Arancini

I was in Edmonton recently and was fortunate enough to have dinner at Corso 32. The food was excellent, very nicely cooked. The braised dishes we tried were nicely done, very tender and tasty. One of the appetizers we shared was Arancini. Great little breaded deep fried balls of risotto. Nice and crisp on the outside and really light, gooey and tasty  on the inside. So, of course, when I came home, I had to try to duplicate them. I used my leftover mushroom risotto, stuffing it with a little ball of goat cheese giving them a light breadcrumb coating. I didn’t quite get the fluffy texture of the Corso rice balls but they were very tasty! Next time I’ll match them!

Mushroom Arancini

    1 tablespoon olive oil

    ¼ cup onion, finely chopped

    1 clove garlic, minced

    1 cup Arborio rice

    1/2 cup dry white wine

    2 1/2 cups boiling vegetable stock

    ½ oz dried mushrooms

    salt and pepper to taste

    1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

    ¼ cup celery leaves, chopped fine

    2 tsp fresh thyme leaves

Breading

    1 egg

    1 tablespoon milk

    4 ounces goat cheese,

    1/2 cup all-purpose flour

    1 cup dry bread crumbs

    vegetable oil for deep frying

1. Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and pour enough boiling water over them to cover. Let them stand until soft. Drain the liquid from the mushrooms and set aside. Chop the mushrooms into small pieces.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook, stirring until onion is soft but not browned. Pour in the rice, and cook stirring for 2 minutes, then stir in the wine, and continue cooking and stirring until the liquid has evaporated.
3. Add enough hot vegetable stock to the reserved mushroom liquid to make 2 ½ cups. Add the stock to the rice 1/3 cup at a time, stirring and cooking until the liquid has evaporated before adding more. (Keep the stock hot on medium heat while cooking the rice)
4. Add the chopped, dried mushrooms when half of the stock has been added to the rice.
5. When the vegetable stock has all been added, and the liquid has evaporated, the rice should soft but not mushy. Remove from the heat, and stir in the Parmesan cheese, celery leaves and thyme. Taste the risotto and season with salt and pepper if needed. Transfer the risotto to a bowl, and allow to cool slightly, or cool overnight.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk with a fork. Roll about 2 tablespoons of the risotto into a ball. Press a piece of goat cheese into the center, and roll to enclose. Coat lightly with flour, dip into the milk mixture, then roll in bread crumbs to coat.
7. Heat oil for frying in a deep-fryer or large deep saucepan to 350 degrees F. Fry the balls in small batches until evenly golden, turning as needed. Drain on paper towels. Keep warm in a low oven while the rest are frying.

Note: You can also make this with fresh mushrooms. Use about 2 – 3 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopping them fine and sautéing them with the onions and garlic.

Osso Bucco

The Market at Granville

When I visited Vancouver last month, I had the chance to visit Granville Island. Well actually, I went a few times. I mean, how can you visit Vancouver without shopping for great food at Granville Island? Anyway, my last day there I picked up some fresh veal. I bought some loin, a little bit of tenderloin and eight large pieces of veal shank. I rushed the meat home to my sons’ apartment, wrapped it in a couple layers of newspaper and stored it in the coldest part of the fridge. The next morning when I packed my bag for my trip home, in went the chilled meat, surrounded by my clothes and whatever else I picked up this trip. When you live in Yellowknife, you learn a few tricks about what to buy and transport safely back to the great white north.

Veal in the bag, waiting to turn into Osso Bucco

 One of my favourite dishes of all time is Osso Bucco. I think I first had it when I worked at Waldens way back when I was still an apprentice. I was so impressed with how soft and rich the meat was after it’s long braise in the oven. And the flavour the sauce picks up from the meat and bones is simply incredible. I thought perhaps I would try some radical new flavour blend for this Osso Bucco but in the end I went with the traditional recipe and served it with Braised Fennel and Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes. Simple sides for a very rustic and homey dish. Some cooks leave the sauce just as it is when it comes out of the pan but I chose to puree the sauce to make a nice smooth gravy. The fennel seed I added to it gave it a nice touch and went well with the braised fennel.

Full meal deal.

I also tried to heighten the flavour of the meat by marinating it under a vacuum seal overnight. I’m not sure if it helped the dish but it sure didn’t hurt it! (I’ll be using the vacuum seal technique in the future as I explore cooking ‘sous vide’) I cooked the Osso Bucco one day then served it the next. This also helped intensify the flavour by allowing the veal to rest in its braising liquid over night.

Overall, this was a great meal. A great warming meal for those cold, 40 below nights in Yellowknife. Surprisingly enough, it did have a little veal leftover. I have the perfect idea for it though and you’ll see that coming up in a future blog.

