In just over an hour I'm going to be cruising the 401 on my way up north to Deep River, where my parents have been living for 22 years. This town of just over 4000 people was built as a housing community for the scientists recruited to Chalk River when Atomic Energy of Canada Limited was created by the government in 1952. (This cold-war nuclear research project was set up as a way to study peaceful nuclear energy. Despite promoting peaceful use of nuclear energy, between 1955-1976, the labs in Chalk River provided 250kg of spent reactor fuel (aka. plutonium) to the US Department of Energy, which then went on to make nuclear bombs, including the one dropped on Nagasaki, which contained 6.4kg of this plutonium.)
Needless to say, Deep River is a nerd town. Almost everyone who lives there works for AECL in some way. My dad is a chemist and oversees nuclear waste management in a way that is as environmentally friendly as possible. Once named Canada's highest concentration of PhD holders per capita, the population is aging and my generation has now gone off and graduated from university, with a vast majority of kids undertaking studies in engineering or science. My brother and I are covering both of these bases: Simon is at Queen's taking mechanical engineering and I got my BScH in biochemistry last year. Go nerd family!
Despite feeling extra nerdy and therefore extra awesome when I go back home, there is another purpose to this visit. Every two years, my town puts on the immensely popular Summerfest, which is basically a huge gong-show weekend in August that includes live music, dragon boat races, vendors, a triathlon and (perhaps most importantly), a huge beer tent. I'm taking Caroline up this weekend with me to experience it and to meet and hang out with my super french-canadian family. The big acts under the main stage this year are The Planet Smashers (a ska band from Montreal) and K'Naan (a Somali-born Torontonian rapper/poet, recently popularized by the FIFA anthem Wavin' Flag). The population of our town nearly triples as everyone flocks to see the bands and to visit again with all our townie friends from high school. I'm beyond excited to see everyone again, including my high school teachers who will surely be in attendance with their families.
So the point of this post, then, is this: I won't be blogging much this weekend. They're calling for fabulous weather up in Deep, and with Caroline and my family all together (a rare treat) I won't be spending much time glued to screens of any sort. I'm going to be taking some notes on my mom's cooking though, since I want to make it my life goal to pass along my family's rich tradition in the form of food. My grandmother's ragou d'pates de cochon, tourtiere, tarte au sucre...my dad's spaghetti sauce with family secret ingredient, my other grandmother's potato salad and tourtiere du Lac-St-Jean. ... ok I'm drooling on my keyboard.
Ok I better pack and go get the car. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend and enjoys the weather wherever you are! Special shoutout to the Queen's University Pipe Band, home of all my best friends and pipe band family, who is competing at the Glengarry Highland Games this weekend in Maxville. It's their first year as a grade 4 band, and last year we tied for 1st in this North American Pipe Band Championship/shitshow weekend! GO GET 'EM GUYS!!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Julie discovers a new food
Last night Alex (Caroline's housemate) and I had a long chat about nutrition, including but not limited to her vegetarian lifestyle. I was completely floored and amazed at how well she feeds herself. Alex eats organic, unprocessed foods and chooses to do so, if I understood correctly, due to the negative impact that commercial food processing has on our environment. Furthermore, she explained to me that she opts out of eating meat for the same reasons I do (when I omit meat, which is often): commercial farming and livestock raising practices are atrocious and completely cruel. Alex, not unlike myself, will gladly eat meat of which she knows the origin, such as a steak from a local farm. She tells me that she gets seafood and steak cravings often, but really commits herself to her lifestyle. To paraphrase a snippet of her reasoning: being a vegetarian isn't a diet, it's a lifestyle. If you don't go to yoga on one day even though you're someone who practices yoga daily, no one would argue that you shouldn't call yourself a yogi. It's the same with being a vegetarian. Sometimes I do allow myself to eat meat because I simply feel like it. It doesn't not make me a vegetarian. This is an interesting and valid take on vegetarianism. A few months ago I sampled different types of vegetarian diets, including "flexitarian," which basically means you sometimes eat meat. After having sausage in my pasta on that one day, I felt like I was cheating on my vegetarian diet. Is that what Alex refers to, except she doesn't feel guilty about it? What do you think?
Aside from really getting me thinking and digesting the thought of perhaps making a switch to a more organic vegetarian diet myself, Alex also introduced me to a new food, quinoa.
Turns out, quinoa is a superfood. A distant cousin of spinach and tumbleweed this pseudocereal is not a grain and not a rice. It is rather the edible seed of a genus of plants called Chenopodium. Different species of this genus produce different varieties of quinoa. This tiny seed has an inherent nutty flavour. It can be used as a direct substitute for rice, pasta or cousous and is mad easy to prepare. But the ultimately cool thing about quinoa that people should really pay attention to is that it is one of the rare "grains" that counts as a complete protein, meaning that it contains an ideal balance of a human's daily required dose of the 20 amino acids. As soon as I read this, I got pretty excited. I can name off all twenty of these protein building blocks since they are the bread and butter of my research (I'm currently working with data on these molecules that will utilize the unique magnetic properties of each atom in each different amino acid to help me solve the structure of a bacterial protein. Anyways enough about that...).
For comparison...
Rice: 7.5% protein, millet: 9.9% protein, wheat: 14% protein and quinoa... 16.2% protein. Some varieties even have up to 20%! Quinoa is rich in methionine, cysteine and lysine, whereas most grains are quite low in lysine and soy can be really weak in methionine and cysteine.
I took Alex's advice and made up my very first quinoa recipe, using a 1/2 cup of organic quinoa she graciously gave me to try out:
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup chicken stock
1 medium zucchini
3 small tomatoes, on the vine
1/4 cup chopped feta cheese
1 tsp chopped garlic
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
garlic powder
sugar
Greek salad dressing
1. Quinoa cooks exactly like rice, so put chicken stock and quinoa in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce, cover and simmer until all the liquid is gone, about 12-15 minutes. Let sit for 3 minutes, then fluff with a fork like you would couscous.
2. Dice zucchini into small pieces. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Sautee in olive oil for about 5 minutes to desired tenderness. Set aside.
3. Dice tomatoes, removing the caviar. Drizzle in a bit of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Sautee in the same pan as the zucchini for 3 minutes along with the chopped garlic and a pinch of sugar. Remove from heat and add to zucchini.
