Burning questions or recipe requests?
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So, since I started this blog, I’ve been rummaging through every nook and cranny of my tiny kitchen, dragging out recipe box after recipe box, folders of hand scrawled, grease stained specials from numerous restaurants I’ve worked in, book after book of recipes I’ve collected from friends, family and coworkers, magazine clippings, classic cook books, etc.
You see, I loooooooooooooooooove to cook. Love it. I love every minute detail that’s involved in ensuring the perfect, entree/dessert/appetizer comes out of that kitchen with no less than a taste that will leave it’s consumer in a wordless, awe struck state. Every dish can be it’s own stunning piece of art, food art, that is. The best kind! If ever there was something that brings every corner of the world together, it is the enjoyment of food. Every culture is enamoured with it. Besides religion, what other object has so many festivals, holidays, activities, and special occasions that revolve around it? We are a world obsessed with food, and I’m okay with that.
Food and I have a history, a love hate relationship, if you will. I love it, and it hates me. It’s been a long struggle through the years to be able to enjoy food without letting it accumulate on some part of my anatomy in an unflattering way. I won’t bore you with the history of my soul’s “vessel”, but let’s just say it used to take up a little more of the universe.
What I was getting at, was that food brings people together. Recipes can also bring people together. When you’re looking at all your recipes, do they bring back to your mind memories of days gone by? Do they remind you of someone special who made you a certain dish? Smells and tastes bring back floods of memories for all of us, but the mere sight of a greasy, folded up, stack of lined notebook paper with a barely readable scrawled recipe, reminds me of someone very special.
When I was young, I was sent, every summer, to stay with my aunt and uncle for a week or more in the “big city”. My uncle was a fabulous cook, but they had a bit of money as well, so we ended up eating out a lot. Very exciting for a young girl from a small town. I loved going out to all these restuarants. My first experience with halibut cheeks and raw quail eggs was with them. But about four years ago, my aunt, who I was very close to, passed away after a short battle with Pancreatic Cancer. There are a lot of things that remind me of her, but none so much as Greek food. She wasn’t Greek, mind you, but she had a knack with their food. And so it is, whenever I smell that garlicky, sweet smell of meat, roasting on a stick and see that giant dollop of cool, cucumbery delight known as Tzatziki, I think of Barbara.
So I give you here a collection of her treasured Greek recipes:
Tzatziki
(Pronounced dza-DZEE-kee)
Yield: 2 Cups
Prep Time: 20 minutes
1/2 of an English cucumber, partially peeled OR
1 whole regular cucumber – peeled and seeded
1 cup plain yogurt (preferably Greek yogurt or regular yogurt strained through a cheesecloth)
1/3 cup sour cream
juice of 1/4 lemon
1 tsp. dill weed (optional)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and pepper to taste
1. Grate the cucumber and squeeze out all of the juice.
2. Mix all other ingredients in a medium bowl. Add cucumber.
3. Let stand in fridge for at least 1 hour.
4. Serve with pita chips as an appetizer or with Greek meatballs (recipe follows).
Barbara’s Greek Meatballs
Yield: About 20 Medium sized meatballs
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
1 lb. extra lean ground beef
1/2 lb. ground pork
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup sour cream
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper
1. Mix all ingrediants very well and form into small meatballs (should make approximately 20 +).
2. Bake at 375° F for 30 minutes.
3. Serve with Tzatziki for dipping.
This was a request from The Husband. We both love Chinese food, but it’s very expensive and with our appetites, we could easily spend $60 on dinner for the two of us. Well, that’s just not in the budget, folks. But homemade wonton soup is! With a little bit of effort and a little bit of steamy kitchen time (maybe not the best for last night’s 30+ degree weather), you too can make your very own delicious wor wonton!
The best thing about the instructions for folding, are that you can use these instructions for making ravioli. Simply substitute your favourite ravioli fillings and you’ve got yourself an almost 100% homemade pasta! So let’s begin.
Wor Wonton Soup
(adapted from tastehongkong.com)
Filling:
200 g Cabbage, fine dice
100g minced pork or chicken
white pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. sugar
30 sheets (or more) wonton sheets
corn starch paste (1:1 ratio of cornstarch and water)
Stock:
3 cups of chicken stock
2 tsp. soya sauce
175g Broccoli florets
2 smallish carrots, sliced on the diagonal
1. Blanch the cabbage in boiling water until soft. Drain in colander and squeeze of excess moisture.
2. In medium mixing bowl, mix pork (or chicken), cabbage & seasonings.
3. Take 4 wrappers at a time and lay on cutting board. Take 1 tsp. of the pork mixture and place in the middle of your wrappers. Dip your finger in the cornstarch paste and run it around the edge of your wonton. Fold wonton in half, pressing down on edges to seal. Put more cornstarch on bottom corners and draw together to form a dumpling. See detailed picture below for visual steps. (Note: My grocery store only carried dumpling wrappers, as in they are round. But you can and should use square wrappers when available, instructions remain the same though.)
4. In a medium saucepan, add stock and soy sauce. Bring up to simmering and add your broccoli and carrots, simmering until the wontons are done (or until they reach a consistency you are happy with. I like a little bite to my soup veggies.)
