FFWD – Deconstructed BLT and Eggs

September 30, 2011September 30, 2011 ~ Teresa ~ 40 Comments

Your perfect greasy spoon may be someone else’s idea of the eighth circle of hell. Opinions on the best breakfast spot can cause nearly friendship-rifting arguments. For some reason, the short-order grill menu evokes loyalty to an ideal that is broadly agreed upon, though the details are fiercely contested. Think about your favourite lunch counter sandwich – you know exactly how your grilled cheese (or maybe it’s a tuna melt, Monte Cristo, clubhouse, or Reuben) should be made. So, deconstructing the BLT – the ultimate greasy spoon sandwich – is a daring undertaking.

This week’s French Fridays recipe turns the sandwich into a salad, adding oeufs mayonnaise for some extra protein. Nothing about the recipe is difficult, but it’s a multi-step process that can take some time to complete. Hard-boiled eggs, crisp chunks of bacon, cubes of country bread browned in bacon fat, halved cherry tomatoes and chopped sun-dried tomatoes – once these ingredients are prepared, it’s almost meal time. Once the greens and tomatoes have been tossed in vinaigrette (I used Dorie’s Everyday Vinaigrette recipe, as suggested), the rest of the ingredients are scattered on top and the dish is complete.

I followed the recipe almost exactly, only straying when I found myself adding dried parsley, ground rosemary and garlic powder to the bread cubes as they cooked. It was a nice addition. The salad divided nicely into three generous dinner portions and was a surprising hit. I enjoyed it more than I’ve ever liked an authentic BLT. (Feel free to start vilifying me now, Team BLT.)

So tell me, what is the most important thing that makes a greasy spoon great? What changes would make your favourite dish there inauthentic or disappointing? What would make you take a road trip to find out if a breakfast joint was as good as advertised? And lastly, what was the name of your long-lost favourite cheap eats spot? I know there is one; so many have disappeared over the last few decades.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Deconstructed BLT and Eggs

Some Autumnal Distraction

September 27, 2011May 4, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 2 Comments

September’s nearly over and I’ve started to do a fall cleanup of my backyard and garden beds. (You can guess at the state of my yard right now, since I’ve tried to distract you with a nice ocean view, instead of sharing a photo of my garden.) I’ve got an extra incentive to get that clean up done, as we’re having a patio put in starting Friday and the contractor’s also going to build me a raised bed along the fence. I think my days of fighting with blackberry cane and morning glory will soon be done. There’s still a little life in my vegetable garden, with beets and swiss chard going strong. I even found a few more cucumbers today. I’ve brought the dill in to dry, but should have several more weeks of the other herbs. The warm, sunny days aren’t quite over, but the nights are cool and damp. I like to think I embrace the changing of the seasons, but sometimes I need a little distraction from winter’s approach. Luckily, it’s going to be a busy autumn.

This weekend’s particularly busy, starting with Knit Social‘s yarn sale and swap. It’s also Culture Days weekend, a cross-Canada celebration of arts and culture. The CBC is kicking it off on Friday, with a day-long outdoor festival. The Vancouver International Film Festival starts on the 29th, which is so good that some folks plan their annual vacations around it. Saturday’s Faeries’ Ball looks like a lovely way to recapture youthful fantasies and will be just a taste of what we can expect at their House of Faerie Bad Things later this month. I think that haunted house might give the Secret Souls Walk a run for its money. Sunday mixes cycling with art appreciation for BIKENNALE, a free tour of the Vancouver Biennale sculptures.

Perhaps after the weekend’s over, I’ll be too tired to notice the turning of the seasons.

FFWD – Honey-Spiced Madeleines

September 23, 2011September 23, 2011 ~ Teresa ~ 31 Comments

My Madeleines aren’t Madeleines at all, since they lack the distinctive scalloped shape of the storied little cakes. I don’t have a Madeleine pan and I (surprisingly) didn’t run out and buy one in anticipation of this week’s French Fridays recipe. I tried to lend my version a little of the original’s lustre, though, baking them in silver foil miniature muffin cups. Literary lustre replaced with literal lustre.

Dorie’s version is also a variation in flavour from the traditional lemon-zested cake, so perhaps it’s fitting that they have their own shape. These tiny domes are flavoured with orange zest, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. They also have a surprising, mild bite from the pinch of pepper added to the batter. I chilled the batter for three hours before using it, but it continues to improve if you rest it in the fridge for even longer.

