Oregon

A reminder; when we land in North America, we use the State, Province, Territory or general region. I am full aware that Oregon is not a country!  We were delighted to be in yet another coastal region though....another excuse for a seafood dinner!

I had tried to convince the boys (I include Dad in the term "the boys") that we should do a pioneer, Oregon Trail kind of meal......Shawn said I was only thinking that because of the computer game we played in grade 6, Oregon Trail although he does not know what I'm talking about when I reminisce about this, apparently they did not play this game in Kingston. I loved “buying” things in the store, and trying to get my cattle across the country. He also makes fun of me when I talk about King's Quest; the game I always played on my Grandparent's computer. Does anybody out there know what I'm talking about??

Anyway, they were having nothing to do with beans and biscuits, not when we could dine from the sea.

  

Research showed me that the nut of Oregon is the Hazelnut (98% of the hazelnut production in the US is grown in Oregon) the fruit is pear (although, I came across more references to berries) and the mushroom is chanterelle. OK, I can work with all of this. And round it out with some oysters and mussels.

Using the LCBO website, I found there were 2 stores that had a beer brewed in Oregon on it shelves. The first one I visited could not find the beer. The second one had it; Rogue Ales' Pumpkin Patch Ale. Another location had 3 bottles left of a wine; Evolution by Sokol Blosser Winery.....and it was on sale! After 3 LCBO visits, I had my drinks.

The beer was actually quite nice, I wasn't sure about a pumpkin ale, but I liked it! The wine too was a nice surprise.....I'm developing a taste for white, and this was nice, crisp and refreshing.

The Menu

Appetizer: Oysters on the half shell while sipping on Pumpkin Ale. I even found Kumamoto Oysters, harvested in the Pacific Northwest, USA.....perhaps they even came from Oregon?

The Main: Golden Chanterelle Mushroom Soup and Pumpkin Ale and Shallot mussels

Dessert: Pear & Hazelnut Crisp

The Recipes:

Golden Chanterelle Mushroom Soup

Found the main recipe on cdkitchen.com I'll share that recipe, and make notes of the changes I had to make. The first one being, just how was I supposed to find (and afford!) 1 ¾ pounds of chanterelle mushrooms in Kingston, in January? Instead of the amount called for in this recipe, I used 4 cups sliced mixed mushrooms (oyster, white and cremini) and 2 packages of dried chanterelles. Each package produced about 7oz and cost $4.I don't want to do the math, but I  would have had to buy A LOT of the dried packages to make up 1 ¾ lbs. For the broth, I used the venison broth Shawn made. THAT is a whole other story.....one I'll tell in my other blog........it's coming soon. This soup produced a rich, earthy flavour.

•                     ½ cup olive oil (I used about ¼ cup)

•                     1 ¾ pounds chanterelle mushrooms

•                     ½ pound white mushrooms, chopped

•                     2 large celery stalks, chopped

•                     2 medium leeks, chopped

•                     ½ cup shallots, sliced

•                     4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

•                     3 quarts strong chicken stock (I used about 6 cups of venison stock & 2 cups of mushroom soaking liquid)

•                     3 fresh thyme sprigs, or 1 tsp dried

•                     2 bay leaves

•                     salt & pepper

•                     inner leaves of one bunch of celery, chopped

In a heavy-bottomed 4-quart saucepan (I used my beautiful new Le Creseut I got for Christmas!) heat olive oil. Add mushrooms, stirring for about 5 minutes. Add celery, leeks, shallots and garlic stirring until all vegetable juice has evaporated and mushrooms start to brown, approximately 15 minutes. Add stock, stir, add thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer for 60-90 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool. Blend most of the soup your favourite way (If you don't have a hand held submersible blender, you should ask someone to get you one!) Season with salt & pepper. Garnish with celery leaves.

A side note: we told the boys the soup was made with venison (not a lie......if we told them it was made with mushrooms, they would have said it was yucky) They tasted, and loved! Even after we told them that it was mushroom soup, and the chunks they ate were not venison, they still had seconds!

