Chicken and Artichoke Pot Pie

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I could wax poetic here and spin a lyrical little tale about how the nip in the air and the gorgeous scarlet and golden maple leaves have inspired me to make some homey dish that smacks of nostalgia. But, if I’m to be completely honest, the reason I baked these chicken artichoke pot pies was because I was cleaning up the basement storage room and I found this box of freaking adorable barnyard cooky cutters. (Why did they misspell cookie?).

I seem to recall buying them when the kids were little and had grandiose plans for baking sugar cookies with them and letting them decorate them with coloured royal icing suck icing from the piping bags, but sadly we never did it. It is possible they were used with play-doh at some point!

That little metal chicken was calling out to me and I instantly knew that I wanted to make chicken pot pies. As a child of the 70’s I was practically weaned on Swanson Chicken Pot Pies and TV Dinners. Carol Brady  was my second mother and I so badly wished that Alice was our housekeeper. Not that my mom was a bad cook, but she had 6 kids and was very busy cleaning all the time, so frozen meals were a big part of my childhood. Our favourite dessert was Sara Lee Banana Cake. One of my sisters always snuck into the freezer and picked the icing off the top of the cake. We never did discover who it was.

This chicken pot pie is inspired by a Chicken and Artichoke Casserole that I used to make all the time at one of my very first full-time kitchen jobs. I was working at Dinah’s Cupboard. It was run by a woman named Dinah Koo. The little shop, in the Yorkville neighbourhood was Toronto’s first Gourmet take-out food shop. Dinah was an amazing woman to work for. She demanded perfection and precision in everything we made. She taught me a great deal about discipline in the kitchen. Food quality always came first but following close on its heels was presentation. She knew how to make food look beautiful. It was also at Dinah’s Kitchen that I learned to love salt. Before any of the dishes left our kitchen to be sold in the food shop, Dinah or her brother Barry would taste them. Without fail, almost every time I got the response “more salt”!

I cringe when I hear people boast “Oh, I don’t use any salt when cooking.”, as if that’s a good thing. And then I hope I never get invited to eat at their house! Salt is an integral ingredient in cooking as well as baking. It fills out the flavour of foods. If it is absent, food just tastes flat. British restaurant critic Jay Raynor said it best, “Salt is the difference between eating in Technicolor and eating in black and white.” If loving salt is wrong, then I don’t want to be right. Sorry, I’ll get off my salt soap box now and stop lecturing you on the evils of cooking without salt.

I decided to make mini pot pies, because they are so adorable and because I knew we would have leftovers and I could stash them in the freezer and bake them another day.

I started with poaching chicken breasts. Buy chicken breasts on the bone and then cut the meat off the bone before you add them to the pot. That way, you can remove the breast meat after 20 minutes, when it is perfectly cooked and continue cooking the vegetables and bones to extract the maximum amount of flavour, so that you will have a really great stock.

Once the chicken is poached and you have your stock, make the pastry. I decided to add some poppy seeds to the dough, for a bit of crunch. This recipe for the dough comes from chatelaine.com. It is a bit unusual in that instead of cutting the cold butter or shortening into the flour and then adding liquid, they melt the butter with the water and then mix it into the dry ingredients. You can make the dough with all butter, half butter and half shortening or all shortening, the choice is yours. Just don’t forget to add the salt.

While the dough is chilling, prepare the chicken and artichoke filling. I like the addition of leeks, rather than onions as a flavour base. Leeks need to be cleaned very well in cold water. Slice lengthwise and then into 1/2 inch pieces. Place in a bowl of cold water and use your hands to swish the leeks around. Scoop out leeks that have floated to the top of the bowl.

Flour is added to the sautéed vegetables and then chicken stock and white wine are added.

Once the mixture simmers for a few minutes, I added the artichokes, diced chicken meat, frozen peas and some parsley. I also added the zest of one lemon and a few teaspoons of Siracha sauce for some zip.

The filling gets spooned into little casserole dishes.

Top with dough and bake.

Click here to print recipe for Chicken and Artichoke Pot Pie.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

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When my oldest son left to go to University 5 years ago, I felt a deep sense of grief. I got so weepy every time I passed his empty bedroom that I had to shut the door. That sense of loss passed within a few weeks and we all got back to normal. Two years later, my middle child went off to Israel for a Gap year after high school. That sense of loss returned and I felt empty again. Her bedroom door also had to be closed, but this time the cause was mostly mess and not grief!  When my third child, the baby (now 19) moved out this past May, I followed him and moved in with him. No, I’m not making this up. I actually did sleep there for the first week. But that’s a story for another time!

Eventually I returned home. I must admit I enjoyed the sounds of silence in the house. However, it was short-lived. A week later, my middle one returned home from college for the summer.

