crazy white girl with a kitchen

Friend and former chef Connor graced Mike and I with his presence for a few days in Edmonton before continuing onto his new home, Berlin. We decided to indulge our love of great burgers and make some from scratch.

It was my first weekend off of work where I did not have anything else to do: no packing, no wedding crap, no appointments of any kind, so I spent some time at the City Center farmer’s market that Saturday. There, I picked up some peahen, goose and duck eggs from Greens, Eggs and Ham, asparagus from Edgar Farms, tomatoes from Gull Valley and morels from Mo-Na foods. To round out the menu, buns from Cobs, strip loin from Save On and beer from Sherbrooke Liquor store.

I may bitch about this city, but I am going to miss Edmonton and the local suppliers I’ve grown to take for granted.

Sauteeing the Mo-Na morels

Greens, Eggs and Ham goose and peahen eggs. Duck and turkey eggs are also quite good.

Edgar Farms asparagus ready for grilling

I am not really a Rubbermaid fan, but I do use two items from their catalogue frequently: bowls with snap down lids and the burger press. They’re great at shaping perfect burgers. We ground up the strip loin and it made the most exquisitely rich and meaty patties.

All meat, no fillers, save for some onion and seasonings.

Connor can simply touch a piece of meat and know when it’s done, so we put him in charge of the grilling, which was done at my parent’s place.

Loading up the burgers with fixings; home made mayo, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, Fallot mustard … perfect burgers, if you ask me.

Hopefully we’ll get to do this one more time before hitting Okinawa.

Sometimes I hit the cafeteria at work at around 3pm, just before it closes, to get some hot water for tea. I occasionally peep in the cooler to see what’s up for offering, and almost every time I look, there is a single sad egg salad sandwich double wrapped in plastic film, calling out to someone to buy it. Not unlike a long forgotten dog at the pound.

I think I know how it ended up coming to this, too. People eating overcooked eggs drowning in scads of industrial “mayonnaise” on soggy bread masquerading as egg salad sandwiches. Egg salad can be hard to do, and so it’s often never done right. But here’s the perfect recipe for seven minute egg salad.

Start with four or five eggs. Place them in a pot, just covering them with water. Bring the pot to a gentle boil, then cover and immediately remove from heat. Let sit, covered, for seven minutes.

Meanwhile, get a bowl ready with ice water in it. After the seven minutes are up, your eggs will go into it immediately.

After their seven minute hot tub bath and ice water plunge, the eggs should come out ever-so-slightly soft centered, with no grey ring. No grainy yolks in rubbery whites here. Something to keep in mind: very fresh eggs can be hard to peel.

While this was happening, I used more eggs to prepare some fresh mayonnaise. Of course you could doctor a decent store brand if you are short on time, but freshly made is delicious with an unparalleled texture and flavour you customize.

I’ve included Michel Roux’s classic recipe for curried mayo. It doesn’t take too long, but the amount of oil that goes into it could disturb you. Mayonnaise isn’t the most healthy condiment.

Garam Masala Mayonnaise

• 2 egg yolks
• 250ml groundnut oil (I used safflower. Using ALL olive oil will create a very odd taste, and I wouldn’t recommend it)
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 tsp fresh garam masala (use more if you are using store bought)
• 1 tablespoon wine vinegar or lemon juice

I used my favourite tool, the hand blender and the whisk attachment. Doing this the old fashioned way builds your biceps, to be sure.

In a small dish, dissolve the garam masala in the vinegar or lemon juice.

Mix the mustard with the salt and pepper in another container. Add egg yolks and mix immediately.

Slowly begin adding oil as you whisk, drop by drop, working up to a steady thin stream. You don’t want to add oil too fast or too slow. It’s difficult to gauge, but you get better the more you make.

As I made it in the kitchen, Mike was able to tell I was being overly cautious and going too slowly just by hearing how long I was taking from another room, and suggested I speed up. He’s the mayo master.

Eventually all of the oil will be added. Fold in the spice and vinegar mixture and whip for a further 30 seconds if you want a glossy mayo. Add more seasoning if needed.

This mayo will keep for a few days. Don’t leave it on the counter too long.

—-

Things were going well until my last 30 second whip to make the mayonnaise glossy. Some oil on the side of my container made it difficult to hold and…

Shit. Mayo everywhere.