The cakes have a little give in the centre and a little crispness around the edges. The sponge is infused with orange flavour and it’s as though the spices are suspended throughout. They’re lovely with tea and can, if you’re not careful, give you pretensions of literary greatness.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Honey-Spiced Madeleines

The First Year

September 20, 2011May 4, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 9 Comments

It’s been a year since I started this blog. My intention was to write mostly about community, in all its forms (well, the ones that occurred to me, anyway). Around the time I was setting up the blog, I learned that French Fridays With Dorie was beginning that October and I joined. I have a mild food blog obsession and had run across some Tuesdays With Dorie posts. I liked the idea of cooking through a whole cookbook and the comments sections of TWD posts were very lively. French Fridays sounded like it would be fun and challenging, so I couldn’t resist.

I worried that having two separate post streams might be annoying or confusing for people who were interested in one subject or the other. What I found, though, is that my French Fridays posts have become community-building in action. Participants read each other’s French Fridays posts, but often read and comment on the rest of one another’s blogs, too. We’ve even gotten to know each other a little. Somehow, what I thought would be an entirely different stream has come to be an exemplar of what I’ve been trying to explore here.

I knew this anniversary was coming up and I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about. Then, Elaine of California Living tagged me in the Seven Links Game. It sounded like a perfect structure for a little retrospective.

So, here goes:

FFWD – (Not) Cinnamon-Crunch Chicken

September 17, 2011May 4, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 13 Comments

Sometimes the stars don’t align when I’m planning to make a recipe. It’s not surprising that this might happen occasionally while participating in a weekly cooking group. This week’s French Fridays recipe, Cinnamon-Crunch Chicken, sounds like a quick, interesting, weeknight dinner choice. Crumbled speculoos coating slices of chicken breast, with crème fraiche for richness – fifteen minutes from preparation to table. Sounds good, except for one thing – I wasn’t able to get any suitable gluten-free cookies and my usual gluten-eating ~~victims~~ taste-testers just weren’t available.

No matter. As Doristas like to say, French Fridays recipes are as much jumping off points as they are road maps. The cinnamon put me in mind of Moroccan flavours, so I marinated slices of chicken breast in safflower oil, lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar, cumin, paprika, and garlic. I left the chicken in the marinade for a couple of hours, then sautéed it in a little chicken stock. Meanwhile, I softened some brown rice vermicelli in hot water. When the chicken was done, I added a little more lemon juice to the pan and gave it a good stir. Then, I fried the vermicelli in the pan juices. Quinoa would have been a closer match for the traditional (and gluten-y) couscous, but I fancied the vermicelli tonight.

As you can see, I’m not much of a recipe writer. I love the term au pif, which Dorie describes as cooking by instinct. It’s an everyday way of making a meal – using what’s on hand and changing the ingredients according to taste. Tonight’s chicken could easily be turned into a stew with the addition of lentils or chickpeas, vegetables and a bit more liquid. It could also be served over any number of starches or some lightly dressed greens. So, not a recipe at all, really.

Sometimes, that’s what cookbooks are for – inspiration, not instruction. I learn a lot by following recipes exactly, using techniques and ingredients that are new to me, but the digressions are where creativity lies. I’m looking forward to reading about everyone’s experience with this week’s recipe proper and I’m quite sure I’ll find some other instances where things took a different turn.

You can find many blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Cinnamon-Crunch Chicken.

You’ve still got a couple of days to check out my 100th post, too – I’ve got a little giveaway happening. The winners will be announced on Tuesday, September 20th.

The Family You Choose

September 13, 2011May 4, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 5 Comments

Who are the people you call when you’re in need, elated, or down? Chances are, not everyone you’d name would be family. For some people, there wouldn’t be a single family member on that list.

I’m lucky. I’ve got a relationship with my family of origin. No matter the challenges, we’re there for each other. It’s not true for everyone, especially for people whose families refuse to acknowledge their identities. Though estrangement can happen for many reasons, queer and trans folks are more likely to have families that don’t accept them. It’s from these communities that the concept of chosen family arose.

A chosen family is one that you create, made up of people who love you through everything – difference, distance, and disagreement. The members of my own chosen family have subtly imprinted themselves onto the DNA of my soul. I’ll be celebrating those folks at the Chosen Family Picnic later this month. There are so many days of the year given over to celebrating our families of origin, it seems fitting to dedicate one to this less visible expression of family.

I’ll never understand how someone can look at a child, sibling, or parent and reject them for their sexual orientation or gender identity. (Maybe that’s because my own coming out processes passed almost unremarked by my family. As I said, I’ve been lucky.) Humans are resilient and connection surpasses biology, so people can forge new bonds with people whose love shows them no limit. It’s a matter of finding those folks when you need them.

