Like most of you, I suspect, I sometimes fall into a rut and eat the same things over and over again. It’s just easier that way sometimes. But, this year I have decided to try cooking with a new grain every month. Sort of expand my culinary horizons. However, that goal kind of runs counter to a second goal of mine, to eat my way through my pantry, without buying any new staples.
I was inspired in this second goal by a good friend. Last time I visited her at the cottage she shared with me, that for the month of August, she was planning to empty out her pantry. On days when she had company, everyone usually gathered on the dock around 5 pm for drinks. Instead of agonizing over what to serve with drinks, she would just use whatever she found in her pantry cupboard. One day, she confessed, she opened up a can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained them and served them with a sprinkling of black pepper. Along side this she served some dried apricots she spied lounging at the back of the shelf in a plastic bag. Apparently these offerings were gobbled up quite happily with a glass of chilled Prosecco.
So here I was with the good angel on one shoulder, whispering in my ear, “Come on, clean out the pantry. You have 5 different kinds of grains here. Eat us!”. On the other shoulder I had the devil, tempting me to be wasteful and go out and seek a new grain. Most of you know I have very little willpower, so it should come as no surprise to you that I went out and bought some wheat berries. I had never cooked with them before and a recipe by Globe and Mail nutrition reporter, Leslie Beck, caught my eye.
Wheat berries are essentially whole unprocessed wheat kernels, containing all three parts of the grain (germ, bran and endosperm). Only the hull is removed. They sort of look like barley but have 75% more protein and 40% more fibre than barley. All in all, a nutritional powerhouse. Wheat berries need to be rinsed and then they are cooked in simmering water, about a 2:1 ratio, like rice. They take about 40 minutes to cook and have a wonderful nutty taste and chewy toothsome texture. I added some french green beans to the original recipe as I happened to have some wilting in my fridge!
The other ingredients are arugula, pomegranate seeds and diced red apples. The dressing is made from olive oil, cider vinegar, apple juice, maple syrup and grainy mustard.
Chewy, crunchy, tangy and sweet. And healthy too! Feel free to substitute whatever grain you have languishing on the shelf of your pantry. This would be great with Farro as well.
Warning… I’m going to rant like an old person, about the good old days, when you could count on certain things to same. When companies built things to last and when product consistency was a highly regarded value. Don’t you just hate it when companies change a product, when it was perfect already. Then they go and slap a “new and improved” label on it and when I try it, I discover that the improvement has actually made the product worse, not better. Why do they insist on tinkering with something when it isn’t broken. I am referring, specifically, to Imagine Organic Creamy Sweet Corn Soup. It used to have a mild corn flavour that I used as a base for corn chowder. I am not sure what they changed but it now has a nasty chemical aftertaste. I stopped making corn chowder after this.
But then I found a recipe in Chatelaine Magazine that uses canned cream style corn to give the soup thickness and body. I had always thought that cream style corn was corn puréed with cream, but it turns out it contains corn, water, sugar and cornstarch. It is low in fat and works beautifully to thicken a corn chowder with very little effort. The original recipe used bacon to get that smoky flavour. We keep kosher, so bacon was out of the question. For a cold winter day (like every day this winter!) I wanted to have the heaviness of a smoky soup. I decided to experiment with smoked turkey breast. I chopped up a few slices and sautéed them in some vegetable oil. Instead of onions, I opted to use leeks. Sometimes leeks can be quite sandy, so I quarter them, slice them and then soak them in a bowl of cold water.
This is one of those simple chop and dump soups. It simmers for 20 minutes and you have a thick and hearty chowder. A bowl of this is like a big hug, warm and comforting. Add a slice or two of no-knead bread and dinner is done.
I also popped in a finely diced jalapeno pepper when I was sautéing the leeks to wake things up a bit. You could use sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes for a pretty colour contrast and to up the vitamin content. Make it today, you’ll thank me.
