The Food Fluffer

That's My Chicken!

2011-09-08T00:00:00.000-04:00

It is pretty big, so I am thinking that you might have seen "my chicken". The one used in print ads, tv commercials and large billboards for the Food Network's newest show called Restaurant Impossible?

My husband, Brian Summers, was the photographer for the shoot and he hired me, -as though he had a choice...

The creative was sent by the client about ten days prior to the shoot. I was trying to get my head around the gear that the chicken was to wear when I had a stroke of genius. Out for an evening stroll I bumped into a few neighbours and they were walking a very small dog, and attached to the dog was a very small harness. My husband procured a few different kinds of miniature chihuahua harnesses, and "Chester" our hero chicken happened to fill one out just about perfectly. (OK, a few pins were used in the making of the shot...so I would not recommend recreating this at home.)

New Experiences, New Skills...?

2011-06-12T18:20:00.000-04:00

For the past week I have been working in a small mid-town catering company which operates out of a commercial kitchen above the commercial kitchen of a restaurant. The cast from "Glee" was lunching there on Friday as it turns out.

Lots of heat, craziness and a wide variety of people who work there make it all into an interesting experience. The list of tasks to be accomplished can be quite long, so much so that by then end of the day I can barely remember if I did it or not. The other day my colleague was working on the fresh pea soup and had successfully put several batches through the blender when this happened:

In hind sight, always check that the blender blade and mechanism is properly attached after every use!

And on Saturday, I volunteered at the elementary school "Fun Fair", coordinating the food & beverage area along with a few other volunteers. This year, for the first time, we rented a Cotton Candy machine - because they just look like so much fun...right? They are, but they are also a fair amount of work. It takes a bit of practice and nimble fingers to twirl the paper cones just so in order to catch the sugar filaments that fly up in that large plastic dish. Not fast enough to catch them and they land on one's arm, or in one's hair if they really get away on you... I can now say that I have done Cotton Candy, and if need be, can do it again - just like volunteering at the Fun Fair.....

; )

Finally! Laundry You Can Sink Your Teeth Into

2011-04-22T18:41:00.003-04:00

I have a fairly sizeable cookbook collection - including of course the one written* by mom, along with food magazines and the occasional pamphlet and scrawled out recipe. I also confess to not wanting to chuck or recycle the vintage Gourmet magazines in my possession so when the movers who delivered our new bed told me that I had to support the wooden slats that hold up the mattress - I had my answer and I have never slept better.

The area dedicated to cookbooks in the kitchen is packed tight, very tight - but when a friend recently gave me a copy of Thomas Keller's The French Laundry Cookbook - I knew that another wooden slat was going to be supported under my bed. Out with some other less frequented books in order to make room to new star in the collection. The book is truly beautiful, the images are gorgeous, inspirational and yes, I do want to attempt their recipes. Not only does the book draw you in with the sensual images, but it is peppered with anecdotes and tidbits that are both useful and informative.

My sister and brother-in-law will be in the land of The French Laundry next month along with another couple, both celebrating the quarter century wedding anniversary. When they knew their dates, they began to plan for the restaurant itinerary. The French Laundry accepts reservations two months out, no exceptions. Knowing this, my sister and her friend both attempted to contact the restaurant exactly two months out from their time in Nappa from their respective home by calling and by emailing. Twenty minutes after the lines were opened they got through - and their names are now on the wait list.... Good luck with that sis, and thank you for the book JM!

* Mom co-edited several editions of "Nellie Lyle Pattinson's Canadian Cookbook" - an everyday and highly useful cookbook during the 50's, 60's and 70's - and used in many Home Economic high school classes across the country. It is no longer in print, but reviews, are still available online - I found these on Indigo.ca:

Rating: 5/5
Best Ever All-resource Cookbook
Phyllis
10 years ago

This cookbook was a wedding gift in 1962, from a recent U.ofT. Household Science Grad. As a collector of cookbooks for many years, I still find it my best resource for numerous topics, often getting calls, from both new and experienced cooks, looking for info. I recently tried to purchase a copy at an estate auction, but was outbid. Our youngest (of 3) daughters, all of whom learned to cook from this book, has requested it, as she is soon to be married. I am delighted that it is still available for me to purchase for her, as I cannot yet part with mine.

Rating: 5/5
The ONLY Cookbook
Sylvia H
10 years ago

I received this cookbook as a gift when I was first married in 1955. I had no idea how to prepare a basic meal of meat and vegetables but I learned very quickly thanks to the basic, simple instructions in the Canadian Cookbook. This book is a must for the novice cook as it covers everything from how to set a table, to cooking for a crowd. I have yet to find another cookbook that measures up to this one. Several years ago I gave a copy of this book to a new bride and she still thanks me for it. She says she doesn't know how she would have managed meal preparation without it. I am so pleased that the Canadian Cookbook is still available as my copy is falling apart and needs to be replaced. As far as I am concerned, this is the ONLY cookbook for the basic cook and no home should be without the Canadian Cookbook.

Mise à Jour....

2011-04-19T14:27:00.001-04:00

I thought that I would follow up on a thought or two and some uses of products mentioned in previous blog postings.

Poached Pears with Dried Roses

First, the beautiful tiny dried roses. Bosc pears were on sale recently, loaded up on them and I decided to poach some of them. I typically make a simple sugar of 1l of water and 1.5 cups of sugar, throw in a split vanilla bean, some lemon peel strips and we are good to go. This time, I added the petals of about ten tiny dried roses - which infused a lovely floral scent and taste the to pears. They were delicious just like that, simple and understated.

Tiffins - and where to buy them...

A friend spotted something that looks like tiffins at a large (ie. sanitized) organic downtown grocery store and sent me a photo. They appear to be only one level (what is that?) and cost about $30+ adding insult to injury. Go ethnic! Go to an east Indian neighbourhood, or grocery store - they are sure to have them. Ideally, buy a stainless steel one and not aluminium. My personal preference, and they don't "ding" as much. Contrary to what many people think, stainless steel CAN GO IN THE MICROWAVE - only stainless though and in fact the lining of many microwave ovens and is stainless steel. Go ahead and take a peak in your oven now - the interior might be stainless. Chef Michael Olson taught me that trick when I was assisting him, and his Chef wife Anna Olson, at a cooking school.

Chick Peas

My sons have found a new use for chick peas: ammo. They received Vermont whittled slingshots from their sister for Christmas last year. Since then they have been helping themselves to my dry chick pea stash in order to take aim at: squirrels, racoons, pigeons and any other urban vermin that dares enter our back yard - that is if our dog doesn't go for them first. Our neighbours are no doubt finding chick peas in their yards and I have found a few that went through the washing machine from my son's pockets. I am happy to report that nothing and no-one has been seriously injured, maimed or broken since the slingshots arrived.
: )

Tiffin - the Ultimate Reusable Lunch Pail

2011-04-12T09:06:00.001-04:00

Talk about the ultimate reusable lunch pail! Stainless steel tiffins are the carrying device and food container all in one. I have one, made in Mumbai, India and just the right size for someone with a healthy appetite, or for sharing with someone who you really care about.

A friend of ours of Indian descent brought us a gorgeous lamb biryani for dinner about two months ago, and it was in a four level tiffin! I was so thrilled: delicious, hot dinner made and delivered and all in fantastic containers! I also appreciate that they are not plastic, have stack-ability and the closing and carrying mechanism are all in one - brilliant. Perhaps I will pick up a few more so that each of the three kids can have one for their lunch bag. The foam quilted plastic bags available everywhere just aren't doing it for me. They typically tear, the zippers break and I am sure that the lining is a breeding ground for all kinds of interesting science experiments - seeing that it is challenging to clean properly. Here's to all of us using tiffins, packed full of our favourite foods - Indian or not. Enjoy, FF.

Photo: Michael Kohn, Styling: Anita Whyte

Let Them Eat.......Granola Bars

2011-04-11T22:11:00.013-04:00

OK, I admit it, I have food prejudices - and some of them I am perfectly happy to maintain. Food colourings rank very high, as do highly processed foods, some foods from certain countries of origin and excessively packaged foods - especially for home consumption.

We have three healthy and growing children, and I am aware of how much recycling, garbage and compost we produce though I think that we are really quite good. Many schools ask that parents pack lunches in reusable containers and everything is "boomeranged" - ie sent back home - whether it is consumed or not. Great idea, parents can actually see what it is that junior is or is not eating, and all garbage and waste is put into the home's system and not the school's. I used to buy (gasp) packaged granola bars before I got this recipe, it is from a local caterer where I have worked - however I have tweaked it, as I often do, and reduced the amount of chocolate. Yes, there is such a thing as too much chocolate, this variation gives just the right hit without turning the bars into a confection. We do not have nut allergies in our family, and I can only imagine how scary it would be to have a child who has to be on the lookout at all times. I never put nuts into granola bars that I prepare for the kids' school lunches - but we enjoy them in our weekend version.

Pantry Purge Granola Bars

2/3 cup butter

4 1/2 cups cereal (oatmeal, dregs of tired cereal in boxes)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey, brown rice syrup, or other liquid sweetener of your choice

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup to 1 1/2 cups of items of interest*: raisins, dried cranberries, toasted pumpkin seeds, coconut, flax seeds, chopped dried apricot, etc... (stuff hanging in your pantry in other words)

1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a 9x13" pan or two 8x8" pans with parchment paper.

