Archive for the 'appetizers' Category
Sorry guys, I have a brutal cold but haven’t had the chance to slow down much, and by bedtime I’m running on fumes. I must say I’m very much looking forward to going to bed with my bottle of NyQuil tonight.
It turns out social media is an effective means of transmitting medical advice – I’ve had a ton of sure-fire cold remedies relayed by twitter – hot water with honey and lemon! with ginger! with rum! I’ve tried it with all but the rum and while it is comforting and feels like it should do something to knock out my cold, it doesn’t seem to have the power.
However. Yesterday I ran into a friend while signing books downtown for the CBC Suncor Food Bank Drive, and upon hearing my lounge-singer voice she and her friend began offering up suggestions of same, except this time it was suggested I crush up some garlic, stir it into honey and eat that.
Worth a try, don’t you think? Would it matter if said honey and garlic were administered by chicken wing?
Honey Garlic Hoisin Wings
3-4 lbs chicken wings or drumettes, wing tips trimmed
canola or olive oil, for cooking
Sticky Garlic Hoisin:
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
4 garlic cloves, crushed
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Pat wings dry with paper towel and arrange in a single layer on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. (Lay them on a wire rack set on the sheet, if you have one.) Drizzle with oil and toss to coat; roast for 20-30 minutes, until cooked through and starting to turn golden.
Meanwhile, stir together the sauce ingredients. Remove wings from the oven, drain away any fat in the bottom of the pan, toss wings with sauce (if you like, save some to toss the wings in afterward) and roast for another 10-15 minutes, until the skins are crispy and the sauce is caramelized. If you like, turn on the broiler and cook for 2-3 minutes, until deep golden. Serve immediately, with napkins. Makes lots.
By the way – I’m drawing for the Okanagan trip tomorrow! At noon!
December 03 2010 | appetizers | 16 Comments »
Head cold. Can’t hardly breathe, can speak even less. Realized I had no voice upon pulling into the Tim Horton’s drive-thru at 6 this morning, en route to the Mount Royal University radio station, where I was interviewed live on the air sounding like a prepubescent mouse who smokes too much.
Didn’t feel like cooking, so rummaged around the fridge, opening miscellaneous yogurt containers, and found the leftovers from the dinner I was invited to on Sunday night. Which I haven’t even told you about yet! Am I on the ball with anything anymore?
The pictures, I’m afraid, are from my phone. Some of them didn’t go through, and the ones that did don’t do the dishes justice. But I at least wanted you to see the production that went into dessert – two homemade graham crackers on a schmear of chocolate (which acted as an anchor, keeping them on the plate, and also something for me to lick off the plate afterward) topped with a slab of ganache (one plain, one peanut butter) and a homemade marshmallow, which was then torched. Alongside, a tall shooter of hot chocolate topped with its own little marshmallow. Does anyone know how it might be possible to make a career of attending dinner clubs?
The table setting was lovely, as was the company (none of whom I knew, but all I liked instantly). And the food! I’m determined to make everything again – perhaps they need their own dedicated week. The theme was celebrity chefs, and each brought a dish from one of their favourites – Liesl brought savoury palmiers with goat cheese, pesto and sundried tomatoes and a cocktail a la Ina Garten, Monique brought Jamie Oliver’s pumpkin soup, Michelle made Panade a la Judy Rodgers (from the Zuni Cafe book – like chunky French onion soup with veg – so on my must-make list), Bonnie flew in from Vancouver and made salad a la Bobby Flay – greens, toasted hazelnuts, apples, blue cheese (methinks she took plenty of liberties with this one – with great success) and a dressing made with pomegranate molasses.
Jody made crab spring rolls from Ramsay’s F Word, Brandy made Nigella’s aubergine involtini (yum! total keeper – making it very soon) and Stephanie made the aforementioned s’mores for dessert. There were baby girls to cuddle and at the end, little gift bags of spiced pecans to take home. With my name on them! As if I had done them up myself or something. Sniff.
Eating them now, in bed, with hot lemon and honey. A fitting bedtime snack.
Spiced Maple Pecans
These keep well, so making a large batch will guarantee a good stash. They also make an excellent gift, bundled in cellophane or in an inexpensive glass jar tied with ribbon.
4 cups pecan halves (about a pound)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
Preheat oven to 350?F.
Spread pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast for 7-8 minutes, until fragrant. Drizzle with maple syrup and toss to coat; continue baking for another 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the nuts absorb most of the syrup.
In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle over the nuts and toss to coat. Spread on a cookie sheet to cool completely.
