Christmas in July

Posted by Bonita



Alright, so it WASN'T quite Christmas, but it sure felt like the holiday season with the amount of cookies I've been baking these past few days. I've only been back for 2 days, barely enough time to unpack, do a couple loads of laundry, repack my bags...oh yeah...and make some treats for my relatives when I head to Toronto tomorrow. But hey, I'm certainly not complaining after having been away from my kitchen for the past three and a half weeks. Does it make me slightly crazy if I told you that I actually hugged my Kitchen Aid when I got home? Yes...yes I did.



While I'm not fortunate to have the Food Network here at home, my lucky brother does, so during the times when there was nothing to do, I'd have the FN on. A few shows were making jam, Jamie Oliver with his strawberry jam on Jamie at Home and Laura Calder's apricot preserves on French Food at Home. Now, I've never been a jam-fan. I've always found them to be sickeningly sweet, but I've started to get over my aversion for them this year with my new-found love for Greaves' raspberry jam. Yet, despite not being a huge jam fan, watching the likes of Jamie and Laura make jam got me into the mood of making jam, even if I didn't plan on eating it myself. Thus, 9 lbs of fruit, 8 cups of sugar and lots of loving tender car later, I'm left with 4 jars of strawberry jam and 6 jars of apricot jam to give away. Well...actually, make that 3 and 5 jars to give away. I think I'll keep one of each. Nothing beats homemade, and I think I might have a new crush with these lovely jems. My mom was smart to bring out a loaf of bread I had baked awhile back ago from the freezer, and it was lovely toasted with a bit of butter and my apricot jam. Yummy!!!

As for the cookies, I made Cinnamon Hazenut Biscotti and Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti because my aunt loves my biscotti, but have yet to try these ones. My little cousin also loves the butter cookies that I make for him, where I usually sandwich some jam in between. However, feeling slightly lazy this time around (more like I didn't want the hassle of washing out my cookie press afterwards...), I decided to make him Jam Thumbprints this time around.



As for my other aunt, I made these lovely Jam Sandwich Cookies, thanks to a recipe from Cream Puffs in Venice (a really amazing foodblog!) and Apricot and Walnut Rugelach, inspired by the recipe at Williams-Sonoma. These cookies did take considerably more time to make, since it required making the dough, chilling it, rolling it out, and assembling them. The rugelach was a bit of a pain to make, but they did turn out pretty nice in the end, although slightly ugly in my opinion. However, the more you roll the cookies, the easier it gets, so my 2nd batch was definitely looking nicer than my 1st batch. The jam sandwich cookies took a lot of time too, but it was definitely worth it once you pop one of these treasures into your mouth. They literally melt in your mouth. I used raspberry and peach jam in between the shortbread cookies, although I do favour the raspberry cookies more (no surprise there). Both beautiful to look at AND tastes great, these gems were definitely the highlight of my baking weekend.



The end? Not quite. You'd think it would be after the scary amount of sugary sweets I have concocted already. I still have a banana bread on my "To Do" list, so I guess I'm off to get started on that. I'll see you next week!!!

Back to Wasabi

Well, I finally took my family to Wasabi on Broadway last Saturday, and I knew at least my sis and I would absolutely be indulging ourselves on sushi. Mom can handle the stuff alright as well, but Dad is another story. Imagine my surprise then when he tried the New Style Sashimi and said he actually really liked it! Man, this chef must be doing something really right then!

With at least another sushi lover with me I was able to try some more stuff this time around.

To start things off, we all had our own orders of sunomono salad, the special that night being the lobster claw. Since the claw was fully cooked we knew Dad could easily handle that, and it was superb! The salad was light, perfect for a hot summer day. Bonita was the first of all of us to notice that the salad dressing was spiked with a hint of miso, and she realized that with a bit of trial and error she could do something similar at home herself. Beneath the lobster claw is a bed of shredded cucumber and mung bean vermicelli with a rice wine vinegar & miso dressing.

Next Bonita and I had New Style Sashimi, the tuna upgraded to bluefin. I won't describe the dish again, but suffice it to say that my sister loved it, and even Dad was able to enjoy it as well! There are three slices each of bluefin tuna, salmon and Chilean sea bass.

Dad ordered the Salmon & Tempura entree, one of the few fully cooked dishes available at this restaurant. The salmon was cooked just right to still be moist inside.

Mom ordered the (Chilean) Sea Bass & Tempura entree. They weren't kidding when they said the sea bass was marinated for 3 days, this melt-in-your-mouth fish had a punch of flavour through and through.

These are two of the three sushi dishes Bonita and I first ordered. The one with the green tobiko (flying fish roe) is "Mango Tango", with mango, avocado, alfalfa sprouts and tempura shrimp drizzled with wasabi mayo. The ones further back are the "Godzilla Roll", with avocado, tempura shrimp and fried soft shell crab. Delicious!