Mix all ingredients into kitchen mixer, and using the paddle attachment, mix until well combined. Place mixture into prepared pans, press down and into corners. Bake 18 - 22 minutes, until slightly puffed and golden. Let cool before cutting.

I make these things so often I could make them in my sleep, I switch up what I put in them based on what I have in the pantry and the cereal cupboard. The remnants of that big box of bran cereal that was on sale? In it goes, two spoonfuls of golden raisins? and so on. Enjoy, FF.

Roses & Stars

2011-04-09T23:00:00.001-04:00

There are times when I impulsively purchase interesting food products and only figure out what to do with them well after. I love these tiny roses, the first time that I came across them was at the large outdoor market in Nice, France. I bought them, brought them home, admired them and ground some of them up to use as a finishing flavour in a lamb stew. I recently came across the ones in the above photo at a Chinese grocery store in Toronto and had to buy them for their beauty alone, not to mention that they are a steal at $3.99. I have since learned that they are often in steeped in hot water and made into a floral herbal tea. I have made a walnut baklava flavoured with cardamom and rose water and I am thinking that these roses could be a lovely enhancement to it. I am also curious about experimenting with a rose flavoured macaron and using crumbled petals in the almond meringue cookie. To be continued.

Star anise is another visually interesting spice. It has a distinctive anise or liquorice flavour and is used in many ways including Indian biryani dishes, in the making of Chinese "Five Spice" spicing (along with cloves, cinnamon, fennel and pepper) and with other ingredients for the flavouring in Pho, see below.

Thanks to Michael Kohn for the great photos

Spiced Pantry

2011-03-22T20:09:00.001-04:00

There is nothing as comforting as a well stocked pantry, it holds so much potential - an unlimited variety of possibilities where one can continually pull rabbits out of the hat - or so to speak. I enjoy challenging myself to work down the inventory from time to time in order to keep things fresh and to force myself to use some of the more obscure products I may have picked up along the way. My diverse pantry includes spices and spice mixes - a couple of which I really enjoy and use often are: Garam Masala, and Ras el Hanout. I use a retired coffee grinder as a dedicated spice grinder and the results are great.

Garam Masala is a blend of spices essential to northern Indian dishes, I cook with it and often finish dishes off with a little more. Every recipe is a little different, however I use Smita Chandra's aromatic recipe. I had the pleasure of working with her many times at a local cooking school.

Smita's Garam Masala

1.5 tablespoons whole cardamom

4 cinnamon sticks, broken in to 1" pieces

1 teaspoon whole black pepper

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon whole cloves

2 bay leaves, broken

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

Put all of the ingredients into a grinder and grind until fine. Store in an airtight container.

Ras el Hanout is a spice mixture sold in Maroccan markets, a blend of anywhere between ten and one hundred spices. The translation literally means "top of the pile", which is often the way spices are displayed in souks - in large piles. I enjoy this spice mixture sprinkled on pita chips prior to baking, in ground lamb or beef dishes and as a dry rub component. Like the Garam Masala, this spice mixture is also very versatile.

Ras el Hanout

1 tsp each black pepper, ginger

1/2 tsp each cumin, cinnamon, coriander, allspice, cardamom

1/4 tsp each nutmeg, turmeric

1/8 tsp each cloves, cayenne pepper

This recipe has a modest eleven spices in its recipe. I grind some of the spices, and the others I measure out, adding in the freshly ground ones for a homogenous mixture.

Tradition....Tradition!

2011-01-04T15:31:00.001-05:00

Early January and a New Year already - Oh My!

I recognize that I have not contributed since just before Halloween however, I have been working away on various styling jobs and trying to move things forward on the post-house-fire rebuild of the house. Then before one knows it, it is "the season" and some things kick up into a crazy orbit, while other aspects of work become calm until the New Year. Styling was quieter in December this year than others, just one of those things. My friends who are Stir Crazy Catering were going gangbusters with their fantastic tourtières: they made over 500 in December, one day I helped them and we made 91 of the delectable savoury tarts. Did I mention that they do not have a sheeter - the machine that rolls out dough to specified thicknesses.... and hence all dough was lovingly and manually rolled. Their tourtières are sold through "A Taste of Quebec", the Québécois food emporium located in Toronto's Distillery district.

Christmas Eve is our household starts out with eating a Stir Crazy tourtière, participating in the local live-crêche scene in the city-run farm across the street from us where my husband and I are the Innkeeper & Wife in almost perpetuity. Our daughter has graduated from "Angel"in the manger to a "Shepard" with a few lines.

I really enjoy baking and Christmas time is no exception. I make a variety of treats, some are once-offs and others I make every year - or else! I have taken to making Bûche de Noël every year now for several years and I like to switch up the decor. One year I toasted sliced almonds and then placed them with the help of tiny tweezers in an overlapping pattern the length of the bûche so as to emulate tree bark. Another year I made a praline of toasted hazelnuts and caramel and crushed it in the food processor. I then applied this to the iced exterior of the bûche for a sparkly bark look. I switch up the fillings too, sometimes chocolate buttercream, sometimes the filling from my salted caramel macarons recipe.... This year chocolate prevailed. I decorated the exterior of the chocolate Bûches with chocolate snowflakes outlined with royal icing. No idea what I will do for bûche 2011, however after havine seen the documentary "Kings of Pastry" which follows three contestants in the Meilleur Ouvrier de France competition, aka "MOFs". I have so much to aspire to and much to keep me inspired. Bonne Année et bon appétit!

Going Dutch, on the Oven

2010-10-25T08:54:00.000-04:00

We have the best Dutch Oven at the family cottage in Quebec, where it belongs. Smooth from use and very well seasoned cast iron, the pot and lid must weigh about 8 kilos when empty! I am half convinced that it must have made the journey to Nouvelle France on one of Champlain's many trips - as it is that old (looking).

My sister busied herself last summer by making multiple loaves of Jim Lahey's no-kneed 24 hour bread. In a nutshell, the dough requires a scant 1/4 teaspoon of yeast, rises for 20+ hours and is baked off in a Dutch Oven which has been super-heated to 500 F. The result is a fantastic artisanal style bread with a fabulous crust and a moist and chewy interior. It is the super-heating aspect that made our propane budget skyrocket, the little-kitchen-oven-that-could went into overdrive and became perilously hot itself. The results were well worth all the effort.

I recently purchased a KitchenAid Dutch Oven, on sale at Canadian Tire; regular price was $ 150, down to $ 50. It is enamel-covered cast iron and, though will never have the same feel as the one at the cottage, I am enjoying using it now that Fall is upon us.

Since procuring the said pot, I have made a baked penne with cheese & chorizo dish, followed by an impromtu cassoulet made with red kidney beans which I soaked and par-boiled, onion confit, thick cut bacon, merguez sausages, San Marzano tomatoes, seasoning and bread crumbs on the top. Thrown into the Dutch Oven and baked off for two hours at 400 F, the results were enjoyed by the whole family. (I should remember to take more photos along the way, it was actually quite photogenic for a real meal.)

While writing this blog, I was soaking chicken in seasoned red wine in preparation for a coq-au-vin. The recipe that I more or less followed is from Bon Appetit, Oct. '02. Classic-Coq-au-Vin recipe My sister had made it, told me how much she and her guests had enjoyed it and I was sold. I have made it and the results are well worth it. She skinned her chicken prior to soaking it in the wine, as do I. Once the prepared dish is chilling in the fridge, the fat that rises to the surface of the delectable sauce and solidifies can easily be removed. Remember, a little less fat there means a little more dessert later on!

Coq au Vin really is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day. I made enough to feed an army, so I hope to enjoy it tonight and throw the rest of it in the freezer for another memorable meal. The large, visible chunks of bacon were intended to make the meal more enticing to my son who was not sold on the idea of chicken soaked in wine... that is until he tasted it.

PS: Predictive text changed the Coq au Vin to "Cow au Vin" at one point. Divine intervention? Maybe I will be making a boeuf bourgignon sometime in the near future.

PUMPKIN GNOCCHI - by request...

2010-10-13T16:52:00.028-04:00

Canadian Thanksgiving just happened and we had a glorious weekend to celebrate it. The weather was warm, the sky was perfectly blue and the Fall leaves were down right spectacular. Add all of these facts together and the result is, as always, a great reason to enjoy food.

I came across a Lidia Bastianich recipe for squash gnocchi, and seeing how the directions were long enough already I tweaked it and used (canned!) pumpkin instead. The result was great, in fact we five had them for a main course one night and for an appetizer for 8 two nights later for the big dinner. (The potato ricer is a must for this recipe.)

1 12 to 14 ounce russet potato, peeled, cut into 8 pieces

3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 large egg, beaten

1 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, (or more)

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

2 tablespoons fresh sage, small leaves or chopped larger ones

1/2 sliced almonds

Boil potato in a saucepan until tender, maybe 15 mins.

Drain, while warm press through potato ricer in to a medium bowl and let cool completely. Measure out 2 cups, loosely packed, riced potato.

