My most coveted cookbook right now is Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything.
When The Minimalist comes up in my news feed, I know I’m in for an informative treat.
A few months ago I tried his fear-less polenta, and it immediately became a happily recycled recipe.  It’s served as a base for chicken cacciatore, eggplant parmesan, and a chickpea stew.  It’s also become a savoury substitute on my frequent oatmeal-for-dinner nights.

As polenta was brought up again this week in Bittman’s column and a good friend recently shared a tasty recipe on her new blog, I thought I would mention my success with this recipe.  I prefer a higher ratio of milk than he calls for and I’ve tended to add more liquid during the cooking process.  And even when finishing with truffle oil… lots of butter to finish as suggested.

It’s been just about a year since my trip to Vietnam.  With friends there, I think of it often.  And fondly.  I haven’t tried any more Vietnamese recipes since moving to Vancouver, but I haven’t much tried any recipes, really.  Vancouver’s dining options make it so easy for me not to cook.   Especially when so many of the options are so good.

But anyway, back to my story.  The grey of Vancouver is like the cold of Edmonton.  It gets to you in January and you long for something else.  Like Vietnam in February.  I’ve had some bare bones Vietnamese here—dodgy pho et al—like I got at home.  But, what I’ve been craving to wash away the Vancouver grey is the colour and perfume of the fresh food that embraced you every day on the streets of Vietnam.

I caught a little whiff of that tonight when at Chau Kitchen and Bar.  Although not really “authentic” Vietnamese, I could taste Vietnam.  I liked what I tasted.  A lot.

Two of us shared four dishes:  papaya salad, pork and mint salad rolls, jungle vegetable curry, and caramel pork.

I will order all again and have a number of other dishes I would like to try.  The pork was almost the same as the version I had when in the Mekong Delta.

Thanks to Chau, I can happily say ciao to January.
(I’m sorry, I had to.)

Along the Mekong.

Chau Kitchen and Bar
1500 Robson St
Vancouver

I was fourteen when I went to Italy.  At the time, I could appreciate little more than gelato, cobblestone streets and glimpses of David’s naughty bits.  My true romance with Italy did not fully hit until I started learning the language in university.  So since then, I have longed to go back.  As this longing has grown and my palate developed, I can now understand why I favour Italian cuisine so much:   simplicity.  And not in the sense that it’s not worth going out for because you can make the dishes at home.  Good Italian food is not based around tasteless tomatoes, wilted basil, and mushy pasta…  crimes often committed by both the professional and home cook.  Good Italian food is the best ingredients combined simply to taste amazing.

Flipping through the pages of a Christmas present reminded me of this.  The recipes in David Rocco’s Dolce Vita are all based on only a handful of ingredients.  The sweet life is such because it’s not fussy.  It’s bread dipped in olive oil, biscotti in vin santo.  That’s amore.

When tasked with a dip for New Year’s Eve, I looked to David for inspiration.  I tinkered a bit and was proud of the results.  Creamy, cheesy, SIMPLE.   Quite cozy on the snack table with the other treats and the midnight bubbly.

Happy New Year!

Ricotta Dip
1 454-g tub of ricotta cheese
Small log of goat cheese
3 cloves of garlic, minced (roasted is preferable)
Zest of one lemon
2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients well and smooth into serving dish or bowl.  [Can be chilled in advance at this stage.]
Before serving, drizzle with more olive oil and top with more s&p.

On a day like today, where Vancouver has a dusting of snow and Edmonton is in the midst of a deep freeze… I am quite happy where I am, thank you very much.
But cool temperatures fill me with warm memories of people I love and miss.  And cool air still puts me in the mood for food that comforts.

“Plain spaghetti” as a child meant cooked noodles bathed in salted butter and dusted with Kraft parmesan from the green shaker.  As an adult, it means spaghetti aglio e olio—garlic and oil.  It’s not a difficult endeavour and besides knowing that chilies, pecorino and Italian parsley are involved, it’s quite literally what it proposes to be.

One of the great things about Edmontonians is that we tend to rally around hometown heroes and heroines when they do good so that they continue to do good.  Daniel Costa is a great local chef who made me crave Da Capo salads and pizza and has recently upped the ante with pub food at Red Star.  I used his recipe for this dish, and included a splash of white wine as he suggested.  Although I did not use anchovies.  Delicious and comforting all the same.

