Gluten Rocks

I'm completely obsessed with baking bread.

There has always been something extraordinarily satisfying about pulling a freshly baked loaf of bread out of the oven. I love the warm, golden smell that envelops that whole house as it cooks, inviting friends and family close. I am comfortable in the kitchen. I have no qualms about deviating from a recipe based on what's fresh and the mood that I'm in. When it comes to baking, I don't have the same liberty to tweak and change recipes due to the fine balance and chemistry between the ingredients. I have dabbled in baking bread in the past, albeit not very successfully. I had never felt the ease and comfort that comes from finding a flawless recipe. Most of the breads I have baked required a lot of ingredients to boost the height of the rise like vital wheat gluten, potato starch and vinegar, along with fifteen to twenty minutes of vigorous kneading. No wonder housewives were able to stay so fit back in the day. I tried using my Kitchen-Aid mixer to knead it and save me some breath, but after four minutes the machine started to smoke. Regardless of the method, the final product always lacked a wow factor. Honestly, they all lacked the flavour factor too. The crusts weren't chewy enough, the insides not soft and fluffy. It just wasn't working out for me and mediocrity is not something I tolerate well.

Enter: Jim Layhe from Brooklyn's Sullivan St. Bakery and his revolutionary, no-knead, no work, let-time-do-the-work-for-you, produce-a-perfect-loaf-every-time method. Really friends, this is the truth: Four magical ingredients- flour, water, salt and yeast, combined with a long rising period of twelve to eighteen hours, a killer-hot oven and a little patience will result in the most delicious and aesthetically pleasing loaf of bread that will guarantee gold stars from any one lucky enough to taste your creation.

I have become a loyal and satisfied follower of Jim Lahey's brilliant No-Knead Bread recipe and technique. It is so simple, and virtually foolproof. The only specialty equipment you will need is a heavy 4 or 5 quart ceramic pot (I use a ceramic Bread Dome, and these can be found at cookware stores. It is safe to use in the oven up to 500˚, which is essential to the cooking of this type of bread. Le Crueset is great and hip, however I have heard that the handles only withstand temperatures of 375˚. You could potentially unscrew the handle, but you would have to be extra careful when removing the scorching hot lid. You can use any heavy-duty ceramic Dutch oven or baker; keep your eyes peeled at thrift stores for these gems, as they can often be found for cheap. Look down on the low shelves!). The effort is less than five minutes and instead of working up a sweat kneading the bread, you let time do the work for you.

 Here's what you do:

 In a medium sized bowl, combine 3 cups of all-purpose, unbleached flour, 1/4-teaspoon instant yeast, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water.

Mix until combined well and you will have shaggy, wet dough.

 Cover tightly with saran wrap and leave for twelve to eighteen hours. The longer you let it sit, the more it tastes like sourdough. Pick your preference as you see fit. When the dough is ready, it will be bubbly and look very wet.

Flour your surface well and gently peel out the dough onto the counter, being mindful not to rip the strands of gluten that have been gently developing in the dough. Let the dough sit for ten minutes. Then, gently fold in the sides towards the middle, and tuck the top and bottom of the dough towards each other to make it round ball. Take a cotton tea towel (not terry!) and cover generously with flour. Delicately place the dough, seam side down, on the towel, fold over the sides of the towel and let rise for one or two hours in a warm, draft-free spot. It should double in size.

Thirty minutes before your dough is done rising, heat your oven and your cooking pot to 450˚. Leave the pot in the oven for at least thirty minutes so it is scorching hot. This and a good lid are essential to producing a crunchy, perfect crust.

Once your pot is hot, carefully take it out of the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel and quickly place the dough, seam side up into the pot. It will look like a dreadful mess, but put it in the oven with the lid on for 30 minutes and do not open the oven! Then take the lid off and cook for another twenty minutes.

Using potholders or a heatproof spatula, remove the beautiful loaf and let it cool thoroughly on a bread board. It needs time to settle the moisture throughout the bread properly before it is cut into. Listen carefully, the loaf sounds like it's crackling when it comes out of the oven!

 It looks like it's involved, but take it from someone who would really rather nap all day - it's the easiest and most rewarding bread recipe you will find. It never stops impressing me, time and time again.

