The Underground Baker

2012-01-11T17:17:00.000-08:00

This is about one tenth of my pantry ingredients, and most of the items pictured are not even from the list I just posted.

I've been under the weather for the last few days so have fallen behind. The following post is about what I use in the pantry regularly for my new year eats and the fresh ingredients I stock up on at the beginning of the week.

Important pantry items

High end balsamic vinegar - youshould be able to use it straight out of the bottle into the salad, no mixing.My favorite for the price is from William Sonoma, $40 for 459ml.

Cheap balsamic vinegar – this is forcooking and making bulk salad dressing

Grapeseed oil

Olive oil

Garlic

Assorted dried herbs

Chili flakes

Chili powder

Dijon mustard

Assorted dried beans

Assorted canned beans (for quick orunplanned meals)

Salt

Pepper (whole, ground throughpeppermill at will in an ideal world)

Tomato sauce

Fresh Ingredients to have on handregularly (I will have in brackets what I usually go through in a week)

Beets (4)

Onions (5 or 6)

Garlic

Carrots (2lbs)

Celery root (1)

Fresh fennel (1)

Lettuce (2)

Kale (1)

Savoy cabbage (1)

Red, orange and/or yellow peppers

Tomatoes

Spinach(I buy bagged prewashedspinach because I hate washing spinach. I will often wash it again because Ialso hate gritty spinach. At the same time, I love spinach, and we go through 2large bags a week, sometimes more when I cook it down)

The fresh ingredients are what I useregularly for salads, soups, tomato sauce and any braised dish. My base fortomato sauce and soup (minus the tomatoes) is a blend of sautéed onions,fennel, carrots, celery root and garlic.

My daily, workhorse salad is mixedgreens (often including spinach) generously laden with grated carrot, gratedbeets, finely sliced fennel, sliced cabbage, diced peppers, chopped tomato and anything elsekickin’ around that might taste good. Items like peppers and tomatoes aresubject to price and if they look like they might taste good. This time of yearthey are often with-held from the salad.

This is a basic list. My pantry isactually embarrassingly overstocked. But the above list are the things thatcome to mind on a daily basis, many if not most you likely already have (I willunderstand if you don’t have the crazy expensive balsamic – it is a decadentitem. Don’t invest in it unless you are feeling flush. Most of the recipes I’mgoing to have here will use the less expensive –read cheap – vinegar).

Let me know what you findindispensable in your pantry!

Work horse salad dressing

1/3 ratio of cheap balsamic to 1/3 grapeseed oil, to 1/3 olive oil (all olive oil sometimes makes the dressing to heavy tasting)

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

generous pinch or two of dried herbs - lately I've been using and Italian mix

salt and pepper

minced or grated clove of garlic

Put into a bottle, shake furiously, let sit for a little while for flavours to meld and soften - use. I fill up my recycled bottle to the top and it lasts a week, give or take a day.

Here is a snapshot of the dressing with a glimpse of my kitchen for those who haven't been here.

Next post will be about cookingbeans in advance so you are always ready to dramatically toss them intoanything you are preparing. Oh yes, and how to make them taste good.

2012-01-05T13:58:00.000-08:00

This is G's breakfast, the more modest portion, without the bacon

This is my more manly sized breakfast, with the bacon chopped and added into the somewhat soupy mess. A very tasty mess I might add.

Breakfast

Throw a generous handful of cookedbeans (today I used the last of my zuni beans) into a fry pan with a littleolive oil on medium. Toss in a little broth if you have any, or a little bit ofthe soup from yesterday with a few chunks of vegetables, one minced, grated orpressed clove of garlic. Get hot, toss in 3 to 5 handfuls of spinach.Meanwhile, lightly oil and heat a non-stick fry pan on med-low. Slow cook anegg, (we like easy over). When spinach is wilted, turn mixture onto a plate,top with egg and eat. I added one strip of chopped garlic to my dish, while Ghad his on the side (not seen in photo).

This is the finished soup from last night, not the best photo...

2012-01-04T19:55:00.000-08:00

Raw ingredients (except the zuni beans and andouille sausage)

The heritage zuni beans are the ones in the front that are yellowish. The little black numbers are Beluga Lentils, and I cannot remember the name of the piebald ones on the left.

I thought I had better include a soup recipe since I put a soup picture up on facebook. This is what we had for dinner tonight - it is kind of the basic soup which I play around with. The soup pictured on face book was similar to this Winter Soup except instead of andouille sausage I put in leftover ham, instead of chicken I added halibut and prawns. Pretty much the rest of the ingredients were the same. In the case of making it a fish soup, I don't add the fish to the pot, rather, once the soup has cooked, I brown the halibut on both sides, then finish it in the oven. Meanwhile, while the halibut is cooking in the oven I quickly saute the prawns. These two ingredients get put in the soup bowls, then ladle the soup around and over the fish. Voila. The remaining soup can be eaten as is for lunches, or another dinner.

Winter Soup

This recipe is made with a stockI’ve made from roasting two whole chickens for a previous meal. There is a tonof leftover meat, which I also use in the soup, left in as large of pieces aspossible. The resulting soup has a super-chunk, hearty look to it. I used aheritage zuni bean that cooked up to a buttery soft bean that really soaked upthe flavour of garlic and bay leaf that I always add to the cooking water.

Ingredients

1 onion, diced small

2 carrots, peeled and diced small

1/3 of a large celery root, peeledand diced small

¼ head of fennel, sliced

2 heads garlic, minced

5 sticks green curly kale, stemmedand chopped

¼ head savoy cabbage, sliced

6 inches of andouille sausage,sliced

5 litres chicken stock

Couple of cups chunk-ish pieces ofcooked chicken

3 cups cooked white navy beans, orany bean of your choice

garnish with fresh, chopped parley (optional)

Preparation

Hot Pot:

Throw diced onions, carrots, celeryroot, fennel, garlic, kale, sausage, stock, chicken and beans into the cooker.Cook on high. Walk away for 3 hours…ka-pow, done, garnish and eat!

The more refined, traditional SoupPot Method:

Saute the onions and garlic untilsoftened. Add carrots, celery root, fennel, garlic, kale and sausage, stiroccasionally, cooking until the vegetables wilt. Add chicken stock, beans andchicken, bring to a simmer. Lower heat and cook for about an hour and a half oruntil the vegetables are tender. Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.

For us (as in two adults), this is our dinner. If youfeel weird just eating soup, make a salad too. I always put bread, butter,cheese and other snacky things for the kids. Better to avoid those if you can.

This makes a huge pot of soup of which we use for lunches and after school snacks for the next few days.

2012-01-03T12:56:00.000-08:00

Soup that fulfills the criteria, even though halibut is white

The 4-Hour Body– A New Year inspiration for friends and fellow bloggers

Last summer (2010) my mate read the 4-HourBody: an uncommon guide to rapidfat-loss, incredible sex and becoming super human. He wanted me to help him eathis way to weight loss. I was keen, as I was getting a little chunkymyself and it sounded like a fun way to give myself a cooking challenge…youknow, set up some perimeters, like iron chef or something.

As he described Timothy Ferriss’sfood plan I thought …hmm, sounds a lot like how I like to cook and eat anyway.But, there is no pasta in this plan, no bread (what kind of underground bakeram I?), no…and this is pure blasphemy in my books, NO CAFÉ LAIT.

But! There is red wine and cream isallowed in my coffee, so after the initial shock of becoming lait-less, webegan the new eating program in the fall. Oh yea, there is also one freeday a week were you are supposed to eat whatever you want – yes ,WHATEVER youwant! I love this. So pick a day, and on those days that you think youwill die without chocolate, or a croissant, or a lait, write it down on anotepad on the fridge. Then on your chosen day, be ready to eat all of it. Youwill likely find that like us, we eventually chilled on the list, only needingto eat one or two things rather than the works. But it doesn’t seem to matter,eat what you will on your free day, and be sure there is some fat in it. Thisfocused weekly fat consumption prevents your body from going into panic anddeciding it has to steal energy from your muscles to make fat because you havetaken away most fat sources during the rest of the week.

No surprise to Ferriss, results werepretty darn fast. And that is why I am posting about it. Many friends areinterested in eating this way, but not confident omitting certain things fromtheir usual fare while increasing beans/legumes.

What you are trying to do is avoidfoods that can be converted into sugar and thereby fat. And hey, I am noscientist, dietician or doctor – this is just how I understand Ferriss’s ideas.But if you look at a food, think about how your body is going to convert it. Isit high in sugar? Can it be converted into sugar easily? Is it high fat? If yousay yes to these things then avoid it. Of course there are exceptions. If it isfatty but very nutritious, such as an avocado, then you can eat it. In fact,Ferriss recommends eating one avocado a day. I essentially eat most vegetablesunless they are super starchy, like a potato.

The general rule is no white food(including soy beans and products, but cauliflower is fine), no processed food (nochips, no pop), no sweets (no exceptions, no honey, no maple syrup), no dairy other than cream in coffee (no milk)and perhaps a little butter in cooking, no fruit. Avoid all wheat, flours ofany sort, grains (no rice), all starches in any form (quinoa is a starch, eventhough it is high in protein). You will be eating a lot of vegetables (a saladat every meal is ideal), a normal to slight increase in protein (depending on what your consumption is already), and increase(but not huge) of legume consumption. Also, you will be eating three meals aday, so get ready those of you who don’t eat in the morning (that would be me).

Menu Planning

A few notes on how I menu plan. Iusually pick one day as a soup day, which usually follows a roast chicken day(so I can use the bones to make stock). The roast chicken meal usually consistsof two chickens for our family of four, so I can use the leftover chicken inlunches, the soup and if there is still some left, into another meal. To startthis menu, you might want to map out your week like this.

Breakfast suggestions: (these don’tneed to be big portions, one egg is fine, some days I can’t handle an egg so Ijust toss together spinach with other vegetables and some white beans that havebeen dressed with a vinaigrette – more on that later)

Easy over egg, turkey sausage, whitebeans and sautéed spinach
Sautéed kale with crumbled chorizosausage, green lentils and a poached egg (this tastes fantastic!)
Sauteed red pepper, zucchini, mushrooms,garlic, green onions served with a scrambled egg, or used to make an omelette
Refried beans, little ham, sunnysideegg, garnished with salsa, hot sauce and advocado
A vegie bean medley for one or twomornings

Remember, you only need to be preppedfor six days.

Lunches:

I make lunches with dinner leftovers,always serving the main meat over a tossed salad that includes legumes. That’s it– just cook extra dinners, and have good, sturdy containers for transportingfood. We like the glass containers with a four sided snapping closure system.Haven’t had a leak yet, and the glass is nice to heat up in a microwave and eatout of.

Dinners:

Sunday – roast chicken, mashed yams,broccoli and a big salad.
Monday – hearty chicken soup with Andouillesausage, white beans and cabbage.
Tuesday – taco salad, made with achili made up of ground beef, onions, garlic, chili powder and paste, chilies(chipotle is nice), pinch cinnamon, little chunk of bittersweet chocolate, tomato sauce (homemade ideally, more on thislater). For the kids I always have soft shell tacos that I steam up in themicrowave. Sometimes G and I cheat and eat them too as I haven’t figured out ifthey are totally taboo yet.
Wednesday – halibut, green beans,salad with legumes tossed in. For thekids I might cook up some noodles here, Asian style, to have with the fish asthey are pretty much done for the week without their pasta fix!
Thursday – this morning I will havehad vegies without eggs…then I can make a frittata for dinner with spinach,asparagus, onions and garlic and a salad on the side. I will have made aseparate one for the kids with cheese in it.
Friday – One more day to go till its“eat everything day”. A hearty seafood soup with mussels, halibut, salmon,clams and prawns, with onions, garlic, carrot julienne, finely sliced redpepper, finely sliced fennel, a shy cup of tomato sauce, and chicken stock. Forthe kids you can cook up some noodles to serve the soup over.

Tomorrow I will post some“how to prepare” bean recipes so that you can keep prepped, ready to use legumes on hand inthe fridge. This makes breakfasts and salads super easy to prepare. I will also post our workhorse salad and salad dressing recipe. I make about ml of dressing a week in advance so that it is always ready at dinner.

2011-12-20T09:29:00.000-08:00

Finished Stollen

Stollen before snowy sugar dusting

This took longer than I expected to get into cyber-land. My apologies. I am only now starting my Stollen for the family, so you too have time to sneak in a big batch before Christmas. Don't hesitate to ask me questions about the recipe in the comments section as this is the first writing - I am working through it today and may make a few adjustments to process as I go along. Love to get the feedback so as to make the recipe as workable and easy to follow as possible, especially with these multi-step recipes. I have some candy and boozy raisins/currents kicking around, so I am going to start today.

Stollen

This recipe is based on theJoy of Cooking recipe. There are some changes, such as making my own candiedfruit, adding currants, having a slightly lower butter dough ratio and usingmarzipan instead of sliced almonds. Give yourself a day and a half to make thisbread, soaking the raisins/currents overnight before you start.

Ingredients

Flavourings

1 cup raisins

1 cup currants

Rum or scotch to cover raisinsand currents – about 1 cup

½ cup chopped candied fruit

½ cup minced candied lemon ororange zest

16 oz. marzipan (20 oz. if youlove marzipan and want a really big strip of it in your bread)

Sponge

2 tablespoon dried yeast

1 ½ cups milk

3 cups flour

Dough

½ cup sugar

4 eggs

2 tablespoons vanilla

zest of 2 oranges or lemons,minced

2 teaspoons salt

3 cups flour

3/4 cup butter, softened

Preparation

1. Soak raisins and currents overnightin the rum and/or scotch

2. In the morning combine the candiedfruit with the soaked dried fruit.

3. Soften the yeast in the milk in alarge bowl. Add flour and mix until you have a dough. Let rise for about anhour and a half, or until doubled in volume.

4. Combine sugar, eggs and vanillatogether, beating well. Stir into the sponge with the zest and salt. Add theflour, stirring together until you get a messy, partially mixed dough. Turnthis floury, lumpy dough out onto a clean flat surface and knead until you havea nice smooth dough with a little spring to it – about 8 to 10 minutes. You cando this in a mixer if you have a large one.

5. Roll or press the dough out into alarge rectangular disc on the lightly floured work surface. This doesn’t haveto be perfect, it is just allowing us to incorporate the butter into the dough.Spread the soft butter over the dough, roll the dough into a jelly roll, foldit over itself and start kneading again until all the butter is incorporated andyou have a smooth, softly springy dough.

6. Spread the dough out as outlinedabove in preparation for the boozy fruit. Sprinkle the fruit over the dough,roll and fold again and knead briefly to ensure the fruit is distributedevenly. Place in a buttered bowl and let rise, covered, for 1 ½ hours, or untildoubled in size.

7. Punch the dough down, knead briefly ona lightly floured surface, then place back in the buttered bowl. Place in thefridge overnight (if you are in a rush you can also let the dough sit for a fewhours and then continue – you will not have given the dough and fruit time todevelop and marry flavours the same way that an extended sit would).

Later

8. Divide the dough into four pieces (orif you want large loaves, divide into two). Working with one ball of dough at atime, yet again, roll or press the dough into an oval-ish disc on a lightlyfloured surface. This is in preparation for rolling the dough around themarzipan filling. Let the dough rest while you divide the marzipan into 4pieces. Roll one of the pieces into a strip the same length as the flatteneddisc of dough. Place the marzipan just of center of the dough lengthwise,closest to yourself. Fold the dough over the marzipan, leaving a slight lip on the bottom jutting out - see photo below.

9. Place the dough on a cookie sheetlined with parchment. Repeat with the remaining dough. . Let rise for about ½ anhour to 45 minutes. The dough should not double in size. Meanwhile, preheat theoven to 350.

1 . Bakethe Stollen for 45 minutes for small loaves, about an hour for the large.Remove from the oven and brush with butter (or, if you have reserved thesticky, flavour drenched sugar syrup from the candied fruit – use this!).Sprinkle with powdered sugar until the bread is snowy white. Cool. Sprinklewith more powdered sugar if the top is looking spotty. Eat.

