Mansaf is considered the national dish of Jordan, where they use it to show respect and hospitality to guests. On the surface, it looks like plain meat and rice, unnaturally dressed up with too much parsley – but if you could smell it, your opinion would quickly change.

I was first inspired to make this dish by a friend on Facebook – someone I had gone to school with for many years, but had lost touch with. She posted a comment about her love for Mansaf, and I just couldn’t help but ask her for a recipe.

It took me a while to actually make the dish…

The main challenge is finding an ingredient called ‘jameed‘, a dried and hardened yogurt. I didn’t find it in its usual form – I could only find it in a ‘ready to use’ format. Good enough. I had never had the real thing before, so I don’t really know whether it tasted different. If anyone knows where you can get Jordanian food in Toronto, I would love to try Mansaf made by people who know how it should taste!!

Let me tell you about the jameed. I knew it would be an interesting flavour, being dried yogurt, but I wasn’t quite prepared. It has a very rich smell and flavour, almost like a blue cheese (for lack of a better comparison). I wasn’t worried that it was off – I had read enough to know that jameed – and Mansaf – have a bit of a stink to them. To get a real sense of what I mean, please read this blog post by Toronto hip hop artist, Arabesque. His childhood embarrassment at the hands of Mansaf says it all.

I was a little worried that J wouldn’t like it.

Mansaf, topped with fresh parsley

I really shouldn’t have worried. The jameed mellowed out with cooking, and meshed well with the lamb flavour. Amazing!

Of course, I had to add some spices to it. Not all Mansaf recipes I found called for spices, and some called for more than others. I decided to use spices that I found repeatedly in recipes, and made an Arabic Levant baharat (spice blend) to use. You know, any excuse to use a new spice blend and play with my spices.

This is a really hard dish to describe. The sauce has a very bold flavour, but mellowed out after stewing the lamb. On top, you sprinkle fried/toasted pine nuts and almonds, which give a crunch and nuttiness (duh!). Add to that a pile of fresh parsley, adding a little bite and some brightness. Together, it is an amazing blend of flavours and textures. Serve this dish family style on top of a nice Arabic flatbread, if you can get it. I couldn’t find any. Also, the more traditional recipes call for much larger pieces of lamb, with the bone in, and often the lamb head. I chose to use cubed lamb instead, because that’s what I like.

I want to officially put Jordan on my list of places I need to go. I want to go to Petra. I want to eat all of their Mansaf, and bring home some real jameed.

When looking for Mansaf recipes, I came across this video of Chef Abroad in Jordan. Not only does it show Mansaf, but also Petra. One day…

The Verdict

This dish was incredible, and very different from other things I make. It was very easy to make, and the jameed was the only required ingredient that was tricky to find. I would have liked to find the right Arabic flatbread to serve with it… I had quite a bit of the “broth” left afterward, so I ate it on noodles, with a bit of plain yogurt added. So delicious!

Mansaf

based on this recipe, this recipe and others.

6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 pounds lamb, cubed
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup jameed
• 1 – 2 teaspoons butter or ghee
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 tablespoon baharat (spice blend, see below)
• 1/4 teaspoon saffron
• 1/4 pine nuts
• 1/4 almond slivers
• arabic flat bread (optional – great if you can find it!)
• 1 bunch of fresh parsley

Preparation:

1. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and lamb, and sear the meat on all sides.
2. Add about 2 cups of water to the pot – just enough to cover the meat – and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil
3. Turn the heat down to medium and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, put the rice into a large bowl and add enough warm water to cover 1 inch above the rice. Soak rice for at least 15 minutes, and for as long as 1 hour.
5. In a blender, blend jameed with 1 cup of water.
6. Add the jameed mixture to the lamb, stir well.
7. Add saffron and baharat (spice blend), stir well.
8. Bring to the boil, then turn heat down to medium, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, prepare the rice by rinsing well. Melt ghee over medium heat in a separate pot, toast the rice and coat well.
10. Add 1 1/4 cups water, add a pinch of salt, bring to the boil, then turn down to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes.
11. Check on the lamb – if it still needs some cooking, bring back up to the boil, then turn back down to low and cook for another 15 minutes.
12. Fry almonds and pine nuts in a little bit of oil or butter until golden.
13. To serve: place rice on top of layers of flat bread (if using) on a large platter. Arrange meat pieces on top, decorate with fried nuts. Gently spoon some of the jammed broth over top. Top with lots of fresh parsley.

