Spice Lesson 2 - Coriander seed

Believe it or not coriander seed is actually considered a fruit. These fruits have hollow stems and are known as umbelliferaes, they includes parsley, cumin, carrot, celery, fennel, parsnip dill, caraway, anise, Queen Annes lace as well as others. Coriander is also know as Chinese parsley, or in America cilantro - although to most North Americans this refers mostly to the leaf of the plant not the seed (fruit). Today we are strictly going to talk about the coriander seed, and leave the leaf talk for an herb post. There is a very distinct difference between the flavors of the seed versus the leaf, which we will get into later. Just to make it crystal clear when a recipe refers to coriander as a spice, it's asking you to use these citrusy little pods usually ground into a powder. Coriander is native to southern Europe, North Africa all the way to southwestern Asia. This means you can find it in a multiple of cuisines including  Middle Eastern, Asian, Mediterranean, Indian, Mexican, Latin American, African, and even main stream American. The flavors or notes of this spice include lemon, nutty, warm, and bright. A great way to maximize the flavor of these beautiful seeds is to lightly toast them in a dry pan before grinding or crushing. It's best to buy them whole, and grind them as needed, as they will quickly loose their intensity if kept pre-ground. Coriander is used in many different ways, it's a great pickling agent, can be used instead of caraway in rye breads or even used to brew certain styles of wheat beer. There are also some medicinal properties to the fruit, in Iran they believe it to relieve anxiety and insomnia. It is also used in Indian medicine as a diuretic as well as a digestive aid. In learning about different spices it's amazing how many of them are praised in different cultures for their healing powers. If you've got a great recipe that uses coriander please let us know all about it. Coriander has most recently been used in my recipe  for carrot salad. 

Sexy side salad with roasted fruit and veg

Just looking at this picture makes me want to turn the oven on. This salad is AMAZING, its very easy, its very delicious, and it's very likely to be your new favorite winter salad.  You can use any root vegetables mixed with apples or pears. I'll let you know exactly what I used, but there is really no need to follow me to the tee ; )
Sexy side salad with roasted fruit and veg INGREDIENTS:
baby spinach
1 purple carrot
2 jerusalem artichokes
2 beets
1 pear
1 apple
1 lemon
salt & pepper
olive oil
honey
PREP: Cut all veg & fruit into slices drizzle with olive oil and roast in oven for 30 mins or so at 350. If you like to char them a bit longer thats fine they taste even more delicious that way. Let everything before assembling the salad.
DRESSING: add 2 part olive oil to 1 part lemon juice, add dollop of honey s&p.
SERVE: toss spinach with the dressing, and place veggies and fruits around the plate. Enjoy
TIP: you can roast the veggies a day or two in advance.

White bean dip with rosemary

When you entertain as much as I do you need a few recipes that are plentiful and inexpensive to make. This dip is delicious and super easy especially if you have a mini chopper, hand blender or cuisinart. 
White bean dip with rosemary INGREDIENTS:
white kidney beans - 1 can
garlic - 1 clove
fresh rosemary - 1 sprig
white balsamic vinegar - splash
lemon - 1/2 juiced
olive oil - drizzle
salt & pepper
PREP: blend everything thing in mini chop or hand blend until smooth.
GARNISH: Fresh rosemary and drizzle of olive oil.
SERVE: with toasted bread, crackers, chips or as a dip for crudite platter.
NOTE: Beware of dragon breath at the end of the night, always have a bowl of mints near by!

Whats up doc? Not your same old shredded carrot salad

Carrots are one of my favorite vegetables. They add great colour, nutrition, crunch and are always available. Carrots are great in so many dishes you can always grate them into soups or tomato sauce for added veggies. Carrots are also filled with lots of vitamins and will help with keeping your eyes good and healthy for years to come. This carrot salad was part of my appetizer shmorgishborg at last weeks party. A great change from the same old shredded salads. 
Purple Carrot salad with red onion INGREDIENTS:
6 purple carrots - super thinly sliced (use mandolin or truffle shaver)
1/2 red onion - thinly sliced
handful parsley - chopped
toasted fennel seed - 2 tsp ground
toasted coriander - 2 tsp ground
cumin - 1 tsp ground
lemon juice - 1 lemon
honey - 1 tbs
olive oil - just a drizzle
PREP: throw everything in a bowl and enjoy - leave this overnight for best flavor.
TIP: For slicing the carrots super thin invest in a small handheld mandolin or if you're a serious Tomato Snob go for the larger one a truffle shaver also works super well for ultra fine slices.

