Paranoid much?

Discovering you have a food allergy changes your life. Eating was once a carefree activity, restaurants were magical places, dinner parties, a joy. But alas, no more. I'm perpetually afraid that lurking around every corner is some hidden wheat or dairy waiting to ruin my day and my insides. For example, were you aware that both Twizzlers and Mentos have wheat in them? Bologna has dairy in it? Mind you, in those instances it's likely the universe is telling me I can do better, food-wise. So yes, I am paranoid. I won't eat anything if I can't clearly see all the ingredients. I shy away from sauces, dressings, and pre-made seasonings. I've adapted.

As the weather has approached arctic, I have been increasingly in the mood for any food that's finished with bread crumbs. Comfort food. Nostalgic nibbles from my childhood. I was recently craving my mom's meatloaf, moist inside, crunchy bread-crumby outside, flavoured with multiple meats (and their accompanying fat) and fried onions. When I called her for the recipe, I found that it called for seasoning salt, something I never use in my cooking and never have in the house because it typically has MSG in it (another pesky allergen). What I did have in the house were all the ingredients to concoct a suitable replacement. For me, the only difference between this and store-bought seasoning salt is the lack of MSG-induced migraine! Yay!

1 part celery seed
1 part paprika
1 part onion powder
1 part garlic powder
6 parts sea salt
pinch of oregano

Mix.
Store in an air-tight container.

Season your meats with this, but remember, it's still mostly salt, so don't over-do it. I advise using an air-tight shaker to store this, so you don't accidentally pour the whole shebang out and ruin your meatloaf. What a crime that would be.

Nostalgic nibbles

It may be that I'm feeling a bit sad that summer vacation is nearly over, and my place of work will no longer be inhabited by screaming, spoiled wee brats. It may be the office supply store's back to school commercials running on an endless loop reminding us of pencil sales. It may be the return of the CNE. Whatever the underlying motivation, I find myself drawn lately to the snacks of yesteryear. The kind lovingly made by a parent, the kind that, though healthy, are hidden under a fog of fun. For me, nothing says childhood like peanut butter, a luxury by today's rigid standards for allergy free environments. When was the last time you had apple slices and celery sticks and peanut butter dip? You were probably building a LEGO housing development at the time.

How about freezies?

Hot dogs?

Kool-aid?

I've spent the summer reacquanting myself with the foods that we all tend to "grow out of." Truth be told, I've had a lot of time on my hands.

One other elementary school snack I've been craving is veggies and ranch dressing. With my endless list of food sensitivities, dairy and MSG being among those, store bought salad dressing is pretty much out of the question. But oh how I missed the subtle distinct flavour of ranch! Luckily, like anyone reading this, I have internet access. I found a great Ranch recipe that uses yogurt instead of the usual sour cream or buttermilk, and I made it my own.

1/3 cup mayo
2/3 cup yogurt
1 teaspoon dried dill
2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
salt to taste

Whisk everything together. That's it.
Pairs well with carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, and cartoons.

Yes, more meat recipes!

As I've said previously, it has become my mission for the summer to up the ante on my meat cooking abilities. I also have a passion for sandwiches. Sadly, with my wheat allergy, I'm very limited when it comes to eating at restaurants. One sandwich in particular has been tempting me from pub menus for a while...pulled pork.

With the meat roasting practice I already have under my belt, and my penchant for sandwiches, this was clearly my next challenge. In the tradition of mother's day, though ill-fated for myself, I decided to treat dear old dad to a home cooked meal as well. He requested simply "pork". Hmmm, things were becoming clearer. I ventured to one of the pricier grocery stores near me to get, if anything, some ideas. Wouldn't you know it? Pork shoulder roasts were on sale! 30% off! Serendipitous, no?

The recipe is a collaboration of a few I found online. The spice rub is from my favourite TV chef. He serves the sandwiches on buns topped with homemade coleslaw, which I opted to as well. Gotta get some veg in there once in a while.


