Spring is officially upon us and during these first tentative days of the season there is so much to celebrate. There is the evening light that lasts until the dinner hour, a softness to the air and the very first blooms gracing the trees that were so recently bare.
March was the month to say goodbye to heavy sweaters and wooly socks, endless cups of tea and braising and stewing and marathon baking sessions to help warm up the kitchen on cold afternoons.
With a very heavy heart I must tell you that it was in March the time came to also say goodbye to my beloved 100 year old Baba. She was ready and it was time but my heart still aches with sadness. I miss her every day.
It is a sunny day at the tail end of winter that has me longing for spring.
This morning at Norman’s Fruits and Vegetables, the greengrocer just down the street from my house, there were some beautiful artichokes. I had some eggs, milk and butter in the fridge and a tiny wedge of Comté cheese. Some flour in the pantry. Put them all together and I had everything I needed for a lovely light lunch.
It is tricky to photograph soufflés as they tend to collapse fairly quickly. You will just have to trust me that these rose up puffy and brown and had a beautiful light and airy texture. I gobbled one up right as it emerged from the oven. A second soufflé, enjoyed later in the afternoon and fully deflated, was certainly less fluffy but no less delicious.
4 large artichokes
4 large eggs, separated
1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
1/4 cup (60 g) butter plus extra for greasing the ramekins
4 tablespoons (30 g) flour plus extra for dusting the ramekins
1/4 cup (25 g) grated Comté cheese
Fine grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Trim the artichokes and cook them in a large pot of salted boiling water. Cooking time should be around 45 minutes or until the base of the trimmed artichoke is easily pierced with a knife. Allow to drain until cool enough to handle and then remove the leaves until you get to the fuzzy choke which can be scooped away with a spoon leaving the heart of the artichoke. Repeat with the remaining artichokes and place reserved heart in a bowl. Mash the hearts with a fork until relatively smooth.
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (180 C). Grease 4 ramekins with butter and then dust with flour. Set aside.
In a medium pot over medium heat melt the butter. Add in the flour and whisk well to combine. Cook over medium heat for a minutes or so and then gradually whisk in the milk, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper and whisk until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat and stir in the Comté cheese until melted. Allow to cool for 10 minutes or so and then add in the egg yolks one at a time, followed by the artichoke purée. Mix until well combined.
Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or a large bowl and a balloon whisk beat the egg whites until foamy. Add a pinch of salt and continue whisking until stiff by not dry. Gently fold egg whites into artichoke mixture and when well combined divide the mixture evenly between the four prepared ramekins.
February flew by. We had snowy days and made the most of them with steamy cups of tea, walks with family and four-legged friends and plenty of baking to warm up the kitchen on chilly afternoons.
At our cooking classes and supper clubs we enjoyed all kinds of citrus fruits which always brighten the dark days of winter, roasted lots of root vegetables and made some delicious braises too.
There was a quick weekend trip to the little blue cabin in the woods where there was little more to do than read books, enjoy hearty breakfasts and watch the pale winter light move across the wooden kitchen table. A lovely couple of days to plan and dream and scheme.
The icing on the cake? This month we organized the dates and details for our second annual culinary tour to Paris that now has us dreaming of spring.
We are pleased to announce the dates and details for our second annual Culinary Tour in Paris!
After having such a fantastic time last year with our wonderful group of intrepid foodie travellers, we are keen to offer another tour showcasing the joys of the movable feast that is Paris. We have secured a light-filled apartment in Montmartre with a gourmet kitchen that also happens to be close to many of our favourite food shops, bistros and cafés. It is the perfect place for hands-on cooking classes, wine, cheese and macaron tastings, and for gathering around the table to cook, eat, drink, laugh and share.
The itinerary for this year will include walking tours of local markets where the freshest seasonal food is enticingly displayed and trips to the shops of artisan bakers, butchers, patisseries, cheese-mongers and confectioners. We will be stopping in at classic cafés for afternoon apéritifs as well as visiting some of our favourite off-the-beaten-track bistros for traditional Parisian fare. There will also be plenty of cooking classes to make the most of our delicious daily discoveries.
Guests will stay at the nearby Mercure Hotel which is within easy walking distance to the apartment as well as close to many Montmartre attractions and several metro stations. This is a great location from which to continue exploring Paris when our daily culinary excursions have concluded.
