descent into dessert

Lindsay’s Iron Chefnic birthday party was amazingly fun. And, not only because Ashley, Zack and I were crowned Iron Chefs! More generally, the fun came from excellent company and wonderful food. I was too overwhelmed to take any good pictures, which is sad, because there were many delicious foods. The idea is that everyone assembles an entry for the picnic, and then we all eat delicious food and one entry is awarded the the Iron Chef prize (a super cute picnic blanket! Gingham on one side, kitties and puppies on the other! Or, as Lindsay put it, ‘business on the front, party on the back!’ Also, only Lindsay gives out presents at her birthday!) Highlights include: rosemary lemonade (in mason jars! gorgeous), a lemon-cranberry cake that was insanely good, spring skewers with prosciutto and melon, shrimp and pineapple, and stuffed peppers and tomatoes, springrolls (taking the “spring” theme literally!), amazing salads, empanadas, mint brownies, cucumber martinis (amazing! with berry ice cubes, the best summer idea ever!) and many other delicious treats that I just can’t name right now.

Zack and Ashley and I went with a theme of “little cups,” and we made so many cupcakes. We made the mojito cupcakes, some green tea cupcakes (subbing in steeped green tea for the liquids in a cake mix, and using matcha icing), and regular cupcakes with fondant flowers.

Fondant is extremely time-consuming.  It is ridiculous.  Also, it doesn’t taste good.  But, I really think all this is redeemed by the aesthetics.  Because it really does make just the cutest treats ever.

The savoury cups were also delicious, and totally easy, which is what we needed after rolling out individual blades of grass for two hours.  Anyway, we made gambas al ajillo (it sounds fancy, but it’s just shrimp fried in garlic, with a little bit of fresh chili pepper.  Everything sounds better when it’s said in anything but English…) and mango salsa.  For the mango salsa, we diced up a mango, some red onion, some garlic and chili peppers, a bit of coriander, and then added lime juice and fish sauce.  Everything is to taste, we just kept adding ingredients until it tasted right.  Then, we lined the mini cupcake tray with tortilla shells, and baked them until they were fairly solid.  Make sure to oil both sides of the tortilla.  We then diced up the shrimp, put a spoonful into the cups, and topped it with mango salsa.

These were pretty delicious, and fresh-tasting, not to mention easy picnic food.  They transported well, and required minimal serving, which is key at a picnic.  Our entries were pretty simple, but they were centred around the fact that they should be easy to eat, for a pretty big group, and they should be cute, because we know Lindsay, and she loves cute food.

All in all this was an excellent day, I’m so happy the weather held up.  That said, I am still exhausted from a very exciting weekend that was topped off with a Sunday Mother’s Day dinner in Kingston, which was an ambitious plan, though totally worth it.

Beans are totally my number one comfort food.  They work for all seasons, and I love love love this particular spicy, tangy, summery soup.  This is why I was having so much fun soaking beans, but Meg’s made the soup with canned beans and it’s turned out thicker, almost like a bean spread, which is equally delicious.  I think using orange juice as the base for the soup is what really makes it excellent, but this is generally an amazing soup.  It’s from the Moosewood Cookbook, which is one of my go-to books.

• 2 cups black beans, soaked
• 6 cups water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cups chopped onion
• 10 medium cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 medium carrot, diced
• 1 medium bell pepper, diced
• 1 1/2 cups orange juice
• pepper, to taste
• cayenne, to taste
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• handful of chopped cilantro

Once the beans are re-hydrated, put them in a pot with 4 cups of water, bring them to a boil, cover, and simmer for about an hour and a half.  Heat the olive oil and add the onion, half the garlic, the cumin, salt, and carrots.  Saute over medium heat until the carrots are tender.  Add the remaining garlic and the bell pepper.  Saute until everything is very tender, for about 10 to 15 minutes.  Add the sauteed mixture to the beans.  Stir in the orange juice, black pepper, cayenne, cilantro and tomatoes.  Simmer.  Puree the mixture until it reaches a consistency you like. (I prefer mine very pureed, which is weird because I usually enjoy a chunky soup.  I also hope to never use the word “chunky” on this site again.)  I add diced avocado to the soup, for extra delicious.

I’ve been loving this soup this week, it’s been a great lunch while I’ve been reading microfilm at the library.  My friends have noticed that this hasn’t been a busy week for me, but that’s just because I’ve been testing my recipes for tomorrow’s Iron Chefnic!  For Lindsay’s birthday, she’s organized a food competition in the park.  I am really in it to win it this year, but instead of a secret ingredient, the theme is “spring.”  Very exciting, but very broad: so many possibilities!

I am totally a nerd but I really think re-hydrating beans is just the coolest thing ever.

