Remember that book I’ve been working on with Pierre? Well…… drumroll please…..
We’re still working on it.
But since I’m here at the coffee shop with Pierre and we’re both working madly on it, I thought I’d put up a little teaser. Just as a reminder, and because Pierre’s illustrations are so awesome, aren’t they??
We’re trying to get in with Chronicle Books, but our submission is likely somewhere in the slushpile of the thousand or so submissions they receive EVERY MONTH. Sigh. Anyone work there? Anyone? Bueller?
Pierre will likely throttle me if I give up our crumpet recipe. Remember that time he made them for me? But maybe he won’t mind so much if I provide a marmalade recipe, since it is the dead of winter and citrus is where it’s at. And if you’re one to pad around the kitchen on a chilly late winter weekend (had enough of them yet?) a pot of homemade marmalade is probably right up your alley.
Plain Old Orange Marmalade
This recipe would work as well with blood oranges, Seville oranges or really any variety you want to turn into jam – or try pink grapefruit. You simmer the seeds along with the marmalade because they naturally contain pectin.
4 large thin-skinned oranges
5 cups water
pinch salt
4 cups sugar
Cut the oranges in half and poke the seeds out; put them into a tea ball if you have one, otherwise wrap them in cheesecloth. Slice the oranges thinly and then chop them crosswise as big or small as you like. Put them (and the tea ball) into a pot with the water and salt and bring to a boil; simmer for half an hour. Turn off the heat and let it sit for a few hours or overnight.
Stir in the sugar and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook for about half an hour, or until the mixture gels; you can test it by dropping a small spoonful onto a saucer that you get nice and cold in the freezer while the marmalade simmers. When the marmalade is the consistency you like remove it from the heat, pull out the tea ball of orange seeds and divide into clean, warm jars and seal or cool completely and store in the fridge or freeze.
I know, lamb chops cost about as much as platinum. But they taste a whole lot better. If you’ve ever been to – or heard of – Vij’s in Vancouver, you’ll know that these lamb popsicles must be pretty sublime, being their signature dish and all. A lamb popsicle is a Frenched chop – take a rack of lamb and cut between each bone and you have wee chops on the end of long, elegant bones – perfect finger food. And if you sort of scrape the meat down the bone, nudging it all toward one end, you have a neater lamb popsicle, which you can then cook quickly on the grill or in a hot skillet. And then there’s the option to serve them with this fenugreek cream for dipping/slurping – it doesn’t get much better.
Vikram Vij’s Marinated Lamb Popsicles in Fenugreek Curry Cream
The size of the lamb popsicles will depend on the rack of lamb you buy. If the popsicles are bigger, then four per serving is usually enough; if they are slightly smaller, then go with five per serving. Adapted from Vij’s cookbooks (I can’t recall which one this is in, and it appears I’ve either loaned both copies out or been the victim of a very tasteful theft, but this recipe is all over the internet.)
Lamb:
1/4 cup sweet white wine or apple juice
1/3 cup grainy yellow mustard
1/2 tsp each salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 French-cut racks of lamb, cut into chops
Curry Sauce:
2 cups heavy (whipping) cream
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp dried green fenugreek leaves or crushed seeds
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1-2 Tbsp canola oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp turmeric
In a bowl or zip-lock bag, combine the wine, mustard, salt and pepper. Add lamb, stirring to coat, cover or seal and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours.
In a medium bowl whisk together the cream, salt, paprika, cayenne, fenugreek leaves and lemon juice. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet set over medium-high heat and saute the garlic until golden. Stir in turmeric and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the cream mixture and cook over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, or until thickened.
Preheat your grill or set a heavy cast iron skillet over high heat; remove lamb from its marinade and grill (or cook in a hot skillet drizzled with oil) for 3-4 minutes per side, until medium-rare. Serve popsicles immediately; depending on their size, place 4 to 5 lamb popsicles on each plate. Pour the cream curry over the meat or ladle it into a small bowl and use it as a dipping sauce. Serves 4-6.
Sorry, really. But it’s Fat Tuesday – I’m working with a theme here. And if I were to be giving something up for lent, these would be worthy of ditching. They’re that good. Don’t you just want to curl up and go to sleep on one? Or nestled among them?
Buttermilk Beignets
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp.) active dry yeast
2 Tbsp. sugar
3 1/2-4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting the countertop
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
canola oil, for cooking
icing sugar, for dusting
In a small saucepan, heat the milk over medium heat until small bubbles start to form around the edges. Pour into a large bowl (one that goes in a stand mixer, if you have one) and stir in the buttermilk. Stir in the yeast and sugar and set aside for 5 minutes, until the yeast starts to bubble. (If it does nothing, it may be inactive – you’ll need fresh yeast.)
