Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

I was reminded over the holidays that I had stopped writing my blog.  It happened a few times, but the person who brought it up was usually my Mom.  When she did this, other people would feign interest and ask why I wasn’t writing anymore.  Not that they ever really read my blog in the first place, but apparently people become concerned if you stop doing something.  I haven’t stopped cooking, although my circumstances have changed once again. 

I’m back in the city and working a new job and living in a teeny tiny condo with a random roommate I found on Craigslist.  Part and parcel with condo living is a lack of space, the biggest sacrifice for me being the lack of kitchen space.  Or the lack of a kitchen.  The room that houses the kitchen, (if you can call it that) is also the living room, dining room and my roommate’s office.  It’s just one room, the kitchen being one wall of that room, with no island or counter space to speak of.  I’m not exaggerating when I say I have about one and a half square feet of counter space, if that.  A portion of that counter space is taken up by a toaster and a paper towel holder.  I’d put the toasted somewhere else if there was anywhere to put it.  There are no drawers in my kitchen. 

The only upside to all this is that despite the fact that I’m sharing this incredibly tiny excuse for a kitchen, my roommate doesn’t cook.  I will henceforth refer to him as Diesel, (as in Vin Diesel…) as he seems to consume little more than protein shakes and things that can be microwaved.  For example, he popped a frozen pizza in the microwave tonight and announced “Dinner is served in two minutes!”.  I proceeded to joke that that wasn’t real food.  He informed me that it was indeed real food and that he was in fact a balanced eater as he drinks his vegetables in the form of V8, occasionally eats a piece of fruit and has yogurt, which is healthy.  Diesel is the type of guy who lifts very heavy weights at the gym.  I consider him a personal alarm system for the condo.  He’s great really.  As far as random Craigslist finds go, I could have done much, much worse.  And I love that he doesn’t cook because it means more space for me and my kitchen gadgets, I just have to rearrange his jugs of protein powder sometimes…

Speaking of kitchen gadgets, I had to downsize mine when I moved into the condo.  So I don’t have all my fancy baking pans, or my food processor, or more than two mugs, but I’ve got most of the basics.  Granted, my basics are very different from a lot of other people’s basics, like Diesel’s.  Prior to moving in I asked him what sort of kitchen stuff he had so that I would know what to bring and not duplicate anything as there’s no room for that here.  He told me he had all the basics.  I arrived to find exactly ONE pot and ONE pan, four plates, two mugs and a handful of cutlery.  There wasn’t even a cutting board.  Needless to say, I couldn’t live like that and somehow found room amidst the protein powder to stash my kitchenaid mixer and various other essentials.  I quickly ran out of room in the kitchen though and have devoted one of the drawers of my bedroom dresser to kitchen wares.

All of this to say that my cooking adventures have been somewhat subdued, but not completely squashed.  I’ve been baking for the people at work again and on the weekends I tend to cover the kitchen/living room/dining room/den with dishes as I make meals for the upcoming week.  One of the tastiest things I’ve made recently is this Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup from none other than the fabulous Dorie Greenspan.  Having finally acquired her most recent book, Around My French Table, for Christmas, I’ve gotten right into creating from it and this was the first recipe I tried.  I’m never disappointed by Dorie and this soup was no exception.  It was fresh and flavourful and everything you’d expect from something labelled Vietnamese.  And it was wonderfully warming on a cold and dreary winter day.

Pumpkin: It's Not Just For Hallowe'en

In North America, pumpkin is primarily used for pie and jack-o-lanterns. That’s pretty much it. In New Zealand, where pies are usually savoury and Hallowe’en doesn’t exist, pumpkin takes on an infinite number of other roles. It’s available in the supermarket pretty much year round and it’s just your ordinary, everyday vegetable. However, as anyone who’s ever carved a pumpkin will know, they’re difficult to dissect. If you’re planning on roasting your pumpkin, there’s a much, much easier way than taking a knife to it, which I learned from my favourite baker/cook/awesome person, Dorie Greenspan. Simply wash and dry your pumpkin, place it in a roasting pan, rub it with a little oil and then roast it whole in the oven until a knife can easily be inserted into the skin. When you take the pumpkin out, it’s soft and easy to cut into. The guts can be scooped out and discarded and the perfectly roasted pumpkin flesh can be scraped away from the skin, ready to use in whatever you’re making. I chose to turn it into some delicious pumpkin gnocchi.

Gnocchi is a relatively new addition to my everyday cooking repertoire. I used to think it was difficult and fiddly to make, but like most things, the more you practice something, the easier it gets. It also helps if you learn some tips along the way that simplify the process. The first few times I made gnocchi, it was of the plain potato variety and I used both flour and eggs. I’ve since eliminated the use of eggs, to no adverse effects. I’ve also found that I like different flavoured gnocchi, like sweet potato, squash, or in this case, pumpkin.

