Comfort Table

Celebrated Mother's Day yesterday, so today I was able to spend some time hanging around in the kitchen. A strange weather day, so I thought I'd make some cold weather comfort food, specifically a sort-of healthy mac and cheese.  By sort-of healthy, I mean slightly less deadly than normal. Used whole wheat pasta, 1% milk, and strong cheddar, which meant I could use less. Some Worcester sauce, Dijon mustard, smoked paprika, and there you go! Recipe to follow (amazingly, it's not online!)

Queen Conch

Last year, while hunting for shells, I inadvertently pulled a live baby conch from its briny home in the Caribbean sea off Eleuthera, Bahamas, and tossed it in a plastic bag. As we drove away, Peter noticed the sound of it trying to escape its plastic prison- fairly creepy, I must say. Apparently it is illegal to harvest baby conchs, so at our next stop we tossed my little friend back into the ocean. I hope he had the chance to grow up and become a delicious salad.

At Queen Conch, on Harbour Island, we met a lovely couple who have been making impossibly fresh conch salads for, as the chef said, "12 or 15 years, I can't remember. Started with just a piece of plywood."

The restaurant isn't fancy, and it isn't a restaurant. It's a stand, with a few seats in the front, in the shade, where you can watch the salads being prepared, and a nice deck out back with several tables overlooking the sea.

Fun Lori Fact: As usual, I had to go to the bathroom, and since QC is more akin to a hot dog stand than a restaurant, I wasn't sure what my next move would be. I asked the lady making salad, and she said "go to the liquor store across the street and ask if you can use the bathroom". When I gotta go, I gotta go, so I did just that. They were very accommodating, and led me to the staff bathroom, complete with a sign on the door, inside, that said "We Watchin' You, Sucka!". Totally didn't care. There was no soap or towels, but I had Kleenex and Purell, so everything was fine.

Peter also made a trip to the liquor store, but to get us drinks to go with our salad. You can't drink on public streets in the Bahamas, except you can, if your beer is in a paper bag. Peter goes in and comes back with 3 beers in little bags. "Um, are we having company?" I asked. "I asked for two, but they said they were 3 for $4.99, and didn't tell me how much two cost". I don't think this development annoyed him one bit!

You wait a while for your salad, unless you're smart and come by early. To order, you write your name, what you want, and when you want it on the legal pad on the counter. A perfectly acceptable system!

We watched as the ingredients for 6 servings were prepared- onions, red and green peppers, tomatoes, garlic all chopped by hand. And, of course, conch so fresh the pile of huge shells sits in shallow water just behind the stand. Limes are sliced and squeezed over all. Home made hot sauce was sprinkled in, according to your order. We went with Medium. Mild is for wimps, but something told me that Hot would kill me. Then, he adds whatever else people want. When regulars came by, the chef shouted out "Tim, you want hot peppers?" or "How about some sweet orange today?" and the extra ingredients would be added.

The salad was heaven. Not a thing in there that's bad for you, as fresh as can be, and made completely by hand, outside, under a plywood roof, about 10 feet from the sea.

What more could anyone want, but to go back for more some day?

Healthier Spaghetti- Sideways, for Some Reason

In my Ten Dollar Dinner post, I shared a recipe for a tomato-based sauce that I think is just delicious. Unfortunately, it's also full of oil and butter. Come to think of it, there may be a connection... Anyway, here is the sauce I made tonight. I usually make a simpler sauce, but the vegetables add texture and vitamins. Thanks to this wonderfully warm October, I still had some fresh herbs kicking around on the terrace, but dried will do when the weather finally turns crappy.

1 carrot, minced

1 stalk celery, minced

1/2 white onion,minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. olive oil

750 ml tomato passata, sodium free, if possible (Pomi is a good brand)

Red pepper flakes to taste

1/2 tsp. black Pepper

1/2 tsp. fennel seeds

Chopped fresh herbs- basil, oregano, Italian parsley

tiny splash honey

Heat oil in a saucepan, and saute the vegetables and garlic until soft. Add everything but the fresh herbs, and cook 15 minutes. Right before serving, add most of the fresh herbs. Serve on top of cooked whole wheat spaghetti, and sprinkle with remaining herbs and freshly grated parmesan.

Vogue Meat Loaf

I was craving comfort food recently, so I whipped out my old, food-stained collection of recipes and made something I haven’t had in years- Vogue Meat Loaf.

