peas | Friends Food Fun

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwzp5PnsFtE

Too tired to read then click play on the box below to hear the blog read to you by Brian (and occasional comment by Helenka when I screw it up).

Hello, Culinary Playmates:

It is I, Helenka, your fearless advocate of gustatory creativity (aka I eat weird but really tasty food and think you should, too). Apparently, I am also Queen of Birthdays. And … um … Queen of fabulous things to eat … and drink … and drink some more! ::giggles:: Don’t worry, it’s only a temporary delusion. But the reason this episode is special is because Brian and I celebrated my June 1st birthday (in 2011) in grand style. Well, why not make it a birthday fit for a Queen? After all, it was my 5 million and first. Actually, that’s a wee bit of a fib. I’m well into the 5 millions but I’ve dropped a few hundred years on account of good…. ::reacts to Brian’s stern glare:: Okay, okay, I meant bad behaviour. Besides, I felt it was entirely appropriate to call it 5 million and one as this is our 51st regular episode (not counting specials, desserts, outdoor fun, road trips, yadda with a side order of yadda). I just love synchronicity, even if I have to bang a round peg into a square hole to achieve it. Yes, quite often I’m just five … instead of 5 million.

What I also love is surprises. Well … only good surprises. And Brian delivered oodles of those, right to the dining table. How did he do that? Well, magic, of course. And lots and lots of preparation which was accomplished behind the scenes. All I had to do was show up and be all … surprised! And more surprised!! And I-can’t-believe-what-he-just-made SUPER surprised!!! That was the exquisite birthday cake, if you hadn’t guessed. There was an additional element to the surprise, though. Brian had asked me prior to the celebration to choose either pink or blue. I didn’t know WHY, even though my natural inclination would be to choose pink (not for any stereotypical reasons, but because precious piggies are pink and I certainly do love all of my piggies). So I decided to choose blue instead. That’s also why I wore a blue flower in my hair.

Well, never in my wildest dreams did I expect to unveil (uh … de-napkinate?) that vision of baking wizardry, complete with flowers and butterflies and … and … stuff. Even though it tasted luscious, I’m still wincing that I had to cut into such a work of art. ::ponders:: Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of making something, when it looks too good to eat? Well, somehow I managed to do it and…. Mmmmmmmmm…. Uh-oh. I just got carried away. Time to get back on track and finish the blog.

I’m really thrilled that you got to share in my joy and see exactly how much care and attention Brian paid to making my celebration so special. Hmmm. Since he’s reciting this, I wonder if he’s blushing yet. ::ponders and waits, dragging things out:: Okay, okay, I’ll change the subject. I know Brian tried to get me to use his fancy foreign implement to get at all of the good hidden bits of lobster, but I think I’ll stick to my tried-and-true method of sucking out the meat and juices from the lobster tail fins and shell crevices. Hey, it works for me … and that’s a lesson I took to heart way before I reached 5 million! Hmmm, I wonder what I’ll learn in the next 5 million years. I guess we’ll all simply have to wait and see. But one thing I can tell you with the utmost certainty is that I will never forget how amazingly special this birthday celebration was. Though, somehow, I’m pretty sure that Brian won’t let me!

Normally (or as normal as it gets around here), I’d start reminiscing about previous birthdays in my nostalgic meanderings. But, you know, sometimes there are simply too many memories jammed in my head, so I’m giving myself permission to not go there. In celebration … as it were. Besides, instead of looking backwards, I should be looking forward in anticipation. I believe that’s good advice for everybody, too.

Well, that’s a wrap for another episode. It’s early March, 2012 and I’m keeping my fingers extra crossed (oh, please, can it really be almost spring?) for more warm temperatures. However, the weather’s been unpredictable, to say the least (it rained earlier today which is a lot nicer than snow or hail; and the birds – such optimistic cheerful creatures – have been singing all day through my wide-open windows), so I’m hoping for more meteorological stability. Until next time, have yourselves a great week and don’t forget to have fun with your food, too!

Enjoy!
B&H =;)

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Brian’s Notes and Teaser Recipes:
I wanted to make a special cake for Helenka but, in order to do that, I needed some extra skills. I took a special class on working with fondant at Michael’s, the arts and craft store. Once that was done, the plotting … I mean the planning began.

So … special. Hmmm. As I had been given a Hershey Chocolate recipe book for my own birthday the year prior, I thought I would dig in there and, lo and behold, on page 66 – also available on the Hershey website – was the one I wanted to try.

