When it came to scoring meat or vegetables I’ll admit I had thought I stopped learning.  My progression went from being oblivious to the importance of scoring these things to the feeling of instant mastery.  Once I learned to whiz a knife in a few quick passes over the surface of the thing I was cooking, I thought I had learned it all.  I was dreadfully wrong.

Let’s start with the basics:

• What does scoring mean?
  It means to cut lines into the surface of what you are cooking.  In the case of a potato, this means to simply cut lines into the potato about a quarter-inch (slightly less than a half-centimeter) deep.  You generally cut lines on a diagonal before rotating the potato 90 degrees and cutting again to make a diamond pattern.
• Why do you score potatoes?
  For a variety of reasons – but the most common are for appearance and that it speeds cooking time (resulting in quicker cooking and better texture – both of a crispy outside and moist interior).  It also increases surface area (which is good because it increases the crispy bits AND leaves more room for condiments including chives that won’t fall off and butter that will sink in).
• Why Score Brussel Sprouts?
  Many people score the stem-end of brussels sprouts with the theory that the stems will cook quicker.  While this may be true several food scientists (including Harold McGee) claim that this allows excess water into the stems and makes them soggy.  We eat them al dente – or we shred them with a grater (in the food processor) and then blanch and fry them with bacon.  So this one’s a trick question – we don’t score our sprouts.
• Why score meat?
  Typically people score very fatty meat (such as the duck recipe that we’ll share tomorrow) and score the thick fat cap (or layer).  You score the fat layer until you reach the muscle and don’t want to cut into the meat.  This is done for many of the reasons above and one more: fat tends to shrink more than muscle – scoring it allows it to tense up without pulling the meat into a dense ball and allows for more even cooking and a larger-looking end product which cooks more evenly (imagine trying to cook the outside of a tennis ball evenly).

So now that we’ve covered the what and why of scoring, let’s change our focus to the most important thing to keep in mind when doing it.  It’s also the most important:

Many of us have heard to chop vegetables the same size before cooking.  We know that smaller ones will cook much faster than larger ones (which have a larger volume).  The most important thing about scoring is ensuring you are doing so at a uniform depth.  Imagine:

• You have a slice of potato that’s a half-inch (12mm) tall.
• Your first score is 1/16th of an inch deep, it would leave 1/7th of an inch NOT scored.
• Your second cut is 2/16ths deep.  This leaves 1/6th of an inch NOT scored.
• While the difference between the two cuts is only 1/8th (3mm) of an inch more, that represents 12.5% of the depth of the potato.  This inequality will lead to different cooking times. * fine print at end of story
• While this may seem like an extreme difference, my old hack and slash days of scoring would leave such variances.

Cutting  into meat is even more problematic – most (if not all) of the fat cap is the same depth but an inconsistent cut finds us sometimes cutting the meat, sometimes getting it perfect and other times leaving the fat still attached at parts (contributing to shrinkage).

The ultimate problem we’re trying to solve is: How do I make cuts of consistent depth of the surface of items I’m trying to score?

The ultimate answer is my new ‘kitchen’ knife:

An X-acto knife is an infinitely adjustable tool that allows you to set – and lock – your blade to the depth of your choice.  There are several varieties of these knives but a version like the one above that has an adjustable length and lock is the best pick.

There’s a guide that won’t let the blade go deeper than your setting – so start your cut thinner than you need and make micro adjustments to get the cut you want.  They are affordable, can be taken apart and reassembled with ease and will last a lifetime in a kitchen if they’re looked after.  I haven’t investigated the food-safety of the blade but for the extremely limited amount of scoring I’m going to do (a few times a year at most), I’m more than comfortable using the brand new knife we were gifted for the purpose this weekend.

A special thanks goes out to my Dad for this idea – he read it in the River Cottage Meat book (a book that should be next-to-required reading for those who eat meat).  I’m sure this idea has been passed around many kitchens and tables and am excited to share it.

What ‘unusual’ tools are part of your kitchen equipment?

* For the extreme mathematicians in our company (which I am not), these examples are of course flawed – for they treat a potato like it’s a cube when of course it’s more like an non-geometric egg.  I recognize the best way to score a potato would not be a uniform depth but instead a laser which took the width of the potato and cut the depth at some sort of bell-curved ratio of depth of potato compared to width of potato at cut.  But I’m short one laser cutter and a whole lot of IQ to master that one.

