Japanese Beef Bowl

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. – Leonardo da Vinci

Looks tasty, yes?

Sometimes the simplest recipes are the best. We have quite a few in North America, most often filed mentally under the term “mom’s kitchen.” You know, family food.

Sometimes, though, you just crave something a little exotic. Now to those of Asian descent this won’t seem very unusual, but to those of us who subsist on boiled potatoes and the like mirin is quite an exciting introduction.

This may be Japanese “family food.” I’m not sure. The signature characteristic of family food is that it is filling, and easy to prepare. That’s the case with this dish. Super simple, super delicious, and super fast.

I have a real reluctance to turn on the stove during the heat of summer. So anything I can do to reduce the amount of heat it throws into my home is appreciated. 

We still have to eat, and we should still eat well. But at this date (nearly the end of July) we’re probably getting a little tired of abandoning the kitchen for the barbecue. Or at least we are looking for a little diversity between chops, burgers and hot dogs.

If you time everything right you can have this dinner on the table in the length of time it takes to cook rice.

Japanese Beef Bowl

Prep: 5 min  |  Cook: 15 min  |  Serves 2

1-1/4 cup beef broth

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup mirin (rice wine)

1 medium onion, sliced

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp chilli flakes (optional)

1 lb lean beef, sliced thin

sliced green onions

cooked white rice

To slice the beef more easily, partially pre-freeze until fairly firm. Then slice with a sharp knife. Set aside.

*** To ensure tender beef slice against the grain.

Bring broth, soy sauce, mirin, onion, sugar, ginger and garlic (and chilli if using) to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium let cook until the volume is reduced to almost half. It should start to look a little syrupy.

Mix the cornstarch with a teaspoon of water and stir into the broth. Then add the onions and cook until they are tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add the beef slices and cook until just barely done, about 1-2 minutes. 

Serve over white rice with the green onion sprinkled on top.

If beef isn’t your thing, you can substitute thin slices of chicken breast.

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Traditional Corned Beef & Cabbage

To be positive is to be mistaken at the top of one's voice. – Ambrose Bierce

I mixed some butter and fresh dill together for a slightly
non-traditional touch.

Many of us will be breaking out the corned beef for St. Patrick’s Day. It seems to be as much of a tradition as green beer and Irish soda bread. But is it really associated with the Irish at all? This is something I thought was true. But is it?

Corned beef is cured with "corns" of salt. Curing meat with salt is a very old culinary technique, dating back to the murky ancient times of both Europe and the Middle East.

That pink is because of nitrites. I have a recipe for non-nitrite
corned beef linked just below.

Corned beef really took off during the British Industrial Revolution, being a product that could be transported and used not only as food for long sea voyages but also as a trading commodity once port was made in North, South and Central America. 

Corned beef is thought to be traditional Irish food by North Americans. Corned beef is served in Ireland, but many Irish see it as a tourist commodity and not innately “Irish.” In Ireland pork is more commonly consumed than beef, and many view our North American association between Ireland and corned beef as crazy.

The most famous salted beef is kosher brisket, from the Jewish culinary tradition. It is widely believed that corned beef in America was eaten by the Irish because it was readily available to purchase from their Jewish co-immigrants. Both groups had large populations in New York City in the mid-1800 and 1900s.

So the association probably has more to do with commerce than culture. I recently read an excerpt from a “letter to the editor” by an Irish-American lady commenting on an article about the Irish-ness of corned beef. She grew up in Queens, NYC in the early part of the 1900s. From her recollection its consumption was actually made popular by New York bars. 

Bars offered a “free lunch,” consisting of corned beef, to Irish construction workers working on NYC skyscrapers. But the workers had to buy beer or whiskey to get the free lunch. Over time, corned beef became associated with the Irish in the USA.

After 2 hours, add the potatoes and carrots. It appears that
carrots float...

So the desire to serve corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day because it’s Irish is, at the end of the day, a load of blarney.

