Avocado paletas

I adore Mexican paletas. They are so simple and make use of just a few simple ingredients to create lovely and light desserts. Mostly I go for the pure fruity ones but using the blessed, beautiful avocado makes for an incredibly rich and creamy taste treat without any added fat or dairy. Here's the super simple recipe.  You'll need some popsicle molds.

Yield: 6-10 popsicles

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 ripe avocados
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

Put the water and sugar in a small point and gently heat until all the sugar is dissolved. You're basically making a simple sugar solution. Let it cool.

Cut and pit the avocados and put them into a blender along with the lime juice and cooled sugar water.

Waz it up until it's smooth. Then pour the bright green mixture into the popsicle molds and freeze for at least two hours.

To serve, run a bit of hot water on the outside of the mold and gently remove the popsicle. Let the oohing and aahing begin.

10 things to tickle your tastebuds: Mediterranean edition

Recently returned from two weeks visiting the European countries along the Mediterranean. Beautiful seafood, everything so fresh. We ate in lots of markets, restaurants, bars, and on the street. Of course, wine and coffee are amazing practically anywhere so I don't touch on those but here are a few food highlights and suggestions in no particular order!

1. Lemon-based foods in southern Italy. The lemons that grow in Sicily, Naples, Sorrento and other areas in the south of Italy are just amazing. Even had a dish of meatballs wrapped in the leaves of lemon trees that was out of this world. But a real standout was a candy store  called Confettie e Agrumetti that we happened on in Sorrento that makes in-house “confetti alla crema lemoncedro,” which is basically a beautiful little sweet that is lemon cream wrapped in lemon candy shell. OMG!

2. Something with squid ink, just because black teeth at the table are sexy! And those who live in seaport actuallly know what to do with squid ink. In Valetta, Malta, there’s a little family run spot that serves a wicked tagliatelle neri agli scampi. It was super seafoody and definitely a unique flavour. In Barcelona, squid ink risotto was much the same but with a lot less chance of getting squid ink all over your shirt when you’re eating it.

3. Cured meats: I am sure for all time there will be a debate over whether prosciutto di Parma ham, or jamon Iberico is better. I’m putting my vote in for the Spanish version. Every time I ate the jamon, it melted in the mouth. In Italy, it was a lot more varied and often quite tough. Spanish salami also won the day for me over its Italian counterparts although to be fair I probably only tried a dozen or so of the hundreds of types of salami available in Italy.

4. Fresh cheese: ricotta, mozarella, buratta. Some are made with cow’s milk and some with the milk from water buffalos. Either way, fresh cheese anywhere in Italy is spectacular. One of the best was a little pat of ricotta that we were given as the amuse bouche before lunch at a Roscioli in Rome. But it doesn’t matter where you get it from if it’s made fresh because it will be simply amazing.

 
5. Calissons in Aix-en-Provence. Marzipan is a beautiful thing and the confectioners of Aix have been making these traditional sweets since the 15th century. The method for making them, like champagne, has been made “official” since 1991. The almond-shaped sweet has a base of almond-and-dried fruit paste topped with a layer of royal icing. A one-bite wonder that is surprisingly not too sweet.

6. Olive oil: Every country along the Mediterranean makes its own olive oil and claims its is the best. Again, I vote for Spanish olive oil over most of the others European nations but it’s worth trying some of the local organic olive oil no matter where you are. They are all different and you never know when you’ll hit on a spectacular one as we did in a small little shop in Arles, France where we found one from the Vallée des Baux de Provence that was made with mature black olives and had a very unique and deep flavour. Oh yeah, also just eat lots of olives.

7. Shrimp/scampi: Particularly in the tapas bars of Barcelona, you can have these gifts of the sea prepared many ways. One tapas bar served  whole fried spicy red shrimp. Now they were a bit finicky because they were deep fried with the head and shell on but the flavour was out of this world. A good tapas place will likely offer up a whole lot of shrimp options. Likely none will disappoint.

8. Ocotopus. The more tentacles the better my friend Michael always says. Often when you order octopus, it ends up being very rubbery but when the experts who live by the sea make it, you won’t be disappointed. Char grilled with just a bit of lemon and garlic sauce is my favourite.

9. Gelato. It’s good almost anywhere in Italy, where there are also a whole lot of artisinal gelaterias that have popped up. In Rome, there was one worth a long, long walk in the rain: Romana, which is quite near the Termini Station but not near to much else! Perhaps the best pistachio gelato I’ve ever had, and I have had a lot. Amorino Gelato in Valetta serves its gelato in the shape of a flower, which is darn cool.

