Yesterday, I had a somewhat awkward conversation with a relatively old-school project manager who disparaged the new online presence features of Microsoft's recently unveiled mobile operation system for smart-phones and other smart-devices, called Windows Mobile 7. He felt the social media-oriented aspect was a distraction for business users who are more task-oriented. So, Microsoft is essentially alienating its traditional user-base. Incredulous, I pointed out the upcoming millennial workforce is more conscious of work-life balance and values the new contact and event-driven features. Besides, modern business has realized using such tools as Facebook and Twitter thoughtfully can help them establish their brands (lends to good will) and cultivate familiarities with prospective clients, customers, or patrons. Savvy businesses, that realize benefits should not be measured $/click (or $/follower), also learn about their market at the micro-social level.

To me, Microsoft, having "out-Appled" Apple with respect to their mobile operating system's dynamic interface, made the platform attractive again. In a ubiquitous computing environment, devices need to be multi-functional. While I am not a member of the millennial workforce, I participate in several vibrant online communities using social media tools. It has grown my personal and professional networks, connecting me with people I would never have imagined speaking to. Many connections have materialized in the real-world and developed into friendships.

What does this have to do with sweet potatoes or gnocchi? I am blessed to have so many different people in my life. Through my participation in the food blogging community, I met Leela (@shesimmers), the blogger behind SheSimmers. Later I would meet Melody (@gourmetfury), the blogger behind Gourmet Fury. Together, they run Beet 'n Squash You. This month, it is battle sweet potato. For my entry, I asked a handful of people in my networks how they take their sweet potatoes. That is when I discovered how versatile the traditionally winter root vegetable actually is. I know people who only eat sweet potatoes as shoe string fries. I know people who like their sweet potato as pie filling. I know people who swear by "candied yams", topped with marshmallows. I know people who roast them, jacketed in aluminum foil. I decided to try my hand at sweet potato gnocchi, pairing it with a wilted green and some pulled pork. It is not my Beet 'n Squash entry.

Well, the pulled pork worked...
Pernil-Inspired Pulled Pork

One Pork Shoulder Roast

Second Pork Shoulder Roast

Spice Rub

Hawaiian Salt

Pork Shoulder Roasts Dried

Pork Shoulder Roasted Oiled and Coated

Pulled Pork after 90 minutes of Covered Roasting

Pulled Pork after 3 hours of Covered Roasting

Pulled Pork Mid-Shred

Pulled Pork Texture

Here's what you need:

• Pork Shoulder
• Enough Rub to Coat the Pork shoulder Above
• A Little Canola Oil

Yes it's that simple. For this batch, I used the following ratio of flavourings 6:6:1:2:1:1 onion flake, dried oregano, Hawaiian salt (seriously cool gift from seriously cool friend), Hungarian paprika, ground cumin, and red pepper flake by volume. My choice for measuring this time, a teaspoon.

Prep:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F
2. Dry the pork shoulder roasts of moisture.
3. Very lightly coat them in oil
4. Coat the roasts in rub

Method:

1. Bake covered for 3 hours or until the meat falls from the bone.
2. Shred
3. De-fat the drippings and reduce to taste.
4. Sauce the meat with the drippings. It should be slightly moist, not wet

Plan A: Gnocchi (failed)
Because the gnocchi failed, I am not going to write up the recipe. I am only going to record notes, so I can re-attempt it.

Pair of Sweet Potatoes, Pricked All Over
The potatoes were lightly coated in canola oil and roasted at 350F, until softened. This took 1 hour.

4.2 oz of Old Cheddar Cheese
The cheese was grated finely.

One Hot Green Chili, Finely Chopped
When the sweet potato had been roasted soft, it was left to cool for 5 minutes.
Then, it was forced through a ricer in batches.
To the riced sweet potato, 1 tsp of nutmeg, 2 pinches of kosher salt, 3 grinds of black pepper, and the shredded cheese was added. The remnant heat melted the cheese.
When the mixture cooled completely, one egg was added.

Sweet Potato Mixture Pre-Flour
2 cups of flour were sifted in with minimum stirring.

Sweet Potato Mixture Post-Flour

Here is where things went awry. After looking up several sweet potato gnocchi recipes on YouTube, I figured the texture of the gnocchi dough should resemble ones that contained 50% by mass ricotta. Thus, I added more flour, thinking my dough too wet and overworked it. I then overworked them further, shaping and re-shaping them.

Shaped Gnocchi
The gnocchi was boiled in simmering salted water until they floated.

Gnocchi Post-Boil
Then, the gnocchi was fried in brown butter.

One Batch Browned

Another Batch Browned

Here are three platings with gently wilted young spinach

Wilted Spinach

Plating 1

Plating 2

Plating 3
While they looked and smelled delicious, the gnocchi were neither tender nor light.

