Chicken Livers

A roommate walked in on my cooking and asked, "Whatchya makin?"
"Chicken livers", I said, as I pulled these out of the oven where they were keeping warm.
"Omigosh they're so tiny!!"

I was so happy to know this love of tiny things is not a trait found only in Asians!

I'm not exactly certain why or how, but I've really gotten into eating chicken livers these past few months.

I usually dip them in a mixture of flour, salt, garlic powder and black pepper; then fry them in bacon fat thinned out with sunflower oil because I find bacon fat smokes easily.  (Or perhaps more accurately, sunflower oil flavoured with a bit of bacon fat.)

Handling the raw livers felt like handling a giant blood clot: kind of morbid, but really cool!  I don't like finding tough sinew in the finished product, so I do like to remove the yellow-white sinews, even if it takes extra time.  I haven't found a good way to remove them, other than to hold a paring knife in place and tug, but this affects the texture slightly.  I'm told this step is optional, though.

Chicken livers with red wine sauce and
caramelised onions with balsamic vinegar.

I absolutely love the livers with just a big sprinkle of coarse salt and a grind of black pepper at the end, or just tossed with freshly minced garlic; but sometimes, I like to have condiments, too.

If I'm not using a lot of oil, I'll sometimes deglaze the pan with whatever red wine I have open (lately it's been Merlot), thicken with a bit of flour, and add a big scoop of blackcurrant jelly.  Yes, blackcurrant jelly.  I find I need a BIG fruity flavour to contrast with the good-bitter, slightly metallic flavour of the livers.  I usually like a thin red wine sauce with meat, but the livers need a thick sauce that will really hold on, so this sauce usually takes on a gravy-like texture.

I also like them with caramelised onions in balsamic vinegar.

A while back, in late January, I noticed a bag of onions had been sitting in the kitchen for maybe two months, and were starting to actually mould!  I left a note to my roommates, "If those were your onions, I used most of them because they were starting to go bad.  If you had plans for them, please let me know and I'll buy you a new bag!"  Actually, I left three, because I figured that was a good number of onions to leave.

I made a small mistake of cutting the onion slices longitudinally instead of latitudinally.  The fibres run longitudinally, which tends to result in unappetising strings of onion pieces later.  I sauteed them in a Dutch oven with little oil and salt, then put the lid on and over the next hour or so, would pause my homework to stir them a bit and add a little splash of water to help them soften.

After tasting, I decided they weren't as sweet as I had dreamed, so I added a big splash of balsamic vinegar.  That hit the spot!



What didn't fit in the jar, I ate that night on a slice of homemade bread, with a smear of butter.  Mmm!

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Grilled PB&J

I had a craving for something different for breakfast today.  I opened the fridge door to look for inspiration.  I've had this jar of natural peanut butter for months, I just don't go through peanut butter very quickly--unless I'm making peanut butter cookies, or have gotten back on the peanut butter and bananas on warm bread -boat.

And lately I've fallen in love with blackcurrants, in particular, blackcurrant jelly.  Even the store-brand stuff tastes great, and I just can't wait to open the jar I bought from the farmers' market in fall!!

So peanut butter and jelly sandwiches seemed suitable.  But if you know me, you'll know I dislike cold sandwiches.  So I decided to pan fry it like a grilled cheese sandwich!

I think next time I'll use a softer white bread without so many seeds and grains, to really let the peanut butter and jam shine through.  All I had was a seedy, grainy bread--which is heavenly for grilled cheeses.

A note on peanut butter: I buy natural peanut butter whose only ingredient is either "peanuts" or "roasted peanuts" depending on the brand.  While I love not worrying about hydrogenated oil, I also find the texture inhibits my ability to taste the peanuts, maybe it's too oily and my saliva can't dissolve the flavours so quickly, maybe the uniform texture makes it all blur together--whatever the reason, I usually add a tiny dab of honey and a sprinkle of salt.  This opens up the peanut butter and I can taste so much more peanutty goodness this way!

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Apple Pie Sugar

Whenever I need to peel apples for something, I always feel that throwing away the peels is wasteful.  So I started dehydrating them for a later use.

I could put them in tea blends, I thought to myself.

Or, I could grind them into powder and add to my oatmeal, or as a topping on baked goods.

Even better, why not mix that powder with spices and sugar?

 

Above: three average-sized apples gave me the peels on the drying rack; and I saved the peels from maybe 3 apples previously.  When ground in my mini food processor, this resulted in approximately 1/6 cup.


The method is pretty straightforward:

The next time you need to peel apples, try to keep the peels in large pieces.  Arrange them on a rack, set on a baking pan, and dehydrate.  I set these in the oven at 175F, and then forgot to turn the oven off when I went to bed (thankfully, I woke up in the middle of the night and remembered!), so it was on for about 10 hours.  I assume they were done sometime well before that!

You don't need to dry them in the oven, if you have the time and space, you can just let the peels air-dry.  But I think the low heat actually cooks the sugar a bit, I got a very nice toasty flavour from the peels this way!

Crush the dried peels in a food processor, spice grinder, or whatever implement you like, until it's a consistency you like.  Mix in sugar and spices as you like.  I used a raw small-granule sugar, ground cinnamon and ground cloves.

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Apple Slices and Pan Sauce

(Apologies for the blah photo, I only had my cell phone camera at the time.  I'll post a better photo next time I make this!)

When my wisdom teeth made chewing difficult, I got into the habit of cooking my fruit in this manner.  And even though my jaw's back to normal, the habit of cooking fruit stayed.

I like this cooking method for apples and pears.  I imagine it might also work for hard nectarines or peaches. It feels a bit strange to "sear" the fruit and make a sort of pan sauce by deglazing with white wine.  I sometimes wonder if some properly-schooled chef will appear behind me and smack me upside the head for this disgrace.  Or something.  ...  Anyway.


First I melt some butter and add just a bit of oil to raise the average smoke point.

