Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health

The first Moosewood cookbook came out in 1977. To this day, the Moosewood collective continues to put out quality vegetarian cookbooks loved by believers. The idea behind this book is that by eating more fruits, vegetables and legumes, one can live a healthier life. How this differs from any other vegetarian cookbook confuses me. The one thing I noticed was that there are nutritional values for each recipe. Does that make it more healthy? or just gives one the power to choose wisely?
Last night we cooked out of their newest offering, Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health. Here is what we cooked.

Curried Tofu and Mango Salad
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Raw "Tacos"
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Savory Asparagus and Mushroom Bread Pudding
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pecans
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Silken Tofu Pudding

People tend to be on the fence when it comes to tofu. Texture and taste, or the lack there of, are the main offenders. But as I always say, everything tastes good if it's cooked the right way. In this salad, the tofu is cooked the right way.
We used very firm tofu that was broken into large chunks and then fried in a frying pan until golden and crispy. Already sounding pretty good. Now because tofu has no distinct flavour, you have to add it. Tofu is a great vehicle for flavour. In this case, a mixture of soy and miso. Once the tofu was browned, the sauce was added and quickly tossed together. We had to be careful not to cook it too long because soy can over cook and become to salty and bitter. So a quick toss and out of the pan.
The salad part was simple. These days, Ataulfo mangoes are in season. I love these. The smooth, creamy texture and sugar sweetness is a great combo. To me, it's the best fruit in the world. Anyways, the mango was mixed with celery, red pepper and green onions. We added some spinach to bump up the salad.
The dressing had a yogurt base with madras curry powder and a touch of cumin. I used Mediterranean yogurt when the recipe called for non-fat yogurt. It may not fall into the "Healthy Cooking" concept of the book, but we only used a very small amount of the dressing. Just enough to lightly coat the salad. The cooled tofu was mixed in and there you go.
For the people that didn't like tofu, and there were a few, they loved it. Some even went so fr as to say this was the best tofu they had ever eaten. And mixed with the fresh vegetables it was a great fresh and light, but satisfying salad. The complex flavours of the curry and soy and miso balanced well. I think if you are a vegetarian, or even a non vegetarian, you would love this salad if it was served to you.

The idea of Raw Tacos fascinated me. I love making tacos, but never imagine making them raw and vegetarian.The whole idea of raw is that nothing is cooked, or brought above 115*C. It is believed that cooking the food destroys the "life force" of the ingredient and kills certain enzymes that aids in the digestion and absorption. Whether or not this is good for us, the Raw Taco was tasty to eat.
It is started off by making the "Cheese", which consisted of ground sunflower seeds, lots of herbs, soy, lemon, and olive oil. It was mixed into a sort of salsa like consistency that really did not look like "cheese".
The next part was the actual filling. In the food processor we mixed sun dried tomatoes, lots of walnuts, garlic, olive oil and more herbs. It was processed until smooth but still a bit chunky. Because it was a raw dish, we could not use the tortillas used for a typical taco. We used lettuce cups as the shell. The "cheese" was spread on first and then a spoonful of the filling.
I think it was a surprise for a lot of people. First of all, you would not even consider it a raw dish. The richness with all the nuts was, in my opinion, was more rich than adding meat. The flavours with the sun dried tomatoes, garlic and soy really made this dish exciting. The texture of the nuts gave it some crunch that made it very palatable. It was a surprise at hoe good it was. Another winner.

I have been seeing savory bread puddings an a few cookbooks lately. It's definitely a great one dish meal. With the mixture of bread, vegetables, combined with the richness of eggs and milk or cream, it's a satisfying option.
In this case, we used some seasonal asparagus and mushrooms. If you have never made bread pudding before, i highly recommend trying it out. We started by sauteing some onions and then adding the asparagus and mushrooms. It was mixed together with some multi grain bread and the eggs and milk. Baked in the oven for 20 minutes and it was done.
The meatiness of the mushrooms along with the freshness of the asparagus really balanced out this dish. The bread added a nice texture and the creamy custard kept it really moist. You would not even think you are eating "bread pudding". And it was so simple to make. This is a great base for a savory bread pudding. Mix in a number of any seasonal ingredients and make it your own.

On the side we simply prepared some roasted Brussels sprouts. The were put in a hot oven and then tossed with a lemon Dijon vinaigrette and sprinkled with crushed pecans. So simple. I love the idea of tossing roasted vegetables with a light vinaigrette and Dijon. It really brings the flavours together and balances it all out. A great side dish not only for a bread pudding , but for really anything you serve.

IN vegetarian classes, i not only like to try and incorporate tofu once or twice, but I also like to try and make a vegan dessert. IN this book, there was a dessert recipe that allowed me to do both. The Silken Chocolate Pudding incorporates silken tofu, which is a very smooth tofu with a high moisture content which gives it an almost custard like texture. It is used in many vegetarian and vegan desserts as a dairy alternative.
This Chocolate pudding pureed the silken tofu with melted chocolate, cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla and a touch of water together until smooth and rich. Portioned into small ramekins and chilled until needed. It was that easy. The pudding was amazingly smooth like a pudding should be. But when tasted, you sort of know it's vegan. The texture was rich and creamy, but it was missing the cream. It was very smooth on the tongue and did not give the creamy aftertaste a regular pudding would. But that's not to say it was a bad dish. I really liked the rich chocolate flavour and the non creamy creaminess of it. I also really liked the quickness of the recipe. As you can tell in the picture, it looks like a really good pudding. Surprise, its vegan!
I'm not too sure if people really liked it though. Most of the dishes were left half eaten. But in their defence, i gave a pretty big portion. I think it is an acquired taste and once acquired, you could easily gobble it up. Also, I think we compare it to a full cream and egg pudding. This does pale in taste to that, but if you don't compare it, it's a great dessert.

The Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for health was one of the best vegetarian cooking classes I have ever done. The combination of dishes, flavours, and cooking techniques were vast and exciting. When we first received this book, the second I opened it, it gave me good vibes. The recipes on any given page really spoke to me. These were only a few recipes we cooked, but I look forward to trying a lot more. The Moosewood Collective continue to produce some of the best vegetarian cookbooks out there, and this new one is no exception.