This week I discovered something not very nice about myself. I get cranky if I don’t bake something every few days. I don’t necessarily have to eat it, I just have to bake and create something. I was feeling extra cranky on Friday so I pulled some butter out of the freezer, and already I felt a little nicer. I decided to bake something for Valentines Day. We’re not big on celebrating the holiday in our house, but as an excuse to bake, it’s a good one. I decided to bake sugar cookies in the shape if, what else, hearts! While I love the look of iced sugar cookies, I don’t love the taste. I find them too cloyingly sweet with all that royal icing.
Leaving the cookies plain just didn’t satisfy my creative needs, so I pulled out my heart cookie cutters and inspiration struck. I would cut little hearts out of the big hearts and fill them in with different coloured doughs. The tiny cookie cutters on the left are really aspic cutters, left over from my cooking school days when we had to make gross things like aspic. For those not familiar with this culinary delight, aspic is a jelly made from meat or fish stock. Often the fish one was poured into a fish mould and then decorated with little aspic shapes.
I knew I wanted to make my favourite sugar cookie dough, from Bon Appetit’s December 2000 issue. It is the only sugar cookie recipe I have seen that uses brown sugar instead of white sugar, and it gives the cookies a depth of flavour that white sugar cookies are missing. I decided to try out a new idea I recently learned from Alice Medrich in her book “Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Cookies”. Alice suggests grinding whole vanilla beans in a spice grinder and using it in place of vanilla extract. I was intrigued. Once all ground up, I have to admit it looked like something you might roll and smoke. 3/4 of a teaspoon of ground beans is the equivalent of 1 teaspoon of extract. It looked so cool in the dough, and the aroma and taste were so authentically vanilla.
I knew I wanted to have chocolate dough and some pink dough as well. The Bon Appetit recipe isn’t great for adding colouring to as the brown sugar muddies the colours. I made the Simple Sugar Cookies from my latest obsession, Karen DeMasco’s “The Craft of Baking.” I added melted bittersweet chocolate for the chocolate dough and pink paste food colouring for the pink dough. I made two versions of pink, one pale and the other shocking fuchsia .
After making the dough, I roll it out right away, between 2 sheets of parchment paper, and then chill it in the freezer for 20 minutes (or the fridge for about an hour). Then the artistry begins. I felt like I was playing with Play-Doh.
The finished cookies were just adorable and way less work (and way more delicious) than iced cookies. How could anyone feel cranky after receiving these cookies?
To print recipe for Brown Sugar Cookies, click Here.
To print recipe for Simple Sugar Cookies, click Here.
Of course, in keeping with my promise to eat healthier, we kept a few cookies to eat and packaged the rest of them up to give away. If my children are reading this, I have stashed a few away in the freezer for you when you come home!
After reading the title of this post you may have either one of two reactions. If you are a fellow bread freak you may be saying to yourself, “What?? Who is she kidding? That is so last decade. Mark Bittman wrote about Jim Layhey’s revolutionary no-knead bread in 2006! Every food blogger worth her salt has reported on this bread.” If you are not a bread freak, you may be saying, “What?? No knead bread. She’s been inhaling too much bleached bread flour. How could that be possible?” So, to the bread freaks reading this, I apologize for reporting on something you have already heard about ad nauseam. To the rest of you, I say, yes, this is possible and it’s spectacular. (sorry, couldn’t resist that link!)
Although I first heard about this no-knead bread over two years ago, I only just tried it for the first time last week. I then made it a second time, 4 days later because I just couldn’t get over how simple it was to produce such amazing bread. There are 2 major factors at play here that help create this wonderful bread. The first is mixing up a very wet dough and letting it sit, at room temperature for 18 hours. Food scientist, Harold McGee, explained it like this, to Bittman,
“It makes sense. The long, slow rise does over hours what intensive kneading does in minutes: it brings the gluten molecules into side-by-side alignment to maximize their opportunity to bind to each other and produce a strong, elastic network. The wetness of the dough is an important piece of this because the gluten molecules are more mobile in a high proportion of water, and so can move into alignment easier and faster than if the dough were stiff.”
