Tag: cooking

Hurray for basil (and its kin)

I’ve not posted for a while on the “things I like” theme, so here’s a short and sweet one: Growing my own herbs. What’s great about that is:

  • It’s easy. Most don’t require much coddling. Maybe water them if they look wilty, cut them down if they look a little overgrown. S’about it. Some even come back the next year (sage, oregano, and marjoram, for me).
  • Instant satisfaction. You don’t have to wait (much) for them to grow, and certainly no wait for fruit or veg to develop. They come with leaves, and that’s what you eat.
  • Delicious. One of the easiest ways to perk up an otherwise mediocre dish is to add fresh herbs.
  • Money-saving. At least, I think so, given the price of the little packages from the grocery store, particularly considering the entire contents don’t always get used. You grow your own, you can harvest only what you need, as you need it.

Today’s menu of gnocchi with wild mushrooms in a simple olive oil/butter/chicken broth/Parmesan sauce were enhanced with very fresh parsley and sage leaves, which I crisped in the toaster oven. Very delicious with a 2008 Pinot Noir from Rosewood Estates, and only took a half hour to make.

What is a normal dinner party?

Though I like to cook and have a reasonable fondness for the company of others, I don’t host dinner parties that often. This is because I can’t seem to just have “normal” ones. Actually, I’m not even sure what a normal one is, but I think it means basically cooking something you normally do, only a little more of it, adding a dessert and a couple nice bottles of wine, and inviting a few other people over to help you eat it.

I always seem to go bigger and more complicated. Perhaps it’s true that everyone needs a challenge once in a while, and this is one I set up for myself. So, for my most recent dinner party, the idea was trying to “harmonize the food and wine for each course to a particular soundtrack, based on mood.” Which indeed was a wee bit of a challenge.

Selecting the moods

How many courses, and which mood would each have? At the start, the only thing that seemed obvious was that the start [snacks] needed to exciting and energizing, while dessert was by nature romantic. Retrospectively only, I realized that what I did from there was segue gradually down from that starting mood to the ending one. So exciting gave way to merely happy [appetizers], then to engaged/interested [main course], and onto refreshed (which I’m still not convinced is actually a mood) [palette cleanser], and finally to the relaxed romantic.

Playlist assembly

Again, the starts and ends were quite easy. Exciting and energizing = dance music to me, and I already had a large Dance playlist. I could afford to get pretty picky with that, knocking out the slower numbers and the ones I didn’t like as much, and still being left with a good 7 hours of thumpa thumpa. And I similarly had a good start on the romantic already, which just required a little removal of some racier items, and the addition of some more love songs.

But happy was tough. Apparently I’m not that big a fan of the upbeat pop tune. I was really having to comb through to find enough to last a sufficient amount of time.

For engaged I looked for songs that were of moderate mellowness and featured smart lyrics. I am much more of a fan of this type of music, it appears, so this was easier to put together. A lot of women artists feaured here—Alanis, Tori, Sarah… even a little Madonna.

And refreshing? I decided that was electronica… Not sure why. As I have only about 12 electronica songs, it was easy to gather them, and that was long enough for the palette cleanser course.

Food and wine

Jean was a big help in getting this part settled. I really didn’t want to do fiddly little appetizer things, because I hate making that kind of stuff, but I was failing to see how I could possibly make soup or salad “fun”. He’s the one who suggested that a two-tone soup, which we’d once had at a restaurant, could be kind of fun, especially with chow mein noodles. So that’s what I went with, adapting a carrot and parsnip recipe that was meant to have everything combined, but instead cooking it in two parts.

Similarly, it was his point that salmon seemed too dull to be the only main course protein on offer, leading to the idea of offering duck as well. Which of course meant we had to serve Pinot Noir, the intellectual wine—as we learned at the KW Symphony’s food and wine concert. And that concert is also where I got the Julia Child chocolate recipe that I thought I would be a suitable dessert.

With those main items selected, the rest just had to be built up around it. And we were so well stocked in wine at this point, selecting those proved pretty easy, and required no special trips to the LCBO. Everything was already in our wine cupboard.

Inviting guests

Oh yeah, the people! On the first date we proposed, very few could actually attend. So we were pretty surprised when, on the second day we suggested, everyone could go! But that’s a good problem to have, since we wouldn’t have invited them if we didn’t want to see them. So we were eight guests, plus Jean and me. Inventory revealed we actually did have enough chairs and dishes—as long as we weren’t too fussy about everything matching—and a little creativity allowed everyone to sit at the same table, albeit covered with three different, small table cloths.

Everyone was willing and able to bring something, and that also helped round out the menu and assuage concerns that someone would go hungry. And on the day, all were really great about helping with music changing, wine opening, and dish delivery and removal. I could definitely see why I wanted to spend time with these people.

So how did it go?

Generally good, I think? Jean and I had fun. Everyone else claimed they did too. I felt most items I made turned out well, and certainly everything brought was delicious. Definitely the most challenging part was the final preparation of the main courses, where we had to cook duck, beans, salmon in sequence in the oven (cause each needed a different temperature) while also preparing the sweet potatoes and reheating the magret, but we mostly managed that. (We probably would have done a little better had we not already had a couple glasses of wine by then, but hey, it was a party, and we didn’t have to drive.)

After that, everything was actually pretty easy to serve, as it was all ready, so then we could largely relax and just enjoy the company and conversation.