Next Class: Nutmeg and Custard

Gourmet Today

This is the final bow for the famous Gourmet Magazine and it's editor Ruth Reichl. Gourmet Today is a compilation of over 1000 recipes from the now defunct magazine. They claim it's an answer to today's changing tastes, with more of what people want to cook and eat today. Hence Gourmet Today.

With over 100 recipes in one book, you can imagine of hard it is to choose a menu. With so many recipes, I decided to stick with a tour around the world, in 4 recipes.
Here is what we made.

Southwestern Quinoa Salad
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Korean Pancake
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Lamb in Spicy Yogurt Sauce
with Rice and Pita
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Elvis Presley's Favorite Pound Cake

Lately I've been doing a few recipes with Quinoa. It's a seed originally from South America. The high protein content adds great nutrition to salads, soups, or side dishes. It's easy too cook and is a great vehicle to infuse flavours and mix with any ingredients you have around the kitchen.
This salad had Southwestern flavour that is very basic and simple to prepare. When it came to cooking the quinoa, i did change the preparation. The recipe called to steam it, which i have never done before. Usually I boil it, as I did this time. Boiling it eliminated using one extra piece of equipment, and I'm not to fond of washing extra things, so I boiled it. The general rule is 1 part quinoa, 2 parts liquid. After simmering for 15 minutes, I poured it onto a baking sheet to cool and dry a bit. Ready to go.
The quinoa was mixed together with typical southwestern ingredients. Tomatoes, roasted poblano chilies, corn and Queso Fresca which is a fresh Mexican style cheese. It's a little harder to find, so we altered it by adding in Geek feta. The vinaigrette was just a very simple mixture of lemon juice and olive oil.
The salad was refreshing, extremely nutritious, and satisfying. It took no time to make and everyone loved it. It would be a great dish for a large group, a light lunch to go, or a starter or side to a nice dinner. So far, we're on the right track.

Next was trip to Korea with a classic Korean Restaurant Staple, the Korean Pancake. Whenever I go for Korean food, I love to order this as a starter and share with the table. A mixture of vegetables and meats or seafood are cooked together into a large sort of pancake and dipped into a quick say based sauce. These pancakes are huge, packed with stuff, crispy and savory.
I have fond memories in Vancouver going to this Korean joint after the bars and eating for the first time this Korean pancake with a bowl full of assorted organs, stewed in kimchi with a cracked egg on top. So delicious. But my cousin Jeff didn't think so as he was passing out in the corner of the booth after too many shots of Jack Daniels...lightweight!

Anyways, The cool thing about this pancake is that it's base is not made from flour. It's a puree or dried, soaked and pureed yellow mung beans. It incorporates only a couple tablespoons of flour for binding and, in this case, shredded carrots and green onion. We fried them in a large pan until golden and crisp. Meanwhile, we made a simple dipping sauce of soy, mirin, and sugar.
The pancake it self was a bit bland, but with the sauce, it woke up. I can also suggest, if one plans to recreate it, to add assorted seafood or meats to make it more interesting. The base recipe is there. Building on it would make it even better. The texture was like it was made with all flour, and not the mung beans. A bit more dense but still having that "bready" feel. Interesting because of the lack of gluten.
The hard thing about making them so large is the flipping. The first one was a challenge. As I've never made them before, i wasn't sure how i would go about it. So, in true Julia Child fashion, the first one broke! But i made up for it with the second one. I guess in Julia's words, I just didn't have the confidence.

The main course brought us to the Middle East with the flavour combination of lamb and spiced yogurt. The lamb shoulder had to be simmered in a mixture of turmeric, cinnamon, onions and allspice topped with water. Because lamb shoulder is as tender and your leather shoe, it had to be cooked for a few hours. After about 2 hours of simmering in this liquid, we added in the yogurt and allowed to simmer another hour to thicken. I have to say, I've never had more tender lamb. The yogurt really helped break down the connective tissue in this tough piece of meat, and the spiced really were aromatic and added a beautiful, exotic taste.
This was served simply with steamed white rice and a bit of pita. The sauce mixed well with the rice and everyone loved the tenderness of the lamb. Some were concerned about the fact that the lamb was cooked in yogurt though. They thought it was a strange combo, But once tasting it, they realized it made sense. The yogurt added a slight tang to the dish that helped balance out the richness of the lamb.

I think I picked this dessert purely for it's name. I tried to do a little research as to why this pound cake would be Elvis' favorite. But I came up with nothing. So, whether it is or not, if it's good enough for the King, then it's good enough for us.
There was really nothing overly special about this pound cake, just a plain vanilla flavour. Butter, sugar, eggs and flour were mixed together and baked.
This recipe called for 3 cups of sugar, which might have been perfect for the King, but we don't want it that sweet. I cut the sugar by 1/2 a cup and it came out fine. Also, the key to this is the flour. The recipe called for cake flour which is a more finely ground flour. It gives the cake a very fine crumb and keeps it nice and spongy.
We served it with a dollop of whipped cream. It was still a bit warm which was nice.
The texture was great and the cake was moist. Make this in the summer and grill it on the BBQ with some grilled seasonal fruit and you're in business. The King would approve!

I have to give it to Gourmet. Coming up with over 100 recipes is not an easy task. In the cookbook world, we call these books "The Workhorse's". They provide you with every recipe you could ever need. Gourmet Today certainly does just this. The one problem I have with these kinds of books is that sometimes they can be a bit intimidating. Looking through it trying to find something to cook can be difficult just because there is SO much to choose from. It can make you dizzy.
Also, these huge books tend to lack a common theme. With recipes from all over the world, it's hard to create a focused menu.
But on the other hand, the variety is amazing. As with the menu tonight, we were able to taste flavours from all over.
So if you are not afraid of big books like this, and know how to read a cookbook properly, meaning focus your attention on one recipe at a time, then pick up this book. People who love Gourmet magazine love their recipes. With such a large collection in one book, Gourmet can live forever!!

Next class: Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health

Basic Japanese Cooking

I think I mentioned last night in class that if I were to eat only 1 cuisine for the rest of my life, it would be Japanese. The clean simple flavours make me feel so warm and fuzzy inside. I love the use of soy, seaweed, miso, and fresh fish. For those who have been to Japan or has experienced the Japanese culture will know what I'm talking about. It's not just the food, but the people and traditions around food. Each dish is a well thought out and precise item from a simple miso soup to a more elaborate Kaiseki meal.
We didn't get as intense as a Keiseki, but we did touch upon some of the basics.