4. Mix feta in with vegetables. Add the fluffed quinoa and drizzle with a bit of Greek salad dressing until moist. Do not overdress.
And there you have it! I strongly suggest that everyone give quinoa a try. Alex tells me that you can make a sweet version as well, adding apple cider vinegar, chopped apples and walnuts. You can also mix in with your oatmeal in the morning to add a bit of protein. Enjoy!
Aside from really getting me thinking and digesting the thought of perhaps making a switch to a more organic vegetarian diet myself, Alex also introduced me to a new food, quinoa.
Turns out, quinoa is a superfood. A distant cousin of spinach and tumbleweed this pseudocereal is not a grain and not a rice. It is rather the edible seed of a genus of plants called Chenopodium. Different species of this genus produce different varieties of quinoa. This tiny seed has an inherent nutty flavour. It can be used as a direct substitute for rice, pasta or cousous and is mad easy to prepare. But the ultimately cool thing about quinoa that people should really pay attention to is that it is one of the rare "grains" that counts as a complete protein, meaning that it contains an ideal balance of a human's daily required dose of the 20 amino acids. As soon as I read this, I got pretty excited. I can name off all twenty of these protein building blocks since they are the bread and butter of my research (I'm currently working with data on these molecules that will utilize the unique magnetic properties of each atom in each different amino acid to help me solve the structure of a bacterial protein. Anyways enough about that...).
For comparison...
Rice: 7.5% protein, millet: 9.9% protein, wheat: 14% protein and quinoa... 16.2% protein. Some varieties even have up to 20%! Quinoa is rich in methionine, cysteine and lysine, whereas most grains are quite low in lysine and soy can be really weak in methionine and cysteine.
I took Alex's advice and made up my very first quinoa recipe, using a 1/2 cup of organic quinoa she graciously gave me to try out:
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup chicken stock
1 medium zucchini
3 small tomatoes, on the vine
1/4 cup chopped feta cheese
1 tsp chopped garlic
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
garlic powder
sugar
Greek salad dressing
1. Quinoa cooks exactly like rice, so put chicken stock and quinoa in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce, cover and simmer until all the liquid is gone, about 12-15 minutes. Let sit for 3 minutes, then fluff with a fork like you would couscous.
2. Dice zucchini into small pieces. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Sautee in olive oil for about 5 minutes to desired tenderness. Set aside.
3. Dice tomatoes, removing the caviar. Drizzle in a bit of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Sautee in the same pan as the zucchini for 3 minutes along with the chopped garlic and a pinch of sugar. Remove from heat and add to zucchini.
4. Mix feta in with vegetables. Add the fluffed quinoa and drizzle with a bit of Greek salad dressing until moist. Do not overdress.
And there you have it! I strongly suggest that everyone give quinoa a try. Alex tells me that you can make a sweet version as well, adding apple cider vinegar, chopped apples and walnuts. You can also mix in with your oatmeal in the morning to add a bit of protein. Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Sitting down with...
One of my girlfriends Laura and I decided that we'd leave her fiance at home over the next little bit and go see Eat Pray Love together. I go see movies with Laura and Scott sometimes (including Inception last week...did I mention you all need to go see it?!). But first!! Must read book.
Aaaaand go.
Aaaaand go.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Guest recipe #1 + Tuesday night meal
First of all, I'd like to say that I finally roped a friend, the wonderful and talented and sexy-as-hell Lisa Kileeg, into getting a blog of her own. I believe she's aiming to discuss all her favourite things in the world, and if you're awesome and smart, you'll check her out: thecherryonthesundae.blogspot.com.
I mention Lisa because she has sent me a few recipes to try out as I trek along on this blog adventure. The first recipe she sent me sounds delicious (tropical chicken!) but I'm strapped for time and money for many reasons, including but not limited to the fact that I have to gut my entire apartment and pack for a trip home this upcoming weekend. Given this limbo I've found myself in, my lovely friend and co-worker Caroline has graciously offered me her couch for the week until I get this apartment problem dealt with. She's also let Ernie stay there as well, which is a HUGE help to me since I have some major work to do on the place and I'd rather my kitten not inhale a bunch of gross junk along the way.
As a thank-you to Caroline and her roommate Alex for having my little family and I over this week, I've started on part one of the thank you gift: BLONDIES! Talking this over with Lisa, she sent me her fabulous blondie recipe, and here it is:
1/2 cup of butter, melted
1 cup of tightly packed dark brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/3 cup of butterscotch chips (chopped walnuts and chocolate chips are equally tasty)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour an 8X8 pan. Whisk together the melted butter and sugar in a bowl.
Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk.
Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, mix it all together. Add the butterscotch chips or other mix-ins.
Pour into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool. Cut into squares and serve.
These blondies taste a lot like brownies, minus the cocao. They were SUPER easy to make, took no time at all, and are gooey and delicious and perfect for generous friends and their housemates :)
I mentioned being strapped for cash these days. Seeing as I'm going home for 4 days, my fridge is virtually empty. I have very little fresh veg, no fruit, no meat, nothing fresh at all. It's for times like these that I urge everyone to keep pasta and sauce handy in their pantries. I spiced mine up a little bit, because I couldn't just pour canned sauce on pasta:
Julie's Cheapo Pasta
1 small onion, diced finely
2 green onions, chopped
1 tsp chopped garlic
salami or sausage (I had leftover lunch meat I have to get through)
butter
olive oil
canned pasta sauce (680mL)
pasta
grated cheese
Cook the pasta until desired tenderness. Drain, drizzle with a bit of olive oil to prevent sticking, set aside.
Chop the onions and the meat into little cubes and cook in olive oil and butter until meat is crisp and onions are sweated and golden.
Add the garlic and green onions. Continue to cook until garlic aroma comes through and onions have really sweated out.
You're going to incorporate this into the canned pasta sauce. If you like (as I did, since I seem to be addicted to my Magic Bullet), I blended the mixture of onion, meat and garlic, so it incorporated nicely into the sauce without being chunky.
Mix half the sauce with the pasta, and pour into a greased casserole dish.
Topped with grated cheese.
Bake uncovered at 350F for about 15 minutes. Broil for 2 minutes to crisp the cheese if you want.