Spice rub:

4 heaping tbsp brown sugar
4 heaping tbsp paprika (I used smoked paprika, YUM)
2 heaping tbsp garlic powder
2 heaping tbsp onion powder
2 heaping tbsp ground pepper
2 heaping tbsp fine salt
2 heaping tbsp ground cumin
2 heaping tbsp ground coriander
2 heaping tbsp dried oregano


"Mop":

1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons spice rub

1 pork shoulder roast (mine was about 3.5 lbs)

Put all the ingredients for the spice rub into a Mason jar and shake until well-combined. Coat the roast with the rub. It's called a rub for a reason, people. Don't be shy. Be liberal with the spice, and really massage it into all the little nooks and crannies of the meat. TV chef recommends leaving the roast overnight to let the flavours penetrate, but I didn't, and it turned out pretty amazing. Preheat oven to 325. From here I seared all sides in an olive-oiled pan. Top, bottom, sides, ends. Lock in that spicy goodness. Here's where a meat thermometer comes in handy (and helps you avoid food poisoning loved ones!). This is a big hunk of pig, and will need to cook in a covered roaster at that low temperature for about 3 1/2 to 4 hours, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 165, "mopping" every half an hour with the vinegar mixture.

Now comes the really fun part. The pulling. Although I'm also partial to the rubbing. No matter. Pork is pulled by shredding it apart with two forks. Tear it up small. Mix the shredded pork with some of your favourite barbecue sauce and pile onto a bun, top with coleslaw. Dig in.

This keeps really well. I put the left over whole pork roast in the fridge, and would break off chunks, reheat them, and shred them. I happily ate pulled pork sandwiches for a week. And, more importantly, Dad was happy too.

A Cautionary Tale...

Once upon a time, a well-intentioned young lady decided to host a 3-generation Mother's Day luncheon. She invited her mother, godmother and grandmother. She got to work on a delicious and crowd-pleasing menu: chicken souvlaki, sweet potato salad, mango and avocado salad, homemade cornbread and pea soup. Always a well-prepared cook, she got to work on her menu early, preparing ahead of time. A few days before the event, she got to work on her pea soup. She decided, as usual, to wing this recipe, starting with a yummy broth made from smoked pork hock and the decision to use frozen peas instead of dried, a decision, she later found out, that would have eliminated the need to puree the soup had she chosen dried peas.

The soup was seasoned and simmered, and it was time to spoon the hot mixture into her blender, something she had done many times before. There was the roasted cauliflower soup, and the goat cheese and broccoli soup, both of which had turned out smooth and delicious. But alas, that was a different time and a different blender. The pretty, nay, stunning chef had just received a new blender the previous Christmas, and hadn't as yet run it through the gamut of its responsibilities. In fact, the only action it may have seen was a batch of blended margaritas.

Logic would dictate that "whip" would be on a high speed, while "blend" would be a lower speed. Sadly this was not the case. You can see where this story is going, no? Piping hot soup...mistaken blender speeds...

Needless to say, once the button marked "blend" was pressed, all efforts to keep the lid on the jar were found to be in vain. Boiling hot soup gushed out of the blender, onto the floor, the counter, the front of her clothes and worst of all, her uncovered arms, leaving severe burns and causing severe pain.

What can we learn from this tale?

1 - When making something for the first time, you don't necessarily have to follow a recipe, but take a gander at one.
2 - Make absolutely sure you know how to use your kitchen appliances before you load them with napalm.
3 - Keep a fully stocked first aid kit handy. You never know when making dinner will anecdotally be referred to as "the incident with the [insert kitchen appliance here]"

Writer's note: I have graciously opted not to post pictures of my injuries. My intention with this blog is to whet your appetites, not cause you to lose them.

Another mountain climbed! Vegans need not apply.