Of course, knowing me, I wanted something extra special for the icing as well, so I used Nigela Lawson’s version of “Fudge Icing”, though you can use the original version that is provided below.

FIESTA FANTASY CAKE

Ingredients

* 2 cups sifted cake flour or 1-3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa or HERSHEY’S Cocoa
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups packed light brown sugar
* 2/3 cup butter, softened
* 3 eggs
* 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur or strong coffee
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 container (8 oz.) dairy sour cream
* 3/4 cup boiling water
* CHOCOLATE MOUSSE (recipe follows)
* CHOCOLATE FROSTING (recipe follows)
Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Beat brown sugar and butter in large bowl on low to medium speed of mixer until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in coffee liqueur or coffee and vanilla. Add flour mixture and sour cream alternately to sugar mixture, beating after each addition just until combined. Stir in boiling water until blended. Pour into prepared pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

Prepare CHOCOLATE MOUSSE. Split each cake layer horizontally to make four layers total. Place one layer on serving plate; spread with one-third of the mousse (about 1 cup). Repeat layering with two of the remaining layers and remaining mousse. Place remaining cake layer on top. Prepare CHOCOLATE FROSTING; frost cake top and sides. Cover; refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. 16 to 20 servings.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Place 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips in a food processor bowl; cover and process until finely ground. Mix 1/3 cup whipping cream and 3 tablespoons granulated sugar in 1-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved and mixture is just boiling. With food processor running, pour hot cream through feed tube, processing 10 to 20 seconds or until chocolate is completely melted. Scrape side of food processor bowl. Add 1/4 cup coffee liqueur or strong coffee and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract through feed tube; process 10 to 20 seconds or until smooth. Pour into large bowl; cool about 10 minutes or until mixture is room temperature. Beat 1 cup whipping cream in chilled medium bowl on high speed of mixer just until soft peaks form. Fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture. Cover; refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Makes about 3 cups.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING

Stir together 1-1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar and 2/3 cup sifted HERSHEY’S Special Dark Cocoa in medium bowl. Add 1-1/2 cups whipping cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat on low speed of mixer until stiff peaks form, scraping side of bowl constantly. [Mixture will be very stiff.] By hand, stir in milk, one tablespoon at a time, to make desired spreading consistency. Makes about 3 cups.

FUDGE ICING by Nigela Lawson

Ingredients

* 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, minimum 70 percent cocoa solids
* 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
* 1-3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

Melt the chocolate in the microwave – 2 to 3 minutes on medium – or in a bowl sitting over a pan of simmering water, and let cool slightly.

In another bowl beat the butter until it’s soft and creamy and then add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and beat again until everything’s light and fluffy. Then gently add the vanilla and chocolate and mix together until everything is glossy and smooth.

Then ice the top and sides, spreading and smoothing with a rubber spatula.

SEAFOOD PASTA SALAD

(original recipe idea link)
Ingredients

* 1-1/2 (8 ounce) packages tri-color pasta
* 3 stalks celery
* 1 pound imitation crabmeat
* 1 cup frozen green peas
* 1 cup mayonnaise
* 1-1/2 tablespoons white sugar
* 2 tablespoons white vinegar
* 3 tablespoons milk
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; rinse under cold water until cool and drain.

While pasta is cooking, chop celery and crabmeat. Run hot water over peas to defrost.

In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, milk, salt and pepper. Add the pasta, celery and crabmeat and stir until evenly coated. Adjust the salt, sugar or mayonnaise to suit your taste. Chill several hours before serving.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz9EqWrF08M

Hey, Foodies,

We had to bump up the release of this episode as I am heading out of town on business and won’t be able to properly post during the week due to expected complete and utter exhaustion (I’m sure Helenka is going to insert something witty commenting on my predicament [And Helenka does not disappoint: Oh, poor Brian, see him jetting off and having lovely meals and, yeah, meetings all day long, so he’ll be a very tired camper by the end of each day, I’m sure! With a side order of yadda-yadda-yadda.]).

So, we are collaborating as I write this while she is sitting next to me on the couch, making wise-ass comments on what she is going to write in conjunction with what she believes I am actually putting down in this document. [Helenka sees Brian’s lips moving and fingers flying, but hears only, “Wah, wah, wah.” If you’ve seen any episode of Charlie Brown, it’s how the adults sound to the gang.]

Truth be told, this is all a game for her amusement (hmm, note that she’s not disagreeing), but now I shall return to our show….