As I had typed up the menu for the whole evening, I’ll copy that in here now. Thereby making this the longest post ever!

Continue reading “What is a normal dinner party?” →

Music and food

The KW Symphony’s latest Intersections concert, Bon appétit, was on the theme of music and food. It was one of the most enjoyable concerts I’ve ever been to.

Held at the small Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts instead of Centre in the Square, acoustics were sacrificed but intimacy was gained. It proved a good trade-off.

Principle conductor Edwin Outwater introduced the evening by outlining a fact he’d only recently learned, which is that symphonies first came together as a way of accompanying large feasts in the 15th century. Then he read some of the items served at these feasts (didn’t sound too bad), along with the instruments combined to accompany each course.

Then the Symphony played their first number, Raymond Scott’s “Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals.” (Not the KW Symphony, but here’s a YouTube link.) A lot of Raymond Scott’s music is used in cartoons; this was one lively and fun work.

Up next, Natalie Benninger of Nick and Nate’s Uptown 21 restaurant was introduced, as Edwin explained there would actually be food as part of this concert. (We were also allowed to bring wine to our seats.) She introduced the next piece, the lyrical “Pastorale” from the film Babette’s Feast, the soundtrack to the big meal in the film. It was lovely, but I have to admit to being distracted by the appetizer being distributed while it was being played. And to the fact that Jean and I didn’t get any.  It was apparently a salad of endive and blue cheese from the film, and quite delicious. (I suppose I should add that it wasn’t only Jean and me who didn’t get any. For whatever reason, there seemed to be enough for only about half the audience.)

At some point—maybe here—we also did a video link up to Nick, toiling away back at the restaurant. In his first appearance, he talked about the type of restaurant it was, and the focus on local foods and changing menus. And then the next piece played was Shostakovich’s “Tea for Two”, a variation on that tune that he (Shostakovich, not Nick) wrote on a dare. It was a lot of fun. (Look, you can hear that one on YouTube also.)

Nick appeared again, commenting that he was more of a Rolling Stones guy than a classical music fan, but that he did appreciate this particular concert. Then he asked Edwin about food, to which Edwin expressed appreciation for Italian and Japanese cuisine, and his sense that chicken was a highly overrated food item.

The final piece of the first half was by a living Canadian composer, John Estacio. It was one movement from the Farmer’s Symphony, called “The Harvest.” It was quite grand, and was served with an appetizer of cornmeal in a honey sauce. (For everyone, this time.)

Before we broke for intermission, John from Art Bar spoke about the wine he’d been drinking during the performance, which was a red blend from Southbrook Winery, and how different characteristics of the wine came to the forefront with the different styles of music. Edwin then asked concertmaster Stephen Sitarski what music would best accompany Pinot Noir. He thought a relaxing smooth jazz, whereas a Bordeaux would require something more intellectual.

At intermission, I bought a glass of the Southbrook red. (I’m highly suggestible.) It was quite nice.

Part 2 led off with Ralph Vaughn Williams’ “March Past of the Kitchen Utensils”, which somewhat sounded as titled. The next number, which featured mezzo soprano Megan Latham, was an orchestral version of the Cole Porter tune “The Tale of the Oyster,” arranged by Edwin Outwater himself. This was a hilarious little number about an oyster who longs for the high life—and finds it on a silver platter. (YouTube) And Latham has a beautiful voice and a very expressive manner.

Nick then introduced a video of a competition between himself and Latham, as to who could make the best version of Julia Child’s Gateau au Chocolat. Quite amusing (and no winner declared). We then moved into Lee Holby’s Bon Appetit, which is an episode of Julia Child’s program, in which she makes that Gateau, set to music. You can definitely picture Child as the piece proceeds. And most happily, we didn’t have to imagine how the gateau tasted, because we all got a piece. It was one of the best things I’ve ever put in my mouth.

And, they gave us the recipe in the concert program. I think I might try it. Heck, it’s only 6 oz butter. Practically diet food, for Julia Child.

Anyway. The last piece was a real change of pace, an adaptation of 60’s band Strawberry Alarm Clock’s “Incense and Peppermints.” Though orchestral, it was very much in tune with the psychedelic original, complete with phase-shifting vocal (in technical terms, Latham used this gizmo to make her voice echo and layer). On the last verse, Edwin joined in the singing as well. And then he thanked us for “coming out for something we’ve never done before, and that I’ve never even heard of before.”

Though the joke was that the near-capacity crowd would then all head to the 54-seat Nick and Nate’s for a nightcap, we just headed home at that point. But we were smiling all the way.

Of hams and Whos

So this was a Sunday of firsts. Not only my inaugural viewing of a Superbowl half-time show, but also my first attempt at cooking one of those big, big hams with the bone in it.

I’ve always been a mystified by ham-like meats and their various grocery store names—why is one a “sweet pickle roll” while another is a “steak” and that one there is “smoked hock”? But anyway, whatever the actual name, the big ones with the bone, that are not precooked, were on at a very good price at Sobey’s this week, so I decided to take a stab at cooking that. How hard could it be?

I had assumed it would be like other big hunks of meats, in that you flavored the outside somehow, then stuck it in the oven at a certain temperature for 2+ hours, until the middle part reached the acceptable temperature. To my surprise, though, the package for this thing said it was to be cooked on the stove top in water (for 2+ hours).

