. cooked chickpeas
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
30 poori shells
cayenne (optional)
Chaat Masala, homemade or store-bought
fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

1. Prepare or buy the sauces and masala.
2. Boil the potato until tender. You can peel it if you want, but I usually just leave the skin on.
3. Combine the potato, chickpeas, and salt and mash.
4. Serve with poori shells, chutneys, chaat masala, and (if using) cayenne and cilantro. Allow guests to assemble their pooris at the table.

How to Assemble Dahi Chaat:
1. Cup a poori shell in the palm of one hand.
2. With the forefinger of the other hand, gently tap the surface to form a finger-width hole. (Let the crumbs and small pieces fall inside the shell.)
3. Spoon some of the potato mixture into the poori shell. (Start with ~1 tsp. but adjust up or down to taste.)
4. Spoon some of each of the four sauces into the shell. (Recommended amounts are 1/4 tsp. mint-yogurt sauce, 1/4 tsp. of red chile sauce, 1/2 tsp. tamarind-date sauce, 1/2 tsp. yogurt sauce. Again, adjust amounts and proportions to taste.)
5. Sprinkle with chaat masala and (if using) cayenne and cilantro.
6. Devour!

Chipotle Cornbread

There are dozens of varieties of cornbread. Everything from a simple, flourless, unsweetened cornmeal batter cooked in a cast iron skillet to what is essentially a yellow cake -- full of sugar, flour, eggs, etc. -- with just a couple Tbsp. cornmeal added in.

I prefer cornbread that is somewhere between these two extremes. I like it to be lightly sweetened, but not as sweet as a cake. And I like a bit of flour in the batter, but the amount should always be somewhat less than the volume of cornmeal. That way the cornmeal is still front and centre and you still get that distinctive flavour and texture, but it's a bit lighter and softer than the varieties that use only cornmeal. Honestly, my ideal cornbread is pretty darn close to the Betty Crocker recipe. And since I apparently managed to lose my recipe, Betty Crocker is what I'm choosing to share here.

Cornbread (with Optional Chipotles)
Slightly adapted from Betty Crocker
1/4 c. butter, melted
1 c. milk
1 large egg
1 1/4 c. cornmeal
1 c. all-purpose flour1
1/2 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 chipotle chiles in a adobo, chopped (optional)

1. Whisk butter with milk and egg.
2. In a separate bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. Add dry ingredients to wet (all at once) and stir until well mixed. The batter may be lumpy. This is okay!
4. Stir in chopped chiles (if using).
5. Grease an 8" square pan or 9" round pan and pour batter into prepared pan.
6. Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes.

I don't remember exactly how my old recipe went, so I chose to just follow this one to the letter for now. In future I may try reducing the sugar somewhat and using corn oil as the fat instead of some or all of the butter. Maybe something along the lines of this recipe from Mazola.

I mean, even without and tweaks or changes, the Betty Crocker recipe makes a lovely cornbread. And adding the chipotles takes it to another level again. So if I never am able to find/recreate my old cornbread recipe, I am quite happy to keep using this one.



1 Normally, if all-purpose flour was not available, I would suggest substituting "hard", "high grade", or "bread" flour. However, in this case I think "plain" or "soft" flour would work just fine. This is a quickbread and therefore won't (I don't think) gain much benefit from the extra gluten found in bread flour.

Kala Chana Masala

Now that we have a pressure cooker, I can finally cook black chickpeas (and all sorts of other dried legumes) in a reasonable amount of time. So exciting!

Kala Chana Masala
Slightly adapted from 660 Curries
1 c. dried black chickpeas
6 green cardamom pods
2 (Indian) bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
4 Tbsp. canola oil
1/2 c. shredded dried unsweetened coconut
1 Tbsp. coriander seeds
4 dried red Thai chiles
1 tsp. mustard seeds
15-20 curry fresh curry leaves
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. cornstarch