Prepare your mise en place with what you like best in your egg salad. I went the herby route this time, using finely chopped celery, green onion and chives. Capers, pickles, dill, tarragon, red peppers and tomatoes all make fine additions as well. I added a sprinkle of paprika, salt and pepper.

Garam masala egg salad sandwich

Finally, add sprouts, tomatoes and fresh bread. I’ve written before that egg salad reminds me of my grandmother, and it is true. She used to wrap up egg salad to bring with her on long days spent fishing. They were wrapped in wax paper, and so delicious. I thought of her last night while eating. I think she would have liked that.

Today I used a bit more of the mayo to make tuna salad. Maybe we’ll make smoked chicken salad this week, too. Gotta use up the rest of that mayo!

I have the pleasure of scanning the cover of most books that are reviewed or given away in the Journal. The historical biographies, fitness manuals, novels, self-help books all cross my desk at some point or another. My favourites are obviously the cookbooks.

I pulled a recipe for brie + caramelized onion stuffed scones from one called “Savoury Baking” a few months ago. Ever since, I have been experimenting with fillings. Recently when I found myself at Sunterra, I felt inspired by the luxury ingredients and loaded up on balsamic fig spread, Westphalian ham and brie.

I’m off for a few days of travel, but I’ll see if I can’t post the recipe when I get back. The filling possibilities are endless.

I have to admit, I’ve always been cautious when it comes to sausage. I mean, I love it, but I can only eat so much. Perhaps this is because I can’t stop thinking about all the bad that comes with the good. It’s salty, it’s full of fat, it’s often smoked which isn’t that good for you either. There are nitrates and preservatives…and it’s so filling! Despite all these negatives, I am Ukrainian, so I grew up around rings of garlicky kielbasa and do enjoy dried sausages when hiking.

But: I am no sausage addict.

Mike has been discussing wanting to make sausage for some time. We have a lot of extra bits of deer meat from the bucks he shot this fall perfect for making into sausage. There are places in town that will make sausage for you out of game meat, so we considered dropping it off there and coming back to collect the links later. But, the more reading Mike did, the more interested he was in developing his own recipe, and in smoking his own meats. I have to admit when he said “I am going to make sausage” I envisioned this classic scene from Seinfeld:

So, we went to get a Bradley digital smoker a few weeks ago, and it’s been non-stop meat at the house since. Ribs, chicken and yes: sausage. We purchased the smoker at BBQ Country.

BBQ country is a pretty great place. In addition to many BBQ models, there is a wide selection of BBQ tools, wood chips, sauces, rubs… anything the avid BBQer needs.

The smoker is about the size of a bar fridge, and is happy living on our condo patio. It doesn’t make all that much smoke, but it really billows out when you open the door. It’s completely automated, with a special loader for wood chip “pucks”, a timer and a bunch of other settings I am completely unaware of. Mike is the smokemaster.

In addition to the smoker, we also needed a few other specialty items, such as:

• pork back fat (to add to the lean venison)
• sausage casing
• sausage press
• meat grinder
• smoke sticks
• spices
• measuring equipment: thermometers, scales and tape measures

Most of these items were purchased at CTR Refrigeration & Food Supply in Edmonton (10456 170 Street). The meat grinder we already had, but a few stops at the butcher and Home Depot and things were completely set up. And that is where I took my leave from the process and the men took over.

There were two days of sausage making, with a knackwurst and hunter sausage being the final products. Here, Mike and Evan are trying to get the first sausage coil going. Things went pretty smoothly over all, with a few bursts and air pockets, but nothing too out of hand. I do know our kitchen is probably  too small for three tall men to be making sausage in, though.

I can’t speak much to the steps, but seems having the right grind on the meat and keeping the meat and equipment very cold (pre-grinding and during pressing) seemed helpful, and that there was a lot of cutting of meat, and double grinding of meat.

I think that hog casings were used. They come packed in salt, for sterilization and preservation, so you have to soak them and rinse them thoroughly before using them.

Before the sausages smoke, they must hang overnight to develop a pellicle. This is a sticky surface for the smoke to stick to.

Then, they smoke.

After a few hours (depending on flavour desired) the hot sausages are plunged in an ice bath to stop the cooking.