Zaru Soba
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Okonomiyaki
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Yakitori Chicken Meatballs
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Oyako Don

The first thing we did was make Dashi. I consider this the life-blood of Japanese cooking. It is an ingredient that is in many dishes from sauces to soups and stews. The base is Kombu, which is a dried kelp, and Bonito flakes, which are dried and smoked bonito fish. A very flavourful broth that only takes about 15 minutes to make.

The first dish we made is a standard in Japanese cuisine. I have a fond memory of walking into a soba restaurant in Tokyo where the chef was cutting fresh soba noodles with a huge sword in the front window.
Here, we just buy Buckwheat soba noodles. The are prepared very simply by boiling for a short time and making a dipping sauce of dashi, soy and mirin. We garnished with some toasted nori seaweed and a bit of grated daikon radish. To eat, the noodles are picked up and dipped into the sauce and slurped away.
This "salad" is a great starter because of the clean flavours. The sauce really makes the noodles come alive.

I loved the next dish. When I was a kid, my mom used to take in Japanese Exchange students. When they cooked, this was one that they always prepared for us. I consider Okononiyaki a student food. Sort of like Kraft Dinner or instant noodles. Except this is made from scratch. It is essentially an savory pancake with a variety of fillings.
When I visited a former student of ours, Miho, in Japan she took me to a cool little lunch counter that had a flat-top grill embedded in the counter top and wrapped all the way around. You would order the okonomiyaki with what ever filling you want and they cook it directly in front of you.
We did pretty much the same thing here. We did a simple batter of flour, eggs, and dashi. We filled the pancake with the standard shredded napa cabbage and dried shrimp. At this point, one could put anything in from assorted seafood, chicken or beef. We fry it like a pancake in a pan and serve it with a couple of sauces. Traditionally, Kewpie Mayonnaise (Japanese mayo) and Tonkatsu Sauce (a sweet savory sauce) is drizzled on top along with a sprinkle of bonito flakes.
The pancake itself is rather simple in flavour, but the sauces really wakens it up. I can also imagine that with more "stuff" inside the pancake, the flavour would be more intense. It's an amazingly simple dish ready in minutes. I can see why students who have NO cooking skill can make this.

Next we did a yakitori. Yakitori joints scatter the Japanese alleyways and street. Small little restaurants with small stools and tables are usually packed late at night with beer guzzling Japanese business men looking to grab a hearty snack after work. Yakitori is pretty much meat on a stick. In this case, it was ground chicken egg, Japanese breadcrumbs and ginger. They were molded into small meatballs and skewered. We grilled them on the BBQ until brown and crispy on the outside and juicy in the middle.
Meanwhile, we made a sauce of sake, soy, sugar and mirin that was thickened with a bit of cornstarch. The sauce was brushed over the skewers and served. The char on the chicken, mixed with the sweet and salty sauce reminds me of the streets of Tokyo. A dish like this is perfect for the upcoming BBQ season. A variety of different yakitori would be great for a party.

The last dish is dish that reminds me of my teenage years in Vancouver. I've always wanted to learn to make it. If I knew it was this easy, I would have been doing it my whole life. But tonight was the first time.
I think it's the combination of the dashi, soy, sugar and egg that really makes this a savory and hearty dish. It can be made with any meat of fish that you have around. In this case, we used chicken what was cooked inside the mixture of dashi, soy and sugar. Once cooked, we cracked in a couple eggs that cooked and thickened up the sauce slightly. Served over rice, it looked just like what i had always ordered in the Japanese restaurants in Vancouver. But it tasted better, because I made it myself.

For all these recipes, i didn't change anything. I kept it pretty much by the book. The great thing about Japanese is that there are minimal ingredients so a few basic things in your pantry can put together a great Japanese meal. This book really makes it easy. Just like the Basic Thai Cooking last night, Basic Japanese cooking is great for people wanting to get into this style but wants to avoid complication. The recipes are easy to read with many pictures strewn throughout.
I'll definitely go back to this for the basics.

Next Class: Gourmet Today

Entre Cuisine et Bambini

Hi – my name’s Hilary and I’ve been working with Jonathan and Michelle for almost 2 years now and I love cookbooks. I used to work in professional kitchens as a cook but the lifestyle afforded me very little in terms of “me time.” As a former Literature major turned cook, Appetite for Books is the perfect spot for me. Starting today, I’ll be doing a book review every month. Enjoy!



Reading recipes in anything other than your mother tongue is a little daunting. Actually, reading anything in a second language can be tough. My sweet and loving boyfriend got me some French books for Christmas and I hate to admit that I have a hard time reading them. I grew up in Montreal and have spent the majority of my life here yet I am not a true Montrealaise, as they say, since my French is slightly short of spectacular. It’s always bothered me that my French isn’t “comme il faut” and I’ve decided to finally do something about it. Enter Stefano Faita and his wonderfully Italian cookbooks, written in French and bursting with deliciousness. Anyone who has ever set foot in Montreal’s Little Italy will tell you of their affinity for Qunicaillerie Dante, a kitchen supply institution cum gun store masquerading as a hardware store. Confused? I was too the first time I went in. Guns? For a second I thought I was visiting my relatives in Texas and made a mental note to hide my liberal sensibilities. Reality flooded back as I examined the Bialetti espresso carafes, Mario Batali cookware and amazingly awesome meat grinders. I get excited in these kinds of places – there is so much to see and touch and fawn over that I become paralyzed and stagger around making the staff eye me suspiciously. Hmmm…is she casing the joint? Should we bust out one of those guns?

Stefano has just published his second cookbook called “Entre Cuisine et Bambini” hot off the heels of his 2007 publication, “Entre Cuisine et Quincaillerie.” The philosophy behind his latest book is one that I subscribe to, the idea that food is about friends and family. That sharing a meal with the ones you love is the ultimate satisfaction and is really what life is all about. A new father, Faita dedicates the book to his daughter, Emilia, and what follows are a series of not only delicious but kid friendly dishes. The book doesn’t follow your traditional Table of Contents so instead of the usual appetizer, chicken, beef and fish you’ll find sections like “La famille dans la cuisine” and “L’Italie en Famille.” There’s a brunch section, a Christmas section and a bit on barbecuing. The book is chock full of Faita’s own family gatherings – those he loves laughing, cooking, eating and most of all, enjoying life. You feel as if you’ve been invited into his world, that if your approach to food was half as enthusiastic as his, your life would be that much warmer.

