Long distance cooking buddies share their food

[Kerry Beal]

Care package arrived from Anna today - Mae Ploy red curry paste and her special blend of garam masala and tandoori masala required for chicken tikka masala - the only good use for chicken breast according to Anna. So I'll be getting my yogurt well hung over the next few days.

[Anna N]

Kerry, that is one gorgeous looking cake. I hope your hard work was devoured by the guests.

We have two Farmers’ Markets very close to both me and Kerry. The Hopedale Mall Market in Oakville where I live and the Burlington Market in Kerry’s bailiwick. Of the two, the Burlington one is the largest and most interesting. It is held on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from May until October. Last year I never once visited either market due to circumstances at home but I was determined that I would not let that happen again.

It was raining yesterday morning but my daughter and I decided that would not prevent us from a visit to the Burlington Market.

Rain is one thing, torrential downpours quite another. By the time we left both of us looked like we had participated in a wet T-shirt contest. But the farmers and stall-keepers were so happy to see anyone braving that kind of weather that they were even more cheerful and upbeat than usual.

Here is my haul:

I am sure you can recognize everything except the item on the white plate. That is Bee Sting Squares. Kerry makes a bee sting cake and often talks about it but I have never tasted it as I am not much of a fan of sweets but these squares caught my eye so I had to buy a slab. They are far too sweet for my taste but my husband had no trouble devouring half before I even had a chance to take a photograph.

The beet roots are already Danish pickles redolent with cloves. They are a staple in this house and my supply was running low. Incredibly these beets were fully cooked in 30 minutes. Supermarket beets are rarely tender even after an hour of cooking! The leaves and stems became a mess of greens and were all that I had for lunch. Here's the recipe I used though I adjusted it to my taste.

The other items will appear here in the coming days, I hope.

Before we left for the Farmers` Market I had already pulled together these Korean cucumber pickles and I am currently munching on them!

Dinner had long been planned. I think I mentioned somewhere that Kerry had given me 6 large duck legs and these are the last two. Braised duck legs with figs, onions and a balsamic glaze. This is another recipe that uses an "open braise" method so that the duck skin stays crispy. Here's the recipe.

Now it's time for me to get ready for Saturday morning garage sales. As usual, the focus will be on cook books and kitchen toys.

[Kerry Beal]

The cake went over well, but I was not really happy with it. I'm after that nice cotton wool white cake you get with a mix (for this cake anyway) - I love the yellow cake I used for the bienenstich (beesting cake) that Anna mentioned.

So I stayed up really late last night reviewing the eG thread on white and yellow cakes and I've chosen a couple to test out. That will happen over the next couple of days - work will be sick of cake!

Had hoped to sleep in this am - but the rug rat was not happy, having fallen off the mattress onto the floor and having the blanket wrapped around her head. So brought her into my bed - where she happily started kicking and prevented me from getting back to sleep. Now she's in there fast asleep and I'm not! But I've mixed up a batch of Artisan Rye from 5 minutes a day, and put together my shopping list for Sudbury. I'll hit all the shops where I can get the food items I can't get here and the thrift stores to see if I can find a bread peel (how many have I got at home now and didn't bring?) and a nice square cake pan for my experiments. I just know I'm going to go back to the restaurant supply and look at the big and little green eggs some more - don't need it, don't have room for it in the car...

One of the advantages of being kicked out of my own bed so early in the morning is the chance to commune with nature - so I leave you with a rather bad picture of what was just outside the house snacking on the grass this morning.

[Kerry Beal]

Well - it is official - I have no self control. And I am the owner of a mini Green Egg. She weighs in at 35 lbs (I suspect that's naked, cause she feels more like 50 lbs with her legs and damper on the top).

Tonight I'll try to do a little reading on how to use her - want to get the best out of it. There is a DVD that came with her, but I've got to figure out how to view it on my Mac.

Did some other shopping to get some needed supplies.

Found a cookbook and a couple of nice looking sheet pans at Value Village. Can never have too many sheet pans. These are the air filled ones, might help a little with the dark bottoms I'm getting with this oven.

A timer that I can wear around my neck (thank you for the suggestion Andi) - as soon as I find a lanyard for it.