But it is now September and all the chicks have flown the coop! I must admit that rather than feeling that deep sense of loss, I am filled with pride and joy in watching my kids make this transition successfully. That being said, when they all come home to visit, and the whole family is together under one roof, I just get that feeling that everything is good and right with the world. My friend Sharon says, that she sleeps better when all her little chicks are tucked in at home. I know just what she means.

For me, one of the biggest transitions has been learning to cook for just 2 people again. My husband will often come home and look at the big bowls and platters on the table and ask me who else is coming for dinner. One of my favourite strategies is to cook a roast chicken and eat half of it one night and then use the leftover in an entirely new way the next day. I will admit that even food writers get lazy and occasionally buy a Rotisserie chicken at the grocery store. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. 

With half a roast chicken as leftovers you are well on your way to creating any number of delicious dinners. I found a fantastic recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup in the Ottawa Citizen Food section (September 13). The recipe, posted by Laura Robin, was created by Foodland Ontario. . As with most soups, you start with some diced onions. In the spirit of September and back to school, here is a little onion dicing lesson.

Peppers, red bell and jalapeno, add sweetness and heat.

If field fresh tomatoes are available, use them, if not, go for canned italian plum tomatoes. There is a bit of prep work involved in using fresh tomatoes. They need to be blanched, peeled and diced. Remove the cores and cut a little “X” in the other end. Gently place them in boiling water for a minute and the skins will slip off easily.

Cumin, oregano and chipotle chili powder combine to give this soup its distinctive flavour. Once all the ingredients are chopped, the soup comes together in less than 30 minutes.  

Corn and diced cooked chicken get added during the last 5 minutes of cooking. A squeeze of lime juice gives the soup a fresh acidic vibe.

Finish off with some freshly chopped cilantro and a few tortilla chips for crunch! A perfect dinner all in one bowl.

Click here to print recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup.

Beehive Honey Cake

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Tomorrow night marks the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Honey is traditionally served at the Rosh Hashanah table to symbolize our hope for a sweet year ahead.  What you may not know, is that honey is rapidly at risk of becoming a scarce commodity.

What I’m about to share with you may sound a bit far-fetched, like a plot from an episode of CSI-The Animal Kingdom Edition, if there were such a version.

Honeybees are disappearing at an alarming rate.  Apparently, thriving colonies disappear overnight without leaving a trace, the bodies of the buzzing little victims are never found. Seemingly healthy communities fly off never to return. The queen bee and mother of the hive is abandoned to starve and die.

Bees don’t just make honey; they are critical in the pollination of our fruits and vegetables When you stop to consider that honeybees pollinate about one out of every three bites of food we eat, this is a serious matter. This missing bee phenomenon is known as “Colony Collapse Disorder” (CCD).   What is causing CCD is up for debate.

Some put forth the theory that whenever bees are stressed, a parasite, called nosema, attacks the bees digestive system. Anytime bees are stressed, their immune system takes a hit.  What could honeybees possibly be stressed about, you may ask?  In what’s called “migratory beekeeping”, beehives are often transported long distances to pollinate farms.  Imagine how you’d feel, doing a great job on one farm and then being packed up in a truck, to travel thousands of miles only to have to set up shop in a new location all over again.  That would stress anyone.

According to Richard Schiffman of  blogs.reuters.com

Three new studies point an accusing finger at a culprit that many have suspected all along, a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids.

In the U.S. alone, these pesticides, produced primarily by the German chemical giant Bayer and known as “neonics” for short, coat a massive 142 million acres of corn, wheat, soy and cotton seeds. They are also a common ingredient in home gardening products.

Research published last month in the prestigious journal Science shows that neonics are absorbed by the plants’ vascular system and contaminate the pollen and nectar that bees encounter on their rounds. They are a nerve poison that disorient their insect victims and appear to damage the homing ability of bees, which may help to account for their mysterious failure to make it back to the hive.

What can we do to help? Here are a few ideas from the “District Domestic” website that you can implement in your garden, to help the plight of the honeybees.

  • Replace some of your lawn with flower beds.
  • Keep your garden as organic as possible! Avoid using pesticides and herbicides.
  • Plant native species, which bees love – for example: mint, daisies, strawberries, raspberries, lavender, salvia, asters, sunflowers and verbena.
  • Choose plants that flower at different stages in the growing season to provide a constant supply of food for the bees.

While honey cake is traditionally served at Rosh Hashanah, I have to admit that I’m not the biggest honey cake fan. My main complaint about honey cakes is that they are very sticky and cloyingly sweet.

To me, honey cake is the Jewish equivalent of fruitcake.  Everyone makes it but no one really wants to eat it.  However, here is a honey cake recipe that I have come upon that has changed my mind.   Honey-Glazed Beehive Cake is light and delicate, as a result of egg whites which are whipped to fluffy peaks and then folded into the batter.

