Stone Spoon Blog

Home Grown Garlic

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:23:00 +0000

Garlic is wonderful. It's delicious and, as an added bonus, totally easy to grow. Last fall, I'd planted 7 cloves in my garden. This spring, braving the frosty nights and hot southern exposure, they popped up and started growing like mad. I harvested the scapes about a month ago and made garlic scape pesto (better than basil based pesto any day). And now, just two weeks into July, I've harvested the little beauties, gave two heads to my grandmother and now am trying to save at least a few heads to plant this fall.

Now I don't know if I'm planting the garlic properly. My uncle plants the whole head in and not just one clove like I did. Also, home grown garlic tends to be bigger than what I've got. I'm not complaining but next year there will have to be some fin tuning and maybe a bit more experimentation. For now I'm just happy with the results.

Iced Coffee

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:20:00 +0000

This is just a great picture of the clouds which form in iced coffee when you pour the cream in. Mmmmmm...

Seared scallops and ravioli in a peas, mint and feta salad

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:03:00 +0000

I've been working in the bush this summer. I'm gone for 5 days straight and so when I get home I barely have time to catch up with the world and then I'm gone again. The job, though excessively demanding physically, wouldn't be so bad if I could be home at night. Thankfully I only have a week of this to go.

When I do get home I like to treat myself and my fiancé to good food. She's also working very hard this summer so we really do need some time to focus on living the life we want to live and not one centred around work, work, work. That's why I prepared this meal. That and because I was seriously craving to make something delicious.

This dish is a combination of four different elements:

1) sea scallops seared in a very hot pan till they're crispy on the outside and moist on the inside

2) purchased cheese ravioli

3) a salad of sweet peas, radishes and mint from my garden with red onions and a mustard seed, red wine vinegar and olive oil dressing

4) a sprinkle of feta cheese on top of everything

Since it's pretty hot here recently I wanted to serve this dish warm. So I let the ravioli cool down after they'd boiled, mixed it in with the salad which had been getting happy in the fridge and then topped each bowl with the seared scallops sprinkled with feta cheese. The mint sprig is just to make it all pretty.

All in all, this was a great dish, very fresh and totally satisfying.

P.S. we have a new camera which, as you can see, takes amazing picture (Sony A55)

Deep tinkering usefully applied

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:39:00 +0000

Blended Learning Revisited
John Seely Brown
http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/765

The idea of tinkering is fascinating! At the Tinkering School, it's founder wanted to create a space for kids to simply figure things out through what our modern society considers dangerous play (but what even my generation considered normal play). I don't necessarily think that play always needs to be dangerous in order to be educative. In essence, the Tinkering School is similar to Montessori's educational model for the preschool ages. Create the opportunities for experiences which cause people to learn through tinkering (or play) that is fueled by curiosity.

For deep tinkering, this model is simply more complex and it is internalised. We learn by doing, testing our thoughts in the real world which is applied philosophy as much as it is engineering, architecture, business, mechanics or social reform. I think the true potential of this approach to education and learning is not only in the creation of knew knowledge by collaboratively deep tinkering our way forward - knowledge such as technological breakthroughs which can often simply be exploited by someone for monetary gain - but in its application to the emphatic building of better communities and societies. In other words, if deep tinkering is the best approach to solving problems, then applying it to social problems such as poverty, environmental degradation and the erosion of community means that we can "play" our way into a better world. Though this is doubtless being done, I don't think it's explicit.

In a book John Seely Brown cowrote - The Power of Pull - the authors develop the ideas of building platforms of knowledge creation. These platforms exist for things such as online gaming and technology development but as far as I know they're lacking in the fields of social development. Theoretically, our government is supposed to be a platform for knowledge creation. Theoretically, our schools are supposed to be platforms for knowledge creation. Theoretically, our workplaces should be platforms for knowledge creations. But the fact of the matter is that they're not. They are rigid and hierarchical. They function on the misconception that elected officials, teachers and bosses are better in some way as those who they're lording over. But this attitude leads us nowhere.

What if our communities collectively created the platforms for interactive knowledge creation which inspire people to deeply tinker on problems relevant to their community?

As far as I know, no mainstream institution is even attempting to do this. In my opinion, the status quo needs to become something which is in constant evolution and in which every single one of us can contribute.

How to dismantle our obsession with greener grasses

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 18:54:00 +0000

A reflection inspired by Dan Gilbert’s talk “Dan Gilbert asks, why are we happy?” on TED.com
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.html

In Dan Gilbert’s talk, he shows us that happiness requires boundaries, limitations. I think it is obvious that our modern culture is not currently in line with this idea. As a case in point, our educational systems encourage youth to strive for limitless opportunities. In essence, we tell youth that any projected future they may dream up can become a reality. If we take Gilbert’s idea into consideration, this way of educating our youth can only lead to unhappiness. Once youth become adults, they still have this ideal in their minds that they can and indeed must reach for the stars, that they must pursue limitless opportunities. Chasing limitless opportunities is obviously a vain enterprise; only failure can result from pursuing something that has no end. As a result of this impossible task we encourage our youth to pursue, we set them up for dissatisfaction. By believing that there are no limits, they can never be satisfied with the simple fact that in life, limits exist: limited knowledge, limited skills, limited possibilities, limited time, limited lifespan, etc.

