jiimdak--korean chicken stew

I have to come clean...I don't have a TV and most of the viewing I do consists of watching food programs or recipe videos online. It's a great way of making me uselessly hungry at like a quarter to eleven at night. I was on an Asian recipe watching kick and this stew looked really easy and delicious, and now that I have a resident carnivore living with me, he was in charge of cutting up the disgusting looking yet delicious meat for the recipe. Try making this braised chicken stew with noodles the next time you want something hearty with zippy asian flavours!

Ingredients: 

dried whole chili peppers, oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sweetener, garlic, ginger, chicken, green onion, white onion, carrots, potatoes, sesame oil, mushrooms, mung bean noodles

You will need for the sauce:

1/4 C soy sauce

1/4 C oyster sauce

1/4 C sweetener (agave or honey)

1 T rice vinegar

Prepare the chicken:

2 1/2 pounds of chicken ( I used skinless boneless thighs), cut into 2 inch cubes. Cut the chicken and then rinse it well, and drain.

Prepare the vegetables:

1-2 carrots cut into medallions (cut on the bias to look fancy--see below)

1 onion cut into strips

2-3 potatoes cut into 1 1/2  inch cubes

1 cup of mushrooms ( I used portobello)

5-7 green onion cut into 1 inch pieces

1/4 C. minced garlic (about 6 cloves)

2 T. minced ginger

For the noodles:

Use half a package (2-3 big handfuls or 100g) of mung bean noodles or potato starch noodles. Follow the cooking instructions--that is, soak them in cold water to soften.

To make the stew:

Heat up the wok and add 3-4 dried chilies cut up into 2-3 centimeter thick pieces. Now you are making plain vegetable oil super pimped up with chili flavours. Fry the chilis in oil until they become darker, but before they begin to burn, on medium heat, about 45 seconds. Go!  

Remove the chilis and now you have an amazing fragrant chili oil in which to fry the chicken (or tofu, i am sure this would be equally delicious).

Fry the chicken in a wok or large frying pan until it begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and keep frying for a couple of minutes. Now add the minced garlic, ginger  and sauce and give it all a stir. Add 3 cups of water and let cook for 10 minutes.

Now it's time to start adding veggies. Add the carrots and onions and stir.

When the carrots and onions are nearly cooked to your liking, add the shrooms and stir well.

Now it's time to add the noodles that have been soaking away. Drain them and stir them into the stew. The starch from the noodles will start to create a beautifully clingy and thick gravy sauce, bathing all those yummy ingredients in delicious flavoursome liquid. Let the noodles soften in the stew over medium heat for a few minutes.

When you're ready to serve, get your plate and spoon the jiimdak, making sure to get some noodles in your bowl, and some gravy. Add a drizzle of toasted sesame oil and some chopped green onion, like so. Sprinkle some sesame seeds for garnish and serve with kimchi, for that extra korean flair.

This dish is perfect for the cold weather that's certainly on its way. Double carb action with the potatoes and noodles just feels extra filling and decadent. I really loved this stew, and hope you do to!

food highlights: august

Let's take a spin through August's eating haul, shall we? Let's just say I indulged...

We went to Le Pégase for our anniversary dinner. It's an amazing French restaurant that serves high quality food and still allows you to bring your own wine. We drank a special bottle to celebrate one year of extreme tolerance of one another's quirks to the point of finding them nothing short of adorable. The young French waiter was suitably impressed by our rock star dark side of the moon wine. He asked us how our "Pink Floyd" wine was and I told him it certainly didn't taste of hallucinogens and dark thoughts. My mom got this special bottle for Matt as he is a true Floyd fanatic.

I had the venison tataki, served with crispy sweet potato, cranberries and cumin. I liked it but had food envy. (Matt always chooses the best thing on the menu by fluke or by intuition--who knows?) He had a salad of magret de canard.

