Food made with Heart

Last night Rachel (my wife) and I made some Jerusalem mix and rice for diner. If you don’t know what Jerusalem mix I’ll give you a brief overview right now. It is street food you can find on the streets of Jerusalem. It’s most popular as an after the bar snack on the way home. Please correct me if I am wrong, this is what I have learned from my reading thus far.

It is made up of the undesirable parts of animals such as the liver, heart, and spleen, also known as offal. The details of what meat goes in doesn’t seem to be too important. What is important however, is that it is marinated with onions, olive oil and an absolutely amazing spice mix with about 12 different spices. After marinating, you flash fry the mixture and put it a pita with a yogurt sauce, onion salad, and hot peppers.

The onion salad is dressed with salt, pepper, olive oil and sumac, a purple berry that tastes much like limes. You use enough sumac to make the onion salad look purple like the kings robes. The yogurt sauce has, drained yogurt, tonnes of garlic, sesame paste, lemon juice and salt and pepper.The hot peppers we used were the pickled banana peppers so you can really pile them on!

This whole thing is to die for! There is even a good chance that you are thinking the same thing… even though you may thought it sounded horrible because it has heart, liver and spleen in it. Whoops just ruined it again… sorry.

So, Rachel and I made the meat mixture and onion salad with some rice last night. Here’s the thing, what I just mentioned doesn’t sound that great… We were really excited that we were going to get to eat Jerusalem Mix with all the nasty bits… you know because that seems cool… Well when you are eating it little bite by little bite and have time to contemplate what each piece of meat in your mouth is. That is not nearly as appetizing as wolfing down a pita bursting with flavour topped with salty, fatty sauces, all the while you are starving because you have been dancing all night long. Context and surroundings are everything!

I mean it’s not like spleen or heart is supposed to be appetizing on it own. It’s only edible because it’s been masked by seasonings and buried under all of those wonderful condiments. But at that point it becomes so much more than edible, it becomes downright amazing! This was my light bulb moment this morning.

Rachel had picked out all of the turkey breast from the mix and ate that for dinner.
And I’m sure it was great. All that was left this morning was the nasty bits… and then it hit me. If i make an omelette out of this I can put it between some toast and put some hot peppers and mayo on it and it should be pretty good. Guess what it was awesome! And there is still some left so you can but that I’ll be having that for breakfast tomorrow as well.

As the day moved along today a few other things came to mind. A meat mixture jammed into a bread holder of sorts, then covered in sauces and vegetables sounds a lot like one of North Americas favourite street food. You can find it everyday on the week at busy intersections in major cities, and people are more than happy to fork over their hard earned money for the nasty bits. It you haven’t figured it out i’m talking about hot dogs.

Heres the funny part. I can not stand the thought of eating hotdogs that have the words ‘mechanically separated meat in the ingredients list. I mean there is probably heart, spleen and liver in there, but who knows what else.

For me, if my food was made with heart I want to be able to pick it out and point at it. Unless of course we are talking about the symbolic heart of the person who made it. In that case, I would like it to stay in their chest and out of my food, that way they will still be alive to make me some more food with heart!

Foam grapes and punctuation

What did you envision when you read that title? My, most likely poor, guess would be a scene from a catalog that is trying to sell you furniture. Look a little closer; what is sitting on the kitchen table in the middle of that scene? You guessed it. foam grapes, an Apple, and bananas. Is it real foam Apple or just an Apple? How about foam grapes, an Apple and bananas: what kind of Apple and bananas are they?  Foam or real? I mean, obviously we would would never expect to see s foam Apple on the table in a catalog. There would be no sense in it, some one during the staging of the scene would notice and let the photo director know that they had a real Apple in their bag.