The second major factor involved in making this bread is where Jim Lahey’s real genius comes into play. He discovered that by baking the bread in a covered preheated cast iron or enamel pot (like a Le Creuset), you mimic the steam ovens that professional bakers use to develop that crisp crackling crust so desirable on artisan breads. During my 18 month journey through the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge, I tried all sorts of methods to produce steam in my home oven. I put a pan of hot water at the bottom of the oven, I sprayed the sides of my oven wall with a plant mister during baking, I added ice cubes to the oven during the baking process and I even tried adding lava rocks to the pan of hot water, to mimic a sauna. I never did achieve that holy grail of crackling crust.
I discovered a version of the original recipe with some wheat bran added to the dough. (Chatelaine Magazine Feb. 2011 issue) I really loved the addition of the wheat bran. Truly, the only thing difficult about making this bread is remembering to start the night before you want to serve it. It had been awhile since I last baked bread so I was excited to get back to it again.
Over the past two years I have accumulated quite a bit bread making paraphernalia, so it was great to use some of it again. In Jim Lahey’s video he says to just use your hands to mix up the dough but I was excited to use my special King Arthur bread whisk again. If you plan to make lots of bread, get one of these. If not, your hands work just fine.
Once mixed, the dough will appear quite shaggy and rough-looking. That’s ok, it’s supposed to look that way. Just cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it on the counter for 18 hours. It is a big leap of faith to take, I know, but trust me, it works. After 18 hours, it will have all smoothed out and the surface will have fine bubbles on it.
In the original recipe, Jim says to just form a ball and place it on a cotton towel, cover it and let rise. Since I had a special bread rising basket in my cupboard (a banneton) I decided to use that. A banneton is woven bread mold, usually made of made of cane and is used to form and shape artisan loaves during the proofing/raising stage. The basket imprints its shape and ribbed design on the finished loaf. They can be ordered online from Brotform (U.S.) or Goldas Kitchen (Canada). You can also just line a colander with a clean cotton towel, although you won’t get the cool design on your bread.
I found it best to lightly flour the counter and then wet my hands to scrape the dough out of the bowl. I did not want to add too much more flour as the high hydration level of the dough is what gives you the big open crumb structure (ie: big holes) of the finished bread. Bread freaks aim for big holes in their finished bread. If you are at all interested in reading more about this subject and finding our why big holes are desirable, visit The Fresh Loaf’s website. A very animated discussion on this very topic has been raging for the past week. Yes, bread freaks are a strange and wonderful breed!
Once the dough is dumped out onto the counter, just fold it over itself, sort of like a business letter. Then, cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
Then you want to shape the dough into a ball.
After dough is shaped you can just place it on a floured towel and cover it with a second towel, or you can put it in a basket or colander to let it rise for about 2 hours. I heavily floured my banneton with rice flour and then dumped out the excess, and set my dough in there to rise. You will notice I put the dough in seam side up. That is because after it has risen, I will dump it into the hot pot for baking and the top (with the pinched seam) will hit the pot first and become the bottom and then my pretty ribbed design, from the basket, will become the top.
A few words about the pot to cook the dough in. Just about any covered 6-8 quart covered pot will work here. Cast iron or enameled cast iron (like Le Creuset) work very well for this job. I have also read that ceramic and Pyrex would work also, but have not tried them. These are the kind of pots I am talking about.
The pot with lid must be preheated in a 450º F oven for at least 30 minutes before baking the bread. It is a bit scary dumping the bread into the hot pot, but just wear oven mitts and dump quickly. If it goes in a bit uneven, just wiggle the pot back and forth a bit to straighten it out. It will all turn out fine.
Resist all temptation to slice the bread as soon as it comes out of the oven. It continues to cook a bit more as it cools. It will be gummy in the centre if you slice right away.