Well, thank goodness I still have that huge pasta pot I received as a wedding present and have rarely used since, because it just fit in there. The wrapper then instructed me to remove the wrapper before I cooked it in the water. Boy, what kind of an idiot does this wrapper think I am anyway, I thought, as I removed the plastic and discovered that the meat was in this other mesh-like wrapper. Was I supposed to remove that one?

“Jean! Help!”

Jean called for reinforcements. Since his Mom left the mesh on, so would I.

The instructions then said to cover the meat in cold water, then cook it over low heat for 2 to 2.5 hours, til it reached 71C. Seemed easy enough, so I did as told.

An hour later when I checked, the water was warmish but not bubbly or anything. That seemed a bit odd, but what did I know? Another half hour later, there was some simmer going, and I started working on the scalloped potatoes (which I actually know how to make).

As those went in the oven, I got the bright idea of actually sticking a meat thermometer in the meat to see how it was doing. It was nowhere near 71C. It was at, like 27, or something. And here I was, kind of hoping to eat this thing today.

I now did what I have to assume I was supposed to have done in the first place, which is bring the water to a full boil, then reduce heat to a nice simmer. That did get the temperature moving up a bit quicker. But not really quickly enough.

As microwaving didn’t seem to be much of an option, I was at a bit of a loss as to how to accelerate the cooking time.

“Jean! Help!”

Jean’s suggestion, which I had sorted gleaned onto also, was to cut the big hunk of meat into smaller hunks, figuring each would cook faster that way.

And faster it did go, finally finishing about 3.5 hours after starting, and about 0.5 hours after the scalloped potatoes and braised cabbage with cranberries were done. But that wasn’t so bad. And everything was really very tasty. (Thank goodness, because I think we’re going to be eating the leftovers for the next week or two.)

So in the background of this kitchen drama, as of 6:45 or so, was The Superbowl. Muted. (Yes, I have a TV in my kitchen. Doesn’t everyone?) So I was able to look up to it every once in a while, between fretting about meat temperature, to see the first two quarters count down.

Though I needn’t really have worried, because as the second quarter wound down, I got not one but two calls informing me of the impending halftime show. It’s so nice to have people in your life who care! And who actually want to watch The Superbowl. And by then, we were actually done eating dinner (though not putting away all the leftovers).

I went downstairs where the PVR lives and put it on Superbowl channel. Only the sound was all broken up. That wasn’t going to work. So I tried other Superbowl channels – CBS, maritime, BC. Then other, non-Superbowl channels.

Basically, the sound was a fubarred anywhere. With about 2 minutes left in the second quarter, the PVR needed a reboot.

So while it reset itself, I watched the countdown on the kitchen TV. With about 10 seconds left, the PVR was back, sound restored to normality.

I then sat with the remote, planning to hit the record when The Who actually began their set. Only, it had been so long since I actually recorded anything playing live (I normally preset everything I plan to watch), I didn’t really know how to do that. Which I only realized as their set began.

“Jean! Help!”

Jean managed the highly complex [not] process of recording what was currently on (and we later remembered that it actually tapes everything from when I first tuned to that channel, so I actually have the whole thing).

And then we watched The Who—me a little more closely than Jean.

Jean [during Baba O’Reilly]: Is that all they’re doing of that one? Me (feeling weirdly proud that he now knows when Baba O’Reilly is shortened): Yeah, it’s medley.

The set list was utterly unsurprising. They only have 12 minutes. Of course they’re going to play all the CSI themes, somehow. It certainly would have been nice to hear more of their catalog, and it might have been interesting (or an interesting disaster) if they’d actually tried to “mash up” some of their songs (and come to think of it, they used do that very thing, live … quite brilliantly). But again… 12 minutes.

Jean [during Who Are You]: You must disappointed he’s wearing a shirt. Me: Yeah, and no wardrobe malfunctions this year.

The outfits: Though still in remarkably great shape for nearly 66, I don’t actually think Daltrey should still go out in full bare chest-al glory anymore. So the jacket was fine, but that scarf? I don’t really get his fondness for scarves, unless he feels having a warm neck actually helps with singing, or something. (And some bloggers are complaining about seeing Townsend’s “white tummy” far too often—which I can’t say I particular even noticed!)

Jean: [during Won’t Get Fooled Again]: Wow, I’m impressed how fast they set that stage up. Me: Did you know The Who pioneered the use of lasers in rock concerts?

The staging was pretty awesome. The light show, the fireworks—it looked great on TV, it must have looked fantastic in the stadium.

As to the overall performance? Though a bit sloppy at times, I thought they were pretty good, generally. Mind, I wasn’t expecting them to sound like they did in 1971. It was fun to hear the big stadium singing along with them. Knowing that Daltrey’s voice is a thing of wonkiness these days, I was actually tense waiting for him to attempt the “Won’t Get Fooled Again” scream. But to my relief, that was great! (Though it may well be the years of doing that scream that has reduced his voice to what it is now…)

I did a bit of review reading afterward. What I found most weird were the accusations, at Rollingstone.com, that they lip-synced the entire performance. (This is not in the review, but in the dreaded comments section.) I’m with those who said, you know, if the whole thing was pre-recorded, don’t you think it would have been a little… better?

And my favourite review is the fairly poignant one in the New York Times, some of which I’ll quote below:

Instead, for what was probably its biggest one-time viewing audience, the Who chose repertory from Townshend’s increasingly ambitious late-1960s albums and afterward, when he was already taking a grown-up’s point of view: “Pinball Wizard” and the gentle “See me, feel me” snippet from his 1969 rock opera “Tommy”; “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” from the 1971 “Who’s Next”; and the title song from the 1978 “Who Are You.” If there was a 21st-century attention-span paradox in having the man who wrote rock operas and concept albums compress his life’s work into 12 minutes — well, Townshend said beforehand that the medley was Daltrey’s idea.

