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What to do with pounds & pounds of Italian prune plums!

Posted on September 28, 2012 by albatz

What do you do with a hundred pounds or so of plums?

the bumper crop of Italian prune plums – this is just one branch out of many on my neighbour’s tree!

I made Plum Butter! Despite the name this contains no butter, and is in reality a very reduced and intensely flavoured ‘syrup’ that goes great on anything ‘creamy’ such as goat’s cheese (fromage chevre) or yogurt; slices of fresh fruit (I like it with apples and bananas); pancakes; and even jalapeño poppers!

The recipe is simplicity itself:

7 pounds of plums (there are approximately 14 prune plums per pound)
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
1 1/2 cups Merlot

Cut the plums in half, remove the pits.

cut the plums in half and remove the pits

Leaving their skins on, cut them in half again and toss in a large saucepan with a cup of water, 1 1/2 cups red wine and a cup of sugar.

cut them in half again and toss in the pot with the rest of the ingredients

Cook, with the lid off, for about 15 minutes at a low boil until the plums are soft.

cook at a low boil for about 15 minutes, or until the plums are soft

Simmer over very low heat, with the lid still off, for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

simmer over very low heat, stirring every 15 minutes or so

The plum butter is finished when the sauce has reduced to the point that it has a spreadable consistency. Let cool. Puree.

If you are canning, reheat the puree and boil a bunch of jars. Spoon the hot plum butter into the hot jars, filling to about 1/3 inch from the top. Put Saran Wrap on top and seal with a rubber band (Al’s mom’s canning trick). Once the Saran Wrap has a concave dent in it the jars are sealed.

canning the Plum Butter

Here are some great ways to serve Plum Butter!

Bananas, plum butter & yogurt

Plum butter & goat cheese on ‘Cracked Black Pepper Triscuits’

Posted in European, Food around the world, French | Tagged banana, chevre, cooking, cuisine, food, goat cheese, Merlot, plums, prune, recipe, syrup, wine, yogurt | Comments Off

Spanish Tapas Class No. 3 at UBC

Posted on September 24, 2012 by albatz

We had an interesting combo of tapas for our last ‘making tapas’ class with Chef Eric. First tapa on offer was Fried Manchego Cheese, which sounded so odd that no one picked it. Chef Eric shrugged, “Okay, we won’t do that one… Now who wants to make ‘Salad on Bread’?” Despite also sounding odd that recipe was quickly scooped, as were the ‘Prawns Wrapped in Serrano Ham’. Chef Eric commented, “Well, that won’t take much time, so you can also do the ‘Fried Manchego Cheese’!”

“And now who wants to make ‘Pork Brochettes’?” Several hands went up, but happily I managed to get that one. Other recipes up for grabs were ‘Chicken Livers in Sherry Glaze’, ‘Broiled Sardines’ and last but not least ‘Almond Tart’.

Ras el Hanout, a Moorish spice mix

My choice, the Pork Brochettes (puerco a la plancha), were made from pork tenderloin, something that I’m always on the lookout for recipes for. This was marinated in an interesting mix of garlic, lemon and ‘Ras el Hanout’, a Moorish-influenced spice mixture, and then grilled on a ‘plancha’ or stove-top grill. The result was tasty but a little dry. I think perhaps I overcooked them, but a squeeze of lemon perked them up.

puerco a la plancha

Prepping the Fried Manchego Cheese (queso frito) consisted of dipping the quarter-inch cheese slices into an egg wash and then into breadcrumbs & parsley, repeating the process (double dipping) and finally frying them in grape seed oil for about half a minute on each side.

dipping the Manchego cheese into an egg wash, followed by the herbed breadcrumbs

Served with Romesco Sauce, a tomato/almond mix they were my surprise favourite dish of the evening!

fried Manchego cheese with Romesco sauce

Posted in European, Food around the world, Spanish | Tagged almond, brochettes, cheese, cruda, cuisine, food, ham, livers, Manchego, menu, pork, prawns, salsa, sandwiches, sardines, serrano, Sherry, spice, tapas, tart | Comments Off

How to make Sangría! Olé!

Posted on September 18, 2012 by albatz

Sangría is the traditional Spanish version of a wine spritzer…

Sangria con naranjas de Valencia

We have been focusing on España for our Spanish Course Soleado. And, speaking of Spain, what could be more perfect for a warm summer evening than Sangría?

Last week we decided to videotape Patricia making Sangria. We set up at about 5:30 when the light was absolutely spectacular. Of course, I hadn’t realized that at this time of day everything would be backlit, and when I did realize it, I completely forgot about the lamp attachment for the camera that is designed to help with situations like this. My only excuse was that I had been running around like a madwoman, trying to find the ‘perfect’ vino español, Spanish brandy, oranges from Valencia, photogenic limes and lemons, ‘tapas’, una jarra, etc. etc. The recipe is below.

