Tuesday, February 14, 2012

RPI: Purple Quinoa Salad w/ Cape Gooseberry Vinegrette & Endive Chips

The Lowdown:

If you are new to this, the description of RPI can be found on the main page under the sub-heading 'RPI.' Being our second installment of RPI, I decided to be a good human and allow Kristy to finally win. I know what you're thinking, I'm such a philanthropist; so caring, so kind, so wonderful, etc. We all know that that is a load of crap. The truth is, I'm used to winning, so I thought it would be good for her to know the feeling I love so much. And what do I get in return? An ingredient that I purposefully skip in the grocery store every time. A frigging salad green. I'm sorry, was there a news flash that I missed somewhere along the way? Are salad greens all of a sudden what all the cool kids are eating these days?

Needless to say, I had no idea what a Belgian endive was. I had no idea how to use it or prepare it. The only cool thing about it, is that it looks like a bad-ass salad bullet. After a detailed inspection of my soon to be counterpart, the first thing I did was to take a bite. Ya, that's enough of that. It's not the most pleasant thing I've ever tasted, so I decided that it would be more about disguising the taste rather than enhancing it. One way to make everything taste good? FRY IT! Unhealthifying anything makes it taste better. It's science.

I racked my brain for hours, and at the end I still had nothing. So while I was aimlessly meandering through the grocery store I just grabbed a bunch of random ingredients that I have never used. If you're wondering, wandering through grocery stores is one of my all time favourite things to do. My final result... Well, I don't quite know how to explain it. Having given up before I even started I just let my senses guide me - no recipe, no internet, no advice. Just a bottle of wine, some music, and dim lighting to set the mood. Ohhhhhhhh yeah (In a Barry White tone).

The Playlist:


4 tbsp Chicken broth
15 Cape gooseberries
1 Lime, juiced
2 - 3 tbsp Honey
3 Green onions (just the white and light green part), minced
2 cloves Garlic
1/2 Jalapeno, seeded & halved.
3 tbsp Champagne berry vinegar.
1/2 tsp Cumin, ground.
3 dashes Peach bitters.
1 Cinnamon stick.

  
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp corn starch
salt
3/8 cup water
1 cup vegetable oil, for frying
1 tbsp Parmesan cheese, finely grated.

1 Endive

3 beets, boiled
4 cups of beet water
1 tbsp chicken bullion
4 quail eggs
3 chorizo sausages, casings removed.

The Skinny:

Cape Gooseberry Vinaigrette
1. Place all of the ingredients into a small sauce pan.
2. On medium heat bring to a boil.
3. Cover and allow to simmer on medium heat.
4. Remove from heat when cape gooseberries have lost all of their shape (30-40 minutes).
5. Remove cinnamon stick and jalapeno and puree until smooth.
6. Serve hot, or chill.

Purple Quinoa Salad w/ Chorizo, Quail's Egg & Endive Chips
1. Place beets in a large pot and cover with water.
2. On high heat bring to a boil.
3. Once boiling cover and turn to medium-high heat for 30 minutes.
4. Once cooked (a fork should poke into the beet with ease), remove the beets.
5. Allow the purple water to cool.
6. Measure the appropriate amount of purple water to cook the quinoa (as per instructions on the package) and pour back into the pot.
7. Add the chicken bullion to the purple water.
8. Cook the quinoa as per the instructions on the package.
9. On medium heat, add chorizo to a small frying pan and cook until browned.
10. In a small frying pan heat the oil on medium-high heat until at frying temperature.
11. In a shallow mixing bowl mix the flour, corn starch, salt, and parmesan cheese, and water together.
12. Remove individual endive leaves and coat them in the batter.
13. Put the battered leaves into the oil and cook until a crisp brown layer forms on the outside (0.5 - 1.5 minutes).
14. Place on paper towel.
15. Use a sharp knife and crack the quail's egg.
16. Cook the quail's egg as you would a chicken's egg.
17. Assemble the ingredients how you want and enjoy.
18. Add mixed greens if you desire.

Stay Rad - H

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1 comment:

  1. Oh you clever little monkey! You're upping your game here! Little do you know... you're going down. down. down. down....

    p.s. i love quail egg! So pretty!!

    ReplyDelete