In any case none of that is very important, the title should have been “Foam, Grapes and Punctuation” because the last few of my day have been consumed by those three things. My wife and I recently purchased a new iPad mini, and we decided right away we needed a case. I was hip to just buying the screen protector from the Apple store but that was not cool enough for my dearest love, so we passed. I am not the most gentle on things I have, sometimes to my great expense, I put them in my bag and take them out of my bag often: I ride the bus. I knew that if I was going to be using this thing it would need to be protected from life. After a search through Dollarama and I found some craft foam in some rather excitedly muted colours. I knew that if this foam could stand up to a little tear test that I could sew a little slip to keep the iPad in.  Alas, it stood up to the tear test and I was off the the shoe rack drawer where we keep the sewing kit. To make a long story short as it’s long enough already, I sewed two black pieces together to make a slip and then a red/salmony colour as the flap and then a simple little latch system out of blue and white foam. I used black thread because it’s all I had and I think is actually my favourite detail of the whole thing. I deem this style ‘Play-school Chic’

Grapes, oh how lovely are grapes. Especially when they are not foam. Jam, wine, drink, table, seedless, and so many other things that come from that full stop shaped little bit. I just got around thirty pounds of concord grapes from my grandparents. So far we’ve made twelve jars of jelly, or more like syrup as it didn’t really jell. One litre of concord grape simple syrup, this one was intentional however, as I didn’t add pectin, and it’s intended it to be added to carbonated water from our soda stream. We also made a sweet and sour concord grape glaze, it’s kind of like a syrup for savoury things as it has onions and garlic. Well, it would seem that we have a few forms of concord grape extract around, and we still have another fifteen pounds of grapes in the fridge waiting to be processed. At least six pounds will be made in to wine and another five will be made into apple-grape jelly. A little story about the apples in this jelly…

My wife and I recently acquired the new harvest of apples from my parents tree, and we decided right away we needed not go to waste. Rachel was hip to just cooking them into apple sauce but that was not cool enough for me, so we passed. We are not the most timely of food processors, sometimes to our great expense, we put food in the fridge and take it out very often: we cook a lot. I knew that if we was going to be using these things the would need to be protected from rot. After a search through the Certo instructions and I found a recipe for some rather excitedly muted jelly. I knew that if this jelly could stand up to a little time test in a jar that I could replace the water with apple juice to add some flavour.  Alas, it stood up to the time test, as its the same recipe my grandmother uses, and I was off the the linen closet where we keep the juicer . To make a long story short as it’s long enough already, I juiced around twenty-five apples to make a four litres of juice and  skimmed the top of the extra flesh and then a simple little strain through a cheese cloth. I used our red plastic bowl  because it’s the only one that was clean and I think it’s actually the only one that will hold the whole thing. I deem this style ‘Play-school Chic’

I used an apple thread because it’s all I had and I think is actually my favourite detail of the whole thing.

Time for a loose Cuppa?

The smell of Earl Grey tea invokes some special memories for me. It reminds me of my childhood, many awkward first dates, and countless hours hunched over my sketchbook in art school. That wonderful Bergamot smell keeps me calm and focused for hour after hour. I have other leafy loves, I must admit. I am partial to the occasional cup of Peppermint, or the fancy Moroccan Mint leaves which overflow mason jars on my kitchen counter. Still, nothing *for me* can compare to the smell and taste of loose leaf Earl Grey tea.

Here is a snap of my current stock, with the addition of some dried safflower from my parents garden:

 

The safflower is purely for aesthetic reasons.

A note before we continue: If you have not yet experienced tea in its loose form I highly recommend doing so. A bagged tea is imprisoned and depressed. A loose tea is excited to greet you in the morning and go for a hot dip. Trust me.

A brief History

Named after Lord Charles Grey II  (English prime minister 1830-1834), Earl Grey tea has become one of the most popular flavours of tea worldwide.  The recipe for Earl Grey combines black tea leaves with oils found in the Italian citrus fruit Bergamot. The original recipe is thought to have come from China but there is some debate over this.

A patriotic drink for the brits:

Out n about–  I recently asked for Earl Grey at a local Cafe (Hydrostone Cafe- located in Halifax’s northish end). I was greeted with a “hmm I’ll have to see if we have that one”. This is a sure sign that a Cafe is not in tune with herbal culture. Sure enough it arrived in an odd shaped mug, bag dangling from one side. It was a low grade bag my friends. A very low grade bag. This experience has reinforced my belief that everyone should expand or start their own personal collection of loose leaf herbals. Treat yourself to a good ol’ scoop from your local Bulk Barn (I am in no way affiliated with Bulk Barn or Loblaws). You’ll be glad you did.

