Archive for March, 2008
Magpie & Stump, a weathered sort of kitschy saloon with bison heads on the wall beside a big screen TV playing the hockey game, is exactly the same as it was 20+ years ago. The dark walls are covered with stuff – old bottles, ash trays, neon signs, old bottle openers, Christmas lights, sombreros, antlers, and that was just in the few square feet beside our table.
Since driving into Banff I have had a hankering for the Gringo Salad of my youth: a utilitarian mound of chopped iceberg lettuce, green pepper, tomato, green onion, almond chicken (which was indistinguishable to me from any other chopped, skinless roasted chicken; not that there’s anything wrong with that) and (not too much) monterey Jack cheese loaded into a deep-fried tortilla shell with their own sour cream-ish, mildly ranchish dressing. This is what I used to order when we came to M&S apres-ski, or when we came to visit my mom’s artist friend who lived in Banff when I was a teenager and pretended she was really my friend. So that’s what I got, but it seems to have lost a bit of its lustre in the past couple decades. Perhaps my palate has changed since the days when I actually enjoyed Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni?
If you want to make an edible tortilla bowl at home, there’s no need to deep-fry them: take a flour tortilla and soak it for a few seconds in a pie plate full of warm water, then drape it over an empty can or inverted glass set on a cookie sheet, gently folding it with your fingers to create the shape you want. Then bake it at 400F for about 10 minutes, or until it’s golden. Kids love dishes you can eat.
I forgot my camera at the hotel, so I could not document Mike’s beef burrito extravaganza, on an oval platter loaded down with guacamole, salad, rice, refried beans, and assorted Mexican things tucked into any bits of space left in between. Upon its arrival he commented that in most countries, this would serve as a meal for an entire family. We looked around at all the other diners, each working on equally huge platters of their own, or entire pizzas. We shared both, and still came home with enough left over for another reasonably-sized meal. I used to make a habit of asking the server to pack up the rest of my meal once I had made it through half – if it stays in front of me, I’ll keep plowing through it, whether I’m full or not. Probably a good habit to pick up again.
March 26 2008 | eating out | No Comments »
I’m just finishing up an article on the subject of picnic food for the summer issue of a Toronto kids’ magazine, and in it one of my menu suggestions is a heartier version of pasta salad – one made with stuffed tortellini instead of the usual rotini or penne or whatever. The recipe says cheese tortellini, but when I ran over to Safeway to buy some so I could take a photo, they had smoked chicken tortellini (just the Safeway brand – I’d pull out the package to refer to, but when I went to boil them I turned on a burner, changed my mind and used another burner, turned the first one off and then mindlessly set the plastic package down on top of it) so I bought that instead (it looks identical to the cheese version, so you won’t be able to tell in the photo anyway), and a package of feta. Boiled the tortellini, ran it under cold water and drained it, then tossed it in a bowl with a drained can of red kidney beans, a few chopped sun-dried tomatoes, a handful of crumbled feta and a couple spoonfuls of pesto (on account of it being W’s magic elixer; also flavorful and works instead of vinaigrette, and won’t spoil as easily as mayo-dressed pasta salads in the hot sun). I left half in the fridge to marinate, and packed the other half to bring on our impromptu road trip to Banff. It was perfect to pick at in the car, and when we got to the hotel we found it has a little fridge! So W picked at it in the bath, lining the tortellini up along the edge of the tub, I picked at it at the little hotel-room desk, and I just noticed it’s past dinnertime (the boys are at the pool) and we don’t really have a plan. Chances are, the tortellini (it’s still not finished) and assorted car snacks will suffice.
I did take photos. But it seems I can’t upload them on my laptop… you’ll have to wait!
March 25 2008 | beans and one dish and pasta and salads | 1 Comment »
Once again I realize this sounds awfully haughty for a regular Monday night, but there were a few leftovers from a Grey Goose event with Dimitri Lezinska (here from Paris) I was cooking for over the dinner hour at Willow Park. Mike was never so glad to see me come home.
I’ve made risotto before. I’m a fan, but not devoted to the stuff; to be honest, every time I have risotto it’s just a little too much. Too starchy, too heavy, too dense. This coming from someone who could eat an entire loaf of bread with butter with absolutely no problem. Risotto is the only thing I can think of that puts me over the edge. Perhaps because restaurants tend to serve big bowls of it on its own - why is that?
But I have always wanted to make arancini – shallow-fried balls or patties of cold risotto, moulded around a chunk of mozzarella and dipped in egg and panko before frying. You just get a few bites of risotto (enforcable portion control – probably the key to enjoying the stuff), with a crispy exterior and creamy, cheesy middle. To be honest, I’ve never attempted arancini because it seemed like too much work to have to make a recipe (risotto) in preparation for another recipe (arancini).
