North Again – the Tradition Continues

[Anna N]

So tonight I cooked the duck breasts. We each had one. I drizzled mine with saba and Kerry made a pan sauce for hers from duck stock and saba. Apologies for the blurry photo:

This made a lovely snack but didn't quite fill the void for either of us. So while Kerry rushed off to deal with an emergency I made myself some cheese and walnut bread. These are odds and ends I brought with me: a 15 month old comte, a Lancashire, an Ontario Comfort Cream, and an Iberico:

[Porthos]

Anna, thanks for the recipe. It's already been converted into a Word document (that's how I do all recipes) and saved to my hard disk. Just as soon as this 100+ degree weather breaks I will be giving it a try (I'm not turning the oven on for anything right now). Again, thanks.

[FauxPas]

I absolutely LURVE reading your posts! Happy Belated Birthday, Kerry!

How long are the two of you in Manitoulin this time? I hope the weather improves for you.

Looking forward to reading your adventures - how do you find so much time in the day? - you seem to accomplish so much in the time you are there, and with being on call, etc. Wow.

The locals must look forward to your visits, knowing that you will be bringing goodies to the rounds, etc.

[Kerry Beal]

Two weeks this trip. It goes by fast!

There seems to be more time up here cause mundane things like child rearing are being taken care of by hubby at home. All that responsibility will hit again when we arrive back home!

Those goodies become expected for sure.

Just working on a batch of brownies for tomorrow and hoping I don't get called out before they are done.

[lesliec]

Anna/Kerry, your tea cake is pretty much a Yorkshire Brack and is traditionally spread with butter and served with Wensleydale cheese. Recipes vary. Some, like yours, have no butter; others do.

The one I have starts with hot tea poured over the fruit and left to steep overnight, with 100ml of rum or whisky added after 10 minutes or so, once the mix has cooled a bit. Then the next day the sugar and flour is added.

I don't recommend a single malt for this. I tried some Talisker (I know, sacrilege) and it was a shade too smoky - interesting, though. I'll try a nice dark rum next time.

[janeer]

Happy Birthday, Kerry! And I'm so excited; I love it when you guys do this. You are cooking fiends. I will be interested in hearing, at the end, what your really think of MC.

[Anna N]

I have an ambitious day ahead of me. The teff starter has been fermenting for five days and should now be ready to make injera.

The last thing one must do with the starter is to give it a good final feeding and a stir and then let it ferment for a further four hours. Of course if one is to make injera one needs something scoopable to use it with! Kerry had picked up some ground beef destined to be used in place of lamb for Turkish lahmacun but it will now have to serve in a non-traditional loose stew that can be scooped up by portions of injera (I am optimistic enough to believe I will successfully master injera!)

Also while at the grocery store yesterday Kerry grabbed some chicken wings for me. Today I hope to manage the first step in MCAH -- getting them through the first cooking and de-boning stage before ultimately turning them into boneless yakitori wings.

Then I must not forget the duck stock and duck legs in the fridge waiting to be turned into MCAH's Braised Duck in Steamed Buns. The buns I made yesterday are in the freezer. And of course we really need some cucumber pickles for these sandwhiches and I forgot to ask Kerry to grab these while she was at the store.

Edited to add about last supper for teff.

Edited October 18, 2012 by Anna N (log)

[Anna N]

Anna/Kerry, your tea cake is pretty much a Yorkshire Brack and is traditionally spread with butter and served with Wensleydale cheese. Recipes vary. Some, like yours, have no butter; others do.

The one I have starts with hot tea poured over the fruit and left to steep overnight, with 100ml of rum or whisky added after 10 minutes or so, once the mix has cooled a bit. Then the next day the sugar and flour is added.

I don't recommend a single malt for this. I tried some Talisker (I know, sacrilege) and it was a shade too smoky - interesting, though. I'll try a nice dark rum next time.

Well I was born and raised in Derbyshire so a little border leakage would not be at all surprising. Dark rum sounds like an excellent idea. Thank you for sharing.

[Kerry Beal]

Told ya we needed the cucumbers that first time in the grocery store - didn't I? But you said there are only so many things we can cook at once!

Anyway I cut my brownies this morning - they aren't much to look at in the pan - but they are a very dense moist brownie. The recipe was actually for a thin chewy cookie - I wasn't happy with any of the brownie recipes I'd been trying so I adapted the cookie recipe. I usually use pecans and I'll bet if I really dug I could find some - but walnuts were close to hand. I add in some extra dark and milk chocolate bits with the walnuts.

[Kerry Beal]

This morning's breakfast - a couple of very thin slices of Anna's walnut bread, toasted and topped with the spread she made out of the failed attempt at cheese the other day. It was a dry small curd (she was after big curd for mozzarella) mixed with herbs and GARLIC. Lots of GARLIC. Should make me interesting to be around this morning.

[Kerry Beal]

Anna's 'mess-in-place' for the several things she is working on today. This was just after she took the lid off the coffee/spice grinder that was still running!

[MelissaH]

This morning's breakfast - a couple of very thin slices of Anna's walnut bread, toasted and topped with the spread she made out of the failed attempt at cheese the other day. It was a dry small curd (she was after big curd for mozzarella) mixed with herbs and GARLIC. Lots of GARLIC. Should make me interesting to be around this morning.

