Funky kitchen gadget brilliance

Pastry chefs are known for thinking out side the box, and being great problem solvers. There are so many times in a kitchen you are a lone wolf, the only pastry cook in a sea of sweaty rude young men, who make their needs top priority and only acknowledge you when they have some fruit that has gone off. Thats when they toss it on your table as they pass by to have  cigarette and mumble, "make some sorbet or some shit out of this"

We are constantly having to come up with a better way, a different mold, or a splashier garnish. Remember too, young 'uns, I was in the kitchen before the internet ( for the most part) I can only imagine the information sharing that goes on , the exposure to things we had only "heard" about. For my part I'd spend all my spare money ( not much when you are a cook) on magazines. And the good ones, were expensive..I had years of Gourmet, Savour, Pastry Art and Design, Chocolatier, to name a few. But one little magazine I loved and all the boys made fun of me for reading, they called it a House wife magazine, was "Cooks Illustrated" They never did anything too fancy, but they would do insipred things like test recipes and show you all along the way the differences. They did equipment reviews, and covered all the basics. They also often showed new innovative kitchen gadgets. And who doesnt love a great gadget!!

So as a bit of an homage to my old cooks illustrated days I am going to share with you some of the funkier things that have caught my culinary eye as of late....

I love this idea!

A little hint I would add, that works great even if you are squeezing the citrus by hand..soak it in a bowl of hot hot water for 3-5 minutes before you juice. You will find you get almost twice as much juice per fruit. Also make the skin very soft if you want to zest it first.

I always have a little pile of trimmings, onion skins whatever on the corner of my cutting board, I would love this. In the kitchen I would often stand with a big ole garbage can between me and the cutting board so it was easy to get rid of all the garbage, like pinepple skins, melon rinds, that take up so much space on your board.

I see these things "Chip Clips" in the grocery store and I often wonder who would buy that!? But people do, and thats perfectly ok :) Whats more ok is save the money and bust up a hangar. I love a nice Macgyver...

Sigh....

Not so much a kitchen gadget as a nice idea. I cant complain, I have had breakfast made for me recently, but how much slicker would it have been had I a groovy set up like this! Nice!

How Exquisite is this!?

Hello Vacuum Brewer. It is said  the vacuum brewing principle  has been proven to be exceptionally effective at extracting all the flavor from the coffee grounds,  while removing the more “chewy” texture of the french press method. I never did like those bodums. This I love but I can also see me stumbling around, low on caffeine and knocking the beautiful thing over and breaking it. When can I ever have nice things!?!? :)

Do you have any favorite gadgets??

Tails of pig and leftovers...

Tonight in my on going struggle with what to have for dinner, I decided to have curried shrimp and spinach. Mostly based on the fact that I had a healthy portion of the healthy 5 grain pilaf left over from last night.

Curried Tiger shrimp, sauteed spinach, 5 grain rice pilaf

It got me to thinking about when it was I developed a taste for curry. Like olives, curry was not something I grew up with. When I was younger I grew up in a predominantly white, lovely middle class city in Southern Ontario, Kitchener. When I saw predominantly white I mean it, in a high school of 800 we had 2 black kids, and they were brother and sister. Kitchener, like most of Ontario, has diversified vastly since then and the food offerings are now many and range across all kinds of cultures.

Now don't get me wrong, Kitchener was not without it cultural nuances. It was called Berlin, up until WWII when they decided best change the name of the poor town! So Kitchener is very, very German. This is mostly truly delicious food, for the most part. But I will never forget going to a friends house for dinner as a young girl, I must have been 8 or 9 and my little friends father was so happy to be serving up Pigs tail. Pigs Tail!! I was horrified, but my good upbringing made me unable to do anything in response but feign a smile and try my best to eat. It was probably very good, why wouldn't it be!? but I dont recall. All I know is they knew I was trying to hide the fact that I was disgusted and it was uncomfortable and my little tummy felt sick.
Years later at the distillery, they got on kick of serving whole roasted suckling pig, at  brunch.

I will admit, the darn lil thing was off the hook good. But, the poor piggy went through hell the day or 2 he sat in the fridge, awaiting his final scrumptious fate. Dont call PETA, the thing was already done for, but I swear every cook that went in that fridge posed it in any one of a number of positions best left for the kama sutra..they danced with it, put cigarettes in its mouth. Poor lil Porky.

So, ya, I dont know when I started to like curry :) Tonight was no big schmeal, Ill talk you through it...the sauteed spinach and rice I will leave for you to muddle through for now.