I love Indian food (well, it’s no secret that I love many different kinds of food), so I thought I would make something quick by using a prepared cooking sauce, one that I personally find excellent, namely Patak’s Vindaloo Sauce which is quite spicy. Normally, one would use plain and boring chicken breasts with it, but that was not to be the case; when I went shopping, looking for said plain and boring chicken breasts, I found a box of frozen Tandoori chicken breasts which were cheaper (on sale) than the plain and boring chicken breasts. So, I said to myself, “Self! Perhaps we should try a variation and see what happens when I use these as a replacement for the PaBCB™.” I’m going to use this acronym from now on, as her Editorialshipness has stated that I am in danger of going over the word count for this post.

We decided to call this dish Tandoori Chicken Vindaloo – a funny fusion! Of course, I do hope that we do not annoy any food purists out there who believe that only PaBCB™ should be used to make Chicken Vindaloo.

At the end of another post, I just wanted to remind our viewers:
We love playing with our food.

Have yourselves a great week and don’t forget to have fun with your food, too!

Enjoy!
B&H =;)

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Helenka’s Notes:

Wasn’t it only yesterday (okay … 30-odd episodes ago, in fact) that Brian was clearing all sorts of jars and packages out of his kitchen cupboards and cooking with whatever he found? Yes, indeed. But the jar of Vindaloo Sauce must have been hidden really well (most likely by those mischievous kitchen pixies). Because … Brian found this jar recently. And, then, I found my jar of home-made Lime Pickle Relish, so we just had to (really had to) make something up.

First of all, I was confused at the beginning of the epi (if you remember, I had no recipe in front of me), as I couldn’t see Brian playing with the chicken, so I actually thought he had bought both kinds of chicken, the PaBCB™ and the Tandoori. I loved seeing the deeper colour of the raw meat and couldn’t wait to taste the final result, further transformed by the cooking. I was not disappointed. One of the best side effects of eating Tandoori chicken cooked in a moist heat was the fact that it was so amazingly tender. The other thing that amused me was that this was such a meat-and-potatoes (and don’t forget those peas) dish and yet the swirling flavours made it anything but predictable!

I’m also struck by how over-indulgence prior to cooking (aka Brian’s eye-balling measurements) doesn’t necessarily lead to an unpleasant outcome. In this epi, Brian went to town with the amount of chopped garlic (he really, really did); and, yet, when I tasted the dish, there was no in-your-face garlicyness. During the simmering process, the garlic was able to disperse among all of the other spices (from both the Tandoori and Vindaloo sources) so that we couldn’t even tell the difference that we’d gone overboard (if there even is such a thing between the two of us) with one of our fave flavour-enhancers. But, despite the splendid taste of the dish, oh, how I missed being in an Indian restaurant and crunching Indian pickles. [Stern note to self: Self … find Indian pickles in a specialty shop … and stop whining already!]

Variations:
I’m not going to suggest variations to the dish itself, as it was already a fusion to begin with. Though, yes, one could add all sorts of other ingredients such as chickpeas or lentils to up the fibre content while remaining true to Indian cuisine (and beans are terrific for absorbing all that lovely sauce). Or slicing okra or baby eggplant to add different textures. But I’d like you to look at these and other similar cooking sauces in a different light – and not only as the foundation for a traditional “Indian” dish.

Brian’s not the only one with a way-back-in-the-pantry situation. When I moved last summer, I kept finding all sorts of jars of stuff (so … not only the jams and jellies from antiquity). Many of them were Asian-influenced. Such as the spicy peanut sauce that found its way onto my plate of scrambled eggs. And, then, wanted to make friends with a whole bunch of other foods. Gee! Even my food is sociable!

Apparently (because I had so many jars of it, lol), one of my fave Patak’s sauces is Korma Cooking Sauce, a mild curry sauce full of delicate spices as well as coconut, ginger and coriander flavours. I’ve used it with different shapes of pasta (including delightful radiattore), potatoes or veggies, so you don’t even need to use a meat product with it.

There’s also nothing wrong with preparing your fave dish the traditional way (no matter what its heritage is) and then incorporating a sauce from the other side of the globe. Exercise your imaginations and pique your taste-buds. It’s especially fun to do during the winter time, when your mouth can feel as blah as the weather. We’re doing our best to banish boring winter eating and encourage you to do so, too. Happy fusions, everyone!

Friends Food Fun

Tag Archives: peas

FFF EP-51 A BIRTHDAY FIT FOR A QUEEN!

FFF EP-35 TANDOORI CHICKEN VINDALOO (A FUNNY FUSION)

We Love Playing With Our Food!