The Sweet Kitchen

coffee battle brewing

2010-03-09T17:55:00.000-05:00

Premium and McDonald's do not normally go hand and hand and yet today I found myself holding a cup of McDonald's premium roast coffee and loving liking it.

My coworkers finally convinced me to get off my high (Starbucks) horse and try the free coffee McDonalds has been flogging for the last couple of weeks in its coffee war with Tim Hortons. "100% Arabica" they cried as they yanked me out of the Starbucks line.

I have to admit that I was more than pleasantly surprised at the quality of the coffee - better than your average doughnut joint brew and it stands up nicely to a Timmy's.

But what really won me over was the design of the cup and lid. The cup is sturdy and well insulated but light but oh, that lid! The spout actually opens and closes securely and the lid fits tightly on the cup to avoid spillage. What a concept!

Will I go back to Mickey D's for a coffee after the promotion is over? Probably, when I'm in the vicinity, if only for the cup.

The free coffee promotion is on until March 14 in Canada. Enjoy it while you can.

happy international women's day

2010-03-08T22:22:00.000-05:00

Women of the world by angela7dreams via Flickr

london calling

2010-02-16T15:24:00.019-05:00

Red Public Phone Boxes - Covent Garden, London, England - Thursday September Thirteenth 2007
Originally uploaded by law_keven

G and I are just finishing up a week in London, fittingly stranded in our tiny hotel room due to the pouring rain. The Brits are experiencing the worst winter in 30 years and this is the worst weather I've seen in all my trips to London.

Oh well, all the more time to spend in the pubs and gorgeous food halls of the British capital! Unfortunately I can't share my pics until I get home but trust me when I say that, for a city with a sometimes dodgy culinary history, London has more than its fair share of incredible markets.

Borough Market, London's oldest retail market, has operated from its present location in Southwark for at least 250 years. It is a vibrant retail market just across the Thames from London's bustling financial district and boasts an impressive array of foods - just about anything you can wish for is to be found here. While you're there, check out the location for Bridget Jones' flat!

Even more ancient is the Smithfield meat market where meat has been traded for 800 years! Still a bustling wholesale market, Smithfield provisions some of London's finest establishments. Opening at 4am, there are a number of local pubs that keep market hours, serving a pint and full English breakfast for the market crowd. Should you find yourself in the vicinity at that hour, legend has it that, crossing the field next to the market, alone and in the early morning, you may encounter the ghost of one of the local inhabitants.

Well, I'm off to brave the rain in search of a sticky toffee pudding and a pint to say farewell to London Town!

eat, shrink and be merry

2010-01-30T11:11:00.003-05:00

After a bit of a hiatus I am finally back to blogging and am so thrilled that my first post in awhile is about two of my favourite cooking show hosts and cookbook authors: Janet & Greta Podleski of Eat, Shrink & Be Merry.

I was super excited to receive a box of Janet & Greta's latest products in the mail a few weeks ago. For those of you haven't had the pleasure, Janet & Greta are sisters who pool their talents (Janet is a punning nutritionist and Greta is a creative cook) to create simple, quick and (above all) healthy versions of favourite tasty treats. This is my kind of food - I have all of their cookbooks and absolutely love them!

Like wings? Try "Lord of the Wings", lovely sticky chicken thighs that will fool even the most fanatical wing lover.

Want a healthier version of pancakes? Try "Batter be Good to Me" - yummy banana blueberry pancakes that will have you clamouring for more!

In addition to a copy of their fantastic Eat, Shrink & Be Merry! Great-Tasting Food That Won't Go from Your Lips to Your Hips! cookbook, I received a set of their new greEATing cards - adorable greeting cards complete with one of Janet's trademark food puns and a delicious recipe from Greta's kitchen. You can find these cards at Hallmark stores in Canada.

Janet & Greta also have a line of kitchen utensils in bright cheerful colours - I received the pizza wheel in orange and an ice cream scoop in hot pink. Very cute and available at Canadian Tire.

Thank you to BloggerAid, a wonderful group of bloggers from around the world coming together to make a difference, for the opportunity to review these products. BloggerAid has recently published a fantastic cookbook to benefit the UN's World Food Programme and I encourage you to take a moment to visit their site and my earlier post about the cookbook for details on how you can help to change the face of famine.

wordless wednesday: central park

2009-11-24T21:11:00.004-05:00

pasta al forno

2009-11-19T18:22:00.000-05:00

One of the things I like best about autumn (and there are many) is that the cool days signal a return to comfort food and nothing spells comfort to me like pasta al forno, or baked pasta.

Like so much of my cooking, this dish brings me back to my childhood when every Sunday, rain or shine, snow or scorching heat, our extended family would set out on a picnic. But no sandwiches for us, thank you very much, and pasta al forno made a regular appearance on our picnic table with us kids fighting over who would get the corners with the crusty bits!

So when I was invited to a potluck recently there was no question as to what I would bring!

I decided to use paccheri, a large tubular shape which is traditionally Neapolitan. You want a large pasta shape for this dish so that it holds up to the heat of the oven and, while you can use rigatoni or even penne, paccheri maintain a nice chew after baking.

I parboiled the pasta and added it to a simmering pot of tomato sauce with tiny meatballs. While the pasta was cooking I made a béchamel sauce - this is totally optional but it adds a nice creaminess to the finished dish and it's a cinch to make.

After that, all that was left was to layer - first the sauced pasta, then the béchamel, finally a little grated mozzarella (not too much) and repeat.

Bake in a 375°F oven, covered with foil, until hot and bubbly (30-45 minutes depending on the size of your dish). Remove the foil and increase heat to 425°F until the top is browned. Don't scrimp on this last step because the crusty bits around the edges are the best part!

Allow to stand for at least 15 minutes before serving then stand back and reap the praise!

Pasta al forno is my contribution to this week's Presto Pasta Nights hosted this week by Kait of Pots and Plots. Visit Kait's blog on Friday for some weekend pasta inspiration from this week's roundup.

changing the face of famine one cookbook at a time

2009-11-17T18:30:00.003-05:00

A few months ago I joined Blogger Aid - Changing the Face of Famine, a wonderful group of bloggers coming together to make a difference. The members of BloggerAid have now published a cookbook where 100% of the proceeds target children and education through the World Food Programme's ("WFP") School Meals.

The WFP is the United Nations frontline agency mandated to combat global hunger and the WFP's vision for the School Meals programme is that no child should be hungry at school. According to the WFP's site:

❖ School meals can be used to effectively tackle hunger, nutrition, education, gender inequality and broader development issues. They transfer much needed income to food insecure households.

❖ Just US$0.25 will fill a cup with porridge, rice or beans and give a monthly ration to take home. With US$50 a child can be fed for an entire school year.

❖ WFP now provides meals to an average of 23 million children in school, about half of whom are girls, in 70 countries, at a cost of almost half a billion US dollars.

Food bloggers from across the globe have contributed their favourite recipes, truly making this cookbook an impressive international endeavour:

Through these recipes they share their traditions and insatiable curiosity about new flavours. They pay tribute to the home cooking of our grandmothers, while celebrating the exoticism and richness of a world brought closer together by their hopes to make a difference. With recipes such as Tomato-Cheese Ravioli with Eggplant Sauce, Spicy Serundeng Tuna and Peanuts, Serrano Ham Paella with Oyster Mushrooms, Raspberry Mascarpone Bites and Triple Layer Orange-Passion Fruit Tart we are doing our part to say that bloggers can change the face of famine.

If US$50 can feed a child for an entire school year, just imagine the possibilities if we all unite together to support this worthy cause! If you would like to purchase the cookbook and do your part to change the face of famine please click here.

breakfast in rome

2009-11-15T14:26:00.010-05:00

Image by scottpartee via Flickr

When in Rome, do as the Romans. This is especially true when it comes to the breakfast sandwich of choice: pizza bianca con la mortadella (or "mortazza" as its affectionately known to the Romans).

I have very fond memories of staying with my uncle and his family in Rome and waking up to the smells of fresh "white" pizza from the bakery down the street and mortadella sliced so thin you could see through it, the fat melting into the hot dough. Oooooh, so good.

But my mortadella consumption was not limited to my stays in the Eternal City. The sandwich of my youth was mortadella and a mild semi-soft cheese on a crusty roll. I like Havarti even though it's not very Italian but provolone or Friulano (a Canadian cheese similar to Montasio) is just as good. You could always pick out the Italian kids in the cafeteria at school where mortadella made a regular appearance and there wasn't a slice of white sandwich bread in sight!

My cousins used to love to torture me with stories of mortadella being made of donkey meat. In fact, mortadella is a large sausage made with finely ground pork, spiced and shot through with whole lardons (traditionally from the neck) and peppercorns. Other ingredients can also be added to the sausage and I am particularly partial to pistachios. The flavour is incredibly delicate and it's best when sliced as thin as humanly possible.

Next time you're in Rome do as the Romans and order the pizza bianca co' la mortazza!

back to blogging and back to nature

2009-10-19T21:10:00.000-04:00

After many weeks of (often painful) acupuncture and acupressure treatments administered by an incredibly talented Chinese doctor I am finally optimistic that I have beat my severe tendinitis into submission and it feels good to be back!

A few weeks ago I received a lovely basket full of Kraft Canada's Back to Nature products - different varieties of nuts, fruits and seed mixes from Edelman as part of BloggerAid's wonderful View and Review program.

I love nuts and snack on them all the time but I tend to stick to unroasted and unsalted varieties for health reasons so I was intrigued by the claims that these products contain no additives or preservatives.

The first thing that caught my eye was the list of ingredients - it was relatively short for most varieties and I could actually understand it, which is a very good thing in my book! Next I turned to the dreaded sodium content (I am the low sodium girl after all) and, again, was very pleased to see that several varieties contained no added sodium, not an easy thing to find in the supermarket.

But the proof of the pudding is in the eating so I eagerly ripped open one of the bags and munched on a delicious combination of raisins, almonds, pumpkin seeds, pecans and apricots. Then G opened the cranberry, chocolate covered almond and vanilla almond combo and practically ate the entire bag in one sitting!

Nuts are full of nutritional goodies such as fibre, protein and healthy oils and we would all do well to add a handful to our daily diet. I applaud Kraft Canada for making healthier snacks delicious and accessible! Keep 'em coming!!!

Here are the six available varieties from the Back to Nature site:

Made with premium almonds, plump California raisins (sun-dried with no added

sugars or preservatives), jumbo and large grade pistachios, and cranberries that
are dried with their natural juices intact. This premium trail mix is 100%
natural—no preservatives, no additives, all delicious.

We start by meticulously selecting the highest grade of almonds commercially available: Nonpareil almonds, prized for their superior size. Then we gently dry roast them, and then steep them in sea salt to create delicious almonds—100% natural with absolutely no additives or added oils.

A delicious blend of Nonpareil almonds, jumbo cashews and California pistachios that are either USDA Fancy Grade or US # 1 graded. Our premium nuts are roasted by nut type to bring out their optimum flavour and crunch, without any additives, preservatives or added oils. After roasting, the nuts are blended together to create a 100% natural Sea Salt Roasted Cashew, Almond and Pistachio mix—four simple ingredients, one great taste.

A perfect combination of taste and texture. We begin with crunchy pecans thatare sourced from Southwest US and Mexico. They’re USDA Fancy Grade and juniormammoth in size, roasted in expeller-pressed oils to retain their natural flavour. Then they’re mixed in with our sun-dried and premium-grade California apricots, delicious pumpkin and sunflower seeds, highest-grade almonds and plump raisins to create a delicious, 100% natural trail mix that has no additives or preservatives.

Only jumbo cashews make the cut for Back to Nature. USDA Fancy Grade whole
cashews—no pieces or picked-over remains. We dry roast them and then gently
steep them in sea salt to preserve their natural taste and crunch—creating a
100% natural mix without any additives, preservatives or added oils.

We start with plump cranberries from bogs in Quebec and eastern Canada that grow cranberries exclusively for drying, not juicing. Then we dry them with their natural juices intact, creating a “juicy” dried cranberry. Then we add premium almonds that have been slowly tumbled in dark chocolate of over 50% cacao. Then we finish this perfect recipe with almonds coated in vanilla from Madagascar. The result is a 100% natural, 100% delicious snack.

bliss

2009-09-27T19:22:00.011-04:00

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

When this month's challenge was revealed I was ecstatic and terrified in equal measure. I have always wanted to try puff pastry but never had the courage. So thanks Steph for pushing me out of my comfort zone - the challenge was awesome, the pastry was out of this world and I had a blissful weekend making it.

The dough was so simple it was laughable - water, flour and salt blitzed in the food processor then rolled out to a rough square with a thicker pad in the centre. The dough was silky and smooth, like playdough, and a joy to work with.

