Winged Snail

Review: Kaeng Raeng (Part II)

2013-05-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

Remember Wednesday's post on Kaeng Raeng?

I am the wrong demographic for this product as I eat whole foods and do not deny myself pleasures in life. Therefore the very concept of a 'detox' 'cleanse' is counter to my worldview. There is something fundamentally wrong with purposively denying oneself.

The caloric count for these smoothies is ~200 a smoothie. So that's 600 calories a day - with the caveat that one can eat all the fresh fruits and veggies one desires - however, someone of my height and weight is meant to eat ~2200 calories a day. The low caloric intact of this product fundamentally scares me as I do not understand why anyone would, with purpose, live such an austere life - if only for 3 days.

By 7pm on the first day I was dreading the very thought of drinking any more of these chalky, flavorless smoothies so I had a beer and veggie burger at the pub!

This eating pattern (famine than feast) is exactly what is wrong with diets, detoxes, and cleanses.

For a more positive review of this product check out this blog post by Vegan Crunk.

The Small Print: This product was received free of cost. I did not promise a review nor receive any additional financial compensation.

Review: Kaeng Raeng

2013-05-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

I was approached by a PR agent from this company, Kaeng Raeng, who offered me a free, 3-day sample of their all natural detox program. As a supporter of whole food with a very specific outlook on what constitutes a 'health' food I accepted the offer because I thought it would make for an interesting experience (and blog series).

I am of the mindset that juice is a dessert/treat and not actually a health food. Even home-juiced orange juice presents a problem as juicing it removes fiber (and other nutrients). Oranges are a whole food - orange juice is a sweet dessert.

I am on day one of my three day adventure drinking three daily Kaeng Raeng drinks as well as all the fresh, raw fruits and vegetables that I desire. I will give a full review when (and IF) I accomplish the three day detox. In the meantime here are a few observations so far.

The vaguely Asian feel of the company is supposed to reassure potential customers but it only makes me more sceptical of the process - as I now believe that your company has something to hide.
The packages, upon first opening, smell amazing but once mixed the resulting drink is bland to say the least.
The information flyer included in the package is vague and oddly organized.

The Small Print: This product was received free of cost. I did not promise a review nor receive any additional financial compensation.

Summer in the City: Homemade freezies

2013-05-13T09:00:00.000-05:00

Toronto is heating up! This year I vow to be prepared for any heat wave this city wants to throw at me! This afternoon, while listening to Alphabet Soup Podcast I stocked my freezer with two batches of homemade freezies.

I picked up this food saver/sealer from a thrift store for four dollars. A few days later I found three full rolls of the plastic at a different thrift store. The vacuum part of the sealer does not work but it seals the plastic thus making it possible to make homemade freezies in the traditional plastic sleeve.

I made two recipes from 200 Best Ice Pop Recipes . The freezie on the left is "Spicy Lime Ice Pop" and the one on the right is "Cucumber Chile Ice Pop". I recently had a Cucumber Chile popsicle from a local company - Augie's Gourmet Ice Pops - and it was divine! I am very much looking forward to the version from this book.

The Small Print: I received this cookbook as a review product. I did not promise a positive review nor receive any additional compensation for this review.

My Vintage Kitchen: Marble Rolling Pin

2013-05-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

What is it? This is a marble rolling pin.

Where did I get it? I found this at my local thrift store. I saw it from down the isle and practically ran down there and 'yonked' if off the shelf as if hoards of rolling pin hunters were around the corner. The other people in the aisle looked at me weirdly but I got a steal of a deal! This pin and holder were $7.99! My mother had this exact same pin (minus the holder) and I have been on the hunt for this for years!

Do I use it? Yes! It's a beautiful rolling pin. So heavy and it's going to be nice for pastries.

Drinking: Kombucha with huge SCOBY

2013-05-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

As I've been out of town for the last month or so, my Kombucha has continued to brew - unattended. The students in my Toronto Trade School Class were constantly wondering how to keep a SCOBY alive while they went on vacation. I simply left my kombucha at room temperature, in it's regular brewing location. The coffee kombucha has been brewing since 22 Feb and the other two containers of kombucha have been brewing since the first week of March. The huge 4 gallon container was almost full with liquid when I left, and now the SCOBY is a good 4 inches thick.