Let me begin by saying, very unapologetically, this is not a vegetarian soup! I have made this soup, for many years, with vegetable stock, and it was quite delicious. But this time I made it with homemade beef stock. This soup was savory and meaty, with a richness, fullness and complexity of flavour that I had not tasted in a very long time. I had forgotten how good soup made with homemade beef stock could taste. About 9 years ago my daughter announced she was going vegetarian. I thought it was a phase, but by year 3 I finally wised up to the fact that she meant business. As a result, I vegetarianized all my soup recipes. And I just got used to them that way. It’s amazing how you can get stuck in a culinary rut this way and not even realize it.
It was only after volunteering at a Soup Sisters event last week that I was reminded of how much I loved soup made with beef and chicken stock. I used to make chicken stock weekly and beef and veal stock once in a while. With my daughter is away at university and I decided to embrace the beef. I got some beef bones at the butcher and roasted them with aromatic vegetables until they were all golden brown. I have to admit, I sort of felt like I was cheating and as the aroma of roasting beef bones was wafting out of my oven, I worried she would come in at any moment and catch me in the act of infidelity. I simmered everything for about 5 hours, strained the broth and chilled it overnight. The next day I spooned off the hardened fat, and heated up the stock. It was gorgeous.
I found this recipe for mushroom barley soup in Gourmet magazine (a moment of silence please) many years ago (September 1998 issue). The original recipe comes from Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor Michigan. I have adapted it slightly. If you plan to make it with homemade beef stock (and I implore you to try it, just once, you’ll be hooked!) start a day ahead of time.
Just a few words about mushrooms. I had always been taught that mushrooms should never be washed under running water as they act as a sponge and will become waterlogged. I was instructed to just wipe them with a damp cloth or paper towel. What a tedious task. Well, Cook’s Illustrated has dispelled the washing myth. They did a test (of course they did, you gotta love Cook’s!) where they soaked 6 ounces of mushrooms in a bowl of water for 5 minutes. Then they drained the mushrooms and weighted them again. They only absorbed 1 1/2 teaspoons of water. So go ahead and rinse your mushrooms under cold water. I used regular brown button mushrooms (called crimini) in my soup.
Regarding dried mushrooms, they should be soaked in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Sometimes there is grit in dried mushrooms. If you want to use the flavourful soaking liquid in the soup, strain the liquid through a paper coffee filter if you don’t have any cheesecloth.
I added about a tablespoon of tomato paste to the original recipe. Tomato paste is one of the several foods that contribute to umami. Umami (pronounced oo-mommy) is known as the 5th taste. We all learned about sweet, sour, salty and bitter when we were in school. Turns out the Japanese discovered a 5th taste our tongues could recognize. They maned it umami. It is best described as a savoriness. Simply put, it just makes food taste more delicious. Other foods that contribute to umami include Parmesan Cheese, anchovies, mushrooms, soy sauce and, brace yourself, breast milk. No wonder humans crave this 5th taste!
I finished the soup off with some freshly chopped dill and parsley as well as a spoonful of sherry vinegar. I remembered making beef consommé in culinary school. It was an all day affair involving ground beef and egg whites. Really gross but kind of cool to watch it being made. We finished the consommé off with some dry sherry. I had none in the house so I tried a splash of sherry vinegar and really liked the brightness it added to the soup.
The day I decided to make this, I had no barley so I substituted farro. I really loved the chewy texture of this grain in the soup.
So this is a story about betrayal, deception and denial. But it’s not all dark and horrible. It takes place in a very bucolic setting. Take a look.
We decided to go up to our cottage last weekend. All this cold weather and snow has been starting to get to me and I figured if you can’t beat it, join it. We were joined by one of my oldest and dearest friends, and her husband. We have been friends since we were 13 years old and now that we live in different cities, we just don’t get to see each other enough. Leading up to the weekend were a flurry of phone calls and e-mails to discuss, what else, the food! She offered to bring Friday night dinner and I graciously accepted. (YAY!!)
