Sometimes I go on a big lentil and bean kick. It mostly happens when I don't have any meat dishes in mind and don't feel like leaving my house. But there's also a comfort food element to the decision. And a budgetary one. When I'm planning to head to a few restaurants in the near … [Read more...] about Back to the New York Times with Gingered Chickpeas
Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free
Chicken Curry and Discovering Fresh Fenugreek in Montreal
A friend of mine said he finds fresh fenugreek leaves up by Jean-Talon and Parc Ex in Montreal, where there's a whole host of Southeast Asian grocers and restaurants. There are two much closer to my house in the southwest of the city, but I've never seen fenugreek there. The … [Read more...] about Chicken Curry and Discovering Fresh Fenugreek in Montreal
Salade Nicoise à la Selengut
This is a very telling salad. In the intro to the recipe, author Becky Selengut writes that Salade Nicoise is a dish where cooks show their personality types: "Anal types will place each ingredient in efficient, color-coordinated piles, most likely not touching each other. … [Read more...] about Salade Nicoise à la Selengut
Thai Pumpkin Curry with Mackerel and Fish Sauce
I wrote about how I was gifted a pumpkin at a farmers market. Well, a girl can't live on pumpkin smoothies alone, try as she might. And I didn't try very hard. So I ended up with half a pumpkin to cook. And that, dear reader, called for pumpkin stew. but I don't really like your … [Read more...] about Thai Pumpkin Curry with Mackerel and Fish Sauce
DIY Blueberry Cereal Bars from “Wonderland Kitchen” and Recipe Exchange
Remember when you were young and wanted to share a recipe with someone, and you had to write it out for them? It took time and effort, and then the copied recipe would (probably) be dutifully tucked into a recipe collection to be used at a future date. When I was young, the most … [Read more...] about DIY Blueberry Cereal Bars from “Wonderland Kitchen” and Recipe Exchange
Thumbprint Cookies and Slow-cooker Sugar-free Raspberry Jam
What I learned from a rotary evaporator was that reducing liquids at very low temperatures saves their flavour. Not that the rotary evaporator stood in front of a classroom of able-minded cooks and told me that. Instead, I tasted it in the spherified orange juice that looked like … [Read more...] about Thumbprint Cookies and Slow-cooker Sugar-free Raspberry Jam
Thanksgiving 2012 – The Photos
Wow. What a dinner. The brined turkey tasted like amazing pho' broth soaking into the most tender meat. The stuffing with gluten-free bread absorbed it all too, with just a little smokiness (others said. I couldn't taste the smoke), maybe from the oven, which was smoking, or from … [Read more...] about Thanksgiving 2012 – The Photos
Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
When you're gifted a sugar pumpkin from an organic farm as thanks for using their leeks in a cooking demo at a farmers market, the world becomes your culinary oyster. Okay, maybe my world. Maybe most people's worlds turn into a black hole of worrisome thoughts along the lines of, … [Read more...] about Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
Remaking a Champion: Seared Mackerel and Mango with Ratatouille
This is a far cry from Becky Selengut's original recipe, but when I saw her make this at the Queen Anne Farmers Market in Seattle with peaches instead of figs, I knew I could get away with a few changes. Now, she used peaches because they were in season, but as peach season had … [Read more...] about Remaking a Champion: Seared Mackerel and Mango with Ratatouille
Vacuum-Sealed Pickles, Quick Fermentation, and Ultrasonic Baths: Cucumbers, Chanterelles, Maple Syrup Pears, Fennel and Chili Peppers
I went on a bit of a pickle roll when I was at the Modernist Cuisine Cooking Lab... "Can you quick-ferment cucumbers?" I asked. I'd heard they made their own sauerkraut and I wanted to know if there was a way to do it in one day instead of two weeks. Turns out you can't actually … [Read more...] about Vacuum-Sealed Pickles, Quick Fermentation, and Ultrasonic Baths: Cucumbers, Chanterelles, Maple Syrup Pears, Fennel and Chili Peppers