Puffs of Heaven

My love affair with the simple marshmallow started way back when I was 18 and working in my first real job. It was so long ago, that now as I try to remember the name, I can't. I was a waitress and there was a French chef, well, now I can't even remember if he really was French, but it makes for a good story. It was a cold wintery day and he made all the girls (lucky us!) hot chocolate from scratch with pillows of fresh marshmallow on top. It didn't even have time to set up, it was still all gooey and sticky and melted oh-so-perfectly when you stirred it in. Wow, it's been a long time, but that was a really great day.

My family also goes camping every year in Victoria over the Easter long weekend, and have you ever seen a campsite without marshmallows to toast over the fire? I love campfire marshmallows two ways - the first is to hold the marshmallow (on a long stick, of course) over the flames and let the outside burn to a crisp, nice and black and cirspy, and then eat it in one mouthful. The outside is piping hot and the middle still feels like a normal marhsmallow, slightly warmed. The other way is to hold the marshmallow over the coals and let the whole thing heat through and the outside is perfectly caramelized. You have to be careful though, this way needs care and attention so that the gooey goodness just doesn't fall plop into the fire. Those marshmallows become pretty slippery when they are warm. Also, if there are lots of people toasting marshmallows and not so many marshmallows. you want to go for option #1 because it's quicker, and you will get more of them!

I was in the UK a couple of years ago wandering through the food halls at Harrods and wouldn't you believe it - a whole section devoted to gourmet marshmallows. Of course, I bought some strawberry flavoured and shaped ones, which until they were devoured over two nights and I arrived home to see the credit card statement, I paid about $25 for a 1/4 lb bag. But they were well worth it to me (not so much to my husband).

My most recent marshmallow purchase was in Florida in October where I found a bag of limited edition "swirlmallows". Yum. Chocolate and vanilla swirls in one bite. Who could resist?

I love marshmallows folded through ice cream, floating on top of hot chocolate, in rice crispie squares. I love them chocolate covered. I like the mini ones, the big ones, the gourmet ones, the funny shaped ones. I love them all. And now I know I can make them myself!

Marshmallows

only adapted a tiny tiny bit from the Joy of Baking

Makes 1 pan 13"x9"x2"

1 cup (250ml) cold water, divided

3 x 1/4oz (21g) envelopes unflavoured gelatine

2 cups (400g) white sugar

1 cup (240ml) light corn syrup (but you can use dark if you like)

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

lots and lots of icing sugar (about 4 cups)

Very lightly grease the pan and line the bottom and sides with parchment. I sprayed too much oil onto the bottom of my pan and it somehow came through the parchment and left yellow-ish spots on the botoms of my marshmallows. I assume the only reason for the greasing is to make the parchment stick to the pan.

Then sift 3 tablespoons icing sugar over the bottom of the pan (on the parchment). Trust me, this will help you get those marshmallows out.

Place 1/2 cup cold water into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Sprinkle the gelatine over the water and leave to dissolve for 15 minutes.

This is where I went a little off the path - I have only worked in a very limited capacity with powdered gelatine and each time I have dissolved it in warm water, so I put my whole mixer bowl with the gelatine and the water over a saucepan of simmering water and dissolved it that way. On reflection, the heat from the sugar mixture would probably dissolve the gelatine when it is added, so it is entirely up to you which path you take.

Meanwhile, place the sugar, corn syrup, salt and remaining 1/2 cup water in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the sigar dissolves and the mixture comes to a boil. Cover the saucepan with a lid and let boil for about three minutes to allow any sugar crystals to dissolve from sides of the saucepan (I really like this trick - it should work with other candy making adventures too).

Remove lid and cook until temperature reaches 240F. I used my digital probe thermometer. You could use any thermometer, but you want to take it to the soft ball stage, if you know how to test with a glass of cold water.

