Truffle Mutt

Canada Eats

A few weeks ago Lyn of Lex Culinaria sparked a wild fire when she suggested a blogging event to celebrate Canada Day.  My mailbox was instantly filled with eager participants, excitedly sharing thoughts and ideas.  In the end, it was decided that the event would be called "Taste Canada", and Canada's own, food famous, Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess, put together a fantastic intro to the event on her site.

Here we go then. What does Canada taste like to me?

I would have to say that the center of my Canada has always been my parents’ acreage.  It’s where I grew up, spent most of my life and it will always feel like home.  As if it were yesterday, I see the early morning sun shining through the spruce in the backyard and covering my bed in a sea of glimmering light.  I recall climbing trees, building forts and catching a zillion bugs.  I remember Mom and Dad getting us out of bed on hot summer nights so we could watch the passing thunder storms, and all four of us huddling under sleeping bags on the trampoline to gaze in wonder at the northern lights.  I'd have to say that Canada is everything that my family has made it to be.

So, when I started to think about my taste of Canada, I naturally turned to foods passed down to me by my family.  However, in the search for possibilities, I soon realized that most of what I considered to be Canadian was not Canadian at all. My list wasn’t made up of Canadian symbols like poutine, maple syrup or raisin pie, but of foods stemming from my German heritage. At first I was worried that this would be the wrong direction for a Canada Day event, but after much debate I decided that the origin wasn’t what mattered. What makes these foods Canadian is me and because they've become traditions deeply rooted in the soil of my Canadian family they are Canadian.

Wonderful Eggs

They thicken sauces and soups, froth into cloudy meringues, puff up souffles and delicately bind custards and creams.   But they shine equally as well on their own.  Hard boiled, over-easy, sunny-side-up, scrambled, poached, or pickled.  I can't think of another ingredient that's so versatile and fundamental in the kitchen.  Yes, the miraculous egg.  And for this edition of IMBB hosted by Viv of Seattle Bon Vivant we pay our respects to this shelled wonder.

My entry for this IMBB is a lemon cream from Pierre Herme.  I stumbled across this cream when I was baking the Riviera cake in Pierre's Desserts cookbook.  In the Riviera, this delicate lemon cream is nestled between layers of chocolate cake and creamy dark chocolate mousse and while the combination was good, I found that the distinctiveness of the lemon cream was overpowered.  So when I set out to make this cream again, I decided it would be better in a leading role and not sharing the stage.   

So I served it in custard cups dotted with fresh raspberries.  Wow!  This presentation showed off the cream perfectly.  The silky texture is immediately noticeable and the lemon flavor is clear without being sour or bitter.  It went well with the sweetness of the fresh raspberries and next time I'll be trying this combination in a tart.            

Until Next Time

Do you ever experience moments when, for no apparent reason, you start craving rather peculiar foods?  Instances where a wee voice peaks out of your subconscious and whispers "psst... I'm hungry...", when your attempts at ignoring it are futile and the hunger evolves into an overpowering of conscious thought, and the voice, no longer at a whisper says, "I asked you nicely the first time".  You know the cravings I'm talking about.   

What's different about these cravings, from let's say a regular sugar fix, is that the hunger will be for a food that I wouldn't normally eat.  I'll yearn for pancakes loaded with butter and syrup, which I eat about once a year (during Stampede) and don't even like.  Or I'll suddenly long for the peanut butter and Cheese Whiz on toast that I ate when I was a kid (don't knock it, it's good).  Or, for example, the other night when I was walking home from the bus, my mind was focused on a Denver sandwich.

My Test Kitchen

The weather in Calgary has been miserable.  I've lived here all my life and was completely unaware that we had a Monsoon season here on the prairies.  The one upside to the yucky weather was the lack of guilt I felt barricading myself in the kitchen for the entire weekend.   

