Manitoulin test kitchen

[Porthos]

I did succeed in making some passable olive oil mayo once but I didn't care for the flavor difference. I and my DW are corn oil for mayo people.

[Anna N]

Dinner this evening was massaman lamb curry with lots of bread to sop up the sauce:

[Anna N]

That apricot chutney looks surprisingly purple. Is that a trick of the light?

Regarding olive oil in mayonnaise: Anna, you didn't specify the nature of your nasty experience (probably by choice) but Harold McGee noted that he couldn't get as stable an emulsion with olive oil as with vegetable oils. The last time I read about it, he didn't know why, but apparently it doesn't emulsify as well.

Sorry, Nancy, I must have not noticed your questions. The colour is surely a lighting issue combined with limited photographic skills. My experience with the olive oil was to do with taste. It was incredibly bitter. I think I had tried making it in a food processor. It was a long time ago.

[pastrygirl]

 

Also cooked in the steam oven was this flan - a bit of experimentation required - after a total of 60 minutes at 180 F - upped it to 200 for 30 minutes and it was done.  I suspect 200 for 40 minutes steamed would have worked perfectly. 

 

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Kerry, your flan looks beautiful.  No bubbles!

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, your flan looks beautiful.  No bubbles!

I was impressed too.  You should have seen the one that got away - it was a horrible mess!

[Kerry Beal]

 

Oatmeal Raisin cookies to take for work tomorrow.

 

 

[Porthos]

Your oatmeal raisin cookies look to die for!

[rotuts]

ditto the above !

[Anna N]

Good morning. Breakfast this morning is less than photogenic but it was tasty:

Beets with a little butter, lots of pepper and the remaining scrap of my gorgeous Cashel blue, all briefly nuked.

Ambitions for today:

Loaf of white sandwich bread

Banana-chocolate marble loaf

A) to use up some of the myriad ripe bananas we have accumulated

B) to assuage my conscience for buying The Art & Soul of Baking.

The tomato and green bean dish from SobaAddict's San Francisco bonanza

A beef and leek borek as a test for the Niagara Eggfest in August

Sous vide a strip loin for Kerry to finish on the Little Green Egg for dinner this evening.

You are all welcome to start a betting pool of what falls off the list and how soon that happens!

[MelissaH]

Gotta say: I'm enjoying this version of Manitoulin's Test Kitchen way more than anything I've seen recently on TV on the show America's Test Kitchen. Oh, you can send some of that borek my way for commentary when (if?) it's done.

[Anna N]

Gotta say: I'm enjoying this version of Manitoulin's Test Kitchen way more than anything I've seen recently on TV on the show America's Test Kitchen. Oh, you can send some of that borek my way for commentary when (if?) it's done.

But wait. Weren't you supposed to be coming up here to help with the dishes? Lucky for us the dishwasher is back in working order! Let's see how the borek tastes once it's cooked before you volunteer to be a tester. This is truly a first time for me.

Well the banana bread is in the oven, the filling for the Borek is all cooked and waiting in the refrigerator, the bread is about ready to go into the oven.....

[MelissaH]

My husband needed the car, so I couldn't drive it up there. And now that the dishwasher is fixed again, you obviously don't need me. Any chance you could bring that borek here to me when (if) it's done?

[Anna N]

My husband needed the car, so I couldn't drive it up there. And now that the dishwasher is fixed again, you obviously don't need me. Any chance you could bring that borek here to me when (if) it's done?

Okay I will accept your excuse for not driving up here but I could have used your help this morning if you had served as my sous chef! Never mind. It mostly got done and I am finally sitting down with lunch and a cup of coffee while I wait for my second wind to kick in.

Next up provided the phyllo pastry has thawed sufficently will be assembling the Borek.

[ruthcooks]

Lunch was a bit of a revelation. Yesterday I cooked some chicken thighs in the combi oven. There were leftovers which have been in the fridge overnight. As expected yesterday's crispy skin had turned to flab. In a moment of enlightened thinking I wondered what would happen if I put them back in the combi oven at the same temperature and with steam as yesterday. Really was not expecting much. Gave the thigh 10 minutes. Lo and behold the skin was crispy! Not quite as crispy as yesterday but very acceptable. I ate the thigh with some apricot chutney that I bought just because I'm a sucker for attractive, reusable containers.