Was I ever wrong. If you’ve never made risotto, you should give it a whirl; it’s one of those recipes that sounds fussy, but is in reality one of the toughest to screw up. It’s easier than steaming fluffy white rice. Seriously. You want it to get starchy and creamy. If you add too much liquid, you just cook it until it absorbs it. If there isn’t enough, pour in more. Stir it as much as you can – not necessarily constantly – until it’s done. It’s like making oatmeal. And if you cool it down and put it in the fridge it will congeal into this mass that can be rolled into balls with no effort. Heat about an inch of canola oil in a skillet on the stovetop, and if you don’t have panko, you can simply dip them in flour and fry them straight away, and they are every bit as good, if not quite as crunchy and impressive-looking. But we all know looks aren’t everything.
Use any kind of risotto; I made a basic lemon and Parmesan version. Perhaps too lemony? I used less than the recipe requested, but really that sort of thing is a matter of taste. Chill overnight, or up to a few days. When you’re ready to make arancini, cut some mozzarella into small (about 1/2″) cubes and shape a couple tablespoonsful of the risotto into a ball around it. I like flattening them a little into patties – this makes them easier to cook evenly all the way through, and you don’t need your oil to be quite as deep. While your canola oil is heating in a heavy skillet or shallow pot (enough to come almost halfway up the side of the risotto cakes) beat a couple eggs in a shallow bowl, and some Panko (crispy Japanese breadcrumbs) or dry breadcrumbs in another bowl. If you like, put a bit of flour in a third.
When the oil is hot but not smoking (it should sizzle around a bit of bread dropped in), dredge the risotto cakes first in flour, then in egg and Panko (or skip the flour, or just do flour), and gently drop them a few at a time into the oil. (Don’t crowd the pan, or it will cool the oil down too much.) Cook until golden on one side, then flip and cook on the other. If you’re concerned that the inner chunk of cheese won’t be sufficiently melty, put them on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or so; this is also a great way to keep the first ones warm while you cook the rest.
Beef Tataki with Ponzu Sauce
For the Beef:
2 lb. beef tenderloin
1 Tbsp. canola oil
freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sherry or mirin (sweet Japanese cooking wine)
3 green onions, thinly sliced
2 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
zest of 1 lemon
For the Ponzu Sauce:
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. ginger juice (press pureed ginger through a fine sieve to extract the juice, leaving all the roughage behind)
Daikon, for garnish (optional)
Preheat the oven to 500F. Rub all sides of the beef with the oil and sprinkle with the pepper. Place in a small roasting pan and cook for about 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to about 400F and cook for another 15 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 120 degrees F. Set aside to cool.
In a bowl or heavy-duty resealable plastic bag large enough to hold the beef, combine the soy sauce, sherry, green onions, garlic, and lemon zest. As soon as the beef is cool enough to handle, transfer to the bag or bowl and refrigerate for at least 6 hours and up to 24 hours, turning over occasionally.
In a bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, lemon and lime juices, and ginger juice to make the Ponzu sauce, whisking until the sugar dissolves.
About 45 minutes before you plan to serve, place the beef in the freezer (this will firm the beef and make it easier to cut even slices). After 20 minutes, remove the beef from the bag and discard the marinade. Slice crosswise with a very sharp knife into 1/4 inch slices. Fan the slices, overlapping, on a platter and let stand for 10 minutes. If you like, peel a daikon and then keep slicing off thin ribbons with the vegetable peeler, and use the daikon ribbons to garnish the beef. Drizzle with the Ponzu sauce and serve. (Alternatively, you could divide everything among soup spoons, as illustrated in the photo.)
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March 24 2008 | appetizers | 8 Comments »
I was chatting to some other moms yesterday while our kids scrambled for chocolate eggs; on the subject of finicky eaters it became quickly apparent that some of you may be under the misconception that what ever I make for dinner, Willem will happily eat.
Ha. Let me relieve you of that crazy notion right now.
- He will not eat a potato in any form, unless it is a French fry. He will, however, eat falafel, and adores anything containing pesto.
- Anything else that’s green is out. Unless it’s spinach, wilted onto a pizza or whizzed into tomato sauce.
- He refuses to drink juice or even accept a Freezie. Which is not really a problem, just weird.
- Nor, going against all that is sacred to most two year olds, will he eat yogurt, or applesauce, or really anything resembling baby food. He will, however, drink a smoothie.