I had a dinner party on Saturday night, a brunch on Sunday and a dessert on a Sunday night.  I turned my kitchen upside down making oven roasted tomatoes, stuffed manicotti, apricot tarts, Manhattan clam chowder, roasted tomato soup, grilled ham and arugula sandwiches and a trifle.  My kitchen was a mess and I enjoyed it immensely.

For dinner on Saturday I wanted to try recreating an appetizer we'd eaten at Ideale while we were in San Francisco.  It was an appetizer of paper thin Braseola sprinkled with arugula, capers and shaved parmigiano with a light drizzling olive oil.   The combination was simple in design, yet wonderfully complex in flavor and it seemed easy enough to attempt a recreation in my kitchen.

But first I had to go shopping.  I had to track down arugula, which is ridiculously hard to find here, and pick up Braseola.  So I was off to the Italian Supermarket on 20th Ave NE.  It isn't a huge store, but it's got most of what you'd expect, it's less expensive than the other Italian stores in the area and it's got the best people.  It has such a sense of community that I feel like I've stepped into Italy when I cross the threshold.  While I was at the deli counter ordering my Braseola, prosciutto, capiccola and Genoa salami the butcher kept feeding me samples.  This turned out to be an effective marketing tool because I ended up buying much more than I had planned.

Tag I'm It

I've been tagged by the lovely Ana of Pumpkin Pie Bungalow for the cookbook meme.  Yeah!  This will be fun to fill out.   Here we go.

1.  Total number of (cook/food) books I've owned:
I've got about 35 at the moment, but that number seems to grow with a frightening frequency.  I don't know if it counts or not, but I also have a lot of magazine's including Bon Appetite, Gourmet, Saveur, Cuisine at Home and Fine Cooking, Olive, Delicious and Chile Pepper.

2.  Last (cook/food) book(s) I bought:
The last two cookbooks added to my collection were given to me for by birthday.  I got Baking Illustrated and Wings Across America.  I've been able to use Baking Illustrated a couple of times and I've been really happy with the results!

3.  Last (cook/food) book I read:
The last book I read was On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.   It was an intriguing read and I learned a plethora of interesting food facts.  It's really only for food fanatics though, extreme food fanatics. 

4.  Five (cook) books that mean a lot to me:
a)  My Goose is Cooked - this great book is full of family recipes and the charming stories of the people behind them.  Everything that I've made from it has the distinct taste of home cooking from the heart.  Even when I make something new, it tastes and feels like a childhood comfort food.  Jason bought a signed copy of the book last Christmas for us, and he's really not a kitchen type person, so this was a rare event.
b)  The Professional Chef - This book is my cooking school.  I refer to it for techniques and for basic recipes.  It also has a number of recipes for spice mixes and sauces that I use frequently.  I can't imagine cooking without it.
c)  Baking Illustrated - Although I've only had this book for a short time I love it.  I love that the test kitchen explains the processes and results of their trials.  It truly allows you to learn from someone else's mistakes.   
d)  Dessert by Pierre Herme - I love this book for it's unique desserts.  The instructions are easy to follow, making even the most complex recipes achievable, although still time consuming.  The lemon curd is heavenly (I still have to post about it).
e)  I know it's not a book, but I have to give one spot to my Cuisine at Home Magazine Subscription.  I'm sure I cook with them at least once a week.  Each one is packed with great recipes, incredibly easy to follow instructions, kitchen tips, appliance reviews and an "All About" section that highlights a specific food and tells just about all you'd ever need to know.  What I like about the issues is that they don't rely a lot on hard to find ingredients, so you can usually whip something up.

5.  Which 5 people would you most like to see fill this out in their blog?
Nic - Baking Sheet
Moira - Who Wants Seconds?
Orion - The Confabulist
Jennifer - The Domestic Goddess
Angela - A Spoonful of Sugar

High on Tarts

For this SHF event I had to ponder long and hard before deciding to make Pierre Hermé's Nutella Tart.  I'd already made this dessert once before, so I was reluctant to give up the opportunity to try something new.  However, since I wasn't all that impressed with the results of the first attempt this would provide me a chance to play with the recipe.  And I hadn't posted about it the first time, so I figured it was probably okay.