Next came the butter - a full pound - and my first thought was holy butter batman! I had trouble with my photos but despite the blurriness I wanted to include this one to remind me of the shocking amount of butter in this dough.

As you can see, the butter has to be pounded into a rectangle and placed over the dough. I had visions of pieces of butter flying all over the kitchen but it was surprisingly easy and incredibly therapeutic at the same time.

The edges of the dough are then folded over the dough and it is rolled out to a long oblong, folded into an envelope, and then the process is repeated for 6 turns of the dough. Here I had a bit of trouble with butter oozing out but this dough is very forgiving and all I had to do was to refrigerate the dough between each turn.

I really can't get over how simple and pleasurable making puff pastry was. With each turn the dough became smoother and silkier and I fell in love with the whole process. By the final turn the dough was as silky as a baby's bottom and I could barely keep my hands off it.

Once I made the dough my head was filled with so many ideas for using it (chief among which were mille-feuille) but Steph had challenged us to make vols-au-vents so that's what we had for dinner. The filling was a classic chicken pot pie filling - a velouté with chicken and veg - but it was lifted into the category of the sublime by the pastry. It was incredibly buttery and light and almost melted in the mouth.

The rest of the dough is in the freezer but I have a feeling that it won't be lasting very long in there! I have no illusions of being a master pastry chef and I'm sure that my puff pastry would probably fall short in a French cooking school but even so it was so much better than any packaged dough I've ever tasted and I am pretty sure there's no turning back at this point.

You can find the recipe on the Daring Kitchen site where you will also find the incredible creations of my fellow Daring Bakers.

Bon apétit mes amis!

presto pasta night #131 roundup

2009-09-18T19:42:00.002-04:00

I am absolutely thrilled to be hosting Presto Pasta Night for the first time and it was so much fun to meet so many wonderful fellow food bloggers. As usual, we have a great array of pasta recipes this week so, without further ado, I will leave you to find some inspiration for your weekend menu!

1. First up is Tea and Scones, encouraging us to eat more chicken by making chicken marsala this week. As a bonus, she also made buttermilk baps with fresh oregano and basil to sop up even more of that wonderful sauce.

2. Deborah of What's In My Kitchen made pasta with shrimp in tomato cream sauce. It may have taken her a little longer to make than she had planned but it looks as though it was worth the wait!

3. Little Corner of Mine was inspired to combine two everyday ingredients to create Special Peanut Butter & Ketchup Noodle for her family's Friday noodle night. I'm sure that there were a lot of happy faces around that table when she served up this winning combination.

4. Mrs Ergül is a fellow fan of aglio olio pasta and served it up with a twist this week, adding flank steak, veggies and some heat in this beautiful beef aglio olio pasta dish.

5. Next up is a gorgeous lasagne with pumpkin and cilantro cream from radha of Urban bites: delizie da Hong Kong, chronicling the adventures of an Italian in Hong Kong. This is a perfect dish for those crisp autumn days which are just around the corner.

6. Val of More Than Burnt Toast gives us her orzo pasta salad which looks deliciously cool and refreshing, perfect for hot summer days and makes me nostalgic for the summer that never was (at least this year here in Toronto).

7. There's nothing like eating seasonal and, with her zucchini carbonara, Joanne of Eats Well With Others gives us a novel way to use the zucchini that seem to pop up everywhere this time of year.

8. Using more seasonal vegetables, Mansi of Twist to the Taste made a lovely late-summer pasta salad featuring tomatoes, corn and bell peppers. As she says, this dish is perfect for a picnic.

9. SnoWhite of Finding Joy in My Kitchen made a roasted red pepper and tortellini bake this week. Roasted red peppers always signal the end of summer to me and this is another perfect dish for those cool autumn nights.

10. Kait of Pots and Plots used her favourite gourmet chicken sausage in her penne with roasted garlic and mozzarella sausage. Makes me wish we had a Sam's Club in Toronto so I could try some!

11. Deb in Hawaii from Kahakai Kitchen brings us rigatoni with buffalo meatballs from her "beach kitchen". Deb likes buffalo as it's grass-fed, lean and delicious - a great alternative to beef.

12. Kristine of My Sweet Cheap Life relied on her Sweetie to finish her poppyseed pappardelle with mushroom-sweet pepper ragout while she shared a pint and onion rings with a friend. In the interests of full disclosure, I am that friend and, had I known that she had such a tempting dish on the stove, I would have invited myself over to her place for dinner instead!

13. Amy of Very Culinary shares her creamy fusilli with mushrooms and asiago. It may not have been non-dairy or low cal but sometimes a girl just needs to splurge and what a great way to do it!

14. A different twist on creamy pasta from HoneyB of The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch: creamy shrimp and bacon linguini. Hard to believe that this luscious dish doesn't contain any cream!

15. Another great baked pasta: Sweet and Savory took her inspiration from a herb and parmesan baked potato and created a "potatoes turned pasta" dish.

16. Little Inbox of Eating Pleasure's contribution to this week's roundup are braised yee-fu noodles. Also known as yee mein, yee-fu are egg noodles that are deep fried and Little Inbox paired them with chicken, prawns and fish balls for a tempting treat.

17. Kristin over at Sogkonnite Living made stained glass pasta from scratch using fresh lime basil, one of her very favourite herbs of all time. I've never heard of lime basil but I am tempted to go out and try some right now.

18. And finally a dish contributed by yours truly: spaghetti with oven-roasted tomatoes and garlic from one of my pasta idols, Biba Caggiano. The roasted tomatoes are so sweet I've been popping them like candy all week.

Thank you Ruth for the opportunity to host this week's Presto Pasta Night and thank you everyone for participating in this week's roundup and for making my first hosting experience so much fun. I hope to see you next week when Sara of I'm a Food Blog will be hosting.

indian dosas

2009-09-16T22:16:00.000-04:00

This month's Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Debyi from The Healthy Vegan Kitchen. She chose Indian dosas, inspired by a dish at one of my favourite casual places to eat in Toronto, Fresh.

The food at Fresh is largely vegan, although some dairy options are available, and made from scratch with fresh ingredients. More importantly to a non-vegan like me, the food is absolutely delicious. If you find yourself in Toronto you could do much worse than to grab a bite at Fresh.

The dosas were very tasty, filled with a curried chick pea mixture and topped with a coconut curry sauce, both equally delicious over rice. The filling and the sauce were straightforward and relatively easy to make, filling my kitchen with delicious aromas as they simmered on the stove. The dosa pancakes, on the other hand, were not quite as cooperative.

The dosa batter is quite similar to crepe batter and the cooking method is virtually identical but it took me many tries before I got a dosa that was not grossly misshapen and that's the one that made it into the photo. Luckily, it's easy to ignore the messy pancakes when the finished dish is as tasty as this one!

Visit the Daring Kitchen for a peek at the dosas created by the many talented cooks who participated in the challenge where you will also find the recipe for these yummy dosas there as well.

Thanks Debyi for choosing a dish from this fantastic eatery!

P.S. A reminder of Thursday's deadline for submissions to this week's Presto Pasta Night. If you want to join the fun, the guidelines for participating are here.

hosting presto pasta nights: spaghetti with oven-roasted tomatoes and garlic

2009-09-13T20:20:00.002-04:00

After a long absence from blogging I am thrilled to be back and hosting Presto Pasta Nights this week. PPN is a weekly pasta blogging event created by the delightful Ruth Daniels of Once Upon a Feast.

If this is your first time participating in PPN, the guidelines for submitting a dish couldn't be any simpler:

1. Blog about a pasta dish (it doesn't have to be traditional Italian type pasta, as long as it has some sort of noodle in it) and include a link to Presto Pasta Nights and to this blog.

2. Send me an email (the DOT sweetkitchen AT yahoo DOT ca), copying Ruth (Ruth AT 4EveryKitchen DOT com), with a link to your post by midnight Thursday September 17. If you can, please include a jpeg or other image file of your dish in your email.

3. Check back here on Friday evening for the roundup and some delicious pasta inspiration for the weekend!

My contribution this week is from Biba Caggiano's fantastic cookbook Italy Al Dente, which focuses on pasta, risotto, gnocchi, polenta and soup. Her recipes are always authentic and delicious and, if you're not familiar with Biba, this cookbook is a great place to start.

You may have noticed that the tomatoes are finally here and they're absolutely gorgeous! When my mom brought over a lovely basket of her home-grown tomatoes I jumped at the opportunity to make spaghetti with oven-roasted tomatoes and garlic with her bounty. Everything in the sauce, other than the capers, is from her garden!

You will need several hours to complete this recipe but it is virtually all walk-away time while the tomatoes and garlic are roasting in a low oven. Oh, and you may want to roast a few extra tomatoes while you are at it because I couldn't resist popping them like candy, they were that sweet!

Spaghetti with oven-roasted tomatoes and garlic

FromItaly Al Denteby Biba Caggiano

printable recipe

serves 4 to 6

1.5 kg (approximately 3 pounds) ripe tomatoes, sliced
4 to 5 garlic cloves, peeled
salt to taste
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp capers, rinsed
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
hot red pepper flakes to taste
450 gr (approximately 1 pound) spaghetti

Preheat oven to 250°F. Place sliced tomatoes and garlic cloves on 2 baking sheets lined with lightly oiled parchment paper and sprinkle with salt. Bake until shrivelled and dry, approximately 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and allow to cool then roughly chop.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over low heat and add diced tomatoes and garlic, capers, parsley and hot pepper. Heat through.

Cook pasta according to package directions and toss with sauce.

wordless wednesday: gone fishing

2009-09-09T00:01:00.002-04:00

a light at the end of the tunnel

2009-08-30T08:09:00.004-04:00

Image by lonesome:cycler via Flickr

I have been MIA lately due to health reasons and it's been driving me insane. But now there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

The tendinitis in my right forearm has evolved from a dull roar to a piercing scream, preventing me from typing anything more than a couple of words at a time.

I had lost all hope of anything working when I was referred to a wonderful doctor of Chinese medicine. While the treatment itself is quite painful, my arm is finally healing.

Thanks to everyone for your support and I am really looking forward to being back soon!!!

wordless wednesday: indian pipes in muskoka

2009-08-26T10:22:00.004-04:00

rice with shrimp and mushrooms

2009-08-16T00:58:00.010-04:00

This month's Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Olga of Las Cosas de Olga and Olga's Recipes and was an awesome Spanish rice with mushrooms, artichokes and (in my version) shrimp.

After the complexity of last month's challenge I was a bit anxious about what might be in store for this month. The tendonitis in my right arm has been excruciating lately and is keeping me away from the computer and the stove. I thought I'd have to pass on this month's challenge but this recipe kept calling out to me so finally I decided to give it a try. It was so simple that I was able to make it with one hand, literally!

The recipe starts with a sofregit or sofrito - tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic and spices cooked down into a luscious paste - which is then used to flavour the rice. The original recipe calls for cuttlefish but I have never been a big fan so I used shrimp instead.

Thank you Olga for an amazing recipe - it is just what I needed this month and I will come back to it again and again! You can find the recipe and photos from the talented Daring Cooks here.

ciambottola: traditional italian summer stew

2009-08-03T07:51:00.001-04:00

Ciambottola, a traditional summer stew from the region of Campania, has been a staple in our household for as long as I can remember.

Despite our atrocious weather this summer, my mum's garden has begun to bear fruit and it looks like she will have a bumper crop of zucchini. True peasant food at its simplest, ciambottola takes full advantage of the fresh produce available at this time of the year.

While you can certainly make this with supermarket zucchini, it is so much better with farm fresh, which are so much more fragrant and delicious. Redolent of tomatoes, fresh zucchini and basil, it fills the house with the intoxicating aroma I associate with lazy summer days as it bubbles away on the stove.

Ciambottola is so ubiquitous in Campania that the traditional ingredients vary from town to town and each cook has her own favourite recipe but the constants are zucchini, potatoes and tomatoes. Some like it more soupy, others prefer it to be more like a stew. I'm in the latter camp and this is my version.

Ciambottola

Printable recipe

Serves 4 - 6

3 tbsp olive oil

2 medium zucchini, sliced into half moons

2-3 Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1 inch (2.5 cm) cubes

10-15 cherry tomatoes

5 leaves of basil

salt to taste

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add, in layers, the potatoes first, then the zucchini and finally the tomatoes. Add 3/4 cup of water, salt to taste and tear the basil leaves over the top. Do not stir.

