Spring will be Sprung. Pickerel and Spring on CBC's Weekend Morning Show

 Tomorrow morning after the 8:30AM news, I will be presenting the following dishes on CBC's Weekend Morning Show with host Terry Macleod.

I chose these recipes for a few key reasons.  First, the Winter Pickerel season ends on March 31st so get them now!  These sweet, pink fillets are delicious and very versatile.  Second, these recipes are very simple to make at home and since the ingredients are so close to home, even easier.   Third, whether observing Lent or celebrating Spring and the Vernal Equinox, these recipes fit.

Enjoy!  Spring will come. (photos tomorrow).

(Prepping parchment paper fish, photo by Karen Peters)

Parchment Paper Fish
Per Fillet:
1 fillet Pickerel � now on sale at Gimli Fish
1/2 carrot, peeled and then peeled into strips
1-2 spears asparagus, in ribbons or sliced on a bias
pinch sea salt
pepper to taste
3-5 basil leaves, chiffonade (or pesto)
parchment paper
spray olive oil*

Preheat oven to 400�F. Place fish on top of very lightly oiled parchment paper. Place basil, carrot, asparagus and pinch of salt and pepper on top of fish. Lightly spray with olive oil. Seal paper and place in oven or on top of grill for up to 20 minutes in the oven, depending on thickness of fillet. If using a BBQ, place fish on upper level and not directly over the heat. The fish is so delicate. Paper will puff up. Remove and serve immediately.

Pickerel Fillet Fish Tacos
Serves 2

2 pickerel fillets
juice of 1-2 limes
1/4 - 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
pinch sea salt
1 chopped jalepeno (I used dried chipotle chilies)

Marinade the fish in the juice and spices for at least 20 minutes.

1 thinly sliced red onion (I caramelized it)
sour cream
1-2 thinly sliced green onion (cut on the bias for thinner slices and nicer presentation)
Sour cream or crema
Warmed corn tortillas (toasted for a few minutes)

Prepare all of the dishes for the taco and then saut� the fish in a bit of olive or canola oil, 1 -2 minutes per side. Remove fish from heat and flake. Assemble tacos and enjoy!

Food Reward Friday

This week's lucky "winner"... the Taco Bell waffle taco!!

Read more �

Machaca {Shredded Beef Tacos}

This time of year always makes me crave Mexican and Southwest flavors. Part of it is seeing my twitter and Facebook feeds filled with scenes from SXSW in Austin, Texas, and part of it is that we�re finally starting to see a few signs of spring: cherry blossoms, later sunrises. Spring means summer is just around the corner, and summer means sunshine and tacos.

Today we�re making machaca! Machaca (which I had never heard of until now) is slow cooked beef, flavored with peppers and spices, shredded for tacos or taquitos. It satisfies my summer cravings, but is warm and hearty enough for the chilly March weather. Perfect for early spring!

This recipe comes from my friend Jessica. From birth until I was about eight years old, Amanda and I spent nearly as much time with Jessica (Amanda�s age) and her brother Jared (my age) as we did with each other. They were our first best friends, and we�ve always had a connection with them, regardless of time and miles. They moved away from Washington to Arizona the summer before I went into second grade�my first heartbreak.

Obviously their years in the Southwest have paid off, because this recipe is awesome. Jessica said it was a labor of love, and through tons of trial and error, she finally came up with this recipe. The meat marinates in lime juice and spices overnight, then slow cooks all day. When it�s time to eat, you have juicy, tender shreds of beef that fall apart with the poke of a fork.

I�m always so busy creating new recipes that sometimes I forget how good family recipes are�one bite and I felt like I was sitting around the table with Jessica and her husband and four kids. Or, like I was six years old, with Jared, Jessica, and Amanda frantically helping me clean my plate so we could all go play. 

PS. I have no trouble finishing my dinner these days.

Beef Machaca

Recipe from Jessica Gilmore

Plan ahead. This needs to marinate overnight, and then cook for at least 6 hours. If you�re making taquitos, Jessica recommends letting the cooked meat sit in the fridge overnight (a 2nd night�torture!) to bind. 

