Wok with me

Posted by Bonita

As I've mentioned before, it's not often that I cook a full-out Chinese meal, despite being Chinese, since I tend to find it a bit more complicated than Western dishes. It's not to say that it's technically more difficult (as long as you stick with the more simple dishes); it's just that I find it a bit of a nuisance to make two or three different dishes to complete a meal, which makes no sense when I'm often cooking for one. So, when I offered to make dinner last night, and a Chinese meal at that, my mom was surprised but was eager to see how I would fare in the kitchen on my own. As my family headed off to the ski hills for the day, it was my duty to have dinner on the table when they got home.



With all the heavy food we've been eating lately, I wanted something more along the lighter side that would also be easy to make. I absolutely love tofu, and there is nothing more simple than Steamed Tofu with Soya Sauce drizzled over top. There is one brand that I absolutely love and always buy: Vitasoy San Sui Tofu. For some reason, there is something superior to the taste of Vitasoy San Sui tofu; it's really smooth with a delightful soy flavour to it. The Vitasoy San Sui series comes in three different textures: silken, firm and extra-firm. I often buy silken and firm. The silken tofu is best for steaming because of it's smooth, melt-in-your-mouth texture. You can also use the silken tofu for dessert tofu by making a simple syrup with some ginger in it. I steamed the tofu and topped it off with a sauce made from light soy, dark soy, sugar and green onions.



Next I made some Braised Napa Cabbage in Milk Sauce. We usually put in some ham, but since we didn't have any ham around, I thinly diced up a slice of pancetta instead. Yes, it may sound weird to add panceetta to an Chinese dish, but considering pancetta is very similar to a kind of Chinese ham, I thought it would be okay. It did turn out nicely, thank goodness! A little east-meets-west never hurts.



Lastly, I made Fried Prawns in Superior Soy, which was so easy to make. It simply requires you to pan-fry the prawns, and then make the sauce, which consists of soy sauce, sugar and water. So easy, and the sauce was especially delicious! Needless to say, my parents were impressed that I could actually dish out a Chinese meal and are happy to know that I'm not a totally lost cause (lol)!

Fried Prawns in Superior Soy
Serves 2

• 8-10 prawns, with heads
• 1 tsp each mashed shallot and mashed garlic
• 1 tbsp spring onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Chinese cooking wine
• 2 tbsp light soy
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp water

1. Remove the intestines from the prawns. Cut away the feelers and legs but retaining the shells. wash thoroughly and wipe dry. slit slightly the back and marinate with the salt, cornstarch and some freshly ground black pepper. Fry in oil till about 80 percent cooked, take out and drain away the oil.
2. Mix the light soy, sugar, water and a bit of freshly ground black pepper together in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Heat 2 tablespoon oil and saute the mashed garlic and mashed shallot until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the prawns, sprinkle with a bit of cooking wine and add the soy mixture. Fry well until the shrimp are cooked all the way through and the sauce becomes thick. Dish up and sprinkle with the spring onion. Serve immediately.

Becoming a Domestic Goddess

Posted by Bonita

Santa certainly has been very good to me this year, with the addition of a new toy to add to our collection of kitchen gadgets. After yearning for one for a good couple of months, we finally got one: a KitchenAid Professional 600 stand-mixer. The evening (or should I say morning) I returned home, I was flipping through the flyers and saw the ad for the mixer. Screaming in excitement at my mom, we roused my dad out of bed early in the morning, went out and got our lovely new mixer. What's great is that it came with a bonus pasta maker!



The angle of the photo is hard to see, but the machine is slightly bigger, definitely heavier (with the bigger and beastlier motor! :D) and a larger bowl to hold more dough (and to make my life much easier when I add in my dry ingredients--this way things are more likely to get into the bowl rather than all over my counter!). The one downfall is that with the larger motor, it makes for a noisier machine. But hey, I'd take the noise any day if it means that this can double the amount of cookies and knead even the most uncooperative dough imaginable.

With a new machine in hand, I decided to go ahead and make some bread. Went with a simple French Country Bread, since my dad really likes it. The machine kneaded it really nicely; I especially like the design of the new dough hook, since it's in the shape of a corkscrew. Personally, I think it makes for more efficient kneading, but then again, I could be bias!



I also decided to let the bread proof in these little baskets lined with a flour-dusted teatowel in order for the bread to hold its shape while it proofs. The method worked, and I got these gorgeous round loaves rather than flattened out ones. Still need to work on my slashing method though.... The loaves came out beautiful though, so I can't really complain much. Beautiful golden brown with a crispy exterior and a soft, chewy crumb...delicious!



