Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread - small batch

Sometimes, you don't need a big batch. Sometimes, you just need a half-pan of cornbread. That's when a wide 12.5cm/5" wide loaf pan is the perfect size. Excellent news, however, for those who do want a bigger batch — when you're feeding a crowd, or have an adequate freezer — this recipe doubles beautifully into a 23cm/9" square baking pan.

What kind of cornbread is this? Well, I'd place it in the Soul Food category of Southern cornbread, as it has a little sugar and some flour (unlike other Southern cornbreads, which are all cornmeal and completely unsweetened), but is not sweet tasting (unlike Northern cornbread), and uses buttermilk rather than sweet milk. But your mileage may vary, and I am not an authority on Soul Food.

Naturally, you don't need the jalapeños or the cheddar if you don't fancy them - this cornbread is just as good straight up.

Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread (Small Batch)

125 mL (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
125 mL (1/2 cup) cornmeal (white, yellow, or blue)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
30 mL (1/8 cup or 2 tablespoons) canola oil (or melted butter, or bacon fat)
1 egg, lightly beaten
175 mL (3/4 cup) buttermilk

Optional extras: any or a combination of:
60 mL (1/4 cup) finely chopped pickled jalapeño peppers
60 mL (1/4 cup) shredded cheddar or pepper jack
pinch of ground cumin seed
60 mL (1/4 cup) corn kernels

Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F with a rack in the middle or lower middle slot. 

Lightly spray with canola oil, or grease lightly or line with baking parchment, a 5 inch wide loaf pan.

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. In another bowl, beat the egg lightly, and add the buttermilk and oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients (and add any optional extras) and stir rapidly with a fork just until moistened through, with no dry streaks. Do not attempt to remove every last little lump! Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes (25-30 for a double batch in a square pan), or until the top starts to turn golden brown. Test with a skewer or tooth-pick to ensure it is cooked through (the toothpick should come out clean). Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

PS: You can also drop dollops of raw batter on top of hot, thick, gently simmering chile con carne (or sin carne, of course, or indeed any thick stew) to make cornmeal dumplings. Cover, and let cook gently for 15 minutes without lifting the lid. The dumplings won't brown, of course, but they will be delicious.

Lamb & Okra Stew (Persian Inspired)

I didn't experience Persian cuisine until I was an adult, and took to it immediately. The deeply flavourful, slow-cooked stews and luscious pilaffs made me want to immediately start incorporating recipes into my repertoire, and I've been gradually adding them ever since.

This particular lamb and okra stew came from researching which flavours would have dominated some of the common stews before the introduction of tomatoes, which have been thoroughly adopted into many dishes. The intense flavour of dried limes/lemons was the obvious answer, in combination with the typical fragrant and nuanced blends of spices. This recipe does contain potatoes, optionally, which is also an introduced ingredient, but otherwise draws on some of the most traditional flavours of its region.

Go ahead and use fresh okra if you like, but try to get the small ones.

Persian Inspired Lamb and Okra Stew
(Khoresht e Baamieh)

Serves 4

500 grams stewing lamb, diced
1.5 tablespoons canola or olive oil, divided
2 medium yellow onions, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 - 3 cups water/vegetable broth/light stock
3-4 dried limes
400 grams frozen petit okra
200 grams waxy nugget potatoes, halved or quartered (optional)
2 branches rosemary
2 tablespoons chopped dill to garnish (alternatively sumac)

In a medium-large soup pot over medium heat, heat one tablespoon of the canola oil and add the onion and garlic. Stir and sauté until the onion is translucent and just starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, and then add the lamb. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, turmeric, cumin, paprika, and cinnamon (if using), and continue to sauté until the lamb colours slightly. Add the water, and bring to a simmer. Add a couple of dried limes if you like, hammered open. Reduce the heat and cover, and then simmer for an hour and a half, until the lamb is tender.

Rinse the okra and set aside. In a separate skillet, heat the remaining half tablespoon of oil until it shimmers, and then add the okra into the hot skillet. Stir fry the okra until they are bright green (add an extra pinch of salt as you fry them), about 3 minutes. Pour the okra into the stew, and add a bit of lemon juice or sumac, especially if you are not using dried limes. Stir through, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for about 45 minutes, until all of the flavours permeate the okra.

Serve with plain rice or flatbread.

It reheats very well, in fact it's even better the next day. Freezer friendly, if properly sealed.

Ginger Snaps

These are classic cookies - suitable for the holidays, with their fancy spices, but down-home enough that you can make them anytime. Plus, they're adorably, perfectly round cookies, which makes you feel like you've mastered something tricky. I use plain granulated sugar throughout the year, but during the holidays, red sanding sugar (or green, or silver, or gold...) feels suitably fancy. Do as you please!

My original recipe had only the cryptic instructions "Mix and bake for 10 minutes at 350" and assumed that I would know the rest. Frankly, I'm a little surprised it bothered telling me I had to mix the ingredients, since it was making a lot of other assumptions. Here's a teensy bit more detail:

Ginger Snaps

Makes 40 - 50 cookies, depending on size

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 big pinch of ground cloves

Extra sugar for dusting - either granulated sugar or colourful sanding sugar such as the sparkly red shown here.

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F with a rack in the middle.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the oil and sugar together. You don't need a mixer here, a wooden spoon is fine. Add the egg, and beat until smooth. Add the molasses* and beat until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Whisk until thoroughly combined, and then dump it into the molasses mixture. Stir slowly as the dough stiffens up into a thick paste, being sure to incorporate all of the flour. You don't want any white streaks in the dough; it should be a uniform dark brown.

Use a teaspoon to scoop up a walnut-sized lump of dough, and roll it between your palms until it is nice and round. Dip the top of it in white granulated sugar and place it on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Leave some room between each cookie, as they will expand.

Bake for about 10 minutes - they should be a little soft (underdone) when you pull them out, or they will get very, very hard and be useful only for dunking in coffee (which is not a bad way to go, really). If your oven is a little slow, feel free to crank it up to 190°C/375°F to ensure that the cookies develop their characteristic crackled tops. Remove to cooling racks immediately, and get the next batch in the oven. Try not to eat them all at once.

*a nifty way to make sure you get all the molasses out of the measuring cup is to use the same cup that you measured the oil in. The molasses will just slide right out.

Stuffed Pumpkin

Everyone can enjoy a beautiful centrepiece main dish that is as fun to make as it is satisfying to eat. Plus, it's even easier to make than a carved jack-o'-lantern, since you don't have to carve a face (I suppose you could, though...) The use of a pumpkin makes it terrific for Thanksgiving or other harvest feasts, but it would be beautiful on a Christmas dinner table, too.

Naturally, you could use any stuffing you like in your pumpkin, but I've chosen my mother's classic bread stuffing with bacon, sage, and onions. If you're feeling extra, go ahead a spoon a little mornay over the top to help seal in the moisture, but that's purely optional, especially if you're serving it with gravy (recommended).

You can use a larger pumpkin if you're feeding more people, although it might take a little longer in the oven. I'd actually suggest two medium pumpkins, baked side-by-side if you want more servings. Of course, if you have lots of other dishes on the table, you can certainly cut smaller slices.

The pumpkin part is so easy that it's almost not a recipe, but I'll give you the stuffing recipe at least. I've used a French "Muscade/Musquée de Provence" pumpkin, but a cheese pumpkin would work beautifully, too, as would any firm-fleshed winter squash with a spacious cavity and fleshy walls.

Stuffed Pumpkin

Adapted from Epicurious

Makes 1 medium stuffed pumpkin - 4 to 8 servings

1 medium fleshy pumpkin (1-1.3 kg/2-3 lbs)

To prepare the pumpkin, cut the top off and hollow out the seeds and strings the same way you would for carving a Hallowe'en jack-o'-lantern. Brush a little canola oil or melted butter over the inside of the hollowed out pumpkin, and set aside while you make the stuffing.

Preheat your oven to 170°C/350°F with a rack set low enough to accommodate the tray with the pumpkin on it. Prepare the tray (baking sheet, pizza pan, or similar) by lining it with foil for easiest clean up. You could theoretically bake it in a Dutch oven (or a French oven) but you'll have a much more difficult time getting it out, so I wouldn't recommend that approach.

