Xan: Iceland and England (Part 1)

Iceland!  And England!  The next few posts will recap our vacation to Iceland and England.  I promise that each post will have at least some food in it.

In the wake of the economic meltdown, food in Iceland is affordable, though still on the expensive side.  But Grandma gave us some travel money, so we just decided: this is our first big vacation in 3 years, and we're making the most of it.  Thanks, Grandma!  It would be a pity to make it all the way to Iceland and not try the puffin.  Or the whaley-whales.  Or the lammykins.

We will come to those.  But first an overview.  We were in Iceland for 8 days.  That means I am a certified Iceland expert.  I have seen everything.  I have eaten everything.  I even know how to pronounce Eyjafjallajokull.  

By contrast, we were in England for 5 days.  Therefore I have seen almost none of England and am not even qualified to pronounce "pasty," although I did eat a "brace" of them (assuming that applies to something other than quail, pictures forthcoming).  But since most of our readers are essentially Brits, my ignorance will probably make this more interesting.  A brace of pasties, he says!  Rhymes with tasty, he says!  Wait, is "tasty" still "tasty" in England?

I'm sure the French would say no.  But the Vongsafood Fren-shhhhhh policy is in full force, so they don't get a say.  English food is delicious, period

This would be a good stopping point for the intro, but since I promised each post would have some food in it, I am forced to contradict my previous sentence with a non-example.  Let's call this "doughnut" the exception that proves the rule:

"Jam Doughnut!"

It isn't really fair since donuts aren't British food.  But I've been warned that they haven't exactly figured them out, so I was curious.  What could possibly be so wrong with this?  I mean, really, how bad could a doughnut be?  From the outside, it looks like a normal jelly donut.  But on closer inspection, it is clearly misspelled.  It should be called a "donot," as in do not buy this sorry excuse for a donut.  The dough was just...dry...and the jam was so runny that it kind of exploded on my face.  At least Chris got a good laugh out of it.  

Incidentally, "Jam Doughnut!" makes a really good minced oath.  Try it!  Put on your best Papagrumps impression.  JAM DOUGHNUT!  I'm going to start using that.

But let me say that my spirit when traveling -- which I really do hold to -- is that I'm always glad to have tried something, whether or not it turns out to be good.  This was a truly mind-expanding experience.  It was bad in ways I couldn't possibly have anticipated, it was literally worse than every donut I have ever eaten in my entire life.  And the truly bizarre thing, I come to realize, is that it looks exactly like a delicious donut from the outside, but on the inside it possesses none of the requisite parts that make a donut delicious. England has perfected the cargo cult donut!

But evidently, perhaps as a sheer testament to the incredible awesomeness of donuts, this Worst Of All Donuts was still better than not eating.  I finished the whole thing.

Linden's Coconut Cake and Hazelnut Plum Crumb Tart

So I am beginning to start a slight weight-loss program, but it hasn't gotten to the part where I exclude delicious cakes and sweets from my diet, which is good because I wouldn't be able to explain this post. My current (likely unrealistic) plan involves eating better breakfasts and lunches, and not worrying about my cake intake yet. These are my most recent attempts.

The first is a coconut cake with chocolate chunks, which was super delicious, but probably more calorie-dense than I would like to admit. It does, on the other hand, travel fairly well, although there is some coconut loss along the way. (A big slice of this cake travelled with me to Paris a few weeks ago.)

This cake was one of those, "I want to bake something but have nothing interesting in the pantry" shots. Found and modified a recipe off epicurious for it - next time I would use less chocolate.

This cake has a better story. There is a store in Engand called Waitrose, which has a wonderful habit of making extreme price slashes when its food is about to go off. Right before Easter, they had some extra good reductions because they were closed Easter. I got a bag of six plums for 30p, and thought I had better use them up quickly rather than eat squashy plums.

So, I made this delicious hazelnut plum crumble, which has a hazelnut crumb base and topping, and a custard with plums going through the middle. Mm, tasty.  (It also has the advantage of using up some ground hazelnuts in the pantry, which were left over from chocolate hazelnut christmas cookies.) I would heartily recommend this one to anyone who is looking for some delicious good hearty fruity baking. (I always use milk instead of cream in these recipes, as I don't see the point of buying cream and it's still delicious with milk.) Pulled off the very reliable smitten kitchen.

