Cucinare a solo!

We’ve all faced the situation where we actually cook alone from time to time. I know, it’s hard to believe that even happens to me, clearly with all the women in my life. But when that far off occasion warrants a visit, desperate times call for desperate measures. No, I’m not talking about eating a bowl of cheerios followed by a bowl of Blue Menu Vanilla Frozen Yogurt. (Eat the pain away…) In other words, if you’re not only in the business of trying (but failing) to impress women but also attempting to feed yourself with cheap stuff found in the back of your freezer or in a box on shelf, then this story is for you!

Tonight was one of those nights. I had just returned from a long arduous work out down at the local gristle factory (do they even exist?) and all I had eaten were leftovers of cheese and crackers at work (the gristle factory?) I was famished! About three months ago I was at the Super C in Hull when I found a bag of nondescript fish fillets for 10$, no tax; they basically gave it to me. A whole bag of fish, freshly frozen, and ready to be opened at some point in the future for my fortuitous pleasure!  Not even sure what kind of fish- it says “POISSON” on it, which according to wikipedia means FISH… no matter.  Tonight I was desperate, hungry and looking to boost my intake of Omega 3 fatty acids!  Come to think of it, that sounds like every night.

With my “fish”, I made mashed potatoes, tossing in a bit of finely grated cheese to add that creamy texture we all love and enjoy on the tips of our tongues.   spruce it up a bit.  Who wants to just eat mashed potatoes?  The more difficult task came down to how to tackle the fish.  Sitting in front of my oven upon a stool purchased recently at the Great Glebe Garage Sale, I pondered the notion: Vanilla and Spice, could it be so nice?  Embracing the iambic pentameter, I vaulted for my cupboard to find a jar, a jar filled with a vanilla found only afar.  Bourbon Vanilla Paste to be exact- origin: Madagascar, packaged: Illinois. This stuff is like an addicts fix when it comes to baking- and tonight, for preparing fish. The paste is composed of vanilla bean seeds and gives such a potent punch that you require only a small amount- it’s ridiculously odoriferous!

In a saucepan over medium heat,  I added a dash of olive oil, salt, pepper, a local peach infused hot sauce and then a glob of vanilla.  Within seconds, the kitchen was filled with an aroma unmatched in centuries! Into the pan I tossed my “fish fillets” which instantly disintegrated into fine fillets- cheap shit.   No matter though, because it was only getting better!  I uncovered a bag of frozen veggies, knocked off the freezer burn, and added them up.  Becoming intoxicated by the aroma, I dashed a bit more of the vanilla into the golden hash of fish and veggies.  (No actual booze were consumed during the creation of this food.)

To serve, I tossed the vanilla n’ spice fish upon the mashed.  A bit of cayenne pepper for colour et voila!

Afterwards, I texted almost every number in my cell phone to see if anyone would respond- but to no avail.  It’s a good thing they created a Blue Menu… for those blue days.  (I’m looking at you Lauren )

Moral of the story- don’t be afraid to mix it up.  Vanilla and Spice is dope!  Who knows what might come out of the Legit Kitchen, or yours- tomorrow!

Ciao ciao!

PS- Food was created while listening to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”, on repeat.  Fact.

Journey – Don\’t Stop Believing

Roasted Red Peppa ‘n Spinach Omelette

According to the good people at reference.com, “gourmet cook Julia Child once described an omelette as soft-cooked scrambled eggs wrapped in an envelope of firmly-cooked scrambled eggs.” That makes an omelette – the gold of all egg creations – sound pretty lame. I propose, as many would agree (Dave), that an omelette is a damn beautiful and multi-elemental thing.

I just made a great little omelet for the history books in about ten minutes using whatever I had on hand. The key to making a good omelette is that you need three things: good spatula; a good oil; and a good no-stick pan.

