DEEP FRIED ENOKI MUSHROOMS

this is what they look like without the crispy pants

Coconut and Cardamon Panna Cotta with Roasted Coconut and Strawberries

If you have never had Panna Cotta you are in for a whole new category of mouth feel.  It is a pudding that made babies with a jello, in an indian restaurant....in the summer.  That about explains it perfectly.  I had this yesterday and a couple of the poeple I was with didn't like it. the texture was too off for them.  I however stood up and yelled  "bingo".  It is easy, and cheap,...have a go.

I took this recipe from www.thefoodinmybeard.com 

1 cup cream
1 can coconut milk
½ cup sugar
About 20 pods of cardamom
3 tablespoons water
2 ½ teaspoons gelatin
Coconut Flakes

Heat the cream, coconut milk, sugar, and cardamom(open the pods and add the seeds inside only) until simmering. Allow to cook about 5 minutes stirring often. meanwhile mix the water and gelatin. Pour the cream mixture through a strainer over the water and gelatin. Stir to combine well. Pour into greased and sugared ramekins and refrigerate 2-3 hours. To unmold, run a knife around the edges and flip onto a plate. Top with toasted coconut flakes and serve.

Chicken Mole with Dirty Rice

Chicken Mole is a crazy Mexican taste sensation that is so unique.  It is like the first time you taste Curry and you say, were have you been all my life...were is t he washroom.  With Mole it blows your mind that you can eat chocolate with Chicken and call it Mexican.  It is super dark chocolate so it is rich and roasty not sweet.  Add some heat to it and it is an unbelievable flavour combination that in so unique.  I want to cook this for someone who has never had it and watch the look on their face when they taste it.  I will post that too.

This is a recipe in this months FOOD & DRINK from the LCBO, a must have, it is loaded with great recipes, and it is free.  Many of the recipes I'm trying form it are adaptations as I am always missing something.  This one is no exception, but it turned out incredible. So this is my version.


MOLE SAUCE
2 dried Ancho Chilies (I substituted good chill powder with some Chipotle peppers)
3 tbsp slivered Almonds ( roasted till light brown)
1 medium tomatoe, cored and chopped ( I used 6 Cherry tomatoes)
Oil
1 Small Onion
3 Cloves of Garlic
1/2 tblsp of Cumin and oregano (dried)
1 cup chicken stock
2 tbsn Raisins
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup good equality 90% dark chocolate (don't substitute this for anything but dark)
salt and Pepper


THE SEARED CHICKEN
2 breasts for the chicks and 6 thighs for the guys.
oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 of chill powder, salt and pepper


DIRECTIONS


if you have the chillies fry in oil then add boiling water and soak for 30 minutes.
if you don't don't worry, I substituted later.


in dry skillet fry tomatoes till skin turn brown, careful not to burn
they should start smelling amazing, then remove
in same after tomatoes removed  cook onions till soft
add garlic, cumin and oregano cook till fragrant, 30 seconds.
return tomatoes and add stock raisins, and orange zest.  Bring it all to a boil and scrape up the bits from the bottom. 


Add the chocolate pieces and stir as it melts, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes till tomato is softened.


put in the blender with ground roasted almonds, and blend till fairly smooth,
This is were you would seed the chillies if you had them and add to blender.
what I did as I didn't have Ancho Chillies, I added 1.5 tblsn of chilli powder and 1/2 teaspoon of chipotle powder, you could add chipotle peppers or something really smoky to make taste amazing.  I also added a pinch of smoked pepper just in case it wasn't smoky enough




put in sauce pan and set aside till chicken is done


Lay the chicken out and cover with the oregano, chill, salt and pepper,
add oil to pan, get nice and hot and fry till they look amazing,
should only have to flip once.




when done, re heat the sauce and place it up.


I will add the recipe for the dirty rice in a bit.


amazing recipe, I will try it again with Ancho Chillies and tweak the recipe if I make any other changes.

GUMBO

CREAMY LEEKS

I see

 I see Leeks in the supermarket and they are beautiful, I just want to do something with them, I saw a similar recipe to this and thought I would try it. Definately a do again.

 

For the leeks

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
• 3 leeks, washed and sliced
• 2 sprigs of thyme, leaves only
• half a cup lactose free sour cream
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
  Grainy mustard
  fresh dill

1. For the leeks, heat the oil and butter in a pan and sauté the garlic with the leek and thyme leaves for 3-4 minutes, to soften.
   
2. Stir in the sour cream and parsley, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for a further 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
   
   For the croutons, I used Udi's Gluten Free bread, and covered it with garlic oil, fried it then chopped it up, It gives the creamed Leeks a wonderful crunch.
   
   
   

Jicama Hash

 

This is a great Potato substitute whether you looking for low Carbs, or have a Potato intolerance but are craving the tasty dirt apples in all their breakfast glory.

