sybarites

I originally made the Winter-spiced Molten Cocolate Cakes for a dinner party last year. As the name suggests, they are great for a cold winter’s night. The recipe calls for ginger-rum ice cream. Softening ice cream and then folding in ginger and rum is extremely touchy. The ice cream can easily turn to ice. We didn’t even attempt it this time.

I thought the cakes would be hard to make. The outside needs to be cooked enough to hold the cake together and the center must remain raw, but warm. I’ve made them twice without much problems. As long as the batter is cold, it works out well.

Jan’s parents were coming to try the lamb recipe and her mom, Jo-Anne, really likes chocolate. We thought she would enjoy these. There is a lot of coriander, cardamom and cinnamon with a little clove and white pepper. The spices are an interesting addition and add a lot of flavour. The plating would be a little prettier if I had remembered to dust the cake with powdered sugar and top them with candied ginger. Jo-Anne couldn’t resist polishing off her smaller portion but the rest of were unable to work our way through the richness of the cakes.

I’ve been thinking of using similar ingredients and flavours to make a winter-spiced hot chocolate.

Janet left me to find something for us eat for breakfast because she was busy doing laundry. My first thoughts were eggs and toast, but there were only two eggs and the focaccia went moldy. I had to get creative with the odds and ends in the fridge. This turned out to be an inspiring challenge.

The chili sauce and cilantro in the fridge had some possibilities, but I wasn’t sure how that would go with bacon or cheese. There were more ingredients for an Italian theme. My first thought was to do the dish with toast. Holly took me to the Wildwood for brunch one day where I was served something with polenta. I can’t quite recall what it was. The polenta was a great alternative. The corn flavor complimented everything. I had criticised my plating recently, so I went vertical like we see on Made to Order.

The result was Tower of Breakfast with Bacon Roses. Starting from the bottom, the layers were:

• Broiled Polenta with Parmesan and butter
• Omelette with Pepper
• Ribbons of Sun Dried Tomato
• Spicy Italian Sausage
• Parsley
• Shaved Parmesan

I rolled up the bacon to finish off the plate. I had closed off the kitchen to make sure she say no hints of what I was making. Everything was tasty, even the sausage that had been in the freezer too long. Presentation really does make everything taste better. Jan was quite impressed. She polished off her plate well before I finished.

This is the first time, in the history of our relationship together, that Sam and I have received rabies vaccinations in the same week. Though his dosage is one third the cost of mine- I expect that’s because he weighs 40lbs. and I weigh considerably more than that. At least now, I have some sympathy for his anxiety at being at the vet’s. Poor little puppy, sitting up on that cold, metal table, too anxious to eat the treats that the vet offers and trying his best to smash his body into my arms and crawl onto my shoulders just to get off that table and away from Dr. Evil. My experience with the vaccine was much less torturous, but Marc still couldn’t watch the needle.

Anyway, as a means of soothing my conscience for exposing poor Sammy to such trauma, I feed him people food. Not that I go overboard with the treats (that’s what his Grandma is for), but if some beef short ribs should happen to be left on the plate at the end of a meal, and if those short ribs should happen to have a little bit of beef and maybe some yummy, yummy fat on them, who am I to deny this long-suffering dog his wildest dream of ecstasy?

Ergo, when we made Beef Short Ribs in Chipotle and Green Chili Sauce with creamy polenta on Saturday, Sam did get a short window of opportunity to strip a couple of nearly-bare ribs of their meat and have a good, if short, chew on the bones. He didn’t even flinch at the spiciness of the sauce, though it registered as pretty hot by my standards. Perhaps the spice didn’t have an opportunity to touch many taste buds as it was snarfed through to the belly; it’s his treat, he can eat it however he wants (but not the bone). He did spend the better part of two hours “guarding” the meat in the oven, sitting in front of that little window and making sure that the ribs didn’t accidentally fall out of the oven and into his mouth. I hope he feels it was worth all the vaccination pain and guarding/begging efforts.

