The wood grain of my desk has gone incognito, obliterated by a bomb of binders, sticky notes, memos, and schedules. A hot dog day order form, a basketball team roster, an IEP, another IEP, a stack of photocopying, a giant pair of dice, a bell, a recipe for brownies – ah, there, the recipe for brownies, now I can pedal home.

A pink sky, a dry road, and the whir of a freshly lubed chain follow me up Hillside Road. I wonder about dinner. Walnuts, I remember, and stop at Fairways. The store’s bulk section is ho hum. Lately I’ve shopped for nuts, grains, spices, and interesting flours at the health food store in Sidney. I found dried lavender and the surprisingly elusive whole-wheat pastry flour.

My bag is heavy with the nuts and all the other bits and tins I suddenly remember upon entering a grocery store. I dismount at the top of the hill and watch birds fly from the crooked deck. I love our neighbourhood with its mismatched houses and quiet streets tucked between busy throughways, and, of course, the slightly dodgy Quadra Street Village, home to the excellent Caffe Fantastico and James’ Caribbean Café. I love that I’ve finished with children and chalk for the day. In my apartment, on a shelf, a mass of inflated dough waits for me to push it down, turn it onto a floured board, and knead walnuts into its sticky skin before patting it into two round loaves for the final rise.

Kneading bread at six thirty a.m. before beginning a day teaching middle school may very well be a symptom of insanity. But there I am, hazy with flour and sleep, rising with the yeast (clever, huh?). I leave the dough to lift while I spend my day at school. Later, five o’clock p.m., I feed it walnuts and give it one last squeeze. The final rise finishes at six. Into the oven and at seven o’clock we have fresh bread. Life is good.

This is Flo Bracker’s recipe. I haven’t changed it. Haven’t even tried cutting the fat. It’s just that perfect.

Walnut Bread

1 package active dry yeast
pinch sugar
1/2 cup hot water
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup walnut oil (I use olive)
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp salt
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup walnut pieces, toasted
cornmeal
kosher salt

Sprinkle the yeast and a pinch of sugar over the hot water in a large bowl. I test the water on my wrist, it should feel quite warm. Set aside for 15 min to proof. It should be a bit bubbly when done.

Add the lukewarm water (it should feel a bit cooler than your wrist), sugar, oild, unbleached flour, and salt to the yeast mixture; mix until wall blended. Add the whole wheat flour. Do this bit by bit. You may need more or less. It depends on the dough and the day. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic, about fifteen minutes. My rule is you can never over-knead. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning it to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 2 to 4 hours. On the aformentioned day, I left my dough to rise for over eight hours. I left it at a low room temperature, probably about 17 or 18 degrees celcius. Typically, for the regular rise, I put the dough in the over, after I've warmed it just a little.

After the dough has doubled in bulk, punch down. Work briefly and gently with your hands to press out bubbles and deflate it. On that floured board, knead in the walnuts until evenly distributed.

Grease a large baking sheet (I simply cover one with parchment paper) and sprinkle it with cormeal. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a round loaf. Plach the loafs on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the tops with kosher salt and a little cornmeal. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 and bake for 45 minutes. The loaves should be light brown and sound like a hollow tree when you knock their bottoms.

At Least I Know Where He's Been

Cookies pitted with walnuts, knots of cranberries and oats; bran muffins and a fat chicken are the focus of my afternoon. We must have cookies, the bran muffin mix is waiting impatiently in the fridge, and the chicken is still fresh. Only days ago he ran, free of range, on a Cowichan farm. I can almost see him with a plume of green and gold, head snapping to attention at every quick step. He stops – a worm – pecks, and carries on. Now he’s breast up, naked in my skillet. At least I know where he’s been.

The second half of Sunday is a prickly day. Poke, work tomorrow, ouch. Monday begins week four. “How’s it going?” my co-teachers inquire. The look so knowingly, “week three,” smile.

Baking brings its calm. Flour and snow, white and blank, they lull me. But Sunday’s promised snow never showed. Not that I mind.

As for the chicken, poor plucked thing, I’m not letting him slide in nude. After a massage of olive oil, loosening the skin over the breast to slide my fingers under, I sprinkle him with dill, a pinch of salt, and stuff him with four quarters of an orange and a handful of garlic cloves. Look where the free range got him, into the oven at 350 for a good hour and a half. Dinner consists of the bird and a cutting board of fresh spinach, mushrooms, grated carrot, sliced cheese, and a lump of new hummus. Dessert is cookies. Breakfast will be muffins.

