Welcome to the Jungle

This meal is brought to you as part of the “Culinary Jebus” series, (apparently 2 posts constitutes a series). In other words, I was very happy with how it turned out. The dish was inspired by a recipe in Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid called Jungle Curry. The name Jungle Curry reminded me of a trip to Salad King (cheap and soooo good!) in Toronto where I selected Evil Jungle Prince from the menu solely because of its wonderful name. After making that association, I couldn’t get my head around the fact that this dish was Jungle Curry and not Evil Jungle Prince. No matter what you call it though, it was tasty! Of course, when you’re starting from such a great book, you can’t go wrong. The title alone should tell you that this book is a keeper. Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet contains recipes interwoven with stories of the authors’ experiences traveling in Southeast Asia and every recipe is bursting with flavour. Mmmm flavour! Who’s taking me to Southeast Asia?

I’m sleepy tonight, so just look at the pretty pictures, ready the following quotes and come back tomorrow for something new.

“Gourmandism is one of the most important influences in our social life; it gradually spreads that spirit of conviviality which brings together from day to day differing kinds of people, melts them into a whole, animates their conversation, and softens the sharp corners of the conventional inequalities of positions and breeding.” The Physiology of Taste, Brillat-Savarin.

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin was definitely ahead of his time. I think he would have made an excellent blogger and just been a cool guy to hang out with. And he was funny too! He says that some people are predestined to be gourmands, others no, and for “people to whom nature has denied the capacity for such enjoyment… it is undoubtedly they who invented trousers to hide their thin shanks.” HA!

And here’s one more quote from Brillat-Savarin, cause he’s much more entertaining than I am tonight: “Thinness is a horrible calamity to women: beauty to them is more than life itself, and it consists above all of the roundness of their forms and the graceful curvings of their outlines.” Why oh why wasn’t I alive in the early 1800’s?

Evil Jungle Bri Curry, (Inspired by Jungle Curry from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet)

¾ lb boneless pork
2 T safflower oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
½ inch sliced ginger
Evil Jungle Bri Paste
2 cups chicken stock
5.5 oz wild mushrooms, assorted
4.5 oz snap peas
6 oz bean sprouts
2 broccoli stalks
2 T fish sauce
Handful buckwheat noodles
Juice of ½ lime
Dozen basil leaves, chopped

Cut the pork into cubes and set aside. Heat a large wok over high heat. When it is hot, add the oil and swirl to coat, then toss in the garlic and ginger. Fry the garlic until it begins to turn golden, then add the pork and Evil Jungle Bri Paste, (recipe follows). Fry for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add everything except the noodles, basil and lime juice and cook for about 4 minutes. Add the noodles and continue to cook until noodles are soft and sauce has reduced a bit. Remove from heat and stir in the basil leaves and lime juice. Serve with lime slices.

Evil Jungle Bri Paste

4 garlic cloves
1 inch piece ginger, grated
1 T minced lemongrass
1 ½ teaspoons sambal oelek (chili pepper paste)
1 T minced cilantro
Zest of 1 lime
1 teaspoon Korean pepper paste
2 teaspoons Pad Thai sauce
1 T honey

Blend everything together.

Technorati Tags:

Curry + Recipe + Dinner + Asian

Make Yourself a Dang Quesa-dilluh!

I had good intentions of participating in Leftover Tuesdays hosted by David of Cooking Chat. I was looking forward to trying to come up with something to do with leftover risotto because reheating it the next day is entirely unappetizing, why ruin a good thing? However, I didn’t have a chance to do that because even though I thought I had made tons, it was all gobbled up. But all is not lost as I have since learned from Mickey of Kitchen Inferno that leftover risotto can be made into little balls, covered in egg wash, crumbed and then fried. This was then confirmed by Rob of Hungry in Hogtown who went on to add that they’re called arancine which means little oranges. Rob also suggested that for a real treat I should put a ball of buffalo mozzarella in the centre before frying. After reading that I’m thinking of making risotto just for the leftovers! Even as I write this, more suggestions are still coming in, thanks folks. I will definitely be trying some of those ideas next time but unfortunately no number of risotto leftover suggestions could actually produce leftovers for this round of LOT. Ha, since when is not having leftovers a problem? You know you’re addicted to blogging events when…

No worries though, leftover chicken came through in the clutch. I roasted a chicken last night, nothing fancy, but I had leftovers and I knew that I could think of something good to make with them. I always make stock from the bones which I make soup out of or freeze for another time, so I didn’t want to post about that. It didn’t feel special enough and I like making new things. Then I remembered seeing that Freya of Writing at the Kitchen Table had recently made quesadillas and she made me want to make them too. I don’t know what I was waiting for so I got in the kitchen and made myself a dang quesa-dilluh! My next problem was what kind of quesadilla to make? Clearly I had none of the traditional ingredients, but that’s a-okay. What I did have was leftover chicken, a ripe mango, some old cheddar, black olives and a Curried Mango Grille Sauce. That sounded like a winning combination to me. But what about the tortilla? Right. I didn’t have any. But I did find some enormous whole wheat pitas, perfect. I split one in half and filled it with chicken and my other finds and stuck it in the oven at 350F until the cheese was nice and gooey. The pita even ended up being a nice change from a regular tortilla. It got crispy and chip-like which made for a lot of crumbs, but tasty crumbs. This was leftovers made easy and I certainly enjoyed it for lunch.

What was even better than my lunch was the discovery I made while preparing it. As I was reaching for the Curried Mango Grille Sauce, (which I looove) the logo on the jar caught my eye and I had a sudden flashback to last month: I could see myself standing in front of the fridge with a spoon in one hand and a jar of Spiced Rum Butterscotch Sauce in the other, shamefully scooping it into my mouth. On that jar was the same logo as on the Curried Mango Grille Sauce! The Spiced Rum Butterscotch Sauce, (which I had received as a gift) was the one that I raved about when I paired it with Dorie Greenspan’s Black and White Banana Cake. At the time, I longed to have the recipe for the sauce, but like an idiot, I didn’t even look at the jar closely enough to realize there was a website for the company printed right on it. Well, I’ve since smartened up and have been doing a thorough investigation of the Stonewall Kitchen via its website. I’ve also realized that I’ve tried quite a few of their products and all of them have been amazing. If you’re looking for a tasty foodie gift for someone, this is a great place to check out. They sell all sorts of drool inducing delectables, such as: Pineapple Rum Raisin Sauce, Black Cherry Cognac Sauce, Vidalia Onion Fig Sauce, Tequila Lime Cocktail Sauce, Raspberry Peach Champagne Jam… Oh I could go on, and they have more than just food, there are other great things for your kitchen too.

One last though on leftovers: If you’re ever stumped about what to do with them, just think that EVERYTHING can be improved by adding bacon, cheese, chocolate or olive oil. Over on Matt’s blog, Deglazed he suggested it as a fun dinner party, to try to come up with a food that couldn’t be improved by adding Bacon, Cheese, Chocolate or Olive Oil. It’s an interesting challenge indeed, but not possible. Anything you suggest, I can argue how it would be improved with one of those four ingredients.

