Playing with the new toy . . .

And so, first full day with the KitchenAid Pro 5 Plus. Loving it.

First recipe: Banana bread. Had a couple of over-ripe bananas kicking around, so what else can you do?

As has become my practice when cooking and baking, the first stop was allrecipes.com. Borrowed "Cathy's Banana Bread" recipe, as it had a 4.5-star rating. I never make anything with fewer than 4.5 stars. And I've never been disappointed with this site.

Now then, I did alter the recipe, just a touch, as is my custom. First off, I didn't measure the bananas. I just guessed and went with two. Should have been about right.

Second, I baked in a standard 9X5 loaf pan, rather than the two 7X3 pans in the recipe. I also used butter instead of margarine (everything's better with butter) and I cut the sugar down to one cup. I think I could have cut it even more, but we'll wait for next time.

Oh yeah, and as a result of the larger pan, the cook time went from 50 minutes to an hour and 15 minutes. No problems.

But most importantly, I used a Sous Chef: Sonwun. This increased prep time just a little, but it was well worth it. I made him say "YES CHEF!" in response to every order given. I felt like Ramsay!

Anyhoo, long story short, banana bread was a success. The KitchenAid Pro 5 Plus was awesome, and I can't wait to make regular ol' bread. Sonwun, fetch my hat.

"YES CHEF!"

Chipotle Rules!

Okay, my new favourite flavour is chipotle. I added a little to the bbq sauce recipe last night on the slow-cooked baby back ribs and WOW! Love this stuff.

At dinner last night, Sonwun flatly rejected the ribs and cried when I made him try just a bite. Sontoo, who usually loves his ribs, rejected them as well. Neomom loved them.

So I guess that's pretty much par for the course in my culinary exploration game.

Chipotle peppers, as I've learned, are actually just smoked jalapeno peppers, which accounts for the little kick (or big kick, depending on variety and concentration).

Anyway, the flavour was a welcome addition to my quickie barbecue sauce last night. I actually make two types of sauce - the quickie and the batch.

The quickie is ketchup based. I don't really measure anything, just kind of throw it together in a cereal bowl, starting with maybe a cup and a half of ketchup. I'd guess two tablespoons of brown sugar and an equal or slightly greater amount of white vinegar. That's the base and from there it's just a matter of adding flavour depending upon my mood and availability.

Generally speaking, I add garlic powder, chilli powder, maybe some Dijon mustard, curry powder, salt, pepper and a dash or two of Worcestershire sauce. Last night I left out the chilli and Dijon and added a couple of shots of chipotle based bbq sauce. And it was awesome.

Must look into locating some straight chipotle powder, or paste for the future, as it would better suit the batch recipe. That one I only make once or twice a year, depending on time and storage space.

For the batch, I used my 5-gallon Dutch oven.

I start with a cup of well chopped onion and half a cup of chopped garlic, which I fry for a few minutes in hot oil in the Dutch oven. Once those two ingredients have softened, I start adding the rest of the stuff:

4 cups tomato puree

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup Worcestershire sauce

3/4 cup honey

3/4 cup ketchup

1/2 cup creamy horseradish sauce

1/2 cup tomato paste

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

1/4 cup dark molasses

1/4 cup dried onion

1/4 cup garlic powder

1/4 cup chilli powder

1/4 cup curry powder

Juice from one or two limes, depending on size.

2 cups water

(Chipotle amount to be named later)

Anyway, I bring this to a boil and then turn the heat down to let it simmer for about half an hour. Then I let it cool, put it in Tupperware containers, freeze most of it and keep some out for immediate use.

Now, I need to point out that this recipe is a lifelong work in progress. I don't consider it perfect, just yet. It's good, but it still needs some polish. I think the chipotle is going to go a long way toward my goal. Try it if you like, play with it, add or subtract whatever floats your boat.

As for right now, it's almost breakfast. For Sonwun, I think we'll try cinnamon toast waffles with chipotle syrup. And for Sontoo, apple-cinnamon oatmeal, with chipotle yogurt.

Happy Tuesday!

Experiment #1

Found my cookbook! And now I remember why I put it away last time.

Ingredients. Access to them. Don't have.

Maybe I'm approaching this from the wrong end. Maybe I need to write a cookbook using only ingredients available in places like Thompson or Gimli Manitoba. Brandy-soaked Chicken, Ground Beef in Red Wine, Sherry and a Loaf of Bread. Eh, maybe not.