Cooking is the simplest way of saying “I love you.” That may sound as pretentious as hell, but if you accept it as essential, your cooking will improve – and so will your love life.

James Barber

Moist Bran Muffins (King Arthur’s Flour Whole Grains Cookbook)
¾ cup boiling water
1 ¼ cup bran cereal, divided
¾ cup raisins
¾ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup veggie oil
2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 large egg
¾ cup buttermilk
½ cup orange juice

Pour boiling water over ¾ cup of the bran in a small mixing bowl. Add the raisins, brown sugar and oil.

In another bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Beat the eggs with the buttermilk and orange juice in a large measuring cup. Add to the dry ingredients. Stir in the rest of the bran plus the raisin mixture. Cover bowl and refrigerate overnight. Batter will last up to one week in the fridge before baking.

The morning, wipe the sleep from your eyes before preheating the overn to 375 and filling your muffin tins two-thirds before (after spraying each cup with a non-stick spray, of course). Bake 23 to 26 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick emerges crumbless. Let the muffins cool for five minutes in the pan before inverting onto a wire rack. Tad Da!

The beauty of this recipe is that you don’t have to bake the muffins all at once but can keep the batter in the fridge and bake up fresh muffins as you crave them. (Come on, who doesn’t get serious cravings for bran muffins?)

Spicy Yogurt

Early on in our relationship, Mike and I would shove aside the Big Gulp cups, hop into his Fiero, and head out for romantic drives up-island. After an intense mini golf match we would head to the island's premiere dining destination - Nanaimo's Cactus Club. We never needed to open the menu, their rice bowls were that good. We found out later that it was the spicy yogurt sauce that made their rice bowls so tasty. My mom tracked down the recipe for me a few years back and I finally gave it a go. I have to hit up the Cactus Club again to see what veggies are in the original, but this attempt garnered two thumbs up by my taste-testing panel.

Haley's Rice Bowl with Spicy Yogurt

Step 1 - Chop 3 cloves of garlic and some veggies. I did my usual fridge rummage and came up with red onion, broccoli, carrot, orange pepper, mushrooms, and zuchinni

Step-2- Chop up as much chicken breast as you want. I used one large breast for two people and a toddler. I love using my trusty kitchen shears for this job. Next I sauteed the chicken in some sesame oil with about a third of thegarlic. I added a shot of soy sauce and chili sauce to the chicken.

Step 3- Set the chicken aside and in the same pan saute the rest of the garlic and the veggies until soft. Add the chicken, and about 1/2 a cup of cashews (I give them a bit of a crush with my vice-like grip as I sprinkle them into the pan).

Step 4- Next add your favourite terryaki sauce or do what I did-
3 T soy sauce,
3 T hoisin sauce,
3 T sweet chili sauce,
1 T corn starch mixed in 1/4 cup water,
1/2 cup water.

Let simmer for 5 minutes or so.

(Note: An asian-style stir fry sauce is forgiving - You need a nice balance of salty with a bit of sweet. If you don't have hoisin sauce substitute oyster sauce, or soy sauce combined with some orange juice, ginger, garlic and a spoon of honey).

Step 5- Make your spicy yogurt sauce. Combine-
1 cup yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise (I use Hellman's low fat)
1 T lemon juice
2 T ranch dressing (it is supposed to be 2 T of powdered ranch mix)
1/4 tsp cayenne (more to taste)
1/8 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 shot of Franks Red Hot or other hot sauce (optional)

Step 6- Put it together- in each bowl, on top of a mound of rice, generously ladle on the stir fry, and then dollop some spicy yogurt on top. Garnish with green onions and some more cashews.

Mix the spicy yogurt into your bowl and enjoy!

Of Champions

Breakfast, a word originating in the 1400s, or so Encarta Encyclopedia tells me, means to break the fast imposed by slumber. Another interesting fact: Seventh Day Adventists, such as Kellog, promoted breakfast cereals to further their belief in a vegetarian diet. They earned millions of dollars on mass produced breakfast cereals in the process. It seems we’re still haunted by their idolization of the carbohydrate. I for one, tend to prefer a carb in the morning. Nothing breaks my fast better than home made bread, toasted and slathered with peanutbutter or jam, or a couple buttermilk pancakes topped with maple syrup and yogurt. I was just so lucky this morning when my loving husband clicked off my alarm at six twenty seven, mere minutes before beeping time (six thirty one, oddly enough), and whispered, “pancakes?” Me: “oh yes, love.”