Osso Bucco

Osso Bucco

Zest of 1 orange

1 onion, julienne

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp thyme, fresh

1 tsp cracked peppercorn

1 cup olive oil

8 large pieces veal shank

3 cups chicken stock

3 tbsp flour

1 tbsp northern smoke spice (or any seasoning salt)

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

1 carrot, diced

6 cloves garlic, crushed

1 cup white wine

1cup diced tomato

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp fennel seeds

2 sprigs fresh thyme

salt and pepper

Mix the zest, the onion, garlic, thyme and peppercorn with the olive oil. (for the zest in this recipe, peel the orange with a peeler, trying to take only the top layer of skin, then cut them in very thin julienne strips)

Spread the mixture all over the veal shank and place them in a zip lock bag. Remove as much air as possible and store in the fridge overnight.

Remove the marinated veal shanks from the bag, scraping off as much of the marinade as possible. Add the marinade ingredients to the chicken stock, place it on medium heat and bring it to a simmer.

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium high heat.

Mix the seasoning salt and flour together. Dry the veal shanks then dip them in the flour. Add the floured veal to the hot pan and cook until they are brown. Turn the veal over and repeat on the other side. Remove the veal from the pan and place in a roasting pan just large enough to hold them.

Add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic to the pan and sauté until slightly cooked. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and bring that to a simmer. Add the tomatoes, fennel seeds and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Add the vegetables and wine to the veal. Pour the chicken stock mixture over the veal, straining out the onion and zest.

Cover the pan with foil and place it in the oven. Cook for about 2 hours, just until the meat becomes tender and pulls away from the bone.

Remove the cooked veal shanks from the pan and puree the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper, top with Gremolata, below, and serve.

Gremolata

½ cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley leaves

½ cup fennel fronds

1 clove garlic, minced

Zest from 1 orange and 1 lemon, minced fine

Mince the parsley, fennel fronds, garlic and lemon and orange zest, mixing them together. Sprinkle this mixture over the finished Osso Bucco.

Going Molecular

So what’s with this molecular gastronomy anyway? Is it a new way off cooking? A trend or just a fad? Will it fade out tomorrow or remain with us as we continue to push the boundaries of the traditional kitchen? Is it passé already, or are we just seeing the tip of the iceberg?

I’ve been watching chef’s work their molecular magic on TV for some time now. Homaro Cantu and Wylie Dufresne showed us some amazing new dishes on Iron Chef America (Cantu won, Dufresne lost) Cantu and Grant Achatz were featured on At The Table With, a show that devotes an entire episode to one chef which really gives great insight into why these chefs cook the way they do, and how they got to where they are today.

And how about Heston Blumenthal? Chef of one of the best restaurants in the world, The Fat Duck, Heston had a show called In Search of Perfection, in which he recreated classic dishes by first analyzing the original recipe then creating a new one by using preparation methods more in tune with this new way of cooking, ultimately making a new and better version of the classic. Very interesting show, to say the least.

I’ve read a few cookbooks as well, including Alinea, by Grant Achatz and A Day at elBulli by Ferran Adria. These are two beautiful books that show what can be done when chefs push all the boundaries. The food is so beautiful to look at, and must surely taste amazing, right?

Well, I’ve found all this fascinating so far and would like to learn more about it. I went to a molecular gastronomy workshop in Edmonton last month and now I’ve purchased a few supplies to start me off. My initial experiments have been successful and I hope for more in the future. What I’m hoping is that I come away with a few things that will compliment my style of cooking. I want these new items to be beautiful with amazing taste. I want people to eat them and say ‘wow! That was great!’ But then, I’ve always striven for that!

 

So here are a couple pics of my first attempt at this new way of preparing food. White Chocolate Spaghetti with Raspberry Ravioli and Mint Foam. I’ll keep working on it and post others as I learn and progress.

Trifle Crazy

My friend Sue is a Trifle crazy, or is that Trifle crazy? I made a Christmas trifle for her many years ago and she’s always asking for more. When are you going to make trifle for me? Can you make trifle when you visit? What ingredients do you need to make the trifle you’re going to make next time you visit? It just never stops!

So this is for you Sue, a new twist on a Christmas Classic, better late than never! The custard is the same but I used caramelized pears for the fruit and caramel sauce instead of the raspberry sauce I usually use. That stuff’s great and I have trouble not eating spoonful after spoonful of it when I make it. Put these ingredients together and top them with some toasted pistachio nuts and pomegranate seeds and it’s great!

