Month: January 2021

I won’t be so presumptuous as to give anyone advice on how to boil a hot dog 🙂

I lost the link to my favourite onion ring recipe, so tried a new one. Not as good, but close.

Ingredients:

• 2 large onions, peeled and sliced into 1/4 to 1/2″ rings. (You can use any kind — Vidalias are sweet, red onions mild, but I like yer plain old yellow/white onions for their sharper flavor)
• 1-1/4 C. flour, divided
• 1/4 C. cornstarch
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne
• 1/2 tsp. grated lime jest (optional)
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 C. milk
• 1 C. beer (substitute: club soda)
• 1 egg
• Vegetable oil for deep frying

Method:

Separate the onions into rings, then sprinkle over 1/4 C. of the flour, and mix well to coat.

Whisk together the dry ingredients for the batter:

Then whisk in the liquid ingredients and the egg. I got a bit inspired and replaced my original beer choice with this!

By now you should have heated up the oil to 365 degrees F. (Oops, forgot to mention that.) Put a teaspoon of batter into the oil and cook it until crisp, remove and when it’s cool(ish, don’t burn your mouth), taste and adjust the batter seasoning.

Working in four or five batches, mix the rings into the batter, then remove and shake off excess batter. Cook them in the oil for 3-5 minutes, turning (as best you can) once, or until crispy.

Drain on paper towels:

Pick some of the prettier ones for their internet star turn. The rest will keep for several days in the fridge, but are best reheated in the oven to return some of their crispiness.

Oh dear! My last dillies, canned about a year ago. The last jar I opened was pretty much mush, and went into the bin. These, in a quart jar, were reasonably crispy (perhaps the previous ones, in a pint, were overcooked). Nicely mild and similar to a kosher dill, my fave.

Don’t forget to toast the weiner buns!

I prefer my hot dogs pretty simple, just some mayo, a bit of chopped onion, and mustard (has to be French’s, though!).

Hot Dogs and Onion Rings with a Scallion Sour Cream Dipping Sauce, House Dill:

(accompanied by a glass of Guinness Extra Stout, but forgot that in the picture)

Yum!

-R

Or in other words, Chili-Garlic Sauce for Fish.

To me, this is very reminiscent of nuoc cham, the dipping sauce for Thai spring rolls, but a bit different, and likewise a doddle to make. The recipe says it’s good on any type of cooked (baked/grilled/steamed) seafood, so I tried it on some steamed tilapia.

(that’s the “before” picture!)

Ingredients (for 1 lb. seafood):

• 2-1/2 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 1 Tbsp. palm sugar (substitute: brown sugar)
• 1-1/2 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1-1/2 tsp. finely minced garlic
• 1-1/2 tsp. finely chopped scallion
• 1 tsp. ground red chili

Method:

Heat the fish sauce, water, and sugar in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Taste and adjust the balance to your liking.

This was delicious. As I was going about my other kitchen tasks, kept returning for a forkful until only about half was left by dinnertime.

I’m less concerned now about keeping meals “ethnicity consistent,” just more about what tastes good.

Cream of Green Pepper and Celery Soup, Steamed Tilapia with Chili-Garlic Sauce, Dhal:

Yum!

-R

I am a big fan of Maesri’s canned curry pastes from Thailand. Mostly very good, and handy when you don’t want to start from scratch. The one I wouldn’t recommend is the noodle dipping sauce, which is bland, and you can make a much better version in about five minutes.

I don’t think I’d tried this one, for a vegetable curry.

The instructions couldn’t be simpler: (1) Boil the curry paste with four cans of water, (2) boil some vegetables in it until they’re done.

That seemed a bit uninteresting, so I complicated it up and made it more like like a fave Indian vegetable curry, also simple but delicious (https://tiabr.com/aviyal-basic-vegetable-curry/.

No need to list the ingredients!

Method:

Cook the chopped onions and minced ginger in a bit of oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, or until the onions wilt. Add the minced garlic and stir continuously for a minute or until fragrant.

Stir in the coconut cream from one can of coconut milk.

Here I have to take a slight detour. I used this:

. . . which is cheap but terrible. With most canned coconut, you get a nice layer of cream on the top, like this:

With Top Coco, you get a nasty, congealed layer of what I assume is coconut oil, so dense that I bent my spoon trying to get it out of the can:

So, you ask, why did I use it? (1) I thought that maybe because the original recipe was basically just spicy water, the oil might add some richness to the final dish, and (2) I’m cheap and didn’t want to waste it.

Anyways, add the coconut cream to the pan and stir to melt:

Too much oil, and removed about half of it:

Now stir in the curry paste for a couple of minutes until well-incorporated and fragrant:

Add the water (you will need more than the four cans, depending on the quantity of the vegetables) and bring to the boil. Add the vegetables, starting with the longest-cooking ones, until done to desired doneness.

