Mar 26th - Purple Kale and Sweet Potato Salt Cod Brandade with Black Quinoa

Mad! They'll call me when they read this title. Sweet Potato Brandade!? It was delicious. It was all about this sweet potato I had sitting in the fridge and some Blooming Purple Kale I bought at the market. I was pretty close to making Ackee and Saltfish with Kale because I love Ackee but I thought 1. I need to use that sweet potato and 2. I should do something different. Oh, and some heavy cream in the fridge that was just niggling at me. D knows that when it comes to food in our house I have 2 major pet peeves: 1. Leaving food out uncovered. 2. Wasting food.

I wish I could blame my meagre upbringing in an immigrant household but for once it has nothing to do with that. Though we did grow up struggling and heard stories of our parents' hardships, food was never an issue in our house. That is the irony of the Korean household. The table should always be plentiful. It is funny, I had a portuguese flatmate for a while in England who told me that was the same in their culture. So the fridge was always packed full of fresh vegetables, kimchees, frozen goodies in case. I, however, cannot bare to see a carrot or green onion go to waste. That did not stop me from buying the tomatoes and scallions I would need should I change my mind and decide to do the Ackee on the way home. :)

I love Kale. It is a very 'meaty' green. It is part of the same family as broccoli and brussel sprouts and cooked well has the same nutty, vibrant flavour. I was tempted to put it in a dish but decided to simply sautee it in some olive oil with some green onions.

On the side as a grain, I am doing Quinoa but a new one I found at Whole Foods yesterday. Black Quinoa. In the raw state, it looks like regular Quinoa grains but indeed, black. They also had Red. I went with the Black because it reminded me of the Vietnamese black rice that I like. You cook it as you would regular Quinoa. Same as usual with a 3-1 water to Quinoa ratio. Low simmer for 15-20 minutes. When it is cooked, you will notice, the black is in the husk and you can see th regular semi-translucent grain inside. After cooking the black turns more of an oaky red. It is nice. Did not really taste too different than the regular though it did have less of a grassy taste which regular Quinoa sometimes has. It is why I often use veggie broth instead of plain water.

Sweet Potato Salt Cod Brandade

1 small (180 g) White Sweet Potato
200 g Salt Cod (weighed before desalination)
1 inch Fresh Ginger, peeled and sliced
2-3 gloves garlic
5 small sprigs of fresh Thyme
1/2 c Milk
2/3 c Water
3 T Coconut Milk
1 T butter
3 T Heavy Cream

Wedge of lime and fresh parsley for garnish.

You can actually choose to use 6 T of all Coconut Milk instead of Cream or vice versa. I was torn by the two leftovers and now I have less of two leftover. Silly me. Now I do not have enough coconut milk to do a stirfry. LOL.

You need to soak your Saltcod for a day or overnight. Change the water every few hours. If you forget, and you are around, you can do this upto as little as 6 hours prior but change the water every half hour. It is just easier to start yesterday.

In a small sauce pan, place the washed Saltcod, Ginger, Garlic, Thyme and Sweet Potato. Pour the water and milk over. Add more water to cover the contents. Simmer for 20-25 minutes until the potato is tender. Try to avoid over boiling or scalding the milk. It is not the end of the world though it can add an odd flavour. The worst of it will be that scaled milk boils over and leaves a terrible mess on the stovetop.

When it is tender, take the pot off the stovetop and drain through a sieve. Pick out the thyme stems. I did not because I forgot. Place in the food processor. You can let it cool a bit before the next step.

Pulse a few times to break down the fish. Add the butter and pulse a few times more. Add the Coconut Milk and Cream gradually as you pulse until it looks like it can take no more. By this I mean that the liquid is not separating out. It is staying a paste.

Now you could use a mortar and pestal to do this. It is the traditional way. Well, it is when you are not using 'potato' filler. Yes. Potato is filler. Though almost every recipe you will read has a potato, it is really to stretch the valuable Saltcod. The really true French recipes will not use filler.

If you have leftover, you can add more potato and fry it up as a fritter. MMMMM. I think next time I will use more coconut milk and leave out the cream. It would be pretty similar to a Jamaican Rundown in some ways I guess.

