Braised short rib goulash

Posted on 15 February 2009 by leacock

preparation time: 30 minutes (15 minutes braising + 15 minutes stew)
cooking time: 4.5 hours (4 hours braising + 30 minutes stew)
emergency contact: camille

short rib goulash

Although the short ribs take donkey’s years to cook, there is really very little to do in making this stew. If you do the braising the day before you plan to eat the stew, it’ll be a quick 45 minutes of cooking on the day of. Alton Brown (whose recipe this one is based on) says something about the fact that when you braise meat (a process that turns the tough collagen into gelatin), you should always let it cool completely and then reheat it before serving. If you eat it right away, it will be soft to the point of mushiness, whereas if you let it cool first, some additional magical chemical transformation occurs to produce a perfectly tender bite. Whatever the reason, it’s true — just try some of the short rib right after the braising step compared to when the stew is done and you’ll see. Continue reading →

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Fun jing spareribs

Posted on 14 February 2009 by leacock

preparation time: 10 minutes
cooking time: up to 1.5 hours
emergency contact: amy

This is a super-easy and tasty dish. The fun jing powder can be found in any Asian market and comes in spicy or non-spicy varieties.

spareribs – 1.5 lb (the shorter the better)
fun jing or rice powder

Rinse the ribs and cut them up into pieces. Dry thoroughly. Sprinkle one package of fun jing powder over the ribs and mix with your hands.

Line a deep dish with a layer of some leafy vegetable and brush with oil. If you don’t have a leafy vegetable, brush the dish well with oil or you’ll have a real mess to clean up. Put the ribs on top of the leaves and place the dish in a steamer. Steam for up to 1.5 hours (less if your ribs aren’t very meaty) until the powder becomes a soft coating and the meat is tender.

Related recipes: 1-2-3-4 spareribs, Dry-roasted ribs

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Chinese radish cake (loh bak go)

Posted on 11 January 2009 by leacock

dry ingredient soaking time: 4 hours to overnight
preparation time: 1+ hours
cooking time: 1 hour 45 minutes
emergency contact: dorothy

loh bak goh

With Chinese New Year just around the corner, it’s loh bak go time. There are many varieties of white radish available in Asian markets, and though they produce slightly different results, they all work for making these radish cakes. Just remember that you will most likely have to adjust the amount of water you add during cooking as this is highly dependent on the type and freshness of radish you use. We’ve included lots of photos and a short video in this post to help first-time loh bak go makers.

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Port-poached pears

Posted on 8 January 2009 by leacock

preparation time: 15 minutes
cooking time: 30-40 minutes
crème fraîche-making time: 2-3 days
emergency contact: edward

poached pears with crème fraîche and port syrup

With the New Year, 54Leacock.ca will be posting a series of most frequently requested recipes — for those dishes that often appear at the Big Holiday dinners and are greeted with wild enthusiasm each and every time. Some of these recipes, like the ones for gravlax and 1-2-3-4 spareribs, have been up for a while, thoroughly tested and officially deemed “foolproof”. We’ll need your help and input to get this new batch in shape as well. So without further ado: poached pears with crème fraîche and port syrup.

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Orange almond cake

Posted on 5 January 2009 by leacock

preparation time: 2 hours
baking time: 45 minutes
emergency contact: camille

orange almond cake

organic oranges – 2
caster sugar – 200g
ground almonds – 200g
baking powder – 1/2 tsp
eggs – 6
lemon juice – from 1/2 lemon

Wash the oranges well. Place them in a pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for up to two hours, adding more water if necessary. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.

Cut the oranges in half, remove pips and place in a food processor (skin and all). Add remaining ingredients and blend. Pour the mixture into a greased and lined cake tin and bake for 45 minutes.

Let the cake cool. Serve with crème fraîche and raspberries.