Mix together pumpkin, potato, 1/2 cup Parmesan, egg, nutmeg and salt. Gradually add in the flour until dough holds together and is almost smooth. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead gently until smooth. Divide dough into 8 equal parts.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper sprinkled with flour. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, roll it out onto a floured surface until it is 1/2" thick rope. Cut the rope crosswise into 3/4" pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time, roll gnocchi along bak of fork tines dipped in flour, making ridges on one side. Transfer gnocchi to baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover loosely and chill for at least one hour. In a large skillet, heat almonds until toasted, set aside.

Working in two batches, cook gnocchi in boiling salted water until very tender, 15 - 17 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer them back to the same parchment paper. Cool (up to 8 hours) and until ready to use.

Melt butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring often, 3-4 minutes. Add sage, cook for 1 minute. Add gnocchi, cook until heated through and coated with butter, 5 - 7 minutes. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Transfer to individual plates, sprinkle with toasted almonds and reserved Parmesan. Serve and enjoy!

One last thing on the pumpkin topic, beer! Yes, different kinds of beer brewed only in the fall and using our all-round favorite squash. These four are available now at the LCBO:
Brooklyn Brewery Post Rd Pumpkin Ale, Great Lakes Pumpkin Ale, (the name makes me think of Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin episode.....), St. Ambroise Citrouille, and Southern Tier Pumpking Ale.

Best Baguette Awards

2010-09-13T10:56:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago in Paris we happened upon Dominique Saibron's boulangerie-café in the 14e arrondissement. We had a very late lunch there, after having driven into the city from Normandy, returned the rental car, found a hotel and visited the Paris catacombs. We were very hungry and the baguette sandwiches were great! While lunching, I noticed that Dominique Saibron's baguette de tradition had taken third place in the 2010 Grand Prix de la meilleure baguette artisanale de Paris, or the "best artisanal baguette in Paris" competition.

Over several years the per capita consumption of bread had been falling in France, and with it - the quality. Thankfully, a handful of artisan bakers, millers and experts fought to preserve the integrity of French bread and insure that truly good bread remained a part of French heritage. The State had a hand as well and in 1993 enacted a “French bread law” which stated that “baguettes de tradition” must be mixed, kneaded, leavened and baked on premises, without ever being frozen. They must also be additive-free and can contain only four precious ingredients–wheat flour, water, salt and yeast. That same year, the Mairie de Paris began its competition to find the best baguette in the city. Not only does the winner receive 4000 € and the prestigious title, but the boulangerie also becomes the official supplier to the Elysées Palace, the French Presidential Palace where Nicolas Sorkozy and Carla Bruni presently reside.

The 2010 competition took place in March and had a 15 person jury: a mix of food experts including last year's winner, Frank Tombarel of boulangerie du Grenier de Félix in the 15th, food journalists and for the first time ever, five very fortunate members of the general public whose names were selected from a contest run by the Mairie.

One hundred and sixty-three baguettes were entered, and each one was scrutinized and graded on its appearance, baking, aroma, its crumb and taste. After many hours and much bread tasting the winner was determined to be Djibril Bodian of Le Grenier à Pain Abbesses in the 18th arrondissement, who incidentally placed 5th last year.

Should you find yourself in Paris within the next six months, here is a list of the top ten baguette de tradition suppliers: 1) Djibril Bodian, Le Grenier à Pain Abbesses, 2) Daniel Pouphary, La Parisienne, 3) Dominique Saibron, 4) Yves Desgranges, 5) Philippe Gosselin, 6) Xavier Doué, 7) Boulangerie Lohézic, 8) Boulangerie d'Isa, 9) Mohamed Zerzour, Retrodore, and 10) Michel Chorin.

And if you can't get to Paris anytime soon, Dominique Saibron's website lists a recipe for a duck breast and cheddar baguette sandwich - just be sure to use really great bread. http://www.dominique-saibron.com.

Bon appétit

McMacaron

2010-09-01T14:51:00.001-04:00

Bonjour, et joyeux septembre!

Back to school is around the corner, the family cottage is closed until next summer and I snuck in a week-long getaway to France with our twelve year old son! Two years ago I took our daughter to Paris for a week and we visited many museums, cultural monuments and rented a postage stamp size apartment on Ile-St-Louis. For my son's trip, the focus was much more "masculine": Vimy, Juno Beach, Dieppe and numerous German bunkers on the Normandy coast and in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. We did manage to visit a few non-military places including Bayeux, Honfleur and Mont-St-Michel. Maybe it was the maturaty factor kicking in, or the ambience of being in France but my son was a more adventuresome eater: sole in brown butter, skate, soupe de poisson, magret de canard, bulots - sea snails, confit de canard and his new favorite food - fois gras!

We managed to pack in a two-night stay in Paris and did more "masculine" visits: the Catacombs, Musée de l'Armée with Napoléon 1er's tomb, and the Concièrgerie - the prison where Marie-Antoinette was incarcerated prior to being guillotined in Place de la Concorde.

While walking up the Champs-Elysée towards l'Arc de Triomphe, we popped into La Durée - aka Mecca for macarons. The shop is truly beautiful. I once read that they produce and sell more than ten thousand per week, and the flavours are very diverse - including..... foie gras! The line up was enormous and we already had dinner plans with Parisian friends, so we moved on and crossed the street. We happened upon a McDonald's restaurant - which years ago when it opened caused a huge uproar amongst the French population. It seems as though even Rotten Ronnie's is adapting to being on the prestigious boulevard, they now have a McCafé section of their restaurant and serve veritable baked goods including McMacarons!

Really, is nothing sacred?

Bananas Kaboom!

2010-06-21T09:50:00.004-04:00

We worked on a very fun TV commercial shoot recently, the crew was about thirty people strong and featured a three person special effects team. They were there to make our gorgeous fruit explode, literally. The shots involved beautiful hero fruit; including bananas, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries, exploding on camera in order to portray a fruit explosion sensation. For this part of the shoot, our carefully selected fruit was passed onto the FX team who had three large containers of liquid nitrogen. Liquid nitrogen, LN2, is cold, really really cold: −196 °C / −321 °F. Quantities of liquid nitrogen were carefully decanted into protected containers and the fruit was deposited into them. Bananas, should you ever need to know, require about 3.5 minutes in order to be completely frozen and the berries significantly less.

The key FX person would then cautiously remove the frozen fruit from the nitrogen bath and quickly move to set and forcefully throw them down so that they would explode upon impact. These actions were very fast and caught on film, however when significantly slowed down, it appears that the fruit is exploding. Very cool indeed, and yes - pun intended!
After lunch and for the remainder of the day, we made frozen fruit drinks which we kept cold using a combination of ice, a freezer, and dry ice. On-set talent drank the drinks for real so we kept busy replenishing, cleaning colour-correct stemware and building the drinks.

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION

2010-06-10T12:33:00.020-04:00

This is my house on Saturday, May 29 at about 9:50 a.m. A neighbour across the street had just come to the door to tell me to get out of the house because it was on fire. I immediately got the two kids who were home and the family dog out. How could this be I thought? We do not smoke, my neighbours to whom I am attached do not smoke, I had not cooked anything in the kitchen, nor had a fire in the fireplace etc etc.... We saw the massive dark plumes of smoke come up from the back and the brilliant orange flames which eventually reached 30 feet into the air. It was my back deck on the third floor. As many neighbours and friends comforted us, we witnessed the wind move the fire onto my neighbours' deck.

The firefighters arrived with many trucks, police and EMS. From what others tell me, the neighbourhood was chock-a-block full with emergency response vehicles. Truth be told when you see your house in flames, it feels as though the firetrucks are not moving as fast as they do when you are driving and have to pull over for them. Please pull far out of the way for all EMS vehicles, it could be your house or loved one. I was very impressed with how careful they were once in our house; they tarped furniture in order to minimize water damage, and found receptacles so catch water that was pouring through the ceilings.

My point on posting this blog is to warn readers of the combustability of potting soil. After reading "Chez Panisse" - the book on Alice Waters' famous restaurant in Berkeley CA, I was inspired to do more gardening. Our backyard gets a beating what with three kids, a trampoline and a basketball net so I thought that pots on the third floor would be the answer. I bought potting soil in large plastic bags and lugged them up through the house to the third floor deck. For two years, I had some results and aspired to do one day do better. I dumped most of the pots into a large plastic garbage pail at the end of the season last year and put the lid on. I had too many pots to dump, so I left the others - exposed to the elements for months. We had very little snow this year, April saw no precipitation whatsoever and the end of May was exceptionally hot and dry. I had intended to do something with the pots on the deck but the weather was oppressive and I delayed doing anything, meanwhile the potting soil was heating up under the blistering sun and perhaps even starting to smolder. I have since learned that potting soil contains up to 85% peat moss, which is a great humidifier when wet, but burns very well when dry. It is possible that the smoldering started all on its own a day or two before the fire actually broke out. Since the fire, I have heard of other peat moss / potting soil fires - which all started spontaneously. These products should come with warning labels on them, informing consumers the of danger of letting the soil and, or peat moss dry out. Also, when the city issues extreme weather alerts - the same warning should also be included.

