Eat Drink and BE Merry! Feeding 14 in style...

I wish i had pictures to prove this but...

On Saturday night we hosted a great dinner party for some very important guests. Team CarewCostello pulled off another excellent collaboration. And the food was a hit!

Here's what we served:

1. Vegetarian Borcht (shiitake, beet and veggie broth; sea salt, beets, shallots and apple cider vinegar) and Caraway Rye with goat's butter

2. Organic Jasmine Tea

3. Mirin tossed glass noodles with ginger and green onion, (mirin is toasted sesame oil, sugar and tamari/ soysauce)

Pan fried sage-breaded Alaska Pollock chunks,

Kimchi and hot Korean honey pepper paste,

Black Rice tossed with sundried tomato ribbons

4. Baked curry dusted Chicken Drumsticks from Rowe Family farms (hormone free, natural feed),

Organic carrot and celery sticks, umeboshi vinegar doused bean sprouts,

and herbed sheep's cream cheese dip

5. Baked Bean Poutine-pintos slow cooked with katsup, oregano, savory, cheese curds and diced onions

6. Excellent tofu & veggie Quinoa by Vanessa Kathleen

7. Cheese plate with cranberry foccacia (thanks mom)

8. Gooseberry cheesecake-see the how to at the end here.

Assorted pastries (thank Liana!)

Stovetop percolated organic coffee with cream.

We will always remember this night as the first dinner party in our home; a true test of our kitchen's capacity, indeed; and the warming feeling that our guests, for whose help we'd be lost without, were well fed, well entertained and well thanked.


***************************************
Here's the Gooseberry Cheesecake recipe:

3 packs phili cream cheese-softened
1 box graham bunnies-crushed
2 tablespoons goat's butter-softened
3 tablespoons organic golden sugar/ cocoa sugar (a new sweetener on the market made from dehydrated coconut water...)
1 cap real vanilla extract
5 scoops of gooseberry (preserved in syrup; use a slotted spoon)
1/4 cup milk (?)
3 eggs
dash sea salt

1. I softened the cream cheese on the stove top and in a macguivered double boiler. Same with the butter

2. I crushed the cookie in a big bowl with my wooden pestle

3. I stirred in the butter, some sugar, sea salt and vanilla

4. pressed the cookie onto a greased glass cake pan

5. beat the cheese smooth with a thin spatula and broke eggs in one at a time. added milk, sugar,

6. spooned out the cheese mixture onto the cookie crust. (it pretty much almost overflowed; need bigger pan for future reference)

7. Smoothed the surface and spooned the gooseberries from the middle radiating outward. they were mainly concentrated in the middle.

8. Baked it for 55 minutes aprox at 350 degrees

9. cooled it for 15 minutes in the freezer, then transfered it to the fridge.

notes: the outer edges almost burned before it seemed to be set enough. And there was a browned outer ring that looked slightly unpretty but was still very edible. I think this may have been due to the use of the coconut sugar.

Still, every one liked it.
and so did I :)

Shout outs to the dishwashing crew, may they always be present in some form for every dinner party: Sophia, Dad, Liana, Mom....and others who I did not notice as I flitted around attending to the party.

Sunday-Accomplished

I sauna'd for a good hour today. Sweat out a night's worth of toxins. I feel good.
While I was in the sauna, the black beans were in the slow cooker on high. When I got home, all I had to do was chop & stir-fry the veggies, and with some tricky maneuvers, whip together a chili which I am gonna eat with Lucas while we finish watching StarTrek-The Search For Spock.


Here's what happened:

2 1/2 cups of soaked black beans
(back story: take 1 1/2 cups of dry black beans and soak in 4 cups pure water in a deep bowl overnight. Drain & refrigerate until use. Within four days; airtight stays better longer)
4-5 cups water
Put in a slow cooker on high. Aprox 3-4 hours

3 small carrots
1 small red onion
2 cloves of garlic (use that gorgeous Ontario grown-it's fresher and juicier)
4 large button mushrooms
2 tbsp fryable sunflower oil (organic, cold pressed & canadian-orphee brand you can trust)
1/2 cup organic Catsup
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp chili powder
1 shake paprika
1 shake himalayan rock salt
2 tsp rosemary
1 ancho chili
1 chipotle pepper
4 sundried tomatoes

put the sundreid tomatoes, chipotle and ancho through the old fashioned meat grinder, finish with a small peice of bread. Grind into a bowl and transfer to the slow cooker with the cooked beans.
add catsup & stir well

Chop carrots, onion, garlic, mushrooms & fry in a cast iron skillet on med in sunflower oil
dash-in the spices, stir fry for 5-10 minutes
transfer this to the slow cooker and put on low.
cook for 30 minutes.

make spelt ribbon pasta.
serve the chili over the pasta.

why not?

