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.

October 14th, 2011 by Dawn Becker

I’m trying to expand my repertoire and take on new dishes that I felt were a challenge in the past. My post on gnocchi was the beginning and in between I’ve reunited myself with crème brûlée, which isn’t really hard at all once you understand how a bain marie and a kitchen torch works.

Next I decided to try using salt cod. Salt cod has been used in recipes for hundreds of years. Essentially the cod is dried and salted to extend it’s shelf-life. Many cultures have recipes that use salt cod including bacahlau famous in Portugal and Spain, ackee and saltfish in Jamaica and other Caribbean countries, and in Northern Europe, parts of Africa and all over China. In fact China uses this preservation method for many types of seafood including mussels and oysters and too many types of fish to list to here. Check out this blogger’s post for a varied list of Chinese dried fish products complete with great photos.

Now back to the cod. Cod has been fished off the shores of Atlantic Canada specifically Newfoundland for hundreds of years but overfishing has created a dent in supply that may never be recovered. Other white fish can be found using the same dried and salted preservation method and depending on your recipe, makes a fine substitute.

One thing I’ve heard about working with salt cod is that cooking with them takes a long time. What should be clarified is that the time is really in the prep in order to desalt the cod. You have to put the salt cod in a large bowl of cold water at least 24 hours in advance, and change the water regularly, every few hours, in order to rid the fish of the excess salt. There will still be saltiness left in the fish after a day which brings me to my next important point. Don’t add additional salt to your recipes until you’ve tasted the near-final product, otherwise you might end up with an inedible dish. More likely than not, you won’t need any.

My recipe is shown below for salt cod cakes. I’m not a huge fan in general of crab cakes or fish cakes but my sons are and if it vouches for anything, Cole ate three of them in one sitting.

Salt Cod Cakes

1 lb salted cod fish

2 cups of milk

2 cloves of garlic, lightly smashed

1 large or 2 small Yukon Gold potatoes, cut in quarters (Russet potatoes also work as you’re essentially making mashed potatoes to mix with the desalted cod)

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 small onion, diced

freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 cup of flour (1/2 cup for cod cake mixture, 1/2 cup reserved for dusting form cod cakes)

1/4 cup vegetable oil (canola, olive oil or grape seed oil are all fine to use)

A day in advance, place the salt cod in a large bowl of cold water. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. Every few hours change the water and replace with fresh, cold water. The next day, drain the salt cod and cut into fillets (if they are not already cut up or in pieces) just small enough to fit into your saucepan. Heat milk in the saucepan and add the garlic. When the milk nears boiling add the salt cod fillets and reduce heat to low to simmer for 20 minutes. In a separate pot filled with water, add the potatoes and boil on high until the potatoes are cooked (test with a kitchen knife and when the potatoes slide right off the knife when poked, they’re ready). The potatoes and fish should be ready around the same time. Drain both the fish and potatoes and allow them to cool.

Once cooled, place the potatoes into a large mixing bowl and give them a rough mash. Gently flake the fish into the bowl and add the Old Bay seasoning, egg, grindings of pepper, onion and 1/2 cup of flour and mix until evenly combined. Form the cod cake mixture into hockey puck-sized patties and dust with flour on both sides before setting the formed patties onto a plate. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight so the cod cakes have a chance to set up. This is an important step so the cod cakes don’t fall apart when you cook them, however, you can sneak one or two to fry at this point if you really can’t wait.

To fry the cod cakes, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the cod cakes in batches until they are golden brown on both sides about 3 or 4 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately with wedges of lemon and tartar sauce, if you wish.

September 27th, 2011 by Dawn Becker

There are a few things culinary that most people agree are intimidating. Right at the top of the list has to be making soufflé. Whether cheese or chocolate, both types of soufflés threaten to collapse taking your spirit along with it. I’m not quite at that level of emotional risk-taking today so I’ve chosen to strike something less threatening off the middle of my to-try list. Today I created my first batch of hand-made gnocchi.

Not being lucky enough to be raised by a doting Italian nonna who has passed on the gift of pasta-making and the secret family sauce recipes to me since I was born — Oh Lidia! To have a grandmother like you — I have a healthy fear of making gnocchi. I’ve eaten terrible gnocchi, pasty, bland and heavy as a lead weight. I’ve also eaten delicious gnocchi, light, airy, pillows of goodness dropped directly from angels hands. So I was fairly concerned that all of my efforts would be wasted because I am certainly no angel.

