The Hawthornes Attend Cooking Class At The North Carolina Aquarium.

Sadly, this is the last cooking class of the season

at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island.

Gladly, Chef Randolph Sprinkle

of The Saltbox Café  is presenting today!

 

Sadly, I must apologize for my photos,

as my little astigmatized Nikon CoolPic is in its death throes.

 

Gladly, I have backup cameras.

 



 Chef Sprinkle, a graduate of the CIA,

(I didn't know he was a spy AND a chef!)

has 35 plus years of chefdom under his belt.

He's knowledgeable, engaging, entertaining, and just plain fun.

This was one of the most enjoyable presentations we've been to.

 Again, I apologize for the photographs.

And sniff, sniff!

I loved that little camera.

 Our first presentation today is Coconut Ceviche.

 

I loved the stories Chef Randolph told about his dishes.

He'd been making ceviche,

but it wasn't until his honeymoon in Costa Rico
with his Amazing Amanda
that he learned to tame the acidity of ceviche.

Oh, Wow.
I can't believe I just said that.

Anyhoos.
I will give you Chef Randolph's recipe

 

Chef is making ceviche.

It's chemically cooking seafood.

Through acidity, not heat.

He was able to tame the acidity

by balancing the citrus with the fat from avocado.

He then added the flavors to the dish:

sweet red onion,

sliced grape tomatoes

(since no other tomato comes close now),

coconut milk,

black beans,

avocado,

and sriracha!

 

I probably missed stuff,

but I want to get this post out.

 

Oh YES!

The sliced, spread out tomato bowl.

I can do that.

 

And it was finished with a fine drizzle of rosemary olive oil.

Fine indeed!

On to the shrimp!

Chef Sprinkle worked

in a New Orleans restaurant

for what, 10 years?

He then spoke about a litany of restaurants

where he'd worked.

I was so interested in what he was saying

that I forgot to take notes.

That happens.

And it's good when it happens

because it's very telling.

I'm so entrenched in what is being told,

that I lose myself and my concentration on blogging.

I like it when that happens.

 

Here's our next presentation.

NOLA BBQ Shrimp.



 

 

It's all in the technique!

 



Only one thing to say, Chef Sprinkle.

Put the two naans on the shrimp dish,

instead of the ceviche,

so I can soak up every bit of deliciousness

of that wonderful sauce.

Else provide straws.

 

Thank you, Chef Randolph,

for a delightful presentation and wonderful food!

Missed you, Amanda!

 

 

 

 





Rosie Makes Mrs. Chiang's Shrimp and Pork Balls.

Regular readers know my love of Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan Cookbook.
Mr. Hawthorne and I have made 6 or more of Mrs. Chiang's dishes
and all have been successful.

Here's a bit of the history behind the book:
Somehow, Mrs. Chiang was Chiang-hied by the husband and wife team of John and Ellen Shrecker.

The Shreckers were in Taiwan studying Chinese culture and pursuing Chinese language studies and their love of Chinese food.  Mrs. Chaing grew up in Szechwan and eventually made her way to Taiwan where her cooking became famous.  When the Shreckers first tasted Mrs. Chiang's food, they were astonished at the difference between Mrs. Chiang's authentic Szechwan fare and what passed for Chinese food in American restaurants.  The Shreckers had discovered zhen wer, or "true taste," a classical principle of careful preparation, attention to detail, and practice, blithely ignored by American Chinese restaurants.  So impressed with Mrs. Chiang's cooking, the Shreckers condescendingly offered to bring Mrs. Chiang back to America, to Jersey for crying out loud, to look after their children as well as to cook for them, while Mrs. Shrecker pursued her PHD.  Mrs. Shrecker hounded poor Mrs. Chiang in the kitchen, following her about with a small notebook, while Mr. Shrecker practiced his Chinese language and translated for wifey. 

The book is a "must-read."  

Here's a tid-bit from Chapter Six:

Mrs. Chiang's arrival in America completely altered our life style. We began to give dinner parties, dozens of them, for her food was so good, we felt obliged to feed all our friends."

 All the time, Mrs. Chiang is taking care of the Shreckers' little rugrats.

 
Today, I'm trying a new one dish from Mrs. Chiang -
Shrimp and Pork Balls or xiayuan.

Shrimp and Pork Balls

3/4 pound ground pork
 (The fatter the pork, the lighter the balls.)

3 TB soy sauce

2 tsp sesame oil

4 scallions

1 1/2-inch piece of fresh ginger

1 mound shrimp

Mrs. Chiang calls for 7 fresh water chestnuts

and admonishes the "canned ones are no substitute!"

I'm using canned...

2 tsp salt

2 egg whites

1 TB Chinese rice wine or sherry

1 1/4 tsp ground roasted Szechwan peppercorns

1 cup cornstarch

Peanut oil for frying

Put pork in a large mixing bowl.

Add soy and sesame oil.

Chop scallions into tiny pieces and add to pork.

Peel ginger, mince, and add to pork.

Pulverize shrimp.

Mrs. Chiang gives each shrimp a good solid whack

with the flat side of her cleaver.

She finishes the shrimp off by giving them

100 strokes with her cleaver.

Chop water chestnuts into tiny pieces and add to mixture.

Add salt, egg whites, wine, peppercorns, and cornstarch.

Mix well until completely blended.

While the oil is heating to 340°-350°,

form the mixture into 15-16 plum-sized balls.

Helps to keep your hands moist to prevent sticking.

Frying in batches, carefully lower balls into hot oil.

