Review: Fresh Food Fast

Cooking Light’s Fresh Food Fast: 5 ingredient, 15 minute recipes

Edited by Mary Kay Culpepper

Review by Chris Garbutt

My wife and I have a new game  – I pick a cookbook, and I have to cook any recipe she chooses from it. When I gave her Fresh Food Fast, she had her work cut out for her. There are more than 250 recipes, which all look easy and delicious.

So, would it be the Turkey Burgers with Cranberry-Peach Chutney? Or the Scallops in Buttery Wine Sauce? Pork Medallions with Spicy Pomegranate-Blueberry Reduction?

Wait a minute. I didn’t notice that one before. That last recipe has both of our favourite fruits (pomegranates – hers, blueberries – mine). Well, some other time.

My wife settled on the Halibut with Quick Lemon Pesto, served with Grilled Zucchini and Red Bell Pepper with Corn. Our fish place didn’t have halibut, though, so we went with black cod. And we had run out of propane so our grill pan had to replace the barbecue. This was a quick and tasty meal, served on a weeknight, with little cleanup. My kind of meal.

I will say that very few of these recipes have the titular five ingredients (most have eight or nine). And some of the “ingredients” feel a little like cheating – calling for Parmesan and roasted garlic dressing “such as Newman’s own” doesn’t seem fair. I mean who just happens to have that exact kind of dressing in their fridge?

On top of that, I suggest that you never believe a cookbook that offers you 15-minute recipes, unless the instructions end with “remove from microwave.”

Still, our meal, while not ready in 15, was still on the table in less than a half-hour, and I can’t argue with the taste. Fresh food fast, indeed. This one is destined to be a regular on the kitchen shelf.

Friday 5 – What to do with spring vegetables

By Chris Garbutt

It’s been a while, but I thought it was time for another Friday 5. Vegetables are finally fresh again! So let’s look at five links on what to do with them:

1. Radishes. Radish, Boursin & Chive Tartines.

2. Spinach. Italian Sausage & Spinach Pasta.

3. Asparagus. Well, you can make Chicken, Feta and Asparagus Salad for yourself. Or maybe an Asparagus, Goat Cheese and Lemon Pasta. Of course, you can eat it on its own, but can you eat it with your fingers? Forget all that, just grill it already!

4. Scallions. Make pancakes! Yummy!

5. If you can find some really really fresh peas (I might be pushing this one in Toronto right now), try this one.

…

Oh, all right…

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a big fan of rhubarb. But it is a classic spring vegetable, so enjoy. Just don’t ask me over:

Rhubarb Soup

Orange-Rhubarb Compote

Rhubarb Cobbler – I think this would be amazing with any fruit, by the way. If you substitute, please ask me over.

We went there first!

While I like this a lot, we did it over two years ago! Same title and everything!

Review – Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea

Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea

By Alice Waters

Review by Chris Garbutt

Those who know about Alice Waters are familiar with her celebrity. Chez Panisse, her restaurant in Berkeley, California, is one of the most famous in America. The restaurant was started in the sixties, based on the idea of making good French food with local ingredients. She’s an advocate for local eating, and the author of eight cookbooks, including The Art of Simple Food, which sits on the prime cookbook shelf in my kitchen.

What you might not know is that before becoming a chef and foodie hero, Waters was a Montessori schoolteacher. About 15 years ago, she brought together these two careers, which is what Edible Schoolyard is about.

Waters and some dedicated staff at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley decided that it was time for the crumbling facility to be rehabilitated. The school sat on a relatively large piece of land, much of it covered by concrete. The concrete was torn up to make way for a garden, which grew year by year, and was supplemented by a renovated outbuilding that became the school’s kitchen classroom. Students were given the responsibility, for credit, for tending the garden and cooking the fruits (and vegetables) of their labour.

“It’s a way of making sure that children grow up feeling the soil with their own fingers, harvesting the bounty in the American sunshine, and watching their own hands make the kind of beautiful, inexpensive food that can nourish the body and the spirit,” Waters writes.

I’m not sure what the book is trying to be, exactly. The text is pretty thin, though the story is pretty inspiring. There are pictures of the kids working the garden, and cooking in the kitchen. There are a few recipes – cucumber-lime cooler, carrot-raisin salad, spring vegetable ragout, bread salad, red bean stew and potato smash with kale (that’s all of them). There are also images of the children’s reflections on their experience eating, which even for a food-lover like myself, provide a stark reminder of how out of touch we can be with where our food comes from. These notes are moving in their transformative power.

But at 80 pages, I was left wanting more. More stories, more recipes, or more photographs. It feels like a coffee-table book, but it’s not big enough to display. Waters has moved me here, but not quite enough for a prized place on my bookshelf.