Stay warm, Edmonton.

I think I was predisposed to love all things Italian.

I grew up in North Edmonton, and my earliest childhood friend who lived right up the street was a good Catholic Italian girl, with a mom who provided me with an early taste for authentic Italian food. Then there was the elementary school Madonna obsession that I shared with my Italian BFF who actually owned an “Italians Do It Better” pin. I couldn’t disagree. The two of us spent hours in the basement learning every move in the “Papa Don’t Preach” video. I knew who Nonna e Nonno were from the time I was six, in my teen years I dated boys named Bruno and Marco, a certain Cicero boy threw rocks at my window late at night one too many times in high school, and I have watched Moonstruck more times than I can count on two hands. I’m pretty sure the movie explains everything you need to know about life in general.

The taste of home cooked pastas, fresh made pizzas, and simple salads never tasted like the Italian food found in Edmonton restaurants. The simple flavours of a few key ingredients that were never masked by too much garlic, fistfuls of oregano, or sauce from a can. The freshness of tomatoes from the garden, fresh basil, a generous amount of salt, and perfectly al dente pasta was the key. It ruined me.

Then one day, Rao’s was introduced to me. The illusive New York restaurant that no one can get a reservation at. A city institution where even the hippest celebrity would be hard pressed to get a table. You need to know someone….or get the cookbook. That seemed easier.

Since Cream alluded to the “perfect pappardelle main” in her True Blood tribute, I could hardly go without sharing it. The Rao’s Pappardelle with Hot Italian Sausage Sauce has since become a crowd favorite that has been served at many a dinner party in my home. One look at the back cover of the Rao’s cookbook, with Vincent and Anna Pellegrino Rao’s photograph in her big sunglasses and roller set hair, and you will fall in love with them and the recipes inside.

One key step that is so often missed when preparing pasta in our culture of “sauce from a can that serves as a topping”, is the process of combining the sauce with the freshly strained pasta over heat. This is a key step in any good pasta dish as it draws the sauce into the pasta. Add a little cheese to that and it pulls it all together. Too much sauce is never a good thing when it comes to authentic Italian food. It should just coat the pasta and then can be served on the side for those who desire more.

So heat up the hot rollers, break out the vintage Givenchy sunglasses, get to Spinelli’s and pick up some fresh basil, De Cecco Pappardelle, San Marzano tomatoes, Little Italy Italian Sausages, Pecorino Romano, grab a bottle of red and a bottle of white on the way home (or two), and invite some friends over. There’s plenty to go around.

Pappardelle with Hot Sausage Sauce

1 lb pappardelle

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 – 28 oz cans of San Marzano tomatoes (hand crushed)

6 hot or mild Italian sausages

3/4 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cups dry white wine (I use a Pinot Grigio)

6 fresh basil leaves, torn

Pinch of dried oregano

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Salt to taste

3 Tbsp freshly grated Pecorino Romano

Remove casing from sausages and break meat up into chunks.  Heat  Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Add onions and sauté for 3 minutes until just translucent.  Add sausage and sauté for about 5 minutes or until lightly browned.  Drain off excess fat.

Add wine and stir to combine.  Raise the heat and bring to a boil. Boil for about three minutes or until liquid has reduced slightly.

Add tomatoes and salt. Return to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until sauce has thickened slightly.  Stir in basil, oregano and pepper.

While sauce is simmering, cook the Pappardelle pasta in a large pot of rapidly boiling water until al dente.  Drain and return to pot.  Stir in ½ cup sausage sauce.  Toss together.  Add Pecorino Romano. Transfer to a large serving platter. Spoon extra sauce over the top and sprinkle with more Pecorino Romano cheese. Extra sauce and cheese can be served on the table for those who like more of course.

Mangia!

If I lived in Bon Temps, you would call me a fangbanger.

Ever since watching The Lost Boys as a too little girl, I find it easy to fall hard for undead heroes.  I spent most of high school daydreaming about Louis and Lestat. 

While late on the bandwagon, I’ve quickly become a devoted fan of True Blood.  Now, I daydream about Bill Compton and his southern drawl.

