Piggyback

I love bacon.  What I did not know was what place it has other than for breakfast.

I heard of this recipe from Michael Smith's show "Chef At Home" on the Food Network. Bacon, pork tenderloin, mustard and spices: sounded simple enough.

It was actually a lot of fun preparing the roast, almost like wrapping a present. A present for us!

Thirty minutes later and we had one delicious main course.

As you can see from that lovely juice which seeped out once I sliced the roast.  I can still taste it as I am writing this.
Between two of us, we ate the entire 2 pound pork tenderloin!  Piggybacking never tasted this good!

Pork 9/10

http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/print.html?dishid=12886#

Peking Duck Breast...the Challenge

It was 3:30pm on a Saturday and we had no dinner plans.  What was one to do? Peking duck for dinner, of course!

I always wanted to see if it was possible to emulate Peking duck but with only duck breasts that one often find at an everyday grocery store.  And this is what I learnt.

Peking Duck Breast

After looking through a number of recipes online, there are a few recipes out there but I had to say none had the final product that I was thinking of.  I again combined a few ideas and hoped for the best outcome.

I marinated with star anise, Chinese five spice, xiao xing wine, vinegar etc., similar to the one for roast squab. One problem was that I only had a couple hours to marinate the breasts.  Then, with a hair dryer, I tried to speed up the drying process.  I read that in the classic recipe, the duck would be poured over continuously with boiling ginger and spring onion-flavoured water prior to roasting.  So I did that for 5 minutes.  After roasting for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, they came out looking quite promising, but missing the crispy skin.  I then used a hand torch to toast the skin further to see if that would give me a crispy skin. It did darkened the skin further but it was  sadly not crispy.

The problem may have been these were Magret duck breasts which were quite fatty since these ducks also produced foie gras. There was an excess amount of fat under the skin.

They were served with spring onions (beautifully curled in iced water prior), cucumber and hoisin sauce.  We wrapped them in either Bibb lettuce or Tortilla wrap.  The flavour was a little weak and the meat a little overcooked.

Was it Peking duck? No.  Did we enjoy it? Yes.  Especially the next day!  Next time I really need to try a whole duck.

Shrimp Chowder Lite

This was a recipe I had been saving for a while. Unfortunately I could not find fresh head-on shrimps in my local grocery stores that day and I really needed to head home to start my duck.  I decided to use frozen shrimps.

The shrimp broth was weak even I used more shells and reduced from over 2 litres to less than 1 litre.  I would imagine with the heads the broth would have a stronger flavour.  I did try to do a "lite" version so half and half cream was used and only a touch of heavy cream.  This is also the low carb version without the potatoes.  The consistency reminded me of  Thai coconut soups but without the coconut flavour.  It was definitely light but had a nice kick with the cayenne pepper.

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Maine-Shrimp-Chowder-

Duck 6.5/10
Soup 7/10

Runner Ups to the Birthday Feast

Here are a couple other recipes I have considered before the big night last Sunday.

Onion Soup  à la Beurre Noisette

I have always loved onion soups, especially French onion soups.  It did not take much to convince me to try Lucy Waverman's onion soup.

Like Lucy said, it is the modern twist of the classic soup, inspired by the version from a bistro Parisien.  I loved the idea of the toasted chorizo but i did miss the onion bits after it was pureed.  The flavour was definitely right on but was a bit heavy for the Birthday feast I was planning.

I cannot wait to try a version without the puree and see how that turns out.  

Clams with Linguini in A White Wine Sauce

Here is another version of clams and linguini.  Again from the same cookbook, I have to say this may be a better recipe than the one from Martha Stewart. (See Mollusks from May 2012) One thing for sure I was able to see if the clams are cooked, one at a time in an open pot.  There were about 4 that refused to open at the bitter end.  I also added some canned clam meat to the mix to top up the protein quotient.

http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/RecipeController?language=EN&recipeType=1&action=recipe&recipeID=4041

The link is a very similar recipe by Waverman that replaced cherry tomatoes with onions.  This dish did not make the cut because I thought it was not special enough.

For improvements, more garlic and chili next time, with both tomatoes and onions.

Soup 7.5/10
Clams 8.5/10

A Birthday Feast

Even though it seems I have not posted much lately, I had actually been very busy testing new recipes for a very special dinner last Sunday.

My father, my sister and myself were all born in September, it has been a tradition that we celebrate together with a big fancy dinner.  Instead of eating out, I was nominated to host everyone for a change this year.  I was thrilled to try more new recipes and I gladly obliged.

The evening began with a charcuterie plate from Pasquale bros. with prosciutto, spicy sausages, gruyere, brie and fig cream.  I cannot take credit for it since I did not make any of those but they were all undoubtedly very appertizing.

Scallops and Spinach with Tarragon and Orange Sauce

I tested this recipe on a weeknight and thought it was very straightforward, like other recipes I have tried from Lucy Waverman's A Year in Lucy's Kitchen. The taste was simple and fresh, albeit not too exciting.  I thought it was a good dish to start the night with.

My second evaluation of the same dish would be slightly blend.  Ideas for next time include adding shitake mushroom slices, or shrimp slices, or caviar etc.

