Archive for November, 2009
I gazed at the calendar on Tuesday, admiring four whole days’ worth – Tuesday to Friday – of empty boxes. Huzzah! I could work on the three articles I have due at my leisure, plan and shop for the seven-course dinner party I’m cooking for on Saturday night (a silent auction item for Alberta Heart & Stroke) and perhaps even begin to reclaim the basement, which was half gutted on Monday when they came to dismantle the Buick-sized furnace and replace it with a new one, and install new pipes and ducts, which meant not only MOVING EVERYTHING (I don’t know about your basement, but mine is mighty full of crap) including the washer and dryer, and tearing out the top half of the stairs. As home reno projects are wont to do, it created a domino effect that made us wonder if while we’re at it we should paint the floor, tear out that section of fake floor in one corner that looks to be about 80 years old, maybe put in some shelving…
And oh – my other news? Looks like there is going to be a Dinner with Julie book! Maybe. Provided, that is, I can get a manuscript together by the end of December. A massive one. So in a month and a half. No pressure. This week I could get going on that, too.
Which brings me back to the calendar. So I was yawning and stretching in my mind, plotting mornings spent at coffee shops on my laptop and cathartic afternoons purging/cleaning/painting the basement, when the phone rang – could I do traffic on the Homestretch all this week? But of course.
Which is great fun, of course. I don’t mind at all, and in fact it’s great timing, fitting right in to my empty(ish) week like well-played Tetris. But I won’t be catching up on anything anytime soon.
I figured this was as good a week as any to play “what’s in the freezer?” – a sort of game of Russian roulette where I pull something out isn’t labeled and is taking up too much space, and we eat it. Sometimes it works out and we eat well – other times I have to figure out what to do with a baggie full of thawed tuna. It’s kind of fun, actually.
Tonight it was thawed lentil-barley-sausage soup that Mike might have eaten, but W surely didn’t. I came home late and finished half his cold grilled cheese, then rifled through the fridge and found some mascarpone (easy to find, I picked mine up at Co-op) which I ate with a spoon. It reminded me of the reason I bought it to begin with, to write about for Swerve and make mascarpone panna cotta. I know, it’s a stretch – but will you take it? It’s all I’ve got. The pomegranate syrup makes a tart contrast to the creamy panna cotta. It’s good drizzled into fizzy drinks, too.
Honey Mascarpone Panna Cotta with (or without) Pomegranate Syrup
Serving panna cotta in individual ramekins, small dishes or glasses makes it easy – there’s no pressure to unmould them cleanly. Martini glasses work well for large parties – they’re easy to hold and eat standing up.
1 pkg. plain gelatin (or 1 tablespoon if you buy it in bulk)
1 L half & half or 18% coffee cream
1/2 cup mascarpone
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (optional)
Pomegranate Syrup (optional):
2 cups pomegranate juice (POM comes in 473 mL bottles-perfect)
1/2 cup sugar
a few strips of orange zest (optional)
Pour the cream into a medium pot and sprinkle with gelatin. Let it sit for a few minutes to let the gelatin soften. Set the pot over medium heat and stir, warming the cream but not letting it boil, until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
Add the mascarpone (I just eyeball it, adding a large spoonful) and honey and cook, stirring, until the mascarpone is melted and the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
Pour the mixture into individual wine glasses, small dishes or ramekins. (If you want to unmould them onto a plate to serve them, spray the dishes with nonstick spray first.) Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until set. (These can be made up to a few days in advance; cover each dish with plastic wrap to avoid having them dry out on top.)
To make the pomegranate syrup, simmer the pomegranate juice, sugar and orange peel in a small pot set over medium heat until it reduces by half. Remove the peel and cool completely – it should have the consistency of syrup. (This too can be made up to a week in advance and refrigerated.)
Serve your panna cotta in the ramekins or unmoulded onto a small plate, drizzled with pomegranate syrup. Serves 6-8.