So I entered the day in a puffy, deliciously-overly full, slightly disembodied state, which can be dangerous when you teach a room full of twelve-year olds. They’re small but they’re quick.

In the spirit of breakfast, and because the cereal jar was dangerously low, I baked a batch of granola this evening. My apartment smells of cinnamon, toasted oats, and warm nuts. Yum. I can hardly wait for tomorrow morning. It has taken me some time to balance my granola recipe. What follows here has been influenced by too many recipes to count, not to mention my own fixation. I think finding one’s own granola recipe is rather like discovering one’s heart song (watch Happy Feet—yes, animated penguins that sing and dance) you just know.

Rachel's Granola

Mix together in a large bowl4 cups oats
½ cup flax
1 cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup wheat germ
1 cup roughly chopped walnuts
1 cup coconut
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt

Then add:
1/3 cup brown sugar
¼ cup honey
2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp honey
¼ cup apple sauce

Mix after you’ve added all of the sweeteners and oil. Stir until the moisture is evenly distributed, breaking up big clumps as you go.

Bake at 250 on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper for 40 minutes. Place one in the bottom third of the oven and one in the top third. Rotate the sheets every ten minutes. Mix the granola half way through the baking time. Allow to cool, and then add 1 + ½ cup dried cranberries before scooping.

Variation: Add 1/4 cup of cocoa along with the spices

Feasting on Virtue

He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shin, and bread to sustain his heart.

Psalm 104:14-15

Food celebrates life, cultivates community, and illuminates the glory of God. Pastor McDougall reminded me of this on Sunday when he expounded upon the virtues of food and its importance in scripture. I was hooked. Obviously food is connected to praise and to the virtues of the one who made it. No wonder I’m fixated on its splendor. Conclusion: I am a very holy individual. What a relief, I feared I was a common glutton, particularly after my holiday parade of dinners, brunches, and other food-focused gatherings. I’ve been so busy eating I’ve scarcely had time to blog. I’m fortunate to have a mother and a mother-in-law who love to cook. Both laid out impressive spreads this Christmas, leaving me to the fun extra pieces, like dessert, my favourite meal.

After a hearty meal, I like to serve a light sweet dessert. My standby for such occasions comes from the Rebar Cookbook: Chocolate Mousse Blackout. I’ve made changes to the dessert so if you want to see it in its original form you’ll have to consult the Rebar Book, (or, even better, go to the restaurant). My version contains significantly less chocolate so the term “blackout” no longer suffices. That said, there is still plenty of chocolate in the cake and you’ll find it sufficiently sweet and creamy. And, as the dessert is comprised of primarily, gasp, tofu, you can afford second, even third, helpings.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Crust

3 TBSP sugar
1 cup white or spelt flour
1/3 cup toasted cashews
1/8 tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ginger
3 TBSP oil
2 TBSP water
½ tsp vanilla

1. Grease a 9 inch pan (8 inch will work too) and set aside. Combine sugar, flour, cashews, salt, cinnamon and ginger in a food processor. Pulse until a fine texture. Add oil, water, and vanilla. Mix until combined. Press into prepared pan. Bake for 10 min, then set aside to cool.

Filling

250 grams good quality dark chocolate
3 boxes silken tofu
¾ cup plus 2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 salt
2 tsp instant coffee powder

1. Melt chocolate in a double boiler.
   Drain tofu and puree in food processor until smooth. Add sugar, vanilla, salt, and coffee powder and blend. Add melted chocolate and blend.
2. Pour the filling into the crust and bake for 35 min. Don’t worry about underbaking as the
   cake tastes best creamy and soft. If you leave it in far past the suggested time it will appear much firmer but will taste dry. (If you use an 8 inch pan leave the cake in for at least 5 min longer.
3. Cool completely on a wire rack and refrigerate overnight before serving.

Food & Fiction

Happy New Year!

For a Reems, reading is as important as eating. As we head into January, that time of year when Christmas becomes a distant memory and evenings are spent curled up on the couch, I want to pass on some of my favourite titles with food themes-

1) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs- I'll have to start off with one of my favourite childhood books. This was a title that frequently wound up on my stack of library picture books. I reminisced about it to Mike, and he suprised me with a copy. If you have kids, or you wish that hamburgers fell from the sky, this is the book for you.