Try it, you'll see. Try it, Love it, Learn it, Share it.

Hey You! Go Roast an Egg Plant!

I've been really, really enjoying eggplant dip lately. I wouldn't call myself an eggplant lover, or even a fan, but I could eat a bowl of this perfect, smooth and creamy dip with a whole baguette...to myself.

I had this dip for the first time in the back yard of my friend Tom's house. His Dad's Romanian friend whipped this up one summer afternoon and equated it to his country's interpretation of guacamole. It's simple, dead easy to make, impressive at parties and impressive to yourself.

All you do is preheat the oven to 350 degrees, cut a large eggplant in half, drizzle it with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast until it's soft, about twenty minutes.

Let it sit for ten minutes before scooping out the soft flesh and putting it into a blender. Add 1/3 cup olive oil, two cloves of garlic, juice of one lime or lemon, and salt and pepper. Whiz up until smooth.

This dip is delicious with crusty bread, baguette, sourdough, chips, you name it. Make it fancy with a garnish of parsley and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and stud it with a couple of olives. Grill a piece of fish and make a simple tomato and red onion salad with oil and red wine vinegar dressing - serve the perfect dip on the side.

Let me know how you like it. Just please, make it. You'll be enchanted.

The Capricious Carnivore

I've been such an erratic meat eater lately. I go weeks and weeks without any meat at all and then all of a sudden I become this animal whose appetite is only satiated by copious amounts of flesh: meat sandwiches, chili con carne, roast chickens, sausages...and then BAM! it's kale salad with grated beets and carrots for the next week straight. Maybe it's the changing of the seasons, or perhaps it is all the anti-meat, pro-world literature I've been perusing (ie: Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer). I feel like I am putting off an inevitable vegetarian diet, so I might as well get my animal protein in before I'm totally wrapped up in my head and unable to bite into juicy burgers anymore.

So today, I offer you a dichotomy of my culinary adventures as of late: my meatiest, meat meals and my clean, kale-heavy delights that have been balancing me out.

In the Sandwich Realm: I really like steak sandwiches. I have a nostalgic memory of eating hot beef dips in the Nakiska ski lodge with my Dad when I was a kid. I've since come to realize that those sandwiches are not as good as my memory remembers them to be, and that I am more than capable of recreating this delicious, old-time favourite:

Marinate thinly sliced (I like Rouladen cut) beef in the juice of one lime, salt, pepper, two cloves of garlic, minced, and a drizzle of olive oil for about fifteen minutes.

While the steak is absorbing all those lovely flavours, fry thinly sliced red onion in a little butter and a little olive oil until golden and aromatic. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Rinse and massage (rub it between your fingers to make it tender) three large leaves of green kale. Heat up a pan with a bit of oil and add a clove of minced garlic and fry until soft. Add the kale, a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Cook for a couple minutes until wilted and bright green. Finish with some cracked pepper.

Fry the beef in a hot pan until cooked through - should only take a couple of minutes.

Slather some toasted slices of good-quality bread with mayo and horseradish (if you so please), some fat slices of tomato, the meat, followed by the golden onions, and topped with the sauteed kale.

How could anyone be vegetarian with sandwiches like this in the world?

On a side note...If this steak sandwich hasn't satiated your meat craving, I'll let you in on my little chili secret: Saute one large onion, chopped, with three cloves of garlic in a little bit of oil in a large stock pot. Add one pound of lean ground beef and brown. Season with salt, pepper, a heaping teaspoon of garlic powder and a tablespoon (or more to taste) of chili powder. Add one can of each red kidney beans, black beans and/or navy beans, all rinsed and drained. Keep it on medium high heat until it bubbles and turn it down to medium low. Simmer for about half an hour and dig in! This is delicious as is, on brown rice, or in a bun, Sloppy Joe style!

For the Vegetables:

I've been really into broth lately. After I've meated myself out, I find myself reaching for dark, leafy greens like kale and chard and wanting to sip hot cups of clean broth. I like making veggie stock because it takes next to no time, it's rich and rewarding, and it is the starting point for countless other dishes.

