Holiday Brunch Treats with the Assiniboine Park Conservancy

Last night I presented the following dishes of Holiday Brunch Ideas for the Assiniboine Park Conservancy at the Madison Square MLCC.  Bonnie Tulloch, Education Coordinator for the Assiniboine Park Conservancy, presented on the spices, fruits and vegetables featured and Kelly Burton of the MLCC, provided lovely beverage pairings, starting with the Fall Margarita.

1 part Sour = lime or lemon juice
2 parts Sweet = Sugar or juice
3 parts Strong = Tequila or other Liquor
4 parts weak = Ice/soda/Ginger Ale

1. Latkes (Potato Pancakes)

Paired with Devil's Rock Sparkling Riesling, $13.99

Potato pancakes are served in Germany, Russia, many parts of Eastern Europe and Israel.  They can be found in Christmas markets and homes.

3 medium potatoes, peeled and shredded
1 onion, shredded
2 eggs
1/4 cup flour or maztah meal
salt and pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp paprika (optional)

Optional:  Golden Caviar (Available at Gimli Fish)

Mix potato pancake ingredients together and fry in pancake size in a little olive oil until golden brown on both sides. Remove from heat and using cookie cutters, cut bite sized pieces from the pancake.

Top each latke bite with cr�me fraiche and golden caviar or sour cream, smoked goldeye, etc.

2. Brandied Farmer�s Sausage with apples
Paired with Angry Orchard Cider, $2.52
 

1-2 Farmer�s sausages, sliced on the bias ~ 1�

2-3 apples, cut into thin wedges

� cup honey

� tsp cinnamon

Brandy, to deglaze (or your favourite non-cream liquor)

Saut� apples in honey and cinnamon.  Set aside.  Cook sausage in pan until brown on both sides and done.  Pour in brandy.  Add apples. 

To serve, skewer or lay out on platter with toothpicks.

3. Toasted Panettone with Barolo Poached Pears
Paired with Bottega Prosecco DOC, $17.99
 

You can cook the pears the day before and re-heat them.
Barolo wine (or a Piedmont wine such as Barbera) 400ml
lemon rind (unwaxed) 2 strips
orange rind (unwaxed) 2 strips
cloves 2
bay leaf 1
caster sugar 200g
ripe pears such as Williams - do not peel just wash, then cut in half 2
panettone 4 slices, to serve

Add all the ingredients, except the pears and panettone, and 180ml water to a pan that will hold the fruit. Bring slowly to the boil and stir to dissolve the sugar, then boil for 15 minutes. Lower the heat, add the pear halves, and simmer for about 30 minutes until the pears are tender � when you can pierce them easily with a knife. Keep the liquid for later. Chill the pears and re-heat in the liquid.

Toast 4 slices of panettone and place on four plates, add 1 piece of hot pear on top and ladle over a little hot poaching liquid. Optional:  Serve with mascarpone or ice cream.

4. Caramelized Shallot Tarts
Paired with Malamado Malbec, $23.99

Shallots
port or wine
rosemary or thyme
drizzle olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Take the skins and ends off of the shallots and place them in a shallow baking dish. Add remaining ingredients and bake at 350�F oven for up to one hour or until the shallots are soft. Enjoy in a number of options or as a garnish to meats and vegetables or, combine with Okanagan Cherry reduction in tarts:

Dried Okanagan Cherry reduction
1 cup tart dried Okanagan cherries *
1 cup port
1 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
2 tbs butter
1 cup dry red wine or port
Soak cherries in port over night or for several hours.
In a sauce pan, heat soaked cherries and add wine or port and rosemary. Bring to a boil and add butter. Remove from heat and pur�e. Use on tarts or as a drizzle for meats or poultry.

Metro Vancouver 2015 Organics Ban: Are You Ready?

It's Hallowe'en again -- an evening of ghosts, monsters, haunted houses, and other things nipping in the night. (Or so we're told.) Lots of things are scary or gross, but you know what isn't? Compost, soil, and worms (okay, maybe those wrigglers)!

Source: Metro Vancouver Regional District

Did you know?



Starting January 1, 2015, the Metro Vancouver Regional District will be banning the disposal of food scraps and other organics in general garbage.



This includes raw food, table scrapings (raw and cooked), leftovers, depackaged food, meat, food scraps, and more! The collected organic waste will be composted by the district and used throughout municipalities for parks, city landscaping, and other greenery.



Many municipalities across the region already have food scraps programs
for single-family households. This region-wide program will expand the
organics ban to everyone in Metro Vancouver: from single-family households to apartments, commercial and industrial buildings, and institutions.



Why are we doing this?



