I Yam What I Yam...

This story begins with a problem.

The problem was this: I love yam fries, but I do not like the way they are often served.

Whenever I buy them in restaurants they come deep-fried with chipotle mayo.

When deep-fried, the wonderful sweet natural flavor of the yams is completely covered in the taste of the frying oil. I don't notice as much with regular fries, probably because they have a much milder flavor in general, but with the yams I always get a bit grossed out.
Especially with how greasy they are. I feel sick after eating them.

And I don't know why, but chipotle mayo is the staple dip to go with it. I guarantee if you order yam fries anywhere, they will serve a side of this weird stuff. The first time I was ok with it. And then I got really sick of it. It was just too much weird slippery savory stuff, combined with the greasy fries.

Yam fries deserve better.
Much better.
I feel very strongly about this.
So I began to think of how to do them justice.

At last, as I lay in bed one night consumed with my love for yam fries, it came to me.

Lime.

Yam and Lime. Sweet and Sour.

This could be good.

Yesterday I got the opportunity to experiment, so I did.
And I loved it.

Here's what I did.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cut a large yam into thin fries. The thinner the better, because it will cook faster. And the sooner they bake, the sooner you can eat them.
But if you're more a wedge person, go for it, I admire you for your patience.

Make sure the yam is nice and dry before you lightly toss it in oil (I used olive oil), and give it a good bit of pepper. NO SALT...yet.

Now...if you are feeling especially adventurous, get out the curry powder!
YES...trust me, it is going to be delicious. If you are a spice person, make your own mix. I just used the pre-mixed curry we had on hand. Because I'm lazy. And mixing curries can be hard.

Throw in quite a bit. I just eyeballed it, but what I thought was a lot turned out to be a very mild flavor, so you can afford to go a little crazy here.

Now after those yummy yammy fries have been tossed well, throw them on a baking sheet. Its best if they are well spread out and not touching each other. You don't want any moisture to be trapped anywhere, because then your fries will get steamed, not baked. Remember Julie and Julia? "Don't crowd the mushrooms!" Its the same principle with the fries.

Now put them in the oven. They're going to be there for a while...30-45 minutes. I know...it seems an eternity.

While you pine away for them, make yourself some Lime Aioli!

Aioli is really just a fancy name for a flavored mayo, meant to intimidate and impress. At least that's the conclusion I've come to.

Now, if you are like me you can scoff at that name and whip out your eggs, oil, and lime juice and whisk away...

And then when the emulsion breaks (twice), come to the realization that you really can't remember the basics you learned at school last year. And reflect on how sad that is.

And then you can pull out the Hellman's Mayonnaise in your fridge, and mix a small amount (however much you think you will eat with all those fries) with a fresh squeezed lime, lime zest, and a small amount of crushed garlic, salt and pepper and SUGAR. Tasting it and adjusting constantly is the only way to get it right, so get in there!

Now you're done!

Keep it chilled while you wait for your fries to finish. Also...don't forget to flip those little darlings now and then.

I like to cook my yams pretty long, so that they get almost yellowish, and chewy. But if you prefer, take them out right when their centers become soft.

Sprinkle as much or as little salt over them as you like.

Now enjoy your curried yam fries with lime aioli!

It sounds almost gourmet, doesn't it?
Just humor me and say yes.

New Go-To

I love Monkey Bread.

Unfortunately I can count the number of times I've eaten it on one hand.
I guess it my fear of yeast creations that kept me from trying it. I'm not usually successful with yeast. It doesn't like me, and almost never cooperates.

But when I saw a recipe for Monkey Bread on Smitten Kitchen, my newest favorite food blog, I knew it was time...

I was worried after the first rising that my bread would be a flop.
But it turned out well...


In fact, I just can't keep my hands off it.

I don't know if it will last until the hockey game...which is what it was originally intended for.

Feelin' Granola

I recently saw a recipe for homemade granola, on A Piece of Cake. I love this blog because it has,
1. Great photos
2. Great stories
3. Great recipes

When I was working at Strathcona Park Lodge, the morning cooks made all their own granola, and it was extremely similar to this recipe. I would eat it every morning before work.

