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I recently had the honour of being invited to a butchery demo in the basement of Cowbell (a very unique restaurant in Toronto). Our friend Margaret Mulligan (the fabulous photographer) was shooting the session and, along with Head Chef, Mark Cutrara, I was offered to come along. I always love the chance to explore something I haven’t seen or tried before – we only write about the experiences that we liked or loved. This was one to love. Today’s article is art 1 of 3 and is a serious comparison of a butcher, a chef and a vegetarian. All of the photos are hers. To see the entire series of posts, click here.
In the butchering process, they weigh the scraps (waste) that they cannot use. Their waste is stunningly small – a lamb had less waste than the amount of trimmings, peels and vegetable ends that we dispose of weekly.
I was thinking about that last statement and a few others. Restaurants, delis, food producers and fish mongers all find ways to reduce their waste. Less waste = profit. Less waste also equates to less overall consumption, an easier budget and a better sleep at night.
So I was chewing the proverbial fat with a vibrant discourse in my head as I filled my cart at the grocery store. Although I had many vegetables I also knew that I needed stock. I had a $4 “box” of it in my hand when an idea struck…
I realized if I cleaned all my vegetables when I got home, I could make a quick stock of my scraps. Carrot peel and tops, celery bottom (and top), the stalks of herbs, seeds from our squash, mushroom ends and so forth. Jam them in a pot, cover in water and simmer with a bay leaf.
The verdict? It’s a work in progress but a very promising one. The yield was 1.25 liters (5 cups) of golden broth – the seeds made things bitter and slightly awkward (like being a kid at a wedding – you belong with the family but don’t entirely fit in just yet).
I wouldn’t drink it on it’s own but it’s plenty flavorful to add to dishes through the week, deglaze pans and add to think mashed veggies or other soups.
Many of these vegetables took months to create – finding a way to use the parts we skip could make a small difference in so many things. It also just makes me feel great.
Fermentation is a type of preserving I have never done and have wanted to do for a long time. Traditional dill pickles, saurkraut and kosher preserves are staples of this art.
The premise is basic: let a vegetable (often pickles or cabbage) ferment in a brine of their own creation. The fermentation is visible – bubbles rise through the brining liquid. When the bubbles stop (up to 6 weeks), fermentation is done.
5 pounds of cabbage (just under 2 heads) were sliced thin before being mixed with 3 tablespoons of pickling salt. I stuffed jars with the cabbage (it is about 3 liters or 12 cups) and pressed it hard with a spoon. This causes liquid to be released from the leaves and submerges all the crunchy goodness in a natural broth. You can add a salted brine (4 cups water to 1.5 tablespoons of salt) if the liquid is sparse. The key is to ensure everything is covered with liquid. Some people find they have to weigh down the top layer to ensure nothing floats – we packed our jars tightly and things seem to be under control.
After 6 weeks we can store it in the fridge for several months or go through a separate jarring process (we’ll update the blog when we do this step). You have to bring the liquid to a boil, cook the kraut a small amount and jar like normal. There are lots of great recipes out there.
This is a super-fast and easy preserve. I am also excited (beyond belief) to try the actual results. We’re going to try several batches of fermentation before late summer when we will get into doing pickles in this style.
Today is thick and white. The entire landscape out the window is cold, stark and absolute winter. It doesn’t feel like there would be a fresh morsel of food for thousands of kilometers.
So I decided to find some inspiration for local recipes out there – here’s a few great looking ones for the heart of winter:
Butternut Squash Curry from Seasonal Ontario Food. So much to love about this – including the blog itself which focuses on recipes with at least 80% local ingredients. It’s a blog I pop over to on a semi-regular basis and find a lot of interesting ideas through.
The Vancouver Sun shares recipe ideas and a profile on soup that is fit for our Gold Medal Women’s Hockey team here. The recipes could easily be localized although I’m not sure it’s a scoop to report that the head of our hockey federation is a soup fanatic – though I did find that anecdote rather humourous.
