Wednesday Dinners

Karen's Amazing Pancakes

2011-08-31T22:10:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law Karen makes the best pancakes. They are soooo healthy and absolutely addictive. I think it's the crunch of the millet that keeps me going back for another. Or maybe the caramel sweetness of the banana-heavy dough. Or the depth of flavour the whole wheat flour provides. Or, this time, the fresh blackberries Erin and I picked yesterday with babe in tow.

I tasted these for the first time years ago in Karen's kitchen. I remember she had made them for her two daughters, who were totally loving them, and one bite in I was demanding the recipe. They're definitely kid friendly – 8-month-old Nova ate a ton of them this morning. I made them tiny – about 1 1/2 – 2 inches in diameter – both for her little hands and because these are very slow cooking pancakes. They're also sticky, with all that banana goodness, so were a bit of a trick to flip in my cast iron pan. A non stick pan might do better here. Karen used dried apricots that first time. Today I substituted blackberries, and I imagine you could try any fresh or dried fruit with success.

Karen's Pancakes
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup milk or soy milk
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 mashed banana
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup millet
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/8 cup flaxseeds
2/3 cup whole wheat or spelt flour (or a mixture of both)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
dried apricots or fresh berries

1. Mix all wet ingredients, from the oil through the banana.
2. Stir millet and oats into wet ingredients and let sit for 15-30 minutes.
3. Add remaining dry ingredients and dried fruit if using. Mix together gently. If using fresh berries fold in gently once most of flour is incorporated.
4. Using a scoop, drop batter into a pre-heated skillet over medium heat. These work best as small (1 1/2 – 2" diameter) pancakes, as they are slow cooking. Flip when browned on the bottom.

These are so delicious we ate them without syrup or butter, just on their own. And snacked on them cold a few hours later. Mmmmmm. Very happy that there are extras in the fridge for tomorrow's breakfast!

A Weekend of Good Food

2011-05-19T18:24:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a weekend starts out with a good meal and just keeps getting better. The weekend of food I'm about to describe was a long weekend – or at least it was in Britain – as it started with a Royal Wedding. Kari, Michelle and I decamped to the Hotel Vancouver at three o'clock in the morning to join in the celebrations. I've never seen the Hotel Vancouver, let alone at three in the morning, but imagine our surprise when we arrived to find it buzzing. Everyone had dressed up for the occasion: the restaurant was all fascinators and fancy tea cups.

Here are Kari and Michelle saluting the nuptials with a spot of tea. There was a hat contest later on in the morning (if you can consider 5:30 late) as Breakfast Television was coming by, and I was interviewed for morning radio! We ate scones, fruit, croissants, muffins and sausages, all in honour of Wills & Kate.

In marked contrast to the silver tea service and dainty sweets, this was the next thing I ate:

It wasn't delicate in any way; it was a porchetta sandwich from the new Gastown spot Meat & Bread. We took Kari out the next morning (or was it technically lunch?) for her birthday. We all chose their signature sandwich: a crusty, olive-oil slathered ciabatta filled with herbed roasted pork, crackling, and a generous amount of fat. It was fantastic. Possibly a little too fatty for my taste (I know! Apparently that's possible!), but opinions differed. I had a great soda, the Fentiman's Dandelion and Burdock, it had a great herby flavour. Not something you encounter everywhere.

More on Meat and Bread in my next post, but here's a shot of the interior, designed by Glasfurd & Walker, a popular firm these days for a certain sort of on-trend restaurant. There was a movie set in the background. Some sort of action/sci-fi film was being shot in Victory Square. My other photo features their impressive collection of knives; loads of bone-handled ones stuck to a magnetic strip. I wonder how many actually make it into the rotation to slice some roast meats?

After our meat and bread feast, we headed to the garden to put some food in the ground. We planted oregano, cilantro, bok choi, greens, peas, beets, leeks, carrots, and took out some rosemary, broccoli, cabbage, chard and kale. A new season was clearly upon us! The onions are growing strong; I replanted a few after thinning them and they take really well. And the smell of onions fresh from the earth is the most amazing thing. We had a few of the baby ones in some pasta and they were fantastic. I think my most favourite garden-grown items are onions and garlic. Here's the newest member of our team, Nova Whetung, helping out with the seed packets:

After gardening it was off to the Three Lions Pub to watch the hockey game. It was a Saturday night, and extra busy because of the hockey, of course, but the Three Lions is a busy neighborhood local at any time. It's a cosy place to have a pint and a chat, and they make the most delicious bangers and mash on top of a massive plate-sized Yorkshire pudding. All smothered in gravy. Wow.

Here's Alisha's fish and chips. This dish looks amazing. I shall have to get her to comment!

Sadly the Canucks lost. But luckily they won that series and are on to the next! Meanwhile, though, we went down the street for some late-night congee at the Congee Noodle House on East Broadway to console ourselves.

They made some dumplings that they usually put in soup for me, as I had a huge dumplings craving. And Chris recommended the congee made with ling cod. Lots of people don't see the appeal of congee, and I wouldn't eat huge bowlfuls of it (it's like a savoury rice pudding, so it gets repetitive after a while), but it was surprisingly good. Michelle loved it. Congee Noodle House is a bit basic on atmosphere, but it's a good place to find yourself for a post-drinks snack.

Our next meal was a breakfast at Chris & Alisha's (they very nicely put us up after we collapsed at their place due to video game exhaustion). Alisha made some scrumptious blueberry pancakes – the recipe for which I'll have to get her to post – and Michelle and Chris made bacon and eggs and coffee. Michelle even had a cup, which is a rare event. She didn't have any blueberry pancakes, though, being cooked-fruit averse; a special plain version was made just for her!

The sun was shining, bacon was up; what could be tastier?

We then grabbed some supplies and a few more beers and headed to the 'burbs for that most suburban of foodie get-togethers: a birthday barbecue. Sadly my pictures of this last event are few and far between, but we ate some delicious chicken and roasted veg, some perfectly-cooked steaks, loads of Raisa's famous coleslaw that involves mini-pickles and is compulsively edible, and some cupcakes that I iced with lemon buttercream and sprinkles!

From amongst all this splendour, all I can show you is the following:

My cute godson Konnan addressing a strawberry. It'll have to do!

What a way to end a weekend. Here's to the promise of summer, everyone, and to the many good food weekends in store!

Warm Mediterranean Potato Salad with Feta-Oregano Dressing

2011-03-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

Tonight's dinner was inspired by a favourite recipe of my Mom's + the creamy feta dressing I invented to go with that delicious prawn salad + a glut of potatoes in the fridge.

That last point is due to my new standing order with the NOWBC Co-op, which hooks me up with fresh local organic produce every Wednesday. I am loving the surprise aspect of it. I get excited on Monday mornings, as that's when I get an email from NOWBC listing what I'll be getting for the week. This gives me a couple of days to start thinking about what meals the week's bounty will lead to, as well as decide what will keep from the previous week to pair with the new stuff.

There is just enough repetition to force me to think beyond my usual uses for things, and I'm really enjoying the challenge so far. I turned a big bag of red onions into caramelized onions which then showed up throughout the week in omelettes, in tomato sauce, and on pizzas. I made apple sauce for the first time ever (so good with my morning granola). I tried making a double-baked, stuffed spaghetti squash. Fun.

This week I had lots of potatoes left, and was tired of making both soup and mashed potatoes (which is where most of my potatoes have ended up in previous weeks). I normally don't think of making potato salad until I'm gathering fresh little new potatoes at the farmer's market in early summer. But this warm Mediterranean version works any time of year. My mom used to make one similar to this, which I always loved. Hers had olives, sundried tomatoes, peas, and a balsamic-garlic-oregano dressing. Yum. For tonight's salad I added tender little pieces of sauteed kale (mmm, delicious and what my body needs) and lemon-garlic marinated chicken, and incorporated feta into the dressing.

Warm Mediterranean Potato Salad with Feta-Oregano Dressing
2 chicken breasts

Marinade for chicken:
5 garlic cloves, smashed
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
4 sprigs fresh oregano
salt and pepper

5 large potatoes, peeled and cut into large cubes
1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
1/2 cup sliced sundried tomatoes (oil-packed)
1 bunch kale, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil

Dressing:
[quantities to taste]
Olive oil
White wine vinegar
Feta cheese
Dijon mustard
Agave syrup
Fresh oregano
Fresh ground pepper

The combination of being home from work on mat leave and having a little babe around who tends to wreck havoc on our evenings has caused me to get organized about doing as much dinner prep early in the day as I can. So I got the chicken marinating early this morning. It was super flavourful once cooked, so I would recommend having it marinate in the fridge for as much time as you can. Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces and toss with marinade ingredients, then refrigerate.

Heat olive oil in a medium sized pot. Wash and chop kale, and shake out the majority of the water (don't worry about drying it – the moisture on the leaves will allow it to steam a bit as it sautes). Add kale to pot and cover. Stir every few minutes and continue cooking until nice and tender. Remove from heat and set aside.

While the kale is cooking, saute the chicken and boil the potatoes until tender. Combine kale, chicken and potatoes with the chopped olives and sundried tomatoes in a large bowl.

Put all dressing ingredients in a blender and process until smooth and creamy. I haven't listed any quantities here – I always just make dressings to taste, adding a bit of everything, blending, tasting, and then adding more of one or more ingredients to taste (a bit more agave if it isn't sweet enough, more vinegar if it's too sweet, more olive oil if it's too acidic, more mustard if I can't taste the mustard, etc.).

Toss the dressing with the salad to coat, and serve warm.

Giving Sprouting a Second Chance

2011-03-12T13:05:00.000-08:00

With sprouts, I've recently discovered bigger is better. Years ago my sister Tessa gave me a set of perforated plastic lids for making my own sprouts in mason jars. I was excited to get into sprout production, but didn't get very far before giving up. I found that the sprouts were always going bad before I could eat them all, maybe because I didn't find them all that delicious. I was sprouting a mix of small seeds – mustard, alfalfa, etc.

I can't remember what prompted me to take another stab at it this winter. Probably it was seeing those plastic lids taking up in my drawer and never being used. Or maybe Tessa raving to me during one evening phone call about some lentil sprouts she had made. And therein lies the secret: lentils. And mung beans. And chickpeas. Big things that grow into toothy, filling, earthy, delicious sprouts that are so yummy on salads.

If I can stick to my salad-a-day routine, I'll have no problem eating them up while they're fresh! It's such a treat to be able to eat something I've grown myself even on these gray wintery days. Fun to get to watch little green sprouts poke out in advance of our spring garden adventures (what are we going to plant this year?)

The jar lids are probably available in many kitchen stores. You can also get a sprouter which uses stackable trays, so you can make several kinds at once, and in larger quantities. My mom used to have one of these when I was a kid, and my sister prefers this kind. For now I'm happy with the jars, as I like sprouting just a little of each kind of bean, to enjoy over a couple of days.

Here's how to make your own:

Put a few tablespoons of beans into a large jar.
Fill jar with water, swish around to rinse, and fill again. Let beans soak in jar overnight.
In the morning, pour out the water and then refill, swish, and pour it out again.
Each morning and evening, rinse the sprouts as in step 3.
You can begin eating the sprouts around day 2 and continue to day 4, eating them at various stages of sprouting. This ensures they're always fresh and eliminates the need for storing them after sprouting. I've been sprouting small quantities that I can eat up in two or three days.

So far I've tried green lentils, mung beans, and chickpeas and loved them all. I expect you could use any kind of dried bean. I'm taking suggestions for what to try next!

I ate New York

2011-03-09T13:47:00.000-08:00

Just like Milton Glaser, I heart New York. I truly do. I'm a convert to its big-city ways, frenetic energy and brash attitude. It's so unlike lovely, laid-back Vancouver, but like our wonderful west-coast city, if you need to find food on the cheap (and believe me, on this trip I certainly did) it's simple.

It all began when my good friend of many years, Jenny-Faye, called me up at the beginning of the year and asked if I wanted to go to New York in the fall to attend (ahem) Comic Con, the annual sci-fi convention. That's right: a giant collection of geeks, most of them likely in costume, swarming around convention tables, chatting about nerdy tv shows, attending panels and playing D&D on every available surface. Did I want to be there?

Apparently I did!

And thus it was, that a crisp, bright October morning found me heading out of the largest hostel in the world (it's in uptown Manhattan) and smack into the middle of a giant parade on Amsterdam Avenue. Which was typical, sort of; I found out that there's always something going on in New York. It doesn't really matter where you go, you're bound to run into something happening.

For our purposes, of course, the 'something' is all the delicious food and food-related events that the city offers. Following Amsterdam southwards, I came across the Mermaid Inn, a fantastic seafood restaurant with three locations throughout the city. I convinced Jenny to accompany me to the one on the Upper West side the following day.

Dinner looked a little pricey, but brunch was very reasonable. It happened to be a Sunday, which of course is Brunchday anyway. We both had the incredibly indulgent challah french toast with sautéed bananas. It was heavenly. We paired it with bacon, because what food is not improved by the addition of bacon? Answer me that.

Mmm, banana french toast.

The aesthetic (and of course, the food) is New England seafood house, and I shall one day return for a full plate of oysters or some Manhattan chowder! But on this trip I really enjoyed gobbling up my french toast with the autumnal morning sun streaming in.

Another of the draws was the design of the restaurant's printed materials (menus, business cards, matchbooks, etc.). I'm a sucker for a good hand-written script. Included in the photos above is the logo for the Russian Tea Room, which Jenny and I passed by that same morning. Far more formal, but it has a similar swashy feeling, I think. One day I shall visit that famed celebrity-haunt (where apparently Madonna was a coat-check girl in 1982) for some high tea and caviar (just $115 with champagne)!

A business card from the downtown location of the Mermaid Inn.

One of my most fervent food wishes whilst in New York was to eat at some of the great delis there and experience a little of the Jewish heritage of the city, to see how it compared to Toronto, where I grew up and ate at my share of great delis. This was a bit of a pilgrimage for me, and boy was it amply rewarded.

I must make a confession, though: I'm not really a big fan of smoked meat sandwiches, brisket, or corned beef. So, although NYC certainly offered plenty of towering sandwiches of meat, I'm afraid I didn't consume any of them. My Zaida used to love them, lean pastrami on rye adorned with plenty of hot mustard, dill pickles and accompanied by a Coke to wash it all down. I tried valiantly to join him and my brother in eating smoked meat sandwiches on one of our visits, but it just confirmed that it was not my thing. So I went back to my usual. But I do love lots of other deli food!

Here are Jenny and I in the Carnegie Deli in midtown Manhattan, so named because of its proximity to Carnegie Hall. This was a great deli, if a bit touristy. A huge place with lots of rooms and lots of character. To start they served pickles from the Pickle Guys on the Lower East side. I think these were the half-sour and full-sour kinds (they also do new, hot, 3/4-sour and other items like pickled peppers and tomatoes. Aaaand, they make killer horseradish. Great for Passover).

Jenny peruses the menu and I choose a bagel with tuna salad at Carnegie Deli.

Lots of famous New Yorkers have eaten there, including Woody Allen and Jerry Seinfeld and David Letterman. And Tyra Banks! Not someone I was expecting to enjoy a deli sandwich. Wonder what she had, and if she smized when it appeared! Jenny had a giant turkey sandwich; it was enormous, I can't emphasize that enough. And if you can see the poster behind me (click and click again) it says: "Not all the skyscrapers in NYC are made of glass and marble." That referred to the massive stacked smoked meat sandwiches they kept bringing out. They all looked ready to topple over. I wonder how much meat goes into them?

The next stop on our deli tour (though not the same day, of course) was Katz's, the best deli in NYC, I think. It was amazing; to me, everything the city is about: bustling, loud, brimming with humour and a great mix of people from all kinds of backgrounds. You can either take a ticket and they mark off what you order on it for payment later (kind of like dim sum, I suppose), or you can be seated for wait-service. But I think the self-service is more in keeping with the spirit of the place.

I was feeling a little under the weather, so I had some Jewish penecillin (matzoh ball or kneidlach soup). It was fantastic and did the job of soothing me admirably. I also shared some latkes with Jenny (though I may have had more than my fair share!) and a black and white cookie (of Seinfeld fame). Katz's was amazing, they have a massive menu as well, and a deli counter (natch) where you can buy sliced meats to bring home. They have great neon signs, one of which reads "Send a salami to your boy in the army," which does rhyme...in a New York sort of way!

I also patronized Russ & Daughters, a long-established deli counter known for its fine selection of fish and caviar, bagels and bialys, and sweets (I had some traditional pruney rugelach). They've been around on Houston St (pronounced 'How-ston,' as a New Yorker told me when I asked the way to 'Hyu-ston' street!) since 1914, but got their unique name after Joel Russ made his three daughters partners in his business in 1933. How cool is that?

My other deli stops were Barney Greengrass's (he's the Sturgeon King, according to his own advertising) where I had an egg salad sandwich and a great waiter (atmosphere: fantastic. Another hangout of Jerry Seinfeld); Yonah Schimmel's Knishery (also on Houston, also about 100 years old) where I had a liver & kasha knish (the best sort, I think: knishes, the potato-based Jewish dumpling, are everywhere in New York); and Zabar's, on the advice of the Moollas, who have loads of NYC knowledge.

Zabar's is just great. It is a deli, but it serves a broad demographic. I saw ahi tuna sliders there, for example, nestling alongside babkas and other more traditional deli food. In Manhattan, Jewish food belongs to the whole city, not just its Jewish population, which is fantastic. I saw halal food vans selling knishes in NYC! That's fantastic. Anyway, Zabar's is a sort of supermarket/deli, which has an amazing selection of cheeeeses! See the bottom left picture below:

Some of the hits and misses of NYC: burgers and cupcakes?

You can also see Barney Greengrass's great sign there, and Zabar's bread department. It is a busy place, as you might imagine, and well worth a visit to stock up if you are trying to avoid eating at restaurants every night, as I was on this trip. The hostel I was staying at had a massive kitchen with many workstations, so it made sense to buy some food in and store it in one of their fridges or cupboards. I found if I labelled all my bags, no one took anything. It was a great system. I got some good bread and cheese from Zabar's for picnic lunches.

There were a few misses in terms of food selection, as I was in NYC for ten days, and in that time, inevitably not every meal will be a winner: the pretzel I had, ubiquitous streetfood, was bland and dry (and huge); the concept of Burgers and Cupcakes I decided to steer clear of; Ozu was a nice-looking place, but their noodles were horrible, and if there's one thing a Vancouverite will not stand for, it's bad noodles! Jenny dragged me to a futuristic restaurant near Times Square called Mars 2112, and it was ... unbelievable. You must check out their website. But then I had chosen basically every food place so far, so poor Jenny was due. And I did get a great picture of her with a guy in an alien suit.

We had some run-of-the-mill pizza; I know NYC is also famous for great pizza, but I didn't look for it, so I must make sure to next time. Supermarkets were great to look through, as Americans often have unusual products, including Smucker's 'Goober' Peanut Butter and Jelly. I really should have held up the grape flavour. Ugh. Alternating stripes of highly-processed 'peanut butter' and 'jelly' in one jar. Is that really food? Another fail was my one foray into the world of streetdogs; again I'm sure there are some great stands somewhere that sell a tasty 'dirty-water dog,' but my choice was random and unpleasant.

But a great hit was Five Guys, a fantastic burger place on the way to the convention centre. I stopped in for some food by following Travel Food Rule Number One: "Are there a lot of locals in the place? Is it hopping? If so, you can't go far wrong." And it was amazing. One of the most memorable burgers ever. All the elements just came together perfectly. Aaaand, I've just found out that there's one in Park Royal in North Van! Huzzah! We must make a pilgrimage; trust me, guys, their burgers are worth it. They have signs up which let you know which farms your potatoes and beef are coming from. Very cool. So when are we going?

Our best stumble-across, by far, was a food market at Madison Square, right by the Flatiron building. We came across lots of stalls, including one from a Brooklyn business that I'd been wanting to visit: Pies 'n' Thighs. The thighs refer to the chicken, I assume, rather than your own thighs once you partake of their amazingly delicious deep-fried chicken sandwiches served on a biscuit AND SMOTHERED IN HONEY BUTTER.

This is the best food ever. I cannot adequately describe its incredibleness. If that's even a word. If it is, it applies here! I finished the sandwich off with a slice of chocolate peanut butter pie (my first ever) – they rotate pie flavours, and it was hard to choose, let me tell you, with maple bourbon pecan and key lime on the menu – and a cup of hot apple cider from another stall, which was very warming in the autumn. Forgive me for bringing design back into this discussion, but the Pies 'n' Thighs menu was another winner here, friendly and just a little hipsterish (they are based in Williamsburg, hipster central, apparently):

Pies 'n' Thighs latest menu.

Pies 'n' Thighs has been noticed by Martha Stewart lately, so I'm sure they're doing well. They also cater! Do you think they'll cater to the west coast? I'm sure those hipsters would appreciate a road trip!

I include a picture of me at the Met(ropolitan Opera) holding a glass of champagne, which I foolishly lined up for during the intermission (I saw Rigoletto, it was a fantastic experience). Guess how much it cost? I shall answer at the end of this post. It was pink champagne, if that makes any difference!

My final great foodie visit was to Eataly, the new Italian food complex created by Mario Batali along with partners Lidia and Joe Bastianich. It is a massive place, filled with markets (vegetables, fish, cheeses, meats, wines, pastas, sweets and coffee), twelve restaurants (from high-end Manzo to the very casual Caffe Lavaza or Gelateria), and hundreds of people. There are classes to take (language, cooking, wine-tasting, etc), demonstrations and all sorts of events and high-profile guests, all to promote Italian food and cooking. It's all absolutely amazing, as you can probably imagine.

I'm including this map of the site; it doesn't really convey how huge Eataly is, but you can see all the different departments. It's like the Macy's of food! I explored most of them, whilst Jenny gave up after a bit, as it was pretty crazy in there. I got some prosciutto, some salami, some dolce gorgonzola (really good, not too much bite), some ciabatta, some Italian lemonade and some dolci (chocolate truffles) and joined Jenny for a picnic lunch outside. This was one of those times that I wished I properly enjoyed coffee, as they had a beautiful coffee bar there, and it smelled delightful.

Whew! That's the majority of my foodventures in NYC. When you're eating cheaply, it's a great city. Almost every sort of food culture is well-represented. In New York I ate Swedish food, Jewish food, Italian food, southern soul food, New England food, German food, Japanese food, and a lot of foods that, though they originated elsewhere, have become a part of New York's identity.I feel like I got a broad overview of the city, but NYC is a foodie town, and there are thousands of restaurants, great and small, there. One day I hope to eat at Per Se or the Gramercy Tavern or Babbo, but for now I'm perfectly happy with my cheap eats! One last picture of a reflected New York, and thanks for persevering with me through this massive post!

P.S. My pink champagne at the Met was $17 for the glass. What do you think? Too much? :D

What am I loving this winter? Surprise, it's salads!

2011-02-20T12:28:00.000-08:00

Although my mom served salad with dinner nearly every night while I was growing up, I never got into a really good salad routine myself. Of course in summer I can't help making salads, but they're more often for lunch than dinner, and still not necessarily an every day thing. When there's an abundance of fresh yummy stuff, or when I'm feeling a veggie deficiency, I'll opt for salad. We make lots of salads on our Wednesday dinner nights too – us girls are good at making sure there's a healthy component to each meal we put together. But still, when it comes to the other nights of the week, I'll usually make some kind of one-pot thing that includes veggies, and skip the side salad. And in winter, well, salads just aren't cold weather comfort food, right?

I'm changing my mind about that. This winter I have an extra interest in keeping healthy, since what I eat is still the only thing nourishing my little babe for now. That, paired with a renewed dedication to eating local and natural foods (after reading Deborah Eden Tull's The Natural Kitchen, one of the best gifts I got this Christmas and a book I recommend hugely) has led me to keep more veggies in my fridge, and try new things with them. And to my surprise, I've discovered that I LOVE winter salads.

