This Little Monkey Went to Market

Baking with Julia: Rugelach

2012-03-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

This recipe was tough. Really tough. Rather than being satisfied and proud with the pile of gooey, crunchy/crumbly cookies I had at the end of it, I was irritated and cranky. What I got as an end result were actually very good, but the steps leading up to that were so frustrating, I really couldn't take much pleasure in the finished product.

Apple/Raisin/Walnut Rugelach

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Butter my butt and call me bread...

2012-02-29T06:22:00.000-05:00

First of all, I apologize that you cannot *smell* the pictures below... they simply do not do justice to the breads I baked this week. While I've had some hits and misses in the kitchen lately, the one thing that has been coming out consistently well is the bread. And that makes me very happy.

I think this may be what Heaven smells like...

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These look good enough to eat...

2012-02-26T18:33:00.000-05:00

I should not be this excited about some foam core, cross-stitch fabric and a couple of lightbulbs. But I am.

This afternoon I went and got materials to build my own lightbox to help with taking better pictures. I got the lighting cord at Ikea, the bulbs at the hardware store and the rest (foam core, poster board, etc) at the dollar store. Total spent was about $20, the lightbulbs being $12 of that. Total time putting it together was about 30 minutes, and the end result gives me photos like this:

And this:

I used the tutorial found here to help build it. The finished product is about 18 inches tall and very light, so I can move it around easily and store it simply. The poster board serves as the backdrop (and/or to help bounce light from the back or sides as needed), but I can easily use a sheet, tea towels, etc as I wish. I'm so tickled by the outcome!!! Yay!

Lacking inspiration

2012-02-25T13:35:00.000-05:00

Maybe having spent the better part of the month wrestling with a flu/cold bug is taking it's toll, but I'm trying to write out my menu/grocery list for the next two weeks, and I got nuthin'. Seriously.... just.... nothing.

Being the end(ish) of winter, there's practically nothing in season here and I'm soup-ed and stew-ed out for the season. I've been slowly working my way through things discovered in the depths of the freezer the past few weeks, and don't have a lot left to use. So... what to cook, then? I have no clue.... nothing sounds good.

Of course, watching Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations isn't exactly helping. Hmm... grilled lungs or a brain sandwich, perhaps? *hork*

Crappy pictures of other people's food

2012-02-24T07:31:00.000-05:00

Came across this article this morning and had to share. Jason Kessler, otherwise known as The Nitpicker, has some things to say about your food photography skills. And mine. You may want to sit down.... he's not gentle about it. ;)

But he is entertaining, and quite right. "Believe me, there's a special place in hell for people who let calamari get cold just so they can achieve the Perfect Shot." One of the things I hesitate most about are the photos I put in my post. Too many? Too few? Are they good enough? Does anyone actually care about this?! I have a post on bread baking that I haven't posted yet simply because I'm not happy with the pictures I've taken of the loaves of bread I baked. While they were incredibly delicious and the apartment smelled like what I imagine Heaven does, they are decidedly not exciting on (digital) film. Feh.

I studied photography, for pete's sake... i should be able to do this better! Ah, yes, but I did black and white darkroom photography, not this new-fangled digital stuff! *waves her cane in the air, angrily* And if it's one thing the cookbooks of the 60's have taught me, food DOES NOT look good in black and white. Hell, I recently got the hang of white balance on the camera I use for most of my shots and felt like I'd earned a Nobel prize.

The above is why I positively salivate (and weep bitterly) when I see other bloggers offering workshops, such as the food styling and photographing workshop happening in Whistler, BC with Cannelle et Vanille, or the one offered (in France! *sob*) by Tartine Gourmande. But! I can't afford to run off to either BC or France to learn to take pretty pictures, so I'll just have to keep plugging away on my own ;)

Next on my to do list is to build a DIY softbox to my picture taking needs. I don't have a lot of natural light in my apartment, and absolutely none in the kitchen (what i wouldn't give to have a kitchen window!) so i either need to shoot under fluorescent lighting or wait until the weekend for daylight, which isn't always convenient. Maybe a project for this coming weekend... that, and a lot more practise. I hear it makes perfect. ;)

Say it with pancakes...

