Kamut/Flax Bread for Roubaix Sunday.

My Kamut/Flax Bread, Yum!

Our friend, Duane, gave us a supply of organic kamut grain and I decided use it in my bread recipe.

Kamut is higher in potassium and protein over wheat flour and I added flax seeds to further fortify it. I made it so Richard and I can enjoy toast with plenty of coffee for Sunday's early wake up call (5 AM) for the Paris-Roubaix classic race!

The famous Arenberg Forest quietly waits!

DIY Mustard

I had no idea that mustard is so easy to make.

After watching this easy to make video I feel so inspire to make my own. Now, the challenge is to find good mustard seeds it's THE important ingredient. If you find the best seeds thus you make a top mustard. And, of course, you cannot deny the importance of good white wine. It's a must in mustard.

I'm a mustard kind of girl. I've tried so many kinds but always come back to my favorite, Grey Poupon. It's probably the best quality for the price.

Now, I'm on the hunt for good mustard seeds... next grocery trip!

My overall favorite!

"Joong" Hay Fat Choy!

Today is the first day of the year of the Rabbit and I proudly made an authentic Chinese delicacy. It’s called Joong, sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves.

Richard was raised on this and his earliest recognition is eating it at Chinese New Year. With the popularity of Dim Sum, it can be enjoyed everyday. I love it and it’s a specialty and quite unique. Not one is exactly alike. It has all the elements of a comfort food that I find pleasing.

Because of Richard, my Chinese cooking is pretty good and I found it both fun and challenging. It’s not your regular grocery item. And, not every Asian store carries the ingredient. I’m a Quebecer and growing up I never knew of any restaurant to carry this dish. It’s quite the joy to discover it through Richard and rewarding to actually make it. It’s easy.

This is like Tourtier, a Quebec family delicacy of meat pie. Every Quebec family has their own recipe.

Heres my interpretation of the old Chinese dish called, Joong...

First you have to gather all the ingredients. I admit, I wanted to include preserved duck eggs. But, I bought the wrong type and it was stinky and I had to toss it out. Every ingredient has it’s own in this, mainly flavoring. Richard tells me he grew up seeing it incased in dirt and found in an obscure Chinese grocery store in Edmonton.

The main ingredients (found in Chinese stores).

This makes 14 Joong…

1.              (2 ½ lbs.)     Glutinous Rice

2.              (42)             Banana Leaves dry

3.              (1 C)            Raw Peanuts

4.              (1/2 C)         Dry Shrimp

5.              (10)             Dry Chinese mushrooms

6.              (4 )              Chinese Sausage

7.              Preserved Chestnut (optional)

8.              Preserved Duck Eggs (optional)

9.              Roll of White String (no dye it’s toxic)

10.          Soya Sauce

11.          Cooking Oil

The night before; soak your banana leaves in warm water and soak your rice in separate bowl. Best to use the bowl of soaked rice to add weight so the leaves don't float to the surface. Next day sterilize by immersing your leaves in a pot of hot water. Then separately soak your shrimp and mushrooms in hot water until soft. Best to buy the mushrooms sliced, they soak faster. And precook your peanuts by boiling in a pot for about 15 minutes.

Rinse your mushrooms & shrimp and saute them in cooking oil add a dash of soya sauce and set aside. Rinse the rice place in a bowl and mix in ¼ C of soya sauce and set aside. Slice your Chinese sausages and your ready to wrap.

Here’s the fun part. Start with two leaves that you roll the end to form a cone. Hold with your left hand and put in 3 T of rice. Then add the rest: a few sausages, peanuts, shrimp/mushroom mix. Place a third leaf to add height to your cone. Having fun yet?

If you really need to see it go online there’s plenty of video’s on how to roll your Joong.

Layer again with more rice and fold neatly into a compact shape. Don’t be scare it doesn’t have to be beautiful but importantly hold the rice. Tie it securely with the string.

Gather all the Joong’s together in a large pot of boiling water for 2 hours to finish the cooking. When ready, piping hot, unwrap and discard the leaves (or compost them) and enjoy your homemade Joong! Oh yeah, add a splash of soya sauce to taste.

They will keep in the fridge in an uncovered container up to seven days… if they last that long. However, if you have too many just freeze them. Make sure you re-boil them for 15 minutes before eating. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!...

The turkey is in the oven, the Christmas village is on and I'm listening to Christmas songs with Richard.

All we need to make it post card like is a little snow. 

Christmas is not stressful for us, we always make it a point to make it simple and to go with the flow. What is really important is to share it with your love ones. May your Christmas be cheery and bright!