Add 2 cups of the flour, the baking soda and salt and mix until well blended. Add more flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and continue mixing for a few more minutes, until the dough starts to come together but is still very sticky – you wouldn’t be able to knead it if you wanted to. Cover the bowl with a towel and set aside in a warm place for an hour, until doubled in bulk. At that point it shouldn’t be sticky anymore.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out 1/2-inch thick. (You may need to dust the surface of the dough with flour as well to keep it from sticking.) With a sharp knife, dough scraper or pizza wheel, cut the dough into 2-inch squares. (They will puff up as they cook – you don’t want them too big, or they won’t cook all the way through.) If you want to make them ahead, place them on a parchment-lined sheet, cover and keep them in the fridge for up to 8 hours before frying.)
In a large, heavy pot, heat a couple inches of canola oil until it’s hot but not smoking – it should read 375°F on a thermometer. Cook the beignets a few at a time – without crowding the pot, or the oil will cool down and the beignets will wind up greasy – until golden on each side. It should take about 4 minutes – turn them with tongs as you need to, then remove with a slotted spoon and set on a paper towel-lined plate to cool. Serve warm, doused generously in icing sugar. Makes lots.
Not very seasonal, I know. Then again, it has dipped down to -41 this week. I’ve been a bit all over the place – Red Deer, Edmonton, Jasper – driving a lot and cooking a lot, but not regular-like, at dinnertime in my own kitchen. And I was missing it.
This satisfied my desire to make a plain old average dinner, one that included warm meat and mashed potatoes and frozen peas, while listening to the 5 o’clock news in the other room. It was really good. The time it took to cook was just enough to simmer a pot of quartered (unpeeled) potatoes, which I roughly mashed with a splash of milk and dab of butter. All was ready in under half an hour.
I didn’t have rosemary and it was fine without; I imagine it would be even better with. It’s the sort of recipe that once made can be repeated mindlessly and without measuring. It’s a keeper. And I love incorporating cranberry sauce when it’s nowhere near Christmas (although it feels like it) – the onions, stock and balsamic transform it into something entirely different – more complex and not as sweet as the stuff you’d serve with turkey.
dab of butter
drizzle of oil
1 pork tenderloin
1 small onion, chopped
1 sprig of rosemary, leaves chopped (optional)
1/2 cup beef or chicken broth
1/2 can whole berry cranberry sauce
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Preheat oven to 450°F. In a heavy skillet, heat a drizzle of oil and dab of butter over medium-high heat. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper and sear on all sides, until golden all over. Place the pork in a small baking dish (or loaf pan) and roast until thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 155°F – about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt another dab of butter in the skillet; add the onion and sauté until soft and starting to turn golden. Add the broth, cranberry sauce and vinegar and whisk until cranberry sauce melts and the sauce thickens.
Let the pork rest a few minutes before slicing; serve immediately, with the sauce. Serves 4.
I’m in Jasper! I’m here doing some cooking shows for the Pajama Party, but it’s more like Christmas in November with the snow coming down and a frozen lake. And all the dancing and martinis last night. (Unfortunately for everyone here, I dance like Elaine on Seinfeld.)
So I’ll leave you with this recipe for sweet and sour chicken with fresh pineapple, which is one of the recipes I did recently for Co-op, from the series I’m doing to illustrate how inexpensively you can feed your family when you cook from scratch. Everyone in our house adores sweet & sour chicken, but the take-out stuff is battered and deep fried, with a day-glo sauce that sort of freaks me out.
But wait – speaking of chicken, guess what? I’m going on a trip across Canada this May on the Rocky Mountaineer! There is a connection, really – in the form of a contest – Maple Leaf is giving away TWO MORE trips for 2 on the same train! Which means YOU could come with Mike and I – we’re scheming already to leave W at home and have our very first trip away together. Anyone wanna babysit? If you’re not coming, that is.
I’ve always wanted to go on a train trip across Canada. (Western Canada is probably enough for one go.) This trip is billed as the “most spectacular train trip in the world”, and you get the entire package – it includes flights to Calgary (if you don’t live here already), accommodation at Fairmont hotels in Calgary and Vancouver (where we finish the trip) and Kamloops (in the middle of the trip – you don’t sleep on the train). We get 2 days on the Rocky Mountaineer to experience the “First Passage to the West”, breakfasts and lunches on board in the Gold Leaf Dining Room (prepared by their four on-board chefs), and $500 in spending money! Which covers some pretty fab dinners wherever we like (or some pretty fab shoes at Fluevog in Vancouver and some hot dogs from a stand).
It all happens on May 10-13. How am I involved? They’re not paying me, but I get to go on the trip. Pretty awesome, I think. (Look, they even put me on their website!) You can read all the fine print here, and learn about the Rocky Mountaineer here, and most importantly, because this is how you get the chance to actually go, enter the Prime Taste of the West contest here.
I’ll post the links under free stuff too. Good luck! I want to see some of you on board!
