Harry's Curried Potatoes

Harry likes Indian people and Indian food, but doesn't think he'd like India, at least not as much as Joan and I love it.

Harry's ubiquitous ingredient is heavy cream, and it does add a lovely tang.  He knows just how to add it to everything.

As for the curry mixture, it was a special one made by an Indian cook, so I can't provide the recipe. Every Indian cook has their own recipe and they can be quite different.  I have a curry recipe on this blog if you need a place to start.  Just make sure you buy whole spices and grind them yourself.

Here goes with his curried potatoes.

Ingredients:

Oil
Curry spice mixture
Potatoes
Broccoli
Onion
Mushrooms
Cream

Instructions:

Cut all the vegetables into 1 inch pieces.

Heat oil in a pan.

Put in half the curry spice, and cook in the oil for a minute, stirring so it won't burn.

Add all the vegetables.  Add the rest of the curry spice.  Add cream.

Turn down heat, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are soft.  Serve.

Broccolini with Garlic and Lemon

One of my favourite vegetables is broccolini --- so much better than broccoli and not as bitter as rapini.  

Timing is everything and all the steps have to be followed exactly.  There is no room for my usual casual cooking methods.  

The crucial parts of the recipe are the cooking times and the ice water bath, so you need to have everything ready, use a timer and not get distracted.  You can't use too much butter and garlic, but don't overdo the lemon juice.  Make this when everything else is ready, table set, wine poured, etc.  Honestly, get all your tools out and ready.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of broccolini (or more for more people)

water

salt

ice cubes

butter 1-2 T.

fresh lemon juice and zest

fresh garlic, 2 cloves

Instructions:

Fill a large pot with fresh cold water (let the tap run), add 1 T. of salt, and bring it to a boil.  This can be done ahead by 10 minutes or so and brought to a boil again when you are ready.

Prepare a large bowl of ice water (yes, you will need lots of ice cubes).

Chop garlic quite fine, but don't grate or mash.  Zest the lemon with a grater or lemon zester.  Then cut the lemon in half.  Set the garlic, lemon aside.  

Add the broccolini to the boiling water and blanch for 2 minutes without a lid, no longer!  Take it out of the water immediately with tongs and plunge into the bowl of ice water to stop them cooking immediately.  Do not delay.  

While the broccolini is cooling, melt butter in a frying or saute pan on low medium.  Add garlic and lemon to the pan. 

Drain the broccolini and add to the frying pan for 2 minutes to heat. 

Add lemon juice (half of the lemon should do it).  Add salt and pepper.  Toss and serve on a platter.

Westham Island Braised Leeks with Chicken

I drove out to my favourite farm on Sunday --- Westham Island Herb Farm, where famer Sharon Ellis was holding Spuddy Saturday (in honour of Island Ambers, the best potatoes in the world).

There is no more beautiful place on a slightly misty day, with farm land on the edge of the Pacific, light glinting on the yellow stubble, amber pumpkins, and wine red blueberry canes, throwing the low skyline of trees and buildings into pale grey.  Ate fresh apple fritters and cider, and brought home a trunk full of Island Ambers, assorted squash, farm raised pork and beef, onions, apples, and more.

I bought  8 lovely leeks.  I wanted to cook the leeks when were fresh from the garden for maximum taste.  

I was lazy and was thinking simple, even simpler than soup.  Chicken stock was used in the recipe I followed for inspiration, but I decided to get the chicken flavour from the actual chicken meat, bones, and skin (fat).

Ingredients:

4-8 1-inch dia. leeks (for one person as main dish)

1-3 T. butter

thyme (dried or fresh)

chicken thighs with bone and skin (2 per person)

Instructions:

Sauté the chicken thighs skin side down in a bit of oil for 10 minutes until the skin is crisp, turn and saute the other side for a few minutes.  Set aside.  Retain the chicken fat and drippings in the pan. 

While the chicken is browning, trim most of the roots off the end of the leeks, leaving enough so that the leek remains attached at the bottom. Cut each leek  into half lengthwise and then cut each half into inch long pieces. Soak leeks in a large bowl of cool water to allow any dirt to settle to the bottom.  Drain and set aside.

1. In the same sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the leeks to the skillet. Sauté the leeks, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cut each chicken thigh into 3 pieces.
3. Add chicken, dried thyme, salt, pepper, to the pan and reduce heat to medium low.  I used dried thyme beause I have very good brand (Nature's Choice).  Fresh thympe would work too.  I like to use lots (at least 1 tsp.).  1/2 tsp. salt and 4 grinds of pepper should be enough to start.
4. Braise (this means add liquid to browned food and turn down the heat) the leeks, covered, for about 10 minutes, or until the leeks are very tender.   I didn't have to add any liquid as there was enough.  Add a 1/4 cup water if needed.
5. When the leeks are very well cooked and chicken is cooked, serve.
6. 
   

Tequila Commando Style

This is the drink of the summer at Lake Riviera.

Ingredients:

bottle of Sauza Hornitas tequila
1/4 or 1/2 lime


Instructions:

Pour tequila over ice in an old fashioned glass.
Squeeze lime over it.

Stephen's Shrimp and Edamame Risotto

Stephen's speciality is risotto and they are always different and always amazing.

If you are wondering how to incorporate edamame into your repertoire, here is your answer. For a primer on edamame, go to http://vegetarian.about.com/od/glossary/g/edamame.htm
Apparently you can get them frozen hulled at Trader Joe's http://www.traderjoes.com/  pr Whole Foods.

