Italindian

The ingredients are a replete but I thought the curry lentil, white rice and goat vindaloo together look rather like the Italian flag.

Sichuan Beef Noodle Soup

This used to be my standby lunch when I was living alone in graduate school and I almost forgot how good and satisfying it is. Here I used the small beef shank meat for its tenderness after cooking and the plentiful creamy tendons in the meat. Pieces of this meat are first parboiled for a couple three minutes to clear the of the blood. Sugar is caramelized to light brown in some oil before plenty of garlic cloves, ginger and Sichuan peppercorn are added for a moment. Hot Sichuan bean sauce 豆瓣酱 is then added to cook until no more water in the pan. Toast in the beef, coat well then add water to cook until tender. If you add a lot of water you have the soup ready for the noodles, but if you add less water the soup would be very strong so when you use it you have to add more water. Either case, cook some nice wheat noodles, add some pressed garlic, chopped scallion, some vegetable and sesame oil, and a really nice bowl of noodle is made.

Vindaloo

Is Vindaloo a English or an Indian dish? I am not so sure. It is definitely more popular in England than in India. Here I made a goat vindaloo.
The goat is first marinated in toasted and then grind coriander seeds, cumin, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, cloves, dried chillies, cinncmon stick, cardamon seeds, turmeric and salt over night before added to browned onions and sautéed until golden. Tomatoes are then added to cook away the water and then vinegar and water are added to cook until very tender. I was surprised that the sourness of the vinegar melted into the dish and make a very lovely mild acidity to balance the heat. No wonder they love it in England.

Late First Peas

The weather out here in BC is so bad this year that everything is a month late. Usually I get peas early in May, but this year it is mid June. Rather depressing really. The peas I sowed in the vegetable garden didn't even grow, to cold and too wet, I am guessing. I put some in a couple of big flower pots and those survived. Just a hand full for now, sweet but a little sad.

Chickpea Cake

I had some chickpeas left over so I experimented. I mashed them with some cumin, coriander leaves, onion, salt, pepper, egg and flour then pan fried them in small cakes. They are not bad but not exactly great either. Tasted healthier than Falafel, for better and for worse...

Sablefish

Sablefish is a good eating fish but because of it heavy fat content some methods are very much better than others. Here I tried simply searing it just with salt and pepper added with a couple slices of ginger in the pan. When it is almost cooked I put in a couple scallions. The fish tasted fine but not exciting, but the scallions are very very good.

Lamb Chops, Day 2

A spice blend of cumin, coriander, black pepper and garlic is rubbed onto part II of chops and the seared. Because the flavour is simpler so the side is richer--chickpeas cooked with onion, shiitake mushroom, tomato, thyme and oregano. Like this contrast.

Lamb chops, Day 1

Lamb rib chops are probably the quickest meat cut to cook and so easy to eat. Here I divided a rack into two part. These four chops I marinated in fresh thyme, sage, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt and pepper before searing in a hot pan for 1.5 minute a side and ate it with rice cooked with porcini mushroom, peas, onion and chicken stock. Spring!

Cornbread

I don't quite understand why this is call bread--it looks like a cake, it mixes like a cake and it bakes like a cake... It is a savory cake, sure, but a cake still... Well, it is a tasty thing either case.

Pepperoni Pizza

I baked this until crisp and brown, love it.

Pumpkin soup

Sauté a lot of leeks before adding cut up winter squash and potato, cook until soft, puree, sprinkle on some curry powder (or not) and serve with a spoon full or two of sour cream and you have this very hearty and tasty soup.