With warmer weather approaching, my stock and crock pot have found themselves slowly being neglected. Spring and summer in Ottawa mean shifting diets towards including more seasonal produce like dandelion leaves and fiddle heads. Some local farms with poly-tunnels (plastic enclosed green houses) will soon bring a variety of fruits and vegetables to the local open air markets, including the annual Lansdowne and new Main Street Farmers' Markets. Why do I make the distinction? Some open air markets, like the Parkdale one, host vendors who sell produce that come from the same distributors as those that supply local mega-marts. As such, the fruits and vegetables are sourced no more locally than Florida oranges or Mexican tomatoes in the produce section of the Superstore.

Incidentally, the Parkdale Market has one vendor who decided to sell me a non-locally sourced Spanish onion for $1, when his display clearly read $0.75/each. After some argument, I gave up and paid a dollar for my onion. I was pressed for time and wanted to load up a batch of lamb korma to braise before heading out to dinner with my better half's family.

Before you ask, the Korma was not a "scratch" recipe, but I did completely ignore the instructions from the can of Patak's curry sauce.

Patak's Lamb Korma Curry Sauce
With shoulder and stew lamb on sale at the Metro this week and the can of Patak's curry sauce listing no multi-syllabic preservatives on its label, I couldn't resist.

However, I find braised dishes taste best if left to age in the fridge overnight after cooking. Flavours intensify and any fat pools at the top. It then solidifies and can be easily removed. This is why I usually make a slow cooked curry a night or two before it is served. Hence, the korma was Tuesday's evening's. The korma was braised the previous Sunday.:

Lamb Korma Served
It was served on basmati rice with a simple salad of cucumbers and tomatoes. The curry's flavour was wonderful, savory and mild, punctuated with coconut and tumeric. Best of all, the lamb was meltingly tender, true alchemy converting some rather unpromising scraps of meat and bone into something palatable.

To make it, I cut up 6 pieces of bone-in stew lamb into 2-3 inch cubes, estimated weight of 2 lbs, and placed them into a metal bowl.

Stew Lamb

I added salt, freshly ground pepper, and vegetable oil. Once well mixed, I seared the lamb on all sides in a metal pan over medium heat, approximately 2 minutes per side. Once seared, the lamb was placed into the pot of a crock pot (aka: slow cooker)

I deglazed the pan with a frenched onion and a pinch of salt, lowering the heat slightly below medium.

Onions

Once softened, I added the contents of one 284 mL can of curry sauce to the pan and heated it to a simmer with the onions, scraping any remaining fond at the bottom of the pan.

After simmering for 2-3 minutes, I topped the lamb with the onion/curry mixture.

Topped

To braise, I turned the crock pot to high and brought the liquid back to a simmer. Then, I switched the crock pot to low and left it for 3 hours.

When cool, it was placed in the fridge.

To serve, Jenn lifted the fat off with a soup spoon and re-heated the curry in a non-stick pan under medium heat until simmering.

Reheated

Served

Simple! No fuss...No muss.

Two Fridays ago, Jenn and I found ourselves with a neighbour, starving. Our neighbour was craving maki sushi. Another friend was on her way over. She was craving Indian. Jenn wanted Thai. I was just plain hungry.

When everyone congregated in our little condo, we polled what restaurants we've been to in the neighbourhood. We picked three restaurants and decided on a strategy. That evening, our palates were going on a tour of Asia and we didn't need plane tickets or shots. The Wellington West and Hintonburg areas happen to be well endowed with some very decent ethnic restaurants.

Our chosen restaurants follow:

• Siam Bistro (Ethnic Asian - Thai: --$$, --***) - 1268 Wellington Street
• Sushi Umi (Ethnic Asian - Japanese: --$$, --***)- 1311 Wellington Street

Because Siam Bistro does take out, but the dinner service had already begun, we called them first. This restaurant does not deliver and gets really busy in the evenings. There, we ordered the 35b (sans peanuts) - a green curry with shrimp, pineapple and tomato; 36 - curried wild boar; and 52 - a pad thai. When the restaurant gave us a 45 minute wait time, our neighbour sat down with the takeout menu to Sushi Umi. There, she chose two plates of maki, one rainbow roll and one dragon roll. The latter features fresh water eel, always tasty!

Fifteen minutes later, we set out to Sushi Umi to order and get our maki. When we arrived, we found a line up. Several minutes later, the chef/owner very apologetically told those of us at the back of the line that he had completely run out of ingredients. The lunch and early-dinner service were very busy. One specific shortage that he could not address was sushi rice. He had no more.

