Apple Snax

Happy New Year!!!!!

2009 was a good year at Equal Opportunity Kitchen. We've had much to celebrate - We've experimented with many new foods with varying degrees of success, made alot of new blogging friends and happily were part of creating and publishing The BloggerAid Cook Book I'd say that's a good year. Thank you to all of you for visiting, commenting and sharing some food and fun with us.

Now... it's a new year and all indications are that it going to be great.

Here we are, early January and going into our 4th year of blogging; where does the time go. After the ultimate of gluttony during the holiday I'm feeling the need to detox for a while.

On to today's recipe. Psychgrad bought me a dehydrator a few years ago. As many of you already know, I spent 5 1/2 years on dialysis for kidney failure. During those years fluid restriction was a must and all intake had to be monitored. This dehydrator was an extremely thoughtful gift as it allowed me to enjoy fruit without the addition of liquid. I pulled it out today and decided to make use of it by making some healthy apple snacks. The recipe is so simple that there really isn't much of a recipe.

I used:

10 apples (mixed macintosh, delicious and cortland apples). I enjoyed the combination because each has a varying degree of moisture and the end product gives you slightly different textures.
sprinkled cinnamon on them (great for lowering cholesterol and protecting the heart)

Peel and core apples with a corer. Slice into 1/4 inch rings. Dip into a pretreatment mix - this can be pineapple or lemon juice. Remove the apples promptly (about 2 minutes) and place in trays. You could also use Sodium Bisulfite to pretreat the fruit but I prefer to go the natural way.

Some with cinnamon

Some just plain

Before you know it you have a full 6 shelves of apples happily dehydrating.

Pasteurize in the oven for 15 minutes at 175 F



Ten apples netted approximately 3/4 large ziplock freezer bag



The length of time for dehydrating varies on your dehydrator, the thickness of the fruit and type of fruit. For apples the spread can be as little as 4 hours or as long as 14 hours.

Tips:
1. After dehydrating, make sure your fruit is completely cooled before packing
2. Pack fruit as tightly as possible without crushing into a clean, dry, insect-proof container, i.e. glass jars or moisture-vapour proof freezer containers or bags (heavy gauge plastic type)
3. If you want to pasteurize the fruit, spread on a cookie sheet after dehydrating and bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 175 F.
4. Use only good quality fruit.

You can also try your hand at favourites such as pineapple or mango. Pineapple dehydrates for about 10 hours. I put the mango shelves on the top since they're quicker to dehydrate.





Fruits are only one option for dehydrating. Beef jerky is a favourite as are dehydrating herbs when they're in season. I'm still using dehydrated herbs from the summer (I store them in the freezer).

I have it on good authority that dogs love dehydrated liver. The only caution would be that your house will smell like liver for days. You could always plug your dehydrator outdoors but don't be surprised if there's a lineup of neighbourhood canines holding doggie bags :).

Thinking about the Year to Come...

I'm really tempted to put together a New Years post. I was considering doing "a year in review" or a "top 10 recipes of 2009" kind of post. But, I've been more interested in thinking about the future. So much has changed in the past year that I feel like it's time to take a step back and assess the new trajectory.


Becoming more settled over the past year has made R and I eager to travel. We really enjoyed spending time in New York (and hope to go back).


This year we'd like to travel further and for a longer period of time.

This year, I hope to learn a lot about home remodelling -- ideally not "the hard way". I am not particularly skilled with handywork, but I'd like to learn how to do some things like tiling a backsplash or laying laminate flooring.

I'd like to grow a garden...Successfully.


I'd like to return to volunteering -- almost weekly I look at the flyers advertising volunteer positions. I keep waiting until I feel like I have things crossed off of my list. Realistically, the list is eternal - so it's time to just do it.

I'd like to host more dinners and get-togethers. Sure, it's bloody cold outside - but we can't stop living!


I'd like to simplify my life, spend more time in nature and focus on the positive. I've been told by a few too many people that I'm a pessimist. I don't fully agree, but I will admit to having greater ease with communicating criticism than compliment.


I don't intend on becoming a zen-master from here on out. But, I will commit to making a concerted effort to achieve these goals.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Vanilla Crème Brûlée & Matcha

I have some hoarding tendencies. Giz likes to make fun of me for it. When I go somewhere and buy something that is native to that location (or a rarity), I don't want to use it. For me, there is more enjoyment in keeping items to know that I have them (and the memory associated with them) than there is in using up the item. For example, when determining whether it's time to stock up on wine, I don't even consider the bottles I've collected from Turkey, France or Salt Spring Island. R and I told ourselves that we would drink the bottle of Champagne we bought in Reims (a city in the Champagne region) for a special occasion... but after a year of special occasions (graduations, weddings, buying a home, new years, etc.), no one occasion seemed to merit opening the bottle. So, logically, I would have to deduce that I don't really want to open the bottle.

