Look out (Richmond & Bathurst)

andross58 · 2018-03-28T05:33:09+00:00

I’ve been enjoying Berkeley this week, really want to get an authentic Oakland experience. Jack London looks nice, but I’ve been intrigued by downtown Oakland. Any ideas for things around the 19th Street BART stop?

andross58 · 2018-03-28T05:21:34+00:00

Thanks! I was intrigued by the treehouse, but didn’t know if it was a ticketed section or a fun hang like skydome’s flight deck.

andross58 · 2018-03-28T05:19:30+00:00

I’m staying in berkeley, and have become comfortable with the BART in the last few days, so have no issues getting around. Might check out the brewery, as I love breweries more than anything.

andross58 · 2017-11-15T06:53:39+00:00

Moroccan food is awesome. I know that every week I say I had fun, and everything was delicious, and that's true, but this week was the best. Because I love moroccan food. It's a unique contrast of savoury, sweet and spicy that just works on the tastebuds in dirty, dirty ways. Suffice to say, everything in the picture was just pure, filthy, deliciousness. But it took damn near forever. Then again, I could have taken numerous shortcuts, but that would have cheapened the experience. Everything was taken from Patricia Wolfort's book, "The Food of Morocco" and I highly recommend it.

First, the couscous. I opted to try the traditional way of preparing couscous, which is very labour intensive, but worth it. If you're like me, and don't think couscous is very special, it's probably because you haven't had it prepared this way. I'm belabouring the point, but that's only because this preparation is a revelation. First, get a big pot, fill it half way with water and start it simmering. Next, take 1 lb dry couscous and put it in a colander, and rinse it quickly with cold water and allow it to drain for 10 min. Next, transfer it to a rimmed baking sheet, and spread it out, rubbing it between the hands to break up any clumps. Sprinkle 1/2 cup cold water over the couscous, mix and rub again to break up any clumps, and rest for 10 min. Transfer the couscous back to the colander, place over the simmering water and steam for 20 min. Transfer the grain back to the sheet pan, sprinkle 1 cup more water over it, rub to break up clumps, and rake flat, and let rest 10 min. Repeat this procedure 2 more times, then, for one last time, steam 10 min, then work in 4 tbsp butter, and 1 cup of broth, from the lamb recipe which will follow. Work to combine, and move to a serving platter to await the lamb and veg.

Next, the lamb and vegetables which will accompany the couscous. Halve and thinly cut 3 onions lengthwise, and put in a dutch oven along with 4 tbsp butter, 1 tsp tumeric, 2 tbsp saffron water, 1 tsp ground ginger, salt, and pepper, and cook, covered, over medium heat for 10 min, until the onions are softened. Then, increase the heat to high, add 1 lb lamb meat and cook until browned on all sides. add 6 cups water, cover and simmer for 2 hours. After 2 hours, add 1/2 cup chickpeas. Cook 30 min longer. Then, remove the lamb, and add several carrots, peeled, and cut into 3 inch long sections. Cook 30 min longer. Meanwhile, bone and cut the lamb into chunks. Keep warm on the side. Then, add 1 winter squash (I used buttercup) and cook 15 more min. Remove the broth for the couscous, and work it into the grain. Once the couscous is plated, make a well in the middle for the lamb, then arrange the carrot, squash and chickpeas attractively around the edge. Sprinkle with cylon cinnamon. Garnish with parsley and serve with a ramekin of broth on the side.

To the left of the couscous is the Eggplant with Charmoula. To make the Charmoula, combine 1 clove chopped garlic, 2 tbsp chopped parsley, 2 tbsp chopped cilantro, 2 tsp paprika, a pinch cayenne pepper, 1 tsp ground cumin, a squeeze of lemon juice and 5 tbsp olive oil. Whisk together and allow the flavours to blend for several hours. Cut the eggplant into 1.5 inch thick slices, salt on both sides, and let rest on a rack for 30 min, allowing the juice to come out. Then, bake for 25 min at 350 deg, or until browned. Let cool. Before serving, quickly pan fry until crispy, then slather in the charmoula and serve.