Here is the stollen folded over the marzipan, unrisen

Candied Fruit

1cup sugar

1cup honey

1½ cups water

orangezest from 4 oranges

2kiwi, sliced

1. Combine sugar, honey and water in aheavy bottomed sauce pan, preferably something that can heat and cool quickly.Aluminum clad stainless steel or lined heavy copper works well. Heat slowlyover medium-low heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Once sugarhas dissolved, increase the heat between medium to medium-high, to keep thesyrup at a steady simmer – not too hot or fierce a boil as the syrup will boilover – and simmer steady for about 8 minutes…until it reaches 235 if you wantto use a candy thermometer.

2. Add the orange zest gradually toprevent cooling the syrup. Cook the zest at the slow simmer for about 20minutes. Remove zest with a fork, trying to let any extra syrup drip off intothe saucepan before setting on to parchment paper to cool.

3. Keeping the syrup simmering, add kiwislices gradually, (same reason as mentioned above), and simmer for about 35minutes. Remove with a fork, trying to let any excess syrup drip off beforeplacing the kiwi on parchment to cool.

4. Once the zest and kiwi have cooled,let air-dry on a wire rack for a few hours.

5. To finish the candied fruit, toss thecandied orange zest in berry sugar to coat. Repeat with the kiwi. Store in atin. Use to make Christmas breads and cakes instead of that horrible stuff youbuy at the grocery store.

6. Yeilds about ½ cup chopped candiedzest and chopped kiwi (You could easily do twice as much zest with this muchsugar syrup if you need more).

CBC Almanac Visit - all about bread

2011-12-09T11:16:00.001-08:00

This first photo is my first try with a no gluten recipe. Not bad! Today I have posted four recipes: a no gluten bread, a sprouted bread, rye and Nic's Crackers - a recipe that came to me through the grapevine all the way from New Zealand! Nic, if you are listening "Thank you!!"

Run all the way to the bottom to see what I will be posting tomorrow - the final recipes for stolen, candied fruit and pizza.

NoGluten Bread

Ingredients

3cups Bob’s Red Mill blended all-purpose no-gluten flour

2teaspoons xanthan gum

1½ teaspoons tragacanth powder

1½ teaspoons gelatin

alittle salt

1½ cups water

2eggs

5tablespoons melted butter

2tablespoons honey

Little,tiny splash of white vinegar

2½ teaspoons yeast granules, dissolved in ¼ cup water with a teaspoon Bob’s RedMill flour

brownrice flour

butterfor greasing pan

Preparation

1. Blend flour, xanthan powder,tragacanth powder, gelatin and salt in a bowl.

2. Blend water, eggs, melted butter andhoney in a mixer until well combined.

3. Add flour mixer slowly to the liquidmixture, mixing well between additions. After the first addition add the yeastmixture.

4. Once all the flour has been added,beat the batter on med-high for 4 to five minutes. It will have lightenedslightly in colour.

5. Meanwhile, grease and flour a 8 by 4loaf pan.

6. Scrape the batter into the loaf pan,cover and let rest/rise for one hour in a warmish, draft-less spot in thekitchen.

7. Bake at 375 for one hour. Cover theloaf with foil half way through baking.

8. Allow the bread to cool beforeslicing.

Notes:

The recipe online was kind of confusing,(so of course I decided to use it!)not to mention I didn’t have guar guar gum.So I substituted tragacanth for it. We will see what happens. Both seem to beused to provide structure – although the tragacanth gum I usually use for mypastillage, so it isn’t cooked.

Iam assuming all these gums are the structural substitute for gluten. They guargum is legume based, while the tagacanth, while derived from a plant, is madefrom sap. Xanthan powder is derived from the fermentation of sucrose, fructoseand lactose and is used as a stabilizer – it holds other ingredients in placeor suspension. I guess this is to address the potential for the ingredients toseparate during the rising and baking process.

We shall see how my substitutions go.

The substitutions went just fine. Thebread has a very fine texture, small bubbles and a moist, kind of spongy crumb.It doesn’t bounce back like gluten bread, hence the spongy rather than springydescription. Not at all bad … there is a distinct legume-y kind of smell to it,although no one else mentioned it in the family.

So, I tried making it with rice flour....I'll talk about that on the show!

SweetRye Bread

Well,this one did not turn out as well as my last one….I think the starter is notvigorous enough yet. We will slice it thin and spread it with sweet butter andit will still taste lovely. I am going to assume that if you make this recipeyou have already made a starter. It doesn’t have to be 100% rye starter, youcan use the recipe for a standard starter.

RyePoolish (overnight batter)

240ml boiled water – cooled to body temperature

½cup rye flour

Dough

ryepoolish

200ml rye starter

120ml honey (just over a 1/3^rd of a cup)

50ml water

2¾ cup rye flour

1tsp salt

generous½ teaspoon ground cardamom

zestof one orange, minced

Preparation

1. Butter and flour a 7 inch square pan.

2. Combine rye polish, starter, honeyand water.

3. Stir in flour, salt, cardamom andzest.

4. Pour the batter into prepared pan,smooth the surface. Cover and let rise 5 to 6 hours.

5. Bake the loaf, covered with foil, for1 hour at 375. Remove the cover and bake for 30 minutes more.

6. Cool, wrap and let sit 2 days beforeserving.

SproutedWheat Bread

Approximatelyone and a half days before baking:

Soak3 cups of wheat berries 8 to 12 hours in tepid water (overnight). Drain, placein a colander lined with cotton cloth (no lint-ish fabric) or fine mesh fabric,cover with plate and set aside on another plate for 8 hours. Rinse with tepidwater, cover and set aside again for 8 hours. Rinse and look carefully at thesprouts. You want them to just start sprouting for bread making. If theyhaven’t started by now, rinse again, set aside covered for 4 more hours andcheck again. Keep checking regularly until you see the little white sprout.

Ingredients

4cups soaked, sprouted wheat berries

1/8cup tepid water

1teaspoon flour

2½ teaspoon granulated yeast

Approximately2 tablespoons water

Preparation

1. Grind soaked wheat berries in thefood processor. This can take approximately 3 to 5 minutes.

2. When the grains are approximately ½ground, (you will see the berries will be broken in half), add the yeastmixture.

3. Continue blending. Add one or twotablespoons water to help grind and create a dough. This addition of water isdependent on how wet the wheat berries were when they were put into the foodprocess. Grind the berries until a sticky, chunky coarse paste is formed thatspins into a ball. Continue processing for a few more moments – the ball canbreak back down to spread to the sides, but when it does, stop processing thedough.

4. Turn into an ungreased bowl, letrest/rise for an hour and a half.

5. After the first rise, press the doughdown, knead briefly (about 6 turns) working some more air into the dough. Shapeinto a round, place on a sheet of parchment set upon a bread/pizza peel or flatcookie sheet. Cover and let rise one to one and a half hours, or until whenpressed with one finger, the dough bounces back slowly.

6. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375.Bake the risen bread for one hour.

Nic’s Crackers

1 ½ cups flour

1 tablespoon black sesameseeds

1 tablespoon white sesameseeds

1 teaspoon dried Italian herbmix, or oregano (or one tablespoon fresh oregano, minced)

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

½ cup water

Preparation

1. Mix flour, sesame seeds, herbs andsalt together in a bowl.

2. Combine oils and water, add to dryingredients, stir to combine well.

3. Divide the dough into four. Roll eachpiece into a ball, then start rolling out at thin as you can on a lightlyfloured surface. You can roll these crackers about as thick as a sesame seed.Cut into squares, bake at 325 for 15 to 20 minutes. The crackers will be goldenbrown when ready.

Pear and blue cheese with caramelized onions


Stolen with marzipan filling and homemade candied fruit

Smart and Svelte food

2011-09-27T18:45:00.000-07:00

It has been ages since I've been here.

Got lost on facebook for awhile, playing games that let me rule my virtual world badly.

Instead, I'm going back to my online roots with a recipe.Here is a simple soup to help me stay smart and svelte. Well, I hope it helps.

Sausage, Beet and White Bean Soup

Ingredients
2 large onion, diced
2 clove garlic, minced
3 carrots, diced
1/2 head fennel, diced
1 red beet, diced
1 cup tomato sauce (I used homemade sauce, more on that later)
1/4 head of red cabbage, sliced into short pieces
2 basic sausages, cooked and sliced - turkey or pork, plain-ish, I get mine from an excellent butcher, Oyama
1 1/2 quarts chicken stock
1 tin white beans, rinsed in cold water
chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Preparation
Couldn't be easier - I literally put everything except the parsley in a slow cooker and cooked it on high for 3 hours. To serve sprinkle with some parsley - this really freshens up the flavour of the soup.

I'll speak more of the smart and svelte part later.

2010-12-05T13:13:00.000-08:00

Last night I cooked an “Underground Eats” dinner for friends. It was organized so that I came in to their home and prepared what seemed like umpteen courses for them. The appetizers were set out family style, while the soup, salad, seafood, main, ice and dessert courses were plated. Kind of went crazy on the courses when combined with the appetizers. The meal stretched out over three hours so that ideally people didn’t feel totally stuffed at the end. My friend J came over from the island with huge bunches of kale picked fresh from a local grower. She was an incredible help and because of that we were done by 8:30 pm. That has never happened before! Usually at L’s house dinner starts about that time.

Here is the menu:

To Start
Figs in a Blanket
Little Oysters
Chopped Steak, truffled
Artichokes

The Meal
Winter Squash Soup with Celeriac
Warm Kale Salad
Scallops with a Mustard Tarragon Beurre Blanc
Marcella’s Braised Lamb Shanks with Gremolada
Saffron Rissotto
Christmas Granita
Pear Tart with Hazelnuts and Cream

Cheese Platter
La Sauvagine – cows’ milk cheese from Quebec
Grey Owl – a goats’ milk cheese from Quebec
Chateau De Bourgongne – a cows’ milk cheese from France
Sila Cheddar – an eight year old, raw cows’ milk cheese from Quebec
Bleu Benedictine – a blue cows’ milk cheese from Quebec
Nuts, apples, apricots and cherries

The most cooking fun for me was working on the Pine Granita. It started with a conversation with my friend K, who does underground diners regularly, both here and on his travels. His last trip took him to the wondrous cities of Istanbul, Copenhagen and Paris. Oh yea, Toronto too. Anyway, he was talking about this Pine Granita he was working on. He had made it about four times and was trying to get the balance right. The first few times hadn’t worked. After I hung up the phone I started thinking about it, and decided I needed to have a granita on my menu.

Pine Granita
If you live in the city, you will need to go to a big public park with little car traffic and pinch some pine branches. You don’t need too much. I managed to go to the park at the one time when the parks people were the only ones in the parking lot with me, so I had to discretely break off a pine branch and shove it up my sleeve. When I got clear of the parks people I had to pull the branch out through the armpit hole of my jacket because moving my arm or the branch was excrutiating as the pine tips would dig into the tender flesh of my arms. Note to self – wear tight, long, thick sleeved fabric shirt when shoving pine branches up sleeve. Spruce was so much easier (for tea).

Here is a photo of the pine needles. The little one on the left is spruce.

Ingredients

1 generous cup pine needles cut from the stem
1 cup sugar
3 cups water

Preparation

1. Buzz the pine needles in the food processor to bruise and pound them. Or, for therapy, do it with the back of a chef’s knife. I found this to be most satisfying, until the pine needle shoot out of control all over the place, thus defeating the tension release as you relize you have to clean up the great mess you have made.
2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan start dissolving the sugar in the water set over medium heat. Stir occasionally till the sugar dissolves.
3. Drop the smashed pine needles into the hot syrup and simmer at a very slow bubble for 45 minutes. Taste for piney-ness. This sugar water ratio is quite sweet (you can reduce the sugar if you like) but for the course I was using this granita for, I wanted it dessert-like. I also wanted it quite piney. If it is not piney enough for you, simmer a little longer, or until it reaches the right flavour balance.
4. Pour into a shallow glass container and place in the freezer. Every once and awhile stir it to work the frozen crystals into the rest of the mixture. Do this every regularly until you have a slushy frozen granite. Or, you could let it freeze solid, and then for service drag your spoon over the surface so that you get thin, delicate shavings. Scoop these into a small bowl and serve.

I’m guessing this will serve 6 to 8. For my dinner I served this palate cleanser course on a small white porcelain spoon that held about a tablespoon. In that case it will serve a couple dozen.

2010-06-02T11:32:00.000-07:00

A Walk Through Silver Hills

Last week I went on a walking tour of Silver Hills Bakery. I was there to see how sprouted bread was made in large quantities. I didn't ask how many loaves they popped out a day, but there was a lot of bread there.

I concede, this first photo makes it looks like I'm advertising here. What really happened, adept photographer that I am, is that I forgot to take pictures of the bakery and the machines inside. I did take photos of the dough, they follow later.

After donning a very scientific looking lab coat and a brilliant red hair net (how come I had red and everyone else was in white or some other pale colour?) I was led into a huge room whose centre piece was a giant contraption that propelled loaves of baked bread in a massive spiral column, slowly spinning umpteen loaves upwards to cool. The smell of freshly baked bread was strangely absent considering the vast quantities embraced by various metal pans, sheeting, conveyor belts and bowls.

Sprouting wheat and making bread from it is as old as old can be imagined. Silver Hills seems to be following a very basic formula for making sprouted bread. The bread is made up of sprouted wheat (soaked) that is promptly ground, then kneaded with a few other ingredients, shaped, proofed and baked... within three hours. Its flavour reflects the speed of production. This isn't a criticism. Bread is like that. This is a good bread, chewy, healthy, a bit of crust. For such a short making/baking process, it doesn't suffer from that “yeasty” flavour that I have found at times in other fast loaves. When it is fresh it is fantastic. It doesn't have the complex, developed flavour of old world breads, but then it shouldn't, since it doesn't have the long proofs that provide time for that kind of textural and flavour complexity.

The ingredients are pretty basic: organic sprouted grain, water, organic cane juice, gluten, sea salt, yeast and citric acid. The Mack's Flax pictured had flax seed added. After going through the bakery and seeing how they made the bread I am inspired to make a sprouted bread with no commercial yeast or added sweetener that goes through a slower proofing time in hope of developing a bread that is more complex. I'm not sure about with-holding the gluten. I will try to go without, but the sprouting process may deplete the gluten/protein content of the wheat. This may effect the lightness of the bread – and one of the things I like about Silver Hills bread is how light it feels while still tasting earthy.

I brought a wide variety of bread home to try. Specifically, I was trying to see if my kids liked any of the breads. It is always a challenge for me to find a bread they like (unless it is fresh out of the oven, then they even like my heavier whole wheat breads, but only warm!). They didn't like any of them. They complained about the brown flecks in the bread. Obviously my children are spoiled, overfed and far too privileged.So its back to the old standby.

On the other hand, I quite like Silver Hills Bread. I have been told that sprouted wheat bread is easier to digest than ground wheat bread. So, I have eaten five pieces of toasted sprouted wheat bread. So far I feel fine; un-bloated, and ready to eat more. I love toast. I have been known, on occasion, to eat a whole loaf, especially if I have some really good jam and tea. And yes, I feel like crap afterwards. And no, I do not weigh three hundred pounds (although I am thickening a little around the middle these days, but I attribute that to age, and sitting too much in front of this computer).

Anyway, here are a few pictures from the bakery. The first is the grinder, mashing the sprouted wheat.

This picture is at the end of the kneading stage. Unfortunately, my pictures of the rough, freshly ground dough didn't turn out. When I grind my own at home I will include pictures of that stage. The dough went from rough, wet and shaggy to this smooth, elastic (albiet still somewhat rough do to the whole grain content), dough in under ten minutes of kneading.

A close up of the kneaded dough.

Stay tuned for my future posts as I try to make an artisian style, slow proof bread out of freshly ground sprouted wheat.

2010-05-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

A Few of My Favourite Things

I love Madelines. I don't make them often enough because G doesn't like them. In fact, many people don't because, well, essentially they are made to be stale-ish hot out of the oven. My theory why people don't like them is because when they first see the warm, dusty Venus shaped cookies they expect a soft, moist and fluffy cake like item. Instead what they get is a kind of cross between a sweet biscuit and a dryish, airy cookie. Essentially, they are pissed because although they got something toothsome, it isn't quite cake-some. And to a North American palate, seemingly stale-some.