So now attach your mixing bowl back onto your stand mixer (if you used my heating method) and with the mixer running at low speed, slowly pour the hot syrup into the gelatine mixture in a thin stream down the side of the bowl. Gradually increase the speed to high and beat until mixture has tripled in volume and is very thick and stiff, takes about 8 - 10 minutes. Add vanilla and continue beating to incorporate.

The pink marshmallows you see in my photo, I made two batches of marshmallows and the second batch I added red gel paste food colour when the marshmallows were about a minute away from adding the vanilla. You could add any colour or flavour here*.

Scrape marshmallow mixture into prepared pan and spread with a damp offset or rubber spatula. And, as the original recipe says, it is really sticky so just smooth it out as best you can. Dust the top with another 3 tablespoons sifted icing sugar and leave to set up overnight, or at least for 12 hours.

To remove the marshmallows from the pan, I turned mine out onto a very well icing sugar dusted piece of parchment paper (here's a big NO to scraping and scrubbing that off my counter tops). Peel off the parchment as best you can, and then the easiest way to cut them is to use a pizza wheel. I know, sounds wierd, but I tried a chefs knife, a stainless pastry scraper and the pizza wheel and it honestly worked like a charm. I also used scissors, but they got really gummy really quickly. They still worked though. Use lots of icing sugar to dust the cut edges, and there you have it - fresh home made marshmallows.

The original recipe says you can store them for up to two weeks in an airtight container at room temperature, but really, who are they kidding....there's none left after today :)

*I think pink coloured, rose water flavoured marshmallows would be delicious. Or use orange colour and orange blossom water...decadent!

Feelin' Beet?

OK, so not my most glamourous photo, and you can't really tell, but there are six pieces on the platter...maybe too much Horseradish Cream? I don't know. Can I blame it on the new camera?

Beets are so delicious, I can't understand why they get such a bad wrap. My husband hates them, although he did eat one of these gems because I asked him to. I told him if he didn't like it, he didn't have to eat the whole thing, but he did, so it can't have been that bad.

I wonder if it's the pickled variety that gets shoved to the back of the cupboard. But then you think about the Canadian obsession with dill pickles, that it just can't be so. I often wonder if it's because people have forgotten how to cook them, and are really not sure what to do with them. Kind of like turnips and rutabaga, and parsnips, come to think of it.

There's just something so glorious about the colour of beets, that jewel-toned red purplish colour, that screams "eat me". It's almost a fashion statement on your plate. Regarding the colour, a few years ago my friend and I were going to start a paint company and name all our colours after food - beetroot was going to be one of them. You can tell we needed something more interesting in our lives, and it obviously never eventualised. I have a few business ideas that never made it off the ground...hmmm...

Back to beets, they are wonderfully healthy for you too - folic acid (for those of us trying to get, or already are, pregnant), calcium, iron, vitamin A & C, vitamin B6, they keep your liver healthy (metabolising fats properly and helping you lose weight (yay!)), lower colesterol, full of antioxidants and are beneficial against fighting cancer.* Wow, we should be eating these daily!

I have seen some beautiful heirloom varieties that are striped yellow and pink, or white and pink, and star shapes inside. The golden ones and albino ones are really pretty too. You can choose whichever beet you like for this recipe, but I love the ordinary vibrant hued beet here.

Beet & Sweet Potato Rosti (not a real rosti, no, but for the love of a name)

Makes 6 cakes

1 medium sized sweet potato (350g), peeled

4 medium sized beets (600g), peeled

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 green onions, finely chopped

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup flour

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup canola oil (for cooking rosti)

Shred the sweet potato and place in a large bowl. Shred the beets and before placing in the bowl with the sweet potato, squeeze out the excess juices (using your hands - wash them straight after and they won't stay dyed pink all day). Discard the juice or save for another purpose. I used my food processor for the shredding and I did the sweet potato first, so that the red juices didn't dye everything.

Combine all the other ingredients with the shredded vegetables (except the oil, of course), and mix well. Your hands will go pink again, but wash them straight away and you will be fine.

Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over med-low heat. Divide the shredded vegetable mixture into six equal portions and kind of squash into a patty-shape. Place in oil and gently press to flatten. You want the oil to be hot enough so that it sizzles, but not too hot that it burns the sugars in the vegetables. And, let me tell you, these are easy to burn because the colour is so dark to begin with. You want to be able to cook the patties about 6-7 minutes on each side. They are fairly delicate, so be careful when you flip them over.

Transfer cooked patties to a baking sheet when done and keep warm in a 350F oven while you cook the rest. Serve warm with horseradish cream - recipe follows.

Horseradish Cream

Makes about 1 cup

3/4 cup sour cream, or creme fraiche

1/4 cup horseradish (or more if you like it spicy)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Place all ingredients in a small bowl, mix well. Adjust seasoning to your liking. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

I think these would be amazing at a holiday party, because of their festive colour, made small into little appetisers and topped with some smoked salmon and fresh dill.

*All health information was collected from www.elements4health.com - I'm not a nutritionist, but I like to know when something is good for me.

Shedding Tears

Onions are in season and it's cooling down outside. I won't say it's cold yet, because I can still dash out to the car without a coat or jacket on. When I have to find a coat each time I go out, then, it's cold.

Today was a typical November day - cool and overcast, that gave me a craving for soup. But not just any soup, I wanted onion soup. I would call it French Onion Soup, but I don't know if anything I used today, or the techniques used today resemble anything French. So, it's just Ontario Onion Soup. White onions, leeks, sweet onions and red onions. I like that.

To help stop the tears from streaming while you cut the onions, make sure you have a really sharp knife and I find that if you put your onions in the refrigerator overnight there is hardly any irritation at all. This works the best for me. Even at work, I store 50lb bags of onions in the cooler and I can peel and slice that whole bag without one tear! I have also heard that wearing your sunglasses (or other eye glasses) helps too, I have never done it because I think the minute I did it someone would catch me and I'd look like a complete fool.

Our kitchen, and our whole house, smell amazingly good, the caramelized onions, red wine and beef stock were simmering away for a couple of hours.

The soup is also deceivingly good. I used red wine, instead of white as it calls for in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, because I didn't have any white wine on hand. I actually opened a lovely West Australian Shiraz...mmmmm.....I'm finishing off the bottle right now. When I added the wine is turned a gross purplish-brown colour, so I left it on the stove a while longer hopig for a miracle, and a miracle is what I got. The onions are silky, sweet and soft, the broth is rich both from butter and beef stock and the purple haze has gone. Enjoy!

Ontario Onion Soup
Makes 12-14 cups, depending on how long you leave it on the stove.

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 lbs onions, thinly sliced (I used white Spanish onions, leeks, red onions and sweet onions, but you can use whatever you have)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon flour
2 litres beef stock
1 & 1/2 cups red wine
salt and pepper, to taste

10-12 baguette slices, about 3/4" thick

3 cups gruyere cheese (about 375g), shredded - to make it more economical, because Gruyere is insanely expensive, but well worth the price, you could do a blend of 50% gruyere, 50% swiss

In a large pan heat the butter and the oil. Add the onions, stir well and then cover and leave to cook over med-low heat for about 30 minutes. They should be nice and soft, with barely any colour to them. Remove the lid, increase the heat to med-high and add the sugar and the salt, and cook, stirring until onions have turned a glorious rich brown colour. This will take another 30 minutes or so, depending on how big your pot is - the wider the base, the quicker the onions will caramelize. Be careful here, because they can burn quickly, and you don't want to have a "smoked" onion soup to deal with.

Add the flour and stir into the onions. Cook this out for about 5 minutes. Add the beef stock and the wine (beware of the wierd purplish hue) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until soup has thickened slightly, returned to a rich brown colour and tastes sublime.

Season with salt and pepper to your liking.

Toast the baguette slices until quite crisp. Portion the soup into ramekins, top with a slice of toasted baguette and sprinkle with cheese. Place under broiler until cheese has melted and is all gooey and bubbly with just a hint of colour. Serve immediately, reminding your loved ones that the bowls are really really hot!

