Category: cooking

There’s a First Time for Everything: KitchenAid Pasta Maker

Last month, a marketing company promoting KitchenAid products contacted me to ask if I was interested in giving their Pasta Maker a try. Always up for experimentation, I said yes, and shortly after, received a large box with my name on it.

All smiles with my Pasta Kit

Mack laughed at me when I told him I expected a package tied up in a red bow with a label, “To: Sharon, Love: KitchenAid,” but it was a little like the Cooking Fairy had decided to pay me a visit. The Kit contained two stainless steel stand mixer attachments – a pasta roller and fettuccini pasta cutter – as well as a brush for cleaning and a slotted spoon and pasta server. Lastly, two boxes of Ecco La Pasta mixes were included to simplify initial attempts.

KitchenAid Pasta Kit

Contents

We started with the egg pasta dry mix, added water, and let the stand mixer do the work. Once the dough came together, I relied heavily on the manual, particularly because I needed as much guidance as possible, having never made pasta from scratch before. It wasn’t entirely clear to me how the lump of dough we now had in front of us should be divided to be fed into the pasta roller (better illustrations or pictures would have helped matters), but we eventually figured out that thicker clumps of dough yielded the desired yard of pasta that would eventually be cut into individual noodles.

Dough coming together

Mack working the pasta roller

Cutting the pasta into recognizable fettuccini noodles was the best part, gratifying the work we had done up until that point.

Go Mack go!

Making fettuccini

Finished noodles

I think we were surprised at how quickly everything came together. Even if we hadn’t used the pasta mix, it still wouldn’t have taken much longer, as the stand mixer does most of the grunt work. As with most store-bought products as well, we liked that the pasta maker would give us control over the ingredients used in the dough (I wonder how duck eggs would fare in pasta?).

We both acknowledged, however, that despite how straightforward it was, we likely wouldn’t put in the extra effort to make something that could easily be picked up at the store. That said, I’m eager to look for recipes that involve different colour or flavour additives to the pasta – something unique that would wow guests at a dinner party, or would somehow spice up a fairly mundane dish.

I’m looking forward to our future pasta experiments!

The Cooking Chronicles: Thai Chicken Curry

After getting a positive result from the Pad Thai recipe in Trish Magwood’s Dish Entertains, my next marked page to try was the Thai Chicken Curry. I like that Magwood’s recipes are straightforward – Westernized, yes, but almost in a way that provide training wheels to facilitate eventually tackling a more authentic version.

This particular recipe called for six chicken breasts, which was way too much meat for the two of us even if both Mack and I intended on having the dish for lunch the next day. I cut down the quantity of chicken to four, and it worked out perfectly. I loved the smell of the simmering curry and coconut milk mixture; I’m sure coconut rice would have been a great pairing instead of the plain basmati that we had.

In the end, the teaspoon and a bit of curry paste wasn’t enough heat, and we could have done with a bit more onions, but those were our only complaints. This is a great one pot meal that is both quick and easy!

Thai Chicken Curry

Culinary Q & A with Chris Falconer

Occupation: I’ve just recently moved back to the city and picked up contract work at IKEA, where I was employed while I worked on my business degree, until I find a position in Human Resources to continue my career path.

What did you eat today?

Breakfast – banana and fiber one smoothie
Lunch – slow roasted chicken sandwich on homemade whole wheat bread, with a side of carrots and cauliflower.
Supper – braised lamb shank on a bed of green lentils at Culina.

What do you never eat?

I can’t think of any thing, besides balut maybe, that I wouldn’t eat.

What is your personal specialty?

Nice rustic loafs of bread and slow roasted pulled pork.

Complete this sentence: In my refrigerator, you will always find:

Yogurt, apples, carrots, lettuce, kimchi, various mustards and hot sauces.

What is your weekday meal standby?

A roasted chicken or tuna salad.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

My KitchenAid stand mixer.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

It would be a meal of foods I have strong memories connected to. Starting with cinnamon french toast with real maple syrup – melted fontina cheese on a Montréal bagel – a bison burger with guacamole – tacos al pastor – sashimi – and finish with my mom’s chocolate chip cookies and a tall glass of milk.