This was the third dish, the "Volcano Roll". Inside the roll is avocado and eel. The wam sauce draped over the sushi pieces is made of spicy mayo, tobiko and chopped scallops. Of the sushi I had that night, this is still perhaps my personal favourite.

With Bonita and I still having room in our stomachs, we ordered a bit more. This one if memory serves me right is "Ocean Jewel", with avocado, king crab and asparagus, the roll wrapped in the usual nori (seaweed) and sweetened egg as the outer wrapping.

This is toro (tuna belly) sashimi, the cut of all cuts in Japanese sushi cuisine. They were absolutely heavenly, and I was a bit surprised that Dad could tolerate it pretty well, considering this is the fattiest, and therefore the most flavourful, part of a fish. Furthermore, tuna fat melts at a low temperature, the flavour "oozing" once that piece hits your tongue.

Lastly, we decided to try the beef version of New Style Sashimi, and though the flavouring was just as nice as the fish version, unfortunately with beef you do have to deal with some tougher parts of the meat, though the chefs are not to blame for this. Each slice of beef here is wrapped around a slice of fresh shiitake mushrooms.

Death by chocolate

Posted by Bonita



It was Andrew's birthday this past Saturday, but since we were on vacation, I had to postpone his birthday cake until we got back to his place in Manitoba. But more on the cake later...

After a whole week out on the road, it was definitely nice to be back to a home-base with a kitchen at my leisure. Alas, my brother's kitchen is certainly not as well-stocked as the one at home. In fact, I had to lug along with me a big box full of my own equipment, gadgets and ingredients to Manitoba. If I could have lugged the whole kitchen, I probably would have! But chefs have to make do with what they have in the kitchen, and thus I too must suck it up and live with what I have at hand.



Living in a small town, there's often not a lot of choices to pick from. I certainly just can't go downtown to gourmet shops to pick up some great meats and veggies, unlike back home with the Byward Market. We did pick up some nice steaks yesterday, and I thought it would be nice to add some spark to the steaks rather than the regular steak spice my brother uses all the time. Stopped by the liquor store to pick up a bottle of brandy, and I was all set to make Steak au Poivre. I used Ina Garten's recipe, and the only thing I changed was I added some sliced mushrooms to the sauce (since Andrew's a self-confessed hobbit) and substituted a small onion for the shallots since we were all out of shallots. The sauce turned out nicely, although next time I might add a bit of cornstarch solution to the sauce at the end to thicken it a bit more, but that's just personal preference.

As for tonight's dinner, I picked up some shrimp and arugula from the store yesterday, and since my brother had a couple of tomatoes lying around in his fridge, I thought I'd try Pasta with Shrimp, Tomato and Arugula. The sauce smelled absolutely divine while I was cooking it over the stove. I also feared that I might have overcooked the shrimp, but everything was perfect in the end. The family seemed to enjoy it, so I guess my job was done here!



Now for the cake. It should be no surprise by now that both Andrew and I are huge chocolate lovers. And while I love chocolate, my love for it usually just stands with chocolate candy. Not to say I don't like chocolate cakes, cookies and desserts...I do! But nothing beats chocolate candy for me, and if there are other dessert choices besides chocolate, I'm apt to try something else. Andrew, however, is a chocolate lover through and through, so what could be better than making him a Double Chocolate Mousse Cake? And what could be better than Chocolate Mousse Cake? Add his favourite fruit inside...raspberries!

This cake is based on the recipe from La Tartine Gourmande. Instead of making individual-sized cakes, I made an 8-inch one. First, I made the cake layer and let that cool down. Then I layed a layer of raspberries and blackerries, after which I covered the berries with the dark chocolate mousse. Unfortunately, since the recipe is based on individual portions, I didn't have enough mousse to cover all the berries. I actually ended up doubling the mousse recipe and it STILL didn't cover all the berries. At that point, I had also run out of cream, so I had to wait until the next day to finish the cake.



After a quick trip to the grocery store the next day, I finished the cake, except this time I decided to make a layer of milk chocolate mousse. When ready to serve, I decorated the top with fresh raspberries, shaved chocolate and dusted it with cocoa. The cake turned out really nice. The sides were a bit sloppy in some places since I didn't have those plastic cake sheets so I had to plastic wrap my cake pan instead. Otherwise, the cake didn't turn out too bad, and the family enjoyed it! I just love how this cake looked in the end. It really is my first "professional"-wannabe cake. Happy (Belated) Birthday Andrew!!!

Escape from the city

Posted by Bonita

One of the good things about travelling is the fact that you can try new food. One of the worst things about travelling is the fact that you’re eating out pretty much all the time.

