Easy as Pi

Lush Liquids

2012-01-15T12:36:00.000-08:00

As New Years resolutions swirl in and out of existence, food blogs are a-buzz with "cleanses", juicing, and liquid fasts. While I am not a fan of cleanses or juice fasts (probably an understatement), I am a fan of liquids. Like, a big fan. To illustrate, I will describe the liquids I consume in a typical day:

-1 cup of earl grey while I'm getting ready
-1 smoothie for breakfast
-1 to-go mug of green tea
-1 to-go mug of coffee
-1 pureed coconut-milk or chicken stock based soup for lunch
-1 cup of earl grey pre-workout around 4
-1 cup of water with dinner
-2 cups of herbal tea before bed

On top of all that, by the end of the day my beloved orange water bottle is usually empty. For me, hot liquids keep me sane during the winter. In the morning, our windows have a charming frost on them-the problem is, it's on the inside of the window that lies just above our head, which apparently hits sub-zero temperatures while we snooze. Needless to say, I can do with a little warming up. After the brisk-enough-to-have-troubles-breathing walk to the bus stop, I snuggle against the aluminum siding of a bus, the ambient temperature of which hovers somewhere around 5 degrees first thing in the morning. To help me stay awake, I sip hot beverages throughout all my classes, except for when I switch it out for my freezing cold smoothie- the massive temperature difference is a shock-awake when you are struggling through a particularly muddle-some calculus lecture. The dry climate, which has allowed me the experience of truly frizzy hair for the first time in my life, also demands a constant stream of hydration.

One of the miracle-elixirs that I drink and spoon up by the bucketful during these cold months, is broth. Proper, stand-up-on-the-spoon, ultra-savory, homemade bone broth. I really can't use the word "savory" enough when I describe homemade broth-it puts the two "mm"'s in umami. Not only is bone broth really nutritious and flavourful, it is also very cheap and easy to make. It is a great "student food" because it is way cheaper than buying mineral supplements, makes a great base for a thermos lunch, and allows you to stretch out meager amounts of meat and veggie into a full meal. I also don't salt my broth right when I make it, so you can use the broth to cook veggies, grains, or stir miso into. I find it easier to leave the broth unsalted, then salt according to the use- this makes it a highly versatile asset to every kitchen.

Broth you buy from the store is not even in the same food category as the homemade kind. The bouillon cubes and powder are basically a savory-flavoured salt, which is fine for stirring into dishes for flavour boosting, but it isn't a nutritious or adequately flavoured base for a soup. The boxed stock is no where near as nutritious as homemade stock- for shortcuts, many use MSG to create a "meatier" flavour, and emulsifiers to thicken.

Homemade stock is a powerhouse of minerals and nutrients. If you are lactose intolerant or do not consume very much dairy, bone broth is an excellent way to supplement calcium in your diet, as it is very bioavailable in broth (in comparison to vegetables, where calcium generally has a low bio-availability). Magnesium, phosphorous, silicon, and other trace minerals are also in bone broth- it is like a flavourful mineral supplement. Gelatin is the component of homemade broth that makes it so thick and jelly-like. Gelatin has been used since the 1600's in France to aid in digestion, which makes sense: gelatin "attracts" and holds liquids, including digestive juices, so it could potentially aid in the break down of other foods consumed around the same time period (for the science-ers, it's a hydrophilic colloid). It sounds odd, but I actually like to drink a hot cup of broth on mornings when I don't feel like eating and my stomach is upset- it makes a soothing substitute breakfast, and usually helps calm down my stomach. Also, bone broth contains collagen, which is what keeps your skin smooth (wrinkles and cellulite result from a lack of collagen). While there is not a verified mechanism that consumption of collagen could equal smoothed skin, here's to trying!

Although I include recipe that is vaguely specific, making stock is more of a method than a precise science. Basically, you want to put bones in water and heat that water enough to extract the minerals, gelatin, and collagen to form a thick, savory, flavourful stock. For the bones themselves, I recommend starting a "bone bag" in your freezer-anytime you eat anything with bones, whether it be a whole chicken, a couple of drumsticks, turkey, or a leg of lamb, you can just throw the bones into the freezer. This way, especially if your household is only one or two people, you can build up a stockpile (get it?) until you have enough scraps. If you are really crazy, if you eat something with bones in a restaurant, you can ask them to wrap it up instead of throwing it away- this is probably exclusively a struggling university student practice I figure. I usually save up two chicken carcasses before bothering to make stock, but I have a large slow cooker, so if you have a smaller one you could put your stock on right after your roast chicken dinner. Alternatively, you can buy bones and carcasses from some stores and butchers, that are usually very reasonably priced. One of my favourite boney bits to buy from the store is chicken feet- while chicken feet are really odd to actually eat because there really isn't anything on there but bones and skin, they have loads of gelatin in them. You can buy a large pack and freeze all of them, pulling out only 1 or 2 at a time for stock, and it'll really help thicken and "rich-en" your stock. The famous "Jewish Penicillin" chicken broth was considered inferior if it wasn't made with at least 2 chicken feet, so I'm not the only one who has found them useful!

While this recipe is written for chicken, you can use this word-for-word on turkey, duck, lamb, and rabbit bones. If you want to make a fish broth, the cooking time is much, much shorter- I would recommend using the stovetop method, but only cook the stock for 2 hours. You can use fish bones saved over time in your "bone bag", or you can ask for fish heads from a seafood store-they are usually pretty reasonably priced and make an excellent broth. For a beef broth, because I don't really buy cuts that have large bones in them, I usually buy beef marrow bones specifically for this (if you have an odd beef or pork bone from a T-bone steak or pork chop, I just throw those in with the chicken batch instead of waiting to save them up). Because you don't previously cook beef marrow bones, I usually throw them in a hot oven (400 degrees F) in a shallow pan with onions and carrots, for about 45 minutes. This will help caramelize the bones and add a lot of richness to your stock. Another compliment to beef stock is a handful of dried mushrooms-this will really add flavour and "meatiness" to the stock! Having beef stock is a fabulous treat, because you can also reduce it to create a demi-glaze, which is delicious on everything from pot roast to brussel sprouts.

For storing the broth, you can keep the broth in the fridge for up to one week. To freeze the stock, I find that it is easier to use the stock if it is frozen in smaller portions. I use a silicon muffin tin to freeze my stock in 1/2 c portions- you have to be very careful putting it in the freezer (use a cookie tray or 2 pairs of hands to transfer it without spilling), but it is so easy to pop them out when they are frozen. If you have a traditional metal muffin tin, that also will do the trick. When it comes to getting the stock out after it is frozen, just allow the tray to sit at room temperature for a little bit until you can pop the frozen stock out. If you are in a rush, you can run the bottom of the muffin tin in cold water to slightly defrost the edges so they come loose. To freeze the stock in even smaller portions, if you like to put just a couple of spoonfuls of stock in for roasting vegetables or something, I use a silicon ice cube tray and freeze a few 1 Tbsp portions. Again, you could use a standard ice cube tray and be able to pop them out just like regular ice cubes.

Chicken Stock

Chicken bones and scraps (carcasses, necks, leg bones, wings, gizzards, feet etc.)
2 stalks of celery (or the ends + bases of celery that you would normally discard), washed thoroughly and roughly chopped
2 carrots (don't bother peeling), washed thoroughly and roughly chopped
1 onion, cut in half and layers peeled apart
1 head of garlic, separated into cloves (optional)
1 Tbsp of spices (I use: star anise, cumin, and coriander) (optional)
1 lemon, washed and sliced (optional)
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (optional)
Water

1) Line the bottom of your slow cooker, or a large heavy-bottomed pot, with the onion layers. Add the lemon slices and spices if using. Place the carrots, celery, and garlic on top of the aromatic bottom. Nestle the chicken bones on top. If the bones aren't fitting nicely, use kitchen shears or your hands to break the carcasses up, or pull apart other bones so they fit in with greater ease.
2) Fill the slow cooker or pot with enough water to submerge the bones. Try and have them covered by at least one inch- if there are odd bits sticking out, don't worry too much, as the stock cooks the volume will reduce and it will be easier to push all the bones down as the connective tissue softens.

SLOW COOKER METHOD:
Put your slow cooker to the "low", or just the lowest setting depending on what your slow cooker calls it (could be "1"). If there is a time option on your slow cooker, initially set it to 12 hours. At 12 hours you can taste your stock- it should be smooth (no grit) and very savory. If it is savory, but thin, I usually continue to cook my stock to 24 hours on the "warm" serving setting. If you wish to stop at 12 hours though, it will still be a delicious stock! You want to cook it long enough so that it is rich, but not so long that the bones start to dissolve, as it creates an unpleasant texture**. Skim off any "scum" that forms on the top.

STOVETOP/OVEN METHOD:
This method has a bit of flexibility. If you have a big, heavy bottomed pot you can place it on the stovetop at the lowest setting and leave it on for up to a maximum of 12 hours. Keep the lid on, and check every once in a while to make sure there is enough water. If you don't have a heavy duty pot, just something on the light side, you will keep the heat more consistent if you make the stock in the oven at a low setting. 200-250 degrees F should do it- if you know your oven tends to "the hot side" or "the cold side" (many older models will be either hotter or cooler than what the temperature gauge says) ere on the upper or lower end of my suggestions- if you have a newer model, go for 225 degrees F. Place the pot in and cook for up to a maximum of 12 hours, checking occasionally to make sure there is enough water. Skim off any "scum" that forms on the top.

3) Skim off any unpleasant bits from the top. You can also try and spoon off any fat, but it is easier to remove the fat after refrigeration. Strain the stock by placing a colander above a large bowl (you can line with cheese clothe if you want to guarantee a smooth texture. Place in the fridge and store up to once week- freeze the leftovers.

4) Optional, but recommended: Pick over the bones and carcasses for meat. You can usually get a fair amount of meat off of the bones, and even if you are not planning to make a chicken soup or use it immediately, you can throw it into the freezer for a later date.
5) Discard the bones and vegetable bits. Enjoy your savory, delicious, nutrient packed stock! You can add salt to taste right after making the stock, or you can leave it unsalted for more versatility. Simply salt it as you put your broth to it's many possible uses!

**If you cooked the stock really long and the temperature setting was too high, you might have a gritty texture. Do not despair! Try straining your stock through double-layered cheesecloth. Just line a sieve or colander with cheese cloth and pour the stock through (make sure it is well positioned over a bowl so you don't splash). This should sort out the texture, and you'll know for next time!

Happy New Years

2012-01-09T21:16:00.000-08:00

Epiphanies can happen at any life stage. Sure, there’s the highly publicized and humorously presented mid-life crisis. The college dorm aha! moments that resulted in everything from a change in a major to a year long trip around the world. There are the ones that leave the lips after someone had the bright idea to throw a martini party. Some of the most heart warming and memorable moments, however, come from the wide eyes of children. Not only a goldmine for embarrassing photos of mullets and bowl cuts, childhood gives us some sticky lessons and first glimpses of reality.

One of my food epiphanies came to me in kindergarten. I was wearing a white sweater with a cat face on it and purple tights. We were sitting at our desks in those little-people plastic chairs with the little silver screws that always caught your hair when you went to get up. It was hot lunch day, which was a day no one remembered, seeing as kindergarteners keep attention like ice cubes keep heat. That was half the fun though- a seemingly random day where some parents would appear, out of the blue, with hot dogs! Weeks ago, you took the slip home to your parents, and they signed it and selected either 1 or 2 hot dogs. By the time you hit grade 6, pretty much everyone got 2 hot dogs, but in kindergarten that was a far-off dream.

That day, I was sitting beside a boy, who we will call Tom. He and I were musing about how when we get to grade 6, we will be able to order 2 hot dogs on hot lunch day. How awesome would that be? It’s double the hot dog goodness! Then, I realized something that made me almost drop my mustard-swathed hot dog in my purple lap. When you became an adult, you could eat ALL the hot dogs you wanted! You could literally choose to eat hot dogs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I quickly filled Tom in on this realization, and we spent the rest of the lunch hour gleefully working our way up to ordering 100 hot dogs on hot lunch day.

While the fondness for hot dogs wore off (especially when it came to my attention that the reason the hot dogs at home didn’t taste like the ones at school was because I had been unknowingly eating tofu dogs the whole time), the concept that one day I would be able to eat whatever I wanted, stuck with me throughout childhood. It boggled the mind that at some point in my life I would be able to eat whenever and whatever I liked. I couldn’t believe that my parents still ate all their vegetables on their plate, that they had cereal for breakfast instead of bacon and eggs, or that they didn’t eat pizza on days other than Friday. I would fantasize about living in my own apartment (which looked exactly like my room, but appeared to be carpeted entirely with stuffed animals) and eating a full turkey dinner for breakfast, followed by pizza for lunch, 2 butter tarts for snack, and then a massive bowl of seaweed salad for dinner (I went through a seaweed salad phase, I even asked for it for my birthday present).

I’m sure I wasn’t alone in fantasizing about the freedom I would have when I would finally be able to eat as an adult. Kids everywhere, at this moment, are dreaming of the day when they will finally be allowed to paint their bedroom walls with chocolate, or at the very least have pizza on a Tuesday and a Friday in the same week. When you are at the grocery store, pulling out your hair trying to fill your shopping cart with the new years resolutions you already announced to the family, think about the joy and the freedom that food provides. The luck that you have, growing up in a place where you can eat sweet, organic carrots, creamy greek yogurt, spicy thai curries, slow cooked pork, roasted fennel, and grass-fed beef. Eat food that makes you feel good, and enjoy the process of picking it out, smelling it, peeling it, cooking it, and finally eating it. If you “mess up” and pick food outside of your resolutions, you might as well enjoy it. Don’t beat yourself up about it- think about the smile on that 6 year old you’s face if they knew what they would one day be allowed to do.

This new years tribute really has nothing to do with hot dogs. I can’t remember the last time I ate a hot dog, and I won’t be upset if I don’t see a hot dog for some time. It's not a commentary on the state of school hot lunch days, and there are no politics wrapped up in the bun I ate years ago. I hope that amongst the gym trips, journal entries, and organized chaos, you are able to find joy in the food that you eat. All the best for the new year.

-Jenny

Pumpkin Chili and Putting one foot in front of the other...

2011-10-31T16:31:00.000-07:00

The term is coming to a close, and oh has the time gone by slowly/quickly/wonderfully/painfully. The clock seems to rotate so fast sometimes it feels like I will never be able to get on top of anything, whether it be homework, housework, or those nagging tasks that need to be completed within the month. Other times the tick is ominous, usually when my pockets are full of pencils and I'm standing outside the classroom waiting to right a midterm, humming to myself and rocking from heel to toe to ease my nerves (and look crazier).

This term has, thus far, been the most unique, challenging, but ultimately rewarding stint I have spent at university so far. My increased focus that has come with having a solid, long term goal has shown itself to be worthy, from the marks I've received to the sense of purpose I feel. Moving away from home has also given me a "fresh start", which has been a great opportunity to live the way I have wanted to in the past two years, but never initiated. I am eating the way I want to, exercising more, getting way more sleep, and studying the way I know is most effective. That's not to say it's all been a sunshine-y picnic (more than one Mad Men marathons when I had too much work to do, teary midnight melt downs over the string theory of waves, multiple nights of over-indulgence, stomach aches from stress, and 1 1/2 empty jars of nutella), but overall it has included all of the good bits I conjured up in my mind when I thought of attending McGill in the first place.

One of the surprising highlights of my day is actually the commute. I know, sitting on an old school bus with my head getting blasted by cold air from the very poorly designed windows that do not seal, and my feet getting blasted by air so hot I have to cram my knees up on the seat in front of me to avoid first degree burns, does not sound like a very good highlight to have. However, between my brisk 15 minute walk to school, standing in line for the shuttle, and the 45 minutes of being shuttled, I have discovered the power of the podcast. Oh yes, the podcast. More specifically, the CBC radio podcasts. Now, this is not the first time I have listened to CBC, as I have in fact been a CBC junkie for approximately three years, and have woken up to CBC radio as my alarm every weekday since the 7th grade. At my last job, I would explain to all new employees that the CBC is played continuously, and hopefully they like it otherwise, well, that sucks. Now, I listen to The Vinyl Cafe, DNTO, White Coat Black Art, the Age of Persuasion, Wiretap, The Q, and many more on a regular basis. On my way to campus and back, I zip my collar up to cover my mouth, so as to muffle my sometimes startling reactions of laughter or sadness to passerby's. I relay the best stories and podcasts to Sebastien over dinner, and we discuss similar stories that we had forgotten we had. These podcasts have been an unexpected enrichment in my life, providing a strong grounding experience that has allowed me to put myself in uncountable pairs of shoes.

Recently, I listened to a Definitely Not the Opera (DNTO) podcast about long walks, and how they can lead to life changes. It included the story of a Montreal man that started walking one day, and didn't stop until he had circled the world 11 years later. This got me thinking about what walks have meant in my own life. When we lived in Victoria, Sebastien and I used to walk up Mt Tolmie from his house, and along Cadboro bay from my house. It was on these walks over the course of a semester that I proposed we move to Montreal, we discussed it, and eventually came to a decision that we would go to McGill. It was walking the West Coast Trail that solidified a group of friends that I know I will now always be able to call on. Walking on Cobble Hill Mountain with my family and friends are the memories that I associate most closely with my sense of what "home" is. Some of my most relaxing, poignant, and joyful times in my life are, somehow, all associated with the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other.

So it has been decided. There are three parks in a relatively close vicinity to our apartment, and it is my goal to got for a minimum of one lengthy walk per week, in addition to walking to and from campus. Yes, through the duration of the winter, no matter what. After those sure-to-be brisk walks, there's nothing like a warm bowl of soup beside a cup of tea to initiate the thawing process. This recipe is a pumpkin-bean chili, easily modifiable to be vegetarian/vegan and grain-free. I like to do this in my slow-cooker, just because it is so convenient! If you don't have a slow-cooker however, a large pot on low heat with the occasional stir will do the trick. The longer you cook the chili, the more developed the flavour, but it a pinch you could reduce the cooking time with any trouble. For the beans, I find that pinto beans take quite a long time to cook compared to navy beans and black beans, so I decided to use a can, for fear they would still be hard. You could substitute all the beans for canned varieties, but I believe I've mentioned (more than once, haha) how easy it is to cook beans! If you miss soaking them overnight, not a problem either, as long as they haven't been sitting in your cupboard for 10 years they should cook up no problem. The recipe for the cornbread is coming up next, so hang in there!

Pumpkin Chili

1 onion, chopped
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 c black beans, soaked overnight
1/2 c white navy beans, soaked overnight
1 can of pinto beans, or 3/4 c cooked pinto beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can pumpkin puree
2 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp chili powder (or 1-2 tsp chipotle chili powder)
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 butternut squash cubed (can substitute acorn squash or omit)

1) Heat a pan on medium heat with a bit of oil. Add the onion, stirring until translucent. Add the beef, and turn heat down to medium-low. Fry until beef is cooked through.
2) Meanwhile, combine all other ingredients in your slow cooker or large pot. When the beef/onion mixture is done cooking, add to other ingredients.
3) For the slow cooker, choose the "low" setting for 8 hours or the "medium" setting for 5-6 hours. If you are using a pot, heating all the ingredient to a simmer, then reduce the stove to low heat. Allow to simmer very gently, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/2-2 hours.
4) To test doneness, try biting into the beans- they should be soft, and not have any discernible "crunch".
5) Add salt to taste. If you find the chili is a bit too thick for your taste, you can add a little bit of chicken stock to thin it out.
6) Serve with a wedge of cornbread, rice, or simply heaped in a bowl!

Banana Cream Cheese Muffins and Best Friends.

2011-10-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

When asked what the most universal language is, I think most people would come up with "food", "love", or possibly "music". For me, food is the language of festival, normalcy, and condolence. Every time anyone near and dear to my family loses someone, I am used to the immediate hustle and bustle of preparing casseroles and cookies to have in hand for the first visit. In this past year a few of my closest friends have had to experience losses, and those have highlighted the difficulty of offering support and condolence from a distance. Because it is usually impossible to turn the comforting thought of homemade food into words worthy of expression, at least for me, I thought I'd offer a recipe to two of my friends I have been close with since elementary and middle school, and who both experienced the loss of a family member in this past year.

Not many people are lucky enough to hang on to their high school friends. Maybe lucky isn't the right word- plenty of people can't wait to leave the awkward, transitional teenage years behind, including the people that were there to witness every folly. On the other hand, the people who saw you during that state know the rawest form of you- the half-baked, still experimenting, stumbling, eyes-closed version of you. They understood the wristband phase, and moved past it alongside you. They totally got the near heart attacks that academics inspired, where surely a poor grade would jeopardize your whole future. They broke the rules with you, stood with you, and felt the consequences with you. They remembered your birthday most of the time. They stayed in your car and talked for a long time before walking the 6 feet to their front door, even though they were just going to see you in the morning.

There is a group of girls- we literally still refer to each other as "the girls"- I am lucky enough to maintain a relationship with past high school. Our history goes way back, and includes crying, camping, concerts, comedy, and philosophical conundrums. It has been highlighted with fighting, fits, and feelings hurt. I wouldn't trade any of our experiences for the world, including the most cringeworthy, the least sensitive, and the ultimately embarrassing.

I mentioned camping above- that we knew how to do. We continue to have sleepovers whenever the opportunity arises, even though our age no longer contains the suffix "teen". We have spent many a night crammed into a too-small tent, going to sleep freezing and waking up steaming, and in my case, eyes swollen shut from allergies. We did the west coast trail together in grade 12, adding whole new dimension to our shared camping experiences, and contributing to the list of "the best things I've ever done" for each of us. When we camped in civilization however, we frequented a member of the group's house who coincidentally had a mom that woke up super early and baked. Baked fresh muffins. Baked fresh muffins with cream cheese embedded in the centre. I can't speak for the other members of the group, but whenever I see a recipe or illusion to the combination of cream cheese and muffins, I automatically think of the morning after sleepovers and those wonderfully fresh muffins.

I have, over the past few years, created many of my own muffin recipes. This is mostly attributed to the fact that I used to have a job that exclusively included baking muffins. Most of the muffins I make again and can't stop thinking of are NOT I repeat NOT healthy granola-and-nuts muffins. Even my granola-and-nuts muffins lean hard to cakes and pastry. Sure, I have a few carrot, pumpkin, and squash puree based muffins...but honestly, you're still eating a mini-cake that somehow slid into the breakfast category. And that, for special occasions, is a glorious thing.

This muffin features brown butter, a creation so simple and fantastic, I can't believe I have yet to incorporate it into all of my baking endeavors. Not only for baking, I may possibly have maybe once served a filet of sole drenched in brown butter sauce to guests. We spent the meal talking about the health benefits of fish, so I thought I'd keep it on the down low what the sauce consisted of. Hey, they said it was the best fish they ever ate! No need to bring in the ingredients. Because brown butter is just butter. That is it. You put butter in a pot, you melt it down over low heat then let it start to foam and turn a beautiful hazel colour. It will smell very similar to hazelnuts and caramel (swoon). Little bits of milk solids in the butter will brown much faster than the liquid, but if you are baking and not concerned with the aesthetics of the sauce, these little crunchy bits add great flavour, so scrape them all out and use them!

This muffin, as I mentioned, also has the famous cream-cheese center. Maybe not that famous actually, unless you are an active member of "the girls" and a regular sleepover participant. It is a simple but splendid addition, just a little spoonful of cream cheese tucked into the batter before baking. It will change your whole experience with muffins, however. You will refer to all other muffins as "center-less muffins", and may become so fanatical as to eventually move on to calling them "soul-less muffins". Also, if it's a Friday night and you've got a jones for baking...and you're down half a bottle of wine since the beginning of the evening...equal parts cream cheese and nutella. Just saying. Combine the cream cheese with the nutella. You will be so glad you did.

Alright, without any further ado, here are the banana cream cheese muffins, dedicated to the girls and filled with wishes of condolences.

Banana Cream Cheese Muffins
As you can see, this muffin contains a lot of "optional"'s. You can add any number of the optionals in any combination, depending on your pantry/fondness for your waistline. If you choose to add them all, feel free to insert the phrase "pimped-out" in front of the title above.

Wet:
1/3 c unsalted butter butter
3-4 bananas (old and spotty ones)
1 c brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp salt

Dry:
3/4 c all purpose flour
3/4 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cardamom (optional)
1/4-1/2 c shredded coconut (optional)
2 Tbsp high quality cocoa powder (optional)
1/4 c pecans, chopped (optional)

Topping:
1 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp oats
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp shredded coconut
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cream cheese for filling

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. First of all, the brown butter. Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, and cook it until the colour turns brown and it smells amazing. Make sure you keep an eye on it so it doesn't go black (that will be unusable), but don't worry if you think it's a little on the dark side, it will taste amazing when baked.

2) When the butter has browned, pull it off the heat. Un-peel your overripe bananas and slice them into the butter mixture. It will sizzle and smell even more wonderful. The hot butter will soften the bananas making them easier to mash into little pieces, and the bananas will cool down the butter.

3) When the banana-butter mixture is cool enough that you can put your finger in it without wanting to remove it quickly, add the brown sugar, egg, and salt. Stir well.

4) In a bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Make a well in the dry ingredients, and add the wet ingredients. Gently fold to combine the wet and the dry, being careful not to over-mix. Once you think the batter is uniformly mixed, stop and mix no more!

5) In a small bowl, combine all the topping ingredients. You don't have to use melted butter, I just gently work it into a crumb with my fingers.

6) Prepare your muffin tins with paper/silicon liners or grease. Spoon the batter evenly between 6 jumbo muffin cups or 12 medium muffin cups.

7) For the cream cheese: I find 1 tsp for medium muffins is the perfect amount, and about 2 tsp for jumbo muffins. I don't worry too much about precise measurement though- I cut little pieces of cream cheese off the brick of cream cheese and roll them into balls, combining pieces until I get 1-2 tsp of cream cheese. I then gently press the cream cheese into the muffin, pushing the batter onto it so it is enveloped in the muffin. Repeat until all the muffins have cream cheese centers.