I believe that this pressure on youth to reach for the limitless is fuelled by the consumerist society we live in. Our public educational system is built to create useful employees who fuel economic growth through ever-increasing consumerism. Though most of us are familiar with the saying that we can’t buy happiness, we still enthusiastically participate in consumerism in a vain attempt to purchase our way to a projected happiness. As an example, a person is dissatisfied with their house. This is encouraged by the media which are constantly telling them that bigger is better; they encourage this person, as well as each and every one of us, to want more then what they currently have. The result is that this person can’t be happy or satisfied with their current house. Though this person convinces themselves that having the larger house will make them happier, the reality is that consumerism is a never-ending cycle of wanting more. If we ignore the earth’s carrying capacity for a moment, we can say that there are no limitations to consumption. It is theoretically possible for anyone to consume without limitations. However, if happiness requires limitations, limitless consumerism can never give us happiness. It is therefore a terrible injustice to educate our youth to become employees whose purpose it is to be active participants in this limitless engine of consumerism.

If happiness is the goal of an individual’s life, as I think it should be, how then can we educate so that youth do not have the pressure of being obsessed with greener grasses? How can we educate so that they are satisfied with the path they chose in life? More importantly, how can we educate them so that they chose the path which is most appropriate for them?

For starters, voluntary simplicity – the conscious decision to set reasonable boundaries to our lifestyle – is a must. Each and every one of us who truly desires to be authentically happy needs to be contended with setting boundaries to our consumerism. We should all strive for a life of comfort, not excess. Obviously, everyone’s definition of comfort and excess will be different. I’m positive that the members of the Walton family or other multi-billionaires do not think their lifestyles and business practices are excessive. I think they are. I think a reasonable lifestyle is one that could be enjoyed by all humans without compromising the capacity of our planet to support us. This is a question of solidarity but it is also a question of happiness and limits. It is not possible for everyone in the world to live like a multi-billionaire. However, I believe that it is possible for everyone in the world to live like a lower-middle class North American. This then is my definition of a comfortable life.

If we embrace the idea of voluntary simplicity which leads to a comfortable life, we no longer need a job whose only purpose is to receive a fat paycheque. We no longer need or strive to make $150,000 per year. As a result of this, the career choices we make will not stem from a desire for lots and lots of money but rather something we enjoy doing. It is my fervent belief that in order for anyone to discover what they truly enjoy doing, we must maximise experiences; students, whether they’re manually or cerebrally inclined, must be exposed to as many different experiences as possible. This may involve mathematics, Shakespeare, biology and art class. However, education needs to be more dynamic. We must involve students in the educational process, ask students what they’d enjoy doing. Though the cynic may say that young people only want to sit in front of a screen and play video games, I would beg to differ. We all started out as incredibly curious people; think of the developmental stage in our childhood when we are constantly pestering our parents with the question “Why?” If classes could be something fluid which is forever delving into whatever the students are asking about, we would not have masses of bored teenagers zoning out in class. As it stands, education is the process by which we are discouraged from asking “Why?” Instead, we are told to sit down, be quiet and listen to what others think we should know. Our innate curiosity is murdered by the educational system. This creates the wrong sort of boundaries. We are forced into limiting our curiosity to a handful of academic topics which cannot possibly capture the curiosity of every single human being. And this doesn’t even take into consideration the other monumental problem of different learning styles.

Now one might say that by creating an educational system which nurtures boundless curiosity is contrary to Gilbert’s idea that happiness requires boundaries. Of course, I would argue that these are not contrary ideas at all. You see, the boundaries the current educational system erects on our curiosity inhibits youth from discovering those things for which they have a true passion. I would be the first to admit that this quest for something which truly resonates with who we are is probably one of the hardest things a person can do in their lives. To find that thing which you’re good at and which you enjoy doing is probably the metaphorical equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack. Despite this difficulty, I still think that we should all have the opportunity to try and find this needle. This, I believe, cannot be achieved as well as it could in our current model of education. The process of education, of growing into ourselves, needs to be without boundaries since creating boundaries at those stages of our lives leads us into lives which don’t necessarily make us happy. In his talk, Gilbert says that whatever the situation, we eventually convince ourselves that we’re happy. Though this might be true, I don’t think it is fair to educate our youth to adopt consumerist lifestyles whose limitlessness, as previously mentioned, can only lead to unhappiness.

I believe that experiences fuelled by their own curiosity allow students to discover what they enjoy doing. It also makes the classroom dynamic and, let’s be frank, more fun. Students can chose to spend their days on a farm or watching talks about behavioural psychology or dancing or volunteering at the local mortuary. The options for experiences, as compared to the current education system, are boundless. The interesting thing, I think, is that by making education boundless, we encourage students to find their boundaries. I don’t mean to be confusing here. What I mean is that by trying on a bunch of different hats, students can discover their likes and dislikes. They can move forward in a seemingly half hazard way which will eventually lead them into something more specific. For example, my schooling consisted of the traditional elementary, high school and university. However, what I decided to do after this was not what I would call traditional, evident by the fact that nearly everyone in my family thought I was completely out of my mind.