It turns out, I might have the gnocchi knack.

Two disastrous results lurk when making gnocchi. The first one I mentioned above being the dense sinkers that come out gummy and not at all heavenly. The second disaster can occur during cooking when your gnocchi fall apart and disintegrate in the water. This is actually a worse result than making sinkers because you won’t have anything to eat. Both of these gnocchi disasters can be alleviated by the use of the right amount of flour, and in the case of the former, not overworking your gnocchi. Gnocchi that disintegrates in the water is usually the result of not enough flour incorporated.

My results are pictured above and while I have not yet learned to make them uniform in shape, I think they look kind of rustic and had a light and fluffy texture when cooked. However they could have used more flour to hold their shape better during cooking as you can see from the final results below. Taste-wise, I would incorporate a handful of grated parmesan cheese or a sprinkling of nutmeg in the next batch to counter the potato flavour slightly, which came through surprisingly stronger than I had imagined. A bit like a ball of mashed potatoes in my mouth yet still pleasing.

I served the cooked gnocchi with a sauce made with shredded meat from braised Angus beef back ribs. Here are the recipes which were enough for 2 entree servings of gnocchi plus a jar of sauce for later.

Gnocchi

2 medium-sized Yukon Gold potatoes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 egg

Bring a pot of water to boil and add the whole unpeeled potatoes. Boil for 25 minutes or until you can pierce a knife through the potato and it slides off easily. Remove the potatoes and allow them to cool a few minutes until you can remove the skins. The skins should peel off easily.

Place a food mill set with the smallest holes over a large mixing bowl and churn all the potatoes through. A potato ricer can also be used and I’ve heard it’s preferable but my condo does not like to fit kitchen equipment that only has a single purpose so a food mill is my tool of choice for this.

Add the egg to the bowl of milled potatoes and with your hands gently combine evenly with the potatoes. Mix in the flour a little at a time forming the mixture into a ball of dough. Add only enough flour so that the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead a few times. Do not overwork the dough as this is when the gnocchi can get tough. Cut the ball into four pieces and roll out each into a 1” rope. Cut the rope into 1” pieces. With the tines of a fork, gently roll it over the dough pieces to make an indentation on one side. Place the finished gnocchi pieces onto a tray and keep cool in the fridge until ready to cook.

To cook, boil a pot of water and add the gnocchi in batches. When cooked, the gnocchi will rise to the surface. Using a spider or slotted spoon, scoop out the floating gnocchi and serve with Braised Beef Back Ribs Sauce or another sauce of your choice.

Optional: Add 1 tsp of ground nutmeg or 1/4 cup of grated parmesan with the flour for more flavourful gnocchi.

Braised Beef Back Ribs Sauce

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp onion powder

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp seasoning salt

1 tsp dried oregano

4 or 5 meaty beef back ribs

1 1/2 cups of beef stock

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 carrot, diced

1 rib of celery, diced

1 clove garlic, smashed

1 tsp dried oregano

1 796 mL/28 oz. can of whole tomatoes, preferably high quality San Marzano tomatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together the first six ingredients to make a dry rub. Coat the ribs with spice rub and place in a plastic bag to marinate in the refrigerator for an hour or as long as overnight.

Remove the ribs from the fridge and bring them to room temperature 30 minutes before cooking. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Place the ribs in a roasting pan, add the beef stock and cover with a lid or wrap with foil to seal. Place in the oven in the middle rack and braise for 3 to 4 hours, until the meat falls off the bone. When the ribs are ready, remove them from the oven and set aside to cool. Once cool, pull the meat off the bone and shred it or roughly chop it. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil on medium high. Sauté the onion, carrot and celery about 5 to 7 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic and oregano and fry for 1 minute. Add the shredded beef and cook stirring another 5 minutes. In a large bowl pour in the whole tomatoes and crush them by hand to break them down. Add all the crushed tomatoes and juices directly into the skillet and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer uncovered for 20 minutes until the flavours meld together and the tomato sauce has reduced slightly. Pour over cooked gnocchi or your favourite pasta. Reserve the rest of the sauce in a tightly sealed jar in the fridge for another meal this week. 

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.

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.

September 29th, 2010 by Dawn Becker

As an event planner who loves to cook I’m always torn during the harvest months which coincide with conference season, my busiest time work-wise. It’s the last bounty of the summer and the most I can do is smell the ripe vegetables from afar like a child with her nose pressed to the window of a candy store. I feel chained to my desk and sick of the take-out boxes piling up in the recycling bin. And I feel guilty, a curse from my Catholic youth combined with SWM (Single Working Mom) syndrome.