- He adores ketchup, so I mix it half and half with tomato paste to cut back on the sugar. He never notices. (You do have to refrigerate it though, and it doesn’t last as long.)
- He won’t eat an orange (even a Mandarin) or a carrot, unless it’s to imitate Bugs Bunny (in which case he only bites off the tip anyway) or cooked into Chicken, White Bean & Pesto Stew, which is loaded with veg and was always our saviour on days when we ate Big Salads and other things he won’t touch for dinner. However, in recent weeks it seems to be going the way of Lentil Soup – something he used to adore and now gags at.
We do, however, generally insist that he at least try a bite of things. Kids love repetition in their food as much as in their Disney movies, so it’s easy to fall into the “my kid will only eat chicken fingers and hot dogs” trap. If we let him, W would live on meat, buns, peanut butter spoons and eggs and toast, unless an all-candy and ketchup diet was an option. (What’s a peanut butter spoon? It’s a small spoon, dipped in peanut butter to then be licked off like a puppy. Hey, it has protein and good fats.)
Green Eggs and Ham has actually been quite effective in convincing him to try stuff. He spent the afternoon trying to persuade our chef neighbor to taste an avocado.
Tonight we went for dinner at Mike’s mum’s house, and she made Cornish hens (teeny tiny turkeys: one each, with Stove Top and seasoning salt) and W tore the legs and wings off all of them, and that’s all he would eat. Any onlooker might have thought we were poisoning him with the two bites of peas we managed to convince him to eat by overenthusiastically quoting Green Eggs and Ham: “you will like it, you will see – you will like it in a tree!”, and so when we got home we pulled out the tomato sauced whole wheat rotini we keep in waiting for such occasions, and his beloved (poached) eggs on toast, which has become the standard fare he asks for anytime he’s hungry.
Feel better?
March 23 2008 | leftovers | 3 Comments »
OK, so I didn’t actually make anything for dinner tonight. But I cranked out a helluva lot of waffles over the course of the day to fuel our Easter egg hunt (I think we unplugged the waffle iron at around 2:30) and munched on leftovers and peanut butter Easter eggs enough that we didn’t particularly want dinner. I think W ate the first third of about three apples, and Mike made a berry smoothie in an attempt to offset the effects of our poor grazing.
But the waffles weren’t really that unhealthy, made with whole wheat flour, an egg and canola oil. This is my favorite recipe, and one you should have if you own a waffle iron. (In fact, having this recipe easily justifies the purchase of a waffle iron.) It’s made with yeast, and stirred up the night before (the eggs are stirred in at the last minute) so it’s ready to go when you are. The resulting waffles are light and crispy, and make the house smell phenomenal on account of the yeast in the batter. I’m glad to have the opportunity to share it; being a dinner-themed blog, I sometimes wish I could report on our morning meals instead. More than once it has crossed my mind to launch Breakfast with Julie (or Breakfast at Julie’s? Like Tiffany’s?), but then I’d be documenting everything I ate every day and driving everyone crazy. Plus there are only so many ways to make a toasted bagel & peanut butter or a bowl of oatmeal interesting.
To top the waffles, I simmered some frozen wild blueberries in maple syrup until they popped, turning the syrup indigo. And sliced up strawberries to go in between the waffles and whipped cream, of course. If there’s bacon on the table, my Mom and I both like to wrap crispy slices in a wedge of soft waffle and eat it with our fingers.
Usually I dump some ground flaxseed in these too – for some reason it’s undetectable – but I thought better of it since there were so many toddlers present (in diapers or in training)…
Yeast-Raised Waffles
1/2 cup warm water
2 tsp. (or 1 pkg.) active dry yeast
2 cups warmed milk (regular or soy)
1/4 cup melted butter, non-hydrogenated margarine or canola oil
2 cups all-purpose flour (or a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat – I usually use half and half, then add some ground flax seed too)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. baking soda
In a large bowl, stir together the water and yeast – let it sit for a few minutes to make sure it’s active. If it doesn’t get foamy, toss it out. Stir in the milk, butter, flour, sugar and salt and whisk to get rid of any lumps. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter overnight (at room temp).
Just before you make your waffles, stir in the eggs and baking soda. The batter will be quite thin. Heat up your waffle iron (spray it first) and cook your waffles the way you normally do, using as much batter as the manufacturer suggests or you deem appropriate. (I use about a ladleful per waffle.)
Makes 6-8 big Belgian-style waffles (I have a machine that makes deep, round waffles).
March 23 2008 | bread | 7 Comments »
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