1. Rinse the chickpeas several times. Drain. Then cover with hot water and let soak (at room temperature), covered, overnight.
2. Drain the chickpeas and transfer to a pressure cooker. Add 3 c. water, cardamom pods, bay leaves, and cinnamon sticks. Cook at high pressure for 1 hour + 15 minute natural release.
3. While the chickpeas are cooking, toast the coconut, coriander, and chiles in 2 Tbsp. of oil over medium-high heat.
4. Puree the toasted coconut blend with 1/2 c. water and set aside.
5. Pop the mustard seeds in the remaining 2 Tbsp. of oil.
6. Once the mustard seeds have stopped popping, immediately remove from heat and add the fresh curry leaves. Let them sizzle for a moment, then set aside.
7. Once the chickpeas have finished cooking, stir in the coconut puree and the spice/oil mixture. Rinse out the blender jar with another 1/2 c. water and add that as well.
8. Stir in the salt.
9. Simmer, uncovered, over medium heat for 15 minutes.
10. If you would like a thicker sauce: Combine 1 tsp. of cornstarch with 2 Tbsp. cold water. Stir the starch slurry into the curry and allow to cook for another 5 minutes.
11. Serve over rice or, as Iyer suggests, with cornbread.

Chicken Saltimbocca

Ingredients

  • 2 (~250g) boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 thin slices of prosciutto
  • 30mL olive oil
  • 4 large fresh sage leaves
  • 5mL minced fresh sage
  • 1 garlic clove, sliced thin
  • 125mL chicken broth
  • 30mL unsalted butter, cut into two pieces and chilled
  • 10mL lemon juice
Procedure
  1. Place the chicken on a plate and freeze until firm, ~15 minutes.
  2. Slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally. Gently pound each cutlet even flatter, to about 5mm thickness.
  3. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Place a prosciutto slice on top of each cutlet, pressing to adhere and folding to prevent overhand as needed.
  5. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add sage leaves and cook until they begin to change colour and turn fragrant, ~15 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to paper towels.
  6. Add cutlets, prosciutto side down, and cook until lightly browned, ~2 minutes.
  7. Flip and cook until other side is light golden brown and cutlets are cooked through, ~2 minutes. Transfer to platter.
  8. Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic and minced sage and cook until fragrant, ~30 seconds.
  9. Stir in broth and bring to a simmer.
  10. Reduce heat to low and whisk in butter, one piece at a time.
  11. Stir in lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.
  12. Pour sauce over cutlets and garnish each one with a fried sage leaf.

Loaded Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

  • 1.5kg sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced ~5mm thick
  • 30mL olive oil
  • 15mL smoked paprika
  • 15mL garlic powder
  • 6mL salt
  • 2.5mL pepper
  • 250g (~500mL) extra sharp cheddar, grated
  • 4 slices bacon, cut into 1cm pieces
  • 3 scallions, sliced thin
  • sour cream
Procedure
  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat to 400°F.
  2. Toss potatoes, oil, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
  3. Microwave, covered, until potatoes are just tender, 10-12 minutes; stir halfway through. Uncover and let cool until safe to handle, ~15 minutes.
  4. Grease a 13"x9" baking dish.
  5. Layer the ingredients into the dish, alternating ⅓ of the potatoes with 125mL cheddar. After putting the third layer of potatoes in, pour in any liquid from the bowl and cover with all the remaining cheddar.
  6. Bake until knife-tender and cheese is starting to brown, ~30 minutes.
  7. Meanwhile, cook bacon until crispy, 6-8 minutes, and transfer to paper towel to dry.
  8. Remove dish from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Top with bacons and scallions and serve with sour cream.

Friday 19 January 2018

Harissa

This is seriously the most delicious thing to come out of my blender. It's probably one of the most delicious things to ever come out of my kitchen! I don't think there is any way I could over-state just how good this harissa tastes. Or even how good it smells!

Make it. Eat it. Love it!



Harissa
From 150 Best Tagine Recipes
12 dried red chile peppers (I used Kashmiri chilies)
3/4 c. boiling water
1 Tbsp. coriander seeds
2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. fenugreek seeds
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 c. olive oil

1. Using scissors, cut chilies into strips. Discard stems.
2. Pour boiling water over chilies and set aside for at least 30 minutes.
3. Combine coriander, cumin, fennel, and fenugreek in a small pan and toast over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes. They may pop, but shouldn't smoke or burn.
4. Remove spices from hot pan and place on a plate to cool.
5. Once cool, grind the toasted spices.
6. Using a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic with the salt. (Alternatively, chop in a food processor.)
7. Drain the chilies and mash them with the garlic. (Or chop in the food processor.)
8. Mash in the spices.
9. Gradually pound and mix in oil.