Oh god, so good. Paprika laden venison knackwurst with braised red cabbage and bacon, and tarragon potatoes.

The sausage is unlike anything I’ve ever had. It’s got a crispy snap when you bite into it, and the inside is at once juicy and substantial. The venison is a great flavour, and any dryness is tempered by the pork fat. The smoke adds depth, and the spices are strong, but not overwhelming. This is no supermarket sausage. It’s not even deli sausage.

I guess you could now call me a bonafide sausage lover, since I can not stop thinking about it.

My make-at-home, oven-friendly S’more kit. Based on an idea from Twig and Thistle.

So perhaps the title of this post is a bit misleading. I knew what I was getting into by making marshmallows. Candy thermometers, sticky messes and experimentation. But somehow, it still turned into a nightmare.

Oh sure, everyone says they are easy. Those people are highly talented in the kitchen though: people like Martha Stewart and the bloggers behind Smitten Kitchen and Whisk. Even with an anxious approach, I still screwed up.

My intention was to put together adorable little S’more packages as New Years gifts. I can’t take credit for the idea, it originated here, at Twig and Thistle. The main difference was that I was going to make my own marshmallows. I really regret not making my own graham crackers as well, but: next year!

The most challenging part of this was finding a trustworthy candy thermometer and the right packaging for the kit. I ended up ordering a bundle of clear acrylic boxes from a wedding favour supply company in Vancouver called Wedding Things. A company called Uline, as well as Etsy and eBay were both options, but they either sold in HUGE amounts or shipping was a bit higher than I liked, so I went with a company close to home.

The first recipe I tried was from Smitten Kitchen. I liked it as it included egg whites, which is not a common component of most marshmallow recipes. I was hoping they would make springy, less saccharine marshmallows. I bought most of my ingredients from Bulk Barn (more on that later) and made them with my mom’s KitchenAid mixer. It’s an important tool for making marshmallows, as a hand mixer may just not have enough power. But some people reported success, so give it a try.

Uh-oh. This doesn’t look right. It foamed up like a science experiment, too.

My first error: using a pot that was too large. I anticipated a huge mess, so I used a huge pot to contain the sugar syrup. This allowed the sugar mix to have large changes in temperature, and I think in the end what got me was that my thermometer didn’t get a good read, and I was anxious for the mix to hit the magic temperature of 240F. One second it was clear and bubbly…and an instant later: golden brown and smelling of burnt sugar.

I put my mix into the gelatin in my KitchenAid mixer, and mixed. Then: problems. The candy syrup had hit the candy temperature, and was starting to solidify. It got stuck in the marshmallow mix, to the whisk and embedded itself in the mix.

This is what I liked to call marshmallow amber.

Much like real amber, right? Just missing the prehistoric insect.

The hard chunks were embedded in nearly every marshmallow, stuck to the KitchenAid mixer whisk and pretty much ruined my first batch…and nearly killed the KitchenAid. It was overheating like you wouldn’t believe, as the candy wrapped itself around the whisk and slowed the motor considerably.

While the flavour was good: kind of caramel tinged, the texture and colour were horrible, and there were still hidden chunks of candy hidden inside. Bad news.

So, I remade the marshmallows, using a new recipe. This time, no egg whites, and I relied on a more scientific Alton Brown recipe. He laid it down in terms my science background could understand. Oh: I also did not let the candy mixture get too hot, stopping at 235F. I added a half teaspoon more of vanilla, and used clear vanilla so it kept the marshmallows snow-white.

The second batch went much better. Here, cutting them. Some people use scissors, or a pizza cutter.

Giving the marshmallows a corn starch/icing sugar bath.

The first batch is on the right, the second on the left. They are puffier as I used smaller pans to make them thicker, and didn’t over heat the syrup this time. They were a bit sweeter because there was more corn syrup in them, but the texture was wonderful.

Packaged up, tied with bakers twine and…

Given instructions and a best before date.

My recipe cards were some silly tissue paper fires. I think a grade two student may be more skilled with glue than I am.