Ingredients:

olive oil
onion
mushrooms, biggish pieces
red pepper
edamame (frozen, hulled)

1 cup arborio rice

1-1/2 cups chicken broth, plus extra water if required

dried herbs (basil, rosemary)

package of frozen shrimp or fresh shrimp
1/4 cup wine
4 oz. any meltable mixed cheeses (blue, feta, brie, not mozzarella)

Instructions:

Chop the onion and red pepper.
In a frying pan, sauté in onion, red pepper, mushrooms, and edamame in olive oil.   Set aside.
Put some olive oil into a 2 quart sauce pan. Add the rice and bring to a sizzle, while stirring.
Add half the broth to the sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Keep the pot at a simmer, stir almost constantly, and keep adding broth (about 20 minutes).  
Add the wine and cook until absorbed.  The rice should be almost dry. The main secret is not to let the rice get too dry or too wet.
Add the dried herbs, shrimp, cheese, wine, and sautéed vegetables.
Stir until cheese is melted and shrimps are cooked.  Serve.

See also:
BC Spot Prawns

Stephen's Santa Rita Margaritas

Last April, I was the pampered guest of my friends Kim and Stephen in Arizona.  Our nightly drinks ritual featured Stephen's special fresh orange margheritas.  What a life.  You know you are doing it right, when you can drink every day and be at the edge.  (I know you are supposed to relax, but I prefer being tense.)

So on with the recipe.

Oh yes, it is nice to have margarita glasses.  They have a bubble at the stem for measuring the tequila.

The Blue Agave syrup can be sourced at Trader Joe's or Costco (I know ugly use of noun as verb). Another use for this syrup is for salad - 1 tsp. for a large salad bowl.

Santa Rita Margarita

Makes 1 drink (you make them one at a time).

Ingredients:

1 whole orange
Coarse salt
1 shot clear tequila
1/2 oz. triple sec or cointreau
4 drops Blue Agave syrup
Margarita Mix, lemon and lime



Instructions:

Squeeze the orange in one of those round reamers with a pouring dish.
Put some coarse salt on a small plate (big enough to dip the rim of the glass).
Wet the rim of the glass with a piece of the orange.
Dip the rim of the margarita glass into the salt.
In the margarita glass, add tequila, triple sec, and blue agave syrup.
Add the orange juice.
Fill the glass with Margarita Mix.
Add ice cubes carefully so as not to splash and wash the salt off the rim.
Stir.
Serve.

Molasses and Bourbon Glazed Chilliwhack Ham

I learned this recipe at one of Barbara-Jo's fabulous cooking classes/Sunday Suppers earlier this year.  www.bookstocooks.com for more information.

The  cookbook was Buttermilk: A Savor the South Cookbook by Debbie Moose.  

The guest hosts were Chef Glenys Morgan and Jim Wright (Director of the Vancouver Opera).

The hosts and diners discussed their memories of growing up in the southern US and the food and recipes their mothers made, which was wonderful. Their memories were mostly of the recipes being much plainer and the food being very fatty and a lot of it being generally unhealthy.  That certainly jibes with my memories of cooking 50 years ago, when the wide array of ingredients we have now was not available.  I remember that we burned off a lot of that fat walking to school through heavy snow, plus we ate a lot of fresh and preserved vegetables and fruit all year round. Nobody in our family had a weight problem and still don't and we all still love fatty food. Maybe it's the sugar and flour that are the deadly culprits, not the fat.

They used a lot more jars and cans in the mid-century period as I recall. Those were the days of Kraft, Jello, Freshie, Betty Crocker, and my mother's standby Bisquick which was a later invention. She made everything from traditional Mennonite bubbat to the new rage, pizza, out of that stuff.  She also made a lot of traditional recipes with very basic ingredients but she had perfected these recipes with technique.  Fried potatoes, hamburgers, and cabbage rolls  were amazing at our house.  Mum loved her shortcuts, whether it was using packaged food or her lazy version of traditional recipes (no knead bread, layered cabbage rolls).

One of my aims with my cooking research and this blog is to rediscover the older recipes, find authentic ingredients, and find the secrets to what really makes food  schmuck.  It is usually quite difficult to find good authentic ingredients and then to perfect the techniques because those old recipes had few ingredients and really relied on freshness and technique.

Back to Sunday Supper, for cocktails, we had a (rye) whisky drink, which I wrote down, and hope I can find at some point. It was good though. We drank, ate canapés and walked around the store, chatting and looking at books. 

The ham is another thing to search out. Probably takes a trip to a butcher or two to find the source of it.

Menu
Roasted Sweet Onion and Garlic Dip/whisky
Butternut Squash Soup with Lemongrass and Ginger
Molasses and Bourbon Glazed Ham
Potato Salad with ButterMilk Chive Dressing
Tex Mex Corn Pudding
Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream

The ham recipe was outstanding and the rest of the recipes needed adjustments in my opinion. Keep in mind that the chef was cooking them exactly as set out in the cookbook and for the first time.

Molasses and Bourbon Glazed Ham

Ingredients
Chilliwhack Smokehouse ham (see note above)
1/2 cup dry mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tb. each of fennel seed, coriander, black peppers
3/4 cup bourbon
1 cup molasses

Instructions:
Score the ham in a diamond pattern.
Grind the spices, mix with mustard and sugar and put into the grooves.
Mix the other bourbon and molasses and use to baste the ham.