But it is tasty – if highly salty. So if you’re of the mind to serve up a chunk of the brined, pink delight, what follows is a very traditional Nova Scotia recipe. Just be warned, the pink colour comes of curing with sodium nitrite, which turns some people off. I have a recipe for making corned beef without nitrites here.

This recipe is how my mother made it, and probably her mother before her, and her mother too. So this stretches back into the late 1800s. 

Some cooks soak the corned beef before cooking to remove some of the salt, others do not. This dish takes very few ingredients, so is not expensive to make. Vinegar sprinkled on the beef and cabbage is a standard condiment with corned beef in many Nova Scotia homes.

Traditional Corned Beef & Cabbage

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

The cabbage wedges go in only for 10-15 minutes
right at the end.

1kg (2.2 lbs) boneless corned beef

1 medium green cabbage

4 large potatoes

4 large carrots

water (see recipe)

2 tsp cracked black pepper

white vinegar, for the table

Rinse the corned beef and place in a heavy pot with a well fitting lid. Add just enough water to cover the beef. Add the black pepper and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to medium low, cover and let cook for 2 hours. While the meat cooks, peel the potatoes and carrots and cut into large pieces. Core and cut the cabbage into eight wedges.

After the 2 hours, add the potatoes and carrots. Bring the heat up to medium high, cover again and cook for 15 minutes. Then add the cabbage wedges, re-cover and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes.

Remove the beef and slice against the grain. Serve with salt (taste first!!!) and white vinegar at the table. 

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Mushroom Braised Beef Roast

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

I was reminded of that quote yesterday as I attended the funeral for the husband of a friend of mine. It was a very sad affair, as all funerals are, but was made all the more poignant as they would have celebrated only 17 months of marriage on Saturday. He was 50 years old.

My heart was torn at the sight of his wife, and the rest of the family, having to pull together to make sudden arrangements to say that final goodbye to the one they love. The word love is on purpose, not loved. It does not end because someone is no longer here, nor should it.

Sear the beef on all sides.

His passing should be a clarion call to us all to appreciate and love those we have in our lives, every single day. Do what you can to show it today, not tomorrow, as there may not be one. A sobering thought, that very few of us actually recognize. We all have an immortality complex.

Have you raised you voice harshly to someone you purport to love in the last week, day, hour? Was it over a trifling matter, something so insignificant it was only used as a vent for your bad mood? Did it cut, was it meant to hurt or make someone feel small or bad?

Go apologize. Now. Start to live seeing the big picture. None of us are perfect – not them, not you, and certainly not me. But you love them for a reason – remember that every time you open your mouth.

Be supportive, be helpful, be an ear to listen and shoulder of support.

Reduce the liquid in the pot.

Of course there are serious things in relationships that need to be discussed. Most often they stem from selfishness or rigidity. Communication is key. But do it in a way where you do not denigrate the opinions of those you love; cultivate a cooperative atmosphere where issues can be discussed calmly and solutions found.

There are no winners and losers in a healthy, loving relationship. Love and living together is about give and take. What you decide together will make you stronger than what you decide alone. And those joint decisions will lead to new avenues of choice that you may never have dreamed possible.

Remember that life can be short and brutish, and inherently unfair. Live life like there is no tomorrow, and always treat those you love in a way you would wish to be treated. If you live life like this, if the worst does happen, you will not look back with regrets.

Happy memories, smiles and laughs are far better ways to remember those we love than living with self-recrimination because  of how we acted. We can’t change what happens around us, but we are in total control of how we react to those circumstances. The two saddest words are “what if...”.

Luckily, my friend and her husband lived the words I wrote above. The only regret is they had far too little time together.

What does this have to do with braised beef roast? Nothing. But I’m giving you a recipe anyway. It may be a way to enjoy the company of those you love, and have some of supportive conversations you really should be having, over a lovely meal.

Mushroom Braised Beef Roast

Prep: 10 min  |  Cook: 2 hours  |  Serves 4-6

2 tbsp vegetable oil

3lb boneless beef blade roast

2 tsp cracked black pepper

1 tsp dried garlic

1 tsp salt

300 g crimini mushrooms, sliced

1 cup chardonnay

1 cup cream

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Mix together the pepper, garlic and salt and rub the mixture well into the surface of beef.

