Hannibal Lecter Taster Platter

The kids have been watching the HBO series Hannibal and have enjoyed the culinary scenes very much.  So this is a tip of the hat to Hannibal's cuisine.  Offal is a terrible sounding word for something that ends up tasting very good indeed! For the taster platter I did pork liver and pork heart with caramelized onions and fries instead of fava beans.

Ingredients 

1 pork liver

1 pork heart

Olive oil

All purpose flour

salt

pepper

Directions

Slice the liver into thin pieces.  Dredge in salt and pepper seasoned flour.  Drop into hot olive oil and saute for a few minutes till done. 

Clean pork heart in cold water, trim off membrane and any tough bits.  Slice thinly and dredge in seasoned flour.  Saute till done, this will only take a minute or two per side. 

Serve with fries and caramelized onions. 

And a nice bottle of Chianti! 

Gateaux Ange

I have made this Angel Cake quite a few times.  It always turns out very light and fluffy, with a very fine crumb.  Makes a nice light dessert offering after a summer meal.  Serve with fresh cream and berries.

You can use your stand mixer to whip the egg whites but half the fun of this cake is hand beating the egg whites to stiff peaks.  A nice kitchen work out for the upper body!  The recipe calls for a spring form pan but I usually use a smaller tube pan without grease, letting the cake climb up the sides of the pan for support like an angel food cake.

This cake benefits from using your electric convection oven to do the cooking.  You need to start off in a really hot oven to get the eggs to do the rising.  There is no baking powder in this recipe, so you are relying on the air you have beaten into the eggs to help the rise as the egg cooks. I like to start mine at 400 F and then turn it back to 375 F at the ten minute mark like the recipe calls for.

When the cake tests done I cool it, inverted on a large wine bottle for a couple of hours and slide a knife around the edges to release the cake from the tube pan.  Unlike a traditional Angel Food cake this one uses the egg yolks as well, making it denser than an AF cake but it still comes out very light.,

Thanks Laura Calder.  This one is a winner!

Angel Cake with Blackberries and White Currants

Courtesy of : Laura Calder

Preparation time :

15 minutes

Cooking time :

40 minutes

Yield :

10

A light-as-air cake from Laura Calder topped with fresh fruit, a perfect end to any meal.

Ingredients

• 6 unit eggs, separated
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup sifted flour
•  unit blackberries, for serving
•  unit white currants, for serving
•  unit whipped cream, crème fraîche, parfait, or ice cream, for serving

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 375°F/190°C. Grease and line and 9-inch/23 cm spring-form pan.
2. Beat the whites to stiff peaks. Beat in the yolks, one by one. Continuing to beat, add the sugar and vanilla, and finally the flour. You should have a very high, mousse-like batter.
3. Pour the batter into the pan and bake until golden on top, risen high, and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Be sure it is fully cooked when you take it out – it is a big cake. Let the cake cool 15 minutes. Remove the sides of the pan and let cool completely. Transfer to a serving platter.
4. Cover with blackberries and white currants. Serve with whipped cream, crème fraîche, parfait, or ice cream.

Smoked Spare Ribs with the Belly Meat left on!

These ribs are Spare Ribs with the belly meat left on.  This cut of pork makes for a hefty meal to say the least. You get bacon and ribs all in one meal. With all the fat and connective tissue in this cut, low and slow in the smoker is the best way to go!

You can see the ribs in this shot!

You can see the belly meat in this shot! 

Leaving the belly meat on gives you some really juicy ribs!

This cut leaves you with loads of extra meat that you can pull and put on buns and eat as pulled pork sandwiches! 

Prepare your favourite secret rib rub recipe, apparently you can't use too many spices! The Rye and Coke are for you not the rub! 

Massage rub thoroughly into the pork ribs, leaving no nooks or crannies untouched! 

Rest the coated meat overnight in the refrigerator or just go on and get it on the smoker if you can't wait.  It will taste great whether you leave it overnight or not!