We received an unexpected email a few weeks back which introduced us to a theater company which is located less than 100 yards from our front door and their latest project, `Seeds.`  It`s documentary-style theatre based on the 4-year lawsuit between a Saskatchewan farmer and Monsanto (a giant amongst biotechnology companies).  We were intrigued and agreed to sit with Hillary Green from Crows Theatre.

Seeds is a play which originally saw the stage in Montreal (in French).  The Toronto production is in English and sounds fascinating.  Beyond the fact that the play is based on courst transcripts, interviews with the real people involved and innovative use of the theatre, the play features the too-often-hidden story of Canada`s greatest food fight (which is ongoing).

The cast is also remarkable.  The most recognizable for many will be Eric Peterson (who was on the hit Canadian Television show, `Corner Gas`).  He plays the lead, farmer Percy Schmeiser.  The complete cast can be seen here.

If you`re unfamiliar with the story, it covers a lawsuit which started in 2004 in which Monsanto accused Schmeiser of planting their genetically patented seeds.  This covers the battle between drastically different views and the central argument over the legality and ethics of patenting seeds.

The play runs from February  18 – March 10, 2012 at The Young Center for Performing Arts in Toronto`s Distillery District.  Tickets range from $10-$35.  To purchase tickets go to the Young Centre`s website.

But it gets better!

I am thrilled to announce that the Leslieville Farmers Market and WellPreserved are hosting an evening at the Theater!

Here`s the details:

• We (Dana and I) as well as Janaki and others from the Market are trying to get a group of people to attend one of the special screenings before the play officially opens.  We`re going the evening of Monday, February 20th.  It`s the Monday of the long weekend – why not top your weekend off with a night at the theatre
• We`re going to go to the Mill Street Brewery (it`s less than 50 feet from the theater) to share a beer after the play and see what everyone thought (the play will run until 10.30 but we think the conversation will be worth delaying the trip home!)
• We`re also pleased to share a discount code that you can use to save 25% off that night (or any for the length of the production).  The code is: Food.
• If you comment on this post you will be entered into a draw to win a pair of tickets for the night of the 20th!

For those of you not in Toronto, we`ll share what we saw in the days following the play.

If you want to come on the 20th, buy a ticket through their site and comment on this post or Facebook and we`ll all look out for you.  We`re very excited to see this play and hope we`ll see you there!

Most of is will recall times when we tried to fry something and the oil wasn’t hot enough.  Instead of achieving a crispy outer layer that’s complimented a moist interior we end up with a soggy, oil-infused, greasy imitation of what we were trying to make.  Boiling potatoes (or any vegetable) requires much more water than people often use.  The reason for this is simple – the more water you add, the hotter it stays when you add your room temperature potatoes into it.  This means the potatoes cook in a shorter amount of time and will produce a better final product.

Before we share the recipe, let’s start with the results:

Don’t be intimidated by the amount of instructions; they’re really detailed and should be simple to follow – and the results are worth it! 

Ingredients

Gnocchi:

• 2 pounds (of starchy) potatoes after peeling (we used Yukon Gold’s which are generally seen as medium-startchy).  This is about 4 large potatoes.
• 2 cups of flour plus extra for rolling.
• 1 room temperature egg
• salt

Sauce:

• Butter (a tablespoon or less)
• Olive Oil (A tablespoon or less)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Chopped Garlic
• Chopped Leeks
• A splash of vinegar (cider or ume boshi is awesome but any flavoured vinegar is prefered)
• 0.5-1 whole lemon
• Lots of green stuff, especially bitter or savory.  This could be one of:
  • A bunch of herbs (oregano and basil as a combo would be good).
  • Pesto (We used a Dandelion Green Pesto from our farmers market).
  • Herbes Salées (if you’ve never made it, you must next summer).
  • You could also add arugula instead – but add it just as you plate your dinner.

