December 10th, 2011 by Dawn Becker

I’m staring into my fridge and I see a slight greenish tinge on the corner of my very precious truffle cheese. Eek!! As a good Chinese daughter that already tries to waste nothing, at its price per gram, anyone would freak if that last hunk of truffle cheese went past due. Also known as tartufo pecorino, truffle cheese is like a meal in a slice. There’s just enough truffle infused in the cheese to hit your olfactory glands with that luscious earthy scent. It’s truly drool worthy and usually doesn’t last long. But in my home, as the sole dairy fiend, sometimes I lose track of what I’ve got in my cheese drawer.

This truffle cheese is already like a bowl of pasta so why not turn it into an actual bowl of pasta. Carbonara pops to mind plus there’s always bacon and a nice wedge of parmesan/romano/grana padano/pecorino in this house. Since I want to use the truffle cheese, I’m thinking why not elevate all the carbonara ingredients and treat myself by using the artisanal guanciale slices – sweet pork cheeks cured with spices – that I’ve been munching on nightly in my deli drawer. My secret indulgence, though not so secret on my hips.

Darn. The breakfast crepes I made this morning used up the last of our eggs. What do do? What to do? Ah, quail eggs. I always have a carton of quail eggs on hand. They have a long shelf life in the fridge and they make a great pan-fried snack, one of Cole’s favourites. I estimate about 4 quail eggs is equal to one large egg but with more yolk to white ratio and flavour-wise it’s hard to tell the difference.Usually, I prefer dried spaghetti for carbonara but I’m hungry now and there’s fresh linguine which takes 2 minutes to cook versus 7 minutes for spaghetti. I know, what’s 5 minutes but I’m that hungry that it sways me. Pot of water on to boil. Grate a handful of truffle cheese into a bowl. Crank some freshly ground pepper. Take a sharp knife and cut into the shell to cleanly open the 4 quail eggs. If you’re new to quail eggs, you might want to do this in a separate bowl. If you don’t get a clean slice from a ridiculously sharp knife, the shell will fall apart and you’ll find little crackly pieces in your pasta. Lightly beat the quail eggs and cheese to combine.

Slice the guanciale and in a medium hot pan toss to render the fat. Unlike bacon, these thin guanciale slices will go from opaque to translucent in seconds. The fat will render quickly and you don’t want the guanciale to get brittle so keep an eye on it. When the water boils, put your linguine in and set your timer for 2-3 minutes, or as per package instructions. When the linguine is ready, drain and toss in the egg/cheese mixture. Add the guanciale and any fat that has rendered in the pan and toss to coat thoroughly. The heat of the guanciale and pasta will cook the egg slightly making a velvety sauce. Serve with another crank of freshly ground pepper. Dive in and enjoy immediately.

For a more traditional recipe, I highly recommend Ruth Reichl’s spaghetti carbonara. She makes everything seem possible to make and utterly delicious. And if you like reading beautiful tweets, following Ruth Reichl at #ruthreichl is poetry. Each morning I check in and get inspired.

November 19th, 2011 by Dawn Becker

Food & Wine recently posted a recipe for Daniel Boulud’s Gargantuan Gougères that are served to guests at Bar Boulud, located in Manhattan. They looked absolutely delicious and the recipe seemed relatively simple. I also read that gougères freeze and reheat well and if this recipe worked out, I would have my home-cooked offering to bring to this season’s upcoming holiday parties.

I’d never heard of gougères before but they looked a lot like a soft cheesy puff of dough and to me, that is an irresistible combination. A quick search and I discovered gougères are a baked savoury choux pastry (also called pâte à choux) made of choux dough mixed with cheese. Choux pastry is used for making light, sweet pastries like crullers, beignets, profiteroles and croquembouches which will give you an idea of the texture of these yummy, airy, cheesy puffs. For these savoury gougères, Boulud’s recipe adds a bit of spice with Piment d’Esplette. I didn’t have that on hand so I substituted Nora pepper flakes from Spain.

Noras are the same pepper used to make paprika and are found in the famous Valencian rice dish, paella. I purchased these Nora pepper flakes from Manotas Organics and Fine Foods located on the lower level of the St. Lawrence Market. I love the aroma every time I open this jar and in my mind this mild smoky pepper flake would be a nice substitute for the Piment d’Esplette.

I also didn’t have Gruyère cheese so I used sharp old cheddar. And because Cole doesn’t like strong cheese, I made a few gourgères without any, instead adding some fresh thyme to compensate for the loss of flavour without cheese.

