Whip It Up

When I started this blog, little did I realize that I was going to open each post with a brief intro and some chat relating to whatever recipe I write. I truly wonder if people actually read this. But, here I am 50 posts(!) later and now I must write about todays recipe: Zabglione with Berries. Ugh. Well, I suppose I have to think of something. Hold on. Let me think for a second. Wikipedia search maybe? Nah. I'll wing it.

I demonstrated this recipe earlier this week at a cooking class and I could tell the ladies watching me looked nervous as I whipped this dessert. They asked me, "Are you serious?"

It is true it takes a bit of work, however, if you have a hand mixer that you can use: this is the time. If you are brave enough to go for it with some gusto good for you. All I can offer to help is two words: figure eight (if you are unsure what this means, then use a hand mixer).

This morning on my way to work I listened to an interview with La Dolce Vita star David Rocco from the food network. Sounds like a nice guy who stumbled onto a great gig. Anyways, he went on about getting involved with your ingredients and some silly zen notion that food will taste better when you get your hands dirty. I guess there is some truth to this but some things you don't have to do by hand if you don't want to or if you are simply physically unable to. You want to make a glossy meringue by hand then be my guest. Are you comfortable enough rolling out pasta with a rolling pin or would you prefer sing a pasta roller? For this recipe, you are better off using a hand mixer unless you have been shown the best way of aerating egg yolks.

Trust me. You'll thank me later.

Zabaglione with Strawberries
4 Egg Yolks
200 ml White Wine or Sparkling White Wine
250 g Sugar
15-20 Strawberries, halved
Juice from 1 Lemon
200 ml Whipping Cream
Ice for Ice Bath
12 Biscotti
Mint for Garnish

Using an electric mixer, whip cream to stiff peaks. Reserve.

In a sauce pan, bring a little water to a simmer.

In a bowl, combine yolks, wine and sugar and lightly whisk.

On simmering water, whisk with a hand mixer the egg mixture until it triples in volume. After 10 minutes, place mixture into an ice bath and whisk for another 10 minutes.

Combine with cream by carefully folding into the mixtures.

Serve immediately with berries and biscotti. Garnish with mint.

Serves 6.

Variation: This is a base that you can expand on. Instead of wine, use Frangellico and garnish with hazelnuts or something like that.

A Humble Chef's tip: throw away your hand mixer and get your hands dirty! Food will taste so much better once you become one with your ingredients. Close your eyes and feel the gooey egg yolks coat your figures before you eat them. Trust me. You'll thank me later.

A Humble Chef's test: just checking to see if you actually read my intro.

Stir It Up

So far the winter is going well. I've recently discovered that I enjoy getting attention and teaching culinary skills is a great way to fill my void. Having said that, I truly relish the days where I get to go in front of a group of people I may or may not know and freely offer my knowledge (as little as it is for a humble chef) on cooking and entertaining.

Perhaps now I can let myself to lob my humility aside and finally admit that I do have a few useful things to offer: an essential skill (cooking), entertainment (my sense of humour) and the ability to create enthusiasm in people to try new things. On top of that, recipes. I do hope the readers of this blog try some the recipes I have offered (actually, a friend told me on Saturday that he has made some of the soup recipes and they were great for simplicity and effieciency, thanks!) and I reach out to people to offer comments, criticisms or praise.

Moving on, today's recipe is too easy. A classic variation of a dish I use to make everyday at a club I used to work at. Chicken Stir-Fry with Basic Rice Pilaf is so easy and quick, it may become a staple for you. The stir-fry sauce is a simple Teriyaki style sauce that I like because it uses common ingredients in peoples kitchens.

The key to stir-fry is allowing the oil to get hot. Very hot. Smoking hot. Piping hot. About to catch on fire hot. My wife hot. The heat speeds up the process and evaporates much of the water from the vegetables leaving a thick flavorful sauce.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Chicken Stir Fry

1red pepper, julienne
1 green pepper, julienne
1 small red onion, julienne
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
Dried Ginger
Drizzle Sesame Oil
Drizzle Canola Oil
Pinch of Cumin
Pinch of Cajun spice
Stir Fry Sauce (see below)
Salt & pepper, to taste

In a hot stir fry pan, heat oils. Add chicken and let cook for 2 minute.