Stuffing

4 large slices French bread, preferably stale or left unwrapped for a few hours
1/2 medium yellow onion
2 medium stalks celery
1 leek, sliced
2 - 4 pieces dry cured bacon, diced
2/3 cup hot chicken stock or broth
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons dried sage
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh sage leaves
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground celery seed

Dice the bread, toss with a teaspoon of dried sage powder, and set aside. Dice the onions, leek and celery, and bacon.

Fry up the bacon in a big skillet until crispy, then remove the bacon pieces to a plate and fry the onions, celery and leek in the bacon fat. Once the vegetables start to turn translucent, add the bread and stir it all around. Add the rest of the seasonings, and stir around. Empty into a large bowl. If you think it wants more sage or even a little more thyme (go easy on the thyme!), sprinkle a little more of the herb of your choice over the mixture, and stir through.

Add the bacon to the bowl and stir to distribute the pieces throughout. Add the beaten egg and stir well with a fork until combined. Pour the chicken stock over the bread mixture and stir again, vigorously.

Immediately spoon the stuffing into the pumpkin, packing it in gently until the pumpkin is full.



Top with the lid, and bake the pumpkin for about 1.5 - 2 hours, or until a wooden skewer (or dry spaghetti strand) inserted into the fattest part of the pumpkin slides in easily and comes out clean.



Serving can be done in a variety of ways: you can slice it, as we have done here, or you could scoop the stuffing and squash out with a spoon, as either separate items or mixed together. Either way, pass the gravy!

Tiger Balls

This was one of our family's favourite snacks when I was a child, and boy did we go through a lot of them! Much like many of today's "energy bites" or protein bars, it's based largely on nuts and seeds, is lightly sweet, and can actually quell a rumbling tummy between meals. It's extremely versatile, so you can feel free to substitute ingredients as you please: sun butter or almond butter for the peanut butter, for example, in addition to the suggested alternative ingredients below. The first ingredient in each case shown was the original we used back in the day.

If you like your treats to be sweeter and more candy-like, double the honey (in which case you will probably need all of the powdered milk as indicated.

Tiger Balls

Adapted from "Tiger's Candy" from Diet for a Small Planet
by Adele Davis

1 cup / 250 mL natural-type peanut butter
1/2 cup / 125 mL fine shredded coconut, plus extra for rolling
2 tablespoons / 30 mL toasted sesame seeds, flax meal, chia meal, or hemp hearts
2 tablespoons / 30 mL rolled oats or chopped sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons / 30 mL honey, agave, or date syrup
1 tablespoon brewers yeast (optional)
6 - 8 tablespoons / 95 - 125 mL non-instant skim milk powder, as needed

In a mixing bowl, layer all of the ingredients except for the skim milk powder, in order shown above. Use a fork to thoroughly combine everything, making sure there are no dry spots in the dough, and then add half the milk powder. Stir that in with a fork, and gradually add enough of the remaining milk powder that you get a stiff dough that you can roll into smooth balls without breaking and falling apart.

Using a cookie-disher or spoon, form small balls, rolling them between your palms until smooth, and then roll them gently in the extra shredded coconut. Place them in a sealable container in the fridge until needed. I note that we never refrigerated these, they just sat in a cookie tin for their (very short) lifespan, as we gobbled them up mighty quickly. These days, I refrigerate them for safety and freshness.

The ones shown here are rather large - a full tablespoon disher was used to portion them, but a half-tablespoon size is a more perfectly sized snack for me (and comes in at around 90 calories). Fortunately, you can also cut them in half later if you make them too large.

Plum Cobbler

I originally started recipe blogging to preserve and share my family's recipes, and this one is from my childhood. I've never had another cobbler topping that tasted remotely as good as my mother's. This was always my favourite plum dessert.

You can use any kind of fruit you want...plums, peaches, blackberries, rhubarb...just vary the amount of sugar you use in the fruit mixture accordingly. Mom used rhubarb or plums, mostly, as other fruit tended to have different culinary destinations. For Prunica domestica (aka Italian prune plums or Zwetschge), I needed only 1/2 cup of sugar. You can start with the lower amount and adjust for taste before adding the cobbles.

Old Fashioned Plum Cobbler

Serves 6

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F with a rack in the middle.

Fruit base

500 grams (3 to 4 cups) of cleaned, prepared fruit (for plums, quarter them, removing the pits)
1/2 cup sugar (sweeter fruits) 3/4 to 1 cup sugar (rhubarb), depending on taste
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or combined spices, such as 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon allspice)

Toss the fruit with the sugar and spices and place in a dry, medium skillet (there should be no bare spaces in the bottom of the skillet, however, you can layer the fruit thicker or thinner, as you like. Heat the fruit and sugar mixture over medium heat, stirring gently as needed until the fruit softens slightly and the sugar has melted and formed a thick syrup with the juices. Taste the syrup (carefully! it will be extremely hot, so best to let it cool for half a minute on the spoon, than to burn your tongue). If it is not sweet enough, or wants more spice, adjust accordingly. Turn the heat to the lowest setting while you make the cobbles.

Cobbler topping

60 grams (1/4 cup) butter, softened to room temperature
125 ml (1/2 cup) sugar
1 large egg
180 ml (3/4 cup) all purpose flour
8 grams (1 3/4 teaspoons) baking powder
pinch of salt

In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, stirring well. Add this mixture all at once to the mixing bowl with the butter/sugar/egg mixture, and stir rapidly with a fork to combine into a thick, sticky, dough-like batter.

Use a tablespoon to drop dollops of batter, with a little space between each one, into "cobblestones" on top of the hot fruit syrup mixture in the skillet. You can use big dollops or little ones, and if you want real uniformity of size, you can use a small disher to portion the batter out. Do not try to smooth the batter lumps in any way, it will take care of itself in the oven - the cobblestones will flatten and connect to each other as they bake. Place the skillet, uncovered, in the oven, and bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until the cobbles are golden brown and delicious.

Serve warm or cold, plain or with ice cream, whipped cream, or even just a drizzle of thick cream.

Quail Scotch Eggs

Okay, here's the thing. Quail Scotch Eggs are really no different than regular scotch eggs, other than the obvious: quail eggs are smaller, so... they're smaller. So, if you already make a killer chicken egg version, here's just the suggestion to try using quail eggs instead. Perfect for parties, picnics, bento, or any other time you want a delicious savoury treat.

Essentially, a scotch egg is an egg-stuffed glorified meatball. Traditionally they are deep fried (as these are), but you can bake them in the oven, too (although the longer cooking time may lead to the meat shrinking away from the egg in places). So again, if you have a favourite meatball flavour profile, you can simply go ahead with what you already know and love. That being said, I do find that chicken, turkey, pork (or a blend) tend to work best with these little quail eggs, because they don't overwhelm the delicate flavour in a way that beef or lamb might. Your mileage may vary.

Quail Scotch Eggs

Makes 12

12 quail eggs

Meat layer
500 grams ground meat (shown: 60% pork/ 40% beef)
2 shallots
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (eg. sea salt or kosher)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
pinch of chile flakes if you like

Coating:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 (chicken) egg, beaten well and seasoned with a pinch of salt
1 - 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs (I use panko style breadcrumbs)

Oil for deep frying

First you will need to cook the quail eggs. Heat water in a small pot, and when it comes to a simmer, carefully lower half of the eggs into the pot and set the timer for 2 minutes (3 minutes if you want the yolks firm), and then remove them to an ice bath to cool them and stop the cooking process. Repeat with the other half of the eggs. I like to use my skimmer to raise and lower the eggs out the boiling water, because it's broad and I can load six quail eggs onto it at once no problem. A spider might also work. Timing is important here, because if you dither about getting them out, they will probably overcook. Not the end of the world, but the yolks won't be soft, and they might even get those nasty grey rings.