Somewhat disappointed, we stepped out of the restaurant and came up with a contingency plan: Indian Express (Ethnic Asian - Indian: ---$, -****) - 1104 Somerset Street. The suggestions was unanimously agreed to as Jenn recounted our last outing there and their heavenly butter chicken. The problem: traversing the 10 or 11 blocks there and back in time to pickup the takeout from Siam Bistro. With 20 or so minutes remaining, we ran like crazy people to the end of Wellington Street where it turns into Somerset. When we turned the corner, we could smell curry. It was worth it. There, we lined up with the handful of people who were already in the restaurant. One had come all the way from Kanata, swearing by the food at Indian Express.

While our orders were prepared, two of us sprinted back to Siam Bistro, just in time to pickup our curries and pad thai. Then, co-ordinating with quick calls on our cell phones, we all met back at the condo.

Here's the haul. From Siam Bistro:

clock-wise from bottom-left: 52 with no peanuts, 36, and 35B

clockwise from bottom-left: pad thai, curried wild boar, and green curry

For reference, the Thai Green Curry with shrimp, pineapple and tomato is written phonetically on Siam Bistro's menu as "Gang Keow Wan Goong" ($13.95). The curried wild boar, Gang Ped Moo Pah ($14.95), is a chef's special. And, the pad thai (a favourite of my better half's) ($10.25) is self-titled. Total: $44.24 after taxes, before tip.

From Indian Express:

top to bottom: butter chicken with basmati rice and chicken tikka

gulab jamin for dessert

For reference, butter chicken is sold either with basmati ($9.00) or as a separate portion, $8.50 for a medium and $11.00 for large. The chicken tikka does not come with rice ($11.00). As a result, I bought oven baked naan at $1.00/piece. The gulab jamin is sold $1.00/pc or $4.99/lb.

Adding a pot of freshly made jasmine rice, we ate like royalty.

One Spicy Spread
The generous portions and flavours were astounding.

My plate:

clock-wise from bottom: naan, boar curry, green curry, and chicken tikka on rice
The naan was rather pedestrian as it was not cooked in a tandoor, so it was neither blistered substantially, nor slightly smokey in flavor. Brushed with clarified butter (ghee) and fresh, it nevertheless went equally well with Indian and Thai curries, which was an epiphany for me. Indian and Thai foods go well together.

That said, Indian Express' butter chicken was again spectacular, rich, deeply flavorful, and very tender. The chicken tikka was equally wonderful, tasting of tomato, onion, and coriander. Both were made with marinated boneless chicken. As we cut into each piece, the cross section showed how deeply the marinade penetrated.

I usually find Siam Bistro's pad thai somewhat too sweet. That evening, the sweetness was toned down, allowing umami flavours to reign. As always, good pad thai is a mixture of textures as it is flavours. This was good pad thai. The noodles were not over cooked. They were just sauced. The bean spouts and egg were fresh. The boar curry was quite spicy and surprised us with the sheer amount of vegetable in the dish. The boar itself was somewhat harsh, but quite meaty. The green curry was somewhat less spicy and very aromatic, characteristics of how Thai curries are made: finely ground herb and pepper pastes, cooked in the fat from coconut milk. While it tasted great spooned over rice, be it jasmine or basmati, I actually enjoyed it best with buttery naan.

Dessert:

Halved gulab jamin dressed with syrup
Think rich soft cake, soaked with honey. One is enough to sate just about any sweet tooth and, as Jenn's roommates found out years ago, gulab jamin are not easily made. These were great. With every bite, I actually felt some sugar crystals along the back of my teeth. I wonder if this is a sign of well made gulab jamin.

Spicy Friday anyone?

Business cards and particulars follow after the jump:

More after the jump...

During the latter half of January, the Ottawa Citizen (a very local newspaper) re-published a piece by Victoria Times columnist Eric Akis, entitled "Slow route to tenderness: Lamb and veal shanks and beef short ribs make economical comfort food." Accordingly, during troubled economic times, scratch-cooked comfort foods provide a satisfying escape. With this year's talk of economic stimulus packages and the growing lists of layoffs, it is predicted that long simmered foods will again become popular.