Linden's healthy sweet potato and black bean salad

So now to break the trend of unhealthy foods. After a year of not worrying about how much I eat, I've been chubbing up a bit, and have to slim down. So I am, along with the pork ragu, beginning a series of Healthy Lunches that are filling and don't have the Too Much Sugar problem.

So, to start, a sweet potato and black bean salad. (It has the added benefit of being super cheap, although it takes a little while to put together.)

Also, the benefit of being super pretty.

I roast the sweet potatoes, cook the black beans (in my case, from dried), and then throw them in a bowl once slightly cooled. I add some chopped tomato, threw in a handful of chopped cilantro, and squeeze a lime over it. Yum yum.

Linden's Really Good Pork Ragu

To continue the recent pattern of big, meaty dinners, here's what we ate last Sunday. (Now that I work a proper job, I don't have time to do long meals on weeknights, so all the delicious slow cooking happens on the weekends.)

Last weekend, we wanted something delicious and meaty, and I've had this in my to-cook folder for months. (I have a long list of meals that require a dutch oven, and since I don't have one of those, and don't actually know what it is, and whether England carries them, they mostly stay there. Now, I have a casserole dish, and I'm making do with that for some of the cheatable ones.)

Personally, I think this is something Xan should cook, because he will like it. It is super, super delicious! Not all that much work, but a long cooking time that makes the whole house smell really, really good. After browning a big hunk of pork in a pan, you stick it in a dish and add some tomatoes, red wine, herbs, and put it in the oven for hours and hours.

It comes out looking like this, and then you shred it, and put it on some delicious pasta.

 Yum yum. Really though, Xan should make this and report back. The original recipe here

Xan: Making Kathleen a lucky duck

When Kathleen visited Chicago in January I made Peking duck.  I had never roasted a duck before (aside from that turducken), but Kathleen said it was time to change that.  As with so many things, I followed Kenji's guide over at Serious Eats.  Honey is to maltose as the food lab is to actual experience, which is to say: they are fair substitutes.

Incidentally, both readings of this post's title would be accurate.  Just as the lucky cows are the ones that get made into Happy Meals, it is the lucky duck that rises to the status of Peking Duck.  Let's meet Ping:

Here he is, just chilling in the fridge.  At this point, Ping has already been through a lot: I separated his skin from the body so the fat will render, poured boiling water over him to tighten the skin back up, and also coated him with a mixture of honey and water and baking powder to help browning.  Ping will air-dry overnight so the skin can get really crispy.

Hey.  Ping!  Get up, Ping!  You don't want to miss the boat, do you?

Ping gets up!  Is that an Arizona Ice Tea I see?

Peking duck is normally made by hanging up the duck in a large oven, allowing the fat to render so the skin can get crispy.  To reproduce this, we stand him up on a can.  It's going to be a tight squeeze in the home oven...

Ping's tail must be bent back as much as possible to make room.  Still, I think he is enjoying himself.

Ping is a sight to behold when he comes out of the oven.  Unfortunately I was distracted making the pancakes for peking duck, so all I have is a shot of his legs and the finished dish:

Kathleen seized a leg for "scientific purposes."

It may not be the most traditional Peking duck -- I refuse to not include lots of meat -- but these were delicious, obviously.  As proof, Kathleen demanded that I make her another duck before leaving.  I said no, but we did make mom's Panang curry together!

Pretty sure I've never seen Kathleen happier.

Yep, that's Kathleen.

You can really see the wheels turning...

Bad Kathleen, my curry!  Don't even think about it!

Kathleen also demanded exclusive rights to the leftovers, but I bargained her down to the lion's share.

We all agreed that cucumbers go really well here.

Xan et al: Creole Everything + Turducken!!!

The long-awaited Christmas Eve Eve turducken recap!  Sorry for taking so long...

Back before Christmas, mom pitched the possibility of buying a Costco turducken.  What a great idea!  We never did that before...