The Montreal Gazette offers ideas for Maple-Roasted Chicken. It’s also a good reminder that syrup season (one of the first crops of the year) will be here before we know it!
Roasted Steak Sandwiches – The Intelligencer claims that this is the time if year that we’re “raring to roast.” I think they may actually be right – we could also benefit from the extra heat this morning.
The Toronto Sun has taken on Apples – apple chips, apple fries and apple sundaes. This is also my favourite time of year to preserve apple sauce and I’m a little hopeful that it will be the secret ingredient for the can jam for the month. There’s so many things to preserve in the fall and apples cellar through the winter which makes the timing prime for canning apples. My apple sauce is my Grandmother’s favourite – and fabulous with a touch of cream in a bowl.
The Toronto Star headed to Hank’s to check out their Ontario grits. apparently the results render the chef kissable. They do look fantastic.
I started this post thinking there would be a shortage of ideas based on the bleakness of the world through the window. The truth is there’s lots of ideas – and even more people sharing them. I’m feeling a step more inspired and just that much hungrier.
(The obscure reference from the title ties to the Irish Rovers – if you don’t know it, or would like a reminder – click here).
We have more readers from the US than from Canada and I thought this may be an interesting piece of perspective on our nation and the city in which I live. I should explain that we live on one of the busier streets in the city on the edge of a very social strip of town. A 3 minute walk would bring you past 8-12 restaurants and bars as well as a concert venue.
I have managed to find myself on the streets of Toronto around 7PM for the last 2 evenings. There has been an unusual amount of people walking, by themselves, with cases of beer. It’s usually a 6 or a 12-pack but they are out there and they are generally walking hurried through the cold winter night.
I have also noticed that by 8PM they are not around.
Last night I counted 10 people walking on the streets as described above between 6.30-7.15. I sat at a College Street bar for a few hours after this and while I wasn’t facing the street, frequent glances outside revealed no additional beer.
Perhaps I’m hallucinating but I draw an easy conclusion – Olympic Hockey drives behaviours across our city (and I suspect, our Country). The television support my claim – 20 million Canadians (2 out of 3) watched at least part of the game on Tuesday night. I suspect last night’s game (vs the Russians) was even higher.
I walked across College and noticed the crowds in many bars who were huddled around televisions. The bars were diverse – typical pubs, restaurants, watering holes and holes in the wall contained their tribes – all part of a bigger tribe of the Canadian Cult. It seems that hockey – and beer – are a right of passage for many Canadians these days.
A mention of beer may seem to be a very loose tie to a food post – if you could see the frequency that this pattern occurs it would be instantly clear why it’s not a loose tie at all. I’d love to know the statistics on beer sales in Canada this week.
It was supposed to be a quick, easy learning experience. Heat milk, cool it down, stir in live yogurt and put in dehydrator. Wait 4-8 hours.
Instead, I appeared to walk in quicksand. The faster I moved, the slower things got done. I actually laughed at my futility last evening and how much trouble I had bringing milk to an almost boil and then cooling it precisely. It was a great night – just not the one I had planned.
Making yogurt appears fairly simple. I am not a pro yet, but here’s what I tried based on reading a lot of stuff:
Heat 1 quart (liter) of any type of milk to a near boil. 200 degrees Ffarenheit seems optimal (some material said to boil it). Using a double boiler (the pot with milk is suspended in a slightly larger one with boiling water to avoid direct heat on the milk) will help avoid burning and require less stirring. It also slows you way down – especially if you don’t put a cover on.
Some recipes called for powdered mil at this point – it was generally optional and increased health benefit and creaminess. I did not add it.
Once your milk is at temperature, you need to lower the temp to between 110-120 degrees (no lower). You can speed this up by putting your bowl in a cold water bath to cool it down. This would have been even quicker if I had transferred it to a new bowl and used the water bath.
