Culinary Q & A with Liv Vors

Occupation: Calzone-maker/freelance journalist/erstwhile biologist

What did you eat today?

Some boring stuff like cereal but also a calzone for lunch and some beef tongue tacos at Tres Carnales for supper.

What do you never eat?

Cookies made from dough in a tube. Very nasty.

What is your personal specialty?

Brownies. They’re my mom’s original recipe.

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

Cheese.

What is your weekday meal standby?

If I’m tired, fried eggs from my friend’s farm. If I’m not tired, pizza made from scratch.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

My stand mixer.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

A huge slice of my grandma’s bumbleberry pie with ice cream and a cup of good coffee

Where do you eat out most frequently?

It’s a toss-up between Corso 32 and Niche.

Where’s the best place to eat in Edmonton?

Tough call. So many good places to choose from now. It’s a three-way tie between Corso 32, Niche and Tres Carnales. I love them all for different reasons.

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

I’d eat salmon in Norway, risotto in northern Italy and roti in Trinidad.

You can find Liv’s musings at Dine and Write.

The Cooking Chronicles: “Vij’s At Home”

One of my coworkers was absolutely raving about the cookbook Vij’s At Home, authored by Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala, proprietors of the wildly successful Indian eatery Vij’s in Vancouver. She gave it perhaps the ultimate compliment: “If I could only choose one cookbook to use for the rest of my life, it would be this one.”

A few weeks ago, I came upon a copy of Vij’s At Home at the library while browsing its shelves, so I borrowed it to see if it was indeed worthy of such high praise. On first glance, it might be. It features long narrative sections that read like part of a memoir, while the recipe preambles are insightful, instead of an afterthought like in other cookbooks I’ve come across. As a whole, the recipes feel personal, and as my coworker remarked, one wouldn’t feel out of place curling up on the couch with this cookbook.

I’ve only had the chance to try three dishes from the book so far – I’ll either have to renew it to the limit or buy myself a copy to make the other recipes I’ve marked!

Spicy Peas and Mashed Potato Toasted Sandwiches and Spicy Cauliflower “Steak”

I haven’t yet made samosas from scratch, but maybe I won’t ever have to, given simpler alternatives with similar flavours like the spicy peas and mashed potato sandwiches exist! It was a pretty simple recipe – we boiled Greens, Eggs and Ham pixie potatoes (perfect given their yielding skins that meant no peeling required), mashed them up, then combined it with peas and onions that had been cooked with spices. Spread inside toasted ciabatta buns with a little yogurt-based Indian dressing, it was a little messy to eat, but worth every bite. We had lots of leftovers, which heated up well in a toaster oven.

Spicy peas and mashed potato sandwiches and cauliflower steak

We served the sandwiches with spicy cauliflower “steak”. I cut a head of Riverbend Gardens cauliflower into large sections, and simmered it in a tomato masala (the recipe recommends crushed tomatoes, but I found hand-mashed diced tomatoes worked just as well). The cauliflower cooked perfectly, and was enhanced by the sweet-spicy flavours of the sauce. This was a dish that definitely improves with time – the masala was even better two days later.

Mushroom Medley in Potato Curry

Though I would like to say that serving the mushroom medley as a curry on rice was a deliberate decision, that would be a lie – it was more of an accidental assumption. Reading through the preamble, one gathers that the “medley” is a soup, and not a traditional curry, but given the recommended accompaniment was rice, I figured it was just a loose suggestion.

We added a package of firm tofu to round make the dish a meal, and found it to be a good textural addition. More mushrooms would have been fine as well (like a small variety basket from MoNa), and Mack and I both noted that we would have preferred to have kept the potatoes in diced form, instead of lightly mashed – it didn’t exactly thicken the base as we thought it might have.

Mushroom medley

Serving it on rice tempered the spice a little, though the buttermilk gave it a distinctly light creaminess that balanced it nicely. The next day, we enjoyed it as a soup proper – it was actually quite oily on top, as the overnight chill did not treat the broth’s cohesiveness well. So unlike the previous two dishes, this one is best consumed in one sitting.

Have you tried Vij’s at Home? Are there other recipes you would recommend from the book?

The Cooking Chronicles: The Art of Balance

I’m not sure what it’s been, but if you don’t count experiments with our new barbecue, we haven’t really been trying out as many new recipes as of late. I think part of it has to do with summer – we’re doing our best to take in as many festivals as we can so we’ve ended up falling back on recipes we know and love.