To see how to make Sangria while learning a bit of Spanish at the same time, the video is at:

pouring the vino tinto into the jarra – just look at that light!

At any rate, here is the result, Sangría en español (and in English también!)

Sangría	Sangria
Paso 1.	Step 1.
una botella de vino tinto (un vino tinto de España, claro)	one bottle of red wine from Spain, of course
dos cucharadas de azúcar	*2 tbsp. sugar
una copita de brandy español	a small glass of Spanish brandy
Mix until sugar is dissolved. Note that you won’t need to add any sugar if you use a lemon-lime pop such as 7Up instead of club soda.
Paso 2.	Step 2.
dos naranjas de Valencia	two oranges from Valencia
un limón	a lemon
una lima	a lime
Slice some perfect ‘wheels’ from the middle of the citrus fruits. Cut these wheels in half, remove any seeds and put into the pitcher for decoration. Then squeeze the juice from the remaining bits n’ pieces into the sangria. las frutas: naranja, limón y lima Note: other fruit can also be used, cut-up and apples (manzanas) and peaches (duraznos) being the most popular.
Step 3. (Optional) Store in the refrigerator for a few hours to allow the flavours to meld.
Step 4. Just before serving add:
unos cubitos de heilo	ice cubes
una lata de soda club	**a tin of club soda (or 7Up)

*When we first discussed making the Sangria Patricia was horrified at how much sugar some people put in their sangria – 6 tablespoons! When I finally got to try the finished sangria using her recipe, I found the result quite tart and ended up adding more sugar. In fact, I would personally recommend 5 or 6 tbsp. if you are using club soda for the fizz. Patricia later admitted to adding a litre of 7Up to her sangria. How much sugar is there in a litre of 7Up? Probably 6 tbsp, at least!

The sangria lasted several days and over this time period I tried several additions to sweeten it up – ginger ale (didn’t work) and Triple Sec (WOW!).

**I also found it more to my taste to add the club soda directly into the wine glass for a nice fizzy finish…

Serve in a regular wine glass. Enjoy!

serve the Sangría en a regular wine glass

Serve the Sangría in a regular wine glass. Personally I prefer adding the club soda to the glass just after pouring for a perfect ‘fizz’. We served spicy olives with the Sangria.

Manchego cheese, a sharp sheep’s cheese from Spain is perfect with Sangria. If you can’t find manchego cheese, I have also seen ‘pepper jack’ recommended.

Posted in European, Food around the world, Spanish, Uncategorized | Tagged alcohol, brandy, drinks, sangria, wine | Comments Off

Spanish Tapas at UBC, Class No. 2

Posted on September 18, 2012 by albatz

My favorite dish of the evening was pickled mackerel, (escabeche), described as ‘fish in vinegar’. It didn’t sound all that appealing, and when I saw the amount of work involved in filleting these small fish I was quite glad that I hadn’t chosen it.

these annoyed looking mackerel are destined to become my favorite dish of the evening, escabeche…

However, as one of the women later commented, “it tastes a lot better than it sounds”, and I agreed with her. It wasn’t the raw pickled roll-mop of my imagining but rather cooked fish mixed with onion and carrots, and delicious.

escabeche, or pickled mackerel, much better tasting than it sounds!

The lamb meatballs (albondigas) in a tomato-pepper sauce (my choice to cook) was my second favorite dish. As I was making them I suspected that they probably needed more spicing, especially as we had considerably more meat than the recipe called for, but I didn’t have a clue on how to check the spicing in raw meat.

So I just went ahead and started to roll the 80-odd meatballs. Chef Eric appeared, took a scoop of the meat mixture and popped it in the microwave. Once cooked he had a taste and yes, it needed more spices, but it was too late by then, and we had to wait and add them later during the frying process, less satisfactory to my mind. But what a great way of checking uncooked meat! I will remember that.

albondigas in a tomato-pepper sauce

Other tapas included chicken croquettes (croquetas de pollo),

chicken croquettes (croquetas de pollo)

flat bread with vegetables and clams,

flat bread with vegetables and clams

roasted asparagus wrapped in ham accompanied by a home-made sun-dried tomato mayonnaise – the mayonnaise was superb!

roasted asparagus wrapped in ham with a home-made sun-dried tomato mayonnaise

and sauteed garlic mushrooms…For dessert was the creamiest, most decadent rice pudding I have ever had.

the creamiest, most decadent rice pudding I have ever had

All that was missing was a light white wine, perhaps a Burgans Albariño, a Spanish vino verde with its slight effervescense and fresh citrus notes…