Other baking endeavours these past two weeks included lots of cookies, including these lovely Hazelnut, Cinnamon, Cardamom and Raspberry Sandwich Cookies from Kate Zuckerman's book The Sweet Life. I really love the combination of hazelnuts and cinnamon; it's such a sexy and sensual combination with the incredible nuttiness of the hazelnuts and the warm spiciness of the cinnamon. It was no wonder then that I was dying to try this recipe for awhile. I absolutely adore this book; it's full of really interesting recipes with new combinations of different flavours to make for interesting desserts. Zuckerman really makes things easier by breaking down the recipes step by step, so even the most inexperienced bakers can achieve success in the kitchen. The cookies turned out really nice. The dough didn't give me too much trouble as was rolling it out and cutting the shapes except for a few expected cracks here and there. The nuttiness and spiciness of the cookies balanced really nice with the raspberry jam, and it had a really nice texture to it with the crunchiness of the nuts and raspberry seeds and the melt-in-your-mouth buttery cookie. I also tried this with blackberry jam, which made for an equally delightful experience!



Another cookbook recipe I tried out was the Bacon and Egg Pie from Nigella Lawson's How To Be A Domestic Goddess. I never really was a fan of Nigella until this year when I started watching her on the Food Network. I must admit, she definitely has an aura about her that really draws you in, and her simple, quicky, homey recipes are a delight when you actually come to appreciate them.

I don't bake pies very often because I find that pie dough is a pain to work with sometimes. If you don't get it right, you'll end up with a tough crust, a soggy mess or a crust that just won't roll because it's constantly cracking into a million little pieces. However, this dough was really easy to put together since I just basically threw all my ice-cold ingredients into a food processor and whizzed it around until it came together. I prepared that the night before, so all I had to do in the morning was fry off some pancetta and onions, beat the eggs and bake the pie. I added extra eggs to my pie and reduced the amount of pancetta.



I was surprised that my pie turned out as nice as it did. The crust was nice and flaky and held up nicely. The filling was also nice too, although I might mix it with a different kind of meat (perhaps ham?) next time to cut down on the amount of salt. However, a slice of this pie with some dressed green salads made for a simple but delicious New Year's lunch.

Holiday Feasting

Posted by Bonita

My lack of updating certainly does mean I have been unproductive in the cooking department. Rather, I've found myself constantly in the kitchen this holiday season that I haven't really had much time to blog about it until now. Christmas and New Year's has gone and went in a flash, and we enjoyed great food all around. This year for Christmas, we've decided to skip the turkey, since it's so overdone and none of us in the family would really be missing it. Thus, out with the turkey and our mom's delicious Wild Rice & Chestnut stuffing and in with cornish hens and gnocchi. Yes, we decided to go for cornish hens this year in place of the turkey, which would result in a much more tender and moist meat as opposed to the turkey.





Christmas dinner started off with a Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Soup served with some freshly baked French Country Bread. The soup was nice, with a hint of sweetness from the roasted squash and an interesting contrast from the roasted garlic. I made the soup the day before to save myself some time, so that all I had to was reheat it on the stove and then add a swirl of heavy cream right before serving. Sadly, the blender decided to give me some trouble as I was blending my soup, and rather than try to bust the blender, the soup came out a bit chunkier and thicker than I wanted too. And despite it's murky-looking colour (thanks to the leeks) and the texture, the taste wasn't too bad.



Rather than the regular stuffing we do, or simple mashed potatoes, I wanted to make something different to go with the cornish hens. In the end, I thought I would try making gnocchi, since I've actually been meaning to try making them for awhile. After doing a bit of searching around on the web, I came across this recipe over at fiordizucca which piqued my interest: Porcini Gnocchi with Speck and Zucchini. What's interesting about this recipe is that the dough isn't your typical gnocchi dough, which is rolled out. Rather, this dough stays really moist and sticky and tells you to shape the gnocchi with a spoon. I opted to do away with the spoon and get my hands messy by shaping them by hand and then pressing each gnocchi against the tines of a fork to get the more traditional look of gnocchi. It indeed was time consuming, but what's so great is that you can freeze them and have a batch for some other day.



While the original recipe asked for speck, I substitued some diced pancetta instead. I also stirred in a dash of heavy cream to the sauce right before I tossed in the gnocchi again, to help thicken the sauce and make it creamier. Despite this being my first time making gnocchi, it wasn't too bad!