Anyway, two new dishes we made recently were both pretty well-received, and exemplified the need to balance between recipes you want to make all the time and recipes you should make more often.

Pastitsio

I saw a brief clip of Ina Garten putting together pastitsio, a Greek-influenced baked pasta (while at the dentist of all places!), and was sure it would be a dish Mack would enjoy. But then again, like bacon, it would be hard for him to pass up a cheesy, sauce-entwined casserole.

Pastitsio

One bowl was enough

My only grievance with the dish is the length of time it took to make from start to finish – about two and a half hours. Between the meat sauce (we used beef all the way through), béchamel, and baking time, it’s definitely something you had to plan for. On the plus side, we had leftovers for days!

Quinoa-Veggie Burgers

I was immediately attracted to the quinoa-veggie burgers pictured on the July 2011 edition of Chatelaine. On a day where I wanted anything but a heavy meal, it was the perfect dish to make. Mack’s biggest problem with the dish was its name. To him, the word “burger” connotes meat, and bread. This recipe features neither, being both vegetarian and gluten free.

The patty was comprised of sautéed vegetables, quinoa, egg, cornstarch and seasonings, and came together quite quickly. I also loved the technique of pressing the mixture together into a measuring cup – overturned into the pan, perfectly circular patties were formed once the mounds were pressed down.

Quinoa-veggie burger

I loved the crunch – both from being pan-fried and the inherent texture of the quinoa. Instead of the mushroom base though, I would have actually preferred a bun. Roasted tomatoes (as recommended in the recipe) would have been a great addition, as would have been the tahini sauce, also recommended.

Mack’s verdict? Besides the fact that it shouldn’t have been called a burger, he liked it enough to say we should make it again! How’s that for a coup?

The Cooking Chronicles: Variations on Poutine

I’ve written many times about our love for poutine – what’s not to love about fries topped with cheese curds and gravy? This love pushed me to create some variations on poutine – based on dishes that we’ve enjoyed while dining out.

Asparagus Bacon Breakfast Poutine

Wake Bistro’s breakfast poutine was an excellent way of integrating poutine with a dish fit for brunch, substituting hollandaise for gravy, and skillet potatoes for fries. I decided to cross that idea with an asparagus bacon hash, to create an asparagus bacon breakfast poutine for supper.

I cooked up some Irvings bacon, then in the bacon fat, browned baby potatoes from Kuhlmann’s, then added some diced onion. Edgar Farms asparagus was the last vegetable to go in, cooked only for a few minutes. This mixture was transferred into bowls, topped with Cheese Factory cheese curds, our favourite yogurt-based hollandaise recipe (made with Bles Wold yogurt), and a poached Greens, Eggs and Ham duck egg.

Asparagus bacon breakfast poutine

No question, it was a pretty rich dish, so the addition of asparagus helped brighten each bite. Mack thoroughly enjoyed it, but you would be hard pressed to find a meal featuring bacon, cheese and eggs that Mack doesn’t like!

Poutine Sandwiches

A sandwich I still think warmly of is the chip butty from Free Press Bistro, featuring fries and melted cheese sandwiched between pressed ciabatta. My only suggestion was for them to serve it with a side of gravy instead of an aioli, making for the perfect poutine sandwich. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Free Press Bistro, but I was inspired to make our own poutine sandwich tonight.

In the process of making this dish, we made two recipes that I can see becoming staples in our kitchen. First, Ina Garten’s recipe for homemade gravy worked amazingly well, and was incredibly flavourful given I did not have any meat drippings to incorporate. It also had a wobbly sort of consistency, ideal as a sandwich spread. Second, an adapted Cook’s Illustrated recipe for baked fries was without question the easiest and most successful we’ve tried for fries (we didn’t add garlic or cayenne because we wanted a neutral flavour), with the potatoes turning out wonderfully crispy on the outside, but soft on the inside.

We assembled the sandwiches using our remaining Cheese Factory cheese curds and butter buns from Bee Bell Bakery, then toasted them on the stove for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

Assembling the sandwiches

Oh, this is not for the faint of heart. Nor should we have made the serving size two sandwiches each.

Poutine sandwiches

The butter buns were the wrong type of bread to use; something closer to the Free Press’ ciabatta would have been better, but other than that, the poutine sandwich tasted exactly how I imagined it would: salty and squeaky. Mack declared them “money”, then promptly fell into a food coma.