Preheat the dehydrator. We put ours at 115 – again having read anything from 110-120.
Add 1/4-1/2 a cup of yogurt to milk (I did this as my milk hit 130 as I didn’t want to drop under 110). The yogurt must be plain and must contain live bacteria culture – we are fermenting and creating more bacteria in this process.
Pour the entire mixture into a container. Many use plastic yogurt containers – I opted for a glass mason jar (1 liter wide mouth for easy access and cleaning)
Put in dehydrator for 4-8 hours until your desired thickness is reached. Note it will set a little more in the fridge than when warm and that it’s natural for a skin to form on the surface of your yogurt that you simply throw out.
I’ve had a taste of the warm product and it’s definitely yogurt like. I suspect I am going to be thrilled with the final product and, despite my inner turtle, this was a lot of fun and could be made very easily.
A few other tidbits:
the longer it stays in the dehydrator, the tangier it will be.
It may continue to set for several days.
You can drain the whey (the liquid) or miz it in once set.
It should last 1-2 weeks. If you are using some of this yogurt to create another batch, it is best to do so within 5-7 days.
There were a lot of yogurt nuts when we posted about thickening yogurt – any tips out there on making yogurt from your experiences?
As we mentioned last week, we have altered the rules and are allowing the use of preserves – to show that a little extra effort yields an amazing product with less cost.
This week we used our homemade turkey stock made at Christmas. We preserved it by pressure canning (you cannot use a hot water bath for any meat related products) and followed the wisdom of the National Centre for Home Food Preservation on how to handle. We made 4.5 liters with leftover carcass and a few veggies. Total cost per liter was around $0.75.
We had plenty of Ontario carrots and Onions left from the Can Jam. We bought our carrots for $0.60 a pound and onions for $0.50. We used 2 pounds of carrots and half a pound of onions.
2 tablespoons of oil, a tablespoon of curry powder and other seasoning (i.e. salt, pepper, hot peppers) is all you need for this fantastic soup. The yield is 8-10 cups (2-2.5 liters) for around $2.75. If you want to get ridiculous, add 3-4 drops (no more) of truffle oil. This could increase your cost by bout $0.20 but will be a difference you will taste (though some will not like).
It is also delicious.
The recipe:
Heat oil and soften slices of onions until they are translucent.
Toss all the curry powder in, coat the onions.
Toss in 2 pounds of cut carrots (we used the food processor for speed) and warm in the onion, curry and oil for a few minutes.
Add the stock. Simmer everything for 20-30 minutes to soften the onions. Be patient, the softer things get, the smoother your soup will become.
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend smooth (this will have to be done in 3-4 batches to get the entire thing – we did part, transferred to another pot and continues with the next bit until complete. If you don’t have a food processor, the carrots could bu mashed with a potato masher (make sure you cook hem good and soft) and start with onions that are chopped very small as they won’t be intimidated by your potato masher.
Add water to the consistency you would like. We used 2 cups and could have used 3 or 4.
We added a swirl of olive oil at the last minute for looks and taste (I didn’t mix it in when eating – left it just like you see it and got tastes of it in almost every bite).
You could substitute vegetable stock (or the more economical cubes) if you wished for different flavor/ cost/ lifestyle/ choice.
It’s Monday – time to get the brain warmed up and charged for the week ahead. Click here to do just that.
The link above ties to an online archive of one mans (Dan Godsell) collection of food packaging from the 1950s-1970s. It’s a little click-heavy but the treasures you will find are well worth it.
It’s fascinating to examine the packaging in the context of what is happening in food today. What role did early packaging play in changing our relationship to food? Do you notice that there are no health claims? After clicking 30 or 40 images I also didn’t find any claims of “easy” or “fast” though there were several options for “free toy inside.”
I remember our family going through a tzatziki phase – thickened yogurt that you added raw garlic, a squeeze of lemon, a little olive oil and grated cucumber to. Sometimes we’d go crazy and add a bit of salt or fresh dill. We ate it with everything – chicken, grilled veggies, baked potatoes.