So back to my original thought: how easy is it to read a recipe, let alone feel inspired by it, when it’s written in anything other than your mother tongue. And with me being the mother of all Anglos – how would I react to this book? I take comfort in the fact that I am not alone in this department as many of you have assured me that you too are not totally at ease reading recipes in another language.
I gave it a try and it paid off – in spades. Enter this month’s Recipe Review, which is effectively a quick bolognaise sauce served on ziti (or gemelli, if you can’t find ziti) and garnished with diced salami and ricotta. It was the garnish that got me – that and my usual bolognaise needs at least 3 hours to cook. I’ve taken the liberty of translating it for you here but you can find the original French version at Appetite for Books.

Pasta di Giuliano

• 60ml olive oil
• 1 diced onion
• 1 minced clove of garlic
• 1 finely diced carrot
• 1 finely diced celery stalk
• 70 grams finely diced pancetta
• 600 grams ground veal
• 100 ml white wine
• 200 ml tomato puree
• salt and peper
• 400 ziti or any other short pasta – I used gemelli
• chopped parsley
• 80 grams diced salami
• 125 grams ricotta
• 60 ml parmesan



1. Heat up oil and gently cook garlic and onion a few minutes – add carrot and celery, veal and pancetta.
2. Let cook around 5 minutes or until the water from the vegetables has evaporated. Add the wine and let reduce until dry.
3. Add tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
4. Reduce heat and let cook 25 minutes.
5. Cook the pasta in lots of boiling, salted water.
6. Drain the pasta and mix with the sauce – add chopped parsley.
7. Serve in individual portions garnished with the diced salami, a spoonful of ricotta and parmesan to taste.


So many fun, fast and soul satisfying dishes that I can’t wait to unleash on my friends and family. Surely they’ll know how important they are to me after eating pizza with bacon and eggs, Italian style ribs, fried cheese sticks, grilled peppers stuffed with mozzarella and ricotta, espresso mousse.

So I invite you to expand your linguistic horizons. Put down your copy of “La Presse” and pick up one of Stefano’s books. Invite your friends over. Tell them to bring their kids, their parents, their dearly loved dog. And above all – Bon Appetit

Basic Thai Cooking

If you want to get into Asian cooking, I think Thai food is a great "gateway" cuisine.
When it comes to Asian cooking in general, be it Thai, Japanese, Chinese, or Vietnamese, it's all about the balance of sweet, salty, sour, and sometimes, hot. Once you master differentiating these flavours on our palate, you are ahead of the pack. Combine that with being familiar with some of the key Thai ingredients, you will be a master Thai chef. That's why this book, Basic Thai Cooking is a must have for beginners. Like the title says, it's a basic overview of Thai techniques and ingredients, with all your favorite dishes.
Here is what we made:

Tom Yum Goong
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Green Papaya Salad
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Duck and Pineapple Curry
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Sweet and Sour Vegetables
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Coconut Custard

When I do Thai classes I love to incorporate this soup. It's a favorite among customers and and mine. The reason I like teaching about this soup is because it incorporates most of the most common Thai herbs. It's like the one stop lesson in Thai ingredients.
It is a seafood type soup using all the Thai herbs. Lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime, tamarind, and fish sauce. We first made a simple shrimp stock by simmering the shells of the shrimp we put into the soup for 5 minutes. Then simmered all the herbs along with tomato and mushrooms. Season with some fish sauce, sugar and lime juice and it was done. I beautiful clear broth, hopping with flavour, and a great way to get the taste buds jump started.

Next is the salad. Buying green papaya may not be that easy. You would have to go to a good Asian store to pick one up. Essentially it's an unripe papaya. It has to get shredded either by cutting it or on a mandolin. If you have time, I would recommend go to Marche Hawaii on Marcel Laurin. It's a huge Asian grocery store that sells already shredded green papaya for salad. Very convenient.

The dressing was pretty cool in this. It's important that you have a mortar and pestle. Garlic and chili is mashed up to a paste, then peanuts and dried shrimp were added and mashed to a paste. Then some lime juice, fish sauce and sugar is added along with some cherry tomato. The mixture is mashed together to a paste/dressing and then mixed with the shredded papaya. It's garnished with some very fragrant Thai basil, cherry tomatoes and coriander. Very fresh and again, a well balanced salad with the fish sauce, lime and sugar. The papaya was nice and crunchy with a very mild sweetness to it. I'm not a fan of regular papaya, but green papaya is great used this way. A simple salad that is very typical Thai.

The main course was Duck and Pineapple curry. I think this was my favorite of the night. The great thing about Thai curry is it takes only 20 minutes to make. That is if you have a curry paste already made. In this case we did. I'm not really one to make curry paste from scratch. The grinding in the mortar takes a long time. I buy a good quality paste with no additives or preservatives. Everything that you would put in a proper Thai curry paste is in there. Nothing more, nothing less.
First we started by frying the paste in a bit of oil in a wok. The herbs and spices in the paste are all raw, so in order to bring out the most of it, it needs to be fried a bit. Be careful though, because it can burn and become bitter.
The paste is fried on medium heat for about 2 minutes until very aromatic. Then the coconut milk was added and brought to a simmer. At this point we begin to reduce the coconut milk in order for the milk to sort of separate. This is what gives a Thai curry it's sheen of spicy oil on top that we all love!!
The Duck used for this was from Chinatown. Chinese BBQ duck is needed. It's impossible to get the same flavours without it. Just drop by a good Chinese BBQ place and pick one up. It's what makes the dish. It was chopped and added to the sauce, along with some chicken stock, kaffir lime and the pineapple. After simmering for 15 minutes it was done. Seasoned with fish sauce, lime, and sugar, and Thai basil to finish. We served this on rice and it was so great. There was a HUGE bowl of it and we finished off every drop.

