httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYAzrcUMLpA
Hey Foodies!
It is I, your food editor (secretly, it is moi – Brian posing as the evil food editor of this blog). This week I found a video in which I made an artichoke dip for a competition at work. Although I did not win this one, it is still a very good dip for crackers.
Seeing as Summer is also just around the corner, both Helenka and I found it was just TOOOOO hot to blog so we leave you with this special.
See you soon!
Enjoy
B&H =:)
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvZGAppzODw
**Smoothed out the sound in this updated video**
Well, I found a new hobby. aka annoying Helenka (more than usual – and the funny thing is she gets to read this before it’s posted – ahh the evilness of it all) with bad spelling [Evil editor’s note: he spelled it ‘speling’] thrown in with some grammatically incorrect sentences. However, like the true perfectionist and very well written person that she is, she perseveres and sends me notes on what changes she has made (which is also why you may see changes being made in our RSS feeds). We have been friends for nearly 20 years and, as truly kindred spirits , adopted each other as little brother (me) and big sister (her) — so we get along famously, bickering and laughing all the way. Our episodes are more than 10 minutes long (as previously stated), so the parts I have to edit out are usually our antics (which spoils the fun because you can’t see them but, what the hey, ya does what ya can within the set limits).
Getting on with our real purpose for the blog, in this episode Helenka and I tried lamb, because I found within my cupboards a bottle of Vegetarian Lamb Curry Sauce by Sherri (I do not know why it’s called vegetarian, but there it is; I’d probably rename it myself to Meatetarian Lamb Curry Sauce – but who wants that on a bottle). [Evil editor’s note: Perhaps because the sauce contains NO animal protein, but you’re supposed to serve it with meat. Really, go figure.]
Hope you enjoy it!
B&H =:)
Starting with a jar of Sherri Lamb Curry Sauce, Brian added broccoli tenders (long, slender, young stalks and florets) to the cooking sauce, saving a couple for raw garnishes. As for the lamb, he had four adorable loin lamb chops. Well, they really were adorable. I’d suggested a few days earlier that they could be broiled before being added to the simmering sauce. So, after sprinkling them with Australian Murray River salt and freshly ground pepper, he broiled them, then cut a vertical slit in each so they could absorb more sauce. The broccoli turned out to be an excellent choice of veggie to soak up yet more sauce. And we gobbled up everything together with garlic naan. Verdict: from our obvious enjoyment, another winner.
While Brian and I do agree on a whole bunch of things, I actually prefer shoulder chops over loin chops and the wide variety of cooking methods that can be employed besides broiling. A couple of terrific websites for getting splendid lamb recipes are:
http://www.national-obsession.com/category/list
http://www.nzlamb.ca/recipes/recipes.php
The latter source also has recipes printed on the outside of the packages of their frozen lamb products. As Brian has already proved, you can get a lot of helpful recipe tips from packages and jars. But it’s still an eye-opener to get an idea of just how much of a variety you can get from the official producers themselves. Not only that, but you can achieve quite a different result based on following the directions of one package as opposed to another (for example, roasting a rack of lamb at a higher temp. for a shorter time). But, then again, that’s all a part of the experimentation and discovery and, yes, FUN of cooking.
Another website that I can personally vouch for is:
http://bit.ly/929kuT = This is the website of the LCBO, the primary source of alcohol in the Province of Ontario that publishes a Food & Drink magazine several times a year (though the recipes are also available online). Unfortunately, two of my most memorable recipes are out of date on the website. In past years, I have made (and served Brian) seared Lamb Shanks cooked in White Vermouth and broth, with the addition of lemon zest, not to mention the obligatory sauteed onions and garlic. I’ve also tried to cut through some of the heavier lamb fat taste by adding lemon juice (not in the original recipe). I’ve served this dish over rotini pasta.
I’ve used the aforementioned shoulder chops in another recipe: braised lamb shoulder in red wine with mushrooms. Once again, full of flavour, served over pasta and garnished with freshly grated parmesan and chopped parsley.
Cooking time (duration): 60
Number of servings (yield): 2
Meal type: dinner
Culinary tradition: USA (Nouveau)
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI25zSLjr2A
Silly me, I must have forgotten to turn the video on 😉 – ok, let’s see – flip switch… there now, it’s on — so back to our regularly scheduled program!
Ok I’ve started this new blog and I’m learning how to edit video using iMovie (I bought Adobe Premiere Elements but cannot seem to make it work the way I want it to on my PC, so with iMovie I stay — for now).
When I originally did the concept for the videos, it was kinda kitschy, and my debut was at my milestone Birthday party back in February (so I turned 40 and made a big deal out of it — more on that to come). Whoa, the original video was about 30 minutes (because Helenka and I got carried away, lol); the final 10 minute version is Ep 1.
Now that I’ve had a chance to review my work and learned a bit more about using the tools I have, I was able to create something a bit more to my liking (which you see here), and in HD no less, while keeping within the 10 minute limit set by youtube. By the way, all my videos are filmed in 1080p; I’m only now just figuring out how to post them in 720p on youtube.
In this episode, Helenka and I try an Indian Korma sauce I just happened to have in my cupboard (hmm, I sense a trend here which you will see in upcoming shows). I use chicken as my protein source, and we add a whole bunch of veggies along with the Korma sauce plus Naan which we both love.
Enjoy!
B&H =:)
Heat the oil in a pan. Add the onions and sauté for 2 minutes. Add garlic (careful not to burn the garlic). Stir in the chicken and sauté for another 3 minutes until the meat is sealed. Add in the remainder of your vegetables (potatoes, carrots, and cauliflower). Stir in a jar of your favorite Cooking Sauce, bring to a boil then simmer for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and your veggies are tender.
Naan
On a cookie sheet covered in foil, place your naan over which you’ve dribbled a few drops of cold water before heating in a 400 degree oven for about 2-3 minutes.
Using a jar of Patak’s Korma cooking sauce (a classic north Indian sauce that has a rich yet delicate coconut flavour with hints of garlic, ginger and coriander) as the starting point for a chicken dish, Brian added the sauce to sauteed chicken breast chunks, onions, garlic, carrots, Yukon gold potatoes and an unexpected but extremely yummy ingredient – cauliflower. This dish took longer to cook than was shown on the jar because of the inclusion of the potatoes. However, cooking the dish longer meant that the flavours were able to develop to their fullest potential. A possible vegetarian alternative for using this sauce would be to prepare a mixed vegetable dish without the chicken, coating cauliflower and the other vegetables before baking in a 400 F oven. The dish was garnished with a bush of parsley (none of this “sprig” nonsense) and served with wedges of plain and garlic naan (flatbread) heated in the oven. The garlic naan was especially well paired with this dish.
Onion kulcha (similar to naan, but stuffed with minced onion) would be a wonderful substitute for naan.
Cooking time (duration): 40
Number of servings (yield): 4
Meal type: dinner
Culinary tradition: Indian (Northern)