Manitoulin Unravelled

[Anna N]

It is 3 AM and I am wide awake and eating one of Kerry's latest iterations of Kouign Amann!  They are too, too good. There are many more in the kitchen. Pray for me.  

[chefmd]

It is 5 AM, I am wide awake.  No Kougin Amann in site.  Please pray for me too.

[curls]

@chefmd head on over to BreadFurst for your Kougin Amann fix.

[Anna N]

Well I made it through the rest of the night without a second fix. 

 

 

 Breakfast this morning was only slightly more sensible. An all too thick layer of butter on Ak-Mak crackers with some incredibly fresh radish slices. 

 

 

[Anna N]

 

You've heard of "circling the wagons" but what about "circling the dragons"?  Kerry painted these over a few days. I think they are awesome. 

[Anna N]

 So just when I thought it was safe to enter the kitchen again, after all Kerry had gone off to work taking her baked goods with her, I find this.

Isn't there something in somebody's Constitution about this sort of thing?

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

16 minutes ago, Anna N said:

So just when I thought it was safe to enter the kitchen again, after all Kerry had gone off to work taking her baked goods with her, I find this.

 

Hmmmmm.  No dragons left to guard them?

[rotuts]

I have a question abut these :

 

 

what's glistening on the bottom ?

 

melted sugar ? marmalade ?

 

no doubt you've posted your Rx.

 

Hint Hint.

 

shame there is not fresh lake fish in your area.

 

there used to be  of course a bazzillion years ago  at a fish restaurant just over the line from Chicago to Indiana.

 

On the Lake.   perch, lake trout  etc.

 

what a shame.

[Anna N]

 So I was surfing the web or perhaps leafing through books and/or magazines when I came across something called a Roti John.  Best described as an omelette sandwich on steroids it is apparently popular in Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei.  I mentioned it to Kerry and before you know it got added to our "must make" list. 

 

 First you cook some ground lamb or beef with some aromatics and some seasoning.  We picked up a small package of ground lamb  and this morning I sautéed some onions, garlic and the lamb, seasoned it up and set it aside.   This becomes the filling for the omelet.

 

There are obviously various ways to go about constructing this  but basically you take a hot dog bun or something similar and open it up without detaching the two halves. That proved much more difficult than one might expect. The particular buns we have not only separated at the hinge but almost fell apart when I attempted to crisp one up in some butter in the frypan. So if you would like to attempt this without tears you might want to look for a sturdier bun.  After you have crisped up the crumbs side of the bun in some butter you set it aside.

 

Now you take two eggs, unless you have eggs as large as mine, in which case you would've been way better off to take just one egg.   Beat the egg with some salt and pepper, a tablespoon or so of chopped onion and an equal amount of hot pepper such as jalapeño.  No jalapeños in the house. And those shishitos did not seem appropriate.  So again if you want to attempt this you might be well advised to check your supplies because those green chillies in the freezer may turn out to be not the jalapeños you thought they were.

 

To this mixture then you add about 3 tablespoons of the seasoned lamb mixture.  This is where some degree of dexterity becomes crucial. You are going to heat some butter in a nonstick pan pour in the omelette mixture and with the speed and dexterity of a seasoned chef smoosh it into a shape that will just cover the hot dog bun.  Rulers and micrometres should be left in the drawer where they belong.  You will attempt to do this while maintaining a heat level such that you do not overcook the bottom of the omelette as I did. 

 

Now comes the real secret. You must cook this until it just retains sufficient adherent power that when you turn your hot dog bun upside down on top of it the two will become as one.  Squish it all down for a bit until you are sure  they are permanently stuck together because now you're going to attempt to turn the whole thing over so you can crisp up the crusty side of the bun.  Once again it will be much easier if your bun does not fall apart when you merely look at it.

 

You now have an open book of an omelette sandwich.  For those versed in the intricacies of book production you will know  that this is called a spread.  On the left-hand page put a line of mayonnaise -- NOT Miracle Whip--MAYONNAISE.  I would have paid close attention to this directive but despite my best efforts could not find the freaking mayonnaise.   On the other side put a line of Sriracha (the one with the green cap).   Again I would've done so had I only been able to find the damned sriracha.  Almost there.