Technorati Tags:

Quesadillas + Chicken + Recipe + Cheese + Leftovers

Just Call Me Culinary Jebus

I cook and bake all the time, (obviously) and for the most part it’s edible. Every now and then it’s not. You win some and you lose some. C’est la vie. The thing is though, I’m pretty critical of the things I make so even if other people claim to like a dish I might not think it was much of a success if it didn’t turn out the way I thought it should have. Also, other people lie. That being said, when I’m happy with a dish it’s a great feeling. It’s like sunshine, lollipops and rainbows… You know, warm and fuzzy on the inside. Tonight’s dinner was one of those rare times that I was really happy with the way my cooking turned out, (dessert was subsequently a failure, but I’ll try not to dwell on that). I’m still savouring the flavour of Braised Short Ribs with Chocolate and Rosemary (adapted from Bon Appetit), served atop a bed of wild mushroom risotto, (my own creation). I’ve never done chocolate in a savoury dish, but it’s chocolate, so I figured it couldn’t possibly be bad. I had no idea it could be this good! You don’t get a strong chocolate taste in this dish but I think it lends a nice amount of richness. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the chocolate was paired with savoury rosemary, delicious red wine and tender, falling-off-the-bone short ribs which was then layered onto a plate of creamy, flavourful shiitake risotto. I’m telling you, this meal was so high quality, that my meals for the rest of the week are destined to pale in comparison. I might as well fast for the week because no food I eat is going to be as satisfying. Am I overhyping this dish enough for you? I think I should put up a warning right now, telling you NOT to make this dish because I don’t want anyone to think poorly of it in case it doesn’t turn out the same for you as it did for me.

Lately I’ve been doing well with savoury dishes, (last night’s dinner was pretty darn good too!) and there seems to be a snowball effect happening here. Tonight’s meal has been built on the back of other good meals, each one contributing a little bit to the final outcome. I always like cooking, but recently I’ve been even happier than usual when I’m in the kitchen. My timing has even improved somewhat. I’m no longer finishing the main course before the sides are ready, or serving dessert before the main. I’m feeling a sense of flow, zen-like if you will, a higher connectedness, a feeling of euphoria, maybe it’s the drugs... As I was making my risotto tonight, I remembered something that I had read, (and pardon me for forgetting which blogger wrote it) about making risotto- that it was similar to the process of kneading bread, all of that stirring being somehow therapeutic. I definitely agree. Risotto’s not hard to make, just time consuming and I was certainly consumed by the process tonight.

Everything’s a balance though. The more effective I am in the kitchen, the less effective I am with my computer. Blogger is still annoying me, but I’m not competent enough to do anything about that so I’m currently pretending everything works, regardless of whether or not it actually does. Related to my computer problems are recent camera problems as well. I think my camera is on its last legs and it was threatening to keel over and die in my risotto tonight. As a result of this, my photos don’t reflect how great this dish truly was, (I spent waaay too long in photoshop trying to fix them). And in my haste to devour it, I wasn’t too keen on wasting time taking pictures and letting my masterpiece get cold. After putting almost 4 hours into this dish, (granted some of that was idling time) I was going to enjoy it.

In conclusion, this was an amazing meal, but I beg of you, even though I’m providing a recipe, DON’T make it. Trust me that it was as good as I say, but don’t make. Don’t ruin the dream!

I made a huge amount of food last night with the good intention of having leftovers so that I could attempt to create something for a new event called Leftover Tuesdays started by David of Cooking Chat. I wanted to figure out what you could do with leftover risotto, cause it’s just not good the second day. Despite the large amount of food I made, it all disappeared and I consequently have nothing to post. Curses. Next time, I promise.

Braised Short Ribs With Chocolate and Rosemary (Adapted from Bon Appetit, January 2006)

2 strips of peppercorn bacon, diced
3 pounds bone-in short ribs
1 finely chopped onions
1 finely chopped celery
1 finely chopped peeled carrots
1 finely chopped peeled parsnip
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ cups dry red wine
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 400mL can of diced tomatoes
1 T mixed herb paste
½ teaspoon dry thyme
1 bay leaf
2 ½ tablespoons shaved bittersweet chocolate
1 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 350F. Heat heavy large pot over medium heat. Add bacon and sauté until crisp. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper. Working in batches, brown ribs in drippings in pot over medium-high heat until brown on all sides. Transfer to plate. Add onions and next 4 ingredients to pot. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until vegetables are soft, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add wine. Boil uncovered until liquid is reduced by half, scraping up browned bits. Add broth, tomatoes, herbs, thyme, bay leaf, and bacon. Return ribs to pot, making sure they’re covered in sauce, cover partially, and put in the over for about 1 ½ hours. Uncover and simmer until rib meat is tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 1/2 hours longer.

Transfer ribs to plate; discard bay leaf. Boil sauce until beginning to thicken, about 8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add chocolate, cocoa powder, and rosemary; stir until chocolate melts. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Return ribs to pot. Simmer to rewarm, about 5 minutes.

I served this on top of a shiitake risotto for which I have no recipe because I made it up as I went along. I had all of the usual risotto ingredients like Arborio rice, butter, white wine, stock and parmesan cheese as well as onion, garlic, peas and a whole lot of fresh shiitake mushrooms. Mmmm mmm good.

*I can tell already, this is one of those posts I’m going to read tomorrow and wonder what the hell I was on when I wrote it, (sunshine, lollipops and rainbows???). It’s also going to result in a myriad of kitchen disasters to bring my ego crashing back down to earth where it belongs. It’s not like I’m Ferran Adria here, I just assembled ingredients, the oven did the work. Someone should remind me of that before my head gets too big and you start calling me Little Big Head like a certain Food Network personality...

Technorati Tags:

Short Ribs + Risotto + Recipe + Chocolate + Food

You Wish You Were This Clever, (So Do I...)

Gee, truffles for a Sugar High Friday with Chocolate as the theme, how predictable. I’m sooo boring. I simply can’t come up with anything other than a chocolate truffle. Ha! I laugh in the face of boring! Truffles? Hardly! Looks may be deceiving. Granted, I didn’t actually come up with this idea, but I love it. They’re grapes covered in chocolate and don’t feel bad if you were fooled and thought they were truffles, everyone is. I think I giggled like a giddy little school girl every time I offered one of these to someone new. Each person would look at the bowl and exclaim “oooh truffles!” (or something like that) and I would smile innocently as they plucked one from the dish and popped it in their mouth. I delighted in watching their expression as they bit into the “truffle” and were greeted with a burst of juicy grape. I suppose if you have a huge chocolate craving and you get one of these instead, you might be disappointed, but mostly people are happy to have been deceived in such a fun way.

This will likely not be the chocolatiest entry into this month’s round of Sugar High Friday, but I think it’s an interesting one. David Lebovitz is hosting and has chosen Chocolate by Brand as the theme. The “by Brand” part of the theme wasn’t a huge thing for me. I have to admit that I don’t usually go for some fancy chocolate brand. That’s probably not even an option where I live, apparently country folk don’t eat expensive chocolate. I hardly even make note of what brand I’m buying unless I really didn’t like it and then I won’t get it again. But don’t listen to me when it comes to chocolate. Someone like Sir Lebovitz is in a much better position than I to speak about chocolate and he could probably tell you exactly what brands are better for what ventures, frankly though, I haven’t got a clue. All I know is that there’s a huge variety in price and I don’t know if the price actually reflects an increase in quality or an increase in fancy marketing. That being said, there’s all types of chocolate in my cupboard because I don’t have a loyalty to any one. I’ve got Baker’s, Cote D’or, Lindt, Organic Fair Trade and Presidents Choice, just to name a few. They come in varying degrees of chocolateness and on any given day I might have unsweetened, semi-sweet, bittersweet, 60%, 70% or 80% cocoa chocolate bars at my disposal. I have no hard and fast method for choosing which one I’m going to bake with either. If a recipe calls for a particular kind, I’ll likely use that. However, if it calls for entirely milk chocolate, I’ll likely balance that out with a little dark chocolate because that’s what I prefer.