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Sushi Wasabi – the perfect place to indulge in my fish cravings.

What’s the best place to eat in Edmonton?

I’ve been away for a few years so I’m far from current when it comes to the finer things. Although I must say after having just enjoyed my first meal at Culina, that is definitely a spot people should hit up.

If you weren’t limited by geography, where and what would you eat?

Puebla, Mexico – where the mole was created. With every aspect of Mexican cuisine available on the street, I think I’d spend a day walking while eating anything and everything wrapped in fresh corn tortillas.

Chris blogs at Eating is the Hard Part.

The Cooking Chronicles: Cheater’s Calzone

Sometimes a person needs a shortcut. For me, that meant buying some frozen bread dough from Save on Foods to help me along in a weekday calzone attempt (something I feel slightly guilty about after reading that Chris makes from-scratch bread every week). We had used that particular brand before for our dessert pizza experiment last year, but having not defrosted it correctly meant that the dough was difficult to roll out into the appropriate shape. This time, I was convinced that I could defrost the dough properly.

On that weekday, I made sure to hit “defrost” on the microwave, and watched the dough carefully. At about the seven minute mark, I stopped the machine, but it was already too late – the dough had already started to cook, resulting in a hard crust in places. Mack did his best to roll it out without a rolling pin (that would have been handy), but we ended up creating two individual, thick-crusted pizzas that night.

Over the weekend, in order to make use of the leftover toppings we had purchased, I tried to defrost it the conventional way by taking out the frozen dough in the morning. Of course, had I read the instructions more carefully, I would have known that the dough was meant to be defrosted in the fridge, instead of at room temperature. As a result, after I let the dough rise in a warm oven (where it exploded into a shape three times the size of what we started with), a thin crust had formed on the dough.

This time, however, emboldened with a rolling pin (hurrah for Winners, my favourite housewares store), Mack was able to roll out a eight or nine-inch sized crust, so we figured it was large enough for a two-serving calzone. We spread tomato sauce over half of the dough, and topped it with mozzarella, pepperoni, and fridge-gleaned red pepper and tomatoes. We folded over the dough, sealed it with some water, and pressed down on the edges to further enclose the pocket. I brushed the top with a bit of vegetable oil, and put it into a 375 degree oven (I used a Real Simple recipe as a guide). After about twenty minutes, our calzone was ready, nice and golden brown on the outside.

Pepperoni, Tomato and Red Pepper Calzone

I was afraid that there would be a bit too much dough, but as it had been rolled fairly thin, it was all right. Having been helped along by pre-made dough, it was a straightforward recipe that was perfect for two. I would make it again, although I would hope that the third time would be the charm with actually defrosting the dough correctly.

Culinary Q & A with Charles Szaszkiewicz (aka Zed) and Marianne Stover

Occupations:

Charles – boot boy maker (Boot Boys are machines that clean the bottom of shoes in curling rinks, rec centres, factories, etc.)

Marianne – student/part time Sobey’s Bistro server

What did you eat today?

We each had a latte and muffin at Da Capo for breakfast, sandwiches and veggies at a family gathering for lunch, and a lemon-rosemary-thyme-garlic roast chicken with potatoes and veg for dinner.

What do you never eat?

Charles: raisins, peanut butter, pineapple, mac and cheese, cheese on its own (it has to be cooked on pizza, pasta, etc.)

Marianne: raw tomatoes – I’m good with having them cooked in sauces or hidden in other cooked dishes, but something about the taste and texture of them raw puts me off.

What is your personal specialty?

Charles: Pecan squares; tuna casserole and souffle

Marianne: vegetarian chili

Complete this sentence: In our refrigerator, you will always find:

Butter (salted tub for use on toast, bagels, etc. and unsalted bar), eggs and milk, a couple cheeses (usually gouda, something else and Parmesan), raspberry jam, peanut butter (for Marianne) and Maple Syrup

What is your weekday meal standby?

Charles: ground beef or cubed steak stewed with onion, Paprika and other spices with pasta

Marianne: some sort of pasta and tomato sauce (we make the sauce) or a veggie stir-fry with some rice noodles

What is your favourite kitchen item?