The basics of vegetable stock are simple: start with your aromatics - onion, celery and carrots. I used to be quite quick and rustic (aka leaving peels and skin on) with the preparation of my veggies for stock before getting schooled by my culinary wizard of a sister, Camilla: "Just because it is stock doesn't mean you can use scraps". So now, depending on the state of the onions, I usually leave some of the skin on for a bit of added colour, but only if it is in good shape. I peel the carrots and chop them into large pieces, quarter the onion and chop down the celery into similar size. I like to smash a couple cloves of garlic, skin on, with the side of my knife, too. Place all the ingredients in a large stock pot and fill with freshly drawn cold water, about three quarters full. I throw in a handful of black peppercorns, season with a bit of salt and a couple of bay leaves. All that's left to do is bring it to a boil, reduce and simmer for about half an hour, until it has developed a rich golden colour. Sometimes I finish it with a splash of soy sauce, salt does the trick too. Adjust the seasoning to taste and voila, perfect vegetable broth, ready to use for soups, sauces, risottos...

Now that I've shared the basics of this vegetable broth, I give you liberty to flavour it with whatever so pleases you. I've added a raw beet to the stock before and it gave it a beautiful red colour. The beet has quite a strong flavour when raw, so don't leave it in for longer than fifteen or twenty minutes. If you are doing an Asian-themed dish with the broth, you can add a chunk of ginger, some smashed lemongrass, a piece of star anise, or some green onions. The opportunities are endless. Experiment, find you favourites, and share them with me!

I've been eating boat loads of kale salad on my meat-free days. Red kale has been my preference as of late, but I am also partial to green and black. Kale's kale, after all. And I am definitely a kale-lover. I only just started eating kale this year. I'm sure I've eaten it before, but it's been within the last nine months that I am become one of those fanatical advocates for that beautiful, dark, leafy vegetable.

My favourite salad these days starts with a big bunch of kale, rinsed well, massaged and torn up into a big salad bowl. Next comes chopped cucumber, thinly sliced green onions,a couple grated carrots and a grated beet, a handful of minced cilantro and/or parsley, some minced shallots , if I am in the mood, and a big sprinkling of sunflower seeds.

Really though, in all honesty, I'm just in it for the dressing...

In a small mason jar, combine a spoonful of each miso (I like the Shiro kind) and tahini, a good splash of apple cider vinegar, a glug of olive oil, a clove of garlic, minced, a splash of soy sauce, a bit of grated ginger and a tablespoon of nutritional yeast. Shake it all up until smooth and creamy, season with salt and pepper if it needs it and adjust the seasonings to your taste. I love this sauce with pretty much anything - it is great on rice bowls with sauteed veggies and tofu, makes a lovely sauce for soba noodles with grilled portabello mushrooms, delicious sipped from the jar...

Pour this lovely sauce over your salad and dig in!

So there you have it, from this capricious carnivore to you, some contrasting recipes to please the meat and potatoes eater in your life all the way over to that vegan-eating friend of yours. Try it, Love it, Learn it and Share it.

xox

Wild Rice, Yam and Beet Soup (an excellent experiment)

I made this soup a few nights ago and was surprisingly delighted at how it turned out. It was one of those I-am-so-hungry-and-my-fridge-selection-is-limited kind of nights, so I acted on impulse and created this delicious soup.
You will need...

Olive oil
1/2 red, 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 medium sized yam, peeled and chopped into small cubes
1 beet, peeled and cubed
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 chilies, minced
1 cup wild rice
8 cups chicken stock (or vegetable broth)
splash of apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp nutritional yeast

I like to keep all of the veggies in this soup chopped quite small.

Sauté the onions, garlic, ginger and chilies for three minutes. Add carrots, yam and beets, then season with salt and pepper. Add wild rice and cook, stirring, for another minute. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover it part way with a lid and simmer for about 45 minutes. Finish with a splash of apple cider vinegar and a tablespoon of nutritional yeast.

From me to you, a splendid and delightful soup!