The honey glaze which sandwiches the two halves of the hive together is created by combining brown sugar, honey and butter. The brown sugar and butter work their magic to tame the cloying sweetness of honey. I could not stop myself from licking the bowl.

This recipe comes from the June 2008 issue of Martha Stewart Living. I have adapted it slightly and omitted the marzipan honey bees that Martha decorated her cake with. If you have the patience and fine motor skills to make the little marzipan bees, go for it! The hive cake pan is made by Nordicware and I got mine on Amazon.

Egg whites are beaten to stiff peaks and folded into the cake batter to help create a lighter honey cake.

The cake halves must be trimmed in order to sandwich them together to make the hive. The trimmings make a great afternoon snack with tea!

Martha recommends using the honey glaze when it is warm, to glue the halves together. I found that the two sides kept sliding, so I chilled the glaze for about an hour so the butter had a chance to set up a bit. Once firmer, the two halves stuck easily.

The remaining honey glaze can be rewarmed and poured over the cake if you like a “wet-look” sticky cake.

A final sugar glaze is made by mixing icing sugar and water together and poured over the cake.

Click here to print recipe for Beehive Honey Cake.

L’Shana Tova. Wishing you all a sweet, joyous and healthy New Year.

Peach Praline Coffee Cake

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When peach season rolls around, there is almost nothing better than biting into the perfect peach. It gives just slightly to pressure when prodded gently with your finger. It has a full sweet lingering aroma, that you will notice as soon as you approach the bin of peaches at the market. That first bite, when your teeth break the skin, gives way to a juicy interior, sweet but with a bit of tang, and the juice drips freely down your chin. The fuzz on the peach just slightly irritates your lower lip. (Or maybe that’s just me. My husband says that I am easily irritated!)

I almost never buy the early peaches. They are the “cling” variety and the flesh does not separate easily from the pit. I wait patiently each year, until late August/early September for the “freestone variety” to arrive at the markets. The flesh just falls off the pit. Of course, I buy way too many peaches and there is no way I can eat them all, so I end up with a small bowl of somewhat bruised peaches that need to be used fast.

When I saw this cake on Serious Eats, I knew I had to make it. The indubitable star of this cake is praline topping. Measuring a whopping 3 inches tall, it makes up over half the total height of this cake. You will wonder, as you pile the praline topping over the cake batter, if there is a mistake in the recipe. No error here! This is as it is intended. Everyone knows that the topping is the best part of most coffee cakes. The actual cake, while certainly playing a supporting role, is no shrinking violet either. Moist, dense and slightly tangy, from the peaches and buttermilk in the batter, this cake is the perfect counterpoint to the crunchy sweet praline topping.

The peaches need to be peeled for this cake and while it is a bit of a process, it is important as bits of peach peel in the cake would not be great. Using a sharp knife, make an “X” in the bottom of each peach. Place in a pot of boiling water. When you see the skin start to peel away from the flesh, after about 1-2 minutes, they are ready to be removed. Let cool a bit, then peel and cut in half to remove it.

I gave the praline topping a bit of a makeover, by adding some whole wheat flour and quick cooking oats. Not that I delude myself by thinking that these additions make this a “healthy” cake, but I love the nuttiness that whole wheat flour adds and I love the texture that oatmeal contributes. I also reduced the amount of butter in the original topping recipe, as when I made this the first time, there was a melted pool of butter sitting on top of the cake. The original recipe called for 10 ounces of butter. I cut it back to 6 ounces and still ended up with a very buttery praline topping.

The cake batter comes together quickly. Buttermilk is the choice of liquid for this coffee cake as it really complements the tangy peaches.

You must be patient and give the cake a few hours to cool before removing from the pan. A big slice with a cold glass of milk disappears in almost no time at all. Magic how that happens!

Click here to print the recipe for Peach Praline Coffee Cake.

The whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts and Charred Corn Slaw

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A few weeks ago we hosted our Triennial (my new word for the day – that’s once every three years) family reunion at our cottage, We started doing this in 2000. This summer we totalled 38 various aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and several other various hangers oners. I wrote about the genesis of these reunions a few years ago, here. My youngest sister (I have 4 sisters and one lucky brother!) likes to plan activities for these reunions. She is a kindergarten teacher. My other sisters, brother, and I tolerate it to humour her, plus, she is so bossy, we all end up doing what she says anyways, just to keep the peace.

On the second morning of the reunion we all played “The Amazing Race-Wedding Edition“, in honour of our brother’s upcoming nuptials in two weeks. Under the guise of helping the betrothed couple prepare for the wedding we were  divided into teams and went off on a car rally-treasure hunt to the lovely town of Perth, Ontario.

We did a similar type of activity at the last reunion, in 2009, and my oldest son asked me if participation in this year’s hunt was optional. I patiently explained to him that no, participation was not optional and that the reason for this was so that when his parents, and/or aunts and uncles are dead and he and all his cousins are sitting around at the Shiva house, they will have shared memories to reminisce and laugh about. Making memories for your kids is one of the most important tasks for a parent.