Cover and bring to a simmer, lower heat and cook on a slow simmer until the potatoes are tender (approximately 15 minutes). Stir all the ingredients together and serve with crusty bread and grated parmesan cheese.

wordless wednesday: summer sunset over lake ontario

2009-07-29T08:17:00.000-04:00

blast from the past

2009-07-27T20:15:00.000-04:00

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

This is my first Daring Bakers challenge and it was definitely a blast from the past, or at least half of it was. I've never had a Milano cookie but the marshmallow puff was a childhood staple.

We used to live across the street from my grandparents when we were growing up and we could always be assured that they would have a box of marshmallow cookies in the cupboard. Our absolute favourites were wagon wheels but good old viva puffs would do just fine too. So I was very excited at the prospect of making my own.

I decided to make the Milan cookies first. My first batch was disappointing - like many other Daring Bakers, my cookies spread more than I anticipated and I ended up with gigantic blobs. I managed to salvage a few from my second batch and, frustrated by my failures, for my third batch I decided to use my madeleine tins. I'm not sure if I didn't bake them enough but these cookies were quite cakey and soft where I was expecting something more crisp although, never having tasted a Milano cookie, I don't know why I thought that would be the case. Oh well, they weren't very pretty but they were still tasty.

Then I tackled the mallow cookies. OMG! Where to begin? The base was similar to a crumbly shortbread with a hint of cinnamon, topped with a cloud of homemade marshmallow and coated with dark chocolate. A grown-up version of the viva puff!

And this is why I love these challenges - quite frankly it would never have occurred to me to make mallow cookies at home. Now that I have I've been spoiled forever because once you've had the homemade version there's no going back!

Thank you Nicole for taking me on this nostalgic trip back to simpler times!

spaghetti with garlic shrimp

2009-07-22T19:26:00.004-04:00

I had a dentist appointment this afternoon. You have to understand that, despite the fact that my dentist is one of the gentlest professionals you will ever meet, I really despise going to the dentist for any reason, even a cleaning, and this visit was far from that.

You see, I have been unable to chew on my right side for the better part of a week and was putting off visiting my dentist, hoping that the pain would somehow go away by itself even though I suspected that I had cracked my molar. When my jaw started hurting from the lopsided chewing I finally capitulated and made an appointment. Turns out I was right about the molar and I had to have some reconstructive work done with likely more to come.

You can imagine, then, that when I got home I was not in the best of moods but I was starving and I craved comfort food. That's when I spied the shrimp in the freezer and I knew exactly what I was going to make - garlicky shrimp tossed with spaghetti and fresh parsley.

This is absolutely a family favourite and it just doesn't get any easier or any tastier than this. Unfortunately I made this dish so quickly (and it disappeared just as fast) that I didn't have time to take many photos but suffice it to say that the photo doesn't quite do it justice!

Pam of Sidewalk Shoes is hosting Presto Pasta Nights this week - the roundup will be posted on Friday. After you've taken in all the wonderful pasta dishes, I highly recommend taking a few minutes to wander around her lovely blog.

Spaghetti with Garlic Shrimp

Serves 4

320gr (11oz) spaghetti

20 large shrimp, shelled and deveined

2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

pinch of pepperoncino or hot pepper flakes (optional)

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 tbsp white wine

2 tbsp chopped parsley

Cook spaghetti according to package directions.

While the pasta is cooking heat olive oil, garlic and pepperoncino or hot pepper flakes in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. When garlic is fragrant add shrimp and cook until golden brown on one side then add white wine to the pan, flip shrimp to cook on the other side and remove from heat immediately. Cover skillet and allow the residual heat of the pan to finish cooking the shrimp.

When the pasta is cooked, drain and add it directly to the skillet containing the shrimp. Add chopped parsley and toss. Serve immediately.

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pesto trapanese

2009-07-16T19:26:00.002-04:00

With my first harvest of summer basil I made a basic pesto, also known as pesto genovese as it is characteristic of the cuisine of Genova in the region of Liguria in northern Italy.

The name, pesto, is a generic name for any raw sauce which is made from crushed fresh ingredients, often including basil, and is likely derived from the method of preparation for this sauce: "pestare" means to pound or to crush and this sauce is traditionally made with a mortar and pestle ("mortaio e pestello").

Pesto genovese is the most famous pesto but is by no means the only great pesto to be found in Italian cuisine and with the rest of my first basil harvest I decided to make pesto trapanese using a recipe from Lidia Bastianich, one of my favourite Italian chefs. Her recipes are authentic, simple and always delicious and this one is no exception.

Pesto trapanese is a delightful change of pace from the pesto most North Americans are familiar with and comes together literally in minutes.

Instead of pine nuts, this Sicilian pesto calls for almonds - many recipes suggest using blanched almonds but I took my cue from Lidia and used raw whole almonds. Unlike the pine nuts which virtually melt into the pesto genovese, the almonds here retain their personality and crunch, adding texture to the sauce.

Pesto trapanese also contains tomatoes, which add sweetness and emulsify with the olive oil to create a textural contrast to the crunchiness of the almonds. Basil, of course, is omnipresent.

When the pasta is tossed with the pesto, the residual heat warms up the tomatoes, almonds and basil and releases an intoxicating fragrance that will bring summer into your kitchen no matter the time of year.

Hop on over to Eats Well With Others where Joanne is this week's Presto Pasta Nights host - the roundup will be posted on Friday.

alinea challenge

2009-07-14T08:39:00.017-04:00

The July Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Sketchy of Sketchy's Kitchen. Sketchy challenged us with a foray into molecular gastronomy, choosing a dish from Alinea by Grant Achatz: skate, traditional flavours powdered. Thanks Sketchy for such a spectacular challenge!

I have to admit that when this month's challenge was revealed I was a little freaked out. If you read my blog you know that I am all about simple food and the recipe seemed like anything but - what seemed like a million steps and just about all of the techniques foreign to me. With my sister's wedding and out of town guests the last couple of weeks I was very tempted to take a pass but I was a little embarrassed about wimping out on my very first Daring Kitchen challenge so I reminded myself that the whole point is that it is supposed to be a challenge and decided to forge ahead.

I won't lie, this dish takes a very long time to create, mainly because the ingredients for the powders need to be completely dehydrated and there are a lot of different components to the dish, but it was not nearly as difficult as I had feared. Once you have the powders done (and you can definitely make them ahead of time, in fact I highly recommend it), the dish comes together relatively quickly.

Not having a dehydrator, I dried the ingredients for the powders at a very low temperature in the oven, which took several hours. You can find a really helpful description of the process and other tips here.

Once completely dried, the ingredients need to be crushed into a fine powder and passed through a fine-mesh sieve. Since I don't have a coffee grinder, I used a combination of mortar and pestle and, for the harder ingredients such as the lemon peel, a mini food processor. I would definitely recommend using a coffee grinder if you have one - it was pretty hard to get a fine powder out of some of the ingredients without it.

I was surprised at the intensity of the flavours in the powders - I was expecting them to be dry and awful but they really popped and added incredible dimension to the fish. I made 4 different powders, staying true to the flavours of the original recipe: parsley and cilantro, caper and onion, lemon, brown butter and banana chips.

All of these flavours are pretty traditional with fish, right? Until you get to the banana. It appears in this dish both in the powders and as fresh slices under the poached fish. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical but I kept an open mind and was pleasantly surprised to find that the banana actually worked in the finished dish.

After an afternoon of preparing the powders I pressed on to finish the dish and serve it for supper. In retrospect that was probably overly ambitious but I figured that if I didn't do it right away, with all the craziness of my life over the last several weeks, I would never get it done. Let's just say we ate dinner very late that evening hence my recommendation to make the powders ahead of time!

The only change I made to the recipe was to use cod instead of skate as it was what was fresh and available from my fishmonger. The fish was poached in a butter emulsion (beurre monté) and was incredibly tender. Unfortunately it fell apart in the poaching liquid. I thought I had been pretty gentle with it but clearly not enough! I managed to piece it back together for the photo and frankly no one cared that it was flaking apart, it was that moist and delicious.

The big question: will I make this again? The truth is, I don't know. It was really good, restaurant quality (if I had been able to hold the fish together that is), but it's very far from my usual style of home cooking. I will use the poaching method again and maybe even use the same flavourings because they really worked well together, but I will probably use them in a more traditional way, without creating the powders.

I really want to thank Sketchy for prodding me out of my comfort zone in my first Daring Kitchen challenge and introducing me to the wonders of poaching in a butter emulsion! I have to admit that for my first challenge it was a doozy but I am so glad I completed it.

Check out other Daring Cooks who participated in the challenge. Their efforts were truly inspiring as I worked my way through my first attempt at molecular cuisine!

presto pesto

2009-07-12T13:45:00.002-04:00

I took this picture of my potted basil mid-June.

One month later...

Despite the miserable weather we have had so far this summer, the basil has grown to gigantic proportions over that period! Normally I am much more vigilant about keeping it pruned but, with my sister's wedding and our out of town guests, I've been neglecting it the last few weeks and it had started to flower, which really isn't a good thing.

So when I saw Pam's post at Sidewalk Shoes it was as though she was speaking directly to me - a very timely reminder to cut back my own basil and inspiration to make pesto.

Basil, olive oil, garlic and toasted pine nuts. Into the food processor for a few minutes until puréed and it's done. Like Pam, I intend to freeze the pesto for later use so I will stir in some Parmesan just before serving. I also always add a thin layer of olive oil over the pesto in the jar to keep it fresher.

Pesto is so easy that you can eyeball the amounts of the ingredients and adjust the proportions to taste but if you are looking for a good recipe Pam has posted Mark Bittman's pesto recipe.

chard gratin

2009-07-10T03:10:00.004-04:00

In my family greens are a staple - always have been and always will be. You can always count on my mom having a pot of greens simmering away on the stove or tucked away in the refrigerator.

Generally, I tend to prefer spicy greens so swiss chard, one of the milder greens, often gets overlooked in my own kitchen but it's one of my mom's favourites. It also happens to be a nutritional powerhouse, containing high concentrations of many vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A, K and C as well as iron and dietary fibre. One cup of cooked chard contains more than the recommended daily value for vitamin A and almost one-quarter for iron!

If that's not enough to turn you on to this lovely green, this gratin by Laura Calder will make you a convert. Layered with cheese and bechamel, what's not to love? Trust.

Cook the stems and leaves separately and layer with gruyere in a buttered gratin dish. I added ham but it's definitely optional.

Make the bechamel. A tip from Laura: make it extra thick as the chart will exude liquid in the oven.

Top with bechamel, more gruyere and a sprinkling of parmesan for good measure. Cook until bubbly and golden then devour!

Chard Gratin

Adapted from French Taste by Laura Calder

serves 4

bechamel:

1 1/2 cups milk

1/4 onion

1 bay leaf

1 garlic clove

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1/4 cup sour cream

gratin:

1 bunch chard

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, sliced

1 ham steak, chopped (optional)

100 g Gruyere, grated

Finely grated Parmesan to taste

Preheat oven to 400℉.

In a saucepan, heat milk with onion, bay leaf and garlic until just boiling. Remove from heat and allow to steep for about 10 minutes then remove the onion, bay and garlic and discard.

Melt butter over medium-low heat. When foaming subsides, whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute then gradually whisk in hot milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until very thick, then remove from heat and add sour cream. Set aside.

Remove the stems and ribs from the chard, chop into 1 inch (2.5 cm) lengths, and cook in a pot of boiling salted water until tender. Drain and rinse under cold water and set aside.

Slice the chard leaves. Heat olive oil over medium heat and add sliced onion, cooking until translucent. Add chard leaves and cook until tender.

Scatter cooked chard stems and ribs and, if using, ham in the bottom of a buttered gratin dish. Top with half of the Gruyere and add pepper to taste, then top with the cooked chard leaves. Add bechamel, then the remaining Gruyere and top with grated Parmesan.

Bake until golden and bubbly, about 15 minutes.

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wordless wednesday: butterfly effect

2009-07-08T05:35:00.001-04:00

cvhk3spyrx

lessons in speed cooking: spaghetti and turkey meatballs

2009-07-01T10:40:00.003-04:00

My sister is getting married on Saturday, my dress is an unmitigated disaster and we have family in from out of town. Yikes!

What do you serve guests when your stress levels are off the charts and you have no time to grocery shop or cook? At my house there is only one possible answer to that question: pasta ... and copious amounts of wine.

My style of cooking generally involves simple uncomplicated food but this particular meal set a speed record, even for me, and took less than 30 minutes start to finish.

I threw these meatballs together using ground turkey, a handful of bread crumbs, an egg, parsley and a bit of milk. I couldn't even be bothered to saute them - I just set them out on a baking sheet with a film of olive oil and rammed them into the oven. That's when I finished my first glass of wine.

