Good Food and Times in Toronto , And A Recipe For Grainy Oriental Seed and Honey Mustard !

Last week I had a  week long business trip to Toronto. I hadn't been back in a few years, since my first visit , where I was lucky to meet Peter of Kalofagas. Naturally we were destined to meet again with more outrageous T shirts and high jinks planned, free time permitting. You see, Peter loves racy T shirts and he made me promise to wear one he chose especially for me. Not being uptight and pretty free, I went with it, warning Certain Someone ahead of time. The photos speak for themselves. I wont put up Thursday nights shirt as it really pushed the limits, but all in good fun.We had agreed to meet up in a cozy Gastro pub  called The House on Parliament , in Cabbage Town ,with fellow Canadian Food  Blogger and online friend Jasmine of Cardamon Addict. Jasmine, living a distance away made the  trek into town Monday night to meet up, bearing a Canadian Specialty , Butter Tarts. She was concerned about her crusts and unorthodox use of chocolate in one version, but I thought they were superb. These rich , flaky butter tarts served as snack and breakfast during my work week, and I'm grateful. I gifted Peter and Jasmine Chicago's Famous Garrets Popcorn, the cheese and caramel mix. The Popcorn is like Crack , and I got them hooked. My colleague Irene wolfed hers down on the way from the airport. I gave her another bag with a chocolate mix,  that was evident in the car all week , as she nibbled.
 Work was pretty intense , but we had agreed to one more rendezvous with Peter Thursday night. I managed to connect with my other blogger friend Gianna, who has a blog, not necessarily devoted to food, but should be. We had met once before in Chicago, and I find her a kindred spirit. We started out with my colleaugue and I meting up with Peter in the St. Lawerence Market, where I samapled some Peameal bacon, and purchased a few items. It was there where I fell in love with the Kozliks Mustard stand, and learned Canada is the largest importer of mustard seed to the world. Who knew!. I purchased a bag of the extra hot Oriental Mustard seeds, to make my own. We then picked up Gianna and wound our way to the lovely Distillery District. I wish I had more more time there as this was my favorite spot. Gianna showed me Soma Chocolates and A Taste of Quebec,where I purchased more goodies and the most amazing Gelato. Once home I made Soma's Mayan Elixir of the Gods, an intense spicy Chocolate shot which was aptly named.
Dinner was at the Miller Street Brew Pub, where I imbibed more than I ate, being full from the previous goodies.Excellent evening with Irene, my colleague, Peter, and Gianna. Irene then took me to Mas Camps. Walking Mas in Caribana is a important yearly rite of passage for many Caribbean Canadians. Caribana is the largest Caribbean festival drawing hundred of thousands of people from all over the world.Street parades, bands, food, competition, and plain good fun celebrating the Caribbean Culture . Toronto profits from this event to the tune of over $400 million . It's that huge. And with it comes year long preparation. The Mas Camps are scattered throughout where people drop buy to make and purchase their elaborate costumes. A perfect finale to fantastic week of work, and a little fun.I do heart Toronto.

Grainy Oriental Seed and Honey Mustard
Mustards are one of the easiest condiments to make. So many variations are possible.I used the extra hot Oriental Seed , softened with honey.  Use this in BBQ, Salad dressings, sauces, or as a plain condiment for sandwiches .Enjoy.
1 cup Oriental Mustard Seeds
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
6 tablespoons honey
Pour vinegars over the mustard seeds and spices( mustard powder, cinnamon, ginger) in a non reactive bowl, mix, and cover/soak overnight at room temperature. The seeds will swell and absorb the vinegar. Using a immersion blender or food processor mix while adding the honey gradually. Mix and blend thoroughly . If you feel you need to add more honey or vinegar, do so gradually until its a smooth consistency(not to thick or not to runny). Spoon into clean sterilized jars and refrigerate . The flavor will blend more after a few hours setting in the fridge.I find it tastes even better the second day as any bitterness from the mustard seed has subsided. Store for up to four weeks in the refrigerator.

Lamb Burgers with Rhubarb Onion Sauce

The past few weeks I have been in discussion with the 61st Street Farmers Market. At first we were discussing the possibility of me being a vendor of some kind, but after long thought and putting together a business plan, I had to pass. An offer was then made to volunteer this summer and perhaps do a few cooking demos. I naturally jumped on the chance. The 61st Street Farmers market is located in  a food desert behind the University Of Chicago. Their mission is to make great , healthy locally sourced food available to people that have little means otherwise of obtaining this. To help this , they are local participants of the Wholesome Wave Program, which enables the Farmers Markets to accept Link Cards( a public aid) and provide great programs such as Double Value Coupons. All in all a fantastic organization in which I'm proud to volunteer for.