Dates are from June 5th to June 20th. Springtime in Paris!
January was everything I was hoping it would be. Some much needed quiet time that was filled with eating, weekend getaways and plenty of dreaming. New menus were planned and classes and supper clubs too. I spent afternoons perfecting a proper French omelette, making fruit and nut topped mendiants, dipping lacy florentines in chocolate and frying up ricotta fritters with salted butter caramel (recipes to come). I cooked plenty of family meals, many of them asian inspired and somewhat spicy. I had friends for tea and cake and put out bowls of clementine oranges and pistachios and filled vases with spring blossoms. I even slipped away for a weekend with my son and skied on fresh powder snow under bright blue skies.
Now, it’s February and time to get back to work.
Our first event is this Friday. A supper club that will feature a Niçoise-style beef short rib braise with slow roasted tomatoes, olives, spinach and buttered noodles. We will serve a warming carrot and leek cardamom soup that is scented with just a hint of cardamom to start. There will also be some roasted baby beets that have been glazed in sherry vinegar and served alongside some burratta cheese, watercress leaves and slices of toasted levain. For dessert we have planned an olive oil and citrus cakes with whipped mascarpone and perhaps some chocolate dipped florentines on the side. I still have to decide what hors d’oeuvres to serve but am sure that a walk through the market early next week will help me decide.
I’m excited to be ironing linens and making shopping lists and then prepping the ingredients. Setting the table, arranging bouquets of flowers and finally lighting the candles. Cooking, at home, for old friends and new. It is truly what I love.
I love to cook for people. I suppose that is pretty obvious to anyone who has spent any time at all looking around this site.
And while I am always very happy to cook for just about anyone it must be said that there are some people who are just easier to cook for than other people.
When it comes to cooking for clients I love to cook for those people who come to our cooking classes and supper clubs with an open mind and a good appetite. I always appreciate those people who think they hate beets or kale or a certain type of cheese but will wait until we are finished cooking the beets/kale/cheese and then try the dish without any pre-judgement. It is surprising how many times a beet hater can be turned into a beet lover as long as they approach the beet itself with an open mind. I can’t tell you how many times students have exclaimed “Wow, I really like these beets, and I have always HATED beets!”. I find it very easy (and fun!) to cook for these people.
One person who stands out in my mind as being the easiest person to cook for is my sister, Lisa. She will pretty much eat anything and she does so with true gratitude. Gratitude for the food that is being put before her and even more gratitude for the person who made the food. She happily eats even the most cobbled together, the-pantry-is-bare, meals and she is even very pleased to eat leftovers. Sadly she lives in Los Angeles and so I don’t get to cook for her all that often but it is pure joy when I do.
So, you might be wondering, who are those people in my life that are, ahem, not so easy to cook for? Perhaps, not surprisingly, they are the people that I cook most often for: my son and my husband. Now, let me start off by saying that I really, really love these guys and in fact I really love eating with them. All three of us love food, it just so happens we don’t all love the same kind of food. I have never been the type of person who cooks a special meal for my son or my husband, although I have never served a meal that I know they will hate. I try to make meals that everyone can enjoy which can be challenging. Anyone who does the lion’s share of day-to-day cooking for their family will empathize that this can be a tricky endeavour.
My son Max loves steak and fries, salmon with lentils, roasted chicken, carrots (raw only) green salads with vinaigrette and any type of spicy Asian takeout.
My husband Glen isn’t a fan of salmon, isn’t a huge eater of meat, (unhappily) equates lentils with a detox cleanse we did years ago but will happily eat beets, kale, quinoa and cheesy pasta. He loves any type of spicy Asian takeout.
Both Max and Glen would be absolutely thrilled if they could eat spicy Asian takeout every, single, night. What type of spicy Asian takeout you might be wondering? It really doesn’t matter. Fiery Thai curries, chilli loaded Szechuan noodles with spicy pork, bowls of Pho enhanced with plenty of Sriracha and chilli oil, spicy prawn tempura dynamite cones, mouth numbing Indian curries.