Kale, beets, carrots, spinach, radicchio, and apples – all possible to find locally grown here throughout the winter – have become my staples, and with these I'm finding I can produce a delicious salad every day without much trouble.

Here are a few of my favourite combinations:

Thinly sliced raw kale with raw carrots and beets cut into matchsticks, leftover cooked quinoa, and toasted pumpkin seeds on top (pictured above)
Spinach and radicchio with apple slices (would be good with nuts added as well)
Spinach with grated carrots and beets
Spinach with grated carrots, feta, and pumpkin seeds
Thinly sliced raw kale with grated carrots, sliced boiled egg, and pumpkin seeds

I'm a bit lazy when it comes to the dressings – I've just been making big batches of my standard vinaigrette (olive oil, white wine vinegar – or a combination of lemon juice and white wine vinegar – lots of mustard, a bit of agave syrup or maple syrup, and salt and pepper) and using it for everything, which I think is yummy but you could definitely experiment more.

There's a lot of repetition in there, so you can see how having a few of these awesome winter veggies on hand in the fridge can keep me happy for days. These salads manage to feel hearty and satisfying enough for winter – the substantial texture of the kale, beets, and the richness of radicchio combined with apple, the toasty crunch of pumpkin seeds... It's magic! And now that I've discovered this, I get to feel that fresh healthy goodness that comes from salad eating, all year round.

Granita - The Classy Snow Cone

2010-11-12T14:04:00.000-08:00

This week, I was inspired by an episode of Diners, Drive-ins & Dives
(I love that show!). One of the diners made traditional shaved ices.

People usually crave snow cones on a hot summer day but I thought 'wouldn't a snow cone be delicious right now?' (on this cold, rainy dark night) and off I went to investigate how I could make them as soon as possible.

A snow cone is usually spherically-formed crushed bits of ice you pour a flavoured syrup over. A shaved ice is shaved from a block with flavour added and absorbed by the ice. A granita is a semi-frozen ice mixture (flavour is mixed in and then frozen).

I've always wanted to make a granita, so carpe diem!

I modified a fresh fruit granita recipe because I only had berry-blend fruit juice to hand. But it was a great success! Laura and I enjoyed this as a sweet fall treat. (Laura comments: The added lemon juice adds just the right amount of tartness.)

What I like the most is that I can make any flavour (juice or fresh fruit) and don't need any special machines. For the next batch I will serve it slushie-style in a glass with some added fruit juice or maybe to my favourite cocktail (a margarita would work perfectly).

Try this out and let us know your favourite flavours!

1 c hot water
1/4 c sugar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 c fruit juice (if this already has sugar in it, you can lessen the amount of sugar you add)

using fresh fruit
substitute 3 c fresh blended fruit for the juice
increase the amount of sugar to 1/2–3/4 c

Stir first 3 ingredients in small bowl until sugar dissolves. Add sugar syrup to fruit juice and stir.
Pour mixture into nonstick metal baking pan. Using a pan that allows the mixture to be fairly shallow will speed up the freezing process.
Freeze until icy around edges ~20 minutes. Using a fork or spoon, stir icy portions into middle of pan.
Continue to freeze, stirring edges into center every ~20 minutes, total 1 1/2 hours. Using fork, scrape granita into flaky crystals. Cover tightly and freeze. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Though it probably won't last that long.)
Scrape granita into chilled bowls/glasses and serve.

5 Yummy Things in Seattle

2010-10-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Darryl and I enjoyed a quick getaway to Seattle. I was hungry every minute of it (baby's getting bigger and my appetite seemed to jump hugely last week), so we were on a constant search for yummy food. Which isn't really a bad way to spend a weekend, especially when you have no other agenda except to relax and enjoy. Here, five yummy things we enjoyed, in case you find yourself hungry in Seattle.

1. Pasta at Serafina. This restaurant came highly recommended by Mom – her email to me said "Enchanted outdoor patio. Amazing pasta. Great bustling atmosphere, romantic" and she was totally right. It had my favourite kind of restaurant atmosphere – dark, colourful, busy, filled with chatter, music, kitchen noises, people drinking, laughing, enjoying the people they're with. We sat in a circular wooden booth on the bar side of the restaurant, which was both cosy and in the middle of the action, perfect.

And the pasta was amazing. I had agnolotti filled with braised pork shoulder, savoy cabbage, and Parmagiano Reggiano. Delicate handmade little pockets, coated simply in chive butter, mmm. Darryl had a special of tagliatelle (he's a tagliatelle freak and can never turn it down) with local chantrelle mushrooms, leeks, and lardons. So good. Our waitress was the perfect kind of friendly and enthusiastic, getting the bartender to make us yummy and fancy looking virgin cocktails, and insisting that we come back and bring the baby when she arrives. So sweet.

2. California smoothie at Pike Place Market. During one of my "need to eat right this minute" snack attacks while wandering around the market, Darryl suggested a smoothie. I chose the California – strawberries, bananas, and orange juice. As classic as can be, and a combination I'd ordinarily think was a bit boring. But, it tasted like the best thing ever. And, I've been making one of these almost every day since I got home. With the addition of soy milk, and using fresh bananas, I really think this is the perfect smoothie. My smoothie preference in the past has been frozen bananas, frozen mango, berries, and any other fruit I have on hand – the more different ingredients the better. Now, I think I've been mistaken. Simple is the way to go for smoothies. Also, I like the texture that comes from only using one frozen ingredient (strawberries) and the rest fresh. It's smooth and slides right down so deliciously.

3. Pastries at Le Panier. Another one of Mom's recommendations, and another hit. The smell in this place is insane. I don't even know what it is exactly, but it fills your head with deliciousness and makes you want to order one of everything. Which is practically what I did. This was my pre-breakfast on Sunday. I chose a raspberry croissant, and a meringue dipped in dark chocolate, but as I was paying I saw the double-chocolate sable cookies and had to have one of those too. So I walked out with three bags, all for me. Yum.

Now that we're back in Vancouver I'll have to make do with the croissants at Chopain the new-ish little French bakery on Davie street which has become one of my favourite neighbourhood spots. Their chocolate almond croissants are crazy good. If they could just get the room to smell like Le Panier...

4. New kitchen treats at Sur la Table. This store across the street from Pike Place Market is a bit of a legend. Friends and family members had raved about it but I'd never made it inside before. It is great. I often don't let myself go into kitchen stores as there's nothing I really need. But I felt I could enter with restraint this time, as Tessa (best sister ever!) had just cleaned and reorganized my cupboards and I knew exactly what I had and had a mind to not keeping extra stuff around I wouldn't use. I walked out with a few new dishcloths (needed), a cute cutting board for fruit that's bright green and apple-shaped (possibly questionable, but I do never seem to have enough cutting boards, and I've been eating lots of fruit as snacks), and something I've been wanting for ages but keep forgetting to look for – a large plastic rolling mat for pastry, non-slip and non-stick, with circles printed on it as a guide to rolling out different sizes of pies, pizzas, or tortillas. I've used one of these at Raisa's before and loved it. And my counter will love it too as I'll no longer be making huge floury messes on it.

5. Pork buns on the dock at sunset. Another snack attack led to a paper bag filled with two pork buns, which we carried down to the waterfront. The sun was getting close to setting and finding no benches we sat down on the wooden deck and watched it. The pork buns were yummy, it was the perfect fall day, and we had just enough time to digest our snack before heading out for dinner. On holiday and totally happy. That's our view at the top of the post. Definitely one of those where you are and who you're with adds so much to what you're eating moments. Love it.

Sexy Beans on Toast

2010-08-25T15:08:00.001-07:00

This past week I attended a cooking class with my work colleagues at Cookshop Cookschool and we learned how to make this dish amongst others. It's officially called Cannellini al Forno but it's a sexy version of beans on toast.

1 can of cannellini or white kidney beans (14oz)
1 cup of cream (whipping or half/half)
Salt
Pepper
Cheese (your choice)
1 clove of garlic
Italian bread
Olive oil

Rinse your canned beans well and add them with the cream on med-high heat.
Simmer the mixture until the cream has been mostly absorbed by the bean,approximately 25-30 minutes.
Season with salt & pepper to taste.
If you want a richer flavour add some cheese at this point.(In the class we added Gorgonzola to the mixture and topped it with Pecorino, but I also made it on the weekend with Cheddar and topped with Brie.)
Toast bread and rub with garlic clove to flavour.
Add mixture to toast and top with the same or another cheese of your choice.
Drizzle with olive oil.

This made 3 rather heaping servings on the wide italian bread.
It is delicious. I haven't tried making it sans cream but please let us know what alternative and options you try.

Enjoy! (Sorry for the lack of photos.)

Two soups that must not go unmentioned

2010-06-13T16:04:00.000-07:00

Winter's over – this weekend it is finally finally warm and sunny, we planted the last of our seeds in the garden yesterday, my first farmers market visit of the season is behind me, and the tasty fresh meals of the best season are beginning. But, before I put winter totally behind me, I have to give credit to these two soups that helped pull me through it. You never know, there might be a day or two of soup-worthy weather in these happy months to come.

That beautiful bowl of yellow above is Julia Child's Saffron-flavored Garlic Soup with Potatoes. I certainly haven't mastered many of Julia's recipes yet, but her soups have been easy winners for me so far (it was one of her soups that turned me into an instant fan before I even owned the books). This garlic soup is kind of amazing. You don't use any stock – the broth is created just by simmering garlic, herbs and olive oil. And it tastes incredible.

The second soup is Green Soup with Ginger, from another source that I trust absolutely when it comes to soups, Heidi Swanson. My most-loved soup is one of hers from the book Super Natural Cooking, Baby Lima Soup with Chipotle Broth. Both of these soups are made wonderful by the fact that they taste like so much more than the combination of their few simple ingredients. As with Julia's garlic soup, the results amaze me.

It's no surprise that I love the Green Soup with Ginger – I can never get enough ginger, or lemon. Or greens for that matter. Darryl always looks at me and says, "You want to add all that chard?" Or spinach, or kale, or... I love them all, and the more the better. This soup tastes healthy and nourishing, with a freshness and lightness that is rare in winter.

Below is Julia's recipe, and the Green Soup with Ginger can be found on Heidi's site, 101 Cookbooks. I substituted yukon gold potato for sweet potato, and shallots for the onion.

Saffron-flavored Garlic Soup with Potatoes
from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child

Drop 16 cloves whole unpeeled garlic in boiling water and boil 30 seconds. Drain, run cold water over them, and peel.

Place the garlic and the following in a 3-quart saucepan and boil slowly for 30 minutes:
2 quarts water
2 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
2 cloves
1/4 tsp sage
1/4 tsp thyme
1/2 bay leaf
4 parsley sprigs
3 tbsp olive oil

Strain the soup and return it to the saucepan. Simmer 3 cups diced potatoes in the soup with a pinch of saffron for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Correct seasoning. Serve with French bread and grated swiss or parmesan cheese.

Messing – just a little – with an old favourite

2010-06-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

I don't often mess with the classics – those recipe copied onto cards from my Mom's books in the days when I felt only the very faint beginnings of an interest in cooking. I pull these out when I need a quick and always delicious basic and want nothing more. But, on Friday I wanted biscuits. I wanted them to be quick, like Mom's classic Baking Powder Biscuits, but with a different flavour somehow. More flavour. So I dared to mess with the recipe. And the results were so yummy, I felt the revision was worth sharing. It's a minor enough departure from the original that I think it may replace it for me. They're not all that different, but better.

I replaced half of the white flour with a combination of whole wheat flour and cornmeal, and added sesame seeds to the top. But, I'm sure you could try other flours here too, or different toppings. As with the originals, these are heavenly when just baked, warm, flakey, buttery. Eat them all on the first day, or possibly the second – they won't be good much longer than that. I had these with baby lima bean and chipotle soup and radish salad for Friday's lunch, and then with plum jam for breakfast on Saturday. They were perfect in both cases.

Quick Multi-Flour Biscuits
1 1/2 cups white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 tbsp baking powder
6 tbsp cold butter
3/4 cup buttermilk, yogurt, or sour milk (3/4 cup milk with 1 1/2 tsp white vinegar added)
sesame seeds for topping

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut in butter until butter pieces are evenly integrated and the mixture has the texture of coarse meal.

Add the milk and mix until the dough holds together.

Turn out dough onto counter and knead briefly. Roll out to 1/2" thick. Cut with a glass or cookie cutter. Arrange fairly close together on a lightly greased baking sheet. Top with sesame seeds.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until lightly browned.

Fish tacos, or a Very Stiven Wednesday

2010-03-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

I had to dig deep into the archives to discover the last time that Meg's sister, Tessa, helped us out at a WeDine session, and it turns out it was April of 2008. (See here, for our delicious vegetarian pizza).

Wow! First of all, it's great to even have an archive of our good times cooking, interesting culinary creations and tasty recipes. Secondly, it's lovely to host recurring guests to share the fun with! Our second special guest was Meg's dad, Jim, who was very excited to be one of the rare guy visitors to WeDine.

Oh, and he brought the beer! He'll certainly be invited back!

The fish tacos were concocted from a number of recipes found in Martha's Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook, a great cookbook that was a present from my brother Ben last Chanukkah. That cookbook has brought us some great finds, including an awesome wiener schnitzel and this great duck with orange gastrique sauce.

This time, we deep-fried some fish (cod, but you could use any firm white fish) in a beer batter (Martha instructed us to use Negra Modelo for the batter, the dark beer featured above) and combined it with a delicious lemon-olive relish and thinly sliced radishes in a tortilla for an amazing fish taco. Martha's recipe (and Michelle and Alisha's skilled handling of the frying of the fish) made for a crispy, well-battered fish. It was just as good as any fish-and-chip take-away I've had!

Batter recipe

2 large eggs
1 cup Mexican dark lager, such as Negra Modelo
1 & 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tbsp coarse salt

For the fish:

vegetable oil, for frying
2 pounds skinless firm white fish, such as cod, haddock, fluke, orange roughy or scrod, cut into 3" by 3/4" pieces

Martha notes that this is a good batter for smaller pieces of fish and chicken, shrimp and ... onion rings! Mmm, that sounds good. Also, the beer batter makes for a lighter, crisper texture than a batter made with buttermilk (and is better for those with dairy issues, too), and the flavour of the beer comes through.

Method

Whisk the eggs and beer together, and the flour and salt together, and then whisk the wet ingredients into the dry. Batter should be fairly thick and creamy. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes (up to 2 hours).

Pour 3 inches of oil into a large pot, at least 6 quarts (and preferably cast iron, but alas, in our case, not to be) and heat to 375 degrees F (on a deep-fry or candy thermometre) over medium heat. Allow it to heat up slowly.

Coat fish in batter (tongs come in handy here) and lower into oil. Fry until crust is golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. Turn once or twice to ensure even cooking, and remove to a lined baking sheet to drain. A slotted spoon or spider is useful here to remove fish and skim excess bits of batter from the oil.

Repeat until all fish is cooked!

Our next component was the lemon-olive relish. Ingredients included:

8 lemons
extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, diced
1/4 cup + 2 tbsps sugar
4 ounces nicoise olives, pitted and chopped

Method:

Dice one of the lemons into 1/2 inch pieces, leaving the skin on.
Supreme the other eight lemons, removing the skin and pith and segmenting them.
Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat, cook the onion and diced lemon about 4 minutes.

Stir in the sugar and cook until it melts, approximately 30 seconds. Cool five minutes, then scrape into a medium bowl and add the lemon segments and olive pieces. Season with salt and pepper, and and stir gently to combine. Let cool 30 minutes before serving. Makes 2 cups.

The lemon-olive relish turned out particularly well, it was a great combination of flavours, salty, sweet and sour.

Here is the final dish: we dressed the tacos with the relish and finely-sliced radishes, and together with the crispy texture of the battered fish pieces, it was a great taco.

Next to it you see our slaw. It was meant to be a green papaya slaw, but there was nary a papaya to be found in the supermarket, whereas mangoes always seem to be plentiful. So we made the slaw with:

2 tbsps fish sauce
1 1/2 tbsps peanut oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 tbsp + 1 tsp palm sugar (or brown sugar)
2 tbsp tiny dried shrimp (we had none)

which we combined in a large bowl. Then we added:

1 peeled and very finely sliced shallot
1 fresh Thai chile, thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 green papaya (we used not-too-ripe mango), julienned
1 peeled and julienned carrot

We let this stand for fifteen minutes and garnished with:

2 tbsp fresh mint leaves, torn
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
1/4 cup peanuts, crushed

Martha instructs to "taste and adjust seasoning with additional fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and chile, so there is a proper balance of hot, sour, salty and sweet."

It turned out really well, and worked well with the tacos (which I think needed a pretty bold side-dish to stand up to them). All in all, a great fusion of many flavours.

Then we made Tessa and Jim watch America's Next Top Model.

Poor Stivens. What did they do to deserve that?

At least they had memories of a tasty WeDine to sustain them!

Tonight's dinner: roast kale and sunchokes with tahini sauce

2010-03-08T21:58:00.000-08:00

Now that it's Monday, I'm back on my post-Olympic detox. I've been serious about eating whole foods, keeping things simple, and now throwing in some super-foods whenever I can (after an interesting nutrition consultation with Adam Hart last week that yielded both good reminders and new ideas). Not much luck in extending this to the weekends yet, but I'm okay with that. For weeknights I'm working on remembering that I can keep things super simple: choose fresh ingredients that my body will like and that I love to eat, and prepare them simply, without too many additions.

That's certainly what I did tonight. During our usual cookie stop at Sprouts over lunch, I scoped what fresh stuff they had from the UBC Farm, and chose a handful of sunchokes and two bunches of kale. Score for not having to interrupt my bike ride home to stop at the grocery store! I figured those two things could become dinner, paired with some brown rice (fits the good for me + I love it criteria) and some kind of sauce.

I had bought a jar of tahini after learning how good sesame seeds are for me – helping me load up on iron and calcium, two things I often miss out on. So tahini dressing came to mind. There's a recipe for it in the cookbook of family faves Mom made me, many years ago now, which most often becomes the best part of homemade falafel, and occasionally a more general salad dressing.

I wondered if my usual tahini-lemon-garlic-cayenne combination was as far as it went, so did a bit of googling which brought up this Chocolate and Zucchini post for Simple Tahini Sauce I remember reading a while ago. Her recipe isn't much different from Mom's, but reminded me to add parsley, and to incorporate the water slowly for the best creamy texture, yum. I still snuck in some cayenne though. Delicious – the perfect combination of rich and earthy.

The sunchokes and the kale I roasted. The former with lemon wedges (based on this recipe for Roasted Sunchokes with Lemon but sliced 1/4" thick and roasted for about 10 minutes on each side) and the later with nothing but a generous drizzle of olive oil as in this Roasted Kale recipe. I'd heard about roasting kale before (my sister raved about it I'm pretty sure), turning it into snackable "chips" and totally wanted to try this. I love kale, but don't find it as effortless to cook tastily as the tenderer chard which I choose more often. Roasting was easy, and the results were both unusual and yummy. This will become my thing to do with kale I think. I could top so many things with these – crispy-tender dark green and oh-so-good-for-you.

Slow roasting for flavour: pulled pork sandwich

2010-03-01T23:55:00.000-08:00

When I am trying out a new recipe, I like to understand how the recipe works – which ingredients are important, which aren't, how various cooks personalize their dishes – so I usually consult several recipes and read up on how different techniques work. In the end, I cobble together a few recipes and start a new food experiment. That is exactly what I did with this dish.

If you like a delicious, savoury, meaty sandwich, make this one. It takes a little lead time but boy is it worth it. Pulled pork has become one of my favourites: slow roasted pork shoulder mixed with homemade BBQ sauce, MmmmmMmmmm. There is great depth of flavour in this sandwich – sweet, savoury, tangy – I can see why people spend their lives perfecting BBQ.

I've been fairly consistent to my original cobble with only one or two small variations; this is my third or fourth time making it. I hope you will try it for yourself – if you have any suggestions or questions, get in touch.

You could use a bottled sauce to cut down the prep time, but this recipe is sooo tasty, sourced from a combo of Joy of Cooking, Memphis Blues, and several online recipes. There were many additional ingredients that could be added, like hickory smoke, molasses, and ketchup along with various ground spices. Some secret recipes have hundreds of ingredients, but I kept it fairly simple.

This recipe is really three smaller recipes joined together: one for BBQ Sauce, one for a Dry Rub, and one for Slow Roasted Pork. It makes 4–6 generous sandwiches, and is great for parties.

I make the BBQ sauce, marinate the roast the night before I want to serve it and put the slow cooker on in the morning to let it cook while I'm away at work.
Enjoy!

Pulled Pork Roast

• 2 cups BBQ Sauce (prepare before hand, as it needs to simmer for 1 hour – recipe below)
• Dry Rub (best to marinate the roast ahead of time – recipe below)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup water or apple cider
• 1 pork roast (2–5lb, pork shoulder aka picnic, these cost around $5)

1. If not already marinated, apply dry rub to roast.
2. Place the onion in the bottom of the slow cooker, turn cooker on low setting.
3. Brown roast in a hot pan with a little oil (2 minutes each side).
4. Place roast into slow cooker on top of onion.
5. Deglaze pan with water or apple cider, add this liquid to the slow cooker.
6. Add BBQ sauce to slow cooker.
7. Put lid on and cook on low for 8-10 hours (this has the better results than a higher setting for shorter time).
8. When cooking has finished, remove the roast to a bowl for shredding, take 2 forks and use them to pull apart the roast into small strands.
9. Add any liquid/mixture from the slow cooker to the bowl and mix well.
10. Serve on kaiser buns (I like their lightness or choose your own but remember the pork is the star of this meal), with your favourite side (mine is coleslaw) and beverage (cider).

BBQ Sauce
Makes two cups (always easier to make a big batch and save it)

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive/vegetable oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• 8 tablespoons crushed tomatoes (about half a 16oz can)
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoon white vinegar
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 3-4 dash of Louisiana-style hot sauce
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 cup water or Jack Daniel's

1. Combine oil and butter in a pan over medium heat.
2. Add onions with a little salt & pepper.
3. When onions are softened, add garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add all remaining ingredients and stir together.
5. Simmer mixture over low heat for 1 hour, stir regularly. Adjust the flavour to your taste.
6. If saving for later, allow to cool for 1 hour before refrigerating (may be kept for up to 1 month in an air tight container, if you can hold out that long).

This would actually be great for burgers and chicken wings.

Dry Rub
This quantity was enough for 2 roasts – stored in the fridge in an air tight container.

1 tbsp brown sugar (dark)
3 tbsp black pepper
3 tbsp garlic powder
3 tbsp onion powder
3 tbsp dried oregano
3 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp celery salt
pinch cayenne

1. Mix all ingredients.
2. Apply to meat – this is best applied and left to marinate in the fridge overnight.

Bread update: one year in and on a roll, no stopping now

2010-02-23T22:53:00.000-08:00

I shouldn't have waited so long between bread updates, 'cause now I have way too much to say. At the end of my last bread update, I talked about moving on to a new food resolution for 2010. Well, that didn't happen. I can't abandon my bread mission. I get so excited about trying new flavours and techniques, it seems like I'll never get bored and never really be done. The challenge of bread making – infinite and so enjoyable. Here are the highlights of the past two months.

Granny Barb continued her role as my kitchen angel and gave me two books for Christmas that have become indispensable – Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, the series by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois that I mentioned in my last post about bread. At that point I had just started experimenting with their technique (moisture-heavy no-knead dough stored in the fridge for 1–2 weeks and shaped and baked as needed) via a recipe on their website. Now, I'm trying a new recipe every week and am thrilled with all of them. The technique is simple and not time consuming at all – very easy to fit into my normal routines. And these two books are full of variations, ranging from classic French and German breads to more experimental breads using vegetables and alternative grains. I tried to go through and mark all of the recipes I was most eager to make but found myself with an unnavigable forest of sticky notes. Hence my inability to stop putting all my kitchen excitement toward making bread.

