How to: Mexican Fajita Marinade

Fame is a fickle food upon a shifting plate. – Emily Dickinson

Citrus, chilli and garlic marinated pork (in this case). The marinade can be
used for beef or chicken as well.

Here’s a delicious and easy “how to” that I’ve been doing for years.

Every so often I like to do fajitas. They’re fast and easy and probably a little on the healthy side. The thing I don’t like (quite so much) is the packets of fajita spice that you can get at the grocery store to flavour your meat.

It’s unnecessary for a normal fajita. If you do it right.

This marinade gives you spicy, garlicky, citrusy meat that goes perfectly with all the usual fixin’s you would put on a fajita.

The brown pieces are kumato tomatoes. Unusual.

It may take a little time on the counter but if you do it in the morning before work you’re all ready to go when you get home.

It’s your choice if you grill, fry or barbecue. Just make sure that your meat is cooked through.

When I pan-fry (as I did this night) I like to pour all the marinade in the pan ad let it evaporate. It adds an extra lime-pepper kick that we really like.

To round out your fajitas try romaine lettuce, avocado, tomato, green pepper, jalapenos and lots of cumin seed. And don’t forget the sour cream.

Dare I say this is a filling meal that the whole family can enjoy.

When I pan fry I usually let the marinade evaporate in the
pan. It lets you get all the garlic, lime and chilli.

Fajita Marinade 

1 lb pork, beef or chicken

juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tsp dried red pepper flakes

1 tsp salt

Whisk together the lime juice, oil, garlic, chilli flakes and salt in a non-metal dish or zip-lock bag.

Place the meat in the marinade. Coat on both sides and let marinate for 1 to 2 hours on the counter, or overnight in the refrigerator.

Turn the meat at least once during marinating time.

Remove the meat from the marinate and either broil, grill or fry.

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Snowy Day Food: Tuscan-style Beef Soup

Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen. – Willa Cather 

Last night was evil. Howling wind, driving wet snow – everything you would expect from an early winter storm. Interestingly this morning it was all washed away, the result of temperatures increasing to well over 0°C overnight.

But it didn’t negate the nasty weather at dinnertime. You need something homey and comforting for nights like that. Something “country.”

I have an answer. Zuppa Toscana. Tuscan soup. Simple, hearty and something that can feed a crowd without breaking the bank. By the way, Tuscan soup is more than the chicken and cream variety you get at Olive Garden.

Simplicity is central to Tuscan cuisine. Beans, bread, cheese, vegetables, mushrooms and fresh fruit are common ingredients in everyday cooking. Traditional Tuscan cuisine, regardless of if it’s served in a Milanese restaurant or farmhouse kitchen, has is roots in peasant cooking.

Because of this simplicity the dishes are very hearty and filling. They are also frugal. A good example is the use of thickening of soup bases by the introduction of day-old bread. Nothing goes to waste.

There are many diverse recipes for Tuscan soups, from vegetable minestrones (I make a mean one with no tomatoes) to seafood soups. Each area has soups that are traditionally prepared in their kitchens. 

Much of what we call “Italian cuisine” actually has its roots in the cities, towns and villages of Tuscany.

This soup is a great one. It takes a bit of time (slightly more than an hour) but the result pays off for watching a pot.

If possible, use kale for the green in the soup. It has a slightly bitter taste that works well with the other ingredients. I had to make do with broccoli rappini – not quite the same, but when you’re in a pinch...

Tuscan-style Beef Soup

Prep: 15 min  |  Cook: 60 min  |  6-8 servings

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves

1 rib celery, diced

1 medium carrot, diced

2 lbs beef stew meat, cubed

2 cups beef broth

28 oz can of diced plum tomatoes, with juice

1 tsp dried rosemary

3/4 tsp dried thyme

3/4 tsp dried oregano

1 bunch kale, chopped (or broccoli rappini)

14 oz can chickpeas, drained (or cannellini beans)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup fresh grated bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or similar pot. Add the onion, garlic, celery and carrot. Cook for 5 minutes until the onion begins to become translucent.

Add the beef and cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add the beef broth, tomatoes and their liquid, the rosemary, thyme and oregano, and some salt and pepper. Cover and let cook for 30 minutes.

Wash the kale and rinse the chickpeas. At the end of the 30 minutes, roughly chop the kale and add it, and the chickpeas, to the pot.

Cover the pot again and let cook for 20 minutes. Then add the grated parmesan and grated bread. Stir in and let the mixture cook for another 5-10 minutes.

Taste for salt and pepper and adjust.

Serve with crusty bread to sop up the delicious juices.

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Recipe: Spicy Korean Pork and Kimchi

Tradition is a guide and not a jailer. – W. Somerset Maugham

Very easy to adjust the heat in this. The sour of the kimchi is
an unusual, and delicious, introduction.

I hope you all had a great holiday full of the traditions your family loves. 

For many of us this is the first normal day back. Yesterday doesn’t count as "normal” in Nova Scotia because everything is shut up the same as on Christmas Day. 