While the eggs are cooling, mix up the meat layer: break up the meat using your finger or a fork, to aerate it and make it easier to introduce the seasonings. Finely chop the shallots and garlic (or press the garlic), and sprinkle the herbs and spices over the meat. Use a fork, or your impeccably clean hands to distribute the seasonings throughout the meat without packing it down too much. Just like you would season meat for making burgers or meatloaf. If your meat is very lean, you can always add a bit of beaten (chicken) egg at this stage, too, but I don't find it necessary. Set the meat aside for the flavours to meld while you peel the eggs.

Very carefully tap/roll the eggs to break the shells, and peel them using a small teaspoon to help ease the shell away from the egg. Place on a clean plate to one side until they are all peeled. This will take a few minutes, so be patient.

Divide the meat mixture into 12 portions

Dip each egg in flour, and shake off any excess; this step is important, because it will help the meat layer adhere to the egg. In the palm of one hand, flatten out a portion of meat into a thin patty. Place a floured egg in the middle, and shape the meat up around the egg, enclosing it completely. Pay extra attention to make sure the seams where the meat comes together are strong. Set aside, and repeat with the other 11 eggs.

Prepare your deep fryer, or in my case, a pot with a couple of inches of oil in it. Heat the oil to 370°F/185°C. While the oil heats, use the time to coat the meatballs. Dip each meatball in the flour, dust/pat off anything but the thinnest of layers, dip briefly in the beaten egg, let drip a moment, and then roll in breadcrumbs to coat. Set aside.

When the oil is ready, fry the scotch eggs in batches until the coating is golden brown and delicious looking. Remember, the centre of the meatball is the already-cooked quail egg, so these babies fry up very quickly, since the heat doesn't need to penetrate the centre. Mine took about four minutes to cook, turning them over from every minute or so. Use a metal slotted spoon or spider to remove them to a clean plate lined with paper towels.

Serve hot, room temperature, or cold...with your choice of dipping sauce. I've used everything from aioli to hot mustard to tonkatsu sauce, depending on the flavours in the meat seasoning. We had three apiece for dinner, with potato salad, and then three apiece for lunch the next day.

Hummus Kawarma: Hummus with spiced lamb

Think of Hummus Kawarma as the Middle Eastern answer to Tex Mex's Five Layer Dip: the base is creamy hummus, the next layer is fried spiced lamb, further toppings are whole chickpeas, toasted pine nuts, and lemon parsley sauce. (Oh, did you want seven layer dip? Perhaps you could add finely diced cucumber and tomato, although I prefer those on the side as part of a classic Israeli salad.) What about the tortilla chips, you might ask. Well, oven-toasted pita chips make the perfect stand-in, but you could also simply use fresh pita bread cut or torn into pieces as needed. You can serve this as an appetizer or main course, as a communal shared plate or as individual servings.

The recipe for the spiced lamb topping and the lemon sauce is from the Jerusalem cookbook by Ottolenghi and Tamimi, and is also available on the Ottolenghi website, although I note that I used ground lamb instead of hand-chopped lamb neck.

So, what am I bringing to you here, since the exciting part of the recipe is elsewhere? Well, aside from cheap analogies to Tex-Mex cuisine, you also get my formula for extremely creamy hummus using an immersion blender. You'll need a kitchen scale to get the exact ratio, but if you don't have one you can still get by.

Immersion Blender Hummus

Makes 400 grams

Serves 4 as part of the above recipe (as a main course)

400 gram (14 oz) can of chickpeas, drained, reserving liquid (about 265 grams /9.3 oz cooked chickpeas))
45 ml (3 tablespoons) tahini (stirred well)
2.5 ml (1/2 teaspoon) salt
Juice of half a lemon
1 clove garlic, chopped or pressed
1 tablespoon olive oil
Chickpea cooking liquid OR water to make the total weight of all ingredients 400 grams (14 oz). If you don't have a kitchen scale, start with 60 ml (1/4 cup) liquid and add more as needed. You probably won't need more than 125 ml (half a cup).

You can put all of this into the blender cup and blend until smooth, but I find it's easier on the machine if you first make a puree of everything except the chickpeas and extra liquid. Then add the chickpeas, about a quarter of them at a time, blending until smooth between each addition, and finally adding the extra liquid until you achieve a smooth, creamy texture. Devour immediately, or transfer to a sealable refrigerator container. It keeps nicely for at least three days...I've never had it last longer, so after that you're on your own.

If you're completely obsessed with ultra smooth texture, take the time to pinch each chickpea to remove the skin. It takes a while but it's worth it, although I note that this step lowers the insoluble fibre content somewhat.

Calypso Potato Salad

Years ago, there used to be a tiny Trini restaurant called Roti Bistro on West 4th Avenue in Vancouver. It was there I was first introduced to soursop punch and peanut punch, and Caribbean lamb and goat curries. One of the things I particularly enjoyed was that they didn't adjust the food to accommodate the northern palate, so everything that was supposed to be hot was indeed fiery hot. Including, unexpectedly, the potato salad. Now, I have a pretty heat-resistant palate myself, and enjoy habaneros and other hot chiles without reserve, but on this particular day the curry was extremely hot, even for my tastes. No problem, I told myself, I'll just have a bit of this creamy-looking potato salad and OH MY GOD! IT'S HOTTER THAN THE CURRY! Thank goodness for that soursop punch.

The restaurant is long gone, sadly, but I was inspired by their blistering potato salad to make a version of it myself. It's not quite as intense as the original, but I think you'll find it to be very tasty indeed.

The potato salad is named after one of the key ingredients, Matouk's Calypso Sauce (which is made in Trinidad & Tobago), but you can substitute that with a fruity habanero sauce and a touch of curry powder. Please note that this is not a sponsored post. The rest of the seasoning for the salad is loosely based on jerk seasoning.

Calypso Potato Salad

Serves 6

3 pounds red skinned nugget potatoes
1/2 cup (125 ml) mayonnaise
1 tablespoon (15 ml) dry mustard
1–2 tablespoons (15-30 ml) fresh chopped thyme
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) turmeric
Pinch of cayenne pepper
3 hard boiled eggs, peeled, halved
6 cornichons, chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 habanero or scotch bonnet chiles, minced (seeds removed)
1/4 cup (60 ml) Matouk’s Calypso Sauce
Black pepper

Cut the potatoes in halves, or into bite-sized chunks if you have larger potatoes, and steam or simmer gently in lightly salted water until just tender. Drain potatoes and allow them to cool slightly in the colander.

In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, dry mustard, chopped thyme, allspice, turmeric, cayenne pepper, and Calypso sauce in a medium bowl.

Separately, in a medium bowl, combine celery, cornichons, habaneros, and green onion. Separate the egg yolks and whites. Mash or sieve yolks finely, and mince the egg whites. Add both to the chopped vegetables.

Add the warm-but-not-hot potatoes to the spiced mayonnaise and immediately add the chopped vegetables and egg mixture on top of that. Fold gently with a spatula until the potatoes and vegetables are evenly coated. Garnish liberally with freshly ground black pepper, and extra green onion, if you like. A sprinkle of paprika or cayenne makes a pretty finish.

Allow the salad to rest in the refrigerator for an hour or two before serving, to give the flavours a chance to meld.


Curried Egg Breakfast Sandwich

When I lived on Commercial Drive in Vancouver, we used to quite enjoy weekend brunch at Fets Whisky Kitchen. My favourite order was the breakfast egg sandwich named the "Woodford Handheld" which consisted of a ciabatta bun, crispy bacon, cheese, and just a hint of curry in the generous amount of scrambled eggs. As to why they called it the Woodford, I can only imagine that there might have been a little bourbon in the mix somewhere, which wouldn't be a shock from a place known for its whisk(e)y and bourbon selection. Over the years their menu has changed, and they have moved on from the Woodford. But I haven't.

Fortunately, it's a really easy thing to make, although it does take a bit of organization. The important thing is to get the amount of curry powder just right. It should be noticeable, but not jarring or interfering with the flavour of the eggs, bacon and cheese. You can opt not to toast the buns, but I think it's much nicer if you do. It's a departure from the original, but hey - why not use garlic butter while you're toasting them?