And, apologies for not having a picture - I received a new camera - a Nikon 3000D - and I am still figuring out all the buttons, and how to get a quality picture! Next time, I promise!

#9 Peach Cranberry Jam

A long time ago, I used to work at Thyme and Again. I was the girl who made your coffee, packed your sweet treats and asked you to pay. It was a fun job, I did it to fill some time "in between" work. Mostly, all the people I worked with were wonderful. The thing I loved the most was the pride they all took in the foods they produced. The bakery bakes from scratch daily (the cheese biscuits are still wonderful). The cuisine kitchen is tiny and crowded, but the quality and quantity of food that emerges, continues to amaze. It's been quite a few years since I saw it from behind the scenes, and I can only imagine how much the production has increased, but the passion remians the same.

I am not a jam lover. I admit it. It's an extremely rare occasion that I will sit down and put jam on something. Occasionally a flaky, all-butter croissant with cross my lips with a smearing of handmade raspberry jam, and that's really about it.

Until now.

I was skeptical of a jar of jam making the "101 things to try before you die" list, but really, I think this will now become a staple in my pantry.

This jam from Thyme and Again on Wellington is really, really delicious. It's red (well, cranberry) in colour, but with such an aroma and taste of peach. The cranberries are whole, the peach slices are big, and it's sweet. It's lightly set, unlike a commercial jam which leaves a scoop impression each time you literally dig into it.

Jam, in my mind, goes with croissants, but really, I didn't have the time to make croissants from scratch, so scones were my next best bet. These scones are great, and even better the next day when heated up in the oven.

Cranberry Lemon Scones
adapted slightly from a recipe from King Arthur Flour
Makes 8 large scones

2 & 3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
1 & 1/2 cups dried cranberries
zest from one lemon
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk (you might need a touch more depending on weather)

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Rub in butter with fingertips until the mixture is crumbly. I would normally use a food processor to "rub" in butter, but I thought I would do it the traditional way this time. However, if I were to use the food processor, I would put my cold butter cubes on the bottom, and then add the dry ingredients on top - it just mixes better that way.

Stir through the cranberries and lemon zest (you could use whatever combination you like - chocolate chips, dried blueberries, currants, nuts, baking spices etc etc).

In a smaller bowl, combine the eggs and the milk, and blend together.

Make a well in the flour mixture and gently mix through the liquids. If I were using the food processor, I would turn the dry mix into a bowl, and then mix in the fruit and wet ingredients by hand. You want the dough to come just together. It will be a little sticky, but whatever you do, don't mix too much.

You can shape your scones any way you want. I pulled off chunks of dough for a rustic looking scone. You could use a round cutter for a more refined look, you could roll your dough into a long rectangle and cut into triangles, or, you could roll your dough into a circle and then cut into wedges. Whatever you do, you obviously want the sizes to be similar so that they all bake at the same time.

Place scones onto a parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes. King Arthur says to do this for the best texture and the highest rise.

Pre-heat oven to 425F and bake for 20-25 minutes. The scone will be cooked when it is nicely golden all over, is not shiny, and it you can stand the heat, pick one up and make sure the bottom is golden too. Remove from oven and leave to cool. Serve warm - YUM!

One final thought, why is it, that whenever I visit a food shop to purchase ONE thing, I end up walking out with bags of goodies? My husband, I am sure, would also love to know the answer to that one.

For the love of corn!

The weather is beautiful and clear during the day and so cool and crisp, and wonderful for sleeping at night, that it feels like fresh local corn may not be around for much longer. This, combined with the fact that I knew my husband would love this for Sunday brunch, was the motivator for what started out as an idea for the humble fritter.

To be honest, I have been making these fritters for years. We used to do them for breakfast at a restaurant I used to own, and from time to time you might see them on a menu here in Ottawa. But, today, because of the nature of the establishment I work in, they are generally just plain old fritters, with none of the other goodness that I put in this morning.