We are very very fortunate: it happened during the day when a neighbour could see the smoke and warned us. Our smoke alarm did not sound because the door to the deck was closed and the smoke from the fire on the deck was going straight up. Our next door neighbours got out of their house in time as well. Our daughter closed her bedroom door to the hall, an act which according to the Fire Chief, saved both houses from becoming burnt out shells. I never thought that we would be victim to a fire in our house; we are careful, do not smoke and thought that we were informed. It happened so quickly and spread even faster, we are truly very fortunate. The more we share this kind of information, the more we can inform others and avoid similar situations. Take good care.

Casey's Real Deal

2010-05-28T19:36:00.002-04:00

I recently worked on a campaign for Casey's restaurants, the premise being that the food is already the deal - no other incentive required. The desired "feel" to the images was that they should be authentic looking, appealing and somewhat retro. The executive chef from Casey's was also present at the shoot, he typically works on product development and kitchen training for new franchise owners. On shoot day he helped ensure that the finished product well resembled the Casey's style, portions and look.

Styling burgers come with their own challenges, especially when there is melted cheese and multiple components on them and hence this shot took a bit more time than the steak and rib shots.

As someone who works in food, I confess to looking and even scrutinizing food photos on everything from flyers, to magazines, packaging and menus. I can't help it, and it seems that my kids have picked up on the habit as well. We often compliment the work, discuss how it might have been made, sometimes we criticize it and even provide potential solutions for the perceived problems. Michael Kohn photography.

I was on a TV shoot recently when one of the crew showed us this site: http://www.zuzafun.com/ads-vs-reality, it compares professionally styled fast foods with what the typical consumer would receive - and then run home and photograph. Enjoy! It reconfirms the importance of making food look appealing.

MACARONS

2010-05-25T19:36:00.005-04:00

I have had the good fortune to travel to Paris, a lot, and be paid for it! In my career-so-far, I have worked for two French companies whose headquarters are in the City of Light. On one of these trips, about two and half years ago, I arrived a day early and upon arrival, dumped my luggage with the hotel concièrge and then ran off to my "Macarons Class" at LeNôtre, conveniently located on the Champs Elysées. For the uninitiated, macarons are almond flour & meringue cookies sandwiched together with a delectable filling. They are crisp, and chewy and melt in your mouth. We were eight students under the tutorage of a high-toqued French pastry chef. We learned techniques and put them to the test, making an abundance and a variety of macarons. One of the tricks that we learned is once a pan of macarons is baked, pour a cup of water under the parchment paper and let it drain off. This creates a hint a humudity which keeps the underside of the macaron moist, while maintaining the crisp dome on top. We each received two large pastry boxes of our creations - too much for me to bring home especially with all of the other French foods that make their way into my luggage. I shared the wealth and gave a box to a Paris-based friend that night at dinner. One of my food pet-peeves are the shocking food colours used by many makers of macarons. I try to stay away from them, and prefer to have the natural tones of the nuts and fillings show for themselves - hence "my" colours are on the muted side. Almonds are always used in the cookie base, but I have also incorporated hazelnuts, and pistachios and am game to do some other nut experiments. As far as fillings go, the salted caramel is deadly, and I am convinced that I gain weight by osmosis while merely making it!! Chocolate ganache, chocolate buttercream and chocolate-praline ganache are all close runner ups. For a "lighter" flavour, raspberry-rose buttercream is fragrant & floral and naturally pink. Mixing and matching is fun, and I am constantly on the lookout for new permutations.

The salted caramel buttercream is a three step process, but well worth the effort: making the caramel, cooking egg yolks & heavy cream to 82 C without turning them into scrambled eggs, and lastly incorporating the 375 grams of butter. Send me an email if you would like the recipe. Thanks to Michael Kohn for making the photo.

The Reality of TV

2010-05-14T14:34:00.007-04:00

I happened to notice that we are now in May! Where did April go? I have been working on a steady basis on television commercial shoots, hence my tardiness in updating my postings. Working TV is very different than stills, there are more people, more variables and the days are much longer. Personally, I really enjoy them both - the diversity, the camaraderie and ultimately the satisfaction of a job well done in either situation.
The shoots that I just came off of include many firsts for me: working with rotten foods, a 20 hour work day, a cat wrangler and talent having to eat high fiber cereal & bars for many, many takes.
Without naming names and products, I can say that I have recently worked on a shoot where we worked with insanely rotten and moldy foods - latex gloves and face masks were made available! The other stylist actually cultivated them for a few weeks. The product is an all-natural substance that people will be able to place in their fridges and it will reduce food spoilage.
The twenty hour day: after two prep days, I started out Day 3 at St.Lawrence Market at 07:30, (officially they open at 8:00 on weekdays but they really are there earlier) and that glorious four letter word "w-r-a-p" was not uttered until 03:10 the following morning! We stayed a little longer and put a few things away, I think that I sat for the grand total of an hour during the entire 20-hr day. No complaints though, things were no different for the two other stylists with whom I was working. In the end, the client got what they wanted and needed. Four 0n-air celebrity chefs + 16 recipes = lots of shopping + loads of equipment and lots and lots of food & prep.
Another recent shoot had us working out of a moveable kitchen in a truck, street-parked in a very upscale neighbourhood. At one point, I was outside with a propane torch "grill marking" chicken thighs which must have appeared a little odd to the unaccustomed. On the "crew list" I noticed that there was a cat wrangler listed to be on set that day. Hats off to them if they can train a cat, I can hardly get my dog to listen to me. Later on that day and over the walkie-talkie, I heard the "cat" shot being set up. I then heard the director asking if they could PUSH the cat through the kitty door. Next I heard him say that they would take the shot from where the cat would have come through the door. So much for cat training, I wonder how much a cat wrangler gets paid?
Last week we were working with high fiber cereal and cereal bars. The cereal claims that one 52 gram serving yields 52% of one's daily fiber requirement - impressive and all the more so when the talent had to eat bowl after bowl after bowl of it in order to get the right takes! Needless to say, he was only in the shoot that one day and we had new talent for day 2.
Day 2 talent had to eat high fiber cereal bars, though not quite as high in fiber as the cereal, after one eats enough of them in take after take, they yield the same beneficial results.

Other recent projects include supplying macarons to three local caterers, including a few new flavour: pistachio and cardamom in the cookie with and a raspberry and rose buttercream filling, and a chocolate almond cookie with a dark chocolate and praline ganache. I have been meaning to get some macaron photos up - it is on the "to do" list, and will happen soon.

Tourtière

2010-04-08T21:50:00.010-04:00

Hands down, my friend Noni makes the best tourtière. It is true. My family is always very excited at the prospect of having one of her delectable seasoned meat pies for a meal. I probably should have photographed the one that we had for dinner tonight, but seeing how did not make it, I don't think that it would be very kosher to post her beautiful (all-butter) pastry work. We enjoyed a few over the winter and savoured our last one tonight. I say "last" only because with the promise of sunny, warmer weather, tourtière will not be on my menu radar for a while. Six months from now however, we'll be chomping at the bit to get our hands on a few more. Tonight was a perfect tourtière night, it had been raining for 24 hours straight and the temperature barely got above 10 C. I seem to have come down with a massive head cold that even good (cold) drugs and make-up could not mask. Tah-da, I can still look like a hero and quasi domestic goddess by baking off one of Noni's best. In fact, we have a mutual friend for whom it just wouldn't be Christmas unless she ordered a few tourtières from Noni and a Bûche de Noël from me.

Freedom, in all its shapes & forms

2010-03-30T13:41:00.011-04:00

There are many milestones in all of our lives, marking the rights of passage and the passage of time. I include degrees of freedom in those milestones, and slowly but surely freedom is creeping back into my adult life. For instance, when child number three no longer required diapers and went to full-day school, or when our daughter was older enough to babysit her brothers, my husband's vasectomy nine Valentine's Days ago, and most recently - our panini maker.

It is a big hit with the kids, all three of them create after school snacks, hypothesize about the feasibility of certain ingredient combinations, and the reason I bought the thing in the first place - they are making their own lunch sandwiches! Bingo! Another degree of freedom attained. I was making a lot of lunches: school lunches, weekend ski lunches, March Break ski trip lunches, soccer tournament lunches etc.... My daughter even has the choice of buying hot lunches from school, but prefers the homemade versions. I am hoping that the interest in the panini maker doesn't wane and that I will have gained a full twenty three minutes every morning because the kids are just that much more autonomous. When it comes to freedom, every little crumb counts.

New Girl in Town

2010-03-10T12:53:00.004-05:00

I love cheese, and I recently attended yet another cheese event! This particular evening at The Cheese Boutique and was in honour of the newly released "Guernsey Girl" cheese made by the Upper Canada Cheese Company of Jordan Station, Ontario. Prior to the event itself, selected chefs had submitted recipes incorporating Guernsey Girl and the invitees were asked to vote online for their top three selections. At the event, the said chefs were present and whipping up their recipes for us to sample. They were all delicious, however we were asked to vote once again and Jason Bangerter's Artichoke and Guernsey Girl Terrine emerged as the overall winner. Runner ups were Lora Kirk's Slow Braised Short Ribs and Guernsey Girl Poutine and Andrea Damon Gibson's (owner of Fred's Bread) Guernsey Girl Goes Mediterranean.

I had the opportunity to chat with cheesemaker Lauren Arsenault, who told me that this fresh cheese takes about 24 hours to make, and that the milk used yields from one herd of local Guernsey cows. Unique characteristics to the cheese include its ability to hold its shape when fried or grilled, the fact that the surface caramelizes evenly and quickly while the interior becomes supple. When not heated, the cheese has a lovely ivory colour and the flavour is midly herbaceous - both of these qualities will change slightly as the herd's diet changes.

