A Life, Lived

BIG News

Yes, dear readers, I have some exciting news to share.

No. It is not about Chelsea Clinton getting engaged. This is bigger than that.

No. It is not about the Tiger Woods 'accident'. Far bigger than that.

(although note to self: should Paul ever haul off and hit me I know that attempting to disguise it as a car accident likely will NOT work)

And no, It isn't that Stephen Harper is a close-minded, mean, malicious idiot. That isn't news. Sadly, it is just reality and has been for some time. Hopefully someone out there will flick the switch in his brain that controls independent thought and he will finally grasp that nuances of global warming and the impact Canada is playing in global climate change.

Actually now that I ponder a wee bit my news just might be related to that!

 We are 'this' close from setting a record here in Toronto. Yes, a honest, to goodness record.

If we can manage to make it through the next 4 hours and 40 minutes without any snow falling we will officially have just lived through the first November without snow in 162 years. If it weren't for fear of impending chaos from global warming (yes, I do believe we're messing up our planet and this isn't a normal cycle) I'd be happy.

You see, I don't much like snow. I hate the fact that it takes me an extra half an hour to get ready to go to work every day. I hate that I look 50 pounds fatter than I am because of all the damn layers. I hate that there is ice everywhere. I hate that I can't sit outside enjoying a cold drink until the late hours of the evening and still wear my sunglasses. I hate that I have to shovel. I hate that the annoying neighbourhood kidlets throw snowballs at me (although I give better than I get *insert evil laugh here*). I hate that the admittedly beautiful white snow quickly becomes gray and brown around here. I hate that my ears almost fall off from the cold. I hate the traffic is slow and the trains late.

Hmmm. That was a well of angry thought.

There you have it. My perfect November is a November without snow.

Sorry Al Gore. I know we're in trouble.

My fingers are crossed for December.

Sunday Small Bites - Potatoes

The cooks on the slowtravel community forums have been working on a new cooking challenge - instead of each of us preparing the same recipe each week, we are preparing our own appetizer - or Small Bite - that uses a specific main ingredient. So far we have tackled shrimp, crab, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, goat cheese, smoked salmon, pecans, pumpkin, olives, mushrooms, ginger, and cranberries. This week Maria selected our ingredient and she went with potatoes. There goes the diet! LOL

We restrained ourselves this week and only enjoyed one (yes, one) small bite selection! I was making a short rib ragu for the main course so we looked for a potato small bite recipe that was Italian to fit the 'theme' of the meal.

I found one in David Rocco's cookbook David Rocco's Dolce Vita called Crocchette di Patate (Potato Croquettes) that 'called' out to me. What was not to love? Mashed potatoes, cheese, breaded and then fried. . . .

Don't these look delicious?

The croquettes were easy to make and the taste was incredible. It never ceases to amaze me how a few simple ingredients can be mixed together to produce such delicious results!

Clearly this isn't a traditional Italian recipe as potatoes weren't native to Italy. Mind you, neither was pasta until Marco Polo brought it back from China. However, I have seen these crisp bites with gooey cheese on the menus of many Italian restaurants and even enjoyed them previously in Torino. I suspect that somewhere along the way nonna was looking for a way to use up leftover potatoes and experimented with a potato arancini and the rest was history. With a taste as good as this you know that they would catch on quickly! LOL

So it was a very happy history!

Crocchette di Patate

1.3lb potatoes (600g), peeled
1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano cheese (120ml)
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley (120ml)
2 eggs
1 mozzarella ball, cut into thin strips (you can also use taleggio)
1 cup breadcrumbs (240ml)
Sesame seeds
salt and pepper
extra virgin olive oil for frying

Boil potatoes until fork tender and let cool for 20 minutes. In a large bowl, mash potatoes. For a creamier texture, use a potato ricer.

Add freshly grated parmigiano cheese, chopped parsley, salt and pepper, one egg and mix well until all the ingredients are evenly distributed.

Grab a handful of mashed potatoes and create logs that are 1 1/2 inch thick by 3 inches long. With your finger, create an indentation in the middle of the log and add a slice of mozzarella. Close up the logs and make sure mozzarella is fully covered. Reshape if necessary.

Dip potato logs in a beaten egg and cover with breadcrumbs. Roll in sesame seeds.

Fry in hot extra virgin olive oil until the potato croquettes are crispy and golden brown.

Let cool on a paper towel and serve warm.

NOTE: These can be shaped into little balls, like arancini for a great cocktail snack.

Next up?

Brie!