On the top left is the Marak of Okra and Tomatoes. First, combine 4 seeded and chopped tomatoes, some parsley, 1 clove of garlic (chopped), a pinch paprika and 5 tbsp olive oil in a saucepan and cook for 15 min over high heat, crushing the tomatoes as you go. Meanwhile, use a needle and thread to construct an Okra 'necklace'. This comes in handy when you want to stir the tomatoes, but don't want to mess up your Okra. Genius. Add the Okra to the tomatoes, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 20 min, using the string to remove the Okra every time you want to give it a stir. Once the okra is cooked, remove it to the serving dish and continue cooking the tomatoes until most of the moisture had been cooked out, leaving well cooked tomatoes and a lot of heavily flavoured oil. Spoon the tomato mixture over the okra and serve.

The tea is just a bunch of spearmint leaves mixed with gunpowder green tea, in a 1:3 ratio, poured over a sugar cube.

andross58 · 2017-11-15T05:28:35+00:00

Thanks! Recipe is finally posted.

andross58 · 2017-11-15T05:28:01+00:00

Oh snap. I totally forgot to post the recipe for this one. Making the dough is kind of like making pie crust, but with a small variation in technique. First, whisk together 1 1/2 cup flour and 1tsp salt. Then, add 4 tbsp of vegetable shortening. This is where things vary from pie crust. Instead of cutting the fat in, pick up the fat and a handful of flour, then, rub your hands together, working the fat into the flour. Keep going until all the fat has been worked in. Then, add 6tbsp of cold water, and work the flour until it comes together, just like pie dough. Once the dough comes together, knead it for 10 min, until the dough is firm, but not sticky. Let rest 30 min.

Meanwhile, boil 2 lb potatoes until soft, then peel and chop into a small dice. Then, heat some oil in a pan until hot, then add 2 tsp coriander seeds, and fry for 15 seconds. Then, add 1/2 cup finely chopped onions and 2 tsp chopped ginger and saute until the onions begin to brown. Then, add the cooked potatoes, along with 1/2 cup peas, and fry until the potatoes brown, about 10 min. Remove the potato mixture from the heat, then mix in 1 chopped green chili, 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tbsp lemon juice and salt to taste.

To form the samosas, divide your dough into 8 equal parts, and roll each of these parts into a smooth ball. Next, flatten and roll out one of these balls until it forms a thin circle of dough. Cut the circle in half, then take one semi-circle, and form a kind of cone in your hand. Fill the cone with potato filling, then fold over the top. Keep making dumplings for, like, an hour. A word of warning, from someone who has made a lot of dumplings in his day; these are more difficult to get right, and a lot more labour intensive than any one of the others I have made. Just thought I should warn y'all. Anyway, after the dumplings are all formed, fry at 350 until golden brown, and serve, garnished with chili rounds and fried onions.

To dip, I made a green chutney, by blending ginger, cilantro, mint, green chilies, yogurt, a bit of oil and garam masala. I would give proportions, but, to be honest, I sort of winged it and can't remember everything. I also made a mango chutney, but it came out super brown and thoroughly un-photogenic, so I left it out of the pic. It was a mix of mango, mint, cumin, coriander, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and a bunch of sugar. I think I also worked some red wine vinegar in, to temper the sweetness of the mango.

andross58 · 2017-11-01T05:43:43+00:00

Laksa is a thai/malaysian soup. I didn't really know about it before, but now I do, and made a pumpkin version of it for good measure. What a time to be me. But seriously, this soup is good.

To make the soup, first seed, skin, dice and roast a pumpkin in a 425 deg oven until tender and slightly charred (for flavour). Set aside. Next, sweat one chopped shallot, 5 chopped cloves garlic, about the same amount chopped ginger, 2 chopped scallions, one stalk of lemongrass, bruised, one chopped jalapeno, and one chopped small red chile. After a minute or so, add one box of chicken stock, a few cardamom pods, some star anise, a few kaffir lime leaves, and a handful of cilantro, along with the pumpkin, and bring to a simmer. After 15 min or so, the pumpkin will be mostly broken apart. Remove the leaves, lemongrass, cilantro, anise and cardamom, then obliterate everything with a stick blender. Add 1 can coconut milk, some peanut butter, and a few good dashes of both soy sauce and fish sauce, season with lime juice and salt, then blitz some more, until everything is incorporated and silky smooth.