For this unbelievably easy recipe which I got out of Michel Richard’s Happy In the Kitchen, (great book!) I used a dark Organic Fair Trade chocolate bar and cocoa from Just Us! Coffee, Canada’s first Fair Trade coffee roaster. I know you’re thinking that sounds a little too fancy for me, but I can explain, it was a gift. The dark chocolate is 70% cocoa and I like it quite a bit. I also think that most people wouldn’t notice a huge difference between this chocolate and any other one I could have used unless they were doing a side by side taste test or they really had strong feelings about chocolate. I find there’s a lot of snobbery associated with particular brands. It seems some brands may be fundamentally better but I think a lot depends on personal taste too. I’m not one to discriminate, I’ll try anything. And I’ve tried a lot of chocolate. I’m not saying there’s not a difference in taste between good and poor quality chocolate. It’s very true that some are exponentially better than others and that if I had tons of money, I’d always buy the top quality, but I don’t. So I appreciate really good chocolate when I have it, but I settle for a reasonably less expensive variety the rest of the time.

Chocolate Grapes from Happy In the Kitchen
(or as I like to call them, Faux Truffles)

1lb cold firm seedless grapes, stems removed

4 ounces 60% semisweet chocolate, melted, at body temperature

1-2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Dry the grapes and place them in a bowl large enough to toss them easily. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.

Add the chocolate to the grapes about 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring well with a spatula, carefully scraping the sides of the bowl and folding through the center of the grapes to coat them all evenly.

When the chocolate begins to set, using a small strainer, sprinkle the cocoa powder little by little over the surface. Gently toss or stir the grapes as you sift, continuing to add the cocoa until all of the grapes are well coated and separated. Spread on the prepared sheet.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the chocolate is set, or for up to 1 day.

*Note- since I used 70% dark chocolate, I also added a bit of superfine white sugar, I probably didn’t need to.

Question- Is my blog displaying any better now? And why are people using anything other than Firefox? Whyyyyyy?

Technorati Tags:

Chocolate + SHF27 + Grapes + Foodblogging Events

I Don't Care What You Say, Cupcakes Are Healthy

Do you ever have those days when nothing seems to be working out the way you want it to? Maybe blogger isn’t doing what you want it to and you’re not willing to accept the fact that you’re an idiot and can’t follow simple instructions… Not that I’d know anything about that. Well, for future reference, if you find this happening to you, I suggest you say to yourself: “F this! I’m going to make cupcakes.” Go on, try it. I’m not saying that the cupcakes will solve any of your (blogger) problems, but they’re tasty and at least you can eat your mistakes in the kitchen. Nibbling on your computer is not suggested. And since I was wasting time, ignoring problems I didn’t, (and still don’t) know how to fix, I decided that not only should I make one batch of cupcakes, but that I should make two. And why not, since Cupcake Bakeshop and Vanilla-Garlic are hosting a Cupcake Round Up, calling out to all you souls who long to make cupcakes. Break your computer, go make cupcakes and send them on over to Cheryl and Garrett by January 26th to be included in the fun.

Back in high school there were two things the cafeteria made that were edible. One was taters, which they one made on Tater Tuesdays. Cafeteria taters were thick cut fries with some sort of spiced seasoning on them. Tuesdays were pretty much the only day I didn’t bring a lunch with me because I would order taters. The second thing the cafeteria did well was giant carrot muffintops with cream cheese icing. It was very much Seinfeld influenced in that they really only served the muffintop, it was great! And what made it even better was the thick layer of cream cheese icing they spread on top. Thank you high school cafeteria, for instilling in me a love of highly caloric foods. Fortunately for my health, I don’t often make taters, (of the deep fried variety) or carrot and cream cheese muffintops very often. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time I made carrot cake. This is maybe because I know other people who do it better. One of my Aunts makes an amazing carrot cake, though not nearly often enough for my liking. In any case, I decided that a carrot cupcake with cream cheese frosting was just what I needed. Somehow I decided I also needed banana cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting. No story there, I just wanted them. I justified my decision by noting the health benefits of each. Carrot and banana are very good for you, ergo carrot and banana cupcakes are also very good for you. How’s that for logic? Right or wrong, I’m still the captain.

Odds & Ends:

Sometimes I get people asking questions in the comments and I have good intentions of replying, but it doesn’t always happen. Also, I frequently ask questions in other people’s comments, but then I forget where I asked the question and usually don’t find my answer, even if one has been posted. So in case anyone else is as dense as I am, here are a couple responses to questions people have asked:

• How did I make my coconut whipped cream? When I made coconut whipped cream for my Victory Cups I simply added coconut extract and sugar to whipping cream and I thought it turned out quite nicely. A word of caution though, add the coconut extract in very, very small quantities because it packs a whole lot of flavour and if you overdo it, you’ll be sorry.

• When I made Tater Timbales I rambled on about how happy I was to finally have a mandoline. Someone asked what brand it was and the answer would be Cooks Quarters. I have no idea how this compares to other brands, but I noticed my pasta maker is also from Cooks Quarters, and I like it.

And finally, a discovery I made that I wanted to share with you, particularly the tall girls among you. In my random clicking I ended up on a blog called Mixed Bag and a post about a book called The Tall Girl’s Handbook by Gwen Davenport. It was originally published in 1959, it sounds hilarious and I must find a copy. Excerpts include such literary gold as:

• Nothing looks handsomer to average people than a tall person standing up straight, as if he or she came from a race of gods.

• Dress, as nearly as you can, like other people. You will hear short friends tell you that you ought, for instance, to wear nubby tweeds, bulky fabrics, capes, or enormous hats. Don't listen to them, for they are in error. If capes and pictures hats are currently in style, well and good. If not, why be out of style just because you're tall? You will look freakish and doubly conspicuous.

• The trouble with women is men. And the trouble with tall women is small men.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Amen sister.

Technorati Tags:

Cupcakes + Carrot + Banana + Foodblogging Events

Milking This Stew for All It’s Worth

Is this allowed? I don’t know, but I’m going for it. I’m entering this Venison Stew with Dumplings in three separate blogging events. But I swear, it fits into all three of them very nicely. It all started when I heard about the Taste of Terroir event, for which I decided I would make something with venison and morels as they are the first ingredients that come to mind when I think about home. Then the theme for Waiter, There’s Something In My… was announced as stew and one of my favourite stews is venison stew. And finally, A Day That Really Schmecks II was created after such a favourable response to the first round, and as I learned while making my stew, the dumpling recipe I’ve eaten my entire life is from Food That Really Schmecks. Well doesn’t that just tie everything up into a nice little package? I thought so. But before you read on, you must listen to the best kitchen song ever, particularly good when making

stew:
The Robert Cray Band "The Robert Cray Band Collection"— Too Many Cooks

Anna of Anna’s Cool Finds is hosting a one off event called A Taste of Terroir which she dreamt up after reading Food and Wine’s 100 Tastes to Try in ‘07. She noted that it may not be very easy for most people to experience all of these tastes because of where they live, but also that there is a world-wide community of food bloggers who have an eye for taste and aesthetics who might put together a much more unique list, grounded in their own bit of terroir. Anna believes terroir can go far beyond the traditional use in the areas of wine and coffee, and be applied to those foods and drinks which truly give a sense of place, or the taste of the place can be observed in them. This event is to share with others, local ingredients that you have a special connection with and the recipes that you make out of them. For me, venison and morels are two things that I associate with where I live. I can gather both of them from my backyard… Dad usually gets one deer per year and then butchers it himself and puts it in freezer for us to enjoy year round. Same deal for morels but the whole family goes hunting for them. Then we dry them and store them in big glass jars for use until the new crop comes up the next spring. Both the morels and deer can be enjoyed fresh simply fried in butter, allowing the full flavour to come through. They also enhance any dish they’re added to, stew being a perfect example of this. A plain old stew gets a huge boost of flavour when you make it with venison and morels instead of beef and button mushrooms. Welcome to the country.