Arabic Levant Baharat

modified from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons allspice berries
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom (or seeds from 1 pod)

Preparation:

1. Grind peppercorns, cardamom and allspice together and mix with grated cinnamon and nutmeg.

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I mostly picked this recipe because it uses a crazy amount of fennel, and a pile of seafood. How often do I get to use fennel in a dish on purpose?

I guess it’s a good thing J likes the flavour of anisette… that licorice flavour that you either love, or hate. I love it. I’m the one that gets my friends’ black licorice jelly beans. I’m the one who came home from Turkey with a big bottle of Raki, and the glasses to go with it. I’m the one for whom Anise would be the signature spice.

This dish takes a LOT of fennel bulb, and cooks it down to a mellow and friendly backdrop for plenty of seafood. Even people who don’t tend to love licorice will like this. They’ll be so distracted by the seafood that they won’t even notice the humble fennel.

So much seafood! We went all out for this one...

This dish is quite a bit like a dish that we had – and loved – at an Italian restaurant that disappeared a couple of years ago. We were so disappointed at the time, but now I can make this seafood stew whenever we’re cravnig something a little on the high-end of things. I didn’t cheap out on this dish – we used some king crab that was calling from my freezer.

This doesn’t have to be an expensive dish. Most of the time, I think we’ll stick to a combo of fish, squid and shrimp, and forego the pricier crab meat. It was fantastic, to be sure, but it really didn’t need it to be good. I think it would also be great as a veggie dish, with some chick peas and additional vegetables.

The Verdict

The flavour was so great – the broth was full of flavour, but nicely supported the delicate seafood and, as I mentioned before, the fennel cooked down to something much quieter and subtle. So delicious!

This dish was nearly as simple to make as chili, and actually requires less cooking time. I’m going to try this on a work day sometime. As long as you have some broth ready, it’s easy. We also cheated and had the guy at the seafood counter chop the fish and squid for us. It didn’t cost extra, and saved me some time and a bit of a mess!

Table view

Italian Seafood Stew

inspired by this recipe on Epicurious.com.

8 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 small fennel bulb, coarsely chopped (about 4 cups)
• 4-6 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, crushed by hand, juices reserved
• 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
• 1 cup seafood stock
• 1 pound skinless fillets haddock or U.S. Pacific cod, cut into 1″ pieces
• meat from 1 pound frozen king crab legs, thawed and shelled
• 1 pound cleaned squid, bodies cut into 1/2″ rings, tentacles left whole
• Country-style bread

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, fennel, garlic, bay leaves, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion and fennel are soft, about 12 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, grind the fennel seeds using a mortar and pestle until they are finer.
4. Stir in fennel seeds, tomatoes with juices, wine, seafood stock, and 1 cup water. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring often, until flavors meld, about 15 minutes.
5. Stir in fish and shrimp and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Add squid, cover, and cook until seafood is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Serve with bread.

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Now that it’s colder, it’s time I start using my Épices de Cru spice blends. The first dish I made is a stew that comes right from their website, with lamb and a few root vegetables.

Back in the summer, I bought a few kits from Épices de Cru, made up mostly of whole spice curry blends. I quickly realized that I wouldn’t be making much use of them in the heat of the summer, and promised to explore them when the weather turned cold. Isn’t it odd that so many of the best curries and stews come from warm climates, yet some of us opt to not eat that kind of food until the fall and winter months?

This dish is Colombo stew, from Martinique. The spice blend is mostly made up of black mustard, turmeric, coriander and black pepper, with some allspice and other good stuff. It has some of the elements of a curry, but isn’t really considered one.