Tahini for my halva experiments.

Lemons and limes for my curd experiments.

Cheap sack cloth towels from Value Village - I think the reason they didn't sell was that they say 'set of three' when they really contain two. Loses something in the translation I guess.

Found this mold in the same thrift store I got the vacuum coffee maker in last week. I also plan some blancmange experiments.

When I got home I finally got around to processing the black currents that I'd brought to a boil a couple of nights ago - ended up with about 2.5 kg of puree. A bit seedy even after the food mill - need my really good food mill from home to get the tiny seeds out.

[Anna N]

July 10

While Kerry was off in Sudbury doing the things we normally do together, I was out with my daughter doing the rounds of the garage sales. Sticking to strictly food-related finds I bought these two interesting plates for $1 each.

I sent a photo of them up to Kerry and she informs me that the cut-out is for a wine glass but since I don’t have a lot of parties where this might prove useful they will just serve as conversation pieces at one of my “small plate” extravaganzas.

I also found an electric coffee warmer for $2. I needed something to keep drawn butter warm that did not rely on tea candles which do not fare well with my ceiling fans and window air-conditioner. I am planning on heating the butter in the m/w and keeping it hot on one of these tiny hot plates.

As mentioned earlier, I was soaked to the skin and very tired and very hungry. It was a toss up whether I would simply fall into bed or eat first and then fall into bed! I quickly put together a mushroom, onion and cheese frittata and then fell into bed for about an hour.

I have been following Chris Hennes’ topic on cooking from Rick Bayless’ Fiesta at Rick’s. Mexican food is a challenge for someone who does not particularly like:

Beans

Cumin

Cilantro

Avocado

And

Rice!

But I did google Mojo de Ajo and found this recipe I made up a batch and used some to brush on shrimp before roasting them for inclusion in this salad. I made up a chipotle mayo dressing which we applied at the table.

The garlic from the Farmers’ Market was like a totally different product than what I get at the supermarket. Crispy, sticky, garlicky and pungent - very satisfying.

Kerry informed me that she will be leaving the Little Green Egg with me in Manitoulin when I go up there at the end of July so she has assigned me to research it thoroughly in the mean time.

[Kerry Beal]

First cake experiment made and taken off to work. Nine in the morning apparently isn't too early for cake. It was not as lofty as I would have liked - not sure if that reflects making it in the Thermomix or the cake batter itself. I'll try it next time mixed in a mixer then compare.

I found it a bit dry. The colour was good however. And I'm sure it will be gone by noon - so later I could go and pick up my baking sheet!

As you can see I haven't brought up one of my little dipping wires (ala Chris Hennes) that would allow me to cut a cake evenly and at the same height across the middle, so I'm stuck using a too short bread knife.

[Kerry Beal]

Procrasta-baking today. The kid is at the sitters, I've got a shitload of paperwork to do - so I'm making halvah. Here it is under construction. Made it in the thermomix. Even warm the texture is amazing - I think it's going to be a winner!

[Chris Hennes]

Anna, in that list of ingredients, by and large most of them appear predominantly in "Tex-Mex" type cuisine, at least much more so that "authentic" Mexican home cooking. Beans and rice are an exception, of course, but are also easily avoidable. If you want to get a real, instant "taste of Mexico" without any of those ingredients, find yourself some tomatillos, jalapeño peppers, and a white onion. Roast the tomatillos and peppers under a broiler until starting to blacken, then pop them in the food processor and puree to a sort of chunk consistency (first skin and seed the peppers to adjust the heat to your taste). Add finely diced white onion and salt to taste, and use as a chip dip. I think tomatillos are probably the single ingredient that most screams "Mexico!" to me.

[Anna N]

Anna, in that list of ingredients, by and large most of them appear predominantly in "Tex-Mex" type cuisine, at least much more so that "authentic" Mexican home cooking. Beans and rice are an exception, of course, but are also easily avoidable. If you want to get a real, instant "taste of Mexico" without any of those ingredients, find yourself some tomatillos, jalapeño peppers, and a white onion. Roast the tomatillos and peppers under a broiler until starting to blacken, then pop them in the food processor and puree to a sort of chunk consistency (first skin and seed the peppers to adjust the heat to your taste). Add finely diced white onion and salt to taste, and use as a chip dip. I think tomatillos are probably the single ingredient that most screams "Mexico!" to me.