When they were golden brown I pulled them out and unceremoniously dumped them into a tomato sauce that I started when I put the meatballs in the oven. That simmered while the pasta cooked and I started on my second glass of wine.

I knew that I had officially lost it when I tried to convince everyone that this one looked like a sad dinosaur. Maybe that third glass of wine wasn't such a great idea? Oh well, I redeemed myself with the pasta - it was delicious!

For more pasta inspiration, head on over to Daily Unadventures in Cooking on Friday where Katerina will be hosting this week's Presto Pasta Night from Vancouver.

spaghetti with turkey meatballs

serves 4 - 6

turkey meatballs:

500gr ground turkey

1 egg

1/2 cup fine breadcrumbs

1/4 cup milk

1 tbsp chopped parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Lightly beat egg with milk, add breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. add ground turkey and mix gently by hand, until just combined.

Take approximately 2 tbsp of mixture (the size of a golf ball) and roll gently between your palms to form a ball. Place on lightly oiled baking sheet. Repeat with remainder of meat mixture.

Bake in 350°F oven until golden brown, approximately 20 minutes. Don't worry if the meatballs are not completely cooked through as they will finish cooking in the sauce.

tomato sauce:

500ml (2 cups) canned tomatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced

salt to taste

Heat olive oil in a skillet over moderate heat, add garlic and saute briefly until fragrant (approximately 1 minute). Add tomatoes and simmer, salt to taste.

Add meatballs to simmering sauce and continue to cook until meatballs are fully cooked through (approximately 5 - 10 minutes - do not allow sauce to go above a bare simmer or the meatballs will be tough). Serve over spaghetti or your favourite pasta.

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wordless wednesday: wish i were there

2009-07-01T07:42:00.000-04:00

cherry clafoutis

2009-06-25T23:54:00.000-04:00

Cherries always remind me of childhood summers - countless carefree hours spent playing under my grandparents' cherry tree, my sisters and I, challenging each other to pit-spitting contests, cherry juice staining our hands and faces and, as you might imagine, usually our clothes as well.

Cherries are everywhere right now and, as I was sitting in the afternoon sun indulging, I thought about baking with cherries. I rarely do it but I'm not sure why - perhaps it seems like too much trouble with all the pitting required or perhaps it's because cherries don't seem to hang around long enough in our kitchen to even think about turning them into a dessert.

This time, however, I was determined to do just that and I immediately turned to the cherry clafoutis from one of my favourite cookbooks (and the inspiration for the title of my blog), In the Sweet Kitchen: The Definitive Guide to the Baker's Pantry by Regan Daley.

Traditionally clafoutis is made with whole cherries, pit and all, but I decided to be a little kinder to my guests and pit the cherries. I settled in to what I thought would be a seriously tedious task but it was actually very quick and easy, although I have to admit that I did use a cherry pitter (a unitasker worth making room for in the kitchen).

Frankly the rest of the dessert was just as easy - a simple custard, poured over the fruit, baked in the oven until puffed and golden.

I took a couple of liberties with the original recipe, swapping out the Kirsch and replacing it with Amaretto and using 10% cream rather than half whole milk and half whipping cream. I also added a few more cherries than called for in the original recipe, which made the custard a bit loose, taking longer to set in the oven and causing me to overbake the clafoutis slightly. Not that anyone complained!

Cherry Clafoutis

Adapted from In the Sweet Kitchen: The Definitive Guide to the Baker's Pantry by Regan Daley

1 1/2 pounds ripe sweet cherries

1 1/2 cups 10% cream (or half milk and half whipping cream)

1 tsp vanilla

4 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp Amaretto or cherry liqueur

Preheat oven to 375°F and butter a 2 quart baking dish. Pit cherries and scatter in the bottom of the dish. Set aside.

To prepare the custard bring the cream (or milk and cream if using half and half) to a boil and remove from heat. Add vanilla and set aside.

Mix together dry ingredients and set aside.

Beat the eggs, adding sugar slowly until mixture thickens and is pale yellow in colour. Add dry ingredients in 3 additions, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add a small amount of the hot cream mixture, beating constantly, then slowly add the rest of the liquid while beating the mixture. Stir in the liqueur.

Pour custard over the cherries and bake until the centre is just set and the custard is puffed and brown, 30-40 minutes. Cool at least 15 minutes then dust with icing sugar and serve warm or at room temperature.

wordless wednesday: life's a bowl of cherries

2009-06-24T07:15:00.001-04:00

5 unnecessary unitaskers

2009-06-19T20:05:00.001-04:00

I love kitchen gadgets and have spent many hours browsing kitchen stores for the latest and greatest. You can imagine then that I am not opposed to kitchen unitaskers on principle but, given that real estate is very limited in my kitchen, gadgets definitely have to justify their existence or very quickly find their way to the Goodwill box.

1. Onion goggles

You've probably seen these by now - they have appeared in just about every cooking show and food publication over the last couple of years. The goggles are designed to prevent tears when cutting onions and by all accounts they definitely do the trick.

Don't want no more of the crying game? Onion goggles may be for you but frankly I think it would take me longer to find them in my cluttered kitchen than to wipe away the tears.

2. Mini hibachi grill

This mini hibachi grill operates with cooking fuel but, at only 4.5" in height and 3.5" in diameter, it's not entirely clear what you will be grilling with this thing.

Have an insatiable urge to make tableside s'mores? Go for it but I'm more likely to set fire to the dining room table and prefer my marshmallows roasted on a stick fireside in the bush so I'll take a pass on this one.

3. Banana guard

The banana guard is a plastic container aimed at "preventing the tragedy of bruised bananas". Apparently the banana's thick skin, while sufficient to protect the fruit on its journey halfway around the world, doesn't do an adequate job protecting it in our lunch bags.

If you regularly beat up your fruit then maybe. But for the rest of us? Get real.

4. Egg Separator

There are thousands of models out there but the concept is always the same: crack an egg into the well and the whites run out the sides while the yolk stays in its cradle.

If you want a cute kitchen friend like Yolky here I get it but as far as I'm concerned he's purely decorative. Myself, I will stick with the old-fashioned method of separating eggs using their shells -it's way faster, works better and there is one less gadget to wash!

5. Lettuce knife

The plastic lettuce knife is designed to cut lettuce - apparently the plastic serrated edge avoids browning.

Newsflash: tearing lettuce accomplishes the same thing.

What about you? What are your top useless unitaskers?

wordless wednesday

2009-06-17T10:19:00.006-04:00

don't judge a cake by its name

2009-06-15T20:55:00.002-04:00

Cottage cheese batter cake. Doesn't exactly sing does it? I could easily have glossed over this recipe in Lucy Waverman's column in the Globe and Mail this weekend except that I am a sucker for family recipes and was hooked by Lucy's claim that this was her grandmother's recipe.

An internet search quickly revealed an identical recipe on the Egg Farmers of Ontario site so I began to question the family recipe angle but decided to forge ahead regardless - not sure why at this point since I really dislike cottage cheese.

The ingredients were quickly assembled from my pantry, except for the cheese which required a quick trip to the market. I have never met a cheese that I didn't like - other than the cottage variety - so, arriving at home, I decided to give it another shot. To no avail - it was just as nasty as the first time I tried it. And yet I pressed on, undeterred.

Everything was then dumped into the food processor and at this point the batter was reminiscent of a dog's breakfast. Far from appetizing but I figured a few pulses would improve its appeal.

Yeah, not so much. After a considerable number of pulses in the Moulinex, the batter was still quite unattractive, with a grainy texture. At this point any sane person would have given up, saving the electricity involved in baking this mess, but I persevered and put the batter in the oven thinking it would surely look better once it was cooked.

Again, I couldn't have been more wrong. The cake was pallid and sank in the middle the moment I took it out of the oven. I really considered throwing it out at this point but I had already washed the strawberries so on I went.

Once the topping was in place and the first piece cut, there was only one thing left to do - taste it. Normally I have trouble waiting until a cake has cooled completely before diving in but in this case I was having serious baker's remorse as the cake looked dense, heavy and underbaked and I was not looking forward to the first bite. Having made this much of a commitment eventually I had no choice but to take the final step - and to my great surprise the cake sang! It sang the hallelujah chorus in fact!!!

It was good, very good. Light and not too sweet - in fact it was somewhat tart (perhaps due to the fact that my strawberries were a bit anemic) - it's the perfect dessert for a summer cookout. Oh Lucy, why did I ever doubt you?

the humble loquat

2009-06-13T19:20:00.003-04:00

Known as nespole in Italian, loquats always transport my mom back to her childhood in Italy so it's not surprising that she included some in the enormous fruit tray she brought me recently.

The loquat looks like the apricot's bald and blemished cousin. Its texture is almost that of a pear but it's more acidic. Cut into it and you will find multiple pits, which are toxic and must be discarded before eating.

According to the Field Guide to Produce: How to Identify, Select and Prepare Virtually Every Fruit and Vegetable At the Market it tastes like "a mix of apricot, plum, and pineapple, with floral overtones." I can't really pick out those flavours in the fruit but, then again, I am also the person who smiles idiotically at wine tastings, hoping that no one will notice that I am clueless (thankfully!) when they say they taste notes of pencil shavings or barnyard.

Loquats don't seem to have much of a presence in North America but interestingly I was not surprised to find that there is a Loquat World in California. According to their website the loquat is much more than just a fruit - the leaves are used in Chinese medicine to treat various ailments and can be brewed into a tea. I can't vouch for that but if you happen to fall in love with loquats check out their site for recipes and more.

As for me, I think that I will just continue to eat them out of hand.

celebration cupcakes

2009-06-05T20:25:00.004-04:00

The last 3 weeks have been pretty rough as I've been dealing with some health issues so when I got my test results yesterday and got a clean bill of health it was time to celebrate. For me, that means baking!

I had the itch but I was undecided about what to bake when I saw Tara's post, Cupcakery inspiration, on her wonderful blog Seven Spoons. Cupcakes were perfect - not too taxing (I'm not yet fully recovered) but a delicious way to ease back into baking.

In honour of the launch of Martha Stewart's new cookbook Martha Stewart's Cupcakes: 175 Inspired Ideas for Everyone's Favorite Treat, I decided to continue Tara's Martha theme and baked a batch of Martha's One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes. These cupcakes are perfect for mid-recovery since they really are dump and stir! And they're moist and delicious to boot.

The cupcakes baked up beautifully, as usual, but cried out for icing. I didn't have the energy for anything fancy so I pulled out a recipe from one of my favourite cookbooks, In the Sweet Kitchen: The Definitive Guide to the Baker's Pantry by Regan Daley. I wanted something to counterbalance the sweetness of the cupcakes and decided to adapt her recipe for Chocolate Butter Icing into a delicious mocha icing.

Yum!

Easy Mocha Butter Icing

Adapted from In the Sweet Kitchen: The Definitive Guide to the Baker's Pantry by Regan Daley

1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups icing sugar

2 tbsp. water

1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp instant espresso powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream butter and half of the icing sugar. Add 1 tbsp water and stir.

Add the remaining ingredients, reserving the water and adding only if needed to achieve a creamy consistency.

This recipe makes enough to frost a square cake liberally or 24 cupcakes with a thin layer of icing.

spaghetti al pomodoro

2009-06-03T16:35:00.003-04:00

Fresh tomatoes, straight from the garden and still warm from the sun, have to be one of my favourite things about summer. They bring back childhood memories of summers spent in Italy, popping tomatoes like candy and sitting down to late-night suppers of crusty bread, salty cheese and luscious tomato salad.

For lunch we often made pasta with fresh tomatoes - even in the most extreme heat Italians are hard-pressed to give up their pasta so quick-cooking or no-cook sauces are a must and spaghetti al pomodoro is an absolute favourite.

It's not quite tomato season here yet but when I saw these gorgeous ripe cocktail tomatoes I immediately rushed home and announced we were having fresh tomato sauce for dinner.

Normally, I like to eat local and seasonal as much as possible but it's been so miserable lately - cool and wet - and we have been starved for signs of spring so you will understand why I found it hard to resist a bowl of sunshine. Since the tomatoes are local, albeit of the hothouse variety, I didn't feel too guilty about it and once I had my first bite any vestiges of guilt went right out the window.

The key to this sauce, as to much of Italian cooking, is the quality of the ingredients. The tomatoes must be ripe - preferably vine-ripened - and traditionally plum tomatoes are used in this sauce. If you really want to be traditional, the San Marzano variety is the way to go but they can be very difficult to find fresh and you do not want to substitute canned tomatoes in this recipe - you will still get a lovely sauce but it will not have the fresh bite which defines this sauce.