Caris et Masalas des Iles - the empty one is the Colombo blend, heh

This recipe made quite a lot of food, so we had some leftovers for a while! I didn’t think about what to eat it with initially – had I done some reading in advance, I would have found that people often eat this with a nice rustic bread. I didn’t have one available, so I chose to eat it with couscous.

I’m sure this isn’t the most authentic way to serve Colombo, but who says you always have to stick to the original plan!? It was really tasty over couscous, as I’m sure it would be with crusty bread, rice or quinoa. It would also be possible to make this vegetarian, by removing the meat and substituting portabello mushrooms to get a nice dark sauce. You may add tofu or a legume for some protein.

If you can’t get your hands on the Épices de Cru Colombo blend, you could substitute 2 teaspoons black mustard seed, 2 teaspoons turmeric, 2 teaspoons coriander, 2 teaspoons black pepper and 1 teaspoon allspice. That won’t give you exactly the same blend, but will put you in the right direction. Or, you could just Google “Colombo Powder” for some alternatives.

The Verdict

SO GOOD!

About this series…

Cooking with Épices de Cru is a series of posts dedicated to trying all of the spice blends I bought from the amazing Épices de Cru. Whenever possible, I will base my post around a recipe from their website (with a twist, of course). One day, I hope that their products will be available here in Toronto, where I will spend entire paycheques on their delicious bounty.

Colombo Stew

based on the recipe from Épices de Cru.

10 – 12 servings

Ingredients:

• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 onions, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 pounds protein of your choice (goat, pork, lamb, chicken, tofu), cubed
• 3 tablespoons colombo spice blend, ground
• 3 tablespoons tamarind pulp (seeds removed) or 2 tablespoons tamarind concentrate
• salt, to taste
• Habanero pepper to taste (I used jalapeno)
• 2 or 3 cups cubed vegetables of your choice (potato, taro, malanga, plantain, green mango, eggplant, vegetable pears, carrot).
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped

Preparation:

1. In a large heavy pot or pan, melt the butter and oil together.
2. Sauté the onions until softened, then add the garlic and cook for a minute or two more, or until the onions have turned golden.
3. Add protein and brown on all sides. Add the eggplant, if using.
4. Add ground Colombo spice blend to the pan, and stir to coat evenly. Continue to cook, stirring, for a few more minutes.
5. Stir in tamarind, salt, and hot pepper. Add just enough boiling water to cover.
6. Add the remaining vegetables (except for the green bell pepper, if using), stir and cover.
7. Simmer for 1 hour or more, stirring every once in a while. After 30 minutes, add in the green pepper.
8. Serve with bread, or over rice or couscous if you prefer. I served it over couscous. It may not be traditional, but it was delicious!

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This month’s challenge is to make tamales, a Mexican dish made up of a corn dough filled with deliciousness that is steamed in a corn husk.

I’m not sure if this has made me into a Hot Tamale Molly, but I think this is something I could have fun with!

Tamales are a fairly portable food, with the corn husk keeping everything wrapped up safe. Inside the corn husk is a filling wrapped in a dough is called masa – made up of corn flour, primarily.

I decided to stray from the suggested fillings (mostly meat-based) and make up a vegetarian version with some tofu and chopped roasted Poblano peppers. This would have also been great with a shrimp filling.

Assembling Tofu and Poblano Tamales

For me, the highlight had to be the salsa. I made a variation on my usual tomatillo and Poblano sauce, proving again and again that tomatillos and Poblanos are best friends that should be featured together regularly. Also, I need to make more of this salsa more regularly. I could eat it over anything!

The Verdict:

This dish took a little bit of work to prepare. I enlisted J’s help assembling the tamales, to speed things up. I also realized, too late, that my Maseca was a little over the hill. I will make sure to throw out (ouch!) the rest of the Maseca to ensure I start with a fresh batch next time.

