Wine Tasting
I’ve been a little obsessed with wine lately. It a happens from time to time.
Cake, sleep, and mastering
Why I don’t go out for breakfast
Poule au Pot
Poule au Pot – a classic french dish that essentially is ‘poached chicken’, is highly underrated. In pre-refrigerator France, where stoves were constantly on for heat and cooking, apparently this was something that was always on the stove [to keep it safe for eating]. Celery, onion, carrot, garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, and a chicken in water to cover. Bring it just to a slight simmer – just the odd bubble every few seconds is optimal. Cool for 1.5-2 hrs depending on the size of the chicken. It makes chicken stock of a far greater quality than you could ever make with simply bones.
This is another that if you find yourself eating it here, don’t be surprised. It’s become a regular.
Whole grain foods
One important lesson I’ve learned: pilafs with whole grains and legumes taste awesome. You feel good about eating them, you feel good after eating them, your body likes you for it – and they taste great. That’s a pretty good cv for a food.
Today my pilaf had quinoa, millet, and two different lentils in it. Man was it good. All-organic to boot. Pilaf, by the way, is basically some aromatics [I used shallot and celery] fried gently in a fat [I used butter] for a bit, then throw in some grains or some legumes [see the bulk bins of a health food store for a mind-blowing assortment], and some water. Salt and pepper to taste, and it will surprise you. Think ‘cooking rice’ with some other flavourful stuff cooked just before you add the rice. Next time you’re putting together a carb for your meal, think ‘pilaf’.
Culinary Accomplishment: Texas BBQ
A couple weeks ago I did a Carolina-style barbecue pork shoulder for the first time. Thanks again to Michael Ruhlman for writing my ‘Charcuterie’ bible. It was his recipe, and it was damn good. And by barbecue, I mean the south of the U.S. style barbecue. Not grilled at all. No gas. Smoked and cooked at low heat with moisture for many hours until you can pull it apart with a fork. Americans know this stuff intimately, but I find us northern folk are newbies. And what a shame that is.
Today, I did my first barbecue beef brisket. Very exciting. I finally found a great source for brisket. It’s actually hard to find up here. I am very indebted to our multicultural food shops. They have the good weird and tasty bits of meats that north americans can’t figure out because a) it doesn’t come out of a box pre-prepared, and b) it doesn’t look like a chicken breast or pork chop. Admittedly, I can now buy pork hocks, pork shoulder with bone in and skin on, and I’ve even seen pork fat, pork belly, and pork skin available at Superstore [depending on how ‘ethnic’ the clientele is – don’t look for this in the suberb locations]. So the box stores have some of the goods. But if you want to see whole hogs being pulled out of the truck as you walk into the place [which happened yesterday], it ain’t gonna be at a box store. Nor will you find the funky organ meats, or be able to ask the butcher for the chunk of meat and bone sitting on his band saw. Ok. Ewww. Organ meats. They had pork ribs with the belly attached. Bacon is made from the belly. What self-respecting human would not appreciate a slab of uncured bacon attached to a huge rack of pork ribs. Come on.
Anyway, the brisket turned out as well as I’d hoped. It’s fascinatingly tender, juicy, stringy, and tasty. And perhaps even more of a breakthrough is that I simulatneously did 3 calf moose blade steaks to see what the result would be like. Surprisingly the game turned out very close in flavour profile as the beef. I was pretty thrilled. I was surprised as I’d assumed a lean cut of meat wouldn’t behave in a similar manner when slow cooking for excessive hours. I was anticipating a possible overcooked hockey puck. Not so. And to define slow-cooking: I started the meats at 9am and smoked and cooked them until about 6pm. I suppose it prooves that game animals have similar collagen contents in their chuck cuts as domesticated animals, regardless of the lack of fat. This is very good news for a guy who has access to good quality game animals and can cut a nice huge slab of brisket for some slow-smoked-southwest-goodness. And if you’re thinking ‘yeah, yeah’ enough about the US bbq – it’s damn near in a similar league as the french’s duck confit. It’s that good.
I have to be honest that the process is a bit crazy to try on a whim. You have to be motivated. It involves starting a charcoal fire, tending it for much of the day, every half hour or so adding applewood or hickory chips to keep the smoking up properly. And then it takes another 5 hours or so in the oven at a low heat. Amidst that you have to make the wonderful sauce. So it’s a lot of work, but man is it good. You can taste the love.
This will be a regular menu item in our home, so if you eat my food, you’re likely to run into it soon.
2nd Annual Game Dinner Eve
Last year my dad asked me if I’d be willing to cook a multi-course dinner featuring the different game birds and big game that he and his friends hunt. It was a really memorable party. 7 courses, lots of drinking, and lots of being merry. It far exceeded expectations.
So tonight, we’re hosting the follow up to this event. I like to think of it as a ‘thank you’ to the guys who take me out hunting and keep a seemingly endless supply of game in my kitchen throughout the year. Tonight’s menu:
scandinavian salmon
mousse of maple syrup cured b.c. salmon, smoked with alder, on knäckerbröd, served with akvavit
ham and cheese sandwich
cured and smoked shoulder of wild boar with melted camembert on toasted baguette round
hot and cold duo of game sausage
sautéed goose liver and porcini garlic sausage & cherry smoked moose and elk sausage
calf moose ‘pate & pickle baguette sandwich’
terrine of calf moose with brandied ‘beaumont’ evans cherries and its pickle, on homemade baguette
cambozola calf porterhouse ‘au poivre’
sauté calf moose loin in cambozola cream sauce on potato
chocolate mousse
organic eggs from sunworks farms and bernard callebaut chocolate in all their glory
I hope to post some photos tomorrow. We’ll see if I remember amidst the food prep and drinking…
Food Journey through Europe
Czech Republic: classic czech. the veg side is on every dish. everything grilled is done on a big griddle over an open fire in middle of the restaurant. this and few half litres of beer might cost $10.