Dejah

Ann_T: I dread it every time you have a post with halibut. Drives me crazy with WANT...We do get it once in a while "fresh" as opposed to frozen. I never seem to be able to keep it from drying out a bit. Any guidance on cooking juicy halibut?

I noticed Ann_T's mention of Sterling Silver beef and wondered if it's a Canadian store grading. - Sobeys. They have a great beef sale on this week - SS prime rib roast @6.99 / lb, usually about 3 - 4 dollars more per lb. I bought the whole trimmed 7-rib chunk still in cryovac. Hope that'll keep well in the freezer for a month or so. Should I wrap it in butcher paper as well? I also picked up a package of 2 Sterling Silver chuck roasts. It's a blustery night, so I made Chinese Beef Stew. The kitchen smelled wonderful with star anise and cloves. The recipe was for ox tails, but I prefer less work in eating. The recipe included fresh lemongrass, which I have never seen in a Chinese recipe. Anyone know if this is common? I really didn't notice any difference from the lemongrass. Eaten with Jasmine rice:

Had made a huge pot of Hot 'n' Sour soup for friends who are under the weather - great cold / virus medicine. After all the tasting and a small bowl for supper, I didn't want to cook supper. So, it was fried rice with ground chicken, bits of diced vegetables, bean sprouts, ginger, and egg. Very satisfying! Condiments: Saigon Chili Oil and Fu Yu.

It was a rib roast on sale at 5.99 / lb. so cheap enough for me to experiment with. I ran a thick skewer thru' the centre, and it was suspended about half way up the basket that came with the unit. The skewers were hanging from the rungs, close to the heat. Pulled the peppers when they were ready - that is - charred!

Onto beef in the Big Easy. Couldn't really tell the time as my propane tank ran out 25 minutes into the cooking. Probably because of the 2 chickens I did just before that for a couple of our wonderful neighbors. Made a run to Walmart down the street and picked up the second tank I had been planning to do. Forever the procrastinator, but I'll never change. So, I think I pulled the roast at 140F on the instant read, but it was already 7:45 pm, and it was dark. The meat smelled wonderful as it was cooking, with only Montreal Steak Spice coating the roast. Also did some skewers of mini-bell peppers and potatoes. All turned out well! Made green peppercorn gravy with some of the dripping and a package mix but with fresh green peppercorns. Didn't really need the gravy. Saved most of it for the leftovers tomorrow.

My mini-crock pot shirataki noodle soup lunch today Pictures are from this morning when I put the lunch together. With the slow and low cooking, the Romaine lettuce was done just right - still a bit of crunch to each stalk.

Not sure if you know what I mean when I saw Haw Flakes - a Chinese candy made from Haw, sold in stacks. My kids loved them when they were young and will still devour them when they find a stash. Are these Haw Flakes made from Hawthorn berries?

It's electric. I am having my first lunch from it. I put in cold chicken stock, a package of shirataki noodles with tofu, a hard boiled egg, and 4 stalks of Romaine lettuce. Plugged the unit in when I got into work at 8:30, and it was hot and ready for 11:30! Now, I can just leave the heating unit at work and take the inner container home to bring food next time. It has a tight fitting lid, so food should transport well.

Those of you who want a hot /warm lunch might be interested in what I picked up from Sears - via an email catalogue http://www.sears.ca/product/crock-pot-lunch-crock-food-warmer-red/611-000746198-SCCPLC200R-033 Still need to test it out.

You've got me thinking prime rib roast - med-rare...It snowed last night but I'm game to use the B.E. tonight! Also have 3 chickens salted and airing in the fridge. Making some for a couple of wonderful neighbors who love playing with air-compressors (for lawn sprinkler system clean-out) and snowblowers. Always enjoy your excellent adventures in Manitoulin and lunch dates! Rock on!

Most definitely! Hubby is too lazy to eat chicken feet so I get them all to myself.

Norm: Caramelized then braised in the broth? A little more info', please?

A story my husband loves to tell: He's Caucasian, I am Chinese, and he loves Chinese food. We were newlyweds on our first big road trip - to Vancouver. Chinatown was, of course, a big draw for me, a transplant from Hong Kong to a small rural prairie town. Dim sum - YES, PLEASE! Into a small restaurant bustling with customers. We sat down, and hubby said, "You order while I go to the washroom." This was not a trolley-service type of dim sum restaurant, but by order. The server spoke a little faster and with a slightly different accent, asking if I'd like...., or......, or....I kept nodding my head... I was too embarrassed to say I didn't understand. After all, I am Chinese, but I had been living in an all English-speaking community for +10 years with little practice other than my village dialect - Toisanese - with my parents. When hubby came back, I was all red-faced, and he burst out laughing...our table - suitable for 4 people - was covered with every dim sum imaginable!

Kerry: Just so you know how you've influenced my daughter as I am always showing her your posts. She's a radiologist and she bakes and takes it to work for staff and colleagues!

Wait...! Clay pot for the B.E....How did I miss that? Show me please... Shelby: Shirataki noodles are not as good as pasta but makes for a good substitute. I use them a lot. I use 2 kinds: the transparent ones and ones from Safeway which have tofu in them. They are softer whereas the transparent ones are more "springy". Some even said they are like rubber bands. I believe there's a thread somewhere from wayyyy back.

The duck skin looked super! Did the inside stay moist and tender? I collected the fat and used it to sautee vegetables, then added the juice. Really good stuff with all the flavours from the marinade. I love the drippings when I do chicken with kaffir lime leaves - perfect for anything! Crazy, ain't it? Using the BE to reduce the fat in the protein, then use the fat to cook healthy vegetables...