Considering the amount of work, I think next time I might make a couple of different fillings to mix things up a bit. I would also make at least twice as much of the salsa, so that there is enough to pour all over the tamales. I love that stuff!! I would also recommend serving these with some green and/or crunchy veggies on the side. The tamales are fairly starchy and a bit heavy, so some nice veggies would balance it out nicely.

Maranda of Jolts & Jollies was our January 2012 Daring Cooks hostess with the mostess! Maranda challenged us to make traditional Mexican Tamales as our first challenge of the year!

Tofu and Poblano Tamales

modified from the challenge recipe, which is based on this recipe from epicurious.com.

8 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 – 8 ounce package dried corn husks (If you cannot find corn husks, you can use parchment paper or plastic wrap.)
• 1 pound tomatillos
• 4 – 3 inch Poblano peppers
• 4 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 ½ tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 4 cups broth (chicken or vegetable preferred)
• 1 package extra firm tofu
• 2/3 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
• 1 1/3 cups vegetable shortening
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt (omit if already in masa mixture)
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder (omit if already in masa mixture)
• 4 cups masa harina (corn tortilla mix) (I used Maseca)

Preparation:

1. Place the dried corn husks in a large pot and cover with water. Place a heavy plate or a smaller pot full of water on top of husks to keep them in the water. Let soak for 3 hours or up to 1 day, flipping occasionally until husks are softened.
2. Roast tomatillos and Poblanos under the broiler until skins blacken. After cooling, add tomatillos, half of the Poblanos, garlic to food processor and purée until smooth. Chop the other half of the Poblanos and set aside.
3. Add 1 tablespoon oil to a medium sauce pan, and heat to medium-high. Add tomatillo puree and cook until thickened. Add 2 cups of the broth, bring up to a boil and turn the heat down to medium-low. Simmer until liquid reduces to about 2 cups.
4. Meanwhile. press liquid out of a block of extra firm tofu. I pressed and grilled the tofu at the same time, using a panini press. You can press tofu by weighting a plate on top of it, to release some of the liquids. Pan-fry or grill with some spices (I used this incredible Tlalelolco rub from Epices de Cru). Add tofu to food processor and coarsely chop.
5. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the tofu, chopped Poblanos, cilantro and 1 cup of the tomatillo salsa. This will be the tamale filling – set aside until it’s time to roll them.
6. In the bowl of an electric mixer, on medium high speed, cream together the vegetable shortening, baking powder and salt. Mix in the masa harina, one cup at a time.
7. Reduce the mixer speed to low, gradually add in 1 ½ cups of the broth.
8. The dough should be a cookie dough like texture. If the mixture seems too thick, add broth 2 tablespoons at a time.
9. Take 3 large corn husks and tear them lengthwise, into ¼ inch strips. Put these back in the water until use, to prevent them from drying out and becoming brittle.
10. Pour about 2 inches of water into the bottom of a large pot with a steamer attachment. Line the bottom of the steamer with corn husks.
11. Unfold 2 corn husks onto a work surface. Take ¼ cup of dough and, starting near the top of the husk, press it out into a 4 inch square, leaving 2-3 inches at the bottom of the husk. Place a heaping tablespoon of the filling in a line down the center of the dough square.
12. Fold the dough into the corn husk and wrap the husk around the dough.
13. Fold up the skinny bottom part of the husk and secure it with one of the corn husk ties.
14. Stand the tamales, open side up, in the steamer. If there aren’t enough tamales to tightly pack the steamer, place extra corn husks in the excess space.
15. Steam the tamales for about 1 hour, or until the dough deepens in color and easily pulls away from the husk.
16. Serve with some of the reserved tomatillo and Poblano salsa on top.

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What better way to celebrate the birth of a new year than by baking layers of veggies and watching Pixar? For us, the first day of the new year was spent relaxing in jammies, and Ratatouille – the dish and the movie!

This is the first of my New Year’s resolutions to be completed.

