Japanese breakfast

I just returned from a trip to Japan with Yuki. What a great place! We didn't have a single bad meal, and we managed to do it on the cheap, too. The cities were bustling, hot, and humid, and after many days of sightseeing, we headed off to Kamikochi in the Japanese Alps for a hike. Along the way we came across a popular fish hut located just off the path on a stream. Their specialty, dating back many decades, is fire roasted trout straight from the stream. They trap them in a pen not more than 30 feet from the fire that was used to cook them. They're only about 6-8 inches long, so they're tender throughout, and I mean throughout. We were told by our server that you can eat every bit of the fish. I've never enjoyed a better fish head!

The fish was killed and gutted, skewered, rolled in salt, then placed next to a blazing wood fire and roasted until the skin was crisp. It was absolutely delicious.

Unfortunately I didn't take a single photo of the food I ate while in Japan. I'll do what I can to recall the meals here soon.

Stuff it

I got a text today from my sis (yo sis!), and it was all about what she was whipping up for supper.

Well, I got inspired by this and decided to make stuffed poblano peppers, chile relleno. I mentioned on my notes from Texas a stuffed, fried avocado with beef and cheese. This is what I was aiming for in my poblanos.

Chile Relleno para mi hermana

a coupla fat poblano peppers
fire
vegetable oil
1/2 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb. sirloin, in 3/4 inch cubes
4 oz. chihuahua cheese, or feta, or whatever you like, crumbled or shreded
2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. coriander seed
5 peppercorns
salt
flour

Roast the peppers over fire or under a broiler until the skin is evenly browned and blistered. Stick'em in a Ziploc bag for 5-10 minutes and peel off the skins. Cut a slit in the sides and removed the seeds. Set aside.

Toast the dry spices in a frying pan until the cumin begins to brown. Grind'em up in your spice grinder. Set aside.

Sweat the onions in a few tablespoons of oil, then add the garlic and toss for 30 sec. Add the meat and the ground spices, and toss it all together. Cook until the meat has browned. Salt to taste.

Stuff some of this into the peppers and douse them with flour. Get some oil nice and hot for deep frying or pan frying. At this point, many stuffed pepper recipes would call for a batter dip. I didn't feel like making a batter, so I fried them with just the flour. Brown on all sides and serve.

I made some soft tacos with the rest of the filling. The salad with dinner had tomatoes, avocados, onion, lettuce, and a nice vinaigrette. Coulda used some Coronas.

Best soup ever

When I travel abroad, I don't expect to feel at home. Moreover, I don't want to feel at home, otherwise I would just stay in the U.S. So when I walked into the best regarded Moroccan restaurant in Grenada, Spain, and got blasted with Phil Collins, I did a quick about face and hit the cobblestones faster than you can say "sussudio."

Luckily there was a Lebanese restaurant just around the corner, and it was there that we tried harira for the first time. It would not be the last, though. This hearty soup is a complete meal in a bowl, a favorite during Ramadan for breaking the fast. I came across a great recipe on the web, and I'll share that here. It's really simple, it just takes patience while it stews for a couple of hours and teases you with its amazing aroma. It works with larger couscous instead of noodles, too. Credit goes to soupsong.com - thanks!

Harira

1 lb lamb, in small cubes (I used boneless leg and froze the rest)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
2 T butter
3/4 c chopped celery
2 onions, chopped
1/2 c each parsley and cilantro, chopped
2 lbs canned tomatoes, chopped
small pinch of saffron (optional)
7 c water
salt to taste
3/4 c lentils
1 c chickpeas, either canned or dried/soaked
1/4 c fine soup noodles or large couscous
2 eggs beaten with juice of half a lemon

You'll need a big pot for this one. Combine the lamb, spices, onions, celery, parsley, cilantro, and butter in a heavy bottom pot over medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook another 10 minutes. Add the water, chickpeas, lentils, and some salt and bring to a simmer. Cook, partially covered, and stirring occasionally, for two hours. Season with salt and pepper, then add the noodles (or couscous). Cook for 10 minutes more, then slowly stir in the lemony beaten egg so you form long strands of egg and the soup is thickened. Serve hot.

Getting in the spirits

I don't know what it is about cold weather and the holiday season that makes me want to make (and drink) homemade liqueur. This next one is unique as far as page 1 of my google search is concerned: Thai Iced Tea Liqueur. Whatdya think? Here's the plan.