Heat half the oil in a Dutch oven or other heavy pot with a well fitting lid. Sear the beef on all sides. Remove to a plate.

Add the remaining oil to the pot. Sauté the mushrooms until they start to colour. Push them to the sides and nestle in the beef. Pour the wine around and bring to a gentle boil. Then reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pot and bake.

If your pot lid doesn’t fit well, cover the top of the pot with heavy aluminum foil and then place your pot lid on top. Fold the hanging foil up over the lid, for a slightly better seal.

Bake the roast for for 1 to 1.5 hours, testing using a meat thermometer at the hour mark for doneness. Interior should read 140 to 150°F for medium.

Remove from the heat. Let sit for 15 minutes, tented with foil to keep warm.

While the roast sits, bring the liquid and mushrooms in the pot to a boil, and let cook until the liquid has reduced down to about 3/4 of a cup. Add the cream and boil until reduced to sauce consistency.

Taste the sauce for salt and adjust if desired. Slice the beef and serve the mushroom sauce on top.

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Roast Beef with Caramelized Onion

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. – Leonardo da Vinci

This is cooked to "medium." Note the lack of juice pooling around the
meat. Let it rest and you keep all that flavour, and moistness.

You know, some things are really simple. It’s when we try to tart them up that possibility of failure comes in.

Sear both sides well.

Take, for instance, the “Sunday joint.” A roast is expensive, so you don’t want to screw it up. Dry beef is not a good thing.

Luckily, roast is one of the simplest things on earth to do. And so are the accompanying caramelized onions that many of us love as an accompaniment. 

Simple ingredients, simple technique, amazing result. There’s precious little that delivers so much for so little effort. All they take are time.

Low, and slow. If you can remember those two words you’ve got both of these done. Seriously, there are really no tricks to either of these. But two actions do benefit them.

First, you need to make sure you have a good sear on both sides of the meat before it goes into the oven. Second, the roast does benefit from sitting in the refrigerator rubbed with the spices. They start permeating the meat as opposed to just sitting on the surface.

Special equipment? Yes. An instant-read meat thermometer. You should have one in your kitchen. Your roast, chicken, chops, etc will thank yo for it. So will all of your barbecued goodies when that season rolls around again.

So I’ve given you lots of time to plan for next weekend. If you have the roast rubbed and in the fridge on Thursday you’ll be ready for Saturday dinner. If you want to wait until Sunday, have the prep done by Friday.

Any leftovers can be put to good use, with any leftover onions, in sandwiches.

Slow and low caramelizes. Rush and they may burn.

Roast Beef with Caramelized Onions

Prep: 1-2 days  |  Roast 1 to 2 hours*

1.5 to 2 kg beef roast

2 tsp salt

2 tsp cracked black pepper

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 medium/lg yellow onions, sliced

2-3 tbsp water, juice or white wine

2 tbsp olive oil

Mix together the salt and pepper. Rub the entire surface of the roast with the spices. Place in a dish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one to two days.

Preheat the oven to 275°F. Sear the roast in the oil using an ovenproof pan, like cast iron.

Some of my roast ended up in sandwiches.

Place the pan and roast in the preheated oven for 1 hour and then check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer. Cook until internal temperature reaches 145°F for medium rare or 160° for medium.

Tent with foil and let sit for 15 minutes for the juices to redistribute throughout the meat.

While the roast is cooking, place the sliced onions in the hot oil in a frying pan. Stir, turn the heat to medium low and add the liquid.

The liquid can be water, juice (like apple or orange) or white wine. It allows the onions to “sweat” and begin the caramelization process. Stir the onions occasionally to prevent burning. 

Cook until very translucent and they have begun to brown. This will take about 1 hour.

* Length of time depends on the weight, thickness and desired level of doneness. Flatter cuts will take shorter time; “fatter” cuts, longer.

