This summer the herbs in my balcony garden thrived.  Perhaps the most bountiful herb was oregano. Problem is that I RARELY use fresh oregano.  Trust me when I say I tried integrating it into a bunch of recipes but I couldn’t keep up with how fast that stuff grew.

Now that [...]]]>

This summer the herbs in my balcony garden thrived.  Perhaps the most bountiful herb was oregano. Problem is that I RARELY use fresh oregano.  Trust me when I say I tried integrating it into a bunch of recipes but I couldn’t keep up with how fast that stuff grew.

Now that it’s October (!) the days are cooler the days of my balcony garden are numbered.  While I’m all for preserving fruit and vegetables I’ve never really preserved herbs.  Sure I know that you can chop them up and put them in the freezer but my freezer is always full enough as it is.

Then I thought about drying.  I mean EVERYONE has dried herbs in their cupboard so why not dry my own?  I quickly learned that there are numerous ways to dry herbs.  The most often recommended is hanging the herbs upside down somewhere and letting nature go to work.  I honestly couldn’t think of a single place in my apartment to hang herbs so I passed on that.

Next was using a food dehydrator and while I’ve wanted this food dehydrator by Ron Popeil since I was about 10 I don’t have one, so I passed.  Another option was turning the oven on the lowest setting and putting the herbs in there for a few hours.  While I’m sure this is a good method I hate the idea of leaving the oven on for hours.

This led me to my least favourite appliance… the microwave.  While I’m not a fan of microwaves I am a fan of quick.  I put a few sprigs (does oregano have sprigs) of oregano on a paper towel in the microwave and microwaved them in 30 second increments until they were brittle… about a minute and a half to two minutes.

Once the herbs were brittle I pulled them off the stems and crumbled them.  Super easy!  I’ll have to play around and see what else this technique works on.

When I moved back to Toronto 4 (eek!) years ago I decided to try canning.  I liked the idea of controlling the amount of sugar in my jam as well as being able to use the freshest local produce and trying unique flavour combinations.  Canning can be a lot of work [...]]]>

When I moved back to Toronto 4 (eek!) years ago I decided to try canning.  I liked the idea of controlling the amount of sugar in my jam as well as being able to use the freshest local produce and trying unique flavour combinations.  Canning can be a lot of work but I find it almost therapeutic plus it’s nice to make something edible that will last for so long.

My initial forays into canning were strictly about jam but this year I was inspired by this article in Bon Appétit to do some pickling.  Yes, pickling!  I figured pickling would be even easier than jam making since you don’t have to worry about setting.  I decided to devote a weekend day to my pickling adventures because it sounded likely a lovely way to spend an afternoon.  I decided to make four types of pickles: corn relish, bread & butter pickles, zucchini dill pickles and pickled beets (I’ll list links at the end of this post).

The funny thing about canning is that I decided to can things that I never ever buy.   Let’s take corn relish, for example.  I’ve never ever bought a jar of corn relish and frankly I don’t think I’ve ever tasted it.  But with corn being so delicious this year I decided to try my hand at preserving some.  Plus I saw many a tweet from Darryl and Beth about their love of corn relish, so I was intrigued.  I decided to use a basic recipe from Pick Your Own . I checked out a bunch of sites and there were so many variations. I figured this one would be a good start. Aside from the corn the recipe includes peppers, onions, sugar and a variety of spices.  I let the preserves sit for a week or so and then I decided to buy some hotdogs to give the relish a test drive.  Corn relish is such a great condiment!  It was perfect on my hotdog.  It really is like regular relish but with corn instead. I even put some on a chicken sandwich a few days later and it was a great addition.

Next up was to pickle some beets.  I’ve made Easy Pickled Beets before and enjoyed so I thought I’d step it up a notch and make some real pickled beets.  The Bon App article had a recipe for Picked Beets with Star Anise that I thought sounded interesting, so I made it.  I enjoy the anise flavour for the most part and frankly I kind of wanted an excuse to buy star anise, it’s such a cute spice!  The recipe also captured my attention because it involves red wine.  Not only was this a super easy recipe but the results are quite lovely.  When you open the jar you get a whiff of anise but the taste isn’t too heavy on the anise (I’m not a fan of black liquorice so too much anise could turn me off).  You don’t really get much of the taste of wine but I appreciate that it’s in there.

