Dragon Beard Candy

I had Dragon Beard Candies when I was in Montreal a month ago. We had gone to our favourite dim sum place in Chinatown and went for a stroll after- had to walk off all that good food! We then came across this shop was selling Dragon Beard Candy.

Dragon Beard Candy is made with sugar (usually) or maltose, boiled to soft crack stage, cooled and is stretched over repeatedly. The fine strands are dusted with toasted glutinous rice flour to ensure that they don't stick together.

The strands are then cut up and wrapped around crushed peanuts, sugar and toasted sesame seeds.


I tried to eat it in a few bites and made a huge mess. This definitely a one biter. I later wished that I had bought more of these little treats.This candy was invented over 2000 years ago in the imperial kitchen. You can also buy them online at YuzuMura.com
By the way....Tastespotting is BACK!!!!

Fruit Cobbler

It is that time of the week again for Tuesdays With Dorie. The recipe this week is Mixed Berry Cobbler. A cobbler consists of a bottom layer of fruit topped of with pastry - most cobbler crusts are heartier than pie crust. Some members from the above site have tried the recipe and were not too fond of the crust - apparently it was bland and too thick.



I used buttermilk instead of cream as suggested in the original recipe in Dorie's book - Baking: From My Home To Yours. It was a fortunate error in my grocery list. I was getting a little ahead of myself and was buying ingredients for the cheddar and apple scone for next week ( I am hoping to bake the scones on Friday so that Brad will be able to take it with him for a snack when he flies to Winnipeg this weekend). The original recipe called for 1 large cobbler and as you can see I opted for diminutive ones...I think they look adorable! I halved the recipe as the original recipe would have been too much for the two of us.

I also rolled out the crust a bit thinner and added a bit more sugar to it and the crust turned out not bad at all. I really liked the fruit filling. I used fresh berries and tossed it with a little sugar, lemon zest and some cornstarch and it turned quite lovely. A large scoop of ice cream on top of the warm cobbler would be nice too ;) Here is a link to Dorie's Berry Cobbler recipe from NPR's website.

Grilled Pork Chops with Peaches and Bourbon Sauce

Nothing beats grilling in the summer ( although some of us grill throughout the year - sometimes in a parka). The best thing about grilling is that you do not have to wait for the weekend and with a little planning you could have a delicious meal on the table in under an hour. When it gets really hot outside we do the bulk our cooking on the grill - ours has a side burner, which is handy to boil corn or potatoes or even make sambal belacan so it does not stink up the house! Brad says that it brings out the caveman in him when he grills ;)

The chops that I used were not too thick and it cooked fairly quickly on a hot grill. I made the bourbon sauce right before I grilled the pork chops. I have used fresh peaches for this recipe but frozen peaches would work as well here. But I prefer fresh peaches because it holds its shape better and lets face it - nothing beats fresh fruits!



Pork Chops with Peaches & Bourbon sauce
3 medium pork chops
salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tb olive oil

Peaches & Bourbon Sauce:
3 medium peaches
3 tb unsalted butter
1 medium shallot - minced finely
2 tb brown sugar
1/3 cup bourbon
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1/2 tsp rosemary
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper




Peach & Bourbon Sauce:
Wash and cut fresh peaches into segments ( I got eight segments out each peach).
Place segmented peaches, brown sugar, fresh thyme, butter, shallots, bourbon and rosemary in a heavy bottomed pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and season with salt and pepper. Simmer till mixture starts to thicken slightly. The peaches will still hold its shape.

Chops:
Preheat grill to 350 degrees. While waiting the grill to heat up, salt and pepper the pork chops, and brush olive oil on the chops and set aside.

Grill chops 5 minutes on each side. Just be mindful of the cooking time if your chops are thick. As you can see in the picture above, the chops that I have used were not too thick.

Serve grilled chops with bourbon peach sauce. I served it with homemade creamed corn and Grilled Romaine Salad. Makes three servings.

Spelt Noodles With Sugar Snap Peas

Nothing like a bowl of cool noodles when it is scorching hot outside. I used organic spelt to make this dish. Spelt is also known as farro and is a species of wheat. It has been around since medieval times. Spelt requires less pesticide to grow and there has been recent movement by organic farmers to make this ancient grain popular again. It is not gluten free, actually it is high in gluten, protein, fiber and has a lovely nutty flavour to it. I have yet to cook whole spelt but definately liked the noodles.

This salad is pretty straightforward to make and can be made ahead and served cold. I have used light soy sauce in this recipe. If you are using the regular soy sauce, it would be a good idea to reduce the amount by 1 tablespoon. You could always add more soy sauce but you can"t take any out!