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Thai Beef with Lychees

Revenge is sweet and not fattening. – Alfred Hitchcock

Have you ever eaten lychees? They can often be found fresh in the grocery store. They have a red, nubbly husk. Inside is a large seed surrounded by sweet, white flesh. You can also find them canned in the fruit or “international” aisle.

Photo: sugree, Flickr ccl

Lychees are pretty sweet—sweeter than any of our local fruit—so I was a little leery when I concocted this recipe. But I wasn’t too worried because there are similar recipes floating around. I also had a steak that needed cooking, and a can of lychees that had been hanging around without a use.

I was kind of surprised that this recipe wasn’t as sweet as I thought. It’s no sweeter than pineapple chicken or sweet and sour recipes, although a little on the “junky” side.

Maybe that’s what the attraction is for me. It’s a little un-authentic. Although – as far as I can figure – it is close. Fruit goes very well with beef, so it’s a good match.

If you’ve never eaten lychees you should do yourself a favour and try them. They’re an amazing ingredient.

Lychees are amazingly versatile. Some easy to find recipes are cucumber lychee salad, gorgonzola and lychee dip, various lychee salad dressings, lychee muffins, and lychee glazed roast chicken. See what I mean? 

For my own part, I have posted a fried calamari dipping sauce that uses lychees. It’s one we recreated from one of our favourite Halifax restaurants, Vinnie’s Pasta Bar on Inglis Street.

So if you’re up for some Asian food, buy a can of lychees and go to town. This recipe makes enough to feed 3-4 easily as a main course with rice.

Thai Beef with Lychees

Prep: 15 min  |  Cook: 15-20 min  |  Serves 4

1 lb beef, cut into strips

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp corn starch

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

pinch of salt

1 530 ml can lychees in syrup, halved (reserve syrup)

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

2 dried red chillies, chopped (or to taste)

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1” piece fresh ginger, diced

1 bunch green onions, sliced

salt and pepper, to taste

the sauce

1 cup lychee syrup, reserved from can

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp corn starch, mixed with some of the syrup

Prepare all the ingredients before you start. It makes life far easier.

Thinly slice the beef and place in a bowl. Add 1 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp cornstarch, pepper and a generous pinch of salt. Toss well to coat and set aside.

Drain the lychees (reserving 1 cup of the syrup) and slice in half. Slice the red pepper and place with the lychees in a small bowl. Slice the green onions.

Chop the red chillies, garlic and ginger and set aside. Mix all the sauce ingredients together in another bowl. Now you’re ready. 

Heat a generous tablespoon of vegetable oil in a wok. Add half of the beef and stir fry just until no longer pink. Remove to a bowl and add the rest of the beef and cook. Then remove it as well. 

Scrape the bottom of the wok if there is a brown crust, and remove it. If not you won’t be able to fry the aromatics.

Add a little more oil and stir fry the chillies, garlic and ginger for 2 minutes. Then add the lychees and red pepper. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes and then add the beef back to the wok.

Pour in the pre-mixed sauce. The mixture will thicken almost immediately. Add the green onions, some salt and cracked black pepper, toss and serve with hot rice.

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Sweet & Spicy Beer Rib

The cost of living has gone up another dollar a quart. – W. C. Fields 

Mmmm…messy. Get out the napkins!

Here’s another way to use up some beer, if you ever find you have leftovers. I waxed eloquently (or not so eloquently) about beer in my last post about bread.

The gist was I have a box of India pale ale that, for me, is best used for cooking. At least it’s good for something...

I always try to buy ribs when they’re on sale. When they’re not on sale they can be prohibitively expensive. Like everything else, I guess. Thank goodness for our garden, because on Saturday I refused to buy any of the grocery’s veggies. Very over-priced.

For example, red peppers were over $4/lb. I know they’re out of season, but still... The green peppers were $1.69/lb and were all gone (of course). Greens like chard and kale were inching toward $4/bunch as well.

So it’s best to shop the sales whenever you can and save yourself some cash. And if you have room get a small chest freezer. You can pick up deals on meat, chicken and fish and keep them for later.