The vegetables on the side were very simple. Peppers, cucumber, pineapple onion and garlic were tossed with a sweet and sour mixture of tamarind, sweet chili sauce and fish sauce. A very simple concoction that took no time. It's important to cook at high temperature though to ensure the vegetables warm through without releasing too much liquid which results in soggy veg.
I realized i don't have a picture, but it was colourful and really tied together well with the curry.

Finally, the dessert. I'm not a fan of Asian desserts in general. I find them either way too gelatinous or heavy. This steamed coconut pudding seemed like it could be OK, but it reassured me, Asian desserts are not the greatest.
3 ingredients. Coconut milk, sugar, eggs. Whisk them together and steam. The recipe said 30 minutes, but it took only 15. It tasted like steamed egg with a little sweet coconut. Not my thing. Maybe with a little more sugar and less egg, this could work. But if you follow this recipe, it's not the greatest. That recipe needs some work.

so to sum up, Basic Thai Cooking is just that, basic Thai cooking. It has all the favorites people love. They use simple techniques and flavours. Nothing overly complicated and there are a lot of pictures to compliment each recipe. For those wanting to start off cooking some Thai, this is the book for you.

Next Class: Basic Japanese Cooking

How to Roast a Lamb

Michael Psilakis' new book "How to Roast a Lamb" is not really about lamb. Eventhough there are a few great lamb recipes in the book, it;s more about his Greek heritage and the wonderful food that he was brought up with.
You don't really come across too many good Greek cookbooks that often. Recently, a great book by Phaidon called "Vefa's Kitchen" came out that was traditional recipes. Claimed to be the bible of greek food. But Psilakis' book is more of a modern twist to traditional reciles, a bit more contemporary. The book is filled with family memories and the recipes that go along with them. The one thing I love about Greek food is the simplicity and freshness. Minimal ingredients, with bright ingredients ad any Mediterrainian cuisine should be like.
Here is what we cooked.

Tomato and String Bean Salad
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Shrimp with Orzo and Tomato
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Roast Leg of Lamb
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Potatoes, Olives, Capers with Anchovy Vinaigrette
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Yogurt with Quince and Almonds


First course was pretty much what it sounds like. Blanched green beans and chopped up tomatoes with some thinly sliced red onion. The one thing that really brought this dish together was the vinaigrette. The red wine and feta vinaigrette really made it. I love this greek thing with feta in a vinaigrette. The cheese soaks up the flavours of the vinegar, shallots and garlic and then tossed with the vegetables is so delicious, simple and fresh.
Of course, it is the beginning of march and I'm using hothouse tomatoes that are not the greatest. It just reminds me, along with the current nice weather, that summer is around the corner, and if using fresh local ingredients, this is the perfect salad to
showcase fresh product. Using a variety of different tomatoes in season would not only boost the colour and visual, but is a great way to utilize the different kinds we get here in Quebec.
I have NO complaints about this salad. I didn't change anything about it except I didn't have any yellow beans. It was dead simple and everyone loved it. A great quick weeknight meal. Keep with the Greek theme and add a bit of grilled fish with it. Would be a super lunch!

Next was a pasta dish. Orzo is not a really common pasta used by many people. It is a rice shaped pasta used in Italian, Greek and Turkish cooking. It is common in soups and salads, but this time, on its own with some prawns and tomatoes. We cooked it like you would cook pasta. Drained and set aside. Sauteed onion, garlic and tomatoes were cooked together and the orzo and prawns added back in. Lastly some baby spinach was tossed in and barely wilted. Finally we topped it with feta cheese and it was done. A simple pasta dish utilizing a different pasta shape that I love. Not sure if this is really that Greek, but Greek and Italian cuisine can cross over a lot and similar in many ways. I'm not complaining.

I didn't want to disappoint people and not cook lamb for this class. So I figured I would do what the book says. I taught them how to roast a lamb. Not a whole lamb though, just the leg.
We did just what the recipe called for. Butterfly the leg and stuff it. It was stuffed with a mixture of sun dried tomatoes, olives, lots of herbs, and garlic. It was pureed in the food processor and smeared all inside the lamb. It was then tied up and placed in the fridge to marinate a bit and firm up a bit. We skipped this step. I just put it into the oven. The remaining stuffing was put in the bottom of the roasting pan with a bit of water and whisked together to make a sort of sauce. The lamb was placed on a rack, seam side up, which I thought was a good idea. This way, when cooking, the marinade doesn't seep out of the lamb, it melts into the meat instead.
One problem I had with this recipe was the cooking temperature and time. The recipe said to cook it for 1 hour at 375*. I did this, for the first hour! But it was not cooked. I don't think the meat I bought was not much bigger than what the recipe called for either. So I had to bump up the temperature to 400* and I think in total, it took at least 1 hour 40 minutes. It threw my timing off. Not only that, but he mentions that the internal temperature for medium rare is 140*. I cooked to 135* because I could not wait, and it was medium well, which is fine for me. I'm not a big fan of leg of lamb at medium rare. So again, it internal temperature was off.
But besides that, The lamb tasted great. It was juicy and really flavourful with the briny herbiness of the stuffing. If you decide to make it though, watch the timing. it'll take you longer than the recipe says.
On the side we prepared an exceptionally briny vegetable dish. Potatoes with olives, capers, caperberries and Anchovy vinaigrette. The potatoes, capers and olives were placed in a saute pan and tossed together to warm. Seperatley in the food processor, i added in anchovy, shallots, lots of fresh herbs, dijon and vinegar and olive oil. It was buzzed up until smooth and then drizzled into the sauteed vegetables. It looked like a typical mediteranian dish with the capers and olives. Paired with the lamb, it was a well rounded dish.

Lastly was the dessert. There are NO desserts in this book. Lately I have come across a few books with no desserts. Is this a new trend?
Lucky there was one very traditional dessert that was there using good thick greek yogurt with quince and almonds. Due to the lack of quince this time of year, instead of cooking down and candying fresh quince, I opted for a simple bought quince jelly. The recipe also called for Jordan almonds, but i bought regular almonds. It was a simple preparation with the yogurt, quince on top, with crushed almonds. I loved this yogurt, it was mousse like with the perfect amount of sour. The Quince jelly balanced with the sweetness and the almonds gave it some crunch. A perfect end to a rather heavy meal.

