Forbidden Planet

JJ has eczema and while doctors (here and in Peru) insist it has nothing to do with his diet, we know otherwise (it is one of my peeves of people in sciences, they wear extreme blinders, if it is not published in a peer reviewed journal, it isn't real. They are well disciplined reject anything that is not accepted dogma). Dairy, nuts (of any sort), soy, spinach and MSG definitely aggravate his condition. Fortunately, he seems to tolerate goat's milk fine. For frozen desserts, he was always limited to gelato or sorbet, recently I have been making him ice cream from goat's milk and it is surprisingly easy to do. 1 litre (4 cups) milk 100g (4oz, about 2/3 cup) icing sugar 1 341ml frozen drink concentrate Combine the ingredients, mix until blended and put in the freezer. Periodically mix, scraping down the frozen stuff on the side. I mix it about once every 45 minutes or so. After 4-6 hours it will get fairly stiff and you can stop mixing it and let it freeze on its own. The or...

Tried out this recipe yesterday that I found inside a Baker's Dark Chocolate box. They are really, really good. Incredibly rich and decadent without drowning you in chocolate. Very, very suitable with a nice tall glass of cold milk. 112g (4oz) dark (70%) chocolate 125ml (1/2 cup) butter 250ml (1 cup) icing sugar 2 whole eggs 2 egg yolks 90ml (6 tbsp) flour Ensure you have everything prepared before hand because the whole process is very quick. Preheat oven to 220C (425F). Butter and flour 4 custard cups (I had no idea what custard cups were, so I used a 4 muffin muffin tin – I really should have used a larger one, since I had enough batter for 6). Place the butter and chocolate in a reasonably large microwaveable dish. Microwave on high for about a minute. Whisk the melted butter and chocolate together until smooth. Add the icing sugar and blend. Add the eggs and yolks and blend (this was actually kind of tough, just keep going at it). Blend in the flour. Pour into prepared custard...

If you have never prepared duck breasts, you will find them extremely firm and plump. They are also quite fatty. I managed to render over 3 cups of duck fat from breasts I prepared Monday night. (And yes, I saved the fat, much to Sofia's dismay, it is sitting in the fridge. I used some tonight when I prepared Turkey a la king - using it to sauté the onions). Unlike my mother, who always prepared the same traditional dishes Christmas Eve, I always try to prepare something new. Sometimes it is successful, others times it is not. I think my worst failure was an almond rice I prepared a few years ago. It called for amaretto extract - it was overwhelming and quite disgusting (sadly, we had guests that year. oops). This year we started with potato, pear and leek soup. Which I thought was very good. My kids disagreed. This was followed with crab cakes. With more disagreement from the kids. The main course was duck breasts in red wine (I used a very nice sweet Peruvian wine, but I think it...

We always hear of the wonderful restorative powers of chicken soup. However, this is not universal. A few months back I was surprised to learn that in Chinese culture, chicken is contraindicated for colds. Apparently it is associated with phlegm (I think, but my memory is hazy). And last night another Chinese friend reminded me that chicken soup is not recommended when sick. On the other hand, when I am sick, a good garlic soup is all I want. 1 clove garlic some stale bread (optional) or some leftover mashed potatoes (optional) a bit of salt boiling water Chop up the garlic. Sprinkle with a little salt and mash with the flat side of a knife (I use a butter knife to avoid any unnecessary accidents). The salt helps the garlic mash into a nice fine paste. Spoon the paste into a cup or bowl. If you have some old rye bread, dice some of it and put in the bowl or, if you have left over mashed potatoes, put them in the bowl instead. Pour boiling water over it and enjoy. Yeah, it is a beggar...

Tin-tin recently blogged about her holiday back home and mentioned food. I really got excited about dinuguan - a spicy soup made from pigs blood - which I really want to try. I am not sure if it can be made here, since I have never seen fresh blood for sale - but I will bug my Filipino friends if they can make it for me here. I may have to plan a trip to the Philippines for that one. Anyway, all that talk of food make me hungry for a pork dish I do like and know how to make: Pork Hocks. 4 pork hocks 1 tbls salt 1/2 tsp ground pepper 1 tbls ground paprika 1 tbls ground cumin 4 bay leaves 1 large onion, chopped 1/2 bulb garlic, chopped (I was lazy and used 1 tbls garlic powder) Soy Sauce (growing up, my mom used liquid Maggi) 1. Wash the pork hocks. 2. Place them in a large pot. 3. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper, paprika and cumin. 4. Add the chopped onions and garlic. 5. Squirt Soy Sauce over it. 6. Fill pot with water and bring to a boil. 7. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 3 hour...

I'm feeling in the mood for stone soup. If you've never had it, it is a most delicious soup, rich and nutritious. All you need are 3 smooth stones. You could use any stones, but I find smooth ones make a better soup than rough and jagged ones. Of course, I lack a pot in which to make the soup. Usually, there is someone who has a pot and we can start to make the soup. You just place the stones in the pot, add water and bring it to a boil. Let it simmer for a bit and soon it is done. The most aromatic soup you have every tasted. Sometimes, someone might drop in a bone or a few scraps of meat they've found. These are not necessary, as the soup is quite fine without them, but it does help add an extra dimension to the flavour - not that is necessary with stone soup. Usually, someone manages to find a carrot or onion or a celery stalk or two in the corner of their cupboard and decide to drop it in. Again, stone soup is just fine the way it is, but it never hurts to add these to ...

