catching up, part three - hallowe'en

We carved pumpkins. And made pumpkin soup - following a recipe from Heidi at 101cookbooks - with brown rice, toasted pumpkin seeds, parsley and scalliions. We used the "decorative" pumpkin from Thanksgiving. And we ate it with roasted kale and beet salad, based on Sarah B's recipe at My New Roots (Have I mentioned that I adore her site, her life, and look up to her a LOT, as another Sarah B from Ontario who dreams about someday being a cook and doing a holistic nutrition degree?)

S. had never carved a pumpkin before (!), but I think he did a great job.

It was my first time carving in a couple years, and for the last decade I have mostly carved OM symbols. Not faces. Don't ask.

The soup was delicious, we ate it all week for lunches and felt so nourished. It was bright, the colour sunny and uplifting, the texture rich and fulfilling, leaving us satisfied and full, yet knowing we'd put great, healthy food in our bellies.

And I got my lover on the roasted kale chip train. Meaning that last week he made me dinner (while I read my book - lucky girl!). It was roasted kale and potatoes, with spicy Italian sausage and romesco sauce. Did I mention I'm lucky?

french onion soup (and disco house)...maybe i AM ready for fall

The "last long weekend of summer." I pretty much refuse to believe summer ends any time before October, insisting we'll have hot and sunny weather for the next month. That is my usual take on the end of summer. I used to have a lot more of an issue accepting that autumn was approaching, having inherited the late summer blues from my mother. The past few years though, I've come to enjoy the seasons for the rhythm that they offer life, seeming to shift your mood just when you need it most. I even enjoy winter, and the past couple years haven't felt "ready" for spring because it hasn't been cold or snowy enough. I LOVE summer. I love the busyness of it, days filled with plans outside of my home, or lazy days spent at the island beach, my favourite summertime place in the city. But today, its rainy, a little cooler, and coming off of a weekend jam-packed with parties and nights out, I'm feeling a little under the weather (no pun intended), and ready for a night in the kitchen. Cooking up something slow, with deep flavours, and hearty, to sooth my throat and feed my soul.

I had an amazing summer, an amazing weekend. I went to the island yet again on Saturday, chilled with a lovely new friend, played with my new favourite toy, and stayed for a gorgeous sunset.

Then we went out for dinner at Bestellen, Rob Rossi's place on College. The food (EVERYTHING made in house) was spectacular. There are SO many restaurants in the city I have on my list, but I rarely find opportunities, or dining partners to join me. I *may* finally have an (at least temporary) partner in crime. We had their charcuterie board - the coppa was beautiful, fragrant, almost floral or honey-like. I LOVE love love their andouille sausage, it was like a little jar of pork hot sauce (with 1/3 chopped chilis, 1/3 sweet pepper, and 1/3 pork). I ate a dozen oysters (buck and shuck that night, and now daily from 6-7pm) all to my greedy little self (dining partners self-proclaimed allergy a huge plus for me). This is a bit of a breakthrough for me, only having eaten my first oyster last summer. But for some reason I like them, probably its just the fresh horseradish and lemon :) Oh and the Cava. We tried the cacio e pepe arancini, and the side of beans and bacon (the sauce was so delicious I want to lick the dish clean). Then, already fairly full, we split a burger. A guest I served the night before told me it was the best in the city, and considering their on-site (and in sight) meat ageing locker, which means they grind in-house and can serve it medium rare, sounds about right (although its only the 3rd burger I've had in about...12 years). But, I think it was the "carmelized onions raclette" served on-top that were my favourite part. And also the inspiration for tonight's dinner. I need more carmelized, savoury, sweet, onions. I finished off the night with a bitters cocktail - rhubarb bitters, rhubarb simple syrup, gin, lemon.

Sunday night I went to Bounce House By the Lake. These are some of my favourite parties of the summer, with a huge patio on the channel that runs between the mainland and the docklands. I got there late, later than I had wanted to, so I missed the sunshine dancing, but I caught Rich Hope's and Mike Gleeson's sets. I had been listening to Mike Gleeson's new mix, multiple times a day, all week to prep, and now I can't stop listening to this one from Rich Hope.