Just tell everyone that it's close to Halloween, and you're just making sure there aren't any vampires hanging around this morning.

MelissaH

[rotuts]

what is the white w patterns upright device mid-upper R ? a hot water dispenser?

[Kerry Beal]

what is the white w patterns upright device mid-upper R ? a hot water dispenser?

Yup - it's a 3 litre water heater - means I can have a cup of tea at the drop of a hat! The kettle up here tends to spark and you have to wait for it.

[lancastermike]

If I ever need hospitaization I believe I am going to wait till Kerry goes north so I can eat what she brings on rounds.

Another wonderful report on her and Anna's trip to the great North.

[Anna N]

So I forgot the first rule of spice grinding - do not remove lid until the blade stops spinning. Consequently I spent half an hour trying to clean up the mess. When you share a kitchen "clean as you go" morphs from a virtuous habit into a full-blown obssession.

However, I recovered somewhat by using the spice-splattered butter to brown the ground beef and the onions for the Ethiopian stew.

With the Ethiopian stew simmering I turned my attention back to the duck thighs which had been pressure cooked in stock for 30 minutes.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of duck meat I was able to get from two small legs.

A small taste of the stew is encouraging. Needs a bit more time and a bit of thickening. Shall I fall back on flour/chickpea flour/cornstarch or go where I have never been before and use xanthan gum?

[Anna N]

While the duck stock and hoisin sauce reduce on the stovetop:

I am going to prep the wings for yakitori wings:

This is a somewhat fiddling procedure as only the forewings are used (the bit between the wingtip and the drumette) and the bones are loosened with a knife to facilitate boning them out after they have been sous-vided. The wingtips will be saved for stock and the drumettes for another MCAH recipe.

[KennethT]

If you use xanthan, tread LIGHTLY!!! It's amazing how little you need before things turn into a mucousy mess... Plus, I've found it takes a little while to hydrate, so if you're adding by eye, go little by little and give some time inbetween to see the full strength... and, to see how thick it is, don't keep stirring - let it sit for a bit, then when you stir once you can see how thick it is.

[lancastermike]

If you use xanthan, tread LIGHTLY!!! It's amazing how little you need before things turn into a mucousy mess... Plus, I've found it takes a little while to hydrate, so if you're adding by eye, go little by little and give some time inbetween to see the full strength... and, to see how thick it is, don't keep stirring - let it sit for a bit, then when you stir once you can see how thick it is.

I must seconfd what Kenneth says here. I have limited experience with using the xanthan but I won't forget my first time. Was making a simple gravy and instead of a roux I tried a bit of the xanthan. My bit was was way more than I needed as I ended up with gravy Jello. A little of it goes a real long way.

Edited October 18, 2012 by lancastermike (log)

[Anna N]

If you use xanthan, tread LIGHTLY!!! It's amazing how little you need before things turn into a mucousy mess... Plus, I've found it takes a little while to hydrate, so if you're adding by eye, go little by little and give some time inbetween to see the full strength... and, to see how thick it is, don't keep stirring - let it sit for a bit, then when you stir once you can see how thick it is.

Well I did tread lightly--about 1/8 tsp to a cup of liquid but did not give it time to hydrate so it turned into "blobs". Fortunately I had used only a portion of the liquid so strained it and added it back in. We may thicken it a bit more later.

[KennethT]

I don't know if that's lightly enough!!! For a cup of liquid, I'd use a tiny bit - like what fits on the point of a sharp knife. To disperse, while whisking, add gradually and then keep whisking for a bit after... I find a good way to add xanthan by eye is to use a salt or powdered sugar shaker. While whisking, I add a small dash (that winds up getting scattered over the surface) at a time and whisk until completely incorporated. Let sit for a little bit, then repeat as needed.

[FrogPrincesse]

Thanks for doing this! It's always fun to read your adventures.

[Tri2Cook]

A small taste of the stew is encouraging. Needs a bit more time and a bit of thickening. Shall I fall back on flour/chickpea flour/cornstarch or go where I have never been before and use xanthan gum?

I'm a big fan of using "modernist" ingredients but I'm not really a fan of using xanthan or even most of the modified starches like ultratex for the purpose of thickening stews. I've come to the conclusion for myself that I like the results from more traditional starches better for that purpose. In some dishes, I associate the flavor imparted by the starch as part of the dish and miss it when it's not there. Kinda like using xanthan to thicken a gumbo or etouffee instead of a roux... it's just not the same. But that's just one arseholes opinion, I'm looking forward to hearing what you two think. The flavor release will be better with the xanthan and you should get a more pure sense of the broth uninterrupted by a more prominent thickener which may be exactly what you want.

As a side note, every time you two go north, I end up feeling like the world's biggest slacker!

[Beth Wilson]

I love it when you guys head North too! Pictures of the Island please :-) I am missing home.

Because of you two and your adventurous cooking on Manitoulin, I have tried food I never thought I would and I know have a shelf of cookbooks of food I never would have thought to try! You inspire me to get even more adventurous after reading about your cheesemaking.

Anna, I hope you will be posting some of your cheesemaking skills while you are blogging. I have been tempted to do it too but I never seem to have the nerve.

Kerry, any chance you are willing to share that brownie recipe? It looked like a chocolaty rich batch. YUM!

[Porthos]

Kerry and Anna, I appreciate your posts more than you will ever know. Thank you two for sharing.