by TheLastWonton | Oct 9, 2014 | Appetizers & Snacks, Holiday & Seasonal, Sides, Vegetarian, Veggies
Spice-toting, fried crispy edges, ever-so-sweetly give way to a kind of a roasty, toasty, carroty goodness, finished with a shower of lemon zest and tangy Asiago, with a ridiculousy yummy kicked-up yogurt, for dipping.
They're farm-to-table, they're delicious in any season, they're good for you, they're always in vogue, and at this time of year, they'll help you see the Vampires hiding in the darkness. "Dahlink, vaht ees daht you are havink vor yor midnight schnahck?"
And besides all that…..the Ancient Greeks called the carrot a philtron, which translates to "love charm." They believed the carrot made both men and women more amorous. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, know what I mean, know what I mean?!
Pass the carrots, please. Babycakes.
It was the photo that first caught my attention, when I happened across this recipe in Bon Appetit just a few days, before excitedly, eye-spying some beautiful, little, sunset-hued, heirloom carrots at the farmers market…….. and the rest is, well, carrot history.
These, my friends, are good carrots!
By first blanching and then coating with spices, laced with a bit of sugar, and then frying until deep-golden brown, you pretty much copy-cat the glorious effects of roasting these garden gems. But better. 'Cuz, oh mama, that sauteeing takes these babies to new heights of yum. And then you scatter them with lemon zest and finely grated, creamy Asiago.
But, wait, we're not finished yet. On the side, for dipping (or smearing) (or slathering) cool, creamy, seductively spicy Greek yogurt! Gutsy yogurt, that has been hot-chili slammed with sambal. Bodacious!
I've changed the recipe that I found that day, but I still have to say, thank-you, thank-you very much, for a damn good carrot recipe, Bon Appetit!
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In early Celtic literature, the carrot is referred to
as the "Honey Underground".
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SPICE-CRUSTED CARROTS WITH SAMBAL YOGURT – Serves 4
2 pounds small carrots with tops, scrubbed, tops trimmed to 1/2" or so
Sea salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon English mustard powder
1 teaspoon hot smoked Spanish paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon onion powder
Freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons (or so) vegetable oil, divided
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon sambal oelek
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, or dillweed, plus more (optional)
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest, plus more
Finely grated Asiago cheese (I use a microplane. How I love my microplane.)
Lemon wedges (for serving)
Cook carrots in a large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender and skins easily rub off, about 5 minutes; drain. Transfer to bowl of ice water. Using paper towels, gently rub carrots to remove skins and pat dry.
Cut any bigger carrots in half lengthwise, so all carrots cook evenly.
Mix sugar, mustard powder, paprika, cumin and onion powder in a small bowl. Toss carrots with 1 tablespoon oil in a pie plate, or bowl. Add spice mixture; season with salt and pepper and toss to coat.
Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet, preferably cast iron. Working in 2 batches, cook carrots, turning occasionally, until deep brown all over, 6-8 minutes; season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, place yogurt in a small bowl; season with salt and pepper. Add sambal oelek, 2 teaspoons thyme and 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest and gently swirl ingredients, stopping before yogurt turns pink. (Sometimes, I have discovered, I like pink yogurt!)
Spoon sambal yogurt onto plates and top with carrots, more thyme, more lemon zest and as much finely grated Asiago as suits your fancy. Serve with lemon wedges, and a silly smile.
Do ahead: Carrots can be cooked in boiling water and peeled up to 8 hours ahead. Cover and chill.
by TheLastWonton | Oct 9, 2014 | Appetizers & Snacks, Holiday & Seasonal, Sauces, Dips & Condiments, Sides
Our family's quintessential heirloom recipe. Smooth, sublimely delicious cheese dip, with a bit of a tang, that smacks you right in the kisser.
So, okay, you guys……from the very, very, very, first Christmas Eve's I can remember, ever, ever……and then for a few years before that, it was ritual at our house – there on Hendon Drive, in Calgary, and then later in Kelowna, that Mom made her Cheese Dip.
You know, it just wasn't Christmas Eve without it. Without kith and kin eagerly, indulgently, dipping, crunching, mmm-ing.
Then and no
w, every single one in our family can never get enough. We love Mom's Cheese Dip, but still only make it, usually once a year – at Christmas of course. It's that special!!
