File this under: Things I Need To Try

Parsnip and leek soup « Five And Spice.

via Parsnip and leek soup « Five And Spice.

I remember clearly my first taste of Coffee Crisp. I had one in my bag of Halloween loot many moons ago (pretty sure I went as a clown, can’t get much scarier than that!) and the first taste of bitter coffee was too much for my young palate, I spat the tiny half chewed treat into the trash, only to have my mouth then filled with the mochalicious aftertaste. I learned not to judge a food by its first flavour profile as there may be more, and better, to come.
When I first had kale, it was cooked by Momette without additional flavouring. I did not enjoy it, to say the least. But, when, as an adult, I bravely shared a spicy kale-centric dish at Vij’s restaurant with my husband, it was fantastic! I realized that kale was just a vessel and must be filled with flavour.

Kale has a ridiculous amount of nutrients and calorie for calorie is the best thing you can give your body! It’s a sturdy leafy green that can take the heat and soaks up flavour like a tasty sponge.

My new summertime favourite is when Exec Chef blanches kale, marinates it in lemon juice and garlic, then throws it on our charcoal grill. Seriously, I could eat it all day long. Smoky, sour, garlicky goodness that sticks to the ribs (and goes well with ribs!).

The blogosphere has been whispering in my ear about the amazing tastiness of kale chips/crisps. The words are compelling, but the images lean more toward the repellant. Dry green leaves covered in goop. I’ve been enjoying kale in soups, now that the grill has been put away for the season, and it was only a craving for chips of the potato variety that made me join the food focussed blogistas in their kale chip cult.

I had been resisting the urge to buy Honey Dijon Kettle Chips until one day the snack food satellites aligned in my local Save-On-Foods. Kettle Chips were on sale for 2 bags for $5, the racks were mostly empty and there wasn’t a single orange mustardy bag of goodness to be found. It was only when I was zipping back to the produce department to grab some purple yams (so pretty!) that my eyes landed on a single bag of potato-ey gold that had been abandoned by the newly installed self checkouts. I practically scaled the Mt. Everest of Lucky Charms boxes, shoving Lucky and his crusty “marshmallows” to the side, to rescue the lonely bag. It was obviously meant to be mine and I may have stroked it gently as I made my way to the register.

Once I had them in the kitchen, I decided to reverse engineer the tongue tantalizing taste and find a less nutritionally void vehicle to deliver dijon spiked sweetness to my pleasure centre. I mixed, tasted, mixed again and used the excuse of “research” and “comparative analysis” to stuff my face with the crispy taters. I used olive oil as a base with Keen’s mustard powder, one of my go to ingredients for all things savoury, providing the necessary tongue curling zing which was mellowed by Maille’s Dijon Originale and creamed honey. Apple cider vinegar provided a tangy kick, which was rounded out by onion and garlic powder. Tumeric added it’s sunny colour and an earthy sweetness that only needed the finish of salt and pepper to match the taste of the half-finished bag of inspiration.

I massaged by mustardy elixir with my tumeric toned hands into the waiting leaves of kale. The oven dried them to a crispy conclusion and it was time for the final comparison.

The translucent leaves shattered into delicate shards on my tongue and the flavour was almost exact, there was just a subtle vegetal undertone that melded nicely with the mustard. They were a hit with Young Fresh Chef and he insisted on packing them in his school lunch for the next day. So, if you’ve been resisting the call of kale, give in!

This is the vegetable that I like to make friends and coworkers try. People expect it to taste like raw potato and they are always pleasantly surprised by how crisp and refreshing it is. To me, the flavour is like fresh peas still in the pod. For others, they compare it to an unripe apple or pear.

Usually, I just munch on it au natural (the jicama, not me), but I also like to squeeze some lime juice over it to give it a citrusy boost. Jicama is loaded with fibre, vitamin C and is a good source of folic acid (extra important for Mamas-to-be).

To add a little more complexity, I hit it with a dash of chili powder. That’s one way they serve it in South America. It would also be great in a salad to add some crunch or it can be cooked as well. Cooking brings out more of a water chestnut type flavour.

Look for jicama or yam bean root, as it’s sometimes labeled, in your local supermarket near the jalapeño peppers. Pick out a smaller one that feels heavy and has the nicest skin(but don’t eat the skin, it’s nasty). Keep it in the fridge wrapped in plastic once it is cut or cut it all up and dip it in lemon water to keep it fresh. Just remember to share it, get your friends and family hooked on jicama!