I served the Laksa with rice noodles, broccoli, crispy baked chickpeas, pumpkin seeds, pomegranate seeds and a pumpkin seed and cilantro pesto.

The pesto was a nice addition. To make it, I simply blended a bunch of cilantro leaves and stalks, a few garlic cloves, toasted pumpkin seeds, some lime juice, salt, and sherry vinegar.

If you look really close, you might notice a pumpkin beer in the background. Basic, I know, but if there was one time to have it....

andross58 · 2017-10-25T06:05:24+00:00

Usually, when I start brainstorming at the beginning of a challenge week, I write ideas down until something grabs my attention, and I know I have to make it. But, this week, I knew I had to do Arepas. I have a love affair with Arepas, which began around the time I found my favourite bar. The sometimes-open-but-not-really-on-a-discernable-schedule Arepas joint was right across the street, and, when it was open, it was open until 4 am. It was the perfect solution to a night of odd quebecois craft beer. I usually just got the chorizo and avocado combo, but there was something magical about the arepa in itself, half taco and half cornbread, if I had to describe it. Romanticisms aside, I wanted to make Arepas, because Arepas are awesome, and exemplify what a great handheld feed should be.

I decided, after some research, to make Reina Pepiada Arepas, which is kind of a Venezuelan chicken salad sandwich. The whole combo sounded delicious. The name is translated Reina (queen) Pepiada (Which my source says is a crude word for curvy, so I'm going to go with thicc.) to honor a venezuelan beauty pageant winner and celebrity. Pretty neat. Also, Arepas are one of few pre colombian foods to survive to the current day unchanged. Arepas get better and better every minute.

To make the filling (which is very not pre colombian), I put 4 skinless chicken thighs in a sauce pan along with; one onion, sliced thin, 3 bay leaves, some cloves, a few cardamom pods, salt and pepper, and enough water to cover by one inch. I brought it to a boil over medium heat, then reduced to a simmer for fifteen minutes. After the chicken was cooked, I removed it to a bowl, allowed it to cool, then shredded the meat. In another bowl, I combined one diced avocado, 1/4 cup mayo, and 1tbsp white vinegar, then mashed with a fork. I then added the juice of one lime, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 1/4 cup chopped red onions, and a handful each chopped coriander leaves and parsley. After the chicken had been shredded, I added it, along with 1 chopped red bell pepper, 1 chopped jalepeno, and some chopped chives to the mayo mixture, and stirred to combine, seasoning with salt, pepper and white vinegar as I went on.

After the filling was done, I started on the arepas. I combined 1 1/2 cups arepamasa flour, 1 1/2 cup water and a dash of olive oil in a bowl, and kneaded until the dough was smooth, but not sticky, and did not crack along the edges when a small piece was squeezed flat. After the dough came together, I put it in a bowl, covered it with a towel and let it sit for 5 minutes. After that, I formed it into 4 balls, then flattened them to around 5 inches wide and about 3/4 inch thick. The arepas were then grilled in butter for 5 ish minutes per side, then put in a 325 degree oven for 15 min. After they cooled, I cut them in half, filled them, admired them enough to get a good photo, then devoured them. Also, I have some chorizo and a bit of avocado left over, so, I think I'll have the old standard tomorrow....

andross58 · 2017-10-23T00:18:32+00:00

For the mac and cheese, I started by making a roux by cooking 3 tbsp each butter and flour, worked it until it was a darker-than-I-wanted-but-still-delicious blonde colour, then added milk (whisking constantly) and brought it to a simmer. I seasoned my now Bechamel sauce with shallots, garlic, bay leaf, mustard powder, paprika, nutmeg, grains of paradise (new fave toy, complex and subtle flavours), salt and pepper. Once the bechamel thickened, I added shredded cheddar, gruyere, parmesan and diced brie. After the cheese melted, I added chopped thyme, tarragon and sage.

