MostlyBaked

Quinoa and Bean Soup with Lime

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:40:48 -0500

Quinoa and Bean Soup with Lime

I have a cookie crush...

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:33:57 -0500

…On Ms. Alice Medrich, who wrote my now-bible on cookie making: Chewy, Gooey, Crispy, Crunchy. I can’t say enough about this remarkable source for all manner of cookies and bars; it is well-written and entertaining and the recipes are nothing short of inspiring.

Last night I made her Cafe de Olla Sticks, which were delightful. It involved a method that I was hitherto not familiar with: A rather dry and crumbly dough is pressed into the bottom of a bread pan and chilled for several hours. You then flip the cold dough out of the pan and slice off thin “sticks” which are baked in a moderate oven until they are golden and crispy and ridiculously fragrant. Once cooled, they sticks are tasty little snacks with a crunch reminiscent of a biscotti, only snappier.

The recipe calls for freshly ground anise seed, which I didn’t have on hand so I replaced it with freshly ground cardamom. I think it worked very well with the other flavours (coffee, cinnamon, almonds), although the taste seemed to dissipate a bit once baked. (Of course I tasted the dough.)

I served them with a chocolate mousse last night, which was great. They are just as good straight up or with a cup of tea, though.

my ma making pasta a la nonna photo taken by her sister

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:01:00 -0500

my ma making pasta a la nonna

photo taken by her sister

Olive & Lemon Sourdough

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:22:00 -0500

I’ve been tending to my sourdough starter since November and this was the latest loaf I pulled from the home oven.

The technique I used is largely styled after Chad Robertson’s.

Pitted Kalamata olives and lemon zest were folded into the dough after bulk fermentation. Final rise took over 6 hours… But totally worth it!

As far as I can tell, Robertson’s method of baking bread in a large le Creuset pot (to imitate the steam-injected ovens used in commercial operations) gives incredible results for the home baker.

I made a vegetarian chili and served it with this bread in place of rice. Damn fine eatin’.

Notes from an ethical conundrum

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 12:07:08 -0500

April 18th, 2008 (PHIL 480 essay, McGill)

“But wait!” I interjected, “Why is it that I feel some moral responsibility towards you? I mean, I don’t even particularly like you!”

“And yet, there seems to be a part of you, of your being, that feels it would be wrong to, say, maliciously intend to trip me up here on the sidewalk, right? What a coincidence that I feel exactly the same way about you!”

“So where does that come from?”

“Well, the way I see it, there is this sense of moral value that is built in as an organic part of every being. We feel responsibility towards something because we think that it is somehow worthy.”

“Ok. Fine. But then how does that judgement happen?”

Hippie: “Because we’re all the same, man”.

… Leave it to the hippie.

Flashback: First impressions of ITHQ (I don't like uniforms)

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 11:56:58 -0500

August 17^th, 2011

I got my uniforms today. Yes, that is uniforms with an ‘s’, meaning that I need two different getups just to be able to set foot into my school. I have one called the “classique” which I must wear for any and all theory classes, and then I have the “professionel” which is the real chef’s outfit that I’ll wear in the kitchens. I look like a total tweeb in the “classique”; it is pretty much exactly the monkey suit I would never be caught dead in. I look a bit like a librarian in a tie. It’s hilarious.

I caught a glimpse of some of the other students in the program. There seems to be a good variety of styles and ages, which I’m happy about. I would have died if it turned out to be another U1 at McGill.

Steak & Guinness Pie is happening RIGHT. NOW.

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 16:49:51 -0500

sometimes, i think i live in narnia

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 15:33:09 -0500

sometimes, i think i live in narnia

natural habitat

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 18:07:22 -0500

natural habitat

bleu. (apologies to the vegetarians)

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 18:04:40 -0400

bleu.

(apologies to the vegetarians)

Provincetown, MA

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 18:01:28 -0400

Provincetown, MA

all tarted up

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 17:56:07 -0400

all tarted up

proud pepper

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 16:07:08 -0400

proud pepper

elderberries…. frozen and about to be de-stemmed for jam

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 16:03:01 -0400

elderberries…. frozen and about to be de-stemmed for jam

tonight, on The Grill…

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 21:00:16 -0400

tonight, on The Grill…

mmm sundried

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 15:07:00 -0400

mmm sundried

Photo

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 15:05:05 -0400

…a little reward is in order. After a week of snacking on hippie...

Wed, 09 May 2012 20:57:16 -0400

…a little reward is in order. After a week of snacking on hippie bars, I wanted to make a real fuckin’ dessert, knowwhatimean?

It’s the very beginning of rhubarb season over here, which means the stalks are short and skinny, but also at their most tender and tasty.

I made a rhubarb compote by…

1. Chopping about 1 lb and a half of rhubarb in 1-inch pieces.

2. Mix together 2 cups sugar and 1/3 cup water in a pot and bring to a boil until a nice light brown.

3. Add in 1 cup of spiced rum with 1 tsp vanilla and a bit of freshly ground pepper. Add the rhubarb and remove from heat. Cover and let sit about 25 minutes. Strain and reserve the liquid. Put the rhubarb in the fridge and bring the liquid to a boil and reduce to about a cup and a half.

….Then I made a lemon yogurt mousse…

1. Whip 250ml of 35% cream with about 1/4 cup sugar. Set aside.

2. Re-hydrate 2 tsp gelatin in 2 tbsp water in a small heat-proof bowl.

3. Mix together 1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt with the zest of one lemon (or more to taste). Set aside.

4. Put the bowl with the gelatin over a pot of boiling water and stir until the gelatin is completely melted. Stir into yogurt mixture.

5. With a fouet, fold in the whipped cream. Pour into a fully baked pie shell and refrigerate for minimum 3 hours.

….Spread the rhubarb over the whole pie or by slice and pour a spoonful of the rhubarb reduction over each serving.

oliveryeh: “Ok aspiring fiction writers, if you’ve ever...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:51:28 -0400

oliveryeh:

“Ok aspiring fiction writers, if you’ve ever wondered how to write a successful novel, the secret is here: kill off your characters. Of the handful of books that won the prestigious Man Booker Prize in 2011, all 13 novels had the common theme of putting to death main characters…” Read more…

Photo

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:50:22 -0400