Savannah Red Rice

I know that I have confessed my love for Anthony Bourdain on this blog before. In fact, I think we all have. All the LadyGirls love Bourdain. What’s not to love? He’s a mega-babe, right? Plus, he cooks. AND drinks. AND tells Rachel Ray to f*ck off. So, I’m down with his style in life.

 

But, now I am also in love with David Chang and Sean Brock. Because they ALSO cook. And drink (bourbon, specifically). AND probably also find Rachel Ray as offensive as I do. And they are all on the best show to ever come on television, Mind of a Chef. If you haven’t watched it yet, you should. It’s on Netflix. You can spend all your free time this weekend watching the genius that is Bourdain narration and Chang/Brock hosting. It’s also on PBS. So, you can support your public broadcaster while you do it. (I realize these last two paragraphs were borderline obsessive, so I kind of don’t want any of these men to read this blog because I won’t look cool, I’ll just look thirsty. But on the other hand, call me, David Chang).

The second season is really amazing, because it focuses specifically on Lowcountry cooking. One episode in particular features a giant pig barbecue and a dinner outside, which basically sounds like the most fun party to ever happen. Chef Steven Satterfield is featured in this episode for his Savannah Red Rice, which made my mouth water the first time I watched it (and maybe every time subsequently).

This brings me to my other current excitement, a challenge I set for myself for the month of May. Last year, several people I know, including one of the LadyGirls, bought into a community farm box to receive fresh produce for the summer. Super great idea, but slightly overwhelming in terms of cooking, particularly if you aren’t familiar with some of the vegetables you’re getting in the box. I was hashing out this particular challenge with a friend of mine, who had lived in Sweden for a while. He said that when he received his box in Sweden, it also came with a recipe book and meal plan for the week to utilize everything in the box. This was brilliant, in my mind. So, building on that, I decided to challenge myself to use something I’ve never cooked with each week in May. How exciting is that for a spring eating challenge? So fun, right?

As I was inspired by the Mind of a Chef episode, and because my condo neighbours don’t seem like the types to want to roast a whole pig in the courtyard, I decided to use okra as this week’s vegetable. I love eating okra, but I’ve never cooked with it. Now that I’ve used it though, I’ll be incorporating it in regularly. This red rice was amazing. My house has never smelled so good! But, be warned- this is probably not a weeknight dinner, unless you do a lot of prep ahead of time. It requires a fair amount of flavour-layering, and therefore there are a lot of steps. Find the full recipe here, but here’s what I did.

 

Start with a pot and sauté a mirepoix (that’s just French for celery, onions, and carrots, but we’re fancy here) in a good amount of butter and bacon fat (you do drain your bacon fat into a cup in your freezer, right?) But you’re actually not going to add carrots; you’re going to add two cloves of chopped garlic instead. Let that get soft, and then add a can of diced tomatoes, not drained. Also add a splash of apple cider vinegar, chilli flakes, 2 cups of chicken stock, salt, pepper, two bay leaves, and a spoonful of dried thyme. Let that simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Sometimes you have to improvise.

Get out your best cast iron pan. Add more bacon fat and butter to that, then toast two cups of a long grain rice (a southern one, if you don’t live in Canada and shop at Food Basics, in which case you’ll just use rice). Once it’s opaque, add four cups of the tomato mixture, and cover. As with any cooking rice, don’t peek. Don’t lift the lid. (YOU’LL RUIN EVERYTHING). Just time it for 25 minutes. Then turn of the heat and let stand for 5 minutes. STILL do not lift the lid. 

When the rice just starts to simmer, get another pan out. (I told you this was many steps). Add the remaining tomato mixture to your pan, and then add your sausage. I used a nice dried hot salami, but Andouille would be more authentic. That can simmer gently until those five minutes that the rice stands. Add your okra and raw shrimp in at that moment, and let them cook until just pink. (Never overcook your shrimp- they’ll be like Pink Pearl erasers in your dish if you do that.)

Finally, mix it all together. Top with chopped parsley leaves and chives. Barbecued pig and southern beer optional but strongly advised.

Want to take the new veggie a week challenge with us? Let us know in the comments!