And that is why I like them. They are not what they seem.

I suspect if you were from France, these little dainties are cake-some since the recipe is essentially a genoise; one of the mainstay cake recipes in a pastry chef's repertoire. When constructing a cake with genoise layers one usually drenches the cake layers with a sweet, boozy syrup. Perhaps that is why I like eating these cookies with a dessert wine.

When I am making Madelines, I get to use most of my favourite kitchen things. Pretty much everything you see in these photos are my tool kit of the kitchen. I don't really like to go anywhere without them. Except of course the butcher block, which I would love to take with me everywhere, but my back couldn't take it. The only thing I didn't include, although it is represented by my cup, is my coffee maker. I usually am not able to take it either – but I have a stand in plunge pot that is far more portable. Yet again, I digress.

Let me preface this recipe with a few notes. First, you have to have a madeline pan. There is something about the shape that makes one want to eat them. Even G eats them, all the while mentioning that he doesn't like them. I suspect the shell shape has some primal sexy thing going on that we can't resist. The recipe is based on the one found in Williams Sonoma Baking Book, (2009). I have made little changes, mostly for convenience and to accommodate my own little quirky habits.

For example, I used whole eggs instead of two eggs and two egg yolks because I have way too many bags of egg whites stacking up in my freezer. A friend of mine (Little Red Hen, organizational monarch of the kitchen!) taught me how to save egg whites in a space-economic way – put them in zip lock bags, label them, (this is key to their economic usefulness. I am always saving them without labelling them, telling myself I'll remember. Yea, right.), press out any excess air and freeze them on a cookie sheet or some such thing that is flat and level in the freezer (another challenge in this house). Then, once frozen you can save dozens of these sheets of egg whites in a very small amount of space. Until, of course, you have saved so many that they overtake the space. Hence...I am using whole eggs.

Madelines

3 eggs
¾ cup white (death) sugar
½ lemon zest, minced
splash vanilla
1 ¼ cup flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder – Ok, I'm going to fess up here, I use two pinches, or a shy half of a little silver spoon that I really like (thanks Silver Fox!), depending on my mood.
½ cup melted butter

Preparation

Melt butter, melting a little extra so you can pour it off into another container and use it for the Madeline pan.

Butter and flour Madeline pan.

Break eggs into a mixer bowl, and beat with the sugar for three to five minutes (I generally wander off and do the rest of the prep while this is going on), until the egg sugar mixture has doubled in volume and looks thick and creamy.

If you don't have a mixer, rustle up some children to do beating duty. You will need quite a few...they tire or get bored with such a mundane job...that, or they eat too much of the eggy-sweetness and totally ruin your flour to egg mixture ratio. I highly recommend a mixer over children).

Add the lemon zest and vanilla to egg mixture, stir.

Add the flour, stir in using the whisk attachment until just mixed. Then stir in the melted butter using the whisk attachment until just mixed. If necessary, give a quick scrape with a rubber spatula to mix any residue from the sides.

Scoop a heaping tablespoon full of batter into each Madeline mould.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 375, or until just browned on the edges and spring back when lightly touched. The more you brown the Madelines, the more toothsome and less cake like they will be. I prefer them a little browned, like in the pictures. I tried some that were just cooked and pale...they were more cakey, but did not have the nut like flavour that comes from letting the Madelines brown a bit. Warning: they brown fast, so don't walk away near the end of baking time. Don't take phone calls, don't blog.

This is a photo of the second batch being measured out. I have included it because the batter changes dramatically from when you first scooped it out. Just didn't want you to startle; the butter has hardened up a bit now and the batter will feel more foam like (in a firmish kind of way). It is ok, the batter will smooth out when it hits the heat of the oven.

Remove from the pan while still warm, cool on rack.

Meanwhile, brush out the recently used pan with a dry cloth, then re-butter and flour. Repeat this procedure after each batch. Continue baking.

You can dust the Madelines with icing sugar just before serving – although I just eat them as is. Great with tea, also great with dessert wine. Nice foil to biscotti if you are serving them with wine after dinner. We don't do that much around here these days, but if I was, I would do both so that there was a nice combination of textures on the plate and in the mouth.

2010-03-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

Pizza

I was happy to discover when I was in Toronto last month that J and S also celebrate the end of the week with pizza. I made them (actually, I think I sat at the counter with a glass of wine and directed!) a pear, caramelized onions, walnuts and blue cheese combo, which I believe is the pizza pictured here, except this one has pine nuts on it. Pecans also taste good with the pears and cheese.

Unfortunately, upon arriving in TO I discovered my camera was broken, so I couldn't take any food (or baby) pictures while there. Did have some fabulous meals of which I will post menus/recipes for in the near future - mr. anchovy, I have not forgotten that I am to post the Tenderloin with local “Forrester Sauce” recipe. Having not measured anything for that dinner, I have to recreate it here so I can get the figures right. Although...not having those lovely local mushrooms will make for a slightly different sauce here. I guess I'll just have to use morels or chanterelles.

Thanks everyone for your wonderful hospitality! I love Toronto!
And that is saying something, coming from one who dwells in lotus land. Which reminds me, you really should consider coming out here, if only to come and eat with us.

Pizza Dough (given to me by Silver Fox many years ago. It comes from one of Alice Waters cookbooks I think)

Ingredients
4 teaspoon yeast
3 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
½ cup rye flour
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup olive oil
1/8 cup milk
1 ½ cups water

Preparation
Combine flours yeast and salt in a bowl large enough for all the ingredients. In a large measuring cup measure off water, then oil, then milk. Stir well and dump into the flour mixture. Stir until a mess of a dough, kinda stringy and lumpy at the same time.

Dump out onto a clean surface that has been sprinkled lightly with flour. Knead in to a smooth ball. This could take a few minutes. I don't knead pizza dough a full 10 minutes or so like I would with bread. Rather I get it into a nice enough dough, let it rest for an hour, then knead it again for a few minutes. Let it rest ten more minutes. Divide dough into four of five pieces, depending on whether you like your crusts thin, thin, thin (go for 5) or medium, (go for 4). If you like a deeper crust, by all means, divide the dough into three.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. When your dough has reached your desired thickness transfer dough on to the pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal. Apply your assorted toppings. Kids favourite – tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and parmesan. My favourite is the pear, G's favourite – meat, meat, meat, with some cheese.

Getting ready for a pizza cook off.

Flour shaker and cornmeal shaker. The flour shaker gives an even amount of flour over my work surface and the old fashioned parmesan cheese/chili pepper shaker keeps the cornmeal from sticking to my fingers – a most irritating thing, that.

2010-02-25T14:52:00.000-08:00

Banana Bread

Banana bread is such a comfort food. I may have already included this recipe years ago on this blog, but it deserves a second go. The recipe comes from a very well used book (see photo below), called Classic Home Dessert's by Richard Sax. This bread is really more a cake, quite sweet but very good. Sax suggests icing it with a frosting, while I prefer to pour a thickish chocolate glaze (made of melted bitter sweet chocolate and warmed heavy cream) over the it, especially when catering. I prefer the clean taste of the ganache over the chocolate frosting muddied with icing sugar. At home we usually just eat it as is, or occasionally, stir into the batter just before baking great chunks of bitter sweet lindt chocolate.

Ingredients

2 ¼ cups cake flour, (I use all purpose flour – it gives the cake/bread a little more structure)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
¾ cup mashed ripe banana (about two)
¼ plus two tablespoons yogurt (I add enough to make a generous one cup measure when the yoghurt is added to the banana)

Preparation

Grease (with butter) and flour a large loaf pan (mine is a 10” by 3” - ish) or full sized bundt pan. Or line 24 muffin cups with liners, or grease and flour them.

Cream the butter till smooth. Add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy.

Meanwhile:
In a mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir well with a whisk until mixed.
Mash up banana in a 1 cup glass measuring cup, add the yoghurt and stir well to combine.

Add the eggs, one at a time, to the butter mixture, blending well and scraping the sides of the bowl before adding the next egg. When all three eggs have been incorporated, add the vanilla, mix well.

Add half the banana/yoghurt and half the flour mixture to the butter, stir to combine. Then add the remaining banana/yoghurt and flour mixture, stir to combine. Spoon into the greased pan, bake at 350 for about 45 to 50 minutes, depending on the shape of the pan you have chosen to bake the bread in. If you are baking muffins, bake for about 15 minutes. The bread/cake is done when you press the top of the highest part of the bread softly and it springs bake to the touch.

Last Bite

2010-01-04T14:19:00.000-08:00

There is only one recipe - to care a great deal for the cookery.
Henry James

I would add to this:

There is only one way to eat - fully and completely.

Happy New Year everyone. Here is to getting back in the saddle.

Hark, do I hear a whisper of a resolution in the air. I doubt it.

2009-01-31T09:57:00.000-08:00

The Pigs Foot and Other Courses
Warning - this post will not be to everyones taste.

Well, my friend K and I finally pulled it together; A dinner based on Le Pied du Conchon. It all started with a phone call.

K - "I got it. Got it at a really good price."

Me - " Really? But is it enough?"

K - "Its fuckin' huge, more than enough."

Me - "OK, who are we gonna invite"

K - "Its gotta be the right kinda people. Everyone has to be into it."

This is it. (FOOD ALERT - some people hate this kind of thing...in this neck of the woods, people picket your house or restaraunt, throw nasty things at you or stalk you for selling or consuming it. So for those of you who are put off by foie gras, perhaps go check out Alenia at Home today. Its a fun blog written by someone who is cooking recipes out of the cookbook of the same name - from Chicago based restaurant of the same name.The last two posts have not contained fattened duck liver, but the second last post is pretty funny on cooking with cigars.)

Actually, this is only half of a foie gras liver, the other half has been stuffed into the Duck in a Can. More about that later.
Foie gras really is a strange food. More the consistancy of butter than than meat. It has been many years since I have worked with it and I really couldn't remember much about handling it. I was trying to clean it up before slicing it and it CRACKED - very frustrating, not to mention a little weird. It was too cool to be worked with, although likey the temperature was perfect for slicing.

But I get ahead of myself. Lets start with the menu. I should stress here that this food, although fairly sophisticated in preparation, is rustic in presentation. Very hard for an unprofessional photographer to make look beautiful. They do a much better job in the book! But don't judge the taste by the look. These dishes taste amazing. My favorite is the un-photogenic Duck in a Can. I cannot wait to eat this fantastically sloppy, fatty, rich dish again.

Rustic Tart with Duck, Goat Cheese and Sour Cherries

Stuffed Pigs Feet with Foie Gras

Duck in a Can

Green Bean
Salad
Lemon Tart

My friend K made the Stuffed Pigs Feet, and he has all the photos. I will have to post the preparation of those another time.
I was responsible for Duck in a Can. The handy thing about this recipe is that you can make it in advance and (Sacre bleu! Martin Picard will strike me dead if he reads the following) I think it would still taste incredible without the foie gras. Here is the recipe.

DUCK IN A CAN

The Can
100 g (3 1/2 oz.) slice of foie gras, 2 1/2 cm (1 inch)thick
1/2 duck magret ( I think this is a typo - I think they forgot to write duck breast)
150 ml (2/3 cup)embeurree de chou (buttery cooked cabbage)
1 head roasted garlic
1 sprig thyme
25 ml (2 T) balsmaic vinegar meat glaze

In a skillet, sear the foie gras on boht sides until nicely coloured and then season to taste. Remove from heat immediately to stop cooking. Set the foie gras aside and keep cool.
Cut the magret to separate the skin and fat from the meat, being careful to keep the skin attached to the meat on one side. Season with salt and pepper. Insert the cold foie gras between the fat and the flesh of the magret.
Pour the meat glaze into the bottom of a can or 500 ml mason jar. Place the stuffed magret in the centre with the skin against the inside of the can or jar. Fill the remaining space with the embeurree di chou and the sprig of thyme. Finish by squeezing the roasted garlic out onto the contents. Seal the can or jar. (I stored my cans of duck for two days in the fridge)Here they are stacked and ready to cook. My appologies folks, I forgot to take pictures of the actual preparation.

PDC Embeurree de chou (Buttery Cooked Cabbage)
1 large Savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 head garlic, peeled and chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced (I cut mine into longish strips)
200 gms (7 oz.) slab bacon, cut into 5 mm (1/4 inch) lardons
100 gms (3 1/2 oz.) butter
3 sprigs thyme
salt and pepper

In a sucepan, sweat the vegtables (except the cabbage) in the butter along with the lardons, cooking until nicely coloured. Then add the cabbafe and cook over medium hear for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Continue cooking in the oven at 175 (350 F) until cabbage is soft. (I just continued cooking on the stove on low with a lid) Season to taste. Set aside to cool.
Some of this preparation will not be used. Keep it refridgerated for another purpose. (After stuffing the cans, I ate whatever was left immediatly)

Celeriac Puree
I celeriac (celery root)
100 ml (1/2 cup) 35% m.f. cream
30 ml (2 T)nut oil
salt

Peel and chop the celeriac and cook it in boiling salted water. Puree it in a mixer or food processor, gradually adding th ecream until the mixture is smooth. Slowly mix in the nut oil. Add salt. Set aside.

Balsamic Vinegar Meat Glaze
250 (1 cup) 4 year aged balsamic vinegar
125 ml (1/2 cup) venison stock
25 g (2 T) butter
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
salt

In a saucepan, sweat the onions in the butter, allowing them to caramelize slightly. Deglaze with balsamic vinegar and reduce the mixture by more than one half.
Add the venison stock and reduce until the glaze is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add salt. Stir the cold butter into the hot glaze.
You should have about 150 (2/3 cup) of glaze.

Final Cooking and Preparation
Cook the Duck in a Can for exactly 27 minutes in a large pot of boiling water.

Let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Toast a 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick piece of bread to make a crouton. Cover the crouton with the hot celeriac puree.

Turn the Duck in a Can upside down onto the puree.

(Yes, this is one hot mess - but it tastes unbelievably good. Be sure to take a bite that includes a little of everything, so that you get that "eyes roll to the back of the head" feeling.)

Serve, Raising a glass to your health and your hard work.

FOOTNOTE
The Rustic Tart tasted great, too. (Pardon me if I compliment myself a little) The pastry is from Au Pied de Conchon, and the filling was influenced by Martin in that after making the rich pastry, recipe follows, I spread a cold bechamel sauce over the dough as part of the filling:

Pie Dough
225 gm (8 oz.) cold butter
275 gm (1 2/3 cup) all purpose flour
70 ml (1/3 cup) cold water
pinch fine salt

Cut butter into 2 cm cubes. Mix the flour, salt and butter togethr by hand or in food processor. Some small pieces of butter should remain in the flour mixture. They will help the pastry cook to perfection.
Add water and form a dough roll without working the pastry too much. Leave to rest in the refrigerator at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile, heat on low until most of the liquid is absorbed, two handfulls of dried sour cherries and a few glogs of port. Don't boil!!! Just heat to speed up the absorption time. If you are really organized, you would have soaked the cherries overnight. Strain the cherries just before sprinkling on to tart. Drink remaining port (the port will taste better if you had soaked over night!).

I used Martins method of making the base layer of the tart out of bechamel sauce, except it was cheese sauce that was kicking around in my fridge.

Roll patry out to about 1/8 of an inch thick.
Spread the middle with a thin-ish layer of bechamel sauce, leaving about 2 1/2 inches of pastry edge clear of bechamel. Lay out paper fine sheets of duck prosciutto over the bechamel. Sprinkle with chunks of cold goat cheese (so that it crumbles easily). Then sprinkle over this the cherries.
Fold the bare edges of the tart shell over the filling. Bake at 375 F until golden brown. Cool slightly to serve.

If you can't find duck prosciutto, you could use the traditional Italian ham version. It will be stringy compared the duck imitation. I got the duck prosciutto from a place on Granville Island called Oyama.

2008-10-21T21:18:00.000-07:00

Autumn Market

This is a photo post, snapshots from the Riley Park Farmers Market.

Look at those beautiful purplish tomatoes in the back corner. Actually...now that I look closely I realize they looked more purple in real life...they look murkier in the photo.