So my tips:

• Use a medium sized, Teflon coated pot.
• Get a thermometer you trust, and pull the syrup off the stove at, or just below 240F.
• Coat your stiff spatula in spray oil or wet it first before scraping the marshmallow out of the mixer bowl.
• RESIST the urge to scrape everything out of the bowl. This is where things get really sticky. It may go against your nature of “getting the last drop”, but it will be easier.
• Use a mix of corn starch and icing sugar to roll the slightly sticky mallows in.

I will be trying lavender marshmallows soon, much like the ones I was too full to try from The Bison in Banff.

Some other marshmallow posts:

• Duchess marshmallows and mocha
• Marshmallow showdown: Whole Foods vs. Butter Bake Shop
• Recchiuti S’more pack

For every new dish I try and blog about, there are five familiar old meals I consistently crank out. Some favourites include macaroni and cheese, tostadas, and veggie sandwiches. I will never say I get tired of them – because why else would I make them so often? – but sometimes they do need a bit of livening up.

One of the things I occasionally make is gremolata to zing up mac and cheese. It brightens and lightens the rich cheesy dish, and uses up some stuff I always seem to have in the kitchen: lemons, garlic and parsley. On this occasion I also had some cooked bacon, so I tossed that in too.

This recipe is dead simple.

Bacon Gremolata

• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons Italian parsley, finely chopped
• 1-2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons bacon, crumbled

That’s it. Most times, I do not even measure. Mix together, sprinkle. You can omit the bacon, and add more or less of anything to appeal to your taste buds. It is great on pastas, risotto, on meat and fish or even sprinkled on salads.

I have a confession. I have never made a classic roast chicken. I’m not sure why: something about the time it takes? The oddness of handling a whole chicken carcass? I found the whole process very intimidating. However, on one of the coldest days of this year, I trekked out to get a chicken.

Safeway did not have any fresh whole chicken (frozen, either) so I ended up walking to the downtown Planet Organic. There, one last (large, organic) chicken. I nearly fell over when I saw the price: $26 and change, but I didn’t have a lot of choice. There was a lot of snow on the roads and I did not want to get stuck driving around for a bird.

At home, I had a roasting pan, herbs, lemons, garlic and a thermometer ready to go.

Where to start? I rinsed it off, and patted it dry. This is supposed to ensure crispy skin. I peeked in the cavity to see if there were any giblets or kidneys, which would need removing. This was probably the worst part about prepping the chicken. It wasn’t necessarily clear what was to come out, but the cavity seemed  pretty empty with nothing jumping out at me, so I think it was clean. There was a neck, which I oiled and salted, and placed in the pan. My mom always enjoys turkey neck, so I thought it would be nice to have some chicken neck. It was a delicious snack later on.

This kind of reminds me of an episode of Friends where someone got a turkey stuck on their head.

I cut up some lemons and garlic, and made a rub of three kinds of paprika, salt, pepper, ancho chile powder and olive oil. Into the bird went some garlic, thyme, rosemary and thyme. I peeled the skin away from the bird, and pushed herbs, lemon slices and garlic up under there too. I rubbed down the chicken (front and back) with the spice mix, and turned it over onto its breast. Some people say this ensures juicy meat.

Into a 475 degree F oven it went for 20 minutes. I dropped the temperature to 350 and cooked an hour and a bit, until a thermometer shoved into the deep meat of the thigh read 180 degrees. Looking back, I was very nervous and anxious at this point. The chicken wasn’t cheap, and I didn’t want to ruin my first bird by  making it dry, or under cooking it. Now that I’ve made two more, it’s smooth sailing, though.

Carving it posed more challenges. My favourite thing to eat in Thailand is fried “chain saw” chicken. Named as such for it is hacked and cut up so haphazardly. But I did not want to to eat bits of cartilage and bone, and wanted to save all precious bone parts for the stock I wanted to make.

The chicken was really good. It was juicy and meaty and flavourful. A total success, and I bragged for days about how I finally made a roast chicken at home.

Day 1: We ate it with spaetzle and braised red cabbage.

Pan fried spaetzle.

Day 2: For lunch,chicken chunks in pita with baba ganoush Mike had made, all toasted and warm.

Day 3: Then in Duchess croissants, with guyere. This was a favourite: I plated it into a sort of French inspired bento box, with dill pickle soup, an apple, braised red cabbage and a hearty French ale. Although I suppose a French bento might have wine instead of beer.

