Thanksgiving Dinner

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone.  And what a meal Julius's mom prepared.  I would not know where to start to prepare that much food for all of us.

We started with bocconcini, tomato and basil salad- something that is so simple yet so good!

And of course there were turkey and stuffing.  Served alongside with beef tenderloin, potatoes and mushrooms.

Christina baked an apple pie....

And a pumpkin pie!!

The pies were probably the best pies I have ever tasted. Perfection!

Shallot and Brussels Sprouts Compote

My contributions were two vegetable dishes.  I know brussels sprouts are supposed to be every child's nightmare but I never understand why.  For a vegetable they are super adorable and really tasty.

Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Harissa

And from the November issue of House and Home magazine I learnt about a Moroccan spice called Harissa.  I am simply obsessed with it!  More cooking with harissa to come!

These roasted rainbow carrots not only looked stunning but also a perfect compliment to turkey and beef.

If you have never tried harissa like me, please go get some and wow yourself!

Brussel Sprouts 7.5/10

Carrots 9.5/10

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/recipes/shallot-and-brussels-sprout-compote/article14745191/

I love the LCBO! (And not just for the Liquor!)

Whenever our American friends come visit and realized that our provincial government actually is the exclusive distributor of most alcohol in this province, they will be amazed.  However the LCBO have come a long way from ordering from a small window with a little piece of paper, like an old pharmacy, to having one of the most spectacular liquor store in the world in Summerhill, minutes from our house.

The LCBO also publishes a free quarterly magazine Food & Drink.  There are recipes galore and the Autumn issue is where I saw my challenge for the week, one by Chef Jamie Stunt of Oz Cafe in Ottawa.

Seared Beef Tenderloin with Porcini-Pinot Noir Broth, Crispy Potato Sticks & Green Herb Aioli

As the name suggests this is not 5 minute meal but I will tell you it was worth it.  

I fried the potato sticks first and now I know rosemary fries are a real treat, I was snacking on them while preparing the rest of the meal.

The layering of the crispy sticks with the tenderloin was a brilliant concept that each bite was a party in my mouth.  

The broth was heavier than I imagined and perhaps I should strain and clarify it and also serve a bit less in each bowl, mine turned more into a sauce.

Regardless, we loved the meal. 9/10

http://www.lcbo.com/fooddrink/

Mussels Training

This past summer I was obsessed with Top Chef Masters on the Food Network, not to be confused with the other gimmicky show Masterchef.  On TCM there were real famous chefs competing with each other for their charity of choice.

On the finale, Chef Douglas Keane served a soup with the strangest name: Billi Bi. What on earth is in the soup? Mussels.  There was a whole section on Mussels in Cooking At Home by Julia Child and Jacques Pepin and so boldy I went for it even though I am only a Top Chef Observer.

Billi Bi Soup

The soup was created by a chef at Maxim's in Paris in the 1940's and named after a customer named William Brand.  The soup was creamy and silky but traditionally it is served plain with no mussels in it, but other recipes may suggest otherwise.

I served it plain because I had plans with the cooked mussels.

It is a heavy soup and only small portion should be served since it is made with cream but it was perfect on an early fall evening.

I was a bit heavy on the cayenne but that did not change the fact that it was silky and smooth and a great way to start a meal.

Mussels Ravigote

With the cooked mussels, I served them on shells, with extra meat in each.  Topped with a very simple to make ravigote sauce, and there we had some perfect hors d'oeuvres.

My friend Mark had the best description for them: an egg salad on Mussels. Yum!

Soup 7.5/10

Ravigote 8/10

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/saras-secrets/mussel-soup-billy-bi-recipe/index.html

http://books.google.ca/books?id=g8f0soQMewcC&pg=PA183&lpg=PA183&dq=mussels+ravigote+pepin&source=bl&ots=g2ee_267sA&sig=wctxqLuzhZcTiLSq-GrpvUE0_p4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=D-9jUtHyOa7K4APA3oHwDw&ved=0CFoQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=mussels%20ravigote%20pepin&f=false

I am back!

It has been a while since my last post but what a year it has been....

We renovated our kitchen from this:

to this:

It was a long long process but it was all worth it. As I ventured into the cooking world, I realized what was wrong with the the old kitchen and now it is a dream to work in it!

And then we also planned a wedding....

Making it official after 13 years together!

Throughout that time I was still cooking, repeating some old recipes but also attempted some interesting ones: 3 failed attempts in macaroons (only 1 perfect one in each batch of over 20), a moose roast, pomegranate parfait, razor clams and Bermudian fish chowder - I wish I had time to write about them!

Now my life is slowly heading back to normal, it is time for more adventures in the kitchen!

Crisp Skinned Salmon with Apple Compote

For a dinner party a couple weeks ago, I had a request to serve salmon as a main course.  I much prefer salmon raw, smoked or cured but I thought what the heck I will give it a shot!

I tested Lucy Waverman's recipe the week before and it went well but it just seemed a little bland.  So I kicked it up a notch for the party and fried the salmon in bacon grease instead of oil and also mixed up some bacon bits into the apple compote.  Apples are in season and there is an abundant supply, I chose granny smith which I will NEVER buy to eat but the compote was a hit!  Maybe everyone just wanted the bacon bits...