As we were discussing menus we slipped into the obligatory January discussion about overindulgence in December. We agreed that we would not do appetizers before dinner. We always eat too much of them and then by the time dinner is over we both feel stuffed. We would, however, allow drinks before dinner. Clearly we have our priorities in order. Feeling virtuous we said goodbye and hung up. The next day, she inquired in an e-mail, “If we’re not doing hors d’oeuvre, does that mean we aren’t doing dessert either? I have a banana recipe that I really want to try out.” I shot back a reply, “Bananas are fruit. That’s allowed. I’ll do apples for Saturday night dessert .”
About an hour after we arrived at the cottage on Friday afternoon, it began to snow. Big fat fluffy snowflakes, with no wind at all. My friend said it was as if someone had turned on a tap up above and let these snowflakes fall. And they continued to fall, in their lazy steady way all weekend long. It looked like something out of a Disney movie set. We built a fire and poured out some red wine to let it breathe.
We were vigilant in our no hors d’oeuvre pledge and proceeded to dinner after a glass of wine. I sat back and relaxed as my friends served a beautiful dinner. We all cleaned up together after dinner and reminisced about when we used to rent a cottage together in the mid 80’s. It was a beautiful cottage on Lake Simcoe. The house was set high on a hill, and you had to walk down stone steps through a forest to get to the sandy beach. We spent many happy hours there sunning and listening to the Blue Jays on the radio (Those were the good old days!!).
After doing the dishes we collapsed on the couch and dessert was served. My friend brought out a banana cake. Cake??? I thought we were having fruit for dessert. So either I had been deceived or my friend was in complete denial. Either way, my brain was way too happy humming on a sugar high to care. This banana cake was better than Sarah Lee! You have to understand that this is very high praise as I grew up on Sarah Lee Banana Cake and consider it the gold standard. I feel compelled to disclose that I also grew up on TV dinners and Swanson’s Chicken pot pies. It was an idyllic childhood.
The next day, those big fat flakes of snow continued to fall. We decided to take a walk on the frozen lake. My friends strapped their snowshoes on (yes, they’re those kind of people), and I got to try out my brand new winterproof boots. We almost fell into an ice fishing hole, but aside from that, the 90 minute hike was beautiful. And I am happy to report that my feet stayed warm and dry.
When we got back, I took a shower and upon entering the living room discovered an empty bowl with a few orange crumbs clinging to the bottom of it. I licked the crumbs from the bottom of the bowl. Aaargh…Honey Barbecue Chips. Betrayal!! In her defense, my girlfriend swore they were the baked variety. After that, it was a slippery slide into Prosecco and red wine. I tried to stem the tide by bringing out edamame pods and carrot and celery sticks but it was clear at this point we were into full-scale deception and denial. I did what any self-respecting woman would do and trooped off to the kitchen to make salted caramel sauce.
To serve with the caramel sauce…Apple Fritters, from Karen DeMasco’s new book, “The Craft of Baking.”
We dipped the fritters into a cinnamon-sugar mixture and skewered them with a cinnamon stick. Salted Caramel Sauce was drizzled onto vanilla ice cream. Deception never tasted so good!
To print recipe for Salted Caramel Sauce, click here.
On the very same day that the nominations for the Academy Awards were announced, I was awarded “The Stylish Blogger Award”. Coincidence? I think not! Thanks so much to The Little Yellow Kitchen for honoring me. The two women behind this blog are just adorable. Lauren and Chrissy are recent college grads, “adding a little zest to what they do best.” They chronicle their cooking adventures from their tiny yellow kitchen. It make me happy to see young adults passionate about food. Check out their blog.
Apparently this award comes with some strings attached. Sort of reminds me of those old chain letters you used to get as a kid. In order to fulfill the duties of this prestigious award I must:
1. Make a post & link back to the person who awarded me this award.
2. Share 7 things about myself.
3. Award 10 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them they’ve won!
That’s why I love the world of blogging. It’s filled with people who are generous of spirit and want to pay it forward. It reaffirms my belief that people are good.
So, 7 things you may not already know about me:
1. I am the second of 6 children, 5 girls and 1 boy (he is the baby). My mother named me after my older sister’s favourite doll because she wanted to make sure my sister would like me when they brought me home from the hospital. (Imagine the hours in therapy I spent over that one!)