61st Street Farmers Market (local, sustainable food)

61st Street between Dorchester and Blackstone 

Every Saturday from May 15 to October 30, from 9am to 2pm  

 Rain or Shine

 LINK Accepted

Double Value LINK Program -  Double LINK purchases up to $25 per cardholder, per market day

fruit, vegetables, chicken, beef, lamb, pork, cheese, eggs, baked goods, prepared food, etc.

Chef Demos, Market School and Music every week!

 My first cooking demo will be Saturday May 22. In my excitement I'm brainstorming with what I can do that uses the great local products available and will be seasonal. At this time of year we are starting to see a lot rhubarb. So I was thinking Lamb Sliders with Rhubarb Onion Chutney as its easy for most home cooks, and accessible/affordable.I love Rhubarb  myself, but its a tough sell to family and Certain Someone. I want to find ways to use it  in savory applications , as opposed to a traditional Strawberry Rhubarb dessert. I had envisioned a chutney to go over a childhood favorite of mine, lamb burgers. However the Chutney morphed more into a sauce which was delicious, but not the original plan. Nevertheless its worth a post as I can see this on not only burgers, but chicken, pork , salmon or any other fatty type protein.

Lamb Burgers with Rhubarb Onion Sauce
3/4 to 1 lb Rhubarb
 1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 Cinnamon Stick
3 cloves
3/4 cup water

1 lb Ground Lamb
1tsp Cumin
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a saucepan heat the vegetable oil. Add the chopped onion. Turn down heat to medium and cook till translucent. and golden with minced garlic, Cinnamon stick, and cloves.Chop Rhubarb into small pieces and add . Add sugar and water and vinegar. Cook down on med/high heat until Rhubarb breaks down and mixture starts to bubble. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat.
This can be stored in the refrigerator in a sealed jar for 2 weeks or so.

Mix Cumin, salt and pepper with ground Lamb and form patties. In a hot skillet cook until med  done.Serve with sauce on a bun.

Fresh Homemade Hot Sauce or Sambal

 I'm in  a phase right now. Fellow blogger Cheryl  face booked  some cool pictures takes with her I Phone and Hipstamtic and I have been obsessed ever since. I even set up a Tumblr acct to showcase my cool artsy pictures and other stuff that I cant put here. It's that bad.  So I figured I could get some stylized  shots of these Red Chili Peppers to make the feeling of heat even more visible with this analog style of photography via digital means. I love the vintage feel . So you may see this from time to time here. It's a phase I need to work through.

 A few weeks back I received my Culinaria Southeast Asia book and was captivated by the Sambal''s. Sambal's are essentially chili based dipping sauce that precedes what we in the Western world think as as ketchup. Sambal Oelek being the most popular one to come to mind. Some Sambals have shrimp paste, lime, soy, sugar, ginger, garlic, tamarind, peanuts,etc. All sorts of variations exist.

I made my own variation  based on  the Sambal Cuka ( Vinegar and Chili Dip) in Culinaria. I ended up altering things and adding more ingredients. My batch was also larger because I had about 50 or so Chili peppers. I will give you roughly what I did. Taste and alter according to your tastes.This makes a large batch, that's ideal to divide up and bottle to share. Fresh Sauce  keeps for 1 week in the refrigerator.

Fresh Homemade Hot Sauce/ Sambal

(You can scale this down as this makes over 1/4 liter, a rather large batch. You can use minimally 10 red chilies and amounts of 2 tbsp of vinegar, 2 garlic cloves, 1/2 inch ginger, 1 tbsp soy, 1 tbsp sugar)

1/4 lb red chili peppers ( about 50 chili peppers)

 2 inches of fresh ginger root, peeled and cut into small pieces

1/2 fist of garlic. Cloves peeled

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

3-4 tablespoons of Soy Sauce

Wash and Stem chilies (wear gloves to protect skin).  Add rest of ingredients. Process with food processor. Store in sealed jar in the refrigerator. Keeps 1 week