The method is very basic, but it is so versatile. At the lodge, you never knew what would be in the granola that morning...it was always different! Nuts, seeds, dried fruit, coconut...whatever you like can get tossed in, and whatever you don't like can be left out! *I prefer crasins over the cherries, and walnuts instead of almonds.

I made a batch this morning, and I'm eating a bowl now for lunch...yum! It tastes just right.

Humdinger Hummus

I first fell in love with hummus while in Ireland. There was a grocery store called "Lidol" (of German origin, I believe) that sold this amazing hummus in a little plastic tub. That hummus was unlike any hummus I've ever had before or since- creamy, light, and fantastically flavored. I would buy one every week.

When I got home I tried to find a hummus to match it, but came up empty-handed. However, while I was away this summer, my mom came upon a recipe that has satisfied my hummus-tooth. Its not anything like the Lidol brand, but it is a great hummus!

So without further ado...

The Hummus Recipe

I couldn't resist this opportunity to use my new Cuisinart food processor!

2-3 Cloves of garlic...

1 can of chickpeas, drained...
3 Tablesoons of Lemon Juice...
3-4 Tablespoons of water (or chickpea juice :D), and 1 Teaspoon of cumin...
2-4 Tablespoons of tahini...or just less than 1 Tablespoon of peanut butter, if you have run out of tahini) and 1/4 teaspoon of salt!

Blend well!!
Voila!
Its a tasty (and healthy!) snack, that is so good with tortilla chips, or toasted pita bread with garlic butter! Yum!! And because chickpeas are full of protein, it wards of the grumbly tumblies.

I put a leeeetle too much PB in mine (because I'd always used tahini before) so be careful, because you only need a tiny bit, as it is much stronger than tahini. You could also try making your own tahini by lightly toasting raw (shelled!) sesame seeds, and then giving them a good blend in the food processor with a little veg or olive oil.

Enjoy!

Eggnog: The Great Debate

Normally it would be against my principles to have Christmas-themed posts before December even hits the calendars.
But when inspiration hits, who am I to deny it?
Also, this is another In-Preparation-For-The-Christmas-Season type thing. You need to know where eggnog stands in your household, before the time comes.

In my experience, most people feel quite strongly about eggnog, one way or the other. This iconic seasonal drink either repulses, or delights.

The thick texture, heavily spiced flavor, and knowledge of raw (gasp!) eggs in the mix, turn many away.

However, there are a few eggnog fanatics in my household. My youngest brother, Tim, in particular, inspired this post with his Facebook vow to create an eggnog cheesecake. Tim, who resists pouring his own bowl of cereal in the morning; Tim, who would rather waste away living on granola bars than cook his own dinner; HE voluntarily decided to bake himself an eggnog cheesecake.

Its true love.

Every since he was a wee one, Timmy has loved his eggnog. In Christmas' past, during eggnog wars when we had to mix our 'nog with milk, Tim would simply go and buy his own, write his name on the carton, and gloatingly sip pure, undefiled eggnog in front of the rest of us. This was back in the day when income was $10/month, earned by braving the frigid elements of the outdoors and delivering papers. That carton of eggnog was a serious expense, but to him it was worth it.

Eggnog is a topic that everyone has an opinion on. I have heard people hate on it as passionately as Tim loves it. It makes some people gag. Some can't even stand the smell.

I love that people of this variety have voted on the poll already! In fact, every view has already been represented, and I haven't even voted yet! Having grown up in nog-lovin' household, I need to ask all your eggnog haters: what is it about the nog that you hate?!

Friendly Find

This past week, I was meeting an out-of-town friend for coffee.
Usually she suggests meeting at Starbucks for our visits, but this time I convinced her to try something new...I'm just adventurous like that.
There was a little cafe downtown that I'd been dying to try out. Cafe Arianna. It looked cool, inviting, and unique.
So we headed down there.