After university, my girlfriend and I moved from Ontario to New Brunswick. I wanted to try my hand at getting a job without having done a degree which clearly states which job I should do (i.e. a nursing degree makes you a nurse; an engineering degree makes you an engineer; etc.). I had done a degree in English literature and philosophy which doesn’t fit into the criteria for most jobs outside of teaching. In the year following university, I bought an apartment building, lost thousands of dollars and sold the damned edifice. I worked as a server and cook in two restaurants. I worked in a microbrewery. I tried countless times to make myself into a writer or poet. I worked in a roadside assistance call centre and in a debt collection agency. I worked as a teller at a bank. I returned to university in business for one semester as I watched the economy collapse while these professors were trying to convince me that the economic practice of limitless growth makes total sense. I then found a job as a youth outreach coordinator with an environmental organisation. In this job, I work with youth environmental groups, trying to give them tools to organise activities or campaigns as well as helping them network with other youth environmental groups. I’ve organised province-wide events. I’ve worked with government people and community based environmental groups. I learnt more useful skills in one year than what I did in four years of university. With this job, all the other ones I mentioned and with some of the other things I did, these are some of the things I’ve learned:
• I cannot be happy with decisions made for monetary reasons;
• Owning and operating a restaurant is not nearly as fun as serving in a restaurant;
• Working in a restaurant kitchen is nothing at all like cooking at home;
• Debt collection agencies are really negative working environments;
• I need to work with people, preferably face-to-face;
• I have the right personality to be an inclusive leader;
• Participatory education is a really interesting topic to explore;
• I am a philosopher (not in a conceited way but in its etymological meaning of being a “lover of knowledge”);
• Taking the moral high ground is really, really hard;
• I love gardening;
• Farmer’s have really crazy work schedules and are lucky if they make enough money to survive;
• I miss Northern Ontario;
• I must get a better paying job, though I like what I’m doing, in order to pay my student debt.

The reason I wrote all of this was to show how much I learnt in a few years of bouncing around, exploring things I thought I might enjoy doing and in the process discovering myself. A result of discovering myself is that I now have a better idea of my boundaries and the boundaries I am willing to accept. I’ve made several mistakes. I’ve been really miserable at times. But ultimately, I have a better idea of what I’m good at and what I enjoy. Yes I’m going to do my teaching degree which I could have done in a year after by bachelor’s degree. However, I have chosen to do my teaching degree because I know that I will enjoy being a teacher. I will also have a much more diverse perspective than most teachers who’ve never been out of the school system. I don’t know if I’ll be a teacher for thirty years. What I do know is that I won’t be a cook, a collection agent or a real estate tycoon.

If people’s educational upbringing allowed their curiosity to explore in order to find what they find most appealing, I believe this would allow people to discover their own boundaries. They would be less likely to imagine greener grasses since they would have been given the opportunity to explore greener grasses – which, more often than not, brings one to the realisation that grass is grass is grass. As a result of an education of boundless exploration and experiences, I believe that people would more easily be satisfied with whatever they chose to do with their lives. By freeing them from the misguided pursuit of more and more money, people’s choice of their place in society could be based on that which most resonates with who they are and not with a lifestyle which is constantly running ahead of them. As more well rounded people, the boundaries to our lives over which we have less control, such as chance and other people, would not be as overwhelming. Therefore, within the boundaries we’ve chosen or have more easily come to terms with, our happiness could be greater. We would be bounded and happy.

Healthy Eggs

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:30:00 +0000

I know this is a rant but too bad. Above is a picture of a healthy egg from REAL free range chickens (apparently "free range" is a bastardized term used by big producers who only give the hens a few inches more space). These chickens are not fed with GMO corn, they are not raised in a stressful environment and they have access to the outdoors. As a result of this, the yolk of these eggs are a nice deep orangy yellow as compared to the highlighter yellow of yolks from factory farms and supermarkets. As far as nutrition goes, I'm eating healthy eggs. I'm also supporting an ethical treatment of animals instead of treating them as if they're a cog in a mechanical industrial system. Food should not have been part of the industrial revolution and only by being aware of what we're purchasing can we change that.

Seeds and Free Coldframe

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:17:00 +0000

We've sprung forward in time, the sun is returning, and my green thumb is getting antsy. I wish I had a gigantic greenhouse to plant hundreds of seedlings. Right now, I'm limited to a few dozen which includes 50 tomato sprouts from seeds I collected myself last summer!

In order to get things going, I improvised a coldframe. There were people renovating their windows last fall and so I snagged some old storm windows which would have just gone to the dump. Then, I found an old table in the basement of my apartment. The photo below shows you the result. It was all free and with a few bricks in there to soak up some of the heat, it is making the perfect little coldframe for my young seedlings.

Here is a picture of Black Valentine organic green beans I've planted. Like squashes, bean seedlings are a marvel. They come out of the ground with thick stalks and ready to go bursting into the air. They aren't frail like the arugula seedlings below.

I have also tried to grow some thyme but have found it to be nearly impossible. The seedlings are super frail and die off so quick it's almost not even worth trying to grow them.

Anyways, I'm getting my hands dirty and loving it!

Ginger and Sage Breakfast Sausage

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:31:00 +0000

I have the book: Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing

I've bought a meat grinder (though I'm still waiting for the sausage stuffing attachment).

I then noticed some pork butt chops at the market. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to make the two previously mentioned items useful. So one Saturday morning after coming home from the market, I got to work in the kitchen.

Something the authors of Charcuterie stress when grinding meat is to keep the ingredients and the tools cold. This proved to be the most inconvenient part of making sausage since my freezer has limited space. Beyond this however, making sausage from scratch was fun, easy and super cheap!

I'm not going to give away the recipe here but I will say that sage, ginger, garlic and pork go beautifully together. Following the authors' instructions on giving the meat a tacky texture turned out some succulently juicy sausage patties. What's even better is the fact that I had tonnes! If I'd stuffed them into sheep casings - which is what was suggested - I probably could have made between one and two dozen sausages for the price of not even a half dozen.

So far, Charcuterie is all easy and fun. Now all I need is to have a kitchen empty of the crap of roommates...just a few more months...

The finished product which tasted way better than it looks here

Ultimate or Proper Ceasar Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:57:00 +0000

What makes a ceasar salad ultimate or proper? Is it the fact that the recipe came from Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Heaven? Or is it attention to detail, the elements of a dish all fully understood, made from scratch and combined in a way that is more inspired by a recipe rather than being the recipe? I think it's a little of both. Ramsay certainly has more imagination and skill than me when it comes to food.