Here, a few of my early favourites:

Spinach Feta Bread – a braided loaf I made for a potluck at Flora's. It was perfect for sharing, ripping off chewy chunks, and so tasty with tapenade. One of the things I love about Hertzberg and Francois' method of bread making is that keeping four loaves worth of dough in the fridge and baking them throughout the week allows me to experiment with different shapes with the dough being a constant. I tried a couple of boules with this spinach and feta dough, and then decided to see what it was like braided. I followed the instructions for braiding from another recipe in the book (start at the middle and braid one end, then the other) and it was easy and suited this dough well. Beautiful, right? Look at that crispy golden crust...

Epi – Another shape that was new to me, and thrilling to be able to produce.

I made this one with the whole wheat master recipe. It was flavourful, with a nice crust, and went perfectly with smoked salmon and goat cheese spread (I subbed goat cheese for cream cheese in that recipe, and added capers, and it was delicious) for a wine and snacks night at Claire's. The funnest part was using scissors to make the wheat stalk shape.

If you want to get in on the fun, there's a good step-by-step for how to form epi on the Artisan Bread in Five website. Hmm, now that I look at their beautiful loaves, mine don't look quite so perfect. But, that was before I got a baking stone....

Now I'm making beautiful crusty loaves that rise nicely in the oven and never burn on the bottom. Thank you $6.99 marble tile from Home Depot! I remembered reading Julia Child's account of her search for inexpensive tiles at the average American Hardware store that could function perfectly well as baking stones in My Life in France (loved that book by the way) and Michelle and I set out on a biking adventure one January Saturday and came home with a tile in each pannier. Then, Darryl surprised me with a pizza peel as an early Valentine's present, so now I also have the means to get the bread from counter to hot stone and am totally set up.

The loaf above is Roasted Garlic Bread, with flaxseeds and spelt flour. So good. This one was really moist, rich with garlic, and perfectly textured with a nice hole structure. Toasted, with soft goat cheese spread on, this gave me a week of bread-filled happiness.

Today my happy bread moments have come from the Ten-Grain Bread pictured below and at the top of this post. Made with a mixture of whole wheat flour, white flour, and Bob's Red Mill ten-grain hot cereal, this is the perfect multi-grain loaf. Deep deep flavour, crunchy crust coated in fennel, caraway, and poppy seeds, and a chewy, moist crumb – yum. This reminds me of the multi-grain loaves I grew up on from the Italian Bakery in Victoria, which formed my standard for crave-worthy bread.

And finally, this last one is jumping back to the pre-stone days, but I wanted to share these pretty pizza pics. One of the first recipes I tried from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day was 100% Whole Wheat Olive Oil Pizza Dough, which the authors said made a great pizza. They were right. I wasn't totally crazy about this dough for basic loaves – I didn't enjoy the richness of the olive oil as much with the whole wheat as I do with white flour (this is essentially a whole wheat version of Martha's olive oil bread I love so much – recipe here) – but for pizza it was perfect. I can't wait to make this again with the stone, for a crispier, airier crust. I'd repeat these toppings again too: pesto, ribbons of zucchini, halved cherry tomatoes, and dollops of soft goat cheese. So colourful and fresh.

So, not that I won't also try to bring new concentration to other things that come out of my kitchen, like the pasta and sauces I was considering as themes for this year's cooking resolution, but I've happily given myself permission to keep eagerly learning about bread.

Fantastic Fennel Flavour!

2010-02-08T13:44:00.000-08:00

(Using dark wildflower honey, left-brittle not yet changed colour, right-fully changed)

I had a craving for fennel brittle late last night and wanted to share it with you. I love combination of the fennel flavour and the sweet clear sugar.

You can add any seeds or nuts you would like - the first time I made this I added hazelnuts (2/3 c chopped) but I didn't enjoy the texture so I leave them out.This is great for a snack or a party, it's quick (~15min +cooling time) and delicious. Let us know if you have any favourite flavours. Enjoy!

1 c granulated sugar
1/4c water
2 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp fennel seeds

Key Items: tray lined with parchment paper, candy thermometer
Warning: don't walk away from the pan, it can burn easily.

In a heavy-bottom pan, stir sugar, water, honey & salt over low heat until dissolved
When dissolved, increase heat to medium
Let it boil and bubble until it changes colour to a light amber* (4-5min) - this is removing the excess water. Do not stir. Occaisionally (& carefully) swirl pan to prevent dark spots**
Pour on to parchment, tilt sheet to spread out more thinly
Sprinkle with fennel seeds (Nuts, seeds or other flavour can be added too)
Let cool completely (you can speed this up by placing the tray in the freezer)
When cooled, break into small pieces.

*Light amber if using a yellow honey. It's harder to detect the change when using the darker colours of honey, so watch carefully. You can also use the cold water test.

**In order to get the hard crack in the brittle, you must reach 300F - check this with your candy thermometer. If you find after cooling the brittle is bendy, you didn't reach 300F when you boiled it. The good news is that you can remelt and reboil it.

Everything I Love in a Bowl, or Tortilla Soup

2010-01-17T22:38:00.000-08:00

I assured you in my long-overdue return to posting back in November that we have still been cooking on Wednesdays, despite the fact that we haven't been posting about them (in fact – ack – I just discovered we haven't posted about a Wednesday dinner since April!). Now here's the first bit of proof that our collective mid-week experiments are still alive.

We started this blog (just over three years ago) to keep track of the great things we were creating together, mostly improvised from whatever drew our eyes in the grocery store. We thought it was important to document the great eating that is easily within reach on a weeknight with little forethought and lots of faith in experimentation. This is why I think we need to still be posting about these Wednesdays amongst all the other food adventures – so many great things come out of them that I'd like to be able to return to when I'm stuck for ideas in the middle of the week.

Last Wednesday we created a meal in this original spirit, I think. Over email during the day Alisha, Michelle, and I made plans – we nailed down the location (my place, as I had the giant Christmas crossword we needed to finish, and Michelle's pretty umbrella I needed to return to her) and tossed around ideas for the menu. Michelle suggested tortilla soup and that was the end of the discussion for me. I've always wanted to try making it, as it seems like a chance to unite a bunch of my favourite things in a somewhat unusual form.

Michelle brought a couple of recipes that we smashed together and added and subtracted from as we wished. The recipe below is what we ended up with. It was delicious. Rich and filling, with so many different textures and tastes all at once. A thick and smoky roasted tomato broth, fresh creamy avocados, meaty shredded chicken, three kinds of chilis, loads of cilantro, melty cheese, crunchy tortillas... So this is our version (on the first attempt at least) of that which there seem to be a million versions of. Not definitive necessarily, but delicious and a very satisfying, easy weeknight dinner.

Another one to try sometime is this Vegetarian Tortilla Soup from 101 Cookbooks. Looks great – cherry tomatoes, shoestring tortilla strips, soft goat cheese, yum.

Wedine's Tortilla Soup
[serves 4]

6 roma tomatoes
5 chicken thighs (boneless and skinless)
1/2 onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 poblano chile, diced
1 dried guajillo chile, soaked in boiling water until soft, then diced
1 L chicken stock

2 avocados, diced
grated cheese (whatever melty kind of cheese you like best – we used Kashkaval, a Bulgarian sheep cheese that melts really well)
a large handful of chopped cilantro
1 serrano chile, diced
fresh corn tortillas, cut into strips and baked or pan fried until lightly browned and crispy

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place the whole tomatoes in a baking dish and roast until the skins split and they begin to blacken (about 30 minutes).

2. Boil a pot of water to poach the chicken. Add whole chicken thighs and poach until cooked through. Shred the meat and set aside.

3. In a large pot, saute the onion in olive oil for a few minutes until translucent. Add garlic, poblano and gaujillo chilis and saute for a few more minutes. Then add chicken stock and bring to a simmer. When tomatoes have finished roasting, peel and add to the soup pot. Break up the tomatoes with a spoon and stir to combine. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. Continue to simmer for a while, or serve right away if you're hungry (as we were!)

4. Pour soup into bowls. Top with shredded chicken, avocado, cheese, cilantro, minced serrano chili, and tortilla strips.

Spicy Pea Poached Eggs or Spicy Pea Soup, You Choose!

2010-01-12T18:51:00.000-08:00

I'm on my own this week, so I'm cooking for one and wanting cheap and cheerful meals.

Last night was French Onion Soup, tonight I've gone experimental(in-a-what's-in-the-fridge way). Building on Meg's post here is a quick, delicious sauce for poached eggs.

Ingredients: Eggs, Peas, Bread, Garlic, Lemon & Zest, Spices, Salt, Pepper, Oil

Toast some bread (leftover French bread from yesterday).
Poach some eggs.
For the Spicy Pea sauce:
Sauté a diced clove of garlic with the lemon zest, add 1-2 cups peas (I used frozen peas, reheated with hot water before adding to the pan).
Put mixture in blender with a little water,juice of half a lemon, salt & pepper to taste and some spices (I used a mixture of paprika, cayenne, oregano, cumin, tumeric - maybe 2 tsp total), blend smooth.
Assemble your plate.

This was delicious, just enough spice to give a great flavour without too much heat. The blended peas were wonderfully creamy. My eggs were somewhere between runny and hard which worked well, covered in this sauce. Total cooking time was 15 minutes.

Come to think of it this sauce would actually make a great soup. You choose, enjoy!

Poached Egg, Lardons, Salad

2010-01-05T22:45:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was a strange middle ground between indulging in holidays and returning to routine with new resolve. So the brunch I ordered on Sunday had to straddle that same divide of course.

And the place Shula suggested for our post holiday catch-up – La Brasserie – had the perfect thing. A salad of fluffy, sharp tasting frisee, studded with decadent lardons and brioche croutons and topped with my favourite, a poached egg. Decorated with swirls of mustard vinaigrette. Yum. I love nothing more than egg yolk spilling over other tasty things, and this salad seemed like a slightly healthier way to enjoy it than my usual benny.

I wasn't exactly sure what Lardons were before this, but they sounded meaty and fatty and delicious, and they were. And the brioche croutons, after initially surprising me by being much softer than I'd expect a crouton to be, were perfect for soaking up egg yolk and provided a tiny bit of sweetness that was welcome.

Beside the fact that it was the perfect combination of decadent and healthy for January third, I was drawn to this salad for another reason too. I had developed a curiosity for brunch salads with poached eggs while whiling away time searching for holiday recipes. I had found this Eggs Benedict Salad at Epicurious which I suggested to Mom for our Christmas day breakfast. She politely let me know that she found the idea of salad for breakfast kind of unappetizing. I started to think she might be right when I thought a bit harder about eating radishes and edamame early in the morning. But I'm not sure. Since the Brasserie salad was so delicious, maybe I'm ready to step into more extreme salad-as-breakfast territory?

What do you think – are rich morning salads inspired or weird? Have any favourite breakfast salad recipes I should try?

And in case you were worried, our salad-free Christmas breakfast was perfect. Fresh homemade blueberry muffins (thanks Mom for indulging my every request!), local pepper bacon, and poached eggs, washed down with both soy lattes and mimosas as is our tradition. The bacon – which we cut into thick slices ourselves – was to die for. Made by Galloping Goose Sausage Company it was definitely the best bacon I've ever had. Laura and Michelle – I was wishing I could send you guys a slice or two. Maybe it'll be worth a trip to Victoria...

Radicchio, feta, and pecan salad

2009-12-21T21:45:00.000-08:00

My mom and I have been working out the details of what we'll make for Christmas Eve dinner – trading ideas for more dishes than we could ever make (or eat) and agreeing to improvise together when the day comes. There's one thing that I'm hoping will make the cut: this radicchio, feta, and pecan salad.

I made this pretty pretty salad a while ago to go with a white bean soup, and loved it. Sweet crunchy pecans, creamy salty feta, bitter radicchio – it all combines to make something awesome. And it's red and white, and is super simple to make yet feels a bit decadent, so it's perfect, right?

Feel free to sub maple syrup for the honey in the dressing if you're making this for a honey-hater like I was. Or just because maple syrup and balsamic go so well together.

Just wanted to quickly pass on this recipe, in case you're also in the throes of menu planning and looking for ideas. Merry Christmas, happy eating!

Robust Bruschetta at the Epicurean Cafe

2009-12-17T23:38:00.000-08:00

Beans, sausage, spicy pickled eggplant, green olives, rosemary, sage, raw onions, grilled and garlic-rubbed bread, plenty of olive oil and balsamic vinegar soaking in... I had this sandwich once over two years ago and it was impossible to forget. Unbelievable that it took me so long to go back for it.

Of course, the sandwich had the curse of being "across the bridge." The Epicurean Cafe, at Cypress and First, used to be one of our semi-regular spots when we lived in South Granville back in the day. They make what I consider the perfect breakfast (my favourite is the Earthy: eggs poached in amatriciana sauce, Italian sausage, spicy eggplants – those eggplants again, I know) and cultivate a leisurely European mood. This place is both luxurious and comfortable. But seriously, the marble tabletops, the French mother at the next table urging her son to finish his homework, the case of beautiful pastries, the vine covered patio, none of this matters really – I'd come to any kind of place that can make a sandwich this good.

And, I'm hoping to turn my kitchen into that place.It should be fairly simple to recreate, right? It's not fancy in any way, just an amazing combination of ingredients, and an unexpected form for a sandwich. So let's see, I'd have to:

Grill some ciabatta bread, and then rub it with an olive clove.
Grill an Italian pork sausage, and slice it in half.
Slice an onion.
Buy some pickled eggplants and green olives at the European Deli on Davie.
Cook some cannellini beans, or open a can...
Muddle everything together on top of the bread and generously drizzle on olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

So I'll try it, hoping they haven't used any unknown magic to make it so irresistible. And I'll also try to be stuck in Kits needing lunch more often, 'cause the Epicurean Cafe is definitely on my list of places I feel love for here in Vancouver.

Bread Update – Goodbye to Martha's rich and decadent white creations, hello to hearty, local loaves

2009-12-11T17:08:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since my last bread update. But I've still been making bread, and there have been many surprises, discoveries, and can't-stop-eating-this -it's-so-delicious bread moments that I've been dying to share with you all. So it's time.

Important events in my journey to bread master,
April–November 09
First, I ate obscene amounts of foccacia studded with whole cloves of roasted garlic, on several occasions. Tessa and I spent most of our overnight stay at the Warden's cabin at Lake O'Hara making and consuming it. I made it for Mom and I in our perfect little cabin on Galiano Island. We ate it for breakfast with leftover mussels and bratwurst – my god. Martha Stewart's foccacia is to die for. It rivals the legendary bread at both Pagliaccis and Rebar in Victoria, both of which have been a focal point for my homesickness over the years. The first time I made it, I was shocked, amazed, and bragged profusely (to myself and the kitchen). It's the month's supply of olive oil that goes into it, but I can pretend it's me.

However, after months of Martha's fantastic white breads – not only the foccacia, but also baguettes, fougasse, and the olive oil bread – I figured I should maybe learn how to make something healthy. Luckily, this thought came at roughly the same time that...

My CSA flour from Urban Grains arrived. I was out of town both weekends that it was available for pick-up (I so wish I could have been there – check out these pics of members meeting their grain, and each other), but Urban Grains did a great job of organizing carpooling and Karen Hamilton of Tiny Bites generously picked up my grain and babysat it for me for a week. When it arrived in my kitchen I was super excited, and also totally clueless about how to store it. I've since packaged up many mason jars full of flour for friends, frozen as much as I could fit in our tiny freezer, and stashed the rest in our slightly cool downstairs storage locker. I'm hoping for the best. And baking whole wheat everything as fast as I can.

In the early days of my whole-wheat baking frenzy, I found what has now become my most-baked bread: Multigrain Bread from London Foodie in New York. This is the ultimate healthy and delicious weekday bread. It can be made in two hours, including baking. I just took a loaf out of the oven a few minutes ago, on a Monday night, after running errands after work, making cheese and jalepeno biscuits for dinner, and it's still early enough for me to go to bed at a decent time. That's awesome, right? Not only that, but it's delicious. I actually crave this bread. I eat it all week and still want to make it again the next week. It's heavenly toasted, with jam, almond butter, or my favourite – pink grapefruit marmalade – for breakfast. It's hearty but moist, with great texture and a crunchy crust.

I tried making two different fancyish breads with fruit and nuts – Martha's cranberry-pecan rye bread, and this fig and fennel bread from the Fresh Loaf. The later, pictured below and at the top of the post, represents the height of my achievement so far. The sweetness of the figs, so soft, the crunch of the occasional walnut, the complex taste of the flours, cornmeal to add texture to the crust. The whole thing light, but moist, chewy, and so flavourful. I want to eat this every day.

Next I learned what happens when you leave dough in the fridge for a week before shaping and baking it – very good things. This recipe for Sweet Provecal Flatbread with Anise Seeds from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day was my introduction to this technique, and I've since been experimenting with it some more, and talking up its amazingness to anyone who will listen. You stir together a basic no knead bread dough, throw it in the fridge and then take out a little to bake each night. With hardly any effort each day you can have fresh bread with dinner. And, having tried the anise flatbreads on day 1, day 3, and day 7, I can tell you that letting the dough sit for a week makes a huge difference. It's kind of like that 72 hour chocolate chip cookie dough – the flavours are unbelievably more complex after you put the time in.

So, what now? I've designated sourdough starter as my last bread mission of the year. Does anyone know a good technique/recipe? I've found billions out here on the internet, all different, and I'm not sure what works best. I did hastily try one last month, but I didn't look after it very well (abandoned it to go to Whistler when it was only one day old, oops) and it started to do strange things (like turn yellow, hmmm). But, I saved the jar with holes poked in the lid, and I'm ready to start again. Anyone interested in being my sourdough mentor?

I'm also thinking about what I should set as my cooking resolution for 2010 – maybe mastering sauces or salad dressings? I rarely put much time or care into learning proper techniques for anything, preferring just to go at it in the kitchen and have fun. But I've been so happy with the success that has come from starting at the beginning with bread and really applying myself to it – and making it part of my routine – that I'm looking forward to trying this again. If you have any ideas about what I should tackle, let me know!

Why I'm back in the habit of freezing bananas

2009-11-10T01:06:00.000-08:00

Sorry we've been gone for so long! A busy month turned into a busy summer, turned into a hectic fall, and here we are... But we've still been dining on Wednesdays (fish tacos with lemon olive relish, juicy burgers, gluten-free duck quiche!) and loving food all the same, which means we have lots of exciting things to report. If anyone is still out there, that is.

You can tell from the sunny photo above that my return to posting is taking us back a couple of months, not quite to the beginning of our silence here, but to one of the last beautifully warm weekends in September. However, I promise that this recipe will be useful even now when we no longer have unexpectedly hot afternoons to deal with.

Ever find yourself emerging on a weekend morning (or afternoon) dreaming of a thick, cool, smoothie, but knowing coffee also has to be a part of the waking up? I do. Which leaves me walking down Davie street juggling a Jugo Juice in one hand and a cup of espresso in the other. It's a little awkward.

Someone else must have had this same problem, because they created the perfect, inspired solution and put it on a juice bar menu in Cowichan Bay. They combined the coffee and the smoothie. Genius. I wouldn't have thought it was possible. Not only that but it's dairy free, and has no bad stuff in it at all.

I can't remember what the cafe (it's actually a cafe/gallery/ecoventure center) called it, but it was so perfect I had to go back for another one the next day. Darryl and I got to know the friendly girl who worked there. I sent my Mom and my sister there the next weekend, and they were hooked too. Then my sister came to visit and we recreated it in my kitchen. It woke us up every day for a week.

So, to the Liquid Cafe & Juice Bar in Cowichan Bay – I owe you big time for improving my mornings. I promise I'll visit again next summer.

Until you can get there yourself, here's what to do once you freeze those bananas:

Combine in a blender:
1 shot espresso* (I use one of those little stove-top espresso makers – if you don't have one, you could probably just brew a small amount of strong coffee for this)
1 frozen banana (I break each banana into 4 pieces before freezing, for easier blending)
2 tbsp almond butter
1 tbsp maple syrup
a generous splash of soy milk
a handful of ice cubes

Blend until smooth, thick, and icy (if your blender has an ice crush setting, use that). Pour into a big glass and drink with a straw.

* If I have time, I cool it a little while in an ice bath (pour the espresso into a little cup and place this inside a bowl of ice water).

Liquid Cafe & Juice Bar
1721 Cowichan Bay Road
Cowichan Bay, BC, V0R 1N0
250.748.3800

If you make the trip to Cowichan Bay, make sure you go to Hillary's Artisan Cheese and True Grain Bread and Mill. There's so much awesome food stuff going on on Vancouver Island right now. Another post coming soon on the epic food and wine adventure my Mom and I had in the area in August. Can't let the decadent days of the past four months go unshared!

Another Contender for Summer Drink of '09

2009-06-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

I bought a Saveur magaizine at the airport last week – it was The Texas Issue, how could I possibly resist – and it delivered, with a recipe for sangria so good that the awesome white sangria I usually make (this recipe from Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson) has been outdone. Of course there's room in my heart for a favourite white sangria and a favourite red sangria, so there's no need to worry. But, I was just so surprised I loved this so much, as I'm usually not that wild about red sangria. It's often too sweet, or not really flavourful enough to wow me.

Saveur's Book Club Sangria has plenty of citrus (oranges, limes, and lemons) to balance the sweetness and add flavour, and the unexpected additions of pineapple and gingerale. It was really good – tart enough, tons of flavour, just the right amount of sparkle. Addictive. We didn't have a large enough pitcher, so made it in a big pot which we carried down to the back deck for easy refills while we ate a late (11:00!) dinner of bratwurst sausages topped with a choka of eggplant, tomato, peppers, sweet onion, and habanero pepper (more about that, and a recipe, to follow soon). The sausages were made nearby in Invermere, our appetites were fueled by a late afternoon mountain-biking adventure (my first!), it was the eve of solstice, the company was unmatched, and the sangria completed the perfection. Ah, why I love summer.

A few notes about the recipe:

Wine – we used Cono Sur pinot noir, which turned out to be a good choice.
Sweetener – we used agave syrup instead of sugar, so skipped the first step of boiling the sugar and water. We just combined all of the ingredients, using about 3/4 cup of agave syrup for a double-recipe. Taste as you go and add more if you like it sweeter. I love agave syrup because it dissolves easily in cold liquids, making it perfect for iced tea, lemonade, sangria... You can get it at most natural food stores.
Fruit – we couldn't get a ripe fresh pineapple, so used canned, and it was still good (would be awesome with fresh, but if you can't get it, don't fear). We also substituted nectaries for peaches, also with good results.

The Freshest Salad

2009-06-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

This bowl full of delicious, so-fresh-they're-nearly-still-alive greens was my first garden salad. As in, from our garden, greens grown with our very own hands. Last Friday, just after arriving back from Kelowna, and hours before leaving for Radium, I dropped by the garden (I can't walk by without stopping, no matter how little time I have or how much I'm carrying – I've tried) and picked a bunch of arugula and mixed greens. With them, I made my favourite salad of the moment: greens with chickpeas, feta, and a maple-balsamic-basil vinaigrette.

The chickpeas and balsamic dressing are inspired by the salad at Pagliacci's in Victoria which I love. Theirs has lettuce, chickpeas, tomato, carrots, red onion, and whole kalamata olives, and I always choose the balsamic vinaigrette to go with it. Although those other veggies are great with it (love grated carrots in a salad), I've become partial to this simplified version, with only the feta and chickpeas. Especially when the greens are as sublime as these were! Don't they look like they're nearly climbing out of the bowl with freshness? I could happily eat this every day.