I roasted some of these carrots with beets, potatoes, acorn squash, peeled garlic, yam and apple, all diced up smallish and tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh rosemary, then roasted for about an hour. They were a little brown and crusty on the edges and creamy sweet inside. Made a huge tray of it and what we didn't eat immediately I saved and tossed into salad greens with a few nuts for crunch.

I love the markets in the fall. These photos were taken a few weeks ago. We haven't seen that kind of brilliant sunlight since.
The heirloom tomato plant given to me this summer yeilded up five, (yes, you read correctly) lovely little yellow tomatoes. Thanks Leanne - if you are reading this - it may have been a small crop, but it was a tasty one.

2008-10-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

Viva Las Vegas

Snacks at the Hard Rock

Well, after being duly reprimanded, or perhaps challenged, by mr. anchovy saying "blogging is done because of obsessive or disciplined behavior" (or something along those lines) I feel I must post. I am still exhausted from three days in the company of my sister, niece and a thwack of unruly friends.

I cannot say the food I had in Vegas was stellar. Mind you, in that town you only get the best if you are willing to pay for it. I would have to say the best meal/snack I had was at the Hard Rock Hotel. Technically speaking the food was just ok. But the cabana....loved it. You could have served me hard tack with my cocktails and I would have been thrilled. Even if it was bloody cold, (not the food, the weather). We considered just camping out in the cabana.

I can't go to a wedding and not post a picture of the happy couple. They both looked fabulous.

2008-06-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

First Day of Summer Holidays

And we are celebrating with Pancakes.

1 1/2 cups flour of your preference. I usually blend unbleached white and spelt.
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 plain yogurt
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat a griddle or frying pan on medium or medium-low.

1. In a medium sized bowl combine flour, baking soda and sugar and stir well with a wire whisk.

2. In a two cup liquid measuring cup measure yogurt and milk, then beat in the eggs and melted butter.

3. Stir the liquid gentley and quickly into the flour mixture. Be sure not to over-stir. This means that you may have bits of flour undisolved and lumping within the mixture. This is ok, see the photo to give yourself an idea of what it should look like.

4. Spoon batter on to the lightly oiled, preheated griddle. When bubbles appear on the damp surface of the pancake, turn to finish cooking the other side. Do not flip your pancakes more than once as this will toughen them.

5. Serve immediately with your favorite fixin's. Our include the classic maple syrup, and or strawberries with thick cream or yogurt- especially at this time of year!

2008-05-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

And Now For Something Completely Different In Reading Material

On the cookbook front I have the album Au Pied de Cochon, which I have been wanting to test and review for some time now. It is not to every one's taste or philosophy, which makes it all that more interesting to ponder. For those not familiar with the Montreal institution, Anthony Bourdain captures it best.

" A one man Dionysian orgy of my favorite things ... a completely unrestrained in-your-face feast of crispy duck fat, unctuous duck livers, moist flavourful blood sausages, marrow-filled bones, tender, lovingly slow-cooked birds, stuffed rabbit, sumptuous and hearty stews - and always: pork, pork, pork - in all its fatty, crispy, and inspiring glory." He has "his own madly enthusiastic signature takes on Quebecois sugar-shack staples like poutine, heaping thick slabs of melting foie gras, foie gras sauce and foie gras fat on the already artery-clogging goodness of hand-cut frits, demi-glace and fresh curds."
As you can see, the book and restaurant has the potential to be unpopular with some folks. Myself, I am looking forward to trying out the recipes, and would love to experience Martin Picard's enthusiasm in person. I don't like to eat slabs of foie gras for the simple reason that I get full so fast from all the richness. But if prepared perfectly I enjoy it. Thankfully my friends who are better human beings allow me my occasional forays into the forbidden. You can be sure the politically correct will not be invited to the recipe testing feast coming up this summer!

OK, I am a tinge troubled by my enthusiasm in looking forward to eating foie gras. Perhaps this calls for a post on how it produced. For now I will provide two articles on foie gras production. The first is on production in France. The smallish farm produces goose foie gras, and the article is from the perspective of someone who eats foie gras. The second is from an animal rights group. Foie gras production is not for the squeamish.

2008-05-05T08:56:00.000-07:00

Books for Thoughts on Food

I have got quite a substantial reading list for this summer...although no summer novels yet. Any suggestions?
Perhaps I should finish Don Quixote. Candy and * were reading it last year, so I thought I would give it a go yet once again. Got as far as the windmills, perhaps a little further. I have noticed that everyone talks about the windmills whenever they mention the novel. I believe the reason the windmills are referred to so often is that no one actually reads any further than the bloody windmills.
That said, I am determined to finish it, so voila, another book on the list.
So far the list looks like this:

Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism WARNING: This is an unpleasant clip. If you want to stick to light food topics, skip it, if you want to think about food globally and politically, then the idea of Klein's "shock doctrine" goes hand in hand with it.
Stuffed and Starved Here is a clip of Patel talking about biofuels, the contradiction of too many fat and too many thin people, and trade policies related to food.
Don Quixote
The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Coutries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It
Extraordinary Evil

2008-04-24T08:56:00.000-07:00

Rustic Cheese Souffle

I love cheese souffles. Before starting, I always think they are going to be a complete pain to make, and then surprised at how quickly the souffle gets into the oven. I also like using up all scraps of cheese found at the bottom of the cheese drawer.
I almost always make extra Bechamel or Cheese sauce to 1) tempt the kids to eat more broccoli 2) use it to top a moussaka or lasagna later in the week. Here is the description of the classic Bechamel from Herrings Dictionary of Classical and Modern Cookery.

Bechamel: white roux moistened with milk, seasoned with salt; a larded onion added, boiled, strained. May be improved with cream.

Here is the cheese sauce.
Mornay: Bechamel sauce beaten with butter, mixed with grated Parmesan and Swiss cheese. May be bound with egg yolks before butter is added.

Here is my recipe for Cheese Sauce.
This is the most time consuming element of the souffle. Having it on hand in the fridge can speed up getting dinner on the table.
Depending on what I am going to use the sauce for, I usually make it thicker than I would for pouring as it can always be thinned for a pouring sauce, but needs to be thicker for souffles and pouring over the top of casseroles like moussaka.

4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk, plus extra for thinning later
1/2 an onion, with a bay leaf skewered to the outer skin with 2 cloves
a few pinches salt
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
white pepper to taste
a tiny pinch of cayenne or hot paprika
1 1/2 cups (or a little more) assorted cheese, with old cheddar being the highest proportion

1. In a medium sized, thick bottomed saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter and dump in the flour. Stir often until the flour mixture gets a sandy texture and lightens in colour.
2. Add the milk slowly while whisking continuously with a wire whisk. Continue stirring until with the whisk until sauce thickens. Reduce heat to low and add the onion.
3. Let simmer on low for 10 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon often to keep the sauce from browning on the bottom. Taste the bechamel. You want to taste just a hint of onion and bay leaf and no trace of flour. Remove the onion if you are pleased with the flavour.
4. Add salt, pepper, cayenne or paprika and mustard to taste, keeping in mind that you still have the cheese to add. If I don't have old cheddar cheese I add a little extra mustard to punch up the flavour abit. Stir in the cheese with a wooden spoon. Use as soon as the cheese is melted.
Note: I don't always add the onion, bay leaf and clove - although I love the flavour, and I also love how the onion looks with the bay leaf attached to it. The reality is that I don't always have time for the extra step...well, in all honesty, its not only time, its just laziness. The souffle does not suffer from the lack of it.

Rustic Cheese Souffle
The rustic part just means dump the batter into any buttered and breadcrumbed oven proof container you can find. I have used saucepans, fry pans, bowls and in this case a low brimmed casserole.

1 cup cheese sauce, above
an extra handful of grated cheese scraps
4 eggs, separated

Preheat the oven to 375.
1. Stir the cheese scraps and egg yolks into the slightly cooled cheese sauce.
2. Beat the egg whites into soft peaks, (try not to beat them into crusty, dryish peaks, they don't fold in so nicely), then fold into the cheese sauce mixture. Using a balloon whisk which you may have used to beat the egg whites are an easy way to keep the souffle batter airy.
3. Pour into a generously buttered and breadcrumbed dish that can accommodate the rise of the souffle. It usually doubles in size before deflating when you plunge the serving spoon into the cumulus of egg.
Bake at 375 oven for about 20 to 35 minutes, depending on how deep your dish is. My shallow dish takes around 25 minutes. Eat right away.

The salad in the photo is Arugula, Caramelized Onions with Sage, Goat Cheese, Pecans and a Lemon Vinaigrette. It was really, really good! (the onions were leftovers)

2008-04-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

Here is information I should have included with the photos. They are 9 of 24 families photographed for the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats. This link has a good description of the book. Here is a link to the article in Time where you will find a few more family photographs than posted here.

2008-04-18T11:46:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,
Wrote my last exam yesterday and am so happy to be back blogging rather than my books. A friend of mine sent me this little visual study on what some folks eat. The idea was for each family to present all the food and drink they consume in one week.

Food for thought.

Italy : The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11

Germany : The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07

United States : The Revis family of North Carolina.
Food expenditure for one week $341.98

Mexico : The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1, 862.78 Mexican Pesos or $89.09

Poland : The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27

Egypt : The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53

Ecuador : The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55

Bhutan : The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03

Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23

2007-11-18T10:10:00.001-08:00

Keep the Love Alive
Alright, now just keep feeding your little starter everyday or second day for as long as you can, repeating the procedure of 1/4 cup starter, 3 tablespoons water and 2/3 cup flour (discarding or baking with the remaining starter)kneaded into a stiff dough.
I have made bread from my starter and was pleasantly surprised by the results. (I am eating it right now, and I would be in such trouble if any in the house knew I was eating shattering bread crust bread while over the keyboard)
Sorry Glezer, for some reason I wasn't confident about how well the starter and bread recipe would work. And lord knows, I did not follow the recipe exactly near the end...I over proofed the bread by about 10 hours, (had wine with dinner thereby letting the dough rise overnight!) but because the starter was a little slow, the dough only deflated slightly when I put it on the baking stone.
I will write the rest of the recipe tonight.
Really wish I had pictures to post of my loaf.

2007-11-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

That's It For The Starter
Alright, I fed the starter again, made it into a very stiff dough using the same process as the last. This weekend I'll test its mettle and make some bread.
So sorry there have been no pictures. The new camera that we bought to replace the broken one has mysteriously vanished. Bit of a concern since it cost more than the last. How does one lose a new camera? We hadn't even taken it out of the house yet.
Considering someone just stole our car stereo in the middle of the day in the Science World parking lot, I have the horrible feeling that someone stepped in the door and snitched it under our noses.
Vancouver has a ridiculous level of small crime. Actually, its not too shabby on organized crime either.

2007-11-12T10:58:00.000-08:00

Feeding Time
Last night I fed the Glezer starter again. All you need to do is repeat the last step...reserve 1/4 cup of starter, (discard the rest)add 3 tablespoons water, stir to dissolve and then add 2/3 of a cup unbleached flour. Knead to a stiff dough and let sit covered for one to two days.
I did get a very faint greying of the skin on the starter. Perhaps if I had let the starter ferment the full 48 hours it would have gotten darker. Since we only use a fraction of the starter, I just made sure I used the fresh looking sponge from the middle of the dough. It didn't smell particularly bad, just a little sour-ish.
I am addicted to the Free Rice site. Even the kids are on it.

2007-11-11T19:28:00.000-08:00

FREE RICE!!!!
Alright everyone, check this out!

2007-11-10T14:01:00.000-08:00

Feeding Time Already!
Looked at my starter this morning and thought ' hmm, if this was my recipe it would be ready to be fed again." But it isn't my recipe.
I have waited until at least 24 hours have gone by, (ok, I think its been 20), but I think this starter needs to be fed. This morning it was still domed with tiny bubbles that I could hear crackling just a little when I pulled off the lid of the glass bowl.
The starter is now a slightly deflated, flattened mass that smells a little skanky in a fairly inoffensive way. So I shall continue with Glezer's instructions. Keep in mind that I have not gone the two days as she has mentioned in her recipe.
I still have not gotten a grey skin on top of the starter like one of the listers to the Almanac show managed to grow...that is still puzzling me. I'm still standing by my hunch to that the problem - mould in the flour.
The Fifth Day, Third Starter
1/4 cup fermented starter
3 tablespoons lukewarm water
2/3 cup unbleached bread flour
Measure the amount of fermented starter you need and discard the rest. Dissolve it in the water then add the flour and mix into a fairly firm dough. Tightly cover with plastic wrap and let the dough ferment until it is sticky and slightly expanded, one to two days.
After a day, the starter will appear not to be fermenting at all. But if you smell it, it will smell very sour, and if you pull it open with floured fingers. it will be very gooey, extensible and riddled with tiny air bubbles.

2007-11-09T16:14:00.000-08:00

It's Feeding Time
This starter of Glezer's is quite different from others I have tried. I was sure nothing was happening, but after numerous pokes and sniffs, I decided it was time to give my little mound of rye starter its first "feed". By the end of day two it had changed from a sticky pile of flour and water to a slightly flattened, mud-like consistency. When I gently pulled a fork across the surface it made an almost crinkling sound. Ahhhh, the sound of tiny air-bubbles.
I should say that Glezer suggests that the starter should "bubble up, smell and look awful". All things being relative my version looked and smelled pretty dam good. Perhaps Glezer just hasn't been subjected to the plethora of truly foul, neglected starters that those who live with me can attest to. (All in the name of science, or baking, I say.)

The Third Day: Mixing the second starter
2/3 cup unbleached white flour
Mix the flour into the first starter, forming a firm dough and transfer it to a clean nonreactive container. Cover it tightly with plastic wrap and let it ferment for one or two days. When it is very sticky and riddled with tiny bubbles, it is ready to refresh. It will have very little aroma and will not rise very much, if at all.

2007-11-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

Here is a question I received shortly after the Almanac Show. The listener was having trouble with a starter from Maggie Gleezer’s book Artisan Baking.
The listener writes; “At each stage the starter developed a grey, mouldy-looking crust on top. Each time I refreshed it I removed the crust but it developed again after two days. At the end of two weeks (about six or seven refreshings) the starter still didn’t rise much so I gave up and threw it out. Is the grey on top normal? Does it mean there is unwanted bacteria in the starter?”
One of the best tricks I have learned about starters...I think it was from Reinharts book, is that when you refresh a starter, you need to have a small ratio of starter to the flour water ratio. If there is too much starter it grows to quickly and literally eats all the "food" you have provided with the flour and water. So I started adding cups of water and flour to my starters, then having way too much starter kicking around my fridge. So now I use a tablespoon or two of starter for a cup of flour and water. It always seems easier for me to turn this into a larger starter over a day or two rather than be discarding cups and cups of the frothy stuff everyday....I don't have many friends who want their own starters. But don't try storing starter in the tablespoon quantities. Always have about a cup (or more) made. If you have made it fresh, give it an hour or so at room temperature to get the yeast and enzymes a good start...I always picture them as eating, and they can't have a good feed if they start cold. Store that in the fridge if you aren't using it and then refresh it at least once, (three times seems to be the magic number for a nice vigorous starter, but I always use it after the first feeding because I am not thinking three refreshings ahead of time in my life right now!)
The other question regarding bad bacteria...hmm. I've only had starters go mouldy from neglect. If I refresh them regularly they have not gotten mouldy. Greyish, yes. I wonder if there could have been mould in the flour.
I am not sure if the above information will solve the listeners problem, so I am going to make the starter my self.
This starter takes seven to fourteen days to make, and I will write the recipe down in pieces…starting with day one right now.
The First Day
Mixing the First Starter
½ cup water, lukewarm
¾ cup whole rye flour
Mix the water and rye in a nonreactive bowl and tightly cover it with plastic wrap, or transfer it to a sealed glass or plastic jar. Let stand for about two days. It should bubble up, smell and look awful, and then subside. At this point it is ready to refresh.
Well, I’m off to start the starter. I’ll be back in two days to let you know if it got the grey, mouldy-looking skin.