November 18 2009 | dessert | 24 Comments »
Taking over traffic duties on the Homestretch on CBC all this week from 2-6pm. Fortunately there were leftovers from the morning show today – tailgate tapas was the topic of discussion – and so I made (among other things) a Spanish tortilla, which is essentially a frittata – a baked omelet of sorts that’s easy to make in advance and serve up cold in two-bite squares. (This was supposed to be made with Spanish chorizo, but I didn’t clarify on the shopping list, so it’s just plain old Italian chorizo, squeezed out of its casing and cooked along with the onion and peppers. Really, you could put anything in this, but potato and sausage are pretty classic.)
Any kind of baked frittata makes a fine sandwich, a handsome crouton, and an easy breakfast/lunch/dinner to pull out of the fridge whenever you need it.
I like to think this is what they ate in my absence – they could have just as easily had popcorn.
Spanish Chorizo & Potato Tortilla
canola or olive oil, for cooking
1 onion, chopped
1 small red pepper, seeded and diced
2 Spanish chorizo sausages, chopped
2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, diced
3 green onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
8 large eggs
1/2 cup half & half, sour cream or plain yogurt
salt & pepper
2 cups grated Manchego or old cheddar
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
In a large skillet, heat a drizzle of oil over medium-high heat and cook the onion for a few minutes, until soft. Add the red pepper and sausage and cook for a few more minutes, then the potatoes, cover and cook for 5-10 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Remove the lid and add the green onions and garlic. Cook for another minute or two, then spread the mixture into a 9″x13″ pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.
Meanwhile, stir the eggs and half & half with a fork or whisk, until well blended. Season with salt and pepper and stir in half the cheese. Pour over the vegetables and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes, until set. Cool completely and then cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Serve cold, cut into squares or triangles. Serves 10+.
One Year Ago: Middle-Eastern Slow-cooked Stew with Lamb, Chick Peas & Figs
November 17 2009 | breakfast | 10 Comments »
As always, food ideas come to me in clusters. In Jasper, I pulled a recipe from Canadian Living for a cheesy chard gratin. When I got home and jumped around to some of my favourite food blogs to catch up on what’s been going on in everyone’s kitchens, Deb had made a chard gratin with sweet potatoes. Well, hello.
So obviously it was a sign. I picked up some chard. However. Have I mentioned the entertainment tax I paid last week? It cost me a full 8 pounds. Too much cheese, bread, butter, meat, desserts doused in whipped cream. Repeat. Have you ever heard Michael Pollan’s advice to “eat food, not too much, mostly plants”? In recent weeks (between Jasper, Toronto, Vancouver, Vegas and the Okanagan-yikes!) I’ve lived the opposite: “eat food, way too much, mostly stuff that didn’t grow out of the ground”.
And if it was a plant it was doused in thick, creamy balsamic dressing or béarnaise. Or both.
So this chard and sweet potato gratin seemed like a good idea, but I could hardly feel virtuous about a vegetable casserole made with 2 cups of heavy cream, butter and cheese, although I can’t imagine a tastier way to eat my vegetables. So I swapped the butter for oil, used milk (you could do half & half if you don’t want to lose the cream entirely) and eased up on the cheese a bit – this part I was most resistant to being stingy on – but a little went a long way. I used the end of a stump of Gruyére, and a bit of old Gouda. I also streamlined it a bit, mostly because I’m lazy and don’t much like doing dishes (or telling Mike to) and ditched the herbs (parsley and thyme). It was ridiculously good – sweet and warm and nutty from the cheese and nutmeg – and between the two of us (W would have nothing to do with it) we ate almost the whole thing. I had it for dinner and dessert.
Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin
adapted from SmittenKitchen
canola or olive oil, for cooking
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 bunches of Swiss chard, leaves and stems separated and both cut into 1-inch pieces
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
2 cups milk
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large dark-fleshed sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
light sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg
salt & pepper
1 cup coarsely grated Gruyére, old cheddar or Gouda cheese
Heat a drizzle of oil in a heavy skillet set over medium-high heat and cook the onions for a few minutes. Add the chard (if you rinse the leaves first, they should have an ideal amount of moisture still clinging to them) and sprinkle with a bit of salt and cook until the chard wilts and there is no moisture left in the pan. Transfer to a bowl.