Watercress Salad with Sauteed Mushrooms and Truffle Oil

For starter we served a watercress salad.  While we were preparing the watercress we were deeply concerned with the bitterness, but with the sauteed mushrooms and freshly grated Parmagiano, mustard dressing by Julius and a few drops of truffle oil - it was delicious!!

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Mousse

For dessert we had a white chocolate cream cheese mousse with home made raspberry sauce. It was a lot of work with over an hour of preparation and a huge mess in the kitchen. The mousse was not stiff enough to form a nice peak even though the flavours were all there.  I know that because our friend Karen finished off all the leftovers!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/recipes/crisp-skinned-salmon-with-apple-compote/article647259/

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/White-Chocolate-Cream-Cheese-Mousse

Salmon 9/10

Salad 9/10

Mousse 6/10

Hopping Back to St. Honore

Now that we have the Kitchen Aid mixer, I feel like the culinary world has just opened another set of doors for me.  I suppose when I used to say I did not like desserts was only because I only liked certain kind of desserts.

My co-worker Joanna introduced me to this website where this lovely Chinese lady, an auntie as we like to call them, demonstrated all types of Chinese cooking including desserts.

It must have been years since I had a coconut tart.  And this time I baked them myself.

Coconut Tarts

I must be getting old because it seems everything is nostalgic, but these tarts do bring back childhood memories.  I used to be sent, more volunteered, to pick up tarts and cakes for afternoon teas on the weekend at home with my parents and their friends and their children.  More specifically this bakery named St. Honore a few blocks from our apartment in Happy Valley, Hong Kong.  Often you would see me, sometimes with my sister hopping along in our flip flops to pick up tarts, cakes and cream puffs.  Any excuse to get outside was always a fun time when you are young, and there was never any snow and ice on the ground.

Their egg tarts are legendary but the shopping list also included coconut tarts.  Before baking this past weekend, I shopped everywhere for these small tart moulds but had no luck.  Julius suggested using just the muffin pan but I explained the flutes on the side is the classic look!  I eventually settled on these shallow muffin cups.

I managed to mould the dough into these flimsy paper fluted cups and they actually turned out ok! Our oven must be a little different  since an extra 11 minutes were needed to have them slightly browned.

They looked far from perfect but I have to say they are not bad for a first try!  The recipe works and and they tasted like St. Honore's.

Tarts 8/10

http://wantanmien.com/coconut-tart-%E6%8F%B6%E6%92%BB/

http://www.sthonore.com/en/about.html

The Perfect Meatballs

I would like to share this recipe because it has been perfected by 4 generations in Julius' family, starting with his great grandfather, the founder of Unico foods.  This recipe was written by his grandmother Georgina for a promotional cookbook by Unico.

Julius has made these time and time again and they always turned out incredible. The addition of salami and red pepper flakes gave them a touch of heat that I simply love.  I look forward to them every single time.

Meatballs:
1/2 lb ground beef or veal
1/2 lb ground pork
hot salami
2 eggs, beaten 1/2 cup fine bread crumbs
1 sprig parsley, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 tbsp grated cheese
1 clove garlic, mincedd
red pepper flakes

Spaghetti Sauce:
1/2 cup oil
1 clove garlic
1 onion, chopped coarsely
1 tin tomato paste 5.5 oz
1 tin tomatoes 28 oz
2 cups water
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1 tsp oregano and/or sweet basil
1 tsp sugar (optional)

Combine ingredients for meatballs: mix well.
Heat oil in large frying pan; add garlic and brown gently.
Moisten hands, then shape meat mixture into small round balls; cook on all sides until brown.
Remove garlic and place meatballs in a large saucepan.
Gently fry onions in oil until soft, and add tomato paste.
Cook for 1 minute, no longer.
Pour into saucepan; add tomatoes and water, bring to a boil.
Add salt, pepper, spices and sugar.  Allow to boil briskly for 3 minutes, then reduce heat to low.

Cook sauce partly covered for 2.5 hours, stirring occasionally, in a slow boil.
This is sufficient sauce for 2 lbs spaghetti.

Meatballs 10/10

Poor Julius has been working a lot of overtime lately, even on the weekends.  One Sunday afternoon while he was at work I recreated the meatballs following this recipe and they also turned out amazing.  There is nothing like some comfort food after a long week.  I made lots of extra meatballs and had them for breakfast all week!!

Testing Our New Toy In The Kitchen

It was the Bay's famous one day sale: Kitchen Aid Ultra Mixer for $188.99, reduced from $399.99.  I ordered one and it arrived in 2 days.

Now that we have this great new addition, it was time to try it out.

Barefoot Contessa's Coconut Cupcakes

I invited Julius to join me in the kitchen for this adventure, he has a much longer history with desserts afterall.

Watching that machine go I wondered how much more of an effort it must have been in the olden days to make a dough.  I would probably never bake in the olden days.

The cake portion came out of the oven looking very promsing but as we tasted one it was a little bland.  We have put less coconut as recommended.  But then we made the frosting....

Then frosting was sweet.  It was very sweet.  I could only ate 2/3 of my cupcake. Having said that, if one has a sweet tooth, they were probably right on the mark.  My co-workers seemed to think so.

I often skipped desserts because they were too sweet but now that I can control the amount of sugar in the process, who knows? Maybe it is time to keep an eye on my waistline.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/coconut-cupcakes-recipe/index.html

Cupcakes 7.5/10