Chew on This: What’s your favourite kitchen gadget?/ What’s your least favourite kitchen gadget?

Opinion # 1 By Chris Garbutt

I don’t know whether what I have would be considered gadgets. A pasta machine? Gadget to some, but hey, I actually make fresh pasta, so to me it’s a tool. Ice cream maker? Again, I  make ice cream with it.

Tool. Blender? Mandoline? Microplane grater? Potato scrubber? Meat thermometer? I use them! Calling them gadgets just diminishes these tools to fetish objects.

Now, there are some tools that make no sense to me. An egg separator (especially this one) seems unnecessary. There’s a garlic press in my drawer, but I find it easier just to chop garlic with a knife, and I don’t see why the pieces have to be so small. And a countertop steamer seems crazy when you can just use a pot on the stove.

And then there are the truly bizarre. How about pizza scissors? Or finger food utensils?  Or a banana slicer!

I’m a simple guy. I don’t need a whole lot of fancy tools – though I like them, and I do dream of a nice gas stove. What I do need are a few simple things to get my job done. Number one: a good sharp chef’s knife. The knife itself is my favourite tool, but the sharpness is a little more difficult. So my favourite kitchen tool, if I had one, would be my very own knife sharpener. I’m not talking about a honing steel here, but an actual sharpener, so I don’t have to bring my favourite knife into the kitchen store every few months.

But I can’t finish without mentioning the kitchen tool closest to my heart: the wooden spoon. I have nothing more to say about the humble wooden spoon except that it makes me very happy every time I grab one to stir the onions as they saute in my pan.

Opinion # 2 By Stephanie Dickison

I think at one point in my career as a food-obsessive, I had a single purpose gadget for everything.  Though I never succumbed to the dreaded pasta maker and I’ve never had the storage or counter space to own a food processer, I have had at various times:

- a melon baller

- an avocado slicer

- a strawberry huller

- a papaya seeder

Most of these were thoughtful gifts from friends and family and not all of them ended up at the back of the cupboard.

And while there are a ton of gadgets I would love to have (—–), there are 2 that have remained, for well over a decade now, indispensible for me.

The Mini Chopper

My Mom bought this for me one Christmas or birthday from a list that she’d asked me to provide.  At one point, it did seem like I had every kitchen appliance and ingredient, so it’s no wonder she couldn’t keep track.

She bought this little wonder at Wal-Mart, I think for either 9.99 or 14.99 and honestly, it is fantastic.

It is like a mini food processor, which is perfect for me as I still don’t have the counter or cupboard space for the real deal.  And for such a little thing, it whops a punch.  I make everything from homemade breadcrumbs for making chicken parmigiana for my fella; blending together avocado, lime, cilantro and whatever else I have on hand for amazingly smooth guacamole; and mixing eggs, green onions, herbs de provence and various cheese for a silky, sexy quiche.

Really, I could be using it for pretty much every meal that I make, but I like to use it only occasionally so that I don’t take it for granted.

I like it that much.

Hand Blender

A guy I used to work with and who I swore was gay but was not as he was always trying to kiss me gave me a Braun hand blender in 1991.

This guy knew that I loved to cook and back then, I was just starting to do catering on my own and I guess this was his way of supporting me, while hanging around in case I needed someone to make out with. Weird.

I still have it and use it to make luxurious, yet ridiculously easy homemade soups.  The white body has turning to a masking tape beige and there is a small crack in the base, but otherwise it is still trucking along.

The best thing about it is that no matter what the ingredients (or often in my case, the leftovers) are, blended with some water, spices and a whole lotta love, it creates an incredibly comforting soup.

I know you can do way more with it than that, but for me, it’s been helping me create some really memorable soups since 1991.

I couldn’t ask for anything more.

I don’t know what happened to that guy other than he married and had kids.  Wherever he is, I can’t imagine that he would believe what an everlasting gift it’s been.

Chew on This: What dish would you like to make, but never have?

Opinion # 1 By Chris Garbutt

One of my favourite things to do is to hunt down really difficult recipes with unusual ingredients and try to make them work. The dish that makes me most proud is from Charlie Trotter’s Kitchen Sessions book – layered scallop and Portobello mushrooms wrapped in phyllo. So yummy, so tricky, so satisfying to finish and eat! I don’t do this kind of thing as often as I’d like, but when I do, I learn more about cooking (and myself as a cook) than I have from any class, tv show or cookbook.