If you want to join me in salad-heaven, here's what to do:

Wash and dry assorted greens.
Drain and rinse canned chickpeas.
Crumble feta.
To make dressing, whisk together equal parts olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a glug of maple syrup, a couple of tablespoons minced fresh basil, salt and pepper.
Combine greens, chickpeas, and feta, and toss with dressing until lightly coated.

New Summer Drink! Tang-tastic!

2009-06-19T22:37:00.000-07:00

Lemonade is always a traditional standby drink for summer though a truly great lemonade is few and far between. Lemonade has to be tart - if there isn't a tingling in your cheeks you've done something wrong. Tell us what you think of this one.

Strawberry Lemonade

2.5 cups hulled strawberries
a few whole strawberries
1.5 cups lemon juice (~12 lemons)
.5 cup honey
4 cups water
4 cups ice cubes
mint sprigs

1. Dissolve .5 cup honey in 2 cups boiling water, add ice cubes to cool it
2. Squeeze the juice out of the lemons (the amount of juice per lemon varies wildly, the original recipe called for 5-8 so i would suggest buying more than you need)
3. Blend the hulled strawberries
4. Combine the honey water, lemon juice, strawberry puree, 2 remaining cups cold water and ice cubes and stir or blend.
5. Pour into glasses, add whole strawberry and mint as garnish

Most recipes call for a simple syrup to sweeten this drink but we didn't want to wait for the heating and cooling so we tried to find an alternative: agave syrup (a natural sweetener) which will dissolve in cold water but couldn't find any. So we used honey instead and it was perfect, just the right balance of tart & sweet with a subtle strawberry flavour.

It will be a summer of delicious lemonade. Enjoy!

Mushroom Inspiration

2009-06-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

I was inspired at the beginning of this week by a mushroom soup brought into work for a meeting (from Trees Organic). It was so delicious - earthy, creamy, pure liquid mushroom that I had to try making it.

For all those who have ever hated soup or thought it was just dirty dish water, make this soup and be converted. When soup is made with real ingredients, it has great flavour. I used 2 portabellos, 1/3 kg of white and 1/3 kg of brown mushrooms, but experiment with any you like (It can be a new soup every time if you change the mushroom combo). This was my first ever mushroom soup and YAY! it turned out wonderfully. Pretty close to the one from Trees. So make this and enjoy, be swept into the earthy depths of this mushroom soup. Hope you love it as much as I do.

Mushroom Soup

* 5 tbsp butter
* 1 kg/2 lb. of any mushrooms, sliced
* 1 x large chopped onion
* 1 clove garlic, chopped
* 1/8 c brandy, dry sherry or Madeira
* 4 c of chicken, beef or vegetable stock
* 1 tbsp flour
* 1/4 c milk/cream
* salt and pepper

1. Melt 4tbsp of butter in a soup pot and add the onions and garlic. Sauté for a few minutes, add the mushrooms. Sauté until the mushrooms are wilted and release their moisture.

2. Add the brandy or other alcohol. (Feel free to omit this, but it does add an dimension to the flavour.)

3. In a separate pan, make a roux ( melt 1 tbsp butter, stir in the flour, when combined, add the milk/cream bit by bit until combined)

4. Add the roux to the soup, heat soup to a slow simmer. Simmer for five minutes or so stirring constantly.

5. Add the stock and simmer for another 20 minutes.

6. Remove a couple of slotted spoons-worth of mushrooms (1 cup) to a separate bowl. Blend the rest of the soup. Recombine the mushrooms with the blended soup.

7. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Let us know how you like it, or any exciting variations you might have.

Silky Spring Baba Ganoush

2009-05-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

We went to little India last weekend, and I couldn't resist buying some of my favourite kind of eggplants – beautiful purple little baby ones like these. I got hooked on these back when I was working in the Granville Island Public Market. We'd get all kinds of eggplants flown in from India and Thailand, and these ones became part of my regular repertoire when someone told me they were perfect roasted and blended into baba ganoush.

Done this way, their flesh is silky, pillowy soft, with a warm smokey flavour. Heaven. Blended with lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, basil, and a few spices, it becomes a dip so delicate and delicious that I want to just slurp it off a spoon, no crackers needed. It is delicious with pita though, or veggie sticks. I'm dipping some yellow and orange pepper slices into it right now, making this perfect sunny Friday afternoon even more perfect...

Spring Baba Ganoush
10 baby Indian eggplants (the ones I used were 2–3 inches long)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic
generous glug of olive oil
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp smoked paprika
Fresh basil to taste (I used two stems picked from the little pot on my windowsill, about 10 large leaves)
salt and pepper to taste

Use a fork to pierce the skin a few times on each eggplant and then wrap each eggplant individually in foil. Roast eggplants in 450 degree oven until they are softened to the point that they collapse when you squeeze them softly (about 30–45 minutes, depending on size of eggplants).

Remove foil and plunge the eggplants into a bowl of ice water. Peel the skin off and cut off stems. Put eggplants in blender or food processor and add remaining ingredients. Blend until super-smooth and silky.

Summer has started say the patio meals and me

2009-05-25T21:55:00.000-07:00

There is absolutely nothing better than sitting on a sunny patio on an endless weekend day with people that make you happy, an icy beer or a spicy caesar, and craving-worthy food. And I got to do this TWICE in the past two weeks. Which means the best season of the year is here. I don't care at all about that June 21st technicality. It's summer.

The top photo was taken at the Canoe Brew Pub in Victoria, where I shared a lazy Saturday supper with my Mom two weekends ago. We were out shopping (plants, couches, tea) and decided it was time for a patio beer break. Canoe has the best patio in the city I think – big stone tables, a view of the industrial part of the harbour rather than the tourist hordes, and beer brewed on the spot. A bitter stretched into a lager, then into calamari, and then dinner.

Our sun-induced laziness was smart in the end – the Grilled Steak Waldorf salad I ordered was delicious, going far beyond what you'd generally expect from a patio spot. I really want to recreate this salad at home. Delicate endive, tart apple slices, firm yet creamy sheep cheese (Salt Spring Island Montana – such a good cheese), perfectly-crusted flat iron steak, and walnut vinaigrette. Mmmmm. I'm diggin' the salad with meat as dinner lately (another post coming up on a Thai chicken and green mango salad I made tonight that was equally awesome).

The second photo was taken yesterday on the patio at The Five Point on Main Street. This was a classic Sunday afternoon patio meal, caesar, coffee, and all. My first time at the Five Point, and I think I ordered well. This sandwich was kind of like a lamb version of my favourite pulled pork. Messy, slathered in barbeque sauce, soft bun, lots of peppers and onions. So good. My mind is reeling with ideas for how we can put our lovingly-battered little BBQ to use down at Sunset Beach this summer, and I think I'll try to recreate this too.

Community garden update

2009-05-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

Nothing has gotten me out of my computer chair and my work-induced funk lately like the community garden plot (now plots!) that we've planted this spring. What a fantastic idea it was to convert this potential condo-building site to a lovely communal growing space. Even if it's only temporary, whomever thought it up should be commended. In her last post Meg wrote about the potentiality of the plot (and how her friends might "get their hands dirty" – how true!), and now I'm just going to update everyone as to how things have progressed.

What do a bunch of city girls and boys know about gardening? Not too much, it turns out, which is why we needed to team up! Ryan, Carla and Darryl laid the topsoil on the plot and we returned to it last weekend to sow our seeds. We planted a variety of good things, including zucchini, pattypan squash, basil, chard, beets, cilantro, shallots and peppers in raised rows (inspired by the next-door-neighbour garden, I have to say, not by some innate gardening skill). We planted seeds according to the heights they might achieve, the amount of sun they would get, the room they would need to grow – and (of course) – the directions on the package!

We were astonished to find that pepper seeds actually look like the seeds you find in peppers; squash seeds look like the seeds you find in squash! Who would have thought? Perhaps we are a little too removed from the cycle of growing things, but it had never occurred to us that those seeds could actually produce ... produce. Incredible.

A few days later, in a spate of good luck, Michelle learnt that there were still some plots going, so she snapped one up, and we headed back to the garden to put topsoil on it and plant some seeds sent to us by Tessa; these included yellow beans, arugula and mixed herbs, savoury and parsley. We left one row fallow (for which some Victorian cucumber plants are now destined!).

One of the things that has gratified me the most about the experience is the community aspect of it all; people who would pass by us anywhere else in the city of Vancouver with nary a word are now cheerfully regaling us with their stories, idle chat and gardening advice. I've heard about new techniques, various strategies and Newfoundland hard tack sea biscuits (mm). It's been great.

It's also great to think of reaping the fruits (or veg!) of our labours – there are already sprouts springing up in little bright green rows on both plots. Unbelievable! We actually managed to start a few seeds on their way. I guess all that rain is good for something after all! I can't wait to see what develops, gain a little gardening knowledge along the way, and hopefully produce some tasty and (very) local meals with our harvest. More to come!

Two exciting steps closer to eating local

2009-05-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

I've spent most of this week in bed and on the couch dealing with a really bad cold and thinking about how to keep myself healthier. Eat more fruits and veggies! More vitamin-rich foods! Get more sleep and exercise! While I was creating this list in my head, two messages arrived in my inbox presenting exciting opportunities towards these ends.

The first was something I had been waiting for hopefully, but not sure if I'd be so lucky – an offer to purchase a share in the Urban Grains CSA. Urban Grains is a community-supported agriculture program. This is their first year of operation and their aim is to demonstrate new possibilities for local eating by providing Vancouver residents with access to grain grown locally in Agassiz.

I had signed up for their email updates many months ago and had been eagerly following their progress as they searched for a farmer to partner with and made decisions about how the CSA would work. I wasn't sure if I had joined early enough to be a part of it this year, so was so excited to be offered a share. At the end of the summer, I'll have in my hands a 20 kg bag of locally grown and milled whole-wheat flour!

I can't even visualize how much flour that is, but I'm sure I'll be packing up some smaller bags to pass on to my local-flour-loving friends and family. In exchange for recipes maybe? I'm going to need to amass a serious collection of whole-wheat bread recipes over the next few months in order to properly put all of that flour to use throughout the year. It's so great the way things come together – just as I've been learning to bake bread and really enjoy it as one of those good-in-every-way things, Urban Grains has success with their initiative and I get to be a part of something really awesome in the community. But so far a lot of the bread recipes I've been lovin' are white flour breads, so please share your favourite whole-wheat recipes with me! And, check out the Urban Grains blog to learn more about the CSA or get your name on a waiting list.

The second exciting email came a few days later – news that I've got a spot in the Davie Village Community Garden! I had previously been told I was on the waiting list, so had given up hope for this year. But management of the garden has changed and I guess they must have increased the number of plots or something because now I'm on the list. Number 94 to be precise, but out of 130, that's no so bad. I'll be going there on Saturday to register and be assigned a plot – so exciting.

And, also a bit scary. I have next-to-no gardening experience. But enthusiasm, passion, and a huge love for fresh local veggies – I've got all that. And a sister and mother who are gardeners-extraordinaire and always willing to answer my pleas for advice via phone. And... a bunch of friends who I think will be happy to get their hands dirty and put their minds together with mine to figure out how to do this, in exchange for a share in my small plot. That's how I'm hoping to do this – make my plot a mini community within the community garden, and see what we can do. I think together we'll be able to have at least some degree of success! So let me know what you think we should grow. Beets are already on the list (for Ryan and Carla, and also because I love them roasted so much), as is chard (suggested by Tessa because it can be harvested leaf-by-leaf as you need it, and because it's so so delicious). What else should we attempt?

So, great news and two important steps toward my slowly-progressing goal of eating locally and being more healthy. And, a small third step – I bought a little rosemary plant earlier this week and it's happily re-potted and chillin' in the sun on my windowsill. My makeshift herb garden begins again. It's going to be an awesome, healthy and happy, summer and fall.

Duck à l'orange…gastrique

2009-04-25T18:05:00.000-07:00

Ah, Wednesday. Sometimes, when it's one's own turn to choose the meal consumed that week, all creative and rational thought flees the head, and meal ideas are found sorely lacking. A few Wednesdays ago it was my choice, and having left the decision late (the day of! tsk tsk!) I 'went to' my new 'go-to' cookbook: Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook. Emphasis on the 'lessons' part of things; the book is comprised of many how-tos (how to 'steam, poach and simmer,' for example, or how to carve a prime rib roast) and recipes that illustrate those how-tos.

All the recipes I'd tried so far had turned out well (particularly a tasty Wednesday wiener schnitzel that I shall have to document here soon), and so when mentions of duck caught my eye, I thought, 'Hey, it might actually be doable!' See, the preparation of duck is one of those things I've always thought left best to the pros, but I've found out how terribly wrong I was.

This should come as no surprise, as I had a phase (though I'm loathe to admit it) where I thought even soup wasn't something made at home, but, of course, after many tasty homemade soups (butternut squash, french onion, hot and sour, tortilla, and broccoli and stilton to mention a few of our more recent triumphs) I concede defeat. Perhaps anything at all can be made at home!

We were about to find out that cooking duck doesn't involve some arcane process that only chefs know about – it is, indeed, poultry, and though there are lots of tasty and slightly more complicated things you can do with duck (confit, Peking), it fries in a pan much like any other meat.

Except with perhaps more fat! Michelle had found us some duck breasts of the specified size (one large breast being about a pound, which would feed two people: we needed to feed five, so purchased two large ones and one smaller one) and Alisha scored them diagonally crosswise on top of their fat layer, making sure not to cut through to the meat. They looked exactly like the ones in Martha.

They rendered a whole lot of fat out on their first introduction to the pan, skin side down (ie. layer of fat side down too). This I manoeuvered out of the pan and into a heat-proof container through a complicated wrist motion that you could only emulate if you held a heavy pan containing three duck breasts and a vast quantity of hot fat.

I read now that Martha recommends a spoon for later transfer of fat. I must say I used the wrist method throughout, but Martha does instruct, right at the beginning of her book, to fully read each recipe through before embarking on any cooking. Which is a fabulous idea, I have to say, simple, but something I often forget to do. The book is really useful as a basic primer, and it spells things out that other cookbook authors often forget. I find Martha's publications often do this, and though some might say they take you too firmly in hand, I'm quite glad they do.

While I was practising my strange hand motions, Michelle and Alisha were making the side dishes. Martha had recommended turnip and a bitter green veg to complement the sweet fruitiness of the duck dish. We made mashed turnip, though not with the traditional milk addition, of course, but with butter instead, and a second delicious side of wilted kale with butter, oil and garlic.

Lastly, Meg made the orange gastrique which accompanied the duck. A gastrique is (according to Wiki): "a thick sauce produced by a reduction of vinegar or wine, sugar, and usually fruit. It is often served over meat or seafood to add a fruit flavor to the dish. It is made in its simplest form by caramelizing sugar and then adding vinegar." Which is precisely what Meg did.

She started out the pan with just sugar, which we watched miraculously caramelize before our eyes, without burning at all. It formed these beautiful sugar dunes. The sugar was cooked until 'uniformly amber,' and then half a cup of (good) red wine vinegar was added, reduced, and finally the orange zest which Meg had julienned and simmered to remove the bitterness. It formed a delicious gastrique, which we poured over the sliced duck breast. It was delicious, and the kale and turnip mash (also something I've never tried) were fantastic too.

Caveat: if you are not a big sweets eater, or dislike mixing sweet and savoury, you'd be better off dolloping the gastrique on the side, and applying it to the duck sparingly. The gastrique can be quite sweet, even with the vinegar. Personally I think sweet sauces on duck are indispensable (orange! sour cherries!), but they're not for everyone. Similarly, I know Martha Stewart puts some people off, but do give this book a chance: it's brilliant, incredibly well thought out in terms of pacing and learning, and gorgeously designed (of course). Funnily enough, it was given to my by my brother Ben, who, on a business trip here in Vancouver, managed to stop by just in time to sample the fruits of his generosity. Lucky him – and lucky us!

Duck Breast with Orange Gastrique
Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cooking School

(To serve two)

1 large duck breast (about 1 pound)
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 orange, zest of one half sliced into julienne, both halves juiced
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup best quality red wine vinegar

Score crosswise (diagonally) through the skin and most of the fat, but avoid the flesh. Season both sides with salt and pepper and place skin-side down in pan on medium-low heat until pool of fat forms. Turn breast over and cook other side for one minute. Pour fat out into heatproof bowl (you can reserve for cooking the most delicious roast potatoes ever).

Continue cooking duck until skin is nicely browned and crisp, 10-12 minutes, spooning off excess fat. Turn duck once more and cook 8-10 minutes until medium rare. Transfer to wire rack to cool, 5-8 minutes.

For the gastrique, bring a small pot of water to a boil, and orange zest and simmer for two minutes, then drain. Heat sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat without stirring. Continue cooking until 'uniformly amber,' about 5 minutes more, swirling the pan slightly when the sugar has started to melt so it can caramelize evenly. Add the vinegar and combine with a wooden spoon, then continue simmering for 5 minutes more, until reduced. Pour in orange juice, add zest, and simmer until reduced to a thick syrup, about 5 minutes longer.

Slice duck crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices, and drizzle with sauce before serving.

Wednesdays can be Julia days after all

2009-04-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

I have to take back what I said before about Wednesdays and Julia days being mutually exclusive. A few weeks ago, it was my turn to choose what to cook for WeDine, and I was at a loss. Before I started aimlessly flipping cookbook pages, I remembered that we have that little neglected "coming soon" list here on our blog – a perfect time to knock something off.

Steak au Poivre seemed more doable than perogies or beef wellington, especially now that I have the perfect reference for it – Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I think this steak must be one of the simplest recipes in the book. I carried the book and a little jar of my cooking Brandy with me to work, we stopped on the way to Alisha's to pick up the very few ingredients needed for the steak and the potatoes and salad we planned to have with it, and without much effort produced a truly perfect meal.

Well, the one kind of effort it did take was following Julia's words carefully. Alisha made fun of me for switching kitchen personalities when Julia's involved, and I will admit I'm a bit obsessed with trying to emulate her methods precisely. Usually I'm much more about creativity than technique in the kitchen. But I realize that when working with a few basic ingredients, it all comes down to technique, and now that I've seen what wonders Julia's methods can produce, I don't want my results to be less than they could be. It's absolutely worth the effort for sauteed potatoes that sublime. Effort and the willingness to exceed healthy levels of butter consumption.

Our steaks came out perfectly, medium-rare, juicy, with tons of pepercorn flavour even though we'd only let them stand with the rub for the minimum half an hour. This was one of the first times I'd made a steak that couldn't have been better in any way. We all agreed that we'd have to make this again for our favourite people who didn't happen to be there that night. This recipe is classic in the very best way. Mmm, brandy sauce.

I've included the recipe below, along with another one of my favourites from the book – Légumes à la Grecque. I've made this simple recipe for vegetables simmered in an aromatic broth over and over again since I got the book. Paired with crostini and soft goat cheese they make an elegant, flavourful appetizer (we served them before Christmas dinner this year) and I've made them as a side for several meals, whenever I'm craving their juicy, herby, lemony taste. I always use red and green peppers and fennel bulbs in the recipe, but Julia includes variations for many other vegetable choices – celery, mushrooms, eggplant, etc. – and really you could use any veggies you like, adjusting the cooking time accordingly. Let me know if you try it with something else and love it – maybe I could be convinced to break my pepper-fennel habit.

So the moral is, don't be afraid to turn to Julia on a weekday. She may be the perfect companion for a Saturday spent in the kitchen with lots of wine and resolve, but she can also come through when you want the definitive version of that perfect simple meal. Speaking of which, I made her whole roast chicken a while ago and it was out of this world. And all the recipe included was chicken and butter. Butter basted on every eight minutes throughout the whole cooking time. That's the secret to heavenly chicken my friends.

Steak au Poive (Pepper Steak with Brandy Sauce)
Adapted from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Serves 4–6 people

2 tbsp mixed peppercorns (any mix of pink, white, green, black)

Crush the peppercorns roughly with a mortar and pestle.

2–2 1/2 lbs steak, about 1 inch thick

Dry the steaks on paper towels. Rub and press the crushed peppercorns into both sides of the meat with your fingers and the palms of your hands. Cover with waxed paper. Let stand for atleast half an hour; two or three hours are even better, so the flavor of the pepper will penetrate the meat.

1 1/2 tbsp butter + 1 1/2 tbsp oil

Put the butter and oil in a heavy skillet just large enough to hold the steaks in one layer. Place over medium high heat unitl you see the butter foam begin to subside (this indicates the fat is hot enough to sear the meat). Saute the steak on one side for 3 to 4 minutes, and regulate the heat so the fat is always very hot but is not burning. Turn the steak and saute the other side for 3 to 4 minutes. The steak is done medium rare (à point) the moment you observe a little pearling of red juice beginning to ooze at the surface of the steak. Another test is to press the steak with your finger; it is medium rare when it just begins to take on a suggestion of resistance and spring in contrast to its soft raw state. If you have any doubts at all, cut a small incision in the steak.

Remove the steaks to a hot platter, season with salt, and keep warm for a moment while competing the sauce (we covered them in foil).

1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp minced shallots or green onions
1/2 cup beef stock
1/3 cup cognac
3 to 4 tbsp softened butter

Pour the fat out of the skillet. Add the first tablespon of butter and shallots or green onions and cook slowly for a minute. Pour in the stock and boil down rapidly over high heat while scraping up the coagulated cooking juices. Then add the cognac and boil rapidly for a minute or two more to evaporate its alcohol. Off heat, swirl in the remaining butter a half-tablesppon at a time. Pour the sauce over the steak and serve.

Légumes à la Grecque
Court Bouillon [Aromatic Broth]
For 1 pound (about 4 cups) vegetables 2 cups water
6 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp minced shallots or green onions

The following, tied in cheesecloth:
6 sprigs parsley including roots if available
1 small celery stalk with leaves or 1/8 tsp celery seeds
1 sprig fresh fennel or 1/8 tsp fennel seeds
1 spring fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
12 peppercorns
6 coriander seeds

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add sliced vegetables and simmer until tender. Then remove with a slotted spoon and serve.

My New Favourite Thing

2009-04-13T16:51:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege of spending this Easter long weekend here in Vancouver with my mom. And as is traditionally done, we ate and drank and cooked and baked for much of the visit. We had a few nice dinners out, but decided to stay in on Friday evening to munch on platefuls of Italian antipasto, which is my new favourite thing to make for guests!

According to Wikipedia, antipasto, or antipasti, means “before the meal” and is the traditional first course of a formal Italian meal. Traditional antipasto includes cured meats, olives, roasted garlic, pepperoncini, mushrooms, anchovies, artichoke hearts, various cheeses (such as provolone or mozzarella) and peperone (marinated small green bell peppers, not to be confused with pepperoni). The antipasto is usually topped off with olive oil.

I prefer to have antipasto as a meal in itself, sort of a late-ish dinner served along with red wine. It's just so simple and tasty and feels super gourmet. Here's my method:

Alisha’s Antipasto

2 red peppers, cut in quarters with seeds and ribs removed
2 yellow peppers, cut in quarters with seeds and ribs removed
1 red onion, chopped into large chunks
1 cup cherry tomatoes, whole
8-10 whole garlic cloves, skin on
1 large eggplant, sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick slices
1 large zucchini, sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick slices
1 bunch thin asparagus spears, ends snapped off

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Arrange all the vegetables in one layer in roasting pans. (Make sure to put the asparagus spears in a separate pan from the other veg.) Drizzle everything with olive oil, and season with coarse salt and pepper. For the asparagus, also add a drizzle of good balsamic vinegar and roll the spears around in the coating.

Add the peppers, onion, tomatoes, garlic, eggplant, and zucchini to the oven to roast.