Marinade:

2-3 lb chuck roast
� cup Worcestershire

Juice of 2 limes

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

� teaspoon salt

� teaspoon black pepper

� cup oil (canola or olive oil)

Machaca:

1 large sweet onion, diced

� green bell pepper, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalepeno, minced

1 14oz can diced tomatoes (and juice)

� cup beef broth

1 tablespoon oregano

1 tablespoon cumin

Salt & pepper

Hot sauce

Trim beef and cut in two to three pieces, and lay in a baking dish or in a large ziplock bag. Whisk together marinade ingredients, and pour over meat. Seal bag (or cover dish with plastic wrap) and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, add marinated beef and remaining marinade to slow cooker, along with all remaining ingredients except salt, pepper, and hot sauce.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred and stir into juices. Add salt, pepper, and hot sauce to taste.

Serve with warm tortillas and taco fixings.

For baked taquitos: Refrigerate shredded beef and juices in an airtight container overnight. Roll inside flour or corn tortillas, and bake in a 425 degree oven for approx. 10 minutes (until crispy, but not burned).

Sausage & Pesto Fried Egg Sandwiches

Runny egg. Slightly crispy sausage. Creamy sharp white cheddar. Fresh, garlicky pesto. 

That's what went in between the slices of my toasted English muffin this morning. This breakfast sandwich is based on the Yolko Ono, which is the best fried egg sammie around, from the best Portland food cart: Fried Egg I'm in Love. 

Amanda is friends with one of the Fried Egg owners, Jace. We make sure to stop by every time we're in Seattle's little sister to the south�not just because we know Jace, but because holy fried egg, it's so good! And also, they have a lot of fun. Those guys are basically the only reason I still look at Vine. And they sell super cute tshirts. And they use Aardvark hot sauce, which I love. And, the sandwiches all have fun music-inspired names, like Yolko Ono, Sriracha Mix A Lot, Free Range Against the Machine, and Back in Black Bean. Annnd one more thing, they have contests on Facebook where you can help name their new sandwich specials. So fun. So good.

My favorite is their original crowd pleaser, the Yolko Ono, which inspired this lil' mashup here. Of course I still dream about the real deal, but this homemade version will totally do the trick between trips to Portland. 

If you're not putting pesto on your fried egg sandwiches, you're not livin', friend. 

Sausage & Pesto Fried Egg Sandwiches

Inspired by the Yolko Ono

For each sandwich, you'll need:

1 English muffin, toasted

1-2 tablespoons pesto (store-bought, or recipe below)

2 slices aged white cheddar

1 pork breakfast sausage patty, cooked

1 fried egg (over medium for me, please, with salt & pepper)

Hot sauce for serving

To assemble, add a healthy dollop of pesto to both pieces of English muffin, then add cheese to one side, top with sausage patty, fried egg, and other English muffin half. Serve with hot sauce. Dig in.

Basic Basil Pesto

Makes about 1/2 pint

1/4-1/2 cup  extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup grated parmesan 

2 garlic cloves

2 cups fresh Basil

1/4 cup cup nuts (I used almonds, but you can also use pinenuts, walnuts, etc)

Squeeze fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper

If using a high-powered blender like a Vitamix or Ninja: add ingredients in order listed (not including salt & pepper), starting with 1/4 cup olive oil, and blend, slowly increasing speed, until smooth (use tamper as necessary). Add more olive oil if it's too thick. If using food processor, add garlic & nuts, and pulse for a few seconds until ground, then add remaining ingredients, and pulse until smooth (adding more olive oil as needed. 

Stir in salt & pepper to taste. 

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. 

The Ultimate Detox: Your Kidneys

The specter of unseen, unspecified toxins eroding our health is worth many millions of dollars in the United States and abroad.  Companies offer "detox" supplements, beverages, and creams that supposedly rid us of supposed toxins, despite a complete lack of evidence that these products do anything at all*.  This comes from an industry that excels at creating boogeymen and offering costly solutions for them.

