Sunday, 26 February 2012
Red Hog Blog: How to Be a Ghee Whiz! (Get it?)
Red Hog Blog: How to Be a Ghee Whiz! (Get it?): I know that I said that my next post would be about fermentation, but I'm busy making ghee today and thought I might as well write about it ...
Sausage Class and Black Pudding
Last Wednesday I went to a sausage making class. It was fun, there were only six of us. Class finished an hour early, so with that much time left over, I think it would've been better, if we were working on our own, instead of in two teams of three. Anyway, at the end of the day, we each left with eight sausages.
We got to grind out own meat, and then stuff it into natural casings. We didn't get to be creative with spices, only used salt and pepper. The teacher said that he likes to taste the good quality meat. I love meat, but using the right spices in the right amounts doesn't mask the quality, it compliments it, giving the sausage depth. He also didn't have set measurements as to how much salt and pepper to use per whatever amount of meat, and just poured both out of their containers. That's how I do things, though I try to give some measurements here.
When I boiled the sausages, I added some marjoram, thyme, and garlic powder to the water. Not the same as having the spices in the meat, but it still added a bit more flavour, and took the meaty edge off.
I sauteed the green and yellow beans in butter, and then sprinkled with maple smoked rock salt. I added some 10% M.F. plain yogurt to the mashed potatoes. Sometimes I use sour cream or butter. I don't like using anything liquidy, like milk or stock, because of the taste and texture.
I still have a few sausages left, so I will make a different dish with them, and post in another blog.
After class, I picked up some pig skin sausage, Cotechino, it's amazing, the texture and flavour. It was pricey, but what a treat! I also got a black pudding, because I love black pudding and blood sausage. Depending on country of origin/ recipe, there are so many variations. Sometimes they are too salty, but this one was great.
I fried it up with shallots.
I also fried up some zucchini in butter, and sprinkled with maple smoked rock salt (I love this salt).
It was a very tasty lunch, and very filling.
We got to grind out own meat, and then stuff it into natural casings. We didn't get to be creative with spices, only used salt and pepper. The teacher said that he likes to taste the good quality meat. I love meat, but using the right spices in the right amounts doesn't mask the quality, it compliments it, giving the sausage depth. He also didn't have set measurements as to how much salt and pepper to use per whatever amount of meat, and just poured both out of their containers. That's how I do things, though I try to give some measurements here.
When I boiled the sausages, I added some marjoram, thyme, and garlic powder to the water. Not the same as having the spices in the meat, but it still added a bit more flavour, and took the meaty edge off.
I sauteed the green and yellow beans in butter, and then sprinkled with maple smoked rock salt. I added some 10% M.F. plain yogurt to the mashed potatoes. Sometimes I use sour cream or butter. I don't like using anything liquidy, like milk or stock, because of the taste and texture.
I still have a few sausages left, so I will make a different dish with them, and post in another blog.
After class, I picked up some pig skin sausage, Cotechino, it's amazing, the texture and flavour. It was pricey, but what a treat! I also got a black pudding, because I love black pudding and blood sausage. Depending on country of origin/ recipe, there are so many variations. Sometimes they are too salty, but this one was great.
I also fried up some zucchini in butter, and sprinkled with maple smoked rock salt (I love this salt).
It was a very tasty lunch, and very filling.
Saturday, 11 February 2012
Rice Pudding
It's back to snow again. This winter's been up and down with the temperatures and weather. In a way it's good because even when it snows a lot, it either melts the next day with high temps, or washes away with rain.
It's Saturday evening, and James was craving rice pudding. I was planing on going to the market to get some eggs, and he asked me if I can pick up some rice pudding. I never made it to the store, but I ended up making rice pudding with the ingredients I have on hand. I find store bought rice pudding very sugary. As I get older, I still like sweets, but not sugary stuff. For example, I like good quality milk chocolate, but can't stand typical check out line chocolate bars, which should really be called refined sugar bars.
I've made rice pudding in the past, but like with a lot of my recipes, or lack of, it's different every time. This one turned out quite tasty, so I decided it was worthy being posted, and it made it into my recipe book.
What you'll need is:
- coconut oil
- carrot, shredded
- raisins
- short grain rice, round or semi-round, such as Arborio, Carnaroli, or Vialone Nano
- milk
- cinnamon
- cardamom
- honey or maple syrup
I used 1 cup of rice, and 3.5 cups of almond milk, the rest I didn't measure. Also, using cow's or goat's milk will work, as both are creamy. This would've been even yummier with full fat (non-homogenized) milk, but I didn't have enough left.
Heat up the oil, add rice, stir and coat for a minute; the rice will start turning translucent.
Add milk, 1/2 cup at a time.