Now you try.

January is almost done

stew is food
This one was made on a busy Wednesday. I did it in stages, and I have not yet tried it as it's currently in its low heat last cooking stages. I did take a taste of broth, however, and I think it's got that gourmet je ne sais quoi.
we'll have it for lunches tomorrow, as I am back at the community centre and we are both so broke we might end up on welfare.

it's called: wasabi mung bean with wine wine braise stew

1) soak 1.5 cup mung beans for 4hours or so (while you work on your biology course and run errands)
2) bring the mungs to a boil in 2 cups water, hold at boil for ten minutes, turn off heat and let simmer
3) chop three small white turnips into cubes (while thing is boiling to conserve time)
4) add to a slow cooker: turnip, beans and their cooking water, a 500ml container of organic chicken broth, one package Harvest Sun instant organic Leek Potato soup mix, one tablespoon of bonito flakes, 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped gingerroot and 1 packet of pure powdered wasabi (eden brand, no food color)
5) set to high for 1 hour and a half and walk away. (do more biology and talk to friends on the phone)
6) with 15 minutes until the time's up, chop 2 small onions, 6 large white button mushrooms, 3 large cloves of ontario garlic, 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, 1 tablespoon of organic butter, 1/4 cup of white wine; add to a medium saucepan with a lid.
7) braise on medium heat with the lid on stirring twice for 10 minutes.
8) test the mung beans for softness. they should be reasonably soft. (if not cook on high for another 25 minutes before the next step)
9) add braise to the slow cooker and set on low heat for 1 hour.
9) check on it after 15 minutes add 1/2 cup water
10)go watch the basketball game and see old pal. Have drinks.

Ode to Mexico Brunch

We went to Mexico, and lived luxuriously for a week. Highlights of the trip were the dry hot desert climate, a horseback ride at dusk into the arroyo, a late night dip in the ocean surf under moonlit and starry sky, partying with locals and tourists at El Squid Roe, eating from a local grocery store of fresh seasonal fruits, veggies, fish and sauces, and riding a scooter with my honey around town, finding an excellent restaurant with entire Red Snapper on a plate.

It is now two weeks later and Toronto living has almost erased the feeling of Mexico. We keep reminding each other of our memories because they help to releive the early dark and damp cold. Today, almost by accident I made a very Mexican influenced brunch. Of my favorite souvenirs from my trip, my chipotle and ancho chillies packages and my hibiscus flowers, are probably the most prized. Unlike silver jewellery or ponchos, these precious items will have a limited life span in my kitchen.

On the brunch plate:

-Organic, free range egg scramble with fresh minced banana and hot tangy green peppers flecked with dried chipotle, topped with sharp old organic cheddar cheese and drizzled with Valentina Mexican hot sauce.
-Brown mushroom, red onion, Jerusalem Artichoke and tequila blackcurrant braise au gratin
-Coarse polenta grilled in organic sunflower oil, sprinkled with Himalayan rock salt and drenched in homemade organic tomato catsup
-Mango Avocado, pesto and pickled ginger salad

-stove top percolated organic & fair-trade coffee from the Dufferin Grove market. ( I need to find out the name of this one; it's possibly the best coffee I have ever bought for home. )

Notes:
This scrambled egg combo may well be my best to date.
The veggie braise was fantastic with the tequila and sharp cheese-I was inspired by Toronto Life's write-up on a similar dish by done instead with brandy