More after the jump...

Ever since my less than successful first attempt at cooking lamb shanks, I have revisited preparing the traditionally long cooked cut of meat twice. Both times either produced shanks whose meat that was too soft or too firm. Neither attempt employed mushrooms. So, when Leela (@sheshimmers) of the She Shimmers and Melody (@gourmetfury) of the Gourmet Fury blogs announced February's vegetable for their Beet & Squash "Veggie Celebration Contest", I decided to attempt the only preparation of lamb shanks I have encountered that had the texture I wanted, braised lamb shanks with mushroom bolognese. That preparation was actually a frozen entree from local fine food store Epicuria (419 Mackay Street).

Given that I missed "Battle Napa Cabbage", due to other happenings this past New Year, I pulled out all the stops.

First, I went looking for the source recipe and its originator: Italian Master Chef Michael Chiarello. Then, I chanced upon Epicuria's recipe and took note of their intepretation of Chef Chiarello's recipe.

Having read up on the recipes and armed with tips from an ex-Epicuria Chef, I went shopping for lamb shanks. Before, I purchase frozen New Zealand lamb shanks from the local supermarket. This time, I sourced the lamb shanks from my neighbourhood butcher's Saslove's (1333 Wellington St. W). They turned out to be fresh Canadian lamb shanks. Mushroom-wise, I picked up two Asian varieties from a local (non-T&T) Asian supermarket, the New 168 Market, just outside of Chinatown (1050 Somerset Street W).

Now, tradition has it that a "bolognese" is a meat "ragu" that is a staple of the Bologna region of Northern Italy. It is a full-bodied meat sauce that is tomato based and flavoured with wine and mirepoix vegetables: 2 parts onions, 1 part carrots, and 1 part celery. At times, it includes milk or cream. For reference, think of the filling in a classic Bolognese lasanga. Here is one I made several weeks ago:

Bolognese Lasagna
Substituting mushrooms for meat, while bucking tradition, makes a good deal of sense. Mushrooms can be good and meaty. Though, they have to be carefully cooked or will come out rubbery.

Here is what turned out:

Braised Lamb Shanks with Mushroom Bolognese
I served it with onion polenta and yu choy.

Recipe
Here's what you'll need:

2 796 mL Cans of Low Sodium Plum Tomatoes

Approximately 230 g (1/2 lb) of one variety of mushroom

Approximately 230 g (1/2 lb) of another variety of mushroom

3 Medium to large lamb shanks

• 1 cup of chopped onion
• 1/2 cup of chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup of chopped celery
• 2 cups of dry red wine (Ours: a 2007 Jackson-Triggs Cabarnet Franc/Cabarnet Sauvignon from the Niagara Peninsula)
• 3 cups of low sodium chicken broth

According to the notes in Chef Chiarello's recipe, the shanks can be made a number of ways: braised for 2-4 hours in an oven set to 300F or braised for 6 hours in an oven set to 250F. While the shanks can be made in a covered pot on the stove top, "there is caramelization of flavors in oven braising that stove top cooking does not replicate." We went the super long route in a low oven. But first, we need a braising liquid and, since we're braising overnight, the liquid can be refrigerated during the day thereafter so the fat can rise to the top, solidify, and be easily lifted off. The braised shanks can also be aged in the refrigerator alongside.

More after the jump...

Wintery conditions have finally returned to Canada's capital after record rainfall earlier this week, the fourth week of January. With such odd weather, it is a wonder Ottawans have their bearings climate wise. Today, temperatures fell below zero again, so I think I will mark the occasion by revisiting a slow cooked dish, red wine braised lamb shanks with onion polenta.

Red Wine Braised Lamb Shanks with Onion Polenta

Of note, even though the lamb shanks made a hearty and savoury dinner, I consider this dish a failure. I will explain why later.

To make the above braised lamb shanks, three fresh lamb shanks were purchased from then Loeb (now Metro) on Wellington. For the record, it was several days past Christmas and Jenn and I wanted something very much non-poultry after serving up our annual turkey feast with all the fixings.

Three fresh lamb shanks

At $11/kg, the shanks ran us $16 before taxes
Remember that number, it will come in handy later...

As with any braise, I seared the lamb shanks, placed them in a small mount of flavourful liquid, and cooked them covered for a long period of time (3 hours). To ensure a hands-free braise (Sunday is chore day for my household), I turned to my slow cooker (aka: crock pot). To ensure the shanks picked up some tannins from the red wine (an unremarkable cabernet sauvignon), I coated the shanks in flour before searing them.

Lamb shanks seared in a little canola oil in a pan

Lamb shanks unceremoniously deposited into the pot of a slow cooker

The braising liquid was a red wine reduction, flavoured with sweated onions.