The nice thing about playing around with pasta sauce is that you can help turn something cheap into something that tastes like you spent the whole day making it. Canned pasta sauce is relatively flavour-less and can be watery, so adding a thick garlicky meaty flavour base adds tons of flavour for mere pennies.
A note on flavour bases: Flavour bases are the foundation upon which soups, stews, braises, etc. are built. They combine aromatic, flavourful, hearty ingredients and use every drop of juice and fat to help add richness. Most of them start with butter or oil, onion, garlic and some sort of meat and/or root vegetable (not necessarily meat you will be cooking as the main component of the dish). The meat is important to add near the beginning since it releases oils and fat and drippings, which will then be soaked up by the rest of the ingredients (bacon is very common). Try it next time you make sauce or soup and I guarantee you'll be surprised by the depth of flavour you add to your food!
I'd also like to add that I went to Ta Ke Sushi last night and had the sushi dinner deal with some friends. For $15.99 you get miso soup, salad, 10pc nigiri, and your choice of a 6pc maki. A friend was generous enough to help cover my tab. I wish he was still around tonight at Caro's when I bring over these blondies. I have lots of friends to pay back :)
I mention Lisa because she has sent me a few recipes to try out as I trek along on this blog adventure. The first recipe she sent me sounds delicious (tropical chicken!) but I'm strapped for time and money for many reasons, including but not limited to the fact that I have to gut my entire apartment and pack for a trip home this upcoming weekend. Given this limbo I've found myself in, my lovely friend and co-worker Caroline has graciously offered me her couch for the week until I get this apartment problem dealt with. She's also let Ernie stay there as well, which is a HUGE help to me since I have some major work to do on the place and I'd rather my kitten not inhale a bunch of gross junk along the way.
As a thank-you to Caroline and her roommate Alex for having my little family and I over this week, I've started on part one of the thank you gift: BLONDIES! Talking this over with Lisa, she sent me her fabulous blondie recipe, and here it is:
1/2 cup of butter, melted
1 cup of tightly packed dark brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/3 cup of butterscotch chips (chopped walnuts and chocolate chips are equally tasty)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour an 8X8 pan. Whisk together the melted butter and sugar in a bowl.
Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk.
Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, mix it all together. Add the butterscotch chips or other mix-ins.
Pour into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool. Cut into squares and serve.
These blondies taste a lot like brownies, minus the cocao. They were SUPER easy to make, took no time at all, and are gooey and delicious and perfect for generous friends and their housemates :)
I mentioned being strapped for cash these days. Seeing as I'm going home for 4 days, my fridge is virtually empty. I have very little fresh veg, no fruit, no meat, nothing fresh at all. It's for times like these that I urge everyone to keep pasta and sauce handy in their pantries. I spiced mine up a little bit, because I couldn't just pour canned sauce on pasta:
Julie's Cheapo Pasta
1 small onion, diced finely
2 green onions, chopped
1 tsp chopped garlic
salami or sausage (I had leftover lunch meat I have to get through)
butter
olive oil
canned pasta sauce (680mL)
pasta
grated cheese
Cook the pasta until desired tenderness. Drain, drizzle with a bit of olive oil to prevent sticking, set aside.
Chop the onions and the meat into little cubes and cook in olive oil and butter until meat is crisp and onions are sweated and golden.
Add the garlic and green onions. Continue to cook until garlic aroma comes through and onions have really sweated out.
You're going to incorporate this into the canned pasta sauce. If you like (as I did, since I seem to be addicted to my Magic Bullet), I blended the mixture of onion, meat and garlic, so it incorporated nicely into the sauce without being chunky.
Mix half the sauce with the pasta, and pour into a greased casserole dish.
Topped with grated cheese.
Bake uncovered at 350F for about 15 minutes. Broil for 2 minutes to crisp the cheese if you want.
The nice thing about playing around with pasta sauce is that you can help turn something cheap into something that tastes like you spent the whole day making it. Canned pasta sauce is relatively flavour-less and can be watery, so adding a thick garlicky meaty flavour base adds tons of flavour for mere pennies.
A note on flavour bases: Flavour bases are the foundation upon which soups, stews, braises, etc. are built. They combine aromatic, flavourful, hearty ingredients and use every drop of juice and fat to help add richness. Most of them start with butter or oil, onion, garlic and some sort of meat and/or root vegetable (not necessarily meat you will be cooking as the main component of the dish). The meat is important to add near the beginning since it releases oils and fat and drippings, which will then be soaked up by the rest of the ingredients (bacon is very common). Try it next time you make sauce or soup and I guarantee you'll be surprised by the depth of flavour you add to your food!
I'd also like to add that I went to Ta Ke Sushi last night and had the sushi dinner deal with some friends. For $15.99 you get miso soup, salad, 10pc nigiri, and your choice of a 6pc maki. A friend was generous enough to help cover my tab. I wish he was still around tonight at Caro's when I bring over these blondies. I have lots of friends to pay back :)
Monday, July 26, 2010
Edamame burgers
I was at the Market Square a few weeks ago and stumbled upon an organic food stand selling yummy-looking produce. Having recently stocked up, I passed. However, there was a little plate of samples and never one to turn down a free sample of anything, tried it. To my delight, these were the farm's edamame burgers, homemade from organic local ingredients.
They're tiny and even though they're labeled as burgers, actually work well on their own as soft patties.
Desert Lake Gardens - Mill Street Cafe and Fine Foods
(Ingredients: millet, carrots, radishes, ginger, garlic, lime juice, asian chili paste, panko, eggs)
FYI (cause I had to look it up): Millet is an international grain with a protein content similar to wheat. It's grown extensively in Africa and Asia, and is used either as a component of some flours, or as a starter for certain alcoholic beverages. Has a mild, nutty taste and smell.
Panko is a Japanese bread crumb, often used to bread seafood. It is lighter than normal bread crumbs, as the bread used is crustless and is flakey.
These burgers are clearly very healthy, given the ingredients: millet, edamame, carrots, radishes, garlic, ginger...The distinct lack of filler or chemicals is really nice, reminding us all that cool delicious hearty food is indeed possible without the help of machines or pre-packaging.