As someone who subscribes to Chef Fergus Henderson's "nose to tail" eating paradigm, I never really let go of slow cooking, forging a special relationship with my slow cooker. Oft overlooked meat cuts lend well to simmered cooking, such as braising or stewing. This includes the lamb shank recipe that follows Akis' short editorial. The shanks are braised in an oven at 325 F for 2 and a half hours.

While I have a slow cooked lamb shank recipe that I want to share, I fear that Akis overlooked the fact that people are still overburdened with tasks. Simmering foods in a low oven is somewhat "inconvenient" while picking up groceries, visiting the local post office, fighting Bell Sympatico for yet another expensive cock-up, cleaning the condo, or spending time with your significant other. It is especially difficult when your city's entire public transit system is shut down due to strike.

The strike ended recently (thanks to an upcoming visit from America President Barack Obama), but I doubt most peoples' lives permit anymore flexibility. Tasks multiply now that buses and partial light rail are becoming available again. When once tasks were slow to accomplish because it was difficult to get around, they become location-independent again, meaning we can accomplish more. Thus, time is again a limited resource, so, before I post a slow cooked recipe for lamb shanks, let's look at one way to satisfy our slow cooked appetites without having to look after an oven for a couple hours.

My solution, pickup low sodium prepared sauces with no preservatives and look to the slow cooker to set us free. Introducing, beef rogan josh, slow cooker style.

What you'll need:

2 medium sized onions

onions, chopped fine

4 medium-sized potatoes and one can of Patak's Rogan Josh curry sauce

potatoes, chunked and soaked in water

2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine

one pound of hand cubed top sirloin beef with significant marbling

beef, mixed with 1 tbsp corn starch and 2 tbsp canola oil

Before we go any further, the rogan josh that we are familiar with in North America may be an English interpretation of an Indian curry. This is because, while Rogan Josh online recipes are spiced with Indian spices (tumeric, garam masala, coriander, cumin, and chile powder) and employ yoghurt, they also contain tomatoes, something common to a dish that Brits call "chicken tikka masala." In fact, the ingredient list for noted British Chef Heston Blumenthal's "perfect" chicken tikka masala is very similar to that of rogan josh. One has chicken. The other, beef or lamb. As Chef Blumenthal discovered, the closest authentic Indian dish he could find that resembled chicken tikka masala was butter chicken.

What to do:

read the instructions from the can

brown the stew meat in pan and place in the ceramic bowl of a slow cooker

de-glaze the pan with the onions, cook the onions until coloured, and add the garlic

add the contents of the can to the pan and bring to a simmer

add the chunked potatoes to the ceramic bowl and cover with sauce

Heat on high until simmering, switch to low and cook for 45 minutes.

finished rogan josh with potatoes

With a gentle brightness from the tomato-y sauce, savoriness from braised beef, and lots of Indian spices, this rogan josh made a great entree. The aroma during cooking was indescribably good.

Plate on cooked basmati rice, add a salad, and you've enough in one batch to serve dinner to 4, generously.

The best part: it's a slow cooker. There's no oven to look after.

According to UK's Telegraph Newspaper, a complaint letter is currently circulating via e-mail throughout the world. Considered by many to be the funniest airline complaint letter ever drafted, it describes an unappetizing in-flight meal by a passenger, traveling on one of Virgin Airline's Indian flights. The letter is addressed to billionaire Richard Branson, owner and operator of all things branded "Virgin."

The letter has been reconstructed and is currently available on the Telegraph Newspaper's website. The following are some of the funnier portions with corresponding images:

Appetizer and Dessert

...I know it looks like a baaji but it?s in custard Richard, custard. It must be the pudding. Well you?ll be fascinated to hear that it wasn't custard. It was a sour gel with a clear oil on top. It?s only redeeming feature was that it managed to be so alien to my palette that it took away the taste of the curry emanating from our miscellaneous central cuboid of beige matter. Perhaps the meal on the left might be the desert after all.

Source: Telegraph Media Website

According to the The Gourmet Cartographer blog, "baaji" or "bhaaji" is a vegetable dish, sometimes made from potato and tomato. It is best enjoyed from street vendors in Mumbai, where it is often served with toasted, fried, or grilled bread called "pav."


Main Course

...Now I know what you?re thinking. You?re thinking it?s more of that Baaji custard. I admit I thought the same too, but no. It?s mustard Richard. MUSTARD. More mustard than any man could consume in a month. On the left we have a piece of broccoli and some peppers in a brown glue-like oil and on the right the chef had prepared some mashed potato.