With Calgary expanding like there’s no tomorrow these past few years, it’s no surprise that there will be a few dozen upscale restaurants to choose from. After sifting through a few guide books and online guides and reading reviews, we decided to try The River Café when we were in Calgary last week, a quaint little restaurant located in Prince’s Island Park and features Canadian regional cuisine.

To get to the restaurant, you have to park your car back in the city, and then cross a bridge over to Prince’s Island Park. After a short walk, you’ll find the restaurant tucked away in a corner, surrounded by beautiful pine trees. The interior of the restaurant is nicely decorated, giving off a cozy, homey, cottage-like feel, featuring lots of woodwork and natural décor. The River Café was already packed when we got there, and even though we had already booked our table the day before, we still had to wait a bit at the bar for our table to be ready. But once seated and given our menus, all was forgotten as we lost ourselves in the very impressive menu choices, as well as their daily specials.



As a starter, Andrew and I shared the Fish and Game Platter, featuring Native Candied Trout, Rabbit Rillettes, Salt Cured Bison, Pork & Game Terrine with Brassica Mustard and Crabapple Jelly, Smoked Rainbow Trout, Grilled Apple Turnip Relish and Red Onion Marmalade, all served with House Made Crackers. The platter looked beautiful, but the food was even better! The crackers were very yummy. My personal favourites were the Smoked Rainbow Trout, the Pork & Game Terrine and the Native Candied Trout (my favourite of all!!!). The sweetness of the jelly and the saltiness of the grainy mustard really enhanced the flavour of the terrine, while the sweetness of the candied trout was just right, not too sweet and the smokiness of the trout was absolutely beautiful. And while I did originally cringe when eating the Rabbit Rillettes (for personal reasons), I have to admit that it did taste good. Although it’ll probably my one and only time I’ll ever eat rabbit!



My main course was the Wild Pacific Spring Salmon, cooked to perfection (medium heat) and served over a bed of barley and spring vegetables, including bitter greens and fiddleheads, and topped with tomato and feta chutney. The fish was absolutely delicious, and the chutney complimented the fish very well. A really nice, light summer dish!

For dessert, I had the Chocolate Beet Cake, served with a White Chocolate & Toasted Cocoa Nib Ice Cream and Apple Cider Sabayon. The cake was rich and decadent, and the ice cream balanced the chocolate cake very nicely. It was definitely one of the nicest meals I’ve had in a while.



What I loved about this restaurant was that it features fresh Canadian ingredients, many of them organic. The atmosphere is great too, making you feel like you’re in the wilderness. The restaurant really celebrates what nature has to offer to us, both regionally and seasonally, and I think that’s a great philosophy. Service was great too! Just be sure to book a table, as this place was packed and a continuous stream of customers kept on coming in, even by the time we left (9:30 pm!). This is certainly a gem of a restaurant, which changes its menu every month, and is a great place to escape the chaos of the city without actually leaving the city.

Name: The River Café
Address: Prince's Island Park
Cuisine: Seasonal Canadian
Price Range: Dinner $60-80
Accessible: Yes

The Gastronomical Side of Business Trips

Posted by Andrew

Depending on the type of business trip you might take, your experience with meals abroad can vary. Time (or lack thereof) can be a factor, as well as the cultural/social variety and sophistication of the place you're visiting. Even what your business host might provide you can be a factor as well. My previous business trip in March took me to Morden, Manitoba, and not meaning to put down this pretty little town, but the dining selection was understandably a bit more limited and more "local" or franchise in nature. This week I got to go to Quebec City for the CIP conference, and here my experience was much richer (both in dishes offered and the prices one has to pay for them).

Again, with my being in the heart of Quebec's tourist area the fear of running into culinary tourist traps came back to me a bit. Furthermore, with it being a heavy tourist area I was anticipating that the cost of meals would also be higher here than in many other tourist areas across Canada.

Saturday, June 2
After landing in Quebec mid-afternoon I found myself trying Aux Anciens Canadiens for dinner within the old city walls, a restaurant that features traditional French Canadian cuisine. The lobster bisque was creamy and rich in flavour, while the game pate was neatly balanced by the carrot compote (preserve); however, I thought that the preserve might have been a bit on the sweet side. The main course was the "Coureur des Bois", which consisted to two feature items: traditional tourtiere (a Quebec-style meat pie) and stewed pheasant & buffalo. There was also a tomato and fruit salsa on the side which had a similar flavour to ketchup (then again, even the waitress called it a "tomato and fruit ketchup", only it was chunky so that I considered it as a "salsa"). The flavouring of the stew was a bit on the bland side, but the tourtiere was decent. For dessert I had a maple syrup tart, which, as much as I do love maple syrup, I thought unfortunately was too much on the sweet side.