As the name implies, I got this recipe out of a Vogue magazine in the early 90s, but it originated at a restaurant in Los Angeles called 72 Market St. (Fun fact: by the late 90s, I was a publicist for the company that published the 72 Market St Cookbook, which did contain a version of this recipe. Never got to eat there, though.)

It’s some work, but it’s worth it. You get 8 cute little loaves, moist, and full of vegetables. Make some mashed potatoes, steam some broccoli (oops, didn’t do that part this time) and you have a delicious meal that plates well and leaves plenty of leftovers. Meat loaf sandwiches… how very Vogue…

¾ c. minced white onion 1 tsp. salt

¾ c. minced green onion ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

½ c. minced celery 1 tsp. black pepper

½ c. minced carrot ½ tsp. white pepper

¼ c. minced green pepper ½ tsp. cumin

½ c. minced red pepper ½ tsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. minced garlic ½ c. half and half (or evaporated milk)

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter ½ c. ketchup

1½ lbs lean ground beef

½ lb. lean ground pork

3 eggs, beaten

¾ c. dry toasted bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350°

Sauté vegetables and garlic in butter until softened. Cool to room temperature. Combine spices, and stir into cooled veggies. Add cream, ketchup, and everything else. Lightly form into 8 loaves on a foil-lined cookie sheet (with sides). Bake 40-45 minutes.

Meanwhile, make gravy (though I have to say, I have never made this gravy!)

1 Tablespoon minced shallot

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

pinch thyme

1 bay leaf

pinch black pepper

1 c. dry white wine

1 c. each chicken and beef stock

Sauté shallot in 1T butter until soft, with thyme, bay leaf, and pepper. Add wine. Cook over high heat until reduced to a glaze. Add the stocks, and boil to reduce by half, then swirl in remaining butter. (You can use this to deglaze the meatloaf pan, but I prefer the easy clean up of using foil, but it’s an option.)

Let the loaves sit for 5 minutes, then slice and serve.

Ten Dollar Dinners

I find myself, shockingly, to be a big fan of the Food Network show Ten Dollar Dinners! The reason I'm shocked is this- I am often quite a food snob, especially where cooking shows are concerned. (Also, when it comes to food, I often Spend Too Much! Get it? Ha...) When I first tuned in and saw a perky blonde American woman, I thought, "Oh, here we go, another Sandra Lee, here to tell me to dump cans of soup into everything." I was ready to mock, but instead I was intrigued by Melissa's recipes. Not at all unsophisticated, pretty frugal, and the ones I've made have been just delicious!

Now, some of the recipes aren't at all complicated, but, like many of Nigella Lawson's, gentle reminders that you only need a few things to make a cheap, tasty, and healthy dinner. Garlic Oil Sauteed Pasta with Broccoli was one of those recipes. Sauteed Cannellini Beans was another. Both were really good. This weekend I'll be making Lentil Quinoa salad with Pesto shrimp, (Google it yourself, I'm tired of adding links!) but the recipe I want to rave about today is Garlic Spaghetti.

Just a few simple ingredients, no time at all, and I had 6 portions that got me through the week. Yes, there's butter in it, but what you get is a richness and smooth taste that plain spaghetti sauce often misses. Melissa's recipe is a little rich, so I made some adjustments. Below is my version, and, damn, is it good.

Also, I ate this so fast I didn't get around to taking photos, but, really, it looks like you'd think it would.

I box whole wheat spaghetti

5 tablespoons olive oil

8 cloves garlic, minced

1 jar tomato passatta

3 tablespoons butter

salt and pepper

grated parmesan to taste

fresh basil leaves

1. Cook pasta according to directions on box

2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil gently and add the garlic. Cook over low heat 20-30 minutes

3. In another pan, heat the passatta and butter. Cook over low heat until the butter is melted

4. Dump in the olive oil with garlic, salt and pepper, and simmer 10 minutes

5. Toss with the spaghetti, and add torn basil leaves and parmesan when serving.

Supposed to be 4 servings, but make it 6, trust me.

Goodbye, Cupcake!