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Mar 7 - Ackee and Saltfish with Gogoma

Gogoma are Korean Sweet Potatoes. You can buy them as street food during the winter in Korea and at Korean markets. Funny, enough, I used to buy them from vendors in Barcelona too. As well, Koreans buy them by the truck load and roast them in batches at home. They have them ready to reheat as a snack all winter. Korean sweet potatoes are long and narrow like say a tapered zucchini. The skin is purpley-red and the flesh is a eggshell white. Their texture is not firm and does NOT hold up well if you try to use them in cubes as an ingredient. They are best roasted whole with their skin on. When you let them cool off, the flesh pulls away from the crisped skin and it is as easy to peel as a banana.

I went to the H-Mart on Robson today to buy some tomatoes, Dhuck (Rice cake) and regular orange sweet potatoes for dinner. Well, the Dhuck was as a walking snack. I saw that the Korean sweet potatoes were on sale so I went for it. Actually, I do not normally buy these because the best way to cook them is roasting and who bakes potatoes anymore? Or rather who has the time? When they are done, the flesh turns the colour and appearance of an over ripe banana. That is the sugar. They are very sweet. Yummo!

I was not sure if I wanted to have rice with the ackee and I wanted a side. In the end, I made brown rice anyway because I had leftover. I wrap the Gogoma in foil but mom and halmonyee normally just put them batch right on the oven rack. Wash them well! Bake them in the oven at 425 for 40-45 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave them in there as the oven cools.

Ackee and Saltfish with Zucchini and Ginger

250 g saltfish (weight before desalination, I used a lb last time but I weighed it after unsalting)
1 bell pepper
1 small roma tomato, chopped (small because I had zucc's too)
1/4 onion
3 scallions aka 'skellions'
few sprigs fresh thyme
1 scotch bonnet pepper
1 tin Ackee drained
1/4 t all spice

Today's twist because of what is in the fridge:
1/2 zucchini (Because I have it, totally optional!)
1/2 inch fresh ginger chopped into matchsticks

In a small pan, simmer the saltfish in enough water to cover for 10 minutes. Drain, and set aside to cool. Flake when cool.

In a pan, heat some vegetable oil. Fry the onions, scallions and vegetables for a few minutes until soft. Add another 1-2T or so of oil. Add the ackee, ginger, spice and herbs. Move gently with a wooden spoon. Ackee has the appearance of scrambled eggs and is a bit delicate. I like the chunks and try to avoid breaking it down too much.

This might seem a tad contrary to low-fat instincts but there are certain things I do not fiddle with. This is the way Stephen, my flatmate in Grad School from Kingston, Jamaica did it. It was his nan's way and he was making it at home one night whisper to me that his secret to let the ackee fry in oil for a few minutes. It takes away the briney preserved taste.

Simmer for a few minutes. Add the salt cod and simmer for a few minutes more. Add some water if it seems to be too dry. Partially cover.

You may want to add some pepper not salt. The salt cod should still have enough salt left in it.

Serve on rice. Rice and beans is the traditional. You only see half a Gogoma but do not fret. I had the other half with my seconds. :-)

Here is the 'Classic Version' with more Tomato. Actually I used a Red Bell Pepper that time too so it was much more colourful. Actually, I really like the zucchini. It added a good texture. Though with the richness of the fish and ackee, I do not think I'll cut back on the tomato next time. If anything, if I use zucchini again, I will cut back on the bell pepper instead. It was YUMMO!

Washed back the spicy goodness with a Cava on day two.

Feb 22 - Big Mountain Vegan Burgers and Jerked Sweet Potato Fries

I went to the Live City Yaletown last night after work to catch Zapato Negro. I dashed out a tad early only to see them on the big screens as I approached the outer gates. I don't know why but the whole line up was moved up an hour! Oh well, I got to see most of their show and line up for the Samsung house.