If you do so, you may be able to buy some of those disgustingly priced vegetables. You know, the ones we need to eat to have a balanced diet.

Pre-cook your ribs

Ribs, if you don’t know, are a two-stage cooking affair. You have to boil them before covering in sauce and finishing. This is true for other ribs as well.

Simmering in liquid (like beer or fruit juice) cooks and tenderizes the ribs so when you barbecue, bake or broil all you need to do is brown the sauce. Most rib sauces are high in sugar, so if you cook long enough to cook the meat you end up burning the outside.

It’s hard enough to not burn them even when pre-boiled. Keep a close check while they cook. That’s why this recipe is baked, as opposed to broiled or on the BBQ. It’s a little easier to control. It had something to do with the weather, too.

I’m writing this on November 4, but made them a few days ago. Recently we had sleet mixed with rain. So although you could make these on the barbecue, current weather isn’t very conducive to standing outside. Unless you’re brave...

Cooked inside or outside, ribs are a great meal. Put napkins on the table. People will definitely be using their fingers! Number of servings depends on how hungry you are...

Sweet & Spicy Beer Ribs

Prep: 1 hour  |  Bake: 30 min

2-1/2 lbs meaty beef ribs

2 x 355 ml beer

1 tsp salt

for the wet rub:

1/2 cup beer

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp cornstarch

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp dried thyme

Cut the beef ribs into serving pieces, leaving equal amounts of meat on each rib. Place in a pot and add the beer and salt. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium and let cook for 1 hour.

Meanwhile mix the wet rub ingredients together in a small pot. Bring to a boil and let cook for about a minute until thickened and glossy. Let cool. 15 minutes before the ribs are done, preheat the oven to 375°F.

Drain the ribs and place in a baking dish big enough to hold them in one layer. Pour the rub over the ribs and use your hands to coat well.

Bake the ribs for 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling on top of the meat. Serve with potato salad.

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Homestyle Meatloaf and a Crisis

Every little thing counts in a crisis. – Jawaharlal Nehru 

Homestyle. That’s quite a word. It conjures up all kinds of warm and happy memories for me, and probably you as well. 

"Hearth and home" are important to me, but it’s the people in my life that define those terms. It doesn’t matter where I am. Home truly is where the heart is. I know where my heart is, in spades.

I’m going to diverge from meatloaf and get personal. It truly is who is in your life that is important. Everything else – and I mean absolutely everything – is just the trimmings.

If you truly love someone show them every day by your actions. Not just your words. Words, although nice, can ring hollow. Always show your love, because you just never know...

It’s amazing how fast things can change. Three days ago I had planned a nice visit to the city for the weeekend.

Someone I love with all my heart (besides my spouse of course) is our Bouvier Henry, who will be 9 years old in January. We’ve had quite a scare over the last few days. 

About a week ago we noticed blood in his urine. Up until then his health, at least what we knew, was fine. On Friday, since it hadn’t cleared up, he went back down to the vet. They did some x-rays and found a very large growth in his abdomen close to his kidneys. It had to have been there for quite some time. He had no signs of trouble at all before the urine.

Currently he’s in the vets for the weekend after some very serious surgery to remove a mass and a kidney. At the time the doctor gave him a 50% chance of surviving it. We actually had to give permission to euthanize him if the operation went badly.

That is a decision many of us have had to make for our fur childern, and those who have know how very, very hard it is. And emotionally traumatizing. They give so much happiness when they are with you and so much pain when they leave.

Within the space of a few hours we went from having a boy with a bladder infection to one on a surgical table that may have had to be euthanized. When I left him I hugged and kissed him and said goodbye, but never thought it would possibly be “goodbye.” Talk about walking on quicksand.

Luckily, at time of writing, he seems to have pulled through well and he is doing "wonderfully." considering. Some of the tissue is off for examination to see if it’s the “C” word. We’re hoping beyond hope that won’t be the case.