I haven’t yet had an opportunity to visit Montreal, but I feel I’ve somehow come a little closer since eating at Estrella’s Montreal Deli & Cafe in Langley. Their Reuben is fantastic, stacked high with their own smoked meat and stuffed with swiss cheese and sauerkraut. The dijon gives it a kick and the rye has that touch of chewiness that keeps it all together. The pickle spear has a nice crunch and a well balanced brine. The coleslaw is shredded finely and slicked with a sweet/vinegary dressing.

Little Chef and Exec Chef are both fans, but Little Chef skips the mustard. They both know to hand over their pickle spears to me immediately. Estrella’s has a selection of beverages, but Little Chef goes for the Cherry Coke. Yep, it’s a smoky slice of Montreal right in Langley.

All of these things is not like the other, but I assure you they all belong… Individually they each have their own flavour, and it was an amazing way to start my day this past Thursday. This is a preview post, of how I recently sampled just a few of pastry chef Paul Croteau's amazing confections for his new business: PC Confections… Stay tuned for full story – its a sweet one! [caption id="attachment_348" align="aligncenter" width="1024" capt … Read More

via Beyond The Dough

Whilst snacking on some Cervelat salami and cheddar cheese. I saw my food looking back at me. One little guy seems to have accepted his fate, while his friend seems a little more concerned about being consumed!

There’s something soothing about making a cup of tea. Filling the kettle, selecting a mug, choosing a tea from my over stocked tea shelf and putting the elements together. I’m more of a one cup at a time instead of a whole pot kind of girl. If I go for a second cup, I’ll switch to another tea. I’m fickle like that and vari-ah-tea is the spice of life!

My first choice lately is Earl Grey Cream, a gift from my friend Banquette, it came with the mug pictured as well. The silicone tea infuser/stirrer was a present from Exec Chef and it is handy-dandy and aquamarine, two very good traits to have.

I think what I like most about a cup of tea is that you have to pause the chaos of your day, sit down, inhale the aroma and take the time to sip. At work, fixing a cup of tea is an island of sanity in a sea of crazy. In the summertime, I make glass after glass of iced tea. The convenience of a hot water selection on the coffee maker and a freezer full of fresh ice cubes makes it a snap. But, takes long enough for me to catch my breath and recharge my batteries.

Here’s to the restorative powers of a nice cuppa! Lord knows I’ll need more than a few to get me through this year.

]]> http://kitchenettefinds.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/tea-for-me/feed/ 1 ar0ura Tea for Me http://kitchenettefinds.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/french-toast-frenzy/ http://kitchenettefinds.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/french-toast-frenzy/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:55:25 +0000 ar0ura http://kitchenettefinds.wordpress.com/?p=102 ]]> My darling Executive Chef husband was showing off some of the photos above to his restaurant team to taunt them with his weekend brunches at home. There is nothing like being woken up by the blissful smell of bacon goodness and heavenly hash browns, or so I’ve been told. I’m the one making the aromas come to life, cartoons blaring in the background.

Not to be immodest (since my modesty is one of my best qualities), but I make a pretty damn fine brunch. The last time I had a good brunch at a restaurant, I told the cook responsible that his hash browns were almost as good as mine. As he tried to compute the comment, Exec Chef helped him along by acknowledging that this was  highly complimentary.

While my brunch menu always has bacon and hash browns on it, the third partner is a rotating one. Waffles, pancakes and French Toast take their turns on the dance floor. When I had my sourdough starter, pancakes had priority on the rotation. But, lately the boys are asking for the French Toast. Can I blame them? No, I can’t. It’s pretty darn good.

The key is the bread. I will only use sourdough. I usually pick up a loaf from Save-On-Foods since I have yet to find a decent bakery nearby. I usually only use half a loaf for Frenchies, so I use the rest for croutons or freeze the remaining slices to use on another Sunday morning. My deep freeze is like a treasure chest, just colder and with less dubloons.

My preferred topping is the darkest maple syrup I can find. Once, I had a bottle of this amazing maple syrup that is aged in a former bourbon barrel. I tried to make it last, but it was too good to resist. Exec Chef, on the other hand has only salt and pepper on his, albeit only kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Junior Chef has been known to create a snowscape with powdered sugar and then ask for maple syrup on top!