I have made it my mission for the summer to become a meat cooking expert. While I've always been adept at making side dishes, meat, especially larger cuts like roasts, have always intimidated and intrigued me. They're notoriously easy for novices to ruin, and yet there's this caveman appeal, this prehistoric urge for humans to cook meat over fire. Reason #32 why I don't understand vegans. They see a drawing of a cave-family in their fur skirts cooking a side of gazelle over a fire and they see a massacre. I see a family dinner.

It's not really fair to make fun of vegans. They don't have the strength to fight back.

Last week, I'm proud to say I cooked a whole chicken for the first time, and what a success that was. It's not that hard to make something taste good when you have butter and garlic at your disposal. To prepare my chicken, I trimmed away the excess fat, ripped the guts out, and gently began pulling the skin away from the flesh. I really got my hands in there, all along both sides of the body of my bird, creating a tasty pocket to hold butter, which I melted and added a few cloves of garlic, some lemon zest, and some dry tarragon. Baked for an hour at 350 in a covered roasting pan, then took off the lid and stuck it under the broiler to crisp up the skin. AND there were enough drippings to make gravy! Which I ate on toast.

OK, chicken down. Easy. So I decided to seek out a notoriously difficult to cook cut of meat.

Brisket.

If cooked wrong, fatty, tough and stringy. If cooked slowly, melt in your mouth beef candy. Never having cooked brisket before, I did the sensible thing and Googled a recipe. Now because brisket has so much fat and connective tissue in it, it needs to be cooked slowly for the fat to melt into the meat, which softens it. I've had it slow cooked on the grill, which was to die for. Unfortunately, it takes about 6 hours to cook on low indirect heat. I opted for the braising method which takes a mere 2 hours. Until recently, I had no idea what braising was. It's a method of oven cooking where the cut of meat is immersed partially in liquid and tightly covered to preserve the meat's tenderness. The recipes I encountered in the google-sphere ranged from boring (just broth) to the insane (ketchup, onion soup mix and cola). I opted to wing mine.

For a 2 pound brisket:
1 cup broth (I had vegetable broth)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp salt (I'm fancy, so I used smoked sea salt)
1 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp dry rosemary
1/2 tsp cumin
maple syrup
(I didn't measure, but my estimate would be 1 1/2-2 oz, yes I measure in shots)
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp paprika
3 cloves of garlic, crushed

I'm guessing on most of those measurements. I rarely measure, I add stuff, I taste, etc. I added everything to a small sauce pan and simmered until the concoction reduced to about 3/4 of the original volume.

Brisket has a thick layer of fat on one side, so to prep, I cut into the fat diagonally in both directions, which will help the fat render into the meat. I rubbed the meat with a mixture of sea salt, brown sugar, pepper and dry rosemary, which I ground with my mortar and pestle. Really crust that mixture on both sides of the roast. I also opted to sear the meat before I put it in the oven, in a large frying pan on high heat. Just under a minute on each side, until the fatty side gets a bit crispy looking. Then pop that sucker in a roasting pan, fatty side up, pour in the braising liquid, which should come up about halfway on the side of the roast, cover and stick it in a 275 degree oven for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, I removed my roast from the oven, poured the braising liquid back into a saucepan over medium heat to reduce it some more. And I put the roast back in the oven under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp up that fat. Oh and I coated it with more maple syrup. Serve with the reduced braising liquid for dipping.

Warning! Even slow cooking won't render away all the fat. Do not operate any heavy machinery after a brisket. This is a very heavy meal, and as a result I will be eating salads for the next few days.

My favourite gadget and some musings about bacon

Hello everyone!

Real life has caused me to take a brief hiatus, but I am back to preach the yummy gospel. To your right you'll see a photo of what's called a RASP. This baby is not only useful at grating citrus zest, but hard cheeses, nutmeg, ginger, and garlic. Think of a cheese grater crossed with a 5-blade lady razor.

That's not all this gadget is good for. I hate wasting food, as I'm sure most people do. As a single chick who does most of her cooking for one, it's a common issue, especially with seasonings like ginger, jalapenos, and lemongrass that I use in my Asian cooking. I learned a little trick from one of my favourite TV chefs who freezes ingredients like these and grates them frozen into his cooking. This not only prevents wastage, but allows you better control over your seasonings. What would you normally do with a half a jalapeno? Probably chuck it, or awkwardly try to work it into recipes it doesn't belong in (about to expire jalapeno oatmeal anyone?).

