Posts Tagged ‘Cooking’
I think I’ve pretty handily established how much I’ve come to enjoy cooking and eating rabbit during the last 6 months.
Coincidentally, rabbit’s profile and status has been elevated in the media lately, with some even going so far as to dub it the “gateway” animal to raising their own food. I wouldn’t necessarily go to that extreme, seeing as I have enough small, stinky animals coexisting with me as is, but I do love to suck the meat off the bones of the occasional, delicious hare. No longer just a popular protein for immigrant fare, rabbit it seems is beginning to come into its own, whether the mainstream is ready or not.
So, it was without hesitation that I purchased a few whole rabbits on my last 2 trips to The Healthy Butcher, even though I had no particular plans for their meaty little carcasses at the time.
Since then we’ve had rabbit braised in red wine over polenta, a ginger mustard stewed rabbit, and most recently a succulent rabbit ragu (pictured above). We generally don’t eat a whole lot of red meat or pork on a regular basis (it’s typically one or the other about once every 2 weeks), so rabbit has been a refreshing way to break up the monotony of a diet riddled with vegetarian meals, pastas and poultry. It’s gamey, yet mild and faintly sweet, lending itself to numerous preparations; small enough to be cooked relatively quickly, while also capable of being braised for many hours. In our house, one might even go so far as to say that rabbit is the new pork belly, or even the new chicken!?!
While sautéing the base for said ragu on a Sunday not too long ago, I stopped to reflect on a time when I used to think ragu was merely a brand that came in a jar, and how unlikely it would’ve been for that younger me to consume a bunny rabbit (nigh on 25 years ago, I’d reckon). Oh, how things (and opinions) have changed. After a 6 hour simmer, the ragu I craftily prepared with a jar of my own preserved bruschetta (subbing in for canned tomatoes) melted down into the perfect, wintry sauce for blanketing a bed of hand cut egg yolk noodles. It wasn’t the first, but it’s sure to be but one of many delicious rabbits I’ll sit down to over the course of the rest of my life.
(more…)
Tags: Cooking, New Projects, Purveyors, rabbit, The Healthy Butcher
Posted in Cooking, New Projects, Purveyors | No Comments »
One of the main reasons I made a stop at Sanko this weekend was to pick up ingredients for a simmered soybean side dish that I’d read about over at Serious Eats and had been wanting to make for nearly a week and a half. The Everyman is no fan of soybeans, but the dish sounded just perfect for me to bring to work as a relatively healthy afternoon snack, so I’d been mentally drooling over the umami-ish combination ever since.
Of course, while I was there I couldn’t help but grab a few other odds and ends that I had no specific intentions for, other than random experimentation. Shopping in Asian stores is always fun for me, because oftentimes packages contain minimal English, so you don’t always know exactly what you’re going to get. It’s like playing culinary roulette, just not deadly.
Once I got home with my mysterious bounty, I began prepping the dried soybeans so that the following day I could complete the recipe, while visions of deliciousness danced in my head.
Coincidentally a few days prior I had made another Serious Eats recipe, this time for something called velvet chicken, which sounded similar to san bei gi, otherwise known as 3 cup chicken.
(more…)
Tags: Cooking, New Projects, Purveyors, Sanko, soybeans, udon
Posted in Cooking, New Projects, Purveyors | No Comments »
A few weeks ago when the Everyman made un-Valentine’s Day dinner for me, the accompanying sauce for the pork chops was so slurpable that I could not bring myself to rinse the leftovers down the drain. Instead I kept the pear, thyme and shallot infused jus in a small container in the fridge, with no clear idea for what I meant to do with the rest.
Flash forward to nearly 2 weeks later when a dinner of broiled lamb loin chops and cumin glazed carrots was looking rather forlorn on the plate. Digging the jellified jus out of the fridge, I opted to warm it in a saucepan with a frozen cube of vegetarian stock. Once it had thinned out a touch, a knob of membrillo jam melted and sweetened it a bit, while a splash of barley malt vinegar brought everything into balance.
Served with the crispy broiled lamb, the resulting sauce was quite nearly the perfect pairing for lamb. It was so well matched that I think I’d even go to the trouble of making it from the start just for lamb chops next time. Score 1 for culinary ingenuity!
(more…)
Tags: carrots, Cooking, jus, lamb, pears, shallots
Posted in Cooking | No Comments »
When I was younger, comfort food took on many forms.
Being half Trinidadian, if my mom was cooking it often meant some sort of roti and curry preparation to warm our hearts and bellies. After my parents split and my dad took over the cooking for our household, it was a Sunday roast chicken redolent with paprika, garlic, onion and pepper with a side of fluffy stuffing. Once I was considered old enough to cook on my own, my foods of choice were often plain, bland and white, including tall glasses of cold milk, hot buttered rice and large piles of creamy mashed potatoes – clearly my love of starchy white carbs was cultivated at a young age.