Ok, like a drunk after a lost weekend, I have returned from a vacation in the American South (well, Virginia and Washington DC). Anyone think I stuck to a diet of "rabbit food", as a colleague calls it? I did-- if rabbits eat pulled pork and potato salad, and wash it down with plenty of booze and a cupcake chaser. Like the aforementioned drunk, I now need to get with the program. No Twelve Steps for me, just two: eat healthy and exercise. I'm cutting back, and as I do, let me share some fond memories of delicious southern meals before I am forced to erase these thoughts from my mind, and replace them with visions of carrots and treadmills.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries. We don't seem to have them in Canada yet, but there are a ton in the US. They started in Virginia, so it seemed appropriate to check it out. (Note- during the 2008 election, the Obamas mentioned liking Five Guys, but I had already had it and loved it. So there.) As befits American-sized portions these days, if you order a regular burger, it comes with 2 patties. To get just one, you have to order the mini. The mini is like 800 calories. Not so mini, don't you think? Anyway, the burgers are really yummy, and the french fries are fantastic. There is a sign in the restaurant that is updated daily to tell you the name of the farm in Idaho that grew the potatoes. One order of fries is enough for 3 to 4 people, so if you're alone, watch yourself! They also have refillable fountain Diet Coke, which is the greatest beverage on earth aside from Champagne. All in all, I love my annual Five Guys visit, but I really don't think anyone should be eating there on a regular basis.

One night, we went to a CFA event on the grounds of a "farm" called Seven Oaks. The place was spectacular, as was the food. There were buffet stations with food from around the world. I had a plate of hummus, asparagus, and salad. But before that, I had this: Buttermilk fried chicken, truffle mac and cheese, potato salad, and pulled pork with barbecue sauce. Kind of a wonder they don't keep a defibrillator on that buffet table.

And now, cupcakes. I returned to 2 of my favourites, Georgetown Cupcake in DC and Capellino's Crazy Cakes in Charlottesville. Georgetown Cupcake makes the best cake of any cupcake bakery I've tried. These are from Capellino's- the New Yorker, and the Red Velvet. Very good, but not the best.

That award this year goes to a place in Dupont Circle (DC) called Hello Cupcake. The dulce de leche cupcake was sublime. The icing had a wonderful caramel taste, and the cake itself echoed that flavour really well. If it hadn't been so hot, I would have tried to bring home a half dozen, so I guess I should be grateful for the heat. It's time for me to get back to eating well, so instead of Hello Cupcake, for now, it's goodbye :(

Bahamian Food

There are two types of people: those who take pictures of food, and those who don't. Guess which kind I am? I do have my limits, though. I didn't take pictures of dinner at the Ritz in Paris, and I didn't photograph my incredible dinner at The Landing in The Bahamas. The Ritz was too intimidating, and The Landing was too dark. Seriously, they give you a mini flashlight with which to view the menu. The only lighting is a hurricane lantern with a single candle on each table. I don't think the crowd in there would have appreciated my flash going off during dinner, either. That being said, our dinner at The Landing was really special. I had the local lobster. There was more lobster on my plate than I could finish! It was succulent and well prepared, with simple accompaniments of fingerling potatoes and French green beans. And butter :) Boyfriend had mahi mahi, which he also enjoyed. We shared a bottle of good Chianti, and a classic molten chocolate cake for dessert. New York prices, but I don't mind paying if I feel I have gotten something special as I feel we did there. The landing is one of the old colonial buildings on Harbour Island, dating from 1800. Amazing that is has survived- there are hardly any buildings that old in Canada.

My second favourite meal was at a place called Dunmore Deli, also on Harbour Island. We just happened by on the way to the beach, and I had an incredible sandwich called The Islander- medium rare flank steak marinated in jerk sauce, caramelized onions, avocado, and spicy citrus aioli, served on a baguette. So good! Washed it down with 2 Bahamian beers called Kaliks, and watched island life go by. This is how I want to spend all my afternoons.

On Eleuthera, we stayed in an area called Rainbow Bay. The nearest restaurant was a place called the Rainbow Inn, owned by Canadians, as it happens. We both had grouper, which had been out of the water for 6 hours, served with zucchini from the garden. Doesn't get much fresher than that! We ate on the back patio, and watched the sun set over the Caribbean.

Our last Bahamian meal was the most special, in some ways. We had driven past a place called Lee's Cafe, in James Cistern. (You drive past the same places frequently, since there is essentially one road that runs through Eleuthera, the Queen's Highway). It had a rudimentary hand-painted sign, but I had heard good things about their fried chicken. We showed up on our way to the airport, heading home. We were greeted by two very sweet ladies, who seemed concerned that we had been on Eleuthera for a week and they hadn't met us yet! We told them we had come by the previous Sunday, but they were closed, despite the sign saying they were open Sundays. They told us that they close for 2 1/2 hours to go to church! After promising to come back to their island, we got our chicken take-away (mine fried, BFs grilled). They were also cooking beans and rice, macaroni, and some barbecued ribs that smelled fantastic. OK, this chicken was NOT healthy, but it was the best piece of fried chicken I have ever had. I could not stop myself from devouring every bit of the skin. My mouth is watering right now thinking about it. If you're ever on Eleuthera, and you really should go, you must stop by and spend time with the ladies at Lee's Cafe. Then you should probably go jogging and do a juice fast.