Aux Anciens Canadiens definitely gives one a glimpse of traditional French-Canadian cuisine, something that one may not find as easily now in the big cities due to its historic and even rustic nature. Set meals are available, but portion sizes for especially the main course dishes are larger than average.

Sunday, June 3
For lunch I landed myself outseide the old city walls at Louis Hebert along a section of the Grande Allee lined with a whole slew of restaurants and eateries. The cream of onion soup was velvety and full-bodied, while the smoked salmon platter, with some baby greens and a light dose of capers, was a delight; this dish has got me inspired to try making a salad dish when my family visits me shortly. Set menus are available.

That night I went to the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP) reception at Le manoir Montmorency, and there for dinner was a pleasant buffet for all. Some of the savoury dishes I can remember include a shrimp and scallop ceviche-style salad, smoked salmon pieces (yep, not just thin slices), pate with caramelized onions on crostini, smoked salmon sushi-inspired rolls (with nori, cream cheese, dill & pickles) on crostini, various terrines, including one sprinkled with apricots, and a whole bunch of cakes, tarts and cheeses. The reception certainly helped boost my first impression of Quebec hosting the CIP conference.

Monday, June 4
CIP provided a lunch of various sandwiches and wraps with potato salad. For dinner though, everyone was on their own, so a fellow UW classmate, a friend of hers and I finally found a sports bar west of central Quebec to watch Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals and have dinner as well. It was small and looked like a hole in the wall, definitely catered to the locals. Surprisingly though, their Sicilian pizza was quite good and was reasonably priced between the three of us. It was also nice for the bar to provide Polar Bear shots to everyone in the bar on the house whenever Ottawa scored.

Tuesday, June 5
Lunch was provided again by CIP, sandwiches and croissant sandwiches offered as well as an artichoke salad. That evening was the CIP Awards Gala, which meant dinner would be provided as well, and CIP certainly made sure we were well fed. For starters I was given a plate with baby greens and two slices of what looked like brie or camembert with something sandwiched within each slice. It turns out that somehow slices of smoked salmon were wedged into the camembert; I can definitely recall that I grinned from ear to ear and chuckled in delight. The main dish was duck breast in red wine sauce and cranberries with cauliflower and wild rice on the side. The dessert was disappointingly a bit weak, with the surface of the creme brulee a bit undertorched.

Wednesday, June 6
Once the CIP conference was over around lunchtime I found myself a place to grab a quick lunch at Paillard, a bakery, sandwich shop and ice cream shop all rolled into one with an interior decor that is reminiscent to Williams-Sonoma and sort of reminds me of some of the sandwich shops I've been in London, UK. Sandwich selection is a bit limited, but I'd prefer quality over quantity. I had myself a nice toasted chipotle chicken focaccia sandwich with a bottle of British ginger beer.

For dinner I went all out in my indulgence at Le Saint-Amour (needless to say, at ~$130 my wallet took the biggest hit here as well). Quebec is well-known as a major producer of foie gras (duck liver), and this restaurant apparently prides itself in specializing in foie gras. For starters I was provided with an amuse-bouche of a thick tomoto coulis with sundried tomatoes and a whipped parmesan topping, all put in a tall shooter glass. The flavouring was rich, and the acidity of the tomatoes definitely got my appetite going. My appetizer was bluefish carpaccio sprinkled with mandarin and tomato pieces, drizzled with lemon juice and dressed with layers of smoked Sockeye pieces, chopped avocado and snow crab on turnip (daikon) medallions). The bluefish was delicate and was not overpowered by the flavours of the ingredients, including the smoked Sockeye.

The main course was very lean caribou in Sarawak pepper on a bed of creamed potatoes flavoured with wild boar bacon. Half a roasted peach sat on the caribou and provided a pleasant twist in the medley of flavours. Of course, I had to try the foie gras here and so ordered a seared slice of it to accompany my main course. It was 80g of gastrononmic heaven melting in my mouth! I'm sure my arteries will never forgive me for this, but I just had to try it, and how often can you eat such a delicacy in Brandon?! Come to think of it, I don't remember the last time I had a foie gras product, be it a pate or the pure thing.

For dessert I ordered something called the Royal, which came in two parts. On one side was a cake-like feature with raspberry coulis and a chocolate wafer base with Italian Garanaja chocolate ganache and two shredded coconut crisps on top. The other part of the dessert was a mini coconut ice cream scoop resting in a dark chocolate ganache taking up the bottom third of the tall shooter glass, the remaining two thirds filled with raspberry coulis. The dessert had just the right touch of sweetness partly in thanks to the bitterness of the dark chocolate.

Le Saint-Amour has a very limited set menu selection, but if you really want to indulge on their speciality, foie gras, you'll have to order a la carte.