Genius, I know. It would really be genius if they were paying me to hock their product.

Another trick I've learned over the years is to freeze bacon on cookie sheets lined with waxed paper. Want a couple of slices for a club sandwich? Throw them frozen into a pan. They cook up just like if they were thawed. Bacon bits you ask? Frozen bacon is infinitely easier to slice prior to cooking.

Prevent against the crimes against bacon. Don't let it spoil.

Sweet potato bonanza!

Words cannot express how much I love sweet potatoes. They're so versatile and yummy and when you slap on as much butter as I do you totally forget how healthy they are.

They come in all shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, the last time I went shopping for sweet potatoes, they only had ones the size of footballs. Maybe not NFL footballs, but certainly peewee footballs. Seriously, these things were almost 2 pounds each. Now, I'm single and do 90% of my cooking for just me, and have no desire to sit down and eat 2 entire pounds of sweet potatoes. Then I would have no room for bacon. So I had to get creative with my left overs.

Step 1: Cook
Peel and cube your gigantic sweet potato. Put it in a pot, cover with water. Bring to a boil uncovered and then turn down to medium low and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until fork-tender.

I love that expression. Fork-tender. Sexy.

Drain.

From this point, sweet potatoes can be cooled and added to salads, or kept warm and mashed with lots of butter and garlic.

Step 2: Flavour!

Garlic-mashed Sweet Potatoes

Dump sweet potatoes in a colander in the sink. Leave them there to drain. Put the pot back on the stove and add butter and crushed garlic. Melt the butter and let the garlic unleash some of its fragrant goodness. Turn off the heat. Throw the sweet potato tots back into the pan with the butter, toss 'em around and then mash everything together. Salt and pepper.

Good with steak. Also, good garnished with finely chopped red onion, fresh parsely and crumbled feta cheese.


White bean and sweet potato salad

1/2 red pepper, diced
1 can white kidney beans
1 1/2 cups cooked diced sweet potato (or roughly the same measurement as the beans)
1 apple, diced
1 small red onion, finely chopped

Dressing:
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
3 tablespoons mayo
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 large pinch dried tarragon
zest of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper

Mix all that stuff together. It's not rocket science.

Salads like this are best after refridgerating for a while so that all those flavours in the dressing work their way into the beans and potatoes.

Step 3: Leftovers!

Breakfast, lunch or dinner. So good.

Sweet potato pancakes

1/2 cup leftover garlic mashed sweet potatoes
1 egg
2/3 cup milk (or soy milk)
1 tablespoon olive oil

Whisk together in a large bowl. Who likes dirtying two bowls? No one. So put a sieve over the bowl full of wet ingredients and add:

1/2 cup spelt flour (if using regular flour, use a bit less than 1/2 cup)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Stir dry ingredients around a bit in the sieve and then shake into the wet ingredients. Whisk together. Thick batter (like the consistency of yogurt) will make thick pancakes. Thin it out if you like them thinner, like crepes. They also cook faster if they're thinner. In a lightly buttered pan over medium heat, spoon batter in and cook until bubbles appear around the edges of the pancake (3 or 4 minutes) then flip.

If made like crepes they can be filled with...cheese? goat cheese? cream cheese? Whatever, like you can ever go wrong with cheese. If made like pancakes, just crumble cheese on top.

I made them like crepes for breakfast and filled them with sheep's milk feta, spinach, and sauteed red onion.

Run out of hamburger buns?

Use waffles.

An Homage to...

PEACH SCHNAPPS.

No, you didn't misread that.