Then I started to run out of chicken. With just a carcass left, I decided to make chicken stock. And let me tell you, if roasting a chicken is easy, making chicken stock is nearly child’s play. Most of the work is done if you have already roasted the chicken, so you just need a large enough pot, some vegetables for the mirepoix, water, spices and time.

Roasted chicken will impart a deeper colour and flavour to the stock, but is not necessary.

We have a huge stock pot. I’m not even completely sure how large, but I need to use the foot stool to properly administer the stock within.

My mirepoix was chunky celery, onions and carrots, with parsley, bay leaves, oregano, thyme with juniper berries, peppercorns, cloves and star anise. To this, 16 or so cups of water. I let this simmer very slowly with the chicken bones for several hours.

The cold weather really helped, as the stock pot would have been too large to cool in the fridge. Instead, the patio became my fridge. I skimmed off the fat on top. Since this was not turning into a consomme or fine soup, it was okay if it wasn’t precise and a bit cloudy. After skimming, I returned it to the stove to reduce and condense it. I ended up with 12 cups of stock. It was very flavourful, as the anise and cloves imparted a strong spicy taste.

Some vegetables (carrots, leeks, onions, celery), some chicken and some egg noodles made a satisfying soup. I probably made too much, as we were eating soup for another week after that. But, I can safely say my chicken experiment turned out well, and I added another item to my cooking roster.

I’ve been crazy for gingerbread this year, and have been experimenting with different gingerbread recipes for a month.

Gingerbread

The best has been one that is molasses-y but not too much so, kind of crumby yet moist and very spicy, with both ginger powder and freshly grated ginger root. I’m about to make another batch tomorrow, this time with ginger chunks from Bulk Barn.

This opened the flood gates and I started obsessing over ginger flavours. Before I knew it, I was trying anything remotely ginger related. Gingerbread lattes at Starbucks (ho hum, kind of thin). Gingerbread snap cookies (meh.) Then, finally a break through:

Real ginger beer by Crabbie’s

Summer? We drank this the day it was -46C in Edmonton. No ice though.

This is an awesome alcoholic beverage by the way. I got it at Sherbrooke Liquor, when they were out of the newest obsession in the house, a beer called Route Des Épices (Ale Rousse Au Poivre) by Quebec’s Dieu Du Ciel (it’s spicy. VERY spicy.) $6 for a reasonable serving, and this was tart, spicy and light. It’s 4%.

Then, because it was so cold I wanted to find a way to keep warm. I made hot chocolate from scratch. That is to say…

Gingerbread Hot Chocolate

I attended a Christmas party a number of years ago where I remember exactly three things: we watched a Lord of the Ring marathon, we had souffles but the host was perturbed they fell, and there was some wicked home made hot chocolate with Screech in it.

What’s Screech? Why it’s a rum endemic to Newfoundland. Mike’s mom brought some back when she visited the east coast a few months ago. I’ve been dying to use it.

Real cinnamon reserved for special occasions

Chocolate “paste”

(This pot is my Gran’s. It is great for heating milk in, as it never burns, and stays hot a long time. She made it for making cream of wheat in.)

I edited my dad’s recipe for hot chocolate and came up with an awesome Gingerbread modification.

Gingerbread Hot Chocolate

• 1 cup of whole milk
• 2 portions of 1/4 cup heavy cream (i.e., whipping cream. My dad uses evaporated milk)
• 1.5 tablespoons of good-quality, unsweetened cocoa powder (I have started using Ghirardelli, but Valrhona or even Fry’s are good)
• 1.5 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 0.5-1 ounce Screech (or any rum. Can also be omitted entirely.)
• stalk of ginger root, peeled and cut into slices
• half stick of cinnamon
• dash of ginger powder and cinnamon
• whole cloves or nutmeg, if you have them

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium heat, pour in milk and 1/4 cup of heavy cream. Add ginger root, cinnamon and any other spices you desire, such as cloves and nutmeg. Let just come to a simmer, and drop heat until milk gets very hot and steeps in spices, 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine cocoa, sugar, dash of ginger powder and cinnamon, vanilla, rum and 1/4 cup of whipping cream with a whisk. It will get very pasty, so add milk or water to thin slightly and incorporate.

