Dateline: November 19, 2020 ROTOQ-360 Test Spin

I have been trolling and backing things on Kickstarter for a couple of months.  My backings range from pillows to exercise equipment.

A recent product was just delivered.  ROTOQ-360!  I have been doing the happy Homer dance.  In the box came the basic set, motor, stand and rotisserie spit, but wait, there's more, a circular cage, a shish kabob wheel, a sausage wheel, and a rectangular cage.  I am in heaven.

Tested it out a whole chicken on the grill.  

You can see the motor unit on the left, which is wound up prior to cooking.  There is a drip pan below the chicken, and then the frame which holds the motor and spit.

I learned some things during the test run.

1.  crank up the motor fully before the cook

2.  center the food on the spit to facilitate rotation

3.  do not truss the bird

4.  If it's cold out, it will take longer than you think.

The final product was beautifully crisped and browned and was perfectly cooked.  It was juicy and moist.  Just plain yummy.  I used my friend Lyn's suggested brussel sprouts recipe.

Brussel Sprouts with Marmite

Brussel Sprouts

2 T unsalted butter

2 t marmite or vegemite

salt and pepper

Method

1.  Halve the brussel sprouts and steam for 3-4 minutes.  Place on a towel to dry off a bit.

2.  Heat a large pan and add the sprouts.  Char them a bit on all sides.

3.  Add butter and marmite and swirl around the sprouts until they are all covered and cooked through completely.  Sprinkle with pepper.  

4.  Taste before salting as marmite or vegemite is quite salty.  You may not need any further salt.

These were really good.

Thank you, Lyn!

Dateline: November 16, 2020 Cauliflower Crust Pizza, Two Ways

I impulse purchased a box of cauliflower pizza crusts.  I also had some canned clams that were almost past their best by date.  Voila, clam pizza.  Ok, that takes care of one of the crusts, there are 2 in the box, and you can't just save one crust.....The second pizza was a pesto based, onion, mozzarella, and romano cheese pizza.  

To keep the crust from getting soggy, I drained the juice from the clam cans and saved it in the freezer.  I dumped the clams into a bowl, added a T of olive oil, sliced red onions, mashed garlic and some calabrian peppers.  I spread a thin layer of olive oil on the crust and topped with the mixture above, spreading it into all corners of the crust.  A little bit of sliced onion left and some pesto were sprinkled on top.  Into the oven it went.

The box said to bake at 425° for 7-9 minutes.  I did 7 minutes.  The outside edge of the crust was cracker crunchy, but the bottom of the crust in the middle was not as satisfyingly crispy.  While the cracker quality of the crust was a nice switch up from regular pizza crust, it was not a replacement.  The cauliflower crust passed the skeptics test.  Would I buy it again, probably not, but it wasn't horrible.  In a pinch I would use it.

The second pizza was pesto on top of the crust followed by sliced red onions, little mozzarella balls, called perlini, and some romano cheese.  A few remnant onion slices were put on top along with additional dribbles of pesto.

The second pizza came out better.  It was crustier, however, the taste of pizza #1 was better.  I think that was because of the calabrian peppers which added a nice zip to the clams.

The pizza on the left is the clam pie and the one on the right is the pesto mozzarella pie.  You can see that the pesto pie is darker in the crust than the clam pie.

Dateline: November 14, 2020 Steamed Fish and Greens

I had some tilapia that I wanted to make something asian-y.  Was leaning toward chinese, but had a zoom with some friends and they got my mind heading toward thai.

I have some Indonesian Shrimp Paste.  It is stinky and salty.  It adds just the right amount of both of those umami ingredients to delight the tongue.

I started with the aromatics: shrimp paste, onion, garlic, ginger, onions, celery, and added in some thai chilis.  I stripped the collards and chopped it into bite size pieces along with tuscan kale.  The bell peppers and bok choy were cut into manageable pieces and stir fried after the aromatics.  This was topped by the shredded greens and a little bit of water.  On top of the greens I placed a steamer tray.  Then the fish, that I divided into 2 fillet halves, cutting down the center line, was added on top.  I covered the wok and let the steaming veggies cook the fish.  

When the fish was opaque, I removed the steaming tray, and tested the greens.  I added some fish sauce to round out the flavors and served.

I think that I overcooked the fish, because it was a bit mushy. Next time, I may pan fry the fish to maintain its integrity.

Bill really liked it.

The photo above is the aromatics and the bok choy.

Here is the steamer tray.  Note the jerry-rigged handle.  A bolt with 2 lock nuts.

Finished plate full.  There was enough heat in the greens to allow the fish to be the blander foil.  The greens themselves were terrific.