These days comfort food in our household usually means homemade macaroni and cheese (prepared with creme fraiche, parmagiano, manchego and chevre instead of nuclear cheese food), baked panko crusted sriracha nuggets or my aunt’s Christmas morning poached chicken salad that the Everyman fell in love with while we were there for the holidays. While the spirit of the dishes remains the same, the ingredients and methods have certainly gone more upmarket to account for our more refined tastes and preferences than what we would have settled for as kids.
The one comfort food genre that I’ve never really dabbled much in was Southern food. I like cornbread, fried chicken, BBQ and all the other stereotypical fare as much as the next person, but I generally don’t make much of it at home. But between this article about Hank’s new Southern dinner menu and the return of more wintry weather recently, I was suddenly craving something heartier and more rib-sticking than normal. Over the years I’ve enjoyed all of the components of the dish I made last night separately, but I never bothered to put them all together as one before. It’s far from authentic Southern or Caribbean fare but dang, it does taste good.
To begin I soaked half a pound of red beans overnight, then simmered them in several inches of water until they were mostly tender. In the meantime, I sautéed several links of a homemade spicy poblano sausage I had in the freezer with some chopped celery, onion, thyme, cumin and cayenne until the whole upper level of our house was nose-tinglingly fragrant. Once the sausage and veggies were well browned, I added a handful of frozen stock cubes and scraped the bottom of the pan with a spoon. At this point I put on water to boil for a pot of brown rice. Draining the beans in a colander, I added them back to their pan with the remaining sausage/veggie/broth mixture as well as a few fresh bay leaves, then covered and simmered again. In the interim I mixed up a cornbread batter and slid it into a preheated blackened frying pan. Once the cornbread was mostly cooked through I grated a large dusting of peppered pecorino on top of it and returned it to the oven to brown. When everything was ready I served the sausage and bean mixture atop a mountain of brown rice with a wedge of crispy cornbread on the side.
(more…)
Tags: beans, Cooking, cornbread, Hank's, Recipes, Restaurants, rice, sausage, Scott Vivian
Posted in Cooking, Recipes, Restaurants | No Comments »
Lest you start smirking about how seasonally appropriate this next dish is, wipe those silly grins from your faces because it was actually inspired by a comment left by Larbo’s friend Dan (aka the Chocolate Man).
It wasn’t enough for me to make my own ‘nduja. Nor was it sufficient to try my hand at combining it into ‘nduja burgers. And even after all that, my ‘nduja chocolate truffles only served to stoke the fire of my curiousity.
Nope. I had to reach further; I had to do more.
Larbo’s friend Dan succinctly reminded me that what had initially inspired me to make ‘nduja truffles in the first place was a bizarre chocolate and ‘nduja pasta recipe on an Italian food website I’d noticed through Foodgawker. It seemed only fitting that I should further expand on that idea in my own unique way.
Ideas have been marinating for a couple of days now, but yesterday afternoon I finally came to a conclusion about what I wanted to do.
(more…)
Tags: 'nduja, cauliflower, cocoa, Cooking, Foodgawker, New Projects, pasta, pork, This Little Piggy
Posted in Cooking, New Projects | No Comments »
Ever since I made ‘nduja back at the beginning of May I’ve been playing the waiting game while it fermented, cured and hung in my kitchen window, taunting me.
During that time my friends Larbo and Scott of This Little Piggy and The Sausage Debauchery (respectively) have been churning out all kinds of wondrous delights made with their versions of the piquant spread while I’ve been quietly biding my time. In fact, Larbo’s probably been the most prolific, creating ‘nduja di bufala, ‘nduja pate and most recently an ‘nduja mortadella to make us all jealous and drooling. Once I work through some of my own ‘nduja reserves I fully intend to build on his pate idea, but for now I’m holding those cards close to the chest. Lest you think that Scott’s some sort of slouch, let me tip my hat to him for single-handedly starting up a mail order business to bring ‘nduja-making supplies (and other imported Italian goodies) to the masses. As you can see, our combined aim is to completely blanket the planet in ‘nduja fever!
In an attempt to keep mine somewhat traditional, I’d let the ‘nduja hang for as close to the year I’d originally intended as I could possibly wait. Some of it will surely see a 1 year anniversary since my first attempt was a double batch, leaving me with close to 6 kg of ‘nduja hanging around waiting for inconspicuous consumption and culinary inspiration to strike.
This very weekend was the first time since I stuffed the ‘nduja that I’d had an occasion to cut down a finished link and give a taste, and words cannot express how truly excited I was.