2012-02-21T20:51:00.001-05:00

Today is Pancake Day! While I'm not Christian, I can certainly appreciate a day celebrating pancakes :D In honor of this wonderful holiday, we had flaxseed crepes with homemade applesauce:

Yay for pancakes!!! Thank you, that is all.

Baking with Julia: Chocolate Truffle Tartlets

2012-02-21T00:00:00.000-05:00

I made these little beauties last week, and every time I say the word "tartlets", I do this (not the "call me Judy" bit, the repeating 'tartlet' bit. Be warned, slightly strong language at the beginning ;) :

Obscure Friends references aside, they came out perfectly! Being the more difficult of the two recipes for the month, I was a little worried at first, as I've never really made anything like this, but they really weren't that difficult to do. I set aside the afternoon so I wouldn't be rushed, and everything went quite smoothly. The crusts were probably the toughest part, as I'm not used to working quick with a dough like that. But I kept my finger tips cool by dipping them in ice water now and then, and tried hard not to overwork it... at the end they seemed a bit melty so I probably let them get too warm, but they baked up fine and the finished product was tasty, if a little crumbly.

Here they are before baking:

And here is the end result, as B and I had them for dessert one evening:

I didn't take any pictures of the texture inside the tartlet because, frankly, I was too busy enjoying it. But the inside stays thick and gooey, much like a truffle, and paired with the whipped cream and berries they were incredibly delicious. The tartness of the strawberries went perfectly with the rich chocolate.

From one recipe, I had enough to make 8 tartlets, so we ate a few of them and the others were wrapped and frozen. Last night I unwrapped a few and let them thaw in the fridge, and they were just as good as the first night we had them. You can find the recipe with one of this week's hosts: A Whisk and A Spoon, Spike Does Stuff, Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats, and CookBookHabit.

The chocolate crust was good, but the next time I have a dessert to make for a crowd, I may very well get some pre-made tart shells and fill them with the truffle filling and top with fresh berries or perhaps a coulis. Mmm... that is *definitely* going on my 'to do' list!!!

*Note: At first I was going to simply do one large tart, because I already have a large tart pan, but I stumbled across a set of 6 small ones (pictured above before baking) at a local dollar store. I've noticed a number in the group commenting that they didn't want to spend a small fortune on getting the tins... don't forget to check out your local dollar/discount stores, or even thrift stores! You'd be surprised what you might find! ;)

Dark Days Drop Out

2012-02-14T17:41:00.000-05:00

Well, I give up. Sort of. I've become rather disillusioned with the Dark Days challenge of late, so have finally decided to stop participating in it. Not that any of you are going to lose sleep over it, I know, but I felt the need to say it out loud, at least ;)

I've learned some interesting things over the past few months and will continue to search out local products, but sadly the challenge did not live up to my expectations. I had hoped for more interaction with the group so we could help and learn from one another and our experiences, especially those of us that were fairly new to the whole SOLE thing. But, since I didn't find any other participants who were local to me, I didn't really have anyone local to commiserate with. Also, the activity on the Google group for the challenge stopped shortly after the challenge began, so no discussion there either. All that left was the weekly round-up posts, and even those have been hit and miss as the last few ones I haven't been included in, despite having submitted my posts to the moderator on time.

Oh well... a little disappointing, though not an entirely wasted experience. Next weekend we will be hosting a fondue/cheese tasting evening and I will be using it as an excuse to highlight some Quebec cheeses. I'll be sure to post plenty of pictures :)

Tales of black wool and fancy poutine

2012-02-11T16:02:00.000-05:00

The end of January was our 8th anniversary, so rather than go out to a fancy dinner or go to a movie, B and I planned a weekend trip down into the states to attend the Black Wool Workshop at Cold Antler Farm. I do my fair share of knitting and crochet when the weather turns cold, but I stick to the basics (read: rectangular things). So the idea of taking raw wool from sheep on the farm and processing it into yarn sounded like a fun way to spend a winter afternoon. And B graciously agreed to go along, though I'm sure it wasn't his idea of the perfect weekend away ;)

Cold Antler Farm

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Baking with Julia: White Loaves

2012-02-06T22:29:00.000-05:00

Ahhh.... yeast bread, how I love thee...