Dateline: November 13, 2020 Chickpea Stew

It is clean out the fridge night.  I found a great inspirational recipe on NYT Cooking by Melissa Clark,
Moroccan Chickpeas with Chard .  Of course, I made a few changes.  Why?  Because I didn't have a turnip, but I did have a kabocha squash.  I didn't have chard, but I had kale and a quarter head of cabbage.  I had chicken stock that I made and chickpeas and all of the spices necessary.  Oh, another trade out, I didn't have 2 T of tomato paste, so I used all I had and augmented with harissa.  I also didn't have 2 hours, so into the instant pot things went and we will see how it comes out.

This stew was excellent.  The flavor was fantastic.  It will be in the rotation!  I have been eating it once a day for several days now.  Still in love with it.  

I forgot to put in the preserved lemon and apricots...happens when you drink before eating anything.  So, I added some lemon juice.  It really made a difference.  That extra acid was perfect.  Didn't miss the apricots.

Dateline: November 10, 2020 Beef Jerky

I had wanted to try to make beef jerky for a while.  The idea was sparked by perusing the Modernist Pantry website and seeing vinegar powder and soy powder!  So I ordered some along with hot sauce powder.

Easy Teriyaki Jerky, I followed their weights and measures, but added 2 t of hot sauce powder to the mix. After marinating for the 8 hours, I put the flank steak slices into the dehydrator.

I set it to 160°, and let it go for the suggested 6-8 hours.  I did get up a couple of times during the night to check on it, and munch a little.  The first taste was quite spicy, but as the meat dried, it became less prominent.

In the morning, I packaged it up into containers!

Ended up trading one container for some koji spores.  A neighbor makes sake! And gave another container away to a friend.  That left one container to enjoy.  I will definitely make this again.  

What did I learn?  

I sliced the meat too thin.  I cut the flank steak against the grain on the bias, which made lovely, almost, paper thin slices, which when dehydrated, were less satisfying.  So next time, a little thicker.  I did like the bias cut.

The marinade in the recipe is quite good, not too salty.  When measuring things out, 60 g of soy powder looked to be a ridiculous amount, but it was perfect.  The white vinegar powder left no doubt about what it was.  It could be smelled across the room once the bag was opened.  This is perfect for adding tang but not hydration.  

Hot sauce powder is hotter than expected.  Will use judiciously going forward in other dishes.

Dateline: November 6, 2020 Fish Tacos!

Eugene came through with some unsolicited fish!  He dropped off 2 beautiful whole fish.  I believe he said they were black fish, but I could be wrong.  He did say that they are his favorite 

I fired up the grill, made some salsa and chipotle mayo yogurt sauce and we had dinner!

The tacos were delicious!  I was so happy, it was a warm day, and this made it feel like summer all over again!

For the salsa, I just chopped up some tomatoes, onion, tomatillos, cilantro, jalapenos, and added lime juice and a little of the sauce from the chipotle in adobo.

Fish was grilled with salt and pepper.  They were already skinned.

Dateline: November 7, 2020 Porchetta and Sweet Victory

Servet was finally finished with his quarantine after visiting Turkey for several months.  So, out of the freezer came the pork belly and the pork loin.  Porchetta!  I used Scott Rea's guidance here.  He has a wonderful step by step how to on YouTube.  

Firstly, I had to do a little bit of trimming up, there were some bone ends and chunks of cartilage that needed to be removed.  I then followed his recipe with my twist.  I did not want to butterfly this as I was rolling it around a pork loin.  

Before putting the herb mixture on top, I scored the skin side in a crosshatch pattern so that it would render and crisp up.  I topped the belly with the herb mixture and rolled it around the loin.  I tied it up with twine, rubbed salt into the skin and let it sit on a rack in the fridge over night.

Yesterday, it came out of the fridge and went into a hot oven to brown up before dropping the temp and slow roasting it until it was done.  

This is after the initial high heat.

Here is the final beast.

Carved and ready for devouring

Roasted delicata squash

Braised cabbage with bell peppers.

Dateline: November 1, 2020 Roast Pork Collar With Tomatoes and Shallots

I forgot about this one.... lots of photos too!

I needed to get into the freezer and make some space, out came the porcelet collar and onto the roasting pan it went.  Just coated with salt, pepper, and granulated garlic.  To the pan, I added the last of the tomato crop and a couple of sliced shallots.

The netting will come off after cooking.

I steamed some broccoli and made a salad, and ta dah!  Dinner was ready.

The tomatoes and shallots came out all jammy and really delicious.

The pork came out wonderfully moist and tender!

Dateline: November 4, 2020 Steamed Fish with Thai Garlic Shallot Sauce

I had a couple of Black Cod fillets that needed to be cooked.  I wanted Thai and no coconut milk.  I saw a garlic shallot sauce in a cook book and decided that steamed fish would go well with it.