I have neither a food processor nor a large enough mortar to accommodate all the harissa ingredients. Instead, what I did, was follow the recipe up to step 7. Once I got to step 7, I transferred the mashed garlic to my small bullet blender, added the chilies and a couple Tbsp. of oil, and gave it a quick whirl. Then I ground the toasted spices in the empty mortar and added them to the blender as well. Gave it another whirl. After that I alternated ~10-20 seconds of blending with stopping to add another Tbsp. or so of oil until I'd added the lot. I'm sure it would've been easier with a food processor, but I'm happy enough (more-than-happy actually!) with the results I got from the blender.

Update: As you may be able to tell from the photo, we have a molcajete now! So it's now even easier to make harissa. No more stopping and starting the blender; just dump everything into the molcajete and go to town!

Berbere

My understanding of it is that berbere is to Ethiopian food as garam masala is to Indian food. It is a ubiquitous spice blend found in many different dishes and every region, cook, and family probably has their own variation. I've seen many different berbere recipes with all sorts of different ingredients in various proportions. In the past I concocted a sort of recipe gestalt made from a handful of different berbere recipes. More recently though, I've just been using the recipe out of the tagine cookbook.

Berbere
From 150 Best Tagine Recipes
5 dried cayenne peppers
1 Tbsp. black peppercorns
2 tsp. allspice berries
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. cardamom seeds
1 tsp. fenugreek seeds
3 whole cloves
1 (1") piece of cinnamon

1. Using scissors, cut cayenne peppers into small pieces.
2. Combine all ingredients in small pan and toast over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
3. Toast for 3-4 minutes. Spices may pop, but should not smoke or burn.
4. Transfer to plate to cool. (Don't leave in hot pan.)
5. Grind.

Coffee (First Pass)

Okay, so maybe it's a bit odd to post a "recipe" for something that's so ubiquitous and readily available (at least here in Canada), but I am not really a coffee drinker. I rarely buy coffee. Once in a while I might order a cup to sip after a nice dinner but, as a general rule, I don't drink it. This means that I have basically no knowledge of how to actually make the stuff. I mean, I worked in a coffee shop for years, but that involved pushing a button on the grinder to grind the right amount of beans for the pot, adding water, and then just letting the coffee maker do its thing.

I recently decided that I would like to be able to enjoy the occasional cup of coffee at home. I figured that a French press made the most sense for me. It is pleasingly simple and compact, inexpensive, and works well for small amounts of coffee. But now I need to actually learn how to make coffee in the darn thing!

I know the general procedure for making coffee: grind up roasted coffee beans, add hot water, filter out the grinds, drink coffee! But, when it came time to actually brew a cup, I realized that I was pretty fuzzy on the details: How fine a grind? How much water? How hot? How long should it steep?

There are definite opinions about such things on the Internet. Being that I'm not a "cupper" or even a coffee drinker really, my preferences may end up deviating somewhat from popular opinion. Honestly, I still haven't even had enough coffee experience to work out what my preferences are. For now I'm just going to make a record of what I did for future reference so that it's easier to compare and refine the brewing process on later attempts.

French Press Coffee
Adapted from Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters
3 Tbsp. coarsely ground coffee beans
10 oz. (1 1/4 c.) water

1. Place ground coffee in French press.
2. Bring water to a boil and allow to cool slightly. (Pouring it from the kettle/pot into a measuring cup probably allows for enough cooling.)
3. Pour hot water over coffee grinds.
4. Stir with a wooden (or plastic) implement.
5. Place lid on French press (but do not depress plunger).
6. Allow to steep for four minutes.
7. Depress plunger and serve.

Batdorf recommends using a bit of hot water to the French press to preheat it before adding the grinds. I didn't do that this time, but I may try it next time. I may also try a slightly finer grind next time. I set the grocery store grinder to its coarsest setting for this batch and that appears to be quite coarse indeed! I may also try measuring ingredients by mass and see how that goes. Playing around with different grinds means different packing fractions which means it's gonna be difficult to be consistent about how much coffee I'm actually using unless I'm doing it by mass.

But, there you go! There is my first pass at actually, properly making coffee (and not just pushing buttons on automated machines).

Cog

Cog (or pop) is a cornmeal-based breakfast porridge. The procedure and ratios are nearly identical to polenta, but the flavour profile is very different. I quite like it as a warm and comforting alternative to oatmeal. (I still love my oatmeal, but sometimes I am just not feeling the oats.)