The Samsung house was an absolute bore. You line up for nearly an hour from then end of the ropes only to find yourself in line at the games to collect stickers on the inside. Seriously, what a waste of time. There was supposed to be a quiz at 5 and I waited but nothing. If you're keeping track on my

House Reviews:
(on 7 maples)
Samsung house: 1 maple
Ontario house: 3 maples because of the insane line with poor info from hosts
Quebec house: 1 maple
Concord house: 0 maples
Northern house: 6 maples
Aboriginal house (VCC site): 3 maples, mainly shopping
BC House (VAG): 6 maples
BC Power Smart: 3 maples, fun for kids
West House: 3 maples, interesting concept
BC Stadium: 5 maples for set up 1 maple for food cost

So after freezing my arse (not a curse word in Canada, actually an euphemism for us for the real one), off watching Zapato then the Bentalls Barney and his son. Actually it was the son's band, Dustin and his dad was featuring. I think most of the crowd was there for Barney. It was a tad too country for me but the kid did have one good song that I'll look for. 3000 miles....chorus: I like to get high and I talk when I'm stoned... with his dad singing along. Ah BC.

So D was supposed to meet me to watch Colin James at 9 but I didn't think I could make it. We went to Choices market instead and picked up some food for a few options and then made a call on the bridge. We thought about Barley Risotto, Vegan Bolognese and Veggie Burgers with the Sweet Potato I bought earlier.

We chose to do the Veggie burgers since D remembered we had Portuguese buns in the freezer and he doesn't like a crowded freezer. I've tried many many brands of veggie burgers and there are 4 basic styles:

- Cutlet/Pattie where it is not meat like at all. It's a mash of veg in veg form, like carrots, peas with breading. Not a burger at all.
- Lentil or Legume pattie, denser than just a veggie cutlet but not the form of the soy protein.
- Soy/Veg protein meat like pattie that simulates the texture of meat. My preferred variety. Best Brand is Yves. Vera's Burgers has a fantastic version of this. It could also be Yves. They will do all their burgers with a veggie pattie if you ask at no extra charge.
- Soy/Veg protein full meat fakeout.... fakes the texture of the fat and the gristle with some vegan gelatin. This version is gross to me. If I wanted that texture and aroma, I'd eat meat. I am what many might call an aesthetic vegetarian. The best kind, in my mind. I am not a moralist or evangelist about it. I don't like the taste or appearance of it. I will try things and have to spit them out. The aroma of the fat, which as you know gives meat it's flavour, is what I find most difficult to eat. Anyhoo, my choice, not yours. Therefore, if you're like me, you won't like this variety. Boca makes these kinds as well, I can't recall the brand but it's green and you can see the patties in the slide out pack with the grill marks on them.

We bought Mountain Burgers because it was the ONLY type that Choices had in stock though they had loads of Yves stuff. I tried to persuade D to get Tofurkey Kielbasa but he would have none of it. The Mountain Burgers were a lentil based pattie or type #2. It was very very dense and dry. D cooked them in a cast iron pan and they crumbled a bit. He admitted he didn't realise the type it was. He was smart to add some BBQ sauce to the top after the first flip otherwise it would have been terribly dry. It had good flavour but it gets drowned out by the condiments and cheddar. The texture was rather pasty as well. I wouldn't say it was horrible but I wouldn't recommend them.

We garnished our burgers with aged cheddar, fresh tomatoes, pickles and dijon mustard.

Jerked Sweet Potato Fries

1 large sweet potato
1/2 - 1 T jerk seasoning
1/4 t fresh ground pepper
1 T olive oil

Heat the oven to 425F.

Cut the sweet potato in half around the middle. Cut the halves lengthwise so there is a flat surface. Cut those quarters in to 3/4 cm slices. Cut the slices into 3/4 cm to 1/2 cm slices.

Place all the fries in a large mixing bowl that is light enough to toss or have tongs and use whatever bowl you like. Pour half the oil on top and toss the bowl until they all look coated. Add half the jerk and toss again for a minute. Add the rest of the oil and toss for a good minute. Add the rest of the jerk, use more if you want. Toss for another good minute.

Line a baking pan with parchment paper or use a silpat. Even with a non stick pan, it will still stick because of all the sugar, it will still stick.