I think I need a drink: Flowering Quince Liqueur

Count your garden by the flowers, never by the leaves that fall. Count your days by golden hours, don't remember clouds at all. Count your nights by stars, not shadows. Count your life with smiles, not tears. And all throughout your lifetime, Count your age by friends, not years. – Anonymous

Funny day today. I am feeling reflective, indifferent and sad simultaneously.

I am reflecting on how fortunate I am to have the people I do in my life: my husband, my friends and family, and of course Henry, my current furry son and Simon, my passed one, who I miss every day. 

This morning I was beneficiary of a 20 minute long sleep-cuddle when Henry crawled up beside me and fell asleep (at 5:30am). It was nice.

The indifference comes from the day it is. As of 5:10pm today I will have been a blight on the face of this earth for 52 years. Of course I will have to smile and nod as people far and wide wish me a happy birthday. I know they’re well intentioned, but this year...

I know that sounds quite “sour” but yesterday had a lot to do with my current mood. The indifference for certain, and the reflection.

The sad comes from the fact that I received some unexpected news of the death of a school and university friend of mine after gall bladder surgery. Steven Fancy. He was only 51.

Steven's the 4th standing guy from the right.

Steven was always laughing, and loved to have a good time. Although we hadn’t spoken for well over 20 years I thought of him often and had recently tried to find him through Facebook, but he wasn’t there. I had no idea where he may have ended up living.

I do now, but too late. That causes reflection. A lot of it. Show those you love that you do each day. Reach out to those you care about who you may have lost contact with. Enjoy each day for yourself, because you just never know...

So it’s a bittersweet day today. I’m glad I already had a post ready to go as flowery words about food wouldn’t come easy today.

Luckily it’s a post about booze, because I think I could use a drink.

About 6 weeks ago I picked some flowering quince fruit from my uncle’s bush before his house sold. I had already made quince jam. I decided to make some infused vodka and a liqueur. The infusion takes a month.

This one’s pretty interesting. It’s floral with a delicate taste. Slightly citrus, with notes of pear and spring blossoms. I found the same qualities with the jam. The quince has a fairly intense bouquet but doesn’t deliver on the sweet to the same level.

Quite nice. This will make someone happy as a Christmas gift, to be certain.

Ready to be infused. It turns yellow over the four weeks.

Flowering Quince Liqueur

Infusion: 4 weeks  |  Yield 1.5 L

7-8 flowering quince fruits

750 ml vodka

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

Wash and slice the quince. Place the fruit into two Mason jars. Pour 375 ml of vodka over the fruit in each jar. Cover and shake well once a day for the first week.

Let infuse for 4 weeks in a cool place out of direct sunlight.

Strain off the fruit through a sieve. Strain again, through fine cloth to remove any sediment.

Bring the sugar and water to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Let cool and then combine with the infused vodka.

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Recipe: Brazilian-style Shrimp Soup

To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect. – Oscar Wilde 

Interestingly delicious.

My spouse always gets to me when he says “that’s different.” I never know if it’s a positive or negative. Expecting the latter probably says much more about me than him.

Funny though, that I said the exact same thing when I first tasted this soup. And it was positive.

Only add the shrimp at the end. If not they will be
overcooked, tough and rubbery.

I did have my doubts about this one. Squash and shrimp… It’s not a combination that springs to mind. I have to admit that part of my doubts came from me cobbling together a few recipes into this one.

But it worked – and worked really well!

I had pumpkin still hanging around in my freezer from when I procured the free one right after Halloween. Time to use it, I would say. I already had a pound of frozen shrimp as well.

A quick search started to bring up the usuals, and then some more "different" recipes. This was only after I changed my search from chowder to soup. lesson learned.

This one’s a real delight, with some really complex flavours. The base is a tomato broth with a shot of fish sauce for seafood flavours. But it doesn’t stop there.

Rosemary, garlic, fennel seed and chillies make for something transcendental. Fennel seed… I had to dig in my cupboard for those.

