Sunday best

2011's food highlights (and lowlights)

2012-01-02T11:57:00.019-05:00

January

High – Char's New Year's Levée. I look forward to this spread all year.

These photos are actually from this year's party (Levée 2012).
Last year's pics just didn't do it justice.

March

Low – Charlie Sheen's Winning Recipes.

This needs no explanation.

April

High – Nigellapalooza, of course.

July

Low – Worrying about being eaten by a bear in Whistler, and other typical conference-related concerns.

Highs – Vancouver restaurants:

Enjoying impeccable French-inspired (and after-dinner chocolate crocodiles) at Le Crocodile.

Putting the C in sustainable seafood.

Mixing and matching tasting plates at one of Vancouver's more daring addresses.

...and Shawn's first trip to Red Robin (in Victoria).

Yum.

August

Low – Canadians say goodbye to Jack Layton with Orange Crush on Parliament Hill.

September

High – Winning the foursquare mayorships of Kinko Sushi Bar and Pelican Grill.

Low – Losing the foursquare mayorships of Kinko Sushi Bar and Pelican Grill.

October

High – Paris.

That's right, I totally went to Paris this year. And, while I really missed breakfasts and vegetables (both of which were in short supply), Paris was the site of many of this year's finest food moments.

La Praluline — brioche studded with pink pralines — was breakfast on more than one occasion.

We had dinner at Au Pied de Cochon — a Belle Epoch brasserie in Les Halles that specializes in pig's feet (obviously) and, interestingly, Canadian shellfish.

(Complimentary pig-shaped meringues prove they've got their branding down.)

We made a cameo at Le Grand Colbert, the Palais Royale restaurant that made a cameo in the movie Something's Gotta Give.

Apparently, Paris is known for its couscous restaurants, and Chez Omar,
one of the more famous, was just steps from our apartment in the Marais.

Our only recommendation was Le Polidor, a historic Bistro in the Latin Quarter that I only realized after the fact had been used in Midnight in Paris, one of my favourite movies this year.

We even found a vegetarian restaurant — Le Grenier de Notre Dame. Opened in 1978, it purports to be Paris' oldest vegetarian restaurant. We ate there twice. It was like a little piece of Berkeley in central Paris.

And, If I didn't already know what sparked the French Revolution, I would suspect that this giant chocolate gorilla in the window of Patrick Roger Chocolatier had something to do with it.

More impressive than the Eiffel Tower, if you ask me.

Low – Parisians say goodbye to Steve Jobs with apples at the Mac store in the Louvre.

Yes. There's a Mac store in the Louvre.

November

High – World Usability Day! Proof that I'll use any excuse to bring cupcakes to work.

Low – Becoming addicted to Punchfork and Pinterest's Food and Drink category to the occasional detriment of my personal productivity.

December

High – Sabering.You'd think that after a few years of tracking food trends, a person might get jaded. But, no. I am obsessed with trying this.

Low – Realizing that a weekly food blog might not be the best or most sustainable channel for my creative expression. (Okay, I guess we both know that really happened at some point this summer.)

All the best to you and yours in 2012!

This made my (shark) week

2011-08-07T21:00:00.000-04:00

Look what came in the mail!

And I'm talking about the premiere of Hillbilly Handfishin'. (Though I haven't seen it, besides the countless commercials that aired this weekend, I'm pretty sure I don't like it.)

No what got me excited was this great advocacy kit from Seafood Watch — an awareness program of the Monterey Bay Aquarium — that came in the mail earlier this week. It's a collection of tools to help consumers advocate for ocean-safe seafood.

It goes to show you, in this age of heavy digital marketing, some messages are still best communicated in print.

Actually, there are a lot of times where I would prefer to communicate my feelings with a fillable card like this.

But, if you happen to be looking for a digital sustainable seafood guide they have an app for that too.

If you're interested in preserving the health of our oceans, be sure to check out this important program.

My Father's Daughter: a kitchy recipe for Father's Day

2011-06-19T20:24:00.001-04:00

In the months leading up to the release of Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook, My Father's Daughter, I briefly entertained grand notions of cooking and blogging every recipe. But wouldn't you know it? The (well deserved) media blitz that immediately followed the book's publication took care of that for me.

The Kitchn and Serious Eats both tested and reviewed several recipes from MFD, as did many other blogs. Several newspapers also showcased MFD recipes, many of which you can also find online. And, if you're you a big Gwyneth fan like me, you shouldn't miss this great feature in Bon Appetit, complete with its own slideshow. All this to say, I'm pretty sure you can almost piece together your own free copy of My Father's Daughter through the power of Google.

Still; in honour of Father's Day, I thought I would belatedly add my own recipe review from this superb book.

It was a challenge looking for a recipe that had not yet been profiled, but I did find one, and I think it's particularly fitting for this day.

You see, the cultural education I received from my chef-father was not limited to food and entertaining. He made sure I was exposed to all the arts, and that happened to include, among many other things, the best of 1970s television.

That's how I know Gwyneth's mom, Blythe Danner, a very talented stage and screen actress who did a lot of high-quality television in the seventies. She even has the the distinction of staring in what is widely regarded as the best Columbo episode of all time. (What discussion of 70's television would be complete without Columbo?*)

According to MFD, Danner used to prepare the following recipe whenever people stopped by for lunch. It was created by screenwriter and lyricist Lenny Gershe. Hence the name.

PLAYWRIGHT'S MELT

Ingredients

1/4 cup brine-cured olives, roughly chopped
4 scallions, finely sliced
2/3 packed grated cheddar
1 tsp curry poweer
a few dashes Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp Vegenaise

2 English muffins

Instructions

Combine all ingredients and spread on 2 halved and toasted English muffins. Broil for about 1 min.

I can't not love a recipe that combines cheddar and mayo; something I've been advocating since the early days of this blog.

Of the recipe Gwyneth notes "If you don't like the salty pungency of brine cured black olives, you can make this a bit milder by using what Lenny Gershe traditionally used — a small can of semi-flavourless black olives. A little kitsch never hurt anyone."

You're right, Gwyneth, it never did.

Happy Father's Day to all the cheesy dads out there.

*I have all 7 seasons of the original series if anyone wants to borrow.

Nigellapalooza 2011

2011-05-10T23:10:00.000-04:00

Still recovering from the royal wedding? Yeah, me neither.

Weeks of hype and media hysteria and what are we left with? A Facebook page dedicated to Princess Beatrice's hat and Ellie Goulding's cover of "Your song"?*

What's worse, the wedding risked overshadowing another major event that was taking place around the same time. Another excessive, self-indulgent, anti-climactic, (vaguely) British affair that would mess with my sleep patterns.

I'm talking about Nigellapallooza. A night when I, Char and another friend (whom I will not name as she values her Internet privacy a little more than the rest of us do) got together to prepare 10 (we made 9) recipes from Nigella Lawson's latest book Kitchen: Recipes from the heart of the home.

Thankfully I took pictures to commemorate the occasion.

*Okay, I actually love both those things.

Read more »

A Mac for All Seasons

2011-03-15T22:11:00.000-04:00


In Canada, maple syrup is one of the most recognizable signs of the coming spring. (The sap buckets that hang from maple trees signal to us that it will soon be safe to leave the igloo.)

For me this dish represents the return of inspiration and the best of what spring and summer will bring. (Yes, this is how I talk about mac and cheese sometimes.)

With as much saturated fat as anything on the menu at Au Pied de Cochon's sugar shack, it won't exactly help you get ready for swimsuit season, but I promise it will take the chill out of the last bit of winter.

MAPLE-CHEDDAR AND CHIPOTLE MAC & CHEESE

Ingredients

For bread crumbs:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups fresh (or 1 cup dry [untoasted]) bread crumbs

For macaroni:
3–5 tbsp chopped chipotle chiles in adobo
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 lb (450 g) macaroni
2 cups (1 large brick) maple cheddar (like Black River), grated*

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°.

Make bread crumbs: Heat oil in a skillet over moderate heat, then cook garlic and bread crumbs, stirring, until crumbs are golden. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

Meanwhile cook macaroni until just tender (about 6 min). Drain and transfer to a large shallow casserole dish.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, then add flour and cook, whisking, 1 min. Gradually whisk in milk and cream, and simmer, whisking occasionally, 3 min. Stir in cheese until it has been incorporated.

Add the sauce and peppers to the macaroni and stir to combine. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake for 30 min, or until bubbly.

*If you can't find maple cheddar, that's too bad. You can use sharp white cheddar in its place and add 1–2 tbsp of maple syrup to the cheese sauce as it is cooking.

My inspiration came from a chipotle macaroni and cheese recipe I found on Epicurious that I felt needed something extra and, of course, from those crazy people who like to put maple syrup on their macaroni and cheese.

Best,

My pick for Superbowl XLV

2011-02-06T16:31:00.002-05:00

Look! Packers colours. Go cheese!

Because the game kicks off at 6:30 for those of us in the east, for practically sake, I wanted to suggest combining your game-day snacks with dinner. The two come together very nicely in this Nacho Macaroni and Cheese recipe from Bon Appétit. (I ommitted the cilantro.)

Enjoy the game!

A fabulous 30th in the Big Apple

2011-02-05T19:33:00.000-05:00

This says it all. (From Le Bernardin's Christmas card.)

I celebrated in style not too long ago in a very Christmasy New York. It was an amazing time spent with friends in a city just far enough away from home. I visited the home of Batali, stayed with The Donald, and hung out at the best people-watching spot I've ever been. I pretty much lived like Gwyneth for 3 days. (Except for those few requisite hours I spent with Shawn at the Olive Garden in Times Square.)

Our hotel opened onto this block of Spring St. On the right is Aquagrill, an amazing seafood place with offerings at variety of price-points (despite its $$$ rating), and on the left, the great grassroots New York food charity God's Love We Deliver.

I felt very close to Mario in the 50,000–square-foot Italian foods warehouse that is Eataly.

I always hate being guilted into going to top of 30 Rock until I see the pictures.

I think about going back at least a few times a week.

Great Big Birthday Cake!

2011-01-18T19:58:00.013-05:00

Kristen reminded me recently that I'd promised a post about The Biggest Cake I've Ever Made. Which, I realize, as far as big cakes go, is not actually that large, but it still presented its own challenges to this enthusiastic but still definitely amateur baker.

It was a 50th birthday cake for a friend at work. The birthday girl's favourite cake is apparently butterscotch, which is fine if you don't mind using a cake mix (spoiler alert: I mind), or if you're under the (mistaken) impression that these have anything to do with actual butterscotch:

The internet is absolutely chock-a-block with "recipes" for "homemade" "butterscotch" "cakes" made from white or yellow cake mixes with butterscotch pudding mixes added to the mix (pleh!). But if you're looking for actual butterscotch, that can actually be a hard flavour to define. I mean, everyone knows butterscotch when they taste it, but when was the last time you actually tasted real butterscotch? I've had really great caramel, which is very close, but not quite the same.

Thankfully, the internets also have some good sources for food information, and pastry chef Shuna Fish Lydon at her Eggbeater blog breaks it down for us. As I understand it, there are 2 major differences between caramel and butterscotch: caramel starts with white sugar, which is cooked with butter to a lovely golden colour ("caramelized") before the addition of cream to thicken it; butterscotch starts with butter, which is browned, and then you add brown sugar and boil it till it looks like lava before adding cream to thicken. Minor differences in ingredients and technique, but there's a definite difference in the end product too. Martha Stewart turned out to be the only source for a butterscotch cake recipe I could find that did not include the aforementioned (pleh!) mixes. In addition to the usual cake and frosting components, this recipe includes a delicious butterscotch sauce that is brushed on the top of the bottom layer, both top and bottom of the middle layer, and the bottom of the top layer.

When I finally had a recipe, my next issue was size: Michelle's cake would have to serve at least 75 people, and I've never made a cake that big before. Every reference I found indicated that the cutting guides you can find (usually for wedding cakes) anticipate only a very tiny slice per person, since wedding guests have presumably filled up on rubber-chicken-and-host-bar wedding feasts, leaving not much room for cake. This cake was meant to be the only food offered at a mid-afternoon shindig (aka office oink-fest), and so I was concerned about quantity. I told Michelle's colleagues to order a Costco cake to make sure there'd be enough to go around, and got out my largest baking pan and my calculator.

Martha's recipe makes a 3-layer 8 inch round cake that purports to serve 12 to 14 people. I decided to do a 3-layer 11x15 rectangular cake, so I tripled the recipe — baking the entire batch of batter in one pan, times 3. That turns out to be a lot of ingredients, including 6 pounds of butter, 4 pounds of cream cheese, a dozen eggs, and over a litre of whipping cream.

Oh yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about!

I told Michelle's colleagues about how much butter and cream I had bought and they quite sensibly cancelled the Costco cake without telling me.

Aside from the pan size and tripling the overall volume, I followed Martha's recipe exactly, and let me tell you… this is a REALLY GOOD cake — deliciously moist, the sweetness of the brown sugar in the butterscotch tempered by the cream cheese in the frosting, but with that extra hit of butterscotch sauce at the edges of each layer - it was a real treat.