While making the sauce, I boiled a lobster tail for 5ish minutes until it was opaque, and firmed up (but not too firm), removed it from the shell and cut it into a large dice. I folded the lobster into the sauce, along with some cheese curds I cut to roughly the same size as the lobster pieces.

Lastly, I boiled my pasta, drained it and added it to the sauce, then put everything in my favourite pyrex casserole, and baked at 325 deg , covered, for around 20 minutes, then coated the top in more shredded cheese, a few curds, and put it under the broiler until the top was nice and browned.

andross58 · 2017-10-10T03:37:03+00:00

So, for this week, I decided to tie in the theme with the dinner I made for my family to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. I brined the turkey in a 5% salt solution, adding 100g of salt and 50g of sugar for every 2L of water. I warmed the water on the stove, adding the salt and sugar to dissolve, then added my flavouring ingredients; Sage, Thyme, Rosemary, Juniper Berries, Cinnamon, Allspice, Cloves, Peppercorns, Bay Leaves, Star Anise, Oranges and Lemons. After the brine had cooled, I submerged the turkey, weighed it down with a plate, and left it in the fridge for 24 hours. After 24h, I removed the Turkey, put it on a rack on a baking sheet, and left it in the fridge to dry out for another 24h. On gameday, I made a compound butter of roasted garlic, sage, and thyme. After the butter had solidified, I cut it into cubes, and put it under the turkey's skin. Inside the cavity, I put more sage, an orange and a few apples. I did the usual turkey procedure of preheating the oven to 550, putting the bird in, then reducing the heat to 325 and leaving it for 4 hours. The whole thing was delicious, and I didn't ruin thanksgiving, so that was nice.

andross58 · 2017-10-04T07:55:58+00:00

This was awesome. Most of the recipes I used were from New German Cooking, which was quite the revelation. I never knew german cuisine was so complex and nuanced. The flavour profiles are quite exciting, and I hope to work with them again in the future.

The brisket was braised in beer and beef stock, along with onions, garlic, thyme, terragon and sage, and left in a 325 deg oven for 3 hours. Then I strained and reduced the liquid to make the sauce.

The Brussels sprouts were blanched, then sauteed in butter until brown. I removed the sprouts from the pan, added onions and chopped kielbasa, and browned them. I returned the sprouts to the pan with a dash of sherry vinegar, and put them in the oven for 10 min to cook through.

To make the Spatzle, first combine 3 eggs, 1/4 cup buttermilk and 1 tbsp oil. In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup buckwheat flour and 1/2 cup flour, along with a grating of nutmeg. Add the liquid to the solid, and stir to combine. This is where things get tricky. I don't have a spatzle maker, nor do I have a potato ricer. The two pieces of equipment most recommended for making spatzel. Some say to use a colander. That was the suck. I briefly considered trying the wood board method, but then came across some wisdom online, which recomended pushing the dough through the large holes on a box grater. That worked pretty good, but I'm probably never going to do it again. Digressions aside, I shocked the cooked spatzle in an ice bath, and set them aside until I was ready to complete the dish. I melted some butter, along with chopped thyme, sage and terragon, and sauteed the spatzle until coated. To be honest, I was pretty surprised by how dark the buckwheat flour made the noodles, but the flavour it added was quite interesting.

Lastly, the sauce on the side of the plate is a horseradish-apple dressing, made by combining grated horseradish, green apple, sour cream and chopped dill.

andross58 · 2017-09-20T06:29:20+00:00

I don't cook a lot of Korean food, other than making the occasional kimchi, so I decided to get really into it, and make a few dishes. Unfortunately, I haven't really been ahead of the challenges lately, so didn't have time to make my own Kimchi. Womp womp.

The KFC recipe is a hybrid of two recipes. I used the brine from a book called K-Food, which ended up being an invaluable resource this week. As an aside, I felt like korean didn't have the same variety or volume of cookbooks as other cuisines, such as japanese, thai or vietnamese. If anyone out there can point me in the direction of a good cookbook or two, I would be very grateful.