Directions

Gnocchi:

1. Start by boiling  too much water.
2. Peel and weigh potatoes.  Leave whole.
3. Place potatoes in the boiling water with a lid on them.
4. Once potatoes are finished cooking (test with a fork but be patient, they’ll take some time).
5. Pour potatoes through a fine sieve.  Let them cool in the sieve so that all possible water drains.  Letting them cool is a key.
6. Once the taters are cool, start a new large pot of water boiling.  Once again, use too much water.
7. Place potatoes and all those little pieces of potato ‘bit’ that the sieve captured into a bowl.  These are full of starch.
8. If you have a potato ricer, process the room temperature potato with it.  If you’re like us, just mash them with a potato masher.  Salt potatoes at this time.
9. Lightly beat the egg so it’s a consistent colour.
10. Add the egg to the potato and give it all a good mixin’.
11. Add the flour, a bit at a time to make the dough.  Add a bit, mix, add a bit, mix and repeat until done.  You should have a lovely elastic dough.
12. Place a bit of extra flour on a large cutting board.  Use this flour any time your hands stick to your dough or it gets stuck to anything.  Little layers of flour will prevent sticking.
13. Roll small balls of flour into tubes – about the width of a large finger (but not a thumb) and as long as is practical for you to hole (about twice the length of a finger).
14. As you finish each roll, cut into chunks.
15. The next part is optional.  It’s how I make the chunks look less chunky.  Simply take an oversized bowl (as big as possible but you’ll need to lift it with one hand).  Toss some flour in it (not a lot is needed).  Use one hand to place gnocchi in the blow (one at a time) while rotating the bowl in a circular motion with the other.  You can leave the other gnocchi in the bowl as you proceed, emptying the bowl once before finishing the entire batch (otherwise the weight of the gnocchi will crush others).  Keep adding flour as needed.
16. The tough stuff is done!
17. When your water hits a full boil, melt butter and olive oil on medium-high (a heavy pan such as a cast-iron skillet is perfect).  Don’t let it smoke and if it starts to, simply remove from heat.
18. The gnocchi will float when it’s finished cooking (it’s very quick) – drain it well.
19. Add leeks and garlic to the oil/butter.  Stir for 15-20 seconds.
20. Drop the gnocchi into the oil, keeping the heat high.  Stir periodically to distribute the butter and oil.  Add your green stuff, continue to stir and cook for a few more minutes (don’t worry about overcooking it as long as you aren’t burning anything – heat will slightly crisp the outet layer of your gnocchi at worse).
21. Squeeze fresh lemon to taste right before serving.  Don’t miss this step, it really takes the entire dish to new heights.

You could serve this as is or on a bed of bitter greens including arugala, dandelion or even slices of kale.  I also like to top it with a bit of parmesean that’s been finely grated with a rasp.

Waterbath Canning (requires no special equipment)

• Sour cherry Meyer lemon marmalade.  Desert by Candy freezes sour cherries in the summer and matches them to Meyer lemons when they’re in their peak season for this spread.  We dehydrated sweet and sour cherries this year and I think their texture could be really interesting in this type of dish.
• I’ve never made jam with bananas but this Island Jam looks really interesting and is a great original take on preserving from Freds In The Head
• Grow It Cook It Can It shares their Citrus Marmalade.  This recipe is jammed full (pun intended) of a bunch of different citrus and a great winter recipe.
• Here’ another marmalade from Two in the Nest Mama.  This one appears to be more-in-line with the traditional marmalade (a bit on the bitter side) but a great sample of a classic.
• Sweet orange marmalade from Mermaid’s Treasures.  Some marmalade can be very bitter – this looks much sweeter and would be a great glaze for chicken amongst many other uses.
• Carrot Jalapeno Peppers.  Southern Fried Curry – you had me at jalapeno!
• Snowflake Kitchen takes frozen fruit, combines with lemon and makes a yummy looking winter jam (we have some frozen blueberries that might just make it into this jam soon!)
• This Little Pint of Mine shares another marmalade as part of their “52 Preserves, 52 Weeks” – proving that preserving is indeed a year-round event.
• Uncanny’s marmalade takes us in a different direction – using kaffir lime leaves and sounds awesome!
• Curried Cauliflower Pickles from My Pantry Shelf.  Booya!   This is so far up my alley that it’s practically in my driveway!
• The tiniest marmalade in the world is shared by Food in Jars with their Kumquat marmalade.
• Marisa (Food in Jars) steps it up with Blood Orange Marmalade; I’ve always found their name so intimidating but this recipe isn’t.
• Local Kitchen shares her Cranberry Habanero Mustard.  I have no words; this just looks awesome.
• Kaela (Local Kitchen again) also shares her Apple Carrot Chile Chutney.  We don’t make nearly enough chutney in this house; this might be a starting place!
• Pickled Leeks are great in the middle of winter.
• Spicy Pickled Carrots are another sure-fire (pun intended) winter preserve.