One very simple thing I should have done differently was to take the cake layers out of the freezer earlier on the day I frosted it. It took a long time for them to defrost, and it doesn't do the texture of the cake any favours if it's kind of damp from the cold while you're slathering the frosting on. The fact it was still so cold also made it a bit harder for the cake to accept the butterscotch sauce, I think.

I baked the cake about a week in advance, freezing each layer separately the night it was baked, and then assembled and frosted it the night before the party. If I had it to do over again, I'd look for a way to make the brown sugar cream cheese frosting a little stiffer — I worried (unnecessarily, it turned out — phew!) that the weight of the soft icing would just make it slide off the sides of the cake into an unholy mess. But if Michelle's birthday had been in July... it would've been awful. Another thing I'd do is check my math (especially the geometry part) a little more carefully… I tripled the entire recipe, not just the cake batter, and so wound up with lots and lots (at least 3 quarts?) of leftover frosting. It's been in my freezer for about 2 months now & seems destined for cinnamon rolls (and probably another, smaller butterscotch cake). And I hadn't read the frosting part of the recipe carefully enough, so that was a pretty late night, waiting for the butterscotch part of the cream cheese frosting to cool (in an ice water bath and the fridge, but still, it's boiling hot butter and sugar!) before I could beat in the cream cheese. More time to chill might have left me with a stiffer icing.

The layers were a bit tricky to handle, especially once the middle and top layers had one side coated in butterscotch sauce, that then had to be flipped over onto the frosting covering the layer beneath. I have a couple of cookie sheets with only 1 raised edge, which came in very handy as gigantic spatulas, helping me move and flip the butterscotchy layers. The cake, once it all came together, was a behemoth — it stuck out over the top of the cake box by over an inch, so I had to jury-rig a system to hold the lid up with chopsticks, wooden skewers, tape & plastic wrap. And thank goodness I'd told the girls right up front I'd need a ride to work that day… I could hardly carry this thing (on a cake board, in a box, and then on top of my biggest cookie sheet for support) out to Jackie's van — this is definitely not a bus cake!

Other than the masses of frosting in my freezer though, there wasn't really anything that went wrong. The cake was a big hit, but there was a little left over for the next afternoon. Most importantly of all, the birthday girl enjoyed it! I would definitely bake this cake again, also definitely on a much smaller scale.

So my final advice to someone attempting a very large cake would be:
– Start well in advance so you don't feel rushed the day of or night before serving.
– If you've baked the cake layers ahead and frozen them, they'll take a long time to defrost because they're so large
— give them extra time, because it makes a difference to the texture of the finished cake.
– You probably won't need to triple the frosting, so save yourself a little money and maybe a lot of hassle and do one batch at a time.
– A large cake box is shallower than the smaller ones, and will probably only hold a 2-layer cake, so if it's going to be transported somewhere, it's best to work that out in advance.
– Have fun: everyone's going to love it!

Cheers,

Char

Hello 2011!

2011-01-11T23:05:00.000-05:00

This:

(The book drops in March, but I already have it on preorder.)

...is what I'm most looking forward to this year. You can make fun if you want, but I will be cooking up a storm with Gwyneth in 2011.

I can't wait! I hope you'll join me for another year...

2010-12-27T19:39:00.012-05:00

Every time an old person dies it is as if a library has burnt down.

— African proverb

I first heard this quote used in relation to Alzheimer disease a few weeks ago, and it has stuck with me since. It captures one aspect of the disease — certain priceless history, lost forever. But unfortunately Alzheimer's is so much worse than that. I've come to realize this as I've watched my grandmother live with it for the past few years.

But rather than dwell on sad thoughts this holiday season, I preserved a tiny part of what is left of a library of recipes, both classic and contemporary, in cookbook form to give as gifts to family members. And, I am not alone in this — lots of cooks are being remembered through their recipes. (For once a New York Times trend I can get behind.)

I loved the idea of making a cookbook of my grandmother's handwritten recipes from the minute I thought of it, and luckily I found software that made the process incredibly simple.

The book was made with my scanner (of course) and the Blurb Bookify™ online bookmaking tool — the best and most affordable system I've used. (And that means a lot coming from a publishing geek who has put together more than her share of photobooks over the years.) I haven't found another product with the level of functionality or user-friendly interface that Blurb offers, and the print quality of the finished books is excellent.

Let me know what you think of the book, and if you decide to make one of your own.

Best,

This week at the grocery store...

2010-12-12T21:14:00.032-05:00

I got the the uncomfortable feeling that Galen Weston has been reading my diary.

You see, the new President's Choice™ holiday line is out and they really hit it out of the park. The highlights:

Vodka beet smoked salmon: The flavor is really subtle, so think of it as good smoked salmon in a vibrant magenta hue. More style than substance for sure, but I love novelty.

Macarons!: these are sold in the freezer section and should be kept frozen until 20 minutes before they are ready to serve. (Macarons have a shelf life of about 2 days, so this is brilliant and necessary. Fresh macarons all year long!) If you like macarons you wont be disappointed by these — they taste pretty authentic. My favourite flavours are the vanilla and the mocha.

The standout of the holiday line is the Red Velvet cheesecake. It's a hollowed out red velvet cake sitting atop a chocolate wafer crumb crust, filled with New York-style cheese cake and topped with cream cheese icing. I know it sounds like there's a lot going on, but trust me, it works. And the deceptively small looking cake can feed an army.

Before you think I've started vying for a shot at being the next PC spokesman, (which would be fruitless, because they'll never dump Galen) I'll try to balance this post with a not so favorable PC review.

It's a word of caution really: Just because you can make cheese souffles from a bag of frozen pellets...

...doesn't mean it's a good idea. (Give the PC Dine-In Tonight Emmental Cheese Soufflé™ a pass.)

Yes, it's been a long hard few weeks of eating packaged food. I'm eager to get back to cooking.

The things we do for love: Red Velvet cake

2010-11-29T23:41:00.000-05:00

Every year for the past 36 years, Shawn's parents gather the family to celebrate his birthday. And, every year, for roughly the past 10, they've asked me to provide the cake. This year was no different.

I usually buy one because, as I’ve mentioned many times before, I'm not big on baking. But this year, when Shawn asked if I could make a Red Velvet cake (his newly discovered favourite), I decided to give it a shot. For those of you who aren't familiar, Red Velvet cake is a two layer vanilla cake flavored with a little cocoa, coloured bright red with food colouring and topped with cream cheese icing.

The recipe I used appears in the current issue of Cook’s Illustrated magazine. I won’t reproduce the incredibly detailed recipe here —not just because it’s incredibly detailed — but because Cook’s frowns on any unauthorized reproduction of their recipes.

I will, however, share Cook’s secret for attaining the right shade of red: 2 tablespoons of natural cocoa mixed with one 1-ounce bottle of red food colouring, which is added to the cake batter. According to Cook’s, "natural cocoa" (as opposed to the cheap and ubiquitous Dutch-processed kind) must be used in order for the cake to rise properly and attain the right colour.

And how did Cook’s illustrate the right shade of red?

In grayscale! (True, Cook’s is not a colour publication, but the above image was really not helpful.)

For all the effort, the cake turned out well, especially the frosting. I'm just not sure I obtained optimum redness. Judge for yourself. Here are the pictures from my adventures in cake making:

As you can see, the process was not always pretty. But if it’s pretty we want, we’ll have to wait for Char to post one of her birthday cakes.

Best,

New ingredient obsession: Greek yogurt

2010-11-14T21:03:00.000-05:00

Rocco Dispirito, hot celebrity chef extraordinaire, has shifted his attention in recent years from restaurants to healthy eating. I'm happy to report that his new book Now Eat This is really good, thought admittedly, I will never be completely unbiased when it comes to Rocco.

Many recipes, like the one below, call for low fat Greek yogurt, which I had never cooked with before. Once I tried though, I was hooked. It's got a great thick texture, but the best part about it is that it's all yogurt — no thickeners or gelatin (gross). I like it as a sour cream or regular yogurt substitute, but Rocco says that full fat Greek yogurt can replace butter one-to-one!

I have to say that I have a hard time finding the low-fat version that many of Rocco's recipes call for. (Only non- or full fat at my grocery store). But even full fat Greek yogurt is a much healthier alternative to sour cream or heavy cream.

Here's Rocco's lightened-up version of the classic Penne a la vodka:

NO-CREAM/NO-CRY PENNE A LA VODKA

Ingredients

12 oz whole-wheat penne
2 cups low-fat marinara
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup 2% fat Greek-style yogurt
1 cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and ground pepper
6 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions, about 9 min.

Meanwhile, in a large, nonstick pan over medium, combine the marinara and red pepper flakes and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally with a heat-resistant rubber spatula, for about 5 min, or until it is reduced and slightly thickened.

Remove the marinara from the heat. In a small bowl, stir about 1/2 cup of the marinara into the Greek yogurt until it is smooth to temper it, then whisk the yogurt mixture back into the marinara in the pan.

Drain the pasta and add it to the pan, tossing to coat. Add the basil and season with salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan.

Notice anything missing in the recipe? That's right. The tang of yogurt replaces that of the vodka, so Rocco omitted it. What a guy...

Oh, and he complimented my portion size, so I can now cross "one-on-one interaction with Rocco Dispirito" off the bucket list. (Shawn is incredibly jealous.)

Best,

Boil Water Advisory

2010-11-07T20:58:00.001-05:00

While navigating the most popular tab of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything app on my iphone, I was struck that the recipe at the top of the list was called Boiled Water. And it's most popular by a mile. It currently leads its closest competitor, Meat Loaf, by 806 votes!

I thought this might be a joke, or an internet meme in the vein of Three Wolf Moon. (Read the reviews of the Three Wolf Moon t-shirt on Amazon.com, if you don't know what I'm talking about).

But, Bittman's Boiled Water is actually a simple soup; a variation of an ancient peasant dish from southern France. And it's remarkably satisfying, if I say so myself. And, I think I can speak with authority on this one since I am descended from peasants.

Here's how to make boiled water:

BOILED WATER

Ingredients

8-10 cloves of garlic, lightly crushed
1 bay leaf
Salt and fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 thick slices French bread
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 small bunch chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

In a stockpot bring 4 cups of water, the garlic, bay leaf and some salt and pepper to a boil. reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered for 15 min.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Brown the bread, turning once for a total of 5 min.

Place the bread in bowls and top with the cheese.

Strain the broth into the bowls and top with the parsley.

It's as simple as that. Try it. In this case 1526 anonymous internet commenters weren't exaggerating.

Best,

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T20:52:00.000-04:00

Loving the new FEED trick-or-treat bags benefiting UNICEF.

It's never too late to check in on what the world's most unlikely Halloween fanatic is up to this time of year (aka Martha Stewart). After all, it's a tradition going on 3 years now. New for 2010 is Medusa Ice Face and Hands Punch (left). Check out the how-to video here. I don't know, looks more Close Encounters of the Third Kind to me...

Finally, because I mentioned my appreciation of the Beetlejuice aesthetic in last week's post, I feel that I have to share this fun post on Design Sponge.

Enjoy your evening!

Beetlejuice...

2010-10-24T21:59:00.002-04:00

Beetlejuice...

Beetlejuice!

I'd had a package of zebra pasta in my cupboard for months waiting it would seem for a spark of inspiration. And I guess, with Halloween coming and all, that inspiration came today.

Here's how I threw this dish together:

PASTA A LA LYDIA

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 2 cups)
1/2 head radicchio, cored and thinly sliced
250 g zebra linguine
Salt and fresh ground pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese for topping

Instructions

Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat, then continue to cook until it is golden brown (about 2 min). Add sweet potatoes and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden and tender, 6 to 8 min. Reduce heat to low, add radicchio and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring, until radicchio is wilted and just tender (about 3 min).

Meanwhile, cook pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain pasta and top with sweet potato mixture, or add the pasta to the mixture and stir to combine.

Serve topped with the grated Parmesan.

This meal was as satisfying as Beetlejuice the movie was underrated. Rewatch it if you doubt the film's brilliance. (I loved the aesthetic too.)

Best,

This week at the grocery store...

2010-10-24T21:04:00.013-04:00

After months in Canada, grapefruit flavoured Perrier has finally made its way to my grocer's shelves

Now I find myself victim of my own high expectations.

Vote for my cheesy pasta!

2010-10-05T20:04:00.001-04:00

My famous Butternut squash macaroni and cheese is a finalist in the 20-minute supper club's cheesy pasta food fight!

We are competing against some very similar dishes, so we need to separate from the rest of the pack.

Please vote early and often!

Best,

The Arch!

2010-10-03T20:17:00.000-04:00

I wasn't the only one taking pictures of the arch this morning.

San Francisco's got nothing on Ottawa. (When it comes to Chinatown arches.) After months of hard work, the artisans have packed up and gone back to their homeland, and we residents of Centretown have been left with a breathtaking gateway to Chinatown.

Judge for yourself:

This is San Francisco's Dragon Gate:

And, this is Ottawa's new arch:

My attempt to capture some of the detail.

This is only one of many positive developments in Ottawa's Chinatown, which I hope to write more about in the weeks to come.

It's all very exciting!

Photo credit: The San Fran pic is from the flickr stream of one Paul 'Tuna' Turner. (I guess when I was there this summer I was too busy taking pictures of grilled cheeses and other important landmarks like the Oracle robot that everybody hates to get a good shot of the Dragon Gate.)