Serve with rice or whatever you’d like.

But, you ask, after all that drama, how did it taste?

Not bad. The “curry” flavor was, expected, pretty mild. The coconut milk didn’t bring much to the final flavor, although thankfully neither did the excess oil ruin it. So, okay, mostly because nothing overwhelmed the taste of the individual vegetables. Won’t make it again, though!

-R

Honestly, a recipe for a chicken salad sandwich? Isn’t that just

Yep. Some cooked chicken, some mayo, a bit of chopped celery and salt. On bread.

I can’t think of anything more delicious, even if my tastes usually run to more spicy dishes.

But it can be made even better, so here is my version:

1. Boil some chicken (prefer dark meat to white breasts) for about 45 minutes. Remove the chicken from the water and allow it to cool. Take the chicken off the bone, reserving the skin if you’d like (https://tiabr.com/crispy-chicken-skin/ )
2. Meanwhile, boil the remaining water/would-be stock down until it tastes delicious, then remove it from the heat and allow it to cool, then put in the fridge, so tomorrow you’ll have not only chicken stock but also some schmaltz, which makes anything fried taste better.

Now it’s all up to you. I like to add some of

I always add sour cream, in about a 1:3 ratio to the mayo, which adds a certain tanginess. Also, a bit of Dijon mustard adds a bit of a kick, and I love tahini. The rest? As is your wont.

The lettuce adds a nice crunchiness. The usual tasteless supermarket tomatoes don’t add anything except bulk and some visual appeal.

After mixing, taste and correct seasoning. It always seems to need more salt than I expect.

Serve on toasted white bread, with potato chips (with a turn of pepper if you’re feeling adventurous) and a glass of milk.

Yummmmm!

-R

Don’t buy this unless you want to. Really want to.

Ask yourself if you really need to hear three different versions of 11 Replacement songs.

I was sucked in by collectorist/completist instinct, three CDs and a vinyl album all devoted to a single album.  Roughly, it’s 2020 remasters of the original album, plus an album each of demos and rough mixes, overlaps but differences.

I did a comparison between the 2020 remasters and the original CD release from 1987.

The remastered versions unsurprisingly have more treble and bass than the originals, but honestly, who gives a fuck?  A song like “Alex Chilton” would be great it were played by your granny on bongos.

The vinyl (which sucked me in) is a complete waste of time.  It’s just a duplicate of the “Rough Mixes” on the third CD, but its greater crime is that the pressing is terrible.  I prefer the sound of vinyl, excellent when properly pressed, to CD.  This is just awful.

Perhaps I’m being unkind.  The “Rough Mixes” are in some cases very different to the released versions, and a lot of fun.  Some of the outtakes and alternatives are very good, sometimes revealing of the ‘Mats roots.  The 20-page booklet is excellent, lots of detail about the band, the recording sessions, etc.  (Repeating myself: it’s excellent).

I have repeated this anecdote ad nauseum, but here you go again:  One of the funniest things ever, not headliners The Replacements at First Avenue, but the band who preceded them at 7th Street Entry.


Feel like a hundred bucks, in love with that song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftTOEJfzdq0

-R

Food trends are mostly silly. But I think the TikTok kids are on to something here. If the tortilla is cooked properly so it’s crispy but a bit chewy, it separates the layers of flavor, if that makes sense.

Buy or make (https://tiabr.com/making-flour-tortillas/) some flour tortillas. Cut a slit halfway through one.

You can use anything, but I went for the breakfast version. Bacon, scrambled eggs with pesto, mayo/sour cream/tahini, shredded supermarket Cheddar + house Montasio.

Fold’er up!

Then cook in a wee bit of oil until crispy outside. Finger food, but less clean finger-friendly with more sour cream.

If you use cheese, make sure it’s on one of the outside layers so it melts.

Big yum!

-R

Generally I prefer corn tortillas to the flour ones, which seem bland, but for breakfast recipes they are perfect (or perhaps I’ve been brainwashed by the wheat-industrial complex).

They are easy to make, and better than store bought.

Ingredients:

• 2 C. flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 C. cold lard or other fat (I use Crisco), to repeat, COLD – keep it in the fridge for at least half an hour
• 2/3 C. water

Method:

Stir together the flour, salt and baking powder. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, mix the fat and the dry ingredients together for a couple of minutes.

