Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Green Garlic



In mid-October last year, the first rain of the fall season had arrived. I remember waking up early to get ready for work, but decided that I would much rather curl up with a blanket, drink hot chocolate, and stay home.

A dear friend of mine had informed me that it was time to plant garlic. Her directions were simple:  place a clove of garlic (don't remove the paper) into the ground. Cover the garlic with just a bit of soil -- don't bury it too deeply

Now it's March, and the rain hasn't let up yet, but my garlic have sprouted! I can't wait to eat them all.

Amedei Tasting



I bought this assortment of Amedei chocolates at Cardullo's when I was in Boston last year. Each package came with four tasting squares. Here are the package notes and my (very brief) notes

Ecuador 70 % -- Intense aroma of forest undergrowth and cacao. A chocolate to surprise you as its immense aromatic flavour develops
My notes: Very pleasant clean earthy scent with red fruit aromas. Flavor is well balanced though finish falls a bit short.

Venezuela 70% -- Flora aroma with dried fruit sensations. A balanced chocolate with a pleasant aromatic richness
My notes: Smells a bit sharp -- like cheese and tart red fruit. Flavor is mellow and coffee-like

Trinidad 70% -- Aroma of toasted cacao and tobacco. A classic chocolate with a hint of walnut
My notes: Aroma is similar to Venezuala but brighter and fruitier. Flavor is creamy and rich. Nice finish of caramel and coffee.

Grenada 70% -- Aroma of exotic spices. A creamy and pleasantly balanced chocolate.
My notes: Scent reminds me of pho (star anise, and coriander). Flavor starts out a bit weak and ends a bit chalky-tasting.

Jamaica 70% --  Intense aroma, mediterranean fruit flavours. A highly captivating, decise, and powerful chocolate
My notes: Scent is smoky and minty and reminds me a bit of sauvignon blanc. Flavor is caramel-ly, smoky, and a little flat.

Roti Canai




I have been obsessed with making roti canai ever since I first tried it at Layang Layang, a Malaysian restaurant in San Jose, CA. I experimented with many recipes but could not duplicate the flaky-but-tender layers of this Malaysian flat bread. I tried using buter, canola oil, and clarified butter to no avail. Finally, I succumbed to using margarine (Yech!) which has produced the best results so far. Next time I will try this recipe using ghee and report how it turns out.

The recipe below comes from Shiok, a book by Terry Tan and Christopher Tan



Ingredients:
500 grams (1 lb 2 oz) plain flour, sifted
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
125 mL (1/2 cup) lukewarm water
4 T lukewarm milk
150 grams (5 and 1/4 ounces) vegetable ghee or melted margarine
Makes 12-14 roti canai
Cooking time: 4 minutes per roti canai
Prep time 40 min plus 45 min standing time

1. Combine flour salt and sugar in mixing bowl. Mix water, milk, and 2 T of margarine with hands and knead gently but constantly for about 7 minutes adding more water or flour as necessary for a soft coherent dough. Pinch off pieces the size of large plums and shape into balls. Roll balls in remaining margarine to coat and place on plate. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in cool place for 45 minutes

2.Have a frying pan set at ready over medium high heat

3. Lightly grease work surface or large chopping board. Place dough ball on it and dab with more melted margarine. Flatten and stretch dough outwards.

4. Fold two opposite edges to center and then other two edges to make square.

My notes:
I took “plain” flour to mean “all purpose” flour
Stretch dough out by putting it on a greased surface and massaging it out
Let dough rest after stretching and shaping before you cook it.
This recipe produced decent layers and flakiness, but the flavor wasn't particularly interesting. Perhaps using ghee will improve the flavor

Roti Dough Balls


Stretching the dough out


Folding
 
 


Cooking
 

Served with a curry dipping sauce
 

Salt Preserved Citrus

I came across a bounty of meyer lemons and oranges and decided to preserve some with salt using a Moroccan recipe.  It's fantastic with chicken, tuna salad, and tomato sauce. I also added some to a ratatouille dish I made. My mom also says that there are Vietnamese drinks that use salt-preserved citrus for flavor but I haven't tried that yet.

Preserved Lemon



Preserved Orange

Ingredients:
10 meyer lemons
1/2 cup kosher salt

Directions
1. Quarter the meyer lemons but don't cut all the way through so they remain attached at base.
2. Take a quartered meyer lemon and squeeze its juice into a jar and rub kosher salt into the flesh.
3. Place the salted lemon into the jar with the lemon juice.

4. Repeat with remaining lemons and salt being sure to squish the lemons into the jar so they're packed tightly. Ideally, the jar would have no airspace when you're finished. If airspace remains, fill it up with more lemon juice or try to squeeze in another lemon or two.

5. Let jar sit for a few weeks before using.

For the preserved oranges, I followed the same steps but used oranges instead.

Valentine's Day 2010

Braised short ribs with cauliflower puree, braised celery, and julienne leeks



Short Ribs:
Marinated in malaysian curry powder, five spice powder, white vinegar, balsamic vinegar, palm sugar, honey, soy sauce, garlic, shallot, fish sauce, tamarind paste.

Browned ribs, then add water to cover and let braise for 1.5 hours with celery. Strain out the liquid, add one diced Asian pear, palm sugar, honey, rice wine vinegar and cook until pears are soft. Puree the mixture and put it back on the heat to bubble away until it's significantly reduced.

Julienne leeks -- butter, salt, leeks.

Cauliflower puree -- butter, cream, crispy shallot (hanh phi)