Curried Egg Breakfast Sandwich

AKA "The Woodford" (more or less)

2 Sandwiches

2 ciabatta-style buns (or equivalent), split
1 tablespoon butter, or garlic butter
4 - 6 strips of bacon, to taste
Monterey Jack, young Gouda, or melting cheese of your choice, enough to cover the bottom half of each bun

4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons cream
pinch of coarse sea salt
1/4 teaspoon hot Indian-style curry powder

Start with the bread. Spread cut sides of the buns with butter (or garlic butter) and place butter-side down in a preheated skillet over medium heat until lightly toasted. Remove buns to serving plates, and lay the slices of cheese on the bottom pieces. The heat will cause the cheese to soften slightly, which is fine.

Wipe out any crumbs and add into the now-empty skillet the strips of bacon. Cook the bacon until slightly crispy, but not too hard, turning as needed. Prepare the eggs by beating them together with the cream, salt, and curry powder. If you plan to use a different skillet to scramble your eggs, get it preheating now.

Remove the bacon from the skillet and distribute between the two cheese-dressed buns.

Scramble the eggs as you please. I use medium high heat with a bit of butter to get it going, and stir frequently to get loose, soft curds. It only takes about a minute. When the eggs are just about to set, take a large serving spoon and serve the eggs on top of the bacon. Close the sandwiches with the toasted bun tops, and devour right away.

It was every bit as delicious as I remembered.

Phad Kaphrao: Thai Holy Basil Stir fry

Until really recently, I thought that Thai Holy Basil was the same as the ubiquitous "Thai basil" which one receives in so many Southeast Asian dishes in Vancouver. However, they are indeed quite different. I was buying ingredients for summer rolls from my local Asian grocer, and grabbed a packet labeled Holy Basil without really looking at the leaves. Unsurprisingly, given that the owners of the shop are Thai, it turned out to be the real deal Holy Basil, and that was not what I had been looking for at all. Undaunted, I went online to learn a bit about the plant and how it differs from the Thai basil I was familiar with (which turns out to be a varietal of cinnamon basil).

This is the dish that I decided to make, once I understood what I had got my hands on: Thai Holy Basil & Pork Stir-fry, very lightly adapted from Woks of Life.

Holy Basil Stir fry (ผัดกะเพรา) is a popular dish across Thailand, and can be made with the protein of your choice. Recipes for chicken or pork abound, but I've also seen them for beef and for tofu, so I guess it's really up to you. Serve it over fragrant rice, maybe with a fried egg for the most common traditional presentation.

It is quick, it is easy (provided you can source the Holy Basil of course), and most importantly, it is delicious!

Phad Kaphrao Moo Sab: Holy Basil Stir Fry with Pork
ผัดกระเพราหมูสับ

Serves 4

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 small yellow onion
7 cloves garlic
5 Thai bird chiles, or equivalent hot red chilies
500 grams ground pork
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon less-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons mushroom sauce (or oyster sauce)
⅓ cup chicken broth or water
1 bunch Holy Basil leaves (about 1 1/2 cups packed)

This dish comes together fast, so do all of your prep in advance. This is no time for chop-and-drop. Start by preparing the rice, which takes the longest to cook. While the rice cooks, you can prepare the rest of the ingredients, and when there is only about 15 minutes left for the rice, start cooking the stir fry.

Preheat a large skillet over the lowest heat setting.

Slice the onion (pole-to-pole) into moderately thin strips. Slice the garlic thinly. Slice the red chiles finely, first removing seeds if necessary. You can measure the sugar, fish sauce (I use one with added chiles), soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and mushroom (or oyster) sauce into the same prep bowl. Efficient! Measure out the water/broth. Strip the Holy Basil from its stems, but do not chop the leaves, not even the big ones.

Turn up the heat under the large skillet to medium, and give it a few seconds to come up to temperature. Add the canola oil and the sliced onion, garlic, and red chiles, and stir and fry them until the onion starts to turn translucent, about three to five minutes. Add the pork (I used a pork/beef blend, which is common in these parts), and break it up with your spatula/wooden spoon. Stir and fry the meat for a few minutes, but don't stir it quite constantly, so that the meat picks up a bit of golden colour from contact with the hot pan. This will take up to about five minutes, maybe a few minutes more depending how hot "medium" is on your stove. Once the meat has been lightly browned and there are no longer any pink showing, add the sauce mixture and the chicken broth (or water) and stir through. Continue to stir and fry until the liquid is evaporated/absorbed by the meat, and then add all of the Holy Basil leaves at once to the skillet.



Give them a moment to wilt, then stir them through. Stir and fry for about 30 seconds, and then serve with the hot fragrant rice (and a fried egg, if you've planned ahead that far).

Poulet Basquaise: Basque Chicken

This recipe takes a bit of time, but it's absolutely worth it, and about half of the total prep time is hands-off cooking.

It is more of an interpretation than a 100% authentic recipe, using the same techniques and ingredients, although it is reimagined into a one-dish meal as opposed to the traditional Basque progression, which has the beans as a separate dish before the main course. It's in fact a fusion between several recipes for Basque style chicken and also a rabbit recipe. Its defining ingredient that I'm hinging the title upon is Piment d'Espelette, a specialty ground red pepper from the town of Espelette. Perhaps it should more correctly be called Poulet à la Piment d'Espelette.

I had fresh tomatoes and peppers to use up, so I went hard-core with roasting and peeling the peppers, and blanching and peeling the tomatoes, but there's no reason you couldn't use tinned tomatoes (small dice, if you can get them, or regular dice but chopped up a bit more), and jarred roasted red peppers that have already been peeled (and possibly seeded, depending on brand). I am using canned butter beans (any large white bean will do), but of course one could cook those separately from scratch, too.

The chicken braises in the flavourful liquid and becomes incredibly tender and luscious, adding its own fat and juices into the sauce as it cooks. Pushing bread into that rich sauce is one of the great joys of this dish.

Poulet Basquaise

Serves 3 - 4

3 chicken legs, separated into thighs and drumsticks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher or coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 tablespoon flour
1 1/2 teaspoons piment d'espelette
200 grams chorizo (4 links small tapas-style chorizo)
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 red bell peppers, roasted and peeled, deseeded and chopped
200 grams fresh tomato (eg. 7 Campari tomatoes) peeled, deseeded and chopped (with juices)
3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
2 bay leaves
225 grams butter beans (eg. 400 gram can, drained, 1 1/2 cups)
250ml dry white wine
250ml chicken stock

Heat a large skillet or braising pan (I use one that is 30cm/12"), slowly, over low heat while you prepare your mise en place: Peel, deseed and chop the tomatoes, collecting as much juice as possible in the bowl, OR use about a cup of diced tomatoes with juices. Set aside. Blacken the red bed peppers all over (over a flame, under a broiler, on a grill, or on a rack over a conventional burner), and then peel, remove the seeds, and chop into large dice, OR use two whole jarred large roasted red peppers, drained, rinsed, patted dry, deseeded and chopped. Set aside. Finely dice the onion and the celery, and set aside (together is fine). Slice the chorizo. Drain and rinse the beans. Measure the dry white wine and the chicken stock. Press or mince the garlic. Measure out the remaining ingredients. Finally, clean and trim the chicken legs and separate them into thighs and drumsticks. Season the chicken with salt and white pepper.

Preheat the oven to 165°C/325°F with a rack in the middle or upper middle slot, and turn the heat up under your skillet to medium.

When the pan is hot, add the olive oil and tilt the pan so that the oil covers the bottom. Give the oil about 15 seconds to heat, and add the seasoned chicken pieces, skin side down, and let them cook without disturbing for about 8 minutes or until golden brown. Flip pieces over (I use tongs) and cook a further 5 minutes. You may need to do this in two batches, if the thighs are particularly large (or if you're using all thighs). After the 5 minutes, remove the chicken pieces to a clean plate. It won't be cooked through yet, so handle according to safe chicken-handling procedures. Add the flour and stir through with a spatula or wooden spoon, dissolving it into the fat and scraping up any dark bits from the chicken-frying stage. Add chorizo and bay leaves to the pan, and sauté lightly for a minute or two until the chorizo colours just slightly, then add the onions, garlic, and celery and sauté lightly for about 3 minutes, or until the onion is translucent and the celery has started to soften. Add the bell peppers and tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes or so, until integrated, then add the beans and stir gently through. Add the wine and the stock and stir again, and then add the chicken pieces on top, arranging them skin-side up in a single layer in the pan. Be sure to include any juices that accumulated on the chicken-holding plate - just pour them in, no need to stir again. Place the fully assembled pan in the oven, and bake uncovered at 165°C/325°F for 1.25 hours.