Sweet Corn Soup with Crab Meat

After 2 different soup recipe trials, this is the soup that was finally served.

Although the South African Mealie soup was a great tasting soup, it was too heavy for tonight's menu.  The more brothy Chinese version with home made chicken stock was definitely a good decision.  It was the most successful course for that night, even though it lacks the look of the restaurant version. Mine was more cloudy and not thick enough since I only added half the cornstarch.  There was, however, definitely no MSG!

http://joelens.blogspot.ca/2009/09/mealie-soup-with-crab.html

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/chinesesouprecipes/r/sweet-corn-soup.htm

Red Snapper with Mango Chili Shrimp Salsa

I chose to serve this as a third course because I could make the salsa ahead of time and red snapper takes minutes to cook.  Also, I had the most amazing red snapper for our final dinner in Lisbon this summer and I was hoping to recreate the experience.

For the trial, I cooked the red snapper on an cast iron skillet and it took over 10 minutes, not 4 as indicated on the recipe.  This past Sunday I chose to cook all 8 fillets on a griddle since we have a modular cooktop but it was still taking a long time.  My dad suggested to flip the fillet and cook on the flesh side as well and that sped things up, well probably too much.  A few of them were overcooked slightly.
Looks like I would need to buy a few more red snapper to perfect the cooking time.

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/617605

Pork Belly Ssäm with Mustard Seed Sauce

Unless you have been in a cave, you will know that Momofuku is hot.  After making a mark in New York City, it has arrived in Toronto with 3 restaurants at the brand new Shangri-La Hotel.  I happened to have a copy of Chef David Chang's cookbook, and apparently I am not alone.  There are many postings online where us home cooks attempt to reproduce his masterpiece.

If I had read them I may have chosen to alter the cooking temperature to a lower one.  I followed the recipe and the pork belly was burnt on the outside.  I was quite stunned since I have had another experience with pork belly and it turned out perfect. At that point it was too late to restart since the marinating took an overnight.  I removed the burnt parts and soldiered on.

The sauce was a saving grace and do I love sauces especially that day. This one was extra special for the effort in pickling the cucumber and the mustard seed.  A mixture of Dijon mustard and an XXX hot mustard from the best mustard company in the world, Anton Kozlik's Canadian Mustard, was used.  Grilled pork belly with the mustard seed sauce wrapped with fresh Boston lettuce (Ssäm means 'wrap' in Korean) is pure genius.  What a way to end the meal.  Only if they saw the burnt piece of meat that afternoon!  My poor father was so full by that point he had to force himself to have one serving. Well, he does not like pork that much either generally.

http://www.mustardmaker.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Momofuku-David-Chang/dp/030745195X

And that was my first venture into serving a 4-course meal. I would say my choices were good and the timing was acceptable, with the meal served in about 90 minutes. Until next time, and more new recipes!

Scallops 7/10
Soup 8/10
Fish 7/10
Pork 8/10

A Thursday Night Barbecue

Thursday nights are our family night that we all meet for dinner.  And what would be a better night to have lobsters and wings?

Grilled Lobster with Cilantro Chile Butter

Lobsters have been in abundant supply this summer and the prices are low.  In Maine, lobsters are cheaper than deli meat.  The medium-sized ones I picked up were at a great sale price of $9.99/kg at T & T supermarket, about $12 each.

I wanted them fresh and alive but I also needed to "prepare" them before grilling them.  After some internet research,  I put them in a freezer for 45 minutes, which supposedly should put them in a comatose state. Just in time for me to prepare the Panzanella salad and the cilantro chile butter.

After my experience with soft shell crabs and sea urchins, I was ready to tackle live lobsters. Maybe the freezer was not cold enough or that these crustaceans were ice dancers, they were still moving around a bit when I halved them. I apologized to them for my hungry family who was ready for some serious bonding over food.

The lobsters turned out amazing: butter makes everything taste good.  One minute on the flesh side to retain the juice, and 7 to 8 more minutes on the shell side.  The surprise bonuses were the claws which had no seasoning at all. Once the shell was cracked open completely, the meat was soaked in this sweet and salty juice that was simply to die for.  Never found in boiled or baked claws.

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Grilled-Lobster-with-Cilantro-Chile-Butter

Chipotle Mango Barbecue Chicken with Cilantro Chimichurri

This is a  weekend cooking recipe from the Food Network magazine and I understood why after the preparation the night before. Most ingredients were easy to find except for the chipotle chile peppers in adobo sauce.  My usual grocery store did not carry it but I managed to find it in the Mexican section at Loblaws,  I was impressed.

The preparation took almost an hour with all the cutting, chopping and blending.  It was so worth it. The sweet, tangy flavour with a little peppery kick was so complex, even without the chimichurri sauce they were divine.

I know things went well when my twenty-month-old nephew, who has just begun to eat regular food, asked for more of both the lobster and chicken meat .  He has a very specific developing palate and he always likes lobsters but not usually chicken. It gave me so much pleasure that he liked the chicken that night. Oh the joy of cooking...