Another important consideration is the size of your eggs. I had very large “large” eggs and used only three eggs versus the four in Boulud’s recipe. You only need to add as many eggs as it takes to make the choux pastry smooth and silky, and likely why part of the recipe says to add them one at a time.

Finally, this recipe takes a lot of arm strength. It calls for hand mixing the dough (shown above “before” the eggs are added) with a wooden spoon to incorporate the eggs into the mixture and I would think to lighten it by adding some air to the final dough. I definitely burned some calories here and got a good arm work out for the few minutes of mixing it asks for in the recipe. Or maybe I’m just a total wimp.

I’m sure there must be a way to do this in the food processor but I need to try a recipe first before I can figure out where I can add a short cut and to be honest I hate cleaning so a wooden spoon is always my first choice.

I also baked a few of these as small pop in your mouth versions dropping teaspoon-sized mounds versus the gargantuan three tablespoon-sized baseballs called for in this recipe.

These tasty treats are definitely going to be my holiday go-to snack this year. They are simply scrumptious and go well with a chilled white burgundy as the recipe suggests and I would think a light, crisp beer like a pilsner. Plus you can make them ahead and look like a pro when you quickly reheat this hors d’oeuvre from frozen for unexpected guests that might pop in. Thanks to Food & Wine for posting this recipe.

October 29th, 2011 by Dawn Becker

The weather has turned quite brisk and with the seasons’ harvest of root vegetables, I’ve had soup on the brain. I picked up a handful of Jerusalem artichokes earlier this week and decided to treat myself to a velvety bowl of soup for lunch. Jerusalem artichokes are nothing like the prickly globe artichokes. These are tubers from a type of sunflower, are closer in taste and texture to potatoes and have the appearance of knobby ginger root.

Vegetable puree soups are one of the easiest things to make. Most recipes follow a similar cooking method which is to sautee some aromatics in a pot, usually diced onions, until translucent. Then add whatever vegetable you’re using that’s been cut up into small uniform pieces (so they cook evenly) such as carrots, butternut squash, potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower, and sautee for a few minutes. (TIP: The smaller you dice your vegetables the less time they have to simmer.)

Then add some herbs, spices or other flavourings like ginger or cinnamon. Pour in some chicken (or vegetable) stock just to cover the sauteed vegetables. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to simmer until the vegetables are soft. I then puree the whole mixture in a blender or with a hand blender directly into the pot, which is so much easier for clean up. I then add seasonings, salt and pepper to taste and an optional addition of heavy cream depending on your preference. Cream is not necessary but it adds a lusciousness to some types of soups. Too much cream and your soup will be ruined because pureed soups have such a delicate vegetable flavour.

I like to add a flourish with some toppings to finish off my soup. Here you can get a little creative. For the Jerusalem artichoke soup, I like to top it with some prosciutto crisps and a sprinkling of chives. Beet soups or cabbage soup call for a dollop of sour cream that gives it an Eastern European flair. Broccoli or cauliflower soup work really well with a dash of hot pepper sauce and some grated sharp cheddar. Be creative and have fun with your soup. It’s a great way to enjoy your vegetables on a bitter cold day and here in Toronto, we’re sure to have many more chilly nights ahead.

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

1 lb of Jerusalem artichokes

1 small potato

1 onion

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 bay leaf

2 cups of chicken stock

3 Tbsp heavy cream

salt and pepper

Peel and dice the Jerusalem artichokes and potato. Have a bowl of cold water handy with a squeeze of lemon juice in it and drop the diced artichokes and potatoes into the bowl to prevent discolouration. Dice the onion. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium high and sautee the onions about 5 minutes until translucent. Be careful not to brown the onions.

Drain the artichokes and potatoes and add them to the pot with the onions. Add the bay leaf. Sautee for 2 minutes. Add the stock. The stock should just cover the vegetables. If not, add more stock or some water to cover. Bring to a boil then lower to simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

When the vegetables are ready, remove the pot from the stove. Remove the bay leaf and using an immersion hand blender, whizz the vegetables right in the pot until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

You may wish to blend in a few tablespoons of heavy cream. I use no more than 3 tablespoons for this soup as Jerusalem artichokes have a delicate flavour and the taste can be easily overwhelmed by the cream. You can also skip the cream altogether to keep this vegetarian (of course using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock). Serve topped with prosciutto crisps and some chive snippings.

