Mollusks

One thing I noticed ever since I started cooking: other than learning about food, I am also learning many new words.  Like mollusks, which I usually clump into the shellfish category.  They might live in the sea but they are definitely not shellfish!


Sautéed Whelks with Aioli

While I was cleaning up the kitchen cabinet, I found a newspaper clipping from August, 2010. It was the article on whelks and a recipe.  I remember at the time I thought I should save that just in case I wanted to make it one day.

Well, that day has arrived.  At T&T, there was an abundant supply of whelks.  At my next visit I need to find out if they are seasonal.  The preparation was fairly simple.  I put 1 tablespoon instead of the recommended half of garlic in making the aioli because it was a bit weak.  If you like whelks, this is another perfect summer salad.  Otherwise the snail-like texture may make you say, "Ah! Interesting.....would you like some of mine?" And that was Julius's reaction.


The aioli was so delicious, it must have a place in many dishes that await me to try.  I mean who can say no to a bright yellow sauce? 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/chefs-recipe-sauted-whelks-with-aioli/article1668646/


Clams in Cartoccio


Another simple recipe that required perhaps 30 minutes preparation time.  Until I tried to start our barbecue, when I realized we are out of propane!!  At least we had electricity for the oven.  It took a few try but a combined cooking time of about 20 minutes at 425 degrees, most of the clams welcomed us with their open shells.

The sauce was very flavourable and I decided to pour each packet over a bed of linguini.  It was perfect!

http://www.marthastewart.com/332783/clams-in-cartoccio

Whelks 8.5/10
Clams 8/10

Lobster Two Ways

My visit to T&T last night was to confirm that they have Manila clams and whelks that I had great plans for this weekend. As I was browsing through my favourite Asian supermarket with all the neatly stacked merchandise and exotic items, I realized I simply love being there.

As all my friends know, I am a deal seeker.  Also, my mother always said if I were to wear glasses instead of contact lenses, I would stop seeing at the extreme corners of my eyes.  Am I glad I was wearing my contact lenses because out of the corner of my eyes, I saw in the open fridge packages of some lobster pieces. They were $3.00 each, and the pieces are from some gigantic lobster and I am not kidding. Each claw was bigger than my hand.  Of course I bought 4 of them, not sure what I was going to do with them yet at the time.

I went home that night and cooked two packages according to Rick Stein, 15 minutes in heavily salted water. A reduced lobster broth was made too for what you will read about next.

Lobster Salad

Today was a record breaking day of heat here in Toronto.  And what a perfect day that I planned for a Lobster Salad.  I used half of the cooked lobster, the chunkier pieces, and also some shrimps along with the lobster broth, and made the best summer salad yet.  While sipping our Rosé wine, we almost felt like we were back in south of France.  Or was it just the amount of butter that we were consuming?

The fresh Boston lettuce leaves from Whole Foods, with roots still attached when purchased, were so fresh and crisp.  It was heaven.

http://www.chow.com/recipes/29307-lobster-salad

Lobster Cakes

"What else can I do with the lobster meat?", I thought to myself last night.  I flipped through Rick Stein's cookbook and saw a recipe for crab cakes.  I have never made any but I did not see why lobster meat would not work.  Another adventure!

I prepared them a few hours ahead and I have to say they were looking mighty fine. With half the lobster meat ($3.00!!!), I ended up with 5 well-sized pieces.  Not a bad deal right?

But then I had to cook them.  It was a better record than the quenelles but 3 medallions survived.  2 somewhat broke into unsightly pieces.  However, they were all delicious!

If anyone has tips on how not to break them during the frying, I would love to know.  Again, the tarragon butter sauce with tomatoes was a very nice side compliment.  Next time I will probably add some sautéed onions and red pepper flakes to give the cakes a little more kick.

http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/rick-stein-s-maryland-crab-cakes-with-tarragon-and-butter-sauce

Lobster Salad 8.5/10
Lobster Cakes 7.5/10

Tomorrow I will be shucking oysters for lunch.  More seafood this weekend, I cannot wait!

Izakaya Revisited

Historically, Izakaya in Japan is an establishment where Japanese men have a few, or too many, drinks after work with their colleagues.  Tapas-styled dishes are served probably to help soak up the alcohol so that they can find their way home to their wives and family.

Since we were hosting a small gathering to celebrate the relocation to Toronto of our dear friends James and Mark, what would be a better hors d'oeuvres to serve at a cocktail party then another dish from my Izakaya cookbook (Mark Robinson)? My guests would eventually need to find their way home too after all.

Sliced Duck Breast with Ponzu Sauce


2 boneless Duck Breasts with skin
1 tsp Olive oil
Ponzu sauce
2 Leeks
salt and pepper
shredded diakon radish
sriracha hot sauce or pepper paste


1. Pre heat oven at 400 degrees. Trim any silver off flesh side and pierce skin at several places.  Rub entire breast with salt and pepper.  In a frying pan heat olive oil to hot over medium heat.  Add duck, skin side down, sear till fat is rendered and skin golden crispy brown.
2. Transfer duck to roasting pan, fat side up and roast for 4 minutes for medium rare, 5 for medium.
3. While hot, marinate in ponzu sauce for 3 hours.
4. Grill leeks with medium flame until outside is a bit charred and the inside is soft.  When cool,remove outer layer and cut into bite size pieces.
5. Cut duck breasts diagonally slices and fold over leek, with a dab of rsiracha hot sauce.  Garnish with daikon radish.