So the answer to this question is: Many many things! I’d like to cook more Asian food, whether it’s Chinese, Thai, Indian or Malay. I’d like to try to make a perfect burger – I think I’ve made some good ones, but this is something I haven’t yet put the effort into. I’d like to have a vegetarian feast for friends.

But the thing I’ve always wanted to try is an authentic cassoulet, that beany, meaty peasant casserole originating from the south of France. And, to my surprise, briefly made world-famous on election night in the U.S. last November.

My favourite food is comfort food, whether that be an Irish Stew or miso soup. And cassoulet has been on my radar for years now. I’ve made versions of it with chicken, versions of it with lamb, but I’ve never really taken on the true challenge of cassoulet, a multi-step process that really requires some kind of water fowl such as duck or goose in confit, some kind of sausage, and often a meat such as pork or even mutton.

I’m not a big fan of the word authenticity, because I find that what we consider authentic usually just means “old” or “not how we do it”.

But I do think that dishes do need a measure of authenticity, and with cassoulet, I think using chicken instead of duck or goose, while sometimes delicious, is really cheating. (I think they would agree with me here)

So, my dream is to one day take a couple of days, and make the most delicious cassoulet. If it ever happens, you’re all invited.

Saveur’s cassoulet recipe

A comment on the recipe

Slate takes on the cassoulet

Opinion # 2 By Stephanie Dickison

Despite having cooked since the age of 12 or so (so a long, long time ago), I am still intimidated to cook certain dishes.

I have given it a lot of thought and think that it must be dishes that you don’t grow up with.  Things that you come to as an adult are harder to figure out, I think.  I made my first pot roast last month.  I had never had that at home, only at friend’s houses or events held in banquet halls or family restaurants.  I made my first lamb shank this past fall and have recently discovered how amazing my steaks and chicken wings are – I always thought I could never duplicate a restaurant’s quality at home.  Not so!

This said, fish, for example, I find it hard to cook right – I either under or overcook it.

There are certain dishes that either aren’t part of my usual repertoire – such as stuffed pork chops, rolled veal or lasagna, which I perceive to be very labourious despite what people tell me – or things that I’m intimidated to make – like aranici (Italian rice balls), soufflé and anything in the baking realm.  I am just not cut out for dough, I have learned from the homemade pizza incident of 2008.

I have never cooked a rabbit or boiled a lobster or even steamed an artichoke for that matter.  Not because it’s hard, but it’s just never happened.

It seems there is just so much to make and so little time.  There is much on my list that I want to make for my fella, friends, family and neighbours – cassoulet, osso bucco, beef bulgogi, pozole rojo, goulash.  It’s making me hungry just writing about this…

I find that it just takes the first time to try to make a dish and then I’m ready to do it again and again.  It’s just making that first move.

God, it’s like dating all over again.

Chew On This: What’s the most embarrassing thing we’d find in your fridge, freezer or kitchen cupboards?

Opinion # 1 By Chris Garbutt

It would be easy to talk about the small nub of goat cheese that is slowly transforming into a science experiment in the back, or the yogurt container of something, but I can’t remember what, that I’ll deal with sooner or later. But what I’m most embarrassed about in my fridge is the two-year-old cranberry sauce.

I’m not embarrassed because it’s two years old, though perhaps I should be. I’m not embarrassed because it’s cranberry sauce. I’m embarrassed because it was a gift from my mother, and I should be finished with it by now.

But. What exactly does one do with cranberry sauce when one does not have turkey in the house? Seriously. Help me here. I mean how often do we really roast a turkey at home anyway? Even if you host every holiday at your house, I’m guessing two or three times tops.

And then a turkey dinner rolls around, and are you going to serve year-old cranberry sauce to your loved ones? No, but are you going to throw away the product of your own mother’s hard work? (Okay, I know, cranberry sauce is not that hard, but it’s my mom!)

So it sits there, quite happily. It’s a big Mason jar about three-quarters full. There’s no mould, no signs of spoilage, so not even that excuse to throw it away. I have a feeling it’s going to be there forever.

Opinion # 2 By Stephanie Dickison

Of course this is completely personal and subjective, yet totally revealing because I may think that something is great, while you wouldn’t allow it entry into your home and vice versa.

I am a food lover, so there is not much that I’m embarrassed by.  There are certainly things like the copious amounts of things that are housed in my cupboards like flavoured cane sugars (espresso, lemon, vanilla bean) that would lead someone to think I have a sweet tooth, but I’m writing about it so 3 have one of every flavour.  Or the 6 assorted containers of pestos and tapenades in the fridge.  But again, I’m writing about it.

I do however, have an intense soft spot for retro diner food like hot turkey sandwiches with peas, iceberg lettuce with thousand island dressing and westerns.