I just bucked tradition and made a double batch for Thanksgiving, and quickly got a note from my dearheart niece, Michelle, stating, "Yikes! I don't think you are allowed to make that outside of Christmas."
Sorry, I just couldn't wait!
So there I was yesterday, happily looking out from my forest facing kitchen, with a silly, guilty, smile stuck on my face, doing something wrong, but oh, so right!
I plopped those somewhat unlikely ingredients all together in the bowl and whipped the bejeepers out of them.
And then, oh my!! You kind of forget from year to year, but then again you don't. Mom's Cheese Dip is all silky and potently yummy, and tastes like love and home and so much delicious comfort, that, yesterday, it was hard to stop testing it to make sure it's okay for everyone.
I'm not sure if it really, truly, is THE WORLD'S BEST cheese dip. But it might be…….. and I know one thing for sure, this Thanksgiving, my cup runneith over with gratitude for family heirloom recipes.
Thanks Mom! Your Cheese Dip is still nothing less than Heavenly.
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MOM'S CHEESE DIP
I often take little liberties, with some of the ingredients, making my 'tablespoons', and other measurements, quite generous. But first, try it just as is, and then you can't go wrong 'customizing', to suit your tastes.
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons Cheez Whiz
4 generous tablespoons McLaren's sharp cheese
2 tablespoons grated sweet onion (Walla Walla, Vidalia, Maui)
2 teaspoons hot, prepared horseradish
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
Walnut sized chunk of butter (big walnut!)
Few drops Tabasco
Cream, whip, whip together, thoroughly, with electric mixer. Let mellow in fridge for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 weeks. Serve with chips or crackers, or your favorite dippers. Oh my!
by TheLastWonton | Jun 15, 2014 | Appetizers & Snacks, Baking & Desserts, Breads & Sandwiches, Mexican, Sides
Decadently addictive, golden poofs of lightly crispy, slightly chewy, doughnutty, fry bread, served up piping hot with honey butter. Heavenly!
If you've never been in the right place, at the right time, to have sampled, or perhaps more appropriately devoured, steamy-warm sopapillas slathered with honey butter, this my friends, is your lucky day.
Years back, we were introduced to sopapillas at the Chile Chapter, one of Kelowna's best ever Mexican eateries. Soon after your order was placed, a basket of warm, golden-fried sopapillas with honey butter on the side, was plunked on your table. Delicioso!
Alas, the Chile Chapter is no longer there. But, the sopapillas live on.
These unforgettable, doughnut-like, yeasty, fried goodies seem to have orginated in some of the South American countries, with one version or another becoming popular in New Mexico and Texas. And now in beautiful British Columbia.
I don't make them very often, but every single time I do, no matter the gathering, no matter the ages of family and friends present, sopapillas are gobbled up leaving nothing behind but big, silly, honey butter smeared grins.
Lucky for us all, they're really easy to make. Start with a slightly sweetened yeast dough, let it rise, roll it out, cut into squares or triangles and fry them up, in batches, til crispy golden and cooked through, about 4 minutes. Mmmm. Mmm.
Oh my beautiful golden poofs of tender yeasty goodness, touting those tiny puddles of melted honey butter in your crevices, how can I ever refuse you?
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Thanks oodles to Make It Do blog for your marvelous Mom's Scones recipe
that replicates the best damn sopapillas that I've ever devoured.
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SOPAPILLAS – Makes about 24-28
(Recipe can be halved)
1 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
1 tablespoon dry active yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup melted butter, cooled
1 tablespoon sea or Kosher salt
5-6 cups bread flour (I usually use about 5 1/3 cups)
Vegetable or canola oil for frying
Honey butter, for serving
Combine warm water and warm milk. Stir in the sugar. Add dry active yeast and stir lightly. Allow yeast to activate, about 10 minutes.
In a stand mixer, fitted with a bread hook, add milk-yeast mixture and melted, cooled butter. Add the salt. Start the mixer and add 5 cups of flour, one cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Dough should be slightly sticky but workable. If dough is still too sticky after adding 5 cups, add 1/4 cup of flour at a time, until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, but is still slightly sticky. Let machine run for another couple of minutes to knead the dough.