These patties have a distinctly Asian flavour, and I imagine they'd go well on buns with a bit of fresh carrot or cucumber. I did get a huge piece of ginger in one of the patties, which was unpleasant to say the least, but overall I wouldn't discourage anyone from getting these next time they're in the Kingston area and feel like a trip to the Market Square on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
They're tiny and even though they're labeled as burgers, actually work well on their own as soft patties.
Desert Lake Gardens - Mill Street Cafe and Fine Foods
(Ingredients: millet, carrots, radishes, ginger, garlic, lime juice, asian chili paste, panko, eggs)
FYI (cause I had to look it up): Millet is an international grain with a protein content similar to wheat. It's grown extensively in Africa and Asia, and is used either as a component of some flours, or as a starter for certain alcoholic beverages. Has a mild, nutty taste and smell.
Panko is a Japanese bread crumb, often used to bread seafood. It is lighter than normal bread crumbs, as the bread used is crustless and is flakey.
These burgers are clearly very healthy, given the ingredients: millet, edamame, carrots, radishes, garlic, ginger...The distinct lack of filler or chemicals is really nice, reminding us all that cool delicious hearty food is indeed possible without the help of machines or pre-packaging.
These patties have a distinctly Asian flavour, and I imagine they'd go well on buns with a bit of fresh carrot or cucumber. I did get a huge piece of ginger in one of the patties, which was unpleasant to say the least, but overall I wouldn't discourage anyone from getting these next time they're in the Kingston area and feel like a trip to the Market Square on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
My kitchen
I've been having some unfortunate issues with my apartment these days, and before my landlady comes over tomorrow to inspect the damage, I wanted to make very clear to her that I'm not a slob and that the damage in my place is not a result of my lack of cleanliness. I keep my kitchen immaculate and my bathroom as clean as I can keep up with. Today is Sunday. It's nice out, I have loads of data analysis to do, and I'm sore to the degree of not being able to crouch or sit or even walk properly. And so of course what am I doing all day? Scrubbing the shit out of every inch of my apartment.
I wanted to give you guys a sense of what I'm working in terms of my kitchen. The idea that you need a huge kitchen to accomplish anything remotely resembling food is absurd. Take Ilan Hall, Top Chef season 2 winner and my future husband, for example. I was watching a clip online of how chef Hall lives and cooks out of his own kitchen, and I was stunned. He managed to make lobster and oysters in a wine reduction out of a space no bigger than a standard kitchen sink, and which also served as storage space for all of his dishes. I kid you not. Of course, I'm not living out of a closet in downtown NYC or paying $1200/month for said closet, but when it comes to kitchens I didn't score the tons-and-tons-of-space jackpot.
A view of my kitchen from the far end of my living room. Cube freezer (very handy) on the far left, my tiny stupid kitchen "table", all my cupboard space, stove, fridge.
The idea behind this blog is to discuss food for someone like myself who is a) strapped for cash, b) strapped for space and c) strapped for time, but who despite all this is in love with food and really enjoys playing with her food and cooking cool stuff.
This, my friends, is not the kitchen of boxed macaroni.
When I first moved into this place, I made a list of all the kitchen stuff I needed and over the past 11 months have accumulated quite a bit of stuff, given the space I have. Everything is tucked away behind cupboard doors, but if you were to peek inside you'd notice that everything is PILED on top of everything else and teetering dangerously. The counterspace I have is limited to the tiny area next to my microwave, the sliver of space next to the stove, and this wobbly white table that the previous tenants left behind. The spot next to the microwave is where most of the cooking happens. I am also equipped with apartment-sized appliances, namely a fridge and a stove. For graduation last year, my parents bought me a small deep freezer, which these days serves more as extra counter space, to be honest.
There are some kitchen tools I believe every young person should have and use regularly (aside from the obvious stove, utensils and plates, jackasses):
- automatic coffee maker
- microwave
- kettle
- cheese grater
- really sturdy pots, frying pans, and baking dishes
- pizza cutter
- cookie sheets
- toaster
- Magic Bullet, or any other type of small blender
- Slow cooker
But Julie, you just said you weren't the kind of gal who enjoyed processed microwavable foods, mac n cheese in a box or store-bought anything!? All of these things are in keeping with what you just said you're not into! What gives?
Here's how small investments like these can help you maximize space and cook from scratch even in the tiniest of kitchens.
- Coffee maker: Making your coffee at home costs pennies compared to stopping at Timmie's or Starbucks on your way to work every morning. Even making one cup in the morning saves you $1.50/day, or about $40/month. That's most of my cell phone bill right there. A tip: if you're into flavoured coffee but don't want to pay for it, make your own tasty variation by sprinkling cinnamon onto the grinds before you brew.
- Microwave: Thought only good for "cooking" boxed meals, obviously you can defrost, cook to the right temperature before dropping into the pan, melt butter, etc. Plus, every student needs a microwave, because inevitably you'll need to resort to pizza pops every so often.
- Kettle: Same thing as the coffee maker...nothing relaxes better after a long day than a hot cup of tea. Some recipes also call for boiling water, and this allows you to skip the stove.
- Cheese grater: There's no explanation here, other than I like cheese, and everyone knows it tastes better if you grate it :) Plus grating your own cheese is often cheaper than buying it pre-grated.
- Sturdy pans, etc.. : Can't cook without them. Simple as that.
- Pizza cutter: No, not for the one you bought frozen and reheated. Making your own pizza not only means you can customize it to your taste, but it's cheaper and healthier :) Can also be used to cut fresh pasta or for making your own tortilla chips
- Cookie sheets: Great for baking, obviously, but also make good surfaces to work on, to store things in the fridge on, and for some types of special baking.
- Toaster: For breakfast, for pre-crisping bread used for your own tuna melts and garlic bread, for quickly drying bread out if you need bread crumbs and don't have any in the pantry..
- Magic Bullet: Ok, ignoring the alternate appliance for a second..this thing is great an it does everything. Frozen drinks, pureeing, mixing, smoothies, frozen drinks, soups, chopping finely, ravioli filling, frozen drinks...
- Slow cooker: Whoever invented a machine that allows you to cook the night before, plug it in and come home to a hot meal after a long shitty day at work deserves a medal.