Pressure Canning (requires a pressure canner)

• Pressure canning dry beans.  This was sent to us by Lynn S. on our FaceBook group.  It’s such a cool idea – it starts with dried beans and pressure cans them while rehydrating them – it’s less totally work than rehydrating those beans one-batch-at a time and is on my must-do list for the next rainy day at home.
• I’ve never pressure canned potatoes but Pat (Mermaids Tresures again) has me interested in trying.  Having cooked potatoes on hand could save a lot of time on those nights that just don’t have enough time.

Dehyrdating (generally requires a dehydrator)

• You can easily dry onions, beets and celery root in the winter – these are all staples in our kitchen.
• Dehydrated mushrooms make an awesome mushroom powder – this is a staple I can’t live without.
• Dried citrus is an awesome addition for any stir-fry.
• Onion Flakes are great for dry rubs or adding to soups.

Fermenting (no special equipment)

• Vinegar.  Cubit’s shares a beautiful post on how to make apple cider vinegar from scratch – this is on the must-do list for next year to-do list for sure!
• Kimchi.  It’s a winter classic and Put a Lid On It shows us a great take on making it!
• Sauerkraut – our friend David Ort (Food with Legs) shares how you can make a tiny bit of kraut at a time.  Extra bonus for the spicy part!
• Gingery Lime Pickle from Tigress.  This is off the hook – I keep seeing posts and thinking I gotta make that – but I GOTTA GOTTA make this!
• Tigress also brings us a sweet fermentation by working with these adorable kumquats.  We need a warmer windowsill to sit these in!

Other

• Meyer lemon marshmallows.  Yes indeed, Nomnivorous dropped that hammer!
• Herb-Infused vinegar can be an easy winter addition to any larder.

Of course there’s many, many more all around – check out the sites above for lots of great ideas to help even further – and add your favourites in the comments below!

1. Waterbath canning can make your house warmer and more humid.  Anyone who has canned (or for that matter, dehydrated and/or pressure canned), knows the dread of turning a giant pot of water to boil on a sweltering day.  Let’s face it, canning can be hot work – so hot that I’ve had days I’ve had to skip because our loft was already a sauna.  These techniques have the opposite effect in the winter – adding heat and moisture from the steam which helps make our apartment feel even more cozy.
2. Not all preserving is canning.  When we think of preserving as being only about jam and pickles, we miss many other opportunities.  Curing bacon or fish, making sauerkraut and dehydrating veggies are all examples of things that can be made year-round.  Expanding the variety of methods you use to preserve will easily allow you to expand your preserving through all 4 seasons.
3. Summer and fall are busy times.  We feel the pinch of a busy summer and fall.  Winter tends to have less social engagements for us and preserving can sometimes feel ‘squeezed’ into busy weeks or weekends.  Preserving in the winter is at a slower pace and just a whole lot easier to work into a less-than-busy schedule.
4. There are less light in the daytime in the winter.  Less light means more time inside.  More time inside means more available time to play in the kitchen.
5. There are lots of fresh/ local ingredients.  Contrary to popular belief, there’s a tonne of stuff to preserve in the winter.  Common (local to Ontario) ingredients include mushrooms, apples, cabbage, onions, garlic, kale (as in chips), dairy, turnip, garlic carrots and more.  Less common ingredients include brussels sprouts, squash, potatoes, and more.
6. “Local” becomes broader.  Winter is the prime season for citrus and a careful examination of a good grocery store will show an expanded citrus section: limes, key limes, blood oranges, lemons, Meyer lemons, grapefruit and other specialty citrus.  We don’t preserve a lot of these items but preserved lemon is an example of something we make gladly in the winter.
7. It’s a great time to learn.  I’ve found that a lot of people wait until the summer to learn to preserve for the first time.  I encourage newcomers to preserving to attempt it in the winter – you’ll see just how easy it is, be able to plan for your summer and learn when the options (and pressure to preserve them all are fewer).  Almost every person I’ve met who learned to preserve in the summer regretted not making more in their first year.
8. There’s a great opportunity to test new recipes and techniques.  Want to learn to ferment chilis or make hot sauce?  We’re a giant fan of local food but I’m not sure I’d want to learn by experimenting with a bushel of local Ontario peppers.  Why not make a small jar a few times in the winter (with imported peppers) to see what you think of your results before increasing your scale?  If you try things a few cups at a time you don’t even have to process them – just keep them in the fridge and see what you think.
9. Practice makes perfect.  I used to preserve heavily from July-October and then wait for the next year.  As a result, each July became a lesson in re-learning the process.  By preserving around-the-year I’m able to stay in practice, consistently learn new things and hit the main season running.  I make fewer mistakes and have more fun.
10. There are lots of jars around – and space on the shelf.  I’m constantly running out of jars in the summer and trying to figure out where to stack them – preserving in the winter generally finds my house with lots of room and lots of extra jars to use in the process.