Add vegetables and spices and cook for 4 minutes. Add stir fry sauce. And bring to a boil.

Serve over rice pilaf.

Serves 6.

Stir Fry Sauce

250 g Brown Sugar
200 ml Water
200 ml Soy Sauce
200 ml Rice Wine Vinegar
Pinch of Ginger Powder
50 g Cornstarch

In a sauce pan, combine water, soy sauce, vinegar and ginger and bring to a boil. Dissolve cornstarch in some water and whisk into sauce pan. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

Keep refrigerated until needed. Will keep for several months.

Variation: instead of chicken, try shrimp or beef or lamb or pork or mussels or . . . . you get the idea I think. One suggestion I heard today was pineapple which would be wonderful, or oranges, or passion fruit, or whatever.

A Humble Chef's Tip: if you make the rice ahead of time, you can nuke your rice in bowls, place the bowls into your serving dish upside down, let the rice set and remove the bowl. Nice presentation and easy to do.

Phyllo Up

It appears I haven't posted for a few weeks. Shame really. For those who have been reading more faithfully, you have my apologies. And for those about to rock, I salute you.

I had a comment/request from the last post about convection ovens and their uses. Simply put, all a convection oven is an regular oven with a fan. The fan circulates the heat more thoroughly and results in faster cooking times. It is important to note that when following a recipe, the temperature recommended in the method is for standard ovens. It will take a bit of time to adjust to the timing but a good rule of thumb is to reduce by ten to fifteen degrees Fahrenheit. Anything you can cook in a standard oven can be done in a convection. However, don't forget that this reduces the cooking time. This is especially important when cooking a large roast such as a prime rib or a striploin. In a convection, the circulation of heat will increase the amount of loss in the cooking. In other words, you will have less yield. Slow roasting is the key and with a convection, you have to be careful with your heat because you are cooking for a long period of time. I hope that helps dear reader and I also hope that doesn't confuse you more. Convection ovens are great and learning how to use it is worth your while.

I don't have many fish recipes and I should. It's so easy. I've recently did a class on phyllo pastry (big fan here! See previous post for another recipe) and the attendees were all struck on how easy it was.

What I like about this recipe is the ease of the method and the final presentation. Try it and you won't be disappointed I assure you .

If you're sick of salmon (it's everywhere eh?), feel free and change it for something else. All of my recipes with fish have regretably been all salmon but don't you worry. You can go with tuna, halibut, trout, whatever man. Just be sure to make the portion size of your fish big enough to cook in about 15 minutes. From there, go nuts!

Salmon Wrapped In Phyllo with a Peach Salsa

1 Side Salmon, cut into approx. 6 steaks
4 Sheets of Phyllo
5 Peaches, cut in small squares
Half of 1 Red Pepper, finely diced
Half of 1 Red Onion, finely diced
Half of 1 Green Pepper, finely diced
1 Bunch of Dill, finely chopped
2 Lime, juiced
1 Lemon, juiced
Dash of Paprika and Chili Powder
50 g Butter
Drizzle of Olive OIl
Salt and Pepper to taste

Season salmon with paprika, chilli and pinch of chopped dill.

In a frying pan, sear one side of the salmon. Let cool.

Combine peaches, onion, peppers and lime juice. Season to taste.

Lay down phyllo (about 2.5 inches wide. Butter one side and sprinkle with dill and pepper. Repeat. Place salmon in middle and wrap upwards.

Cook for 15 minutes. Garnish with Peach Salsa.

Serves 4 -6.

Variation: like I said, whatever fish you like. Also, if peaches aren't your thing, works great with strawberries, honeydew or cantaloupe.

A Humble Chef's tip: make the salsa in advance so you can drain some of the water out. To make it easy, add your desired amount of salt then place in a colander over a bowl and let osmosis and gravity work their magic.

Root Awakenings

Cooking creatively can be challenging at times. I find I get most inspired in people's homes because I will often find ingredients I don't normally have at home or even in a professional kitchen. I even get much of my inspiration walking through markets and grocery stores.

Fennel is a vegetable that I don't normally have at home because I simply never purchase it. When was the last time you purchased fennel? Or parsnips? Turnip? Rutabaga? It simply rarely goes on most people's grocery lists because we never think of it. Yet these vegetables are easy to cook, easy on the wallet and probably healthier than most things on your grocery list.