I realize this post is long and somewhat rambly, but I think about these things a lot. A good kitchen, no matter how small, can allow you to make whatever you want. And if you can't, you can always improvise something with what you have. What will always kill me, however, is the kitchen section in any home furnishing store, or better yet, specialty food and food appliance store. I went to Oderin last week to buy a sturdy dish rack, and spent half an hour walking around admiring ravioli presses, tiny Le Creuset ramekins and electric stand mixers worth more than a month's rent. One day, children. One day...
I wanted to give you guys a sense of what I'm working in terms of my kitchen. The idea that you need a huge kitchen to accomplish anything remotely resembling food is absurd. Take Ilan Hall, Top Chef season 2 winner and my future husband, for example. I was watching a clip online of how chef Hall lives and cooks out of his own kitchen, and I was stunned. He managed to make lobster and oysters in a wine reduction out of a space no bigger than a standard kitchen sink, and which also served as storage space for all of his dishes. I kid you not. Of course, I'm not living out of a closet in downtown NYC or paying $1200/month for said closet, but when it comes to kitchens I didn't score the tons-and-tons-of-space jackpot.
A view of my kitchen from the far end of my living room. Cube freezer (very handy) on the far left, my tiny stupid kitchen "table", all my cupboard space, stove, fridge.
The idea behind this blog is to discuss food for someone like myself who is a) strapped for cash, b) strapped for space and c) strapped for time, but who despite all this is in love with food and really enjoys playing with her food and cooking cool stuff.
This, my friends, is not the kitchen of boxed macaroni.
When I first moved into this place, I made a list of all the kitchen stuff I needed and over the past 11 months have accumulated quite a bit of stuff, given the space I have. Everything is tucked away behind cupboard doors, but if you were to peek inside you'd notice that everything is PILED on top of everything else and teetering dangerously. The counterspace I have is limited to the tiny area next to my microwave, the sliver of space next to the stove, and this wobbly white table that the previous tenants left behind. The spot next to the microwave is where most of the cooking happens. I am also equipped with apartment-sized appliances, namely a fridge and a stove. For graduation last year, my parents bought me a small deep freezer, which these days serves more as extra counter space, to be honest.
There are some kitchen tools I believe every young person should have and use regularly (aside from the obvious stove, utensils and plates, jackasses):
- automatic coffee maker
- microwave
- kettle
- cheese grater
- really sturdy pots, frying pans, and baking dishes
- pizza cutter
- cookie sheets
- toaster
- Magic Bullet, or any other type of small blender
- Slow cooker
But Julie, you just said you weren't the kind of gal who enjoyed processed microwavable foods, mac n cheese in a box or store-bought anything!? All of these things are in keeping with what you just said you're not into! What gives?
Here's how small investments like these can help you maximize space and cook from scratch even in the tiniest of kitchens.
- Coffee maker: Making your coffee at home costs pennies compared to stopping at Timmie's or Starbucks on your way to work every morning. Even making one cup in the morning saves you $1.50/day, or about $40/month. That's most of my cell phone bill right there. A tip: if you're into flavoured coffee but don't want to pay for it, make your own tasty variation by sprinkling cinnamon onto the grinds before you brew.
- Microwave: Thought only good for "cooking" boxed meals, obviously you can defrost, cook to the right temperature before dropping into the pan, melt butter, etc. Plus, every student needs a microwave, because inevitably you'll need to resort to pizza pops every so often.
- Kettle: Same thing as the coffee maker...nothing relaxes better after a long day than a hot cup of tea. Some recipes also call for boiling water, and this allows you to skip the stove.
- Cheese grater: There's no explanation here, other than I like cheese, and everyone knows it tastes better if you grate it :) Plus grating your own cheese is often cheaper than buying it pre-grated.
- Sturdy pans, etc.. : Can't cook without them. Simple as that.
- Pizza cutter: No, not for the one you bought frozen and reheated. Making your own pizza not only means you can customize it to your taste, but it's cheaper and healthier :) Can also be used to cut fresh pasta or for making your own tortilla chips
- Cookie sheets: Great for baking, obviously, but also make good surfaces to work on, to store things in the fridge on, and for some types of special baking.
- Toaster: For breakfast, for pre-crisping bread used for your own tuna melts and garlic bread, for quickly drying bread out if you need bread crumbs and don't have any in the pantry..
- Magic Bullet: Ok, ignoring the alternate appliance for a second..this thing is great an it does everything. Frozen drinks, pureeing, mixing, smoothies, frozen drinks, soups, chopping finely, ravioli filling, frozen drinks...
- Slow cooker: Whoever invented a machine that allows you to cook the night before, plug it in and come home to a hot meal after a long shitty day at work deserves a medal.
I realize this post is long and somewhat rambly, but I think about these things a lot. A good kitchen, no matter how small, can allow you to make whatever you want. And if you can't, you can always improvise something with what you have. What will always kill me, however, is the kitchen section in any home furnishing store, or better yet, specialty food and food appliance store. I went to Oderin last week to buy a sturdy dish rack, and spent half an hour walking around admiring ravioli presses, tiny Le Creuset ramekins and electric stand mixers worth more than a month's rent. One day, children. One day...
Friday, July 23, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Beach food
So my lab and I head to Sandbanks once a year in the summer to escape science for a few hours and make sandcastles. I was good at reapplying sunscreen this year (last year I cooked to within an inch of my life and called in sick the next day due to heat exhaustion). I was good at not losing my bikini bottoms to the crashing waves. I was really good at absorbing sunlight and taking a snooze on the hot sand.
What I was NOT good at, to my horror, was packing food for this trip. I normally try to pack a balance...veg, salty snacks, lots to drink, and something to have for lunch. Craig packs a Coleman stove and a cooler every year, so most people bring some meat to grill, bags of chips, etc.
Here's what I brought:
- 3 italian sausages left over from a casserole I made last week, stored (get this) in 2 successive Ziploc bags, and then stuffed into a Thermos
- half a bag of baby carrots that nobody touched
- half a bag of Tostitos that nobody touched
- a Diet Coke (thanks Lisa...I'm officially addicted)
- a Fischer Scientific canister (HA!) of strawberry kiwi Crystal Light
Looking around at other people at the beach, and at what my co-workers brought, I realized I failed miserably on the following notes:
- Did I bring any buns for the sausage? No.
- Did I bring condiments for the sausage? No.
- Did I bring utensils of any kind? No.