8) Cover the muffins with the topping. Place in the oven, and bake for 30-45 minutes depending on your muffin size and oven character. Check the muffins after 25 minutes by touching the top gently and quickly (no burnt fingers!) to see if its set. If it appears to have set, insert a clean butter knife into the edge (not the cream cheese center) of the muffin and see if it comes out clean. Continue to bake until a clean butter knife (read: not the one you used for the previous test that would now have batter on it) comes out clean.

9) Enjoy!

Granola to Get Going

2011-10-16T11:17:00.000-07:00

Full disclosure: I have never liked cereal. Sure, I think I enjoyed the novelty of picking out a cavity-causing sweet cereal for my birthday breakfast, but when I realized I could pick any other breakfast I want, I dropped the cereal without a look behind me (my mom would make these little cinnamon biscuits called Scuffles, but we'll come back to those another time). Never did the cheerio or rice crispies thing. Never liked milk poured over anything, except bananas and brown sugar for dessert. This remains true to this day. The last time I probably had cereal for breakfast was in elementary school. Granola? I could live without it. That is, until we started making our own. I can sum it up with Sebastien's face when he came home and could smell it baking. He just smiled and said "Cookies?"

No not, cookies. The fabulous smell of toasting oats, bran, coconut, cranberries, and pecans swathed in cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger. When stirred into yogurt, the well-toasted bran combines to make an almost chocolate-like bitterness, and the cranberries end up with crunchy edges cradling their soft middles. By itself, it's a perfect snack when you are studying, a little bowl of flavour to keep your brain whirring and your stomach settled. So yes, now I can't live without this granola, and it makes my breakfast or lunch so easy to prepare.

Fresh ginger is something I believe should be on hand at all times. It is just a gorgeous ingredient, creating a warm, spicy pop that so many dishes are complimented by. It takes plain old fried rice and turns it into a culinary experience. It takes pumpkin loaf and turns it into something special. It takes salad dressing and turns it into fork-licking good. It puts the "g" in great granola. The thing is, you usually buy a pretty sizable ginger-root from the grocery store, but can never use it all up (if you have in one go, high five, sounds like a good week). The flavour starts to deteriorate if it sits in the fridge, and the edges get unpleasantly shriveled. For this reason, the moment I get home from the grocery store, I peel the whole thing, cut it into cubes, and throw it in the freezer. It will stay fresh in the freezer, and it makes it very easy to grate or chop finely while it is frozen. To peel ginger, all you need is a metal spoon. Use the edge to pull at the skin, and as you'll see, it just slides off. Most recipes call for 1" pieces, so I tend to cut the whole thing up to roughly that size (I gauge 1" using the knuckle on my thumb to the tip- test out the size of yours with a ruler, it is super useful for measuring on the fly).

Another thing that goes straight into the freezer is nuts, especially pine nuts and walnuts. I have previously ranted on the price of pine nuts, so when I do treat myself to them, I want to make sure I can use every single one. That means NOT having them go rancid. Nuts go rancid quickly because of their high unsaturated fat content, which get oxidized when stored in light/warmth. Rancid oils will not only eventually taste unbelievably disgusting, they are best to be avoided in the diet because of the radicals that can be produced. For this reason, I always buy whole, unprocessed nuts (the more chopped up they are, the more surface area to go rancid) and never keep them in the cupboard, always at least in the fridge, but usually in the freezer. I have for the most part given up on buying walnuts because they are almost always rancid (its those darn omega 6 fatty acids, which are pro-inflammatory and not great for you anyways) so I will always use pecans in the place of walnuts in the recipe. If you love you some walnuts, when you buy them sample them in the bulk section (you can ask, most stores are cool with this) to make sure they don't taste rancid. At the very least least give them a sniff, you should be able to tell right away.

Cranberry-Ginger Granola

3 c oats
1/4 c bran
1/2c-3/4 c chopped nuts (my favourite is a combo of almonds and pecans)
1/2 c dried cranberries
1/2 c coconut, unsweetened (large flake is the best in here)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/3 c honey
1/4 c oil (melted coconut, butter, or grapeseed oil is what I usually use)
1-2 tsp fresh ginger, grated or chopped very finely

1) Preheat oven to 3500 degrees F. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.

2) Combine all wet ingredients and fresh ginger in a small bowl or a measuring cup.
3) Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir well to combine.
4) Spread the granola mixture onto a baking sheet. If your baking sheets are older or aren't non-stick, line the sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
5) Bake the granola mixture for 20-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Make sure you stir the granola at the edges into the middle, because that tends to be where the most browning happens.
6) When the granola is nice and toasting (it will smell fantastic), pull it out of the oven and let it cool on the baking sheet.
7) Store in an air tight container. Enjoy!

Every Student Should Know How to...make pizza!

2011-10-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

Just in case it hasn't been totally clear, I like to keep things under control. Yes, I have 24 different colour pens to work with. Yes, I have a filing system for all my school work, past and present. Yes, I update my agenda ~3 times a day. I grind my coffee the night before, follow the weather network, get anxiety if I think I'm going to be late, and have a pretty good idea what I am going to be doing for the next few years.

Does this mean I am tidy? As all my family members and past/present co-inhabiters know, that is not the case. I have been a self-described disaster for most of my life. I try to set standards, usually too high, that I am going to just continually tidy throughout the day, and never have to do mass cleans. This usually dissolves 2-5 days after the resolution, and I go back to dedicating a several hour block of time on the weekend to laundry, folding, sweeping, dusting (allergies!), sorting, bathroom cleaning, collecting of tea cups, clearing of backpacks, and picking up my stacks of scrap paper and clothes. Cleaning-self sometimes thinks normal-self is purposefully living in the most irresponsible manner it can because of a young-rebellious streak. In reality that is not the case- I just don't notice mess for the most part! I swear, it goes totally unnoticed for days at a time. I know that if I don't wipe up the table after cooking nothing is going to happen to it- it will not magically disappear and I will just have to clear it up later. I know that if I throw all my scrap paper and other recycling under my desk, nobody is going to move it and I will probably get my feet stuck to it every few seconds, but I still do it. Last week I emptied the laundry bin of our clean laundry to start filling it with the rest of the dirty stuff...and it stayed on the ground, literally inches from the bed and covering most of the floor, for four days. Sebastien and I just quietly lived around it, until one evening I looked around and realized what a disaster it was. Apparently it also ended up being used as an alternative blanket...

When I notice the mess, look out. I notice every single mess. Usually Sunday mornings, the one time of the week I really relax with a cup of coffee and take some time to put my feet up and flip through cookbooks, I can suddenly see every speck of dust and item out of place. I then go into full-flurry mode and get everything clean. The windows sills dusted, the tub scrubbed, all the food removed from the shelves to scrub the shelves, the fridge cleaned out, leftovers frozen or purposed, floor swept, clothes folded. Everything out of place become my enemy, and it must be conquered.

From this all-to-often experience of sudden consciousness of mess comes a valuable lesson. And yes, it can be applied to food. Food waste is a big problem. Throwing away perfectly good food that could have been turned into energy and utilized for its nutrients hurts me. It makes me grumpy. It makes me feel as spoiled as the food I'm tossing. Not everyone has the luxury to dispose of food they actively went out and purchased. It is also, plain and simple, a waste of my money. Every time I buy an item for $11, I think to myself "That took me an hour to earn at a summer job". One hour of work went into purchasing this. Try thinking of your food that way, and it will go a long way to discouraging you from wasting it!

All it takes to avoid wasting food is to be conscious of what is in your fridge and cupboard. If you are stuck in a rut of throwing out food every week, you might want to take extra efforts and sit down every week after your grocery shop and write down everything you have that needs to be used up that week. Modify the list as you go, putting leftovers from meals on the list and a note of how long they will be good for (approximately). That way, before you even touch the handle, you know what is in there, available to you as an ingredient, and what needs to be used up or frozen soon. After a while, you will get used to monitoring your fridge and can save yourself the time of making a list.

One of the problems I find is that at the end of week, I have little odds and ends cluttering my fridge, but not enough to make individual meals. I also am short on "main meal" items, because it has been seven days since I entered a grocery store. This is the perfect trigger to pizza night for me! Half a green pepper, part of a red onion, a little bit of leftover meat...perfect pizza toppings. I always have flour, yeast, oil, and sugar so pizza is always close at hand! Making your own pizza is so simple, and SO much cheaper than buying frozen pizza. It is rare that I stand behind a uni student in the grocery line and don't see a frozen pizza in their cart, and I just want to hand them a card with a dough recipe on it and put away that expensive trans-fat ridden pizza back in the freezer department.

Also, as you know, pizza topping can come from anywhere. Leftover curry? Use it instead of tomato sauce, and spoon the vegetables over top. Add some red onion and crumbled cheese. Leftover enchilada sauce? Make a tex-mex pizza, with corn, green peppers, leftover chicken, and green onions. Leftover baked potato? Chop up and put on with pesto, green onion, red onion, and bacon bits. Spoon leftover sour cream over. I also like to keep a little bit of pepperoni, Sebastien's favourite, in the freezer, cut very thinly so it's always a back up topping if the fridge truly is bare.

I have posted a pizza crust recipe here: http://easypi.blogspot.com/2010/09/placating-pizza.html
The other crust I posted is fantastically fast, but I've recently acquired a taste for a new crust because a) I never have semolina b) this one is whole wheat. It is a pretty standard recipe, and great to have in the repertoire. I got this from a friend who may have taken it from a cookbook, so hopefully I'm not copying anyone, but it does have a bit of my own touch in it! And that is... roasted garlic. You know those amazing little garlic knots that you sometimes get at italian restaurants? This pizza dough is like that, but there's it has pizza toppings on it. Of course it's totally optional, but if you have some garlic around, and you have a couple extra minutes to roast it, I would definitely recommend it! Be conscious that pizza dough needs 1 1/2 hours to rise, so mix up the dough when you get back from school/work and it'll be just in time for dinner.

Roasted Garlic Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
Again, the roasted garlic is totally optional, but of course a fantastic addition! This recipe makes four medium sized pizzas, but the dough freezes great so if there is less of you cut the dough into quarters, then freeze as many portions as you'd like. To defrost, take out of the fridge at least 3 hours before you plan on making pizza. I take it out in the morning when I know we're having pizza!

1/4 c warm water
1 Tbsp active yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 c warm water
2 tbsp olive oil
3 c whole wheat flour
1-2 c all purpose flour (you can use all whole wheat, the texture will be slightly chewier however)
2 tsp sea salt or kosher salt (if you have regular table salt, reduce to 1 1/2 tsp)
1/2 head garlic, roasted **, optional
2 tsp oregano, optional

1) Place the active yeast in the 1/4 c of warm water with the sugar. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes. Make sure your yeast is foaming- if it isn't your yeast might be dead, which can happen if the water was too hot or your yeast was too old. Try again with a new batch if the first one does not foam. If it still doesn't work, looks like you'll have to buy new yeast.*

2) While the yeast is foaming, combine the flour(s), salt, and oregano (if using) in a large bowl. At first, only add 1 c of all purpose flour (or whole wheat if using all whole wheat), but keep some on hand to add if the dough feels too sticky.

3) Once the yeast is nice and foamy, add the rest of the water and the olive oil, stirring to combine.

4) Slowly pour the liquid mixture into the flour and use a fork to gently mix.

5) Once all the liquid has been added, gather the dough into a ball and turn out onto a lightly floured (with all-purpose flour) counter. Knead the dough by pushing it away from you, then folding the furthest edge over. If you've never kneaded dough before, I've posted a youtube link at the bottom of the page ***. Keep 1 c of flour on hand, and sprinkle a bit on the dough if you find it is too sticky. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until it is very smooth and elastic (from all the developed gluten you've been working on!). (Before and After photos below)

6) If you want to add the roasted garlic, I add it into the dough at the end of kneading. Simply mash the garlic into a paste with the back of a fork, then fold into the dough. Knead for an extra few minutes to really mix the garlic throughout. If it is "streaked" throughout the dough, that is okay too, it makes for great little garlic pockets!

7) Form the kneaded dough into a ball, and rub with some olive oil. Set in a bowl with a moist tea towel over it, in a warm place (I usually put it under a lamp that's on). Let it rise for 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in size.

8) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

9) Split the risen pizza dough into four segments (or two for two large crust pizzas). On a lightly oiled surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin (or, if you don't have one, a wine bottle). Flip the crust to roll out both sides several time. If the dough tears, simply push the two sides back together, flip it, and roll it out again. Don't worry too much about getting a perfect circle.
10) Choose your toppings. You know what to do for this one. Make sure you remember to cover with cheese in the end. To get a crispier bottom, without a pizza stone, I place a cookie sheet upside down in a preheated oven. I let the cookie sheet get quite hot, then carefully slide my pizza onto it AFTER I've dressed it up with all the toppings. If this sounds like a scary feat, skip the preheating and put the pizza on the cookie sheet BEFORE putting the toppings on.

11) Bake until cheese is bubbling and the bottom of the pizza is firm and browned (take a peek by lifting an edge with a spatula). Should take about 20-30 minutes.

*Yeast Storage: Yeast is a unicellular little fellow, who needs to be alive in order to make your dough rise. Yeast should always be stored in the fridge, but if you are not using it on a regular basis, storing the yeast in the freezer is a trick to prolonging the life of your yeast.
**Roasted Garlic: This is a very easy way to tame the flavour of garlic, and a nice technique to learn. Soon you’ll be throwing roasted garlic in every imaginable sauce and spreading it on toast if you aren’t already! First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Take a whole head of garlic and pull all the outer layers or skin off, just using your hands, so you simply have the very inner layers of skin on the cloves (don’t worry if you miss a bit). Now, cut off the very top of the head of garlic, just a half-inch or so, exposing the individual cloves (this will make it easy to remove). Get a generous sized piece of tin foil and put the head on top. Drizzle it with a touch of olive oil, and wrap up the whole situation. Throw it in the oven for 30-35 minutes, testing by pressing the cloves and making sure they are soft.
*** Dough Kneading: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9KX4KFBj5w&feature=related

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!

2011-10-10T16:21:00.000-07:00

This year was my first thanksgiving away from home, so I compensated by having two full thanksgiving feasts this year, both in Ottawa! One was with Sebastien's family friends, who had a large dinner that doubled as a 60th wedding anniversary party for the grandparents. We had a lovely time and ate incredible amounts of stuffing, yams, turkey, cranberry sauce, gravy, and dessert, which included chocolate mocha cake, pumpkin cheese cake, nutella cookies (provided by me!), and pumpkin pie.

The second meal was with two of my closest girlfriends from high school. It was an intimate affair, with a chicken instead of a turkey. Not only was it a chicken, we cooked it on a beer can, which made it very moist and appropriately college-y. We had beer in wine glasses, took a nail painting break, and became too full to eat dessert. It was all very lovely!

I hope wherever you are, you gave thanks this year and celebrated the wonderful holiday that is accessible from every religion (or lack there of), and all about enjoying food and company in tandem. What is better than that, after all? Love sent out to my family on the west coast, very thankful to have all you guys even though I didn't get to see you for this years holiday!

Every Student Should Know...how to pack a lunch!

2011-09-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

This seems like an easy one. Most of us have been packing our lunches since those little brown bags in elementary school, which wielded great bargaining power as candies, sandwiches, and desirable fruits were bargained mercilessly. Before I was old enough to pack my own lunch with any sort of efficiency or health factor, my mom packed plenty of ingenious lunches. Leftovers heated up in a thermos was a particular favourite of mine, which included homemade beef stroganoff, spaghetti, fried rice, and baked chicken. My little brother was more into peanut butter and honey sandwiches, while my older brother was pretty fond of traditional meat-and-cheese sandwiches. The duties of lunch making were, as with most kids, assumed as soon as we were physically capable and we've been making them ever since. Now, some people take lunch very seriously, and others like to skim right over it. I decided that it was a necessary skill that deserves a post after watching a young university gentleman hack open a can of corn niblets with a pocket knife, and proceed to drink the contents, then finish it all off with a slice of processed cheese. Yeah, you would consider this an emergency post if you too had witnessed that.

One of the things about being in university, or any school for that matter, is that classes tend to follow right on the heels of each other, with stuffed backpacks bumping into each other as sloshes of coffee and blurry eyed students navigate the hallways. The thing about having classes in a very organized string, is sometimes it's easier to pay attention at certain times than others, and it seems to pretty directly correlate with blood sugar levels (okay, and coffee). For example, I have a Friday schedule that quite efficiently has me in lectures from 9:30am to 5:30pm with no breaks. This means I get on my shuttle in the morning at 7:45, I get shuttled for 45-60 minutes (which involved mostly listening to CBC podcasts and keeping my eyes closed), I have a short amount of time to prepare for my first class (read notes), and then I am blinking hard and cradling my coffee mug for the first hour of the day. Not my most alert, but hey, I've been up for a few hours and still have breakfast and coffee on my side. I really hit my stride for my 10:30-11:30 class, which is good because it's hour 1 of physics, and if you don't have your eyes open those vectors really get mixed up. Hour 2 of physics is where it all starts to get blurry. Afraid of social alienation if I break out the garlic sausage or pesto chicken sandwich or strong squash curry, I start thing about food around 11:35. The rest of the day is a single blur until 5:30, which is when I chow down on my lunch as I wait for the 6:15 shuttle. What would be better than waiting all day to stuff my face right before I head home? Proper snacks. That is the key to a good lunch. We don't always have time to sit down and have a big dish of leftovers, so I think it is key to a have a variety of little bites that all add up to a generous, filling lunch. Hey, you might even get a better grade because you can hear your prof, not just the growl of your stomach.

So, let's summarize some great lunch ideas, list style:

1) Veggies and Dip. This one seems obvious, but is great because a) it's easy to whip out in a class and snack quietly on (in that case, go easy on the carrots or save them for later) b) the dip makes it surprisingly filling and c) it's an easy way to put more veggies in your diet. I like to go with classic dippers that travel well, such as carrots, celery, radishes, cucumber spears, zucchini spears, and thinly sliced yams. The dips I make ahead of time, like on my Sunday food prep day, and freeze in containers so I can just grab a container in the morning and have it defrosted by lunch. This makes sense for food safety, as some of the dips I love have dairy in them, plus they act as an edible ice pack for the rest of my lunch. The dips I favour are mostly bean-based, partly for economics but mostly for taste. I soak my beans overnight, then cook up a ton of them at one time, so I can freeze the leftovers. I've included a recipe for my favourite white-bean hummus below, but I also love traditional chickpea hummus, curried hummus, and tex-mex red kidney bean dip.

2) Yogurt and Granola. I love having go-to lunches that aren't dependent on the contents, or lack there of, in my fridge so I can have just as good lunches on Friday as I have on Monday, even though the Saturday grocery shop hasn't quite happened yet! Granola is super easy to make yourself, with an added bonus of being cheaper, personalized, and packaging free. I'm a big fan of cinnamon/cardamom/ginger type spices, so I'm working on a recipe to include in my next post! I simply pack a little baggy of granola (which I just wipe out and use the next day to cut down waste) and a well sealed container of yogurt. Check the seal on your containers by filling them with water, completely drying the outside, then turning them upside down. Does water come out? Reserve that container for sandwiches, and save yourself a backpack full of sticky yogurt.

3) Hardy Salads. By hardy salads, I'm not only referring to filling salads, but also salads that hold up well to storage over a period of time. Pre-making a green salad is tough, though doable, as you have to be very cognoscente of the fact that lettuce wilts like nobody's business. If you love your green salads, I recommend putting all the "extras" (strawberry slices, carrots, cucumber, proteins, radish etc) on the bottom with the lettuce on top, then nestling a container of your dressing and a container of your "crunchies" (croutons, sunflower seeds, toasted almonds etc) so everything stays fresh and happy. Because the weather is cooling down and I like to have things ready ahead of time, lately I have been enjoying salads like green bean, potato, and root veggie slaw because I can make containers of it at the beginning of the week and grab it on my way out the door, without worrying about having a separate dressing or anything else I might forget. It saves time, and provides something filling and flavorful throughout the day. Another great salad, is this warm lentil salad, which is also great at room temperature: http://easypi.blogspot.com/2010/12/winter-welcome-back.html.

4) Strategic Leftovers. At the beginning of the week, I always think about items I can cook at dinner that you be great in lunch later. Roasting a whole chicken is fantastic, because you have enough leftovers to use as sandwich meat for at least half of the week (other great roasted meats are pork roast, roast beef, and baked ham). When I am putting away other leftovers, like pasta or casseroles, I take the extra couple of minutes to put it in containers the right size for my lunch, so I can just grab a stack of containers in the morning when I'm in a rush and can't be bothered to spoon things from a larger container into a smaller container.

Okay, so now time for the white bean pesto! First of all, if you are going to use dried beans, you have to cook them. I do recommend using dry beans because not only are they super cheap, they have a superior texture to canned. You might trick yourself into thinking it is tough to prepare dried beans because of the time factor, but it's the easiest thing in the world if you just have them simmering away on the stove while you get other tasks done (physics homework or laundry, for example). If you have the foresight to remember to soak the beans, they have the best texture if you soak them overnight, then rinse them right before you are going to use them. If you didn't remember, no worries, I usually pour a kettle of boiling water over them and let them sit for as long as possible while I prep the other ingredients (usually an hour), then I rinse them and fill the pot up with fresh water. To cook the beans, you should fill the pot you are going to cook the beans in with the soaked (or just dry) beans, and fill it with water to cover the beans by a good two inches. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, then simmer the beans until tender, adding fresh water as needed if it gets low. The cooking time will vary with the freshness of beans, but expect them to take anywhere from 1-2 hours. Just pop over and check one to see if it is tender to bite.

If you are going to be cooking beans, I say you might as well cook more than you need because it doesn't take any longer to cook 6 cups then it does 1/2 a cup if you have a nice big pot. I freeze any extras in little baggies, then add them to soups, salads, refried with lime juice and cumin, and rolled into a burrito with butternut squash. I fell in love with these little white beans the first time I prepared them, they are just a great creamy texture to add to so many foods!

White Bean Pesto

I like to triple this recipe and keep plenty in the freezer in 1 cup portions to bring to school. It is also a great dip for a party, easy, quick, and simple enough to appeal to everyone.

1 1/2 c dried cannellini beans or white navy beans (alternative: 1 can, drained)
1/2 c Greek yogurt
1/4 c fresh basil
3 Tbsp basil pesto (check out my almond pesto recipe!)
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp olive oil

1) If you remember, soak your beans overnight. Regardless of soaking, cook beans by bringing them to a gentle boil, then reducing to a simmer for 1-2 hours until tender. Rinse and cool if you have a glass blender (don't want any temperature shock smashing the glass!).
2) If you have a large blender, put all the ingredients into the blender except the oil and pulse to combine. Drizzle in oil through the top and blend until smooth. If you have a magic bullet, split all the ingredients between two cups and blend. Take breaks to shake vigorously so everything gets mixed.
3) Taste your dip, and adjust the flavour according to your preferences. Feel free to add more garlic, lemon, or pesto!
4) Use within 3-5 days of making, or freeze in small containers.

Every Student Should Know...how to meal plan!

2011-09-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

I have decided that to go with the "back-to-school" atmosphere swirling around the September air, I will do a series called "Every Student Should Know...". I am constantly surprised by how many people around my age don't know the first thing about food, and how tentative they feel about attempting to prepare food. There is something intimidating that has been built up about food culture, and it's a pity because there really isn't much to preparing your own food. Honestly, you just have to get the ingredients, follow the recipe, and acquire a few useful skills along the way. Will you be able to tell when a steak is cooked to medium-rare the first time you make one? Probably not, that's why it's worth it to invest in a thermometer, particularly if you are a novice cook. Will you make a few mistakes along the way? Definitely, but for the most part, unless you've burnt something beyond recognition, it just takes a bit of effort and common sense to save most of your creation. And if you lose your creation, it's not the end of the world; the only thing that might acquire a bit of damage is your ego and a couple dollars. Most of all, you just need to relax, plan ahead, and follow a recipe. It really is that simple, I promise.

Let's get back to that planning ahead concept. Students are always pitied, by themselves and others, for being in a constant state of broke. I know that feeling at the end of the year, when you hand over your debit card and grit your teeth, hoping that it will go through and save you the embarrassment of having to put your groceries back. At the same time though, students are known to be major consumers of pre-prepared dinner food and bought lunches. At the university-student-centric grocery store I shop at here in Montreal, I watch dozens of frozen pizzas, packaged cookies, lunch meats, boxed pasta mixes, and frozen dinners pass through the till. In one of my two hour classes we get a mini-break of ten minutes to eat, and I watch as every single break dozens of people run to the cafeteria and return with muffins, fruit salad, and packaged yogurt. Despite the poor quality most of this food is (think trans-fats, shortening, high sodium, nitrates...), it is also expensive. Even if people buy lots of fresh produce or prepare their own food, I also see a lot of people having to throw out food that goes bad or spoils in the fridge. Knowing exactly what you have in your fridge and only buying what you know you can eat before it goes bad will save a lot of money.

Now that I've made a plea to your wallet, you should also consider the health aspect. Now, we are assuming you are going to school to do well. In order to do well, on a basic, physiological level, you need three things: sleep, fuel, and movement. These three all complement each other, which we've been told since our first gym class: we move, so we get hungry and eat, we move, so we get sleepy and sleep, we sleep so we get energy, we move because we have energy...you get the idea. While I know how easy it is to drop one, or two, or all of these aspects when exam season hits like a storm, and sometimes you just have to pull that all-nighter or stay in the library for twenty straight hours. What you can do though, is plan ahead so you don't get caught exhausted with no food, having not been outside or seen the gym in the last month. There are some obvious things, like keeping up on your school work so you don't have to cram. A less obvious solution for some, is to meal plan. Keeping food under control in times of high academic demand will absolutely make you feel and perform better. The brain is a pretty simple organ, and it quite simply will just work better if you are eating well and getting enough sleep.