Oyster Shrooms; big and beautiful

For some people mushrooms are a hard sell. But when you wrap them up in phyllo dough and drench them is garlic and gruyere cheese it's another story completely. I bought the most incredible oyster mushrooms  at DGM (Dufferin Grove Market) and decided they would be perfect for appetizers at the cocktail party I had last Friday. The mushroom farmer at the market advised me to roasted them (as they need less oil in the oven) but I knew that these things were going to be chopped down, and simmered with garlic and wine and other deliciousness and would be perfect in a sautee pan. 
Oyster Mushroom and Gruyere tarts INGREDIENTS: makes about 20 + depending 

7 large oyster mushrooms - medium to fine chop (you can also use a medley)

4 cloves of garlic - fine chop

3 sprigs of thyme - pull leaves off

splash brandy

splash red wine

splash veggie stock 

nutmeg - less then a tsp

butter - 1 tbs + another hunk for melting 

olive oil - tbs + another hunk for melting 

gruyere cheese - enough for each bite

phyllo pastry - keep in freezer until ready to use - de-thaw overnight in the fridge. 

PREP: Sautee chopped garlic in olive oil on medium heat, add mushrooms and cook down until they become dry, add hard butter and continue cooking until dissolved. Add splash or brandy or wine (red or white) and splash of chicken stock - just enough to keep the mushrooms wet. Add thyme at the very end, and do not cook it more then one minute. If too much liquids are added sprinkle a little flour on the mixture to thicken the gravy. These should not be too wet when wrapped in the dough.  Cooking time about 7- 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and chill, can sit over night, but must come to room temp before baking as well as the cheese.

PRE HEAT: 350 degrees on the oven. 

PREP: Unwrap phyllo, with plastic wrap under and over pile, also place a damp cloth over the phyllo because it dries out quickly. Have a bowl or olive oil and melted butter ready to brush the phyllo before floding. Only take out one or two sheets at a time and brush them immediately with oil. Do this with 3-4 sheets for each. Cut phyllo in to 4 inch squares or so - these will make bite size tarts. Place dollop of mushroom mixture in the middle of the phyllo place thin piece of gruyere on top. Fold the corners of the phyllo and gather them at the top, pressing them so they stay together. brush with butter and bake until golden.

A Mature cake for a man turning 30

Written on February 23rd 2010.
Today my wonderful amazing beautiful boyfriend turns 30. I wanted to do something special so I decided to make my first cake from scratch. I knew I wanted to make a pound cake with yummy citrus and vanilla flavors. There was a coconut orange cake on foodbuzz top 10 yesterday and I decided this would be the perfect two flavors for my pound cake. I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some last minute ingredients and was super excited to see a beautiful bunch of blood oranges, they will make my cake a beautiful pink tone, now if only they were organic...I scrubbed them extra good, just in case. Unfortunetly I do not own a hand mixer, and making icing was going to be too difficult so I thought doing some candied oranges and a sugar glaze to garnish the cake would be delicious, and beautiful. After consulting about 15 different recipes or so with my friend Molly - my assistant for the day we came up with the delicious recipe that follows.
Blood orange & coconut pound cake - INGREDIENTS: Bake in 12'' round baking pan or loaf pan.

2 cups flour (all purpose whole wheat and unbleached white mixed) 

1tsp baking soda

1tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted organic butter 

1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut 

1 blood orange - zest

1 blood orange - juiced

1/4 cup sour cream 

BAKING: Pre- heat oven to 350 degrees. Have three clean bowls ready for prep. All cold ingredients should be room temperature. Don't forget the grease and dust the pan with butter and flour. 

Add all dry ingredients together and sift thoroughly . Cream  butter sugar together with hand mixer or with spoon. Mix in eggs in, add vanilla & almond extracts zest and juice. Then you should layer the flour and sour cream ie. add a bit of flower, then a bit of the sour cream, then repeat starting and ending with the flour. Last add your coconut. Bake for 25-40 mins depending on your oven. Check after 25 mins.... Check cake with long wooden pick, to check if its done at 25 mins. Adjust the time depending on your oven.  You want the stick to come out dry and cake to have a beautiful golden tone. 

Candied Blood Oranges INGREDIENTS: Candied Oranges

6 oranges - thinly sliced by hand of with mandloin 

4 cups unbleached cane sugar 

1 cup water

COOK: Blanch oranges in boiling water for 2 mins or so. Remove from water. Save boiled water for the syrup.  Add water and sugar in sauce pan heat until sugar is melted. Then add the oranges until mixture starts to simmer. Cook for 45 minutes and try not to stir the mixture, shake the pan instead. Remove oranges from syrup and place on wax paper - allow to dry and harden over night. 

COMMENTS:  While the cake was beautiful, and delicious it was a bit dry. My conclusions are that the cake was baked for 3-5 minutes too long, or perhaps there should have been another egg or more sour cream. The fact that we used half whole wheat could have also been a culprit or perhaps too much coconut. Either way it didn't stop anyone from enjoying it. Molly came over for left overs last night, and I think she had three pieces. So I will conclude that this recipe is still open to interpretation, but still deserves a pat on the back to the both of us. 