As you know, ceasar salad is very simple: lettuce (the celebrity chef calling for baby gem lettuces but the resourceful me settling with organic romaine), croutons, some sort of bacon, and dressing. The dressing is really the make or break here. That crap they sell in bottles which overpowers everything is NOT ceasar salad dressing; that's what it says on the bottle but they're lying. Real ceasar salad dressing is garlic to taste, Parmesan cheese, eggs, Dijon mustard, lemon, anchovy fillets or paste, and olive oil. The egg and the olive oil make a sort of mayonnaise while the other elements add most of the flavour.

What the recipe called for afterwards was:
- baby gem lettuces (see note above)
- ciabatta loaf to make croutons (I just used some stale bread I had on hand)
- pancetta thinly sliced and crisped (which I replaced with crisped prosciutto)
- soft-poached eggs (no modifications there)
- fresh anchovy fillets (the canned variety was fine...plus I don't know if I've ever seen a fresh sardine)
- Parmesan cheese shavings (all out unfortunately)

The only thing I added to the salad was pork which I'd thought would be necessary in order to make this salad a meal; it wasn't.

What I find interesting about salads is their versatility. They're fresh, usually healthy, and when done right they're arguably better than a steak dinner. Unfortunately, proper salad, like proper soup, is something people are no longer used to. We've been accustomed to crap imitations which are just as expensive as the real deal. But I don't feel like going off on a rant tonight. Just know that this salad was good and proper. There.

Homemade Crumpets

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:45:00 +0000

As far as I can tell, crumpets aren't really a Canadian thing. Maybe it's because I'm not in the least bit British and so don't have an innate appreciation for all things tea time. Now what I'd tasted before were ready made crumpets in a cellophane wrapper and little cardboard brandishing the Union Jack. I enjoyed these in the morning, toasted and covered in honey which would get into all the little holes and absorbed by the sponge-like texture of the crumpet. Like most things, crumpets are a million times better when made at home.

The recipe I used came from http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/homemadecrumpets_70053.shtml.

Though I thought the whole thing would be difficult, it wasn't. To prove that it wasn't difficult, I totally ignored the whole greased crumpet ring thing - going instead with the ever so versatile free form - and I am usually useless as pastries. These crumpets turned out great. They were easy to prepare, easy to cook, had the perfect texture and absorbed the honey I spooned over them.

Now I all need is tea, cupcakes and cucumber sandwiches. Oh and a tea set.

Guillons de canard

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:21:00 +0000

What do you get as a bi-product of rendering fat from duck skin? Crispy bits of duck skin. What do you do then? Why you add a bit of duck meat, onion, salt and pepper, put the whole in a terrine mold, bake and eat as you would creton. This invention of my favourite charcutier is smooth textured and has a taste which reminds me of pork rinds though a million times more sophisticated. This is the breakfast of champions and those unafraid of cardiac arrest for sure.

Sweet Dumpling Squash

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:47:00 +0000

Before my local, organic farmer closed shop for the season, I bought some winter squashes from her. This was back in September. One of the squashes was my beloved sweet dumpling squash. As the name would suggest, this squash is not of the savory sort but could almost qualify as desert if you baked it into a pie or muffins. However, even roasted it's terribly delicious.

The fact that I'm writing this in February about a food item I bought in September is amazing for me. This is what seasonal eating is all about. I can't say I'm the best spokesperson for eating within the season but I'm easing my way into it since I believe that in order to move away from the globalised system of food we currently rely on, it's essential for people to make these sort of changes in their diets. The more people eat local, organic food in season, the more we will support our communities and fight the modern monsters of industrial agriculture, monoculture, pesticide use, homogenization of food and the disastrous impacts that moving all that food has on the environment.

So sweet dumpling squash in winter. Asparagus in the spring. Tomatoes in late summer. It's all very logical.

Gahan House's Honey Brown Ale

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:35:00 +0000

On our trip to PEI before the holidays I took the opportunity to purchase some beer from Gahan House, the island's microbrewery. Sir John A's (as in John A. MacDonald, Canada's first Prime Minister and a key player in the establishment of our 1867 Confederation which just so happened to having been signed in Charlottetown) Honey Wheat Ale is a great example of this sort of beer; light, slightly sweet with a pleasant roasted grain taste. In order to properly test the valour of this beer, I would have to have a taste test with Gahan House taking on Sleeman's variety of the same type of beer. In my opinion, the microbrewery's version should be better than Sleeman's mass produced variety. If it isn't, something's wrong. I'll keep you posted.

John A. in bronze on a bench in Charlottetown. Canada rocks!

Duck Prosciutto

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:50:00 +0000

So for Christmas I got something I really, really wanted: Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. This book is all about prosciutto, pancetta, sausage (fresh and dried), bacon, pâtés, smoking, etc. etc. etc. I've already read the whole thing from front to back and have recently purchased my very own manual meat grinder. For my first stab at the fine art of charcuterie, I wanted something simple, something I wouldn't totally mess up and that wouldn't cost me a fortune. When it comes to artisinal food making, I like baby steps. It's like bread. There's a learning curve there and it's no use trying to overrun it.

So I decided to go with something cured. Curing is simply leaving something in salt long enough that some liquid is extracted and the salt penetrates the meat in order to stop any harmful bacteria from forming (or something like that). Above is a photo of duck aiguillettes which is the tenderloin of the magret which is the breast of a duck raised for foie gras. I decided to go with the smaller aiguillettes first because they're cheaper and smaller which means that there's less chance that I'll mess things up. Or so I thought.