Prosciutto Crisps

Super easy to make. I use one slice of prosciutto per serving. Heat a few droplets of olive oil in a pan on medium high just to lightly coat the pan. Add the prosciutto slices and cook until brown a minute or two and then flip to brown the other side. Remove from heat and place on a paper towel lined plate to soak up excess oil. The prosciutto will crisp up as it cools. You can then crumble it with your fingers and use as a topping for soups or salads. If you prefer uniformly sliced prosciutto crisps just cut them into slices of your desired thickness before you drop them into your hot pan. Alternatively you can also broil prosciutto slices on a cookie sheet in an oven, if you prefer not to fry them, but I personally can’t justify heating up my whole oven to make prosciutto crisps in order to avoid a few drops of oil.

June 18th, 2011 by Dawn Becker

I almost felt very sad for a second. I’m going to Karen’s for dinner tonight and to meet her beautiful baby Max. It’s a great day and I’ve been looking forward to this visit for a while. I offered to bring something for dinner and Karen requested dessert.

If you know me, then you know that desserts are not my forté. Problem being I’m not much of a sweets fan so why bother perfecting how to make them. Not wanting to be difficult — after all Karen’s mom is planning to bring what will surely be a delicious main course of lamb, and Karen’s hands are full with Max and entertaining friends — I figured I should be able to buck up and bring a decent, if not simple, dessert.

While still lying in bed, I was scanning through the small file of successful desserts I’ve made, in my head. Not much time spent there. Crème brûlée. Hmm, too late to borrow a kitchen torch from Richard. Trifle. Don’t have any fresh fruit, or canned fruit for that matter. No time to shop. What do I have? Eggs, milk, cream, sugar, raisins, maple syrup, Nutella, slivered almonds and cinnamon.

I could easily make some crêpes which have always been a hit, but maybe too finicky to finish. I like to assemble these à la minute, warming the crêpe shells, whipping up some fresh cream for filling and topping, spreading selected filling say Nutella in this case, folding them into fluffy little triangular pillows and then plating with a drizzle of maple syrup and a fat dollop of little sweetened vanilla whipped cream and a dusting of icing sugar. Okay, it’s doable but today I think something I can make here and serve up easily will be the best bet.

Most of us have a binder or box that holds some of our most cherished recipes so I went to my trusty tome to dig out a recipe. The recipes in this binder are an odd collection of torn magazines and newspaper clippings, short-hand notes from jotting down family recipes as told by friend’s parents, uncles and grandparents, many of these odd pages yellowed and grease splattered and some decades old.

One of my recipes is so old, my own childlike penmanship is barely recognizable. Each letter methodically written, rounded little o’s and perfectly crossed t’s, not the sloppy mess my writing is now. If memory serves me, I was probably around 9 when I wrote that. And I’m not even sure that the recipe for “SteAmed CAke” is any good or not. I can picture my mom cooking up a giant, white, fluffy, cake-like steamed bun that was sort of sweet. I’ll have to try this out and show you the results one day.

My near sadness came when I had finally decided to make my ex-mother-in-law’s Rice Pudding “Gonzo”. That’s what she called it though I’m not sure where the name came from. Joan is a very generous cook and a great one at that. She allowed me to spend countless days on her kitchen stool as she prepped and unfailingly answered every question I had. And I had lots. She made cooking look easy and fun and I relished her guidance and cooking tips. She taught me how to cook celeriac. I had never seen celery root before, as it’s also known, and that brainy-shaped root vegetable is now one of my fall favourites.

But the recipe for her version of Rice Pudding “Gonzo” had disappeared and my heart sank because I knew that I would never get it back. You see, sometimes when you get divorced, it’s difficult and sometimes even impossible to talk to the ex-family any more. I don’t blame anyone for a minute. But I know that I’ll never be able to ask her to give me that recipe again. And all the wonderful memories that I had collected over the years sitting in Joan’s warm and welcoming kitchen suddenly felt like they had disappeared, lost with wherever the Rice Pudding “Gonzo” recipe had decided to sneak off to.

In truth, those days in Joan’s kitchen were some of my favourite memories of married life, days spent hanging out and eating. I guess I haven’t changed much. In the end it wasn’t about the recipe itself. It’s what the recipe written by Joan’s own hand represented: a sweet time that had passed.

So that’s why I felt sad for a moment. Almost. Because just as this wash of tearful nostalgia was about to come over me, I saw a little “o” at the top of a recipe card hidden behind a series of other old and tattered favourites. The “o” in Gonzo. Oh joy! And I have a dessert to bring to Karen’s.