The gnocchi went nicely with the main star of the evening: Herb Roasted Cornish Hens with Pomegranate Glaze. I didn't really get into pomegranates until a few years ago. What's so great about them is that they are at their peak around this season, and fit right into the holiday spirit with it's bright, ruby-red colour. The glaze was made by boiling down some pomegranate juice with some red wine and chicken stock. I further thickened the glaze a bit with some cornstarch solution. The hens turned out beautifully: a crispy skin with a moist centre. The sweetness and tartness of the sauce complimented the hens very nicely. We served the hens with the gnocchi and some steamed green beans.



With all the heavy food from the past few days, we thought we would go a bit lighter for our New Year's Eve dinner by taking it to the sea. We got some lovely fresh mussels and some haddock and steamed in the oven (using the bag method) with some white wine and saffron. Really simple and fast but it makes for a fancy-looking and delicious dish. The taste is really clean and fresh, since there aren't too many ingredients that fight to take over the seafood. Rather, the mussels and haddock are able to take centre stage without being outshined by anything else, and the white wine makes a lovely broth with the juices of the mussels.



The meal ended off some Lobster Tarragon Crêpes: I steamed a few lobsters, took out the meat and then added it to a sauce made from shallots, white wine and tarragon. The crêpes also had some chopped tarragon added to it. This dish was also very simple to make as I prepared everything the day before. All I had to last night was assemble everything, pop them in the oven for about 10 minutes (and to melt the bocconcini which I added to the crêpes before rolling them up) and serve them alongside some broccoli and cauliflower and beets.

Wishing everyone a 2008 full of good health, prosperity and happy eating!!! :)

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Posted by Bonita

Oh the weather outside is frightful

But the fire is so delightful

And since we've no place to go

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

It may be a blizzard outside, but it's warm and toasty inside my house and the winter storm is only more incentive to stay home and keep ourselves amused in the kitchen. With me being back home, and my brother coming home for the holidays as well in a few days, my mom has been cooking up a storm in the kitchen, so our stove and oven has been working overtime for the past few days. Thus, I thought I would help alleviate the holiday kitchen stress for my mom by making a few meals for the family.

There is nothing quite like the tradition of Sunday Brunch. It used to be my favourite meal of the week. I'd get up and help my dad make pancakes, and there would delicious, fatty bacon sizzling on the stovetop. However, my dad made pancakes some time last week (as evidenced by the leftovers still lying around in the fridge), so I thought I would make my parents French Toast instead, especially since I made a loaf of bread the other day.

I grated some orange zest and added some Grand Marnier to the egg and cream/milk mixture. I also made a Sour Cherry Sauce to accompany the french toasts, using some of the many frozen ones we have sitting in our deep-freezer. Topped it off with some toasted flaked almonds and a sprinkling of confectioners' sugar and it was a delightful Sunday brunch treat! The toasts came out nice and fluffy, and the slight sourness of the cherries countered the sweetness of the sauce itself, and went really well with the orange-scented toasts. Accompanied with some sliced polish sausage my parents picked up last weekend and it was a delicious but simple meal!



I also made dinner yesterday evening, in my adventure of cooking Chinese food. Made Lemon Chicken, with my mom walking me through it on the sidelines. Our version is a healthier version, since we merely pan-fry our chicken pieces rather than deep-fry them, as you would often get in restaurants. Granted, you won't get the same crispiness, but I think I'd rather forego crispy chicken than clog my arteries. Our lemon sauce is also more natural, since all it consists of is lemon juice, sugar, a bit of salt, water and cornstarch solution. No custard powder (a common ingredient in lemon sauce) or colouring is added. Thus, our sauce is definitely not as sweet as the ones you'll find in restaurants, but I like the residual acidity of the lemon that remains in our sauce, giving it the perfect sweet and sour note to the chicken dish.