Marianne: the Microplane – I love it for lemon zest, Parmesan and nutmeg

Charles: it’s all about the knife holder man ("The Ex")

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

Lots of different Pale Ales from around the world and the coconut curry sauce from Culina Mill Creek but on fresh calamari. Charles would go for a good piece of fresh salmon or some type of meaty fish, and I would love a big bowl of fresh PEI mussels in a white wine and garlic sauce as well as a chunk of baked brie or goats’ cheese, some really good bread, a bowl of baked yams with a bit of maple syrup and lots of nutmeg, brussel sprouts and some Thanksgiving stuffing with lots of raisins in it. Dessert would be the "sample platter" from Social in Ottawa (carrot cake, chocolate cake, creme brulee, crumble and cheese cake).

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Blue Plate Diner for dinner and Leva or Da Capo for espresso/coffee

What’s the best place to eat in Edmonton?

We loved Red Ox Inn when we were there for Fork Fest this year – the service and food was fantastic.

If you weren’t limited by geography, where and what would you eat?

Neither of us has spent much (if any) time out of Canada, but right now, we would likely head to Montreal or somewhere in that area.

Charles: fresh Montreal bagels, Shwartz’s smoked meat, Beaver Tails with maple butter

Marianne: at the moment, I just dream of freshly caught sea food (especially shell fish), then I would be good to go.

Charles and Marianne blog at Loosen Your Belt and Eat Around Edmonton.

The Cooking Chronicles: Fried Rice

Fried rice is a dish I was a little afraid to make on my own. As my Mum’s versions have always been so tasty, I figured that my own attempt would never live up to her standard.

In an effort to use up some leftover rice in the fridge, however, I picked up some BBQ pork in Chinatown on Friday (at Tasty BBQ, 10632 97 Street, 780-428-3383) and asked my Mum for a few pointers. She advised me to scramble the eggs first, take them out, then fry up the onions and pork. Next, she told me to add the rice, peas, cooked eggs, and heat them through. Lastly, I was to season the mixture with salt and white pepper.

I did exactly as I was told, and was very happy with the result. The pork was a tad dry (not sure if the fact that the pork sat in the fridge overnight influenced this), but other than that, it tasted very similar to my Mum’s rice.

 

Fried Rice

I will definitely be making this again. Thanks Mum for the guidance!

Culinary Q & A with Christopher Thrall

Occupation: My day job is communications/media and government relations for Alberta’s dairy producers. My nights are spent on freelance writing and communications contracts. Up until a year ago, I was the editor of Vue Weekly‘s Dish section.

What did you eat today?

Breakfast was almond Oatmeal Crisp and 1%. Lunch was homemade beef stew, a tangerine and a grapefruit – supper was a Royal from Boston Pizza. I think I savoured a Granny Smith apple and a tiny package of Mini Eggs at some point as well.

What do you never eat?

I am definitely not much of a fish guy – unless it’s battered and deep fried. Bless you, Brit’s Fish and Chips.

What is your personal specialty?

I am a master at ordering the unexpected from any given menu. There is always something that I haven’t tried: something I can’t resist. The results are always unusual, and often delectable. As for the personal specialty I make myself, I make a terrific "dog’s breakfast" (that always starts off as an omelette).

Complete this sentence: In my refrigerator, you will always find:

Cheese. There is always an aged cheddar, and usually a havarti. Sometimes, on a very good day, a Sylvan Star gouda.

What is your weekday meal standby?

The beef dolsot b-bim-baab from B-Bim-Baab (formerly the Korean Gardens). I have yet to find any single dish that compares to the mix of veggies, rice, beef and fried egg served in a blistering stomeware bowl. Give it a quick mix and a brief shot of hot sauce, then take a serving. While your taste buds go into paroxysms of pleasure, the rice and veggies that remain are crisping against the sides of the bowl. The meal actually gets better as you go.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

The slow cooker. I can either have a roast ready for tomorrow night, or simply hurl in every veggie from my fridge that is threatening to spoil and come out six hours later with a killer soup.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