Here’s the recipe as Joan has written it:

Rice Pudding “Gonzo”

2 quarts whole milk

1 cup long grained (sic) rice

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs beaten

1 cup heavy cream (whipping)

1/2 cup raisins optional

In a 3-4 quart saucepan cook milk, rice, sugar, raisins in using, butter, vanilla, and a pinch of salt over med—low heat. (MY NOTE: Cover the pot and simmer.) Stir every 3 minutes until rice is cooked, 45 minutes to 1 hour. DO NOT OVERCOOK. Remove from heat. Whisk 2 cups of rice mix slowly into eggs. Add eggs and rice mix to a pan and then stir in cream. Pour into an 11 x 13 pan and sprinkle with cinnamon. Chill 3 hours. Cover and continue to chill. Lasts 3 days.

February 12th, 2011 by Dawn Becker

Recently I injured my left hand which resulted in tenosynovitis, commonly known as trigger finger, pretty much an inflammation around the tendon that can cause curling of the affected finger. Treatment, including a course of Naproxen, is a splint placed over a straightened finger, allowing it to rest in this optimal position. I can tell you the process of straightening said finger is truly gruelling involving heat, ice and lots of manual manipulation over hours as the tendon is stretched. Think of trying to straighten a wire coat hanger. For a rather mundane sounding ailment it caused an inordinate amount of sharp pain, which I likened to having a spike nailed through the palm of my hand crucifixion-style.

As you can see I did manage to get the splint on my swollen hand and there it will stay for a minimum of three weeks and as much as six. A long sentence for a self-employed person who types regularly for a living and cooks most nights. You would also be surprised how much you use your alternate hand. While I can use my good hand to wield a knife, it’s almost impossible to stabilize a carrot to chop stir fry slices and forget about making a julienne or brunoise.

This is where we have to accept a little humility and ask for help. Luckily a quick Facebook message and an outpouring of friends and family came to my rescue. Thanks to Daniel, Casey, Ozana, Rob, Julian, Cole and of course Nana for being here for me, plus everyone else who sent messages of support.

And there really is no better time than now to teach the boys a few things in the kitchen beyond frying bacon and eggs and making toast. They’re naturally interested in cooking because they love to eat and frankly if I’m not working, I’m usually in the kitchen or somewhere eating. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery and all that. We decided on making a family-size omelette, one behemoth that we can all dig into at the counter. Less to clean. Actually, I’m preparing them for a future of romantic success by making sure they’ve got a good repertoire of delicious wooing worthy breakfast in bed dishes (eek! what am I saying?).

Here’s a pictorial of how they made…

Sausage And Vegetable Omelette

1 large celery stalk, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

4 tsp olive oil

1/4 tsp ground thyme

4 or 5 breakfast sausages, sliced into 3/4” pieces

1 small tomato, chopped

1/4 cup medium cheddar, grated (or more if you prefer)

5 eggs

1/8 cup milk

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan over medium high heat and sautee chopped celery and onion until softened about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium and add sausage, stirring often to brown on all sides, until sausage is cooked through about 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Set aside pan.

In a separate non-stick skillet, heat remaining oil in pan over medium high heat. Combine eggs, milk, a pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl and beat well. When the pan is hot pour the egg mixture in. Using a spatula move the eggs from one side of the pan to the other, until fluffy peaks form. You can also tilt or shake the pan to fill any empty pockets with egg mixture. The idea is to create a fluffy omelette while preventing one part of the egg from burning or overcooking. Harder than it sounds when you’re letting the kids do it all on their own.

At this stage, while the eggs are still wet, before the eggs cook completely, add the cheese and top half of the omelette with the cooked sausage and vegetable mixture.

Turn the heat down to medium and cover with a lid briefly to help the cheese melt more quickly. A dry omelette is considered a fail in our family.

Then fold the omelette over – for an omelette of this size you’ll probably need two spatulas to make a successful flip – plate and serve immediately. As you can see, it was a delicious success. And below, Cole is done with cooking for the week.

And this last shot is an out take of Julian. It looks like he’s about to cut his fingers off!! Rest easy he still has them all.

January 22nd, 2011 by Dawn Becker

Years ago I used to commute to work in Markham. At the time it was mostly an industrial wasteland with pockets of subdivisions faking community. Things have changed now and Markham including Richmond Hill has become a fantastic destination for Asian shopping and dining, among other things. Back then there weren’t a lot of choices for lunch that went beyond the local sandwich shop and the odd all-you-can-eat buffet. Neither of them satisfied me. But around the corner from my work, I discovered George’s Tastee at 600 Denison Street.

Some passersby might have thought of them as just an ordinary bakery but where they succeeded was in the selection of West Indian-style comfort food that you could eat in or take home including frozen pre-baked boxes of patties. Frozen vegetable patties above cost $7.45 for the box of 12.