We’ll share a round-up of winter recipes tomorrow.  in the meantime, why do you preserve?

More than 30 people showed up (despite the first real snowstorm of the season) with food through the evening.  There were some awesome tastes and everyone met new people.  Sharing went beyond the plates and included some great conversation, recipe exchanges and just a great casual evening.

Our friend Margaret Mulligan (her personal photoblog is here) surprised us by bringing her camera and took some amazing shots despite the lack of light in the cozy confines of The Avro.

Here’s some shots and some of the ‘blow by blow’ of the evening.

I think some brought their own plates – this was a tremendous piece of strategy which I’ll need to incorporate in the future.  Here’s a sample of Margaret’s awesome spread:

Here’s a list of some of the things people brought (we had recipe cards so these are all of the ones I was able to find at the end of the night to share with you here):

• Gayle’s Maple Tamari Almonds (almonds, maple syrup, tamarin, 5-spice powder)
• Kyle had some Salt and Pepper Kawartha Peanuts
• Kyle also brought his haggis Scotch Eggs (his haggis included pork, chicken and lamb)
• Kyle (an awesome overachiever) also had foie gras Kawartha popcorn.
• Our friendly bartender Emily even chipped in with her home-mixed Chex Mix
• Dawn (and husband Marc) drove an hour to get here and brought a three-onion dip (her food blog is being worked on – you’ll see it appear soon, called “Joyous Food).
• Mary Ann (and daughter Alena) showed up with a reuben braid – homemade bread that’s baked with pastrami, 1,000 island dressing, Swiss and Havarti cheeses and homemade sauerkraut stuffed inside!  It was amazing.  They shared that the recipe came from an awesome but now dormant blog named The Knead For Bread.
•  Mary Ann (and daughter Alena) also brought my personal weakness, beer nuts.  They assure me that they’re easy to make and I really must try soon.
• Margaret (our awesome photographer) brought “Not-Copy Pop” – a ‘bastardized recipe from her Mom’s 1980 microwave cookbook.  Hers included homemade brown sugar, smoked paprika, salt, corn syrup and vanilla.  Of course it also included popcorn.
• Deborah brought some awesome spiced roasted chickpeas.  They were made with roasted garlic, coriander, fennel and Thai chilli.
• Kerry brought maple spice pecans (which may be my favourite nut of all-time)
• Mike (of Ed’s Real Scoop) brought a tray of ‘ice cream cupcakes.  It’s essentially ice cream inside a chocolate cup.  I had a maple-syrup bacon combination that was fantastic.
• Jessie and Patrick brought crispy farfalle with Parmesan and truffle.  Deep-fried pasta goodness!
• Brandi had these most amazing homemade pretzels that everyone was lining up for (she had two types: plain and garlic).
• We brought my Smoky Spicy Salty Bitter Sweet Roasted Nuts (our ‘secret’ ingredient of coffee was a hit).
• Dawn brought Dawnabelle’s Spicy potato chips (these were off-the chart good).  They were made with celery salt, smoked salt, sugar, paprika, habanero, onion and dry garlic.  Dawn’s posted her recipe from the night on her great blog here.

I know there was more but these were the ones I was able to find at the end of the night!

Kyle (from Sausage Partners) brought these amazing haggis-wrapped Scotch Eggs (a hard-boiled egg, wrapped with Haggis and then deep-fried).  They were amazing:

If you look carefully at the background of the photo above, you should see “WP” floating in the background.  Margaret made this amazing bokeh (a cut-out for her lens) that had a “WP” cut out of it; somehow this turns the blurry lights in the background to little WellPreserved icons.  Here’s how she made it.  Take a look at the photo below if you can’t make them out and check it out again:

Kelly and Aaron made grab bags (featuring a “Jumpshot” Margaret had taken of them previously).  In addition to sharing their recipe, they shared props to her.  Even though Aaron and Kelly live an hour away they’re quickly becoming part of the community (we hope others will do the same).

