Hot Mulled Beer

Hot beer. It's a really, really good idea.

Agata and I went on a trip to Poland in the summer to visit her family, and we spent some time in Zacopane, a small town in the Tatra mountains. It was, of course, incredibly picturesque. It was also very rainy, and unexpectedly cold. While this meant that we didn't get to go into the mountains, we did get to spend a day huddled in a pub, listening to rowdy polka music, eating sausages and  drinking hot spiced beer.

I have been permanently and forever won over by hot spiced beer. Through some magic, the hot beer stays bubbly. Its sweetened with honey and spiced with cinnamon and cloves, fortified with a half shot of whisky (oh boy.) and the foam head is almost the texture of whip cream. Aaaaand you drink it through a straw. Amazing, right?

What you need:

2 tall cans of beer (something light, and cheap)
1 shot of whiskey or rum (optional, but highly recommended)
2 thin slices of ginger
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
a few whole cloves
a few whole allspice berries
2 bayleaves
orange slice for garnish, if you're feeling fancy. 

1. Combine all ingredients in a pot. Heat slowly, covered, until the beer is very hot but hasn't boiled.
This is important - if the beer boils, it will loose all its boozy goodness. If you're going to do that, you might as well just make a cup of tea,

2. Pour the mixture into mugs or large glasses. Pour the beer from a bit of a height, trying to make as much foam as possible. The foam is maybe the best part. Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon, and an round slice of orange (to impress your friends and family).

3. Enjoy.

Lamb Pide with Saffron and Honey

Ok, so its actually pretty difficult to pick a favorite pide recipe. This one here is a close runner up for the top spot.

This pide recipe involves cooking the lamb slowly in a savory mix of garlic, ginger, tomato and saffron, finished off with finely chopped dried apricots and a touch of honey. The saffron really shines through in this recipe, its pretty mindblowing. And the touch of sweetness from the fruit and honey are magic.

Really, its better not to choose between this recipe and the recipe for spiced lamp pide posted earlier. Just make both! You'll be famous, I promise.


Crust: (in a pinch, you could use frozen pizza dough)

• 1 tablespoon fresh yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 4 tablespoons yogurt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 cups flour

Topping

• 1 tsp butter
• 1 lb minced lamb/goat
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp tomato purée
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, chopped finely
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 pinch of saffron
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon
• 1 x 400 g canned chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp clear honey
• 3 dried apricots, chopped
• salt and black pepper 

Crust

1. Combine the yeast, sugar, warm water and yogurt, and mix. Let it sit for five minutes. If the yeast is healthy, you should see the mixture bubble, foam or rise in this period. Do not use yeast that isn't active at this stage.

2. Add the yeast mixture, flour, salt and oil. Knead until the dough is smooth and flexible.

3. Cover the dough and let it rise for one hour, or more.

4. When the dough has risen, punch it down, knead briefly and separate it into 3 balls (or more, if you want smaller pide). Let the dough rest for ten minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 360 degrees

5. Roll the dough out into a large oval on a well flowered surface. Then, fold in the sides to shape the dough into a large boat.

6.  Place the dough on a cookie sheet and cook at 360 degrees until firm, about 15 minutes. While you are baking the dough, prepare the filling.

Filling:

1. Heat butter in a frying pan over medium heat, add the lamb and fry until browned. 

2. Add onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, or until softened.

3. Stir in the tomato paste, ginger, coriander, saffron and cinnamon. Stir. 

4. Drain the water from the canned tomatoes and add - cook for ten minutes, or until the tomatoes have broken down. 

5. Stir in honey and apricots and stir for two minutes. 

6. Pile this mixture onto the cooked pizza dough. Cook for 10 minutes, or until hot. 

7. Garnish generously with yogurt, chopped cilantro and toasted sesame seeds (although I forgot the sesame seeds last time, and it was still delicious.) Serve cut into wide strips.

Enjoy!

Spiced Lamb Pide

I grew up in Toronto's east end, and one thing that the city does well is food. There was a mind boggling array of delicious food in the neighborhood I grew up in, and one of my favorite places to go was a small Turkish pide restaurant (pronounced pee-daay). Pide is a beautiful, pizza-like dish, shaped like a boat and often filled with the most incredible spiced meats.

While I love my adopted hometown in Peterborough, there is a serious lack of pide to be found. This kind of deprivation leads to innovation, it seems, and I've been struggling to re-create the pide of my youth ever since. If you are lucky enough to live by a pide restaurant, go there today! You wont be sorry. But if, like me, you are on your own - here is one of my favorite pide recipes.

This recipe is for a marinated, spiced lamb pide. There's lots going on in this one - clove, nutmeg, lemon and lots of cardamom. The result is a deeply savory, crumbly lamb topping that seems to win best-of-show every time I make it. When I make this in Peterborough, I often use ground goat from a local farmer I like. When I made this yesterday for a family pre-christmas gathering I used lamb. Both are delicious.