For mains I had this lovely piece of turbot type fish with smoked salmon mousse, that sinfully sweet stuffed tomato with a fennel salad. Again, food envy ensued because Matt had lamb, and it was so perfectly prepared that I learned exactly why people love eating these beautiful fluffy animals. It's because they taste damn good.

Dessert time! Classic creme brulée for me.

Matt sniffing the Quebec cheese platter. His love affair with cheese will sustain him through life, just look at him!

Moving on to other delicious times...

Yoshi's daily creation: her leek and patty pan pizza at Café Petit Gateau. What a tasty place to have lunch.

 Parental units bonded over seafood at Teklenburg's. Fun times. Turns out, if you are from a small town and dating someone from the same small town, your parents will have many, many shared connections.

Authentic ramen, I mean pulled by hand and dropped into a pot of boiling water before your very eyes. A crazy huge portion for less than 10 bucks. In the Faubourg. Go.

Tasting my very first roasted loin of pork, prepared by Matt. I'm a lapsed vegetarian, remember? 

DROOOOOL

summer snapshots: food and fun

Shroom growing by tree on the shore of Kukagami lake

Fire pit on the shore of Lake Huron during the blue moon in August

Pit stop on the way to Kukagami: Smokin' Jeff''s food truck on Highway 17

Lots of hours spent tending to and contemplating the fire. I love making fires.

Matt's delicious BBQ ribs at White's Point, Manitoulin Island

Mid afternoon sangria: an ingenious idea by Rob and Sarah

The beauty of Kukagami

fancy food

A few months ago I was consulted for vegetarian menu ideas by my friend who cooked this lovely meal two summers ago. He is now working as a chef in Taiwan and cooks up fancy meals for embassadors and consular people at the Canadian embassy. He is "The Guest Canadian Chef Representative" for the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei. He is used by the Head of Mission to cater events at the Official Residence, showcasing Canadian cuisine and talent. He also promotes Canadian cuisine, performing cooking demos at cooking expos and culinary schools. Swank! 

I was so honoured and surprised when he asked me to share some ideas with him. The theme was French Canadian food with a vegetarian twist, which is why he decided to call in the "big guns!" i.e. little old me. French Canadian cuisine is not inherently meatless, but I came up with a million ideas, from lentil shepherd's pie, to pea soup, to sugar pie. I was even more honoured and surprised when he actually took some of my ideas and ran with them, adding his amazing culinary touches.

Vegetarian Split Pea Puree, Garniture of Leek Confit and Yellow Split Pea, Extra Virgin Olive Oil Scented with White Truffle

Wow. Just...wow. I wish I could taste this right now. People, I had suggested a simple split pea soup. This dish has been pimped to its maximum potential, and even involved truffle oil! This is why I have a lowly food blog and not a 5-star restaurant. I need to learn to extrapolate my cooking ideas. Otherwise, I see a lot of nondescript lentil mush meals in my future.

Terrines of Spring Watermelon, tones of Tomato and Basil, Pickled Red Onion and Watermelon Rind, Kalamata Olive, Feta and Organic Water Cress

This dish seems dead sexy to me. So fresh and colourful. It must taste like how splashing around in a lake on a hot summer's day feels: an invigorating journey to pleasure land.

Quebec Tarte au Sucre, Vanilla Black Pepper Ice Cream, Fresh Local Seasonal Fruit

VANILLA BLACK PEPPER ice cream. I scream "yes"! Give me it, now.

Let me know if you need some ideas or inspiration to help you cook up something delicious. Thinking about food is one of my favourite things, ever.

groovy granola

Store bought cereal is so expensive, and thus out of my budget at the moment. But look at what I had in my pantry. Why, the makings of delicious granola were at my fingertips. If you have time, granola is super easy to make.

Here's what you will need:

Thick rolled oats (don't use the instant or quick cook kind)

Nuts (I used walnuts and almonds)

Dried fruit (I used coconut, dates, and cranberries)

Some kind of sweetener. I used a mix of agave and maple syrup, but you could use honey, or even boil down some sugar and water into a thick syrup. Ratio can be 4 or 5 parts grain to 1 part sweetener.