I've learned recently that many root vegetables were considered good for feeding pigs. I wonder if this is because blandness of the vegetable or cost?

In a previous post, I have explained the risotto process in more detail. The risotto cooking method should be the same every time, but what you add is what makes it unique and yours.

Sausage and Shrimp with Fennel Risotto

3 Sweet Italian Sausages
16 Shrimp, deveined
250 g Arborio Rice
3 Red Bell Peppers
3 garlic cloves, crushed
A Few Chili Flakes
1 Fennel Bulb, finely diced
1 Red Onoin, finely diced
1 Green Onion, chopped
1 l Chicken Broth
100 ml Sambuca or Ouzo
50 g Marmalade Preserve
Drizzle of Olive Oil
Juice of 2 Lemons
200 g Parmigiana Reggiano Cheese, grated
100 g Butter
Season and Pepper to Taste

Combine marmalade, 1 clove of garlic, chili flakes, lemon juice and olive oil. Marinate shrimp in mixture in fridge for 1 hour.

In a sauce pan, heat chicken broth to a boil then bring to a simmer. Poach sausages for 2 minutes and let cool.

In a sauté pan, heat up drizzle of olive oil. Sauté onion and fennel until lightly brown. 1 minute. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add rice and sauté until translucent, about 1 minute. Deglaze with Sambuca and let reduce by half. Add ladle of broth and stir. As broth evaporates, add more broth by the ladle and stir constantly.

Meanwhile, coat red peppers in oil and char the skin on open flame (BBQ, burner or with a kitchen torch) and place in a bowl and cover. Let steam through for ten minutes. Open and let cool. Once cooled, shed skin, remove seeds and innards and chop up the flesh. In a frying pan, sauté peppers, green onion, and clove of garlic. Add a ladle of broth. Bring to boil and purée.

For the sauage, cut lengthwise, then in half moons and a bias. In a frying pan, heat drizzle of oil. Add sausage and shrimp with the marinate. Cook for two minutes.

As risotto finishes cooking (all your broth should be used up) add butter and cheese and stir. Add seasonings.

In a bowl, pour risotto, ladle pepper purée overtop and garnish with sausage and shrimp.

Serves 4 - 6.

A Humble Chef's tip: check the doneness of the rice before adding the cheese and butter.

Variation: Omit the fennel and through some other onion related veg, like leek or something. Not everybody likes the black licorice flavour fennel has. If you don't like Ouzo, go with Vodka.

The True Test

In any art form, it is a rare thing to make something completely original. After all, originality is the art of concealing your original source. To be innovative in baking can be difficult for me (and many chefs) because it requires several testings and I simply don't have the time to test one idea several times over to perfection. Or, I can do some research through some cookbooks or the internet and use some recipe that a test kitchen made several times over to perfection.

Besides, I am the type of cook to take classic stuff and interpret it. A sort of a Shakespearean Chef.

This recipe was from a cooking class I taught recently. It collected an excellent reception and I know that I would have never even thought of this recipe completely on my own.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake

500 g A.P. Flour
125 g Cocoa Powder
10 g Baking Powder
7 g Baking Soda
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Cinnamon
400g Chocolate Chunks
125 ml Oil
125 ml Buttermilk
500 g Sugar
3 Eggs
3 Zucchinis, grated
10 ml Vanilla
1 Zest of an Orange

Orange Glaze

350 g Icing Sugar
Juice of Two Oranges

Preaheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking dish 0f your desire: muffin tins, bundt pan, 8" springform, whatever.

In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk and eggs, Add sugar and whisk well. Add zucchini, vanilla and zest. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine. Add chocolate and pour batter into pan and bake. 35 minutes for muffins or 50 - 60 for a cake. If you're not sure, stick a toothpick in the centre and it should come clean.

In a sauce pan, bring juice to a boil. Add sugar and whisk. Let cool and brush glaze on top of cake.

Makes 12 muffins or 1 cake.

Variation: I used yellow zucchini instead of green. It tasted the same but the yellow added some nice colour. A small handful of pecans add a very nice crunch.

A Humble Chef's tip: grate the zucchini as freshly as possible. Also, be sure to use fresh vegetables.