For more of my Quebec adventures beyond the food realm, please visit here.

"I'll make you banana pancakes..."

Posted by Bonita

Can’t you see that it’s just raining

Ain’t no need to go outside...

But baby, you hardly even notice

When I try to show you this

Song is meant to keep ya

From doing what your supposed to

Like waking up too early

Maybe we can sleep in

I’ll make you banana pancakes

Pretend like its the weekend now

And we could pretend it all the time

Can’t you see that it’s just raining

Ain’t no need to go outside

-- “Banana Pancakes”, In Between Dreams, Jack Johnson

Indeed, I did wake up yesterday morning to the gentle pitter-patter music of rain. It was one of those lazy Sundays, where you just wanted to spend the whole morning in bed. But stomachs also must be fed, and Sundays at my house usually mean brunch. And what better thing to serve on a lazy Sunday morning than the ultimate comfort food: pancakes.

My family has been using the same pancake recipe ever since I can remember. Not once have we ever purchased a box of pancake mix, our pancakes were always made from scratch. I remember how I used to watch my dad whip a batch of these pancakes on the weekend, our hand mixer first whipping up the egg whites and then mixing the yolk mixture into a batter. I would then get the job of folding the egg whites into the batter.

I’ve now taken over the duties of making pancakes when I’m at home, and after years of making these pancakes, I’ve make adjustments of my own to the recipe. What’s so great is that this recipe is a great starting point: you can go anywhere with this and add anything to it. I love to add whatever fresh fruits I have around the house or that’s in season. Personal favourites are bananas, blueberries and apples. My friend Nicole is a huge fan of my apple cinnamon pancakes, whereas I love bananas in mine. Served with a drizzle of real maple syrup, these pancakes definitely won’t last very long.



I also picked up some prosciutto Saturday, and since I had some beautiful ripe pears, I decided to wrap pear slices with the prosciutto, a variaton on the classic prosciutto con melone. The sweet, juicy pear slices definitely went very nicely with the saltiness of the prosciutto.



Dinner was a simple and easy home-cooked meal. I’ve been having a craving for curry lately, and since my favourite kind of curry is Japanese, we decided to serve the curry with Japanese fried pork chops, tonkatsu. The difference with Japanese curry from other curries like Thai or Indian is that it is milder and on the sweeter note. It comes in blocks rather than a paste. You simply throw as many blocks of curry as you want into your pot and add water and your vegetables (and/or meat) and cook until the vegetables are done. Tastes delicious served with rice or crusty bread to soak up all the curry sauce. Coconut milk in curry is a Thai thing, but I do like to add a bit of coconut milk to my Japanese curry to give it a bit more flavour and creaminess to it. I have to say, dinner was simply delicious last night. Craving definitely satisfied!!!

Basic Pancake Recipe
Makes about 8 to 10

• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 3 eggs, separated
• A few drops vanilla extract
• A drizzle of vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

1. In one bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, foamy peaks form. Put aside.
2. In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks with the vanilla and oil. Add in milk. Blend in flour and baking powder until well-incorporated.
3. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
4. Heat some oil in a heavy-bottom pan over medium heat. Pour some batter into the center of the pan, spreading it around a little if the batter if too thick. Cook until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Repeat with the remainder of the batter.
5. Serve warm, with a dollop of butter, maple syrup and fresh fruit.

N.B. Add fresh, seasonal fruits, chopped nuts or chocolate chips to the basic pancake batter mix. I usually add my fruit at the end, mixing in the diced apples before I fold in my egg whites (and adding the cinnamon along with the flour and baking powder). For blueberries, I just place them on top the pancakes right after I've poured them into the hot pan, whereas I mash my bananas and add them into the batter mix before I add my milk.

Forsaking sleep for the sake of pain

Posted by Bonita



No, not actual pain but pain. It was bread day this morning, and while it was a Saturday morning perfect to sleep in, I got an early start to my day. Too early some may say, having set my alarm to 6:00 am. I think I might have turned it off at some point when it went off…maybe after the first snooze button attempt, yet 22 minutes after my alarm went off, I was able to roll out of bed and get my still-slightly-groggy butt down to the kitchen (without making a racket, a huge feat for a huge klutz like myself).

I’ve really been craving for a good loaf of French bread lately, and what better way to have French bread than to make your own French bread? I got my sponge started last night so that it would have time overnight to ferment. After checking my sponge two hours after I had it made, I realized that the original bowl I had used would be too small. I would end up with sponge all over the kitchen counter by morning if I had just left it like that, so I scraped all my sponge into a much larger bowl (which definitely was a good call when I saw how much it had risen overnight!). I quickly got my dough together and put aside to proof.