Remove the eggplant, and zucchini after about 25-30 minutes. (Leave everything else in the oven.) At this point, also add the asparagus spears.

Cook for about 15 minutes and then remove all the vegetables from the oven. (The peppers, onion, tomatoes, and garlic should have been in the oven for about 45 minutes in total.)

Allow the vegetables to cool while you prepare the rest of the food.

Slice up some baguette, and arrange in a large bowl with assorted crackers and breadsticks. Then, place a variety of cheeses on a plate. I stick to sheep and goat cheeses due to my food restrictions, but you can use any cheese of your choice. Finally, arrange some cured meats and olives on a large platter. I often use genoa salami, prosciutto, smoked salmon, garlic shrimp, as well as spicy mixed olives. Once you have the meats and olives arranged, add the cooled vegetables to your platter.

Serve with red wine and enjoy!

Bread update – two unqualified successes and a lesson on the importance of salt

2009-03-29T17:00:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's because it was the only firm resolution I made this year, but I'm feeling like my bread-mastering resolution has brought me great success so far. Focusing on this one mission in the kitchen, obsessively collecting tips from others (my sister, my favourite food bloggers, Martha) and abandoning my usual never make anything twice 'cause that's boring mandate, has allowed me to really seriously improve. And it's only been three months, so I'm excited about all of the experimentation that's still to come.

Here's what has occurred since my last bread update:

I made Martha's Olive Oil Bread again, and it was absolutely perfect. There isn't a single thing I would have changed. Darryl and I devoured the entire gigantic, moist, fluffy, rich loaf in a day and a half.
I also made the Multigrain Rolls again, and with the milk temperature thermometer-tested they rose perfectly. Unfortunately I was so obsessed with getting the milk right that I didn't pay enough attention to the simple task of making sure I added all of the ingredients. I left the salt out! Oooops. But this provided proof of how important salt is to the flavour of bread – the buns were tasty, but didn't have as much pop-in-your-mouth flavour as the first, salted, batch. I'll never forget to add the salt again.
And, I wanted to try making a nice moist whole wheat loaf. This Oatmeal Wheat Bread from Epicurious had lots of good reviews so I decided to give it a try. It was easy and really good. Amazingly good when fresh out of the oven, with butter slathered on. It has a really nice soft crumb, a crunchy crust, and just enough sweetness. I'd definitely make it again.

I've now worked it into my routine to make bread most Sundays. It's starting to feel easy, and I think I'm beginning to have a bit of that bread intuition I've been seeking. Next on the list to try making: the ciabatta and cranberry-rye recipes from Martha Stewart, both of which come highly recommended by my sister. And this Sunday's experiment, a loaf of no-knead bread, is at this very moment cooling on the counter. If all goes well it will be paired with soppresatta, roasted zucchini slices, and Heidi Swanson's Roasted Tomato and Paprika Soup tonight for dinner.

I think what I like so much about making bread is the thrill of being able to create so many different things out of the same few basic ingredients. Who knew that flour, yeast, salt, and water can take on so many different shapes and flavours? This feeling of endless possibilities is always what inspires me in the kitchen, and I didn't realize before that it could apply as much to baking as it does to throwing together a few things for dinner.

And there's an equal thrill that comes from being able to make something that you usually rely on others (professionals!) to make. I had a shining moment earlier this week, when Darryl came home from work and glanced at the counter, where a beautiful loaf of bread I bought at the French bakery was sitting, and asked "Did you make bread?" Nope, not today, but the fact that you assume I made that beautiful thing makes me so happy!

I'll leave you with a couple of recipes: the Multigrain Rolls, as promised earlier, and the heavenly Olive Oil Bread. Hey, we could trade – if you have any favourite bread recipes you think I should tackle on an upcoming Sunday, leave me a link in the comments!

Multigrain Rolls
[Adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook]

Makes 2 dozen

Combine 1/2 cup oat bran with 1/4 cup flaxseeds, cover with 1/2 cup boiling water and let sit until water is absorbed (about 5 min). Set aside to cool completely.

Heat 1 cup milk to 110 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, 1/4 cup honey, and one packet (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast. Let mixture sit for 5–10 minutes, until foamy.

Using an electric hand mixer with dough hooks on low speed, or stirring with a spoon, add 2 whole eggs, 2/3 cup large rolled oats, 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tbsp salt, and the reserved flax and oat bran mixture. Stir/mix to combine. Slowly add all-purpose flour 1/2 cup at a time, until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough. This should take somewhere between 2 and 3 cups of flour.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until springy to the touch, about 3 min. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Generously brush three 8-inch round cake pans with olive oil. Cut the dough into 24 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Place eight balls of dough into each prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small bowl, whisk together 1 egg white and 1 tbsp water. Brush rolls with egg wash and sprinkle with 3 tbsp mixed seeds (sesame, poppy, fennel, or...?) and 1 tbsp sea salt. Bake until dark golden brown on top, 20–25 minutes. Transfer pans to a rack to cool before unmolding.

Olive Oil Bread
[Adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook]

2 cups water, room temperature
1 1/2 pounds (about 4 1/2 cups) flour, plus more for dusting
1 ounce fresh yeast (or an equivalent amount of active dry yeast)
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the bowl
1 tbsp coarse salt
cornmeal, for dusting

Combine water, flour, yeast and olive oil in a large bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Using an electric hand mixer with dough hooks on low speed, or stirring with a spoon, add the salt and mix to combine. Raise the speed to medium and beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl but is still sticky, about 3 minutes.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead it for 1 minute, then transfer to a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Return the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Fold in the following fashion: Fold the bottom third of the dough up, the top third down, and the right and left sides over, tapping the dough after each fold to release excess flour, and pressing down to seal. Flip the dough seam side down on the work surface, and cover with oiled plastic wrap; let rest for about 15 minutes.

Dust a large baking sheet with cornmeal. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. To shape the dough, cup it between your rounded palms; roll it in a circular motion, pulling down on the surface of the dough to form a tight, smooth round. (The bottom of the dough should "catch" or drag a bit on the table as you roll; this will help it take shape). Transfer the round of dough to the prepared baking sheet, and drape with a piece of oiled plastic wrap. Let the dough rest until slightly puffed, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

With the blade of a sharp knife, make four slashes on top of the loaf to form a square. Slide the baking sheet into the oven, and bake until the crust is dark golden brown, about 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Birth of a New Food Word

2009-03-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

Observation: Have you ever noticed there is often one piece of food left on the plate at the end of a meal? A German friend visiting Canada commented that in Germany there wouldn't be anything left on the plate. This is apparently a very Canadian thing. I felt this ubiquitous morsel lacked a name/word and one needed to be created.

Possible Reasons: It is either through politeness or not wanting to seem greedy that we leave this solitary piece of food.

Result: This last piece of food, which all the people at the table probably want to devour, but won't eat for the aforementioned reasons now has a word of its very own.

The Creation Process: the first idea was that this was an orphan piece of food (some thought process brought a french pronounciation to mind - orfin) which somehow led me to dauphin (the name for the french crown prince) when I mashed these two words together I got ophin. When I shared this with others I was asked it if meant "the end" in french) and the final result was: aufin.

The word is: aufin (pronounced as in french, sounds like o-phin).

Go forth, spread our new word. When you see the aufin, exclaim this word and claim the food as yours! (Remember you heard it here first, maybe one day it will make it into the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Desserts to Die For

2009-03-14T21:47:00.000-07:00

As I sit here in my apartment, fresh from the bath, spending a cozy Saturday evening hiding indoors from the rainy weather outside, I find myself longing for a sweet treat. But since I haven't anything sweet stashed in my cupboards, why not instead reminisce of desserts past?

I must admit that I don't have a huge sweet tooth - and truthfully, if given the choice, I'd nearly always prefer a savoury treat over a sweet one - however, there are a few sugary treats that I'd happily include on my list of “desserts to die for.” Namely, chocolate mousse, home-baked pumpkin pie, and absolutely anything containing lemon curd.

Amaretto-Spiked Dairyless Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate mousse is something I've been largely living without for years (along with things like ice cream and creme brulee and cheesecake) due to my allergy to dairy. So, when Meg showed me this recipe from Super Natural Cooking, I was ecstatic. For all you readers who are not dairy impaired, please don't be put off. This mousse is just as good, if not better, than its cream-based counterpart. And the best part: it's so simple! Do be careful though, as it's incredibly rich and therefore best consumed in small quantities.

1/2 cup organic chocolate soy milk
9 or 10 ounce bag of semisweet chocolate chips
12 ounces silken tofu
1/4 cup Amaretto or almond-flavored liquor
1/4 teaspoon natural pure almond extract

Pour the chocolate milk into a small pot and bring to a simmer. Remove the milk from heat and let cool a bit while you melt down the chocolate chips. Place the chocolate chips in a double boiler (I use a large bowl on top of a small pot of simmering water) and gently warm the chips while you stir occasionally until completely melted. Remove from heat.

Add the soy milk and silken tofu to the melted chocolate chips. Process with a hand or regular blender until completely smooth. Stir in the Amaretto and almond extract.

Chill in individual bowls for at least 1 1/2 hours (the longer the better). The pudding will set up nicely as it cools.

Makes 6 decadent servings

Vodka-Crust Pumpkin Pie

I was given this recipe from Claire for a true baking emergency, when I foolishly announced that I'd take on the task of making Thanksgiving Day Pumpkin Pies for two separate dinner parties. And this was foolish because I'd never actually baked a pie from scratch before. Ever. Thankfully, Claire came to my rescue with her tried-and-true Cook's Illustrated recipe, which featured the secret ingredient of Vodka (who would have guessed?) in the crust. And the pies were a huge hit!

Unfortunately, in my last-minute haste, I had to scribble down the ingredients and method onto some small post-it notes, which of course ended up lost in the baking aftermath. But I promise to post the actual recipe once I retrieve it again from Claire.

Meringue Nests with Lemon Curd and Fresh Raspberries

Now, this is truly a summertime dessert, but you can keep it in your arsenal until the sun comes out again.

For a couple of years, meringues were one of the top items on my list of "gotta try making this soon, because I just know it will be so tasty!" and I finally got around to doing so last summer, when my mom was in town for a visit. Unfortunately, the picture doesn't show the amazing lemon curd nestled inside that central well in the meringue, but I assure you that the curd was so perfect in this dessert.

The recipe was taken from my Good Housekeeping cookbook, which I use for almost everything. It's sort of like my go-to-cookbook, when I want to try something new and need a foolproof recipe to get me started. And it never seems to let me down.

Lemon Filling (see below)
Meringue Shells (see below)
1 cup raspberries or strawberries
mint leaves

1. Prepare lemon filling. While lemon filling is chilling, prepare meringues.
2. Spoon lemon filling into meringue shells and top with berries and mint leaves.

Lemon Filling
3 large lemons
1 tbsp cornstarch
6 tbsp butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks

From lemons, grate 1 tbsp peel and squeeze 1/2 cup juice. In saucepan, whisk cornstarch and lemon peel and juice until blended. Add butter and sugar. Heat to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute.

In small bowl, lightly beat egg yolks. Into yolks, beat 1/4 cup hot lemon mixture, then pour egg mixture back into remaining lemon mixture in saucepan, beating rapidly to prevent curdling. Reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture has thickened, about 5 minutes. Pour into medium bowl and press plastic wrap onto surface. Refrigerate about 3 hours.

Meringue Shells
3 large egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 200F. Line cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper. In small bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating until sugar has dissolved. Add vanilla and keep beating until egg whites stand in stiff, glossy peaks.

Spoon rounded teaspoons of meringue into small mounds on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Make well in center of each round to form nest.

Bake until meringues are firm and just begin to colour, about 1 hour. Turn off oven and leave meringues inside for 1 hour or cool completely on wire rack.

Christmas at 145 Rendall Street

2009-03-09T23:45:00.000-07:00

Since it snowed today, that means it's still winter, right? And if it's still winter then it's not too ridiculous for me to just be posting about Christmas food now, right? I don't really know where the past two and a half months have gone, but I couldn't let this post slip by. We invented such a delicious new mash this year that it has to be shared. File it away for next year. Or make it this week to make this weird cold feel a little less wrong.

Pureed celeriac was one of those things I kept hearing about and had never tried making. I was curious. So when we brainstormed ideas for different-but-still-classic sides for our Christmas turkey, I saw an opportunity to finally get celeriac into something, namely, the mashed potatoes. We all got excited about the idea of a mixed mash, and decided to throw in this and that as we went along. It turned out fabulous. Tasting it before dinner, we typed up the recipe right away, knowing it was good enough that it had to be preserved (you'll be happy to know the recipe below has not suffered from spending over two months fading away in my head!).

Merry Mish-Mash
(When I was young, I couldn't say "Merry Christmas" properly, and well, we all knew what this mash needed to be called...)
2 lb Potatoes (baby yukon gold)
2 lb celeriac root
1 parsnip
1 apple (Gala)
1/2 cup (or more as needed) unsweetened almond milk
4 tbsp buter
salt and pepper to taste

1. Chop potatoes, celeriac root, and parsnip into 1/2" cubes. Boil until soft.
2. Cut apple into 1/2" chunks or slices. Heat 2 tbsp butter in a small saucepan. Saute apple until very soft and beginning to caramelize.
3. Using a hand blender or potato masher, mash the cooked veggies and apple together, adding milk and butter until creamy and smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

In the spirit of happy winter memories, I'll leave you with a few photos from our Christmas breakfast. Christmas morning is one thing we never mess with. Each year, my sister makes Panettone from scratch, with organic orange and lemon peel from the Italian Bakery. All you really need to be perfectly happy is this hot out of the oven with butter. So we keep it simple, usually just eggs and oranges on the side. In recent years we've added soy lattes and mimosas. Pure heaven.

Frankly, sometimes the Globe & Mail is just plain wrong

2009-02-25T22:46:00.000-08:00

Not too long after Frank (the new Frank Gehry-designed restaurant at the Art Gallery of Ontario) opened, it received a couple of not-particularly-favourable reviews in the Globe and Mail and soon became a sort of critical pariah, its interior likened to the worst sort of austere modernist structure (a subway platform? really?) and its food generally panned as pretentious and unappealing.

But Sean and I were mostly unaware of the buzz as we met at the AGO for a cultural experience (onto which we just happened to decide to tack a food experience). You may remember Sean from the Country Style post in which I foolishly took a vegetarian to a Hungarian restaurant. He very graciously snapped this picture of me in front of the AGO with my camera phone, and all the photos for this post were taken thusly (sorry for the small size!).

As we had our priorities straight we decided to eat before art, and so headed into Frank to see what was on offer. Sadly we were told that it was booked up into the next week.
Luckily, I spotted two free barstools at the well-stocked bar.

The bar was a great place to have a little lunch, providing a good vantage point and a nice focal point for all the hustle and bustle. It was nice to be a part of things and to chat to a couple of the waitstaff. The design of the bar (and indeed a whole wall) full of shiny glass cubbyholes for hundreds of wine bottles was brilliant. You can see part of it in the picture above.

We started out with some bread that came with a delicious goat butter – it was clearly goat, but not very salty, so there was a small shell filled with sea salt on the table. You can see the butter and salt behind my dish here.

Which was sooo tasty. It was called (okay, possibly a little pretentiously) Still life with pear, pancetta and fig, and it consisted of a pear (poached in my favourite, riesling), with caramelized fig, pancetta and blue cheese (hooray) – a Quebec bleu Benedictin. Mm. A classic combination, but done really well. The presentation was great and the flavours were fantastic.

Sean's dish, was, if possible, even better than mine. It was the soufflé of the day (!), a caramelized shallot and Maple Dale cheddar soufflé with lentil and roasted carrot salad. The soufflé's texture was absolutely perfect, which is hard to achieve! And so flavourful. We shared a side of frites with lemon mayo (really tasty) and quince ketchup (not sure I liked it, but I do like quince).

With lunch I had a glass of Cave Springs riesling, which was a quite nice inexpensive option, and it served me well for dessert too, which I shared with Sean. It was a baked bittersweet warm chocolate pudding with salted caramel sauce and sweet whipped cream. It crossed the sweet-savoury divide with impunity (several times!) and worked well. Sean and I really liked the salt on the caramel sauce and we salted it some more (from the seashell!). If you squint, you can make out the shapes of Sean and my spoons in the foreground as we were about to dig in.

We had some tea to finish the lunch and it came in the loveliest bodum double-glass cups. Mine was an Earl Grey with darjeeling, assam and rose petals. Wish I'd had my proper camera there as it was beautiful.

It's hard to know how some reviewers come to such unfavourable conclusions about a place where you've had a great experience, but perhaps it's because when they go they taste professionally, whereas the average restaurant-goer is having a social experience, and is perhaps more ready to be impressed in terms of food and atmosphere, and the excitement of visiting somewhere new.

Frankly, I thought Frank was a great experience, and well worth a visit. Give it a try and see what you think.

Frank
Art Gallery of Ontario
317 Dundas Street West Toronto
416 979 6688

Molasses and Yogurt Look Pretty Together – A Bread Update

2009-02-17T23:46:00.000-08:00

I haven't become a bread master yet, but there has been some definite progress, so I figured it's time for an update. Before I progressed forward though, I went back – back to one of my old favourites.

There's a quick bread recipe in Mark Bittman's endlessly useful book How to Cook Everything which I used to make often, back in the day before I pledged myself to bread-mastery. It's really easy. Perhaps even easier than cornbread, which is saying a lot, as I'm always shocked at how easy cornbread is. But, I hadn't made it for a while, mostly because it calls for molasses, which hasn't found its way into my cupboard in a long time. What brought the molasses back? Orangette's Chocolate Chip Ginger Molasses Cookies (which are so incredibly good, they've totally revived my interest in making cookies – not the point here, but I wholeheartedly recommend them).

Besides molasses, another attractive ingredient in this quick bread is whole wheat flour. I'm always out of white flour and absolutely rolling in whole wheat flour. Which leads me to try sneaking whole wheat into places it doesn't belong. Like in Italian grape bread, one recent bread mission that failed, I think due to my misguided use of whole wheat:

With part whole wheat flour, the grape bread just didn't have the right texture, didn't taste like a fluffy yummy dessert. I actually had to throw most of it out, which is something I never do. So I'm trying to get smarter with my whole wheat flour decisions. Which means finding recipes that actually call for it. Thus, Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread. This bread is dense, richly flavoured, and a tiny bit cakey with a nice crunchy crust. Over the past week, I paired it with chilli, poached eggs and caponata, and plum-orange jam for different meals – all very successfully. So it's versatile too. It's got everything going for it. I've included the recipe at the bottom of the post so you can get in on the action.

Now that we've discussed my bread failures and regressions of the past month, it's time to talk about what I've actually achieved, what I'm proud of.

First, I bought an oven thermometer! And discovered exactly how big of a lie my oven has been telling me for the past 4 years – a hot 100-degree-sized lie, to be precise. Gasp! Now, I dutifully check the thermometer before even thinking of sliding anything in, and I haven't burned one single thing since. Total success. Thanks Martha!

Second (also Martha-related), I attempted to make Multigrain Rolls, from her Baking Handbook. The result: I kind of screwed them up, but they're still delicious! And, I know what to do to make them right next time.

What went wrong? I killed the yeast by using too-hot milk. I was pretty sure that I had done so right from the beginning, but didn't have enough ingredients left to start over again and really wanted to make these rolls. Solutions? I'm going to add to my thermometer collection with an instant read thermometer to test the temperatures of milk and water before I subject my poor yeast to these warm (not hot!) liquids. I also called my sister to relate my yeast-killing woes, and sought her advice of course. She was familiar with my situation and commiserated that it's really easy to overheat milk (yay, I'm not stupid!). So, two new additions to my list of bread-teachings from Tessa:

With milk, it's better to err on the colder side. If the liquid is too cold, the bread will still rise, it will just take longer. Slower rising is better than no rising at all, I figure! It's such torture to watch bread fail to rise. I leave the house for two hours and return full of hope, only to be so disappointed upon seeing that sad ball of dough looking just like it did when I left...
If you're heating the milk a little less to be safe, it's a good idea to pre-heat the bowl that you'll be mixing the milk and yeast in. This ensures that the milk doesn't loose its heat too quickly. To do this with a stainless steel bowl, just run it under hot water for a few minutes.

Here's what the rolls looked like – not plump but still quite pretty:

My plan now is to try making the rolls again, equipped with this new knowledge. I think one of the things that works against my mission to attain mastery in the kitchen is that I'm always drawn toward experimenting with new recipes and rarely repeat one, at least not soon after enough to be able to build on my experiences. So, I'll restock my ingredients and then make these rolls again. And they will be perfect! Eating the small dense ones of this first batch, I can imagine how heavenly they would taste had they risen – the dough has a wonderful sweet and light flavour despite all of the healthy grains in there (whole wheat flour, oats, oat bran, flax seeds) and they're topped with coarse salt, fennel seeds, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds. This is a recipe it will be worth taking time to master. And speaking of the recipe, I'll post it in my next bread report (hopefully along with photos of a perfectly risen second batch), as this post is already too long – so stay tuned!

In the meantime, here's that quick bread recipe:

Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread
[from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything]
Butter for greasing pan
1 2/3 cups buttermilk or plain yogurt (I used goat yogurt)
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup molasses

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease an 8 x 4-inch or 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
2. Mix together dry ingredients.
3. Stir the molasses into the buttermilk or yogurt.
4. Combine the liquid with the dry ingredients, then pour into the loaf pan.
5. Bake until firm and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about an hour. Cool on a rack for 15 min before removing from pan.

Valentine's Day Roast Leg O' Lamb

2009-02-16T21:07:00.000-08:00

So, this is essentially a shared post, as Chris deserves full credit for the absolute deliciousness of our Valentine's Day roast lamb dinner, however, since I'm the resident blogger here, I'll be recounting the story myself.

This past Saturday night, Chris and I decided to forego the hordes of couples dining out in lush romantic Vancouver establishments, and instead, enjoy a homemade dinner for two at home. Well, that and the fact that we couldn't get a reservation anywhere on two days' notice (which was when we finally thought about making dinner plans). Oops!

Following an afternoon of cross country skiing at Cypress mountain (or mostly falling down, for me), we drove towards Granville Island in a race against time. With only twelve minutes until the market closed (no joke, it was literally 6:48 pm when we parked the car), by some miracle, we managed to purchase a huge 5.5 lb bone-in leg of lamb from Tenderland Meats, roasting potatoes and salad greens from one of the produce shops, a marvelous selection of olives from Duso's, three glorious cheeses including Roquefort, Manchego, and Gruyere from Dussa’s, and last but certainly not least (managing to sneak in an order after closing time) some Finocchiona salami from Oyama, which has fennel embedded in it. Chris is a huge fan of both fennel and salami, so this was truly a special treat for him.

Once home, we began preparing the lamb. Though a very simple recipe, it really brought out the flavour of the meat.

First preheat the oven to 450 F. Then, mix the following together in a mortar and pestle until it becomes a paste:
2 tbsp fleur de sel (or coarse salt)
1 tbsp cracked pepper
1-2 large sprigs of rosemary
5-6 cloves of garlic
1 tin of whole anchovies (about 50 grams)
50 ml olive oil

Cut small holes in the meat with the tip of a knife and stuff each hole with the rub. Smear the remaining paste all over the leg of lamb.

Place the lamb in a roasting pan on an oven rack in the bottom third of the oven. Immediately after placing the lamb in the oven, turn the temperature down to 325 F. The lamb should cook until a meat thermometer reads 125-135 for medium rare and 135-145 for medium. This should take between 1-1/4 hrs and 1-3/4 hrs for a 5-7 lb leg. (Ours took 1-1/4 hrs.)