MMM

Photo Hunt - Technology

This week's Photo Hunt theme is technology. I am sure when people think of technology they immediately think of the latest electronic gadget - the one no doubt that made their head explode as they tried to grasp the secrets of its' use! LOL

I decided to go with another type of technology - with MY definition that technology is any human-made tool or device that makes work easier to accomplish . . . This picture was taken at Old Town in San Diego where the resident blacksmith was trying to keep this particular technology 'alive'.

---

Lots of the slow travel  community members also photo hunt when they aren't traveling. You can find their posts by clicking the links below. 

• Old Shoes, New Trip
• Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings
• My Place in the Sun
• Churches in Venice – Mosaics, Marble, and Miracle-Working Madonnas
• Palmabella's Passions
• What I Really Think
• shave Ice and Gelato
• Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!
• Keep your Feet in the Street
• Baked Alaska
• That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it!
• Postcards from the Trail
• Cooking at the Whistlestop Cafe
• Candi's Corner
• Trekcapri's Blog
• Destination Anywhere 

Creamy Polenta

Yesterday I posted the amazing slow braised short rib recipe that was shared by Ree Drummond, the self-declared Pioneer Woman. Her recipe sounded similar to another that I had made in the past - except for the addition of the goat cheese. I love goat cheese so I was looking forward to trying this with the short ribs.

Polenta is a very versatile staple to incorporate into your meals. Polenta is made with ground yellow or white cornmeal (ground maize) originally made with Chestnut meal in ancient times. It can be ground coarsely or finely depending on the region and the texture desired. When boiled, polenta has a smooth, creamy texture due to the gelatinization of starch in the grain, though it may not be completely homogeneous if a coarse grind or a particularly hard grain such as flint corn is used (or if you don't pour the cornmeal sloooooowly into the boiling liquid).

Polenta was originally and still is a peasant food. However, since the late 20th century, polenta has also become a premium product. Polenta dishes are on the menu in many high-end restaurants, and prepared polenta can be found in supermarkets at high prices. Many current polenta recipes have given new life to an essentially bland and common food, invigorating it with various cheeses or tomato sauces.

I confess that I have never seen the benefit of purchasing the tubes of prepared polenta as it is so easy to make your own. Perhaps this trend is because of polenta's inherent hazard . . . it spatters like an erupting volcano as it bubbles away. You only need to be splattered once with boiling hot polenta to take care in the future.

Once you've recovered you've learned your lesson for good and it is easy stirring from then on.

Creamy Polenta

1 cup finely ground Yellow Cornmeal
1 teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Butter
4 ounces, weight Goat Cheese

Bring 4 1/2 cups water to a boil.

Add cornmeal to the water in a thin stream, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.

Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes, adding salt and extra tablespoons of water as needed. NOTE - fine or instant cornmeal is ready far more quickly - generally in about 5 minutes in my experience.

When polenta is done, stir in butter and goat cheese. Check seasonings (we added 1 tsp of fresh basil, chopped), and add salt to taste.

Serve with your favorite meat main course.

Note: leftover polenta quickly becomes a solid as it cools. Be sure to pour it out of the pot into some sort of a container before it cools. We generally place it in a 9x4 inch baking pan. Once it is cool we can slice hunks of polenta out for leftovers (more on this later . . .). It seems to last for a long time in the fridge.

Braised Short Ribs (Courtesy of the Pioneer Woman)

Have you heard about the food blogger known as the Pioneer Woman? her blog is wildly popular - so much so that it spawned a cookbook and one feels that a movie can't be far behind.

Visiting The Pioneer Woman can feel like a trip to Disney World where, on the surface, everything is nearly perfect, life is grrrrrreat!, everyone is happy and doin’ their thang, there are plenty of rides (both 4-legged and 4-wheeling) — and, if you visit regularly, you’ll be rewarded with a generous flow of give-aways and prizes. You’ll see many photos of a working cattle ranch, including calves being castrated, tagged, and branded, and cows with a vet’s arm up their nether regions being “preg-tested,” and you’ll see lots of gorgeous open plains.

Frankly I'm not sure I like her or her clan very much. They are just too perfect. I get sick about hearing hoe beautiful, smart, and perfect her kids. I couldn't care a less about her husband who she describes as "my strong, burly, masculine rancher-husband". Really . . . the entire tale of urban woman with career who moves to the country and lives the life of a rancher's bride is rather 1920s.

Having said all of that. Ree can cook. She also takes gorgeous pictures which keeps me coming back to her site.