What’s so great about French bread is that it tastes so good on its own. You usually don’t need anything else to go with it. French bread needs to be enjoyed as a stand-alone. If it can’t even achieve such a simple task, than frankly, it’s not a very good “French” bread. However, there was no way I would just serve bread for lunch either, so what would be better to serve a rustic loaf with a rustic soup? Minestrone was my pick, since it would be nice and light, healthy and would help my mom a great deal my using up some of the vegetables that have been cluttering our produce box in the fridge. The recipe I ended up using is a combination of two recipes I was looking at, one by Giada de Laurentiis and the other by Ricardo Larrivée. Substituted here and there with what I had on hand, but in the end, soup turned out pretty well. Definitely made for a hearty (yet healthy) meal for lunch, and went very nicely with the fresh baked bread.



The bread also turned out great. Sure, it didn't look as beautiful as the ones you would get at a professional bakery (I'll definitely need to work on my slashing technique!). However, the interior of this bread was definitely softer than other breads I have made in the past, thanks to the sponge. My only qualm is that my crust, which came out all crusty out of the oven, soften as it cooled on the rack (**cries**), so I’ll either have to try the “pan-of-water-in-the-oven method” next time (rather than spraying water) or leave it in for a few extra minutes and see if that’ll make any difference. I loved the look of the bread after it was cut, with the holes. Would be great if there were even more holes, but that just means it leaves more room for me to experiment in the near future. Still, it was a great tasting bread, despite the soft crust.

I’ve also finally had the guts to get a sourdough starter going, so I’m crossing my fingers that my starter will work out. Hopefully I can make a loaf of sourdough some time next week! How long it has been since I’ve had sourdough!

Minestrone Soup
Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis and Ricardo
Larrivée
Serves 6 to 8

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 100 g thinly sliced pancetta, roughly chopped
• 2 zucchini, chopped
• 1 can (19 oz) white kidney beans, drained and well-rinsed (see N.B.)
• 1 to 2 cups green beans, cut to 1" length
• 1 can diced tomatoes (see N.B.)
• 1 piece rind of Parmegiano-Reggiano
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 5 cups chicken broth
• Olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Freshly grated Parmegiano-Reggiano, to serve
• Chopped fresh basil, to serve

1. In a soup pot over medium heat, soften the onion, carrots, celery, pancetta and garlic in the oil, between 5 to 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, broth, tomato paste and Parmigiano rind.
2. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the carrots are tender, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the zucchini, green beans and kidney beans. Simmer for 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the Parmigiano rind. Adjust the seasoning.
4. Sprinkle Parmigiano and basil on each serving.

N.B. The white kidney beans can be replaced with red kidney beans, according to your own preferences. For the tomatoes, I used a 28 oz-can since that is what I had on-hand at home, but a 14-oz can will do just as well (it'll just be less tomato-ey). You can also add small pasta to the soup, which I had decided to opt out.

The oven says, "Holiday? What holiday?"

Posted by Bonita

What better way to spend Victoria Day than going baking crazy in the kitchen? Alright, alright. I can actually think of better ways to spend a beautiful, sunny (if only slightly chilly) Victoria Monday outdoors, but for me, there’s nothing like spending a day baking up a storm. It’s been a couple of days since my last loaf of bread, which meant that it was time to bake a new one. Thus my pseudo-artisan bread, the wannabe that looks like an artisan bread, tastes like a gourmet bread yet doesn’t require a starter of any kind.



I do have a confession to make. I love recipe books. I mean, I love books in general, being an English major. I’m like a moth to a flame when it comes to me and bookstores (and it’s a similar story when it comes to kitchen supply stores). My bookshelf is filled to capacity with books, much like the family bookcase downstairs is filled with cookbooks that my mother and I have picked up over the years. I’ve had Jamie’s Kichen for a good couple of years now yet never really had a chance to try many of the recipes from them. I can tell you that I’ve flipped through the book many times, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the many recipes that I would love to try but never got around to doing so (although there was the time I made his Baked Chocolate Pudding which ended up keeping the whole family up half the night from my “extra strong” espresso!). But this summer, determined to experiment in the kitchen to the max, I decided it was time to bring out that gorgeous blue-cover book and try out one of his fabulous looking bread recipes at the back of the book.



It’s no secret now that I have a huge crush on Jamie Oliver. He’s a brilliant man: young, charming, dorky in a cute way and his accent and quirky saying…gotta love the man. I’ve made his Focaccia with Rosemary and Olive Oil Topping a good-number of times, and it has always come out beautifully and tasted delicious, and is in fact one of my brother’s favourite breads. Flipping through the bread section, there were a few options that looked appealing, like the Tomato Focaccia, the Sweet Roasted Red Onion and Garlic Bread or even the Slow-Roasted Tomato Bread, which would have looked adorable being baked in coffee tins. However, I wanted something a little different and with some sweetness to the bread today, so I opted for his Rosemary and Raisin Bread. It certainly sounds like an odd combination when you first think about it, but it’s different, I’ll get the sweetness from the raisins and generally, I trust Jamie.