For sides, we had roast potatoes which were parboiled and placed around the roast about half way through the lamb's cooking time, and brussel sprouts which were steamed and then pan fried in a bit of olive oil. To complete the feast, we made a light spinach salad with a simple olive oil and balsamic dressing. Oh, and Chris also managed to whip up an amazing gravy with the lamb drippings, a bit of stock, a spoonful of flour, and some cracked black pepper.

I've always thought roasting meat to be an incredibly daunting endeavour, but this meal was one of the best I've had in ages. And if I can do it, so can you!

Seafood, four ways

2009-02-15T22:20:00.000-08:00

After a long hiatus from WeDine, I've become ridiculously behind on my posts and am finding it overwhelmingly daunting thinking of how exactly to get caught up. And with each week that passes, more meals are cooked, consumed, enjoyed, and the list just keeps on growing and growing! So, in the interest of killing two birds with one stone here (or more aptly, four recipes with one post), I'm doing some multi-tasking.

Please forgive the somewhat incomplete recipes that follow, as some of them were concocted a while back. Though I can tell you that all four were delicious, so I urge you to test them out soon.

1. Fisherman's Stew: a heartwarming meal for any day of the week

6 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, sliced
1 red pepper, seeded and sliced
4 oz cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 lb canned whole tomatoes
pinch of salt and pepper
pinch of dried thyme
430 ml water
2 lbs white fish fillets, cut into large pieces (we used a combination of red snapper, cod, sole, and also threw in a few large shrimp, for good measure)
140 ml dry white wine of your choice
2 tbsp chopped parsley

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and add the onions. Cook until beginning to look transluscent.

Add the pepper, mushrooms and the tomatoes and bring mixture to the boil.

Add thyme, salt and pepper and water and simmer about 20 mins.

Add all the fish (and shrimp) and the wine and cook until the fish flakes easily, about 15 mins. Stir in parsley.

You should serve this stew quite simply, either with toasted french bread, or as we did, atop a bowl of brown rice.

2. Steamed Mussels: summer decadence on a budget

This was the first time I'd ever attempted homemade mussels, and it was a true success! Unfortunately, I didn't record the recipe at the time, and am now at a bit of a loss. Here's what I remember:

Buy fresh mussels from your local fishmonger (we went to Seven Seas on 4th Ave in Kits). We bought approximately 1 lb of mussels per person (and if you can believe it, the cost was only about $20 total for four people).

Clean and debeard the mussels (if not already done). Throw away any that are open and that don't close when you tap them.

Put about 2 tbsp oil, 1 chopped white onion, and 2 crushed cloves of garlic into a large lidded saucepan and cook over low heat until onion is transparent.

Add 3 large diced tomatoes, 1 bay leaf, 1 finely sliced fennel bulb, and sea salt, and simmer for about 10 mins.

Pour in about 1 cup of white wine, bring sauce to the boil, and add the mussels. Cover with lid and cook for a few mins, shaking the pan a few times.

Check that all the mussels have opened (throw away any that are still closed) and spoon them into large bowls. Sprinkle with chopped flat leaf parsley and serve with crusty bread and a green salad.

3. Shrimp Tacos: a quick and easy weekday dinner

This one was a throw-together-whatever-I-had-on-hand recipe, so I'll try my best to remember what I threw in.

Essentially, all you have to do is sautee some shrimp in a bit of olive oil, and add salt, pepper, a few chili flakes, and a pinch of cumin. Remove the shrimp when they are pink throughout, and in the same saucepan, sautee some diced red pepper and mushrooms. Then, warm a couple of flour tortillas and spoon on the following: red pepper and mushroom mixture, tomato salsa, a few slices of avocado (or homemade guacamole if you're feeling especially motivated), fresh corn kernels (or canned if you don't have fresh on hand), cooked shrimp, and a squeeze of lime juice. Roll up and enjoy!

4. Coconut Prawns: a cocktail party pleaser

4 egg whites
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
2/3 cup vegetable or peanut oil
1 to 2 lbs large raw prawns, peeled and deveined, tails intact (I used tiger prawns)
sweet chili sauce, for dipping
lime wedges, to serve

Whisk egg whites in a bowl until light and fluffy. Put flour and coconut onto two separate plates. Heat a deep pan and add oil. Toss prawns in flour, dip them in egg whites, and finally roll them in coconut. When oil is hot, fry prawns a few at a time until golden brown on each side. Drain prawns on paper towels and serve with chili sauce and lime wedges.

Two Christmas Favourites

2009-02-08T01:15:00.000-08:00

How happy was I, when, before I arrived in England for the Christmas season, my dad told me that my stepmum had purchased a full wheel of Stilton cheese for our family's post-meal enjoyment? Even happier when it turned out to be this lovely cheese here:

Ah, Hartington! One of the best producers of Stilton. Stilton is one of the few products in England that has successfully won PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status, awarded by the EU to recognize a food that is representative of the place from which it originates. As the BBC describes it, the food 'must owe its characteristics to area.'

If that sounds familiar to the French system of appelation d'origine controlée or even terroir (the idea that a food derives its special characteristics from the land it's grown on and the unique local techniques and ingredients that are used to create it) that's because the concept of PDO was based on those French ideas.

Other foods that have won PDO or PGI (Protected Geographic Indication) status in the UK include Single Gloucester cheese and West Country Farmhouse cheddar, Cornish clotted cream, Shetland lamb and Arbroath Smokies (Scottish smoked haddock), Whitstable oysters and Hereford cider.

To meet PDO guidelines, Stilton has to conform to the following:

* the cheese has been made by a licensed dairy located in Derbyshire, Leicestershire or Nottinghamshire
* the cheese has been made to a traditional recipe from locally produced milk that has been pasteurised before use
* the cheese has been allowed to form its own crust
* the cheese has never been pressed

These make a true Stilton. Tasting the results is evidence of the usefulness of the system in action, as it ensures that Stilton cheese (and other protected foods across Europe) will always have the level of quality that you expect them to.

The Hartington Stilton was delicious. I know many of you may have issues with enjoying blue cheeses, but a good Stilton can be incredibly creamy, crumbly and not too acridly sharp (although the robustness of blue cheese is one of its most wonderful characteristics!).

The wheel came wrapped in paper and encased in an aerated cardboard box, which made opening it after dinner feel like unwrapping a gift every night. You can see all the holes where the stainless steel needles pierced it in order to allow air in to form the beautiful blue veins that run through a good stilton.

Sadly I have no good pictures of the cheese cut open, but trust me, if you haven't tried a good English Stilton on a biscuit after dinner (with a little glass of port) you don't know what you're missing! If you're not a fan of blue cheese you can temper it by using it in recipes such as Stilton and broccoli soup or Meg's recipe for delicious blue cheese burgers here (there are some great sheep & goat cheese blues! Try roquefort, also PDO-protected).

Is there a similar system for food protection in Canada, I wondered? I found the VQA (Vintners' Quality Alliance) at work in both Ontario and BC, that ensures that wines "follow standards throughout the winemaking process that govern content, processes and additives" (according to their website). Apparently there are 20 wine stores that solely carry VQA wines in BC (check it out here.) I haven't found anything out about protected cheeses or other foods here yet. Are there some in Quebec? Is oka a protected cheese for example? If anyone knows more, do comment!

My other Christmas indulgence (well, one of my other indulgences) is Christmas cake. As you may know from previous posts, my stepmum makes a delightful Christmas cake, infused with much alcohol over a couple of months prior to the holidays. Like the Stilton, I slowly made my way through it over the week and a half that I was in Devon. I know that fruitcake is also not everyone's cup of tea, but it's certainly mine, especially when it's so moistly fruity and richly treacly.

But my stepmum showed me the scrimping-and-saving recipe for Christmas cake that her grandmother concocted during the Second World War, and I'm trying to imagine how it might taste. During the war (and indeed until 1954 in England) some fairly severe food rationing was in effect, and luxuries like butter, sugar, meat, tea and biscuits were in short supply. Ration books were handed out, and long lines were commonplace.

Margarine was often a substitute for butter, and it is here. The recipe calls for ingredients like margarine, dried egg, marmalade and orange squash. At the bottom it says cream, but I think that means to cream the ingredients together. In any case, cream was also in short supply, as Jenny's grandmother also lists a wartime recipe for 'mock cream' which calls for a combination of milk and margarine.

I wonder what it would have tasted like? Looking at a modern recipe for Christmas cake, such as one by Delia Smith or Nigel Slater, the sheer variety required to make a tasty cake is fairly impressive. What would a cake made with such restricted quantities and ingredients have been like? It's hard to imagine when we now have such easy access to so many global ingredients.

Certainly something to think about. I have to say it filled me with new appreciation for the sweet luxuries of Christmas.

Old school quick dinner + new cornbread variation

2009-02-03T22:31:00.000-08:00

A couple of Wednesday's ago, it was my turn to menu plan, and I wanted to keep it simple (as we usually do!). So I went back to my old recipe box, with those classic lined recipe cards, most of which I copied from my Mom's recipes way way back in the day when I was just starting to think about cooking. And I found one that I haven't made in years, but which I have yummy memories of eating around the family dinner table as a kid – a warm salad of Moroccan chicken strips and greens. I don't know if Mom made this a lot, or just one or two memorable times, but either way I was eager to bring it back.

The salad is extremely quick and easy to put together, and both the dressing and the marinade are super-flavourful – bright, tangy, and fresh tasting. To balance out the healthy salad with some carb-y goodness, we made cornbread too.

I love cornbread, and make it all the time (another classic recipe from Mom, this one written in the recipe notebook she made me years ago) because it's so incredibly quick. Sometimes I add chipotle puree, which is great, but that's as much as I had messed with cornbread before this. Maybe I was inspired by my sister's cornbread experimentation (we had an awesome one of hers over Christmas, with pieces of fresh corn and an assortment of ancient grains), or maybe it was an attempt to make this basic recipe more Wednesday-worthy... One way or another, sundried tomatoes and cilantro made their way into the batter before baking.

The tomatoes were awesome – chopped in large-ish pieces, they provided a chewy, intense flavour hit. The cilantro was a bit underwhelming, I thought. It looked pretty, dotting the bread with bright green, but somehow its flavour got lost in the mix. I think next time I'll try blending it with a bit of oil, and maybe garlic, first, and then stir it through the batter pesto-like. Do you think that will work better? Any other ideas?

Try the salad recipe – my verdict was that it's definitely tasty enough to make it in to my regular repertoire of quick healthy meals. Score!

Warm Salad with Moroccan Chicken
Marinade:
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of cayenne

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 tbsp olive oil
4 cups mixed salad greens

Dressing:
3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
pinch cayenne

3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1. In a medium bowl, combine marinade ingredients. Add chicken strips and stir to coat well. Marinate 1/2 hour at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge.

2. Just before serving, heat oil in a wok or non-stick skillet. Add chicken strips. Stir fry until chicken is cooked through.

3. In a small bowl, combine dressing ingredients. Toss with greens. Arrange chicken on top of greens and sprinkle with cilantro.

Five reasons why Twisted Fork is my new favourite brunch place

2009-01-26T22:16:00.000-08:00

1. They've got a coffee gimmick almost as good as Locus' – maybe better. When you order coffee at Twisted Fork, they bring you your very own French press and leave it at your table. When it gets anywhere close to empty, they bring you a fresh one. So although it's not a bottomless Americano (like at Locus), it is bottomless and what makes it better, to me, is that it's right at your table whenever you want it. Pouring my own coffee makes me happy for some reason. So homey.

2. They offer many convincing reasons to break into the booze early. I usually find it pretty easy to avoid the drinks part of a brunch menu, as I'm so caught up in my love for runny-yolked eggs, crispy potatoes, and coffee. But Twisted Fork's brunch drinks are the kind that make you go, "Whoa, that sounds so good! Wait, so does that... oh my god, I have to try that." I was pulled in many directions but finally decided that the "Twisted Mary" would be the most rejuvenating. And it was so good. I usually prefer a Caesar to a Bloody Mary, but this one had enough surprises to win me over – the usual vodka and tomato juice, plus red wine, balsamic vinegar, and spices. Sounds a little bit weird, right? I wholeheartedly vouch for its deliciousness. And, I had a sip of Mike's "Brutus," their version of a Caesar, and it was equally awesome.

3. The atmosphere is the exact opposite of the rough and dirty treeless deadzone surrounding it on Granville Street. It's so warm and homey inside. I was really surprised the first time I entered – expecting the slick, thinks-it's-cooler-than-it-is look that most of the little places along Granville have. It seems to be either cheesy lounge or diner on this stretch, and Twisted Fork is neither. It feels urban and stylish, but also warm and comfortable. It reminds me a little of Barney's across the bridge in South Granville, but it's really got its own thing going on. And, the servers are super-friendly in the way that they actually feel like your friends.

4. There's spinach on my plate! And baked beans! And roast tomatoes! Really tasty, healthy extras set their meals apart from the boring usual. I couldn't get over how good the baked beans that came with my chorizo benny were (and they're vegan too!). Still, the sauteed spinach and roasted tomatoes that came along side my scrambled eggs with asparagus the week before made that dish my favourite I think. Every piece of the meal is great – the potatoes are done as rosti, grated and fried, and the thick-cut sourdough toast is total perfection.

5. I've been looking for this place for years! After just two visits, it feels like I've found my regular brunch place in the 'hood. Try it out (and invite me along): Twisted Fork Bistro, 1147 Granville Street

Wright Brothers Oysters

2009-01-12T18:37:00.000-08:00

Not too far from Borough Market, the incredible food market on the south side of London Bridge, lies a fantastic oyster restaurant, Wright Bros. There I was to be found last July, watching the life of the market from Stoney Street, waiting for my brother Ben and his friends to show up for our dinner reservation, when I spotted the above sign. What a great find, I thought. I love this poor little pig, resigned to display his own wares - which look incredible, by the way. Lots of great traditional British foods there.

Ben, Nancy and Christine were all late. Should I forgo oysters for a pease pudding or a Lancashire hot-pot, I thought? Luckily the charcuterie place was closed, so I never had to make that delicious but agonizing decision. I headed inside Wright Bros for a pre-dinner pint and incidentally had a good chat with the bartender about the works of Timothy Findley (once he found out I was Canadian due to spotting the maple leaf temporary tattoo that I had gotten at the Canada Day celebrations at Trafalgar Square).

Sitting at our table sipping my drink, I realized all the food that the waiters were whooshing past with looked absolutely fantastic, so I was quite mollified about the lack of pease pudding. Here's the view from my seat.

Luckily everyone showed up at this point, or I might have been forced to order an appetizer like this one. Alright, this is mine - and Ben's.

It was really tasty - spicy harissa prawns that were massive, and as you can see, fully intact. I've never had to peel so much prawn before, and I thought it would be difficult, but it wasn't too bad, really. Nothing like as difficult as the langoustines I would have the next month in France (more on that in another post). And they were well worth the work.

Nancy and Christine shared these lovely-looking Provencale scallops with basil and tomatoes for a starter.

Here are the Tran sisters, waiting for the oysters to arrive. We'd ordered 24 of them between the four of us, so they were fairly excited.

And the stars of dinner finally arrived! There were four kinds, though I must admit that I only remember that I much preferred the Duchy of Cornwall oysters to the others. They had such a deliciously creamy texture. I hope all of you out there love oysters as much as I do - or, as in Ben's case, more! It was his birthday dinner, after all.

I do wish I knew more about oyster selection - or indeed, could afford to indulge in them more often. Ah well. I shall have to live in the memories. Anthony Bourdain's memoir Kitchen Confidential has a fantastic section on his memories of eating oysters fresh from the sea in France after prising open the shells with a little knife. I'd love to be able to do that. I think I see a field trip in WeDine's future - well, at least to Rodney's Oyster House in Vancouver.

Nancy and Christine had some stuffed crab and some fantastic-looking fish soup for their mains. Ben then had a craving for even more oysters, so he ordered a beef, oyster and ale pie - which came with oysters on the side. Of course. I helped him through it.

Here we are post dinner. A classic photo.

Nancy finished with a cheese plate, and I had some strawberries and cream, which were just light and perfect enough to complete such an exemplary meal.

Oysters, anyone?

Wright Bros Oyster and Porter House
11 Stoney Street, Borough Market, London
wrightbros.eu.com
0207 403 9554

Resolution #1: become a bread master, with a little help from Martha and my sister

2009-01-10T14:14:00.000-08:00

I love making resolutions. Every January I have such a craving to be productive after the laziness of the holidays, and it's great to feel like my motivation and willpower are endless for once. And so, I've told myself I will learn how to bake bread.

I've made bread before of course – baguettes, French bread, herb bread, even bagels. Some of these have been delicious, but overall, I just don't feel very capable at this kind of thing. My bread never rises as much as I'd like, and it often doesn't come out with quite the right texture. It's no surprise that I'm not a natural at this, as I don't really like to be careful and precise in the kitchen. But, I want to make perfect delicious bread! And I want to develop that kind of bread intuition I see others with that I imagine will make it feel natural and easy.

My sister Tessa seems to always know just what to do when it comes to bread. Every Christmas morning she makes a heavenly panettone that I'm still dreaming about here on January 10. And whenever I call to ask her questions in my moments of bread panic, she makes it all sound so easy and common sense. So, she's my bread model. Over the holidays, I meant to make bread with her, to absorb some of her genius by watching, but we never got around to it. While I was despairing about this missed opportunity on our last day together, she disappeared and came back offering a large orange book. "You can borrow this to get started while we're apart" she said. The book is Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, and it boasts many of Tessa's favourite bread recipes.

I started with the one she gushed the most about: Olive-Oil Bread. And I leaned a few things:

Use fresh yeast. You know how I said my bread never rises as much as it should? Well, I checked the expiry date on the traditional dry yeast I had in the fridge – it expired in 2007. Ack! I'd been using that all year... Tessa said to always try proofing a little yeast before you start making the bread, just to make sure your yeast is still active. I'm going to make this a habit now. I bought new yeast, and this bread rose like crazy. I kept calling Darryl over to marvel at how huge it was.
Be sure about the temperature of your oven. My oven sucks. I know this, and yet I haven't really made much effort to overcome its problems. For starters, it's tiny and has only one rack, but I guess I can't do much about that. Worse, it always burns everything. This bread was supposed to bake for 35 minutes. After about 15 or 20 minutes, the faint smell of burning became real enough that I had to leap up off the couch and pull it out of the oven prematurely. The outside was beautiful and browned, as you can see in the photo at the top, but the inside was still doughy in places. So, even though it was really delicious, it definitely wasn't perfect. Martha mentioned something in the intro to the book about using an oven thermometer to make sure that it has reached the right temperature before you put anything in. And that's what I'm going to do – first chance I get I'm going to buy an oven thermometer and find out how much my oven has been lying to me. 'Cause I have a feeling it's hot hot hot.
If it's burning too much, cover it in foil. Of course I called Tessa and related my successes (it rose so awesomely!) and failures (it's part doughy, part burnt), and she provided this last lesson. Apparently if you find yourself with a loaf that's starting to burn when you're quite sure it's not cooked through, you can just wrap it in foil and put it back in the oven. She also said that bread likes descending temperatures, so another thing you can do is turn the oven off and leave the bread in to finish cooking as the oven cools off. See, I just need to learn what bread likes, and then I'll be good.

I'm sure these three lessons are the first of many, which I'll continue to relate here as I make progress on my resolution. Thanks Martha and Tessa! Next I'm going to try ciabatta, probably tomorrow as I think I'm going to make Sunday bread-making day, along with be-productive-on-all-my-art-projects day – see, all the resolutions fit together into one beautiful whole. Rise, draw, rise, draw, bake.

If I can pull it all off, I'll be this happy every day:

Mmmm Maki!

2008-12-28T09:45:00.000-08:00

I just had the most delicious maki roll - Beef Enoki Maki. It is a thin strip of marinated grilled beef wrapped around a little bundle of enoki mushrooms. I have no clue exactly how it was done but it was scrumptious. There was also a side cucumber salad which had been lightly pickled in a sweet vinegar. (The picture above closely resembles ours but i didn't have a camera so this is a simulation - our enoki looked a bit more spritely)

We also sampled the beef and chicken satay - tender-melt-in-your-mouth with a savory sauce; chiang mai noodles with shrimp - good heat and great texture; ginger chicken - lots of tasty veg; and panang beef curry - fragrant sweet spicy. MMMmmmmm. This was delicious, it's one of those meals you wish you could eat every day.

My Dad and Stepmom took me out to this Japanese Thai place called JJ in Mississauga. It's in a small plaza which you would never notice unless you looked for it. It has great food, a great atmosphere and reasonable prices. Their website doesn't do them justice (no offense)so if you are ever passing by, try them out.

A Hearty Bake for Cold Wintry Nights

2008-12-16T02:04:00.000-08:00

This is perfect meal for the short, winter days when you need a hearty, comforting meal or on a relaxing weekend.

The original recipe came from Jamie Oliver and called for cherry tomatoes but because of their price (4 lbs = $25) we decided to go with $8 worth of romas. This change will account for the extra time needed for baking the tomatoes - romas have a great deal more moisture to cook out.

This recipe has great flavour - savoury-sweet, rich herby tomatoes, pork sausages and light mashed potatoes - but there are a few things I would change. I found the sausages a bit tough so the major change I would make from the method below is to bake the tomato mixture by itself without the sausages for 30-40 minutes. Then, Add the sausages in for the next 20-30 minutes. The original method is shown below.

Tomato and Sausage Bake

4 lbs tomatoes, romas - quartered
Several sprigs of thyme, rosemary
2 bay leaves
5 garlic cloves, chopped
12 sausages - Italian pork are best, prick each one with a fork a couple of times
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt, pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. In a large roasting pan, spread the quartered tomatoes over the bottom of the roasting pan
3. Add the herbs, garlic and sausages
4. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over everything
5. Season with salt and pepper
6. Stir, make sure sausages are on top
7. Put in oven for 20-30 minutes
8. Turn sausages over and bake another 20-30 minutes
If the tomatoes are too thin, remove sausages and return to oven until cooked to the desired consistency is reached
9. Remove bay leaves and herb sprigs, serve

Served on a tasty bed of mashed potatoes.

Happy Eating!

Ode to Two Brown Bettys

2008-12-14T20:44:00.000-08:00

After 12 years of love and thousands upon thousands of cups of tea, my Brown Betty is no more. An unfortunate fall by a fleur de sel jar has been the end of my teapot - she served me well.

From this sad experience, I have discovered the beauty which resides inside a well-loved teapot. It is beautiful inside - the reddish brown tones, scratches through the tannin-stained surface, the cleanness of the break almost right down the middle. I was inspired by this and thought I would share it with you.

We had been making do without a Brown Betty to help us for many months when unexpectedly Laura found us our new Brown Betty. On our WeDine girls' weekend away in Birch Bay (WeDine + honorary members), during an afternoon shopping excursion in a strange little shop, a totally different but equally great Brown Betty called to us.

Our new Betty is a deep chocolate brown almost (black in some light), she is more rotund with a larger capacity and a slower pour. We are now enjoying tea daily.

I am trying to find out where the term 'Brown Betty' comes from but didn't find any online references to its origins. The most I have found is that the clay used in these teapots from Stoke-on-Trent, England since the 1690s is a deep red colour which retained heat better than any other materials available, so maybe the firing turns it a brown colour along with the brown glaze originally applied. But what about the Betty part? If you know where this reference originated, let us know.

Here's hoping this one serves us as long as my first.

I've solved the chorizo mystery! With a little help from my Wine Library TV friends.

2008-12-11T22:07:00.000-08:00

You may think we know what we're doing, but quite often on a Wednesday we stumble across things we don't really know, even between the four of us. Unbelievable! This week, it was chorizo that threw us for a loop.

