|
|
Online
News October 2, 2007
Table of Contents
Events
If you can't make it to an event, just contact us and we can reserve an autographed copy for you.
 David Adjey
de|constructing the dish
Saturday October 6th, 2 to 3 pm
Win David Adjey for lunch! Shop & Dine with the popular host of Restaurant Makeover! For all those in attendance at the event you can enter our contest to win a food shopping excursion and lunch with David, for two of course!
 Trish Magwood
Dish Entertains
Saturday October 13th, 2 to 3 pm.
Mark this date in your calendar for entertaining ideas and tips from this cooking school maven and Food Network personality.
 Christopher Kimball
America's Best Lost Recipes from Cook’s Illustrated
Wednesday October 17th, 4:30 to 5:30 pm Q & A
A return appearance from one of our most popular visitors. Founder & editor of Cook’s Illustrated magazine, Kimball combines a quick wit and depth of knowledge for an engaging event. Bring your questions on ingredients, techniques, equipment……and of course we'll be talking about the new book.
 Dominique & Cindy Duby
Wild Sweets Chocolate
Saturday October 20th, 2 to 3 pm.
Following their bestseller Wild Sweets this dynamic duo turn their attention to chocolate and once again push the envelope of creativity.
 Rose Reisman
The Complete Light Kitchen
Saturday October 27th, 2 to 3 pm.
Rose’s recipes are given wonderful treatment in this collection of favourites. Even if you have her other 17 books you'll need this for your collection.
New Books
 The Art of Simple Food
Alice Waters with Patricia Curtan, Kelsie Kerr, and Fritz Streiff
It is not overstating the case to say that contemporary American cooking would be very different had Alice Waters and her friends not opened Berkeley’s Chez Panisse in 1971. The Art of Simple Food is a distillation of the eat locally, eat best philosophy that was the focus of Chez Panisse menus from the beginning. The book is divided into two parts: the first, Starting from Scratch, concentrates on lessons and foundation recipes, everything from stocking the pantry to choice of equipment to menu planning. The second half, At the Table, features every day recipes from starters to desserts. With Alice Waters’ recipes, it is the shopping, not the cooking that takes time. In these simple recipes it is the quality of the main ingredient which dictates the success of the dish. People used to recipes with the ingredients set up in one column with the instructions set out 1, 2, 3 in another, may find they have to pay more attention with a format in which the ingredients are in boldface amongst the instructions. More that just telling us how to cook, Alice Waters demonstrates how a community is built. Line drawings, no photos. HC, 405 pp, $44.00.
 Canadian Living Make It Tonight
Elizabeth Baird & the Canadian Living Test Kitchen
Fast, little cleanup, good for entertaining, well-tested: the crew at Canadian Living understands exactly what the time-crunched home cook wants in a cookbook. There is no need to pick up takeout on the way home when you can have a beef and sweet potato stir-fry ready in under 30 minutes. Fill your slow cooker in the morning to find Spanish pot roast ready and waiting when you open the door. Whether it is off the barbecue, out of the toaster oven or the freezer, this is a book that will help you get tasty food on the table during the week. Colour photos. Paper, 239 pp, $24.95.
 The Fight for Fordhall Farm
Ben & Charlotte Hollins
The Fight for Fordhall Farm is the inspiring tale of how a young brother and sister saved their Shropshire farm, in the family for seven centuries- from the threat of land developers and the multinationals. With the help of more than 8000 investors they saved their home and livelihood by setting up the not-for-profit Fordhall Community Land Initiative. Supporters include Prince Charles, Sting, and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Colour photos. HC, 336 pp, $34.95.
 Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing 3rd Edition
Rytek Kutas
From Smithfield hams to andouille sausage, Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing is the classic text for aspiring sausage makers. Topics cover everything from sanitation issues to natural casings to curing and canning. Colour and black and white photos, line drawings. HC, 576 pp, $35.95.
 Kaiseki
Yoshihiro Murata
Yoshihiro Murata has raised what began as accompaniment to the tea ceremony to an exquisite art form. The seasonal dishes represent the best, much of it based on fish and seafood, from Murata’s Kyoto restaurant, Kikunoi. While presenting a breathtaking array of dishes, Murata explains the ingredients on which they are based and how and why each has evolved over time. You know the book is awe-inspiring when both Ferran Adria and Nobu Matsuhisa offer praise. Colour photos. HC, 191 pp, $62.95.
 Local Breads
Daniel Leader
An artisan bread baker himself, Daniel Leader brings a unique set of skills to interpreting the recipes of international artisan bakers. These recipes are built on sourdough starters and whole grains. The ingredients are set up in a grid with quantities given for volume, U.S. weight, metric weight, and baker’s percentage. While the recipes are interesting particularly the blue cheese bread from Auvergne--, it is the question and answer sections scattered throughout the book that really make it a must-have for anyone even vaguely interested in bread baking. Follow Leader’s advice to avoid the overly sour, bowling ball-weight loaves that plague home bakers working with levains and whole grains. Colour photos and line drawings. HC, 355 pp, $43.50.