10.  Gyro sandwiches, or as we like to call them, french-fry sandwiches. Beautiful, herby lamb or chicken cooked on the upright spit, sliced off, and made into a pita sandwich with tomatoes, garlicky tzatziki, and, of course, a few french fries. They’re available from street side vendors all over Athens. Follow it up with a bit of luscious baklava from a local bakery. It’s just better because you’re buying it in Greece.

I'm smokin' hot (sauce)

Every year I plant hot peppers in my lovely little garden. I tend to have a bit of a variety but every year I put in cayenne peppers because they never disappoint. This year I only had one plant but supplemented it with some serranos and jalapenos, so had a good variety of hot peppers. And at the end of the season, there are always lots left over. So what to do with lots of fiery little chiles?  Well make them into hot sauce, of course! 

Here's my quite simple hot sauce recipe from the archives:

Yield: about 100 ml

Ingredients:

1 dozen cayenne peppers
2 heads of garlic
3/4 cup of vinegar
salt
pinch of sugar

I had a lot of cayenne peppers and the others that I also grew, so threw a few of those in the mix, and made 4x the recipe.

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First cut off the stem, slit, and remove the seeds of each pepper. Please do this with gloves. And don't touch your eyes, nose, or mouth while you're doing the deed. The burn is fierce.

The traditional Tobasco Sauce has "aged" peppers but in the age of instant gratification, I deepened the flavour by roasting the peppers a bit. I used my favourite Mexican style of dry roasting on the comal, but you can do it in a large non-stick frying pan or by broiling them in the oven until the skin turns a bit black. Some people suggest taking the skins off after the roasting but seriously, that's a bunch of fiddling around that takes up time I'll never get back. So I just tossed them, the garlic (which I also roasted but there's no need to), and the vinegar into the blender and wazzed it all up.

Once it's all lovely and liquidized, simmer the mix on the stove for about 20 minutes. At this point, the whole kitchen, if not house, will start smelling like hot sauce. There may be some burning eyes. It's all for a good cause.

Once the simmering of the flavours is done, run the whole thing through a sieve to clear out the pulp, seeds, and skin.

This, I would say is the time to add the salt, if you're not too busy forgetting to do it like I did, and sugar.

You need to prepare some jars to put this lovely concotion in. I didn't have any traditional style bottles so I used small jam jars (125 ml each). They need to be washed out with boiling water and new lids prepared in boiling water. Once that's all ready, pour the sauce in, seal and you're ready to go with some smokin' hot sauce!

Salata de berenjena (Eggplant salad)

Salata de berenjena is one of those dishes my family has been eating ever since I was a little kid and was definitely not something I enjoyed back then. But as a ‘grown up’ I love it. Simple, fresh ingredients that with a little TLC yield a spectacularly tasty appetizer or side dish.

This salad is also a great way to use up the less-than-perfect tomatoes from the garden at the end of the season.

It’s not a traditional salad but more along the lines of a ratatouille as almost everything is cooked. The salata is not something I make very often because it’s quite time consuming ̶ and really my parents have always made fabulous versions of it, so why mess with someone else’s success? Below is my dad’s version of this traditional Sephardi Jewish vegetable salad.

Leave yourself a bit of time – maybe 1.5 hours – to prepare it as there’s lots of slicing and frying. It’s also best made a day ahead but at the least in the morning if you’re going to have it for dinner. The vegetables need to marinate to realize their full deliciousness.

Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients

1 large eggplant, peeled and sliced
3 green or red peppers
3 tomatoes, thickly sliced
3 small potatoes, sliced
2 tbsp chopped parsley
oil for frying

Dressing:

1/3 cup white vinegar
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp salt

The slices of eggplant should be about 1 cm thick.  Salt and place in a colander to drain for 30 minutes.

While the eggplant is doing its thing, put your oven on broil with the rack near (but not right at) the top. Cut the peppers in half, remove the seeds, and place skin up on a foil-covered baking tray in the oven for 15 minutes. Bake until they are tender and their skin is charred and blistered. Remove from the oven and let cool, then peel and slice.

Start frying your potatoes in a large, non-stick frying pan. Don’t be shy with the oil but you are not deep frying them either. Continue to add frying oil as you need it along the way. Cook the potato disks to a lovely golden brown and drain on some absorbent paper when they’re ready.

Those who know more than I do suggest dipping the eggplant in a bit of milk before frying it so it absorbs less oil. I do it but can’t actually attest to whether it makes a difference. Either way, fry the slices of eggplant until they’ve got a little bit of black on each side (key says my dad) and then drain on some paper.