Add the butter and flour to the skillet and whisk together to make a paste. Whisk in the milk, then add the garlic and bring to a simmer. Boil for 2 minutes, whisking; season with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray. Spread half of the sweet potatoes in the baking dish. Sprinkle with nutmeg, salt, pepper, half of the greens mixture, about half the cheese and half the sauce. Layer with the rest of the potatoes, the rest of the greens, the rest of the sauce, and top it all with the rest of the cheese.
Cover with foil and bake for about 45 minutes, then take the foil off and bake for another 15 minutes, until golden and bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Serves 6.
One Year Ago: Pasta Carbonara with Peas
November 16 2009 | veg | 17 Comments »
AKA my new favourite way to eat Brussels sprouts (yes Brussels – as in the city in Belgium. Not brussel sprouts. Also not expresso. Espresso! ESPRESSO!!) These were the last remaining veg in the fridge that held their own during our week away. A few wrinkly peppers destined for roasting, and it’s time to hit the market.
Brussels sprouts are after all teeny heads of cabbage, so why not shred them into slaw? My Mom, a devout BS hater, who can sniff one out on a Thanksgiving table loaded with food, said she could be persuaded to try this. I’m doing it quick, before she changes her mind. I’ll let you know if she survives.
Brussels Sprout Slaw with Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette and Maple Pecans
adapted from Bon Appetit, November 2009
1 cup pecan halves
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
salt & pepper
1 1/2 lb. Brussels sprouts, trimmed
Dressing:
1/4 cup grainy mustard
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread the pecans out on a baking sheet and drizzle with maple syrup; stir around with a spoon to coat them well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 5 minutes; stir and bake them for another 5 minutes, until the syrup is thick and glaze-like. Remove from the oven and spread the nuts on a piece of foil or a plate to cool.
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the Brussels sprouts for 5 minutes; drain and run under cool water. Shake off any excess water and run the sprouts through a food processor with a 1/8″-1/4″ slicing disk, or patiently cut them all thinly by hand. Transfer to a large bowl.
In a bowl or jar, shake or whisk together all the dressing ingredients. Toss the Brussels sprouts with as much dressing as you like; let marinate for about an hour. Right before serving, add the pecans.
I was busy patting myself on the back for eating a bowl of Brussels sprouts for lunch – nary a pastry in sight, and I haven’t had hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate shavings for a good 3 DAYS – when our neighbours popped over and gave me an excuse to break into some cheese. So technically I ate triple crème, Oka and crackers for dinner. This is not helping my pants fit.
November 15 2009 | salads and veg | 22 Comments »
Swerve is out! That means I can officially share the recipe everyone was drooling over last week. And in fact I did make it again tonight, having come home to not much in the fridge but cheese left over from this recipe, and milk that I threw in the freezer to use in baking and stuff like this. I used frozen spinach, and it did the trick. I also made it with brown rice pasta this time, in a tentative move away from consuming so much wheat. I know, baby steps.
Also: I have news!
No, it’s not a bun in the oven. But – it’s a boy! I get to host – yes, me – one ANTHONY BOURDAIN when he comes to Calgary in January. Maybe you’ve heard of him? My stomach is already doing flip-flops over not only getting to meet him, but INTRODUCE him. Do you think that counts as an ab workout? Maybe I’ll have abs of steel by January?
Here are the specifics: he’ll be giving a Kitchen Confidential lecture on Tuesday, January 12th at the Jack Singer Concert Hall in the Epcore Centre for Performing Arts. Doors open at 7; the talk will start at 8. Afterward I believe there will be a reception (to which you can buy tickets, I think?) with Janice Beaton Fine Cheese and wine from Willow Park Wines & Spirits. I’ll keep you posted as I learn more about it myself.
And yes, tickets are on sale now – $35 to $100 – you can buy them at the Epcor Centre Box Office, online or by calling (403) 294-9494.
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November 13 2009 | pasta | 49 Comments »
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