Wednesday, December 29 2010

Yesterday, in what I can only describe as a moment of insanity, I went to the mall. Normally these places are, to me, vast halls of plastic homogeneity that indicate everything that is wrong with the world. However, while searching for cables than I didn't find, I discovered that the kitchenware shop - whose name I have not only forgotten, but I am not even sure I ever knew -  was having a deep sale.

I picked up a nice cast iron griddle pan for just $ 21, less than half what I had seen it going for earlier in the year. It was the cost of this pan that had me buying a George Foreman grill instead. I ended up hating the George, but felt obliged to keep it around until I saw the griddle for a tempting price. I decided to put the George up for sale on Craigslist and cut my losses.

The griddle weighed heavily on my mind, calling upon me to find some meat to cook on it, so I went off to the supermarket late afternoon.

I enlisted Alexias to help with the chopping and mixing and we ended up making this: chicken patties that took less than 45 minutes to make.

I got three chicken legs and thighs, skinned them and passed the meat through my finest disk on my grinder. To that, I added 1/4 of an onion, grated, about 4 tbsp of tofu, a couple of tbsp of finely chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and a tiny amount of cumin, cinnamon and nutmeg. Served with a green salad and a bit of pita. We also made our own dip out of sour cream, low fat cottage cheese, dill and a few drops of lemon juice.

Tasty and healthy!

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Saturday, December 25 2010

Christmas Day!

Big bird

 Stuffing.

 Peas and mash.

 Carrots. Obviously.

 Sweet potato mousse on sweet potato discs.

Roasted potatoes.

 Ella, wedged into Dash's bed.

 This is where he spends 90% of his waking hours.

Merry Christmas to all, and wishing you the best New Year.
Andreas.

* * *

Friday, December 17 2010

Hotpot is something I wanted to do at home for a while now, and this particular day seemed ideal, with the temperature dropping to a cheery minus 2. I zipped off to the supermarket in Market Village to get some basics: 'fatty beef' which looks like some kind of brisket and is supposed to be good for hotpot; tofu; fishcake tofu; salmon; two kinds of dumplings; spicy base for hotpot; bak choi; chicken wings. I also got a few things for the all-important dipping sauce: some spring onions, soy sauce, 'dao ban cheung' chili paste; 'sa cha cheung'; raw eggs.

There is not a whole lot to do after that. If you can't handle making hotpot you are really in trouble. I did tinker a bit with the soup, using a watered down chicken and vegetable stock I had on hand and adding a bit of miso paste. Of course, everything depends on how good the ingredients are, but for just the three of us, we did fine.

* * *

Saturday, December 11 2010

Sometimes, you head off to the supermarket with almost no clue as to what you are going to get. Other times, you have a very definite idea, and have these things called "lists". Typically for me, it is somewhere in between. I leave the house with a sort of idea in my head, but too often get sidetracked and very often forget the very thing I was supposed to get in the first place.

Saturday was a good example. I decided to make a breaded pork chop, in which the pork is beaten flat, dredged, egged and rolled in seasoned breadcrumbs and shallow fried. I ended up making a pork chop parmigiana.

It turned out to be a very tasty and inexpensive dish, except for the buffalo mozzarella which I splurged on, buying the fresh one instead of the hard rubbery version.

I first made a simple, quick sauce. Sauteed onion and celery in a pan with olive oil, then added a big spoonful of tomato paste, deglazed with white wine, then a large tin of crushed tomatoes. Seasoning was pepper and oregano, and at the last minute a dash of vinegar.

While that was going on, fried the pork chops from which I had removed the bones and fat and pounded to about 1/4 inch thick. Salt and peppered the chops, dredge in flour then egg, then coat with breadcrumbs and pepper, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder.

The finished chops go flat into an oven-proof dish, sliced mozzarella on top of each one, then coated with the sauce. I covered the dish with foil then popped into a hot oven for 20 minutes, taking off the foil for the last five or so and sprinkled with grated parmesan.

