Beer Battered Sole with Sweet Potato Fries

Hi everyone,
Although this is usually the busiest time of year, I had no idea just how busy we would be. Christie has been busy working 6 day weeks, and Ive been, well, busy cooking and apparently not posting. I know, bad Ian. Since I have last posted, I have baked my first ever batch of cookies from scratch, co-baked/decorated nearly 50 cupcakes for the cupcake cake, roasted everything from pork to blade roasts to two more turkeys, including a whopping 20lb bird for which I tried out a whole new approach, though of course after a really long day of cooking and running around, I somehow forgot to take any pictures of the Bird out of the oven.

One really fun thing I have been doing is a weekly get together with my mother. At least one day a week we get get together and I cook something up for her. One fine afternoon, while a blizzard whipped about outside, my mother taught me how to cook pork's feet, not something for everyone, but I learned (to my relief) that the hoof isn't used, and its actually the leg that is used.

It was at one of these weekly get together that I had decided to revisit a fish & chips recipe that I had really enjoyed

This time around, I switched out Halibut with Sole, a nice, light and inexpensive alternative, as well as switching the russet potatoes out for sweet potato fries, and Ive got to say, I actually preferred this dish over the original.

For the recipe, please view the original posting HERE
and just remember to switch out the Halibut for Sole, and Russet Potato for Sweet (approx 1 sweet potato peeled and cut into 1/4 in fries lenghtwise along the potatos)

Enjoy!

Jam Swap

Hello everyone, Ian here!
Do you like jam? I like jam, alot. Unfortunately the most common kinds involve strawberries, and as I am allergic to them, I am usually scared to eat any red jams haha. So when Aimee from Under the High Chair extended an invitation to Christie and I to attend and participate in her annual Jam Swap event, we were, to say the least, very excited. The requirements were simple enough, make Jam, bring said jam, and exchange said jam with others at a fun get together. Sounds simple enough? Yes, though quite quickly afterwards, Christie and I realized that neither of us had ever made any jam.

Our first idea was to make batches of Christies homemade chocolate & hazelnut spread, though we realized that the sterilization and jarring process was going to be 50% of the challenge of making a jam. After a nice weekend visit to the Atwater market that weekend, we decided to change the original plan once we laid our eyes on some local cranberries. Neither of us had any idea that cranberries were produced locally, and were quite happy to discover that there were abundant amounts apparently. Christie and I have been doing our best to select as many locally grown/produced food products as possible, thus using local cranberries made far more sense to us than imported chocolate and hazelnuts.

Cranberries chosen, Christie and I settled on her classic Cranberry and Port sauce, which, although technically not a jam, was acceptable as the Jams were varied from classic fruit jams, to delicious salsas, mmmmmmmmm (can you tell that I loved the salsa?). Making the sauce itself was alot of fun, as we had never made that much of it before. The jarring process seemed intimidating at first, and our first test attempt failed, though we quickly realized that this was due to a small amount of sauce being found on the rim of the jar when we screwed the lid on before the boiling process. Once we had found that out, each batch went swimmingly.

Needless to say, the jam swap went really well, there were so many absolutely delicious creations there, with my favorite easily being one of Aimee's amazing pumpkin preserves. If you ever have the chance to try this, jump on it, you wont regret it. Christie made sure to get me some, and I am hoarding the stuff.

On a side note, please take a moment to visit Aimee's wonderful website (link at the bottom of this posting), you really wont regret it.

Thank you very much again from Christie and I to you and your family Aimee for the wonderful hospitality! Hope everyone enjoys the photos as much as we all had fun at this event.

Ian



























Under the Highchair

Creme Brulee

Yay, we made crème brulee for the BB's!

It was actually really simple and fast although in the end we were a little disappointed. Our "crème" was really eggie and Ian called it sweet scrambled eggs. Not something you particularly want to hear eh!

I wasn't sure how to caramelize the sugar because we didn't have a torch For days I searched all around the web and stores for a reasonably priced one but couldn't find any. Then when I had finally given up, one went on sale at good 'ol Canadian Tire so I asked someone to pick it up for me today. The moment I step into the house I opened the box to check out my new contraption and of course it needed butane.
Sigh, so my new gadget is still in the box and we had to experiment with the broiler. There was a little more "burning" than caramelizing but I think I have figured it out. Tomorrow I get to really go nuts with the torch on the last three brulees!

Recipe is here

Candy Apples and Halloween Parties

Happy Halloween Everyone!

For a second year running Ian and I found ourselves knee deep in 60 pounds of apples that we picked during the notorious apple season in Quebec. Lately we’ve been searching high and low for the best recipes to use up these apples, hence the past two posts! As Halloween grew nearer we figured “Hey, what else have we got in the cupboard that could accompany these apples?”

sticks…. check
sugar….check
light corn syrup… check
red food dye… check
apples… double check

And within 20 minutes, these gorgeous red candy apples were born! Yes seriously, from the beginning till the time that the first one is in your tummy there is a grand total of 20 minutes spent.