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5. In a large pot of boiling water, add your wontons a few at a time, stirring to make sure they do not stick together. When the wontons float to the surface, they are done, but I usually let them float for at least another minute just to be sure everything is cooked.
6. When they are done, scoop wontons into serving bowls and cover in stock and veggies. You can sprinkle the top with chopped green onions or chives if you wish.
So, some news! Currently we have been living in a smallish, strata governed, not well lit (BAD for photography), townhouse in the city. Well, after receiving a noise complaint about our poor little doggy, we have decided to move out to the sticks!
How could anyone not like that face???
My current kitchen is small, poorly lit, and is not integrated into the design of the rest of the house, so I’m alone in there a lot. If you haven’t seen a pic of it, go here. That’s my yucky, yellow kitchen. And here’s my new one!
Of course, none of that stuff is mine, as we don’t move in until September 1st, but look at that set up! I could host my own cooking show in there!
Alright, enough personal stuff, on to the food!
Continuing with the non-cooking kick, I wanted to make some cold, Asian inspired dishes this week. Being a big fan of wraps and little thingys I can dip in something delicious, I figured Rice Paper Rolls would be the perfect concoction.
If you are looking for something “exotic” (in the sense that you don’t have it all the time), fresh, easy, fast and healthy, look no further. These wraps were so very easy and I will definitely be making them again (if only to finish off my 100 count package of rice paper rolls).
Rice Paper Wraps with Sweet Chili Dip
2 Tbsp Rice vinegar
2 Tbsp Water
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp salt
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 oz. Vermicelli rice noodles
8 Rice paper wraps
1/8 head cabbage, shredded
1 large carrot, shredded
1 handful cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup chopped green onions or chives
1/2 an avocado, sliced
1. Add vermicelli noodles to boiled water. Let stand 5 minutes. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, mix vinegar, water, sugar, salt and garlic in bowl. Set aside until sugar dissolves.
3. Add cabbage, carrot, cilantro and chives to dressing mix. Stir in noodles.
4. In a shallow circular dish, big enough for your wraps, add more boiled water. Place wraps in one at a time to soften. When soft (after approximately 1 minute), remove to paper towels.
5. Pat wraps dry before beginning filling.
6. For filling: Place a spoonful of mixture on wrap and top with one or two slices of avocado. Take end closest to you and fold over filling, away from you. Take sides, and fold in to center. Then, roll filling toward other end, forming a cigar shape. Wrap should seal itself (these are a bit sticky!)
7. When finished rolling all eight of your wraps, serve with sweet thai chili sauce ( I added a bit of fish sauce for flavour as well).
Wha wha? Tartare? Isn’t that raw??
Yes that’s right, raw fish. But that’s not too shocking now is it? I mean, who doesn’t like sushi in this day and age? And what about the sea asparagus? Well, I was going to give you that recipe too, but I think sea asparagus is not really commercially available in a lot of places. Here, I could go harvest it myself on the beach, or buy it at my local fishmongers, but I do live in a special place. If you are from around here and want to find some for yourself, please visit West Coast Seaweed.
This is actually one of my favourite dishes of all time. I started making it about 8 years ago when I worked in a gastro brew pub here in Victoria. At the time, we were all about Tapas. Ooooo, Tapas! Tiny plates! Little cheeses and dips and crackers and, well, let’s just say it didn’t last long in a pub. But, this dish will live on! If only through me.
If you are planning on making this dish, please plan at least a day in advance in order to make the Crème Fraîche. Alternately, you could buy some in the store or just use sour cream.
On to the Tartare!
Chipotle Tuna Tartare
(Serves 2)
1 400-500g Albacore Tuna Loin (you could use any fresh Sashimi Grade Tuna available in your area)
1 1/2 Tbsp. Dijon
1 Tbsp. Capers, chopped
3 small Chipotle peppers (in Adobo sauce), minced
salt & pepper to taste
small handful of chives (apprx. 1/4 cup), chopped
1. Chop the tuna very fine and place in small container.
2. Add remaining ingredients, mixing well. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.
Rosemary Crackers
1 cup All purpose flour
1 cup Whole grain whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 small sprigs of rosemary, chopped fine
fresh cracked black pepper to taste
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup milk or buttermilk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1. Sift flours, salt and baking powder into medium sized bowl. Mix in pepper and chopped rosemary.
2. Cut in butter until a very fine crumb forms.
3. Add milk and egg, mixing thoroughly.
4. Knead dough for 3-5 minutes and roll out very thin (like, really thin here folks)
5. Place on parchment paper lined baking tray, prick all over and bake for 10 minutes at 400°F (or until golden edged).
6. When cool, break into pieces. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Horseradish Crème Fraîche
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. buttermilk
1 tsp. horseradish
1. Combine all ingredients (except horseradish) and leave to thicken for 24-36 hours at room temperature. Check after 24. If not thick enough, leave another 8-12 hours.
2. When thickened, add horseradish, refrigerate until needed.
To assemble this dish, I used a martini glass. Scoop the tuna into the glasses, arrange crackers at the back, drizzle with Crème Fraîche and serve!
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