They’re something we’d consider making again, but very sparingly. I think our hearts will thank us!

Culinary Q & A with Courtenay

Occupation: Speech-Language Pathologist

What did you eat today?

Breakfast: special K vanilla almond cereal with milk

Lunch: cucumber slices, sugar peas, strawberries & blueberries. A sandwich with cream cheese, sundried tomato pesto, green olive with pimento, leftover rotisserie chicken and mixed greens on sourdough.

Dinner: spinach-strawberry salad, slow-cooked smoked ribs with roasted potatoes and grilled asparagus.

What do you never eat?

Smoked oysters

What is your personal specialty?

Hmmm…it’s got to be something baked. Maybe multigrain bread or chocolate cake.

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

Olives and cheese.

What is your weekday meal standby?

Grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup (preferably homemade).

What is your favorite kitchen item?

My spiffy red KitchenAid stand mixer. I’d be so sad without it!

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

An antipasti plate with some cured meats, cheeses and olives with some fresh chewy bread on the side, a fresh salad, delicious fresh-made pasta with mushrooms and truffle and seared fish. Lots of delicious red wine and creamy rich tiramisu for dessert with a glass of moscato. Perfection.

Where do you eat out most frequently?

My favourite place is the Sugar Bowl. It just makes me happy. I could eat there anytime of day and I love everything (especially the cinnamon buns and the popcorn)

Where’s the best place to eat in Edmonton?

In my mind there are many “best” places, and I couldn’t narrow it down, so I’ll just list some favourites: Syphay Thai, DaDeO’s, Corso 32, Madison’s Grill, Piccolinos, Koutouki Taverna…and the waffle truck at the City Market (this is an abbreviated list but there are just so many!)

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

Okay, if there were no limits I would head back to Bangkok. When Trevor and I were there in the fall we found this amazing little hole-in-the-wall place (that all major food critics and guide books have recommended) and it was SOOOO good. It’s called Chote-Chitr and we let the owner order for us. The first time we went we had sweet and sticky noodles, which are like a crispy fried rice noodle with a tangy-sour-sweet sauce and it comes with greens and herbs to mix in. We also had red curry with river prawns – it was heaven. I could have eaten it everyday…but instead we tried the fresh crab with yellow curry the next time we visited, also amazing. It was one of those places that you feel fortunate to have visited…extra fortunate because we went twice.

A close second would be Florence, Italy for zucchini flower pizza, it was two years ago, but I still think about it frequently…

Courtenay blogs at Messy Little Cook.

The Cooking Chronicles: Dinner with Julie

I had mentally bookmarked two of the recipes seen on Dinner with Julie for future reference. It was a bit of a coincidence that I ended up making both of them in the same week.

Though Julie does feature some dishes that are a bit more complex, I find that a majority of them are perfect for time-conscious weekday dinners. And because she posts nearly every day, there’s always something new and interesting up on her site to be inspired by!

Poached Eggs over Warm Lentil Salad with Bacon

Julie’s recipe for a warm lentil salad with a poached egg on top appealed to me as a one-bowl dish with a little bit of everything (it wasn’t, unfortunately, a one-pot dish, however). It was also a great way for me to throw in some of my farmers’ market purchases.

While the lentils were simmering, I cooked up several slices of Irvings bacon, then, in the fat, sautéed some onions, mushrooms, Riverbend Gardens carrots, and Edgar Farms asparagus. A splash of red wine vinegar was added, then once it cooked out, I stirred in the bacon and softened lentils. The salad was topped with a poached duck egg from Greens, Eggs and Ham.

Poached egg over warm lentil salad with bacon

I overcooked the lentils a touch (fifteen minutes probably would have done the trick), and we found the red wine vinegar a little too sharp (lemon juice would likely work better). That said, the runny yolk gave the salad a punch of richness, accented by salty pops of bacon. As a whole, it was a perfect one-bowl dish to be eaten while watching the Lightning take it to the Bruins (yes, back in Game 6), and one that we will definitely make again.

Bacon, Onion, Mushroom and Fontina Pancake

More Irvings bacon found its way into a pancake recipe we adapted to make use of the ingredients in our fridge and pantry. Well, it was more like a pancake crossed with a frittata.

It begins the same way as the previous recipe, by crisping up some bacon, then cooking down onions and mushrooms. But then, a batter of eggs (we used two Greens, Eggs and Ham duck eggs instead of three chicken eggs), flour, mustard, sugar, salt and pepper was added to the pan, topped with fontina (our favourite melting cheese) and baked off for fifteen minutes. We served it with a side salad of greens picked from our balcony (I’ve never been able to say that before!).

