CookThatBook

Written by contributing writer Jacqueline Twa and Stay-At-Home-Chef

JACQUELINE TWA: I have to admit that I am a food television junkie.

I love to watch it any time…anywhere. In fact, I once told my editor that I thought watching the Food Network was like watching soft porn. She quoted me on that comment without naming me – now I am outing myself.

As part of my addiction to food television, I became deeply immersed in the MasterChef show this past summer. I love the idea that someone who does not cook professionally can compete in this arena!

Confession? I often fantasize about standing in that studio sweating it out to win some fabulous prize and to raise my brow at Gordon Ramsey’s comments. The brow raise? Practiced daily. I also have to admit that I have a secret (well not so secret now I guess) crush on Joe Bastianich…but the skinny Joe; not the Elvis version.

In my fantasies no detail is too small when it comes to envisioning each challenge and how I would prepare every dish. Of course in my mind I win each challenge with my flamboyant culinary skills, and not only do I look slim and youthful in every shot but Gordon keeps telling me over and over how I am ‘da bomb’. However, all fantasies came to a screeching halt during the one episode challengers were asked to create a soufflé.

Although I had a basic idea of how to make a soufflé, I had actually never made one. Oh the shame. The gourmet gauntlet had been thrown down and I had no choice; I would have to master the soufflé.

Now I have many friends that I consider to be great cooks – I like to mentally categorize them as my “Foodie Friends”. One of my dearest foodie buddies, is none other than my editor Jasmine (Stay-At-Home-Chef). Jasmine and I share a passion for food and a passion for our families. She is my touch stone on all things food. Spending time with her is always filled with fun and laughter! I have to keep reminding myself that she is over 15 years my junior. It just feels like she has been in my life as a trusted girlfriend forever.

Back to soufflés.

I called Jasmine up and asked if she had ever made a soufflé before.

Dramatic pause.

The answer? Nope! So with our heads hung low in foodie shame, we agreed to get together and conquer the art of making a soufflé.

The day we cooked together in Jasmine’s warm and inviting kitchen with her gorgeous daughters running about was magic. There is something about peering through the window of the oven – wondering if our soufflés would rise and meet our expectations – that reminded me of Christmas morning as a kid.

In short? Our soufflés were an unqualified success. Now keep in mind that our little guinea pigs were 5 and 3 years of age! Leave it to a food blogger to not only have her kids eating soufflés at such a tender age but to give us decent feedback!

So, the final step in my imaginary quest for food supremacy was done and another item checked off my bucket list – or ramekin list in this case!

Next up, I compete in my imaginary triathlon without breaking a sweat!

STAY-AT-HOME-CHEF: When my dear friend and contributing writer Jacqueline Twa called me up and demanded to know if I’d ever made soufflés, I knew the gig was up. My cover as a ‘foodie’ was about to be blown apart. Why? The truth was that I had never made a soufflé.

In my mind, soufflés were only attempted by true professionals with a minimum of 500 years’ experience in a highly coveted culinary institution. Their reputation for collapsing immediately after removal from the oven is the main reason why I have never attempted them before. And who can blame me?! I figured they were stereotyped as hair pullingly difficult for a reason. So I stayed away.

Until now.

When Jax responded to my confession by saying that she had never made a soufflé either, I began to feel better. When she suggested the two of us get together and give these fickle custard and egg white concoctions a try, I felt way better.

We decided to make both a sweet and savoury soufflé. Savoury wise we opted for Ina Garten’s Blue Cheese Soufflé. It is fairly straightforward (am I allowed to use the word ‘straightforward’ when describing soufflés?!) but be warned there are lots of steps. We ended up rereading the recipe numerous times just to make sure we hadn’t gotten off track amid all of our culinary nattering. And let me tell ya staying focused was no small feat! When Jax and I get together and talk food it’s like watching a high intensity sport. In fact, a friend once told me she likes to just sit and observe the two of us in dialogue!

For our sweet soufflé, we ended up going the chocolate route with a recipe by Real Epicurean. Immediately we were struck by the fact that there were a lot less steps and ingredients involved compared to Ina’s recipe. Being complete food nerds, we quickly became excited to see if the results would be markedly different too.

Soufflés are made from two basic components, specifically a French crème pâtissière base (flavoured cream sauce) and egg whites beaten into a meringue. The base provides the flavour while the egg whites create that fabulous lift.

While a successful soufflé should emerge from the oven gloriously fluffy and puffy, it will fall after 5-10 minutes so don’t worry if this happens! Both our savoury and sweet experiments rose beautifully (check out our in oven picture…we were extremely proud of our babies!)

The Blue Cheese was definitely our favourite (not surprisingly our little taste testers preferred the chocolate). Greasing the ramekins and sprinkling with parmesan cheese prior to adding the soufflé batter, resulted in this amazing crust that was salty and crisp. The blue cheese tasted wonderful and in no way did its strong flavour dominate the dish. The texture itself was perfect; light as air and lovely and rich.

The chocolate soufflés were also a hit, although I felt there was something lacking in the flavour department that left it a little one dimensional. Some cinnamon or a sprinkle of sea salt would have been fantastic, or even a pinch of chili pepper for a little burst of heat. Being lactose intolerant, poor Jax had to leave the tasting part up to me and the girls.

All in all our cooking adventure was chalked up as a great success. Hmmm…wonder what our next culinary Kilimanjaro will involve. Suggestions?!

By contributing writer Jacqueline Twa

We are well into summer; why wouldn’t I be obsessed with meat pies?