Making consistently good gnocchi doesn’t require a recipe so much as a feel for what you want. Because the water content in your potatoes or pumpkin can vary quite a bit, it’s difficult to give according measures of flour. If you add too much floor, your gnocchi will be tough and if you don’t add enough it will fall apart or turn to mush in the boiling process. Knowing how much is the right amount requires practice, trial and error or a good teacher who can help you along the way. Don’t be afraid to mess up gnocchi a few times before getting it right, because once you do, there will be no stopping the flavour combinations that you can come up with. And with only 3 ingredients, this gnocchi is about as simple as it gets so there‘s no reason not to give it a shot.

Simply roast a pumpkin, scoop out, mash and salt the flesh and then begin adding flour until you’ve got a kneadable dough. Let your dough rest for a bit, (you can use this time to get some sauce underway or maybe even clean up the kitchen) and then divide the dough into manageable sections, roll it into a snake and cut your gnocchi to desired size. If you want to be fancy, you can roll each piece of gnocchi with a fork to give it that cool, grooved look, but if I’m feeling lazy, I skip that step. All that’s left is to cook the gnocchi like pasta, in a big pot of boiling water. The gnocchi will initially sink when you put it in and then float to the top when it’s done. That’s all there is to it! I chose to let the natural sweetness of the pumpkin shine and went with an easy butter sauce with cinnamon basil, but there’s no end to the different sauces you could pair with gnocchi.

An Open Letter To New Zealand…

Dear New Zealand,

I like you, I really do, you’re beautiful and adventurous and laid back all at once, but I’ve got a bone to pick with you. For some reason you fail to build your houses in accordance with your weather. Winter exists in New Zealand. It gets cold here. There’s snow in the mountains and frost at sea level. The temperature routinely dips below 0°C at night. Given all of this information, why are the houses not insulated, windows single paned and not properly sealed and why can I see my breath while standing inside my apartment? The portable heaters that are strewn about the houses here and that suck every drop of moisture out of the air are not doing an adequate job of keeping me warm. Central heating is a wonderful invention, I urge you to look into it.

With love and wearing lots of layers,
Brilynn

When I first arrived to New Zealand it was summertime and I couldn’t believe the number of coffee shops that existed on every corner, but it all makes sense now, Kiwis need mass quantities of hot beverages in order to keep warm all winter. I’ve taken to drinking litres and litres of tea in the hope that if my insides are warm, my outside will be too. I also wear no less than four layers, including 2 polar fleeces, a scarf, fuzzy slippers and a blanket while inside my apartment. Inside. In addition to the tea, I’ve been making soup to help rid myself of the omnipresent cold. One of my favourites is butternut squash soup. You can almost just puree roasted butternut squash and eat it as a soup, but if you add things like chicken stock, onion, garlic, cumin, smokey paprika, salt and pepper and my favourite add in, coconut milk, it makes for a delicious soup that can help you forget, if only for a few minutes, about the cold.

Chef Challenge: Battle Cream Cheese

Zeppole

I’ve previously told you about how lucky I am to work in a restaurant where we get to do some pretty neat things in the kitchen when we’re not busy. Sometimes that comes in the form of challenging Chef to create something on the spot, but sometimes Chef will flip the tables and challenge us instead. Usually that involves Chef telling us to produce a fully plated dish, using whatever we want, in under 30 minutes. This doesn’t sound like it should be a difficult task, but if you’re an indecisive person like myself, it can be 30 minutes of torture.

Cook1's Lamb Dish

The other day I was bugging Chef to make me something wonderful and he decided that I should instead make something for him. I hate when he does that. To buy myself some time, I suggested that one of the other cooks should have to take on the challenge. When Cook1 came back into the kitchen from a trip to the walk in fridge, completely unaware of what was going on, he was told he had 30 minutes to plate two identical dishes and that he’d better hurry up and get started. He began scrambling around to gather ingredients and come up with something to make. As he was doing this, Cook2 who had been observing, was pulled into the game when Chef told him he also had 30 minutes and the same challenge. I escaped being a direct part of the challenge as I actually had some work to get done before service. As Cook1 and Cook2 approached the 30 minute mark, (with Chef counting down in Iron Chef fashion… 10 minutes have elapsed) I suggested they should get 45 minutes instead as it was becoming clear that 30 wouldn’t cut it. I’d fail on the real Iron Chef as I’m all for giving out extra time when needed. Coming up with a dish under pressure is hard enough as it is, I’ll take any bonuses I can get.

Cook2's White Fish Dish

When Cook1 and Cook2 finished their dishes they had to explain what they were before we all gave them a taste and Chef gave his opinion on the outcome. That’s also my opportunity to ask questions like “What part of the dish did you think of first?” I find it interesting to hear how other people conceive of a dish and where their ideas come from. I like answers that tell a story and let me get a little glimpse into their twisted minds, (they work in a kitchen, their minds are inherently twisted… we’re an odd bunch). I dislike answers like “I don’t know.”