Our family favourite is the veggie pattie. It’s milder than the beef or chicken options but that works well for daintier palates and I just dip them in plenty of hot sauce (my preference is The Real Jerk Hot Pepper Sauce which I purchase at the Toronto location).

George’s Tastee was my saving grace for the bland and repetitive lunch-time blues in the burbs. You could order Jerk Chicken, Jerk Pork, Curry Chicken, Curry Mutton and Oxtail. But the best thing about walking into George’s Tastee was the service. George’s Tastee is family run and many of the servers were West Indian Asians. They looked like me but talked with a warm and friendly island accent. This was the first time I had ever met Jamaican Chinese people (JC as one referred to himself as). Since then, I’ve had many delicious adventures exploring the variety of migrant cuisine including Indian Chinese food and learning more about other cultures.

Last week George’s Tastee opened a new Richmond Hill location at 9021 Leslie Street, Unit 14. The dining area is large and you can of course get the same takeout patties/meals and catering.

This jogged my memory about when I first learned how to make Jamaican-style curry chicken. My friend Tim, co-owner of Shop Dine Tour Toronto, is Canadian Jamaican. His mom, Jennifer, was visiting about seven or so years ago and I happened to steal 20 minutes with her alone. She had a pot stewing on the stovetop and I couldn’t resist asking her about it. The scent wafting from the pot was mouth-watering.

She explained how easy it was to make a basic curry chicken showing me how she rubbed seasoning salt and Mr. Gouda’s curry powder into the chicken pieces. She gave me a handful of odd black pearls that looked like large peppercorns telling me this was the secret to making sure the stew had an authentic Jamaican taste: Allspice. I’d never seen these before and its scent was unique, a combination of clove, nutmeg and cinnamon.Ever since then I’ve been recreating, changing and expanding on her basic method. The version she showed me didn’t include vegetables but I always try to add as many nutrients as I can when cooking so mine starts with a hearty mirepoix (carrot, celery, onion, and garlic sautee) then add potatoes and chickpeas. I also use ground allspice because I don’t like having to fish out the whole allspice later.  

Jamaican-style Curry Chicken

6 boneless chicken thighs, sliced into 1” strips

3 Tbsp Jamaican-style curry powder (Note: Chinese or Indian curry powder will not give you the right flavour so look for Mr. Gouda’s, Grace or another West Indian brand)

2 tsp seasoning salt (I prefer an all natural seasoning salt to the commercial versions that have added preservatives and colouring)

1 tsp ground allspice

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, diced

4 cloves of garlic, sliced thin

2 large carrots, cubed

3 stalks celery, diced

2 tsp dried ground thyme

4 cups of chicken stock

1 – 398 mL can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 large potato, medium dice (Note: I prefer Yukon Golds as russets tend to thicken the gravy too much and new potatoes don’t thicken it enough. If you prefer larger chunks of potatoes, adjust cooking time below.)

Mix together the curry powder, seasoning salt and ground allspice and rub it into the chicken thigh strips. Leave it to marinate at least 30 minutes or as long as overnight in the fridge.

Heat oil in a dutch oven or large pot with a tight fitting lid, on high heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic, carrots, celery, and thyme to the pot and sauté to soften about 4 to 5 minutes. Push the vegetables to the side of the pot and add the chicken strips to cook on all sides, about 5 minutes. Mix the chicken in with the vegetables and add chicken stock and chickpeas and bring the pot to a boil. Then cover, turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add potatoes and cook another 15 or 20 minutes until the potatoes soften. Serve with rice and peas or plain steamed rice accompanied by hot pepper sauce for those who like some heat.

January 11th, 2011 by Dawn Becker

This secret is worth millions of minutes of happiness, so get closer to the screen as you read this and I’ll divulge my precious secret to living single successfully: Money. Seriously now, money doesn’t buy happiness but it does buy you a lot of things that make you momentarily happy. And occasionally a few moments of happiness might be just what you need to remind yourself that you’re better off alone than with that emotionally vacant silo you were married to for six years or that deadbeat ex-boyfriend who took you for granted and sucked your wallet dry. Ahem.

Money lets me travel where I feel like, say a solo trip to a leisure-oriented culinary class in the countryside somewhere in Italy. It lets me indulge in truffles, caviar, oysters and as much champagne as I wish to drink. It lets me enjoy a guilt-worthy 3-hour, 12-course tasting menu or a $300 breathtakingly beautiful kaiseki experience. I can pamper myself at a four-star resort or spring for an impromptu massage or a mani/pedi on a whim. But that lifestyle isn’t afforded by everyone (including me) and especially for those fellow single mums out there, where sadly, hard work doesn’t naturally convert into money.

