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Tag: Cooking

My Favourite Books of 2011: Matt (Sales)

by Matt
Fiction + Food & Drink + Kids / December 21, 2011

As the holiday season has already shown, “just one more”, seems to have become my motto. I’ll try and break this habit in choosing from the smorgasbord of delectable books distributed by Raincoast in 2011, difficult as that may be considering my…appetite.

You would think this means I would start with a cookbook, and it does. I will. Two of them actually, both beautifully designed and produced by Chronicle Books.

Yotam Ottolenghi’s (love that name), Plenty, has fast become the must-have foodie cookbook of the year. It is filled with stunning visuals and consistent recipes that promise to sway even the most ardent eaters of faun and fowl into dedicated vegetarians. Five words; Caramelized fennel with goat cheese. Much like with my wife, I fell in love when I saw this book. That love has developed and deepened as I have cooked.  Awkward metaphor? Yes. Great cookbook? Definitely. 

Ruhlman’s Twenty taught me more about salt and water than a day trip to First Beach. I am a better cook for having read, and re-read this book, and you will be too.

Owing to my four year old nephew and six year old niece, both of whom have developed a taste for my next pick, I have read and reread Herve Tullet’s, Press Here, more times than I care to admit, more times than I have the Lord of the Rings. That is saying something. It’s not often a book can elicit visceral responses from me within the first few pages. Even rarer are those books that can engage the reader, young or old, to pick it up, shake it out, turn it sideways, push on brightly painted circles and alternate between clapping, laughing, clapping faster, and laughing noisily in a rising crescendo as the book nears its end. The answer to TV and the internet is in this 8x8 board book, published first in France in 2010, and then picked up by Chronicle Books and brought to the Canadian market in 2011. 

Grandpa Green is Lane Smith’s newest children’s title after It’s a Book. It is a memoir, a personal narrative on growing old and on being young, on imagination and forgetting, on the ingenuity of telling a story, whether your own or someone else’s, in a way that remains true to the heart. This book has my heart in its pages, for the beauty of the story and the images both. It’s one I’ll read to my child and savor for myself in the quiet moments.

Among Others, by Jo Walton treads softly, using echoes of the fantastic and a decidedly non-urgent magic to tell a fictional tale that could be otherwise completely more or less mostly real. It is a fairy tale and an elegant curtsy to the great stories and writers of the sci-fi and fantasy genres. Thanks to Dan for pointing this book out to me – I’ve never read anything quite like it. Here is what I emailed him after I was finished:  “The way in which she weaves magic into the fabric of her life, and the story reminds me of the film Pan's Labyrinth, where, as the audience you aren't sure if magic really does exist or if her telling is something that is purely fantastical and without truth. The complexity of that question has kept me gnawing at it the last few nights, it's definitely a book I'll pass on to some friends for discussion when I'm done. PS — I think I saw a fairy this morning.”

Lastly, Paula Scher MAPS, Published by Princeton Architectual Press, surprised me with its beauty and with its complexity. Whether you take to this book for its visuals or prefer to delve into the theory behind the project, there is no doubting its resonance as an artifact of modern culture, and a remembering of an art form quickly becoming anachronistic.  Sher uses language to (re)create her maps; some familiar and some less so. They are drawn from, “memory, from impressions from media, and from general information overload”, and her brief introduction, titled “All Maps Lie” outlines how all maps are fallible objects influenced by factors as trivial as personal preference, inaccurate information, and imagination. The maps themselves keep me coming back to them with new questions in mind, curious as to how the world looks through her copious and particular lens. Every page engages and invites us to follow along and recognize the unfamiliar in what is quite clearly a familiar landscape. 

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Meat and One Veg

by Dan
Food & Drink / June 13, 2011

If you're a designer and you love meat (and that's got to put you in a pretty big category, right?), Bacon Ipsum is the website for you.

Bacon Ipsum? Indeed. 

Basically, Bacon Ipsum is an online text-generator that spices up the boring old lorem ipsum placeholder text used for design mock-ups in publishing and graphic design by inserting a whole lot of meat-related words. Text options include 'All Meat' and 'Meat and Filler'. 

Here's an 'All Meat' example:

Bacon ipsum dolor sit amet ham tail bacon headcheese chuck flank. Tenderloin jowl meatball chuck tongue t-bone. Bresaola sausage chicken meatloaf jowl pancetta. Hamburger pancetta ribeye pork belly biltong pig, bresaola ham hock. Jowl brisket bacon pork chop ground round shank. Pancetta cow chuck bacon andouille, boudin tri-tip bresaola beef ribs hamburger ground round pig pastrami brisket salami. Shankle flank chuck, tail swine shank tongue.