Cook1 chose to make a lamb dish with greens beans, rice, walnuts and a pear puree.

Cook2 made a white fish mousse with rice and veg medley.

I love these little challenges because two completely different dishes were made, using different techniques and different trains of thought to lead to a final product. It’s just neat to watch.

Chef's Appetizer

The following day Chef told me to make him something amazing. I decided to make donuts since it’s something that allowed me to use the deep fryer. I don’t have a deep fryer at home, especially not an industrial one, so I like any excuse to use it at work, (even though really hot oil kinda scares me). I was also looking for an excuse to try out a recipe I had seen in Giada DeLaurentiis’ most recent book, Giada’s Kitchen. She calls them Zeppole, but they’re basically deep fried pâte à choux. Also, you can call me a cheater if you want, but I used a recipe. It’s much harder to create something pastry related in 30 minutes without some sort of recipe to build on. It’s not nearly as forgiving as cooking. I did, however, create two dipping sauces to go with the zeppole that I made without measuring utensils. The first was an orange caramel and the second a maple blueberry compote. When Chef came to taste them, he asked if they would be super mind blowingly awesome and amazing. Somehow, between the time he asked me if I was making him something and tasting time, his request got a few more adjectives tacked onto it. And while I wouldn’t qualify the zeppole as super mind blowingly awesome and amazing, they were alright but definitely best almost right out of the fryer.

Chef's Main

Later that night Chef decided someone should still complete a proper challenge and since a new sous chef just started this week, he was the perfect candidate to choose. To make things more interesting, Chef decided to compete against him and allowed the cooks to choose a mystery ingredient for them to use. There’s nothing like starting a new job and immediately being thrown into competition with your boss… The New Sous handled it a million times better than I would have. And being the generous group that we are, we granted them a fifteen minute preparation period, followed by one hour of cooking to produce an appetizer and main dish in Battle Cream Cheese. I really should have been taking notes as this happened last week, but from what I can recall, this is what they made…

New Sous' Appetizer

Chef’s Appetizer: Bacon wrapped around a cream cheese filling, topped with lobster ceviche and julienned marinated peas, sprinkled with small diced red onion and a reduced lemon liqueur drizzle.

Chef’s Main: Venison chop topped with cream cheese, leek and mushroom, with green beans, candied cherry tomatoes and pine nuts.

New Sous’ Appetizer: Smoked salmon, potato and cream cheese croquette, sitting on top a cream cheese based sauce and topped with orange and onion relish and micro greens, surrounded by a reduced balsamic drizzle.

New Sous’ Main: Chorizo stuffed chicken breast with a mustard and cream cheese sauce, accompanied by grilled portabello mushrooms, orzo and veg.

New Sous' Main

After plating their dishes, both the kitchen team and servers got to taste everything and vote on whose they thought was better. Everyone chose their favourites except me. I gave my opinion on what I liked and disliked about each dish, but refused to say definitively which I liked better. Chef and New Sous are both waiting for this post because they think I’m going to reveal a winner. I keep telling them I love them both equally and refuse to cast a vote. Instead of leaving them completely in limbo however, I’ve decided to let you vote. In the comments section, simply say who you think should win Battle Cream Cheese, based on which dish you think you’d like better. At least this way they’ll be able to sleep at night. Although I don’t know how accurate that decision method is either since Chef has been known to comment on my blog anonymously, using up to four aliases to keep his identity a secret. I might have to start Chef at negative four votes just to give New Sous a fair chance.

Zeppole (from Giada DeLaurentiis’, Giada’s Kitchen)

½ cup unsalted butter

¼ cup sugar

½ cup water

¼ tsp salt

1 cup all purpose flour

4 eggs

1 T grated orange zest

Vegetable oil for frying

Combine the butter, sugar, salt, and ½ cup water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the flour. Return the pan to low heat and cook, stirring continuously, until the mixture forms a ball, about 4 minutes. Transfer the flour mixture to a medium bowl. Using an electric hand mixer on low speed, beat in the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each egg completely before adding the next. Add the orange zest and beat until smooth. Set aside.

Pour enough oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 3 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep fry thermometer registers 350F.

Using a small ice cream scoop or 2 small spoons, carefully drop about a tablespoon of the dough into the hot oil. Make three more zeppole, being careful to not crowd the pan. Turn each zeppole once or twice, cooking until golden and puffed, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and continue frying the remaining batter in batches of 4.

Mushrooms: The Good Fungus

We had beautiful spring-like weather here today, a respite from the bone chilling cold of last month. The sky was blue and the sun was shining. I even heard birds chirping. So of course, I got on my bike and went for a ride. Bike riding in February is a rarity and even though I ended up covered in mud, it was wonderful. This type of weather has me looking forward to spring but unfortunately I know we’ll still get hit with a few more hard snowfalls before that happens. In spite of that, I’m thinking ahead to longer, warmer days and being able to go outside without wearing 7 layers of clothing.