In honour of the Season 2 premiere, I reached into my freezer and pulled out a leftover treat from my Baking By Hand Made Easy course; the same course where I made the white bread and the addictive vanilla pastry cream.

The real reason I took the course was to learn how to make a pie crust.  The elusive pie crust.  It has always seemed such a daunting task, and truth be told, still does.  But, under the watchful eye of an excellent instructor, I pulled it off and at the end of the night I had two cherry pies ready for the freezer. (My initial inspiration was Agent Cooper.)

There was never a more perfect time to bake my last blood red pie than for the return of Bill and the rest of the colourful crew from Louisiana.

After Sugar served a perfect pappardelle main, we took plates of cherry pie and vanilla ice cream into the living room to await all the bad things that were sure to take place on television that night.  The episode did not disappoint—neither did the pie.

There are many pie crust recipes available, and every family seems to have a tried and true recipe.  So, instead of giving you another one, I’ll pass along the pie tips that Sugar and I learned to help you on your way.  With the summer fruit season upon us, put any crust trepidation aside and go for it.

Pie-making Tips 

- When adding the liquid to your dough, blend just until the liquid “clears” or is absorbed.  The average time in class was about 7 seconds.

- Pies are best baked from frozen.

- Don’t introduce new ingredients.  For example, if there are no eggs in your dough, do not use an egg wash on top.  Simply use water.

- Don’t wash the edges of your crust with egg/milk/water.  Just the centre.  And sprinkle lightly with sugar…again, just the centre.

- Your pie is ready to be taken out of the oven when you jiggle the pie pan and the pie freely moves from the edge.

See you at Merlotte’s!

Mondays. Sigh. The start to the week, the official end to the weekend. When the days turn balmy, I find myself feeling ever so slightly lazy and in search of simple fresh food in the kitchen. Though tempted to melt in the heat and get take out, I persevered with the planned menu for the evening, turned again to Bill Granger in “Bill’s Open Kitchen”, and quickly sorted out a pretty, fresh, and delicious dinner. A perfectly light  follow up to last nights delicious but heavy parpadelle with spicy Italian sausage pasta dinner (a future story unto itself for a cooler day), which was the  prelude to kicking off another season of Bill Compton and Sookie Stackhouse with Cream and my main squeeze.

Simple pan fried fish, in this case a basa fillet, paired with a tangy lemon potato salad. The lightness of the lemon dressing paired with the crisp diced peppers, hints of chili, fresh mint, and cracked pepper, make this a salad that works with anything. The fish is beyond simple, but still something I find is often poorly executed. I nearly always follow the same formula for pan fried fish, prawns, or scallops, with excellent results. There is nothing I dislike more than a soggy piece of fish that’s been soaking up oil in a frying pan. Here are my simple tips for perfectly seared fish or seafood.

1. Pat fish/seafood dry with a paper towel.

2. Drizzle with olive oil to ensure all surfaces are lightly coated. Coating the fish with oil rather than throwing it into an oil filled pan is a great way to get a nice crisp salt and pepper sear while keeping it soft and tender on the inside.

3. Sprinkle generously with coarse sea salt and fresh cracked pepper on both sides.

4. Heat your pan on high…get it good and hot so you get a nice sear when it hits the pan. The goal is a nice golden brown on each side.

5. Don’t over cook it! Fish, prawns and scallops cook quickly. A few minutes on each side (or less depending on the fish) will do the job.

This is a great base for making any seafood taste great with a drizzle of lemon when it comes out of the pan, or tossed with fresh made pesto, spiced up with a few dried chillies, or hit with the freshness of parsley and cilantro.

Tonight’s version from the pan will be on heavy rotation this summer.

Pan Fried Fish with Lemon Potato Salad

For the fish:

olive oil

basa fillets or other firm white fish fillet, skin removed

coarse sea salt

fresh cracked pepper

lemon wedges

Follow steps one through five above for perfectly pan fried fish.

For the lemon potato salad:

one pound bag of baby potatoes cut in half

1 tsp coarse sea salt

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 fresh squeezed lemon juice

freshly ground black pepper

1 yellow pepper, finely diced

2 red chilies, seeded and finely diced

1/4 cup fresh chopped mint

1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley

6 green onions, finely sliced

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add potatoes, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 8-10 minutes until potatoes are tender. Remember not to overcook them as they will continue to cook when removed from the water.