Its situated right on the corner of Landsdowne and Third, right across from the A&W, with its own little parking lot and everything! I didn't know that at the time, so we walked from the (free!) parking in front of Coopers.
Well, when I walked in I quickly scoped it out. I knew that it had only been open for a matter of weeks, and was probably still finding its niche among all the Zack's, Second Cups', and Starbucks' of Kamloops.
The man at the counter welcomed us with an accent I didn't recognize until I spotted a familiar face in the doorway to the kitchen...
Christiana!
Since none of you probably know who she is, I will explain!

Waaaay back, a long long time ago...as in last year...when I was beginning the Culinary Arts course, we had one of the Third Level Students come into the cafeteria (usually they only run the Accolades restaurant) and work as our Sous Chef. Basically, our task master for the day.

We had some real gems. Cocky, arrogant fellows we wanted to empty our boiling soup pots on, and ditzy clueless girls that didn't know one end of a ladle from the other. None of them cared anything about us newbies, and just resented having to get up so early instead of getting up at 2pm like the rest of their classmates.
Cristiana was different.

She had moved from Italy to Canada in 2007, to take the Culinary Arts course and open a "real" Italian place with her husband. That was their dream.
When she was our Sous Chef, she took it seriously. This was not just another school assignment. For a moment, this was her job.
She didn't sit in one one of the offices and watch youtube like the others, she got right in there with us and actually taught us things.

One day she made homemade ravioli with us, as quickly and expertly as only a true Italian can!
I was in awe of her. She took cooking very seriously, was not afraid to voice her opinions to anyone, and my favorite Instructor truly respected her, which made me respect her as well.
Maybe one of the reasons I liked her so much was because she liked me.
I remember one day when I was in my Entrees station, she came to talk to me. Just to talk. She told me I was really good; that I had "it".
"Some of these kids are no good," She told me, "But you understand about cooking."
Coming from this talented, confident, and ambitious woman, that was a compliment that really went to my heart.

I only saw Cristiana a few times after her stint as our Sous Chef, but I still considered us friends.
So imagine my delight at realizing Caffe Arianna was her dream-come-reality. When it dawned on me who was in the kitchen I felt a huge smile spread across my face. It only got bigger when she recognized me at once and waved ecstatically.
When she got a free moment she came over to say hello.
We hugged, and I congratulated her on opening the cafe. She was very pleased with it, and was beaming with pride.
Then she asked the terrible question:
"So have you quit the program? I went to Accolades the other day, and went upstairs to see you, but you were not there! I thought maybe you were sick or something."
I admitted, yes, I had given up cooking as a career. She understood, but was disappointed, too.
"She was very good," she told my friend with a very earnest expression.
Another Cristiana compliment. My little heart can't take it. Made me want to enroll in the next semester right then and there. (glad I didn't though!)

Anyways, it was absolutely fantastic to see her again, and to know that she got to open her cafe after all. It really made my day.
While I was only in there for coffee, I grabbed a takeout menu to browse later on.
There are paninis (yum!), homemade soups, desserts, and salads available, as well as special order homemade pastas! I even noted something about homemade gelato!

I am so, so glad I opted out of Starbucks to try Cafe Arianna! I know I've been picking on Starbucks lately, but the more I think about it, the more I want to support local businesses, and this experience has certainly encouraged me in that. Why not give friends my business, instead of huge cafe chains?

I'm definitely going back. There's a Max's Panini, and Coffee Affagato with my name on it...

What I Do

I put these together yesterday for a private group of 18-ish. It was fun, but a little stressful. I'm always a little nervous about doing "fancy" stuff, because I don't feel confident or qualified. At least there was no one else around when I was arranging it. That is the worst, because I just freeze.
The critical side of me is analyzing everything that is wrong with it...but in spite of myself, I like them, and I wanted to take pictures and show them off a little. So here they are:

The Cheese Platter
-Blue Brie
-plain Brie (by Qualicum Beach Cheeseworks)
-Smoked Cheddar (yummy!)
-Goat cheese in paprika, tumeric, and cracked pepper
-organic crackers
-grape tomatoes

And the Fruit Platter
-Watermelon
-Cantaloupe
-Plums
-crasins

The Imperfect Cook: Bakeshop Edition

As you are probably all aware, my BIG, SCARY, practical exam is coming up in just over a week. I'm doing my best to study, and going over the possible items. Banana Cream Pie is one of the listed desserts, and since I haven't made Pastry Cream in ages, I thought I'd better review.
I'm not a huge fan of bananas, but desserts do tend to get eaten one way or another around here!