In an attempt to stem of take-out food tide I sat down with Glen and Max and handed them each a cookbook. The cookbooks I chose had plenty of pictures featuring recipes from around the globe (including some from Asia, which happened to be spicy). I asked them to pick out recipes that looked interesting to them. Recipes that I could cook for them or that we could cook together. There were a few choices that I had anticipated, like Spicy Asian-Style Baby Back Ribs, crispy fish with sweet chile vinegar glaze, spicy meatballs with Chinese noodles and tuna sashimi with chilli infused sauce. But there were some real surprises too. Things like delicata squash ravioli with garlicky broccoli rabe, creamy polenta with wild mushrooms, pork chops with cranberry beans and thyme, charred orange and escarole salad with almonds and slow roasted salmon with Meyer lemon relish. I was thrilled that we were finding some new recipes to try, recipes that everyone was excited about.
One of the very first recipes that we made from our communal list was for the spaghetti with roasted cauliflower pesto that you see above. I didn’t even know that Max liked cauliflower.
I made it, we ate it and talked about whether it was a keeper (it was) and what we might do to make it even better the next time. Two out of the three of us voted to increase the amount of chile to make it a bit spicier. Sigh. But! At least we are moving towards creating some new family favourites that everyone loves, and that is what family cooking is all about.
Spaghetti with Roasted Cauliflower Pesto
Recipe is adapted from Cooking for Friends by Alison Attendborough and Jamie Kimm
1 medium head of cauliflower, cored and cut into 1 inch florets
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Fine grain sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup flat leaf parsley leaves
1/2 cup toasted almonds
2 tablespoons capers
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red chilli flakes (or more to taste)
1 lb spaghetti
1 cup Parmesan cheese, shaved
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 C). Place the cauliflower florets in a medium bowl and add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and spread the florets on a large baking sheet. Roast in the preheated oven until the edges start to brown, about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through the time.
Transfer roasted cauliflower to a food processor and add the olive oil, parsley leaves, almonds, capers, garlic and chilli flakes. Pulse until mixture is well combined but still coarse in texture. Set aside.
Bring a large bowl of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente, 9 to 11 minutes (depending on your chosen brand). Drain and transfer to a serving bowl. Toss with the cauliflower pesto and Parmesan. Check and adjust seasonings. Serve at once.
The month of December is always so filled with promise.
We had some snow!
We made canapés. Lots and lots of canapés.
We hosted dinners for clients and our friends and our loved ones. We put lights and ornaments on trees, arranged bouquets of crimson red amaryllis and wrapped plenty of gifts. We sadly didn’t bake many Christmas cookies but luckily were gifted some from family and friends.
There was a much needed week away at our cabin where we made bonfires, toasted marshmallow, wore wooly socks, took long walks in the woods, read books and celebrated the arrival of a brand new year.
I have a feeling that 2014 is going to be a very good year.
Wow! Well here we are (finally!) with our final recipe for the season and the year.
Goodbye 2013. Hello 2014. Happy New Year!
Thanks to everyone who visited this site over the past year, who booked a class, left a comment and came on our culinary tours in Vancouver and Paris. Your support of this blog and our small business venture means the world to me.
May the new year be filled with good health, exciting adventures, inspiring friendships, lovely love and lots and lots of good food.
xo J
Red Wine Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese Tartlets with Thyme
You can make these medium sized to serve as a first course at a dinner party or cut the puff rounds smaller for bite size hors d’oeuvres.
3 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup of red wine
3 tablespoons brown sugar
4 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed with extra sprigs to garnish the tarts
Fine grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 10 x 13 inch pre-rolled puff pastry sheet (preferably all butter)
7 ounces (200 g) fresh goat cheese
Heat the oil in a medium skillet and sauté the onion over low heat until softened but not browned, about 15 minutes. Add in half a cup of the red wine, deglaze the pan and cook until all of the liquid has cooked off.
Add the brown sugar and thyme leaves to the onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook for an additional 5 minutes before adding in the remaining red wine. Once again, continue to cook the onion mixture until the liquid has cooked off.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (205 C).
Place your pre-rolled puff pastry sheet on a floured work surface. Cut the pastry to your desired size (for the canapés I use a 2.5 or 3 inch round cutter) and score the inside of each pastry circle with a sharp knife to make a small rim. Place on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.
When the puff pastry round are done remove from the oven and top with some of the onions and a bit of the goat cheese. Garnish with thyme sprigs if desired and then pop them back in the onion to warm up the onions and allow the goat cheese to melt slightly.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes one large tart, 8 medium tartlets or up to 20 canapé size tartlets.
