Tonight I will be preparing the following for a cooking demonstration for the Assiniboine Park Conservatory at the Madison Square Manitoba Liquor Commission. Photos to come after the evening's presentation.
1. Crab Cones
Filling:
1 tin frozen crab meat (Available at Gimli Fish)
6-10 peeled and chopped fresh water chestnuts (available at Sun Wah)
1 inch grated ginger
3-5 green onions, finely diced on a diagonal
¼ tsp white pepper
½ tsp sea salt
¼ cup Mirin (available at Sun Wah and other Asian markets)
drizzle Sesame oil
pinch of white sugar
Mix all ingredients together and chill until ready to fill cones.
Cones:
1 pkg frozen wonton wrappers (round or square cut in half)
canola or peanut oil
unwaxed paper cone cups
Set oven to 500ºF and place paper cups upside down on a baking sheet. Brush both sides of the wrapper with oil. Cut a slit through the centre of a circular wonton wrapper and form around the paper cone and pinch together. Place in oven and watch carefully until the wonton wrapper starts to bubble and begins to brown. Remove from the oven and cool. Gently remove wrappers from the cone and fill with your favourite filling. Serve on a platter or in a martini glass as shown.
Enjoy!
2. Latkes (Potato Pancakes)3 medium potatoes, peeled and shredded
1 onion, shredded
2 eggs
1/4 cup flour or maztah meal
salt and pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp paprika (optional)
Golden Caviar (Available at Gimli Fish)
Mix potato pancake ingredients together and fry in pancake size in a little olive oil until golden brown on both sides. Remove from heat and using cookie cutters, cut bite sized pieces from the pancake.
Top each latke bite with crème fraiche and golden caviar.
3. Baked Brie Wheel1 wheel brie
¼ - ½ cup frozen fresh cranberries
¼ cup brown sugar
Preheat oven to 350º. Cut slits into the brie wheel and poke cranberries into the cheese. Top with brown sugar and place in oven for ~ 5 minutes. Turn to broil and watch for sugar to brown. Remove from oven and serve immediately with breads and crackers.
4. Caramelized Shallot Tarts
Shallots
port or wine
rosemary or thyme
drizzle olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Take the skins and ends off of the shallots and place them in a shallow baking dish. Add remaining ingredients and bake at 350ºF oven for up to one hour or until the shallots are soft. Enjoy in a number of options or as a garnish to meats and vegetables or, combine with Okanagan Cherry reduction in tarts:
Dried Okanagan Cherry reduction
1 cup tart dried Okanagan cherries *
1 cup port
1 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
2 tbs butter
1 cup dry red wine or port
Soak cherries in port over night or for several hours.
In a sauce pan, heat soaked cherries and add wine or port and rosemary. Bring to a boil and add butter. Remove from heat and purée. Use on tarts or as a drizzle for meats or poultry.
5. Chocolate Creams6-7 oz dark Callebaut Chocolate
2 cups milk
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
Melt chocolate in a bain-marie (stainless steel bowl over pot of boiling water) with 1 tbs. Milk. Make the quantity of milk up to 2 cups and bring high heat. Beat 6 egg yolks with sugar until the mixture turns white. Slowly add the chocolate flavoured milk, beating it in quickly. Divide the mixture between at least 6 ramekins placed in a baking dish that will be filled with simmering water (another bain-marie). Bake at 375º F for about 25 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the bain-marie and leave to cool before putting them in the refrigerator to set.
Pavlova
4 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
Pinch kosher salt
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 180ºF.
Place a sheet of parchment paper on a sheet pan. Draw a 9-inch circle on the
paper, using a 9-inch plate as a guide, then turn the paper over so the circle is on
the reverse side. (This way you won't get a pencil mark on the meringue.)
Place the egg whites and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk
attachment. Beat the egg whites on high speed until firm, about 1 minute. With
the mixer still on high, slowly add the sugar and beat until it makes firm, shiny
peaks, about 2 minutes.
Remove the bowl from the mixer, sift the cornstarch onto the beaten egg whites,
add the vinegar and vanilla, and fold in lightly with a rubber spatula. Pile the
meringue into the middle of the circle on the parchment paper and smooth it
within the circle, making a rough disk. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Turn off the oven,
keep the door closed, and allow the meringue to cool completely in the oven,
about 1 hour. It will be crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.
Invert the meringue disk onto a plate and spread the top completely with
sweetened whipped cream.
Enjoy!