Best,

Best of summer 2010

2010-09-20T22:14:00.000-04:00

And what a summer it was! There were stifling heatwaves. Except in San Francisco, where it was freezing.

It was also very busy for me, causing my posts to be a little more spaced out than I would have liked. Luckily that busy work proved to be worth it. In two weeks I start an exciting new job, which will include, among other responsibilities, blogging! For a living!

I did, however, still manage to squeeze in a bit of cooking through it all.

I discovered the best corn chowder recipe ever from the inspiring Mark Bittman, which I made twice with corn fresh off the cob (above). The naked cobs are boiled to make the soup stock.

I cheated on my regular crab cake recipe with a new spicier one. The dressing mirrors the ingredients in the cake for a symbiotic and delicious effect.

I finally found a veggie burger I could get excited about. This recipe from the 20 minute supper club is the opposite of bland (and uses corn chips as a novel binder). But, you do need to serve these in pitas as the recipe recommends. I used buns instead (because of my perceived inability to keep pita bread from molding), but the burgers didn't hold together enough for that, and the result was quite messy.

I used my tried-and-true shortcut ravioli technique to put together this beautiful sweet beet ravioli.

And, last but not least, I continued my quest for the perfect grilled cheese. Pictured left is a granny smith, smoked cheddar and caramelized onion combo on walnut bread. Another winner was cheese curd* and butternut squash chutney on brioche.

What did you cook this summer?

*The guys at the Piggy Market informed me that, contrary to popular belief (and the assertions of Health Canada), you should not refrigerate cheese curd; just store in a cool dry place. Who knew?

Excellent news! (kind of)

2010-09-13T20:18:00.000-04:00

In case you haven't heard:

Domino magazine is back online!!! The old website was taken down shortly after the magazine folded in Jan 2009, but its content is being slowly being resurrected at brides.com; recipes too! Just in time for tomato season, here's the Domino tomato slideshow!!! (Wow, I'm really excited about this development.)

In other mag news, Gourmet recently went (more) digital with "Gourmet Live" its much anticipated iPad app. Check it out:

Oh yeah, and Gourmet is also back in print. (!!!) Kind of. It's back in newsstand-only special edition form with one just released (pictured above) and two planned for next year.

Next to the these two great monthlies coming back in all their glossy glory, this is the best publishing news this girl could ask for.

Remember Hypercolour?

2010-08-30T22:08:00.002-04:00

Those shirts? I'm not sure how big these actually were as a trend, but I can say they were height of fifth grade fashion in 1988. (Everyone who was anyone was sporting a splotchy hand print.)

So imagine my surprise when the beautiful purple beans I'd bought at the farmers' market started to turn green in a very hypercolouresque way (left) once they began to simmer.

In both cases — shirt and beans — colour change is the result of a chemical process. (Ah, the eighties — when it wasn't at all weird to wear chemically reactive clothing to make a statement.)

With the beans:

"What happened was the heat from the cooking broke apart the molecules on the surface of the bean [i.e., pigments called anthocyanins] and exposed the chlorophyll which is green." (Source: MadSci Network)

Anthocyanins also give purple carrots and potatoes their pigment. But unlike the beans, they retain their colour though the cooking process (right). I'm guessing that's because, as root vegetables, they lack the chlorophyll of vegetables that grow above ground.

Is that right, Mr. Wizard?

Vegetarian stuffed bell peppers

2010-08-23T21:43:00.003-04:00

The making of this dish marked a watershed moment for me — it was the first time I actually improved on an originally meat-based recipe by making it vegetarian. A welcome surprise, as I was getting pretty tired of consistently making some of favorite recipes worse through substitution.

I swapped the ground beef in these stuffed peppers, not with imitation "veggie ground round" but with black beans — an often overlooked ground meat substitute. Here's the recipe:

VEGETARIAN STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

Ingredients

4 medium red yellow, or orange bell peppers, cored and seeded, 1/2 inch trimmed off tops
1/2 cup long grain white rice
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 can (10 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
3 medium cloves garlic , minced
1 can (14 1/2 oz or equal to 1/2 a large can) diced tomatoes, drained, 1/4 cup juice reserved
1 1/4 cups Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
Salt
fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup ketchup

Instructions

Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large stockpot over high heat. Add 1 tbsp salt and bell peppers. Cook until peppers just begin to soften, about 3 min. Using slotted spoon, remove peppers from pot, drain off excess water, and place peppers cut-sides up on paper towels. Return water to boil; add rice and boil until tender, about 13 min. Drain rice and transfer to large bowl; set aside.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350°.

Meanwhile, heat 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat until hot, about 1 1/2 min; add oil and swirl to coat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, about 5 min. Stir in garlic and beans, and cook until fragrant, about 30 sec. Transfer mixture to bowl with rice; stir in tomatoes, 1 cup cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Snap!

Stir together ketchup and reserved tomato juice in small bowl.

Place peppers cut-side up in a 9-in baking dish. Using soup spoon, divide filling evenly among peppers. Spoon 2 tbsp ketchup mixture over each filled pepper and sprinkle each with 1 tbsp of remaining cheese. Bake until cheese is browned and filling is heated through, 25–30 min. Serve immediately.

And the best part of this little experiment? This is recipe was adapted from America's Test Kitchen. So I'm also claiming to have improved on an ATK "best recipe." Christopher Kimball, I await your cease-and-desist letter.

Pasta in almond garlic sauce

2010-08-16T19:57:00.001-04:00

Some recipes just don't make sense. And, yet, still work. This is that kind of recipe.

I got a strong "What am I doing?" feeling as I was puréeing garlic, blanched almonds and water into a milky slurry. But, that's not the only WTH moment in the recipe. You are also called upon at different points to reserve 3 cups of pasta water and mix a bag frozen peas in with a relative truckload of fresh herbs. Huh?

Here's the Gourmet recipe:

PASTA IN ALMOND GARLIC SAUCE

Ingredients

3/4 cup whole blanched almonds
3 garlic cloves, smashed
3/4 cup water
1 lb cavatappi
2 tbsp extra-virigin olive oil
3 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
1 small package frozen peas
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup basil leaves (torn if large), divided
1/3 cup mint leaves (torn if large), divided
1/3 cup chopped roasted almond

Instructions

Purée blanched almonds and garlic with water and 1/4 tsp salt in a blender until smooth.

Cook cavatappi in a large pot of boiling salted water until almost al dente. Reserve 3 cups pasta water and drain pasta.

Meanwhile, heat oil and 1 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium heat until foam subsides. Add almond purée and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened, about 3 min. Add 2 1/2 cups reserved cooking water, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper and simmer, whisking occasionally, until slightly thickened, 3 to 4 min. Whisk in remaining 2 tbsp butter until melted. Add pasta and peas and cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta is al dente (sauce will be thin), 2–3 min.

Add cheese and lemon juice and stir until combined well. Remove from heat and stir in half of basil and mint and salt and pepper to taste. Serve pasta in bowls topped with chopped almonds, remaining herbs, and additional cheese.

This is a really satisfying fresh summer pasta, but despite all the almonds used, I couldn't detect a distinct almond flavour in this dish at all. Just one more strange thing about this recipe, I guess. I wonder how the test kitchen came up with this one.

Best,

Vegan Strawberry ice cream — secret ingredient: vodka

2010-08-08T19:55:00.000-04:00

I haven't been making ice cream for long, approaching 2 years, but this much is clear: David Lebovitz is the authority on the subject. He wrote the book, after all, and he spends his off-time on twitter lamenting the existence of things like "astronaut ice cream."

This to say that he puts a lot of effort into perfecting his ice creams, so, while the idea of vegan strawberry ice cream would normally intimidate me, knowing just how much heavy cream and egg yolks go into the average ice cream, the fact that David co-signed this recipe convinced me to try it.

This recipe uses rice milk and alcohol (kirsch, vodka, or orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier) to give the ice cream its creamy texture. (The rice milk is the milk substitute while the alcohol prevents the mixture from becoming too hard in the freezer.)

Here is my adaptation of the recipe:

VEGAN STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 1/2 cups plain rice milk
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp vodka

Instructions

Slice the berries and toss them with the sugar and honey, and let them macerate for 1 hr at room temperature.

Puree the berries and their liquid with the rice milk, lemon juice and liquor with a standard or immersion blender. You can puree it until completely smooth and strain out some or all of the seeds by pressing the mixture through a mesh sieve. Or you can leave it slightly chunky and omit straining it. (I strained.)

Taste, and add more lemon juice or liquor, if desired.

Chill well (I chill overnight), then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

The finished product had an incredible fresh strawberry flavor and a pretty good texture to say nothing of the fact that it's actually healthy; however, it's definitely more sherbet than ice cream. I think that was either due to possibly using too many strawberries (I eyeballed it at the farmers' market) or using berries that were very juicy, resulting in a more watery mixture. I could have also added more vodka, since it's still a little hard when it first comes out of the freezer (David says that you can add up to 3 tbsp of liquor to the mixture), but I was worried about blurring the line between strawberry ice cream and strawberry daiquiri.

I will try this again soon with a wider fruit-to-rice milk ratio because it did taste great, and I have a mostly full box a Rice Dream™ in the fridge that's not going anywhere.

Best,

San Francisco restaurant roundup OR I left my heart attack in San Francisco

2010-07-31T16:05:00.002-04:00

Clint Eastwood is The Fondue Cowboy.

This 200th post (!) is a by-neighborhood chronicle of a recent week of eating out on vacation in the San Francisco Bay area. This post is long, but like the trip itself, it begins and ends — as it should — with Fondue Cowboy.

Read more »

Kitchen stewards' salad

2010-06-23T21:11:00.003-04:00

For dinner tonight I made this salad, made famous by the kitchen stewards at Daniel, that I've been wanting to try since I clipped the recipe from New York Times Magazine years ago:

KITCHEN STEWARDS' SALAD

Ingredients

1 medium Vidalia onion
1 large avocado
1-2 jalapeno peppers
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste.

Instructions

Peel the onion and cut in half lengthwise. Slice each half into 1/8-inch-thick half-moons and set in a medium-size nonreactive bowl. Slice the avocado in half, remove the pit and peel each half. Slice each half lengthwise, 1/4 inch thick, and add to the bowl. Cut the stem ends off the jalapeno peppers (use just 1 if you don't like heat) and slice very thinly into discs. Shake out and discard any loose seeds and add to the bowl.

Whisk together the lime juice, extra-virgin olive oil and salt until emulsified and gently toss with the vegetables. Correct the seasoning and let sit for 5 min before serving.

There are two big reasons why I finally got around to making this today:

1 — I'm busy getting ready for a big trip and I've been looking for simple, easy-to-prepare, inexpensive, healthy meals. Truth be told, though, I prefer cooking simply all the time. Five ingredients or less is my ideal; the more dynamic the flavors the better. This recipe definitely fits that bill.

2 — The fridge was open when I got home from work yesterday and the ingredients in this salad were among the survivors. (Some of their friends didn't make it.)

Best,

Happy Father's Day, Chef

2010-06-20T21:57:00.000-04:00

That's a picture of my late father sometime in the eighties/early-nineties with (who I'm told was) former Governor General of Canada Jeanne Sauvé (and some other guy who looks pretty important).

So this proves that I come by cooking honestly!

In all seriousness though, there are many important things that my father taught me, and many great ideas and experiences that he introduced me to — far too many than I will get into here. But, I will say that getting the chance to hang out in a professional kitchen as a kid growing up was so much fun, and it shaped my outlook on both food and work. (And, I didn't do that much damage — a couple of over-cheesed pizzas, that's all.)

Hope you all had a good Father's Day!

Best,

Mercedes buns

2010-06-14T21:26:00.001-04:00

Ugh...I'm in serious Glee withdrawal.

And the Matthew Morrison/Lea Michele number on last night's Tony Awards broadcast did nothing to help my situation. (Actually, I have no idea what the point of that was, but that's beside the point. ) As a tribute to a great first season, I wanted to share one of my favourite Glee-watching snacks.

This recipe for "Mercedes Buns" is adapted from a Podleski sisters recipe, hence the cutesy name, but I prefer to pretend it was named after Glee's own "diva-in-training."

MERCEDES BUNS

Ingredients

1 lb frozen bread dough, thawed*
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 oz cream cheese
1 tbsp milk

*Available in your grocer's freezer.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9x13" pan, and set aside.

Roll out dough to a 9x12 rectangle. Brush with 1/2 the butter. Mix the brown sugar and the cinnamon. Sprinkle 3/4 over dough. Spread evenly to edges. Roll jelly roll style. This should make a 12 inch long loaf. Seal by pinching edges. Cut into 12 pieces.

Arrange in baking pan. Cover and let rise for 1 hr.

Brush with rest of the melted butter and sprinkle with last of sugar mix.

Bake for 20–30 min until puffed and golden brown.

Prepare glaze while waiting. Beat the icing sugar, cream cheese and milk on high speed until smooth.

Remove buns and drizzle with glaze. Serve warm. (To reheat, microwave for 10-15 sec.)

These are basically a much less labor-intensive and much lower-fat version of traditional cinnamon buns. I love fresh cinnamon buns but would never invest the time in making them from scratch, so this shortcut was a very useful discovery for me.

