SFQ Makes its Debut!

Today, my wife Michele's fabulous barbecue sauce, SFQ – The Original San Francisco Style Barbecue Sauce, will make its debut at The New Taste Market. We're excited to see how this unique sauce will be received by the always discerning San Franciscan foodies. I think the fact that we are serving the sauce with fried pork rinds should help (called Q-Chips).

I'll probably be tweeting pics from the event, so you can follow me on Twitter if you're interested – or better yet, if you're in the Bay Area, come over to the market and have a taste for your self. It's at St. Gregory’s church, 12-5PM.

By the way, I will have a new video recipe up tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Homemade Applesauce and Applesauce Teabread

We sure have missed being surrounded by Orchards up here in Chester. This was the first year in a number of years that we haven't been able to just walk out the back door and go scrumping for apples to make all those lovely pies, cakes and goodies that we enjoy so much!

We were lucky though, in that a few days ago, our landlord gifted us with a couple of bags of lovely organic apples from his back garden. (Our own trees are not mature enough yet for giving us fruit.)



Oh how lovely they were, all big and juicy. As soon as I saw them I had in mind to make applesauce with them. They were just perfect for it.

Todd and I love to sit down with a bowl of applesauce in the evenings sometimes, and it's so much better when the applesauce is homemade! You just can't beat homemade applesauce.



We like it a bit chunky and not totally pureed and not overly sweet. This recipe helps you to tailor the sweetness and texture to your own tastes.



*Applesauce*
Makes about 3 cups
Printable Recipe

This recipe basically calls for your own taste judgment. If your apples are very tart, you won't need as much lemon juice, but you may need more sugar. The trick is to taste it as you go along and add only as much as you think the apples need.

4 large firm apples, peeled, cored and cut into eighths
4 ounces water (1/2 cup)
sugar to taste
3 TBS lemon juice

Place the apples and water into a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring often until the apples become tender and begin to break down, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add sugar to taste and the lemon juice. Stir to blend well. Cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and mash with a fork.




And then, if you are lucky enough to have enough apples to make a big pot of applesauce, you can use some of it to make this delicious teabread! Oh my but this is soooo good.

It is hard to resist cutting in to it when it is fresh out of the oven . . . oh so spicy and warmly delicious.



It does have a tendancy to fall apart if you don't let it sit overnight though . . . but I confess, I've never been good at waiting for anything!

If you're better at it than me though, wrap it up and let it sit overnight. You'll get much nicer slices that way.



*Applesauce Tea Bread*
Makes one 9 by 5 inch loaf, cutting into 14 slices
Printable Recipe

A delicious moist and spicy tea bread that gets even better upon standing. This will taste even better on the second day if you can wait that long!

7 1/2 ounces plain flour (1 3/4 cups)
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
8 ounces unsalted butter (1 cup)
3 1/2 ounces white sugar
3 3/4 ounces soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup packed)
2 tsp cold water
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
250ml measure of applesauce (homemade or store bought) (1 cup)
5 1/4 ounces sultana raisins (1 cup)
2 ounces chopped toasted walnuts (1/2 cup)

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 by 5 inch metal loaf tin. Line with baking paper and then butter the baking paper. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour and spices. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and both sugars until light. Place cold water in a bowl and stir in the bicarbonate of soda until dissolved. Stir this into the applesauce. It will foam up. Stir this mixture into the creamed mixture, mixing it in well. Fold in the flour mixture, mixing to combine. Stir in the sultanas and nuts.

Spoon the batter into the prepared baking tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour 10 minutes, until well risen, nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Remove from the oven. Leave in the pan for ten minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Please Note - This recipe does not call for any eggs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We just got back from a great family gathering at our parents, Al and Peggy, in Davis, CA, and I wanted to share a quick photo of our bird. It was a buxom 20-pounder, and tasted almost as good as it looked. I'll be back to work tomorrow, starting in on a whole slew of new videos. One we'll have coming soon, will be inspired by the pan-roasted artichoke hearts seen below. Stay tuned!

Pork and Mushroom Casserole

These cold wintery days call for rustic and hearty casseroles. Meaty dishes that stick the ribs and make you feel all comfy and warm inside. This is one of our favourites.

The original recipe for this came from an old meat cookery book that my mother was given at a wedding shower back in the early 1950's. I think it was called Martha Logan's Meat Cookbook. I have always loved that book.



I have copied a whole lot of the recipes into my notebook through the years and in all honesty there is not a dud in the bunch. Many became my tried and trues.



Of course I have updated and adapted most of them to modern tastes and ingredients. The original recipe for this delicious casserole called for tinned mushrooms, along with their liquid.




I switched it to fresh mushrooms, which I saute along with the bacon and onions, and I added some apple juice instead of the mushroom liquid. All in all, quite, quite delicious. Tasty meaty and tender pieces of pork in a rich gravy filled with lovely bits of bacon, onions and mushrooms. Fabulous!



*Pork and Mushroom Casserole*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

An old family recipe that's delicious!