Rise in a lightly oiled, covered bowl for 1 1/2, or until dough is doubled in size.
Punch the dough down and place on lightly buttered countertop. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about 1/2-inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut into squares or triangles.
Pour about 3 inches of oil into a large pan (with sides deep enough to fully immerse the scones), pot, or wok and heat slowly over medium to medium high heat.
Heat oil to between 350 – 400F. Make sure your oil is hot enough…..too cold and the sopapillas will soak up oil, too hot and they will brown too quickly on the outside and still be doughy on the inside.
Before dropping each sopapilla into the hot oil, give it just a little stretch. Drop them gently in. Be sure not to overcrowd the pan. Fry 1-2 minutes on each side, until puffed and golden. Drain on newspaper or paper towels. Serve hot with Honey Butter.
HONEY BUTTER
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup runny honey
Whip butter and honey together with electric mixer, at high speed, until combined and fluffy. Transfer to serving bowl. Store any leftovers in fridge. (Great on biscuits, toast, or pancakes!)
by TheLastWonton | Apr 5, 2014 | Appetizers & Snacks, Chicken & Poultry, Main Dishes, Sides
Da kine Hawaiian flavahs….boasting a good blast of Thai and Filipino tastiness, and a heady hit of rum or whiskey. These tender, crispy, oven-fried chicken wings tossed in a fiery-sweet, tangy glaze, are guaranteed to leave you with a big, sticky smile. Broke da mouth!
MY HAWAIIAN KITCHEN
Delectable memoirs, from a few years back, of living on the slopes of Mt. Hualalai, high above the famed Kona Coast on the beguiling Big Island of Hawaii.
Dear Journal – It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday up Kaloko. A feel good day from the get-go. I'd just had my morning Kona coffee on the lanai, watching the fishing boats, on the shimmering Pacific, head out en masse from Honokohau Harbour, far below….. one of my favorite Big Island Saturday things to do.
The Ka'au Crater Boys filled the house with easy Island tunes and I was ready to conjure up some hot wings, to rival Buffalo.
Then it happened.
The earth shook……really shook!!! A friendly quake.
Kilauea Volcano was, once again, kicking things up on the windward side of the island.
When the 'aina moves and jiggles and sways, it's such an unnerving, and breathtaking, reminder of nature's ultimate power, that it makes you stop in your tracks in some sort of anticipation. And awe.
I'm not sure I can explain it, but after an earth tremor, it's like after a tickle…… I'm left with a thrill and a giggle. It's just so remarkable when the earth moves.
It questions everything. But at this magnitude, all in a good, thought-provoking way.
Small earthquakes or earth tremors are not an unusual event on the Big Island of Hawaii, but always leave behind a fresh new awareness. Of power, of blessings.
So on this wonderful, tropical day, as I created away in my Hawaiian kitchen, I thrilled, yet one more time, to be in this paradise, and then I made some Hot Wings, kissed by Madame Pele, and as delicious as the day itself.
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HOT SWEETIES ~ Hawaiian Hot Wings
2 -3 pounds chicken wings, tips removed
3 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons peanut, corn, vegetable or canola oil
1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
1 teaspoon sea or Kosher salt
1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
GLAZE:
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 plump garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup rum or whiskey
1 cup vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup Banana Ketchup/Sauce, or regular ketchup (Banana ketchup or Banana Sauce is a Filipino condiment available in Asian grocers or Asian sections of supermarkets)
2 tablespoons dark shoyu (soy sauce)
1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons dried red chiles (how hot do you like it?)
Glaze can be made ahead and gently reheated. For ease of serving, whether we are having company or not, I always make my Sweet Hotties glaze ahead of time.
In a medium pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat and saute minced garlic 3-4 minutes, until starting to caramelize and turn golden. Stir in rum or whiskey to deglaze the pan and let mixture bubble and steam for about 1 minute.
Add vinegar, sugar, water, ketchup, soy sauce and chiles and stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a steady, gentle boil. Do not let your glaze boil too vigorously or it will cook too quickly.
Boil gently for 30-40 minutes, until mixture thickens and bubbles start to plop, plop, plop as they break the surface. Remove from heat and set aside.
Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Very lightly oil a large rimmed baking sheet, or use parchment paper. Dry chicken wings with paper towels and place in large bowl. In a cup mix melted butter, peanut oil, garlic powder, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pour over wings in bowl, mix and massage seasoning mixture to coat the wings. Lay wings out, not touching, on prepared baking sheet.
Bake wings 45-55 minutes until toasty brown and cooked through. Place cooked wings in large bowl. Quickly reheat glaze for a moment and drizzle over crispy tender wings. Toss gently to completely cover the wings in that sweet, spicy, tangy scrumptiousness. E 'ai kakou! (Let's eat!)
by TheLastWonton | Mar 7, 2014 | Appetizers & Snacks, Breads & Sandwiches, Breakfast & Brunch, Sides, Vegetarian
Indulgent amounts of aromatic garlic, and goodies, slathered across chewy, golden crusted, butter-smeared focaccia that gives way to a soft yeasty middle.
The sorcery of billowing yeast, the intoxication of aromatic garlic, the addictive sweetness of butter, the undeniable satisfaction of biting into the perfect mingle of chewy, crusty and soft, topped off with a wee, briny, heat kick. Oh mama! Now that's the staff of life.
We love this garlic bread at our house. It's kind of our 'house' bread. And it's rather magnifique for sopping up spicy meat sauce or creamy alfredo, or for slipping under pieces of BBQ steak, or for dipping into rich, red-wine-laced stew, or of course, crowned with slices of garden-fresh heirloom tomatoes.
Is it handcrafted? Yes. Is it ridiculously easy? But of course, thanks to my trusty sidekick Betty, the Breadmaker.
Yes, yes, I named my breadmaker. We're best friends! Betty and I are like this……
I use the base focaccia recipe to dress up in all different delicious guises and for pizza crust too, or just plain, with a good grind of sea salt and black pepper, to dip in silky olive oil and tangy-sweet balsamic.
Do it! Come on……pull out the ol' breadmaker and take a whack at our house garlic bread. You'll be glad you did. Really, really, for reals.
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"The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in it's evocation of innocence and delight……
Breadmaking is one of those almost hypnotic businesses, like a dance
from some ancient ceremony. It leaves you filled with one of the world's
sweetest smells…… there is no chiropractic treatment,
no Yoga exercise, no hour of meditation in a music-throbbing chapel
that will leave you emptier of bad thoughts then this homely
ceremony of making bread"
~ M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating: 50th Anniversary Edition
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HOUSE GARLIC BREAD – Makes 2
DOUGH:
3 teaspoons breadmaker yeast (or 2 teaspoons breadmaker yeast and 1 teaspoon traditional yeast)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Just barely 1 1/3 cups warm water
Olive oil for baking pan
Cornmeal for baking pan
TOPPING (for 2 loaves):
6 plump garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped
4 heaping tablespoons Calamata or green olives, roughly chopped
(If you don't like olives, just leave them out)
1/2 teaspoon dried red chile flakes
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt flakes
4 tablespoons cold butter, cut or broken into little pieces.
Set breadmaker to Dough Cycle, add ingredients in order given; yeast, sugar, flour, salt, olive oil, warm water. Close lid and let "Betty" do her thing. While she is, smear a large (13"x18") rimmed baking sheet with a good splash of olive oil and sprinkle generously with cornmeal. Set aside.
In a smal bowl, mix together minced garlic, Italian parsley, olives, red chile flakes and 6 tablespoons olive oil. Set topping aside.
When dough is ready, plop it onto prepared baking sheet, turning once to roughly coat with oil and cornmeal, and cut in half.
Preheat oven to 400F. Pat and schmush each dough flat, leaving at least 1 inch between loaves. Once the dough is patted out to about 3/4"-1" (or so) thickness, use your fingertips to press indentations into the dough. These little pockets will catch lovely bits of flavour, and give more texture to your baked bread.
Now slather 1/2 of the topping mixture, fairly evenly onto each loaf. Grind fresh sea salt lightly over the top or sprinkle with sea salt flakes. Now, I usually take a really sharp knife and cut 5 or 6, 2-inch-ish slashes, randomly, through each loaf and then pull them open a bit. These cuts create even more happy, happy texture.
Pop in the oven for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown, and you can no longer resist the heavenly bouquet. Remove from oven and dot with little bits of butter. Cut in random size and shape pieces and dig in.