The “Race” was fast and furious. Several members of our family are quite competitive and play hard to win. In fact, I would suggest that if you ever visit Perth, and stop in at the delicious Sunflower Bake Shop (where we had to visit to obtain a list of cupcake flavours that they make and then recommend the one that should be served at the wedding), you might not want to mention our family’s name. Apparently we are now blacklisted from that establishment. But don’t let that stop you. Their lemon pound cake is killer!

On our journey we were instructed to stop in at Jersey Joe’s Pizza and Sub. Our task was to create a perfect pizza for the happy couple to eat at 2:00 am after their wedding. We were to get a price for the pie and take a picture with Jersey Joe. Bonus points were promised if we brought a box back to the cottage. Jersey Joe was a real sweetheart and he makes a mean pizza pie!

The last task of the race ended proved to be the most controversial. We wound up at the Perth Dairy Queen where we had to create a custom Blizzard that the happy couple would taste and judge.

Most of the teams assumed that the custom blizzard had to contain ingredients that were available at the DQ. However, one team, who declared themselves to be “outside the box thinkers” interpreted this task much more loosely. Knowing my brother’s penchant for bacon, Butterfingers candy bars and Hostess Twinkies, they procured these items before arriving at the DQ and mixed them into their custom blizzard.

Fortunately for all the other teams, the “outside the box thinker’s” blizzard was the sixth of seven blizzards that the happy (but by now, quite nauseous) couple had to taste. My brother turned a pale shade of green as his sweetheart shoved a mouthful of blizzard coated bacon bits into his mouth. One sister was heard to quip, “Cheaters never prosper.”

That afternoon, more than a few family members signed up for naptime!

Not all the weekend’s activities were compulsory. On Friday morning we held a swim marathon. Attendance at this event was totally optional and there were only 6 of us who participated in the 2 kilometer swim to an island in the middle of our lake.  My youngest sister, brother and I first did the swim about 6 years ago and it has become a time-honoured tradition ever since. We discovered that the owner of the cottage on the island we swim to is a heart surgeon. That always gives us comfort as we gasp our way across the lake.My brother-in-law Brandon had a big bowl of Double Coconut Granola for breakfast and claimed it was the perfect fuel to jet him across the lake. My cousin Lewis tried some when we got back and now is a member of our Breakfast Club!

The Jell-O eating contest drew a huge crowd, as we cheered on my brother, the undefeated champion. He took gold in 2003 (Watermelon), 2006 (Chocolate Pudding) and 2009 (Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce). In our food races, we prize speed over quantity. Whoever finishes their plate first wins. We organize it in heats of 3 and then the winners of each heat go against each other until a final winner emerges.

In the finals it was the uncontested champ (my brother) against his beloved (my future sister-in-law). She slurped faster than he did and is now our family’s new hero. Secretly, just between you and me, I think he threw the race to let her win, because that’s just the kind of sweet guy my brother is!

Shockingly, there was close to perfect attendance for Friday night’s blind Prosecco tasting. We kept score on the chalkboard covered fridge and Villa Sandi eked out a close one against second place Mionetto and third place Blu Giovello. Santa Margherita Valdobbiadene got one lonely vote (Mine!)

For our Friday night dinner, we set up tables on the lawn and covered them with white cloths, and candles. It looked so beautiful, we could have held the wedding right then and there!

As the sun was setting a feeling of peace and dare I say, serenity, came over me. As I looked around at this incredible gathering the phrase “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts“came to mind. So true when applied to family! I hope that my children and their cousins will continue this wonderful tradition we have started.

Last week, as I was making this slaw for the fourth time in less than 3 weeks, it occurred to me that this phrase, (The whole is greater than the sum of its parts) is equally applicable to coleslaw! Somehow when combined, lowly cabbage, pedestrian carrots, celery and green onion and ordinary farm stand corn come together in a kind of wondrous culinary synergy to create a really kick ass slaw.

Rather than grilling the corn, which I find makes the kernels tough and a bit leathery to chew, I prefer to gently saute them in a pan. As they brown and begin to snap, crackle and pop out of the pan, they become even sweeter due to caramelization.

For the dressing I wanted to blend a perfect balance of sweet (honey), salty (kosher salt), hot (chipotle in adobo) and sour (lime juice). I smoothed the whole thing out with a dollop of light mayo. For the final touch I coarsely chopped a huge handful of cilantro, but if you are a member of the cilantro haters club, feel free to leave it out!

Click here to print the recipe for Charred Corn Slaw.

Ambivalent Birthday Cupcakes

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You always remember your first. No, I’m not talking about THAT first. This is a not that kind of blog!