There was some sauce left over so I made some pasta and tossed it in the sauce, then added some parmesan. A side salad of diced tomatoes, celery, apple, cucumber, lettuce and feta cheese (basically just stuff I had at hand) with a squeeze of lemon and drizzle of olive oil.

The pasta

 The complete meal

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Wednesday, December 1 2010

The year has nearly all gone. How did that happen?

This is what I made yesterday from a recipe I saw on TV that had no ingredient list, no amounts, no help. So I had to just wing it. As is typical with these things, it tastes just as good if not better the next day.

I got about six beef short ribs that were sliced around an inch thick. Much thinner and I don't think it will work as well as the ribs won't hold up so well. 

Make sure you cut of the fat first as if you don't (like I didn't) just ends up floating on top and you have a lot of skimming to do. 

Then I mixed cumin and chili powder - I used about a 2-3 ratio but next time I would reduce it to maybe 1 to 4. Depends on how much you like cumin, I suppose.  Rub it on the meat, sear in a pan and then transfer to an oven-proof dish. In the same pan, I first drained the oil, then poured a carton of beef stock, half a tin of tomato paste, a handful of raisins, about 8 black olives sliced, and, after tasting it, about 2 tablespoons of soy sauce (it might need more but you can add this later as the olives help with the salt), and then when it is coming to a boil you add 2 tablespoons of white flour that have been mixed to a slurry with some water. Oh, I also added about a cup of red wine that was the last of a bottle I had open. Mix it up and pour on the beef. Cover and put in a 350 oven for around 90 minutes. Stir and taste the sauce. Add more soy sauce if needed. The "original" did not use soy sauce but I felt it really needed the depth.

This goes well with boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes or just plain rice. I thought maybe something beany would be a nice vegetable accompaniment. I had some feta cheese (not in this pic) which I grated on top as I served it up, which I personally liked. A little parsley would not have gone amiss, but I didn't have any at hand.

I will almost definitely make it again, but this time I will make some adjustments, and keep more careful note of the amounts.

* * *

Here is Ella, on the lookout for squirrels.

And once the squirrel threat is over, they go back their main task: protecting the house.

* * *

November 11, 2010

Another Armistice Day rolls by.

I read yesterday that there is one surviving Canadian soldier from World War One. I don't know how many  are left from World War Two but it can't be that great a number. Even if you lied about your age, and joined on the last day of the war in 1945, you'd still be 81 today.

Within my daughters' lifetimes, everyone who had anything to do with the two world wars will be dead, as well as pretty much the entire generation after that. No comment: just an observation.

If I was a young man off to war these days, I'd definitely want to head off with this on my ipod.

I chose this version as I liked the awesome Bill Ward, just 22 in this clip. One of the comments reads:

"Bill Ward obviously downed at least a 12 pack of ROCKET SAUCE before this performance. Ward was a powerhouse of tribal grooves, and this track showcases his focus and unreal skill. Check him at 5:11-29 and 6:38. His power is off the charts!"

One cool thing is you can hear Ozzie announce it as being "from our new LP". And I also like it because the whole thing looks like it was filmed in someone's garage.

I saw Ozzie in 1993 on his No More Tours tour in Branson, Missouri. When they played this near the end of the set, the place exploded. It was great!

Saturday October 16, 2010

Only another week ...

* * *

Monday, October 2 2010

Canadian Thanksgiving today. As there are just the three of us here, I decided against going the full turkey, and went with the partial turkey: two legs, two thighs.

We deboned the thighs, and spread stuffing on them, and rolled them up. Rubbed the skin with butter, salt and pepper and popped into a hot oven. Meanwhile, we started on the stock by browning some turkey backs and then adding onions, celery and carrots.

Almost done ...

Meanwhile, we made some cranberry jelly.

 Success!

* * *

And now, some relaxing music and pretty pictures.

Sunday, October 10 2010

Today is Double Ten day - or rather Triple Ten day - Taiwan's National day. It used to be a fairly big celebration in Hong Kong in the Eighties but for some reason barely registers there any more.