Pear Hazelnut Crisp

Shawn really likes my apple crisp (and I don't just think he's saying that because he has to) But, my crisp calls for wheat  flour, and he is not eating wheat. This recipe I made up totally on my own, based on my apple crisp recipe, that I probably learned from my Mom.

•                     6 pears, peeled and sliced

•                     1 cup oats

•                     ¾ cup brown sugar

•                     ¼ cup rice flour

•                     ½ toasted hazelnuts; grind them up in a coffee grinder or food processor until you get a flour like consistency

•                     ½ butter, chopped into ½ pieces

•                     handful of toasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

Arrange pears in bottom of a baking dish. In another bowl, combine oats, sugar, rice flour and hazelnut flour. With your hands, work the butter in, until you have a nice crumbly “mess” with small bits of butter showing, but all dry ingredients are incorporated. Spread crumble over pears, and sprinkle chopped hazelnuts on top. Bake at 350F for 30-45 minutes, depending on how crunchy (or mushy) you like the pears. A bit of bite to them is nice; the top should be nicely browned.

Yugoslavia

I was a good high school student. Rarely did I skip class, I always did my homework,  joined clubs (I wasn't much of an athlete; was always given the position of “manager”) and was respectful to my teachers. Much of my behaviour was because of my mother.....I was too afraid of her wrath if I  strayed (those of you who went to high school with me can vouch for all of the above statements, including the one about my mother!) I got pretty good grades, and I worked hard for them. So, I still can't figure out just how I managed to miss the fact that Yugoslavia is no longer a country. I should have learned this is either geography, or at least world issues. Well, I guess the map in the kids room is a few years old!

Researching this meal was a bit challenging, as there is very little on the Internet regarding Yugoslavian cuisine. So we then looked at the 6 countries that make up the old Yugoslavia (Macedonia, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and M....)  for some inspiration. Here is the menu we put together:

Appetizer: Cevapici with Ajvar the one “classic” Yugoslavian dish I was able to find.

Main Course: Leskovaccka Muchkalica (Pork & Paprika stew)

Dessert: Tufahije (Bosnian Poached Apple)

Even harder than researching the meal, was finding something to drink! After harassing the good folks at 3 different LCBO's (and discovering their on line search engine, complete with inventory and location) I was able to find a wine from both Croatia & Macedonia. I also splurged on a on a treat from Serbia, Stara Sokolova Medovina; a plum & honey liqueur that “strikes a perfect chord between the honey of the Mediteranean and plum brandy. Every sip opens with the bright, natural sweetness of honey and is filled in by the full, fruity base of the underlying spirit” It was very nice with dessert, and I enjoyed another couple of sips in a hot bubble bath days later.

The Recipies

Cevapcici- Basically a skin-less sausage made up of a combination of meats. I found a few different recipes and merged them together to come up with this:

•                     1lb ground pork

•                     1lb ground beef

(use any combination of meats you'd like, lamb was in many of the recipes I came across)

•                     1 minced onion

•                     3-4 cloves minced garlic

•                     handful of minced fresh parsley

•                     1 tsp baking soda

•                     1 egg, beaten

•                     ½ tsp each: paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt, pepper

Combine all ingredients. Shape the meat into finger like sausages, about 4” long. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Heat some oil in a large non-stick pan. Cook sausages, turning until done. Many recipes called for cooking on the grill, which I would have done if it wasn't winter.

Serve as an appetizer with a side of Ajvar for dipping (which we did) Would also be nice in a pita with the Ajvar, lettuce, onion and sour cream or tzatziki.

Ajvar- this was like a cross between baba ghanoush & roasted red pepper dip

·         2 large eggplants, about 3 pounds 

·         6 large red bell peppers

·         Salt and black pepper

·         1 garlic clove, finely chopped

·         Juice of 1 lemon

·         1/2 cup good-quality olive oil

·         1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley (optional)

Heat oven to 475 degrees. Place washed eggplants and peppers on a baking sheet with a lip to catch any juices, and roast until their skins blister and turn black, about 30 minutes.