They were songs about prowess, determination, desperation and rage at how revolutions fail: an arc of verbal frustration defied, and explosively overcome, by musical assertiveness, with the power chords that the Who made ring worldwide. They were songs that expected, and got, large audiences at the time. It was music born to be heard in arenas and stadiums, and the halftime show might have been these songs’ last airing on their accustomed monumental scale.

…

The Who did its best to punk up its songs again, even amid the Super Bowl’s fiesta of corporate branding, and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” — the song that got the fullest airing — still had a good part of its old ferocity. But it was a line in “Baba O’Riley” that touched on what kind of milestone this brief, happily unkempt, late-career performance was for the Who. “Let’s get together before we get much older,” Daltrey sang, looking directly across the stage at Townshend.

PS – I also quite liked this blog post [link no longer valid, unsurprisingly], which (despite not containing nearly enough information about ham) nicely made the point that while The Who’s Superbowl performance was mostly fine, they’re just doomed now by having once been the best live band. Period. I especially liked this line: “The Who are probably the most underrated band that many people consider wildly overrated.”

Dining in the new year

Since we were once again at Verses on New Year’s Eve, this year’s gourmet dinner we cook ourselves occurred on January 2. (January 1, believe it or not, Jean went canoeing.)

Appetizers

Two glasses of Peller Ice Cuvee.

We began with a glass of Ice Cuvée from Peller Estates. This is a Champagne-style sparkling wine (mix of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay) that is accented with a bit of Vidal ice wine. The Champagne taste definitely predominates; this is not a sweet drink. But the ice wine does add a nice sweet edge to it. It’s a good starter.

Mushroom bruschetta and Pinot Noir.

Our first course highlighted wild mushrooms. First up was buffalo mozzarella with bruschetta of wild mushrooms. This was a recipe by Lucy Waverman, based on an item from Vancouver’s Cibo Trattoria. The bread used was sourdough, a fair amount of fresh garlic was involved, olive oil and balsamic vinegar participated, and the whole thing was topped with Pecorino cheese. The result was a lot of flavour, but it all seemed to play nicely together. Though if we tried it again, we might try grating rather than shaving the Pecorino.

The wine was going to be a Rodney Strong Pinot Noir, but at the last minute I substituted this John Tyler Pinot Noir that we’d also purchased in California. This is a very small winery, so their wines are unlikely to ever show up in the LCBO. It’s a really nice Pinot. Not quite the wow factors of the Rodney Strong Estate Pinot, but still very smooth, and very good with food.

We also had—unpictured because soup just looks like soup—a wild rice and mushroom soup, recipe courtesy of Alive magazine. This was mostly wild mushrooms with a bit of carrot, onion, celery (I used celery root), with wild rice, cooked in vegetable broth with a bit of red wine. It turned out very nice as well, once seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper.

And both recipes were actually pretty quick and easy to make. Because of the wild rice, though, the soup required an hour’s cooking time.

Mains

Pan-seared trout with olives and potatoes.

Next up was Pan-Seared Arctic Char with Olives and Potatoes, courtesy of Fine Cooking magazine. Only we couldn’t find arctic char, so we substituted a nice-looking rainbow trout from TJ’s Seafood. This was really a plain simple recipe, where the fish is just salted and peppered and fried in a bit of olive oil, while the potatoes and sliced and boiled for a short time, then also fried, along with Kalamata olives and fresh rosemary. Then it’s all seasoned with balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. Proves you don’t need complicated techniques to make great food, because it was delicious.

With this, we served a white Chateauneuf-du-pape that we had brought back from Provence. While I don’t remember being that blown away by this type of wine on that trip, did it ever taste wonderful last night. Very complex, very delicious. Possibly the best of the night.

Duck ravioli with sweet and sour squash.

The one item I’d decided in advance I wanted to attempt this year was duck ravioli. I found the recipe we used just via Google; it was called Duck confit and mashed potato ravioli with white truffle sauce. It wasn’t particularly difficult, but it was time-consuming. You had to make the mashed potatoes, skin the duck confit and chop up the duck meat, crisp up the skin, then warm up the meat and combine it with the potatoes, and stuff everything into won ton wrappers. (And I’m not sure what this was about, but we have a ton of stuffing left!)

The way we manage this meal overall, by the way, is to do as much in advance as possible in the afternoon, then just do the final cooking of each course as we go through the evening. The final touches for duck ravioli are just to boil the raviolis, and make the truffle sauce. Which is just unsalted butter browned and then combined with truffle oil and truffle paste. And you top the raviolis with the previously crisped skin.

As a side dish (we need our veg), we made Jamie Oliver’s sweet and sour squash recipe. This would be from his Cook with Jamie cookbook. It involves chopping the squash into “finger”-sized pieces (not sure food should be compared to body parts), and basically steaming, then frying it with red onion, garlic, thyme, raisins, pine nuts (we had to use almonds), and lots of parsley. The sweet and sour is created with balsamic and white wine vinegar, and sugar.

That was a slightly weird food combo, so we settled on a blended red wine: the 2005 Stratus Red. It’s a pleasant yet complex wine, and probably suited the food as well as anything could.