I have the good fortune of being blessed with 14 nephews and 9 nieces. I have a special place in my heart for each and every one of them, but there is something quite special about becoming an aunt for the first time. My oldest nephew was an adorable, sweet-natured baby and has turned into a wonderful, responsible, very funny young man with a strong sense of family. His 29th birthday coincided with a visit to our cottage last week. I wanted to make a family dinner for him. I know he has been following the Paleo diet for some time now, and birthday cake is not really on the approved Paleo list. However, a birthday without cake is just too sad for me to contemplate, so last week I sent him the following e-mail:

Would you eat cake on your birthday? If so, what would your preference be? Chocolate, Berry Shortcake, Carrot, or anything else.

I got the following response:

Well, I would have some cake if there was one in front of me, but I’d rather not.  I know I’d enjoy it in the moment, but I’d probably regret the sugar and gluten the next day.  But if I had to choose?  Chocolate or Berry Shortcake sounds great.

As far as what I eat…pretty much meat and veg these days – still on the Paleo diet.  I basically stay away from gluten/grains, dairy, and most processed food.  That being said, however, given your penchant for baking (I don’t remember the last time I was at your cottage and didn’t see something delicious cooling down on those huge racks you’ve got) I’d imagine I’ll be doing a bit of cheating those few days.
Anything I can bring?
WHAT???? Talk about an ambivalent response! How was I to interpret that?
This party was beginning to look like no fun at all. I fired off a quick e-mail:
Do you still drink alcohol?
He responded:
Yes, just wine and tequilla. 
Whew, he hadn’t completely lost his mind.
Now I had to decide if I would be the Evil Aunt and tempt him with something anti-Paleo, or should I be considerate and respectful of his diet and make him a Paleo Chocolate Birthday Cake with Coconut Honey Frosting?
I decided that to go with a full-on, loaded with gluten, dairy and sugar cake would be cruel, but it really seemed to me that he was asking me to help him cheat. So. I decided to make cupcakes, because they’re small and not really a true cake. Sort of an ambivalent cake for his ambivalent response.
For the base of the cupcakes, I knew chocolate was the right road to follow. I have tried many different chocolate cake recipes over the years, and have come to the conclusion that butter is not always better when it comes to the moistest cake. Vegetable oil really does make a better cake. Our family’s go-to chocolate cake comes from Noreen Gilletz’s “Pleasures of Your Food Processor.”  Rich, moist and very deeply chocolate, but not too sweet, it makes a perfect cake or cupcakes every time.

I am thrilled with the Cocoa Barry brand of cocoa powderI just bought. (Cocoa Barry is the French division of Callebaut)

I wanted to try a different buttercream this time. A few years ago I had dinner at a wonderful restaurant in Ottawa called Beckta. Before the meal they brought bread and some type of butter spread to the table. I was smitten from the first bite! I begged the waiter for the recipe for this spread. He told me that they melt butter until it turns a medium nutty brown colour. Then they chill it ao that it becomes a solid again and whip it with a little regular butter. This was my first foray into the land of browned butter (the French call it beurre noisette) and I must say that it has haunted my dreams ever since.
Given my success with browned butter berry tarts, I suspected that browned butter in a buttercream would be fantastic. Something magical happens when you brown butter. It enhances the flavour of just about anything you add it to, and the aroma will drive you wild. Making brown butter is quite simple. Use a saucepan with a light coloured bottom, so that you will be able to judge when the butter is browned to perfection. A dark bottom pan can lead to burned butter and trust me, that aroma and taste will not leave you craving more!

As the butter melts, it will begin to foam. Swirl the pan to ensure even melting. The color will progress from pale yellow to golden-tan to, finally, a burnt sienna (remember that crayola crayon colour?). Once you smell that nutty aroma, take the pan off the heat and transfer the browned butter into a heat-proof bowl to cool.

The milk solids will cook faster and you’ll see them settle on the bottom of the pan. You can strain the brown butter through cheesecloth to leave those milk solid particles behind, or you can incorporate them into the buttercream. I really like the almost burnt taste of them as well as seeing the specks of browned butter in the icing, so I did not strain mine.

The brown butter is chilled for about an hour until it becomes solid again. The ideal temperature of the brown butter for making the buttercream is room temperature. If it becomes too hard in the fridge, leave it on the counter to soften a bit. Beat the brown butter with icing sugar, a pinch of salt and a little vanilla extract.

Fit a disposable piping bag with a large star tip and frost the cupcakes.

The cupcakes were a huge hit. My nephew inhaled two of them and asked for two more to be wrapped up to go. I have a feeling he may have had a bit of a gluten-sugar hangover the next morning, but I think he will agree that they were worth it.

Click here to print the recipe for Chocolate Cupcakes with Browned Butter Icing.

P.S. Just read about browned butter on field fresh tomatoes. Check it out!