The phase was a brief one – about 4 years.
I don’t know why we stopped. If you’ve never thickened yogurt before, now’s the perfect time to start. You can even use it as a replacement for sour cream on potatoes without adding the Mediterranean flavors above.
Line a strainer with cheese cloth. Dump yogurt onto the cheese cloth. Place over a bowl and place the entire thing in the fridge. Wait 24 hours (or less if you don’t like it uber thick).
We recently rekindled the tradition. 750 grams of yogurt (about 1.5 pounds) lost 408 gram of water. We were left with 342 grams (about a cup and a half).
It’s very easy to do and the taste is fantastic – it can also be a healthy alternative to other heavier fats and creams. We’re loving it – I’m wondering how long this phase will last…
Any other favorite uses for thickened yogurt out there?
Many of our readers are not from the Toronto area. If you`re not, you may still be interested in reading more about the unique location of this event (it`s super cool and food related) here.
We attended Seedy Saturday last year – it`s a local seed exchange and sale that can`t be beat if you are planning a garden. It is hosted bt the Toronto Community Garden Network and is a $2 or pay what you can event. You can bring your own seeds to trade or purchase envelopes f them for as low as $0.25.
It`s a busy event and you can feel the anticipation of Spring in the air. We were shocked how jam packed the event was – both with attendees, seeds and offers of great information from groups related to gardening through the building.
The event has been moved to a Sunday this year – as in tomorrow. It lasts from 12..30-6:00pm and you can get more info here. Our friend Sarah lists more information on the event on her great blog, Toronto Tasting Notes.
Sarah also mentions an event this Wednesday evening to launch a new gardening book, Grow Great Grub. The author is a digital pal of ours as well (Gayla Trail, otherwise known as You Grow Girl) and this looks like a must-have for us. It’s focus is on growing organic food in small spaces.
You can find Sarah on Twitter here and Galya here.
Anyone looking to plant something soon? What’s are you going to grow?
The mystery ingredient (picked by the most fabulous Dorris and Jilly) was carrots.
Carrots present a small problem – can jam rules state we have to stick to hot water bath canning. Water baths are intended for high-acid foods (such as most fruits) and won`t work for low-acid foods (such as most veggies). With 120 canners looking for high acid recipes it will be interesting to see how many varieties of carrots we can come up with. So far we`ve seen some exciting stuff (an update will go out next week with all of the recipes – check the link above or we`ll post an update here). Options were not as plenty as with high-acid foods.
Our second problem is that our pantry already contains spicy pickled carrots (a family favourite – they sound odd to the uninitiated and are a secret love of most of the indoctrinated). They are some of my favourite preserves – our present supply is ample…
——————————————————————————————————————— This entire section between the dashes can be absolutely skipped if you wish – it`s a side story to explain a bit about my thought process for this month and a few anecdotes about my approach to food in general.
February 4, 2007. It was my Mother`s birthday. It was also the Superbowl.
I awoke early and jumped into the kitchen. I felt a little silly as I cubed pieces of filet minion into small pieces and seared them in a white-hot pan.
I fired up the BBQ and scorched peppers of many colors. They leaked on the stairs as I carried the sweating flesh in grocery bags up our 46 steps into the heart of our apartment.
When our homemade tomato sauce hit the slow cooker I knew things were coming together. When the moose burger began to cook, I knew there was something magical happening in the pot.
12 hours later our house was full. There were many people over to talk, hang out, and kind of see the game (a few of us actually watched). It was an excuse to cook and to get together and have a few beverages with friends.
Our friend Tracey filled her bowl and had a bite. Tracey`s face lights up when it smiles and I saw her glow from the other side of the room. She summoned me and then she said it; `This is the best Chilli I`ve ever had.` I smiled.