Quick Curry Shrimp

Ingredients 

Tiger shrimps ( how many, I dont know I made 6 for me)

tsp butter

2 TB good quality curry powder

1/4 red onion fine dice

2 cloves garlic chopped

1/4C something sweet or boozy ( tonight I had a splash of Ice wine I used, it is sweet and                   boozy..use wine or juice)

1/4C Chicken or veg or shrimp stock

Get It Together

First a wee note...Curry is a wonderful fragrant unique thing. You can adjust your curry to be anything your palate desires with the addition of turmeric, coriander, cardamon,ginger etc Dont be afraid to play around

So take your curry powder and toast it lightly..by this I mean put it in a dry frying pan and let it toast, in the same manner you would nuts or seeds

To this add your butter or oil and once hot and ready add your onions

Add garlic and saute lightly

add shrimp

Deglaze with wine or juice ( deglaze..fancy term for add liquid to stop the garlic and onions from overcooking)

AT this point once the shrimp are cooked I remove them from the pan.

Add chicken stock and let reduce until half gone.

Montez au buerre..another fancy term, but a wonderful wee trick to make a quick sauce...listen up...

Once your stuff has reduced enough, turn off the heat and let the liquid become still. At that point toss is a TB, yes a tablespoon, Shhhh,of butter and swirl the pan around until all the butter melts.

What this does aside from make one very fat, is smooth out the flavor and actually thicken the sauce. If the sauce is still simmering at all the butter will split and all is lost.

I tossed a half a tomato on the shrimp on the spinach on the plate, just cause I have them and they are lovely now mid summer....

Namaste :-)

Olive you, I honestly olive you

I don't know when I developed a love for olives.

I didn't grow up with them in the house, ever. And this is kind of surprising because in my youth, my mother was a salt aficionado. Since then she has more of an eye on health, but back then I am surprised she wasn't a fan. So I think I must have picked it up from working in restaurants.

As a chef, there are certain foods you HAVE to like...olives,truffles,saffron..get the picture?? Nothing much is said, but your palate is considered green, not worthy of truly being called a chef if you eschew these kinds of ingredients. SO anyways, I dont remember when or how, all I know is I now love olives.

The only difference between green olives and black olives is ripeness. Unripe olives are green, whereas fully ripe olives are black. And black olives contain more oil than green. 

So tonights dinner was rife with Olives :)

What we are seeing there is Roast breast of chicken, bathed in tapenade, 5 grain rice pilaf, tabbouleh salad with olives and Israeli cous cous and Spinach salad with an olive oil honey mustard dressing.

See what I like about this is, not only beautiful, delicious and filling, but really healthy, too! Im totally digging tapenade lately. And I know most of you dont want to go through the bother to make it, so I'll let you in on a little secret....

"Irresistables" Black Olive Tapenade
Food Basics house brand

This is the house brand of Food Basics grocery store. Surprising, I know. Its such a shabby grocery store. But I swear on a stack of Kalamatas that I have tried the President Choice tapenade, and it pales in comparison.

For those brave souls who love to experiment. I'll give you the recipe I have used for years, a sweet french line cook taught me at Auberge du Pommier, when I was still an apprentice.

Olive Tapenade

• 1 cup black olives, pitted
• 1 cup small green (PreferablyFrench) olives 
• 1/4 cup Sun dried tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 anchovy fillet
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1/4 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 
  
• 
  
• Toss it all in a food processor, add a touch of pepper, and off you go.

Sometimes, things change for the better

I have a deal, with someone who I miss, that we look at the moon at night, at the same time. Its a lovely warm romantic notion. Living on the ground floor in the core of the city, makes it tough to sometimes see the moon from my window. Sad, I know.  It does however give me a great excuse to jump on the bike or go for a walk.

The other part of living in the core is 24 hour stores, everywhere. There are 5 convenience and 2 24 hr grocery stores within ten minutes of the house. So late night snacking is all tooooo easy. One of the insanely hot nights when I was out walking, I decided to pop in and get myself a frozen treat. When the humidex is topping 35C I dont want anything rich and creamy. So in the freezer I saw an old friend from days gone by

The humble, cherry popsicle.

Its been years since I had a popsicle, so I thought why not!? Although no longer a dime, they are still the cheapest treat in the freezer at under a dollar. Is there anything under a dollar anymore!?!  I had low expectations, I was hot and it was "just" a popsicle. 

As I walked down to Allen Gardens with the sweet sugary pop dripping down my hand I started to realize, " Hey! This thing is actually really good", nothing like the weak flavoured ice I remember.