Fennel isn’t that common an ingredient in cooking. It has a taste of anise (liquorice) so really isn’t that common as a stand-alone. It is an important seed in many dishes from India. It also is one of the “five” in five spice powder as well as a flavour in the liquor absinthe.

Fennel seed. Photo: Wiki CC

Many of us may be more familiar with fennel bulb, the vegetable. Fennel is quite a useful plant, with the seeds, leaves and bulb all being used in cooking. Fennel has been proven to have medicinal properties as well.

A lot of us don’t much care for the anise flavour. Among those who don’t you can count fleas. Powdered fennel has been used to keep them away from dog kennels and barns.

But don’t worry. The fennel flavour in this soup is barely perceptible, but would be missed if not included.

This recipe comes together in a snap, from start to finish about 25 minutes. This one-dish it’s quite filling, especially when the delicious broth is sopped up with some fresh country bread!

If you want to "tropicalize" this recipe even more, add 1/4 cup unsweetened grated coconut to the mix.

Brazilian-style Shrimp Soup

Prep: 5 min  |  Cook: 20 min  |  Serves 4

6 cups water

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 cup fish sauce

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 cup tomato paste

1/2 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp fennel seed

1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes

3 cups cubed squash, or pumpkin

The bread is almost a necessity. Dipped in the broth they
are almost a side dish on their own!

1/2 cup white rice

1/2 to 1 tsp salt (to taste)

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

Combine all the ingredients except for the shrimp in a large soup pot.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. About 5 minutes into cooking take a potato masher and break up the squash cubes slightly.

Continue to cook for the remaining 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After the 15 minutes, add the shrimp and increase the heat. Bring to a boil and let cook just until the shrimp are cooked through, about 3-5 minutes.

Serve in bowls with crusty bread on the side.

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Recipe: Pork Mole Chilli

Chilli represents your three stages of matter: solid, liquid and eventually gas. – Dan Conner, Roseanne TV show

Just look at this. It turned out rather well...

Always remember chilli as a remedy to Jack Frost's icy grip. Everyone's familiar with the spicy concoction of meat and beans. Probably most of us have at least one recipe we can do from memory.

Have you ever though about making chilli with mole? Probably not. Mole (mow-lay) sauce is a common sauce in Mexican cuisine, composed of different types of chillies and several other ingredients. Not all chillies are hot. For example, ancho and poblano are included solely for flavour.

You can get several different types of dried chillies at the
Superstore. About 6-8 dried chillies were $2.00. Not bad.
These are Ancho. They are black green before being dried.

Many mole recipes also contain chocolate. Mine does. Chocolate takes on quite a different quality when mixed with spices, chillies and tomatoes. It all comes together in a deep, complex, delicious, spicy sauce – perfect for chilli.

Origin of chilli

Where “chilli” originated is the source of much heated debate, if you will pardon the pun.

Today chilli is most closely associated with Texas and New Mexico, but (regardless of what people may say) those places cannot be the origin.

Take into consideration a few facts:

Dishes of meat, beans, peppers, and herbs were widespread in Incan, Aztec, and Mayan cultures before the Europeans even arrived in the Americas.

Chilli peppers have been part of the cuisines of China, the Middle East and India for many centuries, if not for millennia. The dishes they were used in contained meat.

Ready for the "long simmer."

Green chilli peppers were first introduced to North America (not to be confused with Central America) around 1600 by Don Juan de Onate, where New Mexico is now.

So there’s scant evidence that chilli is a Euro-American invention. One thing that cannot be disputed though, is that its consumtion was widely spread via cattle driving across the southern USA plains.

The ease of one-pot preparation, and good nutrition, certainly helped popularize it. This was doubly true in a business where you worked hard all day and only stopped at sunset, and in different locations every night. 

I do have to admit the taste probably had something to do with it becoming popular as well. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as a steaming bowl of chilli.

Chilli is a dish to which you can add nearly anything on hand. The basics are meat, tomatoes, herbs and hot chillies. The heat can be increased or decreased to personal taste. But from there's it's up to you.

The common name “chile con carne” is Spanish. Chile is chilli peppers, con is “with” and carne is “meat.”