Not only are they simply delicious, but they truly do bring back memories of being four feet tall and crying until someone bought you one of those large red apples. If you have any extra apples leftover and can successfully check off the above list, give them a try, they’re worth it!



Also, this being a Happy Halloween post, here are a few pictures from a truly ghoulish Halloween party put on by our friend Marc. I’m pretty sure that when he moved into his apartment he only brought boxes full of Halloween decorations because the second we walked in we were transported to another nightmarish universe! Every single inch was decorated and the details were incredible! Ian went as a 1940’s press photographer and was able to get some amazing shots; while I was a Cigarette Girl from the 1920’s who handed out Popeye candy cigarettes.


Candy Apples
adapted from Martha Stewart

2 cups sugar
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon red food coloring
12 apples

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, water, corn syrup, and food coloring. Bring to a boil over high heat. Insert candy thermometer and continue to boil until temperature reaches between 300 degrees and 310 degrees (hard crack stage), about 10-15 minutes.
Insert a wooden stick into the top of each apple, pushing about halfway through; set aside. When mixture reaches temperature, immediately remove from heat. Working quickly, dip apples in sugar mixture until completely coated. Transfer to prepared baking sheet; allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Ian’s sweet and smoky Pork loin with baked apples & garlic mashed potatoes

Apples, apples, apples, so many apples. Christie and I have apples everywhere, and as much as I can eat apple crisp every day (really, I can, Christies apple crisp is just that good), I thought of trying out some of the apples within a main course, as opposed to a desert, just to try to mix things up.
As usual, i get to the point where I am beginning to think about recipes, and I just throw caution to the wind and fly by taste, making things up as I go along. The first image that came to my mind when I tried to conjure up images of apples in main courses was that of the cartoon image of a whole roasted pig on a giant platter with an apple stuffed in its mouth, uncovered as a master piece where the guests collectively gasp and applaud. Hmmm...first problem is getting a whole pig, and its a strange impulse buy no? Also the apple seems more symbolic that anything. Idea number 1 out of the window.
Idea 2. Pork chops with apple sauce. Okay, now this is totally doable, this is more like it, though all the walking around the neighbourhood that I have been doing lately, seeing all the brightly colour leaves on the ground, the fresh rain and the smell of fireplaces being lit for the first time was inspiring me to be a little more seasonal, a little more adventurous. Enter the Dutch oven.
I purchased a perfectly good Kitchenaid cast iron Dutch oven a few months ago at a local Canadian Tire store on sale from 100$, for 25$. Who can refuse that? My only regret is to not have picked up 2-3 more of them now. It is a quality addition to my kitchen. So, Dutch oven in hand, I had decided to add these elements of autumn to my dish. I wanted a nice, smooth smoky flavour to the pork, but I also wanted to make it nice and tender so that I could pull it apart with a fork and serve it piled up loosely. By cooking the apples along with the marinated pork within the Dutch Oven, I was able to preserve the flavours of each, and get plenty of apple juice to keep the pork nice and tender.
When I served this dish, I knew I had done well when all I could hear from the dining table was muffled mmmmm’s and pleased eating sounds. You can be sure this dish is going to be one that I will continue to make for years to come


Makes approx 4 servings (using 2 small 1lb pork tenderloins, fat cut off)
Preheat oven @ 325. Prepare the Pork marinate by combining all marinate ingredients into a bowl, mix well. Pour half of the marinate onto the Pork tenderloins and brush on until coated. Refrigerate and allow the pork to marinate for approx 6-8 hours in a closed container for optimal results, though not necessary. Place marinated pork in the Dutch oven, and pour in remaining marinate as desired.
Wash the apples thoroughly, remove stems and core for each apple. Cut apples into approx ½ inch wedges, and place in a mixing bowl. Once all apples are cut and ready, add the brown sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice as well as cinnamon and nutmeg, and toss by hand until thoroughly coated. Place apples on top of pork tenderloin in Dutch Oven and cover with lid. Place in oven for approx 2hrs, or the pork reaches the approx temp of 160degrees.
Wash, cut and peel the potatoes. Cut into 1/8 and place in a bowl of cold water for approx 10 minutes. Drain the water and gently boil the potatoes, draining once ready (when a fork can easily push through the center of a piece, they are ready). Add the butter to the pot so that the potatoes do not burn to the bottom, and add the potatoes & chopped garlic and salt. Slowly add skim (or your preferred milk, even sour crème), until desired consistency is achieved
Once pork is ready, spoon apples carefully into a serving dish, and remove pork from the dutch oven. Place the Dutch oven on a burner on medium high heat, and pour a few glugs of inexpensive whiskey ( I used a locally made whiskey) into the juices left from the pork and apples. Slowly add 1-2 teaspoons of cornstarch to help thicken, all the while whisking in order to prevent lumping. Once the sauce has thickened, remove from heat and strain to remove any lumps.
Pull pork apart with a fork (should be nice and tender from the closed Dutch oven cooking). Serve a spoonful of the apple mixture from a serving dish onto the shredded pork, and drizzle the apple whiskey gravy on top (including the garlic mashed potatoes). Enjoy