Great question! and thanks for listening to the show,

2007-10-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone, and a special welcome to those of you new to the underground baker blog. I have posted the recipes for today's CBC Almanac Show faster than usual so listeners can peruse them if they are so inclined. I took a ton of pictures while baking, but am having trouble getting them online. So, if there are no photos on this visit, come back a little later and I should have them up.
If you have any questions, feel free to put them under "comments" and I will get to them as soon as I can.
Recipes not included in today's list (for Starters and Barms) can be found by going back to the previous Almanac Show found on the side bar.

Apple Pecan Bread

This loaf takes two and a half to three days to make, although the work is minimal. All the time is dedicated to the rise.

Ingredients

Sponge:
1 ¾ cup water
2/3 cup barm
2 T milk
1 T maple syrup
2 cups whole wheat flour
¼ cup dark rye flour
¼ t salt

Dough:
¾ cup water
1 t maple syrup
1 T salt
4 cups unbleached white flour
The Sponge
2 T walnut oil
3 cups pecans, lightly toasted and cooled
1 cup roughly diced apple

A few handfuls of unbleached white flour for kneading

Day one: Making the Sponge, (I usually start around 5 pm)
•Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well until you have a sloppy but smooth batter. Scrape the sides down with a rubber spatula, wrap with plastic and let sit at room temperature until bubbles form and a few pop. This takes up to 5 hours, depending on how vigorous the barm.
•Place in a refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours. (I do this just before I go to bed)
Day Two: Making the Dough
•In the morning, combine in a 4 qt + mixer bowl or large standard bowl for mixing by hand, the water, maple syrup and salt and mix well. Add the Sponge and flour, mixing with the dough hook for a machine, and stirring heartily by hand until a shaggy dough has formed. For those using a mixer, continue kneading in the machine for about 5 minutes. (The dough is a bit wet, so will cling to the side of the bowl more than other bread doughs) If kneading by hand, turn out on to a floured surface and knead anywhere from 6 to 8 minutes. (Alright, a moment of honesty. I admit, I don’t actually time myself…I knead until it feels right, but I have kept a glancing eye at the clock on occasion and it rarely takes 10 minutes to knead a dough that has such long proofing times)
•Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic and let proof for 8 to 12 hours in a cool place.
Day Three: Finishing the Bread
If you are using a baking stone, sprinkle two peels or cookie sheets with a generous amount of cornmeal. You want the cornmeal to work like ball bearings between the sheet and the bread. The stickier the bread dough, the more meal you need.
•If you are using cookie sheets to bake on, you won’t need to use as much cornmeal as the bread will pull away from the sheets as it bakes.
•The dough should be almost double in size. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in two and shape each half into a round loaf by flattening the ball slightly, then pulling an edge into the center and pressing it into the center of the loaf. (firmly, but not so hard that you flatten the dough – remember, you are trying to make a ball) Place the ball of dough smooth side up on your prepared pans.
•Repeat with the second piece of dough.
•Let dough rise for about 2 hours or until almost doubled in size. Meanwhile, about an hour into the rising time, preheat your oven to 400. If possible have a rack under the one you will be baking on and place a shallow pan on it that you can pour water into when you have put you bread in the oven to bake. The water will create a swoosh of steam that will improve your bread. Measure out a cup of water and put it beside the stove.

•When the bread is almost ready to go in the oven, slash it with a very sharp knife in a criss cross pattern, or what ever you choose. Pop it in the oven and immediately pour your reserved water into your very hot pan below the bread. You may want to have oven mitts on for this. Close the oven door right away and bake the bread for 50 minutes, or until the interior registers 200 on an instant read thermometer.
•Cool the bread on wire racks.

Buttermilk Buns
My Grandmother gave me all of her recipes some time ago, and this is one of them. I have changed it slightly. Originally it called for dried potato flakes, which I have omitted, instead using cooking water from potatoes from if I have it, and switching buttermilk for milk. Sweet and fluffy they remind me of Sunday dinners at Nesta’s.

Ingredients

1 cup scalded milk
1 ½ cups cooled potato water
2/3 cup melted butter
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ teaspoon salt
6 cups flour
1 tablespoon granulated yeast
melted butter for glazing

Preparation
•Combine milk, potato water, melted butter, sugar, eggs and salt in a bowl.
•Combine 5 ½ cups of flour with yeast in a 4 quart bowl. Pour the liquid ingredients into the flour and stir with a sturdy spoon until a shaggy mass has formed. Pour this future dough onto a floured surface and fold/knead the mass to a smooth ball. Use the reserved flour for this. If the dough is too sticky add a bit more flour. Dough with this much butter in it usually pulls away from a lightly floured surface more easily than dough with no fat content.
•Roll the dough in a buttered 4-quart bowl, cover with plastic and let rise at room temperature for two hours.
•Grease 2-12 cup muffin pans generously with butter.
•Punch dough down and form into a ball. Divide the dough in half and set aside, covered. Roll the first ball of dough into a log and divide into 12 pieces. Divide each of these pieces into 3, and roll these little pieces into balls.

Roll the little balls by kneading with the fingertip, then pinching the underside together to make the top of the round nice and smooth.
Place in the well buttered cup of the muffin pan. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
•Let the dough rise for 2 hours, then bake in a preheated 375 oven for 15 to 20 minutes. The buns should be golden and brown. If they brown too fast, turn the oven down by 25 degrees.
•Cool on a wire rack, if you can.

Potato Rosemary Bread

Ingredients

4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, steamed, cooled and roughly mashed
5 ½ cups unbleached white flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 ½ cups water
2 ½ teaspoons yeast
leaves from 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, roughly chopped or torn

Preparation

Day One
•Combine flour and salt in a 4 quart mixing bowl.
•Combine the water, yeast and potatoes.
•Stir the water mixture into the flour mixture until it messy dough. Add the rosemary and work it in a little.
•Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 to 8 minutes, until the dough feels smooth and springy. It will have little lumps of potato in it still. This is good.
•Transfer into a deep, clean, buttered bowl. It should be big enough to accommodate the dough doubling in size. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Day two
•Prepare a peel or cookie sheets with cornmeal, being extra generous with the meal if your dough seems a little sticky.
•Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board. Shape into on large round loaf, or two smaller. Place on the prepared peel or cookie sheet(s). Let rise about 1 ½ hours, or until almost double in size.
•About an hour before baking the bread, preheat your oven to 400. Place a shallow pan on the bottom rack for water. Place a cup of water at the side of the stove.
•When the dough has almost doubled, slash the surface with a very sharp knife in a cross or square. Place in the preheated oven and pour the water quickly into the pan under the bread. Bake the bread for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 200.
•Cool on a wire rack.

Sourdough Spelt BreadThis recipe is from the book The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. I have written it the way I make it, so the procedures are in my words. My apologies Mr. Reinhart…in your eyes I have probably butchered it. So listeners, readers…. If you have any problems, well you know who to talk to.
I have included rye flour where spelt flour is used, as it is the same recipe BUT the Rye Bread really needs the second proofing. The Spelt Bread is nice even with the one-day short cut. If you have the time for a three day bread, follow the instructions for Rye, (don’t worry about the degassing with the spelt, it has more gluten like properties than the rye flour.)

Ingredients

The Starter:
½ cup barm
1 cup spelt flour (or rye)
¼ cup warm water

The porridge:
½ cup spelt meal, or flakes (or rye flakes)
½ cup boiling water

The Dough:
3 cups spelt flour (rye)
1 ½ t sea salt
The Starter
The Porridge
1 cup water

Preparation

Day One:
•Combine the barm, spelt (rye) flour and warm water in a bowl and mix to form a stiff ball. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 4 hours. Transfer to the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours.
Meanwhile, combine the boiled water and spelt (rye) flakes to make the porridge. Let this sit at room temperature until you are ready to add it to the dough the next day.
Day Two:
•Cut the Starter into 1-inch pieces and let sit at room temperature in the bowl, covered, to take the chill off. This photo will give you an idea of the density of the starter.

•In a 4-quart mixing bowl (for a mixer or for hand mixing) combine the flour and sea salt and stir well. Add the cubed Starter, the Porridge and water. In a mixer blend for about 5 minutes with a paddle, or by hand stir until a shaggy dough forms, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until a smooth dough has formed and there are no noticeable signs of the starter within the dough.
•Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let sit for 4 hours, or until almost double in size. (ok, the rye bread doesn’t really double in size, at least not for me, but it will get bigger and feel a little spongy)
•When the dough has almost doubled in size, prepare your pans, or peel if you are using a baking stone. Sprinkle cookie sheets lightly with cornmeal if you are planning on baking on them. Sprinkle the peel more generously, since you are using the cornmeal as ball bearings to help slide the dough off the peel. The stickier the dough, the more cornmeal.
•Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface. Divide in half.
•If you are making Spelt Bread shape into two round balls by pulling the edges towards the middle and kneading is slightly with your fingertips. Turn the dough smooth side up on the prepared cookie sheets or peel. Let rise at room temperature for 2 hours or until almost double in size.
Day Three if you are making Rye Bread
•If you are making Rye Bread, place each half of dough in two oiled bags and let the dough have a second rise over night in the fridge. In the morning shape into balls or logs, being very careful to gently turn the dough out of the bags and place it on the peel with out handling it too much. This will prevent the dough from degassing, and you will get better volume during baking, but remember, we’re talking rye bread, so don’t be expecting a lot of height.
•After the dough has risen for about an hour, preheat the oven to 400. If possible, have a rack below the one you will be baking your bread on and place a shallow metal pan that can hold a cup of water. Set a cup of water beside the stove.
•When the dough has risen, cut a few slashes on the top of the loaves, about 2mm deep. If the oven is big enough bake both loaves at the same time. If not, cut the rise time of one of the loaves a little short, (15 minutes? It kind of depends on how vigorous your starter is!), so that the second one won’t over proof by the time it’s turn comes to go in the oven. Pop your loaf (or loaves) in the hot oven and quickly pour the water into the hot pan below the bread, (you may want to wear an oven mitt for this). Bake bread for approximately 40 minutes or until the internal temperature is 200. (use an instant read thermometer)
•Cool bread on wire racks.

2007-10-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

Summer Fun with the Little Red Hen

Summer is far behind us now, but the day of baking a hundred loaves in a day is still fresh in my memory. Which is good because I have another Almanac show coming up at the end of the month, and that means I need to put together some new recipes. If anyone wants a particular type of bread made just for them, now is the time to request it!
I plan on doing one white-ish loaf, perhaps a potato rosemary bread. A nice, dense fruit and nut loaf will be in order to go with the cool, rainy evenings. Add a nice fire, some blue cheese and a glass of smooth, sweetish port for a little piece of hedonistic heaven. Maybe a baguette would be perfect for sopping up winter soups.
That is a start.

2007-09-01T21:36:00.000-07:00

No Pics!!!

At least not for awhile as the camera's lens shutter has just jammed and won't let me take nor download pictures...only weeks after the warranty expired. Grrrrr.
So, I will tell you what is up for the fall, and save my summer stories for later. Let me say here that our road trip was lovely. We ate well and played in the water almost every day. If we weren't on a farm we were playing in the lake or scrabbling along the seashore. The days were warm. There were bugs and snakes to keep the kids happy when they weren't in the water and cool drinks in every cooler opened.

We ate:
freshly caught salmon
blackberries, (made gem-like blackberry jelly too)
baked a hell of alot of bread in a day, (what Janice? 115 loaves in two modest ovens?- great fun that, and it tasted wonderful too)
eggs gathered by little hands that when cracked open let out a solar hued blast of brilliance and a taste to match
pancakes with peaches that had never seen a refrigerator
prawns fetched from the watery and thunderous foot of a lightning storm

Now to the fall. The kids are somewhat settled into school, G has started muttering about work, and I have purchased my books for a semester at SFU.
Yes, I am back to school folks. Don't think I won't be baking and cooking...I will need it to give my brain a rest. And of course I will need to pay for tuition, so I may actually have to flog my cakes a little more aggressively.

2007-08-30T07:11:00.000-07:00

End of Summer

A sure sign summer is wrapping up is to find myself on the computer. I have a camera full of pictures and hope to start posting them soon.
I am off to school...I am now adding "student" to my profile. We will see if I can find some good coffee at SFU. Any suggestions out there?

2007-07-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

Hello Victoria

I'm here in beautiful Victoria, about to go in search for a coffee. Can I find those previous recommendations from months ago? No.
Send 'em in folks, if you know a coffee shop I might like. I will be heading up island in a few days, getting as far as Nanaimo if you want me to check out cafe's - or bakeries for that matter - while I'm about.

2007-07-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

Baking Bands

Thought I would try out these insulated baking rings. They are supposed to prevent the doming of your cakes so you don't waste, (??? it doesn't go to waste around here - we eat it straight up, and if I'm making lots of cake we turn it into trifle!) so much cake when trimming.
They worked fairly well with the larger cake, (6"), but not so well for the little 4" pans. It didn't help that I overfilled the little pans so the insulators didn't really have the opportunity to work.
They work out to be alot cheaper than buying sets of insulated pans, but I find them a little awkward to work with. Because I use spring form pans, the ring does not fit tightly. Perhaps that is why I get slight doming. If I used sealed pans I would imagine I could put them in a water bath. But I don't. I do like having more cake to work with, so I think I will continue to use them.
I did notice that someone else didn't think these bands are perfect and are attempting to design something a little more efficient.

2007-07-11T17:40:00.000-07:00

Sticks and Stones Can Break My Bones,
But Insinuations by Psychopaths Cannot Hurt Me.

What more is there to say?
Actually, there is lots to say, but I'll save it for another day.

I will take some pleasure in writing a description from my lovely dictionary, the not so short Oxford. Bear with me today.

Psychopathy: "a state characterized by persistent egocentric, irresponsible, and antisocial or aggressive behavior, and an inability to form normal relationships with others; the state of having such a disorder.

Since this is a food blog, I shall give you a recipe.
Here is a recipe for an empty person:

Take a Narcissist, stir in Psychopathy and let sit for awhile, (don't forget the older the ferment, the nastier the results).
In no time at all you will have a pearl.

Most pearls look like crap, (they only string the pretty ones, and then those hang around most necks amplifying every flaw in the poorly adorned), and taste even worse if you have the unfortunate experience of eating one. All that crunchy crustiness is horrible, and it's really just hardened spit. So do what the oyster is trying to do and get rid of it.

2007-07-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

I’m It!
I had been secretly jealous that no one had tagged me since starting this blog, and lo, now I’m “It”. Except of course this is a food blog, so I am going to modify the questions to food as much as possible. Is this allowed???

1. Name your favorite professional cook or restaurant. That is tough one, since a few of my friends are also some of the best cooks I know, so I will change it to favorite restaurant. The place I will always go to is Vij’s restaurant, their food has been good for a long time.
2.Who is your favorite historical cook? Julia Child, (does being dead make you historical?). She won me over by her complete lack of pretension and abundant enthusiasm for cooks trying to find their way. I also love reading Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin’s book the Physiology of Taste in the same way that I enjoy reading some poets.
3.What kind of pitch would you give the Food Network? Well, the underground baker needs to go on a trip looking for underground food trends and tastes funded by making a documentary/TV show of it. Oh dear, I think it’s been done before…but not by me!
4.Which is your favorite city for food, (not mentioning your home town)? Mexico City, San Francisco and home, (I know, I’m not supposed to say that, but the food here can be pretty dam fine). Oooh, Singapore was amazing, too. But I still have a lot more cities to explore.
5.Who is your favorite food writer? Anthony Bourdain, not because his food is good, (it could be shite for all I know), but because his writing makes me laugh and celebrates good food without being too pretentious. I also like the writing of the of man who ate everything, Jeffrey Steingarten.
6.Are you a Wilsonian Idealist or Nixonian Realist in foreign policy? I would have to think too hard to convert that one to a food question. Any suggestions?
7.What is your favorite food show? I like Nigella and of course the already mentioned Mr. Bourdain. Having not seen too many shows I don’t really have much to draw on. Any recommendations? (Any of the Iron Chef shows look too much like work.)

Whew, that was the first set of tag questions, and now for the second. I will try to maintain food content.

