Posted by The Gazette, Canada on November 05, 2008 at 10:19:43:
Love that Spam a lot
Creative chefs present their take on the famous canned luncheon meat
The Gazette
Published: Tuesday, November 04
No matter how you slice it, Spam is an amazingly versatile product.
Left in the colourful can, it makes an attractive doorstop or paperweight. Pried out of the tin and cut into eraser-size chunks, the salty particle pork can be used as bait to trap rodents.
In fact, its manufacturer, Hormel Foods in Austin, Minnesota, each year sponsors Spam recipe contests at state fairs across the United States. The winners and their concoctions are proudly displayed in glorious colour on the website, spam.com.
Now it appears Spam is the inspiration for quality entertainment, as the hit Broadway musical Monty Python's Spamalot is set to explode on stage in November at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. It's the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table as they embark on their quest for the Holy Grail, complete with flying cows, killer rabbits and taunting Frenchmen. Spam pops up in the plot because . . . well, you gotta see it for yourself.
For our salute to this crowd-pleasing favourite - the luncheon meat, and now the play - we asked three Ottawa chefs to come up with tasty recipes using Spam that folks can try at home. Each took pains to point out he would never serve Spam in his restaurant, but they were all more than willing to have fun with the pork-based loaf in ways heretofor not imagined.
"Honestly, I think it's pretty gross. It's salty and completely unnatural," says Jamie Stunt, chef for more than two years at the 55-seat Oz Kafe.
Stunt created a lip-smacking Spam Monte Cristo sandwich with peanut butter and caramelized apples, which he says might best be enjoyed late at night after too much partying, or while nursing a hangover the morning after.
"I thought I'd have some fun with it, so here I've got caramelized apple and peanut butter. Combined with Spam, you get a dish that is salty, greasy and pretty tasty at 3 in the morning."
Over at Carmello's, chef Steve McGoey gave his Spam a little crunch appeal by rolling it in sesame seeds; now, how clever is that? Served with shrimp, he lovingly calls the dish Spam Surf and Turf.
"It's like trying to make cat food look good," he laughs. "I didn't know they still made the stuff. I thought it was just a memory from the war."
The best dish we actually had plated was from executive chef Yannick Anton at the five-diamond Signatures restaurant affiliated with Le Cordon Bleu gourmet cooking school. Not surprisingly, his rendition of Spam oxtail ravioli with wild mushroom sauce comes perilously close to haute cuisine.
In Anton's recipe, Spam plays a subordinate role in the ravioli filling, where it basically stands in for salt and binders.
"Spam is quite salty," Anton says, "and it's like gelatin, so it gives body to the mixture and holds it together."
By no means could anyone think of Spam as health food. A single can contains an amazing 1,080 calories and 150 per cent of your recommended daily intake of fat. Sodium content is an astonishing 4,800 milligrams, or twice the recommended daily maximum. (The low-fat version weighs in at 780 calories, 108 per cent of your recommended daily fat, and 3,540 milligrams of sodium. Whew!
Even the manufacturer has a hard time putting the indescribable taste of Spam into mere words. "Some would say meaty," says the Hormel website. "Some would say superfantastic ultra-mega-awesome. We believe the best way to describe the taste is simple: Crazy tasty."
Ottawa Citizen
Spam oxtail ravioli with Wild Mushroom Sauce
Simplified version, from executive chef Yannick Anton, Signatures restaurant
Serves about 8
For the oxtail filling:
1 small carrot, 1 small stalk celery, 1/2 onion, bundled in cheesecloth and tied with kitchen twine
1/2 tablespoon (7 mL) olive oil
1/2 tablespoon (7 mL) butter
3 pounds (1.4 kg) oxtail
3 cups (750 mL) red wine
2 cups (500 mL) veal stock
For the Spam filling:
1/2 tablespoon (7 mL) butter
1/4 cup (50 mL) carrots, small dice
1/4 cup (50 mL) small peas
1 large mushroom, diced
1/2 cup (125 mL) Spam
2 tablespoons (25 mL) bread crumbs
For the mushroom sauce:
1/3 cup (75 mL) assorted wild mushrooms, sliced, or substitute cremini mushrooms
1/2 tablespoon (7 mL) butter
2 teaspoons (10 mL) Port wine
1/4 cup (50 mL) brown chicken stock
1/2 tablespoon (7 mL) truffle-infused olive oil (from gourmet shops)
For the pasta:
24 wonton wrappers
Canola oil, to prevent sticking
Fresh chervil or parsley, to garnish
For the oxtail filling, prepare bundle of carrot, celery, onion. In a frying pan, heat oil with butter to melt, add vegetable bundle with oxtail and sear to brown meat well. Add red wine and veal stock; cover and reduce heat to low. Slowly braise 3 hours, adding liquid if necessary to avoid drying out.
