Dejah

It was excellent! Let us know when you are coming - we'll do lunch! That would be wonderful! Will definitely keep lunch with you ladies in my plans!

Temperature in the -single digits after a a couple of weeks of -30C with some days of windchill at -50C. Time to head out to the Big Easy! 2 nights ago, I cooked 2 chickens stuffed with fresh Kaffir lime leaves. It's got to be my favourite taste, and I don't think I'll be running out of leaves any time soon. I won't post pics of the chickens - just see above. A friend was pruning his kaffir lime tree and asked if I was running low from the last bag he gave me. Just in time I quickly replied. My coffee table is 4.5 feet by 2.5 feet. This pile is 12 inches deep. Once I stripped off the leaves, I got SEVEN large ziplock bags full! He also gave me several branches of bay leaves and some of the kaffir limes. Last night, I cut up cubes of pork shoulder, marinated them in coconut milk, lemongrass, lime leaves, ginger. Today, I strung them onto skewers using the branches from the lime leaves. My hands felt a bit raw as the branches have tiny thorns on them. I did trim them before using, but they still left a bump. I laid the skewers across the basket - should have remembered to just stand them up in the basket. I think they would have cooked more evenly. Only 2 skewers had to cook longer in the BE. The others were perfect. I loved the charred bits of fat coated with coconut milk! To use more of the leaves, I tore up several, added to jasmine rice along with some green cardamom for flavour. The rice cooked up like sticky rice - must have used more water than usual, but it was perfect with the pork! A squeeze of lime was added to the pork. The kaffir added a lovely aroma and flavour. The coconut milk didn't come thru' as strong as I thought, but it helped with the char.

Must make a longer trip to GTA - maybe this summer. I have yet to find calamari as you two enjoy, and now...this exquisite squid! I hope it was as good as the picture looked.

Smithy: I enjoyed reading your posts in glamping, so I am happy to see you blogging this week. Your first post already has me excited - to see those silicone covers! Hubby picked up a set of non-descript covers at one of the mall kiosks in desperation for a stocking stuffer for me. They came in a plastic bag with NO description whatsoever. He tried to remember what the vendor told him, so you can just imagine... I've only used mine as covers for use in the microwave and washing by hand, but they are great! I'm hesitant to use them in the oven because there was no information on them, but I will definitely look for the pretty ones that you have. I assume they can be found in any kitchenware store? Can you provide more detail on the "New Radwan Fish"? I have 2 bags of Meyer lemons and would love to try this dish. I must also look for your juicer. My niece gave me one a few years back, and it's useless unless you're doing half a lime!

Finally got the Big Easy back from my brother's where we cooked the Xmas turkey for the family gathering. AND, the temperature's back to "tolerable" with no windchill warnings of -50C. Time to satisfy my need for BE chicken! Did two chickens so I'd have lots on hand to share and for lunch. The bottom one was marinated with "chicken rub" by a company called Szeged. I love their Hungarian Hot Paprika, so I thought I"d try their chicken rub. It's pretty basic but it was good. The top chicken is stuffed with Kaffir lime leaves - my favourite. With -18C temperatures, I was able to cook the 2 chickens in 1.5 hours. Did up some mixed vegetables in the wok, seasoned only with no-salt chicken broth. We had some moo gwa (hairy squash) soup with pork and rehydrated oysters about an hour before supper. Dessert was "previously frozen" durian, for which I have developed a craving since our trip to Malaysia! These are not as "aromatic" as the fresh, but they satisfy my need.,, I accidentally ate the little piece of mint with the durian, and it tasted great together!

Would love to get that lamb chop recipe. Lamb chops were just seasoned with Montreal Steak Spice and seared in a hot pan. They were great, especially with mint sauce...

Dry Stir-fried Cumin Beef - Hakka style as presented in The Hakka Cookbook - Danford Dragon Restaurant Thinly sliced beef stir-fried in a hot wok and a little oil. Removed from the wok. Chopped onion, ginger, garlic, hot peppers, cumin, red chili flakes and curry leaves (my addition 'cos I love the flavour!) fried separately until fragrant. The beef is tossed into the veg mixture. Add a splash of dark soya and thinly sliced green onions. The recipe called for Asian chili sauce, but the peppers gave enough heat, so I left it out. This is the best version of dry cumin beef I've found. Served with stir-fried bell peppers, blanched gai lan and rice.