I got up bright and early this morning to get the dough made so that it could proof while I went out for my tennis game. Dough came together beautiful, and I knew I definitely had active yeast when it started bubbling and overflowing my measuring cup when I left it alone to bubble away for a few minutes! I cut some fresh rosemary from our herb garden outside, and I soaked the raisins in hot water for a few minutes to let them soften a little. Since today was a little chilly, I placed the dough in the oven that I slightly warmed ahead of time and then turned off, and then went off to play tennis for an hour. Came back to find a beautiful dough that had doubled in size. Punched down and shaped into a sausage loaf and then let proof for an hour again. I actually preheated the oven to 400°F rather than the suggested 350°F. I wanted a crusty exterior, and while Jamie didn’t mention it, I sprayed the loaf with some cold water (with a handy water spritzer), dusted it with flour and scored the surface with a sharp knife. Popped it in the oven and then sprayed the bread with more water at 5 minute intervals for the first 10 minutes. I then reduced the temperature to 350°F and let it bake that way for the remaining time. The book said to bake it for about 25 minutes, but I needed about 5 more minutes to get a nice golden colour to my loaf, probably due to my opening and closing the door and having all that heat escape. The house smelled delicious from the rosemary, and I got my desired crispy crust! The loaf looked beautiful, like something you might find at an artisan bakery. So here’s my pseudo-artisan bread, because it was a pretty simple yeast bread without the use of a starter, and yet it looks like it could be an artisan bread. I made a small cheddar cheese sandwich for lunch with this bread and it was great! It also tastes great just as it is with some butter.



And since I had the oven going today, and I wanted something sweet in the cookie jar, I also made Cranberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies. They’re one of my staple cookies that I always love to make, because they’re quick and easy, they taste fabulous and best of all, they’re freezer-friendly. I used to make Chocolate Chip Cookies all the time, but ever since I came upon this recipe, I’ve made these more often because they are healthier and make me feel slightly less guilty for indulging in a cookie…or two…sometimes even three.

The original recipe comes from Canadian Living magazine (I don’t know exactly which issue it came from, since I can’t seem to find the exact magazine around the house at the moment. But when I do, I’ll let you know!), and when I first saw it, I knew I had to make it. It sounded delicious, and the pictures of the cookies looked fabulous. However, after having briefly glanced over the recipe, I knew that something was fundamentally wrong with the proportions of the ingredients. The amount of dry ingredients they were asking for would produce a ridiculously dry dough that wouldn’t hold together. So, I took up a pencil and fiddled around with the numbers and came up with a formula that I thought would work much better in order to create a nice dough. Went to work and low-and-behold, the dough came out perfectly. Not too wet, nor too dry: just perfect! The cookies did indeed come out delicious, with a nice texture from the oatmeal and coconut and the right amount of sweetness. I initially made these using dried cherries, before switching over to the dried cranberries that is originally asked for in the recipe (after having been reconciled to dried cranberries earlier this year). These babies can work well with any combinations of dried fruits though, and I’d love to give dried apricots a try in the future. I’m sure they’ll also be delicious with nuts (almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, etc.) or chocolate chips. Best of all, they really do freeze well. I always make a big batch of these when I’m at school and just throw them in the freezer to have treats on hand when busier times keep me out of the kitchen. They make for a great study-break treat!

Cranberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
Adapted from Canadian Living magazine
Makes about 2-3 dozen

• ½ cup butter, softened
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup shredded sweetened coconut
• ½ tsp each baking powder and baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ cup dried cranberries

1. Line rimless baking sheets with parchment paper or grease; set aside.
2. In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla. In separate bowl, whisk together rolled oats, flour, coconut, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture along with cranberries; still until combined.
3. Drop by heaping 1 tbsp, about 5 cm apart, onto prepared pans. Bake in top and bottom thirds of 375°F (190°C) oven, rotating and switching pans halfway through, until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to racks; let cool.

Mushroom Night in Brandon

Posted by Andrew

Reading my sister's entry before this one has got me missing BBQ dinners quite a bit now. Hopefully I'll one day find a place to live where I'll have a backyard in which to place my own BBQ grill. In any case, she wasn't the only one busy with food at the start of the Victoria Day long weekend.

I'll admit that I'm a hobbit when it comes to mushrooms, so it was only a matter of time before I made myself a mushroom-themed dinner. As I mentioned yesterday I bought quite a bit of mushrooms, including the regular whites, crimini, oyster and portobella. I also still had some dried porcini (cepes) on hand, so that also got used tonight. As for the wine to use for cooking, I got my hands on a Henry of Pelham 2005 non-oaked Chardonnay.