Part of the crowd hovers like friendly vultures around the snacks:

This was the signature cocktail of night (since it was inspired by a cocktail named “The Journalist”, Emily donned it “The Blogger”).  Each night will have its own signature drink that will be a collaborative effort between The Avro and WellPreserved and we’ll share the recipe whenever possible.  The recipe follows the picture for this one.

WellPreserved’s Ginger-Lemon-Maple Cordial
This is an intense bittersweet cordial that is meant to be mixed with other things:

• 2-3 pounds of organic lemons, each quartered, then cut in half (8 pieces each).  Skins and seeds are fine; this is where the bitter comes from.
• A whole bunch of ginger, roughly chopped (we used about 6 inches).
• Enough water to cover everything by an inch.
• Maple syrup to taste (we used 9 tablespoons)

Directions

1. Toss everything BUT the maple syrup into a wide pan.
2. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer.
3. Leave on a gentle simmer until your liquid (after pressing the lemons) is about 1.5 cups.
4. Allow the cordial to come to room temperature and add maple syrup to taste.  You still want it to be bitter so mix enough maple to make it just palatable by itself (remember that this is an INTENSE cordial).

Emily’s “The Blogger”

• 1.5 ounces of gin
• 0.5 ounces of dry vermouth
• 0.5 ounces of sweet vermouth
• 0.5 ounces lemon juice
• 0.75 ounces of cordial (above)

Shake and stir!

A big thumbs-up to Emily – these were fantastic and had many talking about them through the night.

It was a fantastic night – we hope you’ll join us Feb 27th for HomeEc 2: Preserve Swap.  If you can’t make it then, know that they happen on the last Monday of the month!

Winter is a great time for a SWAP – many people now know which batches of things they have way too much of are excited to add new flavours to their pantry during a time of year that you otherwise can’t.

Here’s the basics of this event:

• As per all the HomeEc nights, it’s on the last Monday of the month.  Officially from 8:00-10:00 but you are welcome to come early (the bar opens at 7) and stay late.  There will be lots of friendly people to meet and we’ll do our best to mix the crowd up.
• We will be working with the Avro again to create a custom cocktail for the evening (last night’s “The Blogger” was FANTASTIC).
• There is no cover for these events though we do hope you’ll support the bar as they are donating the space to us.
• The event is 19+ as it is held at a bar.
• From 8-9 you’ll have a chance to see what everyone’s brought – but the swapping won’t begin until 9:00.  The ramp-up is a big part of the fun.
• Bring as many or as few jars as you’d like.  Know that the community is somewhat obsessive and some will bring 24 jars.  It’s not a competition – the number just means more variety for you.  Of course you can bring multiple jars of the same thing.
• In order to swap, you’ll need to sign a form saying you know you are trading for homemade goods (as opposed to professionally made items) and accept the risk for that.  We’ve learned that this is best practice at most food swaps and have decided to incorporate it.
• There will be a one-off badge (a button) for this event.  If you show up with preserves to swap, you’ll earn your Preserve Swap badge (3 of us had ‘boy scout’ vests (used suit vests from Value Village) last night and I know a few are scouring the neighborhood for one of their own (and a few are looking for sashes).
• There’s no rules to jar sizes – the crowd will decide what’s a fair swap.
• The Avro is indeed cozy so be early to be guaranteed a spot; even with the snow we had last night we filled the bar (comfortably).
• If you don’t have preserves (and don’t make any in February), you’re welcome to attend and meet people.  These events are as much about creating community and meeting others as they are about the actual food and connecting to it.

We’ve added an RSVP to the FaceBook Pae – would love to know if you’re coming here! 

If you’re unfamiliar with #HomeEc, here’s the basic premise.

As much as I enjoy bulk, there have been times where I’ve been bothered by two things: the inability to bring my own containers (very few will allow that) and, occasionally, the quality/ origins of the product.  Better Bulk on the Danforth (Toronto) has solved both of those problems.

We learned about Better Bulk from new friends who were visiting for a preserving workshop.  They lived in the area of Better Bulk and recommended that we pay it a visit.  I popped in on Sunday and was thrilled to see what was there.  The store is well-organized, clean and packed with fantastic product.  Items were easy to find and it was full of fantastic choices including organic, gluten and wheat-free choices.

Better Bulk allows you to bring your own containers.  You can bring any vessel you wish – they simply weigh your containers when you enter and weigh them again when you leave.  Since their products range from dried foods through ethical coffee and environmentally friendly dish and laundry soap, it’s exciting to know that we have options to put a serious dent in the remaining packaging that enters our house.