In Lora Kirk's recipe, she made french-fry shaped Guernsey Girl cheese fries to accompany the potato fries in her poutine. A fun twist, and both kinds of fries had gorgeous colour. Jason's terrine slices were seared, and the Guernsey Girl cheese held its shape beautifully, while Andrea grated the cheese as part of her recipe.

With my package of Guernsey Girl, I made cheese croutons for a large salad. I cubed the cheese and heated it in a non-stick pan, it gave beautiful colour, crisp exterior and a soft & warm interior. All to say that this cheese has diversity in terms of uses, it is fresh & fun. Next on my "cheese wish-list" is a road trip out to Upper Canada for a tour of the facility! Other cheeses made by Lauren at the Upper Canada Cheese Co. are Comfort Cream and Niagara Gold. www.uppercanadacheesecompany.com

CHABICHOU: the cheese and cheese shop

2010-02-19T14:13:00.013-05:00

A few weeks ago, we went to the café / cheese shop / French lunch spot known as Chabichou, and pronouced "Shabby-shoe" after the famous French goat cheese. Located at 196 Borden St. at Harbord, the owners, Laurent Brion and Whitney Brown, are also very cleverly the owners of Tati Bistro - located just down the street.
Tati Bistro is a full on restaurant but is open only for dinner, whereas Chabibou has a small and functional kitchen and is more of a lunch spot and specialty store. In the former, Laurent can make such wonderful items as Soupe de Poisson, Sauce aux Tomates, and Cassoulet which are bottled and sold in large mason jars at Chabichou. The shelves host a wealth of other food specialties, from olive oils, to pasta, tarallini, and beautiful French candies.
Approximately 80% of the 60 or so cheeses in the shop yield from France, with the remainder coming from allover - but with a strong Quebec showing.
As it turns out, Laurent's mother owned a goat farm where he used to make goat milk cheese back in France - so he knows of what he speaks (and sells).

A few notes regarding Chabichou cheese (seen in the far left of the above photo):

Chabichou du Poitou is made in a very limited geographic area above the chalky soils of the threshold of Poitou, south of the Loire valley. Chabichou du Poitou is a small pyramid like mound of goat cheese.

Chabichou du Poitou production can be either fermier (made on farms), co-operative or industrial. Obviously, the first is considered as being the best.

Tasting Chabichou: Always great - but the flavours change as it matures. Good to eat young (3 weeks), ripe (6 weeks) or more dry (2 months), Chabichou has a rich goaty flavor. When mature, the cheese is dense and smooth with a distinct layer next tot he rind. Although sweet and delicate, the taste is slightly acidic and salty at the finish.

Tasting advice: Chabichou is great as a dessert cheese to finish meals. Chabichou is best when made with spring-summer milk, when the goats are enjoying fresh pastures.

Chabichou and wine: White Loire wine such as Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumé (it is all about terroir afterall!)

We were there to do some on-site photos with the various cheeses and other delicacies we found in-store. Chabichou is presently closed Mondays so we enjoyed having the run of the shop. A cheese of particular interest was the massive wheel of the Swiss "Abondance", selling at $6.10 /100 gr. - the wheel was going for $593 and change. I love fondue, but even I have my limites.

photos by Michael Kohn.

Heroes: Real & Reel

2010-02-11T13:47:00.007-05:00

I am not a big watcher of television, I have nothing whatsoever against it - it is just that my day seems to fly by and I haven't even caught a glimpse of the screen. All that is about to change however - what the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games opening in less than 48 hours. When not working, I plan to spend some serious time in front of the screen - as do my kids, they are equally deprived and plan on making up for lost screen time. I am very excited about the Games but wish that the media would cease their chatter regarding "our" medal count. I cannot even imagine the pressure that the Canadian athletes must be feeling, in my books they are all heroes just for qualifying.

I do work on television ads, yet it seems that I rarely get to view them, let alone get a demo reel. Within the past two weeks, I worked on two ads; one for frozen fish and another for a new frozen pizza entrée. The latter was an involved shoot, with multiple locations, a large crew, and a few 15.5 hour days of on-set work. It would seem that some of the components and product did not make it through the Canadian border, (protecting us from what I do not know), so one of my primary assignments was to salvage "hero" quality pepperoni from regular product which was later incorporated into newly constructed and television worthy "heroes".

I do spend a fair amount of time in grocery stores - where I do get to see some of my work on packaging. Just before Christmas, I worked on the packaging for two new SKUs coming out from our friends at ACE Bakery. I look forward to seeing those in the not too distant future.

I styled these Catelli SKUs a couple of years ago and they are still being used, a familiar face in grocery stores across the country. Photography by Michael Mahovlich.

Political Mashing

2010-01-19T19:56:00.011-05:00

Outraged with Harper's second proroguing of Parliament? Not impressed with Ignatieff's ambivalent leadership of the federal Liberal Party? And then there is the plethora of grievances against George W. Bush. If you are dissatisfied with our leaders past and present, and are looking for a little creative retaliation - then look no further. Potato mashers never looked so good, or generated so much fun!
These fun & funky mashers are made by Québécois artist Pascale Hebert and are available through the on-line gallery and boutique www.artefaks.com. "Sell your work, not your soul" is the gallery's tag line. Pascale's studio is called Métal en Jupe, in addition to the Harper potato-masher, she also offers up George W., Michael Ignatieff, Jean Charest and even France's top man - Nicolas Sarkozy. The website has a photo of the Harper potato-mashers at the December 2009 Copenhagen Conference where I am sure they were put to very good use. Potato mashers are $39.00 each, bon appétit.

Chick (Pea) Power

2010-01-05T10:35:00.015-05:00

First and foremost, Season's Greetings to one and all! The "holiday" is always a super busy time for everyone, let alone being a self-employed foodie whose busiest work month is inevitably December, and being the mother of three kids, with one dog and a husband. A female friend described Christmas as a part time job, the kind that men just wouldn't get - on any level. Private baking kept me busy, making well into the thousands of the now famous Chai Snaps (photographed in the previous blog entry), as well as macarons, bûches, spiced almonds, lemon curd, paneforte, chocolate snowflakes and cheese crackers. Friends with restaurant kitchens are good friends indeed. On the family side, Christmas dinner was chez nous, I did everything but the 20 lb. plus turkey - which my sister-in-law raised, and my mother-in-law roasted and it all worked out very well. We have since had leftover turkey dinner, turkey pot pie, turkey soup, and finally the bones & bits have gone out in the green compost bin. We are officially turkeyed-out. Enjoyable as it was, it is now time to re-tool the menu.

Many people are making concerted efforts to eat less meat and for numerous reasons: from the ethical, to health, and for climate changing effects. I recently read that it is estimated that in the US alone, 7 billion, yes billion, animals are slaughtered every year - most of which are cattle.... I am trying to get my head around the math, the population of the US being at 305 million in 2008. Cattle in particular produce an enormous quantity of methane gas which contributes to climate change, therefore reducing one's meat consumption reduces the creation of greenhouse gases. I am an omnivore and a firm believer in a varied diet and most things in moderation. I enjoy all foods, but do not wish to eat meat everyday. I love the chick pea: it is versatile, cute, inexpensive, high in fiber and protein, and ethnically diverse. What is not to love about it? I often purchase 2 kg bags of dried peas, soak them overnight and cook them until just tender. I throw them into pasta to boost the protein content, make chana masala out of them - a good pot luck contribution when there is the odd vegetarian in the crowd and usually way too many meat dishes, and of course - hummus. Switching up the hummus is always fun, try using roasted garlic rather than fresh, roasted sesame oil, smoked paprika, smoked salts, all are great additions. The family cottage has no electricity but that does not stop us from making hummus. I purchased a hand-crank blender, the enticing photo on the box suggests that smooth margueritas and dacquiris can easily be wiped up in a canoe.! Our experience is not quite the same, a medium lump hummus is about the best that we can coax out of "The Vortex", oh well - it tastes great and goes well with a cold beer, or an occasional pop if you are a kid.

Here's to 2010, and to reducing the creation of climate changing gases - one chick pea at a time.

photos by: www.michaelkohn.com

'Tis the Season

2009-12-08T10:29:00.006-05:00

It has started, Christmas baking that is. I start in on it before I do any decorations, before any seasonal shopping in fact. To other people, the kitchen has an almost permanent aroma of spice, but then again I am totally engrossed in my projects and notice little else. A few years ago, I responded to a job posting for a retail tea outlet who wanted a recipe developer to create and supply a few kinds of cookies to them. I stepped up to bat, produced a few prototypes and the rest is history. I would get orders for hundreds at a time, stay up all night and deliver in the morning not looking so bright-eyed nor bushy-tailed. It was actually a great learning experience, forcing me to create systems for productivity while maintaining the artisan appeal of the cookies. I made lemon sencha shortbread, roibos biscotti and the perennial favorite - chai snaps. The latter are an addictive, crunchy cookie who's flavour stems from a mixture of freshly ground spices. Perfect for any excuse or occasion, I produce them year round. They are popular with my kids, their friends, their teachers, neighbours, friends and private clients who put in orders at this time of year for the very same reasons. I plan to do more baking, bûche de noël and macarons are very popular and I also like paneforte - the "strong bread" from Siena, Italy. The translated name does not sound too tempting however, the version I make has chocolate, honey, toasted nuts, dried fruit and spice and should only be consumed in wafer thin slices. So many things to bake, so little time, so - get cracking! My chai snaps, and photo by www.michaelkohn.com

Saint Chef?