Milkless Hot Chocolate!

Working away I become so involved in whatever I'm doing I sometimes forget to take a break.

I'm in front of my faithful Singer machine and I felt a stoppage in my workload. It happen to be 2 PM and as the weather is turning into it's Fall pattern of grey skies & constant rain I craved a hot chocolate!

My love affair with hot chocolate goes back to when I was young. Quick instant was popular. When I was a vegetarian I let go of milk and sadly let it go. Lately, I discovered 'Silk' soya milk and it has a velvety texture and a delicious taste. Silk soya milk is one of the rare soya milks that tastes as good cold or hot. Now, I can enjoy my hot chocolate fix again.

I'm using real dark chocolate, a little bit of brown sugar, a bit of cocoa powder and cayenne pepper. A hot chocolate for adults... minus the Baileys. Christmas time the Baileys is the added star!

Talkin' Turkey & Inner Tubes

What better way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day than talking turkey and Inner Tubes. It's the long weekend and we're sharing it with Turkey and busy producing winter cycling caps & wallets/pouches.

For many years in the past, I was a vegetarian. I always felt there was something missing, the tradition of Autumn the harvest season. Without the smells of roasting turkey it was not quite the same. Most often, we make a 15 pound turkey and we have plenty of leftovers. But, the most important factor is to share it and we do and that's where it counts. In my case, I'm far away from my Quebec family and I try to create my own tradition with friends.

Richard cut about 150 tubes and they're destine to become wallets. In fact, we're getting excited for our first craft show. We figure it's better to make more than be stuck with not having enough. There's been a huge demand for our winter cap's and I anticipate an even bigger success at the show. No one else makes this type of winter cap. With the weather cooling down I'm sure every cyclist will appreciate one of them.

Love my food processor!

Well, there's one thing in my kitchen I cannot do without...

I dreamed about having one. Finally, Christmas of 2000, after saving my pennies I bought my machine of my dreams. The Kitchen Aid Food Processor!

It has become indispensable like my fridge & stove. If you are pinching pennies, have a small kitchen. Between the three to choose: mixer, blender, or food processor. Then this is the choice. This food processor will do it all. Even the black color is still in fashion, and after ten years it keeps on working well. Most products are built with planned obsolescence. Manufacturers, in their best interest, intentionally developed goods to break down. Causing a circle of dreaded need for consumers to keep on purchasing. I haven't found this to be the case.

I definitely intend to buy the whole line of appliances. That will have to wait...

Until I have a larger kitchen!

Salt or what makes the cookie crumbles

Tasty!

I've never been a fan of cookies. I grew up in a household where my mother gave away store bought cookies to the neighborhood kids. So, we always had a well stocked pantry of cookies.

The kids mainly from my extended family would come, for their cookie fix, almost everyday.

When I was married, I quickly discovered that Richard was a cookie monster. We often bought cookies. Too expensive for the quality. If you want good cookies well their really expensive. So, I started to make cookies for Richard. I explored in making a few varieties: peanut butter, shortbread. But, the favorite so far is the oatmeal. The absolute favorite of Richard.

My recipe has evolved in the last 15 years. I am now satisfied with my new standard, chocolate coconut oatmeal cookie. I would like to share my recipe with you...

Chocolate Chip Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

Makes about 20 cookies.

1/2 C unsalted butter
1 C packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 t. vanilla
1C whole wheat flour
3/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t sea salt (important)
1/2 C wheat germ
1/2 C unsweetened shredded coconut
1 C dark chocolate chips
2 C quick oats

Preheat oven to 350 F

Mix well (I use my trusty food processor) the butter, sugar, egg, & vanilla until it is whiteish color. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, wheat germ, coconut, & chocolate together. Add the wet mix to it and add the oats 1 cup at a time while stirring. You may need to add more oats to get the proper consistency. The consistency is just before it crumbles and sticky enough you can make balls from it. Roll the mixture into ping pong size balls & flatten on parchment sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a rack & try hard not to eat them for 10 minutes!

People who eat my cookies say that their delicious. There's no special ingredient here. It's all about the sea salt and balancing it with the sugar. Maybe that IS the secret ingredient!

My Coconut Dream Pie

My first homemade coconut cream pie...

and not my last one!

We had a special event last Wednesday. It was Richard's 50th birthday. He's requested a coconut cream pie for a long time and I decided that it was time.