Marinate the pork for at least 1/2 hour.

Because of this second no-shopping day I believe we have started a family tradition in our household: Asian Food Boxing Day. A few years running makes for tradition, right?

There’s reasons this new tradition makes sense to us. First, it’s about as far away from turkey leftovers as you can get. Second, it’s fast and third, unless you want turkey leftovers it’s about all you can get your hands on in Halifax.

Nova Scotia is one of the few places in Canada where stores are not allowed to be open on Boxing Day. Our Boxing Day Sales are actually on the 27th. Strange, don’t you think? It seems the entire rest of the world is open for business but not Nova Scotia.

I suppose, it gives many families who have to travel far one more day to be together before dispersing again, some until the next big holiday at Easter, or even Canada Day in July.

Not even grocery stores are allowed to be open on December 26. So if it wasn’t for our hardworking immigrant grocery operators I bet many of us would be eating leftovers on Boxing Day.

But not us. Everything for this recipe is readily available at any Asian grocery, except for the ‘regular” items like onions, pork, etc, although larger ones will have those too.

It’s a refreshing change from the heavy, European holiday fare of turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes. They’re good, but I wouldn’t want to have them over and over.

I guess that’s what makes Asian Boxing Day food such a good idea!

Spicy Korean Pork and Kimchi

Prep: 15 min  |  Cook 15 min  |  Serves 4

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 lb pork loin, thinly sliced

1 cup kimchi, bite sized

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, julienned

for the marinade

1 to 4 tbsp chilli paste

1 tbsp sesame oil

4 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp powdered garlic

1 tbsp powdered ginger

3 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

Combine the marinade ingredients in a non-metallic bowl. Remember more chilli paste means hotter so use your own discretion. I used 2 tablespoons.

Slice the pork and toss with the sauce. Let marinate for 1/2 to 1 hour.

Heat one tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a wok. Fry the pork in two batches until it is no longer pink. This should take about 4-5 minutes per batch. Remove to a bowl.

Slice the carrot and chop the onion. Add to the wok with the remaining tablespoon of oil. Cook for about 3-4 minutes. Then add the kimchi and fry for another minute or two. 

Add the pork back to the wok and let cook until heated through.

Serve with white jasmine rice.

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Holiday Recipe: Almond Apricot Ginger Bark

Whoever thought a tiny candy bar should be called fun size was a moron. – Glenn Beck

Toasted almonds, apricots and canided ginger. Yum...

That’s probably the only time I have ever agreed with Glenn Beck. There’s a first time for everything, so they say.

It’s December the 26th. If you’ve yet been able to move yourself from your favourite chair you may have made your way over to the chocolates that were given to you as a gift.

But – horror of horrors – what if you didn’t get any? Although hard to believe, I do have the answer for you in case you’re in that predicament. Homemade almond bark.

This is the first time I’ve made a bark. There’s all kinds of recipes out there. Some take almonds or any other nut. Some have no nuts at all, like candy cane bark. Some combine white and dark chocolate in a decorative swirl.

Since it seems to be open season on what goes into bark, I decided to put my own particular twist in mine, as you would expect.

This all started because I found myself in possession of a cup of candied ginger. It was a by-product of making ginger syrup. I couldn’t just let it go to waste. 

If you don’t have any candied ginger just hanging around other candied peels can be substituted. I believe you can purchase them pre-candied at the grocery – possibly ginger as well.

I saw a recipe that contained apricots and almonds and I though a great accompaniment would be my ginger.

Almond bark is unbelievably easy to make. Some recipes call for melting the chocolate over a double boiler and other complicated procedures. I did a work around by adding cream (just a little) to my chocolate.

No need for a double boiler and the end result is a bark that is a little softer than the just chocolate variety that shatters when you bite it.

This isn’t an instant gratification type of recipe. You have to wait for the chocolate to re-harden. But it’s worth it.

Just in case you don’t have enough cookies and candies hanging around, give this a try. The bits of hot sweet ginger are an unexpected pleasant surprise.

Almond Apricot Ginger Bark

Prep: 15 min  | Cook: 8 min  |  Yield about 36 pieces

1-1/2 cup toasted almonds

1 cup dried apricots

1 cup candied ginger slices

16 ounces (squares) semi-sweet chocolate

1/2 cup cream

1 tsp almond or vanilla extract

If using non-roasted almonds, toast them slightly in the oven until the skins begin to brown slightly, about 5-6 minutes. Crush slightly.

Chop the apricots into thin slivers. Chop the candied ginger into fine pieces.

Melt the chocolate by placing the cream in a saucepan over medium low heat. Add the chocolate and stir constantly until completely smooth. Do this slowly. the mixture will just barely be steaming.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Then add the almond, apricot and ginger.

Mix well and spread out to about 1/4” thickness on a foil lined baking sheet.

Let cool on the counter until set. Then cut into approximately 1-1/2” squares. 

If you wish, hurry the process along by refrigerating the bark. Make sure you gut it before it's too cold!