Here we go!
The ingredients are simple:
Milk, Egg Yolks, Whole Eggs, Sugar (divided into two equal portions), Cornstarch, Butter, and Vanilla.
First, we are going to heat up the milk. I usually set it to somewhere around medium. I don't want to boil it!!
Add one of the parts of sugar, and stir! I hope you are appreciating the fact that I am performing this left-handed!
Now for the egg yolks, and whole eggs...beat them! Muahaha!
Once they are well beaten, throw in that cornstarch and stir it all up!
Well done, well done.
Now the milk is getting a lot hotter. When it gets all frothy and steamy, with a little burbling under that foam, it is ready!
Now I am going to temper it with the egg mix. I don't want to add it all at once, because I don't really fancy cornstarchy scrambled eggs for lunch.
Whisk it as you slowly add the milk.
Now you want to have this pot of water on. You want a pot big enough that the steel bowl you are using for you milk/egg mix will fit inside, with the rim resting on the pot. Its a double-boiler! Hooray! Fill it a few inches with water. It doesn't need to be really full, just enough to produce a lot of steam. Have it come to a steady simmer, but a full boil can sometimes be too hot, so be careful.
When the steam is coming fast and furious, put your bowl on it and start whisking!!!
Faster! Faster!! FASTER!!! No scrambled eggs!!!
It will take a few minutes before it starts to thicken. When you see it start to boil, take it off the pot, and toss in your butter and vanilla (which looks disturbingly red in that pic...eww)
This is a nice consistency. Do it like this.
Now, because there is so much dairy in this (like...all of it) you don't want it to be sitting around at that warm "cooling-off" stage for very long. I would prefer to keep everyone alive and not being violently ill after eating my desserts. Just a personal preference.
So what I did is scrape my pastry cream into a smaller (cool) bowl, then rinse out my big bowl, fill it with ice, and then stick my pastry cream bowl on top of the ice....you still with me?
See? Big Bowl-- Ice. Small bowl-- pastry cream!
This cools it down really fast, so there's a lot less risk of bacteria growth.
While we are doing away with salmonella poisoning, lets chop up some banana!
Toss in the first layer.
When the pastry cream is no longer steaming, and feels cool-ish, splat some on top of those weird, mushy little circles. I think it was always the banana texture that threw me off.
Next layer! I used a particularly shallow pie pan, so I'm only gonna get these two layers in, but you might be able to fit another layer with a deeper dish.
Beeeeeautiful!
And there she is. Don't even start me on the mint garnish. Mint...and Banana?!?!
I...I don't know why I did it...I'm...sorry....it won't happen again.
The recipe probably makes enough for two good-sized cream pies. I made one small pie, and a bunch of tarts. So...go ahead and cut it in half if you want.

1 Liter Milk (you are probably better off with whole milk...I sinned, and used 1%)
250 g Sugar, divided into 2 parts
4 Egg Yolks
2 Whole Eggs
75 g Cornstarch
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
60 g Butter

The best thing about this recipe is....it can be used for ANYTHING! It doesn't have to be Banana Cream! It could be Butterscotch, or Chocolate, or Coconut! Or even...LEMON! (this one needs a few small adjustments...namely using water instead of milk, increasing sugar and cornstarch, and of course...adding lemon!) OR you can cut the cornstarch in half, and voila-- pudding!
And I can guarantee that it tastes better than any store-bought product!
You should try it. Its goooooood.

Tim Tam Slam Instructional Video!!!

I believe Arnott's Tim Tams are an Australian creation.

Necessary materials for Tim Tam Slamming: Hot Chocolate, and Tim Tams

They are quite simply chocolate wafers, with a creamy chocolate filling sandwiched between.
I'd never tried one until Saturday. I knew there was only one way to eat them, which is to Slam that Tim Tam!
...but I wasn't exactly sure how to do that. So this weekend, I got the expert to teach me, and now I'm sharing that knowledge with you!