I had never made or had “real” Ratatouille before, and assumed by the look of the dish in the Pixar movie that it was fancy schmancy. Little did I realize that it’s meant to be a simple peasant food, showing off not culinary skills but the quality of the fresh ingredients. It’s essentially a casserole – some recipes make it more like a stew, but the primary ingredients get pre-cooked individually before being arranged in a dish for baking.

I thought it was silly that I had never tried to make it before, so I added it to my list of things to make this Winter. With some time off for the holidays, I decided it would be the first dinner I made in the new year.

New Year's Ratatouille

One of the recipes I took inspiration from added Gruyere cheese in layers. No other recipes or descriptions of the dish make any mention of cheese, so I’m guessing this was creative license. I opted to not layer it within the dish, only adding it on top with breadcrumbs as a finishing touch. I really enjoyed this addition, as it added a light and crispy cheesiness that doesn’t take away from the fresh veggies in the dish.

Speaking of fresh veggies… I can’t wait to try making this dish when tomatoes are in season. I know that this will make a huge difference in the results.

One more... because I feel like it.

Verdict:

We really enjoyed this, but found that a LOT of liquid pooled in the casserole dish. Since most of the veggies were sautéed before baking, I thought that there wouldn’t be quite so much liquid. The culprit must have been the tomatoes. Some recipes instructed to lightly sauté the tomatoes first, and others transformed them into a sauce. I think I will try the sauce option next time, to see how it turns out. I would also like to try roasting the eggplant and zucchini in the oven, instead of cooking them on the stove.

Either way, this is a fun dish that I would love to perfect!

Ratatouille

mashed together from this recipe from Tastebook.com and this recipe from Nigel Slater.

8 servings

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 cups thinly sliced red onion
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 pound thickly sliced zucchini
• 2 large red bell peppers, sliced
• 1 pound eggplant, thickly sliced
• 1 pound fresh tomatoes, diced
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• salt, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• cayenne pepper, to taste
• 1 cup grated gruyere cheese
• 1 cup breadcrumbs

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Place the rack in the middle of the oven.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a deep sauté pan, over medium heat. Cook onions until softened, then add the garlic and cook for 5 more minutes. Layer in the bottom of a deep baking dish.
3. For each of the vegetables (zucchini, eggplant and bell pepper), sauté in olive oil until softened. Layer in the baking dish and season with 1/3 of the thyme, salt, black pepper and cayenne.
4. In between each vegetable layer, add a layer with 1/3 of the tomato, seasoned with 1/3 of the basil.
5. Cover and bake for 45 minutes.
6. Uncover, top with remaining cheese and breadcrumbs, and bake for 10-20 minutes until a little bit crispy on top.

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It’s great how the holidays can inspire you to cook. Maybe it’s the fear of judgement by the family that makes us strive for the best! The key is to find something that tastes impressive, without being too complicated and frustrating to make. This is one of those dishes…

Every year, my immediate family does brunch on Christmas Day. This is probably the smallest gathering we have during the holidays, and possibly the most filling. Have I mentioned that I love brunch?

My mom found another great recipe to try – a Potatoes au Gratin dish that is far from boring. While it could fit quite well in any dinner menu, it makes a great brunch main!

Bubbly cheese!

This is a very rich dish, but you can lighten it up as needed. In fact, we already have – the original recipe called for heavy cream, and we substituted evaporated milk. At the same time, we added more cheese… when I told my mom there wasn’t any cheese in the layers, she said “you HAVE to put cheese in the layers”. So we did. You really don’t need to make it as cheesy as we did, but I would recommend putting some in each layer – the recipe ingredients below reflect the amount of added cheese that I recommend. You could also take out the bacon – it tasted good, but wasn’t central to the dish.

The best thing is the mix of regular potatoes and sweet potatoes. Aside from being delicious, sweet potatoes are so good for you, and look so pretty in the dish! The sauce originally only included leeks… we decided to add mushrooms. We add mushrooms to everything! They did not disappoint.

Brunch is always better with mimosas!

We paired this dish with a great egg dish (I might have to post about this one, too!), some yummy sausages and MIMOSAS! What a great holiday brunch!

