Always Leave Them "Wonton" More

"Let's go out for Dim Sum sometime." Words I never thought I's here comin gout of my wife's mouth. Largely due to an incident  in Detroit where she got food poisoning from chinese take out. And it didn't help that her old housemate would regularly get sick after buying and eating discount meat from the chinese market.  I have fond memories of Dim Sum in my Ottawa years, a tasty and inexpensive lunch shared among friends so I am definitely up for it anytime.  So far I haven't tracked down a location that I am confident with but there are a few contenders. But until we have our date night at a local T.O. spot. What's to stop me from making some at home?

Chicken feet aside (tried it, not a  fan) The most popular item on the Dim Sum menu are the assorted pot stickers. I've made them before and can easily find a decent recipe for any assortment of flavours. But most cookbooks generally skip the recipe for the wontons. This was made clear to me by a recent visit to Chapters, as I perused the Asian cookbooks, not a single one had a simple wonton wrapper recipe. What gives? I know they are easily found in most grocery stores (aside from my local No Frills, jerks, finally found them with the salad greens) but I thought it would be like reading a decent italian cookbook which generally have a simple pasta recipe within it's pages. Not the case. So with a bit of googling, I found that the wrappers are not only simple to make, but are pretty much the same as egg noodles. I was thinking rice flour, but nope, just good ol' A.P.F.

I had just bought a whole organic chicken and used the breasts to make chicken fingers for the girls the night before, and was brining the legs and thighs. So I thought I'd use them for a potsticker filling. Using a "Pork and Cabbage" recipe from Asian Bites - Tom Kime as my frame for this effort.  Did I succeed? Not so much. But in a good way. I made the dough for the wontons, then the filling. But just as I started rolling out the dough, my family burst through the door. Out of time. So with the chicken and cabbage filling still warm on the stovetop. I threw a pot of water on, pulled almond sized  pieces off of the dough into a bowl. Threw them in the boiling water and a quick strain and used the residual heat and starchy liquid to reheat and sauce up the meat. And oh man, it may not be dim sum, but it was tasty. Next time. Start an hour earlier. But for now, maybe I've come up with a new family staple.

Slow and Steady wins with Taste!!!

Yes, wins the taste...Bravo, Christos...

I am of course referring to the age old art of slow cookery. On our recent trip to our storage unit to drop off our environmentally friendly christmas tree (plastic Canadian Tire tree) and I dug out our old slow cooker. Nothing fancy, not even a shut off timer. But I thought I'd give it a test run. Try to make some fix it and forget it goodness. So far I've made a couple of dishes with it. One was a vegetarian curry recipe I got out of a no name slow cooker magazine. Thoroughly underwhelmed with that one despite my wife and her sister's compliments. I thought they were being generous but they even had seconds; so either vegetarians are use to bland or my tastebuds are losing their subtlety. But the next dish, A mahogany chicken that mimics the flavour of those ducks you see hanging in chinatown windows. This recipe I got out of a slow cooker cookbook from my trusty ole library. Art of the Slow Cooker by Andrew Schloss. I had to make some adjustments due to my lack of various soy sauces and chinese cooking wines. Back with my vegetarian thai experiments light soy was used in place of fish sauce so I reversed the dish and used the fish sauce in soy's place, along with tamari and bragg's aminos and brown sugar, I made something very tasty. Sweet, Salty, Savoury, and dark, right down to the bone, and I am a bone chewer from way back so chewing through the softened bone and taste the brine in the marrow left a very good impression.

Apparently,  because the cooker is always covered, there is no concentration of flavouring liquids as it simmers away. In fact the liquid increases with the juices released from the meat and veg. What happens instead is the liquid impregnates the food in the slow cooker, much like a brine. this may be why hunks of meat took to it better than slices of vegetable. But I'm sure if the flavours in the curry were stronger, it would have worked.

Mr. Schloss tends to skillet fry most of his ingredients for a few minutes before adding them to the cooker. then when the cooking is done, remove the meat and add a thickener like cornstarch, breadcrumbs, instant potato flakes as the recipe suggests, or just simmer the sauce down. At this point, I can figure out what flavours can add a lot to a dish with a slow and low cooking time. So I see great things ahead with my slow cooker.