I'm a big fan of this book. I could open to any page and cook that recipe. The flavours are fresh, cooking techniques are simple and the result is tasty. I think everyone enjoyed all the dishes, even though we had to wait for the lamb. But it was worth it.

Next class: Basic Thai Cooking

Salt to Taste

When people were asking about this class "Salt to Taste", the first thing asked was if I was going to use a lot of salt. Salt to Taste is not about salt. It's about basic cooking techniques. The most basic skills we need in the kitchen are strewn throughout this book. It teaches recipes that are so stripped down and encourages you to built and experiment with it.
Here is what we started with.


The Escarole Soup is really simple. Stock was brought to a simmer, escarole was added along with Parmesan and seasoning, and done. Escarole is a great green to have cooked or in a salad. Sort of like in between butter lettuce and romaine. It has a nice crunch and a very mild bitterness sometimes. Very clean, refreshing and a great light started. I loved that it was very quick to make. The key is a good rich chicken stock. We were chatting while we ate this on ways we can build on this recipe. Whisking in some egg like a Stracciatella was one idea. Another was adding in tortellini or ravioli would work as well. Other vegetables or legumes.
I don't have a picture because I forgot. Sorry. All you have to imagine is wilted escarole in a broth. Easy.

Next was another starter recipe. The most basic of tomato sauce with spaghetti. Onions, garlic, pepper flakes and cherry tomatoes. No other liquid was added. The cherry tomatoes slowly cooked and released all their juices. After about 10 minutes, the cherry tomatoes created their on sauce. Meanwhile we chopped up some parsley, lemon zest and garlic to make a gremolata.
The Spaghetti was tossed with the sauce and the gremolata sprinkled on top. I have to admit, I was a bit generous with the pepper flakes. But the good thing was the gremolata cut the spice with the fresh parsley and lemon. A quick pasta that like the soup, was simple to make, few ingredients cooked the right way, and satisfying.

The Main was a bit more complicated compared to the first 2 courses. In the past, I've had a lot of bad luck with braised duck legs in class. The recipes NEVER tell you to cook them long enough. Case and point with this recipe. Maybe it's the duck legs we get here, but they never cook in the time the recipe says. These legs are cooked in wine, stock, aromatic vegetables, and olives. It's important to sear the legs first and brown the skin to give it some colour. They were submerged in the liquid and braised in the oven. The recipe said a total of 1 1/2 hours at 325. But if I had not put the temperature up, they would still be like rubber. The legs came out JUST done. I think it could have used another 30 minutes at least, but due to time constraints, we had to take it out. Luckily they were tender enough and everyone enjoyed them.
We served it with some simply sauteed rapini with garlic. A classic Italian preparation that is a great way to cook rapini. The rapini is blanched in salted water for a couple minutes then shocked in cold water. Garlic is then browned in olive oil and the rapini is added to warm up. This was a bed for the braised duck leg. The flavours were definitely there. The rick duck with the sauce was amazing. A great alternative to confit, as duck legs usually are. The green vegetables were a perfect match as they made the dish as a whole more fresh and light.
I would recommend if you like confit duck but don't want to confit at home, attempt to braise them in wine and stock. But whatever recipe you follow, allow more time to cook. Take it from me.

The final dish was dessert. I read the recipe and I knew something was wrong with it right away. But I decided to make it anyways because 1) there are not a lot to choose from in the dessert department and 2) I wanted to see if it I was right in thinking it wouldn't work.
I was right, it didn't work.
This Panna Cotta is simply cream, buttermilk, sugar, and gelatin. The author mentioned infusing it with a multiple of things, so I opted for chocolate. Everything was heated in a pot and poured into small ramekins. Set to chill in the fridge for a few ours and it should be done. This was not the case. The recipe called for a mere 1 tsp of gelatin for 3 cups of liquid. No way would it set with that little gelatin. I had even put in a bit more gelatin to try to compensate. I didn't want to make this and not have it work so no one would have dessert. But even when I put 50% more gelatin in it, it still didn't set totally. It was still runny. So this recipe is a dud. It totally doesn't work.
Also, one customer mentioned it was a bit too buttermilky for his liking. I could definitely smell the buttermilk. So if you're not a buttermilk fan, the recipe said to forgo it and add all cream. So I think the next time I make Panna Cotta, the recipe will not be from this book.

The recipes we started off were very promising. The simplicity and bared down ingredients made them typical Italian style cooking. But the duck legs and desserts would not work for people using the book for the first time. So it's a 50/50 chance that the recipe will work for you. I think I'll have to try a couple more things out of this book to give it another chance. I like the concept of the book. Trying to teach home cooks is a noble cause, but when recipes don't all work, you might give them a complex!

Next Class: How to Roast a Lamb

Michael Symon's Live to Cook

There is at least one thing that Michael Symon and I have in common, We both "Live to Cook"!
Live to Cook is the Iron Chefs first book. Michael Symon is also the executive chef and owner of Cleveland's Lola and Lolita restaurants. I was able to eat at Lola earlier last year. The open kitchen, lively atmosphere, and a fresh menu is the reason why it is one of America's most sought after reservations. And if you've ever seen him, you would know that insane laugh!

Here is what we cooked:


First course is the soup. Dead simple. The key to this dish are the tomatoes. Canned San Marzano tomatoes. Well balanced, low in acid and sugars. Great for tomato sauce or a soup like this. We sauteed a bit of onion and garlic in oil, added the can of whole tomatoes, simmered a couple minutes, added heavy cream and the blue cheese and puree. Simple as that. For a little added heat, we added in some sriracha chili sauce. The blue i used was a really creamy Gorgonzola. Not to blue as I wasn't sure what people liked. But the soup was very creamy with the addition of whipping cream and the cheese. But I heard no complaints. This soup took all of 15 minutes to make.
Next time I would add a stronger blue. This soup is pretty much what it says. Spicy Tomato and Blue Cheese. Nothing more, nothing less. I really liked the idea of blending in the blue, but it's not really a "new" concept. I do like that this took no time to make. Usually I don't add cream to puree soups either. I'm thinking if you used enough cheese, that would be enough cream. I'll try it and let you know.