Now, these are just hilarious, dcarch, not because YOU think the pictures are "not decent" but because I thought they were good! They are not your usual well laid-out art pieces, but you still did "presentation" that would be considered "wow" by many, including me.

I used 1 cup of flour + 1.5 tsp. baking powder and .5 tsp. salt. Chilled this in the fridge for about 15 minutes. Whisked in 1 cup of beer and chilled in the fridge again until the fish was dredged with seasoned flour. Whisked in enough cold soda water to make a batter. Dipped the fish in and deep fried in a mix of canola oil and rendered beef fat. I topped it up with canola as I didn't have quite enough beef fat. I have never tried the chilling part before and it seemed to have made the difference in maintaining the crispy texture. Any other suggestions would be most welcomed.

New Year's Day, I made savory tong yuen loaded with ground pork balls, shrimp, dried scallops, Chinese sausage and loads of daikon julienne - my favourite part. This was one of my Mom's favourites, and I am so glad she taught me how to eat these "sticky balls" of glutinous rice flour. Hubby is not adept at chewing and swallowing these, so he got wontons and shrimp roe noodles. For supper, we had lamb chops and basmati rice with toasted jeera and green cardamom..

My crispiest attempt at fish'n'chips to date! The batter stayed crispy and not too greasy. The chips were delicious, dipped in curry gravy- memories of Whitby, England.

Supper just for the two of us tonight: Steamed Alaskan King Crab legs, strip loin steaks, homemade fries with spicy ketsup: Tomorrow, I'm going to make savory tong yuen - Cantonese rice dumplings in a soup with shredded daikon, dried shrimp, and pork. For supper, if I'm not too lethargic, will do rack of lamb for hubby and me. Enjoying the peace and quiet after a hectic Xmas with the families!

Get yourself a Big Easy for at home, Anna, and you'll never have to put up with supermarket over-cooked rotisserie chicken again!

The best-laid plans... The family would not allow me to do the prime rib in the Big Easy, so it was in the oven by 2:30 after the Yorkies were done. It was to be pulled at 120F but we had a visitor, so it was 125F. It was closer to medium, but still tender, delicious, juicy. Main side attraction was brussel sprouts sauteed with bacon, shallots, pecans, and whole grain mustard. Santa brought all the kids T-shirts when he visited A Christmas Story in Cleveland in the summer. I got the apron - most appropriate when our family has gatherings. That's my future-son-in-law Ryan who also loves to cook...and eat! Xmas Day dim sum was sort of cancelled until grandson decided he really wanted to come up for brunch. So it was a rushed job with only siu mai, char siu baos, and deep fried wontons. Luckily, I had all the prep. done as previously planned. Supper was some of the leftover roast beef. Boxing Day was with my brother and his families - for 25 people. Ryan and I decided to make a marinade to inject into the turkey instead of using a brine. Bought a utility turkey, used everything except the dark meat to simmer with roasted vegetables. The broth was seasoned with fresh herbs and reduced to 2 liters of intense marinade. This was injected into the turkey as well as the bone-in turkey breast. The whole turkey was cooked in the Big Easy for 2.5 hours in -20C weather. The dripping was incredible, and made the best gravy ever. My nieces had a battle to see who would take the leftover gravy home! We also had meatballs, and ham with raisin sauce, plus a gazillion sides. Dessert was mango pudding for 30 - made in a big catering dish. It was such a busy time that no pictures were taken... Dec. 27, we had visitors for brunch, and made dim sum again: siu mai, har gow, sticky rice in lotus leaf, char siu baos, summer rolls, shanghai bak choy stir-fried with garlic and ginger, and another batch of mango pudding. Families all went home to the big city late afternoon. I was so tired I had a 4 hour nap. Woke up at 11:00 pm. cooked rice and had it with Chinese cheese (fuyu)...SO good after all the rich meals and baking... Yesterday, I made a pot pie with the ground-up, well seasoned dark turkey meat that Ryan had made up. I added frozen mixed vegetables, topped it with creamy mashed taters, and it was very good. I think we'll keep Ryan as a s-i-l!