Tomatillos are available occasionally and tomorrow or Tuesday I will be at one of our supermarkets that just might carry them so on the chance I am right, once again, can you suggest ballpark ratios of ingredients. Thanks for the lesson on the difference between Mexican and Tex-Mex - that was enlightening to me.

[Chris Hennes]

Don't get me wrong, Anna, those ingredients are all used in SOME Mexican cooking. But far from ALL of it. For example, what I'm making for dinner tonight has not a single one of them. It seems that cumin in particular shows up far more in Tex-Mex than in actual Mexican cuisine. And most of the time when cilantro is called for, if you are one of those who can't stand the stuff, you can just omit it. I posted a recipe for that salsa over in the Bayless topic.

[judiu]

Well - it is official - I have no self control. And I am the owner of a mini Green Egg. She weighs in at 35 lbs (I suspect that's naked, cause she feels more like 50 lbs with her legs and damper on the top).

Tonight I'll try to do a little reading on how to use her - want to get the best out of it. There is a DVD that came with her, but I've got to figure out how to view it on my Mac.

Congratulations on you new hatchling!

Did some other shopping to get some needed supplies.

Found a cookbook and a couple of nice looking sheet pans at Value Village. Can never have too many sheet pans. These are the air filled ones, might help a little with the dark bottoms I'm getting with this oven.

A timer that I can wear around my neck (thank you for the suggestion Andi) - as soon as I find a lanyard for it.

Lanyard= shoelace!

Tahini for my halva experiments.

Lemons and limes for my curd experiments.

Cheap sack cloth towels from Value Village - I think the reason they didn't sell was that they say 'set of three' when they really contain two. Loses something in the translation I guess.

Found this mold in the same thrift store I got the vacuum coffee maker in last week. I also plan some blancmange experiments.

When I got home I finally got around to processing the black currents that I'd brought to a boil a couple of nights ago - ended up with about 2.5 kg of puree. A bit seedy even after the food mill - need my really good food mill from home to get the tiny seeds out.

Large Embroidery frame, or needlepoint holder + old white pillowcase = tamis... or, maybe one of those towels?

[Kerry Beal]

A timer that I can wear around my neck (thank you for the suggestion Andi) - as soon as I find a lanyard for it.

Lanyard= shoelace!

Cheap sack cloth towels from Value Village - I think the reason they didn't sell was that they say 'set of three' when they really contain two. Loses something in the translation I guess.

Large Embroidery frame, or needlepoint holder + old white pillowcase = tamis... or, maybe one of those towels?

Managed to find a lanyard attached to a memory stick - now have the sucker hanging around my neck.

One of the towels did yeomans service last night turning the yogurt into lebnah. Better than any cheesecloth - Anna's idea. And I have the whey to add to some bread dough.

Lost track of how to put the quotes in the quotes and will try to stop editing now!

Edited July 11, 2010 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Anna N]

.....

Large Embroidery frame, or needlepoint holder + old white pillowcase = tamis... or, maybe one of those towels?

Well now that's a bright idea! Even I will have to give that a try. Somewhere I even have an embroidery hoop and they are easily found at thrift stores.

[Kerry Beal]

First attempt with the Mini Big Green Egg. A few growing pains - glad I took Anna's advice and started with something simple.

The felt needs to be replaced - having fallen off half way through the warm up. I needed to add more charcoal to get the sucker up to temperature - but I managed to grill a nice steak.

[Kerry Beal]

So decided to use the residual heat in the Egg to bake a loaf of the Artisan Rye that I put together yesterday.

Apparently one of the issues with the mini BGE is controlling indirect heat - I'm going to have to rig something up as a diffuser. The top of the loaf looks great, but the bottom was a tad brown!

[Chris Hennes]

Just a tad! Is this an issue with all the BGE's, Kerry, or just with the mini one?

[Kerry Beal]

Just a tad! Is this an issue with all the BGE's, Kerry, or just with the mini one?