The pickles I was most excited to make were the Zucchini Dill Pickles.  I love dill pickles and I love zucchini and I’m not a fan of cucumbers so I was happy on all fronts.  The process of making the dill pickles was perhaps the most lovely to look at of all the pickles I made that day.  I loved filling the jars with the herbs, spices, garlic and peppers, it really made me feel like I was crafting or something.  I deviated from the recipe a bit and used a combination of green zucchini and yellow squash, not a big deal at all.  The pickles turned out well.  They have the taste of dill pickles for the most part but have a slightly different texture.  I find them a bit too spicy but I had others taste them and they didn’t feel the same way at all.  Next time I’d love to figure out how to make half-sour pickles.

Last on my preserving adventures were bread and butter pickles.  I’ve loved bread and butter pickles ever since I was little but I couldn’t tell you the last time I had them.   These are the only pickles that I have yet to try but I’m excited to put them on a burger, in a grilled cheese or on a turkey sandwich!

I can’t write a post about preserving without giving a shout out to the lovely Sarah Hood who recently released a book all about canning (which I still have to buy!) called We Sure Can.

Here are the recipes that I used:

Corn Relish
Pickled Beets with Star Anise
Zucchini Dill Pickles
Bread & Butter Pickles

My earliest memories [...]]]> First things first, I have no clue who Nancy is.  This recipe comes from Paula Deen’s The Lady & Sons Cookbook. I imagine that Nancy is perhaps someone who used to work at the restaurant, or maybe one of Paula’s girlfriends. Who knows. It doesn’t make a difference.

My earliest memories of coleslaw is of that minty green stuff that you get at KFC.  When I was younger I used to regularly consume the KFC and it obviously comes with fries but then you also get to choose a side!  The sides in Canada aren’t as exciting as in the U.S.  We usually only get to choose between potato, macaroni, coleslaw and maybe a vegetable salad.  For the longest time coleslaw was my default.  I don’t even think I liked it at all but I kept on choosing it (years later the potato salad became my default).

I’m not sure when I discovered what real coleslaw was but thank goodness I did!  Coleslaw is a critical part of my barbecued foods consumption.  I can’t have a pulled pork sandwich without some coleslaw goodness on top.  Well, I guess I could but it’s just not the same.

I’m in the camp that likes a bit of a crunchy coleslaw that’s not too heavy on the dressing.  I can’t do the soupy coleslaws.  I love a coleslaw that adds some texture to whatever you’re eating it alongside of.

My go-to recipe is the above mentioned slaw courtesy of Paula Deen.  Trust me when I say not only is it super easy, it has the right balance of flavours.  I love the tip of combining the sugar and onions to tone down the onion flavours – brilliant! I also use the pre-packaged, shredded coleslaw mix from the supermarket to make things even easier.

While the days of summer are quickly away, definitely take this to your next barbecue or picnic.

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One of my favourite things is a fancy homemade breakfast on the weekends.  Sure I enjoy going out for brunch but I can’t help but find it a bit overrated.  I love restaurants that do unique things with their brunch menu but for the most part I feel like I can [...]]]>

One of my favourite things is a fancy homemade breakfast on the weekends.  Sure I enjoy going out for brunch but I can’t help but find it a bit overrated.  I love restaurants that do unique things with their brunch menu but for the most part I feel like I can just make brunch foods myself.  I’m a whiz at pancakes and how hard is it to scramble eggs and cook some bacon?  PLUS most brunch places don’t give you baked beans with your eggs AND they make you choose between bacon and sausage.  Where is the justice in that?

Just the other day I was craving brunch foods and oddly enough was craving baked eggs.  For those who know me eggs for the most part freak me out a bit.  I’m very particular about eggs.  I can only even consider eating them when I want to and I can love a particular preparation one day and be repulsed by it another.  It’s odd, I know, but it’s just the way things go.  Baked eggs aren’t really something I come across on many menus nor are they something I’ve ever really made.  I cannot even begin to guess where this craving came from.