When I think of spring, one of the first things that come to mind is hunting for mushrooms. Following a warm rain, when the flowers start coming up so do the mushrooms and that makes for some pretty great meals. Luckily, I don’t have to wait three more months to get my fix. Regardless of the season I know I can always get a variety of certified organic, specialty mushrooms from Wylie Mycologicals, (you can order online, although I pick mine up in person) to satisfy my need for fungus enriched dishes. I usually get a box of shiitakes along with some oyster mushrooms and lion’s manes. If I’m lazy I just fry them up in some butter and eat them as is. If I’m feeling like playing around in the kitchen there’s no end to the possibilities. I make pizza for lunch about once a week, (using my regular stove as throughout the winter months I can’t use my wood fired oven) and mushrooms definitely make an appearance as a topping on my weekly pie.

Lately though I’ve also been experimenting with adding mushroom to the crust in powdered form. This came about when I had a surplus of shiitakes and decided to dry them. After the mushrooms are dehydrated it’s easy to blend them into various states. When they’re ground to a powder they can be used as a substitution for some of the flour in the pizza crust. I’m still working on the proper ratio for that one. I’ll let you know when I get it figured out. When the shiitakes are coarsely ground I’ve found they make an excellent addition to, (among other things) hot wings. The little bumps you see in the wing photo are actually bits of mushroom which give the wings a different texture and flavour. Shiitakes take chicken wings to a whole new level.

I also like to make mixed mushroom ravioli. I’ve made these a number of times and never the exact same way twice. On this occasion I used my recently acquired ravioli molds, (yay for new toys!) and made a red pepper cream sauce to accompany the ravioli. I’m still not entirely satisfied with the way that one turned out, so I’m working on that too. It has potential to be better. So do I.

What are your favourite ways to enjoy mushrooms?

Ad Hoc

Ad Hoc: For Temporary Relief of Hunger. Or, because you can never have too much Thomas Keller in your life. I thought I’d give you a little breather from my epically long French Laundry post before I launched into another Thomas Keller lovefest. My trip to the Napa Valley was specifically to eat at The French Laundry but I figured while I was there I might as well experience as much amazing food as I could and that meant more Keller, in the form of Ad Hoc and Bouchon Bakery.

Ad Hoc, (which literally means, "for this purpose") was initially supposed to be a casual, temporary restaurant, serving family style four course meals that changed daily. The public response was so great that they couldn’t close. And for that, I’m glad.

Ad Hoc is completely different from The French Laundry and yet it’s still Thomas Keller, through and through. When you compare them side to side, however, that may be difficult to see at first. Servers at TFL wear suits. Servers at Ad Hoc wear jeans and running shoes. The lighting at TFL is by candlelight and is dim and intimate. The lighting at Ad Hoc is bright with lots of reflective and shiny surfaces. Courses at TFL are individually and intricately plated. Courses at Ad Hoc are served family style for you to dish up however you’d like. What are the similarities? The food is outstanding, (though different, to be sure) and attention to detail is paramount.

On to the food… First course was an Escarole and Pear Salad with Prosciutto Di San Daniele with torn garlic croutons and creamy olive dressing. The prosciutto melted in my mouth. I enjoyed every bite and it pained me to see the woman to my left doing her best to cut all the fat off her proscuitto. I wanted to tell her she was missing out on the best part! And then swipe it off her plate if she wasn’t going to appreciate it. The pear was a perfect addition to the salad and getting a bite with proscuitto, pear and escarole was delightful.

The second course was Veal Scallopini with Lemon and Capers, Braised Swiss Chard, Toasted Pine Nuts and Buttered Rustichella Tagliatelle. Basically anything that includes pasta is going to get high marks from me, but when you smother that pasta in butter, I’m completely sold on it, (sadly the pasta is hidden under the veal in my pic so you can't actually see it in all its glory). I was happy to see veal on the menu too because it’s not something that I prepare very often at home. This trip has definitely changed my habits though. Since coming home I’ve been making an effort to branch out more and try making things that I ordinarily wouldn’t have, (I actually just bought veal chops today).

A cheese course is featured on the menu at Ad Hoc and on this day it included, in addition to cheese, Marshall’s Farm Wildflower Honey and Spiced Mixed Nuts. I’m becoming a big fan of cheese courses and they’re also something that I wouldn’t have thought twice about in the past. While in Napa I started having afternoon snacks of a few different slices of cheese with a chunk of crusty bread and some honey. Since I was in the land of wine, I had a glass of that too. I really need to carry on that tradition at home.

Finally, dessert was a Buttermilk Panna Cotta with a Vanilla Cookie and French Prune Marmalade. This dessert piqued my interest in panna cotta, which I had previously not had a very high opinion of. Apparently I just hadn’t had it done properly. The panna cotta at Ad Hoc was soft and creamy and lacked that gelatinous, borderline jello-like mouth feel that I previously associated with panna cotta. It was a simple but elegant finish to the meal.