I think it's more with the mini ones. As I understand it the larger ones have both a way of splitting the fire box and a diffuser to help.

Not sure if they make a diffuser for the mini or if I will have to jury rig something.

[djyee100]

I'm enjoying this thread, thanks for the pix and posts.

I welcome suggestions on what to do with marjoram - as it's not an herb I use for anything right now.

Marjoram's similar to but milder than oregano, so you can substitute it in anything where you might use oregano, like spaghetti sauce or pizza topping.

It also goes well with string beans or cooked dried beans in a bean salad with olive oil or vinaigrette.

I've baked the Marjoram Cornbread from Jerry Traunfeld's Herbfarm cookbook, & liked it. An adapted recipe (same ingredients) is here:

http://www.emmitsburg.net/gardens/recipes/marjoram_corn_bread%20.htm

Years ago I used to buy Oreganato, one of Peter Reinhart's breads from his Brother Juniper's Bakery. I liked that bread, but it was discontinued from production--I suspect because people can find oregano overpowering. But with marjoram, I think that bread would be even better than the original Oreganato. It's great with sandwiches, like an roasted eggplant, tomato, mozzarella sandwich with a drizzle of vinaigrette. I suggest reducing the garlic and black pepper in the recipe to match the milder taste of marjoram. The recipe is available on Googlebooks, Page 76

http://books.google.com/books?id=t8uxaPHAh_kC&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=brother+juniper%27s+oreganato&source=bl&ots=SPKiCNsNso&sig=rCbyFm2xUF92VPrFOcqbFuGNGKg&hl=en&ei=vog7TPOqEo-gsQOh8b3aCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=brother%20juniper%27s%20oreganato&f=false

Last but not least, I remember baking a Shaker recipe for an herb bread, with sage, rosemary, dill, and a pinch of cloves or nutmeg. No reason why you can't do an herb bread with any extra herbs you have lying around. That hint of spice in the herb bread was intriguing, too.

[Kerry Beal]

I'm enjoying this thread, thanks for the pix and posts.

I welcome suggestions on what to do with marjoram - as it's not an herb I use for anything right now.

Marjoram's similar to but milder than oregano, so you can substitute it in anything where you might use oregano, like spaghetti sauce or pizza topping.

It also goes well with string beans or cooked dried beans in a bean salad with olive oil or vinaigrette.

I've baked the Marjoram Cornbread from Jerry Traunfeld's Herbfarm cookbook, & liked it. An adapted recipe (same ingredients) is here:

http://www.emmitsburg.net/gardens/recipes/marjoram_corn_bread%20.htm

Years ago I used to buy Oreganato, one of Peter Reinhart's breads from his Brother Juniper's Bakery. I liked that bread, but it was discontinued from production--I suspect because people can find oregano overpowering. But with marjoram, I think that bread would be even better than the original Oreganato. It's great with sandwiches, like an roasted eggplant, tomato, mozzarella sandwich with a drizzle of vinaigrette. I suggest reducing the garlic and black pepper in the recipe to match the milder taste of marjoram. The recipe is available on Googlebooks, Page 76

http://books.google.com/books?id=t8uxaPHAh_kC&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=brother+juniper%27s+oreganato&source=bl&ots=SPKiCNsNso&sig=rCbyFm2xUF92VPrFOcqbFuGNGKg&hl=en&ei=vog7TPOqEo-gsQOh8b3aCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=brother%20juniper%27s%20oreganato&f=false

Last but not least, I remember baking a Shaker recipe for an herb bread, with sage, rosemary, dill, and a pinch of cloves or nutmeg. No reason why you can't do an herb bread with any extra herbs you have lying around. That hint of spice in the herb bread was intriguing, too.

Thanks for the suggestions. Not sure which to try first!

[Kerry Beal]

For rounds this morning I put together these Buckwheat Scones with Fig Butter that Marmish had mentioned here on another thread. I didn't have any port so I substituted sherry. Turned out well, very popular.

Cut a few slices off the halvah to take to work. In spite of seeing it for sale in stores on the island - only one person I spoke to today had heard of halvah.