There are vegetarian versions, but they are modern inventions by non-meat eaters to enjoy a dish that is supposed to contain meat. Meat, tomatoes, herbs and chillies.

Pork Mole Chilli

Prep: 10 min  |  Cook: 2.5 hrs  |  Serves 4-6

After simmering, with the black beans added.

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 lb pork loin, 1/2” cubes

1 medium onion, diced

6 garlic cloves, chopped

2 dried ancho chillies

4 dried red chilli peppers, chopped

1 lg jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

1-1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 squares semi-sweet baker’s chocolate

28 fl oz can whole tomatoes

1 cup beef broth

19 fl oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

salt and pepper

to serve

cheddar cheese

sour cream

diced green onion

One pot of chilli. Easily doubled or tripled, depending
on the crowd you have to satisfy.

Rehydrate the dried ancho chillies in hot water for1/2 hour before starting. Dice and set aside.

Heat the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven or similar heavy pot with a lid. Add the pork and cook until slightly browned.

Add the onion and garlic and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Add the ancho, red chilli and jalapeno peppers and cook for 2 minutes more.

Stir in the cumin, oregano, thyme, cinnamon and chocolate. Then add the tomatoes and broth. Add some salt and pepper (to taste) and bring to a boil. 

Stir until the chocolate dissolves. Then reduce the heat, cover and let cook for 2 hours. After the 2 hours add the rinsed black beans and cook, uncovered, for a further 15 minutes.

Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.

Serve with grated cheddar, sour cream and diced green onions on top.

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Recipe: Korean Kimchi, Lacto-fermented

Philosophers have often looked for the defining feature of humans—language, rationality, culture and so on. I'd stick with this: Man is the only animal that likes Tabasco sauce. – Paul Bloom

Related recipes:

Lacto-fermented sauerkraut

Lacto-fermented jalapeno peppers

Lacto-fermented roasted peppers

Lacto-fermented homemade soda

This is one I’ve wanted to try for a very long time. Lacto-fermenting intrigues me a great deal. It tales very little effort, is safe (if you know a little bit) and doesn't require any energy to preserve or store.

Korean dried chillies

I love kimchi, but only certain kimchi. Years ago at the local Asian grocery, Coa Ho, they had small jars of fairly dry kimchi that was salty, spicy, sour and sweet. Amazing. I've tried several since and it wasn't the same.

I haven’t gotten around to it before for a couple of reasons. The first was I wanted to find a true lacto-fermented recipe. All kimchi is fermented, but I wanted to find a method closely resembling my lacto sauerkraut. I didn't so I had to improvise.

The second was that, although I like eating kimchi, I don’t know what In would do with 2.5 L of the stuff. The answer to that was Christmas. I will gift what I make in excess of my own use.

A large bowl full before salt and kneading.

Lacto-fermenting is fermentation using the natural lacto-bacillus present on all vegetables. The trick is to make an environment where bacteria that cause decomposition are killed but not the good bacteria. That’s all done via the salt.

I have successfully lacto-fermented sauerkraut (a couple time), jalapenos, and roasted red peppers. Pretty much any pliable vegetable can be treated in this way.

Cabbage, carrot, greens and daikon all fall in the category. Broccoli and cauliflower probably not so much unless aided by the introduction of whey.

You can lacto-ferment pretty much any vegetable. Other good ones to do with just salt are cucumbers, beets and turnips, all preserved regularly in certain cultures.

It’s quite an easy process that anybody can do. You simply slice or chop whatever you’re using and then kneading with salt. Kneading is about the right description.

After kneading. Liquid has expressed and the volume
is reduced to about 1/4 of original.

You squeeze the vegetables with the salt, taking care to keep the pieces whole. In the process liquid exudes from the dry mixture and what started out dry becomes much reduced in volume and very wet.

Whatever liquid that comes out is what goes in the jar with the vegetables. The salt kills the bad bugs until the good ones take over. From there they do their magic converting the vegetables on the chemical level.