Spoon a piece of chicken (or two) into a wide, shallow bowl, and serve with plenty of crusty bread, a crisp salad, and the rest of the bottle of wine.

If you're lucky enough to have leftovers, it reheats beautifully.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

This is from my mother's recipe collection. It's handwritten on a scrap paper, so I have no idea whence the recipe came, but there are quirks and notes that show her particular adaptations. I do remember that we started making this cake when I was about 10 years old, and that we never put walnuts in it, despite their presence as written. Instead, my mother was known to use chocolate chips (including one time, memorably, orange chocolate chips) or just omit the nuts entirely. There may have been an ill-advised attempt to use pumpkin seeds, about which we will speak no more.

As you can see, this is a big cake. It keeps well on the counter, better in the fridge (if you have room), but is delicious enough that it probably won't have to wait around for very long.

A note on grating zucchini: I find that short strands are much easier to work with than long strands, so I recommend slicing the zucchini in half lengthwise almost to the stem, and then holding the two halves together to grate across the cut. This gives very short strands that are easy to use, whether you are making fritters or cakes.

My mother always used soft "golden" brown sugar, but plain white granulated sugar also works fine.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

fills a 10-12 cup Bundt pan/Bundform/Gugelhupfform

125 ml (1/2 cup) canola oil
300 grams (1 1/2 cups) sugar
3 large eggs
200 grams (2 cups) grated zucchini
6 grams (1 heaped tablespoon) orange zest
10 ml (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract
300 grams (2 1/2 cups) all purpose flour
65 grams (1/2 cup) cocoa powder
12.5 ml (2 1/2 teaspoons) baking powder
7.5 ml (1 1/2 teaspoons) baking soda
5 ml (1 teaspoon) kosher or coarse sea salt
5 ml (1 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
125 grams (1 cup) chopped walnuts (or chocolate chips) - optional
125 ml (1/2 cup) milk

My mother's ever-cryptic instructions are: Pour into bundt pan, bake at 350° 1 hr. Cool in pan 15 min, then turn out and glaze: mix 2 cups icing sugar, 2 tbsps milk, 1 tsp vanilla

For those who didn't grow up with these astonishingly abbreviated instructions, try this:

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F, with a rack in the lower-middle slot. Prepare a 10-12 cup ring-shaped cake pan by spraying with cooking spray, oiling lightly or greasing lightly with butter.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the oil and sugar and beat with a wooden spoon or whisk until smooth. Add the eggs, and beat again. Add the grated zucchini and the vanilla extract, and stir through.

In a separate, medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder (sifted), baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and optionally walnuts. Add these combined dry ingredients to the wet mixture and start to gently stir together. After a few rounds with the spoon, add the milk, and then continue to gently stir until just combined and there are no more dry streaks in the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and place it in the preheated oven. Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick or spaghetti strand poked into the centre comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, before turning out of the pan. Glaze, or let cool completely.



As you can see, the glaze in my mother's instructions is for a standard white glaze, although you could exchange some of the icing sugar for cocoa powder to make a cocoa glaze if you like. You can use pretty much any glaze or frosting/icing you fancy. I've gone a different route here and used a chocolate ganache made from melted down Easter bunnies with added butter and cream. Your mileage may vary.

Black Pepper Tofu

There are an awful lot of recipes out there for Black Pepper Tofu, it turns out. So why not one more? This version is adapted from a variety of internet sources, but primarily from Lazy Cat Kitchen. It is intense and delicious, with wonderful textures. Serve over rice or noodles, maybe with a nice bright green on the side (gai lan would be an excellent choice).

Black Pepper Tofu

Serves 4
Total Prep & Cooking Time: 45-60 minutes

For the fried tofu cubes
600 grams firm tofu, diced and pressed
2 tablespoons less-sodium soy sauce
Cornstarch, as needed for dusting
4 tablespoons peanut oil or canola oil, divided

Sauce & Assembly
1 tablespoon less-sodium soy sauce, plus extra to make 3 tablespoons (including the leftover from the tofu stage above)
1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar (depending how tart you want the sauce)
2 tablespoons honey (brown rice syrup or coconut sugar for vegan)
125 mL (1/2 cup) water
2 level teaspoons cornstarch
4 large garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and minced (about 2 tablespoons of minced ginger)
1-2 hot chili peppers, sliced thinly
4 small green onions, sliced thinly
1 rounded tablespoon ground black pepper
Sesame seeds, to garnish (optional)

The following instructions are for frying the tofu cubes, but you can bake them instead if you prefer.

Cut the tofu into large or medium dice – bite sized – and press between paper towels under a weighted cutting board for 15 minutes. Pour off and discard any liquid, and place tofu in a shallow bowl. Pour 2 tablespoons soy sauce over the tofu and very gently stir to coat. Drain the excess soy sauce and set aside to use in the sauce.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. While the oil heats, quickly and carefully roll about a quarter of the tofu cubes in cornstarch, shaking off any excess. Place them in the hot oil, well spaced out, and fry gently, turning each piece with tongs as needed to get a crisp golden brown crust on all sides. As each piece is done, (they basically finish in the order they were placed in the pan, remove it to a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat (in the same oil) with the remaining tofu cubes, in batches, until they are all done. Remove the pan from the heat, pour off any remaining oil, and wipe the pan clean (carefully, because it’s hot) with a paper towel. Put the pan aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

If you are using whole peppercorns, grind them now (grinder or mortar and pestle), because it takes too long to get the amount you need at the point where you need to add it. Put the tablespoon of ground black pepper in a small dish and set aside.

Mix in a separate bowl or 500ml/2 cup measuring cup: soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, and 125 mL (½ cup) of cool or room temperature water. Add the 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and stir until smooth. Prepare, in separate piles on your cutting board, the garlic, ginger, chilies, spring onions, and black pepper, and have them ready to go.

Return your skillet to medium-high heat, and add a tablespoon of oil along with the white parts of the spring onions, the ginger, and sliced chilies. Lower the heat to medium and fry for 2-3 minutes, until slightly softened. Add the garlic and stir through for about 20 seconds.

Carefully stir the sauce bowl, because the cornstarch will drop to the bottom and you want it integrated. Once it is smooth, add the cornstarch slurry to the the vegetables in the skillet, and let it come to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. A flat-bottomed wooden spoon or wok tool is really good for this It will thicken almost immediately. Add the black pepper and then the fried tofu cubes and stir them through until the tofu cubes are coated in the sauce. Add the green parts of the spring onion and stir through quickly to integrate. Serve over rice or noodles, garnishing with sesame seeds if you like.

Mapo Nasu

I'm a big fan of Mapo Tofu, a Sichuan dish that integrates small cubes of tofu into a spicy (think Sichuan peppercorn) flavourful minced pork sauce (or, if you want to get old-school, integrates spicy pork sauce into cubes of tofu) and served atop rice. Whether you lean more heavily to the meat-side or the tofu-side, it's a delicious meal. But wait! There's more.

While classic Chinese Mapo Tofu is very popular in Japan, Mapo Nasu is a localization that substitutes the tofu with eggplant. As with the original, there are a lot of versions vying for position as the ur-recipe, but that just means you can be very flexible in your approach.

I recommend long, narrow East Asian type eggplants, here, rather than the Mediterranean type, as they are generally less seedy and less bitter. The ones I used here were super skinny Japanese eggplants, the diameter of bratwurst, but wider ones work just fine (and are a bit less fragile). You can choose to sauté the eggplant strips in hot oil instead of broiling them, if you prefer, but they do tend to fall apart a bit more that way.