How does one go about meal planning? First of all, ideally you want to be able to get all your food for the week in one trip. Stopping by the grocery store everyday is a huge time suck, and can tempt you to by ready-to-go foods that you can make quickly for that night. This means sitting down with three sheets of paper and a stack of cookbooks or your computer. On one sheet of paper, you are going to write out the meals for the week. Sunday to Saturday, break the meals down into the main ingredients that you will need to purchase. Use your computer or cookbooks to find recipes or get inspirations for meals. I personally find it easier to start the plan with the proteins, then filling in the grains and vegetables afterwards. For example, I always cook a chicken on Sunday's so I can have leftover chicken meat in lunches for the week. On Wednesday, there is usually some chicken that still needs to be used up from lunches, and I don't want it to go bad, so Wednesday I make a meal that uses leftover chicken, like a pasta dish or frittata. I look for places to use lower priced, less processed meats, like a whole chicken or tough beef cuts, so I can enjoy the higher quality meats at a lower price. From your seven-day dinner plan, you can make your grocery list. I add a few lunch items, such as cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes for salad, depending on the season. I find that my lunches are pretty much exclusively leftovers, whether they be in a sandwich or in a dish to reheat, so I don't worry about including lots of lunch items on my grocery list.

When making your grocery list, it is very useful to cluster items in their food groups. All the vegetables together, all the fruit together, etc. I also get my meat, vegetables, nuts, and coffee from the market, so I split my list into "grocery store" and "market". Make sure your list is realistic- if you have to many items and limited storage, you may have to end up throwing out perishables. On the other hand, if you underestimate how much food you will eat, you might end up turning to convenience foods or going out when you come home and find the fridge empty. After a week of meal planning, I find you will pretty easily be able to tell how effective your portioning was, and can adjust accordingly. We are self-regulating animals after all!

Okay, so now you have a plan and grocery list. We've hit the third blank sheet of paper, and this is one of the most important ones that will save you lots of time. This is your weekly prep sheet. If you've ever worked in a restaurant, or have any notion of how one is run, you will realize that the restaurant only runs smoothly and gets orders out if all the prep work is done ahead of time. It is the key to getting food on the table fast. For most meals, there is generally a component of chopping, washing, drying, and peeling. If you can just do all the chopping at the same time, you will save yourself the time of having to chop and wash everything right before you cook it, and you will only have to wash your knife and cutting board once. Yes, I know that nutrients start to naturally degrade in some fruits and vegetables are chopped, but to be honest when you are coming home from a long day of classes in the middle of mid-term season, those trace nutrient losses are worth the time you save. I also find that one of the main things that holds up a meal is the cooking of grains and other carbohydrates. For this reason, if I know I'm having rice or barley or quinoa or potatoes that week, I tend to cook them ahead of time, and have them cold in the fridge. To heat them up, I either thrown them in a gratin dish with some vegetables with parmesan on top so they can bake while I do a bit of homework before dinner, or I toss them quickly in a pan to heat them up and get a bit of a crunch going. I love having pasta that has been cooked to al dente ahead of time so I can just quickly heat it up in it's sauce (that I usually make ahead of time too) or bake it with delicious bread crumbs and grate cheese on top.

So, that is meal planning in a nutshell, it is the key to being able to make your own food without it being a big, stressful deal. Sure, it's fine to have some spontaneous meals and moments (I'm thinking of cookies made at ten o'clock on a Tuesday night, fresh bread and butter with veggies for dinner, and other non-meals), but in the long run planning ahead will make your life a lot easier, especially when you are busy. Happy planning!

Roasted Almond Pesto and Almost Settled

2011-09-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

After a couple weeks or so of disarray, chaos, and sweat (why so humid here?!) we finally have an apartment that is starting to feel settled in. The textbooks are lining the shelf just inches above my head, the notebooks have been cracked open, the periodic table of elements shower curtain has assumed its rightful place, and Sebastien is happily doing some preemptive calculus in his little office corner. On the menu for me this semester, there is way-too-much physics, calculus, nutrition fundamentals, and management theories. Some of my courses from two years of microbiology transferred, but there is still a solid couple of semesters to catch up on. Looking like a heavy one, and for entering a dietetics program, I am actually only in one singular nutrition course for the whole year! Well, I will have to make the most of that one call to food. Shouldn't be hard, seeing as my desk is backing onto my kitchen...

Living in Montreal, despite the unaccustomed humidity, has continued to show us new things everyday. My poor, swollen feet are adjusting to the volume of walking associated with city life, which has been a great way to see the city. In the first few weeks, we've made sure we do a couple of sightseeing things before the work volume gets too crazy. We spent a really nice afternoon up Mont-Royal, checking out the view of Montreal and getting some moderate exercise by walking while ~200 people sprinted past us up the stairs for their weekend workout. We watched a street show in Vieux-Montreal, which was a funny mix of comedy, music, and audience participation. We watched an inordinate number of firework shows from our deck, which look pretty magical over the lights of the city. We have also become regulars (aka we've gone thrice in three weeks, we'll see if it turns out regular!) at Jean-Talon Market. For all avid market goers, you've probably heard of Jean-Talon. I was looking at stalls and pictures and blog posts and articles about the market for the months leading up to my move here, so the build up was quite significant. Despite my high expectations, Jean-Talon delivers.

To get to Jean-Talon, we can take the BIXI bikes, which are completely awesome. If you haven't heard what BIXI is, it's a bicycle service that has seemingly hundreds of stops around the city, where you can pay for a year pass and get a little key that you insert into the bike, then the bike pops free of it's lock. You now have a forty minute turn to bike to your destination, where you can just insert the bike into a free lock. This is so great, because you don't have to worry about getting your bike/tires/seat stolen while you are off somewhere, and you can bike to the beautiful Jean-Talon market, then take the subway home when you are loaded down with bags.

Now, the Jean-Talon market itself is abundant. That is definitely the word I would use to sum it up. There are 9 butcher shops, 4 cheese stalls, 9 food services, and ~64 fruit/vegetable stalls (literally, I counted). The vegetable stalls include some of the best corn I've ever had, massive bags of carrots, bouquets of lavender, beautiful heritage tomatoes, hundreds of apples, and huge bundles of basil for $5. The butcher shops are our new source for organic anti-biotic free meat, and every week we get a whole chicken, a couple of sausages, and then an optional third meat (so far: pork tenderloin, chorizo, and this week's pork shoulder roast). We load up on fresh veggies, maple syrup, and finish off with a popsicle or samosa for the road. It's a great Sunday morning outing, which is followed by a big brunch, lots of coffee, a stint of homework, then food prep for the week and a roast chicken dinner. For now, while the weather is nice, Sunday mornings for me consist of sitting on the deck with my cup of chai and business textbook while Sebastien bikes around with the McGill bike club. All-in-all, Sunday is fast becoming my favourite day of the week.

Now, in time I will give you my recipe for roast chicken (hint: it's part of a certain series I'm running...), but for now I'm going to tell you exactly what I did with that $5 bundle of basil, because you bet that was the first thing I bought. The containers of basil you buy from the supermarket are so dinky, so when I saw these guys at the market, my brain was screaming PESTO, PESTO! I mean, who doesn't love pesto? It's green goodness that is great spread on sandwiches, in salad dressing, on pasta, in quiche, rubbed on chicken, and pretty much everywhere else. I think it smells so good, if it was socially acceptable I would aspire to design a pesto perfume. The only thing that makes me cringe about pesto is the pine nuts. Don't get me wrong, pine nuts are totally delicious (world's best mac n' cheese topping), but they are freeze-the-bank call-long-distance-to-bemoan-about-it-with-your-mother expensive. Crazy expensive! For the volume of pesto I enjoy, I simply can't justify the pine nut cost (plus we are not sure if Sebastien is allergic to them, so why take the risk), so I do the sensible thing: I substitute roasted almonds. Roasted properly, until the skin is crackle-y and the aroma fills the house. These little beauties make great substitutes, and I promise will not hinder your product at all. If you can afford the pine nuts, of course I would encourage you to use them, because they are just delicious. However, this is kind of a student version of pesto, so the budget has to be cut somewhere!

So, here is my modified pesto recipe! Make it while the basil is still a-plenty.

Roasted Almond Pesto
This recipe is for 2 cups of basil, which I thought was a pretty reasonable amount that a person would buy. It doubles, triples, and halves well, so adjust to your amount of basil!

1/2 c almonds
2 c fresh basil, packed
1/2 c finely grated romano cheese
1/2 c olive oil
4 cloves of garlic

1) First of all, it is very important to roast the almonds to get a lot of flavour out of them. This can be done two different ways: in the oven, or on the stove top. On the stove top, heat a bit of oil in a cast iron skillet OR heat up a dry non-stick pan, and add the almonds. Toast them on medium heat until they are fragrant and the skins begins to crackle. For the oven method, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spread the almonds out on a baking sheet and roast them 10-15 minutes, until they are fragrant, crunchy, and crackling!

2) Next step is to thoroughly clean your basil! Often when you get basil from the market, the roots are still attached or there's a dirt plug, so making sure the dirt is all removed will prevent that crunchy rock texture that no one wants in their basil. Fill a large pot with water and place all the basil inside so it gets in every nook and cranny, and rinse until the water runs off clean. Dry (don't worry about getting it totally dry, your going to mash it up anyways).
3) Now it's food processor time!! If you are lucky enough to have one, go over and kiss it then proceed to make pesto with ease by first adding the almonds and pulsing until they are fine. Then add your basil and chop it right up. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the olive oil, and pulse until it looks smooth and free of garlic/almond chunks. Add the oil in a drizzle through the top until it's smooth and beautiful and pesto-y. If you have a blender, like me, you are going to do the same thing in the same order, but make sure to stop and stir the blender often, for it is much easier to miss a large piece of garlic or almond in the blender. It works fine, just make sure you check the consistency often!

Montreal! And a taste of home...

2011-08-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

In the last few weeks, I have sat down to write this post in many different places, including on a frigid bench in Banff, Alberta; at a campsite alongside the bugs in Moose Jaw; after a dip in Lake Superior; and during a power outage from Irene in Quebec city. Now, I start this post from a humble (with a capital "h") hostel in the Mont-Royal area of Montreal. Hang on Jenny, didn't you say that you were moving to Montreal? Doesn't that mean you've found an apartment by now? Why yes, I have found an apartment near McGill that I am very excited about, but as it turns out we don't take possession until September 1st, which happens to coincide with the first day of classes (fun fun!). Up until now, Sebastien and I packed up the van for a road trip across Canada, which lasted 6 days until we hit Ottawa, where we crashed with some family friends for a few nights. After Ottawa, we headed to Quebec City to see Sebastien's relatives for a couple nights, and arrange a moving van and it's contents for Sebastien's Mom to deliver to Montreal. It's been a great last couple of weeks, part vacation, part exhaustion, part unorganized, but all fun in the end.

Of course, this post was not finished from a hostel, because what can make you busier than a) moving and b) starting a new semester of university. Saying that I've "moved in" is a bit misleading, implying that everything is unpacked and in its proper new position. Of course, it is anticipated that it will take at least a week to reach that point. While Sebastien's family in Quebec has been very helpful in providing us with lots of furniture, we are still lacking a desk, couch, pans, and approximately 50 other things we don't notice we are missing until we attempt a new task. All this hefting furniture around, massive grocery shops, loads of laundry, and assembling of Ikea products has been conducted without air conditioning in a oh-so-humid atmosphere. It's nice to have a little summer weather, but surely it could have cleared off for just a couple days...it's enough to make me miss the cold of Vancouver Island!!

Speaking of Vancouver Island, nothing could be more different than where I am now. On the busy main street of Sherbrooke on the fourteenth floor of a large apartment building, it's a far cry from my semi-below ground basement suite in Cadboro Bay. There's a lot of food here, restaurants, bars, markets, and artisan shops. There's lots of events and street performances going on all the time. People bike everywhere, that is when they are not on the metro. But, it is still a new, strange place that makes me both excited and nervous. This is hands-down the farthest I've ever lived from home, and I still am leaning towards some comforts that remind me of the coast. One dish I keep coming back to in my mind is my favourite salmon dish. I made it before I left, and am tempted to recreate it here even despite the lack of Sebastien-fished salmon. It's a cedar plank salmon, rubbed with just garlic, salt, and pepper, then drizzled with a warm combination of maple syrup, whiskey, and butter. Simple, smokey, sweet, and rich, this is a perfect salmon recipe in my opinion. Serve it with lemon wedges and a side of local greens, this is the meal to bring the smells and sounds of the coast right back into your dining room.

First things first, lets talk about soaking the cedar plank. There are a few ways you can do this, but any which way takes time. It is recommended to soak planks for 2 hours-overnight. I have found that pouring boiling water over the plank and letting it soak for an hour works in a pinch, but it is easier to just submerge the plank in tap water for about 3 hours before you plan on cooking. In this recipe I just use plain water, which I poured over the planks on a cookie sheet, which were weighted down with mugs so they were fully submerged. If you have a large sink, it is easy to soak the planks straight in the sink. If you are wanting to try out something different, you can soak the plank in liquids other than water for a different smokey flavour. A water-apple cider vinegar combo with crushed cinnamon sticks would go very well with pork, a beer and bay combo is fantastic with ribs, and white wine and dill is a soaking variation that would go well with salmon. If you are wanting to use something other in water, keep in mind that you should avoid soaking in something with lots of sugar, as the sugar may burn and release a slightly unpleasant flavour. For your first non-water soak, maybe try consulting a cookbook or the internet for a reference!

In this recipe I use spring salmon, which has a lighter taste than the famous sockeye. It is still a lovely fish, available in the spring (clearly). Of course, right now is sockeye season, my personal favourite, so I would recommend searching out some local sockeye from west coast fishermen!

Cedar-Plank Salmon

Keep in mind that the cedar plank needs to be soaked ahead of time. Untreated cedar planks are now regularly available at most grocery stores, but can also be purchased at hardware stores for the same purpose.

1 cedar plank
Individual salmon stakes or a filet of salmon (skin on)
~1 tsp granulated garlic
Salt + Pepper
Maple-Whiskey Sauce (recipe below)

1) Submerge the cedar plank in water for 2 hours-overnight. This can be done in your sink, in a tub (clean, clean tub), or on a cookie sheet with a lip.
2) Remove salmon from the fridge, and rinse it lightly with freshwater by running water over it under the tap. Place the salmon on a clean, dry plate. Check the salmon for any bones- if you feel any use pliers to firmly pull them out (watch especially for small pinbones). Pat salmon dry with some paper towel (for hygienic reasons, don't use a cloth!).

3) Rub with granulated garlic, salt, and pepper. Don't be shy with the salt- using a touch more than you normally would and it will really play nicely with the sweetness of the maple-whiskey sauce.

4) When you are ready to start cooking, preheat your BBQ. Get it nice and hot, then place the cedar plank on but don't put the salmon on yet. The key to getting a real smokey flavour is to give the plank a chance to get a smolder going. To keep the smolder under control, keep a spray bottle nearby to extinguish any flames.

5) Let the cedar plank heat up for about ten minutes, then place the salmon, skin side down if your using a filet, on the cedar plank. Now close the lid, so the smoke will be enclosed and permeate the salmon.
6) Let the salmon cook until it is flakes when touched by a fork, for a piece the size I used it took about 20 minutes in 375 degrees F BBQ temperature. If you like to use internal temperature to check for doneness, I like a nice rare salmon which is 120 degrees F in the thickest part. If you like a more well-done salmon, you could let it get to 130 degrees F internal temp without drying the salmon out, but anything hotter than that will be dry.

7) When you are certain the salmon is at your desired doneness, pull the plank off the grill, pull the salmon off the plank, and serve immediately!! Of course, with the maple-whiskey sauce and lemon wedges.

Maple-Whiskey Sauce

This sauce is easy to make, with a ration of 2:1 maple syrup to whiskey, and just a touch of butter to add a little creaminess. I've been making it for years, and never use a recipe, it's so easy. You can keep this sauce warm on the stove while you are cooking the salmon, so prepare it ahead of time.

1/2 c Whiskey
1 c Maple Syrup (Use the real thing!! It won't be any good with a substitute!)
1 Tbsp butter
optional: a dash of chili flakes

1) Combine all the ingredients in a small sauce pan, and bring to low boil, then reduce it to a simmer. Allow to simmer away until the volume decreases by approximately half and you can coat the back of a spoon with the mixture.

2) Keep the sauce warm until you are ready to serve the salmon. I like to drizzle a little sauce on the whole cut of salmon, then put the sauce in little pots around the table so people can add as much as they'd like to their own individual pieces.

Sus domestica AKA Pig

2011-08-03T21:37:00.000-07:00

So, it’s about time for me to delve into, on this fine summer day, the world of science. Because the world IS science. Science has been what I have passionately studied for the past two years at the University of Victoria. The topics that I find myself most smitten with are microbiology (so many grotesquely intriguing diseases and infections) and organic chemistry (pushing arrows is my favourite hobby). As luck should have it, however, I was recently admitted into McGill University (Montreal) for the dietetics program, where I hope to fuse my obsessions with food and science. So that will be Septembers exciting adventure, for sure! Sebastien (aka Seb aka Babs aka Sea Bass aka the BF) is also joining me to study chemistry (nerd) at McGill. Besides being endlessly ecstatic about moving to the maple syrup capital of the world, I have started to read earnestly into food science in preparation for the next chapter of my education.

In this post we are going to delve into the science of a pork chop. Yes, a pork chop. As some of my close friends, family members, and coworkers are aware of, I dig pork in a big way. The story of my relationship with pork begins as a semi-poor student striving to eat well. It didn’t take me long to notice the price difference between pork and beef/lamb/veal/chicken. Also the fact that the local grocery store carried gorgeous heritage pork at a totally reasonable price, especially when the grocery store label fairy slapped a “Use Today or Freeze” sticker on the chops. I seasoned, baked, fried, slow cooked, broiled, and stewed pork into every imaginable presentation. From there, I extended mostly meat-free dishes with a touch of bacon, and introduced much-welcomed rib nights that took advantage of the flavourful, reasonable baby backs in the meat department. Pulled pork (be still, my heart!) became a much-loved member of the pork rotation. So, all in all, pork is one of my favourite additions to any meal. Let’s all take a moment to appreciate all that is pig. Now let the science lesson begin.

When cooking, we are always dealing with the gustatory sense. What is it? Taste. We can break down taste into salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami (savory). In this case, the pork represents umami. When served with apples cooked with a squeeze of lemon juice, we bring in sweet and sour. If rubbed with curry powder, we bring in bitter (predominantly from fenugreek). Brining the pork chop would create the taste that is salty.

Now that we’ve covered the tastes, how do we actually taste them? The taste buds on our tongue have receptor cells that interact with chemicals present in the food. Depending how the receptor cells interact with the chemicals, they will send a specific signal, which the brain then collects and puts together to create a portrait of taste. If you liken it to your hearing, food is the sound, taste buds are the ears, and the brain plays the same role of putting it all together. The same way the ear bud vibrates depending on the pitch, the receptor cells send signals in accordance with the chemical make up of the food. The picture I drew of the tongue is actually the result of a mistranslation of a German study from 1901, so is it accurate at all? No, in fact we can taste all the different kinds of tastes all over our tongue, but some respond with different intensity.

We all know that the gorgeous part of a pork chop has all to do with the browning of the outside. The colour and aroma produced is due to a party of amino acids and sugars breaking down and then turning around and recombining. The denaturing of proteins is the difference between raw and cooked meat, and the caramelization of the sugars is something we are all too familiar with (think caramelized onions, mmm). This is called a Maillard reaction. Gotta love that Maillard, French physician and chemist (1878-1936). He would be French, wouldn’t he.

So, we know that for proper pork taste, we need to get a Maillard going and pair it with something OTHER than umami. In this case, I decided to go with a classic apple sauce, spiced with some mustard. This is the way my mama used to get us to eat our pork when we were little, and it works to this day. Enjoy this pork, after a touch of science!

Grilled Pork Chop

I decided to keep the pork simple with just a good rub of salt and pepper (be generous!). For grilling, I decided to dismantle a pork shoulder roast, after a quick grill of the sides, into bone-in chops that were approximately two inches. You could, for ease, use already cut bone-in shoulder chops or butt chops (they would taste equally as good!).

Pork Chops (1 per person)
Sea Salt, Rock Salt, or Kosher Salt (for a lower sodium chloride content, but all the flavour enhancement!)
Coarse Ground Pepper

1) Preheat grill to medium-high heat. While the grill is heating, take out the pork chops for 20 minutes so they are not so chilled when they hit the grill.
2) Pat the pork chop with paper towel to remove excess moisture, and rub generously with salt and pepper.
3) When the grill is well heated (Maillard reaction does not become noticeable until at least 310 degrees F, and we want to be well above that!), place the chops on the grill. You should be able to hear the chops sear.
4) Cook the chops for about 7 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature registers 155 degrees F (it will rise to 160 degrees F while resting). Whatever you do, DON’T cut into the chop! That will release all kinds of juice and you will end up with a dry, dry pork chop. If you are unaccustomed to grilling meats, and don’t know how to tell the doneness of meat by the spring back, the best way to grill is with a meat thermometer on hand, because temperature doesn’t lie about doneness!

5) When the pork chop registers 155 degrees F or desired doneness, pull of the grill. Loosely cover with tin foil, and let rest for 10 minutes so the juices settle in.
6) Serve!

Savory Apple Sauce

2 lbs apples, peeled (optional) and sliced
juice of ½ a lemon
5 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp coarse Dijon mustard
Salt and Pepper
optional: 1 tsp finely chopped sage

1) Place the apples in a saucepan with the water and lemon juice. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until the apples have softened (start at the same time you put the pork chops on the grill). Gently mash the apples with a wooden spoon or potato masher to achieve the desired chunky sauce-like texture. Add the remaining ingredients just before serving.

Note: If you wish to make the applesauce ahead of time, you can choose to serve it warm or cold (perhaps depending on the temperature outside!).

Summer= Strawberries.

2011-06-05T18:11:00.001-07:00

Summer weather has arrived, and it's about time! Accompanied with a stuffed nose, itchy pallet, and a plethora of hives, lawns have been mowed and flowers have pollinated. Oh yes, living in a farm-happy valley with cottonwood lining the beautiful rivers, June is the time where I give up breathing normally. As a perpetually stuffed up sufferer of allergies, let me tell you, it is a challenge to always mouth breathe in a socially acceptable manner- do not invite me out to dinner, there has to be some creative hand covers. It's a rough life alright. No taste, itchy pallet...just when all of natures beauties are coming out to play!

When I was younger, allergies weren't just things that you struggled through during the day- they were at one moment totally debilitating, and the next moment completely forgotten, as are most ailments when your attention span is only as long as it takes to blink. I remember the dramatics that ensued when my eyes swelled up, screaming and crying in terror that I was going blind. I honestly believed, as I saw my lids thicken and slowly obscure my vision, that this was potentially the last time I would see the world. On the other hand, I developed a general dislike for field hockey, a popular sport for all girls in the valley, which can now specifically be identified as the misery inflicted by the pollen infested season that rendered my breathless (literally). A couple of blurry school camping trips (oh benadryl) resulted in my flipping off a BMX due to a delayed, drugged reaction to an approaching stump. The most tragic result of the allergies however, was the frustrating inability to taste any of my favourite foods.

Of course, when adequately medicated and locked inside the pollen-free safety of my home, there are moments when the allergy fog clears from your vision and taste returns. If I'm lucky, that happens in time to taste this dessert. This little number came as the result of some just ripened strawberries I found gracing our fridge. Yes, it is that season (finally!). Now, few things have as much natural affinity for each other as lemon and strawberries. Arguably, strawberries and oranges do a world of wonder for each other as well, so free to substitute orange as you see fit.

Strawberry Lemon Cake

1/3 c unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for dish
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (if it's handy in the cupboard, I used cake flour for an extra fine crumb)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
zest of two lemons
3 cups sliced strawberries

1) Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter a 10" pie pan (or your new silicon baking dish that you were just wanting to try out...)

2) In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together.

3) In a larger bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy (~4 minutes with an electric mixer). When adequately fluffy and noticeably paler in colour, add the egg, milk, lemon zest, and vanilla until combined.

4) Add the dry mixture into the butter mixture in 3-4 portions, and mix until just smooth.

5) Pour into prepared dish. Arrange strawberries on top in a single layer. If the sugar bowl is kicking around, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar over the whole lot.

6) Bake cake for 50-60 minutes until golden brown. To test, use the toothpick method- stick a toothpick in, and if it comes out free of batter, it's all done! Let it cool to room temperature on a rack. Serve with whipped or iced cream. If you just so happened to make strawberry jam that same day (or have some in the fridge), drizzle it over for a maximum strawberry experience.

Finally, back with adult appies.

2011-05-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

So, I know it's been a long time since I last posted...what can I say, it's hard to keep up when you're in uni and there's tests every other week!

Now that it's summer, however, I vow to kick start this blog back to where it belongs, which is updates on a weekly basis. Oh yeah, so it's summer now by the way. See the sun? You don't? Oh well. It was here once...it brought some flowers and tanned our shoulders...sigh...

So. Since I finished exams, I have moved back home and started working at the same great place as last year. A noticeable thing about moving back home after living independently is the habits I've acquired as a semi-adult have become a little less, hm, polished let's say. I have identified a few trademarks that made me semi-adult for a short 8 months, which I have formatted into an easy checklist to see if you have grown to a maturation that matches your chronological age:

1) Making the bed. Walking into a bedroom and seeing pillows purely for aesthetics with a fluffy duvet screams "I took time to purchase these things and arrange it in an orderly fashion, and I continue to organize things in an orderly fashion." Adults make time to do this sort of things, and it makes them happy, in the ranks of sweeping and putting sachets in drawers. Remember, mess means younsters and therefore mess = stress.

2) Doing the dishes the same day you use them. Teenagers know that nothing exciting happens to the dishes if you leave them until the next morning- if anything it's easier because if you were cooking chances are you were pretending your were fancy so therefore there was wine involved, and no one likes doing dishes tipsy (bye bye wine glass stems). Adults, however, know that they should (or do) have children, so their biology tells them to do all the cleaning stuff when it's dark out because as soon as the sun comes up, the children follow, and like to demand food that requires the very dishes that need cleaning.

3) Doing laundry more than once a month. When adults run out of shirts, they don't air the old ones out and start from the beginning. They also have the appropriate long term memory to remind themselves that there is nothing better than clean sheets.

4) Knowing how to keep the plants inside the house alive. This includes understanding the concept of "over-watering" a theory that seems to be the equivalent of "over-loving". Too much care, and those plants will turn on you and die. Care just enough, but not too much (kind of like your feelings for a favourite unpredictable sports team).

5) When the Canadian national anthem is playing at hockey games you sing the actual words, and know all of them. Yelling "YEAH WHOOO" in between stanza's also exempts you from adulthood.

