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Friday, March 23, 2018

Spring Flavours for Nowruz, Easter, and Passover, on CBC's Weekend Morning Show

 For CBC's Weekend Morning Show with host Nadia Kidwai, I will be presenting the following dishes.  Red Snapper Ceviche, Sole with Chermoula (Moroccan), and Charoset, a Moroccan version.

All of these dishes are very simple to prepare and are quite delightful. 


Red Snapper Ceviche1 pound skinless red snapper fillets, cut into 1/4-inch dice (Available at Gimli Fish)
3/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
1/2 cup finely diced red bell peppers
1/2 cup finely diced yellow bell peppers
1/2 thinly sliced small red onion
1 minced small garlic clove
Pinch of ground cumin
Pinch of crushed red pepper
Salt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 

In a large bowl, toss the diced fish with the lime juice, lemon juice, jalapeño, red and yellow bell peppers, red onion, garlic, cumin, crushed red pepper and season with salt. Refrigerate the snapper ceviche for 30 minutes. Stir in the sprouts and extra-virgin olive oil and serve.

 Sole with Chermoula
2-3 sole fillets per person
olive oil or butter, for cooking fish

3-5 large cloves garlic
¼ tsp cayenne
1 heaping tbs cumin
pinch saffron
½ bunch parsley
1 whole bunch cilantro
handful mustard sprouts (available from Fresh Forage at St. Norbert's Farmer's Market)
handful radish sprouts (available from Fresh Forage at St. Norbert's Farmer's Market)
juice of one lemon
2 tbs vinegar
1 generous tbs olive oil
salt, to taste


In a mortar or blender, mix the garlic, cayenne, cumin, saffron, herbs and sprouts, lemon, vinegar, olive oil, and salt, to a paste. 
Just before serving, heat butter or olive oil in a sauté pan to medium heat.  Season the fillets.  Cook a couple of minutes per side and plate.  Spoon Chermoula over the fish. 
Serve immediately.
Enjoy!

 Moroccan Haroset (Charoset)

1 lb blanched almonds
1 lb pitted dates
2 apples, peeled, cored and quartered
1 tsp ground good cinnamon, plus ½ cup for rolling
¼ tsp ground ginger

The day before, finely grind almonds in a food processor. Add the dates, apples and 1 tsp cinnamon and the ginger and continue pulsing until the apples are chopped into tiny pieces and the mixture comes together. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, shape the mixture into balls the size of a large marble. Put the ½ cup cinnamon in a bowl and roll the balls in it.

Friday, March 09, 2018

Spicy Chongqing Mala Chicken and Spanish Roasted Potato Tapas for CBC

I will be presenting these two dishes on Saturday for CBC's Weekend Morning Show with host Nadia Kidwai.  They are using local ingredients for flavours from Sichuan, China, and Spain.  Both are quite simple to prepare with big flavours.  




Chongqing, Sichuan Mala Chicken 
(DON'T EAT THE CHILIES!!!)
4 chicken thighs (available at St. Norbert's Farmers Market from Wildfire Farms)
cooking oil for frying
1/4 cup of chili peppers (or less, to tastes) Try4-5 chilies to start
1 and ½ tbsp. Sichuan peppercorn
1 root ginger, sliced
2 cloves garlic
2 scallions, white part and green part separated and cut into small sections
1/2 cup skin-on peanuts (optional)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp. sesame seeds, or as needed
pinch of salt

Marinating

1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. rice wine
¼ tsp. white pepper powder
2 tsp. cornstarch (optional)
small pinch of salt

Cut the dried chili peppers, discard the seeds and then soak the peppers in water for 15 minutes. We are doing this so we can fry the peppers later and prevent burn the peppers.

If using bone-in chicken thighs, remove bones and cut chicken into bite-sized cubes. In a large bowl, marinade the chicken cubes with all the marinating sauce. Mix well and set aside for around 10 minutes.

Heat up oil in wok or pan for deep-frying. Heat until really hot (you can see bubbles when you put a chopstick in). Add the chicken cubes in and fry until golden brown. Transfer out. I recommend frying the chicken by batches. After add the chicken cubes, let it stay for a short time (possible about 40 seconds to 1 minute) until one side is browned and then slightly stir the chicken and fry the other side.

Clean out the wok with a cloth or paper towel and add only ½ tablespoon of oil and then fry the peppers for 1-2 minutes over slowest fire until most of them becomes dark red. Add Sichuan peppercorn in and continue frying for another 1 minute over slowest heat.

Push the spices to one side and add ½ tablespoon of oil in wok and fry ginger, scallion white, peanuts and garlic until aromatic.

Return the chicken cubes, add roasted white sesame seeds, sugar, salt and scallion green sections. Mix well and serve immediately.


Potato wedges with roasted garlic dip

3 lb potatoes (try the Viking variety available at St. Norbert's Farmer's Market)
2 tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tsp salt

Roasted Garlic Dip

2 garlic bulbs, roasted
1 tbs olive oil
5 tbs sour cream
4 tbs mayonnaise
hot smoked paprika, to taste
salt

Roast the garlic for 25 minutes at 350ºF until caramelized. Let cool enough to handle. Squeeze out and mash. Mix in a bowl with the sour cream and mayonnaise. Season with salt and paprika. Chill.

For the potatoes, cut each potato half into 3 wedges and place in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, garlic and salt and toss well. Transfer to a roasting pan and arrange in a single layer. Roast for 1- 1/14 hours, or until crisp and golden.

Serve immediately with roasted garlic dip.

Enjoy!