 Slice: Health Inspired Foods
Barb Davies & Jennifer Rallison
Self-published by a pair of Calgarians who bonded over food, this book is particularly useful for anyone trying to create a healthier lifestyle. A pantry list, nutritional information and tips accompany more than 150 recipes. Most are vegetarian classics falafel, black bean salad, and vegetable lasagna-but there are also fish and a few chicken recipes for those who cannot totally commit to a vegetarian regimen. Colour photos. Paper, 208 pp, $29.95.
 3 Ways with Stale Bread
Ross Dobson
Sydney café owner and caterer Ross Dobson transforms 100 pantry staples into tempting dishes. For each ingredient everything from stale bread to canned tomato she has created three dishes: the aforementioned tomatoes turn into ginger tomato fish stew with coriander rice, lamb and rosemary ragout, and roasted tomato pasta sauce. To make the book easy to use, the ingredients appear alphabetically. Colour photos. Paper, 223pp, $29.95.
September Best Sellers
1. Great Food Fast, from the kitchens of Everyday Food
2. de | Constructing the dish by David Adjey 
3. The Complete Light Kitchen by Rose Reisman
4. Vij Elegant & Inspired Indian Cuisine by Vikram Vij
5. New Food Lover's Companion, 4th edition by Sharon Tyler Herbst
6. Dish Entertains by Trish Magwood
7. Silver Palate Cookbook, 25th Anniversary edition by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins
8. Recipe of Love by Aster Ketsela Belayneh
9. Chocolate & Zucchini by Clotilde Dusoulier
10. Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant by J. Ferrari-Adler, editor
Roundup of Apple Day/Night
In celebration of Carol Martin's wonderful new book The Apple: A History of Canada's Perfect Fruit we combined an afternoon of apple tasting, and baking, which continued in the evening for Nuit Blanche. Yes, we stayed open until 2am and what an energy and buzz from the crowds, who appreciated a healthy snack on their adventures, in fact they were all intrigued by the different varieties!
The favourite tart apple was the Snow (or Fameuse), a heritage apple likely brought from France in the early 1700's and planted along the St. Lawrence river in Southern Quebec. Sweet 16 was the winner of the sweet varieties, most people tasted the hint of tang, this is a winter hardy apple from Minnesota, a cross between Northern Spy and Malinda.
Others we tasted
- Strawberry - this we made apple sauce out of as it is a very delicate apple.
- Sinta, a Canadian apple that is a cross between a Golden Delicious and Grimes Golden, a fine eating apple.
- McIntosh 1st Generation, tasters loved this as it was not what they expected from a Mac. This is a direct descendant of the original tree found growing on the farm of John McIntosh, in Dundela, Ontario. Its parents are most likely Snow and possibly St. Lawrence.
- Lobo was the most appealing of the all purpose apples, an offspring of the Mac developed by Agriculture Canada in 1930.
These are just some of the notes of the 10 different varieties we obtained from Siloam Orchards.
Recipe
Butternut Squash and apple soup with maple syrup
From Dish Entertains by Trish Magwood (We served this during Nuit Blanche and it was oohs and ahs all night! You may want to reduce the amount of maple syrup if you prefer it less sweet.)
This is the perfect soup to serve in fall and winter. Make sure to use good quality apple cider and real maple syrup - it makes all the difference. My dad makes his maple syrup every spring. It's my favourite way to naturally sweeten soup.
Makes about 10 cups
2 medium butternut squash
Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
3 to 4 tbsp (50-60ml) grapeseed, or canola oil, or butter
2 large cooking onions, diced
1 cup (250ml) white wine
4 apples (any kind), peeled roughly chopped
6 cups (1.5L) unsweetened apple cider
1/2 cup (125ml) pure maple syrup, plus more for garnish
Tabasco sauce, to taste
Toasted pepitas ( pumpkin seeds which are usually toasted and salted), for garnish
Method
Preheat oven to 400F (200C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Season squash with salt and pepper.
Lay squash cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake until fork tender, 30 - 40 minutes. Let cool slightly.
Heat oil over medium heat in a large, heavy soup pot. Saute onions for 7 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until translucent. Stir in wine and let the liquid evaporate. Add apple to the pot. Scoop the squash flesh out of the skins and give it a rough chop. Add squash to the pot. Add the cider. Add water if necessary to just barely cover the vegetables. Turn the heat up to medium-high. When the liquid begins to boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, until all vegetables are soft. Remove from heat.
Using a hand (immersion) blender or in a blender, puree soup until it is smooth and silky Add more water if soup is too thick. Stir in maple syrup and season generously with salt and Tabasco. Pour sop into serving cups and garnish with a drizzle of maple syrup and toasted pepitas.
Store Hours
Monday to Wednesday 9:30 am to 7 pm
Thursday to Friday 9:30 am to 8 pm
Saturday 10 am to 6 pm
Sunday noon to 5 pm
Back to top |
|