Glorious Granola

My friend Oli recently asked me for a cereal recipe and I became immediately nostalgic for this muesli I used to make with my Mom. It's loaded with lots of raw nuts and seeds which makes it satisfying and full of energy. It gets roasted at a low temperature for an hour and comes out golden, crunchy, sweet and lovely. You can get creative with this granola and try out different assortments of nuts, seeds and fruit. I love golden or thompson raisins, dried apricots, and dried cranberries (amazing!!!)This version has wheat germ in it, but if you are intolerant to gluten you can substitute oatbran or ground flax seeds instead.

3 cups rolled oat flakes
2 cups wheat germ
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, unsalted
1/2 cup each hazelnuts, cashews, almonds, pecans, roughly chopped
Scant cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup flax oil
1/3 cup maple syrup,
1 cup dried fruit
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour onto a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking sheet and bake for 1 hour at 225˚F. Gently stir it every 15 minutes. Let it cool and then stir in the dried fruit. Makes about 8 cups.

I love this in the morning with some vanilla yogurt, fresh fruit and a zest of lemon. Yummmmmm!!

Delicious Duck Salad Rolls

Salad rolls are one of my favourite things to make. They are always a hit with crowds of people, they make for a great group activity and the options for the fillings are endless! I ate my weight in salad rolls in South East Asia while I was traveling, developed a 'salad roll connoisseur' status and affirmed that most of them follow some kind of formula when it comes to their insides:

Some kind of noodle: generally rice vermicelli or cellophane noodles. Just submerge them under hot (just under boiling) water until they are soft and tender, about three minutes. If you over cook them they become gluey, so pay attention! Strain the noodles and drizzle with a bit of soy sauce and rice vinegar to keep them from sticking together.

Greens: When it comes to these fresh rolls, my motto is always the more greens the better. I like a mix of herbs; basil, cilantro and mint. I also sometimes include crispy shreds of romaine lettuce to give it some crunch appeal.

Veggies: I like julienned (cut into thin strips) cucumber, carrots and red peppers. When cutting up your vegetables, think about the size of your rolls and make your strips the same size. I like sliced up green onions too, but not in strips, just sprinkled over top before the rolling begins.

Protein: This portion of the rolls is one of the most creative components. Here you begin to develop your base flavour and add texture and body to the rolls. Shrimp are a great option (marinate them in soy sauce, ginger, garlic and chili for twenty minutes before quick frying them in a non-stick pan until pink), marinated tofu (hoisin, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, chili) fried until crispy, barbecued pork, chicken or beef (or pan fried/grilled) (marinate in lemongrass, garlic, ginger, chili, hoisin, lime juice, soy, rice vinegar and brown sugar overnight). If you really want to pull out the big guns though, go buy a barbecue duck.

I first became familiar with barbecue duck from T&T supermarket in Calgary, shopping with my eldest sister for one of her catering gigs. She was making green onion and sesame crepes, filled with barbecue duck and hoisin sauce. I must have eaten at least twenty. The meat is sweet and juicy, salty and crispy in all the right places. You can usually find them hanging in the windows at Chinese restaurants or deli's. I found cheap and delicious barbecue on Main street and West Broadway at Congee Noodle House. I paid $9.50 for half a duck. I always ask for an extra container of the incredible brown sauce that they throw in the box. It tastes like a sweeter, better hoisin sauce.
They generally just chop the bird up with a meat cleaver, bones and all, so make sure to pick the meat off the bones and shred it up with your fingers. Before I put the meat in the rolls I pour that tasty sweet sauce over the shredded meat and stir it to coat.

Rice paper wraps can be found at most grocery stores, and definitely at Asian supermarkets. The trick to getting your rolls to stick together is making sure the water that you soak the wraps in is not boiling hot. If the water is too hot, the wraps rip and don't stick to themselves. They take about a minute to soften in hot water.

If you are organized with your process, it is easy enough to get a good rhythm going when you are ready to roll. Every time you transfer a wrap from the hot water to the towel, put another one in so it's ready to go by the time the other is finished. I usually dunk my rolls into a big pot of water on low after it's boiled. Make sure all your fillings are laid out in separate bowls. Set a clean dish towel down on a cutting board and transfer your moist rice paper wrap to the station. Try and drip off most of the water before laying it down so you don't have to pat it dry with the towel. Put the fillings parallel to the counter, on the side closest to you (ie you will be rolling away from your body). Layer the greens, then the noodles, veggies, protein and then top with sliced onions. Remember not to over stuff and keep your fillings neat and tidy. Gently fold over the side closest to you, tucking all those tasty bits into the roll, roll once, fold the sides in and keep rolling. The first one is always a little ratty, don't get discouraged. Place the rolls onto a plate lined with a moist towel and keep covered until ready to serve.