I'm just saying.

Petty Fores

Spent all day Saturday at McCall's learning how to make petit fours.  I didn't think to bring my own apron, and I cleverly wore a black sweater and brown cords, so I was covered in flour and sugar quite a bit of the time.

It was a hands-on class, but the sort where everyone does a bit of everything; you don't just make your own batch.  We made a lemon sponge roulade, tons of little tarts with a sweet almond paste, almond cream, and variations of buttercream, fondant icing, and vanilla custard. 

Also made the standard pound cake with marzipan and raspberry jam.  The fun part was the melted fondant.  We learned the proportions and temperature that guarantee a smooth, glossy finish.  

I will definitely do these again.  Just not for a long while.  There was some sampling, and I will be spending tomorrow on a treadmill because of it.

25, OK, Only 20, Food Things About Me

Thanks, Kelvin, for this tag.  What a fun way to talk about food!  A warning, though:  I have been lucky enough to visit some really nice restaurants, and I want to share the experiences, but I may sound like a name-dropping douchebag.  Just remember that I am one of the masses who has to call for reservations 2 months in advance.  And I'm only going to go with 20, since I'm so very sesquipedalian.  In no particular order:

1.  Breakfast at a friend's cottage, in my twenties.  Always the same routine.  8 or 10 of us would wake up around noon, hung over, but before we'd start another day of hanging out at the beach and drinking beer, we'd have a big communal breakfast.  Jane would scramble a dozen eggs; Becky would toast up a loaf of bread; Dave would fry up a pound of bacon; I would slice potatoes and fry them.  Someone else would pour the OJ, and another would set the table.  We'd serve all the greasy goodness to each other straight out of the frying pan, sit around the table, and start mythologizing the fun of the previous night.  We left the table grateful for the fine job grease does at soaking up liquor and ready for the first beer of the new day.

2.  Dim Sum at some place in Scarborough maybe called Perfect Restaurant. Everything you could ask for- crispy, doughy, good fillings, great tea, and 3 of us ate like kings for $20.  Nice to be able to look at the bill and say "This one's on me!"

3.  The Vendome restaurant at the Ritz, Paris.  More for the theatre of it, but the food was incredible as well.  We ordered from a very attentive waiter, who left the table.  A few minutes later, the Sommelier came by, aware of what we had ordered, to make wine selections that matched our meals.  (It drives Peter batshit when we're at restaurants and they want you to order a bottle of wine before you've had a chance to look at the menu.) Then a rolling Champagne cart came by, stocked with bottles of Ritz Champagne on ice in a large silver tub, and a glass was offered.  

When each course is served, 2 waiters bring your dishes to the table, covered with silver domes, which they simultaneously remove with dramatic flair.  Seconds later, a "sauce" waiter comes by, ready to offer a delectable complement to your dish.  The food was almost beside the point by then.  

At some point during the meal, a cheese cart was rolled by.  I loved the fact that this cart was clearly a piece of antique French furniture, with a marble top, that had been refitted with wheels.  We were offered all the cheese we wanted.  At one point, I asked for something strong.  The Fromage Guy lifted a glass dome from over a piece of cheese, and cut me a slice.  The odour was overpowering.  I barely had a tiny piece to my mouth when I could feel my nose hairs tingling.  It was all I could do to swallow that little piece.  Peter wouldn't try it, and he loves cheese.  Moral of that story- strong cheese in France is stronger than strong cheese in Canada.

This is getting awfully long, so let me just wrap up by saying that the decor, the history, and the incredible Frenchness of everything made this meal paramount. (Oh, and when you have to go to the bathroom, a staff member walks you back into the hotel where the discreet but flamboyant bathrooms are, and waits for you by the restaurant door to walk you back to your seat!)

4.  9 course tasting menu at Babbo.  Word of caution- if you order the accompanying wine tasting, you will receive a full glass of each.  9 glasses.  Ouch.