Waiter There’s Something In My… is a brand new blogging event started by Andrew of Spittoon Extra, Jeanne of Cook Sister and Johanna of The Passionate Cook. Stew has been chosen as the inaugural theme, which is perfect to warm you up during this cold weather, (my condolences to the Australians and other Southern hemisphere dwellers who aren’t up to making stew in 50°C weather). The idea of Waiter There’s Something In My… is to run an event for a finite period (12 months) and to make the themes as broad and inclusive as possible so that everyone can participate by taking the theme and making it their own. Stew is definitely a dish that can be adapted depending on where you live and what ingredients you have on hand, so I suspect there will be a wide variety of entries on this one. And since the category is so open, I suppose we could even get some dessert stews… If it were summertime I’d be entering stewed rhubarb served over vanilla ice cream, there’s something for you Southerners to try!

On January 15th Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict, hosted A Day That Really Schmecks to celebrate Edna Staebler- her spirit, sense of humour and her food. As other people started to hear about this project they wanted to participate as well and so Jasmine is organizing A Day That Really Schmecks II so that more people can enjoy Edna’s recipes. There has been a copy of Food That Really Schmecks on my bookshelf for literally my entire life. I’ve been eating schmecking good food before I even knew it schmecked. I find it funny that I’m still discovering that recipes that I’ve always eaten are originally from this cookbook, such as the dumplings that I always have with my stew. Dumplings were the only reason I used to like stew and I usually ended up with more of those on my plate than anything else. They’re nothing flashy, but I love them. While I was making my venison stew, I asked Dad what recipe he used for dumplings and got a reply something like “It’s in the schmeck book.” Who knew? All along I’ve been eating Edna’s Featherlight Dumplings and was none the wiser. As I flipped through the book, looking for the dumpling recipe I marveled at Mom’s hand written notes, scribbled into the margin making additions, substitutions or just general comments (great!). I love old cookbooks.

Whew, that was a lot of info. Here’s some more:

Venison Stew À La Bri, (There’s no set recipe for this, I change it slightly every time I make it based on what I have in the kitchen or garden, but here’s what I did this time around.)

1+ lbs venison, cubed
1 big carrot, peeled and chopped
1 big parsnip, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, minced
A handful of dried morels, broken up a bit.
2 cups beef stock
1 ½ cups red wine
1 cup water
A leftover bone from a leg of lamb, (most of the meat eaten in a previous meal, any leftover meat removed and added to the pot)
Dash of habanero sauce
A couple dashes of black bean sauce
A couple dashes of Sriracha sauce
A sprinkle of cumin
A sprinkle of garlic powder
A sprinkle of cayenne
A little rosemary
Freshly ground pepper
Olive oil

1- Season the venison cubes with cumin, garlic powder, cayenne, rosemary and fresh ground pepper and then brown the venison in olive oil.
2- Add the onion and garlic and soften a bit.
3- Add all of the other ingredients and bring to a boil.
4- Reduce heat and simmer for a few hours.
5- Remove the lamb bone.
6- Just before serving, make dumplings.

Featherlight Dumplings from Food That Really Schmecks

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
Whatever herbs you want, or none at all, I used basil.
Milk

Combine first 4 ingredients. Add milk just until a thick dough forms, you don’t want it to be runny at all. Drop spoonfuls into the stew and cover tightly with a lid for 10 mins. Don’t peak. After 10 mins, your dumplings will have risen beautifully. Ladle your stew into bowls and serve with dumplings on top.


Technorati Tags:
Stew + Waiter There’s Something In My + Venison + Morels + Foodblogging Events + Edna Staebler

Technical Difficulties

Update:
Alright, the cupcakes have been made and my blog's not better. I figure I've been going about this all wrong, I should have been asking for your help. If anyone out there know how to fix any of the following problems, I would be infinitely grateful and happy to bake/cook you anything you'd like... and then I will send you a picture of it before I eat it in your honour.


-I made my own header and for a while I had it up, but now it seems to have disappeared, (or it's back, I can't keep track). I don't know why. Also, the blogger header keeps showing up below and I don't know how to hide it. And I wanted to making it so that when you click on my header it returns you to my homepage. I followed directions for a clickable photo, but it didn't get me anywhere...

-Since switching to new blogger, my pictures are all sized weird. I know in the old blogger I had to put in some code so that they were automatically resized, but I have no clue what that is now. Also, I wanted to make it so that when you click on my pictures you see an enlarged version as opposed to getting linked to the photobucket website.

-Is it possible to get rid of the arrows on the right side of my template or does that require changing templates altogether? Also, for some reason, the far righthand side of my blog looks different where my links are compared to the top and bottom, I'd like it all to be the same.

-I want to get rid of the part where it says "View My Complete Profile" and just have it say About, or even just link to my profile via my picture.

I realize this is a whole lot to ask, but if you could help me out with any of it, that would be very appreciated! I've got a million other problems if you'd like to fix those too, but how about we just start with this? Thanks.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++


I have no clue what I'm doing and I can't eat this disaster. I'm trying to make my blog work but I don't really know how. I'm not tech savvy. This could take a while. In the meantime, sorry about the construction zone.

Ok, so I've been working on this all morning and I feel like shooting myself in the foot. I'm going to make cupcakes. If someone could fix my blog while I'm gone, that would be super.

Sc-OH-ne Or Sc-AWW-ne?

It’s that time again, recipe testing time! Cooks Illustrated sent me a recipe for Blueberry Scones to try out and I was more than happy to oblige, who doesn’t like buttery scones? My only issue with this recipe was that it was a little wordy in some parts, so I’ve fixed that in the version I’m giving you. Despite the recipe extras, the actual process was very easy, but when I got to the point of shaping the dough and placing the scones on the baking tray I had to read and reread the recipe to make sure I was doing things correctly. Was there really only supposed to be 8 scones? They were enormous! It’s as though Cooks Illustrated has read about my trials of Big vs. Cute and have declared Big the winner. Believe me when I say that this is the scone that eats like a meal. Not that I’m complaining, bigger is better. I’m bigger, I’m better and so is my baking…

Before I get started on another Cute vs. Big rant, I’d better get on with this meme that I was tagged for by Marce of Pip in the City. This particular meme is called 6 Weird Food Things about Myself. I don’t think anything I do is weird. As far as I’m concerned, I’m the normal one and you’re weird, but you can decide for yourself:

1- I hate being cold but I like eating frozen things. And I’m not just talking ice cream and popsicles. I freeze everything- yogurt cups, cheesecake, fruit, (cherries, grapes, blueberries, bananas, strawberries…) smoothies, chocolate milk, pancakes. Mmmm frozen pancakes…
2- When I was younger I didn’t like sauce on my pasta, only cheese. I didn’t like mushrooms other than morels and puffballs, (because I picked those). I didn’t like olives or asparagus, period. I didn’t like eating breakfast or breakfast foods. I didn’t like sandwiches. I didn’t like pie. I now eat everything so there’s hope for the younger generations.
3- I’m ridiculously indecisive at a restaurant and will invariably regret my own decision and wish I had ordered something else, even if I liked what I got.
4- Sometimes I’ll get one type of food or food item on my brain and become obsessed with having it. There was a period of time when I was hooked on muffins. I would buy one from a different place everyday, (thus driving my traveling companion nutty as I insisted we seek out muffins everywhere). The best one I had was from a place that had a basket labeled “injured muffins.” I think I loved it for that sign alone. There was nothing wrong with the muffin, it was just irregularly shaped and not as pretty as the other ones. I don’t even remember what flavour it was.
5- I learned from TV on a citycat in Brisbane that lemons contain more sugar than strawberries. I consider that valuable trivia information.
6- I think it’s fun to eat unidentifiable food such as that found in airline meals and then try to guess what it was.

