The hunt is on!!!

Im out on monday for a full on foray for black/yellow morels! Will post details of my results!

Bo Kho

Bo kho has got to be one of the most heart warming dishes of all time. I love making it and love even more eating it!! (click the photo!!)

Bo kho the recipe.......

You need.....

1 beef blade roast (about 1.5kg) (nicely marbled) or boneless short ribs

1 beef shins with bone (beef shank)

Veal or Beef stock

Bo kho spice mix to coat beef recipe below

2tbsp Vietnamese curry powder (i use Indian brand)

2 tbsp annatto seeds

1/4 cup veg oil

3 stalks of lemon grass

I head of garlic peeled and finely diced/minced

1 small can (398ml) of aurora brand pizzettones tomato's

Green or red chili's (as many as you think you need)

5-7 lime leaves (optional)

2 Carrots

1 onion

8 fingerling potato's

Fish Sauce

Palm sugar or brown sugar

(Table Stew Garnish)

1 bunch Holy basil

1 bunch Culantro/fitweed/long coriander or what ever you want to call it

1 bunch cilantro

Mung bean sprouts (optional)

baguette

Bo Kho Spice mix

equal parts. coriander seed, cinnamon, aniseed, cumin, annatto, clove and licorice root.

Mix and grind to a fine powder in a spice mill

Method

1: First off, place oil in a sauce pan and heat up, when warm add annatto seeds and cook for one minute. Strain this oil into a clean bowl and discard seeds. Cool oil. Cube beef in 3inch by 3inch pieces, coat with bo kho spice mix (just enough to cover meat) Place in a zip-lock bag or marinating container. Add minced garlic and annatto oil. Cut lemon grass into 3 inch lengths and smash with the back of your knife(dull side), add to beef marinate. Finely dice chilli's and add if using. Leave for 3 hours.

2: Sear meat off in batches, browning all sides nicely and place in your braising vessel. Empty marinate into braising pan (garlic lemongrass chili), add tomato, lime leaves if using, curry powder and enough veal/beef stock to cover meat by 3 inches, SLOWLY bring meat up to a slight simmer and place in a oven at 250 with a tightly covered lid.

3: Braise for 1 hour without opening. Check meat It should be just fork tender. Check meat every 15mins after. When fork tender meat is achieved add potatoes, carrots and onion sliced around the same size for even cooking. Cook till veg is done, adjust seasoning with fish sauce (salt) and a bit of sugar.

4: Serve with fresh basil, culantro, cilantro, green/red chilli's fresh, green onions, bean sprouts and crispy baguette!

Enjoy the best comfort food ever!

The pre morel hunt....

Morel Mushrooms:

Now is the time of year when I dig up all last years photos and maps of hits and misses searching for further clues to this elusive mushroom. Ive only in the past picked "fire burn" morels. Its a natural thing that happens a year after a good hot forest fire. You return to the burn and search shady areas and drainage's and there they are by the hundreds. Its truly amazing! Now on the other hand here I am in Ottawa, rideau valley.. Last year I found three morels!!! Three! After searching for a month in a half straight! This year I plan to change those numbers by a few at least.

Ive learned a lot these last couple weeks about morels, trees, and flora that all occurs at the same time. I plan to use this knowledge this year to collect more morels. I'm not worried about the rest of the mushroom season as I did quite well last year and have many spots to go to. The morels start in the far south west, then progressively they hit the entire west coast to southern Oregon; at this time, Oklahoma gets hit and they start going north of Oregon and east of Oklahoma. The east coast gets hit then they start heading up the east and central states to Michigan, new york etc... Finally they get here in Ottawa/Quebec and the rest of Canada, ending in northern prairies, N.W.T., and the Yukon.

I WILL FIND MORE THIS YEAR!! AHHHHHH

More morel info availible here... http://thegreatmorel.com/

hangin tha meat

Every time a new item is hung to dry in the curing room I get ancy. Do we really have to wait that long for it to finish? What exactly will it taste like? It is a steady rotation of different cuts and kinds of meat, some of which will have finished there time in a week, others may be "hanging" around for a year or more. This photo is a picture of my duck pancetta one of my favorites. Today I've started a celeriac and black pepper cured beef tenderloin.

Seville Oranges

SEVILLE ORANGE MARMALADE 101

Ladies and Gentlemen, Gather your "heavy to hold" Seville Oranges and Brace yourself! For a Marmalade extravaganza! Slice them up! Ohh so nice...


Juice those bad boys!

Slice the peels and piths into desired size. I like mine quite small and thin.

Place them in a non reactive container and cover them with the orange juice and 2.5L of water. Leave for 24 hours. Place the whole works into your pot and cook till peel is soft. About 2 hours. You will have lost about a 3rd of the liquid.

Next, add the lemon juice and sugar and cook to the setting point has been reached. About 20-30 minutes. ( see notes for tips)

Prepare your jars and break out a red strip to celebrate, your almost done!

When setting point has been reached, let it sit off the heat for 15 minutes, then pour into sterilized jars and seal! Drink your beer and go to bed cause you cant wait for breakfast!

The Fine Print

Makes 5-6x 460g jars

1kg Seville Oranges (washed)

75ml lemon juice (about 2-3 lemons)

2kg demarara sugar (cane) (I used red paths demarara "style" sugar for this recipe and the result was a rich caramelized molasses flavored preserve)

Notes
The setting point has been reached when your boiling liquid becomes a foamy mass and your thermo reads 220f (at sea level) You can also put a plate in the freezer and spoon a little on to check the strength of the gel. Remember, "good things come to those who wait" Meaning if its not setting, keep cooking that bugger down!

on and forward

As the slow times tick along we find ourselves in other country's getting motivation to continue doing what we do. We are slaves to the stove, prisoners of the fridge, foragers of the forest. As morel season kicks off soon enough,(I know its still almost 3 months away but still!) I start to plan new stomping grounds to find my little treasures of the woods. While down in mexico, I got to sample some of my favorite cuisine. Tripas de leche, super burro's de carne, camerone al a mojo de ajo etc... Tripas de leche are marinated and pan seared bovine milk glands, which are thrown in a taco with dried beef and topped with pico de gallo (onions, cilantro, lime). mmmmmm Back to work. Valentines day coming up and some renos in the kitchen to come..

Some down time

As we slow down for the beginning of 09 it gives us a chance to reflect on 08 and what we want to do this year. Were to move the precious prosciutto's? What to do with all this space to make it more efficient? Time to try the fall chutneys and summer preserves now that they have fully matured and watch people eating Bhut Jolokia chilli's on you tube!! (At like 2min 40sec he looks nuts) I cant wait to get my hands on some of these!

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=-NNzI3RTZ7I&feature=related

Ive been experimenting with hot sauce combinations this week and and having alot of fun doing it. So far Ive made a date, ginger and scotch bonnet sauce and a tamarind, birds eye and cardamon sauce. Both are really good.