Smoke according to weight, you know its going to be hours so get it in early! 

Cut up your perfect ribs with loving care!

Get them out onto the table, everyone is waiting expectantly after smelling them smoking all day! 

Peppercorn Steak

This meal can speak for itself.

Grilled Calamari

 We eat a lot of seafood, some of the best comes right off the grill and straight onto the plate.  White wine, lemon wedges and a light salad make for a great seafood patio dinner.  Normally I do Calamari deep fried in batter but every now and then I grill them whole for a change!

BooBoo likes to help with the grilling.

Slice parallel lines in the hood all the way down the length leaving about half an inch uncut at the side.

This presentation gives you individual rings all connected together that you can easily pull apart on the plate.

I think this is a very cool way to present your Calamari

Serve with shrimp and  lemon wedges and a nice cold white wine.

Ingredients

six cleaned and skinned calamari hoods

extra virgin olive oil

balsamic vinegar

cilantro

salt 

pepper

lemon wedges

Directions

put hoods to one side

combine all of the other ingredients in a prep bowl and whisk 

cut parallel lines in each hood all the way down leaving about 1/2 inch uncut all down one side.

marinate cut hoods in the prep bowl with the liquid half and hour.

Heat up the grill nice and hot.  Oil the grill to prevent sticking and throw the cut hoods on the fire.

They will begin to cook and the rings will start to separate.  They will only take about three or four minutes.

Turn occasionally to ensure even cooking. 

Take off the grill and serve! 

Giblet Gravy

I have made all kinds of gravy.  Beef, Pork, Chicken, gravy with wine, and peppercorns.  They all turn out great if I say so myself, but I have always shied away from using the neck and giblets found in the Turkey carcass.  It may be cultural, or maybe just a family thing but usually the giblets go right in the bin, no questions asked.  I see giblet stock in lots of recipes on the net and finally my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to give it a go.  I used the following Alton Brown recipe.  What a surprise!  This stock adds a dimension to the gravy that is fabulous.  The gravy comes out velvety smooth with a great unctuous taste that is hard to describe.  If you have been shying away from using the neck and the giblets then now is the time to give this a try, you won't be disappointed!

Turkey Giblet Gravy
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2011

Prep Time:20 minInactive Prep Time: -- Cook Time:2 hr 35 min
Level:
Intermediate
Serves:
2 3/4 cups

Ingredients
Giblet Stock:

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 turkey neck, reserved from turkey and cut in half
1 turkey backbone, reserved from turkey and cut in half
1 set giblets, reserved from turkey
1 small onion, quartered
1 medium carrot, quartered
1 stalk celery, quartered
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
6 cups water
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
Giblet Gravy:

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon potato starch
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh sage, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions
For the giblet stock: Heat the oil in a 6 1/2-quart stockpot over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the neck and backbone and saute 5 to 6 minutes or until browned. Add the giblets, onion, carrot, celery and kosher salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Pour in the water and add the thyme, rosemary, bay leaf and black peppercorns.

Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Uncover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until the stock reduces to 3 cups.

Strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer and cool slightly. Discard all solids but the giblets. Chop the giblets and set aside.

For the giblet gravy: Place 2 cups of the giblet stock in a 4-quart saucier over medium heat.

Combine 1/2 cup of cool stock with the all-purpose flour in a jar with a tightly fitted lid. Shake vigorously until starch dissolves and no lumps remain.

Gradually add the flour slurry to stock, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until thickened slightly.

Combine the remaining 1/2 cup of cool stock with the potato starch in the lidded jar and shake vigorously until the starch dissolves and no lumps remain.

Turn off the heat, remove the saucier from the burner and whisk until the liquid temperature decreases to 190 degrees F. Return to low heat and whisk in the potato starch slurry, rosemary, sage, thyme, salt and pepper. Simmer for about 5 minutes to heat through and thicken, then season with additional salt and pepper, if desired. Add the chopped giblets and stir to combine. Keep warm in a thermos until ready to serve.