As usual, if you feel the need to share your food quirks with others, feel free to tag yourself for this meme. If not, continue to be safe behind your computer screen, your choice.

Technorati Tags:
Meme + Scones + Blueberries + Cooks Illustrated + Baking

Guard Your Blogs, I'll Steal From You Too

Does this look familiar? It will if you’re a regular reader of La Tartine Gourmande. The other night I was looking for a potato recipe and I came across this recipe by Bea for a Potato, Fennel, Pear and Fourme d’Ambert Timbale. Oooh, it even sounds fancy! As amazing as Bea’s timbale sounds though, I didn’t have all of the necessary ingredients to make it. I don’t think that’s ever stopped me before, so I made a few substitutions and carried on. I also opted to rename my version a Tater Timbale, because I like alliterations and because it’s shorter than Bea’s sweeping title.

I think the reason I was most drawn to this recipe, (besides the beautiful picture on Bea's site) was because it let me use my new mandoline. It’s been sitting in its box for the past couple weeks, just dying to be used. The mandoline was a gift to myself which I deemed absolutely necessary and therefore bought it after no one else volunteered to. Luckily it was over 50% off, score! If you don’t have a mandoline, you need to get one. I was making perfectly even slices in seconds, with no effort at all. And with 3 different blades, the possibilities are endless. I sound like an infomercial, but it’s true! Once you try the mandoline you’ll want to slice everything. Nothing’s safe in my kitchen. Not even my fingers…

Don’t let my mandoline distract you though, let’s pay attention to what’s really important here; not only have I stolen Bea’s recipe, but I’m also entering it into Weekend Herb Blogging which is being hosted this week by Scott of Real Epicurean. Weekend Herb Blogging was originally started by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen, with the goal of having weekly roundups of posts featuring herbs, plants, vegetables, and flowers.



Any number of elements would have qualified this timbale for Weekend Herb Blogging; the asparagus, the fennel, the potato… But I’ve chosen to focus on the fennel because it’s probably less well known than the other two. Fennel has a flavour similar to anise, but a little more mild. And as an added bonus, you can cook with the seeds, bulb and foliage. Yes folks, fennel will give you its all and leave you wanting more. It was an excellent addition to my Tater Timbale and would be an excellent addition to your table as well.


Tater Timbale (Adapted from Bea’s Potato, Fennel, Pear and Fourme d’Ambert Timbale)
You need:
(5 ramekins, size 2.5 x 4″)
• 2 ½ lbs potatoes, half Yukon gold, half sweet potatoes
• 1 large fennel
• 1 Fuji apple
• 1 large onion
• Goats cheese and old cheddar, enough to make a layer of each in every ramekin
• 2 eggs
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup 1% milk
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• A dash of nutmeg
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• Steamed asparagus to garnish

Steps:
• Butter your ramekins and line them with sheets of parchment paper.
• Preheat your oven at 350 F.
• Peel and thinly slice the potatoes and cook them for 5 to 7 mns in salted boiling water.
• Slice the fennel thinly and cook for 7 mins in salted boiling water.
• Peel and core the apple. Slice it thinly (add a few drops of lemon to prevent oxydation).
• Slice the onion and cook if for 10 mins in olive oil with the garlic, until soft.
• In a bowl, beat together the eggs and milk, and season with salt and pepper. Add the nutmeg.
• Line slices of potatoes around the edge of the ramekin and place a few at the bottom. Keep them tight.
• Continue with a layer of onions and a layer of fennel and pear slices and cheese.
• Continue layering until you run out of room.
• Pour in the egg batter, making sure that it goes down all the way to the bottom.
• Cook in the oven for 45 to 50 mins. Check whether the top potatoes are cooked and wait a few mins when taking out before unmolding on a plate
• Garnish with asparagus tips, (I served the rest of the asparagus separately in a balsamic vinaigrette with parmesan).

Technorati Tags:
Baking + Timbale + Potato + Fennel + Blogging Event + Weekend Herb Blogging

From Out of the Ashes Rises a Winner

Sometimes I wonder if I don’t suffer from grandiose delusions. You see, I get these ideas in my head like “I can master macarons” or “I’m going to make a beautiful creampuff ring filled with chocolate pastry cream that will be even more impressive than the one in Dorie’s book!” HA! Who do I think I am, and what drugs have I been taking? Every so often I seem to leave reality and drift into my own little magical kitchenland where I’m an expert baker and creator of all things good. What usually pulls be back to the real world is the incessant beeping of the smoke alarm. My recent baking adventure was no exception. I must begin by apologizing to Dorie for massacring one of her beautiful recipes. It was entirely my fault, (obviously) there’s nothing wrong with this recipe and I encourage you to give it a try.

Now then, one of the things I love about Dorie’s book Baking: From My Home to Yours, is that for each recipe, there’s a section on the sidebar called “Playing Around”. This offers a variety of ways to change the recipe slightly, without turning it into a disaster, as is so often the case when I decide I want to tweak a recipe without ever trying it in the first place. The original recipe in the book (and stunning accompanying photo) is of a giant Peppermint Creampuff Ring. The Playing Around section suggests that you can fill the creampuff ring with any variety of pastry creams, such as chocolate, for which there’s also a recipe. I’m a big chocolate fan so I decided to skip the peppermint cream and go straight for the chocolate. Then I read and reread the recipe to make sure I would do it right.



It seemed easy enough as there were 3 distinct parts: the creampuff, the chocolate pastry and a chocolate glaze. I failed on 2 out of the 3 parts and the only reason I didn’t fail on the third part was that I didn’t attempt it, (I guess maybe that constitutes a fail as well?) And just how did I manage all of this? Well, I was supposed to pipe out the creampuff ring as 3 rings, one inside of the other. Of course, I didn’t make the rings large enough, nor did I seal the edges together very well, (that’s also how I ended up with bagels that looked like horseshoes) and so the ring didn’t hold together as a ring. I also burned the bottom. At the same time as this was happening, I was trying to make the chocolate pastry cream, (here’s where the smoke alarm comes into play) and the milk boiled out of my tiny saucepan and spread all over the place. Not only did it start to burn on its own burner, but it spread to a second burner that I had turned on for the second part of the pastry cream. Despite the fact that I had two smoking burners and a screeching smoke alarm, I had to turn on a third burner to finish the pastry cream because I was half way through and didn’t want the eggs to scramble. Oh, and I was trying to melt chocolate in the microwave during this whole fiasco as well, which I also managed to ruin by overheating. Despite my attempts to save it, my pastry cream turned out more like thick chocolate pudding due to the large quantity of milk that was scorched on my stovetop instead of in the pastry cream.

As things calmed down and I opened some windows to clear out the smoke, I surveyed the damage and realized there was no way I could serve this dessert in the manner in which it was supposed to be done. Tears were the first thing that came to mind. First the macarons, now this, things were not going well in the baking department, (and I was plummeting off of my grandiose high). But I swallowed those tears as I recalled an inspirational post by Peabody of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. I remember this post so clearly because when I read it I was infinitely impressed with the way Peabody turned a disaster into a great success. The pictures also had me drooling for days… She took a cracked cheesecake and turned it into a completely different and original dessert, genius. And so as I looked at my misshapen and half burned pastry blob and my thicker than thick chocolate pudding, I asked myself: “What would Peabody do?”