If you are lucky enough to have ripe plum tomatoes go for it but you will probably want to peel them first - it's not an absolute must but the skins will definitely be noticeable in the sauce and some may find them difficult to digest. To peel the tomatoes, with a paring knife simply cut a shallow X into the skin at the bottom end of the fruit and plunge into boiling water very briefly, just until the cut edges start to lift. This should only take seconds. Remove immediately from the boiling water and the skins will slip off easily using a paring knife.

However, those of us in colder climes may need to improvise since vine-ripened plum tomatoes, of whatever variety, are only available a few months out of the year. Cocktail or cherry tomatoes are perfectly acceptable substitutes - they are incredibly sweet and the skins are so delicate they will virtually melt into the sauce so there isn't even any need to peel them.

You will want to avoid using globe or beefsteak tomatoes as they are too watery for this application and will not make a very good sauce.

The recipe is at the bottom of the post but really this couldn't be simpler. Gently heat olive oil in a large fry pan and add garlic, roughly chopped. You want to cook this very gently for a few moments only - the garlic should not have any colour - then add the tomatoes, which should be cut in half (if using cocktail or cherry tomatoes) or in quarters (if using plum tomatoes).

Add a pinch of salt and simmer tomato sauce while pasta is cooking, then drain spaghetti and add to the tomato sauce. Toss with generous amounts of torn basil leaves and serve immediately.

Spaghetti al pomodoro is my submission to Presto Pasta Night, hosted this week by PPN's founder, Ruth of Once Upon a Feast. The roundup will be posted on Ruth's site on Friday and is always worth a peek.

Spaghetti al pomodoro

Serves 4

320 g (11 oz) spaghetti or other pasta

500 g (17oz) ripe cocktail or cherry tomatoes

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped or sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

pinch of salt

10 fresh basil leaves, torn

Cook pasta according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, heat large fry pan over medium-low heat with olive oil and garlic. Allow garlic to cook gently for a few moments, just until fragrant, but garlic should not acquire any colour.

Cut tomatoes in half and add to fry pan, turn heat up to medium, add a pinch of salt to taste, and allow sauce to simmer until pasta is cooked. The tomatoes will exude a lot of juice and this sauce will be loose but if you want a slightly thicker sauce just turn up the heat to allow the sauce to reduce.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it and add to the sauce. Toss with the tomatoes and fresh basil and serve immediately and make sure that you have some crusty bread on hand to mop up any extra sauce.

Buon appetito!

Amaretti cookies

2009-05-24T09:30:00.008-04:00

I love amaretti. Outside of Italy it is more common to find the crunchy style of amaretti, delicious with coffee or crumbled over ice cream, but my favourite is the soft amaretti cookie found in Italian bakeries.

If you have ever had one in Italy you know what I am talking about - soft and chewy, fragrant with almonds. They are sold by the pound and on Sundays you will see families carrying bakery boxes full of these treats.

Recently we made them for a wedding shower. They are incredibly easy to make - if you opt for plain cookies, that is. If, on the other hand, you want to pipe them into fancy shapes, well, let's just say that you better have some strong arms!

For the shower we made piped amaretti in pink and white to match the colour scheme. After piping several hundred cookies it felt like my arm was going to fall off but it was all worth it when we saw the finished product on the tables.

The room was stunning. The bombonniere were pashmina scarves in a range of pinks, each draped over the guest's chair and tied with a gold bow. The centrepieces were tulips, again in matching pinks and whites. Despite the torrential rains outside, the room absolutely glowed.

And we had some very talented bakers contributing to our sweet table - from cream-filled dates to truffles to these lovely daisy sandwich cookies, I could not resist sampling them all.

As incredible as all of these cookies were, my favourite continues to be the humble amaretto. It's a classic for a reason! And, for those with food sensitivities, these cookies are gluten and dairy free!

Start by mixing the ground blanched almonds with the sugar in a large bowl. Make sure the almonds are fresh - bulk food stores with a high turnover are good places to source ground almonds but if they are not absolutely fresh then make your own. Finely grind whole blanched almonds in the food processor - just make sure to grind them with the sugar to avoid making almond butter!

Whip the egg whites just until they are barely at the soft peak stage. They will be very soft and you will be tempted to keep whipping but don't - you want them very soft and billowy.

Fold the egg whites into the almond mixture and add the almond extract - you don't need to worry about deflating the whites so get in there with your hands and make sure that they are thoroughly incorporated. This will take a few minutes.

All that is left is to tint and shape the cookies. The most basic cookie is untinted and rolled into balls.

Since we were making these for a special occasion, we tinted half the batter pink and left the rest untinted, piping the cookies in layers with a star tip.

To make this shape start by piping out a 4cm (1 1/2") base star layer on a parchment lined baking sheet, rotating the bag slightly before lifting the bag to finish the layer.

Using the same tip, pipe a smaller star over the centre of the base layer. You will get a more finished look by placing the piping bag over the base layer so that the points of the star tip fit into the grooves of the base layer. Again, rotate the bag slightly to finish.

Warning - the dough is stiff so this will take some elbow grease!

Sprinkle with a bit of granulated sugar, top with an almond or an espresso bean, and bake. Pull these out of the oven before they start to brown - they will look underbaked and will be very soft but they will set up as they cool.

I promise you, these will impress your friends!

Amaretti

Makes 200 cookies.

11 cups of blanched ground almonds

12 egg whites

4 cups of sugar

3 teaspoons of almond extract

sugar for sprinkling

food colouring (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix sugar and ground almonds until well combined.

Place egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until foamy and light, just barely at the soft peak stage.

Using a rubber spatula, fold beaten egg whites in ground almond mixture. Add almond extract and food colouring. Mix until well combined.

Transfer batter into a piping bag and pipe out cookies onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. **Instead of piping, you can also form cookies by rolling batter into 1 inch balls.** Sprinkle each cookie generously with sugar.

Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are golden, about 15 minutes. Let cookies cool briefly on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 3 days.

Vegas sweets

2009-05-19T09:30:00.004-04:00

Sin City = Sweet City!

On a recent trip to Las Vegas I was disappointed by the food, which was mediocre at best despite the hefty price tags. Surprising, I know, given Vegas' current reputation as a celebrity chef mecca, but I chalked it up to the fact that we were visiting in low season.

I was drowning my disappointment in the slot machines when I discovered the most exquisite pastries in the patisserie at the Bellagio. Day after day the display case contained edible works of art - with prices to match!

The yogurt parfait was incredible - a perfect blend of yogurt, fresh mixed berries, soaked sponge cake and granola. So yummy! But, at over $10 a bowl, a very expensive addiction.

These are the creations of Jean-Philippe Maury, an award-winning pastry chef who has truly elevated the humble pastry to an art form, including a 27 foot chocolate fountain with almost 2 tonnes of white, milk and dark chocolate cascading through a series of handcrafted glass bowls.

I thought I had stumbled on a unique find in Vegas... but then I started noticing other decadent treats around town - the gelatos at the Venetian, The Chocolate Swan at Mandalay Bay - and I realized that local pastry chefs are bringing new meaning to Vegas decadence. Before I knew it I was frittering away my time and money at the pastry shops instead of the slot machines.

Now that's my idea of Las Vegas indulgence! If I could only figure out a way to get the calories to stay in Vegas!

Tortelloni with goat cheese

2009-05-13T08:35:00.003-04:00

Hungry in Hogtown posted this week about cooking with La vache qui rit cheese and my mind went immediately to the old school classic - pasta con il formaggino - and I thought I'd make a grown-up version for this week's Presto Pasta Night, hosted by Patsy of Family, Friends & Food.

Italian mothers everywhere feed their toddlers pasta with formaggino. As a young kid, it was an absolute staple. When we were fussy or my mom didn't feel like cooking anything more complicated, we had this Italian version of macaroni and cheese.

For anyone who isn't familiar with formaggino (literally, "little cheese"), it's the Italian spreadable cheese sold in individually wrapped wedges or rounds. Personally, I am partial to Crema bel paese but you can experiment to find your own favourite.

While I absolutely love the classic version, I was in the mood for something more sophisticated and I'd been eyeing these porcini mushroom tortelloni. I resisted for weeks because of my short-lived attempt at a low-carb diet but who was I kidding? I was raised on bread and pasta and was lost without it.

Back to the tortelloni. As I said, I'd been eyeing this pasta because porcini mushrooms are among my favourite foods ever. Remember those fairy tale toadstools? That's what the porcini mushrooms look like and their perfume is out of this world. They are night and day to the mushrooms you find in the grocery store which pale in comparison to the pungent earthy aroma of the porcini.

Alas, they are not readily available where I live except dried, which I use often, but there is nothing like a fresh porcini mushroom in season. I was lucky enough to forage for porcini mushrooms in Italy, where they grow wild. It was incredible but falls into the category of "don't try this at home" unless you are with an expert! There are many poisonous mushrooms that resemble edible species, including porcinis, and it is very easy to get them mixed up as my mother's family discovered many years ago in a terrible trip to the emergency room.

We were with a life-long forager so we had no reservations about devouring the mushrooms we picked. In fact, we practically ran back to town with our bounty and promptly cooked up a feast of pasta with porcini mushrooms sauteed in oil and sat down in a cantina to enjoy it with copious amounts of wine drawn directly from barrels. Heaven.

You can imagine, then, that my standards were quite high but these tortelloni were definitely up to the challenge. While they could not compete head to head with fresh porcini they were really very good.

I had been contemplating what sauce to pair with the tortelloni when I saw the Hungry in Hogtown post and was inspired to use a cheese sauce. I decided on goat cheese - I figured it would stand up to the porcini mushrooms and complement it nicely. I was not disappointed.

I also decided to add chives for a mild onion flavour and it was good but competed a bit with the porcini so next time I would leave them out unless I was using plain pasta.

Tortelloni with goat cheese

Serves 4

250g (8oz) package of tortelloni (I used PC Trento-Alto-Adige Porcini Mushroom Tortelloni)

125g (4oz) goat cheese

chives (optional)

Cook tortelloni in boiling salted water according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, crumble goat cheese in a bowl and add chopped chives. Add a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking water to loosen up the cheese and create a sauce.

When pasta is cooked, drain and add to cheese mixture. Toss and serve immediately.

Happy mother's day!

2009-05-10T21:08:00.010-04:00

I hope that someone cooked for you today!

Carrot and ginger chicken

2009-05-07T06:55:00.001-04:00

It's hard to imagine a more unlovely food than the knobby ginger root but the one I picked up at the grocery store this week was particularly ugly - it looked like a foot with swollen toes. It's a good thing I'm not hung up on looks 'cause I love ginger and there is no way that I would let aesthetics get in the way of a good meal.

And what's not to love? It is pungent and spicy, hot and refreshing, all at the same time. I especially love its Italian name: zenzero.

Aside from tasting great, ginger's medicinal properties are legendary and Eastern medical practitioners have used it for centuries. I don't know anyone who doesn't reach for the ginger ale when they feel under the weather but ginger is much more than that - it is a digestive aid, an anti-oxidant with anti-inflammatory properties, an anti-nausea and is also often used to help relieve cold symptoms.

Try brewing some ginger tea next time you get a cold - steep chunks of peeled fresh ginger with lemon and honey. It always makes me feel better and I promise you that, if nothing else, the ginger tea will for sure clear your sinuses!

So when I saw a recipe for Chicken with Ginger in Everyday Food I knew I had to try it and I was not disappointed.

The ginger is definitely the star of the dish so if you don't like ginger give this one a pass or dial it down by using grated ginger instead of the matchsticks called for in the recipe.

Even if you are a ginger lover you will want to soak the ginger as recommended to reduce its bite, otherwise get ready to feel the burn.

As usual, I tweaked the recipe a bit, adding carrots and sesame oil and reducing the amount of soy sauce. Next time I think that I will also add sesame seeds.

I served this over Asian noodles but it would also be great over rice.

Carrot and ginger chicken

Adapted from Everyday Food

Serves 4-6

1 tbsp canola oil

4 chicken breasts, cubed

2 inch piece of ginger cut into matchsticks

1 carrot cut into matchsticks

1 large onion, sliced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp white vinegar

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

3 green onions, chopped

Heat canola oil over medium-high heat and saute chicken until golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside.

While chicken is cooking, soak ginger in a bowl of cold water and prepare sauce by combining soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and sesame oil in a measuring cup. Set aside.

Drain ginger and add to pan with onions and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions begin to brown. Clear a space in the middle of the pan and add garlic. Allow to cook for 30 seconds then stir into vegetables.

Add sauce to pan and cook until reduced. Add chicken and stir until heated through. Add scallions and stir.

Serve over rice or noodles.

Cherry blossoms and chicken roll-ups

2009-05-03T20:35:00.002-04:00

Spring has finally arrived in Toronto! If we needed any more evidence, the cherry trees are in bloom and it seemed that half of Toronto was in High Park today enjoying the magic.

