Purple Yams on the Last Saturday in February

GO CANADA

(sorry couldn't' help it)

One of the nicest things about eating brunch at a great restaurant isn't just that you don't have to make it or clean up afterwards, but i always really enjoy the nice fruit they often put on the plate. I'm not talking about a flavourless piece of melon and a dry orange, but something exotic and flavourful. I actually got my inspiration for this meal from the blood oranges that i bought recently.

The other "strange" thing i bought recently were purple yams. I didn't have a plan for them when i bought them, but i'd never seen them before so i couldn't resist. I'm not really a huge starch fan, but i do like sweet potatoes, and knew i could do something fun with these. I decided to do them like homefries, but i also flavoured them with some maple syrup - which i always think of as a traditional combination with yams. I also used the regular seasoning - garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary, red chili flakes.

While i was making the homefries i made a salad, just tomatoes, cucumber and some extra old white cheddar diced into small cubes. That is another thing i like about going out for brunch, there is often a salad - makes it feel sort of healthy! For the egg dish, i did a lighter version of eggs Florentine. Using my silicone poacher i poached an egg while i got the rest of the meal ready. I sauteed the shallots, and added the spinach cooking until it was wilted.

I topped some dark toasted rye with the spinach, added the egg then sprinkled with goat cheese for a little tang - and i had a pretty sweet breakfast for the last saturday in february.

February - the shortest, cruelest month.

Above:

Inspiration
Purple yams
Breakie

Beet and Carrot Salad - Guest Chef: Mom

Recently up at my parent's place my mother allowed me to irritate her by photographing her making a tasty beet and carrot salad. I thought it was a nice salad to make, and you do it in advance, so that the flavours have time to permiate. It also uses beets raw, which is a bit of a change when you think of beets they are usually pickled or roasted. (see Roasted Beet Salad)




My mother was smart, and before starting the salad she put on her painting shirt and some rubber gloves. I love beets but they really can stain your hands and your cutting board, and if you have gloves it might be a good idea to use them, if not you can look like an extra in Dexter!


Once she had peeled the carrots and beets, and cut them into a more reasonable size, she pulled out the trusty Cuisinart and attached the shredding blade. They say to do the beets first - i don't really know why, i guess it has to do with the dye, but that's how it was done.


When the carrots and beets were ready my mother went on to make the dressing which was a nice simple one with slightly unusual ingredients. It contained the usual suspects: olive oil, juice of a lemon, honey, but also cumin, cinnamon, corriander seeds, cayanne pepper and a little bit of pepper.


As i mentioned she made this salad an hour or so before the dinner and left it at room tempeture. This was actually a good decision because when we tasted it after she had just mixed it, there was a slight powdery flavour to the salad. I think it takes a while for the beets to absorb the falvors.


Unfortunately my final picture dosent' really give justice to the colours of this meal, it was quite a unique one. The only thing i would try is perhaps replacing some of the lemon juice with (fresh) orange juice. (Warning: that is just a thought, i haven't tried it).

Thanks Mommy!

Baby Bok Choy in the Bamboo Steamer

So after pretty much eating dumplings for every meal, i thought i would investigate what other things my steamer could accomplish. I had some baby bok choy, which is one of my favorites and is an excellent source of calcium, and thought instead of stir frying it as i usually do- i would put it in the steamer. A lot of the online stuff i read about the steamer suggested using bok choy or lettuce on the bottom to prevent what you were cooking from sticking - as i mentioned i used parchment paper, so i wasn't concerned that the bok choy would stick.

I washed the bok choy, trimmed some of the tougher ends, and cut the larger bunches in half. I arranged them in the bamboo steamer. Now as much as i like healthy things, plain steamed bok choy sounded a little too healthy for me, so i thought i would make a sauce to dress the bok choy with once it was steamed. I wanted to make a bit of a thicker sauce, as i thought it would be better for the texture.

Not really having a plan, i just pulled out some of the usual suspects - soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, vegetarian oyster sauce (which is a bit thicker) and i minced some ginger, along with half of one of the deadly peppers!!! (i've learned my lesson). The sauce was a little thin and tart, so i added some honey which gave it the right consistency, and flavour.

The bok choy was really quick to steam, and once it was done, i drained it, then plated it and drizzled the dressing on top. I decided to add some sesame seeds at the last minute. This was a great side dish, and looked quite good too, i think it will become a regular staple.

Above:

Finished bok choy

Fresh out the steamer

Another finished

Changing of the Guard - New Plates!!!

I used to be a huge thrift shopper - i've had a little personal intervention - and over the years i was able to collect a set of dishes which i have always loved - The Stonehenge Midwinter series, in particular sun and earth. (the sun are the yellow ones and the earth brown). My mother always envied them, and so i began to collect the spring ones for her, along with the help of my father's credit card and ebay we got her a substantial collection and gave it to her as a gift.