1 pound of pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4 slices of streaky bacon diced
cooking oil as needed
1 medium onion chopped
1 small punnet of mushrooms, sliced (about 2 cups)
1 tsp salt
freshy ground black pepper to taste
1 large free range egg, beaten
250ml of apple juice ( 1 cup)
4 ounces fine dry cracker crumbs ( I like to use the Italian crackers, which are like
Saltines) (1 cup)

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Place the bacon into a large skillet. Panfry until browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Saute the onion and mushrooms in the bacon fat until tender, adding a bit of oil as needed. Remove with a slotted spoon and combine with the bacon. Set aside.

Season the pieces of tenderloin with some salt and pepper. Place the egg in a shallow bowl. Place the cracker crumbs in another shallow bowl. Dip the pieces of meat into the egg and then roll in the cracker crumbs. Brown the cubes of meat on all sides in the pan drippings, adding oil as needed. Layer the browned pork cubes and the onion/bacon/mushroom mixture in a 1 litre casserole. Pour the apple juice over all. Cover tightly and then bake in the heated oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

Delicious served with mashed potatoes or rice.

Strawberry Barley Scones with Maple Cream

Ah scones...! Now those should have been posted here a while ago! Growing up, I was one of those kids that did a lot, a lot of extracurricular activities. One Saturdays, for years, I would have an acting class that took me several hours on weekends as we would put together semi-professional plays twice a year. The classes were on the outskirts of Paris and we would always hit traffic on the way home. My mother and I started this sort of ritual to break the long route to get back to our apartment. We would stop at Marks & Spencer. Marks & Spencer has since closed in Paris (to my big disappointment) but at the time, it was a real mecca for a some great food finds that just weren't available in Parisian supermarkets. That is where I discovered a lot of 'junk food' - to my great pleasure and the dismay of my mother.

But, there was always one thing we could agree on purchasing... scones! We would get these amazing blueberry scones with some double cream. Every time. And for an afternoon snack on Sunday, we would heat the scones in the oven and serve them with a heaping tablespoon of cream and some chunky blueberry jam.

This is my ode to those long lost days! These scones are, once again, from Good to the Grain. I love them because they really aren't too sweet and have the perfect, perfect texture. Scones are really all about texture. They have to be firm, but not too firm and crumbly without falling apart. These really are best eaten warm, straight out the oven so I would suggest immediately freezing the scones you don't want to eat and re-heating them in the oven before serving.

Strawberry Barley Scones with Maple Cream
Makes large scones 8
Adapted from Good to the Grain

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of barley flour
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons of kosher salt

8 tablespoons of cold, unsalted butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg

1/2 cup strawberry jam (make sure it's a heaping 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon of melted butter
1 tablespoon of sugar

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350F. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, pouring back into the bowl any bits of grain or other ingredients that may remain in the sifter.

Cut the butter into 1/2-inch pieces and add them to the dry mixture. Use your hands to rub the butter between your fingers, breaking it into smaller bits. Continue rubbing until the butter is in sizes ranging from rice grains to flattened peas. The more quickly you do this, the more the butter will stay solid, which is important for the success of this recipe.

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg until thoroughly combined. Scrape the buttermilk and egg into the dry mixture, and mix until barely combined.

Use a pastry scraper or a spatula to transfer the dough onto a well-floured surface. The dough may be too sticky to handle; if it is, dust it with flour and fold it together a few times. Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Flour your hands and pat each piece of dough into a disk about 3/4 inch thick and 7 inches in diameter.

Cover one disk with the jam. Top the spread with the other disk and press down gently so that the dough settles into the jam. Brush the dough lightly with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Use a sharp knife to slice the circle into 8 triangular wedges, like a pie. Carefully place the wedges on a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving a few inches between them as they will expand.

Bake the scones for 22 to 26 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. The scones are ready when their tops are golden brown and some of the jam has bubbled over onto the baking sheet. To keep the scones from sticking to the pan, slide a thin spatula underneath them while they’re still warm and move them to a baking rack. The scones are best eaten warm from the oven or later that same day. Serve with the maple cream


Maple Cream

1 cup of creme fraiche (or sour cream)
3 tablespoons of maple syrup

Whisk the sour cream and maple syrup together and serve alongside the scones.

Breaking News: Foodwishes' 500th YouTube Video Upload Goes Live!

It's with much pride and gratitude that I present our 500th YouTube video upload! I want to thank you all for the amazing support and love you've shown to me, and to this blog. I hope you enjoy the video, and here's to the next 500!

Once-a-Year Scalloped Oysters

Some recipes you only make once a year because they're just so-so. Other recipes, like this dish of scalloped oysters, you only make once a year because they're too good.

Scalloped oysters are so rich and decadent, it's a recipe you save for those very special occasions. Happily, we have a bunch of those coming up. This great holiday treat features the briny bivalves baked in a creamy, buttery casserole.

One word of warning: if you don't love cooked oysters, you should probably not make this. By the way, scalloped oysters is one of those recipes that are actually better warm, than piping hot, which is another reason it makes such a great choice for large family gatherings. I hope you give this a try. Enjoy!




Scalloped Oysters Ingredients:
Makes 12 Side Dish Servings
3 cups saltine crackers, coarsely crushed
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 cup melted unsalted butter
1 quart shucked oysters with liquor
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons chopped Italian Parsley
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
lemon wedges, optional