Pork Loin Marinate
• 1 cup of your favourite BBQ sauce
• 1 teaspoon of worchestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon of Louisiana style hot sauce
• 5-6 drops of liquid hickory smoke
• ½ teaspoon of celery seed
• ½ teaspoon of cumin
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Apples
• 6 large sweet apples
• 1 cup of Brown Sugar
• Juice of 1 squeezed lemon
• 2 teaspoons of cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

Garlic Mashed potatoes
• 2.5 lbs Potatoes
• ¼ stick unsalted butter
• ½ cup low fat milk
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• Salt to taste

Apple Whiskey gravy
• 3-4 glugs of inexpensive whiskey
• Pan juices (see above)

Caramel Apple Crisp

Caramel...goooooood, Apples...goooooood, Caramel+Apples+Crisp... Awesome!



This isn't the first apple crisp in this household over the past week. The first one we made was in the oven for 10 minutes before the apartment buildings fire alarm blaringly forced us out of our apartment while I freaked out trying to figure out if it was me that set it off. All I could smell was burnt apples which didn’t make me feel any better about the situation. Luckily it wasn't, but the trouble wasn’t over yet. I followed the smell down the hallway to find that my friend across the way was trying to make her first apple pie with a recipe that I had given to her.

Fortunately crisis was averted and her pie joined my apple crisp in our oven while the fire fighters were called off. By the end of the night we each had two servings of our freshly baked apple crisp and there was nothing to show for it but an empty dish to wash and some satisfied bakers!

The second time I made this crisp I ended up standing over the dish with spoon in hand at the end of the night. I was originally just going to put it away but ended up spooning bite after bite into my mouth. I finished off a good half of the dish.

The third one was made late last Friday night. My roommate Adam was leaving for Quebec City for the weekend and wanted to bring something sweet to his family. Unfortunately he didn’t mention anything about this until 12:00am so I had my pj's on and was about to crawl into bed when the idea came up. If this was any other recipe I don't think I would have done it but I couldn’t withhold this wonderful dish from anyone, and I'm glad I lost sleep over it!



So yes, this is the fourth apple crisp this week therefore Ian and I thought that we might switch it up a little. We were contemplating cranberries or pears, but no. We intended to go all the way so we stopped in at Confection Sparkles, the local (and largest in Canada) candy store where we found every different shape and kind of caramel. Deciding to keep this batch simple, we stuck to the little square caramels. When they came out of the oven I brought down one of these little ramekins to the candy connoisseur, the owner of Confection Sparkles, and we will soon know if our little addition passes the test!

Caramel Apple Crisp
Loosely adapted from Martha Stewart
Tip: use a deep 8x8 inch pyrex dish

Topping:
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
2/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

Apples:
8 apples,cored,peeled, and cut into slices or enough apples to fill your pyrex dish.
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/3 cup chopped square caramels

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In your pyrex baking dish toss apples with lemon juice, cinnamon,nutmeg,cornstartch, and sugar. In a large bowl mix together flour, caramel pieces, salt, and both sugars. Cut butter into flour until mixture is the texture of coarse meal. Add oats and squeeze mixture together to form a couple clumps. Sprinkle the topping mixture over the apples. Place baking dish on a baking sheet, and bake until golden and bubbling, 55 to 65 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before serving.

It All Started With an E-mail.... Thanksgiving in Montreal, Stuffing and Cranberry Sauce

Thanks Giving Dinner among friends... Friday Oct. 9
From: Christina Dillane (christina.dillane@live.ca)
Sent: October 2, 2009 10:39:06 PM
To: ten friends
Message:
Hello Everyone!

Ian, Adam, and I are cordially inviting you ten friends to a special Thanks Giving Dinner on Friday Oct. 9th held at my apartment! Now you know me and when it comes to food nothing will be boring and traditional!

This year I wanted to follow the Slow Food movement so we three pitched our money together to pay up the arss for an Organic Heritage Turkey. What is that you ask? Well these days 95% of the turkeys sold are from a single breed that has an unusual and unhealthy large chest (for breast meat) and is dumb as a stump. Because of this, these turkeys can't even procreate. This year we want a turkey that can have sex, so we opted for an almost extinct heritage breed of turkey that originated from Quebec and once roamed the vast frozen land with the Buffalo's.