Yeah, I'm making it sound worse than it actually is, but fresh vanilla beans are a little hard to come by up here, as is celeriac, fresh sea scallops, lemon grass, crayfish, kaffir lime leaves and guinea fowl.

Maybe I've just got the wrong cookbook.

So yesterday, with food supplies dwindling, I decided to make Mac and Cheese, from scratch (didn't have any of the boxed stuff) for the boys for lunch. Which reminded me of the second reason I put away the cookbooks.

Anyway, I hit my favourite internet recipe sites, just to find out the basics. That's generally how I cook. I look up three or four recipes for whatever it is I have to cook, to find out cooking times, basic common ingredients and basic common ratios. And then I make it my own.

Yesterday, for example, I looked up a few mac and cheese recipes and learned that I needed about 8 oz of cheese, two tablespoons of butter and half a cup of cream for the basic mix.

I boiled up the mac and then added about six ounces of marble cheddar, four ounces of smoked peppercorn gouda, half a cup of cream (18%), the butter and some blue cheese salad dressing. Sounds pretty good, eh?

Well, Sonwun took one look at it and said he didn't like it, even with the ketchup on it. He loves ketchup.

Sontoo, on the other hand, dug right in.

It wasn't bad, but I'll admit it wasn't great. It was a tad bland. I mean once you've had the chemically enhanced cheese flavour of Kraft Dinner, there's no going back, is there? And using whole wheat macaroni elbows, as I did, only makes it a little healthier and, again, less tasty than the KD.

I found that by adding chili sauce, the whole thing really came together. I liked it. Sonwun did not. Sontoo ate about half of his portion. To me, that is success.

Anyway, today I hope to pick up a cast iron skillet. I have a few filets of beef in the freezer and the barbecue is a big old ice block right now, and will be for the next five months or so. My internet recipe search has indicated that the best way to cook these bad boys indoors is with cast iron; first on the stove and then to the oven. Must also pick up some bacon for wrapping. YUM!

Anyhoo, that's where I'm at. Have yourselves a great Monday and enjoy the Canada-U.S. Junior Gold Medal Game Tuesday. Should be a great one!

Sontoo's Wings

Well good morning all!

It's Friday, two days before the wife heads off to Ottawa for Forensic Ident Training. The boys and I are not looking forward to it. It's going to be difficult; difficult for mommy to be away from the boys and difficult for daddy to go through a month without backup. But we'll survive.

Sonwun starts swimming lessons Monday and I think he's looking forward to it. I'm a little concerned that he thinks he'll be spending time on the waterslide at the pool. But he keeps talking about taking swimming lessons so that he can go down the waterslide all by himself, without floaties. I'm not sure he completely understands, but I sincerely hope he enjoys the lessons.

So, recipe time. No Stay-at-home-Dad blog would be complete without one now and again. Today's recipe is Mom's Chinese Chicken Wings (aka Sontoo's Favourite Wings). I love these things and they are great hot or cold. I prefer them hot, but if you're going on a picnic, make a double batch and eat half for supper the night before and save half for the picnic.

You will need:

Half cup Soy Sauce

Quarter cup lightly packed brown sugar.

Tablespoon or so grated ginger.

Three cloves garlic, crushed.

Tablespoon or so Lime Juice

Large Ziploc bag

2-3 pounds chicken wings, separated.

(The measurements listed above are estimates. I rarely use tablespoons and teaspoons and such. I just kinda throw the stuff in until it looks right to me.)

Combine first five ingredients in the large Ziploc. Give it a little shake to mix it all up. Add the wings. If you need a little more soy sauce, feel free to add it at this point. Squeeze all the air out of the Ziploc and seal it. Put it in the fridge for a minimum of four hours - best if you do this in the morning for supper - seven or eight hours before cooking. Flip the bag occasionally to make sure all the little wingies get an equal share of the marinade.

About an hour before supper, take a baking sheet and cover it in aluminum foil. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put the baking sheet in the oven for a few minutes to let it get hot and then take it out and spray it down with cooking spray. Lay out the chicken wings in a single layer, skin side down where possible. Put it back in the oven and cook for 25 minutes.

Then take 'em out. Reset the oven to 425. Flip all of the wings over and put 'em back in the oven for another 20 minutes or so. Then take 'em out, put 'em on a plate and you're ready to go. Yummy!

Sontoo loves them!

Oh, and my cooking tip for the day:

Keep your fresh ginger root in the freezer in a Ziploc. It's easy to grate frozen (which is how I use it 99 per cent of the time) and will keep for a long, long time.

Enjoy! And wish me luck in the coming month. I will need it.