Place roasted vegetables in a paper bag and let them steam for 10 minutes.

Peel off and discard blackened skins, stems and seeds. In a large bowl, mash or chop vegetables, depending on how smooth or chunky you like your ajvar. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add garlic and lemon juice, and drizzle in oil, stirring constantly.

Transfer to a glass dish and sprinkle with chopped parsley for garnish, if desired. Store covered and refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Tufahije- Bosnian Poasched Apples

I found this recipe on about.com; it is from chef Julia Jaksic, a New York City chef of Croatian-American descent. The dessert is popular in parts of the Balkan where it was introduced during Ottoman rule, but is originally from Persia. Whereever it came from, it sure was delicious! And I got to buy a new kitchen tool to do it right, an apple corer......or as Fin calls it “the apple core gun” How have I lived without this tool?

•                     6 golden Deliciuos apples, peeled and cored

•                     2 cups suger

•                     2 cups water, or enought to cover apples

•                     1 tbsp lemin juice

•                     ½ cup ground almonds

•                     ¼ cup ground hazelnuts (I used pecans, as that what was in the cupboard)

•                     2 tsp cinnamon

•                     2 tbsp creme fraiche or Greek style yogurt
•                     whipped cream

Apples: In a saucepan large enough to hold all the apples, mix together sugar, lemon juice and water. Add apples, weighing them down with a plate on top. Make sure apples are completely covered with liquid. Simmer on medium heat until apples are tender, but not mushy, about 15 minutes. Carefully remove them from the water, and place them on a rack to cool. Reserve the poaching liquid.

Filling: In a medium bowl, stir together nuts, cinnamon and yogurt until smooth. Fill the cooled apples with this mixture.

To serve: Pour reserved poaching liquid over apples, and top with whipped cream. Yum!

New Zealand

Wow, December can really mess up your routines!! It's been awhile since we've taken a “culinary trip”, and I can't remember where we are supposed to travel to next.  It's been on my mind, but I pushed it aside to go out for another ski over the Christmas holidays (we got the boys skiing!!!) but as we were skiing it came to me, we would do New Zealand! OK, how did I get from skiing (cross country at that) to New Zealand? Well, here's the route I took:

We were getting dressed into our Icebreaker (a wonderful merino wool clothing and base layer company, from you guessed it New Zealand)) and it occurred  to me that my order was due when I returned to work. (for those of you who don't know what I do to earn money, I buy (among other things) for Trailhead, an outdoor store in Kingston) Thinking of work made me think of wine; well at least the bottle of New Zealand wine sitting in the wine rack given to me by my Icebreaker rep. Thinking of that wine made me think of the bag of lamb Shawn received as a birthday present. (That's another story: one of the guys we curled with knew that we liked to cook, and on Shawn's birthday, which fell on a curling night, he presented Shawn with a bag or organic lamb that he raised himself.....really what guy wouldn't love a bag of meat for his birthday?...ok maybe a vegetarian) Anyway, thinking of that lamb and wine reminded me we needed a plan for dinner that night.....and well you can probably put it all together now!

We marinated the lamb in red wine, (not the New Zealand Flying Kiwi, but some home brew given to us by our neighbour)garlic & rosemary.

When researching for this dinner, I learned that Kumara is a staple, and was delighted to learn that Kumara was the Maori word for sweet potato, which we are all a fan of in this house. And we happened to have some (which no one gave or grew for us, theses came from the grocery store) I found a recipe for Kumara Salad. It was a way I had never prepared sweet potato before, and I am happy to report it got rave reviews. The vinegar offsets some of the sweetness, which was quite nice.

The recipe is below. For dessert, I made Pavlova. I know that I had already made this when we were “in” Australia, but considering there is debate as to the origins of this dessert, I thought it fitting to make it again. Besides, it is wheat free, and delicious!!