Dessert

Almond-scented cannoli and truffles with port.

We were pretty proud of ourselves for managing our portions throughout such that there was still room for a modest serving of dessert. (Also, we now have a lot of leftovers—today will be the best leftover day ever!) For this we made almond-scented chocolate cannoli, using an old recipe from Shape magazine. So it’s a light-ish dessert, with light ricotta and light Cool Whip combined with a bit of almond extract and a few mini chocolates chips and stuffed into a cannoli shell (that we bought; didn’t make).

And on the side, we made Chili Chocolate Truffles, using a recipe from LCBO Magazine (Winter 2006). So it’s whipped cream, butter, and bittersweet chocolate flavored with ancho chili power and honey, chilled and rolled in either grated white chocolate or cocoa powder.

These were served with a 2000 Vintage port from Quinta de la Rosa, a lovely smooth drink. The cannolis had a nice cheesy, chocolate, almond taste (as one might expect, I suppose) and the chili in the truffles was very subtle, just giving a slight bite to the sweetness.

Three books, five days

… And that’s pretty good for me. The key, I’ve found, is trains. And given what’s currently happening at airports, more of us may be taking trains. At least take comfort in knowing it’s good for literacy.

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

… even though, I have to confess, two of the three books were consumed in Audible form, on my iPod. That way you can also watch the scenery. And the snow-covered trees were really pretty.

OK, the most important thing about finishing Oryx and Crake is that I’m no longer in the embarassing position of never having read a Margaret Atwood novel. Yes, I know. You’d be amazed at the great authors I’ve yet to read. Though, to be fair, I have tried reading Margaret Atwood before. I just had to give up about a third in, due to incredible lack of enjoyment. (Not even sure what book that was, anymore.)

But Oryx and Crake, I found really interesting. It’s an Apocalyptic future kind of tale, taking place in a globally warmed future where a single remaining homo sapien coexists with “Crakians”, genetically engineered humans who lack humans’ more destructive impulses. A lot of the realities of the book—the bizarrely genetically engineered animal hybrids, the smart technologists locked away in compounds away from the “plebe-lands”, the reliance on medicine to treat everything—seemed somewhat plausible, only a little beyond what is actually going on.

So it was an unpleasant yet somewhat familiar world, and it was fairly engrossing uncovering the mystery of what led to this point.

Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell

I had seen and enjoyed the movie, so I got curious about the book, which I did actually read, and without the benefit of train motion. Julie Powell had a blog that covered her efforts to make all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, in one year. Though a personal strain (these are not easy recipes), the blog became very popular—ultimately becoming a book, then a movie (obviously).

Watching the movie, I somewhat related to Julie. She and I both like to write about food, for example. She and and I both cook from written recipes (as opposed to just whipping up your own thing, which is a whole other talent). She and I are both in a long-term, childfree marriages to really sweet guys.

And reading the book, I found even more similarities. Like—I kid you not—her total obsession with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. One of the most dire crises of the book is when CBS wants to interview her on the night of the very last Buffy ever!

So part of my brain thinks, geez, why didn’t I think of blogging about making all of Julia Child’s recipes in a year so that I could get a book deal, and a movie deal, and get to write another book?

But then I’m reminded that there are some key differences between Julie and me.

She’s much more open than I about writing about personal, embarrassing stuff, for example. And that is a big part of the charm and appeal of the endeavour, which made it a success.

There’s also the fact that she was really dissatisfied with her secretarial job, and her difficulties in getting pregnant, both necessary fuel for taking on and maintain this crazy project of hers. (Along with occasionally copious amounts of alcohol, cigarettes, and expletives.) Me, I don’t have quite enough angst to take on making boeuf bourgignon until 2:00 in the morning, sustained only by nicotine and rum.

And most particularly… Frankly, I would never do classic French cooking. Reading the book, even more than seeing the movie, made me realize I have no interest in this type of arduous cooking: Digging out bone marrow, making gelatin from a calve’s hoof (seriously! apparently smells like a tannery), chopping up a live lobster (all the parts squirm, it appears), boning an entire duck.

It was fun to read about, though.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

This was the return trip audiobook. I had downloaded Fahrenheit 451 as well, but that was starting to seem like a little too much apocalypse for one trip, so I dug around and stumbled upon this one, the first Sookie Stackhouse mystery. OK, vampire mystery. But the vampires are still incidental, even though I realize this is the second time they’ve been mentioned in this post.

And also, that all three books are from a single individual’s point of view.

Anyway. In this case, the point of view is Sookie Stackhouse’s, a telepathic bar waitress in a world where vampires exist and have just attained legal status. Sookie meets Bill, a vampire who sets her small Southern town a-twitter by deigning to live in it. She’s intrigued because she cannot read his mind; this comes as a major relief. But their path to true romance hits stumbling blocks in the form of the murder of women who have a sweet spot for vampires.

Jean declared this too much of a chick book for him, though not too much for him to listen from start to finish.

I found it diverting enough, but I’m not sure I’m compelled to read any more of these. Sounds a bit weird to say given that the main characters are a vampire and mind reader, but there were more supernatural elements introduced later in the novel than I wanted. Made it a bit harder to believe in the world. Sookie was a fun character, it had some nice sexy bits, and I was curious about the murderer’s identify. But it’s not something I’d say you’d have to go out of your way to read.

(In case anyone was wondering, I haven’t yet seen True Blood, which is apparently based on, but very different from, these novels.)

