le sauce

scene + savoured: anniversaries, reunions, recoveries

scenes of the things i've recently savoured--bites, drinks, places, tables, people.

The saffron sour at barchef, sipped with commendable control during pre-dinner cocktails, had the potential to outshine everything that came after it. (Good thing we headed to Buca afterward.) I doubt you can get a bad drink there but it's the only drink I've allowed myself to reorder from a menu that I'm still trying to exhaust. Yes, that good.

That night we were out for drinks and dinner to celebrate our anniversary. But on our actual anniversary I made James a special tapas dinner at home: a tortilla Espanol, stewed beans, cheeses and a bottle of the same Spanish wine we'd really enjoyed years ago at another anniversary. Awww.

And then, to welcome january... 

Pre-party dinner on New Year's Eve was memorable but so filling you could see on everyone's faves the unspoken fear that we might not actually make it to the party. Hotpot or swish at Swish by Han, plus too many starters and delicious cocktails made for a celebratory meal, plus there's just something about a blue-hot fire roaring on your table, you know? 

My best friend visiting from LA => old friends gathering + lots of wine + as many truffled dishes + pretty blouses + animated conversation = everything good in life.

Weekend breakfast: buckwheat pancakes with molasses (love this combo!), soy sausages, very strong black coffee and apricots. Laid out on the coffee table, enjoyed on the couch!

There were many couch meals so to get us back to the table, we lured ourselves with a simple meal dressed up with small touches. An every-herb and spinach soup with strained yogurt and spiced pumpkin seeds on top, buttery La Sauvagine and the most amazing Farmhouse Stilton cheeses (maybe my new favourite blue and quite different from regular Stilton) with seedy crackers, a creamy white wine we'd been saving and sweet and sour blood oranges for after.

And sometimes, you want an old standby--especially when you've been flat out sick. Two crazy bugs got James and then they came after me. For restoration, ginger tea, etc. To really recover, comfort in a bowl: white rice, stir-fried greens, soft-scrambled eggs (similar to these) and mugs of Jasmine tea.

the best potato chips

I mentioned Covered Bridge in a post years ago--when I came back from a trip to New Brunswick where the potato chip maker turns out kettles of fried chips not far from where the potatoes are dug up. But after returning from a recent visit, I have to go on about them again. I love these chips so much that I'm torn between whether these or those greasy chips in waxy bags from my childhood are the best chips ever. Anywhere.

Their regular chips are perfection. They taste like perfectly fried and salted super-thin potato chips--it shouldn't be hard but that's rare right off the bat. But then they have these thick cut chips that are just slightly thicker than the ones you think you want--yet that little difference means more visible skin and, oh, what that sliver of skin does for the flavour. Think of the best skin-on french fries you've ever had. It adds a touch more earthiness and potato to the bite without crossing the line to some sort of specialty potato chip. And at first glance you might think their holiday mix has some strange mix of flavour sprinkles coating them but no--that vibrant colour comes strictly from blue, red, white and yellow potatoes! Sorry to tease you with those because though CB's chips are being carried across Canada more and more, I haven't seen these anywhere outside of their little factory yet.

And I don't have to tell why I love their packaging. Having seen it now, you're probably a fan too.

a l'orange

One rainy night in October, one bright idea for dinner.

Roasted butternut squash, pureed and slightly thinned into soup.

Orange, aged cheddar, grated coarsely and sandwiched between double-side-buttered bread. And more of that cheddar pressed onto the outside as it fries to form a crust.

'Tis the season for orange, after all. Less than a week until the spookiest night of the year...

not just any kitchen

This is the kitchen of Judith Jones, legendary editor of so many great cookbooks by ground-breaking authors including Julia Child, Marcella Hazan and Madhur Jaffrey. Now at almost 90, she's still a Senior Editor and VP at Knopf and is an accomplished cook with decades of experience and wisdom in her pocket. And dozens of covetable cast iron and copper pans as you can see.