Last week I was looking on the 'net for a recipe for braised short ribs. I had 5 pounds of them in the freezer and I wanted to make room for other things. . . like the turkey I want to pick up tomorrow at 29 cents a pound! Wouldn't you know it - google delivered me to the Pioneer Woman who posted a recipe on November 16th. The recipe looked good so I gave it a shot.

Braising is the best way to prepare tough cuts of meat - and few cuts are as tough as short ribs! This slow method of cooking breaks down the connective tissues and fat making otherwise tough cuts of meat tender, juicy, and very flavorful.  I almost feel bad for people who have no idea how wonderful cheap cuts can be.  Short ribs have so much beef flavor, they are tender . . . almost buttery if prepared properly, and they are always a crowd pleaser.

This recipe hit all of the right notes and pleased the heck out of us!

Braised Short Ribs

8 whole Beef Short Ribs
Kosher Salt & Pepper To Taste
¼ cups All-purpose Flour
6 pieces Pancetta, Diced
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
3 whole Carrots, Diced
2 whole Shallots, Peeled And Finely Minced
2 cups Red Or White Wine
2 cups Beef Or Chicken Broth (enough To Almost Cover Ribs)
2 sprigs Thyme
2 sprigs Rosemary

Salt and pepper ribs, then dredge in flour. Set aside.

In a large dutch oven, cook pancetta over medium heat until complete crispy and all fat is rendered. Remove pancetta and set aside. Do not discard grease.

Add olive oil to pan with the pancetta grease, and raise heat to high. Brown ribs on all sides, about 45 seconds per side. Remove ribs and set aside. Turn heat to medium.

Add onions, carrots, and shallots to pan and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in wine and scrape bottom of pan to release all the flavorful bits of glory. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes.

Add broth, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Taste and add more salt if needed. Add ribs to the liquid; they should be almost completely submerged. Add thyme and rosemary sprigs (whole) to the liquid.

Put on the lid and place into the oven. Cook at 350 for 2 hours, then reduce heat to 325 and cook for an additional 30 to 45 minutes. Ribs should be fork-tender and falling off the bone. Remove pan from oven and allow to sit for at least 20 minutes, lid on, before serving. At the last minute, skim fat off the top of the liquid. (Can also refrigerate mixture, then remove solid fat from the top - we did this.)

Serve 2 ribs on bed of creamy polenta, spooning a little juice over the top.

Cranberry Brie Tartlets

Let me say upfront that this recipe did not turn out as well as it should have. Happily the results were based more upon mistakes that I made rather than anything wrong with the recipe! The problem was with the look of the finished tartlets - the taste was amazing.

So amazing that I shall have to try them again  . . . following the recipe more carefully.

The recipe is from the LCBO food and Drink magazine. BTW - you can access their recipes online here.

When you make these treats avoid the two fundamental mistakes that I blundered through - I made the tarts in advance and left them sitting on the counter before I baked them. You really want to be able to pop them into the oven right away. Second - my squares of puff pastry were too small so that the filling oozed up and out of the tarts. The cranberry caramelized and this made the appearance less than what it should have been. If this happens make sure you remove them immediately from the tart tins after you take them out of the oven because as soon as the filling cools you'd need a pick ax to remove them!

Here is what the folks at the LCBO said about the tarts:

Rich, buttery puff pastry is complemented by tart cranberry filling in these delectable golden hors- d'oeuvres.

That should be just about enough to convince you to make these treats and to try and do better than I did! *smile*

Enjoy!

Cranberry Brie Tartlets

Half of a 397 mL package frozen puff pastry (1 block)
1 cup (250 mL) fresh cranberries
¼ cup (50 mL) water
3 tbsp (45 mL) sugar
¼ cup (50 mL) all-purpose flour, for flouring work surface
6 oz (175 g) brie, rinds removed, cut into 24 equal pieces

Thaw pastry at room temperature for about 1 hour or until soft enough to roll out.

Preheat oven to 400ºF (200ºC).

Put the cranberries, water and sugar in a small saucepan. Cook, covered, over high heat for about 2 to 3 minutes or until cranberries have popped. Remove lid and stir to mash with a fork. Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring with fork, for about 1 minute or until the mixture has thickened and liquid has evaporated. Cool.

Sprinkle work surface with flour and roll out puff pastry into a 12 x 9-inch (30 x 23-cm) rectangle. With a pastry scraper, cut the dough into 24 equal rectangles. Press pastry into mini-muffin pans (you'll need 2 pans with 12 muffin cups each). Divide cooled cranberry mixture among the muffin cups. Put a piece of brie in each muffin cup. Bake puffs for 15 to 20 minutes or until puffed up and golden brown. Serve warm.