My balcony garden has been coming in nicely and I’ve been eyeing my various greens wondering what to do with them. I thought it would be a great idea to incorporate some of my kale, collards and Swiss chard into my baked eggs.  Also, since I have a ton of herbs at my fingertips I decided to add a few handfuls to the mix as well.

I did some searching online for a source recipe for baked eggs with greens but there was a lot of variety.  Some recipes incorporated the greens raw, others cooked, others cooked with cream.  Some recipes used herbs, others did not.  Some recipes added cheese, others not so much. Decisions, decisions.  I decided to add my own touch to make a baked eggs dish perfectly suited for me.

I grabbed a few handfuls of the greens, chopped them and then sauteed them briefly.  I added some cream and a bit of salt and pepper and allowed them to cook down.  I then piled the greens into the bottom of my casserole dish and topped them with garlic that my homie Joel planted last fall .  I made two holes for the eggs and put an egg in each hole.  I seasoned the eggs lightly with salt and pepper and then topped the with a mix of Gruyere with the chopped herbs.

I honestly don’t know why anyone would eat eggs any other way.  The flavour from the greens was so robust and I loved the variety in taste and texture.  The eggs weren’t too eggy and were really enhanced by the nuttiness of the Gruyere and the subtle flavours from the herbs.  I ate this with some sausages and English muffin but honestly this didn’t need any accompaniments.  This dish could easily work without the greens or by incorporating another vegetable/fruit like tomatoes or chopped zucchini.

This recipe came together in my head so there aren’t measurements.  It’s likely hard to screw up so use your imagination.

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Now don’t get me wrong, I love a farmers’ market as much as the next girl (or guy). But does anyone else find this whole eating locally and seasonally thing a bit stressful?

So let’s say you skip the market for a week or two or even three.  Then you show [...]]]>

Now don’t get me wrong, I love a farmers’ market as much as the next girl (or guy). But does anyone else find this whole eating locally and seasonally thing a bit stressful?

So let’s say you skip the market for a week or two or even three.  Then you show up at the market and discover this new (to you) fruit, vegetable, whatever. You buy some at the farmer’s urging and take it home and fall in love.  The following week that you go back to the market and said produce is nowhere in sight.  And it won’t be … for at least a year.  The season has ended and now you’re SOL.

This always happens to me!  Or I won’t realize that the season has started for something that I enjoy and then it’s too late.  This year already I have been burned by fiddleheads coming and going and I was later to rhubarb season than I had hoped to be.  I was totally on top of this year’s somewhat disappointing strawberry season though.  I’m now committed to going to the market weekly to ensure that I don’t miss a week of corn, peaches, plums, tomatoes and other goodies.  This is what it’s come to!  I need my seasonal produce.

My discovery this week was garlic scapes.  I always read about garlic scapes but had never thought to buy them.  One stall at the market was selling them for 10 for $1 and that was enticing enough for me to give it a try.  Garlic scapes are the stalks of hardneck garlic.  Farmers cut them off as the garlic grows to keep the plant’s energy focused on making more awesome garlic.

I knew right away that I would make a pesto.  I had planned on making basil pesto the week before but got sidetracked and never got around to it.  I found a ton of recipes for garlic scape-only pesto but I wanted to use up some of the basil from my balcony garden so I did some more digging.  Apparently it’s quite normal to do the garlic scape/pesto variety.

The combination is definitely a winner.  The garlic scapes add a nice garlic flavour with a hint of grassiness.  The basil ties in the traditional pesto flavours without being too herby.  I used almonds instead of pine nuts and was totally happy with the way that worked out.  My only issue was getting the consistency down right.  The pesto was on the thick side no matter how much oil I added.  At a certain point I stopped adding oil because it seemed excessive.  This is definitely a hit!  I’ve been eating it with pasta and chicken for a great summer salad.  I also plan on using the pesto as a spread in a breakfast sandwich with eggs, cheese and bacon.

For the recipe visit Serious Eats.

Every once in awhile in the food blogger world there’s that recipe it feels like everyone is making. A few years ago it was all about No-Knead Bread and since then there have been many other recipes that have become popular among food bloggers. Within the past year or so, [...]]]>

Every once in awhile in the food blogger world there’s that recipe it feels like everyone is making. A few years ago it was all about No-Knead Bread and since then there have been many other recipes that have become popular among food bloggers. Within the past year or so, I’ve come across many blogs writing about Momofuku’s Crack Pie.