You'll be amazed at the difference between your first and last roll, I can guarantee that. Serve these with the Asian-inspired table sauce or a mixture of hoisin, chili sauce, and a bit of peanut butter, stirred until smooth.

What's your favourite combination?? Let me know!!

Try it, Love it, Learn it and Share it.

Three of my Favourite Sauces

I like sauce. I mean, I really like sauce. I sometimes plan a whole meal around a sauce. I've decided to share my top three with all of you beautiful people.

The first one is an Asian-inspired table-sauce of sorts. It makes for a great addition to noodle dishes, rice bowls, stir fry or as a dipping sauce for dumplings, salad rolls or spring rolls.

One of my favourite cookbooks of all time, Hot Sour Salty Sweet, by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, beautifully illustrates the art in South East Asian cuisine of balancing those four integral elements. I use this theory a lot in my culinary endeavors, relying more on the balance of flavour than the exact measurement in a recipe. This holds especially true for the table sauce. How much of each ingredient you add is dependent upon your taste, the brand of ingredient you use, and how you feel that day! Trust your taste buds to let you know what you need to add more of. If it tastes perfect to you, it is.

My rough measurements can be used as a guide for this one, but I encourage you to trust yourself!

Mix 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, juice of one lime, 2 generous tablespoons of fish sauce, minced chili pepper, dash of sesame oil, a bit of grated garlic and a teaspoon of palm, cane or brown sugar. Balance the flavours and accent with thinly sliced green onions, minced cilantro and thin strips of carrot (can use a vegetable peeler to get this effect).

Second sauce on the menu is a tried and true favourite from my lovely friend Kimi. This one is a creamy (dairy-free), delicious and completely versatile. It's so good sometimes I just want to eat it off the spoon. I have used it as a salad dressing to encourage 'non-salad-eaters' to try some greens and have had them licking the bowls clean. If you are not familiar with nutritional yeast, you should be. It's a deactivated yeast mixed with molasses and cane sugar and then dried out, and it comes as yellow flakes. It's a great source of vitamin B and is a complete protein too. It is incredible on popcorn, can make a great vegetarian gravy and boosts dressings and sauces with creamy, almost cheese-like presence. I like the Red Star brand and can usually find it in the bulk section in most health food stores. I like this sauce on brown rice bowls with steamed veggies, on kale salad, soba noodles with stir fried mushrooms...the list goes on and on. I like to put all the ingredients into a mason jar and just shake shake shake until it's smooth and creamy.

Combine a big spoonful of tahini (sesame paste), two crushed cloves of garlic, juice of 1/2 a lemon, 1/4 cup olive oil, some grated ginger, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, salt, a tablespoon or so of nutritional yeast, a splash of soy sauce and a bit of warm water. Adjust the components until it balances out - nothing should stand out on it's own. You can use any nut butter in place of the tahini - almond, peanut, cashew...you name it. Adjust the thickness of the sauce by adding more of the nut butter. I have also put a spoonful of light miso into this mix and it tasted divine. Just thinking about this is making me hungry...


Third and final sauce for the day is a Chilean-inspired condiment that is simultaneously tantalizing and incredible spicy, and so good that I can never stop eating it until it's all gone, even though my mouth is completely on fire. I use my blender for this because I like it really smooth, but you can chop the ingredients very finely and just combine in a bowl. I like this one with crusty bread, grilled fish, crispy chicken or on rice. It's hot, it's perfect and once you have it, you will crave it with an intensity that will only be satiated with more of this hot number.

Combine one bunch of fresh cilantro, most of the stems removed, two cloves of garlic, a splash of white vinegar, juice of one lime, salt (be generous) and about 1/2 cup siracha (pepper sauce with the green lid and the rooster on the bottle). Blend until smooth. Eat on everything.

Try these ones out! Let me know what you think!

Try it, Love it, Learn it and Share it.