Whuf. Nothing like an impending calamity to sharpen the ol’ taste buds… I would lay in a couple of bottles of wine – perhaps a Sangiovese and a Malbec, and leisurely take my time with my favourite dishes from around the city. I would start with sweet potato fries and corn fritters with jalapeno jelly from Da-De-O’s, then segue into a fresh floral salad from Inspired Market Gardens [ED: Gwen unfortunately doesn’t make salads anymore]. I would cleanse my palate with some of Leva Cafe‘s sorbet and start in on braised beef short ribs on risotto from Violino or the Manor Cafe‘s lobster thermidor. I would finish with Culina‘s cambazola toast dulce de leche and some loose white tea leaves from Steeps, and probably nibble on a white chocolate raspberry tart from Fresh Start on my way up to bed.

Where do you eat out most frequently?

I would say B-Bim-Baab, or Yeti Gourmet in Beaumont. When I have to factor in the under-five set in my family, Boston Pizza or East Side Mario‘s are safe havens.

What’s the best place to eat in Edmonton?

Culina. Yesterday, today and forever.

If you weren’t limited by geography, where and what would you eat?

I would want to try new things. I’m not talking about extreme eating or anything, but I would love to devour falafel from a street vendor in Marrakesh, try some yak’s milk cheese in the Himalayas or some suspicious-looking but divinely-smelling bowls of murky soup in a Japanese unagi-ya. That said, sipping my meal on an expanse of deserted white sand overlooking the azure Caribbean waters sounds pretty damn good as well.

The Cooking Chronicles: Pad Thai

It seems after years of holding out and not buying cookbooks (instead, choosing to rely on printed recipes gleaned from the internet), the floodgates have opened. I mentioned buying Diners, Drive Ins and Dives a few weeks ago, and along with that, also ordered Trish Magwood’s James Beard Award-winning Dish Entertains. I especially like the book because of its beautiful pictures, which not only provide satiating shots of food, but also really great serving and presentation ideas.

I’d been eyeing the recipe for Vegetarian Pad Thai for some time (a Food Network version, similar, but not the same is here), and finally got around to purchasing the needed “Thai essentials”, as she calls them. Of course, not being able to live without some protein in the meal, I decided to add shrimp to the mix.

I put Mack in charge of making the sauce, while I washed and prepared the vegetables and began heating up the noodles. Our only missing ingredient was chili flakes, so we were forced to substitute chili powder. As expected, this impacted the desired flavour and resulted in more sweetness than heat in the final product.

When we finally poured the sauce into the wok, it looked like an overwhelming amount of liquid to be incorporating. Surprisingly, the noodles soaked up most of it, and we ended up with a dish that wasn’t too wet or dry. I made sure to be overly generous with the amount of chopped peanuts I included on my finished portion (as I find some restaurants tend to scrimp on them), and for the most part, our pad thai was satisfying. It didn’t pack enough heat for reasons mentioned above, and for Mack, was too sweet for him. Done again, we’d make sure to have chili flakes on hand, and reduce the amount of sugar added.

Pad Thai

As this was our first try at a Thai dish (and one that looked remarkably easier than Chez Pim’s more authentic, but time consuming version), we were very happy with the result. I’m sure this is just the beginning of many happy returns to the pages of Dish Entertains.

Culinary Q & A with Brooke Jensen

Occupation:  Insurance Adjuster

What did you eat today? 

Breakfast: Muesli Scone & Earl Grey tea

Lunch: Strawberry yogurt with red grapes & a banana

Dinner: Planning on making katsudon (rice bowl with breaded pork cutlet).

What do you never eat? 

There really isn’t much I NEVER eat. I don’t eat chicken that often, and I only eat packaged baked goods under duress. They just taste like chemicals to me.

What is your personal specialty? 

I’m not sure I have one – maybe cakes?

Complete this sentence: In my refrigerator, you will always find:  

margarine, cheese (parmesan & 1 other kind), eggs, plain yogurt, water, sake, Pimm’s, nori, maple syrup, dijon & wholegrain mustard, jam/marmalade, dashi granules, curry paste, natural peanut butter, tomato paste, pesto, spinach or lettuce, pickles, onions, carrots, apples, and usually an open bottle of white wine.

