Victoria Spring 2011 - Good Eats - Tofu dirty rice re-boot · Monday May 30, 2011 by colin newell
Andrea and I have tossed this screaming hot recipe around a couple of times – almost always with wonderful results. Here is today’s snapshot. This is NOT a truly vegetarian dish… but it could be with the removal of the “chicken” based stock and Ham.
1 large Onion
1 Red Pepper and 1 Yellow Pepper
1 Anaheim Pepper
2 Jalapeno Peppers
2 tablespoons tomato paste.
2 cups rice
2 cups “chicken stock”
1 package (400g) extra firm Tofu
3 tablespoons Emeril Lagasse Creole Spice mix
2 cups diced Ham
1/4 cup canola oil
Step 1 – put rice on to cook (set aside once fluffed)
Step 2 – chop all peppers and onions into small chop (dice)
Step 3 – Combine 3 tablespoons creole mix with 1/4 cup oil to make a liquid paste
Step 4 – Cut Tofu into 1 X 1” cubes. Toss into creole oil/paste mix
Step 5 – Pan fry Tofu until all sides are browned/crisp + set aside.
Step 6 – Heat 1/4 cup oil in large pot. Add all onions and peppers
Step 7 – Saute veg for 10 minutes until softened.
Step 8 – Add tomato paste to 1/2 cup chicken stock
Step 9 – Combine rice + veg + tofu to complete dirty rice,
adding remainder of stock.
You can garnish with green onions, cilantro or even sprinkle whole or crushed nuts.
We warned – this is a VERY hot dish. Not for the faint of heart.
Creole Spice Mix:
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
Makes 2/3 of a cup.
Victoria Spring 2011 - Ferris Upstairs Food Review · Wednesday April 6, 2011 by colin newell
Let me just say that Ferris Oyster Bar – the main floor is one of my favorite places in Victoria.
On the insistence of a dear friend, I took my dear overworked wife to Ferris Upstairs for something new and exciting.
Made a reservation at 4 PM today – thought it might be challenging getting a table 2 hours before dinner service… for such a popular place. No problem.
Arrived at 6 PM to an empty restaurant — apart from the staff that is.
Ferris Upstairs is kind of a duplicate of downstairs – fewer tables… bits of kitschy art… a few windows… Old Town at its funkiest. Lots of brick and bare wood on high ceilings.
Wait staff were formal and pleasant… punctual. They seemed to be slightly distracted – we were the 1st customers, so maybe like a good motor, they needed to warm up.
Ordered a couple of glasses of Merlot and some bread for purchase… a tiny baguette and hard butter for $1.50 – no big deal, bread does not grow in trees.
I ordered the Bouillabaisse and Andrea the Ravioli.
The Bouillabaisse was OK – rustic with lots of shell fish, white fish, salmon and shrimp perfectly cooked in a fairly ordinary tomato broth – a garlic toast with a mysterious orange butter on top… Again, it was OK.
Andrea had the Squash Ravioli with grilled sage, walnuts and cheese.
The ravioli was so overcooked that my wallet could have been chewed and swallowed more easily. Did I complain? Nah. Not worth it. Andrea gave up on the Ravioli after a few labored chews. I dug in while she sampled some of my Bouillabaisse.
Thankfully, a few folks sauntered in by 6:30. We were feeling pretty lonely.
Dinner for 2 with 2 glasses of wine. $64 with HST.
I would give the meal a 4 out of 10. Andrea gave it a 3.
The pasta should have gone in the bin – no, chef served it. Unacceptable.
I quipped to Andrea that we would have been better off at McDonald’s – could have gotten a happy meal.
Loving it. No. Verdict. Will try again another time – As a dear friend and baker told me – “You cannot judge a restaurant on the first pass…”
Yea – they probably had something going on that was effecting the quality of the product – I could have spoken up but I did not. It happens. Only human.
As I said earlier, Ferris Oyster Bar downstairs is an eclectic classic – we visit there almost monthly and they are reliable as heck.
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Winter to Spring Victoria Food Culture 3 Making sauces with Don Genova · Friday March 18, 2011 by colin newell
Prosciutto and tomato pasta sauce
Heat 8 tablespoons of good Olive oil in a pan
Slice 2 pieces of Prosciutto into bite size pieces (from 100g)
Cut up tablespoon of shallots finely
When oil heats add the Prosciutto and stir for 5 minutes
Add shallots
Add teaspoon of chili flakes
Add teaspoon of lemon pepper
Add parsley
Minute before you take out of pan, add 20 grape tomato
cut in half.
Drain pasta preserving around 1 ladle full of pasta water
Combine cooked pasta into the Prosciutto and tomato mixture
add 1/2 cup Parmagiano Reggiano cheese and the pasta water.
Stir to combine.
Plate and top with more grated cheese.
Serve with garlic toast and some yummy Italian Red Wine.
Winter to Spring Victoria Food Culture 2 Cooking Pasta with Don Genova · Friday March 18, 2011 by colin newell
Tackled a fresh pasta dinner for the first time in a long time – We have had an Atlas manual pasta maker for years and have only used it once.
Let’s see if this 2011 attempt explains why!
Pasta
In a food processor add:
1.5 cups all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cooking oil
Have 5 tablespoons of water handy (on the side) do not add any yet.
Pulse mix above ingredients for around 30s until the mix becomes
finely crumbled – touch the mixture and squeeze a small amount between your fingers
and if it all sticks together, it is ready.
Dump mixture out and form into ball.
Wrap in plastic and set aside at room temperature for 1/2 hour.
Cut into 4 pieces and roll out through Atlas (or similar) pasta maker starting at setting number 1 – fold and alternately roll 4 times at setting #1 and then 1 pass each from setting 2 through 8.
Cut the sheets of pasta to around 10 inch lengths.
Attach your pasta cutter (the Atlas comes with a Fettucini and spaghetti dual cutter)
And cut your pasta. We have a pasta tree dryer but you can fashion a broom stick or simply dry the pasta 5 to 10 minutes.
This pasta cooks quickly! 3 minutes in boiling water (salted) – stir frequently.
In the next chapter – we make a sauce!
