The first time I made this traditional Persian dish, which is essentially poached chicken served in a sauce based on pomegranate juice and walnuts, I followed a centuries old recipe, and really didn't love the results.

Which is weird, because I love pomegranates, walnuts and chicken.

But, I found that the flavors were too bold--way too bold, even for my taste, and I am a lover of very highly flavored foods.

So, when I was asked by the owner of the restaurant where I am chef to make a version of it for a dinner special, I asked if she would insist that I do it the traditional way, or if I was allowed to play with it and make it so that I liked it.

She confided to me that she really didn't like the dish herself and didn't care what I did to it so long as it was still mainly chicken, pomegranates and walnuts.

So, I played with it, and ended up with a sauce that is divine and to die for. I ended up adding lots of caramelized onions, garlic, some spices, a smidge of hot sauce, roasted eggplant, tomato paste and heavy cream, and I pureed the sauce with an immersion blender to give it a velvety smooth texture that is just plain old naughty.

The recipe is a bit complex, but it doesn't require any onerous techniques. It would be great for a special dinner, like say, Valentine's day.

Recipe and photo here.

    This is what I do to make tea eggs.

    Softboil some eggs. Just long enough so that if you cracked the surface without actually removing the shell, the egg would stay intact. Then do just that, running them under some cool water to make them easier to handle. The more cracks you create the more marbled your eggs will be.

    To the water that the eggs were boiling in add 1 tsp salt, 2Tbspn soy sauce,  1 cup strongly brewed black tea, a few star anise pieces, and a small piece of cinnamon.

    Then you simmer it for  2 hours. I set the timer for 1/2 hour increments to remind me to check and see if I need to add water. Add water as necessary to keep the eggs completely submerged. Don't worry about diluting as you aren't going to drink the liquid. :-)

    Eat immediately, or store in the fridge submerged in the liquid for up to a week.

    Also: thank you so much for all the tips on the gravy recipe. I am going to go throw my cast irons into the stuff we are hauling up to the cabin right now.

I realize that cupcakes are the baked good du jour currently, but it is a trend that I am so thoroughly immersed in, that is borders on addiction. In one of the Cupcake Blogs (too bad they don't come in the brown paper wrapper & I cannot hide them under my mattress), they were talking about bleeding heart cupcakes from YumSugar. Look at these, do they not express so much?? They can be a loving, anatomical valentine - or a declaration of one's hatred for the "holiday" - plus they have jam oozing out f the middle!! Love true love!!
The best part?? YumSugar, includes a recipe!!


Are these too traumatic to send with my four year old for his class Valentine's Day celebration? It is a Catholic school - they like the gory stuff...

I love lamb. I grew up eating it, and was very surprised to find that most of the other kids I knew didn't ever eat it. They thought it was weird and exotic. I've had it cooked in many styles: French, Indian, Middle Eastern, Greek, etc. I've been doing it Middle Eastern-style most of the time, myself, with a Moroccan spice blend called ras el hanout. This time, though, I was cooking it for a potluck that included a person who couldn't eat peppers, so the ras el hanout was out. Mediterranean, however, was IN.

I started out by cutting some lamb steaks into cubes (I like the center-cut steaks because they're leaner). I browned the meat with a good deal of garlic in the bottom of a stainless steel stock pot. Then, I added a whole package of fresh spinach. When that had cooked down a bit, I added a big can of plum tomatoes, some halved kalamata olives, some oregano, some salt, and a sprig of home-grown rosemary. I let it simmer for a good long while, but the liquid wasn't reducing fast enough for me, and I didn't want to cook the meat too fast, so I scooped out all the solids and put them in a bowl. I turned up the heat on the remaining liquid and reduced it down to a thick sauce. I then threw the meat and veggies back in, and crumbled in a few ounces of feta. The result was a lovely, delicious lamb dish that was rich and bright in flavour at the same time. It made me want some ouzo to drink with it. :) The colours were great too: the red sauce, the browned meat, the green spinach, the black olives, and the white cheese were very nice together. The rest of the food at the potluck (just two couples, very small) was a Caesar salad, a bottle of nice red wine, and fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Mmmmmm.

I love making jam. It's one of those soothing kinds of kitchen processes that make me smile--not the least because I love the rows of jewel colored jars on my shelf, giving me a bit of out of season deliciousness when I want it. What I have found, in my many jam adventures, is that I do not care for jams made with added pectin. There's something about the consistency that just doesn't feel right. Sure, doing it the 'old fashioned way' may take a bit longer, but for me, it's worth it. I don't know anyone else in my peer group that routinely cans jams, though a few make freezer/fridge jams that are just divine. So, I thought I'd put together an example of what I do to make jam, using some glorious in-season local strawberries.