Dining at Ad Hoc made me wish I lived in the Napa Valley because it’s a spot that I would make return visits to. For someone who doesn’t like to go to the same restaurant twice, that’s saying a lot. In fact, contrary to what my posts of late would have you believe, I rarely dine out. When I do, I usually like to try out new places. For the most part though, I find that I’d rather make my own dinner than go out to eat where I pay too much for food that I could make better and for less money. Ad Hoc, however, at $49 for four courses, is a place at which I wish I could be a regular. And since the four courses change nightly I get the benefit of variety combined with the comfort of returning to a place which is familiar.

If I lived in the Napa Valley, I would also be making return visits, (almost daily, in fact) to Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery. I bought bread and treats there every day, (I couldn’t resist the TKOs- Thomas Keller Oreos) and spent an almost creepy amount of time staring through the windows to watch the bakers at work. It made me want an enormous bread oven of my own and a Master Baker to show me proper technique. Bouchon Bakery supplies bread to all of the Keller restaurants in Yountville so they work around the clock pumping out beautiful and delicious loaves of bread in all shapes, sizes and types.

Just writing about all the great food I had on my California trip has made me want to get back in my own kitchen. It was certainly inspiring on a culinary level and I’ve got tons of cooking and baking ideas that need to be worked on so that I can achieve temporary relief of hunger too.

Chef Challenge: Make Halibut Amazing

In my ongoing Chef Challenge series, whereby I bring an ingredient into work and get Chef to create something with it, I recently discovered that I don’t even need to bring in an ingredient. All I need to say is “Make me something amazing,” and Chef will figure it out. Or at least that’s what happened one day when I didn’t have anything with me but still wanted to see what Chef would make up on the spot. There was some halibut in the fridge so I suggested he might want to make something with that. He responded by telling me that halibut was boring. I told him that was all the more reason for him to turn it into something amazing. It wasn’t long before he got an idea and put me to work gathering ingredients.

The resulting dish was a Spanish style fish, (that was first marinated using Asian inspired ingredients, including green tea and lemongrass) served with a citrus and chive salad, on a bed of roasted red and green peppers and garnished with deep fried rice. One of the primary things I took away from this dish was a new way to prepare fish. And just so Chef knows that I’m actually absorbing the information he’s throwing at me, I thought I’d do a remake of his halibut dish, using the same technique for the fish but changing up the sides.

While Chef was making his version he gave me a number of ideas about other sides, sauces and toppings the fish could be served with. He also mentioned that it could be done with any firm fleshed white fish, not just halibut. My version turned into an amalgamation of his suggestions and what I had in my kitchen, resulting in saffron rice and peppers with Spanish style cod, topped with sautéed spinach with chilis and garlic.

Most importantly though, the fish technique actually worked for me! If I were the type, I almost would have squealed. It’s not that making the fish was difficult, but the batter is messy and I’m still not overly confident in my ability to cook proteins. In spite of that, the cod turned out almost exactly as I thought it should. The crust was light and crispy and the interior remained moist. Nice one!

Of course I can never be entirely satisfied with a dish that I make, so my problem with this one was that it lacked a sauce. As soon as I plated it I realized I should have made a spicy tomato based sauce, (which was one of Chef’s suggestions when he was telling me other ways to serve the fish) to add colour, flavour and balance to the dish. It tasted fine without it, but would have been improved with it.

Here’s a basic method for making this fish at home:

Prepare the batter by whipping egg whites and a pinch of salt to stiff peaks, (I used approximately one egg white per serving of fish). Add some herbs if you’d like and a little flour to give the egg whites some stability, (they should still be fluffy and getting it onto the fish will be a messy affair). When your batter is ready, heat some oil in a frying pan and take any firm fleshed white fish and dredge it in flour. Then, carefully coat the fish with the batter and lay it into the frying pan. When one side has browned and the outside is crispy, flip it over to achieve the same effect on the other side. I found that my fish was done as soon as both sides were browned, but if you have an especially thick cut you could transfer the fish from the frying pan to the oven to finish it off.

Mom's Zucchini Relish

Whenever I leave home there are some kitchen staples that I always have to take with me: maple syrup from the sugar bush down the street, Chatsworth Honey and Mom’s zucchini relish. The third item is what we’re going to focus on today. Mom’s zucchini relish is pretty much the only reason I eat hotdogs, (and even then, only if they’re bbq’d, don’t get me started on the disgustingness that is boiled hotdogs). I load up hotdogs with so much relish that they’re unrecognizable. Delicious.