Tequila Lime Shrimp with Mint

There is an obsession about “easy” food. Everyone wants convenience (which is why we buy meals in partitioned plastic) and of course, they would ideally like it to be healthy too. But it isn’t. Healthy food takes time; there is no drive-thru for balanced meals without processing, preservatives, and enough sugar to permanently damage your pancreas. Of course, generally convenience wins over health, despite our brains and bodies knowing better.

If you own a food television network, you are aware of this dichotomy.  You then might be likely to fill your network slots with either food competition shows, or shows featuring home cooking which promises to offer food in thirty minutes or less. Today I watched an episode with a woman who lives on a ranch and has a best friend named “Hyacinth”.  She was going on a road trip with her two daughters, and therefore her husband couldn’t be trusted to then feed their other two children without supervision. She made a bulk amount of breakfast burritos, with 24 (TWENTY-FOUR!) eggs, cream, bacon AND sausage, cheese, and a pepper or two. She also pre-grated cheese for the burritos, lest someone have to shred cheese all by themselves. Then she says, “I also got whole wheat tortillas, so it’s a little healthier!” OH WELL THEN.

 

Not trusting her husband to then assay said burritos might be served hot, rather than directly from the fridge, she wrote instructions on how to heat up the burritos on a post-it note, and then stuck it ON the Tupperware. Guess what it said? “Put eggs in the microwave. Heat until hot. Warm tortilla in the microwave. Warm. Wrap with cheese and salsa.” She also made pasta with sauce for her husband to serve for dinner. These also received heating instructions, stuck to the container. Somewhat more complex, these said, “Top pasta with sauce. Heat for two minutes (or until hot.)” Two steps, one post-it. As soon as she got in her big, red, shiny pickup, guess what her husband served their boys? The handmade ice cream sandwiches she had prepared for dessert. Granted, those did not come with instructions so were considerably less intimidating, likely.

This is not to say that easy food cannot be healthy- it can be. It can even be flavourful! Take for example the tequila-lime shrimp I made for my sister’s birthday last weekend. This was so easy, and they were a huge hit. (Much more of a hit than the boozy caipirinhas  I made.)

Start with a pound of peeled, raw shrimp. Marinate them in a bar or a bowl with a quarter cup of olive oil, two teaspoons (or more) of tequila, juice of two limes, a hefty scoop of cumin, a hefty scoop of cayenne, and some minced/pureed garlic. Let them marinate for 1-4 hours, then put them on skewers. Grill for three minutes a side, and then top with chiffonaded fresh mint. Serve hot. Never microwave.  Also, never trust someone named “Hyacinth”.

Let us know your favourite healthy and easy dish in comments below!

200th Blog! #Tartoff2015

Hello Friends!

We wanted to do something a little bit different for our 200th blog, so we made a video blog. (We know the editing is a little cheesy- give us some slack though, it's our first time!)

Individual recipes to come soon!

We're looking forward to another 200 blogs with you- thank you for all your support!

-Bailey, Kelly, and Diane

Ed.'s note: We hoped the video would embed here, but here's the link! 

Falafel with Turmeric-Tahini Sauce

Today I read an article that said we are “clean eating our way to a new eating disorder.” You know what that is? Bloody ridiculous. Everyone needs to take their intensity level down about 10 notches. Clean eating is supposed to be good for you- don’t go to hell with everything! Eating clean should make you feel well; it should help you eat a balanced diet in which you don’t stuff 5,000 grams of sugar down your gullet everyday. It should not be taken to an extreme in which you convince yourself you’re just “eating clean” while you whittle your calorie intake to 400 a day.

For example, all of a sudden people are using cauliflower for everything. What is that all about? I mean, I can handle the cauliflower macaroni and cheese thing, but today I saw a link for cauliflower steaks. I am down with meat replacement these days, as you know, but that seemed a little ridiculous.

Steak will only ever be steak. It is a delicious and wonderful thing. It is a treat, enjoy it once and a while as such. The end. Don’t try to make cauliflower be steak. That’s not fair to cauliflower. I’m not sure it’s even fair to steak. Just let food products be their own selves, and enjoy vegetarian cuisine for what it is. There are tons of delicious options that are celebratory of vegetables, legumes, and the flavours they have all on their own. Respect cauliflower for its cauliflower flavour. Eat clean, don’t give yourself a disorder about it, and have a poutine once and a while too. Let’s just all enjoy our lives and try not to be extreme in any kind of eating. It’s easy.