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Carbonade flamande

Posted on 22 December 2008 by leacock

preparation time: 45 minutes
simmering time: 2.5-3 hours
emergency contact: stéphane

adding the pain d'épice to the carbonade

Carbonade flamande is a Belgian dish of beef stewed in beer and flavoured with pain d’épice, a type of spiced honey cake similar to, but not quite as sweet as, gingerbread. It is sort of the boeuf bourgignon of the north. Traditionally, carbonade flamande is made with a bière de garde or “keeping beer” (like Jenlain Ambrée), a style of beer characterized by medium hops and a toasted malt aroma. Alternatives like Abbey Ale made by Ommegang or Chimay are perhaps easier to find. Most recipes call for saindoux (pork fat), which has been replaced here with bacon.

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Poached leek salad

Posted on 22 December 2008 by leacock

preparation time: 15 minutes
cooking time: 10 minutes
emergency contact: camille

poached leek salad

leeks – 6 to 8, washed and trimmed in rounds
white wine – 1 cup
chicken broth – 1 cup
toasted walnuts – 1/2 cup
sugar – 1 tsp
juice and zest from 1/2 lemon
olive oil – 3 Tbsp
salt
freshly ground pepper

Poach the leek rounds over low heat in the white wine, chicken broth and a scant teaspoon of sugar for 10 minutes or until tender. In the meantime, whisk together the lemon and olive oil and season to taste. When the leeks are done, drain them, arrange on a plate, and drizzle with dressing and walnuts. Serves 4 as a side dish.

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Lo seui (soy braised) duck

Posted on 13 December 2008 by leacock

preparation time: 20 minutes
cooking time: 1.5 hours
emergency contact: dorothy

duck – 1 whole or 4-6 thighs
star anise – 1 chin (3-4)
Szechuen peppercorn – 2 chins (2-3 tsp)
mandarin peel – 2 pieces
cloves – 1 chin (6-7)
liquorice root – 5 chins (2-3 pieces)
sar-ghem (ginger powder) – 3 chins (2 tsp)
tso-gwoh (black cardamom**) – 4-5 cloves
cinnamon – 2 chins (2 sticks)
dark soy sauce – 130ml
salt – 2 Tbsp
rock sugar – 1 small piece

* a chin is about 4 grams (approximate equivalents are indicated)
** also known as Nepal, Chinese or Indian cardamom

Wash the duck and the spices.

Put 6-8 cups of water in a deep wok or large pot and bring to a boil. Add the spices, salt and dark soy sauce and cook over low to medium heat for 20 minutes. Adjust salt and sugar to taste at this point.

Toss in the duck. Top up the water until the liquid just covers the bird. Turn up the heat and add the rock sugar. Using a large spoon, submerge and turn the duck several times to ensure that every surface has absorbed some of the braising liquid. Then turn the heat back down to medium low and cover the pot with a lid.

Every 10-15 minutes, agitate the duck so that it doesn’t stick.

After 40 minutes (or whenever the duck is cooked), take the duck out of the pot and let it cool before cutting it into pieces to serve.

In the remaining braising liquid, hardboil a dozen or so eggs. The eggs may be eaten right away or kept overnight in the fridge, still soaking in the sauce, and served cold the next day.

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Did you order my pibil?

Posted on 13 December 2008 by leacock

preparation time: 30 minutes
marinating time: 1 day
cooking time: 4 hours
emergency contact: camille

Puerco pibil (or cochinita pibil if it involves a whole suckling pig) is a slow-roasted pork dish from the Yucatán. It formed part of a memorable Mexican-themed dinner over the holidays in 2005/2006, along with chicken mole and fried plantains. This particular version is modified from Robert Rodriguez’s recipe in the special features of the “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” DVD. The list of ingredients looks daunting, but it’s really quite easy to prepare once you’ve got everything.

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Puff pastry apple tarts glazed with honey

Posted on 10 December 2008 by leacock

preparation time (pastry chilling): 30 minutes – 1 day
preparation time (active): 20 minutes
cooking time: 25 minutes
emergency contact: lisa

puff pastry apple tarts

The recipe for these apple tarts was modified from one that appeared in the October 2002 issue of Bon Appétit. Their suggested wine pairing is a Barton & Guestier 1999 Sauternes “Tradition.” Coffee is good too!
Continue reading →

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