I had the same feeling about the Tahitian vanilla beans I got from Julia. In her letter, accompanying the vanilla beans, I believe she wrote, "Can't wait to see what you make with these!" But, I knew I really didn't want to use them. After I use them, I won't have them anymore and then I won't be able to admire them anymore (yes, I occasionally take them out of the freezer just to look at them).

Being that it has been almost a year since I received the beans, I thought it was time to actually put them to use. Plus, I received this crème brûlée set as a wedding gift.

After a moment of silence (in honour of the vanilla bean), I slit one apart to make this recipe:

Vanilla Crème Brûlée

6 large egg yolks
6 tablespoons sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
6 teaspoons granulated sugar (or 8 -12 teaspoons packed brown sugar).

Instructions
Preheat oven to 325°F.

Whisk yolks and 6 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl to blend. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean. Gradually whisk the cream into the sugar. Divide mixture among 6 - 3/4 cup custard cups or ramekins. Arrange dishes in 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Pour enough hot water into pan to come halfway up sides of dishes.
Bake custards approximately 35-40 minutes until the custard is set. Do not overbake or your custard will be rubbery. Remove the pan from the oven and remove custard cups from the water. Allow custards to cool before placing in the refrigerator. Chill overnight.

Two hours before serving:
Preheat broiler. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar atop each custard. Place dishes on small baking sheet. Broil until sugar just starts to caramelize, rotating sheet for even browning, about 2 minutes. Chill until caramelized sugar hardens, about 2 hours.

Verdict:

So - it turns out that I'm kind of a moron. I didn't know that the set wouldn't come with the fuel/butane needed to work the torch. My friends and I momentarily tried to use a bbq-starter.


Yeah...not so effective.

So - we went with the broiling option.


I'm going to need to continue perfecting crème brûlée. The recipe said to not overcook, but I'm pretty sure it needed more time in the oven. I'm still getting used to the oven in this house, which is probably about 25-30% slower than my previous oven. The flavours were really good, but the custard was not thick enough.

The next day, I tried to cook the remaining portions to give them more time in the oven. Even with an extra 15 minutes in the oven, it still lacked perfect texture. So the sporadic mission will continue.

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While trying to figure out what to do with the crème brûlée, I had my first exposure to the Japanese green tea, matcha. My friend recently spent some time in Japan and brought me some of the tea along with the traditional bamboo whisk used to stir the tea.


Here's a video showing how you make the tea:




To me it tasted like something you would put in a smoothy for its auto-immune benefits -- apparently it's an acquired taste.

Note to self: don't drink matcha after 12pm. I had a couple of ounces at 5pm and was up until 4:30am. Then again, I don't handle caffeine very well. I think I'm going to give in a try in the morning -- maybe it'll give more energy at work.

Galaktoboureko

Peter, of Kalofagas , my local go to guy for Greek specialties suggested that a must have at Christmas time is Galaktoboureko. When I saw the recipe my instinct told me this wasn't very figure friendly but then who am I to follow my own instincts? It looked fabulous and decided to give it a try.

Ingredients

7 large eggs, room temperature
10 cups of whole milk, room temperature (I used 2% lactaid and it was fine)
2 cups sugar
1 cup fine semolina flour
1 heaping Tbsp butter
zest of 1 lemon
1 package commercial phyllo
2 sticks melted butter (for brushing)
14x11 bakeware dish

Syrup
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
juice and zest of 1/2 lemon

1. Place a large pot over medium-high head and add eggs, sugar and semolina and mix constantly over medium heat until incorporated. (note: follow this - it burns really easily if you leave it)
2. Add milk, zest and butter and continue to mix using a potato masher until custard has thickened slightly. Place a tea towel between the pot of custard and the pot's lid, cover and reserve off the heat.
3. Pre-heat oven to 350F. Butter baking dish. Count how many sheets of phillo in your package and divide in half. One half will go on the bottom, the second half will go on the top.
4. In the bottom of the pan, layer your one half of phyllo, leaving the edges hanging over the sides of the pan. Brush each sheet generously with the melted butter. Pour the custard over the bottom of the phyllo layers.
5. Fold the excess phyllo over and into the pan and evenly distribute the remaining sheets of phyllo to entirely cover the custard. Again, ensure that each sheet is brushed generously with butter.
6. With a very sharp knife, score the phyllo (just penetrating the top layer of phyllo) to make the desired size and shapes of your Galaktoboureko pieces. (this makes it easier to cut later and will also allow the syrup to be distributed completely.
7. Bake in the middle rack for 35-40 minutes or until the top is nice and golden-brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.
8. To make your syrup, add the sugar, water juice and zest and bring to a boil and count 10 minutes for your syrup to develop.
9. Using a ladle, pur the syrup over the Galaktoboureko (1 ladle at a time) until the syrup is absorbed.
10. Carefully complete the slicing of your pieces (tracing your initial cuts); allow to cool for approximately 1 hour. Refrigerate uncovered over night to set. Serve cold or room temperature.



