BBQ Vegetable Infused Oil

Mushroom Bash, originally uploaded by Carrera Lee.

I despise bland, burnt tasting barbequed vegetables. If you have a heart, you’ll dress your vegetables before they hit the grill!

One easy and delicious way to dress your veggies on the grill is infused oil. This garlic and basil mash is a classic recipe:

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
4 basil leaves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp whole peppercorns

Bash the ingredients in a mortar and pestle until the oil becomes fragrant and turns slightly green.
If you don’t have one, bash the garlic with the back of a knife, crush the basil in your hand and dump them and the oil in a small pot. Bring it to medium-high heat. Turn off heat after garlic turns golden brown. Add salt and ground pepper.
Toss with vegetables and throw on BBQ grill on high heat and remove when the pretty grill marks appear.

Switch up the ingredients to make your own flavour combination. Try using szechaun peppercorns, thai chilis, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and fresh twiggy herbs like thyme or rosemary work great too.

My favourite vegetables for the grill are whole portabellos, zucchini and eggplant (sliced on the diagonal).

Reduced Balsamic Vinaigrette

Reduced Balsamic

Originally uploaded by Carrera Lee

Looking for a restaurant style balsamic vinaigrette? The kind that is sticky, sweet and delicious all in one?

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup medium quality balsamic (don’t waste the good aged stuff on reducing)
• 1/4 cup good quality olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• Juice of half a lemon
• Pinch of salt & pepper

1. Put the balsamic on low heat.
2. After it reaches a gentle boil, allow it to reduce for a minute or so. Turn off the heat.
3. The balsamic should look like a light syrup.
4. Whisk in the rest of the ingredients (or put in a glass jar and shake).
5. Toss (last minute before serving) with mixed greens for a delicate side dish to any meal.

Silverdollar Blueberry Pancakes

Summertime is a season of perversion – food perversion that is

The local produce here in British Columbia is abundant, fragrant and absolutely sinful. The fruit, in summertime especially, is. The. Best.

On this gloomy Tuesday summer morning, I’ve decided to treat my family to some pancakes with fresh, local blueberries.

When I was a kid, I was forced to eat the kind that came out of a box and were cooked to the point of almost-cardboard. From then on, I irked each time someone offered me pancakes for breakfast. But I have found new recipes to face my fears of pancakes – and somehow, they taste better in the silverdollar or mini size

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats (ground in food processor)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey (sugar if you don’t have either)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 1 mashed banana
• 1/2 cup blueberries

Garnishes

• Powdered sugar
• Maple syrup

1. Mix the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
2. Dump in the blueberries and toss gently.
3. Mix the maple syrup, milk, egg, butter and banana in another bowl.
   
4. Mix the wet and dry ingredients.
5. Fire up a pan or flat iron griddle on medium heat add a touch of oil in it. Just enough to coat the bottom.
   
6. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, dollop a spoonful of batter in the pan and cook for just under a minute until it is golden brown. It’s ready to flip when bubbles start appearing.
   
7. Flip and cook for another minute.
8. Serve hot with a sprinkle of powdered sugar and a side of maple syrup.

Recipe adapted from ClosetCooking

Salmon. Peas. Cream. Pasta.

I think I am getting a knack to tackle leftovers for lunch.

My dad smoked an excellent piece of sockeye and I was looking for something quick and delicious to whip up. I must say, this dish is one of my new favourites.

Linguine with Cream Sauce tossed in Smoked Salmon and Peas

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 3 tblsp olive oil
• 1 finely diced cooking onion
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 filet of flaked smoked salmon (good canned salmon will do too)
• 1.5 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1 box dried linguine (or any other tossable pasta)
• 1 cup leftover pasta water
• 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• Salt & pepper to taste

Garnishes

• Grated parmesan reggiano
• Chili pepper flakes
• Drizzle of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
• Julienned basil
• Julienned crispy salmon skin

1. In a large pot, bring water to a rapid boil and salt generously. Add pasta and cook until al dente (tender but with a little bit of bite). Save one cup of pasta water before you drain and set aside. Pasta water is a good way to loosen up a sauce if it’s too thick (restaurant trick).
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
3. Cook the onion until it is translucent but not browned. This will make sure it is sweet and not smoky.
4. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant. In general, try to add garlic after onion is almost done to avoid burning (burnt garlic will haunt your entire dish).
5. Throw in your bay leaf.
6. Turn the heat up and toss in your peas.
7. Pour in the white wine to deglaze the pan and reduce to half. Wine is always a nice addition to pasta sauces. It gives it the “oomph” and fragrance we love.
8. Add cream, milk, nutmeg, zest and smoked salmon. Nutmeg is a nice compliment to any cream sauce. Toss gently. Try not to break up the salmon too much.
9. Salt & pepper and check your flavour.
10. By this time, the pasta should be done. Toss in the drained pasta and 1 cup of its pasta water.
11. Turn off the heat and squeeze in the lemon juice.
12. Serve piping hot with garnishes.

Ooohh it was mmm mmm good. Some of the things are optional, just tweek and work it to your own liking. My dad’s version of smoked salmon is the flaky (not sliced kind) so it came intact with the skin. The skin is my favourite part and I couldn’t bare to waste it so I toasted it in the oven until it went crispy and julienned it for garnish. Dee. Vine.

Creating Value

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

“Not very long,” answered the Mexican.

“But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs … I have a full life.”

The American interrupted, “I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.

“And after that?” asked the Mexican.

With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise.”

“How long would that take?” asked the Mexican.

“Twenty, perhaps 25 years,” replied the American.

“And after that?” the Mexican asked.

“Afterwards? That’s when it gets really interesting,” answered the American, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!”

“Millions? Really? And after that?”

“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends.”

A-Haw! The Childish Deliciousness of Haw Flakes

One of my favourite treats as a kid was receiving Haw Flakes after being coerced into drinking my Chinese medicine soup or what I called woo joe suy aka “dirt water”.

[pic of sour face + dirt water + hawthorne flakes = smiley child]

I offered it to my white coworker Emily and she, like others, gave me an inquisitive look. So here’s my explanation of this little Chinamen treat:

Childish Deliciousness! photo cred: kattebelletje

Haw Flakes is made of the fruit, hawthorn, pronounced zhan zja bang in Cantonese and written as 山楂餅. It is a fruit similar to an apple but mini. It is grown all over the world but very popular in Chinese culture.

Hawthorn Fruit. photo cred: tristrambrelstaff

The best form of hawthorne is candied hawthorne *double drool* in Beijing and completely fell in love with it.

*dait = drooling as I type* photo cred: tr4nslator

In Chinese medicine, hawthorne is commonly used to reduce hypertension and stimulate digestion.

I love it for its mouth puckering tartness and cute little size. Just discovered that it comes in a mini tube version hehe! Loves it.

For less than a dollar, you can purchase this Mashed Banana treat at a Chinese medicine store or supermarket near you. The packaging of a 10-year old bag versus a fresh bag looks exactly the same so make sure you go to a place with higher turnover to avoid stale Haw Flakes.