Hope you enjoy!

( The Process )

Other people may have different ways of making jam, with or without pectin, so I'm certainly not saying that my way is the only right way. If people have questions, I'd be delighted to answer them!

Happy (Late) Chinese New Year!


Anyway, we decided to make some Asiany foods yesterday and today, and they were quite yummy!


Yesterday, we made some dumplings (jiaozi) with premade dumpling wrappers.

I made two fillings. They weren't traditional pork but I just wanted a change. One was a ground beef/green onions/cabbage/ginger and the other was a vegetarian one: tofu/garlic/ginger/mushrooms/green onions/cabbage. I seasoned both with soy sauce and sesame oil.

Then we stuffed the wrappers and I panfried it.




( and pictures of the process )





And then we also made some tang yuan. The dough is pretty much just glutinous rice flour with water, filled with red bean paste and sesame paste, boiled until it floats.

( pictures of tang yuan )



And then today we still had leftover filling, but we mixed the veggie and meat together as one filling. We made some steamed buns (baozi). We bought a bun flour and just mixed it with some warm water and yeast, and let it sit for half an hour. Then we filled the buns with the meat/veggie mixture and some with red bean. Yum! We also steamed some veggies as well on the side.

( pictures of the steamed buns )

Who better to experiment your cooking fu on than the man you're currently besotted with? Nobody!
So, seeing as how the wonderful kirkjerk  gave me the gift of my gas stove back (read: right arm). I thought I would cook for him and spare him another night out....knowing he isn't a huge dinner freak like I am but DOES share a penchant for good snacks, I did just that...

I give you roasted veggies (graffiti eggplant, squash, asparagus and carrots in olive oil basil balsamic vinegar garlic red and black pepper and some herbes du provence), stuffed mushrooms (baby bella mushrooms with a stuffing of breadcrumbs, sausage, romano cheese, low fat cream cheese, olive oil, basil, garlic, finely minced onions and yellow bell peppers) and a rather nifty assortment of Italian vinegary treats (stuffed cherry peppers, olives tomato and mozzerella).
Add some wine.
enjoy :) Who better to experiment your cooking fu on than the man you're currently besotted with? Nobody! So, seeing as how the wonderful [info]kirkjerk gave me the gift of my gas stove back (read: right arm). I thought I would cook for him and spare him another night out....knowing he isn't a huge dinner freak like I am but DOES share a penchant for good snacks, I did just that... I give you roasted veggies (graffiti eggplant, squash, asparagus and carrots in olive oil basil balsamic vinegar garlic red and black pepper and some herbes du provence), stuffed mushrooms (baby bella mushrooms with a stuffing of breadcrumbs, sausage, romano cheese, low fat cream cheese, olive oil, basil, garlic, finely minced onions and yellow bell peppers) and a rather nifty assortment of Italian vinegary treats (stuffed cherry peppers, olives tomato and mozzerella). Add some wine. enjoy :)



(cross posted to my journal)

Well, St. Valentine's Day is almost upon us. I already made the card for my sweetie, and am planning a special supper for that day. I already bought a bag of jumbo tiger shrimp, all cooked and flash frozen, ready for eating. Also, I bought a box of crab cakes. I still have to buy some nice fresh sea scallops and maybe lobster too. I am planning a seafood supper but haven't actually picked the recipes I will use. The crab cakes just have to be baked in oven, but the shrimp I might do in a nice sauce. The scallops will be seared in butter and seasonings so that the full flavour comes out. My mouth is watering, just thinking about biting into the first juicy one. (drools...)Of course all this delectable fare will be accompanied by a nice rice dish and fresh salad too. I haven't decided on the wine yet, but a nice white for sure. Maybe escargot for an appetizer as well, with fresh baked sourdough french bread. I haven't thought about a dessert yet. I just might buy something small enough for one meal.
So, enough already. Tell me what your plans are for 'Heart Day', including a menu if you are doing the cooking. I will try to remember to take pictures so I can post later.

Bulgogi (Korean sweet soy marinated beef) is one of the most popular Korean dishes around, as well as being one of the most versatile. It can be cooked up and served alongside rice and 'banchan' (side dishes), or can be cooked WITH veggies or 'dang myun' (sweet potato cellophane noodles - different from regular cellophane noodles) or even served in the style of a lettuce wrap!

And please, please please please, do NOT buy that instant bottled sauce I've seen them selling in supermarkets - a friend proudly served it to me once and the only thing I could do next was show her my mother's recipe and how easy it was to make, especially when the end product tastes better than that bottled stuff!