 

Falafel is one of my favourite vegetarian meals. I love it. So instead of trying to coerce vegetables into tasting like meat, try honouring the humble chickpea in something other than hummus.

Here we go.

My falafel recipe was adapted from the Food Network. It’s quite an ingredient list, but most of it you should have in the cupboard to begin with. You’ll also need a food processor for this recipe; although it’s possible a blender would work too, as long as you don’t go so far you end up with a chickpea smoothie. 

Ingredients

• 1 can of chickpeas (unless you use dried, but then you may as well start making this 8 days before you want to eat it so you can soak your beans)
• 1 chopped shallot
• 1 large clove garlic, coarsely chopped (I actually used a big scoop of jarred garlic/ginger puree) 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Generous 1/4 cup coarsely chopped parsley
• Generous 1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• 1 egg (I replaced the egg with 1 tbsp of ground flax with 3 tbsp of warm water, soaked for 1 minute- this is a great replacement option for egg as a binder if you want a vegan option) 
• 1 lemon, juiced
• Kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup flour, plus 1/4 cup flour for shaping patties
• Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions (Directly from the Food Network site- If I credit, it isn’t plagiarism, right?) 

In a food processor combine your chickpeas, shallot, garlic, cumin, coriander, cayenne, parsley, cilantro, egg (or egg replacement), and lemon juice. Pulse to combine and season with salt. The mixture will not be smooth, but it should not have large chunks.

Add in the baking powder and 1/3 cup of the flour and pulse to just combine. Remove to a bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Remove the chickpea mixture from the refrigerator. Add enough oil to a large sauté pan so it reaches 1/2-inch up the sides and heat it over medium-high heat until an inserted thermometer reads 360 degrees F. (Ed.’s note: That’s from the Food Network. Just have enough oil in a pan that you aren’t deep-frying, but you’ve got enough to keep them from sticking. And who measures temperature of oil? No one. Just drop a small amount of the mix in and see if it sizzles right away. If not, the oil isn’t hot enough). 

Meanwhile, drop spoonfuls of the chickpea mixture onto a plate with ¼ cup flour. Roll into balls on the floured plate and press gently into patties. Fry in batches of hot oil for about 3 to 4 minutes each side and drain on paper towels.

I served mine with a beautiful turmeric-tahini sauce. You can also serve them in pitas with lettuce, onion, tomatoes, and pickled peppers.

Eat real food. Enjoy real food. That’s all you really need to know. 

Vegan Tacos

Over the holidays, I went on a bit of a Netflix food documentary binge, which started with renting Fed Up. This is an excellent movie, and I totally recommend it for anyone who is interested in the way we eat, particularly if processed food is something you want to know more about. From there, I ended up watching about six more documentaries, including Vegucated, GMO OMG, and Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. By the end of it, I was ready to declare a crusade against sugar.

But since it is a new year, and the time is ripe for resolutions, I did start thinking about our relationship with eating animals. I mean, I’m not a full vegan or anything yet, I ate ostrich carpaccio on Friday night, but I do think that we’ve certainly pushed the limits with meat. We’re talking about a society in which bacon is its own cultural touchstone here, people. The excess is now. We’ve put a whole new meaning to “worshipping the flesh”.

I’m not going to give you stats about health and meat-eating, watch one of those documentaries if you want to learn more, and I’m certainly not going to get preachy and post animal torture videos, but I do want to urge you to think about how we consume meat, and at least consider that we are eating an animal. That may or may not have had a nice life, depending on where you bought it, but it was a thing that was once alive, and now you’re eating it. So eat it, it’s cool, but let’s just give it more than a second’s pause to think about what we’re doing.

This is difficult, I get it. I still want to eat meat, and I still want to enjoy it, which after watching all the animal torture videos I did makes me think I may have an attachment disorder, but anyway. But I have decided that eating less meat, and really valuing the meat I do eat, is a step in the right direction. (I may able to separate my meat love from animal torture videos because PETA’s history with women is just so awful.) So in the spirit of less meat, more veg, I made vegan tacos! Yay! They actually turned out pretty fine, so try them and let me know what you think.

