Green Tea Martini

Hey friends, I haven't posted for a long time, well, umm, ahh, you see... I just didn't want to. It felt too much like work and I am the boss of this blog!... so there! I cooked all sorts of amazing things, I even wrote things down and took some pictures but.... I guess the tyranny of the grind of life had me down for a little while. I think I am a little better now. Work hasn't been quite so busy and I have recovered from the Christmas psychosis (which did include the traditional Pallister family celebration turducken. I promise to tell you more about that later. Remind me.) Having said that, I have managed to take some time off and relax. So tonight I whipped up some tasty beverages for me and my hot wife, Joanna, and I thought that I would share my not so secret recipe with you. Joanna calls it the Kimono Remover because... well, um, ah, actually... Nevermind why she calls it that. That is none of your business, so lets move on to the recipe, shall we?

the Kimono Remover
1 cup strong brewed green tea
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
juice of 1 lime (save zest and a few slices for garnish)
2 - 4 shots sake according to taste
1 tablespoon simple syrup
lots of ice/ cocktail shaker/ martini glasses

Brew green tea with fresh ginger. Cool tea and chill shaker and glasses. Once tea is cool, combine in shaker with other ingredients. Shake, baby, shake. Shake it like your butt is on fire. Or if that doesn't work pretend that you are having a seizure. Or you could crank some Sigue Sigue Sputnik and pogo until you drop and are bleeding. By that time the drink should be sufficiently mixed.

Strain into chilled glasses and garnish with lime slice and zest.
Kampai!

It's Your Bithday! Bring on the Kotopita!

Yesterday was Sarah's birthday so we had her and Ang and Leigh over for a big yummy birthday bash. We started with big glasses of Sezzie's Lemonade, (see next post for recipe) and then moved directly to the main course of Kotopita (Greek Chicken Pie) served with Lemon Garlic Potatoes and Greek Salad. I found the Kotopita recipe online at this great site, but I tweaked it a bit to make it more interesting.

Kotopita (Greek Filo Chicken Pie)

INGREDIENTS	PREP	AMOUNT
Water		3 cups
Chicken thighs	boneless,	2 lbs
Butter		1/3 cup
Flour		1/3 cup
Onions	sliced	3
Garlic cloves	chopped	5
Spinach	chopped	1 bunch
Feta cheese	crumbled	1 1/2 cups
Dill, fresh	chopped	1 cup
Parsley	chopped	1 cup
Mint	chopped	2 Tbsp
Nutmeg		1 tsp
Salt & pepper		to taste
Oregano		2 tablespoons
Lemon juice and zest		1
Filo dough		12-14 sheets
Butter or olive oil		1/2 cup

METHOD

Basic Steps: Poach → Sauté → Thicken → Mix → Form bottom → Fill → Form top → Bake

1. Put the water and the chicken in a large saucepan. Add a little salt and pepper and simmer on med heat for about 30 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate and set the chicken and the broth aside to cool. Remove the chicken from the broth and shred.
2. In a large skillet or sauté pan, heat the butter over medium-high heat. Add the flour and stir in well. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook and stir another 5 minutes until the mixture is golden brown.
   
3. Pour the poaching broth all at once into the skillet and whisk together well to avoid lumps. Bring the liquid to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes. It will thicken during this time.
   
4. In another pan add some oil and the onions and garlic and sauté quickly, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Add spinach and saute until wilted.
   
5. Remove from heat and cool.
6. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the feta, dill, mint, parsley, nutmeg, oregano, salt and pepper. Add the chicken and the thickened broth and the onion spinach mixture. Stir together well. Taste and adjust seasonings. Stir in the eggs.
7. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9"x9" baking dish or a deep-dish pie tin. Lay a layer of filo over the dish and brush with oil or butter. Add 5 or six more sheets of filo, each at a different angle to cover the dish well. Brush each with oil before adding the next. Press the filo well into all corners of the dish.
8. Add the chicken-cheese filling to the dish and spread out evenly.
9. Repeat process with the remaining filo to form a top to the dish. Trim the edges of filo that are hanging over the edge to about 1 1/2". Roll them together toward the center to form an edge.
10. Place the dish in the preheated oven and bake anywhere from 45-60 minutes, or until center is bubbly and crust is nicely browned.
11. Remove from the oven, let cool about 15 minutes and serve with a salad.

