Out of the frying pan

Ed note: I originally wrote this in the middle of the summer. Now it is blowing a gale and we’re in for some snow any time now. But think waram French thoughts and enjoy.

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As I sit, uncomfortably at this small computer, hunting and pecking my way around the keys, I am sweating. Not just a little bit, but I mean big honking gobs of sweat. I know this is a bit graphic, but there is a reason why I am subjecting you to this torture. You see this fine weather we are having here on the island is like nothing I have experienced before in my lifetime living here. It is hot and muggy (what the locals refer to as “close”). This high humidity coupled with no wind (another rarity) means we are suffering though 35 degree heat. This is weather I was trying to escape while I was living in On-terrible.

The heat makes me cranky. I can’t sleep (nor can my wife when I can’t sleep, God love her) and I am an a relatively foul mood because of it, and to top it all off, I have had the strangest food cravings for the past couple days and it is driving me bananas.

When it gets hot I can’t do much of anything. This was a problem when I was working in kitchens as they get, I am told, very hot while you are in them. So I drink a lot of water but that is not satisfying to me. So I drink tea: Hot Tea. This is wonderful as it does cool the body somewhat. (I have an Indian friend who swears by hot tea on the hottest of days to keep you cool…who knew?). Then my mind turns to food.

Now not all food is good for the summer heat waves. We had a delicious stir fry last night that my wife made but I was craving French food today so I whipped up biftek avec haricot vert et vinagaire moutarde. (Roughly translated as steak with green beans and mustard vinaigrette) Here’s the how you do it.

1 steak ( I had a thin piece of sirloin), 1 cm thick

1 lb green beans, trimmed both ends

1tbs Dijon mustard

1tbs red wine vinegar

6 tbs olive oil

1 minced shallot

1 tsp caper berries

salt and pepper

1 Get a pot of water boiling for the beans. Remember to season the water with 1 tsp salt (kosher)

2. Heat pan over moderate heat.

While things are heating up, combine mustard and vinegar in a bowl and combine with a whisk. Then slowly drizzle in the oil to make an emulsion. When the dressing has come together, add the minced shallot and the capers and fold them through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. When water is boiling, add the beans in one go. Return to boil and boil for 5 min. Or until fork tender.

4. Season both sides of the steak and drizzle 1tsp of oil on one side of the steak. Place the steak in pan and sear for 2 mins. Turn and cook for 1 more min. Remove from pan and let to rest for 2 min.

5. When beans are cooked to doneness, drain and put immediately into vinaigrette and toss to coat.

6. Cut beef into strips across the grain and put on plate, serve with generous pile of haricot vert, and enjoy. (Serves 2)

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Braising away during a winter storm

The wind and the snow were out in full force and I was in the mood for some fun. During the recent storm I was also longing for some serious sun action (spring, oh why have you forsaken me?) and decided that the best way to while away the snowy blues was to cook, and dream of the flavours of the summer months.

Some ingredients are better at the height of the summer, but because of our precarious situation (meaning we are at the mercy of imported food) we sometimes have to take lemons and make lemonade, or in this case we’ll use one of my all time favourite ingredients: tomatoes.

Tomatoes in the depths of winter are a little sad. Most have been sitting on trucks waiting to get delivered across the province. As they have to travel long distances, they are usually picked and packed green and ripen along the way. Not at all like the gems of the garden which will be coming to life in the market season of spring and summer – the great harvest months and the months where I feast on as many fresh tomatoes as I can handle, but I digress. However there are ways to make a stiffer than usual tomato come to life. I like to braise them – slowly, in oil.

Every once in a while a little braise must fall across my plate. I am a huge fan of braising foods. It takes some time and some effort, but rest assured the wait will be worth it. The combination of roasting and for the most part, poaching, is a wonderful way to make tough things soft and tender.

So I give you slow braised tomatoes in olive oil. It is sure to be a hit in your household, as it is in mine.

For this recipe I used plum or Roma tomatoes. They are a little more firm than hot house tomatoes and they take the flavours readily. They also stand up to the refrigerator after they are cooked.

Cut the bottoms off 8-9 tomatoes, so they will stand up, and arrange them in a non-reactive dish. I like using the 8” square Pyrex dish as I can generally fit 8-9 decent sized tomatoes in it without crushing them.