Monday I wanted to continue dancing, so I went to Cherry Beach. Got there early enough for a picnic and some daytime dancing/hooping, and stayed late. My feet were DIRTY. My apartment is covered with sand. My vote for best set goes to Andy Roberts, who fit right into my current penchant for deep funky disco house.

So after all of that! Dinner tonight*:
(loosely based on Smitten kitchen's take on Julia Child's recipe, Jamie Oliver (from his Chef at Home cookbook), and Alton Brown's recipes)

3ish lbs of mixed onions (I got some lovely yellow onions, shallots and garlic at Appletree market today, so I used those, and threw in a sweet onion and half a red onion that was lurking in my fridge), cut in half, then thinly sliced
1/2 head garlic, sliced
olive oil
butter
salt
fresh thyme
1/2 cup wine (still can't decide if I will use white or red, I got a bottle of Vouvray, and a bottle of red Bourgogne)
5 cups stock of your choice (a mix of beef and chicken is recommended in several places, or use veg stock and fortify it with lentils and porcini)

Day old bread
Cheese (Gruyere or Emmenthal are traditional, I'm using some goat gouda and a hard, aged water buffalo cheese)

In a dutch oven, over med/low heat, I melted the butter and olive oil, then added the onions, a tsp or so of salt, turned the heat to low, and covered it for about 20 minutes. Removed the lid, turned the heat up a bit (to try to get rid of all the onion liquid that came out!). Stirring every so often, let this cook for.....as long as you have I guess. Mine is at about 20 minutes now and is nowhere near ready. I'll let it go until its dark and browned, scraping up any delicious frond that sticks to the bottom of the pot.

I kind of thought about using beef stock, but didn't want to purchase a canned or boxed version, or an expensive "real" one from a specialty shop. Plus I have veg stock in the freezer, so I figured I would enrich that with some lentils (killing two birds with one stone?), and porcini, to add more hearty, earthy flavour and colour. I cooked 1/2 cup du puy lentils in the stock, and rehydrated some porcini with the stock, adding the soaking liquid.

When the onions are coloured to your liking (or when your stomach is growling and the remaining wine is getting to you and your patience is running out), deglaze with the wine, cooking it off, then add some thyme and the stock. Simmer 20 minutes. Season to taste.

I also picked up some De la terre multi-seed sourdough and monforte dairy goat gouda from the market, so I'll be making a garlic/cheese toast (perhaps also with some buffalo milk cheese I got there last week) for the top or for dipping.

As usual this is barely a recipe. From all the recipes I consulted, the main thing is to caramelize the onions slowly and deeply. This is your flavour base. You can start doing so in the oven (just cut the peeled onions in half and roast them slowly, for a tear-free version - thanks to 101cookbooks on that one) From there you can use chicken stock, beef stock, veg stock, water. You can deglaze with white or red wine, vermouth, brandy, cognac, sherry, or nothing. You can skip the herbs, or add more (a bay leaf? sage? I saw a recipe with star anise and cinnamon too). I thought about adding miso to amp up the umami character of the stock, but wasn't sure it wouldn't also add another dimension I didn't want (although apparently this has been done for a vegetarian version before). Basically, this is a rustic recipe, that can (and I think should be) cheap. It would probably taste pretty good with just a bag of onions, some water, and seasoning.

*Actually, dinner tomorrow night. Its 1030 now and I've been cooking these onions for over 2 hours (note to self: don't try to do this on the small burner b/c you're cooking the lentils on the big burner) and I'm hungry so I'm eating a salad with roasted beets, feta, pumpkin seeds, pickled red onions, and dijon/horseradish dressing. And perhaps some of the lentils I cooked in the stock.

annual sicky soup post

So I guess it's that time again (as least it isn't the ONLY post this year). Yes, I am sick. My throat is sore and scratchy, I'm coughing, exhausted, and actually considering calling into work sick (decided against that since I'd lose out on money AND actually have to pay to bring in a doctor's note). I can make it through, I just need sleep, water, vitamins, and SOUP.