We all eat chorizo, and love it, but after failing to find it at the grocery store, buying spicy Italian sausage instead, traipsing into the meat store as an afterthought and dirtying their just-mopped floors only to leave without buying anything, we confessed to each other that we weren't sure what the deal is with chorizo being cooked or not. Whenever I buy chorizo it's cooked, or cured – whatever has been done to it you can slice it up and snack on it right away. But when we order tacos at Lolitas or El Taco, the chorizo has the texture of ground beef and has obviously been cooked from a raw sausage. And that's what we needed for our Wednesday recipe (chorizo, yam, and pickled onion fajitas). Well, we cooked up our spicy Italian sausage, seasoning it to approximate the flavour of chorizo (it actually tasted very close – excellent seasoning Alisha!), and the fajitas were delicious. But our question remained unanswered.

Until now. Just a few minutes ago, I was procrastinating my Christmas crafting and decided to check out Wine Library TV, a wine tasting vlog that I love. And, Gary, the host, must have heard our questions as we walked back to Alisha's from the meat shop on Wednesday, because his most recent episode answers our exact question! And, as a bonus, tells us what wine to drink with our chorizo next time.

I'll reveal the secret: he says Spanish chorizo is cooked (fermented, cured, and smoked), and Mexican chorizo is raw.

There, no more mystery. But you should still watch the episode below, because it's funny, it includes one of my favourite cheeses (manchego), and Gary says the awesomest things and demonstrates how fun wine tasting is. Watch it, if only to hear him describe his first experience of tasting cilantro – he says it tasted "like devastation," ha ha. Enjoy! You might get hooked... and decide you need to devote your life to wine tasting and chorizo eating.

How to Pop a Joyful Snack

2008-12-09T00:56:00.001-08:00

As a kid, my mom and aunts would make popcorn in a pot. What an exciting food, you put little yellow kernels in a pot, heat it up and they explode - Ping ping pop pipipipi - into lovely butterflies and mushrooms, with the odd old maid left at the bottom (unpopped kernels). I love popcorn terminology!

As a teenager, our family dabbled in microwave popcorn, but luckily, I have rediscovered the pot-made method since then and have never looked back.

Here is what to do:

1. In a pot with a lid, heat a mixture of olive oil and canola oil over medium-high, enough to cover the bottom of the pot (I find canola oil alone leaves the popcorn flavourless and using only olive oil overpowers the butter/flavour at the end). For one person, usually 1/4 cup of kernels is a good serving, for more people make sure your pot is big enough and multiply.

2. When oil is ready, pour in kernels, put the lid on and swirl to fully coat the kernels (drop in a test kernel - if little bubbles form it's ready).Now just wait for the popping to start

3. When the pinging slows (2-3 seconds between pops), take it off the heat.
As you can see i put a little too much in this pot, the picture below is 1/3 cup.

4. Pour these lovely puffs into a bowl and dress with your favourite flavours.

5. Eat with abandon!

My three favourite flavourings are: Drizzled with delicious melted butter and sprinkled with salt, Drizzled with balsamic or white vinegar and sprinkled with salt (this combo is not just for potato chips) or the rebar recipe meg makes (Meg can you post this recipe we don't seem to have it on the blog yet - it must be an oversight.).

In the UK, popcorn is loved in the theatre salted and sweet. I'm not sure if the sweet is sprinkled with sugar or if it a buttery style syrup. I know it's not caramel corn. This might be interesting to try.

Does anyone know how it is made? Has anyone tried it this way?

Try your own flavourings - maybe cumin, curry, crushed wasabi peas, a sprinkle of sugar, hot sauce, a little juice from the pickle jar. Or try a tasting of every flavour you can think of, you don't have to commit to a whole bowl of one flavour.

Try out a new popcorn flavour next time you pop!

Anatomy of a charcuterie plate

2008-12-05T11:06:00.000-08:00

On Friday night I put together this tasty plate of charcuterie items for Michelle and I, to keep us occupied as we waited for my three-hour chicken to cook (low and slow!) and some potatoes to roast. You can't really go wrong with a charcuterie plate (see, for example, the delicious tiny morsels c5 gave me here). If you pick out an assortment of meats and a couple of other foods to balance them, pile them all on a substrate of some kind (we used Carr's table water crackers) and swill a little alcohol alongside (we opted for Michelle's all-time favourite, cider), then you're set.

From the far left, and continuing around the plate in a sort of meandering way which I hope will be easy enough to pick up:

A duck and fig paté
A blue cheese flavoured with blackberry port from the Okanagan
A few slices of coppa, a Neopolitan salume (cold cut) of pork shoulder (also called capicola) – look at that marbling!
Three delicious figs
Some finocchiona, a Tuscan salume of finely-ground pork and fat mixed with fennel – so tasty!
The largest slices were saucisson secs, a French dry-cured sausage that Michelle, Ben and I tried this summer as part of a nighttime pique-nique upon the Champ de mars in Paris – the Eiffel Tower was covered in massive blue stars to commemorate France's temporary stewardship of the EU, and was absolutely gorgeous!

And finally, some spicy Hungarian kolbász (sausage), which was my favourite. I can't quite say why, but the spiciness was perfect, and I could have eaten far more than those meagre slices you see there. Ah well! It was a fantastic charcuterie assortment, and quite enough for two, as you can probably tell.

An addendum to our charcuterie revel is that the next morning in the Globe & Mail's Style section, the food columnist Lucy Waverman listed 'fine charcuterie' as one of her Christmas desirables and called it a 'hot trend in home entertaining right now'! Ah, Lucy, how right you are!

New Pho restaurant in the 'hood, or, the good things in life

2008-12-04T23:01:00.000-08:00

Tonight, after yoga class, sitting in a tiny room on Davie Street, I got to think one of my favourite thoughts. This is going to be one of my new favourite places! When I'm sitting in a restaurant thinking this, I'm really excited. I get distracted and stop listening to my companion (sorry Darryl!), overtaken by the yummyness and promise of many meals ahead.

Walking to the restaurant, we realized it's been ages since we've had Pho. Years maybe. Which is crazy 'cause I love it. I think maybe I stopped because I ruined too many shirts with broth and chili oil splatters, hmm. I guess I was ready to take the risk again. And I'm so happy I did.

I ordered the Curry Chicken Soup (after a really tough decision, as there are so many different kinds of soup on the menu, and they all sound soooo good). It was a huge bowl – as to be expected with Pho – filled with rice vermicelli, a whole chicken leg and thigh (the meat so tender and pulling off the bones), sweet potato cubes (a happy surprise!), smooth curry broth rich with coconut milk, and the pleasantly interactive plate of bean sprouts, lime wedges and jalapeno slices on the side. Mmm, and I ate it all. I added some extra hot sauce, and miraculously kept my shirt clean. I slurped carefully, thinking about how a big bowl of soup like this is definitely one of the ultimate good things in life.

This place is a cozy little room, softly lit and filled with diverse chatter, the staff are really sweet, and it's $6.95 for a totally satisfying meal in a bowl. I can't wait to go back.

Chili Gonzalez: A Three-Hour Chili in One-and-a-half Hours

2008-11-30T23:56:00.000-08:00

I am really into making meals in a single pot or pan lately. I have been investigating recipes which will have tons of flavour but don't require too much attention. Chili is something I never had growing up, but I have wanted to try it for some time.

The single pot style of recipe is perfect for our Wednesday Dinners because we can cook something delicious and still have lots of time to visit without spending all night in the kitchen. The recipe (below) is a mash up of several recipes I found, including Macleid's Rockcastle Chili from Joy of Cooking. Alterations include: halving the recipe (because it just seemed like too much food), using Guinness instead of just any old dark beer (because nothing has more flavour than Guinness) and adding delicious paprika to the spice mixture (because it's delicious).

The rest of these Guinesses accompanied our meal as the beverage of choice.

Since we made this recipe for WeDine, Laura and I have made this again using ground beef but we both liked the round steak/pork version better. Due to our Wednesday time constraints we only simmered for one and a quarter hours but you could add some extra liquid (guiness, beer, or water) and simmer it longer for even more flavour. Let us know if you have any tips or tricks of your own for chili. This fed 4 hungry women and one hungry man (special guest) two portions. My title alludes to Speedy Gonzalez, the quick Mexican mouse from Looney Tunes, who alway evaded Sylvester the cat by being extra fast. Andale Andale Arriba! Make the chili below as quick as you can, flavour awaits.

1 lbs round steak (cubed)
1/2 lb ground pork
2 onions (chopped)
3–4 garlic cloves (chopped)
1 – 500ml can of Guinness or dark beer
2 – 16 oz cans tomatoes including liquid
1 – 16 oz can kidney beans - drained & rinsed
salt & pepper to taste

3 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 tbsp black pepper

1. Mix spices together
2. Mix steak and pork with spice mixture. We ended up with the cubes of steak partially encased in pork. We also accidentally doubled the spice mixture from the quantity above – which was a bit too spicy. (adjust to your liking)
3. In a stock pot, heat a couple tbsp of olive oil on medium-high heat and soften the onions, add the garlic just before starting the meat
4. Brown the meat in batches, to seal the outside but not to fully cook through
5. Once all the meat has been browned, deglaze the pan with the can of Guinness or other dark beer – be sure to get all the flavour off the bottom of the pan
6. Stir in tomatoes, beans
7. Simmer on medium or medium-low for 1–1.5 hours, stirring occasionally

A little Country Style in the big city

2008-11-29T13:48:00.000-08:00

It was the beginning of September and the sun was shining fairly spectacularly on Canada's largest city when I met up with Sean, former west-coaster and newly-minted Torontonian for some culture-vulturing and sustenance in the Annex (the area around Bloor and Bathurst).

The photo above gives you an idea of where our journey ended – at Riverdale Farm market in the park of the same name, where I saw this beautiful table o' tomatoes of every shape, size and colour. I love that the tablecloth is also all tomatoes. Click on the photo to see it all up close.

You'll have to imagine the shafts of sunlight slanting through the leafy green trees and the little kids running gleefully through water fountains one of these cold rainy days if you need a little cheering/warming up. As I remember, Sean bought some peaches, and it was a lovely place to end an afternoon. But where did we start?

I snapped this photo just out of the subway – at Honest Ed's, of course, a Toronto institution. I love the forms of those letters. I guess they slot a different price next to the items as costs change. But what a good deal on bread, hey? Or should I say, eh?

I was on Bloor to meet Sean at Country Style Hungarian restaurant, another Toronto institution, and a family favourite of Alisha's. Now, if you say 'Country Style' to most Torontonians, they will think 'doughnuts,' because Country Style is also a coffee shop chain that has been around for some time in Toronto. But those in the know will think 'fantastic Hungarian food' instead – and certainly 'fantastically large Hungarian portions' when they think Country Style.

Country Style is one of those great Toronto places that hasn't changed much since mid-century and keeps the gingham tablecloth suppliers in business. I liked the well-stocked counter at the front and the faux-wood panelling, and it's great to overhear conversations in Hungarian and try to decipher them. I believe some of the clientele must have had their particular spots in the restaurant staked out since 1962.

So yes, I took a vegetarian (well, fishatarian, really) to a Hungarian restaurant. Folly, you say? Well, it wasn't all bad, though it was a bit like that scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding where Toula introduces her fiancé to her aunt, explaining that he doesn't eat meat, and the aunt is momentarily baffled before announcing that she'll just make lamb instead.

The waitress was a little confused about the concept of vegetarianism itself, and tried to get Sean a meaty broth soup. Ah yes. But here's Sean enjoying his spaetzle, or dumplings. They were extremely tasty, I have to say. And fully vegetarian!

And here is my totally non-veg option: their delicious wiener schnitzel. Or bécsi szelet in Hungarian (which means 'Viennese slice!' What a great name. It originates from the Austro-Hungarian ties of the nineteenth century).

I have to say, this photo does not fully convey the magnificence (nor the sheer size) of this dish. It was incredible and awe-inspiring. I highly recommend it. The schnitzel also came with the same dumplings that Sean is enjoying above, and a great cucumber salad (which was highly appreciated, about midway through the meat).

I thought my own dinner was astonishingly massive, in a sort of 'undulating waves of schnitzel' way, but someone else had ordered the 'meat platter', in which a large stack of different sorts of meat came skewered on top of each other on a wooden board – and that put mine to shame.

Still, the schnitzel was delicious and highly recommended (particularly if you're an omnivore!) and Country Style is a great destination for hearty eating. 450 Bloor W. Country Style in the heart of the city!

How to feel glamorous and lazy at the same time

2008-11-03T21:43:00.000-08:00

So how do you achieve that delicate balance of dinner moods? Make chanterelle, leek, and goat cheese pie and pear bacon salad, and eat these while drinking white wine and sitting on the floor/couch. The TV should be on. The lighting soft. Voila, glamor and laziness together at last.

Okay, so I guess it's not the height of laziness or anything. But my point is that wrapping anything up in phyllo is really easy to do and feels fancy to eat. All you need to do is pick a few very tasty things to go inside, and use lots of butter. Here's how we did it one Wednesday in October:

My Dad had generously donated a paper bag full of forest-fresh chanterelles he picked over the weekend. He went on a super cool mushroom tour where you get taken out into the forest and taught how to recognize and pick the mushrooms, eat a huge mushroom diner, and come home with untold numbers of chanterelles. Seriously – he was practically begging my sister and I to take them off his hands. Can you imagine? Too many fresh wild mushrooms to deal with! I knew they'd have to show up at Wednesday dinner.

Here are the mushrooms, cleaned and sliced, chillin' out with the bacon for our salad, and some garlic of course:

We sauteed the mushrooms in butter with thinly sliced leeks and garlic. We meant to add wine, but forgot! Argh, well more for drinking.

Alisha preparing the butter for in between the phyllo layers:

Laura holding up a curtain of phyllo, ready to join the others in the pie dish:

After about ten layers of phyllo and butter, we began to lay down the mushroom filling (which had chopped parsley added to it after it was sauteed):

And spread it around to get a nice even layer:

Then the fun part – dolloping on the goat cheese:

And, to finish, more layers of phyllo (I think six on top) and of course more drizzling and brushing on of butter:

The result:

There are times when I've already photographed the meal before digging in, but then I just have to pick up the camera to document it again half-eaten. This was one of those – that decadent filling just had to be exposed! The big fluffy bits of rich cheese, the subtle flavours of the chanterelles and leeks working together, the flaky flaky pastry. I'd eat it again any day...

Gastropod's Molecular Delights

2008-10-31T01:09:00.000-07:00

Without further ado, I give you the top ten reasons to eat at the amazing Gastropod restaurant in Vancouver (besides Chef Angus An, of course – the best reason to visit):

10. Venison, plum, frisée and potato crisp amuse bouche!

9. Seared scallops with heirloom beets (beets!), choke cherry glaze and candied hazelnuts (mm!). I can't decide which part of the dish was more tasty – the beets were so perfectly prepared, but the scallops were unbelievable.

8. Oysters with horseradish 'snow' (how molecular!) and sauternes jelly (you know I love a sweet white wine in any form):

7. Pork done three (delicious) ways. Pork belly! Need I say more?

6. Squab, with pistachio and tongue (!) mousse, crab apple purée (how autumn!) and squash spaetzle (see the Omnivore's One Hundred).

5. Plum sorbet as a palette-cleanser:

4. A well-stocked cheese plate showing off Quebec (and French) cheeses and Saskatoon berries (how Canadian!):

3. Because Michelle is paying!

2. Horchata pannacotta! What on earth is that, you ask? Horchata is a Mexican (originally Spanish) rice drink made with milk, sugar and vanilla. The dessert also came with tres leche cake, dolce du leche and peach sorbet. And...
1. Because it's your birthday and the pastry chef very nicely helps you celebrate!

It was a lovely night. Thanks so much, Michelle!

Me, happily full.

Bonus reason: Because of the chocolate petit fours they give you with your tea!

What the Farmers' Market Provides

2008-10-30T23:41:00.000-07:00

Following Meg's last two Odes to the Farmers' Market, I thought I would get a post in too, especially as Meg informs me that last week was the last one they're holding the market downtown. Sigh. But perhaps Meg will tell you about her Zombie Tomatoes if you ask nicely – just in time for Hallowe'en!

In any case, here are some of my own food experiences generated by visits to the Farmers' Market. It's amazing what such a variety of veggies and other produce can inspire. What the market giveth...
Not fried green tomatoes

These green zebras, plus a yellow accordion tomato (and a curvy green tomato that I'm afraid I have forgotten the name of) were combined into a delicious salsa verde, with garlic for bite and lime juice and cilantro for a little more flavour. Green heirloom tomatoes are so tasty! And pretty. The salsa went very well on some beef burgers one night.

Another night saw me making a beet soup with delicious roasted piping-hot beets and some sturdy organic carrots. Beets are amazing – I can't believe how brilliantly burgundy they are, and how they subsume every other colour in a recipe. They were so hot they were hard to peel, but they were lovely and sweet and blended beautifully with the carrots. I include the following ode to beets from Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins:

"The beet is the most intense of vegetables. The radish, admittedly, is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire, the fire of discontent not of passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious...the beet is the ancient ancestor of the autumn moon, bearded, buried, all but fossilized; the dark green sails of the grounded moon-boat stitched with veins of primordial plasma; the kite string that once connected the moon to the Earth now a muddy whisker drilling desperately for rubies."

How poetic! There's lots more, but you should read the book for yourself as it's wonderfully odd. I remember reading these words as a teenager and being thoroughly confused. Robbins assures us that a Ukrainian proverb warns that any tale that starts with a beet will end with the devil ... but says that's a risk we'll have to take. My tale that began with a beet, however, ended with delicious soup! As you can see below.

One of the first things I tried with my market haul was stuffed squash blossoms – largely they were first because they were worrisomely fragile (though beautiful) and were sitting with their stems in water.

They looked something like this:

Except not as French. And as you can see, the above are zucchini blossoms. But the principle was the same! I made a mixture of ricotta cheese with various finely-chopped mushrooms and shallots, and the blossoms were stuffed and then breaded (with Japanese rice panko, as that's the only breadcrumb mixture we have) and fried.

Lots of recipes I read called for them to be deep-fried with a batter – which does sound good – but trying to keep the whole endeavour vaguely healthy, I went with shallowly-fried. They were delicious – and it was just fun to realize that you're eating a blossom! Next time I would make more, and possibly serve them as an hors d'oeuvre to lots of people, though possibly substituting a soft tofu or goat cheese for the ricotta (for the dairy-impaired, mais oui).

The farmers' market comes through again. These are certainly veggies to dream of in chillier times ... pass the soup!

Shoulder season supper: cozy and fresh come together

2008-10-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

So, it's fall. I've completely come to terms with that now. But we're not totally in darkness yet. I have been looking suggestively at my slow cooker, but haven't yet been craving stew and roasted root veggies every day. There's still part of me that wants to eat green salad with fruit and tacos with fresh salsa. The farmers market on Saturday still had fresh heirloom tomatoes, so there.

Tonight I pulled together a dish that perfectly satisfied my need for summer and winter flavours to mingle. I thought I should share it in case you're feeling a bit mixed up by this shoulder season just like me.

I started by cooking some du puy lentils (French green lentils). These have been my favourite lentils lately. I love how tiny and delicate they are, their peppery flavour, and how quickly they cook (15–20 minutes, no pre-planning required!). So, I put 1 1/4 cups of du puy lentils in a small pot with lots of water and put them on the stove to simmer.

Then, I heated my large cast iron skillet and melted 2 tbsp of butter with 2 tbsp olive oil. I used this to saute 1/2 red onion (sliced), 1 sweet pepper (sliced – from the farmers' market, it was half red and half green), 2 garlic cloves (minced), and 1 fennel bulb (sliced). Once these had softened in the butter and oil, I added some spices – 1 tsp Hungarian sweet paprika, 1 tsp dill, 1/4 tsp Spanish smoked paprika – and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Next, I chopped up a whole savoy cabbage (1" pieces) and added this to the pan along with 1 1/2 – 2 cups veggie stock (conveniently stashed in my fridge from the batch I made this weekend). I covered the pan and let this all simmer together for a while. Oh, and I added 1–2 tbsp brown sugar 'cause the cabbage just seemed to be calling out for some sweetness.

While the veggies were simmering, the lentils finished cooking. I drained them, poured them into a bowl and stirred in the following: salt and pepper to taste, a few glugs of walnut oil, a small glug or two of white wine vinegar, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/4 cup minced fresh mint, and 3 small green tomatoes, diced. Mmmm, I had to start eating this by the spoonful right away – so good, earthy, fresh and bright tasting. Tangy and a tiny bit spicy.

After my snacking, the cabbage was softened and just about ready to eat. I let it simmer uncovered for a few more minutes to reduce some of the liquid. Then I got impatient and decided it was okay a bit brothy. One final thing – I chopped up the fluffy fennel fronds and stirred them in.

I spooned the veggie mixture into a bowl and topped with the lentil salad. I wasn't sure what exactly I had ended up with, but it turned out to be really delicious! The cabbage was sweet and wintery, but still had that great fresh from the farm veggie taste, and the tangyness of the lentils with their mint and chopped fresh tomatoes brought enough summer into it all. Mmm, perfect to cozy up on the couch with, read the paper, and let the blustery sound of leaves falling drift into the background for a while.

Posh Nosh

2008-09-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at embedding video anywhere ever, so hopefully it'll work out (and even more hopefully, perhaps one day we'll have video of our own to post!).

I've been wanting to share this series for ages with the WeDine readership, as it's absolutely hilarious. Posh Nosh is a BBC cooking-show spoof consisting of eight 10-minute episodes starring Richard E. Grant and Arabella Weir as the Hon Simon and Minty Marchmont, respectively.

The premise involves Grant and Weir as the owners of a high-end restaurant trying to teach 'extraordinary' cookery to 'ordinary' people. The humour comes from their class divide – Minty desperately trying, despite her middle-class background, to match Simon's ridiculous upper class manners – and their subtle swipes at each other. Oh, and the hilarious food terminology they use. You'll see! If you like this one, do check out YouTube for some more.

Here is the first episode!

Market Veggie Love, Part 2

2008-09-16T22:22:00.000-07:00

I thought you might need a little more convincing about how the farmers market is the best thing around. Well, that and Darryl's working late this week and there's no one else here to listen to me say "I made the best dinner tonight! And last night too. I'm the best. No, wait – it's not me that's the best, it's these veggies!" So, I have a recipe for y'all, 'cause it's just too good to keep to myself.

Spicy Roasted Veggie and Bulger ______ [Casserole? Pilaf? Hot salad? One-pan thingy?... I kind of have an aversion to the words casserole and pilaf, but I'm at a loss as to what else to call this. Ideas?]

3 cups water
1 1/2 cups bulger
1 1/2 tsp salt

1 medium zucchini (or half a huge pretty heirloom one from the market), cut into large chunks
1/2 red onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 poblano peppers, diced
1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Juice of 1 orange
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp New Mexican chili powder
2 tsp chipolte puree
1 tsp chopped fresh sage (or 1/2 tsp dried)
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil (or 1 tsp dried)

1/2 bunch of chard, washed and roughly chopped

large block of feta, crumbled

3 tomatoes (crazy lookin' green heirloom ones are soooo tasty), sliced

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Boil Water. Remove from heat and add bulger and salt. Stir, cover, and let sit about 20 min (or longer – I let it sit for an hour and a half while I ran away to yoga, and it was perfect when I got back). Set cooked bulger aside for later.

3. Toss the zucchini, onion, garlic, poblanos, and chickpeas into a roasting pan with olive oil and salt and pepper. Stir to coat. Roast for about 20 minutes, or until zucchinis are beginning to soften a bit, giving them a quick stir half way through.

4. Meanwhile, whisk together orange juice, spices and fresh herbs. Pour this over the roasting veggies and then roast them a bit longer (about 10 more minutes).

5. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Toss chard in, along with a bit of orange juice or water. Stir while it steams, until it is softened to your liking.