Lacto-fermentation has many advantages beyond just preservation. Lactobacilli in fermented vegetables improves their digestibility and increases vitamin levels. They also produce helpful enzymes as well as antibiotic and anticarcinogenic substances. 

Their main by-product (the preservative), lactic acid, not only keeps vegetables in perfect preservation, but also promotes the growth of healthy flora in the intestines. This helps us digest everything else we eat more efficiently too.

So there’s plenty of reasons to make, and give, lacto-fermented vegetables. It’s such an easy process too. You really should give this one a try.

You’ll note the recipe calls for “Korean” chilli flakes. You can buy them, or whole dried ones, in Asian grocery stores. They’re not as strong as regular chilli flakes, so don’t be scared of the 1/2 cup used in the recipe!

The recipe calls for five 500ml jars. I have friends who will
just love this so I did two 1L. The little one's for me.

Korean Kimchi, Lacto-fermented

Prep: 35 min  |  Age: 2 weeks  |  Yield: 2.5 L

1 med nappa cabbage, chopped

1 bunch mustard greens

1 lg carrot, grated

1 medium daikon, cut in long matchsticks

1 bunch green onions, chopped in 1/2” pieces

2” piece ginger, grated

8 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 cup Korean red chilli flakes

2 tbsp sea salt

1/4 cup fish sauce

Special equipment:

rubber gloves

5 x 500ml Mason jars

Prepare all the vegetables and place them in a non-metallic bowl. This is important.

Grate the carrot and chop the ginger and add. Then add the red chilli flakes. Sprinkle the salt on top.

Wearing the gloves (also important) begin to gently squeeze the vegetables, similar to kneading. Do not break the vegetables up in the process.

“Knead” the salt into the mixture for 10 minutes. At the end of the time a fair amount of liquid will have leeched out of the Kimchi.

Pour the fish sauce over the top and stir in well. Let sit while you sterilize and dry the jars and tops.

Fill each jar, leaving about 1” from the top of each one. Divide any liquid remaining between the jars. Carefully clean the top of each jar and cover, tightening well.

Place in a cool spot to age for a week or two before use. Over this time the vegetables will lacto-ferment and gain a complex sweet/sour flavour.

Once opened, a jar of kimchi will last in the refrigerator for a very long time as long as the vegetables remain below the liquid line.

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Recipe: Thyme Garlic Crusted Steaks

Did you ever see the customers in health-food stores? They are pale, skinny people who look half dead. In a steak house, you see robust, ruddy people. They're dying, of course, but they look terrific. – Bill Cosby

As a side dish I cooked green beans and potatoes together and
then tossed them with butter and cream.

Have you ever been disappointed in your pan fried steak? 

You know what I mean – burnt on the outside and dry on the inside, or perfect on the outside and far too pink when you cut into it.

I really should have cut these into four portions.

I know there are many people who like their steak "blue" (the fancy term for raw in the centre) but those people are few in the grand scheme of steak eaters. I am not one of them. Raw steak doesn't turn me on. I guess I'll never experience Steak Tartar. My loss.

When you go to a restaurant the chefs don't seem to have any problem cooking the perfect steak. Beautifully browned outside and juicy inside. Many restaurants have indoor grills, but many also use another method – direct and indirect heat.

I  prefer my old cast iron pan to sear, but any oven proof pan will work. Pan browning and then finishing steak slowly in the oven allows you to have the best of both worlds. Repeat after me: direct and indirect heat.

Some people on the inter-web say this is some kind of restaurant secret. I highly doubt it, unless there's a conspiracy of silence that encompasses every student at every community college food service program around the world.

If you've never finished a steak in the oven before you really should try. It's the same principle as spatchcocked chicken. Both results are browned outside and tender and juicy inside. Perfect result and the oven does all the work. You can do it on a barbecue with a lid, too. Direct and indirect heat.

The easiest way to "grate" bread is
using a food processor. Just a few
pulses is all it takes.

Since it's already in the oven, baking a crunchy crust on it makes perfect sense. This one consists of bread crumbs, butter and plenty of garlic and thyme. It's all you need to dress steak for company, or to treat yourself.