Chop up your nuts as finely or as coarsely as you want. 

Same goes for the fruit. I like mine nibbly-sized.


Mix the grains and the nuts together, then add your sweetener, and some cinnamon and vanilla for fun. Stir until coated.

Toast your grains and your chopped nuts in a shallow baking pan at 350 degrees until golden. This takes about 20 minutes or so. Take care not to burn the grains, checking them often and stirring them around so as to toast them evenly. Enjoy the heavenly aroma emanating from your oven, and the sense of satisfaction as you scorn the cereal industry for turning basic whole grains into cardboard tasting pap.

Once your grains are all toasted, transfer them into a bowl to cool and then add the fruit. Do not toast the fruit, it will burn. 

Let your groovy granola cool and then transfer into a jar. It will keep for a long time in the cupboard, and indefinitely in the freezer. So good on top of yogurt or with your preferred milk/milk alternative. Have fun making the simplest and healthiest cereal on earth!

Sparrow by day, Sparrow by night

Sugar Shack Brunch/ Drinks at Sparrow let's do this!

 Part 1: enter one of Montreal's nicest gastropubs with an empty stomach begging to be filled with a variety of pork products smothered in mother nature's tree candy liquid.

Start off with some proper French Canadian split pea and ham soup. Just like mémére makes. Enjoy the fact that it's in a dainty cup, as you know this is only the beginning of a maple pork orgy.

Feves au lard et patates! Ouin!!!!

This meat pie killed it. I am not a fan of pie crust. It's like Sparrow read my mind because they used some kind of buttery croissant crispy topping. It was amazing. Drizzle the lot liberally with maple syrup and bang your fist on the table because it is so. Damn. Good. 

Will you get a load of that sausage? It's almost obscene. When you taste something like this you understand why pigs had to die. 

For the rest of the day, do not eat. Just walk around in a carb fueled daze and enjoy the ride. You're no lumberjack but you just ate like one. Maybe try and go climb a tree, or something.

Part 2: Sparrow by night y'all! Bring your parents here, they'll love it. This here is a French 75, maybe because it consists of 75% alcohol? Prosecco, gin, lemon, vermouth. Get some!  Random fact about these wide cup champagne glasses: they became fashionable in the 18th century and were apparently modeled after Marie Antoinette's breasts. I'll drink to that! I kind of wish her boobs would have been a tad larger though, because this drink was delicious.

Daddio's gin martini--Tanqueray 10. Nothing but the best for the Bond emulator. Actually, it was stirred, not shaken.

I love the look of this bar. Suitably vintage/British for this food snob.

Dad and Mom. Best 8 dollar Cosmo in town.

Party time, excellent! 

Milos

I like to talk about food with people, especially to find out about restaurants I should check out. Many references are often made about Milos, and how it's the best greek restaurant in Montreal. I decided to put this claim to the test. I don't really have a true reference point, not having ever been to Greece, but in my mind I pictured fresh and simply prepared food with lashings of olive oil. And that's pretty much what I got. I was transported to Adriatic bliss without even leaving my neighbourhood.

Freshly toasted bread and their own brand of olive oil. The charred crunchiness contrasted beautifully with the fresh and bright taste of the oil.

Debating whether to pay ten bucks for a glass of wine, or a ten dollar supplement to have grilled octopus, it really was no question. This was so worth it! The octopus was really very tender with a nice meaty charcoal bite. 

Cristal started with the classic tomato and feta salad. 

Olga had a double barreled salmon meal. Her starter--smoked Atlantic salmon.

Freshly grilled tsipoura fish...flown in from Greece. Not eco-friendly but tasty nonetheless.

A giant bouquet of fresh flowers. Classy! 

A classy and unassuming facade. It matched the food: simple, fresh, clean and delicious. What was also fun was that the atmosphere and the clientele were unlike any other Montreal restaurants. My friends and I wondered where all these sophisticated people came from. Milos is a great excuse to get dressed up and eat some really fantastic food.