For starters I made a simple yet wonderful mushroom and leek soup. I was impressed that I didn't need to add herbs to enhance the flavouring, although I'm sure that is still possible as a personal preference. Since I could only get large leeks at the time I only used one large leek for this recipe. I also used a mix of white, crimini and portobella mushrooms for the soup.

For my main course I decided to make a foray into the realm of cream. Although having mushrooms tossed in stir-fries or mixed in a tomato-sauced based pasta dish are nice, I realized it was past time that I further expanded my cooking horizons another notch. Try as I might I couldn't find a satisfactory mushroom cream sauce recipe to my liking, so I ended up winging it tonight. In hindsight I could've added just a bit more chicken powder to get the right saltiness to the dish, but other than that I think I did alright. The amount of sauce I created apparently was just enough to coat the ingredients rather than being overgenerous with some leftover sauce at the bottom of my bowl.

Chicken Mushroom Penne

• 1/2 package (~500g) penne
• 1 chicken breast
• 6-8 white mushrooms, sliced thinly
• 100g oyster mushrooms, sliced into bite-sized pieces
• 1 portobello mushroom (~100g in size), sliced thinly into bite-sized pieces
• ~100g dried porcini (cepes) mushrooms
• 1 shallot, finely sliced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup (250ml) dry white wine
• 1 cup (250ml) whipping cream or other heavy cream
• ~1tbsp. corn starch
• 2 tbsp. butter
• ~1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• ~1/2 tbsp. dried thyme
• Salt (and chicken powder as option later)
• Pepper
  

1. Rehydrate porcini mushrooms in warm water for at least 15-20 minutes. Remove from water carefully to ensure you don't pick up any dirt, rinse the mushrooms under cold water and drain.
2. Grill chicken breast until fully cooked and let rest. If using a double-sided grill, usually 5 min. should suffice. Cut the breast into thin slices prior to making the sauce.
3. Chop and slice the shallot, garlic and mushrooms. Keep the fresh mushrooms together, separate from the shallot and garlic.
4. Cook penne as per package instructions, usually for about 10-13 minutes.
5. Over medium-high heat drizzle bottom of pot with olive oil and add butter. Add shallots and garlic, stirring quickly for about 30 seconds.
6. Add all mushrooms to the pot and stir. Add a dribble of water to the pot as the mushrooms will absorb the oil and may stick to the pot. Add a pinch of salt as well to help the mushrooms sweat. Cover pot and let cook for ~4-5 minutes.
7. Add wine, increase heat to high, and let boil until the alcohol evaporates.
8. Once alcohol has evaporated, reduce heat to medium-high and add thyme and cream. Cover and let simmer for a few minutes.
9. In a small bowl mix the corn starch with some water to prepare the thickener.
10. Add salt or chicken powder and pepper to taste to the mushroom and cream mixture, stir evenly before adding the corn starch thickener. Stir to ensure even thickness of the sauce.
11. Add the cooked penne and sliced chicken breast into the pot and mix until pasta is evenly coated and ingredients are evenly mixed. Remove from heat and serve.
    

Summer Lovin'

Posted by Bonita



The summer weather is all about outdoor grilling, and grilling food on the barbie is one of our favourite ways of cooking our meals in the summer. There’s usually the staple of chicken wings, sausages and grilled vegetables (usually an assortment of zucchini, sweet bell peppers and mushrooms that have been marinated in a soy-based marinade). Then there are the other dishes that we often mix it up to keep things interesting. Sometimes it’s shellfish, sometimes it’s kebabs or even lamb chops or shellfish. Last year, we got some cedar plank so that we could try cedar plank fish and tasted delicious. Thus, with the new barbeque season well underway, we thought it would be great to dig out those cedar planks and grill some cedar plank salmon. You just need to soak the plank in cold water for a few hours to ensure that it won’t go up in flames when you place it over the fire! We simply season our salmon fillets with some salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice. I placed a bed of dill that I had on hand over the cedar plank before placing the fish on top of that. The fish turned out amazing today, with that nice, subtle smoky hint from the cedar and the fact that it was cooked perfectly (practically melt in your mouth!).



There’s also nothing better to accompany grilled food than corn-on-the-cob. We typically boiled or steamed the corn, but this year, my mom wanted to try grilling them, despite the fact that it would mean a little more work. The results were fantastic! The corn was sweet with that slight smoky hint from the grill. I don’t think my mom will make corn-on-the-cob any other way from now on!



Food went down with a nice Rose wine from France that I picked up from the LCBO the other day. I don’t know what it is, but I’m either attracted to the bubbly wines or the pink wines, because they’re both so pretty!