I, for one, found these to be quite extraordinary. I can’t really put my finger on which spice made them so piquant but I suspect it was the chipotles. We don’t use these very often so I imagine that’s why the taste stood out so much for me- that smoky, spiciness compliments beef so well. I have a beef (ha!) with the chipotle canning people, though: who needs a cup of canned peppers in adobo? It’s too much! We freeze the remainders but months later, we will only remove that baggie from the freezer, classify it as f.u.b.a.r. and toss it, along with all our other bits and pieces of long-forgotten sauce and dough. I would complain but I’m not confident enough in my pronunciation of ‘chipotle’.

About the polenta, I must clear something up: I have no idea what I’m doing. Every time I make this, I read the directions and I follow them; they’re not complicated: boil some salted water, whisk in the polenta, simmer for 40 minutes or so, stir in butter and parmesan, done. My problem is that we must have some sort of instant polenta- I whisk it in and moments later it looks done. But there is no kind of 40 minutes of simmering. It tastes fine.. what am I doing wrong? Is there such a thing as instant polenta, like instant rice? Research results are forthcoming.

Also, we had quite possibly one of the most scrumptious salads I have made to date. I got so carried away trying to “brunoise” the damn shallots that by the time I was ready to assemble the dressing, I had about two tablespoons worth. With a little mustard, oil, champagne vinegar and some shaved parmesan, this ended up being one of the Best Dressings Ever.

For dessert, we split a $5 chocolate bar that was purchased earlier at the Cookbook Company. Actually, they ran out of the Best Chocolate Bar Ever*, so we decided to try this new one as a treat. I don’t know if chocolate, pralines and Highland Whiskey really belong together but I’m pretty certain they shouldn’t be mixed into a ganache filling, encased in “Edelherb” dark chocolate and sold in bar form. Next time, it will be Best Chocolate, or nothing.

* The Best Chocolate Bar Ever is Cafe Noir dark chocolate.

I discovered a recipe for focaccia during this week’s meal planning. It was in the same Italian cookbook as the tasty meatballs that we have neglected to post.

Rather than follow the recipes exactly, I used the leftovers and miscellanea in the kitchen to flavour the bread. One third was sun dried tomato and pine nuts; one third was basil and parmesan; and one third was rosemary and sea salt.

I did my best to ruin the whole batch. The cookbook stated to set the oven to 220. I should know that 220 fahrenheit is good for warming plates, not for baking bread. 220 celsius, on the other hand, is quite effective.

I checked the cookbook after 20 minutes and realized my mistake. 20 minutes was suppose to be the entire cooking time. We removed the bread and heated the oven to the correct temperature. Janet did her best to calm me down.

The bread was perhaps a little drier than intended. If I gave it to someone, they probably wouldn’t notice. The herbs and tomatoes dried out more than the dough. Next week I’m going back to Bob’s Restaurant Bread. The flavored breads added variety to the week, but they don’t toast so well. The all purpose flour creates a slightly cakey texture. The chewy texture from bread flour does well in the toaster.

An alignment of planets resulted in stuffed meat two days in a row. Day two’s Stuffed Pork Chops were exceptionally good, though not quite in the same league as the stuffed lamb. America’s Test Kitchen often tries to make good on some terrible, classic American dishes. They came through on this one.

I’m not sure what made the chops so moist—the butcher, the stuffing or the cooking method. The butcher provided thick meaty rib chops. The stuffing tasted of garlic, and the cream gave it a smooth texture. Searing the meat in the pan followed by fifteen minutes in the oven kept the juices in.

Given more time we would have made some apple sauce or gravy to go with them. They were still satifying on their own. I particularly liked the pretty oval slices.

Every other time I’ve eaten pork chops a large pile of fat, gristle and bone was left on my plate. I had to point out to Janet that the large strip from around the edge was nearly all meat. Sammy pointed out to us that Janet’s pork chop bone also had a large quantity of meat remaining. This caused me to start gnawing on my own. Only a small rib bone and a few small scraps of fat were left.

The smashed potatoes were also expecially good for some reason. The green beans had seen better days.

As the snow starts to fly, we shamelessly revert to comfort food. Though loving the food, I hadn’t really intended on making this “Carb Week”… hmm. Oh well, it was gratifying while it lasted.