Second course. This was a hit. When you mention pork belly, peoples eyes light up! And when they are called pork belly croutons, people start to become hungry. I think I picked this dish for this exact reason. Pork belly croutons are ingenious. Pieces of braised pork belly that are deep fried until golden and crispy. Serve it with some frisee, pickled red onion and a perfectly poached egg and you're in heaven.
This pork belly took a while to cook. The day before I had to salt it and let it sit over night. The next day, I had to braise it for 7 hours. I find seven hours REALLY long. I cooked it for 5 and it was good. 4 would have been fine too. It was braised in aromatic veg, wine and stock. It came out super tender. It had to chill in the fridge in order to cut it into thumb size pieces to fry.
But once they were fried, they were something special. Who can say no to bacon and who can say no to deep fried anything. Put them together and you are at the mercy of the pork belly crouton!
Once put together, the salad was just like the picture. I was happy that I was able to poach the egg perfectly. Not all cooks know how to cook eggs properly. And poaching ten perfect eggs in front of 10 hungry customers is not easy. But they came out perfectly runny. Whew!

Mac and cheese with goat cheese and rosemary was the main course tonight.
A note on this dish. I use whipping cream once in a while. When desserts call for it, whipped cream as a garnish, sometimes in a sauce. But this was crazy. Most mac and cheese recipes call to make a bechamel sauce with cheese whisked in. This recipe called for 1 L of 35% cream reduced to half, infused with some rosemary, and then a lot of goat cheese whisked in. It tasted good though.
Instead of elbow macaroni, we used rigatoni. I also roasted some chicken in a hot oven and shredded it. All tossed together it was amazingly rich. The chicken was really great in it. The goat cheese really came out and gave it the typical sharp goat flavour which I love.
This recipe was pretty simple and straight forward. The only thing that takes a while is reducing the cream. It has to be done at a fairly low temperature or else it will simmer over. Other than that, it was quick.

On the side I figured we needed some sort of vegetables. It's not easy finding fresh vegetables in this book. There is a whole chapter on pickling fresh vegetables. And a lot of meat! But I picked a grilled radicchio dish that is different for a lot of people. This Italian standard is a great way to use radicchio. Usually this purple cabbage like lettuce is used in salads. But on the BBQ, grilled until charred and slightly wilted, makes a great side dish any time of year.
Radicchio can be pretty bitter. The grilling mellows it out a bit and makes it more sweet. Once grilled, it is traditionally drizzled with olive oil and we added on some orange zest and juice. The acid helped cut the creaminess of the pasta sauce. So it went well together.

I can tell Michael Symon is a real cook. There is no dessert section. So we didn't make dessert. The soup, pork belly and pasta pretty much busted every ones gut, so it was not missed. I did whip together some chocolate chip cookies earlier so they could have a little sweet after the meal.
The meal was a winner for sure. Everyone was relaxed, having a good time, and talkative. Good food and good company always makes for a great evening. we all ooed and ahhhhed over the dishes and came out. Excited about pork belly and mac and cheese. At first glance the book was not what I had hoped for. But by the end, I was sold on this book. I look forward to trying out some of the other pork belly recipes like grilled pork belly. I'll let you know how it goes.

Next class: Salt to Taste

Pasta Sfoglia

In Italian, "sfoglia" means a thin layer, as in a thin layer of pasta dough.
Pasta Sfoglia is the first book written by restauranteurs Ron and Colleen Suhanosky. Sfolia is the name of their two restaurants in New York and Nantucket and they have just reveiled all their pasta secrets!

The Menu



The first was a simple spaghetti dish with almond pesto and lemon. A great starter. Not to heavy with a refreshing hit of lemon. This pasta took all but 10 minutes to prepare. All we had to do was buzz up some almonds, garlic and enough olive oil to moisten it. We warmed up some lemon juice and olive oil in a pan, added the almond mixture, and then the cooked spaghetti, salt and pepper, and your done. How easy was that? The ricotta salata on top just gave it a bit of salty creaminess. Ricotta salata is not available everywhere. Go to a proper cheese shop and you should be able to find it there. If not, use some mozzarella.
Earlier in the day I made some fresh spaghetti. It took a couple minutes in the salted boiling water and directly from the boiling water into the sauce. THis is an important tip to you all. No need to rinse the pasta before putting it into the sauce. Leave the starch on the noodles and the sauce will stick to them.
This first course tasted very simple, with the creamyness of the almonds and the zest of the lemon, it's a great starter for a bigger meal or just a simple, light, quick weeknight meal. We're off to a great start.

Second course was something I have never done. It s reminisent of middle eastern style lamb that is cooking in yoghurt. In this case, the lamb shoulder is simmered in a mixture of white wine, stock, heavy cream, capers, onion, and garlic. It took about 3 hours in the oven to produce an amazingly tender, juicy meat that was fall off the bone. We shredded the meat directly into the liquid it was simmering in which after 3 hours of cooking in the oven, had reduced about half. The shredded lamb thickened up the sauce even more.
While the lamb was cooking, we roasted the eggplant. It was simply tossed with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, cinnamon and pepper flakes. After they were roasted in the oven for 25 minutes, they were tossed into the sauce, which was then tossed with some cooked penne.
Creamy, salty, and full of tender juicy lamb. The capers gave it real brininess that I wasn't expecting.

When I saw a picture of the third course in the book, I knew it had to be made. I've never attempted a "rotolo" before, but it seemed simple enough. I had made some fresh pasta sheets earlier in the day. The shape and thickness exactly as if you were to lake lasagna. Two sheets were over lapped by a few inches. We mad a filling of a LOT of fresh goats cheese, wilted spinach, and fresh prawns. THe filling was layed on the inside of the pasta and it was rolled into a large log, sort of like a really big cannaloni. They were cut into 2 inch sections, stood cut side up in a roasting pan, and cream poured all over it. After roasting in the oven for about 45 minutes, the pasta was cooked, the edges brown and crispy, and the stuffing creamy and light.
This was probably my favorite of the night. I really liked the crispness of the edges. And the shrimp mixed with the goats cheese was tasty. When all that cheese gets hot, it sort of puffs and feels light on the tongue, but at the same time rich. There was really nothing I didn't like about this dish. It would surely be a show stopper at any dinner party.