I might normally be embarrassed to admit that I have "Glee rituals," but I'm not the only blogger who does these sort of things. In fact, I've found that the show resonates with a surprising number of people. I think it's Glee's message of inclusiveness combined with its grossly exaggerated but nonetheless truthful depictions of high school life that appeals to so many. And then, of course, there's the singing. (Warning: Don't watch the video below if you're not in the mood for a six-and-a-half-minute Journey medley.)

Seriously, what's not to love about this show? I can't believe I have to wait three months for new episodes! But, I hear there'll be Stamos....

Best,

Jamie Oliver's best tuna meatballs

2010-06-06T21:47:00.004-04:00

This is not a great time of year for recently converted vegetarians. I'm talking about grill season and the random charred-meat aromas floating around everywhere, followed by the realization, "Oh yeah, I don't eat anything that smells like that anymore."

Then, out of blue this week, came this recipe from Jamie Oliver. It was nice to discover that (because I still occasionally eat fish) I can still enjoy a hearty bowl of meatballs. And, these tuna meatballs, from a traditional Sicilian recipe, do not disappoint. Here's my adaptation with Canadian conversions and my recommendation that you make the balls before you make the sauce:

THE BEST TUNA MEATBALLS (LE MIGLIORI POLPETTE DI TONNO)

Ingredients

For the tomato sauce:
olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 28 oz can of plum tomatoes
salt and fresh ground pepper
red wine vinegar (optional)
a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped

For the meatballs:
1 lb sustainably sourced tuna
olive oil
1/3 cup pinenuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
salt and fresh ground pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 eggs
zest and juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

Make the meatballs — Chop the tuna up into 1/2-inch dice. Pour a good couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a large frying pan and place on the heat. Add the tuna to the pan with the pinenuts and cinnamon. Season lightly with salt and pepper and fry for a minute or so to cook the tuna on all sides and toast the pinenuts. Remove from the heat and put the mixture into a bowl. Allow to cool down for 5 min, then add the oregano, parsley, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, eggs, lemon zest and juice to the bowl. Using your hands, really scrunch and mix the flavours into the tuna, then divide the mixture and squeeze it into meatballs slightly smaller than a golf ball. If you dip one of your hands in water while shaping you’ll get a nice smooth surface on the meatball. If the mixture’s very sticky, add a few more breadcrumbs. Keep the meatballs around the same size and put them in the fridge for an hour to let them rest.

Make your sauce — Place a large pan on the heat, add a good glug of olive oil, your onion and garlic and fry slowly for 10 min until soft. Add your oregano, the tomatoes, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 min or so, then liquidize until smooth. Taste – it might need a tiny swig of red wine vinegar or some extra seasoning.

Put the pan you fried the tuna in back on the heat with a little olive oil. In two batches, add your meatballs to the pan and jiggle them about until they’re golden brown all over. Divide between your plates, sprinkle with chopped parsley and shaved Parmesan.

Notes: 1) Resist the urge to make bigger balls. The two larger-than-a-golf-ball–sized balls that I had began to disintegrate in the pan 3/4 of the way through cooking. 2) This really is a meal unto itself — no pasta needed. 3) Isn't it creepy how my hand is the same colour as the tuna!

Best,

Bacon of the sea

2010-06-06T19:21:00.000-04:00

You're looking at smoked smoked scallops from The Whalesbone Sustainable Oyster & Fish Supply.

They are very similar to bacon in flavor, texture, and appearance. Actually, if it weren't for the mildly fishy flavour, I would swear they were bacon.

They're great for snacking, but I think they'd also make a great bacon substitute in recipes for those looking to replace meat and/or reduce fat.

I'll be sure to try this and report back.

Tablescapes (literally)

2010-06-05T21:13:00.002-04:00

Love this clever centerpiece made from garlic scapes that I spotted at The Whalesbone Sustainable Oyster & Fish Supply.

Trendy, in season, and really, you can only eat so many of these.

This week at the grocery store...

2010-05-31T21:52:00.001-04:00

They didn't have my favorite flavour of Kawartha ice cream! Again.

I guess it was only a matter of time before word got out about the Chocolate Peanut Butter. Granted, all Kawartha ice creams are pretty fantastic and super fresh-tasting. In fact, a friend of mine coined the perfect slogan, which Kawartha Dairy is free to use, if they so desire:

Kawartha — It's Ka-worth-it!

My "Z-shield"

2010-05-27T19:54:00.002-04:00

I can't take credit for this tip.

While I do have the occasional bright idea, I'm not a super-genius like the person who thought to seal an iphone in a Ziplock bag to protect it from the elements while still being able to use it. I can, however, do my part by helping to spread the word about its remarkable utility in the kitchen.

The "Z-shield" is an important discovery for many reasons, among them:

— cooking is messy (at least it is for me);
— iphones are very expensive to replace and not something the average owner could easily go without for any length of time;
— I hate having to print off recipes that I find online; and, finally
— there are just too many great cooking apps not to use your iphone in the kitchen for fear of damaging it (I'm currently loving Jamie Oliver's 20 Minute Meals – $7.99 [the Cadillac of cooking apps, complete with video how-tos]; the new David Leibovitz app – free; and, of course, the expansive recipe archive that is the iphone version of Epicurious – free)

Ziplock bags are also cheap, reusable and I hear that the extra large size works great for the ipad.

Best,

Check out the Eat, Pray, Love trailer!

2010-05-19T22:11:00.003-04:00

A really interesting looking and somewhat food-related movie to look forward to this summer. (And, a little James Franco for your Wednesday.)

Deconstructing the cheese stick

2010-05-17T20:55:00.004-04:00

This weekend I wanted cheese sticks. But, I didn't want to invest the effort in making my own from scratch. I also wouldn't settle for a restaurant or, perish the thought, frozen variety. So, I opted to deconstruct.

Deconstruction in cooking is when a recipe is broken down into its main components then reassembled to form something different, but the same. I've always been fascinated by this particular technique. I'm sure this means I would have made a great scientist had I not chosen to pursue an education in the lucrative field of English literature.

Taking my cues from the Food Network's 50 Things to Make With a Jar of Pasta Sauce, I assembled my "cheese stick" by cutting the top off a small wheel of surface-ripened Quebec cheese, topping it with homemade marinara sauce and bread crumbs seasoned with Italian herbs and parsley, and baking it at 350° for 10 min.

It didn't stand up to the heat (as you can see from the picture above), but considering that it was going to be served with baguette, that didn't matter so much. Next time, I'll use a firmer Brie and not remove the top rind. (But what do I know, I majored in English, not structural architecture.)

But the important question is: Did it taste like a cheese stick? Damn right, it did. The flavour was unmistakable, which means that my experiment was a success.

If you want to see how the masters deconstruct, check out last year's Top Chef deconstruction elimination challenge:

Best,

Beauty treatment

2010-05-11T22:30:00.001-04:00

I've had a lot on my plate lately, which has unfortunately kept me away from kitchen. And, it was this lack of new recipes, in part, that inspired this post.

So did this fascinating New York Times article titled, Cilantro Haters, It’s Not Your Fault. It looks at the science of why some people (like me) hate cilantro — a widely-used and much-loved ingredient in Asian and Latin American cooking.

I expected the article to find some genetic cause. After all, genes have been shown to play a role in how people perceive certain flavours. But, not so. Instead it confirmed that cilantro does, actually, taste like soap. More specifically, "Flavor chemists have found that cilantro aroma is created by a half-dozen or so substances, and most of these are modified fragments of fat molecules called aldehydes. The same or similar aldehydes are also found in soaps and lotions and the bug family of insects." The theory goes that those who don't hate cilantro have become accustomed to it and therefore associate it's flavour with positive things rather than soap and bugs.

Ironically, Kiehl's Coriander is my favorite body wash, and that got thinking about that other important use for food — hair and skin care!

Read more »

This week at the grocery store...

2010-04-28T21:05:00.000-04:00

I discovered everybody's nuts!

I'm such a sucker for clever packaging. Show me a picture of a deranged-looking pistachio nut wearing a beret, and I'll blindly offer up my money.

In defence of bread — Eggplant, red pepper and Fontina panini

2010-04-25T15:53:00.000-04:00

For me a sandwich for dinner ranks right up there with breakfast for dinner (aka Brinner). If you're with me on this one, then you may want to consider investing in a panini press, if you don't already own one. It makes great grilled sandwiches and quesadillas, and you can also use it to grill meat and vegetables.

This recipe, adapted from Bon Appétit, can be made with a grill pan or a counter-top grill or barbecue, if you don't have a press handy:

Read more »

This week at the grocery store...

2010-04-20T20:14:00.000-04:00

Baby pineapples.

Are these not the cutest things you've ever seen? (At the grocery store, that is.)

Still shopping the pantry: tortillas with shrimp

2010-04-13T23:18:00.004-04:00

This week's food question: How many different types of of flour do you have in your pantry? I have seven — regular, whole wheat, self-rising, gluten (for seitan, of course), chick pea, masa harina and cornmeal. I know what you're thinking — only seven! But don't let that influence your impression of me. I'm sure my varieties of pasta are in the double digits.

While this topic sounds less-than-stimulating, it did inspire this week's menu and my continuing efforts to shop my pantry.

Matzo math

2010-04-04T18:16:00.002-04:00

Stuffed portobellos over banosh

2010-03-29T21:47:00.002-04:00

Too strapped to travel? Tell me about it. Only moments before writing this post I experienced a moment of panic thinking that the Mac had given out for good. Thankfully that was not the case.

One way to travel without spending any money is to learn about other cultures. I prefer to do this by reading a good book. (Shawn prefers Wikipedia for those sort of things.) Coincidentally, the last two books I read were set in Ukraine. And because I enjoyed both books, I thought that at least warranted a recipe.
Read more »

Real simple crab cakes

2010-03-21T20:43:00.004-04:00

I fully admit (albeit sheepishly) that this is not the first time I used as an unconventional potato product as binder. For this recipe, a big favourite in our house, I use crushed Kettle Chips to make an insanely simple crab cake.

With the ongoing HVP scare, you might think that this prepackaged shortcut misses the mark, however, my chip of choice Kettle Chips are...

(wait for it)
Read more »

Whatever gets you through the winter

2010-03-15T21:27:00.015-04:00

Regardless of whether you're looking to prepare nutritious lunches for the workweek or the recent HVP scare has you sworn you off of processed food, homemade soups are a just a good idea. Here are three mostly healthy (maybe not so much the first one) and mostly quick (definitely not the last one) soups that I enjoyed this past winter:
Read more »

Every bun under the sun

2010-03-07T19:46:00.006-05:00

After a week of eating in — no easy feat, I discovered — I'm posting about one of my favorite takeout places.When you live at the intersection of Chinatown and Little Italy in one of Canada’s best food cities, a culinary experience waits around every corner.
Read more »

The Weekend of Eating in

2010-02-28T20:24:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I made a deliciously creamy potato, spinach, chive and smoked Gruyere frittata from Food & Drink magazine (recipe not available online).

And today I made maple-gazed tuna with a variation of smitten kitchen's warm butternut squash and chickpea salad — a dish that photographed so badly that I could not bring myself to post a pic. The salad, which I'd been wanting to try for a while now, did not disappoint. You will have have to brush your teeth immediately after eating it, but it's sooo worth it.

So the Week of Eating in has come to a close. Can I please go out to eat now?!

The Week of Eating in: Friday — Butternut sqaush mac and cheese

2010-02-26T20:23:00.008-05:00

It's back!

I've seriously revamped my prized butternut squash mac and cheese recipe over the last couple of months. It's now healthier than the original and vegetarian friendly.

Here's the latest version:

BUTTERNUT SQUASH MACARONI AND CHEESE

Ingredients

1 lb (~450 g) macaroni
1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded, chopped into 1-inch cubes
4 tbsp olive oil
¼ cup flour
1 cup milk
1 cup vegetable stock
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1½ cups shredded old cheddar (~1 brick)
~5 slices whole grain bread

Instructions

Toss the cubed squash in 1 tbsp oil, season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30–40 min until tender.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil pasta to al dente, drain and set aside.

Heat 2 tbsp oil over medium heat and slowly stir in ¼ cup flour to form a roux. Off heat, slowly whisk in 1 cup of milk, then 1 cup of stock. Return to medium low heat until sauce fully blends and thickens. Lower heat to lowest setting. Add nutmeg and cayenne pepper. Stir in cheese. Add roasted squash to the sauce. For a smoother consistency use a hand mixer to blend to desired smoothness, or transfer half the sauce to a blender and puree.

Combine pasta and sauce in a large casserole dish.

In a food processor, pulse bread with 1 tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle mixture over the macaroni.

Broil until topping is nicely browned (~2–5 min). Let stand 10 min before serving.

Looking back at the original post, I was pleasantly surprised to see how much the photography has improved with only slightly more effort on my part and a marginally fancier camera.

More to come tomorrow!

The Week of Eating in: Thursday — Fish tacos

2010-02-25T21:15:00.001-05:00

Two words: fish tacos. Need I say more? Apparently, because whenever I mention fish tacos in casual conversation, people always seem to want to know more. Disturbingly, I've discovered that there are people out there who have never even heard of a "fish taco."