Source: Telegraph Media Website


Dessert

...It appears to be in an evidence bag from the scene of a crime. A CRIME AGAINST BLOODY COOKING. Either that or some sort of back-street underground cookie, purchased off a gun-toting maniac high on his own supply of yeast. You certainly wouldn?t want to be caught carrying one of these through customs. Imagine biting into a piece of brass Richard. That would be softer on the teeth than the specimen above.

Source: Telegraph Media Website

An addendum to the re-constructed letter states that Branson himself contacted the author to "thank" him for his "constructive critique." It is not clear if the author was at all compensated for his experience.

Now, I would love to declare this incident a "processed food low" that another airline has sunk to because it chose to put profit ahead of people, but I am not qualified. I haven't logged the requisite hours traveling on airlines to make the determination. Though, I hope the author submits his images and letter to AirlineMeals.net. At least this way, someone else can draw appropriate conclusions.

AirlineMeals.net is an image repository of in flight and crew meals served by various international airlines over the past 50 years. The website currently hosts over 18 000 user submitted meals and personal accounts of each. A friend directed me to the site months ago.

Here are sample meals from various eras:

TWA meal from the 50s
Source: AirlineMeals.net


Pan am Meal from the 60s
Source: AirlineMeals.net


Japan Airlines Meal from 1984
Source: AirlineMeals.net

Unfortunately, AirlineMeals.net has been in a state of "re-construction" since June 2007. I just hope someone keeps a backup of the image repository. It would be a shame to lose such a collection of culinary history.

To quote Alton Brown, who in turn quotes Ferris Bueller, "'Life moves pretty fast.' As a result, those of us living type-A lives end up choking down a lot of type-D chow."

Now, I'm not entirely sure what constitutes a "type-A" life, but, disposable time has become quite the limited commodity and, due to global financial factors, "healthy food" in particular and food in general are getting more expensive. So, when time is short and there are multiple chairs around the dinner table, people turn to incorporating prepared foods into their meals or outsourcing their meals altogether (i.e. dining out at the local fast food joint). Home cooked meals are relegated to Sundays. Scratch recipes are forgotten. Such explains the popularity of Hamburger Helper. It is a decades-old "prepared food compromise" that has been used by many a family to quickly put a meal on the table.

According to Wikipedia, Hamburger Helper is essentially a meal kit that consists of an "instant" starch (pasta, rice or potatoes) and specially measured dried sauce packets. All you need to do is brown some ground meat (typically beef); add water, starch, milk and the seasoning packet; simmer; and the dish is complete. It is sold by General Mills under its Betty Crocker Brand and represents a prepared food compromise, because it is not a microwave dinner. Some cooking is required.

Enter curried macaroni. Since, I outright refuse to purchase anything containing dried "sauce" packets, Hamburger Helper hasn't yet made it on my shopping lists. However, like everyone else, I also fancy quick and easy meals on hectic days. Hence, I put together this quick an easy recipe.

Here are the steps:

1. Brown about a 1/2 lb of ground beef in a pan. It can be lean ground beef, but I prefer medium.
2. Add one recipe of Bengali Curry sauce.
3. Simmer the mixture together for 5-10 minutes until the beef cooks through.
4. Set the mixture in its pan aside.
5. Cook up 1/2 to 3/4 cups of dried pasta (macaroni preferred) in boiling salted water until al dente
6. Drain the pasta, but do NOT rinse it.
7. Bring the curried meat sauce back up to a simmer and add the pasta.
8. Stir until the sauce thickens and the noodles are well coated.
9. Remove and serve hot.

Faithful readers of foodieprints will know that I often use the same Bengali curry sauce with many dishes. This includes curried hash, braised beef tendons, braised ox tail, braised pork hocks, chicken curry, and beef curry. As such, I can whip up a recipe of this sauce rather quickly.

Regarding the curried macaroni recipe, a prepared curry sauce can be used. However, the "from scratch" Bengali curry sauce recipe ensures a level of nutrition. This is because its ingredient include real vegetables. Furthermore, a recipe of the curry sauce sits quite happily in a glass jar in the fridge for a week, so it can be prepared well ahead of time. If chopping carrots, celery, or onion isn't your forté, a food processor can be used. Just remember to pulse until chopped and not run until liquefied.

Hmm...Ferris Bueller...It's been a while since I've seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I think I'm going to visit the local Future Shop and pick up a copy. Cheers!