Last week, Zack and I were celebrating his academic victories, and we decided to try out Foxley, on Ossington.  I’m pretty sure I’m not exaggerating when I say this is my favourite new restaurant.  It’s amazing, and features my favourite way to eat (tapas!) and my favourite type of food (delicious!).  The tapas were all the perfect size - big enough that you could share them but not feel like you just had a bite.  I guess the food is, mmm, fusion…  but Google tells me pan-Asian.  Anyway, it’s really really amazing.  I’ve held off on writing about it since the pictures aren’t very good (I’m shy to take pictures in restaurants) but it really is amazing.

Above are the marlin cerviche and the ribs.  These were my two favourites - the marlin tastes summery and awesome and the ribs are wonderfully molassesy and somehow easy to eat.  Seriously so good.

We also had a dish with lamb in grape leaves, that probably has a fancier name but I can’t remember it, and garlic shrimp that were awesome.  And, we had lamb and prosciutto dumplings that were surprisingly unphotogenic, so they aren’t pictured.

Foxley doesn’t take reservations, but they do something that, in my mind, is brilliant.  Basically, they send you to a nearby bar and call you when there’s a table.  This is nice because sometimes it is impossible to sit at the bar watching everyone eat when you are hungry, and then you (uhhh, me…) just glare at the eaters, making it hard for them (uhhh, you…) to order dessert, even though their black sesame creme brulé is amazing.

I am totally inspired by food on the internet. I am always visiting tastespotting, and moving from there. Generally, I figure it’s a pretty safe way to get recipes, because people wouldn’t bother to put up an awful recipe, and they would usually be pretty honest if it was somehow difficult. Anyway, awhile ago A Southern Grace put up these delicious looking tomatoes, and I have been dreaming of them ever since. Having now made them, I’m not sure why I thought about it for so long. They are ridiculously easy, and they really made me feel like my avocado and tomato sandwich was somehow special.

Basically, all you do is halve a bunch of grape tomatoes, add salt and pepper and bake them at 225 for an hour and a half or so. They’re tangy and chewy and generally excellent.

Another reason why this low-key sandwich is of note is the olive oil. In the picture, you can see a water bottle, and it is a pretty amazing olive oil from St. Lawrence Market. If you are interested in fancy oils, I totally recommend this one. It is pretty inexpensive and very delicious. Plus, you take it from a giant keg in the basement of the market which is kind of an adventure.

Last week was passover, and I celebrated many times though I am definitely not Jewish.  Zack had a Seder, which was wonderful but I was too busy eating many courses and drinking four glasses of wine to take pictures, and Jason and Angus had a very exciting matzo pizza party.  This party was exciting for many reasons.  First, Jason and Angus are awesome.  Second, they have a beautiful kitchen.  Third, everyone brought exciting pizza toppings, which is a wonderful way to live.  I love food options!

So we all got together to make lovely matzo pizzas.  Some of the options included sundried and regular tomatoes, smoked and unsmoked cheeses, many varieties of mushrooms, garlic, peppers, onions, and, the most intriguing was a “5 counties cheddar” which was five different cheddar cheese layered into one cheese.  This fancy cheese was so intriguing that it was totally eaten before the pizza making began.  Given the insane amount of options, we all made very delicious and different pizzas.  And, since matzo isn’t exactly the most filling, we all got to have many many pizzas.

Basically, this was tonnes of fun, and I really dream of more pizza parties, especially featuring matzo.  Another amazing time happened when I went back to pick up my forgotten camera, and Jason and Angus loaded me up with caramel-covered matzo.  BEST!  Sadly, we ate it all before taking a picture, but Ashley and I have big plans to make more.

My father got me a slow cooker for Christmas. As I’ve said, it was a huge surprise because slow cooking is just not something I have ever seen anyone in my family do. Plus, I rarely cook meat, and the cooker’s signature roast was definitely not on my radar. So, I’ve stuck to veggie stews and beans. But, Zack has really been pushing a pot roast for the past four months, and so I decided to bring one to his Passover dinner. Conclusion: pot roasts are AMAZING.

Pros:

• easy (I cup of beef broth, 2 diced onions, 1 chopped carrot, 5 diced celery stalks - brown the beef in a pan with salt and pepper and then cook on low for 8-10 hours)
• very very melt-in-your-mouthy and delicious
• hearty
• impressive (people were strangely impressed given that i literally did nothing)
• inexpensive (even if you use serious organic meat, you can use the worst cut and turn it into delicious)

Cons:

• ugly (hence, no picture)

Yes, clearly there are times when it is better for dinner to taste amazing with little time and money than to have a beautiful picture. Which I do not have, because pot roasts are ugly. Plus, slow cookers are apparently so hot right now. Who knew?

Apparently all I want to do to celebrate spring is eat seafood. This isn’t because it’s particularly fresh, or cooked in a summery way, but it’s all I seem to want lately. Anyway, I recently made this variation on everything I’ve been eating lately - but instead of on noodles or in soup, it was a rice dish.  It was easy and delicious, and I added avocado, which is my go-to method for making everything so much better.