6) You have attended, or possibly even hosted, an event that required hors d'oeuvres.

So that cues the transition to today's recipe! Besides being difficult to spell, like all things French, hors d'oeuvres is a way of saying "adult appies". It's nice to have a relatively easy dish with a little finesse that you can put together quickly when an event comes up. Check out my all-season figgy appy (http://easypi.blogspot.com/2010/09/turning-over-new-fig.html) for a nice quick one! Another great one is smoked salmon (AKA lox) with jacked up cream cheese. I call this a crostini, despite my lack of Italian authority and my use of sliced French baguette. It is fresh and wonderful. Perfect to make when your fisherman boyfriend who's allergic to fish is away fishing, so that you can eat it without an epi-pen nearby.

Smoked Salmon Crostini

Don't get too worried about quantities in this recipe...taste the cream cheese and adjust! Sometimes I add citrus zest or swap out herbs. Some people find things more "onion-y" than others, so make sure you add everything in increments and taste as you go to suit you and your family. I mean, bread, cream cheese, salmon...nothing can go wrong with that!

1 French buguette, sliced
Olive oil

Cream Cheese mix:

1 lb cream cheese (regular)
1/2 red onion, chopped fine
1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
2 tsp dried dill (if using fresh, increase to taste)
1 bunch green onions, sliced thin
Pinch of salt, to taste

To top:

Lox (cold smoked salmon)
Capers (in brine)
Salt and Pepper

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. First, you want to prepare the baguette for the crostini. Make sure you use a fresh baguette, because you want to get a lovely light toast on the outside but still have a soft, giving center to the bread. Slice the baguette into 1/2 inch rounds, and brush with a bit of olive oil. Spread in one even layer (confluent monolayer, for the microbiologists in the crowd) on a cookie sheet, and bake for 10 minutes until the outside is just starting to get crisp and light brown. Place baked baguette rounds onto a cooling rack to avoid having moisture from the steam soften the slices as they cool.

2) Next, take all ingredients for cream cheese spread, and put in a bowl. Beat together with a good old wooden spoon or some electric beaters. Taste and adjust, taste and adjust!

3) Now it's presentation time. Spread the baguette rounds with some of the cream cheese mixture. Lay slices of lox over the mixture (people usually appreciate generosity in this step!). Dress up with a caper on top of each slice. Cover with a liberal finishing brush of salt and pepper.

4) Impress people with your hors d'oeuvres! How grown up.

Getting the ball rolling.

2011-03-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

FIRST AND FOREMOST: Happy pi day!!!!! With a name like "Easy as Pi", how could I forget?? I post in the honour of 3.14!

I don't know about you guys, but I'm just about ready for the weather to get sprung (Manny is too!). After the anticipation of warmer weather on the west coast, today we got hit with a good amount of rain and wind. A couple days ago, I spotted a couple snow flakes. While I don't usually mind the grey weather, as a common side effect when inside on such a day is coziness, it doesn't have to last forever. Appreciation is in small doses, right? Anyways, school has been busy with me, as you can tell by my lack of posts. This term has been a series of tricky midterms and quizzes, which can be mildly disheartening, but I'm making a break for the finals starting this week. If I have time I'll throw in a recipe or two because, to break up this monotonous weather and add a little challenge to my increasingly-boring food life, I have decided to have a couple food projects. I haven't chosen all of them, but the first one is a one-week paleo trial.

For those of you not familiar, a paleo diet is a diet that mimics our far back ancestors. While I've always been skeptical because, hey, I don't live like a caveman why should I eat like one, after a little research it seems like as good as any diet challenge. The main principle that appeals to me is the debunking of the lipid hypothesis (which is, minus all the science, FAT IS GOOD) and the control of insulin (a hormone that promotes fat storage and is released in response to carbohydrates). So yes, high fat, vegetable, and proteins, with low carbohydrates. This will include cutting out all grains (including those cute little buns from my last post, boo hoo). I've planned out my week, spent too much money on groceries (whole lotta free range meat involved), and am ready to have a little distraction from my studies. Plus, I can nerd out trying to figure out all the science going on in my body with the diet change. I'll let you guys know how it goes!

To kick off the fat-protein-veggie fest, how about a meatball recipe! This is made from high quality ground beef chuck, which is so good I found that it doesn't need to be mixed with any other ground meat, but if you know your local chuck and find it can be dry, go half-ers with a good sirloin grind, some pork, or some veal. It also uses some of that pork seasoning you ground up for my pork roast and sprinkled on the top of those buns! I like a meatball with a bit of spice, but in this recipe I was modest with the seasoning, as I understand that not everyone appreciates a big pepper hit. To make these paleo, I'd have to omit the breadcrumbs for coconut flour and refrain from any accompanying spaghetti or buns. Enjoy before exam season starts in ernest!

Meatballs

1 1/2 lbs ground meat (all beef, all veal, a mix of beef and pork, or a mix of beef, pork, and veal!)
1/2 c breadcrumbs
1/2 c sour cream
1/4 grated parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp pork seasoning (see Rub-a-dub)

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat.
2) Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, sour cream, pork seasoning, and the beaten egg in a bowl. Add the ground meat, and squish the mixture between your fingers until everything is evenly mixed. If you find this gross, use a fork. If you find this fun, careful you don't squeeze it until all the texture is gone from the ground meat!

3) Using an ice cream scoop, your hands, or a spoon, shape the mixture into 18 meatballs. Place meatballs, in a single-not-touching layer, on the lined baking sheets.
4) Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, checking for doneness and turning at 15 minutes.
5) Serve over spaghetti or as sliders with the bun recipe below!

Busy Little Buns.

2011-02-21T21:51:00.000-08:00

Now that it's been more than a month since I've posted...I'd say it's time for another recipe from my cold little basement on the wet west coast (bonus though, it comes with herons in the yard and can be quite cozy when you turn on the oven). As far as life goes, it is busy, as always. A self-propagating list of assignments, reading, midterms, quizzes, and a dash of nonsense has taken residence in the forefront of my brain. I have been following a basic study system that seems mostly based around tea. It goes as follows:

1) Always have a boiled kettle at the ready. I fill mine the night before and turn it on as I stumble to the icebox AKA bathroom in the morning. This will ensure that you can have a mug of black tea in your first two classes during the day, which helps you from losing control over your eyelids.

2) Carry tea bags in your backpack. This way you will save the price of a tea bag ($1 at your average coffee stop) and simply collect hot water throughout the day for free. Keep a variety so you will feel like exciting things are happening throughout the day. In my backpack, I always have earl grey, plain green, something minty, something fruity, something gingery, and something with flowers. This sounds excessive, but believe me, after five hours in the library this will be the spice of your life.

3) Plan all study breaks around going to the bathroom and collecting hot water. This way you will always have something hot to sip, you won't feel quite as much need to eat lots of chocolate, and you will have to go to the bathroom on the hour due to the huge amount of liquid you are consuming. This will stop your from getting varicose veins and strokes from sitting too long (potentially).

4) Make mind maps all the time, especially on Friday nights, so that you feel like you are having a fun, connected learning experience not just a million words over a million pages explaining millions of things you need to have in your brain.

5) Try to put on the contents of a course on one page . This is very satisfying.

6) Use lots of colours. Just in general. This rule applies to most things in life.

Anyways, here is a recipe for lovely little garlicky dinner buns. Perfect for soup or sliders (as you'll see in an upcoming recipe), these have a little sweetness to them from the addition of molasses. They are also crazy easy to make, and can put a little of that all-purpose pork rub to work, as it is delicious sprinkled on the top of these guys after the second rise.

Lovely Little Garlicky Dinner Buns
Recipe adapted from a recipe inspired by the Little Owl restaurant. Long story?

3/4 cups warm water
1 tablespoons molasses
1/8 ounce fresh yeast or 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast*
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 whole bulb garlic
1-2 tsp all purpose pork rub (seasoning from last post! Also, optional, feel free to sub in S&P instead)

1) Roast the whole bulb of garlic (see my previous recipe. Or just turn on the oven to 350 degrees F, wrap the head in tin foil, and bake for 45 minutes or until soft, gloopy, and delicious smelling). Pull out of foil and let cool. When cool, chop finely and set aside.

2) In a small dish, combine the hot water, yeast, and molasses, then set it aside for 20 minutes to bubble away**. Combine all ingredients but the optional pork seasoning in a bowl. Stir up with a wooden spoon until it starts to come together. Add the yeast mixture and fold into the mixture. It will still be sticky, so turn out onto a well floured surface. Knead a few times until it comes together in a nice ball. Place into a clean bowl, and oil the top. Cover with a moist towel, and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in size. The time will vary depending on all kinds of conditions (temperature, age of yeast, etc), so plan on 30 minutes-60 minutes.

**IF THERE IS NO BUBBLING: don't keep going, your yeast is not happy. Try again with a fresh batch. If that one doesn't work, your yeast may all be dead, so unfortunately you will have to buy some more.

3) When you have a nice doubled ball of dough, turn it back out onto a floured surface. Knead in your well chopped roasted garlic. Portion the dough into 1 inch balls, and put onto a lined baking sheet for its second rise. Cover them with a wet towel for 20 minutes.

4) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Sprinkle buns with pork seasoning or just season with salt and pepper. Toss them in the oven for about 20 minutes, until just browning and the bottoms sounds hollow when tapped. Enjoy!

Rub-a-dub.

2011-01-08T12:28:00.000-08:00

Let's keep the meat dialogue rolling, shall we? Probably my favourite way to season meat is with a dry rub. You can get right in there with the mortar and pestle and release the flavour of many gorgeous spices, cover the meat generously, and then let the cooking take care of the rest. You can customize your blends to what your family like, or, you know, buy them. Not to lace my blog with advertisements or anything, but if you want to buy a rub, make it organic and make it good. Organic fair (www.organicfair.com) does a fantastic BBQ rub called "Ultimate 'que" that is my personal favourite rub to purchase- it really enhances the flavour of meat without overpowering it, which is a fantastic quality for a rub to have. They also have an Herbes de Provence which, as Sebastien will testify to, is a favourite of the Frenchies, and a Mole rub that brings some nice authentic Mexican punch with it. I recently received a Southwestern Chipotle rub as a Christmas present, so I'll try it out, and if it's anything significant you may hear about it in the future!

Okay, back on track! There are a lot of great rubs out there for purchase, but they really are very easy to make yourself. Using herbs and spices that you grind yourself really is the kicker, because freshly exposing those volatile essential oils gives the strongest, most well rounded smell and flavour. For that, you may need a bit of equipment. Yes, I will admit to spending evenings smashing pepper with a mallet and crunching cumin in cups with a wooden spoon, but if you are serious about getting a good quantity of spice, and aren't totally fanatical, those methods are less than ideal. A mortar and pestle is one way to sweat for your food, and they really are multi purpose. By that I don't mean they have a lot of different functions- they are pretty much exclusively for smashing things-but that you will be surprised at the wide variety of things there are to smash! Garlic cloves and butter, fresh herbs, nuts, bananas, coffee beans...the list continues. At the very least, they have a nice shape, so use them as a decoration and for spice rubs. Another option for breaking apart your spices is a coffee grinder, though it is recommended that its not the one that you actually use for coffee. Unless you like a little pork seasoning in your cup of joe or have always wanted to try a cumin flavoured expresso. Whichever you choose to purchase, buy it knowing that your future will be succulently spiced!

So, here's the recipe for a couple of rubs! The lamb rub really is tailored to the lamb meat, because a primary herb in it is thyme. The principle flavour molecule in thyme is a little something called "thymol" which happens to be something found in lamb, which makes this a natural couple. Another herb used in this rub that really compliments lamb is rosemary (a nice Mediterranean "terpene"). The so called "All-Purpose Pork Rub" that I've posted here is more of a name than anything. Doesn't it sound nice? Really, it is a compilation of classic spices used in many pork dishes, but I have been known to toss it on beef and into meatball mixtures without a pause.

All-Purpose Pork Rub

1/4 c. cumin seeds
1 Tbsp. coriander seeds
1 Tbsp. mustard seeds
2 Tbsp. black peppercorns
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. sea salt

1) Place the cumin and coriander seeds in a large pan and heat to medium heat. When you can smell the spices (they become "fragrant") and have darkened slightly in colour (they have "toasted") pull them off the heat and let them cool a bit.

2) Mix all the spices together and grind in small batches to a desired consistency (course if you like bursts in your mouth, finer if you want an even coat, or somewhere in between). Store in a jar or sealed plastic bag and use soon for maximum flavour.

To Use: If you are coating something like a roast, dry the roast with paper towels first. Then evaluate- spices don't stick very well to hardened fat, so if there is a lot of marbled fat on the surface or a good strip on the top, rub the whole thing with a little oil, or target the fat strip with oil. Then coat generously. Try to get the rub onto the meat an hour or so before you plan on cooking it- even fifteen minutes will make a difference. Then cook as you would normally. If you are doing an individual cut, like a chop, coat well but maybe don't go to town quite as much as something large like a roast. Get a nice single layer on, then shake off the excess spice before cooking.

Lamb Rub

3 Tbsp. dried thyme leaves
2 Tbsp. dried rosemary
2 Tbsp. black peppercorns
2 tsp. coriander seeds
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. sea salt

1) Mix together black peppercorns and coriander seeds. Grind to desired consistency. If you think you rosemary is on the large side, give it a quick smash too.

2) Combine all in a bowl. Store in a jar or in a sealed plastic bag, and use quickly for maximum flavour.

To Use: Same as with the pork- coat generously, use oil if there's a lot of fat on the surface. For a lamb chop, apply the rub with greater reserve, but by no means skimp.

Meat Dynamics

2011-01-08T11:01:00.000-08:00

Instead of a recipe I thought I would have a post that elaborates on a resolution that my family decided on, and that was a strict commitment to ethical meat. "Ethical" may mean the same thing as cruelty-free to some people, but to us it means meat that comes with respect to the animal, environment, farmer, and purchaser. My relationship with meat has been, and in some ways continues to be, quite dynamic. It all began at a young age, when I first learned what meat was.

To give you some kind of idea what meat meant to me as a child, my family nickname was "Raptor". I loved meat, and all that came with it- the sauces, the rubs, the casseroles! Steak and asparagus, chicken divan, pork roast...it was all fast-tracked into my stomach via grabbing little hands. Then, around the age of five, I very suddenly understood what "pork is pig" meant. I sort of had a concept that that the pig was somehow giving us pork. but I wasn't quite sure how it did that up until that point. I assumed it was a gift from the pig, that maybe it foraged throughout the woods all day and came back, surprise, with bacon! It was the same sort of realization when I noticed my little brother wasn't actually a doll- shock, and then...disappointment. Disappointment that my parents had knowingly let me eat some of my favourite animals (though that had explained the process repeatedly) and mostly the disappointment that two of my favourite things had now collided- eating meat and animals. Determined to find a loophole, I decided that the only solution was to eat meat without eating animals. Mommy, can I be a vegetarian that eats meat? Turns out, the answer to that is no. Meat and animals are one of the same, and it broke my heart. I loved animals, really loved animals.

My first real go at vegetarianism began when I was fourteen, and lasted up until I was three quarters of the way through eighteen. Though I am happily an omnivore now, this stint of vegetarianism was what really got me interested in my food. Anything that makes you step back and change your diet in a drastic way can really be a wake-up call for what food means to you. i started reading cookbooks like they were novels, a practice I keep to this day. Food blogs became a place not only to drool, but to delve into. Our family diet changed as well- both my little brother and I were vegetarians, so we rarely had meat in the fridge. My brother had always been a picky eater, so we had stuck to a pretty regular meal plan that involved revolving things like beef stroganoff, spaghetti, and a variety of chicken. Now, we all had to think a little more about what was going on the table, and it led to a bit of a kitchen revolution. Artichokes on weeknights? Beefless borsht? Huevos Rancheros? It's not that we had been unadventurous eaters before, but a quake had set us loose and we were enjoying it.

Now, by the age of fourteen, my reasons not to eat meat were a little more sophisticated than "But I LOVE pigs!". The meat industry is a 140 billion dollar industry that occupies a third of the land on the planet, so even if we don't eat it, it's of interest to all of us. The accounts of factory farm life are hopefully something that everyone has seen (Food Inc.) or read about (Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer). We understand that there are horrors that happen in factory farms, to the animals, environment, and workers. Being a vegetarian was a way to completely remove myself from the world of factory farming. Which is more socially acceptable, telling a host you're a vegetarian or saying sorry, I don't eat meat I don't know the source of? In a lot of ways its easier to be vegetarian and say hey, I've done my part.

Two things changed this. One, I started to crave meat. Not necessarily the actual physical meat, but the history that went with it. Turkey feasts and lamb roasts, two things that had been something to look forward to all year, no longer existed. Spending a lot of time on food blogs showed other people very happily and ethically raising their own meat. Further reading into biology illustrated beautiful and complex relationships between animals and plants, living in an environmentally neutral, if not friendly, symbiosis. I wanted to be part of this movement towards slow, ethical food, and meat was a huge part of that. Two, I understood what it meant to respect animals while causing their death.

As I mentioned, I volunteer in a lab at UVic. I work with rats. I also have two pet rats, beautiful little boys named Cam and Mitchell (seen Modern family?) who provide entertainment and always show me lots of affection. The study we work with, though I won't get into the details, requires a lot of rats, specifically, a lot of rat brains. The first time I had to kill a rat, it turned out to be something like fifteen rats. I cried when I drove home. The first time I had to cull a litter, my stomach turned. But I kept on doing it and somehow...it felt okay. It didn't feel cruel or uncalled for. I loved to learn about the inside of their bodies, and knew that each result pushed the study forward. I had so much respect for the rats we worked with, just like I have for my own pet rats, and knew that they lived a relatively good life. We did what we could to make them comfortable, and made sure they had a quick end that showed respect for their life. It was a perfectly modelled relationship for meat, one of utmost respect. If my meat can be treated the way I know I can treat these rats, then I can justify and enjoy eating meat.

I have now been enjoying ethically raised meat that is good for me, the environment, and the local farmers, for nine months. The whole mystery of the culinary world of meat is lain at my feet. If you haven't already looked into where your meat comes from, if you eat meat, understand that it is important that you do. The meat you buy is a choice, and a big one, so make sure you have all the resources to be happy with the choice you make.

Again, Happy New Year, and I hope those resolutions are stay with everyone throughout the year!

Caramel w/o the Christmas.

2011-01-02T13:29:00.000-08:00

You may be thinking that this looks an awful lot like Christmas candy. This may have something to do with the fact that they were made from a recipe with the words "Christmas Caramels" in the title. But who says that the 25th of December has to have a monopoly on all things nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and molasses? I say we call them "Salted and Spiced Caramels" then make them year round, given out as much-appreciated gifts that don't kill a budget. They are fantastic, not-too-sweet morsels that taste even more delicious when hand wrapped in squares of wax paper and packaged into fantastic little boxes, such as mini chinese take out boxes from The Papery (Victoria). This recipe makes a ton of caramels, so plan out the recipients.

First things first, a few things about candy making:

1) Use a candy thermometer. Trying to "eyeball" 255 degrees F is nothing more than a shot in the dark. The cost for a candy thermometer is $15-$20. They can double as a deep fry thermometer and last forever. Some have a clip that holds them to the side of pots, which is a useful but not essential addition. The average temperature range is 100-400 degrees F.

*Think your candy thermometer may be off by a few degrees? This can make a big difference when working with high temperatures. To check if it is off, bring a pot of water to boil on your stove top. Check the temperature- water boils at 212 degrees F. If your candy thermometer is reading above or below this, check the instructions that came with your candy thermometer for re-calibration.

2) Use a recipe. Unless you are an experienced candy maker, and feel comfortable throwing a little bit of this and that in, use a reputable recipe and follow it closely. For one thing, you are going to be dealing with brutally hot liquid, so tasting and adjusting isn't really a very applicable option. For another thing, you may unintentionally alter the chemical make up of your candy, which can take you into completely unpredictable territory. I know person who once halved the sugar in their caramel recipe, which resulted a nasty semi-liquid that didn't resemble caramel in the slightest. Lesson: save improv for pasta, recipes you have experience with, and the stage.

3) Use a large pot. Candy often foams and expands, and the last thing you want is burnt candy all over the stove top making a huge mess. A nice wide bottom will have a good surface area to volume ratio, and high sides will stop spitting and overflowing. You will be safe 90% of the time you fill your pot only 1/4 of the way full.

4) Be safe! If your pot has a handle, turn it in so that it isn't hanging over any edges. Keep all infants/pets/absent minded people away from the stove top. Even better: keep them out of the kitchen! It sounds a little extreme, but if something that hot came spilling down, you want minimum damage. I usually keep moccasins or shoes on, and wear oven mitts for stirring after feeling the sting of having hot sugar spat on my fingers. If you are careful, you will end up with delicious tasting candy with no bad memories of burns.

So there it is, a crash course in candy making basics. Here is a recipe, adapted from miss Martha Stewart herself, for gingerbread caramels.

"Everything Nice" Caramels

Sugar and spice...

4 c heavy cream
1 c golden corn syrup
1 c lilly white corn syrup
4 c white sugar
3/4 c butter
1/2 c unsulfured molasses
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
coarse fleur de sel

oil for greasing
parchment paper

1) In a large pot, combine cream, corn syrups, sugar, butter, and molasses. Turn on medium-high heat, and stir until sugar has dissolved. Cook over medium high heat until mixture reaches 248 degrees (firm ball stage). This will take about 20 minutes, and requires you to stir frequently. Watch for foaming, and if you feel that it is getting too high on the sides of the pot, ladle some out into another pot, and you'll have to work it in batches. Alternatively, you can use any extra that is above 200 degrees as caramel sauce.

2) While getting the mixture to temperature, line a 12" X 17" baking pan with parchment paper and spray the paper generously with oil. This will make a huge difference when it comes to removing the caramel!

3) When you reach 248 degrees, remove the caramel from the heat and stir in the vanilla, salt, and spices. Immediately pour the mixture into the parchment lined baking pan. Using oven mitts, transfer the pan to a place where it can sit for 24 hours (if you aren't using the oven, thats a safe place where it will be undisturbed). Sprinkle the top with fleur de sel. Let it stand, uncovered for 24 hours.

4) Invert the baking pan onto a cutting board. Peel off the parchment paper and flip the caramel so the fleur de sel side is up. Using a sharp, large knife (a chef's knife works well), slice the caramel into bite sized pieces. Arrange caramels in a single layer without touching each other (if they touch they will STICK and melt in a warm room!).

To wrap: Cut wax paper into squares. Place a single caramel in each square, and roll the wax paper around it, twisting each end in opposite directions. Cut off any ends that are too long. This is a long process to do by yourself, so recruit a friend, family member or glass of wine to join you. A good activity to get people to do while watching a movie or TV show.

A Dutch beginning.

2011-01-02T12:54:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2011! I hope everyone had a sufficient New Years Eve! I started my New Years Eve off by cross-country skiing and snowshoeing on Mount Washington, where my family and Sebastien’s family had been skiing and enjoying fabulous weather for five days. A long drive home, a couple of ciders, and an extremely competitive game of Apples to Apples that left me hoarse, and there you have it, 2010 was over! How is 2011 looking so far? Any resolutions in the air?

Some people are anti-resolution. They see everyday as the stepping-stones to become a better person, so they forgo the thought of one big burst of effort one month of the year. These people also do not kiss a loved one at midnight (you can kiss anytime of the year!) and probably still help themselves to champagne. Myself, I am a fan of making resolutions. Resolutions are not only goals for the future; they are the products of reflection. Being of the non-religious variety, the practice of full life reflection is meager, save for New Years and birthdays. I pull out an old notebook and split a page into categories, organized by colour, and then begin with the big goals, which are broken down into series of smaller goals. Yes, it is the scientist in me that smiles at the neat columns and extra thoughts scribbled onto many fluttering sticky notes. Whether or not you partake in this quiet, reflective ritual, I hope you have a great new year regardless!

If you try this fantastic Dutch pancake, how can it not be a great year already? Baked in the oven and served with a sprinkling of icing sugar, maple syrup, and fresh apples or berries, this would make a great brunch item for the family or guests. I once even baked a jumbo-sized one, wrapped it well in tea towels, and drove it to a music festival where many happy campers enjoyed it, accompanied by fresh strawberries and shredded mint. I’ve also seen this pancake served as a desert item, spiced up with cardamom alongside a bowl of golden raisons soaked in liquor. Enjoy this recipe throughout 2011!

Dutch Baby Pancake

4 eggs
1 Tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
2/3 c flour
2/3 c milk
2 Tbsp butter

1) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. When the oven is almost or fully preheated, place an 18 “ pie plate, or two 9” cake pans, in the oven for about ten minutes, until they are quite hot. Meanwhile, make the batter.

2) Get out a large bowl, and crack your eggs in, whisking them until they are smooth and lighter in colour. Add the sugar, salt, flour, and milk, whisking until smooth.

3) To the nice and hot pie plate/ cake pans, add the butter. It should sizzle and melt. If it doesn’t melt completely, pop it in the oven until the butter is bubbling lightly. At that point, pour in all the batter at once and put it back in the oven.

4) Bake it for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and bake for ten more minutes, or until the pancake looks set and the edges are browning. A bit of butter on the top may make it look uncooked, so give it a prod with a fork to test the batter when you think it is done.

5) Serve! Maple syrup and berries, or whatever you see fit to enjoy this pancake-meets-doughnut-without-the-guilt.

Winter Welcome-Back!

2010-12-26T02:51:00.000-08:00

I’m back! What has happened since I last posted:

-my birthday
-mad studying for exams
-completion of exams
-general exhaustion lasting several days
-CHRISTMAS! My favourite holiday!
-general merriment, ongoing

Term definitely ended with a flurry. I was not aware that it is, in fact, possible to study for 15 hours with three twenty minute breaks and not die. So that is good to know. The grades are trickling back in, at a pace slower than my liking, but so far the trend is that working as hard as I possibly could has paid off (fingers crossed!).