The first time I made the tart it turned out well and tasted good, but it's fairly hard to mess up anything made of chocolate and hazelnut.  In my opinion the tart fell short of perfect and I wanted to make a few changes. 

First off, I wanted to introduce a contrasting, but complimentary flavor to the rich chocolate ganache and Nutella fillings.  So I used a crumbly, buttery dough from a Cooks Illustrated recipe.

I also wanted to turn up the hazelnut influence by adding Frangelico liqueur to the filling somehow.  But I didn't want to add it to the chocolate ganache and lose the flavor contrast between the bitter chocolate and sweet Nutella.  So, I started thinking about other options and  I came across a recipe that called for soaked Ameretti cookies as a filling.  I liked the idea but didn't want those flavors, plus the cookies would likely get soggy once baked with the filling.  In the end I came up with fine ground toasted hazelnuts.  The flavor obviously fit and the texture of the nuts wouldn't be affected by the filling.  So I soaked the ground nuts in Frangelico, spread them onto the prebaked tart shell, added the Nutella, and finally poured over the chocolate ganache.

The finished product was better then I had anticipated.  The shell, which turned out almost shortbread like, highlighted the flavors in the filling, while the drunken hazelnuts added a level of complexity without being overpowering.  I was very impressed with the flavors and textures of this second attempt and I would be happy to make this tart again. 

Caustic Tomatoes

Does anyone else have a story revolving around no-name cheapy, puckeringly acidic, canned tomatoes?  You know, the ones you have around because your all out of the succulent Italian imported variety that are fresh, sweet and rich?

Well I have a few of those stories and tonight I added another.  I was craving pasta, but all I had in the cupboard was icky tomatoes.  But tonight, I wasn't worried.  I had a new weapon to use against this evil.  Recently, my Mom had passed on to me a tip that I believe she found in a copy of Cooks Illustrated and it's as simple as adding a pinch of baking soda.  Could it really be that easy?  Soon I'd find out, as I was putting  my tomatoes to the test.

To make the sauce I fried up 1/2 a diced onion, 3 diced sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, and 1 clove of garlic and then I tipped in the can of tomatoes, 8-10 leaves of basil and 1 tbsp of tomato paste.  I let the sauce reduce slightly and then I readied myself for the first taste test.  As expected the tomatoes were biting and overpowering.  So, I sprinkled on 1/2 tsp of my magic weapon and let it bubble madly, hunting out all those evil sour-ites. 

The moment of truth.  Was one wee spoon of baking soda all that stood between these tomatoes and perfection?  (Drum roll please) Yes!  It absolutely worked!  My tomato sauce had been transformed and I realized there was sweetness hidden in there after all.  Without the extra acidity, the sauce had developed a well rounded out and full bodied flavor.  It was a miracle.

The sauce turned out to be great.  So, then to finish I used another tip that I'd read in a Cuisine at Home magazine, which was to cook the pasta until just about done, drain it and add it to the sauce to finish cooking.  The results were wonderful.  Give it a try!      

Belated Tale

Enough procrastination already.  Our trip to San Francisco was over a month ago and I need to post about now before it's completely faded from my short term memory.  In short, the trip was spectacular.  The places we visited were fantastic and the weather was unexpectedly sunny and warm, or at least, it appeared that way from inside all the resturaunts.    :o)

The trip was a piggyback on Jason's cousins wedding in Carmel at the end of April.  The itinerary had us flying into San Francisco, proceeding to Carmel for the wedding and then, on no real schedule, wandering back to San Francisco to eat, drink and see the sights. 