Here in Toronto, we still celebrate it by holding the final Farmer's Market of the year. Of course, in deference to Sino-Canadian relations, Taiwan is represented by root vegetables and gluten-free chocolate cake.

As befits the last market of the year, it was a spectacularly gorgeous day, rising to a giddy 22 C. 

I took a few pictures:

See, I wasn't kidding about the gluten free ...

This guy used to be in some lame job in Hong Kong, realized how lame it was (are you listening, kids?), and decided to come here and take up pottery instead. He now has a studio just round the corner from us.

My burger buddy, Nick.

My burger.

Nick.

Serena with Andy, who gives her her Saturday job.

Alexias decided to sing.

So, that's it for Unionville Farmer's Market 2010. Thanks to everyone for the tomatoes, the Hungarian bell peppers, the artisanal cheeses and breads, the plums, pears, berries, grapes, apples and - of course - the burgers. See you all in June 2011!

* * *

Saturday, October 9 2010

This morning, Serena and I got up at 6 something to get ready for her Saturday Farmer's Market job, only to find she wasn't needed. So, today became 'The Day Of Doing Stuff'. In no particular order, we:

• Moved the lawn. I am guessing this is the penultimate mowing this year.
• Did laundry.
• Cleaned and swept.
• Baked a whole box of apples that our neighbour gave us and made it into a very tasty apple sauce.
• Boiled all the apple cores, strained and added sugar and lemon juice for a refreshing apple drink.
• Cleaned the kitchen. Again.
• Got both mixing boards working (a Behringer Eurodesk 3282A and Mackie 24.8). I will put both up for sale and keep one.
• Replaced the belt on my turntable. Sounds almost OK now.
• Went off to Wing-It for a chicken wing and salad dinner. They have about 60 kinds of wings but we settled on three: spicy bbq, lemon pepper, and creamy spicy garlic and parmesan. Beer, ice tea and lemonade. Serena asked for an Alrnold Palmer, but the waitress didn't know what it was and Serena wasn't sure. For future reference, it is a half iced tea, half lemonade.  The John Daly is an Arnold Palmer with a boatload of alcohol. For true authenticity, it should be served by a white-trash cocktail waitress.

The remainder of the day was spent relaxing.

* * *

I was going to post a youtube link here to a T-Rex song. But the comments in the link are just so disgusting, having degenerated into the usual foul-mouthed uneducated debate that floods the internet like dog urine in Jardine's Lookout. I wonder, is this normal? Is it because there are so many voices now that the winner is just the one who screams the loudest, regardless of what they are saying? I know some of these people are a) male and b) 14, so they barely register as human, but many of them are adults. What is their excuse?

* * *

Final day of the local Farmer's Market tomorrow. Burgers at 12:3 with Nick. Must remember to get his email address.

* * *

Friday, October 8 2010

The girls went to Cosmo to practise drums after school. After that, sushi dinner at Richlane then they went off to the local arena for Rock Jam, which is held every Friday from 7-9pm. Just a few kids and a music teacher, learning to play as a band and respect each other's views and talents.

* * *

Blondie were responsible for some great songs, and some great love songs in the late 70s/early 80s, Debbie Harry being the heartthrob for millions of teenage boys - and girls. This is one of my favourites from the album Parallel Lines,

* * *

Thursday, October 7 2010

While I have been locked out of my upstairs kitchen, it did give me a chance to try out the kitchen in the basement, or B1 as it is known. Most of the things I made were quite mundane, though I did make a bolognese sauce using the canned tomatoes I had put away from summer. Very tasty.

I also bought a small beef roast - about 1.5 kg - as I saw the oven downstairs came with a probe attachment. This you stick into the meat, set it to the internal temperature you want, in my case 150C, and then the oven automatically turns off when it is reached.

I seasoned the roast with just salt and pepper though I think it could have taken a lot more seasoning, probably because it was quite a lean cut.

Served with roasties, a spinach and feta salad, and a gallon of gravy.

* * *

Wednesday, October 6 2010

Well ... kind of a blanket update here.