Mapo Nasu

Serves 2-3

Total prep and cooking time: 20 - 30 minutes

1/2 lb. lean ground pork or beef
2 tablespoons dry sherry or vermouth
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
300 grams Japanese eggplant
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Sauce ingredients
1 tablespoon fermented chile bean paste
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste (optional)
2 tablespoons less-sodium soy sauce
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon white pepper OR ground Sichuan pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch diluted in 1/4 cup water

If you're serving this over rice, get it started first, as it can wait patiently if need be. Preheat the broiler with a rack set 15cm/6inches from the burner.

Combine the meat, sherry, 1 teaspoon of cornstarch, and set aside. In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients up to the white pepper and set aside.

Slice the leafy ends off the eggplant(s) and quarter the eggplant lengthwise. Slice the long spears of eggplant into finger-lengths, and brush with sesame oil. Place skin-side-down in a single layer on a baking sheet and broil for 7 - 10 minutes or until slightly browned and blistered. Remove from oven and keep to one side.

In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook the meat until evenly browned, breaking up any large clumps. Add the onion and cook until the onion turns translucent. Stir in the spicy sauce mixture until the meat is evenly coated. Add the eggplant and stir gently (you don't want to mash the tender pieces). Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Stir in the dissolved cornstarch and cook, stirring constantly but gently, for a couple of minutes until the sauce has thickened.

Serve over steamed rice with a green vegetable. May I suggest Kale Gomaae?

Z-Balls - Zucchini Polpette

These delicious veggie-packed Z-Balls can be everything from a pakora-like appy (pass the chutney), to a sandwich filling, to a stand-in for traditional meatballs on a big plate of spaghetti (or spaghetti squash, if that's how you roll).

This recipe was developed from my classic Zucchini Fritters recipe, but has a bit more body to better withstand the round(ish) shape without getting doughy. I'm using classic Italian flavours for these ones, since they'll be topping spaghetti, but you can of course customize the seasoning profile to your taste (Old Bay-type seasoning would be awesome for sandwich-filling Z-Balls, for example).

It's zucchini season! What are you waiting for?

Z-Balls (Zucchini Polpette)

Makes 24 Z-Balls
Total prep and cooking time: 45 minutes

5 cups grated zucchini
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 cups fluffy breadcrumbs ~ such as panko
1/3 cup finely minced onion
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon chile flakes (optional)
1/2 teaspoon kosher/coarse sea salt
1/4 cup flour
oil for shallow-frying

Make sure that the strands of grated zucchini are not too long - cut a slice into the zucchini lengthwise (stopping before you hit the stem) before grating, and then position the zucchini against the grater so that the grated strands will be short. You could also grate the zucchini normally, and then give it a quick chop-through with a knife. Either way, Squeeze the grated zucchini by the handful (over a colander in the sink, to catch escaped strands) to release extra liquid. Place the shreds in a medium mixing bowl.

Add the flour and stir with a fork to thoroughly distribute the flour throughout the zucchini strands. Add the eggs, melted butter, bread crumbs, minced onion, salt and herbs. Mix well with a fork, so that all ingredients are evenly distributed. The batter will be quite wet, so you will need a scoop to shape the balls. A disher with a release mechanism works best. The one I use a no. 18-8 disher, which has a tablespoon capacity, which makes a nice sized ball, whether it's a meatball or z-ball. Without a scoop, I would use two tablespoons, and the quenelle method.

Pour frying oil into a skillet to make about 5mm deep. Heat the oil over medium heat, and be patient until it gets hot enough to fry, about 190°C/375°F. You don't want it too hot, or the balls will burn before they cook through. Also, if you overheat the oil, it will begin to break down and smell fishy (especially canola oil), so never let it get so hot it smokes. You can test the oil by putting a strand of zucchini in the pan. If it starts to sizzle immediately, the oil is ready. If it browns immediately, remove the oil from the heat, because it's too hot. Let it cool off the heat and try again. You can also use other methods to test the oil temperature if you don't have the right kind of thermometer.

When you're ready to start frying, use the scoop/disher to shape the ball, and release it directly into the hot oil in the skillet. Add a few more balls, well spaced to avoid over-crowding the pan, and fry for a few minutes on each "side", until dark golden brown. These are pretty soft, so you may need to gently re-shape them as you turn them - tongs are the best tool for the job, but two forks works well, too. Or you could learn to love the slightly irregular, rustic shapes they form naturally, like the ones shown here.

Finished balls can be kept warm in a warm oven. Continue to cook the z-balls in batches until you've used up all the batter.

Top a bowl of pasta and tomato sauce with these crisp, flavourful nuggets for Spaghetti & Z-Balls - sure to make anyone smile from their sheer deliciousness!



Leftover Z-Balls can be reheated very nicely on an ungreased baking sheet (or pizza pan) in a hot oven (200°C/400°F) for 10-15 minutes (flip halfway through) to restore the crisp exterior. Perfect for wraps!

Chicken-Bacon-Jalapeño Popper Pasta

Whew, that's a mouthful! Really, it's just an extra fancy macaroni and cheese, because adding chicken, bacon, and peppers to tasty basic recipes is almost always a good idea. Best of all, the leftovers heat up beautifully for an indulgent lunch.

This recipe doesn't use actual jalapeño poppers, but it does use all the ingredients for them. Much easier than deep frying though! You can use any small pasta shape - elbow macaroni, mini bow-ties, mini penne (pictured), or small shells, but don't use the really tiny ones, such as stars or alphabets, as they need to be able to stand up to the chicken chunks.

Chicken-Bacon-Jalapeño Popper Pasta

Serves 4

15 grams (1 tablespoon) butter
300 grams (10 oz) chicken breast, cubed in bite-sized pieces
125 grams bacon lardons
1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2-3 fresh jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher or other coarse salt
200 grams (.75 cup) evaporated milk, divided
500 mL (2 cups) water (preferably, recently boiled and still hot)
200 grams (1.5 cups) elbow macaroni (or similarly small pasta shape)
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
3 shakes of Tabasco sauce
200 grams (1.5 cups) grated sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
100 grams spreadable cream cheese
6-10 pickled jalapeño pepper rings, roughly chopped
6 buttery crackers, such as Ritz or Club crackers, crushed into crumbs

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F with a rack in the middle. Lightly butter, oil, or grease a 2 litre (2 quart/11x7") casserole dish and put to one side.

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Melt the butter, and add the cubed chicken breast. Give it a couple of stirs to lightly brown the outsides, and then remove the chicken pieces to a clean plate to stand by (the chicken won't be cooked through, but it will finish cooking in the oven). Without cleaning the saucepan, add the bacon lardons (this is just short, chunky pieces of bacon - feel free to chop up some thick-cut if you can't find lardons or slab bacon to make lardons from). Let the bacon sizzle and stir it about a for a couple of minutes until it renders about half of its fat, and then use a slotted spoon to remove them from the pan (you can add them to the chicken plate).

Next, add the finely chopped onion and the garlic, and sauté until the onion turns translucent. You'll want to keep stirring so the onion bits don't stick to the fond left behind by the chicken and bacon, and turn the heat down if the edges start browning. Add the minced fresh jalapeños, and stir them for about 30 seconds. Leaving the onion, garlic, and peppers in the pot, add the water and 125 mL (1/2 cup) of the evaporated milk and bring to a boil (you can turn up the heat to medium high, once the liquid has been added). Add the salt and the macaroni, and cook (stirring frequently) until the macaroni is tender and the liquid is reduced to a small amount burbling up between the pieces of pasta. This should only take about 7 or 8 minutes.

Put the remaining 60 mL (1/4 cup) of evaporated milk in a small bowl with the Tabasco and the cornstarch. Stir until smooth. Add to the cooked macaroni and stir until the sauce begins to thicken – no more than a minute or two over high heat. Turn off the heat and add the 1 cup of the cheddar cheese, one handful at a time, stirring it in each time, and adding a tablespoon or two of room-temperature water if it gets too thick to comfortably stir. Once the cup of cheese has all been added, stir in the cream cheese and stir until it melts smoothly into the sauce.