(Apologies for the not so perfect pictures, we were feeling ravenous by that point.)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/chipotle-mango-barbecue-chicken-with-cilantro-chimichurri-recipe/index.html

Lobster 9.5/10
Chicken 9.5/10

Civic Holiday Weekend

Over the civic holiday weekend, our friends Erik and  José  came up for a visit.  I wanted to have a special dinner upon their arrival, after all, they have been driving for 9 hours form Brooklyn, New York.  Having said that, they may not be up for my usual culinary adventures with new and untested recipes, which sometimes do not turn out as planned.  The dinner menu was Panzanella Salad, grilled beef sirloin and ribs and cold cucumber yogurt soup.  I could not help but to test one new recipe with them.

Cold Cucumber Yogurt Soup

I prepared the soup the night before to make sure that it would be perfectly chilled and the ice cubes would be ready to go.  Oh those ice cubes with mint were such a delight!  Unfortunately it was not one of those nights that retain the heat from daytime, the melting ice cube would have added more minty flavour in the soup.

The soup was definitely a success, another new favourite for summertime.  The mosquitoes that joined us during our alfresco dinner, not so much.

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Cold-Cucumber-Yogurt-Soup

Grilled Garlic Artichokes and Gilled Skirt Steak

On the holiday Monday I had Lee joining me in the kitchen.  I had been planning and dreaming up an amazing meal of grilled lobsters until we arrive at Whole Foods and discovered that they do not sell live lobsters. Apparently, lobsters are not fed while kept alive in the tank and that was too cruel for Whole Foods.  Eating them is probably a lot more cruel, if you ask me.

At last minute we picked up a beautiful piece of skirt steak because I remember a recipe from Chef David Lee that I had wanted to try.  We also purchased some artichokes for sides -  they always seem to be the most interesting vegetable that one sees.  Too bad about cooking them

The last time I had the artichoke challenge it did not go very well.  It was a lot of work, a little to eat and just simply not worth the trouble.  We decided to give it another chance on the barbecue but sadly I had to say artichokes are better off as decorative items because they did look spectacular.  We followed the recipe but the leaves were hard and the edible section was minimal.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grilled-garlic-artichokes/

Skirt Steak, hanger steak and flank steak: I had tried them all at restaurants but I could not recall the difference, except they are fairly thin but flavourable.  I chose skirt steak upon the butcher's recommendation for that night, it was less than $15 for a sizable piece of beef.  Further research shows their great difference and I really need to try the other two very soon.

http://www.goodfoodstories.com/2012/02/27/hanger-skirt-flank-flatiron-steaks/

Chef Lee's recipe had stressed not to marinate the meat before hand, which I thought was a little odd.  I imagine the reason is to let the flavour to come out on its own.  The cooking time was a bit short too even for someone who loves medium rare, I ended up throwing it back on the grill for almost twice the time.

The meat was definitely full of flavours but there were some small tendons that ran lengthwise that were so stiff that required some snipping with scissors. Next up: hanger steak!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/recipes/david-lees-hanger-steaks/article4204167/

Soup 8/10
Artichokes 4/10
Steak 7/10

Cooking with Andy

My good friend Andy was visiting home after spending a year teaching in India.  My first taste of beef tartare was actually prepared and served by Andy many years ago.  What a better time to spend some time in the kitchen with him?  I did prepare a couple things ahead of time because they are best served chilled.  After all, hot summer days and cold dishes are the best combination.

Yellow Tomatoes Gazpacho

As most people know, I am famous for having the television on while at my "desk at the office".  Patients generally enjoy the distraction and I can focus on my work without having to have a one-sided conversation.  I mean, have you ever tried to chat with your dentist while your mouth was wide open?

One day on the Marilyn Denis Show, Christine Cushing was talking about her version of a gazpacho, with vodka. I could not wait to try it out for myself on a hot summer day. Considering I am still using a hand blender, my first gazpacho turned out pretty close to hers.  I did get a little excited and forgot to add the sweet onion.

Yellow tomatoes gave it a greenish yellow colour which I have to say was not the classic hue, almost a little unappertizing. Andy thought I was too light on the salt department too.  Perhaps I need a classic recipe for next time.

http://m.marilyn.ca/mobile/Segment.aspx?segid=35658

Pork Milanese with Couscous and Cucumber Salad

While I was on vacation with my friends, we took turns making dinner every night and each meal was a special treat.  Jon made a wonderful couscous and cucumber salad that I enjoyed so much I had to try it out myself.  I never knew "cooking" couscous was more like rehydrating it: just add boiling water and wait 5 minutes.  Again, I am shocked how something so simple can yet taste so good!

Last month I bought a copy of the Food Network magazine, I urge you to pick up a copy because it is full of excellent recipes and fun ideas like "snacks that taste better frozen".  It made me drool while flipping through it poolside.

The Pork Milanese from it was perfection.  With some cooking tips from Andy in coating and frying for 8 minutes ("Shake that skillet! Shake it!"),  we had an amazing entree.  How amazing?  Julius joined us after having supper already and still had a whole slice!

(Photo by Andy)

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/couscous-and-cucumber-salad/

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/pork-milanese-recipe/index.html

Gazpacho 6.5/10

Salad 8.5/10

Pork 9/10

I love summer!