For those of you who have participated in an exam period at any point in your life, you know that it is an inhumane state of being, punctuated by poor food, “socks and showers optional” theories, no sleep, and regularly occurring hysteria. Running to the cafeteria to weigh the possibilities of the cheapest dinner possible, because you simply can’t afford the time it takes to get home and back, became a daily event. I was surprised that I was caught up in this poor quality of eating- I made a huge pot of soup, muffins, ginger loaf, and stocked the fridge well before exams had started. This, I figured, was a surefire way to have proper nutrition. Readily available food at home! I’ll never turn to convenience.

The problem with this strategy is that it relied on the term “home”. In exam period, the quant little basement suite I have been calling “home” for the last four month, became a place I rarely made it to. The library, of its many floors and valuable desk space, became “home”, and all that was there was caf food. Sure, I tried to pack food, but do you know how large of a bag you need to carry enough food to sustain you from 8:30 am to 12:00 am? A freaking huge bag, that is really difficult to maneuver with your other huge bag of textbooks, and pretty soon you’re the sweating bag lady who didn’t notice that her container of lentils popped its lid twenty minutes ago and is making the whole place smell like garlic. So, I saved the sore back and harsh judgments by packing my wallet instead. Yes, it is much less than ideal and not something I would want to do in the “real world” but we are speaking of the totally anarchy that is exams. Judgment cannot be bore on people in that state.

Maybe if the people in the library had tasted those lentils though…then they might be humming a different tune! The ultimate comfort food, lentils are warm and filling, without leaving you with that heavy “I just ate so much fat” feeling. It’s a nice change from all the meat laden holiday food. I make lentils, in their various preparations, about once a week then enjoy them for lunch on many subsequent days. They are a great way to have a hearty, meatless dish through your week. Alternatively, they also taste great with sausage stirred on, or as a side for other proteins. I personally love serving lentils with salmon and pork chops. Here is a recipe for a warm lentil salad, adapted from a lovely one at Guilty Kitchen (http://guiltykitchen.com/2010/10/18/warm-lentil-salad/). I usually prepare my lentils with the same cheesecloth style, then toss it with a pretty plain vinaigrette, so I thought I'd give this one a try! The key difference I made is in the smoked paprika- it takes it to a whole different level! It is very student friendly, as dried lentils are crazy cheap, and only requires a pot and a piece of cheesecloth. Notice that I said DRIED lentils not canned, if you get the canned lentils and boil them for 30 minutes you will end up with mush. Plus, good, dried lentils taste so much better than canned lentils, are cheap, and easy to prepare. Look for them in the bulk food section, and stock up!

Warm Lentil Salad

This recipe has been a long time coming, but here it is (just in time for a Christmas present, hey Brett!). It's nice to be back.

2 c lentils**
3-5 cloves garlic, peeled
2 bay leaves (optional-I know they're not for everyone!)
10 black peppercorns
2 star anise (very tasty, but could potentially be left out if the pantry is bare)
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 carrot, peeled and cut into chunks

1) First off, you are going to want to gather up your garlic, spices, onion, and carrot in a piece of cheesecloth. Tie it up very tight or secure it with a piece of string.

2) In a large pot, place your lentils and cheesecloth on the bottom. Fill the pot up with water, making sure that the water line covers the lentils by at least three inches. (Want to speed up the cooking process a bit? Use boiling water from the kettle).

3) Turn your stovetop to medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Once at a healthy rolling boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. This is the part where you can “walk away” aka make the dressing. Don’t forget about the lentils- they are going to need 30-40 minutes to get nice and tender, but make sure to check them regularly. If the water level is looking a little low, add another cup. Check the tenderness occasionally- you don’t want to be unpleasantly surprised that the lentils are taking way longer to cook (which may be the case with older lentils), so its nice to keep tabs on the lentils throughout. When the lentils taste like they are very close to done, do not add any more water even if it seems to have mostly disappeared. Ideally, you would like to end up with perfectly cooked lentils with no extra water.

4) When the lentils are tender, but aren’t breaking apart to mush, they are done. Remove the cheesecloth. If there is a lot of extra water, ladle or spoon it out. Stir in the dressing below and serve warm. (OPTIONAL: add cooked sausage or greens such as chard or arugula at this point).

**There are many different kinds of lentils, each with their own specialties. For this recipe I love puy lentils (also known as French lentils), but I did not put that on the list of ingredients because you can make this recipe with ANY lentils that are carried at your grocer. Don’t let yourself get hung up if you don’t have puy! Look for them first, but anything else is fine.

Dressing

Juice and zest of 1 lime
¼ c plain yogurt
1 Tbsp honey
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika (or more, to taste)
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cardamom
½ c chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper
Drizzle of olive oil

1) Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Tastes best if allowed to sit in the fridge, preferably for at least half an hour. If you can’t spare the time, just toss it in!

Thanksgiving, The Big One: Turkey

2010-10-12T19:35:00.000-07:00

Now, everyone has their own way of making “the perfect” turkey. Brined, wrapped in cheesecloth, broken down, deep-fried, basted religiously…the list goes on. All steps are taken to get a juicy, moist, yet fully cooked bird. As a family we have tried it a few ways in the past, sometimes producing dry meat, but have settled on a very traditional method, that we will keep perfecting as the years go by. This year the meat was moist, the skin lovely and browned, and it didn’t take forever, so I’d say that’s pretty good! Though I was nervous about manning the turkey by myself, and a few minor freak outs did occur as I wavered the temperature up and down, it forgave me in the end and reminded me that following some rules is never a bad idea. I baste it regularly, admit to a pretty generous addition of butter, and leave it unstuffed. This is more of a method than a recipe, and I don’t provide a time. This is because every turkey is different, and I’ve never punched in a time that ends up being correct. If you do need a timer to remind you where you are, set it for a minimum amount, about two hours, and keep checking the temperature near the hip joint so you have an idea of where you are heading. When it gets close, you are going to want to bring the temperature up a bit to brown that skin, and you won’t know that you’re close if you don’t regularly check the temperature.

1) Take the turkey out an hour before you plan on cooking it to help get it to room temperature. While it’s hanging out (far from where the dog/cat/small children can reach it), you can prepare your veggies. We use:

- 4 carrots, chopped roughly
- 4 celery sticks, chopped roughly
- 4 onions, quartered
- 2 parsnips, chopped roughly
- 2 fennel bulbs, quartered

2) Arrange veggies in the bottom of your roasting pan, putting aside 2 onions worth of quarters to put in the turkey. As for the turkey, get out

- 1 c butter
- handful of fresh sage leaves
- handful of fresh thyme
- handful of fresh rosemary

Mash herbs in with half a cup of the butter. Put a small slit, just large enough for your hand to squeeze in, in the skin near the back opening of the turkey. Rub the herb butter inside the skin, pressing it all over the top into the front of the turkey. This will help keep the breast moist. Rub the other half-cup all over the skin, which will really help bring out a nice colour in it. Season the cavity with 1 Tbsp salt and place the rest of the onions inside. Tie the legs together firmly with a string. Cover the wingtips with tin foil, and loosely cover the legs with tin foil.

3) Heat the oven up to 325 degrees F. In the bottom of your roasting pan, pour in 4 cups of water and 2 cups of wine to help keep some moisture in the oven. Put turkey in the oven (finally!) with the lid off. Baste every hour after the first hour and a half. If the skin doesn’t seem to be browning, add a little extra butter when you baste.

4) When the leg meat near the hip joint reads 160 degrees F, its time to turn the heat up. 400 degrees F for about another 20-30 minutes, until the turkey temperature reads 170 degrees F in the same spot.

5) Remove the turkey! Place on a cutting board/platter to set for 20-30 minutes to let all those juices settle.

Thanksgiving, Take Three: Side Dishes.

2010-10-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

Good side dishes really help make thanksgiving dinners memorable. The turkey, cranberry sauce, gravy, and pumpkin pie will probably be there year after year, so the different meals are often distinguished by the little things you change. Garlic mashed potatoes last year? Try potato gratin, twice baked, or fanned this year. Glazed carrots coming back regularly? Switch to green beans with almonds, roasted fennel, braised greens, or brussel sprouts. The one thing I tend to stay away from are cold salads- all the heat from the other dishes can wilt the lettuce, and it makes it harder to douse the whole situation in gravy. Here are a few sides we enjoyed this year!

Balsamic Brussel sprouts

Feared, hated, loved, spat out, and munched up. This is a vegetable of controversy, which is very understandable. Who wouldn’t be suspicious when they are so often boiled to death and left unseasoned? Inedible is a word that comes to mind when thinking of those flavourless mushballs. Here is a little method for more flavour than mush when it comes to your brussel sprouts, utilizing garlic, shallots, pancetta, balsamic and butter.

2 lbs brussel sprouts
1 ½ c diced pancetta, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 shallot, chopped
2 tsp thyme
¼ c butter
¼ c balsamic vinegar

1) To prepare the brussel sprouts, wash them thoroughly in a large basin and pat dry. Cut off any stems that are long, and remove any rough, fibrous looking outer leaves. After the stems are trimmed, use a paring knife to cut a small “X” into the stem. This will help the stems cook faster so the leaves aren’t over done by the time the stem is ready.

2) Fit a steamer in the bottom of a pot with enough water to just cover the steamer. Bring to a simmer and add the sprouts. Cook until just tender and remove. Overcooking will mean mush, so keep an eye on it!

3) Meanwhile, in a small pan on medium-high heat fry up the chopped pancetta until it is darkened around the edges and has released some of its fat. Add the shallots and garlic, frying until just starting to brown, and then deglaze the pan with balsamic vinegar. Add the butter and thyme, stirring to melt and combine all the flavours.

4) Put the tender brussel sprouts into a dish, and pour over the pancetta balsamic mixture. Toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper, then serve as is!

Potato Gratin

Gratins can be done any which way you’d like- mushrooms, yams, parsnips, leeks, onions, shallots, garlic…whatever flavours your family is a fan of. So versatile and sooooo creamy, it is a perfect special occasion dish. How often do you get this much fat and flavour in your life? I would throw in an extra workout after just to eat these potatoes. That good. OH, and salting in this dish is very important. I broke out the pink Himalayan salt in generous amounts to help everything pop.

1 Tbsp butter, plus additional butter for the dish
4 large yellow potatoes, peeled
1 leek, chopped (optional)
2 ½ c mushrooms, chopped (optional)
2 shallots, chopped (optional)
4 cloves garlic (optional)
½ c parmesan cheese, separated into three piles (feel free to substitute others!)
1 oz goat cheese (optional)
1 c cream
1 tsp sage
1 tsp thyme
zest of one lemon
Salt and pepper

1) For slicing the potatoes, using a food processor or mandolin will really help create very even, thin slices. If you don’t have either of those, definitely slice these potatoes the day before, because it will take a while! Don’t lose patience and make thick slices because those will take much longer to cook!

2) Prepare your “extras” to create a personal, flavourful filing. For us, that meant sautéing leeks until soft, then frying mushrooms with shallots and garlic.

3) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and butter a 9 x 12 dish well. Layer the bottom of the dish with one layer of potatoes, overlapping edges slightly. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add half of your filling, ours being the mushroom mixture. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese. Add another layer of potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and then add the rest of your filling. Sprinkle with another 1/3 of the cheese. Add the rest of the potatoes in a final layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and then add the remaining cheese. Dot the top with 1 Tbsp of butter and the goat cheese.

4) Stir lemon zest, sage, and thyme into the cream. Pour cream over the dish. The milk should come up to the bottom of the top layer; if it doe not, keep adding cream until it does.

5) This gratin is going to take about an hour in the oven. I kept mine foil covered for 40 minutes, then left it uncovered for the last twenty to brown and crisp up the top a little. Make sure the potatoes are cooked all the way through when you take it out!

6) Serve with an extra sprinkle of salt and pepper!

Thanksgiving, Take Two: Pumpkin Pie

2010-10-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

What is thanksgiving dinner without some pumpkin in there somewhere? Silly, that’s what. Identified as the only pie my brother will eat, pumpkin pie is so easy to make and even easier to eat. Now, the debate: pumpkin puree from the can or cook and mash up the real stuff? Honestly, I’ve had it both ways and have some problems with both. Preparing your own pumpkin puree is a fair amount of work, and honestly, the pumpkins we buy weren’t designed for eating and end up with a bit of a watery flavour that is low on pumpkin-y-ness. Does it make you feel like a more accomplished person? Yes. Will picky brothers eat that kind? Doubtful. For this reason, we give the puree from our October pumpkins to the dog, who seems to find it just delicious. I have been using a canned organic pure pumpkin puree, and it is lovely and flavourful, so I am happy with it. Does it feel like a cop out? Yes. That aside, the taste makes up for the feeling of cheating!

Pumpkin Pie

This is a no frills, perfectly traditional pumpkin pie. I kept the spices low in this recipe, but in reality add about double what it says because I like a nice and spiced up pie. If you like it a little subtler with pure pumpkin taste, go with these amounts, taste, and adjust. These instructions use a food processor, so if you don’t have one that’s fine, just use a pastry blender or two knives to cut the butter in, then stir with a spatula as the ice water gets drizzled in.

Short-Crust Pastry

1 ¼ c all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp white sugar
½ c frozen, unsalted butter cut into cubes
1/8- ¼ c ice water (melt ice cubes in the fridge to this amount of liquid, remove any extra ice pieces)

1) Place all dry ingredients in the food processor and whiz around to get them well mixed. Add the cubed, frozen butter and blitz a couple of time to get coarse pieces. They will continue to break apart a bit as you drizzle in the ice water, so be careful not to get pieces that are too small.

2) With the motor running, carefully drizzle the ice water in a small stream, stopping when the dough comes together into a ball and rolls around. This’ll be pretty obvious when it happens. Stop, even if the amount you added was less than what the recipe says. Trust the dough.

3) Press the dough together, and put onto a piece of plastic wrap. Push it out into a disk, and then wrap it completely in the plastic. Put it in the fridge for 30 mn. This is a good time to make the pumpkin filling.

4) Lightly flour a clean surface, and remove the disk from the fridge. Unwrap, and lightly flour the outside so it doesn’t stick too much. Roll it out with a rolling pin or bottle, pushing away from yourself and rotating a few degrees every stroke so it doesn’t stick. When the circle is about 13 inches (or eyeballed to roughly the size of your pie plate), transfer it to the pie plate by draping it over the rolling pin or bottle.

5) Once in the pie plate, push the dough over any thin spots or tears, evening it out. As for the edges: your choice. You can trim off the extra around the edge with a paring knife and use it to make decorative leaves and the like, or use a fork to create a border, or pinch the dough around your left index finger with your other index finger and thumb. Experiment!

6) Chill for another ten minutes to set your knew designs. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

7) Pour in the pumpkin mixture. Place on a baking sheet in case any drips happen, and slide into the oven. Bake 45-55 minutes, until crust begins to brown and filling seems to have set. A knife inserted into the center of the pie should come out almost clean.

8) You know how it goes- serve with whipped cream or ice cream at room temperature or chilled. Any leftovers for breakfast, I mean, in the fridge…

Pumpkin Filling

4 large egg yolks
2 c pumpkin puree
¾ c brown sugar
½ c heavy cream
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg
½ tsp salt

1) Whisk together egg yolks, then add remaining. Smell, taste, and adjust seasonings to your liking.

2) Jump in at step 7 above.

Thanksgiving, Take One: Cranberry Sauce.

2010-10-10T15:17:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, there was a Canadian foodie who thought, “All I want to do is eat, and when I can eat, I am so happy, therefore I just want to thank everyone and everything.” And so thanksgiving was born.

The thanksgiving weekend has got to be one of the greatest food holidays, only slightly short of Christmas (Christmas also gets a fantastic breakfast, sooo…). Students flock home or to friends houses, families pull together, and pants get stretched. Butter and cream come out to play with sage and potatoes, and everyone turns into a true food hedonist for a night. I can’t get over how much I love it. This year it has come to happen that it is “my day” as my mom has fallen under the weather for a bit and my dad has been working on fixing up a house to sell with a buddy of his. This leaves me in the kitchen, with 15 pounds of turkey, a gratin, cranberry sauce, brussel sprouts, gravy, pumpkin pies, and tiramisu no-bake cheesecake (http://guiltykitchen.com/). As soon as I got home from uni on Saturday, I started chopping. When that got old, I started to bake. As that wrapped up, I moved to simmering, salting, and stuffing. It is now Sunday, and I have just gotten home from a hike with a fantastic smelling kitchen and everything ready to go in the oven at their specific time. Prepping the day before: sooooo nice. I thought I’d post some of the bits of turkey dinner I did in advance, then after I munch down on the rest of the meal, tell you how the rest of it turned out. Maybe it’ll be so good, everyone will start trusting their turkey dinners to 18 year olds…

Okay, first thanksgiving item to come together: cranberry sauce. I know that the canned variety is oh so popular, what with its unique ability to mimic its container perfectly, which creates endless hours of entertainment for children (rules are, you jiggle it as hard as you can without it losing its shape). As far as taste goes, though, I am partial to a homemade cranberry sauce. I mean, it is SO easy I don’t see why not! Stir some stuff together in a pot, forget about it, and voila, cranberry sauce that turns haters into lovers. I have always started with frozen cranberries for mine, mostly because the fresh cranberries I find at the local grocer are a little questionable, and you can get some lovely local ones in the freezer section. A little ginger and crushed red peppers add some warmth and depth to the cranberries, but if you want a pure, plain cranberry sauce, just leave those guys out. Another thing you may want to try is if you like orange zest in your cranberry sauce, I would stir that in about halfway through the cooking. I didn’t have any on hand, but that is a lovely variation.

Holiday Cranberry Sauce

The warmth in this sauce makes it absolutely dynamite. It always catches me a little bit off guard, which sends me diving in for another spoonful.

300 g cranberries (frozen)
1 ½ c sugar
1 ½ c boiling water
1/2 -1 tsp cinnamon
½- 2 tsp ground ginger
1/8-1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1) Combine cranberries and boiling water in a small pot on the stove. Bring up to a boil. When just boiling, stir in the sugar. Bring back up to heat, then reduce to a simmer. Add the lesser amount of each spice (ex. ½ tsp cinnamon instead of the 1tsp etc).

2) Let simmer on the stove for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remember that it will firm up quite a bit when it cools, so cook it until the cranberries have broken down and the mixture is thick. I like mine pretty jelly-like, so I normally let it simmer away for closer to 45 minutes.

3) When you’ve reached your desired consistency, taste the jelly. If you find it too tart, add a little more sugar and keep it on the heat for a while longer to let it dissolve. If you want to taste a little more of any of the spices, increase to the greatest amount that I have listed, and re-taste. Feel free to add more, but be careful with that red pepper flakes!

4) Chill in the fridge overnight, and take out about an hour before you plan on serving it if you want to have it at room temperature.

5) Enjoy not just on turkey! Add to yogurt with a bit of orange zest, spread onto sandwiches, and dress up a lemon loaf.

University: "Bean there, done that."

2010-10-09T18:17:00.000-07:00

Well, it finally has happened. First midterm in September! Oh wait, make that the first three midterms. And don’t worry; I’ve already had another one in October. I swear that all that rain going on when school started was a higher power reminding me that there is no time like the present to study myself to death. Already I’m in that semi-numb student state where your brain is split into segments and you are not sure that you can pull all the bits together. That is not to say that the semi-numb state has closed my eyes to the content of the courses I’m struggling with- there is some wicked stuff in them. Some cool science that has been in two out of four of my courses is the concept of artificial cells. No, not models of cells, but actually creating life out of parts, something that was done for the first time this past May by Craig Venter. Of course, he has already been accused of playing god and declared a threat to the world at large, which must mean that he has done something that is, in a single breathe, both groundbreaking and brilliant. Here’s a link to him presenting synthetic life, if you want to check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHIocNOHd7A

With all this studying, the relationship between food, activity, and brainpower is becoming increasingly relevant. I am forever guilty of trading in jogging for sleeping, yoga for biology, and snacks for coffee with extra cream. Straying from what is ACTUALLY good for us is an inherent trait of 99% of the population, and when we find someone in that other 1% we eye them suspiciously and wonder what their problem is. This comes as a bit of a double standard when what I’m studying is telling me all about what is healthy for me (do this, eat that), and yet taking up just enough time to make it truly difficult to apply any of those orders. But ‘tis the life of a student, and those in health sciences, like myself, are no exceptions- there is an urban myth about one medical school student who figured out that if he ate beets, peanuts, and raw sugar all together for every meal, he could cover most of his biological bases, so that’s what he did. I love the raw sugar part- clearly he was at that point of exhaustion where the flip switches from “I shouldn’t eat that, it has too much sugar in it” to “I have six hours to go, which has more sugar in it?” which I experience via a London Fog at least once before every midterm.

Sugar sins aside, I have been reveling in cooking meals lately- a little too much. Every time I get a little too overwhelmed, I drop all and chop/bake/bubble away my anxieties. This disruptive and delicious hobby has to calm down, as the freezer is filling up faster than I’m eating. One appliance that has been assisting this obsession is, of course, the slow cooker. Other than consuming my time, it has been a saint. Fantastically convenient, it has also been letting me cook beans like a rockstar, which has been a great money saver. Health is more important than marks anyways, right? Right…

So far my favourite recipe that has come out of the slow cooker is a fantastic Mexican black bean soup. I ate it every day for a week, and never once groaned. THAT good. The recipe was more than just inspired by Smitten Kitchen (http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/01/black-bean-soup-toasted-cumin-seed-crema/), which is a fantastic blog with great pictures. I took this recipe word for word, and then added a few touches of my own (maybe she’s not a fan, but I know that for me, it isn’t Mexican if there isn’t cilantro!). So here it is, a dirt cheap, rib sticking, crazy luscious black bean soup!

BEST Black Bean Slow Cooker Soup

The name says it all. So easy, you just throw dry, unsoaked beans in a pot with all kinds of other yummy-ness, go away for a few hours, and come back to a very memorable meal. Make sure you serve this with classic Mexican extras- tortilla chips, avacado, fresh cut tomatoes, and a lovely little dollop of crème fraiche (substitute sour cream if you don’t have this handy- you’ll be happy either way).

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 Tbsp + 2 tsp cumin
1 ½ c dried black beans
1 tbsp chipotle puree **
7 c boiling water
¼ c fresh lime juice
2 tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ c fresh cilantro, chopped

1) In a large pan, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add onions and peppers, sautéing them until onions get nice and translucent and the edges start to brown. Should take about ten minutes. Add garlic and cumin when you think the sautéing is just about done, and stir until nice and fragrant.

2) Transfer the whole mixture to a 6-quart slow cooker. Pour in beans, chipotles, and 7 cups of hot water.

3) Cover the slow cooker and set on high- I checked my beans at three hours and found that perfect, so start with three hours, then check. You may need to cook it another hour or two, depending on your slow cooker/beans.

4) When the beans are lovely and tender, turn the slow cooker to warm for serving, and stir in the limejuice, salt, and pepper. Taste, and if you find it could do with another cumin hit, throw a little more spice in to taste. If you plan on serving it right away, stir in the cilantro.

5) Transfer two cups of this finished soup into a blender (NOTE IF YOU HAVE A GLASS BLENDER: do not put in hot soup! It can crack! Cool down the soup first in a mini-ice bath, it shouldn’t take too long!). Blend until smooth. Stir back into the slow cooker.

6) Perfect! Add a little more salt if you think it needs it, and serve with crème fraiche, fresh chopped tomatoes, avocado, more cilantro, and a squirt of lime!

** I buy the chipotles in adobe sauce, and then just give them a whirl in the blender to make this puree.

Starting on the right foot.

2010-09-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

So, another year at UVic! My head is already repeating the “calm down” mantra as I try and remember the limit definition, derivatives, lipid-bilayers, the Kreb’s cycle, and functional groups. Settling in has been a matter of getting my brain back in gear- its dormancy is increasingly clear as I scramble uselessly around microscope slides and stare at the periodic table for much longer than appropriate, hoping that it will eventually just tells me all its secrets. The boxes are barely unpacked and everything is still in a perpetual state of clean (in a desperate effort to set a standard for the rest of the year). The cuisine is unpredictable- picture-worthy chicken, lentils, bread “dipped in anything runnier than bread”, hard-boiled eggs, and hot cereal have been recent regulars. The kitchen itself is a bit of a story as well. The oven has built in lazer beams that sear certain parts of food to a char and leave other bits uncooked. It has a burnt-bottom guarantee for all cookies, and the temperature gauge is more of a guideline than anything. Other than that, we are up to our neck in lent and donated appliances (including a kitchen-aid, slow cooker, and waffle maker!). It is pretty fun to set up our own little kitchen though, and it is already very functional.

Among this changing lifestyle that is “September”, I am applying the theory that when things get rough, just take yourself to a better place, and there are few things that come to mind that are better than a warm breakfast on the deck early in the morning, bundled up while the last few months of early light shines on. With a strong cup of earl grey and a blanket on your shoulders, it is the most peaceful time of the day. I love the mornings. There, I’ve said it- it is one of my favourite parts about getting back to school in September. They are the part of they day that are simply for me to enjoy. I’m not the sort to wake up in the morning and hustle straight down to work; instead, I need some time. I like to press the snooze button, not for five minutes of sleep, but for five minutes of trying to remember what is going to happen that day. I wiggle my fingers and toes to remember what movement feels like, and open my eyes one at a time. The shower I save for later, so now it is either exercise or eat. Seeing how much I love food and all that goes with that, I have to burn all those calories at some point. My bike to work and back throughout the summer contributed about an hour of exercise, so everything else was icing on the cake (mmm, icing). Nowadays, I am only a ten-minute walk up a very steep hill away from school (carrying a heavy backpack), so I’m in need of working up an exercise regime that is a little more intensive than a walk, but I haven’t quite decided on all the details of it. Whatever ambitious (or half hearted) exercise jaunt I choose, I am always done in plenty of time to make breakfast.

I am not one of those people who described themselves as “not much of a breakfast person”. I could eat spaghetti and meatballs at six in the morning and be happy as a clam (maybe even a deviled clam). When my older brother and I attended high school at the same time, we would sometimes fill the morning air with wild and wonderful smells, as mozzarella and basil Panini’s sizzled or cinnamon French toast caramelized or poached eggs bubbled away. While I don’t have as much leisure time now, I still find that little bit of peace that is an easy, filling, and flavourful breakfast. It sounds rather elderly of me, but I do recommend making your lunch and thinking about a few quick breakfast options before you tuck into sleep. It will save you time in the morning, and money if you end up just buying a lunch once (or more!) a week because you ran out of time. Remember: turn the kettle on when you first wake up, get the paper on your way to the kitchen, and grab a piece of fruit or veg on your way out of the kitchen. Little things like that can take a time period that most people find stressful, and turn it into one of the most thoughtful parts of your day. Here are three fallback breakfast options that I have on a weekly basis. Try them out, and see if they can be yours to. Some more intensive “weekend” breakfasts are coming up soon, but for now, enjoy the easy bit of having these quick favourites! What a wholesome way to start the year.