I decided to do a little digging, to determine if I was crazy, or had popsicles changed. And I was right! 

 in 1905  11-year-old Frank Epperson left a glass of homemade soda on his porch on a very cold San Francisco night. The next morning he went to go get the soda and it was frozen. Using the stirring stick that he had also left in the glass, he pulled it out and tried it. In 1923, Epperson introduced frozen pop on a stick to the public at Neptune Beach, an amusement park in California. It was a success and in 1924, Epperson applied for a patent for his "frozen confectionery" which he called "the Epsicle ice pop"

Now heres the part that made me go Yes!! I was right....In 1989, Good Humor, bought the rights. In June 2006, Popsicles with "natural flavors and colors" were introduced, replacing the original versions in some cases.

So if you havent in a while, do yourself a favor and have a simple Popsicle, you wont regret it!

What?!?! ANOTHER food blog??

I thought you may enjoy a peek at a friends blog, some of you remember him as "Mr Merc" from back in the day as the kids say. And please, do know what the kids say, cause this is an uber kewl, take out your Urban dictionary , old folks! kind of read!
Enjoy!!

"The Broho"

brohemian foodie: 

Ok....so I'm all about bright vibrant colours, give me some lime, give me some fruit, give me some tang, I'm ready to party.  As a kid I ...

What to eat in record breaking heat

Today I thought I'd talk about the love affair I have been having...smooth and Greek. NO, not my affair de coeur, hes sweet and Jewish..but Yogurt.

Specifically Liberte Greek Yogurt

This yogurt is made using traditional Greek methods. Its strained according to the principles of old-time cheesecloth draining, which makes it incredibly rich and creamy and absolutely free of fat.

Now I have been a fan of Liberte yogourt for a long time, but I used to favour the Méditérranée Yogurt which sits in around 7%-10% fat. Mind bendingly good, but recently I have taken up this new "gaining weight easily" habit, so I had to kiss that one good bye.

I dont miss it a bit! I will admit I have monkey on my back, nutritionally, and its dairy. Perhaps it is my background in pastry. Perhaps it is because one of my "mottos" is " Salt and Fat make food taste good"  Whatever the reason its my downfall, so I am over the moon about ZERO FAT yogurt that tastes as rich and decadent as the full fat version.

I always but the plain, I have tried the fruit ones and they are good, but I prefer fresh fruit to the sweet jammy stuff that sits at the bottom of most yogurt cups. I sometimes add a touch of sugar, never honey, for some reason I do not like honey in it. I top it with fresh berries and usually my fav, Maple Oat Crunch cereal.

I swear its like a delicious fruit crumble with cream. It reminds me of a delicious decadent concoction I encountered as a young pastry chef.

When I was in catering at a high end corporate caterers called En Ville, we made a simple dessert, berries with "Russian cream". I think this name was specific to En Ville. None the less as a new pastry chef I was amazed that something so simple could be so good. It was quite simply, half sour cream, half yogurt, sugar to taste, and a splash of Grand Marnier. It tasted like a cloud of heaven dropped from the sky onto my berries.

Hey...did you know you can make your own yogurt and its dead easy!! I have made it a couple of times and it really is good. If you take the fiished yogurt and tie it up in a cheesecloth bag and hang it in the fridge( with a bowl underneath) you will end up with Greek yogurt, otherwise leave it as is.

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Ingrediants

1 litre (32 ounces) of full fat sheep or cow's milk (pasteurized)

2 tablespoons of previously homemade yogurt or plain unflavored yogurt with active live cultures

2 tablespoons of full fat milk (same type)

Get it together

Start with all ingredients at room temperature.

Heat the milk just to the boiling point and pour into a non-metal container.

Let cool to lukewarm (100-105F a little warm to the touch). A skin will form on top.

Mix the 2 tablespoons of yogurt (homemade or commercial) with 2 tablespoons of milk.

Add to the lukewarm mixture, carefully pouring down the side so that any skin that may have formed on top is not disturbed.

Cover with a clean dishtowel and place on another towel in a warm, dry place for at least 8 hours (or overnight) until it thickens.

Note: 8 to 12 hours is best. The longer the yogurt coagulates beyond that time, the more sour the taste becomes.

Good Luck!

Is it hot out there or is it just me?

With the humidex topping 44C today...yes, I said FORTY-FOUR, I cant say I find myself with much of an appetite.

Someone commented on FB today about frying an egg on the pavement, so I had to try it  :-)

For the record, it doesn't work, and by the dearth of videos on Youtube I am not the first silly fool to try it. Well, now we know.