(I think the look on my younger brothers face, top right, is especially priceless. Also, I am pleased to report that he ended up LOVING the meal. Score one for Kate.)

Spiced Lamb Pide
Makes 3 large Pide, enough to feed 4 with a salad

You'll need:

Crust: (in a pinch, you could use frozen pizza dough)

• 1 tablespoon fresh yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 4 tablespoons yogurt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 cups flour

Filling:

• Ground lamb or goat - 2 lb
• Garlic, minced - 4 cloves
• Salt - 2 teaspoons
• Pepper - 1 teaspoon
• Ground allspice - 1 teaspoon
• Ground cardamom - 1 teaspoon
• Ground cloves - 1/2 teaspoon
• Ground nutmeg - 1/2 teaspoon
• Yogurt - 1 cup
• Vinegar or lemon juice - 1/4 cup

Crust:

1. Combine the yeast, sugar, warm water and yogurt, and mix. Let it sit for five minutes. If the yeast is healthy, you should see the mixture bubble, foam or rise in this period. Do not use yeast that isn't active at this stage.

2. Add the yeast mixture, flour, salt and oil. Knead until the dough is smooth and flexible.

3. Cover the dough and let it rise for one hour, or more.

4. When the dough has risen, punch it down, knead briefly and separate it into 3 balls (or more, if you want smaller pide). Let the dough rest for ten minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 360 degrees

5. Roll the dough out into a large oval on a well flowered surface. Then, fold in the sides to shape the dough into a large boat.

6.  Place the dough on a cookie sheet and cook at 360 degrees until firm, about 15 minutes. While you are baking the dough, prepare the filling.

Filling:

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a non-reactive bowl and set aside to marinate for anywhere from 1 hour to overnight.

2. When you put your pide dough in the over, start to cook the meat. This part is easy. Throw the marinated meat into a frying pan along with a tablespoon of butter on medium heat. Leave it on, stirring occasionally, until any liquids have cooked off.

3. When you put your pide dough in the over, start to cook the meat. This part is easy. Throw the marinated meat into a frying pan along with a tablespoon of butter on medium heat. Leave it on, stirring occasionally, until any liquids have cooked off.

4.  Add cooked meat to fill in the 'boat'. Fill the dough right to the edges. Put lots in there, you won't be sorry.

5. Garnish with slices of feta cheese, and round sliced of tomato placed down the middle of the pide. Make it beautiful. Brush the crusts lightly with butter or olive oil.

6.  Place the pide back in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the tomatoes are cooked through.

7. Remove from the oven and slice the pide into 5 or 6 strips, width-wise. I usually serve them on cutting boards, mostly for lack of any larger serving trays. But I think it looks nice too. 

(spiced lamb pide, next to a spinach and leek pide - delicious.)

Hot Buttered Rum: Warm Drinks for Cold Days

Its getting seriously cold out in our neck of the woods. The dog and I were crunching through the first serious snowfall this morning, and it gets dark at like, 4:30 in the afternoon. Agata is confined to the office typing away at the masters-thesis-that-never-ends, and I'm excited about Christmas.

This is somewhat uncharacteristic, all this holiday spirit. I happily roll my eyes when it comes to other highly corporate, monetized holidays (Valentine's Day? I would never.), but Christmas seems to get me every time. Especially the part with the tree. I love Christmas trees. I would keep one in the house year-round if I could.

I'm going to blame my parents for this one (why not?). They always had a somewhat lackluster attitude towards Christmas trees. They were game for the rest of the Christmas thing, there were always stockings, and lights outside the house, and even Christmas cookies ... but their performance around Christmas trees has been a bit spotty.

One year, Dec. 23rd rolled around, and all the Christmas trees were sold out at the local lot. My father strung a rope across the living room and had us all decorate that instead. Other years, unsuspecting potted plants would get the treatment. So here I am, a decade later and the first guy at the tree lot.

Besides Christmas trees, the best thing about the Christmas has got to be the hot, boozy drinks. I have long been a fan of mulled cider with rum and hot toddies, and I am happy to add this recipe for hot buttered rum to the list. It is deliciously rich, spicy and warming. I may never go to bed sober again.

Even better, you can make up this recipe in advance and keep it in the fridge, adding a spoonful to some hot water and rum whenever the urge takes you (which may be often). I think I'm going to give this jar to my brother, along with a bottle of rum.

You need:

3 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp orange zest (optional)

1. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and mix until the sugar has dissolved into the butter.
2. Pour the mixture into a jar.
3. Add one tbsp mix to a mug of hot water with 1 ounce of rum. If you're feeling fancy, add a cinnamon stick.

Enjoy!

I like this.

 

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