Ahhhh, Momofuku’s Crack Pie, the stuff dreams are made of. The pie is the brainchild of Christina Tosi, the pastry chef at one of my fave NYC spots, Momofuku Milk Bar. According to this LA Times article, Crack Pie is actually a take on a Joy of Cooking recipe for Chess Pie, which I’d also never had. Apparently the pie sells for $44, but you can buy a slice for $5.25. But come on, who doesn’t want to bring a pie to a dinner party with the word “crack” in the name?

I’ve had the recipe for Crack Pie bookmarked for months but never got around to making it. Literally, for no good reason. The ingredients are super simple. You pretty much just need a ton of butter and sugar. The other day I wanted to make a new dessert and I wanted it to be kind of fancy and I thought the time was upon me to make the Crack Pie. These days I’ve had such a hankering for “fancy” desserts, although my definition of “fancy” is constantly evolving. Macarons are no longer fancy enough for me. I usually want to try something in a tart form or even a cake since I rarely (if ever) make cakes.

When it comes to making the Crack Pie there a lot of steps but they don’t require much skill and are well worth it. Take the crust for example. This is no ordinary crust. Instead of just mixing together a bunch of ingredients and patting them into the pan, you make a giant oatmeal cookie, bake it, crumble it and throw it into the food processor with more butter and sugar. This is so much more fun than a regular crust. It’s like a graham cracker crust on… well, crack!

The filling is really just more butter and sugar. You know how recipes often tell you to salt each layer of ingredients as you add them? I feel like Tosi wants us to “season” every layer with more butter and sugar. It’s insane, but awesome. Oh! And the recipe involved milk powder which I ended up finding at Bulk Barn.

The Crack Pie kind of reminds me of a giant butter tart. But different. You have this crazy cookie crust filled with essentially just butter, sugar and eggs. Interestingly enough the pie is sweet but not shockingly sweet and there is actually some nice depth of flavour. It would be fun to add in some maple syrup if you want to take it in a different direction. The texture is not at all gooey and is more firm and “dry”. You can definitely cut the pie and the filling won’t lose its shape.

So, is the Crack Pie as addictive as everyone claims? Maybe not addictive, but it’s pretty darned good. I served this with some Mapleton’s Ginger ice cream and it was a great combination. The ginger really cut through some of the sweetness of the pie.

Here’s a link to the recipe from the LA Times. Do note that the recipe makes 2 pies, which I found excessive. Just halve everything for one pie, obvi.

One of the downsides to making a lot of macarons is the load of egg yolks that you inevitably end up with.  I usually put the yolks in a container and freeze them for later use.  The other day I made a pact with myself that I wouldn’t make any more [...]]]>

One of the downsides to making a lot of macarons is the load of egg yolks that you inevitably end up with.  I usually put the yolks in a container and freeze them for later use.  The other day I made a pact with myself that I wouldn’t make any more egg white only desserts until I used up my egg yolks.

My first thought was to make ice cream.  I love ice cream! But my freezer was too full to accommodate the ice cream making bowl.  So then I started to Google alternate usages.  Of course custard-based desserts ranked high so I decided to make an old favourite, crème brûlée.

Years ago, I think I was in high school, I had the foresight to order a kitchen torch to make crème brûlée.  I’m not kidding.  Some high school kids experiment with drinking and drugs while others order torches to make crème brûlée. I probably made it a few times and barely used the torch since.  Part of me always wants to use it on grapefruit or something but it never really happened.  With that said all I had to do was go out and get some butane for my torch and I would be ready to go!

Sadly I used up my stash of vanilla beans (which reminds me, I should head over to eBay to order some) so I was on the hunt for other ideas.  I stumbled upon a version for coconut crème brûlée and immediately knew that it would be love.  As I’ve likely mentioned before I love coconut errythang AND this brulée included rum so it was destined to be a winner.

This crème brûlée deviates from a traditional by including flaked coconut (which is later strained from the custard), coconut milk and rum.  As a result, I found the final texure wasn’t as smooth as I’m accustomed to.  It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t smooth as silk.