You Thought You Knew: Bread Crumbs!

I have been betrayed by Bread Crumbs!!!

I always keep some bread crumbs in my pantry, as most people do, it always useful for filler, breading, etc. and I use it as a key ingredient in my bean burgers. Sometimes I splurge and get the Panko, but I usually just stick to the most generic stuff I can find. Recently I was making some food for a Baby Shower and realized I was out, so in a rush, I went to the convenience store downstairs. All they had was the "Italian-Style" breadcrumbs, with parmesan, herbs, and a crapload of things that I didn't want to feed a bunch of pregnant women. But with time being an issue, I guiltily used the store bought, preservative rich italian. Vowing to never buy it again because of the poop it came with.

Not long after I went to the big chain grocery store to stocked up on supplies, grabbed the good ol' bread crumbs I usually buy as I gave the stink eye to the "italian-style" next to it. And thought to have a look at the ingredients listed on the regular crumbs. And wouldn't you know it. Aside from the flavourings in the italian, all the same preservative and modified hoodads were in my staple crumbs. A little light-headed from this realization, I bolted from the store with a deep sense of betrayal (this is a dramatization) the same betrayal when you realize your mom has been using Knorr's salt and MSG blend. (A.K.A Stock) for the wholesome meals you have been eating since you were a pup.

So where do I turn for fresh breadcrumbs? I tried drying out my own bread, which is not as convenient in a pinch. But then I thought. Why not dry them out in the oven, and then another thought, why not bake them in small cubes like crutons, and then the big daddy of all thoughts. Why not make some killer crutons and grind them up? BAMMM!!! a star is born. With a 3-4 of slices of good quality bread, olive oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper and paprika, baked for 10 min. or less. then a few whizzes in the processor. You have a cup of the most wonderful breadcrumbs that would put any storebought to shame. When I tried it on my next batch of bean burgers, it gave them a wonderful crunch as if they had been slightly breaded as well as a whole new level of flavour. Free of any preserves or mods. Hurray for thinking!!!!

Meat Free Menu:BlackBean & Corn Sliders

In my never ending quest to find food that is tasty and good for you. I continue to try and find meals that are meat free and not only taste good, but keep you feeling full. So I search through multiple vegan cookbooks and try to find things that I think will fill my needs. In my search I fell upon a cookbook called "Spork-fed" written by two vegan sister whose names escape me, but look like delightful vegans from Los Angeles, where all vegans come from. I may have messed around with the recipe, but probably not, and call me what you will, I didn't track down vegan worchestershire sauce. I figure a little anchovy juice doesn't hurt when you have replaced the rest of the burger with beany goodness. I omitted the corn my first time out, but have since added it and tastes just as good. I really like the fact that I get to put in oats. I think it gives it a chewy texture that helps me not miss the meat.

Catering the Shower Pt. 2 (shopping)

Well I didn't get to post prior to the event as I was hoping, so I'll do a recap.

Made my final ingredients list and went shopping. Did almost all of it at No Frills. Yes I know I should have gone to the organic market and such. But this was a non-paying gig and as much as I like the guest of honour at this shower and as much money you can save by illiminating meat from the menu. The bill was still going to be well over $100 even at the discount market, so I had to go on the cheap. Not that the food wasn't healthy. Just not organic healthy, and if Michael Pollan has shown me one thing, even the  word "organic"can be sketchy. My shopping excursion was a success except for Hungarian Paprika (which was not a necessity, but a personal choice for the chickballs) and the rice paper wrappers. I was surprised that No Frills and Sobey's either stopped carrying them or were completely out. Even the staff at Sobey's were surprised. We all know what they looked like, we all knew where they would be if they were in stock. But no rice paper. I eventually had to go to the Superstore down the road a ways to pick some up.
With my ingredients in hand I ventured forward into the catering world. Little did I know that being a dad and working in a kitchen your baby daughter and wife refuse to stay out of can lead to a huge headache, cooking at all hours of the night. and illiminating one of the dishes all together. Which one? Tune in next week when I'm not in the middle of my worknight for "Chickballs n' BBQ Sauce"