The answer that I came up with is my resulting dessert which I have dubbed a Victory Cup for the following reasons; 1-my dessert was a victory over kitchen defeat, 2- it’s served in a cup, 3- I couldn’t think of anything else to call a dessert that has chocolate pastry cream, strawberry and Malibu puree, cream puff pieces, coconut whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Yes, you read that correctly, all of those marvelous things were combined into a singular dessert. I salvaged the cream puff by ripping off and discarding the burnt bottom and then tearing the nicely golden top half into smaller pieces. The chocolate pudding tasted just fine on its own, so I didn’t have to fix anything there. I considered layering these two elements in a cup, but it didn’t have enough colour, it just looked like a failed creampuff in a cup. Then the wheels started turning and I pulled a bag of strawberries from the freezer, to this I added some sugar and the end of a bottle of Malibu and blended it into a puree. This puree was so good I could have eaten it alone for dessert. But I wasn’t done there. Oh no! Then I made some coconut whipped cream to add some contrast and to complement the coconut flavour of the Malibu. It was only after I had all of these components together that I could layer them into a glass cup and then cover the top with a light dusting of chocolate shavings. And that my friends, was how the Victory Cup was born. I wouldn’t lie to you, it was amazing. I should ruin desserts more often. Just joking, I hope the kitchen Gods didn’t hear that… I didn’t mean it, I want nothing but success, success! This was indeed a success though, I actually licked my cup clean, which wasn’t an easy feat considering the depth of the glass. My guests also thoroughly enjoyed it, (as judged by the hushed silence that fell over the table as everyone devoured their desserts) and no one was any the wiser that it was a far cry from my original intentions. I hope I've made Dorie proud, even a ruined recipe from her book is a fabulous one.

In completely unrelated news, (or maybe it is related, depending on how you look at it…) I recently discovered a new word that might aptly describe me, plus it’s fun to say: Flibbertigibbet. \FLIB-ur-tee-jib-it\, noun: A silly, flighty, or scatterbrained person, especially a pert young woman with such qualities.


Technorati Tags:
Dessert + Recipe + Chocolate + Strawberry + Coconut + Dorie Greenspan

And You Thought I Was a Cabbage Patch Kid...

Fiber of 28 Cooks is hosting an event called Behind the Apron. So many foodbloggers post wonderful pictures of what they make, but we rarely have any idea who the actual person is that’s creating all of these goodies. In a way, I kind of like the anonymity, but it’s also nice to be able to put a name with a face, it makes it more personal that way. I’ve noticed that I’ve come to associate many bloggers with their profile picture, whatever that may be, and I’ve found that any picture, (real or not) makes it easier to connect bloggers to their blogs.

Photographs of an actual blogger, (as opposed to say, a cabbage patch kid) however, make this whole blogging experience a little more real. There are tangible people out there reading what I write, and I’m a (somewhat) real person writing it. Despite my curiosity to see what other bloggers look like, I was still hesitant about posting my own picture, but I thought I should make it clear that I’m not actually a cabbage patch kid. So, without further ado, here I am:

If you’d like to reveal yourself as well, and be included in the roundup, post a pic of yourself and send the link to Fiber at 28cooks AT gmail DOT com before January 31st. Now then, onto more important things- I’ve been meaning to write about this for quite a while. Back in December I received an email from Jeff of C for Cooking asking me if I wanted a free box of high quality, artisan olive oil from a new company called Alejandro and Martin. If it’s free, who am I to refuse, (thanks again Jeff!). So I went online to learn a little more about the company before my packaged arrived and I discovered that I would be receiving 4 bottles of olive oil, each from a different region and with their own distinct flavour. It sounded great and it tastes even better! The 4 flavours are: Mild & Delicate, (France) Fragrant & Fruity, (Greece) Olivey & Peppery, (Italy, and so far my favourite of the bunch, but they're all great) and Green & Grassy, (Australia).



I was having people over tonight so I thought I’d share my good fortune and prepare a little taste test of the oils with dipping bread and some olives and smoked salmon. Since I was going to be using such good olive oil, I had to have good bread for dipping, (yes! Another bread post!) so I made a whole wheat loaf from the Good Home Cookbook. I don’t mean to boast, but my bread making is definitely improving, that bread was gooood, worthy of the olive oil! And if you’ll allow me to digress for a second, I’d like to tell you more about where the bread recipe came from. When I first received the Good Home Cookbook I wasn’t overly impressed. It’s not flashy, it didn’t have pictures and the recipes didn’t seem to have a lot of pizzazz, (and you know how I like pizzazz…). But as I took the time to really read the recipes and try some out, I realized that the Good Home Cookbook has a lot of good basic recipes, recipes that you use frequently such as the whole wheat bread I made today. This has been a case of “you can’t judge a book by its cover”, the Good Home Cookbook has a wide variety of recipes and so far they’ve been very good, give it a try.



Ok, back to the olive oil… A HUGE thank you to Alejandro and Martin! The olive oil is excellent. In fact, I’m planning on making some homemade pasta next week just so I can douse it in olive oil. I have nothing but good things to say about both the company and their product. How’s this for customer service: When I placed my order, there was a problem with my visa card, (I just had to pay shipping, the $6 was well worth it) and I received a phone call from Alejandro himself to sort things out. I then received an email from Alejandro, letting me know that my order had been shipped. It’s that kind of friendly, personal service, that makes you want to want to deal with a company again and again. To anyone who has never had good quality olive oil, I highly recommend that you try some from Alejandro and Martin, it’ll change the way you look at olive oil.

Whole Wheat Bread (from The Good Home Cookbook)

2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
¼ cup butter, softened
¼ cup honey
2 T molasses
2 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour, more as needed, (I used bread flour)
3 cups whole wheat flour, (I used 1 cup whole wheat and 2 cups multigrain bread flour)

1. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and set aside for 5 min, until bubble.
2. Stir together the butter, honey, molasses, and salt in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture. Beat in the white flour, ½ cup at a time. Beat in 2 ¾ cups of whole wheat flour, ½ cup at a time, until the dough begins to pull away from the bowl.
3. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup wheat flour onto a work surface. Turn the dough out onto the flour. Knead for 5-7min, until smooth and elastic, adding more white flour if necessary until the dough is no longer sticky. Transfer to a large greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a clean cloth, and set aside at room temp to rise until double in size, 1-1 ½ hours. (I actually let it rise for 6 hours.)
4. Punch the dough down, let rest for a few minutes.
5. Return the dough to the work surface and divide in half. Form each half into a rectangle, roll it up, and pinch the ends and seam to seal. Place each roll, seam side down, in 2 greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Flatten in the pans to fill evenly. Cover loosely and set aside at room temp to rise until dough reaches the tops of the pans, 45-60 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 375F.
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until deep brown or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped.
8. Remove the loaves from the pans and cool on a wire rack before slicing.


Technorati Tags:
Olive Oil + Bread + Recipe

One Is the Loneliest Number...

One is the loneliest number indeed. It’s also the number of macarons that turned out reasonably well from the entire batch I made today. I don’t know why I became so obsessed with macarons, considering I’ve never actually eaten one other than my own failed attempts… Actually, yes I do know where this obsession developed, it’s the bloggers faults. Prior to blogging, I’ll admit it, I had no idea what a macaron was, (other than those coconut blobs that are nothing special), I didn’t even know who Pierre Herme was (gasp!). But then one day I started seeing these delicious looking sandwich cookies popping up all over the place. The more I saw, the more I wanted to see. I started looking for them and realized that macarons practically have their own cult following and without even tasting one I jumped on the bandwagon. That is the power of foodporn. If you don’t believe me, just check out the amazing creations made by Helene of Tartelette. Or go visit Bea at La Tartine Gourmande who, on her very first attempt at macarons, opted for such innovative combinations as Matcha Tea and Chocolate Macarons and Cardamom, Wattle Seeds Macarons with Orange Filling, (I’m still beyond impressed by this). And if you’re still not sure about macarons, have a look at this post by Eggbeater, who waxes poetically about Pierre Herme and his out-of-this-world delicacies.