Over a third of what we send to the landfill are compostable organics. By diverting these materials, we can reduce how much goes to the landfill as well as provide a source of rich composting materials.



When food and other organic materials end up in the garbage, they create methane (a powerful greenhouse gas) and fail to decompose because they are buried under layers of waste without access to oxygen. Composting these organics instead means we can save and return those valuable resources (water, energy, etc.) back to the land.



What should I do with my organic waste?



Regardless of where you live or work, composting (backyard or apartment/indoor) is an easy and great way to turn those food scraps nutrient-rich compost. If you don't have a garden for your finished compost, consider donating it to a local community or other gardening program!



During farmers' market season, you can also drop off your food scraps at many locations throughout Vancouver. Check here for a list.



For people in multi-family and other buildings, who do not receive food scraps service by municipal garbage pick-up, organics recycling will be operated by independent contractors through building management or other individual arrangements. If you live in an apartment, consider asking your landlord about including food scraps pick-up and starting a program for your building!



More Information



For more information on the 2015 Metro Vancouver Organics Ban, visit the program website here.

Mediterranean Fare, by popular request for the Assiniboine Park Conservancy

The following dishes were presented for the Foodie Series of the Assiniboine Park Conservancy on the theme of Mediterranean.  Karin Lind from the Conservancy, presented on prominent plant products of the region, extensively on olive oil, and Scot Strizic, of the MLCC, presented perfect beverage pairings.  Enjoy!

1. Turkish Imam Bayaldi

There are two stories behind the name, "Imam Bayaldi" which means, "The Imam fainted dead away". One is that the olive oil used to prepare this dish was so expensive that he fainted from the extravagent use. The other story is that the food was so good that he died completely satisfied and joyful with the tastes of such a dish. I'm hoping that you'll have a similar experience to the latter story.

4 Japanese eggplant (peel off 3 slices of outer skin length-wise around the eggplant)
olive oil (for frying and flavour)
Rich tomato sauce (recipe follows)
cilantro (optional)

Rich Tomato Sauce

1 tin crushed tomatoes (organic fire roasted is nicest)
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 tsp dried
1 tsp chopped rosemary
1 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup red wine
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp brown sugar (to reduce acid of tomatoes)

Preheat oven to 350�F. On the stove top, preheat olive oil in saut� pan. Carefully brown egplants on all sides. This takes some time. One option is to prepare the eggplant on a BBQ by drizzling olive oil over the eggplants prior to grilling. Remove eggplants from pan and place in a baking dish. Let eggplants rest. Split open the eggplants and spoon in the rich tomato sauce into each eggplant. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and drizzle with good olive oil. Bake for up to 30 minutes. Imam Baldi can be enjoyed hot, cold or room temperature. Serve with bread.

Enjoy!

2. Spanish Tapa Potato wedges with roasted garlic dip

3 lb potatoes
2 tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tsp salt

Roasted Garlic Dip
2 garlic bulbs, roasted
1 tbs olive oil
5 tbs sour cream
4 tbs mayonnaise
hot smoked paprika, to taste
salt

Roast the garlic for 25 minutes at 350�F until caramelized. Let cool enough to handle. Squeeze out and mash. Mix in a bowl with the sour cream and mayonnaise. Season with salt and paprika. Chill.

For the potatoes, cut each potato half into 3 wedges and place in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, garlic and salt and toss well. Transfer to a roasting pan and arrange in a single layer. Roast for 1- 1/14 hours, or until crisp and golden.

Serve immediately with roasted garlic dip.

Enjoy!

3. Moroccan Beef Tajine

1 lb beef roast, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 tbs ras el hanout
1-2 tbs olive oil
1-2 tbs butter
good pinch saffron
2 large tomatoes, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 green peppers, seeded and diced
1/2 - 1 cup prunes
2-3 tbs honey
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup red wine
salt, to taste

Slowly saut� onions on medium-low heat with olive oil until they begin to caramelize. Stir in Ras el Hanout spice blend. Turn up heat to medium-high and add butter and saffron. Brown meat well on all sides and add tomatoes and other vegetables. Add broth, prunes and honey. Add red wine and salt and let simmer for 1-2 hours, depending on using the tajine and toughness of the meat. Meat should melt in your mouth when done.

Serve with flat breads, rice, couscous or bulgur.

Enjoy!

4. French Profiteroles

Ingredients

1 cup milk
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
Pinch kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 extra-large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Heat the milk, butter, and salt over medium heat until scalded. When the butter is melted, add the flour all at once and beat it with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together and forms a dough. Cook, stirring constantly, over low heat for 2 minutes. The flour will begin to coat the bottom of the pan. Dump the hot mixture into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the eggs and pulse until the eggs are incorporated into the dough and the mixture is thick.

Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip. Pipe in mounds 1 1/2 inches wide and 1-inch high onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You should have about 18 puffs. With a wet finger, lightly press down the swirl at the top of each puff. (You can also use 2 spoons to scoop out the mixture and shape the puffs with damp fingers.) Bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned, then turn off the oven and allow them to sit for another 10 minutes, until they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Make a small slit in the side of each puff to allow the steam to escape. Set aside to cool.

For the chocolate sauce, place the cream and chocolate chips in a bowl set over simmering water and stir just until the chocolate melts.  Set aside.

Cut each profiterole in half, fill with whipped cream or lemon curd or ice cream.  Close and drizzle with chocolate sauce. 

Is Meat Unhealthy? Part II

Over time, animals adapt to the foods they regularly consume. This is how archaeologists can, for example, determine that Triceratops was an herbivore and Tyrannosaurus was a carnivore just by looking at the structure of the skeleton. Adaptations to diet extend beyond skeletal structure, into digestion, metabolism, the brain, musculature, and other aspects of physical function. What is our evolutionary history with meat?

Human Evolutionary History with Meat: 200 to 2.6 Million Years Ago

Mammals evolved from ancestral "mammal-like reptiles" (therapsids, then cynodonts) approximately 220 million years ago (Richard Klein. The Human Career. 2009). Roughly 100 million years ago, placental mammals emerged. The earliest placental mammals are thought to have been nocturnal shrew-like beasts that subsisted primarily on insects, similar to modern shrews and moles. Mammalian teeth continued to show features specialized for insect consumption until the rise of the primates.

65 million years ago, coinciding with the evolution of the first fruiting plants, our ancestors took to the trees and became primates. For most of the time between then and now, our ancestors likely ate the prototypical primate diet of fruit, seeds, leaves/stems, and insects (1). Some primates also hunt smaller animals and thus eat the flesh of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish in addition to insects. However, the contribution of non-insect meat to the diet is usually small.

Read more �

Wild Caught Shrimp two ways on CBC's Weekend Morning Show

This morning I had the pleasure of presenting the following shrimp dishes for CBC's Weekend Morning Show with host Terry MacLeod.  The wild caught Argentinian shrimp is available at Gimli Fish and works perfectly for these two dishes. Turkish Baharat is available at Pollock's Hardware Co-op.   Hot smoked paprika is available at Millad's on Notre Dame in Winnipeg.

(From Left, Spanish Smoked Paprika Shrimp, Porcini Basmati rice, Turkish Baharat Shrimp)




1. Spanish Smoked Paprika Shrimp

1 lb peeled, wild caught shrimp
1 tbs butter
Drizzle olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp hot smoked paprika
Pinch sea salt

Heat butter and oil in saut� pan. Add shrimp and toss well. Add garlic and then paprika. Serve with bread when shrimp is firm and pink.

2. Turkish Grilled Shrimp

1/2 lb shrimp, cleaned, tail off
1-2 tbs Turkish Baharat*
3-4 shallots, grated or one small onion grated
2 tbs lime juice
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/4 tsp paprika (can used smoked)
pinch salt and pepper

Combine Turkish Baharat, grated shallots, lime juice, olive oil, paprika and salt and pepper in a bowl. Place shrimp in the bowl and cover completely with the marinade. Place in fridge and let marinate for 6 hours. Grill 2-4 minutes a side on a very hot BBQ grill.

To enjoy in a Pide ,grill Naan or Pide** on BBQ and spread on a bit of yoghurt tahini sauce (recipe follows).

Yoghurt tahini sauce

1/2 cup good plain yoghurt
1 clove garlic, minced
3 heaping tbs tahini
2 tsp lemon or lime juice
pinch salt

Mix all ingredients together. The tahini will cause the sauce to thicken quickly. Use on grilled Pide or Naan or as a crudit� dip.

Food Reward Friday

This week's lucky "winner"... the pumpkin spice latte!!

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Is Meat Unhealthy? Part I

Introduction

At Dr. McDougall's Advanced Study Weekend, I had the opportunity to hear a number of researchers and advocates make the case for a "plant-based diet", which is a diet containing little or no animal foods. Many of them voiced the opinion that animal foods contribute substantially to the primary killers in the US, such as heart disease and cancer. Some of the evidence they presented was provocative and compelling, so it stimulated me to take a deeper look and come to my own conclusions.

No matter what the health implications of meat eating turn out to be, I respect vegetarians and vegans. Most of them are conscientious, responsible people who make daily personal sacrifices to try to make the world a better place for all of us.

My Experience with Vegetarian and Vegan Diets

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