While the store doesn’t appear large (the photo above is about 1/5th of the entire place), it’s so well organized that the options are plentiful.  I highly recommend checking it out (2035 Danforth Avenue).

Where do you do your bulk shopping (regardless of where your from)?

I dislike cleaning my kitchen.  I’ve found that making Tortillas is an awesome distraction from that task – much of the ‘work’ in making tortillas is hands off so I start a batch while I’m cleaning the kitchen and both chores end at roughly the same time.  They are BEYOND easy and a lot of fun to make.  The finished texture is, in my opinion, better than that of the store – they are soft yet slightly elastic in their chew.  I adore them.

Ingredients

• 250 grams of plain white flour (a bit more to toss on your counter when rolling)
• 5 grams salt
• 150 ml water

Directions

1.  Add salt to flour in a large bowl.  Stir to incorporate.
2. Pour water over the surface of your flour.
3. Using a large spoon, stir until flaky.  Your dough should be dry and will look wispy like the first photo.
4. Knead the dough in the bowl, basically making a ball out of it the best you can.  It takes a few minutes to get all of the dry bits incorporated.  Your dough should be dry but pliable.
5. Discard the bowl and, with a small amount of flour on your counter (don’t use a lot – just enough to stop it from sticking; you can always add some if it sticks so less is more), knead the dough by folding it on itself and pushing down onto itself.  Do this for 3-4 minutes or until it feels like playdough.
6. Put the dough back into the bowl and leave covered with a clean cloth for 30-60 minutes.  It won’t rise much (if any), this is to let the gluten relax.
7. Cut the dough into 8 equal bits (mine were 50 grams each).
8. Transform each bit into a ball and flatten out (you can use a rolling pin – I start with the tortilla press pictured in our corn tortilla recipe and then continue with the rolling-pin to get them flatter).
9. Warm a pan on medium-high (I adore cast iron for this purpose).
10. Place one of your tortillas in the pan and, using the back of a wooden spoon, press on the top of the dough.  This will help them puff up and create air pockets to make them lighter and fluffy.
11. Flip once a few char marks appear (pictured below).  This is usually after about 3 minutes or so.
12. Press the other side with the large spoon.
13. Transfer to a plate (wrap in tin foil if using immediately).  To reheat, wrap them in foil and warm in a steamer for a few minutes (this is optional unless they’ve hardened which they shouldn’t for a few days if wrapped up.

This makes 8 smallish (5-7 inch) tortillas.  Each person can generally eat 2-3 if served with a side salad.

There’s easily 4-6 minutes of cooking per each one so there’s lots of time to clean the kitchen!

For those of you who make them, what do you do different?  For those who haven’t, will you try?

Before sharing the recipe, a note about the heat.  We used our homemade dehydrated roasted jalapenos.  We turn them into a powder before adding them to the nuts.  These are not your Papa`s jalaepnos – they are fiery hot (I believe the roasting brings their oils out and the dehydrator concentrates them).  You can do this recipe without them – just substitute cayenne or chilli flakes (or make a mix of both in a coffee grinder).  You could also add some dried ancho chilli or dry chipotle which will also add the smoky flavor.  But do add more than your comfortable with – the other ingredients will come together to make it all make sense.

Ingredients (recipe will scale well)

• 5 cups of nuts (and will do; we used pecans, walnuts and almonds)
• 9 tablespoons of maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon of coffee (ground fine)
• 2.5 teaspoons of smoked salt (I used a smoked coarse salt)
• 2 teaspoons of dried fire-roasted dehydrated jalapeno (you could easily substitute this per the recommendations above)

Instructions

1. Turn your oven to 325
2. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. Spread your nuts on the sheet (I started mine in a bowl but the sheet will help ensure that all of your ingredients roast; I left about half a teaspoon of maple syrup in the bowl I mixed them in).
4. Pour the maple syrup on the nuts and mix them around – try to get maple syrup on all of them (there`s lots).
5. Add your dried ingredients to the nuts and stir.
6. Place in the oven for 30 minutes – stirring every 10 minutes.
7. Once the roasting is complete, immediately pour them into a bowl (failing to do so will result in an awful mess with your nuts stuck to the parchment paper).
8. Eat them while warm or allow them to cool (stirring every 5 minutes or so until cool to stop them from lumping up).

They are quite sticky – butthat`s half the fun!