Toasted Pecan Chipolte Pesto....A Taste of the Mediterranean Event

OK, so this is not so Mediterranean. Antonio is hosting a monthly event devoted to all things of a Mediterranean influence. And he has some great prizes. This months theme was to create a Pesto. The only rules were that it have ground nuts,oil, and cheese. Now this is affordable event for me. With the change of seasons a lot of Bloggers are taking breaks or focusing on lighter foods. If you have noticed I have been a canning binge. I can still cook , but don't have to eat it all at once. Along this line,condiments fascinate me. So with my pantry ingredients I created this powerful, fragrant pesto that's burst with flavor!I can also store it the fridge for a few weeks, but by that time it will be gone.I served my pesto up with a simple pan fried chicken breast light;y seasoned, as the pesto would would be the focus. Boy was it good.I'm not a huge nut fan, but I have come to love pecans used in crusts for savory dishes.When you examine the benefits of this nut you can see why Glamah is in love. Vitamin E and anti oxidants! I could double this as facial mask(you can tell I have been in the Cosmetics industry too long).And the big fat cloves of garlic used are known as a antibiotic . So here it is quick and simple.

Toasted Pecan Chipolte Pesto

3 oz pecans halves( half a 6 oz bag)

3 large cloves of garlic

1 dried chipolte pepper

4 tablespoons Reggiano cheese

Sea Salt

Extra Virgin Olive Oil ( about 1/4-1/2 cup depending on texture)

Lightly toast your pecans in a dry saucepan. Because of the high oil content , toss frequently and do not burn.In a spice grinder , grind the chipolte pepper.Add pecans and pulse . Do not turn to a butter. Add Chipoltes and pecan mixture to your blender of food processor. Add cheese and salt to taste. Pour in olive oil gradually and blend, occasionally scrapping down sides, until all is incorporated.Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

A few side notes...

Marie over at Proud Italian Cook asked me for my watermelon martini recipe. I made a lot of these last summer for a family party. Due to large size of guests it was the perfect drink as I could pre make my 'watermelon juice'. The trick is to strain it so your shaker doesn't get all clogged up. I also used frozen bits to keep it cold. As I have a freezer bag of watermelon this week( also makes great smoothies people!) I came up with this for Marie.This is based for 1 drink.

2 parts frozen or non frozen watermelon

1 part citrus flavored vodka

1 part pomegranate juice( optional or lemon juice if you use regular vodka)

1 part triple sec or Cointreau.

Blend all the ingredients in a blender. Pour in Shaker to strain as you pour into chilled martini glasses.

And last but not least...

Swati of Sugar Craft India gave me this award. I admit I'm horrible with the award and meme thing. I know I have let some go unanswered ,but I truly appreciated it. I'm more of a voyeur than doer. If you haven't seen Swati's blog check her out. Shes amazing and I wish Certain Someone would suggest we fly to India to visit this amazing woman so I can take some classes from the Sugar Craft Master!Please honey? Anyway Swati says I make her day and I just want all of you to know you make Mine!So consider this award passed on to all of you fun, bright , creative people.

Royal Foodie Joust...Mango Ketchup/Catsup

So little time ,so many events, and have to watch all that calorie consumption.When Michelle at Thursday Night Smack Down won last months Joust and got to pick the ingredients, she chose Mango,Cardamom, and Brown Sugar. She said.. "i want to see everyone's mad pastry skillz."She then relented and stressed culinary skills. Most people naturally think of sweets. Condiments I'm sure were a thought as well. As much as I love a mango salsa, I was going to turn it up a notch. Michele brings out my competitive spirit as is a joy to read!Always leaves me with a grin.The choice for me was a Mango Tarte Tatin or this, Ketchup. I don't need a lot of left over pastry laying around, but Ketchup is the worlds favorite condiment.Who knew all this about a sauce. I decided to put a Asian spin on this.I hope you like it spicy hot, , tangy and sweet!

Coco's Mango Ketchup

4 mango's

1 tablespoon ground cardamom

1/2 tablespoon ground ginger

2 -3 pieces of Star Anise

2-3 dried Thai Chili Peppers

3 cloves

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup white vinegar

2 tablespoons curry

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon garlic minced

Equipment needed: Blender, spice/coffee grinder

Remove flesh from Mango's. I used a melon baller to scoop out flesh once mangoes were cut in half.Put in Blender.Place Star Anise, Cloves, Cardamom,Thai Chili Peppers,Ginger, curry and salt in grinder. Grind until a fine powder. Add to Blender. Add Brown Sugar, Vinegar, salt, and garlic. Blend until pureed. Add to sauce pan and bring to boil. Cover pan immediately.( Mixture is thick and will start to bubble). Simmer on lowered heat for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Mixture may caramelize on the bottom. Take off heat and add back to a clean blender. Mix once more to puree. Pour in containers and bottle. To last longer you can take additional canning measures to preserve, otherwise refrigerate and try to consume within the week or so. Its enough to fill a bottle.