Add the chicken and bacon back into the pasta pot, including any juices that might have pooled in the bottom of the plate. Add the minced pickled jalapeños now, and stir them in, too. Scrape the pasta mixture into the prepared casserole dish, and cover with the remaining cheddar cheese and then top with the crushed cracker crumbs.

Place in the oven, uncovered, and bake for 20 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Coconut Lime Chicken & Rice Skillet

I developed this recipe because I had a lot of jalapeños to use up, and because I love skillet dinners. It's not quite Caribbean, not quite Mexican, and not quite South East Asian, but it's extremely tasty and a very satisfying meal that takes just over an hour to get on the table - half of that time unattended.

We served this with a salsa fresca (pico de gallo) on the side, but any nice fresh salad would also do the trick. I'm pleased to report that the leftovers, if you're that lucky, also make an excellent filling for wraps - with or without the rice.

Coconut Lime Chicken & Rice Skillet

Serves 3-4

6-8 bone-in chicken parts, with skin
2 tablespoons coarse salt
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1 lime, about 2 tablespoons
200 grams (1 cup, 7.05 oz) uncooked parboiled rice
165 mL (2/3 cup, 5.5 oz) canned coconut milk
4 large jalapeños
1 small onion
2-3 tablespoons shredded fine unsweetened coconut
2 cloves garlic
375 mL (1 3/4 cup, 12.5 oz) boiling water
1 small bunch cilantro, stems removed, chopped roughly (a generous handful)

Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F.

Remove any excess skin and/or fat from the chicken with a sharp knife. Combine the lime zest with the coarse salt in order to make a seasoned rub. Massage the seasoned salt into the chicken on all sides, discarding the excess salt that falls off in the process. The tops of the chicken pieces should have a sparse but even coating of salt.

In a large (30cm/12") skillet or braising dish, lay the chicken pieces in a single layer, skin-side up. Place the dish in the oven and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, during which time you can prepare the other ingredients.

Finely dice the onion, and mince or press the garlic. De-seed the jalapeños, and finely dice one of them. Cut the remaining three jalapeños into rings and set aside until the final stages. Squeeze the juice from the lime. Rinse the rice under cool water until it runs clear.

After the chicken has cooked for 30 minutes, remove it from the oven, and place the skillet on a moderately hot burner. Use tongs or a spatula to transfer the chicken pieces to a clean plate. Into the juices left behind in the emptied skillet, add the onion, garlic, and finely diced jalapeño. Sauté for about two minutes, until the onion softens and turns translucent. Add the rice, and stir it around to coat the grains in the onion and chicken fat mixture. Turn the burner off. Add the lime juice and stir through. Add the coconut and the coconut milk and stir through. Add the boiling water (carefully), and stir though, using a spatula to smooth the rice into an even layer beneath the liquid.

Use tongs or a spatula to transfer the chicken pieces back to the skillet, arranging the pieces in a single layer on top of the rice. The tops of the chicken pieces should not be covered by the cooking liquid, but the sides may be a little until the rice starts absorbing the liquid.

Place the full pan back in the oven, uncovered, on the middle or upper middle rack, and bake for another 30 minutes. You may wish to check it after 20-25 minutes, to make sure it's not drying out, but unless your oven is hot, it should be fine.

Remove the skillet from the oven, and scatter sliced jalapeños and cilantro over top if you're serving the whole dish at the table.

Distribute the chicken to the individual diner's plates, and stir the jalapeños and cilantro through the rice. before serving the rice.


If you would like to make this dish entirely stovetop, that's also manageable, but requires a bit more hands-on labour (and the skin won't be crispy): Sear the seasoned chicken breast on both sides, cooking for a total of about 10 minutes, and set aside. Proceed as above, but reduce the boiling water to 295 mL (10 oz) and instead of placing the assembled dish in the oven, bring the liquid to a gentle simmer on the stovetop and turn the burner to its lowest setting. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid, and cook for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off and move the skillet to a cool burner or heatproof pad and let sit undisturbed without ever lifting its lid for another 15 minutes. Serve as above, adding the sliced pepper rings and the cilantro and stirring it through the rice.

Jjajangmyeon: Korean Black Sauce Noodles

Jjajangmyeon (짜장면) or Jajangmyeon (자장면) is a Korean noodle dish whose name translates roughly to "Fried Sauce Noodles." Sound familiar? Perhaps you recall Zhajiangmian, the Chinese dish with the same translation. This dish is generally considered to have evolved from the Chinese recipe, but however similar the names are, the Korean version took a few detours along the way and the results are significantly different.

The very first important thing to understand, is that Korean-style fermented black bean paste must be used in order to get the correct flavour and texture. Don't try to use a Chinese black bean sauce or paste - it will not be the same. What you want is a smooth fermented black bean paste called chunjang (춘장).

There's a bit of chopping involved, but once your mise en place is, well, en place, the recipe comes together very quickly. You have some leeway with the vegetables used in the sauce: onion is essential, white radish (Korean joseon radish or daikon) is an almost universal choice, and cabbage, zucchini, - even potato! - are also frequent choices. You can add celery, mushroom, carrot - really, the choice is pretty much up to you. It's all going to get coated with a thick, black sauce in the end, so use whichever firm vegetables you like.

Like its precursor, Jjajangmyeon is usually based on pork, and in this case I'm using pork belly, although any marbled cut could suffice. However, the beauty of Jjajangmyeon's versatility is that you don't actually need meat at all. I've included portobello mushroom in my vegetable mixture, and you could easily replace all of the pork in this recipe with the mushroom. It's really up to you. (Because the pork belly is the only animal-derived product in this dish, if you opt to switch it out for the mushroom, your resulting dish will actually be vegan.)

What kind of noodles? If you can get Korean noodles specifically for Jjajangmyeon, go for those, obviously, but you can also use fresh ramen, udon, or even instant ramen, in a pinch. Wheat-based noodles are standard, but if you need to use rice noodles instead, I won't tell.



Jjajangmyeon

Adapted from The Woks of Life

Serves 4

3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1/2 pound pork belly, diced small
1 1/2 cups small diced daikon or Korean radish
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
2 tablespoons finely diced fresh ginger
1 1/2 cups small diced zucchini
1 portobello mushroom, stem and gills removed, diced small
1/2 cup of chunjang, Korean black bean paste
2 1/2 cups water, divided
Cornstarch slurry (2 tablespoons of potato starch or cornstarch, stirred into 1/2 cup cold water)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1-2 teaspoons rice vinegar (optional)

4 servings freshly cooked noodles

Garnish:
julienned cucumber
sliced danmuji (yellow pickled daikon radish)
raw sliced onion

For goodness sake, make sure your prep is done. You won't have time to chop-and-drop this one. Set a pot of water on to boil for the noodles, too.

In a wok or large skillet (I used my 30cm/12" nonstick skillet), heat a tablespoon of the canola oil over medium-high heat, and add the pork (if doing a vegan version, add all the mushroom at this point). Stir it into a single layer, and fry it for a few minutes, until it gets golden and renders some of the fat away. Add the radish and ginger and stir it through, and let it fry for about a minute before adding the rest of the vegetables. Give them a quick stir, and then cook for another two minutes, stirring occasionally. The vegetables will give off some liquid that will help keep them from sticking to the pan, but if they are sticking anyway, lower the heat a bit. When the onion is translucent, clear a space in the middle of your pan/wok, and add the remaining two tablespoons of canola oil. Let the oil heat up (about 10-15 seconds) and then add the chunjang. Use a wooden wok tool or spatula to fry the chunjang in the pool of oil in the centre of your pan for about two minutes (it might start to stick a bit, which is fine, just scrape it free with your spatula). This stage cooks the bitterness out of the black bean paste, so take your time - and lower the heat if necessary to keep it from burning.

After the two minutes of frying the black bean paste, stir it into the surrounding vegetables until they are all evenly coated, and then add 2 cups of water (room temperature is fine). Stir through again, scraping up any stuck bits, and then bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat to medium and put a lid on. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pork and the vegetables are tender. You can use the cooking time to cook the noodles, so that they're ready when the sauce is.