My charcutier friend at the market told me that 1 or 2 hours would be fine for curing the meat. However, this being my first venture into the world of charcuteries, I left the aiguillettes in kosher salt for about 4 hours (the recipe in the abovementioned book calls for magrets and 24 hours). After this, I rinsed the aiguillettes and patted them dry. I then wrapped them in cheesecloth and strung them up. Now the ideal location for hanging drying duck meat is a cool (8 to 15 degrees Celcius), humid place. The only part in my apartment that sort of fit the bill is the drafty window in the dining room. So up went the aiguillettes, my roommates looking on and wondering what in the world I was doing...I didn't tell them.

After 4 days, the aiguillettes were hard as a rock. As you can see above, they were done though they weren't the rich, soft texture of prosciutto but rather the chewy texture of jerky. And oh my god were they ever salty. A white crust of salt had coated the exterior of the aiguillettes which I scraped off thus making the duck edible.

Though I did leave the aiguillettes in the salt too long to start with and didn't use a thick enough piece of meat, I now feel confident in moving onto the full magret. Through the salt the rich taste of the duck came shining through. It was really a decent first taste at the potential of my charcuterie skills.

So next stop, real duck prosciutto and then fresh morning sausage with ginger and sage. Oh yeah!

P.S. Michael Ruhlman, the co-author of Charcuterie, maintains a pretty shnazzy blog at http://blogs.ruhlman.com/. Check it out.

Honey Art

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:46:00 +0000

local honey + bubbles = pretty

Unpasteurized Milk From My Own Cow

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:40:00 +0000

Google it: Ontario farmer not guilty of selling raw milk.

That's right. If you buy a share in a cow - as I've recently done - you technically own the cow. You therefore do not buy milk from the farmer but rather pay for room and board and maintenance of your cow. Not only is this a great way of running a farm (just one of many possible forms of Community Supported Agriculture in which the cooperative community takes the risk instead of just the farmer) it has earned me some raw milk.

I'm not a health expert. All I know is that anything raw is usually better than pasteurized or otherwise heated or cooked. The milk is basically still alive; enzymes, bacteria and all.

If you stumble upon the CBC article of the abovementioned Ontario farmer, you might come across this quote: "health officials and the province's milk marketing board, the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, have argued that raw milk isn't fit for widespread distribution". I don't know about this particular farmer but really, wake up people! Widespread distribution of any agricultural product isn't the proper way of doing things. Raising 500 heads of cattle for milk in stressed environments with buzzing machines and no access to the outdoors is far worse than 5 Jersey cows living on a family farm and supplying a small number of community members.

I say fuck industrial agriculture! Support a farmer and your community! It's the only way to undo the destrutive practices of faceless corporations, the relevant ones here (Monsanto et compagnie) who destroy whole ecosystems, have declared all out war on biodiversity and give us crap unsustainable food which relies on a crap unsustainable system.

Great...now I'm all worked up...

PORK BELLY!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:27:00 +0000

There are two things which I know for certain are wonderful: 1) my girlfriend and 2) pork belly in all it's forms. Though it seems to be something of a fad in the world of haute cuisine for the working man, I simply love trying something new. While at the market with my girlfriend I saw some unsmoked, uncured pork belly in my favourite meat purveyor's fridge. I said, with a giddy smile on my face, "Is that pork belly?" He said yes. I said "I'll take it!"

Pork belly, for the uninitiated, is the cut of pork with which one makes bacon. I first tasted it at Lot 30 (see previous post) and loved it. It's full of fat and oh-my-god deliciousness. In the hands of my girlfriend, it was marinated in soya sauce, rice wine vinegar, lots of brown sugar and garlic. Popped into the a low oven for a few hours, the whole thing became a chewy and sweet treat that's not as fatty as you'd think. In particular, something in the simple marinade and this particular cut of pork tasted authentically Asian. I can't describe it. You'll have to try.

We served it simply with white basmati rice and steamed veggies tossed in a quick soya sauce, a dap of sesame oil and a bit of oyster sauce. If it weren't for the risk of my arteries clogging up, I would eat this every day for the rest of my life and be a very happy man.

LONG LIVE PORK BELLY!!!

Lot 30, Charlottetown and Poached Salmon Niçoise

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:50:00 +0000

Just before the holidays, I proposed to my girlfriend. Though it really hasn't changed anything, we are now engaged. I took her to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. For any of my fellow Canadians and even those interested in visiting Canada, you have to visit Charlottetown. Not only did people look at you and say hi when you crossed them in the street, but they smiled! This is a big deal. Charlottetown and PEI in general was full of great, kind people with beautiful scenery. If we weren't moving back to Ontario in the fall, I'd be moving to PEI.

In Charlottetown, we ate at Lot 30 http://www.lot30restaurant.ca/. The atmosphere was great, with a television over the bar where you could see a live feed of what was going on in the kitchen's plating table...a great idea! The service was also fantastic though I wouldn't expect anything less from Charlottetown. As for the food, it was good. I particularly liked the fact that we took the tasting menu and they didn't give us a choice of what we wanted; they just said, "Is there anything you don't want?" to which my girlfriend said offal (to my dismay). They then presented us with a five course meal where every dish was a surprise. Though the food was good, I found that at times the dishes were overly complicated by too many sauces. The dishes felt like they were competing against themselves; they felt aggressive and lacked the simplicity which is, in my opinion, what higher class restaurants should strive for. I was unsatisfied. Just not thoroughly impressed.

