Talking Coffee on Shaw GO Island · Tuesday January 15, 2013 by colin newell
Had a blast talking to Dan Kahan of Shaw community cable on Go Island South – great show…
The topic: Coffee culture… at its best, right here in sleepy Victoria B.C. Canada.
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Steamed Halibut with Mango Teriyaki by Eric Akis of the Times Colonist · Monday March 26, 2012 by colin newell
Steaming a fish, like Halibut, has some distinct advantages – you can cook it precisely without using any oil or on a grill or flat-top – and all you taste is the delicate nuance of the fish – no distraction. Perfection!
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: About 10 minutes
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce – most brands are OK – watch the salt content!
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock or broth
2 Tbsp honey or corn syrup
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp Asian-style chili sauce, to taste
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 medium red bell pepper, cut into small cubes
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tsp finely chopped fresh grated ginger
1 small, ripe mango, peeled and cut into small cubes
4 (5 to 6 oz.) halibut fillets
2 green onions, thinly sliced
The side – we prepped a 1/2 cup of cooked Basmati Rice – the perfect compliment to this dish.
The sauce – Place the first 6 ingredients in a bowl and whisk until the cornstarch is dissolved.
Heat the oil in small pot set over medium-high.
Add the bell pepper, garlic and ginger and cook 2 minutes. Pour in the Teriyaki sauce mixture, bring to a simmer, and simmer 1 minute until lightly thickened. Be careful not to burn the garlic – burnt garlic changes everything!
Stir in the mango, turn the heat to low, cover and set aside the sauce until needed.
The Fish – Get out a large bamboo or stainless steel steamer. We used a steel one and used some parchment paper in a perfectly cut ring (of paper) in the bottom with around 10 pin holes punched in the paper.
Set the halibut in the steamer.
Cover the steamer, set over simmering water, and steam until the fish is just cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Plate the fish on top of the rice pilaf – top with sauce, sprinkle with green onion, and serve.
It’s delicious, it’s healthy and it has a zesty chili kick that you can regulate entirely to taste. Enjoy! Thanks to Eric Akis at the Times Colonist for this great recipe.
Click on the photo below for the bigger view.
2012 Variation of Alton Brown Texas Chili · Sunday March 25, 2012 by colin newell
Here is a another subtle variation on Alton Brown’s classic – it is not vegetarian but you can easily take out the sirloin and pitch in some firm tofu (grilled in advance of course…)
Use a 4L or 4-quart stock or stewing pot minimum – the biggest you have.
2 pounds Sirloin tip or lesser grade of beef (any grade of ground beef or pork… or Tofu)
4 tablespoons Canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 bottle of beer, medium pale ale (you can sub in 2 cups of beef or vegetable broth)
1-2 (16-ounce) container medium or hot salsa
60 tortilla chips (really! 60… not 59 or 61!)
(option) 1/2 cup chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce, chopped
2 medium onions – chopped
1 Yellow pepper chopped
1 Red pepper chopped
1 small Zucchini chopped
1 large Pablano pepper chopped
2 Anaheim peppers chopped
1 chopped Habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers (be VERY, VERY careful with these peppers! There is a real risk of burning or blistering if your skin comes in direct contact with the seeds or chopped pepper flesh.)
2 tablespoon adobo sauce (from the chipotle peppers in adobo)
2 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoon ground cumin
Heat your stewing/cooking pot (largest one your have!)and toss/brown meat with the Canola oil and salt/pepper in smallish batches. Add the meat in 6 to 8 batches and brown on all sides, approximately 2-3 minutes per batch. Once each batch is browned, place the meat in a clean large bowl or plate.
Once all of the meat is browned and set aside, add several tablespoons of beer or broth to deglaze the pot.
Depending on how dry your pot is, add a tablespoon or two of your favorite canola oil.
Put in onions, yellow and red peppers, zucchini and carrots to brown for around 5 to 7 minutes.
Add Pablano and Anaheim chopped peppers – cooking an additional 5 minutes
Add Chipotle peppers and adobo sauce – stir in well.
Add bottled salsa (1 bottle at a time) and beer/broth gradually.
Add tomato paste and ground spices
Add corn chips.
Return meat to the mix.
bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes, reduce heat to LOW, cover
and simmer for 1 hour (minimum) 2 hours = better!
Depending upon how hot your Habanero, salsa and chilpotle chilis are will dictate how much of a sweat you will work up – add sour cream to serving for the more delicate among you! Be warned: Habanero chili’s are among the hottest chili peppers on the planet – they are easily hundreds if not thousands of times hotter than the lowly jalapeno pepper. Use extreme caution with these orange peppers. If you are not prepared to assume the risk, leave this pepper out.
After the chili has stewed for a few hours, a lot of the extreme edge of the peppers have been tamed – including the habanero chili’s – that said, this is a very, very hot and spicy disk: Want it milder? Back off on the chili powder, use a mild salsa and avoid the Habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers.
Serve with ice cold beer, corn chips and a cotton napkin for wiping your brow.
This batch would easily serve 12 to 16 hungry folks – I freeze the chili in plastic containers for frugal hot lunches!
1964 Pick up truck and a song · Wednesday March 7, 2012 by colin newell
In the dusty summer of 1964, I was a 5 year old looking forward to entering Grade One.
To be honest, I kind of new that the gig was up. Had been living free and easy all these years. No responsibility. Long days of shooting the breeze, watching over our 4 acres of hay and horses and apples.
One afternoon, late August, in a moment of mischief, I tossed my sisters one and only Beatles album around like a Frisbee – not understanding the dynamics of plastics, glass and other fragile items that might break – and this one did… into a million pieces.
So into the back of a 1963 Chevolet pick up truck I was tossed by a neighbor with the approval of my mom and 8 bucks (I think it was, if that – to buy a new copy)…
Twist and Shout by the Beatles – released in February 1964. Literally days before an entire continent would be glued to their TV sets as the fab-4 would perform for the first time on national television. And I was there.
In the year 2012 one never sees children flopping around the back of a hay filled Chevy but in 1964 it would have been commonplace. And so it was: Off to the Eaton’s on Douglas at View Street. It would be a year before the greatest Christmas catalog of all time would be released; the 1965 Wish book from Eaton’s.
Digress.
After picking up the new LP I was whisked to a farm in the countryside where my older sister was riding horses. And much to her surprise she was curious that I was dropping off a brand new copy of a record – this was my parents idea of remedial justice. Thankfully, I was not judged too harshly.
“New Beatles album? What is wrong with the old one?”
Funny observation from that point – I replied, “They broke up…”
“WHAT!” My 10 year old sister shrieked… NOW she was mad.
It took some quick hand gestures while looking up at this girl who was easily 2 feet taller than me… “No, no… record… broken… hundreds of…”
It all worked out after that.
From that point on I started paying very curious attention to each and every Beatles release – because my much older sister bought each and every one – and with each record their music was evolving – morphing into something more adult each and every day.
By February 1967, I was a much, much older 9 year old – with more sophisticated tastes. While watching American Bandstand one Saturday morning with a youthful Dick Clark, he introduced a newfangled “promotional film” by the Beatles (we can them videos now…) for the songs “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields”
I remember the reaction of many of the kids in the audience – of shock that the Beatles had moved on leaving many of them behind in their bobby socks.
Not me. I had known for some time that Beatlemania was over baby. It was well over by the summer of 1966… another hot and dusty Summer where old 60’s pick up trucks and beat up cars would play an important role…
In my life.