Note that because of the small amount of fat, it will just look like a bowl of flour:

Add about 2/3 of the water, and stir. The dough won’t come together. Then continue to add another 2 Tbsp. of water, stirring vigorously after each addition, until the dough looks like this:

On a floured surface, knead it for 2 minutes, then cut it into 8 pieces. Roll them into something resembling a ball. Refrigerate them for 1/2 hour. DO NOT SKIP THE REFRIGERATION, it’s your key to success!

Dust each ball heavily with flour, then push down on it with your floured rolling pin to make an X (or however you want to squash it).

Roll it out into a 9″ circle. My version of a circle is always approximate. 🙂

Cook it in a non-stick pan, NO OIL, on low to low-medium heat, for a minute or two, until it starts to develop brown spots. Taste the first one (not where the brown spots are) to make sure it’s cooked all the way through. If not, lower the heat.

Flip it over and cook for less time on the other side.

All of which makes cooking them seem a bit tricky but really isn’t. Everything like this (crepes, tortillas, chapattis) the first one is generally a disaster and the rest are perfectly fine.

Yum!

-R

Another simple but delicious recipe. And a non-recipe, since you can vary the coatings according to taste. I’ve used a number of things — cajun seasoning is excellent — but this time it’s grated cheese and thyme.

I’ve had trouble getting roasted potato wedges crispy on the outside but tender on the inside, until I stumbled upon this recipe. The secret is in the flour!

Note that I made a half-recipe. Too much to eat already in my fridge!

Ingredients:

• 4 medium Russet potatoes
• 1/4 C. olive oil
• 3 Tbsp. flour
• 1/4 C. grated cheese (Parmesan and Romano are excellent, but I used Montasio). As an alternative, cajun or other spice of your choice.
• 1/4 C. sour cream
• 1 lime, peel zested, and juiced

Method:

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Stir together the olive oil, flour, and any flavorings (I added some thyme).

Cut the potatoes into 8 wedges.

Stir to coat the potatoes.

Place them on a lighly oiled pan. HINT: Put them skin-side down, so you won’t have to turn them mid-cook.

Bake for 30 minutes or so, until crispy. Stir 1/2 tsp. lime juice and most of the grated lime zest into the sour cream. Plate, and sprinkle with more lime zest and cheese (or whatever seasoning you used).

Yum!

-R

This is a very simple but very tasty dish, with no specialist ingredients. Although it seems to have a lot of soy sauce, the flavor of the meat and the vegetables comes through.

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp. light soy, separated
• 4 tsp. cornstarch, separated
• 1 lb. pork, cut into 1/2″ cubes
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 C. oil, separated
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. black vinegar (substitute: red wine vinegar)
• 1 C. green pepper, cubed
• 1 C. cucumber, cubed (if using the standard grocery store variety, peeled and seeded first)
• 1-1/2 Tbsp. sesame oil

Stir 2 Tbsp. soy and 2 tsp. cornstarch together, then add the pork cubes and stir to coat.

Sauté the onions in 2 Tbsp. of the oil over medium medium heat until wilted, then add the pork cubes and cook, stirring continuously, until white all the way through (pick one of the larger cubes and cut it in half to check). Add the sugar and vinegar and stir to incorporate. Remove from the pan.

Add the remaining 2 Tbsp. oil to the pan, and sauté the green pepper for 3-4 minutes, until slightly cooked but still crispy.

Add the pork back to the pan. Add the cucumbers. Stir the remaining 2 tsp. corn starch into 2 Tbsp. water, then add to the pan, along with the remaining 2 Tbsp. soy. Stir for a couple of minutes until the sauce thickens, then add the sesame oil and stir to combine again.

Enjoy!

Yum!

-R

This is a delicious, hearty (but not particularly healthful) soup, especially delicious on a cold winter’s night.

Ingredients:

• 2 slices/rashers bacon
• 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 C. chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-1/2 lb. peeled and cubed Russet potatoes
• 4 C. chicken broth
• 1/2 C. sour cream
• 1/2 C. shredded Cheddar cheese, separated
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Chopped chives or shallots for garnish

Method:

Fry the bacon in the olive oil until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon, leaving the oil behind. Drain on paper towels, and once it’s cooled, crumble it. Shred the cheese, and divide in two portions.

Sauté the onions in the fat over medium high heat for 3-4 minutes, or until wilted. Add the garlic and stir for a minute, or until fragrant.

Add the potatoes and chicken stock. Bring the pot to the boil, then lower the heat to a medium simmer, and cook until the potatoes are tender (10-15 minutes). Using a slotted spoon, remove about half of the potatoes and mash with a fork.

Return the mash to the pot. Stir in the sour cream, half the cheese, and the salt and pepper. Stir until the cheese has melted. Taste and correct seasoning.

Serve garnished with some bacon bits, more cheese, and the scallions/chives.

Yum!

-R