Mix olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a bowl and stir to combine. Pour half of the dressing over the hot potatoes and stir gently. Leave the potatoes to cool. Once cooled, add yellow pepper, chili, mint, parsley, green onion, and remaining dressing and stir gently.

A nice ending to another manic Monday. I wish it were Sunday, cause that’s my fun day…

When the sun starts to shine on a more regular basis here in Alberta, my food cravings shift from the comfort foods of colder days, to crisp fresh goodies. With Farmer’s Markets in full swing, tomatoes that taste like tomatoes again, farm fresh carrots, and sweet mint poking up in my garden despite my lack of the proverbial green thumb, I start thinking BBQ and fresh salads.

With fresh on the mind, last weekend launched our BBQ season for the year and set the bar high. Perfectly grilled salmon with a Moroccan Chermoula that could make anything delectable. Admittedly, salmon is never my first choice of fish. I prefer the meatiness of halibut, they delicate taste of basa, or the simplicity of pan fried trout, but this preparation boosts a simple fresh piece of salmon to a crave worthy treat. Add to that two fresh and simple salads, one beetroot salad with arugula, snap peas, and fresh oranges, and one carrot, feta, and mint salad (both from Simply Bill by Bill Granger), and there was no doubt that my days of summer had begun.

These dishes are the kind you will return to again and again, when the days grow longer and the sun starts peaking through the long cold days to finally warm your skin.

Chermoula Grilled Salmon

fresh salmon fillet or fish of your choice

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

1/4 cup sesame seeds

4 cloves of minced garlic

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp chili flakes

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Using a food processor or mortar and pestle, chop/pound cilantro, sesame seeds, and garlic. Slowly add oil to mixture. stir in paprika, chilies, salt, and lemon juice.

Place salmon on foil lined with parchment. Spoon mixture over the top of the fish generously. (This recipe usually makes more marinade than I require and I freeze the extra for future use.) Fold parchment/foil over fish to form a sealed packet that will be placed directly on the BBQ. Let marinate in the fridge for up to one hour prior to grilling. Heat BBQ to medium heat and grill for approximately 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the fish.

Beetroot Salad

18 baby beets

baby arugula

handful of snap peas, trimmed and blanched

2 blood oranges, peeled and sliced (I couldn’t find blood oranges and substitued with a regular orange)

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp chopped fresh oregano

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Trim beets and cook in boiling salted water for 30-40 minutes, or until tender.Rinse under running water and peel away the skin.

Arrange arugula, sliced beets, snap peas and blood oranges on a platter. Mix together olive oil, white wine vinegar, oregano, salt, and pepper and drizzle over salad.

Carrot, Feta and Mint Salad

1 kg carrots, peeled, halved, and sliced

2 garlic cloves crushed

3 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup feta cheese

1/4 cup pitted black olives (I like the dried at the Italian Centre for this recipe, or kalamata)

small handful of fresh mint leaves

Cook the carrots in boiling salted water for 1 minute. Drain and refresh in iced water. Stir together garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper. Arrange carrots on a serving platter. Top with crumbled feta, mint, and olives, and drizzle with the dressing.

Add a crisp chilled buttery viognier and soak up the sun!

Having a name that rhymes with banana meant I had to decide early on if I was going to be its friend or faux.

I chose friend.

As the start of my day, sliced over ice cream, or mashed into muffins, few fruits rival the toothsome give of a banana’s starchy-sweet flesh for me.

And for that reason, it makes an excellent ingredient for a pie—especially, ahem, a Cream pie.  Nestled between layers of crust and cream, banana slices retain their shape yet can be easily cut with a knife.  Cream pies also tend to be a favourite of mine because they require little, if any, baking.  I ate many cream pies growing up that were nothing more than instant vanilla pudding poured into a store-bought crust.  Slice some bananas and reach for the Reddi-Whip, and you’ve got your classic no-bake banana cream pie.  I’ve not let that kind of ease go completely, but with the task of bringing dessert to a friend’s and wanting that dessert to be a banana cream pie, I looked for something slightly more arduous.

Knowing that my hosts were chocolate fans, I narrowed my search to finding a chocolate-banana cream pie.  The one I found was outstanding.