But before you worry about the tools, think about the ingredients. Be creative. First, lets start with eggs. For a personal serving, use two or three eggs with the yolks in. You’ll get more flavour that way. Crack em open and place in a cereal bowl or something a little larger. Once you’ve done that things getting a little interesting. The staple of any omelette is some sort of veggie. I highly suggest using finely chopping the vegs and toss them in with the eggs. In my case, I coarsely diced spinach and tossed it into the egg. While I was as at it, I also diced some roasted red peppers (you can use pretty much any other veggie so long as it’s got taste!) and kept them aside – you’ll see why. Next, add some flavour in there. Use a good amount of salt and pepper, a little garlic, some dried herbs and even some icing sugar if you have some. The icing sugar makes it, it’s weird but it works! If you have any ‘hard’ cheese (like parm), add a little of that too! If you’re feeling crazy, add in some mustard seed or turmeric. Dump in a little milk and whisk everything up with a fork. It’ll be kinda green uncooked and really ripen with a little heat.

At the same time, warm a small non-stick frying pan lined with a glaze of olive oil on medium heat. By glaze I mean use a good amount of oil so that the pan is neither dry nor basting in oil and make sure it’s covered evenly! I like to use extra-virgin olive oil for taste and health factors. Once ready, dump the mix into the pan filling the pan’s entire diameter. Here, I suggest using a spatula to poke and prod at the cooking omelette. Keep a good eye on her – occasionally jam your spatula into the egg opening up the bottom shell. This will allow some of the excess liquid on top to be cooked off.

After a couple minutes, the bottom of the omelette will be cooked nicely – so that it’s neither sopping nor crisp. At this point, carefully use to the spatula to loosen it all around. Then, on half of the circular omelette, add on the roasted red peppers near the edge. When ready, elevate the non-roasted red peppers side and fold it over the other half. A helpful hint here is to lift the pan off of the stove a little so that you can get the right angle with the spatula. Take it slow and be gentle – eggs are fragile.

Turn down the heat to minimum and leave it on the stove for another couple of minutes. This will allow it to cook through and to head the newly placed veggies inside. Personally, I like my veggies with some crunch, they taste better and have more nutritional value that way. By this point, your omelette will have a little gold colour on the bottom – the sign that it’s all done and sufficiently cooked through. Remove from the stove and serve directly onto a plate. Garnish with a little pepper, lemon zest, or whatever you’ve got handy.

And that, my friends, is omelette 101 with yours truly.

To clarify quantities and measurements:
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 roasted red pepper (from a can, it’s easier that way)
- handful of spinach
- some dry herbs (rosemary and basil are perfect!) (1 tbsp)
- a touch of yogourt or milk (2 tbsp)
- a pinch of icing sugar (1 tsp)
- a little bit of garlic (1/4 clove)
- salt and pepper
- olive oil

As a hilarious endnote, the worlds largest omelette to date was made by the Brockville Lung Society in 2002 – Ontario represent! It weighed 2.95 TONS and looked like this:

Have a good one!

Jordan

Some kitchen Shinanigans 101

Ever feel like a hearty lunch? Today, being my first day off since finding myself employed in nearly months, or is it years? Wait, two weeks- I felt like lounging around and not doing anything stressful. Dragging myself into the kitchen, I found the shelves of the fridge barren and empty. My stomach, echoing what I had just discovered in the fridge, nudged me into recognizing that I would indeed have to get work done today, that is namely to feed myself. Whipping up a list of groceries I was soon off to the races, picking up the sempre bellazza Amanda who was also in dire need of sustenance. Navigating our way through the enclave of Vanier, we arrived at our destination: large unnamed grocery store with yellow letters! (Not sure if we’d be sued over this, so better we play it safe.)  Why head over to Vanier, almost all of you may enquire?  As with any student, I had stumbled upon gift certificates on my birthday but had placed them in a “safe” spot- only rediscovering them today.  And so, we entered into the cave of the cyclops…

Not unlike the ‘real’ cave of the cyclops, this place was abuzz with families foraging for their meals in the weeks (and judging by the trailers on the rear of the carts filled with frozen enchiladas) maybe months to come.  Navigating our way through the congested aisles would only have been easier if we had a plough on front end, with soft bumpers everywhere else.  On numerous occasions, Amanda was able to slide through oncoming carts (think Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder wiggling his way through the pack and into the lead!) while I was confined to slogging my way in the rear- staring at boxes upon boxes of enchiladas.  At one point, I swear a kid came up to me and called me daddy by mistake.  Is 22 really that old these days?