On high heat, I "sear" the fruit slices, adding a big pinch of salt and whole spices (eg: star anise, cinnamon stick) to the pan, if I remember them.  For this batch I used three apples, which fit very nicely in the 11" pan.

After I've gotten a nice colour on the fruit, I deglaze with white wine, about 3oz, and kill the heat.  I taste and add any sugar if necessary, and any ground spices (eg: ground cinnamon, cloves, ginger).  This pan keeps heat for a long time, so the wine keeps a hard simmer awhile.  If I want, I add a pat of butter or maple syrup if I'm in the mood.  I let the fruit and sauce cook to whatever consistency I want that day.

For everyday eating, like the fruit soft with just a bit of resistance in the very centre; and the sauce to be moderately thin, maybe the consistency of half-and-half, and not too rich-tasting.  I typically just eat this with a spoon; but it's also good on top of oatmeal, and I imagine it'd be great on top of ice-cream, baked goods, or beside pork or chicken.


Good combinations I've tried so far:

• Pear with maple syrup and extra butter; thick sauce.  This is heavenly on top of oatmeal, the sauce is almost too rich to eat alone! 
• Pear with white wine, cinnamon stick and star anise; thin sauce.  
• Apple with white wine and butter; medium-thick sauce.  
• Apple with white wine, cinnamon, star anise, cloves and black pepper; medium-thick sauce.  

Combinations I think would be good but haven't yet tried:

• Pear or apple with white wine and ginger; thin sauce.  
• Nectarines with rum, cloves, nutmeg; medium sauce.  
• ...

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Jin Deui Again

I made a  second attempt at jin deui on Monday.  Here's a quickie post; scroll to bottom for text.

Below:  Dough balls rolled in white sesame, uncooked.

Below:  Cooked jin deui!  The first few turned out over-cooked, a little burnt almost.  Only a few exploded.

Notes:

• Used same recipe, but instead of making 12 dough balls, only made 8; this meant more thicker dough walls, and hopefully, less exploding.
• My thermometer read somewhere around 250F, but the oil was actually much hotter--over 300F!!  As soon as I put the balls in, the temperature reading rose quickly.  I can only assume this is because the oil wasn't moving very much, and the thermometer was only reading a cooler area.  Next time, I will stir the oil before reading the temp.  
• A good temperature is around 260F (last time I said 275F, which is still in the neighbourhood).  
• Spritzing the balls with water before rolling in sesame seeds keeps the dough from drying out, helps the seeds stick better, and makes a crispier crust, I think.  
• I need to keep the balls moving.  If the balls stay still, the dough expands unevenly; so there may be some places where it stretches very thin, and areas where it's thick.  
• White sesame tastes better than in this application.  
• I didn't get any photos, but the thickness of the dough for this batch turned out more like store-bought jin deui (thicker than last time).  I like it!  
• I used about 1/3 tsp salt for the dough, and I liked it!  
• I didn't accurately measure the sugar, but I used 3 slightly rounded tea spoons (as opposed to soup spoons) of cane sugar, because we're running low on demerara sugar.  

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Jin Deui

I just tried my hand at making jin deui for the first time!  And I have to say, it's a lot of work!  This'll be a short post.  Here are the highlights:

Recipe: http://cant-live-without.com/2012/01/31/sesame-balls-with-red-bean-paste/


Dough wrapped around some red bean paste and formed into balls.  You can see some aren't as well wrapped as others!

Rolled in black sesame, because I was out of white.

Fry.  Since the recipe above didn't give a temperature, I tried frying at temperatures from 200F to 350F; about 275F was the best, I found.  Nothing burned and the balls took what felt like a comfortable amount of time to cook.

Some balls would explode, pushing out their tasty guts.  One actually exploded while in the oil, still.  That was a huge mess to clean up.

My rig:  a candy thermometer (the clip is crappy) set on our smallest metal saucepan, which sits atop a cast iron frying pan, to keep heat better.  To drain any debris, I would pour through a sieve into another pot, then back (again through the sieve) into the original pot.  

 

Finished products!  I like the one on the left *snicker*

 

The acts like a balloon, it seems!  It got stretched so thin, I'm impressed.  But there's still a reserve of dough in the right half on the right side.  I wonder how I can reduce that next time...

Final thoughts:

• I will probably try this again.  Just, with more forethought next time!  
• The dough could be sweeter.  I will follow the recommended sugar proportions next time.  
• The balls had a slightly burnt taste.  I wonder if it's from the burnt debris, or if it's because black sesame cooks faster than white.  

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Pasta alla Carbonara

Sticky version: less wine.  Spaghettini; thin-cut bacon.

I'm kind of addicted to making pasta alla carbonara.  It's possibly the sexiest dish I can make right now.  While I'm not entirely certain why this dish is named for coalminers, I do have a romanticised, homely image of a coal-covered miner sitting down to dish of creamy white sauce on pasta, and flecks of coal falling into the dish--simulated by freshly ground black pepper.

The sauce is impossibly creamy--and contains absolutely NO CREAM WHATSOEVER.  It is thick and luscious and sticks to your teeth and lips--well, that's how I like to make it anyway.

It's such a simple recipe and technique to memorise and master.  I measure very little now that I've made it umpteen times in the past two months, but I've been meaning to write down a pseudo recipe for a while now.

The only thing that I wish I could measure is spaghetti.  I'll probably get a length of string with knots to indicate the circumference of a handful of spaghetti enough for one, two and four diners.

There are a few important points to make about ingredients for this dish.

Eggs.  Without cream or milk, where does the sauce get its creamy consistency?  Eggs!  The sauce is something like an extremely loose custard, or better yet, the way the runny yolks in sunny side up eggs spread all over your toast.