When oxtail is completely tender and easily falls off the bone, remove and discard vegetable bundle. Separate meat from bones (discard bones) and shred; set aside. Reduce remaining sauce to thicken, then remove from heat and set aside.
For the Spam filling, melt butter in frying pan, add carrots, peas and mushroom and saute until tender. Dice Spam and add with bread crumbs; mix Spam filling with oxtail and oxtail sauce. Set aside.
To make the mushroom sauce, rinse mushrooms in a little water; reserve water. In a frying pan, melt butter and saute mushrooms. Add Port and chicken stock; bring to boil to reduce liquid to sauce consistency, then add truffle-infused oil. Set aside.
To assemble, place 12 wonton wrappers on work surface and spoon 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of the filling mixture on the centre of each wrapper. With a small brush, moisten edges of wrapper with water, then place wonton wrapper over each. Crimp edges to seal using the tines of a fork, then boil 1 minute in salted water. Remove from water and lightly drizzle with canola oil to prevent sticking.
To serve, place 3 ravioli on each plate, then spoon mushrooms with sauce on top. Garnish with fresh chervil or parsley.
Spam Surf and Turf
From chef Steve McGoey, Carmello's on Cooper Italian Restaurant
Serves 4 to 6
2 cans (each 12 ounces/340 g) Spam
1/4 cup (50 mL) sesame seeds
1 leek
One 10-ounce (280-g) bag pearl onions
1 teaspoon (5 mL) butter
1 tablespoon (15 mL) sugar
2 tablespoons (25 mL) white vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups (500 mL) low-sodium beef broth
1/4 cup (50 mL) maple syrup
1 teaspoon (5 mL) Dijon mustard
12 shrimp, size 21/25, cleaned and deveined
1 cup (250 mL) vegetable oil
Two 10-ounce (280-g) bags baby spinach
Cut Spam into 1/2-inch (12-mm) slices and coat generously with sesame seeds.
Use white part of leek only, rinsing well to remove grit; slice into julienne.
Peel pearl onions. Melt butter in frying pan over low heat and saute onions until caramelized and brown, then add sugar and vinegar, stirring occasionally, until rich syrup develops around onions. Season lightly with salt and pepper, then remove from heat.
In a saucepan on medium heat, reduce beef broth to 1/4 cup (50 mL), add maple syrup and Dijon mustard and simmer gently 15 minutes.
Grill shrimp just until pink; set aside.
In a frying pan, add vegetable oil on medium-high heat. Gently brown Spam slices, flipping twice until golden brown on both sides; remove from oil and place on paper towels to drain.
With remaining oil, fry julienned leeks until crispy and brown, then remove from oil and place on paper towel to drain. Sautee spinach until wilted.
To serve, divide sauteed spinach among 4 to 6 plates, then place 2 or 3 slices of seared Spam on each. Divide shrimp among plates and place on top. Spoon caramelized onion with sauce on top and garnish with crispy leek julienne.
Spam Monte Cristo Sandwich with peanut butter and caramelized apples
From chef Jamie Stunt, Oz Kafe
Serves 2
1 tablespoon (15 mL) canola oil
2 apples, peeled, cored and diced
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only, chopped coarse
3 tablespoons (50 mL) peanut butter
4 slices white bread
1 can (12 ounces/340 g) Spam
2 whole eggs
2 tablespoons (25 mL) milk
1 teaspoon (5 mL) maple syrup
2 tablespoons (25 mL) butter
For the caramelized apples, in a large frying pan heat canola oil over high heat, add diced apples and cook until golden brown. Stir in chopped thyme and set aside to cool.
For the Monte Cristo, spread peanut butter on 2 slices of bread, spread caramelized apples on remaining 2 slices. Slice Spam 1/4-inch (6-mm) thick and sandwich between 1 peanut butter slice and 1 with caramelized apple.
In a mixing bowl, lightly beat together eggs and milk; stir in maple syrup.
In a frying pan, heat butter over medium-low burner. Dip sandwiches into egg mixture and fry until browned on both sides and heated through (about 3 minutes per side). Serve with sliced pickles.
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