Lower flame slightly and cook for about 8 minutes,

turning them and keeping them separated,

until they're golden brown.

Drain on paper towels.

Pork, soy, sesame oil, ginger.

Your hands are your best kitchen tools.

 

Add in the minced water chestnuts.

 

Anybody OCD? 

Whack-a-shrimp!

 

100 chop-chops.

You want the shrimp to look like a paste.

Add to pork mixture.

 

 Mix well.

 Add in beaten egg whites.

Toasted Szechwan peppers.

Sherry.

 

And corn starch.

 

40 strokes with a wooden spoon.

Scoop and roll into balls.

 

Delightful little morsels of Asian goodness.

 



Sweet Asian chili sauce.

Sprinkling of scallions.

Happy Mother's Day.



Rosie Finds Another Treasure At The Recycle Center. A Cook Book.

 

Rosie is a recycler.
A time or two or three a week, you might find the Hawthornes at the recycle center.
Please stop by to say hello.

Whenever I go to the recycle center, I always check out the book bin.
Thankfully, they've separated the books people used to put in those huge death receptacles and now they set them in Rubbermaid containers off to the side where one can sort through them.
I have found beautiful books here.

Last time Mr. Hawthorne and I visited, I came back with this treasure -

Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts.

I cannot wait.

The first recipe I want to try is the one for Ladyfingers.  I hope her recipe can take me back to the Ladyfingers Mama Hawthorne would buy for me when I was a little girl.  You'd take a bite and inhale the powdered sugar.

Let's see...

Ladyfingers
1/8 tsp salt
3 eggs, separated, at room temperature
2 TB sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup confectioners sugar
3/4 cup sifted flour (As in sift before measuring.)
additional confectioners sugar for dusting.

Heat oven to 350°.
Beat salt and egg whites at high speed until they are firm and "hold a definite point, or are stiff but not dry."  Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.

In the same bowl with the same beaters, beat the yolks, then add vanilla and confectioners sugar.  Beat at high speed for 5 minutes, until the mixture becomes very thick and very light in color.

Fold the yolk mixture into the whites.  Do not be too thorough.  Sift half of the flour over the egg mixture and gently fold it in.  Repeat with the rest of the flour, folding only until the flour is just absorbed.

Fit a large pastry bag with a round tube  5/8-inch in diameter.  Pipe batter 1 inch wide and 4 inches long onto foil-lined baking sheets, placing 1 inch apart.  Sprinkle additional confectioners sugar over top and bake for 10 minutes, turning pans halfway through baking.  Place ladyfingers on rack to cool.
 

Here are my egg whites.  When you're able to turn the bowl of whites over your head and not end up with egg on your head, then they're ready.

This is the yolk mixture.  In hindsight, this probably should have been thicker.  I beat the mixture on high for over 5 minutes, but probably should have gone longer.
 

Pour the yolk mixture into the whites.

Gently fold.

 

Sift the sifted flour in two additions.
Fold until flour is just absorbed.  Do not over-blend.

This is how you get messy batter into a pastry bag when you don't have an extra hand.
Place the pastry bag into a tall glass or cup and fold the opening over top.
Load in the batter.

When I piped my batter out,  it spread out and didn't hold its shape.
That's why I think I didn't beat the yolk mixture enough.
Oh well...  Live and learn.

This is not the first time I've made ladyfingers.
I attempted Julia Child's a few years back and the results were the same.

Oh wait.  I just happen to know a pastry chef I can ask about this issue.
Will address this and let you know.

I liked the reflections on my kitchen counter.

The vanilla aroma in my kitchen takes me back.
Way back.

The flavor is there.
But not the texture I was hoping for.

I'll have to rectify this texture issue, but for now, since these were not the ladyfingers of my childhood, I'm taking my ladyfingers in a totally different direction.  I'm going with tiramisu.
Or, at least, my version of tiramisu. 

Tiramisu, Italian for "pick me up," is a dessert consisting of a sponge cake, genoise, or ladyfingers, dipped in some type of liqueur, and layered with custard or whipped cream, and chocolate.

Liqueur Dip For Ladyfingers
1/2 cup strong coffee
2 TB sugar
2 TB Kahlua
Mix to dissolve sugar.

Whipped Cream
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 TB sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Whip the cream.  When it starts to thicken, sprinkle in the sugar and add the vanilla.  You want nice soft peaks.

Chocolate For Drizzling
As much Ghirardelli Intense Dark Midnight Reverie as you want.
 

I had about 1/2 cup of coffee left over from this morning.

I added 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of Kahlua.

Stir to dissolve sugar.

And I melted some Ghirardelli Intense Dark Midnight Reverie.

 I tore the ladyfingers into pieces and dipped into the coffee mixture.

 

 Line a trifle bowl, or in my case, a glass mixing bowl, with slices of liqueur-soaked ladyfingers.

 Plop in some whipped cream.

I used 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, with 2 TB sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla.
 

Drizzle melted chocolate.

 

 Keep filling and stuffing and drizzling.

And there ya go!

Tiramisu is grand.

Tiramisu is a surprisingly light dessert.
We loved all the flavor components - the coffee, the coffee liqueur and rum based Kahlua, the whipped cream, the chocolate.
Another example of culinary synergy, where the creation of the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts.

Whenever I hit synergism, I'm happy. 
It means I've met or passed my bar.
Tiramisu does that for me.  Every time.
Here was last time.

Make this and you'll be very glad you did. 
You will thank Rosie.
And you are very welcome!