Author Archive for admin

Killer Meatloaf

Published
by
admin
on June 8, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 9 Comments

No, this isn’t some reference to a bad horror flick from the ‘50, nor is this a post about a portly 80’s rockstar known for his power ballads. I’m giving it this name because it’s so good it will probably kill you. This is the most unhealthy thing I’ve come up with since I made that Cola Braised Bacon, but what fun is life without a bit of indulgence every now and then.

For those of you wondering why I’d risk a coronary for something that reminds many of school lunch mystery meat, you’ve probably not had a proper meatloaf. A good meatloaf should be firm enough to hold it’s shape, yet tender and moist, each bite bursting with flavour. The words watery, greasy, soggy or bland are NOT part of the meatloaf vocabulary. In my version I roll it with roasted peppers, bacon and hard boiled eggs to add little surprises when you cut into the loaf. Think of it like a juicy bacon cheeseburger with an emphasis on the hamburger.

For someone who preaches simple cooking I know the ingredient list is a bit long, but you probably have most of this stuff in your pantry, and if you don’t there’s a lot of room here to experiment with different flavours. Ginger Hoisin glazed meatloaf with Chinese 5 spice anyone? Unfortunately I’ve yet to come up with a successful veggie version of this, but if anyone has suggestions leave a comment.

What are your favourite flavours in meatloaf?

For those of you in NYC area, there’s a Beer ‘N Bloggers event in the LES, tomorrow evening (monday 6/9) at Spitzer’s Corner. I’ll be there and hope to see some of you there!

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Roast duck with mango riesling glaze

Published
by
admin
on May 25, 2008
in Dinner, Fusion, Poultry and Roast
. 12 Comments

Normally I could go on waxing poetic about the wonders of duck, but as of right now our relationship is tenuous at best. So to is my unflagging admiration of the Cooks Illustrated publications. I just spent over 2 hours of my weekend preparing what has to be the most complicated roast duck recipe ever and it just didn’t live up to expectations.

I should first start off by explaining why I love duck so much. Not only is it incredibly flavourful, it’s a self basting wonder-meat that comes out moist and juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside with little to no effort. Normally I’d just salt and pepper it, stick it on a roasting pan and pop it in a 350 degree (F) oven, forgetting about it until it is ready to serve.

My only gripe (if you can even call it that) with the ducks we get around here is that they are obscenely fatty. While a lot of the fat does render out, there is still usually more fat between the skin and the meat than I’m comfortable eating.

The other day, I was thinking about what would make the perfect glaze for roast duck. I was picturing a reduction of wine and mango creating a shiny caramelized sheen over the crisp underlying skin. Given my past issues with the fat content I also wanted to find a way to get the crisp skin and moist meat without the ticking coronary that usually comes along with it.

My first stop for any technique related question is almost always Cooks Illustrated. They’ll literally test hundreds of combination’s of ingredients, proportions, and cooking methods to come up with the “perfect” recipe. They’ve never let me down (until today), and I have to credit their publications for a good deal of culinary training. I flipped open my copy of The New Best Recipes cookbook and sure enough there was a recipe for “crisp roast duck” that promised less fat due to a 2 step cooking method. It seemed like a lot more work than duck is supposed to take, but I decided to give it a try.

To give you an idea of the Thomas Kelleresque amount of work that went into this recipe, you first steam the duck (to let some of the fat render out), then cut it apart, then roast (constantly removing fat from the pan), taking the breast out early then returning to finish. The roasting time (post steaming) seemed awfully long given that the steaming almost completely cooks the duck, but I was determined to see it through.

By the time the breast meat was supposed to come out of the oven (so the legs and wings could cook longer), the breasts were about 1/3 of their original size and were starting to look more like jerky than duck. I decided that enough was enough and glazed all of it and threw it under the broiler to try to limit the remaining cooking time. If I’d actually cooked it for as long as I was supposed to I’m sure I would have been eating cardboard.

While the breast meat was overcooked, the legs were still okay. The really disappointing part though was that the skin wasn’t crisp at all (probably because I took it out of the oven prematurely in an effort to save the meat). The only part of the recipe that worked was that the meat was less fatty than usual.

I read and re-read the recipe to see if I’d done something wrong, but I had uncharacteristically followed the recipe exactly as printed. On my scale of personal cooking disasters, this was a 10.0 on the Richter scale. I wouldn’t have even posted it were it not for the glaze that I made. Caramely sweet, slightly tart, and full of Asian flavour, it was about as perfect a glaze for duck as I can think of.

Next time, I do this, I’m going to try to steam it for a little less time (to get some of the fat rendering benefit without as much of the meat being cooked), then just stick the whole thing on a roasting pan to roast like normal. I’m also wondering if a slow roasting technique, like one you might use on pork shoulder, might work for duck (though I’m a bit doubtful because duck meat itself is actually quite lean without much marbling).

I’m not going to post the roasting technique since that part failed, but I’m curious to hear how you normally roast a duck?
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Stir fried lettuce

Published
by
admin
on May 19, 2008
in Chinese and Vegetable
. 5 Comments

I know… it sounds weird, most of us are put-off when the lettuce goes all wilty in a sandwich, but when the right kind of lettuce is quickly sauteed over high heat it makes a delicious vegetable side dish. It retains its crisp texture and the greens become almost fluorescent in color. The part I like best is that the bitterness of the lettuce fades away while the sweetness is brought forward.