Fast and Slow

I fasted for four days out in the woods at my friend's place. I can hardly remember it now, it being one week later. While it was on, I moved real slow. I thought out every action before making a single move. For example: I need to get a fire burning before night falls, I look up to the sky to see where the sun's at. It's past the high point and it's coming down. I decide to go sit on the warm canoe back down by the lake where I might see more animals and at least I can absorb some sun before it's too late. On my way back up, i'll break some pine branches off the pine tree that I saw just off the path, and use that for more kindling. That said, I still have to will myself to move. I look at my feet, clad in Timbaland steel toes, damn I'm glad for these boots. Slowly, I tuck one foot and then the other beneath me, dry leaves scratching sounds, before slowly rising to standing. I look in the direction of where I'm going, scanning it all. It's all greens punctured with brown and grey branches and trunks. So much green (the greenest green you ever seen). My foot takes the first step, and I'm off, keeping my eyes gazing a few feet ahead at the path. I step gently and I gaze gently, it feels crucial to be deliberate, that it is the only kind of energy that I can summon.
By the third day I already know my routine. I survived a heavy rain fall the second night, and I spend the third day comforting myself by a smoky fire. There's much fewer places to be on the third day due to the damp ground. The second day, by contrast, was spend lounging in the bear grass up on the hill with my sleeping bag under my head; my sketchbook filling up with sketches and writing. Painting down by the lake a windy and difficult watercolor; sitting in the meadow watching lace wings alight on purple fleabane. Staying up reading in the candle light of the lodge hearing the wind whip through the forest , ruffling up the canopy, bringing in the thunderstorm.
The first day held the best potential for destinations: down through the birch stands beside the lake, scaling steep hills to perch on an old boulder way up in the woods. But by the fourth day, I mostly sat at the camp waiting for my friends to arrive. Waiting to end the fast with the sweatlodge...and never forgetting about the feast to follow! I carved a few spoons from pine branches, made a few paintings, took a nap in my cosy lodge, but mostly I sat, and listened and stared verrry slowwly...

there is always a way to clean up a mess

overbite

The farmer's market is like my church. It's where good people congregate with honest intentions. There are no moral obligations or restrictive dogmas like those that I experienced in the frying pans of church when I was just little, so I feel safe to be open, and if this sort of worship needs to be labeled "Pagan" then see if I give a damn. While I'm out in the spring breeze with light streaming through the tree branches let the devout sit on hard benches and if catholic kneel then sit, then stand, then kneel...whatever. I just got back from " church" I bought a little rosemary plant, some seeds for the building's garden, some EMPIRE apples, some Columbian Co-op's organic coffee beans, a giant sweet potato and some cut daffodils, hyacinth and pussy willow branches. I ate a snack sitting on some grass and watched the children and dogs run around. I read a bit more of Now's Magazine's outstanding articles on environment issues. Wayne Roberts (a hero in food security issues coverage) wrote about John Todd and his soulmate's work in turning sewage into lily ponds. If anyone is interested, look up The Bioneers/ John Todd to find out more about the work that they do. See my book report "Read Over My Shoulder"...I think it was my first blog post, about the book that you should read to make you know that there is always a way to clean up a mess.

You do SO have food in the fridge!!

overbite

So it seemed like we had nada to eat, but from the recesses of fridge and cupboard I scaped together this delightful meal:
check this: simplicity at it's tastiest.

-last of the rice-short grain brown, aproximately 1 1/2 cup
-half a big onion....or like a cup almost-chop it..
-coconut oil-always on hand, a *STAPLE if you will-1 tbsp
-sesame oil-last week's purchase-cheap from chinatown-1/2 tsp
-a substantial carrot-chopped big diagnonally
-1/2 inch of hot green chili- diced up fine
-Tahini-1 tbsp
-tamari-3 shakes, or 1 tsp
-pumpkin seeds-2 handfuls
-i cubic 1/2 inch of fresh ginger

instruction:
cook the rice
melt the coconut oil; saute the onions and carrot; add sesame oil; stir; add ginger and green chili; stir....
drop tahini into middle of pan; shake the tamari into the puddle; stir it together and then combine with the rest of the indredients in the pan.
get em all nice and saucy.
now rain pumpkin seeds(pepitas) all over it and stir again.

time:
25 minutes...

feeds two people good fats, vitamin A, protein, zinc, fiber, calcium, and trace minerals.

tips: keep heat medium or slightly lower. Also, if tahini is too thick to pour, stir it with enough water to thin it slightly.

*In my kitchen the following items are STAPLES:
coconut oil
tahini
onion
carrot
ginger
rice
pumpkin seeds
and others

when you run out of staples, then your cupboard truely is bare, until then, put something together!