I don’t eat hotdogs for just any relish though, it has to by my Mom’s. I try to make sure that I always have a back up jar in the cupboard because it’s a sad day when I go to retrieve the relish from the fridge and find that the jar has been scraped bare. If I’m at home I need only run downstairs to the fruit cellar where there’s usually a glorious stack of relish jars, begging to be popped open. If I’m away, I try to hold back the tears. A sad day indeed.

Quite frankly just seeing Mom’s relish in the fridge reminds me of home. Who would have thought a jar of relish could be comforting? It’s something I’ve grown up with though and I think most people have strong ties to items from their childhood. Sensory memories such as those associated with taste are particularly strong. Fortunately for me, I get to relive a little bit of my childhood on a regular basis as Mom’s zucchini relish can be made every year so I’ve got a constant supply. If you’d like a taste of my childhood, give this recipe a try. As with most canning recipes, this makes a big batch, but as it’s made with veggies fresh from the garden it’s got to be big to see you through to next year. Mom's recipe is handwritten in an old recipe book which is pretty to look at for its nostalgic value, but not so easy to read so I've copied it for you here.

Mom’s Zucchini Relish

5 zucchini

3 large cucumbers, peeled and seeded

8 green tomatoes, peeled and seeded

6 onions

3 sweet red peppers, seeded

3 apples and/or peaches, peeled and cored

1 small cabbage, cored

¼ cup pickling salt

6 cups cider vinegar

8 cups white sugar

2 T mustard seeds

1 T dry mustard

2 T celery seed

1 T turmeric

¾ cup flour with enough additional vinegar to make a smooth paste

Put first 7 ingredients into a food processor fitted with a shredding blade to grate. You’ll have to do this in stages and have a big bowl to put everything into.

Combine with pickling salt and allow to sit overnight. Drain well.

In a large pot combine the drained veg with the rest of the ingredients except for the flour and extra vinegar. Bring to a boil and then simmer 20-25 minutes.

Add the flour paste and boil for 5 minutes, until thick, stirring constantly.

While hot, pour into sterilized jars and seal.

Makes 8-9 pints.

The Homebake Pizza Co.

We hand make it, you home bake it! That’s the slogan behind Toronto’s first take and bake pizza shop, a concept which is established in the USA and other areas of Canada but is new to Toronto. At The Homebake Pizza Co. in Roncesvalles, pizzas are made fresh to order with high quality and organic ingredients wherever possible. There are no pizza ovens in the shop because you take it home raw to bake in your own oven, (or on the BBQ!). This means your pizza will be hot and fresh when you want it and your kitchen will smell wonderful too. It doesn’t take a long time to bake and you don’t need any special pans either. Baking time is 15 minutes on average, (but this will depend slightly on your oven) and the pizza comes on a piece of parchment paper on cardboard which is used to slide the pizza and parchment directly onto your oven rack.

The pizza comes in two sizes, regular and large, and you can choose one of 6 featured pizzas or makes up your own combination. Build your pizza by starting with the type of crust you want, (organic white, multigrain or spelt) followed by sauce, (tomato, pesto or roasted garlic) and toppings of your choice, (select from a wide variety including roasted asparagus, spicy salami and goat cheese).

When you walk into The Homebake Pizza Co. the first thing you’ll notice is that it’s not your average pizza shop. Owner and operator Cassidy Watkins spent a lot of time making sure her store was beautiful and it definitely paid off. That kind of attention to detail and care extends to all areas of The Homebake Pizza Co. Cassidy is continuously trying to improve her product and respond to customer feedback. She’s currently working on a gluten free crust to meet the needs of her clientele. Cassidy’s always willing to chat or answer questions about her pizza so stop in and say hi and pick yourself up a great pizza while you’re at it!

The Homebake Pizza Co.

476 Roncesvalles Ave.

Toronto, ON

(416) 588-4272

http://homebakepizza.ca

Cure for Bacon Withdrawal: More Bacon

Michael Smith, Chef at Home, knows how to make some seriously tasty food. This is the same man that inspired me to make such dishes as Buffalo Chicken Wing Salad (which I need to make again soon, it’s awesome) and Lobster Mac and Cheese, (which I have made on my own and also by using his fantastically indulgent recipe). He simply makes great things. I’ve been a fan of Michael Smith’s for a long time and I have two of his cookbooks which I adore but when he suggested wrapping a potato tart in bacon I knew that we would be friends for life.

What’s that? Bacon? I know, it's been a while since my beloved bacon has appeared here. I had become so accustomed to eating homemade bacon, (thanks to Michael Ruhlman, Michael seems to be a good name) that I couldn’t bear to eat any other kind and have therefore been missing out on bacon almost altogether. Since moving out I haven’t made any of my own bacon, cause it’s just not the same without the smoker, or quite frankly, without my Dad so I’ve been going through bacon withdrawal. Luckily there’s a cure for bacon withdrawal though and that’s lots and lots of bacon.
From the very first time I saw Michael Smith make this Potato Bacon Cheddar Tart I knew that I had to try it myself but for some reason it didn’t happen right away. The recipe stayed on my brain though, (Dad’s too) and every now and then we’d mention that Potato Bacon Tart we’d seen and inevitably how we should really make it soon. It was almost as though we were reminiscing about something we’d never even tasted. I think we saw Michael Smith make that tart in reruns two more times before we finally made it into the kitchen to try it ourselves. Why we waited that long, I have no idea, but no bacon lover should have to go through life even a minute longer without experiencing this. Because as you should all know by now, everything is better with bacon.