As with polenta, cog wants a 4-5:1 ratio of liquids to cornmeal. The difference is that you replace some of the water with coconut milk and then season it with things like cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla and sweeten it with condensed milk. Instead of serving it topped with sausages or a hearty ragu, it's generally topped with fresh fruit (or just eaten on its own). I also tend to cook my cog just a bit less than polenta and serve it slightly thinner. Whereas polenta should have a sort of "soft scrambled egg" texture, I like my cog to have a "very thick gravy or soup" consistency. Not quite "stand a spoon in it" thick, but not exactly runny either.

I had been hoping to post a pressure cooker/Instant Pot cog recipe today but, as it turns out, my Instant Pot method still needs a little tweaking. So, instead, I'll give you the stove top recipe that I have used with great success in the past.

Cog
Adapted from African Bites
1 c. cornmeal
2 c. lite coconut milk
2 c. water
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk + more for serving
fresh fruit (optional)

1. Combine cornmeal, coconut milk, water, cinnamon stick, and salt in a pot and bring to a boil, whisking often.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until cog reaches desired consistency.
3. Stir in nutmeg, vanilla, and condensed milk.
4. Serve as is or topped with fruit and/or additional condensed milk.

Thursday 18 January 2018

Eggplant and Lentil Tagine

This was tasty but didn't blow me away. The eggplant and the lentils were both good, but I think my brain wanted those chunks of eggplant to turn out to be sausage or something similar.

Eggplant and Lentil Tagine
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter
2 onions, quartered
1 Tbsp. berbere
3 Asian eggplants, cubed
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 c. chicken broth
500mL cooked lentils (I used French lentils, but brown lentils would probably also work well)
1/2 c. raisins or dates, chopped

1. Heat oil and butter over medium heat. Add onion and berbere and cook for 10 minutes.
2. Add eggplant and garlic, reduce heat to medium low, and cook for 7 minutes.
3. Add broth, lentils, and raisins.
4. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for another 7-12 minutes.

Fiery Beef Tagine with Vegetables

I think this is my favourite of the tagine recipes we've tried so far. So, so tasty! It has a nice mix of meat and vegetables and includes both bebere and harissa. (For best results, serve with even more harissa as a condiment at the table!)

As with other tagine recipes, the preferred method is to cook it in an actual tagine. Barring that, a Dutch oven is probably the next best option.

Fiery Beef Tagine with Vegetables
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 slice candied ginger, chopped
1 Tbsp. harissa
2 tsp. berbere
1 lb. stewing beef, cubed or sliced
3 tomatoes (preferably roma), quartered
1 preserved lemon, finely chopped
2 c. diced squash
2 c. green peas, fresh or frozen
2 c. Balkan-style yogurt
1/2 c. fresh cilantro or flat-leaf parsley, chopped
extra harissa (optional)

1. Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper and cook for 5-7 minutes.
2. Add ginger, harissa, berbere, and stewing beef and cook for 7-10 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes, lemon, and squash.
4. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 45 minutes.
5. Add peas and cook, covered, for another 15 minutes.
6. Serve over couscous garnished with yogurt, cilantro, and extra harissa.

Beef Tagine with Peaches and Raisins

I've been on a bit of a tagine kick lately. My brother got us a phenomenal tagine cookbook a few years back and I've made shamefully little use of it so far. Better late than never I suppose!

This tagine is relatively easy to throw together, especially if you already have some chermoula on hand. And it results in lovely, tender beef in a meaty, slightly sweet-and-sour gravy. The sesame seeds make a nice garnish and complement. I think next time I would try adding a few tsp. of popped mustard seeds along with the broth. I am very fond of the mustard-peach flavour combo and think it'd work quite well here.

Beef Tagine with Peaches and Raisins
1 1/2 lbs. stewing beef, cubed or sliced
1/4 c. chermoula
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp. warm water
20 threads saffron
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1/2 c. beef broth
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 tsp. mustard seeds, popped in 1 Tbsp. of oil (optional)
1/2 c. raisins
4 fresh peaches, sliced (or equivalent frozen)
3 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

1. Toss beef with chermoula and flour. Set aside.
2. Add saffron threads to warm water. Set aside.
3. Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, and cook for 5-7 minutes.
4. Add beef and cook, stirring constantly, for 3-5 minutes.
5. Add broth, vinegar, mustard seeds and oil (if using), and saffron with its soaking water.
6. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.
7. Add raisins and peaches, replace lid, and simmer for another 20 minutes.
8. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Ideally this should be (as the name implies) cooked in a tagine. That said, I think it would work reasonably well in a Dutch oven with a good, tightly-fitting lid.