Xmas Eve with our own family: 10 - Our traditional menu: 7-rib prime roast (this year in the Char-Broil Big Easy) with Yorkshire pudding, brussel sprouts, cardamom carrots, oven roasted potatoes, apple-walnut salad, green salad, gravy, trifle, an assortment of Xmas baking (shortbread, butter pecan tarts, mince meat pie, gingerbread...) Got a huge package of beef fat from the meat guy, so I'll need to render that a couple of days ahead for the Yorkies, gravy, and potatoes. Xmas Day: Dim-sum brunch: congee, long donuts, har gow, siu mai, sticky rice in lotus leaves, cha siu boas, chicken feet, a steamed vegetable , most likely, gai lan, mango pudding Evening meal will probably be leftovers from the roast beef dinner as I'm sure there WILL be, even with 4 meat-loving men! Boxing Day: with my brother and his family: 25 people. I am cooking a 16-lb turkey, brined, then in the Big Easy. I will also do an "unadulterated" bone-in turkey breast - about 6 lbs, in the oven for one of the niece's husbands who is very picky. My s-i-l will be doing Alaskan King Crab claws and the sides. I'll be doing some kind of creme brulee for dessert along with whatever my s-i-l makes.

C.sapidus: How is the Mexican oregano different from the "usual" variety? I have asked friends down in Mexico to bring some back for me. Love how that pickled onion adds so much colour to an already colourful salad. Do I have to use Mexican oregano to achieve the same flavour if I try to make the recipe now?

We used to be able to buy canned chicken in all the supermarkets in Canada during the 70's and 80's. It was a whole chicken with gelled stock, and handy for lunch when our band of 6 was travelling on the road in a motorhome. I was able to prepare lunch on the move. It was juicy and didn't need much chewing. The product disappeared for a while, but a friend gave my son a can as a joke for his birthday last year. Not sure if it was a new product or one from his parents' emergency supply from 30 years ago. Not sure how the meat would work in soup, unless you add it at the last minute to heat up. But, it would certainly work for emergency supply.

It's been temps around -20C, windchill plus -30 these last few days. Today was -30C with windchill -40C. Definitely NOT Big Easy days. Some recent meals: Thai Curry Seafood stew: Last night was our daughter's birthday dinner. She requested Chexican fajitas. I made Spanish rice, loads of guac., chicken fajita, and roasted prime rib for the wraps. She was happy. Tonight, it was s-i-l's pork ribs with his "never-the-same-twice" rub and fresh pineapple based sauce. Definitely finger-licking good!

The BE does produce a crispy skin, but using Zuni salting and drying would take it over the top! Made the Chinese salted chicken that way, and yes!

Steve Irby: Is there a particular reason why the cauliflower must be roasted whole? I do mine as cauliflower steaks and they cook evenly and have browning on the whole "steak" from contact with the pan. I've been marking essays and exams all day and getting frustrated by stupidity, so decided to cook something a little more time consuming to let off some steam. The new e-version of Saveur arrived in my email, so I made Chicken Dopiaza - Chicken and Onion Curry. It was great, served with basmati rice with jeera and whole peppercorns, and steamed green beans. Had a bowl of vegetable soup, Chinese style with pork rib stock, bok choy, carrots, celery, and ginger while supper was simmering.

I was using the Zuni method with great success...then...along came the Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-Less Turkey Fryer...No need for venting.

Thanks, Anna. for the naan! Now, can you try to sweet talk them into divulging their recipe? The look really light. Guess I'll keep experimenting. Great to see Marlene's post here and in Camping Princess Style. Have missed your presence on eGUllet!

Very happy to see this thread. Glamping would be my style but the driving and hauling a trailer is too much for us. SO, I am pleased to live this life vicariously through your posts:-) Thanks for this, and Rock On!

Thanks, Ann.

It was only -6C today, so what else could I do but cook with the Big Easy again! Chipotle Turkey Meatloaf in a bundt pan. The meatloaf - ground turkey breast and thighs, chopped mushrooms, onion, parsley, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce - was moist with a little bit of kick. Will have to work on the presentation...maybe more like a cake... Eaten with potato pancakes, green beans, salsa, and jalapeno peppers.