Political Mashing

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

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

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?

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

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!)

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

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.