When milk has steeped, whisk in chocolate mixture until it has dissolved. Strain into a cup, over marshmallows or with fresh whipped cream on top.

This recipe is not too sweet, very spicy and highly drinkable. I don’t know how well it scales up, as I have only made two servings at a time of it. It’s quite rich.

Finally, at Duchess last week I saw one of their seasonal items:

Gingerbread macarons.

I have nothing to say other than: they’re great. Just like everything else they make.

Finally, at work a few weeks ago, we had to photograph some products from local business Beardog Cafe. One of their products smelled so good it was all I could do to not scarf it down as I shot it: Raven’s Gingerbread.

However, it’s for your four-legged friend. All-natural, and some pretty cute packaging, too.

Do you have any favourite ginger treats?

I eat a lot of sandwiches as meals. Perhaps because they’re easy, perhaps because they are infinitely customizable. Some favourites (made at home) include egg salad, BLTs, and grilled cheese. Purchased favorites are the pita pizza/sandwiches from Sunbake Pita and banh mi from Van Loc.

I had my first muffuletta when I was but a wee girl, or so the story goes according to my parents. Most recently, I had an authentic one while in New Orleans in 2001 (hardly recent!). I also had a crawfish po’boy, while wandering about.  These sandwiches are regional favourites, are packed with numerous ingredients, and filling. VERY filling.

I made a muffletta this weekend. It’s kind of wrong to just make a single sandwich, and it’s a thing best done to an entire loaf of bread.

An olive salad must be prepared, and meats acquired. They are layered thickly and compressed down.

First I started by hollowing out the loaf of french bread. Round breads or flatter breads are advised for this sandwich.

Then I made the olive salad. This is extremely customizable, but mine included kalamata olives, green olives, pepperocini peppers, roasted red peppers, roasted cauliflower, green onion, celery, garlic, carrots and parsley. Add lots of olive oil and pepper and let it marinate for a bit. It will last for some time in the fridge, so you may want to make a larger portion for future sandwiches. Like ajvar, it’s great on many things.

Layer after layer of meat was added. I included ham, mortadella and genoa salami, along with provolone and mozzarella cheese.

Sliced into chunks and warmed in the oven until the cheese melts, this is a hearty meal.

I don’t know why, but for many years I shied away from bolognese on restaurant menus. Perhaps I thought the sauce was plain and unsophisticated: I mean, meat sauce when you can have a fancier, harder-to-make cream sauce? Perhaps I was reliving bad memories of overdosing on bolognese in Belgium many years ago.

However, lately it has become a favourite pasta sauce. Although my recipe is far from authentic (many believe “true” bolognese should use white wine, not red, and uses very little tomato), it it still very good, and fairly easy to cook up.

My soffritto of carrots, celery, onion and pancetta, frying in a helping of butter and olive oil.

Chubs of meat are not the most attractive packaging. Plus they have a tendency to burst open into a wormy snake of meat when you cut into them.

My recipe only requires a cup of red wine, leaving a lot left in the bottle. I freeze a cup for use later, and drink some while cooking or use it in other cooking in the days after.

At $3.49 a can, these tomatoes were not cheap, but I tried them to see if there was a discernible difference. I think it is worth it to get tomatoes low in sodium and sugar, so that I can control the end flavours a bit better. Here, I am using kitchen scissors to cut the whole tomatoes into smaller bits.

I also spent a bit more on a different brand of tomato sauce. The ingredient list is a long one, as you can see. The paste and tomatoes had the added benefit of not tasting metallic.

Mike’s bowl on left, mine on right. I did go back for seconds, though. I serve a healthy serving of sauce with a chunky, chewy pasta such as orecchiette that helps scoop up the meaty sauce, and top it with cheese and parsley.

Lamb and Veal Bolognese

This will make several cups of sauce, which is good to freeze and serve with fresh pasta later, or just eat on its own. It’s a pretty forgiving recipe, so feel free to adjust amounts if need be.