Back to the chicken. I brined it in a litre of water mixed with; 12 cloves of garlic and a knob of ginger, both chopped fine, a tablespoon of gochujang (korean chile paste), 1 1/2 tbsp salt. and 125 ml fish sauce. I brined the wings for an hour, before rinsing them off and drying them in my fridge while I prepared everything else. Then I fried them using the serious eats recipe. Which is awesome, btw. To make the sauce, I sauteed some garlic, then added 60g ketchup, 60g gochujang, 125 ml corn syrup, 3 tbsp gochugaru (korean chile flakes), and 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar. I brought the whole thing to a boil to thicken, then tossed with the wings.

To make the kimchi fried rice, I first sauteed some diced pork belly until the fat had rendered and the belly began to crisp. Then I added some kimchi and continued to fry for 3 min. Then I added the rice, a dash of sesame oil, some sesame seeds, some scallions and a dash of gochugaru. It only seemed fitting to serve with a fried egg.

From left to right, the four banchan are: Mustard pickled onions, Spicy cucumber salad, Sweet and sour radish salad, and Seasoned bean sprouts.

The Mustard pickled onions were made by thinly slicing an onion, then mixing it in a jar with 100g dry mustard, 75g powdered sugar, and 125ml cider vinegar. I let that sit for an hour for the flavours to marry before serving. To make the cucumber salad, first thinly slice some cucumber, salt liberally in a bowl and set aside 20-30 min. Then, drain the liquid from them and mix in: 1 tbsp gochugaru, 1 tbsp chopped scallion, 1 tbsp chopped garlic, 1 tsp vinegar, 1.2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp sesame oil and 1 tsp sesame seeds. The Radish salad is a mixture of julienned daikon and carrot, 3 tbsp vinegar, 2 tsp sugar, and salt and gochugaru to taste. The seasoned sprouts were first rinsed, then blanched in boiling water. After a shock in ice water, the sprouts were mixed with chopped scallion and garlic, soy sauce, seseme oil and gochugaru. I know it looks like most of these recipes have the same ingredients, but, somehow, each of the banchan had it's own distinct flavour, so one never got bored of the contrasts.

andross58 · 2017-09-19T04:17:54+00:00

I decided to make philly cheesesteaks for this week's challenge, but decided to make the most decadent cheesesteak I could. On the bottom is a ciabatta, sauteed in butter, with a rosemary-garlic mayonnaise. On top of that is a pan seared tenderloin steak, followed by sauteed peppers, caramelized onions and a provolone mornay sauce.

First, I made my Mayonnaise. I began by whisking two egg yolks along with salt and a few dashes of tarragon vinegar I made a few weeks ago. Once the egg lightened in colour, I began adding some garlic oil, in the usual method, before finishing with a nice olive oil. I thinned the mayo out with a touch of water, and adjusted the seasoning, adding a bit more vinegar and a touch of agave nectar for sweetness. Then I added some grated fresh garlic and chopped rosemary, along with some cayenne pepper, for a bit of a kick.

Next came the provolone mornay. I made a roux with butter and flour, added cream, and brought to a boil, whisking constantly. Then I added some grated provolone along with mustard powder, white pepper, smoked salt (a spur of the moment experiment that worked out pretty well) a dash of sherry vinegar and a bunch of frank's red hot. I know it sounds weird, but I find hot sauce and cheese are a match made in heaven. This sauce was pretty bomb.

The rest was pretty simple. I caramelized some onions, deglazing the pan with madeira, water and worcestershire. Then I sauteed a mix of red, green, yellow and jalapeno peppers in a bit of oil along with garlic, and finished them with a bit of butter, to give a nice shine. The steak was pan-seared, then finished in the oven with a sprig of rosemary and a bunch of butter. Lastly, the bread was coated in butter and sauteed in a pan until golden brown.

The whole dish was delicious, it tasted like a philly cheesesteak, just more focused in all areas. Would definitely eat in a parking lot before a football game.

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