Grapefruit, Lime and Ginger syrup

I've recently booked a trip to Chicago, so I've been searching for insider's tips on where to eat when I'm there. And I only JUST realized that one of my favourite blogs, Lottie + Doof, is based there. And of course, they've got the perfect cheat sheet to Chicago's restaurants, so I'm set.

They've also highlighted the souvenir I'm going to look for while I'm there: Jo Snow syrups—in flavours like Fig Vanilla Pepper, Cardamom Rosewater, Tangerine Lavender Honey—yum!

And, thank you Lottie + Doof, they provided a little try-this-at-home inspiration. Which I did, last night, and will tote this sweet Grapefruit, Lime and Ginger syrup over to the island this weekend to mix with soda water.

I found the finished product a little sweet without a nice sour, so I added the juice of one lime to the end product. I probably could have used a little less water then, but it still tastes yummy and looks pretty syrupy, so I think we're solid.

Grapefruit, Lime, and Ginger Syrup Recipe
(adapted from Lottie + Doof)

1 cup granulated sugar
zest of 1 large grapefruit
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1 lime
3/4 cup water
1-2 teaspoons of grated fresh ginger

In a bowl, rub zests into sugar to release oils. Combine sugar, water and ginger in a small pan and cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves and syrup is simmering. Remove from heat, cover and let sit for 15 minutes. Strain syrup to remove zest and ginger and allow to cool. Squeeze in lime juice. Keep in the refrigerator and use however you like.

Happy Spring with Pea Puree and Shrimp

Saturday was such a gorgeous day (warm and sunny, perfect for the 10k walk around the seawall) that I felt inspired for a Spring-like dish. Yay spring peas! Well, technically, last spring's peas, since these were frozen. But I find the organic frozen peas from Stahlbush Island Farms are sweet and tasty. Very Spring.

I modified this recipe a wee bit - originally called to sprinkle the shrimp with lemon rind, but I chose to put it right in the pea puree. And I dusted them with five spice powder before I stir fried them, since I discovered five-spice powder is incredible on shrimp, and has a slightly sweet taste that pairs well with the peas.

And bonus - the whole thing took about 15 minutes to make, with a good 5 of those minutes rediscovering my food processor and its tricky lid.

Pea Puree with Shrimp Recipe Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients
Pea Puree
2 1/4 cups shelled fresh peas (from about 2 1/4 pounds peas in pods) or frozen peas
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon (packed) fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel

Shrimp
1 tablespoon olive oil
16 uncooked large shrimp, peeled, deveined
Fine sea salt
Pinch five-spice powder

Preparation
Pea Puree
Cook peas in large pot of boiling salted water until very tender, about 4 minutes for fresh and 2 minutes for frozen. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Set 2 tablespoons peas aside for garnish. Place remaining peas in processor. Add cheese, mint leaves, butter, and garlic. Puree pea mixture, adding pea cooking liquid by tablespoonfuls if too stiff, to form light and creamy puree. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Transfer to microwave-safe bowl. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 hour ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.

Shrimp
Heat olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp and scallops with salt, five-spice powder and freshly ground black pepper. Cook shrimp until golden brown outside and just opaque in center, about 2 minutes per side.

Microwave pea puree in 15-second intervals until warm. Spoon puree into center of plates. Place 2 shrimp and 2 scallops onto each plate, arranging atop puree. Sprinkle with reserved peas from pea puree, sea salt, and pepper. Drizzle each serving with extra- virgin olive oil and serve.
Serves 4

Best Brownies Ever

First, a confession: I've only ever used a mix to make brownies. I was (note the use of past tense) under the impression that since they tasted so good, I was wasting my energy tracking down a from-scratch recipe. (And really, I had empirical evidence that it was true: my brownies sold out at my Amnesty International bake sale in grade 11. The homemade? Not so much).

But the cover of March's Bon Appetit screamed Best-Ever Brownies, and I had to admit, they looked pretty damn good. They advocate for using cocoa instead of chocolate in chocolate recipes - that the result is richer and more chocolaty. And even more controversial, they say that Dutch processed should take a pass - it's not nearly chocolaty enough.

I've made these brownies for the past three weekends for dinner parties, and I've now completely abandoned my boxed-brownie past. They're rich, moist and chewy with a good crackle top. You get an extra-rich flavour from browning the butter first.