For starters, the stove went out upstairs. I was in the middle of frying some chicken when I realised I didn't hear any sizzling sounds any more. I checked the breakers downstairs - they were all fine. I also noticed that the two ovens also were out, so I figured it must be something electrical, as opposed to appliance-related.

Then I looked at the big round glass fuses that are in a small fuse box in the kitchen, and that I assume have something to do with the stove. They looked OK, but I went out the next day and got replacements anyway. Still no luck. Another day went by, I called the landlord and he came by and fiddled with the breakers to no avail.

Next day: the elecrician. He fiddled with the breakers and a meter, finding out that the appliances were only getting 110v instead of the full 240v.

Next day: he came back with replacement breakers, only to find they were the wrong kind.

Two days later: finally came by with the right breakers, but the appliances still didn't work. An hour later, he had sorted it all out and everything worked.

After all that, the landlord told me: "You know, if he couldn't fix it, I was going to take it all out and replace it with gas!"

* * *

Monday, September 27 2010

Alexias stayed home today, lying on the couch and watching CSI re-runs, and episodes of Hoarders. I caught one scene where they were shovelling out junk from this one person's house, and found a mummified cat at the bottom.

* * *

For dinner, I decided to try Romanian Tenderloin Steak, as described by my friend Spike on his blog here.

The recipe is quite simple: take a piece of skirt steak, or flank steak if you can't find it, and grind black pepper over the front and back and set aside. Pound up a few cloves of garlic in a pestle and mortar with some salt until it is a nice pasty mess. I used four cloves for just over a pound of steak, but I think I could have gone with more. I then whisked in juice of half a lemon. Anyone who knows me knows that this is a ridiculously small amount of lemon for me, and believe me I had to struggle not to add a lot more. I also whisked in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil just for kicks. Spread the marinade all over and leave for an hour or longer.

A brief word about the steak: I looked around for skirt steak but the two places I checked don't carry it. It is going to look like flank steak, but fattier, like this:

If anyone knows the Chinese name for this, please let me know.

I was going to cook it on a nice hot barbecue grill outside, but just as it was time to eat, it started raining, so I ended up doing it inside. Served with rice, broccoli a sauce on the side made from the pan juices, a thin tomato juice, a little Lea and Perrins, black pepper and butter.

I cooked half the steak medium rare and half medium. Here's a shot of the medium one.

* * *

I liked this a lot. The dish is very tasty, extremely easy to put together and quick to cook too. It is also right up my own personal flavour street: garlic, lemon, pepper, meat ... Thanks Spike!

* * *

To round off a perfect day: I remembered to buy my Marmite. All is right with the world.

Sunday, September 26 2010

Farmer's Market today. Alexias stayed home as she was up on her feet from 9:30 am to 6:30 pm yesterday, had ankle exhaustion and was working on a cold, so Serena went to fly the Panayi flag.

I wandered along at around 12:30 to go have lunch. I found out the name of the guy I have been talking to at the burger stand for the whole summer. It is Nick. Why now, you may ask? Well, there are only two weeks left of the market, and it seemed the polite thing to do. Besides, I didn't need to know his name. I knew where he'd be every week.

First thing I saw after ordering my burger was these:

Twelve fresh artichokes, each on as big as a fist if you have small fists, for just $5. I could throw away eleven of them, and they would still be cheaper than I can buy them in Hong Kong.

I boiled six of them that night, and Serena and I shared them, dipping the leaves in a simple lemon vinegarette. On Serena's request, I bought a big head of broccoli too, so we ate some with the artichokes.

* * *

Watched Machete in the evening, a Roberto Rodriguez film starring Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, Robert DeNiro, Michelle Williams, Don Johnson (yes, that Don Johnson) and a bunch of other people. I was going to let the girls watch, but after the first seven minutes was glad I didn't. 

* * *

Saturday, September 25 2010

A friend is someone who looks in on you when you are not feeling well.

* * *

Friday, September 24 2010

Serenaville. Population: 1. A place where Serena spends a lot of her time, and where she is always happy.