Albarino Vino Verde

Posted in European, Food around the world, Spanish | Tagged clams, cooking, croquettes, escabeche, food, ham.asparagus, mackerel, meatballs, menu, mushrooms, rice pudding, tuna, wine | Comments Off

Spanish Tapas at UBC, Class No 1

Posted on September 17, 2012 by albatz

Here is the menu for our first cooking class in Spanish tapas.

smoky paprika-spiced almonds
hot smoky paprika for the spiced almonds

paprika spiced almonds using the hot smoky paprika ‘Chiquilin: Pimentón Picante’.

olives marinated in lemon, roasted red pepper and herbs
olives in a lemon and roasted red pepper marinade
eggplant dip served with toasts

Spanish tortilla (a potato omelete, very different from Mexican tortillas)

Spanish tortilla, an egg and potato omelette

fresh grilled tuna and two-bean salad. The beans were large white beans from Spain and lightly cooked green beans. Other additions included almonds and cherry tomatoes, and it was served on romaine lettuce leaves. But the best part was the large handful of minced mint leaves that was added to the dressing for an intriguing flavour. Now I want to use mint in all my cooking. I even rushed out and bought a mint plant – but now I have to wait for it to grow!

fresh grilled tuna and two-bean salad with mint dressing and a mint leaf garnish .

cheese and olive empanadillas

a plate of tapas including the cheese and olive empanada at the bottom

and for dessert, rich chocolate cake

rich chocolate cake with a dusting of icing sugar on top…

And of course, what could be more Spanish than a glass of Sangria to wash it all down with?

Posted in European, Food around the world, Spanish | Tagged almonds, chocolate cake, cooking, cuisine, food, menu, miint, olives, salad, sangria, Spain, tapas, tortilla español, tuna, wine | Comments Off

Lime ‘Mezcalito’ Mistakes

Posted on September 12, 2012 by albatz

These were supposed to be Margaritas, but we accidentally used Mezcal instead of Tequila, and Mezcalitos were born!

1. Rim glasses with lime and dip into salt.

2. Into a powerful blender pour:

1 can of limeade concentrate (we used Minute Maid, made with ‘real limes’)
3-4 cans of ice cubes
1/2 can mezcal* (we used ‘El Famoso Mezcal Anejo, 100% agave’)
1/4 can triple sec
the juice of 1 or 2 fresh lime(s)
lime squeezer from Mexico – a fantastic little contraption. I once did about 15 limes for Key Lime Pie in no time flat and to clean it is just a quick rinse under the tap…

*of course you could always use tequila blanca instead of mezcal, and make a ‘Margarita’

3. Blend until ice is crushed.

blending the ‘Mezcalitos’

As limes vary greatly in acidity and intensity, you might want to test the mix for sweetness and strength. If it is too sour you can add sugar syrup or more Triple Sec; if the flavour is too intense, you can dilute it with another can of ice cubes or cold water, and blend again.

Once it is ‘al gusto’, pour into salt-rimmed glasses and serve immediately.

Margarita (or Mezcalito)

Note: Everyone thought they were mighty fine Margaritas until I realized that Al had used mezcal rather than tequila. Mona then called them ‘Mezcalitos’, and history was made!

These go really well with Marinated Queso Fresco: https://blogs.ubc.ca/albatz/2012/09/02/marinated-queso-fresco/

El Famoso Mezcal Anejo – 100% Agave

More on Mezcal and how it tastes vs. Tequila

Posted in Mexican | Tagged alcohol, cooking, creative, drinks, lime, margarita, Mexico, mezcal, mixing, Tequila | Comments Off

Mezcal (vs. Tequila)

Posted on September 11, 2012 by albatz

Mezcal is a liquor similar to tequila, not surprising considering that both mezcal and tequila are made of the agave plant, also known as maguey. The only difference between them is that mezcal can be made from a variety of agaves, whereas tequila is made only from agave azul, hence the saying: ‘all tequilas are mezcals but not all mezcals are tequila…’

Mezcal is perhaps best known for having a worm in the bottle. According to a tequila importer I was talking to, this was a publicity stunt to market a batch of mezcal that accidentally contained agave worms. Rather than throw it out, someone came up with the brilliant idea to imply that the worm was an aphrodisiac. The idea caught on, but if you don’t fancy worms then you should know that a lot of mezcal DOESN’T contain a worm.

Another saying about mezcal, “para todo mal, mezcal, y para todo bien también” (for everything bad, mezcal; for everything good as well).

Mezcal has smokiness to it that tequila doesn’t, and some brands are extremely smoky. If you happen to be in the state of Oaxaca, where the best mezcal comes from, we found that El Famoso Mezcal Anejo – 100% Agave one of the better brands to buy, with just a touch of the smokiness (and no worm!)