3 sweated down onions
I added one bottle of an unremarkable cabernet sauvignon, brought to mixture to a simmer, and lowered heat to low, reducing it until thickened.

Reduced red wine and onion mixture

Mixture poured over lamb shanks and slow cooked on low for 3 hours

Braised Lamb Shank

After letting the shanks cool, I placed them in the refrigerator overnight, since braised meats taste better aged. Here' are theories why.

To serve, I whipped up a standard polenta recipe and added finely chopped green onions to taste. That day, I used Alton Brown's polenta recipe. Others will do.

Creamy batch of polenta

Meanwhile, I baked the lamb shanks in an oven, preheated to 350°F, uncovered until they darkened.

Plated Served

More after the jump...

As someone who believes in eating nose to tail, I have always been intrigued by Mexican menudo, a hearty tripe soup (or stew) that is reputedly good for curing hangovers. I first encountered menudo while watching an old episode of Chef Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations (Season 5?). He was visiting Mexico and, as he tucked into a bowl, he made light of the soup having the same name as a former Latin boy band, whose lead singer was none other than Ricky Martin.

Like Chichi Wang of Serious Eats, author of a series of "The Nasty Bits" blog entries, I enjoy the texture of slow cooked honey comb tripe: delicate and almost gelatinous. Having grown up exposed to foods from many cultures, I have eaten beef tripe (omasum) at Chinese dim sum, where it is cooked crunchy and served with ginger and green onions (scallions). I have eaten beef tripe (honey comb) stewed in soy with star anise. I have even stewed beef tripe myself in store bought tomato salsa.

Stewing tripe in salsa was essentially my attempting to pair tripe with tomato and chile. It lead me to attempt a hominy-based menudo a year ago, with a small degree of success. Having come across Chichi Wang's attempt at Chef Rick Bayless' Menudo Rojo, I decided to try again, taking lessons learned from my first attempt. This time, I produced something sublimely good.

My Attempt at Menudo Rojo
Wang's recipe borrows from Chef Bayless' Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking from the heart of Mexico, a reference cook book that has enjoyed almost 22 years of re-prints.

Authentic Mexican, published 1987
I recently came across a first edition at a public library.

Though, I did stray somewhat from Chef Bayless' recipe, making an African Kosayi to infuse chile into the menudo stock instead of a paste from dried chiles.

We will start with the African Kosayi, essentially a spicy red pepper sauce that is somewhat analogous to Vietnamese sriracha. The following recipe comes from an episode of the third season of the Australian Food Safari.

Recipe

Red Peppers

Red Peppers Post Boil

Seeding and Skinning the Larger Peppers

Peppers Pureed

Puree, corrected for Flavour with Vinegar and Sugar

What You'll Need:

• 2 red bell peppers
• approximately a dozen bird's eye chiles
• 5 cili merah chiles
• Any mild vinegar like rice wine vinegar
• Granulated white sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• kosher salt to season

Essentially, any combination of sweet and hot chiles will do, so long as the ration is 1:1 by mass. The peppers I chose just happened to be varieties more common to Asian cuisine.

Method:

1. Place the peppers in a pot with a tight fitting lid, cover with cold water.
2. Place the pot over a burner set to medium heat and bring the water up to a simmer.
3. Lower the heat to medium low and simmer for 25 minutes covered
4. Remove from the heat and let the peppers cool until they are handle-able
5. Drain the peppers.
6. Dawn a pair of latex or vinyl gloves. Do NOT skip this step. Prolonged exposure to hot peppers, cooked or otherwise, can cause the capsaicin to seep into the skin. It burns!
7. For the larger peppers (i.e. not the bird's eye chiles), halve them, remove their seeds, and peel off the skins. Boiling the peppers like this is similar to roasting them. The flesh separates from the skins.
8. For the bird's eye chiles, just pull off the stems. They should come off rather easily.
9. Place the seeded and skinned pepper flesh into a blender along with the stemmed chiles
10. Blend until smooth
11. Strain the puree through a wire strainer. This will remove any errant seeds and skins.
12. Stir in the olive oil
13. Correct the flavour with vinegar and sugar. According to the source recipe, a Kosayi should not be too hot. For the above peppers, I added 2 tbsp each of vinegar and sugar.
14. Season to taste with kosher salt.

For the menudo itself, Chef Bayless' recipe employs pig trotters to impart a stickiness to the stock that comes from slow cooking collagen into gelatin. Please note that the tripe, more common at Chinese dim sum and served in bowls of Vietnamese Pho noodles, is layered omasum, the third of a cow's four stomachs. For this recipe, thicker and more substantial honey comb tripe is required. Omasum may actually dissolve completely from the long stewing in the following recipe.

More after the jump...

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.