 

Cheers.

Brainstorm Brew

A response to the latest Brainstorm Brewery Podacst

Great cast guys! I am a homebrewer and beer snob and cube crack addict. I started listening to your show so I could somehow afford the stupid hobby known as Cube Management… I’m not sure that the type of poll you have put forward to your guests is vary fair one. You guys are such a ridiculous mix of characters that pinning the cast down by one beer is just mean.

Corbin, this cat is practical, he is good at his finance and is very level headed, doesn’t seem to be too bombastic which might lead to reason this guy would be hip to a Bud Light Lime… not that I endorse this in anyway shape or form because it is like supporting the Strcty of the beer world. For Corbin the beer I would make in his likeness would be a kolsch or a cream ale. Light beers with serious integrity! The cream ale is the best stepping stone for BMC (BudMillerCoors) drinkers to take into the good beer world. It incorporates rice corn and barley which will be familiar to their palate but it is not watered down thus tasting much fuller (BMC literally waters down their beer) and has a slightly more pronounced hop character to start them on their journey towards being a full blown hophead!

Marcel, this chap is obviously the slickest of all y’all, I think the Cascadian Dark Ale (credit where credit is due! Screw the BJCP!) Is where his beer lies. We can make the obvious connection of colour but it it runs so much deeper than that. If you are drinking a good CDA you’ll met by two things right away. The pop from the late hops and smooth roastyness from the dark malts. IMNSHO a good CDA should have less early boil hops because the bitterness they impart with conflict with the bitterness of the dark malts. Once you have this different/smoother (Dark malt+ early hop) type of bitterness the flavour of the late hops have a totally different framework in which they get to shine. Their sweetness is contained inside the slick roasty bitterness. Marcel = CDA = Dark, Slick, Sweet, Roasty with a Pronounced yet Balanced Bitterness

Ryan – Sounds like the most genuine of all the guys on the cast. Often overshadowed by the banter on Jason and Corbin and then further overshadowed by Marcel breaking up the banter. I got Ryan on a Smoked Beer! Yes, a smoked beer! These poor beers are overshadowed by big IPA’s, big Imperial Stouts, show stopper after show stopper after show stopper… But when you finally reach down and say “Ok ok ok, i’ll try this smoked beer” You are astounded, they are reasonably rare, so you are from then on looking for smoked beer where ever you go. Smoked beer or rauchbier is originally from Germany; and the German’s did not care about big fancy beers. They like beers that you can drink multiples of in litre steins. What that means is the smoke can not be like BrewDog’s version of a smoked beer where it tasted like they used a months worth of ashtray garbage to filter the beer. No, it is sensible and minimal yet apparent and poignant.

Take this weeks pick of the week, it was not some silly enchantment tutor from 100 years ago. It was a inexpensive (sensible) uncommon (minimal) enchantment killer (apparent) with real profit potential (poignant) that would be overshadowed by something flashy like Sterling Grove (BIG IPA’S… Dogfish 90) that will be super super appreciated for people who realize and go deep on ware/tare when it goes up and they love it (Smoke)

If you haven’t tried a smoke beer I recommend you do so! Listen to Ryan!

Jason – Arrogant Bastard by Stone (This is a great beer… sorry for the underhanded compliment)

So, I really think you guys should do a 4 pack, alas I will weigh in and vote for a stout. It does satisfy at least one of the character trait of each of the cast members.

Corbin- This is the biggest stretch, but Guinness has claimed to suppose to have enough nutrients that you could have it as a meal replacement. That’s is arguably practical… the Egyptians were payed in beer when building the pyramids because it contained enough calories to sustain them while building (THE Stout has links to historically practical beer… whoa and that’s my yoga for the day!)

Marcel – well, it’s dark slick and roasty

Ryan – There are smoked stouts and they are damn good

Jason – I have had some really really aggressive stouts!

This was fun, thanks for encouraging a mash (bahahaha) up of 2 of my loves!

Andrew