1.What were you doing 10 years ago? Cooking my ass off.
2.What were you doing 1 year ago? Chasing children, baking, visiting family.
3.What five snacks do you enjoy? Many cheeses with crusty bread, tapas or antipasto, cake, my sister’s broccoli salad, chips and dip.
4.What five recipes do you have memorized? Beurre blanc, hollandaise, waffles, pizza dough, chocolate chip cookies, (ok, I have to admit, I probably have hundreds in my head, but the first two are ones I will remember on my deathbed even if I never make them again, and the last three are what I make way too often).
5.What five things would you do if you were a millionaire? If it was a cool mil, I’d take care of my family, (that would take care of most of the money), buy a cabin somewhere nice, let my man buy some gadgets no matter what they were, build myself an amazing pantry made up of all the condiments I cannot afford, (beautiful balsamic vinegars, olive oils, truffles and the like) and travel a bit. If it was a multi-mil, I’d do the same plus I’d do some research with communities that need help, here at home and in other countries, to find out what they believe they need and fund them.
6.List five bad food/eating habits. Leaving cookbooks all around, nibbling my nails, eating too much chocolate (I talking kilos!), doing too many things last minute when cooking, and eating chips.
7.What five things do you like cooking/preparing? Making my coffee in the morning, crepes, stirring ganache, roasting/braising meats, icing cakes, kneading bread, making cassoulet, (ok, that’s six, but my list is endless).
8.What five things would you never eat or buy? Store bought fish sticks, power bars, energy drinks or pop, artificial sweeteners or whiteners, margarine.

I tag nowt, mr anchovy, red and echos of a dream…I tag so many because I don’t expect you to do the tag unless you feel like it. Remember, it’s a food tag.
Do one, both or none!

2007-06-24T23:14:00.000-07:00

Bittersweet with Caramel Gems

Last week was busy, hence the long stretch between posts. This little stacked number was for a party of 14. It is coated and filled with a bittersweet ganache flavoured with cognac. The middle layer of each cake is studded with caramel pockets. The caramel glaze, (dusted with gold powder) is surrounded by balls of chocolate fondant. The cake was originally going to be draped with chocolate fondant until I discovered that the chocolate fondant recipe I used is not such a great draper - in actual fact it doesn't - If I had read the second part of the recipe a little more thoroughly I would have known that before I made two batches thinking I had done something wrong. Ah well, live and learn.
Speaking of learning, I was quite impressed that when I went online to problem solve the draping issue, I found the blog of the author Rose Levy Beranbaum, and posed my dilema there. I was pleasantly suprised by getting a response not only from her blog master, (???, like a webmaster but for blogs???), but from Rose herself. It was the latter who pointed out that I had missed the crucial draping information. Dam, how embarrassing.

2007-06-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

Labne Bi Zeit

That is the Lebanese name for what in English sound much less appealing -
Yogurt Cheese Balls in Olive Oil.

Silverfox was here for a visit and made yogurt cheese by lining a conical sieve with "sugar cloth" and dumping in 10% mf yogurt. It sat for 24 hours and like magic, voila - cheese, with the whey caught in the bowl in which the sieve was resting on. You can use the whey in bread or any baking. You can use the yogurt cheese as is. It tastes like a tart-ish cream cheese.
As you can see, I made labne bi zeit, or rather a variation of it. Here is Paula Wolfert's recipe, and my modifications follow.

Yogurt Cheese Balls Packed in Olive Oil
2 cups well drained, low fat plain yogurt
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Near East or Aleppo pepper, or 1/4 teaspoon hot paprika
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
olive oil
small dried red chilis
1. Mix the yogurt and salt and dump into a triple layer of clean cheesecloth and tie up into a sack. Suspend the sack over a kitchen faucet with a bowl below to catch the drip. Allow it to hang 24 hours. A good tip is to scrape the outside of the cheesecloth once or twice to facilitate draining.
2. Crumble the cheese onto a paper towel and refrigerate until firm and dry to the touch. With oiled palms roll into 1-inch balls and dust with paprika or Near East Pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. The balls will stay fresh for a few days. For longer storage, let them dry another day on paper toweling, then place in a glass jar and completely cover with olive oil. Add a few small dried chilis. Keep the jar in a cool place or refrigerate. Return the jar to room temperature before serving.
My variation: I used straight hot paprika, but just a light sprinkle over the balls. I didn't oil my hands and did not notice any problems, didn't dry them over night, and used the oil from Stovetop Roasted Garlic, (see early posts for that recipe - Sept, 2006??) plus a few creamy cloves. Threw in a few sprigs of fresh marjoram, oregano and a chili. The smell is lovely.
We will eat these plus the cheese I brought back from California at a little gathering at our place tonight. I'll post the favorites.

Here is a little Lemon Strawberry Cake I put together Thursday with leftovers from the wedding cake. (We are still seemingly swimming in the Saffron Lemon Curd - intentionally I might add. It is so lovely and tart, like a punch to the tastebuds.)
I managed to get this cake put together in 15 minutes, or less. Very handy to have everything made in waiting!

2007-06-11T20:03:00.000-07:00

Bollywood Bon-bon

Well, that was exciting, as well as exhasting. This photo is still the unfinished cake...I forgot to take my camera to the reception so other people have photos of the finished cake. I'll get them soon and post one, as this photo doesn't include the topper surrounded with more flying buttresses, that made it look a little more finished, (and straight!).
It was an exciting cab ride to the restaurant, me bracing for every corner and pot-hole. I suggested the cabbie drive like it was a newborn, and when he didn't seem to change his driving I said he should think of driving like it was his firstborn. He drove very gently and we arrived without mishap.
Thank Christ, since I had already had a big dilemma the night before the wedding. I had to cut off all of the marzipan I had carefully made and applied because it started to bleed out the colour...long story...all was well by five am, (ugh). I managed to get two hours sleep before the kids woke up and I started "painting" the cakes again.
Gilding the 'Lilies'

Beading the Buttresses

Topper Close-up

2007-06-08T00:17:00.000-07:00

Inspiration is Everywhere

Went to the bride's mehndi this evening and couldn't help but think the pattern on the bride's hands would look lovely on the cake.

Did a little more work on the topper last night. You can now get the gist of what it will look like finished. I will finish it tomorrow night.

2007-06-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

All In A Days Work

Not to mentioning having to chase kids until 8 o'clock tonight. Busy day doing prep for the cake. Made up 3 batches of marzipan, (bought almond paste, combined it with fondant that I made yesterday - voila, almost homemade marzipan). Then made the Saffron Lemon Butter Icing, below. It took two and a half pounds of butter to make! Good God, that is alot of icing.

Every spare few minutes was dedicated to making these buttresses, (next snapshot). They need to be made quickly because the pastillage dries out pretty fast when rolled so thin. In the photo I am gluing the curly q into the center of the paisley shaped thing. The small ones for the top of the cake don't need to be filled with curly q's but the larger ones for the bottom layers will be stronger with the extra support.

This is going to be on top of the cake, if all goes well. Its a crappy shot, but I am too tired to take another photo. It is upside down in the photo. Later this evening, when everything has dried I'll flip it over and hopefully finish it.

More buttresses drying.

If anyone wants recipes for the marzipan or Lemon Saffron Buttercream, just let me know.

2007-06-05T18:57:00.000-07:00

How To Eat A Burger

2007-06-04T23:25:00.000-07:00

I Spent All Bloody Sunday Making This

It was a practice run for the wedding cake I am making this week. I wanted to see how the Saffron Lemon Curd carried through the cake, and wanted the Sheila and John to see if they liked the taste. I also wanted to see if the intense colour of the icing turned tongues blue and/or orange.
The cake is a go, so today I did the grocery run, and tonight I made more pastillage, (for making the paisley shaped additions), a pouring fondant, (for making marzipan) and the Saffron Lemon Curd. I love Lemon Curd, and can eat far too much of it. The addition of saffron makes it a deeper gold, and adds an earthy kind of richness that tempers the sharpness of the lemon custard.
The Lemon Curd took some time to make. I listened to a Billie Holiday CD and half of Death Cab for Cutie before I was finally straining the dam thing. Thank god for music and the cool swirls forming on the surface of the ever so slowly cooking custard.

A little cooking tip: when the swirls fade to barely visible, watch out, your lemon curd is almost cooked.
Here’s the recipe, only modified by the addition of saffron, from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. (Her quantities, my directions)

Saffron Lemon Curd

4 egg yolks
½ cup plus 2 T sugar
3 oz. lemon juice
4 T unsalted butter, softened
pinch salt
finely minced lemon zest
pinch ground saffron
o Set up a bowl with a fine mesh strainer somewhere near your stove.
o In a heat proof bowl combine egg yolks and sugar thoroughly, then add lemon juice, butter and salt. (I sloppily juice the lemons into a measuring cup, not bothering to keeping out pulp or seeds since the custard will get strained later. I just kind of estimate the displacement caused by the seeds and go a little over the 3 oz.)
o Put on some music…lots of it. Actually, do this first.
o Place over simmering water and stir constantly (but not too quickly! If you stir too vigorously it will take longer to heat and thicken the custard), until thickened to the consistency of a thin hollandaise. Do not boil.
o Immediately pour the thickened custard through the fine mesh sieve and press the custard through. Discard seeds and junk. Stir in lemon zest and saffron powder. Cool, covered, (I press a piece of parchment paper cut to fit the bowl on to the surface of the curd), then store in an airtight container in the fridge.
o Keeps for up to 3 weeks refrigerated.

And here is the money shot, (for today), Saffron Lemon Custard. I like the way the flash makes it kind of glow!

2007-05-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

Souvenirs From The Land of Fog and Sea

I have eaten so much that a week of steamed fish and vegetables may not save me.
As you can see, we ate quite a lot of cheese. It went well with all the wine.

This cheese platter is made up of some fabulous cheese from Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes. The orange wrinkley rind cheese in the front is called Red Hawk. It was SO STINKY, but SO GOOD! I couldn't resist buying a thwack of cheese to bring home –(it is in the fridge, waiting for us to get through our week of steamed vegetables), although I decided not to take the especially stinky Red Hawk through customs.

Another favorite in the bag is this Humbolt Fog from Cypress Grove Chevre. In the middle is a layer of ash dividing cheeses made from morning and evening milking, (or so the young man told me who sold me the cheese). No matter, it is f&%$ing lovely, and I believe I ate a piece about the size of this all by myself.

2007-05-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

USA Bound
I'm off for a short visit to San Francisco. One of my favorite American cities...of course I haven't been to Chicago yet, and I hear it is pretty fun too.
We shall be eating heartily as this is a very social trip, and the two go hand in hand around here.

2007-05-15T13:44:00.000-07:00

I'm Not Who They Say I Am

Which God or Goddess are you like? Your Result: Budha You are Budha. You are a very peaceful person, you love all who love you. You are a cheerful personality, and you have a great sense of humor. Congratulations!! You are Budha!!
Jesus
The Christian God
Goddess Bast
You are your own God or Goddess
Goddess Sekhemet
God Zeus
Satan
Which God or Goddess are you like? Make Your Own Quiz

Just fooling around, seeing how to transfer stuff from one place to another. Thanks WC for the funny little test.
I would really like to sit under a tree for umpteen days like the namesake above, but no time.
I promise to write about food one of these days. I'll soon post about my favorite cafe, once I get a snapshot of it!

2007-04-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

Baker's Block

My lack of posts are evidence that I am in a bit of a funk these days. The consequence is, well...I seem to have what I call bakers block.I cannot seem to find the wherewithal to make a loaf, and when I do, it turns out like crap.
Don't get me wrong, the bread pictured here was quite edible, but it was not what I had envisioned when making it. I was looking for long, shiney bubbles in my crumb. I let it rise nice and slow, with a generous spell in the fridge in hopes of developing the sugars and therefore a golden crunch of a crust.
Instead I was presented with a pale, miserly crumb and a flabby exterior...perhaps a reflection of my temper these days.

2007-04-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

An Excellent Meat Sauce

I once mentioned a meat sauce many months ago on the blog and never gave the recipe. For some reason I didn't take a picture of the finished sauce, which is odd because these days I am taking more pictures of food than of my kids. So you will have to make due with just a recipe today. Not so interesting, but, hi ho, so it goes.

1 lb. extra lean ground beef
2 sweet Italian sausages, peeled and crumbled – as best you can
1 onion, finely diced
2 carrots, finely diced
1 small head fresh fennel, finely diced
a few pinches of salt
2 or more cloves of garlic, minced
a few pinches of dried herbs, such as marjoram and savory
1 cup red wine
2 - 796 ml tins of tomatoes, crushed,diced or whole (I know, 796 you say! Crazy Canucks!)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup milk – the fatter the better!
a generous clump of fresh basil still on the stem

1. In a fry pan gently cook the ground beef and crumbled (as best you can, I always find they are kind of sticky) sausages, breaking up the meat into small, rubbley bits while it cooks. Marcella Hazan says that if you cook the meat slowly it will be tenderer. I shall not be the one to argue with the matriarch of Italian cooking. When the meat is just cooked, remove from the heat and reserve.

2. Meanwhile in a 5 quart pan, sauté the onions, carrots, anise, salt and dried herbs on medium until softened and a pale gold. Adding the salt at this stage draws out the juices from the vegetables, and these juices kind of reduce to give the softened veggies that golden stickiness. Toss in the minced garlic and cook until fragrant and softened. Don’t brown the garlic.

3. Turn up the heat a little under the vegetables and add the red wine. Let it bubble until it has reduced down by about half, then add the tinned tomatoes and paste. Give it a good stir, add the milk. Let it all cook together for about an hour.

4. Puree the tomato sauce. I like to use my hand blender in a dangerous game of Hot Italian Tomato Sauce Roulette. I just jam the hand blender into the sauce and whirr away, making sure the head of the blender stays at the bottom of the pot. Millimeters too close to the surface and I am covered with steaming saucy welts and the kitchen is filled with curses. You may want to use the more traditional and less risky, (although perhaps not by much) method of a food mill. Of course you could just let the sauce cool a bit before doing anything, but that’s just not as interesting, is it?

5. You could now use the tomato sauce as is, or cook it a little longer, (first add the basil bunch to the sauce, pushing it down deep) to give it a more concentrated flavour. Or, you can continue with the recipe.

6. Add the cooked meat to the tomato sauce, and the bunch of basil, jamming it down well into the sauce. Let the sauce cook on low heat, partly covered to keep the splatter factor down, for about 4 hours. Stir occasionally, adding a little water if you think the sauce is getting too thick. Haul out the sadly wilted basil stem before using.

2007-04-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!
I haven't been posting because the family and I went to this lovely little cabin, with no phone, no tv, and even very little cell connection.
And here was the view from the cabin. Yes, we could pretty much throw marshmallows to the kids right from the stoop, (when the tide was in).

2007-03-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

First Try - Gilt Dots

Chocolate Rocks

Whew, busy past week what with making my first practice cake prototype. It is almost a direct copy from Cakewalk, except my dots are more randomly placed and less of them. I loved gilding the dots with pearl dust.

Also made a birthday cake, or rather, three.

Cake number one was the Chocolate Coffee Volcano Cake from How to be a Domestic Goddess, by the ever lovely Nigella Lawson.

Cake number two was actually two dozen cupcakes made with the same cake recipe from Lawson's book, but iced with irregular breast-like mounds of chocolate buttercream topped with a smidgen of vanilla butter cream, (making the mounds even more breast-ish), then drizzed with melted bittersweet chocolate. (I forgot to take pics, so you have use your imagination here).

Cake number three (as seen above) was the same cake recipe filled with chocolate butter cream and iced with Nesquick flavoured whip cream, then liberally sprinkled with chocolate rocks. Those rocks taste good...gotta get some more of those!

The cake component of this recipe is very versatile, it worked for all three above variations quite nicely.

Chocolate Coffee Volcano

for the cake:
300g caster sugar
140g plain flour, preferably Italian 00
80g cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, separated, plus 2 more egg whites (from the yolks you need for the cafe creme)
125ml vegetable oil
125ml water
1 teaspoon vanilla

for the cafe creme:
225ml double cream
6 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons light muscovado sugar
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

for the topping:
approximately 12 teaspoons (i.e., 4 tablespoons) Tia Maria or rum
125g chopped walnuts
4 tablespoons demerara sugar

25cm bundt tin, oiled
chef's kitchen blowtorch, (Instead I popped mine under the broiler with no problems.)