To properly tell this story, I need to explain that I woke up at 5am on Saturday the 3rd. I went to the Market with a single mission: I was going to buy the ingredients I needed to make a chilli. I didn`t want to make any chilli – I wanted to make a chilli that when friends ate it they would, unprovoked, offer that it was the best they ever had. Tracey was the first of 3 to offer that judgement that day.
I adore food.
More than food, I adore people. There is nothing, for me, more fun than making someone smile, laugh, moan or react with some form of pleasure while consuming something I have made for them. I like cooking and hosting friends more than going to most restaurants.
When I cook for others, I try to find something that will connect to them in a way they may not expect.
———————————————————————————————————————
We had pickles. It was time to look around and check for other options. I found some great ideas from cultures around the world. And look as I may, my journeys kept travelling through my personal history and to 2 camping trips to Prince Edward County this summer.
One trip brought us to a roadside stand named Pat`s Jams. Pat jarred over 2,000 jars of preserves last year. She sells them from a shed on her property.
We came home with 7 jars including an odd concoction called `Carrot Cake Jam.` We haven`t tried it yet but we did find a recipe for it in the Bernardin (Ball in the USA) cookbook. I believe several others in the can jam have made it this month.
The idea of the recipe left me a little cold. I love carrot cake but something just seemed wrong to me…
And then I remembered our first camping trip to the county. We camped with another couple (dear friends) and their children (including my God Daughter). That trip brought so many memories back – my first camp fire, sleeping in a tent, eating dinner cooked over a fire and many more. Of the many things I own, these memories are some of the dearest I possess.
I remember camping with Boy Scouts. We were shown how to cut the core out of an apple, stuff it with brown sugar and cook it in the fire wrapped in tin foil. It was stunning and something I often think of when staring at a camp fire. There was something magical about the entire experience and I am sure it changed, in part, how I relate to food.
All of these memories blurred together just as a moment of utter brilliance as I remembered PIE IRONS.
A pie iron is a simple device. Place something between two pieces of bread, butter the outside, stick it in a pie iron (think sandwich maker) and heat over a fire. Apple pie filling was my favourite – we got to cook our own magical pie over the primal source of flame. We would inevitably burn our tongues on hot filling and squeal with delight as the sweet contents teased our taste buds.
It was that moment that I knew my mission – it was time to make carrot cake jam so we could fill pie irons with friends (young an old) around the fire. It would be a great way to introduce some to canning (especially kids) and explain to them that the carrots had stayed in the can for 8 or 9 months (`ewwwwwwwww`).
Sometimes I make preserves for me. Lemon Squash was all about my personal love affair with lemonade.
Sometimes I make them to make others smile. I make a wild blueberry and maple syrup jam that is designed for my Uncle John (though many adore it). My pickled garlic was designed for Pat, Jessie and Sherwin (he is still missing his jar). Carrot cake jam – this one`s for the kids (young and old) who I will share campfires with this summer.
The recipe:
1.5 cups of carrots (we used a food processor with a grater attachment – from past experience we cut the carrots into small sticks so the shreds would be small – whole carrots made long, awkward strings in previous cans)
2 cups chopped and pealed pears (the finer you chop them, the more ‘carroty’ this jam will look in comparison)
1.75 cups canned pineapple (and juice)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
.5 teaspoon cloves (in a cheesecloth sack)
1 package pectin
6.5 cups of sugar
Boil everything but the sugar and pectin for 20 minutes before adding pectin (off heat) and return to a boil. Add sugar at once, stir and bring to a hard boil for 60 seconds. Can in 8-ounce (250 ml) bottles, process for 10 minutes.
The fruit increases the acid in the preserve which allows us to can this safely. It was fairly liquid at first – it is continuing to thicken in the 24 hours since.
6.5 cups of preserves cost us less than $6 (not including cavities ).
Shaeffer wanted to remind everyone that some dogs adore carrots. I think he was mostly worried about himself but I suppose his point is still relevant.
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