- Did I bring any fresh fruit or veg? Yes...but I didn't eat them. Fail.
- Maybe most importantly, did I bring water? No.
Eating a decent meal when every surface around you, including every exposed patch of skin (and some not exposed..), is covered in dusty sand, is really difficult. I don't own a cooler, and I'm on a tight budget. Next time, I'll think to bring water so I don't dehydrate, sandwiches packed with crispy fresh healthy stuff, and tons of juicy fruit. I felt like a tool today, and now since I spend the entire day outside in the sun and am the colour of the watermelon Janine was smart enough to bring, I kind of look like one too.
What I was NOT good at, to my horror, was packing food for this trip. I normally try to pack a balance...veg, salty snacks, lots to drink, and something to have for lunch. Craig packs a Coleman stove and a cooler every year, so most people bring some meat to grill, bags of chips, etc.
Here's what I brought:
- 3 italian sausages left over from a casserole I made last week, stored (get this) in 2 successive Ziploc bags, and then stuffed into a Thermos
- half a bag of baby carrots that nobody touched
- half a bag of Tostitos that nobody touched
- a Diet Coke (thanks Lisa...I'm officially addicted)
- a Fischer Scientific canister (HA!) of strawberry kiwi Crystal Light
Looking around at other people at the beach, and at what my co-workers brought, I realized I failed miserably on the following notes:
- Did I bring any buns for the sausage? No.
- Did I bring condiments for the sausage? No.
- Did I bring utensils of any kind? No.
- Did I bring any fresh fruit or veg? Yes...but I didn't eat them. Fail.
- Maybe most importantly, did I bring water? No.
Eating a decent meal when every surface around you, including every exposed patch of skin (and some not exposed..), is covered in dusty sand, is really difficult. I don't own a cooler, and I'm on a tight budget. Next time, I'll think to bring water so I don't dehydrate, sandwiches packed with crispy fresh healthy stuff, and tons of juicy fruit. I felt like a tool today, and now since I spend the entire day outside in the sun and am the colour of the watermelon Janine was smart enough to bring, I kind of look like one too.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
A non-food-related rant
I have a blog now. That means I can sit down and speak my mind about whatever and you have to listen, right!?
Right.
For about a year now, I've been growing into myself, having recently undergone a major re-working of my personal life. In this time, I've taken up yoga, obviously ramped up my from-scratch cooking skills, read incessantly and have also begun to educate myself on some issues I believe are worth mentioning in this type of venue. Read on if you like, if not...stay tuned for more foodie updates soon...
Last summer, a friend of mine introduced me to a sex-advice columnist and gay rights activist named Dan Savage, who writes the weekly column Savage Love out of The Stranger, based in Seattle, blogs daily, and produces the weekly out-loud version of his column Savage Love as a podcast (aptly named The Savage Lovecast). Savage is openly gay, extremely sex-positive, and to my delight, very articulate and educated.
Long story short...I've learned a TREMENDOUS amount about human sexuality and all its variations. After listening to a dozen or so of his podcasts (of which he is nearing on 200 episodes soon!) I was sold: Savage delivers a hysterical and yet sobering and honest message of openness, communication, inclusiveness and acceptance that everyone should embrace with open minds and hearts. Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't taboo, I think everyone should be ok with talking about his/her interests and be open with his/her partner(s). If there's one thing Savage has taught me, it's that being open and communicative makes you a better lover. Period. It makes you a better human being as well, in my experience. Of course, it still grosses me out to hear a caller ask Dan how he can get rid of the smegma built up underneath his festering foreskin and how the bacterial infection it has caused has fused his foreskin to the head of his penis and makes sex painful and grosses out his partners...Yes, that's gross. However, not so gross are the calls about gay teens living in bullshit tiny-ass towns who can't even talk to anyone about their sexualities because of the nasty misconceptions made about gay people in these bigoted towns.
Turns out, long story long.
Savage also starts most of his podcasts out with a bit of a rant, mostly about what's going on in the news in terms of gay rights and the like. I'm not going to reproduce every single example, but if you're at all interested, a good place to start is to Google "santorum" and follow the various links until you understand the types of things that (rightfully) piss me off about some people in our world.
I strongly suggest you to check Dan out, at www.thestranger.com and click on "SAVAGE". Read through archived columns, download the podcast, read Dan's blog....bottom line: EDUCATE YOURSELF. We have a lot to learn about sexuality and acceptance in our society, and this is an excellent place to start. Listen and read enough, and hopefully you'll be convinced, just as I was. One more person on the "all things right and fair and equal" train.
Right.
For about a year now, I've been growing into myself, having recently undergone a major re-working of my personal life. In this time, I've taken up yoga, obviously ramped up my from-scratch cooking skills, read incessantly and have also begun to educate myself on some issues I believe are worth mentioning in this type of venue. Read on if you like, if not...stay tuned for more foodie updates soon...
Last summer, a friend of mine introduced me to a sex-advice columnist and gay rights activist named Dan Savage, who writes the weekly column Savage Love out of The Stranger, based in Seattle, blogs daily, and produces the weekly out-loud version of his column Savage Love as a podcast (aptly named The Savage Lovecast). Savage is openly gay, extremely sex-positive, and to my delight, very articulate and educated.
Long story short...I've learned a TREMENDOUS amount about human sexuality and all its variations. After listening to a dozen or so of his podcasts (of which he is nearing on 200 episodes soon!) I was sold: Savage delivers a hysterical and yet sobering and honest message of openness, communication, inclusiveness and acceptance that everyone should embrace with open minds and hearts. Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't taboo, I think everyone should be ok with talking about his/her interests and be open with his/her partner(s). If there's one thing Savage has taught me, it's that being open and communicative makes you a better lover. Period. It makes you a better human being as well, in my experience. Of course, it still grosses me out to hear a caller ask Dan how he can get rid of the smegma built up underneath his festering foreskin and how the bacterial infection it has caused has fused his foreskin to the head of his penis and makes sex painful and grosses out his partners...Yes, that's gross. However, not so gross are the calls about gay teens living in bullshit tiny-ass towns who can't even talk to anyone about their sexualities because of the nasty misconceptions made about gay people in these bigoted towns.
Turns out, long story long.