Beef hamburger tenderloin ham hock. Bresaola bacon pork chop ball tip rump, headcheese salami spare ribs venison tail drumstick boudin short ribs short loin. Sirloin bresaola short ribs, bacon boudin tail pork ham andouille ham hock rump sausage ball tip pastrami. Drumstick pork loin cow, pork boudin sausage strip steak corned beef ground round pastrami short ribs brisket. Ham tongue swine chicken. Jerky tenderloin rump, meatloaf shank short ribs pancetta sirloin ribeye tongue spare ribs boudin ham hock chicken turkey. T-bone boudin tail brisket chicken.

As I'm sure you'll agree, that is a whole lot meat! And it just go to show that everything really is better with bacon. Even Latin. 

And why do I mention this now?

Well, it is the season to be grilling, and there is that tiny matter of Father's Day this weekend, and as a dad (and a dude) my mind does tend to wander towards the BBQ (even if it isn't close to lunch time yet). 

So, on the off chance you're looking for meatier BBQ recipes, or just to happen to be looking for FATHER'S DAY GIFTS I thought I'd recommend two recently published books for bacon-obsessed dudes: Fire It Up: More than 400 Recipes for Grilling Everything by the guys that brought you Mastering the Grill, and Eat Like a Man: The Only Cookbook a Man Will Ever Need, from Esquire magazine's food editor Ryan D'Agostino.

But if you (and your dad!) can wait until September, you might also want to check out Whole Beast Butchery (available for pre-order from your local indie and Chapters-Indigo and Amazon online), in which San Francisco chef and self-taught meat expert Ryan Farr demystifies the butchery process. That, also, is a whole lot of meat right there... 

Of course, there is the merest possibility that this might just be too much meat for one blog post, so just to tip the scales back towards a semblance of a balanced diet for one minute, I thought I would also mention Plenty — a favourite in our office since it was published by Chronicle Books in March. 

Written by restaurateur Yotam Ottolenghi, the book collects 120 vegetarian(!) recipes inspired by Yotam's Mediterranean background and his unapologetic love of ingredients.

Funnily enough though, Yotam is not a vegetarian himself... (I wonder if he thinks everything's better with bacon? Hmm... Perhaps not...)

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Announcing the winner of our “Cook Bake, Blog!” contest…

by Siobhan
Contests + Food & Drink / January 14, 2011

Finally -- after siome delays trying to catch up after our move -- I'm able to announce the winner of our "Cook Bake, Blog!" contest ... drumroll please ...

Congratulations, Suzie Ridle from Nova Scotia!

Suzie, aka Susie the Foodie, will win $500 (CDN retail) worth of cookbooks of her choice, published by Chronicle Books, Quirk Books or Gibbs Smith.

Check out Suzie's test-kitchen reports from trying out recipes from The Geometry of Pasta here and here (her delicious results are pictured below) -- and also watch this video of Suzie's brave husband concocting a brew of Mad Scientist Mix-Up from Little Monsters Cookbook!

ALSO ... congrats to the fabulous Cadboro Bay Book Company in Victoria, BC, who is the winner of our bookstore cookbook display contest!

 

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Cook, Bake, Blog ... You could win $500 worth of cookbooks!

by Siobhan
Food & Drink / October 15, 2010

You could win $500 worth of cookbooks from Chronicle Books, Quirk Books and Gibbs Smith!

It's easy ... and delicious!

There are two ways for Canadian foodies to enter:

1) Cook, Bake ... Blog!
Make a recipe from any cookbook published by Chronicle Books, Quirk Books or Gibbs Smith, then blog about it. Photos are encouraged! To enter, comment below and leave us a link to your blogpost about your culinary adventures with the recipe or cookbook. (This option counts as two entries!)

2) Share your faves.
To enter, comment below and leave a comment about your favourite cookbook published by Chronicle Books, Quirk Books or Gibbs Smith. Which cookbook is your favourite and why? What's the one recipe that everyone definitely needs to try out? (This option counts as one entry.)

You have until January 1, 2011 to enter!
The contest is open to Canadian residents only.