When we arrived back home, I had prepared a little 3 course meal of my own. As is the case when I cook for myself, I tend to make too much. Therefore, when preparing a 3 course meal, it is not useful to have heaping plates full of food; one dish just ruins it for the others. Well anyways, after a whole day of preparation, my first course rolled out. It was Gordon Ramsay's "poached salmon niçoise with boiled quail's eggs". I decided to skip the egg. Despite this, the result was amazing. I love tiny potatoes in cold salads. I don't know what it is about them that just get to me. This salad was composed of boiled small potatoes, blanched green beans, cherry tomatoes, black olives, thinly sliced shallots, all tossed in a basic vinaigrette (olive oil and white wine vinegar) and topped with salmon poached in fish stock, thyme, basil, lemon, and lemon grass. This salad was simple, elegant and delicious. Next time I'll do the egg. I'm sure it would make things even more delightful.

The following coarse was not so much of a hit. First mistake, the previous salad was really big. Secondly, the beans. The recipe is from Cook with Jamie and called "grilled fillet steak with the creamiest white beans and leeks". Being a purist or slow food dude or some other pompous foodie title I could give myself, I thought of doing things the "right" way and not getting lima beans from a can but rather buying them drying and cooking them the good-old-fashioned-way. I don't think I've ever had any luck with dried beans. They never fully cook. Maybe it's because I'm too used to the texture of canned beans but I guess I'll never know.

Anyways, the recipe goes something like this: sweat leeks, thyme and garlic in olive oil and butter; dump in some wine, bring to a boil, add CAN of lima beans along with some water; simmer; add parsley, crème fraîche and olive oil; meanwhile, grill or pan fry steak to desired doneness; serve with a lemon for squeezing. This is a simple enough recipe with nicely matched flavours. Next time, however, I'll go with the can. My bad.

Finally, to round out what I'd planned to be a delicate yet delicious dinner, I served cooked custard ramekins which the French cookbook calls "petits pots de crème". If you can swing custard, there is nothing simpler and more beautiful in the world. It's light and sweet and rich. Just lovely. Here's the recipe.

Petits pots de crème

410ml (1 and two-third cups) milk
1 vanilla pod
3 egg yolks
1 egg
one-third cup caster (superfine) sugar

1. Preheat oven to 140. Put milk in a saucepan. Split the vanilla pod in two lengthways, scrape out the seeds and add the pod and seeds to the milk (or be a cheap cheater and give a little squirt of vanilla extract). Bring the milk just to the boil.

2. Meanwhile, mix together the egg yolks, egg and sugar. Strain the boiling milk over the egg mixture and stir well. Skim off the surface to remove any foam.

3. Ladle into one-and-a-half cup ramekins and place in a roasting tin. Pour enough hot water into the tin to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the custards are firm to the touch. Leave the ramekins on a wire rack to cool, then refrigerate until ready to serve.

Catching up

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:35:00 +0000

It's been almost 2 months since my last blog entry. The holiday season, the New Year and a whole slew of details of my daily life have gone by un-journaled. I sometimes wonder about those people in the past who wrote about the daily occurances of their lives as if to make sure that if one day they became a world renowned personality, that future scholars would have material. But I guess any form of journal keeping - blogs included - are a narcissistic practice. I would argue that, in general, people care about the day to day occurances of only a handful of other people. The shallow ones care about those of celebrities or themselves. Most care about those of family and friends.

Above is a photo of one of the cookies we made for the holidays. I called them "The Peanut Butter People" and they'd been attacked by the "Peanut Butter Cup Army". Yes, fun times. The other cookies we made were the shortbread cookies out of Cook with Jamie (awesome!), some pecan balls in which we'd spooned jam, and chocolate macaroons which kept oozing Eagle Brand. Also for the holidays, I'd prepared some tourtières (minced pork meat in a pie crust to which I'd added mirepoix and wine - not to the delight of my family's palate). Anywho, that's the holidays. Onwards!

Making food in a house with roommates

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:15:00 +0000

I feel a tad guilty for not being very diligent with this blog. The truth, however, is that I used to cook alot more than what I do now. The reason why I don't cook as much now? Roommates.

Firstly, my girlfriend and I have a third of the fridge space we enjoyed when we lived alone. This drastically limits the size of our groceries which in turn limits the amount of recipes we can make since recipes tend to make for much larger groceries than every day food.

Secondly, my roommates have what I'll call "quirks" when it comes to the kitchen. My way of cooking is usually to take my time whilst listening to the radio or some music. Now with roommates, it seems that when I want to start cooking, they decide they would also like to start cooking. Too many cooks in the kitchen is a literal thing here.

Also, there's the issue of dishes and dirty countertops. There's always dirty dishes. Always. And it seems like an alien idea for my roommates that countertops can be quickly cleaned with a wet dishclothe once they're done in the kitchen. Unfortunately, there's always crumbs and patches of crusty who-knows-what on the countertops.

These factors make it so that making food is limited to what's quick and unimaginative. I don't like a dirty kitchen. I don't like living with roommates...these people who live their lives in what I consider to be my space (although recognising that they probably feel the same about me). The only advantage of having roommates is that it costs alot less for rent and bills. But I've made decisions justified by finances before and it never turned out to be ideal.

I can't wait till I have a real job...

Self-sufficiency and Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:59:00 +0000

It seems to me that self-sufficiency is not only reasonable but probably the best solution for turning away from a North American modern life structured as work to consume then work in order to consume even more ad infinitum. It has come to a point where even governments do not refer to their citizens as citizens but as consumers (i.e. you must consume in order to get us out of this recession!).