I made it from scratch. After all I have my own handmade business. So, I went online for a few recipes to get ideas and just to get inspired. My favorite coconut cream pie recipe is here. I knew it was a winner, all from scratch with coconut milk for the filling gives the whole pie a freshness. It's deceiving; the look and the taste offsets the huge calories inside. For Richard, he's always looking for carbohydrates and for me I'll have to monitor my intake. Basically, I'll have to take it easy.

The recipe didn't call for real fresh coconut. I decided that; real is the deal. So, Richard helped me break the coconut with a hammer. He smashed it, outside on the cement landing, into little shards. I baked the ginger snap cookies in the morning. While the cookies cooled away from Richard. I dried the grated coconut in the oven. Later, I created the mix and put it into the ginger crust then I let it sit for four hours in the fridge.

Just before serving I whipped the cream and served it. It's an easy pie but planning is the key. You have to start in the morning. This pie is everything I expected it to be, it's wonderful. Two things I will change for next time; cut down on the ginger snap crust to half & make more coconut filling!

Discovering wine tasting.

Wine anyone?

I won!

I usually don't participate in contests. Well, I did and I put my name to win a free wine tasting evening. I receive an email from the Francophone College stating... I won! It's the first time I won anything from a contest. In fact, I plainly forgot all about.

It's not a huge win, worth 25 dollars. I would never go myself but why not? It turned out to be interesting. And it is the first time that I participated in a wine tasting. I'm a fan of Gary Vaynerchuk. I watch him with his blind wine tasting and I felt bad that he has to spit out all that wine. I've tasted some bad wine but the French Pinot Noir ($18) was the worse. It tasted like strawberry syrup with alcohol. Just to be nice I gave it 1/10. I thought of Gary and thought about spitting it out, too. I didn't have the heart.
After this experiment, I'm more aware or I'll take notice as to what I'd buy.

It was a fun experiment trying so many kinds of reds. The biggest surprise was the last glass of wine; Avalon from California ($25). Usually I don't like  Cabernet Sauvignon, in fact I loved it! It was full, bold and fills your mouth. You can taste the ripe fruit in it. It's only three years young but it tasted older. I gave this wine a 9/10.

Let's don't forget the bread and cheese. Everything I could live on. Not just any cheese. A special selection of Quebec cheese. A rare treat.

Now, I want to take wine classes. The more you learn the more you want to learn about it. It's so addictive. What would be fun is to grab six friends, six bottles of wine and have a blind test.

Cheers!

Kicking out of bed

For me to get up early is unnatural. I like to linger in bed, but my partner, has the bad habit of getting up early. And he knows, to get me out of bed is to have a cup of my favorite coffee made.

It's the transition of leaving my warm & comfortable bed that is the challenge. I'm a sleeper. I remember when I was in kindergarden, mom ask me to choose if I wanted to go in the morning or afternoon. I said, "I cannot go in the morning, I'm sleeping." I was practical back then. As a kid I use to sleep in until 11 AM. Most of the time I was eating cereal while mom was serving lunch.

I always found a way to get my first cup of coffee. When I moved into a new apartment (my younger days), I couldn't find my French press. I consider using a Turkish coffee technique leaving the grain at the bottom of the cup. It's not my prefer method as the coffee taste is too bitter. I used a corner of one of my t-shirts as a filter. It worked but the t-shirt did not survive!

I love my coffee strong, preferably French roast. Trying out a new coffee brand is one of my favorite activities. It's essential. One of my favorite coffee's is Kicking Horse Coffee from Invermere, BC. I love the blend called Kick Ass which kicks my ass out of bed. I'll always love sleeping in but knowing a good kick ass coffee is waiting gets me out of bed earlier!

My Joy of Cooking.

This is my first cooking book. I have a few recipe books & many magazines. Come to think of it, I grew up without any cook books. No wonder my mother was having cooking problems. For my mother, cooking was not a joy it was just another household chore. As long as the kid's were fed...

The book I'm referring to? It's "Joy of Cooking" the 75th edition, probably the most concise reference book every cook needs to have.

I think it's the first book to own when you move away from home. I wish I had this book when I was a college student. Because I never made a roast chicken on my own. I knew how to bake. But I was completely clueless what to do with a chicken. So, my roommate called his mother for help.

This book is a wonderful helper. Although it doesn't have any pictures, it does have a few drawings. I usually wouldn't buy a cook book without imagery. But, this book is so captivating it doesn't need it. Most importantly, you can grab a quick recipe or read about seasoning, basic techniques of cooking. There's in depth articles of everything even menu planning, what to eat with Indian cusine, and which cocktail glass to use with your Pink Lady.