BBQ Mustard Dill Salmon

This evening our friend Laura came over and wanted to learn how to BBQ salmon. She was excited about a mustard / dill groove so we invented this fabulous wet rub...

Laura rocks the mortar and pestle

BBQ Salmon Dill Mustard Wet Rub
1 teaspoon ground mustard powder or yellow mustard seeds
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 handfuls fresh dill
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 small thumb fresh ginger
1 big tasty salmon fillet, skin on one side

Throw all ingredients into mortar and bash to oblivion with your pestle while singing the Ramone's - Beat On the Brat. Or if you haven't just returned from Cambodia with a huge stone mortar and pestle that cost you $2.75 you could use a blender; although it is not nearly as satisfying in that culinary violence sort of way. Make thin slices into the flesh of the salmon and massage your dill mustard goo all over the flesh side deep into the cuts. Stroke it, love it, caress it!

Oil the grill and preheat your BBQ on high for 5 min and then turn it down to low. Rip a piece of tinfoil twice as big as your fish and fold it over so that you have a 2-ply fish-sized piece of foil. Put your salmon directly on one half of the grill, skin side down. Close lid for 3 minutes. Wait patiently. Then place tinfoil on other side of grill and with 2 flippers carefully transfer fish directly onto the foil. Close lid again and let fish sizzle on the foil for 3-5 minutes until flaky but not dry. Bon Appetit!

Asian Spice Rub Pork Lettuce Wraps

The other day my mate Stu gave me a deluxe chunk of pork and invited himself over for supper. (Mental note: if you give me quality meat, you can come to eat!) That humble pork roast was magically transformed tonight into Asian Spice Rub Lettuce Wraps. Here's the lowdown.


Ingredients
yummy chunk o' pork

Marinade
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 cup sake
2 tablespoons black bean sauce
2 tablespoons ABC sweet soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
thumb ginger, grated
3 cloves garlic, crushed

Spice Rub
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chinese 5 spice powder
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon green tea, powdered
1 teaspoon lemonade crystals
2 teaspoons brown sugar

Asian Slaw
1 cucumber, grated
4 carrots, grated
1 sm daikon, grated
1 fistful beansprouts
sm bunch fresh mint finely chopped
sm bunch fresh basil finely chopped
sm bunch fresh cilantro finely chopped
1 handful crushed peanuts
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup oil
juice 1 lime
splash fish sauce
splash sesame oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar

rice stick noodles
1 or 2 heads iceberg lettuce
crushed peanuts
Sriracha Rooster Sauce
ABC sweet soy sauce

Instructions
-Mix all marinade ingredients and pour over pork in a Ziplock bag. Marinate in fridge overnight. 2 hours before tucker time dry off pork and make spice rub.
-Mix spices and rub on meat. (Duh, that's why it's called spice rub.) Fire up your BBQ on high but only light one side. Put the pork ON THE SIDE THAT IS NOT LIT. This is called indirect grilling and is a fabulous way to cook a larger piece of meat. After a half hour rotate the meat so that the side that was away from the heat gets a turn.
-Meanwhile, make your asian slaw which just involves alot of grating and chopping.
-Soften the rice stick noodles by pouring boiling water over them and let them sit for 10 min
-After 1 hour of indirect grilling check your pork. It should be done, take it off, slice, shred, or chop and sprikle it with any leftover rub.
-drain and rinse the noodles and prepare for yumminess

Get yourself a very large napkin cuz this is going to be messy but worth it. Pull off a large leaf of lettuce to use in a burritoesque fashion. Place some noodles, pork, slaw, peanuts, and a drizzle of ABC and Sriracha into the leaf. Wrap it all up and munch to your heart's content.

Veggiesaurus Tikka Masala

I'm currently visiting friends in Seattle. My buddy Phil asked me if I would help him cook a meal for a bunch of his vegetarian friends. Now I obviously love chewing flesh as you can tell from all my previous turducken posts, but nonetheless, I enjoy the unique challenge and bloody vegetable slaughter of a great vegetarian meal. (If you are interested in some further reading regarding how your veggies scream when you chop them up into curry check out this and this).

For your sadistic enjoyment of torturing vegetables, I present you with Wade’s Veggiesaurus Tikka Masala...