The recipe for ‘Lime Mezcalito Mistakes’

El Famoso Mezcal Anejo – 100% Agave

Posted in Mexican | Tagged alcohol, Mexico, mezcal, Oaxaca, Tequila | Comments Off

Marinated Queso Fresco

Posted on September 2, 2012 by albatz

During the last heat wave I was trying to think of a no-cook appetizer for a Mexican-inspired party. Then I vaguely remembered having this wonderful marinated queso fresco somewhere. This could be the solution!

Queso fresco is usually purchased in bags

the mild white queso fresco (fresh cheese) is usually stored in water like feta.

I checked out the online recipes, and found that the top four sites all had exactly the SAME recipe, right down to the ‘1/4 tsp. of sweet paprika’. One mentioned that marinated queso fresco was popular in Costa Rica – I knew I had had it somewhere!

I proceeded to fiddle with the recipe(s) – all four of them, dropping the thyme and adding more paprika. Here is the final result, after several adjustments.

1 lb queso fresco, cubed
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. dried garlic ‘chips’
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 fresh jalapeño, diced

queso fresco and the spicy olive oil marinade. My first attempt, in this flat casserole dish, didn’t really coat the cheese the way I had wanted.

I first tried to marinate the cubes in a flat container but that didn’t work, so I ended up putting it all in an glass jar. The cheese cubes should be marinated at room temperature in the spiced olive oil for at least two hours (or more).

Queso fresco marinated in spiced olive oil for two hours or more, at room temperature.

Once I had fished the cubes out of the oil, the final presentation looked a bit blah, despite my brightly coloured bowl. I dashed paprika on top and added some strips of jalapeño. Ultimately I decided that diced jalapeño, added early in the marinade process, looked and tasted the best.

To serve I dashed some more paprika on top and added some strips of jalapeño

To serve I dashed paprika on top and added some strips of fresh jalapeño.

Comments:
very mild cheese, slightly salty, not overpowering, nice texture (me)
¡spICY! (Eleanor’s rather alarmed opinion, I didn’t find it spicy at all)
perfect combo with Margaritas (Mona)

marinated queso fresco with a Margarita, the perfect combo…

NOTES:
You can keep it in the fridge; just be aware that the olive oil turns solid at this temperature, and you have to bring it out for at least a half hour to get it to ‘melt’.

I used dried garlic chips rather than fresh garlic because fresh garlic does not keep that well in oil. If you do use fresh garlic then plan on eating it right away.

The leftover marinating oil can mixed with vinegar to make wonderful salad dressings! With these particular spices I found plain or white wine vinegar to work best.

Posted in Food around the world, Mexican | Tagged appetizer, cheese, cooking, cuisine, food, marinate, Mexico, queso fresco, recipe | Comments Off

mussels and fries, Stanley Park style

Posted on August 31, 2012 by albatz

Mussels & Fries at Stanley Park Teahouse

In the ‘summer special’ at Stanley Park Teahouse, the mussels are simmered with tomato, fennel & wine. Al commented that the fries are not Belgian-style, but pretty good non-the-less, and served with the traditional mayo. Not bad for $12 including a Stanley Park Amber! (Monday to Friday, 3:00 – 6:00, summer, how-ever-long-that-is!!!!)

Stanley Park Amber Beer, part of the Monday to Friday special

Posted in European, Food around the world | Tagged beer, mussels, restaurant, review, special, Stanley Park | Comments Off

jewelry journey through Mexico & Guatemala

Posted on August 29, 2012 by albatz

In 2006, I went on a trip from Mexico City through Oaxaca and Chiapas and then into Guatemala. In the San Cristobal market, after some heavy bargaining, I purchased two amber necklaces, and in the Guatemala city market I bought some old coins, ‘reales’ and an antique silver locket.

jewelry components from Mexico and Guatemala

amber, reales and silver from our Mexican-Guatemalan trip

Later, I cut up the poorly made necklaces, and used the amber pieces, along with the coins and a silver locket from Guatemala to make this ‘Mayan Journey’ necklace and earrings.

Chiapas amber and Guatemalan silver

The donkey and chicken charms are from Oaxaca and the chain from México D.F., and I used them to make a charm bracelet that represents this part of the journey.

Sterling silver charm bracelet

I don’t think I have ever made a charm bracelet before. Originally I was thinking I could add one bird charm, one donkey charm and a few pieces of amber and then use the others for earrings. But, it appears that in order to look good there must be a charm on every other link…

Posted in Creative Process | Tagged amber, bracelet, charm, Chiapas, earrings, Guatemala, jewelry, Mexico, necklace, silver, sterling | Comments Off

Sangría

Sangria

These were supposed to be Margaritas, but we accidentally used Mezcal instead of Tequila, and Mezcalitos were born!

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