Andalusian Gazpacho Soup

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I literally had a gazpacho soup epiphany the first time I ate this version of it. Thick, creamy, silky, tangy, and just pure tomato goodness. I have had versions of gazpacho where all the vegetables are pulsed together in the food processor, and I have always found the texture and flavour to be murky, reminding me more of  V8 cocktail juice, than of gazpacho soup.

This gazpacho soup was served to me several years ago, at a friend’s cottage on a girl’s weekend. When I asked her how she prepared it, she said it was  pureed tomatoes, thickened with bread soaked in a little water, olive oil, sherry vinegar, garlic and cumin. This was classic gazpacho soup, prepared the Andalusian way. Andalusia is the Spanish town, where Gazpacho soup originated. I could not believe that these few simple ingredients created this astounding soup.

Now, I feel that I must disclose the event that immediately preceded the ingesting of this soup. It was a blustery day.

We all had afternoon naps and woke up feeling a little chilled, so we made a fire.  We were just beginning to prepare our cocktails, when the wind really started whipping around.  It came straight down the chimney and the cottage began to fill with smoke.  Within minutes the smoke alarm began its piercing cry and chaos ensued.  Our hostess managed to rip the smoke alarm from the wall and we opened windows and doors, but it wasn’t helping very much.

Someone suggested dousing the fire with water, but after much discussion, we decided that was a bad idea from a cleanup perspective.  Then someone suggested we use the fireplace tongs to lift the burning log, take it outside onto the deck, walk down the stairs and drop it into the lake.  This led to quite a discussion about safety.  The wind was really blowing and sparks from that log could fly off and begin a forest fire.

Finally, after about an hour and much coughing and choking, someone came up with the bright idea to use the fireplace tongs to lift the burning log, place it in a metal bucket and use that to carry it down to the lake.  All were agreed.  One person manned the tongs, the second person ran to get oven mitts (the bucket would be hot).  The third person wore the gloves and held the bucket and the fourth, opened the doors to the deck.  Mission accomplished.  The burning log was deposited safely in the lake.

Now I want you to know that we are all intelligent women, quite accomplished in our various fields, but as you may have surmised, not one of us earned a fire safety badge in Girl Scouts. However, this story perfectly demonstrates the ability women have to work together as a team to accomplish great things, like clearing a house from smoke so the cocktail hour could properly begin! After a few glasses of wine, we sat down to dinner and this gazpacho soup.

When I reflected back on the weekend, I surmised that perhaps all the excitement and wine had played tricks on my mind. There was no way that this soup was really that incredible. So I got the recipe from my friend and made it myself.

The beauty of this soup is that there is no need to peel or seed the tomatoes. Fresh ripe summer tomatoes are quartered.

Into the blender they go with a piece of baguette soaked in water, olive oil, sherry vinegar, salt, garlic and cumin.

After pureeing, the soup is poured through a sieve.

Chill and serve! While the soup is delicious as is, I love a little bit of crunch added, so I toasted up some tiny croutons and diced some cucumber and peppers.

Yes, the soup was just as delicious as I remembered.

Deeply flavourful and complex. The small amount of bread really thickened the soup and the olive oil created an emulsion that contributed to the soup’s silky texture.

Click here to print the recipe for Classic Andalusian Gazpacho Soup.

Addictive Blogger Award

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Imagine my surprise when I opened my email last Friday morning and discovered that the Addictive Blogger Award had been bestowed upon Salt and Serenity. So exciting! I must admit that sometimes when I am sitting at my computer, typing away, I wonder, if there is anyone out there even reading this stuff? So, it is quite rewarding to know that someone is out there reading what I have so carefully crafted and that some readers even find me addictive! I suppose it is a basic human need to want to feel validated and recognized for what we do.

A great big thank you to the talented blogger behind at350degrees for the award! I do not know her name, but I can tell you that she is a busy student and still has time and a great big passion for baking. It’s inspiring! Check out her blog. It’s lovely!

My award comes with a few rules:

  • Thank the person awarding you
  • Share a little about why you blog and how the journey started
  • Paste the blog award on your page
  • Nominate 10 other bloggers you feel deserve the award

I actually stumbled into blogging by accident. I never intended to be a blogger. In the spring of 2009, I was surfing the net, doing some research for a food column I was writing  for our local newspaper, when I came across a wonderful food blog called Pinch My Salt , by Nicole Hamaker.  Nicole was about to embark on an exciting journey, baking her way through Peter Reinhart’s book, “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice”, one recipe at a time.  She was looking for company.

The next thing I knew, I was e-mailing Nicole to tell her to count me in.  I am not ordinarily a goal oriented person and the thought of joining any group usually makes me shudder, but for some strange reason I was drawn to this challenge.  I have several bread baking books on my cookbook shelf but have never gotten around to baking anything other than challah.  I have always wanted to learn to bake amazing baguettes, Ciabatta bread and other artisan breads but just never got around to it.  It always seemed like such an ordeal.  This was just the kick I needed.