Tonight was a redux of two years ago - chickpea (noodle) soup. I was planning on making a chickpea, chipotle and kale soup, but something about the basic, salty, comforting "chicken noodle" style appealed to me. Especially after a day filled with work, studying (oh you want me to learn all the italian wine appelations in one week?), and errands. And its delicious, and simple. And I cooked extra chickpeas so I can roast those tomorrow, or perhaps use tonight's leftovers with a bit more broth, chickpeas, chipotle and kale. Lately, these somewhat basic formats have been appealing to me. I get bored when I cook a big batch of a certain bean or grain salad/soup that is enough to last for several days. Since I've really started focusing on eating MORE of (/mainly) these whole foods, and I will cook up a big batch of beans/grains whichever day I have off, I tend to keep them plain. Then I can use them in different variations throughout the week. Last week it was black beans, the week before was red kidney beans, the week before that chickpeas. And since its only me, I really only make enough for 3-4 servings. And there's usually a batch of quinoa kicking around too.

A friend of a friend was talking to me last week, asking for advice about his recent attempt at vegetarianism. This was one of my key pieces of advice - cooking a batch of something yourself when you have time, but keeping it relatively unseasoned so you have more room to play with it later. My #1 piece of advice for him was not to stress too much about it. He had been feeling rather low energy, and I advised him to focus more on eating whole foods, a variety of them, than on stressing over getting a certain percentage or amount of specific nutrients. Now, some people might think this is bad advice, but I think as long as you eat a range of whole grains, beans/pulses, and vegetables and fruits, with some dairy/eggs thrown in there if you like, you really won't have to worry too too much about not getting enough protein, vitamin B, or whatever it is. Yes, I take supplements (vitamin B100, vitamin D, and vitamin C mainly), but I think one thing I have read and thought more about lately is JOY in food. Yes, I've always loved food, but sometimes, as I've said earlier, this obsession almost seems to be a chore, or an addiction ("oh dear, I HAVE to make sure to make the most of every single item of produce available this season"). And I know for SOME people who label themselves (as vegetarian or vegan, or whatever kind of food label you subscribe to) according to a particular diet, there is a feeling of it being a task, a deprivation. Whereas really, eating a plant-based diet can be much more diverse than a meat and potato-based one. Can be. I no longer label myself or my diet according to any particular 100% theme. Anyway, as usual I'm losing track of my focus here.
Point: Enjoy a VARIETY of foods. ENJOY a variety of foods. And I believe this will help you be healthier, and happier, than if you didn't. And when it doesn't keep you healthy - eat soup!


Chickpea (noodless) soup

One medium yellow onion, diced

Saute in olive oil over medium heat, 5-10 mins, until translucent
Season.

Add:

One (large) stalk of celery, finely chopped
Two large cloves garlic, minced
Two small carrots, chopped

Season and saute for 5-10 mins more.

Add:
Chopped hot pepper (I used a 3/4 of an anaheim)
Vegetable broth (homemade for me in this case) and some chickpea cooking liquid (I don't know, maybe around 1-2 cups)
One small bay leaf

Cook over med-high heat (@ a simmer) for 10-15 mins, until the vegetables are tender.
I then added about a cup of chickpeas with some more of their cooking liquid, and maybe a small head of baby bok choy. Simmered for another 5-10 mins until the bok choy was cooked through. Added a pinch of chili flakes and some thyme. And fresh parsley.

In praise of cottage cheese, or, why this blog will continue to be unpopular

Lots and lots to catch up on, including pictures (yay!)
So the other night, in a fit of sketchy, hungover laziness, I was browsing chowhound and ended up reading a thread with about 450 replies (yes, i read them all) about what to eat with cottage cheese. Now, I've always loved the stuff, and often bring cottage cheese with herbs and diced up vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, onions) mixed in for lunch at work (much to the chagrin of my colleagues - who usually snoop through and steal bites of my lunches when I'm busy). Needless to say, this chowhound perusing created quite a craving in me, not having had the gloppy white stuff (lol) since before the holidays.

Part two of this story begins last Friday, when I worked a split with a three hour break. Enough time to come home and make lunch, which in my case equaled homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese. I've never made tomato soup, but decided to use my trusty source Deb @ smittenkitchen (surprise!)