I use this book often in a week. For example, yesterday I had a craving for Greek food. In a few minutes, I flipped through the book and found more than enough information for my Greek meal. I could have made an extravagant Greel banquet but the book also gave me the choice for simple recipes. It was a success. And still is. I have plenty of leftovers.

At the start I tagged all my favorite recipes. Now, I've stopped. There's far too many recipes to be tagged. I love the index. For once, I find an index that works. It's makes looking up for anything very easy. I love this book!

I want to close with this beautiful quote, located at the front of the book, by Mark Twain...

"... To receive the full value of joy you must have someone to share it with."

My Giro died but the race goes on!

Still no life...

Well it's day six, and I was looking forward to baking with my new sourdough yeast. I thought it was alive. It never did rise. No amount of CPR could raise this yeast  back to life. I declare my yeast decease. 

It's a puzzle to me and I'm disappointed. Giro died last night.

I really thought I got it right. Day three looked very good. Maybe I should've stopped it then.

So at this point I won't do another one. I will take a moment (a few days) to acknowledge what I've done. It looked so easy on youtube and what I've read. Back to the drawing board.

My sourdough starter called Giro.

Like a weird experiment, so far it's going well...

I have something growing inside my oven...

The story began 10 years ago. I already was into bread but my first attempt at making yeast was a flop. Surprised me. I can bake and cook fairly well. But I could not make yeast. Now, the challenge is back and I'm hungry once again.

This is day two of growing my new pet, Giro. Of course, in honor of the race. I use organic rye flour, natural spring water and honey. The glass jar is the perfect container or environment for the yeast to develop in. And the wooden spoon is a must.  Because a metal spoon would contaminate and kill it.

The suggestion is to leave it for 5 days. So far so good. It's nice and bubbly and I'm keeping the temperature constant at 80 F. Stay tuned for further developments!

Quatre-Quarts.

The Pound Cake was first invented in the early 1700s in England. I love it. In French, it's called Quatre-Quarts. Which means four quarters. It's magical to take the four ingredients (butter, flour, sugar, eggs) in the same proportion and combine with any thing you want to make a fabulous cake.

This is the basis of this cake. I added slivered almonds, coconut, orange rind/juice, and wheat bran. The rule is that a pound cake should not have  a liquid. The wetting agent comes from the eggs. I broke the rule and added one orange and it's juice. To make me feel less guilty, I added the bran.

I can't wait for Richard to come back from his bike ride and see this cake. It's so delicious, I have a feeling that this cake will not live long!

My Grate Pizza!

One of my indispensible tools I cannot do without in the kitchen is the hand grater. I use it for grating garlic, ginger, citrus, chocolate & Parmesan cheese. Friday night is pizza night. And who doesn’t like it? I started making it once my partner moved in with me during our time in art school. I have a special ingredient  that I discovered from an Italian chef. Here’s my Friday Night Pizza recipe. Bon Appetit!

Le Pizza Dough

1C. Semolina Flour (the special ingredient!)

1C. Whole Wheat Flour

1C. White Flour.

1C. water 110F (1/2 t of yeast  + 1 t of sugar mixed in water)

¼ t of salt

Mix dry ingredients together add in water mixture. I use a kitchen aid blender because it’s faster. You can also knead it by hand but it will take longer. The dough should form a nice slightly sticky & moist ball. It should hold it’s shape. Place in an oiled bowl. I use olive oil which prevents it from sticking. Put plastic wrap or wet towel over and place into the oven with light on. Place a cup of very hot water next to bowl for two hours.  While the dough is rising make the sauce well before so it can have the time to sit.

The Tomato Sauce

1 small can of tomato paste.

7 cloves of grated garlic (a metal grater is recommended)

2T Olive Oil

Black Pepper

10 squirts of Tabasco Sauce

1/3 C of Oregano

1T Red Wine Vinegar

Combine ingredients and set aside while the dough is rising. This is a good time to enjoy a glass of wine or two!

After two hours, it’s time to assemble your pizza. Warm your oven to 475F. Sprinkle enough cornmeal (about 2-3 T) on a baking sheet. Spread dough out and stretch it over your baking sheet. I use a 10 X 15 inch rectangular baking sheet. Spread sauce over the dough. I use two types of grated cheese, usually old cheddar and Friulano. My favorite toppings are bacon, olives, cooked chicken, zucchini, and mushrooms. Place in the oven for about 14 minutes. Afterwards, put on to the top grill and turn the oven to broil until it’s golden and crispy. You will have to watch it from burning.

Let it cool 5 minutes or you’ll burn the roof of your mouth because I've already experienced that!

Enjoy!

Benny craving!

My delicious Easter breakfast!