It seemed like a simple exercise.  We would go through the book in alphabetical order and bake one bread each week, for the next 43 weeks, beginning with Anadama Bread and ending with Whole Wheat.  Within 2 weeks there were 216 bread freaks from all over the world, who, just like me, decided that their life would not be complete if they failed to bake their way through this book. Our main way of keeping in touch was through a Google group. We decided to share photos of our finished breads on Flickr.

I baked my first bread (cornmeal molasses bread called Anadama) on May 12 2009.  I logged onto our Google page and under the conversation thread titled, “Post your Anadama Bread links here” I told the group I had made my bread and they could see pictures of it on Flickr.  While on our Google page, I decided to check out what other group members were up to.  I was blown away.  Many of the participants had their own food blogs and told a whole story with photos about their Anadama adventure.

What had I gotten myself into?  These were serious food people with their own web sites.  As I perused some of their blog entries I became somewhat jealous.  I wanted to start a food blog too.  I could do this!  The next day as I baked our second bread I took my camera into the kitchen and shot every step of baking “Artos, a Greek Celebration Bread”.  By the end of the day I was sweating and my camera was covered in flour.  But I was so proud.  That night I began researching blogs and within 48 hours I had my very own blog set up with my first post, complete with photos.

I must admit, that when I told my children what I was doing, they mocked me and told me to “get a life.” I quickly shut them up with homemade bagels, cinnamon buns, kaiser buns,  and 40 other wonderful breads.

I actually finished the challenge in July 2010 and surprisingly, I came to love the writing and photography almost as much as the baking. I found that blogging was an amazing outlet for my creative energy. I love the generosity and camaraderie of food bloggers. They are, by and large, a wonderful and supportive group of people. After the challenge was done, I decided to continue blogging and see where it would take me. It has now been over three years and I think that my writing and photography skills have improved and I learn so much from other bloggers. I continue to gather more followers each day and am up to over 459 followers at this point. I am grateful for those who subscribe to my blog and want to hear what I have to say.

In the spirit of food blogger generosity, here are 10 food blogs that I think deserve the Addictive Blog Award. Check them out, and I think you’ll agree that they are indeed addictive!

Aprons and Sneakers, A Healthy Life For Me, Biscuits and Bobbins, Bob Vivant, Bravetart, Dash and Bella, Emmy Cooks, Raspberri Cupcakes, The Patterned Plate, The Usual Bliss.

Avocado Toasts

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I’m about to confess something that may get me drummed out of the tribe. I’m sick of eating humus! Truthfully, I have only myself to blame for this unfortunate state of events. I have been eating humus with carrot and celery sticks  for lunch everyday for the past year. Seriously, everyday! I know, you must be wondering, how is that possible? She’s a food blogger, she must create all kinds of wonderful lunches, each day more imaginative and fantastic than the last. But the sad truth is that I get into a rut, it’s just easy, plus it’s healthy and fairly low cal and so then I feel justified later in the day to indulge in my daily aperitivo!

I confess my boring lunch habit not so you will feel sorry for me, but as a way of sharing with you the discovery of a fantastic and simple appetizer to serve with drinks when company comes to visit.

Every summer for the past 26 years we have been gathering at our cottage with my husband’s University housemates and their spouses. Over the years our numbers have swelled as everyone started having kids. We had our annual get together this past weekend. It was just a small group of 15 this year as several members had other commitments. Each family is responsible for one meal over the weekend. It’s fantastic because it means that I am not in the kitchen the entire weekend cooking for everyone and I can enjoy my company instead of resent them!

As I began to plan what to serve my guests with drinks before dinner, I ruled out the usual suspects: humus and pita (sick of humus, see above!), tortilla chips and salsa (too predictable), a big bowl of pistachios or peanuts (nut allergies). As I was reading my July issue of Bon Appetit magazine, the photo on the editor’s letter page stopped me cold. It was just simply grilled bread topped with ripe avocado, sea salt, olive oil and red pepper flakes. I have to say that since Editor-in-Chief  Adam Rapoport took over at the helm of Bon Appetit, I have really started to enjoy reading this magazine once again. He has injected it with a fresh modern vibe and it just inspires me to cook everything on the pages. I still miss Gourmet (a moment of silence please!), but Bon Appetit is really doing a great job to partially fill the void.

The beauty of these avocado toasts is in their simplicity. The key is to gather together the very best ingredients for this dish. There is no real cooking or recipe involved here. Think of yourself as an orchestra leader, bringing together some gifted musicians. Each on their own, sounds quite nice. Together, they create a beautiful harmony. Look for good Artisan bread that has an “open crumb structure” (that’s baker speak for bread with lots of holes – more holes means more crusty spots to give added crunch and crevices for the olive oil to drip into).

A big fat clove of fresh garlic gets rubbed onto just grilled bread.