2. My sense of direction is pathetic. I am a slave to my GPS, so much so that once, when in Florida, the GPS told me to keep going straight, and even though I saw the ocean right in front of me, I was tempted to obey.
3. I once poured an entire package of Jell-O right into the electric kettle because my mother said, when the water comes to a boil, add the Jell-O. I was 12 at the time.
4. I used to hate cilantro. Now I love it.
5. I practice Iyengar yoga and can stand on my head for about 5 minutes.
6. I speak to the woman at the King Arthur order desk more often than I talk to my own mother. (Mom, call me!!)
7. I would like the words “Serenity Now”engraved on my tombstone.
Recently Discovered (well recently discovered by me) Blogs
I have a bit of a thing for online shopping. I think it harkens back to my childhood when my grandmother would send us cookies in the mail, packaged in a shoe box. There is something so exciting about a package arriving in the mail for you (even if you did send it to yourself, but then I never spring for the express shipping, so by the time it comes, I have forgotten all about it).
A few weeks ago I was ordering a book on Amazon (Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-your-mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich.). I was about to check out when those lovely folks over at Amazon wanted me to know that customers who bought” Chewy Gooey”, also bought Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson, Baked, New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco. Of course I had to look at all these books too. I could have easily clicked “add to cart” for all three of their recommendations but I exercised some restraint and just added The Craft of Baking.
I had never heard of Karen DeMasco, but when I read the little blurb, I discovered that she used to work as the pastry chef at Tom Colicchio’s Craft, Craftbar and ‘wichcraft restaurants. I still dream about the lemon tart and pistachio and coconut sorbet I ate at Craft over 3 years ago. That, and their roasted carrots still make me weak at the knees. Plus I am a huge Top Chef and Tom Colicchio fan.
I loved the premise of this cookbook. It is designed to let the reader be creative. After many of the recipes, Karen gives you ideas and tips on “varying your craft.” Great suggestions on how to make the recipe your own. Baking as a craft, not just a science. Plus, If I added this book to my order, then I would qualify for free shipping, so really I was saving money, not spending more money.
When I began reading the book I wanted to bake everything from it. The photography is gorgeous and her instructions are so detailed. I decided to start with the Sour Cherry scones. It has been a long time since I have baked scones but I love tea time. Karen had me at “sour cherry”. I order American Spoon Sour Cherry Preserves by the caseful. When I went to the supermarket to find frozen sour cherries I discovered they were sold in a 4.5 kilogram tub. I lugged the tub home and opened it up to discover that they were not individually quick frozen like blueberries. I had a solid mass of sour cherries. I used a screwdriver and hammer to chisel out a half a cup. It barely made a dent. I rinsed off the cherries to separate them, then dried them and put them on a plate and stuck them back in the freezer so they would not defrost. (Karen says if you are using frozen, don’t defrost). I hauled the tub down to my basement freezer.
After measuring out the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter, she instructs you to pop the whole mixing bowl into the freezer for 5 minutes. Then mix on low-speed to break up the butter into pebble sized pieces.
Hot out of the oven we tore into them. The top was all crunchy from the Demerara sugar and silvered almonds we sprinkled on top. However, inside they were kind of wet, not underdone but just too moist from the sour cherries. Plus, I was a little disappointed with the sour cherry flavour. They were kind of bland.
To “vary my craft”, I decided to do a second batch, using frozen wild blueberries and buttermilk instead of cream as the liquid. I also added about a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients. Do not adjust the colour on your monitor. The blueberry dough will turn purple. It’s kind of pretty. I have to say, I prefered the tang of the buttermilk over the cream on the cherry scones. I also found that the blueberry ones were not as wet inside, which I liked better. I am excited to try my hand at some savory scones with cheddar and jalapeno.
To print the recipe for Sour Cherry Almond Scones, click here.
To print the recipe for Blueberry scones, click here.