Eggs of the Summer

Remember the song “Boys of the Summer”? That once came onto the radio when I was making this dish for the 1000th time last summer. There is such nice flavour here, it was a welcome pick me up early before I would work at the bakery, or late after working a Laundromat shift. Make it quick, while fresh basil can still be taken advantage of!

2 English muffins (whole wheat, sour dough, or plain, its up to you and your bread box)
1 large free-range egg**
2 slices cheese (this can be varied- I tried everything from an extra aged cheddar to havarti to brie. Try whatever is in the cheese drawer, and change it up the next time)
Handful of fresh basil
Hot pepper jelly (I love “Traffic Jam” from Hornby Island, but there are lots of other delicious ones out there)

1) Put your English muffin on to toast and heat up a pan with a bit of oil for your egg. Crack the egg in, and allow to cook away until the white is almost set. In a lid that fits well onto you pan, add a splash of water (just a tablespoon or so) and toss it over the egg. This will steam the egg so you don’t have to fuss with flipping or doing anything else. Check the egg often so that you don’t overcook the yolk, and pull it off when it has reached the “doneness” you like best.
2) Spread one side of your English muffin with hot pepper jelly, and finely shave some cheese on the side that you are going to put the egg on (this way the heat from the egg will start to melt it). Crack a little salt and pepper on, if you wish. Place your egg on, and heap with basil.
3) Eat as is- it’s perfect.

** Why free-range eggs? My nutrition prof informed us last year that free-range eggs contain up to 30% less “bad” cholesterol, and as much as 2 X the Vitamins A and E. So, more than just fair animal treatment, they are actually better for you!

Smashed Beans on Toast

Real cowboys and cowgirls eat their beans for breakfast. Seriously, beans are a wonderful food to start off with- not greasy or overly heavy, they fill you up quickly and leave you feeling satisfied right up to lunch. It’s not a pretty food or an attractive presentation, but it tastes lovely and does the job.

1 can pinto beans, rinsed well
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1-3 tsp balsamic vinegar (depends on how much zip you want in the morning- if you feel like you can handle it, go for all 3, it has fantastic flavour)
dash of hot sauce or red pepper flakes
2 slices toast, lightly buttered

1) Add your rinsed beans to a small saucepan on medium heat, and pour in your syrup, vinegar, and Tabasco. Put the lid on to bubble away, reducing the heat a bit. Meanwhile, toast some bread and set up the table. Once it’s bubbled away for about ten minutes, pull out a bean and check to see if everything is hot all the way through.
2) Now for the smashing- take the back of a wooden spoon (or other cooking implement) and mash up the beans until they are good and gooey. Don’t worry about a smooth texture, just get it so the liquid in the pot is all incorporated into the beans and it is a spreadable consistence if you are putting it right on your toast. Carefully taste (it’ll be hot!) and adjust the seasoning- sometimes its nice to have relatively plain beans, but other times you might want it sweeter, spicier, or tangier.
3) For a little fancier serving, scoop the beans into a nice bowl and garnish with cilantro, sour cream, and toasted pumpkin seeds. For quicker morning, just spread it right onto the buttered toast. Easy, delicious, healthy.

Father Frittata

This is a “Dad” sort of dish, because my dad eats an egg white omelet almost every morning for breakfast. While I surrender to the delicious (and healthy!) yolk more often then not, this is the way I enjoy my egg whites outside of meringues and angel food cakes. It’s a light dish that has everything you need- complex carbohydrates, lean protein, and healthy fats. This recipe is makes enough to serve two people, so surprise a roommate/sibling/significant other.

4 slices whole wheat bread, toasted
½ avocado
½ red, orange, and green bell pepper, all chopped
¼ jalapeño, chopped
¼ white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 slices of cooked bacon, torn (optional)
1 c egg whites OR 2-3 large eggs, beaten

1) Heat a little oil in a pan, and as soon as its hot, toss in the onions and garlic. Sauté until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Toss in the pepper and jalapeños (add the optional bacon here). Saute 2-3 more minutes. Pour your egg over everything (if the eggs don’t quite cover everything, add a few more-it’s hard to say that the same number of eggs that work in my pan will work in your pan).
2) Put a lid over the dish, allowing the steam to cook the eggs, letting them be. Meanwhile, put your bread on to toast. Check to see if they eggs have set, approximately 5-10 minutes depending on the diameter of your pan therefore the thickness of the frittata. When the egg is set, pull of the heat. Cut frittata into wedges.
3) Spread avocado onto bread, and serve with fritatta wedges on top. Make sure you keep your salt and pepper shakers close at hand, and enjoy!

Turning over a new fig.

2010-09-11T14:52:00.000-07:00

I’ve been a little busy lately- finishing up work and moving my stuff (so much stuff) down to Victoria to settle into another school year. I’m pretty excited about doing something different, though the last four months have been great. School wise, this term I am taking microbiology, cell biology, organic chemistry, and physics. Back to the science loop! Hopefully the brain transition won’t be too drastic, as volunteering in the lab has kept some terms and procedures fresh. Lots of moving though, which left my rats stranded at my parents without me for a couple of days. They welcomed me by jumping like rabbits all over my bed, and grooming my hands like crazy to get me smelling like the pack again. Mitchell was so excited he even developed a new fascination called “chewing zippers of hoodies.” I am trying my best to redirect this habit. New home wise, I am now a resident of Cadboro Bay! For those mildly familiar with Victoria, you will know that as the place with the cement sea monster in the park on the beach. Very close to UVic, it comes with an awesome roommate (who likes most foods, except fruits) who will soon be a food guinea pig for me. Soon I will post a little something about what our pantry looks like and what kind of equipment I’ve deemed essential, for those who are also settling in for the New Year. Meanwhile: end of summer barbeques are occurring in earnest. Maybe you’ve already had yours, or gone to all that you are going to attend, but some are still kicking around, determined to use every ounce of heat left in the tired old sun. I found myself having to make an appy for a friend’s get together not too long ago, so I did what I always do: I brought figs. Since I use dried figs, this is my year round go-to dish. Simple and delicious, this plate only uses four ingredients and takes five minutes to throw together after a quick bake. Perfect for impressing new roommates, creating a buzz at those barbeques, or adding a little excitement to your weekday menu. The very different, and crazy delicious, fresh fig I reserve for stuffing with blue cheese and wrapping with prosciutto, but have a hard time finding figs of non-questionable quality. Does anyone know of a mecca for fresh fig purchase on Vancouver Island? Meanwhile, enjoy these dried ones!

“That” Fig Appy

Nameless for so long, this has become know as “that” fig appy- the warm, delicious, sticky, sweet, tart, Middle Eastern start to a meal. Count on having at least a few figs per person, as these are pretty easy to down!

Dried figs
Soft goat cheese
Reduced balsamic vinegar
Zahtar ( A lovely Middle Eastern spice mixture of sesame seeds, sumac, and thyme- if you cannot find it, try and use your own combination of these three spices or, if you MUST, just thyme and sesame seeds!)

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Pull apart dry figs, and find the pointy top (it may be pressed onto the flesh). Check if the top has a hard nub, and use a sharp knife to cut it off. Check all over for any other nubs that may be hard and unpleasant to eat.
2) Arrange figs in a single layer on a baking pan, and place in the oven. Bake them for about 20-25 minutes until slightly golden on the top and warm throughout. If you don’t have a lot of time, turn up the heat a bit and leave them in until they are just warm- won’t be quite as roast-y, but will still be delicious!
3) When the figs are done baking, pull them out and arrange them on your serving platter. Allow them to cool for a few minutes, or get straight to work. Place a small spoonful of goat cheese on each fig (came in a plastic pouch? Cut a hole in the bottom of the pouch and pipe it through onto the figs). Sprinkle very generously with zahtar and drizzle with reduced balsamic.
4) All done! Go impress someone.

Sorrel Soup on Sunny Days

2010-09-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

I knew when I was starting this blog that it would be good to have a few rules. So far they have been:

1) Always use edible looking photos. No one wants to make something that looks messy, gross, glossy, or generally unappealing.
2) Use proper descriptions so that people with little to no cooking experience can understand what is going on. “Cook it until it’s done” doesn’t quite cut it.
3) Don’t post hastily without reading the whole thing thoroughly so there aren’t mistakes in any of the recipes.
4) Never post a recipe that is largely based on pre-prepared ingredients from the store. The most disappointing recipes are the ones that say “1 Tbsp pesto”, “1 Tbsp roasted garlic paste”, or “1 Tbsp chipotle puree” without showing you how to make them yourself.
5) Generally help facilitate home cooking to help budgets, overall health, and our relationship with food improve!

Now that the blog has been running for over two months, it’s high time these rules start being broken. I have already hastily posted (Veal-y good Burger was posted in the five minutes before leaving for a weekend away, with all family members planted in the car while I desperately uploaded pictures), and now it is time to break the 4th rule- this recipe calls for prepared puff pastry. The good, organic kind, but still. It was one of those things that we found in the freezer and when we were rampaging trying to clean it out, so we threw it together with some oysters and bacon we also located in there, sprinkled it with a little cheese, and BAM awesome side has been created. How can I not share that? Oysters get along with bacon about as well as Sebastien gets along with cats—they are both interesting and neat in their own way, but put them together and you’ll wonder how you are ever going to take them away from each other. In fact, easy appy to try tonight: drain some smoked oysters from a can or defrost some smoked oysters, fry up some bacon until its just about to get crispy, wrap the bacon around the oysters, and throw in a 350 degree F oven for a few minutes until its warm throughout. That’s just easy, delicious food that only needs a couple of good ingredients to blow people away.

On the other end of the spectrum from the freezer, I recently had the joy of coming across some sorrel at work. I was checking out the produce at the end of the day, habitually tearing off tiny pieces of some of the leaves to rub between my fingers and smell, when I was suddenly hit with a pungent lemon-y scent. Not only was it not an herb, it was a vegetable that I had never eaten or even heard about. That bold scent sold me, and I snatched up the last bundle, not sure what it was going to turn into, but determined to make it as great as possible. A little wikapedia-ing told me to look into Julia Child for a soup recipe, so I pulled out my Volume I, and marched forth to make this simple, flavourful soup. Not too heavy for a creamy soup, the big taste of the sorrel combined with a few good, simple ingredients makes for a fresh meal that is perfect for a light supper. This soup had enough finesse to really take the oyster squares to a more sophisticated place, and they really complimented each other nicely. An unexpected meal, this was one of those easy, bright suppers that just needs a few simple, delicious ingredients. A lovely send off to the summer weather as we head into the rich flavours of fall!

Sorrel Soup

A Julia Child recipe, this soup just needs a crack of pepper on top and it’s ready to be eaten! If you cannot find sorrel, feel free to substitute spinach by cutting it into thin shreds and skipping the puree step.

1 onion, finely chopped
3 Tbsp Butter
4 c sorrel, washed and stemmed
½ tsp salt
3 Tbsp flour
5 ½ c stock
2 egg yolks
½ c cream
optional: 1-2 Tbsp butter

1) In a large pot, bring the stock to a boil. This soup tastes best with homemade stock (which is easy in the crockpot, I’ll include a recipe later!), so pull it out of the freezer! Meanwhile, heat butter in a large saucepan. When the butter has begun to melt, add the onions and cook about ten minutes until onion is tender and not yet browned.
2) Stir in the sorrel and salt, covering and cooking at a low heat for about five minutes until its wilted and soft. Sprinkle flour over top and stir over medium heat for 3 minutes.
3) Pull the saucepan off the heat, and beat in the boiling stock. Bring to a simmer for five more minutes. At this point you can puree it to make a smooth soup, or leave some texture. I left some texture so it seemed a little heartier, but I think pureed would be very delicious. Take out a cup of your soup at this point, and put it in a small bowl.
4) In a separate bowl beat together the egg yolks and cream with a wire whisk. Drizzle this mixture, very slowly, into the cup of soup you removed and placed in a small bowl. Return this soup to the saucepan, stirring well over medium heat, but not bringing to a simmer.
5) At this point, you can add the optional enrichment of butter, by beating it in one tablespoon at a time, pulling the saucepan off the heat to do so. I added a simple teaspoon to keep this dish nice and light, but if your looking for a little decadence, you might as well go all the way.
6) Serve!

Dynamite Oyster Squares

If you are the ambitious type, try making this with your own puff pastry! I have never made it myself, but hope to try sometime in the future!

Puff pastry
2 oysters per pastry square
1 slice of bacon per pastry square, cooked, drained, and chopped
2tsp of cheddar cheese per square (or more…more less…don’t worry about exact quantities, follow what you feel like when you are making it)
A dash of oyster sauce

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Now, the amount of puff pastry to use will depend on the size of your oysters. You want a nice border around them, at least half an inch, so that they will puff up, and the oysters won’t fall off. Consider placing two of your largest oysters, spread out slightly, on to the puff pastry and eying how large to cut. Cut accordingly, and arrange on a baking sheet that has been greased lightly or lined with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
2) On top, arrange, oysters, chopped bacon, and cheddar cheese. Dash some oyster sauce on top, out of the bottle, or fill a soup spoon and drizzle it. You don’t want a ton, just enough to add a little flavour.
3) Throw in the oven, setting the timer for about 10 minutes. Check them, and pull them out as soon as the pastry is starting to get lovely golden and crisp. Serve hot immediately!

Placating Pizza

2010-09-04T23:04:00.000-07:00

“Tag, you’re it!”

Something we’ve all heard before. Frozen in the moment, eyes wildly scanning as time slows down and you completely rearrange your position in a game. Burning with the fact that you got caught, there is another fire that is lit inside you: the thought that you now hold power, and that’s something that nobody else has. I’ve recently been hit with something that has me a little frozen, and that’s a reoccurrence of my heart arrhythmia. I mentioned earlier that I recently had a surgery to correct the arrhythmia, but I guess “correct” was a strong use of the word. Turns out I’m one of the now two patients that my cardiologist has seen a reoccurrence of this particular type of arrhythmia, which is bad luck to say the least. What hit me, more than the physical reaction of having my heart beating out of my chest and having to go to the hospital, is the disappointment. I have gotten so tired of being taken out time after time from my regular life for a medical reason, and this was the once big problem that was supposed to be an easy fix. It’s easy to curl into self-pity, standing uselessly in the middle watching the storm go by when things come down to simple, relentless chance. Here’s the thing though: you can quit the game because you got caught and it wasn’t fair because you didn’t see it coming, or you can figure out where the power is and how you can use it. There are more important things on the go, like the excitement of learning new things, the pitter-patter of little feet (in my case, rat feet, that are currently trying to take over my keyboard), mountains, rivers, and the whole living, breathing world. We only have a finite amount of time to take all these things in, and that leaves very little room for self-pity. When we’re hit with something that slows time down, we have the power to see this fact, and really believe it, which makes those little occurrences pretty special.

Of course, we do have our moments where you want to pause the whole world and just wallow in our own self, whether it be from an arrhythmia, bad grade, sad news, or just the plain old blues. When this happens, and we feel a little giddy from our self-indulgence, we can always turn to comfort food. You know what kind of person you are: sweet, salty, creamy, crunchy, or all of those, food is one of those things that takes us back to the basics- it gives us immediate pleasure, and brings with it a whole slew of memories through smells, tastes, and textures. Food is a great place to surrender to just feeling good. It doesn’t have to be over the top or excessive- simply enjoying the smell of cinnamon coming from a mug of apple cider, the crunch of a pickle, the decadence of a truffle, or the simplicity of a warm, heavenly pizza.

I am generally one to turn to sweet foods, but if I move towards the savory, it’s got to be pizza. Not only does the crunchy, chewy, salty taste take all the cares away, it brings back all kinds of memories. In our household, Friday night was pizza and candy day. It was the one day a week we were allowed sugary treats, which were obtained from Cowichan Bay’s Pier 66. My brother and I traded off piano lessons down there- while one did half an hour of keyboard bashing, the other got to walk down and select their 5 cent candies. It always seemed like a big walk up and down the hill, but boy was it worth it. Foamy little fake bananas, sugar coated strawberry marshmallows, fuzzy peaches…I usually went for the sour candies. I was quite well known for eating whole lemons and limes, so it only seemed natural that my talents extend to the realm of candies as well. After that sweaty walk on our little legs, we were loaded up in a van and trucked back home for pizza. Not just any pizza: my mom’s pizza. Proclaimed as “better then take out”, it was a battle for who got to spread the sauce, sprinkle the cheese, and claim topping supreme. One was always plain cheese or Hawaiian, which satisfied my little brother and I. The other was more adventurous, grown-up toppings for my older brother and parents. It was a time where, no matter what my heart was doing, pizza would always be there on the a Friday night. The excitement of pizza is with a lot of us- it combines some of the best parts of individual meals in a convenient, hand-held slab. It is also comforting. In a world where we can’t always control the outcomes of certain aspects of our lives, we can always pick what goes on our pizza. One bite brings memories, big flavour, and satisfaction. So here is a family recipe, finished off with our all-ages Caesar salad, enjoyed by many a picky eater. Hopefully it brings a little coziness to your corner of the world, wherever that may be.

Quick Pizza Dough

Done in 30-35 minutes, you can have this pizza done before take out could possibly be delivered. Turn this into a ritual meal, enjoyed when surrounded by friends and family, or indulge on a quiet night in.

¾ c semolina
2 ¼ c flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp quick rise yeast
1 ½ tsp salt
1 c warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the semolina, flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Grab a wooden spoon and start to drizzle in the water and olive oil as you constantly run the spoon in big, gentle circles. Try adding a tablespoon of oil, half a cup of water, then another tablespoon of oil. With the last half a cup, add it slowly- if the dough comes together easily into a ball and seems moist, don’t feel like you need to add all of the water.
2) Push dough into a ball, and turn out on counter. Knead a few times, just to moisten thoroughly and get a nice uniform consistency. When it looks good, get a clean bowl and rub it with a little olive oil. Put the dough in and roll around to coat lightly in the oil. Cover in plastic wrap Put in a warm place to rise for 20 minutes.
3) While dough is rising, prepare pizza toppings. See below for a few ideas.
4) When twenty minutes is up and you can see that your dough has expanded, turn out the dough onto a floured surface. Using a rolling pin, a wine bottle, or a pair of large hands (yours or a useful friend), push the dough into a nice round circle. Place onto your greased pizza pan, and push to fit into the edges. Make sure its nice and even, so it cooks uniformly.
5) Add your favourite toppings, and place in the oven to bake for 10-15 minutes.

All-Ages Caesar Salad

This is a seriously stripped down Caesar salad recipe that I have been enjoying since elementary school. It is easy on both kids an adults if you use great quality, flavourful ingredients. If you miss the addition of anchovy in this recipe, you can finely chop 4-6 anchovies and stir in, or add a little bit of anchovy paste at a time to taste (read little bit as half the size of your pinky fingernail at a time).

4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 c olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 c finely grated parmesan

1) Blend all ingredients in a blender, or whisk vigorously. Serve with fresh lemon wedges, your favourite croutons, and romaine lettuce.

Better-Day Pizza Toppings

The sweet and salty ingredients in this pizza provide a gentle pick-me-up. Don’t be scared to try out prunes on your pizza, because they truly are delicious. I know that you feel as though you can’t eat them without being judged on your internal workings, so don’t say a thing until after everyone has complimented you on your fabulous choice of toppings.

1 yellow onion, chopped into thin rings
1 Tbsp butter
Small handful of chopped figs or prunes, finely chopped
2-3 links chicken sausage, sliced into rounds
Mozzarella cheese, enough to lightly cover the pizza surface
Crumbled goat cheese

1) Heat butter in a medium-hot pan until beginning to foam, and add onions. Stir well to coat, and reduce heat to low. Cook for twenty minutes at this temperature, stirring very occasionally, to allow the onions to caramelize. Optional: At this point you can add dried herbs of your choice if you are using a plain tomato sauce. I like to add a generous dash of oregano, sweet basil, thyme, and little bit of rosemary.
2) Scrape out of pan into a bowl. To the same pan, add the chicken sausage, turning the heat up to medium-high. Brown all sides of the rounds, and turn the heat down to allow to cook through. When just cooked (don’t overdo it, they are going into the oven shortly), scrape into a bowl.
3) Spread pizza dough with a thin layer of tomato sauce (not a fan? Cut out the herbs from the onions and use pesto as your pizza base). Arrange caramelized onions in a thin layer on top. Scatter with figs or prunes and mozzerella. Dot the top with the sausage rounds and goat cheese. Cook 10-15 minutes until cheese and pizza edges just begin to brown.

The Mixings for a Muffin

2010-08-30T13:36:00.000-07:00

I haven’t mentioned this yet, but I actually spent part of my time making muffins last summer for a baking and catering company called Art to Eat. We would supply local coffee shops with their fix of buttery goods, and it definitely taught me a few lessons about making muffins and baking in general. First off, never over-mix the batter. This will result in a flat muffin, which will therefore be denser, which isn’t a good descriptive word for a muffin. Second, uniformity is very important, especially when adding things like nuts, dried fruits, and berries. No one wants the muffin with one berry, covered with hardly any topping, that is half the size of its neighbor. Third, topping is not something that should be skimped. So many people put a nice little dash on top of their muffins, but as that muffin rises and expands that dash turns into a tiny dot on the very peak of the muffin. Cover the whole top of the muffin with a generous amount, and it will thin out to an attractive evenly sprinkled top. I had to watch for all these things while I worked (in the sweltering heat beside two gigantic ovens), but I never had to worry about amounts. I had memorized the recipes designed by the owner, and simply followed them verbatim. After a while you get a feel for what consistencies you like better, and what flavours you want to see more of. So, this summer, I decided to branch out and make my own recipe. Ten minutes into making it, however, I was nearly positive that it was never, ever going to make it onto this blog.

It was about 9 o’clock at night when I decided that what I was craving was a crumbly, moist muffin made from the berries we had picked from our garden bushes. I figured it takes me about ten minutes to whip up a batter, then 20 minutes to bake, so a half hour from that thought bubble I could be enjoying a warm, buttery pre-bed snack. Mistake number one- I didn’t get that snack for an hour, by which time I had heated our kitchen to a nice swelter, which made getting to bed a little stickier and sweatier than I had previously imagined. I also decided that I was really going to wing this recipe, flying on a whim, to see if I really had a chops to create a baking recipe with my minimal experience. Mistake number two- if you are getting ready to attack a creative endeavor, I recommend taking a moment to come up with a solid direction, then checking to see that you have ALL OF the supplies you need. You will see why. So there I was sashaying around the kitchen, pulling out bowls and whisks as arcade fire played at an appropriately obnoxious level, totally blissful and unaware of the future. I decided that this was going to be a brown butter batter with sour cream, the two things that we never did at my work that I’ve always adored. The first step towards my muffin was making the brown butter, something that I have done before, but not in a while. I eyeballed a half-cup and tossed it in my pot, turning up the temp and throwing on the lid. Looking around I realized that my camera had migrated back to my bedroom, so I pranced down to grab it, finding time while I was in my room to rearrange some things on my desk, highlight a recent parking ticket, and turn on my computer. Then I realized, oh man that butter is on high heat and I’m checking out my room with the high speed of a lame donkey. After scrambling up the stairs with camera around neck, I came just in time to pull the butter off the heat. Not too bad- after clearing the foam I recognize that it is a) not burnt and b) there’s funny stuff floating in it. Some of the milk solids had darkened considerably and separated from the fat, but after pulling one out and giving it a taste and finding it to be not unpleasant in taste, simply appearance, I shrugged. It was a compromise, but the butter still smelled fantastically hazelnut-y, so I deemed it useable (actually I don’t think this hindered the product in any way, so don’t fear if you make the same mistake!). Incident saved! Next step: combine the dry. I reached for the crumpled bag of flour that is kept on the bottom shelf, not really able to see it, and…it was not there. We had no flour. I was caught aback- I cannot remember EVER being out of flour! It is just one of those things that I’ve never had to replenish, it just always magically appears in abundance from the storage room. Okay, time to regroup. We have no flour. I look further into the cupboard and find a questionable substitute: cake flour. Definitely better than combining all the odds and ends of slightly stale, often off tasting gluten free varieties we keep for when Grandma comes around, but not completely ideal because cake flour basically contains very little gluten as well. I figured a fine crumb to the muffin is better then no muffin at all, so out came the measuring cup. The other dry ingredients popped in the bowl with no qualms. The wet came together well too, until I reached for the egg carton and smashed the top of the shelf with it. Too light! There were no eggs. A bummer, but not the end of the world, my dad is an egg white man so I just borrowed a good few spoonfuls of those. With the milk, the same thing happened. Too light! There was no milk. Substituted with almond milk, we have been saved again. At this point, though, I was looking at a lumpy pile of compromises, unsure whether I should bother spooning them into the trays. At this point, however, I was hot, tired, and not quite defeated, so I mixed in the berries, spooned out, and topped those muffins. I sat down at the counter and thought “What have I done?”

The first thing I noticed about the finished product was the smell. Hazelnuts were toasting away on the topping, and the air was full of the sweet, spicy scents of cinnamon and nutmeg. It smelt, well, quite fantastic. They were rising into nice little domes, the topping was spreading out nicely, and they didn’t look all that much like the freaks they were. When it came to tasting them, I was slow to. So, of course, I got my dad to have a piece. He told me that they were very good, but I’m thinking, hey, he’s my dad, I think he has to say that. Then I tried one for myself. Surprise! Flavourful, moist, and a little decadent, they were like an individual bloom of coffee cake because of that sour cream addition. The brown butter taste was fantastic, and the berries popped right out of the crumb into your mouth. All those little shortcomings disappeared into the final product, and had I not known any better, I would have said they were made the same as any of the other muffins I’ve sold. So, after that tale of multiple disasters, I present to you, a muffin that is actually (believe me) worth trying.