For those of you who don't care if you turkey has enough brain power and correct weight distribution to do the deed... well I can tell you that it is supposed to taste freakin amazing. Does that help?

Because we are pouring most of our resources into this very happy turkey we were hoping that some could help out an make the sides. We need a stellar potato dish, some rockin vegetables side dishes, something with sweet potatoes, something else that I'm missing for a thanksgivin dinner but can't remember right now, and of course the pumpkin pie!
Thanks all, I'm really looking forward to next Friday!!!

-Christie












THE Stuffing
adapted from Martha Stewart

675 g Italian bread, torn into bite-size pieces
8 oz. bacon, sliced into 1-inch pieces
4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups of reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tsp. ground savoury
1 tbsp. ground sage
1 large apple cut into pieces

Leave out bread for 24 hours. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large saucepan, fry up the bacon. When browned remove from pan and add celery, shallots, and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables are softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add wine, and cook until evaporated. Transfer to a large bowl. In the bowl add the bread and eggs. When mixed through add spices and apples, then stir to combine. Mix in half of the broth, then continue to add in more just until stuffing is moistened but not wet (there should not be any liquid in the bottom of the bowl). Place stuffing in a large baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until golden, about 15 minutes more.


The Best Cranberry Sauce
adapted from Emeril Lagasse

2 cups cranberries
Juice and chopped zest of 1 orange
1/4 cup Port
1/2 cup sugar, or more if needed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon cornstarch

In a saucepan combine cranberries, orange juice and zest, port, sugar and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmering and cook until cranberries pop and are tender, stirring occasionally. In a small cup make a slurry with cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water. Whisk cornstarch mixture into cranberry sauce and cook, whisking, until sauce thickens. Taste and add more sugar, if necessary.

Variation: I couldn't find the orange I bought this year so I subbed in 1/4 cup of apple cider and it was equally as spectacular!

Italian Supper Club, the Vino

Hi everyone, Ian here again. So Christie and I had the great pleasure of being invited to Montreal's first Foodie meetup, where we got to meet and have lunch with alot of really great people. It was so much fun, and really nice to get together with poeple that are so easy to get along with, and are passionate about the same thing, food! It was a really great opportunity for all of us to not only discuss our blogs, but to also duscuss the reasons why we have all started along this path, and exchange information. I really cant wait for the next meetup, its going to be alot of fun.

For todays post, im putting up the pictures of the different types of red wine that was brought by each of the guests at a recent supper club held by Christie. To add a little something to the get together, Christie asked that each guest, or couple, brought along a bottle of their prefered red wine, as tastes and preference for red wine vary from one person to thhe next, and it seems that everyone has their own favourite kind. I hope everyone enjoys these as much as we did, unfortunately my head did not appreciate it as much the following day.... sigh...

















As a side note to all those present at the foodie meetup, I have a little something that I am putting together as I had received so many inquiries about light boxes and their uses for food photography.

Ian

Italian Supper Club continued

Hi again, Ian here!
As promised, here are some more pictures of Christies wonderful supper club get togethers. We really do have so much fun at these get togethers, and although they are very stressful in the lead up for Christie, she is thrilled once the party kicks off. There is a reason that it is pretty much the same core group of people that keep coming back to these time and time again, they cant get enough of the great food :D

For the next installment, I am going to hit everyone with a whole bunch of photos. Although food is the piece de resistance of the supper club get togethers, the company present is always great, and the Italian themed supper club was no exception. To celebrate the occasion, Christie came up with the brilliant (or was that terrible?) idea that each person attending should bring a bottle of a prefered wine. Without giving out too much ahead, there was an impressive assortment of wines that night, and I somehow, through a fog of red wine, documented each and every type! Until then :D

Ian

Italian Supper Club part 1

Hi everyone, Ian here :D
Run run run, thats all everyone has been able to do lately. It seems the more we try to get done ahead of time, the more we end up needing to get done, am I right? So this past weekend, the thankfully long, or painfully short (3 days still just isnt enough, I want more) Labour day weekend proved to be a great chance to get a few things done that I keep meaning to do, namely sleep, eat, relax, and relax some more. In between all the glorious napping and coffee sipping, I got to catch up on a mounting backlog of photos, namely some shots taken at a recent Supper Club event put on by Christie. So today, I present to you part 1 the Italian supper club. I had to break the posting up as there are just too many photos, and well, I think it will only do justice to all the planning and work that Christie puts into these events to post pictures of all her hard work. Without further ado :D

Enjoy! (but probably not as much as my taste buds did... I want more of all of this)