When cooking lettuce it’s important to use the right kind. Soft pillowy lettuce like butterleaf isn’t well suited for being cooked. Your best bet is to use crisp lettuce with a firm stem like Romaine or Iceberg. While iceberg will work just fine, I tend to find its flavor almost non-existent, so really you just want to get a nice head of Romaine lettuce.
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Banana peel steamed pork and rice

Published
by
admin
on April 25, 2008
in Dinner, Experimental and Pork
. 20 Comments

Last week, I was sitting in a product meeting at work. Our CTO was eating a banana and as he set the peel down on the table it struck me that it would make the perfect vessel to hold food. Since then I’ve been mulling over all the different ways one could cook food in a piece of the fruit that’s come to symbolize rubbish.

I began to fantasize about fork tender hunks for moist pork surrounded by rice infused with the flavors of banana and the savory pork. Over the following week I decided that a Cuban mojo would make a fine marinade (although I’d considered using a tamarind based marinade).

My biggest concern was that the astringent taste of the peel would ruin the contents. Upon doing some research I found that banana peels are used in some regions of India to make chutney. I also learned that there are some nasty pesticides used on bananas so I decided it would be best to use organic bananas. Beyond that I found nary a reference to cooking with banana peels.

My first inclination was to roast them at a low temperature, but after thinking about it for a bit, I realized that the dry heat would make it take a lot longer to make the meat tender. I was also thinking that it could potentially render the rice inedible. In the end, I decided to steam the bundles.

As with most things one fantasizes about for days on end, this didn’t quite live up to the high expectations I had, but that’s not to say it wasn’t good. As expected, it had a fairly strong banana flavor, so if you don’t like bananas, this might not be for you. The meat came out incredibly moist and tender and the rice was cooked perfectly, soaking up the flavors of the peel along with the juices from the pork.

The next time I do this, I’m going to try serving it with a salsa… maybe a mango coconut celery salsa.

      

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White chocolate matcha mint buttercream on coconut cupcakes

Published
by
admin
on April 20, 2008
in Dessert and Party
. 11 Comments

Let’s face it, cupcakes, aren’t about the cake so much as the frosting. The cake is really just there as a foil for the tasty frosting (how else can you justify putting several tablespoons of butter and sugar in your stomach?). I’m guessing this is why frosting haters typically don’t like cupcakes.

The other day when a craving for white chocolate matcha mint frosting popped into my head (no I’ve never tried this combo before), I decided to make cupcakes to serve the frosting on:-) Thus began the search for the perfect cupcake and frosting recipe to make my dream a reality. I remember seeing some yummy looking frosting recipes over at Tartelette’s blog, so I headed over in search of the perfect frosting recipe. What I found was a rendition of Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Mousseline Buttercream… Perfect!

Now for the cupcake… I wanted something light and airy while still moist and tender. I thought about using a sponge cake batter, but they tend to be a bit less velvety than I wanted and I was also looking for something nice and white without much of an eggy flavor. After sifting through a bunch of blogs and cookbooks I found what I was looking for. The New Best Recipe cookbook has a recipe for an “all purpose birthday cake” that uses no egg yolks and is absurdly simple. The following is based off that recipe.

   

coconut cupcake (makes 12)
1/2 C coconut milk
3 egg whites (room temp)

1 C + 2 Tbs cake flour
3/4 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbs unsalted butter (room temp)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and move the rack to the middle position. Put cupcake liners into a muffin plan.

Combine the coconut milk and egg whites and whisk together.

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix to combine.

Add the butter and beat until there are crumbly pebbles and no powdery ingredients left. Add half the milk/egg mixture. Beat for about 1 minute or until smooth. Scrape down the bowl and add the rest of the milk mixture, beating until combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cupcake liners till they’re about 2/3’s full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer or small knife inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.

Once they’re out of the oven, transfer to a wire rack to cool (if you leave them in the pan, the residual heat on the pan will overcook them).

White chocolate matcha mint buttercream

1/3 C sugar
2 Tbs water
2 large egg whites
2 sticks of butter softened but still cool(1 C)
4 oz white chocolate melted and cooled
1 tsp matcha powder
1-2 drops peppermint oil

Put the sugar and water in a small sauce pan and heat until it reaches 250 degrees F. Swirl if you have to, but don’t stir. Use a wet pastry brush to wash down the sides of the pan if sugar crystals start forming.

Meanwhile beat the egg whites until firm peaks form. With the mixer on medium, slowly pour the sugar mixture down the side of the mixer bowl (careful not to pour it on the whisk directly or you’ll splatter really hot syrup all over the place). Whisk until the egg whites have cooled off.

Add the butter 1 Tbs at a time. If the butter is too cold it will clump, but don’t worry, just turn up the mixer a little and it will smooth out. If the butter is too warm, it will look runny, but again don’t worry, by the time you’re done adding butter it will firm up.

Add the cooled melted chocolate, the matcha powder and a drop or two of peppermint oil (this stuff is potent, and you don’t want it to overpower the matcha) and whisk on high until smooth and fluffy. If it still looks too loose, put the whole bowl in the fridge for a few minutes then whisk it some more.

Spoon or pipe a good dollop of frosting on each cupcake and serve.

Update: I submitted this to Sugar High Friday… this month’s theme: Asian Invasion, hosted by La Petite Boulangette. Thanks for the tip Brittany!

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