First, we made lasagna. This is my most favourite meal with which to experiment; add a little cinnamon to the browned ground beef; ditch the beef altogether and use grated eggplant instead; use full-fat ricotta minus the egg as binder; toss in a little bit of every cheese in the fridge (this week’s included Pecorino Romano); add random fresh herbs, more wine into the sauce, more wine into the chef…

Plus, when I make this, I’m always reminded of that scene in The Godfather where Clemenza is teaching Michael how to make spaghetti because “ya neva know when ya gonna hafta feed a buncha guys if we go to the mattresses”. He cooks the onions, adds the tomaytas, a little wine, some peppas and the secret ingredient- sugar. Then ya add ya meatballs, ya sausage, whateva ya got and cook it ‘til its hot. I don’t really know why this scene sticks in my mind- I don’t particularly love that movie. But I also like that scene where Michael makes his bones. McClusky really slams his head into that table as he’s going down, choking on a bite of steak with a bullet in his throat. Gruesome, but what they’re eating looks good.

Next, it was Goat Cheese and Walnut Risotto. Decidedly bland, but not unpleasant. The original version of this recipe called for blue cheese and I remember that version being a lot tastier but blue cheese was decidedly not-on-sale and Marc doesn’t really like it that much. Plus, I overcooked the rice- who knew that could happen with risotto? Next time, I’ll go back to the cheater-method of adding most of the liquid first, before stirring in the rest by the half cup over forty minutes.

Lastly, we made Fettuccine with Peas and Pancetta in a cream sauce. It seems so decadent to use real cream but it makes all the difference, eh. This, also, was fairly bland but hot and creamy and filling. And bacon-y. And cheese-y. There was a time when homemade fettuccine alfredo was my favourite meal, the one I requested at each birthday, along with Caesar salad and barbequed polish sausage. Now, it sounds like a rather odd collection of food for a meal but it was heavy on cheese and garlic and perfection to my 12 – 16 year old palate.

Speaking of bland, here’s something interesting: if flying with China Airlines, one can choose a variety of in-flight meal types. Not only are there the usual kosher and vegetarian, meals to choose from, there are also low-carb, low-cal, low-fat, lactose-free, chinese, hindu, bland, japanese, gluten-free, muslim.. the list goes on. Also, if flying first class or business class, one can view the in-flight menu in advance according to flight number. Example? On Flight 007, Los Angeles to Taipei, one can choose “Chinese cuisine: sea bass with tsu-zih sauce braised roast pork with tofu and mushroom buna shimeji, celery, carrot and wood ear steamed rice” [um, wood ear?] or “Kaiseki style meal: grilled sea bass yuan style and shrimp covered with herb mayonnaise”. The last time I ate airplane food it was cooked chicken breast with “sauce”, potatoes, beans, a tough, little roll, and some gelatinized-cake for dessert. I don’t think they had even invented sea bass yet.

Several weeks ago I found a recipe for Leg of Lamb Stuffed with Greens and Feta. We’ve been putting it off for a special occasion despite boneless leg of lamb costing the same as the free range chicken breast we buy from our butcher. Monday wasn’t a special occasion exactly. I was celebrating Family Day, which I get off and Janet works. The original plan was to prep the meal before Janet arrived home. A huge lunch and an afternoon of computer games resulted in no preparation until well into the evening. Thankfully Janet was willing to help.

Adaptations to the recipe were required to accommodate half a boneless leg of lamb. I separated the two muscles, removed the silver skin, and butterflied the meat. This made a nice pocket for the stuffing. String held the mass together in a pretty bundle. After some review of the recipe it appeared that I could have prepped the meat on Sunday, but it was then too late for even a marinade. In the end, we didn’t miss it.

Wow, best lamb ever. One of the best meats I’ve ever had. The lamb wasn’t gamey in the least. The fennel mellowed out in the cooking process. The goat feta complimented the lamb perfectly, adding just the right amount of salt. The lamb was cooked to perfection, still pink but the stuffing cooked through.

The potatoes were another story. We didn’t print the recipe, so Jan just winged it. They didn’t quite cook enough. Lemon zest was a great idea, but burned a bit in the oven. A few tweaks to the recipe and it would be very good.