I would imagine I will have a very sore yet happy boy when he comes home. He will get as much love, care, sympathy and attention as can possibly be given, to be sure. I'm certain all the staff at South Shore Vet are in our absence. They're great, great folks.

The point is, you just never know. I know my example is a cherished pet, but the same holds true for everyone in your life. You just never know what might happen.

So show those you love how much you care. I really mean it. Measure your words. Are you being hurtful for no purpose? Do you have to be short tempered, really? Daily life can be stressful – but those who you love, and love you, are your support to weather the storms, not your whipping posts.

Value and cherish the time you have with them. I’ll say it again. You just never know.

Well, enough of that... If you have time to make a meatloaf give this one a try. It's good to have on hand as leftovers when you're not up to cooking. It’s good, basic and homey, and will remind you of times you shared with those most precious to you.

Best Homestyle Meatloaf

Prep: 15 min  |  Cook 1 hr 15 min  |  Serves 6-8

750 g medium ground beef

250 g ground bacon

1 thick slice of bread, grated

1 egg

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup pasta or tomato sauce

1/2 cup whole milk

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp chopped fresh sage (or 2 tsp dried)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix together with your hands until completely combined.

Place the meat in a 5” x 9” ovenproof dish, Shape the meat so the edges are lower than the centre. This will allow fat to collect in the dish as opposed to the bottom of your oven.

Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the centre of the meatloaf reads 160°F.

Remove the loaf from the oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Then pour off the collected fat.

Slice, serve and enjoy!

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You know, I really like comments... I really do.

Questions? Comments? Derogatory remarks? Just ask! I’ll answer quickly and as best as I can. If you like this post feel free to share it. If you repost, please give me credit and a link back to this site.

Slow-Braised Sage Beef

Weather forecast for tonight: dark. – George Carlin 

As the weather turns cooler, inevitably our taste in food switches from sunny weather outdoor fare to stuff to warm our bones.

I hate to admit that the weather is changing as much as the next person, but the calendar doesn’t lie. I saw a friend from Newfoundland yesterday who said they were beginning to get frost there. Yuck.

The thing that saddens me the most is how fast we're losing daylight hours. Couple that with the overcast weather and you have to do something to distract yourself and raise your spirits. It's now dark when we get up and night seems to fall way too early.

The weather we dread is slowly making its way here. But take heart – we’re about to enter hurricane season. This year’s ends November 30, so there will probably be lots of interesting weather to distract us. At least it’s warm air...

So what do you do when you’re trapped inside with the wind and rain howling around you? If you still have power, put on a pot of something to braise slow and low.

I seem to be picking cherry tomatoes daily. I thought we only
planted a few. Heavy bearing, I guess.

This recipe makes beef that is truly fork tender. The fluffy potatoes go exceedingly well with the reduced pot juices, redolent with tomato, garlic and fresh sage.

Did I just type “redolent”? I did. My coffee must have just kicked in. It makes me wax eloquently.

If you’re not stuck at home but stuck in the office you could also do this in a slow cooker. Although I don’t own one (and “no thanks” anyone reading this thinking of gifting me) I would imagine it would be as easy as throwing everything in and going to work.

There’s something about these one pot meals that screams fall food. They’re also near-and-dear to my heart because of the small amount of clean-up. 

You can also make quite a bit by doubling the recipe and then refrigerating or freezing it. Since you’re putting in the time you may as well get bang for your buck. It makes for at least one more very quick dinner if you do.

It’s sad to see summer wane, but at least we can take comfort in those comfort food meals we all will be making – sooner rather than later!

This is after about 1-1/2 hours. The more you reduce it the
more intense your sauce will be.

Slow-Braised Sage Beef

Prep: 10 min  |  Cook: 2-1/2 hours  |  Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

1-1/2 lb beef steak or roast, cut into large pieces

1 medium onion

6 cloves garlic, chopped

2 cups tomato (cubed Roma or whole cherry)

1 cup white wine

1/2 cup torn fresh sage

1 tsp salt

1-1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1-1/2 tbsp flour, made into a paste with water

2 tbsp butter

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or other heavy bottomed pot with a lid.