I plan on stir-frying some of the excessive SCOBY I now have!

My Vintage Kitchen: Thermos

2013-04-29T09:00:00.000-05:00

What is it? Three small Thermos brand food containers.
Where did I get it? I picked up two of these while thrifting with my sister. I had been on the lookout for some good picnic/camping containers for a while but they always smelt really bad. My sister suggesting cleaning them with baking soda and vinegar. They were super cheap (50 cents each) so I decided to get it a shot and it worked perfectly.
Do I use it? I will use these during the upcoming picnic season.

Eating the Web: Baking, Peanuts and Pizza

2013-04-26T09:00:00.000-05:00

1. Live in a dorm room but still love cake? Baking in a panini press might be the answer!
2. Tired of the standard food shows? Wish they would combine two of your favourite things? Never fear - James Deen has a food show!
3. Pickling is trend. Pickled peanuts.
4. I write in my cookbooks but have started adding the date I made the recipe since reading this awesome piece on the topic.
5. The Diary of a Pizza Girl makes for some interesting reading.

Garden: Garlic

2013-04-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

I picked these garlic bulbs up at a local Seedy Saturday (along with some other vegetable seeds). I am going to give most of them to my sister - who has a better green thumb than I. I was under the impression that these were the bulbils.

They must be the second season garlic bulbs that were dug out of the ground before winter.

Anyone know for sure?

From Scratching: Preserved Lemons

2013-04-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

I hope you've been keeping up with my Paper Droids zombie themed food column! Next month's article will be about preserved lemons so I'll leave you with a photographic teaser or a little bit of culinary terrorism.

(right after production)

(three weeks later)

Have an idea for my zombie food column? Email me wingedsnail99 [at] hotmail [dot] com

My Vintage Kitchen: White Glass Salt and Pepper Shaker

2013-04-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

What is it? Two small white glass salt and pepper shakers. The red lids screw off to reveal metal lids with small holes.
Where did I get it? We had a collection of four of these shakers growing up (two large, and two small). After telling my sister that I was on the thrift look-out for them, I got them from her as a Christmas present!
Do I use it? No but it's a wonderful addition to my salt and pepper shaker collection.

Eating the Web: Beets, Licorice, and Pickles

2013-04-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

1. I've wanted to try Beef Bourguigon since Julia Child but as I don't eat meat I thought it was a pipe-dream. However, this Beet Bourguigon recipe will do nicely!
2. Need a weekend project? How about some homemade licorice?
3. I recently made the sauerkraut soup from Vegan Eats World. It was yummy so I think this Dill Pickle Soup would be tasty as well!
4. I can think of nothing besides Caramelized White Chocolate. So many ideas!
5. On my culinary to-do list, mastering the Five Mother Sauces.

Planning: More Culinary Goals

2013-04-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

I'm continually adding things to my Culinary Goals. Recently I've added:

1. Villi - Read about this in 'Art of Fermentation' by Sandor Ellix Katz then saw the post and corresponding podcast on the subject.

2. Old Water - I find this concept intriguing. Heard about it a few years ago (2008 maybe) and it's been on my mind ever since. Here is a nice blog post that explains the concept.

3. Kefir - Since getting into Kombucha brewing I'm interested in the idea of Kefir.

4. Homemade Vinegar

5. And finally something not fermented, Black Pepper Tofu!

Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookies

2013-04-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

I have been playing around with some gluten free recipes and developed this amazingly fluffy orange chocolate oatmeal cookie. I want to develop gluten free recipes that go easy on the speciality flours as such flours are highly processed but also because of issues relating to accessibility and interest. Wouldn't it be amazing if you could make a special treat for your gluten free friend with the ingredients that you already have in your pantry? I think it would be.

These cookies will be appearing in an upcoming project which I need recipe testers for! So if you are interesting in testing some orange chocolate flavoured recipes email wingedsnail [at] hotmail [dot] ca to get the recipes! Testers will get a complimentary copy of the finished project! Testing begins in April!