Wasn't that great?? And ps. those Tim Tams are AMAZING!!! Sooooo yummy!
You can get them at Superstore, and it is so worth it. They would be fabulous as a midnight snack on a weekend camping trip, too.

Also, if anyone can figure out what wisdom my mother is trying to impart to Mike in the background, I would sincerely appreciate your sharing.

The Imperfect Cook: Cheese Tortellini

Bonjour! Welcome to the latest episode of The Imperfect Cook!
On this fine Saturday afternoon we are going to be making our very own cheese tortellini...from scratch!
Its a grand adventure to be sure. If you are expecting Martha Stewart-esque results, you may want to take a few deep breaths before proceeding.

This may look like the Pioneer Woman set-up, but I'm definitely no Pioneer Woman. You'll see for yourself...
What we have here is for the cheese filling: Ricotta and Parmesan cheese, salt, nutmeg, pepper, and one egg. Unfortunately I've copped out and I'm not using fresh grated Parmesan...which would taste infinitely better. Oh well.
The recipe from my textbook makes a huge batch, and I wasn't exactly sure how much I wanted to do...so I just eyeballed it. Around 1 1/2 cups of Ricotta, probably. Lots of parm. The egg. And the seasonings. Mix 'em up. Pop it in the fridge until your pasta is done. Just say "NO" to salmonella poisoning!
I threw some cheddar in as an afterthought. I wanted a little more bite.
This also makes a large amount, so...ya, I guessed on this one too! Probably somewhere near a third of this recipe.
Flour, olive oil, salt, and egg! If you can find semolina sub it for half your flour. It makes a much nicer, and more professional product. Dump your flour (and semolina if you have it) on the table and make a well in the center. Crack your egg and toss it in there.
Bonjour Katie! She is demonstrating for us how to mix the egg. Start by beating just the egg with a fork. Then slowly start incorporating the flour by brushing the sides of the well as you beat. Don't forget to add about a tablespoon of olive oil to the egg at this point. I did.
It should begin to form a gooey dough.
If you're feeling especially adventurous, you can add pureed spinach, or red peppers, tomatoes (whatever your little heart desires) and make different colored pasta! Yum!
Eventually you will have to get your hands dirty and give that goo a little press or two, until it holds together. Don't be like me and add waaaay too much flour. It makes it tough.
I don't own a pasta maker. Its a handy-dandy tool we use at school that reminds of me of those old-fashioned contraptions people would use to wring the water out of their wet laundry. Only at school we are squeezing pasta through it, not underwear.
When your pasta is nice and thin, like construction paper (?!), cut it into 4 inch squares. Or if you are completely angle-cutting deficient, just make irregular rectangles, like me!
Now here's the fun part! Get a cup of water and a pastry brush. Lightly dip your brush in the water, and wipe it on the edge. You don't want toooo much water on there, just enough to moisten your pasta square, so that it will stick together.
Now its time to pull out that scrumptious cheese filling! Place a little spoonful a little to one side of the center.
Fold one corner over to meet the opposite corner.
Now, starting at one side and working your way to the other, press the pasta together. The trick is to get all the air out of the pocket, and make it seal cleanly, with no cheese in between the layers. If this happens, when you boil it, the tortellini is going to open up and leak cheese into your water....ewwwww!
Take the two side points and fold them, one on top of the other.
Like so. Now take the point, and tuck it back, on the opposite side of the folds.
Isn't it CUUUUUTE?!?!?! (I forgot to take a picture of our finished product on Saturday, so I had to go and make one single little tortellini to take a shot of! That's why this ones a little pale. I didn't use an egg in making him.)
I also forgot to take a picture of the boiling process, but I'm sure you can figure it out! Once your water is boiling, toss 'em in, and when they float to the top (not usually more than a minute or two) they are done!
I made a simple tomato sauce, with cream, basil, oregano, onions, and garlic. Sprinkle a little more parm on top, and voila!
Scrumptious homemade cheese tortellini! It really doesn't take that long to make at all, and it tastes soooo good :)