Busy, busy

Been a fairly active few days; I’ll try to catch up with a variety of things here…

The new Ignatieff ads

If these work, I’ll be terribly disappointed in my fellow Canadians.

Verses continues to excel

The new summer menu is out! The new herbed gnochi with wild mushroom appetizer is wonderful, and Jean declared the foie gras possibly the best ever. Anywhere. Also pretty cool: “The cocoa nib braised Belgium endive” on the duck breast main course.

Hannah’s doesn’t survive the loss of its chef

Website is still up, but Hannah’s Bistro restaurant is history. There’s a sign on the door saying they’ve vacated the premises with rent due.

West Side Story‘s a winner

We saw a preview performance with my parents at Stratford; it was excellent, with a really strong cast of young dancers and singers. And even though I knew perfectly well what would happen to Tony, it still made me cry.

Drowning in Riesling

Well, not really, but do have a good stock visiting four Beamsville-area wineries with the folks. At Angel’s Gate, besides the Riesling, I took a chance on a blend not available for tasting. At East Dell we didn’t do any sampling, but I do recommend the restaurant. Malivoire‘s Gamay and the Gerwurtz won me over, and at Cave Spring I liked everything I tried, and took home the Estate Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir.

And we all gained appreciation for Jean’s GPS on the drive home.

Television finales

In the evenings, we caught up on some of these:

  • Grey’s Anatomy: Now there are rumours that Izzy isn’t really dead. That would just be cruel. (Still liking Owen and Christina, Bailey, and little Gray + McSteamy. Whom Mom agreed really does look like my cat.)
  • Bones: I enjoyed it, but it was an odd season finale. And amnesia? Seriously?
  • Desperate Housewives: Bad news: Looks like Jackson (Gale Harold) won’t be on the show anymore. Good news? That means I no longer have to watch Desperate Housewives!
  • American Idol: OK, I only read about (didn’t watch) the finale, just as I’ve only read about (never watched any of) the entire season, but I’m still surprised Adam didn’t win.
  • 30 Rock. Funny.
  • How I Met Your Mother. The goat! The jumping! Barney and Robin! Yay! And also very funny.

Still a bit over-ambitious

Oh, not in my career. I mean in my cooking. Hosted sister, brother-in-law, and kids over with the parents, and saying I said just make a simpler dinner. One main course, not three. Dessert made ahead. Simple appetizer. Yet somehow I still ended up peeling lima beans for the guacamole (don’t ask) and spending three hours on lasagna.

Everything was good, though.

By the time we got to Woodstock

It had been over for 40 years. So we had to make do with a symphonic makeover. Which frankly, was really enjoyable, and much more comfortable than sitting on a blanket in the mud while tripping on acid. (Oh dear. I’m old.) Highlights:

  • Rik Emmett doing Hendrix (All Along the Watchtower) and Santana (Black Magic Woman) justice on the guitar.
  • The rock chicks—Rique Franks letting loose on Joplin’s “Piece of my Heart”, Katalin Kiss on “White Rabbit”.
  • Neil Donnell channelling Joe Cocker in the liveliest performance I’ve ever seen him give, totally capturing the gravely voice while still hitting every note perfectly (as he does). Fantastic orchestration on this one (“With a Little Help From My Friends”), too.

My one quibble, being me? Just talking about how great The Who were at Woodstock, but not performing any Who—”because we already did The Who this season.” Yes, like everyone in the audience would be so upset to hear symphonic “Pinball Wizard” again only nine months later! That’s way too soon!

Geek excitement—Tasks in Google calendar!

The one feature I like in Lotus Notes—the To Do lists—now finally available in the email program I otherwise prefer! A geeky thrill!

New year, new gourmet dinner

Some years ago, DH and I started cooking a gourmet dinner on New Year’s Eve—yes, just for the two of us. (Everyone seems to find that odd, but believe me, when your friends all start having babies… You start doing a lot of things just the two of you!)

Last year, that dinner didn’t quite land on New Year’s Eve itself, and this year it was even later. DH had call duty over New Year’s weekend, so we picked the weekend after for our dinner. That way, there could be wine.

First course: Mushroom and cappuccino velouté

Source: The ever-cheery sounding Cooking with Foods That Fight Cancer

Wine: Stoneleigh 2006 Pinot Noir (New Zealand)

Green mug with foamy white stuff and a bit mushroom soup poking through; bottle of Stoneleigh Pinot.

Certainly the healthiest item of the meal, the soup was also very easy to make: Sauté mushrooms, garlic, and shallots in olive oil, add good-quality chicken stock and let simmer, add fresh basil and blend, season with sesame, then froth milk and put on top. We don’t have a proper “milk frother”, though, so that wasn’t as foamy as it might have been.

But since shitake mushrooms are delicious, the soup was delicious. The wine was also very nice, living up to its reputation as a really good Pinot Noir for less than $20 a bottle. Fruity but subtle, complementing the earthiness of the mushrooms nicely.

Second course: Squash Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce

Source: LCBO—Squash ravioli, Sage butter sauce

Wine: Chateau des Charmes St. David’s Bench Chardonnay (Ontario)

Ravioli on a white plate; Chateau des Charmes bottle.

I’d been wanting to try making ravioli for a while, and had these two LCBO recipes on hand. What we made was a bit of a combination of both.

I had my doubts when the roasted squash ended up a bit overcooked, with burnt edges; was the whole thing going to end up tasting charcoal-y? Plus, one squash didn’t seem to provide quite enough material, so we supplemented with can pumpkin.