Imagine what you can add this to! Grilled Chicken, turkey,sandwiches, meatballs, shrimp, fish, burgers,veggie burger, turkey burgers,fish sticks,onion rings,etc............

So bring your mad skillz to the event . Jen's away getting married so Ben's the Crown Prince this month.

Dandelion Greens with Bacon and Fig Balsamic

I received my first vegetable box this morning. I have wanted to start this for a while but the membership fee and costs seemed prohibitive to me. It made sense in the long run, but I didn't want to deal with wait lists, pick up, etc. My belly dance instructor at the new gym I go to referred me to a place called Timber Creek Organics. I love them because there are no memberships fees, you can adjust your order, and even skip a week. All of it is tailor made for you! I decided to go the cheapest route of a basic vegetable box based on seasonal produce. No fruit these two weeks. I received a gorgeous bulb of fennel,onions, radishes, garlic,tomatoes,red leaf lettuce, cauliflower, and two bunches of dandelion leaves.

The first time I ever had Dandelion leaves was in a salad in the early nineties at the Royalton in NYC with my old roommate from college. I came home on the train with a full blown seasonal allergy attack. When I told my mother what I ate, etc she mocked me for a year because I ate overpriced weeds which I had no business eating with my allergies. She was harsh as only a mother can be.Anyway I haven't had them since. I think my body could handle a salad, but I wanted something hot. Plus Certain Someone wouldn't want a salad. I found this informative page and decide to cook them up with some bacon. A spoonful of bacon makes the medicine go down. Is it the most healthiest way? No. But it tastes good and he'll eat it. I was craving pork chop too. Another food I haven't had in a long time. Guess I'm fished out! I breaded the chops in a mixture of Parmesan Reggiano cheese. I learned this trick from Marie at Proud Italian Cook. Certain Someone loves it. I use it for chicken and pork.

Dandelion Greens with Bacon and Fig Balsamic

4 strips of bacon cut into cubes

1/2 onion

1 clove of chopped garlic

2 bunches of Dandelion greens washed and cut into pieces

a splash or 2 of Fig Balsamic Vinegar

1 tablespoon of natural sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Brown bacon. Drain fat. Add onion and garlic.Saute until translucent Add dandelion leaves and balsamic, and sugar. Cook until wilted.Salt and pepper to taste.

Slow Cooked Apple Sauce ...Comfort Food Cook Off

Apple sauce is one of my favorite comfort foods. Ever since I was a child I could eat up jars of it. My tastes outgrew the commercial made canned and jar products.A blogger I love, did a post recently on hot spiced apples with all sorts of tips. I had been toying with making a apple sauce and I had come across this crock pot recipe. The only change I made was adding a cinnamon stick in addition to the cinnamon as it cooks. I can't describe the wonderful homey aroma that filled the air. The perfect aromatherapy for a lazy winter day. I plan to eat this alone or on top of Sunday pancakes or waffles.



This is also my entry for the Comfort Food Cook off. Now all I need is my spoon.

Odds and Ends...

I hate waste and relish creativity.These are some little condiments I've made with some leftovers, or produce that needed to be used immediately.By making these I've preserved some great flavors.
I bought a beautiful pineapple last week that has been sitting on my kitchen counter waiting for me. I didn't feel I'd get around to it and the word chutney came to mind. Chutneys are great strong flavored relishes that can used as condiment with all sorts of meats and fishes. I chopped up the pineapple, some ginger,large bulbed green onion, red onion,curry,rice vinegar, red chili flakes, cayenne pepper, garlic, and raw sugar. I cooked it down until the liquid turned syrupy. The end result is a fantastic , if not really spicy condiment that I will pair with salmon, chicken, or just plain meatballs. That's the beautiful thing about Chutneys, just throwing things together.
I had purchased some Meyer Lemons for a another recipe I had made. They are quite costly and I didn't want to waste a drop. I peeled the zest and followed this recipe.I cant stop nibbling on these. In this bleak Chicago winter they are a burst of sunshine!
I felt it was shame to waste that nice sugar syrup that had been infused with the Meyer Lemon peels. I had some SENCE rose nectar in the fridge that I added it to, boiled it down more and Voila!I can imagine adding this to a Champagne cocktail, soaking a pound cake, and incorporating it any other dessert.The possibilities are endless. Rose and lemon are major components to Middle Eastern food.
So for not a lot of money, I have three great condiments to add to my pantry.