Verdict:

I would definitely make this dish again! It takes some time to prepare and assemble, but makes a LOT of food. It reheats well for leftovers – for brunch, lunch or dinner! It makes use of seasonal ingredients, such as leek and sweet potato and the thyme adds a nice woody flavour.

Potatoes au Gratin

based on the recipe from Canadian House & Home.

10 – 12 servings

Ingredients:

• 6 strips bacon
• 1 tablespoon butter or vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups thinly sliced leeks, white and light green parts only
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1-1/2 cups evaporated milk
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 pound yellow fleshed potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1 cup grated Asiago cheese
• 1 cup grated Gouda cheese

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly butter an 8-cup shallow baking dish.
2. Heat a large sauté pan to medium-high. Cook the bacon until crisp. Set aside.
3. Reduce the heat to medium. Add butter or oil to bacon fat already in the pan.
4. Add garlic and leeks; cook stirring often for about 3-5 minutes or until slightly softened.
5. Add mushrooms, and sauté until lightly browned.
6. Add evaporated milk, mustard and thyme. Stir until mustard is evenly distributed. Remove from heat.
7. Into the prepared baking dish, layer the following ingredients: 1/3 of the white potatoes, 1/3 of the sweet potatoes, 1/2 of the bacon (crumbled), 1/2 of the leek mixture, 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat. Top with the rest of the potatoes.
8. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40-50 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife.
9. Remove foil and sprinkle with cheese and more finely sliced leek (green part); bake uncovered for 8-10 minutes or until cheese melts and sauce is bubbly.
10. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

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The base parts: rice, black turtle beans and the right assortment of spices. Oh yeah, and some Tabasco sauce. Here, I added some smoked sausage, but you could easily substitute shrimp or double up the beans and leave it veggie. In fact, I think I would have liked a few more beans regardless.

Steamy!

This dish makes really good leftovers to take to work the next day. I think a few more veggies and beans would improve the dish, but that’s just my preference. ‘Rice and beans’ doesn’t sound very exciting, but this dish is pretty flavourful – especially when you add more Tabasco.

Southern Rice and Beans

Inspiration taken from this recipe, and this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 to 1 1/2 pounds smoked sausage, cut into 1″ slices
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups celery, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced (mostly green, but I also added some yellow for colour)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1.5 cups cooked black beans, rinsed well
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoons white vinegar
• few dashes Tabasco
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (if you can’t find it, just use more sweet paprika)
• 1 teaspoon Basic Creole Spices
• 1 teaspoon filé powder (optional)
• 2 cups cooked white rice
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation:

1. Brown sliced sausage in a deep sauté pan over medium heat. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Sauté onion, celery, red and green peppers and garlic until softened.
3. Add black beans, tomato sauce, vinegar, Tabasco, oregano, paprika, and Creole spices. Cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add filé, and turn heat down to low. Mix in cooked rice, cover and leave for 2-5 minutes to allow flavours to mingle.
5. Serve with additional Tabasco and filé.

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How do you properly describe Mu-Hsu?
I can’t say I would have expected to hear the phrase “Chinese fajitas” come out of my mouth, and yet that was how I described this month’s challenge to J.

Mu-Hsu is basically a stir fry (usually containing pork) wrapped inside a wheat flatbread “pancake”. This month’s Daring Cooks’ challenge asked us to make the stir fry, make the pancakes from scratch, as well as a home made Hoisin sauce. For my take on the challenge, I opted to take my usual route and veggify the recipe. If I had some of my homemade seitan on hand, I probably would have used that. Since I didn’t, I grabbed a package of vegetarian chicken strips – a pretty convenient option.

The “pancakes” were the thing that caused me the most grief. It’s my own fault, really – I’m terrible at rolling things out. Unlike the pancakes that we know, these are made of a dough that is rolled out into circles. Again with the comparison to fajitas – you could compare these to wheat tortillas.