Sauté the onion and garlic until softened. Then add the beef, tomatoes, wine, sage, salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer for 2 to 2.5 hours, or longer if desired. If using cherry tomatoes you may want to crack the top. They have more water content than Roma.

After the sauce has broken down and reduced, and the beef is very tender, taste for salt and adjust.

Mix the flour with some water to make a smooth paste. Stir into the sauce to thicken it and let cook for 5 more minutes.

Remove from the heat, stir in the butter until melted and serve with fluffy mashed potatoes.

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You know, I really like comments... I really do.

Questions? Comments? Derogatory remarks? Just ask! I’ll answer quickly and as best as I can. If you like this post feel free to share it. If you repost, please give me credit and a link back to this site.

Get your mojo on with Mojo di cilantro

Rock in the mainstream culture has lost a lot of its mojo. – Billy Corgan 

I’ve written about  this phenomenon before. When you purchase fresh cilantro at the grocery you have to buy a massive bunch of it. It’s a shame when most recipes only call for 1/4 cup or so, or as a garnish.

So what do you do with all that leftover green? Luckily there are options.

One really good way is to actually buy enough to make cilantro pesto. It’s almost, if not as good, as basil pesto and can be used in the same way. It’s especially tasty tossed with pasta and just-cooked-through shrimp.

Here’s another option for you. How about a livid green sauce than can go on steak and/or vegetables? It really gives them a kick.

This recipe is close kin to pesto. Really the only thing that’s missing is the nuts, and there is an addition of acid. In my case I used lime. This also helps preserve that wonderful colour.

I found on a Spanish site that it is also excellent on potatoes, polenta, fish and even as a dipping sauce for bread. Sounds pretty versatile to me. Especially when it’s made from an ingredient that we’re “forced” to buy too much of.

Mojo is a Spanish word for a variety of slightly acidic sauces that are served cold. Not quite sure what that may have to do with Austin Powers’ “mojo”... I have read that the term was also used at the turn of the 1900s to mean a Caribbean voodoo power that gave men power over women.

Apparently the sauces are common in the Canary Islands off the tip of Northwest Africa. It is from the Portuguese word molho (meaning sauce). So that would explain how the term came from the tip of Africa, Portugal and Spain to the Caribbean. The slave trade.

No idea when it mutated from meaning sauce to the ability to get “lucky.” So now you know far too much about the word mojo. Stun and amaze people at cocktail parties with your newfound knowledge.

Get your mojo on talking about mojo.

I tried growing cilantro this year but didn’t meet with too much success. I had it in a cast-iron planter. I’m not sure if it was a case of too much iron, or not enough water, or what, but it failed miserably.

I have had much better success in the garden with curly parsley and Italian parsley so next year we’ll try it there. Then I’ll really have too much cilantro!

Just below is the recipe for the mojo. I’m also tag-teaming it with a really great steak marinade. We served the sauce with the steak and slabs of roasted cauliflower. A fantastic meal.

Mojo di cilantro

Time: 5 min  |  Yield: 1 cup

1 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped

4 garlic cloves

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

1/2 tsp coarse salt

juice of 1 lime

1/2 - 3/4 cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients, except for the olive oil, in a food processor or blender. Pulse until ground into a purée. Scrape down the sides a few times. 

With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil. Start with 1/2 cup. If you desire a thinner sauce, add the additional 1/4 cup.

Make this sauce within an hour of using. If made hours ahead the cilantro may discolour.

Cumin Steak Marinade

4 steaks

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp veg oil

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp pepper

juice of 1/2 lime

Combine the marinade ingredients. Coat the steaks well and then let them marinate for 1 hour on the counter. Shake off the excess and then grill or pan fry in 1 tbsp of oil.

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Sweet ’n Heat Apricot BBQ Sauce

There is no love sincerer than the love of food. – George Bernard Shaw

It’s actually cool this morning on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. It’s 7am and just over 10°C. Blessed relief. That’s a far cry from what it’s been over the past several days.