Savage also starts most of his podcasts out with a bit of a rant, mostly about what's going on in the news in terms of gay rights and the like. I'm not going to reproduce every single example, but if you're at all interested, a good place to start is to Google "santorum" and follow the various links until you understand the types of things that (rightfully) piss me off about some people in our world.
I strongly suggest you to check Dan out, at www.thestranger.com and click on "SAVAGE". Read through archived columns, download the podcast, read Dan's blog....bottom line: EDUCATE YOURSELF. We have a lot to learn about sexuality and acceptance in our society, and this is an excellent place to start. Listen and read enough, and hopefully you'll be convinced, just as I was. One more person on the "all things right and fair and equal" train.
Spinach Ravioli
Who doesn't love ravioli? Honestly...
I was walking through Metro on my way towards the pet aisle and passed the tofu/herbs/"asian" section of the store, which in my opinion, is WAY too small. There are so many cool ingredients instrumental to asian cuisine that supermarkets should carry all the time. Squid ink for dying foods black, thai chiles, eggs laid by any animal other than chickens....But it's Metro! In the ghetto! What do students know about variety? All they know how to make is chicken in the pan (if that) and macaroni out of box with shitty beer to wash it down, right?! Students as a whole are severely underestimated when it comes to food and it feels like the supermarket here is laughing at us. I find it slightly aggravating that a) Metro murders my wallet every time I go there, and b) fails to carry cool, local ingredients. Anyway...I digress.
I walked by and saw won ton wrappers, which I know are a decent substitute for homemade pasta, which I love to but don't have time to make today. I love light soft ravioli as much as I love cheese-laiden stuffed-to-the-brim beef ravioli...but it's summer, it's hot out and I'm poor. I can't afford decent meat for homemade ravioli so onto the next obvious choice: spinach.
Traditionally spinach ravioli is stuffed with a mixture of spinach, ricotta, egg, salt & pepper, and nutmeg. Now, ricotta is expensive...at least more expensive than its cousin, cottage cheese. Also, I dislike nutmeg in ravioli. To incorporate these minor adjustments into my meal, I landed on Cottage Spinach No-Nutmeg ravioli and to tie it all together, a tomato-based light sauce I invented when I was strapped for real ingredients. In doing so, I made up a rule for myself (and hopefully everyone): If you're going to bother making your own pasta...don't cover it in store-bought sauce. That's like topping a cake you took all day to make from scratch with Betty Crocker "cream cheese" icing. Just don't.
Here's the recipe...loosely. I'm a firm believer in twisting recipes around so I like them, so feel free to do the same yourself. (Baking is the exception to that suggestion, however..)
~~~~~
For the ravioli
1 package of wonton wrappers
1 package of baby spinach
1 medium-sized tub of cottage cheese (or ricotta)
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
nutmeg (if you want)
1. Boil the spinach in salted water until it has wilted. Drain the bejesus out of the spinach with a strainer and a spatula.
2. Mix spinach, cottage cheese, egg, and S&P. If you want to, as I did, you can throw this though a food processor to get a smooth texture. If not, chop your spinach up before adding it to the mix.
3. Get out your wonton wrappers. One at a time, stuff them by laying one square flat on a floured pan (to prevent sticking), drop a tsp of filling into the centre of each, brushing water onto the edges of this square, and then pressing a second square on top of the filling, pressing firmly on each side of the pocket to seal in the spinach. Nobody likes ruptured ravioli...
4. Either boil right away for 3-4 minutes (until they float) or lay flat on the pan and refrigerate. Don't stack them though...wonton wrappers stick to each other.
For the sauce
4 slices of hot salami
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup butter
4 large tomatoes
chicken stock
parmesan cheese
chopped garlic
parsley
salt and pepper
1. In a large frying pan, fry the salami until crisp. Remove, cool, and crumble.
2. In the same hot pan, melt the butter. Add the mushrooms and cook to desired tenderness. I like mine browned and really sweated out.
3. Meanwhile, blanch the tomatoes. Cool, and chop into small pieces, omitting the caviar if you like. (NB#1. To blanch tomatoes means to core them, cut X's into their bums, and drop them into boiling water, such that when you remove them 3 minutes later, their skins are much easier to remove. NB#2. Tomato caviar is just a fancy way to say "the smushy part that contains the seeds that is generally unpleasant to include in sauces.)
4. Cook the tomatoes down with the mushrooms, adding butter, parmesan and a bit of chicken stock to thicken and flavour the sauce. Consistency should be thick around the tomatoes.
5. Season with chopped garlic, parsley, S&P.
Fry the ravioli in the sauce for 5 minutes after they've been boiled. Top with more cheese, enjoy!
~~~~~~
If any of you are familiar with cooking on television, or by great chefs, an original meal is usually accompanied by a description of the flavours by the person who cooked it, or is tasting it. For most people, this description is superfluous, especially since many cooking techniques and ingredients inevitably come off sounding pompous and sort of silly. Example: "Here we have a duo of beef, served on your left with a coulis of leek and chanterelles, and on your right, lightly braised with a hint of rosemary foam. The first thing I taste is the lightness of the foam, very aromatic and slightly acidic and the robustness of the beef...blah blah blah." Translation: "This piece of steak has some mushrooms, and the other one tastes like herbs. Both of 'em are pretty tasty." I'm going to skip all that and leave you with a simpler description of the stuff I cook. If one day I go to culinary school and become a chef and invent cool shit, then I'll bore you with the fancy descriptions...
This ravioli is yummy :) Rich but light sauce, cool bright green filling! Also pretty cool that it took me like 2 hours total to make and was worth every minute!
Bon appetit!
- Julie
PS. I doubt I'll post pictures of this ravioli, even though it is my intention to accompany stories about food with pictures of said food. Unfortunately, the batteries in my camera are currently dead. I have no idea where my replacement batteries are, as my apartment is currently undergoing "where the hell is everything I own??" cleaning and re-organizing. I should also find my camera cord too...might be useful.