Drinking: SCOBY Jerky

2013-04-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

Brewing Kombucha leaves one with many SCOBY babies. It seems a waste to simply throw them in the trash so I have been on the lookout for various uses. I've made SCOBY candy which was successfully so when I saw this post on making SCOBY jerky I decided I had to try it. I did not have any of the ingredients required but I used the concept to make my own version.

My version produces a salty, chewy product that is very reminiscent of jerky.

SCOBY Jerky

SCOBY's cut into strips (I used one from my Coffee Kombucha)
A cube of fermented tofu

Mash a cube of fermented tofu into a paste. Coat the strips of SCOBY with the paste and leave to marinate overnight. Place strips on a cookie sheet in a low oven for five minutes. Flip strips and cook another five minutes. Leave the cookie sheet in the oven until the oven cools down. If the strips are not dried (but still pliable) repeat the process.

From Scratching: Victorian Style Seville Orange Marmalade

2013-04-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

Seville Orange Marmalade has been on my radar since I began canning this fall. I eagerly swapped for a jar of Seville Marmalade at the Preserve Swap I attended as I wanted a point of departure from which to base my Marmalade Mis-adventures. I copied a few recipes for traditional marmalade into various notebooks I keep for my food projects. This recipe was based off the one in We Sure Can!: How Jams and Pickles Are Reviving the Lure and Lore of Local Food

In Victorian style marmalade, whole oranges are boiled in water for several hours. Due to my cribbed notes I was unsure as to what the goal of this step was. Since then I have read that the oranges should be easily pierced with a skewer and express a type of 'deflation' and that the peels should be thoroughly cooked. The next step is to cut the peel into pieces according to personal preference (I lazily cut my peels into huge pieces). The peel is then boiled with sugar, water, and a jelly bag filled with the pith, seeds, and membranes of the orange) until it passes the standard jell test. To acheive a nice suspension of the peels, the mixture is allowed to stand for 15 minutes and then processed - my peels were too thick to suspend!

Victorian Style Orange Marmalade
9 Seville Oranges
4 cups sugar
2 cups water

Cover oranges with water and boil for two hours or until 'deflated'. Discard water and cool oranges. Cut oranges in half. Strain pulp and reserve liquid.
Cut peels into matchsticks.
Combine reserved liquid with sugar and water. Add jelly bag filled with pith, pulp and membranes of oranges.
Boil until mixture passes jell test.
To achieve suspension, let mixture cool for 5-15 minutes. Then process in water bath for 15-20 minutes.
Makes 6 500 mL jars.

Tasting Notes: I actually enjoy the largeness of the pieces of peel, however several jars did not have enough 'jell' around the peel. So next year I will increase the amount of water and sugar by one cup each.

This project was inspired by my 2013 Culinary Goals.

Do you have an itch to make Seville Orange marmalade? Sadly, the oranges are only in season during January and February but...
this post on Spicy Seville marmalade will keep you inspired while this article on the history of marmalade will give you something to read while you wait until next year.

My Vintage Kitchen: Deluxe Dial-O-Matic Food Cutter

2013-04-03T09:00:00.000-05:00

What is it? Chop-o-matic's fabulous new mate Deluxe Dial-O-Matic Food Cutter
Where did I get it? I snatched this up as I adore vintage goods in original packaging. This was made in 1959 and originally cost $1.oo. I paid $1.5o for it and almost had a heartattack when my sister pulled off the price tag - as I did not want the original packaging to be harmed.
Do I use it? This device works to make ripple cut vegetables but the waffle feature does not work. It is also missing a few blades. I do not use it regularly as I have a simple knife which makes ripple cut vegetables much faster and easier.

Trying: Fresh Turmeric

2013-04-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

Fresh turmeric is one of those things that I've heard about for years but had never tried. A mad dash to finish up our Indie Coffee Passport before the 31 March deadline had us running, in a caffeine frenzy, all over the city. We ended up on Gerrard Street. Gerrard Street is synonymous with 'Little India' here in Toronto. My husband remembers making the trek in from Scarborough to visit this strip of the city when he was a child. I first visited 7 years ago when I was new to Toronto and haven't been back since. Gerrard Street is slowly disappearing as a haven for recently immigrated Indians but it is changing and growing and will soon be something else entirely.