It was surprisingly very easy to make, which is great for a student like me who doesn't always have the time to slave away in the kitchen (although if I really could, I would!). I also stir-fried some baby Shanghai bok choy with some garlic. I CAN cook Chinese!!! :P



Orange-Scented French Toast with Sour Cherry Sauce
Serves 3

• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
• 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• A bit of freshly grated nutmeg
• Zest of 1 orange
• 2 tbsp Grand Marnier, or other orange liqueur
• A pinch of salt
• 6 slices of stale bread (white, country, challah, etc. work really well), about 1/2-inch thick
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
• Confectioners' sugar, to serve

1. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except for the bread. Whisk together until well combined and smooth.
2. Place the bread slices in a large, shallow dish. Pour the egg and cream mixture over the bread slices and allow to soak for 10 minutes. Turn the bread slices over and let sit for another 10 minutes.
3. Place a wire rack on a baking sheet and keep in a preheated oven at 250°F.
4. Heat a little vegetable oil or butter in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook bread slices one or two at a time (depending on the size of your pan), cooking for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and cooked through. Placed the cooked slices of toast on the wire rack in the oven to keep warm and proceed to cook the other slices.
5. If bread slices are large, you can cut them in half. Plate with the sour cherry sauce (recipe follows) and sliced almonds. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve.

Sour Cherry Sauce

• 2 cups jarred or frozen sour cherries, drained
• 1/3 cup reserved cherry juice **
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2-3 tbsp cornstarch (depending on your desired thickness)
• A sprinkle of lemon juice
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp Kirsch
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the cherry juice, sugar and cornstarch and heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low.
2. Add lemon juice, almond extract, cinnamon and Kirsch and stir through. Add the cherries and cook until heated through. (If the sauce is too thin at this point, dissolve some cornstarch in some cold water and add to the cherry sace a little at a time until it reaches desired thickness. If too thick, add a bit of water until it has reached desired consistency.)
3. Turn off heat and serve with pancakes, waffles, french toast, ice cream, crepes, meat, or just about anything you'd like!

**Note** If you do not have enough juice to measure out 1/3 cup, just add water.

'Tis the season... Part II

Posted by Bonita



What's more Christmasy than a plate or cookies? Perhaps several plates of cookies, which seemed to be the dilemma at my house these past two weeks as I got lost in the throes of holiday baking. I always like to give out cookies to my friends and the lovely admin ladies of my Department during the holiday season, so my tiny little kitchen in London turned into a full-on Cookie Workshop all last week.



I got a variety of different cookies going on this year. Naturally on the list were biscotti, since my Italian friends always look forward to them now. I made three different biscotti this year (pictured above - from top to bottom): Cranberry Pistachio, Cinnamon Mocha and Chocolate, Cherry and Almond. I also just realised that the three biscotti juxtaposed together creates a lovely brown colour palette, with the progressive shades of brown!



There were also several varieties of drop cookies, probably one of the simplest cookies to make: Ginger, Orange White Chocolate Chip, and Cranberry Coconut Oatmeal. The Ginger Cookies is actually a recipe from my brother, which he got off of a friend back in high school. These cookies are absolutely delicious and reminds me of everything Christmas with all the different spices going on. If you underbake them a little, they have a chewy tenderness to them, whereas if you leave them for an extra minute or two, these cookies turn into wonderful Gingersnaps. The Orange White Chocolate Chip was a new recipe I tried out (again wanting to try a variation on the popular but worn-out Chocolate Chip Cookie. The flavour of this cookie...is beyond words. The orange-flavour from the zest packs a delightful punch to the cookie without being overpowering, and the white chocolate just adds that nice hint of sweetness that surprisingly works well with the orange. Next time, I think I'll try this recipe with dark chocolate chips and see how that will turn out!



I also made Coconut Macaroons. I was having cravings for them three weekends ago while writing papers and studying for midterms, but I don't like the store-bought ones because they are so sickeningly sweet. This recipe, however, is divine (as long as you use unsweetened coconut). The taste really reminded me of some that I had as a kid without having that cloying sweetness to it. Dipping the macaroons in semi-sweet chocolate also helps to cut the sweetness, and works really well with the cookie. Be warned though, these macaroons are highly addictive!



What is Christmas without the classic Shortbread? I absolutely adore the recipe my old roommate and friend, Nicole, gave me last year. It produces a deliciously buttery, decadent, melt-in-your mouth shortbread that has all my friends coming to me for more. The sprinkling of sugar on top make these lovely cookies even more irresistible!



There is also another classic Christmas cookie: the Sugar Cookie. What I love about the Sugar Cookie, besides it lovely buttery and vanilla flavour, is the fact that it makes anyone a kid again. The process of rolling out the dough, stamping out my shapes and decorating the cookies to my own liking is so therapeutic, and I quickly become lost in childhood memories of standing in the kitchen with my own mom as she stamped out cookies and I decorated them (or more likely stood around sprinkling a few candies and what not on the cookies, and then proceeded to munch on the rest).