2) Five Quarters of the Orange - the author, Joanne Harris, is a kindred soul - most of her books heavily feature food. Chocolate is also one of her books .

3) Anne of Green Gables - Raspberry cordial anyone?

4) 100 Mile Diet- This book really motivated me to make an effort to eat food closer to home (something that I am finding much easier in BC than Alberta!). This book is written by a couple who tell their tale in alternating chapters. I enjoyed reading the male and female perspectives and came away from the book both inspired, and with a small crush on one of the authors.

4) The Sunday Philosophers' Club It was a toss up which Alexander Mccall-Smith series I would include in this list. I am a fan of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and the promotion of a Woman of "Traditional Build." However, the Sunday Philosophers Club wins for tempting my taste buds beyond bush tea.

5) Brilliant by Marne Davis Kellog - Pure chick-lit with food descriptions that made me drool.

6) Like Water for Chocolate - Hmmm, how can I describe this book? Hispanic food erotica?

So there are some suggestions. Any for me?

Holiday Strategies

Admittedly, over Christmas I eat treats, a lot of treats. At a certain point I become saturated, stuffed to the top with sugar, chocolate, butter, and other terribly wonderful substances. Dinner is a slapdash affair, left over dip, sliced deli meat, a hunk of stollen. I begin to mourn veggies, tofu, and fruit smoothies, for they have been squeezed out, replaced by the pre-Christmas pickings.
Right now, a pile, no, a small mountain (think Finlayson, not Baker) of cookies rests on my counter, offerings for the weekend’s festivities. But I am not tempted. I, the ultimate sweet-tooth, ate a mere half of a cookie, and a good cookie at that, and my head spun. I’m finished on cookies, maybe forever, more likely until tomorrow.
This year, thank goodness, I thought in advance. Anticipating the ambush of sweetness, I checked out my new favourite veggie cookbook from the library, Fresh at Home, which was written by the owner of Fresh restaurants in Toronto. Healthy rice bowls, salads, and smoothies populate this book. Thus I am armed and ready. During the holiday bonanza, I like to prepare lighter meals, fresh meals. For instance, yesterday’s dinner consisted of warm bread (prepared by yours truly), soup (oh, me again), and salad (naturally). Soup in the fridge is a must. Throw some in a pot on the stove and dinner is ready in a matter of minutes. And trust me, it should be filling enough after the Friday afternoon staff treat-fest in the break room, the box of gratitude chocolates left on the counter, and the mocha that accompanied your stampede through the mall before heading home.
Typically, I look in the fridge before deciding what soup to make. Yesterday I looked on the fridge, at the pumpkin which has been loitering there for the past couple weeks. With a sweet potato on the counter, I was ready to liquefy.

This soup is really quite nice, with a smooth, sweet flavour, compliments of the sweet potato and a little maple syrup. In addition, roasting the veggie before tossing them in the pot brings out their best.

Sweet Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Toss together the following:
1 small sweet, or pie, pumpkin skinned and cubed (think bite-sized)
1 large sweet potato skinned and cubed
1 TBP olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP fresh rosemary, minced
½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper

Roast on a large cookie sheet in a 350 oven for about 45 minutes, or until the veggies are tender and roasted. Be sure to mix the veggies a couple of times during the roasting to ensure that the cook evenly.

When the veggies are nearly done, in a large pot use a little olive oil to sauté:
One medium onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, diced
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp turmeric

When the onions soften, remove half from the pot and place in a food processor. Add half of the pumpkin/sweet potato mixture and a tiny splash of water. Puree until smooth. Now, put the puree and the remaining pumpkin/sweet potato mixture in the pot and add:
2 cups veggie stock (I use a good-quality veggie cube. If you make stock, even better.)
1 cup water
2 tsp maple syrup
1 TBSP fresh rosemary, minced

If the soup seems thin, don’t worry it will thicken as it cooks. Bring the soup to a boil and reduce to a simmer.

Now, in the oven or a frying pan cook:
2 good quality sausages (they should be raw when you buy them)

Chop the sausage and add it to the soup. Let the soup simmer for at least 5 minutes with the addition of the sausages. Adjust seasoning by adding more salt and pepper if needed. Also, add water if the soup has become too thick. You are ready to serve!