You would be forgiven if you did not immediately think of Toronto and cherry blossoms in the same sentence but the Japanese cherry grove in High Park, a gift from Tokyo in 1959, draws thousands of visitors each spring when the trees are in bloom.

Walking under a canopy of fragrant blossoms, it's easy to forget that you are in the middle of a bustling cosmopolitan city, at least until you get to the chip truck!

G and I spent the afternoon wandering around the park and worked up quite an appetite so we stopped at the grocery store on the way home and picked up some chicken cutlets and arugula for these awesome arugula and goat cheese chicken roll-ups.

These come together in minutes and are fancy enough for company (they'll think you were slaving over a hot stove all day!).

I cheated and bought chicken cutlets because we were short on time but normally I would just buy chicken breasts and butterfly them myself - it's way cheaper and I find that the cutlets are more even that way. But store-bought cutlets work great too.

One chicken breast half should yield two cutlets - if the breasts have been butterflied, cut them in half vertically down the middle.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and top with a small handful of arugula and a knob of goat cheese. Spinach or ham and mozzarella is a great combination too - my mom made these all the time when we were kids.

Try to make sure that you start with the cut side up before you add the toppings because the rolls will be prettier that way but don't sweat it too much. I didn't pay enough attention and ended up with a couple having cut side out and they were fine.

Roll each cutlet tightly, starting at the smaller end, and secure with a toothpick.

Saute in a little olive oil until golden brown. This should only take a minute or two then flip over and brown the other side. They will still be raw on the inside so don't overcook them at this point or they will be shoe leather by the time you finish the dish.

If your saute pan is oven-safe you can simply transfer the pan into a 425°F oven for about 10 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle. If your pan is not oven-safe, transfer the roll-ups to a baking sheet lightly drizzled with olive oil before transferring to the oven.

If you're being fancy, slice before serving. Otherwise, just remove the toothpicks and serve up with a side of rice and veggies and you've got a quick and healthy (did I mention delicious?) dinner.

Arugula and Goat Cheese Chicken Roll-Ups

Makes 8 roll-ups (2 per serving)

4 chicken breasts, butterflied and cut in half

2 cups arugula, washed and trimmed

50g goat cheese (I use one of the small logs)

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Place cutlets cut-side up on a baking sheet and sprinkle top with salt and pepper.

Spread a small handful of arugula on each cutlet and top with 1/8th of goat cheese. Starting at the smaller end, tightly roll the cutlet over the filling and secure with a toothpick.

Heat olive oil in a non-stick saute pan over medium heat and place cutlets in pan, seam side down to seal. Saute cutlets, turning periodically, until golden brown on all sides but still raw in the centre.

Transfer to oven for approximately 10 minutes until no longer pink. If your saute pan is not oven-safe transfer cutlets to a lightly oiled baking sheet before transferring to oven.

Slice if desired and serve.

Asian lettuce wraps

2009-04-25T20:45:00.003-04:00

Another hit from Kalyn's Kitchen - Asian lettuce wraps. I first made these several weeks ago when I foolishly thought I could live without carbs and I have made these wraps almost weekly since then.

I made a few changes to Kalyn's recipe - cutting the amount of soy sauce in half (I am the low-sodium girl after all) and adding the chopped peanuts and cilantro to the ground turkey mixture in the last few minutes of cooking rather than as a garnish.

If only all low carb meals tasted this good!

Child of the 70's

2009-04-21T18:46:00.001-04:00

Growing up, for me and every other child of the seventies, Sara Lee cheesecake was the ultimate. I haven't tried it since then but this cheesecake tastes exactly how I remember it as a child.

I get more requests for this cake than all of my other recipes combined. One bite and it transports every seventies baby back to the Sara Lee heyday, guaranteed!

The original recipe was taken from the February 1981 (yikes!) issue of Bon Appetit magazine. I still have the magazine cover and the feature article titled "Simply Spectacular - Great Cakes for Special Occasions". A little obsessive right? Especially since I was barely 11 years old at the time!

I made this cheesecake for my dear friend (and onion ring buddy) over at My Sweet Cheap Life and her Sweetie, who was kind enough to send me this photo.

You can find the original recipe here. I don't use walnuts in the crust but otherwise am pretty faithful to the original recipe...except for the topping. The original was topped with luscious fresh strawberries with glaze but (due to popular demand) I use canned pie filling (cherry or blueberry) for that authentic seventies experience!

If you love cheesecake I promise you this is the only recipe you need!

Beef and broccoli over steam-fried noodles

2009-04-14T20:20:00.002-04:00

My name is Sweet Kitchen and I am a carb addict.

I tried to stick to a low(ish) carb diet in a vain attempt to eliminate the dreaded winter bloat until every cell in my body was screaming out for carbs and I was almost reduced to gnawing on my bamboo cutting board.

Now I need to come clean and confess that I completely fell off the low-carb wagon with this meal - and may I say it was totally worth every gram!

This is one of the most incredible stir-fry recipes I have ever made and it's adapted from the Cook's Illustrated recipe which can be found here.

The recipe starts by marinating thinly sliced flank steak (cut across the grain) in soy sauce for 10 minutes to 1 hour. This is a great tip for tenderizing meat.

The meat is then browned in batches and removed to a bowl.

The sauce is a combination of hoisin sauce, sherry, brown sugar and sesame oil with a bit of stock (I used water because I couldn't be bothered to open a whole box of stock chasing Cook's quest for perfection) and a bit of cornstarch as a thickener.

The co-star of the recipe, the broccoli, is steamed in the pan and then drained on paper towel.

Chopped red pepper is sauteed briefly then ginger and copious amounts of garlic are added to the pan.

Then the broccoli, beef and sauce are returned to the pan and stirred to distribute the aromatics. Finally the sauce is poured over the top and the whole thing is stir-fried until the sauce thickens slightly.

Topped with sliced green onions and served over noodles or rice (I used steam-fried noodles, which were boiled like pasta for 2 to 3 minutes) it's a meal fit for a king (or a recovering carbaholic)!

Now that pasta is no longer banned from my kitchen I can again participate in Presto Pasta Nights which is being hosted this week by Katie of One Little Corner of the World. Head on over to Katie's site on Friday to see this week's roundup.

Black bean and chicken stew

2009-04-10T22:14:00.004-04:00

I have cut back on carbs the last few weeks in an attempt to shed a few of those spare tires that seem to have appeared around my middle over the winter. Blech! Luckily I stumbled across a fabulous site for low carb recipes at Kalyn's Kitchen and when I saw her recipe for black bean stew I couldn't wait to try it.

I made a few modifications to the recipe - well, actually quite a lot - not because of any problem with the original recipe (it really does sound fabulous) but because of my complete inability to plan meals in advance. I am completely hopeless when it comes to that and more often than not I find myself in the middle of a recipe missing several vital ingredients. The up side? I have been forced to learn to improvise.

This improvisation resulted in an amazing stew that is hearty and delicious - quite similar to a chili actually and I have already made it twice in the last week. I love stews and the fact that they require very little effort to pull together makes me love them even more! Leftovers taste even better the next day.

This stew can easily be made vegetarian by omitting the chicken and replacing the chicken stock with vegetable stock or water. If you have both a meat eater and a vegetarian in your household, make the vegetarian version and simply add cooked chicken (make sure it's completely cooked through) to the meat eater's portion before serving.

Add a dollop of sour cream and enjoy!

Black bean and chicken stew

Inspired by Kalyn's Kitchen's Black Bean Stew with Roasted Red Pepper, Chicken and Cilantro

1 tbsp canola oil

2 chicken breasts, cubed

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander seed

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 cups (500ml) low sodium chicken stock

2 cups (500 ml) water

3 cans (540ml/19 fl.oz each) black beans

2 cups (500 ml) canned plum tomatoes

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp oregano

2 cups frozen corn kernels

In a Dutch oven heat oil over medium-high heat and saute chicken until lightly golden. Remove chicken from Dutch oven and reserve. The chicken does not need to be cooked through at this point.

Lower heat to medium and saute onions until translucent. Do not brown onions.

Add garlic and saute briefly until aromatic (about 30 seconds) then add chili powder, cumin and coriander seed and stir. Saute briefly to allow spices to bloom - this should take about 30 seconds longer and you will know when you're ready to move on by the incredible aroma that will fill your kitchen.

Add tomato paste and stir. Saute for approximately 30 seconds more - tomato paste may brown a bit. Add chicken stock a bit at a time, deglazing the pan and using a wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits off the bottom. Add the rest of the stock and the water.

Drain the beans and rinse to remove some of the excess sodium. Reserve about 1 cup of beans and add the rest to the Dutch oven. Mash the reserved beans with a potato masher and add to the pot - this will help to thicken the stew.

Add tomatoes (with their juice), bay leaves and oregano. Return chicken with any accumulated juices to the pot. Allow the stew to come to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for at least one hour or until stew is thickened to your desired consistency.

Add corn kernels and allow to heat through before serving.

Add salt to taste but note that the beans and stock already contain fairly high levels of sodium so be sure to taste the stew before adding salt. I have not found it necessary to add any additional salt but I have cut back on salt in my diet and you will want to adjust the salt to suit your own tastes.

The day the earth moved

2009-04-06T22:43:00.001-04:00

Italy's most devastating earthquake in decades struck the inhabitants of L'aquila in the region of Abruzzo today. With tens of thousands homeless and dozens confirmed dead, the rescue efforts continue.

Situated on major fault lines, Italy has been plagued by earthquakes throughout its history and unfortunately one of those earthquakes hit very close to home for me. The Irpinia earthquake of 1980 left thousands dead and injured and tens of thousands more homeless, directly affecting extended family and friends and leaving a generation scarred and saddled with the task of rebuilding entire towns and communities, a process which has literally taken decades.

My heart goes out to the residents of Abruzzo and their families.

In addition to human casualties, Italy's earthquakes also exacts a toll on the physical surroundings and already there are reports of damage to historical monuments in Abruzzo, including the Roman baths of Caracalla.

One of the most poignant reminders of the devastating impact of earthquakes is the town of Romagnano al Monte. Pictured above, the ancient town had perched on a lip of the Apennines since the middle ages but was rendered uninhabitable in minutes by the Irpinia quake.

The new town was rebuilt on a nearby site and today the old town stands abandoned amid breathtaking mountain vistas - an ethereal ghost town where houses still contain remnants of the lives of their former inhabitants - evidence of lives changed forever in an instant on the day the earth moved.

Frozen herbs

2009-04-05T18:44:00.004-04:00

I absolutely love fresh herbs and parsley is among my very favourite year-round herbs. So I was intrigued enough, if a little sceptical, to pick up a sample when President's Choice recently introduced frozen herb shakers. I picked up the parsley but basil, garlic, ginger, dill and cilantro shakers are also available.

I was worried that the herbs would clump together due to defrosting/refreezing on the trip home but the shaker worked better than expected (although I did have to use a fork to loosen up the herbs a bit). The flavour of the parsley was clean and bright when added to sauteed mushrooms and compared very favourably to other frozen herb cubes commercially available.

While I won't be giving up my fresh parsley any time soon, this is one product that is definitely worth having on hand for those times when you need to add a bit of herb to a cooked dish.

Sticky thighs

2009-04-03T22:39:00.007-04:00

Chicken "wings" without the guilt? Sign me up! These chicken thighs with a honey-garlic glaze are definite crowd pleasers and if you follow the instructions carefully they are convincing stand-ins for wings (minus the deep frying mess and high fat content).

Dubbed "Lord of the Wings" by sisters Janet and Greta Podleski of Eat, Shrink & Be Merry this is one light recipe that actually delivers. In fact, I actually prefer these to pub wings!

After marinating overnight, the thighs need to be cut in half and rolled into a wing shape before a short tour in the oven if you want them to masquerade as wings. Once they are par-cooked they are grilled and basted with the reserved marinade. Be generous with the marinade and it will caramelize into a wonderful sticky glaze.

Since I don't have a barbecue I finished these in a stove-top grill pan. They were great but my pan almost didn't survive the experience - it took a lot of soaking to pry the glaze off the pan. Mind you, my Le Creuset grill pan is impossible to clean under the best of circumstances so a different pan might fare better. (Anyone else have the same problem with the Le Creuset grill pan? I'm almost ready to give up on it even though I swear by the Dutch ovens.)

If you prepare the thighs and marinade the day before, these come together within minutes and make a great mid-week dinner or fun finger-food at a party.