Many no-bake pies are made with crumb or pastry crusts that have been quickly baked and then cooled before the cream filling is added.  This was truly no-bake in that it was simply melted butter and chocolate added to chocolate crumbs and then cooled until firm.  The chocolate became the magic binder that only added to the decadence of the pie.  Layers of banana and a vanilla pastry cream are to be expected, but atop a layer of chocolate ganache?  Sinful.  For nostalgia’s sake, I bought a can of “Real Whipped Cream” to accompany the topping of sliced bananas.

While perhaps sacrilege to some, for those of us in the room that were slightly intoxicated and singing 80s rock tunes with PVR karaoke, the canned cream was more than fine.  I provided backing to Livin’ on a Prayer while slicing the pie and then joined the silence during Paradise City as we all became enthralled with my pie’s creamy goodness.  So much so we threw caution to the wind, went for seconds (which finished off the pie), and declared Love in an Elevator one of the greatest songs of all time.

While the light of day tends to change your opinion on some things… there is still no question for me that this pie is top notch.

Black-Bottom Banana Cream Pie

The recipe came from Bon Appétit.  A vanilla pastry cream recipe is provided, however I made the one I learned in my recent baking course.  It’s so good you will want to make extra just to eat out of a bowl with a spoon.

Next time around, I likely will put all the ganache on the bottom instead of marbling it.  I made the pie one day ahead of time.

Vanilla Pastry Cream

50 g sugar

20 g unsalted butter

300 g whole milk

60 g whipping cream

30 g cornstarch

1 whole egg

1 g salt

5 g vanilla

Combine butter, cream, milk, and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.

In another bowl, whisk cornstarch, egg, and salt so that all the cornstarch dissolves.

Slowly whisk (to temper) the boiling cream mixture into the cornstarch mixture.

Return to the heat, bring to a boil again and cook for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Pastry cream needs to be cooled before using.  To prevent a skin, sprinkle sugar on the top and then tightly cover with plastic wrap.

This makes enough for one pie.

While this is usually the time of year that I prefer to rise and shine to fresh spring fruits and berries, yogurt, and lighter fare, the presence of chill and snow on this Canadian May Long weekend called for something different entirely. I can recall many memorable breakfasts from much warmer, or dare I say hotter versions of this holiday Monday. A balmy cowboy camping adventure in the Alberta deserts of Dorothy, Alberta, complete with wandering baby goats, french toast on the campfire, fireflies, garter snakes, and a blistering sun comes to mind. With that blistering sun hiding today, what better on a chilly holiday morning than the simple pleasure of a hot bowl of oatmeal with extra goodness in the form of banana, maple, warm cream, and sugar?

It starts with good quality steel cut oats, a fresh banana, real maple syrup, and a little time to tend to the stirring. I have been making a variations of this breakfast treat since discovering the recipe in Australian chef Bill Granger’s Bill’s Sydney Food cookbook, of Bill’s restaurant fame. As an aside, Sydney is one of my favorite gastronomical cities in the world, and Bill Granger’s cookbooks are the most used and loved on my plentiful cookbook shelf.

The surprise of adding thinly sliced bananas is they will literally melt into the oats and add a natural sweetness without adding a fruity texture. This mornings treat was simpler than Bill’s more elaborate version in an effort to not consume my sugar allotment for the day, but for brunch guests, or indulgent days, this can be made even better with the addition of warm buttered apples on top.

Banana Maple Oatmeal for Two

2 cups water

1/2 cup steel cut oats

pinch of salt

1 thinly sliced banana

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 cup of cream warmed

brown sugar to top

In a small pot bring water and salt to a boil. Gently add steel cut oats to boiling water, stirring to keep them from sticking to the bottom. Reduce heat to medium and simmer to thicken for 10 minutes. Stir in banana slices and cook to desired thickness stirring regularily, for another 10-15 minutes. Stir in maple syrup and serve with warm cream and brown sugar.

To add the yummy buttered apples, thinly slice apples and fry them in unsalted butter with a sprinkle of caster sugar, and turn when they are soft and golden.

Now go and enjoy the chilly morning with a hot cup of tea and a blanket, because you know what Michael Jackson says:  “A blanket’s a gift.”