Actually stuffing the things, which I had been dreading, was actually much easier than expected. And amazingly (to me), almost none came apart in cooking, and the won ton wrappers, which seemed so doughy when raw, turned very light after cooking.

The butter sauce was also cause for some concern enroute. (And can I say, that was a shocking amount of butter! Not how I usually cook!) It was supposed to get light brown; it kind of went beyond that, to a darker colour. Was it going to taste all charcoal-y?

But everything was delicious. No charcoal accents at all. And the detail of crisping the sage leaves in olive oil added a really cool texture to the whole thing.

The wine, recommended by LCBO, did match the food very nicely. It took on a completely different, fuller character, compared with drinking it alone.

Main course: Macademia-Crusted Lamb with Celery Root-Fennel Mash and Coconut Mango Chutney

Source: LCBO again, their Holiday 2004 issue.

Wine: Clos des Brusquières 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape (France)

Lamb chops with mashed root and chutney on another white plate; Chateauneuf du Pape bottle.

This recipe was a last-minute substitution when we weren’t able to get our hands on sushi-grade tuna. The idea was accompanying honey-encrusted French-cut lamb chops with a fairly subtle-flavored mash and a very strongly flavored chutney.

None of this was hard to make, but it did take a while. DH handled the mash, which involved a couple of vegetables we don’t cook with very often: the ugly celery root and a fennel bulb (with some other flavorings, like garlic and sea salt). The result was very pleasant-tasting.

The chutney was all strong flavors: sugar, vinegar, chili, ginger, mango, cinnamon, coconut, mint, raisins, lime. It seemed like such a hodge-podge, and the color ended up so odd (brownish), that I was actually surprised how good it tasted!

The main event lamb, by comparison, was a master of simplicity. And it all worked together with the wine, which was very nice, as those tend to be. (And yes, we were feeling a little tipsy at this point, though by no means getting close to finishing any of the bottles!)

Dessert: Pumpkin-Wild Blueberry Pie

Source: Michael Stadtlander’s The Heaven on Earth Project

Wine: Cave Spring’s 2006 Late Harvest Riesling (Ontario)

Blueberry and pumpkin pie with whipped cream; Cave Spring bottle.

Michael Stadtlander is considered one of the best chefs in the world. He runs a restaurant out of his own home. It’s extremely difficult to get reservations there now, but many years, we were able to. (We just had to book four months in advance. Seriously.) And it was, indeed, a sublime experience.

We bought his book a few months ago and—guess what?—a lot of the recipes are really hard to make. But this pie was approachable, and this seemed a good time to try it.

I didn’t compromise on it too much. I used can pumpkin instead of cooking my own, and the blueberry glaze seemed to require the sacrifice of too many delicious wild blueberries for too little input on the pie. But I did follow pastry recipe, and was pleased how easy it was to mix. Rolling got a bit sticky (the crust had sugar and vanilla in it), but adding flour made that work. No amounts were given for the various spices in the pumpkin pie, so I just threw in what seemed like a reasonable amount of each.

So if not entire Statlander-esque in the end, it still turned out very good. Pumpkin and wild blueberry (frozen after we bought them up North this summer) is a good combination. And the Riesling had about the right amount of sweetness to match.

Pie was even better the next day when it had had a chance to chill longer.

The Christmas part of Christmas (or Christmas in parts)

With dispersed families, Christmas celebrations get dispersed over various events, not all of which occur on December 25.

DH and I traditionally hold “our” Christmas on the weekend before we go north. We exchange whatever gifts we’ve bought for each other, and have a Christmas dinner.

This year was no exception. For the dinner, I decided to follow an entire menu provided in the Nutrition Action Newsletter. The biggest challenge, apart from it just being a lot of dishes (turkey breast, stuffing, wild rice salad, green beans, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, pumpkin dip, cranberry apple pear crisp), was that a lot of the recipes were for 8-10 people—way too much for two. So not only was I making a lot of different dishes, but I was having to do arithmetic (divide in two) on all the ingredients as well.

But everything turned out. Although all “healthy”, nothing was lacking in flavor. The cranberry sauce was nicely punched up with ginger, the sweet potato topped with walnuts and coconut. And I liked that the stuffing was much less greasy and salty than stuffing usually is.

For gifts, we went small, since we’re looking at yet another trip soon. With the help of very specific hinting, I got very cute pyjamas on a musical theme (“Here comes treble!”), but was also surprised with some new kitchen gizmos. The gift I was most excited for DH to open was a bottle of Stratus White that I’d spotted at an LCBO, despite its being completely sold out at the winery itself. Tasting notes:

The 05 Stratus White invites the awesome comment. Cliché but true. Feels like Chardonnay Musqué on steroids—delightfully excessive. A wine to propose with, or serve with foie gras, perhaps to mark an anniversary celebration.

The next event was up north, on the eve of the 24th, which is when French Canadians celebrate Christmas with a Réveillon. Food features prominently here, with little appetizer thingies like bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, sweet and sour meatballs, devilled eggs, smoked salmon canapes, shrimp, sucre à crème, and so on.

The gift exchange is more on the jokey side. Everyone gets a $10 gift on a theme, this year’s being “Cowboy”. Then we sit and play a “left / right” passing game until you end up with whatever gift in the end. I threw a Cowboy Junkies CD into the pot.