Honey-garlic chicken thighs

Adapted from "Lord of the Wings" featured on Eat, Shrink & Be Merry (Food Network Canada)

Makes 32 chicken thighs

16 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

3 tbsp light soy sauce

3 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp grated fresh ginger

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Stir together all ingredients except the chicken to make the marinade. Pour half into a large freezer bag and refrigerate the remainder for basting.

Cut each thigh in half and add to the freezer bag with the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Roll each thigh piece so that it resembles a chicken wing and place in a baking pan lined with aluminum foil. Make sure the thighs are placed close together in the pan as this will help keep their shape. Bake in 400°F oven for 10 minutes - thighs will not be cooked through at this point.

Place wings on a heated grill (or grill pan) brushed lightly with oil and grill until cooked through, basting with reserved marinade. This shouldn't take more than a few minutes per side.

Spaghetti di mezzanotte

2009-03-25T19:50:00.003-04:00

Literally translated as "midnight spaghetti" this is the Italian version of a midnight snack (or, in my case, more likely a quick and easy late supper). It is also known as spaghetti aglio e olio (spaghetti with oil and garlic) .

Oil and garlic are essential - the rest is left to the creativity of the cook. I sometimes add an anchovy fillet, as I did here, hot pepper flakes and parsley. You can also add grated lemon peel or lemon juice but really you want to stick to the basics here if you want it to be traditional.

This really is perfect for when you want something light but tasty and are not feeling in the mood to make anything that requires too much effort. Oil and garlic may seem boring but this dish is amazing - real Italian comfort food - and I defy you to find a single Italian home that does not have this pasta on its table on a regular basis!

This is my entry for this week's Presto Pasta Night hosted this week all the way from Singapore (heaven for food lovers!) by Aquadaze of Served with Love.

Spaghetti di mezzanotte

Serves 4

500g spaghetti

4 tbsp olive oil

2 anchovy fillets

2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

3 tbsp fine breadcrumbs

3 tbsp chopped parsley

salt and pepperoncino to taste

Prepare spaghetti according to package directions.

While spaghetti is cooking heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic, anchovy and pepperoncino and saute gently until anchovy "melts". Add the breadcrumbs and about half of the chopped parsley; saute for a minute or two until lightly toasted.

Drain the spaghetti and add to pan with the olive oil and breadcrumb mixture and toss. Sprinkle fresh parsley over spaghetti and serve.

Cranberry Coconut Oat Bars

2009-03-22T22:35:00.002-04:00

I have a confession to make: I am not a breakfast person. Even though I know that it is the most important meal of the day, breakfast has never really played much of a role in my morning routine and instead I fritter my time away in the morning, puttering around doing I really don't know what. No matter what time I get up I am always rushing out the door without lipstick, let alone breakfast.

Recently I have been working hard to change that and fit breakfast into my weekday schedule, recreating a take-away version of my favourite weekend breakfast (steel-cut oats with blueberries and maple syrup) with oatmeal to go stashed in my desk drawer at work.

I have also been experimenting with make-ahead breakfasts and last week I made baked egg cups with turkey sausage which were a huge hit. This week I decided to try Nigella Lawson's Breakfast Bars (Nigella Express: Good Food Fast) as an alternative to store-bought granola bars.

Chock full of oats, dried cranberries, coconut and seeds these bars are absolutely delicious but unfortunately too sweet for my morning taste buds (even though I cut back quite a lot on the amount of condensed milk in the recipe). Now I have these great snacks to munch on in the afternoons but no breakfast on the go for the week!

Cranberry Coconut Oat Bars

Adapted from Nigella Lawson's Breakfast Bars

Makes 16 bars

300 ml low fat condensed milk

2 1/4 cups rolled oats

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 250 degrees and line a 9x13 inch baking pan with aluminum foil.

Heat condensed milk in a large saucepan over medium-low heat until warm, then add all the other ingredients and stir until well combined.

Spread the mixture in the pan and press down. Bake for approximately 1 hour.

Allow bars to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing. Cut into 16 bars and allow to cool completely.

Pasta al tonno (Pasta with tuna sauce)

2009-03-18T19:25:00.001-04:00

Another of my husband's favourites: pasta with tuna. This sauce is traditionally paired with spaghetti but I decided to go with the penne rigate, my all-purpose pasta shape, since I had an opened box.

Love this dish for those nights when I want to whip up a quick meal and have nothing in the fridge. All that is required is a few pantry staples and, in about the same time that it takes to boil a pot of water and cook pasta, I can make a delicious and nutritious pasta dish. It's what I love most about Italian cooking - simple, fast, delicious.

The ingredients: tomato puree, tuna packed in olive oil (Italian if at all possible), garlic, olive oil, tomato paste (optional - I often omit it) and fresh basil (optional but no substituting dried basil).

Italian tuna in olive oil is an absolute must - I can't emphasize this enough - it truly makes a difference.

Pasta with tuna is my submission to Presto Pasta Nights, hosted this week by Pam of Sidewalk Shoes. Hop on over to Pam's blog on Friday to check out this week's roundup (and get some great ideas to try over the weekend)!

Pasta al tonno (pasta with tuna sauce)

Serves 4 to 6

500g spaghetti (or other pasta of your choice)

2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of a small saucepan)

1 clove garlic, sliced

2-80g cans of Italian tuna packed in olive oil, drained

1 tbsp tomato paste (optional)

500 ml tomato puree

fresh basil (optional)

In a small saucepan over moderate heat add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan and add the garlic. Saute briefly until aromatic (about 1 minute) and add tuna and tomato paste (if using) and saute for a minute or two.

Add tomato puree and bring to a slow boil. Lower heat and add basil. Cook at a slow simmer for 10 - 15 minutes.

Cook pasta according to package directions in a large quantity of salted boiling water. Drain and add to tomato sauce off heat. Top with torn basil leaves and mix. Serve immediately.

Orange glow chiffon cake

2009-03-15T20:50:00.001-04:00

I broke one of my cardinal rules of baking with this cake and let someone (who shall remain nameless) cut into it before it was fully cooled. The cake was still delicious but it was not very photogenic. As a result I don't have a single decent photo of the finished cake so you'll have to take my word for it that, having made this cake several times, it is a lovely orange-scented chiffon cake.

The recipe is taken from Rose Levy Berenbaum's classic Cake Bible and can be found on epicurious.

In her book Berenbaum refers to this cake as "incomparably refreshing" and I couldn't agree more. Incorporating both orange juice (freshly squeezed!) and zest, it's like a burst of sunshine.

The batter is incredibly billowy and airy (my spouse called it the "marshmallow batter") and is incredibly perfumed - the wonderful orange scent filled my kitchen as I was mixing the batter and then again while the cake was baking.

Like I said, my husband couldn't wait until it was completely cooled before snagging a piece.

Grilled cheese with rapini

2009-03-14T22:06:00.001-04:00

The rapini obsession continues with a grilled cheese and rapini sandwich. Rapini seem to be on special everywhere lately and they are so fresh and tender I can't pass them up. So now I'm putting them into my sandwiches as well as having them with pasta!

I used havarti cheese here (highly recommended for grilled cheese!) but just about any melting cheese will do.

Sometimes less really is more.

Orecchiette con cime di rapa

2009-03-10T17:57:00.002-04:00

This is one of my favourite pasta dishes of all time - I could eat it every day of the week (ok, maybe a slight exaggeration, but it definitely makes a regular appearance on my table). Fortunately, in addition to being tasty eats, it's also pretty darn good for you so it's a guilt-free "indulgence".

Italians like to give very descriptive names to their pasta shapes and these little cap-shaped shells are called "orecchiette", which means "little ears". They are traditionally made by hand in the Puglia and Basilicata regions of southern Italy. The dough is rolled into a thin rope and then cut into small pieces which are individually dragged on a board, typically with a knife, and then turned out with the thumb; this is what creates the characteristic roughness on the outside of the pasta. It may look simple but trust me it takes a lot of practice to master this shape.

No worries if you're not up to the challenge of making your own because good orecchiette are now widely available. If you can find them, do yourself a favour and pick up a bag of artisanal orecchiette (they are usually made in Italy and will be labelled "artigianale"). They are available at every Italian grocery I have ever been in and are carried by some supermarkets - they are pricey but they cook up dense and chewy and are well worth the few extra pennies a bowl.

Even better, visit Bari in Puglia or Matera, a city in Basilicata renowned for its incredible bread - often considered the best in Italy. While few North Americans venture to these areas of Italy it is a trip worth making. Mountainous and rugged regions, they contain many hidden treasures.

In addition to having a reputation for delicious food, Matera is also a UNESCO world heritage site famous for the "sassi di Matera", ancient homes dug right into the rock face, essentially forming caves that have been inhabited for thousands of years.

The best orecchiette I ever had were in Matera on a visit a few years ago at a restaurant overlooking the sassi. Technically they were "strascinate", which are slightly flatter than orecchiette, but otherwise quite similar. They were fresh and made by hand and I can still taste them now...

Sorry, where was I? Right, recreating this dish at home. It's pretty simple and, like most Italian cooking, comes down to the freshness of the ingredients.

Rapini are at their best and most tender in the colder months. In Italy the growing season begins in the winter and stretches into early spring, but where I live (which is unfortunately much colder than Italy) rapini are in season in the late summer through autumn. Imported rapini are available year-round but this pasta really is at its best during the colder months so enjoy it while you can because spring is just around the corner (I hope!).

Trim and wash a bunch of rapini (aka broccoli rabe) - you want to remove any yellowed leaves and the trim the ends of the stalks. Avoid buying rapini that have flowered (you will see small yellow flowers blooming in the buds); while they are still edible it is a sign that the greens are past their prime.

I like to saute the rapini with a bit of water, olive oil, garlic and pepperoncino - my mother, on the other hand, prefers to add the rapini to the pasta while it's cooking (about halfway through the cooking time). My method preserves the integrity of the rapini whereas the boiling method removes more of the bitterness of the greens. Both are delicious and it comes down to personal preference - I like the pronounced taste of rapini but if you want milder greens then by all means boil away!

I also like to add breadcrumbs sauteed in extra-virgin olive oil to the finished dish. Once the rapini are cooked remove them from the pan. Return the pan to medium heat and add a bit of olive oil then add a small handful of fine breadcrumbs. Heat through for a few seconds and then pour over the cooked pasta and rapini and serve. Delish!

Buon appetito!

This is my submission to Presto Pasta Nights which is being hosted this week by Ben of What's Cooking. Head on over to Ben's site on Friday to check out this week's roundup.

Orecchiette con cime di rapa

Serves 4-6

500g orecchiette pasta (preferably an artisanal brand)

2 bunches rapini, washed and trimmed

2 tbsp olive oil

50 ml water

2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

2 tbsp fine breadcrumbs

salt and pepperoncino to taste

Prepare pasta according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic and pepperoncino and saute until you smell the aroma of the garlic (this should take no more than a minute). Add rapini and 50 ml of water and cook until tender and the water has evaporated.*

Place the rapini in a bowl and return the pan to medium heat. Add the second tablespoon of olive oil and the breadcrumbs; saute for a minute or two until lightly toasted.

Drain the orecchiette and toss with the rapini and pour the olive oil and breadcrumb mixture over the top and toss again.

*Variation: If you prefer milder greens, skip this step and add the rapini to the pasta water while the pasta is cooking, approximately halfway through the cooking time. Saute the garlic with the pepperoncino and then add the breadcrumbs to the pan and toss with the drained pasta and rapini when cooked.

Midnight Muffins

2009-03-08T18:23:00.005-04:00

My Christmas present to myself was a new cookbook - Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More: 200 Anytime Treats and Special Sweets for Morning to Midnight by Carole Walter - and the very first recipe I made from the cookbook was jeff's chocolate glazed midnight muffins for my 6 year old niece. Needless to say they were a big hit (even though I made them without the glaze).

They were dark and had great chocolate flavour. The photo here doesn't do them justice - I'm still experimenting with different exposures on my digital camera and the lighting made them look washed out but, trust me, their colour really does live up to their name.

The recipe calls for cocoa powder but Carole Walter did not specify whether to use natural or Dutch-processed. Having a bit of time on my hands I decided to try a little experiment to see if the type of cocoa powder would make any noticeable difference. I made two batches of muffins - one with natural and one with Dutch-process cocoa powder.

While both finished products were absolutely delicious, the unanimous verdict was that the ones with the Dutch-process cocoa powder had a more delicate chocolate flavour which was less overwhelming than those made with the natural cocoa powder. If bold chocolate flavour is your thing then definitely go with the natural cocoa - those muffins were especially yummy with a tall glass of milk.

Aside from omitting the glaze, I decided to throw in a few milk chocolate chips (which I had bought by mistake on a rushed shopping trip) in place of the recommended walnuts. Normally I find milk chocolate too sweet and cloying in baked goods but I hate wasting food. Surprisingly the chips added a lovely depth of flavour to the muffins.