Start with some firm tofu, and crumble it. In a hot pan, sauté some onions in oil. Add some cumin, coriander, chilli powder, salt and pepper. I also had some mesquite powder, so I added that. Don’t be shy, because we are seasoning tofu. And, by the way, it will be similar to beef, and it will be nice in that sense, but it isn’t beef, so keep your expectations reasonable, mmmkay?

Great. Now add your tofu, and brown the edges in the pan with the spices and onion. Give it a taste and add more seasoning if you need to. You could just use taco seasoning here, but after watching Fed Up, I’m extremely wary of pre-packaged anything. So making your own taco seasoning is delicious and easy, and far healthier. Good for you! Think about the Insta-hashtags you can use when you post it! #Instahealthy #InstaVegan #InstaSuperior! Add a bit of water to the pan and let it simmer while you get your toppings organized. Obviously you want an avocado in there, plus tomatoes, lettuce, and maybe a jalapeno or two!

Now, the other great part of this is your vegan sour cream! Tacos need sour cream right? Well the healthy bitches over at “Oh She Glows” came up with a cashew sour cream for us to use. This is extremely easy; you just soak raw cashews over night, and then blend with lime juice, apple cider vinegar, and some water. It’s not EXACTLY sour cream, but it is creamy and it is sour, and so there you go. Close enough.

I actually ate this as a taco salad, rather than in shells, but just treat the tofu like beef or chicken, and load up or shells or soft tacos or greens! Bonus- without a shell, it’s gluten-free too!

Crème Brûlée

Oh dear. I've been downright neglectful of the blog. I haven't posted in far too long. So here's yet another terribly difficult dessert for all you masochists out there….(Just kidding! It's deceptively simple! Banana cream pie, this ain't).

To make creme brûlée, it's going to be pretty useful to have a kitchen torch. I got one for Christmas which is was propelled me forward on this journey. It's possible to do with a broiler as well, but it's trickier. Invest in a kitchen torch, because like, why wouldn't you want to feel like a badass welder?

Here's what you need (and since my first attempt failed and I ended up having to make this twice, I recommend buying double just in case):
- 6 to 10 egg yolks. It varies because if you use organic eggs, like I did, the yolks are much smaller and you'll need more. I used six the first time and it was trouble. The next time I used 8 and it was great. 10? I think it would just be that much richer.
- 2.5 cups of heavy cream. I used whipping cream.
- Half a cup of white sugar
- Teaspoon vanilla
- Other seasonings/liqueur to taste. For instance, I added a splash of spiced rum, some star anise, and some cardamom.

Start by simmering your cream over medium heat. This is when I threw in the anise and the cardamom pods, and almost let it steep like a tea. Alton Brown says that you can scrape in a vanilla bean, but chance I would find a vanilla bean in this one horse town! Grand mariner, kahlua, frangelico….all of these would be delicious.

While it's simmering, whisk your egg yolks and sugar together. This is called creaming. Whisk quite a bit until it turns light and fluffy. By now, your cream should be just below a boil. Don't let it reach a full boil; remove it from the heat. Scoop out any seed pods.

Verrrrrry verrrrrrrrrrrry slowwwwly add a drizzle of hot cream into your eggs, whisking all the while. You do this very slowly so that the eggs don't scramble. Add another ladle-ful and keep whisking. When the egg mixture is basically the same temp as the cream, you can reverse the pouring and pour the egg/cream into the just-cream. Keep whisking. You'll probably get some froth and foam on top of the custard (that's what it is now) at this point. Scoop it off if you can with a spoon.

Heat your oven to 375. In a roasting pan or deep casserole pan, set your ramekins on a wet kitchen cloth (this is so that they don't slip around). Pour the custard into the ramekins, until about a little over halfway full. Next, pour hot water all around the sides of the ramekins like a bath. The hot water should come about halfway up the ramekins. Shove it all in the oven and walk away for about 30-40 mins. They're done when they jiggle a little in the middle: Jello jiggle, not liquid jiggle. Pull the roasting pan out and let them cool for 15 mins in the water bath. Then move them to the fridge for the next few hours.