It makes sense to get on with the custard first. So, warm the double cream gently in a saucepan. Mix the yolks, sugar and espresso powder together in a bowl, and pour the warm cream over this mixture, whisking to combine. Pour the mixture back into the rinsed-out suacepan and cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens; with this ratio of yolks to liquid, it won't take any time at all. Pour into a bowl, cover with wet baking parchment and leave to cool.

Get on with the cake as soon as you've made the custard. It, too, must cool before assembly. (Indeed, you may well find it easier to make both cake and custard a day in advance.)Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4 (not that that means a hell of alot to us here!), putting in a baking sheet as you do so. In a large bowl, mix together 200g of the caster sugar, the flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarb and salt. I don't bother to sift if I'm using 00 flour; otherwise, you should. In a measuring jug, whisk together the yoks, oil, water and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients gradually, beating to combine.

In another bowl, whisk the 6 egg whites until they are foamy and forming soft peaks. Add the remaining 100g of sugar, a spoonful at a time, still whisking, till the whites are thick and shiny and hold their shape. Briskly beat a large dollop of whites into the cake mixture to lighten it, then a thrid at a time, fold in the remaining whites.

Pour the mixture into the oiled tin and place on the baking sheet in the preheated oven. Bake for 40 minutes, by which time the cake should be springy and coming away from the sides of the tin. Let the cake cool in its tin on a rack for 25 minutes before turning it out.

Pour or sprinkle the Tia Maria - or rum - onto the top of the cake, letting the liqueur soak in after each teaspoon. Of course, you could use tablespoons or just pour from the bottle, but you do want to make sure the cake's moistened rather than drenched.

When you are ready to serve, place the cake on a plate with a lip - or an almost-flat wide bowl - and fill the centre with the walnuts. Pour the cold custard into the remaining space in the centre, letting it overflow a little over the shoulders, so to speak, and the sides. Sprinkle the demerara sugar, a little at a time , so that it doesn't soak in, on top of the cake, and use the blowtorch to caramelize the top.

Serves 8.

2007-03-13T21:12:00.000-07:00

New Book for the Library

I couldn't stop laughing when I got this book in the mail. It is f$%^@*g huge. And beautiful. My man's first comment upon seeing it was, "you better start making some cakes".
And how does this book fit in with my cooking library? Decorating said cakes of course. Not that I will be doing anything quite so spectacular, but inspiration is everything.

2007-03-12T13:13:00.000-07:00

Over the Top Chocolates

Wow, these chocolates were good. Beautifully made, with lots of attention to detail, both in taste and looks. Check out the blue one. Weird, I know, but it tasted amazing...espresso caramel. It had an espresso flavoured ganache with a little pool of caramel at the very top of the dome, (inside of course), with that wacky swirly blue exterior.
Now, I'm not so crazy about chocolate being combined with fruit flavours, so when I ate the passion fruit bon-bon with the exterior coating of chocolate I wasn't wowed. BUT, when I sucked out the passionfruit filling without mixing it with chocolate it was divine.
I have realized over the years that there are very few fruit and chocolate combinations I like. I find that most taste almost like chemicals to me, especially dark chocolate and raspberries - a very popular combination. I tried it in a piece of cake the other day and could hardly eat it, (which means I ate almost all of it!)
So when I taste things like chocolates with orange or other fruit flavours, I have to separate the tastes, or rather think about the chocolate and fruit as two seperate elements and try to ignore what I think is the weird flavour - gauge the quality of the bon-bon by texture, colour and if no one is looking, suck out the filling before eating the exterior. I have tried to do this while the bon-bon is in my mouth en masse, but think I must look really funny while in the act.
I have also nibbled off the top of a bon-bon and drawn out the insides like that, but it reminds me of my cat when she used to have a baby bunny feast in the spring and only eat their little brains in much the same manner. Ugh.
Well, how do I wrap up a food post after that image. Well, I guess those were kitty bon-bons, so it is all kinda related.
Bon Appetite!!!

Oh yeah, the chocolates were from Over the Moon Chocolates in Vancouver, BC.

2007-03-09T09:49:00.000-08:00

Farewell

I used to think I found serenity in a forest. I thought I found stillness there.

I stand corrected.

I have never felt so still, so completely part of the world as when I sat late at night in a muted hospital room beside my father.

The suck and hiss of his breath had the same effect as a soft tide rattling a shingle beach. Hours would pass easily, broken only by the weak wave of a skeletal hand, adjustments of pillows, quilts and body or a gentle touch to my cheek.

I believe in family lines; blood, whether one likes it or not, binds family. I felt that chasm open in the moment my first child was born, and I walked along the path beside it with my father while in that hospital room.

My father walked that path with a courage and strength of will that is inspiring. He did not trip into the vast purple unknown, he stepped out strong when the chasm widened before his feet.

His grandchildren play in the grass behind me. I stand on the edge, waving.

2007-02-21T10:03:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd post another pic of places in Vancouver, (since it seems I'm not cooking these days).
Going to be stinking busy for the next few days, but I'll try to check in.

2007-02-16T09:13:00.000-08:00

Check out this salt and pepper shaker set. The picture does not do the set justice.
I saw them while searching for 24k gold dust. Stopped by to ask my friend Pernilla about the dust and these caught my eye.

2007-02-15T09:51:00.000-08:00

Views of Vancouver

Good God - I can't figure out how to move the pics around in the order I want, so you will have to look at them in reverse. I know, I could have just loaded them in the order I wanted, but it used to not matter in my blogs previous incarnation; I could move and edit at will.

Once again, no food pics, although I have been doing some more work with the pastillage, painting chits for a mosaic chalice...The food colouring is very intense, so the first series of blue chits are blindingly bright. I have since watered down the colours, although they still seem a little on the bright side, (and we can't have that).

Speaking of the bright side, you may have noticed the amazing blue sky stretched above Vancouver. Well, that was a few days ago. Today we have a lovely grey sky, with rounded damp clouds cradling the mountains and washing my face and the streets clean. The latter is what is most often associated with Vancouver, hence our magnificent, albeit somewhat logged, forests. I don't mind the grey days, in fact I find them a relief as the sun generally feels like recently forged daggers being plunged into my eyes - and that is without over-indulging the night before.

OK, I promise to write about food soon.

2007-02-14T14:32:00.000-08:00

Why they need pick-ups in Alberta.

I have been back for some time now, but haven't taken time to blog. Let's hope this is me back in the saddle again. As you may have gathered, I was in Alberta for little over a week.

Going back to food, I have killed my starter, while the spontaneous barm is safe in the fridge. Luckily I sent some of my starter off with a friend, so I may have to beg some back from him later.

I am starting to work on pastillage for my cakes. The porcelain white bowls are drying on the counter today. You will see some of them soon. the pastillage is very nice to work with - such a lovely satin a finish. The only problem is that it dries out very quickly, but more on all that later.

2007-01-26T10:18:00.000-08:00

DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

2007-01-24T11:57:00.000-08:00

Homemade Yeast
I have been thinking a lot about this recipe and the bread I have made from past batches.. It is refered to as a barm, which is also a yeast rich foam that has risen to the surface of home made beer. In the beer the hops are used not only for flavour, but for their preservative attributes. This slows the bacteria growth. In bread this would keep the dough from getting too much of a sour flavour. Because of this, any bread made with this starter will have an undertone flavour from the hops instead of a sour flavour from a water/flour starter.

After all that thinking - what a waste of time - Elizabeth David says it succinctly and with a nice historical florish on page 101 of English Bread and Yeast Cookery.
Hops were usually included, more as a preservative, or preventative of sourness, than as a stimulant.....Until well on into the twentieth century and even after the First World War, there were still a few bakers making their bread with barm rather than with compressed distillery yeast; people accustomed to bread leavened with barm held that its flavour was much more interesting than that produced by modern yeast. It is one of those lost tastes.

Well, perhaps it can be revived. I will post a bread recipe using this barm next week, once my barm is done.

Spontaneous Barm

Ideally I try to use organic flour, and have found the barm successful using whole wheat flour. The whole wheat barm does not allow for a bright white interior to your finished loaf – this being a very desirable quality one hundred years ago – but with our love of whole grain loaves and variety flours, the whole wheat barm works very nicely.

Ingredients
2 quarts water
3/4 cups hops, loosely packed
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup bread flour
12 oz. potatoes, cooked and mashed

Preparation

Day One:
Combine hops and water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool to lukewarm. Strain out hops, discard flowers. Place liquid in a 4 quart container. Stir in sugar and salt. Add some of the broth to the flour in a bowl to make a slurry. Add the slurry back into the hops broth, stirring well. Set the bowl in a warm spot, stirring occasionally, for two days.

Day Two:
Continue to stir the broth occasionally.

Day Three:
Stir in the still warm, (but not hot!), mashed potatoes. Stir well.

Day Four:
The mixture should have started to ferment. Let sit until the evening, then strain and store in bottles filled ¾ full of the yeasty coloured broth. Store in the refrigerator until needed. Bring the yeast to room temperature before using.

Barm will keep 6 to 8 weeks.
Note: I store the liquid in thoroughly washed and dried milk bottles. You can seal them using the old lids, (washed well of course), or cork, or even just plastic wrap with an elastic band to keep it secure.

2007-01-23T12:21:00.000-08:00

My House Stinks
Normally, this would be a bad thing, like in a fit of the blues I refused to take the garbage out for what smelled like forever.
But in truth I am starting the Spontaneous Barm. The hops are simmering on the stove, emitting a brewery kind of smell that would soak into the curtains if I had any. This is going to take four non-labour intensive days to make.
I found my hops in a health food store. There are umpteen types of hops to be found online. I have only used one type so far. In the brewing of beer the type of hop one uses is very important for flavour in the finished product. I’m not sure just how important it would be in a loaf of bread.
My inspiration for making breads without commercial yeast came from this letter, written in 1834 by an early Canadian settler.

In front of the stoup, where we dined, the garden was laid out with a smooth plot of grass, surrounded with borders of flowers, and separated from a ripening field of wheat by a light railed fence, over which the luxuriant hopvine flung its tendrils and graceful blossoms. Now I must tell you the hop is cultivated for the purpose of making barm, for raising bread. As you take great interest in housewifery concerns, I shall send you a recipe for what we call hop-rising.

Here is an excerpt for what Elizabeth David would call a Spontaneous Barm from a letter written by “the wife of an Emigrant Officer, 1838”, (Canada).

In every settlers house is a valuable substitute for ale or beer yeast, and it is make in the following manner:- take two double handfuls of hops, boil in a gallon of soft water, if you can get it, till the hops sink to the bottom of the vessel; make ready a batter formed by stirring a dessert plate full of flour and cold water till smooth and pretty thick together: strain the hop liquor while scalding hot into the vessel where your batter is mixed ready: let one person pour the hop liquor while the other keeps stirring the batter. When cooled down to a gentle warmth, so that you can bear the finger well into it, add a cup or basinful of the former barm, or a bit of leaven to set it to work; let the barm stand till it has worked well, then bottle and cork it. Set by a cellar or cool place in summer, and in winter it is best to keep it from freezing. Some persons add two or three mealy potatoes boiled and finely bruised, and it is a great improvement in the cooler months of the year. Potatoes in bread may be introduced very advantageously; and to the first settlers, who have all their flour to buy, I think it must be a saving.
The recipe I post tomorrow is a one person job of much smaller dimensions.

2007-01-19T11:07:00.000-08:00

The Seed

Here is a variation of the starter recipe that I originally posted many months ago. Use this to create the "seed" for creating a larger starter, or pre-ferments such as a biga, poolish and such.

Pre-ferments are starters with varying degrees of water content and flour blends. In Peter Reinhart's book the Bread Baker's Apprentice, he uses commercial yeast in his pre-ferments. Instead I subtitute a starter, or my homemade yeast, (a variation of Elizabeth David's Spontanious Barm from English Bread and Yeast Cookery) for the commercial yeast.

Eventually I will include the recipe for the Spontanious Barm, but I am still working on it with the pre-ferments.

Leaven Recipe modified from
The Handmade Loaf
by Dan Lepard

Notes on Flour: I use organic flour for most of my bread. You can also substitute all purpose flour for the bread flour, or use whole wheat flour with success.
Notes on recipe: I don't bother using weight measures for such small quantities, and I also don't feel that starters are such an exact science. But I like the addition of raisins, although I do not believe they are necessary to create a natural starter, they just introduce different yeasts, enzymes and bacteria to the starter.

Day 1
1/2 cup water at 20 C
2 rounded tsp rye flour
2 rounded tsp unbleached bread flour
1 tablespoon organic raisins

Mix all the ingredients in a 750 ml jar, (3/4 quart jar). Cover and leave at room temperature for 24 hours.

Day 2
1/4 cup water at 20C
2 rounded tsp rye flour
2 rounded tsp bread flour

There won't be much happening that you can see, but don't worry, the yeast is getting busy in there. There may be water on the top and sludge on the bottom and this is fine. Give it a good stir, add the above ingredients, water first, (giving it a good stir before adding flour), cover and let sit 24 hours at room temperature.

Day 3
1/2 cup water at 20C
4 rounded tsp bread flour
4 rounded tsp rye flour

The raisins are now going to be smooshy and giving off a brown colour - this is all good. You may see a trace of fermentation forming on the top of the mixture - or not. Not to worry, just add the water and flour as said above, cover and let sit the 24 hours at room temperature.

Day 4
1/2 cup water at 20C
3/4 cup bread flour flour

You should be able to see evidence of fermentation, froth and bubbles will be forming. It won't be all that smelly yet, that comes with age. Stir, then remove 3/4 of the starter and discard. Add water, stirring well, then strain the raisins out of the soupy mixture, discard the raisins. Wash the mason jar, (not necessary, but I like to), pour the liquid starter back into the jar and stir in the flour. Cover and let sit 24 hours.

Day 5
1/2 cup water at 20C
3/4 cup bread flour

The starter should be bubbly, and you will smell a little sourness. Remove 3/4 of the starter and discard. Stir in the water, then the flour. If you like you can add a little more flour to make a thick dough like levan. It will take longer to rise and fall. Let sit 24 hours at room temperature.

Day 6 Onwards
Take the lid off the jar, and you will see the mixture bubbling. Each day, as you remove some leaven for baking, replacing it with the equivalent amount of flour and water, the aroma of the leaven will become stronger and more sharply acidic.

2007-01-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

This Is Getting Ridiculous

I have written nothing, taken no pictures and am generally out of focus for the time being. In a bit of a personal slump at the moment. As soon as I do ANYTHING related to food, I will post.

Although I did make a beautiful chili yesterday with a pot roast. Cooked it for five hours, then removed the roast and shredded it by hand (what a mess!) back into the almost burgundy sauce seasoned with chili powder, roasted ground cumin, garlic, hot paprika and chipotle. I will throw in a handfull of cooked black turtle beans just before serving it. I like the look of the glossy black beans in the red sauce. It is going to taste pretty darn good when I serve it with rice, salsa and creme fraiche - perhaps I will remember to take a photo and post it.

2007-01-10T11:37:00.000-08:00

No Starter/Barm Recipe Yet

I seem to be having some difficulty getting stuff done around here. I will eventually get my starter notes posted.

On that note, does anyone in Vancouver want some starter? It is getting a bit silly around here, either I have ridiculous amounts of bread around the house because I don't want to waste the starter or I throw 3/4 quarters of my starter out. I promise to get my notes on line for those who would need to know how to use and maintain the starter.

2007-01-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone

I have been offline for some time now, but I plan on being back in the saddle right quick.
Just writing up some stuff on keeping your starter alive, for you especially WC. Should be ready by tomorrow.