If you’d like to see a really beautiful expression of Chosen Family, there’s still time to see the Chosen Family Portraits project at the Museum of Vancouver – the exhibit closes September 30th.

Check out my 100th post, too – I’ve got a little giveaway happening.

FFWD – Creamy, Cheesy, Garlicky Rice with Spinach

September 9, 2011May 4, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 31 Comments

Comfort food is usually associated with cold winter days. Casseroles and stews, carbohydrate-rich for warmth, protein-laden for energy, meant for eating in a warm, bright room that keeps the cold and dark out. This week’s French Fridays recipe would be perfect for that sort of meal. But, it was also surprisingly good as a late summer main dish alongside some beans from the garden.

I made Dorie’s bonne idée version of the recipe, first cooking the rice as directed, then stuffing it into peppers for a nice, long stint in the oven.

The rice itself is reminiscent of risotto, though Dorie is quick to tell us that it is really a faux version. It’s certainly creamy enough to pass for risotto (even though I used 2% milk in place of cream) and it doesn’t suffer from the blandness that sometimes plagues true risottos. I don’t really need to describe the flavour to you – the title of the recipe takes care of that. I will tell you that the sweetness of bell peppers suits this rice very well.

I made a full batch, but only made a half batch of the stuffed peppers. I think we’ll have the leftovers with a little fish tomorrow night. I’ve got more beans, some cucumbers and some beets, too. I think it will make as nice a summer side dish as it did a main.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Creamy, Cheesy, Garlicky Rice with Spinach I’ve also just had my 100th post and am doing a little giveaway to celebrate.

A Little Celebration of a Small Accumulation

September 8, 2011September 8, 2011 ~ Teresa ~ 22 Comments

I’m not so much a collector as I am an accumulator. When we were kids, my mother thought that my siblings and I should all collect something. I didn’t see the appeal, as I was too busy trying to read as many books as possible, so she ended up choosing something for me. Somewhere in my storage space is a box of thimbles that I got from various relatives, mostly as part of a Christmas or birthday present. When I run across them, I enjoy the associations and memories they bring up, but I don’t have any desire to add to the collection. As an adult, I can better understand the appeal of collecting. My budget doesn’t allow for art collection and my accumulation of teapots doesn’t really count, but there are a few book series that I buy.

The Massey Lectures, published by Anansi Press, is the series that I’m trying to complete. I’m missing some of the earlier lectures. I also really like the Canongate Myths series, though I’ve been a little lackadaisical about keeping up with the new releases. The rest of my book collection is quite scattershot – a little biography, a mixture of mostly Canadian, Commonwealth, and British fiction, as well as a lot of non-fiction on a bunch of different topics. It’s nice to have a little coherence added to the mix.

My other growing collection is a significant number of cookbooks. My partner and I have had to move our cookbooks from a small bookcase to a larger one, as they mysteriously go on multiplying. There’s even a series of books that bridges the gap between my cookbooks and my other book collections. Penguin’s Great Food series reprints food writing ranging from Samuel Pepys and Brillat-Savarin to Elizabeth David and Alice Waters. I think the entire series will be taking up some shelf space here before long. The books themselves are beautiful, with some of the best cover design I’ve seen in some time. The writings promise to enlighten, amuse and even offend. I think I officially have a new book (set) crush.

Since I’ve been accumulating quite a lot of posts here, one-hundred today in fact, I thought I would do a little something to celebrate and show my appreciation for those of you who’ve visited over the past year. I’ve loved your comments and even feel as though I’ve got to know some of you a little bit. I bought two of the books from the Great Food series and I’m going to give them away. As it’s also my one-year blogoversary (again, that is too a word!) on September 20th, I’ll announce the winners then. All you have to do is leave a comment, letting me know what you like to collect and which of the two books you’d prefer. (If the winners pick the same book, the person drawn first will get their choice.)

The books are these: Charles Lamb’s A Dissertation upon Roast Pig and Agnes Jekyll’s A Little Dinner Before the Play. I have to confess that I didn’t choose them because they’re my favourites of the series, but because – of the titles available at the bookstore I visited – these were the two with the prettiest covers. I do have my moments of superficiality.

Connection Isn’t Always Direct

September 6, 2011May 4, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 4 Comments

I had an analogue childhood: records, cassette tapes, letters in the mailbox, and getting up from the couch periodically to change the channel on the television. The Encyclopedia Britannica, in its two-shelf bookcase, took up a corner of the living room. It was our equivalent of Google. I’m pretty sure the Encyclopedia Britannia is entirely electronic these days, but not all these things have disappeared. Records (and even cassette tapes) are being produced for new music and we occasionally get a card in the mail.