Peel and crush4-6 cloves of garlic, but do not chop, and add to the dish.

Pour olive oil into the dish until the oil reaches halfway up the tomatoes.

Add one whole sprig of thyme.

Remember to season generously with salt and pepper as it is the only seasoning the tomatoes will get in the cooking process. As well, if you are so inclined, you could add ½ tsp dried chilli flakes to spice things up a bit.

Place the dish in a 250 degree oven for 11/2 to 2 hours or until the tomatoes are tender.

The smell of the tomatoes and garlic and thyme will fill the kitchen with a fantastic aroma. Remove the dish and let the tomatoes rest for 20 minutes in the oil. The tomato skins will then be easy to pull off and you have a wonderfully fragrant and most of all extremely tasty treat. But that is not all. The great thing about this dish is that it is several different things at once.

They are tender braised tomatoes, suitable as a side vegetable for a poached fish like salmon or trout; they can be blended while cold and used as vinaigrette. The oil, because it is also flavoured is fantastic on its own as a dip for bread at the beginning of a meal. As well, it can be used as for sautéing vegetables or meats.

Just filling in the summer theme my wife made a delicious salad last night featuring fall beets (jarred from the market), fresh chopped apple, organic greens, goat’s cheese, and concassé (concassé is a French technique for skinning, deseeding and finely dicing tomatoes used in sauces and sometimes as garnish) of braised tomato. It was a superb. The tomato, while not roasted leant a subtle smokiness to the simple salad. Accompanied by a light Italian white wine (a carryover from the summer wine show surplus sale), it was summer on a plate as the winter winds swept past.

Who really needs the hot sun, when summer flavours are only one braise away.

Copyright 2007 Unlawful dissemination of this or any other work will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Days of wine and grills

Sometimes for me making a menu for a dinner is difficult. I have so many ideas at times, that it is hard to sort through what I want to make.

Christening the new super-turbocharged high performance built from scratch grill had to be special.

The menu was prepared entirely on the new grill – my wife was very impressed. She was also very helpful.

She made the first course – Crisped goat cheese on field greens with balsamic drizzle.

I have been experimenting with various crusts for herbed goat cheese. I found that a crushed clack pepper cracker works best, for both browning and for keeping the goat cheese together when heating in a pan.

The next course took a bit of time as the sauce needed attention.

We had a Grilled Rib eye steak with Béarnaise, haricot vert and Grilled vegetable medley.

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of béarnaise and a good steak, this is one of the classical pairings of foods. Generally, when I was in France ordering steak frites (steak and double fried French fries) unusually came with a béarnaise sauce.

The béarnaise was something I had not done since I was in a professional kitchen but the technique and the ratios were amazingly close to my memory: egg yolks, butter (room temperature), and a reduction of white wine vinegar, shallots and tarragon.

The technique involves using a double boiler

In small saucepan simmer vinegar, shallot and tarragon until reduced to about 1 tbsp. Remove and set aside. In the double boiler whisk beaten yolks, salt and pepper and lemon juice over low heat until thickened to consistency of heavy cream. While beating constantly add the butter one piece at a time until all has been incorporated. Fold in wine mixture and serve. This sauce can hold while in the bowl for 20-30 minutes, just occasionally stir it to keep it loose.

We steamed the beans lightly until there was still some bite and the mushrooms, and capsicum peppers were grilled nicely.

I served that course with a wine purchase that I found using the “Zen method” of wine choice. Basically I was bored so I followed another bloke around a store and picked up whatever he got – seemed reasonable at the time.

Anyway, the wine McWilliams Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 From South Eastern Australia was a winner. Not heavy on the fruits yet robust enough to withstand the sauce. It was a fortuitous choice and one I will make again.

The final course was a small but filling bowl of cappuccino gelato and coffee and for me an digestif of home made vanilla vodka (another blog about that later).

Ina all it was a great meal, and one for the books. This meal was good enough to serve any friends or family – but sometimes, you just have to splurge on yourself. Cheers.

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Copyright 2006, Unlawful dissemination of this or any other writing will be punished to the full extent of the law.