Store extras in a tightly sealed container. Serves 12.
Maple Cinnamon Pecans: substitute the spice mix for a blend made with 1 tbsp. sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ginger and ¼ tsp. salt.
Garlic Pepper Pecans: substitute the spice mix for a blend of 1 tsp. garlic salt, 1/2 tsp. paprika, 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
December 01 2010 | appetizers and snacks | 10 Comments »
I JUST realized I never posted this recipe. And it’s one you’ll really want.
Never mind the driving force of social media – word on the street is that the Nenshi family kept Naheed’s team of volunteers in homemade samosas throughout his campaign. His mother, it turns out, is well known for her samosas, and generously agreed to share her recipe via Naheed’s sister, Shaheen. I’ve known Naheed for years (we went to Junior High together) and so a couple days after the election, on arguably the busiest week of his life, I emailed to ask if his mum might share her samosa recipe? Of course he came through.
Then, while we were in New York, he sent recommendations for food, shopping and sight-seeing, tipping us off about a secret burger joint in the lobby of Le Parker Meridien, a swanky New York hotel. And Cafeteria in Chelsea, a very hip restaurant with über fashionable New York hosts -one with a snakeskin eyepatch, even- fantastic food and even a kids’ menu. W had hand-cut fries with truffle oil with his big, made-from scratch chicken fingers and in-house made chocolate ice cream. My point is, he nailed two perfect New York restaurants that had brilliant food while being five-year-old friendly – the guy has good taste, too.
Noorjah’s Samosas
The citric acid (available at Community Natural Foods and other specialty/health food stores as well as many Indian groceries) is used as a souring agent – you could substitute lime juice or amchur powder, which is made from dried unripe mango – both are naturally high in citric acid.
Filling:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 tsp. citric acid (optional)
1 tsp. crushed garlic
1/2 tsp. crushed ginger
1/2 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. dhana – jeera mix (coriander and cumin powder)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. crushed green hot pepper
4 long green onions, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 bunch chopped fresh cilantro
Samosa paste:
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp. water
1 pkg. samosa or spring roll wrappers, thawed if frozen
canola oil, for cooking
In a large, heavy skillet, cook the ground beef, adding the citric acid and breaking up any lumps. Add all the spices and continue cooking until meat is cooked through. Remove from heat and drain any fat on paper towels. Stir in the onions and cilantro.
In a small dish, stir together the flour and water to form a paste. Fill and fold the samosas. (Note: if you don’t know how to do this, Google it for visuals. Generally you want to fold over the end of a strip of wrapper to form a triangle, form it again to form a pocket, fill the pocket, then keep folding, maintaining the triangle shape, to the end of the wrapper. Use the paste to seal it closed and fill any holes in the tips of the three corners.
In a medium heavy pot, heat a couple inches of oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Fry a few at a time, without crowding the pot, flipping as necessary as they turn brown. Remove with tongs or a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Serve warm. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen samosas.
November 11 2010 | appetizers | 8 Comments »
There are days when the entrepreneur with an office in her spare room will find herself, still clad in her pink polka-dot flannel PJs in mid-afternoon (she has been sitting there since 6am) trying to conduct a telephone interview for a story that’s due like right now while two boys attempt to wash a 100 pound dog in the next room, having just spread poo all over him in the back yard.
She may then wind up mopping up a muddy bathroom when she should be working, because her husband has had gout since Wednesday and has a knee the size of a melon. She may run out on an errand without looking in the mirror and remembering she has neither showered nor rid herself of her raggedy-ann eyes (mascara above and underneath) nor brushed her hair for two days, and greasy strands are sticking out sideways all over her head. And then realize she has eaten nothing but coffee, cake scraps from a photo shoot and those little square caramels since 6 am.
There are days when the self-employed mum may end the day applying Malbec liberally to her face by Tim Horton’s cup, sitting in bed with her laptop and a new brace that she hopes will help her plantar fasciitis, but isn’t helping with the prospect of expanding the family any further.
But then there are days when she gets to make a tomato tarte tatin and call it work. This came from a lively (and at times, nasty) debate over whether or not a tomato can be used in purely sweet dishes, like a tarte tatin. Turns out they can, with sublime results. A tarte tatin, if you’re not yet acquainted, is an inverted pie made with caramel and fruit cooked first in a skillet then topped with puff pastry and baked. It’s like pie extreme. The tomatoes are brilliantly different.