Peach schnapps has been given a bad name. Perhaps you drank too much of it when you were 14? Perhaps you think of it as a perennial girly drink ingredient? While we've all been guilty of drinking it out of the bottle on a warm summer's day (just me?), peach schnapps is more suitable as a guest star in cocktails. Like its syrupy, intensely flavoured liqueur cousins (lychee and melon, I'm looking at you), all you need is a splash.


Liquid Peach Cobbler
One of many cocktails that taste like food...

1 1/2 oz. dark rum
1/2 oz. peach schnapps
pink lemonade
ginger beer
cinnamon

In a highball, add liquor over ice, fill almost to the top with pink lemonade and finish with a splash of ginger beer. Sprinkle cinnamon on top.


The Brunch Bomb
pairs wonderfully with bacon and eggs

1 1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. peach schnapps
grapefruit juice
grenadine

In a highball, add liquor over ice, fill almost to the top with grapefruit juice, and slowly pour grenadine down the inside of the glass for that "sunrise" effect.


The "Ms. Montana"
all the flavours of the southern states in a glass

1 1/2 oz. Jack Daniels
1/2 oz. peach schnapps
pink lemonade
apple cider

In a highball, add liquor over ice, top up with half lemonade and half cider.

Love you, Pumpkin!

Our recent autumn-esque February weather left me feeling nostalgic for the flavours of Thanksgiving. I prepared a yummy turkey dish and pumpkin chocolate chip squares. I will probably post the turkey recipe at some point, but dessert should come first, no?

These squares are rich and moist, similar in texture to a really fudgy brownie. I use spelt flour in my baking, which is very similar to wheat flour, but doesn't absorb water the same way. I've found I can usually substitute spelt into recipes by simply adding more flour than the recipe calls for. Spelt does contain gluten, but many people with wheat sensitivities, including myself, can eat it consequence free. I find it has a slightly nuttier flavour than wheat flour, and has the added bonus of not giving me wrenching stomach cramps!

I must give my parents credit for this recipe, it was arrived at completely by accident. The original recipe only called for a cup of pumpkin. Recipes including canned goods should always require an entire can! Yes, the thriftier of us out there will likely freeze what remains, or just dump the entire can into the bowl and hope for the best. You'll find it was a successful experiment!



1 cup unsalted butter room temp
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
2 cups spelt flour
1tsp each: cinnamon, baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. each: ground nutmeg, ground cloves , ground ginger
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup pure pumpkin
300 gram bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (I "accidentally" put a bag and a half in)



Preheat oven to 350.



In one large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add the egg, vanilla and pumpkin. In another bowl, mix dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves and ginger). Add dry ingredient mixture to the pumpkin mixture until combined, then add chocolate chips. Spread evenly in a 9x13" pan and bake for 35-40 minutes. They are meant to be quite moist so don't be alarmed if a toothpick doesn't come out clean.



Cool completely before cutting. Patience is needed here...perhaps I should add it to the ingredients. They smell good, I know, but if you cut them before the chocolate sets they don't look as nice because the melted chocolate gets smeared all over them. If you're not picky about aesthetics then cut away. Try not to burn your tongue.

The first Saucy Dish...

I figure I should start off my journey into the blogosphere with something simple, my most basic of recipes. The recipe I give to the people I meet who love food but are completely helpless in the kitchen. Sigh. Always disappointing to meet one of those. For me, food is such an integral part of life; not only are you never alone during the greatest moments of your life, but chances are, someone at least brought some dip. If you love food, I think learning how to make it yourself, and taking the time to do so is more of a means of survival than a luxury.

I must digress...

Here it is, the easiest yet most impressive pasta sauce recipe:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large pinch dried basil
1 can baby clams
1 can diced tomatoes

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add oil and basil. Swirl around for a few seconds until you start to really smell the basil. Add can of baby clams and garlic. Simmer for a few minutes until the liquid from the clams reduces about halfway. Add the tomatoes. Turn down to medium-low and simmer until it reaches the desired consistency (about 10-20 minutes). Serve with pasta such as rotini (I use rice pasta).

So easy. So good. Please don't burn it and blame me.