These muffins are super-easy to make and are real crowd-pleasers. I just wish that Walter would give the pre-sifted volume measurement (or even better the weight measurement) for ingredients like cocoa powder. I really hate having to sift then measure (so messy!) so next time I make these muffins I will weigh the ingredients and jot down the weights next to the volume measurements to make it easier.

Farfalle alla panna con funghi e pancetta

2009-03-05T20:30:00.006-05:00

Whenever my husband asks me to make something special the dish he most often requests is pasta with mushroom and bacon cream sauce, which works for me since this dish comes together in minutes (and the best part is that he hasn't caught on to that yet).

Let's not kid ourselves here - with bacon and cream as the main ingredients this is a rich dish to be savoured on occasion. However, being somewhat health conscious, I do try to mitigate the damage by using table cream (which contains 18% milk fat) instead of whipping cream - half the fat but with no noticeable difference in taste or texture. I have tried lower fat cream without much success so I recommend the table cream (or the whipping cream if you're feeling especially decadent).

I like the flavour of cremini mushrooms but I have to admit that they tint the sauce somewhat (not an issue in my household but if you want a pristine sauce feel free to substitute white button mushrooms). I like the smoky flavour of bacon but pancetta also works well in this recipe. Careful with the salt or you'll be sorry since the bacon and the pancetta are quite salty.

This is my first submission to Presto Pasta Nights, a blog event all about pasta (yum!) created by Ruth at Once Upon a Feast. This also happens to be PPN's second birthday - congratulations Ruth on two years of delicious pasta posts!

Farfalle with mushroom and bacon cream sauce

Serves 4-6

500g (approx. 1 lb) farfalle pasta

250 ml (1 cup) table cream (18%)

250g (8oz) sliced mushrooms

4 strips bacon

1 tsp olive oil

grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water according to directions on package. Pasta should be cooked to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking cut the bacon into 1cm (1/2 inch) pieces and saute in a dry pan until crispy. Remove bacon from pan and drain on a paper towel.

Drain bacon fat from pan and add 1 tsp olive oil. Add sliced mushrooms and saute over medium-high heat until cooked. You may add a bit of salt to help the mushrooms release their water.

When the mushrooms are cooked add the cream to the pan and stir. Return the cooked bacon to the pan and allow the cream mixture to simmer over medium-low heat for a few minutes until slightly thickened. The mixture will thicken further once the pasta is added so do not overcook at this stage. If desired, add salt to taste (I don't usually add salt here as the bacon and parmesan cheese are quite salty).

Drain pasta, reserving about 1 cup of pasta water. Add cooked pasta to pan with cream sauce and toss, adding pasta water a little bit at a time if necessary to loosen up the sauce.

Remove from heat and stir in parmesan cheese.

Buttermilk waffles

2009-02-28T21:50:00.007-05:00

Waffles and maple syrup on a cold and dreary February morning. I ask you, is there anything better?

I was always a pancake girl but my mother recently gave me her old waffle iron and I finally took it out for a test run. As you can see from my photo my waffles were slightly misshapen (I need to add more batter next time) but absolutely delicious.

The recipe I used is for buttermilk waffles from the The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook(I don't think I have mentioned my obsession with America's Test Kitchen yet. More about that in a future post).

The recipe called for a few basic ingredients but required that the eggs be separated and the whites whipped to stiff peaks. I almost went with a different recipe because the thought of washing my mixer bowl and attachments first thing in the morning seemed like too much of a chore.

In the end I decided to channel my inner Martha (who also extols the virtues of beating the whites separately by the way) and was handsomely rewarded for my efforts. The waffles were perfect with maple syrup (the real stuff from Québec bien sûr).

Oatmeal to go...

2009-02-26T22:28:00.019-05:00

Starbucks has been offering a few new breakfast options recently, including oatmeal. Now, I am a chronic breakfast skipper but I love a bowl of oatmeal so I was curious to find out what "perfect" oatmeal tastes like.

Tempted as I was, however, I just couldn't bring myself to spend $3.45 on oatmeal so when a coupon for a free bowl arrived in the mail I jumped at the opportunity to try it.

When the barista asked me if I wanted it with "everything" of course I said yes even though I had no idea what that meant. Turns out it means dried fruit, nuts and brown sugar over instant (yep, instant) oatmeal.

Instant oatmeal for $3.45????? I was dumbfounded when I saw her pour hot water from the spigot into the bowl and hand it to me - she didn't even try to hide the fact that it was instant. I think my mouth may have been hanging open at the brazen audacity of it all.

Anyway, the oatmeal was fine even though it was a bit too sweet for my taste, but it got me thinking about how I could make my own oatmeal to go at work.

I tossed some dried blueberries and cherries into a mason jar with some brown sugar and walnuts and took it to work with me with a box of instant oatmeal (I am partial to President's Choice Blue Menu Multi-Grain Instant Oatmeal).

While I still prefer large flake or steel-cut stove-top oatmeal on the weekend, now I can enjoy a warm bowl of oatmeal (with "everything") at work and it is never more than a teakettle away.

Le Pain Quotidien

2009-02-23T18:30:00.005-05:00

With much fanfare Le Pain Quotidien opened an outlet in Toronto's financial district last year. Unfortunately it closed abruptly at the end of the day on Friday - without any notice and apparently for good.

I don't know how the other locations in the city are faring but this one always seemed to be deserted and the general consensus is that the food was mediocre and overpriced. With all of the high-end lunch places that have sprung up in the downtown core in recent years, the fact that LPQ could still induce sticker shock in jaded Bay Street path rats says a lot!

LPQ seems to be a successful franchise and has outlets in Europe and the US. Just what does this say about Torontonians - are we discerning or just cheap? Or is it a sign that the global financial crisis is finally starting to hit home (and our wallets)?

Pizza napoletana

2009-02-20T19:15:00.004-05:00

My family's roots are in Campania, the Italian province of which Napoli, the birthplace of pizza, is the capital. Sunday nights have always been pizza night in my family so it's probably not surprising that pizza is one of my favourite dishes.

Aside from being exceptionally tasty, pizza is also quick and easy to make at home. Add some extra veggies and you can serve up a delicious and healthier version of your favourite take-out with very little effort.

Refrigerated pizza dough is widely available at grocery stores and Italian bakeries and makes great homemade pizza. Whole-wheat dough is becoming more available and Longo's has a low-sodium whole-wheat pizza dough that is excellent and is also available for home delivery through Grocery Gateway.

While I often buy ready-made pizza dough, I like to make my own whenever I can. It's really easy - you just have to factor in the rising time. If you make it the day before you can let it rise in the refrigerator or you can freeze the dough after rising so that you have it ready anytime the mood strikes - just let it defrost in the refrigerator overnight.

I use a large commercial deep dish pizza pan but a half-sheet pan will do nicely as well - and sprinkle some cornmeal on the bottom then spread out the dough with your fingers. I don't like to use oil in the pan as I find it makes the crust greasy.

I like to use my fingers to press down on the dough from the centre while stretching it out gently. The dough will be a little tacky but shouldn't be too sticky. If you find that it's sticking to your hands too much then rub a little olive oil on them.

It's best if you let the dough come to room temperature before spreading it but if you're rushed you can use chilled dough, it will just be a bit harder to spread. If the dough springs back when you're spreading it just let it rest for a few minutes and stretch it out again.

Then all you have to do is add your favourite toppings and throw it into a hot oven. If you have a pizza stone feel free to use it. Personally, I find that it's more trouble than it's worth but my brother-in-law swears by his pizza stone and his pizza is amazing. Entirely up to you.

When it comes to toppings I have to admit that I am a bit of a purist. My favourite pizza is the margherita - tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella (buffalo if available) with a splash of fresh olive oil and a sprig of fresh basil added after it's baked. Made in a wood-burning oven it's a transcendent experience.

At home I have to compromise a bit. Fresh mozzarella is yummy but makes for a soggy crust without the high heat of a wood-burning oven so I usually use grated mozzarella. If you want to use fresh mozzarella I suggest letting it drain for a day or two in a colander set over a deep bowl in the refrigerator so that it releases some of its water.

Mushrooms, onions and cured ham also make occasional appearances on my pizza but my first love will always be the margherita.

Try making pizza at home - I promise you will thank me.

Pizza Dough

Makes enough dough for 2 large pizzas. Once risen, dough can be placed in a freezer bag and frozen - defrost in refrigerator overnight before use.

1 kg all purpose flour (unbleached preferred)

600g water

6g traditional active dry yeast

3g salt

Proof yeast in a small bowl with 100g of warm water. Add flour and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low speed just to combine. Add the proofed yeast and the remaining 500g of water and use a dough hook to knead the dough in the mixer on medium speed for 7 to 8 minutes or until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth. The dough will be tacky at this point and may be sticking slightly to the bottom of the bowl. If it's too sticky or to wet add more flour or water, a tablespoon at a time, until you achieve the right consistency.

Remove bowl from mixer and pour a small amount of olive oil (1tsp) over dough, rotating it in the bowl so that the oil coats the entire surface. Cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in size (this will probably take a couple of hours). Alternatively, you can cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator overnight.

Divide dough in half and spread each half in a large pizza pan sprinkled with cornmeal. Top pizza and bake in a 475°F oven for approximately 15 minutes or until bottom of crust is browned (you should be able to lift up the edge of the pizza with a spatula or wooden spoon to check the bottom). Allow to cool slightly, slice and enjoy!

Tomato Sauce

Makes enough for 1 large pizza.

350ml canned plum tomatoes

1tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove

salt to taste

Slice garlic and place in cold saucepan with olive oil. Heat gently over medium heat until garlic starts to sizzle - this should only take a few minutes and once you smell the garlic you're ready to move on to the next step.

Add the canned tomatoes and crush with the back of a spoon. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10-15 minutes. Allow to cool before spreading on pizza.

Adventures in tea

2009-02-17T18:05:00.003-05:00

About a year ago I gave up drinking coffee and replaced it with tea. Green, black, white, tisane - you name it. I have become obsessed with trying new varieties and now I can't go into a store without checking out the tea section.

A few years ago on a trip to Paris I discovered first-hand the magic of the Mariage Frères Maison de Thé. With origins stretching back to Nicolas Mariage's adventures in tea in the 17th century it is a charming place to buy excellent quality tea. There are three tea rooms in Paris and a number of tea counters throughout Paris and France as well as one location in Germany (not an obvious choice) and several in Japan. While you can find a limited selection of these teas in specialty shops, if you find yourself in Paris do yourself a favour and stop in at one of the tea rooms!

But now it seems that wherever I look everyone is getting into tea in a big way, with more exotic flavours than ever before. Was this always there and I'm just noticing it or is this a new trend? Even Tetley now has an interesting selection of herbal teas, including my favourite Tetley blend - Tranquil (Sérénité) - a blend of lemon balm, fennel, lavender, passionflower, rose petals and orange blossom. It's a bit harder to find than the other varieties but many grocery store locations carry it and it's well worth the bit of extra work to find it.

More recently I also noticed that Starbucks has jumped on the tea bandwagon in a big way, launching its 'TeaTime at Starbucks'. I have become a fan of the Tazo Zen - a blend of green tea, spearmint and lemongrass - and the Wild Sweet Orange - not a tea but a tisane of lemongrass, citrus herbs, licorice root and orange essence. I don't usually like fruit infusions but the lemongrass and licorice root are lovely and the aroma is heavenly.

Did you know that tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world, after water? There is also a fair amount of evidence of the health benefits of tea, in particular green tea which is made from unfermented tea leaves and contains high levels of antioxidants (polyphenols). White tea, less common than green or black teas, is also made from unfermented tea leaves except that they are picked before the buds fully open and are even less processed than green tea. White tea is also said to contain higher levels of polyphenols than any other tea.

Green and white teas require more delicate brewing methods than black teas and it is commonly recommended that they be brewed with water that is just below the boiling point (about 80ºC). My current favourite is the Marrakesh Mint at Teopia.

I began drinking tea on a regular basis for health reasons but have begun to discover the pleasures of a cuppa. Next on my list: oolong!

Welcome to my kitchen!

2009-02-16T15:08:00.004-05:00

My first post - wow, I can hardly believe it!

I have been following food blogs for awhile and have been so inspired by them that I have finally worked up the courage to give it a try myself. Please bear with me as I work out the kinks and figure out how to do this!

Baking is what I am most passionate about but, being of Italian heritage, food has always played an important role in my life. I love to cook and experiment with new dishes and I want to share my enthusiasm for simple and delicious food.

So, for my first post, I want to say welcome to my kitchen. Benvenuti!