I've tried many recipes, but I usually make some variation of this one that I found in the New York Times Magazine a few years back. For those of you who've never made these, I think you're missing out.

A much improved old favorite is on the menu for tomorrow....

The Week of Eating in: Wednesday — Zucchini pizza

2010-02-24T21:12:00.006-05:00

Nothing to see here; I've made this one before. Though this attempt was improved with the addition of tomato sauce and by substituting cream cheese for chèvre.

So delicious, healthy and satisfying — more than enough to get me over the hump!

I'll try and make something special tomorrow...

The Week of Eating in: Tuesday — Pearl onions & vodka cream sauce with penne

2010-02-23T20:05:00.003-05:00

I decided to cook one of my favorite quick pastas for day two of the Week of Eating in with the leftovers doing double duty as lunches for days three and four.

PEARL ONIONS & VODKA CREAM SAUCE WITH PENNE
Ingredients: 1 pkg pearl onions, peeled and halved; 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 16-oz can diced tomatoes; 700g penne (~3/4 of a large pkg); 1/2 cup vodka; 1 cup half-and-half; salt and pepper to taste.
Instructions: Cook penne according to package. Meanwhile, Heat oil and saute onions until translucent. Add tomatoes and cook to reduce for about 15 min. Season with salt and pepper. Add vodka and stir, then add cream. Simmer for 5-8 min, then combine with penne.

A demain!

The Week of Eating in: Monday — Apple walnut tuna melt

2010-02-22T19:57:00.003-05:00

I'm switching things up this week because I'm participating the Huffington Post's Week of Eating in. In other words, I've committed to making (from scratch) all of the food I eat this week (and posting each recipe I make). These will be some of my favorite go-to (read: easy) recipes. I'm not going too fancy, since cooking every meal of the week will be challenging. (Though I have a friend who would remind me that this is considered a "first world problem.")

Today's APPLE WALNUT TUNA MELT recipe comes from the 20-minute Supper Club. It may not look like much, but trust me, it's delicious — so much more than your average tuna and mayo.

If you're interested in participating in the Week of Eating in, it's not too late to take the pledge.

Drop by tomorrow!

Papparedelle is for lovers

2010-02-14T15:58:00.001-05:00

I love going out to dinner on Valentine's Day so I'm definitely not cooking tonight, but I will share with you a new recipe that I've taken a shine to. There's everything to love about this one — it's the perfect balance of bitter and sweet tossed with buttery noodles. It's unique and colourful and also pretty healthy.

I was nervous about cooking with pine nuts because of news of a North American "pine mouth" outbreak. From what I've heard pine mouth can not only ruin a romantic evening, it can affect your sense of taste for weeks, so be careful what brand you buy.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND RADICCHIO PAPPARDELLE

Ingredients

1/2 stick unsalted butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted in a dry skillet
1 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 2 1/2 cups)
3/4 lb radicchio, cored and thinly sliced
1 (8- to 9-oz) package pappardelle (preferably egg pasta), broken into large pieces
1/2 cup coarsely grated ricotta salata or Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 oz)

Instructions

Melt butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, then continue to cook until it is golden brown, about 2 min. Add oil, then squash, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden and just tender, 6 to 8 min. Add radicchio and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until wilted and just tender, about 3 min.

Meanwhile, cook pappardelle in a pasta pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain pasta. Add pasta to radicchio mixture with 1/2 cup cooking water and toss over low heat until heated through, 1 to 2 min. Add more cooking water to moisten if necessary.

Serve topped with nuts and cheese.

Happy Valentine's!

Skins in the game

2010-02-07T17:54:00.004-05:00

The Food Network's interpretation of the Saints—Colts match-up.

It's the Superbowl, and we're mere minutes away from kick-off!

While I don't follow football in the regular season, I love a good Superbowl. And, what would the Superbowl be without snacks?

This week, Char forwarded me the Daily Beast's list the most extreme Superbowl snack foods, which some lucky reporter got to taste test so we wouldn't have to. But my Superbowl snacking strategy is different — and not just because I can't eat potato chips, nachos and other snack foods like a "normal person" — I like to go a little fancy in honour of the occasion. This year, I took my my Superbowl snack post inspiration from the Food Network, which designed a potato skin for every team in the NFL.

Below is my adaptation of Food & Drink's "gourmet" skins. (Original recipe calls for ham.)

Read more »

Spiced Sweet Potato Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting

2010-02-05T08:30:00.001-05:00

THIS is what was left of my offering to a recent bake-sale to raise funds for mobile field medical tents for Haiti. The bake sale, I'm happy to report, raised nearly $900, or almost enough to fund 2 tents for a day. Not bad for a table full of brownies, cookies and cupcakes. The only slightly-sad bit is that I didn't get to the sale in time to buy a slice of my own cake, which from previous iterations I can assure you is DELICIOUS. Here are a couple of shots of the bake-sale table to give you an idea of what was on offer, and to reassure you that my initial disappointment over missing my own cake was quickly assuaged.

How cute are those cupcake faces?

The recipe for this cake came to me from my friend Monique, who is quite an accomplished baker. She's given me several recipes and they're all excellent, so even though I haven't had this cake made by Monique, I knew that if she said it was good enough to make, it would be great. The cake is lovely and moist, and the frosting is to die for... fudgy and caramely and very, very sweet. Monique's recipe is reproduced below [with my notes in square brackets].

Spiced Sweet Potato Cake

with Brown Sugar Frosting

Cake:

2 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes; or 4 8oz sweet potatoes, cooked & mashed [I used about 2 1/2 cups to make up for reducing the oil. I used the 4 sweet potatoes called for in the recipe and ended up with about 1 cup of leftover mash.]

Vegetable oil spray

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ginger [I used 2 tsp because I really like ginger]

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil [I used about 2/3 cup]

4 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

[As a time-saver, you can microwave chunks of peeled sweet potatoes in a bowl of water. They'll get black spots (which don't affect the flavour) wherever they dry out, so I suggest laying waxed paper over the top of the bowl to keep the steam in. Mash the cooked sweet potatoes without adding any butter or seasonings.]

• Preheat oven to 325F
• Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with non-stick spray. [Since an unfortunate Bundt incident, I've also started to coat the inside of the pan with 1-2 Tbsp sugar. It helps the finished cake to release from the pan and gives the cake a nice little crust on the exterior.]
• Sift the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
• Mix the mashed sweet potatoes with sugar and oil; beat until smooth.
• Add eggs, 2 at a time, until blended.
• Add flour mixture, and beat until just blended.
• Beat in vanilla.
• Pour into your prepared Bundt pan and bake about 65 minutes. [Start checking at about the 55 minute mark. The cake is done when only a few moist crumbs stick to a toothpick.]
• Cool the cake in the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully loosen the edges and [hold your breath for this part] turn it out onto a cooling rack. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

1 cup icing sugar

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup unsalted butter [do not use margarine]

1 tsp vanilla

• Sift the icing sugar into a medium glass or metal bowl.
• Stir brown sugar, cream and butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat and bring to a boil.
• Boil 3 minutes [4 minutes is too many, trust me!], occasionally stirring and swirling the pan.
• Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
• Pour the brown sugar mixture over the icing sugar.
• Whisk frosting until smooth and lightened in colour, about 1 minute.
• Cool frosting until it's lukewarm and falls in heavy ribbons from a spoon, whisking often, about 15 minutes.
• Spoon frosting thickly over the top of the completely cooled cake, allowing the frosting to drip down the sides of the cake.
• Let the cake stand until the frosting is firm before serving, at least 1 hour.

Enjoy!

Char

Buffalo salmon

2010-01-24T22:01:00.002-05:00

This brilliant recipe, adapted from Gourmet via Epicurious, has become a instant classic in our house. This salmon tastes just like Buffalo wings (maybe better) and is a whole lot healthier and simpler to make than the inspiration. Here's the recipe:

BUFFALO SALMON

Ingredients

5 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup hot sauce such as Frank's Redhot (or Buffalo sauce)
1/3 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 (2-pound) piece salmon fillet with skin

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°. Lightly oil a shallow baking pan.

Melt butter with hot sauce. Set aside 1/4 cup sauce.

Toss panko with oil in a bowl. Put salmon, skin side down and brush with remaining sauce. Sprinkle panko evenly over top of fish, then bake until panko is golden and fish is just cooked through, 15 to 18 min. Serve reserved sauce on the side.

The next time I make this I plan to omit the butter to see if it makes any difference at all to the taste. If I can safely leave out the butter, this recipe will be truly healthy. (Store-bought Buffalo sauce has no calories — who knew?)

The only downside to this culinary discovery — I've had Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldier" in my head for over a week. Oh well, at least it got "Pants on the ground" out of there.

Best,

Soups for you

2010-01-18T19:52:00.002-05:00

I made this delicately-flavoured corn chowder a couple of weeks ago, but I'm only posting it now, hot on the heels of last week's alarming news that Monsanto GM corn (read: most of the corn we consume) was linked to organ failure in rats. Oh well, I guess that should teach me to stop trying to stockpile blog posts.

Below is my adaptation of this Food & Wine recipe. (The original contains bacon and chicken stock.)

SALMON AND CORN CHOWDER WITH LIMA BEANS

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 1/4 lb boiling potatoes (about 3), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 cups vegetable stock
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 small bag (or 1/2 of a large bag) of frozen corn kernels
1 lb skinless salmon fillets, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup frozen baby lima beans
1/8 tsp fresh-ground black pepper
3/4 cup half-and-half
2 tbsp chopped scallion greens

Instructions

Heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent (about 5 min).

Add the potatoes, broth and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt to the pot and simmer, covered, for 10 min. Put the corn kernels in a food processor and pulse six to eight times to chop. Add the corn to the pot and cook, covered, until the potatoes and corn are just done, about 5 min longer.

Add the salmon, lima beans, the remaining 1 1/4 tsp salt and the pepper. Bring just back to a simmer; the fish should be just cooked through. Stir in the half-and-half and serve the chowder topped with the scallions.

Bonus soup:
SWEET POTATO—PEANUT BISQUE from Eating Well
I also made this hearty and delicious vegan soup recently. Pictured here (sans cilantro) with my latest obsession — kale chips. (More on those in a future post.)

Best,

Antipastoes past and present

2010-01-11T22:15:00.002-05:00

I'm going to to preface this post by saying please don't nominate me for Hoarders. But, shameful as it may seem, until Sunday, I had food in my fridge that was 3 1/2 years old!

But, it's not how it sounds. The article in question was a jar of unopened antipasto. It was one of a batch that Shawn and I gave out as wedding favours, which should explain why I counldn't readily bring myself to eat it, or, later, throw it away. So, the fact that this antipasto went to waste, was defineitly not reflection on its quality. After all, there are very few foods out there that I would consider "wedding worthy."

I also had some pretty bang-on antipastoes* over the holidays — one made by my aunt (pictured above), and another at Char's. These recently enjoyed antipastoes inspired this post much more so than the one that went bad in the fridge, though the synchoncity is undeniable.

Here is my time-tested recipe:

ANTIPASTO

Ingredients

1 jar marinated artichokes, drained and chopped
2 spanish onions, chopped
2 small green pepper, chopped
3 cans baby shrimp
3 cans sliced mushrooms , drained
2 cans sliced manzanilla olives
2 cans sliced black olives
1 cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized or smaller florets
2 litres ketchup
1 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Instructions

Boil oil, olives, cauliflower and onions for 5 min. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring just to a boil. Spoon into prepared jars.

Makes about 15 jars. Store in a cool place. Lasts a few months unrefridgerated.

Best,

*I know I'm pluralizing that wrong.

With friends like cheese

2010-01-05T21:30:00.002-05:00

I came into quite a bit of cheese recently. But, the why and the how aren't nearly as interesting as what I did with my cheese, which was devote my holiday cooking to finding the perfect recipes with which to highlight them. Here they are:

SMOKED SALMON AND BRIE QUICHE from the Winter 2006 issue of Food & Drink. The preamble mentions that this is a tried and true recipe, which means I shouldn't have stressed when the quiche looked over-filled and the egg mixture started to leak under the crust. There's a reason old recipes get to be old recipes — serious cooks don't mess around.

It came together fabulously. It probably helped that I used the creamiest Canadian Camembert and salmon caught by uncle Bob — uncle Bob doesn't mess around.

BLUE CHEESE MAC & CHEESE — I found a great recipe that incorporates blue cheese into the traditonal mac and cheese recipe on The District Domestic blog.

I used two types of blue cheese for the blue component of the recipe, 1 1/2 cups of double smoked cheddar and 1 cup of a soft goat cheese with a vegetable ash. (I would have given you the exact names of cheeses used had I written them down before hastily ditching the wrappings.) When combining cheeses like this, it's a good idea to say a little prayer to the cheese gods — it's difficult (even for experienced cooks) to gauge exactly how flavors will come together, though it's much safer to stick with the milder blue cheeses.

Last but not least, inspired by this recipe, I topped pizza dough with Dubliner cheese (a new favourite cheese discovery), sliced pears, arugula and fresh ground pepper.

Hope you enjoyed reading about how I ate way too much cheese this holiday season!