5.  My great Aunt Elsie's roast beef with Yorkshire pudding.  Sunday supper was always a production when I was growing up, with lots of family.  No one made this particular meal like my Aunt Elsie and Uncle Jim.  Great roast, riced potatoes, lots of veggies, (ok, they were overcooked, but it's my heritage!), and crispy, light, Yorkshire pudding to soak up the incredible gravy.  Uncle Jim's shortbread for dessert was a yummy treat.

6.  Lobsters in the dark.  Again, at a cottage, we were all sitting around a bonfire eating chips and drinking, when one friend wandered over a few cottages and struck up a conversation.  He was there most of the night.  Our fire was almost out when he returned with a bunch of foil parcels.  His charm had won him the leftovers at the party he crashed.  I ran into the cottage,nuked a pound of butter, and ran back out with it.  We all sat there in the dark, working our way through succulent whole lobsters, pulling at the meat and shell with nothing  but our fingers.  It was such an unexpected treat.

7.  Wendy's Junior Bacon Cheeseburger and Fries.  I'm just sayin'.

8.  My dad's lasagna.  So much cheese and meat you could barely lift the pan onto the table.

9.  Any meal with the Williams-Sonoma people.  We all love the best, and we talk about the food as much as we eat it.

10.  Mini truffle panini and Prosecco at Procacci in Florence.  We'd never heard of it, but we managed to find an extremely cute place with the most incredible truffle everything, all served up with some fruity Prosecco. Cute green marble tables, and the endless variety of the teeny weeny panini made you want to stay all day.

11.  The dinners served by surly Anna at our inn in Montalcino.  Actually, she wasn't surly at all, but had been labeled as such by plenty of American tourists who took her lack of English skills as a personal affront.  But the meals she made us 2 nights in a row were spectacular, as were the wine pairings offered by her lovely husband.  Oh, and the view...

12.  The White Trash dinner party at Daphne's.  Spushi (that's Spam sushi) made by Kelvin was a standout.  I believe we were required to use a can of Campbell's soup in all our recipes.  I think I contributed my Auntie Marg's Green Bean Casserole, the mother of all White Trash dishes.  All served with a nice box of wine!

13.  Mom's Christmas turkey.  Not too much of mom on this list, since cooking was not her strong suit, but she would make a Herculean effort at Christmas to get this meal right, and came up with some far-out (for Burlington in the 80s) side dishes like Squash Souffle.

14.  Annual birthday dinners for Alison and Sarah.  I love how they indulge.  As Sarah says, "It's just not a dinner at Lori's unless I leave feeling uncomfortable, and with my top button undone."

15.  The first dinner party I hosted where I didn't burst into tears before the guests arrived.  It was not as long ago as I wish.

16.  Steve's cooking is a class all it's own.  Always done with love, and usually with saturated fat.  He can make anything special, like homemade potato chips.

17.  Tapas at Coca.  Better than Cava.

18.  Cupcake hunting in New York.  Magnolia, Buttercup, Cupcake Cafe, Amy's Bread, Joe's Bakery, Crumbs...

19.  Kelvin inspires me to add this- when I was a kid, my mom was making a stew of some kind, and the pan had a lid on it.  My dad always considered himself the better cook, so he kept checking what she was doing, opening the oven, taking the lid off the pan, etc.  At some point he set the lid on the counter, unknowingly on top of a bar of soap that had been next to the sink.  The soap stuck to the lid, and went into the stew when he put the lid back on.  Next time someone checked, the pan was full of bubbles and sludge, and there was a bar of Ivory floating in the middle of the stew.  Pizza was ordered. 

20.  Any time I eat with friends and/or family, I consider it a special meal.

Le Cordon Bleu

I am dying to go back to Paris.  I want to take more courses at Le Cordon Bleu.  In 2006, we took one demonstration class- The Market Tour.  A chef and interpreter haul you around Paris, to farmer's markets, and other highlights like Poilane bakery, Le Bon Marche, and other stores I can't remember right now.

  We bought lots of delicious local produce, meats, and cheeses, and the chef served it all to us for lunch, while telling us the provenance of what we were eating.  The fresh, local butter pictured below was so unbelievably flavourful I can't even describe it.  When you come home and have butter from Loblaw's,  your taste buds want to cry.

Then, the class began.  We took notes and asked questions, and the chef made something simple- cod with a butter sauce of some kind, potatoes, and a dessert that was flambéed, (naturellement), and of course made it all look Tres Français.  It's only November and I've got Cabin Fever here in boring Toronto.  It's gonna be a long winter...