On a recent trip to New York, I was outside Barney’s Department Store when I realized that I was starving.  Instead of going to the many swank restos in the area, whose food and service I had read about in glossy food magazines, I ducked into a narrow galley kitchen diner where I ate chicken salad (complete with chopped celery) on top of iceberg lettuce and garnished with a half avocado, tomatoes, pickles and olives .  A a stainless steel holder of oil and vinegar bottles and 2 packages of melba toast accompanied it.  I was in heaven and didn’t regret not having tuna tatare or stuffed quail at the restaurants on either side.

And this love of hokey things carries over to home sometimes.  But they disappear as quickly as they come in. So depending on the season or the month, you may see fish sticks, sausage rolls, sauce for sloppy joes and towering columns of canned creamed corn.  I also like hamburgers, frozen vegetables and Shake ‘n Bake’s Southern Coating Mix.

However, you will never see candy, Kraft Dinner, Wonder Bread, Aunt Jamima Syrup or those kind of fake products at my place, so it all evens out, I think.

Monday Review: A Pile of Great Cookbooks

Because it’s been so brutally cold lately, I thought you might enjoy a big, fat pile of cookbooks in which to flip through and review.  It’s as much fun planning a menu as it is creating one, don’t you think?

Books reviewed by Stephanie Dickison

Susan Mason’s Silver Service: Elegant Savannah Cuisine

Susan Mason and Barrie Scardino

There is something so spectacular about Southern cooking, but “upper crust” Southern dishes?  There are not enough words to describe my excitement.

Although I didn’t know of Ms. Mason before this, her story is an interesting one.  Her high-end catering has taken her to Savannah movie sets and catering private parties for stars.  Her personal tales are interwoven throughout the pages, along with more than 80 recipes, 100 illustrations and neat catering tips like making a tree out of strawberries.

The star stories might impress celebrity hounds but it’s the oyster stew and reetzi beetzi (rice and peas) recipes that I can’t get enough of.

There are dishes designed for dinner, garden and cocktail parties, among other things, but you’re gonna want to make these a part of your regular routine.  I’m talking about Silvia’s Chicken Pot Pie, Susan’s Tomato Pie, Seafood and Artichoke Casserole and Heywood’s Jalepeno Cornbread.

And I haven’t even told you about the desserts yet.  They are beyond belief.

Nobody Does It Better… Why French Home Cooking is Still the Best in the World

Trish Deseine

People have the impression that French cooking is extremely difficult.

It isn’t.  It just sounds that way because they say it in French.

And while there are a few techniques that might take a little trial and error on your part, it is actually a fun cuisine to tackle.

Except for the pigeon.

Pastilla Pigeon is a recipe that I won’t be making anytime soon.  Well, I will, but I’m going to make it with chicken.  I’ll even make it with rabbit.  But I just can’t do pigeon.

I hope the French will forgive me.

But things that sound all fancy like Lobster in Vanilla Butter or Crayfish Poached in White Wine are way easy to do.

I mean think about it – Crudités are just raw veggies and Endives Braisees are just braised Belgian endives.  Chances are you’ve done more exquisite things using leftovers and the sad condiments at the back of the fridge.

The book is beautifully done with exquisite photographs to entice and inspire you and the recipes are dead easy to follow.

So if you’re anything like me, stop being intimidated of French cooking and have a blast in the kitchen.

And go ahead and use pigeon.

I mean, I’ve had horse, sweetbreads and fish eyes.  How bad could it be?

The Festive Food of America

Martina Nicolis

I am fascinated by classic American food.  It is so distinct and often comforting.  So when I came across this little book, I knew it was a must-have for my cookbook shelf (plus the photos are amazing).

Yet it is not solely a book of recipes, but a look at America’s most festive occasions, festivals and holidays, so you not only learn a little history but you can make Bourbon Baked Ham on Kentucky Derby Day and Vinegar Pie for Harvest Dinner.

I know, I hadn’t heard of it either, but according to the book, “On the South Dakota praries, the Harvest Supper was an annual event for homesteaders who attended church for a rousing sermon, to give thanks for the harvest and enjoy the frontier fare contributed by the ladies of the country.”

So I am incorporating some of their holidays into my own.  This year I’ll be celebrating Mardi Gras with Oysters Creole and King’s Cake, the Shaker Strawberry Feast and Avocado Garlic Soup.

What’s that for you say?

The Gilroy Garlic Festival of course.  You’ll want to add this one to your repitoire.  But you’ll have to read about it first.  Because the first thing people will ask you when they get the invite is, “What the helcis this?”