Here we have the glorious results of the first Baking with Julia recipe, White Loaves. The recipe yields two loaves of soft, pillowy bread, and makes your house smell wonderful, to boot. I made one just a regular white loaf and the other with a cinnamon swirl. Before signing up for this challenge, I had decided that this year I would finally overcome my fear of yeast and learn to make proper bread. It's not that the process is overly difficult, it's just rather intimidating. The yeast has to be coaxed back into life, and everything from the temperature to the chlorine in the water can prevent that from happening. Then once you have the dough, you have to knead it.... but it you over-knead or under-knead horrible things will happen. (trust me, i've encountered those horrible, brick-like things before) Plus there are hours upon hours of rising time and baking it in a regular oven is apparently a recipe for failure, you should have baking stones and water vapor and a black chicken to wave over the stove while it bakes. (the bread, not the chicken) Yet bread is such a basic thing... surely it can't be *that* difficult?!

Well, it turns out it's not ;) I followed the recipe and a few good tutorials on proper kneading technique/time (I found the one at The Kitchen particularly helpful), and the results were pretty outstanding. I found that familiarizing myself with all of the steps first helped me feel more in control. Also I used a few little tips like using bottled water instead of tap (apparently hard water or highly chlorinated water can adversely affect the yeast) and using bread flour with it's slightly higher gluten content to stack the odds in my favor. Since B and I are only two in the house and I feared it would go stale before we could finish both loaves, I sent some with him to his parents' place one afternoon, and his dad has not stopped talking about it since. He has kindly offered to take any surplus loaves off my hands in the future ;) All in all, I'm very happy with how it turned out! I even indulged one evening and had toast from the plain white loaf and my first-ever (slightly overdone) soft-boiled egg for dinner... it was utter simplicity, but paired with a warm mug of tea it was heavenly.

I see many more loaves of bread in my future, and I'm sure not all of them will turn out as well as these did, but I'm looking forward to the practice! ;)

Ginger ale and saltines

2012-02-03T11:42:00.002-05:00

Just a quick update... I'm still back here but have been taken out of commission this week by a nasty bug. I have some interesting stuff to write about, but am forcing myself to take it easy and get better so I can get back on my feet and back to business! Hopefully this weekend will see me getting out of my pjs and posting about the very interesting weekend B and I had recently, as well as posting the results of the first Baking with Julia recipe: white loaves! Sounds dull, I know, but considering one of my "to do"s for 2012 was to learn to bake better bread, I'm pretty excited. In the mean time, carry on... I will rejoin the land of the living soon :)

Dark Days Week 8: Pea soup and homemade bread

2012-01-22T18:09:00.000-05:00

This week, in keeping with the 'theme' of soup/one-pot meals, I made a Quebec staple: split-pea soup with ham. I took it a step further as well and, after the soup had been done, used the same dutch oven to make a loaf of freeform bread. I let my San Francisco roots come out a bit here and made it a sourdough loaf ;)

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Bonus use for leftovers

2012-01-18T18:57:00.000-05:00

If you haven't tried the Spinach Bechamel recipe from the Green Door restaurant, you really should. It's spinach-y and cheesy and comforting. And if you need extra incentive, how about this: the leftovers (assuming there are any) make *amazing* filling for an omelette!!! :D

Dark Days Week 7: Raw milk

2012-01-16T12:22:00.000-05:00

This week I ventured into new territory, for me at least. I was able to score 4 litres of raw, local milk, which was far more exciting to me than dairy should be ;) Only problem, neither B nor I really drink milk. B is lactose-intolerant, as I've mentioned before, and while I have milk/cream in my morning coffee, that's about it. So, what the hack could I do with a gallon of extremely fresh and extremely perishable milk!?