After the first 1/2, add spices and raisins, and shred carrot, add honey or maple syrup.
- for best results taste the "liquid" and adjust flavour; you can always add more.
Keep stirring, and waiting for milk to be absorbed before adding more.
The carrot adds sweetness, texture, and nutrition. I didn't add too much honey, because I didn't want to make this treat too sweet. The raisins add a lot of sweetness with each bite. If you don't like raisins, you can skip them, or add nuts instead.
Perfect treat for a wintery evening. Enjoy with a cup of tea! I had a dried fruit infusion.
It's Saturday evening, and James was craving rice pudding. I was planing on going to the market to get some eggs, and he asked me if I can pick up some rice pudding. I never made it to the store, but I ended up making rice pudding with the ingredients I have on hand. I find store bought rice pudding very sugary. As I get older, I still like sweets, but not sugary stuff. For example, I like good quality milk chocolate, but can't stand typical check out line chocolate bars, which should really be called refined sugar bars.
I've made rice pudding in the past, but like with a lot of my recipes, or lack of, it's different every time. This one turned out quite tasty, so I decided it was worthy being posted, and it made it into my recipe book.
What you'll need is:
- coconut oil
- carrot, shredded
- raisins
- short grain rice, round or semi-round, such as Arborio, Carnaroli, or Vialone Nano
- milk
- cinnamon
- cardamom
- honey or maple syrup
I used 1 cup of rice, and 3.5 cups of almond milk, the rest I didn't measure. Also, using cow's or goat's milk will work, as both are creamy. This would've been even yummier with full fat (non-homogenized) milk, but I didn't have enough left.
Heat up the oil, add rice, stir and coat for a minute; the rice will start turning translucent.
Add milk, 1/2 cup at a time.
After the first 1/2, add spices and raisins, and shred carrot, add honey or maple syrup.
- for best results taste the "liquid" and adjust flavour; you can always add more.
Keep stirring, and waiting for milk to be absorbed before adding more.
The carrot adds sweetness, texture, and nutrition. I didn't add too much honey, because I didn't want to make this treat too sweet. The raisins add a lot of sweetness with each bite. If you don't like raisins, you can skip them, or add nuts instead.
Perfect treat for a wintery evening. Enjoy with a cup of tea! I had a dried fruit infusion.
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Stir Fry with Brown Rice Wraps
I make this often, mainly for James, because he loves stir frys. I have been making variations of this dish, and I finally got it to taste the way I wanted it to. It's easy, and great as a last minute hot meal.
I use Europe's Best frozen vegetable medley, they have two Asian inspired variations, Zen Garden, and Imperial Blend. I usually buy a few bags when they're on sale, and keep them in the freezer. You can use fresh vegetables, but then you have to plan ahead. I like frozen fruit and vegetables for certain dishes and shakes. I don't use canned, because of the sodium content, the poor taste, and the squishy texture. Frozen on the other hand, in some cases, tastes better than fresh. Reason for this being that in order for produce to be sold fresh in a supermarket, it has to be picked while it's still green and it ripens on it's lengthy journey. Ripening in a transport box won't make it taste as it would if it had a chance to ripen on the vine, tree, shrub, etc. Frozen fruit and veggies are picked when they are ripe, and then frozen, which preserves the yummy sweet taste. Try this little test, buy a box of strawberries (which are not in season locally), and compare the taste to frozen strawberries. Amazing, right!
So, back to the stir fry. I heat up a bit of sesame oil, this gives the dish a great base flavour. If you don't have any, buy some, you can use it in salad dressings as well. Into the oil add: garlic and ginger - fresh is always best, but again, if this is a last minute thing, use powder, black and white sesame seeds, a bit of soy, some Worcestershire sauce, a bit of pepper, a pinch of cayenne or hot pepper flakes, I don't add salt, as the soy is plenty salty already. If you like a bit of sweetness, add some honey or agave nectar. Mix it all up, then add the frozen veg. The amounts of spices depend on how many vegetables you're making, and your flavour preference. Use a lid to speed up the defrost process, once the vegetables are defrosted, uncover the pan, so that excess liquid can evaporate.
You can use this with rice, I usually use brown, or use rice paper and make stir fry with rice wraps.
I kind of packed these ones, and layered the veg with the rice, but you can mix it all up before wrapping. The front two have veg on top, the back one has rice on top, just to show you how it looks. Sometimes I add shrimp, which can be mixed in to the veg, or layered separately in some pattern, so they add to the presentation. In that case, layer the shrimp first, then the rest. I usually add a bit of spices to the rice as well while it's cooking, so that it's not plain tasting, but also not overwhelming to the vegetables, and / or shrimp.