If your wallet needs to lose weight, then these products are highly effective, otherwise it's probably best to save your money.  Here's why.

The body is equipped with an extremely advanced system for excreting toxins.  The kidneys are part of this system, and their design is genius.  The basic functional unit of the kidney is the nephron, and the average kidney contains about a million of them.  Nephrons have two major parts: a renal corpuscle and a renal tubule. 

A nephron.  In this image, the Bowman's capsule and glomerulus make up the renal corpuscle, and the proximal/distal tubules and the loop of Henle (#1-3) make up the renal tubule.  Note the network of blood vessels (capillaries) that allow the transfer of water and other goodies from the tubule back into the blood.  Image source.

The renal corpuscle is the interface between the blood and the fluid that will eventually become urine.  Blood is filtered by a fine "sieve" of cells that prevents everything larger than a small protein from passing into the renal tubule.  Red blood cells, platelets, and most proteins stay on the blood side, while small proteins such as albumin, minerals, urea, glucose, water, and almost anything that would be considered a toxin** are allowed through into the renal tubule.

The renal tubule is a long tube that re-absorbs everything in this filtered blood that the body wants to keep.  Water, minerals, albumin, glucose, amino acids, and other useful molecules are re-absorbed.  Everything else ends up as urine and is excreted. 

Can you see the genius of this design?  Urine is blood, minus all the good stuff.  Everything that isn't specifically recognized by the body as useful is excreted by default, no matter what it is.  The body doesn't have to recognize each of the thousands of foreign compounds that make their way into our circulation each day.  These substances are all out the door, by default.

Are you impressed by your kidneys yet?  If not, consider this.  Your kidneys filter your entire blood volume roughly 70 times per day.  The reason you don't have to pee a liter a minute is that urine volume is reduced by 99 percent due to water reabsorption in the renal tubules.

This is why most drugs have to be taken on a regular basis, often several times per day.  In concert with the detoxification enzymes of the liver, which tend to make drugs easier for the kidneys to excrete, the kidneys rapidly reduce the circulating concentration of drugs simply by excreting everything they don't recognize as useful.

Can a detox product improve upon 500 million years of kidney evolution***?  I have my doubts.


* Exception: chelation therapy offered by a licensed medical practitioner for actual, diagnosed heavy metal poisoning.  Second exception: strategies that use the word "detox" loosely to refer to removing unhealthy foods from the diet.

** Toxins tend to be very small-- either small organic molecules or minerals such as arsenic.  Larger toxins such as proteins are uncommon in the circulation because proteins are generally not absorbed by the digestive tract.  Toxic proteins have to be injected or otherwise directly introduced into the circulation, e.g. by a snake bite or a bacterial infection.  But if you're bitten by a rattlesnake, I hope your first line of treatment won't be a detox kit from your local supplement store.

*** Kidneys are present in hagfish and lampreys, the most "primitive" living vertebrates.

More Spanish Tapas for the Assiniboine Park Conservancy with the MLCC

It was so much fun to present these recipes last night with Bonnie Tulloch of the Assiniboine Park Conservancy and Jody Twomey, Product Consultant for the MLCC.  

The reception beverage was a Lemon Sherry Cocktail. 

Anta�aro Rioja Crianza was also served to contrast with each dish ($12.99)

(Fritatta, photo by Karen Peters)

1. Spanish Roasted Red Pepper Salad with Garlic and Olive Oil

Paired with Marques De Riscal Sauvignon Blanc  $15.96

 

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 large cloves garlic, very thinly sliced

Sea salt

Pinch of red pepper flakes

4 large roasted bell peppers, from a jar

Place the olive oil, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes into a small stone baking dish, pretty enough to serve the dish in.  Stir everything together.  Place the dish on a rimmed baking sheet, and into a preheated 425�F oven for 10 minutes.  The garlic will just be starting to toast and the oil will be bubbling hot.

While the garlic is in the oven, slice the red peppers into strips.  Once the garlic and olive oil comes out of the oven, stand back and gently place the peppers into the hot oil.  They will stop the garlic from burning, and the hot oil will warm and flavor the peppers.  Serve with tonnes of bread!