As my obsession developed and as I saw the variety of flavour combinations that were being created, I shied away from making my own macarons as I thought they were out of my league. Apparently I should have stuck with that thought. Instead, I saw a recipe in Nigella Lawson’s How to Be a Domestic Goddess for chocolate macarons and decided that I would give those a try. Nigella made it sound so easy, but as I now know with Nigella, she lies! Back in September I wasn’t so wise to her schemes, but as I reread that entry now, I see that it was a prediction of things to come. As I wrote at the time; “Then came the macarons, a.k.a. the downfall of the day.” I was so disappointed with that attempt at macarons that it has taken 5 months for me to gather up the courage to make them again. I was spurred on by two things: 1- A recipe for Black and White Macarons from Michel Richard’s book Happy in the Kitchen, whom I trust far more than that Lawson character. 2- Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness had chosen a Black and White theme to Blog Party #18. Well, if that wasn’t a sign, I don’t know what is.



I got into the kitchen and got down to business. Things were going really smoothly, the recipe was easy and it didn’t take very long either. So why did I fail, yet again, at making macarons? It all boils down to Cute vs. Big. In the Cinnamon Bundt cake episode of Cute vs. Big, Big won. Those mini bundt cakes may have been cute, but the colossally big bundts were the clear winner. Cute vs. Big is a constant struggle in my world. As much as I want to hate cute little things, (because I can’t be one of them) I must acknowledge the fact that some things need to be little and cute in order to work. Macarons fall into this category. Michel Richard told me to pipe two trays of 28 cookies, I ended up with one tray of 24. Ummm… yeah. So it really should have come as no surprise to me when my macaroons were ugly. The taste was good and the recipe would have been a success had I of swallowed my pride and piped little macarons instead of big ones. In fact, the only reason I had one macaron, (one is the loneliest number…) turn out properly was because it was the last two cookies that I piped onto the tray and I ran out of meringue, thus making them significantly smaller than the others. Aside from that one cookie sandwich, which is by no means perfect, but at least acceptable, all the rest are unfit for photographing. They’re misshaped, bumpy, cracked and anything but a smooth, round macaron. I’ve failed again. But I’m learning. I’m actually pretty certain that I could succeed if I made macarons a third time, it just might take me 5 more months to do it…



To soothe my sadness after another bungle, and to fulfill the Blog Party requirements of bringing a nibbly and a drink, I poured myself a Cuba Libre. I didn’t make this one up, it’s a real drink! I was trying to think of something to fit the Black and White theme, but I came to the conclusion that not many drinks fit the category. Milk is white, but that’s not fun. The first alcoholic drink that came to mind was a Black Russian. But then I remembered I don’t really like vodka and I was all out of Kahlua, so that put the kibosh on that. Seeing as though I’ve got Cuba on the brain lately, (your bonus pictures are both from Cayo Coco, I had to take a picture of the conch shell because you can’t take them home with you) a Cuba Libre was an excellent choice to bring to the party.

Cuba Libre
1 shot dark Cuban rum
Squeeze of lime
Top with cola of your choice
Garnish with lime

My apologies to Stephanie, I’m only bringing that one macaroon, you’ll have to cut it up into tiny pieces to share. Rest assured though, I brought lots of rum to make up for it.


Technorati Tags:
Baking + Macaron + Blogging Event + Chocolate + Blog Party

Once A Week, Every Week

There are some foods that I eat so regularly that I forget other people might not and might therefore want to hear about them. At my house, every Friday is Fish Friday and every Fish Friday starts with an appetizer of mussels. As far as seafood goes, mussels are cheap and they’re easy and quick to prepare so there’s no reason for you not to be eating them more often. For the most part, we do mussels like this: steamed in white wine and then drenched in a sauce of melted butter, garlic and a little hot sauce. Delicious.

Some people don’t like seafood and unless you’re deathly allergic, (you poor souls) then I can see no reason for this dislike. I’ve heard some say that they don’t eat mussels because of the texture. To that I say Good! More mussels for me. My week in Cuba was a whole lot of more mussels for me! I couldn’t believe the people who didn’t like seafood, (and let me tell you, Cuba was the wrong place to be if seafood is not for you). But that was fine, it just meant I had twice as many mussels, shrimp, squid and lobster tails. I miss the little guys… every tasty morsel.



Yesterday I showed you the Cuban sun and blue skies, today I’m showing you the moon. It was almost like daylight it was so bright. Aside from the beauty factor, the extra light was great because it allowed me to avoid things like the bull that roamed around my villa at night. He seemed friendly enough, but considering his large horns I didn’t really want to trip over him, especially in any sort of rum induced state. Curiously enough I never saw him during the day. And don’t even try to tell me it was the rum that made me see Mr. Bull, because I was drinking it all day too, there’s nothing like a 9am pina colada…


Technorati Tags:
Seafood + Mussels + Cuba

Hola, un pina colada por favor..

This is where I’ve been for the past week and returning has been seriously painful. I love Cuba. I love the beaches. I love the weather. I love the people. I love the rum. I have, however, missed being in the kitchen, so I guess I will try to focus on that aspect of my return and try not to think about the snow and cold or the lack of snorkeling, swimming, beach volleyballing, catamaraning, kayaking and lack of general all around fun that constitutes being home. To make returning a little less painful, I ensured I would have a parcel waiting for me. Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands… Although I am grateful to have received my precious, precious Dorie Greenspan book for Christmas, there were so many others that I wanted as well. My family has proven themselves to be unreliable providers of cookbooks, it took months of hints before Dorie’s book was in my grasp and it’s a long way off until Christmas 2007, so I realized that if I wanted new cookbooks I had to get them myself.

Well, I dug through the sofa cushions, emptied the piggy bank, sold a kidney and sprung for some new books. Pretty ones. When most girls say they like pretty things they mean diamonds or shoes or some silly little purse, those things are only good for me if I can pawn them to buy real pretty things, like cookbooks. Although diamonds are shiny, they’re just rocks, and if I want rocks I can go find some in the backyard. Most girls like shoes, but then again most girls don’t have snowshoes for feet. Until Bigfoot is captured and it’s deemed necessary for said Bigfoot to have the latest in fru fru footwear I don’t think pretty shoes are something that are going to be made in my size. As for the silly little purses, given my apparently monstrous size, (now picture Bigfoot with a frilly purse) a dainty little sac of material that can’t hold more than a few sticks of gum just looks ridiculous and out of proportion. And so, with all of the usual pretty things out of the picture, I turn my attention to cookbooks.



This is a relatively new obsession for me and also one that is proving to be quite costly. Amazon and Chapters-Indigo are quickly becoming my best friends but they can also serve as wolves in sheep’s clothing. They lure me in with the promise of reduced prices but don’t let me leave until I’ve spent enough to earn free shipping, and then some. I was thrilled when I received an email saying Chapters-Indigo was having a huge boxing week sale and even more thrilled when I discovered some excellent titles at prices under $5! It was insanity! It was too good to be true. As fast as I clicked, I wasn’t fast enough. Time and time again the words “Out of Stock” flashed cruelly onto my screen. In the end, the only really good deal I got was La Mia Cucina Toscana for about $12. But then I needed to spend more money to get free shipping and unfortunately my taste is expensive. I managed a minute amount of restraint, as much as I would love to own the El Bulli cookbooks, I couldn’t bring myself to pay upwards of $300 for just one book. Instead I selected two books whose titles seem to come up again and again as if a sign that I should have them: Happy in the Kitchen and Falling Cloudberries. I only just received them yesterday and have thoroughly been enjoying drooling over all of the beautiful pictures. I think I mentally bookmarked just about every recipe there was. I’m still not done going through them but I’m very happy with my purchases. The only thing I find puzzling is that the cover of Happy in the Kitchen does not have my picture on it… I’m sure you will see a number of recipes coming from these books in the very near future.