So yes, aside from papers and finals, holiday baking has certainly been keeping me busy as well. In a few days, I'll need to start my holiday baking all over again for my family and friends back home! My next post will be about the Fruitcake I made, and wait till you see my new kitchen toy (just in time for Christmas! :D)!!!

Orange White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 30

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• Zest of 1 orange
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar with an electric mixer until light. Beat in egg, vanilla and orange zest and mix until fluffy.
4. Gradually add in the flour mixture, stirring only until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets and bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges are very lightly browned.
6. Cool for 3-4 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

'Tis the season... Part I

Posted by Bonita



I love December. Forget about the fact that I will soon have a nice, well-deserved three week break from school. December means all things Christmas, my favourite holiday of the year. Nothing gets me more giddy than bringing out my Christmas tunes (which I think I brought out in the second week of November this year...), decorating the tree and putting up Christmas lights. Oh yeah, let's not forget about baking!

Despite the school term winding down these past two weeks, I've still been a busy bee, either studying for midterms and finals, finishing off those last few essays or more importantly, starting my holiday baking. I always love giving cookies away as Christmas presents. It's fun for me to make them and it makes for great gifts that were made with much love.



I've been doing a lot (and I mean a LOT) of baking on my own these past two weeks, but I thought it would be a nice end to the term this year to have some friends over to bake cookies. With the Italian lit class over for good, it would be a nice way to get everyone together and celebrate having survived the term while eating good food, enjoying each other's company, singing along to christmas carols and baking cookies. It's nice for me because I get to play hostess, it's nice for them because they get to revisit their childhoods, and honestly, it's nice for everyone to just take a break from school before we all go back into hibernation-mode for finals.



I asked everyone to bring something savoury to the party, so we ended up with a pretty nice spread: cheese and crackers, an antipasti platter, these delicious fried risotto balls stuffed sausage and cheese (I think they were called polpette...but they are also known as arancini), sausage rolls, swedish meatballs, shrimp cocktail, and a Baked Brie with Roasted Pears and Thyme.

Good times were had by all. In between eating, laughing and reminiscing about the many inside jokes that involved our time in class, cookies were baked (with minimal mishaps!). Most importantly, my friends had loads of fun baking and decorating cookies, and I sent all of them home with treats that they could munch on these next few days as they bury themselves in their books and notes.



The leftover brie and the antipasti made for a lovely lunch yesterday afternoon, especially with a plate of good bread, crackers and some raspberry jam!







Stayed tuned for "Part II" to see what I've been baking lately!

I'll be home for Christmas...and Chinese food

Posted by Bonita



Well, the school term is slowly winding down (thank goodness). After countless essays and a few midterms, I'm down to only one essay to complete and one midterm to write before finals come. With this in mind, I had a little time on my hands tonight to finally get back into the kitchen and make a real meal after having survived on miso soup, steamed tofu and salads for the past few weeks.

I usually have a tub or two of tofu sitting in my fridge as one of my staple ingredients. As I've mentioned in the past, I usually don't venture into cooking Chinese food, but I really wanted to try something new tonight. I found this recipe for a Braised Loquat-Shaped Tofu (枇杷豆腐), which looked really tasty and pretty easy to put together. I made a few changes from the original. Firstly, I substituted the ground meat with ground chicken and some shrimp and processed it in the food processor along with the tofu. Secondly, rather than deep-frying or pan-frying the tofu quenelles, I decided to poach them instead for a healthier option. The dish turned out really well. The tofu quenelles was still light thanks to my poaching method, and the chicken and shrimp added a nice flavour to the tofu quenelles. I also didn't have any dried mushrooms at hand, so I just added some button mushrooms instead. The chicken stock-based sauce, while really simple, was extremely tasty! I really nice, simple, light meal.



I also had some napa cabbage, so I "quick-braised" it and served it in a milk sauce and ham, a dish that my mom sometimes makes a home. Simple, home-cooking Chinese food. Yes, I'll certainly be home for Christmas and my mom's cooking in a few weeks, but until then, I'll just take comfort in my own version of Chinese homestyle cooking.