Best,

2009-12-25T07:00:00.085-05:00

AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thanks for visiting the blog this year, and I really appreciate those of you who took the time to comment. If I could I would send each and every one of you your very own copy of Cooking with Coolio. But since I can't, I'll end the end the year with a song.

After I posted Do they know it's Christmas (my all time favourite Christmas song) earlier in the season (here), a friend reminded me of the Canadian single that was part of he same aid effort (along with the American We are the world). The song that appears to be becoming somewhat of a Canadian Christmas classic. (At least it's been showing up at a lot of school Christmas concerts.)

So, because it would be wrong not to post it, here is the the David Foster masterpiece Tears are not enough, sung by every major Canadian recording artist of the 80s:

This year's food gift finds

2009-12-23T21:11:00.001-05:00

This year I stumbled upon a couple of unique food-related gift ideas that I thought were worth a post.

"The world's largest gummy bear" (ad featured above) kept coming up in search results when I Googled "gifts for kids" or "gifts for teens." It is quite simply 5 pounds of gummy bear. I found it odd that they were so aggressively marketing that kind of thing. I mean, wouldn't word get out amongst the gummy bear crowd?

My other curious gift discovery was that the Internet series Cooking with Coolio, which I've posted about before, has spawned a cookbook, out just in time for the holidays. Even more puzzling — Newsweek did a feature on it! I guess that unlikely series has finally come in to its own.

I hope Santa's good to you all!

From the Russian Federation with love (just in time for Christmas): Draniki

2009-12-22T22:37:00.003-05:00

We have reached our final destination — the Russian Federation, where the World Food Programme runs programs that help to feed thousands of Chechnyans displaced by war.

This recipe for potato pancakes, unlike the others in this series, is not particularly exotic. In fact, if you just celebrated Hanukkah, you may have actually experienced an overabundance of the classic latkes.

Though this recipe may seem simple,* there are some key tips to note in order to replicate the authentic flavour and texture. Here is the adapted recipe (with some extra tips thrown in):

POTATO PANCAKES (DRANIKI)

Ingredients

1/2 lb of potatoes
1/2 a large onion
2 small eggs
1/4 cup flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Sunflower oil for frying

Instructions

Peel and grate the potato and the onion into a large mixing bowl.[1]

Add the other ingredients and mix thoroughly. If the resulting mass is very wet, squeeze down the mixture with a masher and pour off the extra liquid.[2]

Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan.[3] When the oil is hot but not smoking, add about 1/4 cup the mixture and pat it down to ½ cm thickness, rounding the edges off with a spatula to form a pancake. Add more until the pan is full.

The draniki need to fry for 3-5 min on each side. To achieve a good colour, start them hot, but then turn them down to cook through. They should be crispy and golden on the outside, but soft in the middle, and the potato should be cooked through.

Notes: 1. Don’t use the coarsest side of your grater for this, or the potato will not soften properly. You want fine strands of potato which will mesh together during cooking. 2. As the mixture sits, water will leach out of the potatoes, making the batter wetter. So, it may be necessary to drin off the excess liquid in between frying the batches. 3. Why sunflower oil? Draniki are actually a version of a popular Ukrainian dish, deruni, and to get the authentic flavour, other oils just won’t do.

Serve with sour cream or apple sauce.

Best of the Holiday season! And, fill the red cup for those less fortunate.

*Grating potato and onion — never "simple."

May the farm be with you

2009-12-19T20:28:00.002-05:00

There was no recipe last week because I hosted a book club on the weekend, and had to study for a biotech exam that took place on Wednesday.

Book club went well, despite a few last-minute cancellations, and I think I did well on my exam, though I'm pretty pretty sure I mixed up DNA ligase and DNA polymerase. (Good thing I'm not in charge of protein synthesis!)

Anyway, in honour of the end of my biotech class, I wanted to post an incredibly well-done Star Wars parody that a fellow student posted on our class message board. Don't ever say that the organic movement doesn't have a sense of humour — because this is hilarious:

I'll be posting the last recipe in this series this week.

Best,

Inspiration from El Salvador

2009-12-09T23:02:00.003-05:00

Off season, off topic...

In school did you ever fail an assignment for maybe drifting off topic? Well, that's kinda what happened with this week's cooking assignment, only the result was delicious.

I had planned to make a recipe from El Salvador, but finding little inspiration and a lot of meat in the Salvadoran recipes I was finding online, I instead took the flavours of El Salvador as my inspiration and found something that I could really get excited about cooking. I was drawn to this recipe — MASA CORN CAKES WITH POACHED EGGS, on the Food Network website because the cakes looked like pupusas — Salvadoran stuffed masa flatbread. I didn't really alter this recipe, excluding only the cilantro* in the salsa.

Straying just a little from my subject in this case was anything but a recipe for failure. In fact, taking inspiration from one culture's cooking and adapting it to suit a different environment and culture is nothing new. It's how we got Italian-American cooking — a style entirely its own. And just think — where would we be without Olive Garden?

Oh, and another thing about getting an F — apparently it's a good indicator of your potential as a blogger. If I'd have known that I would have starting blogging 10 years ago when I was still in school. I would have been at the forefront!

Best,

*'cause it's disgusting.

Check out the good work that the WFP is doing in El Salvador.

Adventures in Ethiopian cuisine

2009-12-04T23:03:00.003-05:00

In cooking, there's nothing I hate more* than when a recipe goes wrong. But that's just what happened with the Ethiopian meal that I had planned to post about last Sunday.

The eggplant salad I made didn't taste quite right, and adorable fish-shaped chickpea fritters that I hoped to make never materialized due to my inexperience in working with chickpea flour-based dough.

So, I resolved to visit an Ethiopian restaurant properly familiarize myself with the country's food and culture. I got a lot of reaction when I told people I was going to try authentic Ethiopian cuisine. Comments ranged from "It is the best food you will ever eat" to "they don't have a strong food culture...."

We went to Blue Nile, where I had a vegetarian combination platter and Shawn had lamb tips sauteed in butter. Both dishes were served with injera (a kind of crepe) — an integral part of the Ethiopian meal and your utensil. I had hoped to experience the coffee† ceremony that I had heard about, but you typically need a group of 5 for a restaurant to perform it, and they need at least a day's notice, so we were out of luck.

Some things we tried were good — Shawn loved his lamb and some of the vegetable "wots" (stews) were very good. Other things, like Tej, Ethiopian honey wine fermented with hops, were not my cup of tea. (In fact, it made my list of "Things I'll never drink again."‡)

I hope you enjoyed this little primer on Ethiopian food. You can read about WFP initiatives in Ethiopian here. As one of the world's least developed countries, Ethiopia has been dealing with severe food crises for decades. It was the country that first drew the world's attention to the cause of world hunger in the 80s, and inspired this holiday classic:

Best,

*With the possible exception of Gordon Ramsay.
†Bonus fact: Coffee originated in Ethiopia.
‡Right next to Hooch.

Cinnamon-Sugar Plum Cake

2009-11-22T11:21:00.020-05:00

Welcome to my first blog posting ever, and a big thank-you to Kristen for the invitation to guest post. Or guest blog, or whatever it's called. I hope I get this right — she told me to write the way I talk, but I'm afraid she'll be expecting a degree of brevity that I'm not sure I can deliver... there's a chance I'll ramble a bit, digress now and then. I hope you'll bear with me, and that Kristen will edit (please be gentle — it's my first time!). Kristen I are colleagues and neighbours, and have bonded a bit over bat infestations (mostly at home, but there sure are some crazies in the office too...).

I only learned about Sunday Best recently, and I've enjoyed nearly every post — except the two about a weird Rachel Ray cornbread-hotdog-and-beans casserole. Thanks to Kristen, I even have half-a-box of instant mashed potatoes in my cupboard, leftover from making some pretty fabulous basil gnocchi.

Did I mention I might digress? I'd better start talking about my own recipe pretty soon, or she'll really have to get the pruning shears out. So here we go — Cinnamon-Sugar Plum Cake.

It's a simple-to-make, unpretentious little coffee cake, and I promise you that everyone who tries it will love it. I got the recipe from the June 2002 issue of Bon Appétit and have made it at least once a year since then. The recipe says you can make it with pretty much any stone fruit (plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines) or even pears, but I've always used plums.

Today, I'm making not one, but three cakes for the bake sale table at my church's Fall Rummage Sale tomorrow. A lot of people who know things about baking would tell you it's important to mix up three separate batches of batter when you're making three separate cakes, but I'm a little pressed for time tonight so I'm throwing caution to the wind (come on, I throw like a girl — it's not like it's going to go anywhere) and just tripling the recipe. Here's what one cake's worth of ingredients looks like:

The cake base has a very thick batter, almost like cookie dough, because the sliced plums you put on top of the batter will let out all kinds of juice while they bake, and if your batter was thinner it'd never cook through.

The recipe says to use a 9" springform pan for each cake. I don't have one 9" springform let alone three, (I had one, but lent it out years ago and never saw it again) so I used my trusty 8" round cake pans, lined with parchment on the bottom. The cakes flip out pretty easily about 20 minutes after they come out of the oven — you just have to be a little gentle with them to avoid wrecking the cinnamony-sugary crust on top. One other thing: the recipe also calls for five large plums per cake, but I've never been able to fit more than 2 or 3 plums on top of a cake.

I also think that more plums would release more juice, requiring more time to bake.

It couldn't be simpler: you mix the batter, spread it out in the pan, top it with sliced plums and then a generous sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar, wait 45-50 minutes and voila! Easy-peasy lemon squeezy, Cinnamon-Sugar Plum Cake.

Lovely on its own or with a little lightly-sweetened whipped cream on the side.

Enjoy!

Char

Under African Skies Pt 1 — Mtuzi Wa Samaki

2009-11-17T20:54:00.012-05:00

I did not expect to find a fresh, light curry in my search for a traditional Kenyan recipe. So, not only is this foray into international cuisine fun, it's helping to rid me of some cultural food ignorance.

I chose to use sable fish in the dish, which I know is all kinds of wrong, as northern British Columbia is about as far from Kenya as you can get, but its mild taste was a great compliment to the other flavours.

Also, the original recipe called for 3 lbs of fish, but since I buy all my fish at a sustainable seafood wholesaler, a 1.5-pound fillet cost about $30, and so I figured that would suffice. After all, that extra $30 could go a very long way in Kenya, and in the end the dish still had a good fish-to-curry ratio.

Here's the recipe:

FISH IN COCONUT MILK CURRY (MTUZI WA SAMAKI)

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb fish fillets
3 tbsp oil
6 cloves garlic
1 bell pepper
1 onion
1 can coconut milk
3 tomatoes
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tsp curry powder
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Cut the fish in serving portions and chop the onion, bell pepper, garlic and tomatoes in small pieces.

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large pot. Sear the fish fillets shortly and put them on a separate plate.

Do not cook through. Reduce the heat to minimum and add the pepper and onion. Sauté until the onion is semitransparent. Add the garlic, and sauté for 2 more min. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the fish fillets. Cover the pot and simmer until the fish is cooked through, which should take up to 10 min.

Serve with rice, boiled potatoes, chapatti, or boiled cassava.*

Click here to read about what the UN World Food Programme is doing to fight hunger Kenya in the wake of severe drought. I would also encourage you read this to give you an idea of how complex the problem of hunger is in Kenya (and incidently in many other regions). (More on that topic in a future post.)

Best,

*I have no idea what those last two are — see what I mean about ignorance?

Continuing on the journey...

2009-11-15T21:18:00.001-05:00

Clearly, I was not ready to leave the Phillipines last week.

I was extremely busy tackling the problem of unregulated antibiotic use in livestock... for my biotech class. Also, I'm having camera problems; with the autofocus function in particular (as if you couldn't tell).

I did, however, make a good faith effort to find avocado ice cream, another Filipino delicacy, this week. That was the excuse I used to visit T&T, the popular Asian food superstore that just opened its first Ottawa location. I was busy (we had to line up to get in), and sadly there was no avocado ice cream, but there was a whole wall of shrimp chips. (More about my obsession with shrimp chips in a future post.)

If you would like to try making avocado ice cream for yourself, I suggest giving this recipe a try from the blog Velveeta Ain't Food. (It's been on my list of recipes to try for a while now.)

All that to say that we are definitely traveling to Kenya this week. Will post about the regional dish that we enjoyed this evening early in the week.

From the Philippines: Sweet potato (kamote) pudding

2009-11-01T19:37:00.003-05:00

Because the flood-hit Philippines still need our help, I chose a traditional Filipino dessert as the first dish in this series. A quick glance at the ingredients and you could theorize that I felt I needed a little more sugar in my diet, but it being the day after Halloween, I assure you, that's not the case. Here is my take on the recipe:

SWEET POTATO (KAMOTE) PUDDING (Adapted from this site)

Ingredients

3 medium sweet potatoes
4 cups whole milk
1 can condensed milk
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
blanched almonds and raisins (about a handful of each)

Instructions

Peel sweet potatoes and wash sweet potatoes and cut into small cubes.

Boil the whole milk in a heavy bottomed skillet on medium heat; Add sweet potatoes and reduce heat. Continue to cook until sweet potatoes are well done, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and mash potatoes until smooth. (I pureed with a hand mixer, and strongly recommend it.)