2006-12-20T23:02:00.000-08:00

Fig Pinwheels
I found this recipe at a freinds, quickly wrote down the ingredients without the preparation notes. Cannot remember the name of the book, but it was all cookies with nice snaps. I changed the recipe a bit, because really, why soak dried fruit in juice when you can soak it in scotch. This recipe needs a night for the dough to "set" in the fridge. It will make the slicing of the pinwheels so much easier.
Here's a break down.
Day one: make fig paste and dough. If you can time it right, roll out and fill the dough that day evening.
Day two: Slice cookies and bake.
(ok, I took 3 days to finally get the finished cookies, but that is only because I didn't have the prep notes)

Fig Filling

1 ¾ cup dried figs, stemmed
1 cup dates, seeded
1 cup scotch
1 cup orange juice

Cookie dough

1 cup unsalted butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda

Make the filling. Soak the figs and dates in the scotch and orange juice overnight. Puree the mixture in the food processor until it forms a paste. Reserve.
Make the cookie dough. Cream the butter and sugars together in a mixer on medium speed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Stir the flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl with a whisk to combine well. Add to the creamed butter mixture a cup at a time, blending briefly between each addition. Divide the dough in half, wrap each in plastic wrap and press into a rectangular brick. Cool in the fridge for 4 to 6 hours, until well chilled.
Make the cookies. Dust the counter with flour. Roll one of the bricks out into a rectangular shape about ¼ of an inch thick, using a little more flour for dusting if necessary. The finished dough should be approximately 14” long by 8” wide. Trim the edges so that the corners approximate 90 degree angles. Spread the reserved fig paste evenly over the surface of the sheet of dough. Leave a small amount of dough showing on all the edges as the fig paste should expand as the dough is rolled.
Roll the dough into a log.Using a spatula to help you lift the back edge, (the long edge), and roll it gently towards you, not pressing hard but also trying to not create a gap in the rolled log. Wrap the rolled dough in plastic wrap and chill for 6 hours, or overnight.
Bake the cookies. Preheat the oven to 350. Cut the logs into ¼ inch slices using a sharp, thin-bladed paring knife and place the rounds on parchment lined cookie sheets. I use the tip of the paring knife and my fingers to gently press the cookies into rounds, (the cutting often pushes them a little flat). Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to wire racks to finish cooling. Makes about 40 cookies, (I think, I haven’t counted them yet and we have eaten tons already)

2006-12-17T00:22:00.000-08:00

STARSUCKS

(For legal reasons this rant is a metaphor for a character in Moby Dick)

I have followed the rise and fall of a certain cafe over the years, and I think it demonstrates the problems of getting too big and not giving a flying f$@#.

A long time ago there was a cafe that took an idea that some believe came out of Seattle, (I would beg to differ), and marketed it to a larger audience...the perfect cup of coffee, idealized in an espresso. They did a pretty good job of it for awhile. No matter which cafe under the same name made the coffee, no matter who was tamping the espresso or steaming the milk, you could get a consistently decent espresso, (note "decent", not perfect).
Over a few years, probably about five, the consistency started to falter, then stagger until it became the anemic, flaccid cup o' joe we find everywhere.

(Perhaps this joe is Capt’ Ahab. I never liked the character.)

What went wrong?
I can state the obvious. Recently they moved to automated machines, but the coffee had already turned to shite before that. They had too many staff members, with such a high turnover that they just couldn’t learn from those who had perfected that ideal espresso. Perhaps the buyers bought a slightly less than best quality bean to make that .04% margin that equates tons of money.

Or maybe they just lost the love.

What love? You ask.

Every espresso maker (or barista or what ever the hell they are called), should have to physically restrain themselves from licking that thick, dense caramel foam from every espresso they so carefully extract from those finely ground oily but not too slick beans. They should wish that they could partake in every cup that they send off into the world because it is so dam good. If they don’t, then the coffee is crap.

2006-12-13T10:54:00.000-08:00

A STORY OF CHRISTMAS PAST

The Vanilla Bean War

It was the most exotic of locations, especially at Christmas. Tana Toraja, in Sulawasi, Indonesia is hot, lush and stormy. Much like my temper regarding the loss of the most exquisite vanilla beans I have ever seen.
I get pissed just thinking about it, and it’s been eleven years since my man and I fought about the vanilla beans. Let me stress, we don’t fight much, and if we do it’s about housework, as I’m a bit of a slob.
It was a busy market day. The early morning sky was a freshly washed robin egg blue. The water buffalo, a prized animal of the region, had been scrubbed within an inch of their lives. With charcoal hides glinting in the sun, their boys walked proudly beside them, gently convincing the buffalo to display their fine physique by tugging the rings in their nostrils. Wire haired pigs, their feet tied to bamboo poles, swayed upside down, keeping time to the men bearing them. Piglets, also upside down, were strapped into open bamboo briefcase like contraptions, and swung as such with each stride of the owner. Stacks of bitter greens, jugs of palm wine, carved boxes, chairs, tables, toiletries….all were tottering in various stalls along the wide, well trampled path. A cacophony assaulted the senses; the chatter of people, the bellow of animals and the air thick and ticklish with smells both good and bad.
And then, the chocolate velvet scent of vanilla. Even now I can feel it on my tongue, my nose, my throat. A gentle memory I can’t quite sink my teeth into.
Following the vanilla path with the conviction of the blind, I walked into a dark, wood walled stall, filled with furniture. I thought ‘this can’t be the place’, but my nose told me otherwise. Sure enough, in a wooden bowl was a fistful of vanilla pods tied together with string. I had never seen or heard of vanilla looking like this. It was crusted with what looked like delicate sugar crystals. The beans were as soft lambskin leather and the aroma made my knees weak. I asked how much and the vendor said “ten dollars American”. In that part of the world it was an extravagant amount of money. I said I’d take them, and that’s when it started.
Being firmly escorted out of the stall, protesting, our argument ensued. He said; they were expensive, I hadn’t bartered, Christmas was coming. The list went on. I was not to buy them, period.
I am no shrinking violet, but for some reason I demurred. Maybe it was the Christmas thing. Perhaps I thought he would sneak back and get them. I gave him every chance to. He never did.
I don’t have many regrets in life; there was the time my gorgeous blond friend wanted me to go away with him for a weekend, there was the extra twenty grand I should held out for when I sold my business, and there was that beautiful, fragrant, twine bound bundle of vanilla beans.

2006-12-12T10:47:00.000-08:00

COOKBOOK REVIEW

VIJ’S Elegant & Inspired Indian Cuisine
By Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala

This is not a restaurant review!
That said, one can’t help but have great expectations of the book based on the wonderful dining experience created by Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala.

Vij’s has been an institution of sorts in Vancouver, BC since 1994, when it was in a tiny venue near the corner of Granville and Broadway. The little restaurant became incredibly popular even though customers had to line up outside. We would all happily wait in the cool misty drizzle while Vikram Vij brought out steaming cups of chai and little nibbles to keep us content and warm. It wasn’t long before they had to move to their present location just a few blocks south off Granville.

Their philosophy is to keep the spices and cooking techniques Indian while using local meats, seafood and produce. This makes most of the ingredients easy to find. A few of the spices may be a little more difficult to locate, but in most cases it does not deter from recreating the recipes.

The book is lovely to look at. The recipes rest on linen tinted pages, with photographs scattered throughout. Of all the photographs in the book, it was the more modest sized snapshots that captured the feel of the recipes and restaurant.

I enjoyed the Preface to this book more than most cookbooks. Vij tells the story of the restaurant’s life, from inception to maturity, and it reads much like a good curry tastes. From modest but hopeful beginnings, it is a tale of dedication, family, hard work, and romantic love, all mingled together. It is a good story.

The recipes are no more than moderately difficult, and many are dead easy. Some are time consuming, often because some element of the recipe has to marinate or cook for extended periods. The food is innovative, creative and tastes wonderful, but….in some cases it tastes, well, a bit thin. Indian food is all about layering flavours. In a few of the recipes tested it was as if a layer were missing. For those who have not dined at Vij’s, the point will be moot because the recipes do taste good. Some are just not as good as they could be. The Prawns in Coconut and Saffron Curry seemed literally too thin, as if there was just too much water in the recipe. But then, it really wasn’t such a problem to quickly convert to soup bowls and finish it up as such.

There is a nice mix of quick recipes, such as Eggplant, Tomato and Green Onion Curry, that takes about 20 minutes to prepare, start to finish, (and is a wonderful combination of tangy heat from the yogurt and cayenne), to slow cooked meats like the Beef Short Ribs in Cinnamon and Red-Wine Curry. I would have liked to have had an easy-to-read breakdown of preparation times so that menu planning would have been a little simpler.

Vij’s is a wonderful cookbook, and it is also the sum of many things: the romantic roots of family, love, and fulfilling dreams. Even though there are a few recipes that are less than perfect, the others make up for it. Try these two to see for yourself.

Eggplant, Tomato and Green Onion Curry
7 oz. green onions, (about 8 stalks)
1 cup plain yogurt, stirred
1 tablespoon Mexican chili powder
1 teaspoon (ground) turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 ½ teaspoons salt
1 eggplant, skin on, in 1 inch cubes, (I used Japanese eggplant)
2 cups chopped tomatoes, (2 large)
½ cup canola oil

Wash green onions. Chop white parts in rounds ¼ inch long. Remove and discard the hollow green parts. Chop the remaining green parts in rounds ¾ inch long. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine yogurt, chili powder, turmeric, cayenne and salt. Add eggplant, tomatoes and onions and stir well to make sure vegetables are well covered in the curry mixture.
In a shallow heavy pan, heat oil on medium-high heat for 45 seconds. Pour curry into the pan and stir well. Sauté for about 3 minutes, reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring once halfway through the cooking. Turn off the heat and stir once more. Remove the lid if you are not going to serve the curry immediately, or the eggplant will become too mushy.

To Serve
Ladle curry into six bowls or plates. If serving with another curry, serve this one in a bowl, so that it doesn’t “run” on the plate.

Beef Short Ribs in Cinnamon and Red-Wine Curry
2 tablespoons ghee, or butter
¼ cup canola oil
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 lb. onion, finely chopped, (2 large)
10 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup pureed fresh tomatoes, (2 large)
1 teaspoon ground fenugreek seeds
1½ tablespoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon, (ground) turmeric
½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 ½ tablespoon Mexican chili powder
1 whole piece cinnamon bark (about 32 inches long)
5 cups vegetable or chicken stock, fat skimmed off
½ cup red wine
2 ½ beef short ribs, bone removed and excess fat trimmed (each rib about 7 oz. raw)

In a large, heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid, melt ghee on medium to high heat. (If using butter, melt on low heat and increase the heat to medium after adding the cooking oil.) Add oil and cumin seeds. Allow seeds to sizzle for 30 seconds, then add onions. Sauté onions 8 to 10 minutes, or until brown. Add garlic and sauté until garlic is golden brown and onions are a darker brown, about 3 minutes. The darker you sauté the onions without letting them burn, the richer the onion flavour will be in this curry.
Reduce the heat to low and add tomatoes, fenugreek, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, chili and cinnamon bark. Stir well, then increase the heat to medium. Cook, stirring regularly, until ghee/oil separates from the tomatoes, about 10 minutes. Stir in stock and red wine and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until ghee/oil separates from the stock and rises to the top.
Add short ribs and stir well. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 4 hours, stirring occasionally.

To Serve
Place one short rib in each bowl. Ladle curry equally among the bowls, pouring it over the short ribs.

Can you find the asafoetida

2006-12-06T09:42:00.000-08:00

Cookbook Reviews
Watch for my upcoming book cookbook reviews. I am just waiting for the publishers permission to include some recipes.
The first review will be Vij's Elelgant and Inspired Indian Cuisine by Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala. Review number two will be The Improvisation Cook by Sally Schneider.

2006-12-03T21:12:00.000-08:00

A Couple of Curries

Here is a photograph of some more curries I made last night from Vij's Elegant Inspired Indian Cuisine. Starting in the top left hand corner: Eggplant Tomato and Green Onion Curry, Beef Short Ribs in Cinnamon and Red-Wine Curry, Chapatti and Prawns in Coconut and Saffron Curry.
I substituted a mixture of halibut and prawns instead of straight prawns because the halibut cheeks just looked too good to resist. I forgot to take the photo until after we had eaten - hence the silly way all the food has been pushed into the corners of the dishes.

I feel obligated to talk a little about the chapatti. I used a chapatti flour and the finished flatbread looked nice, puffed beautifully during the cooking process, but the texture didn't seem perfect - a little grainy in a mealy kind of way. I will try another batch soon, and think I will substite 25% of the chapatti flour with all purpose flour. Has anyone else noticed this tendancy with the chapatti flour chapattis? Perhaps my chapatti flour is old?

I'm reading, cooking and sampling again tonight, but from a different book. Details tomorrow. Goodnight!

2006-12-01T09:47:00.000-08:00

I am crazy busy, so haven't been able to post.
Yesterday I made Portebello Mushrooms in Porcini Cream Curry, Beef Shortribs in Cinnamon and Red-Wine Curry, Cilantro Mint Chicken Curry, Grilled Coconut Kale and Chapattis. It was so exhasting to actually follow the recipes exactly how they were written, (they are from Vij's Indian Cuisine, a recently published cookbook).
I started cooking the Shortribs around 3pm, the rest of dinner around 5. We didn't eat till 9:30. Normally, cooking that many dishes would be an afterthought. I cannot remember a time when I have HAD to follow a recipe. Usually I look at the ingredients, take into consideration the nationality of the dish for cooking techniques, then put it all together. I add whatever seems lacking, or take out what seems not quite right.
But why follow the recipe so closely, you ask?
Well, you will just have to wait and see.

And thank you to those who came by to help me eat all that food!

2006-11-27T21:23:00.000-08:00

KNOW YOUR INGREDIENTS -
Information to help you troubleshoot when your bread gives you grief.

Yeast
If your bread is not rising well and you are using conventional yeast in your recipe, this is the first ingredient to check. Test the yeast by stirring a teaspoon of yeast with two tablespoons of flour. Add a quarter cup warm water, stir to combine. In ten minutes the mixture should have become frothy and/or bubbly. If it isn’t the yeast is probably stale or dead. Throw it out and get some more, checking the expiry date. If you buy yeast in large quantities, whether fresh or dried, store it well wrapped in the freezer. Keep small amounts of it out for day to day use.

Types of Yeast
o Fresh blocks– Usually sold by the pound in some grocery stores or bakeries, this is the yeast used by bakeries. It is softened and dissolved in water mixed with a little flour, much like Active yeast. I divide a pound up into 16 pieces, and wrap each 1 oz. piece well in plastic wrap, then store them all together in a zip lock bag. It is easy to pull out an ounce to thaw while getting ready to make bread. Fresh yeast is usually called for in a weight measure in recipes. If not, the little one ounce blocks equal about 2 tablespoons of dried active yeast.
o Instant, Rapid or Bread Machine Yeast– This type of yeast can be added directly to the bread dough ingredients without soaking. In recipes calling for this yeast, you often need less of it than active dried yeast because there are more yeast cell in the granules than in the “Active” yeast, (unless it is a fairly “rich” recipe containing milk, eggs and/or butter). In that case the bread needs a little more yeast to compensate for the higher sugar content in the dough.
o Active Yeast- This dried yeast is usually soaked in lukewarm water before adding to a recipe. It has less live yeast cells in it than Instant, and as Rose Levy Beranbaum explains it “is favored (sic) by pizza dough makers because the dead cells contain glutathione, which relaxes the gluten bonds, adding further to extensibility- making it easier to stretch out the dough.” I have not personally noticed this, but it certainly sounds important. Then again, I don't toss my pizza dough in the air... maybe I would notice then.

2006-11-26T21:19:00.000-08:00

Know Your Ingredients

On my previous Almanac bread programs I would send out, or put on line, pages of information dealing the individual ingredients in various breads, and how these ingredients work in the loaf. For ease of reading and searching I have decided to post each ingredient on separate days. I hope this will make it easier for those searching for specific ingredients and/or problems.
The first installment will be yeast, followed by flour, then starter, etc…. Look for that beginning tomorrow.

2006-11-24T09:43:00.000-08:00

Our Daily Bread

Here's a movie I am looking forward to seeing, Our Daily Bread, or maybe not. It will not be a pretty picture, but sometimes that is what it takes to think about the systems we live with. Are they acceptable? Can we make decisions that will institute change? Is it affordable to make these decisions? Hmmm, the latter question is a big one, isn't it? Why can't we afford it?

Ok, enough! This is a light minded food blog, isn't it?

Here are some snaps from the studio.

Mark Forsythe, the host of Almanac
(Sorry Mark, I know you are eating in the photo, but it was the better of the two!)

Bread Jammed on to Studio Console

The Vultures Arrive