If we take into account graphs such as the one above which demonstrate, by association with production, trends in consumption, you realise that we've been consuming at an exponentially increasing rate. This, it goes without saying, is unsustainable. Not only will we achieve a point when we simply cannot produce enough stuff and find places to dump it all (see the satirical movie Wall-E...not just a cute robot movie) but unless you're the one selling the crap, the vast majority are not gaining anything and only paying with the destruction of our environment which, in case you hadn't noticed, is the thing we rely on for life itself. To prove that we're not gaining anything from it, there is a graph in the book Managing Without Growth which demonstrates that in the US, though the "real income per head" has risen from a bit below $15,000 per head in 1945 to almost $40,000 per head in 2005, people haven't reported being anymore happy; to be a bit clearer, about 30% of people are "very happy" at a level of $15,000 per year regardless of increased income above this level. So, why must we embark on this exponential path?

Regardless of the questions of corporate greed and infiltration of government, we all have one advantage over any "power that be"; we are decentralized communities who can be self-sufficient. We don't need their stuff. We don't even need that much government beyond the local. People lived perfectly content lives before the advent of Wal-Mart and the microwave. I believe that simple and comfortable lives are the keys to happiness; excess has nothing at all to do with it.

So what do I mean by self-sufficient? I mean a community of people who, despite almost any calamity, can fulfil their food, shelter, water, clothing and social needs. Think of a rural community before the Industrial Revolution; everyone had a trade which they could barter with in order to provide them with the necessities of life. Nowadays, we've exploded past the necessities and have ventured way too far into the unnecessary excesses. Because regardless of what you may think we only need food, shelter, water, clothing and a community. And, depending on which area of the globe you live in, you may not even need clothing ;)

In September 2010, I'm going back to university in order to become a teacher. I'm doing this because I need to have a decent paying job in order to pay off my student debts. Yes I enjoy working with youth. But I wouldn't have to work with them in the school system if it were not for the debts I'm a slave to. I am not going to be a teacher in order that I can buy myself a lifestyle with the very comfortable salary teacher's make. And once the student debts are gone, I'm reevaluating and deciding whether or not I want to say in the school system. I will have a choice which will not depend on debt; it will depend on what I want to do in order to be happy and it will factor in the minimum of funds I need in order to achieve that simple goal. Whatever the case, it will be a life which is as self-sufficient as possible.

International Day of Climate Action in Moncton

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:25:00 +0000

Yesterday was the International Day of Climate Action. According to http://www.350.org/, the organisation behind what can only be described as a phenomenon, there were over 5200 demonstrations planned in over 150 countries! Wow! Really. That's quite a mobilisation of people who are demanding, peacefully, for delegates to the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December to take action so that we reduce CO2 part per million below 350. We are presently at about 390 parts per million.

In New Brunswick, most people live on the coast. With the advent of rising sea levels and more vicious weather, it is crucial that this province does something to do their part. I don't know if we can rely on our federal government; not only are they generally incompetent but they are, I believe, too detached from individuals. What we need is action on the municipal and provincial levels. If every municipality in Canada does it's part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it really doesn't matter what the federal government does beyond slapping the wrists of the big industrial polluters. For now, however, we're being led by a shark of a politician whose the BFF of Canada's big oil companies. Stephen Harper's an idiot politician who couldn't care less about the lives of Canadian citizens. He represents the corporate pockets of Canada. Hopefully his time will be over soon.

On a different front, I think it's terribly important that people participate in any social efforts for environmental initiatives or other. It's like voting; you might not be able to see the immediate impact of your vote (ex: your candidate loses) but the actual act of being an active citizen and of encouraging others to be active as well means that there is a body of people demanding change towards a better world. Look at yesterday's activities for example. We were maybe 30 in Moncton which may seem meanial and irrelevant. But if there were only 30 people in each of the 5200 demonstrations which happened all over the world that's a minimum of 156 000 people. And ours was not nearly the largest gathering. If world leaders ignore these pleas the only result is that there will be disgruntled citizens and from there you're only asking for the radicals to gain a foothold. Plus, it's just idiotic to ignore the implications of climate change. Freak weather patterns. Millions of environmental refugees. Destruction of biodiversity. Desertification. Mass coastal flooding. These are only a few and are already all underway.

So action needs to be taken on climate change. Only by being active citizens can we ever hope that anything will ever be done to save this planet.

P.S. Thanks to everyone who came out yesterday! It was great!

Jamie's Warm salad of crispy smoked bacon and Jerusalem artichokes

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:09:00 +0000

The modern palate, it has been said, has been kept from bitterness. We love sweet, salty and at times sour. But that fourth part of our tongue is too often neglected. Except for really hopped up beer.

This recipe comes from Cook With Jamie. Once again, the recipes from this book are simple perfection. You can't mess up a Jamie Oliver recipe unless you're incompetent in the kitchen.

The crown jewel of this particular dish, for me, is that the Jerusalem artichokes come from my own garden. I hadn't tasted them yet since I don't often eat potatoes and what I heard about JAs is that you should treat them like potatoes. Maybe so, but they are very different. This recipe called for the JAs to be boiled. Their texture is softer than potatoes; more like rutabaga in that regard. Their taste is delicate, slightly sweet. Kept warm, they went perfectly with the radicchio, Boston lettuce, parsley, cooked smoky bacon from the market and fresh red onions. The vinaigrette is simple: olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I put the vinaigrette in with the bacon and onions, tossed in the JAs, warmed, tossed with the lettuces and served.

Topped with thin slices of parmesan, this was really a delicious salad. We ate it as a meal in itself which can get a bit much if you're not used to the bitterness of radicchio and the richness of the JAs. But it really is a gorgeous salad. Who knew warm salads could be so pleasurable?!