Event work is like being on a rollercoaster that eventually hits a wall. You can’t change the deadline. Once an event is set, you ride the rollercoaster up slowly, hit the peak and when you go over you can’t stop until, well, you do. Slammed last week and now I’m moving up the track again without missing a beat.

But braising season is upon us and it’s time for redemption good eats style.

If you’ve got a few minutes to spare to prep, braising is a great method of cooking when you’re busy. Basically it comes down to chop, brown, and simmer.

I picked up a beautiful cut of pork belly and decided to braise using a Chinese red-cooked method, a comforting memory from my childhood. My mom being supremely health conscious hasn’t cooked this since my dad was around more than 25 years ago, so this really is a dish with him in mind.

I decided to braise the pork belly whole to give me more serving options later. One can’t eat a whole slab of pork belly in a single sitting and even if you could, you shouldn’t. If you braise the pork belly whole you can slice or rough chop it, wrap it in a soft corn tortilla with other suitable fixings like cilantro, red onion and salsa and make yourself an Asian-fusion taco. Or you could cube it and reheat it with some braising sauce that you saved and serve it over steamed rice, in a more traditional serving. 

One of my favourite recipes for Red-Cooked Pork (hong shao rou) comes from Saveur. This version is simple and I really like that it takes the scare factor out of what I always thought was a complicated dish because it uses few and easy-to-find ingredients. As I wasn’t raised in a typical Chinese kitchen*, sometimes the old school home-style dishes are intimidating. Below is my adapted recipe keeping the pork belly whole and the rind on, which I prefer.

Braised Red-Cooked Pork Belly

2 lbs boneless pork belly with rind (whole)

1 Tbsp peanut oil

1 2” piece ginger, sliced into 1/8” coins

10 scallions (green onions), cut into 3” pieces

1/4 cup Shaoxing jiu (Chinese rice wine)

5 Tbsp mushroom soy sauce

2 cups water

2 oz rock sugar (a chunk about the size of an apricot)

Put the whole pork belly into a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Uncover and cook for 2 minutes; drain and rinse.

Heat peanut oil in a dutch oven or a large pot with a well-fitting lid. Add ginger and scallions and stir-fry quickly, about 10 seconds. Add the pork belly bottom-side down and cook a few minutes till browned. Then turn to cook both of the meaty sides a few minutes till browned. Do not brown the rind side as the rind will stick to the bottom of your pot. Pour in the Shaoxing jiu or Chinese rice wine and allow that to cook down 2 minutes – it will turn brown and thicken slightly. Then add the soy sauce over the pork belly coating the rind and the sides. Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil.

Once it boils, add the rock sugar. (There’s no need to make a mess trying to crush the rock sugar. It will take a few minutes to melt down but proceed to the simmering stage as it can’t resist melting in the heat.)

Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer covered, stirring occasionally. Simmer 2 to 3 hours depending on the thickness, until the pork is tender.

–

*My strongest food memories involving my mother are probably her all-corn-all-the-time diet (which made her ill because “surprisingly” your body can develop a kind of allergy or rejection when it has too much of a good thing). Then there were the macrobiotic-ish meals that were equivalent to eating stir-fried shredded newspaper. And my all-time favourite… the juicer phase. Just because a juicer can pulpify any type of fruit or vegetable, doesn’t mean it should. I could go on but I need to save some stories for my hilarious best-selling yet-to-be-written novel.

August 29th, 2010 by Dawn Becker

When you hear someone say menudo do you think of hot, young Latin men in a famous singing group that launched Ricky Martin’s career? Or are you like me, and immediately start drooling, not because of Ricky Martin but instead, envisioning a large steaming bowl of a traditional Mexican soup made with tripe, laced with chile peppers, hominy (a large dried corn kernel but not as sweet as the peaches and cream corn we’re used to) and topped with cilantro and a fresh squeeze of lime juice.   Above a closer look at a piece of soft tripe after it’s been simmered till tender on the stove top. Not at all as frightening as one would suspect when thinking about having a piece of stewed beef stomach. Sometimes the broth is clear and other times it’s red from the type of chile used in the soup, making a version known as menudo rojo.