It is no big secret that I am quite partial to food. I think Orson Welles said it best: "My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people." I greatly enjoy ethnic cuisine with Thai and Indian being my favourites, but for the longest time, I was unable to be satisfied with Vietnamese cuisine. That changed last year when I had the opportunity to spend some time with a Vietnamese woman. I explained to her that although I had tried Vietnamese food, I didn't really find it that appealing. She suggested we go to a restaurant and she would introduce me to good Vietnamese food. We skipped the main courses and simply went with the spring rolls and soup. That was a good experience. Vietnamese soups are very hearty and tasty and a meal in their own right. It was interesting to eat the soup with chopsticks and a spoon. Using the chopsticks to pick pieces of meat and vegetables and noodles into my mouth, while using the spoon to sip at th...

I picked up this fruit last week from Loblaws. Quite pricey at $6.99 each. It is obvious that it is a cactus fruit. I thought it would be similar to cactus pears (which I enjoy). Cactus pears for between $0.79 and $0.99 (when we were in Peru, we could buy them off the street 6 for 1 Sol, about $0.35, and the lady with calloused hands, would peel them for you) I started by cutting off the ends. A beautiful white flesh with small seeds surrounded by a pretty purply-pink skin. The flesh and seeds in side are very much like that of a Kiwi (except white instead of green). I was surprised since I was expecting lots of large seeds (like the cactus pear). It was fairly tasteless, though this is likely because the fruit was picked long before being fully ripe. I am sure if I ever go to Southeast Asia, I will discover it to be lightly sweet and probably even juicier. I am sure it is a good refreshment on a hot and sticky day. Phot credits: Richard of Forbidden Planet

Just to show that Cavalock is not the only one who can blog about food . Here is my meagre contribution. While doing some shopping today, I noticed that there were some new flavour potato chips. I am always game for some exotic taste. I also found some sliced foie gras. This is the liver of a duck that has been force fed until its liver is to the point of bursting. The price for this delicacy goes for a cool $130.05 per Kg (or, at the last exchange rate I saw, about US $139 per Kg). I hope it is good. As you can see, the liver does not have that natural liver colour. It is also huge. It is 11-1/2 cm wide. And this is just a slice of it. I bet the duck was happy to get rid of it. I honestly can't imagine what the duck loocked like after being force fed so much. I also bought these fancy tomatoes. How could I pass up so a gorgeous selection? We had them for lunch with the kids (although, Jason didn't have any since he doesn't like tomatoes, but he will eat ketchup with e...

If you happen to be in London this coming Wednesday, 24-October-2007, you can attend this lecture at The Royal Society given by Professor Ottoline Leyser. As the blurb for the lecture says: A good example is the number of branches a plant makes. It sounds like a fascinating talk. Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend. Nor will I be able to listen in to the live webcast (since I will be at work). You can read the public notice here or you can just continue scrolling down to read it. The Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Prize Lecture 2007 By Professor Ottoline Leyser, Department of Biology, University of York Plants monitor a wide range of information from their surrounding environment. They combine information of multiple sorts, and respond in an appropriate way. In animals a large part of this job is done by the nervous system, with the brain acting as a central processor for the information collected. In plants there is no brain, and the information processing is distributed a...

"No," I said, "and I am not going to buy you any candy, chocolates or chips." "Da-a-a-d, will you buy this gum for Jason?" Tania asked. "Smooth," said the cashier.

One of the neat things about grocery shopping in Montreal is the slightly wider variety of food I can find. There is no need to walk into a specialty store. I think every major grocery store I have been in sells horse meat. Most sell bison as well. Horse is very, very lean. Ground horse meat is cheaper than lean ground beef and leaner than extra-lean ground beef. I recently bought some non-traditional meats (red deer, horse and bison) and used them to make a stew (I just told the family it was beef because they tend to be picky about eating non-traditional animals). Photo credits: Richard of ForbiddenPlanet

I had bought some frozen calamari (squid) a while back and decided that it was time I actually did something with them. I thawed them out and cleaned them. I have never done this before and I am sure I was horribly slow and inefficient (it took me an hour to clean 2 pounds – 907g – worth). You begin by grasping the body and pulling out the head and guts. Then you squeeze out the guck inside and then peel off the skin (or film) on the surface. As a bonus, most of the skin comes off when you squeeze out the gunk. Finally you need to remove the spine. This was news to me, I thought that squid did not have any hard structure (aside from the beaky mouth). It is an interesting piece, when removed, it looks exactly like a piece of transparent plastic. Still haven’t decided what to make with it, but I will cook it tonight. Photo credits: Richard of Forbidden Planet [Note: today, blogger forced me to change over to the new blogger. When I logged in, I could not see any way to log on to my old ...

While shopping today, I saw this delightfully exotic looking fruit, with the delightfully exotic name of Buddha's Hand. Even thought it was $7.99 (Canadian), I still bought it. After researching it on the internet, I realize that I have bought a rather large and expensive lemon rind. Apparently, Buddha's Hand is a citrus fruit with almost no pulp or juice primarily used for its zest. It is still definitely worth a look. Photo credits: Richard of Forbidden Planet