Contest Details: Winners will be drawn at random on January 5, 2011. Winners must live in Canada. Multiple entries (with different recipes!) are accepted. Prize will be $500 CDN retail worth of cookbooks published by Chronicle Books, Quirk Books or Gibbs Smith, as selected by the Winner from a list provided by Raincoast.

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Be inspired ... at the market, in the kitchen, and at the table!

Here are a few new cookbooks — with some videos and sample recipes! — to get your tastebuds fired up. Click on the covers to learn more about each book.

 

Recipe for Leo's Classic Sugar Cookies from Blackbird Bakery Gluten-Free Baking

 

Recipe for Cupcake Bites from Cake Pops

 

 

Recipe for Baked Beets with Fresh Citrus and Herbs from The Homesteader's Kitchen
Recipe for Pear Sherbet and Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Shortbread Bars from The Commonsense Kitchen

 

Recipe for Kadota Fig Tart with Mascarpone Cream  from The Winemaker Cooks

 

 

 

 

Recipe for Ajvar from D.I.Y. Delicious

 

Recipe for Wagon-Wheel Pasta and Goat Cheese from Time for Dinner
Recipe for Sweet and Sour Chicken with Plums from Time for Dinner
Recipe for One-Pot Coconut Chicken Curry from Time for Dinner

 

Listen to an interview with the creators of The Geometry of Pasta on  NPR.
Recipe for Penne All'arrabbiata (Spicy Tomato Sauce) from The Geometry of Pasta
Recipe for Gnudi Al Ragu D'Agnello (Lamb Sauce) from The Geometry of Pasta
Recipe for Gemelli Al Fagiolini (Green Beans) from The Geometry of Pasta

 

Recipes for Bloody Sundae and Mummy Pops from Little Monsters Cookbook

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D.I.Y Delicious Book Trailer

by Dan
Food & Drink / August 17, 2010

Check out this jaunty, oh-so-D.I.Y., book trailer for Vanessa Barrington’s D.I.Y. Delicious: Recipes and Ideas for Simple Food From Scratch:

D.I.Y. Delicious is perfect for crafty green types who have graduated from simple weekend jam and baking activities. The book goes beyond pickling and preserving into fermenting, culturing cheese, and brewing sodas and tonics. A total of 75 recipes and more than 50 step-by-step, colour photographs lead the way to stocking a pantry that uses fewer ingredients to make delicious staples at a much lower cost. 

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10 Books for a Greener Life

by Dan
Environment / April 22, 2010

If you are looking for ways to be more environmentally-friendly, here are 10 books that will help you to green your home, your kitchen and your life:

1. 1001 Ways to Save the Earth by Joanna Yarrow
2. Anna Getty's Easy Green Organic by Anna Getty
3. Cool Cuisine: Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming by Laura Stec and Eugene Cordero
4. Eco-Chic Home: Rethink, Reuse & Remake Your Way to Sustainable Style by Emily Anderson
5. Go Green: How to Build an Earth-Friendly Community by Nancy H. Taylor
6. Green by Design: Creating a Home for Sustainable Living by Angela Dean
7. It's Easy Being Green: A Handbook for Earth-Friendly Living by Crissy Trask
8. New Green Home Solutions: Renewable Household Energy and Sustainable Living by Dave Bonta and Stephen Snyder
9. Squeaky Green: A Method Guide to Greening Up Your Cleaning Up by Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan
10. Your Eco-Friendly Home: Buying, Building, or Remodeling Green by Sid Davis

Happy Earth Day!!

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Happy Earth Day World!!

by Danielle
Environment + Food & Drink / April 21, 2010

 

Here's an excerpt from ANNA GETTY'S GREEN ORGANIC: COOK WELL, EAT WELL, LIVE WELL, the ultimate guide to anything and everything that is good for our earth.

Enjoy!!

 

 

Zucchini and Sweet Potato Bread with Pumpkin Seeds and Dried Cherries
Makes one 9-BY-5-inch loaf
crumble topping
1⁄4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons cold
unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

zucchini and sweet potato bread
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1⁄4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground
cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup grated zucchini (about 1 1⁄2 small zucchini)
1 cup grated garnet yam (about 1⁄2 large garnet yam)
3⁄4 cup pumpkin seeds
3⁄4 cup dried cherries

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan.
2. To make the topping, mix together the flour, brown sugar, and pumpkin seeds. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Set aside.
3. To make the bread, in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking
powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
4. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the zucchini and yam. Add the flour mixture, pumpkin seeds, and dried
cherries and stir well. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter.
5. Bake the bread for 1 1/2 hours, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the bread comes out clean.
6. Let the zucchini bread cool in the pan before removing it from the pan
to serve.