 

Now slice a nice fresh English cucumber (unless like me you have no cucumber in which case use radishes) and line up a regimental row over the mayonnaise.  Close the book.   Slice the book in half crosswise and serve. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Anna N]

20 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

Hmmmmm.  No dragons left to guard them?

One Dragon went off with a little boy and his brother, who did not get the Dragon, performed a wonderful  somersault for me!   He did however get chocolate.

[Anna N]

25 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

Hmmmmm.  No dragons left to guard them?

One Dragon went off with a little boy and his brother, who did not get the Dragon, performed a wonderful  somersault for me!   He did however get chocolate.

 

17 minutes ago, rotuts said:

I have a question abut these :

 

 

what's glistening on the bottom ?

 

melted sugar ? marmalade ?

 

no doubt you've posted your Rx.

 

Hint Hint.

 

shame there is not fresh lake fish in your area.

 

there used to be  of course a bazzillion years ago  at a fish restaurant just over the line from Chicago to Indiana.

 

On the Lake.   perch, lake trout  etc.

 

what a shame.

Caramelized sugar.  And if sugar is the poison that some claim my time on this route is now limited.  Or perhaps I should say even more limited.

Edited July 26, 2016 by Anna N (log)

[Porthos]

39 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 Isn't there something in somebody's Constitution about this sort of thing?

 

I would go with the "entrapment" defense. You would never seek those out on your own, right?

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

I have a question abut these :

 

 

what's glistening on the bottom ?

 

melted sugar ? marmalade ?

 

 

Caramel that forms from the sugar and butter.

[Kerry Beal]

 

 

 

Here's mine! Notice the carefully placed Miracle Whip underneath the cucumbers. 

[rotuts]

So, out of   ""  relish ""

 

?

[Tri2Cook]

7 hours ago, Anna N said:

 

You've heard of "circling the wagons" but what about "circling the dragons"?  Kerry painted these over a few days. I think they are awesome. 

I think they're awesome too.

[Anna N]

Kerry has gone off to pick little green apples. I smell an adventure on the wind. 

[blue_dolphin]

16 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Kerry has gone off to pick little green apples. I smell an adventure on the wind. 

 

I do hope it results in writing as entertaining as your "Roti John" description, which entertained me entirely!

[Anna N]

17 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

I do hope it results in writing as entertaining as your "Roti John" description, which entertained me entirely!

 Well Kerry has a few more challenges than I do. She had no sooner returned from picking little green apples than she was called back in to emerg to deal with who knows what.   Hoping she does not get trapped there without dinner.  

[Kerry Beal]

Naught more serious than a sprained ankle that insisted on being seen by me personally before she went home - perhaps thought that she might get better drugs! 

 

 

Prawn and tomato curry inspired by @Tere

 

 

Cucumber raita inspired by the leftover cuke in the fridge.

 

Naan bread - reheated in the CSO - eaten before picture taken.

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

Over on the IP thread there is discussion of cooking cornmeal for polenta. The website they are pointing to even shows a way to clean the crap welded to the bottom of the pot later. Being essentially lazy I decided to try cooking it more cleanly.

 

I took 120 grams of cornmeal, some salt and 750 ml of cold water, put them in a casserole dish inside the IP with some water under and cooked under high pressure for 45 minutes.  There must have been some boiling over as you can see the water in the bottom of the IP is cloudy with cornmeal - but the cornmeal cooked perfectly.  

 

 

 

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

Thank you.  Makes perfect sense as I've gotten some cooked-on rice when cooking (usually small amounts) in the pot, while the pot-in-pot method works better, though timing is sometimes different.  

[Okanagancook]

Brilliant Kerry!  Maybe a soufflé dish would have high enough sides to prevent boil over.

[pastrygirl]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

Naught more serious than a sprained ankle that insisted on being seen by me personally before she went home - perhaps thought that she might get better drugs! 

 

 

So we call you the Chocolate Doctor  and others call you Doctor Feelgood?

[Tri2Cook]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

Naught more serious than a sprained ankle that insisted on being seen by me personally before she went home - perhaps thought that she might get better drugs! 

 

 

Prawn and tomato curry inspired by @Tere

Which has now inspired me. I think between this and Anna's shrimp and corn fritters, I might be able to finish off the shrimp in the freezer.