2009-11-27T17:17:00.025-05:00

I was curious, having asked myself an obscure yet burning question.... who is the patron saint of chefs? Afterall, Saint Isidore is the saint of farmers, Saint Honoratus, for whom the spectacular French dessert known as a Saint-Honoré is named, is patron saint of pastry chefs. It turns out that it is St.Lawrence, and he watches over chefs but more specifically, he watches out for the chefs at the 'Q and for gruesome reasons.
Lawrence lived in the Roman times, more than 1800 years ago. According to legend, when Lawrence was asked by Emperor Valerian, who ruled from 253 - 260 AD, to bring forth the Church's treasures he brought forth the orphaned, crippled and diseased of the kingdom and announced that "These are the treasures of the Church!" This act of defiance resulted in the public torture and execution of Lawrence on the site of the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Rome by means of "grilling to death." Legend says that he was so strong-willed that instead of giving in to the Romans and releasing information about the Church, at the point of death he exclaimed "Turn me over. I am done on this side!" For this reason Saint Lawrence has been deemed the Patron Saint of Chefs and specifically those who cook on barbeques. In religious art he is often depicted holding a metal grill to memorialize his martyrdom.
It has been an unusually mild November, we've really been blessed with the weather in fact. I do BBQ year round, never putting the grill away and often having an uneasy feeling that I am somehow single-handedly responsible for global warming. The next time you find yourself releasing extreme heat, smoke and delicious aromas directly into the atmosphere, raise your glass in honour to St.Lawrence and be thankful that the biggest threat of our day is only climate change. Photo by www.michaelkohn.com

Something from Nothing

2009-11-19T18:16:00.019-05:00

Between shopping for shoots and shopping for a family with three kids, a dog and two parents - I find myself in grocery stores frequently, very frequently. It has certainly happened that after a day in a studio working certain foods, I never want to see them again. OK, maybe not never ever but just not for a long time. There is a correlation between the time spent with the said food and the amount of time that can pass before you might consider eating it again. I estimate that it is about one month for every day of working intensely with that food. I remember working on a TV commercial for five days, and for five days I made lasagna. I did not want to see, smell or eat lasagna for six months. When work is busy, and the food diversified - my personal menu options get drastically reduced.

Sometimes shoots have good leftovers, and if they are food-safe and not in twenty kilo packs I am usually game. I might MacGyver some of these items into a week night family meal, when time is of the essence and short cuts are appreciated. A friend of mine once called me "Kitchen MacGyver", a compliment I think, in the fact that I could conjure up a meal from relatively slim pickings. This skill came from passing summers at a log cabin with no electricity, a hand pump and very basic propane appliances. This talent has come in handy as a parent and has proved very helpful as a food stylist. Being able to deconstruct and rebuild on set is essential, and sometimes the craziest solutions yield the best results.

I came across a food quote worthy of sharing the other day and it is credited to the Duchess of Windsor: "If you accept a dinner invitation, you have a moral obligation to be amusing."

Bon appétit tout le monde!

Photo credits: roasted chicken leg by www.michaelkohn.com, shrimp & mushrooms by www.mmphotos.com.

Genus Allium (a.k.a Garlic!)

2009-11-13T21:25:00.000-05:00

Garlic has always been one of my favorite food groups, a fact that has been known about me for quite a while. Before getting married, friends and family got together and threw a surprise bridal shower in my honour, and the cake was in the shape of a gigantic head of garlic! I have incorporated garlic into all kinds of food, you name - I tried it: the 40 clove garlic chicken, roasted heads as individual appetizers, soup and so much more. I love it roasted, fried, raw and caramelized. Friends were recently telling me how they have breaded and deep fried some cloves and the results were outstanding.

I have decided to take some kind of control and ownership of my garlic habit and plant some now, in November, and await the pungent but tender green shoots come Spring and the gorgeous full heads in the Fall. Reputable sources are saying that it is not too late nor too cold. I have some tasty Ontario garlic that I plan to put to the test.

In ancient times, Virgil declared garlic to be "essential to maintain the strength of the harvesters." The great pyramid at Giza is inscribed with words of wisdom regarding the garlic ingested for extra strength and good health by the men who built it. I can vouch for the fact that I am healthy and strong and have never had an encounter with a vampire, thanks garlic.

Photo by www.michaelkohn.com.

Halloween

2009-11-02T01:29:00.000-05:00

Another All Hallow's Eve has come and gone, and surprisingly enough - without tears! Maybe it is because the kids are just that much older, maybe it was because school and Halloween did take place on the same day - but whatever the reason, I was relieved.

We live in a neighbourhood that LOVES Halloween, houses go all out in terms of decor and the kids are really well received. We had a few people over, the youngest was a seven month old bumble bee - though she was sleeping during prime trick or treating time.

Of the kids who did go out we had a too-shy-to-wear-a-costume two year old, a 3 year old Spiderman, an eight year Indiana Jones-ish man, two eleven year olds - an Al Capone look alike and a camo SWAT soldier, and finally two thirteen year olds in bright pink Indian Princess get-up. They actually gave out much more that they collected.

My husband started a tradition a few years ago with turning the pumpkins into tiki-torches. A roll of toilet paper soaked in kerosene for twenty-fours hours provides the wick, and the carved pumpkin - the venue. It is quite something to see.

I had fun coming up with a few Halloween themed treats for our gang. I happened upon a bat-shaped cookie cutter at the Shoppe At The (Riverdale) Farm, and knew that I had to have it. I made a chocolate sugar cookie dough and pressed in black granulated sugar and those tiny coloured sugar ball for eyes prior to baking. I also made some severed fingers and decorated them with black nail polish, which was a runny royal icing coloured with black food paste.

Our youngest told his father that he should really start thinking now about a better costume for next year because he has worn the same false teeth and wig for four years running. Another Halloween has come and gone and fun was had by all.

Thanks to Brian Summers, www.summers.ca for the photos.

A Friend of the Farm

2009-10-28T01:31:00.000-04:00

Alas, today was the last Farmers' Market at Riverdale Farm for 2009. The growing season goes by so quickly. We will miss all of the dedicated vendors who come to sell their wares week after week, and look forward to welcoming them back in Spring. We are truly blessed with the bounty for some of the items available at the market included: honey, elk meat, chocolate, freshly baked breads, cheese, mushrooms, beignets, Belgian Waffles, jerk fish, fresh french fries tossed with sea salt and thyme, empanadas and of course - fresh and fabulous produce. These photos represent but a hint of the fruit and vegetables that can be found at the height of the season.

On the subject of the market and Farm, Bill is a volunteer who spends hours clearing the walking paths around Farm. He arrives via public transportation, makes his way through the neighbourhood, and arrives at the Farm, ready to work. He always has his work gloves, a few hand tools, plastic bags and a knee pad along with him. He has been doing this almost everyday for over for 12 years. The work is backbreaking and ongoing, debris is always accumulating on the paths - regardless of the season. Did I mention that Bill is eighty years old? I ran into him the other day as he was walking back from the Farm towards the bus stop. He told me that he was leaving earlier than he likes to because he had to get back and make dinner for his wife who had recently undergone open heart surgery.

Today was Bill's birthday, he had mentioned that the date was coming up a few weeks ago and I made a note of it in my calendar. I surprised him with a cake today. Not knowing Bill's preferences, or if any of the other people who help out at the Farm kitchen had nut allergies, I went with a carrot cake and a vanilla butter cream icing. As I gathered a few items to take over to the farm, I opened the cupboard where I have kept extraneous birthday party material from kids' parties gone by. I found the perfect hat, and one only; an inverted conical hat printed with a farm scene, complete with a sheep, a cow, a barn and a pig.

It seems that Bill is a habitual kind of man. He enjoys a milky tea served in a mug as he works, and then comes by the canteen for a sandwich and a refill of tea around 12:30. I nabbed him while he was finishing off his lunch, sitting outside at a picnic table on a glorious Fall day. Several of the people who work around the Farm joined in, Tim put the birthday hat on him and and we surprised Bill with a sincere rendition of "Happy Birthday" and the cake. He was very touched. We enjoyed the cake, passed out pieces to a few passersby and when everyone had had enough, I packed it up in a box so that Bill could enjoy the rest at home with his wife. I learned a few more things about Bill today, the most astonishing of which is that he travels one and a half hours on public transportation system to get to the Farm, and the same amount of time to get back! He's eighty, and a volunteer! He says that he enjoys volunteering at the Farm because he grew up in the country - and though there would be volunteering opportunities closer to home - they would not have the special feeling of the farm. He has recently cut back on his volunteering days, down to three to four, from six! When I left the Farm today, Bill was still wearing the hat and getting ready to go back to work. The next time you happen to be at Riverdale Farm and see a spunky octogenarian gentleman with a rake, say "hello" to him, for it could only be Bill.