Yummy Curry
1 cup plain yogurt (avoid low fat or non-fat yogurt for a richer flavor)
2 cup heavy cream
1 large can diced tomatoes
2 sm cans tomato paste
1 cup ground almonds (or approx 6 tablespoons almond butter)
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
3 tablespoons ground cumin
4 tablespoons garam masala
1 teaspoon red chili powder
2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons turmeric
6 green cardamom pods, crushed
2-inches cinnamon stick
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon mustard

Veggies
1 large onion, chopped
1 can chickpeas
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 head cauliflower, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 fresh green chili, chopped
1 small bunch cilantro, chopped

Put all sauce ingredients in crockpot (crockpot is easiest because you don’t need to stir and you can forget about it) or in big soup pot on stove on low (If you do it on the stove, remember to stir so that the bottom doesn’t burn). Throw in all veggies and simmer on low heat all day. If you let it cook 6 or more hours on low the veggies will cook through in the sauce and be supper yummy. If you don’t have the time, precook the veggies till done and combine with curry. Garnish with more fresh cilantro and serve with Raita and Naan, and a selection of chutneys.

My little friend Emma helping me make curry.

Raita
1 cup plain yogurt
½ cucumber, peeled and grated
½ lemon, juiced
thumb fresh ginger, chopped
fist of fresh cilantro, chopped
fist of fresh mint, chopped

Bang everything together, mix

Naan
2 ½ teaspoons dry yeast
5 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 ½ cups white flour
1 cup warm water
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Combine ingredients together according to what works best for your bread machine. Select dough setting and start. When dough is finished, punch down and divide into 12 equal sized balls. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and a damp tea towel, let rise until just before cooking. Light and preheat BBQ on high. Flour counter surface and rolling pin and roll out each ball to a thin oval. Heavily oil BBQ grate and grill each naan on high until puffed and blistered (approx 1 min a side). Yum

I Want To Drown In Gravy.

Now that your turducken is out of the oven and your cranberry is sauce is simmering, it is time to make gravy and lots of it. It is an absolute crime and insult to your guests to run out of gravy. I usually tend to make about 5 litres so that I can freeze it and be guaranteed gravy yumminess for months to come. I mean, really, what doesn't taste better dunked, slathered, or swimming in gravy? How 'bout gravy gelato with bits of cranberry? Maybe I'll try that in a couple of weeks when I run out of turducken but I still have 3 litres of gravy in my freezer... but I digress.
I start by melting a bunch of butter then add approx. 1/2 - 3/4 cup of flour. Keep stirring the resulting paste. Let it brown and then slowly add the turducken stock you made and keep whisking to avoid lumps. Do not use the runoff turducken fat to season the gravy because it will be way too salty because of brining. Add at least 1 cup of white wine and 1 cup of apple juice for sweetness. Tweak with rosemary, sage, oregano, thyme, and fresh ground black pepper adding more wine and apple juice if need be. For the ultimate gravy science explanation and recipe mojo, check out this page by Alton Brown. He is a dude on Food Network and his shows are always chock full of fascinating food science and helpful tips. You should definitely program your VCR.

p.s. I'm serious about the gravy gelato. Stay tuned...

Cranberries. (Zom-bie, Zom-bie, Zom-bie-e-e)

What giant fowl feast is complete without cranberry sauce? Now you could go to your local outlet of some giant, multinational food conglomerate and buy a tin of that red glop that comes out of the can with a sickening schlurshlop and then just quivers in your serving dish still in its antiseptic, cylindrical mass. And in late night, turkey sandwich-induced, emergency situations, I have done just that. However, we are not going to advance the DIY slow food revolution and uphold our punk rock, more-gourmet-than-thou, smirking attitude if we stoop to that. We are going to make our own.
Freshly made cranberry sauce is the volume knob that goes to 11 on the vintage tube amp that is your beautiful turducken. And just like power chord rock and roll, it's beauty is in it's simplicity. You will need...

• 1 bag of fresh cranberries
• 1 thumb of fresh ginger, grated
  
• 1-2 oranges, zest and juice
• 1/2 - 1 cup of sugar
• a few splashes of some fancy booze that you have laying around. (I used leftover Champagne from making Mimosas for Christmas morning. Any sort of wine will work, sake would be very interesting, vodka would do in a pinch, gin... I'm not so sure of. Just feel free to improvise.)

Dump everything in a sauce pan on low heat. Start with less sugar rather than more. As you constantly stir, the cranberries will pop and release their juicy goodness. Continue and the sauce will thicken. Adjust sugar, orange, and booze according to your liking and you are done.