So here’s my second secret to living single successfully. Live like you have money. That’s right. Pretend. And while you’re pretending life is just awesome find ways to make your life luxurious without breaking the bank and maybe you’ll start to find that your life IS actually awesome. Splurge on some fluffy bubbles for a long soak in your tub accompanied by a decent but economical bottle of wine (with the help of a trusty local LCBO Vintages rep for suggestions.)

For me, living luxuriously pretty much involves eating well and with variety. If you can’t afford to indulge in dinner at the latest trend spot, don’t worry, make something absolutely divine yourself. To get you started here is a super simple, highly scrumptious dish that I think will transport you. It feels decadent because it’s not usually on the average home cook’s repertoire but you’ll be surprised how easy it is to make CREPES. And you’ll likely have most, if not all, of the ingredients already in your pantry. Enjoy every soul satisfying bite of these magnificent crepes, knowing that you deserve this and so much more. I certainly would (and often do).

For a basic crepe check out this recipe by Giada De Laurentiis. It’s fast and I find it’s pretty much fool proof. The crepes can be made by throwing everything into a blender (I use a deep mixing bowl and an immersion-style hand-blender because I don’t have space to store a regular blender).

Basic Crepe Shell (slightly adapted from Giada’s recipe)

Simply combine:

4 eggs

1 cup milk (Giada’s recipe calls for whole milk but mine were fine with skim milk, what we normally have in the fridge)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp sugar (Giada uses one whole tablespoon but I find it too sweet as I use the same crepes for a savoury filling; more versatile if you have leftover crepe shells which keep well overnight covered in plastic wrap)

1/8 tsp salt

Whirr with the blender. Batter’s done. Yes, that fast. It should be a very thin consistency like whole cream and nothing like pancake batter.

Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat (Giada’s recipe says medium-low but I don’t like to wait for the pan to heat up). Take care to monitor the heat in case your stove runs hotter than mine. Add butter and melt to coat the pan (I actually used vegetable oil). Ladle in about 1/4 cup of crepe batter and spread by tilting and jiggling the pan. When the edges start to look brittle the crepes are ready to flip over, usually after a minute or so. Cook on the other side for a minute and remove to stack on a warm plate. Don’t worry about them being perfect. It usually takes a few tries to get them exactly the way you want. Oddly-shaped is just fine because you can roll them up like a more traditional crepe or fold them in half and over again to make a pie shape that can hide any imperfections. Continue cooking crepes until all the batter is done. Crepes can be saved for the next day as long as they are covered in plastic wrap and set in the fridge.

For the filling, I really enjoyed Giada’s raspberry jam with the addition of some vanilla extract. A few drops mixed into the jam and it creates another tone of flavour that really makes this delicious. For some extra texture (and vitamins and fibre), I added some thawed blueberries that were in my freezer to the jam mix. Place jam mixture on the crepe and fold. Top with whipped cream.

For a savoury crepe, see below for a chicken and spinach filling (that’s what was in the fridge).

Chicken And Spinach Crepe Filling

1 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup onion, diced

2 cups of boneless chicken breast or thighs, cut into 1 inch slices

2 Tbsp flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup stock (chicken or vegetable)

1 cup milk

1 bunch spinach, stems removed, washed well and drained

freshly ground white pepper

Heat a skillet on medium high and add butter. Once butter is melted, add onion and sautee until translucent about 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken and keep stirring to cook through around 5 minutes or so. Mix in the flour, salt and nutmeg and cook stirring for 2 minutes. Add stock slowly and keep stirring. Chicken mixture will turn pasty but keep adding stock blending everything together. Once stock is combined, add milk and allow to come to a slight boil. Add spinach, folding it into the creamy chicken sauce until spinach leaves are wilted. Season to taste by adding a few grindings of white pepper (or black pepper if you don’t have white) and more salt if necessary. Place the filling into the middle of the warm crepe shells that you have standing by, folding over the two sides. Makes enough filling for 6 to 8 depending on the size of the crepe.

Incidentally, Julian and Cole ate three chicken and spinach crepes and two dessert crepes tonight siting it was as good as the 5-spice pork chops I make, one of their perennial favourites (and which have yet to make an appearance on BananaViews).

January 1st, 2011 by Dawn Becker

Happy New Year! I welcome 2011 with an open heart and an empty stomach as Alton Brown says on Iron Chef America. And mostly, I look forward to all the taste experiences ahead. Before I’m off to make my first dinner of this year, I thought I’d write a quick post for my friends who might be dealing with the after effects of too much celebration last night.