Braised Napa Cabbage with Ham in Milk Sauce
Serves 2

• 10 to 12 large leaves of napa
• 3 slices fresh ginger, peel removed
• 2 slices ham, sliced or diced
• 1/2 to 1 tsp chicken bouillon, to taste
• 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 3/4 cup milk

1. Thoroughly wash the napa leaves and slice them, about 1/2-inch in width.
2. In a wok or a large nonstick frying pan, heat some oil. Add the ginger and stir around for about 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the napa and cook for about 10 minutes. If your wok or frying pan has a lid, put it on. Add some water to the pan if it seems to be drying up. When the cabbage has wilted down a bit, add the chicken bouillon and stir well.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the cornstarch and the milk. When the napa is cooked, add the ham and toss. Add the milk mixture and let it come to a simmer and thicken, about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and serve immediately.

How to Get Rid of One Cup of Cream?

Posted by Andrew

Make another pasta dish, of course! With just a cup's worth of cream left in my fridge with a best before date fast approaching last Tuesday, I had to make something with that. So, without further ado I decided to make a modified version of Penne in Cream Sauce with Sausage. Instead of canned tomatoes I substituted with some sundried tomatoes, and since I didn't have Italian parsley I had to settle with some freeze-dried regular parsley I had in my pantry. I managed to get my hands on some sweet basil sausage for this dish.

















I would say this was another successful attempt at a new dish. Perhaps due to the use of sundried tomatoes instead of canned with its juices the sauce itself wasn't as quantitative or runny, but it covered all the penne noodles just as nicely. Next time I could add a sprinkle of ground pepper to give it some pep, or alternatively I could use spicier sausage.

A little pick me up...

Posted by Bonita

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels

Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

These are a few of my favorite things

-- "My Favourite Things," The Sound of Music

It's that time of year again, the time when I'm moody, slightly pissy, really tired, perhaps even crazy and reevaluating my life and why I decided to be an English major. Yes, ladies and gents, it is essay season once again. It's been a tough week this past week, trying to churn out papers at a break-neck speed. Not surprising, I ended up getting stuck on one of my papers all week, which left me very frustrated and kind of down. However, I finally handed it in this morning (**sigh of relief**); one down, four more to go.

With my first paper done and out of the way, I decided to reward myself with a little pick me up. Everyone has that one comfort food they can count on. No matter how bad our day was, or our week, it'll never cease to bring a smile for those 20 minutes or so. The ultimate comfort food for me is pancakes. There's nothing in the world that's better than a stack of pancakes drizzled with real maple syrup with a side of something savoury like bacon, sausage or ham.

So yes, I took a break from the hectic paper writing to make myself some pancakes for lunch today. I make a slew of different kinds when I'm at home: banana, blueberry, apple & cinnamon, spiced, etc. However, my favourite remains to be banana. I normally would just add a mashed banana to our family recipe, but I had such a craving for buttermilk pancakes that I made Banana-Pecan Buttermilk Pancakes instead. I based the recipe off of this one, and just made a few changes here and there. Obviously, I added in a handful of chopped toasted pecans and the crucial vanilla. I also added a bit more baking powder. Pancakes were delicious and satisfied my craving, especially with a side of ham. What's great is that I had plenty of leftovers to throw into the freezer to satisfy my pancake-cravings instantly in the near future. And best of all, it brought a smile to my face, and made all the work I have to do this weekend a little more bearable.



Banana-Pecan Buttermilk Pancakes
Adapted from Everyday Food Magazine
Makes about 8

• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp light-brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large very ripe banana, mashed
• 1/2 cup pecan halves, toasted and finely chopped (set aside a bit, to serve)

1. Preheat oven to 200°F. In a bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pecans.
2. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, vanilla and banana until combined. Gradually whisk in the buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently mix until just incorporated.
3. In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, swirl some oil to coat bottom of pan. Working in batches, add batter in 1/4-cup portions; cook until golden brown and tiny air bubbles form evenly on top, 2 to 5 minutes.
4. Flip pancakes, and continue cooking until slightly puffed, 2 to 5 minutes (reduce heat if browning too quickly). Transfer to a baking sheet; keep warm in oven while you cook remaining pancakes.
5. Serve pancakes with maple syrup and the remaining pecans, if desired.

My First Rosé

Posted by Andrew

















Last Tuesday I continued my exploration with cream in cooking, and for now I'm still going the way of pasta. At first I thought I'd only make some shrimp linguine marinara, but having remembered that I had cream in my fridge I decided to try making a more authentic version of a rosé sauce. Toss in a bit of grated parmagiano reggiano, and hey presto! I had myself another nice dinner. Along with the shrimip I added some shredded onion and fresh basil, as well as about four cloves of garlic.

Next stop... trying cream and white wine. I forgot to add some white wine in my chicken stew tonight, but I know there'll be other opportunities to use that bottle.