And as far as prep time goes, it doesn't get any better: about 10 minutes all-in, and just one pot to clean up. (Even the pan is a cinch, since you bake these in a tinfoil-covered pan.) I cut back on the sugar a little, and dropped the walnuts. Because really, brownies shouldn't have walnuts.

My excuse to make them this weekend is that my friend Susan Juby is having a book launch for her first adult book, The Woefield Poultry Collective, next weekend. I've knit her a chicken, and now I've made her some brownies. I think that's a good celebration.

Given that it's a week away, I'm going to be freezing these - but according to one of my favourite bloggers, David Lebovitz, I'm only improving on the recipe. I'm looking forward to providing more empirical evidence.

Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter Recipe
Adapted from Bon Appetit

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cups sugar
3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned into cup to measure, then leveled)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, chilled
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour

Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325°F. Line 8 x 8 x 2-inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2-inch overhang. Coat foil with nonstick spray.

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, and 1⁄4 teaspoon (generous) salt. Stir to blend. Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot). Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Beat vigorously 60 strokes. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into centre comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs attached), about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Cut into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 4 brownies. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Okay, now this is quiche.

Anicka warned me that La Brasserie had redefined quiche for her. I had my doubts. But no more! This quiche was incredible, I only wish it had been twice the size. So light! So flavourful!-- without being too eggy. It contained honey-glazed parsnips (you heard me), chevre and rapini. I mean really. So this post is just meant for a little inspiration. Yummers.

Veggie Broth

This won't be the sexiest of posts, but I want record the ingredients of the veggie broth I just made because it's so good.

Everything is cut very roughly in big chunks; nothing is peeled.

1 apple
1 yam
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch celery
5-8 sprigs of thyme
1 portobello mushroom
1 bulb fennel + the arms and sprigs
3 cloves of garlic
2 tsp Maldon salt (note: 2 tsp of regular fine salt would be way too much)

I threw all of this in my biggest sauce pot and filled it up with water. Then I boiled softly for about 45 minutes. I was surprised by how much flavour the broth has! It yielded about 6 cups of broth.

Mindful Consumption 2010

Ah, one of my favourite food events of the year. Mindful consumption, a tradition we started in 2002 and have kept up nearly annually since that time. It's kind of like a potluck, but we eat one thing at a time, with each person sharing why they brought that particular food or drink and what's important to them about it, and then we eat with the intention of truly TASTING. (see this post for details on how it all works, and another example). We started out with a reading from Thich Nhat Han on Mindful Eating, which I've included at the end of this post.

This year there was 8 adults and 3 children...we went in the order posted below (on its side, oopsie can't seem to fix that at the moment). Our menu was as follows and the remnants of this are featured in the photo above:
*Buttercup squash soup
*Unsalted pistachios (most of us realized we've never really TASTED a pistachio without salt!)
*Red lentil stew
*Brown Rice (with Anita sharing some history about the importance of rice in shaping society).
*Mount Begbie's "Nasty Habit" IPA
*Homemade pickled beans, mostly local ingredients
*"Cheesy pasta"--the favourite dish of our group's 3-year old
*Homemade coconut-milk dark chocolate pudding with raspberries
*Desert Lime Tea

As usual, it was the perfect menu without any advance planning.

And here's some of us in our post-mindful meal glow (missing: Jemma, Lyris, Callum):


These are just some of the people of the "miracle"community in my life, which Thich Nhat Han refers to below :) Until next year!

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Pre-meal reading:

MINDFUL EATING (Thich Nhat Han)

Mindful eating is very pleasant. We sit beautifully. We are aware of the people that are sitting around us. We are aware of the food on our plates. This is a deep practice. Each morsel of food is an ambassador from the cosmos. When we pick up a piece of a vegetable, we look at it for half a second. We look mindfully to really recognize the piece of food, the piece of carrot or string bean. We should know that this is a piece of carrot or a string bean. We identify it with our mindfulness: "I know this is a piece of carrot. This is a piece of string bean." It only takes a fraction of a second.

When we are mindful, we recognize what we are picking up. When we put it into our mouth, we know what we are putting into our mouth. When we chew it, we know what we are chewing. It's very simple.

Some of us, while looking at a piece of carrot, can see the whole cosmos in it, can see the sunshine in it, can see the earth in it. It has come from the whole cosmos for our nourishment.

You may like to smile to it before you put it in your mouth. When you chew it, you are aware that you are chewing a piece of carrot. Don't put anything else into your mouth, like your projects, your worries, your fear, just put the carrot in.