When you’re bleary eyed from too much drink, with barely anything in the cupboard other than a slice of bread and a can of tuna (preferably a delicious olive oil packed tonno from Italy), make yourself a restorative open-face tuna salad sandwich. Take a bit of cheddar from the fridge and leftover dregs of Champagne (ha! like that happens), sparkling wine, or some beer, and you can make a quick, velvety topping for your tuna in the style of Welsh Rarebit.

If you’ve never had Welsh Rarebit, it’s essentially a version of fondue from Wales. It’s typically made with cheddar cheese and beer. There are many variations out there including this recipe by Alton Brown – he seems to be lingering on my mind for no particular reason.

And here’s how I made my quick version, especially meant for those who have limited capacities today.

Tuna Melt with Welsh Rarebit-Style Topping

(Open-Face Tuna Salad Sandwich)

2 slices of rye bread, toasted

1 can of tuna (preferably good quality tuna packed in olive oil)

1/2 small onion, minced

1 Tbsp mayonnaise

1/2 tsp hot mustard (or Dijon if that’s what you have)

1/4 tsp celery salt (optional – minced celery works too with 1/2 tsp of salt but that’s a little more work for a groggy day)

(Welsh Rarebit-Style Topping)

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 cup Champagne, sparkling wine or beer (consider the rest of the beer as a hair of the dog tonic)

freshly ground black pepper

To make the tuna salad sandwich, mix the tuna, onion, mayonnaise, mustard and celery salt together. Place a heaping amount on each slice of toasted rye bread. For the cheese topping, heat a small pan on medium-high (for cheesy sauces I like to use a non-stick skillet because the clean up is easier than a stainless steel sauce pot). When the pan is hot, add the Champagne, sparkling wine or beer, or whatever alcohol you’re using, and allow some of the alcohol to burn off, about 30 seconds. Stir in the grated cheddar cheese and lower the heat to medium low to slowly melt the cheese. Once the cheese is fully melted and any excess liquid has cooked off, pour the cheese topping on the assembled open face tuna salad. Grind some fresh pepper on top and eat immediately. Serves 2 or eat them both yourself.

December 17th, 2010 by Dawn Becker

My latest trip to the St. Lawrence Market was fruitful. Oh that was a bad pun but not entirely intentional. I purchased two rare items from the market.

The first item was from Chris’ Cheesemongers. If you hurry you might still find some small-sized containers of burrata.

Burrata is fresh mozzarella cheese that comes from Puglia in southern Italy. The outside is a fresh pulled curd cheese made from buffalo milk that becomes the casing for a filling of luscious cream and stracciatella cheese (not to confused with the soup) which essentially comes from the word “torn apart” in Italian.

While Chris’ Cheesemongers usually have the softball sized burrata, what’s unique is that they were carrying a small selection of baby burrata, I believe because the regular size wasn’t available at the time.

This couldn’t be more perfect for me. I’m always loathe to waste anything delicious and a find as sweet as burrata must be eaten fresh and preferably all in one sitting. Once you cut into the burrata the insides ooze out and it’s virtually impossible to save it for longer than that. The baby burrata is just the right size for two tapas style or as part of a caprese salad. Or if you’re like me, it’s good for one, on a greedy night with a glass of wine and some crostini drizzled with olive oil. Yum. The cost for the baby burrata was $12.99 when I went earlier this week. (Added note: Allow the burrata to come to room temperature before eating. It will make the difference between delicious and to-die-for.)

The second hard-to-find, buy-them-when-you-see-them item were P.E.I. Scallops in the Shell from Mike’s Fish Market. Going for $8.99 a pound, if you’ve ever wanted to make “singing scallops” as I knew cooked scallops in the shell to be called from my Granville Island days growing up in Vancouver, you’ll know what a real treasure these are.

The clerk told me that they usually have scallops in the shell during the holiday season so keep your eye out for them. I think a pound, as shown above, is good for two as an appetizer. Cook them like mussels so throw whatever flavour base you wish in the pot and then steam until they open. Scallops are naturally salty so you won’t need to add much, if any salt and be careful if you’re using an Asian base of soy or fish sauce. I like mine with garlic, shallots, and white wine with a crusty baguette for soaking up the sauce.

November 1st, 2010 by Dawn Becker

After making a hefty round of delicious wontons earlier this week, I noticed there was an open package of wonton skins remaining, sealed in a plastic bag and tucked away in the vegetable crisper. My first instinct is to try not to let things go to waste so I find myself discovering bits of meat and rinds of cheese and tops of celery or fennel that I’ve saved in small plastic bags throughout my fridge. While I can’t say I don’t sometimes go ick at the sludge-like remains inside a forgotten leftover bag that immediately gets tossed into the garbage, at least I can say I had good intentions.