Our next dinner guests will be served this dish, so start sucking up.

In the continuing adventures of shrimp salad we find our hero creating Rice-stick Noodle Salad with Vietnamese Shrimp for Princess Janet who is arriving home late. High expectations were created by the Warm Jasmine Rice Salad with Shrimp and Thai Herbs, which accompanied Pan-Seared Tuna With Ginger-Shiitake Cream Sauce on one of their first dates. Our hero seems not to realize that combining shrimp, fish sauce, cilantro, mint, and peanuts can only take one so far. Oh no, the rick stick noodles have been used up in the Pad Thai leaving only buckwheat soba noodles. This is deemed an adequate substitution with optimism for a happy accident.

Bright colors draw a warm greeting from Janet at the dinner table. Compliments are made and comparisons to past dishes are kept to a minimum. The best that can honestly be said: there are several lunches leftover for coming days.

Visits to Grocery Stores for Fish Sauce = 4

Fish Sauce Obtained = 0

God, this was boring. Not only could we not find fish sauce anywhere (sold out, not carried, etc.), we didn’t have white wine the recipe called for, I forgot to add the sesame oil and we completely forgot to buy fresh ginger. The price we paid for these errors was a bland, boring old stir fry which was kind of a waste of good beef and nice tomatoes.

Speaking of foolish, I find it amusing that Kim Jong-Nam, who was in line to be the successor to his father’s position in North Korea, used a fake passport to try to sneak into Japan. The reason why risked his future as leader of his nation? He wanted to go to Disneyland. Seems worth the risk, no?

On a completely unrelated note, I have to share my pleasure in a particular wine and am too lazy to write a separate post.

Holly arranged for us to try one of the 1999 Napanook that she had squirreled away at the restaurant. “The 1999 season amidst ‘La Niña’ saw a dry winter, cold spring and mild summer. The long growing season resulted in even ripening of the fruit, which achieved the quality, distinctive flavors and balanced desired. The small berry size decreased the yield, but increased the intensity. New oak was used sparingly to respect the fruity characteristics.” Loved it.

Some changes have occurred on our little blog. (The new picture in the title bar is my favourite change- and Marc’s favourite dessert.) Marc was the initiator of the changes and is way more knowledgeable regarding the improvements, but we did collaborate a little to compile the beginnings of the Favourite Recipes page. It was fun to go back through the posts from the past few months and remember what we ate and what was the best (and what was the worst). One of those past posts had me craving that marvelous Mushroom Risotto so we re-created the dish last week and added a sharp, little salad to the meal: endive with shaved asiago and shallot vinaigrette. As it was so cold outside last week, this delicious, if rather plain, comfort food was especially soul-warming when accompanied by a freshly opened bottle of red and eaten while watching good TV.  

I can’t recall exactly what we watched that evening because we hardly watch “live” TV anymore because of the DVR. However, we’re kind of running low on saved programs lately and thus, were forced to watch real TV – with all the commercials even! – on Saturday night. Apparently, we’ve been missing out on some of the stranger stuff on the airwaves these days, like The President’s Day Salute to Swimsuits Marathon; we just saw an ad for this because it doesn’t air until tonight but I find it amusing, nonetheless, that to celebrate great political leaders of the past, they broadcast many, many pictures of women in bikinis. Because they go together.  I know when I think of Abraham Lincoln, I am reminded of beachwear. 

Also, we saw a documentary on the local Access network called Millionaire Dogs. It profiled the lives a few extremely unlucky dogs in Manhattan, who are forced to live with wacko “parents” who insist that their “children” wear sweaters, go to swimming lessons, stay at pet hotels instead of regular kennels and regularly visit the psychic in order to communicate their wishes and needs. There is some serious coin being spent on these poor creatures; I’m not sure that gourmet dog food, a thrice-daily  walk from a professional dog-walker and a privately catered birthday party your spoiled dog-friends could make up for the humiliation involved in wearing a plaid golf cap, with matching booties and being carried in a baby carrier, hoping that none of your friends saw you.