After packing up the groceries in the back of the hummer in a prius shell, Amanda coerced me into making her lunch.  Clearly, she hadn’t picked up enough food herself- and I guess I love to cook for women.  Grilled cheese sandwiches were on order, with a side of tomato soup- hearty student style!  Here’s what we did>

Grilled Cheese-

• 1/2 cup of grated cheese (we used Fruilano and a Mild Cheddar mix.)
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter (at 22, we can always take care of our sodium intake!)
• 4 slices bread (cracked whole wheat seemed to do the trick, see above health related comment.)

Cracked out Tomato Soup-

• can of soup
• 1/2 cup of milk
• smidgen of cream
• a dash of your favourite hot sauce
• crack some cracked pepper
• shredded cheese
• a whisk

Now you might think I just got off the short bus for breaking down the construction of a grilled cheese sandwich and soup, but before you castrate me for my insouciance, give this a look-see.  A lot of traditionalist out there tend to just use cheese slices, texas toast and a slab of butter.  Lambaste me as untraditional, but I found a round of Fruilano cheese today for 10$ and went nuts.  This mild tasting cheese from the Friuli region of Italy has soft undertones and a milk fat content that lends it to melting into a molten mound of stringiness perfectly suited to grilled cheese. By grating the cheese instead of slicing, we ensured that the cheese would melt more consistently throughout the sandwich.  And finally, by tossing in some mild cheddar, not only did we give it a bit of zip but we gave it a cool look when we sliced it in half.  Not all food has to be art, but it helps when something looks cool before you eat it.

As for the soup, while it’s cooking, feel free to throw something in there- unless you really love that fresh out of the can flavour- then dare not!  But reality being as it is, a lot of our foods come from cans- but it doesn’t necessarily mean that we cannot change once it leaves its cylinder little abode. Today we wanted a bit of spice, so we tossed in some hot sauce and pepper.  We could just have easily thrown in a leg of lamb if we wanted to, or toss in fresh veggies just to mix it up, or what about some curry?  A culinary critic might crucify you, but who cares- this food is for you.  Do what you feel is right and 9 times out of ten (or for me, 7/10 is my personal best,) you might make something that tastes wicked awesome!

Therefore, as it takes a few minutes to cook, take the time and experiment.  Not to wax philosophical, but too often we accept what’s given to us without realizing how much power rests within our hands- and sometimes, nowhere is this subtle apathy more strident than in students.  Let’s regain control of our food and make it our own.  Let’s have fun it and remember the time as kids that we mixed all the food on our plates into some weird jambalaya and it tasted phenomenal.  We lead horribly busy lives in each our own right, but take the natural time it takes to cook some things and prod, add and dash it up a bit!

The product today was a refreshing bowl of soup, a grilled cheese sandwich worth writing an exam just to enjoy, and the simple joy of creating it all for yourself and maybe someone close to you.

It’s legit.

What goes with what?

Here and there, we all have no bloody idea what goes with what in a dish. What flavors work with curried apple or mint yogurt? Or even braised chicken or avocados? What will taste like garbage or gold?

Lucky for us, there’s this really cool website called Food Pairing that creates family trees for foods, herbs and spices – identifying what jives with what. For instance, lets look at their tree for rhubarb:

See, I had no freaking idea that fish would work with rhubarb or blue for that matter (blue cheese, I think?). Thanks, Food Pairing.

Use it, love it!

Jordan