And when you chew, chew only the carrot, not your projects or your ideas. You are capable of living in the present moment, in the here and the now. It is simple, but you need some training to just enjoy the piece of carrot. This is a miracle.

I often teach "orange meditation" to my students. We spend time sitting together, each enjoying an orange. Placing the orange on the palm of our hand, we look at it while breathing in and out, so that the orange becomes a reality. If we are not here, totally present, the orange isn't here either.

There are some people who eat an orange but don't really eat it. They eat their sorrow, fear, anger, past, and future. They are not really present, with body and mind united.

When you practice mindful breathing, you become truly present. If you are here, life is also here. The orange is the ambassador of life. When you look at the orange, you discover that it is nothing less than fruit growing, turning yellow, becoming orange, the acid becoming sugar. The orange tree took time to create this masterpiece.

When you are truly here, contemplating the orange, breathing and smiling, the orange becomes a miracle. It is enough to bring you a lot of happiness. You peel the orange, smell it, take a section, and put it in your mouth mindfully, fully aware of the juice on your tongue. This is eating an orange in mindfulness. It makes the miracle of life possible. It makes joy possible.

The other miracle is the Sangha, the community in which everyone is practicing in the same way. The woman sitting next to me is also practicing mindfulness while eating her breakfast. How wonderful! She is touching the food with mindfulness. She is enjoying every morsel of her breakfast, like me. We are brother and sister on the path of practice. From time to time we look at each other and smile. It is the smile of awareness. It proves that we are happy, that we are alive. It is not a diplomatic smile. It is a smile born from the ground of enlightenment, of happiness.

That smile has the power to heal. It can heal you and your friend. When you smile like that, the woman next to you will smile back. Before that, maybe her smile was not completely ripe. It was ninety percent ripe. If you offer her your mindful smile, you will give her the energy to smile one hundred percent.

When she is smiling, healing begins to take place in her. You are very important for her transformation and healing. That is why the presence of brothers and sisters in the practice is so important. This is also why we don't talk during breakfast. If we talk about the weather or the political situation in the Middle East, we can never say enough.

We need the silence to enjoy our own presence and the presence of our Dharma brothers and sisters. This kind of silence is very alive, powerful, nourishing, and transforming. It is not oppressive or sad. Together we can create this kind of noble silence.

Sometimes it is described as "thundering silence" because it is so powerful.

Candied Christmas Walnuts

Today my good friend Karen and I spent a snowy afternoon making batches of candied walnuts! She invited me over as her "walnut elf" to help her with all the gifts she was making. Here's what we did...for you to learn from, and for us to remember the learnings for next year :)

Ingredients:
*1 pound walnut halves
*1 cup white sugar

*2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

*1/4 teaspoon salt

* 6 tablespoons milk (which is 1/3 of a cup...we used Almond Milk for those with dairy issues).

*1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Notes: We did 10-1lb batches. Each batch filled TWO ziplock sandwich bags, so 10 lbs really gives you 20 "gift-size" portions. Do NOT double the recipe, it is finnicky enough as it is.

1. Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Spread nuts in a single layer over a baking sheet. Roast for approximately 8-10 minutes, or until the nuts start to turn brown and the smell of roasted nuts fills the kitchen.

Notes: With the worry of burning, we "underroasted", which meant great success of no ruined batches, but we probably don't have a full roasted flavour in the same way. I'm good with this as I am prone to burning, yo. Also, we took the pans out at the 4 minute mark, mixed them, and put them back in the oven to ensure evenness of roasting).

2. Stir together sugar, cinnamon, salt, and milk in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat for 8 minutes, or until the mixture reaches the soft-ball stage of 236F (113C). Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla immediately...

Notes: Forget that stir in vanilla immediately stuff! It lowered the temperature and damaged the texture (turned to powder before sticking to the walnuts). Add the vanilla along with the rest of the ingredients in the beginning.

We also noticed a larger saucepan was better so that we could work more quickly with getting the sugar mixture distributed onto the walnuts.

Oh yeah, and when the oven was on, the mixture reached softball temp quicker (more like 4 minutes!)

3. Add walnuts to sugar syrup, and stir to coat well. Spoon nuts onto waxed paper, and immediately separate nuts with a fork. Cool, and store in airtight containers.

5. Do all the dishes!! :)