I've made this dish with crappy several-week-old eggs; I've made them with supermarket-fresh eggs (not really "fresh", I know).  I've made them once with Omega-3 eggs*.  There was a discernible difference.  The expensive Omega-3 eggs tasted the "eggiest", but the "fresh" eggs tasted...."clean".  I'm not sure how to describe it without using the word "fresh"--because I know they're not really "fresh" and to say they taste as if they were implies I know how "fresh eggs" taste.  Their taste makes me think of freshness.  It tasted more "clean", as if there were fewer non-egg flavours in the eggs, or those flavours were "brighter".

I really don't know how to better describe it.  The take-home point is: you can make this dish with crappy eggs and it will still be great.  But if you're making this to impress someone (even yourself), you should get fresher eggs--because fresher eggs will take it from great to AWESOME.

* I had a nutritionist friend who told me how Omega-3 eggs are made: the chickens are fed flaxseed.  From what I've seen, Omega-3 eggs cost about three times as much as the economy-priced eggs.  They taste pretty great, and if you like deep yellow yolks for your pan-fried eggs, then go nuts.  But for most other applications, I honestly think Omega-3 eggs are a waste of money.  If you want Omega-3 in your diet, eat some flax seed, or better yet, buy a bottle of flax oil and add that to your foods!  My brother likes it in smoothies for a more luxurious mouthfeel.



Black pepper.  Just grind it fresh.  Pre-ground pepper can't compete with freshly ground.  Even dollar stores sell plastic pepper grinders now, and even that is better than pre-ground.




White wine.  I suppose this is replaceable by, say, chicken stock, in a pinch.  I've made this dish using a (cheap) dry and citrusy white wine (leftovers from another dish), and I've made it using VSOP cognac.  Both turned out not very good, and I couldn't figure out why.  The dish came out with this unforgiving bitterness--which is tolerable, but even I found it unpalatable, and I like bitter coffee, bitter chocolate and the bitterness of some vegetables!

I asked an employee at the liquor commission for the least bitter white wine they had, and was directed to an unoaked Chardonnay (Banrock unwooded Chardonnay for about $15 or less).  It goes wonderfully in this dish.  So that is my non-expert opinion on which wine you should use.  If I were to guess, I'd say that the bitterness comes from the wood--so avoid oaked wine.

The wine is hypothetically optional.  If you want a sticky, tacky sauce, omit or decrease the wine (or chicken broth, or any other liquids).  You'll get a dish that's like pasta tossed in runny egg yolks--still sexy, but in a sticky and messy way.  You also won't have to cook the sauce at all: the residual heat from the pasta will set it fine.  If you do use liquids, you'll have to cook the sauce a bit for it to set--unless you really, really, really like raw eggs.  In the photo above, I only used a splash of cognac.  In the photo below, I used a shotglass of Banrock unwooded chard.


Bacon.  This dish isn't all about the bacon, but it certainly plays an important part!  Get a bacon that's strongly flavoured (smokey) but not necessarily salty.  Thick cut bacon isn't necessarily better--actually thin bacon crisps up better.  It depends on the texture you want.  I like my thick cut bacon bits to be crispy or crunchy, and not at all chewy.  If you like chewy, then don't cook it as long.

I like to make 4-5 rashers of bacon at a time, because it takes so long.

Here's how I make bacon bits:  Start your bacon in a cold pan on medium-low heat.  I like to cut the rashers in half so they fit in the pan better.  Your first objective is to melt away a lot of that bacon fat.  Once the fatty areas start "popping" (they make a pop sound, then turn an opaque off-white), you can increase the heat to medium and fry until lightly browned.  Be sure to move the pieces around so that pieces in the centre don't finish cooking before pieces at the edges.  Flip once and continue until that side is lightly browned.  Remove bacon slices.  Cut into 1cm pieces, and return to frying pan.  Fry until crispy.  Then remove bacon bits, and reserve bacon fat for other uses.

I like to pour slightly cooled bacon fat into an ice cube tray for freezing.  When frozen, I remove the blocks to a zip-top freezer bag so I have about 1-2 Tbsp portions of bacon fat for use at any time!


Pasta.  Spaghetti is the standard.  But I think spaghettini, which is thinner than spaghetti, is better suited for such a thick, heavy sauce.  In the picture below, I used spaghetti, and it looks kind of clumsy to me.  In the photo above, I used spaghettini.

This dish is best made with pasta that is just past al dente, but not floppy (Alton Brown calls it "done").  If you're making sticky pasta, boil your pasta to this level.  Otherwise, cook it to al dente or even a little less, because you'll be cooking the sauce, with the pasta in it.


Parmesan.  Just DO NOT use the powdery stuff.  It doesn't taste like parmesan, and it doesn't melt properly.  I've been known to buy pre-shredded (or pre-shaved) parmesan for convenience.  It costs only slightly more than the powder, and it's extremely convenient!


Tips for making this on the fly:

• Freeze portions of minced garlic in an ice cube tray
• Make a batch of bacon bits and keep them in the fridge
• Keep shredded or shaved parmesan in the fridge
• Use a 1.5 oz shotglass to measure the white wine
• If your shotglass has a 1oz line, you can use it to measure the parmesan (or just eyeball 1oz)

Creamy version: using 1.5oz wine.  Spaghetti; thick-cut bacon.

Spaghettini Alla Carbonara

Makes 1 Charlie-sized serving, which makes a hefty lunch or moderate dinner
Time:  I can make this in about 15 minutes using the tips above


Software:

• enough spaghettini for one person
• you can use a different pasta such as spaghetti, but I prefer spaghettini
• water and a pinch of salt for boiling the pasta

• approx 1 Tbsp cooked bacon, crumbled
• approx 1 tsp bacon fat, for frying
• 2-4 cloves garlic, finely minced
• approx 1/2 tsp salt, to taste
• 2 eggs 
• approx 2 Tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese 
• 1.5 oz (shotglass) unwooded Chardonnay white wine
• if you want sticky pasta, omit or reduce the white wine
• freshly ground black pepper, medium grind (I use about 10 turns of my pepper mill)
• 1 tsp dried parsley (I just take a fat pinch from the jar)

Hardware:

• pot or saucepan for making pasta
• colander or strainer for pasta
• large saucepan for frying bacon and tossing sauce with pasta
• spatula
• chopsticks, or other implement for stirring spaghetti with a heavy sauce
• small bowl
• whisk or fork

Cook the pasta until a little stiffer than al dente.  If you're making sticky pasta, cook until done, this will be the final texture of the pasta.  Strain and set aside.