Sunday 14 January 2018

Slow Cooker Brunch Casserole

Ingredients

  • 30mL unsalted butter, softened
  • ~350g bulk breakfast sausage meat
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 2 red bell peppers, finely chopped
  • 15mL tinned chipotle in adobo, minced
  • 5mL adobo sauce (from the above)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 5mL ground cumin
  • ~400g baguette, cut into ~1cm pieces
  • ~350g pepperjack cheese, shredded
  • 750mL half-and-half (10%) cream
  • 12 large eggs
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 scallions, thinly sliced
Procedure
  1. Cook sausage, onions, and bell peppers in a large skillet over medium-high heat until well browned, ~10 minutes.
  2. Stir in chipotle, adobo sauce, garlic, and cumin, and cook until fragrant, ~30 seconds.
  3. Transfer sausage mixture to a large bowl, add bread, and stir until thoroughly combined.
  4. Grease slow-cooker with butter.
  5. Arrange half of bread mixture in an even layer in the slow cooker. Top with ~1/3rd of the pepperjack cheese. Arrange remaining bread mixture in another even layer on top.
  6. Whisk together cream, eggs, 5mL salt, and 1mL pepper in a bowl, then pour evenly over casserole. Using spatula, press gently on bread mixture to partially submerge.
  7. Top with remaining cheese.
  8. Cook on low, 3-4 hours, until center registers 160° (TODO: what units? probably F?)
  9. Let cool, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Top with scallions and serve.

Creole Potato Salad

Ingredients

  • Salad
    • 1.5kg Yukon Gold potatoes, cut in ~2cm chunks
    • 64mL white wine vinegar
    • salt and pepper
    • 3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
    • 1 celery rib, finely chopped
    • ½ green bell pepper, chopped fine
    • 30mL minced fresh parsley
  • Remoulade
    • 320mL mayonnaise
    • 85mL gherkins, drained and chopped
    • 4 scallions, thinly sliced
    • 15mL prepared horseradish
    • 30mL spicy brown mustard
    • 30mL ketchup
    • 30mL lemon juice
    • 2 garlic cloves, minced
    • 5mL paprika
    • 5mL worchestershire sauce
    • 2.5mL sugar
    • 2.5mL salt
    • 2.5mL pepper
    • 1mL cayenne
Procedure
  1. Combine potatoes, 2L water, half the vinegar, and 15mL salt in a large pot and bring to a boil.
  2. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are tender, 14-17 minutes.
  3. Drain potatoes, then transfer to a large bowl. Drizzle remaining vinegar over them and toss to coat.
  4. Let cool to room temperature, ~30 minutes, then refrigerate until cool, another 30 minutes, stirring halfway through chilling.
  5. Whisk together all remoulade ingredients.
  6. Gently fold together potatoes, remoulade, and all remaining ingredients.
  7. Refridgerate, covered, for another ~30 minutes, to let the flavours blend.

Grilled Corn

This Cook's Country recipe for grilled corn steams the corn in its husk first, then slathers it with seasoned butter before returning it to the grill. We've made two variants (the brown sugar cayenne butter and the mustard paprika butter).

Ingredients

  • 6 ears corn, unshucked
  • 90mL tablespoons soft unsalted butter
  • 2.5mL salt
  • 2.5mL pepper
  • Brown sugar cayenne butter:
    • 30mL brown sugar
    • 1mL cayenne
  • Cilantro lime butter:
    • 64mL minced fresh cilantro
    • 10mL grated lime zest
    • 15mL lime juice
    • 1 minced garlic clove
  • Mustard paprika butter:
    • 30mL spicy brown mustard
    • 5mL smoked paprika
  • Rosemary pepper butter:
    • another 2.5mL pepper
    • 15mL minced fresh rosemary
    • 1 minced garlic clove
Procedure
  1. Preheat grill to high.
  2. Combine butter, salt, pepper, and other butter ingredients in a bowl.
  3. Oil grill. Place corn on grill. Cover and cook, turning every 3 minutes, until husks have blackened all over, 12-15 minutes. Interior should be steaming and bright yellow when you pull back a bit of the husk.
  4. Remove husk and silk with tongs. Roll each ear in the butter mixture and return to the grill to char lightly on all sides, ~5 minutes.
  5. Coat with remaining butter mixture and serve.