Do you love garlic? Because I do. It’s pretty dang amazing. I send my regrets to anyone who has an allergy to garlic. My condolences. I don’t know what I would do, besides pout a lot. I grew up with my mother worshiping garlic on a daily basis, it could cure anything and often did. Her theory was that if the whole family ate garlic then garlic breath wouldn’t be a problem. She did tend to overdo it with the raw garlic sometimes. But, man, if you complained that you had a cold coming on, she’d dose you up good and the sniffles would disappear. She would actually eat multiple cloves of raw garlic on toast with a bit of olive oil. Yeah, I’d just blow her a goodnight kiss from across the room to be safe.

Roasted garlic is a thing of beauty, and a sweet mellow way to enjoy Allium Sativum (that’s MR. Garlic to you). But today, I want to introduce you to TOASTED garlic. It’s half way between the spark of raw and the lush sugar of roasted. It’s a quick and easy way to take the bite out of the beast.

Separate the cloves, but leave the skin on, toss them in a hot dry pan and shake them around until there are touches of black on every side. Let them cool down a bit, then skin and dice the cloves. This can be used as a substitute for raw garlic in any recipe where you want to tone down the garlickiness or a sub for roasted garlic if you don’t have an extra 45 minutes.

One of the fastest ways to enjoy the toasty loveliness is to mix it up with some softened unsalted butter, freshly grated parmesan cheese and salt to taste. Slather it on the crustiest bread you can find, give it a fresh grind of black pepper and slide it under the broiler for about 10 minutes until it is golden and bubbly.

The best dance partner for this crusty loaf is a saucy tomato of a dish like spaghetti and meatballs, or chicken with a tomato pesto sauce on polenta. Dang, shouldn’t write this on an empty stomach. Good thing I’m making some tomorrow to go with lasagna!

The most common reaction, when I tell someone (who isn’t in the restaurant biz) that my husband is a chef, is a loud intake of breath, then an exclamation of “Aren’t you lucky!”, or some similar sentiment. I see the glint in their eyes as they picture me arriving home to a spotless kitchen filled with bubbling pots, a table set with fine china and my husband putting the finishing touches on an artistically arranged salad. I have to resist the urge to yell in their face, in my best Borat voice, “NOT!”

People, please. Stop for a moment and let reality sink in, like teeth sinking into a thick slab of warm fresh brioche. He works nights, minimum five, maximum seven. So, the most meals we will have together in a week is four (his metabolism can only handle two meals a day, plus snacks). Given that he slaves over a hot stove/cold cutting board for at least  twelve, but maybe more like sixteen, hours a day how many times do you think he’s woken up early and jumped out of bed just to create a multi-course rose-in-the-vase breakfast-in-bed for his loving wife? Approximately, no wait , PRECISELY, zero.

I’m not saying he NEVER cooks at home, I would classify it more as hardly ever. I’m not bitter about it. I accepted it a long time ago. Besides, I like cooking on the weekends, and of course we like to support our local restaurants. The upside is now that he’s added the owner slash to his “chef” title if I want to be fed by him I can mosey down and belly up. Of course, I still have to pay, no free rides, baby. But, when I play my cards right and bat my eyelashes fast enough I might get an extra course  or a sample of a new dish.

The point is, when he does fire up the tongs at home I try to kick back, relax and enjoy every moment. The smartest move I made this year was the charcoal grill I got him for his birthday, which led to a lovely summer of BBQ’ed deliciousness (I just had to supply the potato salad and the limeade). So, when he brought home a paper bag filled with Sun Gold tomatoes from Stoney Paradise Farms, I had visions of sweet tomato-y recipes dancing in my head. Sometimes when you have such a lovely ingredient to work with, especially at the tail end of the season, it is hard to commit to just one dish.

My dilemma was solved when the Executive Chef of the house took dinner by the reins and put his Junior Chef to work. I was demoted to photographer and documentarian. Since our boy-named-sous(chef) is a carboholic (he’s addicted to carbohol!), pasta was an easy choice. While I have a shelf with a varied selection of dried pastas, the boys decided to make some from scratch.

Now, there are not many things I enjoy watching more than an expert practice his craft, but I can say that watching said expert share his knowledge with the next generation definitely tops it. The big rough hands marked with scars and burns wearing a battered wedding band, guiding the cute little hands in kneading the pasta dough is on the top of my list for things that make me go *sigh*.

While Exec Chef demonstrated his wicked knife skills on the folded pasta dough, Jr. Chef ran out to our basil plant in the backyard for a fresh herbaceous touch for  the dish. The sauce was just the tomatoes with olive oil, butter, basil and some Parmigiano-Reggiano.

It’s the simple dishes that make the best use of extraordinary ingredients and it’s sharing the simple pleasures that make the best memories.