Jicama is a crazy thing.

you can eat it raw, it is sweeter than a potato and is reminiscent of an apple.

if you fry it it will always have a bit of crunch to it,

so I read online that you can preboil it to get the potato softness.

HOW TO

grate 1/2 a Jicama

Boil it in salted water for 15 minutes.

then drain really well, and squeeze the water out of it.

in a pan fry up some sliced onions (leave them in long thin strips)

with one Jalepeno and some garlic.

thrown in some green pepper or red pepper to give it that hash flavor.

a little S+P 

toss around till soft and a little carmelized,

Toss in the Jicama, a dollop of butter,

and flip it around in a heavy bottom pan.

and you will be amazed how great they taste.

Shoot some chipotle hot sauce on there.

and you have something to eat while watching the Emmy Awards.

Deconstructed Sushi Salad with Pan Fried Salmon

I'm back! I apologize for my 8 week ish break that I took, life has been crazy!

But I'm back in cooking mode!

This is the first time I have ever made this dish, and its for sure one that

I will make again!

Ingredients

-salmon filets

-red pepper

-green pepper

-avacado

-cucumber

-seaweed

-sesame seeds

-spinach

-PC korean BBQ sauce

-soy sauce

-rice vinegar

-sesame oil

-olive oil

-brown rice

-sea salt

1. Marinate Salmon, I used PC Korean BBQ sauce, but you could also use a mix of sesame, soy and brown sugar. Put brown rice on to cook, takes about 30 min, once done pour in a few glugs of rice vinegar and scoop onto a plate to let cool a little.

2. Chop all veggies in thin slices. And place 2-3 sheets of seaweed on cookie sheet and brush

with a little sesame oil and sprinkle with sea salt, cook at 400 in oven for about 8 minutes.

Take out of oven, let cool then slice into strips

3. Make salad dressing, I always make my dressings to taste, so its hard to give an exact recipe.

But generally it takes 2/3 oil 1/3 vinegar and flavour

So using sesame oil, olive oil, soy and rice vinegar and mix to taste.

4. Heat up non-stick pan to medium high, and place salmon in the pan. Sear it on each side about 4 min, check middle for doneness, and then turn heat down and cover with lid if its not done yet.

Also feel free to spoon as much marinade on as you want, because its delicious!

5. Assembling salad, start with a few handfuls of spinach, scoop some rice on, then the veggies and avocado, drizzle dressing over everything. Then top with seaweed, sesame seeds, and the salmon!

Enjoy!

STRAWBERRY LEMON ICEBOX CAKE WITH MERINGUE

 RECIPE COMING SOON

LOBSTER CORN CHOWDER

 

This is Adapted from a Martha Stewart Recipe

Ingredients can all be purchased for under $11 that is unless you don't have a few standards at home, even so to purchase everything is still a cheap dairy free bowl of hot lobster corn chowder.

You'll need

1 Market lobster ( You can even buy a precooked frozen one on sale)

4 cobs of peaches and cream corn (cut the kernals off the cob, save cobs for stock)

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

4 Garlic cloves (chopped fine)

1 medium onion (chopped)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Fresh chives

OPTIONAL - chilli oil, or cayenne pepper

cook lobster in 8 cups of water

take lobster out and extract the meat and return broken up shells to stock.
add the broken up cobs after youve taken the kernels off 

simmer for 30 minutes then strain out the stock and throw the rest out

in deep pan heat oil and chopped onion+garlic+kernels+salt and simmer for 20 minutes

then add 6 cups of the lobster stock and cook for 15 minutes

strain it all and reserve 1.5 cups of the corn mixture

purree the rest and return to the pan (be careful its hot and steamy)

add reserved corn mixture+lobster+chives+pinch of cayenne+pepper

and salt to taste

garnish with a drop or two of chilli oil and enjoy.

FISH AND CHIPS

I'm not a big Deep Fry guy,

but every once and a while the smell of fishies swimming with the fries in a pot of hot oil gets to me.

So I set out to find a Gluten free and Potato free substitute and impressed myself.  Once again you need the accoutrements to make this dealio worth while.  The homemade Tartar sauce and Slaw were killer additions and took this recipe over the top.

now for the Fish, I used Haddock

Make sure the fish is unthawed and dry, (pat it down so the batter sticks)

2 cups Besan Flour (Chickpea Flour-oh prepare yourself for when you add water this stuff smells like the little town from where it was made.....don't worry it tastes much much better than it smells)

1/2 teaspoon Baking soda

1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons of Pakora Masala Spice Blend You can buy this premixed
(or any combo of spices you like, recipe to follow)
mix the dry ingredients together until well blended then add water till it is thick yet liquid.
dip your fish in it and fry in peanut oil till golden brown.
enjoy.

Pakora Masala
teaspoon of each or so
Coriander powder, salt, chilli, dry mango, cumin, pepper, ginger powder
a pinch of cinamon, cloves, and mace, and a couple of cardoman seeds
put the seeds in your mortar and pestle.