 

Caramelized Pear Trifle

Caramelized Pears

• 2 Tbsps water
• 1/4 cup  sugar
• 4 x Pears, peeled, cut in halves, seeds removed and cut into thin strips
• 1 tbsp grand Marnier
• zest of one orange

1. In a large skillet, heat the water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Boil the sugar until it begins to caramelize. When it reaches a nice golden brown colour, add the pears.
2. Over a high heat, cook the pears for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

Pastry Cream

• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup  35% cream
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp flour
• 6 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract

1. Mix the sugar and flour in a small bowl. Add the egg yolks and whisk until the mixture is smooth.
2. Heat the milk and cream in a medium size pot. Add the heated cream mixture to the egg yolk mixture slowly so the eggs don’t cook too quickly.
3. Pour the mixture back into the pot and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat at the first sign of boiling. Add the vanilla and almond extracts.
4. Strain the cooked pastry cream into a glass or plastic container and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic down a plastic film directly on the surface of the hot pastry cream.
5. Let it cool down and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Whipped Cream

• 1 1/2 cups 35% cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a bowl, whip the cream, vanilla and sugar until firm peaks are obtained.

Caramel Sauce

½ cup sugar

1 1/2 cups cream

2 tbsp grand Marnier

Zest and juice of ½ orange

1/8 tsp. baking soda

2 tbs. butter

¾ tsp. Vanilla

·         Place sugar in a heavy bottomed pot and add enough water to dissolve the sugar. Cook over high heat until a warm golden colour is achieved. Brush down the sides as the sugar is caramelizing. Caramelize the sugar.

·         Add the Grand Marnier, orange juice and zest and mix in. Add cream and baking soda, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.

·         When the sauce thickens, add butter and vanilla and mix in.

Assembling

16 Amoretti cookies

8 rolled wafers

1 cup pistachio nuts

½ cup pomegranate seeds

1. Reserve about ½ cup of whipped cream for topping the finished trifle.
2. Mix half of the remaining whipped cream with the chilled pastry cream to lighten it. Fold in the rest of the whipped cream to make the pastry cream light and fluffy.
3. Place a spoonful of pastry cream mixture in the bottom of 6 wine glasses.
4. Spoon 1/6 of the pears into each glass. Add a bit of the crumbled Amoretti cookies and drizzle with about 1 tablespoon of caramel sauce.
5. Top with another layer of pastry cream and repeat the process
6. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
7. For service, top the finished trifle with the reserved whipped cream and the rolled wafer. Sprinkle with toasted, peeled pistachios and pomegranate seeds.
8. Serve the remaining caramel sauce on the side.

Makes 8 servings

Vancouver Chilli

Let the gamers begin!

I know it’s been a while since my last blog but I haven’t been sitting idle. I’ve been working on a few blog ideas, getting ready for the holidays, and preparing for my sons’ departure for Vancouver. I’ve traveled here with them to help set up an apartment they will call home as they attend Vancouver Film School for the next 2 years. We’ve spent the last few days shopping for those bare necessities they would need to get them going, but as you can see in the picture, I think they would have been okay with a TV, their gaming gear and a couple of lawn chairs!

View from Grandville Island

We did stock the fridge though, and I’ve made a pot of chilli and a beef stew that I will portion out and freeze for later use. We shopped Granville Island for some really nice food I can take back to YK, (watch for the Osso Bucco blog coming up later!) and we wandered the neighborhood checking out the shops and restaurants they will be relying on for food. There is a Safeway down the street that should carry everything they need, a whole food store called Capers right next door if they ever feel the need to eat organic or more healthy, (wonderful baked goods, nice coffee, excellent produce) and a 7-11 across the street for all the junk food they will probably eat. I wonder which shop they will use the most? Time will tell I guess.

There are lots of Asian restaurants in the area, a pizza shop and a Greek food place just across the street, and even a Dutch pancake house a few blocks distant. I envy them as they explore the neighborhood and try all the different food options available to them.

But more than that, I hope they put in the effort to cook for themselves, and I don’t mean KD! It’s easy enough to whip up fresh stir fries or pasta dishes especially given the wide variety of food available to them in the neighborhood. Eat healthy you guys! You’ll feel better, think better and probably save money!!

Here’s the chilli recipe that I used. It’s quite simple so any student should be able to make it. I packaged it up in zip lock bags of 1 cup portions which they can take out and reheat later. You can also stretch it out by adding some cooked pasta to it or serving it over plain rice. That would increase the nutritional value as well!! Enjoy school, boys and take the time to eat right!!

Chilli

1 tbsp olive oil

1 lbs ground beef

Chilli prep

1 red pepper, diced

1 medium onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 small zucchini, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp chilli powder

1 tbsp ground cumin 

1 28-oz cans diced tomatoes

½ can water (14 oz)

1 5.5 oz tin tomato paste

1 10 oz can red kidney beans

2 tsp salt

• Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up as much as possible.
• Drain the fat from the meat and put the meat back in the pot.
• Add the peppers, onions, celery, zucchini and garlic.
• Sauté until the onions are clear then add the tomatoes, tomato paste, kidney beans and spices.
• Add water and simmer until meat is tender, adding water as needed.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper and a little hot sauce if desired. You may want to add a bit of hot sauce or a fresh chilli pepper to give it a bit more heat.