Snow, more snow, freezing rain, ice, slush. Have I mentioned that I hate winter? It’s only the middle of January and already I am sick of winter. I am also sick of yogurt, halibut, carrot and celery sticks and cantaloupe and all those other January foods I have been filling myself with. I am feeling cranky. I want pasta. I watched Rachael Ray make “Lazy Florentine Lasagna” last week and it just looked so cheesy and good. (Pet peeve here, why is her audience instructed to applaud every time she adds garlic or cheese or wine? It makes me crazy! See I told you I was cranky.) She broke up the lasagna noodles and just mixed everything together instead of layering it. I wondered if I could lighten it up just a bit so I wouldn’t undo all the good I have done so far this month in the healthy eating department. I had kamut lasagna noodles, mushrooms and spinach.
I took some of The Quickest Tomato Sauce out of the freezer and went to work. This recipe is from his Jamie at Home cookbook and I love it. Well, I just love anything about Jamie Oliver. Just ask my husband. Last summer we were in London for a wedding. One night we went to The River Cafe for dinner. When we first arrived and got out of the taxi, I noticed a group of people outside the restaurant. I watched as they were ushered to a table on the outdoor patio. As I looked more closely, I was positive I recognized one of the members of that group. Apparently my eyes grew wide, my face got a bit flushed and I was rendered speechless. I just grabbed my husband’s arm and ushered him into the restaurant.
When we got inside, I stammered to the Maitre d’, “Was that who I thought itwas?” She smiled and said, “Yes, it was Jennifer Anniston.” I replied, “What … no not her, was that Jamie Oliver?” “Oh, yes, she replied, he was with her group.” Of course most normal people would have recognized Jennifer Anniston and been excited about seeing her. I didn’t even notice her. I only had eyes for Jamie. My husband said he hasn’t seen a glow like that on my face since our wedding day. Yes, I have a bit of a crush. He is such a brilliant chef. I just love his style of cooking; unpretentious with bold flavours shining through. We ate inside and they were outside on the patio. I never did manage to get the courage to go over for a photo or autograph. It was just enough for me to see him. I had forgotten that he trained at River Café as a young chef.
This dish, inspired by Rachael and Jamie, managed to satisfy my craving for cheese and pasta and my crankiness disappeared, if only temporarily!
If you have been following along for the last few days you will know that I am struggling to come up with dried fruit desserts for my cooking class on Tu B’Shvat desserts. Dried fruit desserts are not something I am well versed in. I think I met the challenge quite well with Tu B’Shvat cake and Meneinas, but the well was running pretty dry and I really wanted to give my students a third dessert. Of course, there is always fruit compote, but come on now, that’s a cop-out.
I tried focusing on the glut of dried fruit I had purchased, in preparation for this project, but all I kept thinking was, “I want chocolate!”. And then I remembered one of my favourite cookies combined chocolate and dried cherries (and oatmeal and chopped up skor bars too). So I figured, as long as the cookie contained some dried fruit, we were ok on the Tu B’Shvat front.
This cookie is an old Martha Stewart recipe, that she got from her friend Torie. She originally called them “Torie’s Cherry Chocolate Chunk Cookies” and then somewhere along the line changed the name to “Oatmeal Toffee Cookies”. In our house, we just call them Torie Cookies. I did a little research and discovered that Torie is Torie Hallock, a real estate broker on Mount Desert island, Maine, where Martha has her famous “Skylands” house. I’m betting that Torie is a very successful broker as all she would have to do to sell a house is throw in a dozen of these cookies to seal the deal.
The original recipe called for toffee bits. They are usually sold here in Canada under the name Skor bits. I decided to chop up whole Skor bars instead so my cookies are a bit more chocolatey. I think in the US they are sold under the name Heath Bar. Whatever you call them, they are delicious. Just a few notes about ingredients. Use quick cooking or large flake oats, not instant oats. Instant oats are precooked and dried and are too fine in texture to make a good oatmeal cookie. Also, the original recipe calls for chocolate chips, but I substitute chocolate callets, which are bittersweet couverture chocolate, shaped into discs. Feel free to just use any good quality chocolate, chopped up.