(more…)
Tags: 'nduja, beef, burgers, Cooking, New Projects, pork, Preservation, salami
Posted in Cooking, New Projects, Preservation | 8 Comments »
I’ve often wondered if those 6 words might just be one of the most uttered phrases in any relationship.
Having caught up on some (long overdue) reading lately, I’ve had my nose stuck into The Gastronomy Of Marriage by Michelle Maisto for the better part of the past week, a tale which attempts to answer that exact question.
I’d first heard about the book back in December, while combing through one of many ‘makes a great gift for a foodie’ guides that tend to present themselves right before the holidays. The summary made the story sound interesting enough, so I’d earmarked it on my Chapters wish list and then forgotten all about it. While at the bookstore returning a duplicate gift after Christmas, I’d spied the bright veg on its cover and was inspired to take it home.
I’m not entirely certain what it is about the photo, but there’s something romantic, sensual, yet poignantly sad about those 2 crooked gourds wrapped around each other. Perhaps I’m just full of silly sentimentality, but to me it evokes an us-against-the-world feel which doggedly tugs upon my heartstrings.
Throughout the story, Maisto explores the link between family and food and how they influence our personal opinions of what makes a suitable meal (or comfortable life), all against the backdrop of her impending marriage. Combining the single households of Italian American Maisto and her Chinese American husband prior to their nuptials often produces comical results.
(more…)
Tags: Books, Cooking, Judith Jones, Michelle Maisto, Reviews, The Gastronomy Of Marriage, The Tenth Muse
Posted in Books, Cooking, Reviews | No Comments »
When I was growing up I wasn’t exposed to much in the way of game meat. Aside from the occasional curried goat roti (a nod to my mother’s Caribbean heritage) or a festive Cornish rock hen (often my father’s answer to preparing holiday meals for 2) I didn’t really develop a taste for wilder fare until I was in my early 20’s.
Without a doubt, the one meat I’ve been an exceptionally slow adopter to is rabbit. This is partly because the skinned carcass of a whole rabbit too closely resembles that of the small felines that share my home. I make no bones about eating cute, fuzzy animals if they taste good, but the possibility of questionable provenance has held me back in the past.
It’s taken a few years, but I’ve gradually warmed to the idea of rabbit. It may have started during a meal at Cowbell or perhaps tasting a terrine from The Black Hoof, I’m not quite sure. While we were in Quebec City in the fall I enjoyed shredded rabbit confit linguine at Le Lapin Saute, and for our anniversary I consumed a similar dish at Splendido. I’m still not a fan of rabbit rilettes, but I think I’ve made substantial leaps and bounds (har har!) towards getting over my mental distaste for it.
Recently, I even went so far as to buy a saddle of rabbit at Fiesta Farms, a place I know I can steadfastly trust not to sell me skinned kittens. But for several days the packet of rabbit sat on the bottom shelf of the fridge, taunting me.
At first I’d considered using the Ratio app to make another batch of dough for tagliatelle, but pasta seemed an awful lot of work, and also not very far outside of my past 2 rabbit experiences. I briefly toyed with confit as well, until I realized the duck fat was frozen. (more…)
Tags: Cooking, Cowbell, Fiesta Farms, grainy mustard, Grant Van Gameren, Le Lapin Saute, Mark Cutrara, Michael Ruhlman, New Projects, Purveyors, rabbit, Recipes, Restaurants, Splendido, The Black Hoof, Victor Barry
Posted in Cooking, New Projects, Purveyors, Recipes, Restaurants | No Comments »
A couple of weeks ago, I found myself purchasing Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio application from the iPhone App Store.
It’s a bit of a dirty little secret that I’ve become addicted to food and cooking apps, and I have the Epicurious, Jamie’s 20 Minute Meals, and Nat Decants apps to prove it, and now Ratio as well.
Now, I may have a fair amount of respect for the Charcuterie book (moreso for its co-author than for Ruhlman himself) but the more I see him on TV (typically on No Reservations) and with that whole “are we too stupid to cook” thing he blundered last week, the more I’ve started to view him as a pompous, self-aggrandizing ass.
But, I had bought the app for the inherent practicality of it, so I still intended to test it out.
(more…)
Tags: beef, Charcuterie, Cooking, Epicurious, Jamie Oliver, Michael Ruhlman, New Projects, No Reservations, oxtail, pasta
Posted in Cooking, New Projects | 3 Comments »
On a recent Sunday morning I had a bit of spare time, so I chose to do one of the things I love to do best; sit down and be entertained by James Chatto on Gold Medal Plates 2008. I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but there is something so soothing about listening to that man talk that it practically lulls me to sleep.
