Making a (French) Toast to Brunch

Is there a meal more perfect than brunch?  A bit of a sleep-in, strata or other gooey eggy thing done the night before, fresh coffee brewing and baguettes bought - or better yet - hot from the oven.  Sizzling bacon, wrapped around rosemary spears.  Portobello mushrooms, taleggio cheese melting off them in a Dali-like wave, redolent with thyme and a touch of garlic.

A bit too much food - didn't need the berry bircher parfaits after all. A lazy meal, lingering and nibbling and - yes - just half of that pain au chocolat, please.  Fresh flowers on the table, sunlight streaming in the tall tall tall kitchen windows. 



A reluctant departure, a leisurely clean up and best of all - the better part of a Sunday afternoon and the New York Times to dive into.  Don't throw out that last piece of French toast! I'll share it with you.

French Toast, Two Ways
The egg dip below makes enough for roughly half a large pannetone and a few slices of French baguette; it's so good you'll need to make more.

1 large pannetone (I used a chocolate pannetone for a decadent version)
One day old French baguette
About 1½ cups milk
About ¼ cup cream (light or heavy, depending on how really decadent you want to be)
Grated zest of one large orange
1 egg
Pinch salt
Butter for cooking
Maple syrup for serving

1. Cut as much pannetone and French baguette into thick slices as you will be cooking, and set aside.

2. Combine the next four ingredients and whisk lightly until egg is well incorporated. The mixture will be thin.

3. Quickly dip the bread slices into the egg mixture so that they are "wet" on both sides.

4.  Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat and melt some unsalted butter in the pan until the surface is glistening.  Place the bread slices in the pan and cook gently until golden and slightly crisp. Turn and repeat.

5. To serve, pile the French toast on a sunny yellow platter, and let the guests dig in. 

Cook....


And flip....


Don't forget the maple syrup!

A Pilgrim’s Progress

pil•grim (\ˈpil-grəm)
n.
1. A religious devotee who journeys to a shrine or sacred place.
2. One who embarks on a quest for something conceived of as sacred.

For what seems like forever now, I have been trying to make a good (read: it works) sourdough starter. I’ve chronicled the recipe (mix flour and water; stir); the first attempts (and there were several pre-blog I am sad to report); the seemingly right bubbly sour-smelling (Richard uses another word I’m loathe to print) mixture.

Yes, somewhat like a pilgrim seeking enlightenment, I am on a quest for that most sacred of things: the perfectly baked, lightly browned and heavenly tasting loaf of bread, made from my very own sourdough starter.



Thus far all I have to show for my journey is one defeated, slighty sticky empty mason jar. 

So, as any good student should, I am going to hit the books.  Surely, amongst all of those many and sundry cookbooks of mine, one will yield the map that will lead me to the Holy Grail?

A Blog-Worthy Oatmeal

Belt tightening in effect. Back to a 40-30-30 diet. Steel cut oatmeal, slow cooked and satisfying, especially on a very dark and even colder winter's morning, is the wise and wholesome choice.

But … 6 a.m. comes awfully early and that snooze button is conveniently close. Trixie is burrowing between us on the down comforter, her purrs louder than a pesky alarm clock, signaling me to stay a while longer.  Baby, it’s cold outside.

The perfect solution is really s-l-o-o-o-w cooked oatmeal. Overnight, in fact. No matter what time I reluctantly roll out of bed, it’s ready and waiting, deliciously warm, perfectly cooked and amazingly good for you.

Overnight Oatmeal
serves two over two mornings

1 cup steel cut oatmeal
2 apples, cored and cut into medium size dice (I love Honey Crisps)
4 cups cold water
1 tsp salt (or more/less to taste)
¼ teaspoon cinnamon or to taste
Brown sugar or maple syrup for serving

1. Preheat oven to 225F/105C.



2. Combine oatmeal, apples, water and salt in an ovenproof casserole dish. Cover and place in oven.



3. Cook for 8 hours overnight, or until oatmeal is cooked to a creamy consistency. Stir in cinnamon.

4. To serve, sprinkle with brown sugar or a dash of maple syrup, or go for the purist version and have it as is (my choice!)

Yum.

So long to the holidays...

Abundance of food;

indulgence matches desire...

the scale rests heavy

As I say goodbye to the parties, the gifts, the exuberant spirits and sagging tables, I say a fond farewell to the season’s offerings with my haiku homage to festive feasts.