Notes: I should have cut the Galaktoboureko in smaller pieces. This is a very sweet and rich dessert and smaller amounts are preferred.

Verdict: I don't think I could make this unless I had alot of people over - I'd eat the whole thing - it's really a wonderful dessert albeit off the glycemic scale.


Peter said that when working with phyllo as long as you follow some basic rules it should be easy enough to work with.

1. Make sure you defrost frozen phyllo in the fridge overnight.
2. When working with phyllo use one sheet at a time and cover the balance with a damp tea towel to ensure it doesn't dry out (it can dry out really quickly)
3. Handle the phyllo gently - it's very fragile.
4. Make sure you brush melted butter on each sheet

A Big Meal on December 25th

For some Jewish people, celebrating aspects of Christmas is a common occurance. Do a Google search on "Jews celebrating Christmas" and you'll find several debates on whether having a Christmas tree (or Hanukkah Bush) is acceptable. It's hard not to feel like you're missing out on something when everyone around you is preparing for Christmas.



Growing up, we celebrated Christmas because there have always been non-Jewish family members. Actually, we probably celebrated it more than a lot of Catholic families (we had all nine reindeer in our basement next to a manger scene, with so many presents that you couldn't even touch the tree) -- a slight glimpse into the insanity that is my family.

Nowadays, I go on a "we're Jewish and don't celebrate Christmas" soapbox starting about 1 month before Christmas. Inevitably, I still get "Hanukkah presents" on Christmas. It's a losing battle.

Never ones to miss out an opportunity to cook way too much food, here's the feast we had at Giz's place.

Spinach Dip

(the recipe toward the bottom of the post)

Yorkshire Pudding

Turkey


Stuffing


Salad


Potatoes

Challah

Cabbage Rolls

Brussel Sprouts

Giz will tell you about the desserts -- there were just as many selections of desserts as mains and sides combined. It's a good thing there were 7 of us The seven of us combined hardly made a dent in the food.

New House

Now it's time for a real post. I'll try to get this one done before visiting Giz lest I hear about my lack of posting all weekend.

Let me tell you about the house. It'll be a ongoing story because we're still working on it and because I am having a hard time getting the more recent pictures off of my camera.

We took possession of the house on November 13th. I was initially excited about the move and having to deal with a difficult (read: insane) landlord helped to heightened the excitement of leaving the renters market. But the day we took possession and went into the empty house, I had some pretty strong buyers remorse. R and I sat in the living room and thought -- oh crap -- what did we do? I then spent the rest of my night wanting to "be by myself".

I guess there was nothing really wrong with the place, but walking into an empty house that is painting in a soft pink throughout and smelled of antiques...it just didn't feel right.



We spent the week painting (after work and on the weekend). As more paint went on the wall, I started to feel somewhat better.


There's something satisfying in knowing that the former owners would probably be really pissed off to see their pink walls painted over. It's also pretty empowering to see such a change that stems from your own efforts -- instant gratification.


After 2 coats, I was really thrilled with the colour. I know it's not for everyone -- but I love it.


Don't worry - the space is split up -- dining room is burgundy and the connected living room is a sand-like colour.


The office and bedroom downstairs were both painted this colour -- but both rooms still need work to finish setting them up.


Saying goodbye to the old apartment was a bit sad -- we both really loved the place. Here's a final shot of the apartment:

Tomorrow we head off to Giz's for what promising too be way too much food. I'll keep you posted on progress made in the house.

Happy holidays to everyone!!!

Worst daughter & blogger EVER

I don't know what happened...I started a post saying, "Oh man -- has it been 2 weeks since I've last posted"...Next thing I know - this post was written for me by a not so mysterious author...I think there's a hint in there for me somewhere.

Oh man - has it been WELL over a month since I last posted? My mother is wondering if I even remember how to create an html or remember the address to this food blog. Moving has completely consumed life for the past forever and I think I'll continue using this excuse for as long as I can. Between packing, painting the new house (ourselves), moving (with the help of friends), unpacking and setting up the house -- I'm exhausted! I need a lifetime to recover and I don't see an immediate end to the work (depending on how laid back I choose to be). I have a backup excuse - somehow Zoombrowser got lost on my computer and I can't upload pictures. That's a great excuse since Giz bought it. I could be in trouble very soon though since Giz does have a disc with zoombrowser on it and by the end of the holidays I'll have to reinvent a new excuse.

Frankly, the truth is I'm feeling kind of meh and have no interest in blogging. I'd rather take a vacation somewhere warm and have people serve me and have drinks with umbrellas at the pool. I know you'll forgive me - it's Giz I have to worry about. When she tells me she posted I say - good. What I really mean is Whew!!! I'm off the hook for a few more days.