litsphere
From: Edmonton, Canadaabout me
I'm a new dad, a husband, a gardener, a musician, a foodie-a-holic, a hunter, a euro-phile, a waterskier, and enjoy nice wine a little more often than the average guy. And I use hyphons too often.
Wild Blueberry Gelato
I recently was full of glee while romping through a ditch and coming across an abundance of wild blueberries. While picking, all I could think about was cooking them down and eating them with ice cream. And that time has come. Sort of. Although ‘warm wild blueberry compote on home-made vanilla ice cream’ would likely be my first choice, it somehow seemed…safe and predictable. Although now that I write it down, it does sound pretty dang good. But then I thought: how about ‘Wild Blueberry Gelato’? Sounded cool, but I’ve found that mixing fruit ingredients into the gelato base compromises texture. Fruit freezes hard, which makes the end product more crystalline and hard. And I like my gelato creamy. It also seems to take a lot of ‘flavor element’ to make the finished product ‘pop’ with that flavor. Then it came to me: ‘the swirl’. You can taste strong blueberry by scooping your spoon into the swirl, but the gelato will retain its creaminess. Or so I thought.
The custard looks more yellow than normal, as I used some fantastic farm eggs.
My warm compote idea would have been better. The gelato tastes wonderfully of blueberry, but the texture is too crystalline - exactly what I didn't want. Makes for a subpar photo too!! But don't worry, we'll eat the whole bucket of gelato anyway.
More on this at: http://kevinkossowan.blogspot.com/2007/ … elato.html
Shaggy Manes
I look forward to this every year. I grew up eating these - the extended family piling into a van or truck and hunting the countryside, picking boxes of them. There's an urgency about picking shaggy manes. Not only is the season narrow and weather dependent, but they will 'ink', turn black, and essentially rot within hours of picking. So you have to clean them and cook them right away. They have a distinct, fragrant aroma, and are more on the delicate side flavor-profile-wise. Last year, I enjoyed them tremendously on scrambled eggs - as Italians would do with truffles. It's a good backdrop to enjoy the nuance. This wasn't a big picking, maybe enough for a meal, but it's the first picking of what likely will be many. It's been a wet August, which bodes well for a plentiful harvest in September. More on this as more of them enter my kitchen.
5 COMMENTS
Chokecherries
I know, I'm not really catching onto this 'growing' concept. 'Foraging' isn't a category to post about though. Chokecherries grow wild in the wooded ravine we walk in regularly. They're extremely astringent, but taste, well, cherry-ish. If any of you have ideas on what to do with the syrup, please feel free to post comments.
2 COMMENTS
Poule au Pot
Poached chicken. A good 'can cook it through without drying it out because I forgot the bird frozen in my trunk over night' method. It may sound boring, but to me, it's classic comfort-food. Like roast chicken, but more 'plain'. Perhaps 'subtle' would be a kinder adjective. Nearly all of the mis-en-place is from the garden. If I had to go buy it all, it'd be a pain in the butt. Yet another reason to grow your own. It empowers your laziness.
When doing this dish, I think 'stock', as it uses the same principles. I've studied my share of stock making techniques. CIA's, Bourdain's, Pepin's, and even Escoffier's. And from my experience, the trick is proper heat.
Remember, it’s a poach – not a simmer. The odd bubble should break every few seconds, but it should not boil. This is not my innovation. But it's important, and worth repeating. So whatever it takes to make this happen, that’s how high your heat should be.
When is it done? In all honesty, I’ve resorted to probe thermometering a the bone area of the leg quarter - just to be sure.
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
1 small onion
3 garlic cloves
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
1 sprig of fresh sage
2 bay leaves
a handfull of carrot
a couple baby parsnips [just cause I could]
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
Enough cold water to completely submerge it all
Method
Put everything into a big enough pot to handle it all. Turn onto medium heat to start bringing the whole thing up to temperature. Follow my rules above about temperature and doneness. When done, pull out the meat, strain the great resulting chicken stock, and use as you wish! I made a quick gravy out of the stock, mashed some garden potatoes and chive - but you could take the product of this comfort-food-fest in a variety of directions. And if you have any suggestions on how, please share.
Fish & Chips - Alberta style
So yesterday, I brought home a box of frozen meat, including a 10lb organic chicken, 4 packs of calf moose round roasts, and 2 whole walleye [pickerel]. And I forgot it all in my trunk overnight in the summer heat. Luckily, I lost nothing, but it means I had to do something with 2 whole fish and a chicken [pot au feu tomorrow] asap.
A couple weeks ago, I had 15 people over for a ling cod deep-fry fish and chips party. We ate 36lbs, live weight, of cod. Anyway, needless to say, I learned a lot that night about deepfrying fish, and applied them to these deboned walleye fillets. The potatoes are from the garden - yukon gold and norlands. The sauce is mayo, dijon, lemon zest, and some wild chives I dug up on a very small island [where I caught the salmon], flew 1500km home, and transplanted in my garden. Didn't grow the lemons though. I live in Canada.