Fresh Pasta

Monica and Tyson rolling the dough.

Sunday afternoon was a very productive day in the kitchen. Monica, Tyson and Carine helped me prepare and perfect pasta dough and fillings that I hope to use in an upcoming Pasta Lesson. We made one dough using all semolina flour, two using all-purpose flour, and the fourth recipe was taken from the French Laundry cookbook and uses lots of egg yolks and milk of all things.

We found that the semolina dough was hard and difficult to work with, and decided that mixing half semolina and half all-purpose flour might give us a better result. The recipes using all purpose flour worked well and gave us nice pasta dough to work with. The French Laundry was a nice dough which I found very easy to work with. But it doesn’t matter how many times I make pasta, I never seem to be able to incorporate all the flour into the dough. There’s always some left over, sometimes as much as 20%. This however, doesn’t seem to have a negative affect on the end product.

We did find however that by mixing slowly, more flour was absorbed into the dough. Tyson wins the prize for the most patience, stirring the flour into the eggs little, by little, by little. I think he stirred for over 20 minutes before he had a firm dough, but there was only about 5% of his flour that he couldn’t mix into the dough.

We also made two fillings for our pasta, cheese and butternut squash. They were both very tasty but I think the squash was the most popular. The mild, sweet flavour of the squash is a perfect vehicle for carrying other flavours, especially herbs. For this version we added Mascarpone cheese and fresh dill to the squash for a really tasty filling.

All and all it was a great afternoon. It’s nice to spend time with family and friends making something that everyone can enjoy. The pasta turned out really nicely, we had a great meal, we learned a bit more about pasta making and we had fun! What more could you ask for?

Here are two recipes that we worked out, one for dough and one for filling:

Pasta Dough

1 ½  cups flour

1/2 cup semolina flour
3 eggs

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

1. Pour the flour onto a clean smooth work area.
2. Make a well in the center, large enough to hold the eggs.
3. Beat the eggs together and pour them into the well. Sprinkle in the salt and add the oil.
4. Begin mixing the dough by drawing flour from into the egg in the center, bringing more and more flour in to make the dough.
5. If the dough is too dry and does not come together, you may need to sprinkle a little cold water over it. If the dough is too moist and becomes sticky, you may have to add a bit of flour.
6. Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic.
7. Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

Butternut Squash Filling

1/2-3/4 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped (about 1 lb)

2 tbsp butter

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

¼ cup grated parmesan

¼ cup fresh dill leaves

salt and pepper           

1. Steam the squash until easily pierced with a fork.
2. Mash the squash, add the butter, mascarpone and parmesan cheese and salt and pepper.
3. Cool.

To Make the Ravioli

1. Cut out an even number of circles in the dough.
2. Drop a spoonful of filling in the center of each circle, moisten edges with water, and cover with a separate circle.
3. Pinch edges together, and leave ravioli dry for about 2 hrs, and refrigerate until needed.
4. Cook ravioli in boiling salted water for about 3 or 4 minutes, drain, and serve with preferred sauce.

Into Africa

I help out with the Interact Club at school and we’ve been fund raising for a trip to Africa to help some people there. We decided to do an African flavoured dinner as part of our fund raising activities. Our dinner featured a silent auction, an African Legend, read by Rutendo, and a performance by our Djembe Drummers.

For African flavour inspiration I turned to The Soul of a New Cuisine, by Marcus Samuelsson. I love this book because it has great food ideas representing a wide range of dishes from Africa…but that’s another blog, and I’ll get to it some other time. Suffice to say that the book is full of flavour that pops! We had to adjust the recipes a bit to feed our hungry guests but I think we maintained the overall integrity of Chef Marcus’s dishes. Here’s the menu as we presented it:

Spiced Cucumber Salad with Peanuts

Citrus Cabbage Salad

Minted Mango Couscous Salad

Mixed Greens with Tamarind Vinaigrette

Sweet Corn Fufu

Vegetable Tagine with Raisins and Pine Nuts

Braised Peanut Chicken with Coconut Peanut Sauce

Grilled Boerewors Sausage with Roasted Peppers and Onion

Kofta with Okra Tomato Sauce

Avocado Fool with Mango

Peanut Cake with Papaya and Plums

Malva Pudding

Tropical Fruit and Cashew Salad

Though we tried to get as much flavour into the food as possible, I have no idea if we were successful or not. I mean, we’re not from Africa, and we’ve never been there! We go next July! But we received good reviews on the food so I guess we’ll have to wait until July to find out if we produced food that was anywhere close to what people eat in Africa. In the meantime, I think I’ll continue to experiment with African flavours, so if you know of any other books that focus on African cuisine, please let me know and I’ll give them a try.