Spelt Noodles With Sugar Snap Peas
Noodles:
2 cups snow peas
4 oz organic spelt udon noodles

Dressing:
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tb light soy sauce
1 tb rice vinegar
1/2 tb honey
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp each dark and lightly sesame seeds - lightly toasted

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and boil noodles according to instructions on the package.
Meanwhile blanch cleaned and washed snow peas. I like my vegetables crunchy, so I blanched it for one minute and set in a bowl of cold water ( with some ice cubes in it to stop the cooking process).

Once the noodles are cooked, drain and wash it in cold water. Set aside to drain.
Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl and pour over the drained noodles. Drain the blanched sugar snap peas and add it to the bowl of noodles as well. I sprinkled some chopped cilantro over the noodles right before I served it. Makes 4 servings.

Strawberry Tart

I made this tart for my first ever blog event. It is a well known fact that I am a fan of Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home To Yours. I bought the book some time back and found this site.

I decided to join this group and bake my way through the book. I missed out on the last week's French Brownie post.. I made the brownie and had some problem with Blogger when the time came to post, so I had to skip it.

The original recipe calls for a 9 inch tart, I decided to make mini tarts instead. I changed around a few things with this tart. I sprinkled orange blossom water over the fresh strawberries instead of fraise frambois/creme de cassis/kirsh as was suggested in the book. I made the sweet tart shell with freshly round pistachios.


This tart is quite lovely - the fresh stawberries used in the filling does not weigh you down in this summer heat! You could bake the tart shell even a few days ahead. I found the tart shell to be sturdy (and breaks into big shards when you try to eat it with a fork).


La Palette's Strawberry Tart adapted from Dorie Greenspan

1 - 9 inch sweet tart dough ( I made mine with pistachios)
1 qt organic strawberries
1 tb organic sugar
1 tb orange blossom water
strawberry jam

I made mini sweet tart shells and let it cool completely. I smothered strawberry jam that I had on hand on the bottom of the tart shell and set it aside.
Wash the strawberries and cut the top off . Half the berries, sprinkle sugar and orange blossom water over it.

Spoon the strawberries over the tart shells and serve immediately. You could serve it with some whipped cream or creme fraiche as suggested in the book. I served mine with a some chopped pistachio nuts. Makes 4 mini tarts or one 9 inch tart.

Baigan Bharta

A bharta is a dish of pureed or mashed vegetables mixed with spices. The eggplant is traditionally grilled slowly over hot coals but I decided to bake it instead. It has been raining all day here and I did not feel like getting soaked for the sake of the eggplant! Having said that I have bbqed in the rain - ribs taste better cooked on a grill after all..... Back to the eggplant - if you are not able to to grill or bake in a hot oven, you could always steam it. DO NOT BOIL - as the eggplant will turn into a soggy beast!




Make sure you make incisions all over the vegetable otherwise you will end with a big mess in the oven as it could EXPLODE while cooking. Don't really know if the last bit is true - I haven't tried it.

I have used ghee (clarified butter) and vegetable oil for this dish. The clarified butter is butter that has been rendered to separate milk solids and butter fat. It has a wonderful aroma and adds a lovely nutty flavour to this dish.

Baigan Bharta
1 medium eggplant
1/2 tsp ghee
1 tb vegetable oil
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 turmeric powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 medium onion - minced fine
2 cloves garlic - minced fine
1/2 in ginger root - minced fine
1 medium green chilli - chopped fine
1 small ripe tomatoes finely chopped
salt to taste
1 tb chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Wash eggplant and dry it. Make incision with a sharp knife all over the whole eggplant. Rub some oil over it . Place on a baking sheet and in a preheated oven. Bake for 40 minutes.

Allow the eggplant to cool. Once it has cooled cut it in the middle , scoop out the soft flesh and place it in a bowl. Mash finely with a fork. Discard skin.

Heat oil and ghee over medium heat. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once the spices start to pop, add the onion, ginger, garlic and green chili. The aroma of the the spices sauted in hot ghee is truly one of my favourite aroma. What could be better than cooking with clarified butter?

Back to the recipe - once the onion starts to slightly caramelize, add turmeric, chili powder, coriander powder, salt, and tomatoes. Saute for one minute. Add 2 tablespoon of water , cover and let it cook for 3 minutes. Add garam masala, mashed eggplant and half of the cilantro. Cook for another 3 minutes and remove from heat. Sprinkle rest of the cilantro over it or skip it if you are averse to cilantro. This dish is wonderful served with naan , chapati or even rice. I served mine with chapati - a great way to scoop up all the delicious bits of eggplant! Makes 2-3 servings.