Complete Traditional Recipe Book

Sarah Edington

This is obviously a book that you will want to keep close to you.  Like your Joy of Cooking and other cookbook basics that are stained, smeared and with pages clotted with syrups and sauces.

Books like this are meant to be used over and over, handed down through the generations.  These are meant to get dirty.

Things as basic as Fish and Chips, Country Vegetable Soup and Mayonnaise are included, but you may be stumped by a few dishes.

That’s because this is a British basics cookbook so you might not be familiar with Cock-a-Leekie or Dame Alice soup.  And what the heck is Cullen Skink you might be wondering?  Or Ashby Statutes?  I’m half British but even I don’t know what Damson Snow is!

But that’s part of the fun for me – that path of discovery of new ingredients and perhaps finding a recipe that will become a family favourite!

This book is a wonderful foray into British history but I’m working on making it a part of my present.

I’m going to make my fella Bubble and Squeak – Doesn’t that sound like fun?

I think it sounds much better than plain ol’ potatoes and cabbage.

Back to the Family: Food Tastes Better Shared with Ones You Love

Art Smith with Michael Austin

Art Smith is best known as being Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef, but with this new book, he should be commended on doing something greater – bringing comfort Southern foods to the table to share with your friends and family.

It is a touching book but it is the recipes that will have you swooning – Pickled Green Tomatoes, Breakfast Casserole with Ciabatta, Iris’ Creamy Vegetable Chicken Noodle Soup and Tomato Pie

Whole sections on grits, hotcakes, biscuits and fritters and soup as a meal!  These are the kind of recipes that I search for and not many people write about.  They are too entangled in arugula, Malpeque oysters and venison.  I mean, this man thought to include recipes for brines and aromatics.

I love that Art writes about the food that moves him, but Southern and comfort foods move me like no other.

I’m off to make Strawberry Pretzel Surprise.  Wanna come over?

Monday Review – Seriously Simple Deck

Seriously Simple Deck: 50 Recipes for Simply Delicious Meals by Diane Rossen Worthington

By Stephanie Dickison

While I am all for spending a number of hours in the kitchen, chopping and shredding, sauteing and blending, I’ve got to admit that with all this cold weather and trudging through the snow everyday, sometimes you just want to put something together quickly and hunker down with a good book or settle on the couch with a thick blanket and a movie recommended by a friend.

That’s why I love the Seriously Simple Deck.  It’s like a saving grace for those days where you don’t want to spend time flipping through your recipe books and cards.  You just want to whip something together and get on with your day.

But do not for one second think that “simple” means boring.  Oh no!  Diane has created dishes that will have your mouth watering and guests wondering how you managed such a great meal in such a short amount of time.  These are fun and modern dishes on easy-to-read cards with sumptuous photos on the back.

When thinking about dinner tonight, how about Tuna Tartare with Cucumber-Avocado Relish to start, Island-Style Braised Short Ribs with Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes and Carrots, Crispy Scallion-Potato Pancakes and Warm Chocolate Pudding Cakes?

Diane has also included recipes for “basics” such as Pistachio Pesto, Balsamic Syrup and Chipotle-Garlic Puree to name a few.  These are the most exciting basics I’ve seen in a “simple” recipe collection in a long time.

Oh, and she also manages to add wine recommendations along the way.

Diane, where have you been all of my life?

The way she is able to pull off making these seemingly sophisticated recipes in a simple manner is due to what she calls her “guiding principles.”  Diane says, “Straightforward techniques are fail-safe: High-heat roasting, broiling, grilling, braising, high-heat reduction, and immersion blending are techniques I use again and again.”

In a world where “true” cooks use slow cooking methods to bring out the taste of food, it is awfully refreshing to hear Diane’s take of making good food quickly.

I have been doing this for 20 years, but somehow I was made to feel like simple and fast meals were less than something that took hours to make.

And now I have 50 new recipes to add to my arsenal!

Let’s see, now that I have dinner all planned out for tonight, what shall I do tomorrow – Poached Salmon Nicoise or Veal Ragout with Pasta tonight?

Now deciding what to make is a true pleasure.  And dead easy to execute.

I could get used to this.

Friday 5 – Dishes to Help Keep You Warm

By Stephanie Dickison

According to the Weather Network, it feels like -24 degrees today.  Ugh.

So, I give you 5 dishes to help keep warm on this blustery day.

Enjoy!

1.  Stick to your ribs Spicy Mac ‘n Cheese

2. Nothing says hearty like Braised Short Ribs!

3. Hearty Sausage & Corn Chowder keeps ‘em coming back for more

4.  Tuscan Pot Roast – just the name makes me drool!

5.  Keep it simple, but heartywith this Farmer’s Dinner