• 0.635kg (1.5 lbs) meat. I used a mix of veal and lamb, but you could use beef and veal or pork.
• 1/2 cup pancetta, cubed. I just buy a chunk from the deli and cube it at home
• 2 celery sticks, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 cup red wine you like (don’t cheap out, although it may be tempting)
• 28 oz. can tomatoes, whole and cut up or diced
• can of tomato paste
• cayenne powder, chili flakes to taste
• herbs,  dried or fresh
• salt and pepper

Set large pot on medium high heat, allow to warm up. Add diced pancetta, cook while stirring until it browns. Add splash of olive oil and butter, throwing in diced carrots, celery and onion. Allow this soffritto to soften and brown, about 10 minutes.

Add your meat, let brown. I normally add my spices at this point, cayenne or chili, dried thyme, oregano or basil. Crank the heat to high, and add the wine while scraping the bottom of the pot to deglaze. Turn heat down to medium, allow to cook down for about 10 minutes, and add the tomato paste and entire can of tomatoes and juices. Allow to come to a boil, and simmer for as long as you can stand it, at least 45 minutes, but longer if possible.

For the past few years, Mike has gone hunting with his godfather and friends south of Edmonton. He wakes early, comes home late smelling of the outdoors, and, every year but one, has returned with a deer or a moose, stocking our fridge and freezer with delicious wild game.

We enjoyed some of the venison this week, as Mike prepped and cooked the backstrap. I wasn’t home for most of the preparation, but I do know there was an all day marinade in spices, beer and leftover red wine, then a rub. It was seared, then finished in the oven. The marinade was cooked down into a rich sauce, and we had it sliced into medallions, with big fluffy loaded baked potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts.

I hope you’ve not heard anything negative about deer, but if you have, it should be ignored. When prepared correctly, venison is flavourful and savoury, tender – not tough – and very lean.

I think we’ll try venison stroganoff and stew soon, and make some sausages.

Fixin’s for a loaded baked potato. Butter, old cheddar cheese, sour cream and salty pancetta bits.

I got an email at work a few weeks back, asking for volunteer bakers for our upcoming bake sale to raise money for the United Way. In previous years, I have been too busy doing schoolwork to ever take part in such a thing. I mean, I guess I could make my standard chocolate chip cookies, but when I bake, I like to go hard.

And so I did.

Wanting everything to be fresh, beautiful and delicious, I spent a week buying ingredients, prepping items and packaging them. It culminated in a session that went until 3:37am (That was when I Tweeted that I was going to bed, anyhow). The end products were many, although I regret not making more of some things.

Some things were really easy to make more of, like brownies and Nanaimo bars. If you’re making them already, it’s easy just to double up the recipe. In the end I made:

• chai shortbread (Last minute addition when I had pounds of butter and icing sugar left over. They were really light, and not too sweet.)

• Two pans of VFBs: Very Fudgy Brownies, some with pecans

• soft ginger cookies

• A dozen brownie “cupcakes” with espresso buttercream (These were an afterthought, and could have been better in my opinion)

• Three pans of Nanaimo bars

I made a mix of single sell items and a few “combo” packs of mixed items. I was told to price high which made me anxious nothing would sell, but what the hell; I used quality ingredients and it was for charity. I didn’t stick around to see what sold best, so not sure what to do for next year.

The kitchen was a god damned mess for most of the night.

The brownie “cupcakes” were pretty dense and nauseatingly rich. I hope anyone who bought one split it up and shared before they went into diabetic shock. I could barely bring myself to taste anything I baked I was so sick of sweet treats by the time I was done.

Immediately after dropping off the baking at work, I drove to meet my dad for savoury phở at King Noodle. It’s kind of a curse to not want to eat much of my baking, but probably a good thing, too.

I didn’t want to use Ziplocs and had some vellum and cardstock left over from another project, so gussied these up a bit.  My mom, who had just been in Las Vegas and Phoenix for 10 days just before the sale, brought back some beautiful treat packaging for me. There is so much more available in the US for that kind of stuff. I put some Nanaimo bars in little boxes, cookies and brownies in bags and mixed items in boxes.

A co-workers vanilla raspberry cupcakes. I regret not buying anything myself from the sale!

The sale was in the atrium at work, where it gets quite warm. So I brought an ice tray for the very delicate melty Nanaimo bars.

Some more of the goods brought in. There was so much variety!

The bake sale raised about $400 for the United Way. I probably won’t be able to bake for another few weeks, but will be back on the horse just in time for Christmas.