Asian salmon on soba noodles

This dish is my interpretation of a favorite my mom made for us all the time. It's healthy and satisfying, pretty easy to make as well. I have no idea were the recipe originated from, hopefully once my mom reads this she can enlighten us all. 
Asian salmon on soba noodles INGREDIENTS:
ginger - 2 tbs chopped
4 shallots - chopped
cilantro - 2 tbs chopped
2 carrots - shredded
rice wine vinegar - 4 tbs
japanese soy sauce - 1 tbs
sesame oil - few drops
honey - 1tsp
splash citrus - I used lemon grate some rinds for the salmon.
olive oil- 2 tbs
salmon - 1 piece per person - cut into long slabs
soba noodles - come wrapped in individual portions - 3 bundles
DRESSING: This recipe is super easy if you have a mini chopper or blender. Add everything in and blend for a few seconds. If not finely chop ginger, shallots, cilantro, vinegar, oils, soy, citrus add grated carrots (chopped spinach can also be added or celery for extra veggies)
COOK: Marinate salmon with salt and pepper some sesame or olive oil and citrus rinds. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 mins or so - depending on how you like your fish. Some people like it more well done then others.  Add the soba noodles to a pot of boiling water for a bout 8 minutes.
PLATE: Soba noodles on the bottom, fish in the middle and dressing on top.
GRANISH: With a lemon slice, or with black sesame seeds.

Chicken stuffed with collard greens carrots and parmesan on celery root apple puree

This was a delicious meal I made for my friend Molly a few weeks back. Most of the time when I cook I just go for it, I don't follow any recipes and just allow myself to be inspired by what's in the fridge. I've always wanted to do a chicken dish like this, and i'm kinda peeved I didn't write down a recipe for this because it was gorgeous in taste and aesthetic value. I used purple carrots from my farmers market, and they looked amazing next to the collard greens. The flavors worked so well together. The chicken was marinated simply with salt and pepper. I sauteed the collards in some olive oil garlic chicken stock and apple cider vinegar. Lightly roasted the carrots, and then threw them in with the collards. I cut the celery root down and boiled it like a potato with two apples with their skin removed. Once tender I purred them with some butter and a bit of the stock from the veggie mixture. These liquids were also used to create a jus for the chicken. I took the chicken and wrapped it around a handful of the veggie mixture, as well as some thick slices of parmesan cheese.  I secured the chicken with a wooden skewer. I then lightly pan fried the chicken  on both sides. Added some of the jus and placed the mixture in the oven for a few minutes to finish it off. Remove the skewer before serving. If you have a feeling for food, and can cook blindly please feel free to use this recipe as an outline for a delicious dinner of your own, but be sure to tell me all about it. 

Arugula Antipasto Salad with Callipo Tuna & Toast

I really love an easy meal salad. At our house we eat a lot of olives, tuna and cheese. These ingredients are always available, somewhat inexpensive, and have a longer shelf life then most other ingredients. This is a great  family style meal for lunch or a light dinner. You can use any marinated antipasto item, any type of lettuce, I like to stick to Callipo tuna because it's just the best! Most grocery store now have an antipasto bar which usually carry a variety of olives, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers and other goodies. You can also find these items in specialty cheese shops or gourmet stores. 
They can be bought by the pound packed in olive oil.  
Arugula Antipasto Salad with Callipo Tuna & Toast INGREDIENTS:
Arugula salad blend 
moroccan olives
marinated  artichoke hearts - cut into strips
marinated small mushrooms
fresh mint - tear into pieces
olive oil - drizzle
salt& pepper
splash of lemon 
PREP: In a bowl add all ingredients and toss with hands. 
SERVE: With toasted bread or crackers put the tuna down off to the side or right on top of the salad. Serve with different cheeses. These are Parmigiano-Reggiano, gouda and creme cheese.

Leslieville Cheese Market

The Leslieville cheese market is one of my favorite little spots on Queen west, and lucky for me it's right around the corner from where I live. They have the most amazing croissants the almond ones are to die for. Their breads are magnificent crunchy and soft perfectly baked. Some of my favorites include the french baguette or their black olive loaf. Their cheese selections can be a bit expensive, but are well worth it. When I want to splurge on Quebec cheeses I can't resist this place. LCM has two locations both on queen street, the second one sits comfortably in its namesake neighborhood Leslieville (Queen St east). What I also love about this place is that I can get my Organic Medow dairy products. I'll be doing a post on them soon, because I'm a huge advocate of their products. I buy my milk old school in glass bottles, and I just love it. LCM hold a $2.00 fee for the bottle that is returned to you once your done, or you just trade it in next time you buy milk. The Healthy Butcher a few doors down from LCM also provides this service on Orgain Medow milk. Another thing I love about the LCM are their  house made salamies and pepperettes. They also hold nightly cheese classes, and private tasting parties as well as a tour of their cheese cave. In the summer I love this place for a quick picnic. 
Picking up a baguette some yummy cheese and a few pepperettes, then heading to Trinity Bellwoods park for for an afternoon outside. All the spring things to look forward to on this snowy day.