Why, make cheese, of course!

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That's a lot of butter...

2012-01-16T12:03:00.000-05:00

Out of curiosity, I flipped through the Baking with Julia cookbook last night to get familiar with what things I'll be making during this challenge. As I did, I tallied up the amounts of flour and butter required by the recipes. Including the breads, pastries, fillings and icings (and one massive wedding cake, though I may skip that one :P ), by the end of this challenge I will have used roughly 75 pounds of flour and 40 pound of butter.

Let me repeat that last bit.... 40 pounds of butter. Dear lord. I think I need to go do some sit-ups...

Almost-local tea

2012-01-13T16:12:00.001-05:00

When I started on the Dark Days challenge, B made it quite clear there were some things he would not give up, such as crates of clementines, chocolate, and tea. We're both big fans of DavidsTea (as I've mentioned before), and while I don't expect to find anything local on their shelves, I am usually pleased to see the number of organic, fair trade and charity-supporting items they sell.

Recently, however, I've come across a couple of their teas that are almost local... or as local as I'm likely to get with this particular item ;)

Organic Northern Lights is made with ingredients that all come from north of the border, such as apple pieces, peppermint, juniper berries, and raspberry leaf. While I am not a juniper berry fan (I blame it on my childhood home that was surrounded by big, dusty juniper bushes. I was constantly losing toys and balls in them and either had to brave the cobwebs and bugs to retrieve them, or just give them up for lost), it works well in this tea along side the peppermint and the sweetness of the apple pieces.
Wintergreen Woods is another herbal blend made from Canadian ingredients, this time decidedly more 'woodsy': wintergreen leaves, cedar green, white pine needles, red sumac berries. I don't particularly like the taste of spearmint or wintergreen, so this one isn't really favorite, though it was nice to have after a heavy dinner. That said, it is interesting steeping a mug of tea from what looks like a handful of stuff picked up off a forest floor ;)
Oh Canada is the least local of the bunch, but it's sweetened with maple syrup, so I love it anyway ;) (plus the maple leaf candies are cute)
There is also Northern Delights, which is produced by a non-profit organization to help support the Inuit communities in Nunavik (not associated with DavidsTea), who produce a variety of interesting Arctic teas made from ingredients indigenous, and important, to the arctic tundra.

While supporting local is certainly a good thing, tea (like coffee and chocolate) is one of those far-flung vices that I'm still happy to indulge in ;)

Baking with Julia challenge

2012-01-11T11:06:00.000-05:00

Well, I said I wanted to learn how to bake better (especially yeast doughs), and it seems the universe has given me an opportunity to do that. I will be participating not only in the on-going Dark Days challenge, but also in the newest challenge over at Tuesdays with Dorie in which we will work our way through the book, Baking with Julia starting next month.

I was hesitant to sign up, telling myself I was getting in over my head, it would be too much to take on, etc etc. However, we will be doing only 2 recipes a month (one every other week)... if I can't handle cooking 2 recipes a month, then I've got bigger issues to deal with :P Also, I had the same hesitations for the Dark Days challenge and I've been doing just fine with it so far. Plus, the rules are very minimal, and it will be a great opportunity to improve my baking skills!

That being said, I'm still a little intimidated... I remember watching PBS when I was younger, and whenever Julia Child was on, she would always make a fantastic mess (but have a hell of a good time) in the kitchen and end up with some ridiculously elaborate end result. I particularly remember her making a Buche de Noel in which she flings sugar syrup around to make 'moss' to drape over her finished buche:

The messy bit is around the 23:00 mark, it's worth a watch. As an aside, in re-watching this snippet to post it here (I probably haven't seen this video since my early teens), I realized where I get something I say constantly when cooking: "It's better to have too much than too little". :D And I never realized how unappetizing food is in black and white... yish.

Anyway, the first set of recipes will be White Loaves (yay, bread!) and Chocolate Truffle Tartlets. My mantra for this challenge shall be "Quality, not quantity"... I want to improve my skills and learn new ones, not just make a ton of fattening foods ;) Perhaps B will help remind me of that, and drag me out for the occasional evening walk so I don't end up weighing 300 pounds by the end of all this. Very anxious/excited to get started on this...!