The trip started in Carmel, and wow, I love Carmel.  I fell in love with the picturesque rocky coastline and the din of crashing waves.  It was utterly serene.  I would live there in a second, but of course my bank account isn't able to afford me that luxury.   

The eating began as soon as we got there, but the real gastronomic highlight in Carmel was the rehersal dinner at Flaherty's Oyster Bar.  Where we were served enormous amounts of seafood, starting with giant appetizer platters, loaded with superb selections of shrimp scampi, calamari, roasted garlic, baked brie and fresh sourdough.  Then once we'd polished those off (and several bottles of wine) we moved on to dinner, which was no disappiontment either.  I had an excellent breaded halibut fillet with a delicate wild mushroom cream sauce.  Generally I think that everyone had a good time, which was probably due, at least in part, to the free flowing wine.  Yeah it was a fun evening.    

On the food front the morning of the wedding was much less exciting, as I somehow ended up at the Denny's in Monterey with all the groomsman.  I'm not sure how I got myself into that one, but once I'd had my first bite of a crispy, greasy "Moons over my Hamy" I managed to forget everything else.  It might not have been the foody highlight of my trip, but a "Moons over my hamy" sandwich is a fast food treasure and is always welcome.

Herbs at Home

Last summer I made an honest attempt to grow my own herbs.  I wanted to experience the sense of accomplishment that comes from nibbling on the tender green sprigs that have been personally hand raised and cared for. 

So to start I planted my newly purchased baby seeds in their peat pucks and then lovingly placed them in their brand new greenhouse.  When the messy part was done I stationed them in the window and watched them, and then watched some more.  Finally the tiny green leaves started to emerge from the soil, instilling in me a feeling of great optimism.  They flourished in their greenhouse and shortly after the sprouts arrived I had to thin out the miniature herb bushes before the competition got too fierce.  They continued to grow getting tall and leafy until they eventually reached the top, struggling to escape.  So I did what they asked and removed them from their sanctuary and transplanted them into little pots.  And that's when the experiment took a turn for the worse.  The growth of the sprouts slowed significantly and the plants became strung out and lanky looking.  After only a few weeks out of the greenhouse there were several casualties and by the end of summer what did survive was too unsubstantial to possibly recover from having bits hacked off.  My home grown plants were pitiful at best.

So this year I've learned my lesson and abandoned the idea of seed planting.  I ordered all my herbs from a Solar Winds Botanicals and from them I got beautifully established, full and healthy chive, parsley, lemon grass, oregano, thyme, basil, mint, watercress, sage, and marjoram plants.  If I could find a place to buy an 8 foot basil tree I would certainly buy one, but I settled for a 2 4" pots. 

I planted the majority of the plants in two planters on the patio, but not wanting to give up on the idea of an indoor herb garden just yet, I did plant the lemon and Greek basil, orange thyme, rosemary and lavender in the window sill.  I'll give it one last try! 

I've been thinking a lot about the upcoming SHF #9 on tarts.  How am I supposed to pick just one tart to make?  There are just too many possibilities and it's painfully difficult choosing just one.  I've found numerous fruit, chocolate, mousse and custard tarts that look amazing and I want to make them all.  If I can't come to a decision shortly I may do just that.

On top of that, there is the fantastic "Taste Canada" event that's just around the corner, and an IMBB on eggs.  Again, I have a million ideas and I am struggling to narrow the selections.  I think I'll be going through a lot of groceries in the next few weeks and I see towering stacks of dirty dishes in my future as well. 

For dinner tonight though I set all that hard decision making aside and made pork chops.  Being a member of the All-Recipes mailing list I received a recipe for teriyaki marinaded pork by e-mail this afternoon and that seemed easy enough.  It was meant to be used on pork shish-kabobs, but I had some great pork chops in the freezer that were cut extra thick making them perfect for the barbecue.  I marinated the pork chops in the glaze for about 30 minutes and then on the grill they went.  To keep them company I put a foil package of asparagus in olive oil on the barbecue too.