After the lamb had marinated, Shawn decided to cook it over the open fire......a very yummy choice.

Kumara Salad

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1” pieces

3 tbs vegetable oil

4 slice of bacon, diced

1 red onion, thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup white vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

¼ sugar

¼ cup parsley

1.Cook sweet potato in boiling water for about 8 minutes, you should be able to stick a fork in them, but still feel some resistance. Drain and cool

2.In a bowl, toss the potatoes with salt, pepper and vegetable oil. Grill them for 3-5 minutes until well browned. (we did them over the fire, if you don't have that, use your BBQ)

3.In a large pan over medium heat, cook bacon until they start to crisp, remove  to paper towels.

4.Pour out about half of the fat, add onions and cook for a couple of minutes, then add garlic and cook for a few more. You don't want anything burnt, just nicely browned, caramelised would be tasty! Remove pan from heat and stir in vinegar, olive oil, sugar and bacon. Salt & pepper to taste.

5.In a large serving dish, place your kumara, and toss with bacon  mixture, sprinkle with parsley and serve!

OK.....blog is written, floor is vacuumed, load of laundry in and there a 4 hours before the kids get off the bus. I'm putting on some Icebreaker and going for a ski!!

Afganistan

There were SO many options when planing this meal.....I wanted to invite like 10 people over. But it is Wednesday, not the easiest day to find dinner guests. In fact, you may be wondering why on earth would we be cooking up an elaborate meal on a Wednesday. It's simple, I am Wonder Women. Well, truth be told, I only work 4 days a week, and get Wednesday off. But, I'd like to think of myself as Wonder Women. Not the gal with the great hair who can pull off bikini bottoms and a belt every day (I couldn't do that ANY day) but just your average, run of the mill working mother. You know what I'm talking about.....you are Wonder Women too, or married to her, or will be married to her one day, and you are her son or daughter, or will join the ranks of Wonder Women one day too. So, thank the Wonder Women in your life (thanks Mom and mom-in-law), you both rock!) 

Sorry, I got a little side tracked there.

Being a Muslim country, there isn't a national "drink", so we took a liberty here, and made some Pomegranate Martini's. 

The menu:

   

We started with Boulanee, basically a meat and potato filled pastry ( that Fintan enjoyed for the rest of the week in is lunch box, score 1!!)

For the main we had Afghanistan's National Dish, Qabili Palau and Lamb with Spinach.

For dessert, we made Firnee (a cardamom flavoured custard) and Brides Fingers (kind of like Baklava)

We didn't care for the Firnee, but the fingers were tasty.

I will leave you with the recipes for the Boulanee, the Qabili Palau, and the Brides Fingers.

Boulanee

·         1 package square egg roll wrappers

·         Vegetable  oil

·         1 cup mashed potatoes

·         ½ tsp salt

·         ½ tsp coriander

·         ½ tsp cayenne pepper

·         ½ bunch chopped cilantro

·         4 green onions, chopped

·         1 lb ground beef

·         ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1. Add salt coriander, cayenne pepper, cilantro and green onion to mashed potatoes and mix.
2. Brown ground beef with pepper,salt and coriander.
3. Mix ground beef with mashed potatoes. Let cool.
4. Take an egg roll wrapper and place a spoon full of filling in the middle.
5. Wet the edges of the wrapper and close, making a triangle.
6. Fold the ends of the triangle into the pastry, making a small envelope. Flatten with your hand.
7. Heat oil and fry the boulanee until brown on both sides, about 4–5 minutes.

Qabili Palau

This was a super yummy rice dish, enjoyed by all of us, more than once! I found the recipe on this blog

Afghan Culture Unveiled

Thank you!

Brides Fingers

Similar to Baklava, but super easy to assemble, Shawn "cheated" tonight, as there is wheat in the phyllo.