Potato Bacon Cheddar Tart (From Michael Smith via the Foodnetwork and also his book Chef at Home)

3 x baking potatoes, sliced one quarter inch thick
1 lb. of thickly sliced bacon
1 lb. of orange cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and pepper
***

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Line a 6-inch non-stick fry pan with bacon slices, arranging them in a radial pattern and starting with one end of bacon in the centre of the pan and the other end draped over the edge. When the entire surface of the pan has been covered, sprinkle with pepper and add a layer of sliced potatoes to cover the bottom. Sprinkle with grated cheese and pepper and repeat layers until they are slightly above the top of the pan.
Fold the bacon, one slice at a time up and over the potato mound toward the centre. Carefully overlap each slice and repeat until the top is completely and neatly covered with bacon. Press down and cover with a lid.
Place tart on a baking sheet, which will catch any drips during cooking. Bake for 3 hours.
*** I also added some thinly sliced onions and smoky paprika to the layering process.

Baby Eggplants Are Cute

Asparagus on Asparagus

It would seem logical at first to follow the line of thought that if something is good, more of that thing would be better. This is certainly the case if that something is chocolate. Because chocolate is good, but more chocolate is better. Finding $20 is good, but finding $50 is better. A free parking space is good, but no traffic at all is better. One cherry is good, but a handful of cherries are better. Ice Cream is good, but more ice cream? Better! See, this works on so many levels. There was a time, however, that if you had of told me asparagus is good but more asparagus is better, I would have told you that you were wrong on both accounts. In fact, I would have gone so far as to say that asparagus is bad and more asparagus is horrendous. At least that’s what my young and foolish self would have told you. When I was a youngster asparagus was right up there with mushrooms and olives on the list of things I did not eat. As far as I could tell, the only benefit to asparagus was that it was long and bright green and therefore easy to pick off my plate, (unlike mushrooms and olives which could be hidden in many dishes, only to shock my palate when I took an unsuspecting bite). Eventually though, I came around and realized that asparagus and mushrooms and olives are all wonderful and I now look for ways to incorporate them into my cooking. And what better way to incorporate asparagus than by pairing it with itself. If asparagus is good, asparagus dipped in asparagus is better.

In my cookbook collection there lives a book with the best title I could imagine for a cookbook: Happy in the Kitchen. It’s by Michel Richard and it does an excellent job of proving that if something is good, more of that thing would be better with recipes like Potato Bites in Potato Baskets, Braised Carrots with Carrot-Top Sauce, Romaine on Romaine and yes, even Asparagus on Asparagus. The only change I made to this recipe was to roast some of the spears, cause that’s the way I like them and they look pretty on the plate next to the peeled and steamed spears. If you have not seen this book before, I urge you to check it out, it’s worth its weight in gold for the eye candy alone.

Asparagus on Asparagus, (from Happy in the Kitchen by Michel Richard)

24 large asparagus (about 2 pounds)

2 T extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 T fresh lemon juice, or to taste

Granulated sugar

Fine sea salt

Set aside 4 asparagus spears for the vinaigrette. Cut off the tough bottom ends of the asparagus spears and set those aside for the vinaigrette as well. With a vegetable peeler, peel the remaining asparagus spears from about an inch below the tip to the bottom of the spear.

Set a steamer basket in a pot over simmering water. Place the peeled asparagus in the basket, cover, and steam for about 5 to 6 minutes, or until the spears are just tender with pierced with the tip of a paring knife. Be careful not to overcook the asparagus.

Meanwhile, fill a bowl with ice water. When the asparagus is cooked, lift the spears with a pair of tongs and submerge them in the ice bath to cool, then remove and roll them in a clean kitchen towel to dry.

For the vinaigrette, cut the reserved 4 asparagus spears into 1-inch pieces. Place in a small saucepan with the trimmed asparagus bottoms and add ¼ cup water and the olive oil. Bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the asparagus is completely softened. The water should have evaporated, and the asparagus should be stewing in the oil.

Pour the asparagus into a blender and puree until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl and whisk in the mustard, lemon juice, and a pinch each of sugar and salt.

Serve the asparagus on a platter, with the vinaigrette in a small dish or ramekin on the side for dipping.

Hint: For this presentation, the larger the spears, the better. This is an ‘interactive’ dish- the spears should be picked up and dipped in the vinaigrette.