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I reheat chicken, skin side up, in my toaster oven on the little pan that comes with it.  Set to "toast" or "bagel".  When the skin is crisp, the chicken is warm throughout.  Line the pan with foil, no dishes to do.

[Anna N]

I reheat chicken, skin side up, in my toaster oven on the little pan that comes with it.  Set to "toast" or "bagel".  When the skin is crisp, the chicken is warm throughout.  Line the pan with foil, no dishes to do.

I guess the point I was trying to make which apparently I missed altogether was how surprised I was that with steam in the oven the skin would crisp up when it was re-heated.

[Anna N]

I did not work linearly this morning as I so rarely do. I flitted about from Borek to bread to Borek to who knows what else. But in order to make any sense at all I am going to try and post logically. I will also make a number of posts as I am getting tired of losing everything with our wonky network connection here on the Island.

There are very few ingredients for this particular Borek:

Ground beef, leeks, butter, salt, pepper and phyllo pastry.

First the ground beef is browned:

Then it is drained and the cleaned leeks are added to the same pan with some butter:

Here is how I clean my leeks. This works only if the leeks are going to be cut into small pieces. Trim off the root end, the dark green leaves, and remove the outer grotty leaves. Now split the leeks lengthwise and cut into quarter-inch rounds across them. Dump everything into a salad spinner. Fill it up with water and let it sit for five or 10 minutes. Now I use my hand to swish them around vigorously to loosen any grit. Repeat a couple of times. Dump out all the water and take them for a spin in the salad spinner.

When the beef and the leeks are cooked they are seasoned and put aside to cool.

Here's the set up for the phyllo:

Line of filling:

Into the buttered pie plate.

I found myself with too much filling and improvised and made this small version:

Into the oven with both of them:

And the finished products:

[heidih]

Anna - good looking borek - gotta love phyllo - like magic. So no additional oil or butter between layers or on top? Is it generally eaten as is or will a sauce? For some reason I can see it with tzatziki!

[Shelby]

Nice tip for cleaning leeks.  I'll do that next time.  Thanks.

[Anna N]

Anna - good looking borek - gotta love phyllo - like magic. So no additional oil or butter between layers or on top? Is it generally eaten as is or will a sauce? For some reason I can see it with tzatziki!

Twas the easiest thing I have ever have to do with phyllo. No butter or crumbs or anything between the layers. It was brushed very generously with butter on top before going in the oven. No idea how it would normally be served. Since we were trying this out for the Eggfest that was not a concern. The plan that would be to put it into a metal baking pan and bake it on the big green egg.

[Kerry Beal]

 

Went out for a nice walk in Mantowaning at lunch today.

 

 

Cocktail this evening a Bitter Elder.

 

 

Anna prepared us a lovely dinner - a trial piece of bourek, steak, Soba's tomatoes and green beans and lovely fresh bread.

[Anna N]

Now that I'm almost warm again I will finish up today. It is freezing cold here on the island and will go down to 11° tonight.

I did take time out for lunch and coffee. This was a chicken sandwich with leftovers and some of the living greens we bought.

The banana-chocolate marbled loaf:

This and most of the borek found its way to the emergency room to feed the starving staff. It's just great to have a home for all this food so that it doesn't land on my hips!

[Anna N]

White bread wasn't quite as attractive today but still very good.

The ingredients for the green bean and tomato dish

Almost ready to serve.

And especially for rotuts

The inside of the borek.

So I accomplished everything on my list including the SousVide steak which we enjoyed for dinner after Kerry seared it on the little green egg.

[ElsieD]

Was that some sort of a pickle on the side of the chicken sandwich or just thinly sliced cucumber?

[Anna N]

Was that some sort of a pickle on the side of the chicken sandwich or just thinly sliced cucumber?

Yes. It was the last of the Danish pickled cucumbers. My contribution to our quest for fridge space.

[Kerry Beal]

Ok - the schedule this time with me working two places on a bunch of days is a bit annoying as far as baking goes.  I'm in the clinic and the nursing home today, the Wiki nursing home and the ob clinic tomorrow.  At least I'm one baked item ahead as I split the Lemon Bliss cake into two loaf pans.  Now to decide which place gets what.

 

 

Summer Torte with strawberries and rhubarb.

 

 

Lemon Bliss cake (loaf).