The bad news is that we were so hungry by the time we could eat dinner, I didn't take a snap of the food.  Didn't change the taste, thought!

Garlic Shallot Sauce  Ken Hom's recipe

5 dried red chilies

2 T vegetable oil

100 g peeled garlic, finely chopped

100 g shallots, finely chopped

1 T shrimp paste

2 T fish sauce

2 t sugar

4 T water

Method

1.  Soak chilies in warm water until softened, drain and chop finely

2.  Heat a wok and add oil.  When hot add chilies, garlic, shallots, and shrimp paste.

3.  Stir fry for 2 minutes and then add the fish sauce, sugar, and water.  

4.  Continue to cook until garlic and shallots are cooked through.  Hold aside

Steamed Fish

Any firm flaky fish will do

julienned ginger

sliced scallions

thai basil leaves

Method

1.  Bring pan of water to a boil.  On a rack place the fish, sprinkle ginger and scallions over and top with basil leaves.

2.  Put rack into pan of water, cover and let steam until it begins to flake at the thicker places.

3.  Serve 

I served this with steamed green beans and a salad.  We were both amazed at how delicious the sauce was.  It really popped on the fish.  Sorry there were no photos!  But here is a photo of Ken Hom's sauce!

Dateline: November 1, 2020 Moussaka and Roasted Cauliflower

Once again, I had something in the fridge that needed to be used.  Ground Lamb.  I had thought about Keema, or lamb burgers, but, then, I had an inspiration, Moussaka!  I had 2 eggplants, check.  Had lamb, check.  Had tomatoes, yogurt, onions, garlic, etc.  A done deal.

Ingredients 

2 Eggplants, sliced into 1 inch rounds

1 lb ground lamb

1 inch cinnamon stick

1/2 t marjoram

1 red onion, chunked

3 cloves garlic

salt and pepper to taste

1 T spicy turkish pepper paste

1 T tomato paste

1 t calabrian pepper paste

1 t Aleppo pepper

1 can diced tomatoes, divided

1/4 c dry red wine

1/4 c red wine vinegar

1 c chicken stock

1 c yogurt

1 whole egg

1/4 c crumbled feta cheese

about 6 slices low fat mozzarella cheese

fresh bread crumbs

Method

1.  Set oven to 400°.  Put eggplants on a silpat mat on a baking sheet pan and spray lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle just a bit of salt on them.  Roast for 30 minutes, then turn them over, turn oven off, and let sit for 10 minutes.

2.  Grind cinnamon stick and marjoram in a spice grinder until they become a fine powder.  Hold aside.

3.  Put onion and garlic into a food processor and pulse until finely ground.  

4.  Put large saucepan or skillet on high heat and add olive oil.  Add onions and cook until wilted and water is evaporating.  Do not brown.

5.  Add ground lamb, cinnamon and marjoram to the onions and garlic.  Break up lamb as it cooks.  When it loses its raw color, add 1 cup of the canned tomatoes, pepper pastes, Aleppo pepper, salt, black pepper, wine, vinegar and stock.  

6.  Bring to a boil, and lower to a steady simmer, you want to reduce it so the final product is not soupy.  Set the oven to 350°.

7.  Take the remaining part of the can of tomatoes, about 1/2 c, and grind in the food processor until it is homogeneous.

8.  In a mixing bowl, put yogurt, feta, about 3 slices of the mozzarella torn into bits, egg, salt, pepper, and the ground tomatoes.  Mix together well.  Add about 2-3 T of fresh bread crumbs and mix again.  Set aside.  It will thicken up as it sits.

9.  Coat a 8 x 12 pan with cooking spray and sprinkle about 2-3 T of bread crumbs on the bottom of the pan.  Layer about 1/3 of the eggplant slices on top of the crumbs, then cover with about 1/3 of the lamb sauce, and another layer of eggplant, then sauce, etc.

10.  On top of the last layer of sauce, add the thickened yogurt topping.  Spread to cover the entire casserole dish.  On top, add slices of mozzarella cheese and some bread crumbs.  Spray the top with cooking spray.  Set casserole pan on the silpat mat used for the eggplant and put the entire pan into the oven for 30 minutes.

11.  After 30 minutes, check on its browning.  If it needs more, then rotate the pan 180° and put it back in for 10 more minutes.  Remove and let sit for about 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

Nota Bene:

This tasted very good.  I was a little skeptical, but am a believer now.  Even Bill liked it, mostly because it was not "eggplanty".  I liked the interplay between sour, heat, and lusciousness.  A Definite keeper.  I served it with roasted cauliflower which was a good choice as it did not compete with the moussaka.

The addition of the pepper pastes really gave depth to the lamb so that it could carry the blandness of the eggplants and the vinegar added just the right touch of tartness.  Thank God there are leftovers.... yumminess during the week too!