As I had invited guests over at the last minute, I bought the corn, the to-die-for double smoked bacon, Campari tomatoes, Hewitt's sour cream and the organic baby arugula from my local Farm Boy. No time for a trip to the Ottawa Farmers Market.

The corn, right now, is delicious. Nice and sweet, and the cobs are full of kernels. I only checked a couple by peeling back the top layer of silk and I wasn't disappointed with any of the dozen I purchased. A side note, I hate the way people decide to "peel" their corn in the store. First of all, it makes a huge mess, it takes them forever to peel twelve cobs and don't they understand that the corn will last longer and taste better if they leave that silk and husk on until it's ready to eat. Oh, and I hate when stores have those big bins of corn, and you are forced to rummage through everyone else's mess. Ugh!

And to balance the natural sweetness of the corn, I felt the urge for some of Farm Boy's double smoked bacon. Hello, it is so good! I can normally only eat about 2 slices of regular bacon before feeling all greased up inside, but this double smoked piggy, I could eat half a pound. It has a natural smoky flavour (duh), and it is lovely and salty, and cooks up so crisply - even the fat goes crispy. Yum, yum, YUM! It comes from the deli area, they slice it freshly for you.

The Campari tomatoes, I know, come from the US, but seriously, they were the tastiest looking tomatoes I could find. Plus, I liked the fact that they still had the little stems attached. I just rolled them in some olive oil and salt, pepper and herbs and roasted them at 400F until the went soft.

As well, the baby arugula hailed from the States, but it was delicious. And not a leaf was wilted.

And, everyone loved brunch! Who couldn't? And then, my husband added ketchup.....:(

Sweetcorn Fritters
Makes 8 large-ish fritters

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons white sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika (you could sub in cayenne for a spicy bite)
kernels from 2 cobs of corn (use them raw in the batter)
1 red pepper, diced
3 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup chopped coriander
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Mix all the ingredients, up to the paprika, in a large bowl, to make a smooth, stiff batter. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Heat oil in non-stick pan and cook fritters slowly over gentle heat. The batter is really thick, so it does take a while for the fritter to cook through. Flip like a pancake, when golden, and finish cooking on the other side.

I only have a little non-stick pan, so I put the fritters on a wire rack over a baking sheet and put them in the oven at 300F while I finish the rest.

I serve mine with sour cream, crisp bacon, roasted tomatoes and a little salad of some kind. But you could drizzle with maple syrup if you prefer.

And now, I think I will go eat another one with a fresh cup of coffee!

Oh My Nectarines!

I love the local summer fruit and the way it comes ready to go in those little paper baskets - so market-ish with that freshly picked feel. It's just too bad that you have to let them sit on the counter for a few days until you can eat them, and then I find myself swatting fruit flies for a couple of days before I give up and they get put in the fridge.

Where, inevitably, I forget about them becuase they get pushed to the back, and then in my crusading way to give all food a second chance before it gets thrown away, I am struck with the idea that they would (fingers crossed) make a delectable upside-down cake. Adios pineapple and hello nectarine!

The poor, slightly shrivelled, nectarines come out into the sunlight and are smothered with caramel and a rum infused batter, and it's as if they get a new lease on life.

Upside-down Nectarine Cake
adapted from Gourmet Magazine, February 2000

This is a wonderfully easy recipe, and it so moist. It keeps well on the counter, but you could refrigerate it for a couple of days longer (if it lasts that long), just bring it to room temperature before eating.

Topping:
7 fresh nectarines
85g unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar

Batter:
85g unsalted butter
1 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon dark rum
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup orange juice

Oven to 350F.

To make the topping: Prepare the nectarine wedges*. Melt the butter with the brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a 9" cake pan (no need to grease the pan), spreading quickly before it cools, to the edges. Arrange nectarine wedges in circles. I started from the outside ring, placing the nectarines so they looked pretty facing up, and then realised that I had to flip the wedges over so it would look pretty on the outside when I turned the cake out.