Now, I wasn't such a fan of the soup on Friday, unfortunately. Coming home and spending about an hour cooking in between shifts for a somewhat disappointing lunch is, well...somewhat disappointing. However, I didn't add in the booze (which obviously would detract from the original recipe), and I realized after that I forgot to sprinkle the tomatoes with brown sugar before roasting. Of course a tomato dish sans requisite pinch of sugar might end up being somewhat bitter!

Well, tonight I was thinking of making something with the plethora of ingredients withering in the fridge - perhaps some creamy, pureed white beans with sauteed herby zucchini and...roasted leeks? Sounds good, but I needed something to tide me over, and to add a bit more vegetable goodness and colour to my menu. Something, more importantly, that I could eat with cottage cheese. As I was sitting here, reading food blogs and more chowhound, working up the energy and appetite for dinner, I remembered something about tomato soup, with cottage cheese mixed in?! Sounds...interesting...but I'll tell you, along with the pinch of sugar I stirred into the soup while reheating, it made the leftovers quite delicious!

Now to tackle the rest of dinner! (Don't worry I don't have to cook the beans from scratch, just thought that jar was "more" photogenic than a container of liquidy beans)

Stay at home vacation - or, an evolving soup and evolving me

I started this blog a little less than a year ago, posted just a few times, then abandoned it. There were a lot of (not so good) things going on in my life at that time, and I wasn't in the best space personally. I've changed some over this past year; my past two days of "stay-at-home-vacation" have shown me just how much. I've had a lot of time of lately, the restaurant industry is not exactly booming post-holiday madness, and I've found myself bored, apathetic, and unmotivated. Sure I still cook lots, spend time with friends, do a bit of yoga (not nearly enough) - but I didn't take pleasure in any of that. It felt a bit like just going through the motions, doing the things I thought I enjoyed, without gaining any actual joy from the process.

Yesterday I planned to catch up on some things at home, not having been here for most of this year so far. I cleaned, exercised, and made dough for homemade tortillas, did some research on holistic nutrition, then in the afternoon I started coming down with a cold. Having done all this reading on nourishing and healing foods, I knew I wanted to fight my oncoming illness naturally. I made a Mexican garlic soup with chipotle, drank tea with lemon and honey, and about a million glasses of water. I find it a bit funny that one of the few posts I made a year ago was also about making soup to combat a cold. There's just something about soup that is so comforting.

I generally lead a fairly unroutine lifestyle, with day shifts, night shifts and splits, and I find it hard to really be consistent with all the things necessary for true health. Having this time off lately has given me the chance to recommit myself, and to reconsider working in an industry that can be so detrimental physically and mentally. To end a long ramble - a year ago I wouldn't have been feeling so peaceful, refreshed and remotivated having so much ME time, but maybe I'm finally ready to start practicing more of the things I believe in. Not because I'm going through the motions, but because I recognize the positive impacts they can have on me, and I believe that I deserve it.

Hopefully this can be something I follow through on when I start working a crazy schedule again, or perhaps I'll finally take the steps to figure out what I want to do professionally that will make me more fulfilled. One thing is for sure, if I DO maintain this blog I need to get a working (non-cell phone) camera!


Mexican Garlic Soup with Chipotle and Lime

As usual I didn't exactly follow a recipe when I made this, or write one down after but the basic idea was to make a spicy, garlicky, broth to sooth my sore throat and cough. I found the lime kind of strange, as I was hoping for Mexican flavours, but it reminded me of Thai Tom Yum, so I tried to play it down by adding more chipotle, tomato, cumin and stock. I also thought the broth could use something else to add a focal point - chicken, tofu, beans - so today I added more stock, chickpeas, spinach and a bit of paprika.

The basic structure:

Saute in olive oil:
1/2 medium onion, diced
10 cloves of garlic, diced
1/2 jalapeno, diced

Add:
3 canned roma tomatoes, chopped, along with their liquid (I ended up adding more like half the can in the end)
2 cups chicken stock
1.5 cups water
juice of half a lime
1 small chipotle in adobo sauce, minced, along with some of their sauce

Simmer 20-30 minutes, taste, season, and adjust seasonings. For me this meant adding more chipotle and adobo, more tomatoes, some chopped fresh parsley, and some ground roasted cumin seeds.