Bacon, onion, mushroom and fontina pancake

I really liked the pancake, probably more than the frittatas that we usually make. The half cup of flour made a world of difference in texture, replacing the usually dense egg centre with that of a fluffy cake. I also loved the hint of mustard in the batter (and using the Fitz’s mustard Mack brought back for me from London studded cake with grainy gems).

It was another winning recipe that will go into our rotation. Thanks, Julie!

The Cooking Chronicles: Meat-ful Recipes

I really like the current trend of “meatless Mondays” – though Mack and I don’t subscribe to a specific day of the week substitution of meat, I think the campaign does help raise awareness of the health and planetary benefits of reducing our collective meat intake.

Of course, our current cooking rotation does include a fair amount of meat. I know a part of it has to do with recipes that appeal to us because they’re what we’re used to, but I’m hoping we’ll continue to expand our vegetarian repertoire. If Ellen can do it, we can too! Anyway, here are a few meat-ful recipes in the meantime!

Potato-topped Lamb Pies

Donna Hay’s potato-topped lamb pies from No Time to Cook is a variation on shepherd’s pie, featuring a scalloped crust instead of a mashed one. I had picked up a package of ground lamb from the Italian Bakery one day, knowing I wouldn’t be able to get to the farmers’ market that weekend (they now sell lamb and veal, among other proteins in their freezer section).

It wasn’t a difficult recipe to pull together, and from it, we were able to make a nine inch pie, and two individual ramekin pies.

Potato-topped lamb pies

Although the potato topping didn’t get as crispy as we would have liked, we were more off-put by how fatty the meat ended up being. I probably should have drained the fat, but I really wasn’t expecting it.

Pie filling

More than anything, Mack was reminded that he again doesn’t really care for lamb. I’m not giving up on lamb though – we’ll just have to find a different recipe to try!

Turkey Meatball Subs

I don’t know why I was so excited to make meatball subs, using Mario Batali’s recipe for turkey meatballs, but I was. We used ground turkey from Greens, Eggs and Ham, and pork sausages and prosciutto from the Italian Centre as proteins.

After assembling the meatballs, we had to let them rest in the fridge for an hour.

During that time, I made a basic tomato sauce.

Then, came browning of the meatballs.

Next, I baked them with some of the sauce and wine.

Lastly came assembly of the sandwiches, topped with provolone, then broiled. This is where we made the mistake – the bread ended up scorched from being placed too close to the element in the oven.

Don’t cry over burnt bread

I will admit to being upset, partly because of my anticipation for the finished product, but also because of the lengthy process involved. We cut off the burnt ends, and while both Mack and I did enjoy the sandwiches, it ultimately didn’t seem worth the effort.

The saving grace was the amount of leftovers we had, which made subsequent meals quick and easy – meatballs served with a side salad, or tossed with pasta and the remaining cups of tomato sauce (which, I should mention, is something I will make again – I loved the texture of the sauce, emboldened with sautéed onions and grated carrots).

Hopefully the vegetarian recipes I’ve bookmarked will go better than these two did!

Culinary Q & A with Allan Suddaby

Occupation: Cook at Jack’s Grill.

What did you eat today?

Breakfast: black coffee, a stalk of rhubarb, smoked gouda. Lunch: wheat and bean salad.

What do you never eat?

I don’t understand the question.

What is your personal specialty?

Fresh sausages.

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

Preserves: jam, pickles, mustard, and the like.

What is your weekday meal standby?

Depends on the time of year, but vegetables from Tipi Creek Farm and fried potatoes are usually involved.

What is your favourite kitchen item?

A sharp knife. Specifically a 10” French knife. Other items that deserve mention: stainless steel pans, food mill, stand mixer.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

Hot dogs with mustard and relish. I can’t decided whether the buns would be toasted or steamed. Served with braised cabbage and a glass of whole milk.

Where do you eat out most frequently?

A collection of pizza places around the university. Notably Campus Pizza, Avenue Pizza, and the Garneau Pub.

Where’s the best place to eat in Edmonton?

It’s a toss up between Corso 32 and The Bauernschmaus.

If you weren’t limited by geography, where and what would you eat? Kevin Kossowan’s house. I would order pork, mushrooms, apple wine, and charcuterie from his cellar. Also I change my answer to the previous question to Kevin Kossowan’s house.