The flavours were great!  It was pure coconut all the way.  I didn’t have Malibu rum so I just used some regular Appleton’s for the alcoholic kick and it worked well.  I made half the recipe which was enough for 4 portions.  Leftovers were great the following day although I’d reserve the torching for 15 minutes prior to serving.

This is definitely a new favourite in my household.

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So as part of the last round of Charcutepalooza I had the brilliant idea to go all out and make my own English muffins. I mean, I was making Canadian bacon and naturally I would use this as part of Eggs Benedict. I’ve already mastered an easy Hollandaise sauce, [...]]]>

So as part of the last round of Charcutepalooza I had the brilliant idea to go all out and make my own English muffins. I mean, I was making Canadian bacon and naturally I would use this as part of Eggs Benedict. I’ve already mastered an easy Hollandaise sauce, and my eggs were farm fresh, so why would I slum it and BUY English muffins? Exactly, I wouldn’t.

Truth be told, English muffins are not something I had ever really thought of making from scratch. I grew up eating supermarket English muffins (shout out to Dempsters!) and when I went off to university in New York I discovered the joys of Thomas’ English Muffins. Plus, I don’t think I’ve EVER had a homemade English muffin from a restaurant. I kind of just assumed that it wasn’t something people made from scratch and that they solely existed in a factory. Alas, this was my bad. The more I cook and learn about food the more I realize that few things (that I would eat anyway) are solely made in a factory.

I was on the site Closet Cooking a few weeks back and Kevin did a post on Homemade English Muffins and I was totally impressed.  I made a mental note to try these out sometimes.  A few weeks later when I decided to tackle making my own, I started looking at recipes.  I mainly wanted recipes that used things I already had in my cupboard which is why I eliminated the recipe on Kevin’s site because it had powdered milk on the ingredient list.  I didn’t feel like going to the store and truth be told I have no idea how common powdered milk is.  I ended up using this recipe from Wilde in the Kitchen. I liked it because the ingredients were simple and I didn’t need English muffin molds.

Making English muffins was as easy as making any simple bread-type things. You mix some ingredients together, knead them, let them rest, shape and let rise again. No big deal. My dough didn’t rise properly and needed a bit of extra loving to make that happen. I think this impacted the final product because these did not turn out well at all!

The English muffins were dense and pretty rock hard. They were not at all fluffy like the English muffins that I love. Le sigh. There were no nooks. There were no crannies. It was a sad, sad day.  I kind of blame my yeast.

I haven’t lost faith though, I know many people who have had success with the English muffin-making (even with this recipe) so I’ll have to give a few other recipes a shot and buy some new yeast.

Here’s a link to the recipe that I used: click here.

While I love meat, I try not to eat it all the time.  My weekly diet usually involves some meat, some seafood, maybe some poultry and usually a meatless dish, like pasta.  My lunches recently usually consist of leftover dinner so I’ve been having much more meat at lunch than I’d [...]]]>

While I love meat, I try not to eat it all the time.  My weekly diet usually involves some meat, some seafood, maybe some poultry and usually a meatless dish, like pasta.  My lunches recently usually consist of leftover dinner so I’ve been having much more meat at lunch than I’d normally like.  In the past, I used to make meals exclusively for lunch and they were often vegetable or grain-based.  Somewhere along the way I got lazy and stopped making meals exclusively for lunch.

I’ve made it a bit of a goal recently to get back on that bandwagon.  The other day I was browsing Bon Appétit recipes on Epicurious when I came across this recipe for a Chickpea Salad with lemon, Parmesan and herbs. It sounded like a winner and easy enough to make for lunch.

While the recipe as-is seemed pretty good I decided to switch things up a bit. Right away I thought that roasted red peppers would be a great addition. Then looking in my fridge I realized that I didn’t have any basil or parsley. And I wasn’t going out to get some. But then I looked in my freezer and found some basil.

The resulting salad was really simple and delicious. It works well as a side dish or on it’s own as a salad. This would also be really nice served on top of a bed of couscous or as an addition to a lettuce-based salad.

Hopefully over the next few weeks I’ll do a few more grain or legume-based lunch salads. My body is definitely telling me to feed it some healthy goodness. I will listen.

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