I was walking through Metro on my way towards the pet aisle and passed the tofu/herbs/"asian" section of the store, which in my opinion, is WAY too small. There are so many cool ingredients instrumental to asian cuisine that supermarkets should carry all the time. Squid ink for dying foods black, thai chiles, eggs laid by any animal other than chickens....But it's Metro! In the ghetto! What do students know about variety? All they know how to make is chicken in the pan (if that) and macaroni out of box with shitty beer to wash it down, right?! Students as a whole are severely underestimated when it comes to food and it feels like the supermarket here is laughing at us. I find it slightly aggravating that a) Metro murders my wallet every time I go there, and b) fails to carry cool, local ingredients. Anyway...I digress.
I walked by and saw won ton wrappers, which I know are a decent substitute for homemade pasta, which I love to but don't have time to make today. I love light soft ravioli as much as I love cheese-laiden stuffed-to-the-brim beef ravioli...but it's summer, it's hot out and I'm poor. I can't afford decent meat for homemade ravioli so onto the next obvious choice: spinach.
Traditionally spinach ravioli is stuffed with a mixture of spinach, ricotta, egg, salt & pepper, and nutmeg. Now, ricotta is expensive...at least more expensive than its cousin, cottage cheese. Also, I dislike nutmeg in ravioli. To incorporate these minor adjustments into my meal, I landed on Cottage Spinach No-Nutmeg ravioli and to tie it all together, a tomato-based light sauce I invented when I was strapped for real ingredients. In doing so, I made up a rule for myself (and hopefully everyone): If you're going to bother making your own pasta...don't cover it in store-bought sauce. That's like topping a cake you took all day to make from scratch with Betty Crocker "cream cheese" icing. Just don't.
Here's the recipe...loosely. I'm a firm believer in twisting recipes around so I like them, so feel free to do the same yourself. (Baking is the exception to that suggestion, however..)
~~~~~
For the ravioli
1 package of wonton wrappers
1 package of baby spinach
1 medium-sized tub of cottage cheese (or ricotta)
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
nutmeg (if you want)
1. Boil the spinach in salted water until it has wilted. Drain the bejesus out of the spinach with a strainer and a spatula.
2. Mix spinach, cottage cheese, egg, and S&P. If you want to, as I did, you can throw this though a food processor to get a smooth texture. If not, chop your spinach up before adding it to the mix.
3. Get out your wonton wrappers. One at a time, stuff them by laying one square flat on a floured pan (to prevent sticking), drop a tsp of filling into the centre of each, brushing water onto the edges of this square, and then pressing a second square on top of the filling, pressing firmly on each side of the pocket to seal in the spinach. Nobody likes ruptured ravioli...
4. Either boil right away for 3-4 minutes (until they float) or lay flat on the pan and refrigerate. Don't stack them though...wonton wrappers stick to each other.
For the sauce
4 slices of hot salami
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup butter
4 large tomatoes
chicken stock
parmesan cheese
chopped garlic
parsley
salt and pepper
1. In a large frying pan, fry the salami until crisp. Remove, cool, and crumble.
2. In the same hot pan, melt the butter. Add the mushrooms and cook to desired tenderness. I like mine browned and really sweated out.
3. Meanwhile, blanch the tomatoes. Cool, and chop into small pieces, omitting the caviar if you like. (NB#1. To blanch tomatoes means to core them, cut X's into their bums, and drop them into boiling water, such that when you remove them 3 minutes later, their skins are much easier to remove. NB#2. Tomato caviar is just a fancy way to say "the smushy part that contains the seeds that is generally unpleasant to include in sauces.)
4. Cook the tomatoes down with the mushrooms, adding butter, parmesan and a bit of chicken stock to thicken and flavour the sauce. Consistency should be thick around the tomatoes.
5. Season with chopped garlic, parsley, S&P.
Fry the ravioli in the sauce for 5 minutes after they've been boiled. Top with more cheese, enjoy!
~~~~~~
If any of you are familiar with cooking on television, or by great chefs, an original meal is usually accompanied by a description of the flavours by the person who cooked it, or is tasting it. For most people, this description is superfluous, especially since many cooking techniques and ingredients inevitably come off sounding pompous and sort of silly. Example: "Here we have a duo of beef, served on your left with a coulis of leek and chanterelles, and on your right, lightly braised with a hint of rosemary foam. The first thing I taste is the lightness of the foam, very aromatic and slightly acidic and the robustness of the beef...blah blah blah." Translation: "This piece of steak has some mushrooms, and the other one tastes like herbs. Both of 'em are pretty tasty." I'm going to skip all that and leave you with a simpler description of the stuff I cook. If one day I go to culinary school and become a chef and invent cool shit, then I'll bore you with the fancy descriptions...
This ravioli is yummy :) Rich but light sauce, cool bright green filling! Also pretty cool that it took me like 2 hours total to make and was worth every minute!
Bon appetit!
- Julie
PS. I doubt I'll post pictures of this ravioli, even though it is my intention to accompany stories about food with pictures of said food. Unfortunately, the batteries in my camera are currently dead. I have no idea where my replacement batteries are, as my apartment is currently undergoing "where the hell is everything I own??" cleaning and re-organizing. I should also find my camera cord too...might be useful.
Tales of a Foodie
Greetings fellow foodies!
This is my first venture into the expansive world of blogging. I've kept online journals about my life before, mostly ramblings about things going on in my personal life, annoying quizzes re-copied from some chain email, and the like. It should come as no surprise then, that I decided to stop updating them.
Almost 5 years later, here I am. I'm a grad student in biochemistry...which means I spend a lot of time working on things nobody knows (or cares) about, and it's all pretty abstract to most people. My days are spent measuring tiny volumes, tiny concentrations of little molecules, testing things over and over, staring at specs in endless data sets and rarely coming to any conclusions or really accomplishing anything. Such is the slow and unapologetic world of scientific research.
In an effort to distract myself from my work (which I care a lot about, let's get this straight), I cook. I don't have roommates or a boyfriend to help fill the hours, and I don't own a TV. As such, the internet...food blogs...cookbooks...YouTube clips of my favourite cooking shows....become my inspirations. I enjoy a wide variety of foods (I challenge you to find something I won't try at least once) and constantly experimenting with recipes I already know and love. My background in biochemistry makes me good at following recipes and understanding flavour balance, and gives me some insight into issues I care a lot about, namely food production/processing/genetic modification, as well as the critical role fresh wholesome ingredients play in our diets.
I'm going on an adventure to thoroughly understand the food on my plate...how it got there and the best way to cook it. Here we go...
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