…And pay tribute to one of my favourite dishes of the season, courtesy of the New York Times. Double it up, spread it over several evenings replete with crusty French bread, and, as Florence Fabricant suggests, “pour an earthy, rustic red from the sprawl of the Languedoc, many of them balancing fruit and tight minerals without making huge demands on the wallet.”

Spiced Chicken Liver Mousse
Serves several as an appetiser; or two with nothing else to eat for dinner and a healthy regard for the joys of rich food cut to the quick with gorgeous red wine*

6 to 8 tablespoons chicken or duck fat, or clarified butter
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 pound chicken livers, connective tissue removed
1 medium onion, chopped
1 inch long piece fresh ginger, peeled and slivered
1/4 cup amontillado sherry
1/3 cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper.

1. Melt 3 tablespoons fat in a 12-inch skillet. Add mustard, cardamom and cumin and sauté until spices sizzle and are fragrant. Add livers and sauté over medium-low heat, turning, until cooked but still pink inside, about 10 minutes. Remove livers from pan.

2. Add 2 tablespoons fat, onion and ginger to skillet and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add sherry, simmer about 5 minutes until somewhat reduced, stir in cream and cook until it starts to thicken. Transfer livers and contents of skillet to food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Spoon mousse into a crock or bowl and smooth the top. Melt 2 tablespoons remaining fat and pour onto surface of mousse. Use an additional tablespoon of fat if needed to cover the surface. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving. Scrape fat off before serving, or mix it into mousse.

Yield: About 2 cups.

*based on a true story

Signs of Spring

It's -16C today. With the wind chill factor it feels like -27C. At the start of the year and in the deep of a Canadian winter, spring feels like a distant dream.

Except… for the unexpected quirks of nature. Our house is filled with Christmas greens - containers full of evergreens, pinecones and deep rich red dogwood branches. On the first day of the year, with the fireplace full of the ashes of the year’s first fire, there was this…



Our dogwood branches, full of green shoots and hidden energy, springing to life in the chill of winter.

Oh glorious Spring…can you really be that far away?

Turbo-charged Turducken!

With the Open House behind us, Christmas Day - and 14 guests for dinner - loomed large.  And fresh turducken - that weirdly wonderful combination of turkey, duck and chicken - was finally in my sight lines for the main course.

Fiesta Farms was the go-to place, as weirdly wonderful as turducken.  A 9 lb. turducken seemed a reasonable amount for 14 people, even accounting for the three vegetarians.  And who better to assemble it for us than Danny, the charming and enthusiastic butcher at Fiesta?



Here it is, pre-cook, in all its fleshy glory:



Umm, maybe we should have gone with the 7 lb....



Into the TurboChef...an extra pan to catch the drippings...



Let me digress a moment while the TurboChef does its magic. 



Our uber-cool, custom red TurboChef makes me happy. The snappy look is by frog design, and while I roll my eyes at their description of the design process - frog sought the honest voice of the consumer audience - it worked. I don't know that it's my "honest voice” that responded to the appeal of the TurboChef. I just know that cooking a perfectly juicy roast chicken in less than 30 minutes can’t be beat. Or having deeply rosy rack of lamb done and cut into chops in less than 10.

So there was no question in my mind that our first turducken would need to be made at warp speed in the TurboChef. 



Setting the oven for a turkey didn't seem quite right - the darn turducken looked more like a veal roast on steroids than a stuffed turkey.  Hmm...veal roast...that seemed like a good setting to try. The temperature was right - 350F.  The time sure sounded good - two hours.  And the results?



Delectable!

To table, everyone...

The Remains of the Day

Not....one...photo.

Of the 80+ guests, all in festive spirits and hungry as bears.  Of the 21 delectable dishes artfully arranged on the dining room table, buffet style.  Of the oh-so-pretty house, done up with Christmas greenery, a big old fat real Christmas tree and lots of love.  Of the kitchen island, laden with sparkling glasses, lined up soldier-straight, next to choices of cheery punch, or more grown up prosecco, red or white wine. Of the kitchen, put to work under the watchful eye of Ian, juggling food prep along with the team of four servers.

Yes - sadly - the new kitchen's inaugural first ever Open House - and our 14th - will have to live on in memory only.  There's still time to share the delectable recipes though and of course I seemed to remember to take photos before - when all the cooking was underway - and after...