In a separate skillet, heat the butter. Add almonds and raisins and fry on very low heat until they turn light brown. Remove from skillet to a plate and set aside. In the same hot skillet, carefully add sweet potatoes along with condensed milk and sugar.

Adjust heat to medium, cook, stirring constantly until desirably thick. (I cooked it for 10 mins and that gave a nice consistency to the finished product.)

Remove from heat. Immediately transfer the dessert to a serving bowl and let set to cool. Garnish with almonds and raisins. Chill in refrigerator. Serves many.

I'm finding it hard to describe the subtle flavor of this dish. I think I'm having trouble focusing because of all the sugar (maybe I should run around the block and come back to this later). For now I'll say that it was a big hit around here, and I really enjoyed cooking outside of my comfort zone. If you liked being introduced to this recipe, please donate to the UN World Food Programme.

Not sufficiently entertained? Here's a hilarious sketch on celebrity humanitarianism with a cameo by none other than Jamie Oliver! It might not be your kind of humour, but I couldn't resist posting it. (Language warning.)

Best,

Announcing a new series (you can contribute)

2009-10-25T19:20:00.004-04:00

Starting next week and continuing until Christmas I will be using this blog to raise money for the UN World Food Programme. Each week I'll feature a traditional local dish from one country currently facing a food crisis. If you like what you read, you can donate to the World Food Programme by clicking on the red cup on the left of the screen.

I'm so excited to expand my culinary horizons and hopefully raise some money for a good cause!

So what, if any, actual food have I been cooking lately? Lots of pasta, pizza and squash; perfect examples of which are two recently enjoyed squash pizzas:

Butternut squash pizza (left) from Self magazine by way of Epicurious).

And, Acorn squash and Gorgonzola pizza (Giada by way of smitten kitchen). Incredible flavour combination, but as sk pointed out, probably not technically a pizza.

Remember: there are only six more days left in national pizza month — make it worthwhile.

Best,

Programming note

2009-10-21T21:01:00.000-04:00

I didn't post this week because last Sunday's attempted pumpkin cupcakes were utterly inedible. And it wasn't even an entertaining fail. (Because I will post about those.)

But, I have an exciting series coming up next week, so please come back on Sunday when I'll let you know what it's all about.

In the meantime, check out this post on Christopher Kimball's blog, where he challenges us "online foodies" to a wiki vs. test kitchen cookoff. Here's one food blog's response.

I can't wait to see how this turns out. I'm betting it'll get ugly.

Last week's leftovers: Week of 10/4/09 (the week we lost Gourmet)

2009-10-11T21:28:00.001-04:00

There was really only one big story in the culinary world this week — the demise of Gourmet. Word came Monday that the 68-year-old magazine had been shuttered.

Unlike most food magazines today that focus mainly on recipes and food preparation, Gourmet regularly showcased original and inspiring ~~food~~ writing (see "Consider the lobster").

It was one-of-kind and will be missed.

Ice cream and the case for weddings

2009-10-11T20:44:00.004-04:00

Brides-to-be: this does not take the place of an open bar. (That's still essential; recession or no.)

Shawn and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary this week. At the time the decision to marry him was not in question (never was), but I struggled quite a bit with the idea of having a wedding.

In 2006 the recession was nowhere in sight and the WIC (Wedding Industrial Complex) was at its most powerful. Add to the mix the then-hit show Bridezillas, and it's not hard to see how any reasonable woman might want to skip all the hoopla in favour of city hall.

But I survived the planning process with the help Martha Stewart's original do-it-yourself projects and the humour blog Godawful Wedding Crap. (So lucky to have gotten married around the same time as Riona.) And, here I am three years out, still very happy with our decision to have a wedding.

To those now making the decision for themselves, I say do it (no matter how simple), and, if at all possible, rent a Gelato cart — the return on investment is huge.

On that note, I wanted to share the following ice cream recipe that I tried last week. This will be the last of the season (promise). From the late, great Gourmet:

SALTED CARAMEL ICE CREAM

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
2 1/4 cups heavy cream, divided
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt such as Maldon
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup 2% milk
3 large eggs

Equipment:
an ice cream maker

Instructions

Heat 1 cup sugar in a dry 10" heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring with a fork to heat sugar evenly, until it starts to melt, then stop stirring and cook, swirling skillet occasionally so sugar melts evenly, until it is dark amber.

Add 1 1/4 cups cream (mixture will spatter) and cook, stirring, until all of caramel has dissolved. Transfer to a bowl and stir in sea salt and vanilla. Cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, bring milk, remaining cup cream, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar just to boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring occasionaly.

Lightly whisk eggs in a medium bowl, then add half of hot milk mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Pour back into saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard coats back of spoon and registers 170°F on an instant-read thermometer (do not let boil). Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, then stir in cooled caramel.

Chill custard in the refrigerator, stirring occasionally, until very cold, 3 hr or overnight.

Freeze custard in ice cream maker (it will still be quite soft), then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to firm up.

This summer I also tried another Gourmet ice cream — Sour cream ice cream. I substitiutted 2 tsp vanilla extract for the vanilla bean and it tasted fantastic — like frozen cheesecake, but lighter.

Best,

This is what is considered an urgent email in our household

2009-10-05T21:17:00.003-04:00

SENT: Mon 05/10/2009 1:48PM 

This message was sent with high importance.

From:    Shawn 
To: Kristen

Cc:

Subject:    It's Happened Again!!

This time close to home!

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2009/10/05/ottawa-egg-vars-mccannell.html

(Though I must admit, a second giant egg so soon after the last is kinda noteworthy.)

Last week's leftovers: Week of 9/27/09

2009-10-04T16:38:00.032-04:00

The strange (and slightly disturbing) clip above was forwarded to me by Shawn on Monday. He proceeded to ask me all week if it was "going to on the blog."

I made one of my favourite scallop recipes from Martha Stewart.

We celebrated National Coffee Day; because, for me, if there were no coffee, there would be no day.

Martha has returned with her decidedly un-Martha Halloween offerings (right).

And, finally Rocco still can't get a break.

With a massive food crisis in SEA dominating the news, this week's food highlights seem especially trivial, but I hope we can still have fun talking about random stuff (this is a food blog after all).

Best,

How you can provide desperately needed food to flood victims

2009-10-04T12:09:00.000-04:00

Click here to donate funds to supply emergency food aid to people in South East Asia affected by weeks of heavy rains and tropical storms.

To date over one million people have been displaced.

Yay! Another food blog as obsessed with pizza as I am...

2009-10-01T19:15:00.004-04:00

I stumbled on this unique new addition to my pizza repertoire over at smitten kitchen. One alteration I plan to try is adding a thin layer of roasted tomato sauce over the goat cheese (but under the zucchini). I think it would temper the tartness a little.

As if finding one new pizza wasn't enough, I uncovered a cachet of fun new combination there as well. (See sk's pizza index here).

Can't wait to try the acorn squash and gorgonzola one!

Best,

Ashley's basil gnocchi: Still getting creative with pasta

2009-09-28T19:42:00.067-04:00

Just when I said I don't make my own pasta, I go and make gnocchi from scratch!

I feel justified, however, because a) there's a huge shortcut in this recipe that I couldn't resist passing along, and b) I had a lot very ripe tomatoes on my hands.

The tomatoes came from a colleague's garden, so I had to use them. (That's right, not only do the people I work with bring me recipes, they occasionally supply the ingredients. As if that weren't enough, some of them actually read this blog, yet curiously, they do not comment. Love my job!)

The first half-basket of tomatoes went into Giada's incomparable Little Thimbles Scuie Scuie. The second half, into this recipe that substitutes the mashed potatoes of the traditional recipe with the instant variety, and was recently featured as part of a set recipes, developed in the Food Network Kitchens, that feature instant mash as the star ingredient.

This particular recipe was created by chef Ashley Archer. I followed it pretty much to the letter and it was delicious, so I'm just linking it: ASHLEY'S BASIL GNOCCHI.

Best,

Last week's leftovers: Week of 9/20/09

2009-09-27T18:46:00.010-04:00

Last week:

The Guardian introduced me to the above fascinating 2007 video of Christopher Walken making a chicken. I want to see a series!

At the farmer's market adapted 60's protest songs performed by the Friends of Lansdowne Park warned of the suburbanization of downtown Ottawa, more specifically, this group believes that "this sole-sourced, mega project that will cost City taxpayers millions of dollars, commercialize public land, create a transportation and parking nightmare, and have a huge, negative impact on neighboring communities." Developers claim that these fears are unwarranted, but still I get my back up at the mention of "suburbs," and I’m not willing to lose my farmer’s market while a mega-mall is built on its site (regardless of what the finished product will look like). Public consultations begin tomorrow.

Via twitter "Luigi," the animated character that has been guiding patrons around the construction morass of Preston St., made an ill-timed announcement that he will be "taking some time to focus on being a chef." What he needs to do is take some time to help out the construction crew because the street has never looked worse. Progress has moved at a snail's pace, and sooo many people want to see this work completed.

This lime cake was delicious.

Over at Gawker I saw gross photos of real German food (and they got a book deal?!), and I read about Germany’s worst job in the Times. This effectively killed whatever interest I had in attending Oktoberfest, which means that now I’ll have to find some other way to meet George Wendt (it's on my life list.) ;-)

Best,

Best. Tip. Ever.

2009-09-24T21:42:00.002-04:00

Chocolate hazelnut ravioli with Beau's (beer) and milk chocolate ice cream.

There are many reasons why you will not see me attempt to make my own pasta (not the least of which is the fact that I live a block away from Little Italy.) Other reasons include the availability of a multitude of excellent dried and fresh grocery store varieties and my general aversion to dough. But, most of all it's because, a while ago, I discovered this ridiculously easy way to get creative with ravioli.

All you need is: wonton wrappers (available in any grocery store), cornstarch and filling.*

Instructions: Dust a cookie sheet or storage container with cornstarch. Dissolve 2 tbsp of cornstarch in water. Spoon about 1 tbsp of filling onto a wrapper. Fold the wrapper over and seal the inside edges with the cornstarch liquid. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 1 hr. To cook: boil for 3 min, or steam in a bamboo steamer lined with parchment for 4 min.

Fillings could include:
– chocolate (my latest discovery; pictured above, made with a Cadbury's chocolate hazelnut bar)
– cooked pumpkin or butternut squash purée — serve with tomato sauce and chèvre or browned butter and sage
– crab meat with chopped red peppers and a splash of heavy cream — sauté in lemon butter and chopped chives
– ricotta and chopped shiitake mushrooms — serve with tomato sauce
– corn and black bean
– salmon and black sesame seed
– Peking duck amd orange zest
– chopped shrimp and green onions

On that high note I'm ending the tradition of posting a weekly tip. (For a little while anyway.)

Best,

Last week's leftovers: Week of 9/13/09

2009-09-20T19:09:00.003-04:00

Norman E. Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize winner and "Father of the Green Revolution" died this week. Read a little about his life and work here.

On a much more trivial note:

I tried a great recipe for colourful carrots, which are in plentiful supply at farmers markets right now, from the latest issue of Food & Drink. I'll post a link to the recipe once it's up on the LCBO website (recipes are always posted an issue behind).

Conviction Kitchen is the worst, most exploitative food reality show I have ever seen, and to make matters worse it's Canadian!

I got the inside scoop that Pascale's Ice Cream is experimenting with a baseball-inspired flavour that will feature beer-flavoured ice cream, red-skinned roasted peanuts and chocolate-covered pretzels.

Finally, I first heard the sad news of Patrick Swayze's passing from none other than Jamie Oliver. How can that be, you ask? One word: twitter.

And, just so you don't have to go searching on YouTube:

Best,

Tip of the week: Winners never quit...

2009-09-19T18:52:00.000-04:00

...and quitters never win.

Now, I'm not saying I'm not a quitter. Au contraire, I'm actually quite an accomplished quitter, and it hasn't always been for the worse, like when I quit smoking or cheap grocery store meat.

Still, you can't dispute the fact that in some areas of life persistence pays, and for some reason, I've latched onto this recipe, to prove the point.

My first attempt was a massive fail.

The second, fixing everything that I thought was wrong with the original, produced a slightly improved product. Shawn said is was great and then proceeded to steer clear of the huge quantity of leftovers for the rest of the week.

I'm disappointed, but I do think I'll try this one again, changing the type of hot dog again* and reducing the quantity of beans used.†

In the meantime, if anyone has tried this recipe and liked it, please let me know.

Best,

*This time I used a different type of grass-fed organic beef hot dog, but they still tasted really off. I think my first hunch — that "grass-fed organic beef hot dog" was a contradiction in terms, was correct.

†According to the quantities listed in the recipe I should have use 5 regular-sized cans of beans. I used 4 and that made enough to serve the average Rachel Ray studio audience.

Last week's leftovers: Week of 9/5/09

2009-09-13T19:55:00.013-04:00

Top Chef, episode 1 elimination/seitan dissing.

GOOP is back after a month-long hiatus! Now lets all get back to nourishing our inner aspects...

Top Chef is back (in Canada) and we learn that seitan can be the kiss of death in competition. Why am I not surprised?

Home grocery delivery gets a makeover — that's right, it's not just for shut-ins anymore.