These are just a few photos from the kitch'n's tour of Judith's kitchen. It's definitely worth checking out the rest and reading writer Sara Kate's touching account of being mothered/fed/loved that day, by someone who clearly cooks with their heart.

another aunty's food

Speaking of pineapple curry, I recently got to try a special batch, made by an aunt of mine visiting from Sri Lanka. It's always a treat for me to get to eat someone else's cooking, I love to experience the way they put flavours and plates together. Eating another aunty's food is extra-special because even the dishes I'm so familiar with taste different. Where and when they add chilies, spices and milk (she adds milk to her pineapple curry, I don't to mine), how they take a fried eggplant curry in the direction of a pickle (which she did, above--my mouth waters remembering it), or decide to serve everything on a fried rice pilaf instead of saffron rice--it's a fascinating and delcious adventure for me. So, if you're just too busy to head to your aunty's this weekend, tell her I'm free for dinner.

a random bit of spinach ricotta gnudi

There is such a thing as too much ricotta. For instance, you could buy a large amount for a dinner party that needs to be postponed or, in my case, a recipe test that gets put off. When you find yourself in either situation, you could always do as I did: thaw a package of frozen spinach and squeeze as much liquid out as possible. Mix it, the ricotta, two egg yolks, some seasoning (salt, pepper and a little nutmeg is traditional) and a little flour together. Take a tablespoon of your mixture and using floured hands, roll them into little, logs (imperfect ones are just fine), drop them into a small bowl of flour to keep them from sticking and place them on a baking sheet as you go.

Drop the finished batch into boiling, salted water and rescue them with a slotted spoon when they float to the top. You can transfer them into a waiting butter and sage sauce, but I prefer sauce of fried shallots swimming in olive oil spiked with lots of lemon. Your call.

ice cream at your barbecue! if you want it to be fun, that is.

If you're having a barbecue this weekend, for father's day or any other reason (as if you needed one), don't forget the ice cream! Your guests, like me, may secretly wish for it over fancier summertime desserts. I mean they will eat your berry meringue, have seconds even, smile and "mmm". But if their eyes are darting across the table all the while, it may be that they feel something is missing.

Ice cream just belongs at a barbecue, don't you think? And the trashier the better. Like store-bought double butterscotch swirl paired with pink lemonade ice cream. For instance. Ice cream cones are always welcome too. Because even though a bowl of ice cream looks lovely and is less messy, a bowl is just too serious for ice cream--see above. Plus those of us without offspring rarely treat themselves to fun, sugary cones, piled high with two scoops, dipped in sprinkles. You were going to go all out and get sprinkles too right? People may "pfft" or smirk when you serve them up, but who cares if it's too childish for them. I love them. I mean your guests may love them. Just saying.

Enjoy your weekend and your barbecues!

mushy eggs, coming up

There's this thing I remembered, when I put a hard boiled egg into my soup the other day, instead of a raw one that I usually crack into the boiling broth to cook within and thicken it...

Mushy eggs are good! 

I used to always have them as a kid, hard or soft boiled eggs added to rice and curries, or in an egg curry itself. The yolk forms the most delicious paste when it mixes with the soup or sauce and I enjoyed this bowl so much that it had me thinking up recipes that would result in, well, mushy eggs. I know, you can hardly wait, huh? I promise to come up with a better name for the recipe before I present it to you.

parsley pittu

I come from a family that likes food (understatement) and to cook, but they also love to recipe test. My aunt's at it again, pushing the ingredients in her recipe for pittu around like puddles of paint on a palette. Last time it was millet pittu, this time, parsley pittu. She loves to submit her tests to all of us for our evaluation, and she never brings pittu to us without the standard accompaniments: lunu miris and coconut milk to be heated and poured over and soak into the pillars.

It's no wonder I never want her to land on the perfect version. I try not to let that influence my feedback...

a random sip of an elderflower sidecar

The first long weekend of summer is upon us in Canada and yes, that means it's time to garden and barbeque. But it's also time to sip drinks on the patio in the sun! Provided this seemingly endless stretch of rain breaks, you can find me in my backyard this weekend sipping this elderflower sidecar. It's a CHOW recipe, and there's a comment on their site that questions the authenticity of this as a sidecar. I'm not a sidecar purist and I didn't care to debate it after I tasted it. It's delicious, floral and speaking as someone who prefers a bitter cocktail, it's not too sweet at all.

My bottle of elderflower liqueur was smuggled in from the US last year, but for those for those of you in Toronto, the LCBO finally carries St. Germain now. I highly recommend grabbing a bottle, it's worth it just for its looks. Aside from cocktails like this, it's nice sipped on its own and a splash at the bottom of sparkling wine is an easy apéritif.    

Elderflower Sidecar 
Via CHOW

1 part Cointreau or other orange-flavored liqueur
1 part freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 parts brandy
3 parts St-Germain* elderflower liqueur
Ice

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously and strain over fresh ice into a chilled cocktail glass. Serve.