To make the batter: In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla and rum.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, and add half to the butter mixture, beating until just blended. Add the orange juice and mix well. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat slowly until just combined. Here I found that the batter looked slightly split.

Spread batter evenly over the nectarines and caramel. Bake in the middle of the oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Leave the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert carefully onto a large plate. Be careful, the caramel may still be hot. Luckily, all my nectarines turned out, but if any happen to be stuck to the bottom of the pan, remove and replace on the cake.

*To cut the wedges, I cut out one wedge from the nectarine and then continue slicing wedges around the pit. There may be a way, but I couldn't figure out how to get the pit out cleanly.

Enjoy!

#2 Pascale's All Natural Ice Cream

OK, so finally we are in full swing of our very dismal summer here in Ottawa. And, here I am sitting at my computer with two (now kind of empty) pints of hand-crafted delight. What could be a better way to cool down after a long day of work?

I visited Pascale at The Piggy Market in Westboro last week to sample some of what is described as "decadent" and "made with heart and a whole lot of cream, eggs, and sugar", by the Ottawa Magazine crew. I couldn't agree more.

Pascale is just lovely. She is so down to earth and completely loves what she does. I had known that she is the former Pastry Chef at the Wellington Gastropub, but had forgotten. Oops.

I bought a couple of flavours, but what I am really holding out for, and one of my reasons for visiting again, is the Peanut Butter with Salted Caramel. Luckily, for me, it was in production at the time I visited and Pascale gave me a scoop right out of the churner. OMG - I need a pint of that goodness right now! Pregnant women beware - this is all you will crave for nine months. Husbands - go and find the store now, so you know where to go when she calls.

I bought the Raspberry Cassis because I absolutely adore raspberries. It was delightfully fresh with a luxurious creamy finish. I can definitely taste the raspberries and I am fairly sure I can taste the cassis portion too. It's good, really good, and as proof, over the last few days, I have managed to polish off the whole pint. My mouth and my hips are in total agreement.

The Fifth Town 70% Choc Chevre was an adventure for me as I'm a pretty "vanilla" person (note the pink and brown ice cream I bought). I can't say I would have picked out the goat cheese in a blind tasting, but there is something about it that you know it's not just plain-jane chocolate. I was wary of buying it, but I love that it's not too sweet with a touch of bitter cocoa and the tartness of the goat cheese all seem to meld together perfectly.

Pascale also makes designer scoops which got me thinking about what I would like in an ice cream. How about Lemon Meringue Pie (creamy but tart lemon ice cream with whisps of meringue swirled through), or, Pina Colada (coconut, lime and rum), or, deep dark chocolate oce cream with cocnut macaroons? I could dream all day. I might need to plan a party and have some of these flavours made up for a special event...ooh, what about fresh peach ice cream with raspberries?

The Piggy Market itself, could do with a touch of retail therapy, the store is pretty empty and walking up to it I couldn't even tell if it was open. And, I had a hell of a time trying to find it. Feels like I drove around in circles for a very long time. Even though the address clearly states Winston Avenue, my not-so-trusty iPhone decided to try and tell me the address was Wellington. Not funny. But nowhere, and I mean nowhere, does anyone or anything tell you that Winston does not run into Wellington, it rather becomes a dead-end onto Wellington.

I was cursing while driving around the block to find the front door. There was no way I could park on Wellington and walk down the street. I am the kind of girl who likes to park right out the front of the place I am going. I am usually wearing some ridiculous not-meant-for-walking-long-distance shoes (more for show than anything else). You can imagine the very loud cursing when I discovered that you can't park outside the Piggy Market and I had to find a space two blocks away. I was very tempted to park in the driveway to the right of the entry way...next time I just might.

Enjoy your ice cream.

PS - My last post was on Aug 27, it's almost two weeks later, that means if I continue at this rate, it's going to take me more than two years to complete "the list". I had better get eating!