Melt bacon fat (or butter or other cooking fat) in large saucepan.  Add minced garlic and a small pinch of salt.  Fry until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, beat eggs with half the wine (if using); and all the cheese, black pepper, parsley and salt.

When garlic is done, remove pot from heat and deglaze with the remaining white wine.  Scrape the bottom of the pan using the spatula.  Then add the strained pasta and toss until coated and the liquid is mostly used up.

For sticky:  Add the egg mixture, turn off heat, and mix with chopsticks to coat.  Otherwise:

Turn up heat to medium or medium-high and add the egg mixture, stirring with chopsticks.  Stir constantly!!  I like using chopsticks because I can move the pasta around in different ways, not just push it in a circle.  The sauce is done whenever you think it's done.  It will of course get thicker the longer you cook it--but be careful!  If you don't stir it enough, or you cook it on too high of heat, you will get nasty chunks of scrambled eggs!  (This usually takes me 5-8 minutes on medium heat.)

Taste and adjust seasoning.  I find I usually need a little more salt.

Just before serving, mix in the bacon bits.  Or if they're still hot, you can just sprinkle them on top.

Serve immediately!

You may want to have a crisp and refreshing drink to wash this down.  I actually like a half-glass of apple juice, it acts like a palate-cleanser

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Popsicles - Part One

I came across the Chow.com series: Seven Ice Pops that Break the Mold and decided to try the milk tea with tapioca pearls, vietnamese coffee, and the red bean ice pops.  I'm making these popsicles for my work party on Sunday, who will help me shovel soil and otherwise tend the garden!

Here are my thoughts on the recipes.

Milk tea popsicles:

Because I like Hong Kong style milk tea, I used Red Rose tea bags for the milk tea popsicles.  And let me tell you, six bags of that stuff makes a powerful brew!!  I even subbed out one bag for two bags of the weaker Mother Parker's orange pekoe (which is absolutely atrocious, btw; I just got a free box from a friend who didn't want it, now I know why!).  I think next time I'll use five bags Red Rose and one bag Mother Parker.

I found it odd that the recipe calls for sweetened condensed milk.  We always use evaporated milk in our milk tea at home.  But I went along anyway.  I found the milk tea base to be too sweet.  I figured, since it's a cold dessert, it may need more sugar to taste sweet, so I let it slide.


I liked the idea of having tapioca boboa, especially when described so:

The tapioca pearls start out solid, but they slowly thaw and turn chewy in your mouth. It’s a little like the bubblegum ice cream of your youth: After the creamy part is gone, the pearls remain to prolong the fun.

I used the same black bubble tea pearls I've been using for a while now.  They're tasty and pleasantly chewy when warm, but get kind of grainy even at room temperature.  In the frozen popsicle, they do indeed start out solid, then turn chewy.  But the core turns grainy again.  This may just be a flaw in this brand of bubble tea pearls.

I think next time, I will not have so many pearls.  The recipe calls for filling the molds halfway, freezing for one hour, then making another addition of pearls and tea base.  I think I will use only half as many pearls next time.

And I think I will not put them at the very tip!  Next time, I will fill the molds with an inch of tea base, freeze for half an hour, then add the pearls and top off the molds.  This is because when I try to unmold the popsicles, the tips melt slightly and reveal bulbous black pearls sticking out of the tip like some grotesque alien appendage.

Here, the tip broke off when I tried to pull out the popsicle:

And after a few seconds of eating, the tip looks like this:

I suspect the appearance may put off some dinner guests!!


Red bean popsicles:

I made my own red bean paste based on this recipe.  (Btw, 250g of adzuki beans turns out to be close to 1+1/3 cups.)

I dislike that the paste comes out brown instead of red; but next time I will not boil the beans in the soaking water!!

I may have added too much salt to the paste recipe, but it worked out once the paste was in the popsicle base.

Instead of heavy cream, I used coffee cream; and instead of whole milk, I used 2% (because that's what we have).

Upon tasting, I'll concede that it could have used more sugar.  I had cut back, but now I know to make them sweeter!  I like that the whole (or mostly-whole) beans settled toward the tip.

But I think I would have liked more variety of texture.  It felt like there were only whole beans, and pureed beans, and nothing in between.

Red bean paste (leftovers are probably enough to make another batch!):

Finished popsicle:

Not quite as red as I had wanted, but still kind of pretty.  I don't really like the light-coloured band near the stick-end, though.  Maybe I will have to stir the popsicles after they've just set.


Vietnamese Coffee Popsicles

I actually happened to still have some Trung Nguyen coffee grinds, so I decided to use those.  Unfortunately, we don't have a working coffee maker, so I improvised, using a metal strainer and a coffee filter.  This took a few tries, because the strainer would sometimes tip, spilling coffee grinds into the coffee below.

Watching the coffee drip gives me a new appreciation for drip machines.  It's kind of painful to watch all that liquid sitting at the top, drip so slowly down--especially with so much coffee grinds!

I actually didn't have as much condensed milk as the recipe called for; so this may turn out to taste more like a plain, strong coffee than Vietnamese -style coffee.  Again, I used coffee cream instead of heavy cream, because that's what we have here.

The taste?  ...  A bit too much like regular coffee, actually.  The coffee cream gives it away.   Next time, I will open another can of sweetened condensed milk if I have to!

I really like the way the ice crystals look after sucking on the popsicle a little.  The crystals are so distinct, dark and clear amidst the creamy brown...