Congrats, Anna and Kerry! Beautiful looking duck you got there. My BBQ duck is pretty basic - learned from watching my Mom. Not sure what ingredients you'd have up on the island, but... I blanch the duck in big pot of hot water, about 1/3 cup honey, 1/4 cup of vinegar. Hang it up by the armpits and let it dry for a few hours. Mix a marinade with 3 - 4 tbsp of brown bean sauce, 1/4 cup Chinese cooking wine, 1tbsp sugar, 2 tsp 5-spice powder or one whole star anise, 3 - 4 green onions - whole, a couple cloves of chopped garlic, a few slices of fresh ginger, and a piece of dried orange peel. Mix everything together and fill the cavity when the duck is dry to touch. Suture close the openings - neck and butt. I am sure Kerry would do a splendid job on that! If you don't have brown bean sauce, you can use a mixture of hoisin and oyster sauce with star anise with all the "greenery". I pierced the skin on the fattest parts, then stuck it in the cage. I cooked it on high from the beginning, but I think next time, cook at 3/4 heat with the lid on, then pull off the lid and finish cooking at full heat for the last 30 minutes or so. My duck was done in about 2 hours...Must start keeping notes!

That pork roast looks amazing! I'll have to pick up another to do. Loved the crust...

C. sapidus: I love the "smell" of that Indian dinner. I have been seeing a fresh herb in our local Superstore. I am told it is used in Indian cooking. Looks almost like portulaca plant but isn't. Any idea? I was "shocked" when I opened the fridge last night - not a bit of leftovers from the weekend of food! Guess kids thought they needed food more than Mom and Dad for their supper after they got back to the city. So we had a quick family favourite version of Mac'n'Cheese. Boiled macaroni, added butter, milk and leftover half package of shredded Kraft Taco / Nacho cheese. Opened 2 small cans of sockeye salmon, a can of mushrooms, and a can of kernel corn. Added all to a cream sauce. Made a moat with the pasta, and filled the centre with the creamed salmon. Sprinkled with crush chili peppers for a bit of kick, along with fresh green peppercorns!

I love cauliflower fries, but have gotten lazy, having to turn all those little pieces. Now, I make cauliflower steaks: Looking forward to your pork roast in The Big Easy. The chicken you did looked great! Was wondering about the "pinkish" tinge on the thighs...from salting? When I do the Chinese salted chicken, the meat tends to have that colouring. I have followed the Zuni Cafe Roast Chicken method of salting the chicken and air-drying for a couple of days in the fridge to achieve the crispy skin. But I found with the Big Easy, I can skip the two days of sitting in the fridge! Tucking fresh herbs under the skin really makes wonderfully flavoured chicken. I used to buy Safeway rotisserie often for quick meals. They've since lost their most regular customer.

Anna: The horizontal skewer is from 2 packets of 4 that I got from Superstore a couple of years ago. They are just barely short enough able to go in horizontally. The vertical ones I just got from Walmart or Superstore. I also found some "twisted" ones, thinking they would keep vegetables from sliding off, but I can't find them in my kitchen! The vertical ones are lighter and longer. I can bend the ends to fit horizontally when used to hang the poultry, but I don't remember WHY I use the lighter ones! That's a good tip on the paper clips, dcarch! I have lots of them in my desk. I found potatoes stay on well, and these never budged on the skewers. I have also used potato at the end of veg skewers to keep everything from falling off. The mini peppers work better than chunks of peppers, but they are often too expensive. This weekend, a bag, which filled the above skewers plus 5 more were for $2.98!

Hurray for Kerry and Anna! Hope you'll enjoy the Big Easy as much as I do. Our temps have been around 10 C when I usually put protein into my Big Easy. So far, it's been about 75 minutes for a 3 lb. chicken at full heat. It'll be interesting to see how the unit operates in the Manitoba winter! Yesterday when we had our Thanksgiving turkey, it was chilly and really windy - 30 40 km wind. I sheltered the Big Easy between the BBQ and the house. The turkey was 7.45 KG, injected with Creole marinade and coated with the dry rub (commercial combo that came with a scary syringe!) At full heat, it was done to perfection in 3 hours. The skin was a gorgeous mahogany, crispy, and the meat was tender and juicy. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the bird as it came out of the oven. S-i-l was too quick with the cleaver while I was hustling around getting the rest of the meal onto the table. So here's a picture of the cut-up bird. For tonight, I made another Cantonese BBQ duck as requested by the kids. After the duck was done, I added skewers of mini-sweet bell peppers and little taters. These don't seem to go with this kind of duck, but the s-i-l also made his specialty - oven BBQ ribs with his own rub and sauce. I augmented the veg. with fried green tomatoes from 2 plants in my pallet garden

I use it as a dipping condiment with noodles in any form: soup, stir-fry, dumplings, anything savoury. Love the heat, crunch, and sometimes the peanuts in the sauce. I am sure you can use it in stir-fries too, for that kick.

Braised lamb shanks with Middle Eastern Spices, stir-fried vegetables, jasmine rice sprinkled with toasted jeera.. I made this one day ahead, let it sit in the fridge overnight and re-heated for supper last night. Really great for cool fall evening.

Did a chicken with a commercial Chinese salted chicken spice mix: (basically salt and 5-spice powder) in The Big Easy - beautiful colour and crispy skin (sounding like a stuck record / CD). I cooked some wild rice 2 days ago. It took forever, so we had it tonight. It didn't have much flavour even though I used half water and half chicken stock. So, I diced up some veg and sauteed it all together with the drippings from the chicken. Good stuff! Did the same thing with green beans.Even hubby ate a few green beans - most unusual for him. The little dish was a dip - smoking drippings added to the chopped ginger, cilantro, and some of the spice mix.