Gently fry the tomatoes. You want them a bit soft but if you fry them too long they’ll just turn into mush, so don’t overdo it.

Once everything is fried and cooled, layer the potato, eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes in a glass or ceramic dish. Sprinkle the parsley generously on the top. Mix the dressing and pour over the vegetables.

Let it cool completely before covering with cling wrap. If you are leaving it overnight, you can put it in the fridge but be sure to take it out a couple of hours before serving because it should be at room temperature for maximum flavour. Just before serving toss the salad gently to get all the flavours mixed up but without making the vegetables into pulp.

© 2016 Gail J. Cohen

Roasted butternut squash and poblano soup

Summer is over, leaves have changed, temperatures have dropped. It must be soup time!

While the weather has turned nasty, we’re still on the trailing edge of harvest season up here in the great white north and there were still a whole bunch of poblano peppers dangling from the bushes in my front yard. And in my world, soup and poblano peppers go together like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers – magic! 

Roasted butternut squash soup is also the poster child for Thanksgiving soups so as we’re between Canadian and U.S. Thanksgiving, now’s the time to bust it out. 

I wanted to put the two together. I did. It was delicious.

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash, roasted
1 large or 2 small poblano peppers
1 onion, sliced
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
3 cups homemade chicken stock
4 fresh sprigs of thyme
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper

To roast the butternut squash peel, remove the seeds and then cut it into three inch cubes. Salt them and drizzle a bit of oil over them then spread onto a cookie tray covered in foil and bake in the oven at 425F for about 45 minutes. Flip them over at least once during cooking and remove when they’ve got a bit of crispy golden bits on the outside.

While the butternut squash is roasting, you can roast the poblano peppers. If you have a bbq or gas stove, char the skin over the flame. If you have an electric stove, put it under the broiler for 10-15 minutes turning it so all sides get charred. (Get your little garlic clove into this action as well to roast and sweeten it up).

Put the hot peppers in a bowl, cover them with a tea towel, and let them sit/steam for 10 minutes or more. The skin should now come off easily when you rub it. Remove as much of the skin as you can then cut out the stem and seed. Rinse the peppers to get all the black stuff off and remove the final few stubborn seeds. Slice them.

In a medium pot, heat the olive oil and melt the butter. Sautee the onions until lightly browned, about five minutes. Add the chopped garlic and sautee for another minute. Pour in the chicken stock and bring it to the boil. Add the sliced peppers, butternut squash, thyme, salt and pepper. Turn the heat down and simmer for half an hour.

Remove from heat and blend until smooth. Taste for seasonings and serve.

© 2016 Gail J. Cohen

Roast duck tacos

Sometimes you just need a break from chicken and duck is a great alternative. Not to mention, these are an excellent option for using leftover duck that you may have made for Thanksgiving or some other special occasion that had you experimenting with non-turkey options.

If you’re starting from scratch, this dish does take a while but it’s totally worth it. If you are using a frozen duck, which are available in most grocery stores, make sure it is completely defrosted before you start. You can use the first part of the recipe simply to make a delectable, spicy roast duck or you can go all the way and serve up some unusual tacos to a tableful of lucky dinner guests.

I have set up the recipe with the instructions for the roast duck first, followed by the one for the salsa, which stars my personal favourite poblano peppers.

Yield: 4-8 servings

Ingredients:

1 whole duck
2 tsp chipotle powder
1 tsp salt
pinch of black pepper

Sauce:
2 poblanos
2 tomatillos, husked and rinsed
2 serrano peppers
1 large tomato
2 garlic cloves
1/2 onion, thickly sliced
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp salt
Juice of half a lime

Garnish:
Chopped radishes
Chopped cilantro
Sliced or mashed avocado
Chopped tomatoes
Lime wedges

Corn tortillas

Roasting the duck

Preheat the oven to 450F

Clean the duck – ie: remove all the giblets, cut off excess fat etc. and rinse.  Prick the skin in all over and then gently put the duck in a large pot of boiling water for about 10 minutes. This action will give you super crispy skin down the road. Totally worth doing it even though you don’t need to. After 10 minutes, remove the duck from the pot and let cool.

Mix the chipotle powder, salt, and black pepper in a small bowl. Once the duck is cool, rub seasoning mix inside and out.  Place the seasoned bird breast up on a rack in a roasting pan and cook in the oven for 15 minutes. After that, turn the oven down to 350F and cook for another 40 minutes.