Tomato Tarte Tatin
adapted from a recipe torn from an issue of Bon Appétit, where it is credited to Brooklyn-based food writer Ian Knauer.
8 large Roma/plum tomatoes
3 Tbsp. butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half a package of 2 blocks), thawed
Preheat the oven to 425?F and bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut an X in the bottom (not the stem end) of each tomato and blanch them for about a minute, plunging into cool water afterward and slipping off the skins. Cut them in half lengthwise and remove the seeds.
Set a heavy 9″ cast iron skillet over medium high heat – add the butter to the pan and swirl it around as it melts and foams. Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the bottom of the pan and arrange the tomatoes rounded side down in concentric circles, fitting them tightly together and filling the pan (don’t worry if you have leftovers). Place the skillet over medium heat and cook for 15-20 minutes, until the juices are released from the tomatoes, then bubble and cook down and turn golden. (Lift the tomatoes up occasionally and let the caramel run underneath them to keep them from sticking and burning.) Meanwhile, roll the pastry out to about a 9″ round.
Remove the pan from the heat, drizzle the vanilla over the tomatoes and cover with the pastry, tucking in the edges (no need to be neat about it). Cut a few slits in the top and bake for about 20 minutes, until golden and bubbly around the edges. Cool for about 10 minutes before inverting onto a plate (do it while the tart and pan are still quite warm or the tomatoes will stick) – replace any that don’t come out of the pan, and scrape any caramel and juices that have stayed behind over top. Serve warm, with ice cream or whipped cream.
And yes, I’ve remembered that it’s Free Stuff Friday, and I have some loot! The folks at Bernardin sent over a pretty marvy canning set – an enamel canning pot filled with all your canning needs – a canning rack, jar lifter, funnel, lid lifter, bubble remover/headspace gauge, 4 mason jars with lids, pectin, and canning DVD. And ’tis the season.
I’d love to hear all about what you’re preserving, or making for dinner, or cleaning off your dog. As always, I’ll pick a name from the comments at random next Tuesday.
September 24 2010 | appetizers and dessert | 110 Comments »
I’m writing this while on hold with Visa. Trying to book a flight to Vancouver, I was at the very end asked to prove my identity on a pop-up Verified by Visa page, which prompted all the answers to the questions they had as I began to type them in, then told me I’m wrong – try again. Like there are alternative answers to my mother’s maiden name. So I’m on hold at 11 on a Friday night when I should be working on any number of stories I have due this weekend, or making mini flapper pies for a party I’m cooking for tomorrow night, or I don’t know – sleeping might be a good idea.
So yeah – potato pizza, hey? I never really got the double-carb-whammy concept, but with an abundance of beautiful, delicate-skinned potatoes from the farm (and an overflowing but not-yet-harvested potato condo in my back yard – can’t wait to show you!) I really was pushing for new ideas. And I need to carb load for my marathon pie-baking contest in the morning. (Honestly – Pierre and I are judging pie, jam and homemade wine at the Bowness Fair at 10 in the morning. (They’ll also have a produce swap, if you have too much of a good thing and not enough of another.)
So the pizza. I took a ball of dough out of the freezer, sliced the purple and white potatoes as thinly as I could (which was pretty thin, using my new kick-ass Japanese knife from Kevin’s shop) layered them, scattering between the layers with roughly chopped garlic and fresh rosemary, then drizzled the lot with some olive oil into which I squished another clove of garlic before starting this whole process.
Then scattered cheese over the top and baked it at 450F for 20 minutes, until golden. It was not at all as involved as it sounds. Having spent the past two days doing cooking demos at the Kerby Centre Expo I also had copious amounts of quinoa salad and salmon, which I spread with pesto and slid into the same hot oven for about 10 minutes. (What’s convenient about Hamburger Helper again?)
And I know, it’s Friday. And I have some Free Stuff for you! Honestly the Fridays keep blowing by and I keep on missing them. But I caught one! And I have something for you that I think is hilarious, that I bought at Kulinary Kids last week when W and I were hanging out and cooking with Chuck Hughes from Food Network Canada.
Check it out – self-shaking salt shakers. You pull the string and they shake on their own. I had to buy them. (It was hard to capture their shaking action on camera. Those are Mike’s hands, posing with them. Don’t you think he should be a hand model? Do you think there’s any money in that? Do you think it would go to his head?)
As always, I love hearing what you’re eating. And if you have any suggestions for new ways to use chard, potatoes and zucchini, that would be fab. I’ll do a random draw next Tuesday!
September 10 2010 | appetizers and vegetarian | 46 Comments »
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