Made a nice batch of chicken tikka masala (Anna's recipe and thanks to Anna for sending me up the spices in the care package). Just working on my 3rd little bowl.

Veronica - the honey lady - stopped by a few minutes ago and dropped me a 3 kg pail of honey. My next batch of halvah will have honey in it.

[Kerry Beal]

Batch two of halvah. Subbed some of the sugar syrup with honey, sprinkled some bittersweet callets about half way through and on top - swirled a bit. Needs work on the chocolate addition! Flavour is good - but think I'll up the honey to about half the syrup next time.

This one isn't black on the bottom! Again the artisan rye from Zoe's book - smells marvellous.

[Darienne]

Kerry, I don't know how you do it, how you have the energy and the drive to accomplish so many wonderful things in a day. I do stand in awe of you...I'll wager I have a lot of company in this one.

Your Halvah looks divine.

[Kerry Beal]

Was on call yesterday - so finished work at noon today. Picked up the rug rat and headed out to Burt Farms to pick up some meat I'd ordered last week. I wanted some chuck eye (blade eye for the Canadians in the group) steaks to experiment with. I'd also asked him to cut me some marrow bones about 5 or 6 inches long and split down the middle. He got a little carried away - in an effort to avoid having to carry all those bones out to the bone pile - and I ended up with 2 large bags of nice marrow bones - at no cost.

Then stopped and picked up Beth so she could join me for dinner and we could play in the kitchen.

Forgot to take pictures of the steak or marrow bones - but I've still got lots - so I should remember some time.

Baked off the last loaf of the artisan rye, then made this lemon poppyseed cake for work tomorrow.

Beth wanted to play with the Thermomix - so used it to make these Maple oatmeal scones. It's from one of the Top Secret recipes series - and is supposed to be like the Starbucks version.

[ChefCrash]

I'm loving this blog.

Kerry, what recipe did you use for the Halva. The color and texture look perfect.

I really miss the eG food blogs.

[Anna N]

So the Home team is falling behind once again! There was no cooking done on Sunday as my husband and I went to my daughter’s to sit around the pool and we were served a burger which, since it came midway between lunch and dinner, was all we ate that day.

Monday was not much of an improvement. In the morning I went to Costco to get this:

And a late evening app’t in Toronto meant that meals had to be juggled so I also grabbed a rotisserie chicken while I was at Costco. We had some of it for lunch and I made myself a salad with it for dinner. Being Monday my granddaughter was here at dinner time and she demolished two toasted sandwiches – a bacon and tomato and then she asked if it would be possible to have one with just bacon. She’s a skinny, active child who normally eats a very varied and healthy diet so I don’t worry about her Monday night indulgences.

Yesterday I had set aside as a “don’t bother me day” so I could prepare for tonight, our wedding anniversary. But that plea fell on deaf ears! An early morning email from dear friends in Montreal said they were going to be here last night. At least that’s what both my husband and I thought the email said! So, knowing they would arrive later in the evening I prepared the makings of a cold salad platter. I boiled some eggs, cut up the last of the rotisserie chicken, roasted some shrimp (brushed with mojo de ajo!) added some ham and the usual salad fixings. I also made up a batch of creamy basil dressing.

My husband’s favourite cake is a Black Forest Gateaux and I had decided to challenge myself to make one for our anniversary. Not being a baker this was a nerve-wracking procedure. But it appears to resemble a cake – that in itself is a first for me:

Then I tackled the tenderloin and here are the bacon-wrapped filets ready for the grill.

I rendered some beef fat from the trimmings and vacuum packed a couple more small filets and some scraps that will make fine skewers and/or fondue chunks for another time.

By 7:30 there was no sign of our friends and a phone call established that we had the day wrong! So we dove into the salad and then took a glass of wine out onto the front porch and called it a day.

My husband wanted surf and turf for our celebratory dinner but admitted that he hates the decision process – eating cold turf or eating cold surf. I suggested a compromise and so we will be having the bacon-wrapped filets hot and the lobster cold in a salad.

Today’s cooking tasks then are to steam the lobsters and make the dressing, assemble the cake and then take everything up to my daughter’s where we will eat on their deck overlooking their pool. She will grill some vegetables to round out the meal.