I blame my endless production of winter comfort food on the weather. Anyone who lives on the West Coast knows what I’m talking about! Up until a couple of weeks ago we had not been graced with more than half a dozen spring days let alone any long lazy days of summer. Thoughts of picnics with crispy fried chicken and potato salad, or a late afternoon barbeque holding an overstuffed burger out from the front of your shirt in order to save yourself from the usual mustard coloured stain down the front have been far from top of mind.

Okay where was I? Oh yes…meat pies.

Personally, I love meat pies and have been making them ever since I was a kid and first learned to make pastry. Nowadays, I often try to shake it up and add new elements to my recipe repertoire. This penchant for changing things up all the time to avoid boredom has resulted in a collection of morphed recipes that originated from classics. For example; often I add curry and turmeric to my chicken pot pies. I have also been known to use Ras el Hanout and grated orange zest to beef pot pies. I love classic French Canadian Tourtière, Shepherd’s Pie and English Steak and Kidney Pie. I love Jamaican Patties, Scottish Pasties, Indian Samosas, American Pizza Pops and even Chinese Barbeque Pork Buns which arguably are a kind of pie (okay let’s not fight – they are a pastry).

Whatever type of meat pie happens to be your favourite, the best part about making them is that they are super versatile and hard to screw up.

My Mother used to make a fairly simple single crust meat pie called “Cheeseburger Pie” which was a weeknight dinner staple in our house. Whenever we walked in the door and inquired about what we were having for dinner and she told us Cheeseburger Pie, we would all cheer!

I can still envision her tattered recipe card, written in her beautiful hand.  Stained withy decades of use, I know I still have it somewhere and while writing this I have vowed to dig it out to remind me of those long ago family dinners.

Now as for the pastry potion of this program, I am a firm believer in good pastry. I believe in making my own from scratch and I believe in using shortening for pastry. No butter crust for this girl – especially in a savoury pie.

If the idea of making pastry strikes fear into your heart, there are variety of decent ready-made pie doughs available so you don’t have any excuse: hang the weather and go make meat pies!

Here is my basic pie crust recipe along with a few of my favorite meat pies (including my Mom’s kid pleasing Cheeseburger Pie):

Jax’s Basic Meat Pie Crust
Jax’s French Canadian Tourtière
Jax’s Chicken Pot Pie
Mom’s Cheeseburger Pie

by contributing writer Jacqueline Twa

The fact of the matter is that women fake it sometimes.

Now I am aware that as a woman I really should not be divulging this information, but I am and we do. Deal with it people.

As women our lives are complex and busy enough as it is, so who can blame us if we aren’t always in the right frame of mind or have the physical ability to get to the real thing. I know most women don’t usually admit to things like this – but I must stand up and say loud and proud that I fake it now and then. Truth be told I fake it almost every day. Honestly, for me it’s a matter of necessity. No really – hear me out!

I can’t eat dairy products. Dairy makes me ill – the yucky kind of ill that makes me diligent about avoiding it at all costs. The tricky thing is that I happen to love the way dairy products look and smell, the shameless foodie within me constantly imagining how the addition of something creamy and stringy and gooey would enhance a particular dish.

I know countless women who given the choice would rather sacrifice wine or chocolate in place of cheese. So in a valiant effort to not appear handicapped, I always try to recreate foods that traditionally contain dairy and make them into lactose free masterpieces that taste better than the real deal.

Speaking of dairy, everyone loves Caesar salad, right? Whenever I see people eating Caesar salad my mouth starts to water. That garlicky smell, the gentle snowstorm of pungent white Parmesan…I have always been jealous of the lucky consumers of such deliciousness.

Every time my husband breathes his garlicky Caesar satisfaction in my direction, I am forced into that ‘how unfair’ feeling. Consequently, I have tried many times to make a dairy-free Caesar salad and many times I have failed. Somehow they just never seemed to satisfy my lust for that specific dairy flavour profile.

Fortunately all of my efforts eventually led to designing a recipe that I think give other Caesar dressings a run for their money. All of the signature flavours are present and the overall taste is great, even without Parmesan. Most of my dairy eating friends prefer this version and my own ravenous horde (aka, my family) ask me to make it almost every time they come for dinner – and in my world that’s the test that matters most.

Jax’s ‘Fake’ Caesar Salad
Start with a cup of good mayonnaise – people who avoid things that come out of an udder know that mayonnaise is next to godliness. Never buy cheap mayo! Add 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard. Mash 3 whole anchovies or add a big squirt of anchovy paste and add to the dressing. Oh get over it – put them in! Add about 2 toes of crushed garlic (even better if you use roasted garlic). Include a good six or seven shots of Worcestershire, salt and pepper (to taste) and whip into a frenzy. This dressing will last well in the fridge for over a week.

Next, put sliced pancetta (two slices per person) on parchment and roast them off on a baking sheet in a 425 F degree oven for about 10 minutes (thickness can vary final cooking time). When the Pancetta discs are crispy and brown take them out and set them aside.

Cube up any day old bread you have (artesian breads are obviously the best choice) and toss them in the leftover pancetta fat. If the cubes are too dry, add olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste and toast in the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes or until crunchy and golden.

Cut a trimmed head of Romaine lettuce in half and place on a plate.

In a back and forth motion, drizzle the salad with the dressing and a balsamic reduction (I use a bottled variety). Sprinkle with the croutons and add 3 or four toes of roasted garlic over the top, garnishing with the pancetta on the side.

If you absolutely must, finely grate Parmesan over the whole thing. Damn you.