Catering the Shower

At this writing I can't say whose shower I'm catering. Even though the only person reading this blog is the person writing it. This is more of a place for me to keep track of my recipes, only posting the one's that work. This event is for a vegetarian, so with my new burgeoning interest in cooking meat free. I have undertaken an entirely vegetarian cocktail party menu. At this writing I have come up with a menu. The Party is on Saturday, today is Tuesday, on the schedule today is clearing out the fridge. The party will consist of 30 women. I have opted for 4 dishes, all various cuisines, a couple overlapping so I had to improvise a vegan version of an old greek standard. I hope it works, if not, I can save it with dipping sauce. God bless the dipping sauce. it can turn cardboard into a late night drunken snack (or um...So I've heard)

On the menu:
Mini Leek Tarts with Red Pepper and Feta (a oroven recipe)
Chickpea Meatballs in 2 sauces. (meaty meatless balls with 2 classic sauces, let's hope they hold up)
Mushroom Summer Triangles w/ Mustard Dipping Sauce (something lighter with an asian flair)
Vegan Spanikopita w/ Tzatziki (vegan pita w/ yogurt sauce, I know, but it would be sacrilege to substitute)

60 bitesize pieces each, minimum. oh my.

Up next: The Shopping List!!!

Herb Your Enthusiasm: Basil

What do I know about herbs. What do I need to know? Mainly how they taste, what dishes they work best in, how to use them properly, different types and maybe some health and medicinal attributes. but other than that all the rest of the information is...well, fodder. But fascinating to some. I won't delve too much into the scientific names and such, but I'll just touch on what catches my fancy.

 BASIL: THE FRAGRANT KING!!!

Largely associated to italian cuisine, it is surprisingly not  native to italian soil. It actually is a plant originally from India and tropical parts of asia, where because of the consistant warm weather are perrenials (continuosly growing) plants. The herb has been used for over 5,000 years. Although there are over 40 known varieties the predominantly used would be of the sweet basil variety, of these the Genovese basil is most popular in mediterainian cooking. But the herb is widely used in South Eastern Asian Cuisine, these regions favouring Thai, Lemon, and Holy Basil. I'd Love to try some of those varieties.

Generally the herb is used fresh, and at the end of the cooking process, it's subtle flavours will not withstand the cooking process too well. It's characteristic flavour in my opinion is floral and sweet, with a hint of mint (not surprising since it is a member of the mint family) and an slightly camphor aftertaste, others describe a peppery and clove taste as well. Having just eaten a leaf, I get a baby spinach aftertaste now. If you use dried,  you won't get much more than a hint of the true basil flavour, Still, I always have some on hand. I try to rehydrate it in warm water, but don't think it does much. a more useful suggestion is to chop the basil and freeze it with a little water into an ice cube tray. then just pop it in to your dish when needed.

Basil works extremely well with tomatoes and tomato based sauces, but is also wonderful with cheese, most meat dishes, richer pasta and rice dishes. Works well combined with Garlic, Lemon and/or Thyme.Basically if you want something a little floral to add to your dish, Basil's your herb.
Most popular dishes:

Insalata Caprese (tomato,basil and cheese. Oh my.)

Pesto (Genovian Basil preferred)

Pizza Margherita (pretty much Caprese on Pizza dough)

Gai Pad Gapow (Holy Basil Chicken Batman!)

Other things to note; basil grows well in sunlight so if you've got good exposure on your window sill, you'll never have to buy basil again, the more sunlight, the more aromatic the basil, this is all heresay, I face the cold, dark north in my condo. Also interesting is it's wonderful affect in your innards, helps with vomiting, flatulance, constipation, and is also known to act as a mild sedative. hmmph, the things you learn. Maybe I'll have a cup of basil tea at the end of a long day or a questionable meal out.

Well that's it for my first Herb Your Enthusiasm. I'll attach a Basil based recipe I've tried in the near future to round this posting up. Until then. Love, Learn, Eat!!!