When ready to serve, sprinkle the top with a generous coating of white sugar. Turn your torch on and make small circles over the ramekin to melt, turning occasionally to let the molten sugar coat the whole surface. It'll smell like burning but don't be afraid. Let sugar harden for just a moment or two before serving. How do you know you've succeeded? Knock on the top with a spoon. You should hear a tap-tap sound before a delicious crack!

Perfect! 

Harissa Leg of Lamb

Well I guess if it's Tuesday, it must be Bedlam(b)! So lame right? And you'd have to be 55 or older to even get that one! I made the lamb curry last Tuesday and that's my day off to cook. I always troll for meat bargains when I shop and with $12.00 for a small pack of stewing beef and $11.00 for a small pack of hamburger meat, a boneless leg of fresh lamb at $20.00 seemed like the bargain of the century today. So not to be Tuesday lamb obsessed, I was looking for a flavour vehicle for a Harissa sauce that I wanted to try out. And my God, I'm not sorry I did. Harissa flavour is native to Northern Africa. Tunisia to be precise. And I am so fascinated with all African inspired dishes lately. And a Harissa sauce is one of those sauces that probably has a thousand variations on it, so you don't have to be precise like a French sauce where you have to nail it every single time. And you can use this on a shoulder cut as well. Just slow cook it for 7 hours to where it has the texture of pulled pork. But since I got the bargain on the leg today, we'll do it traditional roast style. But you can use this sauce as a condiment as well. Use it in place of ketchup or HP Sauce. This is flavour town baby!

So let's make the sauce first. You'll need:
6 dried chilies of any kind. I used 2 of each of Ancho, Arbol and Guajillo (Side note - This is why it pays to stock your pantry since I had these chilies in the cupboard from my Posole Rojo recipe)
1 Teaspoon of Caraway Seed
1 Teaspoon of Coriander Seed
1 Teaspoon of Cumin Seed
1/4 teaspoon of chili flakes
4 peeled garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of salt or kosher salt
2 generous tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. And more. I'll explain
That's the basic sauce and you can add some options. This is damn spicy, so you want might to add
Zest and juice of a lemon (which I did)
1 tablespoon of chopped mint or cilantro. I used mint, but cilantro would be awesome too. Or even parsley
Some sundried tomatoes or yogurt. Suit yourself. I was happy without it.

Start by hydrating your chili peppers. Cover with boiling water and let them rehydrate for 30 minutes.
Toast your spices in a dry skillet just until they give fragrance and bash them up in a mortar and pestle. Drain your chili peppers and stem and discard the seeds. (Wear gloves for this unless you thrive on danger and pain). Save the remaining water for a minute. Put your spices and peppers and garlic and salt and everything but the olive oil into a food processer and start it up. Slowly drizzle in your olive oil until you have a paste. You basically want ketchup consistency here. Thin it down with your chili water if it's too thick. Taste for salt. But you need to put this in fridge overnight, so better to taste for seasoning when you serve since the flavours will develop. Put it in a Mason Jar and cover the top with a thin layer of olive oil and refrigerate.

For the roast:
I used a boneless leg of lamb, but a shoulder of pork or lamb would be awesome too. Same technique. Rub the sauce onto the meat and cover and refrigerate overnight. If you use a shoulder of anything, place the meat in a roast pan and bake at 285 degrees F for 6 or 7 hours. Covered and with 2 cups of water in the pan. For a boneless leg, I preheated to 450 degrees and roasted for 20 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for 25-30 minutes per pound. Uncovered the whole time. Let rest for 10 minutes under tin foil before you serve it.

Just of note, you can use this sauce as a condiment. It will keep in your fridge for up to a month. Put a new layer of olive oil on it each time you use it. But you can put it on burgers or eggs or sandwiches or even if you make a hummus, throw a few spoonfuls on top. So delish! I could eat it from the jar actually. God Bless Africa and thank you for the flavour you give us! You can serve this with any side you like. But if you do the slow roasted method, it's recommended that you shred it and serve with Naan bread or lettuce to wrap it in. Enjoy friends!