Anecdotally thought to be a hangover cure, menudo is delicious anytime, even for breakfast. It can be served with warmed tortillas used to scoop the tender tripe and then topped with pico de gallo made of chopped fresh tomato, onion and jalapeno (or whatever chile is preferred) marinated in salt and lime juice. While it’s hard to find menudo on restaurant menus in Toronto – it’s a home-style dish more commonly reserved for family meals – you can find the Salvadoran version of menudo, called pancita, regularly at Tacos El Asador.

But why not make it at home, the way millions of Mexican families do, simmering a pot of menudo slowly on the stove. It is surprisingly simple to make. I would start with a trip to T&T Supermarket where they have a fairly large selection of offal including tripe. Just look for “Assorted Guts”. Only in a Chinese market can you see signage for assorted guts posted indiscriminately and without the slightest bit of humour intended. Tripe can also be found in many other Asian grocery stores and sometimes in European (read Italian or Portuguese) butcher shops.

I’ve made menudo using whatever tripe is on hand whether it’s rumen (pictured below), reticulum (which has the larger honeycomb shape), or omasum which is often seen in dim sum dishes or Vietnamese pho. Rumen has the best texture for menudo but as long as you simmer the version of tripe you have long enough so that it is meltingly tender then it’s really no matter in the end.  The most important part of making menudo is ensuring the tripe is clean. Tripe is typically sold in packages pre-cleaned where it will appear imcomprehensibly white. The problem with this is that it’s been cleaned with a portion of bleach that will leave an odour in your soup if you don’t get rid of it by first boiling it in a pot of water with a tablespoon of Kosher salt for 5 or 10 minutes.

Alternatively you can soak it in clean water for an hour. Discard any water used in the bleach removal process. The best test to ensure that you’ve soaked or boiled your tripe long enough so the ungainly chlorine scent won’t taint your final product is simple: Smell it. If there’s even a lingering hint of a swimming pool you need to boil it longer or if soaking, drain the water and re-soak in clean water.

You will also need a calf’s foot which you should also be able to get from the same Asian market. Ask the butcher at the counter to cut the calf’s foot in half for you. And finally, the last major ingredient is a can of hominy which you can get where they sell Latin American products.

If you’re in Kensington Market, stop by Perola Supermarket or Emporium Latino to choose from a variety of canned hominy. You can pick up your chile peppers, cilantro and limes near by too.

Mexican Menudo (Tripe Soup)

1 package of tripe (about 1 1/2 lb) preferably rumen (honeycomb tripe is also fine)

6 cups of water (more, if bleach removal process is required)

1 Tbsp canola oil

2 medium onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp. Kosher salt (plus 1 Tbsp, if bleach removal process is required)

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1 calf’s foot, cut in half

1 15 oz (425 g) can of hominy

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

2 limes, cut into wedges

1 jalapeno, sliced thin (or your choice of hot chile pepper)

6 soft tortilla shells

Wash tripe. If there is a strong bleach odour, boil in water with 1 Tbsp of salt until no odour remains about 5 or 10 minutes. Remove tripe, cut into 1” x 2” pieces and set aside. Discard boiled water.

In a clean pot, heat oil on medium high heat. Add onions and sautee until nearly translucent about 3 minutes. Add garlic, salt and oregano. Return the tripe pieces to the pot. Add the calf’s foot and cover with water. Simmer, covered for about 3 hours or until the tripe and calf’s foot is very tender. Add the undrained can of hominy. Cover and simmer another 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with chopped cilantro, lime wedges, jalapeno slices and warmed tortilla shells. Serves 6.

Options: If you prefer to have your menudo spicy right out of the pot, you can add the jalapeno slices when you add the hominy. You can also squeeze the juice of half a lime directly into the pot at the end and serve with extra lime wedges as a garnish, if you prefer to cut the tripe soup with more acidity. I also enjoy stirring in 1/2 of the chopped cilantro leaves into the pot at the end when you take the soup off the heat. Doing this creates a beautifully fresh burst of green cilantro aroma in the air. Be sure to serve extra cilantro on the side.

February 3rd, 2010 by Dawn Becker

I just got back from St. Jamestown Steak & Chops on Parliament Street north of Carlton Avenue. I went in for a free-range chicken and ended up with two gigantic brown bags full of goodies. Surprised? Surely not. This place is a haven of tasty with their deli counter and eat-in section on one side and butcher shop with gorgeous cuts of meat and daily fish selection flanked by superior looking vegetables in the shop beside. I haven’t eaten from the deli but I know that the products are cooked with the same meat, fish and produce that’s sold in the store. And I really liked how the butcher, Mark came out from the back to introduce himself and chat with me about his products.

