I decided to make an Indian vegetarian feast when my sister visited from the UK, and I wanted to make it as authentic as I could, which included making all sauces from scratch. It also included making my own ghee, a dairy product often used in Indian cuisine where one might expect to find vegetable oil instead.

When I first announced my decision, I had the virtually same conversation with at least three different people. It went a little something like this:

Me: So, I’m going to try to make my own ghee.

Anonymous: Well, isn’t that just clarified butter.

Me: Yes it is, but do you know how to clarify butter?

Anonymous: Er, well, um, no, uh, not exactly, oh look, over there, something shiny…

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This classic Italian dish in the “hunter’s style” comes to you courtesy of All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking, one of those weighty tomes that’s been taking up space in my cupboard for years. This is what I decided to make when I took it down to see what I could do with it.

Ingredients

• 3½ – 4½ pounds (1.5 – 2 kg) chicken parts, bone-in
• salt
• pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 bay leaf
• 1½ teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary, or ½ teaspoon dried
• 1 teaspoon fresh sage leaves, minced, or ½ teaspoon dried
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• ½ dry wine, red or white
• 8 ounces (225 g) canned whole tomatoes in juice, hand crushed
• ¾ cup chicken stock
• ½ black olives, pitted & sliced (optional)
• 8 ounces (225 g) sliced mushrooms

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Photo by forwardcom

It’s guest editorial time!

My sister Mo sent me an email not long ago that I just had to pass along to the rest of the world. Her daughter just turned 20, just in case anyone’s concerned about the potty mouth. Hope you enjoy…

I thought you might appreciate this, the result of my daughter coming in and asking me “Mom, how do you boil a f*%@$~g egg?” It’s lovely when the little dears start to become independent.

How to boil a f*%@$~g egg

• 1 f*%@$~g egg
• 1 small pot with a lid

Put egg in pot. Or more eggs, go wild. Carry the pot to the sink, fill with cold water, to about 1 inch from the top. Turn off water.

Put pot on the stove, turn burner to medium. Put lid on pot, gently bring to a boil (too fast and they crack and leak and are icky, plus you have to eat them immediately or chuck them out.)

When pot boils, turn off the stove right away, LEAVE LID ON THE POT.

Turn stove timer on for 10 minutes, not 9, not 11, 10. Leave the pot covered, go do something for 10 minutes.

When the timer goes off, take the pot to the sink, remove lid, run cold water onto the eggs until the water stays cold. Eat your f*%@$~g eggs. Put any remaining f*%@$~g eggs in the f*%@$~g fridge.

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This weeks plate is harvested from the pages of Bon Appétit with just a couple of minor variations. I chose a Mexican theme in honour of Mexico’s Bicentennial this week.

Caveat: Bon Appétit recommends doing this dish in stages, but due to time constraints I had to do it all simultaneously. Save yourself the headache; plan ahead.

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Photo by Spiders

Nothing Beats Fresh

I had some problems sourcing some decent cilantro (also known as coriander) for dish #2 in my 50 First Plates series. I could only find packaged cilantro at my local grocers, but every time I took it home and opened it up it smelled off. It was less like the awesome smell you associate with fresh cilantro and more like the odor of old gym socks.

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