Daring Mu-Hsu with home made Hoisin Sauce

The highlight for me was certainly the Hoisin sauce. I’ve seen a few different ingredient lists, so I’m sure there is no single way to make it. All I know is that I never need to buy any again. It’s so easy to make up a batch, and so delicious. This is totally in line with one of my food stocking goals: to limit the number of condiments I buy, and try to make small batches of things as I need it. The key is keeping the right staple ingredients on hand – and this recipe for Hoisin sauce is made up of some of the most common things in my pantry.

Would I make this again?

Yeah, definitely! The stir-fry and hoisin sauce were really easy to make, and very satisfying. The pancakes were the only things I had trouble with, and were the most time-consuming. In a pinch, I could see using some soft wheat tortilla shells, or even serving this over rice. As much of a hassle as the pancakes were while making them, they really made the dish fun – and more interesting than “just” a stir-fry. I can see myself mixing it up a little, and adding more veggies and things.

… and don’t forget to add a squirt of sriracha, for a little extra spice! I forgot to add this when I first made the Mu-Hsu, but added it to my leftovers. AMAZING!

The October Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Shelley of C Mom Cook and her sister Ruth of The Crafts of Mommyhood. They challenged us to bring a taste of the East into our home kitchens by making our own Moo Shu, including thin pancakes, stir fry and sauce.

Veggie Mu-Hsu

Adapted from The Chinese Kitchen by Deh-Ta Hsiung

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup dried mushrooms/fungus, preferably ‘wood ears’ (I didn’t have this, so I used dried shiitake.)
• ½ lb of your favourite veggie protein pieces, shredded (tofu, seitan, vegetarian chicken or pork pieces) (I used veggie chicken strips)
• 3½ oz bamboo shoots, thinly cut (if using canned, be sure to rinse and drain well)
• 3 cups Chinese/Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 scallions, sliced thin
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons rice wine
• A few drops sesame oil
• 12 thin pancakes, to serve
• Hoisin Sauce, to serve

Preparation:

1. Soak the mushroom/fungus in warm water for 10-15 minutes, rinse and drain. Discard any hard stalks, then thinly shred.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon  oil in a preheated wok and scramble the eggs until set, but not too hard. Remove and keep to one side.
3. Heat the remaining oil. Stir-fry the veggie protein for about 1 minute or until lightly browned on the outside. Add the mushroom/fungus, bamboo shoots, cabbage and scallions. Stir-fry for about 2-3 minutes, then add the remaining salt, soy sauce and wine. Blend well and continue stirring for another 2 minutes. Add the scrambled eggs, stirring to break them into small bits. Add the sesame oil and blend well.
4. To serve: place about 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of hot Mu-Hsu in the center of a warm pancake, top with some Hoisin Sauce, then roll into a parcel with the bottom end turned up to prevent the contents from falling out. Eat with your fingers.

Thin Pancakes

Adapted from The Chinese Kitchen by Deh-Ta Hsiung

Makes 24-30 pancakes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour (plus more, for dusting)
• 3/4 cup boiling water (more, as needed)
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Preparation:

1. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Gently pour in the water, stirring as you pour, then stir in the oil. Knead the mixture into a soft but firm dough. If your dough is dry, add more water, one tablespoon at a time, to reach the right consistency. Cover with a damp towel and let stand for about 30 minutes.
2. Lightly dust the surface of a worktop with dry flour. Knead the dough for 6-8 minutes or until smooth, then divide into 2 equal portions. Roll out each portion into a long sausage and cut each sausage into 6 pieces. Keep the dough that you are not actively working with covered with a lightly damp dish cloth to keep it from drying out.
3. Roll each piece into a ball, then, using the palm of your hand, press each piece into a flat pancake. Dust the worktop with more dry flour. Flatten each pancake into a 6 to 8 inch circle with a rolling pin, rolling gently on both sides.
4. Place an un-greased frying pan over high heat. Once the pan is hot, lower the heat to low and place the pancakes, one at a time, in the pan. Remove when little light-brown spots appear on the underside. Cover with a damp cloth until ready to serve.