The bread crumbs brown slightly as it bakes and the garlic heats through and becomes aromatic. It smells and tastes wonderful.

By the way – always, always, always let any roasted meat rest for a few minutes before cutting. If you don't, all those juices that make the meat so moist end up gushing out onto the carving plate.

So give it a rest. OK?

Thyme Garlic Crusted Steaks

Prep: 5 min  |  Cook: 25 min  |  Serves 4

4 strip loin steaks, about 3/4” thick (or similar)

1 tbsp olive oil

2-1/2 tbsp butter, melted

1-1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs, grated

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, or 2 tsp dried

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In an oven proof frying pan, heat the olive oil. Sear the steaks on both sides until nicely browned, but not cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Season with the salt and half the pepper as they fry.

Combine the grated bread, garlic, thyme and remaining pepper. Melt the butter and add to the bread crumbs and mix well.

Evenly press the crumb mixture on top of each steak. Place the pan in the hot oven and let cook until the steaks are done to your liking by testing with an instant read thermometer.

For rare 135°F, medium-rare 145°F, medium 160°F, and well-done 170°F. Between Medium and Well is 18 minutes.

Let the steaks rest for 3-5 minutes so the internal juices redistribute.

Serve with snapped green beans cooked with diced potatoes, all tossed with butter.

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Holiday Baking: Gingerbread Men

Take care of all your memories. For you cannot relive them. – Bob Dylan

Sweet tasting memories.

We may not be able to physically relive our memories, but we can most certainly maintain them and make new ones. These cookies remind me of growing up and Seamone’s Bakery in Liverpool.

We used to go grocery shopping on Fridays in Liverpool on the South Shore. There was a bakery on Market Street run by Mr. Seamone.

It was an old Victorian storefront with wide glass windows and a recessed entry. When you opened the door you were surrunded by counters on three sides, filled with freshly baked goodies.

In the bakery was all manner of homemade breads, rolls and sweets. Three treats that I remember are the fantastic “egg tarts,” sugar cookies and these delicious little men.

The gingerbread men stood out because they had no fancy decoration. The eyes and buttons were nothing more than red food colouring. But in our eyes they were decked out in gold.

Slightly firm and slightly spicy they were a treat for us on the drive home, if we were good while Mom and dad were shopping. We had to have something to occupy us on the half hour drive.

The bakery and its recipes are long gone, but the happy memory remains. Baking these cookies is a way for me to reconnect with happy times gone by.

I’m posting this today because this is a perfect activity to do with your kids this weekend. The dough takes next to no time to mix up. If you have things you need to do put it in the refrigerator and when you come back roll it out and bake.

We had company last night and baking the cookies made our dessert. It was fun and fast and made the house smell like a home. Two dozen cookies didn’t last very long either.

There’s one lonely gingerbread man left. And he’s soon to join his friends!!

By the way, gingerbread men, although fantastic for the holidays, would be happy to make an appearance in your kitchen any time of the year.

Gingerbread Men

Prep: 10 min  |  Refrig: 1 hr  |  Roll and bake: 30 min  |  Yield 24-28

1/2 cup butter or mararine

1/2 cup sugar 

1/2 cup fancy molasses 

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ginger 

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour 

red food colouring

Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Add the molasses and egg and beat again.

Next add the salt, baking powder, baking soda and all the spices. Stir to combine.

Add the flour, one cup at a time, beating it in well after each addition.

Scrape all the dough onto some plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Dust a rolling board with flour. Roll the chilled dough out to about 1/4” thickness and cut out with a cookie cutter. Arrange on a baking sheet, with a little space in between. The cookies will spread slightly.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit on the tray for 2 minutes, then remove to a rack. Do not stack the cookies while warm or they may stick together.

In a few minutes the cookies will firm up.

Bring any remaining dough together, re-roll and cut until all the dough is used.

To decorate add 3 drops of red food colouring to 2 tablespoons of water. Dot the cookies with a small paint brush for eyes and buttons.

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