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Asparagus + Vegetables + Michel Richard

Morels and Nostalgia

There are some places, people and things with which we are inextricably linked. Childhood homes seem to have a hold on people. Even when you’ve lived away for longer than you lived there, something still binds you to the place where you grew up. Memories of that place are often tinged with gold. But when you go back, it’s not the same. There are new houses, new signs, new people. The landscape has changed, the trees have grown up and so have you. When I visit the place where I grew up, I can’t help but feel nostalgic. It’s as though Madonna’s This Used To Be My Playground is always playing in the background. But even though the place has changed, the magic still remains. If I close my eyes I can still see the sparkling water as the last rays of sunlight sink below the horizon, the sky ablaze in reds and purples. I can still feel the sand between my toes or a warm summer breeze on my skin. I can still taste strawberries from the garden or penny candy from the Beach Memory general store. I can still hear kids playing baseball at the end of the road or the gentle baaaahhh of a baby lamb looking for its bottle. And if I take a deep breath I can still smell the earthy scent of a fresh morel.

When I was little I hated mushrooms. I picked them out of spaghetti sauce, omelets and anything else my parents tried to sneak them into. I hated all mushrooms except for morels. Morels were different. Because every spring after the temperature climbed to just the right degree and we would get just enough rain, the morels would begin to pop up and my family would go morel hunting. We went to the same places every year and without fail, the morels would be there. All we needed were our morel eyes and the proper morel stick to find them. As soon as I spotted my first morel I would call out to let everyone else know. Dad would then hand me his smooth silver pocket knife so that I could cut it off at the base. I would then cup the morel in my palms, lift it my nose and breathe it in. As the saying goes, where there’s one, there’s more. After finding the first one, the second one usually wasn’t far off. We would pick until our basket was full and then return home. When I was little we used to find so many morels that we’d feast on some immediately and then lay the rest out on the deck in the sunshine to dry so that we had morels all year long. The best way to eat them was simply to fry them up fresh with butter and they were delicious. Not only was I lucky enough to have morels for dinner, but we’d also usually go foraging for fiddleheads at the same time of year and fry some of those up too.

This year I returned to the place I grew up, in search of morels. I went with my parents and we met up with friends of ours who still live there. These friends are the owners of the baby lambs, (who eventually become sheep) and they have a fabulous wool businesss, The Philosopher’s Wool. They are also the source of my wool when I make silly things like knitted cupcakes… Spring at their house means lambing season and the little guys are too cute to resist. I remember years where there were lambs, that for one reason or another needed to be bottle fed and they would stay in the house instead of the barn. I loved going to visit the bottle lambs. And while I was there I would go out to the chicken coop to collect eggs, always happy when there were some to find. I could use a chicken coop these days for the amount of eggs I go through.

But back to the morels. It was still early in the season when I returned to my old haunts to look for them. We were looking for the black morels as they come up first, followed by the more blond coloured ones and not in the same places either. There’s a certain place where we go early in the season and then it changes later on. On this particular journey we only found 8 morels. This is a far cry from the days when I would come home with an overflowing basket. Like I said though, places, people and things change and I guess morels are no exception. Change is inevitable but I’ll still pine away for the days of overflowing baskets, sand dunes and baseball at the end of the road.

The recipe you see here is from Jamie Oliver and is an Asparagus and Potato Tart. The only thing I’ve changed is to add fresh morels and fiddleheads, (which makes it a million times better, but you could still make it without and it’ll be pretty good too). As a bonus, the asparagus was picked fresh from the garden, some of the first spears this year.

Asparagus and Potato Tart (From Jamie Oliver’s Jamie at Home via the Foodnetwork)

1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
Sea salt
1 pound asparagus spears, woody ends removed
8 ounces filo pastry
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup freshly grated Lancashire cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Cheddar
3 large organic or free-range eggs
1 (8-ounce) container heavy cream
Pinch fresh nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper

Put your potatoes into a pan of salted boiling water and cook for 15 minutes. Meanwhile blanch your asparagus in a separate pan of salted boiling water for 4 minutes, and drain in a colander.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Get an ovenproof dish - I've used many different shapes and sizes. Layer the sheets of filo pastry in the dish, brushing them with melted butter as you go and letting about 1-inch hang over the edge. You want to get the pastry about 5 layers thick. Put a clean, damp kitchen towel over the top and put aside.

When the potatoes are done, mash them with the cheeses. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs and cream and stir into your cheesy mashed potato. Grate in the nutmeg, season well with pepper and mix together. Spread the mashed potato over the filo pastry, then bring up the sides of the filo and scrunch them together to form a rim. Take your blanched asparagus and line them up across the filling, making sure you cover it all. Brush all over with the remaining melted butter and pop into the preheated oven for around 20 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Serve just as you would a quiche for a quick lunch or supper, with a salad.

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Morels + Asparagus + Potato + Tart + Jamie Oliver