• 2 bags frozen shrimp
• 3 pounds mussels
• 2 cups red rice
• 1 28 ounce can of tomatoes
• 2 cups soup stock
• garlic
• onion
• olive oil
• white vinegar
• avocado

Separate the tomatoes from the tomato juice, and steam the mussels in the canned tomato juice, adding water if you need it.  When the mussels are cooked, set them aside, and cook the rice in two cups of the the tomato/mussel liquid and two cups of soup stock.  I used red rice, and it had to cook for about 45 minutes.  While the rice is cooking, diced the onion and chop the garlic, and then fry the shrimp with oil, and the garlic and onion.  Separate the mussels from the mussel shells, and add them in with the shrimp at the last minute, along with the tomatoes.  Last, add the rice, along with some vinegar, and mix well.  Toss in the avocado after serving.  I found that hot sauce really helped this dish, but it was pretty good.

For Christmas this past year, my father got me many beautiful cookbooks. The most interesting, I think is Diane Forley’s Anatomy of a Dish, which focuses on complete dishes and understanding the foundations of dishes. It’s actually really complicated, and I have to admit I haven’t read it all yet (and, yes, it’s one of those cookbooks you really should read, with charts for different plant families and whatnot). Even without many pictures, the book is gorgeous, and I do love food pictures.

Anyway, last night I made the quinoa-crusted chicken, which is basically a protein explosion, but also surprisingly good given the simple recipe. The cookbook comes with accompaniments, so I also tried the Spinach and Herb Sauce that was recommended.

• 2 cups quinoa
• 2 large scallions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• zest of 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• olive oil

Combine the quinoa, scallions, ginger, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Spread the flour on a separate plate. Beat the eggs and put them on another plate. Dip the chicken breasts in the flour first, then the egg, then the quinoa breading, making sure everything sticks. Heat the oil and add the chicken, cooking on the first side until they’re browned, which takes maybe 7 minutes, then flip, and cook the other side, I guess another 7 minutes.

After dinner, my stomach was a bit sorry, but it might have been the Dairy Queen blizzard I had for dessert, but it also could have been that the quinoa (maybe?) expands in your stomach? I don’t know.

The Spinach and Herb Sauce was easy and Neil and Zack kept saying it was delicious but I think they were maybe just being nice. It was good, but not the most amazing. I am always hesitant to not add garlic… but I followed the recipe this time.  I realize that I’m not really talking up this sauce.  It’s good!

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 pound spinach
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons 1-inch chive lengths
• 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves

Melt the butter over medium heat in a large saucepan.  Add the spinach and add salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally (I recommend tongs here), until the spinach is wilted, which takes maybe 5 minutes.  Add the chives, parsley, and the recipe at this point also calls for 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon which I did not have.  Add half a cup of water and bring to a simmer.  I just left this at low heat until I had prepped everything for the chicken, which was a good system.  Then I got Zack to actually handle the raw chicken, because I hate it, and I took over the sauce, puréeing it in a food processor.  Then I added more salt, and served it warm.  It was really nice directly on the chicken.

IMPORTANT QUESTION!  Why is the garlic on the asparagus a beautiful turquoise colour?  This is not the colour of garlic!  I fried the asparagus in a bit of olive oil with garlic and lemon juice.  What’s going on?  This is not a rhetorical question!

This weekend we had a delicious potluck brunch but I was overwhelmed with food choices and so I forgot to take many pictures. I tried to recreate Saving Grace’s amazing espressado, but now that I know what’s in it, it is definitely only coming out on the specialist of occasions. Seriously, it is amazing.

• 2 avocados
• 300 ml sweetened condensed milk (yes, this is a lot)
• 5 shots of espresso
• 5 teaspoons vanilla
• ice

This recipe makes seven drinks, so I guess it isn’t so bad. Just combine everything in a blender (I went bit by bit in the bullet, which, contrary to popular (my) belief, doesn’t actually serve you a burrito or milkshake or whatever you ask for) and blend, adding things until it tastes delicious.

Also featured at brunch was another clafouti, these blue cheese brie and fig puffs, mac and cheese, so much beautiful fruit, bacon (obvs!) and a watermelon salad.

The watermelon salad is so refreshing, just cubed watermelon, cucumber, feta, and basil. I predict many watermelon salads this summer. It was a slightly more savoury version of Lindsay’s watermelon salad.

And!  Thea did the most amazing bacon cooking trick which is cooking it in the microwave.  I am a total convert: all you do is put the bacon in the microwave for two and a half minutes, covered by paper towel, drain the fat, do it again, and so on until it’s the consistency you like.  This is wonderful because the bacon cooks flat, which is perfect for sandwiches etc.  Impressed!