Where The Wild Rice Are

I do enjoy dinner parties. Even though they can be expensive, stressful and physically taxing, the pay-off is very rewarding. As humble as I am, I do enjoy the attention from hosting dinner parties and the boost to my fragile ego.

Last night I cooked (with the help of friends and family) for seven adults a modest meal and so I was slightly pushed to include some of the recipes from last night. The salad was a last minute thought but the dressing turned out really well. The soup however was a hit and so I think I will include here even though I have so many soup recipes on the blog as it is.

As for wild rice, if you've never cooked it or used it before, rest assured it is very simple. I have only used Canadian Wild Rice (in fact, I didn't even know a Texan Wild Rice existed until I read the Wikipedia page on wild rice a few weeks ago, which I hear is in danger of becoming extinct) which is very straightforward. The trick is to soak the rice overnight is slightly salted water and this will not only reduce the cooking time, but it also helps in even cooking.

Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

1 Portobello Mushroom, stem removed, top thinly jullienne
12 Small Cremini or Button Mushrooms, sliced
5 Shitake Mushrooms, stems removed, top thinly sliced
1 Spanish Onion, half finely diced and other half roughly cut
2 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
1 Bay Leaf
1 Sprig Fresh Thyme, leaves and stem separated
1 Sprig of Rosemary, leaves and stem separated, leaves chopped
250 g Wild Rice, soaked overnight
1 Green Onion, sliced
10 ml Almond Butter or Chestnut Paste (optional)
Dab of Butter
Drizzle of Hazelnut Oil (optional)
Salt and Pepper to Taste

In a stock pot, bring 4L of water to boil with mushroom stems, herb stems, bay leaf and roughly cut onion. Let boil for 8 - 10 minutes and set aside to cool slightly. Strain and reserve mushroom stock.

In a soup pot, heat a dab of butter and hazelnut oil until frothy. Sauté onion until slightly brown. Add garlic. After 1 minute, add medley of mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. If your pan is too dry from the mushrooms soaking up the fat, compensate by adding more olive oil. Add reserved stock and wild rice. Bring to a slight boil and reduce heat. Add herbs, almond butter and seasonings.

Serves 8 - 10

A Humble Chef`s tip: don`t make this soup too far ahead of serving or eating. The wild rice can become too mushy if you try to keep it for too long.

Variation: if you are the type of person who likes to add pasta to soups, orzo pasta is a good choice for this. Just be sure to cook the pasta separately, discard the cooking water and to add last minute.

Just For Pilafs

I just completed my third What's For Dinner moments ago. I gave my blog to the attendees and so here I am writing a recipe for those who didn't have time to write it down.

Rice is so easy to cook and yet so many people find ways to get it wrong. There are some tricks to the trade but keeping it simple works well for rice. Rice Pilaf refers to the cooking method where vegetables are cut up, sautéed with the rice and cooked in the oven with the broth. Obviously, there are several ways to cook rice but the pilaf method is straightforward and usually turns out well.

The class today was a demo of a Chicken Curry dish with sweet potatoes and carrots which was provided for me. Pretty easy dish actually. But I`m not sure if it`s kosher for me to provide the chicken recipe (truth is, all chefs take dishes, change it up then claim as their own) so I`ll stick to the starch only.

When cooking rice, check the packaging for the quantities. I used Basmati which is typically 2 parts liquid to 1 part rice.

Basic Rice Pilaf

200 g Basmati Rice, rinse if necessary
400 ml Chicken Stock
1 Carrot, small dice
1 Celery, small dice
1 Red Onion, small dice
2 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
1 Small Chunk Of Ginger, peeled and grated
Drizzle of Sesame Oil
Dab of Butter
Sal and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.

In a small sauce pan, heat up chicken stock. If you have any trimmings, add to stock. Bring to boil and strain.

In a medium sauce pan, heat oil for 1 minute. Add veg, ginger, garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add rice and sauté until translucent. Add stock and bring to boil. Add butter and seasonings. Cover with oven proof lid and cook in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and fluff with a fork.

Serves 6 sides.

A Humble Chef`s Tip: Once the rice has come to a boil, stop stirring the pot and cover quickly. If stirred too often, the starch can bleed out making it gummy.


Variation: Use half tomato juice, half stock, add some chili powder and cayenne and you have Mexican Rice.