The blog world didn’t sleep while I was away and in my absence, Scott of Real Epicurean tagged me for a Meme called “5 Things You Didn’t Know About Me”. And so without further ado, prepare to be astounded by 5 new facts about me:

1- Although I pass myself off quite convincingly as a Culinary Casanova, I have never eaten truffles, foie gras, quinces or a macaron, (other than my own failed attempt at making the last one).
2- I once parasailed over extinct volcanoes.
3- I can only tell right from left because when I was little I tripped and fell and broke my baby finger on my right hand. It’s been crooked ever since and has served to remind me which side is right.
4- I’ve snorkeled on the world’s largest and second largest coral reefs.
5- I think Dorie Greenspan is the coolest ever! What? You knew that already? Hmm, well then, I wish unicorns were real.



As a re-introduction to my kitchen and an homage to my trip, I’ve made yet another Dorie recipe, (I will make you all love her too) with a couple of my own adaptations to increase the Cuba factor. Dorie’s Rum Drenched Vanilla Cake is lifted to another level with the addition of coconut and the use of some of my precious supply of Cuban rum, (I might have smuggled in a little more than my share, but I could help it, I needed all 4 bottles). Also, instead of making a loaf cake as suggestion, I opted for cupcakes, no real reason there. Dorie tells me this cake is even better the next day and I can only imagine what that could mean as it’s already pretty amazing as far as I’m concerned. Dorie, we could be such a great team!

In my absence I didn’t even look at a computer so I was completely unaware that I had been shortlisted for a Foodblog Award for Best New Food Blog, and I missed voting entirely. When I returned I found out both that I was shortlisted and that I didn’t win at the same time, but I was pretty happy to see that I had been considered as I was certainly in good company. Nicole, of Pinch My Salt was the well deserved winner in the Best New Food Blog Category, congrats! To see all of the winners and nominees you can check out the announcement over on the Well Fed Network it’s well worth a look.



Memories of Cuba Cupcakes (Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Rum-Drenched Vanilla Cakes in Baking: From My Home to Yours)

For the Cupcakes
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 ¼ tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
½ cup vanilla sugar
½ cup sugar (very generous)
2 ¼ tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp coconut extract
3 eggs, room temp
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 ½ T Havana Club Dark Reserve Rum
7 ½ T butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup (generous) coconut plus an extra little handful of toasted coconut

For the Syrup
1/6th cup water
1/8th cup sugar
1/8th cup Dark Havana Club Reserve Rum
(If you're wondering why the measurements are a little funny it's because among the other changes I made to Dorie's recipe, I also halved it.)

Centre a rack in the oven and preheat to 350F. Grease and flour a 12 cup muffin tin. Place the pan on a insulated baking sheet.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.

Thoroughly whisk together the sugars and eggs. Whisk in the extracts, then the cream, followed by the rum. Gently stir in the dry ingredients in 3 or 4 additions, the batter will be smooth and thick. Finish by folding in the melted butter in 2 or 3 additions. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and put ‘em in the oven.

As soon as you put the cakes in the oven, start on the syrup. Stir the water and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar melts, then bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the rum. Pour the syrup into a heat proof bowl and let cool. (*Next time I would actually increase the amount of syrup.)

The cupcakes will bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Place pan on a rack for 5 minutes before unmolding the cupcakes then place them on a wire rack. Poke little holes all over the cupcakes (I used a bamboo skewer) and brush with the syrup, working slowly so the cakes sop it all up. Sprinkle the tops with the toasted coconut. Leave the cakes on the rack to cool to room temperature.

If you’ve got the time, wrap the completely cooled cakes in plastic wrap and let them sit on the counter overnight—the flavour really develops with a leisurely rest, (I like to think of it as relaxing on the beach). Wrapped airtight, the cakes will keep for 4 days at room temp. If you don’t drench them with rum, you can keep the cupcakes well wrapped in the freezer for up to 2 months, but really, why would you do that?


Technorati Tags:
Meme + Cupcakes + Baking + Dorie Greenspan + Recipe

Ring In the New Year With Dorie!

I thought there was no better way to end 2006 than with the cover recipe of Baking From My Home to Yours, (yes, that’s right, more Dorie). After skimming over the instructions for the Devil’s Food White Out Cake, I was a little hesitant. The icing required a candy thermometer and hot sugar, two things that are definitely not my friends. The icing was also described as marshmallowy, and my last foray into marshmallow making was just a whole lot of gooey. But I figured Dorie wouldn’t steer me wrong and I set about making the cake. When it came time to boil the sugar I was nervous. I don’t actually own a candy thermometer and this is somewhat of a problem, (a digital one is on the wish list). So I borrowed two candy thermometers from a friend, who offered up the both of them because she wasn’t sure that either were very accurate. They looked old. And inaccurate. Neither of them rested at zero and they seemed to record different temperatures even though they were both placed in the same liquid. I didn’t know which one was telling the truth, if either, so I split the difference and took the sugar off the heat when one thermometer was passed the right temperature and the other hadn’t yet arrived. This seemed to work and I had no problem whipping up light, white and shiny icing.



This cake is interesting in that you make 4 layers, but only build the cake with 3, crumbling the 4th to coat the finished cake. After having done this, I looked at the cover of the book and realized that in that picture, the crumbs had not been spread over the entire top of the cake, leaving some nice white contrast. It was too late to do this with my cake, but I wanted to make it look a little more special since it was the last cake I’d be eating in 2006. I decided to make some marzipan roses to go on top. My flower shaping skills need some work, but they weren’t too bad. For some reason my camera didn’t like the red colour of the marzipan so the pictures with marzipan were a little off, (a new camera is also on the wishlist).



Of course, it was only appropriate to enjoy this cake with a glass, (or two or three) of Mumm champagne. There was talk of seeing what would happen if we dropped mentos into the champagne but instead we settled on testing out that theory with Diet Coke and drinking the champagne. The Diet Coke and mentos experiment wasn’t quite as loud as the shotguns we heard going off at midnight, (seriously) but it was mildly entertaining. You can check out some other people trying it here.



And since I ended 2006 with a Dorie recipe, it seemed only right that I also start off 2007 with one. Sidenote- did you know Dorie has a book entirely about waffles??? I must get it. My new waffle maker deserves the best. But I digress. Dad really liked the Orange-Berry muffins I made, and I did too, but I was resisting making them again only because there were so many other amazing recipes I wanted to try. Dad hinted that he wanted the Orange-Berry muffins one day and then became more insistent that I make them, returning from the grocery store with oranges, “you know, like in those muffins you made…”. I still wasn’t budging; I wanted to try new recipes. Then he bought be a new muffin pan. It’s pretty hard to refuse someone who buys me bakeware. So I gave in because it’s the holidays and I was feeling nice and made these muffins for breakfast New Years day. Dad came into the kitchen and didn’t take note of what I was making, instead asking if I wanted to go for a bike ride, because it was January 1st and how often can you say you went biking on January 1st? But apparently we had to go right away because it was supposed to rain later in the morning and turn cooler. I told him I needed 15 minutes because I was making his muffins. He was happy about the muffins but then proceeded to pace around while waiting and counted down with the oven timer to bike time.



Given my stubbornness, I didn’t reproduce the Orange-Berry muffins exactly. Muah ha ha ha! I substituted raspberries for the blueberries. I like to live dangerously. They were very tasty and thoroughly enjoyed after I thawed out from the bike ride.

In other news, this will be my last post for a little more than a week as I’m off to enjoy some sunshine and rum on a beautiful island. Try to survive without me. Hasta luego!


Technorati Tags:
New Years + Muffins + Cake + Chocolate + Dorie Greenspan