I've always coveted my mom's spring dishes (quietly of course) and recently when she informed me that she was "fickle" i knew they would eventually be mine. My mother found a few of the Denby midnight plates at the thrift store she volunteers at, and decided that this would be her new plate set. Getting right into ebay she has received plates from all over north america, and i think a couple from the UK. Of course she doesn't have room for the old spring plates, so over the long weekend she packaged them up and gave them to me.

I didn't replace my dishes right away, i sort of felt a little guilty about how much i liked the spring ones. There was really nothing wrong with mine, but the other ones are prettier. My mom had a lot less large dinner plates than i did, so i kept a few of mine, she also didn't have a lot of the accessories (salt and pepper, creamers, butter dishes) but i never really used them. Finally this weekend i put my old dishes in the same box the new ones came in and committed myself to the spring collection. I must admit they look amazing. Perhaps i am fickle too!

I do quite well in benefiting in my mother's new appliance/kitchen alterations. Some of the stuff ends up at the cottage, but what doesn't or what is now not good enough for the cottage is mine! Its an awesome way for me to "upgrade" my gadgets, plates, what-have-yous. Thank goodness for a "fickle" mom.

Now if only i could get her to replace her Lagostina pot set.....

Above:

Changing of the guard
Box of spring
Mugs - they look so good in my cupboard!

My new bamboo steamer - dumplings

As i mentioned i treated myself to a few kitchen accessories for Valentines day - better than jewelry these days, and one of the things i got myself was a bamboo steamer. I've always been curious about these things - apparently you can stack them and make a whole meal by putting the ingredients on different levels. I wasn't quite ready for that kind of ambitious cooking, so i simply got one with one level, figuring i could always buy another level if i felt so inclined.

I decided that one of the first things i was going to try making was dumplings. I really like them, and had mainly had them pan fried. I thought i would try a healthier way of making them. While i was at the grocery store they had so many types of dumplings, most of them containing pork, but i thought i would play it safe and get some vegetarian ones. The first kind i got was a mushroom mixture and the other simply a veggie one, which seemed to have leeks, cabbage and carrots.

In all of my internet research i noticed that they recommended you put something - either greens or parchment paper down to prevent sticking. I actually had a bit of parchment paper left so i thought i would use that. I put an inch of water in a pot that the steamer could fit into and brought it to a boil, once it was boiling i put in the steamer. This is actually kinda difficult because it is quite hot, i used some tongs, and put the basket in first, then the lid. The package said between five and six minutes. When the time was up i removed them and served them with simply soy sauce. They were awesome!!!

You know when you enjoy something so much you want it again right away - these little dumplings were like that! A day later i decided to try them again, but thought i would pan fry them. I put a bit of olive oil in a non stick skillet and heated it up, adding the dumplings when a drop of water sizzled. This was actually a really messy process, and i got a sweet oil burn on my right wrist in the process!!! Eating them, i actually thought that the steamed ones were better!!! I mean i love fried things, and maybe the burn had something to do with it, but really i think i will be steaming them from now on!

Both of the types of dumplings i bought were both really good, and i don't think i had a preference. It was nice to have two different kinds, sort of kept it from getting repetitive. Yeah Dumplings!

I'm looking forward to more dumplings and more steamer recipes!

Above:

My steamer
Fresh out of the steam
Dumplings

Mushroom Hot Pot

I had ordered this cookbook from the library quite a while ago, and actually it was the reason for my visit to T&T because there were some specific ingredients i needed for the meal. I had eaten hot pot before and really liked the idea of it, especially in the winter. It is also a pretty healthy dish. I didn't actually have a hot pot, but i had recently purchased a small casserole dish from Winners as a Valentine's day present to myself, and thought it would do quite nicely. (yeah i'm cool).

One of the things i didn't find on my first trip to T&T was dashi - the broth that was the basis of the hot pot. You could make it yourself, but i can't really be bothered by making stock, and the book said that Japanese grocery stores have a more instant version in a sort of tea bag format. I went back to T&T, and scoured the store. I really enjoy the variety there, but i don't find the staff that helpful. Finally i saw a display all about hot pot ingredients!!! (leftover from chinese new year). There were two types of "hot pot soup base" one plain, one hot. Of course i picked the hot.

I had to make the hot pot in a regular pot with a lid (one day i'll get a dutch oven) and followed the ingredients in the order they suggested. Cabbage and tofu first, add broth and bring to a boil, simmer for five minutes, add mushrooms, cover and simmer for another five, then add spinach and cook for another minute. The problem came when i opened up the broth container - it wasn't broth, just a whole lot of those damn peppers and some oil! I added the sake and miron as directed, them some water because i obviously didn't have enough broth and hoped for the best.