The avocados should be perfectly ripe, so buy them a few days ahead so they have time to ripen to perfection.

Table salt need not apply for the job of topping these crostini. Pull out the Maldon Sea Salt or some Fleur de Sel. The large crystals of salt will give added crunch and provide a perfect counterpoint to the bland creamy avocado. Pull out that expensive bottle of fruity, slightly bitter olive oil that you have been saving for a special occasion. The nooks and crannies of the grilled Artisan bread will soak it up. Finally, a very light sprinkling of red pepper flakes to wake up the taste buds.

These Avocado Toasts will have your friends and family toasting you!!

Tuxedo Orzo Salad

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This is a cautionary tale told to warn you about the dangers of shopping without your reading glasses. It is dark and scary! (Not really!) If you are blessed with 20/20 vision or are under the age of 40, you may just want to skip the first part of this post. Otherwise, you will be shaking your head and wondering what this crazy old lady is rambling on about.

Growing up, I had always had perfect vision. My dad was an optometrist and of course, I always wanted to wear glasses. I would go to his office and try on different frames, imagining the various personalities that went with each pair. When I turned 40, I noticed that I could no longer read the directions on the back of over-the-counter medicines. Just a word to the wise, do not assume that the package says Tylenol nighttime when your kids wake up sick in the middle of the night. Without my glasses on I was never quite sure if I was giving them nighttime or daytime. If I accidentally gave them the daytime, it became quite obvious within 20 minutes of swallowing the medicine, and I would pay the price for my deteriorating vision.

Eventually, I did go see an optometrist. The beginning of my failing eyesight coincided with my dad’s death. It felt so disloyal to visit another optometrist, that I put it off for as long as I could. When I finally went, I was prescribed mild reading glasses and he told me I could just get by with a drugstore pair. Not a chance! I spent the better part of the afternoon at his office, trying on almost every pair of frames in his office, driving the poor assistant there crazy, I’m sure. I chose a racy red pair of reading glasses that I was convinced portrayed me as intelligent, creative, slightly quirky and someone with who is comfortable in her own skin and does not worry about what others think. A lot to ask from one pair of glasses, to be sure! I really only needed them for very small print, but I pulled them on at every opportunity.

Fast forward several years and with each passing year, my vision has continued to spiral downward. My optometrist has assured me that it’s a normal part of aging. However, I now need my glasses to read everything. I have my Blackberry set at the biggest font size, and I still need my glasses to read e-mails and texts. Yes, I still have a Blackberry! I like to think that it was Blackberry that taught the world to type with their thumbs. Way to go Canadian innovators. I have tried the iPhone but I can not seem to get the hang of that touch screen. I am all thumbs when it comes to using it. Yet, I digress, sorry about that!

I now have about 12 pairs of reading glasses scattered throughout the house, in my car and in my purse. I find it such a pain to have to put them on to read a recipe, take them off to cook or take pictures of what I am cooking. I am forever lamenting that I can’t find my glasses. My daughter really wants me to buy one of those chains you put around your neck to hold the glasses, so you don’t lose them. I have managed to hold off so far, because, really, they just announce that you are a woman of a certain age, and I’m just not ready to be that woman yet. So until Marni or Miu Miu come up with a chain that conveys to everyone that I am intelligent, creative and slightly quirky, I will pass.

Last week I was at the supermarket, wandering up the grains and rice aisle, when I spotted a beautiful box. I picked it up and the bright yellow large font announced itself to be Tuxedo Orzo. Pretty little grains of black and white orzo. I had to buy a box and make something fantastic with it. I never read the fine print on the box because I couldn’t be bothered to take out my glasses.

When I got home I rummaged through the fridge and pantry and began creating a Tuxedo Orzo Salad.

The contrasting textures and tastes in this salad are fantastic. The grains of orzo are slightly chewy, the pine nuts are crunchy and the buffalo mozzarella is creamy. The sweetness of the corn and peas play off so well against the bitter arugula. Bathed in a fresh lemon-garlic olive oil dressing, this salad is addictive. I made it for my family and the huge bowl disappeared very quickly.

The following week, my girlfriends were visiting at the cottage and I made the salad a second time for them for lunch. As we were inhaling the salad and oohing and aahing over the pretty black and white grains of orzo, one friend asked how they made the orzo black. I pulled out the box and slipped on my reading glasses and was horrified to discover that it was dyed with cuttlefish ink. We keep a kosher home and cuttlefish is a member of the squid family and is definitely not kosher. Oops!

I will certainly be making this salad again, but with white orzo only! It is a great salad to use up all the little odds and ends you have in the fridge and pantry. I think it would be wonderful with almonds, asparagus and parmesan in the spring or cooked butternut squash, hazelnuts and diced apples in the fall.

Click here to print the recipe for Tuxedo Orzo Salad.