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Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking

by Dan
Food & Drink / February 01, 2010

Lovingly designed inside and out with stunning colour photographs by Susie Cushner, brush calligraphy by San Yan Wong, and detailed line drawings, Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo is just one of the most beautiful cookbooks I have ever seen.

But it's not *just*a coffee-table book. Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking includes more than 100 recipes, and Lo – an acclaimed chef with decades of experience – guides you step-by-step through the techniques, ingredients, and equipment of new and old Chinese cuisine.

It's an amazing book and surely a 'must-have' for Chinese cuisine aficionados.

Just watch this fabulous video for the book:

 

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Carb swapping! No more crazy diets that don’t work!

by Danielle
January 04, 2010

We just received the new book by bestselling author Jorge Cruise called THE BELLY FAT CURE. I'm truly amazed. After reading the first few chapters and taking a look at the many recipes included, I'm hooked. Really! He suggests a very simple regime of carb swapping. The book gives you sample dishes that are not so healthy and replaces them with the good ones. In turn, hoping to make you lose 4-9 pounds every week. Try it out for yourself (if needed), but please consult your local physician before starting any new diet.

This is one of Jorge's many YouTube video on the subject. He explains that some foods have a high sugar content which is not good for your body (obviously) so he will give you delicious alternatives. 

Here's is Jorge's visit to The Today Show (Jan 4, 2010)

Jorge Cruise is the author of 3 consecutive New York Times best-selling series, with more than 5 million books in print in over 15 languages. He has appeared on Oprah, Regis and Kelly, The View, Good Morning America, the Today show, Dateline NBC, and CNN. Go to TheBellyFatCure.com to join Jorge?s free e-mail club.

 

 

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Here’s to a sake New Years!

by Danielle
Excerpts + Food & Drink / December 30, 2009

I thought I'd post a couple of yummy sake recipes from Kathy Casey's Sips and Apps for your New Years celebration. I hope you like them! Enjoy! 

If you do intend to have a few cocktails tomorrow night please do not drive and find an alternative to taking your car.

All the best and here's to 2010!

Sake Sangria
Makes about 4 cups (6 to 8 servings)

1 (750 ml) bottle sake
6 tablespoons honey
2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 stalk fresh lemongrass, halved lengthwise, then cut into 3- to 4-inch pieces (use the entire stalk)
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
1 small tangerine or orange, thinly sliced
1 large plum or apricot, pitted and cut into thin wedges (optional, if not in season)

In a large pitcher, combine all the ingredients and stir with a spoon, crushing some of the fruit. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, or up to 2 days, to let the flavors marry before serving. Serve over ice, and include some of the fruit in each serving.

Sake Teriyaki Sticky Chicken Wings
Makes 24

Old-school teriyaki chicken wings get a big-flavored lacquery glaze in this low-and-slow method. You can make the sauce a few days ahead of time, but be sure to allow a full hour for cooking the wings.

I cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sake, or substitute dry sherry or dry white wine
2 tablespoons very finely minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
I cup sugar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions, white and green parts
3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons water
1 dozen whole chicken wings or 2 dozen drummettes, about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds

For Garneshing
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seed
Thinly sliced green onion tops

In a small saucepan, whisk together the soy sauce, sake, ginger, garlic, sugar, pepper flakes, green onions, vinegar, cornstarch, and water. Set the pan over medium heat and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, to thicken. Mixture will be very thick. Let cool. If not using immediately, store, covered and refrigerated, for up to 4 days.
If using whole wings, disjoint the wings and remove and discard tips; you should have 24 pieces. Put them in a large bowl and set aside.
Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F.

Add the sauce mixture to the bowl with the chicken and mix well to coat the chicken evenly. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray or lightly oil it. Arrange the drummettes and sauce in a single layer in the dish.

Bake for 30 minutes. Stir and turn the chicken pieces over and bake for 20 minutes more. Stir and turn the chicken pieces again and bake for 10 minutes more, or until chicken is tender and sauce is thick and glazy. Total cooking time should be about 1 hour.

Stir the drummettes in the sauce once more, then transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Spoon some of the extra sauce over the chicken, then sprinkle with the sesame seed and green onions for garnish.
 



 

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