What is your weekday meal standby? 

I don’t really have a stand-by. If I don’t feel like cooking, I’ll take some leftovers from the freezer or have toast for dinner (healthy, haha). I usually plan my meals in advance and they vary a lot week-to-week because I hate eating the same thing all the time.  

What is your favorite kitchen item? 

Rice cooker, hands down.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

I would either like to go to a 3 michelin star restaurant and have a super long, many course meal… or it would be a ridiculous combination of all my favourite foods – yorkshire pudding & tuna sashimi & butter chicken & french beans & custard & bacon & chevre salad & miso soup & veal & greek salad & fried rice with tons of ginger… I could go on.

Where do you eat out most frequently? 

There’s not really one place – there are so many restaurants I’ve never tried so I like to switch things up. For convenience, I suppose I go to the Free Press Bistro or I Heart Sushi most often, as they’re both only a few blocks from my place.

What’s the best place to eat in Edmonton? 

I am definitely no authority on best places in Edmonton. The best place I’ve been recently is Characters, but I’ve never tried Red Ox Inn and there seems to be a consensus on it being one of the best.

If you weren’t limited by geography, where and what would you eat? 

I would go to Japan and try all the meals I’ve only read about; I particularly want to try basashi (horse meat). And if I could afford it would go for kaiseki-ryori (a multi-course meal in a traditional restaurant).

Brooke blogs at Take it and Like it.

Culinary Q & A with Courtney Jensen

Occupation:  Land Developer

What did you eat today? 

I had yogurt for breakfast with granola, flax seed and slivered almonds mixed in. I am going to New Asian Village for lunch, so I will eat tons of butter chicken and naan bread there (and a small token sampling of all the other dishes). My husband is making supper, so it is a mystery to me until I get home.

What do you never eat? 

I would say raisins, but I actually ate some in a salad I posted about while I was on vacation. I do not like them though, mostly because they remind me of bugs (they should never have told kids to eat ants on a log if they wanted them to LIKE raisins). I also don’t like processed cheese slices or cheese whiz or Velveeta because they creep me out a bit. I do eat most things though even if I don’t love them, if they are in a dish someone else has made.

What is your personal specialty? 

Things with peanut butter. People used to go nuts when I made peanut butter marshmallow squares – yes, the kind that are super easy and only involve four ingredients. I also do a peanut butter chicken marinade that seems to be popular. Other than that I think people like coming for dinner in hopes that they will eat something they wouldn’t make themselves.

Complete this sentence: In my refrigerator, you will always find:

margarine, milk, eggs, condiments (jams, ketchup, soy sauce, curry paste, pesto), cheese (usually four or five types), preserves (roasted red pepper, sundried tomato, artichokes), veggies, and frequently left overs. 

What is your weekday meal standby? 

I don’t really have a standby. Most of the time it is some sort of meat dish and some sort of veggie dish. Sometimes I will want something quick, so I go with a stir-fry or a pasta. In dire circumstances I make breakfast for dinner 🙂

What is your favorite kitchen item? 

My chefs knives (and santoku knife). They are super sharp and I love chopping things with them.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

I would have to eat for hours! There would be lots of seafood, lots of cheese, and some curry. I suppose a good dose of peanut butter and chocolate would finish it off, and there would be wine with every dish, picked by someone that knows about wine, so not me.

Where do you eat out most frequently? 

I hit a lot of Indian buffets or sushi places for lunch, and for dinners I usually head downtown to one of the independent restaurants around. Some of my favorites are 4th and Vine, Red Ox Inn, and It’s All Greek to Me.

What’s the best place to eat in Edmonton? 

Right now I would have to say either Red Ox Inn or Sage (at the River Cree Casino), although Brooke raved about Characters after going there, I haven’t been recently enough to say.

If you weren’t limited by geography, where and what would you eat? 

I would go to Biarritz, France and see the woman that billeted my sister while she was there learning French, and just let her cook for me. When we were there she made us lots of food that was unreal, especially this one stew that had muscles and squid in it. It’s just great to eat local food done well by local cooks, and I like eating things that are different from what I usually make.

Courtney blogs at Take it and Like it.