Dark Days Week 6: Ducks and dairy

2012-01-09T11:27:00.000-05:00

I'm really getting into this challenge a bit more each week, and I'm finding it both easier and harder to stay within the 'rules' i set myself at the start. I've become more aware of what options are open to me for local goods, and am finding some surprising sources, but I'm also finding it tougher to get clear documentation on some of it. There seems to be a fair amount of 'greenwashing', and just plain ol' lack of information, when it comes to food and food labelling... it's amazingly easy to buy something that seems local and/or organic at first glance but when you dig a bit deeper, find otherwise.

For example, in researching local, organic grains and flours, I found what seems to be an excellent option that is sold at the bakery at the end of our street and a few of the markets in the area. Their website offers flowery declarations of their mission statement and what they're doing to promote organic farming in Quebec, and they are apparently certified by a European company, but I can't find any info on their being certified organic here in Quebec or Canada. Yanno, where we're located!?!? That I find slightly odd... but i'll keep researching. They're the best option I've got for grains and flours at the moment, so I guess it's better than nothing ;) (*correction: I've found they are also certified organic (and kosher) by the OCIA which is a non-profit organization)

Anyway! On to the food... this past week we continued to eat leftovers from the holidays, and I am now quite sick of them. ;) I also made a lovely duck ragu, following a recipe over at The Kitchn, that we both enjoyed quite a bit. I used the last of the Quebec wine I'd bought a few weeks back, as well as some local kale and parmesan cheese and of course the Lac Brome duck I boned at Christmas. (I also took the opportunity to dig out the carcasses and make duck stock) The end result was this:

Duck ragu

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To Do for 2012

2012-01-06T07:40:00.000-05:00

I'm not big on resolutions (they never seem to last long for me), but as B can attest, I'm a big fan of To Do lists ;) So for 2012, I'm not 'resolving' to accomplish anything in particular, but rather looking ahead to things I'd like to do this year in the kitchen.

In 2012, I'd like to:

learn to make/knead yeast bread and pizza dough properly
cook rabbit
cook with fresh sardines
host a local cheese tasting
put together a proper home bar
improve my food photography skills
make souffle
make risotto
make nut butter
make ghee with local, organic butter
make Shoofly Pie
make homemade mustard
make homemade hot sauce

We'll leave it there for now... though I'm sure I'll come up with plenty more to try ;)

Dark Days Week 5: A very local Christmas

2012-01-01T14:01:00.000-05:00

First of all, happy new year to all! This Little Monkey turns 1 year old today... here's looking forward to a tasty 2012 :)

I managed to have two SOLE-ful meals over the holidays this year, and am quite pleased with how they turned out. We usually do Christmas eve at our place with my mom, which we keep fairly simple (being an only child, the holidays were fairly low-key for me growing up) and Christmas day at B's family's ~~zoo~~ house which is a much more elaborate (and noisy) event.

For Christmas Eve, I chose to make :

To start, butternut squash and apple soup, garnished with cider cream and roasted squash seeds

And for the main course, seared Lac Brome duck breasts with roasted beets and carrots.

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Dark Days week 4: Potato pancakes

2011-12-25T07:59:00.000-05:00

This week we kept it simple, and I took an idea from one of the first round-ups to turn these:

Into this...
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Some last-minute ideas for giftmas...

2011-12-22T12:06:00.000-05:00

Happy whichever-end-of-the-year-holiday-you-choose-to-celebrate... or for those who don't celebrate any of them, happy festivus ;)

I don't know about you, but the holiday season was extra stealthy in sneaking up on me this year... I was feeling ahead of the game getting my gifts and cooking done a few weeks back, then all of a sudden I've only got a few days left and way too much to get done. To ensure this does not happen again (like it does every year), I have asked Santa for a personal assistant. ;) Here's hoping my stocking is big enough...