Sometimes, she invites a friend along.

* * *

Thursday, September 23 2010

Serena's grand plan today was for her and Alexias to walk to the mall today from school, where Alexias would buy some shoes, and they might have a bite to eat. I'd pick them up from the mall. However, Serena forgot her phone, so Alexias couldn't find her after school. By the time they found each other, Serena had decided she wanted to work on her science project with her study buddy instead, so I had to come and pick them both up.

Serena's friend Jim came by at four, and the two of them set about gluing popsicle sticks and newspaper together so that they could have an egg drop from a great height without breaking. Around 6:30 I ordered a pizza for everyone, but Jim said he wasn't hungry and it was time to leave anyway. I thought there must be something wrong with him, as he is 14 years old and should be eating every two hours. Turns out, he was starving and barely had enough strength to make it to the door, but felt he didn't want to appear rude.

Tomorrow is a PA day, so I have planned to meet the Wans for dim sum lunch, then take Alexias to the mall to get her shoes before she goes into work. Jim is coming by tomorrow to finish the egg carrying device.

* * *

Wednesday, September 22 2010

Nearly caught up with the leftovers today. Serena ate fried rice with salmon, egg and veg. I finished off half of the turkey breast - and gave the remainder the next day to them with salad.

Apart from that, a quiet day. Though I did make an inroad into converting some of my hi-8 tapes to edit on the computer. Our favourite clip so far? This one:

Serena says 'Aaargh!"

* * *

Tuesday, September 21 2010

The Harvest Moon: All full moons rise around the time of sunset. Usually, the moon rises about 50 minutes later each day, as it moves in orbit around Earth.  The Harvest Moon and Hunter's Moon are special, because around the time of these full moons, the time difference between moonrise is shorter than usual which means that the moon rises approximately 30 minutes later, from one night to the next.  Thus, there is no long period of darkness between sunset and moonrise.  Autumn moons were said to help farmers working to bring in their crops (or, in the case of the Hunter's Moon, hunters tracking their prey). They could continue being productive by moonlight even after the sun had set. Hence the name Harvest Moon. The reason for the shorter-than-usual rising time between successive moonrises around the time of the Harvest and Hunter's Moon is that the ecliptic makes a narrow angle with respect to the horizon in the evening in autumn. - from wikipedia.

* * *

In the morning, I roasted a turkey breast I had bought the day earlier but it wasn't ready in time for the girls to take to school. So, Serena brought the rest of the pork from last night for lunch. Alexias just brought snacks with her as she only has first period free. As it was her first day of work today, I decided to make her something she could eat there instead of food court stuff, so I pan-fried a piece of salmon, with some white rice and a small tomato and cucumber salad.

Serena ate the rest of the salmon with rice for her evening meal. I had a roast turkey sandwich.

* * *

Alexias was tired but happy after her first day and wasn't hungry. Later though, she did have some salmon with rice and egg.

* * *

Monday, September 20 2010

An after-school day for Serena so I picked up Alexias and we went to the Chinese supermarket, forgot the name now. As usual, I had no idea what to get until I actually walked in. Ended up with a pound of ground pork, spring onions, tofu, fresh dumpling wrappers, miso paste, gai laan, soy milk, and parsley.

I made a new dish, called "Serena's pork, celery and tofu". Fried the pork till it was nice and brown, then added some sliced celery, cubed tofu, some beef stock, and black pepper. Served with fried rice and gai laan.

Serena and I made some dumplings too. I used the pork with some finely chopped spring onions, parsley, rice wine, cornstarch, black pepper. Boiled them for a few minutes and then served them with a sauce made from: my home made chili paste which seems to have got even hotter, soy sauce, vinegar, water, spring onions.

* * *

Flora came by later to help look over Alexias' work contract for her new job at the shoe store in the mall. She starts tomorrow and is pretty excited. I am very proud of her for being able to handle so much - a new school, a new job, homework, her schedule, laundry, her sister ... She really is an amazing girl!

* * *