Thanks to Brian Summers for the market photos, www.summers.ca. More information on the Farm can be found at www.friendsofriverdalefarm.com.

Next up on the blog menu - Halloween!

One, Two, Three Testing

2009-10-23T09:21:00.000-04:00

Creatives, or testing, are an exchange of services and a way to become more familiar with potential co-workers, checking them out and ensuring that they are client-friendly. Creatives are also a great way to augment one's portfolio, for the stylist and the photographer. I enjoy working on them time permitting, and if they yield useful material.

For these photos, Toronto photographer Michael Mahovlich, www.mmphotos.com, contacted me with a few ideas that he wanted to execute. I have worked with Michael on several shoots, so these shots were all about having fun and focusing on our ideas. The ice cream image is a compilation, I prepared the "chocolate ice cream" on the cone, complete with a frill at the base of the scoop. Later, Michael captured a chocolate milk pour and drops, and then put the components together for the final image.

These tests shots are very much what they appear to be and required minimal post work. The above shot is of cardamom pot de crème, garnished with pomegranate and pistachio nuts. It was pomegranate season and we liked the trio of Middle Eastern flavourings served in a contemporary fashion. The base of the pot de crème is a crème anglaise and is infused with freshly ground cardamom prior to being baked in a bain marie.

The white chocolate & lime mousse tartlet was inspired by those beautiful tiny Key Limes which are sold in 500 gr. bags - there must be 15 of them in there! I came up with a recipe and arrived at the studio with a few variations of the tartlet. The setting adds context and, more importantly, size perspective to the shot so that the diminutive limes read accordingly.

Verdana: Cheese or Font?

2009-10-19T12:38:00.000-04:00

A good friend of mine, who happens to be full-throttle food enthusiast herself, passed this website onto to me. What a good time! I played this game for quite a while, and it really is quite addictive - easily justified as one can claim that cheese research is being done! This game would easily lend itself to a dinner-party cheese course scenario... the possibilities are certainly there. Give it a try and see for yourselves how many cheese names and fonts there are in the world. http://www.cheeseorfont.mogrify.org

If you are a competitive type, consider doing research prior to playing. For fun, I checked out my 2006 edition of "The Oxford Companion to Food" by Alan Davidson, to see what it had to say on the matter. Some of the more interesting, and less technical tid-bits include the following:

In 1962, Charles de Gaulle was credited for famously quipping, "How can you govern a country that has 324 varieties of cheese?" to Winston Churchill.

Nowadays, the French cheese count lies somewhere between 450 and 750 varieties.

The worldwide guestimate for cheese varieties is now in the 1500 range, not counting the many nameless types made by small producers, see below.

The cheese with the highest milk-fat content is of course French - the gorgeous Brillat-Savarin which rings in at a whopping 75%*! (*Note: I believe that the European method of measuring milk-fat (MF) is different than that used in North America. The European method yields a much higher percentage, double in fact, than the North American. This could, however, be the answer to the "French Paradox" and the "super-size" of people on our side of the pond. To be further investigated.)

In 1840, a group of Somerset farmers presented a 567 kg (1,250 lb) wheel of cheddar to Queen Victoria as a wedding present.

A hundred and twenty four years later, Wisconsin dairy farmers set out to create the biggest cheddar ever, and it weighed in at 15,190 kg (34,591 lb)!

Cheese is actually one of the oldest of man-made foods dating back to the prehistoric beginning of herding. Cave drawings, found in the Libyan Sahara and dating back to 5000 B.C., depict what appears to be cheese making. Cheese has even been found in ancient Egyptian tombs as an after-life snack.

A few of my personal favorite cheese memories yield from France. My husband and I were once in Bordeaux, staying in an unmemorable one-star hotel. We had reservations for transportation, but preferred to wing it for food and hotels. Across the street from the hotel, we stumbled upon a hip little restaurant with a "Baud & Millet" recommendation sticker in the window. There were various price-levels of prix-fixe menus and all included a visit to the cheese cave located in the cellar. The vaulted ceiling cave was carved out of limestone, had a water drip to maintain humidity and had three levels of shelves - all lined with cheese. I just found the link! It has been a few years since we were there, however, if you happen to be Bordeaux - you must go, and on an empty stomach.

http://www.oubouffer.com/restaurant-bordeaux/qa28566-baud-et-millet

On another trip, we were in Corsica enjoying a meal in a restaurant. I complimented the owner on the cheese and asked its name. "Madame, c'est du fromage!" was the response, and pursuing the question only resulted in the same answer. I speak French, so language was not the issue. I rather think that the cheese was one of those nameless products that is made and enjoyed locally.

The above photo was a creative collaboration with photographer Michael Kohn, www.michaelkohn.com

Thanksgiving

2009-10-13T09:42:00.000-04:00

Thanksgiving found us in the heart of Northumberland County, one and a half hours east of Toronto, amongst good friends and three beautiful country properties. The weather cooperated and the colours put on a great show. Photographer Brian Summers, www.summers.ca, was up early to capture this shot of a horse in the pasture.

We were at friends' on Saturday night, enjoyed a meal of lasagna and singing our hearts out to music from the sixties, seventies and eighties, all accompanied by a very competent and talented acoustic guitar player.

The big Thanksgiving feast itself was planned a week prior, a list was drawn up and tasks and dishes assigned. The meal was to be a sit-down event for some 26 people using china, stemware, cutlery, in a decked out barn complete with a stage, lighting, decor and a sound system. Seven groups of people contributed to the grand event, and the menu included: shrimp ceviche, chipotle-spiced squash soup, roasted acorn squash, brown-butter mashed potatoes with herbs, salads, a baked potato soufflé and a lovely selection of breads. A friend who lives out there volunteered to "do" the stuffed turkey. He found a 27 lb. free-range farm bird and did it justice by using a combination stove-top steaming and oven roasting method. We made a jus-gravy and served the turkey with a cranberry salsa*. Dessert included pumpkin pie, sweet potatoe pie, apple strudel and carrot cake with cardamom cream (see "Sugar & Spice" posting for recipe).

One of the food contributions that we brought out was a cranberry salsa, made with organic cranberries purchased at the Riverdale Farmers' Market, www.friendsofriverdalefarm.com. The berries come from Iroquois Cranberries, www.iroquoiscranberries.com and are gathered in the Cranberry Capital of Ontario - Bala. The open-air market will be on for only a few more weeks, as it closes at the end of October. It is held every Tuesday, from 3pm to 7pm. I used one pound in the salsa and froze the other. Cranberries freeze unbelievably well, as they are a natural for IQF (individual quick frozen) and do not clump together. I received the following recipe when I purchased the berries at the market; I prefer to tone down the sugar content.

4 cups, (1 lb) fresh or frozen cranberries

1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar (to taste)

2 limes, zested and juiced

Process in a food processor, let sit one hour prior to serving. Keeps in a fridge for up to ten days, and freezes well.

In between the soup course and the main feast, the eleven children who were present dug up wigs and clothing from the dress-up trunk and put on a dance / fashion and acrobatics show! Having a stage and a sound system in the barn brings out the performer in everyone. Yeeha! The dinner and show was the weekend highlight for our two older children, but for our youngest it was going horseback riding for the first time and bareback to boot! Our dog is still exhausted by all of the outdoor activity, and the fact that she deservedly got kicked by the resident dwarf donkey. Needless to say, a grand time was had by all, and we are very thankful for good friends, good health and family.

Crème Brulée

2009-10-02T13:26:00.000-04:00

Ahh, cream - crème, is there anything better? What a great and versatile dessert substance: crème caramel, crème anglaise, crème brulée, pots de crème - and the list goes on. The French certainly have it right, one can even buy prepared crème anglaise and crème brulée in the most mundane of Parisian grocery stores! A friend of mine, who happens to be French, gave me her very large ice cream maker when she moved to a smaller house. It cannot be stored in any position but level, therefore it sits on my counter year-round, taking up a great deal of space. To justify its presence, I feel the need to make ice cream and sorbets frequently - and my kids love it.

The base that I use for ice cream is basically a crème anglaise.

1 liter of cream (18% M.F. or there abouts)

1 cup white sugar

1 vanilla bean, split

6 egg yolks

Combine the cream, sugar, and vanilla and heat until boiling. Remove from heat, let cool a few minutes and wisk in the egg yolks one at a time. Return to medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Remove vanilla pod, scraping the seeds into the mixture. This mixture can be used as an ice-cream base, set in ramekins in a bain-marie for crème brulée, or pots de crème. For crème caramel, make a caramel from sugar and water and pour into ramekins or a mold and let harden before adding the cream base - then bake in a bain-marie until set.

Food and beverage photographer Michael Kohn, www.michaelkohn.com, contacted me recently - he wanted to create some crème brulées shots. We came up with the above photos, a selection of just-the-right-amount size ramekins; and an unctuous spoonful complete with caramel shards, a raspberry and a hint of mint. I used the crème anglaise base in order to make these brulées.

Sugar & Spice and Fair Trade Nice

2009-10-02T08:43:00.002-04:00

The word was out from Transfair Canada, the non-profit Ottawa based organization which promotes Fair Trade Certified products, that they were looking for content. More specifically, they were looking for recipes that use as much Fair Trade Certified products as possible. Into the kitchen I went to whip up some creations which would incorporate the necessary components, and then off to Michael Kohn's studio to photograph them, www.michaelkohn.com.