Today I added another 2 cups chicken stock, the remaining 3 tomatoes and juices that I had leftover, about a teaspoon of paprika, 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas, a bit more adobo sauce, and cooked that for 20 mins, then added half a bundle of spinach, cut into bite sized pieces. And I served it with a homemade tortilla that I brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with kosher salt and minced garlic, then toasted in the oven on 450 until slightly crispy.

Homemade wheat tortillas
recipe from Kitchenstewardship.com

I only had a bit of whole wheat flour so I used that and the rest was organic all purpose.

Mix:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt

Blend in (with pastry cutter, until it looks like fine meal/pea-sized butter chunks):
1/4 cup room temperature butter, cut into pieces

Slowly mix in (with a fork until it comes together):
1/2 cup of room temperature water

Knead with your hands a few minutes until a dough forms. It will be fairly soft and sticky. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 4-24 hours. In my case after I started feeling sick yesterday I left it until this morning and then made fresh tortillas for a black bean and egg fajita for breakfast. Just let the dough warm up again, divide it into 8-11 balls, and roll each one out as thin as possible, then cook in a frying pan or skillet over high heat, about 2 minutes on each side.

chickpea noodle soup

So I woke up this morning with a sore throat and stuffy nose. I guess I have finally succumbed to the winter cold - but I really can't complain as it's mid-February and I haven't really been sick in several seasons. But I'm craving a hot, brothy, mildly-spicy soup. Wasn't sure what I wanted exactly, just that I'm pretty tired and bored of all the soups in my repertoire. So I went to the store and bought a ton of veg for 10$! which I am super excited about - parsnips, onions, leeks, savoy cabbage, sweet potatoes, a red chili, garlic + a can of tomatoes and 2 grapefruit. Did I mention that was all for 10$! (paid for with a xmas gift card, so FREE to me!)

The other day I cooked some chickpeas, with bay leaf, celery, garlic, parsley, and peppercorn, thinking that I would make some channa masala. Instead I made saag paneer (tofu instead of paneer) last night, and I decided to go with a spicy chickpea noodle soup tonight to satisfy my sore-throat related cravings. Was planning on making veg stock tonight anyway, but really....as a colleague said, it might not be worth the effort. I DO love making it. And try to do so once a week or two. But if you are making soup anyway, what's the point of boiling all that veg, throwing it out, then cooking more veg in that liquid for the soup? I understand it contributes to depth of flavour...and I'm certainly not over veg stock! But, perhaps, it's not always necessary. In any case, I had the liquid from the chickpeas, so I used that.

I really wish I had a working camera - I searched for an old one, but must have lost it in multiple moves over the past year. All my chopped up veg looked so pretty :) Anyway, I sauteed:

1 leek
1 medium onion
1 large carrot
2 stalks celery
1 large parsnip
~all chopped/diced into smallish pieces
5-6 garlic cloves (no such thing as too much, if you ask me)
in 1-2 tbsps canola oil (I really need to research the best oils health-wise. I usually use olive oil for everything, but I know it doesn't have the best smoking point. So I want to look into canola vs. sunflower vs. peanut etc)
then added:
2 cups water
1/2 minced red chili

2 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (cooked in the aforementioned broth)
4 cups chickpea cooking liquid

and then 2 more cups water b/c it seemed pretty full on chickpeas.

boil, then simmer for awhile....

Add some chopped savoy cabbage ~2 cups
and some chopped parsley ~ 1 cup

simmer more....

haha this is usually how my recipes go, I suppose I should figure it out before posting! But I think each one is always a trial. So maybe this blog is more for me, like a continuation of my kitchen journal. It always takes a few times to get something *right* - or to your taste that is, perhaps there is no RIGHT.

So at the end, I added another 1-2 cups of water, and some chili flakes.
OH! and, importantly, if you want it to be noodle soup, some noodles:
1 big handful of thin egg noodles, about 10-20 minutes before the end of cooking.

It's pretty yummy! Just what I need right now :)
you could of course, add fresh pasta, barley, cooked rice, whatever you like or have on hand. I was just craving a basic noodle soup due to my cold - ironically enough, since it's so simple and I'm so sick of all my other soups.