Since I started writing this post, I've actually made more popsicles--I think I've been bitten by the Popsicle-Making Bug.  But these will have to wait for their own post, next time.  The flavours I've made are:  lavender lemonade and blueberry; green tea ice cream; strawberry and balsamic vinegar; and I may have time to make one more flavour before bed, though I haven't decided yet!

Meanwhile, I've removed each popsicle from its mold and wrapped in plastic cling wrap, then put into a zip-top freezer bag.  With the new popsicles, I've already filled two freezer bags and a third is on its way.  Hopefully I don't lose track of which flavour is which!

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Cinnamon Oats

I made steel cut oats for the first time recently.  I'm converted. As usual, click here to jump to recipe.

Lately (most of March and February) I've been falling asleep in class.  This is a bit unusual for me!  At first, I attributed it to the strong smell of tobacco smoke, which caused me to breathe more shallowly and thus probably reduced oxygen to my brain.  But then the person with this scent (who was both the classes in which I'd fall asleep) dropped out, and I was still falling asleep!

After some experimentation, I found that my oatmeal breakfast was the problem for two reasons:

• The oats weren't thoroughly cooked; and
• I was eating too much for breakfast.

Now, the reason I add old fashioned oats to instant is for the chewy texture.  And I really don't have the time to cook longer than I described above.  

I can't digest raw oats.  

I dislike the "raw food" perspective, that foods are always inherently "better" or "more nutritious" in their "natural" state, because it's sometimes wrong.  There are some foods that contain nutrients that are very heat-sensitive and are in fact better eaten raw--and there are times when cooking is necessary to make those nutrients bio-available.  (Here's an article from the Scientific American, and here's an experiment that someone put together and documented well; go to Part Two for nutritional info!)

As I started learning about grains and their digestibility, I learned about phytic acid, which can be found in grains and seeds.  It is not digestible to humans, and in fact makes certain minerals (eg: iron, calcium) unavailable for absorption!  It also makes niacin (vitamin B3) insoluble and thus unavailable.  For this reason, it is sometimes called an "antinutrient".  (There are a lot of vehemently anti-grain blogs out there, and there are many reasons one can be anti-grain!  I just choose to focus on its difficulty in digestion here for now.)

Long story short?  I now soak steel cut oats and make a batch for the next few days, which I reheat for breakfast.

There are different ways to soak your grains, but since I'm new to this, I'm using the simplest method I've read about, which is simply soaking in water, without any added acid.

This makes a lovely batch of oats for breakfast and usually lasts 3-4 Charlie-sized breakfasts (which may be smaller than yours!).  Something about simmering steel cut oats smells like cinnamon buns--not just the cinnamon, but the bready smell, too!

Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats

Soak: overnight or 6-8 hours
Active cooking: about 40 min
Makes 3-4 small servings, or 2 big servings


Overnight Soak:

• 1/2 cup steel cut oats
• large container with lid (eg: glass jar)
• enough water to come up twice the oats' height

Breakfast:

• all the soaked oats, thoroughly drained and rinsed
• 2.5 cups water
• 2 heaping Tablespoons, oat bran (if not using, then use only 2 cups water)
• 2 heaping teaspoons, cinnamon (or to taste)
• 1/3 cup raisins (I like green raisins)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• optional: 1-2 teaspoons, brown sugar (I like Demerara style)
• optional: 1 pat, unsalted butter (approx 2 tsp?)
• optional: 1-2 Tablespoons, unsweetened apple sauce, per serving
• optional: toasted walnuts or pecans

Method:

Soak the oats:  Pour the oats into the container.  Pour on enough water to double the height of the oats.  Cover and shake.  Soak overnight at room temp or 6-8 hours.  (You don't need an airtight cover, I just like to pick up the jar and shake the whole thing without it spilling!)

Oatmeal:  Drain and rinse the oats.  Let drain in a colander until needed.  Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan.  Stir in the cinnamon.  Add raisins (or wait til later, see note).  

Note:  If you add salt to the water now, it will interfere with the thickening of the oatmeal!  If you add the raisins in now, some of them will burst, lending their flavour and sweetness to the whole oatmeal.  If you add them later, they'll stay mostly whole.  I like to add them early.

When the water has come to a boil, stir in the oats.  Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring often for 5 minutes.

Then, reduce heat to low.  Cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 2-5 minutes to prevent bottom from sticking.  If you add the raisins now, you'll get juicy, plump raisins at the end.

After 30 minutes, add the salt.  Taste, and decide if you need more cinnamon, salt, raisins, brown sugar, and/or butter.  I personally like a little butter!  If you add the raisins now, they'll be just as dry and hard as they were before you put them in.

Serve (with apple sauce if you'd like), or let cool and refrigerate for breakfast.

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Canned Fish

As you may have already known, I'm a bit of a fan of Good Eats, a cooking show hosted by Alton Brown (AB), that recently (2011) ended.

Sometime last year, I began watching the series from the very first episode, and just recently watched "Live and Let Diet" (click for transcript and info), where AB explains how he changed his diet (not that he is "dieting" in the sense that the word has recently taken on), and lost 50 pounds, all while still eating tasty things!

I like his "list" idea, though I still have yet to look into, for example, why specifically carrots, sweet potatoes and avocadoes of all things?

But when I heard about canned fish such as sardines, brisling and herring--in oil!--my curiosity was piqued!  You ever hear the description of something, then try to imagine it in your head, and get so caught up in trying to imagine it that you just have to know if your prediction is correct?  That happened to me.

(Click to jump to recipe)

I immediately went to Safeway and bought two cans of sardines in soya oil, sardines in spring water, and one can of "golden smoked" herring fillets.

(All the photos are of Brunswick sardines in soya oil.)

I decided the first can I'd try would be the smoked herring, since I felt I had a better idea how that would be.  Tasty!  Very light in flavour, I was impressed that it wasn't over salted!  It seemed to be a "snacking" food, which is exactly how it was marketed ("Brunswick Seafood Snacks"), so maybe I shouldn't have been surprised. 