All this warm weather is certainly justification for our purchase of a barbecue (finally) last week. It certainly is much nicer in the house without having to use the stove to cook.

Yesterday’s barbecue foray was chicken thighs. We’ve been having quite a few sausages lately but it’s now time to start to work our way through the freezer a little. It’s a good thing to buy several packages of whatever’s on sale and tuck them away. It’s a bad thing to leave them there.

That was the story of the chicken thighs. You really can’t pass up a bargain of $5 for six. So the big question was what do with them and what to put on them. 

The answer was in the weather. It was too hot to cook inside. So barbecue it was. But it’s nice to mix things up a bit. Barbecue sauce can become a little boring unless it’s really good.

I’ve made and wrote about several standard tomato-based barbecue sauces on this blog. Usually they’re of the “pantry-surfing” variety. It’s always good to use ingredients that you already have, and almost everyone's kitchen already has everything you would need.

When I opened the pantry this time the first thing I saw was dried apricots. Fruit-based barbecue sauces are somewhat unusual and can be quite delicious. “Sweet” and chicken go together quite well. It’s true of beef and pork as well.

It didn’t take long for me to google and find several apricot-based sauces. The one I settled on to “rip apart” (in my own unique way...) was Asian. What I ended up with wasn’t Asian in the least. 

This is also a “raw” sauce. So you don’t even have to turn on the oven to make the sauce. Most sauces call for “cooking down” after everything is combined. This one cooks on the barbecue.

I’m no master on a barbecue. I’m quite good at broiling chicken in the oven, but a barbecue mystifies me a little bit. I guess it’s because there’s no real “set” temperature on them. It can be a little intimidating.

A common problem many of us have when barbecuing is burning the sauce. Many of us – me included – make the mistake of putting barbecue sauce on as we start to cook. It’s actually supposed to go on for the last few minutes.

Almost all barbecue sauces contain high levels of sugar. Sugar burns very easily, resulting in the charcoal/charring none of like as an end result. 

So you need to know when your chicken is nearly “done” to calculate backwards. You also need to turn the temperature down once the sauce goes on so it is less likely to burn. Some sources say to 225°-250°C.

I found the following very useful chart on allrecipes.com. It gives info on different chicken cuts, method of cooking and temperature to make sure you don’t end up with dry meat, or worse, lumps of coal. The link to the full page is here.

Click the image for a larger version.

I read info from a few sites (besides above) before grilling the chicken. Several called for the temperature with lid down to come to about 350°C before you season your chicken pieces and slap them on the grill.

We have a three zone barbecue (3 burners), that comes in very handy. You set two at the heat you need to cook and either leave the third one turned off or on very low. That way you can control what you’re grilling. If some pieces are cooking too fast in relation to others, just move to the cooler spot on the BBQ.

One thing I do know is to not leave the barbecue unattended once the sauce is applied. I went in the kitchen just long enough to tear up some romaine for a salad and almost had a disaster. Luckily I caught them in time. The sauce still tasted of all its flavours. It complemented the chicken and salad very nicely. You still should test your internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer. It’s indispensable.

You can adjust the heat level in this sauce. I’ve listed two amounts for the chilli flakes. If you want a sauce with a little more kick add the full amount. You won’t regret it.

Sweet ’n Heat Apricot BBQ Sauce

Time: 5-6 min  |  Yield: about 2 cups

This is the sauce. You can add a little water to thin it if you
wish. I didn't.

3/4 cup dried apricots

1/2 cup onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 tbsp whisky

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp fresh ginger

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 to 1-1/2 tsp chilli flakes

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Place the apricots in a food processor and pulse until chopped. Then add the onion and garlic and pulse again until finely chopped.

Then add the remaining ingredients and purée until smooth. If it’s too thick for your liking add a little water. The sauce does need to be thick enough to stay put when you brush it on.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

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Questions? Comments? Derogatory remarks? Just ask! I’ll answer quickly and as best as I can. If you like this post feel free to share it. If you repost, please give me credit and a link back to this site.