Whilst watching, a glaze on one of the competitor’s dishes (I think it was Patrick Lin’s) inspired me to prepare a few quails I had lying around the house for dinner. I had a bunch of new spices I wanted to test out, so I started brainstorming how I would likely blend them together.
We love quails here at Foodie and the Everyman, but I find there’s such a dichotomy surrounding them. On the one hand, they’re quite delicate and twee because they are such tiny little birds, but on the other there’s something rather primal and brutish about ripping apart a whole bird to consume all by oneself. Either way, they make an absolutely delectable meal, and in some ways can be considered game “lite” because their flavour is exceptionally mild and not nearly as intense as horse or moose or venison by comparison.
Once I sat down and pondered for a few minutes, the flavour profile I wanted to create became relatively clear.
I began with the base that had sung to me on the show, a mixture of honey and lavender thinned to a glaze-like consistency. To smooth it out I added a little melted butter, then a handful of crushed long peppers, and finally a splash of leftover juice from a finished bottle of pickled balsamic onions. Swirling it all together, the fragrance leapt up and smacked me in the palate; always a good sign. Dipping a finger, I found it was just right. The quails were brushed liberally with the liquid, then left to marinate in the fridge for a few hours.
(more…)
Tags: Cooking, Gold Medal Plates, honey, James Chatto, lavender, long pepper, New Projects, Patrick Lin, quail, Recipes, Senses
Posted in Cooking, New Projects, Recipes | No Comments »
As I mentioned to DMSinTexas the other day, I spent the better part of an afternoon this weekend flipping through How To Cook Everything Vegetarian in an effort to get inspired.
After a bit of random perusal I gravitated towards the soup chapter, which coincidentally is one of my most favourite kinds of vegetarian meals. As much as I generally love poring over a good cookbook and becoming immersed in it, I’ve come to realize that the only time I cook from a recipe is when baking is involved, and even then I’ve taken to winging it more often than not. Of course, since I have such difficulty following a recipe, I didn’t make anything from the book that day, but it did set a few ideas whirring around my brain.
So, it should come as no surprise to my readers that the first recipe I did make was not technically a vegetarian recipe at all (if only because it contained no vegetables) but rather a bread recipe. With the aid of a little advanced planning, I managed to turn out a fairly decent version of Bittman’s overnight French baguettes.
But, before any of you start getting indignant and accusing me of copping out and picking something that is only inherently vegetarian, allow me to explain;
I picked the baguettes because a) they’re a pretty decent litmus test for the general usability of a cookbook’s recipes and b) I needed something to mop up the vegetarian soup I decided to invent.
(more…)
Tags: Baking, bread, chevre, Cooking, How To Cook Everything Vegetarian, Mark Bittman, New Projects, ras al hanout, soup, squash, sweet potato, Woolwich Dairy, zucchini
Posted in Baking, Cooking, New Projects | No Comments »
I’ve long been a fan of Mark Bittman’s gregariously engaging style and presentation.
Anyone who has watched more than a few minutes of his vast library of podcasts knows that the man is a serious ham (oh the irony!).
At times I’ve found myself transfixed, watching entire episodes on preparations of foods that I don’t even like, just because he’s so darned entertaining and fun.
I’ve owned How To Cook Everything for years, and though I don’t often cook whole recipes from it (in general because I don’t like the limitations that a recipe puts on my creative intentions) it sits right there on the easy-to-reach shelf alongside The Joy (Of Cooking) and various other handy encyclopedic references, like my 27 volume Time Life Cooking set from the 70’s. I own a few other Bittman tomes too, like Food Matters, Quick And Easy Recipes From The NY Times, and I’m sure there’s another one or two in there somewhere, but I’ll be damned if I could tell you which ones, which I suppose points out how often I use them.
And after what seemed like a ridiculously long time, I finally managed to get a copy of How To Cook Everything Vegetarian recently. Ever since I read Food Matters, I’ve been meaning to pick up a copy, but every time I went to one of my local book shops, it’s always the one book in his massive repertoire that’s consistently absent. For a bit I began to wonder whether that was because it was so incredibly popular that nobody could keep it in stock, or because it was so unpopular nobody wanted it.
(more…)
Tags: Books, Cooking, Food Matters, How To Cook Everything, How To Cook Everything Vegetarian, Irma Rombauer, Julia Child, Mark Bittman, Mastering The Art Of French Cooking, Quick And Easy Recipes From The NY Times, The Joy of Cooking
Posted in Books, Cooking | 4 Comments »
I’ve always loved hot sauce.
From the way I used to rain Tabasco down on just about everything I cooked, to my bizarre desire for sriracha on ice cream, it’s clear that hot sauce holds a warm place in my heart.
(more…)
Tags: Cooking, hot sauce, Preservation, salsa, sriracha, tomatillos
Posted in Cooking, Preservation | No Comments »