On the third day of Christmas, it was finally December 25. But Christmas morning was pretty quiet, just DH, me, and my parents, as one sister was staying in Toronto, another not due up until Boxing Day, and the brother’s family only stopping by later that day. So we did a leisurely breakfast, then each of us opened our stocking things, and DH and Dad exchanged gifts, since they had each other’s names.

DH and I split up for Christmas dinner, each joining our respective parents’ for the traditional turkey feast. I did get to see my brother’s family at this point, which is always fun, along with some aunts and uncles.

So Boxing Day was another event, as finally all the kids (my brother’s and my sister’s) could get together. The reunion occurred later than originally expected, due to a stomach bug that struck my brother and his wife (though not the kids). It was crazy-ness when they were finally all together, tearing through their remaining presents.

I also opened my gifts from my brother-in-law, who had my name. Got a very nice-looking exercise top (that I probably won’t limit to workout wear—it’s pretty cute), the Who’s Amazing Story DVD that I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the past couple days, a nice pair of earrings and necklace from the One of a Kind show (and thinking my sister may have helped with the shopping here), and a Paul Anka Rock Swings CD.

Yes, Rock Swings—Paul Anka doing songs like Jump, Smells Like Teen Spirit, and Black Hole Sun in his style. This was purchased in all seriousness, since I’ve been known to enjoy oddities such as dance-mix and orchestral versions of Queen songs. But this CD is something else. We played it one night and, well, you almost have to hear it to believe it. It was quite the conversation piece for us.

New Year’s Eve Eve dinner

For the past few years, our New Year’s Eve activity has been to prepare a gourmet dinner for two. This year, however, Jean was interested in going to Verses for their New Year’s Eve dinner. So, we decided to do our gourmet dinner the day before—on New Year’s Eve Eve. Time will tell how wise it was to plan on two multi-course meals in a row.

In the meantime, this year we remembered the request to post descriptions and pictures of what we made for dinner. 

Appetizer: Dried Cranberry Scones with Stilton

Source: LCBO Food and Drink Magazine, Holiday 2005

Matching “wine”: Fonseca vintage 1988 port

Dried Cranberry Scones with Stilton

Description: Baked scones with dried cranberries, cut in half and filled with cranberry-orange marmalade, topped with Stilton cheese, more dried cranberries, and chives.

Assessment: The Stilton really “pops”, but is nicely contrasted with the cranberry and the touch of chives. The scones turned out really well—fluffy and tasty. Both scones and marmalade were made the day before, which meant only assembly was required.

The port was amazing—complex flavours, smooth going down but a little bite afterward. And a good match for the cheese.

Salad: Apple and oyster mushroom salad

Source: Cooking with Foods That Fight Cancer (cheery, huh)

Matching wine: NZ Kim Crawford Pinot Noir (Vintages)

Apple and oyster mushroom salad with Pinot Noir

Description: Apples and oyster mushrooms cooked in a little butter and placed over arugula coated with olive oil and cider vinegar. Topped with walnuts.

Assessment: The mushrooms, in particular, tasted quite nice, and went well with the apples, arugula, and walnuts. The Pinot Noir smoke was a good match for the mushrooms, as hoped.

Fish course: Lemon-Shallot Scallops with Sugar Snap Peas

Source: Cooking Light Magazine, June 2002

Matching Wine: NZ Whitecliff Sauvignon Blanc

Scallops, snow peas, Sauvignon Blanc

Description: Scallops are first pan-seared in a little olive oil, then shallots and garlic are cooked in a little butter, and simmered in white wine. Scallops are then tossed with the sauce and topped with fresh parsley.

Sugar snap peas are simply steamed.

Assessment: Simple but effective. The key is to not overcook anything. The Sauvignon Blanc is a typical NZ type, with a nice bite to it.

Meat course: Loin of lamb with fresh herbs, served with oven fries and cinnamon sweet potatoes

Source: A Taste of Quebec Cookbook (lamb), The Best Light Recipe Cookbook (oven fries), LCBO Food and Drink Magazine, Holiday 2002 (sweet potatoes)

Accompanying wine: Spanish Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon blend (not available in Canada; we brought it back from Spain)

Lamb, potatoes, sweet potatoes, red wine

Description: The boneless lamb is pan-seared, then baked at 450. Meanwhile, a red wine, beef stock, and fresh herb sauce is prepared for it. The oven fries basically involve soaking the cut potatoes, then mixing them with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, and baking them. The sweet potatoes are cut into disks and baked. They get topped with a mix of brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt for the last 10 minutes or so.

Assessment: I’d never cooked lamb before, but this turned out quite well—nice flavour, not overdone, good sauce. I had done the two potato recipes before, and they both turned out fine, even though we had to compromise on cooking times and temperatures in order to get everything done together.

The wine was really fantastic. Big and fruity but not overwhelming.

Dessert: Chocolate Torte with Dried-Cherry Port Sauce

Source: LCBO Food and Wine Magazine, Holiday 2004

Accompanying “wine”: We went back to the port!

Chocolate torte, cherries, vanilla ice cream, port

Description: A totally decadent mixture of quality chocolate, butter, and eggs, topped with a port sauce mixed with dried cherries. Not too hard to make, and all doable the day before. Served with vanilla ice cream as well.

Assessment: We had to wait a bit before digging into this, but it was certainly good. And a small piece is perfectly satisfying.

Full gallery at https://photos.app.goo.gl/8u2LKohrknHgusXBA