1/2 package (16 oz.) frozen phyllo dough, completely defrosted

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (optional)

¼-1/2 cup liquid honey

Filling:

1/2 cup almonds or pistachios, pulverised in food processor with

1/3 cup sugar

Glaze:

1 egg, beaten

sugar

Directions

1. Combine the filling ingredients.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 1 or 2 baking sheets.
3. Cut the phyllo in half crosswise and again in half, stacking the covering with a slightly dampened towel to prevent drying. Lay 2 rectangles on your work surface with the shorter sides facing you, and brush lightly with melted butter.
4. Place a rounded tablespoon of the filling in a line across the shorter side of filo that faces you. Fold the longer edges of the pastry inward, sealing in the sides of the filling, and roll the pastry up from the short side, forming a fat cigar shape. Place on the baking sheet with the cut edge down. Repeat with remaining dough.
5. Brush the tops of the pastries lightly with a bit of beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar.
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.
7. Dip the warm fingers into honey and arrange on a serving tray. Serve at room temperature.

Nunavet

There is some Arctic Char living in our freezer, not 1, not even 2 but I believe there are 4. A friend of ours, who spends time up in Baffin Island has befriended some fishermen. And fortunately for us, this friend does not own a freezer (he's a bit of a nomad)

After some communication with another friend living in the way North we devised a menu around “our” Arctic Char. The considerations were based on traditional foods (the char, blueberries, and bannock) and what they can actually get up there. And by get up there, I refer to the fact that their groceries must be able to withstand being flown, dropped out of planes and manhandled often.

We took 2 of the char out of the freezer , with one we stuffed it with some chopped onion & garlic, seasoned with salt & pepper, wrapped it in foil and baked it for about an hour. We made a Blueberry Balsamic sauce for it (it didn't need it) and served  with roasted potatoes & carrots.

We finished our meal with bannock and home made jam.

To make bannock:

4 cups white flour

2 tbsp baking powder

2 tsp salt

½ cup vegetable oil or lard

4 cups water

¼ cup powdered milk

Mix all dry ingredients. Cut in the lard with 2 knives. Make a well, and then slowly pour in water until mixture becomes doughy. From here, you can make little balls and flatten them on a cookie sheet and bake for about ½ hour. You can also wrap bits of dough around sticks and roast over them over a fire. This time, we chose to pan fry them in oil.....we set the fire alarm off twice doing it this way, but it was well worth it!

We worked hard at eating a lot of the char, but alas between the 4 of us we didn't make a big dent. The heads, tails and bones of both char went into the big soup pot.....and we ended up with a big yummy pot of chowder.....which we called “Arctic Char-der” We dined on this chowder for the next 3 meals.

With some of the meat from the baked fish, we made fish cakes, well enjoyed by all 5 of us (we ran out of cat food, so Cyrus got a taste for a couple of meals)

But, the highlight of our Char experience, was when Shawn fired up the smoker, sliced the char, used the last little bit of our own maple syrup for a glaze, and smoked it.....

Jamaica

We're jammin' in Jamaica mon! So we threw some Bob Marley on the stereo, made a blender of Hummingbird, nibbled on coconut lime shrimp, grilled some Jerk Chicken with mango salsa with a side of Rice & Peas(rice & red kidney beans cooked in coconut milk) and finished with Toto. Was another fine tropical dinner on a cool fall evening.

Hummingbird (well, my interpretation of the drink, based on ingredients in the kitchen already)

2 oz rum

2 oz Kaluha

2 oz milk

1 banana

6 strawberries

ice

Blend, pour drink!

Jerk Chicken

I used the recipe from the Looneyspoons cookbooks......I have all 4 of them! Highly recommend them to any kitchen

1/3 cup green onion

¼ cup lime juice

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp sou sauce

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp grated ginger root

2 clove minced garlic

2 jalapeno peppers, minced & seeded (I used less to accommodate the boys palates)

2 tsp allspice

1 tsp thyme (I used fresh from the garden)

salt & pepper

½ tsp each cinnamon and nutmeg

Combine above ingredients for marinade, pour into a large resealable plastic bag with chicken (I used legs, the recipe called for 12 skinless, boneless thighs)

Let marinate overnight, and BBQ!