Later I tried the sardines.  I was surprised how soft they were!  The slightest prod seemed to break the tender flakes of fish meat!

The dark thing in the middle of the two halves--are those
organs?  It was sure tasty!!

I opened up the fish laterally (to expose the length of the "spine" bones).  There was a dark mass of fish meat.  Organs?  I tried the muscular meat first.  Tender!  Flaky!  A rather mild flavour, actually.  Oily.  A little "fishy", but not horribly so.  I tried the spine.  I loved the crunch!  Whereas I find canned salmon spine to be kind of disgusting, I loved the little sardine spines!!  The little spikes felt almost like a delicate, thin chain bracelet on my tongue--but I assure you I mean this in the best way possible!

Then the organs.  HOLY CRAP, fishy and delicious!  What is this, liver?  Is this why fish livers are so highly valued--well, at least cod livers?  The texture was....like a fine and ever so slightly sandy paste.  I don't typically eat liver, so maybe this is characteristic of the organ?

I decided to make a meal out of my next can, so I did what made the most sense:  put 'em on toast!  I've formatted this as a recipe below, but honestly, it's just assembly and heating.

Today, I decided to try even more canned fish.  I picked up kippered herring, and brisling in olive oil (which is what AB recommends over "sardines").  Myro and I made two batches of fish on toast, using the different cans.

I found the brisling to be more "fishy" than the sardines.  They had a more "distinct" flavour, but I can't quite put my finger on what that flavour was.  It may have been the olive oil, though.  The oil was surprisingly fruity! I would like to try sardines in olive oil for comparison.  But there was also an almost mustardy flavour to the fish.  Maybe this is what AB meant when he called it "sweet"?  It reminds me of the way people say lamb meat is "sweeter" than, say, chicken.  (I don't think that lamb meat is "sweet", but it definitely has more flavour!)

I think I would prefer eating the brisling straight out of the can, while the sardines I would use for toast--but the olive oil of course is tastier than the soybean oil!

Sardine Toast
Active work: 5 min
Toaster Oven: 5 min

Software:

• 1 can (106g or so), sardines in oil
• 3 slices, bread (Canadian rye works very well and is just the right size)
• 1 clove, garlic, peeled (alt: 1 tsp garlic paste)
• salt and pepper to taste

Hardware:

• toaster oven
• culinary brush
• chef knife
• optional: mortar and pestle

Method:
Open the can and let the oils drain into a small cup or custard dish.  Reserve liquids.

Make garlic paste:  Peel the garlic.  If you have a mortar and pestle, and don't mind having to clean it for just one clove of garlic, then pestle that clove into a nice, fine paste.  Otherwise, use your chef knife to garlic paste (click for nice instructional video; I don't think I can concisely describe what he's doing faster than it takes to watch the video).

Mix the garlic into the oil.  Brush the oil onto both sides of each slice of bread.  Designate one side as the "bottom" and sprinkle with just a wee pinch of salt.  (This delivers the salt right to your tongue, instead of putting salt on top of the fish where it won't be tasted as easily--you'd have to use more salt (or eat the toast upside-down) to experience the same saltiness.)

On the "top" side, evenly distribute the sardines.  I find I get 3 fish per can, so it works out well.  I like to open the fish up to expose the spine, so that it takes up more area on the bread.

Toast in toaster oven about 5 minutes or until bread is browned to your liking and fish is warmed!  Make sure that the bottoms also get toasted, otherwise the bread will fall apart under the wet fishes' weight!

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Hummus - Trial #1

The past week or so, I've been having this unprecedented craving for hummus, so I've made about five batches of the stuff.  As I've mentioned before, I love hummus and I'll eat it warm with a spoon!

But every time I've made it, I've been guessing at the proportions of ingredients.  It always turns out tasty, but it's extremely time consuming to stir in the ingredients, taste, add more of something and repeat.  So after making a batch almost daily for a week, I want to be able to throw everything in a food processor and go.

So today, I made a batch of hummus again, and have written down the approximate proportions.  I say approximate, because today was the first time I used dried chickpeas instead of canned; and I find there's a funny taste from the baking soda, and I'll have to work that out at a future time.

I use sesame oil instead of sesame butter (tahini) because, first, that's what we have at home, and second, I really can't taste the sesame flavour of the tahini.  Sesame oil has this rich, toasty flavour that I just adore!  Some say it makes for a "lighter" feeling hummus, too.

I also use roasted garlic by default in hummus; if I want the bite of raw garlic, then I'll add some, but I really prefer the mellow, nutty flavour of roasted garlic.



Hummus from Dried Chickpeas - Trial #1

Soak: overnight
Cook peas:  1 hour
Active work: about 20 min


Overnight Soak:

• 1 cup chickpeas, dried
• 2 cups water
• Large bowl or measuring cup

Chickpeas:

• the soaked chickpeas (approx 2 to 2.5 cups now) 
• 4 cups water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Software:

• the cooked and drained chickpeas
• 1 to 2 Tbsp roasted garlic
• 10 Tbsp fresh water
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 5 tsp olive oil
• 2 to 3 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp salt (or more to taste)
• 3 tsp smoked paprika 

Hardware:

• Immersion blender or food processor (some way of turning the chickpeas into a puree)
• spatula

Method:

Soak the chickpeas:  Inspect peas for any pebbles, twigs, that sort of thing.  Rinse well.  Soak overnight in a vessel large enough to contain the peas and water.

Cook the chickpeas:  Drain peas.  Boil the fresh water in a large pot or saucepan.  Add the salt, baking soda and peas.  Cook approx 1 hour, or until peas are tender.  Drain, rinse and don't reserve the liquid (it has that icky baking soda taste).  Make the hummus while the peas are still warm.

For the hummus:  In food processor, puree all the ingredients, scraping down the sides as needed.  You may have to adjust the water or lemon juice to get your desired consistency.  I like a consistency like fluffy mashed potatoes.