Serves 6 (makes 24 Puffs)

Mistletoe Cosmo

This recipe comes to you from the LCBO - Ontario's famous liquour monopoly. About 10 years ago they realized that food and drink go well together and started publishing a magazine that highlights the two. The Mistletoe Cosmo was featured it he 2008 Holiday (AKA Christmas) edition.

They wrote:

For a cocktail party with style, this fruity Martini is also gorgeous; deep red with the green accent of mint. Make up trays to pass around the room, keep a pitcher in the fridge for a quick and easy top-up, and get ready for the mistletoe!

Style - yes, Taste - yes. Easy - yes! Clearly a recipe to keep.

Mistletoe Cosmo

For one drink:

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add 1 oz vodka, 1 oz Chambord, ½ oz lime juice, 2 oz cranberry juice and 4 mint leaves, torn. Shake and strain into a Martini glass and garnish with a mint sprig.

For a 'happening' party . . .

Entertaining Size: Serves 8 People

1 cup vodka
1 cup Chambord
½ cup lime juice
2 cups cranberry juice
4 stalks mint leaves

Add all ingredients except mint to a pitcher and stir well to mix. Chill in fridge, or add ice cubes to chill quickly. Pour into Martini glasses and garnish each with a mint sprig.

Cranberry-Pear Quesadillas

I've had a few requests for the rest of the cranberry recipes that we made over the weekend. It is someone's lucky day - apparently I am in a mood to please (as compared to my usual contrary mood . . .). Tonight the quesadillas, tomorrow the martini, and on Wednesday the brie tartlets.

I'm on the road again tomorrow so this will fill in the blog posts nicely while I am away! LOL

Poor Paul - there hasn't been a week in the past eight where I haven't been away for a portion of the days.  Mind you, he might enjoy some quality time - AKA peace and quiet.

I digress - back to the quesadillas.

This was Paul's favourite cranberry treat and I can't argue with him. The recipe was from the 2004 Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Appetizer magazine. Above the recipe the authors wrote:

These melt-in-your mouth morsels surprise with their brie and fruit filling, laced with spice and honey. Fun!

Now, I don't know about the fun aspect but I sure do know about the taste. AMAZING! Amazing and simple to make. You know by now that in my goods if a recipe is easy and the end results taste delicious that I shall be keeping that recipe to use again and again.

The recipe calls for brie but I was already making something with brie and I had thinly sliced blue cheese in the fridge  . . . what to do . . . what to do . . . of course I used the blue and the result was excellent. Of course I shall have to try it with brie to see how IT tastes!

If you're looking for a quick appetizer that is different from the rest this might just be for you!

Cranberry-Pear Quesadillas

1 4 1/2 oz round brie cheese, thinly sliced (I used blue cheese instead)
8 6-inch round flour tortillas
1 medium, ripe pear, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
2 - 3 tsp honey
1/4 tsp ground cardamom (or allspice - I used cardamom)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)

Preheat the oven to 300.

Arrange the cheese slices on the tortillas. The cheese should cover one half of each tortilla. Top with pear slices. Drizzle with honey. Sprinkle with cardamom. Top with cranberries and pecans. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Fold the unfilled side of the tortilla over the filled side; press lightly.

In an 10-inch skillet. cook the quesadillas, 2 at a time, over medium heat for 4 - 6 minutes or until he tortillas are light brown and the cheese is melted, turning once.

Remove the quesadillas from the skillet; place on a baking sheet. Keep warm in the oven while cooking the remaining quesadillas.

To serve, cut each quesadilla into 3 wedges. Makes 24 wedges.

Sunday Small Bites - Cranberries

The cooks on the slowtravel community forums have been working on a new cooking challenge - instead of each of us preparing the same recipe each week, we are preparing our own appetizer - or Small Bite - that uses a specific main ingredient. So far we have tackled shrimp, crab, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, goat cheese, smoked salmon, pecans, pumpkin, olives, mushrooms, and ginger. This week Jan selected our ingredient and went with cranberries . . . just in time for American Thanksgiving!

Of course we went a wee bit overboard with our 'small bites'. We ended up with a selection of cranberry appetizers and a cranberry martini. As we sipped the martinis we enjoyed cheese and crackers, a cranberry pistachio pate, cranberry brie tartlets, and cranberry pear and blue cheese quesadillas. I started the pate before I headed off to Ottawa because it needed time to sit in the fridge before you sliced into it, the rest came together VERY quickly in less than an hour.