Enjoy!
So, back to the stir fry. I heat up a bit of sesame oil, this gives the dish a great base flavour. If you don't have any, buy some, you can use it in salad dressings as well. Into the oil add: garlic and ginger - fresh is always best, but again, if this is a last minute thing, use powder, black and white sesame seeds, a bit of soy, some Worcestershire sauce, a bit of pepper, a pinch of cayenne or hot pepper flakes, I don't add salt, as the soy is plenty salty already. If you like a bit of sweetness, add some honey or agave nectar. Mix it all up, then add the frozen veg. The amounts of spices depend on how many vegetables you're making, and your flavour preference. Use a lid to speed up the defrost process, once the vegetables are defrosted, uncover the pan, so that excess liquid can evaporate.
You can use this with rice, I usually use brown, or use rice paper and make stir fry with rice wraps.
I kind of packed these ones, and layered the veg with the rice, but you can mix it all up before wrapping. The front two have veg on top, the back one has rice on top, just to show you how it looks. Sometimes I add shrimp, which can be mixed in to the veg, or layered separately in some pattern, so they add to the presentation. In that case, layer the shrimp first, then the rest. I usually add a bit of spices to the rice as well while it's cooking, so that it's not plain tasting, but also not overwhelming to the vegetables, and / or shrimp.
Enjoy!
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Light Bites
I love eating meals in appetizer format. If you pair the right foods, you can eat healthy, get a wide array of foods on your plate, and be full at the end. This is great when you can't decide what to eat. I assemble various plates, including cheeses, meats, veg, fruit, condiments, dips, etc. The 2 variations I had this week, are:
A tasty assortment of delicious and healthy foods, packed with flavours. Home grown and pickled beets, home made locally grown caraway sauerkraut, Schinkenspeck prosciutto, German pumpernickel, and Polish cherry wood double smoked sausage. I love this sausage, well I love everything on that plate, but I'll focus on the sausage. It has an amazing texture, and a very smokey flavour with a hint of sweetness.
I never buy sausages at a supermarket, because that's like buying a "sausage" at a hotdog stand and thinking you're eating a German, Italian, or Polish sausage, when in fact you're not much better off than had you just ordered a hotdog. Go to your local deli, Farmer's Market, or butcher's and taste the difference, never mind the healthier ingredients.
The other plate I made was more sauerkraut - I can't get enough of this stuff, jalapeno ciabatta with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip, and more Schinkenspeck, because it's so good.
I used this 6% Italian balsamic wine vinegar: medium bodied, fruity, sweet and sour flavour went well with the spicy bread.
Appetizer plates have endless possibilities, and I love that about them.
I never buy sausages at a supermarket, because that's like buying a "sausage" at a hotdog stand and thinking you're eating a German, Italian, or Polish sausage, when in fact you're not much better off than had you just ordered a hotdog. Go to your local deli, Farmer's Market, or butcher's and taste the difference, never mind the healthier ingredients.
The other plate I made was more sauerkraut - I can't get enough of this stuff, jalapeno ciabatta with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip, and more Schinkenspeck, because it's so good.
Appetizer plates have endless possibilities, and I love that about them.
Friday, 13 January 2012
Chestnut Pureé
This log took forever, I'm not kidding, because I couldn't find any chestnut pureé. I ended up buying fresh chestnuts, boiling them, cooling, peeling, and processing. I sliced my thumb in the process. I'll be conservative here, and not post a photo, though personally, I love "gross" stuff, pathology was my fave class.
Maybe it wouldn't have taken so long, if I hadn't bought and made about 3 or 4x as many chestnuts as I needed, but I had never made chestnut pureé before. It's quite easy, but time consuming. I'm very determined once I decide on a recipe/ dish. I was quite sick - sinuses, possibly feverish - when I was driving around town, from supermarket to supermarket, at 1am, looking for pureé.
Here is how you make chestnut pureé, in case you ever need it and don't live in France or the UK, where you could get the stuff at any store.
1. Score your chestnuts. Cut an X on the flat side of each chestnut. If you have one which is flat on both sides, then just pick a side. The reason for the flat side is because it's easier to cut, than a convex hard slippery surface.
2. Boil for about 20 minutes.
3. Let cool; keep the water/ liquid, you'll need it later.
4. Peel all the chestnuts. I used a curved paring knife, it only ended up in my thumb once.
5. Put chestnuts in a food processor and add some of the liquid from cooking. Don't dump in too much. You can always keep adding, until you reach the desired consistency of the pureé. If you have leftovers, like I did, freeze. I have 2 plastic containers in the freezer for next time.
This yule log took the better part of a day, but it was worth it, very dense and rich chocolatey goodness.
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