Little Berry Browns

These muffins are not a nuts-and-granola variety; they actually come from the land of give-me-cake.

½ c butter
1 c sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
¼ c milk
2 large eggs
1 c sugar
2 ½ c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 c berries (I did 50/50 blackberries and blueberries)

Topping

¼ c hazelnuts
4 Tbsp oats
4 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp butter
½ tsp cinnamon
approx. ¼ tsp fresh ground nutmeg
small pinch of salt

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Select a small saucepan and shave (cut into small pieces so that it will melt faster) all your butter into it. Put it over medium-high heat, allowing it to melt down completely and bubble until it turns a rich brown colour. Pull it off and check it if you can’t see through the foam that may form, to make sure you don’t burn it. When the colour is right and you can smell a hazelnut-like nutty scent (this is the easiest characteristic to look for), pull it off the heat and set aside to cool.
2) Meanwhile, stir together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and sour cream in a medium sized bowl. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon, sifting or whisking so everything is well combined.
3) While the butter is still cooling, mix together the topping in yet another bowl, this time just a small one. First, chop the hazelnuts to your desired consistency- I created a mix of relatively large chunks and small slivers so that the hazelnut flavour was spread around, but there was still a nice bite every once in a while. Toast in a dry pan over high heat for just a few minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Throw into bowl, and add the brown sugar, oats, and spices, mixing with your fingers to combine (careful the nuts aren’t too hot!). Set aside.
4) When the butter is slightly cooled, slowly whisk it into the wet ingredients with a small, steady stream. With a spatula, drizzle all of your wet mix onto your dry mix. Fold very gently with your spatula, until all the dry ingredients are almost moistened, then add the berries. Fold a few more times until you can’t see any more flour pocket and the berries are well distributed. The key to a good muffin is a gentle hand when mixing- the batter shouldn’t be smooth.
5) Grease your muffin tins, or position your paper/silicon liners. Spoon the batter, putting a bit in each tin, and then top them all up until they are even. Sprinkle on the topping, making sure you use all of it so that as the muffins expand they still have a nice coating. Fill any empty tins with a bit of water to prevent warping.
6) Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes, checking for a toothpick to come clean when it is placed in the thickest part of the muffin. This batch made 16 muffins that taste best when they are fresh out of the oven!

Guaranteed, with Garlic.

2010-08-18T22:43:00.000-07:00

There are things in our lives that we know we will always return to. Places, people, ideas, emotions, and sensations that linger with such intensity that all it takes is a wisp of a memory to bring us right back. For my summers to come, I know that every single one will have me on Hornby Island at some point, the place where I learned to walk, mountain bike, snorkel, bead, braid, and properly relax. Every time I take a toss at creative writing, I come back to the same idea of writing a book about a twin who can see her life through one eye and her sister’s through the other- confusing, useless, and ultimately a very cliché concept that I want to abandon, it nonetheless springs to mind as a ‘good idea’ no matter how far I try to stray from it. Biking always brings me back to the days when the world revolved around me and I thought I was probably the fastest kid in the whole world when I was on my tri-coloured ‘speedy’ bike. Little things like this string our lives into an understandable mesh, gelling the changes that constantly happen as we grow. To continue this cliché, that is what this garlic sauce does. It has real chemical properties that make the sun brighter, colours more brilliant, cats cuddlier, dogs smell better, and waists grow smaller (trust me, I’m a future scientist). This is mostly due to the fact that it makes you push aside your main protein so you can devour your vegetables. This is true magic. I have been known to eat just one big plate of vegetables with this sauce, with a little extra brush of Parmesan, and call it a night. Once you try it, you will always come back to it. I promise.

Best Garlic Sauce

This is a sauce that will turn you inside out. For garlic lovers ONLY, it’s not subtle, and that is a very nice thing. Raw and roasted, this is garlic perfection.

¼ c Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 Tbsp parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp Dijon
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 head roasted garlic **
1-3 cloves raw garlic, pressed (adjust the number of cloves to taste)
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp spike (optional, but very highly recommended- a blend available at most grocery stores, this is the je ne sais quoi that makes this dish special)

1) In a blender, combine all the ingredients. Blend until smooth. Use on your very favourite veggies. Suggestions below.

**Roasted Garlic: This is a very easy way to tame the flavour of garlic, and a nice technique to learn. Soon you’ll be throwing roasted garlic in every imaginable sauce and spreading it on toast if you aren’t already! First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Take a whole head of garlic and pull all the outer layers or skin off, just using your hands, so you simply have the outer layers of the cloves (don’t worry if you miss a bit). Now, cut off the very top of the head of garlic, just a half-inch or so, exposing the individual cloves (this will make it easy to remove). Get a generous sized piece of tin foil and put the head on top. Drizzle it with a touch of olive oil, and wrap up the whole situation. Throw it in the oven for 30-35 minutes, testing by pressing the cloves and making sure they are soft.

Beans on Beans Salad

If you've never tried making fava beans before, this is a nice, simple way to really get the flavour, then you can decide for yourself if it's worth all the peeling!

Several handfuls of Green beans (really to suit as many people as you are serving)
10 Fava beans (or more)
3 Radishes
½ a recipe Best Garlic Sauce

1) First, you want to peel the fava beans. This requires two peelings- first, remove the tough pod covering the beans. Then, peel the white layer off of the edible green bean. Some people recommend blanching if you find it too tough to remove, but I find that a ripe bean should peel relatively easy. Give yourself a bit of time because it might take longer than you expect. Next, string the beans by cutting the ends with a paring knife, and pulling the fibrous string that seals the two sides of the pod between your thumb and the knife.
2) Fit a steamer on top of several inches of water, and set on to boil. As soon as you see steam, add the string beans. Wait 3 minutes and add the fava beans. Let both beans steam until tender but still crisp (test by snapping or eating- should have some give, but still pop). Meanwhile, use a vegetable peeler to slice thin, round discs of radish. This will create a nice colour and shape contrast, while giving a fresh, peppery flavour.
3) Remove beans from steamer, arrange on platter, spoon on dressing, and serve.

Grilled Zucchini “Steak” Salad

This is a simple “combine it yourself” salad platter, one of my favourite ways to serve the greens. It’s called “steak” because that’s how you cut the zucchini, plus this dish with the sauce has been known to push a side a steak or two in it’s day…

1 medium sized green zucchini
1 medium sized yellow zucchini
1 fennel bulb
3 radishes, sliced into rounds
½ raw red onion, sliced
¼ c goat feta (or regular feta, whatever your fancy!)
handful of torn basil leaves
½ a recipe Best Garlic Sauce

1) Wash all your veggies well, and get your barbeque heated up to medium-low.
2) Slice your zucchinis in half once across the center, and then two or three times laterally so that you have big “steak” slices. This will keep them from sliding through the grill.
3) Slice your fennel bulb either in half or thirds. This is also going on the grill, so you want to have some nice surface area without it falling apart. If your worried its going to come to pieces, go on the safe side and simply half it. Brush the fennel and zucchini with a little olive oil.
4) Pop the fennel and zucchini on the grill. Give it a couple minutes on each side to soften and get some nice grill marks. Meanwhile, slice your radishes and onions. Arrange on a plate with the feta and basil, leaving a big spot for the grilled veggies to go. Pull the fennel and zucchini off the grill when it still has a good shape, but has softened a touch. Chop the fennel down a bit into bite sizes, and half all the zucchini slices.
5) Arrange the zucchini and fennel on the platter and top with the garlic sauce. Serve as is!

It's a veal-y good burger, I say.

2010-08-13T19:01:00.000-07:00

We’ve all heard the stats, but here’s a little reminder. 576 calories, 32.5 g of total fat, and 742 mg sodium. That fat content is the same as eating 3 tablespoons of butter, and it’s all in one Big Mac. Burgers have had a bad rap lately as the saturated fat police have come out to play. The thing about this burger-off-the-menu theme is the problem with the fact that burgers are delicious. Moist and melted with cheese, bun toasted and dressed, there is something classic about the ever-tantalizing burger. So why not make your own patties? It’s a nice alternative to having to hunt out the “good ones” from the chorus of hockey puck beef, and this way you can play with the seasonings, pulling out your favourite flavours and knocking out the ones you aren’t too crazy for. The problem that comes out when you mention homemade burgers is that they are often too dry, round little balls that taste more like you should be covering it in pasta sauce, and less like you should be swaddling it in bread. So, the goal is something moist, succulent, and a cut above frozen varieties. Why not try a veal burger? Veal meat is tender without being high in fat (no greasy burger!), because it has less connective tissue due to not having full muscle development (Note: veal is meat from a calf). The taste is often described as ‘fine’, but I can’t really narrow it down from there- it has a je ne sais quoi quality, while still passing as perfectly acceptable protein to finicky eaters (including my brother, even). This makes it a nice burger substance to work with. Be careful though- you don’t need a lot of cooking time. Grill the burger carefully, until just done, and let it sit for a few minutes before serving to finish cooking in its juices. While we're making low fat burgers, you might as well stay on the healthy train, because here is a recipe for sweet potato fries that ACTUALLY works and just so happens to be fat free! I adapted it from a recipe for plain old fries, and love it for it's crispiness, and full flavour. I serve these with a bit of cilantro mayo (one of two ways I will actually eat mayo-the other way is on a toasted tomato sandwich) and a bit of roasted corn to round the whole meal out. Truly a barbeque feast for champions. Don’t forget to throw the beer in the fridge before you start cooking, because then this meal will truly soar.

Veal Burger

This makes a bistro-style burger that is plenty generous-feel free to substitute any fresh or dried herbs to your fancy!

1 slice of bread, blitzed in the blender, food processor, or simply torn into small pieces
2 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp sour cream
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
Small handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 tsp oregano
½ tsp mustard powder
1 lb ground veal
all the fixin’s (4 buns, 4 slices cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onion (raw or cooked), pickle, etc)

1) Combine the bread, milk, and Worcestershire sauce in a large bowl, letting the bread soak up some liquid. Add the egg and spices, stirring well to combine.
2) Add the veal, using the best mixing tools: your hands. Squish the mixture between your fingers until all the liquid and spices are fully incorporated, and you have a uniform look burger.
3) Divide into 4 patties (they will be quite a nice size). To prevent a rounded patty, always go for an even thickness, and then press down in the middle with your thumb to make a little indent. If you have a good-sized round cookie cutter, filling it with the burger mix to an even level is a great way to get a perfect patty.
4) Oil your grill, or ready your barbeque. For a medium-cooked burger, you are going to want to cook for about 5 minutes per side. I wouldn’t recommend any longer then this, unless you're one of those crazy people that likes things ‘well done’.

Sweet Potato Fries

I got this trick from Oprah. Go figure! If you want regular fries, substitute 2 medium sized potatoes and 1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning for the curry powder.

2 large egg whites
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp curry powder (or to taste-I like mine to have a lot of curry on there) or Cajun spice
4 sweet potatoes (small in size)

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Scrub your sweet potatoes squeaky clean (I keep mine skin-on, but you can peel them here). Cut them into pieces roughly the size of your pinky- they will shrink up a but, so if you like meatier fries, increase the size and cooking time a touch.
2) Beat the egg whites until very frothy. Toss sweet potatoes to coat. Add flour and spices, tablespoon at a time, until everything is well coated. Grease a pan well (WELL), and spread them out into a single layer. Bake 30-35 minutes, until crisp but not smoldering.
3) Serve with a little cilantro mayo, recipe below!

Cilantro Mayo

This makes just a little container of mayo, which I found perfect for the ammount of fries, but then again, I'm a stingy dipper! Double or triple if your dip generously!

3 Tbsp mayo
1 crushed clove garlic
½ tsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp chopped, fresh cilantro
1 tsp fragrant dried coriander
1 tsp garam masal

1) Mix all in a dish, adjust to taste, and serve!

BBQ’d Corn

This is more a method then a recipe. Select your corn- at the store/market/wherever you buy your corn, make sure you pull back the husk a bit and check to see that the kernels are plump and juicy. Reject any dry-shrivelies. I like peaches and cream corn, not just because of the name- it is simply a creamy, delicious variety. At home, pull back the husk, but leave attached to the bottom. Remove as much of the stringy silk as possible, and pull the husk back around. Wrap each ear of corn in some tin foil, and throw on the barbeque for about 20-30 minutes, just off of the direct heat on medium. Check for doneness by piercing a kernel, making sure its soft enough for eating. Cooking the corn this way gives it a bit of smoke flavour, and really bring out all the natural corn goodness. Roll the ears on your brick of butter, sprinkle with some seasoned salt, and serve. Leaving the crisp husks on makes for a nice presentation, but make sure you have a bowl for people to put them in.

The basics: Compliments of biscuits.

2010-08-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

Throughout my days of watching the food network, reading a variety of food blogs, and skimming cookbooks, I have learned that a lot of people feel most inspired when they ‘get back to their roots and follow the traditions of their culture”. This makes very good sense to me- not only is it educational, you also have a very emotional attachment to your heritage no matter how much or how little exposure you have to it. While this seems like a very practical theory to apply, I’ve hit a relatively unsurpassable obstacle. The thing is, I am part Irish, Scottish, English, and Chinese, with no set religion. This would make my cuisine the bumbleberry of the food world, the sort of mish-mash dishes that people call ‘unfocused’. What should I pick this day of the week, is my palate particularly Chinese, or do I have a hankering for fish and chips? Some people just pick their most obvious cultural background, the one they were most exposed to, and run with it. However, most people get stuck in the melting pot section of the multicultural library. As far as identifying myself as a Canadian and going that food route, everyone has a lot of trouble saying what that means. Does that mean I should pick up some bacon on my way home and pull the prawns out of the freezer? What about the recalls of us, the microwave generation, do those count? DQ ice cream cakes and chicken fingers instead of garden’s and flour covered hands. Somehow, that doesn’t seem right to me.

So I’ve thought long and hard, and here’s what I’ve decided: it doesn’t really matter. I can cook, believe, and celebrate any way I want. Maybe I’ll pick up some discount Christmas decorations after blowing out my Menorah, right before I start collecting supplies for Chinese New Year. I’m born on the Day of the Dead, so why not turn that into the best two-day celebration on this side of the coast. Who says you can’t serve your fish with a tempera batter, topped with some hodge podge. While I enjoy figuring out my favourite parts of my heritage (and everyone’s around me because hey, I’m no more attached to mine at this point then I am to theirs), I am going to eat biscuits. These are the simplest, most basic form of baking, with a different version available in every language that we know. So enjoy! Wherever your relatives called home, I’m sure they wouldn’t turn down a little piece of the present.

Basic Baking Powder Biscuits

The all-time-never-fail-no-surprises classic. See below for my family favourite variation from who knows where in the world.

4 c flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 c butter, chilled and cut into cubes
2 c milk

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the cubed butter, and stir to coat. Next, cut the butter in using a pastry blender or two knives, until the butter resembles crumbs the size of split peas (approx ¼ of your pinky fingernail size).
2) Make a well in the flour-butter mixture. Pour in milk ¼ c at a time, stopping when the dough is just moistened and holding together (I usually end up using only 1 ¾ c milk). Save any extra milk for later.
3) Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead lightly, until dough stays together well. Using a rolling pin or old wine bottle, roll out until its approx 2 cm thick.
4) Using a round cookie cutter, cut as many round out as you can. Reroll the scraps, and repeat until you have used all the dough. Brush the tops of the biscuits with any remaining milk.
5) Put on an ungreased pan (I recommend parchment paper if your pans tend towards the sticky side of ‘non-stick’) and bake for 20-25 minutes, checking for a nice golden top, and a bottom that slides easily when nudged.

Cheese Fan-Tans

This, I like to say, is the ‘better biscuit’. It is cheesy with a few spices thrown in, which is always a welcome combination. Experiment by changing to your favourite combination of spices, or use my blend. This biscuit has been with me through regattas, camping, Mondays, and term papers. It is great any and every time of the day.

1 recipe baking powder biscuits
1 tsp mustard powder
1 Tbsp oregano
1 tsp garlic, granulated
2 tsp basil
paprika for dusting
softened butter for spreading
2 c cheese, grated

1) Prepare biscuits as you normally would in steps 1-3, adding the spices into the flour mixture in the first step.
2) Take your 2 cm thick dough, and shape it into a rectangle. Slice this square into 4 roughly equal slices, lengthwise. Spread each slice with a thin layer of softened butter.
3) Pick the largest slice for the bottom, and spread it with a layer of cheese (thick or thin, whatever floats your boat). Stack another slice of dough on top, and layer that with cheese. Repeat with the next slice of dough, and top with the last slice.
4) Vertically cut the dough into approx 2 cm slices. In a well-greased muffin tin, squish the slices in by pushing the middle away from yourself and pulling the ends together, creating a half-moon type shape. Don’t worry if they’re not perfect, the idea is cheesy-layered biscuits with a rustic shape. Sprinkle the biscuits with any extra cheese and the paprika (which will roast nicely in the oven).
5) Bake for 15-20 minutes, checking for a golden top with bubbling cheese. Serve!

** Note: fill any empty muffin hole with water to prevent warping of the tin. This will also help keep its neighbors moist!

Salmon (And then some).

2010-08-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

I said that salmon would come around, and here it is. Salmon is quite the delicacy all around the world, with its fantastic oily flavour (full of all those good fats) and beautiful pink flesh. Here’s the thing about salmon: it is very easy to make because it already has so many fantastic natural flavours. Look for fillets that don’t have a fishy smell, and whose scales are intact. Light seasoning or sauce is all that you need before a light fry/BBQ/bake, and dinner for royalty is ready. However, the absolute worst, most terrible thing you could possibly do to this angel of the seafood world is overcook the flesh. Overcooking creates a terribly dry, hard to swallow experience that warrants a moment of silence for the lost lovely salmon. Pull it off the heat the SECOND you think its done- it will continue to cook a little bit more in its own juices and you can always cook it a little bit more. When you pull at the flesh with a fork, it should flake easily and the meat will be a pink instead of its former red. I like to keep my middle a little red, because it is just so juicy and scrumptious, but I’m sure that a health warning would tell you otherwise, so your call. Skin on or skin off- I keep skin on if I’m doing a ceder plank salmon (soaking a piece of wood and putting it on the BBQ- the BEST way to have salmon, will have a recipe soon when Sebastien brings some home!) or pan frying it, because I love how the skin keep all the juice in. I also like to eat the skin- it is super rich in flavour, and after seeing it on a sushi menu a few times I’ve decided that its normal and don’t want to turn back. It’s such a rare treat anyways, might as well eat all of it! If you do decide to BBQ to fish, I recommend foil if you don’t have a cedar plank, otherwise you could lose all kinds of precious pieces of fish to the flame. Here’s a simple Dijon recipe with a pan sear, very easy!

Dijon Pan-seared Salmon

1 large salmon fillet (or two medium, three small…you get the picture. Try not to get too small of pieces however, because they will dry out very quickly and require a lot of close attention)
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
3 clove garlic, minced very fine
2 tsp rosemary
1 Tbsp wine (can substitute a little water)

1) Mix the mustard, garlic, and rosemary in a little dish, set aside. Check the fish for bones- some fillets come boneless and some you have to do it yourself. If the bones are close to the surface of the flesh they are relatively easy to remove, but if you are having a hard time pulling them, they will slip out extremely easily when cooked. Remember that you left them in if you choose to, otherwise you will have a crazy choking hazard!
2) Spread the sauce on the raw fillet. Try to do this at least 20 minutes before cooking time, but don’t worry if you miss the window. Let it rest with the sauce at least 10 minutes.
3) Heat a pan to medium heat. How do you know it’s hot? Drop some water on it- it should sizzle and dance immediately. Place your fillet in, flesh down. Let it cook for about three minutes, then check for a little crust forming from the sauce heating. When you see this, flip. If the flesh still looks very raw (this will depend on the thickness) now is the time to drop that little bit of wine in the pan and throw on a lid to steam. If the flesh looks like its cooking already (this will happen for a very thin fillet), skip that step and just eye it for doneness.
4) Pull of the heat when flesh is just flaking and pink. Check for bones, just in case, and serve!

The other stars of this meal were the vegetables. Not ready to be pushed into the back of the palate, I called on fennel and carrots to capture the attention of the captive audience. Caramelized in a honey sauce, these are salty, sweet, lemon-y goodness in a pan. I served them with a generous handful of fresh basil torn in a nest of “smashed” baby potatoes. To finish, I tossed some delicious goat cheese feta from Saltspring Island over the whole lot- salmon, veggies, potatoes and all. Drizzle with a little reduced balsamic (See: And so it Begins (with bocconcini) blog post for the recipe!).

Caramelized Fennel and Carrots

I would start these veggies first, because they are going to need about 20 minutes to get to their delicious caramelized state.

8 small carrots, cut lengthwise into ½ inch slices
1 fennel bulb, cute into ½ inch rounds
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp honey
2 tsp tarragon
1 tsp cracked black pepper

1) Heat a pan to medium-hot. Melt the butter, and add the lemon juice, honey, and tarragon. Throw your veggies in when the sauce is melted and mix.
2) Lightly brown the veggies, and then reduce the heat to low. Let the veggies sit and stir occasionally for twenty minutes, letting it caramelize to a sweet, sticky syrup.
3) Stir in the black pepper, pull off the heat, and serve!

Smashed Potatoes

This is a neat way to do new potatoes differently when you tire of having them simply with butter.

12 (or so) baby potatoes- roughly the same size for equal cooking time
2 tsp herbes de provence
1 tsp salt
2 tsp milk

1) Put a pot of water on to boil. When it’s rolling, add the potatoes.
2) Boil until tender enough to put a fork through the potato. Pull off the heat, and strain. Return the potatoes to the pot. Add the milk, salt, and herbes de provence, and grab your potato masher (or just a wooden spoon if you don’t have one). Here is the “smashing” part: mash it up until its partly mashed potatoes, partly whole potatoes. This is nice because you can still see the skins on the new potatoes and have some texture to it, but is nice a creamy from the addition of the milk.
3) Serve!

Cookies go sailing!

2010-08-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

It is officially salmon season. Yes, there is a recipe for salmon coming right up, but for now, I will tell you what salmon season means to me: cookies. Dozens upon dozens of cookies. You see, Sebastien sets sail, with his Dad and friend Marc, and to keep energy levels up, cookies must be present. Prawn season consumed about 16 dozen all together- so far they are being set up for salmon with only a several dozen, only because I have done the unimaginable and strayed from my classics. In our family, there are generally four types of cookies, and those are ginger snaps, double-chocolate chip, crispy oatmeal, and peanut butter. Seeing as Sebastien is allergic to peanut butter, that leaves us with having 16 dozen of three different kinds of cookies. Sometimes I throw in the occasional raison variety, but for the most part I have stuck to the basics. This season, however, having the food blog has got me thinking about straying out of my comfort zone. So here we have it- spice molasses, snickerdoodle, mocha swirl, brandy snaps, and brandied cranberry. The three recipes I would definitely repeat are the snickerdoodles, brandy snaps, and brandied cranberry (these were the star of the show).

The spiced molasses was the darker, more intense cousin of the ginger snap, and I must say, it was like swallowing sweet spicy secrets. The thing is, I could only eat half a cookie before I’d had enough. After a while, the bold molasses taste became a little much. This bummed out my cookie munching experience, so if I repeated these I would definitely make them smaller and see how it goes from there.

The snickerdoodles had the most ideal cookie shape, appearance, and texture (crisp edges, soft middle, oh thank heaven). For those not familiar, this is a cookie where cornstarch is used as a binding agent, and it is coated in cinnamon sugar. Not the worlds most exotic or exciting, but very childhood reminiscent of the perfect lunchbox cookie.

Mocha swirls were the kind of cookie I wanted to take into a back alley and pummel. Not a good picture to have when dealing with sugar ‘n spice ‘n everything nice. The dough was dry, crumbly, and yet awfully sticky, making it the worlds worst substance to roll out and shape. I eventually gave up on perfect little swirls and just kind of squished the cookie together. In baking, they were completely unforgiving of any imperfections, as all they did was brown a little. The way they look going in, is the way they look coming out. The texture was less cookie and more mock-shortbread, and the flavour was a nice full mocha. The whole point of this one was to get an attractive cookie, but I must say, they would taste best iced. I don’t recommend bothering to make this one.

The brandy snaps looked very tricky and finicky, but they actually took the least amount of time and dishes to make. The mix is done in one pot on the stove top, and then spooned onto cookie sheets and baked until crisp, then rolled into little flutes. They look very fancy and attractive, so you only have to count on 1-2 per person at a dinner if you wanted to serve them with a little fruit and cream. Very quick, and a nice result.

The brandied cranberry cookies were the star of the show. Festive and flavourful, they were the sister of the classic raison who pulled out a silk gown and draped herself in Christmas lights. In every bight you got a little crunch of toffee, the squish of a white chocolate chip, the tang of brandy, and the smell of fresh nutmeg. As a bonus you get a lot of brandy back from soaking the cranberries, so you can help yourself to a drink while they bake. Completely lovely, these cookies are about to join the official four in the Jackson cookie bible.

Here’s the recipes for the snickerdoodles, brandy snaps, and brandied cranberry. The molasses cookies you can find on www.guiltykitchen.com, and as for the mocha swirls, I don’t dislike you enough to even tell you where they came from.

Snickerdoodles

This is a very basic, classic cookie. This recipe was taken as a very close adaptation of Shauna Fish Lydon’s interpretation of this cookie. You can find her at http://eggbeater.typepad.com.

4 Tbsp butter (room temperature, so take out at least 2 hours in advance)
1/3 c light brown sugar
1/3 c granulated white sugar
1 egg (room temperature, so take out with butter)
1 c flour
1 Tbsp corn starch
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar
¼ c sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat butter until white and fluffy, then add the two sugars. Continue beating until sugar is incorporated the mix is fluffy. Add egg, and beat until smooth.
2) In another bowl sift or whisk together flour, corn starch, baking soda, and cinnamon. Beat this dry mixture into the butter mixture in three rounds.
3) Form dough into small balls and roll in the cinnamon sugar. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
4) Bake for seven minutes, and check. Mine were small enough that they were done at this point, but if the edges don’t look like they are beginning to crisp and the middle is still wet, keep baking and check in two minute increments until done.