At this point, take the duck out of the oven and carefully turn it over so you don’t tear the skin. Also add about a 1/4 cup of water to the fat and drippings that have collected in the bottom of the pan. Return the duck to the oven for another 35 minutes. After that turn the bird one more time and cook for about another 15 minutes. It’s ready when the drumsticks feel loose. Don’t overcook though because it will be dry, rubbery, and stringy. Remove from the oven.

This duck is now spicy and delicious with some awesome crispy skin. Be sure to save the duck fat and juices that have collected in the bottom of the pan.

One duck provides enough meat for 6 to 8 people to have a large meal of off-the-charts duck tacos. So usually for four, I use half the duck and save the other half for other meals. Conversely, you can eat the fresh roasted duck right away because it is hot and delectable and then use the leftovers for tacos.

Once you make the decision on how to proceed with consuming this bird, let the portion for tacos cool then remove the skin and shred the meat into a bowl.

Making the salsa

While the duck is cooking, you can prepare the salsa. Start by roasting the poblano peppers. If you have a bbq or gas stove, char the skin over the flame. In this case, it’s a bit more complicated if you have to use the oven. You can either wait until the duck is cooked or put them under the broiler beforehand for 10-15 minutes, turning so all sides get charred.

Put the hot peppers in a bowl, cover them with a tea towel, and let them sit/steam for 10 minutes or more. The skin should now come off easily when you rub it. Remove as much of the skin as you can then cut out the stem and seed. Rinse them to get all the black stuff off and remove the final few stubborn seeds. Cut them up into a few large pieces and put into a blender jar.

On a comal or in a large non-stick frying pan, dry roast the garlic (leave it whole with the skin on), slices of onion, tomatillos, and tomatoes. All the vegetables should be nicely charred with the tomatoes and tomatillos just starting to ooze some juice. Put all but the garlic into the blender. Let the soft, blackened garlic cool then peel and chuck in the blender. Add the cilantro, salt, and lime juice and blend for about a minute.

In a small saucepan, pour two or three tablespoons of the duck fat/dripping mixture. When hot pour in the salsa mixture. You will get a tremendously satisfying sizzle from this operation!  Turn the heat down and let it slowly bubble away for 10 minutes or so until it turns a deeper shade of green. Check the seasonings.

Now let’s make some tacos

Warm the tortillas in the microwave either in a paper towel or tortilla warmer.

Fill them up with the shredded duck, a couple of spoonfuls of the salsa, and the garnish of your choice.  Serve with lime wedges. Enjoy!

© 2016 Gail J. Cohen

What to cook with your tomato harvest II: Tomato tart

With the abundance of tomatoes from the garden, I had been threatening to make this for weeks. It’s a great way to use up a bunch of the cherry or grape tomatoes in your garden, particulary because when it rains it pours with the little ones. I used smoked gouda because I really enjoy the smoky flavour and feel it pairs really well the tomatoes. It’s also a pretty fast weekday recipe and served with a salad makes a nice light lunch or dinner.

Yield: 2-3 servings

Ingredients

1 tart shell recipe or 1 frozen pie shell

2 dozen heirloom cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp chopped fresh herbs – chives, basil, thyme
pinch of salt
100 g smoked gouda, grated

Once you’ve cut the tomatoes in half, place them innards up on a cutting board and cover them with a paper towel or two to remove some of the liquid. Leave it for about 10 minutes or so, then simply discard the paper towels.

Preheat your oven to 325 F

I used the frozen pie shell because it makes this whole operation faster and with less cleanup. Plus I don’t enjoy fiddling with making crust. But if you choose to make crust, here is an easy recipe from BBC Good Food [http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2983/basic-shortcrust-pastry].

If using frozen, make sure to take it out at least a half an hour before you need to start using it. Follow the instructions for the pastry if you’re making it or remove the defrosted shell from the foil pan it’s in and place pastry in a tart pan (the one with the bottom that comes out). If you’re feeling adventurous, you can free form your pastry and make it look rustic.

Either way, once your pastry is ready, spread the dijon mustard all over it. It should be about the same thickness as you use on a sandwich so use a bit more or less than above if necessary. The lay the tomato halves on the pastry alternating them so some are skin up and some are insides up.  Sprinkle the fresh herbs and a bit of salt on the tart and finish off with a layer of the grated cheese.

Place in the oven. Cook for 20-30 minutes until the cheese and crust are browned and the tomatoes have given off most of their liquid. Remove from the oven and let stand for a few minutes, then slice and serve!