...this is just a first run; I hope to make improvements to this recipe in the future.

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Simple Foods

All right, since some of my "snack splurges" were actually something I like to call instead "simple pleasures", I've decided to reorganise and create this separate post.  From now on, you'll be able to find my snacks by searching for the "snack" label.

Again, they're usually only few ingredients each, none of them extraordinary, but have a sort of homeliness.  I was never a peasant myself (nor was my family, as far as I can tell), but I imagine this is what restaurant owners want you to feel when you order their "peasant food" (at exorbitant prices, no doubt).

Most of these are still snacks, though they range from little study snacks (seriously: apple slices), to small meals (eg: cottage cheese, mashed chickpeas).


Charlie's Favourite Simple Snacks!
(not an exhaustive list)


Crunchy apple slices - I once read that if you're packing a kid's lunch (and the kid doesn't really like fruit?), slice up the fruit instead of putting them in whole (especially apples, oranges, anything round that can be cut into wedges).  It is just so easy to not eat a whole fruit.  Now, I find this applies to myself as well.  If I pack an apple or orange, it is just so easy to think, "I'll just save it for tomorrow."  But if I go through the trouble of cutting it up into little pieces (dunked lovingly into acidulated water to prevent browning), I know I have to eat it.  Also, it's so convenient to eat: I don't have to dirty my hands (use a fork), which means I can eat while studying (especially crunchy apples, I love crunchy study foods)!

I've heard that peanut butter goes well with apple slices, but I have yet to actually try it myself.

Grilled cheese sandwich - Pretty straightforward, eh?  This is as much about the method as the ingredient, as a splurge snack I mean.  Heat frying pan with a bit of butter (do not substitute!!) on low heat.  Assemble your sandwich and when the water from the butter has steamed out, place the sandwich in the pan.  We have a tiny cast iron skillet, and I like to place it on top of the sandwich to provide weight.  My favourite bread to use is Winnipeg rye (sometimes called "Canadian", otherwise "light rye" is pretty close) that's chewy enough to provide some texture.  My favourite filling so far has been cheddar, dried chives and thin apple slices.

I once had a double-decker grilled cheese in Toronto; one layer had brie and bacon, the other layer had gouda (and at least two other cheeses) and tomatoes.  Splurrrge!

Garlic toast - I learned this one from Myro.  Toast some rye bread (use either a chewy bread, or a stale loaf) slowly under low heat.  The goal is to harden the bread, not so much to toast it.  Peel a clove of garlic (without crushing it too much), or two.  Rub the clove (or cloves) into the bread, almost like you're grating it.  Enjoy (preferably with soup, a creamy soup)!

I suppose if you buttered the garlic side and heated in the toaster oven you'd have a quick version of garlic bread!  I will have to investigate this further!

Cottage Cheese - My favourite way to eat it is with some dried chives, onion flakes and freshly ground black pepper.  That's it.  Nothing to it!  Eat with a spoon!



Chickpea mash - This is basically a cooked hummus made with a potato masher instead of a food processor, and eaten warm.  If I had to choose between heating hummus and making a fresh batch, I could really go either way!  Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas (or soak them if dry peas are what you have).  Gently boil the peas (in clean water) for a minute or so (if using dry, you must cook the peas; I'm sure you can find a time estimate online).  Drain loosely (it's ok if there's still some water).  Mash with potato masher.  This would be a great time to add anything, for example finely minced garlic or carrots, fresh or dried parsley...  Add a splash of olive oil or butter (treat it like mashed potatoes), maybe some black pepper.  If it's too dry, add a little water.  Mash until it's the consistency you like.  I personally like mine a little rough.



Warm garlicky hummus and sour cream - Strange, eh?  I discovered this out of desperation.  I love to eat warm hummus (home-made, of course), but one time, I accidentally put too much garlic!  The burning relentless!  Heating the garlic more didn't help much at this point, and I didn't have any more chickpeas to add.  So I reached for the sour cream, and whisked roughly to combine.  It's so fluffy and light, it's magical.  The garlic didn't burn as much, and the tangy twang of the sour cream added a really nice contrast to the heavy earthiness of the chickpeas.  I ate this with a spoon, but I imagine it would make a good spread or dip, too.


...more to come!

What are some of your favourite simple snacks?

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Pot Roast

Last week, SuperStore had beef blade roast at $1.98 per pound...which is ridiculous!  I bought one without thinking too hard about how I'd use it.

As usual, click here to jump to the recipe.

(Note:  This was made on Wed, but I just hadn't gotten around to posting til now.)

Thankfully this page explained that the "blade" comes from the shoulder.  Thanks to Alton Brown, I know that the shoulder of a cow does a lot of work, which means tougher meat; however this also typically has a lot of flavour.  So braising is a good option.  I typically use this method for my braises now (scroll down the page); although the fond started burn so I had to deglaze the pan before browning the veg.


(There was actually a rather embarrassing shuffle among three different cooking vessels [one of which had a handle that kept coming loose!] while I tried to deglaze the searing pan and brown vegetables at the same time, with no counter or table space; so everything [including the resting roast] was on the stove top!!)

There was also a bit of uncertainty when I examined the beef.  Some parts had turned brown (the dull brown-grey of boiled beef) and emitted a strong beefy odour.  Not sour or anything, just....intensely beefy, like cooked beef, actually.


I'll admit upfront that I don't typically cook much meat (until this year, actually) so I was very confused and nervous.  Mom said I could wash the roast and trim off any brown parts and I'd be fine.  In truth, I suspect I would have been fine anyway.  I don't think this was from rotting.

DISCLAIMER:  I'll be the first to admit I am a n00b at cooking meat (besides rack of lamb, leg of lamb and burgers).  This blog is mostly for my own record-keeping and it's not like I actively recommend anyone to do what I do.  If in doubt, seek professional resources, for example the USDA or the CFIA.