After the 10 minutes, mix up the cornstarch slurry, and add it to the skillet, stirring constantly as you add it. It will thicken the sauce almost instantly, but stir and cook it for a couple of minutes longer, to make sure there's no raw flavour from the starch. Taste, and if there is still a bit of bitterness, you can add the 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. You can also add a splash of rice vinegar, if you want it tangy. If it has thickened too much, you can add a few tablespoons of room temperature water to loosen it back up.



Stir in the sesame oil, and divide the sauce between four bowls of freshly cooked, hot noodles. Garnish with the raw and pickled vegetables, and tuck in immediately.

Stuffed Turkish Peppers & Sultan's Chickpea Pilaff

The long, pointed, bright green peppers used extensively in Turkish cuisine have quite a number of excellent uses. They are mild enough to chop into salads (while still being more interesting a flavour than green bell pepper), but can be added to pilaffs, stews, casseroles, and pasta dishes with a certain wild abandon. They also bake up beautifully when stuffed.

A lot of stuffed pepper recipes are based on (or incorporate) rice, or some other grain into the stuffing mixture. These peppers are so narrow, though, that I decided to make a filling that was just seasoned meat - lean, to account for minimal shrinkage in the oven - and serve the rice on the side.

Stuffed Turkish Peppers

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F, with a rack in the middle.

8-10 pointed Turkish peppers (such as Charleston/Çarliston Biber)

Prepare a mixture of meat and seasonings...you could use pretty much any meatball recipe you like, though. This is the one I used:

500 grams lean ground beef
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 cup parsley, divided

Wash the peppers and lay them on the cutting board. Slice off a strip along the top, going about halfway to two thirds of the way down each pepper, and use a spoon or paring knife to carefully remove as many of the seeds as possible. Take up about a tablespoon of the raw meatball mixture, and use your thumbs to push it into the hollow of each pepper pod, pressing the filling gently down into the pointed end as much as possible.



Lay the peppers in a shallow baking dish (or baking sheet with sides). Brush with a little canola oil to give them a sheen (optional).

I had more filling than peppers, so I simply made the remaining filling into some large meatballs, and placed them at the end of the tray full of peppers.

Bake the peppers, uncovered, for 30 minutes, and serve warm with yoghurt sauce, feta, and toasted pine nuts.



While the peppers are baking, you can make the pilaff and the yoghurt sauce (timing works best if you've already done the prep for the pilaff before putting the peppers in the oven, and toast the pine nuts):

Sultan's Chickpea Pilaff

Adapted from The Turkish Kitchen, by Ghillie Başan

Serves 4

200 grams (1 cup) basmati rice, washed
220 grams cooked chickpeas, rinsed (approximately 1 400 gram can, drained)
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, minced
300 mL (1.25 cups) chicken stock or broth (from concentrate is fine)
ground white pepper to taste

Rub the chickpeas and discard any skins. In a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the minced onion, and stir and cook until translucent but not browned. Add the rice, and stir it about so that each grain gets some of the butter on it. Add the chickpeas, broth, and a bit of white pepper (a 1/4 teaspoon should do it). As soon as the mixture is bubbling, turn the heat to the lowest setting, put the lid on the pot, and let cook undisturbed (no peeking!) for 15 minutes. Then, still without lifting the lid, remove the pan to a cool burner (or completely off the stove on a heatproof pad) and leave undisturbed for another 15 minutes. Then you can open the lid and fluff the rice up to redistribute the chickpeas throughout the rice (they have a tendency to migrate to the top of the pot).

Yoghurt Sauce

This is the same sauce that I use for Çılbır

150 grams plain thick yoghurt
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley (or dill, or mint)
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1/8 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt

Stir together in a small bowl.

Assemble however best you see fit.

These heat up beautifully the next day, but are also delicious cold or at room temperature.

Couscous Lunch Boxes - Lazy Lunch Prep

One Cup of Couscous = 4 lunch boxes.

I admire the folks who assemble beautiful identical lunch boxes on the Sunday evening to set them up for the first four (or five) days of their work week. This doesn't really suit me for a few reasons. One, I'm not inclined to eat the exact same thing every day, no matter how delicious, and two, even if I were so inclined, our tiny German fridge simply doesn't have room for this many packed lunches at any given time - even for one person, let alone two. I also try to use up any cooked meats within three days of cooking (unless it's going into the freezer). My packed lunches need to be cold or room temperature, as I do not have access to a microwave or stove at work.

In the spirit of planning a bit ahead and also using up foods already on hand or leftover from the previous night's dinner (not to mention avoiding the canteen at work), I had the idea that I could prepare a base of flavourful couscous on Sunday night, and then portion it out over the following four days. While you'll see a certain amount of repetition in the ingredients, each box was different enough from its predecessor to feel like a completely different meal.

I started by making my standard fluffy couscous base, which takes about 5 minutes active time, plus 15 minutes inactive:

Couscous Base

1 cup dry couscous
1.25 cups boiling water
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, divided
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon paprika powder (check that it's not stale)

In a large container (preferably one with a tight-fitting lid), add the dry couscous, half the salt, and the paprika. In a small bowl, stir together the lemon juice, olive oil, and the other half of the salt. Basically, you're making a vinaigrette of sorts. Stir it well until it emulsifies, for the best effect. Pour the vinaigrette over the couscous, and stir quickly with a fork until every grain is coated with the lemony oil mixture. Add the boiling water and stir quickly to distribute the grains of couscous evenly, and then cover tightly. Wait for 15 - 20 minutes, remove the lid, and marvel at how easily the couscous grains fluff up when you stir them with a fork. Let the couscous cool, and store in a sealed refrigerator container.

Lunch Box #1 - Monday

Couscous, baked chicken thigh (curry seasoning), finely diced cucumber, tomato, yellow bell pepper, and spiced sweet potato coins with a bit of sliced green onion.

The chicken and sweet potato were leftovers from Sunday dinner. The bone and skin were removed from the chicken. You can't actually see the bottom layer of couscous, but it's definitely there!





Lunch Box #2 - Tuesday

Couscous, Berbere-spiced chickpeas, diced tomatoes, diced cucumber, crumbled feta, sliced avocado.

In the morning, I opened a tin of chickpeas and extracted half of them. The rest were transferred to a refrigerator container, along with their liquid. I rinsed the chickpeas, and then quickly sauteed them in 1/2 teaspoon olive oil and a 1/2 teaspoon of Berbere spice mixture. I spread out the couscous in the bottom of the box, and scraped the seasoned chickpeas into one side before filling in the rest of the ingredients. I let the box cool before closing and stashing in my work bag.





Lunch Box #3 - Wednesday

Couscous, boiled egg, diced yellow bell pepper, avocado, and spiced sweet potato coins.

The egg was boiled up the night before and stashed in the fridge overnight. In the morning, I peeled it quickly with a spoon, and cut it before putting it in the box. The spiced sweet potatoes are continued use of leftovers from Sunday's dinner. You can actually see the bed of couscous in this one!

This box was full of delicious things, but in combination it was a bit dry. A bit of sauce or dressing would have made a big difference, which I will keep in mind going forward.




Lunch Box #4 - Thursday 

Couscous, Caribbean-curry-spiced chickpeas, finely diced cucumber, yellow bell pepper, crumbled feta, spiced sweet potato coins with sliced green onions, and diced dried apricots.

These chickpeas were done quickly in the morning, using the other half of the can of chickpeas I'd opened on Tuesday, and opting for a spicy Caribbean curry powder for the seasoning. The other items we've seen in previous boxes, but the one special ingredient here was the diced dried apricots which lent a wonderful fruity sweetness that went very well with the curried chickpeas. The inclusion of the apricots made this final box feel a bit special.



By Friday, I was ready for something entirely different, and had a homemade bento with Japanese rolled omelette with yakionigiri and gingered carrot coleslaw. But that's another type of lunch, for a different type of post.

This was not a completely effortless scenario - each day I had a couple of small tasks to pull the day's box together - but having the couscous waiting for me did inspire me to make good use of my leftovers, to vary my ingredients, and motivated me to actually do it.