While I do love a good excuse to shop, I often end up making at least some of the gifts I give each year. For any of you who may still need some last-minute ideas, and break out in a cold sweat at the thought of having to go to the mall, here are a few of the goodies I whipped up this year:

Spoon Butter: an excellent gift for anyone who has wooden (or bamboo) utensils or cutting boards that could do with a little bit of TLC. Mix up a batch and pour it into a nice little mason jar with a ribbon... it is thoughtful and useful, and super simple to make (it doesn't get much easier than two ingredients, c'mon). Plus it makes your kitchen smell amazing.
Sugar scrub: another simple one to make, you just need some type of granulated sugar (white, brown, raw, etc) and either oil or liquid glycerin. Oil is good for those with dry skin, especially in the winter months, but I prefer to use glycerin as it does not leave a slippery film in the shower after! You can customize this one to your heart's content: essential oil, honey, ground coffee, spices, dried flowers, different sugar/oil combinations, etc. Bottle it up in a nice jar with some ribbon and a tag.
Mug rugs: these are great little gifts for someone who likes coffee, tea or any warm drink on a regular basis. They can be as simple or elaborate as you like... I made mine with a filling of rice (to hold the heat from the mug) and added some spices (cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and citrus peel) that will release their fragrance when warmed by the mug set on top.
Coffee sleeves: in a similar vein as the rugs above, you can whip up a reusable sleeve for that Starbucks addict on your list. You can sew, knit, crochet or even felt them... they're a great way to add a little 'green' to someone's daily routine. You can also make a similar sleeve for a Bodum french press, or, if they prefer a cuppa tea over a cuppa joe, a tea cozy.
Homemade treats: for many of us, desserts define the holiday season. Don't underestimate the impact of a nicely wrapped plate of holiday goodies... only the Grinch would turn their nose up at a gift like that. Bon Appetit has a wonderful array of ideas to get you started; I strongly recommend the Chewy Ginger Cookies :)

You've still got plenty of time to put together any of the above items before Sunday morning, whether it is the finishing touch on someone's gift, or just a gift for yourself! ;)

Beet Buche de Noel

2011-12-19T10:48:00.000-05:00

What happens when two entirely disparate recipes collide?

This:

Chocolate Beet Buche de Noel

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Dark Days Week 3: Who knew Swedish could be local?

2011-12-18T08:13:00.000-05:00

How do you turn this...

Into these...

And finally into this?

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Local/organic resources for Quebec

2011-12-15T14:11:00.000-05:00

In doing my homework for the Dark Days Challenge, I've come across a fair few resources on the web for finding local producers. A lot of other challenge participants are sharing some great resources, but most of them sadly are US-centric, so I've had to do more searching on my own. I don't think there are many (if any) other bloggers in the Montreal area taking part in the challenge so far, but I wanted to put this list out for the benefit of anyone who might be interested, local or not.

For my part, I am casting my net wide to start with and simply learning what things I can get locally. As we move on in the challenge, I will focus more on optimizing my use of organic/sustainable products found within that local radius. Below are some of the sites I've used to start my SOLE education :)

Farms from within a 100 mile radius of Montreal (in French)
Vins du Quebec/Wines of Quebec
List of organic farms in Quebec (in French)
Organic producers in the Beloeil region (in French)
Organic producers in the St Hubert region (in French)
Canadian Grain Commission
Directory of Quebec certified organic products
Directory of Quebec producers (Fair trade, kosher, organic, etc) (in French)
Equiterre (general resource for sustainable development)
Agrotourism in Quebec
EatQuebec.ca
The Mindful Table
Quebec Organic Agriculture Council
Quebec Kitchen Collective
Quebec farm visit search
La Route des Fromages (The Cheese Route)
Also Fromages du Quebec, Fromages d'Ici and Le Festival des Fromages... we take our cheese seriously!
La Route des Cidres (The Cider Route)
La Route de l'Erable (The Maple Route)
La Milanaise (organic grains/flours from the Eastern Townships)
Terroir offerings at the SAQ
Terroir et Saveurs
Terroir cuisine and products
Real Food Movement (Ontario/Quebec)