The pate is a recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens site. I noticed it a few years back and bookmarked it as something to make in the future but never did. With Jan selecting cranberries as the ingredient for the week I looked it up again and decided to finally try it out.

I am glad ended up making the pate because it was easy and the results were wonderful. No, this isn't a smooth pate like the ones that you buy that are full of chicken livers. It is however, a fascinating combinations of flavours. And did I say that it was easy to make? Easy + tasty = a perfect recipe in my books!

I was concerned that the texture would be coarse like a meatloaf and not very 'pate-like' but I was happy to discover that the process of storing it in the refrigerator under weights caused it to compact into a relatively smooth consistency. I did store it in the refrigerator under weights for three days unlike the one day suggested in the recipe.

The recipe suggests serving it with stone ground mustard. I tried it without and it was fine but the mustard sure added yet another layer of flavour when I sampled it with the pate. Even Paul - who is a strange fellow and hates mustard in all its many magnificient forms - enjoyed the mustard with the pate. Go figure . . .

Now to head off and see what the other slow travelers have made for 'Cranberry Week'.

Cranberry Pistachio Pate

Nonstick cooking spray
1 egg
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped shallots or onion
1/2 cup shelled, chopped pistachio nuts
1/3 cup port wine or cranberry juice (I used the port - in case there was any doubt :-) )
1/4 cup half-and-half or light cream
1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
2 teaspoons dried sage leaves, crushed, or 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound lean ground pork
Stone ground mustard

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Lightly spray a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

Beat egg in a large mixing bowl. Add cranberries, shallot or onion, pistachio nuts, port wine or cranberry juice, cream, bread crumbs, sage, salt, pepper, and garlic; mix well. Add ground beef and pork. Mix well. Press mixture into prepared pan. Cover tightly with foil. Bakes 1-1/2 hours.

Remove pan from oven. Cool slightly. Uncover; carefully pour off drippings, leaving pate in pan. Cover pate loosely with foil. Place several heavy cans of food in another 9x5x3-inch loaf pan to serve as weights. Place pan on top of the covered pate. Chill overnight.

Remove weighted pan and foil. Loosen sides if necessary. Invert pate onto a serving platter or wrap in plastic wrap and chill for up to 2 days. Cut pate in half lengthwise and then into thin slices. Serve pate with stone ground mustard.

Photo Hunt - Birds

This week's Photo Hunt theme is birds. Given that we do a fair bit of hiking and this area is on a migration flight path I had hundreds of pictures of birds in my collections. Then I thought about our recent trip to Greece where we saw many different birds over our two week visit.

This one knew a good thing when he (or she) saw it. We had just discovered the amazing cheese pies that Athenians buy and eat while on the run. We decided that a relaxing snack sitting in a park was the preferable way to enjoy them. This pigeon agreed because we were happy to share bits of the pastry.

We also saw many pigeons at the Parliament building across from Syntagma Square. Of course there were folks selling feed for the tourists so you know it won't be long before there are far too many of these 'flying rats' and the Athenians will have to deal with the same problems that the Venetians have with the pigeons in San Marco Square. You can see them all clustered to the left.

Then it was on to Mykonos where we saw the famed Pedro the Pelican. Before you slam me for posting a picture I've posted a few weeks ago - this is a different Pedro! Apparently the tourists love the story so much that there are 4 or 5 Pedro's to delight them (and try and get them to stay in a particular restaurant or shop).

On to Patmos where we met a pair of ducks on the beach.

Rhodes was one of our favourite islands. While we were wandering Rhodes town we decided to visit the well-preserved Castle of the Knights of St John. It is  is one of the finest examples of Crusader military architecture in the world. The castle is really impressive and has been maintained in excellent condition. No wonder it has been proclaimed a World Heritage Site. Inside the castle we were amazed at the beautiful frescoes - many of which featured birds.

Then it was back to Athens where we saw this immense stature of an owl standing by the entrance to the new Acropolis museum. The owl was a revered symbol in Athens where it symbolized wisdom.

Lots of the slow travel  community members also photo hunt when they aren't traveling. You can find their posts by clicking the links below. 

• Old Shoes, New Trip
• Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings
• My Place in the Sun
• Churches in Venice – Mosaics, Marble, and Miracle-Working Madonnas
• Palmabella's Passions
• What I Really Think
• shave Ice and Gelato
• Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!
• Keep your Feet in the Street
• Baked Alaska
• That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it!
• Postcards from the Trail
• Cooking at the Whistlestop Cafe
• Candi's Corner
• Trekcapri's Blog
• Destination Anywhere