Baby potatoes for three cheese fondue:


Marinated and pre-seared lamb chops for pistachio-crusted lamb "lollipops":


Tunisian bean dip being swirled into submission:


And the very generous expression of our guests, who support our holiday tradition of bringing a donation for the Daily Bread Food Bank:


Well, Christmas dinner - and our first ever turducken - are just around the corner.  Watch this space for the results!

Only one more sleep!

Haven't posted for a while - we have been in a whirl of activity getting ready for tomorrow's Open House.  It promises to be record attendance, and we are ready! 

Cookie baking and decorating complete: check.






Agonising over, selecting and then cooking what will end up being way too much food: check.





Getting the house beautiful: a given!

Now it's time to sleep and pray for a green Christmas.

Start Me Up Redux

According to S. John Ross, a sourdough starter should take three to four days to form.

This is what I had after 48 hours...

Here's the thing.  When I broke the dough "seal" that had bubbled through the nailhead opening at the top of the jar, it had the right smell.  A pleasant sour or beery smell.  Plus it looked right:



I decided to take a chance, feed the starter again, and see what happened that evening.


 
Same thing.  Same crusty top. Same delicious bread-y smell.  Same great bubbly look.



Re-read S. John Ross.

Here's the gist: When your starter develops a bubbly froth, it is done. You have succeeded. If this sounds brain-dead simple, that's because it is. People who didn't believe the Earth was round did this for millenia.

Hmm.  Guess I'm brain-dead this week.  Seems the starter was done two days ago.  So my lovely starter is now in the fridge, collecting hootch.  God and time permitting, I'll tackle a sourdough loaf this weekend. 

Sunday Night Dinner with Rich...the Farmers' Market Edition

We haven't had much of a chance to do a leisurely Sunday night cookbook "date" dinner in quite a while.  The Open House is two weeks away (major cookie baking this weekend); charity ball on Saturday night (in honour of the Bollywood theme, I wore a beautiful borrowed sari and lots of safety pins!); and both of us trying to rid ourselves of the season's first - and hopefully only - cold.

But we did go to the Green Barn Farmers' Market, at the Artscape Wychwood Barns and even though December has put a definite crimp in the offerings, there was still plenty of good things to buy - and eat.

...including Nuala's delicious scones and Irish soda bread.  Yummy when toasted and slathered with butter!



First thing to buy was the "main" for dinner and we found halibut from Goldwater Seafoods, a Canadian company specialising in Nova Scotian seafood.

The greens came from Everdale's great selection of goodies.  A bag of assorted greens, perfect for sauting, for only $3.00.



Vicki's Veggies provided the delicious salad greens and parsnips. 

Dinner is a very simple affair.  Halibut slow poached in olive with lemon and dill; braising greens sauteed in garlic, shallots and chili pepper flakes, with some sauteed baby parsnips added in for crunch and nutty flavour; and Asian greens dressed simply with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  The perfect early winter dinner, filled with local goodness.

Sunday Night Farmers' Market Dinner for Two

Oven-poached Halibut in Olive Oil
adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook
serves two to three

1 lb. halibut fillet
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 tbsp capers, rinsed
1 1/2 large lemons, thinly sliced
3 tbsps. chopped fresh dill, with additional for garnish
1 1/2 - 2 c. olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 250F

2. Pat fish dry, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Let stand for 10 minutes. Chop 1 tbsp of the capers

3. Arrange half of lemon slices in one layer in an 8-inch round glass baking dish. Arrange fish in one layer over lemons. Top with chopped and remaining whole capers, remaining lemons slices, and the dill, and pour oil over the fish until barely covered.

4. Bake, covered, until fish just flakes and is cooked through, about 1 hour.

Serve fish with some of the lemon slices, capers and olive oil spooned on top. Garnish with dill if desired.



Sauteed Autumn Greens
serves two generously


4 cups assorted kales and autumn greens, washed (do not dry the leaves)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 medium shallot, minced
Pinch red chili pepper flakes, or to taste
Baby parsnips
Water as needed (approx. 1/4 cup)

1.  Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick skillet until hot. 

2.  Add the garlic and shallots and saute for a couple of minutes or until fragrant.  Add red chili pepper flakes and saute for one minute more.



3.  Add any tougher kale to the pan first and saute for until softened.  Add remaining greens; stir and cover for a couple of minutes until greens are softened but not wilted. Remove and set aside in serving bowl.



4. In the same pan, add the parsnips and stir until hot. Add water, cover pan, and saute on high heat, about five minutes or until parsnips are tender but still crunchy.  Add the greens, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.



Set the table and serve it forth!