Ponzu sauce is a Japanese citrus-based sauce, yellowish in colour.  I do have to confess there is a recipe for making the sauce from scratch but the Japanese grocery store, where I could source some specific ingredients,  is not as conveniently located as my refrigerator. There was ample ponzu sauce left over from the night of the tuna tartare.

The process was fairly simple, the frying of the duck took a little longer than expected, about 20 to 25 minutes. While the leeks had to be cut into smaller portions than planned because I was running out, definitely need 3 leeks for 2 breasts.

The first taste test was, how would I put it, underwhelming perhaps.  However, the breast slices were cut well and were medium rare.  Just before serving to the guests, my friend Dimitri and I were scoring it about 7  out of ten.

Cocktails and champagne brought me a better final score: the tartness of the ponzu-soaked meat worked wonderfully with the drinks.  I cannot wait to try another recipe from this cookbook!

Final score 7.5/10

My Trouble with Terrine

I have been trying various recipes for a few months and it was time to fail miserably in one.  

I have never even heard of the word terrine until an episode of  Top Chef Canada. How hard could that be really? I thought to myself. A forcemeat similar to pâté, according to Wikipedia.  I can be forceful, at times.

Prosciutto-wrapped Chicken & Leek Terrine

Since I do not own a food processor, I was able to find one recipe that does not require grinding of the meat.  The recipe does say it is for a keen cook.  Now that was the first warning sign.  The other one was that I was not able to find gelatine leaves at any grocery stores.  I found gelatine powder.

My grand mistake was not pouring enough of the gelatine-added chiken stock in each layer of the terrine.  It was looking great until I started the slicing.  Everything started to fall apart.  And there was Julius, Christina and her girls, and Lily and and Liam all ready for a great Sunday brunch.  I served something that resembled a leftover from days before.  It did not taste bad but definitely not appetizing.  There was one slice that somewhat survived for the photo.

The spiced pears turned out alright I suppose.  I will not be making this again anytime soon.

The brunch was saved by bagels and various store bought spreads.  I was thankful that was NOT Mother's day brunch.  For Mother's day brunch I made a simple yet delicious Pancetta and Egg salad to bring to Lily's, a Nigella Lawson's recipe.  Dinner with my mother was Roast Squabs, Crab and Shrimp Seafood Broth, Singapore Chile Shrimps and Foil-baked Mushrooms.  All repeated recipes from previous more successful adventures.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10214/prosciuttowrapped-chicken-and-leek-terrine

Score: 4.5/10

A Night by the Sea

It was just another Saturday night and we did not have the chance to be sitting by the ocean for dinner.
The catch from the sea came to us.  It was the next best thing.

Octopus and Shrimp Ceviche


Seafood ceviche is another one of my favourite food to order in restaurants.  My eyes light up whenever I see it on the menu.

Cooking octopus is a mystery, even after going through cookbooks and even the internet, seemingly no one can agree on how to do it properly.  From cooking it with cork to boiling in water or baking in oven.  I decided to try two ways and attempted to solve this mystery.

For one I cooked in the oven at 200 degrees for 4 hours after blanching in boiling water for 30 seconds.  It was cooked but it lost all its chewy texture, definitely not good enough for a ceviche.

The other one I simmer in water with one onion and 4 bay leaves for 35 minutes.  And that was my simple recipe in cooking octopus to perfection!

I also added halved shrimps and cucumber to Laylita's recipe.  The few things I would do differently is to watch the amount of lime juice in the marinade and not as much red onions. And 2 Jalapeno peppers instead 1.5.

http://laylita.com/recipes/2008/06/01/octopus-ceviche/

Tuna Tartare


Laziness does not make a good cook.  When I was at the sushi fish market I had the option of buying a filet of tuna or chopped tuna.  I thought the latter would save me time in slicing and dicing. I ended up with ground tuna at the end.  The flavour was still incredible, thanks to Rob Feenie's recipe but without the chunkiness of the tuna the dish was definitely somewhat off.


http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/recipe.html?dishid=3171


Onion Crisps

When I was away a few weeks ago I ordered room service at the hotel that I was staying in since it was in the middle of nowhere.  (Sorry Parisppany, New Jersey)  I ordered a juicy steak that came with onion crisps.  And I told myself I had to learn to make onion crisps.  Soon!

This turned out to be the highlight for the night. I was shocked how easy it was to make, as long as there was a mandolin for quick slicing.  4 minutes each batch and we had an amazing dinner.  I urged you to try this soon, what a great side this would make at a summer barbecue?  The onion-flavoured oil was good for cooking too!

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/crisp-fried-onions-10000001611641/

Ceviche 7.5/10
Tartare 7.5/10
Crisps 9/10