Brandy Snaps

The only large dishes used to make these cookies are one saucepan and two baking pans, which is really nice. They also take hardly any time and use very common ingredients, making them very convenient if you want to quickly make a dessert that looks impressive and everyone will like. Serve with some fresh fruit and whipped cream.

¼ c butter
2 Tbsp golden syrup
1/3 c light brown sugar
¼ c flour
1 ½ tsp ground ginger
2 oz dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking trays with parchment paper.
2) Put the butter, syrup, and sugar in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves and butter melts. Remove from heat and add the flour and ginger, beating it in with a wooden spoon until well combined. Don’t overbeat this one, so stop as soon as you don’t see any more flour lumps.
3) Measure out 1 Tbsp of mixture per cookie, and drop onto parchment lined trays. Leave 5 inches between each cookie, because these will spread like crazy (I only put five cookies per tray).
4) Bake for 5-7 minutes until light brown and bubbly. Wash the saucepan to ready it for melting chocolate. Pull out and let sit for 20 seconds or so, until you can touch them without getting burnt.
5) The recipe calls for you to roll the cookie disks around the handle of a wooden spoon, but I actually found that I could fit them properly around my wooden spoon because it thickened towards the end. To improvise, I simply rolled them around themselves without any support, and found that they stayed perfectly. You do have to move quite quickly while these cookies are still pliable. If you find that they are crisping and cooling, pop them back into the oven for a couple minutes.
6) Melt the chopped chocolate in a saucepan by putting the pot on low heat and constantly stirring with a wooden spoon. Pull off heat as soon as all the chocolate has liquefied. Dip both ends of the rolled brandy snaps in the melted chocolate, and place back on parchment paper to cool. Serve!

Brandied Cranberry Christmas Cookies

This is a very close adaptation of a recipe from http://simplyrecipes.com by the talented Garret McCord, whose own blog is www.vanillagarlic.com. I decided to add a little spice, increase the brandy a touch, and back off a little flour for an even chewier cookie.

I c brandy
1 c dried cranberries
1 c butter (room temperature, so take out at least 2 hours in advance)
¾ c white granulated sugar
¾ c light brown sugar
2 eggs (room temperature, so take out with the butter)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp brandy
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
pinch of cloves (fit as much between your forefinger and your thumb as you can manage, and toss it in: this is obviously a very loose measurement, but the idea is you just want a little bit)
2 c flour
1 c chocolate chips
½ c crushed toffee (I used the crumbled inside of Skor bars, which you can buy in the baking aisle, but this is optional)

1) Pour the brandy over the cranberries in a small bowl, and place them in the fridge for minimum one hour (I let mine sit over night because I was baking first thing in the morning). Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2) Beat butter until white and fluffy, then add the two sugars. Continue beating until sugar is incorporated the mix is fluffy.
3) Add the vanilla, and measure out two teaspoons of brandy from the liquid you are using to soak the cranberries. Add the two eggs, and beat well until everything is incorporated.
4) In a separate bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add to the wet mix, beating it in three rounds until just mixed.
5) Strain the cranberries (saving all that good brandy for a later occasion) and fold them into the mix along with the chocolate chips and toffee pieces.
6) Shape into balls the size of your choice (I use an ice cream scoop for consistent, medium-large balls), and place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, with plenty of room for spreading.
7) Bake for 10-15 minutes until edges brown but middle still has a nice softness.
8) Use within five days, or freeze (does anyone ever even have this problem).

Macadamia Memories

2010-08-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

You are all going to think that we eat nothing but chicken in this family, because here comes another chicken recipe. The thing is, we recently got a whole whack of chicken from a fundraiser and it is just EXCELLENT chicken (Cowichan Bay Farms). So you might see a little chicken cycle going on, but have no fear, you will experience different protein varieties very soon! Back to the recipe at hand, however, for it has a little meaning behind it. My parents just came back from Hawaii, with my little brother and a friend of his (this is what happens while I slave at home! Ah, ‘tis the life of a uni student…). It’s my parent’s third trip to the islands, and I went there myself with them two years ago. I can see why they keep going back; lush and balmy, Hawaii is not just a place for lazing about in a beach chair. Gorgeous hikes in the tropical out back and hours snorkeling various beaches were the highlights of the trip. When my parents brought back salted macadamia nuts (plus a few chocolate covered ones!), I knew I was pretty close to being transported back to the tropics. I remember having many dishes of macadamia-coated fish, so why not try the same recipe on chicken? Served with a little mango salsa, I really didn’t see how this could go wrong. I cut the chicken into strips so that delicious crunch can be appreciated with every bit. Plus, lets face it; this is tropical chicken strips for adults. Enjoy!

Macadamia-Crusted Chicken Strips

This recipe is a versatile beast. Switch chicken out for white fish, and change up the macadamia nuts for almonds, hazelnuts, cashews and even pistachios for the adventurous. The nuts, whichever you use, create a nice buttery crunch, the cereal a light pop, and the breadcrumbs good texture. This makes quite a bit of mix, so keep any extra in a container in the cupboard for later use!

4 pieces of chicken breast, cut into strips
1 c macadamia nuts, ground (I used the blender, but a chef’s knife or food processor would do the trick as well. Don’t worry if the texture is not completely even: some bigger pieces provide a nice texture.)
1 c flour
1 c breadcrumbs
1 c crushed corn flakes, special K, or other crispy cereal
1 ½ tsp black pepper
2 tsp paprika
zest of 2 limes
2 eggs, well beaten

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2) In a bowl, combine macadamia nuts, flour, breadcrumbs, cereal, pepper, paprika, and lime zest. Line up two deep plates, filling one with the beaten eggs and the other with the flour mixture. Dip chicken first in the beaten eggs, then coat well with the flour mixture, making sure it gets in all the nooks and crannies. Place on a cookie sheet to bake, to help keep it nice and crisp. Repeat with all other pieces. Sprinkle any extra egg-y mix that you’ve rolled your chicken in on top, as that won’t keep. It will toast up nice, and you can sprinkle it around on your veggies that you serve it with.
3) Bake, starting with the timer at 8 minutes, then check for doneness. My strips took 10 minutes and were still nice and moist, but depending on the size yours may be done a little quicker.
4) Serve with mango salsa.

Mango Salsa

This salsa is good on everything. Pork with mole, white fish, maple salmon, cinnamon tenderloin, tortilla chips…like I said, everything. It is very simple to make, with only a few ingredients, and the taste is so bright and refreshing.

3 ripe mangoes, cored and chopped (Cut off all the soft bits around the hard middle, peel, and chop)
½ large red onion, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, cilantro (approx 1 generous cup)
1 jalapeño**, chopped and seeded
juice of one lime

1) Combine all ingredients into a bowl. Serve!

**Jalapeños get their heat from the seeds, so to get all the flavour and a lot less spice, take out the seeds. If you want a little sweat on your forehead, leave the seeds in! Also, VERY important: WEAR GLOVES when you chop jalapeños. We keep a rubber pair under the sink for spicy suckers like this because, as I can attest to, the spice will stay on your fingers literally for a couple days. I remember having biscuits the day after chopping jalapeños and I thought they were ridiculously spicy, but it turns out that it was just my fingers…also, your eyes will thank you. Nothing says good morning like washing your face with your hands after a night of chopping chilies.

Hot as a Clam (maybe even a Deviled Clam..)

2010-07-31T19:57:00.000-07:00

The hot weather is starting to give way to salads and seafood, enjoyed on the deck with a glass of crisp cider. Okay, or maybe just grabbing handfuls of granola and sweet peas as summer parties start occurring in earnest (crazy teenagers) and the heat has taken my pleasant evening bike home and turned it into a hot, sore feet experience filled with grease and sweat, which encourages me to throw on dresses and eat whatever can be conjured right NOW while I collapse on the couch to “watch TV” (aka nap). It’s this sort of cycle that makes me realize that I need a reminder of what real, prepared food tastes like. I mean, its not like I’m about to drive up to any fast food windows, but there have been a good number of plate-less meals going on (how many things can I balance on a piece of bread and then fit it into my mouth?). This soup is that rut buster. Just thinking of it makes me commit to try and make things equally as good as this every possible night. It has every single bold flavor that I love, and features one of my favorite vegetable: the simple, unabashed onion. As versatile as ever, the onion can range from sweet to tangy, and promises an experience that no other vegetable can mimic. Adapted from “The New Basics” by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins, this is a broth recipe originally for mussels. I changed a few things, including making it a little creamier, and kicking the onion-y goodness up a notch. I served it with a simple spinach salad (because it is coming out of the garden in buckets full now, and we are on the brink of having to freeze the stuff) and garlic-parmesan bread sticks to make the ultimate summer meal. This is a family favorite, and a real treat if you don’t eat a lot of shellfish. The list of ingredients looks rather long, but it is actually a very quick recipe. No need for long simmering, just five minutes then in go the clams for about another five. So, it can be conjured right about NOW if that’s the desire!

Deviled Clams

This serves as a filling meal for 2-3 people, or a nice light course with sides for up to 5 people.

3 dozen clams, rinsed (see Step 1)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 roughly diced onions (Spanish onions do a really nice job here)
5 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp fresh ginger
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp oregano
2 c chopped fresh tomatoes
1 Tbsp caper, drained
1 c white wine
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour

1) Prepare the clams, starting by scrubbing the surfaces of the shells in a strainer with a trickle of water running as you do so, to catch and run off any sand. Some people say to soak the clams in cold water with a tablespoon of flour, with the theory that it spits out all the sand; I’ve never had this work any better then a good long rinse. Someone else might swear by it, but I tend to not use that method. After rinsing, you are going to want to debeard the clams. Beards are the hairy looking feathers sticking out of the edge of the shell. Use a paring knife and press the beard between the flat part of the blade and your thumb, then pull. It should pull off relatively easy.
2) Heat the oil in a large pot. Add onion, garlic, zest, both ginger, red pepper flakes, and oregano. Cook until onions are soft, about 5 minutes. You should start to be able to smell all the ingredients at this point. Stir in the wine, capers, and tomatoes (keeping all those good tomato juices with those tomatoes to bulk up the broth). Heat to a simmer. Meanwhile, mix the butter and flour into a paste. Add to the broth to give it a little creaminess (you can skip this step if you want a nice clear broth).
3) Add the clams, covering with the lid at this point. Cook until the clams have opened up, which should take a maximum of five minutes.
4) Discard any clams that are unopened. Serve with lots of parsley on top and garlic-parmesan sticks to dip in the lovely broth!

Garlic-Parmesan Bread Sticks

This makes enough for two people.

2 slices of bread
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced or pressed
2 Tbsp freshly grated very fine parmesan
pat of butter

Use enough butter to mix the parmesan and garlic into a spreadable paste, and generously cover the bread. Toast in the toaster oven or oven until crisp. Cut into strips, and dip right into the broth!

Herbes, Mustard, and Fast-facts.

2010-07-25T18:43:00.000-07:00

I have decided that I did a poor job introducing myself in the beginning of my blog, save for my name and a few things that I love (food and science, mostly). So here are five fast-facts about me. Some are long, some are short, all were the first things that popped into my head.

1) I have recently un-vegetarian-ized myself after about a five year spell of no meat eating. Why did I join back into the meaty chorus? Food tastes better than supplements I was feeling the pressure to take, the organic option is just around the corner, and I felt like I was missing out on a big part of the culinary experience. I mean, I am 18 years old and can make moist muffins, flaky pastry, flavorful tofu, and roasted root veggies, but merely weeks ago did I figure out the secret to moist chicken and am still working on my ability to cook red meat to that juicy-tender hot spot. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, so here we go.

2) As a continuation of the first point, through my vegetarian spell, I kept seafood in my diet. I mean, I live on the west coast. I simply cannot imagine passing up the local spot prawn festival, turning a blind eye to Fanny Bay smoked oysters, and pretending that cedar plank salmon with whisky maple sauce just doesn’t exist. I am very forlorn when Sebastien, who works on his dad’s commercial fishing vessel as a deckhand, leaves for those long stretches throughout the summer, but by keeping the boat in a steady supply of cookies (as in ten dozen batches at a time) I figure I can guarantee myself several long, languishing meals of endless prawns, crab, and sport fish. So delicious, and we can even call it healthy.

3) I work at an organic farm and garden five days a week, and basically explore various levels of dead rats on the other two. Why dead rats? I am super lucky and grateful (thanks Ellie!) to work in a super shiny and neat lab on the UVic campus. I volunteer there helping with things like decapitations, profusions (taking all the blood out then taking the brain), and brain slicing. This may sound gross to most, but I love this kind of stuff. Seeing what the different layers of the brain look like is so surreal, and being able to watch a heart beat in your hand, its makes you realize how completely incredible bodies are. You might be thinking, wait, don’t you have pet rats? This is true, and some people may find that a little creepy. But to be honest, it isn’t that freaky for me. I respect both my rats and the lab rats, and I understand that the lab rats were bred for a very important and specific purpose. It also helps that they look very different from each other; mine are a variety called “Cuddly Rat” whereas the lab rats are those standard and typical albino kinds. Either way, they are very smart and curious little animals that are great pets and also great to work with.

4) I recently had a heart surgery to correct an arrhythmia that I was born with. It probably the single strangest experience of my life that I was fully awake for. Isn’t that totally bizarre? It was really interesting being able to just watch the dynamic of an operating room though (for example: did you know they play music in there?) especially thinking that maybe I could be on the other side of this operation some day…

5) I love mustard so much. It is the ultimate condiment, adding its vinegar loveliness to all it touches. I currently have five varieties in my fridge, and am always hunting for more.

Well, for the last one, I guess I was thinking about yesterday’s dinner. It’s true that I’m a sucker for mustard, but what about honey mustard? Possibly the best thing ever. So here’s the recipe, along with some delicious chicken to dunk it in, and quinoa to compliment it, all placed on a nice bed of spinach fresh from the garden! This is really a recipe for Sebastien, as it combines two of his favorite flavors: herbes de provence (typical frenchie) and honey mustard. The trick to the delicious chicken is in the cooking; all the seasoning in the world won’t make up for a dry chicken breast. Quality chicken is also important- I get my free range hormone and antibiotic free chicken from Cowichan Bay Farms.

Herbes de Provence Chicken
The ultimate juicy chicken!

4 chicken breasts
½ c olive oil
Herbes de Provence seasoning mix (contains thyme, basil, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, savory and lavender)
Generous few pinches of salt

1-Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2-Trim and remove the skin of your chicken (this is a vaguely healthy dish, after all).
3-Use some of your olive oil to brush onto your chicken. Sprinkle your Herbes de Provence on a plate and add a pinch of salt. Rub the chicken breast into the herbes and salt so it is well (VERY well) coated.
4-Put a pan on medium high and cover the bottom with a half inch layer of oil. I know you are thinking “that is way too much oil, this dish is going to be greasy”. I promise though, your will take out the chicken and most of the oil will still be in the pan, having done its job of crusting the outside of the chicken very nicely and sealing all that juicy goodness in. So, when the oil is nice and hot put in the chicken, one piece at a time so you can pay attention to it well. Turn up the heat, and don’t let the chicken sit there very long. Shake the pan and flip when nicely browned and crisp. Repeat with the other pieces of chicken and line on a baking tray.
5-Place the chicken in the oven and set the time. I say, about 20 minutes. This is not a very easy thing to be specific with though; it really depends on the thickness of the chicken breasts. Mine were not too large, but there was one piece much thicker then the others. So, I started out by setting the time to 10 minutes, then gauging from there. To test, you can use a sharp knife to poke and peer into the thickest part, checking for doneness. They should be white all the way through with no pink left. Take them out as soon as you think they are done, so they aren’t overcooked, which is very easy to do. You won’t have to watch over them like a hawk, but keep it in your mind- it’s the perfect time to prepare the other parts of the meal, so you’ll be in the kitchen anyways.

Quinoa
This grain has been a big hit lately, and its easy to understand why. A complete protein with a nutty complex flavour, it is as delicious now as it was in South America 600 years ago.

1c quinoa
1 ½ c water
½ tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp butter

1- Rinsing the quinoa is very important, otherwise you might get an unpleasant bitter taste from this grain. I don’t have a fine enough strainer to rinse the quinoa, so I used one of those Ziploc bags for veggies with the small holes in it. It works very well! Rinse it three times with this method.
2- Add the quinoa, water, pepper, and butter to a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes. Fluff with a fork when liquid is absorbed.

Honey-Mustard Dip

1 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp honey
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp (or more!) curry powder

1-Mix it all together in one bowl!
Bon apetite!

Tri-Berries mean Pie Berries!

2010-07-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

I am crazy for berries. Today I had a conversation where I decided that blueberries, no strawberries, no, blackberries, no raspberries were my favorite of all time. In a nutshell; I love them all. We used to have a big raspberry patch by our garden (before it created a monopoly on the place and had to be removed) and I would spend ages picking the raspberries and plopping them into old yogurt containers. One in the container, then one in the mouth; a very good system to abide by. Once inside the house, they would join a medley of blackberries to create a fantastic brown-sugar crumble. With a spoon of vanilla ice cream melting on top and hot berries bursting on the roof of your mouth, there was nothing quite like it. Nowadays we sport a hearty blueberry bush and a thorn-less variety of blackberry. They keep us satisfied in the season, and leave plenty for freezing so we can enjoy their flavors year round.

On my bike to work I pass all these fresh produce signs advertising strawberries, raspberries, and even a handful of blueberries. These fresh, local fruits have been calling out to me for the last few weeks, so I’ve decided to jump on it before it too late. What better way to celebrate such a delicious situation then a Tri-Berry Pie with a Vanilla Lemon Crust? Adapted from “The Essentials Baking Cookbook” by Bay Books, I amped up the spices, lemon-y goodness, and vanilla to bring you this delectable dish. Here’s the nice thing too; it’s a free form pie. No careful rolling, sealing, and decorating (which I actually adore doing, but with so much working, I minimize “feet time” these days), this makes it a really good pie to make if you’ve never tried pie making before. It is very forgiving, and even if you don’t get that perfect flaky crust, how can berries, pastry, vanilla, and lemon NOT taste good? Tear it when you fold it over, don’t finish the edges? Hey, it’s rustic. It looks even better that way. Serve with a big dollop of unsweetened whip cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon for a nice contrast to this sweet dish.

Tri-Berry Pie with a Vanilla Lemon Crust

Crust

1 ½ c white flour
½ c icing sugar
125 g chilled butter, cubed
1 vanilla bean
¼ c lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling
1 lb. your favourite berries, in this case blueberries, rasberries, and strawberries (cut into rough pieces)
zest of two small lemons
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ c icing sugar

Topping
beaten egg white (1-2 depending on the size of your eggs)
sugar and icing sugar for sprinkling

1- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2- Whisk together the flour and icing sugar so light and well blended. Cut in cold butter until it resembles bread crumbs (I coat my fingers with the flour and break it apart by gently squishing it).
3- In a measure cup, squeeze lemons to get ¼ c of juice, and add your vanilla extract. Mix these two distinct liquids together well, because you might find that you don’t need all the liquid and you want to have both of those flavors in there.
4- Scrape the beans out of your vanilla pod and set aside. Make a little well in the flour mixture, and pour in half the liquid. Add the vanilla on top to help it distribute evenly via the liquid. Mix together by cutting it with a flat edged knife. Keep adding little bits of liquid until you can press your mixture together and it will stay as placed. Squish into one big ball
5- Roll out dough onto parchment paper into a big circle, about 8 “ in diameter and put in the fridge for 10 mns. Meanwhile, mix all the filling ingredients into a bowl.
6- Take out dough and make sure it is pliable. Brush bottom with a bit of egg white, then pile filling in the middle. Gently pull up the edges and press around the filling. Brush with egg white, and sprinkle with a little sugar.
7- Put into the hot oven, and bake for about 30 minutes (For me, it takes 30 minutes in my big oven, and as much as 40 minutes in my toaster oven). You know its down when its nicely browned, and you can lift it gently with a spatula without it sticking. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve!

Sizzling Summer and Salsa Cream

2010-07-12T19:54:00.000-07:00

We talk about the weather a lot on the west coast. I mean, we have other very entertaining topics that we also revert to, such as ferry fares (outrageous!), HST (money outa the pocket!), what’s in the garden (zucchini is off the hook!), and how the economy is doing (chug chug chugging along!). That’s not to say there isn’t an Albert Camus or Dylan Moran among us, but you know how much we love exclaiming about the weather when it legitimately does something exciting. Summer heat has been pumped up on Vancouver Island for the last week, and I’ve never been at a lack of what to say to customers as I hand them change or ice cream. “You keeping cool in this heat?” is the usual remark followed by a chuckle or a sigh by said customer as we exchange knowing looks that say I know I complained about rain for nine straight months, but now I’m burnt to a crisp and dressed in pure sweat. To be honest, I love the sweltering heat. It motivates me to wake up early for that sunrise-run that would be impossible to do in the middle of the day. It gives way to the edge of the lake that I jump in after work every hot day, eyes squeezed shut and ears plugged, bracing for the cold. It means ice cream after breakfast. It puts the sun in sundress. Another great thing about the heat is I find South America and the Mediterranean creeps back into my cooking. Grilled fish broken over fresh greens, Greek salad stuffed into a toasted pita, fresh cut salsa always in the fridge, and crispy taco salad all make a come back. The season of beer and BBQ’d corn is coming up on us fast, so I thought I’d include a simple little sauce that has a little dressiness in its back pocket- salsa cream. Call it whatever you want to add a little zip or crispiness, just make sure you slather it on anything and everything.

Salsa Cream

I improvised this recipe when I wanted a Mexican style sauce to spoon onto some scallops wrapped in bacon. The idea of a roasted salsa, smoothed out with a little milk and sour cream, seemed just right. Spoon over chicken, steak, scallops, crab cakes, or crispy fried tofu. This recipe makes quite a bit, so plan to shake it up the next day by adding roughly chopped fresh salsa ingredients (more tomatoes, black beans, corn, red onion, green onions etc) and serving it with chips. If you’re not feeling the same thing twice, freeze it in individual portions for convenient use on a rainy day (if you can even think about rain in this heat).

6 tomatoes
3 chilies
1 head of garlic
1 small onion
1 bunch cilantro
juice + zest of 2 limes
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vinegar
3 Tbsp homo milk
1 c. sour cream

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Wash and remove stems of tomatoes and chilies, then arrange on trays. Rub most of the skin off the head of garlic and wrap well in tin foil. Roast for 30-40 minutes until tomatoes are soft and skin is broken, chilies are blackening, and garlic is soft to poke. Unwrap the garlic and let all ingredients cool. Meanwhile, chop up that onion and fry in a little oil until soft and translucent. Get the roasted veggies ready while the onions cool down. Get the garlic out by chopping off the very top with a big sharp knife, and squeezing the soft garlic out of its cloves with your hands. Put directly into the blender. Pull the skin off the tomatoes, either by pulling with a small knife or your hands (careful for juices that haven’t cooled!). Put the tomatoes in the blender. Depending on how spicy you want this dish, remove half or all of the chili seeds (more seeds, more spice) and all of the skin. Place in blender. Add the onion, cilantro, lime juice + zest, salt, and vinegar. Blend until smooth. Taste- always taste the seasoning of your dishes, no matter what the recipe says! Check for a bit of lime taste, and that its not too salty or bland. Adjust as needed. Add the cream and blend. When smooth, blend the sour cream in.

Why doesn’t the picture look like it contains cilantro? To be honest, I tried to get away with using cilantro from my garden that had gone to seed, so it was very pale green. The sauce tasted fine with a very subtle cilantro flavor, but I amped it up the next day by adding a whole lively green bunch, and liked that better, so that’s what I included in the recipe.

And so it begins (with bocconcini).

2010-07-03T21:13:00.001-07:00

I've wanted to start a blog with a little food in it for some time now; it was just a matter of when. I started thinking about it seriously in April, as I lost my hair and sanity throughout exam period, but reconsidered, for fear of sounding like a deranged ninny. Instead, I decided that it should be done in summer. Summertime is perfect for starting a blog- fresh ingredients everywhere, lots of time, and endless relaxation! That's the theory anyways. Between working seven days a week, becoming a new mom to a pair of rats, my parents selling their house, and stealing time from my deckhand boyfriend, it hasn't been the endless lolling days I imagined. One thing hasn’t changed though-the food. Whether I’m wrapping chocolate at Organic Fair or slicing rat brains at the UVic labratory, food won’t stop my mouth from watering. The season has only accelerated this, as I dream of cherry trees slung heavy with red drop earings, peaches with skin sliding off from ripeness, green grapes popping with sass, carrots carrying on crunching, and pitchers of iced, minty tea beading up with sweat. How can someone help but find poetry in a blueberry brule or a strawberry pie? Flaky crust and fixing custard, oh how they complete us. So the time has come. I cannot help myself any more. I have to express to the world how much food means to me, and may have to include a few life musings of the student-y sort. Do not be alarmed if there is a mention of “my boys” (Mitchell and Cameron, my cuddly rats), I know rodents and food have never been an in vogue combo, but they are just so much fun. The other boy, Sebastien, is my taste-tester Frenchie boyfriend, who is the one who provoked the beginning of this blog. Now you know a little cast and crew, I am Jennifer Marie, better known as Jenny. And so it begins.

A very, very simple appetizer that always looks pretty enough to impress people.

Tomato-Bocconcini Salad

Count on at least 3 per person, depending on the other appetizers being offered

2 portion bocconcini cheese (size varies)
1 portion tomatoes
1 portion basil
enough skewers for one portion
reduced balsamic for drizzeling **

First thread on one bocconcini ball, then one tomato, and then one more bocconcini ball onto the skewers. You can choose to thread fresh basil around the tomatoes, but I often just chop basil into strips and sprinkle all over the plate for some nice shape variance. Drizzle with the reduced balsamic. Serve! Simple, fresh, and only needs great organic ingredients.
** Reduced balsamic is great for salads and garnishing plates, so make a good amount, it lasts literally forever. Pour a bottle of balsamic into a pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Leave the lid off and turn the fan on (don’t stick your nose in the pot like a certain sibling did). Watch it closely, and wait until its thick enough to coat the back of a spoon- the final idea is a syrup consistency, but if it is as thick as syrup when its hot, it’ll be super thick when it cools down. Don’t be too tempted to keep heating it after you are able to coat the back of a spoon nicely- you can always heat it back up if you find its still too thin. Shut it off and let it cool fully.