If i thought that the miso veggie dish was hot i was about to learn what scortching was. DAMN. I have no idea how many people this broth was for - maybe ten, because this was beyond spicy!!! But at the same time it was good. I tried and tried, watered it down, but i really couldn't eat it.

This weekend i'm going to head down to Sanko on Queen west and see if i can find the broth that was intended for the dish. There are a whole lot of recipes i want to make out of the cookbook, and i'm realizing how important broth is to hot pot!

Above:

Very hot mushroom hot pot
My Valentine's gift
Ingredients

Post Script

So i only used one of the packages of chilis, and decided i would open the other one to take a couple pics of it for the blog - it turns out the second pack wasn't more chilis but the stock. I guess i should have opened them both!!!!

The Trouble with Avacados

A small rant about avocados....

I really enjoy avocados, in part because i really like tex-mex meals - and they are always a perfect addition. The only thing i don't like about them, in particular in the winter - they are never ripe. It seems that there is a really small window of them being ripe. Its hard when you have a recipe that you want to use avocados in, those are always the times when they are hard as rocks.

Often i put them in in my front window in hopes that the sun will help them ripen. Not sure if this actually does anything, but it makes me feel in control. I've read various tips on how to ripen them faster, but i've never found any of them to work in the time frame i need. I've taken to just buying a couple every week and using them whenever the ripen. (you've probably noticed that half the stuff i make involves avocados!)


Alternatively, if they aren't hard as rocks other times, almost rotting, and you have to use them immediately or throw them out. Picking a recipe with avocado as an important ingredient always leaves me scrambling around, hitting every grocery store, fruit market in proximity to my place in the search for an appropriate avocado for the job!



This of course does not mean that i will be stopping using avocados anytime soon. They are so tasty!



Above:



Finally ripe

Getting on the use now side

Unripened

I had to laugh at the sticker - hard as a rock!

Miso Vegetables on Soba

I love to have all sorts of fresh veggies in my fridge, it really inspires me to cook, in part because i hate putting them in the green bin, but also i feel good when i eat them. Usually i make a thai curry or sometimes a stir fry, but since i had bought that miso and wanted to use it, i thought i would make a miso vegetable dish, with my new favorite soba noodles. (you are dead to me rice)

For the veggies i had some baby bok choy, king oyster mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, asparagus, i cut up the long beans a similar size to the rest of the ingredients, some asain eggplant and of course onions and garlic. At T&T i had also bought some chilis which i thought i might as well throw in since i had a bunch of them. I figured three would be good. (this was my first mistake)

I started with the onions, garlic and peppers in some olive oil, and added the vegetables slowly. I decided to make it a bit decadent and added some butter along with the miso and a little water to help steam the bok choy. I know that miso butter is used in a lot of recipes, and the texture of the two really goes well, so why not. Meanwhile i cooked the noodles.

Once the veggies were done i drained the noodles and topped some with the miso veggies and sat down to dine. Well apparently i did not realize how spicy those peppers were goin to be - after two bites i was nearly sweating. I kept trying to eat more, and eventually compromised by getting some raw tofu for the side to calm my mouth. I had made enough for lunch the next day, and eating that i had to use yogurt to calm the burning.

Considering i am really good with heat - watch out for the deadly little peppers. I would certainly make this again, i really liked the miso-butter veggies combo, i would maybe keep to one pepper this time though!

Above:

Miso veggies on soba
Deadly little peppers
Ingredients

Another workday lunch

As i've mentioned before i really try and bring my lunch to work at least four times a week. I try and make something i can eat for two days, efficient, yet does not get too boring or soggy. I try and use spinach in my lunches, and by buying the big box at the supermarket of baby spinach is a challenge to try and finish one of the larger boxes. So what i like to do, is make a salad that i can dress the spinach with. One of my previous meals was Lentil feta salad.

One of the salads i really enjoy in general is Greek Salad. Not the gross oily one with iceberg lettuce, but a Village salad; tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, feta cheese and olives topped with balsamic vinegar. I often make a version of this as a side salad. Its fresh and the ingredients are decent all year around. When i make it for lunch i tend to omit the onions, because you really taste it all day, even when you brush afterwards. I deal with a lot of people in my job and i take pity on them but omitting the onions.

This salad also does really well after a couple of days, it actually makes its own dressing even without oil, and that helps with the spinach, keeping it from being dry. I just chop everything up the similar size, crumble the feta, add balsamic and toss it. While it sits overnight it creates a dressing and then i just top the spinach with it. Viola lunch

Above:

Eating lunch at my desk as usual (yeah, that's a paper towel as a napkin)
Close up of what i made - the night before
How i package it

Valentine's Steak Dinner

This Valentine's day, which was also the family day long weekend AND Chinese New Year, i spent up at my parents place. Instead of heading out to a restaurant and having a rushed meal with a bunch of couples who hate each other we decided to eat in. (this also allowed me to save face and not third-wheel with my parents like last year).