Lastly, I decided to do a risotto. A lot of people think risotto takes a long time and you have to sit there the whole time to stir, stir stir. Wrong! Risotto is a very quick meal and is not as time consuming as one thinks. With the proper "mise en place", risotto is done in 20 minutes.
In this case, we made a simple white risotto with sauteed zucchini, peppers and lobster. We started by sauteing some onion gently. We didn't want to colour them, just sweat them off. The rice was added and then the first liquid, wine. Once the wine is cooked into the rice, the stock is added. It is important that the stock is simmering before you add it in. This ensures the rice cooks right away and does not cool down. The stock is added gradualy as to develop the starch which gives the risotto it's nice creaminess. After about 20 minutes of gradually adding in liquid and stirring the rice, it should be done. Lastly we stir in some butter and parmesan cheese.
While the risotto was cooking, we simply sauteed some zuccini, peppers and lobster meat together in a seperate pan. It was place on top of the risotto and done. The risotto was cheesy, creamy and rich. The vegetables were fresh, crisp and full of lobster. A great combo.

I love pasta books, especially this one. There are so many new, fresh ideas coupled with some classic standards. The recipes range from dead simple to mildly complicated, but follow the basic rules for Italian cooking, freshness.

Next class: Michael Symon's Live to Cook

Simple Fresh Southern

I have to admit, I've never really cooked southern food much in my cooking career. Does BBQ count? But now, I'm well seasoned in the ways of the Southern Gentleman.
Last night we cooked out of the Lee Bro's Simple Fresh Southern cookbook. If you want to get into southern cooking, and let me tell ya, it's pretty cool and fun to cook, this is a great book to get started with. There has been a small surge in "southern" cookbooks recently with John Besh and Donald Links' books about New Orleans and Cajun cooking respectively.

Currently at the Montreal en Lumiere Festival, New Orleans is the feature city.
This is not something I planned. It is purely coinsidence that tonight we did southern cooking. Besides, the Lee bro's are from South Carolina. A totally different kind of southern.
Here is what we cooked.

Collard Green and Winter Root Soup
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Sweet Potato and Okra Fritters with Buttermilk Dip
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Easy Shrimp Creole
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Banana Pudding Parfaits

If one is to cook southern food, there are a few specific ingredients one should incorporate into the menu. Collards is one of them. We started off the evening with a soup that used collards, winter root veg, and lots of bacon.
For those who have never had collard greens before, it's very similar to kale, with a cabbage sort of vibe. It is available in good vegetable markets like Atwater or Jean Talon. It's treated the same way kale or cabbage is treated. In southern cooking, it's cooked for a really long time. And this recipe does just that. When greens are cooked a long tine, they turn a really funky green colour that really is not appealing to me. So this is the one thing I changed from this recipe. Other than that, I followed it pretty well.
We started with some slab bacon that was diced. Slowly cooked until the fat has rendered off, but not nesacerally crisp. The vegetable were added, in this case, Onion, garlic, turnip and carrot, and cooked together with the bacon. The collards were added with chicken stock, and simmered until the vegetables were soft, about 15-20 minutes. The recipe says to simmer for like 40 minutes. I'm not a big fan of cooking soups that long. Everything becomes over cooked. So I do it my way. It came out pretty good. The soup was hearty with the root veg and the collard greens, and very smokey from the bacon. A good start to this meal.

Next was one of my favorite. Probably because it was deep-fried.
Another must use ingredient in southern cooking is Okra. A lot of people have bad impressions of okra. When cooked, it lets off a gummy, starchy texture not loved by many. But when cooked properly, has a beautiful sweet flavour and crisp texture. But only when it's done right.

We started by simply grating some sweet potato and salting it. It was allowed to sit for 10 minutes then we squeezed out the excess moisture. Sweet potatoes when cooked, because of their high sugar content, tend to brown quickly without crisping up. Salting them helped draw out some of the sugar that allows them to crisp up nicely when fried. The grated potatoes were then added to the sliced okra and then a batter of eggs, cream and some flour. The mixture was stirred and then let to sit for a few minutes. Then the recipe says to stir the mixture for a full minute. This sounded kind of strange to me. The mixture before stirring was fairly thin and not at all like a runny batter or thick enough to really stick together. But once mixed for the one minute, the starch from the okra started to come out and made everything stick together. Genius!
We spooned batches of the mixture into hot oil, fried until golden, and served with a simple m=dip of buttermilk, sour cream and garlic. The dip really brought the whole dish together. The tang balanced well with the sweet potato. I'll make this again for sure.

The main was a very simple Shrimp Creole. his is a great dish for a quick weeknight meal. It's packed with flavour and can done is 20 minutes. The base of a traditional Shrimp Creole consists of onions, celery, tomatoes, peppers and spice. I also made a quick shrimp stock with the shells from the shrimp. This was added to the vegetable mixture and cooked down to the desired thickness. The shrimp were added in the last few minutes.
Traditionally served on top of rice, I decided to do out of the book and cook some grits. for those who don't know what grits is, think of polenta, but using white corn. Cheesy grits was on the menu tonight. I dove into the Lee Brothers first book, Southern Cooking. The grits were cooked with some stock for 30 minutes, then I added in some Monterey Jack cheese at the end. Served with the Shrimp Creole on top, you can't get more southern than that.
This dish was a lot easier than I had though it would be. The flavours were intense with peppers, tomatoes and shrimp.

For dessert, we put together Banana Parfaits. when I say parfait, I can't help but saying it in a southern drawl. Paaarfait!
It's sort of like making pudding. The bananas were first pureed in the food processor with sugar and lemon juice. They were placed in the fridge to chill.
The second part was the custard. Like pudding, the custard consisted of milk, sugar, eggs, cornstarch, and vanilla. It was cooked in a pot until thick and then allowed to chill in the fridge.
To assemble, there is a layer of custard, banana, some crumbled gingersnap cookies, more custard, and whipped cream whipped up with sugar and some rum.
Puree Banana is not really my thing. But I get the idea. I was sweet, tasted like I should be in Louisianna, and with a shot of Jack Daniels, hard to pass up.

Simple Fresh Southern is for the beginners. If you want to get into some light, easy southern dishes, this is for you. Not the most traditional, dirty southern cooking I had in mind, but a great stepping stone. I really enjoyed the ease of use and full colour pictures so I knew what I was supposed to be making. This book gave me a taste of the south, now I want more.

Next class: Pasta Sfoglia