But this gave me an even better idea: why not make a turducken ourselves?  To make a turducken, you debone a turkey, a duck, and a chicken, and lay them flat on top of each other with a layer of stuffing between each.  Then you roll the whole thing up and tie it back into the shape of a turkey.

The hard part of this is supposed to be deboning the birds.  But loyal readers will recall that before Christmas I was practicing on chickens!  (umm, dead ones, mostly).  According to Jacques these birds are all pretty much the same inside, so why not?  Let's get to it!

This was a team effort.  Our photographers were not always paying attention, so you will just have to fill in the gaps with your imagination.

A 13.7 lb turkey, 2.5 lb chicken and 4.3 lb duck 

Deboning the chicken first:

Cutting the skin of the back

Pulling out the backbone.

That took about 15 minutes.  Next, the duck (his name is Charlie):

Charlie came from the Asian supermarket so he still had his head and feet!  This did not please the photographer and indeed may explain why there are no pictures of actually deboning the duck.  Sorry, Charlie!  The photographer has left the building.

She did return, however, to see Charlie dressed smartly in his duxedo: 

Charlie was dispatched in about 20 minutes.  There were some differences, like his rounded wishbone (good for approximate wishes) and almost negligible tenderloins, but overall he was pretty much the same inside.

The turkey, on the other hand, was quite difficult to work with, if only for his size.  Deboning this guy was a 45 minute workout:

Pulling out the backbone.  The drumstick bones are left in the turkey.

The backbone, with tenderloins still attached.

Incidentally, we ate the turkey, duck, and chicken tenderloins for a late-night snack; the bones were used for stock.

These deboned birds were then brined overnight.  Sadly, our photographers were not present for the next part, so you'll just have to imagine laying the turkey skin-side down, putting a layer of creole cornbread/sausage stuffing (which we had made) on top, then laying the duck down, then more stuffing, then the chicken, then more stuffing, and then rolling it up.

We used metal skewers to secure each rolled-up bird:

Thanks, linden's arm!

I think mom was really enjoying herself.

Next, flipped it over, and sewed up the neck and tail to keep the stuffing inside:

It looks like a turkey, except with a giant duck tail sticking out.

Finally it was time for the oven.  Are you ready for the payoff?




...are you sure?




I hope you can handle it...

No photoshop!  It actually looked like this!

Chicken, in duck, in turkey, oh my!

Sorry, I did not mean to channel Pioneer Woman there.



Okay, maybe a little.



No seriously that's quite enough.  I will not make you wade through any more step-by-step photos.  In any case, as you can see, a nice thing about deboned things is they're easy to carve!  Just slice and serve!  Everyone gets some of everything.

The whole meal was creole-themed, in fact.  We were trying to get as far as possible away from the traditional Christmas meal that would be following shortly after this one.

Final thoughts?  It was really fun to make this turducken, and totally worth it for the adventure and the novelty.  However, I'm not sure that I'd do it again.  It tasted good but what a waste of a duck!  Not only do the turkey and chicken bring down the average, but furthermore there's no way to cook a duck optimally when it's sandwiched between two other birds.  The skin doesn't get crispy.  The fat mostly just sits there (you can see a thick layer of fat in the picture) instead of rendering.  And I'm not sure I want a creole duck either.

Coming soon: how to really cook a duck.

Linden's First Roast Bird, and Leftovers

Well I have finally gotten moved in and settled down and internetted up in my new flat, and I am starting to get to do some cooking, for the first time in a while!

Now, I'm living with Chris, and as we all know he is a little bit English. Which means, different food his entire life! I mean, there's the similar things, like sandwiches and pasta with tomato sauce, but much of his diet has consisted of shepherds' pies and cock on the van and beef barging on and of course roast dinners, some of which I had never heard of, and none of which I have ever made.

But compromises must be made, and so I have started cooking other foods - last weekend I roasted my first chicken! It was very delicious, and I didn't really take any pictures, so you will have to settle for this dark and close up picture of the already-plated meal.

Then, with the leftovers, I made tortilla soup! Which went very well and was very colorful.

Yum yum.