It's around $15 dollars for a Salmon Benny. That's what it costs around here. And it's pricey. Usually serve with lox it's not as tasty as smoke salmon. And that's where the flavour is ...in the smoke salmon.

I know my salmon. Raised in northern Quebec I was spoiled by my fisherman brother, Len. He made his own smoke salmon. And it's the best so far that I've tasted.

The craving started a little awhile ago. My first attempt was last Christmas where I failed. I overcooked the Hollandeise sauce wasting half a cup  of butter and three egg yolks.  It wasn't a huge waste but I had to start from scratch. I tried again and I got it right. Here's my secret. I made the sauce in a blender. Sacrilege? A chef would condemn me!

My Hollandaise Sauce (à la blender)

3 egg yolks
2 t fresh lemon juice
1/2 t salt
1/2 C butter
I use a Kitchen Aid Blender

Heat the butter until just bubbling. Blend the eggs yolks. Carefully pour in slowly the butter (making sure in a steady stream). In 30 secs you will have a wonderful  hollandaise sauce.

I discovered a tasty smoke salmon that's from Port Hardy on Vancouver Island. It's not like my brother's salmon but it has a great smoke flavour and excellent flakiness. Use whatever is available in your area. I serve with day old  nice roasted potatoes. The flavour has time to come together and it's already to heat up and serve. Cuts down on preparation time. It's by far my favorite breakfast and I add a cup or two of strong coffee to make it perfect!

Singin' the Opera Cake.

I love cooking but there's a certain magic about baking. My fascination first started as a little girl. Around 6 years old. I was too small, so I had to stand on a chair so I could be high enough to stir the cake.

Mom would put out the ingredients. And I would mix everything together. Then Mom would bake it. I would make the icing. My favorite thing about baking is creaming the sugar & the butter. You know when you have a good foundation. It's so important. I love it when I have company over so I have an excuse to go all out and bake something extra special...

Ricardo Larrivée is one of my three influential cooks. When I received his magazine in the mail I looked at the recipe for the gateau Opera and just had to make it. Even my partner, Richard, screamed for it.

After reading the recipe, at least three times, it looked complex but not complicated. It's a real thin almond cake that is dipped in coffee with three different butter creams: vanilla, chocolate & coffee... topped with an ganache. It always iffy when you go about tackling a new recipe for the first time. Especially for guests. I felt confident and it turned out perfectly. Jim, Jen & Richard went twice. I called it successful.

I'm already thinking of how I can modify this wonderful cake to give it a festive feel to it. Baileys or Contreau? How about egg nog? I'm certainly keeping this cake in my book!

The finished creation:

my Opera Cake.

Wow, Saturday already!

You know this week went too fast, I was going to show you the fantastic Fruit Pie I made last weekend. Well here it is anyway...

Shortbread crust, cream Pâtissière filling, strawberry and black berry glaze with black currant jelly.

This is the first creative step towards making an inner tube pouch...

I just love the process to choose the fabric, zipper and the thread. It's a great way to utilize all those little pieces of fabric too small for anything. I found this old thread in my stash. I really don't know when I bought that!

I want more of this @ $.30 thread!

I've been looking around for awhile now, to find the perfect bobbin holder. It's always too small, too pricey, never holds each bobbin individually. I was frustrated with the unraveling thread while changing bobbin at least twenty times to match the color of my pouch. It's not the best looking but it does the job just fine, no more tangle bobbins! I filled it up so fast I guess I have to make another one.

Cheapest, most efficient bobbin holder made from reclaimed foamcore.

Ta-da! I finished all my new recycled Picollo Pouches.

On the board today, bookbinding & breadmaking.

One might think that making bread and making a book is not the same, I would argue this, for me it's all the same. It's all about creating with your hands and your heart.

All by hand...

I take my bread making really seriously, no bread machine or mixer with dough hook can compare to the ritual of making bread by hand. The choice of the flour, the mix of different grains, feeling all the ingredients coming alive under your hands, kneading the dough, rising the dough again, kneading the dough once again, baking and tasting the fist piece of warm bread with butter... what a joy!

Book in the making...

Bookbinding is also a great way to express my creativity. I usually gather material days even weeks before I begin any real work. When I have enough material, only then, I place every thing on my table and let the ideas form in my mind. By assembling the different items I begin slowly to see the finish book. Usually I will leave an unfinished book on my working table, I realized that by allowing more time for my ideas to mature I can see clearly the finish book. From that point I can already feel the book in my hand, the texture of it's cover, the extension of the closing strap, the weight of the paper... what a great feeling!

Ready to go on my galstudio shop!