6. Remove veggies from oven and add bulger, chard, and feta to the pan. Stir it all together. The feta will melt a bit and the bulger will heat. I was going to put it all back in the oven for a bit (making it a true casserole?) but it really didn't seem necessary.

7. Serve topped with fresh chopped tomatoes. Mmmm, mmmm, mmm.

I feel like with my fridge full of delicious, so so fresh, local tasty things, I can create anything in the world and it will be awesome. I don't even feel like opening a cookbook. The veggies just send my imagination running.

And even the most basic or classic things turn out wonderfully as well. Like the second photo above – last night's dinner. I had bought a bag of fresh chanterelle mushrooms and needed to use them up while they were at their delicate best. I started by frying half a sliced red onion and some chopped garlic in butter and olive oil. Then I added chicken slices and fried it all for a while. Then in went the chantrelles and some more butter (of course, butter and chanterelles = heaven!). I served this atop polenta, with a simple salad of greens and heirloom tomatoes from the market. For dressing I just squeezed half a lemon and whisked it with olive oil and fresh basil. A quick but rich and utterly delicious meal.

I'm beginning to believe that September's an alright month after all. What are your favourite September eats?

The Farmers Market – letting me down easy from the end of summer

2008-09-13T16:39:00.001-07:00

I'm having a late summer love affair with my farmers market, and it's making me really really happy. The best parts: eggplants, cute pattypan squashes (Poach them in tomato sauce! Roast them 'til they're sweet like candy!), mix n' match heirloom cherry tomatoes, crisp asian pears, ugly-on-the-outside-spectacular-on-the-inside-nectarines, coronation grapes, fluffy bunches of chard, sticky pungent garlic. And my lunch today...

Returning from the market this afternoon, blissed out from all the wandering with friends in the sunshine slowly from stall to stall, I picked through my bounty and selected the things I most wanted to eat right now.

I poached two incredibly fresh eggs (for once I actually remembered to take them out soon enough to be deliciously runny). I heated some olive oil in a pan and threw in thick zucchini slices, tiny snacking peppers (it's driving me crazy that I can't remember what this variety is called, argh), green beans, and small heirloom tomatoes. This all went onto my plate along with a slice of fresh sourdough bread and some salad greens sprinkled with lemon juice (including a nasturtium flower!)

It was perfect. I really think this is one of the best eating experiences ever, when everything is so fresh that it tastes exactly like it should. I couldn't shut up about how amazing the egg tasted – it was just as you'd imagine the ultimate egg would taste. And the beans were so so yummy! Perfect delicious beans. Perfect juicy tomatoes.

Can you imagine living on a farm and eating this way all the time? It's so sad that we've gotten used to things not tasting the way they should. I really have to start getting a local green box delivery, because even I'll have to accept that summer's over sometime soon (and with it the market) and I don't want to stop eating like this!

I try my hand at the Omnivore's Hundred

2008-09-11T22:20:00.000-07:00

And so should you! The Omnivore's Hundred is a list of one hundred food items (though some stretch the definition of 'food' a little) created by Brit blogger Andrew Wheeler over at his blog Very Good Taste. It's a list of things he thinks we should all try, cut down from a brainstorming session of about three hundred items that he and a select panel (ie. his friends) decided upon. He's been asked so often about his criteria for the list that he created a FAQ to explain his reasoning.

Since he created his list it has appeared on many a blog, including Chocolate and Zucchini, where Clothilde reports that she hasn't tried 37 of the 100 items on the list. How many have I had? You'll have to wait and see! My number appears at the end of this post. Meanwhile, whilst you peruse, you should keep a tally of your items consumed, and tell me how you did in the comments!

✔ 1. Venison
✔2. Nettle tea
✘ 3. Huevos rancheros (I know it's odd, but I've never had them)
✔ 4. Steak tartare (absolutely delicious)
✘ 5. Crocodile (has anyone tried this?)
✔ 6. Black pudding (So rich. My latest was at the Oxo Tower restaurant in London)

My black pudding on the left, nestling next to the deliciously fatty pork belly.

✔ 7. Cheese fondue (definitely – if there's cheese involved I'm there!)
✔ 8. Carp (in gefilte fish, too)
✔ 9. Borscht (had some great borscht at Cafe SVP in Vancouver, home of the infamous avocado-banana milkshake!)
✔ 10. Baba ghanoush
✔ 11. Calamari (yes, my brief period where I ceased eating calamari is thankfully over)
✔ 12. Phở (I like beef best)
✔ 13. PB&J sandwich (a classic, though not for the cooked-fruit impaired)
✔ 14. Aloo gobi
✔ 15. Hot dog from a street cart (also, pork sausage from a London street cart)
✔ 16. Epoisses (yes, at Lumiere. It was so runny it needed its own little vessel).

My securely-contained epoisses on the left at Lumiere

✘ 17. Black truffle (sniffle – a little, but not enough so I could really taste it)
✔ 18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (blackberry wine in Ontario; Japanese plum wine)
✔ 19. Steamed pork buns (yes, dim sum is one of my most favourite things)
✔ 20. Pistachio ice cream (one of the best flavours – see my second scoop!)

Me and four scoops of ice cream (coconut, pistachio, dulce de leche and black sesame at Mondo Gelato in Vancouver)

✔ 21. Heirloom tomatoes
✔ 22. Fresh wild berries (see this post)
✔ 23. Foie gras (as often as I possibly can!)
✔ 24. Rice and beans
✔ 25. Brawn, or head cheese (at Salt
✘ 26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (not so far...)
✔ 27. Dulce de leche (and the fabulous manjar from Chile)
✔ 28. Oysters (again, whenever I can get my hands on them. Here are some from Wright Brothers oyster bar in Borough Market in London).

✔ 29. Baklava (had some great baklava and mint tea with Ben on Mill Road in Cambridge)

Various types of baklava in Borough Market in South London)

✔ 30. Bagna cauda
✔ 31. Wasabi peas
✔ 32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (does it have to be in a sourdough bowl?)
✘ 33. Salted lassi (I've only ever had mango lassi, but I'd love to try this)
✔ 34. Sauerkraut
✔ 35. Root beer float (the best, had a great one at Helen's diner during Diner Tour)
✔ 36. Cognac with a fat cigar (in Monte's in Kingston in my student days)
✔ 37. Clotted cream tea (yes, my parents live in Devon)
✔ 38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
✘ 39. Gumbo (No! But I'd love to try it)
✔ 40. Oxtail
✔ 41. Curried goat
✘ 42. Whole insects (perhaps one day)
✘43. Phaal (Sounds like a challenge!)
✔ 44. Goat’s milk (and many other goaty products)
✔ 45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/€80/$120 or more (suddenly got into whisky last Christmas at my brother's in Scotland )

Jon's ever-growing collection of whiskies

✘ 46. Fugu (don't think it'll happen)
✔ 47. Chicken tikka masala (yes, in East London)
✘ 48. Eel (not even in sushi, or an East London eel pie!)
✔ 49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (yes, but only the once, I swear)
✘50. Sea urchin (once had the opportunity at Kitto, but handed it over to brave Meg)
✘ 51. Prickly pear
✘ 52. Umeboshi
✘ 53. Abalone
✔ 54. Paneer
✔ 55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (far too frequently)
✔ 56. Spaetzle (yes, I think the dumplings I had at Country Style restaurant in Toronto are the same thing)
✔ 57. Dirty gin martini
✔ 58. Beer above 8% ABV (just this past weekend)
✔ 59. Poutine (the perfect after-drinking food in Kingston, again in my student days)
✔ 60. Carob chips (what are these?)
✔ 61. S’mores (fantastic idea)
✔ 62. Sweetbreads
✘ 63. Kaolin
✘ 64. Currywurst
✘ 65. Durian (isn't that the one banned on the Tokyo metro it's so horrid-smelling? Would try – it's supposed to taste fairly innocuous)
✔ 66. Frogs’ legs
✔ 67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (just had some great churros at the fair in the Tuilleries in Paris)
✔ 68. Haggis (eaten outdoors on the north tip of Loch Ness)
✘ 69. Fried plantain (sounds good, though)
✔ 70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
✔ 71. Gazpacho (my Chilean-born aunt makes the best)
✔ 72. Caviar and blini
✘ 73. Louche absinthe
✔ 74. Gjetost, or brunost (Yes! Just this summer in Bath)

The Gjetost is the far one – a sort of delicious caramel cheese!

✘ 75. Roadkill (I suppose that would depend)
✘ 76. Baijiu
✘ 77. Hostess Fruit Pie (no real desire to try)
✔ 78. Snail
✔ 79. Lapsang souchong (yes, but it's so strong and smelly it's not my favourite)
✔ 80. Bellini
✔ 81. Tom yum
✔ 82. Eggs Benedict (I hadn't tried them until about 2 years ago, but now I think they're fantastic)
✔ 83. Pocky
✘ 84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant (if only!)
✘ 85. Kobe beef
✘ 86. Hare (no hare just rabbit)
✔ 87. Goulash
✔ 88. Flowers

Salad with edible flowers bought from Hali Farm in Victoria

✘ 89. Horse
✘ 90. Criollo chocolate
✘ 91. Spam
✘ 92. Soft shell crab
✘ 93. Rose harissa (have tried plain harissa a couple of times recently, and that's very tasty)
✘ 94. Catfish
✔ 95. Mole poblano
✔ 96. Bagel and lox (I'm Jewish! It's a staple)
✘ 97. Lobster Thermidor
✔ 98. Polenta
✘99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
✘ 100. Snake

Well, there it is. Of the one hundred, I've missed 34. But that means I've enjoyed 66! I am looking forward to trying more of them. Especially that tasting menu at a three-star Michelin rated restaurant!

The Seven Principles of Awesome Camping Food

2008-08-08T16:22:00.000-07:00

This summer has been all about city vacations for me (Toronto, Seattle, Vegas coming up in 10 days!), and no camping yet. But I've been meaning to write about last year's camping food successes for, well, a whole year now. I figure that even if I don't get to cook around a camp fire this year, all of you might be heading out to do that right now, and might want a little inspiration... if so, these seven principles are my jealous gift to you.

1. Don't be afraid to go for luxury.
While Camping in Beverly Beach, Oregon, we had a craving for seafood risotto. So, after a long hard day of playing frisbee and jamming on the gorgeous beach...

...we ran to the nearby grocery store to pick up shrimp, scallops and clams, arborio rice, chicken stock, wine and sheep cheese. Then, all it took was some patient stirring at the picnic table while working through our supply of Miller High Life, and voila! The most decadent seafood risotto. It does take longer than hotdogs, but it's easy to keep a spoon going while you're chillin' at your site and watching it get dark. I wrote down the recipe in my sketchbook that night, with plans to share it here (better late than never!) – look for it at the end of this post.

2. Get ingredients as fresh and local as you can (your uncle's garden is perfect).
This is why it's good not to plan all of your meals ahead of time – you never know when you may be treated to a tour of someone's garden and handed big bunches of rainbow chard to take with you!

After a leisurely wander around Kaslo on this sunny morning, we said goodbye to Uncle Steve, took our garden bounty, and continued the great BC roadtrip on to Redstreak campground in Kootenay National Park. Once we set up camp, opened a bottle of cold white wine, consumed the requisite potato chips and chopped the veggies, we saw the sun falling behind the mountains and decided dinner could be delayed for a walk. It was gorgeous, and so worth having to eat by lamplight. The chard we sauteed up with some onions, yellow zucchini and peas, and then served it on boiled new potates, with sheep's cheese grated on top. Yum.

Sometimes the campsite itself offers up fresh goodies, if you know what to look for. As soon as we arrived at Blanket Creek Provincial Park (near Revelstoke) Tessa ran off and started filling her hands with thimble berries. They were so delicate and pretty! A perfect unplanned accompaniment to pancakes the next morning...

3. Your dish bucket makes a great salad tossing and transporting machine, and those foil wrapped garlic breads do have a place it turns out.

I can still taste this salad. It was perfection – healthy tasting enough to offset the day's beer and caesar intake, quick enough that we could run down to the dunes with it to catch the sunset, and delicious enough that I remember it a year later.

So, if you also want something to go well with a caesar and a sunset, grab some spinach, cherry tomatoes, avocado, red onion, smoked salmon, feta, and a loaf of garlic bread. Everything except the bread gets thrown into your dish bucket and shook up with some dressing (I think we bought ginger dressing?) while the bread sits in the campfire for a bit. Then just grab it all, run to the beach and chill. And try not to spill your caesar in the sand...

4. Get Inventive.
A campsite is the perfect place to try crazy on-the-spot ideas. You have limited ingredients and tools, you're in a different state of mind, and you're far enough away from home that no one but your camping collaborators will know if it happens to turn out not so amazing. In the case of our tequila glazed bananas to go with French toast, an early morning "hey, why don't we just throw some of that in" turned out incredibly amazing.

I think a cast iron skillet is one thing that definitely deserves a spot in the packed-full car. It's just so fun to cook over an open fire with a cast iron skillet. Feels really old school. And it's great for that charred look that's so important (more on that later).

Doesn't that look amazingly delicious?

5. Indulge.
Holidays are always about indulging, and when on a camping roadtrip you've gotta just stop whenever something tasty catches your eye. Because, why not? Two examples:

a) After a huge greasy breakfast in Newport, OR (including questionable "white gravey" with biscuits, uh....) we spotted this crazy strawberry pie at the counter. It was so tall and shiny and red, we just had to have it. It definitely glammed up our picnic table, and gave us an excuse to lounge around lazily post-pie.

b) Driving through the Okanagan is all about indulging in fruit. In peachland we were determined to find a big box of organic peaches to gorge on. We did find them, at a little farm down a windy dirt road, and man were they good. Sitting in the back of the car, eating something sooooo juicy, dreaming of another swim in the lake... nothing's better.

6. Bring random stuff you love and it goes a long way, day after day.
Mom, smart mom that she is, packed a cooler full of our favourite yummy things, with no particular plan for what would happen to them. That meant we got to spread out all this great stuff lunch after lunch and test every possible combination. My top creation? Mini bite-sized sandwiches with a piece of cheese, a chunk of smoked fish, and fresh herbs. Sitting in front of Emerald Lake, I alternated between smoked tuna and smoked salmon, feta cheese and that other sheep's cheese we had, basil and well, maybe it was all basil. But every bite was soooo good.

7. That burnt taste is an essential part of the camping aesthetic.
Okay, so when it was my turn to cook the pancakes, Mom and Tess mentioned that they were a little, hmmm, black. But I swear, that was entirely intentional. I maintain that a little charcoal flavour must be present in all camping food. Otherwise, how is it different from normal food? And the freshness of the thimble berries and peaches balanced it out perfectly. Look how beautiful that is!

So, go camping! And eat all the time. And then tell me what your awesomest camping food is, so I can make it next year. Once we buy a new tent that is, since our old died the night we made chicken burgers with melted brie and grilled asparagus in the dark at Oswald State Park... mmmm camping food.

Beverly Beach Seafood Risotto
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 tbsp butter + 2 tbsp reserved for later
3 cups arborio rice
1 cup pinot grigio
7 cups chicken stock
1 cup clam meat
2 cups fresh scallops
1 cup fresh cooked shrimp meat
1 cup crumbled sheep's cheese (we used Myzithra)
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup diced tomatoes

1. Saute garlic and shallots in butter for a few minutes. Add rice. Stir and continue to saute for a minute or two more.
2. Pour in the cup of wine. Stir until absorbed. Then add chicken stock one cup at a time, stirring constantly until absorbed before adding more.
3. When rice is nearly tender, add seafood and tomatoes (probably when you have about a cup of stock left).
4. When rice is done to your liking, remove from heat and add cheese, remaining 2 tbsp butter, and salt and pepper to taste.

The story of samoosas

2008-07-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

During every trip to South Africa, whilst visiting my dad's extended family, my absolute favourite thing to eat was samoosas (the South African version of what most people call samosas). These savoury concoctions were so special to me, as they seemed way too complicated to attempt making myself, and I couldn't seem to find anything remotely similar to them anywhere in North America (or so I thought at the time).

The samoosas my family made were quite different from what you get at Indian restaurants in North America. Instead of being large and doughy and filled with potatoes and peas, the ones I loved were small triangles with a paper thin crispy crust (almost like phyllo dough), filled with ground chicken and spices, and browned to perfection. As you can imagine, these little morsels are dangerous - being so small, crunchy and tasty, one tends to eat much more than would be suitably appropriate or necessary.

As I said earlier, our family thought that these samoosas were only available from my grandmother's or my aunt's kitchen in South Africa, until my dad found out that an old family friend of his, Farida Baba, was living in Toronto, and cooking and selling traditional South African Indian food out of her home. We'd finally found a new supplier!!! So, ever since that time, on my mom's annual trip to Toronto, she would buy and bring home frozen samoosas by the dozen, and we would fry them up on special occasions.

This year, while in Toronto for my cousin's wedding, my mom ordered a bunch and gave me a dozen to bring back to Vancouver. And that's what we had for dinner last Wednesday. Of course, samoosas do not make a complete meal, so I decided to supplement them with a simple eggplant curry from Vij's, as well as a homemade mango salad. Oh, and we dipped our samoosas in a lovely tamarind chutney purchased from Capers.

Eggplant, tomato and green onion curry
8 stalks green onions
1 cup plain yogurt
1 tbsp Mexican chili powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
2 1/2 tsp salt
1 eggplant, skin on, in 1-inch cubes
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1/3 cup canola oil

- Chop white parts of green onions in 1/4 inch rounds, discard hollow green parts, chop remaining green parts into 3/4 inch rounds (apparently since they have different flavours and cooking times).
- Combine yogurt, chili powder, turmeric, cayenne and salt. Add eggplant, tomatoes, and onions and stir well to coat.
- Heat oil on medium heat, pour curry into pan and stir well. Saute for about 3 mins, reduce heat to medium low and cover. Simmer for about 10 mins.

I found this curry to be quite spicy, so I'd reduce the amount of chili powder and cayenne in future.

Mango salad
2 large mangoes (still a little firm)
1/4 small red onion
2-3 small fresh green chilies
juice of two limes
sea salt

- Julienne mangoes into long thin strips (it helps if the mangoes are a little firm)
- Slice red onion very thinly (as thin as possible, or else the flavour will be too intense)
- Deseed and finely chop the green chilies
- Combine mangoes, red onion, and chilies in a bowl. Add lime juice and a sprinking of sea salt. Serve!

I'm pleased to introduce you to... my new windowsill herb garden

2008-07-05T19:28:00.000-07:00

I have a new love. Well, four actually. They're called Basil, Lemon Basil, Oregano-thyme, and just plain Thyme. And they're living on my windowsill. How cool is that! I'm finally getting better at taking care of plants (thanks for the watering lesson Tessa!) and my reward is experiencing how amazing it is to eat something that was growing, alive only minutes ago. Here's what I've made so far:

Grilled cheese sandwich with sweet basil (above) – made with Kashkeval sheep cheese and my new favourite white bread from the Translyvanian bakery on Davie.
Tuna sandwiches with oregano-thyme – “Hey baby, I made you a tuna sandwich for your lunch. The herbs in there are fresh from our garden...” Ooooh, I've never been able to say that before!
Fried egg sandwich with roasted red pepper strips and chopped sweet basil. I love fried egg sandwiches. They were my favourite simple no-time not much in the fridge dinner from my childhood and I still pull them out every once and a while for the same reasons. With good white bread and plenty of mayo, mmmmmm.
And, in process as we speak... lemon basil soy marinated tofu. I'm going to use the marinade as a sauce for a stir fry with red peppers and these incredibly cute baby zucchinis I bought this afternoon, and toss it all with soba noodles. Since I haven't actually cooked it yet I can't really report on the lemon basil's performance here. But I did eat several pieces tossed with the marinade, since I can never keep myself from snacking on raw tofu, and it was awesome. By itself the lemon basil tastes like a cross between lemonbalm and basil – very lemony but with nice peppery undertones. Combined with soy, lime, ginger, garlic, palm sugar, and sambal chili paste in the marinade, I think it's going to be perfect.

And, I have to confess that I wasn't satisfied with just four delicious herb-y plants to love – today they were joined by mint, sage, and dill on the windowsill. Our living room has never been so pretty. And now I can make anything I want all summer long.

Maple Bay: Day Three

2008-06-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

Well, all good things, as they say, must come to an end, and that is true even of an idyllic long weekend at the cabin. But, luckily for us, they came to an end in style – and true to form, involving lots of good food and drink!

Breakfast on Sunday: Pear Smoothies and Asparagus Frittata

We awoke on day three at Maple Bay to the dulcet tones of the blender, as Alisha made us all a breakfast smoothie (see photo of said smoothies above, glowing in the sunlight). The smoothies blended ripe pears, goat yogurt (or gogurt, as we like to call it), ice and honey, and were a fantastic way to start a Sunday.

Alisha prepared a delicious frittata in one of the cabin's sturdy cast-iron pans, which handily went into the oven to cook.

I don't know whether we've spent much time discussing frittatas on WeDine, but essentially a frittata is a thick open-faced omelette, usually containing chopped veg and sometimes meat, which is cooked on the burner but then transferred to the oven to finish cooking. Alisha's frittata called for asparagus, both chopped and left in spears, fresh thyme, scallions and nutmeg (ah, the secret ingredient!) and was made with goat-friendly cheeses and soy milk. And bacon, which the recipe didn't call for, but was certainly a welcome addition! Here's my slice, served with a little multigrain toast:

After breakfast was cleared away, we set out on a hike to the top of Maple Mountain (I kid you not, it was indeed called that), being anxious to spend the day getting in what activities we could before we had to go. Along the way (on the cleverly-named Maple Mountain Road) Raisa found some juicy-looking blackberries for us to try. This is not the first time Raisa has handed me something she's gleaned from a bush or tree on the side of the road and told me to eat it. Though I experienced a brief city-girl twinge of suspicion of foods not gathered from a supermarket display, I quite happily ate it, and it was wonderful! Ah, blackberries in the sun.

I omit the climb to the top of Maple Mountain, largely because very little occurred that was food-related, and also because no one wants to see photos of me huffing and puffing up a mountainside – but I include this photo as evidence that it was achieved!

We hurried back from the hike as we had to fit in another meal (of course!) before we started the journey back to the ferry.

Lunch on Sunday: Steak Sandwiches and Cidre

Meg and Alisha went up ahead and very nicely (using all the charm at their disposal) managed to buy some tasty kaiser buns off of the restaurant along the road (possibly the Shipyard Pub and Restaurant), as we had forgotten to get some fresh ones. Much frantic packing ensued when we returned home, and the car was loaded up whilst Michelle cooked her delightful steak sandwiches (with jus! and grainy mustard!) in the kitchen. Then, because it was such a glorious sunlit day, and we weren't sure when we'd see that again, we ate outside in the garden.

Alisha assembles a steak sandwich

The treats didn't stop there, as Michelle decided that the sandwiches would go perfectly with a bottle of cider we'd picked up in Giverny a month before. They did go very well together – French cider is a thing of beauty, not overly sweet, nice and crisp, perfect amount of carbonation (see Michelle's Ode to Cidre here).

Michelle pours some Monet-inspired cidre in the sunshine

We all had a lovely picnic in the autumn sun, and the best part was that we had time to enjoy it and reflect on our fantastic cabin getaway. And how better to reflect on a weekend of food than with a great meal?

We boarded the ferry back and (if you can believe it) had a ferry picnic of leftovers on the way home. I managed to nip outside to catch the setting sun, but it was absolutely freezing on deck! Our sunny September reprieve was drawing to a close. But what a fabulous idea, and what a great holiday. Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did, and thanks to Alisha for coming up with the idea in the first place, Jim & Betty for letting us stay, and to all the girls for making all that delicious food all weekend. Let's make it an annual event!