Mango Salsa

1 large mango, peeled and diced

1 diced red pepper

½ cup minced red onion

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

2 tbsp each lime juice & cilantro

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp

olive oil

cumin & salt to taste

Combine all, let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving

Toto

This was a dense coconut cake that was quite delicious, we served it with some sliced mango on the side. As Shawn is not eating wheat, I substituted the flour for 1 cup soy flour + 1 cup ? Flour + 1 tsp xantham gum....result was good!

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

cinnamon & nutmeg (about 1 tsp each)

2 cups grated coconut ( I used a blend of dried and fresh.....see below for tips on how to crack a coconut!)

2 tsp vanilla

¼ lb butter

½ cup milk

1 egg

lime zest form ½ lime

In our trusty, and well loved Kitchen Aid mixer

Cream butter & sugar

Sift in dry ingredients

Add lime & coconut

Add egg and vanilla

Slowly add milk, the end result is a fairly stiff dough.

Spread mixture into a greased cake pan and bake at 350 for about ½ hour.

My new sure fire method for cracking a coconut: (I learned it from the Food Network Magazine.....I am addicted to buying food magazines, I totally get hooked by the yummy covers, and the promises of having all my lunchbox dilemmas solved....they have yet to be solved by the way)

1.      Poke the 3 eyes with a skewer to find the one that is soft. Push the skewer through the soft eye, working it to create a ½ inch hole

2.      Drain the water, you will have to shake it quite a bit. You'll get about ½ cup coconut water (I used it to cook my rice in)

3.      Hold the coconut with a towel, and firmly tap with a hammer, turning as needed until the shell starts cracking in half.

4.      Split the shell, then put coconut cut-side down on a flat surface. Tap with hammer to loosen flesh.

5.      Carefully pry the flesh away from the shell with a butter knife (this was the trickiest part)

6.      Peel off any brown skin that may be on the flesh.

France

So, we never actually landed on France.....but we had taken a break for a couple of weeks, and I needed to get back on track, and thought France would be a great pick!
SO many options for this menu.....considering how much my boys (I include my husband in this description) LOVE seafood, I decided on oysters to start, and Bouillabaisse for the main. 
With the oysters on the half shell, I made a Mignonette, an amazingly simple sauce for oysters. The peppercorns and vinegar heighten their flavor without overwhelming the oyster's pleasing brininess.

Mignonette

3 tbsp Black  peppercorns, coarsely ground

2-3 minced shallots

2/3 cup red or white wine vinegar (I used red)

pinch of salt

Mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl and chill well.

Of course, I had a baguette, some brie and wine! White with the oysters, and the red with the Bouillabaisse.

Mmmmm....the Bouillabaisse....for the stock I actually used stock I had made with the lobster shells from our Newfoundland stop (part of the reason I chose France for this stop, really wanted to use the stock!)

And for dessert.....Creme Brule! We devoured the entire dish, I think it was supposed to serve 6

6 egg yolks

6 tablespoons white sugar, divided

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons brown sugar

DIRECTIONS:

·         Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).   

·          Beat egg yolks, 4 tablespoons sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl until thick and creamy.

·          Pour cream into a saucepan and stir over low heat until it almost comes to boil. Remove the cream from heat immediately. Stir cream into the egg yolk mixture; beat until combined.    

·          Pour cream mixture into the top of a double boiler. Stir over simmering water until mixture lightly coats the back of a spoon; approximately 3 minutes. Remove mixture from heat immediately and pour into a shallow heat-proof dish.    

·          Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or overnight.          

·          Preheat oven to broil.   

·          In a small bowl combine remaining 2 tablespoons white sugar and brown sugar. Sift this mixture evenly over custard. Place dish under broiler until sugar melts, about 2 minutes. Watch carefully so as not to burn.    

·         Remove from heat and allow to cool. Refrigerate until custard is set again.