My online calorie diary (which I've been badly neglecting) profiles the ubiquitous (in my house anyway) Smartfood — not so bad after all, huh?

I discovered a new flavour of Pascale's ice cream — "Jean Albert's Sweet potato pie." It was sooo good and reminded me that I'm long overdue for a return trip to JA's.

Best,

What's for Brinner?

2009-09-13T19:13:00.010-04:00

Around here we eat eggs for dinner, and occasionally pancakes. Die-hard Scrubs fans (don't tell me I was the only one) will know that this is what is referred to as "brinner" (breakfast for dinner) and is apparently very popular with the male of the species.

Our brinners regularly feature frittatas (crustless quiches; see left), and this week I tried out a new recipe brought to us by the Egg Farmers of Ontario*:

PIZZA FRITTATA

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
1-1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
2/3 cup sliced pepperoni or veggie pepperoni
8 eggs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Seasoning Mix (packet or recipe below)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup pizza or tomato sauce
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Heat oil in a 10-inch non-stick, oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Add onion, green pepper and mushrooms. Cook, stirring, until vegetables are soft. Add pepperoni; cook for 1 min.

Beat eggs and Parmesan cheese in medium bowl. Stir in seasoning packet (or Single Seasoning Mix recipe below) and salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over vegetable mixture in skillet. As egg sets at edges, use spatula to gently push cooked portions toward the centre of the skillet; tilt skillet to allow uncooked portions to flow into the empty spaces. When frittata is almost set (8-10 min), place pan on upper oven rack under pre-heated broiler to cook top.

Remove from oven, spread with pizza sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Return to oven until cheese melts. Remove from oven, let cool for 10 min. Remove frittata from skillet and cut into wedges and serve.

Note: Frittata recipe can be halved for small skillet. Frittata can also be cooked completely on stove top; proceed as above, cooking frittata until set before adding pizza sauce and cheese, then covering skillet with lid to melt cheese.

Seasoning mix:
1-1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp dried thyme

Combine seasonings in a small bowl; stir until blended. Use as directed above.

*I picked up this recipe card (with seasoning packet!) at a local farmers' market. I have an extra one, so be the first to email me (address in complete profile) and it's in the mail. (Exciting, I know, but it's kind of hard to beat brinner.)

Best,

Tip of the week: Cookies on demand

2009-09-10T14:39:00.009-04:00

Cookie-emergency preparedness.

The excellent recipe for Trail mix freezer cookies in this month's Bon Appetit is a perfect example of a dough (not created by Pillsbury) that can be easily portioned and frozen for future use.

You can then bake these one (or two) at a time, or whip up a whole batch. If making a batch, though, make sure you space the cookies adequately as per the recipe's instructions, lest you end end up with one huge trail mix cookie. (I came perilously close.)

Best,

Halibut with chili-orange butter

2009-09-07T20:05:00.003-04:00

The summer-that-never-was is waning, and I'm finding myself spending most my free time watching the US Open. In other words, I'm lazy and devoid of inspiration for blogging. (I'm even watching doubles!)

I did however throw together a great meal last Sunday:

HALIBUT WITH CHILI-ORANGE BUTTER

Ingredients

4 halibut , about 6 oz each
1 tbsp hot Thai chili-garlic sauce
1 tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate
1 tbsp butter, at room temperature

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450°.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place fish on sheet. In a small bowl, stir chili-garlic sauce with orange juice concentrate and butter. Spoon overtop fish. Roast in centre of preheated oven until a knife tip inserted in centre of fish comes out warm, 10 to 15 min depending on thickness of fish.

I use this glaze for halibut all the time, but I think it would go nicely with salmon as well. You'll note that I omitted the coriander in the original recipe because, as I mentioned before, I hate coriander. (Really must write a whole post about that.)

Best,

More than one way to poach an egg?

2009-09-03T19:26:00.003-04:00

Yes, there is. But, unfortunately the second one is not that much easier than the first.

Add water to large skillet, filling 2/3 full. Reduce heat and simmer. Break an egg into each of 4 ramekins coated with cooking spray. Place ramekins in water. Cover and simmer for 4 min for runny yolks. Remove ramekins from water. To remove egg, run a small rubber spatula around the edges and slide the egg out.

Technically this worked, but the egg removal is not so easy as those ramekins are hot. Also, some water managed to get into 2 of the ramekins durning cooking, which made the egg removal extra difficult in those cases.

When the technique is executed perfectly (above), the results are definitely cuter than eggs poached according to the traditional method (at right), but still, I'm not sold.

There's something magical about the traditional method that I just don't think should be messed with. See this video for step-by-step instructions.

Best,

Last week's leftovers: Week of 8/23/09

2009-09-01T22:44:00.013-04:00

Last week:

I made and recommend Real Simple's Polenta-Stuffed Poblano Peppers.

The new all-recipe September issue of Gourmet hit newsstands and it's truly inspiring.

I entered a contest to win a $25,000 IKEA kitchen makeover 'cause my kitchen sucks.

Behold my tiny oaken prison.

Best,

Rigatoni with yellow and green zucchini

2009-08-31T22:09:00.004-04:00

Are all my dinners starting to look the same?

From Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Apetite, and because zuchchini are in season, here is Sunday's meal:

Cut 4 zucchini lengthwise and slice into 1/2-inch chunks. Cook 1/2 lb rigatoni according to directions. Meanwhile, over medium heat, saute garlic in 4 tbsp of olive oil for about 1 min. Add zucchini, season with salt and pepper, raise heat to med-high and fry for about 5 min; until tender and lightly browned. Toss with drained pasta.

Best,

Book review: Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite

2009-08-31T20:51:00.024-04:00

I've tried to avoid negativity on this blog. Especially negativity directed at other cooks, celebrity or not. Not only because it's unproductive, but because food bloggers have developed a bit of a reputation as haters, and I don't want to perpetuate that.

But, as talented as he may be, I can't like Gordon Ramsay. Not only is he a clearly abusive boss (or is he just passionate?), he is publicly hateful, and he calls Jamie Oliver "fat" in interviews for kicks. (My Jamie!)

Makes me wonder how the Internet can be filled with cheap shots at celeb chefs like Giada, Nigella and Rachel for no discernable reason, while it takes an international incident for someone like Ramsay to finally face criticism.

I bring all of this up because my husband bought Ramsay's latest cookbook after seeing one of its recipes profiled on TV. The book focuses on simple flavours, and, as the title suggests, healthy eating (because we don't want to get fat like Jamie, do we?). It also features some very appealing easy-to-make recipes (like Sunday's meal), tips for working with certain ingredients, and plenty of awkward photos of Ramsay, like this one:

Thankfully there's some excellent food photography in the book as well.

Rating: Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite 3.5 stars*

*Feelings towards Gordon Ramsay notwithstanding.

Best,

What would Betty serve?

2009-08-23T20:49:00.020-04:00

Nice try, but I don't think Betty would have served this. (Blended drinks not pictured.)

Being that I (like most of the population at this point) am a big fan of Mad Men, I wanted this evening's meal to be inspired by the show, in honour of its newly launched third season. So, I asked myself, What would Betty Draper serve? Not surprisingly, the question had been asked before, and one answer, via Chowhound confirmed what I had been thinking:

"Maybe a crazy Polynesian Themed menu with pu-pu's and crazy blended drinks..."

Maybe it's because I've always associated the early 60's with the mid-century tiki craze. Or, maybe I was eager to try the pineapple-glazed pork recipe I spotted in the latest Bon Appetit and was grasping desperately for an excuse to make it. I suspect it's a little of both.

My adaptation of the recipe is below. You'll note that my cooking instructions vary greatly from the linked original — after 20 minutes at 500°, my tenderloins were nowhere near done. I've also omitted the cilantro (which I despise).

PINEAPPLE-GLAZED PORK WITH CHILIES AND LIME

Ingredients

1 cup pineapple juice, divided
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped seeded red jalapeño chiles
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 3/4-pound pork tenderloins

Instructions

Preheat oven to 475°.

Bring 3/4 cup pineapple juice and sugar to boil in heavy large saucepan over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cover; boil until syrup is deep brown, checking frequently to prevent burning, about 8 min. Remove from heat. Immediately swirl in remaining 1/4 cup pineapple juice, chiles, and allspice. When bubbling stops, whisk in lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Pour 1/4 cup glaze into small bowl and reserve.

Line baking sheet with foil; place rack in center of sheet. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper; place on rack. Brush with glaze from saucepan. Roast until thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 145°F, brushing occasionally with glaze from saucepan, about 40 min.

Slice pork. Drizzle with reserved glaze.

I paired the pork with something that I'd like to think is original, but it would be a little bold to claim that I invented adding salsa and goat cheese to mased potatoes. (Especially on the Internet.)

FIESTA MASH

Ingredients

2 lb small red-fleshed potatoes

1/2 cup salsa

2 oz chèvre

Instructions

Steam whole potatoes until easily pierced with a fork (about 20 min). Mash. Stir in salsa and cheese.

And, yes, blended drinks were involved.

Best,

* I just realized that I've food blogged for over a year without mention of my hatred of cilantro. (Don't know how I managed to keep that bottled up.)

Dress up your soup (and raid your pantry)

2009-08-20T20:08:00.005-04:00

Shredded Monterey jack, pickled jalapenos and a squeeze of lime.

How do you undo the fiscal damage inflicted by the beast that is Montreal shopping?

You can start by raiding your pantry. For motivation, check out eGullet's "a week without shopping" Klatsch.

In this vein, the super-hot BAFoodist has, this month given us 5 things to do with a can of tuna, so I thought it appropriate to give my take on one of my favorite pantry staples — Campbell's tomato soup.

Above is my favorite combo. Others include:

— Lipton's noodle soup (stir a packet in to the prepared soup)

— white kidney beans, pickled jalapenos and a dollop of sour cream

— cooked rice and dried oregano

I scoured the internet for some other ideas that did not involve merely adding pepperoni to the soup (wow, do people like that combo), and I found a few great new ideas:

— a dollop of creme fraiche and chives — great way to use up left over creme fraiche (which doesn't last more than a week in the fridge)

— crushed tomatoes and dill — which I would top with mound of lump crab meat (you know, if I had that laying around)

So, there you have 5 mostly sophisticated recipes based on one basic pantry staple. Now what shall I tackle next....?

I'm looking at you canned salmon....

Best,

Montreal restaurant round-up

2009-08-17T19:53:00.017-04:00

My husband and I decided to take an impromptu trip to Montreal this weekend. A little too impromptu it turned out because we were unable to get reservations at any of the restaurants we had scoped out earlier in the week, or get tickets to the evening semi-finals of the Rogers Cup. (There were some available just the day before.)

We did end up getting a table at Da Emma, a very popular Italian restaurant on the edge of Old Montreal. So, popular in fact, that there is large display in the entrance of all the famous people who ate there: Winona Ryder, Steven Spielberg, Penelope Cruz, Zach Braff, Will Ferrell (hey, if it's good enough for Frank the Tank...).

The food was petty good — free bruchetta was awesome; spaghetti with cheese, salt and pepper, amazing (really); linguine with porcini mushrooms, a little salty; and tiramisu, very good, but too expensive for the portion.

Here are some other things you should know about Da Emma: it's in the basement of a building that used to be a women's prison, the menu is entirely in Italian, but the wait staff will translate, and no that's not Brad Pitt in the picture above.

Another restaurant of note that we visited was Kalalu, a Caribbean place on St. Denis we stopped at for lunch after a morning of shopping. This was our first experience with authentic Caribbean food and it was delicious — especially loved the Griot (marinated pork) and the mashed plantain fritters. Unfortunately the restaurant wasn't air conditioned and there was a heat wave going on, so given that the food was very spicy, I think the only way I could have possibly been hotter is if I were playing in Rogers Cup that afternoon. They did give us complimentary granitas — shot of ice fruit and "alcohol" to fortify us for the steamy walk back to the hotel. (Very considerate of them.)

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Koko the restaurant/bar in the hotel we were staying at, if for no other reason than it is exactly the type of place that I wished I could have gotten married in.

See:

Sadly, there were no such large, modern indoor/outdoor lounge spaces to accommodate us in Ottawa, so we had to go with something more staid. (Turned out alright though.)

But, Koko is a great restaurant in its own right — excellent duck confit and lentil salad.

Thanks for letting me share some of my Montreal culinary experiences. I'll be back in December, so I'm still looking for suggestions. (Au pied du cochon is already on the list.)

Best,

The wisdom of Julie and Julia

2009-08-12T19:10:00.011-04:00

For those of you who haven't seen the film I thought I'd sum up what resonated for me:

1. Fearlessness has its own momentum.

2. It's okay to hate your friends because you're jealous of them, and to hate yourself for feeling that way.

3. Blogging demands discipline, but Julie Powell took that discipline to the next level in that she knew her 524 recipes would surely include some challenging and unappetizing projects (aspics, ewww). (Gotta respect that.)

4. Poaching an egg is hard. I'm glad someone else has spoken out!

Now go see the movie, if you haven't already. And once you have, let me know if you found Julie's husband's eating habits (as portrayed by Chris Messina) to be as distracting as I did — Seriously, who eats like that?

ETA: I also think the movie makes Queens look too nice. ;-)

Best,