Allan blogs at Button Soup.

The Cooking Chronicles: Saturday Eats

We had a recent Saturday pass that didn’t involve any errands besides our weekly trip to the City Market to complete, or any events to attend that would have had us running out the door. It was refreshing, actually – being able to cook several meals at home in a single day, and taking my sweet time to do so.

Portobello Mushroom and Ham Eggs Benedict

While perusing the menu at Wake Bistro in Calgary, we came upon their gluten-free version of eggs benedict, which featured a portobello mushroom base instead of the traditional English muffin. Though neither of us ordered it, it was hard not to think it was a great idea; it is a seamless way of adding a meaty punch.

That Saturday, having picked up some beautiful mushrooms from MoNa earlier in the day, I wanted to put together a similar eggs benedict for lunch. While the portobellos were roasting in the oven, I whipped up some yogurt hollandaise and poached two eggs from Sunworks Farm. We had some ham in the fridge, so I layered it on for even more flavour.

Portobello mushroom and ham eggs benedict

Though Mack would have preferred some sort of bread in addition to the mushroom, I really liked it (isn’t a runny egg yolk one of life’s simple pleasures?). Some spinach would have been great as well, for colour and texture.

I heart soft poached eggs

Sort-of Classic Meatloaf

Though I’ve been meaning to try one of Valerie’s recipes for some time, I just haven’t gotten around to it. We finally did, though to be fair, we modified her Mom’s classic meatloaf to the point where we probably didn’t do it justice.

The adaptations were made mostly because we didn’t have the right ingredients on hand – we only had Four Whistle Farm ground beef and Irvings ground pork on hand (no veal), and instead of side bacon, only Irvings bacon ends. We also substituted panko bread crumbs for ground crackers.

Other than that, we stayed true to the instructions, compensating quantities for the fact that we were only using 2 pounds of meat. We were able to make two medium loaves.

Sort-of classic meatloaf, served with a cucumber-carrot salad and garlic toast (note to self: use a serrated knife next time)

We loved the salty surprise of bacon in every other bite, and the texture of the meatloaf itself – it had stayed very moist, in spite of the fact that it had stayed in the oven for close to an hour.

Thanks, Valerie, for a winning recipe. We will be making it again and hopefully to the letter of your directions next time!

The Cooking Chronicles: Weeknight Suppers

It is so often said that it is almost a cliché: after a long day’s work, favoured recipes are those that are fast but flavourful. But I suppose that’s why it is a cliché – because it is true! Below are two weeknight suppers we made recently; one that worked out well, and one that didn’t.

Pan-fried Crumbed Fish and Fries

I had photocopied a recipe for pan-fried crumbed fish and fries from Gordon Ramsay’s Fast Food quite some time ago, but for whatever reason, didn’t pull it out again until last week. We had two haddock fillets from Ocean Odyssey and some potatoes from Eat Local First ready to use.

The fish turned out really nice, and seared on the hot pan, the panko-breading turned into a satisfyingly crispy crust. I definitely preferred this to Mark Bittman’s cornmeal crusted fish.

Pan-fried fish and “fries”, served with Greens, Eggs and Ham mixed heritage greens

The potatoes, on the other hand, taught us two lessons:

1) to make good fries, one must have patience. The second batch we left in the oven for nearly double the time specified on the recipe actually resembled fries instead of just starchy white, parboiled potatoes.

2) don’t use old potatoes. Or at least, know when a potato is past its prime and should be thrown out. I had let the potatoes sit in my pantry for too long before moving them to the fridge, and the taste was definitely off. You learn from experience, right?

Curried Tomato Soup with Eggs

Most of Mark Bittman’s recipes have been written for those looking for a quick fix. As a result, it’s easy to flip through The Food Matters Cookbook to find a dinner idea almost instantly, and last week the curried tomato soup with eggs (his play on makhani, a spicy Indian tomato sauce that’s used for braising hard-boiled eggs) caught my eye.

With the use of some punchy Malaysian curry powder, balanced with the creamy sweetness of coconut milk, the soup was flavourful and packed with vegetables. I particularly liked the inclusion of a boiled egg garnish (we used Greens, Eggs and Ham duck eggs), for an added richness and texture.

Curried tomato soup with eggs

Best of all, the pot yielded several servings of leftovers…perhaps the best reward to be reaped from home cooking!

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