Having filled ourselves to the brim with Chinese-style dumplings in the days leading up to the leftover wonton skin discovery, I needed to think of something different to sate my taste buds. I decided to go with Italian influenced flavours and used the wonton skins to house some easy ravioli fillings.

Daniel was over – as I was recovering from some kidney troubles that knocked me out for about ten days – and thankfully he helped me make swift work of stuffing the wonton skins to make three types of delicate and savoury ravioli: Sweet Potato and Maple Syrup Ravioli, Shiitake Mushroom and Shallots with Vermouth Cream, and Buffalo Mozzarella with Parmesan and Fresh Thyme. I think Daniel was impressed by how quickly we churned out the fillings and stuffed the wonton skins to make the ravioli.

Once you have your fillings made, you simply dollop a teaspoonful of the filling in the centre of the wonton skin, wet the edges, fold and lay them out on a tray or wire rack to dry, preferably not overlapping too much before they’re dried. I fold my ravioli in half to make triangles for quick assembly and even cooking but you can also stack one wonton skin on top of another to make big ravioli squares if you prefer. The wonton skin ravioli are ready to be cooked once they are completely dry. At this point you can throw them in the freezer or boil or deep-fry them, depending on your recipe and preference.

Three quick filling recipes follow. Note that the number of ravioli made will depend on the amount of filling you use in each one. Or, if you’re using leftover wonton skins, you might have leftover filling that you can freeze or refrigerate for a discovery another day.

Sweet Potato and Maple Syrup Ravioli Filling

1 or 2 sweet potatoes (or yams)

1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 Tbsp maple syrup

To prepare the sweet potato, just wash the skin and poke it with a fork all around before cooking. I’ll be honest and rather than waiting for the oven to heat up to to 375 degrees F baking a single sweet potato for 1 hour, I just threw my large sweet potato in the microwave on high for 10 minutes, turning it over at the half-way mark. Microwaves vary so you’ll have to experiment by starting with 5 minutes and testing for doneness. The goal is to have the sweet potato cooked through till very soft.

Allow to cool, cut in half and then scrape the sweet potato flesh into a bowl, mashing with a fork and removing any hard bits like sweet potato eyes or stringy parts. Add the butter and the maple syrup and mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust for flavour as desired by adding more butter or maple syrup to your preference. It’s now ready to be filled into the wonton ravioli skin. Allow ravioli to dry before cooking. Boil* and serve with a Sage Brown Butter Sauce.

Sage Brown Butter Sauce

4 Tbsp unsalted butter

4 sprigs of fresh sage

1 tsp lemon zest

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the butter in a pan on medium high until the butter begins to brown about 3 minutes. (Be careful because it can go quickly from browned to burnt if you get distracted at the wrong moment.) Once the butter is browned, noticeable when it emits a hazelnutty scent, you can add the sage lemon peel. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the cooked Sweet Potato and Maple Syrup Ravioli and serve immediately.

Shiitake Mushroom with Shallots and Vermouth Cream Ravioli Filling

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 lb shiitake, stumps removed and sliced (preferably organic)

1 shallot, minced

1 splash of vermouth

1/4 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a skillet on high and add the sliced mushrooms stirring to cook through until tender about 3 to 4 minutes. (Alternatively you can chop the mushrooms so they can be stuffed a little easier but I like the meaty texture of using sliced mushrooms.) Turn the heat down to medium high and add the shallots. Once the shallots are fully cooked and translucent, add a splash of vermouth and the heavy cream. Allow the mixture to continue cooking until the cream begins to evaporate and thickens slightly about 5 minutes. Season to taste. Once cool, stuff the mixture into the wonton skins. Allow ravioli to dry before cooking. Boil* and serve in a bowl with chicken stock topped with a healthy grating of parmesan cheese and a sprinkling of chopped fresh parsley.

Buffalo Mozzarella with Parmesan and Fresh Thyme

1 ball of buffalo mozzarella, drained and chopped into 1/2” squares

1 Tbsp of grated parmesan

1 tsp of thyme leaves, crumbled

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients above. Stuff the mixture into the wonton skins. Allow ravioli to dry before cooking. Boil* and serve with your favourite marinara sauce topped with a sprinkling of fresh basil.

*Heat a pot of water to boiling. Add the wonton skin ravioli and boil until the wonton skins are cooked through, tender and opaque about 2 to 3 minutes. The ravioli will float to the top fairly quickly as the filling is already cooked so you’ll need to eyeball the wonton skins for doneness as floating ravioli is not a true indicator of doneness in this case.