Hoisin Sauce

Modified from this recipe on epicurean.com

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons natural smooth peanut butter
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• ground cayenne pepper (or other hot pepper or sauce), to taste
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation:

1. Start by mixing half of the soy sauce into the peanut butter, to make it a bit thinner and easier to work with. It will look lumpy at first – almost curdled – but keep stirring and it will come together. (I find a small fork works really well for this step).
2. Once the peanut butter and soy sauce have come together into a smooth paste, add the remaining soy sauce and mix completely. You should now have a smooth, thick sauce that will easily mix with the remaining ingredients.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until the sauce is smooth, and consistent. Taste, and add more cayenne or black pepper as needed.

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Don’t mistake this for a post featuring expert tips on how to can. In this adventure – like in many of my adventures – I am the uninitiated.

This is the story of my initiation into the strange and dangerous world of home canning.

A few months back, there was a canning challenge on Daring Kitchen. I’ve always wanted to try it, but I didn’t really want to try it on my own, just reading instructions. That didn’t sound like much fun. The most fun way to learn is to have someone show you in person – and the best person I could think to show me how to can was my MIL.

Of course, I forgot all about that until this weekend.

Skinned tomatoes - gruesome!

We went to visit the in-laws, and found their house totally overrun with tomatoes! I happily offered to take some off of their hands, when my MIL suggested that we peel and can some so that I can use them later in the year. I go through SO MANY cans of tomatoes in the Winter that this sounded like the best offer ever.

I got to learn how to prepare and can tomatoes.

Ready for the oven!

It was actually pretty easy, and the time went by really fast with the two of us working at the same time (as well as chatting, and waiting for water to boil). I managed to come home with 7 big jars of tomatoes, ready for my fall and winter enjoyment. I’m totally prepared to make tomato sauce, chili, seitan paprikash, and stuff I’ve never even heard of that I will magically discover this year. Sweet!

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Time for another great summer salad!

This salad is inspired by the flavours of the middle east, using herb/spice blend Za’atar as the main seasoning. White navy beans offer a fantastic base, with a mild and almost creamy flavour that balances with the earthy thyme in the Za’atar.

I was lucky enough to have a few different kinds of legume to choose from, having cooked up various dried beans earlier in the summer. I haven’t made too many dishes with the white navy beans before, so I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to play with a slightly different flavour and texture. To be honest, most of my bean salads are comprised of chick peas and black turtle beans.

Bean salads are a great way to use up some of the vegetables you have lying around. In this case, I had some leftover BBQ’d corn kernels and halves of a couple of different bell peppers. Some leftover grilled eggplant or zucchini would be amazing in this (mental note for next time)!

The spices I used in this dish may seem a little exotic to some people… The three most important elements are the thyme, the chives and the white beans.  The thyme is earthy and fragrant, while the chives are spicy and fresh. They are lovely when combined with the white bean. Those three ingredients are the heart of the dish, and the other veggies and seasonings are meant to highlight and support those flavours. You can easily substitute – or even eliminate – most of the others, while still keeping the spirit of the dish.

Za'atar Bean Salad

Za’atar White Bean Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups white navy beans, cooked
• 1 cup corn kernels, cooked
• 1 bell pepper, chopped (I used mostly red and orange)
• 1/2 cup – 1 cup chives, chopped (I used 1 cup)
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons, olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 2 tablespoons za’atar (or, mix 1 tablespoon dried thyme, 1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds and 1/2 tablespoon sumac)
• 1 teaspoon aleppo pepper (can substitute chili flakes, cayenne or whatever chili pepper you prefer!)
• 1 teaspoon isot pepper (optional)
• 1 teaspoon sumac (optional)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, add the beans, corn, chives, thyme and bell pepper.
2. Coat well with the lemon juice and olive oil.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the za’atar, aleppo pepper, isot pepper, sumac, salt and pepper. Mix into the salad.
4. Top with some additional za’atar, aleppo pepper and isot pepper, to taste.

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