Gerrard Street still has an Indian influence though. I saw these lovely little roots outside a small shop. It looks like a cross between ginger and Jerusalem artichokes. I was almost convinced that it was turmeric but asked the shop keeper to make sure. These roots were labeled 'Haldi' and were 3.99/lb. I do not really have a plan for them so I only bought 0.55 cents worth! I think I will just use them with ginger and onions in a stirfry!

Drinking: Coffee Kombucha

2013-03-29T09:00:00.001-05:00

If you recall, I started brewing some coffee kombucha a few weeks ago. I tried it today and will definitely be brewing some more. Coffee kombucha has a strong coffee smell but a changed, lessened coffee flavor. It's really hard to explain. Coffee Kombucha seems a little like a sweet/sour candy. It's sweet and regular coffee like while at the same time being tart and a little fermented.

I drank my coffee kombucha with ice and soymilk - which curdled in a weird way.

Have you tried Coffee Kombucha?

From Scratching: Spent Grain Pasta

2013-03-27T09:00:00.001-05:00

I got the idea for spent grain pasta here, but I used my veganized pasta recipe (2 cups semolina flour and 1/2 cup hot water) but replaced 1/2 a cup of the semolina flour with an 1/2 a cup of spent grain flour. The pasta could not be rolled as thing as it usually can due to the coarse grind of the spent grain flour.

This pasta with no sauce leaves a strong, slightly bitter aftertaste but improves drastically when served with some tomato sauce. I think the taste of this pasta will depend a lot on the grains used in the brew.

Overall this was a fun experiment, but I will keep looking for that perfect recipe to use up the majority of my spent grain flour.

Has anyone else made spent grain pasta?

Drinking: Home-brewing Tip

2013-03-25T09:00:00.001-05:00

While my home-brew dreams have remained on my culinary to do list thus far, I have managed to make several batches of Kombucha. We bought this Chalk Ink market from a local art supply store after asking them for recommendations regarding labelling glass bottles. This marker works amazing. It is easy to use and easy to remove but does not wash off with condensation. I use it to keep track of the contents and the date of various fermentation projects.

We will have to think of something else to label the final beer project as this chalk marker rubs off easily with touch.

How do you label home-brew projects?

Eating the Web: Beer

2013-03-22T09:00:00.001-05:00

1.Vinegar is a complex but simple process and can be made from many things, including beer/mead.
2. One person can make a difference - especially in craft beer.
3. Beer can be made with all kinds of ingredients - including beans!
4. This ecofriendly brewery uses spent grains as fuel. I like it but I still want to be able to steal spent grains from brewiers for my own purposes!
5. Still unsure on how to tip? Here's some ideas - although I don't agree with tipping even if you get bad service.

Follow me @Sarah999 for more great food and beer links!
Also, check out www.friendyoubeer.com for more great beer articles!

From Scratching: Spent Grain Flour

2013-03-20T09:00:00.001-05:00

Through twitter stalking Junction Craft Beer I discovered when they had brewed and headed down there to ask for some spent grains. I then dehydrated and ground those spent grains into a flour.

Now what to do with this flour?

Original inspiration here.

Brewing: Coffee Kombucha

2013-03-18T09:00:00.001-05:00

I've been brewing Kombucha for the last few months. There are a lot of supposed health benefits associated with Kombucha. I am not sure if I believe such claims but I would support removing cola and soft drinks in flavor of a home-brewed, few ingredient drink such as Kombucha. I do not drink cola or soft drinks so adding Kombucha to my diet is actually an increase in non-water liquids. I like the brewing process and I enjoy finding uses for the extra scobies created.

I read about using an extra scoby to ferment some brewed coffee. I left an inch or so of brewed kombucha in the bottom of this container and poured in room temperature coffee and an extra scoby. Apparently, the acidity of the coffee prevents a baby scoby from forming and kills the mother.

I recently wrote about some of my views on Kombucha on We are Addicted.

Have you brewed anything besides tea Kombucha with your scoby?
What do you do with your extra scobies?