Certainly print books haven’t disappeared yet, though e-readers are becoming more and more popular. There’s something irreplaceable about the heft of a book, the texture of the paper, and the quality of light against the page. The history of a particular copy is also something that gets lost when we turn to electronic versions. The experience of reading a book is enhanced by marginalia, inscriptions, forgotten bits of paper, even creases and stains. Perhaps not always stains.

It’s also hard to share books, unless you’re passing the e-reader to your partner. It limits the potential of a single copy of a book. One of the things I love about travelling is how books end up taking their own journeys. When I’m away, I like to bring copies of things that I want to read, but don’t want to keep. Once finished, they’re exchanged for another from the bookshelves wherever we’re staying. (Not in private homes – in hostels, hotels, or bed and breakfasts, where this sort of thing is encouraged. Honestly.)

I remember being on one long journey, thinking about the trajectory a book I’d just finished and really enjoyed might take. Considering the destinations of the other people staying at the hostel, I thought it might make it to Europe or South America and I wished I could somehow track its progress. A few years later, I heard about BookCrossing, which does exactly that.

BookCrossing is the sort of thing that I love about this new(ish) electronic world, because it is also rooted in tactile experience. The words real and virtual have had their meanings blurred, but in these cases they merge. Projects like this (and similar ones like Postcrossing or many iterations of mail art) are enacted in virtual space as they travel in real time. Eventually the trail stops and the book is never heard from again, though it might turn up unexpectedly, years later.

It’s not just the progress of the books that interests me, it’s also the generosity of spirit inherent in sharing with strangers. Like the sharing economy formed at Burning Man, looking out for strangers is an important part of creating community. Free boxes, extra umbrellas purposely left in cafés, community bookshelves – all these make a neighbourhood more liveable. It doesn’t replace socially just policies, but it helps enhance an atmosphere of neighbourliness.

The electronic component of this process isn’t necessary, though it’s fascinating. The physical location is what’s important. I was thrilled to discover this Neighbourhood Book Exchange a few blocks from where I live. There are similar shelves in coffeeshops around town, but this structure is freestanding and free to visit, 24 hours a day. Another reason to love the Neighbourhood Small Grants project.

It’s exciting to see this sort of creativity and well, friendliness, at work. It’s something that makes me happy to live here. I’d love to hear about the things that make you happy to live in your neighbourhood. I’d also love to hear about instances of virtual community that excite you, or that you’ve followed into the real world.

My next post will be my 100th and I’ll be doing a little something to celebrate. Come back on Thursday to see what’s happening.

FFWD – Corn Soup

September 2, 2011May 4, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 15 Comments

What is the best kind of corn where you live? Here, everyone wants Chilliwack corn. It’s a town far up the Fraser Valley, about an hour and a half drive from Vancouver. Chilliwack corn is famous for its sweetness and every roadside stand claims they’re selling it, regardless of where it was actually grown. I know the corn I used for this week’s French Fridays recipe was organic, but it wasn’t labelled Chilliwack corn. It was perfect though, so it must have been, right?

Dorie’s corn soup is a perfect example of why we should eat seasonally, when we can. I don’t think this soup would have been half so successful if I’d used off season or canned corn. Corn is still at its peak right now and most people are serving it on the cob, boiled or grilled, to take advantage of its sweetness. This soup is worth holding back a few cobs.

Corn sliced straight off the cob (easier than I thought it would be) is sautéed with onion, garlic, celery, and carrot, while the corn cobs are used to infuse hot milk. Seasoned with herbs, the soup is puréed, then topped with a mixture of reserved corn kernels, chopped scallions, crumbled bacon and hot pepper. You can also add a spoonful of crème fraiche, if you’re feeling decadent.

I went for a lighter version, substituting 1% for whole milk and forgoing the crème fraiche altogether. It still tasted quite rich. I can imagine the full version being served in very small bowls (or even shot glasses) before a meal. The flavour of the fresh corn stands out, while complemented by the other ingredients. I suspected I would like this soup, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I think I’m going to have to put a reminder on the calendar for next year to make this soup when corn is again at its best.

If corn isn’t a specialty where you live, what is? Are there areas that are more famous for something than others? When I was travelling in Mexico, every ice cream stand claimed its wares were from Michoacán, which is famous for ice cream. And people from Winnipeg always go to New Bothwell for cheese curds. I have a feeling that this is a widespread phenomenon.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Corn Soup