Enjoy!

2. Spanish Smoked Paprika Shrimp
Paired with Mas Amor Rosado, $15.95

1 lb peeled, wild caught shrimp
1 tbs butter
Drizzle olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp hot smoked paprika
Pinch sea salt

Heat butter and oil in saut� pan. Add shrimp and toss well. Add garlic and then paprika. Serve with bread when shrimp is firm and pink. 

 3.Frittata (with sun dried tomatoes but spinach and Parmesan are optional)

Paired with Segura Vidas Brut Reserve Cava, $14.49

 

3 Tbsp. olive oil
6 eggs
3 thinly sliced potatoes
1 cup (1/2 lb.) chopped raw spinach
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
pinch grated nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350�. In a large bowl mix all ingredients except oil.Heat oil in a 10-inch ovenproof skillet on the stove.  Pour egg and potato mixture in skillet and cook over medium heat for 5-7  minutes. Place in oven and bake uncovered for 10 minutes or until top is set. Cut into wedges and serve.

Enjoy!

4. Almond Cookies (Moorish!)

 Paired with Chocolate Shop Sangria

1 cup butter

� cup icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups presifted flour

� tsp salt

1 cup finely chopped walnuts (can use pecans or almonds)

*Note, if mixture dry and crumbly, add egg and/or a bit more butter.  Depends on humidity.

Cream butter, add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy.  Add vanilla, flour and salt.  Mix well.  Add in nuts.  Use 1 tsp � 1 tbs, depending on the size of crescent or cookie that you prefer, to shape in hands to make the crescents.  Bake on ungreased sheet at 325�F for 30 minutes.  Roll in icing sugar while warm. 

These cookies take time to make but look and taste good.  They freeze well but do not pack well.

CBC's Weekend Morning Show - Oscar Party favours

This morning I had the pleasure of presenting the following dishes for CBC's Weekend Morning Show with guest host Agatha Moir.  These dishes are good for any Oscar party.  Try some lovely Gimli Fish golden caviar, proscecco or champagne but in this weather, mulled wine.

Enjoy!

(chocolate mousse)

Cheese Fondue

1/2 pound imported Swiss cheese, shredded
1/2 pound Cave-aged Gruyere cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon cherry brandy, such as kirsch*
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
Pinch nutmeg
Assorted dippers

In a small bowl, coat the cheeses with cornstarch and set aside. Rub the inside of the ceramic fondue pot with the garlic, then discard.
Over medium heat, add the wine and lemon juice and bring to a gentle simmer. Gradually stir the cheese into the simmering liquid. Melting the cheese gradually encourages a smooth fondue. Once smooth, stir in cherry brandy, mustard and nutmeg.
Try with breads (day-old can work the best as it isn't too soft and will stand up to the cheese), saut�ed whole mushrooms, apple slices, etc.

*I've used Desorrono or Frangelico when I didn't have Kirsch on hand.


Tapenade

This olive spread can be labour intensive if you are pitting the olives yourself but it goes a long way and the taste is a rich and unique flavour that is quite versatile.

1 cup Moroccan olives pitted
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
2 cloves garlic
1/4 � 1/3 cup good olive oil
1 tsp black pepper

Blend all ingredients together to a paste. You can enjoy this on crackers and baguettes. A little can be used in earthy tomato sauces to add richness to the flavours. Tapenade can be used to stuff chicken  breasts, to coat roasted chicken. As a dip or filling for lamb.


Chocolate Honey Mousse

Sweetening the mousse with honey adds a Proven�al touch to a classic French dessert.

2 1/2 cups chilled whipping cream
12 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
5 tablespoons honey
Stir 3/4 cup cream, chocolate and honey in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Cool, stirring occasionally.
In large bowl, beat 1 1/4 cups cream until soft peaks form. Fold cream into chocolate mixture in 2 additions. Divide mousse among eight 3/4-cup ramekins. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.
Whip remaining 1/2 cup cream to firm peaks. Spoon a dollop of cream in center of each mousse.