I was on my way out the door when I saw some freshly cleaned slabs of local rainbow trout that I could not resist. The clerk, Jean, did not remember exactly where in Ontario they came from, but she could guarantee they came in today. There was no convincing needed as the fish had a perfect sheen with not a hint of any odour. I thought an appetizer of rainbow trout on a bed of mixed salad with sunflower sprouts would be a nice start to dinner. I bought a small piece that cost under $3 and immediately went home to cook it. St. Jamestown Steak & Chops is rare in that you’re getting both quality and value. Rowe Farms in my neighbourhood is great for organic and free range meats but they are no match for these prices.

As soon as the groceries were unpacked, I clicked on the gas and hunted for the right pan. I chose a medium size non-stick Cuisinart GreenGourmet pan – their ad says that these pans use an “exclusive nonstick cooking surface that is free of petroleum; that means no PTFE or PFOA present”. I’ve been meaning to write about these frying pans because it seems to have good wear and tear. Plus, I like that the ceramica surface hasn’t peeled off like an old teflon pan in the two years that I’ve had them.

I seasoned the trout filet with sea salt and olive oil. Down in the pan skin-side first and then flip to cook the other side. That’s it. Turn off the heat and set aside. This was a thin filet so it took barely 2 minutes per side. While the fish was resting, I took some washed salad mix and a handful of nutty sunflower sprouts and placed them on a salad plate. Then a drizzle of spicy extra virgin olive oil on the salad. My current favourite is from Terroni, a traditional southern Italian restaurant chain that sells a number of their own labelled grocery items. And topped it all with a spritz of lemon. Divinely fresh.

For the main course, I bought three fat bone-in antibiotic-free pork chops, again reasonably priced at just under $10 for the three. They looked like they were from happy pigs, ah but I was so excited about cooking them that I forgot to ask. I marinated them for an hour in Maggi liquid seasoning, a staple in Chinese homes and an international favourite used to add depth to sauces, soups and stir fries. It’s a bit of a cheat as it contains MSG but I’m happy to have a time-saver here and there as I like having a break from making all my own marinades from scratch.

Pork chops in my cast iron frying pan below. Looking at it now, they seem crowded but the pan was very hot and I placed the thickest pork chop in first to sear before the remaining chops went in.

And here it is plated with a simple accompaniment of a baked potato and steamed broccoli as the flavour of the marinade is in every bite of the pork chop. In this case, it’s all about the quality of the meat that made this pork chop such a superstar. What a delicious night a little bit of inspiration can make. I am going to make sure that St. Jamestown Steak & Chops is a regular stop, especially when I need a nudge in the kitchen.

Rainbow Trout Filet on Mixed Salad

1 rainbow trout filet

2 portions mixed salad

1 portion sunflower sprouts (as many as you like)

sea salt

extra virgin olive oil

2 lemon wedges

Lightly coat the pan with oil and cook the trout on medium high heat starting with the skin side down for about 2 minutes or until browned. Flip the trout filet and cook til just done, around another 2 minutes. Set pan aside. Prepare the salad on the plate topping with a handful of sunflower sprouts. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over greens, to taste. Season with a sprinkling of sea salt and a squeeze of lemon. Place half of the trout filet on top of each salad plate and squeeze lemon over the fish. Enjoy.

Pan-Fried Maggi Pork Chops

2 bone-in pork chops

3 Tbsp Maggi liquid seasoning

1 tsp oil

Marinate the pork chop in Maggi liquid seasoning for an hour, turning the chops over half way through to marinate both sides. Remove the pork chops from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature before cooking. Heat a cast iron frying pan on high heat. The pan needs to be hot enough to sear the meat. Once the pan is hot, add the oil and the pork chops. Be careful to watch the sizzle from the Maggi liquid seasoning. Pork chops do not need to be cooked to oblivion – about 2 to 3 minutes a side should do it depending on thickness. The trick is to let them rest in the cast iron frying pan for a minute after cooking. The cast iron pan releases heat slowly so it will stay warm and this way the juices remain inside the pork chops. Add your favourite accompaniments such as a baked potato or steamed broccoli.

Note: If you decide to cook more than a couple of pork chops at a time, make sure that the pan is very hot and that the chops have enough space in the pan so that they sear properly instead of being steamed.