Here are some pretty shots of my mise en place; one onion, two carrots, some garlic, salt and coarsely ground black pepper, two bay leaves and some sprigs of thyme (still leftover from the lamb shanks).

 

After mangling the meat and tying it back with the only kitchen twine we had, I rubbed it down with peanut oil, then rubbed in the salt and pepper on all exposed surfaces.  Ideally, I would have seared the beef in the same vessel used for roasting, but I don't have a Dutch oven (or "French oven" for lovers of le Creuset), and most of my ceramic casseroles don't have handles.

But I did manage to get this fine browning at the end of the aforementioned frying pan ordeal!

I deglazed the searing pan and browned the carrots and onions in a separate pan.  I have another rather embarrassing story about the wine used in this recipe.  It seemed that our household always had at least one of two wines (or at least, wine beverages): Dubonnet aperitif, and a fruity red wine that came in a dark green bottle, bearing only a purple offset square ("diamond") label stating it was a "South African Cabernet Sauvignon" from 2008.

This is my absolute favourite red wine.  I don't know much about wine, but I'd call this one "unpretentious", it's just upfront and "honest".  How does it taste?  ...  I'll get back to you on that some other time.

Now, we had run out of this wine, so I thought to buy some more from the LC.  But alas, there was none; and nobody had every heard of it.  I was heartbroken!  I asked a wine-drinking friend where she thought I might be able to find it.  I described the label.  "No, it has to have more information than that," she asserted.  I insisted there was none.  "That's not legal!"

Well, the weekend came and my brother came over to my folks' place for dinner.  Casually, I mentioned my wine troubles.  He cocked his head.

"It's in a green bottle, has a purple diamond label and says South African Cabernet Sauvignon?"

"Yes, yes!  Why, do you know where I can find some??"

"Well, yeah.  I mean, I made it!"

Argh!  All this time, it was my brother's wine (he has a friend who's into wine-making--and sausage-making, actually!)!!  No wonder I couldn't find it on shelves anywhere!  Thankfully, he had several bottles left and gave us another.

 

Anyway, I used about a cup or less of this wine to dissolve the fond off the searing pan; then simmer with the bay leaves and thyme.  After the veg had browned, I added them into the liquid, brought back to a simmer; scooped the veg into the bottom of my casserole, placed the beef on top, and poured all the liquid over.  Since the casserole lid wouldn't fit, I crimped some aluminum foil tightly over top.  This went into a baking dish (for easier holding, since the casserole doesn't have handles) and into the oven.

The flavour of the sauce is heavenly.  I think most of this comes from the red wine; but I love the mild heat of the black pepper, and the green, herbal brightness from the celery leaves (see below).  The beef is....good.  I wouldn't say it's spectacular, but it is pretty darn good for a first try, I think.  Definitely has that robust beefy flavour.  Some parts are tender, others are a little chewy.  Save any leftover sauce.  It's absolutely spectacular on rice!!

A Simple Pot Roast
Active work: 40 min
Roasting: 2 hr

Software:

For the beef:
• beef blade roast, about 4 lbs (mine was closer to 5), netted or tied
• vegetable oil (one with a high smoke point, I like to use peanut oil)
• salt (approx 1 Tbsp, but depends on the surface area of your roast)
• coarsely ground black pepper (as with the salt)
For the veg
• 1 white onion (yellow is okay if you like that onion-ey flavour)
• 2 carrots
• 4-6 cloves, garlic
For the braise
• 1/2 to 1 cup, red wine
  
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup, beef broth (preferably no-salt or low-sodium)
• 10 peppercorns, crushed slightly
• 2 medium bay leaves
• 2-3 sprigs, thyme
For the sauce
• OPTIONAL:  more aromatics and spices, to taste
  I used: celery leaves, 2 cloves garlic crushed slightly and about 5 peppercorns crushed slightly
• approx 1 tsp cornstarch
• salt to taste

Hardware:

• Dutch oven or lidded casserole (suitable for stovetop and oven cookery)
  Alternatively: a large non-stick frying pan or skillet and an oven-safe vessel, preferably ceramic or at least thick-walled, with either tight-fitting lid, or lots of heavy-duty aluminum foil
• another large non-stick frying pan (see discussion above)
• tongs (for turning meat during searing)
• spatula 
• chopsticks or a whisk, for stirring sauce
• sieve

Method:
Chop carrots 1cm thick (I prefer on on the bias for more surface area for browning).  Peel, trim and halve onion.  Chop into 1cm slices from top to bottom (root) so that the slices are mostly held together.  Mince garlic.  Set all veg aside.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat some peanut oil in bottom of Dutch oven (or large fry pan).

Meanwhile, pat beef dry.  Drizzle with oil and rub into the meat.  Repeat for salt and coarse black pepper.

Sear meat on all sides (approx 20min, depending on surface area of your roast).  Then, remove to plate.

Deglaze pan with red wine; add bay leaves, thyme and cracked pepper.  Simmer.  

Meanwhile, in other fry pan (or Dutch oven; alternatively, if the fond isn't sticking badly to the pan from searing, you may brown the veg in that pan instead), heat a little oil on med-high and add carrots.  Cook 1-2 min.  Add onions and cook until the veg are soft and beginning to brown.  Add garlic and cook until all veg browned.  

Pour in red wine mixture to deglaze.  Scoop out veg and place in bottom of Dutch oven (if you're not already using it).  Place beef on top.  Pour red wine over.  Cover (or tightly crimp on aluminum foil).  

Place casserole into 350F oven for 15min; then turn down to 250F and continue to bake another 2 hours or until done.  

To make sauce:  Remove the beef from the liquid.  Boil liquid 10 min.  Strain out veg, etc.  Taste and add aromatics and seasonings as desired.  Dissolve cornstarch with a little water, and add to pot.  Simmer 20 minutes or until thickened and concentrated to your tastes.  Salt to taste at this point (no sooner; or else it may be too salty).  Strain out solids.  Pour over slices of pot roast and enjoy!

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