We collaborated on two entries, Spiced Plum Torte and Chocolate Garam Masala Cookies.

Fair Trade crops typically came from Africa and South America, where low market prices for produce and a high dependency on unscrupulous intermediaries entrenched farming families and local economies in a cycles of poverty. Working with aid organizations, the producers laid the foundation for a trading system that ensured a fair price for their produce and a direct road to markets and the Fair Trade System was created. Products include: Cane Sugar, muscovado sugar, icing sugar, dutch-processed or natural cocoa, molasses, vanilla, semi-sweet chocolate chips, chocolate wafers (milk, bittersweet, semi-sweet), cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, black tea, green tea, coffee, black pepper, cloves, nutmeg, mint, chamomile, fair trade ice cream, bananas, grapes, and oranges. New products are being added and include: rice, quinoa, flowers, wine, cotton and sport balls.

Using Fair Trade Certified products ensures that the farmers are receiving a just price for their products, consumers are guaranteed that their purchases are truly benefiting producers and workers. For more information, visit the website at www.transfair.ca, and when look for the Fair Trade Certified logo.

The following recipes use a lot of spice. For maximum strength and spice-hit, I highly recommend grinding your own in a spice-dedicated coffee grinder.

SPICED PLUM TORTE with CARDAMOM CREAM

This is a fast, impressive and versatile dessert. We have made it not only with plums but with pears, apricots, nectarines and wild blueberries and the results have always been delicious. The torte can be served warm or at room temperature.

TORTE

¾ cup granulated cane sugar, divided, keeping 1 tablespoon aside

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup un-bleached all-purpose flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 large eggs

pinch sea-salt

12 Italian plums, halved and pitted

Icing sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Using an electric mixer, cream together the granulated cane sugar less 1 tablespoon, butter and vanilla.

Add the flour, spice, eggs and salt until the batter is well mixed.

Place batter in a 9” spring-form or other deep removable-bottom pan. Place all of the fruit skin side down and cover the surface and sprinkle with the 1 tablespoon of granulated cane sugar.

Bake for 40-45 minutes. Makes 8 servings

CARDAMOM CREAM

1 cup whipping cream

3 tablespoons brown cane sugar or Muscovado sugar, or raw cane sugar

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

Mix the ingredients and whip until thick, soft folds appear.

(Hint: for best infusion, mix the ingredients the day before and whip just before serving.)

CHOCOLATE GARAM MASALA COOKIES

1 cup granulated cane sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for rolling.

1 large egg

¾ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup corn syrup

2 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 ½ teaspoons ground cardamom

1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 1/8 teaspoons ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 ¾ cups un-bleached all-purpose flour, sifted

½ cup cocoa, Dutch-processed or natural, sifted

Using an electric stand mixer and a paddle attachment, combine the 1 cup of cane sugar, the egg, oil, corn syrup, spices and salt, until evenly blended. Add the flour and cocoa and mix until fully incorporated. Remove the dough from the bowl, scrape down the sides, place dough in a reusable container and chill for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare cookie sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.

Place the two tablespoons of cane sugar in to a small bowl, adding more if necessary.

Using a half-tablespoon measure, shape the dough into balls or half-spheres and roll them into the cane sugar. Place twenty evenly spaced sugared dough shapes on a cookie sheet. Bake for 11-12 minutes. Makes approximately 60 cookies.

Going Solo

2009-09-25T08:34:00.001-04:00

I vividly recall my first ever food styling experience, I was second assistant to L.A. based styling maven Judy Peck-Prindle. It was a five-day TV commercial shoot in the greater Toronto area, a different location every day - and I loved it.

A little while later, the same production company called and asked me if I would assist on another shoot. Great! I was thrilled - a call-back. A second phone call from them informed me that I was not going to be the assistant but the stylist. Ahhh!! I panicked, I fretted, I spontaneously woke up every hour on the hour afraid that I would oversleep my 5 a.m. alarm. Call-time was 6 a.m., we were going to be shooting under two bridges in downtown Toronto in March, and I was six months pregnant. My "kitchen" was the interior of a cube van, setup with some fold-out tables, a microwave oven and access to water. I got to work organizing and preparing the food for the shoot. My nervousness subsided as the day progressed and we got the necessary shots for the commercial. My fear of being the weakest link in the chain was all for naught. It was a fantastic learning experience and, best of all, the TV commercial went to air! This is "Moving Day", produced by Radke Films of Toronto.

Relish & Pickles

2009-09-24T08:12:00.000-04:00

Simultaneous feelings of relief, fatigue and elation wash over me. During the past few days, I have made thirteen jars of Bread & Butter pickles, eleven jars of the very popular "Family Relish" and eight jars of Dill Pickles. The pickling process was an autumn ritual in my house as a child, and I enjoy the tradition of it still. Though the above mentioned quantities are not overly-ambitious, one has to keep in mind that all of the vegetables are lovingly hand chopped, and that our three children have not grasped the concept of family in the name "Family Relish". Hopefully, one year not too long from now, we will be preparing all together, as I did with my siblings and parents. In the meantime, it is a fabulous relish, and certainly well worth making - either by oneself or with a group.

The recipe for the "Family Relish" comes from my mother's cookbook, and it is a keeper.

2 kg ripe tomatoes

20 sweet red & green peppers (in total), seeded & chopped

5 medium onions, chopped

1/2 cup pickling salt

1 hot pepper, seeded and chopped

1 recipe mustard dressing*

1) Peel the tomatoes, squeeze to remove juice and seeds, and chop.

2) Combine sweet peppers, onions, tomatoes, and salt and refrigerate over night.

3) Drain well, add hot pepper and mustard dressing, stir over moderate heat until mixture boils.

4) Simmer until thickened, 10-20 minutes, stirring frequently.

5) Bottle in sterilized jars. After placing the snap lids and screw bands, I placed the jars in a canning pot water bath with 2" of water above them for 15 minutes.

Mustard Dressing

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup mustard (dry)

1/2 tbsp. tumeric

1 cup water

4 cups white vinegar

1 tbsp. celery seed

1 tsp. whole cloves

1 tsp. pickling spice

1) Combine dry ingredients until fully mixed, add water, making a smooth paste.

2) Heat vinegar with spices, simmer 10 minutes, strain and discard spices.

3) Stir vinegar into mustard paste, return to heat, stir until mixture comes to a boil.

Variation: a quick mustard dressing solution is substituting 6 oz. of prepared mustard for the dry mustard, turmeric and spices.

The next self assignment pertains to Fair Trade ingredients, to be continued.

AUTUMN & PICKLES

2009-09-21T10:29:00.000-04:00

AUTUMN & PICKLES

As of this evening it will be officially autumn. I love all of the seasons, each one brings a wealth of colour, taste and aroma to the table. The notion of autumn makes me look forward to warming dishes made with different kinds of squash, apples, pears and nuts. There is nothing better than a hike in the woods on a brisk fall day with a bright blue sky overhead, gorgeous and brightly coloured leaves on the trees - followed of course by a savoury fall feast. Weather-wise, we are still enjoying unprecedented warmth, and my desire for the warming comfort food will increase as the temperature drops.

I grew up in the Montreal area, and together with my family we would go to the Atwater Market to procure the ingredients for our traditional "family relish". We called it such as the entire family was involved in the preparation, it took all weekend to prepare and our parents would inevitably stay up late on Sunday to finish off the last of the canning. My recollections include every available piece of crockery being called into action for the brining of the vegetables, and I am sure that we did use the bathtub one year as well. We made a lot of relish seeing how we all loved to eat the relish, and so did our friends.

In the meantime, I will celebrate the first day of autumn by making pickles. The recipe is one that I kept from grade eight home-ec class with Mrs. McHarg. I enjoyed it back then as much as my friends and family enjoy it now.

Mrs. McHarg's Bread & Butter Pickles

4 cups small cucumbers

2 cups thinly sliced onion

2 medium green peppers, diced

2 tbsp coarse pickling salt

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups white vinegar

1 tbsp mixed pickling spice

Directions: scrub cucumbers (do not peel). Slice thinly, 1/8". Combine sliced cucumbers, onions, peppers and salt. Cover in let stand in a not-reactive bowl for 12 hours. Drain well. Combine sugar, vinegar and pickling spice in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add drained vegetables and return to a boil. Pack into hot, sterilized jars making sure to cover the vegetables with the hot syrup. Seal, and can in boiling water. Yield: 3 pints.

The attached photo was taken at the Riverdale Farm Farmers' Market, held every Tuesday from mid-May to the end of October from 3 - 7pm, www.friendsofriverdalefarm.com, by photographer Brian Summers, www.summers.ca

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Rating: 5/5

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PUMPKIN GNOCCHI - by request...

Best Baguette Awards

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Casey's Real Deal

MACARONS

The Reality of TV

Tourtière

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Heroes: Real & Reel

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'Tis the Season

Saint Chef?

Something from Nothing

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Halloween

A Friend of the Farm

One, Two, Three Testing

Verdana: Cheese or Font?

Thanksgiving

Crème Brulée

Sugar & Spice and Fair Trade Nice

Going Solo

Relish & Pickles

AUTUMN & PICKLES