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A Special Christmas Gift

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. – Matthew 2:11

Today is the day Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, without a doubt the most famous child in the history of mankind. Part of the celebration is, of course, the giving of gifts.

I could wax eloquently about the many gifts I am blessed with every day, which I truly appreciate. But instead I want to write about a very special gift we received a few weeks ago in our mailbox. A gift from an unknown child.

It was a homemade Christmas card, in a pre-stamped envelope all ready to be posted. No name, no nothing on the envelope – just the stamp.

Blank inside, it contained a note on a separate piece of paper, written by who I assume is the child’s mother. It said:

Now’s your chance

Spread the cheer

Send this card

To someone dear!

Happy Holidays!

The card featured carefully cutout Christmas trees on the front decorated with sequins. I’m sure it took quite some time to make. And I bet we weren’t the only ones in the neighbourhood to receive this most wonderful, charming and unexpected gift.

I have my suspicions who made it. There’s a little boy who lives with his mother about six houses down on our street. They seem to be very down to earth, gentle people, from the few times I have spoken with them. It’s exactly the thing I would expect them to do.

Pause for a moment and realize what she is instilling in her child for life lessons. Care for others, selflessness, the joy that can come making others happy, the giving of one’s time as opposed to just money – and that you don’t need to seek pomp and attention when doing for others. 

He's getting a great start in life, wouldn’t you say?

There’s two verses from the Book of Matthew that correspond with what I think that mother is teaching her child. I’m not needy, but you’ll get the point.

Matthew 6: 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

I believe that giving of ourselves is one of the greatest things we have to give. And it’s probably the hardest. Most of us are too busy in the rush of modern life to do more than toss a few coins in a bucket in December and call it a day. But need is present the other 364 days as well.

On this day, more than any other, we should take the time to reflect on the non-material gifts we have been given, and appreciate them more than what is under the tree. After all, we’re celebrating the greatest gift of all: “For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son…”

We should give, as we have been given, and expect nothing in return. Not just this time of year, but the whole year through. And it's never to late to start. I should heed my own advice.

I’ll close with the last lines of the Christmas classic by Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol:”

"Many laughed to see this alteration in him [Scrooge], but he let them laugh and little heeded them, for he knew that no good thing in this world ever happened, at which some did not have their fill of laughter. His own heart laughed and that was quite enough for him. And it was always said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well if any man alive possessed the knowledge."

Merry Christmas to you all.

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Christmas Eve: Decadent Lobster Chowder

I have always thought of sophistication as rather a feeble substitute for decadence. – Christopher Hampton

Golden yellow with notes of truffle. Fantastic.

Here’s a little decadence for you to think about serving for Christmas Eve dinner.

Many families gather together the night before for a celebration. Almost everyone who’s coming home for Christmas has arrived – and they have to be fed.

The meat from three lobsters.

Lobster is very popular at this time of year in Europe. Many of us here serve lobster as well. It’s doubly something to think about this year since the cost is so low. One local grocery has them for $5.99 per pound and it's cheaper if you buy from a lobster fisher from their truck. That’s low.

This recipe is a good way to really stretch three of the beasts into a veritable feast. This recipe makes eight bowls and the lobster only cost $21. There’s only one problem with lobster – shelling them. It takes time, and some effort. Oh, well.

I didn’t list the time for cooking and cleaning the lobsters. I cheated and bought mine pre-cooked but still in the shell. Hopefully you’ll have some help to shell yours. Choose carefully. It takes some will power to stay out of it as you clean!

This recipe started out life as a down-home lobster chowder, but I tarted it up. The carrot adds a sweetness and colour that usually isn’t there and the truffle oil… well it’s truffle oil.

The vegetables simmer in stock.

Truffle oil has a thousand uses in the kitchen and the cost isn’t astronomical, even at $4 for a small bottle. It only takes a little to impart its truffle flavour.

This chowder has a healthy does of butter so a little will go a long way due to its richness.

If you’re thinking about making something with lobster this holiday season give this recipe close consideration.

It may even become a family tradition.

Decadent Lobster Chowder

Cook: 30 min  |  Serves 8

2 lbs lobster meat (from 3 whole lobsters)

1/4 cup butter

1 tbsp truffle oil

1 medium onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup grated carrot

5 medium potatoes, in 1/2” dice

5 cups chicken stock

2 cans evaporated milk

2 tbsp flour

salt and pepper

Clean the lobsters and cut the meat into bite-sized pieces.

Heat half the butter and all of the oil in a large stock pot. Sauté the onion, garlic and carrot until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes.

Add the peeled and diced potatoes and the stock. Add the salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Knead the remaining butter with the 2 tbsp of flour so that it forms a paste.* Set aside.

At the end of the time add the evaporated milk and bring back to heat. Add the butter/flour mixture and stir until the liquid in the pot thickens. Cook for 2 minutes.

Add the lobster to the pot and bring the chowder back to full heat. Serve in bowls with crusty bread.

*  Kneading butter with flour is a great secret for smooth gravy as well. No lumps!

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