Now that i am a meat eater, my mother picked up some HUGE steaks which i seasoned with a mixture of almost any spice i could get my hands on. Instead of digging out the bbq from the snow bank we did them on my mom's indoor grill/sandwich maker. My mom also made a really cool sweet potato and pear side dish along with sauteed king oyster mushrooms, asparagus with Parmesan and a beet and carrot salad.

The meal as lovely, and a lot better than going out!

Above:

Dinner (and my mom's new/vintage Denby plates
Mushrooms
Adding the pears to the potatoes
Steaks
Beet and Carrot Salad
Asparagus

Dufferin County Breakfast

Being as it was the family day long weekend, and since there wasn't much going on in the city, i ventured up to my parents place - aka winter wonderland.They told me they didn't have too much snow, but for anyone who's spent this winter in Toronto, it was quite a bit. Waking up on sunday, no one was really in too much of a hurry to eat. It was sort of a dreary morning and we were all taking it easy hanging out with our coffees.

Eventually i got a little motivated for breakfast, so i just started looking around for inspirations. I didn't really want to make anything too spectacular, but my mind was all over the place - i get like that cooking in a foreign kitchen. My mother has an amazing kitchen - granite island, gas stove, good pots, every gadget and her kitchen is always stocked. Its always a pleasure to cook there.

Looking at all my options, i couldn't decide, my pallet was all over the place - i had eaten chocolate first thing in the morning (it was Valentines after all) and had a huge meal the night before. (Grouper with roasted veggies) So i just decided to make a little of each of my favorite brunch items - eggs, toast, hash browns, salad and guac.

For the hashbrowns, i just sauteed some heavily seasoned potatos, garlic, red onion, red pepper and jalapeno on the stove. (god i love gas) While that was cooking i made the salad - spinach and arugula in olive oil and balsamic with salt and pepper. The guacamole wasn't really true guac, it was more of an avocado salad, i didn't really mash it or add garlic or cilantro, but i did use lime juice to dress it. Once the potatos were almost done, i fried a couple eggs and threw the toast in the toaster.

Voila - Country breakfast. We washed it down with pineapple juice.

Above:

Breakfast

Ingredients

Avocado Salad

Potatos ready for the stove

Long Beans in spicy black bean sauce

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On my visit to T&T i picked up some long beans, which i was certain i had a recipe for - in a black bean sauce. Of course when i got home i couldn't find the recipe anywhere, so after trolling the Internet, i couldn't find any recipes that were the type i wanted to make. A lot of them had you cutting the beans into smaller pieces, i didn't think that made any sense - why not just buy regular beans! I also discovered in my Internet research that its considered good luck to eat on long bean around Chinese New Year, as they will give you a long life.

I decided to just do it my own way, leaving the beans long while trimming the ends. I also added some diced ginger. For the sauce i know that black bean sauce can be very spicy, so i thought i would tone it down a little by also adding soy sauce, mushroom sauce, sesame oil and corn starch. (i have a box of it now, so i might as well throw it into everything). I mixed those things together, and hoped for the best.

I heated up my wok, then added some oil and the ginger. Once the ginger was fragrant i put in the beans and the sauce. From my reading on line some people recommended you blanch the beans first, and others mentioned having a cup of water handy so the sauce didn't dry out. I took the water advice, and added some at the beginning. The beans themselves took a lot longer to cook that i anticipated, and i had to add a bit of water a couple of time to keep the sauce going.

The dish was really tasty, if a little spicy even for my pallet. I always forget how spicy that black bean sauce was. I would definitely make them one again - its crispy and tasty.

A trip to T&T Supermarket

I am fortunate enough to work less than 5 minutes from a T&T grocery store. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this chain, its is an Asian grocery store chain that was recently purchased by Loblaws. They are well known for their excellent produce and fish counter. Along with groceries they have a lot of prepared foods, along with a wide selection on sushi. The store was extra bussling due to the approaching Chinese New Years.

Below:

Dungess Crabs
Fish Counter



I always enjoy shopping at T&T its one of the most inspiring grocery stores. There are so many products i've never seen, or have read about and had no idea what they looked like raw. I usually have a couple things in particular i'm after when i go, but a lot of the things i buy i just get inspired by what is there. This is particularly true of the vegetables. Today i bought a few things i love, and others i've wanted to try.

Below

My grocerties, long beans, king oyster musrooms, bok choy, Enoki mushrooms, miso paste, shirataki noodles, asian eggplant, tofu and purple yams! And of course i picked up some kimchi!




And here was a wall of soy sauces! Its baffling to know which ones to buy, i usually look for a lower sodium version.

Well get ready for some interesting recipes featuing all the things i purchased, it might be a bit of an experiement, but i think i'll enjoy it.