Quay Po Cooks: picnic game 2011

Showing posts with label picnic game 2011. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The name of this main course starts with the letter 'X"

Louise at the blog Months of Edible Celebrations is hosting a picnic. I am a late comer to the game.

When I wrote to Louise to ask her if I can join in the fun and asked if I could take the letter V, she reverted and said there is only one letter left and that was the X. Without wasting time, I quickly googled for recipes that start with an X. I was surprised to find a Portuguese dish called “Xerem”. I immediately wrote back to confirmed that I would take the letter X and "bring" Xerem to the picnic party.

Xerem is a traditional stew from the Algarve region of Portugal with ingredients that reflect the region's seaside location and fishing and farming traditions. There is no single list of ingredients but all that I have read list start with a thick porridge made with coarse-ground yellow maize (corn) meal as the base. From that base, there is a departure into many variations that feature combinations of clams, bacon, sausage and ham. This was the first time I had heard of this dish and after looking through the ingredients, I suspected it would be a hearty, simple food, that would taste good. After assembling and cooking the stew according to the recipe, I submitted a sample to my Quay Lo for a quick taste test. He suggested that I enhance the flavors by adding garlic, onion and some spices which I did. True enough the dish was considerably more tasty after modification. I served this with crusty whole grain bread and green peas sauteed with butter for lunch. Pei-Lin of Dodol Mochi joined us for lunch and she brought with her a decadent pumpkin pie, which we enjoyed with a large dollop of freshly whipped cream. I am sure she will soon be sharing with you the recipe.

Well so much for our lunch.

I am going to the virtual picnic party now and I am bringing Xerem ..
A. Apricot Cobbler
B. Banana Cream Pie
C. Cherry Bars in a Jar
D. Diva Doggie Bites
E. Emeril's Strawberry Lemonade
F. Fingerling Potato Salad w/ Honey-Thyme Vinaigrette
G. Gugelhopf Twister
H. Honey Graham Roll-ups
I. Incredible "Rabbit" Pineapple Tarts/Rolls
J. Jam Jewels-Tiffanee
K. Kirschmichel
L. Lime Cranberry Fizz
M. Mint Sundae brownie squares
N. Nice Mini Biscuit Sandwiches
O. Orange Nut Ring
P. Pan-Bagnat Provencal
Q. Quick Lemon Bread
R. Rhubarb Ruguh-Love
S. Salmon Salad
T. Tequila Truffles
V. Venus Is Out Tonight Radish, Black Olive, & Feta Salad
W. White Chocolate Cherry Almond Sour Cream Scones
X. Xerem

Xerem

Adapted from Celtnet recipes with modification

Ingredients with corn meal soaked in water

Ingredients:

4 cloves chopped garlic

1 medium chopped onion

1kg fresh white clams

100g fried bacon

100g chiriso sausage, sliced

100g ham, sliced into strips

200g coarse-ground yellow corn meal

150ml white wine

1 tsp cardamom

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbs ground black pepper

1 tsp paprika

Method:

Wash the clams thoroughly then leave in a large pan of salted water for at least 2 hours to clean. Mix the maize meal with 250ml water and set aside. Sautee garlic and onion till fragrance and add to the corn mixture. Fry bacon and place on paper towels to absorb the oil and set aside. Add a little butter to a sausage and ham for a few minutes. Add half the wine and continue cooking until the wine has evaporated then take off the heat and set aside. In the meantime, drain the clams and add to a second pan along with the remaining wine and a little water. Cover and steam the clams for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until opened. Remove the clams and extract the meat from the shells (discard any unopened clams). Strain the cooking liquid and retain. Add the clam meat and cooking liquid to a pan and bring to a simmer. Stir-in the soaked maize meal (with the soaking water) and bring to a simmer. Continue cooking, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the maize meal has swelled and is cooked through (the consistency should be that of a thick porridge). Add salt, ground pepper, cardomom and paprika. Transfer to a serving dish, arrange the fried sausage and bacon mix over the top and serve.

A LITTLE ABOUT THIS QUAY PO

Before I was married to my "Quay Lo" (Guaylo) husband, I did not know how to bake or cook. Subsequently I learned some baking and cooking Western cuisine from him, and providing his food for him launched an interest in cooking in general. Many of my Chinese friends and family told me that "Quay" is the wrong spelling for devil in Cantonese. The right spelling should be "Kwai" or "Guay". Well, somehow I like the spelling "Quay" better although I have to agree that it does not sound very Cantonese. Try asking a Westerner to pronounce "Kwai" and you will probably hear "Quay" haha. Whether is "Quay" or "Kwai" or "Guay, just know the devil woman is me when you see Quay Po Cooks. My hubby said if people pronounce "Quay" as "Key" is even better because I am the key to his heart. LOL!

Only now, have I started to learn the traditional Cantonese cuisine of my Mum. She cooks fabulously and all her specialties are divine. These two interests, my husband's Western food, and my mother's traditional food, prompted me to document them so they will not be lost.

Here, I wish to share my cooking and baking experience with my readers. I also hope to inspire those who do not know how to cook or bake to do so because, trust me, if I can, you can too.

Something I'd like to mention is that I find that many people are rather unwilling to share their recipes. However, for me, I think differently. I think good recipes should be shared thus allowing as many people to enjoy it as possible. Unless those recipes are for doing business, I don't see why we want to keep them all to ourselves. So if you are generous in sharing your recipes, you are welcome to share on my blog. Send the recipes to me and better still with pictures of the final products and I will be very happy to post them them with credits to you of course.

Our cuisine is a deeply embedded part of our culture. When two cultures come together under the same roof the results in the kitchen can sometimes be comedic, sometimes confrontational, but more often it is a journey full of surprises and discovery. There is joy in our food. If we think upon this, it is intuitively obvious. This blog is a journey of joy and sharing, reflecting what the French like to call "joie de vivre" (joy of living). No one could be more different from one another then my husband and my mother. Yet one thing they share in common is knowing intuitively that food, cooking, and sharing can be avenues of joy in life itself. So herein, help yourself, to a little joy and , if you like it, share it with your own family and friends. Joy is something that should be shared.