Culinary Paradise at L'Idylle

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:30:00 +0000

At the farmer's market every Saturday I cross Emmanuel Charretier, the owner and chef at L'Idylle. We visit the same merchants. We buy many of the same products. However, after going through the culinary experience that Emmanuel and his kind wife provided us with, I will no longer be able to look at the market in the same light.

My girlfriend and I decided that we would treat ourselves and go for the full Idylle experience; the dégustation menu with wine pairing. Now it's true that unless you've got heavy pockets, this is only something you can permit yourself on a yearly basis. But is it ever worth it!

The meal started off with a mise en bouche which consisted of a soft mousse of red pepper with a delicious little bit of lobster on top. This was paired with a light rosé which, we were told, would remind you of southern France.

The second course, was a marinated sole filet, crunchy on one side and slightly raw on the other. Along with this were pearls of raspberry vinegar, carrot oil, and a lemon gelé. The textures were perfect and the tastes were subtle but exquisite. A white wine complimented the dish beautifully.

What came next was truly a fall dish. Once again paired with a white wine, we were served pan cooked oysters from Shippagan with hazelnut oil and Jerusalem artichoke cream. The oysters were perfectly cooked and the little layer of nutty hazelnut oil which surrounded them was excellent with the rich but not too rich Jerusalem artichoke cream.

Next came one of my favourite dishes of the meal. Homemade ravioli stuffed with buffalo marrow and foie gras sitting on top of wild chanterelles mushrooms. The stuffing was absolutely exquisite. And it goes without saying that the chanterelles were the pure embodiement of autumn. For some reason, I can't remember the wine for this particular dish.

The next dish was truly beautiful for me because of its Pino Noir pairing. The wine smelled lightly of butterscotch but was a clean drinking. The aroma complimented beautifully the sesame crusted scallop which sat on top of a green tomato marmalade which bathed in some sort of sweet sauce underneath a green foam. This really struck it home that wine and food were meant for one another. I'd never experienced that before.

Main courses finished with a rich dish of veal sweetbread on risotto along with a drizzling of an orange reduction. Sangre de Toro, a full bodied red, was the accompanying wine. Now I love offal. My girlfriend, not so much. Especially after I'd asked our waitress where the sweetbread was sittuated. She also gave us the medical name: thyroid gland. This didn't turn me off. It was a wonderfully rich dish. And I also got to finish my girlfriend's sweetbread. Bonus.

After main courses came the end of the wine but the arrival of coffee. The trend I seem to be noticing is that more and more places offer you an allongé instead of percolated coffee nowadays. The coffee came along with the cheese dish. This was a simple chèvre brie from Au Fond des Bois on top of homemade apple compote served with a nut bread crouton. Simple and delicious.

After the cheese course came the fruit course. I don't know what I was expecting but it surely wasn't as ornate as what we were presented with. At one end of the square plate was a ground cherry followed by a homemade vanilla icecream dollop in the middle of the plate and concluding with a small cripy tower sitting on top of more ground cherries and stuffed with a light maple cream. Under all of this was an orange flavoured syrup and a crispy wafer sat on top. Gorgeous.

The last item before the end was the chocolate course. At the bottom of the plate was my favourite thing; chocolate sauce flavoured with szechuan pepper. This, for me, almost managed to outshine the mini eclair and the chocolate ring which was filled with yet another bit of cream.

The meal ended with a mignardise. We weren't told what this was since it was apparently a surprise. What it ended up being was candied rhubarb under a rhubard mousse. This was a great pallate cleanser. Unfortunately, it signalled the end of what was undoubtabley the greatest meal I've ever had.

Emmanuel then came out to chat with us. It's absolutely fantastic to be able to appreciate him in his element. We chatted informally but I was in awe of this man's talent and of his wife's wine pairings. They take everyday items that everyone has access to and transform them into something celebratory.

If you're in the Moncton area, it would be a sin not to save your pennies and visit L'Idylle. It's an experience you're never likely to forget.

http://www.restaurantidylle.com/

Materialism in Generation Y

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Thibeault) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:55:00 +0000

Apparently, I'm part of Generation Y. Whatever that means, I don't know. What I do believe though is that there is a shift in the attitudes of our predecessors. Let me elaborate.

My grandparents, the Boomers, had nothing. They were poor and worked very very hard to have a nice comfortable life. Their offspring, the so-called Generation X, started from this comfortable life and wanted everything. Not only did they want it all and more, like some perverted version of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, but they wanted it all by the time they were 21. Unreasonable? Quite. Barely possessing their grade 12, they wanted a family, two kids, a large house, two vehicles, a boat, two snowmobiles (in my neck of the woods at least), to be able to travel at will, and have a constant stream of high income pouring in at all times. Some achieved this. However, most of this generation have gone through divorces, have lost everything at some point, and work like their lives depend upon it.

Now you have my generation. They aptly named Ys. (Please be advised that the following are vast generalisations that may not be based on reality.) We are weary of embarking in relationships and having children unless we can have some sort of certainty that it'll work. We don't like to overwork ourselves; prefering to sacrifice certain material pleasures for more time to ourselves. We are aware of the fact that one cannot have everything at the tender age of 25 and that those things which our parents wanted are not necessarily desirable. We want to travel the world but not for the bragging rights of having the financial capacity to do so. It's about the experience. Maybe I can resume by saying that we're must more concerned about the experiences, the details of life and not it's decor.

Why should we work overtime for granite countertops?
Why should we bring children into this world which we cannot support emotionally?
Why isn't happiness enough of a goal?

What's the rush?