Review: Harvest Noon's ChocoSol Workshop

2013-03-15T09:00:00.001-05:00

Over reading week, Harvest Noon held a series of workshops in conjunction with ChocoSol. I attended the second event entitled, ChocoSol Workshop Series II: Cacao, Coffee, and Commerce. The ChocoSol employee and presenter was very knowledgable about cacao and coffee as he was a biology student. It was fun to see him geek out about some of the specifics of the plants. For example, he told us that the cacao pods grow directly on the main trunk of the tree, a feature known as cauliflory.

He was an articulate and knowledgeable speaker but it was difficult to pay close attention to his speech as he was constantly passing out samples and working on preparing a crude cocao drinking chocolate.

Exhibit A: First the cocoa beans were roasted.

Exhibit B: Once roasted it is easy to separate the the bean from the chaff (pictured in the two bowls in the foreground). The beans are then ground in a warm mortar and pestle.

Exhibit C: The ground cacao is then mixed with hot water in a jug and agitated with the wooden 'whisk' seen below.

Exhibit D: The finished product and some of ChocoSol's products.

The finished product was wonderful and the process is simple so I've added 'Make drinking chocolate from Cacao beans' to my culinary to-do list!

Things I learnt (but probably should have known) about cacao:

- There are many varieties of cacao.

- There are only three commercially available varieties of Cacao.

- Cacao nibs are roasted and crushed cacao beans.

Review: Vegan Secret Supper Cookbook

2013-03-13T09:00:00.000-05:00

I have wanted to create my own underground kitchen for years now. We have had long, involved conversations about the legal ramifications of such an activity as well as conversations relating to logistics and culinary talent. And in the end? We went out for supper.

Undertaking a project of the scale of an underground supper club, especially on a weekly basis is truly daunting. Doing it well? With innovative and interesting recipes? It seems all but impossible. But that's what Merida Anderson did. Well she did all that AND she wrote a cookbook about it.

Vegan Secret Supper is a beautiful book. The layout and full colour photos show plated meals that one would expect to see in fine dining restaurants. The vegan cookbook market has exploded in recent years but there are very few cookbooks that explore the fine dining style of cooking. While technically fine dining the recipes in the cookbook seem very approachable. This is because the recipes are separated by component but remain on the same page spread for ease of use. Additionally, plating instructions are given clearly and concisely. Anderson has a love of whole foods evident by the fact that she largely skips ingredients like vegan butter in favour of a homemade substitution. Vegans have come to rely too heavily on commercially made components.

While untrained as a chef, Merida Anderson is clearly a highly creative individual as Vegan Secret Supper is full of innovative and interesting recipes. I am interested in the Radicchio Marmalade (99), the Smoke Infused Olive Oil (206), the Coconut Melting Cheese (194) and the Hazelnut Rye Crisps (123). The first thing I plan on cooking is the Butternut Squash & Almond Gnocchi sauteed with Sage Garlic Butter. (87)

And thus brings me to my criticisms of this cookbook. Recipe titles are all as long as the one for the Gnocchi. The first time I flipped through this cookbook my eyes glossed over at the series of cumbersome restaurant style recipe names and I almost missed out on a lot of interesting recipes.

I was also expecting a lot more of Anderson's character to shine through. I expected a cookbook emerging from an underground supper club to be full of illicit tales and intersting stories. I have never seen shorter headnotes than those that appear in this book. The headnote for the warm beet salad (78) appears as follows

"I still can't believe I hated beets as a kid. Now I can practically eat beets at every meal. Roasting beets brings out the best of their flavor, keeping all the nutrients inside."

And that's it - there is no passion conveyed in that headnote! No interesting story. Nothing that compels me to make the dish. And this headnote is one of the longest ones in the cookbook!

This cookbook left me wanted more. I want to know what it's like to run an underground kitchen. I want action shots and battlefield stories - but instead we are left with 'I used to hate beets. Now I love them'.

I am left to dream about illicit underground adventures while cook and eat my own vegan secret supper.

Vegan Secret Supper available in April 2013 through Arsenal Pulp Press.

The Small Print: I received this cookbook as review product. I did not promise a positive review nor receive any additional compensation for this review.