2 (15 oz.) cans evaporated milk
1 can condensed milk
1 c brandy, vodka, or whiskey
4 heaping Tbsp Thai tea powder

Heat the evaporated milk to a simmer. Add the tea powder and let it steep for about 5 minutes and then strain it through a fine mesh sieve or cloth into a clean bowl. Stir in the condensed milk and the liquor. Transfer it to a clean bottle and chill before serving over ice. It's creamy like Baley's, rich and sweet like Thai iced tea. Success!

Alstublieft!

I once paid a visit to Brother Jeffrey in Holland, and among all the other great things the Dutch have to offer like fresh herring, Belgian beer, windmills, and warm stroopwafels, I tasted advocaat, the Dutch eggnog. It came in a bottle, but even so, it was fantastic, so thick it had to be eaten with a spoon. I've always loved eggnog, the thicker the better. When it's done up right, advocaat has little to do with milk and everything to do with egg yolk and brandy. Since that day, I had been searching American liquor stores for the real deal, finding only flimsy, watered down pretenders.

Thank goodness for the internet, and thanks to Karin Engelbrecht, who posted this amazing recipe. I whittled it down to a two-serving dish tonight to give it a try, and I nearly ate the two servings myself when it was still warm in the cup.

Jeff, if you're reading this, you should be reaching for a whisk and some eggs right now.

Advocaat, for two

2 egg yolks

dash of salt

50 g or 1/4 c sugar

70 ml or 1/3 c brandy (I used the $10/bottle kind)

dash of vanilla extract

Have ready a saucepan with some simmering water in it. In a glass measuring cup or small pan, whisk together the yolks, salt, and sugar until thick and creamy. Continue whisking as you drizzle in the brandy until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Place the cup/pan into the water bath and whisk, whisk, whisk, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Don't let it get hot, just warm and thick. Take the advocaat off the heat and whisk in the vanilla.

Serve in small cups or cordial glasses with spoons and a dash of nutmeg.

I like the story behind this dish, too. From the almighty Wikipedia comes this tale:

The original advocaat was a liquor made by the Dutch population of Suriname and Recife with avocados. Upon returning to the Netherlands, where avocados were not available, a similar texture was achieved with thickened egg yolk. The original Aztec name of the fruit, ahuacatl, was transliterated to Spanish as "abogado", the Spanish word for lawyer. Thus it was translated to many other continental languages as their word for lawyer. This led to the misidentification of the name's origin as relating to the Dutch legal community (advocaat is Dutch for lawyer.)

Warmin' the Soul

Still alive, still cooking, just moved into a new place and we're just getting sorted out here. The kitchen's a little smaller, there's no room for the grill anymore, and the tomatoes are going to have to fight for space on the stoop. That won't stop me from dishing out a heapin' helpin' of goodies, though.

The holiday season is fast approaching, and the first cold weather is really starting to settle into the Pittsburgh area. This means that surely I'll need something to warm me and my guests up. Since the ginger liqueur was a big hit last year, I'm making it again. In case you need that recipe again, go here. Good stuff!

Salsa Verde

A colleague of mine brought back a gallon of salsa verde from a Mexican restaurant in NYC. The TSA didn't even touch it, but if they had tasted it, I'm sure it would have been confiscated. It was full of fresh tomatillos, cilantro, onion and lime, and it was 8 on a spicy scale of 10.

The Strip District here in the 'Burgh didn't have any tomatillos this weekend, so I bought a jar that didn't have any preservatives, just the same ingredients mentioned above. Garbage. Lifeless, limp, no spice, no bite. This wouldn't do.

I found a pile of tomatillos yesterday at the supermarket, and so today we have fresh...

Salsa Verde

2 lb. tomatillos, husked, washed and dried
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used a sweet onion)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
juice of one lime, or more to taste
hot peppers to taste (I used pickled habaneros and jalapenos)
dash of salt

Slice the tomatillos lengthwise and place cut side down on a foil-line sheet pan. Roast them under a broiler until the skins begin to blacken, about 5 minutes. Transfer them into a food processor with all the other ingredients and whirl until well blended. Tastes great warm, but it will stay fresh in the fridge for several days. Serve with chips, tacos, flautas, carnitas, or even Indian food. I tried it on some palak paneer the other day, and it's like they were born for each other.