Persian Omelette

This Persian style omelette is very fresh and herb laden.  Makes a great sunday breakfast treat or you can even have one for a quick dinner!  

• 2 Tbsp cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large red onions chopped and caramelized
• 3 cups fresh organic baby spinach washed and chopped
• 8 large organic eggs
• 1/4 cup soy milk, hemp milk or almond milk
• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 8 spring onions/scallions finely chopped
• 2 handfuls of cilantro/coriander finely chopped
• 2 handfuls of continental parsley finely chopped
• 1 handful fresh chives finely chopped
• 1 fresh dill sprig chopped
• 4 fresh mint sprigs chopped
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt
• Freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Heat the oil and sautee the garlic, and caramelize the onions. Add in the spring onions until just softened.
2. Add in the fresh spinach and cook until just wilted.
3. Transfer vegetable mixture to a quiche or pie dish, and stir in the fresh herbs and nuts.
4. Beat eggs and milk in the blender on low for about 3 seconds, add a couple of pinches of Celtic sea salt and cracked pepper, and then pour over the vegetable and herb mixture.
5. Bake in the oven at 180C/325F for about half an hour, or until set and lightly browned on top.
6. Recipe adapted from a Lorenz Books title ‘Healing Foods for Special Diets’. For similar books and further information please visit Anness Publishing.

mango salad

Mango salad is such a nice clean fruity taste.  It goes so well with homemade Thai food.  Very refreshing on the palate.

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 (1-lb) firm-ripe mango, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large tomato, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 small red onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Whisk together vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and pepper until sugar is dissolved, then add oil, whisking until emulsified. Add remaining ingredients and toss until coated.

Kulfi

• Malai Kulfi:
• Ingredients:
• 500 ml full fat milk
• ¼ cup milk powder
• ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tbsp almond powder (optional)

4 green cardamom pod seeds finely powdered.

Process:

1. Combine all the ingredients together and bring to a boil. Add the powdered cardamom.

2. Simmer for 10 minutes on medium heat and turn of the gas. Cool completely. 

3. Pour into kulfi moulds and freeze overnight till firm. Depending on the size of the moulds, no. of kulfis might vary.

4. Allow the moulds to remain outside the refrigerator for 5 minutes and then unmould it or run hot water over the kulfi moulds to unmould it even quickly.

5. Enjoy it on a hot day!

Flounder

 I had been eyeing the Flounder at the fish shop for a long time, wondering how cool it would be to roast a whole flounder for dinner one night!  Well I finally gave in a picked up a huge six pounder.  A daunting looking thing that needed to be boned and skinned!  Thankfully I was up to the task.  The Flounder cooks up firm and meaty, with a sweet taste.  It was worth the work to get this fish roasted but I would recommend doing this when you have an afternoon to spare.  The prep is difficult and takes persistence and time.

Home from the fish market with the catch of the day, six pounds of Flounder to prepare for dinner.

The fish eclipses my two foot cutting board!

What a beauty! Thankfully the fish guy had gutted and scaled the beast! 

Remove the head and start to cut back the skin at the large end.

Once you get the skin starting to separate from the meat with a knife you can grab a hold with your hand.  With a fairly large amount of effort you can pull the skin right off the fish and then trim the bones that circle the fish with some kitchen scissors.

Place in a roasting pan, if you can find one big enough.  Oil and salt and pepper the fish, then into a 350 F oven until the internal temp is 165F

Roast to perfection.  Flesh will be opaque and flaky!

The Flounder has meat on both sides of the bones.  With a knife and a fish slice slide off the top fillets.

Pull out the bones.  They will come out easily in one piece at this point in the cook.

This will leave the bottom fillets ready for plating. 

Plate and sauce.  A little browned butter is always nice.

Serve.