Filed under: Uncategorized
To the readers of my Kitchen Bachelor blog, I’ve recently taken a big step by moving my blog to a self-hosted server, thanks to my bro who’s offered me some of his server space. Thanks Sherm.
I know, mambo-jambo, right? Simply, what this means, is that I’ll have more personalization, my own http://kitchenbachelor.com web domain (without the weird .wordpress.com extension) and making it easier for readers to find me.
As far as the transition goes, I’ll still maintain the old blog for now, but all new content will be published at http://kitchenbachelor.com. There’s a bit of a new look and feel as well.
If you’ve enjoyed my kitchen adventures and want to be updated when there’s new content, feel free to subscribe to email notifications (the bright-green button, top right of the page), or RSS.
Filed under: Entrees, Ingredients, Recipes | Tags: Jerk Chicken, Market Meats on 4th avenue
For those of you who have been to the Reef on Commercial Drive, or the Caribbean festival at Lonsdale Quay, you know how good Jerk Chicken is! So to satisfy my craving this week for something island-spicy, I managed to find some jerk seasoning at Market Meats – my favorite butcher shop on 4th avenue.
Jerk seasoning usually includes ingredients like allspice, Scotch bonnet peppers, cloves, cinnamon, scallions, nutmeg, thyme, and garlic. You could make it yourself or buy something off the shelf like one I found called “Walkerswood”.
Usually I would marinade something like this overnight, but due to some bad prep on my part, I only had 2 hours to slap on the amazing rub on some free-range chicken thighs (score the chicken with a knife) that I purchased. In the fridge for 2 hours, onto a baking pan covered with foil, and then into a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven over to broil on high for the final 15 minutes of baking to get a nice browning of chicken skin.
As for side dishes, I had boiled some beats (45 minutes in boiling water) and chopped up some yams (seasoned and in the oven at the same time as the chicken).
Heat tip: If you have a lower tolerance for spice, turn down the heat of the jerk spice by mixing with some brown sugar or honey.
Difficulty Rating: 2 out of 5
An author, an actress, a model, a businesswoman and an amazing cook. This is Padme Lakshmi who easily makes it on the Kitchen Bachelor Foodie Hotties List. Padme is an Indian American that you’ll probably recognize from Top Chef, the cooking show on Bravo where she stars alongside celebrity Chef Tom Colicchio.
Chocolate anyone?
Padme’s exotic look was first discovered when she was 16 by a modeling agent while at a cafe in Spain. She’s since gone on to grace many magazine covers and international runways, take on films like Mistress of Spices (with Aishwarya Rai), published a couple cook books and now taking on Top Chef hosting honours.
You can find out more about this Foodie Hottie at her official website (I highly recommend checking out the Downloads and Photos links – no reason really).
View the other nominated Foodie Hotties under the “Celebrity Chefs” category.
Filed under: Entrees, Recipes | Tags: Chambar Moroccan Lamb Shank, Chef Nico Shuermans
My favourite restaurant in Vancouver is none other than Chambar – the Belgian restaurant on Beatty street. They have a great wine list, Belgian beers, moules frites and Nico Shuermans – a 3 Michelin-starred chef.
A friend from work recently mentioned that Chambar’s Moroccan Lamb Shanks recipe was surprisingly profiled on the 24 hours newspaper. Many of the dishes at Chambar have an exotic twist, given that Chef Nico was schooled by a Moroccan chef. I love this dish and decided to throw a dinner party for a few special friends.
It turned out amazingly well – with scrumptious flavours and exotic scents that permeated my apartment for a good 2 days!
Here’s the recipe – a slight variation from what was posted on the 24 hours newspaper. Double up the ingredients if you’re going to go through the effort – make some friends, invite some neighbours.
Difficulty rating: 4 out of 5
Serves: 2
Shanks
2 – 1 lb lamb shanks (about 1.5 inches thick)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed or ground
50 g red onion, diced
40 g fresh ginger, minced
30 g tumeric
2 garlic cloves, minced
100 ml honey
1 cinnamon stick
2 cups of white wine
2 cups of stock (I used veal stock)
Pinch of crushed chilles
Salt and pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Clean, dry, salt and pepper the shanks
3. Heat vegetable oil in a stainless steel pot – medium high
4. Brown meat on both sides, then remove temporarily
5. Reduce heat to medium low
6. Add onions first (sautee), then garlic, ginger (sautee some more)
7. Add stock, wine, honey and other spices
8. Bring shanks back to the pot
9. Liquid level should come to halfway up the meat – this is the key to braising this meat over low heat
10. Cover the pot and put it in the oven for 3 hours – flip the lamb every hour
Couscous
100 mg couscous
160 ml water
1 tbsp sliced almonds
2 tbsp dried apricots, cut into strips (I used prunes)
2 tbsp raisins
2 tsp tumeric
2 tsp green onion, sliced
2 tsp mint chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
Directions:
1. Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan
2. Add the couscous, salt, olive oil and tumeric and mix well
3. Take the couscous off the heat and cover for 5 minutes
4. Use a fork to fluff the couscous and stir in the rest of the ingredients
That’s it! It takes a bit of planning to get this dish ready, but once it’s prepped, most of the time is really just waiting for the lamb to get super tender in the oven. I would love to hear your experiences if you do try this great “dish for the soul”!
